Barclay Lake

Here is a photo of Barclay Lake where I hiked to on Sunday.

Game of Thrones S6E7

Kinda weird episode this week – although still tracking several plot threads, the focus seemed somehow tighter and I can’t remember having seen a cold opening before.  This featured several new (and returning!) characters – a somewhat unusual time in the season to introduce them, but OK we’ve still got 3 episodes left (though I feel like we need a lot to happen in these last 3 episodes to make all the build-up worth it).  But I liked Swearengen’s 1-episode cameo – and good to see The Hound back (back from the dead?  I wasn’t clear about this.).  And I liked the girl who was head of House Mormont – though Davos’s interaction with her was not unlike his interaction with Shireen (hopefully it will end better for her than it did for Shireen!).  And good to see Bronn back with his pithy putdowns.  But we haven’t got payoffs on any of the major plot threads yet, and that is still massively disappointing.  I think the various other developments and machinations hinted at or were just red herrings on what I think will happen – Margaery playing a long con, Jaime/Blackfish stalemate, Arya not dead, Sansa asking for Littlefinger’s help, Theon’s eventual redemption. 

Copa America

Whilst waiting for the Euro's to start - which cannot come some enough - Copa America has already started.  Normally I couldn't give two hoots about this tournament, but because it is being held in the US there is slightly more coverage on it than normal.  The Euro's will still be televised here fortunately (and I quite like the idea of waking up to game before heading to work), but I think Copa America has the priority (thankfully they are on different networks so there shouldn't be any issues of competing coverage).  I haven't caught much of it on TV to be honest - and frankly what I have seen has not been very good.  Some games are even being held in Seattle.  Sadly, none of them are particularly appealing - we've already had Peru vs Haiti, next is Argentina vs Bolivia, and then I think we've got a quarter-final game.  This is a little bit disappointing considering Seattle has a great fan base for soccer - the Seattle Sounders are easily the best supported team in the US with regular attendances of 40,000 plus, so I think they deserved to have at least one high caliber game here.  But no, the people making these decisions obviously prefer the key markets of New York and LA for the big games, rather than the passionate but localized markets of the Pacific NW (Portland Timbers and Vancouver Whitecaps are also big teams in the MLS - the Portland-Seattle games are considered the best rivalry games in the sport here).  Regardless, I remain fairly indifferent to Copa America (more so if the US doesn't get very far - they already lost their first game) so I'm just looking forward to the Euro's.  I don't know what to expect from England - great qualifying, meaningless friendlies, good potential going forward, an awful looking back line - could go either way.  Should be interesting, though I expect ultimately disappointing.

Thwarted Road Trips

This is the 2nd weekend in a row in which I'd planned to take a road trip but have canceled at the last moment.  I haven't been feeling well recently so haven't felt up to doing a long weekend of driving round the Olympic peninsula.  It must be serious because I actually had to take a sick day at work this week because I was genuinely feeling sick!  I think it might be the perfect storm of allergies, lack of sleep, aching body and insect bites (my left ankle area is absolutely ravaged by bites, and I have no idea when it happened - it looks like a lone insect had an absolute feast on my sugar and fat heavy blood!).  Jeez, I'm getting old!  I think the worst symptom is definitely the headaches (which may even be migraines) I'm getting in the morning after a restless night of only a couple of hours of sleep.  This has happened several times now, and is really horrible - I liken it to a terrible hangover where your head is thumping with the rhythm of your bloodstream.  Fortunately, I have started to feel a bit better last few days so hopefully I'll get back to normal - and hopefully the weather will stay good so that I can complete these road trips in the weekends ahead.  The weather is so unreliable in the Pacific NW (or at least it used to be?) that it seems like such a tragic waste when you don't make the most of a nice weekend!

Sunset

Chilling on my deck watching the sunset.

Celebrity Sex Injunctions

If you're curious, happy to name any celebrities granted injunctions in the UK but who have been named and shamed in the US.  The most recent being some football players and manager.  This makes a farce of the British gagging order doesn't it.  Thanks internet.  I'm sure Elton John knows what I'm talking about...

Allergies

My allergies have exploded today – I’ve been sneezing all day and my nose is a running mess.  It always seems to be this time of year – I remember sniffling through exams at school and university.  I have no idea what the specific pollen is that causes this – but currently there is a local pollen alert in Seattle with a very high grass pollen count.  With another weather alert about hot weather for the upcoming weekend, I think it’s only going to get worse.  I’m sure my cube neighbors at work are loving me with my constant sniffing and sneezing and labored breathing.  And it’s not like I can avoid pollen – I’m not going to stay cooped up inside when the weather is nice and I want to get out at lunchtimes and evenings to keep my step count up.  Maybe time to buy some dubiously effective over-the-counter antihistamines to see if they help.  And since I’m still not sleeping very well at moment, they have the beneficial side effect of making me feel drowsy as well!