Eligibility

Shockingly, I think I am eligible to get a COVID vaccination as of today.  Washington state today moved to Phase 1B Tier 4 (who comes up with these designations – what a joke!) -  which includes “people 16 years or older with 2 or more co-morbidities or underlying conditions”.  Considering I, sadly, suffer from both high blood pressure and obesity – that makes me eligible.  Unfortunately it also makes another 2 million people eligible, plus they are dropping the requirement to actually prove that you are eligible (a serious mistake in my opinion, as I don’t trust people to be honest with their eligibility), resulting in it being almost impossible to actually get an appointment anywhere.  I went on a couple of vaccine finder websites – naturally the unofficial one was a lot better than the official one – but nothing within reasonable driving distance that I could sign up for.  I’ll continue to check quite often, but I think it will be weeks or months rather than days until I can actually get an appointment somewhere.  I’m okay with that – considering my lack of interactions with anybody, I think my risk of exposure is very low so I don’t mind waiting a bit longer.

Song of the Week #51

Another track from a band that has already had a song of the week -  who are quickly becoming one of my favorite bands from the 70's.  From what I understand, you either love them or hate them - and I love them.  And the last minute of this particular track is gold.

Pyromania

I think I might have a neighbor who is a pyromaniac.  It seems like every day for the last month or so when there hasn't been heavy rain that he has a fire going in his garden.  It could be first thing in the morning when I see the plume of smoke, or late at night where I see the orange glow - but it's weird and it's disturbing.  I would understand the occasional bonfire or the occasional BBQ/campfire, but this is not normal - especially so frequently and at this time of year when it's still quite cold outside.  This is not even a neighbor I've given any thought to since I moved here until now - it isn't someone immediately next door but someone I can see from my kitchen window across the undeveloped patch of land adjacent to where I live.  It started with the appearance of a trampoline in his garden - something I think could be the source of some unwelcome noisy kids come summertime - and now these fires.  And if this is who I think it is, then his house has the look of belonging to a hoarder when I drive past the other side of it.  So lord knows what he's setting fire to - the color of the smoke doesn't always suggest wood... 

Canal Blockage

I've seen the headlines about a ship blocking the Suez Canal, which is hilarious.  How the hell does that happen?  But it also revealed how bad my general knowledge has become - because I naturally assumed that it was the canal between North America and South America, and didn't give it any more thought.  But it's only today that it dawned on me that I was thinking about the Panama Canal rather than the Suez Canal.  D'oh!  I think this is a good reflection of how my brain cells have eroded over time.  I haven't done a pub quiz in a very long time, but if I did (and I'd quite like to post-pandemic) then I think I'd be quite useless - though maybe in the US my entirely different knowledge base (or at least whatever is left of it) might be an asset as part of a team.  

Play At Home

Another year of the pandemic means another load of free Playstation games through their Play at Home promotion.  There were a couple of games last year, and about 10 this year so far.  I've downloaded them all, even though I doubt I'll ever play any of them.  Especially because half of them require a VR headset, which I don't have (and doesn't really appeal to me, as I'm not sure I'll ever embrace virtual reality games as anything more than a fad).  In fact, I've hardly played any new games on my Playstation or Nintendo Switch since the start of the pandemic - which is a surprise.  And yet I still want to get a PS5 - even though it's almost impossible to get one.  What is wrong with me.  I'm getting too old for video games.  I miss the simplicity and playability of the Speccy games I grew up on.  Like playing, and completing, Operation Wolf on Christmas Day after I got it as a Christmas present (I'm not entirely sure if this is a real memory, or one that I have exaggerated in my mind - Wikipedia does say it came out in December 1988, so maybe it did happen!).        

Fake News

Of all the news sources, I wouldn't have thought BBC would be guilty of fake news.  But here we are.  Today I came across an article in which they claimed that USA should be considered one of the contenders for the 2026 World Cup.  What utter bullsh*t.  I don't care that they are one of the host countries - a fact that had slipped my mind (as an aside: I will definitely plan to watch some games in person during that world cup, particularly since Seattle is one of the host cities).  But let's be realistic - USA will not win the World Cup in my lifetime.  They just don't have the focus, drive or passion towards "soccer" that you need to go all the way.  The article referenced the fact that so many Americans have appeared in the Champions League this season - but what they don't say is that most of these are fringe players who are either mediocre or play on mediocre sides.  Or that there are dozens of countries that have more and better players in the Champions League.  You just need to watch MLS to see how far behind the game is here compared to Europe.  Nope - I would suggest that you stick to your own version of football.  And that the BBC stick to credible articles.  

Phantosmia

Oh no, my house is starting to smell again.  It's too early in the year for the annual pollen smell (if that's what it is!) that so bothers me - this is something else.  And this smells different - I can best describe it as stale sweat.  And I seem to notice it most when I'm in my living room.  But, for the life of me, I can't identify the source.  Does it come from me, does it come from something inside the room, does it come from something outside the room?  Am I imagining the smell?  I guess now that I'm spending almost 24/7 of my time at home, there is bound to be some consequences.  I wonder if it's also coincidental that I briefly saw the raccoons again this morning.  But no matter what I do - vacuum the room, clean the sofa, light a candle, spray air freshener, plug in a scented oil freshener - the smell is not going away.  It's driving me crazy, and with the destructive sound of chainsaws and falling branches still going on in the background from across the road - I'm increasingly in a bad mental place right now.