Three Things From Yesterday

All I wanted to do is wish Father and Happy Father's Day yesterday.  And sure, it's innocuous, but dammit, he reminded me that they plan on coming home some time.  When?  Who knows.  But he launched into this story where he was told by some guy who called him that there was a hailstorm here, which there was, and do you want us to check the house for any damage?  These shady, fly-by-night shakedown jobs always are on the make, promising to replace the roof quickly and for cheap.  Not to say that the roof on our house doesn't need at least a once-over.  But if it is, I'd rather go to a reputable company and not some half-ass dimwit who are just cold-calling people in the hopes of suckering them out of their money later.  Anyway, they're coming home, and that day is getting closer, and I am not ready for that.

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On a brighter note, all day yesterday/Sunday I hung out in downtown Minneapolis.  MNUFC and Brit's Pub held a joint soccer celebration where, for free, you can watch World Cup Matches.  During the last Game of the quadruple-header, Egypt-New Zealand, I looked up from where I was at the sunken Peavey Plaza.  There were strangers of all countries and background watching the Match from a huge TV screen.  Meanwhile, the setting sun managed to cast its rays on the tall buildings downtown.  And I felt happy and safe.  Downtown Minneapolis being dangerous is absolute bullshit.  What I experienced downtown yesterday?  That's the real downtown, and don't let any MAGAt make you believe otherwise.

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Even though Michael Boxall, who's MNUFC's longtime Centerback, was playing for New Zealand, Egypt fans overwhelmed Peavey Plaza.  I swear there were about four dozen Egyptians and Egypt Fans at the Game-watching party, and that is four dozen more Egyptians and Egypt fans than I believed live here.  Oh, and there are some fine-ass Egyptian chicks, I tell you what. ...

He's A Little Bitch

So I stumbled on this account on Bluesky that tracks and notifies you when someone blocks you.  I didn't seek it out, but like I said, I just came across it, and without thinking about it beyond saying to myself, "You know, I might want to know who hates me," I followed it.

There is a guy I follow.  This little bitch will remain nameless so my dissection of him (hopefully) remains untraceable.  He's a local person who likes sports and keenly follows the Lynx.  I like the Lynx and local sports, so I followed him.  He skeeted the World Cup schedule, specifically that there are quadruple-headers from today/Sunday until Tuesday, then tripleheaders where two Matches go on simultaneously for the next three days after that.  All I said -- all I said! -- was that this was a soccer orgy.  A little later, the block Bluesky account told me that this snowflake blocked me.

For what?!  I just wanted to confirm with him that he regarded it as a soccer orgy.  What the fuck is the problem with that?!?!  Does he not think my wit is refined?  Does he hate the word "orgy?"  What the fuck is wrong with him?!?!?!  So I did the mature thing and blocked his ass in return.  And then I worried about all the other Lynx/Minnesota sports accounts I follow on Bluesky and wonder if they would take his side over mine.

And then I had to stop myself and remember something all of us too often forget: This is social media.  This is the fucking Internet.  I don't know this guy.  I like (well, liked) his stuff, but I don't know him.  And even if I am butthurt, I have to remember that this guy doesn't know who the fuck I am and doesn't give two shits about me even if I did like and repost every skeet he made.  So even though it hurts to seemingly be rejected by someone whose work I admire ... I'm getting bent out of shape over some motherfucker I don't know.  Why am I so upset?

Maybe it's better to be ignorant.  Maybe it's better to not know who blocks you on Bluesky.  But once I realize this doesn't affect my life in any meaningful way, I'll get over it.  But he's still a little bitch.

Am I Getting Old ... Or Am I Becoming Normal?

Yet another day where I went to bed at a relatively sane time.  After work (which was light by my standards) I had dinner with a group at a Ecuadorian place close by me, and then I went home to watch a pair of World Cup Games.  I was feeling fatigued at night, again, close to the end of Paraguay-Tunisia, so once that Match got done at about ten past midnight, I eschewed Zynga Poker (broke my streak, oh well), turned off the TV, and turned over in my bed.

And I woke up around 7:30.  Eek!  This is a good thing in two ways.  One is the, you know, I get to act like a normal person thing.  For another, I have time to do some chores before my day begins.  I watered the plants and, finally, started working on the pile of receipts I've accumulated.  I can do all that because I have the energy to do it.  I've found that, lately, once I get home, no matter how early after work I get home, I don't have the energy to undertake things I need to do around the house, like washing dishes or getting the laundry done.  But about 7 1/2 hours of sleep has got me feeling like I'm on caffeine, so I now have what it takes to actually accomplish things I need to do.

The problem is that I woke up too early.  While I am glad I've gotten around to doing the things I need to do, I care much more about the things I want to do today, namely going to watch the World Cup at a bar, then going to an MNUFC2 Match, then seeing my ATF at My Favorite Stripclub (Cover Version), then cashing on this KFC deal I have through T-Mobile.  I need to get on the snake around 11, and I might not be back for a half-day.  Can I get a nap in before I do all this?  Will it matter if I fall asleep at the club in front of my ATF?

We will see.  You know, one of the chores I need and have the energy to do because I got close to a full night's sleep is this blog post. I'm happy for that, too.

Oh, the title I put for this blog post isn't followed up by anything I've typed here.  Well, I guess I am wondering if I'm getting old or becoming normal, especially if I continue to get tired earlier and earlier in the night.  But honestly, I am only wondering about this until I publish this blog post.  Then I need to either continue going through my receipts or take a nap.

And dammit, even though I was at home, ready to watch the Mexico-South Korea Match in its entirety, and I miss the two most important plays of the Game (the Goal and the crazy double-save by the Mexican Goalkeeper) because I to relieve myself in the bathroom.  Was it the two muffins at work?  The quesabirria after work?  The chicken chowder I got at the gas station where I dumped my garbage and added air to my tires?  Whatever -- I had the bad, bad timing of being in the can and so I didn't see it live.  I saw replays, and I heard it live from the TV in the dining room, but I didn't see it live.  And the curse of being able to see Goals and not seeing them because I'm distracted continues. ...

The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey

#-1: Lynx (Last Week: 0).  In a possible WNBA Finals preview Saturday, the Lynx suffered their third Loss of the season at Las Vegas.  Head-to-head is the first (and, come to think of it, it should be the only) tie-breaker for the Commissioner's Cup, and since The Bastard Utah Starzzz beat Phoenix last/Wednesday night, they're going to face New York for the million-dollar payday.

That's why I can't rise the Lynx above negative number this Week.  But they did rout Portland at home on Monday and Los Angeles last/Wednesday night.  And, yes, they faced Vegas without Napheesa Collier and lost only by three.  And they came back to take the lead late in the Game, mostly courtesy of Olivia Miles, who has become the new sensation in the WNBA.  The Spectacle/The Show/O-Mi had no fear in driving on Aja Wilson ... and scoring.  She pretty much single-handedly brought Minnesota back into the Game.  And against L. A., she poured in 31 Points on 12-for-15 shooting.  Forget Rookie Of The Year; she's got that sewn up.  There is solid, incessant talk that she might be MVP.  She's making a case for it now.

So, even though they didn't make the Commissioner's Cup title Game, they're still on top of the league, and they're not even at full strength yet.  Maybe this team with a championship pedigree can come through and actually win the championship.  This screening Week they visit Golden State and then have a home-and-home with Washington.

#-2: Twins (Last Week: -1).  They're an afterthought in this market, but they didn't have a bad Week.  Sure, it started with an 11-0 shellacking to end their season at Detroit last Thursday afternoon.  But they won their weekend series here over St. Louis, with both Wins by a Run.  And they've already won their series at The Bastard Washington Senators v.2.0, doubling up Texas 4-2 Monday and then sextupling them 12-2 Tuesday night.  Byron Buxton remains (mostly) healthy, the bats are waking up, and the Bullpen ain't complete garbage.

I was wondering in last Week's WMNSS why the third Game of their current series skipped a Day and is being played this/afternoon.  I saw why last/Wednesday night.  Globe Life Field is in the vicinity of AT&T Stadium, the home of The Dallas Cowboys ... but is being renamed Dallas Stadium because of the World Cup.  And there was a Game there between England and Croatia.  (The English doubled up the Croats, 4-2.)  Two sporting events happening in the same area not only on the same Day but overlapping each other would be a traffic and security nightmare, so I'm guessing the two baseball teams asked for and were granted by Major League Baseball permission to push their getaway Game back a Day.  After that they travel to Arizona to play three at the Diamondbacks over the weekend, then they come home to host The Bastard Brooklyn Dodgers for a trio beginning on Monday.

Left Pinky Toe Twitch

So for the past, oh, week or so I have noticed that my left pinky toe, and maybe my left ring toe, has been twitching.  I notice this when I'm at home.  Wonder if all my sitting down at work has anything to do with it.

I also wonder if it's Parkinson's.  If I recall correctly, Michael J. Fox noticed an uncontrollable twitch in one of his fingers while he and his wife were being driven by limo to some awards ceremony.  The finger was shaking so violently, and Fox was so spooked, that they had the limo driver drive around the block in the hopes that it would stop twitching.  Don't know if it did, but I think it was the first time Fox felt something was very, very wrong.  He got the diagnosis some time after.

Yeah, let's hope it's not Parkinson's.

I decided that last/Monday night, I was going to spend my time after work going through my storage unit.  Glad I did; I am somewhat relieved I finally began to address my stuff.  Didn't make much of a dent; rearranged stuff from three or four bags that ripped, mostly.  But already, the pile in my first unit, which was over my head, is now only up to my neck.  Sure, that's because some of my stuff is in the secondary storage unit around the corner.  But I get a psychic lift from seeing that pile go down.  It gives me the push to get back there sooner and go through more of my stuff.

Speaking of which ... I brought a bag of my stuff home.  It's mostly papers, so at the very least I will read them.  But tentative as they may be, these are steps I finally am able to take.  Hopefully it's not too late.  Hopefully my parents won't be back for a long time. ...

Well, I did The Quad, and once I did, I went home and immediately went to bed, around 11:30.  Got up to pee once at a quarter to 4, but conked back off and promptly had a nightmare about something I can't remember now.  Was pretty much up for good at a quarter to 7, or maybe 7.  All in all, very recuperating, and the reason why I am blog posting this morning ... and why I need to leave now.

Doin' The Quad! And On A Full Stomach!!!

Soccer days don't get much fuller than this -- a quadrupleheader of World Cup Group Stage Matches, each evenly spread out with approximately an hour inbetween.  Games at noon, 3, 6 and 9.  And I am going to be at one place for all four of them.

I am going to try and eat and drink through the day.  But my last meal was last night's birria tacos with ramen.  It didn't look like much, but I had to take the rest of the ramen home with me to eat after about an hour.  I had to relieve myself, and post haste.  I don't know why I got so full: I had only a elote going out to the Mexican craft brewery to watch Brazil and Morocco tie, and like I said in my last blog post, I ate waffles in the morning.  It couldn't have been the beer, or the mango michelada, could it?

Anyway, thing is I feel, well, full.  And I didn't plan on it.  This place has five ethnic-themed hot dogs, and I want to try at least four of them.  The way I'm feeling now, I might not make it.  And that surprises and, to be honest, disappoints me.

Addendum To: Addendum To: Planning World Cup Viewing Where

And now the un-synching on Telemundo is back.  The video is about a second behind the audio.  And it's not just during the Game; it's happening during the commercials, too.  Is Telemundo aware of this?

It's annoying to hear the thump of a player kicking the ball before you see that ball being kicked.  It's so annoying that, since I'm seeing this for a second broadcast, I have to believe this is something Telemundo cannot fix and therefore I have to hold this against the network.  And if watching Telemundo for World Cup Matches is no longer a priority for me, that creates the possibility that I could, or should, just listen to Games while going through my storage unit.  Another consideration that might alter what I do this week.