Still Fucking Haven't Done My Fucking Taxes Yet

One of the things I try to do in the month of March when it comes to taxes is list, in my day planner, all the numbers that I need to fill out the returns -- wages, withholding, capital gains, etc.  Well, it's down to the penultimate day and I still haven't done it.  Is it laziness?  Sure, maybe.  But I've been pulling down overtime like the dickens this month.  Also, I've been preparing for March Madness by doing research, and then ... well, yeah, I've been going out.  There are a lot of freebies I can get at restaurants, and by the time I'm done and come back home, I'm just tuckered out.

Things are going to be tight the next two days, too.  I'm seeing Project Hail Mary (in IMAX for only five bucks through my wireless carrier) tonight/Monday night.  Then, tomorrow/Tuesday is a day off for me.  Not to do my taxes, but something much funner than that, namely bringing in my parents' minivan for an oil change and tire rotation it might not need but I'm gonna do anyway because they won't tell me if it needs them.  Also, back when it was colder, I started the van and saw exhaust coming out of the passenger side.  Going to have them look at it, see if anything can be done, and how much it will cost to fix.  Oh, and anything else they see.  Hey, it's a beat-up car, but I need it to run, so if there's anything I can do to extend its life, I'll do it.  Shh, don't tell my folks.

OK, that ain't so fun.  But assuming nothing catastrophic happens when I bring it in in the morning, I'll have the rest of the day to watch the World Cup Playoffs.  There are still six spots available for the tournament taking place in the summer, and those spots are going to be determined in Matches played that day, specifically five in the afternoon and one at 10 at night.  I am going to see them all, if at all possible.  In particular, I'm going to my alumni Game-watching bar for the 10 p.m. Match.  It's for the last spot in the World Cup, and I want to enjoy seeing it.

Yeah, so with all that, how does one do their taxes?  Hell, how does one even begin to even look at their taxes??  I know, right???

So after work yesterday/Saturday I went to the drug store to pick up something for Mother.  When I got back to my, I noticed my phone was missing.  Damn, I knew I left it at my desk.  So I drove all the way down to grab it from my desk ... until not to see it.  So I made a more thorough search of my car, and sure enough, my cell fell over to the side of my seat.

I need to, at the very last, find a cellphone case I can see coming a while away.  I like the one I have because it's durable, but it's black, and I need a color to stand out.  Hmmm ... maybe I will buy it here!

Best Sleep I Ever Had ... Most Awkward Morning I'll Ever Have

Work was hell yesterday.  They were short-staffed at data entry, so the person who would've helped me in The Third Department was keying most of the day.  Thank goodness she was able to help out near the end of the day; there were stacks of papers that allowed tests to be processed, and honestly, I had so much other shit I needed to do that all of that stuff would not have gotten done.  That's a lot of tests that would've waited till today, and people would not have been happy.

Still, I was busy with my own shit.  I knew before coming in to work yesterday that we would be short-staffed.  I had plans yesterday to eat dinner, then go see roller derby.  But leaving work on Thursday all tired and ragged, I was afraid that I wouldn't have time between work and roller derby yesterday, so I broke my planned edict not to spend any money on Thursday and ate dinner (and grab that free birthday ice cream cup) at Culver's.  And, sure enough, I had to stay an extra couple hours at work, so once I decided I hate to shut things down, I immediately went to roller derby, which was an excellent time featuring a championship bout where one team came back from, like, 40 points down in the First Half to take the lead late, only to lose by two Points at the end.

I ate at roller derby, and since this was in a good part of town to eat, I ate a knockoff Taco Bell crunchwrap close by.  And then coming home I was listening to Duke's buzzer-beater over LSU in the Women's Tournament Regional Semifinal.  It was 11:30 by the time I got to my bed, and I think my body was telling me to go to bed.  I figured if I'm not that tired, I would wake up from a nap.

But I didn't.  I woke up when normal people wake up, around 8 or so.  I didn't expect to have a full night's sleep, and at a time when you "should," but I did and I feel really good, of course.

Then, I felt really good.  Part of me going to bed easily was because I wanted to avoid the news about whether Tennessee lost to Iowa St.  I had the Volunteers winning, and it was an important pick to keep my bracket alive for the big, big money.  I saw a skeet that Tennessee was up by one at halftime, but that was it.  I knew I had to finally find out the final (if only because I had to post on Facebook about it), so I looked at my Yahoo! Sports app ... and I saw that they blew out the Cyclones in the Second Half and won going away!  Yippee!!!

Quick update on my bracket: I went 7-0 in Round 3.  I still have Arizona, Duke and Michigan in Round 4, and I think I still am in contention for winning it all.  Out of a thousand people (give or take), I went from a tie for 15th to, get this, fourth.  I think there's a way for me to end up on top, but a lot of things have to break my way.  Meanwhile, there are so many entries that there's one guy who picked Illinois and Tennessee in the Final Four, and he's right up there at the top of the leaderboard with me.

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And now the other shoe drops: No Kings.  Everybody's going.  Well, everybody but me.  I decided this week not to go.  There is work because they are short-staffed today as well.  And, call me paranoid, but I know that there is surveillance from the federal (don't know about the state) government going on.  I walk on the State Capitol, where everybody is, and there's no telling whether there's going to be a drone recording all of our faces.

I hate that I'm thinking this way.  I hate that I'm chickening out and using work as an excuse, and I am.  I am getting total FOMO right now, and the rallies haven't even started yet, because, even though it's been mentioned in many places, the No Kings March in St. Paul is going to be recognized as The Flagship No Kings March.  Out of the thousands of protests that are and will be going on around the world, it'll be ours in St. Paul regarded as the touchstone.  Senator Bernie Sanders will be there.  So will Bruce Springsteen.  And the more I write about this, the more I regret not going.

And the worst thing about this is the text I got on Messenger.  One of my friends, who has been talking to me off and on about this current installed government, just asked me if I was going.  She, of course, is going, and more power to her.  But I don't know how to tell I'm not going.  We've talked about how much we hate this government and are trying to figure out how to rebel against them.  Surely I would go to something like this, right?  No.  And I don't know how to tell her.

I think she's waiting on an answer.  Maybe I'll take a shower and think up something.  How awkward.

Have I Still Got My Libido At 50?

So after our volunteering event we hung out at a nearby restaurant to watch our alma mater play in the tournament.  And swear to God, there were so many hot women there with bazoombas underneath tight shirts (with bras, boo) that you know were so big they would go "Blammo!" as soon as they were unleashed.  And it probably was the one-off 75-80-degree weather that day that encouraged these hotties to look their hottest.  Damn!

I think I touched myself three out of the last four days.  Probably the aftereffects of feeling hot and horny for the first time on Saturday.  But it also might be me trying to hang onto my youth by convincing myself I could still get it up and unleash my splooge by jerking off as much as I could.  That might also be the reason I am going to try and see ****e this weekend ... or, it might be that I really, truly want to fuck her.

Oh, and there was the hot young thing (but old enough to be legal, trust me!) at Culver's, where I decided to spend money yesterday/Wednesday when I planned on not spending money yesterday/Wednesday, thinking that it's probably the best way to spread out all the free food birthday offers that are about to expire.  Glad I changed my mind, because this blonde was well built, had a huge chest, and wore a tight wifebeater that still showed off her gorgeous belly.  I think I got hard.

Yep, I think I still have a libido at age 50!!!

The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey

I fell asleep around 10:30 because I was so tired, but I woke up at around 3 and, knowing I have to wake up for good at 6 for work, here I am trying to do this now.  This will be quick and dirty:

Positive Numbers: Gopher women's basketball (Re-Entry!).  OK.  From here on out, everything's gravy.  Even after my adjusted expectations for this program after I saw them in-person defeat my alma mater, they have done everything they probably could have done this year, and hopefully this will be a stepping stone for the Golden Gophers club to build on.

The First Round Game vs. Wisconsin-Green Bay Thursday was ugly.  Apparently (according to one skeet I saw on Bluesky) the Gophs couldn't shoot, couldn't rebound and was making stupid play after stupid play.  The Phoenix led by four Points after three Quarters and were about to crap out in the First Round at home in a 13-4 upset, something that still rarely happens in women's top-flight college basketball.  But thank God for The Blanket Lady.  It's around this time she started running around the perimeter of The Williams Arena court, rallying the crowd, and the team responded by wiping out Wisconsin-Green Bay in the Fourth, 30-9, to win, 75-58.  Phew!

And still, I believe they were the underdog, at home, in their Second Round Game Saturday versus Ole Miss.  With the step up in competition, the team responded better.  And yet the Rebels outscored the U. in the middle two Quarters, 42-29, to take an eight-Point lead into the Fourth.  But Minnesota rallied again, outscoring the Rebs, 19-9, capped off by this Amaya Battle last-second baseline jumper:

Minnesota wins, 65-63, and advance to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 2005.  Dawn Plitzuweit has finally taken this program back where it should be.  And sure, they face a daunting task tomorrow/Friday in Sacramento when they face the 1-Seed, UCLA, whose starting five will probably all be drafted in the First Round of The WNBA Draft.  That's OK with me.  All expectations for the season have been met.

#0: Timberwolves (Last Week: -1).  OK, guys, time to lock it in.  Defeating the Celtics in Boston Sunday for the first time since '05 (the same Year the Gopher women's basketball team reached the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament, coincidentally) was good, especially after being down by so much in the First Half.  And beating Houston at home last/Wednesday night in Overtime (in a Game, by the way, that tipped off for national TV at 8:30) was also good, even though it had a whiff of the Rockets deciding they could drop this one. (ETA at 10:55 p.m. on March 26, 2026 that, whoops! what the Timberwolves was pretty fucking rad, actually.  They rallied after being down by 13 in the Fourth.  Then in Overtime, Houston scores 13 Points straight to start, but Minnesota scores 15 Points to end OT and win the Game.  Yes, it looks like the Rockets tried to win this one, but the Timberwolves, who were playing without the injured Ant and Jaden and the ejected Naz fuckin' won anyway.  My bad!)  But even if they are fighting for a spot in the Play-In, you don't lose in the clutch at Target Center to Portland, like they did Friday.  The Two Elves are still hovering above play-in limbo, but if they just didn't keep losing to teams they should beat, I could see them as true contenders this season instead of being a frustrating enigma.

A light schedule this screening Week: Hosting Detroit Saturday (in a special tipoff time of 4:30 in the second nationally-televised Game Minnesota will play in a row), at Dallas Monday.

#-1: Gopher softball (Last Week: -5).  How rare will a series Win this Year be?  They went down to Iowa over the weekend and took two-of-three, sandwiching a 3-2 Loss to the Hawkeyes with a pair of Shutout victories.  Don't get your hopes up, though; they're still 3-3 in Big Ten play and 11-20 overall.  They host Illinois for a three-Game series in the first Games at Cowles Stadium this weekend, then play at St. Thomas Wednesday.

#-2: United FC (Last Week: -4).  I was expecting the worst coming into Sunday afternoon's home tilt against Seattle.  Vancouver just destroyed them, 6-0, and the Sounders probably have revenge on their minds since losing their playoff series last season on Penalty Kicks in both Matches.  So I think the Loons deserve some credit for holding Seattle to a scoreless Draw.  What I was jazzed about the most, however, was that I finally got to see James Rodriguez take to the pitch.  I really thought this was going to be a Kyrie Irving situation, in which he was on the Duke men's basketball team for one season and he was injured (or "injured") for more than half the Year, so he wasn't really on the team.  Actually, it could still be that.  But one of the most electrifying soccer players on the planet stepped onto Allianz Field at the 78th Minute and, frankly, he made the most of it.  He is credited with, I believe, two progressive Passes, one of which was a future-looking one to a streaking ... Anthony Markanich (?) that he crossed over the bar.  Alright.  Now let's see if he can get subbed in sooner.  And let's see if he can assist, or, even better, score.

Off till April 4.

#-3: Gopher baseball (Last Week: -3).  Dropped their first two Games at Indiana before they mercy-ruled the Hoosiers in the getaway Game Sunday, 14-2 in eight Innings.  Then, in the first Game of the season at Siebert Field Wednesday, they ended their matchup with St. Thomas in eight Innings also, walloping the Tommies, 15-5.  Geez, where did this power come from?  Hosting Ohio St. this weekend.

#-4: Wild (Last Week: -2).  I guess it doesn't matter what the Mild from here till the end of the regular season.  Barring a complete collapse, they're making the postseason, and they'll make it as the third-place team in the Central.  But they're coming in far from being a complete package, and yes, as a pessimistic Minnesota sports fan, that bothers me.  Sure, beating The Bastard North Stars Saturday gets them brownie points, but that was in Overtime, and since they're five Points behind them, I doubt they're gonna catch The Team That Was Stolen From Us v.1.0.  Beyond that, they began the Week losing in regulation at home Thursday to Chicago, who is in last in the Central, and they ended it getting doubled up in Tampa Tuesday, 6-3.  This team has the strong whiff of one-and-done, again, and Bill Guerin actually traded for players for a playoff run, again.  Oy.  I still think that all of this stagnation is due to them not fighting to name themselves The North Stars.

Like the Timberwolves, the Wild have light Week.  They complete a three-Game road trip with meetings with Florida tonight/Thursday night and Boston Saturday afternoon.

#-Infinity (tie): Gopher women's hockey and Gopher men's hockey (Last Week, respectively: -Infinity and -Infinity).  It's been some time since I've wrote about teams here only after hirings, but I really did want to talk about both because they're so ... uninspired.  Really, Mark Coyle, this is the best you can do?

Want to start with women's hockey.  Nineteen Years of The Brad Frost Era, the last half of which returned no championships and diminishing returns, and you replace him with ... his assistant?  Really?  The program got stale.  If there was any situation in which you should hire a true new voice, this was it.  Instead, you get Greg "Boom" May, Frost's right-hand man since '23.  You really think the most important thing with this squad is continuity?  And what's with the added emphasis that Greg May has  a nickname of "Boom?"  Who cares?  All this talk about his nickname is going to do is set up the team when they lose.  Stuff like, "Boom -- Gophers lose!"  And what happens if these Goofers blow a lead and lose against Wisconsin and Ohio St. (again)?  The headlines will be, "The Gophers have a boom-boom!"  Did Coyle even reach out to Nadine Muzzerall?

And what about the men's hockey club?  Coyle pushes out Bob Motzko because he had a penchant for blowing it on the big stage, and so you hire ... his assistant, Brett Larson, who succeeded Motzko at St. Cloud St.?  What, are the Huskies now the U.'s feeder team?  And I've heard Larson's tenure at St. Cloud St.  It was only middling, and he didn't develop many of his players to get into the NHL.  This team also needed and out-of-the-box hire, because this is only eliciting yawns.  Gosh, what a tremendous double letdown.

Goddamn, Car Trouble Fucks Everything Up

Man, don't you hate it when you have to stop everything just because of car trouble?  OK, I am exaggerating what happened and didn't happen yesterday/Tuesday, but it's still a pain in the ass.

So I go out to sleep in my car at work for my lunch break.  My paranoid eyes always makes me think I'm seeing something that's not there, but on this day, they latched onto something unusual and, turns out, scary: A bulge/blister/bump on my passenger-side tire.  Honestly, I didn't think anything of it.  I just thought I needed to deflate the air in that overinflated tire (didn't help), and then I went inside my car to nap.  But that bubble concerned me anyway, so I had to go to my cell and Google, "is it dangerous to have a bump on the side of your tire?"  And all the entries in the search said, "Hell yes, it's fucking dangerous!"

(Aside: I seem to have more problems with tires on this car than I ever had with my old one.  Is it because it's a subcompact whose tires are naturally lower profile?  I remember getting one of my tires punctured the Friday before Labor Weekend, and now this.  By the way, that bubble is probably the result of hitting one pothole, or one too many potholes.  Goddamn potholes.)

After making a couple calls to see if I could get a tire after work, I decided that after work I needed to swap out that tire for the spare.  But dammit, my mechanic screwed those lug nuts in so tight I couldn't loosen them.  I did not believe at all that I needed to call AAA, but because I am too weak, I had to.  Luckily, even during afternoon rush hour traffic and him helping me being led astray by his Google Maps, the guy who was about to save me arrived at work after one hour.  The last time I called AAA (and I think it was when I had to stop the minivan around St. Thomas for what was a broken alternator), it was at least twice that long.  And after using WD-40 and a long-handle lug nut remover to get as much torque working, he got the bad tire off.  Roadside assistants are angels, they truly are.

Also angels are, I now realize, the only car mechanic in the neighborhood that's open evenings.  Why aren't there more car shops that are open evenings, or weekends for that matter?  Cars don't break down at night or on weekends?  Anyway, the place I babied my car to was the only one around the area open at 7 at night.  And even though they couldn't get the same exact tire for me that evening, they can do so this morning.  Also, they did what I asked them to: Check the other tires to make sure they're fine, and to check the air pressure on the spare (even though I asked the roadside assistant to check and to pump it up.  I always forget to check the air in the spare).

So I talked about having plans ruined.  Specifically, I wanted to eat at either Culver's or Potbelly, two places where I can get free dessert for my birthday.  I then wanted to go home, look through the mail, call Mother about the mail if need be, then maybe nap before I caught the 8 o'clock showing of Ready Or Not 2: Here I Come.  But after I got everything arranged for the (hopefully) quick tire swap this morning, I got my car back, spare tire still affixed, and I still had time to make the movie.  I didn't feel completely safe that I could drive to the theater to watch when I could, and maybe should, drive back home.  But a mixture of relief that people were able to help me and defiance that I didn't want my car trouble to stop me from the fun I planned on having compelled me to get to the movie.  And I made it in time.  And the film was ... um, bloody and profane, but OK, just like the first one.

One problem after I left the shop and before I went into the theater.  I locked the door with the key fob, but I didn't see the light flicker on indicating everything got locked.  I then noticed that the hood was slightly open.  Now I noticed when I was at the shop, looking through the window into the bay where the mechanics were looking at my car, that the hood was opened up, presumably for the guys to go through their customary check of everything in my car even though I was just there to get a tire replaced.  I didn't think anything else of it, though, because I assumed they would slam the hood shut.  But they didn't.  I didn't drive really fast; you're not supposed to on a spare, plus I used side streets to get from the mechanic to the theater.  But I realized that I drove several miles with the hood open.  The hood of my old car flew open while I was driving to the gym a baker's dozen years ago, and that was the scariest fucking thing that's happened to me on the road ... well, OK, maybe top five.  My point is is that it seems very, very dangerous to drive with the hood open.  I don't think anything got ruined, and yet I feel my car is beyond repair because I drove it with the hood open.  Look, if anything did get damaged, I probably won't know till much, much later.  Fuckin' A, man -- these guys were quick, and they treated me well.  But they fucking forgot to slam my fuckin' hood shut?!

No, I probably won't bring it up.  Again, if there's damage because I drove with the hood open, how would I know?  Oh, well, you take the head-slappingly bad with the good when you're in a jam.  Hopefully they can just get me my new tire and do so quickly and easily.

My Time Is Not My Own (Again)

See, I was so busy this weekend ... that I didn't get around to blog post something about the weekend until the weekend was over.

This past weekend was one where I was, yeah, super busy.  I had a volunteer event down south of here Saturday afternoon, and I had the Loons Match Sunday afternoon.  Both of them were in the afternoon, like I said, but those were things I was planning on doing, so that means I was busy over the weekend.  So much so that I had to set the alarm on my phone for both days, something I usually don't do and usually do dread.  To be completely fair, I woke up on my own on Saturday -- early enough, in fact, to water the plants in the morning.  But the phone woke me up on Sunday, and it felt like I was going to work.  Blech.

Come to think of it, I'm busy this week, too.  I had an alumni watching event last/Monday night and saw my team get their asses kicked.  Tonight/Tuesday night I am planning on seeing my first movie in a while, Ready Or Not 2: Here I Come.  I thought the first one was a kick, so I am looking forward to a sequel I didn't think the box office on the first one would call for.  Tomorrow/Wednesday I might stay in, so there's that.  Thursday I work early, so I might work out for the first time in a long time, or I could see this band in south Minneapolis, or I could take a nap so long that it extends into the evening.  Friday I think I'm going to my first roller derby event in years.  And this weekend I need to use this birthday offer at a bar in south Minneapolis while also hoping to see ****e for a fuck.  I really could use a day to myself, but my libido is forcing me to give up time to things I may regret doing later.  Well, maybe not fucking ****e, but all the other stuff. ...

Where My Scatterbrained Stupid Self Pretty Much Fucked Everything Up

I want to think things went downhill as soon as Florida got upset by Iowa last/Sunday night in the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament.  I had them losing in the title Game.  With that pick gone to seed, I think my chances of winning either of my bracket pools has also gone to seed.

I got the notification from The Athletic while I was about to go into Target.  I had that 5% birthday discount I wanted to use, but I had been thinking all day on how to and even if I should use it.  I knew I wanted to buy baking soda and a new silicone scrubber to replace my dirty loofah (I should blog post about that loofah later).  But what else?  I need to maximize my discount by buying things I need to get, but I kept going back and forth about whether there are items I only wanted to get.  A circle lock, for when I rent out a second storage unit so I can finally really get down to organizing my stuff?  Well, they didn't have one.  Motor oil?  Nah -- I checked prices on my phone while I was in there; it's cheaper in a few other stores.  Should I get a lime?  I think I'll be out and about again next weekend, so it wouldn't make sense.  I swear there was something else I thought I needed to get, but for the life of me, I couldn't remember.  But I did remember the baking soda and scrubber, so that's what I got, and I was able to strike a whopping 60 cents off my total.  Happy Birthday to me!

And then I come home and, once I went into my bathroom, I realized there was something else I really wanted to get: Tea tree oil to put on the back of my head to get rid of the acne back there.  And I knew I was going to forget something when I went to Target.  I thought about writing a grocery list, but I didn't want to write it down, and I didn't want to bring a piece of paper with me.  Still, I knew there would be a good chance I would forget something, and still I didn't want to write anything down.  And so the tea tree oil I really want to buy I will have to buy without that 5% birthday discount.  I'm so ashamed I think I'll have to buy it at Wal-Mart, where I think it's probably a bit more expensive than if I bought it at Target, even without the 5%.  Can't walk back in to Target without hanging my head in shame.

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I just ate a Krispy Kreme donut with milk.  The Krispy Kremes were free through its application because it was my birthday.  But I didn't want to eat them all at once.  In fact, my OCD compels me to eat them only every other day.  And it turns out I skipped a day.  Hopefully the last one lasts till Tuesday.

Doughnuts, of course, go with milk.  And this quart of milk I had bought, hmmm, some time ago.  I thought it was still good because the use by date stamped on top of the bottlecap reads today/Monday.  So, just like I have done, I poured some milk into a bowl into which I dunk the doughnut.  Once I finish with the doughnut, I slurp up the rest.  But this time, motherfucker, it tasted funny.  And then I smelled it.  Honestly, it smelled kind of funky for, like, a week before today, but it smelled even worse now.  Goddammit, I think I just drank spoiled milk.  I dumped the rest out of the bowl, then dumped the rest out of the bottle.  I thought it would still be good!  But come to think of it, when I opened it for the very first time (I don't remember how long ago), I saw that part of the cap was already pulled away from its rim.  And maybe I'm being a hypochondriac, but I am feeling really dizzy right now.  A little dissociative, too, like I'm not a part of this body that is typing this right now.

But the thing that kills me (literally?) more than wasting milk is the fact that I had, oh, three weeks to finish off a quart of 2% milk and I couldn't fucking do it.  It was just a quart!  Maybe my lactose intolerance gave me second thoughts.  But I had plans on using a lot of it in a smoothie I was going to make.  I have the fruit in the freezer.  But I was going to make it only after I work out, and I've been too damn busy to work out, so I haven't made the smoothie, so I haven't used the milk that way.  Reminds me that I also have greek yogurt inside my refrigerator.  It has a stamped sell-by date of April 16, but that fuckin' stamp did me no favors with the milk, so for all I know, the yogurt's already bad, too.  Might need to bring it with me to work this week.

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You know what?  I thought I had a third thing I needed to blog post about illustrating how my dumb ass was fucking myself in another, but I forgot.  Oh, my self-destruction is so meta!

List Of Free Birthday Food/Stuff

You probably suspected this: If you sign up and/or get applications from restaurants, they will give you free food on your birthday.  I think you should take advantage of this because when you signed up, you already gave them all your information upon which they sell to other companies.

I already got my three free original glazed doughnuts from Krispy Kreme because it's walking distance from Great Clips, and I figured I might as well get them after I got my hair cut.  But that may be the only birthday-related free gift I have taken advantage of so far -- plus, I know that I already passed up a free, um, flavoring from Starbucks (?) because I could only use that on my birthday. I really appreciate offers that I don't have to use too soon after my birthday, of which there are some.

There are so many I have received that I need to write them down to figure out how much time I have to get each offer, and to see if there's an order to which I should get them if I am under a time crunch.  Then, I figure I might as well blog post about them, and in chronological order.  So, here goes:

• Caribou: free drink (any size, any type), 3/24
• McDonald's: free eligible item, 3/24
• A Bar Of Their Own: $5 off, 3/31
• my alumni association, 20% off purchase online at the bookstore, 3/31
• Potbelly: free cookie, dream bar or shake, 3/31
• Culver's: free single scoop dish or cone with purchase, 3/31
• Subway: free cookie, 3/31
• Arby's: free dessert (with purchase), 4/2
• Chipotle: free guacamole with purchase of $5+, 4/15
• Target: 5% off next purchase, expires 4/15
• Jimmy John's: free Original sandwich, 4/16
• Visionworks: 50% off prescription eyeglasses or sunglasses, 4/16
• Nike: 10% off a purchase of $100+, 5/16

My Buddha, I Think I'm The Bracket King

So I have bitched and bitched here for years about how badly I start off the men's basketball tournament.  This year is different, by far.

I still can't believe this, but I just finished Round 1 with a record of, get this, 29-3.  I have never done better in a Round 1 in my life, and it ain't fuckin' close.  I'm sure my best is, like, 17-15, or maybe even 18-14.  But only three wrong?  Moreover, those three I got wrong (Ohio St., St. Mary's, and Villanova) I had going out in the next Round.  That means that my champion pick (Michigan), the title pairing (Florida), my Final Four (Duke and Arizona), my Elite Eight and my Sweet Sixteen are all intact.  Obviously I have never, ever been able to say that before.

While this puts me in a position way better than I ever have been before in the two bracket competitions I'm in, I know that, because there are so many people playing in the giant pool I care more about (because I could win a lot of money), there are people who are doing even better than me.  It sucks to have a year where you nearly nailed all of the upsets and, just as important, knew to avoid the wrong upsets.  I thought I was Senor Hotshit when I went 14-2 after Thursday.  I wasn't even on the leaderboard.  I wasn't even on the second page.

So the Games continue, and once I again my nearly-pristine bracket will stand in judgement.  There are many Games in Round 2 I need to break the right way, and if, somehow and someway, I can get the picks right at the same rate as I have up to this point ... I might have a good tournament.  Wish me luck!