Yep, I'm too busy and stressed about work to write a decent blog entry today. And probably for the rest of the week expect the same. Sorry.
Tuesday, February 7, 2017
Dinosaur Poo
Here is a photo of some dinosaur poo I own.
Yep, I'm too busy and stressed about work to write a decent blog entry today. And probably for the rest of the week expect the same. Sorry.
Yep, I'm too busy and stressed about work to write a decent blog entry today. And probably for the rest of the week expect the same. Sorry.
Monday, February 6, 2017
Snow Day
Lots of snow overnight and today, to the extent that I took a snow day and worked from home. I think it would have been possible to drive into work - lots of snow, but not really quite cold enough to result in icy roads (that might be an issue tomorrow morning) and the roads looked relatively clear - but no point chancing it. You know its a bad one when my company sends out an automated message to everyone - the office was open but to use your judgement as to whether it's safe to go into work or not.
Sunday, February 5, 2017
Super Bowl LI
Some "as I'm watching" observations:
- The Super Bowl invariably turns into an a ridiculous over the top spectacle of American patriotism and nationalism - example number 1, the passionate singing of the national anthem with accompanying jets flying overhead (mind you, that's not uncommon during regular season games as well)
- George Bush Sr, who showed up for the coin toss, did not look good. I would put money on him as a 2017 celebrity death.
- I hate the New England Patriots. Apart from being a bunch of cheaters (deflated balls, stealing play signals, etc.), they also have an owner, coach and quarterback who have endorsed Trump. Also, their fans might be even more obnoxious than Seattle's. Go Falcons.
- I haven't paid much attention to the expensive and probably celebrity-filled adverts yet. All I know is that the advert breaks during the Super Bowl are even more frequent and longer than regular American Football games - which are bad enough as it is - making a 60 minute game probably last more than 4 hours.
- The game is not really of interest to me, so I'm wondering whether to turn over to watch the end of Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult - a mildly amusing diversion.
- I wonder if there are going to be as many adverts for erectile dysfunction drugs as there normally are during American football games? (they know the audience)
- I'm not going to watch the Halftime Show. I don't know about and don't care to know about Lady Gaga and her music. I'd rather finish cleaning my room.
- For the 2 highest scoring teams during the regular season, we haven't seen much action yet (scoreless 1st quarter)
- The premiere of 24: Legacy follows the Super Bowl. They normally put in a high profile program after the game since they know that the audience will be massively inflated. However, the early reviews have not been good so I will probably watch but with low expectations.
- I'm still gutted that the San Diego Chargers have ceased to exist. No Super Bowls, only one Super Bowl appearance which they got hammered in. Sad. With the Raiders move to Las Vegas having possibly fallen through, there is a small possibility that they might to San Diego (the San Diego Raiders?) but I think that very unlikely since as a Chargers fan I absolutely hated the Raiders
- Atlanta playing well now, but penalties may be hurting their chances. But 0-14 down, now the Patriots have to achieve the biggest ever Super Bowl comeback.
- My attention has started to drift, rather than watching the game I'm doing other things now. PICK-SIX. Well that's livened things up - 0-21 to Atlanta now. I reckon like 95% of America, this is who we want to win.
- Not quite a shutout at halftime - 21-3 to the Falcons. Pats are going to need to do something special to come back now. Sadly, that is not outside the realms of possibility.
- Totally missed the "Alfa Romeo" (?!) Half-Time Show. Don't. Care.
- Looks like it might be another blowout Super Bowl - 28-3 now. This year's playoffs have definitely been short of tension or excitement in almost all the games.
- I think probably all the big adverts and trailers have been shown now. Nothing particularly memorable that I can think of - but admittedly I'm only half-watching.
- I see that Vice President Pence is in attendance. So President Trump couldn't make it? Will whoever wins go to the White House - which I think is the tradition? That'll be interesting. Certain athletes - like LeBron James of the champion Cleveland Cavaliers in basketball - have been very outspoken for Clinton and against Trump, to the extent that lots of teams are no longer staying in Trump hotels for away games. To skip the ceremony would be making as big a statement as kneeling for the national anthem, so may see some winners doing that.
- Ha. Patriots just got a TD back, then missed the extra point. Maybe it's just one of those days for them.
- They always seem to cut to Bill Belichick - the Alex Ferguson of New England Patriots - screaming obscenities at the referees. So there are some things that don't change regardless of whatever kind of football it is.
- Matt Ryan (Matty "Ice") - the quarterback of Atlanta Falcons - was voted the NFL MVP a couple of days ago. He might also win the Super Bowl MVP - he has a perfect passer rating (though still has some incompletions, so I've no idea how that "math" works)
- My gas fire just turned itself on, giving me a bit of jolt. Didn't think it was that cold, but we are expecting snow overnight and tomorrow and a messy commute to go with it - suspect I'll end up working from home.
- Patriots making a game of it. 28-12 - a 2 score game, 10 minutes to go. I think Atlanta needs one more score to seal it.
- The Atlanta head coach used to be the Seattle Defensive Coach - so that is 3 Super Bowls in 4 years, with it looking like 2 rings. That's pretty good.
- Lots of trailers for Legion - which is the TV program I'm most looking forward to, starring Matthew Crawley from Downton Abbey. The show runner is the guy who has done the very good, and critically acclaimed, TV versions of Fargo, so good omens. Early reviews have been positive. It starts Wednesday.
- Atlanta in a tricky position. Want to run the ball to milk the clock, but their strength is throwing. FUMBLE. TURNOVER. It's far from over.
- Ouch, just burnt myself getting some pizza out of the oven. That's left a nice red mark on my arm.
- 28-20. One score game. Massive pressure on the Falcons now.
- FANTASTIC CATCH for Atlanta. They got into field goal range with chance to seal game, but sack and penalty has given the Patriots the ball back with about 3 minutes and 90 yards to go, plus a 2-point conversion to tie the game. Critical drive coming up.
- Lots of highlight moments in the last 10 minutes. So much for thinking this was going to be a blowout.
- Please stop cutting to shots of the owner of both teams in the crowd. America is already sick of rich white men, don't focus on more of them. These are the people running, and ruining, the country.
- Patriots first and goal. Plenty of time. Holy cow.
- TOUCHDOWN. 2-POINT CONVERSION. TIED GAME. Atlanta has got less than a minute to do something, otherwise we are going to overtime (first overtime in Super Bowl history)
- Overtime. Terrible 4th quarter for Atlanta - let New England score 19 points and tie the game. And couldn't do anything on offense. If they lose, this is going to hurt. All the momentum is on Patriot's side. This would truly suck.
- The rules for overtime suck. The team that wins the toss has an immediate advantage - they only need to score a TD and that is game over. The other team doesn't even get a chance to score. That doesn't seem fair. And no surprises who won the toss.
- Crap. Touchdown, and Super Bowl, to New England Patriots. Again. A win for Trump's America. I feel sick. I'm done with today's blog.
- The Super Bowl invariably turns into an a ridiculous over the top spectacle of American patriotism and nationalism - example number 1, the passionate singing of the national anthem with accompanying jets flying overhead (mind you, that's not uncommon during regular season games as well)
- George Bush Sr, who showed up for the coin toss, did not look good. I would put money on him as a 2017 celebrity death.
- I hate the New England Patriots. Apart from being a bunch of cheaters (deflated balls, stealing play signals, etc.), they also have an owner, coach and quarterback who have endorsed Trump. Also, their fans might be even more obnoxious than Seattle's. Go Falcons.
- I haven't paid much attention to the expensive and probably celebrity-filled adverts yet. All I know is that the advert breaks during the Super Bowl are even more frequent and longer than regular American Football games - which are bad enough as it is - making a 60 minute game probably last more than 4 hours.
- The game is not really of interest to me, so I'm wondering whether to turn over to watch the end of Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult - a mildly amusing diversion.
- I wonder if there are going to be as many adverts for erectile dysfunction drugs as there normally are during American football games? (they know the audience)
- I'm not going to watch the Halftime Show. I don't know about and don't care to know about Lady Gaga and her music. I'd rather finish cleaning my room.
- For the 2 highest scoring teams during the regular season, we haven't seen much action yet (scoreless 1st quarter)
- The premiere of 24: Legacy follows the Super Bowl. They normally put in a high profile program after the game since they know that the audience will be massively inflated. However, the early reviews have not been good so I will probably watch but with low expectations.
- I'm still gutted that the San Diego Chargers have ceased to exist. No Super Bowls, only one Super Bowl appearance which they got hammered in. Sad. With the Raiders move to Las Vegas having possibly fallen through, there is a small possibility that they might to San Diego (the San Diego Raiders?) but I think that very unlikely since as a Chargers fan I absolutely hated the Raiders
- Atlanta playing well now, but penalties may be hurting their chances. But 0-14 down, now the Patriots have to achieve the biggest ever Super Bowl comeback.
- My attention has started to drift, rather than watching the game I'm doing other things now. PICK-SIX. Well that's livened things up - 0-21 to Atlanta now. I reckon like 95% of America, this is who we want to win.
- Not quite a shutout at halftime - 21-3 to the Falcons. Pats are going to need to do something special to come back now. Sadly, that is not outside the realms of possibility.
- Totally missed the "Alfa Romeo" (?!) Half-Time Show. Don't. Care.
- Looks like it might be another blowout Super Bowl - 28-3 now. This year's playoffs have definitely been short of tension or excitement in almost all the games.
- I think probably all the big adverts and trailers have been shown now. Nothing particularly memorable that I can think of - but admittedly I'm only half-watching.
- I see that Vice President Pence is in attendance. So President Trump couldn't make it? Will whoever wins go to the White House - which I think is the tradition? That'll be interesting. Certain athletes - like LeBron James of the champion Cleveland Cavaliers in basketball - have been very outspoken for Clinton and against Trump, to the extent that lots of teams are no longer staying in Trump hotels for away games. To skip the ceremony would be making as big a statement as kneeling for the national anthem, so may see some winners doing that.
- Ha. Patriots just got a TD back, then missed the extra point. Maybe it's just one of those days for them.
- They always seem to cut to Bill Belichick - the Alex Ferguson of New England Patriots - screaming obscenities at the referees. So there are some things that don't change regardless of whatever kind of football it is.
- Matt Ryan (Matty "Ice") - the quarterback of Atlanta Falcons - was voted the NFL MVP a couple of days ago. He might also win the Super Bowl MVP - he has a perfect passer rating (though still has some incompletions, so I've no idea how that "math" works)
- My gas fire just turned itself on, giving me a bit of jolt. Didn't think it was that cold, but we are expecting snow overnight and tomorrow and a messy commute to go with it - suspect I'll end up working from home.
- Patriots making a game of it. 28-12 - a 2 score game, 10 minutes to go. I think Atlanta needs one more score to seal it.
- The Atlanta head coach used to be the Seattle Defensive Coach - so that is 3 Super Bowls in 4 years, with it looking like 2 rings. That's pretty good.
- Lots of trailers for Legion - which is the TV program I'm most looking forward to, starring Matthew Crawley from Downton Abbey. The show runner is the guy who has done the very good, and critically acclaimed, TV versions of Fargo, so good omens. Early reviews have been positive. It starts Wednesday.
- Atlanta in a tricky position. Want to run the ball to milk the clock, but their strength is throwing. FUMBLE. TURNOVER. It's far from over.
- Ouch, just burnt myself getting some pizza out of the oven. That's left a nice red mark on my arm.
- 28-20. One score game. Massive pressure on the Falcons now.
- FANTASTIC CATCH for Atlanta. They got into field goal range with chance to seal game, but sack and penalty has given the Patriots the ball back with about 3 minutes and 90 yards to go, plus a 2-point conversion to tie the game. Critical drive coming up.
- Lots of highlight moments in the last 10 minutes. So much for thinking this was going to be a blowout.
- Please stop cutting to shots of the owner of both teams in the crowd. America is already sick of rich white men, don't focus on more of them. These are the people running, and ruining, the country.
- Patriots first and goal. Plenty of time. Holy cow.
- TOUCHDOWN. 2-POINT CONVERSION. TIED GAME. Atlanta has got less than a minute to do something, otherwise we are going to overtime (first overtime in Super Bowl history)
- Overtime. Terrible 4th quarter for Atlanta - let New England score 19 points and tie the game. And couldn't do anything on offense. If they lose, this is going to hurt. All the momentum is on Patriot's side. This would truly suck.
- The rules for overtime suck. The team that wins the toss has an immediate advantage - they only need to score a TD and that is game over. The other team doesn't even get a chance to score. That doesn't seem fair. And no surprises who won the toss.
- Crap. Touchdown, and Super Bowl, to New England Patriots. Again. A win for Trump's America. I feel sick. I'm done with today's blog.
Saturday, February 4, 2017
Sports - love to hate, or hate to love?
The good:
- Arsenal losing
- England winning in Six Nations
The bad:
- Palace losing badly at home to the bottom side (0-4 at halftime - disgraceful)
- Hull winning
- Chelsea winning, again
Tomorrow, if Leicester and Man Utd don't draw (I hate Man Utd, but I don't want Leicester to climb away from the relegation battle), Swansea win, and New England Patriots (the most hated team in America, which I concur with) win the Superbowl - I am done with sports.
- Arsenal losing
- England winning in Six Nations
The bad:
- Palace losing badly at home to the bottom side (0-4 at halftime - disgraceful)
- Hull winning
- Chelsea winning, again
Tomorrow, if Leicester and Man Utd don't draw (I hate Man Utd, but I don't want Leicester to climb away from the relegation battle), Swansea win, and New England Patriots (the most hated team in America, which I concur with) win the Superbowl - I am done with sports.
Friday, February 3, 2017
H1-B
Oh lordy, I’m opening myself up to all kinds of accusations of hypocrisy here. But there is one aspect of Trump’s immigration reform that I do approve of – and that is his plan to change the H1-B visa process. I have obvious personal experience with this, being that this is the visa I obtained to come back to the US and eventually obtained a green card from. But, it is a flawed process. It has meant that entire career paths, like mine, are impacted by a massive influx of Chinese and Indian workers – some of whom are very dubiously qualified. And it has also meant that these people immigrate to the US with lower salary expectations, seriously impacting my (and “qualified Americans”) earning potential. They’ve talked about changing the process so that visas for senior, higher-paying jobs will be given priority and granted first – which seems sensible. I think worker skill-set still has to also be taken into account – so that people who are appropriately qualified and skilled, like I was, are able to apply and obtain a visa for jobs which there are no qualified Americans for. Fundamentally, it also has to be up to the American education system to produce homegrown people that can fulfill these jobs rather than rely on foreign labor. When entire groups of IT workers are fired and replaced by lower-salaried Indian-immigrant workers, then the process is being abused and needs fixing.
Thursday, February 2, 2017
It's party time, it's excellent
It’s the 25th Anniversary of Wayne’s World this year. No way. Way. I hadn’t even started university yet, it was that long ago. My advice – don’t watch it again. NOT. Do watch it again, but be warned that it has aged quite badly. However, it remains a remarkably quotable film – “Schwing”, “We’re not worthy”, “Exsqueeze me”, etc. And of course an epic Bohemian Rhapsody sing-along – the one time I truly wished I had long hair to headbang along to.
Wednesday, February 1, 2017
If you can't laugh you'd cry
As depressing as Trump’s presidency has already been, at least it has created a hilarious number of memes – particularly relating to his ugly spectacle of signing executive orders in front of the media. This might be my favorite:
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