Hot

One of the hottest days of the year so far here today.  But judging by the fact that I was watching a Wimbledon match earlier today that got delayed due to a fan collapsing from heat stress, I'm guessing it is currently even hotter in the UK right now.  There is nothing worse than too hot weather.  Especially when you don't have AC - something that most people in the UK and the Pacific NW have in common.  What is making it worse for me at the moment is that for most of the day I can't leave my windows open, because some nearby building contractors are running a really loud portable generator.  Should I say something?  Probably not worth it, because any day soon I'm going to be even more bothered by the sounds of fireworks most nights.  It's kind of ridiculous round here - most neighborhoods prohibit the use of the fireworks, and there are plenty of signs put up to say as much, but conversely there are still lots of pop-up shops selling copious amounts of fireworks.  I thought these were mostly restricted to Indian-owned land, but I noticed today that fireworks were being sold out of a pop-up store in a church car park.  Crazy.     

Clown

I've had a red nose for most of my adult life, but never really done anything about.  I noticed today that it's redder than normal - perhaps it has caught a bit too much sun.  I think it's time to do something about it.  I did some internet research and have ordered some recommended moisturizer, which I'm going to start using every day.  I don't know if it's going to make a difference, but I don't think there is any harm in trying.  But the main thing I want to do at my next doctor's appointment is to ask if they can refer me to a dermatologist.  It would be good to find out from a specialist if and what can be done about my condition.  Is cosmetology a bit shallow?  Yes, but I think warranted in this case.    

Grease

I don't know what is going on, but a load of my t-shirts have developed grease stains over the last few weeks.  Have I forgotten how to eat?  Am I turning into a literal lard ball!?  I know a couple of occasions where I did accidentally spill some food down myself - but certainly didn't think it was anything particularly greasy, I thought I had successfully treated it with soap and water at the time, and there seem to be a lot more t-shirts with stains than I remember.  Or that seems normal.  I have used copious amounts of stain remover, but with limited success.  I clearly need a wardrobe update. 

Morale

It wasn't that long ago that on the last working day before a significant holiday, like Christmas or Thanksgiving or 4th July, management would send out an e-mail saying we could leave at lunchtime.  Those days appear to be long gone.  It certainly didn't happen today.  Maybe this is simply a reflection of how we work now - where a lot of us are working from home.  A lot of our leadership has changed, so maybe this is also a reflection of their different approach to management.  Whatever the reason, I think it's yet another example of how employee morale is being sapped.  From closing the office (or forcing office-based employees to go into the office every day), to outsourcing, to layoffs, to a distinct lack of recent swag (all the more disappointing when you consider we just had a big - and probably very profitable - drug approval recently), to initiating various unfriendly money-saving measures (such as limiting conference attendance - this year we're not even being allowed to attend a departmental symposium being held onsite at our company headquarters in California).  It's all very depressing.  Currently we are saying goodbye to a lot of contractors, as their contracts are not getting renewed.  And I expect there to be more layoffs at the end of the year.  And perhaps I might be one of the lucky ones getting laid off in this round.       

Hiss

I was on the way to my mailbox this afternoon when something caught my eye on the driveway.  As I got closer, I saw what it was.  A snake!  Not exactly a big snake, but quite colo(u)rful - a nice shade of red.  It wasn't moving at all other than it's tongue.  I have no idea what species of snake it was, but I had to get a photo.  But I'd left my phone inside.  So rushed to the house, grabbed my phone, and rushed back.  No snake to be seen at all.  Almost like I'd imagined it.  Gutted.  No photo.  It was probably a Northwestern Garter Snake - but would have been nice to have had a picture of it so I could confirm.   

Break

Work is slowly killing me.  I've been feeling really rundown recently, and especially this week.  Not sleeping well.  Not enjoying what I'm working on.  My confidence and motivation levels are incredibly low.  Our company shutdown next week for the 4th July holiday couldn't be better timed, I really need the break.  I haven't made plans to go anywhere - but depending on weather and traffic, I'll consider taking some longer day trips.  But mainly it will be nice to hopefully relax and not think about work for a week.  Sadly I don't think that will be easy - I only have more deadlines and stress waiting for me in the weeks immediately after the break.

Minifigure

I like Lego.  I like Lord of the Rings.  I like limited edition things.  I shall not be bidding on this particular Lego minifigure, even if only 20 were ever made.  $15,000 is just a little steep for something so small and made of plastic.

Switch

No, I shall not be purchasing the new Nintendo Switch 2.  I have no idea how easy it is to get or not, or how good the system is, but I'm going to stick to my Playstation 5 for my video game needs.  I own a Switch, but I hardly use it at all now that I don't play any online games with my nephew or niece.  I kind of miss that, but they've probably moved onto other games that I don't know or don't play (think Fortnite or Among Us).  And I think they'd rather play with friends over their useless uncle with an inconvenient time difference.  If they even still play video games, I'm quickly losing touch with their likes and interests as they get older.  I guess I could, and probably should, return to something like Ring Fit Adventure or Nintendo Switch Sports for a little bit of a workout.  But that prospect does not exactly fill me with joy.        

The Mandalorian

Since I'm going to end my Disney+ subscription next month (it was supposed to be this month, but I forgot!), I've been binge-watching The Mandalorian.  A show which I would describe as good, but not great.  It's certainly watchable - the episodes normally clock in under an hour, which I really appreciate.  And the show certainly looks and sounds great.  And I really like the artwork/storyboards that end each episode.  But the plotlines and pacing leave a lot to be desired, and I wish the content was a bit more mature.  And, perhaps crucially, I don't like Baby Yoda - a character who I find on an annoying scale somewhere between Jar Jar Binks and Groot.  It is also the only show I've ever seen that, weirdly, in the "previously on" snippets at the start of each episode sometimes features scenes that have never aired previously.  And it is a show that has a massive disconnect between the end of Season 2 and the start of Season 3.  Almost as if the end of Season 2 didn't happen (I can't say I cared much for the appearance of - spoiler alert - a digitally de-aged Luke Skywalker).  Apparently some of this was explained in a separate spin-off, but it's still very disconcerting.  Plus I guess it doesn't help that one of the key supporting characters got dropped because the actor shares some Trump-like opinions.  

Summer

It was the first day of summer yesterday.  And what was the weather like at Mount Rainier today?  Here was a view from the webcam at the Paradise visitor center:

Yes, it was snowing.  Mountain snow in late June.  That is crazy.  Not that I am going up Mount Rainier any time soon.  It's all timed entry reservations now - which is thoroughly depressing and a pain in the ass if you ever want to visit the mountain now (which I haven't done for quite some time).   

Jaws

Happy 50th anniversary to Jaws today.  NBC were airing a special screening of Jaws tonight, including an introduction by Steven Spielberg, but I didn't catch it.  It is one of those films that I appreciate has reached iconic status, but not a film that I would consider a masterpiece.  But it's been a very long time since I watched it, so maybe I need to reconsider.  There are certainly no shortage of merchandise and collectibles you can buy to celebrate the 50th anniversary.  Of course I am tempted, but I will resist - though I like the idea of owning an Amity Island t-shirt.              

Golf

I've always said to myself that I might consider taking up golf when I retire.  But now I'm thinking it might be sooner.  I've currently got my golf practice net set up outside, and I've been hitting some balls every day.  But judging from how well I hit balls into a net, I'm clearly not very good.  But I want to be better, and I like the idea of playing regular rounds of golf.  I don't think it would be a problem finding people to play with - I have friends who play regularly, as does my landlord.  But I need to do a few things before that.  The first is to buy a beginner set of golf clubs.  I'm currently using a set that was gifted to me from a friend - but they're not in great condition and the grips on them are already falling apart.  I was looking at some sets online today - but I think I might see if I can get something cheap in the Amazon Prime Day sale in a few weeks' time.  The next step after that would be to start frequenting a local driving range.  And maybe even getting lessons.  But one step at a time - knowing me, this aspiration will probably end up going nowhere.        

Own brands

Note to self - although there might be some foods and household items that are perfectly acceptable to save some money and buy own brand versions of, there are many that are not.  And there are some that are definitely not.  As I'm finding out to my misfortune, toilet paper is one of those.  It makes you realize just how important, and how much difference, a better quality toilet paper product makes.  The extra money spent is worth it, always.   

Missing

Hang on a sec, did I not post anything yesterday?  And I had no idea until about to post something today?  Yikes, that's an alarming mental lapse.  Perhaps indicative of my current state of mind - very much distracted by work at the moment.  Lots of deadlines, lots of last minute requests, lots of stress.    

Prepared Meals

I got my third weekly delivery of prepared meals yesterday, and promptly canceled my subscription afterwards.  Initially the meals were great value for money with the new customer savings, but not so much now that the savings have gradually decreased.  And also had a "stomach upset" caused by one of my meals over the weekend, that has made me really rethink my opinion of them.  Some of the meals have been pretty good, but most of them are just blah - adequate but unspectacular.  It has added some variety to my meals - which is something I need to implement once I start cooking for myself again.  But mostly it's about portion control - I need to be more vigorous about not consuming typical American-sized meals.  And it's perfectly possible that I might restart my subscription at some point in the future - but not for the time being.    

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all the fathers out there.  It's turned into a weird empty day when you're not a father yourself, and it's the first Father's Day when your own father is no longer with you.  My mood is kind of sad, as reflected in the choice of song that I want to post today:

Parades and Protests

It's really sad how Trump hijacked the army's 250th anniversary parade to make it all about him.  Of course he wants nothing more than to preside over a military parade like a wannabe dictator would do.  I don't think there was much TV coverage of the parade - it might have aired live somewhere (definitely on Fox News), but I really couldn't care less and there was not a chance in hell I was going to watch it.  No, I was more interested in the "No Kings" protests going on across the country.  A protest which I was more than interested in attending (apparently there were about 70,000 people just in Seattle).   But I'm sure some shady government agency was tracking all the attendees, and I don't want to do anything to jeopardize my permanent residency status.  The very fact that I have to think like that is why I loathe this administration so much.  And all of this against the backdrop of turmoil and war on the world stage.  Fun times.

Millennium Falcon

Wanted to build a Lego set this week to help de-stress from work.  I had recently acquired this particular set in an Amazon sale, so took the opportunity to put it together over the last few days.  And it now sits proudly on one of my shelves (something I couldn't do with the other Millennium Falcon Lego set I've got, which is WAY too big for a bookshelf!).

Palace Ownership

I've been reading about Palace possibly being barred from competing in the Europa League next year.  It sounds ridiculous - a possible multiclub ownership rule violation because one of our American minority shareholders is also a majority shareholder in Lyon, who also happen to be competing in the same competition next year.  It shouldn't be a problem because this guy is not involved in the day-to-day running of the club, and he could apparently have avoided the problem by putting the shares in a blind trust - but didn't.  So apparently this guy is interested in selling his stake now.  And I was reading that the New York Jets owner is in talks to acquire them.  This could potentially be a disaster.  He is generally regarded as the worst owner in the NFL, and also happens to be a Trumpite.  And he has also previously declared himself to be a Chelsea supporter.  Yikes.          

Working from Home

There are some things that have not come as a surprise now that I'm working from home full time.  I expected my utility bills to be higher, and they are.  I expected my amount of human interaction to decrease, and it has.  I expected my work-life balance to get worse, and it has.  But there are other things that I didn't see coming.  And the last few weeks are a great example.  I need to buy more shorts.  Now that I have no office to go into, as we get into the warmer months of the year then I have absolutely no need to wear trousers most days.  This consideration never even crossed my mind.  Just one of the many joys of working from home.         

Karens

I think I've been watching too many Karen videos, because now my YouTube feed is full of them.  And even though there are loads of videos, a lot of the most viewed ones are the same.  So why am I watching so many of these videos?  I haven't encountered many Karens in the wild, so perhaps I'm just curious.  Maybe on some level I'm worried that I could easily become a Karen (or, more accurately, a Kevin) - I'm a stickler for rules, so in some of the situations I empathize with the Karens (though I'm not sure I would ever act as condescending or entitled as these people.  And I would never rage like they do - at least not in public).  Also, I am thankful that I don't have to deal with these people on any sort of regular basis - whether at work, as a neighbo(u)r or whatever.  And it doesn't surprise me that you find so many Karens in the US - after all, these rude/racist middle-class white women are almost definitely Trump supporters.       

Video Games

It's been a while since I really got into a video game.  And that's despite owning a Playstation 5!  I've even bought a couple of new games, but I've hardly played them at all (including Hogwarts Legacy).  But I think that is going to change next year.  I am waiting excitedly for the release of GTA 6 in 2026, a game which I've already decided I am going to get immediately on release and spend way too many hours playing and mastering.  With my limited video game skills on modern games and modern consoles, this could take an awful long time.  But now another video game being released next year has also caught my eye.

This has the potential to be really good.  Or really bad.  Bond doesn't exactly have a good track record when it comes to decent video games (when perhaps the only good game was released nearly 30 years ago).  Not that I would really know - I don't think I've ever played a Bond video game.  That needs to change.       

Hot Stuff

Hottest day of the year so far, by a mile.  The kind of day where you break out in a sweat just by going outside.  And certainly not the kind of day you want to exert yourself too much.  My bedroom is stinking hot right now, so I'm almost tempted to try to go to sleep on my recliner outside tonight.  The hot weather is not going to last - it looks like June Gloom is back next week.  Thank god.

Engine noise

The weekend didn't start well when I was woken up this morning by the sound of revving car engines.  It was the neighbo(u)r in the direction of the bottom of my driveway.  The same one who caused me a lot of grief last summer with their engine noises, so this doesn't bode well for this summer.  But to make the kind of noise that they were at 8 am on a Saturday morning - a noise they must surely have realized was very loud - is both disrespectful and incredibly inconsiderate to their neighbo(u)rs.  It wasn't a total disaster because I wanted to get up early anyway to go out for a walk before it got too hot (we are in the midst of a heatwave - it's forecast to get up to 31 C tomorrow).  Nonetheless, I don't appreciate it and steps will be taken if it happens again.  It sounded, I think, like they were loading a car or cars onto a transporter.  But it was the engine revving that was unnecessary and unnecessarily loud.  I think if it happens again then I might have to say something.  Maybe even call the non-emergency police line and make a noise complaint.  Or if I want to go to the extreme, since I think it's Spanish-speaking people who live down there, an anonymous tip to ICE might do the trick!  

Encounters

I was outside refilling my hummingbird feeders yesterday evening, when I encountered a small rabbit outside my house.  It saw me and ran off round the back of my house.  So I continued refilling the feeder to the side of my house.  And then I set off round to the back of my house to refill the feeders back there, when suddenly the rabbit appeared at speed from where it had disappeared to before.  It saw me, froze because they didn't know what to do, and then disappeared and I didn't see where it went - I think it was hiding somewhere.  I didn't know what has caused it to run back to where I was, but I continued round to the back of the house and started refilling the feeders there.  When suddenly I heard some rustling in the undergrowth to the right.  And, out of the blue, a pack of coyotes emerged out of the undergrowth, sprinted across my lawn, across my driveway, and disappeared into the undergrowth to the left.  It all happened so quickly, that I'm not entirely sure how big the pack was - but there must have been between about 5 to 10 coyotes.  I've seen them before, and I've certainly heard them, but I don't think I've encountered so many of them at once before.  I have no idea if they were chasing this rabbit or another rabbit, I have no idea if they saw me, but it was a rather surreal, if brief, experience.  

Pests

I'm sadly dealing with pests again today - not mice this time, but ants.  The inside of my house has not been full on invaded by them just yet, but it looks like they sent an expeditionary force to check out the lay of the land.  I discovered, and mostly killed, about 10 ants this evening that I found downstairs.  I don't know how they got in, but the fact that most of them were in the downstairs bathroom suggests that there must be access to outside my house somewhere in there - maybe underneath or behind the fixtures.  In all the time I've been living here, I thought that this might be the first time I've encountered ants inside.  But I don't think that's true.  I found some bug spray in my cupboard that I don't remember buying - perhaps I did, perhaps the previous tenant left it there - but let's just say it got used quite liberally this evening.  I haven't seen any more ants around since then - but I'm certainly feeling paranoid about their presence, and I can't stop scanning the non-carpeted floors for signs of movement.  I hope I don't wake up tomorrow morning to encounter a load more of them - that would be the nightmare scenario (though at least that might help me pinpoint exactly where they come into my home from).    

Health

I had a physical exam with my doctor this week.  And I got back the lab test results today, and they were a lot better than I feared.  That's not to say that I am suddenly in good shape - far from it.  But at least my labs seem stable - so the medication I'm taking is successfully controlling my blood sugar level, blood pressure and cholesterol.  Which is good!  Especially considering how badly I've abused my body over the last 6 months through poor diet and lack of exercise.  I did discuss with my doctor about taking an injectable medication that as well as helping my blood sugar levels also results in weight loss (it wasn't one of the meds I see regularly advertised on TV - Ozempic or Wegovy - but is very similar).  I don't think I will start taking it yet since my A1C level is stable, but if I can't reduce my weight in the next 6 months through diet and exercise alone then I think I will request starting on it.  I'm not that keen on having to inject a medicine, but apparently you can take it via "autoinjector" pens which I don't mind because they're probably no worse than doing a finger prick - which I what I have to do to measure my sugar levels.  I'm already taking steps to better control my diet - I got my first prepared meals delivered this week.  Only had 2 so far (one average, one really good), but I think good for me to have more balanced and calorie-controlled meals.  Because I'm a new customer the first box didn't cost much - but as the cost increases over time, I don't know how long I'll keep on doing them for.  But I'll certainly be having these meals for the next few weeks.   

Baseball

As I'm writing this, some baseball happens to be on TV.  There is no getting around this, but it is an absolutely awful sport to watch.  Not much action, endless ad breaks, so so slow.  Its been years since I went to see a game in person - it just doesn't appeal to me any more.  I'm not even particularly invested in how my team - the San Diego Padres - are doing.  It is a dying sport, seemingly only enjoyed by elderly white men.  And the baseball commentary - which might be even more monotonous than the game itself - kind of sums up how unappealing it is to me.  I've just switched channels.

Boring

I didn't know this, but I only found out recently that many Americans think Seattle is a boring city.  I've been dwelling on this, and I can sort of understand it.  The weather is not great, the city architecture is not great, it doesn't have the world-class attractions of contemporary American cities like San Francisco, Chicago, Boston or New York, and it simply isn't a particularly exciting city.  Seattle may have a great natural setting, but apparently the city itself stinks.  So why am I still here?  It's a question I've been asking myself a lot recently.  Especially now that I'm a "remote worker", I'm not tied to a specific location.  So I could move away from the Pacific NW and it's horribly expensive cost of living.  But a move would take a lot of time, effort and inconvenience.  And I don't have a clue where I would want to move to.  So I don't see it happening any time soon - at least not until my circumstances change again.           

Cutting the Cord

There are hardly any scheduled recordings on my DVR - such is the scarcity of decent cable TV over summer.  So I can concentrate on watching all the various films/programs/documentaries I have recorded over the last 6 months or so that I haven't got to yet (and there are a lot).  But as soon as my DVR is down to 0%, then I need to make some choices.  I'd like to cut the cord, but I don't know if that will actually save me money.  What I'm thinking I'd rather do is get a very basic TV package - and then pay for a couple of streaming packages on top of that.  I think that will cover all the bases - I might have to drop a few of my favo(u)rite channels, but I can live with that.  Ultimately, I suspect I will still end up paying way too much for my internet and TV.  Such are the joys of dealing with a monopoly.