No Time

The latest, and they say last, trailer for No Time to Die came out today - and I am optimistic.  Here's hoping Daniel Craig's last outing as Bond will be a good one.  Now if the film's release doesn't get delayed again, then the big question becomes do I brave going to the cinema to watch it?  Honestly, I don't think so.  I have absolutely no idea what COVID measures they are implementing - presumably we have to wear a mask because it's indoors, but do they have to ensure social distancing?  I don't want to sit next to some unvaccinated stranger.  I don't particularly want to share an enclosed space for a couple of hours with loads of unvaccinated people, most of them unmasked as they consume popcorn and pop.  But I really want to see the film on the big screen.  What a dilemma.       

Aggravating

I came across an article recently about some pastor working for an evangelical religious company who got fired because he wrote a column recommending that Christians get a COVID-19 vaccination.  The reason they gave for firing him was "because his public comments violated the organization's policy of neutrality on COV-19 vaccines".  What the actual f*ck?  This implies that there is actually a rational, scientific and plausible reason for not taking the vaccine.  Which there isn't.  There shouldn't be any "neutrality" when it comes to public health.  So much for love thy neighbor.  It's this kind of thinking which makes the US so backward and likely to take so much longer to recover from the pandemic.  Even in our state, there have been protests against vaccine and mask mandates recently.  It's a shame I haven't driven past any of these protests, because instead of honking my horn in support I'd very much like to give them the finger.  So, so aggravating.     

Astro's Playroom

I just completed Astro's Playroom on my PS5, the free game that comes pre-installed on the console.  Well it's not really a game, just a series of playable demos to show off the capabilities of the PS5 and particularly it's flashy new controller.  For example, at one point you have to blow into the controller to activate something in the game - which I'm sure can't be very hygienic!  But it looked and sounded great.  As do my 4K movies that the PS5 will play (the first time I've actually owned something that will play them - even though I've owned the discs for ages).  It took me a long time to work out which options on the PS5 I need to select to get optimal sound, because nothing is straightforward with my setup.  Since I'm a completist, I had to get every single trophy available to me on the game.  With some online help, I managed to do this apart from one.  Which is frustrating,  But I'm never going to get that remaining trophy, which involves completing these speed runs within a certain time limit - and I'm just not that good enough or dedicated player to achieve that.  Oh well.  Now I need to splash the cash on a proper PS5 game!    

Online Banking Woes

I hate online banking.  Especially online banking with a UK bank from the US.  I tried to access my HSBC account via it's app yesterday.  Unfortunately, I got locked out of digital banking after too many failed attempts.  I don't know whether I got the password wrong or one of the memorable questions wrong, but either way I need to reset my digital banking password.  So I had to phone a UK number.  Unfortunately, I don't have the means to call an international number from home - so I had to add that feature to my mobile phone plan at the grand cost of $5 extra per month.  And then I called the HSBC customer service number this morning, and was asked to enter some digits from my telephone security number.  What the hell is that?  Apparently that isn't the same as my PIN and I have absolutely no idea what number this is.  So I took a punt, I was wrong and so my telephone security number is now also locked and needs to be reset.  I then got redirected to an actual customer service rep on the phone, who asked me some questions that I needed to answer correctly in order to reset my telephone security number.  Unfortunately one of those questions was what is the overdraft limit on my account.  I have absolutely no idea, I've never been overdrawn or ever really close to being overdrawn.  So I couldn't answer that, and so I couldn't reset anything.  The next step is that I need to go to an HSBC branch now with photo ID to reset the telephone security number.  What a hassle.  Now I really hope I don't need to go to a UK branch.  Fortunately, there are some HSBC branches in the Greater Seattle area (which is definitely not the norm throughout most of the US), so I will go to one next week and see if they can help.  I really hope so, otherwise I'm not going to be able to access my account until I'm next back in the UK (and anyone I owe UK money to will have to wait...!).      

Mystery

I received some mystery mail yesterday.  Why is it a mystery?  Well, sadly the envelope was empty - so someone either made the effort to post me just an envelope (weird) or whatever contents of the envelope unfortunately got lost in the mail.  And I don't know who posted this.  I don't recognize the handwriting and I can't read the postmark.  I thought it might be a late birthday card, but it looks like a standard envelope.  And the envelope didn't seem obviously tampered with, so I'm altogether confused by this.  Any suggestions?  It was posted using 2 large 2nd class stamps and a note at the top of the envelope to say that these stamps cost more than the international standard post rate.  But this someone didn't include USA at the bottom of my address...

Generally, I'm not particularly enamored with snail mail right now.  One birthday card from a family member has not arrived, and neither has a package from another.  Something else to blame on the pandemic...    

Seattle to London

I recently noticed that Alaska Airlines were advertising direct flights from Seattle to London.  What's this now?  Yet another airline flying this route?  More competition equals better prices - nice.  But upon further inspection, that's not really the story.  The truth is just that Alaska Airlines has recently joined the Oneworld alliance of airlines - which already includes American Airlines and British Airways, both of whom already offer the Seattle to London route.  So I don't think there are any new flights to be offered, just an alternative airline who you can book the trip with.  Which is not necessarily a bad thing, as I've got some airline credit with Alaska so maybe I can use it towards a UK flight.  So there are still only 3 choices for this route - American, BA and Virgin.  And since American sucks and I wasn't impressed with Virgin the last time I flew, it looks like it's going to be BA going forward.  At least when things return to some semblance of normality...  

Song of the Week #72

I watched a documentary on this artist recently, so I had to chose something from her discography.  I am not a big fan of her solo work, so sadly I think I have to chose something that is credited to both her and her abusive husband.  However, I don't think he was involved in this particular recording at all.  But the producer of this song ended up being a convicted murderer.  Jeez, talk about difficult to separate art from the artist.  Anyway, this choice is really to celebrate the "Queen of Rock 'n' Roll".

Royal MInt

I got an e-mail today from The Royal Mint, who are releasing a series of historic coin sets to mark the Second World War.  7 sets in total - one for each year from 1939 to 1945.  I thought to myself this is right up my alley - I like these kind of collections.  But then I saw the price - 115 quid per set.  And because I am a completist, I would have to own all 7 sets - for a grand total of 805 quid.  Just for some not particularly old nor particularly valuable coins.  Nope, even that is too much for me.

Time

As you get older, it becomes so difficult to judge the passage of time.  This was perhaps exemplified by something I read recently - that if Austin Powers was filmed today, he would have come from 1991.  How weird is that. 

Rent

After however many years since I moved in without any increase in rent, it wasn't going to last forever.  And sure enough, my landlord asked if he could raise the rent this weekend.  There was a certain amount of inevitability in this, it was going to happen sooner or later with how expensive housing has become here, but how it went down with my landlord was kind of curious.  He texted to let me know that he was going over the finances and that with the increases in property taxes, insurance, etc that he thought he was about a thousand dollars a month under market on the house.  But that he wanted to keep me as a tenant, so didn't want to arbitrarily send me a rent increase.  So he actually asked for my feedback and what I thought would be fair and that I'd be comfortable paying.  Nice intentions, but jeez talk about a difficult one to answer.  After a bit of back and forth, it was clear he wasn't prepared to give me a figure.  So I thought it was up to me to make the first move, to let the negotiations begin.  So I started with an offer to increase the rent by $200 a month - a quite generous 10% raise on what I'm paying now, but nowhere near the $1000 he had implied (which I certainly had no intention of coming anywhere near).  I thought it was a reasonable lowball offer, and was prepared to pay a little bit more.  And I thought he might come back with a counter-offer and that we could then work on reaching a compromise.  But no, he accepted that figure for the next year.  Had I just been played?  Could I have gone lower with my initial suggestion?  Now I feel I'm overpaying for the rent, even though I was prepared to pay more.  So confused. 

007 Merch

I'm normally pretty good at being on top of any limited edition James Bond releases.  And even though No Time to Die is not out yet and no idea if it is any good or not, this nice looking mask prop replica set was available for pre-sale this week:

However by the time I got the e-mail notifying me about the release and I went on the website, it had already sold out.  Extremely disappointing.  Apparently only 100 of these are available, so I guess I shouldn't be too surprised they went so quickly.  The masks are also for sale as individual display items (500 available of each), but these are obviously less desirable than the twin mask set.  But that probably won't stop me getting them instead!         

 

Insect Bites

I always seem prone to getting a lot of insect bites - more than the average person.  And at some point this week, my feet and ankles got absolutely ravaged by insect bites.  It could have happened when I was in bed and my feet were sticking out from the duvet.  I've been wearing shorts almost every day, often without socks on, so it could really have happened at any time.  Either way, the bites are big, red and very very itchy.  And putting on loads of anti itch cream doesn't seem to make a jot of difference.  Not pleasant.  It is also perhaps a reflection of how attractive my prediabetic blood is to insects.  But that's not a hot take - I've been devastated by insect bites far too many times to count over the years.  

QAnon

I've started watching a documentary about QAnon.  From Wikipedia:

QAnon is a disproven far-right conspiracy theory alleging that a cabal of Satanic, cannibalistic pedophiles operate a global child sex trafficking ring and conspired against former President Donald Trump during his term in office.  QAnon has been described as a cult.

My thoughts - these are the kind of ridiculous conspiracy theories that anyone in the world could anonymously come up with, but only Americans could actually believe this bullsh*t.  And so far, the believers are what you'd expect - nutcases who are either mentally damaged, psychologically damaged, extremely gullible or extremely bigoted.  Exactly the kind of people who would storm the Capitol.  As far as I'm concerned, there is only one true Q:

Song of the Week #71

This week's selection is .... amazing.  70's instrumental psychedelic rock at it's finest.  And this has everything - keytar, saxophone, a drum battle, thumping bassline, awesome instrumentation, albinism, and even a fricking car horn at one point.  How have I not heard this before this week?

PS5 Update

Miracles do happen!  I got a text from a friend today saying that he had a special invite from Sony to order a PS5 today.  Naturally, I was extremely jealous - I've never had one of these invites, and I don't know how you get one.  But, I did know that after the console had been offered to the invitees then a couple of hours later the rest of the stock gets offered to the general public.  So knowing that my friend got his console at noon, I went onto the website at 2 pm.  And sure enough, I was put in a queue and then a waiting room and then the product page and shockingly I was able to order it (which you have to do quickly before it goes out of stock, which can happen in seconds).  All of this somehow simultaneously while I was in a meeting, and a meeting that I was actively contributing to.  I had a minor panic attack when I got to the payment page and it wouldn't let me type in my credit card number - I feared that if I refreshed the page then I would lose the order.  But somehow it worked out, and I've got an order confirmation.  Once I get the console, then I'm sure I'll order a few extremely beautiful games to play (maybe the same ones as my friend so that we can do multiplayer) - though at my age, all games have started to become increasingly complicated and difficult.   

Changing Forecast

With it being my birthday this week, I thought I would take Thursday and Friday off work.  The forecast was really sunny for these two days.  Until today.  Now the forecast is cloudy for both days.  That is annoying - I was looking forward to taking a nice day trip or two, maybe to the mountains.  Now I've got to reconsider.  But I'm determined not to waste these days off - I'm sure I'll go somewhere.  I'm sure the forecast was good yesterday, how quickly these things change.  It's definitely a bit cooler and cloudier today than it has been, though still warm enough to wear shorts.  In fact, due to the hot summer we've had here and that I've been working from home, I think I've worn shorts almost every day over the last few months.  Though, sadly, my gams remain pasty white.   

Missing Post

Well, that is strange.  I could have sworn I posted something yesterday - but apparently not.  I don't even have anything in Draft.  I have no idea what I would have posted about - so perhaps it just slipped my mind.  But then why would I have thought I did post something?  Am I going insane?  I know I'm really struggling with things to blog about.  In many ways, I'm glad I forgot to post something yesterday because it means I have something to post today.  But now I've got another entry to do today to keep up the daily count.  

Am I really bigger than XL?

Another free gift from work arrived in the mail today - and it is yet another coat.  And also yet again, it doesn't fit me.  So frustrating, it should be the right size for me but it's just too tight - and that's only with a t-shirt on underneath.  And this is a nice coat - it is a Marmot Gravity Jacket, and the tag that came on it says it retails for $150.   Am I just too fat?  Or I am just unlucky with the fit?  Either way, it seems a shame to waste it.  So I hope I can pass this onto a friend or family member who it will fit, and doesn't mind having my company name, logo and Seattle skyline adorning the coat.    

EPL Return

So much I could talk about: how much I HATE anti-vaxxers, how much America has failed Afghanistan, who is the biggest dick: Greg Abbott, Ron DeSantis or Ted Cruz.  But no, with the Premier League starting again today (after what feels like the briefest of brief breaks for the Euros and the Olympics) let’s talk about that.  In particular, my extreme worry that Palace will get relegated this year.  With an untested new manager and a huge turnover in the squad and backroom staff, I think there is an awful lot of uncertainty about how good, or how bad, this major rebuild is.  Especially if we can’t play how the manager wants us to play – then this could easily turn into another Frank de Boer type fiasco.  It looks like we are third favorites to be relegated with odds of around 7/4.  If I was a betting man, which I’m not, then I think I would put a healthy bet on Palace going down.  Then it’s a win-win – you either make some money, or celebrate Palace staying up.

Smoke Update

It's always a bit alarming when you go into your weather app and the current weather says "Smoke".  Yep, as well as currently being under an excessive heat warning we are also under an air quality alert.  And you can tell - the smoke is affecting visibility, and apparently it's going to get worse tomorrow so I imagine we are going to start smelling it as well.  This smoke storm originates from large wildfires in Canada - and the wind direction has changed to blow it directly down to us.  So not a good time to be outside and breathing all this muck in, but at least the smoke will reduce the temperature by a few degrees.  Sadly I don't think I'll be catching any of the Perseid meteor shower over the next few nights...       

Song of the Week #70

I watched a documentary on Woodstock 99 recently - a festival I knew nothing about, even though I was going to festivals around that time.  Apparently music festivals in the UK were a lot tamer and shockingly focused on the actual music then, as opposed to the many many controversies and disgusting scenes marring Woodstock 99 and it's crappy nu metal lineup.  You'll be glad to hear I'm not picking a song from Limp Bizkit.  Nope, instead we're going back to something that sounds more like it would come from the original Woodstock - some hippie blues!

Indoor Mask Mandate

I popped into the supermarket today without wearing a mask, and even though there was a sign at the entrance saying that vaccinated people did not need to wear a mask I was definitely in the minority.  And then I read a headline this evening saying that Snohomish County (where I live, which is not King County where Seattle lies) is introducing a new indoor mask mandate for every resident over 5 years old.  So beginning Thursday, all indoor public spaces (including restaurants and retail shops) are once again going to require that everyone wears a mask.  Apparently our county is not doing so well with COVID-19 cases right now - the number of cases has doubled and the number of hospitalizations has tripled in recent weeks.  Hmmm, I guess that explains why so many people were wearing masks in the supermarket today - I just thought that it was a random overabundance of unvaccinated shoppers at lunchtime.   

Workplace Developments

I've been wondering when we might be allowed to go back to the office.  The last I heard was that it was going to be in September - but I think the spread of the delta variant has probably pushed that back.  Though I think they are currently running a pilot program of allowing some volunteers to go back (I didn't volunteer - I don't know anybody who did, because I think they are still making everyone wear a mask in the office).  However, some big company news came out today.  And, potentially, extremely controversial.  Our company has decided to make having the COVID-19 vaccination mandatory for all employees.  We are required to be fully vaccinated by the end of September.  I suspect not a big deal for most of us, including me, who are already vaccinated.  But I also suspect there will be a few holdouts who have not got, and will never get, vaccinated for various reasons (let's politely call them "political reasons").  What happens to these people?  If they can't provide proof of vaccination and have no specific religious belief, medical condition or disability that prevents them from being vaccinated, then do they get fired?  Could make for a very interesting legal situation - though I'm sure we're not the first workplace to introduce this kind of mandate.  But I guess this gives us an approximate October timeline for returning to the office.      

Weather Alert

I was checking the forecast for the week ahead on my weather app, when I noticed we have a local weather alert.  We are under yet another excessive heat watch, this time from Wednesday through Saturday.  It seems like it's just going to be a summer where we have one heatwave after another here.  At least it doesn't seem like it's going to be another spell of record-breaking heat, but the fact that it warrants a weather alert doesn't bode well.   

The Suicide Squad

A quick film review - I watched The Suicide Squad last night.  It was released on Thursday theatrically and via streaming - guess which method I utilized (hint: I didn't leave my home).  Basically a reboot of the much maligned 2016 film Suicide Squad - which I have seen and can concur that it was pretty bloody awful.  And yes, fortunately The Suicide Squad is definitely a lot better than Suicide Squad.  But that in itself does not mean that it is a good film.  I thought it was okay - goofy, irreverent, gory - but hardly a film that I would go out of my way to see again.  And not really worthy of the surprising number of very positive reviews (I think that is more of a reflection of how bad the previous film was).  Definitely a slice of mindless entertainment, probably quite close to the comic source material, but not the breakthrough DC universe film this franchise needs to match Marvel.  But it's still bound to create a load of sequels and spin-offs - and some of the characters are amusing enough to warrant that (see the Peacemaker series being released next year).  A middling 2.75 out of 5.      

Some Olympics Thoughts

Now we’re getting close to the end of the least watched Olympics ever, at least for me, some thoughts to share.

Stupid sports that shouldn't be in the Olympics:

• 3x3 basketball
• Artistic swimming
• BMX freestyle
• Dressage
• Karate
• Rhythmic gymnastics
• Skateboarding
• Sport Climbing
• Surfing
• Trampoline

 Sports that are too big for the Olympics:

• Baseball
• Basketball
• Football
• Golf
• Tennis

 Sports that should be in the Olympics:

• MMA
• Cricket
• Pub sports (darts, snooker, pool, bowling, etc.)
• Squash
• Chess
• Kabaddi

Sports that have way too many events:

• Swimming

 Highlights/Lowlights:

• Cyclist who thought she had won road race, when someone had finished a minute before her
• Djokovic having a meltdown (great tennis player, horrible person)
• Simone Biles – mental health advocate or choke artist?
• I have watched very little actual coverage of the games – the US broadcast is pitiable and almost unwatchable.  Primetime tends to be full of replays of events that I already know the results from via the BBC Sports app, excruciatingly poor features, or live events featuring heavily favorite Americans.  And WAY TOO MANY ADVERTS.  Just awful.  The only positive (though you hardly notice it) is that it is being broadcast in 4K with Dolby Atmos 
• Shared gold in high jump was nice
• Any event where the American competitors are expected to win but don’t is highly amusing simply due to the sheer shock and disbelief in the commentary (a good example – not qualifying for the 4 x 100m final)
• The American coverage having to convert every single measurement in metres into feet and inches because Americans can’t handle the metric system
• Should a country who engages in systemic doping still be competing?
• Should there be an age limit in all sports?  For example, some of the skateboard winners were weirdly young
• For a country with such an emphasis on winning, it is very strange that the US sorts the medal table by total number of medals won rather than by number of golds won, number of silvers won then number of bronzes won.

A Bad Day

I just knew it would be one of those days when I woke up thinking it was Friday, and was totally devastated when I found out it was really Thursday and there was a whole extra work day until the weekend.  This set the tone for the day.  Then it got worse when I started to hear the horrible sound of tree removal next door.  I hate the sound of chainsaws and a wood chipper at the best of times, it was really loud, and the further needless loss of natural habitat is really disappointing and depressing.  And it's close enough to affect the view to the north from me - which I'm sure will be a lot more obvious after fall.  And I'm fairly sure the tree removal was done illegally.  I'm guessing it was my favorite neighbors with the trampoline and the rooster that were clearing the ground - so god knows what kind of further noise I've got to look forward to - but I think they were trespassing on the unused property immediately next to me in order to do the clearing.  And I have no idea where the property line is between these two parcels, but it sure looked like they were clearing trees from both properties.  I don't know how much of a fuss to make with this, but I did look up the non-emergency local telephone number and was so tempted to use it to report them.  Guessing by the fact that they left some ropes and stuff behind, I suspect they'll be back again tomorrow causing even more destruction - so I'll see how far I take it then.  And then later on today I finally got assigned a load of new work that is going to keep me busy for the rest of the year.  It will be good to actually have something to do but it's quite demeaning work, I've got none of the responsibilities I had before and I think it could be quite demanding.  Joy.       

Song of the Week #69

This week's selection - a song very much of it's time.  Which would be 2004.

"Sports"

OK, I have my doubts about whether skateboarding should be considered an Olympic sport.  But "sport climbing".  Now you're taking the piss.

UK Travel

So the UK has now eased travel restrictions for fully vaccinated travelers from the US.  This creates an interesting dilemma - if and when should I come back to visit?  While I still don't have any new work assigned to me, this summer would seem perfect.  But the US government still has a travel advisory not to fly to the UK.  And with the delta variant running rampart in the US right now - thanks predominantly to stupid unvaccinated Americans - I would be worried about travel restrictions being reintroduced.  Can we also be sure that the UK will remain "open"?  I have absolutely no idea.  I don't want to have any limits on where I can go or who I can see when I come back.  And I certainly don't want to put anyone at needless risk.  At some point the benefits outweigh the risks of coming back - and indeed we might already be close to that point.  I certainly miss spending time with my niece and nephew, and I miss spending time with my Mum (though I think the new canine addition to the family is a really good, and long overdue, thing!).  Clearly some further consideration, and discussion with the appropriate parties, is warranted.  

Smoke

Despite the number of wildfires there are at the moment, we've managed to avoid any wildfire smoke.  Until today.  It was one of those days where the sun cast a very otherworldly orange hue whenever it came out thanks to all the pollutants in the sky.  We haven't had any air quality warnings in the forecast, so I think the smoke is high enough in the atmosphere not to bother us.  But should make for a spectacular sunset.  It looks like we've got a few more days of hot and sunny weather before things, finally, take a turn for the worse.