Podcasts

I still listen to a lot of podcasts - though my listening patterns have definitely changed over the last year.  One thing that hasn't changed is that I still prefer comedy podcasts over any other genre.  However, I now skew more towards American shows and away from UK ones.  As my tastes evolve, so does which podcasts I subscribe to - it's a mixture of new shows and old favorites.  Some podcasts that I had subscribed to for a very long time have grown stale, other new ones have popped up from podcasters and comedians that I like who have had nothing better to do during the pandemic.  Because I'm not doing nearly as much driving, the amount of content I consume has definitely decreased.  But conversely, I've started subscribing to some video podcasts - something I had previously avoided.  They are good to have on one monitor in my home office whilst I'm doing work on the other.  Or, more accurately, I'm watching the video podcast but my online work status appears as active, so giving the impression that I am doing work!  

Habitat at Home

So I was enjoying watching some deer saunter past my window yesterday, when I noticed a commotion in one of the trees next to my house.  The crows were particularly agitated.  This is the same tree which I've seen raccoons go up, so I was thinking these pesky critters might be back.  So I waited for the deer to go through into my neighbor's yard, and then took a closer look at the tree.

Curse my iPhone and it's crappy camera, you can't really see in the photo what I saw firsthand.  But it wasn't raccoons.  That brown object in the shade by the trunk in the middle of photograph is actually a big-ass owl.  It's not the first bird of prey I've seen near my house, but it is the first owl.  I'm not an expert on the local species, but it was big, brown and had noticeable ear tufts - so I suspect <consults internet> it was a great horned owl.  Which is kind of cool.

Song of the Week #56

I've plumped for a band that are known in the US as a one-hit wonder and in many ways are the most British of all British bands.  I think I've got their Greatest Hits on cassette somewhere.

2nd Dose

I am fully vaccinated!  Well, strictly speaking, I will be fully vaccinated in 2 weeks time once the microchips and whatever alien technology they've included in the vaccine have had a chance to do their thing.  A bit too early to tell whether I'm experiencing any side affects.  I feel awful today, but I felt awful before I got the injection so I can't blame it on that.  The main reaction from my first dose was a sore arm for a few days, but I also experienced a bit of fatigue.  Let's see how I feel tomorrow.  It would definitely be a bad time to experience a worse bout of fatigue - I am quite busy with work this week.  It seemed like the vaccination site was a bit busier this time than it was last time.  This was surprising - I just got an e-mail from them yesterday saying that they had about 7000 free appointments over the next week.  Generally, I think the urgency to get vaccinated has evaporated here in the US - the people most susceptible to the virus have already got vaccinated, and everyone else is indifferent to it (or, for a large population of the US, will refuse to get vaccinated for "political" reasons).  It will be interesting to see how long it will take for the infection rates to come down to a safe level.  I fear it could be a lot longer than they hope, unless they come up with a better strategy for dealing with these holdouts.         

Another Jigsaw

Another one in the books:

This is an American made puzzle, so I was particularly struck by what images they chose to include as UK highlights.  Seems like a disproportionately high number of London and Scotland images, some major confusion between Ireland, Northern Ireland and what constitutes part of the UK - something that I have encountered many times before in the US - and an alarming number of places that I don't even recognize let alone have never visited.  But definitely got me thinking - what obvious things did they miss out on this puzzle?  A couple of locales that immediately sprung to mind were Oxford and the Lake District.  But I'm sure there's plenty more.  

Hooligans

Classy scenes at Old Trafford today.  Manchester United fans are so fickle that I think they were protesting as much about Man City winning the title than about the ownership. 

R2-D2

It's been a while, but here's the latest Lego model I've ordered:

Yes, a Lego R2-D2 - a new set that has just been released this weekend for Star Wars Day (May the 4th be with you).  I got it last night about an hour after it became available.  And although it's on backorder, I'm glad I was able to put my order through last night because it's out of stock today.  So this might end up being more of an investment than an actual build - we shall see.  But currently, I would say that jigsaws are my preferred method for de-stressing rather than Lego building.