Stupid sport

I don't know why this has suddenly started popping up in my YouTube feed - I guess the AI thinks I might like this, but it is horribly wrong - but I've been seeing some clips from what might be the worst "sport" I've ever seen.  An idiotic and ridiculous spectacle.  A combat sport whose biggest promotion is founded by the same douchebag who runs UFC (a sport I have stopped watching predominately due to his close ties with Trump).  It is slap fighting.  Where these idiots basically take turns to slap the living hell out of each other.  Primitive, pointless and unsafe - frankly I'm stunned why this is even a real thing.  I guess this is what the world has come to.         

Returns

I've had to do a couple of Amazon returns recently, and the process is surprisingly easy.  I don't remember that always being the case.  But now all you need to do is initiate the return process for the item on the Amazon website, take the item to a dedicated counter at a local Whole Foods Market (an Amazon-owned store I don't shop at, but which there are loads of them around - including one only 10 minutes drive away for me), show the assistant behind the desk the QR code that you got sent, give them the item, and that's pretty much it.  Don't have to deal with any of the packing or shipping - which is nice.  I have encountered a massive queue at the return counter before, but that was after Christmas when you might expect it to be busy.  The few times I've had to do this in the last couple of weeks, when I went there just after the counter opened at 9 am, there was no wait.  Of course, if Amazon hadn't sent me a couple of damaged items in the first place - then this wouldn't be an issue. 

Bananas

I don't refrigerate my bananas - and I've been wondering whether I should do.  So who to ask?  Well let's see what AI says:. "Yes, bananas can be refrigerated, but it's best to do so when they are fully ripe.".  Then the question becomes, what is "fully ripe"?  "When they are fully yellow and started to develop brown spots."  OK.  Of course, I only buy enough bananas in one go so that I can consume them before they become overripe.  So all of this is rather redundant.     

Cold Callers

This summer, there seems to have been a distinct increase in the number of cold callers coming round to my house to sell their services e.g. yardwork, pest control or whatever.  And I've been getting increasingly brusque with them - to the point now that as soon as I answer the door and clock who they are, I tell them I'm not interested and close the door on them before they can even say anything.  I have zero interest on hearing even a second of their sales pitch.  It's nothing personal.  But because I'm so far back from the road, for them to come all the way up my driveway feels like a massive invasion of my privacy.  Perhaps there has always been this number of callers before, but I'm encountering them more now because I'm working from home.  Either way, I don't care for it and perhaps I need to invest in a doorbell camera or something so that I know when not to answer the door.       

An Expensive Autograph

I must confess that I've probably been spending too much money on James Bond trading cards recently.  The issue is that I'm a completist, so it can be tough to know where to draw a line.  I definitely need to be more judicious.  But I thought I'd share this - a photo of the most expensive autograph I've ever paid for, that I won in an auction and got this week.  And it was expensive not by a small amount - over double my previous most (I am hesitant to give you the exact value, which I guess indicates some degree of shame and embarrassment...) .  But when you see who it is, I hope you'll understand why I wanted it so much!

Pickles

Sonic is a fast-food chain here, and it has been heavily advertising this ghastly-looking pickle-themed menu:

Yes, even the drink includes pickle juice.  I shall not be testing this meal out.  I just don't get American's love of pickles.  I even tried some dill pickle flavo(u)red chips (crisps) today:

They weren't as bad as I feared, but all they did was make me miss British crisps even more than I already do. 

eBay Sellers

I haven't had problems with most of the eBay sellers I've bought stuff from or interacted with.  But although few and far between, there are exceptions.  Here are 3 situations I've encountered:

1. Being sent the wrong item.  This has happened a few times.  I've been sent a different card from what was listed, what I was expecting and what I bid and paid for.  Fortunately I've been able to resolve these - typically by returning the wrong card (which in itself can be a bit of a pain in the ass) and either being sent a replacement or sent a refund.  One seller sent me a refund and promised to let me know when the card I wanted was available again (they had clearly sent the card I wanted to someone else, and that person's card to me) - but they never got back to me.  That sucks.

2.  Putting an item up for auction, delisting the item (the reason stated being something like "no longer available") then relisting the item at a higher price.  I've seen this a couple of times, and it is a really scummy thing to do.  If I see something I want, I typically add it to my watchlist.  Sometimes items can just randomly disappear from my watchlist - typically because the seller has pulled the item from the auction because the bids are less than what they want.  But I also have saved searches so that I'm notified when certain items come on the market - so I see when the same seller puts the same item back on the market, with a much higher starting price.  I won't buy from someone who pulls that kind of cheap trick.

3.  False advertising.  This is what has put me in a bad mood today.  I won an auction for what was very clearly listed as a complete set of 47 cards.  I got the item today, and it wasn't complete.  There were only 45 cards.  Perhaps this was a genuine mistake, but I am mightily suspicious because the 2 cards missing are by far the most valuable cards in the set and the reason I got it.  It feels like they were almost intentionally excluded.  Had I known, there is no way I would have bid as much as I did in the auction.  I don't know how this is going to resolve yet - I'd happily keep the set if they refund me most of what I paid, but I suspect I'm more likely to return them.  Disappointing, and another pain in the ass to deal with.  

        

Public Service Announcement

This is very funny, and very adult (you have been warned, watch at your discretion).

https://southpark.cc.com/sites/hetrumpedus/index.html

"This show hasn't been relevant for over 20 years and is hanging on by a thread with uninspired ideas.".  You just know this really irked the White House!

A Neighbor Update

A reminder, here is the satellite view of where I live - and I've got an update on the circled property:

This is the property that nobody has lived in over the entire duration I've lived here - but it has been on the market for a while.  Well at some point in the last few months, the For Sale sign disappeared and nobody really knows what happened.  Well some internet sleuthing (well not really, all I needed to do was put in the address in the Snohomish County Assessor website) has revealed that indeed the property was sold for about a million dollars last month.  And who bought it?  Well the website indicated that the new owner is a property rental company.  More precisely, a real estate investment company backed by Jeff Bezos.  Hmmmm.  I went on the company's website, and indeed they have the the property listed as being prepared to be put on the rental market soon.  The anticipated rent ($4400 per month) will hopefully keep the riff raff away, but who knows.  I fear I will have new and noisy neighbors soon.  There were a load of people round there this afternoon - I suspect investors in the property rental company (I wonder if that included Jeff Bezos?) - and they were already getting on my nerves.  The problem is that my landlord has cut down a load of branches that had shielded me from the property, but now I can look right down on them (and they up to me). 

Spies

I guess I'm on a bit of a spy kick right now.  I've just started watching Slow Horses and The Agency.  And I've just started reading The Honourable Schoolboy by John Le Carre.  Is this some kind of wish fulfillment for a career I wish I had but never will?  Some kind of carryover from my love of James Bond?  Or just a fondness for the tension and exhilaration of a good spy thriller?  Either way, let's hope I can avoid getting the various stories mixed up.  It's already tough to not confuse Gary Oldman as Jackson Lamb in Slow Horses with Gary Oldman as George Smiley in the 2011 film of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.       

Sunset

One of the things that I like the least about where I live is that I don't have a good view of sunset.  I see very little of the west-facing sky - which is obscured by trees and my landlord's house.  Take this evening, where the change in lighting as the sun set was noticeable outside.  It was a startling orange light - almost like you get when there is smoke in the atmosphere.  I bet it made for a great sunset, but alas I couldn't tell.  I guess I could've driven somewhere to catch a better view of the sunset - but I don't really know where I'd go that is close by and easy to park at.  But if that is one of the worst things about where I live, then I can't really complain too much...! 

Coldplay

I'm sure you've seen the news about that cheating couple caught on the kiss cam at a Coldplay concert.  Where to start: both married but not to each other, inappropriate work romance, the guy forced to step down as CEO.  Personally, I think they both deserve everything they get for attending a Coldplay concert.  If it was, say, Oasis - I wouldn't have an issue.  But Coldplay, come on - they really suck.     

Attention Span

I have been watching far too many YouTube shorts and Instagram reels recently, and I really need to cut down on them.  Even cut them out of my viewing patterns entirely.  They are addictive, not good for my attention span and are probably rewiring my brain in ways I don't care for.  Classic brain fog.  Generally, I really need to cut down on my screen time.  And I really want to start reading more books again.  A good quality book is so much better than a series of crappy short videos.  

Is it the weekend yet?

Oh wait, it is the weekend now?  Then why doesn't it feel like it?  I guess that's what happens when your work-life balance is messed up.  And you also have an inability to totally switch off.  It's why I can't do holidays that involve just relaxing by the pool or on the beach.  I have to be engaged in something - mentally or physically.  And perhaps it's also because my everyday life is - intentionally - not particularly busy or overly stressful.  Or at least I try to make it that way.  So I don't need to unwind in the same way as say someone who has kids.  I guess all of this doesn't make me value weekends in the same way as someone who works hard during the week...    

Power Outage

An unexpected power outage this afternoon.  It's a good job I haven't been particularly busy with work this week, because I couldn't do anything whilst my internet was down.  I guess I could have gone to a coffee shop or something - it wasn't quite as hot today as it was yesterday, but still hot enough that it would be nice to have gone somewhere with air-conditioning (I was thinking about how much I missed having the option of going into the office).  No idea what the cause of the outage was - it was a bit breezy today, so perhaps some tree limb came down somewhere.  But fortunately the power was only out for about an hour.  I just took the opportunity to chill out on my reclining chair in the shade on my patio.  At one point even a deer joined me as it ambled through the nearby undergrowth.  Nice.      

Sweaty

Hottest day of the year so far today (we are one of many states under an official heat advisory).  And it sucks.  It's days like this when I really miss central AC.  I had that both in California and Texas, but I've never had it anywhere I've lived in Washington.  But perhaps that should become the norm as the weather gets more extreme and we are more likely to experience hotter summers.  But I highly doubt that my landlord would consider installing central AC.  I don't really even have central heating here - just a series of baseboard heaters, some of which are connected and others which are not.  I popped into Costco today, and they had some really powerful fans on display that were incredibly tempting to buy.  It might be time to upgrade some of my old fans that I've had a long time and which don't seem particularly effective.  

New signing

I don't care much for Chelsea's new signing.  He looks rather out of shape.

Important date to note - 10th September.  This is when the first phase of 2026 World Cup tickets go on sale.  I am determined to see at least one game in Seattle - even if it is between 2 incredibly shitty countries.  I don't think we'll even know who is playing, since the group draw doesn't take place until December.

And the less said about Palace's demotion from the Europa League the better.  It's not just FIFA that is morally bankrupt, but also UEFA.  A disgusting decision - that I have no idea if we'll be able to overturn.  I am especially resentful of Forest who seemingly also pushed for this demotion, to their benefit.  With their various financial breaches, they are not exactly squeaky clean themselves.  

Expensive

The next few days might become an expensive one for me.  It looks like someone is auctioning off their James Bond trading card collection - and there are a lot of cards that I would like.  And a lot of them are not cheap.  I have been bidding on and losing quite a lot of auctions recently, so I don't know how well I'm going to fair.  But most of these have been cards from the most recently released set.  A lot of the cards coming up for auction that I want are from older sets - so we shall see.  Though judging by the number of people watching these auctions, I think the competition could be fierce.  But I have been doing a good job of tracking how much a lot of these cards have been going for, so I think I should be should be able to get some at a decent price.  And I will do my best to not overpay (though there are a few autographs that I would REALLY like...!). 

Lose-lose

Despite the tennis, it's that time of year when we're in a bit of a black hole when it comes to sports.  And that was perfectly epitomized today when the choice of football to watch was between the Club World Cup - a glorified friendly - or the Women's European Championship - where the quality of football is so bad it's unwatchable.  I get that there has been a noticeable increase in popularity in women's football - but personally it's not for me.  In much the same way that I struggle to watch the MLS, anything inferior to the quality set by the Premier League is difficult to watch.  

Drug Cheats

I've been watching quite a lot of Wimbledon - though I thankfully didn't catch the rather one-sided women's final this morning.  Well I say I've been watching, rather it tends to be on the telly in the background whilst I'm working or doing something else.  By the time you read this you might know who won the men's final.  I hope it's Alcaraz.  Because if not, it isn't a great look for tennis when both the men's and women's Wimbledon champions are drug cheats.  Because that's what they are - both have served recent doping bans.  Extremely lenient doping bans at that.  The semi-final between Sinner and Djokovic was a tricky one to watch - because I didn't know who I wanted to lose the most.  A drug cheat or someone who is definitely up there in my list of athletes I'd most like to punch in the face!         

Prime Day

It wasn't so much Amazon Prime Day as Amazon Prime Week this week - what was once a one day thing has turned into a bloated 4 days of deals on mostly a bunch of crap.  Nonetheless I ordered a few items, and they got delivered today.  A couple of unexciting items - some kitchen utensils and some car fresheners.  But also one big item - I bought a set of golf clubs!  Saved some money on a decent, and recommended, beginner's set.  These are more of a long term investment - I don't plan to use them immediately.  But I suspect at some point soon I will have more time on my hands, such as by getting laid off or taking a sabbatical, and so I can make use of them then.      

Brownshirts

Trump can stick his "big, beautiful" bill up his big and decidedly unbeautiful ass.  Especially concerning the massive injection of taxpayer's money ($75 billion!) to ICE - an agency which is acting more and more like the Nazi SA.  The images of masked agents carrying out arrests in public areas is really unsettling.  And the construction of controversial detention facilities like "Alligator Alcatraz" is only going to escalate.  As someone who has gone through the proper channels to become a legal permanent resident in the US, on some level I am not opposed to the efforts to arrest and deport people living illegally here.  But I do seriously question the manner in which it is being achieved - notably through fear and intimidation.  And I fundamentally disagree with who exactly warrants arrest and deportation.  When you hear so many stories of good or innocent people being picked up in these raids, you know that something is very wrong.  Particularly when it's people who are only guilty of having legally protested against the government in some way.  Does even writing a post like this put me at risk?  I hope not.

Backyard Wildlife Update

Some highlights from my trail cam over the last month or so.  I've noticed that my landlord's cat has started to appear more regularly.  This is an unwelcome development.  I try to chase off the cat whenever I see it (I do the same if I see a crow at my bird bath), but I clearly need to pay more attention.   

The Bear

Just finished binge-watching the most recent episodes of The Bear - a brilliant TV series, that I have to recommend (and which I think I've recommended before in this blog).  The most recent series of it got slightly mixed reviews - but even a lesser episode of The Bear is so much better than most other shows.  And yes, the later seasons have perhaps toned down the sheer intensity of the first series.  But this is a beautifully shot and beautifully acted show, with beautifully drawn out characters that you want to spend time with.  I think the show has won lots of comedy awards, but lets be clear - this is a drama, not a comedy.  But a good drama worth watching.    

The Worst

There are few things as bad as the first day back at work after a long break.  It was only a week off, but today really sucked.  I actually received an ad-hoc work request about 5 pm on the Friday before my week off.  An absolutely ridiculous and offensive time to send this, and I'm glad that I had already logged off by then so I didn't read it until today.  That would have ruined my week off (which already got kind of ruined because I was under the weather for a lot of it, so didn't get out nearly as much as I wanted to), so instead I've got to deal with this request over the next few days.   But the tone of the e-mail really pissed me off - saying stuff like you don't have to work over the company holiday or work overtime this week to complete this request, but it would be good if you could.  Passive aggressiveness at it's worst, and symbolic of the toxic work environment that now exists here.  More and more, I'm actually hoping I get laid off.     

Unfortunate Timing

I got this last week:

The next day, he died.  Yikes, that's unfortunate timing.  His Bond performance doesn't get much mention in the obituaries.  But I'm OK with that, since his appearance was in the worst Bond film.       

Fireworks

Perhaps because we had perfect weather, the amount of fireworks set off last night seemed a lot more than previous years.  Mostly illegally.  What is the point of having fireworks ordinances if (a) people ignore them and (b) police don't enforce them.  But it's like this every 4th July, so this comes as no surprise.  I didn't bother watching any fireworks displays - either in person or on telly.  I'm not even sure how much I would have seen from outside my house - my field of vision of the night sky is quite limited.  But I cannot avoid hearing all the fireworks - lasting well into the late night (and some more this evening).  However, I do enjoy July 5th as it tends to be quite peaceful - especially in the morning when most people are sleeping in or nursing hangovers.        

Independence Day

Happy 4th July!  What a glorious time to be living in this great country of the United States of America.  Passing legislation that benefits everyone.  Putting country over personal gain.  Setting a great example of democracy, immigration policy and foreign diplomacy to the rest of the world.  Makes me proud to be living here - under this strong, competent, rational administration.  And just in case they're seeing this, let me add what a great job that US Customs and Border Protection are doing.     

Tsunami: Race Against Time

This is a TV recommendation for Tsunami: Race Against Time.  A 4-part National Geographic documentary about the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami - it is one of the best documentaries I've seen in years.  Gripping, harrowing, morbidly fascinating - I had no idea of the scale of destruction and devastation of what might be one of the worst natural disasters in my lifetime.  Nearly a quarter of a million casualties, it is almost incomprehensible.  Most of the footage shown is from handheld video taken by tourists and locals at the time of the disaster, and it is quite shocking.  You see these long waves on the ocean that seem almost innocuous.  But then when you see the footage of these waves slamming into the coastline and coastal communities, and the vast swathes of destruction and dead bodies lying in their wake, you have an inkling of the devastating power of nature.  I feel ashamed of being so uninformed about this disaster - for example, I knew very little about how somewhere like Sri Lanka was so badly affected.  I bet if the earthquake and resulting tsunami had occurred in the Pacific or Atlantic Ocean (thus affecting first world countries) instead of the Indian Ocean, we would know a lot more about it.  This is also a documentary about humanity - particularly as the documentary is predominantly told through the eyes of people who lived through it.  It makes you wonder how you would react if, god forbid, you ever had to live through a disaster like this.  I like to think that I would be heroic and put my life on the line to save the lives of others.  But I think the reality is that I would probably be in a state of shock and disbelief and utterly useless.  But let's hope I never have to find out.  And the next time I drive alongside the Pacific Ocean, I will pay attention and have a better appreciation for the tsunami evacuation route signs.      

Weird Adverts

I've been seeing lots of adverts on telly for Trivago.  And these adverts bizarrely feature Jurgen Klopp.  Who I expect nearly nobody in the US would know or recognize.  What a strange choice of "celebrity".  You'd think they'd at least use someone more recognizable to a US audience.  Clearly it'a German advert, from a German company, that doesn't work on a North American audience.  And Klopp's brightly bleached white teeth do not help matters.     

Sleep

The hot weather is really affecting my sleep.  I woke up about 3 am this morning and was totally unable to get back to sleep for at least a couple of hours.  I was a sweaty and uncomfortable mess.  And, worse of all, during whatever sleep I did manage to get I think I slept on my hand because it's sore and bruised today.  At least I think that is what happened - otherwise I'm not sure how else I've hurt my hand.  I guess these kind of aches and pains will happen more often as I get older.  Not a pleasant thought.