Cyclists

There are good drivers and bad drivers.  There are also good cyclists and bad cyclists.  I would say the proportion of bad cyclists is MUCH higher than the proportion of bad drivers.  And I’m sick of them.  Cyclists shouldn’t cycle on the sidewalk (pavement), because that is for pedestrians – which is why I will never step off from the concrete of a sidewalk (pavement) to some patch of muddy ground to let a cyclist pass.  They can wait for me – pedestrians have the right of way!  Or they can go onto the road, which is where they are supposed to be.  And the cyclists who swap freely between the sidewalk (pavement) and road as it suits them are perhaps the worst.  However, if you are cycling on the road then you have to obey the laws of the road.  That means stopping at stop signs, stopping at red lights and stopping at zebra crossings.  The number of times I’ve seen a cyclist power through a red light is shocking – sometimes via the pedestrian crossing, sometimes regardless of traffic – to the extent that a few times I’ve leaned on my horn or wound my window down and dished a few profanities.  I’m not sure if it is a law in Seattle that you have to wear a bike helmet, but if it isn’t then it should be.  I consider this equivalent to wearing a seat belt – so if you’re caught not wearing one then you should be fined the same as if you were caught not wearing a seat belt in a car.  And if there is a designated cycle lane, then use it – it’s there for you!  Don’t decide to cycle down a parallel road without a cycle lane resulting in backed up car traffic unable to pass you and a lot of pissed off drivers.  That’s why I have sympathy for the mysterious person in Seattle who has been leaving tacks on cycle paths causing loads of punctures and who the police are now looking for.  I can understand why someone would want to do that – cyclists infuriate me as well.      

Hurricane Matthew

The big weather news here is Hurricane Matthew heading towards Florida and the East Coast.  Obviously the US being as self-centered as it is, all the coverage is about the evacuations and potential impact it could have on American soil rather than all the death and destruction it has already left in its path in places like Bahamas, Haiti and Dominican Republic.  Mind you, the potential financial costs of a big Florida hit could be enormous.  Coincidentally, I was recently considering the possibility of whether I would ever move to Florida.  It satisfies my main condition of being somewhere that has lots of palm trees.  And is much more affordable than California.  But I don’t know anybody who lives there, or anybody who wants to live there – Florida hardly has the most flattering reputation.  But I’m sure that as with anywhere else, it has it good parts and bad parts and its pros and cons.  For some reason – maybe the fact that it has both a baseball and American Football team – the Tampa Bay area has always intrigued me.  No idea what it’s like – I’ve never been there – but I’d still choose the occasional hurricane over the horrible winters of the Northeast or the ungodly expense of living in the Bay Area.

Misc

Various observations:

-          Apparently, last weekend it was “Brick Con” in Seattle – a Lego convention.  If I had known, I would have gone.  Frustrated I only found out afterwards.
-          It was the VP debate last night.  I caught about 2 minutes – frankly not in the least bit interested in either guy, and I don’t think I could name either if you asked me (perhaps I should show more interest, as both presidential candidates are hardly young and in peak physical (and mental – at least for one!) condition).  From all accounts, the debate was utterly awful – no surprise there.
-          I got into work early yesterday, and so managed to obtain a prime parking spot by the garage exit.  Then later on that day, I got an e-mail saying that I shouldn’t have parked there because it was one of the limited larger spots and I only have a compact.  I nearly replied to tell them where to stick that request.  I’m not going to park in a compact spot – because those are just too narrow, and on 2 occasions I’ve parked there I’ve had to climb into my car from the passenger side because someone has parked too close to my driver’s side.  Perhaps concentrate on warning those incompetent drivers who don’t or can’t park between the lines.  And don’t encourage people to drive so large cars.
-          Gutted to have only found out recently that both Toffo and Wispa Mint have been discontinued.  RIP.  I need to get hold of some Rowntree Fruit Gums.  Years of research has led me to the conclusion that they are, by far, the best treat for road trips.
-          And I managed to win an eBay auction today by employing sniping of my own.  And my winning bid was much less than my maximum bid, and less than what the same item went for over the weekend - bonus!

Being a Manager

I have 2 contractors reporting to me.  One of them seems competent, if not exactly personable.  The other one I also thought was competent.  The last few weeks where I have been working directly with him has proved otherwise.  I’ve been validating some of his work (and he some of mine), and I am frankly shocked and appalled at the quality and lack of attention to detail (something very important in our job).  I’m not sure whether it is sloppiness, inattention or sheer incompetence, but to get this work validated has taken much more time and stress than I could ever have anticipated.  It’s just one basic mistake after another, and absolutely no effort to check things after I request to make an update.  Ironically, he is about to take some time off so that he rejoin as an independent contractor rather than through an agency (and hence increase his take-home pay, at what is frankly already a ridiculous and exorbitant hourly rate).  If it was my choice, I wouldn’t bring him back.  But other people seem to have had no (or less) problems with him, and we need the resource regardless.  So it seems I’m stuck with him.  I hate having reports, and these aren’t even full-time employees.    

eBay Sniping

Nothing more disappointing, and annoying, than bidding for an item on eBay and having the highest bid until the last second and losing out.  Such was the case this weekend where I was trying to obtain some (more) James Bond trading cards.  Clearly, some unscrupulous fellow collector has some software that puts in a last second bid that doesn’t give enough time for someone to counter.  The same box set is coming up for sale on Wednesday, so it looks like I am going to have to up my maximum bid in order to not lose out this time.  I shall also plan to employ this sniping method if I can, not submitting my bid until the last few seconds.  If I win, that will probably mean me overpaying – but such are the sacrifices I have to make in order to better my collection….

Remakes

Lethal Weapon, MacGyver, The Exorcist - what do they have in common?  They're all a sad reflection of the inability of TV writers and producers to come up with decent original content.  It's bad enough that we have too many totally unnecessary film remakes, now this laziness has spread to TV.  Disappointing.

End of Summer

I think Summer officially ended last week, but for the last few days it has finally felt like it.  Yesterday it was a cold start to the day - enough to make me think about wearing a jacket for the first time in ages.  And today we are back to typically wet Seattle weather - grey skies and drizzly rain.  So to make up for this, here is a photo of the sun setting over Lake Union from Thursday when I was talking a stroll around the neighborhood near my office: