So what did I do for my Memorial Day? Well, because the stripper I propositioned welched on me, I woke up, mowed the lawn, ate hot dogs and eggs with my parents (what a food combination) dinked around on the Internet, then decided to try out driving downtown and then using the light rail from there to go to the Mall of America. It would be less hectic to try out with no work traffic and no Twins game traffic to deal with. Besides, I would have gone exercising and then hit the library instead, but it's a holiday, so I had nothing else to do.
So I park at my usual spot, then take a solitary walk through downtown to get to the light rail station. It felt peaceful -- no sun in the sky, rather cool and windy, and nobody around who might make fun of me. On the one hand it seemed like what I expected downtown Minneapolis would be on Memorial Day, deserted. On the other hand I would have expected a little more hubbub just because it's a holiday. For example I passed by the bar where the alumni club holds its game watches. I understand it's Memorial Day, which is fairly solemn and is usually spent with family and friends. But shit, it's a Monday where you don't have to work. Did anybody go in? Well, why am I complaining, I didn't either.
I passed by a guy who was trying to figure out the new damn electronic pay stations. There are signs where the old trusty coin-fed meters once were, and now you have to go to this small stand and pay for a receipt which serves as your ticket except no one understands how the fuck you work one of those things. Of course, since it's Memorial Day that guy didn't have to worry about that because those meters weren't enforced. But I guess I was in lost in my own thoughts because I didn't think to stop and tell him, or at least help him figure out that newfangled contraption.
So I went down to the Megamall and went back, and it was fun. Liked that it wasn't crowded with people. Trip was fine; much longer than it would have taken by car, but I didn't have to use up the gas to go down there and back, and since I got back onboard within 2 1/2 hours I got to take a round-trip for $1.75 instead of $3.50.
But walking back to my car I put two and two together: If it is a holiday, why didn't I park at a meter closer to the light rail? The place is deserted, after all, and it would have saved me a lot of time schlepping all the way to the outer rim of downtown. I guess it was force of habit, but I decided to use Memorial Day to take advantage of trying out using the light rail down to MOA precisely because no one was around. I also knew that meters weren't enforced on holidays. It just never occurred to me that the twin facts of no one was around and those empty meters weren't enforced on holidays meant that I would have been OK to park next to one of those.
And I couldn't help but feel, even now, that I wasted an opportunity. Never will I have this day again. That may be too aphoristic, but it's true. I wanted to do something to "make it right," and the first, and only, thing I could think of was to drive my car to one of the many meters open along First Avenue and take the light rail down to the Mall of America again. That way I could say it took me only a minute to leave my car and hop on the light rail, and then come back and drive off within 60 seconds. Ridiculous to even attempt, I know, but I had so many meters that I realized I had passed by, and I had so much time, and there was no one, I mean, no one, around. But I had to go home.
Maybe I'll have another chance. But I don't know if Independence Day or Labor Day will give me a similar desolate scene from which to make moves on my own. Hell, everybody could be downtown those days for all I know. Next year? Shit, I might not remember this next year. And to top it all off it was a very cloudy and cool day; there was a chance of showers that never came, but the high for the day was only 62. In other words, it was quite seasonal, though very bad on my sinuses and eyeballs. I was wearing a jacket in case of rain, and even though it was very warm, next year would probably be humid as fuck because it's going to be 90 and sunny. What I'm trying to say is, I will never have as good a set of circumstances -- nobody around, my pick of meters, taking the light rail down to the Megamall, overcast and cool weather -- to park in downtown like I fucking run downtown. And it still claws at me, even after four days.
Friday, May 31, 2013
This is the third straight morning my folks (well, it's My Fucking Father's idea, so it's really him) ordered me to get out of bed to work the yards. Only this time I was kind of prepared for it because yesterday, after helping him with the yards, I was so tired that I fell asleep at 9 at night and woke up around 9 this morning (after waking up twice quickly, once to turn off the radio after LeBron clowned the Pacers and another to check that it was only 6 in the morning). I was awake, and actually getting up, when My Fucking Father hollered out to Mother to wake me up. I went outside so she wouldn't have to come to my door.
Things went well after that. This time all three of us were leveling the piles of dirt that we shoveled onto the wheelbarrows all over the backyard because My Father wants to reseed them. The whole backyard, even the parts where grass is growing just fine. Parts of the backyard are as fallow as the frontyard, but it is relatively good there while the frontyard is a goddamn moonscape. No arguing from them or me. And I've learned to quickly toss aside my bitterness because, even though I disagree with the use of this task nor the approach he's taking, there is work to be done.
But I flash back to my initial reaction to hearing My Fucking Father call out to Mother to wake me up: Anger, pissed-off-ness. Why? This has happened for three consecutive mornings, and this time I'm not being roused out of my sleep. In fact, I don't remember being this angry yesterday or Wednesday morning even though I My Fucking Father's order came completely out of the blue. I was just ... dazed and confused. I certainly didn't like it, but I don't remember feeling this well of fury spewing out of me like I did this morning after I heard him. Shouldn't I have been angrier yesterday or Wednesday morning than today?
I may have stumbled into an epiphany. Maybe I should recognize the bottom line: I do not like doing things, yardwork or anything else. And I don't like being told to do something, yardwork or anything else. Not being cognizant of that doesn't necessarily mean I like it. I just can't be angry whenever I'm not awake. So being alert is part of why I get upset. So, awake = pissed off.
Now, what does this mean if there's fucking yardwork to do tomorrow?
Things went well after that. This time all three of us were leveling the piles of dirt that we shoveled onto the wheelbarrows all over the backyard because My Father wants to reseed them. The whole backyard, even the parts where grass is growing just fine. Parts of the backyard are as fallow as the frontyard, but it is relatively good there while the frontyard is a goddamn moonscape. No arguing from them or me. And I've learned to quickly toss aside my bitterness because, even though I disagree with the use of this task nor the approach he's taking, there is work to be done.
But I flash back to my initial reaction to hearing My Fucking Father call out to Mother to wake me up: Anger, pissed-off-ness. Why? This has happened for three consecutive mornings, and this time I'm not being roused out of my sleep. In fact, I don't remember being this angry yesterday or Wednesday morning even though I My Fucking Father's order came completely out of the blue. I was just ... dazed and confused. I certainly didn't like it, but I don't remember feeling this well of fury spewing out of me like I did this morning after I heard him. Shouldn't I have been angrier yesterday or Wednesday morning than today?
I may have stumbled into an epiphany. Maybe I should recognize the bottom line: I do not like doing things, yardwork or anything else. And I don't like being told to do something, yardwork or anything else. Not being cognizant of that doesn't necessarily mean I like it. I just can't be angry whenever I'm not awake. So being alert is part of why I get upset. So, awake = pissed off.
Now, what does this mean if there's fucking yardwork to do tomorrow?
Thursday, May 30, 2013
RIP, Toothbrush
I will blog my thoughts on my three days in Kansas City soon, but I want to point something I did before I came back home that I planned on doing for a long time: I decided to throw away my toothbrush in the corporate suite bathroom and not bring it back with me.
Not a momentous occasion, I know. I'm sentimental that weird way. That toothbrush has been in my mouth for, oh, the past half-year, maybe longer. I keep around my toothbrushes because I can't bear to let them go, even though everybody recommends you get them replaced every, what, three or four months?
This one was kind of special. It was a shit toothbrush, not those Oral-B ones you get for free after your visit to the dentist. This was one a hotel gave me. Don't remember the year, but it was the year I visited New Orleans for the Professional Baseball Employment Opportunities Job Fair, that racket where moon-eyed college grads decide they're going to not only pay their dues by working for little to no money but also actually paying money to look for available positions at this fair, mostly internships or sales jobs. I loved it because I was young and stupid.
Anyway, one evening I came back from sitting around and waiting to see if I was going to get interviews at the convention center to my hotel room and can't find my toothbrush. Damn maid must've thrown it in the trash. So I call down to the great front desk clerks (I'm not quite sure which hotel it was -- could've been either a Marriott or a Radisson -- but I know the customer service was excellent) and ask for a toothbrush, which they delivered. But upon closer inspection of the bathroom I saw something rolled up in toilet paper and stuck in one of the spare toilet paper rolls. That's where the maid put my toothbrush, and she was nice enough to roll it up so no dust got on it.
So I now had two toothbrushes. I didn't want to throw away the one the hotel gave me, so I went back to my old toothbrush and stuck the new toothbrush for a later time. That must have been, oh, about a decade ago.
I don't exactly remember where I kept the hotel toothbrush. But after I had to dispose of my previous toothbrush, I came upon it and decided that it was time to use it. Part of my hesitancy was that this was a very, very basic toothbrush. It was really a bunch of bristles jammed into one end of a flat, white plastic stick. The handle wasn't long and it wasn't curved, like many "advanced" toothbrushes are these days. No colors, no bristles organized into a diamond shape that would make it easier to negotiate through the contours of your mouth or some bullshit. And no kidding, literally after a few days the bristles already began to fray. At the end of its life it sprayed like the shape of a clamshell.
I used that toothbrush well past its usefulness date. But did it get the job done? Could a longer, colored toothbrush with a bend in the middle do the job better? Probably. But it was good enough. For many things in my life I'm perfectly happy with "good enough." But even I knew I couldn't brush with bent bristles forever. That, along with an admittedly bizarre mindset that I should lessen the load I carried in the bag I brought with me down to K.C. (even though I brought way more stuff back up to Minnesota, like a souvenir cup from Arthur Bryant's and that week's copies of the local alternative weekly, the Pitch), convinced me well before my trip last week that I would say farewell with this toothbrush, this humble little toothbrush I got from a hotel, the day I left for home.
And so I did. Guess I should have brushed my teeth each night to properly say goodbye. I think I did two of those nights ... well, definitely one of those nights, and I know that night wasn't Wednesday, the first night, and I know that because ... well, I just know. But it was either Thursday and/or Friday nights I put that toothpaste on that old toothbrush and stuck it in my mouth in order to get all the food particles and plaque out of me. I did not use toothpaste Saturday around noontime, when I had to check out of my room, because I simply did not have the time. But, in what I hope was one last sign of respect, I wet the faded bristles and made a cursory, half-ass brush through my mouth. One last time for the toothbrush to say goodbye to my teeth.
After I gave it a quick rinse I didn't toss it in the wastebasket. I laid the head in first, against the plastic bag whose sides weren't fully pulled apart so they were still stuck kind of in the middle of the plastic receptacle, and then I softly let go of the other end. And I remember it sliding down one inch, two inches at the most, before resting alongside the not-completely-open plastic bag. I think it slid just under of the pieces of toilet paper I used to wipe my ass.
And then I said goodbye. The toothbrush that came into my life in New Orleans I laid to rest in Kansas City. Its residence was in Minneapolis, but it's fitting that it "lived" and "died" away from the place it grew up, and in differing cities at that.
My heart's sinking just thinking about that humble toothbrush. Don't laugh.
Not a momentous occasion, I know. I'm sentimental that weird way. That toothbrush has been in my mouth for, oh, the past half-year, maybe longer. I keep around my toothbrushes because I can't bear to let them go, even though everybody recommends you get them replaced every, what, three or four months?
This one was kind of special. It was a shit toothbrush, not those Oral-B ones you get for free after your visit to the dentist. This was one a hotel gave me. Don't remember the year, but it was the year I visited New Orleans for the Professional Baseball Employment Opportunities Job Fair, that racket where moon-eyed college grads decide they're going to not only pay their dues by working for little to no money but also actually paying money to look for available positions at this fair, mostly internships or sales jobs. I loved it because I was young and stupid.
Anyway, one evening I came back from sitting around and waiting to see if I was going to get interviews at the convention center to my hotel room and can't find my toothbrush. Damn maid must've thrown it in the trash. So I call down to the great front desk clerks (I'm not quite sure which hotel it was -- could've been either a Marriott or a Radisson -- but I know the customer service was excellent) and ask for a toothbrush, which they delivered. But upon closer inspection of the bathroom I saw something rolled up in toilet paper and stuck in one of the spare toilet paper rolls. That's where the maid put my toothbrush, and she was nice enough to roll it up so no dust got on it.
So I now had two toothbrushes. I didn't want to throw away the one the hotel gave me, so I went back to my old toothbrush and stuck the new toothbrush for a later time. That must have been, oh, about a decade ago.
I don't exactly remember where I kept the hotel toothbrush. But after I had to dispose of my previous toothbrush, I came upon it and decided that it was time to use it. Part of my hesitancy was that this was a very, very basic toothbrush. It was really a bunch of bristles jammed into one end of a flat, white plastic stick. The handle wasn't long and it wasn't curved, like many "advanced" toothbrushes are these days. No colors, no bristles organized into a diamond shape that would make it easier to negotiate through the contours of your mouth or some bullshit. And no kidding, literally after a few days the bristles already began to fray. At the end of its life it sprayed like the shape of a clamshell.
I used that toothbrush well past its usefulness date. But did it get the job done? Could a longer, colored toothbrush with a bend in the middle do the job better? Probably. But it was good enough. For many things in my life I'm perfectly happy with "good enough." But even I knew I couldn't brush with bent bristles forever. That, along with an admittedly bizarre mindset that I should lessen the load I carried in the bag I brought with me down to K.C. (even though I brought way more stuff back up to Minnesota, like a souvenir cup from Arthur Bryant's and that week's copies of the local alternative weekly, the Pitch), convinced me well before my trip last week that I would say farewell with this toothbrush, this humble little toothbrush I got from a hotel, the day I left for home.
And so I did. Guess I should have brushed my teeth each night to properly say goodbye. I think I did two of those nights ... well, definitely one of those nights, and I know that night wasn't Wednesday, the first night, and I know that because ... well, I just know. But it was either Thursday and/or Friday nights I put that toothpaste on that old toothbrush and stuck it in my mouth in order to get all the food particles and plaque out of me. I did not use toothpaste Saturday around noontime, when I had to check out of my room, because I simply did not have the time. But, in what I hope was one last sign of respect, I wet the faded bristles and made a cursory, half-ass brush through my mouth. One last time for the toothbrush to say goodbye to my teeth.
After I gave it a quick rinse I didn't toss it in the wastebasket. I laid the head in first, against the plastic bag whose sides weren't fully pulled apart so they were still stuck kind of in the middle of the plastic receptacle, and then I softly let go of the other end. And I remember it sliding down one inch, two inches at the most, before resting alongside the not-completely-open plastic bag. I think it slid just under of the pieces of toilet paper I used to wipe my ass.
And then I said goodbye. The toothbrush that came into my life in New Orleans I laid to rest in Kansas City. Its residence was in Minneapolis, but it's fitting that it "lived" and "died" away from the place it grew up, and in differing cities at that.
My heart's sinking just thinking about that humble toothbrush. Don't laugh.
Man, I can't wait what My Fucking Father has in store for me this morning.
Yesterday/This morning I woke up around 9, sorta. Wanted to go back to bed, so I did. But then My Fucking Father went to my door and banged on it and, worst of all, said, "Are you not up yet?" Oh, fuck you, not this again.
I open the door and he complains once again, "Why are you not up yet?" To which I reply with an incredulous face. To which My Fucking Father replies with that screwed-up face of offense. Oh, fuck you, Father, fuck you.
He woke me up for the most random of favors: He wanted to know how he could copy contents of one VHS tape -- a VHS tape, remember -- to another. My old TV works; that's why I still have one with a videotape slot in it. My Fucking Father, in his infinite need for new-new-new!!! wanted me to throw it away last Christmas. Glad I didn't buy a new TV now, huh, you fucker. Oh yeah ... WHAT KIND OF A FUCKING FAVOR TO ASK FIRST THING IN THE MORNING IS THAT?!?!?!
Guess is that since the tape was about knitting, Mother came up with the idea in the morning and My Fucking Father went, "Oh, wait, Unforgivable Wetness still has a TV with a VCR component, and we have a VCR. Let's go ask him! And that gives me a reason to wake him up even though I don't have to!!" What a fucking nag.
It actually worked a little easier than I thought; I don't remember ever doing it, but all it took was hooking up my parents' VCR to the back of my TV and put the tape being recorded onto in mine. Course I had to endure My Fucking Father cleaning my stuff of dust and telling me, again, to get rid of things.
I know he's just setting me up to wake me at 7 or 8 today. That's a few hours from now. I finally had the urge to write for the website, plus I stayed out, so I haven't put myself in a position where I would wake up fully refreshed in the morning. Just bring it, asshole, let's see how big of a prick you're going to be.
Yesterday/This morning I woke up around 9, sorta. Wanted to go back to bed, so I did. But then My Fucking Father went to my door and banged on it and, worst of all, said, "Are you not up yet?" Oh, fuck you, not this again.
I open the door and he complains once again, "Why are you not up yet?" To which I reply with an incredulous face. To which My Fucking Father replies with that screwed-up face of offense. Oh, fuck you, Father, fuck you.
He woke me up for the most random of favors: He wanted to know how he could copy contents of one VHS tape -- a VHS tape, remember -- to another. My old TV works; that's why I still have one with a videotape slot in it. My Fucking Father, in his infinite need for new-new-new!!! wanted me to throw it away last Christmas. Glad I didn't buy a new TV now, huh, you fucker. Oh yeah ... WHAT KIND OF A FUCKING FAVOR TO ASK FIRST THING IN THE MORNING IS THAT?!?!?!
Guess is that since the tape was about knitting, Mother came up with the idea in the morning and My Fucking Father went, "Oh, wait, Unforgivable Wetness still has a TV with a VCR component, and we have a VCR. Let's go ask him! And that gives me a reason to wake him up even though I don't have to!!" What a fucking nag.
It actually worked a little easier than I thought; I don't remember ever doing it, but all it took was hooking up my parents' VCR to the back of my TV and put the tape being recorded onto in mine. Course I had to endure My Fucking Father cleaning my stuff of dust and telling me, again, to get rid of things.
I know he's just setting me up to wake me at 7 or 8 today. That's a few hours from now. I finally had the urge to write for the website, plus I stayed out, so I haven't put myself in a position where I would wake up fully refreshed in the morning. Just bring it, asshole, let's see how big of a prick you're going to be.
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Caught Up On Reality Kings
I am shocked that I haven't caught up on the weekly updates of the five Reality Kings websites in about a month. Part of it is that I've been working and otherwise too busy to stay up till early Wednesday morning to see the new free web pages. But the last time I did check the new pages, Tuesday, April 30, four of the five did not update from the week before. I presume they update on Tuesdays like they always have, but maybe it was some sort of glitch that week.
Wasting my time checking the websites only to find out they didn't update persuaded me not to care so much about checking next Tuesday. So I didn't, mostly because of work and catching up on sleep. And one week easily extended to two, then three, then four weeks. Now that I am inbetween test scoring projects, I have time, and because I wanted to treat myself to some pornski I decided now's the time to catch up.
Goddamn, I didn't think it'd take this long. Well, I usually love to take a long time to go through porn. But the Reality Kings sites are, even though they give me pleasure, kind of a chore to go through and write down what page it's up to each week. Compound that with a month's worth of catching up and, even though the sites featured more than a few hot babes over the past month, I noticed the clock on the bottom right of my computer screen while I was going through them. And even with starting early because the late-night talk shows all were in reruns, it took, like, at least an hour to be fully caught up.
That meant at least an hour of masturbating. Once I got over the fact that I was touching myself for over an hour, that was the good part of catching up on the RK sites. And it was sweet relief to finally be fully caught up and allowing myself to ejaculate ... albeit to something not on RK, specifically this hot flasher on VoyeurWeb. (Just to let you know, I came to the second picture. Just something about doing something very ordinary except that you got your tits whipped out.)
Wasting my time checking the websites only to find out they didn't update persuaded me not to care so much about checking next Tuesday. So I didn't, mostly because of work and catching up on sleep. And one week easily extended to two, then three, then four weeks. Now that I am inbetween test scoring projects, I have time, and because I wanted to treat myself to some pornski I decided now's the time to catch up.
Goddamn, I didn't think it'd take this long. Well, I usually love to take a long time to go through porn. But the Reality Kings sites are, even though they give me pleasure, kind of a chore to go through and write down what page it's up to each week. Compound that with a month's worth of catching up and, even though the sites featured more than a few hot babes over the past month, I noticed the clock on the bottom right of my computer screen while I was going through them. And even with starting early because the late-night talk shows all were in reruns, it took, like, at least an hour to be fully caught up.
That meant at least an hour of masturbating. Once I got over the fact that I was touching myself for over an hour, that was the good part of catching up on the RK sites. And it was sweet relief to finally be fully caught up and allowing myself to ejaculate ... albeit to something not on RK, specifically this hot flasher on VoyeurWeb. (Just to let you know, I came to the second picture. Just something about doing something very ordinary except that you got your tits whipped out.)
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey
(Before I begin, I should have acknowledged last week that with the end of the Wild's season, we are now in the fallow period of the WMNSS season, where there will be only two entries, the Twins and the Lynx, which will be the last Women's National Basketball Association team to start their season on Saturday. This time last year, after the Lynx were excused from the survey after winning the 2011 WNBA title, it was only one team each survey, the Twinks. Those were glorious times. Still, having to write for only two teams till mid-August, when the college fall sports season starts with the Gopher soccer and volleyball teams, is a walk in the park compared to the busy survey season once the three local basketball teams start play in November. As much as I love sports, I am grateful for this part of the year.)
#-1: Twins (Last Week: -Infinity). Wow. If they hadn't won Saturday or last (Monday) night, they would be staring at a 13-game losing streak. It's not as bad as the Miami Marlins, who are the worst baseball team on the continent, but once they hit the nadir, Friday's listless 6-0 loss (thank you, Samuel Deduno!), I would argue they were playing the worse baseball on the planet. They have rebounded winning two-of-three -- rally!!! -- but when the definitive story on the Minnesota Twinks 2013 season is told, the author will look back at the middle of May and know that all hope for anything good to come out of the season ended there.
I had been away for a few days, but I have yet to see something I thought would come with this epic losing streak: Any serious talk of Ron Gardenhire being fired as Manager. I don't really think a baseball Manager can do anything if the starting pitching sucks and the lineup can't hit. But as the losses kept piling up, I felt the same bloodlust other Twinks fans did. It's not fair, but typically during really long losing streaks someone has to pay. Plus, Gardy was given notice that his team has to show improvement. A ten-game losing streak is not improvement, not at all. This would have been a perfect time to can him, especially if the team continued to lose: They are on a long road trip and coming home with a fresh start is what shitty teams often do. But it looks Gardy's staying. Not saying I want him gone, but I'm surprised that he's staying after this hope-dashing losing stretch.
Oh, by the way, KARE's Keith Leventhal noted that on Monday night Twins Opening Day starter, Vance Worley, pitched a complete game five-hit shutout for AAA Rochester Monday night in the Red Wings' 5-0 victory over the Lehigh Valley IronPigs. Whoop-de-fucking-do. Rochester Democrat and Chronicle sportswriter Kevin Oklobzija noted that Worley could be the worst starting pitcher in Major League Baseball this year with a 1-5 record, an ERA of 7.91 and a WHIP (Walks plus Hits per Inning Pitched) of 1.99. This just proves to me Worley ain't nothin' more than a AAAA pitcher.
Not only was every matchup Memorial Day an interleague one, it was against their "natural" rival. That's why the Twins were playing in Milwaukee. I think interleague play used to start on Memorial Day, so I guess this will stay a tradition for the foreseeable future. And what I think is kind of neat, these are split four-game series, where the teams play in one city for two games then the other city for two. It would suck if your "natural" rival isn't natural at all; Atlanta is being spare-paired with Toronto, for example. But after playing one more at Miller tonight (Tuesday night), the Twins will finally come home to finish their series. They will then play a weekend series at Target against Seattle.
#-Infinity: Gopher baseball (Last Week: 0). I'm glad I was able to take in the last game of the Big Ten Championship Game. The thousand-plus people that were there is about the crowd I thought would gather featuring a game the Gophers weren't in. Too bad that the conference is not a power in college baseball even though everyone's pretending they are, just because they're the B1G.
The Gophers were eliminated Friday night to Nebraska, 7-4. They managed to beat Illinois twice, which meant they eliminiated the Fighting Illini in this double-elimination format, but got put on notice with Thursday evening's 4-2 loss to regular season and eventual tournament champ Indiana. The Goofs' fate was sealed with that loss to the Cornhuskers, who managed to take one game from Indiana Saturday night in dramatic fashion before falling in dramatic fashion in the game I saw on that raw Sunday afternoon.
Minnesota had no chance of getting into the NCAA Tournament as an at-large, so it was title or bust. The field was announced last (Monday) afternoon and the Big Ten only got two teams in, the Hoosiers and, believe it or not, Illinois, the fifth seed in the tournament and the second team to be bumped off. Guess their non-conference schedule really boosted their RPI. Meanwhile I feel really bad for the 'Huskers. Big Red Nation was the biggest non-local fan base at the ballpark (at least I think) and they rallied on Saturday only to lose in heartbreaking fashion Sunday. They knew in their hearts leaving the tournament that they were squarely on the bubble, and on Monday that bubble popped and sprayed bubble jizz all over their faces.
Congratulations, by the way, to Gopher pitchers Tom Windle and D.J. Snelten for making it to the All-B1G First Team. And good luck to Windle, who continues to be considered a second- or third-round prospect for the Major League Baseball Draft.
#-1: Twins (Last Week: -Infinity). Wow. If they hadn't won Saturday or last (Monday) night, they would be staring at a 13-game losing streak. It's not as bad as the Miami Marlins, who are the worst baseball team on the continent, but once they hit the nadir, Friday's listless 6-0 loss (thank you, Samuel Deduno!), I would argue they were playing the worse baseball on the planet. They have rebounded winning two-of-three -- rally!!! -- but when the definitive story on the Minnesota Twinks 2013 season is told, the author will look back at the middle of May and know that all hope for anything good to come out of the season ended there.
I had been away for a few days, but I have yet to see something I thought would come with this epic losing streak: Any serious talk of Ron Gardenhire being fired as Manager. I don't really think a baseball Manager can do anything if the starting pitching sucks and the lineup can't hit. But as the losses kept piling up, I felt the same bloodlust other Twinks fans did. It's not fair, but typically during really long losing streaks someone has to pay. Plus, Gardy was given notice that his team has to show improvement. A ten-game losing streak is not improvement, not at all. This would have been a perfect time to can him, especially if the team continued to lose: They are on a long road trip and coming home with a fresh start is what shitty teams often do. But it looks Gardy's staying. Not saying I want him gone, but I'm surprised that he's staying after this hope-dashing losing stretch.
Oh, by the way, KARE's Keith Leventhal noted that on Monday night Twins Opening Day starter, Vance Worley, pitched a complete game five-hit shutout for AAA Rochester Monday night in the Red Wings' 5-0 victory over the Lehigh Valley IronPigs. Whoop-de-fucking-do. Rochester Democrat and Chronicle sportswriter Kevin Oklobzija noted that Worley could be the worst starting pitcher in Major League Baseball this year with a 1-5 record, an ERA of 7.91 and a WHIP (Walks plus Hits per Inning Pitched) of 1.99. This just proves to me Worley ain't nothin' more than a AAAA pitcher.
Not only was every matchup Memorial Day an interleague one, it was against their "natural" rival. That's why the Twins were playing in Milwaukee. I think interleague play used to start on Memorial Day, so I guess this will stay a tradition for the foreseeable future. And what I think is kind of neat, these are split four-game series, where the teams play in one city for two games then the other city for two. It would suck if your "natural" rival isn't natural at all; Atlanta is being spare-paired with Toronto, for example. But after playing one more at Miller tonight (Tuesday night), the Twins will finally come home to finish their series. They will then play a weekend series at Target against Seattle.
#-Infinity: Gopher baseball (Last Week: 0). I'm glad I was able to take in the last game of the Big Ten Championship Game. The thousand-plus people that were there is about the crowd I thought would gather featuring a game the Gophers weren't in. Too bad that the conference is not a power in college baseball even though everyone's pretending they are, just because they're the B1G.
The Gophers were eliminated Friday night to Nebraska, 7-4. They managed to beat Illinois twice, which meant they eliminiated the Fighting Illini in this double-elimination format, but got put on notice with Thursday evening's 4-2 loss to regular season and eventual tournament champ Indiana. The Goofs' fate was sealed with that loss to the Cornhuskers, who managed to take one game from Indiana Saturday night in dramatic fashion before falling in dramatic fashion in the game I saw on that raw Sunday afternoon.
Minnesota had no chance of getting into the NCAA Tournament as an at-large, so it was title or bust. The field was announced last (Monday) afternoon and the Big Ten only got two teams in, the Hoosiers and, believe it or not, Illinois, the fifth seed in the tournament and the second team to be bumped off. Guess their non-conference schedule really boosted their RPI. Meanwhile I feel really bad for the 'Huskers. Big Red Nation was the biggest non-local fan base at the ballpark (at least I think) and they rallied on Saturday only to lose in heartbreaking fashion Sunday. They knew in their hearts leaving the tournament that they were squarely on the bubble, and on Monday that bubble popped and sprayed bubble jizz all over their faces.
Congratulations, by the way, to Gopher pitchers Tom Windle and D.J. Snelten for making it to the All-B1G First Team. And good luck to Windle, who continues to be considered a second- or third-round prospect for the Major League Baseball Draft.
Monday, May 27, 2013
I've Got A New TV Channel All Of A Sudden
A day, or two days ago I was flipping through channels on my TV. I usually punch in a specific channel instead of spinning through the remote, but sometimes I flip just because. Well, just because came through for me because I suddenly found a new subchannel I had not scanned for. The name of this subchannel is an oxymoron: Movies! TV Channel (and yeah, the exclamation point is very, very stupid). It's on 29.4 and so is being carried by the MyTV syndicated station in town. You know, I thought that you needed to scan your TV to get any channels that are set up. The one in the dining room isn't updated yet so I guess we have to scan that one. But I don't have to scan mine? Alright, that's cool.
It had been in previews all weekend but was promoting that it was going live Memorial Day. What time, I don't know, but they had a website to check out the schedule. Unfortunately I forgot or was too lazy to check that website out last night to see when its first-ever movie was going to air, so when I closed down my computer I just put my TV on that channel, turned off that TV, and hoped that I would catch the beginning of the birth of Movies! TV Channel by pure luck.
I feel kind of bad that I didn't know till after the fact that Movies! TV went live at 7 Central Daylight Time this morning. But I wasn't going to wake up at 7 just to see it. Also, with all the hype this subchannel was playing on a loop to promote itself, I think they could have selected a much more famous movie to start off the subchannel than Take A Hard Ride, a Western starring Jim Brown I've never heard of. Apparently Movies! is going to be similar to another of the shit subchannels that we get over free TV, the equally-dumb-named This. That This is just a way for the owners of MGM's library of films to get any use out of its vault. Don't know if there's one studio whose flicks will comprise all of Movies! programming, but I doubt I'll ever watch it.
It had been in previews all weekend but was promoting that it was going live Memorial Day. What time, I don't know, but they had a website to check out the schedule. Unfortunately I forgot or was too lazy to check that website out last night to see when its first-ever movie was going to air, so when I closed down my computer I just put my TV on that channel, turned off that TV, and hoped that I would catch the beginning of the birth of Movies! TV Channel by pure luck.
I feel kind of bad that I didn't know till after the fact that Movies! TV went live at 7 Central Daylight Time this morning. But I wasn't going to wake up at 7 just to see it. Also, with all the hype this subchannel was playing on a loop to promote itself, I think they could have selected a much more famous movie to start off the subchannel than Take A Hard Ride, a Western starring Jim Brown I've never heard of. Apparently Movies! is going to be similar to another of the shit subchannels that we get over free TV, the equally-dumb-named This. That This is just a way for the owners of MGM's library of films to get any use out of its vault. Don't know if there's one studio whose flicks will comprise all of Movies! programming, but I doubt I'll ever watch it.
Cloudy And Cool Weather Does Not Equal No Allergies
Spent yesterday afternoon at Target Field for the Big Ten Championship Game. A thriller, Indiana took the lead twice but Nebraska ended up tying both times, but then the Hoosiers loaded the bases at the bottom of the ninth and won the game on a first pitch gapper into deep left-center field.
Anyway, there was an announced crowd of over a thousand people there, though there were a lot more Cornhusker families and fans than Hoosiers. And I wanted to apologize to both sides who traveled up to our dear city and explain that usually the Twin Cities has much sunnier, much warmer, and much better summer weather than the 60's and clouds that enshrouded the game.
I didn't, of course, but moreover I'm kind of glad it was overcast -- or at least I thought I was. I hate hot weather, and even though baseball was meant to be played outdoors in the sun, I don't know if I could have stomached, say, the upper eighties with humidity. Give me the weather we had yesterday any day.
But I need to amend that: I will take that weather after everything has bloomed. I think I thought while heading to the ballpark that I would be relatively good health-wise. I brought a jacket because I know the winds would whip through the seats, especially behind home plate where I planned on sitting. But I didn't think I would be clearing my nose as if it was winter and I had a cold. That, sadly, is precisely what I did for most of the game. Now I don't think it was the relatively cold weather that made my nose run; it was the allergies. But I didn't think I would be affected by allergies because I usually associate my runny nose and itchy eyes with the sun and the sunlight reflecting off the grass and flowers opening up their pollen and tossing it in the air for me to breathe it in and get all fucked up and miserable. I should have realized, unfortunately, that the same thing happens when the sun isn't out.
That wake-up call was confirmed a couple hours ago when I mowed the lawn. I don't think we've done it yet, but we had to wait a long time because it snowed earlier this month. However it was way overdue; much of the grass that's still growing (and I should blog about this because our yards, especially the front yard, looks like a goddamn desert) was almost a foot tall. So I did what I promised Father yesterday and went out to cut the grass. And damned if I didn't have to stop the mower halfway through the front and back yards to blow my nose. Yeah, I really did think that I wouldn't have to because it was cool and cloudy outside. But nonetheless it's allergy season, and I'm still trying to clear my nose.
Oh yes -- Happy Memorial Day, and a salute to all of those who paid the ultimate sacrifice in service to this country.
Anyway, there was an announced crowd of over a thousand people there, though there were a lot more Cornhusker families and fans than Hoosiers. And I wanted to apologize to both sides who traveled up to our dear city and explain that usually the Twin Cities has much sunnier, much warmer, and much better summer weather than the 60's and clouds that enshrouded the game.
I didn't, of course, but moreover I'm kind of glad it was overcast -- or at least I thought I was. I hate hot weather, and even though baseball was meant to be played outdoors in the sun, I don't know if I could have stomached, say, the upper eighties with humidity. Give me the weather we had yesterday any day.
But I need to amend that: I will take that weather after everything has bloomed. I think I thought while heading to the ballpark that I would be relatively good health-wise. I brought a jacket because I know the winds would whip through the seats, especially behind home plate where I planned on sitting. But I didn't think I would be clearing my nose as if it was winter and I had a cold. That, sadly, is precisely what I did for most of the game. Now I don't think it was the relatively cold weather that made my nose run; it was the allergies. But I didn't think I would be affected by allergies because I usually associate my runny nose and itchy eyes with the sun and the sunlight reflecting off the grass and flowers opening up their pollen and tossing it in the air for me to breathe it in and get all fucked up and miserable. I should have realized, unfortunately, that the same thing happens when the sun isn't out.
That wake-up call was confirmed a couple hours ago when I mowed the lawn. I don't think we've done it yet, but we had to wait a long time because it snowed earlier this month. However it was way overdue; much of the grass that's still growing (and I should blog about this because our yards, especially the front yard, looks like a goddamn desert) was almost a foot tall. So I did what I promised Father yesterday and went out to cut the grass. And damned if I didn't have to stop the mower halfway through the front and back yards to blow my nose. Yeah, I really did think that I wouldn't have to because it was cool and cloudy outside. But nonetheless it's allergy season, and I'm still trying to clear my nose.
Oh yes -- Happy Memorial Day, and a salute to all of those who paid the ultimate sacrifice in service to this country.
Sunday, May 26, 2013
I Propositioned A Stripper ... And She Didn't Say No!!!
So I went to My Favorite Stripclub (Non-Cover Division) after the Big Ten Baseball Championship Game today, just because it was too early to come home. I didn't think I wanted to spend any money on lap dances, but then I saw *i****, who was at the clean party I went to last month and I thought to myself, Oh, shit, I fingerbanged her at the party and now she wants another dance from me. Such a notion was confirmed when, before I went inside, *i****, standing just outside the door dragging a cigarette, said, "You ready for me?"
Well, fuck, I then said to myself, I can't just walk out now. And if I was going to get a dance from her, I might as well thank her for letting me penetrate her and then, because I was feeling really horny and daring, hope that she would return the favor.
*i**** kind of freaked out when I thanked her. "People might hear!" I think she said, even though I don't think people were close enough to hear and it was noisy inside. But the second thing, well ... she at first didn't say anything, but then said something like, "I can hang out tomorrow."
Cha-ching!!! Score one for Unforgivable Wetness!!! I gave her my phone number (I didn't get hers -- hmmm, is there something shady to that?). What she said next made my dick hard: "I'm busy Memorial Day, but I can break away for an hour!" Ooh, a secret rendezvous! Dude, I totally did not think I even had a chance of setting up a session with *i****. I had no idea that she was down; my proposition was a total shot in the dark. But apparently she does shit like this. And even though I don't have that much money right now, I will totally do it!
Unfortunately I haven't heard from her yet. After I gave her my number she said her daughter (she's not just a Mom I'd Like To Fuck, she's a Grandmom I'd Like To Fuck! And goddamn, the weirdness of getting sumpin'-sumpin' from a GILF is partly why I'm turned on, no lie!) called her and she'll get back to me later. I'm still waiting. I don't know if she just forgot, or is planning on figuring out her schedule for certain some time tomorrow and then contacting me, or if she misheard my phone number and got it wrong. What would really bum me out is if she was jerking me around about jerking me off. What scares me is that she has told someone about what I said, either one of the bouncers there, a boyfriend, or any male that would be hiding behind the front door when I show up with my hard cock hanging out after *i**** does tell me to come over to her place and pummels the living shit out of me.
Well, fuck, I then said to myself, I can't just walk out now. And if I was going to get a dance from her, I might as well thank her for letting me penetrate her and then, because I was feeling really horny and daring, hope that she would return the favor.
*i**** kind of freaked out when I thanked her. "People might hear!" I think she said, even though I don't think people were close enough to hear and it was noisy inside. But the second thing, well ... she at first didn't say anything, but then said something like, "I can hang out tomorrow."
Cha-ching!!! Score one for Unforgivable Wetness!!! I gave her my phone number (I didn't get hers -- hmmm, is there something shady to that?). What she said next made my dick hard: "I'm busy Memorial Day, but I can break away for an hour!" Ooh, a secret rendezvous! Dude, I totally did not think I even had a chance of setting up a session with *i****. I had no idea that she was down; my proposition was a total shot in the dark. But apparently she does shit like this. And even though I don't have that much money right now, I will totally do it!
Unfortunately I haven't heard from her yet. After I gave her my number she said her daughter (she's not just a Mom I'd Like To Fuck, she's a Grandmom I'd Like To Fuck! And goddamn, the weirdness of getting sumpin'-sumpin' from a GILF is partly why I'm turned on, no lie!) called her and she'll get back to me later. I'm still waiting. I don't know if she just forgot, or is planning on figuring out her schedule for certain some time tomorrow and then contacting me, or if she misheard my phone number and got it wrong. What would really bum me out is if she was jerking me around about jerking me off. What scares me is that she has told someone about what I said, either one of the bouncers there, a boyfriend, or any male that would be hiding behind the front door when I show up with my hard cock hanging out after *i**** does tell me to come over to her place and pummels the living shit out of me.
Saturday, May 25, 2013
I'm Leaving Kansas City, Kansas City Here I Go ...
Leaving later this afternoon. Bummed -- not just about leaving but about the end of my trip.
First of all, I have no idea what I'm going to do this afternoon. I leave around 4, but all the things I want to do are too spread out. None of them really tickle my noodle. And I am very worried about construction, which has driven me mad a lot during my time here. This would be a time where it probably would be better to leave around noon. That way I would have no angst about spending my time between several mediocre choices.
Moreover I do not feel good about my trip, at least not now. Too much getting lost, not enough time doing the things I want to do. I should give myself some slack because this is my first time in Kansas City, but I still feel like I wasted a lot. Maybe better planning would have made things better. For example, I wanted to go to this restaurant called Bluestem, whose chef just won the James Beard Award for Best Chef in the Midwest. But I just went on their website and found out they do not open for lunch except on Sundays. Whoops.
Lastly, I'm pretty peeved about last night at the stripclub, where I thought I was going to get some good hand-lovin' and got nothing of the sort. Blew through $95 in 15 minutes after driving 30 fucking minutes to get there. Pisses me off, still.
And I still don't know what I'm going to do now. Should I head off to Hooters or take a nap? Should I try swinging around the casinos I haven't gotten to yet, both of which are way off northeast of here, and pretty far away from the airport? I know I haven't got that much time to decide, yet I don't want to do anything more than sit on this computer here at this neat little library and blog about my feelings. Fucking Christ, I think the best part of my vacation here in Kansas City has been ... here.
First of all, I have no idea what I'm going to do this afternoon. I leave around 4, but all the things I want to do are too spread out. None of them really tickle my noodle. And I am very worried about construction, which has driven me mad a lot during my time here. This would be a time where it probably would be better to leave around noon. That way I would have no angst about spending my time between several mediocre choices.
Moreover I do not feel good about my trip, at least not now. Too much getting lost, not enough time doing the things I want to do. I should give myself some slack because this is my first time in Kansas City, but I still feel like I wasted a lot. Maybe better planning would have made things better. For example, I wanted to go to this restaurant called Bluestem, whose chef just won the James Beard Award for Best Chef in the Midwest. But I just went on their website and found out they do not open for lunch except on Sundays. Whoops.
Lastly, I'm pretty peeved about last night at the stripclub, where I thought I was going to get some good hand-lovin' and got nothing of the sort. Blew through $95 in 15 minutes after driving 30 fucking minutes to get there. Pisses me off, still.
And I still don't know what I'm going to do now. Should I head off to Hooters or take a nap? Should I try swinging around the casinos I haven't gotten to yet, both of which are way off northeast of here, and pretty far away from the airport? I know I haven't got that much time to decide, yet I don't want to do anything more than sit on this computer here at this neat little library and blog about my feelings. Fucking Christ, I think the best part of my vacation here in Kansas City has been ... here.
Thursday, May 23, 2013
I'm Going To Kansas City ... Wait, I'm Already Here
I am so sorry I missed blogging yesterday. Not as much, however, as a part of the reason I did: I am in Kansas City right now. Guess I was too busy to blog about it, and, like I usually do, to inform you guys that I might be out of pocket and that I might not be writing daily.
However, I was planning on this trip to be different. I have a tablet now, and I've used it a couple times to blog and I'm comfortable tapping on a flatscreen, so I figured I'd take it with me because (assuming the hotel I'm staying at offers free wireless fidelity) I can blog naked in my bed whenever the hell I want.
But on Tuesday I wanted to use my tablet. I turn it on ... but it doesn't turn on. And I continued to press the button, but nothing happened. Did I forget to turn it off the last time and it somehow was drained of all its energy? I plugged it in and still nothing. Maybe that outlet's burned out. No, the tablet still didn't work. And in vain I brought the fucking tablet down to K.C. with me just in case it magically decided to turn on because it too is on vacation. No. So I just brought down a fairly heavy doorstop with me.
I knew this early Tuesday evening, so I had time to blog something for Wednesday. But instead I decided I needed to research my day Wednesday. I opted not to pay a full day just to have eight hours of a rental once I touched down early in the morning, so I researched bus schedules to make sure I knew how to get down to both the Negro League Baseball and Jazz Museums and back to the airport without getting abandoned, stopping at the world-famous Arthur Bryant's on the way. Then I looked up stripclubs to prepare for my vacation.
Then I looked up porn, and that's when my laptop started to fuck up. You know, I don't know what's happening, but the past couple days Chrome hasn't been working. I've been able to see pictures through it, but since Chrome is down and Safari wasn't working as well (OMG, two of my browsers are shot!) I had to resort to Explorer, and I was reminded of how crippled that browser is when you try to see pic after pic. My computer slowed down, and once I jerked off I decided I couldn't be patient anymore. So I turned it off, realized I hadn't blogged yet, worried that the tablet still wouldn't work when I got to my hotel Wednesday evening, realized I didn't really care then, and fell asleep for 3 1/2 hours. Yes, I've had a lot of opportunities to blog for yesterday and I didn't do it. For that, I'm sorry.
The tablet not working puts a crimp on a lot of things I need to do. I could look up stuff from my room instead of going to a library. Now I'm glad there is one very close by, and it serves all my needs and the people here are great; they didn't even ask for my ID when I requested a guest pass. But as all libraries do, I cannot look up anything porn-related. So the reviews for the stripclubs that I kind of forgot -- can't do it. And if I forget to look up something, well, I'll just need to go back to the library. Yes, this really crimps my style.
Well, off to Twin Peaks breastaurant and then one of two strip joints. The one that's further on down from where I'm headed is much closer but may give me nothing in terms of contact. Meanwhile, the one that has some promise is well the hell the other way. Might as well get going. But by the way, this is the video I wanted to embed before my plane trip here. It's way too late, but I might as well:
However, I was planning on this trip to be different. I have a tablet now, and I've used it a couple times to blog and I'm comfortable tapping on a flatscreen, so I figured I'd take it with me because (assuming the hotel I'm staying at offers free wireless fidelity) I can blog naked in my bed whenever the hell I want.
But on Tuesday I wanted to use my tablet. I turn it on ... but it doesn't turn on. And I continued to press the button, but nothing happened. Did I forget to turn it off the last time and it somehow was drained of all its energy? I plugged it in and still nothing. Maybe that outlet's burned out. No, the tablet still didn't work. And in vain I brought the fucking tablet down to K.C. with me just in case it magically decided to turn on because it too is on vacation. No. So I just brought down a fairly heavy doorstop with me.
I knew this early Tuesday evening, so I had time to blog something for Wednesday. But instead I decided I needed to research my day Wednesday. I opted not to pay a full day just to have eight hours of a rental once I touched down early in the morning, so I researched bus schedules to make sure I knew how to get down to both the Negro League Baseball and Jazz Museums and back to the airport without getting abandoned, stopping at the world-famous Arthur Bryant's on the way. Then I looked up stripclubs to prepare for my vacation.
Then I looked up porn, and that's when my laptop started to fuck up. You know, I don't know what's happening, but the past couple days Chrome hasn't been working. I've been able to see pictures through it, but since Chrome is down and Safari wasn't working as well (OMG, two of my browsers are shot!) I had to resort to Explorer, and I was reminded of how crippled that browser is when you try to see pic after pic. My computer slowed down, and once I jerked off I decided I couldn't be patient anymore. So I turned it off, realized I hadn't blogged yet, worried that the tablet still wouldn't work when I got to my hotel Wednesday evening, realized I didn't really care then, and fell asleep for 3 1/2 hours. Yes, I've had a lot of opportunities to blog for yesterday and I didn't do it. For that, I'm sorry.
The tablet not working puts a crimp on a lot of things I need to do. I could look up stuff from my room instead of going to a library. Now I'm glad there is one very close by, and it serves all my needs and the people here are great; they didn't even ask for my ID when I requested a guest pass. But as all libraries do, I cannot look up anything porn-related. So the reviews for the stripclubs that I kind of forgot -- can't do it. And if I forget to look up something, well, I'll just need to go back to the library. Yes, this really crimps my style.
Well, off to Twin Peaks breastaurant and then one of two strip joints. The one that's further on down from where I'm headed is much closer but may give me nothing in terms of contact. Meanwhile, the one that has some promise is well the hell the other way. Might as well get going. But by the way, this is the video I wanted to embed before my plane trip here. It's way too late, but I might as well:
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey
#0: Gopher baseball (Last Week: -2). I'm being too generous. They dropped two-of-three games in their final regular-season series against Illinois at Siebert Field. But the one they won, the last game of the season on Saturday, clinched the Gophers a spot in the Big Ten Conference Tournament, which will be held at Target Field.
It would be kind of embarrassing if the host school doesn't even get to participate in the tournament it's hosting. But the Goofs were playing their way down the conference standings and out of that tourney by losing six of their last seven games. By the break of dawn Saturday, Minnesota, Michigan and Michigan St. were vying for the last two open spots in the six-team field. The Spartans would lose the tie-breaker under most scenarios, but they managed to defeat Penn St. (who was the worst team in the Big Ten this year but beat Minnesota for one of its three conference victories on May 5) in State College. As they finished, the Wolverines were introducing Nebraska to a little bit of prison sex in Lincoln, but the Gophers were still in a scoreless tie in a tense, tight game against the Illini after six.
I had my tablet with me and I was looking all over cyberspace for Big Ten playoff scenarios, but the Big Ten Network site had nothing on that. You would think a network that can give $20+ million to member schools could hire someone to put those what-ifs on a webpage on BTN.com. Stupid me. Anyway, it was this tweet by Michigan St. baseball providing updates of the relevant scores just after the Spartans' 2-1 win over the Nittany Lions that proved my suspicion: A loss by the U. coupled with victories by both Michigan teams would mean the Goofs would be out.
So I knew that the U. likely would have needed to win to get in. That didn't seem likely to happen, even if they managed to keep Illinois off the board. Their starting pitcher, John Kravetz, was perfect through five; Third Baseman Ryan Abrahamson's grounder through the left side ended that, thank God. Then in the top of the eighth, the Illini loaded the bases with one out. Somehow, Gophers starter D.J. Snelten (named conference Pitcher Of The Week for the second time this season) induced Michael Hurwitz into a 4-6-3 double play to end the threat.
Minnesota finally broke through in the ensuing half-inning. Even though they still only managed two hits against Kravetz, Michael Handel started the inning off with a single through the left side. Then Abrahamson, who ran himself into an out a little after ending Kravetz's perfect game by trying to advance to third right in front of the Shortstop fielding a ground ball, lifted a double that was inches from the Right Field line. Handel ran all the way from first to draw first blood. Abrahamson was driven in on a J.D. Schlangen lifter to left in the same inning from a pitch thrown by reliever Drasen Johnson. Closer Billy Soule replaced Snelten after one batter in the top of the ninth and subsequently went 1-2-3 to seal the victory and a conference playoff berth (bumping Michigan St., the first time in three years they won't make the tourney). What a way to end the first season of The New Siebert Field.
It remains an uphill climb for the Gophers to continue on this season. In Baseball America's latest Bracketology (which came out exactly a week ago, before this weekend's games), Minnesota still isn't even considered to be an actual tournament team. So it looks like they'll need to win the Big Ten Tournament to get into the NCAA Tournament. Good news is is that the U. went from almost not getting in to, somehow, getting the fourth seed based on conference record. (Canceling an entire three-game series against Michigan St. really fucks up the win-loss comparisons.) And they will kick off the tournament which they host Wednesday at noon when they face the 5-seed -- which just happens to be Illinois.
I wish I could go to this tournament. Since my job ended, I would have the time, and all-tournament tickets are only $40. Too bad I had to use my Southwest credit to take a trip to Kansas City this week. More on that later, but it looks like I have to hope for a final between the last two teams standing with one loss apiece in order to see a game on Sunday. Either that or a rainout, and that's not in the forecast.
#-Infinity: Twins (Last Week: -1). Hey, have you guys heard of a movie called The Sandlot? I may have read about it in Entertainment Weekly, and the name's vaguely familiar, but it doesn't register with me. Apparently, however, a lot of people have heard of it because the Twinks "commemorated" the 20th anniversary of that movie by planning to screen it after Sunday afternoon's series finale against Boston and flying out two of the kids-now-grown-men. Seriously, what is this film?
But there was a huge rain delay near the end of the game. It ran so long (almost 2 1/2 hours I think) that the organization decided to show The Sandlot right then instead of waiting till after the game was over. During the game -- and don't quote me on this, but I think it's right -- those two actors came out to play catch. I'm hoping that when one of them caught the ball, a fan would go, "Hey, you can play for the Twins!"
My Grandmother can play for the Twins right now, and she has dementia. Right now, after going through a putrid 0-6 screening week, this team is what we thought it was: sucky. They have slipped well below .500 after being up there last week, and after a 5-1 loss in Atlanta they could be playing the worst ball in Major League Baseball right now, even worse than Miami and Houston. What happened to them? Who gives a shit, they weren't going anywhere this year anyway.
BTW, thanks, Twinks for not automatically loading up the current month. I click on "Regular Season Schedule" and they still take me to April, so I have to click onto the next month. We all wish you guys were back in April; that would've meant you didn't go through a week without winning any fucking games!!! I really hope they fix this before we get into fucking June, this is a pain in the ass.
They are in the middle of a nine-game road trip because, remember, they've ceded Tarzhay to the Gophers and the B1G Baseball Tournament. They travel to Detroit and Milwaukee after playing The Bastard Boston-By-Way-Of-Milwaukee Braves.
It would be kind of embarrassing if the host school doesn't even get to participate in the tournament it's hosting. But the Goofs were playing their way down the conference standings and out of that tourney by losing six of their last seven games. By the break of dawn Saturday, Minnesota, Michigan and Michigan St. were vying for the last two open spots in the six-team field. The Spartans would lose the tie-breaker under most scenarios, but they managed to defeat Penn St. (who was the worst team in the Big Ten this year but beat Minnesota for one of its three conference victories on May 5) in State College. As they finished, the Wolverines were introducing Nebraska to a little bit of prison sex in Lincoln, but the Gophers were still in a scoreless tie in a tense, tight game against the Illini after six.
I had my tablet with me and I was looking all over cyberspace for Big Ten playoff scenarios, but the Big Ten Network site had nothing on that. You would think a network that can give $20+ million to member schools could hire someone to put those what-ifs on a webpage on BTN.com. Stupid me. Anyway, it was this tweet by Michigan St. baseball providing updates of the relevant scores just after the Spartans' 2-1 win over the Nittany Lions that proved my suspicion: A loss by the U. coupled with victories by both Michigan teams would mean the Goofs would be out.
So I knew that the U. likely would have needed to win to get in. That didn't seem likely to happen, even if they managed to keep Illinois off the board. Their starting pitcher, John Kravetz, was perfect through five; Third Baseman Ryan Abrahamson's grounder through the left side ended that, thank God. Then in the top of the eighth, the Illini loaded the bases with one out. Somehow, Gophers starter D.J. Snelten (named conference Pitcher Of The Week for the second time this season) induced Michael Hurwitz into a 4-6-3 double play to end the threat.
Minnesota finally broke through in the ensuing half-inning. Even though they still only managed two hits against Kravetz, Michael Handel started the inning off with a single through the left side. Then Abrahamson, who ran himself into an out a little after ending Kravetz's perfect game by trying to advance to third right in front of the Shortstop fielding a ground ball, lifted a double that was inches from the Right Field line. Handel ran all the way from first to draw first blood. Abrahamson was driven in on a J.D. Schlangen lifter to left in the same inning from a pitch thrown by reliever Drasen Johnson. Closer Billy Soule replaced Snelten after one batter in the top of the ninth and subsequently went 1-2-3 to seal the victory and a conference playoff berth (bumping Michigan St., the first time in three years they won't make the tourney). What a way to end the first season of The New Siebert Field.
It remains an uphill climb for the Gophers to continue on this season. In Baseball America's latest Bracketology (which came out exactly a week ago, before this weekend's games), Minnesota still isn't even considered to be an actual tournament team. So it looks like they'll need to win the Big Ten Tournament to get into the NCAA Tournament. Good news is is that the U. went from almost not getting in to, somehow, getting the fourth seed based on conference record. (Canceling an entire three-game series against Michigan St. really fucks up the win-loss comparisons.) And they will kick off the tournament which they host Wednesday at noon when they face the 5-seed -- which just happens to be Illinois.
I wish I could go to this tournament. Since my job ended, I would have the time, and all-tournament tickets are only $40. Too bad I had to use my Southwest credit to take a trip to Kansas City this week. More on that later, but it looks like I have to hope for a final between the last two teams standing with one loss apiece in order to see a game on Sunday. Either that or a rainout, and that's not in the forecast.
#-Infinity: Twins (Last Week: -1). Hey, have you guys heard of a movie called The Sandlot? I may have read about it in Entertainment Weekly, and the name's vaguely familiar, but it doesn't register with me. Apparently, however, a lot of people have heard of it because the Twinks "commemorated" the 20th anniversary of that movie by planning to screen it after Sunday afternoon's series finale against Boston and flying out two of the kids-now-grown-men. Seriously, what is this film?
But there was a huge rain delay near the end of the game. It ran so long (almost 2 1/2 hours I think) that the organization decided to show The Sandlot right then instead of waiting till after the game was over. During the game -- and don't quote me on this, but I think it's right -- those two actors came out to play catch. I'm hoping that when one of them caught the ball, a fan would go, "Hey, you can play for the Twins!"
My Grandmother can play for the Twins right now, and she has dementia. Right now, after going through a putrid 0-6 screening week, this team is what we thought it was: sucky. They have slipped well below .500 after being up there last week, and after a 5-1 loss in Atlanta they could be playing the worst ball in Major League Baseball right now, even worse than Miami and Houston. What happened to them? Who gives a shit, they weren't going anywhere this year anyway.
BTW, thanks, Twinks for not automatically loading up the current month. I click on "Regular Season Schedule" and they still take me to April, so I have to click onto the next month. We all wish you guys were back in April; that would've meant you didn't go through a week without winning any fucking games!!! I really hope they fix this before we get into fucking June, this is a pain in the ass.
They are in the middle of a nine-game road trip because, remember, they've ceded Tarzhay to the Gophers and the B1G Baseball Tournament. They travel to Detroit and Milwaukee after playing The Bastard Boston-By-Way-Of-Milwaukee Braves.
Monday, May 20, 2013
So I just finished, finally, the project today. I actually was afraid we would not get completely done in time today, and the supervisor said today was it and anything left over they would do.
There were seven rooms that were working on this site. Today there were only two, and the other one has been doing and continues to work on a project for a different state. (They've been at it for some time; they were there before us and they'll be there after.) Does the fact that we were the last ones mean we were slow? The supe said they had till Monday, but no one else was there.
However, that meant that we still had money to make. On the other hand, that may not reflect so well on all of us if we want to come back next year. In fact, the supervisor kind of let out a little hint this morning while updating us on our status: "Some of you are working a little slower than usual." I think she meant me. In fact, I don't know if she's happy with us. Sounds like she's the one that makes the decisions as to whether we're asked back. I looked bad against two new people in our group. Does she think I've been slacking off this year?
I hope I look OK in her eyes, but then again, I need to find a regular job. I love working on this project, but it's not year-round, full-time. If it was, that'd be great. But honestly, if I somehow find something steady this time next year and I am asked back, I would have to say no.
And if it's in the same place, whereby I would have to sit in traffic for a goddamn hour going there and coming back, I would say no with a lot less angst. Fortunately we were done with a half-hour to go. And boy, what a difference that makes; it only took me 40 minutes to get to the library to blog this.
There were seven rooms that were working on this site. Today there were only two, and the other one has been doing and continues to work on a project for a different state. (They've been at it for some time; they were there before us and they'll be there after.) Does the fact that we were the last ones mean we were slow? The supe said they had till Monday, but no one else was there.
However, that meant that we still had money to make. On the other hand, that may not reflect so well on all of us if we want to come back next year. In fact, the supervisor kind of let out a little hint this morning while updating us on our status: "Some of you are working a little slower than usual." I think she meant me. In fact, I don't know if she's happy with us. Sounds like she's the one that makes the decisions as to whether we're asked back. I looked bad against two new people in our group. Does she think I've been slacking off this year?
I hope I look OK in her eyes, but then again, I need to find a regular job. I love working on this project, but it's not year-round, full-time. If it was, that'd be great. But honestly, if I somehow find something steady this time next year and I am asked back, I would have to say no.
And if it's in the same place, whereby I would have to sit in traffic for a goddamn hour going there and coming back, I would say no with a lot less angst. Fortunately we were done with a half-hour to go. And boy, what a difference that makes; it only took me 40 minutes to get to the library to blog this.
Sunday, May 19, 2013
Has It Been That Long?
Just because I was getting horny from all the tweets I saw on my Twitter feed, I realized I hadn't been on Vintage Erotica Forum in a long time. And it has been a long time: Twelve days and forty minutes once I logged in just now. I've been busy with work, eating and sleep, but to be honest, I thought it was even longer.
Between trying to finish this strip club review and seeing overtime of the Pittsburgh Penguins-Ottawa Senators game, maybe I won't have the opportunity to masturbate.
Between trying to finish this strip club review and seeing overtime of the Pittsburgh Penguins-Ottawa Senators game, maybe I won't have the opportunity to masturbate.
You Makin' Fun Of Me, Bitch?!
So after the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club show I went to Pizza Lucé. BTW, I've wanted to see BRMC for the longest time, and I'm glad this show was not sold out. They front-loaded their set with the hits ("Love Burns," "Ain't No Easy Way") and back-loaded the deep tracks to the end, which is what most acts do, which I never understand because the energy flags at the end. Why not reverse that? You have the audience in the palm of your hand whenever you do one of your most well-known songs and when you first step out onto the stage. Separate those two elements and you have a connection with your fans virtually throughout the entire show. Who cares if you start off with the non-singles off your latest album? They love you just for being out there. Anyway, the bassist was the chatty one while the guitarist and drummer didn't even so much as wave goodbye, but I guess that's rock-and-roll for you, so maybe I should have expected that.
After that I didn't want to immediately go home. Nor did I want to go to My Favorite Late-Night Italian Place because I didn't want to spend that much money on food when I already had dinner. But then I realized that I won a free desert from the Pizza Lucé Wheel of ... Free Stuff, I guess, at a Minnesota RollerGirls bout. I'm downtown, I could have a small bite of something, it's free, and when would I ever be downtown on a late Saturday night again? The stars were aligned for me to go eat there.
But I just thought I could buy it and eat it there. Instead I had to dine in, and according to the lady that helped me, that at least meant I had to sit at the bar and ask for a tiramisu from the bartender, and all he did was go over to the other side of the restaurant (the side I first went to), take out the plastic case of tiramisu, and give it to me. OK.
But I also ordered milk. Why? Because I already had a beer at the concert and I was about to drive home, plus who the fuck has beer with dessert? So I'm at the bar having a tiramisu and milk, like a child, like someone who should not be at the bar. No, if I had my druthers I would not be eating that stuff there. But really, I didn't give that much of a shit. Besides, dessert was free, so who the fuck cares? It was good, by the way. Hmmm, tiramisu with milk. ...
Apparently this drunk bitch a few seats away from me did. As soon as I drank from this small plastic bottle of Kemp's 2% (and thank goodness they had that instead of icky skim; Mother asked me to finish off their gallon of skim while they were gone and it still tastes to me like water) she was looking at me. And she was staring, or at least gazing at me longer than one would when trying to look at something without getting caught by the one being gazed upon. I caught her several times looking at me and then smiling, and then laughing. And then she said something to the man she was with, and then that asshole looked at me longer than normal. So it went for the half-hour I was there just minding my own business eating my milk and tiramisu. That bitch would not stop looking at me, and I know she was making fun of me for drinking milk to her date. What is this, school all over again?
I will say this: She was hot. And I will allow that the reason she was looking at me so longingly could be because she's drunk, in which case none of the shit coming out of her mouth would be anything to get too offended over. Nevertheless, for the record: Bitch, I'm just eating. Mind your own fucking business.
Saturday, May 18, 2013
Oh, I Haven't Talked About The Bullshit Gas Prices Yet!!!
Monday, if I recalled correctly when I updated my status on my MySpace: $3.80
Wednesday: $4.20, the first time I have ever paid more than four bucks a gallon in my fucking life
Thursday: $4.30
Friday: $4.40
Saturday: ???
That's fifty cents, half a buck, in 72 hours, and 60 cents in a little more than a week. Fuck my life.
How and why is this bullshit happening? I've seen some things about some other refineries in the Plains states, but the reason I've heard a lot is that it "just so happened" that two refineries in the midwest shut down for "scheduled" maintenance -- at the same time. Surrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrre it did. You know, I've got a question: If these refinery shutdowns were "scheduled," why in the fuck did the public not know about it? And why in the goddamn hell did they have to go down at the same time?
Do you know what this is called? Collusion. Big Oil creating a tight supply so they can squeeze money out of us. We have had it good for a long time while other parts of the country have seen price spikes, so I guess it was our turn to take it on the fartbox. That's a much more realistic conspiracy than any teabagger can make about Obama and the government.
It is virtually impossible to believe that we now have the highest gas prices in the United States, surpassing fucking Honolulu. THIS. IS. BULLSHIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Friday, May 17, 2013
I Will Miss Working This Job/I Will Not Miss Working This Job
Had a fun time at work. A lot of people brought in food for the potluck (though not me; I kind of forgot about until yesterday, when they made another announcement, but I did bring in food two other days!) and I think we got punchy, over-exuberant and slow. I can only speak for myself when I had fun looking at other answers, some so humorous I had to laugh for a minute. I think others did the same. And when an adjoining room finished their project and congratulated themselves with thunderous applause, I looked at the guy next to me, who started clapping just as maniacally. And then several others of us did, including me, probably in sarcasm. They may be done, but shit, we're still employed.
Oh yeah, about that; the planned end of the project, in fact the end date we were given when availability e-mails were sent over the holiday season, was today. But because we were being so, uh, diligent with our papers -- or we got too punch-drunk by all the food we ate today, and damn it was so great food! -- we did not finish. So, as we were warned last week, we are indeed going to be back at work on Monday to finish up. Shoot, I'd give ourselves a 10% chance of having to stay all the way through the end of day Monday!
And that would take me right ... into traffic. Goddamn, it was at its worst today. I thought it would be better that I got out of work at 4 instead of 5. I was totally fucking wrong on that. It took me 65 minutes to get home. Shit, I think it only took me an hour driving from Apple Valley home, and I'm driving on 100, which is supposed to be a new highway!! It's taken me that long to get home before, but today was worse because 1) it seemed like every time I changed lanes the other lane started moving, another reason Office Space is a fucking God, and 2) I don't think I have ever made so many starts-and-stops during my time on this project than tonight. I really fucked up transmission, and it wasn't that fucking great to begin with. And I plan on going to this art show in an hour, so let's see if my car works, 'kay?
Well, since I referenced Office Space's opening scene, I might as well put it here. Haven't put video on Wailing And Failing in a long time. If there's an ad to start it, forgive me:
Oh yeah, about that; the planned end of the project, in fact the end date we were given when availability e-mails were sent over the holiday season, was today. But because we were being so, uh, diligent with our papers -- or we got too punch-drunk by all the food we ate today, and damn it was so great food! -- we did not finish. So, as we were warned last week, we are indeed going to be back at work on Monday to finish up. Shoot, I'd give ourselves a 10% chance of having to stay all the way through the end of day Monday!
And that would take me right ... into traffic. Goddamn, it was at its worst today. I thought it would be better that I got out of work at 4 instead of 5. I was totally fucking wrong on that. It took me 65 minutes to get home. Shit, I think it only took me an hour driving from Apple Valley home, and I'm driving on 100, which is supposed to be a new highway!! It's taken me that long to get home before, but today was worse because 1) it seemed like every time I changed lanes the other lane started moving, another reason Office Space is a fucking God, and 2) I don't think I have ever made so many starts-and-stops during my time on this project than tonight. I really fucked up transmission, and it wasn't that fucking great to begin with. And I plan on going to this art show in an hour, so let's see if my car works, 'kay?
Well, since I referenced Office Space's opening scene, I might as well put it here. Haven't put video on Wailing And Failing in a long time. If there's an ad to start it, forgive me:
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Addendum To: Too Many Things To Do, Not Enough Time
Folks come back home tomorrow. Realized one important thing: I've been so busy and electing to do other things that I have not even dropped by The Store even once.
A couple weeks ago Mother mentioned that they were at The Store, which means that, as of right now, they still own it. If that is true, thank Buddha that we still have that old lady in the family. I wonder what happened to the sale of it? Anyway, it would have been natural for me to at least drop by and just sit in my car in the parking lot, then go up to the red back door and kiss it. If I were really daring I would come in, look around and take a nap in my folks' nap room, like I wanted to do the last time they took an extended vacation. But with work and the things I wanted to do over my four-day weekend, like go to stripclubs and work out, I knew there was no chance I'd get around to doing that. In fact, it almost slipped my mind that I was missing The Store during my parents' week-plus cruise. I've been so busy but then it'd hit me: "Hey, The Store! Maybe I should go around there and check to at least make sure nothing's caved in or something. Wait ... shit, I'll have no time." I thought that maybe three times while they've been away. That is the closest I got to thinking about The Store.
---
Shit, there are so many other things I wanted to do but couldn't, like redo my taxes (I paid too much, turns out), going through my newspapers (recycling day's tomorrow; the only saving grace is that the contractor dumped so much shit into the receptacle it's just about full now) and give the couches a better cleaning. Well, at least I was able to finally do my monthly expense list. I decided to skip a house party on Monday, and I feel good that I did something productive while I was missing a chance to get my pee-pee stroked.
A couple weeks ago Mother mentioned that they were at The Store, which means that, as of right now, they still own it. If that is true, thank Buddha that we still have that old lady in the family. I wonder what happened to the sale of it? Anyway, it would have been natural for me to at least drop by and just sit in my car in the parking lot, then go up to the red back door and kiss it. If I were really daring I would come in, look around and take a nap in my folks' nap room, like I wanted to do the last time they took an extended vacation. But with work and the things I wanted to do over my four-day weekend, like go to stripclubs and work out, I knew there was no chance I'd get around to doing that. In fact, it almost slipped my mind that I was missing The Store during my parents' week-plus cruise. I've been so busy but then it'd hit me: "Hey, The Store! Maybe I should go around there and check to at least make sure nothing's caved in or something. Wait ... shit, I'll have no time." I thought that maybe three times while they've been away. That is the closest I got to thinking about The Store.
---
Shit, there are so many other things I wanted to do but couldn't, like redo my taxes (I paid too much, turns out), going through my newspapers (recycling day's tomorrow; the only saving grace is that the contractor dumped so much shit into the receptacle it's just about full now) and give the couches a better cleaning. Well, at least I was able to finally do my monthly expense list. I decided to skip a house party on Monday, and I feel good that I did something productive while I was missing a chance to get my pee-pee stroked.
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
And Now The Volume Knob In My Car Is Broken
It has been loose for, oh, the past month or so, and I thought when I spun it a couple of days ago the volume did not increase like it was supposed to. But it finally broke broke on the way home last night - - couldn't make the radio louder or softer, and I now even can't turn it off; right now, the radio automatically turns on when I turn the car on.
Tried checking online to see what I could do. The consensus recommendation? Get an entirely new radio. You're fucking kidding me!!! That pisses me off. It's just the fucking volume knob, for fuck's sake.
So glad I'm taking my parents' van to work today. Can't really stand to even see my fucking car right now.
Tried checking online to see what I could do. The consensus recommendation? Get an entirely new radio. You're fucking kidding me!!! That pisses me off. It's just the fucking volume knob, for fuck's sake.
So glad I'm taking my parents' van to work today. Can't really stand to even see my fucking car right now.
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey
#-1: Twins (Last Week: -5). Holy fucking shit ... did they just go 5-2 in the past week? And that included taking three of four of the Boston Red Sox, who might have had not too long ago the best record in Major League Baseball? And did the Twinks, with their 10-3 win over the White Sox Monday night, just get over .500 this late into the season at 18-17? That's worthy of the top spot in the survey.
With them coming back from a long roadtrip, many sportswriters thought it'd be a good time to take stock of this team. And there appears to be a consensus: This team clearly does not suck, at least not as bad as the shocking failure of a 2011 team presumed to have division-winning talent nor last year's edition, a season where the entire organization bottomed out. Nothing on the team appears to scream contender, and outside forces may still dictate moving on Josh Willingham and even Justin Morneau. Also, the pitching still, more or less, blows. But the young'uns called up to the majors appear as a unit to be able to play some, and it looks like altogether the Twins cannot be as putrid as they have been the past two years.
Monday was a breakout game, if not a turning point, for Centerfielder and hope for the future Aaron Hicks. He sandwiched home runs (not only his first multi-homer game of his pro career but his first multi-hit game of his pro career) with a spectacular, leaping, Puckettesque/Hunteresque catch above the wall in the two of the sixth to rob Adam Dunn of what would have been a game-tying two-run home run.
This week the homestand is complete; after Chicago, Boston comes to town. They then face the Braves in Atlanta starting on Monday.
#-2: Gopher baseball (Last Week: -3). Well, whatever faint chance the Gophers could get into the NCAA Tournament as an at-large evaporated with a very bad 1-3 week. Do not know what is worse: Dropping a 2-1 decision at home Wednesday to Wisconsin-Milwaukee, or losing two-of-three at Siebert to Nebraska (the first conference series they lost, by the way), where those two losses were shutouts and the only win was a 4-3 squeaker. As of today, the Goofs stand at 12-6 in the Big Ten and have given up their lead in the conference to Indiana. I don't think the Selection Committee looks kindly at a team who have lost four of their past five and are stumbling before the conference tournament despite the fact that the squad managed to schedule their last seven regular season games at home.
On the bright side, pitching ace Tom Windle, who struck out nine Cornhuskers in 7 1/3 innings but still got hung for the 6-0 loss on Friday, remains projected to be a solid second-round pick in the MLB Draft in early June.
The final regular season series this weekend is versus Illinois. I hope to make it to a game.
#-Infinity: Wild (Last Week: -4). Well, their season ends in a five-game series loss to the Chicago Blackhawks, the best team in the National Hockey League. I really hated, hated this team after hearing the next morning of the death of their season, especially knowing that they appeared non-competitive in Games 4 (3-0) and 5 (5-1). Their only win, in fact, was Game 3, and they had to go into overtime before Jason Zucker saved his team's bacon.
Now, with four days of cooling off and thinking about it, I'm less pissed off about the Mild's performance. I do not like the fact that they just got their asses handed to them, but right now, Chicago is a much better team. And Minnesota is young and their future is ahead of them. Hopefully they will learn from this embarrassment.
But the scuttlebutt I heard, not just from irate fans but from media types, is that heads had to roll. Fire Mike Yeo! they say. Trade Mikko Koivu! they yell. I understand the anger, but it doesn't make sense. This organization was the eighth seed and had just clinched its first playoff spot in five years. I know this is the Stanley Cup Playoffs, where four of the six teams that won their divisions just lost in the first round. Hockey playoffs are more of a crapshoot than any other sport, but people are and/or were acting like it was an absolute disgrace that the Wild were somehow upset by these upstart 'Hawks who had no business of being in the playoffs, let alone winning this series.
Guys, chill. Heads shouldn't roll just because of a five-game series defeat. Now, that doesn't mean that there won't, or shouldn't, be changes. Roster turnover is inevitable, and Koivu, a guy who was underrated when the Mild had no superstar players, probably is expendable now that he's been exposed as overrated since he's been teamed up with two guys, Zach Parise and Ryan Suter, who have a proven track record. I'm OK with that; he was a virtual non-entity in the Chicago series. (So was Parise, but hey, Owner Craig Leipold promised him $98 million, so he's not going anywhere.) Rumors are that Pierre-Marc Bouchard is as good as gone. Matt Cullen, a guy who turned in a good year this year, may be gone. Dany Heatley, injured for the entire series (do not forget that the team did not have Heatley for the whole series and Jason Pominville at 100% even one game) and whose scoring was sorely missed on the team, probably is gone -- which is a shame, because this club needs as much offensive punch as they can get. If I were General Manager Chuck Fletcher, my #1 priority is Heatley.
But people want Yeo gone. Who are you going to get to replace him, Lindy Ruff? Will a third coach in four years give this organization stability? And yeah, I could see moving longtime Goalie Nicklas Backstrom, who also was hurt and completely unavailable this postseason. But do you think Josh Harding did enough to be given the #1 slot? Are you OK with Darcy Kuemper? Would you trade for Roberto Luongo? A change could do the Wild good. But it might not, and right now, it appears as if many people think change for change's sake is good.
Look, Jonas Brodin looks to be a keeper. Jason Zucker too. I'm high on Charlie Coyle, though some think he still needs work. I would trade their current top blue-chip prospect, Mikael Granlund (a guy I think will underwhelm because he's too small; if he were so good, he'd be playing better by now), for a defenseman or a future first-round pick. Otherwise, stay the course. Five years of sucking has seeded the farm system, and you have to give the youngsters time to play together and prove to us whether they can play or not. The upside could be enormous, yet trading some building blocks for new players they would have to develop chemistry with all over again could damage that upside. And BTW, let Yeo stay.
(Another BTW: I have just written the blurb for the Wild first, even though they are at the bottom of the WMNSS. I think this is the first time I have ever done a WMNSS out of order.)
With them coming back from a long roadtrip, many sportswriters thought it'd be a good time to take stock of this team. And there appears to be a consensus: This team clearly does not suck, at least not as bad as the shocking failure of a 2011 team presumed to have division-winning talent nor last year's edition, a season where the entire organization bottomed out. Nothing on the team appears to scream contender, and outside forces may still dictate moving on Josh Willingham and even Justin Morneau. Also, the pitching still, more or less, blows. But the young'uns called up to the majors appear as a unit to be able to play some, and it looks like altogether the Twins cannot be as putrid as they have been the past two years.
Monday was a breakout game, if not a turning point, for Centerfielder and hope for the future Aaron Hicks. He sandwiched home runs (not only his first multi-homer game of his pro career but his first multi-hit game of his pro career) with a spectacular, leaping, Puckettesque/Hunteresque catch above the wall in the two of the sixth to rob Adam Dunn of what would have been a game-tying two-run home run.
This week the homestand is complete; after Chicago, Boston comes to town. They then face the Braves in Atlanta starting on Monday.
#-2: Gopher baseball (Last Week: -3). Well, whatever faint chance the Gophers could get into the NCAA Tournament as an at-large evaporated with a very bad 1-3 week. Do not know what is worse: Dropping a 2-1 decision at home Wednesday to Wisconsin-Milwaukee, or losing two-of-three at Siebert to Nebraska (the first conference series they lost, by the way), where those two losses were shutouts and the only win was a 4-3 squeaker. As of today, the Goofs stand at 12-6 in the Big Ten and have given up their lead in the conference to Indiana. I don't think the Selection Committee looks kindly at a team who have lost four of their past five and are stumbling before the conference tournament despite the fact that the squad managed to schedule their last seven regular season games at home.
On the bright side, pitching ace Tom Windle, who struck out nine Cornhuskers in 7 1/3 innings but still got hung for the 6-0 loss on Friday, remains projected to be a solid second-round pick in the MLB Draft in early June.
The final regular season series this weekend is versus Illinois. I hope to make it to a game.
#-Infinity: Wild (Last Week: -4). Well, their season ends in a five-game series loss to the Chicago Blackhawks, the best team in the National Hockey League. I really hated, hated this team after hearing the next morning of the death of their season, especially knowing that they appeared non-competitive in Games 4 (3-0) and 5 (5-1). Their only win, in fact, was Game 3, and they had to go into overtime before Jason Zucker saved his team's bacon.
Now, with four days of cooling off and thinking about it, I'm less pissed off about the Mild's performance. I do not like the fact that they just got their asses handed to them, but right now, Chicago is a much better team. And Minnesota is young and their future is ahead of them. Hopefully they will learn from this embarrassment.
But the scuttlebutt I heard, not just from irate fans but from media types, is that heads had to roll. Fire Mike Yeo! they say. Trade Mikko Koivu! they yell. I understand the anger, but it doesn't make sense. This organization was the eighth seed and had just clinched its first playoff spot in five years. I know this is the Stanley Cup Playoffs, where four of the six teams that won their divisions just lost in the first round. Hockey playoffs are more of a crapshoot than any other sport, but people are and/or were acting like it was an absolute disgrace that the Wild were somehow upset by these upstart 'Hawks who had no business of being in the playoffs, let alone winning this series.
Guys, chill. Heads shouldn't roll just because of a five-game series defeat. Now, that doesn't mean that there won't, or shouldn't, be changes. Roster turnover is inevitable, and Koivu, a guy who was underrated when the Mild had no superstar players, probably is expendable now that he's been exposed as overrated since he's been teamed up with two guys, Zach Parise and Ryan Suter, who have a proven track record. I'm OK with that; he was a virtual non-entity in the Chicago series. (So was Parise, but hey, Owner Craig Leipold promised him $98 million, so he's not going anywhere.) Rumors are that Pierre-Marc Bouchard is as good as gone. Matt Cullen, a guy who turned in a good year this year, may be gone. Dany Heatley, injured for the entire series (do not forget that the team did not have Heatley for the whole series and Jason Pominville at 100% even one game) and whose scoring was sorely missed on the team, probably is gone -- which is a shame, because this club needs as much offensive punch as they can get. If I were General Manager Chuck Fletcher, my #1 priority is Heatley.
But people want Yeo gone. Who are you going to get to replace him, Lindy Ruff? Will a third coach in four years give this organization stability? And yeah, I could see moving longtime Goalie Nicklas Backstrom, who also was hurt and completely unavailable this postseason. But do you think Josh Harding did enough to be given the #1 slot? Are you OK with Darcy Kuemper? Would you trade for Roberto Luongo? A change could do the Wild good. But it might not, and right now, it appears as if many people think change for change's sake is good.
Look, Jonas Brodin looks to be a keeper. Jason Zucker too. I'm high on Charlie Coyle, though some think he still needs work. I would trade their current top blue-chip prospect, Mikael Granlund (a guy I think will underwhelm because he's too small; if he were so good, he'd be playing better by now), for a defenseman or a future first-round pick. Otherwise, stay the course. Five years of sucking has seeded the farm system, and you have to give the youngsters time to play together and prove to us whether they can play or not. The upside could be enormous, yet trading some building blocks for new players they would have to develop chemistry with all over again could damage that upside. And BTW, let Yeo stay.
(Another BTW: I have just written the blurb for the Wild first, even though they are at the bottom of the WMNSS. I think this is the first time I have ever done a WMNSS out of order.)
Monday, May 13, 2013
Expenses Without Receipt
Starting from Monday, May 13:
- Went to the club downtown. Free cover, drink, tips, a dance from this really cool chick, Stella, and a bed dance from ******y. Um, I don't know how to feel about it, so I think I'm going to blog about it later -- maybe. The damage: $172.
- And the bus to get there and back: $3.50.
- Sunday May 12 -- Wendy's. These great, God-fearin' people did not, however, give me a receipt. Last time I was at this particular Wendy's, which was last week, I did get one. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. Today, since I don't, I'll have to write the amount of the small fry and drink I got with the coupon for a free grilled chicken sandwich (and by the way, the grilled chicken sandwiches there have always been dry for some reason): $3.30.
- ETA: One item I totally forgot about from Sunday! After Wendy's I went to work out: $3.
- ET to also A something that I had to have done Sunday night but can't say for sure -- Caffetto. Coffee with tip: $1.75.
- ET to also, also A that after I had coffee I went to My Favorite Stripclub (Non-Cover Division). For the life of me I'm not sure what I spent. Goddammit! I vaguely remember there was one day where only three strippers were working instead of the usual four, so I'll just say it happened this Sunday. So coffee and tips
for three dancers equalsand a dance from Sasha, whom I just remembered I got a dance from, I think, this day (goddamn, remembering what you spent is really, really hard, even though I had this dance from Sasha written down in my day planner): $28. - ETA to also, also, also A another fucking thing I wrote down in my Franklin Quest but neglected to copy here: Apparently I went to My Favorite Late-Night Italian Place for the first time in what feels like months. They redid the place, which is very nice, and they replaced the TV with a flat-screen, which is cooler. Unfortunately not "all of the cable channels" came in, so I was stuck with watching Cops over free TV and some Bravo instead. Anyway, I had spaghetti, even though I wasn't that hungry. With tip, I hope it came out to: $16.50.
- Saturday the 11th ... Wendy's, but this was a different one, on the way to the car wash. Used another coupon where I got free chili cheese fries if I just bought something else, so I bought the cheapest chicken sandwich on the menu and had the smallest-sized Coke available. Those were good, by the way; they should have onions too to make it a bastard five-way chili with fries instead of pasta. The amount for the sandwich and Coke: $2.12.
- Went to the car wash the second day in a row because it rained the night before, even though the forecast did not say it would. It was free, although they only washed the outside. Tip only: $1.
- I also did tip at the beer party, although the last dollar I had to pay in quarters: $2.
- Friday, May 10 ... the car wash. Tip only, for I have a receipt for the actual wash: $2.
- My Favorite Stripclub (Cover Division). Cover, tips, a Sprite and three dances from the beautiful, hot Justice: $60.
- ETA: There are, I think, two expenses on Sunday the 5th I have yet to write down. I chronicled both on my post "Waste Sunday." There was the tail lights I bought for my car at CarQuest: $4.27.
- ET to also A that I then I went to Wendy's. Why did I forget to write these down when I blogged about them in a separate entry? Well, maybe that is why. Is the amount for the food I got the same amount for the tail lights? Fuckin' weird, man: $4.27.
- Do I get to go all the way back to Saturday the 4th? If so, got some pee-pee pullin' time with my ATF: $100.
- Go back to Wednesday, May 1, where I woke up early and drove through the heart of the Twin Cities to get donuts for the room. Sixty-five total, and do you know how much it only cost me: $33.15.
- Sunday, April 28 ... I went exercising: $3.
- Saturday the 27th ... Caffetto, but for the first time ever, I did not buy coffee. I figured it was the hottest day of the year (even though it's night as I type this at Caffetto, and therefore not hot) and I am going to try something cold, specifically RC Cola. For Christ's sake, Caffetto serves RC! I haven't had that since the old vending machine at The Store worked and dispensed RC and 7-Up! With tip: $2.75.
- Went to *******a's party in the evening. I have to say it was really nice yet really disappointing. I really wanted to take out my pee-pee, but I didn't release my spittin' sea snake because I wanted to observe her wish for no extras. Lots of booby-touching, though. Expenses are for cover and dances with *******a, ****e*, and this insanely hot chick named ******e. Wanted to get one from ****a**** but she seemed to want to smoke pot after she got done with her dance when I wanted to leave, and my fastidiousness made me clutch my wallet a little tighter. Total: $70.
- Researched two donut places about a half-mile from each other to potentially buy for the room at work this week. First I went to A Baker's Wife, where donuts are only 50 cents apiece! But I wanted to try their American Teacake, which people say is the best pastry they make. It is scrumptious. But it's also huge and fattening -- and pricey. With tip it cost: $2.50.
- Then I went to a place I hadn't been to (I had been to A Baker's Wife once before, picking up donuts for the crew at FOX for the long day before a game) but it was a place I've heard of for a long time, Mel-O-Glaze. Woman helping me is a cat impresario. They ran out of donuts but got a couple for me in the back. Along with juice and tip: $4.50.
- Friday the 26th, the only EWR I have is picking up a dime from the parking lot at work. Hey, it's free money. An Infusion of: 10 cents.
- Copies of the paystubs at the library. Two of them equals: 20 cents.
- Assuming I have receipts for the intervening days, let us go all the way back to Thursday, April 18, where I spent my morning "working" at Caribou. Had a cookie, blew the trivia question. Glad the barista there still knows my name. With tip: $6.
- ETA: I do have an EWR on Saturday, April 13: I went to the gym to exercise: $3
Too Many Things To Do, Not Enough Time
Just got home from a coffee-stripclub-Italian trifecta Sunday night. Felt good to go out, but now I'm too tired to do anything now that I'm home. The fact that it's unseasonably cold doesn't help me stay up and work on my computer in the dining room. So I'm blogging this, researching the downtown stripclub I'm going to and then going to bed.
This is not what I had in mind when my parents told me they would be gone for ten days. There are a lot of fucking things I want and need to do. If I was the young man I was ten years ago, I would be doing them right now. Actually, if I didn't have to work, I would be able to do them later this week. Instead, the only free time I have while the cats are away has been these 3+ days, from Friday afternoon till Monday evening. I guess I could have been more productive, but I did do a lot of things -- dried my clothes, laid down the feed for the lawn, took out the recyclables, got the car washed, and a bunch of things I wanted to but really couldn't because my parents would complain.
Nevertheless, there are some tasks I know I won't get around to once I have to go back to work Tuesday. I wanted to bag some Entertainment Weeklys while they were gone; I'm not going to even get a chance to visit my storage room. I want to clean up the house so my parents don't think I'm being lazy while they're gone, but I don't think I'll have the time or energy. Goddamn, I still haven't gotten around to filling out my monthly expense list. Instead I'm going to a stripclub tomorrow afternoon.
So much shit I should do, but four days won't be enough, especially since I'll be working the last three. I really enjoy being away from my folks, but it still seems like I've wasted this opportunity.
This is not what I had in mind when my parents told me they would be gone for ten days. There are a lot of fucking things I want and need to do. If I was the young man I was ten years ago, I would be doing them right now. Actually, if I didn't have to work, I would be able to do them later this week. Instead, the only free time I have while the cats are away has been these 3+ days, from Friday afternoon till Monday evening. I guess I could have been more productive, but I did do a lot of things -- dried my clothes, laid down the feed for the lawn, took out the recyclables, got the car washed, and a bunch of things I wanted to but really couldn't because my parents would complain.
Nevertheless, there are some tasks I know I won't get around to once I have to go back to work Tuesday. I wanted to bag some Entertainment Weeklys while they were gone; I'm not going to even get a chance to visit my storage room. I want to clean up the house so my parents don't think I'm being lazy while they're gone, but I don't think I'll have the time or energy. Goddamn, I still haven't gotten around to filling out my monthly expense list. Instead I'm going to a stripclub tomorrow afternoon.
So much shit I should do, but four days won't be enough, especially since I'll be working the last three. I really enjoy being away from my folks, but it still seems like I've wasted this opportunity.
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Wore A Backpack For Nuthin'
I had planned on finally reconciling my expenses for last month when I ate at Wendy's yesterday. But for some reason -- I think it was that I spent too much time dinkin' around on the computer, pushing back my entire schedule -- I decided to wait to do that until last night, when I decided I was going to go home and instead because I was drunk, or more likely this afternoon, which is the last day I could use the Wendy's coupons I got at work.
So I was ready. I woke up early enough and I did not plan on using the car, so I planned on walking to Wendy's with my backpack holding all the receipts. This was my top priority, and I was going to spend however long it took to finally catch up on writing down my expenses for April.
The walk was good, sunny although a bit cool, and the allergies were at bay for the most part. When I get inside I open up my pocket to change my sunglasses for my real glasses and just to make sure I open up my smaller pouch first. That's where I usually put my pens ... except that my pens weren't there.
That's when I remembered putting all my pens in my laptop before I headed off to my drinking excursion last night. Can't write down my expenses if I have nothing to write with. Fuck my fucking life.
So I just order (customer service at this place today was excellent, thank you guys!), sit down and just eat. My stay at Wendy's had to be short, so I have another thing to do once I get home. Well, two things: Write down my expenses and blogging about not being able to write down my expenses when I wanted to. But I also planned on walking the long way home because I wanted to stop by the gas station and buy this radiator leak stoppage fluid. For the better part of a year I have constantly put antifreeze into my overflow tank only to see it totally empty in short order. I don't know what's going on, and none of the mechanics can say why either. So what the fuck, I bought some and will put it in this week to see if that does anything. Hopefully it won't ruin the radiator.
Anyway, I still had to deal with my backpack. You know how if you're walking around with your backpack for a while your back gets hot and sweaty? That, of course, is what happened to me. I anticipated this, even with the relatively cool weather today. But I wore it because I needed to write down my expenses. And since I didn't do that because I fucking forgot to pack my goddamn pens, my back has become unduly fucking sweaty for no good goddamn reason.
So hate myself right now.
So I was ready. I woke up early enough and I did not plan on using the car, so I planned on walking to Wendy's with my backpack holding all the receipts. This was my top priority, and I was going to spend however long it took to finally catch up on writing down my expenses for April.
The walk was good, sunny although a bit cool, and the allergies were at bay for the most part. When I get inside I open up my pocket to change my sunglasses for my real glasses and just to make sure I open up my smaller pouch first. That's where I usually put my pens ... except that my pens weren't there.
That's when I remembered putting all my pens in my laptop before I headed off to my drinking excursion last night. Can't write down my expenses if I have nothing to write with. Fuck my fucking life.
So I just order (customer service at this place today was excellent, thank you guys!), sit down and just eat. My stay at Wendy's had to be short, so I have another thing to do once I get home. Well, two things: Write down my expenses and blogging about not being able to write down my expenses when I wanted to. But I also planned on walking the long way home because I wanted to stop by the gas station and buy this radiator leak stoppage fluid. For the better part of a year I have constantly put antifreeze into my overflow tank only to see it totally empty in short order. I don't know what's going on, and none of the mechanics can say why either. So what the fuck, I bought some and will put it in this week to see if that does anything. Hopefully it won't ruin the radiator.
Anyway, I still had to deal with my backpack. You know how if you're walking around with your backpack for a while your back gets hot and sweaty? That, of course, is what happened to me. I anticipated this, even with the relatively cool weather today. But I wore it because I needed to write down my expenses. And since I didn't do that because I fucking forgot to pack my goddamn pens, my back has become unduly fucking sweaty for no good goddamn reason.
So hate myself right now.
Shameful
Is this what a hangover feels like?
My head isn't necessarily pounding, but it hurts. Moreover, I have a huge pit in my stomach. They say that a cure for a hangover is a lot of shitty food, like Taco Bell or Doritos. I have neither. Instead I've got this muffin, possibly blueberry, that's been sitting around waiting to be eaten. Might as well wash that down with some tropical punch I had not touched in several days, and, what the hell, I think enough time has passed since I drank all that beer to get around to taking my allergy pill. Man, you leave all the stuff you wanted to take with you for a coffee and a trip your late-night spot as you go home and sleep that you have to walk out at 3 in the morning and feel all the early-morning pollen coming up your nose.
I am doing all of this now because I drank a lot this evening. I have done this, specifically drink five beers, once before, namely this particular occasion last year. I was not drunk last year. No, that's bullshit: I was drunk last year, but not like this year. This year I was a lot worse, and scary for me as the effects of the alcohol were taking hold, nothing like I have felt before.
If I were observing myself I would think, "That guy's drunk." All the signs I did in order to have control of myself I did: Steadying myself along walls, soon standing next to them, eating the food until there was none, and then, finally, sitting down. It was no use. I really, really thought the Wendy's I had for lunch would kind of set the stage for the beer I would drink last night. Since I was not hungry, that meant there was still food in my stomach, so there would be enough to sop up the alcohol. How stupid of me.
My sobriety nosedived as soon as the party was over and, um, we were sent home. A girl I think was checking on me to make sure I was OK. Then a guy working the party, as he took my wristband, asked if I had a ride home. I told him -- and in retrospect I really am ashamed I did -- that I was going to sleep it off in my car. No dice, he says; if the cops come and see me do that, it's still a DUI. That did not stop me from trying to take a quick nap, but I was worried that such a thing would happen; after all, the police know where a brewery is. So after I heard the car ahead and behind me leave, I went around, turned on the car, and drove off. I think I was the next-to-last person to leave.
I will say that I got home without incident. Police around the area are stepping up enforcement this weekend, but I didn't see one. Nor did I run into any telephone poles, thank God. But I knew I was too fucking drunk to do anything but get back home as safe as possible -- no stripclubs, no coffee, no late-night Italian, just home.
Once I did get home I went upstairs, changed real quick, and tried to go to sleep. Well, I couldn't, although I felt really, really awful. What sometimes helps was turning on the TV, and the Pacers-Knicks game was on, so I did that and hoped I would fall asleep with the beautiful patter of Mike Breen and Jeff Van Gundy. After several minutes, it worked. Conked off a bit past 9, woke up a bit after 3.
I will also say this: I remember just about everything. People say when they're drunk they don't remember anything. I do remember everything, and that's a good thing. I remember slowly losing control of my senses and not feeling good about it. And when I got into bed and felt like I was rolling downward into the middle of it I remember I was too dizzy to be doing anything, and that I was stupid to even think I could stay out after that. I remember I have to reschedule all of things I planned on doing last night, specifically going to My Favorite Stripclub (Non-Cover Edition) for the first time in weeks and eating at My Favorite Late-Night Italian Place for the first time in months. Finally, I remember feeling like I wanted to vomit all over the bed, which is bad, because since my parents are away I have slept in my sister's bigger, quieter, cooler bedroom, and I would have to clean up a lot of shit if I did that.
How did I end up this way? I grew up fearing beer because of what it would do to me. Shit, I just about pissed my pants the first time I went to a frat party and some stranger just rolled out a can to me. My first taste of alcohol, I think, was champagne out in Los Angeles when I couldn't come home for Thanksgiving. But now I've done this. And people do this all the time, and like to do it all the time?
So no, I'm done with getting drunk. Because of last night, and the hangover I'm still suffering from, I cannot and will not do this shit again. And I hope to Buddha and God that I never put myself in this position ever again.
My head isn't necessarily pounding, but it hurts. Moreover, I have a huge pit in my stomach. They say that a cure for a hangover is a lot of shitty food, like Taco Bell or Doritos. I have neither. Instead I've got this muffin, possibly blueberry, that's been sitting around waiting to be eaten. Might as well wash that down with some tropical punch I had not touched in several days, and, what the hell, I think enough time has passed since I drank all that beer to get around to taking my allergy pill. Man, you leave all the stuff you wanted to take with you for a coffee and a trip your late-night spot as you go home and sleep that you have to walk out at 3 in the morning and feel all the early-morning pollen coming up your nose.
I am doing all of this now because I drank a lot this evening. I have done this, specifically drink five beers, once before, namely this particular occasion last year. I was not drunk last year. No, that's bullshit: I was drunk last year, but not like this year. This year I was a lot worse, and scary for me as the effects of the alcohol were taking hold, nothing like I have felt before.
If I were observing myself I would think, "That guy's drunk." All the signs I did in order to have control of myself I did: Steadying myself along walls, soon standing next to them, eating the food until there was none, and then, finally, sitting down. It was no use. I really, really thought the Wendy's I had for lunch would kind of set the stage for the beer I would drink last night. Since I was not hungry, that meant there was still food in my stomach, so there would be enough to sop up the alcohol. How stupid of me.
My sobriety nosedived as soon as the party was over and, um, we were sent home. A girl I think was checking on me to make sure I was OK. Then a guy working the party, as he took my wristband, asked if I had a ride home. I told him -- and in retrospect I really am ashamed I did -- that I was going to sleep it off in my car. No dice, he says; if the cops come and see me do that, it's still a DUI. That did not stop me from trying to take a quick nap, but I was worried that such a thing would happen; after all, the police know where a brewery is. So after I heard the car ahead and behind me leave, I went around, turned on the car, and drove off. I think I was the next-to-last person to leave.
I will say that I got home without incident. Police around the area are stepping up enforcement this weekend, but I didn't see one. Nor did I run into any telephone poles, thank God. But I knew I was too fucking drunk to do anything but get back home as safe as possible -- no stripclubs, no coffee, no late-night Italian, just home.
Once I did get home I went upstairs, changed real quick, and tried to go to sleep. Well, I couldn't, although I felt really, really awful. What sometimes helps was turning on the TV, and the Pacers-Knicks game was on, so I did that and hoped I would fall asleep with the beautiful patter of Mike Breen and Jeff Van Gundy. After several minutes, it worked. Conked off a bit past 9, woke up a bit after 3.
I will also say this: I remember just about everything. People say when they're drunk they don't remember anything. I do remember everything, and that's a good thing. I remember slowly losing control of my senses and not feeling good about it. And when I got into bed and felt like I was rolling downward into the middle of it I remember I was too dizzy to be doing anything, and that I was stupid to even think I could stay out after that. I remember I have to reschedule all of things I planned on doing last night, specifically going to My Favorite Stripclub (Non-Cover Edition) for the first time in weeks and eating at My Favorite Late-Night Italian Place for the first time in months. Finally, I remember feeling like I wanted to vomit all over the bed, which is bad, because since my parents are away I have slept in my sister's bigger, quieter, cooler bedroom, and I would have to clean up a lot of shit if I did that.
How did I end up this way? I grew up fearing beer because of what it would do to me. Shit, I just about pissed my pants the first time I went to a frat party and some stranger just rolled out a can to me. My first taste of alcohol, I think, was champagne out in Los Angeles when I couldn't come home for Thanksgiving. But now I've done this. And people do this all the time, and like to do it all the time?
So no, I'm done with getting drunk. Because of last night, and the hangover I'm still suffering from, I cannot and will not do this shit again. And I hope to Buddha and God that I never put myself in this position ever again.
Saturday, May 11, 2013
Where Did My Favorite ATF Go?
I went to My Favorite Stripclub (Cover Division -- wait a second, have I said on Wailing And Failing that the club downtown is My Favorite Stripclub [Cover Version]? I like it, but I've been to the club that I went to last night more, so therefore that's My Favorite Stripclub [Cover Edition], and if I said otherwise, I apologize, but I want to make that clear now) to see my ATF.
As I always do I go to the DJ booth to check if she's there. She's always there, so doing that is nothing more than a reflex. However, last night I didn't see her placard on the magnetic board. She wasn't there! Whoa!!!
She always works. This place is closed only on Sundays, but for as long as I have known her (and it's been close to a decade) she has worked every night shift. Now, saying that, she has told me during our table dances together that she has taken quick weekend trips out-of-state. Not like I don't believe her, but every time I've gone, she's been there. Having said that, I have usually gone to see her during holidays, and I don't know why, but she's usually in town working around the holidays.
This obviously is not a holiday, but I was still shocked that, for the first time in about ten years, she was not there. Where did she go? I assume she was on vacation, but maybe something came up? She doesn't have any kids as far as I know, but she says she takes care of her mom, who is somewhat infirm. I hope her absence isn't for something bad.
Meanwhile, without seeing her walk around the club, my plans were ruined and changed. I didn't plan on riding the rail all night, tipping the girls onstage. But with her not there for the 8-12 dances I wanted to get from her, that proved to be the best thing to do. Plus, as I said in my previous blog post, I have suddenly become concerned with spending money; I would not call not having my ATF there a blessing in disguise, but it's a hell of an excuse to save up.
That parsimony was further bolstered by the large number of people at the stage willing to tip, and a lot. I usually give two bucks per stripper, one for each of the two songs she's on for. But there were so many customers throwing dollars, each dancer had to give time to each one, and if that particular guy (or girl) threw several at her ass or vagina she was showing him or her, she'd spend a little more time. Therefore, this night I only shelled out a buck per girl, something that has never happened before. I spent a total of $15 on the rail. I've spent that much on stage tips on visits whenever I was the only one at the rail; in those instances I would spend $2 or sometimes $3 per stripper to make sure she wasn't embarrassed or bored onstage and I wouldn't get embarrassed for not tipping enough, and in so doing I would drain my bank account faster than I wanted to, so I got up and left the stage. But this time, with the help of all the people who had no inclination of going to the fishing opener, that $15 in tips (plus the $6 for the Coke and tip and the $8 for the cover), that $15 allowed me to stay on the rail for a total of, get this, an hour and 45 minutes.
It was 1:30 by the time I got up and reluctantly made myself available for dances. That was good because it gave me a chance to sample something good, but only for 15 minutes before the club closed. Eight-to-twelve dances with another girl that wasn't my ATF and I would feel like I was cheating. So I welcomed the first girl from the stage rotation who came by and asked me. Her stage name is Justice, and although I didn't think she had a pretty face, looking up close and seeing her just-bigger-than-average tits up close convinced me I was wrong. Also, like most of the women there, she's can hold a conversation. Justice has a lot of tattoos, but they all tell a story.
Best of all, we were puzzled when the club said the dances were over. It felt like the DJ gave us a two-song warning, but stopped playing the music and told everyone to go home after only one song. Because of that, Justice said she was cool with me paying her for a total of three dances, not four like we anticipated. You never hear any dancer be OK with getting less money. Seriously, people, get dances from Justice.
Nevertheless this raises a dilemma. I don't think my ATF has moved on. But if she does, and I guess it's inevitable some time on our journey through Life, would I go back to My Favorite Stripclub (Cover Division)? The club itself is fine, but I go to this place mostly because of her. And without her, I don't know if I want to start over going to this stripclub with someone else. Besides, it's pretty fucking far. And the fact that this is the only stripclub that offers full nudity and alcohol isn't enough of a reason. Any thoughts out there on what I should do, or what you would do?
---
Meanwhile, I'm going to think of Justice as well as the Hooters girl from just before going to My Favorite Stripclub (Cover Version). The waitress was someone I've been serviced by before, but she was kind of cold to me last night, but she left early and I was able to see her in her civilian clothes, which were short white shorts and a top that bared her belly. Wow. So I am going to masturbate now before leaving for lunch. Lates.
As I always do I go to the DJ booth to check if she's there. She's always there, so doing that is nothing more than a reflex. However, last night I didn't see her placard on the magnetic board. She wasn't there! Whoa!!!
She always works. This place is closed only on Sundays, but for as long as I have known her (and it's been close to a decade) she has worked every night shift. Now, saying that, she has told me during our table dances together that she has taken quick weekend trips out-of-state. Not like I don't believe her, but every time I've gone, she's been there. Having said that, I have usually gone to see her during holidays, and I don't know why, but she's usually in town working around the holidays.
This obviously is not a holiday, but I was still shocked that, for the first time in about ten years, she was not there. Where did she go? I assume she was on vacation, but maybe something came up? She doesn't have any kids as far as I know, but she says she takes care of her mom, who is somewhat infirm. I hope her absence isn't for something bad.
Meanwhile, without seeing her walk around the club, my plans were ruined and changed. I didn't plan on riding the rail all night, tipping the girls onstage. But with her not there for the 8-12 dances I wanted to get from her, that proved to be the best thing to do. Plus, as I said in my previous blog post, I have suddenly become concerned with spending money; I would not call not having my ATF there a blessing in disguise, but it's a hell of an excuse to save up.
That parsimony was further bolstered by the large number of people at the stage willing to tip, and a lot. I usually give two bucks per stripper, one for each of the two songs she's on for. But there were so many customers throwing dollars, each dancer had to give time to each one, and if that particular guy (or girl) threw several at her ass or vagina she was showing him or her, she'd spend a little more time. Therefore, this night I only shelled out a buck per girl, something that has never happened before. I spent a total of $15 on the rail. I've spent that much on stage tips on visits whenever I was the only one at the rail; in those instances I would spend $2 or sometimes $3 per stripper to make sure she wasn't embarrassed or bored onstage and I wouldn't get embarrassed for not tipping enough, and in so doing I would drain my bank account faster than I wanted to, so I got up and left the stage. But this time, with the help of all the people who had no inclination of going to the fishing opener, that $15 in tips (plus the $6 for the Coke and tip and the $8 for the cover), that $15 allowed me to stay on the rail for a total of, get this, an hour and 45 minutes.
It was 1:30 by the time I got up and reluctantly made myself available for dances. That was good because it gave me a chance to sample something good, but only for 15 minutes before the club closed. Eight-to-twelve dances with another girl that wasn't my ATF and I would feel like I was cheating. So I welcomed the first girl from the stage rotation who came by and asked me. Her stage name is Justice, and although I didn't think she had a pretty face, looking up close and seeing her just-bigger-than-average tits up close convinced me I was wrong. Also, like most of the women there, she's can hold a conversation. Justice has a lot of tattoos, but they all tell a story.
Best of all, we were puzzled when the club said the dances were over. It felt like the DJ gave us a two-song warning, but stopped playing the music and told everyone to go home after only one song. Because of that, Justice said she was cool with me paying her for a total of three dances, not four like we anticipated. You never hear any dancer be OK with getting less money. Seriously, people, get dances from Justice.
Nevertheless this raises a dilemma. I don't think my ATF has moved on. But if she does, and I guess it's inevitable some time on our journey through Life, would I go back to My Favorite Stripclub (Cover Division)? The club itself is fine, but I go to this place mostly because of her. And without her, I don't know if I want to start over going to this stripclub with someone else. Besides, it's pretty fucking far. And the fact that this is the only stripclub that offers full nudity and alcohol isn't enough of a reason. Any thoughts out there on what I should do, or what you would do?
---
Meanwhile, I'm going to think of Justice as well as the Hooters girl from just before going to My Favorite Stripclub (Cover Version). The waitress was someone I've been serviced by before, but she was kind of cold to me last night, but she left early and I was able to see her in her civilian clothes, which were short white shorts and a top that bared her belly. Wow. So I am going to masturbate now before leaving for lunch. Lates.
Friday, May 10, 2013
When I Should Have Time Off
We got done this morning before break. I have become increasingly obsessed with the two people in my group who are faster than me by miles. I was going to accuse them (well, not confront them at work, just, you know, accuse them in my head) of working so fast they alone got us to end work in the morning, much earlier than either of my two previous years on this project. But if you take into account the overtime we had never had during the workweek before and tack on those extra hours at the end of our day today, we would be done shortly before the end of day this afternoon. So maybe it's a wash.
--
I bought chocolates for the room; going to bring it to work next week. But the Ballotin (what's a ballotin? Something French, therefore something fancy) from Godiva is $90. I should have checked what the total price was for the L.A. Burdick chocolates I bought the room the last two years (including shipping). And then I should add that to the total amount of bread, peanut butter and jelly I bought to make PB&J sandwiches for the room the last two years, then compare that to the total of the Godiva Ballotin and the donuts I got for work (big hit, by the way, and oh! I should pimp them -- A Baker's Wife, legendary shop that is so mom-and-pop they still don't have a website, but who cares, their donuts are so good!).
I am so glad for the money I'm making right now. But the price of the Godiva, even though I knew how much it would be by researching beforehand, still gave me sticker-shock. With the combination of my parents being away and me having been "furloughed" till Tuesday (this is unlike the "furlough" at the flu billing agency, which I thought was temporary but turned permanent), I have a lot of free time on my hands. I am going to take the opportunity to buy and do things, from fertilize the lawn to go to stripclubs. And although I am way far beyond the three-figure threshold on my checking account for now, and although I have a big check coming next week, I'm not sure if I can splurge as much as I want. It's because of my pending unemployment and my trip to Kansas City. I may or may not talk about that later.
So anyway, yeah, I went to the Mall of America and got chocolates and it was expensive. Good thing I didn't spend anything out of my wallet the past two days.
---
Speaking of peanut butter and jelly ... finished my Frequent Jucy Lucy Card at The 5-8. Thought I was done already, but apparently I wasn't. You have to buy one each of the five Jucy Lucys they have. The last one for me to complete the card, get a t-shirt and get a free Jucy Lucy next time was the one I did not want to eat, the one I avoided eating if at all possible to finish the Card: The PB & J.
Hey, I love peanut butter and jelly, and I love burgers. But I know I wouldn't like peanut butter-and-jelly burgers. If they were supposed to go together, God would have made me eat PB&J Jucy Lucys before today. But I had to eat it today.
Even seeing what looked like gobs of jelly at the bottom of a basket underneath my fries already took me aback. Some of the jelly got on the fries, and I'm not a man to waste food, so I ate the fry with jelly ... and wouldn't you know, it tasted really good!!! No, I'm lying, it tasted horrible, just like I thought. It didn't get better when I bit into those twin burgers, releasing the peanut butter in the middle. It tasted like too many cooks spoiling the broth. And so the peanut butter and jelly ruined the hamburger, and vice versa.
But hey, I got the t-shirt! And my bowels are regular, too!
---
In anticipation of my very short stint at work this morning -- I thought we were going to finished by 9, possibly even by 8:30 -- I furiously rinsed a set of beer bottles I got when my alumni group had an outing making beer. We did this over a year ago, and my family and I took basically all that time to drink it. I wouldn't call us brewmasters; the first bottles weren't all that great. And we had more than half of my stash left after the three- or six-month time period, so I was secretly scared that those bottles would be undrinkable. They weren't great, but they weren't undrinkable, and hey, we're still alive. Anyway, we were supposed to rinse them in hot water three times and them give them back for money.
I looked at the bottom of the bottles, and most if not all of them looked OK. But when I brought them back, the guy rejected most of the bottles. I thought they were clean, but they weren't up to the store's standards. However, the guy gave me another chance at washing them. However however, I have to soak the tainted bottles in the sink downstairs overnight in water with a capful of bleach. I don't have a stopper that keeps the sink loaded overnight. So what am I going to do?
---
I went everywhere today, all over the Twin Cities, from Bloomington to MOA, to Cedar Ave., to St. Paul, through the heart of the cities (that was already backed up; fucking construction), to downtown (which would have been a shorter distance to the car wash, but it took a long time), to Central Ave. where I was going to get my car washed (was watching the TV at The 5-8 and saw the extended forecast had no rain, and I thought, Wait, I haven't had the car washed in months because of all the bad weather -- now's the time!), to the hardware store, to home. I did a number on my car. Sounded like the "second sound" from my transmission is back. I don't like making it go through these paces, especially the stop-and-go traffic I already subject it to going to and from work. But beyond the "second sound" (which could be just my imagination) it seemed to do well.
That convinces me, however, to use my parents' minivan unbeknownst to them. It's time my car got a break. Besides, you don't want to rest a car for ten days. It's rested four; that's long enough. Shit, if this contractor goes I'm going to take the minivan tonight.
---
Oh yeah, the money. Took out $200 out of my ATM and I think I'm going to use all of it before I hit the hay tonight. Surprisingly, I made three cash transactions today that each totaled about $15: Getting Powerball tickets at the Megamall Holiday store, eating at The 5-8, and the car wash. But that has already depleted my bankroll by 25%. Hooters and the stripclub just outside of MSP are next.
But, all in all, a productive day. This is perfect: Working to make money, then having a little time off so I can actually do the other things I need to do. Like take a nap after I got home.
--
I bought chocolates for the room; going to bring it to work next week. But the Ballotin (what's a ballotin? Something French, therefore something fancy) from Godiva is $90. I should have checked what the total price was for the L.A. Burdick chocolates I bought the room the last two years (including shipping). And then I should add that to the total amount of bread, peanut butter and jelly I bought to make PB&J sandwiches for the room the last two years, then compare that to the total of the Godiva Ballotin and the donuts I got for work (big hit, by the way, and oh! I should pimp them -- A Baker's Wife, legendary shop that is so mom-and-pop they still don't have a website, but who cares, their donuts are so good!).
I am so glad for the money I'm making right now. But the price of the Godiva, even though I knew how much it would be by researching beforehand, still gave me sticker-shock. With the combination of my parents being away and me having been "furloughed" till Tuesday (this is unlike the "furlough" at the flu billing agency, which I thought was temporary but turned permanent), I have a lot of free time on my hands. I am going to take the opportunity to buy and do things, from fertilize the lawn to go to stripclubs. And although I am way far beyond the three-figure threshold on my checking account for now, and although I have a big check coming next week, I'm not sure if I can splurge as much as I want. It's because of my pending unemployment and my trip to Kansas City. I may or may not talk about that later.
So anyway, yeah, I went to the Mall of America and got chocolates and it was expensive. Good thing I didn't spend anything out of my wallet the past two days.
---
Speaking of peanut butter and jelly ... finished my Frequent Jucy Lucy Card at The 5-8. Thought I was done already, but apparently I wasn't. You have to buy one each of the five Jucy Lucys they have. The last one for me to complete the card, get a t-shirt and get a free Jucy Lucy next time was the one I did not want to eat, the one I avoided eating if at all possible to finish the Card: The PB & J.
Hey, I love peanut butter and jelly, and I love burgers. But I know I wouldn't like peanut butter-and-jelly burgers. If they were supposed to go together, God would have made me eat PB&J Jucy Lucys before today. But I had to eat it today.
Even seeing what looked like gobs of jelly at the bottom of a basket underneath my fries already took me aback. Some of the jelly got on the fries, and I'm not a man to waste food, so I ate the fry with jelly ... and wouldn't you know, it tasted really good!!! No, I'm lying, it tasted horrible, just like I thought. It didn't get better when I bit into those twin burgers, releasing the peanut butter in the middle. It tasted like too many cooks spoiling the broth. And so the peanut butter and jelly ruined the hamburger, and vice versa.
But hey, I got the t-shirt! And my bowels are regular, too!
---
In anticipation of my very short stint at work this morning -- I thought we were going to finished by 9, possibly even by 8:30 -- I furiously rinsed a set of beer bottles I got when my alumni group had an outing making beer. We did this over a year ago, and my family and I took basically all that time to drink it. I wouldn't call us brewmasters; the first bottles weren't all that great. And we had more than half of my stash left after the three- or six-month time period, so I was secretly scared that those bottles would be undrinkable. They weren't great, but they weren't undrinkable, and hey, we're still alive. Anyway, we were supposed to rinse them in hot water three times and them give them back for money.
I looked at the bottom of the bottles, and most if not all of them looked OK. But when I brought them back, the guy rejected most of the bottles. I thought they were clean, but they weren't up to the store's standards. However, the guy gave me another chance at washing them. However however, I have to soak the tainted bottles in the sink downstairs overnight in water with a capful of bleach. I don't have a stopper that keeps the sink loaded overnight. So what am I going to do?
---
I went everywhere today, all over the Twin Cities, from Bloomington to MOA, to Cedar Ave., to St. Paul, through the heart of the cities (that was already backed up; fucking construction), to downtown (which would have been a shorter distance to the car wash, but it took a long time), to Central Ave. where I was going to get my car washed (was watching the TV at The 5-8 and saw the extended forecast had no rain, and I thought, Wait, I haven't had the car washed in months because of all the bad weather -- now's the time!), to the hardware store, to home. I did a number on my car. Sounded like the "second sound" from my transmission is back. I don't like making it go through these paces, especially the stop-and-go traffic I already subject it to going to and from work. But beyond the "second sound" (which could be just my imagination) it seemed to do well.
That convinces me, however, to use my parents' minivan unbeknownst to them. It's time my car got a break. Besides, you don't want to rest a car for ten days. It's rested four; that's long enough. Shit, if this contractor goes I'm going to take the minivan tonight.
---
Oh yeah, the money. Took out $200 out of my ATM and I think I'm going to use all of it before I hit the hay tonight. Surprisingly, I made three cash transactions today that each totaled about $15: Getting Powerball tickets at the Megamall Holiday store, eating at The 5-8, and the car wash. But that has already depleted my bankroll by 25%. Hooters and the stripclub just outside of MSP are next.
But, all in all, a productive day. This is perfect: Working to make money, then having a little time off so I can actually do the other things I need to do. Like take a nap after I got home.
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Changes To Satellite Radio
Because National/Minnesota Public Radio started their pledge drive today -- something I sheepishly stay away from while they're doing it because it's debasing -- I am going to be listening to a little more satellite radio on my way to and from work.
Today, in preparation for a hellish commute (which turned out not to be so hellish; I got home only a little bit after 6!!!) I turn it on and, while still trying to pay attention to the road, flip through my pre-programmed favorites. Except that one was not coming in. Even taking into account bad reception -- the highway dips low for a spell, which often means Sirius XM cuts out -- it still wasn't coming in. So, at the risk of running into a car, I look and down and see that when I hit Favorite No. 10, it reverts back to The Joint, Favorite No. 9. Which means only one thing: There has been a channel change.
And yep, it happened, today. No biggie because I have to confess something: That channel is one I never listened to. In fact, I'm not quite sure if that channel that got moved was Christina Radio, which I think it was. I didn't have the intention of listening to Hispanic talk radio. This is the result of yet another channel realignment that happened before today. That channel, 143 I think (just checked; it either is or was BYU Radio ... shit, I have no idea what channel number No. 10 is!), was the traffic channel for the Twin Cities. When 143 was given to Christina Radio, I forgot how to reprogram my Favorites. And it's be a long time if I've kept the same numbers as it has realigned yet again.
I was too lazy, but now that Channel 143/Favorite No. 10 is being unused on my receiver, I think it's time I look into it.
Today, in preparation for a hellish commute (which turned out not to be so hellish; I got home only a little bit after 6!!!) I turn it on and, while still trying to pay attention to the road, flip through my pre-programmed favorites. Except that one was not coming in. Even taking into account bad reception -- the highway dips low for a spell, which often means Sirius XM cuts out -- it still wasn't coming in. So, at the risk of running into a car, I look and down and see that when I hit Favorite No. 10, it reverts back to The Joint, Favorite No. 9. Which means only one thing: There has been a channel change.
And yep, it happened, today. No biggie because I have to confess something: That channel is one I never listened to. In fact, I'm not quite sure if that channel that got moved was Christina Radio, which I think it was. I didn't have the intention of listening to Hispanic talk radio. This is the result of yet another channel realignment that happened before today. That channel, 143 I think (just checked; it either is or was BYU Radio ... shit, I have no idea what channel number No. 10 is!), was the traffic channel for the Twin Cities. When 143 was given to Christina Radio, I forgot how to reprogram my Favorites. And it's be a long time if I've kept the same numbers as it has realigned yet again.
I was too lazy, but now that Channel 143/Favorite No. 10 is being unused on my receiver, I think it's time I look into it.
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
The End Is Near
And the end of my assignment is closer than I initially thought.
There are a couple of people, and I think they're both on my team, that work fast. I mean, real fast. I mean, too fast. And I think partly on account of that, my side of the room will finish our project up some time early tomorrow, probably, I say, before noon.
This project I have been a part of now for three years and this is the first time we could get done with this before the final Friday. Before we left early on that Friday, but we always made it to that Friday. Not anymore. Should we blame those working too fast for being selfish? Don't know.
Thank goodness I am now on the "other side" of the room because they needed help. It appears they have been so slow -- no Ayn Rand rabbits there fucking it up for the rest of us -- that they were in serious jeopardy of not finishing by the Friday deadline. So, with us helping out -- and it's great to be wanted because it shows they like me -- they will get done on time.
But maybe too done. The supervisor announced this afternoon that the expectation, what she wants, is to be done by tomorrow. Tomorrow? Can't we be done by Friday? What's the hurry?
That kind of fucks up my plans. I was working with the intention of having five days of work. Now, I need something to do. Guess I would have chores at home to take care of, for example, but that would entail spending money, and despite all the overtime I've put in, I am not in a position where I can just go out. And speaking of OT, we were given permission to work overtime last and now this week. I am, therefore, kind of puzzled why we would get done so early and thus not get OT. Was she worried that we wouldn't get done in time and overcorrected? I could use the overtime pay, but if it turns out that we will get done by tomorrow -- and the chance that my side of the room will be finished is pretty high; we won't make it to end of day Thursday, I bet -- there's no OT. Hell, there won't be a full paycheck this week, and I kind of expected that. Guess I shouldn't expect when it comes to this line of work.
One thing that might balance this all out so I won't as pissed off as I am right now: The previous two years we did not have weekly overtime, just an extra five-hour session on a Saturday. If I take all the hours I worked extra from last and this week and tacked it onto whatever time we finish with the entire project, we probably would get into Friday. In other words, this year we probably would finish around the same time as we did last year and the year before. Logically, maybe I shouldn't get all bent out of shape that I now have to look for work sooner than I wanted.
Oh, one other change from my previous years: The final week, where we look through potential test questions for the future, begins not Monday but Tuesday. They say they need to prepare on Monday, which I can understand. The Monday I have off, however, may not be a bad thing. This gives me options to, for example, go to My Favorite Stripclub (Cover Edition), a place I haven't been to in a long time. And since my folks aren't home, even better.
One thing I won't mind missing after this whole job is over, or Monday, or Friday, or even tomorrow afternoon: The traffic. I just don't how long my afternoon commute will be. Monday I got home in about 35 minutes. Today it took me an hour, a goddamn hour, to fucking get home. I just done lost my mind.
There are a couple of people, and I think they're both on my team, that work fast. I mean, real fast. I mean, too fast. And I think partly on account of that, my side of the room will finish our project up some time early tomorrow, probably, I say, before noon.
This project I have been a part of now for three years and this is the first time we could get done with this before the final Friday. Before we left early on that Friday, but we always made it to that Friday. Not anymore. Should we blame those working too fast for being selfish? Don't know.
Thank goodness I am now on the "other side" of the room because they needed help. It appears they have been so slow -- no Ayn Rand rabbits there fucking it up for the rest of us -- that they were in serious jeopardy of not finishing by the Friday deadline. So, with us helping out -- and it's great to be wanted because it shows they like me -- they will get done on time.
But maybe too done. The supervisor announced this afternoon that the expectation, what she wants, is to be done by tomorrow. Tomorrow? Can't we be done by Friday? What's the hurry?
That kind of fucks up my plans. I was working with the intention of having five days of work. Now, I need something to do. Guess I would have chores at home to take care of, for example, but that would entail spending money, and despite all the overtime I've put in, I am not in a position where I can just go out. And speaking of OT, we were given permission to work overtime last and now this week. I am, therefore, kind of puzzled why we would get done so early and thus not get OT. Was she worried that we wouldn't get done in time and overcorrected? I could use the overtime pay, but if it turns out that we will get done by tomorrow -- and the chance that my side of the room will be finished is pretty high; we won't make it to end of day Thursday, I bet -- there's no OT. Hell, there won't be a full paycheck this week, and I kind of expected that. Guess I shouldn't expect when it comes to this line of work.
One thing that might balance this all out so I won't as pissed off as I am right now: The previous two years we did not have weekly overtime, just an extra five-hour session on a Saturday. If I take all the hours I worked extra from last and this week and tacked it onto whatever time we finish with the entire project, we probably would get into Friday. In other words, this year we probably would finish around the same time as we did last year and the year before. Logically, maybe I shouldn't get all bent out of shape that I now have to look for work sooner than I wanted.
Oh, one other change from my previous years: The final week, where we look through potential test questions for the future, begins not Monday but Tuesday. They say they need to prepare on Monday, which I can understand. The Monday I have off, however, may not be a bad thing. This gives me options to, for example, go to My Favorite Stripclub (Cover Edition), a place I haven't been to in a long time. And since my folks aren't home, even better.
One thing I won't mind missing after this whole job is over, or Monday, or Friday, or even tomorrow afternoon: The traffic. I just don't how long my afternoon commute will be. Monday I got home in about 35 minutes. Today it took me an hour, a goddamn hour, to fucking get home. I just done lost my mind.
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