Minus deer, a full complement of backyard wildlife captured on trail cam over the last few weeks. I should maybe move the camera to somewhere else, just for a bit of variety. It's also that time of year when there is a load of cottonwood seeds everywhere - in the air and covering my driveway with white fluff. Thank god I'm not allergic to it.
With the Olympics rapidly approaching, they’ve started advertising it in the US by airing these little featurettes highlighting various US competitors. And I caught one the other day featuring someone who competes in “breaking”. What the heck is “breaking” you may be asking yourself? Well, I kind of knew because I heard about this a few years ago, but I’m still kind of sad that it was confirmed. Yes, breakdancing is an official Olympic sport. What an absolute joke. Simply ridiculous. Especially when you think of all the popular and international sports that are not in the Olympics. How do you compete in breakdancing? How many spins you can do on your head in one minute?! This is probably another one of those sports that are subjectively judged – something that I am really starting to disagree with. The Olympics should stick to sports that are objectively measured – whether by time, by distance, by a score, by a weight lifted, etc. The winner of breakdancing can only, presumably, be decided upon by a judge. By god knows what criteria. Sure, it’s not the only sport like this – for example, a lot of the gymnastics events suffer from a similar issue. But breakdancing seems particularly egregious, and seemingly a rather pathetic attempt to appeal to a younger and more “urban” demographic.
There's a certain irony that whilst I have Neighborhood Wars on the telly, one of those crappy clip shows of real-life neighbo(u)rs fighting, I'm once again getting irritated by my neighbor across the way. After leaving a note, he actually got in touch with me via my landlord (who has apparently bought lumber from him before or something). Anyway, we exchanged a few text messages (generally amicable, although I may have irritated him a bit by not wanting to meet face-to-face) and things have been alright for the last month or so. Perhaps also helped by the foliage building up to partially block my view of his property - out of sight, out of mind. But over the last few days, I've once again noticed outdoor burning going on - particularly noticeable at night when I can see the flames. And I also heard the tractor this morning. Oh dear, after a month's break does that mean things are going to get bad again. Great. I've got his number, so at what point do I say something? I want to point out that his outdoor burning is clearly illegal, but I don't want to provoke him to make things worse. It's a delicate tightrope. My god, I hate feeling like I'm turning into a Karen. But why can't I just have normal neighbors? It's just like at work - why did this co-worker have to take the space next to me? There were so many better cubicles to choose from that afforded a lot more privacy, but nope they had to go right next to me. And it's very annoying - for example, we clearly disagree about when blinds should be drawn or not. People suck.
Not happy. I've somehow contrived to lose a baseball cap. One that I'm positive I've worn over the Memorial Day weekend, but which for the life of me I can't find anymore. I've looked everywhere multiple times - including the trash - but absolutely no sign of it. I don't know what I could have done with it - there's only so many places I could have left it, and it's just not there. And it's not exactly the kind of object you can just leave behind somewhere outside the house - I'm either wearing it or not wearing it outside the house. It's driving me insane. It wouldn't be so bad if I could just buy a replacement - but it's a Spectre cap that's not available anymore. Which is especially annoying. I hope it turns up eventually, otherwise I can only conclude there are unnatural forces at work.
"In the criminal justice system, sexually based offenses are considered especially heinous"
Oh no, what is wrong with me. I've been watching old episodes of Law & Order: SVU over the last few days. About as generic and one-dimensional as shows get. And especially popular among the elderly. It's been on for god knows how long (actually - according to Wikipedia - since 1999 and over 550 episodes, the longest running primetime live-action series on US TV). And it's not particularly good. No originality - all the storylines seem to have been cobbled together from real life crime in the news. And the acting is atrocious - the main culprit being Ice T. It's especially heinous to see a rapper who had a big hit called "Cop Killer' badly playing a cop for countless episodes.
They call the Indy 500 - which is raced every Memorial Day weekend - the "greatest spectacle in racing" or the "greatest show on wheels". It isn't. Admittedly, I don't watch much Indycar racing, because I find it about as uninteresting to watch as I find Formula 1. And some of the race that I caught today only confirmed that. And the Indy 500 traditions can't redeem the tedium of the race - the kissing of the bricks, the chugging of milk, whatever. But this wasn't the only race today. We also had the Monaco Grand Prix - which I didn't bother watching, because even by Formula 1 standards it's an absolute procession. And we also had the Coca-Cola 600 in NASCAR - which as I write this blog (about 8 pm) is currently under a rain delay, one of my pet peeves with this type of motor racing. Making the longest race of the NASCAR series even more ridiculously long. And totally unwatchable. As with a lot of other sporting events, I've got into the habit of recording NASCAR races, so I can fast forward through all the adverts and most of the racing - only watching the interesting parts, which in the case of motor racing is the crashes. And, recently (and amusingly), the fights between drivers.
2 different theme tunes from the same kid's show today, plus the end tune which I knew the words to.
A nice bit of colo(u)r from a plant that is currently blooming in my yard. And one that I don't remember having bloomed before.
Don't ask me what kind of plant it is. Not my expertise. Is it an azalea? Maybe a rhododendron? No clue.
It's taken me until today to realize that the calendar in my kitchen - a calendar that is right by my sink and which I must glance at many times a day - was still displaying April. That is 23 days before realizing I hadn't turned the page. Am I going mad? Am I going senile? Am I getting old? Definitely yes to the third. Though of all the days, I didn't think I would notice it today. I'm horribly distracted by work right now - lots of stuff to do, lots of deadlines coming up over the next few weeks, lots of issues to deal with, lots of people testing my patience. I am stressed - and it is affecting my sleep, my physical health and my mental health. I need a holiday. Oh wait, I have a big one coming up.
Well, that's just fantastic. I'm thrilled at the fact that I'm timing my visit back to the UK for a general election. Just great. I can honestly say I don't even know who the current leader of the Labour Party is. That is how little invested I am in British politics. I've also only recently become aware of the fact that I'm also timing my visit back for a big chunk of Euro 2024. That is entirely coincidental. Not sure whether that is a good thing or a bad thing. Guess it depends on how well England do.
Not sure I entirely agree with everything in this list I came across - but here are apparently 14 things Brits living in the US miss most about the UK:
1. Marmite
2. Pubs
3. Crumpets
4. Bacon
5. Walking around town
6. Proper butter
7. Proper bread
8. British sense of humour
9. Cadbury chocolate
10. Annual leave
11. Tea
12. Cheese
13. Maternity leave
14. Greggs
I should feel elated. A top half finish seemed unthinkable just a few months ago. But here we are. And we finished above Brighton to boot. But it feels bittersweet. Sweet because we've ended the season on such a great run of form and results. Bitter because the season has to end. And I'm not sure if we'll be able to hold on to our best players, or even our manager. I think that will give a good indication of how ambitious Palace ownership will be. If we can keep the team together, then I don't see why we can't push for a European spot next season. I hope so, but I will remain anxious over the summer.
I saw my first Tesla Cybertruck on the road today. For those who are not aware, this is what it looks like:
Yes, I shall be getting this Lego set when it is released at the start of June.
I haven't done one of these for a few weeks, but they are a nice fallback when you don't feel like doing a proper blog entry. And it's a classic this week - from a national treasure no less.
I haven't subscribed to Netflix for a very long time. Indeed, the last time might have been when I got Blu-rays through the mail from them - which gives you an idea of how long ago it was. But that might be about to change. Comcast - who are my cable and broadband provider - have announced that they are going to offer a discounted streaming bundle to their customers. This includes Netlfix, Apple TV+ (which I have never subscribed to) and Peacock (which I've already got). It seems that these streaming bundles are the way forward - a lot of them have been introduced, or about to be introduced, recently. We have a Disney+, Hulu and Max bundle, a Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ bundle, and - one I definitely want to keep an eye on, since they claim it will cover all major sports - is an ESPN, Fox and Warner Bros. sports bundle. The big question is - do these streaming services replace what I currently have, or are they just yet another expensive addition?
I haven't won many eBay auctions recently, but I did win this one.
And it's a PSA Gem Mint 10 autograph - which essentially means it's a virtually perfect autograph. Sweet.
As I was heading home from on the office on Friday evening, I noticed that the traffic going the other way - into downtown - was absolutely horrendous. Backed up a long way, and not moving. I found out why. President Biden was in the Seattle area this weekend. No doubt fund-raising for the upcoming election. When the president visits, it's an absolute nightmare for the "ordinary" people. Flights get delayed, traffic gets stopped, roads get closed, protests and protesters pop up everywhere - and generally a whole lot of disruption. A lesson in how not to endear yourself to your potential voter base. As far as I'm aware, he didn't make any public appearances - all just private fundraising events for his rich donors. Well, thanks a lot for visiting. You're going to lose the election.
Yesterday night, the aurora didn't start promisingly. This was the view about 10 pm:
My iPhone picked up a little bit of green, but not much. But then, when I went outside again about 11 pm, this is what I saw:
Absolutely amazing. Best aurora I've ever seen - better even than the time I went to Iceland to try to see it. Obviously the colors on the iPhone are not what you see in reality - but you could still see white streaks in the dark sky, like streaks of sunshine between clouds on a cloudy day. And at it's peak, I'm sure I could see tinges of red and green in the sky just with my eyes. Considering I was just taking photos with my crappy old iPhone 11 from my deck and without a tripod or anything, quite pleased with how they turned out. We've still got clear skies, so there's a chance of seeing more of the same tonight as well.
As well as being the hottest day of the year so far (I went out for a long walk from the office this afternoon, and it felt like I was the only person not wearing shorts), we also have a really good aurora forecast tonight. I don't really feel like driving a long way to somewhere away from the city lights, but we do have clear skies tonight so I might go outside later to see if I can see the Northern Lights. Unfortunately, the best chance of seeing it is to look north - and that is the direction of my favorite neighbor, who has some very bright outdoor lights.
The next few days are forecast to climb into the 80's. 80 degrees Fahrenheit is about 27 degrees Celsius. It's a scorcher! And as is typical for these really nice days, I have loads of work on at the moment so I'm not going to be able to get outside as much as I'd like to make the most of the weather. Indeed, I might even have to work over the weekend. Which really sucks. I will however try to build the picnic table I bought almost 9 months ago and haven't taken out of the box yet. Based on my recent experiences constructing some book shelves, expect a lot of swearing and shoddy workmanship.
Been watching a few of the (ice) hockey playoff games. Makes me ashamed of myself that I haven't been to see the Seattle Kraken play live at least once yet. I have seen a game before, I went to see the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim play when I lived in California. But that was obviously a long time ago. I think hockey is one of those sports that is much better to see live than it is on telly. So that is going to be a priority for me next season. Especially since hockey on telly has a couple of noticeable flaws. Firstly, that it can sometimes be really difficult to follow the puck. Thank god for HD! Secondly, it is impossible to actually see some of the game when the play is up against the boards on the camera side. I don't know any other sport that suffers from that kind of issue.
I am currently binge-watching Bosch (and Bosch: Legacy). An LA-set detective series that has been around for quite a while (since 2014) on Amazon Prime. It's enjoyable, straightforward, and very watchable. It's the kind of show that I think network TV should aspire to - but then network TV is severely hampered by it's many restrictions on language and nudity. Particularly when it comes to swearing, something that Bosch is not shy about. Which is why network TV will eventually die, unless it adapts.
Well, that was satisfying! I enjoyed watching a replay of the game this evening, even though I knew the result. And I even more enjoyed watching videos of Man Utd fans having some serious meltdowns.
Since it was such a wet and miserable day today, here are a few photos from when it was nicer a few days ago and I went for a lunchtime walk from the office around Lake Union. I tried to find some locations I hadn't taken photos from before, though ultimately the views are pretty much the same.
I don't think this is the first time I've said this, but I HATE the Mail app on the iPhone. Once again, I've encountered issues where mail is not showing up on my phone. Is it the Mail app or is it Outlook/Hotmail at fault? Why do I still use a Hotmail account like the technophobe I am? I don't care, so long as I manage to get it working again. This involves playing around with various settings, restarting the app, restarting the phone, deleting and re-adding my mail account, etc. That's a whole lot of time wasted on this nonsense. And then I get new issues - like no longer getting sound notifications when I get a new e-mail - that I have to resolve. And I still don't know whether I've fixed it. Very frustrating.
Apparently Covid is still a thing. I've a friend here who I hadn't heard from for a few months. So I got in touch, and found out that he has been waylaid by some quite serious Covid symptoms for some time now. He caught the virus, was recovering, but then it hit him hard again. That's tough. And not just on his physical health, but also his mental health. He's about my age, and arguably in better shape than me - we used to play ping pong a lot at work before he quit his job. Although I don't know for sure, I'm fairly sure he would have had his Covid vaccinations. So that is a kind of reminder that the virus is still out there wrecking havoc with people's lives.
My cubicle situation at work was good. It was quiet with no neighbors to disturb me. Today was my first time in the office since my car troubles, and my situation has entirely changed. Now I have a new cube neighbor. Someone who has - inexplicably - converted from fully remote to office-based. Chinese, obviously. And I feel like she has totally invaded my space. Even though she hasn't really, but it feels like she has because I had a good thing going, and now I don't. Of all the free cubes in the office, she had to choose the one next to me. We will see how it goes - if she doesn't come in on most days that I do, and vice versa, then we should be fine.
Took my car in today to get it fixed. Based on my internet searches, feared how much it was going to cost. Maybe a couple of thousand dollars. This was the final total:
Phew! My problems are apparently a known issue with my car, and so there was a specific extended warranty that covers the cost of these repairs. So all today cost me was a day off work, as I was stuck at the service center bored out of my mind for nearly 8 hours. At least I brought a book to read, and at least it was sunny so I was able to go out for a couple of walks, but still an excruciatingly long amount of time to wait.
