Release the Kraken

A good ice hockey day today.  There are few things as good in sports as a Game 7 in a best of 7 series, and there were two of those today.  Better than a Game 7 is a Game 7 that goes to overtime.  Where the first goal scored will send one team through and knock the other team out.  And there was one of those today.  And better than this is when a Game 7 goes to overtime and a team from Boston loses.  Any day when a team from Boston loses is a good day.  And that happened today - and this wasn't just any Boston team, this was a Boston team that had the best regular season record in history.  And, finally, better than this is when an expansion team in just their 2nd year beats the defending champion in a Game 7.  Yep, the Seattle Kraken did it.  Krazy.      

Bank Holidays

I get it, the US will never give us a day off for the coronation of King Charles.  But I note that you have yet another bank holiday this Monday - "Early May Bank Holiday".  What the hell... we haven't had a bank holiday since President's Day (20th Feb) and won't have one until Memorial Day (29th May).  Come on US, you're better than this - give us some damn time off.  But no you won't, because you treat your workers like crap.  No wonder so many of us are quiet quitting (something I've done well before this definition even existed). 

Heatwave

We're in the midst of a mini heatwave here.  It got up to the balmy temperature of (quickly converts fahrenheit into celsius) 25 degrees this afternoon.  Definitely t-shirt weather, almost shorts weather.  And given how cold it has been recently, it feels a lot warmer.  But have I been able to make the most of it?  Have I heck.  I've been stuck inside most of the day with too much work to do - and decreasing patience with my job.  What is interesting is that it is so much cooler inside my house than outside - a good 15 degrees cooler.  As soon as I step outside into the sun, the change in temperature is startling.  It just goes to show how little sun my house can get - particularly downstairs and in my main (north-facing) bedroom.  Not necessarily a bad thing on those hot summer days (a godsend when you don't have air conditioning), but I often find myself overdressed when I go out because I misjudge how warm it is once you get outside.          

Mustache Comb

I've never thought of owning a mustache comb before.  I've never had the desire or ability to grow the necessary facial hair to warrant it.  However, I will make an exception for this:

But only because this particular comb belonged to a certain Mr Freddie Mercury!  With an auction estimate of 400 to 600 pounds, that is certainly within my budget.  However, with the amount of press this auction - and this item - is getting I suspect it will actually go for a lot more.

Cold Turkey

You know that scene in Trainspotting where Renton's parents lock him in his bedroom and he has those terrifying hallucinations as he goes through heroin withdrawal - including that baby who does a full 180 degree head spin.  Well, that is kind of what I'm going through.  But not heroin.  No, my addiction is soda and I have now gone 2 full days without a soda.  Last night, I had the sweats, chills, nausea, pain and craving exactly like drug withdrawal.  It was a very sleepless night.  I don't know whether it is entirely due to going told turkey over soda, after all I think my blood pressure has been high recently.  But I've been drinking too much soda recently, so I need to do this.  I'm not going to stop drinking it entirely, after all I've got a load of cans in my fridge, but I definitely need to drink more in moderation.    

TV Theme Tunes #27

A bit of an obscure one this week - a theme that I don't recognize but from a very important show that I remember watching on Channel 4 on Saturday (?) mornings along with Football Italia.  An important show, because it introduced me to many new sports - in particular, the glorious spectacle of what should be an Olympic sport, kabaddi. 

Land Rover Classic Defender 90

I finished my second Land Rover today:

A Sporty Weekend

Lots of good sports on over the weekend.  Notably, it's the NHL playoffs (ice hockey) and the NBA playoffs (basketball).  Both these sports become a lot more watchable during the playoffs, where the energy and excitement cranks up.  One of my favorite things to watch is a hockey game that goes to overtime - because first team to score a goal wins, no matter how long the game goes on for.  We've had games that have gone to multiple overtimes, and the tension is palpable and the drama is extreme - but you can't stop watching.  The Seattle Kraken are in the playoffs for the first time.  Unfortunately they're facing the reigning champs (Colorado Avalanche) and are currently 2-1 down in a best-of-7 series.  What else did we have this weekend?  Well obviously we have football - with so much still to play for at the top and the bottom (looking forward to the rather big match on Wednesday!).  Now that Palace are in less danger of relegation, I can enjoy watching Arsenal blow it - rather than actually hoping they'll beat some of the other relegation contenders (I'm no fan of Man City, but I HATE Arsenal).  And this weekend we had the only NASCAR race I really care about - Talladega.  Mainly because this race always has the best crashes.  Take away the crashes, and motor sports becomes nearly unwatchable (prime example of this - Formula 1).

The Immediate Neighborhood

I thought it might be useful to use Google Maps to show where I live, and where some of the neighbors are relative to me.

Here is the overhead view:

A = my house (my landlord owns the garage just north of the house, but I wish I had use of it).  B = my landlord's house, C = neighbors 1 (whose son has held parties there before, but not recently, and are otherwise very quiet.  Though they did cut down a tree between my house and theirs when I was away over Christmas, which I didn't appreciate), D = neighbors 2 (who don't live there, whose shed has been broken into before, but who do maintain the property - there is currently some work going on there, but don't know what they're doing.  I think my landlord really wants to buy this property), E = mailboxes, F = house for sale, G = neighbors 3 (these are the ones who particularly get on my nerves.  Not so much the noise from kids on trampolines any more, but who have cut down all the trees on their property, constantly have bonfires, who had the rooster I had to complain about, etc.), H = neighbors 4 (Spanish language family, occasional loud parties, quite a bit downhill from where I am).  Right of H is where I think construction of a new house is taking place.

Here is street view 1:

Excuse the erasing - that's me removing the street name.  A = the end of my driveway.  This view gives an idea of how narrow and hidden my driveway is, and how much of a slope my driveway and the road outside my driveway is on.

And street view 2:

This is a bit further up the road.  A = where my mailbox is located.  To access it from my home I can either go down my landlord's driveway (B) or walk up the road from the end of my driveway (C).  Note the lack of pavement/sidewalk.

Dilemma

I like my James Bond trading cards - I've built up quite a nice, and quite a valuable, collection.  But a new release is going to test my fandom.  It has just gone on pre-sell, and it ain't cheap.  $300 for a hobby box.  Normally a box will contain a decent number of cards, and guaranteed to include a certain number of autograph or relic cards.  But this new release is a high-end set.  What does this mean?  You're paying $300 for just 6 cards.  Admittedly some high quality cards, some of which come are going to be numbered and quite rare.  But that is a lot of money, especially as I normally want to buy multiple boxes to ensure some decent hits.  I don't know - this might even be too expensive for me.  I haven't seen a checklist for this release yet - I suspect it won't contain many new autographers that I don't already have from previous releases.  But then I'll probably still regret it if I don't buy it.  A dilemma indeed.       

Cold

What is going on with the weather here.  It was a cold March, and the cold weather has continued into April.  At a time when I should be turning my heating down, I actually had to crank it up a few days ago.  Which is crazy.  And, he says looking at his electricity bill, expensive.     

Dangerous Roads

I was working from home today, but I took a little lunchtime drive to get some food and get out of the house.  And it was one of those days where it seemed like every single driver I encountered did something to annoy me.  Speeding, going too slowly, not using your turn signals, not being able to properly negotiate a roundabout, tailgating, being in the wrong lane at junctions, cutting in front of me, being on the phone, encountering big construction vehicles on small roads, running red lights, etc.  I saw everything in the space of about 15 minutes.  Shocking,  American drivers are the worst.   

TV Theme Tunes #26

I chose this theme because (a) I remember watching this show when I was younger, and (b) I believe it was set in Chicago and I was supposed to be going to Chicago this weekend.  Sadly I've had to postpone the trip, but I'm not going to postpone my choice of theme.

For Sale

I've noticed that a For Sale sign is once again up outside the empty house just down the hill from where I live.  The one where they did some work on it a few years ago, with the construction noise being much to my annoyance, but which has never actually had anyone living there in all the time I've been here.  It was interesting looking at the listing online.  Here are a few photos of the property:

Doesn't look great does it!  Yep, this needs some serious work to become even slightly livable.  And that's not even the half of it - I'm not sure if the property even has the most basic functions: electricity, water, sewerage.  And how much are they asking for it?  Only a cool half a mill.  Which, in my humble opinion, is insane.  It's a shell - the amount of time and money you would need to spend on this place on top of the purchase price is excessive to say the least.  But if this is the state of the local housing market, then that is exactly why I'm never going to be able to afford to buy a house of my own here.

Sunday Night TV

Succession, Yellowjackets, Lucky Hank, Barry, Waco: The Aftermath, Sanditon, Catching Lightning, 100-Foot Wave, Marie-Antoinette, Last Week Tonight.  I have made significant strides in reducing the amount of recordings on my DVR, but the current Sunday lineup kind of ruins it.  4 of these shows air at 9 pm, 3 at 10 pm.  I wouldn't have this problem if I cut the cord and focus on streaming services.       

Words

There are certain words in the English language that you don't hear that often but really capture your attention when you do.  Mainly because they are great.  And I was lucky to hear one of those during some basketball commentary a few days ago.  Why was basketball on?  Because it's the playoffs, and so I will catch an occasional game.  The commentary was by one of my favorite commentators - Kevin Harlan.  Just go on YouTube or Reddit, and you'll find that I'm not the only one that thinks he is great (e.g. there are YouTube clips of him doing some hilarious commentary on pitch invaders).  Anyway, a minor altercation occurred between some players during the game.  Only he didn't describe it as an altercation or melee or skirmish or dust-up or whatever.  Nope, he used another word.  One that you wouldn't expect.  Hootenanny.  Yep, a hootenanny.  When was the last time you heard that?  A perfect descriptor.  Magnificent use of the English language.  Amazing he just dropped that casually in the commentary, it's just so good and it's one I'd like to add to my lexicon and hopefully have the opportunity to use myself one day.     

A quick moan

Another moan about work, sorry.  It's bad enough having to work with colleagues whose first language is not English, and who cannot communicate effectively in English (and clearly would rather not work with me because I don't understand Chinese - I've been in way too many meetings where someone has started talking in Chinese, and then had to be told by someone else that I am on the call, and so have had to reluctantly revert to horribly broken English).  But on top of that, I'm currently working with a colleague whose English is barely comprehensible (even in e-mail form) yet when they communicate with me is somehow also incredibly patronizing.  I cannot work out whether it is intentional or not, but it is infuriating.  I do not appreciate my work being scrutinized as much at is by them - wholly unnecessary, especially by someone who is not as experienced and not as good at their job as I am.  And this person's difficult to understand chinglish comments come across as being talked down to like I am some kind of junior programmer - not someone who has being doing this sh*t for 25 odd years.  This person has already stuck their nose in my business where it isn't wanted, and now I feel like I am in some kind of unexpected power struggle.  And I think I am losing.  Nonsense like this is why I don't get promoted.  The sooner I finish or get reallocated away from my current project, the better.      

Not so Old Nick

Satan comes in many forms.  Including a young age.  Here are 3 examples from the small screen.  Some people may perceive these as being cute.  They are wrong, these are pure evil.

IT

I've got a mysterious problem at work.  My keyboard and mouse intermittently stop working.  They are wired and are plugged into a docking station.  I've been working with IT to try to identify the cause of the problem.  First thought was that it might be the docking station.  That got replaced last week, but then the same issue happened today.  It seems unlikely that both the mouse and keyboard are simultaneously the problem, but I got them replaced today.  But a crucial difference is that I now have a wireless keyboard and mouse - similar to what I have at home.  I haven't had any problems at home, so perhaps this solution might work in the office.  No problems yet.  But the IT guy has a somewhat out-there theory.  He think that static electricity might be the problem.  Now I admit to having noticeably more static electricity in my body for a while now, but could this really affect hardware?  That seems like some very dubious thinking to me - but I'm prepared to consider it.  Perhaps going wireless with my keyboard and mouse will therefore help - it'll be interesting to see if I encounter the problem again.  But I like the possibility that I'm so charged with static electricity that I cause hardware to break.  The IT guy joked that I am now officially banned from the server room!  Perhaps I'm developing some kind of superpower - whereby I start shooting electricity out of my hands.  Then the question becomes - do I use my newfound powers for good or for evil?      

TV Theme Tunes #25

I seem to remember watching a lot of this cartoon in my youth - a lot more than some of it's contemporaries like He-Man and Transformers.  Great theme as well.

Succession

I suspect no one who reads my blog watches Succession.  But you should do.  This last season is proving to be just as good as the previous ones, and yesterday's episode might have been the best ever.  Maybe one of the best episodes of TV that I've seen in quite a number of years - maybe since the Red Wedding in Game of Thrones.  No spoilers, but it's ironic that this episode also features a wedding.  Highly, highly recommended - right up there as one of the best written shows ever, with some of the most memorable dialogue ever.  This is one of those rare shows where the quality has never dipped over the seasons.  The same cannot be said of other great shows - I'm thinking particularly of Game of Thrones and Lost.  But I own box sets of both these shows, so it seems inevitable that I will get the Succession box set when it is released later this year.  If it sticks the landing in its final few episodes - which I have no doubt it will - then Succession is an obvious new entry in my top 10 favorite TV shows ever, maybe even the top 5.      

Leeds 1-5 Palace

I don't know what kind of black magic Roy Hodgson is employing, but he is doing the business so far.  2 games 2 wins - nice.  Never would I thought a Palace without Zaha would score 5 in a game, but there we go.  And the increase in attacking intent is surprising but welcome.  I wasn't sure whether Palace would have the backbone and character to fight to stay up, but both wins have come after going behind - so that is a great sign.  Of course, there is a also a degree of luck you need - like a last second goal to beat Leicester, or to only concede one goal in Leeds in that first half.  But in the second half against Leeds we were ruthless and clinical and impressive.  No we're not safe yet, still only 6 points clear of relegation.  But with games still left against the likes of Southampton, Everton, Wolves, West Ham, Bournemouth, Nottingham Forest - it is in our control, and I am more confident now we can get the results we need to stay up (2 more wins may be enough?).    

Back Patio Wildlife Update

I haven't checked my trail cam for a while, so I thought I would do today.  And it pretty much confirmed what I'd been seeing in real life recently - a lot of deer, squirrel and rabbit action.  Here are some of the highlights from the cam.  They include possibly an opossum, some bird life (note: not my peanut), a deer that looks as though it's been shaved, 2 of my enemies (crow and mouse) and an excellent photo of a coyote.

Bad Friday

A less than savory incident happened to me today.  I was retrieving mail from my mailbox.  To access my mailbox, I can either use my landlord’s driveway or go along the road at the bottom of my driveway.  I used the road today, mainly because I took a plastic bag with me so I can pick up a few pieces of trash on the way.  Walking along this bit of road can be a bit hairy – it's relatively narrow, there is no pavement (sidewalk) and the road has trees either side so it can quite dark (I won’t walk on the road if it’s not daylight).  The posted speed limit is 25 mph, but most cars are liable to go a lot than faster than that.  Now as a pedestrian, I would hope that cars would at least slow down a bit and give me a wide berth to pass me.  And most do.  But some don’t.  Some don’t slow down, some don’t move across.  As I was walking back to my house with my mail, someone in a white pickup passed me speeding.  I didn’t say anything, but I kind of turned my head with a disapproving look to follow the car round the corner after it passed me.  A few seconds later, the same car came back along the other side of the road, slowed down, window down, and the guy driving decided to start a “conversation” with me.  It went something like this – “Did you say something to me?”, "Excuse me?", "Did you say something to me?, “You were speeding”, “No I wasn’t”, “Do you know what the speed limit is here?”, “25 mph”, “Well you were definitely going faster than that”, “No I wasn’t, do you have a speed camera?  You want to be careful what you say, you could get hurt”.  And then he drove off.  Well, lovely.  I just got threatened on the road outside my house.  What charming people I have driving in my neighborhood – I thought the people who drop the trash are bad enough, but this is a step beyond even that.  I wish I had made a note of the license plate – but I will keep an eye out for that white pickup again.  Honestly, I wish they would just put in speed bumps on my road – but I don't think that will ever happen until someone (like me) gets hit by a car there.

Unscrupulous

Currently going through my first bad eBay experience.  I had won 2 auctions from the same seller – waited for the invoice with combined shipping costs to come through, paid immediately when it did, and package arrived promptly.  The only problem – but quite a significant one – the package only contained 1 of the 2 items.  Within the sealed contents, there was an empty sleeve where the 2nd item should have been – so not an error on my end, not a delivery error, this was clearly an error when the seller prepared the package.  So, via eBay, reported to the seller that I hadn’t received the item.  The seller should respond within 3 business days to offer a replacement or refund.  But nope, haven’t heard a thing from them yet.  Suspect I’m going to have to ask eBay to step in and help.  I think the chances of actually getting the item are zero now, but I’m worried that I might not even get a refund.  It is too easy to be dishonest in eBay – they only have my word that I didn’t receive the item.  I’ve never written a bad review in eBay, mind you I’ve never written a good review either, but I might have to make an exception in this case.  The lack of customer service is particularly disappointing.  I can’t decide if this is either incompetence or intentionally fraudulent behavior from the seller.  They have a store front in eBay and lots of items sold and on sale, so wouldn’t expect to have this kind of issue with them.  They do have some negative feedback, but overwhelmingly positive feedback.  They also – having done some Google searching– have an actual store in the Portland suburbs where they conduct their business.  Is this a Washington vs Oregon thing?  Whatever, it’s such a hassle to go though all this that I should get reimbursed for my time and stress as well as the cost of the item, taxes and delivery costs.  I’d be surprised if I get all or even any of my money back – if it’s my word against theirs, I’m going to lose out.  All of this just for a $50 James Bond autograph trading card (Robert Davi from Licence to Kill). 

TV Theme Tunes #24

Another classic 80's US theme tune.  It's been about 40 years, surely my car should be able to speak to me like KITT by now?

Circus

I don't care about Trump's indictment and the ridiculous media circus that surrounds it.  It plays right into what he wants - to be the center of attention.  And of course to stroke his massive ego, especially as the self-proclaimed victim of political machinations and whatever other conspiratorial nonsense he makes up.  Anyone with an iota of common sense knows that he is guilty of a lot worse than whatever it is he has been charged with this time.  But do we really expect him to be found guilty and given prison time?  I don't think so.  No, this is just the perfect platform for him to spew his hateful rhetoric and rile up his fanatical and idiotic supporters in advance of next year's election.  Nope, I can't be doing with all that.    

Bath Bomb

I got what I thought were some bath bombs for Christmas, and I've been trying them out.  But they were not what I was expecting.  By their very name - bombs - I thought they would explode and fizz up a lot more, have a bit more of a violent reaction with the water.  But that isn't the case - they just kind of slowly melt away.  Indeed, in the last bath I had there was some bath bomb left behind when I emptied the tub - brown in color, so it kind of looked like I had done something unpleasant in the tub.  So I have my doubts whether these are indeed bath bombs.  They seem to be more like some kind of bath salt or soap.  But a quick internet search suggests that bath bombs can expire.  Have mine already expired, even though it is not that long after Christmas?  That would be disappointing.        

Overreliance

Today was a disaster - I was without TV or the internet for most of it.  And it was tragic how apparent my reliance is on it to pass the day.  I was lost.  I have no idea why it went down - it's not like we've had particularly bad weather or anything, and it's not like I had a power outage.  And all the more frustrating when the updates I requested kept on pushing back the time when it would be resolved.  But fortunately I got it back in time this evening to write this.  But it's clear I need to spend more time on things that don't involve staring at a screen - whether that's a phone, a monitor or a TV.       

Lack of Photos

I feel I have to apologize for the lack of photos that I've been posting recently on this blog.  I simply haven't gone anywhere new or anywhere photographic for quite some time.  To be honest, I haven't really been getting out period as much as I'd like.  That has to change, beginning this month.  Ideally it was supposed to start today, but just as I was heading out this afternoon there was a long, and violent, hail storm.  So that kind of put a dampener on things.  I will have to make up for this tomorrow - even though there are snow showers in the forecast.  It also means that I have to sacrifice playing my nephew on the Switch - something I fear may become a lot less frequent, as our regular time to play on Sunday morning (for me) is when I'd really like to start going out hiking more regularly.  I guess that serves me right for moving somewhere far enough away to result in a 8 hour time difference.