Footy

Hooray, Aussie rules football is back on TV here.  It seems like we've missed most of the season for whatever reason, but better late than never.  And just in time, because there hasn't been much rugby on and I am getting increasingly bored with "soccer" (it doesn't help that Palace have got absolutely nothing to play for, so I don't really care if they win or lose).  I'm fairly indifferent to the American sports on right now, so hopefully this will help satisfy my sports viewing fix.  And it also happens to be one of my favorite sports to watch over the last few years.  The only catch - the game on this evening has a female commentator, and she sucks.  It just doesn't seem right - in much the same way that watching a football game with a female commentator just feels wrong.  Yes, I know this is horribly sexist of me - but I can't help how I feel.          

Vacation

Despite taking some days off work this week, I'm still feeling incredibly tired and not de-stressed at all.  I need a proper holiday.  

Watchathon

My cable provider is currently running a Watchathon, when a lot of premium and streaming services that I can normally pay to get through my cable box are free for a week.  So how have I been making the most of this?   What kind of quality shows that are normally unavailable to me can I now indulge in?  Shows that I have never seen before but which are critically acclaimed - like The Handmaid's Tale or Mrs America?  No, I have just finished watching Season 4 of Line of Duty, and about to start on Season 5.  I've seen the first 3 seasons, but not these next 2.  And as utterly preposterous as this show is, it is wildly entertaining and extremely bingeable - perfect when you only have a week to watch as many episodes as you can.  I know the UK is or has just aired Season 6, but I don't know when I can watch that here.  But I'm just happy to catch up on all the prior seasons.     

Song of the Week #55

A tune from a band that I think is/was much bigger in the US than in the UK.  This is a great track - though hopefully I've copied the original below from the 70's and not the remix from the 90's which seems to be more prevalent on YouTube.

Sizing

I'm due to get a couple of freebie jackets from work - and the first one arrived today.  It is a rain jacket - quite good quality from a reputable brand (North Face), but not something I will ever wear.  Especially as I totally misjudged on the size.  I went for 2XL on this one - and it is WAY too big for me (fortunately I think I went for XL on the other jacket I'm due to get, so I'm more hopeful that one will fit me better).  I don't quite know why I went for this size - maybe because I was paranoid about getting one that was too small for me (as has happened in the past).  But this is just silly, and a serious misjudgment on my part.  It is just about wearable, so I am keeping it - I just don't see any scenario where I will voluntarily wear it.  I've actually already got a freebie rain jacket from a while ago that does fit me, and I never wear that - but that is because this one doesn't have a hood, which seems nonsensical for a rain jacket.  

A Year Later

What a difference 12 months of a pandemic makes.  A year ago I was eagerly going for hikes throughout the week, happily taking loads of photos of plants and trees in full bloom at this time of year.  Today, I can barely be bothered to go outside, and when I do it is almost exclusively in the local neighborhood, and I have absolutely zero interest in taking any photos.  That is just one example of the the mental toll that the pandemic has taken out on me.  I forced myself to take a couple of photos this week - included below.  But my enthusiasm level feels like it's at an all time low - I just can't be bothered to do anything.  I have some vacation days from work coming up this week - immaculately timed to coincide with crappy weather after 2 weeks of gorgeous weather.  Typical.  To be honest, I could really do with some longer time off work to properly recharge - but that will have to wait.  But I will try to get off my ass this week - I've already got a plan for what I want to do tomorrow subject to the weather. 

PS5 Update

For whatever reason, I've become obsessed with buying a PS5 over the last few days.  But it's nigh on impossible unless you're prepared to pay an exorbitant price for one on eBay or from another third party seller.  Which I'm not.  If you want to get one at retail price, then you have to go though the website of one of the big retailers (think Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy, Target, etc.).  And on the rare occasions when they are restocked and become available (once a week, at the most), then you're lucky if you're able to snag one before they sell out in a minute or two and once again become unavailable.  There are Twitter accounts you can follow so that you'll be informed the moment they become available on one of these sites, but since I don't even have the Twitter app installed on my phone then the chances of me getting a console right now are absolutely zero.  And it's not like I really need one - I'm a long way from being an avid video game player nowadays.  So I really don't know why this has suddenly become an obsession for me.  I need to stop.  I can easily wait another year when hopefully you don't have to go through this hassle to get one.