I've repositioned my trail camera this week in the hope of capturing a bobcat on it, and I've just checked the footage for the last few days. There are some interesting results. Well, really only one interesting result - this one:
There is a minor scandal going on in the office. Thursdays are when all employees on site are offered a free box lunch - essentially a basic packed lunch. These are available to pick up from about 11.30 am. But what was happening was that people who were in meetings that ran to noon or later were showing up late to pick up their box lunch, and there weren't any left. With enough lunches being provided for all employees, this shouldn't happen. Unless people were taking more than one box. And guess which department got singled out for doing this? Yep, mine. From my point of view, I have never taken more than one box. And the only person I've ever seen with more than one box is one of my Chinese colleagues. And I suspect if one Chinese was doing it, then others were as well. But they must have got spotted, hence our department got chastised. So today was a bad day to head home carrying a box lunch - it looked like I had grabbed an extra one on the way out, even though in actuality I had some Thai food for lunch and my box lunch was for later. Oops.
Don't you just love a bit of controversy in the chess world? That's rhetorical, of course we do. Why else have all these accusations of cheating been making the headlines. Either way, it is kind of fascinating and hilarious stuff - especially when the accusations involve such things as anal beads, artificial intelligence and morse code. It could make future chess tournaments interesting - especially if the competitors have to play naked to ensure no cheating is going on
This week a tune from a band who I haven't thought about for years, even though I own one of their albums and I've seen them live. Coincidentally they are currently touring in the US, including a stop in Seattle. But I doubt I'll go see them, they were never really one of my favorites. But they are probably worth revisiting - as my musical tastes have matured, I suspect their kind of sound could appeal to me more now than it ever used to.
I was feeling nostalgic over the weekend, so I bought and downloaded Return to Monkey Island on the Switch. Back in the day, however many years ago it was (30?), I used to play the Monkey Island games on my PC. I've always liked a good point 'n' click adventure - so it was enjoyable to revisit this genre of game, even if it is a little dated now (and, somehow, this particular series is a lot more Americanized than I remember). Well, I say enjoyable - the same feelings of frustration re-emerged after all these years as my progress in the game stalled. But at least this time they had the good sense to include more hints in the game. Plus, of course, the internet is a much better resource than it was 30 years ago (back then, I think I got all my game hints via magazine).
Since coming back from my road trip, air quality in the Seattle area has been absolutely awful. All the smoke from nearby wildfires has made it's way over here. Even today, when the weather forecast indicated that the air quality would be good, when I stepped out this morning I could still smell smoke in the air. I don't think it was from one of my neighbors - not even the pyromaniac one - I think just the same wildfire smoke continues to linger. It doesn't make it pleasant to be outside, and doesn't exactly encourage one to get out for some exercise. But the weather forecast for the week ahead suggests that finally we might see something we haven't seen for ages - some rain. And boy, do we need it.
Big congrats to the Geelong Cats for thumping the Sydney Swans and winning the AFL grand final. They thoroughly deserved it, riding a 15 game winning streak and finishing top of the ladder. I was able to watch the game live, because it was on at a remarkably and surprisingly convenient time (Friday evening my time, Saturday afternoon Australian time). However, because it was such a blowout it wasn't much of a game to watch - especially compared to some of the thrillers that had preceded it over the last few weeks. Aussie rules football has definitely ascended to be one of my favorite sports to watch, so I'm going to miss it for the next half a year (especially because I'm probably going to watch less rugby this year, thanks to the inexplicable decision NBC have made to make it's rugby coverage exclusive to streaming - which sucks). Note also - if you were to ask me exactly where Geelong is in Australia, I wouldn't be able to answer - I have absolutely no clue.