Jet Lag

It's been a week, and I'm still suffering from bad jet lag.  My sleep patterns have nowhere near returned to normal yet - I'm waking up really early and feeling tired/falling asleep in front of the TV in the early evenings.  It always seems to affect me a lot more when travelling from the UK to the US, rather than the other way around.  But this time seems particularly bad - I've got a long way to go until I'm back to normal and I don't think it's taken me this long before to readjust to the time difference.  I wonder if the clocks going back during my time away has messed things up more.  Or perhaps this is just another symptom of getting older...       

Headlines

It didn't take take long, but news of the Seattle site closure was on the Seattle Times website today - plus various industry websites.  Apparently a total of 72 employees in the Seattle office were laid off.  That's a lot more than I thought - I guess they also laid off some of the lab folks in addition to the various site-dependent people.  I didn't think we had more than 200 employees in Seattle (one of the articles I read mentioned that our company had about 230 employees in Washington State), so that's probably almost half the workforce here.  I know that all but one person in my function was converted into a remote employee.  Sadly the one person was our admin help, which is a shame because she had been working here for a long time (over 20 years) and was a really good person.  As much as I don't really mind converting to being a remote employee, it is still a sad time - realizing that there will be a number of colleagues that I won't see again.  If not friends, at least people I was friendly with.  And I think when you take the office away, that feels like the safety net being removed from your job security.  I don't think anything has changed in that regard - I still expect to be laid off before the end of next year.  The timing of the closure is very strange - not least because apparently our building lease was up in 2 years time.  I don't know why they didn't just wait until then - I suspect there are some nefarious tax reasons for that.  Now, just lots of questions.  Is there stuff we can take from the office (I wouldn't mind taking home my computer monitors, plus the comfy office chair)?  Will the office Christmas party still go ahead (apparently it has been paid for, but most of the organizers are the people who have been laid off)?  With our company's emphasis on coming into the office, why wasn't anyone offered the opportunity to relocate instead of becoming remote employees?  And so on.  It's not been a great end to the year has it.         

Yet More Lego

Look what I finally got:

Yet another set to add to the ever increasing pile of boxes in my spare room (with another one on the way, as I think I also want to get the Lego HMS Endurance set that is released on Black Friday).  

Job Developments

An unexpected and unwelcome development at work - my company has decided to close the Seattle site.  I haven't been laid off - at least not just yet.  Instead, I'm converting to a fully remote position.  But I suspect it's only a matter of time now until I do get laid off.  All of this is happening rather quickly.  I don't think anyone knew anything was wrong until we got the invite for a mandatory Seattle all-hands meeting late yesterday before being told the news this morning.  And we've essentially got less than 2 weeks to clear out our desks before becoming fully remote - so apparently the Seattle office is going to be shut before even Thanksgiving.  It could've been a lot worse - some people in the office will get laid off, and others will only be offered the chance to transfer to California. At least I won't have to put up with my annoying cube neighbo(u)r for much longer!  But there will be a lot of people I will miss seeing, and I will miss playing ping pong.        

Seattle-Tacoma International

Fun fact which I only recently stumbled upon - Sea-Tac Airport has the world's second largest parking lot with around 13,000 spaces.  And since all the spaces are in a garage, it's also the largest parking garage in North America.  To be honest, I'm actually quite surprised that there aren't bigger parking lots in the US.  Despite the enormous number of spaces, I have never parked there since it is so inordinately expensive to do so.  It is much cheaper to use one of the nearby off-site parking lots, which is what I do.  Normally you don't have to wait long for a shuttle bus to take you to your car, but this was the second time in a row where I've had to wait a while for one to come.  Thankfully there is quite a wide choice of off-site parking lots, so it might be time to try another one.         

Backyard Cam

I saw a deer in my yard this afternoon, so thought I'd check out my trail cam (which inexplicably didn't capture that deer).  Not a lot going on while I was away - apart from a lot of squirrel action.  I have never seen that cat before, I don't know which neighbor it belongs to but I don't like seeing it creeping around outside my house.

US Election Breakdown

This is the best breakdown I've seen on Trump's victory - courtesy of a British comedian.

Home Sweet Home

I'm back home in the US after a fairly uneventful journey back.  Now my mission for the weekend is to see whether I can fix some issues with my internal security cameras.  I noticed this when I was back in the UK.  My cameras seem to detect events without a problem (e.g. movement), but they do not load up when you try to watch the playback.  All you get is the spinning wheel of death.  When I get a notification saying that my camera has detected an event, that I don't like the fact that I can't immediately load up that event - what if it is an actual intruder or something that I need to call the police on and need to retain the video evidence.  The best I can do is look at the live feed instead - not ideal.  I have no idea if this issue is resolvable - judging from a quick internet search, it seems to be something that other people have encountered but unclear if there is an obvious solution.  Serves me right for going with the cheapest cameras and cheapest plan (a "name your price" one - my named price being $0).

The City (East)

One last London walk yesterday - this time a 3+ mile loop around the eastern half of the City.  Not only is this one of the oldest parts of London, it's also the financial center (centre).  I think I would've blended in better if I'd worn my suit!  This walk was tough to follow because it took me through all sorts of narrow lanes and alleys.  And it's a busy area. Winding past all the big institutions, and a surprising number of churches, I encountered lots of people and lots of places to eat and drink.  The queues for some of the more popular lunchtime spots were horrendous, so I probably missed out on some good food (e.g. Porterford Butchers seemed especially popular).  And yet another walk that took me near the Tower of London, somewhere that I have passed by countless times but don't remember ever having actually visited.  Next time.

Former President Elect Trump

No I didn't stay up to watch the US election.  No "I told you so"'s after the result.  But that doesn't stop a massive wave of disappointment, and then rising anxiety and dread at what the next 4 years might be like.  As I've always said, never underestimate the level of stupidity and naivety of the American people.  But you reap what you sow - I hope the American people are ready for chaos (for example, I hope all the white male Trump voters are ready for their porn to be blocked).  What Trump says and what Trump does are two very different things, so I don't know entirely what to expect.  But if Trump follows the right-wing agenda set out by the Heritage Foundation in Project 2025, which is likely, it could be awful in too many ways to list here.  I think his second term will be even more controversial than his first term, and I think America will only become even more divided.  And I expect one of the first things convicted felon President Trump will do is to grant himself a pardon.  Plus settle all the many personal vendettas he has accrued over the last 4+ years.  What a joke.               

Winchester

A day trip - well really a half-day trip - to Winchester today.  I think I've only been here once before, but I think it is becoming one of my favo(u)rite non-London UK cities to visit - tons of history, but not tons of tourists (although it was still quite busy today).  It's the kind of place I would want to live in if I ever moved back to the UK.  Which is a big if, because every time I come back to the UK any thoughts I have of moving back seem to dissipate.  I think I'm just happy to visit the UK nowadays.  Anyway, at a minimum Winchester is the kind of place I'd like to come back to - an attractive city with lots to see and do.  I didn't spend nearly as much there today as I'd like to, as I wasn't feeling well.  Just did 3 one mile walks around the main tourist sights in the city center (centre).  Didn't spend any money on entrance fees to any of the big sights or museums (e.g. going inside the Cathedral or checking out the famous King Arthur's Round Table), or do any shopping or dining, so could easily have made a full day of this.  And I still don't think I saw everything.  I certainly feel like I could've spent more time taking better photos - but hope these will suffice.

Frensham Little Pond

A visit to a National Trust property today - Frensham Little Pond.  Described as a "medieval bishop's fish pond in tranquil wildlife haven amidst precious heathland".  In layman's terms - "a good place to take your dog for a walk".  It's a walk we've attempted before, but somehow ended up going anti-clockwise around the pond instead of the planned clockwise.  This time the trail route directions made a lot more sense!  Though that's not to say the route could do with some more signage.  The waterfowl on the pond was definitely very noisy, but otherwise didn't see any other wildlife to speak of.  And then I managed to burn myself on the hot drinks at the cafe afterwards.  Nonetheless, a nice autumnal walk (if a bit short) on an overcast but dry day.