Teeth Things

Yesterday/Tuesday I went to the Fair.  Great time to go, especially since 1) work so non-existent I left an hour early and 2) the forecasters says it is going to be as dry and cool as it will get the rest of the Fair.  (I thought about going today/Wednesday, but, even though the air temperature today/Wednesday will be a few degrees lower than yesterday/Tuesday, the dewpoint today/Wednesday is higher, so that will make it feel hotter today/Wednesday than yesterday/Tuesday.  And I enjoyed myself (more than five hours!!) to the point of exhaustion (that's why I am blog posting now) and getting a stomach ache eating all that I could.  Too bad I started yesterday/Tuesday biting my tongue so hard while eating oatmeal before work that I could feel it my entire time at the Fair.  Shit, man, I feel it now.  Sucks to bite your tongue.

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Just woke up.  Took my guard out.  It's been two days and already the pads that are supposed that keep my molars from touching and grinding each other are beat up and flattening.  But I also noticed that the right pad seems more worn out than the left.  That's not the case, not usually.  I use them to the point where I break through one of the pads; I replace it only when, like, almost half of the pad is torn through.  That's usually the left one, like I grind more on the left side of my mouth, for some reason.  But looking at the pads, it looks like I'm grinding more on the right.  Maybe something is changing?

Everybody needs to take care of themselves, and of course it would be far too easy for me to say they should tough it out.  Just remember that these assholes have a screw loose, and all they want is to dominate and humiliate and bully anyone they want to when they want to.  That is a large part of these culture wars we see.  And they're crazy because they're willing to play the long game even though everybody who lives in the real world don't think this is a game at all.  We just want to live, and yet we now have to live in fear because their personal information is being revealed by motherfuckers who want them to shut up.  And they do, and we do, and so they/we cede even more ground to these fascists.

It has to be stopped.  Utterly, and soon.

Another Busy Week Ahead, I'm Afraid

The State Fair will continue to be top of mind, but the thought that going four times might not be enough is abating.  And, come to think of it, my stripper girlfriends are the reason.  ****e says she's throwing a stripper party before Labor Weekend, and even though it's not set in stone, I want to see her.  And now ******a needs money, so she wants me to come earlier than I said I would.  The earliest I could see ******a is Saturday because ****e's party, if it happens, would be Wednesday.  My alma mater is playing Friday.  And there's a jazz concert I intend to go to Thursday.  I am still going to the Fair, but I want to go on a date where it might not be as crazy as it's been, so that will be tomorrow/Tuesday.  It'd be better to go then because I work early and, hopefully, I'll have enough energy to put in another several-hour day at the Fair.

With my week pretty much filled up, I have to stay in today/Monday.  I will go to the Fair one more time, probably Labor Day, so I will stay in again Saturday.  And now that I've mapped this all out, I'm exhausted, because that's a lot.  And I need to go to bed now because I went to a concert (well, a bar with a house band) tonight.

My Libido Is Back!

Hanging out at the State Fair and seeing all these hot women with their bellies hanging out and their hot tan lines (I'll blog post more about that soon) has gotten my blood racing down to my dick again.  (Shout-out, by the way, to the bartender I saw after the MNUFC Tie last/Saturday night who rolled up her t-shirt -to show off her hot midriff -- fap-fap-fap!!!)  Maybe I haven't been in a rut, per se, but I haven't been around so many good-looking women in a long time, and now I'm raring to cash in on my arousal.  I am trying to see someone today, but if that falls through, I have a Plan B and C, so I am gonna get cranked, dammit!!!

Expenses Without Receipt

Starting from Friday, August 28:

• We go back to Thursday, August 27, the first day of the State Fair.  Didn't have as much money as I wanted, so I relied on my credit card for the Blue Barn Sweet Squeakers (which is fast becoming an annual staple), the Frozen Blue beer, Swedish coffee, and Cherry Jumbo Limeade Float from, uh, that place (I should commit the shop's name to memory; I can see getting this year after year, too).  But I shelled out cash for the Gizmo (first time ever I've eaten at this place), the corn, and the Peachey's Amish donut.  With a tip for the Gizmo the total is: $26.
• On Tuesday the 25th I went to Caribou before work partly so I could get cash.  A medium mocha (just a mocha, not one of their signature mochas), minus trivia and plus, gets to: $7.25.
• That evening I had to go to our alumni Game-watching place to make sure it was OK for us to watch our Game, which is that Saturday, there.  We could.  With tip I spent: $37.
• All the way back to Saturday, August 15, where I went to Porchfest at the Wedge neighborhood.  Wish I could have spent some more time down there, walking through the streets and catching bands playing.  I tipped the bands, and I also got a cup of lemonade from a family selling it.  Total amount I spent for Porchfest: $5.
• Monday, August 3: ******a, oh, ******a: $150.
• We hurtle back to Tuesday, July 28, where I had to see Supergirl a second time because I missed the very start of it the first time.  Ticket, popcorn, pop, minus my $5 discount because I used points (I got food with a movie for the first time in a long time, and knowing how much it regularly costs, I won't be buying food again for a while) comes out to: $17.30.
• Sunday, July 26 ... this is the day I wanted to drive to Iowa, but I had to wait for ****e* to get here, and I finally just left because her lazy but nice ass couldn't get out of her house when she promised she would.  Not mad, just disappointed.  I got to The Day The Music Died Memorial, which is out on a private cornfield, in the early evening.  Wish I had went when it wasn't blisteringly humid, but you can't predict the weather.  Still, it was eerie and moving, and I'm glad I got to pay my respects.  And I got to pay it alone; I got to the parking lot, which is across the gravel street from the memorial site, as another person was leaving, and no one came after me.  There was an RV of someone who was tending to the gravel parking lot I parked at.  I got the feeling she and her family appointed themselves as caretakers of the memorial and the parking lot.  They had little trinkets to sell, and they asked for donations.  I appreciated that someone is dedicating themselves to keeping up the area, so I donated: $5.
• On Saturday the 25th I went out to Stillwater and got Nelson's Ice Cream.  This place is famous for heaping scoop upon scoop upon scoop of ice cream.  Their smalls are large.  I appreciate that in these days of paying more and getting less, but this was ridiculous.  With tip: $8.
• I wanted to get ice cream after I saw *****y, but her hot but finicky ass made me cum see her after ice cream.  And then she made me cum: $150.
• Thursday, July 23: I don't know if the date is right.  But I have this as the day I went to Nelson's -- not the ice cream shop in Stillwater but the deli place close to home.  Got a Hero, a medium chicken wild rice soup, and a can of RC Cola.  With tip the total was: $17.32.
• Wednesday the 22nd -- had to buy lottery tickets, both lotteries.  Total: $14.
• I then got gasoline.  Paid cash for it: $32.
• To Sunday the 19th, where I went to Grandpa Joe's for a Whistler pop.  Minus the bottle deposit I paid: $1.62.
• I then went to the Black Hart to watch some World Cup soccer.  Can of cider plus tip: $7.
• That night I went to a local theater to watch The Odyssey.  This is an historic one-screen place (although it's owned by a company that has a few historic one-screen places) that showed the film in 70mm.  This is a theater where the person running the screening is an aficionado, and he showed how better the resolution a flick is in 70mm by bringing out the reel in which the film is threaded.  I like the presentation.  I love the movie, too; it's fantastic, and the probable Oscar favorite for Best Film.  Small popcorn, small pop, and tips for concessions and the organist (I used my credit card for the ticket): $14.
• Finally, on Wednesday, July 15, I took that day and the following day off for World Cup Semifinals -- and, on this day, to take my car in for maintenance.  After the oil change and tire rotation, I took my vehicle to the car wash.  Paid for the wash, but the tip was in cash: $5.
• Because there was nothing seriously wrong with the car, I had time to go to Flameburger to take in breakfast.  Great to eat there; will return next year.  Got their meal of half an egg, hash browns and toast, and with a small apple juice and tip it cost me: $15.
• Later that afternoon I went to Brit's Pub to see Spain handcuff France, 2-0.  There went my World Cup pick.  With tip: $54.

I keep saying this because it remains true: I have to do these EWRs more often.

Good through August 28.

Still No Rest For The Wicked

Should try and stay home one of these days, but the last time I did that was Monday.  It could have been tonight, but my friend just told me she's stopping home this weekend, so I think we've just made plans to go to the State Fair.  (I say "I think" because I'm not 100% sure if she meant tonight/Friday night or tomorrow/Saturday night.  I can't go tomorrow/Saturday night because I have that MNUFC Match ... but, honestly, if that's the only time I can see her, I'd skip that.)

I'm not going to say this has "ruined" my night in, because honestly, I have thought about going to the Alabama Shakes concert.  They're in town to perform tonight and tomorrow night.  I'm not the biggest fan of theirs, but they have a new album that technically has come out now/Friday, and I think it's cool to see a band who's in town to play a concert on the same day their new album drops.  On the other hand, Alabama Shakes is playing at Surly Brewing Festival Field.  I've been to their destination brewery, and they have ample parking right there, but all of that is taken up when a band is playing, so I don't know where to park or whether I have to take public transportation in.  On top of that, work has actually been non-punishing this week.  I actually got out of work only a little bit past eight hours yesterday/Thursday.  If that happens again today/Friday, I will have too much time to kill between work and the concert, and my laziness might coax me not to go.

But I am doing something, apparently, and that is hanging with my high school buddy and eating our brains out.  Hey, YOLO, right?  What's the other appropriate axiom here -- I can sleep when I'm dead?  Yeah, that too!

The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey

#-1: Lynx (Last Week: Positive Numbers).  I'm not all that bent out of shape in their home Loss to Golden State by 14 Monday night.  The Valkyries hadn't beaten the Lynx up till then, an 0-9 record that isn't that much better now that it's 1-9.  (The Valks fanbase was getting kind of thirsty with every Lynx Win.  It was getting pathetically funny.)  Courtney Williams broke her Ironwoman streak and didn't play for the first time in 196 Games because of a bad ankle/foot.  Naphessa Collier came off the bench.  Olivia Miles and Natasha Howard played less than 30 Minutes.  Maya Caldwell played 25.  Shit, everybody on the roster played: The very last four players got seven Minutes!  And finally, Cheryl Reeve experimented with a lot of new five-mans.

Clearly, Reeve was conceding this Game to work on her team.  No worries; their magic number to clinch Home Court remains at 1.  I think a result more representative of what the team truly is was Friday's ten-Point victory at a Washington Mystics outfit that is big enough down low to give the Lynx fits.  They're still the best team in the WNBA.  So even though they can't get above negative numbers, overall I still think they're the best team in local sports.

The big variable comes up after Sunday afternoon's tilt at Atlanta and new acquisition Dewanna Bonner, another big and beefy club Minnesota has to watch out for.  The entire league will take an almost-three-Week break for the FIBA Women's World Cup with the Lynx having only four Games left in the regular season.

#-2: Gopher soccer (Last Week: -1).  On Thursday in Fargo, the U. came back from a 1-0 Second Half deficit in just 46 Seconds, then 7:20 later, they took the lead on a Penalty Kick that turned out to be the Game-winner.  Both Goals were scored by Ava Westlund.

Impressive.  And yes, the Gopher soccer squad went "undefeated" this Week.  Plus, technically, they're still unbeaten this season.  I still don't believe that they're a good team, though, and until I see more Wins or even Draws in Games I expected them to tie or lose, I'll keep them as the middling club I have pre-conceived them to be.  And that's why I have them below the Lynx.  But there is an opportunity for Minnesota to make some more noise because tonight/Thursday night they visit 15th-ranked BYU.  (I take back what I said in last Week's WMNSS, when I derisively said the Gophs' Tie with Georgia is the only notable non-conference Match they'll play this Year.  But, swear to Buddha, I didn't see the Cougars on the schedule until now.)  They then come home to host St. Thomas Sunday afternoon.

#-3: United FC (Last Week: -2).  OK, where in the fuck did Saturday night's 5-1 rout at San Jose come from??  Kelvin Yeboah got a brace.  Joaquin Pereya tied the Match at 1 with ... what's called a rabona?  I've seen several replays and still don't understand what the hell happened.  Anyway, newly-installed starter Marcus Caldeira scored.  So did Mauricio Gonzalez to cap the scoring.  And the Loons won in Major League Soccer play for the first time since May 2, a stretch of nine winless.  It seems obvious these guys play a shit ton better on the road.

Based on tie-breakers, MNUFC are still out of the playoff picture, but Points-wise, they're in a four-way tie for seventh, so all is not lost.  But Saturday night they play Antoine Griezmann and Orlando City, another team clinging onto postseason hopes.  And United FC is playing at home, which may be a troubling omen.

#-4: Twins (Last Week: 0).  This may be the screening Week that puts them out of the playoff race for good.  Not when they got swept in San Diego, then lost two-of-three in Sacramento ... excuse me, West Sacramento to the cromulent (cityless) Athletics.  Believe it or not they're still in this; the Twinks are four Games behind ALWC3, which is not-so-great Cleveland.  But there are four squads ahead of them, so the chances are high one of those teams is going to catch fire and capture the last postseason berth.  Can they turn it around in a Week-long homestand against two divisional foes, the AL Central-leading White Sox and fellow playoff hopeful Detroit?

Keep having things I need to do, yet I still don't do them.  Then they pile up to the point where I have to do something, but then I'm so tired at night that I have to resort to masturbation in order to catch a second wind to do one of the things, namely send out an e-mail.  Shouldn't have to be this way, but by doing that just now, I can finally get around to reconciling my monthly expense list for July ... tonight/Wednesday night.  Well, maybe I'll do it tomorrow/Thursday night ... or Friday night.  Ugh, I'm procrastinating.

Addendum To: Addendum To: Fucking Sprinkler Head ...

There was such little work that, even though I came in early, I got done at 2.  Another sign that I should try and fix the sprinkler head!

The old and busted one worked, or "worked."  I just wanted to know if the head would stay screwed in, and it did.  (I also saw, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that it's broken; the inside sprung out of its case so much that is began spurting water from behind, and not just from the small hole in the front.  That's the reason why there was such a flood around the part of the backyard it was in.)  So it wasn't the pipe but the sprinkler.  I breathed a sigh of relief that all I need to do was buy a new sprinkler head ... but I decided to try and put in the one that was in the hole, just one more time.  I made sure it was screwed in ... and it worked, perfectly.  Well, I have to adjust the arc again, but besides that, I am where I was Sunday afternoon before I yanked the whole damn thing out.  I don't know how it worked now.  Like I've said, I screwed it in before, I swear.  But it, well, works now.

I'll turn on the cycle Saturday afternoon at the duration I want it to run.  If there are no problems then (Lord willing), I have fixed yet another cycle of sprinkler heads!

Addendum To: Fucking Sprinkler Head ...

So since I got out of work on time (and I don't know the last time that happened when I was tasked to do The Fourth Department), I figured this was an opportunity to go back to working on the fucking sprinkler head.

The first time I turned on the cycle it was worse than Sunday.  Not only did the shitty head pop out from the pipe, one of the other heads didn't pop up and water.  I presumed that this sprinkler system relies on pressure, so that when this shitty head popped out of its socket, there wasn't enough pressure for this other one to rise up and do its thing.  But this shitty head popped out on Sunday, and that other head worked just fine.

Anyway, after putting a wood pallet into my second storage unit, I came back and took another shot.  I made damn sure the sprinkler head was screwed into the pipe opening.  I pulled it up to make sure it was secure.  I turned on the system ... and I'll be goddamned, the head was just floating in its hole because it popped out of the goddamn pipe opening again.  (By the way, the sprinkler head that wasn't working earlier in the evening popped up and watered like it was supposed to, so there's that.)

I'm beside myself right now.  Swear to fucking God that thing was screwed in tight.  So I'm working on another theory, though I might be doing so just because any alternative would drive me up a wall.  Maybe, when I yanked the whole fuckin' thing off of the pipe, I broke the sprinkler head.  I took a close look and it, well, looks like the thing isn't retracting completely.  And for all I know, the threads (either on the bottom of the sprinkler head or on the pipe opening) were stripped, either through me or through years of wear and tear.

So what I'm going to do (possibly tomorrow since I work and presumably get home early) is take the old and busted sprinkler head and replace it with the old and busted sprinkler head I replaced in the backyard.  Yes, it's not working, and yes, it's just been laying around the past several weeks.  But what I'm worried about right now is if the issue with that sprinkler head is the sprinkler head or the opening it's supposed to be secured to.  If it's the head, I can just buy another one, and many of my problems would be solved.  But if the fucking thing pops out again ... well, I might need to call in the lawn maintenance company.  There is a bunch of dirt in the opening, and try as I might, I couldn't completely clear out the pipe.  It's possible that dirt is creating such a build-up of pressure that it's going to turn any sprinkler head that's screwed onto it into a projectile missile.  And so if it needs to be cleaned out, that'll require equipment, expertise, and patience I don't have.

God, I just hope a new sprinkler head will do the trick.  Fuckin' Christ, man, if I had just waited for the cycle to end, I think I could've kept the old sprinkler head and the cycle would have been perfect because there would be no water splashing onto the driveway or street.  Fuck!