Doctor doctor

A bit of a weird experience at the doctors today.  I went for my annual checkup, and since my last doctor doesn't practice anymore it was at the same clinic but with someone new.  And immediately, alarm bells went off.  It's the first time I've ever been asked to strip and put on a gown.  If I was getting a prostate exam, I'd understand.  But this was totally unnecessary - I wore light clothing so it would be easy to listen to my heart.  And why the hell did I have to take my trousers off?  It's a good job I left my underwear on!  Didn't really like the doctor - seemed like she hadn't got much experience, and I think I'd rather have a male doctor to deal with male issues as I get older.  Is that unreasonable?  Either way, I think I might change clinics and doctors - I'm not tied to this place.  Healthcare costs so much here, I might as well get my money's worth and try to find someone who I'm comfortable with...    

Anarchy in the USA

I don't need to comment on the "shenanigans" that happened in DC today.  I thought the shocking audio of Trump's phone call with Georgia's secretary of state a few days ago was a new low, then that was quickly eclipsed today by riling up his supporters for violent insurrection.  And the images of these, let's call them what they are, domestic terrorists storming the Capitol were absolutely shocking.  If a line wasn't crossed before, then it was definitely crossed today.  When your base support consists of right-wing extremists, then there was no way it wasn't going to kick off the way it did.  It's utterly ridiculous that after all this, there are STILL Republicans objecting to the electoral vote.  The Republican Party is an absolute disgrace - and as we've seen in Georgia, there are consequences to supporting Trump.  Like losing the Senate.  As for Trump, well I don't know if mainstream media can continue to give him, and all his lies, blanket coverage the way they have - that has to change.  I've just been watching a documentary about Russian operations to influence the 2016 election - and Russia's basic objective, to undermine trust in the American electoral system, is uncannily reminiscent of what's happened in the 2020 election and heartily echoed by Trump himself.  Come on, do we really trust this guy with the nuclear codes?  No way.

But on a positive note, let's celebrate the Georgian people for flipping the Senate.

Acronyms

A couple of real life and unfortunately named local services:

The trolley that runs between downtown and South Lake Union is called the "South Lake Union Trolley".

An organization here that provides housing to improve the lives of seniors is called "Sustainable Housing for Ageless Generations" (I literally saw a TV advert for them today).

Song of the Week #39

Since I've got nothing to write about, here's another tune.  I've only got one thing to say - damn hippies.

 

Addiction

In one regard, the new year has not started well for me.  And the reason?  I have started to become addicted to Tetris on my iPhone.  It's almost like I'm recreating those heady days as a kid when I first got my Gameboy.  I mean it's not a particularly bad addiction - I would never spend any real money on it, just way too much time.  But they do these online cash prize tournaments every night that I've done now for 3 nights in a row (they don't cost anything to enter).  I haven't won anything yet - I doubt I ever will - but they are enjoyable.  And I'm generally playing the game a lot - particularly this knockout play where up to 100 people across the world compete together.  I haven't won one of these yet, but lots of top 10 finishes.   There does seem to be a lot of dodgy shenanigans going on with this game - it's highly improbable how much some of the opponents can attack you and add line after line of blocks to your game.  But there is definite satisfaction in knocking out other people.  I wouldn't call myself a great player, just a good one.  Basically there are 2 styles of play - when you're playing Tetris by yourself, ideally you play to clear 4 rows at a time and rack up the points that way.  But when you're playing knockout play, I've found the best method is to clear rows of bricks as quick as you can.  And then when opponents start attacking and adding rows of bricks to your screen, you're in a better position to quickly clear them before they start to build up.  Hardly in depth chess-type strategy I know, but it seems to work.  

Decorations

I think there is something profoundly depressing about taking down Christmas decorations.  Something I did today.  I don't know what it is - maybe it is symbolic of the passage of time, the end of the festive season, the end of a holiday.  Whatever, I'm still not entirely sure when is the exact appropriate time to take them down - is it New Year's Day?  Is it before?  Is it after?  I think this weekend seems reasonable, as it doesn't feel right to still have them up when I'm back to work on Monday.  But I already miss the indoor Christmas lights flashing away.

Wish List

I've spent a lot of the last week going through all my stuff - throwing things away that I don't need but also adding things to my Amazon cart that I think I need or want to replace.  So now I've got 12 things in my cart that with tax will come to over $500.  Do I pull the trigger?  None of the things I really need, but I'm very conscious that I'm a bit of a cheapskate.  So I suspect I'll just go ahead and get everything.  And I haven't even got to the big stuff yet.  In an ideal world, I'd even replace things that I haven't had for that long - a new sofa set, a new mattress, a new telly, a new exercise bike (which reminds me, I need to check whether we get a whole new allowance this year from our company for WFH and "wellbeing" expenses).  It's this time of year when I think it's important I have (and actually use!) some decent indoor exercise equipment.  There's currently a number of weather alerts in my area (heavy rainfall, wind advisory, flood watch, etc.) - so it's not like I'm going out loads at the moment.