No Time

The latest, and they say last, trailer for No Time to Die came out today - and I am optimistic.  Here's hoping Daniel Craig's last outing as Bond will be a good one.  Now if the film's release doesn't get delayed again, then the big question becomes do I brave going to the cinema to watch it?  Honestly, I don't think so.  I have absolutely no idea what COVID measures they are implementing - presumably we have to wear a mask because it's indoors, but do they have to ensure social distancing?  I don't want to sit next to some unvaccinated stranger.  I don't particularly want to share an enclosed space for a couple of hours with loads of unvaccinated people, most of them unmasked as they consume popcorn and pop.  But I really want to see the film on the big screen.  What a dilemma.       

Aggravating

I came across an article recently about some pastor working for an evangelical religious company who got fired because he wrote a column recommending that Christians get a COVID-19 vaccination.  The reason they gave for firing him was "because his public comments violated the organization's policy of neutrality on COV-19 vaccines".  What the actual f*ck?  This implies that there is actually a rational, scientific and plausible reason for not taking the vaccine.  Which there isn't.  There shouldn't be any "neutrality" when it comes to public health.  So much for love thy neighbor.  It's this kind of thinking which makes the US so backward and likely to take so much longer to recover from the pandemic.  Even in our state, there have been protests against vaccine and mask mandates recently.  It's a shame I haven't driven past any of these protests, because instead of honking my horn in support I'd very much like to give them the finger.  So, so aggravating.     

Astro's Playroom

I just completed Astro's Playroom on my PS5, the free game that comes pre-installed on the console.  Well it's not really a game, just a series of playable demos to show off the capabilities of the PS5 and particularly it's flashy new controller.  For example, at one point you have to blow into the controller to activate something in the game - which I'm sure can't be very hygienic!  But it looked and sounded great.  As do my 4K movies that the PS5 will play (the first time I've actually owned something that will play them - even though I've owned the discs for ages).  It took me a long time to work out which options on the PS5 I need to select to get optimal sound, because nothing is straightforward with my setup.  Since I'm a completist, I had to get every single trophy available to me on the game.  With some online help, I managed to do this apart from one.  Which is frustrating,  But I'm never going to get that remaining trophy, which involves completing these speed runs within a certain time limit - and I'm just not that good enough or dedicated player to achieve that.  Oh well.  Now I need to splash the cash on a proper PS5 game!    

Online Banking Woes

I hate online banking.  Especially online banking with a UK bank from the US.  I tried to access my HSBC account via it's app yesterday.  Unfortunately, I got locked out of digital banking after too many failed attempts.  I don't know whether I got the password wrong or one of the memorable questions wrong, but either way I need to reset my digital banking password.  So I had to phone a UK number.  Unfortunately, I don't have the means to call an international number from home - so I had to add that feature to my mobile phone plan at the grand cost of $5 extra per month.  And then I called the HSBC customer service number this morning, and was asked to enter some digits from my telephone security number.  What the hell is that?  Apparently that isn't the same as my PIN and I have absolutely no idea what number this is.  So I took a punt, I was wrong and so my telephone security number is now also locked and needs to be reset.  I then got redirected to an actual customer service rep on the phone, who asked me some questions that I needed to answer correctly in order to reset my telephone security number.  Unfortunately one of those questions was what is the overdraft limit on my account.  I have absolutely no idea, I've never been overdrawn or ever really close to being overdrawn.  So I couldn't answer that, and so I couldn't reset anything.  The next step is that I need to go to an HSBC branch now with photo ID to reset the telephone security number.  What a hassle.  Now I really hope I don't need to go to a UK branch.  Fortunately, there are some HSBC branches in the Greater Seattle area (which is definitely not the norm throughout most of the US), so I will go to one next week and see if they can help.  I really hope so, otherwise I'm not going to be able to access my account until I'm next back in the UK (and anyone I owe UK money to will have to wait...!).      

Mystery

I received some mystery mail yesterday.  Why is it a mystery?  Well, sadly the envelope was empty - so someone either made the effort to post me just an envelope (weird) or whatever contents of the envelope unfortunately got lost in the mail.  And I don't know who posted this.  I don't recognize the handwriting and I can't read the postmark.  I thought it might be a late birthday card, but it looks like a standard envelope.  And the envelope didn't seem obviously tampered with, so I'm altogether confused by this.  Any suggestions?  It was posted using 2 large 2nd class stamps and a note at the top of the envelope to say that these stamps cost more than the international standard post rate.  But this someone didn't include USA at the bottom of my address...

Generally, I'm not particularly enamored with snail mail right now.  One birthday card from a family member has not arrived, and neither has a package from another.  Something else to blame on the pandemic...    

Seattle to London

I recently noticed that Alaska Airlines were advertising direct flights from Seattle to London.  What's this now?  Yet another airline flying this route?  More competition equals better prices - nice.  But upon further inspection, that's not really the story.  The truth is just that Alaska Airlines has recently joined the Oneworld alliance of airlines - which already includes American Airlines and British Airways, both of whom already offer the Seattle to London route.  So I don't think there are any new flights to be offered, just an alternative airline who you can book the trip with.  Which is not necessarily a bad thing, as I've got some airline credit with Alaska so maybe I can use it towards a UK flight.  So there are still only 3 choices for this route - American, BA and Virgin.  And since American sucks and I wasn't impressed with Virgin the last time I flew, it looks like it's going to be BA going forward.  At least when things return to some semblance of normality...  

Song of the Week #72

I watched a documentary on this artist recently, so I had to chose something from her discography.  I am not a big fan of her solo work, so sadly I think I have to chose something that is credited to both her and her abusive husband.  However, I don't think he was involved in this particular recording at all.  But the producer of this song ended up being a convicted murderer.  Jeez, talk about difficult to separate art from the artist.  Anyway, this choice is really to celebrate the "Queen of Rock 'n' Roll".