The Flight From Hell

I'm suffering from some serious jet lag - I hardly got any sleep last night.  It may also be due to the fact that I'm recovering from an extremely stressful flight yesterday.  Why the stress?  Not the normal stuff - worrying about how well I've packed my luggage (nothing got broke or damaged, so I must have done a good job), worrying about how much my luggage weighs (it wasn't over the limit), worrying about how late I would get into Seattle (the flight was delayed by over an hour, but I still managed to get home at a reasonable hour), worrying about what my drive home from the airport parking would be like (not bad, even in the dark and not having had much sleep on the flight) etc.  No my stress was entirely caused by the woman sitting next to me on the flight - who was an absolute nightmare (a total Karen), which resulted in this being one of the worst flight experiences I've ever had.  She shouldn't have been on the flight - she was ill.  So for 10+ hours, I had to endure constant chesty coughing next to me.  It was unbearable.  And perhaps the worst thing was that she didn't make any effort to turn away from me to cough - so I dread to think what kind of viruses I've been exposed to.  If I develop a bad cough, or even COVID, then I am going to be so angry.  I was sitting about as far away and as turned away from her in my seat as I could, but there is no way I could avoid it.  And then there was the bathroom situation.  She had the window seat, I had the aisle seat - so I had to get out of my seat every time she needed to go to the bathroom.  I knew this was going to be a problem early on when she insisted on going to the toilet not long after takeoff when the seat belt sign was still on and the plane was still climbing - and she got shouted at by the flight attendants.  Then throughout the flight (at least once an hour over a 10 hour flight), she had to go to the bathroom.  It was ridiculous - she should never have been in a window seat.  So for much of the flight, I feigned I was sleeping - when I could see out of the corner of the eye that she was waiting and wanting me to move.  And then the dinner - the choice was between chicken and beef.  I wanted beef.  But we were one of the last rows to get served food in our section.  And guess who got the last beef meal?  Yep.  Dang it.  I think the flight attendants must have hated her as much as me - she was constantly turning the light on to get their attention, just so that she could get a glass of water or similar.  I can't tell you the overwhelming relief I felt when the flight was over.  I'm not sure how much more coughing I could take before I lost it on her.  I did mutter something when she clocked me with her hand luggage when retrieving it from the overhead locker.  What else about yesterday stressed me out?  The check-in process at British Airways - I guess in an attempt to further reduce it's workforce, now you can entirely check in without any human interaction.  Well almost - I couldn't because I required extra identity checks.  So I ended up in a massive queue for one of the few non-self service check in desks.  And then arriving in Seattle, they have totally changed the process for international arrivals.  Now you pick up all your bags before you go through passport control.  It's very weird - and no one checked my US customs declaration form, which seems like quite a serious flaw.  After all this, I wasn't sure what to expect when finally getting home.  Fortunately all the snow and ice had long melted away.  I wasn't sure what kind of tree debris I would find on my driveway - any big limbs?  Fortunately not.  But I did come back to something worse.  One of the overhead cables going into my house had come loose and was hanging dangerously over the driveway.  I was just about able to drive around it (courtesy of driving on some very muddy grass)  to get my car up to the house - but less than thrilled that my landlord hadn't noticed this and done anything about it.  A closer inspection this morning - in the light - reveals that I think it is the internet/TV cable that has come down.  But, very fortunately, I haven't lost connectivity.  So, all in all, it was a very stressful day yesterday.  I expect I shall fall asleep on the sofa tonight a long time before the new year countdown!               

Too tired

After a long day of travel - I am back home and too tired to write anything.  It was also a very stressful day, which makes for a nice tease for tomorrow's entry. 

British Museum

A few photos of some of the looted treasures to be found in the British Museum:

 

TV Theme Tunes #10

The theme from a classic childhood cartoon - at least from my generation - this week.  So very European, which is why I think it felt very different and interesting to me as a youngster.  But as I look at it now, it clearly also has some Japanese origins in the animation - which on some sub-conscious level must have felt exotic and appealing to me as well.

Mrs Brown's Boys

My god, is there a TV show worse than Mrs Brown's Boys?  It's absolutely terrible.  Just horribly, painfully, unrelentingly unfunny and unwatchable.  But there it is, airing in a prime Christmas Day slot on BBC1.  Shocking.  If i paid a TV licence fee, I would be absolutely incensed that even a fraction of it goes to this abomination.  If I was Irish, I would be furious of my backward depiction in this atrocity.  As it is, I am dumbfounded and embarrassed that I have at least one relative who apparently finds it funny.  I don't know what the viewership is, but I'm guessing they aren't the only one.  The show is so bad that it isn't even good enough to get an American adaption - thank god for small mercies.  That's America with its many, many terrible sitcoms over the years.  That's how bad it is.  My advice - if you want good Irish comedy, watch repeats of Father Ted.      

Boxing Day

A common question I get asked in America - why is the day after Christmas Day called Boxing Day in the UK?  (It doesn't have a name in the US - and is not a public holiday.)  My only answer is - I have no idea.  I think I need to look it up so that I can come up with a better response than that.  I feel like it is something I should know, but I don't - a rather disappointing gap in my knowledge.  But then having got a brief taste of the plethora of quiz shows in the UK, my general knowledge is sadly lacking nowadays - I blame America.  

A Christmas Message from Donald J Trump

Trump getting into the seasonal spirit of peace and goodwill.  I suppose this is the American equivalent of the Queen's King's Christmas Speech.

"Merry Christmas to EVERYONE, including the Radical Left Marxists that are trying to destroy our Country, the Federal Bureau of Investigation that is illegally coercing & paying Social and LameStream Media to push for a mentally disabled Democrat over the Brilliant, Clairvoyant, and USA LOVING Donald J. Trump, and, of course, The Department of Injustice, which appointed a Special "Prosecutor" who, together with his wife and family, HATES "Trump" more than any other person on earth. LOVE TO ALL!"

As classy as ever.

Postbox Toppers

This must be a recent thing, as this is the first trip back I've ever seen one of these:

They seem somehow quintessentially British.  But I do like them.

I Must Be Dreaming

Hopefully LEGO will produce another James Bond set if they have retained the rights.  I'd say they couldn't go wrong with this:

I would happily pay a hefty sum of money for a big James Bond LEGO figure.  That would look great in my house.

Bomb Cyclone

I just checked the Seattle Times website, and the headline is "Freezing Temps, icy rain and snow".  Yikes.  It's not just Seattle though, most of the US is currently blanketed by a massive winter storm.  The snow and freezing temperatures are going to cause a LOT of trouble - especially those areas not used to it (places like Texas and Florida could particularly suffer).  As for Seattle, it's currently a lot of flight delays/cancellations and road closures.  And, tomorrow, an ice storm is looming (not the first time Seattle has had one - I read that the last one was in 2012, when I was living in Seattle but I don't remember it).  Temperatures haven't got above freezing for the last few days, and freezing rain is due to fall.  This is going to cause some horribly icy road conditions, plus the potential for power outages (unsurprisingly there is an official winter storm warning through tomorrow, with big snow and ice accumulations expected).  Thank god I'm here rather than there!  And, mercifully, from Christmas until I fly back it looks like milder and wetter weather in the forecast - so hopefully things will clear up by the time I get back.  If I'm able to get back home without any issues, then I might have dodged a couple of bullets in avoiding the worst of the weather when flying in and out of the UK this time.  But, sadly, I might have to seriously rethink coming back at this time of year with the potential for disruption.

TV Theme Tunes #9

I don't normally take requests, but that's only because I don't get them.  Unexpectedly, I got a request today.  And I wholeheartedly approve of the choice, because it's not one I would have thought of picking.  Of the many results on YouTube, I found an extended version of the theme that in actuality is just the 2.5 minute actual theme repeated a number of times - so that is all you need.

The Big Smoke

A trip into London today, and a reminder why I both love and hate this city.  It was SO crowded.  So many people, almost enough to trigger my anthropophobia.  I hated it.  But this is what makes London such a vibrant and dynamic city.  This mass of humanity is a blessing and a curse.  

I wanted to go to the British Museum with all it's plundered treasures.  Before the inevitable time when all the most popular and interesting objects get returned to their original countries.  Which of course they should.  I booked a timed entry in advance - but did it allow me to skip the massive queue to get into the museum?  Did it heck.  In fact, not a single person checked my ticket - so that was a total waste of time.  And once inside, the galleries were so packed - unpleasantly so.  To the extent that I could only tolerate seeing the sights on the ground floor (even then, not all the "must-see" objects were available for viewing), and not even venturing up to the upper floor.  So there was a whole bunch of stuff I didn't even get to see on this trip.  Which is fine, I'll revisit this place on another trip back to the UK when hopefully things aren't quite so hectic.  And then after the museum, I tried to do some shopping.  But that was tough - it would be an understatement to say that the week before Christmas is not the best time to try to go to Oxford Street.  Especially a week between rail strikes.  And as for my decision to pop into places like the Lego Store in Leicester Square and Hamleys - even enduring their queues to enter - I can only conclude that I have some weird masochistic streak, since these places with their seas of obnoxious children is my very definition of hell.  But I got the Lego items I wanted (only available at these places, which is why I went). 

I did take a few photos, I'll include them in a future post.        

Contactless Payment

I think I probably touch on the same themes every time I come back to the UK, so I apologize if I sound like a broken record.  But I'm once again struck by the prevalence of contactless payment.  Every single retailer uses it.  Transport uses it (such as the bus I took today).  It makes the payment process so much quicker and easier (and in these covid times, safer).  And I simply cannot understand why it hasn't been widely adopted in the US, at least in my experience.  I have never used contactless payment in the US.  I'm not even sure if all my cards are capable of this form of payment, or whether the retailers I frequent are capable of accepting this form of payment.  I do think that Apple Pay is available at many places - but that is not quite the same.  It's weird, symbolic of how backward he US seems to be compared to the rest of the developed world in this regard.  And much less secure.  After all, this is the same country where chip and signature is the norm rather than chip and PIN - another serious gripe.         

More Cold Weather Views

With the advent of some warmer weather today - here are some more photos from when it was really cold.  It somehow seems appropriate that as the weather warms up in the UK, there is the risk of lowland snow (and freezing rain!) back in Seattle this week.  One of my big fears is returning and finding myself unable to access my home due to snow and/or ice buildup on my driveway.  But this is exactly the kind of thing that I shouldn't worry about so much - there is nothing I can do about it now, may not be an issue when I return, and even if it is then I can only deal with it then.  But dwelling on it now is the kind of needless stress I would like to eliminate from my life - but seem unable to do so.  It's a kind of anxiety that I fear could get worse as I get older, and I don't want that.     

GB vs UK

Something I noticed for the first time today since being back - when did cars switch from using GB car stickers to UK car stickers?  A quick internet search reveals that this was a post-Brexit decision by the government, and came into effect last year.  And I had absolutely no idea.  And why is this particularly distressing to me?  Because my US car has a GB sticker on it.  Apparently, now I need to get a UK car sticker!  And why the change?  Clearly an example of petty politics and government bureaucracy at its worse. 

Insanity

I get it - watching the news helps you stay informed.  But there are many studies showing that watching too much news is bad for you - particularly for your mental health.  The news consists almost exclusively of negative stories, too much of which can cause worry, anxiety, depression, sleeplessness, paranoia.  And watching multiple news programs a day (lunch, tea, night) - often containing the EXACT same stories and features - on top of reading one or two newspapers every day, listening to countless coverage of news on the radio, plus taking in however much internet news content you want - is insane.  So much negativity, so much repetitiveness, so much wasted time.  But what do they say about insanity?  Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.  Is it insane to consume so much of the same negative news every day?  Or is it insane to think that anything I say or do will ever make a jot of difference, if they've been consuming news this way for so many years?  Habits are difficult to break - especially when they are not perceived as being bad (even though they are).  And when you've been doing the same thing over and over again for so many years - then logic and reason don't matter so much.  So I hereby give up trying to make a difference - and will only watch on with barely concealed contempt (and pity).            

A Cold Morning

Should I have made more of the non-rail strike day today?  Probably, trains were running even if it was impossible to predict how delayed they would be.  However, another factor forced my decision.  It was too cold to want to spend any prolonged period outdoors - whether that be on a train platform, or doing a walk somewhere in London.  It was a biting and bitter cold - only just about bearable enough for a dog walk, but not much more.  Here are a few shots from the River Wey:

TV Theme Tunes #8

This week's choice seems appropriately seasonal - a classic theme tune to a classic Christmas show, that I would really like to watch again after so many years.

The Traitors

I'll be spending more time watching TV than previous trips back, so what TV should I be watching?  Well, The Traitors quickly came up as a show that I should try to make time for and that I might enjoy.  So I've been catching up on it on the iPlayer, so what do I think?  It's not really my bag - an overly produced reality show almost entirely dependent on contestants who you don't really want to root for.  But I can see how it can quickly become very addictive - pitting people against each other, even in this very forced and artificial manner, always has it's merits (hence the base appeal of films/shows like Hunger Games, Squid Game, Battle Royale, etc).  And this show clearly likes to throw everything it can at the audience - with all it's ridiculous twists and tricks.  It is hardly a show full of deep psychology - most of the contestants are as thick as two short planks, and therefore incapable of playing a particularly nuanced game.  But I will probably see it all the way through.  Because I'm a sucker.         

Tired

Good to be back in Blighty!  Too tired and jet-lagged to compose a coherent post.  Suffice to say that the flight was delayed and I didn't get an upgrade.  Indeed, it's been many a trip now without an upgrade.  I have some theories, but fundamentally I think I am no longer in the target demographic for an upgrade - too old, too cheap, not a frequent enough traveler, whatever.  That, or the airline has changed it's upgrade policy - to not grant them any more.  Symbolic of the increasing disregard to customer service granted by the airline industry.  Or, my last theory - and perhaps one I can test out on the return flight - is that I check in too early.  If I check in later, is it possible that all the premium economy seats are taken and I have to be assigned one in business class?  I doubt it, but no harm in trying.         

Yellow Warning

I'm flying to London today.  Or at least I hope I am.  When the BBC website has a headline like "Snow, ice and freezing fog cause travel disruption", then you don't worry too much because you think they're just talking about Scotland and maybe also north England.  But nope, then I see that some flights from Heathrow were canceled today.  Now that is cause to worry.  I guess I should expect some cold weather when I arrive - and after I've only just got over the cold weather here (the snow hasn't all entirely melted away yet!).  And it's not just my flight to think about, but also the road conditions - please drive safely if you're coming to pick me up from the airport!  Let's see: weather, strikes - what else could go wrong with this trip?  Family members - please don't come down with any illnesses!       

England 1-2 France

 Well ... SH*T.

You can't say we didn't have our chances to win it.  Indeed, we were the better team.  What an incredibly tense game, almost unwatchable at times, and decided by such small margins.  Gutted.  Will this be the best opportunity for England to win the World Cup in my lifetime?  I hope not.  But at least I won't hear an insufferable amount of Football's Coming Home when I'm back in the UK!

Sorry, Not Sorry

Sorry that Argentina made it through, not sorry that Brazil got knocked out.  What we needed in this World Cup was a nasty, ill-tempered, niggly game - and we got that and some (in baseball parlance - as the American commentators liked to point out - the benches cleared multiple times).  And who were the antagonists?  Naturally, Argentina.  If England don't win this World Cup, then I only have one wish.  And that is that Argentina does not win it.  I don't like them one bit.  I don't like their fans.  I don't their dirty and cynical way of playing.  I don't like their lack of class.  I don't like De Paul and Di Maria (easily in consideration for players I would most like to punch).  I don't like the pandering adulation of Messi (something the American coverage is particularly guilty of, but I don't think it's alone).  I don't like the ugly jail-type tattoos that many of the Argentinian players seem to have.  And, if I'm going to be honest, I still don't forgive them for either the Falkland Islands or for getting Beckham sent off in 1998.  I was happy that Brazil got knocked out earlier (and a note on this game - I don't think enough credit was given to just how good Croatia were at frustrating both the Brazilian players and their fans, and I think they deserved to win.  And let's just say it was some welcome karma for the Brazilians annoying and disrespectful dancing in the previous round).  But after the Argentinian game, I was actually a bit disappointed that it wasn't a Brazil-Argentina semi-final, which would have been very, very tasty indeed.  Instead, Argentina are probably favorites to make the final (despite having lost to Saudi Arabia, of all teams, earlier in the tournament) and we are going to have endless coverage of Messi's pursuit of the only trophy to elude him so far.  Yawn.        

Holiday Party

It was our office holiday party today.  It was held at this expensive restaurant on the downtown Seattle waterfront.  I was back and forth about going, but after one of my friends offered to drive then I did go.  The very fact that we had to use public parking once there was odd to say the least - we can splash out all the money on this venue, but not the restaurant parking, doesn't make much sense to me.  But I'm glad the party was held in the afternoon rather than the evening, and no plus ones.  But, if I'm going to be honest, I found it all rather underwhelming.  For a very expensive restaurant with good online reviews, the food was disappointingly middling.  It's also the kind of event where I think you have a much better time if you're drinking - and this was essentially an open bar with plenty of free cocktails to be had.  However, since I was driving home then I had to stick to these rather disappointing mocktails.  And unfortunately the party just proved how few people in my office that I don't even recognize let alone know or can talk to - I could blame the pandemic and remote working for this, but to be honest I don't think it would be much different even if we hadn't had a pandemic.              

TV Theme Tunes #7

So why am I choosing a theme tune that I'd never heard before until this week, from a TV show that aired before I was born and that I've never seen?  One reason - John Barry.  Who just so happens to be the composer of the James Bond theme, so you know this is going to be a good one (which it is).  And, not uncoincidentally, the show happens to feature a certain Sir Roger Moore - in what looks to be a great precursor and/or audition for his role as James Bond.  Now I want to watch the show.

More Animal Action

Apparently my trail camera is not very good at picking up animal activity in wintry conditions.  I can see all kinds of animal tracks in the snow around my house (deer and rabbit for sure, but definitely others), but my camera didn't capture anything.  Which is extremely disappointing.  But here are a few more pre-snow images:

Team-Building

I braved my very icy driveway to go out for some team-building events today.  In fact, my driveway is the only problematic part of my getting anywhere - once you're on the roads, they are fine.  It's quite interesting to see how quickly the snow disappears when you head south just a short way - just goes to show how localized the heavy snowfall was, with my neighborhood taking the brunt of it.  We first met up at a place called Topgolf - which is essentially just a driving range with golfballs that are electronically tracked, so you can play these different golfing video games.  Like a slightly more real version of Wii Golf!  This wasn't my choice of places to go - and frankly I'm surprised it won the vote because most of my colleagues don't play golf and don't know how to hit a ball - but it was quite good fun and after a shaky start I did quite well.  I would consider going back.  And then we went to a Brazilian steakhouse - I think only the second time I've ever been to one of these - which was absolutely delicious (but not the kind of place I would normally go to, as it ain't cheap!).  I'm not sure how much actual "team-building" we did - most of my manager's team was there, including a couple of remote workers who are in Seattle for a few days, but then my manager couldn't make it because she tested positive for covid!  I'm back home now and absolutely stuffed after all the meat I consumed at lunch today!          

England 3-0 Senegal

For about half an hour I was nervous - England were ponderous and sloppy, giving the ball away and Senegal having all the chances.  But then England scored, and the rest of the game was a breeze.  We have an uncanny ability to turn it on suddenly, string a few passes together and score a nice team goal.  It's unexpected, and impressive, how good we look when we play with confidence.  We're going to need to do that to have a chance against France.    

More Snow

It snowed again last night.  Less than earlier in the week, maybe about 3 inches, but still enough to cause me all kinds of grief.  I had to clear the driveway of snow again, which with the size of my driveway is exhausting and a hassle (I managed to break my snow shovel as well, which isn't good).  Fortunately no more snow currently in the forecast before I go back to the UK, but now it's subfreezing overnight temperatures to deal with.  All the snow melt freezing up is going to be a big issue.

   

World Cup Group Stages

So, we've finally got to the knock-out stages of the World Cup.  I might actually start watching more of the games in their entirety now.  4 games in one day was and is far too many, so at least that's over with.  I wouldn't say there have been a lot of good games, but there have been a lot of tense games.  And we've had some shocks (notably Germany and Belgium not progressing), a lot of controversy and some very weird results.  A lot of big teams surprisingly lost their last group game but qualified for the knock-out stages (France, Brazil, Spain, Portugal), and it's going to be interesting to see if this affects them going forward.  If you're going to lose a group stage match you would rather it was the first game, like Argentina.  Talking about Argentina, they definitely top my list of least favorite countries - they truly are the masters of the dark arts of football.  That's why it was so good to see another of those teams - Uruguay - get knocked out today.  I think I have a bias against Spanish-language and Portuguese-language countries - I don't want to see any of them lift the cup.  It's also noteworthy that Palace's only 2 players to feature in the World Cup (and only having 2 in itself is kind of insulting) have both been knocked out - so now I don't even have a second country to root for.        

Snow

I'm stressed.  It's been a nightmare since Tuesday, when I got hit with about 8 inches of snow, mostly overnight.  The snow was really heavy.  One of the more disturbing experiences was standing in my front doorway watching the snow coming down in the darkness, with the only sound - and literally the only sound - being the breaking of tree limbs under the weight of the snow.  Indeed, a big tree limb came down and blocked my driveway.  The only tool I had to deal with this was a little hacksaw, which was entirely inadequate.  My landlord is currently in Hawaii, but fortunately one of his sons was around and was able to bring out the chainsaw.  Perhaps I need to get one!  In many ways, I was lucky to only have my driveway blocked - there were thousands of people in the area affected by power outages (indeed, I briefly lost power overnight), and the only way this could have been worse was if I had lost power and was trapped in a freezing house.  The amount of snow was way more than forecast, and the temperature hasn't warmed up enough for the snow to melt away yet.  And indeed the overnight lows are going to be well before freezing, so the roads and my driveway are going to freeze up.  I could be trapped for a while if the daytime temperatures don't get high enough to melt the ice and snow - I had an opportunity to get out to do some shopping this afternoon, but I didn't take it and I hope I don't come to regret that.  It's already started affecting my plans - if it doesn't get better next week (and the forecasts seem to suggest there will be more snow events) then I might have to pass on a team-building event and a holiday party.  And I am very nervous about what the weather will be like when I'm due to drive to the airport and fly back to the UK.  Lots of flights out of Seattle have been canceled over the last few days, so this is somewhat troubling.  And to top it all, I've also hurt my back from all the snow I shoveled.  And I've been so preoccupied with the weather, that I haven't been able to get any work done.  Next week could be even more stressful...