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Weekly Report: September 11, 2022

Observations

  • A heatwave lasting half the week in the Bay Area saw temperatures hit an all-time high of 47ºC. For us, temperatures exceeded 40ºC on 3 days this week, which makes working from home challenging in the afternoon as we don’t have air conditioning (typical for homes here). The southwestern U.S. is currently in a drought that is the worst on record (and the records — tree rings —go back 1,200 years).
  • Queen Elizabeth II died on Thursday. She led an incredible, unique life and felt particularly well respected and admired, despite having to carry all of the colonial baggage that the British monarchy brings. In the words of former President Trump, “There was nobody like her!” King Charles III now takes her place.
  • I was barely old enough to vote “yes” when Australia held a referendum about whether to become a republic at the turn of the millennium. The “no” votes prevailed, but the margin was only 55/45. I suspect that the next time they hold such a referendum, it will be within my lifetime and the answer will be different.
  • Sunday marks the 21st anniversary of 9/11. I’d say that every 20-30 years a generational event comes along and changes the world. The pandemic, of course, is the most recent one. 9/11 was the first in my living memory and I’m sure at some point my kids will ask me, “What were you doing when you found out about 9/11?” The answer is that I woke up to the news that morning. I think someone had texted me to turn on the TV, and when I did, I saw the shocking images of the towers burning. I was in Sydney, so it had all happened while I was asleep. After being glued to the TV for as long as I could, I left for work. I was a web developer doing an industry placement at EDS at the time, working on the Commonwealth Bank’s website. I grabbed an old walkman, popped on earphones, tuned into a news radio station, and hopped on the bus, and then the train. It was a pretty sombre, quiet commute, and you could tell the news was hanging in the air with everyone.

Articles

Movies & TV

  • House of the Dragon (Season 1)
    My wife and I started dating at about the same time as Game of Thrones premiered, and it became a weekly ritual for us (together with eating take out from Su Hong, now called Chef Kwan’s in Menlo Park). Despite GoT’s series-destroying final season, we decided to work House of the Dragon into our weekly routine for old times’ sake. We’ve seen the first 3 episodes, and the jury is still out on whether it’ll stay in our weekly routine.

Hotels

  • Courtyard by Marriott Redwood City (Redwood City, CA)
    I had an unused free hotel night that was going to expire next month, so I decided to work out of a hotel room on one of the days where it got really hot. I was just there for the air conditioning so I didn’t stay for the night, but it’s a basic, no-frills hotel in the middle of nowhere.

Charts & Images

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