Events

I started Friday by having lunch with a colleague in the picture-perfect Hare & Billet in Greenwich: After lunch I hopped a Southeast service to Otford, Kent, where I embarked on the 6.5 km hike I mentioned Saturday morning. Otford looks like something out of a Brontë novel (either sister), surrounded by farms and walking paths. And sheep: The village also sits in what I believe is a washout valley bisecting a long moraine known as the Kentish Downs. After a 75-meter climb, I got to this vista: About 3...

This evening I finished psychologist Bill Eddy's Why we elect narcissists and sociopaths and how we can stop. It turns out, we just need to be rational! OK, so, that's not likely. But Eddy does lay out the obvious: we need to stop electing narcissists and sociopaths. We also need to watch out for sick politicians dividing us into 4 groups that could work together but don't: Loyalists, Resisters, Moderates, and dropouts. The three groups who don't have automatic loyalty to the narcissist in question...

I exhausted myself yesterday with a walk from Otford to Shoreham, in Kent, along the Kentish Downs. I'll have photos after I get home, but until then, here's the Garmin plot: The bit right around 4km included a steep climb to an amazing view of the Downs. Again, photos next week, which will also demonstrate why I want to retire to Shoreham now.

📺 NEW VIDEORetweet to show Dr. Oz that there’s no place like home and send him back to New Jersey! #WizardOfLies pic.twitter.com/iXkAhxzdhT — MeidasTouch.com (@MeidasTouch) July 20, 2022

This is a bit of good news for my weekend getaway: Long-running weekend strikes on London's Night Tube have been suspended after the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union accepted a concession from London Underground about rotas. The bodies have agreed to have a minimum number of drivers who prefer to work overnight on each line. The RMT stressed the dispute was not resolved, and the situation would be reviewed in three months at the latest. Ongoing weekend strike action began in January and was...

I'm working a half-day in my company's London office to catch up on some things and to ensure my team back home get the current sprint off to a good start. But the weather is absolutely perfect, so I might not make it past my 3pm meeting... Contra Daniel Burnham, I made only small plans. Tonight I'm returning to a friend's old haunts in Earls Court to give her an update. Tomorrow I'm having lunch with a colleague at an historic Greenwich pub, then either going for a (10-kilometer) walk or popping round...

With an 8:30 international flight and great uncertainty in airport/airline operations these days, I thought it prudent to haul my ass out to a hotel by the airport last night. Well, it worked, in that I got through O'Hare security less than an hour after waking up. I have plenty of time to sort through my email and load my Surface with some news. On the other hand, I couldn't find a combination of pillows that I could tolerate, and only slept a bit more than 6 hours, so I can't call it a decisive win....

In just a few minutes I will take Cassie to boarding, then head up to Northwestern for a rehearsal (I'm in the chorus at Ravinia's upcoming performances of La Clemenza di Tito.) I'll then have to pack when I get home from rehearsal, then head to a hotel by O'Hare. Ah, how much fun is an 8:30 international flight! As I'll have some time at the airport in the morning, and no time now, I want to queue these up for myself: Jonathan Chait says Senator Joe Manchin (D?-WV) didn't kill President Biden's agenda...

The Met Office has provisionally recorded the UK's first-ever above-40°C (104°F) temperature: 🌡️ For the first time ever, 40 Celsius has provisionally been exceeded in the UKLondon Heathrow reported a temperature of 40.2°C at 12:50 today 📈 Temperatures are still climbing in many places, so remember to stay #WeatherAware ⚠️#heatwave #heatwave2022 pic.twitter.com/GLxcR6gjZX — Met Office (@metoffice) July 19, 2022 Heathrow's 12:50 BST report to ICAO put the temperature at 39°C, with a heat index of...

Ain't she purdy? I couldn't decide which shot or aspect ratio to use, so you get a bonus photo: She looks especially fine today after having two baths over the weekend. (I may drink Lake Michigan water, but that doesn't mean I want it tracked all through my house.) Last year's birthday photo is here.