Football Has-Beens

I recorded Man Utd versus Arsenal, and watched it when I got home tonight.  I say watched, when what I really mean is fast-forwarded because it was an awful game.  I mean, truly dreadful and totally devoid of any quality.  It just goes to show how far apart Liverpool and Man City are from everyone else.  I frankly think both Man Utd and Arsenal might even struggle to make the top 6.  It was shockingly poor for 2 teams that used to be real giants of the game.  They have both got a long, long way to go if they think they can challenge for the title again.  How the mighty have fallen.  And because I hate both clubs, this brings me great joy.

More rugby

So, what matches did the ingenious folks in charge of NBC Sports decide to air this weekend from the Rugby World Cup?  Japan vs Ireland?  Nope.  Australia vs Wales?  Nope.  We got Argentina vs Tonga on Friday, and Scotland vs Samoa tonight.  And that's it.  Great.  And I don't see any more England games being aired as I do a quick search of the TV listings in the weeks ahead.  Really great.  I might have to consider alternative means to watch the games (VPN?).  It's not helping that the official extended highlights of the games provided by NBC Sports are absolutely dreadful - half the time taken up by conversions, kick attempts, replays and pre-match stuff and very little actual "rugby", not good when the highlights are only 10 minutes long.  I despair.   

Consumerism

I was in Walmart this morning and they already have aisles with Christmas stuff in them.  In September.  That is profoundly depressing.

Blur vs Oasis

It's been what nearly 25 years since the Britpop war between Blur and Oasis peaked.  Let's cut to the chase - there was, and is, only one winner.  By a country mile (not a country house - because that was their only serious misstep), Blur won.  Their music is better, more varied and stands the test of time.  I still listen to Blur now - There's No Other Way is great, and Coffee & TV is one of my favorite tunes ever (and the album that is from - 13 - is great as well) - whereas I don't listen to Oasis at all, and am totally indifferent to any of their stuff now.  Oasis may have won karaoke with Wonderwall, but Blur won sports stadiums with Song 2. 

Forecast

Well, this is depressing:

Apparently an “unusually early and intense Arctic express” is arriving this weekend.  I’ve already retired my air conditioning unit for the year – but now I might have to check that my heating is working and replace my fans with heaters.  It seems that over the mountains and the Eastern part of the state and beyond, there is going to be a lot of snow.  And it’s not even October yet (so you have been warned if you want to visit me at this time of year!).  Not expecting snow where I am, nor will it really get that close to freezing, just much colder temperatures than normal and it might get quite windy – so I expect my leaf blower will be getting a lot of use if it isn’t raining.  It looks like there is going to be snow at Crater Lake – so that probably ends my chances of going there when I can eventually take a few days off work in October.  I really hope we don’t have a winter like the last, where I spent all those days snowed in and working from home.  The early indications are not good.

Commuting Patterns

This is the order of commuting days, from worst to best:

Thursday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Monday
Friday

Yes, Tuesday has come from nowhere to be the 2nd worst day of the week.  And actually, for the last 2 weeks it has been the worst.  I made the mistake of leaving at 8.30 am yesterday rather than my normal time of closer to 9.15 am, and it took me over double the time to get into work - I didn't get into the office until about 9.45 am.  If I'd left any later, I would have missed an important 10 am meeting I had.  If it gets any worse - perfectly possible as the weather deteriorates, the days get shorter, and the university classes begin (which I think was today) - then I might have to give serious consideration to working from home for either a morning or a day once or twice a week.  I don't want to, but neither do I want to endure a ridiculously horrific commute.  This is definitely something that has got noticeably worse over the years.  They've started building a light rail line on part of my commute route - so although that might eventually help with the congestion, it's probably not going to be finished for at least another 5 years.  And just like most of the bus transit centers round here, there will probably be nowhere near enough parking at any of these stops to warrant considering them as a commute option.

A quick take on today's events

Boris Johnson – unlawfully suspending Parliament, lying to the Queen, absolutely zero chance of “fixing” Brexit

Donald Trump – bullying a foreign country to dig up dirt on a political revival, facing impeachment, numerous other questionable and unethical behaviors

Vladimir Putin – gleefully rubbing his hands at the chaos he has started, exercising the kind of control over his country that the Prime Minister/President can only dream of