Have Felt Fat Since Friday

I had the day off Friday.  Made the mistake of eating three times, each 90 minutes apart from each other.

I took the day off because I wanted to finally finish up my teeth cleaning at the University of Minnesota dental school.  The school has always recommended I finish get a ... what's it called, a varnish?  Insurance doesn't pay for it, but they say it revitalizes my enamel, and I should keep my teeth as strong as possible.

Unfortunately, as part of making sure the varnish sticks, I could not eat anything too hot, sticky or crunchy -- or alcohol -- for four-to-six hours.  That meant that my plans to eat a hamburger with potato chips and cocktail at this new dive bar (isn't that an oxymoron?) went out the window.  Or did it?  I decided that I may not be back there for a while, so I still went to the dive bar.  I just modified my order: I decided to upcharge my side from chips to french fries (the burger and chips are a lunchtime special) and drank water instead of alcohol.

However, I regularly check all my fast food apps, and Chick-Fil-A was giving out free chicken nuggets in conjunction with the Timberwolves playing in the NBA Playoffs.  I thought about just going to Chick-Fil-A, but ultimately decided I could eat a little at the dive bar, then eat a little at Chick-Fil-A.  I washed the nuggets down with a Cherry Berry Sunjoy, whatever that is.

I figured that whatever I eat for dinner at home I could cut back on, like a snack.  But dammit, that was the day Mother decided to make pho for us.  Normally I would it and scarf it down; it may be my favorite meal, definitely my favorite meal she makes.  Unfortunately, since I had a burger and fries and chicken nuggets and a sugary drink, I hit a brick wall when trying to finish.  Guess I shouldn't have asked for more soup, but Mother usually offers and I usually say yes.  Most of the added broth I couldn't eat, and there was some noodles and meat and green onions down at the bottom of the bowl I simply could not consume.  I feel ashamed.  Still do, days later.

And I haven't quite come down from feeling full since Friday.  That triple shot of meals over the course of three hours was a big, big mistake.  And I can feel it, and probably see it, whenever I look down at my fat belly.

I Did Something Yesterday That Still Terrifies Me

Goddamn my temper.

So I was driving to work yesterday/Monday.  Since I had my timing chain replaced, I've slowed down while driving -- for the most part.  But there was this van that got behind me, then changed to the lane to my left, then merged right in front of me.  Like, "Why are you gettin' that motherfucking close to me, you fucking asshole?!" close.  And I felt violated and attacked and as if my manhood was taken from me, and so I needed to take my manhood back.  So I went to the lane to our left, floored the gas pedal, and cranked my car back onto our lane and right in front of him.

But I didn't.  I did all of those things, but by the time I thought I was showing him up, he (and it had to be a he) moved one lane further to the right, and he was slowing down because he was getting onto the off ramp.  When I saw that I kind of dusted him but he was not in a position to see that I did, I stepped on the brake.  Hard.

I have had bouts of road rage like this before.  Rode my car hard many, many times -- accelerated to close to 100, then cut off the son-of-a-bitch who cut me off and slammed on the brake.  Afterwards, I always felt as though I may not have "succeeded" in showing who's boss, but I felt true to myself in taking back what was taken from me.  But not this time.  I'm not disappointed in myself.  But I am still shaking -- not exactly over what happened to me, but over what I did in response.  Yes, I've done this before.  And yet I can't believe I did this, or allowed myself to do this.

I'm getting older.  My uncle dying probably is weighing on me more than I am conscious of.  But I feel this sense of shame now because of what I put my car through.  It's getting older, and it's not as if I can afford to buy another one off the lot.  And I know that you hurt the car when you suddenly accelerate and suddenly brake.  And oh, by the way, I have new tires on it.  There's a breaking-in period of about 1,000 miles where you should go easy on them, and I sure as hell didn't yesterday morning.  Now, if my car is ruined after this one rush of blood to the head, then this model needs to be recalled for being a piece of shit.  But I can't let this happen again.  And I certainly can't allow this hard driving because of my road rage contribute to a pattern that will ultimately kill my car.

I am under no illusion that I will do what I have pledged to do in this blog post.  This prick (and by the way, the car that almost sideswiped me was a minivan from, I think, a company called Royal Transportation [there was a decal on this fucking vehicle], which I believe is a public assistance transportation company for those who cannot drive themselves, so I believe the driver was someone who was hastily trained in driving) could be riding my ass again this morning.  I am not absolving this piece of shit for what he did to me; I have never had someone merge in front of me so closely.  But that van's gone and I still have my car which I totally abused because this red mist descended in front of my eyes again.  People suck at driving, but I have to walk the line because getting revenge means I destroy the vessel that gives me mobility in this world.

Still have this aching suspicion that I've hurt this car past some irreversible point just because of what happened, though.  In the meantime, I think I will try and drive slowly -- and, Lord willing, let things go while I'm driving.  Just don't know if I will.

The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey

Positive Numbers: Timberwolves (Last Week: -2).  Well, shut my fucking mouth, why don't ya?  Really, all I'm doing when I'm hating on local teams and predicting they'll not just get swept but humiliated is motivating them to do prove me wrong.  That way, they win, the state wins, and I win!  OK, that's a lie.

Yeah, I was totally convinced that Phoenix would sweep the Wolves and end their breakthrough season in embarrassing fashion.  I have ample evidence: The Suns swept the season series, and they won all the Games by double digits.  Why would I not think that pattern wouldn't continue?  Well, this team, this franchise got serious about flipping the script, and on Saturday afternoon they fucking flipped the goddamn table, destroying Phoenix, 120-95.  Their Defense finally slowed down Phoenix's pick-and-pop, mid-range game; Kevin Durant went off for 31, but Devin Booker and Bradley Beal were tamed to, respectively, 18 and 15 Points, and moreover, Grayson Allen was held to only four.

Invigorating hell of a start, no doubt.  Now, can they win Game 2 and hold court?  Or could we be facing oblivion this time next Week?

#0: United FC (Last Week: -4).  What is a new Manager supposed to do?  Shake things up.  They were hired to, at the very least, do something different from the person he or she is replacing.

It was getting dicey there (IMHO) for Eric Ramsey, who won his first Match at the helm for the Loons but hadn't won since.  Finally, after getting the lay of the land and understanding how and why these had been done under the regime of Adrian Heath, he made some drastic changes for last/Sunday night's showdown at Charlotte.  Teemu Pukki, Bongokuhle Hlongwane, and Sang-bin Jeong were benched (and Jeong didn't even see the field); Tani Oluwaseyi, Franco Fragapane, and Kervin Arriaga started instead.  And Ramsey shifted the formation to an overloaded 3-4-3; Arriaga, Michael Boxall and Devin Padelford became Center Backs as Joseph Rosales, who kinda-sorts started off as a Left Back, turned into an extreme Left Midfielder.  The idea was to overload that left side and strike down the middle when possible.

The result?  A 3-0 ass-kicking of The Crown, giving Charlotte FC their first home defeat in 11 Months.  I caught the first Goal by Oluwaseyi on the radio (even though I really needed to see the Goal on Twitter/X to really appreciate the talent and virtuosity behind both the pass and the kick), but damn, I wish I sat down and saw it somewhere instead of exercising.  By the way, Robin Lod assisted on that Oluwaseyi Goal, then scored as he cleaned up an attack, then put a vicious swerve on a Corner Kick that Hassani Dotson headed into the net.  If Emanuel Reynoso, who is still in Argentina for some dumb damn reason, doesn't return to the team, I say Robin Lod becomes The Best Player In MNUFC History.

Saturday they host Sporting Kansas City in the resumption of The Nice Rivalry In MLS.  This may -- may -- be the start of very much needed, and very welcome, revamp of how this squad operates under a young, bright mind who may -- may -- be on to something.

#-1: Gopher baseball (Last Week: -1).  Crushed South Dakota St. at Siebert Wednesday, 11-1 in seven Innings.  This contest was mercy-ruled; I didn't know college baseball has The Mercy Rule.  They then lost two-of-three at home to Indiana.  Friday's Game was postponed and made up as part of a Doubleheader yesterday/Sunday afternoon.  The first tilt was also mercy-ruled, a 13-2 victory for the U. called also after seven Innings.  Still, this is quite disappointing.  If not for Tuesday's cancelled Game at home against North Dakota St., they would have the same record for the Week as the Goofer softballers.

Finish up what now is a six-Game homestand with a mid-week two-fer with St. Thomas.  They then play three at Penn St.

#-2: Gopher softball (Last Week: -6).  Split the annual mid-week Doubleheader with Wisconsin (at Cowles this Year) on Wednesday, then dropped two-of-three at Rutgers.  Yeah, this club, and program, ain't goin' nowhere this Season, either.  Hosting South Dakota St. Wednesday before playing three at Iowa.

#-3: Twins (Last Week: -3).  OK, it is about time that have a full-blown fucking panic attack over the Twinks.  The top three Starting Pitchers seem to be fine.  Everything else is in the shitter.  The Bullpen continues to get shelled; Griffin Jax gave up the Game-ending Home Run on Wednesday that completed The Bastard St. Louis Browns' sweep of the Twinks earlier in the screening Week.  The Lineup continues to not produce; their Batting Average is the second-lowest through this many Games of the season in the past half-century.  And the fourth and fifth starters damn well better be an open competition since Louis Varland allowed four Walks and gave up four Earned Runs in only 2 2/3 Innings in yesterday/Sunday afternoon's 6-1 Loss at home to Detroit, giving the Tigers the series Win over the weekend.  The Twinks are now eight Games behind first-place Cleveland (whom everyone is worried will move because of the market and the payroll, but they always seem to overperform, at least relative to their current situation).  If not for the shitty White Sox, the Twinks, almost pre-ordained to win the A. L. Central, would instead be last.

Said ChiSox come to Target Field for a four-Game set.  They then travel to Anaheim for a weekend trio vs. The Los Angeles Angels Of Anaheim Angels Of Los Angeles Angels Of Anaheim Angels Of. ...

#-Infinity: Wild (Last Week: -5).  Seemed fitting that that this season ended with a come-from-ahead Loss Thursday at home versus Seattle.  It's been a series of mediocrities played out in a pattern all year: A propensity to choke on leads, shaky depth behind the front lines, and an almost exacting inability to beat the playoff-bound teams (at Los Angeles in the penultimate Game of the Year notwithstanding).  Yeah, there is a lot of young talent: Kirill Kaprizov, Brock Faber, Matt Boldy, even Marco Rossi.  And maybe Jared Spurgeon will get this squad's Defense sturdy and impassable again.  But the second year of the salary cap bite because of the Zach Parise and Ryan Suter contracts gets to take another $15 million out of their pockets compared to other clubs in the NHL again next year.  They're clear after that, but it's going to be another season of shrugging meandering.  Hope none of the young guns get happy feet and demand trades.

Hey, in the meantime, can you change your name back to The Minnesota North Stars and grab the logo, the colors, the history, the statistics and the retired numbers?  You're not doing anything worthwhile for another 12 months.  Hop to it, Mild!

Sidelined This Week

For the first time in months, if not years, I am scheduled for a full week away from The Fourth Department.  Lot of changes for me, even though I started off with such a schedule.  I cannot help but think that my boss is sidelining me because of all the overtime I am forced to accrue back there.  And so that, to me, seems like a demotion.  And I don't like that.

On the other hand, I don't have to worry about him getting on my case over OT.  The Main Department is very time-controlled; unless that day's work doesn't get done, overtime there is next to impossible unless it's allowed for some other work that needs to be done.  But I don't want to feel relieved that my boss can't yell at me anymore because that would make me feel like a coward for not being able to put up with his crap.  So, no, I shouldn't like this week, especially since I now need to wake up an hour early, which I hate.

The only other upside (which has nothing to do with my boss) is that I get to go home immediately after work at a certain time.  That means, ironically, I have time to not go home and instead watch, say, Dune 2, or talk to my therapist over the phone.  I will probably complain to him about how I hate my job and need to find a new one.  Yeah, that's what I'm going to do after work this week.

Finally Going To See My Aunt Today

For the first time since my uncle died, I finally am able to keep my promise and visit my aunt this afternoon.  I'm terrified.  I have no idea what's going to happen, nor what I am going to say.  Hell, I don't know how long I will stay.  I don't want to just stand by the door and chit-chat so quickly that I could just keep my car running.  At the same time, I know my awkward ass could draw out the agony by asking dumber and dumber questions and overstaying my welcome because I want to look "concerned."  I think I need to go to the library tomorrow afternoon, and I'm still figuring if I should go before or after seeing my aunt, which I'm supposed to see at a specific time.  Even fretting about that makes me feel like a colossal dick.

I don't know what I should wear.  I don't know how to behave.  I don't know if I should go in for a hug, for God's sake.  I don't want to be too forward that I invade her personal space, and yet I don't want to be so reserved that I come off as cold.  I don't want to pry if my aunt's feelings remain raw, but I don't want to sound so distant that she thinks I'm trying to leave early.

Oh, God.  I know I have to do this.  I just don't know how to do it.

"TPM Device Not Detected" -- Oh, Fuck Off

My laptop was displaying a "TPM device not detected" message upon booting up today.  Freaked me the fuck out, of course.  I tried restarting it, shutting it down and turning it on again, but I still had that message.  Finally, I looked online for answers and, not understanding the fuck they were saying, I took the only advice I could decipher: Shut 'er down, then hold down the power button for 60 seconds to cycle down the computer.  I should've taken out the battery before I did it, but I have no fucking idea how to do that, so I didn't do that part.

I cannot believe that worked because the lap turned on even as I was holding down the power button.  But it booted up just fine without that damn "TPM device not detected" message.  And when I did some thing to confirm that this, uh, device was in fact detected, it was confirmed.  I don't know for sure how it wasn't detected at first and then it was.  But I am thinking that this TPM device is literally not plugged in where and how it's supposed to be.  That's because I don't use my laptop as a laptop.  I usually am lying in bed, and I am looking up as I use it.  I think I have literally shaken the computer to the point where this device got slightly jostled out of position, and I somehow got it back into position just by sitting it down on my bed.

Good fucking God, for a while there I thought I needed to buy a new computer.  Still might have to.

Dodged One Bullet -- Hope To Dodge The Other

Well of fucking course my dental appointment would be on the same day as the day the city of Minneapolis began to sweep the street.  But the street I was on seemed to be clean.  Isn't the rule that once a street is swept, you can park on it?

Based on that rule, I parked on a street that was clearly marked no parking for yesterday/Friday, even though it was cleaned.  I walked 20+ minutes to the other side of campus to get my teeth done.  Walking back, I thought about checking out a computer lab that I went to a lot when I was out of college and decided I didn't want to waste my life working and making money.  But I thought better of it because, well, my car might be towed.

As I got closer to my car, I walked past a street where a truck was being towed.  And then I saw a tow truck driving down the street with a car on its bed.  Thank Buddha it wasn't mine, but after I saw another tow truck with an unwilling companion vehicle, I started to haul ass, hoping beyond hope that I wouldn't come across my car being towed away.

I ran to the street I parked, and thank GOD my car was still there.  But there was a cop there.  I never felt so thankful just for getting a ticket.  But I wasn't going to wait around in case a tow truck swooped in; I started my car and got the hell out of there with the quickness!  I'm still fucking paranoid that the city of Minneapolis is going to tow my car.  Went to the library and a new dive bar in the area, and I was still scared shitless I was going to come back to my car just to not see it there.

Well, that didn't happen.  So glad I didn't go exploring on campus.  But there is still the issue of the ticket.  I just went online to see if I still needed to pay something, however there is no record of it -- yet.  Technically, I still did break the law by parking illegally.  But, I thought there would be an amount written on the ticket, and there isn't.  I see the city code I broke, and I see the words "TOW REQUEST," but there is no amount to pay.  Also, I remember when I got my car towed that I had to pay everything -- the tow, the ticket, and fucking lord knows what else the city piled on -- at the impound lot.  If I got my car after my ticket was issued but before the tow truck came, does that mean I get off scot free?  Finally, I also remember my friend, who was watching our alma mater's Game with us in downtown Minneapolis while my car got towed, was able to see that her car was about to get towed and stopped the truck, but not before paying a "drop fee."  If that's all she needed to pay (even though that shit sounds shady), and if I got away before the truck came -- well, I don't need to pay anything, do I?

The ticket on the back says I might need to wait a week before calling.  I presume that if I check online, the amount I would have to pay (if I need to pay it) would be up immediately.  I'll give it a week before checking again, probably through the Internet, although I might call just in case.  Hey, I still have my car, so I will thank my lucky stars for that.  But I sure as shit don't want to pay anything just to get my goddamn teeth cleaned.  If I beat the rap by getting to my car on time ... well, I think I saw the cop look at me while I got to my car, and I know he was thinking something along the lines of, "That lucky motherfucker."  Well, depending on what else I need to pay, I might be a lucky motherfucker, indeed.

Expenses Without Receipts

Starting from Thursday, April 18:

• We'll need to start on Sunday, April 14, where, citing my urge to merge, went all the way down to ****e's place and fucked her: $120.
• Back to Wednesday the 10th, when I checked out of my hotel.  I can't say enough of how well-run it was.  The people who own and manage it care, and that makes a world of difference these days when it comes to staying at budget hotels.  Such as it is, I leave a tip whenever I check out.  Hopefully it is appreciated: $5.
• On Tuesday the 9th I finally bit the bullet and went to a strip club.  I was leaning against doing so during my vacation in St. Louis because I was pinching pennies, but eventually I wanted one big night out before I had to leave the next day.  Besides, if I am going to be a stripclub monger again, I have to go to stripclubs other than the one I go to on a non-regular basis, right?  So I did.  It was Larry Flynt's Hustler Club, which I had gone to only once before.  Girls were straight bangers, but I got a somewhat desultory one in Chrissy.  Great body, passive personality, got me hard, but at least she didn't totally freak out when I whipped it out.  Obscene cover that the cheap Bud Light for a Tuesday did not make up for.  With tips, the total was: $201.
• I guess I technically went to Argosy Casino Monday the 8th (the night after it took me six hours to drive back to the STL along with all the other eclipse traffic), but I maybe technically poured money into the one slot machine I played on Tuesday the 9th.  Either way, I lost: $12.
• Sunday, April 7: Went to the Cardinals matinee, where they were getting blown out by the Marlins (who finally won their first Game of the season that day) when, in the middle of the Ninth Inning, a big rain squall tore through Busch Stadium and everyone had to scatter as the Game was postponed.  I think an hour later it resumed.  Don't know if I would've gone if I knew beforehand that was going to happen.  Anyway, I tipped a busker with a full-fledged, Neil Peart-like drum kit banging away at a street corner: $1.
• Later that night I went to the Casino Queen, across the Mississippi.  I was hitting all the casinos in St. Louis to update the use of my loyalty cards.  It was just one slot machine for less than a minute, but here, I was given what's called "Free Play" at a slot machine, where the casino just gives me free money to play.  I won $21 on that.  But then I went to the craps table and lost $50.  Adding in a buck in tip to the cashier for converting my chips to cash and, all told, I lost: $30.
• Even later that night I hit a Waffle House.  Had to hit a Waffle House when there's one in the vicinity.  All-Star Special ... chose bacon, my eggs scrambled, and grits, but with a side of hash browns -- scattered, smothered and covered!  With tip: $23.
• Saturday the 6th ... after I touched down, drove east into Illinois to check into my hotel, drove back west into Missouri to eat at Hooters, and got lost trying to find my to Ameristar casino (where, it so happens, I put a $20 bill in a slot machine, won enough money to break even, and split), I went to Hollywood Casino where I also put a $20 bill in a slot machine but won enough money early enough through my $20 that I actually got out of there winning money.  An Infusion of: $4.
• Back to Wednesday, April 3 -- after the Wolves Game, I went to Pizza Luce to stop for two pizzas (instead of one) and my usually Coke can.  With tip: $13.  (This was when I wasn't afraid to spend money.)
• This day, Father paid me back for all the lottery ticket I bought for him.  But because I didn't want to carry all the money he gave me at once, I stashed most of it and only put some of it in my wallet.  This was the last of three times I dipped into that, so technically, it was an Infusion of only: $90.
• The second time was on April Fools' Day, but this time it was an Infusion of: $40.
• And the third first time was back on Monday, March 25.  This was an Infusion of: $90.
• On Thursday the 21st I paid into a lottery work pool: $4.
• I also did Tuesday the 19th, but this time I was paying for both myself and my co-worker, who lent me $4 for the previous pool.  I'm just paying her back: $8.
• That evening I went to get gasoline, and I did that thing where I overestimated how much I needed.  Fortunately it was by exactly 50 cents, so even though I was bummed I had to march back into the gas station a second time grab my change, at least it wasn't, like, 99 cents.  The cost of gas, by the way, was: $18.50.
• Wednesday, March 13 ... we made a lot of lottery pools at work as the jackpots built up.  On this day a co-worker paid me back for lending her money on the previous pool, an Infusion of: $4.
• That previous pool was the day before, Tuesday the 12th, where I paid for both her and myself.  Total: $8.
• Friday, March 8 -- spent cash at McDonald's before heading into work: $6.81.
• On Thursday the 7th I attended the Walker Art Center because it was the last free Thursday night for this particular exhibition about art in Communist Eastern Europe.  It was also the first day of this installation/recreation of a defunct gay bar in San Francisco called The New Eagle Creek Saloon.  Once I got through this fascinating exhibition (I wonder how many of the pieces I saw were able to be exhibited, and if so, how many were able to be shown in Eastern Europe), I went down to this huge art space with this little tiny bar serving up pre-made cocktails manned by four overwhelmed bartenders.  It was a groovy place to be for the last hour of operation that night at the Walker.  Of course the bar/installation had a tip jar, so I had to tip: $1.
• Later that night I was still hungry, so I went to Culver's: $8.96.
• Back to Saturday, March 2, where I went to Wal-Mart to buy food to prepare for the second hotdish I wanted to make for the year.  I bought this pre-packaged meat I needed to heat up and a can of Campbell's cream of chicken soup.  Total: $10.34.
• On my way back from the MNUFC Match, there was a group of Girl Scouts and their parents (or was it just their moms?) selling Girl Scout Cookies.  I don't think I had bought any yet for the season, and I liked their enterprising spirit.  (Plus, they didn't have a tip jar.  Have you noticed that more and more Girl Scout Cookie tables are laying out tip jars??  Is that what they're teaching Girl Scouts to do -- extract more money from people just for giving boxes to customers and looking at their parents whenever a customer asks a question that they should learn to answer?)  One box, which now costs: $6.
• Finally, Friday, March 1: Went to a long-ago usher friend to a Catholic Friday Fish Fry.  Went to one of the most well-regarded ones, at St. Albert the Great.  It was a great time with someone I haven't seen in years!  Pop cans for me and her, a ticket for the dinner and tickets for raffles they were having for prizes throughout the night came out to: $20.

Good through April 18.

I Can Fix It!!! All By Myself!!!

I thought I felt something from the car driving home from work Tuesday afternoon.  But I really felt it driving to work yesterday morning: A rhythmic knocking coming from underneath the car.  I at first rationalized it as a rain thing; it's been raining since Tuesday afternoon, heavy at times.  But as I noticed it more, my mind raced to the worst-case scenario: I have Friday off, but instead of enjoying my free time, I'll have to bring it into the shop to get it fixed.

But then I remembered that I've heard this thumping before.  The tires did get changed about three weeks ago.  Did corrosion from taking out and then putting the wheels back in have anything to do with what I was hearing?  Or, could it be loose lug nuts, like the time after I worked a Wild Game at the X?  So I got to work and searched the Internet, and one of the first things people recommended were to check the lug nuts.  So after I got done with work I checked them, and I'll be damned, three of the four nuts on my driver's-side front tire were loose.  So I got out my lug wrench and tightened up the nuts on all four of my wheels.  Drove home without hearing a sound.

Can't believe the mechanic who swapped out my old tires for new ones three weeks ago didn't do his job, else I would've heard something sooner.  Is it just stupid kids loosening them overnight?  Whatever the case, I'm glad that I was able to fix something big by myself -- and without needing to pay someone!

Getting My Money Back Is Now Going To Be A Problem

I was hoping, probably beyond hope, that it'd be easy for me to get my money back for the ticket to the Frozen Four Final that never arrived.  And yeah, I think it's going to now be a struggle.

Remembering the bullshit I had to deal with in getting money back for the Rolling Stones ticket that never arrived, I have come to learn that if you dispute it with the credit card company, most likely they'll ask you to try and figure it out with the company first.  Turns out that when I went back to the company asking for my money back, they just went and gave me my money back.  But that's not happening here.  First of all, there is no phone number for me to call.  There's a chat feature instead, and I have been going back and forth with this representative (who for all I know is just a fucking AI bot) since I texted "her" at the Frozen Four Semis late Thursday afternoon.  Second, after waiting a while to get an answer about not being able to get that ticket before Saturday's title tilt (prompting me to buy a second one to make sure I can watch it), I finally received one Monday.

At first blush it was a complete capitulation -- an apology followed by an offer to make things right.  But I had to look at the wording to conclude that this company, and this "rep," wasn't conceding much, if anything.  She was going to offer a promo code I could use for anything through their company over the next year.  I was about to say yes.  But then I realized they didn't say anything about the dollar amount of the cost of the ticket that I never got.  Also, that ticket set me back $150.  If this is a one-time code, and assuming the code is for the full amount, I need to find something that will cost me $150 or else I will be forgoing money.  Fuck that!  I will take a credit in the amount of the ticket that never came.  But I'm getting the whole amount back, and I will use it completely for any event, sporting or music or otherwise, until I use it all.  If not, I want my $150 back in a refund.

So I asked this "person" whether this promo would be for the full amount of the ticket that never arrived.  I haven't heard back from "her."  I'm scared as hell that "she" took my question as an acceptance when it's not.  If this goddamn company is going to use these lowball tactics in order to make right what they did wrong, then I have no choice but to get my money back through the credit card company ... and Buddha knows if that will work.  Man, I'm not in a good place right now money-wise.  The last fucking thing I need is to get ripped off and then fucked over for $150.