The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey

#-1: Lynx (Last Week: -1).  In an extremely light schedule this screening Week (I think it's because the Commissioner's Cup Final was on Tuesday and they wanted to clear the rest of the league sked to center that), the Lynx on their only Game, 85-77 over The Bastard Detroit/Tulsa Shock in Dallas.  They are a very good team, but right now, the Lynx have their number ... just like maybe The Bastard Utah Starzzz, New York, and maybe Atlanta and Washington have the Lynx's.

Regardless, they still have The Best Record In The WNBA, and even though they might not need it, the cavalry still came this Week.  After long injuries and rehab, both Napheesa Collier and Dorka Johasz (the latter actually sat out last Year because she was too tired from playing overseas for the 2024-5 season) starting practicing.  I don't have any reason to believe neither player is not on schedule, so if they progress like they should, their fresh legs should be back in time to terrorize the paint against every opponent for the rest of the season.  Thank Buddha; I think part of the reason they petered out both previous postseasons is they were fatigued at the end.  Getting full effort from, at worst, The Third-Best Player In The W -- when the Lynx are tops in the league without her and Juhasz -- in the stretch run is like trading for a blockbuster player.  Actually, I kind of feel bad for Natasha Howard, the 4/5 both Collier and Juhasz will take minutes from.  She's revitalized her career to the point she might be named an All-Star at noon today/Thursday.

The club and league get back into the swing of things this Week.  There's a big one in New York tomorrow/Friday night, then they have a home-and-home vs. The Bastard Orlando Miracle (here Monday, there Wednesday).

#-2: Twins (Last Week: -2).  I don't want to completely ignore the Twinks.  After all, they went 2-1 in both series they played this screening Week, home versus Colorado and at Houston.  I just don't have anything else to say about them, mostly because I've been World Cup-pilled.  Well, I believe that Byron Buxton has been largely injury-free for the second Year in a row (knock on wood), and even though I wish we could've seen this level of health early in his career, better late than never.  He's the squad's surefire All-Star.

In the Bronx to take on the Yankees this weekend for three, then home to play Cleveland for three beginning on Tuesday.

I was going to blog post about how I'm getting fucked by my health insurance card, but my mind is so tired right now that I don't have the mental capabilities of going through my thoughts.  What I really, really want to do right now is sleep ... which isn't something I'm getting right now because my evenings in which I would use to catch up on rest I am instead watching the World Cup.  Oh God ... the headache I'm feeling right now is a sign I need to go to sleep.  So that's what I'm going to do now, and my well thought-out blog posts I'll blog post another day.

I still need to reconcile the money I spent for May.  I want to do it before the next month is out, so that means I have today/Tuesday to finish it all.  But I just started by compiling all the EWRs for the month in my day planner and my hand is tired.  And I still have to add everything up and write down why I spent how much I spent.  And I have to work early today/Tuesday.

Again, I want to do this all before the day turns.  Wish me luck.

I was going to blog post about me deciding to attend the Women's PGA Championship at Hazeltine (tl;dr in case I don't ever get back around to talking about it: I'm glad I went) or the time Friday I went downtown just to watch the World Cup and a growing party just fucking got in my way.  But before I left for Hazeltine yesterday/Sunday I juice half a lemon and got 35 mL out of it.  That meant I had to drink two cocktails, and since I got back so late I had only till 9:30 p.m. (I juiced them around 11:30 a.m. and I think you have up to ten hours before the juice starts to taste bleh) to use them, and I realized while watching Red Sox-Yankees on NBC that it was past 9, so I made and downed a lemon drop martini and then quickly followed that up with a between the sheets, and not only do I have a pounding headache, I think I may have poisoned myself.

So, to summarize, that is what I'm blog posting about ... while also providing a possible cause of death in case I don't wake up in the morning.

Golf Or Soccer?

Tonight was where my paralysis is at its worst.  I don't know what to do between two things I want to do, and the variables are either so even or so unknowable that I am completely a waste.  Since I got home (early) from World Cup viewing I took a nap and surfed the Internet.  All because I cannot decide if I want to drive all the way to Chaska to watch the Women's PGA Championship in Hazeltine, or watch the first Round of 32 World Cup Matchup between Canada and South Africa at this new Mediterranean place close by me.

One of the main things I use to determine what I should do is figuring out the chances I'll be able to do it in the future.  While the World Cup is every four Years (and I'm just watching it on TV), who knows the next time a golf major comes to town.  Using that factor, I should be going to the Women's PGA, and it's a no-brainer.

But there are a lot of things that are making me balk.  One is the weather.  It's supposed to get very humid starting today/Sunday, with dewpoints bursting through the seventies in the afternoon.  I am not a fan of humid weather, and I don't know if I can stomach sweating through my clothes for a few hours (at least).  Compare that with when I went to Sunday Singles at the Ryder Cup, which was also held at Hazeltine.  That was held in late September, and there was no heat or the humidity to contend with then.

What may be more of an annoyance, however, is that I don't necessarily find watching golf in person all that enjoyable.  I remember I went to the 3M Classic (when it was part of the Seniors Tour, not the current 3M Open for the PGA) a few times because it was at the course close by and it was free.  That was in the dog days of summer, and my goodness, it was hot.  I was able to endure, but it kept dawning on me that I'm doing a lot of walking around and a lot of sweating, and it overpowered any joy in watching great golfers play.  Also, and this may be too obvious, but golf courses are big.  You have to walk miles if you want to watch the whole thing.  And I don't know the first thing of the layout of Hazeltine.  Sure, there will be maps of the course, but I'm bad at directions.  Also, I don't know who I want to follow.  Should I just park myself at the 18th green?  What if the tournament is decided before then?  And how about the sightlines?  Will I be able to see anything besides the backs of people's heads?

Still, it's a major.  And while I won't know exactly how it'll feel tomorrow, I kept checking the forecast and it has said, for at least the past few days, that temperatures will hit 80 in the afternoon and the sky will be cloudy.  Considering the dewpoint, if the forecast called for sun, no way would I go.  I would not be able to deal with it being that humid and having the Sun beat down on me.  But overcast?  Yeah, it'll be 80 degrees and it'll feel swampy.  But I won't feel like I'm frying from the Sun's rays.  I might have a chance to at least tough it out.

There are other determinations, too.  If I'm going to watch the soccer Match, the place is so, so close.  I could drive the minivan and give my car a rest.  And speaking of my car -- I finally had the chance to check the oil in my car inbetween Games yesterday/Saturday, and the damn stick was dry.  I poured half a quart of oil and checked later, and then I saw some oil on the dipstick.  But it kind of freaked me out, and that is making me think I should give my car a break.  Finally, I really, really do need to do chores (going through my stuff and washing dishes mostly), and I won't do it if I have a 40-minute drive back from Carver County and am too pooped to do anything once I get home.

Still, it's a major.  So I am going to sleep on it and, depending on when I wake up and what the sky looks like and how hot it feels, I'll either make the drive to watch the best female golfers in the world play in my neck of the woods or I'll just puss out and watch soccer while eating shawarma ten minutes away from me.  These are the days where I want some deity to give me a sign that definitely tells me to do this or that.  Why can't I have that?

One Dollar Fewer And I'll Be Killed By A Dog

So I just got my hair cut from some dog lady who had a sign that basically said she loved her dog, but her customer service was kind of meh.  I tipped her a buck less than I otherwise would, but beyond the meh service, I tipped less because these guys raised their prices by another buck.  I swear it was, like, $15 around the time of the pandemic.  Anyway, when you tip, they have buttons for five, seven and ten bucks.  But since I tipped only $4, I had to hit the custom button.  So I'm scared that she noticed and she's pissed.

I am so afraid that I forgot to get my silver-lined loofah from the master bathroom when I took a shower in my bathroom.  I also hit my head against the rail that's still in the shower, and I spat on my foot while I was in there.  I'm so afraid because she might know where I live, and might sic her dog on me.  Yeah, the dog she devotes her life to is Cujo.  Sucks to be me that I got my hair cut by someone with shitty customer service and Cujo for a pet.

World Cup-Pilled

Man, I am so balls deep in the World Cup I can't stay up that late.  Like now -- I'm so tired at 2 in the morning that I care barely stay awake to do this blog post.  This tiredness creeping earlier and earlier into my night is somewhat disconcerting.  But hey, if it means a more restful rest, I'm all for it!

Shouldn't I Be The One Teaching Her?

So this week the new girl finally is getting trained in The Fourth Department.  Once she's fully up to speed, all four of us are able to handle both The Third and The Fourth Departments.  It had to be done; it's her job to know those skills, after all.  But, and I was talking about this with one of us four, we were happy how things were, with the new girl just doing The Third Department.  That means more work dedicated just for us.  And that means more job security for us.  But alas.

Thing I don't know how to process is who's teaching her.  My former supervisor, the one who taught me everything back there, is long gone.  So who is teaching her?  One of my other co-workers ... who got the position we're at after me.  By tenure, I should be the one teaching the new girl.  But I'm not.  In fact, the question of who would train her -- well, I should be more specific; why am I not the one training her when I've got the most experience -- never came up.  It was her all along.  I've seen the conversations between her and my current boss.  She has picked up the slack and is doing some of the responsibilities my former supervisor and boss did, so naturally my boss thought she'd be the one to break the new girl in ... even though I think I was at this job a year before she was.

So, why am I not training her?  It could be incompetence.  Even though I've been at this longer, I'm not sure I can say I do it better.  Maybe she does.  Also, I don't give off extrovert vibes at work.  When I work, I am usually sitting down and I have earbuds jammed into my ear canals.  I answer questions the best I can, but if I'm seeing me at work, I can't say I am interested in being engaging with my co-workers, let alone training someone new.

Does it hurt to be passed over like this?  Yes, I won't lie.  Mostly because I'm scared over what it means to be passed over.  This critical responsibility of training is an important one, and it should go to the one with the most tenure.  That it's not reflects poorly on me, and if, God forbid, something were to happen with the company, I think not training the new girl would be a demerit against me keeping my job.  On the other hand, I've seen my co-worker helping the new girl out this first week of training.  And honestly, I'm not sure I would have any interest in training her.  I remember all the bad and dumb things I've done and continue to do at my job.  Telling her how to do things right would probably make me feel like an impostor.  And as shitty as yesterday's/Thursday's work was, I was at least left alone, and that's something I treasure at work.  So maybe my co-worker and boss knew what they were doing when they passed me over.  And maybe I should not be the one teaching her.

The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey

#-1: Lynx (Last Week: -1).  A trio of relatively close call this screening Week.  Went to Golden State Friday and left remaining perfect over the Valkyries after a six-Point Win.  (It appears as though their fan base is getting obsessed over the fact their team has yet to beat the Lynx.  I don't think Lynx fans think about the Valks the same way.  So the sports analogy is: Lynx:Valkyries::Michigan:Michigan St.)  Then they had a home-and-home with The Washington Mystics and, unfortunately, they first lost at home to them Sunday by five.  The Lynx, however, returned the favor last/Wednesday, defeating them in D. C. by a pair.  This Mystics squad is getting to be dangerous; they have a 1-2 duo in Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen (who graduated from my alma mater), and they have a way of mucking things up, as evidenced by their two Games vs. Minnesota.  Add the bevy of whistles that occurred in both tilts, and you have trench warfare against a young club that seems to be gelling.

(Oh, and they got next Year's First Round Draft pick from The Chicago Sky, who keep acquiring OK players for the here and now in exchange for selections that, because the Sky continue to suck anyways, are extremely high.  The pick that landed the Lynx Olivia Miles was a trade for which Chicago wanted to move up to select Angel Reese, who's now with Atlanta.  Chicago traded away their First Rounder next season to get Jacy Sheldon from Washington.  The Sky are on track to have the second-worst record in the WNBA this Year, and thus the second-best odds for next Year's Draft Lottery.  The Mystics may get to the postseason this Year and have, at worst, the chance to draft Rory Harmon or Hannah Hidalgo ... and, if the ping pong balls fall right, the #1 pick and JuJu Watkins.)

One other thing about this road-and-road split between these two teams: Both of them hosted their annual Pride Night Games against each other.  So Minnesota and Washington ruined the other's Pride Night.  Sweet!  Turnabout is fair play!

Minnesota, who, despite the stumble, still have The Best Record In The WNBA, have only one Game this screening Week.  But it's a big one -- at Dallas Sunday afternoon.

#-2: Twins (Last Week: -2).  They began the Week completing a three-Game sweep at The Bastard Washington Senators v.2.0. and finished it getting swept at home versus The Bastard Brooklyn Dodgers.  In the middle they won a series in Arizona, but finished the week 3-4.

So I was at last/Wednesday's night Game.  Target Field was or was nearly sold out to watch Shohei Ohtani pull double duty.  What I didn't know till recently was that he lost his last two starts, so it made sense that he really stumbled in the Second Inning, allowing three Runs, a lot of it on grounders that made their way through the Infield.  But while he lasted only six Innings, he was pretty good besides that Inning, striking out eight.  That is one fewer, however, that Twins Starting Pitcher Joe Ryan, who struck out nine but gave up three Runs one half-Inning after Ohtani got shaken down.  Add that scoring started in the top of the Second on a solo Home Run by Mookie Betts -- his 300th of his career, by the way -- and even though both Bullpens shut down the teams from the bottom of the Third through Byron Buxton's swinging Strikeout to end the Game, Los Angeles completed a sweep with a 4-3 Win.

(Interesting note: The most memorable thing about Ohtani's performance last/Wednesday night was him at the plate.  He was the first batter Anthony Banda faced after he came in for Ryan.  Banda's Pitch on 3-1 was called a Strike, but Ohtani made a challenge ... and it did get the corner, so the call was confirmed and the count ran full.  The next Pitch was called a Ball, but now Twins Catcher Victor Caratini issued a challenge ... and that Pitch also grabbed the corner, so what was a Walk turned into a Strikeout.  What an at-bat.)

So anyway, that will probably be the last time I step foot in Target Field to watch a Twins Game for the next, oh, two seasons.  They host Colorado for three over the weekend beginning tomorrow/Friday, then have a trio at scuffling Houston.

Is It Worth Dealing With Traffic?

I am at to this library that's not close but close enough.  But I have to use the highway to get there.

While driving here, I see the traffic on the highway coming back completely backed up.  There are road crews that are doing something that requires shutting down the left-most lane.

Thing is, I see all this and have chances to take exits that get me home right away without getting stuck in all that.  I didn't take them.  I didn't turn around.  I figure I can just go on Google Maps and they'll find a way of getting me home.  But if not, I am driving the old minivan and will be stuck on the highway for a while, looks like.

So why am I going to the library?  Well, to blog post on my day off.  But also to sharpen my pencils.  This is the only public place I know close to me that has a public pencil sharpener.  I'm going to see Ohtani and the Dodgers play tonight/Wednesday night and I need to sharpen my pencils to score the Game.  That is enough for me to drive out here and sit in traffic on the way back.  Or am I being foolish?