TV Theme Tunes #6

Another iconic theme this week.  One that instantly makes me want to go to Jersey.

Wales 0-3 England

I sacrificed a free lunch in order to watch the match today from home.  Besides the actual game, I had a good excuse for not going into the office.  It's been snowing since 8 am.  And it's been accumulating.  Not by a huge amount, but enough to be a problem.  And in the end, I didn't really watch much of the match.  I was distracted by work and other stuff during the first half, and then when England quickly went 3-0 up in the second half I decided to turn over and watch the US hang on by the skin of their teeth to also advance.  So obviously that is the only result they were talking about afterwards here.  As I said to a Welsh work colleague, it seemed to be more a case of Wales being really bad rather than England being really good.  But we were clinical when it mattered.  And we advanced, which is the main thing.  Although I think the African champions will be a stiffer test.  

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I wish I had something intelligent, thought-provoking or interesting to say today, but I don't.  Sorry.  Just counting down the number of working days I have left in the year (we're into single digits now). 

Trailhead Sign

With the upcoming bad weather, wanted to get a hike in this weekend.  Went to a forest trail on Camano Island that I'd done before, but I don't remember noticing this sign before.

That's not something you want to see!  But I risked it anyway (wearing a blue fleece, I like to think I wouldn't be shot at), and thankfully didn't encounter any hunters.  Indeed, didn't encounter many people at all - just how I like it.

Best Laid Plans

I'm starting to get nervous about my trip back to the UK.  There are the rail strikes - which look as though they are going to disrupt my plans.  That's if they go ahead (which they probably will, thanks to those selfish union assholes).  But even if I can't travel everywhere or see everyone I want to see, it's not a total disaster.  What I'm much more concerned about is the weather here.  We have some really cold Arctic air coming in next week, and a very strong likelihood of lowland snow and a big freeze.  This is exactly the kind of system that will result in my not being able to drive anywhere.  Including driving to the airport.  And that would be an absolute disaster.  The forecast - as it stands - does not look good: snow from Tuesday through the weekend next week, and then more snow the following week.  And some very cold overnight temperatures, which in combination with the snow will ruin the road conditions.  Yikes.  There still seems to be a lot of uncertainty in the forecast, but I think the uncertainty is more to do with how much snow we will get rather than if we get any or not.  Based on how bad it was here last Christmas, I am worried.          

England 0-0 USA

For all the hype - and I don't know what it was like in the UK, but in the US this game had some seriously big hype - that was a tight and cagey affair.  And frankly England were lucky just to get the draw.  Clearly the first match was a fluke, this was exactly how I imagined most of the England games going - slow, predictable, entirely unable to break down the opposition.  And arguably the US had the better opportunities to win this.  England were stereotypically turgid and insipid.  Sadly, this was the first game I watched live.  The first game I watched in 4K.  The first game I watched with a beer.  And the disappointment and frustration with England's performance is overwhelming and will ruin the rest of the day.  I don't know how many other games I will watch live - if only so that I can easily fast forward all the halftime studio awfulness.  This World Cup has been a weird one for me so far - I haven't watched many games in their entirety, mainly just highlights and the occasional replay.  And I have to confess a certain indifference with the tournament - perhaps I'm somewhat conflicted about wanting to enjoy the football, but not with a host country so guilty of corruption and human rights abuses.  But at least my expectations for England have been put firmly back in place - they are not going to win this thing, and I am okay with that.     

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!  Let's see, it's traditional to say what you're thankful for.  I am thankful for having 3 Thanksgiving meals in 3 days.  Meals that required no preparation on my part, only re-heating.  Yes, they didn't come cheap, but they were all delicious - though I'll probably get more turkey in one home-cooked Christmas dinner than I did over all 3 of these meals combined!  One came from a supermarket, one came from a catering company, and one came from one of the few restaurants open today (and when I went to pick up the meal today from the restaurant, the car park was full and it was absolutely packed inside -  thank god I didn't have to linger long, as I have no doubts this was a super-spreader event).