Sleep

I really should get a new mattress.  But as a temporary (?) fix, I have got myself a mattress topper.  And not a cheap one - but that's OK, because I think I can claim it as a wellness expense at work.  And so far so good.  I haven't been waking up with back or shoulder pain, something I had been suffering from prior to having the topper.  The one drawback, the memory foam mattress topper I got must have a depth of about 3 inches.  So that on top of my mattress makes my bed look weirdly tall, and it also means that my fitted sheets don't really fit properly.  But that is a compromise I can live with if it means a better night's sleep. 

Penalty Kicks

I had forgotten about the sheer brutality and cruelty of penalty shootouts.  And we had two of them today.  How did I ever survive England's numerous penalty shootout losses from the 1990 World Cup through to the 2020 Euros?  What anxiety and heartbreak to endure.  I remain convinced I will never see England win a major tournament in my lifetime.  Tragic.  

Cutlery

I seem to have an alarming habit of (accidentally) throwing away cutlery.  At least that is the only explanation I have for why some of my forks keep on mysteriously disappearing.  I have seemingly lost one over the last week.  And this isn't the first time.  I could've rooted through the trash trying to find it, but I suspect it's long gone in the last trash collection.  It's not like I have a particularly expensive or noteworthy cutlery set - we are talking Amazon Basics rather than silver sterling here - but still rather annoying.

England 2-0 Panama

Mental health is important.  It's something I struggle with and need to take more measures to address.  Well, it started today with a small step.  At quarter time of the England-Panama game, I switched to watching the other game going on at the same time.  Watching England play is bad for my mental health.  Their ineptness is incredibly frustrating, incredibly stressful, and incredibly unhealthy.  They absolutely suck, and I hope they don't progress far (which they won't based on the last couple of performances).  I'm supporting Team USA from now on.

Pride Night

As I write this, Egypt and Iran are currently playing at "Seattle Stadium" in the World Cup.  I'm not actually watching the game, I'm watching the other one that is being played simultaneously.  But I wanted to mention the Seattle game because it is somewhat controversial.  It is the only official "Pride Match" in the World Cup.  A fact protested by both Egypt and Iran - where homosexuality is criminalized.  Nonetheless, and somewhat surprisingly, they've allowed rainbow flags in the stadium.  Much to the chagrin of the two teams.  But probably making for a very colorful spectacle.  But as I say, I have no idea as I'm not watching the game and I haven't seen any pictures or highlights from it either.  I don't actually know how well attended the game is either.  But I imagine it's quite a heady mix of Egypt fans, Iran fans, pride supporters and protesters downtown this evening.

Grrr Work

It's been horribly busy at work this week.  And it has ruined my World Cup watching.  Incredibly annoying.  Because as much as I hate FIFA and I hate the US hosting the World Cup, I am watching a lot of the games.  At least it's our company shutdown next week, so I can watch as much or as little as I want then.  Unfortunately the week after the shutdown is going to be hellishly busy.  I'm really not enjoying my job right now.  It's stressing me out, and my already poor work-life balance plus lack of healthy routine is not doing me any good.  The week off couldn't be timed better - so long as I don't think about work during that week.  Which is easier said than done.       

Houston

I don't know how much this made the UK news, but the BBC managed to become a laughing stock in the US during the World Cup.  The reason?  During the World Cup coverage, at one point the studio background featured the Houston skyline plus a mountain range.  Only one problem with that.  Houston is, famously, nowhere near any mountains.  This background was clearly AI-generated.  

Cue a LOT of social media roasting.    

England 0-0 Ghana

Yes, this is the England I expected to see.  Frustrating, turgid, uninspiring, absolutely incapable of breaking down a defensive opposition.  And absolutely horrible to watch - an offensive flurry in the last 5 minutes does not make up for 85 minutes of awfulness.  And the worst game in the World Cup so far.  England's first game performance was clearly an aberration.  This is the norm - and eerily similar to what happened in the last World Cup when we drew 0-0 in our second game against the US.  With the players we have, some of the team selection and formation remains baffling.  I saw absolutely no evidence of improved tactical nous that might be expected from our new manager.  I still expect England to top the group, but on the strength of today's outing it confirms my belief that we have no chance of winning the World Cup.  I wore my England top today.  I'm embarrassed by it, so if I go out later then I think I will change.    

Concerts

It's been ages since I've been to see some live music.  This thought crossed my mind as I was watching some live concert footage of Muse today.  One of the few bands that I have seen live before (though a long time ago) and probably the best band I've ever seen live.  This is very much a universal opinion, not one just shared by me.  For the hell of it I checked to see if they had any live dates coming up, and was pleasantly surprised to see that they are actually performing locally later this year.  Well, I think I have to go.  But then I check the dates.  August.  Well dang it, I'm back in the UK when they are here.  That sucks.  What especially sucks is that the alternative radio station that I listen to - and which very occasionally plays Muse - has made absolutely no mention of this upcoming concert.  It makes me wonder just how many other possible concerts of interest I might have missed out on.  Elbow are another band who I missed seeing live locally last year because I didn't know they were going to be here - not that I could have gone because I was back in the UK when they were here.  My timing of home visits is apparently spectacularly bad.       

Geography

A clear sign I've been in the US too long - my geography knowledge has regressed.  A lot.  Give me a globe, and I couldn't tell you where Cape Verde or Curacao are (both countries are in the World Cup).  Indeed, I wasn't even sure which region Curacao qualified for the World Cup from (in fact, it's the same as the US - if the US weren't one of the hosts).  I'm also not sure I care for some of the "renaming" of countries during the World Cup - I'm used to Czech Republic instead of Czechia, and especially Turkey instead of Turkiye.  Hilariously, the Turkish government doesn't want to be associated with the bird - hence requesting the name change.  That seems rather shallow.    

Trail Cam Update

I'm sorry to say, no more bear sightings over the last few weeks.  But there is definitely a coyote in the neighborhood.

USA 2-0 Australia

Congrats to the US for making the knockout stages.  But as I've been telling friends and colleagues, I still don't think you're anywhere near good enough to win the World Cup.  But try telling that to the fickle, fair weather American fan.  Especially after another win.  Another win against a very mediocre opponent.  But I'm glad Seattle did good.  The crowd was hot, the city was rocking, the weather cooperated, and all the scenic shots made Seattle look amazing.  This was probably the biggest sporting event to ever take place in the city.  That might be eclipsed later in the tournament, when we have 2 knockout games being held here.  Those are the ones I really tried to get tickets for, but I just couldn't justify it at the price they were offering.  I doubt that price will come down much at all nearer the games.  Tickets for today's game were going for at least $2000.  And that's for the cheapest seats.  Nope.  But I'm glad I didn't have to go anywhere today - apparently driving anywhere near the city was horrendous (and I've already had to deal with driving loads over the last couple of days just to attend a couple of team lunches).  I think they close a lot of downtown to traffic during the World Cup matches.  It looked absolutely packed.  And it looked like a great atmosphere, but I can't deal with those kinds of crowds.  I'm happy to watch the game at home in "RealTime4K" on TV. 

Awkward

From this:

To this:

Billy no-mates.

England 4-2 Croatia

Well, I don't think I'm going to make any more World Cup predictions.  This game did not go how I expected it to go.  At all.  I missed watching it live as I was at a Chinese restaurant for a team lunch (among the culinary delights that I did not partake in - sea snails and jellyfish).  But it was impossible to avoid the score - we had a banquet room upstairs, but there was a big screen downstairs showing the game.  A good result for sure, showing some encouraging resilience and some surprising attacking flair (predictably, we are always going to be a threat at set pieces) - but there is an awful long way to go in the tournament, so I am not going to read too much into the performance.  In past World Cups, you didn't mind if you started the tournament slowly as you really wanted to peak in the later rounds.  But with this stretched out tournament, including an extra knockout round, I don't know if you can really build up that momentum in the same way.  But a win is a win, and it does somewhat take the pressure off for the next couple of games - which cannot be a bad thing.

Goal Music

There may be many things I dislike about this World Cup, but one of the things I do approve of is the playing of some music in the stadium when a team scores.  It seems like each country has their own choice - so for example when Mexico scored, we got some mariachi music.  I believe the US plays the guitar solo from Lynyrd Skynyrd's Free Bird.  I'm wondering what will be England's goal music?  I pray to God it isn't Three Lions.  I hope we get to find out tomorrow.  Just for reference, this was apparently our choice in the last World Cup (though I don't remember them playing it after every goal):

Roasting

We are currently enduring a mini heatwave.  This is the third consecutive day where we are under a heat advisory.  I've had to drag my portable AC units out of hibernation for their first use of the year.  But they are not helping me sleep well.  But I think that is as much to do with my mattress as it is with the hot temperatures.  I've just ordered a mattress topper to see if that helps - otherwise I fear I will need a new mattress.  The heatwave was also unfortunate timing for the first World Cup match being held in Seattle (Belgium vs Egypt) today.  Perhaps one of the few games where the hydration breaks were actually necessary.  Apparently the match was well attended but there were still some empty seats.  And the ticket prices were still outrageous.  They are going to be even worse for the next game in Seattle, featuring the US.   

Irrational

I'm still getting my head around how I feel about this World Cup.  It's not hatred I think, more just distaste.  The actual games haven't been too bad so far.  However, it feels more like a "soccer" world cup than a "football" world cup.  If that makes sense.  Perhaps it's all the little tweaks and rule changes being implemented in this tournament (the worst of which is the hydration/advert break dividing the game into quarters).  Ian Wright said that the US has no idea about the spirit of the game.  I am in total agreement.  I would go further.  FIFA also has no idea about the spirit of the game - they are driven solely by corporate greed and corruption.  Yet I still end up watching way too many games.  And the more I watch the more I find to get on my nerves.  From the really annoying shadow of a drone flying about above a game, to the clearly artificially enhanced crowd noises on the broadcasts, to the absolutely unwatchable studio segments, to the fake attendance figures (I bet if I show up at Seattle stadium tomorrow for the Belgium vs Egypt game, I could probably get a free ticket just so that there is one less empty seat), to the ridiculousness that Scottish fans had to stay up past 4 am to see their team win (with so many games, how they couldn't find a more accommodating time slot is outrageous).  Did you know that Fox are doing a daily post-game talk show with James Corden.  James Corden!  I thought he was canceled - everybody found out that he was a total prick, and so nobody likes him.  I can't imagine this show gets any viewers whatsoever.  But the broadcaster is Fox, so this shouldn't really come as a surprise (hence why also one of the game analysts is MAGA-loving Alexi Lalas - an excruciatingly horrible presence in the studio even without the politics).  As I write this, we still haven't had a 0-0 game.  I am utterly convinced that England's first game will be the first 0-0 of the tournament and the most dour game of the tournament so far.      

Con Job

My cable and internet bill keeps on going up every month, and I'm sick and tired of it.  And it's time to do something about it.  Rather than go through some AI customer service on the internet or on the phone, I made an appointment at the local store yesterday so that I could speak to someone face-to-face.  Mainly what I wanted was some estimates for how much I was going to pay if I reduced my internet speed and/or if I reduced my channel selection, or even if I cut the cord totally.  For the time being, I have reduced my monthly bill - but at the cost of eliminating a couple of my premium channels.  I feel a bit like I got fleeced - and whatever option I go with, it still feels like a rip off.  What is more aggravating is that I found out that all my surrounding neighbors, including my landlord, have access to fiber internet - but I do not.  I would switch to that in a heartbeat, but instead I'm stuck with getting my internet through my cable company.         

USA 4-1 Paraguay

I suspect there are going to be a lot of posts about the World Cup over the next 3 months, or however long this darn tournament is going to take place.  Apologies for those of you who don't really care for football.  Of course, the US winning their first game in convincing fashion was probably the worst possible result.  It's going to make Americans even more insufferable than they already are.  I do not care for the American fair weather "soccer" fan to start with, and now there are going to be even more of them thinking they are good enough to win the World Cup.  Nope.  Let's see how they actually do against a half-decent side. 

I had to snap a photo of this when it popped up on the screen during the US game:

WTF is "match momentum"?  Jeez.  It looks like another attempt to Americanize our sport.

Commercialization

I now know why the World Cup games are having forced hydration breaks.  It's absolutely nothing to do with making sure players are hydrated enough.  It is all so that Fox can have an extra few advert breaks during the game.  And I'm sure the length of the hydration breaks is being dictated by the sponsors.  Absolutely disgusting.  I think it's the first advert break I've ever seen whilst a game is still being played.  Not even a picture-in-picture advert break - nope, we fully cut away from the game.  It feels very American to try to turn the game into 4 quarters rather than 2 halves - and this is the first step in that direction.

World Cup Preview

We're finally at the eve of the World Cup starting.  Some thoughts on the tournament:

- I hope the US has a really bad World Cup.  Like not even getting out of the group stage.  It's not the team's fault, but thanks to their president they are the pantomime villains and everyone hates them and wants them to lose.

- I don't think England are going to have a good World Cup.  They won't get past the quarter finals.  And their games are going to be painfully frustrating to watch.

- In fact, I think generally the quality of football is going to be very low during this World Cup.  This is courtesy of searing temperatures and a bloated tournament full of too many countries who shouldn't really have qualified.

- Trump has and will ruin this World Cup in much the same way that he is ruining America's 250th birthday.

- This World Cup will be looked on as a disaster, and the US as a terrible host.  The football will be overshadowed by all the off-the-field issues.

- Attendance will be poor at many of the early games, and I fear a Superbowl-like artificiality to the atmosphere of most of the later games.

- I don't have any predictions on who the actual winner will be.  One of the usual suspects.

- It's going to be interesting to see whether the pitches hold up.  Most of the stadiums normally have artificial turf, so they've had to replace this with specially engineered grass - which has the potential to be awful.

- Some of the new rules being implemented for this World Cup will be ridiculous, and I expect at least one major VAR controversy.

- The US "soccer" coverage is going to be interesting.  I've already seen that the first US game will have a 3 hour pre-game show.  Good grief.  But at least the studio host is Rebecca Lowe, who has been the Premier League host here for ages and does a great job at that.  And I notice that Zlatan is going to be one of the pundits - which should be entertaining at least, even if he doesn't exactly provide any interesting insights.  I don't hold high hopes for the quality of commentating - but thankfully they are mostly British.  

   

Team Meeting

I've got a dilemma.  There is a team meet up taking place next Wednesday in Seattle (well, strictly speaking, in Bellevue - but that's the same distance away from me as Seattle is).  I don't really want to go.  It's at some Chinese restaurant where I don't think I'm going to like the food.  But some key people in my department are going to be there - including my manager's manager's manager's manager, my manager's manager's manager and my manager - so I feel some obligation to attend.  I don't really know why some of these people are flying up from California to be here.  This feels like nothing more than a brown nosing event, rather than them actually having some news (good or bad) to impart.  But there is an extra factor to consider.  England are playing their first World Cup game on the same day.  And I would miss it if I was to go to this meeting.  So I honestly don't know what to do.  I can almost guarantee that someone will spoil the score if I record the game and go.  But do I really care that much about watching the game live?  And how important is it for me to go to this meeting?  At no time has anyone said attendance is mandatory, but I feel like it is.  Or at the very least, my absence would be noted.  But do I really care?  As stated previously, I wouldn't mind getting laid off.  I've got until tomorrow to decide whether to go or not.  Let me sleep on it.   

Home Entertainment

I've taken my first steps to substantially upgrading my home entertainment system.  I've just ordered a new soundbar.  I found it new for less than half the retail price, which was too good a deal to pass up on.  And this is, by all accounts (or at least according to many of the online reviews) one of the best systems out there.  Even at the reduced price, it wasn't cheap.  But it features a 11.1.4 channel setup, which should result in some incredible sound.  Calling it a soundbar doesn't do it justice - it's more like a home theater system, with a wireless subwoofer and wireless rear speakers to go with the actual soundbar.  Now I need to pair it up with a high quality telly - I've got my eyes on a particular model, but it ain't cheap...

Vertigo

I can talk about this now, because I'm more or less over it.  But for about a week, I have been suffering from dizzy spells.  Not the more serious low blood pressure, fainting type of dizziness.  No, this was more like occasionally experiencing a spinning sensation.  In certain situations where I moved my head suddenly - especially when I moved position in bed, something I do a lot of - then I was getting really dizzy.  There is something deeply, fundamentally disturbing about experiencing a really spinning room while you're stationary and gripping hard onto whatever you can before things settle back to normal.  Fortunately these spells only lasted for a few seconds, but still very unsettling.  I think I was suffering from something called BPPV (Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo) - where, apparently, tiny calcium crystals get dislodged and go into the wrong part of your ear canal.  Isn't the human body a crazy thing.  But apparently this is quite common, especially for people over 50 (which I nearly am).  And fortunately I didn't have to live with this condition for too long.  But an unwelcome reminder that I'm going to experience more stuff like this as I get older.  

An Unexpected Visitor

I moved my trail camera in the hope of seeing new wildlife.  Well, my decision has paid off.  And in quite spectacular fashion:

Yes, that is a black bear going up my driveway towards my house.  And quite a large one at that.  I had absolutely no idea it was even possible for there to be any bears in my neighborhood.  It's not like my neighborhood is overly developed, but neither are there any big wilderness areas nearby.  I certainly haven't seen any bears here before, and I haven't heard about any here before either.  And judging from my landlord's reaction when I sent him one of the above photos - "Holy sh*t!!!" was the text I got back - I suspect he hasn't either.   

Watch Repair

It took me 3 days to notice that my watch had stopped running.  And I'd been wearing it for most of those 3 days.  Is it weird that I don't look at my watch that much?  Either way, I need to get a new battery fitted.  I took it in to a jewelers today, and the price they quoted just for a battery replacement was outrageous - almost the cost of the watch itself.  So I declined, and instead went home and ordered a very basic watch replacement kit from Amazon instead.  I'll do it myself - I think (hope) it isn't too complicated.  I think I just need to use the right tools to unscrew the back of the watch, and simply replace the battery (which I also need to order from Amazon).  It'll probably end up being a lot less easy than that, especially with my very limited expertise when it comes to doing fiddly things, but we shall see.  

Cleaning

Note to self - don't use any cleaning products that contain bleach.  Whenever I use them, I have an uncanny ability to stain things that I don't want stained - in the worst case, ruining some item of clothing that I'm wearing.  Just in the last week, I have contrived to get bleach stains on two of my washcloths.  Nope, I am done with using bathroom spray containing bleach.  I'd rather use an inferior cleaning product.   

Gambling

It seems to me that the US has a serious gambling problem.  Both the Stanley Cup final and NBA finals are going on right now, and the preponderance of sports gambling websites and apps being advertised during these games is shocking.  And the number of things you can bet on just over the duration of a single game is unbelievable.  I've noticed that even the news ticker on sports channels has started showing betting odds, and an increasingly larger amount of pre-game coverage is explicitly dedicated to gambling.  It doesn't seem like there is much regulation of this industry here, which I guess shouldn't surprise me given the current administration.  And it's not just sports, but even platforms that allow you to bet on almost anything (such as political, military or social events) seem to have massively increased their presence.  And profits.  Because ultimately, the house always wins.       

A New Angle

I've made the big decision to move my trail camera.  It is now on the edge of my driveway, pointing down towards my driveway entrance, but hopefully far back enough that it doesn't capture traffic on the road.  Why did I move it?  Mainly to see if it captures any different animal activity.  But also because one morning last week, I found some neighbors' discarded mail at the bottom of my driveway.  Some of the mail was opened, so I suspect a mail thief was opening it down there.  I hope not, but I don't have any other rational explanation.  It makes me thankful that early on when I moved here I asked my landlord to get me a locked mailbox.  Anyway, the trail camera in its new position will hopefully capture any unwelcome activity like this in the future.  It does have the unfortunate consequence of capturing all my toing and froing, in addition to that of my landlord and his family who also occasionally use the driveway.  My landlord has already knocked down the camera once when he was out in his mower cutting the grass.  So I wouldn't be surprised if it gets run over one day.  But the early indications are that I will get some good new images.

Busy

If today is any indicator, it looks like it's going to be a hellishly busy week at work.  Again.  Sigh.