Primetime

I'm a little bit surprised that all the major networks are going to air Trump's request for a prime time address to the nation tomorrow.  Expect him to talk about the border wall and probably declare a national emergency - even though it isn't one - just to get the funding for the wall that he so desperately wants.  Absolute nonsense, an absolute waste of money, and expect his address to be full of misinformation and scaremongering.  He says he plans to address the country on "the humanitarian and national security crisis at our southern border".  Well the humanitarian crisis is entirely of your own making when you break up families at the border.  Stupid.  These prime time speeches are supposed to be apolitical and only given for moments of significant national interest, and this most certainly is not one.  The least the networks could do is air it on tape delay, and cut out all the falsehoods he makes - that should make for a short address.  Or give the opposition the opportunity to air their side of what is clearly a politically charged topic.  Either way, I don't expect it but I hope Trump goes off script - that is always good for a laugh.   

Home Gym

I didn't go out for a hike today, but I did the next best thing - I unpacked and put together an exercise bike I must have bought about 5 years ago and never even got out of the box.  And boy, just putting together the thing and getting it to work was utterly exhausting and frustrating.  But I've done it - though sadly part of the digital display is not working.  Not much I can do about that now since it's been sitting untouched in a box for so many years!  Oh well, at least the bike does work and I do plan to start using it on those rainy days when I don't go out for a walk or hike.  If all goes well, would actually like to get some other pieces of exercise equipment for some variety - things like a rowing machine or an elliptical.  It's nice that I actually live somewhere now that I've got the space to be able to consider doing this! 

Redmond Watershed Preserve (Again)

I've done this hike recently, and I'll do it again regularly because it's convenient (30 minutes away), it's a decent length (5 miles), it's easily doable in the rain, and it's in Redmond, which means that I can go to the British shop in Redmond town center afterwards and get some sausage rolls for lunch.  It's also a nice walk among moss-covered trees, and enjoyable as long as you are out of earshot of other people.  I'm a bit angry with myself because I encountered a guy with an unleashed dog - and dogs aren't even allowed on this trail.  I should have said something, but I wasn't 100% sure about the rule.  Next time I won't hesitate.

Hypocrisy

Classic hypocrisy - Trump can spout all manner of sexist, racist, homophobic and vulgar slurs and the Republican Party says and does nothing.  And then a newly sworn in Democrat congresswoman pledged to "impeach that motherf*cker", and the Republican Party gets outraged.  Get over it.  It's no worse than, say, calling Haiti and some African nations "sh*thole countries", calling Colin Kaepernick a "son of a bitch", or bragging about grabbing women "by the p*ssy".  Generally, I would politically call myself center right - but in American politics, I think I more and more identify as center left.  And I actively oppose the Republican Party as it currently is - sadly the moderate Republican, who I would probably most identify with, is an endangered species; I think Mitt Romney may be one of the last ones left, at least he has actually publicly criticized Trump, but even he supports building this f*cking stupid wall.  I despair.   

Current Affairs

2 big news items that I care about but probably nobody else who reads this blog does.  The first, one of my company’s big competitors has just been bought out for $74 billion.  I suspect that means that they probably also considered buying us out as well, which would have made things very interesting.  This might be the first indication of some more pharma mega-mergers, so we shall see what happens this year.  Although the share price bump is good with rumors and speculation that we might get bought out or merge with somebody, the future of a small satellite office such as we have in Seattle is always a cause for concern if this were ever to happen.  The second bit of news, which even less people will care about, is that a different trading card company has acquired the rights to James Bond trading cards.  I don’t know what exactly this will mean for the quality of future sets, and my burgeoning collection, but apparently the first release under this company will be later this year.  I suspect I will still end up shelling out exorbitant amounts of money to further my collection, regardless of who owns the rights. 

Nose to the Grindstone

Depressingly back to the routine and monotony of work today.  It has been just over a week off work, but it feels a lot less than that – where did all my free time go?  It doesn't feel like the festive period is over just yet.  I should really have also taken this week off, oh well.  And surprisingly quite a lot of people in the office today – I was sure it would be quiet, but once again I have to plug in my earbuds and listen to podcasts to drown out the overly loud and annoying Chinese being spoken by my colleagues.  More deadlines this month, so it's going to stay quite busy at work for the time being.  And got a stinking headache after just half a day back - after a somewhat sickly Christmas break, that doesn't bode well for the new year. 

Meadowdale Beach County Park (Again)

Happy New Year!  Since I didn't go to any parties last night, I went for a morning hike today - despite not exactly having a restful night's sleep thanks to lots of neighbors (illegally) setting off fireworks all night.  I went to Meadowdale Beach County Park - which, searching my blog, I last went to during summer 2017.  It's only 20 minutes away. but still way too busy even on early New Year's Day.  This hike reminds me of how much I'd like to live by water when I retire, since the sound of the tide or even a bubbling stream is so tranquil.  I'm also reminded of just how unfit I am when I make the uphill slog back to my car from the beach.  And I mentioned this in my previous blog about this hike, but it's kind of weird just how many Chinese you encounter doing this hike - I don't know of any others like that.