Since I've got so many, I think I'm going to start posting photos of some of my James Bond autographs. For starters, here is one you might recognize (one of many I've got from this particular actor)!
Forgive the quality of photo, but this particular autograph was authenticated and it's in a sealed packet which doesn't make it easy to photograph.
My current random go-to YouTube channel is a food delivery rider in London. I don't know why it's calming to watch a video of a guy driving his moped around London delivering food items - perhaps it's his laid back commentary - but it somehow works. It makes me miss London. Not necessarily living in London - although some of the places he delivers to seem very nice - but more the energy and activity of a big city. In my time in Seattle, I've gradually moved further and further out of the city - swapping urban living for suburban living. Obviously there are pros and cons to this, but I do occasionally miss the convenience of being able to quickly take a bus into downtown Seattle. I'm not sure I ever really made the most of the opportunities afforded by being able to do this, but I certainly don't now. However one thing watching the videos makes clear is why I have never, and will never, drive in London. What a nightmare.
It's been a really quiet last couple of weeks at work. I don't know which is worse - having nothing to do, or having too much to do. I know my workload is always up and down, but I really don't care for the downs. I want my brain to be engaged in doing something, and when it isn't then I start to feel very restless, very unsettled and very unfulfilled. Having too much work can be quite stressful, but there is also a certain level of stress you get when you have too little - especially when the threat of layoffs is hanging over you. I don't have any vacation planned until October - for my sanity, I might need to take at least a few days off before then.
It was a really hazy today, as wildfire smoke poured into our region. The kind of unpleasant day where you could see and smell the smoke in the air. Normally we can blame Canada for any smoke, but not this time - this is pure homegrown MAGA-approved wildfire smoke made in America. Apparently it is coming from the Bear Gulch Fire on the Olympic peninsula west of Seattle - one of 7 active "large" wildfires in Washington. I'm not sure whether this is a better or worse wildfire season than normal, but this is definitely the first day of the year where the bad air quality is really noticeable. The kind of day you don't want to be exercising outside for long and breathing in huge lungfuls of particle-laden air.
I went on what I thought was a fairly innocuous forest walk yesterday. A nice and quiet trail that I have been to before. It was an overcast, almost misty, morning - which made for quite a spooky walk. At one point I was freaked out because I thought I heard a bear - but I suspect it was just my over-reactive imagination.
But later in the day, I discovered that I was covered with insect bites on both my legs and arms. I didn't see or feel anything during the walk. What made it even more disappointing is that I had sprayed myself with bug spray before going on the walk. Apparently it didn't work. It is quite old bug spray, and I suspect it has expired and lost it's effectiveness. So that is something I need to rectify before insects suck me totally dry of blood.
I thought I had quite a thorough handle on the the James Bond trading card market. But there is one thing I don't get. Why are Ana de Armas trading cards so expensive? Of all the people to sign - and there are some big names that have signed for the first time recently (Ralph Fiennes and Christopher Walken) - I don't really get why her cards go for the most. And it's not just her autographed cards, but even her non-autographed cards seem to go for significantly more. Is this just because she's apparently Tom Cruise's new girlfriend? It's not like she had a big role in No Time to Die (which I need to rewatch - I don't really remember much about the film). Is she the next big thing? I wonder if people perhaps think she might lead a Bond spin-off (she has already led a John Wick spin-off). Whatever the reason, it's extremely frustrating because I have to pay so much more for her cards just to complete a set - even just a base set.
I was just thinking to myself that generally so far this summer I haven't been bothered by neighbo(u)r noise as much as I have in previous years. Certainly compared to last year - fortunately the Spanish-speaking family living across the road at the bottom of my driveway don't appear to have the really loud dune buggy that they had last year. Thank god. Of course, I'm never going to get the peace and solitude I really want - I can't afford to live in the kind of house where you get that. This summer, it's mostly been construction noise from a house down the road (that they seems to have been working on for several years now, surely it must be done soon!). But just this week - and particularly today - my neighbo(u)r across the gully has been out doing god knows what with his stupid backhoe (JCB). I have absolutely no clue what he is doing, and why he is doing it, but it is bloody loud and bloody annoying. If this keeps up through the weekend and into next week, I'm going to have to say something. I feel like I might be the Karen in this situation. That doesn't make me feel good.