Naked Gun

I really don't want to like this.  I'm a big fan of the original, and this reboot is clearly a major sellout.  But, much to my chagrin, the teaser trailer is quite funny.  I'm prepared to give the film a chance if the official trailer is also funny.

Auctions

I nearly forgot to post something today.  I got distracted by losing lots of eBay auctions this evening.  I seem to be getting outbid on an awful lot of trading cards nowadays.  Particularly cards from the new "Black Diamond" set released recently.  This is a premium brand whose cards tends to be of much higher quality than regular ones.  They also, apparently, tend to be much more in demand by collectors like me.  You know you're going to be scrapping for any card you can get when even the base set is released in limited numbers.  And with so many variations of each card, this set is an absolute nightmare for a completist like me.  I should probably resist spending too much money on these, but sometimes I just can't help myself.     

Lack of photos

I may have a newer iPhone now, but I've hardly taken any photos with it yet.  And this is something I would like to change.  It's mainly because I haven't been to anywhere new for a while now.  Or not even anywhere particularly photogenic.  I tend to stick to the same old places to go for a hike.  But maybe at weekends I should try to be a bit more adventurous and go further afield.  I'm sure there are some new trails to discover.  And certainly there is a lot more of Washington State to explore.  

Money

I opened a new savings account this week.  Nothing particularly special about that - I just wanted some of my money to earn a bit more interest, certainly compared to where the money was in my current account.  But which bank did I go with?  Well I guess I was feeling a bit patriotic, because I plumped for Barclays - one of the UK's "big 4" and a British institution (after all, this is the company that only happens to sponsor the Premier League).  It's a place that I've never invested any money with before, even when I lived in the UK.  But their (US) savings account offered a competitive interest rate, and it appealed more than any of the other banks that I had never heard of with similar accounts.  I don't think they have a big presence in the US (26th in a list of largest banks in the US that I saw on Wikipedia), and I don't imagine that's going to change much under the current "America First" administration.           

Tetris

Somehow clips from the World Championships in Tetris have crept into my YouTube feed.  And I don't know if this is really a brag, but I think at my best I was as good as these "professional" Tetris players.  I used to spend hours playing Tetris - first when I had a Gameboy, and then on my iPhone/iPod.  They say that it takes you about 10,000 hours to master something - and I reckon across the years I must have spent close to that much playing Tetris.  So yes, I think I was a really good player.  Probably not so much nowadays - I haven't played it for a very long time.  But perhaps I should.  I don't think it would take many hours to get me back to my best - and I reckon I could take on these spotty Asian teenagers and win me some prize money.  In these times, it might be good to find an alternative income stream.  Though I suspect this is extremely wishful and unrealistic thinking.     

The Shire

Well you just knew I had to get this, even if it's the worse-looking of the 3 Lord of the Rings Lego sets so far.

Tariffs

It's not just my savings and my retirement that is being badly hit by Trump's ill-conceived tariffs, but - arguably worse - it is also my James Bond collection.  For example, there are a number of James Bond trading cards I want to bid on this evening on eBay.  But they are being sold by a Chinese seller.  Does that mean that I will have to pay tariffs on my purchases?  I have absolutely no clue.  And it's that uncertainty that is so infuriating.  I've already lost out on a number of other auctions because they come from a Chinese seller and so I am bidding a lot lower than I normally would.  I haven't had any problems receiving items from China before - indeed a couple of items arrived just a couple of weeks ago and I didn't have to pay anything extra on them.  But will that always be the case?  Particularly if Trump seems particularly keen to ramp up the tariffs on China?  It makes me nervous bidding on any of these, and the possibility of having to pay extra (like a 104% tariff?!?!?!).          

Spiders

It appears to be that time of year when spiders come out of hiding and show up everywhere.  Got freaked out yesterday by the biggest spider I've ever seen in my house yesterday.  Not something you want to see when you get up in the morning and open the bathroom door.  No capturing this spider - not that that is something I do much anyway.  No, this was an immediate squash situation - and boy, it was so big that it left quite the mess that I had to clean up afterwards.  Now I've upset the spider gods I'm probably going to be plagued by lots more spiders, and lots of big ones at that.    

Hot Cross Buns

It's coming up to Easter, which means acquiring some unhealthy food items.  Firstly, I might have to go the British shop to get some egregiously overpriced chocolate Easter Eggs.  Something that Americans surprisingly don't do - you can get Cadbury's Creme Eggs (though sadly produced by Hershey, so the taste of the chocolate is far inferior) but not the British-style hollow chocolate eggs.  And then there is another item that Americans don't do, and that is hot cross buns.  And I have a craving for them this year.  It is sometimes possible to find them here, but only from the more pricey grocery stores.  And I remember from previous years that I had to search around to find some decent ones.  Is it worth the effort?  Probably not, but what the hell.      

Culinary tools

I'm not a prolific cook but that didn't stop me from buying a vegetable cutter/slicer recently.  And it's been a godsend.  I don't know why it took me so long to get one.  I've also bought myself a rice cooker (thought I'd get one before the tariffs kick in), so I look forward to trying that out as well.  It would be nice to expand my culinary capabilities, but I'm not holding out hope.   

Voldemort

The 2nd most expensive trading card that I've ever purchased got delivered this week.  I probably overpaid, but whatever it's done now.  Let's consider it an investment (and in light of the last few days, probably a better investment than any of my shares).  

Liberation Day

It was "Liberation Day" yesterday according to Trump.  The only thing that was liberated today was my retirement savings and all the profits in my stock portfolio.  One of the big reasons why Trump was elected was that it was thought he would be better for the economy.  I think we can all agree that has not proved the case.  His administration's pig-headed haste to introduce tariffs that nobody wants is a disaster for the global economy.  And his election promises to lower grocery prices proved predictably empty.  It's clear we're heading into a recession, and the worst is that it was (and is) totally avoidable.  And even if we avoid a recession, the world is going to become a lot more expensive and unemployment is on the rise.  For all of Biden's faults, at least he left the US with a relatively strong economy.  But it appears that Trump and his administration are doing everything to run it into the ground.  When his policies start to affect my retirement, then I start to worry.    

Turkish proverb: "When a clown moves into a palace he doesn't become a king, the palace instead becomes a circus"

Dilemma

Oh no, what to do.  For the first time, all 6 of Sean Connery's official James Bond films (i.e. not including Never Say Never Again) are going to be released on 4K Ultra HD.  And not just that, but they will be housed in Steelbooks with original art.  And for a bit more money, include a limited edition Steelbook library case.  Which of course you know I would be interested in.  But do I really need this?  I've already got all the films on Blu ray.  Is 4K necessary?  And if the only other original thing about the release is the artwork and casing, then I'm not sure it's worth it.  If they were to also include a bunch of new extras - both on the disc and in addition to the disc - then I would definitely be sold.  But as it is, I'm just not sure.  And for me to say that, then it might have to be a reluctant pass.   

Noises

One of my least favo(u)rite noises is that of a chainsaw.  And unfortunately I had to endure it most of the day today.  My landlord decided to cut down some more branches from the trees alongside my driveway.  Ostensibly I understand why he is doing it - to allow bigger vehicles to more easily be able to go up my driveway by increasing the clearance.  Specifically, his justification is to ensure emergency vehicle access.  Is there something he knows that I don't?!  Either way, I don't like it.  I don't like the loss of tree cover, both for me and for the local bird life.  It reduces my privacy.  Particularly to the neighbo(u)r's house that has been on the market for a while - and which I went online today to discover that it has been sold (for a million dollars!) pending inspection just within the last few weeks.  Now the side of my driveway seems very open - and I don't know if it will ever fill out with other growth.  I'm sure just taking down a few branches doesn't make a big difference to how much noise I receive - but it certainly has a psychological effect.  Out of sight, out of mind.  But now the newly sold house is in sight, in mind.  Let's hope my new neighbo(u)rs aren't too noisy.    

Sunday Night TV

I know that in this era of streaming TV that watching scheduled programming is very passe.  But an interesting observation is that at 9 pm on Sunday nights, there are currently 5 programs airing simultaneously that I watch.  There was a 6th, but I quickly dropped that.  The quality of these programs is variable to say the least, but not enough to stop my DVR getting a good work out.  This is the only time of the week that anything likes this happens.  Indeed, there are only a handful of scheduled programs that I bother watching during the week.  But Sundays are the exception, even beyond the 9 pm to 10 pm slot.  In that slot the 5 programs that I currently watch are The White Lotus (quality drama), Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light (which will probably remain unwatched on my DVR for a while because the original Wolf Hall is no longer free on streaming and I didn't get to finish watching all those episodes), Dark Winds (quality thriller), Watson (mediocre Americanized/modernized medical drama featuring Sherlock Holmes characters), and Suits LA (even more mediocre spin-off from the already fairly mediocre show Suits).  And the show that I stopped watching after 1 episode was David Blaine Do Not Attempt - after the realization that I really don't like David Blaine.        

More Backyard Wildlife Action

I knew there had been a bit of wildlife action in my backyard because I'd seen the bunny from my sofa, and I also saw the deer walk right across my back patio.  I'm glad my trail cam confirmed it - a couple of good photos here.

Fulham 0-3 Palace

We're going to Wembley!  But it's only a semifinal.  That somehow seems wrong.  In my humble opinion, Wembley should only be for the final and the semis should be played somewhere else.  But I'm not going to let that detract from Palace's achievement.  Just a continuation of a fantastic 2025.  Sadly I didn't catch the game - it was on too early for me, and it was streaming on ESPN+ which I don't have.  However I'm going to do my damnedest to watch the semi-final, and hopefully also the final.  I think we have as good a chance, if not better, than any of the remaining teams - all of them are beatable, and we are the form team.   

Layoffs

A tough week at work with my company laying off more people - including people I know.  I think it's only a matter of time until I get laid off.  I'm busy in the near future, but nothing in my schedule for later in the year.  It's never a good sign when middle management are scheduling last minute meetings to try to keep up the morale of those of us remaining - and woefully failing.  And this was all avoidable - an upper management decision to outsource most of our work, which in the long term won't save money and will only cause major headaches in terms of poor quality of work and not meeting our company's aggressive timelines.  And it's not like our company needed to streamline - we're still very profitable and the share price is really high right now (and since I have loads of company shares, one reason it's not a total catastrophe if I get laid off and don't find a new job immediately).  These are dark times, and I think my current mood reflects that.

Weimar Republic

Is living in the US right now like living in the Weimar Republic right before the rise of the Nazi party?  Or even right after the Nazi party initially won power?  It's a scary thought, but the parallels are there.  Political polarization, economic anxieties, rise of populist movements, authoritarian tendencies.  Obviously there are also arguments against - strong democratic institutions and values, a complex and diverse society, a strong civil society - but these are the very foundations under attack by the current administration.  What I find most disturbing is the apparent apathy/reluctant acceptance by most Americans about what is happening to their own country right now.  Which is why Trump and his administration are getting away with so much.  It's a horror show, and I think the future is bleak.  The question is, do I stay and fight it in whatever small way I can (such as voting for somebody else) or flee the country?  I have been giving more thought to coming back to the UK.  But conversely I've also been giving more thought to becoming a US citizen.  Confusing times.     

Severe Thunderstorm Watch

This is quite rare, but a severe thunderstorm watch has been issued for our region tonight.  What does that mean? How about wind gusts of 60 mph+, hail that is 2 inches or wider, and even the possibility of tornadoes.  Yikes.  If it materializes - and it's not clear at all if it will, certainly nothing serious yet as I write this - then that could be really destructive and cause some serious property damage.  We've had some unseasonably balmy temperatures for the last few days, so I guess this is the consequence.  And just as I finished writing this post, I just heard my first clap of thunder.  Or perhaps it was just a loud car going past.  I'm getting paranoid.  But maybe not, as I just stepped outside and the local bird life is being unnaturally noisy.  They must know something is up.  

Missing Package

Oh no, I'm in that unenviable position of a package being reported as delivered today, but absolutely no sign of it.  I think I need to give it a few more days, but I am anxious.  Perhaps it was prematurely entered as delivered, perhaps it got delivered to the wrong address, perhaps it got stolen.  I'm hoping it's the first scenario and it shows up tomorrow or the day after, but if not then I fear it's lost and I'm going to have to deal with that.  Not a particularly expensive item I'm waiting on, but limited edition so difficult to replace.   

Wolf Hall

They've started airing Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light here.  Only about 4 months behind the UK.  Of course I'm going to watch it, but first of all I have to rewatch the original Wolf Hall.  A show that I haven't seen since it aired 10 years ago.  And although I might know some of the real history, I don't really remember the show.  But after some searching, I have found a streaming app where I can watch the original Wolf Hall for free.  I'm not even sure it's in HD, but at least it's free.  And I've already rewatched the first 2 episodes, and I'm reminded what an outstanding series it is.  It feels so authentic, with high quality acting - no wonder most of the cast returned after all these years.  It scratches two itches for me - big budget costume drama and real history (though I still prefer 20th century history).  Even though it is only 10 years old, it feels like it came from a different period of TV - this was before the explosion of streaming services, and a time when we were still in the era of prestige TV.  I miss that.

Oversharing

Composed a long blog post talking a bit about my depression.  Decided not to post it because it's too personal.  I'll just say that my depression tends to be cyclical and I think I'm in a bit of a trough right now.  I presume the uncertainty over my future is really affecting me, made exponentially worse by the current US administration.  But don't worry about me - I've been living with my depression for years and I'm sure I'll cope and bounce back (and, honestly, I think a prolonged sabbatical from work could really help!).         

Bathroom Disaster

Note, this is not a scatological post - though I could certainly write about some bathroom disasters in that regard.  No, this is something else.  I don't use dental floss, but I do own a water flosser.  Because I'm somewhat lacking surface space in my bathroom, I keep it on top of my mirrored medicine cabinet.  And it's been like that for years.  The other day, I was cleaning my bathroom mirrors.  As I have done hundreds of times before.  But perhaps this one time I was cleaning the mirror a bit too vigorously, because I caused the water flosser to fall off the cabinet.  However, instead of just falling onto the ground - it instead decided to fall into my electric razor cleaning station.  And it sent both the water flosser and cleaning station crashing onto the tiled bathroom floor.  And a lot of things broke.  The water flosser landed on the nozzle and broke it off.  And it proved impossible to release the broken half of the nozzle remaining in the flosser.  So I'm down a water flosser.  And loads of cleaning fluid escaped everywhere from the razor cleaning station, plus some plastic bits and springs came apart from the station.  So I'm down an electric razor cleaning station as well.  I'm also somewhat worried that I broke the actual electric razor itself - it doesn't seem quite right, more springy than it should be.  The water flosser is not a major loss, I hardly used it.  However, the electric razor is.  And when I checked Amazon, a straight replacement is no longer available.  So I spontaneously ordered a more recent model from the same brand - not cheap.  So this rather simple accident has proved to be a rather expensive disaster.            

Madness

March Madness is currently going on - the annual college basketball tournament here.  More like March Crapness.  It is inexplicably popular - games are airing across multiple networks throughout the day and evenings, so the regular TV schedule is decimated.  And I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but I couldn't tell you where most of the teams/colleges are located within the US based on their name.  I can only guess that the tournament is at least partially popular because of the sheer amount of sports betting that you can do during it.  And filling in the bracket is not unlike betting on the Grand National in the UK - the only time of year when a bunch of people who don't follow or don't care about a sport try to predict who is going to win.  I don't think I've seen a University of Washington team participate in March Madness for an absolute age, so I guess the "local" team to support would be Gonzaga - who are located in Spokane on the east side of Washington State.  Gonzaga is a classic example of a University that I think most people wouldn't have a clue where it is actually located.    

Sloth

Shame on WSDOT (Washington State Department of Transportation) for removing a giant stuffed sloth that was hanging out of a tree besides the I-5 north of Seattle.  It had been there for about a year, for no discernible reason and nobody had claimed credit for it.  But apparently enough killjoys must have complained about it for them to take it down.  Boo.

Backup

Note to self - next time you change phone, make sure you backup everything on your old phone before setting up your new phone.  I just realized that I've lost my entire chat history on WhatsApp.  Fortunately I'm not a prolific user of this app, but still kind of annoying.  I'm not sure there's anything truly important that I've lost, but still....  stupid.  Didn't even cross my mind to check whether my chat history was being backed up, which it wasn't.  

Are You Kidding?

With England about to play their first games under their new manager, do you know who the current US manager is?  The head coach of the USMNT is none other than Mauricio Pochettino.  Former manager of Tottenham and Chelsea.  And he happened to make the news today because of a statement he made.  He claimed that the US men's national team can be the best in the world within 5 to 10 years.  At first I thought it was a joke.  But nope, he was being deadly serious.  Well Mauricio, I'm sorry to burst your bubble but the US won't be the best team within 5 to 10 years.  They won't even crack the top 10.  To think otherwise you either have to be very naive or very delusional.  Which is what makes his statement so ridiculous.  I don't think this is the first time I've heard something like this.  At least from the Reddit posts I've seen, even the Americans with any knowledge of "soccer" are not stupid enough to believe this.    

Deportation

I've been reading news articles recently about green card holders in the US being detained and deported.  Which is not good.  I'm a green card holder.  And I hate Trump.  So I guess I could be detained and deported for political reasons.  But I think that unlikely.  For a start, I can thank my skin colo(u)r.  Also, hardly anyone reads my blog where I share some of my political opinions.  I don't have any criminal convictions.  I haven't had any previous immigration issues.  And I speak America's official language.  So I don't expect any problems.  But it has made me, once again, consider whether I want to become a US citizen.  Some days I do.  Other days I entertain the possibility of returning to the UK.  I think that's a fair reflection of the uncertainty about my future that has kind of got me feeling very unsettled recently.    

Taxes

I think I'm in a state of shock.  I just filed my 2024 tax return, and for the first time in absolutely ages I'm owed a refund.  And a not inconsiderable amount.  Now I'm absolutely paranoid that there must be some mistake.  I use tax preparation software to prepare my return - so I don't really understand the nuts and bolts of how the numbers are calculated.  Frankly, the US tax system is a mystery and I don't think I'll ever really understand it or make the most of it.  All I can hope is that I entered all the numbers correctly and that I entered all the information I needed to.  Most of it is electronically imported, so the chances of making a mistake are limited.  Admittedly, I have made significantly bigger estimated tax payments over the last year than I ever have before.  But the difference between how much I owed last year and how I am owed this year is startling and unsettling.  Hopefully enough federal employees working at IRS will have been fired, courtesy of the magnificent current administration, that the chances of my tax return being reviewed is low. 

Spam Calls

I seem to be getting a lot more spam calls than normal recently.  At least I assume they are - they are numbers that I don't recognize, and they don't leave a message when I invariably don't answer the call.  Sometimes they have a local area code, sometimes they do not, and sometimes they are identified as "Scam Likely".  Is it just me getting more of these calls?  I doubt it - I suspect everyone is getting them.  But perhaps because I've recently switched my mobile provider, that maybe my new one doesn't block these spam calls as well as my previous provider.  But it's not just calls, I've also been getting a few more spam text messages recently.  For example, messages that are telling me I'm overdue paying a "Good to Go" toll - which is a real road toll in Washington State.  One problem with that - I've not taken these toll roads.  I suspect AI and other technological advancements are making it easier for scammers to scam.  Scum.     

Did I see the lunar eclipse?

There was a lunar eclipse last night, where the moon turned a nice shade of blood red.  But dagnabbit, I totally forgot to go outside and check it out.  I have no idea how visible it would have been or not - there were lots of clouds around.  But it would have been nice to test out the camera on my new iPhone.  I was going to post a photo of the blood moon taken by someone else, but most of the images on the internet look as though they are photoshopped so I won't bother.     

Signature Dish

I don't know how I hadn't thought about this before, but it was brought to my attention recently that Seattle is one of the rare large American cities that doesn't really have a signature dish.   There are certainly foods that it is known for: seafood (particularly fresh salmon), chicken teriyaki (apparently popularized in the US from here), Seattle dog (something I must confess to having never had before - a grilled sausage topped with cream cheese(!) and grilled onions), and pho (a Vietnamese soup and noodles dish).  But none of these really stand out as iconic Seattle dishes.  Perhaps Seattle is better known for it's coffee, which is no surprise given that Starbucks was founded and is headquartered here.  Indeed, people in Seattle apparently consume more coffee than in any other American city.  Even bikini baristas - whose drive-through stands are plentiful around here - originated in Seattle.   

Windows 11

I guess Microsoft have decided to ruin a lot of people's lives this year.  In addition to shutting down Skype, they will stop supporting Windows 10 in October.  I don't know what this means for my work laptop, which still runs on Windows 10.  It normally takes my company a long time to push through any big updates.  I wonder if they might replace my laptop.  Unfortunately, my personal laptop also runs Windows 10.  And despite it regularly prompting me to upgrade to Windows 11, I've been reluctant to do so.  But I guess I can't put that off for much longer.  The last time I upgraded Windows on my own laptop, it proved a nightmare and really slowed down my system to such an extent that it made the laptop almost unusable.  So I can only hope that doesn't happen again.  But of course it probably will and I'll be forced to shell out more money on a new laptop.     

Easter Bunny Tryouts

I think I've seen this advert around Easter of every single year that I've been in the US;

Some quick googling reveals that it is in fact one of the longest running adverts on US TV, having aired for nearly 40 years.  It must have aired even before Cadbury chocolate was produced by Hershey in the US - a decision that has ruined the taste of Cadbury's in the US (and the reason why I have to consume so much of it when I'm back in the UK!).

Driving Skills

I've never considered myself a great driver - for example, with very little confidence in being able to perform a decent parallel park.  And I think driving in the US has definitely made me a worse driver.  Just for starters I think driving an automatic car is nowhere near as skilled as driving a manual car.  And negotiating the wide purpose-built roads in America is nowhere near as hard as negotiating some of the old, narrow, winding roads in the UK.  And I'm sure I've picked up some of the bad driving habits that I criticize American drivers for having.  But now that I don't need to commute to an office, I'm driving a lot less than I was.  And just recently I've noticed a few little errors creeping into my driving.  Nothing serious, and at least I'm aware when they happen as opposed to being dangerously oblivious.  But is this because I'm driving less regularly, or simply because I'm getting older?  It's a little bit disconcerting, and I hope just a blip and nothing to worry about.   

Daylight Saving Time

Our clocks went forward this morning.  And it's put me all out of whack.  I hate this charade of having to change the clocks twice a year - why do we even bother in this day and age.  But, surprise surprise, nothing will change because the country is totally divided on the issue.  Some people want to keep it standard time throughout the year.  Some people (like me) want to keep it summer time throughout the year.  I'd MUCH rather have more light in the evenings than in the mornings.  Naturally Trump has totally flip-flopped on the issue - previously pledging to end the time change, but since stating in typically inane fashion that "it's hard to get excited about it".  So, just as an FYI, I guess that means we have a 7 hour time difference with the UK for the next couple of weeks.  

Trading Cards

A new set of James Bond trading cards were released this week.  Finally.  They were supposed to come out about 2 years ago, but kept on getting delayed.  And these are some very high quality premium cards but, predictably, horribly over-priced.  That hasn't stopped me from purchasing some.  But if I want to own a complete set - which the completist in me very much wants to do - then I will have to spend an awful lot of money.  And some of the autograph cards and very limited edition cards are already going for extraordinarily ridiculous amounts on eBay.  I will do my best to resist, but I've already started to spend way too much time tracking how much some of the cards are going for.

Footy

Great news - the new AFL season started today.  Australian-rules football is probably only second to regular football in terms of the sport that I watch the most.  And in terms of spectacle, I could argue that it is a more enjoyable sport to watch than football.  It is definitely on my bucket list to watch a game live - presumably in Australia.  Maybe something to consider doing should I suddenly happen to have a lot of free time on my hands...

Costco 2

A second visit to Costco this week.  A different warehouse, and it felt like a better one - slightly bigger and less crowded (and less Asians).  But not enough to change my mind on how I feel about this place - I'm still a long way from being sold on remaining a member.  They just don't sell the items I prefer or in quantities that are practical for me.  If I was less fussy then perhaps I could make it work - but I just don't think it is for me.  Despite needing lots of stuff, I just came away with a few items in this visit.  Included was a block of cheese called "Coastal".  The packaging describes it a "rugged, mature English cheddar" and, surprisingly, it is actually a product of the UK - made in Devon to be precise.  Sadly, if I'm going to be honest, I'm not sure I care for it very much.  The packaging states the following: "Aging for up to 15 months gives this West Country Farmhouse cheddar a unique, sweet, distinctive flavor" (note: it doesn't use the English spelling of "flavour").  Essentially, it's just comes across as a quite odd tasting, crumbly cheese.  But perhaps the weirdest thing is the texture, and it's like nothing I've ever experienced before with a cheese.  Again, let's go to the packaging: "You may encounter a characteristic 'crunch' when you bite into Coastal - a consequence of naturally occurring calcium crystals which often develop during the aging process".  Yes, you actually crunch on these crystals when you're having this cheese.  Very strange, and which somehow seems fundamentally wrong.     

Drinks

 Now I feel like getting drunk.

Good Intentions

I'm a little bit annoyed with my landlord at the moment.  Firstly he let me know that he was going to trim back some of the trees alongside my driveway.  Great, I have no objections to that.  But when he said trim, what he really meant was cut down entirely.  Which I was less than thrilled about because it reduces some of my privacy (I can see more of the road from my house, and vice versa) and may also increase the traffic noise I'm exposed to.  And then today, he and one of his sons cleaned my house roof.  I've been through this before, and it's horribly messy - the pressure-washing brings down all kinds of debris everywhere.  And sure enough, the outside of my house is a mess - and doesn't smell great either.  The problem is that they don't really clean up after themselves properly, so I need to do that myself tomorrow.  And something that happened today that hasn't happened before is that a little bit of water leaked inside - via the skylights in my bedrooms, and also via the extraction fan in my kitchen.  This was unexpected - I've had to wash a duvet cover that got dirty, and not happy that some of my belongings on the kitchen counter got wet.  First world problems right.         

Animal Violence

I noticed today that my trail camera had been knocked over and was laying on it's side pointing to the sky.  It can't have been like that for long, I would have noticed it before.  But what was the cause?  The only possibility is an animal.  The camera is sheltered from the wind and the rain, so it simply couldn't be anything else.  Now I was very curious to check out the photos that the camera had taken - it should have taken one at the time it got knocked over, since that would be perceived as movement.  Sadly, the last photo is just a blurry mess and I have no idea which animal it comes from.  I've included this plus the 3 other animals that were captured on the camera over the last few weeks.  Perhaps one of these?  My number one suspect would be the local squirrel who often passes right next to the camera, but they have been missing from my photos for a while - so I sadly suspect they are no longer with us.

Technology Breaking

Yesterday it was a Microsoft outage resulting in my e-mail breaking.  Today it was my TV set top box not working.  Yesterday affected millions of people.  Today I think it was just me.  And what a nightmare it was trying to fix it.  Firstly, it was really difficult to describe the problem - basically as soon as the picture appeared on the TV then everything became unresponsive.  The program information that you get when you first turn on the TV stayed on the screen and I wasn't able to change channels, access menus or anything.  But the video and audio of the TV channel I was stuck on remained working.  Very weird.  Tried to go through online solutions to the problem, none of which worked.  Then had to deal with customer service (based in India), which was painful and didn't work either.  Had to schedule a tech to come out here - the earliest time I could get was tomorrow, so thought I might have to go without TV until then.  But then my TV decided to reboot itself, and everything was miraculously fixed.  No idea what the cause of the issue was - but apparently it was my TV rather than the TV set top box.  Which was frustrating to say the least.  Turning the TV off and on was one of the first thing I did, but apparently that wasn't enough.  I hate new technology.  And if this isn't a sign that I need to cut the cord, then I don't know what is.      

Jigsaw

Because it was a quiet week at work (I fear it's only the calm before the storm), I decided to make a start on a jigsaw.  But I took a different approach than normal to this one.  Normally I start with the edges, but on this one I'll leave the edges until last - because it was more intuitive to start with putting together the various labels.  As you can see from the photo, I've done the easy parts and now I'm just left with the rest. 

RIP Skype and Ukraine

Well, it looks like Trump's half-arsed attempts at diplomacy have blown up in his face.  Massive respect to Zelensky for not "bowing to the king" like every other world leader, but the results could be catastrophic for his country.  I think we can safely say that Ukraine is not getting any more US aid.  Trump is only interested in resolving the Ukraine war because (a) he wants all of Ukraine's resources, and (b) he thinks this will get him a Nobel Peace Prize, something he is immensely jealous of Obama for having.  

The day had already started on a downer with the news that Microsoft is shutting down Skype.  Because I'm a dinosaur, Skype is my first choice for video calls.  Of course there are alternatives - Zoom, Teams, Slack - but they all come with limitations (particularly when it comes to the length of free calls allowed).  But I shall miss Skype simply because I like familiarity and don't care for change.  Though I have noticed a distinct increase in the amount of spam on Skype recently, so perhaps it is for the best (or, more likely, Microsoft have already given up on Skype and are not doing as much to block the spammers).     

 

Random Music

I haven't bought any new music for absolutely ages - we are talking years.  But I am thinking of buying the album which I've included the title track of below.  It's not exactly new (released over 11 years ago) or popular (peaked at #39 on the UK charts, #150 on the US charts), but the album was met with critical acclaim.  And I do like the band and I do own and like one of their older albums - though apparently the band has undergone loads of changes (notably their vocalist/guitarist/primary songwriter leaving) since then.  I do like me some folk rock.

Reunion Lunch

What's this now?  A calendar invite for a reunion lunch with some of the people in my department in Seattle.  That sounds nice.  A chance to catch up with colleagues I haven't seen for a while, most not since the office closed.  But wait a second, where is the lunch being held?  Shaoshan Impression.  Never heard of it.  Let me have a look at the menu online.  Oh no.  Authentic Hunan cuisine.  In other words, weird Chinese food that I'm not going to like.  Especially since so many reviews of this place mention how spicy the food is.  A direct quote from one of the reviews: "I didn't spot a single non-Chinese customer in the whole restaurant".  Disappointment.  I don't think I'm going to go.  Disappointment turning to anger.  Who chose this restaurant?  I know there's not many of us, but thanks for considering your non-Chinese colleagues.  Inconsiderate, and makes me feel like an outsider within my own department.  Again.  The Chinese Mafia strikes again.  This does appear to be a quarterly reunion lunch - apparently the budget stretches that far, even though many of us are going to get laid off to save money.  Is it always going to be Chinese food that I'm not going to like?  Probably.              

Suits LA

I've been on a bit of a roll recently when it comes to blogging about TV shows, so here's another one.  I watched the first episode of Suits LA this evening.  I think I watched most, if not all, of the original series Suits.  A show that was fine for what it was, if entirely unmemorable, apart from (a) the premise (a guy becoming a lawyer even though he never went to law school) and (b) featuring a certain pre-Royal Meghan Markle.  The show became inexplicably popular on Netflix, hence this sequel.  And so far, so blah.  This was clearly written as a show about a talent agency that has been hastily reimagined to be about lawyers in order to capitalize on the popularity of the original.  And so far it has none of the charm or joy of the original.  I'll give it a few more episodes, but I suspect this will quickly get dropped from my viewing schedule.            

The Americas

 A big prime-time TV series that premiered last night on NBC was The Americas - a nature series in the vein of Planet Earth (it looks like it will also air on Sunday nights on BBC 1 in the UK).  And since this series is also produced by the BBC Studios Natural History Unit, it's no surprise that the visuals are absolutely sumptuous.  Though unfortunately everything else is a little disappointing.  A folksy-sounding Tom Hanks is no match for Sir David Attenborough.  But most grating is the horribly simplistic commentary - it is clearly dumbed down for the American audience.  And it doesn't seem particularly original - I'm sure I've seen most of the featured animals before in one of the many predecessors.  And something I don't remember from any of the BBC shows is an accompanying score (perhaps they also had this, but no way did it feature as predominantly as it does here).  I'm not sure how I feel about this - it adds a cinematic quality, but detracts from the naturalness of what you're seeing.  I probably will continue watching, if only to find out what animals they feature when they cover "The West Coast".          

All Creatures Great and Small

PBS aired the most recent Christmas episode of All Creatures Great and Small tonight.  Yep, they aired a Christmas episode in late February.  And this is not the first time they've done this.  I don't approve.  If they are not going to air the series at the same time it is in the UK, then time it so the Christmas episode actually airs around Christmas.  Certainly not 2 months after Christmas.  All Creatures Great and Small is one of those British series that Americans - particularly elderly and female Americans - seem to really like (see also Downton Abbey).  I can see why, because it appeals to me as well.  It is the very definition of a comforting drama - beautiful setting, simple storylines and characters, and major nostalgia.  I don't care if it's depiction of rural Yorkshire life during the Second World War is wildly unrealistic, it is charming and heartwarming and a necessary and welcome respite from the real world.        

Sleep Interruption

I woke up in the middle of last night, and wasn't quite sure why.  I thought I'd heard a big bang, so I did a quick check around my house and immediately outside my house but didn't see anything untoward and so went back to bed and eventually back to sleep.  I didn't think anything more about it until this evening, when I read an article stating that there had been a 3.4 magnitude earthquake last night in the Seattle area.  Not a big one, but enough for the shaking to be felt throughout Western Washington.  So I wonder if this was the reason my sleep was interrupted last night.  That certainly sounds better than all the more obvious reasons - diet, exercise, stress, poor sleep habits, etc.  

Compensation

Got my compensation statement for the year from work this week.  And there is a certain irony that despite getting the highest performance rating I've had in several years ("outstanding"), I got the lowest percentage increase in pay that I've had in several years (just 3.5%).  At least my bonus was bumped up a little bit to make up for it (although I end up losing most of that through taxes).  And at least I was warned that this was coming - because I haven't been promoted for ages, I think I've ended up being one of the higher earners at my level so I'm not going to get any big increases in pay.  In all honesty, I'm not overly disappointed with all this.  I think I'm quite overpaid for what I do, and I'll just take what they give me before they inevitably lay me off.  If and when I get a new job in the future, I doubt my starting pay will be so much.      

007 Prime

In the current environment, it's tough to keep this blog even remotely positive.  And it doesn't get any better with the news that Amazon have acquired creative control of the James Bond franchise.  This has the potential to be an absolutely disaster.  We've seen how the Star Wars and Marvel universes have seriously diminished their standing by the over-saturation of films, TV shows and spin-offs, and I fear the same will happen with Bond.  The fact that it's Amazon does not exactly inspire confidence - I still haven't got round to watching any of their not exactly well-reviewed Lord of the Rings series.  Perhaps the biggest thing to fear is the "Americanization" of a British icon.  Maybe we should just treat the Amazon version of Bond like we do the unofficial Bond films (e.g. Never Say Never Again) - the less said the better.

Asteroid Hit

NASA has said that there is a 1.5% chance that an asteroid hits Earth in 2032.  Further research reveals that it is only a "city-killer" asteroid rather than a "planet-killer".  Which is a bit of a shame, because the planet is really going down the toilet and humanity kind of deserves to be eradicated.  Things are especially bad in the US, where President Musk is systemically destroying the federal government from the inside.  It is outrageous what is happening right now - the wanton layoffs, the brain drain, the brazenly discriminatory policies.  It makes me sick.  And what makes me even more sick is the apparent apathy from the American people.  Are they really that stupid to not see what is happening right in front of them?  Do they not see that the current policies are weakening the US for generations to come?  I guess not, if they're stupid enough to vote for this fool into office again.  But he is just the face of the administration - it's the people pulling the strings that worry me the most.  The right-wing think tanks funded by white billionaires.  And where is the political opposition?  The Democrats have been virtually invisible since the election.  Trump's only been in charge for about a month, and it already feels like an eternity.  And he's only just started.  It's truly disturbing that with this avalanche of policy changes, there's so much awful stuff that him and his administration have already done that have slipped through the gaps with little to no push back or media coverage.  The future is decidedly bleak.          

House of the Dragon Season 2

I've just started watching the second season of House of the Dragon.  There's no sugar-coating this, but it is a drag.  The show is just relentlessly dour.  I'm not invested in the characters, and when you don't care about the characters then you don't care what happens to them.  It's incredibly disappointing - the show seriously lacks heart and seriously lacks humo(u)r.  It doesn't compare to Game of Thrones at it's best.  And even when Game of Thrones was at it's worse, particularly towards the end, at least you were still invested in the characters.  There is another Game of Thrones spin-off due to air later this year.  I'm not exactly enthusiastic about it.      

President's Day

Another bank holiday today - this time for President's Day.  It feels like such a waste having all these holidays at the start of the year - when the days are still relatively short and the weather is very crappy.  So it just ends up being another long weekend that I didn't make the most of.   

4 Nations

Outside of the Winter Olympics, international tournaments in ice hockey do not have a high profile.  There was an exception this weekend.  There is currently a 4 Nations tournament going on between Finland, Sweden, Canada and USA - featuring most of the best professional players from the NHL.  And yesterday we had the big border rivalry matches: Finland vs Sweden and Canada vs "Team USA".  And I happened to catch quite a lot of both games.  Finland vs Sweden was good - it was airing early in order to be on during prime time in Europe, and went to overtime with the underdog Fins winning.  But then Canada vs US was even better.  The game was being held in Montreal, and so there was a bit of a partisan crowd.  And when I say a bit, I mean a lot.  Thanks to Trump's tariffs and his talk of making Canada a US state (I would fight alongside my commonwealth brethren to stop that ever happening), the atmosphere was electric.  The US national anthem was heartily booed - unusual for the normally mild-mannered Canadians.  And then we had 3 fights in the first 9 seconds of the game!  Ice hockey is great in still allowing fights - the refs only stepping in when the fighters go down to the ice.  And generally it was a really competitive, hard-hitting, brutal game that the US managed to win.  There is still a chance of another Canada vs USA game in the final of the tournament - bring it on.  

More Things Breaking

Only a few days after my sofa broke, my thermostat decided to stop working today.  Bad things come in threes, so I fear something else will go wrong soon.  I have absolutely no idea what happened to the thermostat, it just kind of died.  But I averted potential disaster - if it had happened when my landlord was still on holiday in Hawaii, then I might have gone without heating for an extended period of time during the coldest temperatures of the year.  As it was, he popped round and replaced the thermostat in a matter of hours.  This is where I'm grateful to be renting, and not having to deal with this kind of thing by myself.   

Happy Valentine's Day!

Maybe my least favo(u)rite day of the year.  A day that rubs my single status in my face.  Of course I'm not happy that I'm single, but it is what it is - I can only play the hand that life has dealt me.  But I particularly hate a day that commercializes relationships in a wholly unrealistic way.  It's a consumerist scam.  If you're in a healthy loving relationship, then Valentine's Day is totally redundant.  Don't waste your money.  But I'm hardly the best person to offer advice on this...        

Sofa Woes

Disaster stuck today.  The reclining mechanism broke on the sofa seat that I use the most.  I've only had the sofa for just over 5 years, so not happy that something has already gone wrong with it.  I'm totally unable to fix it, so that leaves some options.  Buy a new sofa, get someone to come round to fix the mechanism, move my furniture around, buy an ottoman, keep the seat reclined, or keep the seat unreclined.  None of these are ideal options, aesthetically or practically - and obviously some are a lot more expensive than others.  Since I mostly sit in the seat watching TV with it reclined, for the moment it is staying in the reclined position.  But I don't think that is the long term solution.  At some point in the next few weeks I might try to take a trip to Ikea and take a look at the ottomans there.  But this weekend I think I'm going to try rearranging my furniture so that the optimal TV viewing position belongs to a seat whose reclining mechanism does work.        

Sleep

I fell asleep in front of the telly this evening.  Who or what do I blame it on?  The weather.  Because it's so cold (we've been under an official cold advisory since Tuesday - and the overnight temperatures have been dropping to well below freezing, for example about -7 degrees Celsius last night), I've been bringing my hummingbird feeders inside every evening to stop them from freezing solid.  However, that means I need to get up just before sunrise in order to put them outside again - otherwise I'm not sure the various hummingbirds out there (and there are at least 4 of them around using the various feeders) will survive.  The hummingbirds are very vocal whenever I step outside, so I think they are staying close to the feeders during this cold snap.  It's actually very impressive, and quite surprising, that these birds don't migrate south for winter.       

Google Maps

Shame on Google for caving in to the ravings of a deranged lunatic.

Animal Tracks

One of the few good things about snow is that you get to see the tracks that the animals make in it.  Over the last week I've seen tracks for deer, rabbits and dogs (coyotes) - confirming what my trail camera captures.  So I was curious to see what was on my camera - and it revealed quite a lot of cat action (both of the domestic and non-domestic variety).

Puppy Bowl XXI

It's Superbowl Sunday today.  I'm writing this blog with the game about to start.  I'm not sure how much I'm going to watch it - I don't really care who wins (if I had to choose, I hope it's the Eagles because I don't care for the numerous times during games that they cut to Taylor Swift cheering on the Chiefs).  And I don't care for the halftime show this year - I don't really know who Kendrick Lamar is, and I certainly don't know any of his music.  And I don't care for the Superbowl ads - it's ridiculous that that's a thing.  I've already made a mistake today.  I watched some of the Puppy Bowl earlier in the day.  Congratulations on Team Fluff narrowly squeezing out a victory against Team Ruff by the score of 68-66.   It'a basically an extended ad for a load of cute puppies that are up for adoption.  And it got me really depressed.  I really would like to get a dog, but I can't do where I live now.  And that makes me sad.  Especially now I'm working from home full-time, I could really do with the company of a dog throughout the day.  Maybe I need to give more serious thought to moving - just so that I can get a dog.     

Bills

What do you get when you combine one of the coldest winters in decades, working from home full-time, and a steady rise in electricity rates due to greedy utility companies?  You get the largest monthly electricity bill that I've ever had.  Not sure there is much I can do about it - I'm not going to work from home whilst wrapped up in a ridiculous number of layers.

The Dollars Trilogy

I've already put my pre-order in:

I'm a big fan of the Spaghetti Western, but I've only ever owned the Dollars Trilogy on video (probably recorded from telly, I don't exactly remember because I got rid of all my video tapes a very long time ago).  So it will be good to revisit these classic films.    

A Snowy Morning

I woke up to these views from my house today.

We've had quite a bit of overnight snow this week, but this mornings was the worst.  This was the second day in a row where the local schools were closed, which is never a good sign.  The only positive thing about this weather is at least I can get some good exercise by clearing my (long) driveway of snow.  This took a little while, but fortunately the daytime temperatures eventually got above freezing so it wasn't so bad.  I'm glad I did, because the roads were drivable by the afternoon so I was able to pop out to get some groceries (and I wasn't sure whether my Amazon order would get delivered today, but it did).  We're now under a cold weather advisory, with really cold temperatures expected overnight.  I expect road conditions to be very icy and dangerous tomorrow - so I'll be stuck at home.  And it looks like this wintry weather is going to persist for at least another week.  The weather is clearly a nightmare for forecasters - since no one seems to be able to provide an accurate forecast of when and how much snow we're going to get.  In their defense I think the weather is very localized - with some neighbo(u)rhoods getting a lot more snowfall than others.  All I know is that I have to be up early to either clear the snow from my bird feeders, or bring them inside to unfreeze them.  This is not good weather for hummingbirds.

TV Theme Tunes #94

I wasn't going to do one of these for a while, but I found myself inexplicably humming this theme tune whilst I was brushing my teeth this morning.  I have no idea why, it was a totally unconscious decision.  Even took me a little while to recognize it.  It's a sad reflection on the state of broadcasting sports rights that this show ended almost 20 years ago.

iPhone 15

My iPhone 15 got delivered today.  Only one major problem that I didn't anticipate.  It didn't come with a power adapter.  How stupid is that.  But apparently that is a thing that smart phone manufacturers do now.  I shouldn't be surprised that you need to shell out even more money just to be able to charge up your phone.  What a swizz.  The biggest joke is that Apple claim not to include the power adapter for "environmental reasons".  Of course, absolutely not for financial reasons.  

Winter Weather Advisory

We are currently under a winter weather advisory through tomorrow morning = with snow and slippery road conditions expected.  When I checked my weather app earlier today, this advisory was not there.  It seems like the forecast is changing all the time.  The snow that was forecast this weekend never materialized until this morning.  Woke up to a dusting of snow, then it started coming down heavily in the morning, and then by the afternoon it had all melted away.  But it seems like tonight is going to be worse - with 1 to 3 inches of snow in the forecast.  But who knows what we'll actually get, and how long it will last for.  All I know is that I am glad I stocked up with some food, I'm glad I don't have to commute to to work, and that I'm prepared to shovel snow off my driveway tomorrow if need be (which I did today, though ultimately it wasn't necessary).     

Man Utd 0-2 Palace

I'm always happy when Palace win.  But I'm particularly happy when the win is against Man Utd.  Admittedly this might be the worst Man Utd team I've ever seen in the Premier League era - but a win is a win, and the result takes us above them.  Deservedly so.  Our away form is particularly good.  After some early season jitters, Palace have corrected the ship and it looks like it's going to be another comfortable mid-table finish.  A more solid defensive unit accompanied by an in-form striker is a great combination (see also Nottingham Forest).  I wish we had started the season a bit better, because I think we could have been up there with the likes of Forest and Bournemouth.  Without the threat of relegation, maybe we can go on a bit of an FA Cup run now?     

Contradiction

Been thinking about whether I would ever return back to the UK permanently.  It is definitely something that has crossed my mind, particularly if I get laid off from my job.  The problem is that I'm kind of not opposed to the idea when I'm in the US.  But when I go back to the UK, I just don't see it happening.  So I just don't know.  It's one of those things I shouldn't really think about seriously until my current circumstances change.  But I suspect I'll stay in the US regardless.    

Consequences

Well, my savings took a minor hit today.  I ordered a new iPhone.  Not the newest model, instead I plumped for the iPhone 15.  Why not the newer iPhone 16?  Mainly because the iPhone 16 has Apple Intelligence built into it - and I really don't care for AI.  I'm perhaps making a bigger deal of this than necessary, I'm sure you can probably disable all the AI features.  But in addition the iPhone 15 is cheaper, the performance is similar, the features are almost identical, and I don't need the latest advancements found in the iPhone 16.  And you can also blame Trump for the timing of this purchase.  With Trump threatening tariffs on China starting tomorrow, I'm also wary of the potential increase in the cost of electronics.            

Dance

I remember seeing a load of ads for this when I was back in the UK over Christmas, and now I've started seeing them here.

It's probably not the same performance - I imagine they have lots of tours going on simultaneously around the world.  Either way, I still have absolutely zero desire to go and watch it.  I don't find Chinese dance in the least bit interesting or entertaining.  Fun fact - the company that runs these performances is a weird far right religious group that is banned in China because the Chinese government thinks it is an "anti-society cult".  Now that is a lot more interesting than any stupid performance.         

A Snowy Forecast

We have gone through a lengthy stretch of dry and cold weather.  But that is about to change.  We're going to see some precipitation this weekend - including what may be our first snow of the winter.  As is usual for this part of the world, there is a lot of uncertainty over the forecast.  I currently see mixed rain and snow for Friday, snow flurries and snow showers on Saturday (40% chance of snow), occasional snow showers on Sunday (50% chance of snow, snow accumulations less than an inch) and cloudy with a few snow showers on Monday (30% chance of snow).  But it's not so much the snow I'm worried about, it's the very cold ground - just a small amount of snow or freezing rain, could result in icy roads and hazardous driving conditions.  I think I'm going to do some food shopping tomorrow (getting the things I didn't get in Costco), just to stock up in case things go pear-shaped this weekend and beyond.  

Costco Initial Thoughts

Finally made a trip to Costco today.  Only the second time I've ever been in a Costco warehouse in my life, and the first as a member.  And what did I think?  Well, there is no sugar-coating this - I thought it sucked.  Even at 10.15 am on a Tuesday morning (it opened at 10 am), it was packed and parking was a nightmare.  And I don't know whether this is location specific, but there seemed to be an inordinate number of Chinese folks shopping there (there are 3 different Costcos equidistant to where I live, so I suspect I will go to a different one next time.  Whenever that will be.).  And the actual selection of goods it sells was really disappointing.  I went there with the specific aim of getting a couple of items - nothing crazy, stuff like toothpaste and soft drinks.  And they couldn't even deliver on that.  Now I've got to take an unplanned trip to Walmart to actually get what I want.  I think Costco is the type of place where you might go to buy a few specific items.  And if they do stock the items you want, I think they are good value.  But I don't see myself going there very often at all.  And I don't imagine I'm going to renew my membership after a year.  Very underwhelming and very disappointing.  But I will try a different location next time just to see if its any better.