Bedding

The very definition of frustration: buying a new "King-sized" duvet cover, and finding it is way bigger than your existing "King-sized" duvet.  So I'm forced into either buying a new duvet, or discarding my new duvet cover.  It is absolutely ridiculous that there no standard bedding size - the range of dimensions for "King-sized" is extraordinary.  I guess different brands have different dimensions, forcing you to buy more of their products.  And sure enough, I went and ordered a new (and expensive) duvet from the same company who I bought my new (and expensive) duvet cover from.  What a racket.

Black Friday

Happy Black Friday!  A "holiday" whose name seems more offensive than it actually is.  I did make the most of the sales - with my big purchase being the Lego The Endurance set.  I actually ordered this last night - it was available from 9 pm yesterday evening (which was Black Friday on the East coast!).  The website crashed numerous times, presumably due to high traffic, but I was eventually able to snag the set plus various free sets that came as part of a Black Friday deal.  Good job I ordered this last night, because not all the sets that were part of the deal were still available by this morning.  I also ordered a few Christmas gifts (for others) in the Amazon sales.  And I'm still thinking about making a very major purchase this weekend.  I think I'm going to get an iPhone 15.  Apple are offering a gift card with purchase of an iPhone this weekend - but this is not a deal-breaker.  What is more important to me is getting a newer phone with a better camera, and buying one before Trump's proposed tariffs substantially increase the cost.  So I could put this off, but I think I might just go ahead and order a new phone this weekend anyway.      

Gobble Gobble

Happy Thanksgiving!  I think Canada is right in having their Thanksgiving in early October.  Having it at the end of November just seems wrong - it's too late in the year and too close to Christmas.  As in previous years, I did buy a pre-cooked roast turkey meal - but unlike previous years, I didn't spend loads of money on it.  And I managed to get an apple pie on sale - and then I remembered that I also had some custard powder that I had brought back with me from the UK, which made for a delicious desert.  I don't really care for a lot of the other typical US Thanksgiving traditions - I didn't watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, I didn't watch any American football, I didn't participate in a Turkey Trot.  If I was a better person, I would maybe volunteer today - but I typically treat this as just a lazy day of doing very little.      

Bomb Cyclone Aftermath

It's been over a week since the devastating and destructive winds wrecked havoc across our region.  And even after a week, there were still hundreds, if not thousands, of homes without power.  I just had a quick look at the outage map and things seem to be better now.  But what has been noticeably disappointing is, as far as I can tell, how little coverage there has been in the national media about the damage.  Is it because there were, luckily, so few human casualties from the event?  Is it because I don't think a state of emergency was declared after the event?  The politics from this weather event don't look.  This is surprising since it is considered to be one of the worst weather events to hit our region in decades (though I think we've had worse winter storms in my time here).  However, from a meteorological point of view, I think it is fascinating.  The damage was really localized, with neighborhoods next to each other experiencing wildly different affects.  This is why I was incredibly lucky to not lose power, when I had friends who had to stay at a hotel and didn't get their power back until the weekend.  I think the worst winds were experienced out to the east of Seattle in the foothills of the Cascades.  I went to one of my local state parks - Bridle Trails State Park - yesterday, and the damage was abundant.  Maybe not as bad as I feared - I didn't see rows of trees blown over like dominoes.  But still the number of uprooted trees - some probably very old - was kind of sad to see.  The signs warned of hazardous trail conditions, but I didn't encounter any problems - they had been cleared of any trees or tree limbs by the time I was there.  Instead, we were just left with a muddy trail covered with a layer of tree debris.            

Clothing

In an unusual turn of events, I've started wearing a body warmer in my home (in American English, I believe it's called a vest or puffer vest).  It's been years, maybe decades, since I've even considered wearing one of these - but at times I've been feeling cold at home (despite the heating being on), and then I remembered I had these body warmers (freebies from work) for a long time without ever having worn them before.  I suspect they might get a lot of use this winter.   

Autograph

The ultimate autograph to add to my collection was available in an eBay auction that concluded today:

It is, by far, the rarest and most expensive James Bond trading card you can get.  And this is the first time I've ever seen one go up for auction.  It is available to buy without bidding on eBay, but the cheapest one costs $3000.  So I was very curious to know how much this one would go for.  Sadly, I fell asleep on the sofa and missed the climax of the auction and putting in a bid of my own.  But no harm done, I wouldn't have won - the maximum I think I would go would be $1500 (and even then, I don't know whether I could bring myself to paying that much), but it finally went for $2100.  That's a big number for something most people would consider a total waste of money.

Xmas Decorations

I was driving back home in the dark this evening, and couldn't help but notice the number of houses in the local neighbo(u)rhoods already lit up with their Christmas decorations.  It was a lot.  It seems to get earlier every year.  I think you can blame retailers for that - who have Christmas stuff for sale as early as August.  Once upon a time, I don't think you used to see decorations until after Thanksgiving.  But nowadays, I think you'll see people put up their Christmas decorations right after they've taken down their Halloween decorations.  Yes, it is a bit tacky to put up your decorations early.  But whatever makes you happy.  I'll put mine up next weekend.   

Deliveries

I was getting most of my deliveries made to the office.  Now that is not an option.  And there was a reason I was using the office and not home, and so it has already proved a few days ago.  Not for the first time, FedEx delivered a package to my neighbo(u)r instead of me.  I only realized when I got a delivery confirmation, but the proof of delivery was not a photo of my entryway.  After some suspicious-looking wandering around in the rain to check out my various neighbors' entryways, I realized where it had been delivered and managed to retrieve it from my neighbor (though they didn't even realize it had been delivered to the wrong person and wrong address and had opened it - which is a bit unsettling, though fortunately no harm done).  I think I need to be a bit more careful and pay more attention to future deliveries.    

Last Day (as an Office-Based Worker)

Today felt like the end of this chapter of my life, and the start of a new and uncertain one.  Maybe the most significant event since I returned to Seattle.  It was my last day in the office.  As I was clearing out my desk, it felt very weird.  I've still got a job, but it very much felt like it was my last day.  I took home as much as I could, within reason - including a bunch of stuff that I'll probably never look at (like various books/manuals/notes I've accumulated over the years) or never use (when was the last time I ever needed a stapler?!).  I managed to get home the important stuff, like my office chair and the IT guy hooked me up with a huge computer monitor (almost as big as a TV!).  Now I've got to sort out my home office setup, but it should definitely be a lot better than what it was.  And I took home quite a few canvas prints from around the office - it looked like some of the better ones had already been taken, but I'm happy with what I've got (I'll include photos of them in a future post).  I don't know what I'll do with these - I've not exactly got a good track record with hanging up pictures and stuff.  And I'm actually thinking I'd prefer to create canvas prints of my own photos, rather than someone else's.  Regardless, converting from an office-based worker to a remote worker is going to take some getting used to.  Based on my experiences during COVID lockdown, my biggest concern about becoming remote is that feeling of loneliness - I'll miss the human interactions that come with working in an office.                     

Musical

Among the barrage of adverts for the film Wicked - a film that looks awful and that I have absolutely zero interest in watching, based on a musical that I haven't seen and that I don't care about - I've seen a few adverts for Back to the Future: The Musical.  It is currently on a North American tour which has reached Seattle - and tickets are on sale for some December dates at the Paramount Theater (Theatre) in Seattle.  I have been to see a musical there before - I saw The Book of Mormon quite a few years ago.  And I tried to get tickets for Hamilton, but it sold out really quickly (however, apparently Hamilton is returning in February next year).  I'm not sure how keen I am to watch a musical version of Back to the Future.  I have absolutely no idea if it is any good, or even whether it was a big Broadway or West End show.  I suspect it won't be able to duplicate the magic of the film.  But I am tempted.      

Aftermath

It's a miracle - but somehow I never lost power last night.  The lights were flickering all evening, but the power stayed on.  I think I was extremely lucky.  I read somewhere that about 650,000 homes across the region lost power.  And when the outage map for my public utility district was not down, it showed that thousands of people in the surrounding neighborhoods to me had lost power.  And most people at work who I spoke to today had lost power, and had still hadn't got it back.  One friend was informed that he won't get his power back until Saturday, which sounds like a nightmare.  It's at times like this that when not having the option to take refuge in a warm office is going to be tough.  I honestly don't know how my power stayed on because it was really blowing a storm last night, and there was so much tree debris everywhere this morning - including some larger tree limbs at the bottom of my driveway and on the road.  I need to seriously consider getting a generator.   

Wind Advisory

There's a good chance I might lose power tonight, so I thought I'd do this blog post early whilst it's quiet outside.  We are currently under a wind advisory from 2 pm this afternoon to 4 am tomorrow morning.  It doesn't sound like that big a gust - 15 to 30 mph winds with gusts up to 50 mph.  But I think because these are quite sustained winds, plus coming in a direction that the wind normally doesn't come from, that everyone is a bit worried.  The expectation is that more tree limbs than normal will come down, hence the power outages.  And it's not just a severe weather alert from the National Weather Service, but also got a "Global Corporate Security - Intelligence Incident Notification" from work about the high wind advisory.  So it must be quite serious if even work has issued a safety alert for outdoor operations and travel in the area - with concerns about the impact of gusty winds, falling debris, and potential outages.  I don't think I'm in an area where the worst winds are expected, but honestly who knows.  All I know is that with the number of trees around where I am, I expect to lose power and I expect it to be a long and cold night.    

How Much Can I Take Home

One week left of going into the office.  And Operation Take Home As Much As You Can is underway.  Today, I managed to bring my office chair home with me.  I have absolutely no idea whether we are allowed to do this - nobody has told us anything.  But my manager took her chair home, so I decided to do the same with mine.  The next thing I need to do is try to duplicate my computer setup in the office at home.  Which means taking home at least a couple of monitors.  I think I will need to speak to the IT guy about that, but apparently it shouldn't be a problem.  The other thing I've got my eye on are various canvas prints around the office.  These are various photos of Seattle and the surrounding environs, and some of them are quite good.  I nearly took home one today, but at the last moment saw that it had a rip - which is a shame, because I think it is my favo(u)rite view.  But there are plenty of other prints to choose from.  Again, no idea whether I am allowed to take these - and this really does feel like I'm ransacking the office - but what the hell, like anybody really cares.    

Well-being Credit

It dawned on me this weekend that I have a $1000 well-being credit through work for the year that I haven't used yet.  The problem is that the list of things that you can claim towards this are quite limited.  So I've been scouring my purchases for the year to see what I can claim for.  Stuff like my ping pong paddle ("exercise equipment"), noiseless headphones ("accessories for devices"), national and regional park passes and even the cost of tax preparation services.  And though I can fudge a few other things, I think I'm not going to use the full credit.  That seems like a waste, so I've been thinking about what else I can buy that I can then claim for.  And I've settled on some new duvet/pillow covers, since sleeping equipment is covered.  And since I'm sleeping so poorly at the moment, some better quality bedding seems like a good idea.    

Ping Pong

Went into the office today for a marathon ping pong session with a friend - making the most of the ping pong table whilst we can.  Came home very tired and promptly fell asleep on the sofa, hence the late time for this post.  Apparently one of my other colleagues might try to take the ping pong table home with them, set it up in their garage and invite people round to play some games.  Not a bad idea, if it means I can still play occasionally - but probably not too regularly since I don't live close to them.       

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.