Home Invasion

Totally freaked out last night when after having watched the last ever episode of The Americans (great end to a fantastic series), I glanced onto my living room floor and saw a massive slug.  I have absolutely no idea how it got into my home – I didn’t have any windows or doors open downstairs, and I couldn’t find a trail anywhere to see where it came from.  And it was really big – so I don’t know if there was a gap anywhere into my house that it could’ve squeezed through.  Did it somehow sneak in when I had the front door open, say to empty my bins?  Did it attach itself to my shoes or clothes and come in that way?  Very weird.  And it was in the middle of my living room floor, and no discernible trail that I could tell as to how it got there.  Now I’m paranoid that there are loads of these disgusting suckers in my house, probably primed to crawl all over me when I’m asleep.  Might have to lay a load of salt down today just in case.  Shiver.   

John McCain

Just finished watching a documentary on Senator John McCain.  Someone who I don't agree with on an awful lot of issues, but someone who I respect as a straight shooting politician - especially compared to the buffoon and jackals currently in government.  A slightly pandering documentary, but didn't shy away from some of his more controversial moments.  I'd seen clips of him as a prisoner of war at the Hanoi Hilton, and obviously he didn't stand a chance in hell against Obama in the 2008 election.  Thanks mainly to W's legacy.  But I admire and respect his honesty and his principals - a rare politician nowadays who will promote non-partisanship discussion and compromise on issues, just to ensure that the government actually governs.  He has brain cancer and so his days are probably numbered, but I hope there are more politicians like him.  I hope he continues to savage Trump, who he clearly doesn't like and in many ways is his total antithesis in destroying America's reputation and standards.   

Holiday Hangover

A not very constructive day back at work today after the long weekend.  Thought about “working from home” as I could have done with a lie in and catching up with my DVR recordings – for example, I recorded the Champions League final (but didn’t succeed in avoiding the score over the weekend!).  But here I am in the office - sucker.  In the next few days I’ll try to update the previous couple of posts with some photos and a little bit about where we went.  It has definitely made me want to make more of my weekends and holiday/vacation days going forward – the next holiday is Independence Day on 4th July, but unfortunately that is on a Wednesday which kind of sucks because I’d prefer a long weekend to drive somewhere.  So I might have to start thinking about shorter weekend trips away somewhere – maybe every other weekend?  I definitely want to explore more of Oregon, and I’d also like to see more of east Washington.  Not a bad time to do this before the schools break up for summer.  I just need to conquer my natural state of laziness!     

Cannon Beach, Oregon

Given how ill I was last night, I was worried that today might be a write off.  But felt surprisingly better, so after a quick early morning stroll and a much-needed breakfast out we headed to Cannon Beach –the more developed and upmarket cousin to the slightly blue collar Seaside where we were staying.  First went to Ecola State Park for some spectacular views of the coast, and then in to the town of Cannon Beach itself.  Another huge and wide beach that is great to walk down – especially with the big “Haystack Rock” looming just off the coast.  This was a very charming, albeit very popular, beach town that I would definitely recommend and would consider coming back to.  Then back home to some fish n chips, and staying up late chatting, playing cards and drinking – feeling a hell of a lot better than yesterday!  I want to explore more of the Oregon coast now – this was my first time here, and definitely won’t be my last, and we only saw a fraction of it.  Also reaffirms something that I think I’ve known for a while, and that is that I want to live/retire by the coast when I’m older.

     

Seaside, Oregon

A mutual friend of mine and a colleague was here for the weekend, so we drove down (braving the holiday traffic) to spend a few nights by the Oregon coast (even though I had suggested going to Portland, apparently my colleague’s wife had other ideas).  We stayed in an Airbnb rental in a coastal town called Seaside, a house that seemed like it hadn’t changed much since the late 70s.  My strong preference is to experience the local cuisine by eating out – but my colleague and wife had decided to bring some food to cook (they are Chinese).  So had some lamb skewers cooked on the BBQ and then wandered down to the huge beach to watch sunset – we were very lucky with the weather, which made for a great sunset beach walk.  During the rest of the evening, started to feel really ill – splitting headache, burning up, nauseous – when we got back I had to retire to my room to lie down in a lot of pain, and eventually ended up vomiting during the night.  A clear case of food poisoning – thanks either to some under-cooked meat or an unpleasant reaction to some strange Asian spices.  Not a good way to start the weekend!

Weekend

This might be my last entry for a few days, so wanted to get one in early today – going down to Oregon over Memorial Day weekend with a couple of friends, and leaving later this morning.  I’m not sure what to expect of the weekend – I wanted to stay in Portland where there is plenty of stuff to do, but apparently they’ve booked somewhere on the coast.  Different people, different priorities - I imagine this might be more of a weekend devoted to eating, drinking and hanging around, rather than my preference of getting out and about and seeing/doing as many sights/activities as I can.  Which is fine – I just have to look at this as something different to what I would do if I was travelling to Oregon by myself (which is something I need to start doing more of).

Lake Union (Again)

A few photos from a recent early evening walk round Lake Union from work to Gasworks Park.  It’s tough to come up with different views – so there is probably nothing new you haven’t seen already.

No photos, but also this week went to check out Amazon Go – the automated store where you don’t have to deal with a cashier or anything.  Not the easiest place to find, it's hidden among a load of construction zones where Amazon is taking over Seattle.  I didn’t go in – I don’t have the right app installed – but a lot of curious tourists (predominantly Asian) have managed to make it there.  Not quite as popular as the first Starbucks in Pike Place Market, but well on its way to being just as bad.  A bit too gimmicky for my tastes – but I will probably satiate my curiosity at some point and wander inside.  It is the kind of place that is going to be the epicenter of the robot uprising when that inevitably happens.