Is She Coming?

So ****e* became unreliable again.  She was supposed to cum yesterday/Thursday to work on the house, but she said she just got up, then she was moving slow, then her ex dropped off her kids, and then she said she was just not feeling good.

Whatever.  She now said that she's coming Sunday.  She said she no longer works weekends, but frankly, she needs to make this up to me.  After all, she promised she'd be here yesterday/Thursday.  But I have plans to make a run to Clear Lake, Iowa and see the The Day The Music Died Memorial.  It'll take 2 1/2 hours to get there, and it'll be hot as hell Sunday.  On top of that, she said she'll be here at noon.  It would be best for me to go down there as soon as I wake up to attempt to avoid the heat, but now I have to wait and answer any questions she might have and leave in the afternoon.  And what do I do if she's late?

And yet, because of this fuck-up, I am even more determined to go down there and see it.  Doesn't matter that I won't be back up here until it's 8 or so.  That's what I wanted to do Sunday, and I'll fucking do it even though ****e* basically fucked up my plans.  Shit, it might be good at this point that she doesn't cum.  Dammit, so fucking unreliable. ...

The Time Where I Almost Fucking Lost It Watching The World Cup

So I made the mistake of going to downtown to catch the last Matches of Group G almost a month ago.  I heard downtown was dead because it was dangerous (which of course is bullshit), plus there were no Twins or Lynx Games whose crowds I would have to worry about, so I thought I would have a good time digesting both Matches in relative peace.

I found a table where I would be able to see two TVs, each showing one of the Games.  One was farther from my vantage point than the other, but that was fine, or so I thought.  Shortly after I sat down, this group of three people sat at the table next to me.  That was OK, even though they got a little loud.  One guy ordered a round of shots and another guy was wondering if he could eat, and then I got a bit concerned.

Then, this fucking group grew like metastatic cancer.  A fourth dude came, then another group of some number, then another, then another.  They started blocking my view of the TV further from my eyesight, which was Egypt-Iran, the better of the two Matches going on simultaneously.  (That finished 1-all; in the other Game, Belgium routed New Zealand, 5-1.)  They of course started getting really loud, which only worsened when this same motherfucker who bought the first round of shots decided he was a bigshot and ordered a couple more rounds with even more shots.

As bad as that was, I really started to boil inside when they invaded my personal space which, in this specific environment, was my table.  The group got so big that a couple of them began standing inbetween my table and theirs, and their clothes and, for all I know, their body fat pushed up against and hovered over the side of my table.  I was already upset that I couldn't hear or see the World Cup Games I was there to see, so that shit really put me on red.

Then, some guy who probably was not part of their group (I'll get to why I say that in a bit) put his glass of water on my table.  The other end of this short table I was sitting at, but this was My.  Fucking.  Table.  And this asshole just walked away without it.  This was my red line.  This was the point where I lost it, or I had to do something while knowing I couldn't yell or punch someone.  I saw him talking to his group around the other side of the pillar against which my table was at.  I just grabbed the glass of water, went up to this dude, and said, "Hey, this is your water," then sat back down.  And he probably thought I was crazy and/or an asshole, but he, I guess, was puzzled enough to find another place to put the glass of water and then forget about it.  But at least that goddamn cup wasn't at my table.

As for these fuckers to the left of me, which seriously grew to about 20 or even two dozen people, it didn't get any better.  They got even louder and rowdier, and they even started pushing up against my table.  But hey, at least they got into the Eqypt-Iran Match like I was.  The only thing I can think as to why they seemed to be so OK with getting sorta close to me, and this is a complete guess, is that, and I was able to hear this with little difficulty because they were talking so fucking loud, they were in town for a conference of Asian journalists.  They were all Asian, as, of course, am I and, even though I didn't have that good of a look at him, the shit who left his water at my table.  They may have thought we were all a part of this conference in downtown Minneapolis.  I find it kind of funny since I have a degree in journalism.  I am out of the industry, way out.  And while looking at these drunk and dumb fucks ruin my night, it crossed my mind how many of these young, over-confident shits will wash out of the industry like I did.  From those who are able to carve out a career, I wonder how many of them will become "insiders" whose egos will be so big they'll become insufferable pricks who fall in love with the smell of their own shit.  Then again, they're Asian.  They might not be allowed to get that big.

Thinking/Wishing all of these journalists-to-be will fail was the only socially-acceptable way I could get back at these assholes that ruined my World Cup viewing.  Good luck in journalism.

The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey

#-1: Lynx (Last Week: -1).  So the big (and obvious) news is Napheesa Collier is back!  And she decided to come back yesterday/Wednesday afternoon, in Seattle, for the Storm's annual camp Game.  Kind of delicious that Queen Phee came back to crush the hopes of a bunch of girls rooting for the other team, no?  She did, scoring 24 Points and grabbing ten Rebounds in only 22 Minutes, helping the Lynx complete a 3-0 Week and extending their winning streak to seven.  And they have The Best Record In The WNBA by 2 1/2 Games over, of all squads, Golden State.  (By the way, The Western Conference has the best four records in the W -- Minnesota, Golden State, Las Vegas, and Dallas.  The Eastern Conference then has the next-best four records -- Indiana, Atlanta, New York and Washington.  And the Mystics lead ninth-place Portland by 3 1/2 Games.  The clubs in the eight playoff sports are separately.)

My only issue is that the Lynx beat the Storm only by ten.  They swept their short two-Game series in Seattle, also beating the Storm Monday, but only by three.  Yesterday/Wednesday was the only double-digit victory the Lynx have had in this current winning streak.  Sure, many people think the Lynx is dominant, but if so, why can't they blow away teams by 35, like Indiana did last/Wednesday night over The Bastard Orland Miracle?

The All-Star Break has come.  Olivia Miles, Courtney Williams and Natasha Howard are participating in The All-Star Game.  Then, on Tuesday, play resumes as Minnesota hosts Toronto.

#-2: Twins (Last Week: -2).  Not a great return from their All-Star Break.  It began Friday beating the Cubs at Wrigley, 5-2, and they defeating the Guardians in Cleveland yesterday/Wednesday, 10-6, but they lost the four Matches inbetween.  And since The Trade Deadline is coming in less than two weeks, every Loss is giving the Pohlads a great excuse to conduct yet another fire sale.  Why can't this fucking team just move to Nashville or something?

They finish up their series versus Cleveland this/Thursday afternoon.  They host the (Sacramento) Athletics for a trio this weekend.  Then, Kansas City comes to town of a three-Game set starting on Tuesday.

#-3: United FC (Re-Entry!).  Forgot that with the World Cup now over, Major League Soccer is back from their one-Day-short-of-two-Months World Cup Break.  And they resumed play by losing at Sporting Kansas City, the worst team in the Western Conference, 2-1 last/Wednesday night.  They currently sit ninth in the West, and I'm scared that the long, long break will mean they will nosedive the rest of the Year.

At home vs. Vancouver Saturday.

I Have To See Supergirl Again Because I Took A Shit For Too Long

I have this -- I think I've spoken about this before -- OCD thing whereby if I don't see a movie from the beginning, I will, most likely, pay another ticket to see it again so I can be sure to see it from the beginning.  Now, that is kind of a problem if I don't drop everything and make a concerted effort to get to the theater in time to make sure I see that film from the beginning.  But until last/Tuesday night, the last movie whose start I missed was Equalizer 3.

Well, I missed the start of Supergirl.  And what I really hate about myself is that I planned on getting there in plenty of time, and everything that I needed to happen so I could get there in plenty of time happened.  I was given a shift where, if I had a normal shift, I would get out at 3:30.  I never have a normal shift at work, but I only had to stay a little longer, till 3:45.  The listed showtime is 3:50, and they have so many trailers that I knew I had plenty of time to get there.  And I didn't want to get there so early that I would start looking at my watch to see how long after the listed showtime will the damn thing actually start.  I've grown to hate trailers, so, after I punched out at work, I went to the bathroom.  Nature called.

And that's where I fucked myself.  By the time I got done relieving myself, I looked at my watch and saw that it was, oh, around 4:05.  The theater is close to work, but it still took me about ten minutes.  And even though I was able to get a ticket, the guy giving me my ticket said I missed the first 5-10 minutes.

Goddammit!  I lollygagged.  I didn't look at my watch.  Seeing how much time I thought I had when I clocked out made me overestimate how much time I really had.  I was doomscrolling as I was pooping, proving once again that looking at your phone promotes brain rot.  And, sorry to get too graphic, I did have to go.  I picked up a limited time honey brown butter bacon, egg and cheese biscuit, a sausage burrito, and a coffee from McDonald's on the way to work, and that lubricated my excretory system.  It was the second time I had to void waste during my workday, and so when you need to do #2, you can't just say you're done if there's more you need to force out of your body.  Maybe I shouldn't've eaten any breakfast at all.  That would mean I wouldn't need to doo-doo, and I could've just gone to the theater instead.  But nope, I had this great plan laid out before me, and I just tossed it to the side.

And what really makes me hate myself?  Sorry, I don't think Supergirl's that good.  Now, please don't get this twisted.  There are a lot of Republicans and incels who hate this movie for culture war/rage bait reasons, which are not legitimate reasons.  I thought the movie was kind of rote and, um, boring.  But my OCD compels me to buy another ticket so I can see this mediocre flick again in its entirety.

I plan on seeing Toy Story 5 after work today/Wednesday.  I was hoping the showtimes for that movie and Supergirl would line up in such a way so that I could get to the theater super early, buy my ticket to Toy Story 5, and sneak in to see the start of Supergirl, then go see Toy Story 5 from the start.  But unless I get there in the afternoon, that can't happen.  Welp, that means I need to see Supergirl again either Tuesday or next Wednesday.  That's when the price of tickets are the cheapest at the theater I go to.  I may have OCD, but I also know a bargain when I see one.  And hell, I might change my mind and not see this C+ movie from the beginning anyway.  But I could've just avoided all this mess if I would've  taken advantage of the time I had and shit quicker.  So disappointed in myself.

Is Mother Dying? Is She Lying About It?

The damndest thing, I got two voicemails yesterday/Monday that were left for Mother.  It's from the same phone number -- a cancer center, where they were talking about schedule surgery.  Surgery??  Cancer?!?!

OK, I try to avoid talking to Mother as often as I can; hell, there's an insurance bill that came yesterday/Monday that I haven't told her about yet.  I am keeping that a secret because I was hoping that me just texting her that I received these two VMs would be enough for her to take it from there.  But no, she calls me.  She asks me to text her the voicemails, which I had no idea you could do, but I did.  She said she would listen to the VMs and then get back to me.

And she did get call me back ... and supposedly after listening to the voicemails, Mother said not to worry about it, they dialed the wrong phone number.  On the one hand, phew!  On the other hand, I call shenanigans.  How much time do you need to determine a VM -- left for me, by the way, and not her -- that is scheduling surgery is BS?  Wouldn't having surgery be something foremost in your head, so that if you get information that the place you're having said surgery is looking for you, you would immediately go, "Oh!  What's their number??  I need to get in touch with them ... and oh, by the way, I have cancer!"

Well, Mother didn't do that.  So ... is she lying?  Does she really have ... cancer?

Maybe I Like Zynga Poker Again

I've been relegated, like, four times over the past five-to-six weeks.  It was getting to the point where it is unfair, and I thought about just deleting my account after Zynga Poker gets pushed out (or claims they will get pushed out) in the fall.

Well, I got on a holy roll just now and was promoted automatically not once, not twice, but thrice.  I was at Pro I, fell all the way down to Elite II, and now I am at, I think, Elite V, almost where I was.  It's as if Zynga Poker took pity on me and wanted me to stick around, so they just allowed me to win.

Downside is I spent 45 minutes to an entire hour doing this.  Talk about a timesuck.  That's how they get you.  Don't mind it, but that's how they get you.

Sleeping Like Normal People Might Be A Thing I Do Now

I could have stayed up to watch the Matt Damon/Noah Kahan rerun of Saturday Night Live, but the cold open was him acting as Brett Kavanaugh having a beer with Colin Jost's Pete Hegseth and Aziz Ansari's Kash Patel, and ... well, I know they aim for parody, but I just did not want to see them, so I didn't see it.

So, after doomscrolling, I shut my eyes.  That was around 11:30.  And I woke up around 7.  I was fully energized and also a tad upset I didn't get to the things I wanted to do last night.  But I had time to do them this morning -- watering the plants, watering the lawn, going out for groceries (in particular a banana; I had time to eat cereal for breakfast!), doing the dishes and, now, doing the laundry.

And I'm pooped.  But I still have time to blog post for the day, then go out to get some pop and maybe some ginger beer and/or ale), then go home and nap before The World Cup Final.  Maybe sleeping like normal people is not only a thing I do now, but something I like to do.

How Did Draining The Water Heater Go?

Well, I haven't burned the house down and I have hot water, so I don't think I've fucked up severely!

But the problem is I don't know if I did it right.  See, as I drained the water, I didn't see any dirty water.  I was initially putting this supposedly bad water in buckets to note how dirty it was, but the first few bucketfuls were completely clear.  That's when I decided to take out a garden hose from the shed, attach it to the short leader hose I also found in the shed, connect them (with a bit of difficulty; I sprayed some water all over the floor, dammit), and laid the other end in the floor drain in the laundry room.

I think I waited half an hour before it appeared as though the water from the hose slowed to a trickle.  I also checked where the garden hose connected to the leader hose, which I put in a bucket to collect the water coming out of the poor connection.  That seemed to also slow to a trickle, and that Internet tells me that means the water heater is completely empty.  So, I began flushing it by opening up the water valve for between five and 20 seconds and then shutting it off.  That start and stop is supposed to rustle up any sediment that settled in the bottom of the tank of the water heater so it could be sucked out of the drain plug.

At first, the water was dirty -- well, not brown like I was afraid it would be, but not as clear as the water that was taken out of the heater.  So I dumped the first bucket in the front yard while I took out a second bucket in which to continue to drain the tank.  Once in a while I would open and shut the water valve.  And the water continued to be dirty.  What it didn't appear to do, I'm afraid, is get better.  I kept dumping out bucket after bucket for, I believe, 45 minutes.  And while I could trick myself into thinking it was getting clearer, it was not getting clear.

I didn't know what to do.  I Googled and the damn AI said that this flushing method should take no more than 15 minutes.  Then why in the hell was I still getting brown-ish water after flushing for damn near 45 minutes?  Could it be the buckets I'm using making it look not clear?  They buckets aren't clear.  They're white; maybe that's the issue?

I stopped at a quarter to 11, about 2 1/2 hours after I started this ordeal.  Not because I was done, but because I indeed did not know what to do.  I closed the drain plug and opened up the water valve all the way.  After dumping the last bucket and wrapping up the garden hose I used, I saw that all the faucets I left open while doing this gravity drain was gushing out water and not air.  I didn't think that took a long time, however, so I kind of wonder whether I emptied the whole tank after all.

Oh, well.  It's all over.  Maybe I don't have to do this maintenance every year like I thought I needed to.  Me spilling water everywhere, because of the bad connection of the hoses and because of spilling hoses and the filled buckets on the floor, is something I don't want to revisit.  But I have just extended the life of the water heater -- maybe?

Water-Centered Plans Ruined By Sleep

Before draining (or attempting to drain) my water heater, I wanted to do three things last night: Shower, wash dishes, and wash clothes.  But I fell asleep around 10:30 and woke up around 4:30, and since I really want to do this this morning/right now, I can't do any of those three things.  Not showering sucks the most; I got sweaty again due to the hot weather yesterday/Friday, and I fell asleep on my sheets without wearing a shirt, so I know that the sheet has absorbed all my sweat, but I don't want to wash it, so I'm just going to continue to sleep on it until I just can't take it anymore, which could be up to two months.

Well, I'm sticking to my plan of draining this thing this morning, so I'm going to do it now.  Like I already said, wish me luck.

I think I have read up on the Internet enough that, tomorrow, I will attempt to drain my water heater.  It is an attempt to get the dirty water out of it and to extend its lifespan.  And hopefully I won't fuck it up.

Wish me luck, and if you're so inclined, pray for me.