Mint Candy

I displayed some classic OCD tendencies today.  A few weeks ago I found this delicious assortment of mint candies, and I want to get some more to bring back to the UK with me.  But for the life of me I can't find them anywhere.  And so despite having loads of work to do, I spent most of the day driving to different supermarkets trying to find them.  I went to 3 of them in total - all of them said they had the candy in stock online - but amongst all the other holiday candy, I couldn't find what I wanted.  So frustrating.  I can't even order them online for pickup.  I'm going to try one more place tomorrow morning - the same place I think I got them originally, which is probably where I should have tried in the first place - but if they're not there then I will have to give up disappointed and angry with only the dwindling memory of this mediocre minty American chocolate.   

SAD

I really hate this time of year in the Pacific NW - it's dark, wet, cold and miserable.  And it seems even worse this year.  This Thanksgiving Weekend was a great example - a long weekend, ruined by our region being hit by about 3 Pineapple Expresses during this time.  What does this mean?  Lots and lots of rain.  So all my plans to get and about each day were ruined.  And when I did go out, it just wasn't very enjoyable and I think I caught a cold in all the dampness.  I can deal with light rain, but not heavy rain and when it comes with flooding and landslides (some of my planned hiking trails have been affected).  It's this time of the year when I really miss living in Southern California.  And at the very least, I think this is the time of year when I really need to take a vacation to somewhere warmer and sunnier.  Yes, I am definitely suffering from seasonal affective disorder this year.

Premier League US TV Rights

So, a deal has been reached for who has the rights to air the Premier League over here.  And the current broadcaster of the Premier League, NBC, won the rights for the next 6 years in a highly competitive bidding war.  Apparently they had to pay over $2.7 billion for the rights - over double what they paid for their current rights.  I think that says a lot about the increasing popularity of "soccer" and particularly the Premier League in the US - it works because the games air early in the day over here, so they don't clash with any of the big US sports.  I'm not unhappy that NBC retained the rights, their coverage is good and extensive, but with one major caveat - the main channel that shows Premier League games, NBC Sports Channel, is closing at the end of the year.  I'm sure that NBC will air the games on another one of their channels - they've got plenty to choose from.  But as long as they don't start airing most of them on their streaming platform, then I'm okay with that.  But today was not a good indicator of things going forward - every single game today, including the big one in Man Utd vs Chelsea, was streamed - which as someone who likes to record games so that I can watch them when I wake up, is a problem because I can't record games being streamed.

Omicron

Well, I guess that's just my luck.  We have a new mutant COVID variant spreading like wildfire, just a few weeks before I'm due to go back to the UK.  And with the potential to totally f*ck up my travel plans.  Just typical.  I got a little bit nervous with lots of European countries going into lockdown.  But this new variant is a much bigger deal.  And now we see UK travel and mask rules tighten.  I'm okay with mask stuff - I'm used to that here.  But the COVID testing is an expensive pain in the ass.  The lateral flow test that I've already ordered and paid for (despite it being the same as one of the free NHS tests) - that I have to take within a few days of arrival - is now redundant.  I have to get a PCR test, and "self-isolate" until I get a negative result - which could take a while, especially since the labs are probably going to be backed up with loads of testing with these new rules.  Let's hope I can get the test and results quickly - even though inevitably it's going to be a rip off.  I'm starting to question whether I should even do this trip now - the risks seem higher than before.  I'm worried about things like getting a positive test at some point during the trip, someone on my flight testing positive, someone in my family testing positive, the UK going under lockdown again, the US re-entry rules becoming much more restrictive again, etc etc.  But we've not crossed that red line for canceling yet.  And I have to remember that this trip is not just for me, but I think it's important for certain family members that I'm back home this Christmas - especially after last year's lockdown debacle.  

Black Friday

Ah, the Black Friday sales.  When the only things for sale are the things you don't really need.  Take last year - this is what I got in the sales:

And guess what.... even after a year, it is still sitting in my spare room in it's box - unopened and unused.  What a waste of money!  So this year, I haven't splashed out on anything nearly as extravagant - just a few basic things where I was able to save a few bucks.  Plus some more James Bond trading cards - but I would've got these regardless of whether it was Black Friday or not!  

Thanksgiving Day

Happy Thanksgiving!  As per American tradition, it's at this point that I'm supposed to say what I'm thankful for.  You know the usual platitudes - family, friends, health, money, food, "freedom of religion", etc.  So despite what the world throws at us - whether it be a pandemic, extremism, Father Time, etc. - at a base level I am thankful to still be alive, and that the people I care most about are still alive.  And, for the most part, in good health.  Now to gorge myself on a massive Thanksgiving meal that I didn't cook myself.  Nice.         

Thanksgiving Eve

A bad work day today.  It shouldn’t be like that.  It’s the day before Thanksgiving – and traditionally this is a slow day and you’re allowed to leave early or log-off early.  We normally get an email from upper management telling us as such, and it was noticeable that we didn’t get one until much later in the day – I suspect sent out somewhat reluctantly.  But did I have an afternoon meeting scheduled?  Of course I did.  And was the meeting cancelled?  Of course it wasn’t.  And was the meeting a nightmare?  Of course it was.  I know I’m not the best communicator – but when you’re dealing with other people who are also not good communicators, but on top of that whose first language is not English… well it’s a recipe for disaster.  When someone is reviewing something I’ve done, there’s only so many times that I can say I don’t understand what you’re saying or please explain what exactly needs to be changed.  It’s unbelievable.  And the thing that they are talking about is the same thing that I changed in the first place because they asked me to do so.  It was driving me insane.  There were numerous times that I had to mute my microphone during the zoom call so that I can scream out in frustration.  The ironic thing is that it wasn’t even a Chinese I was dealing with, it was a Russian.  My god, they might even be worse than the Chinese.  And the sad thing is that I actually like this person – just working with her can be really tough.  And this meeting was really just the topping on a crappy day.  Too much work, too much incompetence to deal with, too much stress, and too little thanks for all our hard work at this time of Thanksgiving.  I can feel my blood pressure elevated, I’m suffering from some really poor quality sleep recently, I’m getting into bad eating and bad lack of exercise habits, and I don't feel good about myself right now.  I was planning to go for a walk at lunchtime but I couldn’t get out thanks to being so busy.  Hopefully I can do so over the next days – despite the rain in the forecast.  I have got plenty of work I need to do that I could easily keep myself busy over this Thanksgiving break – but I’m not going to, I need the break.  And then I have, what, 9 days of probably very intense work before coming back to the UK.  On top of all the million other things I need to do before I fly back.  Fun times.