Day 150: Update on Goals

Day 150, so time for another update on goals:

• Books: By day 150 I should have read 24.66 books. I'm considerably short of that goal - at the time of writing I've completed 18 books, which means I haven't even finished April's allocation. The one counterpoint to this is that I've now finished "The Stand" and so have four books from The List to go, so I may well finish that this year.
• Weight: Nothing to report here.
• Blogging: By day 150 I should have written 49.32 posts here. This is post 46, so I'm a bit short of that, but it's also the 12th post in May so I am gradually catching up. I've also posted 25 times on The Imaginarium, so that's going well.
• Redecorating the Hallway: There is no progress here, but we didn't expect any. Watch this space for next time.
• Super Secret Goal: This is very much in the balance. I don't know if it's even needed, and so haven't as yet done anything towards it. At the very least, I'll have a definitive decision on the first part of that for next time.

And that's that. Things are okay, but not great - I'm behind on most goals but am reasonably content with the actual progress. Most other things are more or less okay, though the current battles with chicken pox, colds, and Covid aren't really ideal!

Picard Season Two

The first season of Picard was okay, but not great. The main thing it had going for it was that it showed some of the ragged edges of the Star Trek universe, which was something of a boon for gamers. Ultimately, though, it was building to the death of the titular character, and would have made for a good send off for Picard... except that they renewed it and resurrected him.

The second season starts really well, being a massive and immediate step up. And then it proceeds to go badly off the rails, squandering its potential, filling whole episodes with almost nothing, and messing up the lore of the show.

There's more I could add, but I'm disinclined to go into spoilers. Suffice to say, the best scene in the latter section of the show is the stealth cameo on the bus. Which isn't a good look.

Perhaps unfortunately, despite all this I do intend to watch the third and final season. Partly because it is the last, and partly because we're getting a chance to catch up with the whole of the Next Generation crew - with a bit of luck this will be their "Undiscovered Country" in the way that "Nemesis" massively failed to be.

But, unfortunately, I'm now at a point that my recommendation for "Picard" as a whole for people who haven't started is to avoid.

Uncanny Timing

LC returned to school last week after about 13 months of maternity leave and several months prior to that working from home. Naturally, Surprise! therefore took the opportunity to be sent home from nursery on Wednesday with chicken pox - a very mild attack that left him entirely healthy but unable to attend. (And, as with Funsize, it's extremely likely that Surprise! got chicken pox from the nursery he then couldn't attend. But not matter.)

So, this was a rather spectacular example of bad timing, especially as my own long-awaited return to the office was set to happen today.

But...

On Saturday there was a big family gathering for one of my neices' birthdays - a gathering attended by the entire family with the exception of LC and KS. Due to the chicken pox, LC elected to keep KS away, and so didn't attend.

On Sunday I went to church with Funsize. Once again, due to the chicken pox LC elected to keep KS at home, and as LC was struggling with a cold it made sense that I was the one to go.

On Sunday afternoon LC tested positive for Covid. Somehow, I tested negative. (Best guess is that she has received either a fairly weak strain or a very low viral load, and so it wasn't able to jump further. Or I've just been lucky. Or my turn is coming up.)

The upshot of that is that KS's chicken pox, which seemed be timed to be an absolute disaster, has turned out to have protected a whole lot of people from being classes as close contacts.

Well done, the wee guy - you timed that well!

The Death of Decency

So, we've had the police investigation, the biggest outcome of which is that the Met are, at best!, shockingly inept. We've now had the Sue Gray report. We've also had photographs appear in the media.

There cannot be any serious doubt that there were plenty of parties in Downing Street, nor can Boris credibly claim either that all the rules were followed nor that he believed they were followed. His statement to the Commons is, therefore, a clear-cut case of him knowingly misleading parliament.

He must go.

More importantly, if he does not go willingly, and if the Tory MPs behind him close ranks to keep him in office, that is the death of decency in public life in the country. It is the death of any notion that there are checks and balances on the government. It is the death of the UK as a democracy - we become an elected dictatorship.

He absolutely, and without question, has to go.

Regarding the Jubilee

As someone who would prefer to abolish the monarchy, it's fair to say that I have mixed feelings about the jubilee. On the one hand, I'm getting an extra day off, which is always nice. On the other hand, I won't exactly be hanging out the bunting. Nor do I intend to attand a street party or anything of the sort.

There is one thing I will, genuinely, be doing to mark the jubilee - several members of my band wanted us to learn and play a tune to mark the event, and I will be taking part in that. This is, in all honesty, more about solidarity with the rest of the band than it is support for the monarchy, but there it is.

All that said, and despite it being a fairly unpopular opinion in Scotland (as far as I can see), I do tend to the view that it's right that we do acknowledge the jubilee.

My first, and lesser, reason for this is quite simply that I think it's right to acknowledge anyone who holds down a position for 70 years - it may not be a position I think should exist, and I certainly don't consider it the selfless public service that the BBC and others would have us believe, but I do think it's worthy of note.

But the other reason is a little more complex. The queen is now pretty much the last link we have to a UK that was worth living in. The country has fallen so far, and so many of the pillars that held it together, and the institutions that are supposed to ensure it runs have become so degraded and corrupted as to be worthless. She's almost the last remaining bulwark against that - and the future after she's gone really doesn't look like any sort of an improvement.

So I'll acknowledge this landmark, and do so without cynicism or irony. But quite possibly with a greater sense of mourning than celebration.

Experimental Cookery 2022: Pesto Chicken Traybake with Jersey Royals, Cherry Tomatoes, and Rocket

This one comes from this month's Tesco magazine and is by Jamie Oliver.

It was quick and easy to make, took only a handful of fairly cheap ingredients, and provided a filling and tasty meal. That's a winner all round. We'd definitely have this one again, though we did conclude that we preferred the sausage bake from Jamie's "5 Ingredients" book. But there's room for both.

And that's it - short and sweet this time.

Experimental Cookery 2022: Ricotta Fritters, Tomato Sauce & Courgette Salad

This was taken from "Jamie's 15 Minute Meals", and was another attempt at finding a vegetarian meal to add to our repertoire. Unlike many of the 15 Minute Meals, this one seemed to actually be close to the 15 minutes - very often, that book requires a whole load of preparation or ingredient gathering that somehow isn't included in the total; that seemed very much reduced here. The effort was also reasonable, with no need to try to multitask doing six things at the same time, as is sometimes the case with that book.

The upshot is that this was a very good meal on the preparation front. But how was it on eating?

Well, it was fine. We enjoyed it, we'd both have it again, but... It wasn't a world-beater. This is probably an ideal seventh dish for our set of six really good ones - it's good for a change, but I suspect we'd get tired of it before too soon.

And that's about that - this was fine, we would have it again, but it wasn't a revelation.

#16: "Death on the Nile", by Agatha Christie
#17: "Library of the Dead", by T.L. Huchu
#18: "Foxglove Summer", by Ben Aaronovitch

Dear England...

If you wouldn't mind, it would be really nice if you could bring your experiment of electing clowns to government to an end.

Ta muchly.

Return to the Office

After more than two years, our experiment with home working is now coming to an end - I will be returning to the office on the 30th of May, barring some new surge of Covid cases or similar event. As of the 1st of June we will all be expected to return.

I must admit, I'm not regarding this event with any real anticipation. Working from home has not been an unalloyed joy, but it has had some very significant benefits, not least the ability to be present throughout Surprise!'s first year. Returning to the office also means adding five hours to my working week, and with the price of petrol as it now is it will also add something like £150 in fuel bills - time and money that we can ill afford.

On the other hand, it is certainly true that there's a different dynamic when in the office than there is while working remotely. There are also times when we really need everyone to be together, and further times when it would be really useful to be together. (Need is probably a bit too strong a word, but not by as much as might be thought.) That said, those times are relatively few and far between, and so most of the time it does seem rather unnecessary.

Oh well. The mountains have spoken, and it is too late for the pebbles to have their say.

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore

LC and I went to the cinema last week to watch the third Harry Potter prequel. After the abject failure of the second film we didn't expect much, and as a result we weren't disappointed.

It's not a bad film. It's certainly better than the previous one. But at the same time, it's not a particularly good film, either, and it suffers from most of the same problems as the first - a zoo-keeper as hero in a film that calls for a spy, a core cast who are never on screen together, a complete lack of motive for one of those characters, a long running time filled with not much and then a rushed climax.

The best thing about the film is that it does come to an end. I'm presuming that this is a matter of the studio preparing to cut their losses and turn the 5-film series into a trilogy. And if this is the end, I'll be glad - both that it is the end and that the story came to an end.

Honestly, I can't recommend this, unless like me you're the sort who hates leaving things part-done.

Next up for us is probably the final Jurassic World film - it would be Dr Strange, but we haven't yet seen "No Way Home", and films seem to come to Disney+ pretty quickly, so we'll probably leave it until then. But we'll see.

Experimental Cookery 2022: Chocolate Yoghurt Cake

This one came from Mary Berry's "Simple Comforts". It was the cake that I made for LC's birthday, with Funsize helping with the decorating (such as it is). The cake was very easy to make and very tasty. There's really not much more to say about it than that - it was a winner, we'd have it again, and there's no real downside. 

School Holidays

At time of writing, it is still my intention to skip the Council Elections on Thursday - I've reached a point where voting even for the "least worst" makes me feel bad, so I'm going to skip it.

That said, I have found a policy that probably would win my vote, if someone were to put it forward at the next Holyrood elections...

I was working out my vacation for the upcoming year, with the intent of working it around the school holidays. With Funsize starting school in August, this meant matching up with her school calendar as well as Lady Chocolat's, so I went and took a look.

For the most part, the outcome isn't too bad - by and large the holidays line up apart from a day here and there, and with LC not working on Mondays and Tuesdays that's manageable. But there are three things...:

• The October week is cunningly misaligned by a week, meaning that there is virtually no time when we're all off together and no scope for getting away.
• The Christmas holiday comes to an end much earlier in one council area than the other, leading to a load of dead time when I'd frankly like to get back to work but now can't.
• And there are the "Staff Development Days", which inevitably all fall on Mondays and Tuesdays, while means I need to take time to deal with those.

The upshot of all of that is that about a quarter of my holiday is burned on dealing with the childcare implications of the councils failing to synchronise.

So, if any political party wants my vote, here's a nice, easy policy to put forward: we'll impose a unified school calendar across all councils in Scotland, for the benefit of people who have to deal with multiple such calendars.

#14: "The Darkest Road", by Guy Gavriel Kay
#15: "The Stand", by Stephen King (a book from The List; four to go)