TV Theme Tunes #54

I don't remember anything about this show apart from the concept and the theme tune (and that may be from one of the many spoofs, rather than the actual show).

Redmond Watershed Preserve

In a break between weather fronts, managed to go out for a hike at Redmond Watershed Preserve on Sunday morning.  Another of my semi-regular haunts, again this one is just a little bit too far to make it a practical lunchtime destination when I'm working from home.  But I have to remember that it is a worthwhile trip here to catch some fall colors.  I maybe missed peak fall foliage by a couple of weeks, but still made for a good trip - though it can get busy here, especially at weekends.  But this is one of the few places where the trails are dog-free (though that hasn't stopped me encountering a few especially entitled dog owners), and has the bonus of being near the British shop where I can stop to get a sausage roll on the way home.  I don't think I was on my A game when it came to taking some photos this time, but this particular trail doesn't readily lend itself to obvious photo opportunities.    

Festive Mood, Not

It's still incredibly early in November, but I'm already thinking about Christmas.  So much so, that I actually went to Home Depot today (UK equivalent: B&Q) and bought myself an artificial Christmas tree.  I'm sure I'll post a photo once I've put it together.  But my festive mood quickly soured when I got home and opened up a package that got delivered today - and discovered that the item wasn't what I ordered.  So got to see if that mess can get sorted out - what a pain, especially if I need to return their mistake. 

Winter Storm

After some clear, and very cold, days - the first fall storms of the season have started rolling in.   It has got warmer, but it has also got windier and much wetter.  Not major wind, but enough to knock out power for some people (not me fortunately).  Unfortunately, as it always the case with the first significant wind of the season, absolutely tons of tree debris has dropped in and around my house.  It's a nightmare to clear up, and invariably it gets inside my home.  Until we get a prolonged stretch of dry weather, there's no point using my leaf blower - so I'm stuck with a messy outside for the foreseeable future (not helped by Amazon delivery drivers unable to stay on my driveway, again).      

Ripped Off?

How come every time I take my car to get serviced, I feel like I'm getting ripped off?  Probably because I am.  My car is approaching 40,000 miles - and experience has taught me that that is when owning a car starts to get more expensive.  Sure enough, I've had to splash out on a couple of new tires recently.  And today, my car battery failed it's test so I needed to get a new one.  They also tried to get me to replace my 2 older tires, but I said no to that (if I really needed them, they would have said something at the tire shop when I got my 2 new tires).  And they also tried to get me to change my transmission fluid - but I also passed on that.  The last one is particularly galling, because this is something that the service monitor in my car will tell me when it needs replacing.  I'm already paying something of a premium by taking my car to a dealer to get serviced.  With all the new technology and electronics in cars nowadays, I feel obliged to do this rather than using an old school independent mechanic.  I guess I could save money by taking my car to get the oil changed somewhere else.  And I could probably have got the car battery somewhere else for a cheaper price as well.  But ultimately, what I really should do is get a new car.          

COVID Booster

I got my COVID booster shot today.  One of the very few people in the US to do so.  Despite the CDC recommending that everyone gets one, I read somewhere that only about 7% of Americans have gotten one so far.  And I suspect most Americans won't bother with getting the booster at all.  This doesn't surprise me.  For a start, it's a pain in the ass to get one - there are no mass vaccination sites any more, instead you typically have to go to a pharmacy.  And availability is extremely limited.  It's supposed to be free, but apparently a lot of places have been refusing medical insurance and making people pay out of pocket.  At least that's what happened to one of my colleagues.  Which is why I'm glad I went to a small family-owned pharmacy nearby, where I didn't have any issues and didn't pay anything.  An interesting pharmacy - I'd never been there before, and it doubles as a gift shop and had loads of potential Christmas gift ideas.  I will probably return.  But if they want to administer COVID shots in the same way that they administer flu shots, then a lot needs to change.  For example, I was able to get a flu shot at work - but I don't know why they didn't offer a COVID shot at the same time.  And there's also been very little advertising or promotion for getting the booster - which seems like something the US government has dropped the ball on.  I bet that will change when COVID hospitalizations and deaths start ticking up again.    

A Simple Fix

I have an outdoor light next to my driveway that I like to leave on overnight, for security reasons as much as the aesthetics.  The problem is that this light is controlled by an indoor light switch.  So every dusk I have to turn the switch on.  And every dawn I have to turn the switch off.  It's a pain, and can be problematic.  Sometimes I forget to turn the light off, so it stays on all day.  Other times I might get home late to a dark driveway.  And when I go on vacation, the light will stay on 24/7 for weeks.  Because of this, I seem to go through an abnormally high number of bulbs.  So, I need to find a solution.  Could I fit some kind of timer switch?  Nope, at least not without my landlord's help - I don't trust my lack of electrical DIY skills.  Something else I considered was a switch button pusher.  This works by being attached to one end of the switch, and you can set it to push and pull the switch on and off when you want.  However, you need a rocker switch for this to work and I don't have that (I have a toggle switch).  So how have I solved the problem?  Quite simple, I've bought some light bulbs that have light sensors.  So I can keep the switch on, and the bulb will turn on and off automatically.  Genius, and I don't know why it took me so long to get this.  I was worried it might not work through the shaded glass of the light fixture, but it works a treat.  Nice.