Last Sunny Weekend of the Year

It was an unusually clear and sunny weekend here.  And with that came some plunging temperatures - almost freezing around sunrise.  I had to bump the temperature up on my thermostat!  But at least I was able to get out and make the most of the nice weather, which was important as it might be the last we have for a while.  I have a load of photos to sort out, particularly from Saturday when I went somewhere I've never been to before - I'll post an entry with some photos later in the week, hopefully tomorrow.  And also my leaf blower got a lot of use this weekend, where I cleared all the tree debris from my patio, my deck and my driveway.  There is so much of it - and frustratingly loads of it ends up inside, so I'm constantly vacuuming it up.  I don't know if we've got any big windstorms in the forecast, but I'm sure loads more debris will come down.  We do have a lot of rain in the forecast - indeed, if I look at the 14 day forecast then every single day beginning tomorrow has rain, some of it heavy.  Classic Pacific NW - this is when I miss living in Southern California.    

Man City 0-2 Palace

Well, that was unexpected.  I know Palace have been playing well - though with an uncanny ability to snatch a draw from the jaws of victory.  But I definitely didn't see this coming.  Is this a sign of a welcome return to mid-table mediocrity - rather that than being embroiled in any sort of relegation battle?  I sure hope so, though I fear we didn't get enough points during this little run of playing well.  We could just as easily follow that with a little run of not playing well, and quickly slip down the table once again.  The relegation battle seems quite wide open this year, with one notable exception - we are one of many teams who could go down with Norwich. 

Best Global Universities

I was shocked to see that the University of Washington in Seattle was ranked the 7th best university in the world.  At least according to some recently released rankings.  It appeared above Cambridge (which was 8th), but below Oxford (which was 5th).  I wouldn't trust the objectivity of these rankings, since they seem to have come from some US media outlet - and so other than Oxford and Cambridge the top 10 is dominated by US universities (with Harvard as #1).  I never really think of the UW as a top tier university, but I guess it's up there.  I was kind of curious to see where my alma mater - University of Bath - ranked, and it came in at a lowly #412.  Which is the #35 best university in the UK.  Has the University of Bath gone really downhill since I went there?  I'm sure it was considered a top 10 UK university in my time.  And in fact some quick internet research does reveal that most current UK rankings have it around the #8-#10 range, which is more like I would expect.  Jeez, the criteria that they use to come up with these US rankings must be wildly different.  When I look at the subject matter rankings then it is ranked a bit higher in math(s) at #122.  Still, does that mean that there are 121 universities in the world that I could have got a better education at?  Crikey.  Mind you, I don't think it really mattered where I studied mathematics - it was a subject that I was good at but which I was never really passionate about.  And, if I'm going to be honest, studying it is one of the biggest regrets in my life.

Education

Generally, I am not following US politics anywhere near as much as I used to during Trump's tenure.  I'm fairly indifferent to Joe Biden - I think he has good intentions, but is somewhat hampered by red states and the very delicate balance of power in Congress and the Senate.  But at least he isn't Trump.  This year may not be as important an election year as next year - when we have mid-terms that could result in a serious swing in power - but there are still some important races going on.  Not locally - I didn't even bother looking through the election pamphlet that came in the mail this year.  But there are others elsewhere - for example, Governor of Virginia.  And apparently what shouldn't be a close race (Biden won the state by 10 points) is indeed close, and one of the hot topics seems to be the teaching of critical race theory in schools.  I've got to be honest and say I have absolutely no clue what critical race theory is (I guess not having any children means that I don't really care about stuff like this).  But apparently it's a big deal and Republicans and the far right media have seized on it as racist (towards whites).  Just like mask mandates and vaccine mandates, and judging by some of the video I've seen of parents' protesting, it generates some serious hatred and pushback from a particular demographic (think white, uneducated, Fox News consumers).  Apparently Americans don't like being told they're racist, even though they clearly are.    

Song of the Week #81

Ah, one of my favorite genres of music - trip hop.  Here's a little something from one of the bigger artists within that genre, though surprisingly not one that I really got into.  This will definitely not be to everyone's tastes.   

Booster Shot

With the CDC having expanded eligibility for COVID-19 booster shots recently, I will aim to get one in a few week's time.  It's almost 6 months since I got my 2nd shot, after which due to my "underlying medical conditions" (i.e. being obese and having high blood pressure - aren't I lucky....) I am eligible.  I had a quick look online, and it seems there is another drive-thru place not too far away (not the same one I went to before, which I guess is no longer a vaccination site since it was in the car park of a college) where if I can get an appointment then I can get a booster shot.  Given the COVID situation in the UK, it is a sad state of affairs if I can get my booster shot before my parents.  But if I'm going to come back to the UK for Christmas, then I will feel much better about having had a booster shot.

Messy Remnants

Although we've still got a wet and windy week ahead, the worst of the winds are over.  I think I was very lucky to avoid any prolonged power outages - I lost power again overnight, but that was it.  And as I look at the outage map, there are still loads of scattered outages everywhere.  My driveway is an absolute mess with loads of tree debris - this is why I bought a leaf blower.  But no point putting it to use until we have a stretch of drier and quieter weather - which looks like it's going to be next weekend.  Apparently some bigger tree limbs came down in the surrounding roads and yards - I heard a lot of chainsaws this morning.  It's a wonder that none of them snagged a power line on the way down.  It's difficult to quantify the amount of tree debris there is - maybe these photos of my patio and deck will help.  These were clear a few days ago.