Apple Capital Recreation Loop Trail

I'm really sore today after yesterday's exertions.  With a friend, drove to Wenatchee - out in Central Washington, and the self-proclaimed "Apple Capital of the World" - and completed the 10 mile Apple Capital Recreation Loop Trail.  This is very much an urban trail - essentially following a paved trail that skirts the city center and crosses the Wenatchee River twice.  It's a nice trail, well maintained, with lots of wildlife despite being an urban waterfront (in particular, we saw lots of birds of prey as well as some gophers) and not too busy for a bank holiday.  But 10 miles is too long a walk - especially because we took a bit of a detour to get some food, it ended up being something closer to 12 miles (I think my phone said I did close to 28,000 steps!).  And I was broken by the end of it.  It may have been a reasonably flat trail, but I haven't done one this long for a while and it showed - really it's a trail much better suited to riding a bike.  I don't think the long drive to get there helped - it took nearly 3 hours to get there, and longer to get home because we hit some of the Memorial Day traffic.  No photos - this was really more about hanging out with a friend.  But I would consider coming back to do this trail when I'm in better shape - or if I ever decide to buy a bike.     

It's Late

It's nearly 11.30 pm, and I've just got back from a very full day of driving and hiking.  I'm tired, I'm sore, and I'm supposed to go into the office tomorrow but I probably won't.  I think I've discovered what my limit is in terms of miles that I can hike in one day - and disappointingly it's a lot less than I hoped it would be.  I'll fill in more details tomorrow - it's too late for me to write cohesive sentences right now. 

Motor Sports

Today was a big day in motor sports - the Indy 500, the Monaco Grand Prix, and the Coca-Cola 600 (the longest NASCAR race of the year) were all on today.  And in my opinion - they all sucked, and if I didn't already know then this confirmed that my love for motor sports is well and truly over.  But, going to watch a NASCAR race live is still on my bucket list - even despite the notoriously pro-Trump crowd that these races attract.  They don't hold any races in the Pacific NW - probably due to the weather - but it shouldn't be much trouble to travel somewhere to watch a race one year.  I have vague, but fond, memories of going to Silverstone with my grandpa when I was a youngster - but I don't think I've watched a race in person anywhere since.  And I don't think watching these races on telly do justice to how fast and how loud these cars go, so it's something I'd like to experience again. 

A Canceled Road Trip

I was supposed to be heading down to East-Central Oregon today for a 2 night road trip (it's Memorial Day on Monday).  The main objective was to go to the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument - basically a collection of very dramatic and (not uncoincidentally) very photogenic rock formations.  But because we are really out in the middle of nowhere here, this trip required some careful planning.  You need to plan where you are going to gas up (the rock formations are quite spread apart, with a very limited number of gas stations - which may have limited opening hours because they might not be self-service).  You need to plan where you are going to eat - again, there are very few options with limited hours.  And, as I was doing my research, most of the places to eat are not open on Sunday or Monday - exactly when I was going to be there.  Great.  And then something caught my attention on the National Monument website - it mentioned that Memorial Day weekend was the busiest weekend of the year.  Well with limited services, only limited parking at a lot of the sites, and my dislike of big crowds - I made the difficult decision to postpone my trip.  I definitely still want to go there - but maybe a mid-week visit is in order.  Something I didn't consider when I postponed my trip was the weather.  Because we are in desert country, I assumed it would be fine.  Apparently not - as it said on a weather blog I read today, "if you are vacationing in Oregon this weekend ... sorry".  This evening - cloudy with periods of rain, thunder possible.  Tomorrow (which is when I would have done most of my sight-seeing) - a steady rain in the morning, showers continuing in the afternoon, cloudy with 40% chance of snow showers overnight (!).  Monday - cloudy with showers.  So now I feel better about not going.

Birdlife

A hummingbird update.  There are, I think, 2 pairs of hummingbirds using the various feeders I have outside.  And boy are they getting through the sugar water - I'm having to refill them weekly.  But maybe that is too regularly, is something else using the feeder?  I still have my trail camera set up, but I haven't captured any raccoons on film recently.  But I think I found the culprit - or more accurately culprits - this week, and it is an old enemy - wasps (maybe bees - but wasps make for a more obvious enemy).  I have no idea what I can do about these.  At the moment I just have a water spray bottle handy, which I'm using if I see the little sods on the feeder - but that is hardly a big deterrent.  And the last thing I want to do is sit outside obsessively watching over the feeders all day, and totally incapable of getting anything else done.  So I think I just have to live with this, and hope that the wasps/bees don't obstruct the hummingbirds from feeding.

    

It's in the details

I was watching a TV show the other day - not important what it was, but I think it was The Baby on HBO, a surreal British horror comedy.  And there was one flashback scene during the show, set I think in the 70's.  And something unexpected caught my attention during the scene.  It was the bedding.  It looked familiar to me.  And then it dawned on me, I think it was the pattern I had on my childhood bedding.  And I emphasize the think, because I'm not entirely sure - and it's certainly not something I've thought about for many a year.  But I don't know what else would cause that feeling of familiarity with a fairly old-fashioned pattern on bedding I see on some random TV show.  Very bizarre.  I tried to do a google search to see if I could find the pattern, but I couldn't - so instead I've taken a photo of it from the TV screen.  For those who might know, does this look familiar?   

Song of the Week #111

It is shocking to think that this week's selection is actually from the 80's (admittedly the very late 80's).  Well maybe not, because I think I've got it on cassette tape somewhere.  But it sounds so very 90's to me - perhaps that's because it was only in the 90's when I finally embraced alternative music for the first time.  I've a feeling I've included this on my blog before, but whatever.

Same old same old

How many school mass shootings will it take for the US to change it's gun laws?  That's a rhetorical question - the US will never change it's gun laws.  F*ck your "thoughts and prayers" - that won't bring back a single loved one whose life was taken by gun violence. 

A Long Week

You know it's going to be a long week when you're already asking yourself on Monday afternoon - is it Friday yet?  Yikes.  And it's not like I have any source of stress, it's a state of mind.  Not good.  The long Memorial Day weekend can't come soon enough.  Which is kind of ridiculous because when you have very little work to do then it's not like the bank holiday means all that much. 

Championship Sunday

Well, that was exciting wasn't it.  I guess if I was a true Palace fan, I would have watched their game.  But I considered their season effectively over after the epic and horrific second half collapse against Everton during the week.  So instead I decided to watch the Man City game, turned over to watch the Liverpool game when Man City went 2 goals down, then turned back to watch the rest of the Man City game when they got a goal back.  Everyone is going to talk about Man City winning the league with that spell where they scored 3 goals in 5 minutes or whatever it was.  But I don't think Man City won the league, I think Liverpool lost it.  I think if Liverpool were ahead or had gone ahead when Man City were 2 goals down, things would have been different.  The atmosphere at the Man City game would have been different - the crowd would have known, the team would have known, and I don't think Man City would have come back in the way they did.  The sad thing is that I think Liverpool are also going to lose the Champions League final next weekend - I think they are mentally and physically done.  And having had strong hopes of completing the quadruple, the pressure is on because if they don't win the Champions League then you could argue that their season has been a big disappointment.  And of course, it wasn't just the champions being decided but also European places and relegation.  That was a lot going on - and a big reason why this league is the best in the world (at least until next season when someone - probably Man City again - runs away with it in anticlimactic fashion).      

Rug

I got a new rug delivered today.  Disappointingly, the optical illusion doesn't look as good in reality as it does in photos.

Smells

It's that time of year when my house seems to emit some unpleasant odors.  Since coming back from the UK, it has been my utility room downstairs that has smelt a little bit.  No idea what the source of the smell is - it's certainly nothing obvious inside as I cleaned it thoroughly not long after getting back.  Something outside is likely, possibly the septic tank or something in a gutter.  But then yesterday I was greeted by a horrific musty smell coming from one of my bedroom closets when I opened it.  I think I am going to have to do some serious airing out of that closet over the weekend - it is bad, and right next to where I sleep.  Again, no idea what the source is - but this is not the first time this has happened.  I suspect some of the vast quantities of rain we've had recently has probably leaked into somewhere it shouldn't.  The joys of living in a relatively old house.       

Citizen of the World

I'm often asked if I would ever consider returning to the UK on a more permanent basis.  And I have replied with a hard no.  But I've been giving this some thought recently, and maybe I think it's more of a soft no now.  I think my future still lies in the US - but it is no longer set in stone.  For example, I would probably move back to the UK for a relationship - as unlikely a scenario as that would be right now.  Honestly, I would probably go to the ends of the world for love.  But America's problems start at the top - and they increasingly alarm me.  The political extremism is only going to get worse - and all signs point to the far right winning, and that is disturbing.  The Republican party embodies this and they repulse me, but they are inevitably going to win the mid-terms - and probably going to win big.  So the bigger picture in the US does not bode well, and I am not enthused about living in a country which is likely to take backward steps when it comes to things like women's rights, voting access, environmental concerns, foreign relations, etc.  But saying all this, I've also been giving a lot of consideration to applying for American citizenship.  I don't want to give up my UK passport, but I think I can become a dual citizen.  And apart from giving me the right to vote in the US (which I probably won't use, unless I ever live anywhere where my vote actually matters), I think having US citizenship would ironically allow me to spend more time in the UK - since there would no longer be any restrictions in how much time I reside outside the US (which is a condition of permanent residency).  So yes, I think it is very possible I might become a US citizen within the next few years.

A Winter Storm

Well, after a couple of months of unseasonably cold and wet weather - today we had a winter storm.  In May.  Great, thanks mother nature.  We had a wind advisory and thousands of people had their power knocked out - fortunately not me.  But boy was it windy outside.  It's actually quite therapeutic sitting outside and listening to the trees rustling and being blown about (not quite as therapeutic as the tide, which is why I want to live by the coast).  But the amount of tree debris that I've got to clean up is quite substantial - most unusual for this time of year.  Hopefully nothing bigger comes down before the storm passes (and, shockingly, we might actually have some decent weather by the weekend).  I actually saw a bald eagle circling overhead in the wind - it certainly had the crows riled up.  It was interesting to watch - the eagle circles at a high elevation and the crows start squawking, and as soon as the eagle descends to a lower elevation then a whole bunch of them go up to harass the eagle.  I can't imagine the eagle will hang around long here - which is a shame for such a majestic creature.  I hate crows.    

Song of the Week #110

For this week, something you'll probably hear on Radio 2.

I Hate My TV

I'm not sure how long I can procrastinate, but I think I really need to buy a new TV.  Even though I haven't had my current one for that long, I've had numerous problems with it.  And, seemingly, things have got worse since I've come back from the UK.  These are mainly audio issues - it seems to take a while for my soundbar to kick in, even when I'm just changing channel.  And sometimes it doesn't kick in at all unless I turn my soundbar off and on.  This sounds like a soundbar issue rather than a TV issue right?  I guess that's possible.  It could also be a issue with the cable box, since the sound levels now seem to vary between channels.  But I suspect the problem is with the TV because I have another issue with it.  And that is that the TV sometimes doesn't turn off when I want it to - instead it becomes unresponsive and then decides to reboot itself.  It's bizarre, I have no idea why it's doing that.  I might have to play around with my set up to see if I can fix things - but I fear the technology is starting to get beyond me.  And, once again, I am reminded that I shouldn't buy cheap.  It could be an expensive summer, I also want to get a new mattress.    

Satisfying

Don't you just love YouTube?  With a dearth of actual work to do, I've been spending a lot of hours going down various rabbit holes on YouTube when I should be working.  My most recent addiction - and my recommendation that you check it out, even if it sounds totally bizarre - is to watch videos of rugs being cleaned.  It is oddly compelling and satisfying to see a really dirty rug slowly revealing some beautiful colors as it gets cleaned.  Perhaps it is also an ASMR thing - on some of the videos, they certainly crank up the cleaning sounds and include a load of slow motion and close-up shots.  It's a bit like food porn - but with dirt and rugs.  It somehow works anyway.  At least it does for the next few days, until I move onto something else!   

Priorities

I could write a serious post about Ukraine or Roe vs Wade.  I could write something about the Eurovision Song Contest that I didn't watch, in which it didn't matter how bad Ukraine's song was they were always going to win.  I could write something about the FA Cup, however I didn't watch it.  I could write a hit piece on Elon Musk, someone who I absolutely loathe.  I could write something about the Johnny Depp trial, but I really couldn't care less about it.  But nope, I'm going to stick with something absolutely trivial that happened to me this week.  I had some blue macaroons a few days ago  - a treat I don't normally indulge in, but these were absolutely delicious.  However, they had the unexpected side effect of turning my poo an alarming shade of green for the next few days.  That's all I wanted to share - you're welcome.       

Oh boy

It's been a great week for sports - we're right in the midst of the NBA (basketball) playoffs and the NHL (ice hockey) playoffs.  Which means most nights there are multiple games on.  And with there being a lot of competitive games, it has been good stuff.  I tend to watch these sports a lot more during the playoffs than during the regular season.  And I will say there are few sporting spectacles as great as NHL playoff overtime - when one goal from either side will end the game, and the game will go on forever until someone scores.  And if it's also a game 7 (series tied 3-3, with the first to 4 the winner), then we are automatically in classic territory when it goes to overtime in the deciding game.  However, even with all these games on, I have been revisiting one of my favorite shows from my teenage years.  Indeed, I wasn't even a teenager when the first series came out (though I don't remember when it started airing in the UK).  Even now, I still enjoy watching the show - it has a comforting feel-good quality to it.  Disappointingly, but unsurprisingly, they are rebooting the show - the new series is set to air later in the year.  I don't have high hopes, I don't think they can recreate the magic.

Hoarding

I think I am prone to some hoarding tendencies - I tend to hold on to things much longer than I should.  So I need to take steps to quell this.  And it begun today - they held a free electronics recycling event at work, and I decided to make the most of this.  So I got rid of a load of old electronics that I have inexplicably kept around but will never use.  So, for example, I got rid of an old microwave, an old printer, an old home theater system, an old telephone, and an old modem.  Could I have sold these online and made a few bucks?  Probably, but I'm not sure the hassle would be worth it.  Instead, the only hassle I had to endure was loading up my car with this stuff (this is where I'm thankful to have a car where the back seats go fully down!), drive down to the place near the office where they were holding this event (I didn't even bother going into my office!), and unloading this stuff in the pouring rain.  Like a hoarder, did I find it tough to let go of these items?  Honestly, no.  That must be a good sign for my hoarding fears.      

Song of the Week #109

I've heard this song a few times on the radio, so I thought I would investigate more.  I had assumed it was a British band because it has a very mid-90's britpop sound, so imagine my surprise to (a) find out they were American, (b) that the band was formed in Seattle (which is probably why I've heard it on local radio), and (c) when checking out the music video, realizing what a bunch of dweebs they are.  The tune might also be familiar because apparently it was used as the theme tune for Peep Show - a show I've dipped in and out of, but I wouldn't have recognized the song from the show.  So enjoy this post-grunge one-hit wonder.

 

Gift Bundle

I forgot to mention that last week a gift bundle from work finally got delivered.  Just to clarify - this was our CHRISTMAS gift bundle, and it arrived in May.  So just a smidgen late then!  I think it's interesting that it arrived less than a week after I e-mailed them to ask if they had an estimated delivery date.  I'm sure they could make a lot of excuses (logistical delays, travel delays, covid, etc.), but a 4 month delay seems pretty unacceptable to me - I hope we won't use that company again for branded gifts.  Of course, all of this is kind of moot because I had forgotten that the gift bundle consists of a bunch of stuff that I will probably never use.  A travel mug, some plastic drinking glasses and a portable coffee brewer.  So even more drinkware to add to all the other similar items I've accumulated over the years, and never used.  I know it's tough to pick out gifts that will appease a lot of people, but every time it's the same kind of thing.  Disappointing (and ungrateful of me!).          

Symposium

It's going to be an even quieter week than normal at work this week.  That's because most people in my group have flown down to California to our headquarters for a symposium being held by our department (apparently, and surprisingly, the department has a big enough budget for this - between the cost of travel, accommodation, meals etc. and the number of people making this trip from across the world, there is a lot of money being spent on this).  I had an opportunity to go down there, but turned it down.  Mainly because I saw the agenda, and there was absolutely nothing that interested me.  And although there might be some colleagues down there that I've worked with but have never met, I have no particular desire to meet them just to make brief and awkward small talk.  But after it was too late to change my mind, apparently they've organized some team-building events that sounded fun.  So now I'm a little bit disappointed that I'm not going.  If only for a free trip to San Francisco.  But maybe not, knowing my luck I would probably end up team-building with a bunch of Chinese colleagues who want nothing to do with me and/or my old manger who I detest.  So instead I just have another week ahead with a whole bunch of nothing.  

Soccer Update

I'm not going to talk about Manchester City's choke against Real Madrid.  I'm not going to talk about the hilarious trainwreck that is Manchester United.  I'm not going to talk about the title race.  I'm not going to talk about the relegation fight.  I'm not even going to talk about Palace.  No, I am going to talk about the Seattle Sounders.  Mainly because they made some history last week.  They won the Champions League!  I should probably clarify that - they won the CONCACAF Champions League.  This is a big deal - at least for "soccer" in America.  It is the first time in 20+ years that an American club side has won this competition - and it was a lot different back then.  So they are the best club team in North America, Central America and the Caribbean.  Normally it's a Mexican side that wins the competition - this is the first time since 2005 when they haven't.  So what is the Sounders' prize?  They get to compete in the FIFA Club World Cup - the first time an American club will do so.  It may be a very little regarded competition for most of the big European clubs (even though Chelsea are the current holders), but it is a big deal for the rest of the world.  Not that they will even come close to beating a side from Europe or South America.         

Mother's Day

With it being Mother's Day this weekend - at least in the US - I want to take this opportunity to say how proud I am of my Mum.  The last few years haven't been easy, but no matter what life throws at you she has remained strong.  She's had to learn to live a lot more independently, and she has done so admirably (with a little bit of help at times!  And I'm so glad she has Darcey to keep her company now as well!).  She has continued to live her retirement as she wants - mostly in the garden - and somehow continues to lead a full and busy life.  I think it helps that she is stubborn and has her routines and ways of doing things - I don't always agree with them, but if they work for her then who am I to judge.  I know I'm probably a bit of a disappointment to her - never having got married, never giving her grandchildren, and in her own words being "not normal" - for which I can only apologize.  And I also feel somewhat guilty that I'm only able to offer her limited support from the other side of the world - and it's been tough not being able to see her as much as either of us would like over the last few years.  But I hope we can appreciate the time we are able to spend together now, and I do hope to come back to the UK a bit more regularly (twice a year if possible).  I hope she continues to be able to do the things she like to do (though being wary of her increasing limitations as she gets older!).  And I hope the future remains relatively stress-free (don't let the small things bother you, it's not good for the blood pressure!).  Stay strong and wishing my Mum - and all the other Mums out there - a Happy Mother's Day!      

Property

I've wanted to get on the property ladder for a while now.  And a home that has just gone on the market has piqued my interest.  

Sadly, I can't afford it.  At $85 million, it is just outside my price range.  Apparently it's the most expensive residential listing of all time in Greater Seattle.  On 4.3 acres, with 327 feet of lake front on Lake Washington, it used to belong to Kenny G (yep, that's smooth jazz musician Kenny G!).  Nearly 18,000 square feet divided between 4 structures, a tennis court, a pool, a dock big enough to moor your seaplane and yacht, 5 rooms, 10 (!) bathrooms, the property tax alone is more than my annual income.  You can dream.         

Workload

We had a company-wide meeting today – the kind of meeting where the CEO talks a little bit about the company and how we’re doing.  And the more I hear from this guy, the more I think he sounds like a snake oil salesman.  His positivity seems far removed from reality and how most of us “grunts” actually feel the company is doing – and if the share price is anything to go by, the investors also don’t seem to agree with him.  Our pipeline of work doesn’t seem anywhere near as full as our CEO seems to make it out to be.  My workload is extremely light at the moment, and has been for quite some time, and I’m definitely not the only one – almost everyone working within our therapeutic area (probably the “least important” area when it comes to our company’s growth, and clearly the least successful when it comes to recent results) has little to no work - and there doesn’t seem to be any substantial work coming up.  I just found out this week that another project I was earmarked to work on has been canned.  The meeting today actually focused on our therapeutic area, but I got zero sense that there was actually any significant tangible work coming up anytime soon.  A lot of the discussion was more about the various failures and lessons learnt – I wish they’d looked forward more than they looked back.  With no upcoming vacation planned, I suspect I will be shipped out to help out on other projects in different areas as and when they need some extra help.  Not exactly the best use of my skillset, but frankly I’ll take anything right now if it means I’ll be a bit busier than I currently am.  But it’s all very dispiriting – I don’t think we’re anywhere close to talking about job layoffs yet, but I fear we are heading in that direction if things don’t turn around soon.  

Food

I didn't want to, but I've just had to throw out a load of out of date food.  The reason I didn't want to - the current price of food at the supermarkets out here is shocking.  And it's not like the food is of particular high quality.  But I read somewhere that Seattle has the highest cost of food shopping in the US only behind New York.  And the price increase is noticeable when you do your weekly shop now.  What is perhaps surprising is how expensive comparable foods here are to what they cost in the UK - that doesn't seem right in the wake of Brexit.  Yes it's a lot cheaper to eat out here than it is in the UK, but the cost of groceries - particularly the healthy stuff like fruit and veg - is a lot cheaper in the UK than it is here.  No wonder obesity is so prevalent - it ain't cheap to eat healthily.  Not that I can use that as an excuse!  But I can say that it is not just the various British foods I miss (fish n chips, curry, sunday roasts, sausage rolls, pies, crisps, confectionery, pastries, etc), but it is also food shopping in general - I think I could eat a lot more healthily and with a lot more variety in the UK than I currently do here.  It might be time to switch up my grocery shopping - I've been thinking about trying some new places.   

Song of the Week #108

It's just gone 10 pm here, which is 6 am UK time.  And it feels like 6 am - I've just dozed off on the sofa watching some basketball, and I feel SO tired as I drag myself upstairs and into bed, and then I remember that I have to post something.  I don't feel like writing much, so here is another song instead.  Which I should probably have picked a few weeks ago.

Bathroom Stuff

There were 2 things I missed in the US when I was in the UK - taking a bath, and some nice toilet paper.  My oversensitive bum hole suffered when I was back.  Which is probably why I got through so much toilet paper (or was it because I got through so much toilet paper?).  I think generally I use too much anyway - which is why I have been giving some serious consideration to getting a bidet attachment for one of my toilets.  Apparently if you get a good one, they do wonders in keeping you clean and significantly reducing the amount of toilet paper you need.  So I might give one a go.  If it isn't too much trouble to install (which with my lack of DIY skills, is potentially a big issue).     

Body Clock

It's been less than a week, and I think I am still on UK time.  I am falling asleep in front of the TV in the evenings, totally unable to concentrate on any of the very many TV recordings that I made while I was away.  And then I wake up in the very early hours.  Even before sunrise.  It's all very disconcerting.  And probably not good for me.  I think I'm very slowly and incrementally readjusting to the time difference here, but it's taking me an incredibly long time - and considerably longer than adjusting to UK time from the US.  But perhaps I can make the most of this by getting into a healthier routine that involves starting the day early with some exercise.  And if my job workload remains light to non-existent, I think I can probably maintain this for a while even if I gradually start to wake up at a more sensible hour.