13-Hour Days? Sure, Why Not?

Knew this was coming, partially because the scanning got so backed up, partially because this happened last season.  Yesterday (Tuesday) our room boss said that she was extending hours we could work.  Starting from Friday it was 7:30-5.  Now it's 7-6.  And assuming that they're still hellbent on sticking to their drop-dead date, those are going to be the maximum hours for a while, if not all the way till the end.  Actually, come to think of it, we had even more extended hours a couple days last year.

Working 10 1/2 hours is already a grind.  Hell, looking at papers for 10 1/2 minutes has been a struggle for me.  And I've been dragging ever since I started the night project.  Man, the 45-60 I drive from Bloomington to Plymouth, replete with afternoon rush traffic and relying on Waze to keep up my pace by cutting through side streets on the way to the other test scoring project -- it takes my soul.  And I'm not sleeping well nor enough at night, either.  I've been really tirangry the past few workdays, especially Tuesday, and that has been reflected by my really bad attitude.  Oof, I must be a handful to deal with at work!

So I react to this by decided that I will go to work at 7 this morning and, because I need to get to my night project in time, leave at 4:30, like I have been doing.  A nine-hour day, followed by an hour on the road, followed by another four hours at night?  Yeah, I think I can do it.  Hey, YOLO, right?  This should be over this week, when the night project should -- should -- finish up.  Hope I make it till then without harming myself or other people.

I should expound on this further, but let's just say that I have to make hay while the sun shines.  Meaning, I should go to bed now.

My Fucking Father Is Back To Acting Passive-Aggressively Again

So yesterday (Monday/Memorial) morning I went out in the morning.  I actually wanted to go downtown to see the English Championship Playoff Final/Promo Game, where Huddersfield Town (and longtime fan Sir Patrick Stewart himself) beat Reading on contrived Penalty Kicks.  But when I saw Mother on my way out, I told her I wanted to exercise and then I was spending some time with a friend over lunch.

She said OK, then she told me to wait and she ran into the master bedroom.  That's where My Fucking Father was, and I overheard her asking, "Do you want him to drop you off?  I'll pick you up later," to which he refused.  Apparently Mother had plans too; she was going shopping, as is one's want on a day as solemn as Memorial Day.

See, these are the times I regret just leaving out the door every morning, including weekends.  I know that these days my parents are spending their time going around their properties cleaning up garbage in order to sell them.  It's a long process to unwind, and I figure that I could help with something during weekends.  Although I really wanted to watch this Promo Game, I easily could have spent the day with my folks cleaning up one of their houses.  Really, I would have, gladly -- provided they tell me this ahead of time.  Last weekend, during the week, even the night before?  That's enough of a head's-up.  But not the morning of, not when I was bolting out the door.  Now, if My Fucking Father did say yes, I would have no choice but to help him.  But he didn't.

Yet I knew my old man, and I think that all was an excuse so he could be passive-aggressive.  He confirmed that, passive-aggressively, when he barked, "Eat!" for dinner while I was in my room.  I gave him the Powerball tickets he wanted me to buy for him anyway.

I got done eating, and this time I didn't bother to ask if they needed help washing the table.  I scurried for my room, and after lolling around in my bed checking my smart, I felt this wave of unconsciousness attack me.  Getting only 5 1/2 hours of sleep on a day where I could have slept in (or helped my parents out with real estate stuff) took its toll, even if I did sleep two hours Sunday evening.

I know that My Fucking Father knew that I retreated into bed and fell asleep.  He hates that.  Hates it.  For some unknown goddamn reason he hates it.  So, just as I was falling asleep I hear foot stomps just outside my door.  And then I hear this ungodly clanging of pots and pans, all the while the water from the kitchen sink was as loud as I ever heard it.  And My Fucking Father was just scouring and scrubbing and pouring out and clanging whatever the fuck he was cleaning either onto the drying rack or putting them away.  He was trying to wake me up, that's for damn sure.  Just for some perceived slight he's had against me since the day I was born.  And that motherfucker succeeded, unfortunately.

The night project is extending through this week, much to my surprise.  As tired as I am working 12-4 hours, that may be a blessing in disguise, at least for now.  I know some fucking talk about finding a job or going back to school is in order very soon, so maybe avoiding getting into a situation enough days will make him forget.  Oh, who am I kidding -- he'll start yelling at me about that bullshit the next time I have dinner at home no matter how many times I don't have dinner with them.

Why did I have to be born with a goddamn prick for a father?

Sunday Was Rudeness Day, Apparently

I don't know, man, but yesterday (Sunday) people were just pissy all over.  There was the owner at Caffetto, who threw down my change in front of me instead of handing it to me.  There was My Asshole Brother who, after I texted him advice on what to expect when getting Comcast, just replied, "No" (not even a period, brother?).  And then there was the Comcast bitch, Rhonda, who, after throwing me a card with the installation appointment day and time and asking, "Is there anything else?" to which I stammered out a no because I wasn't quite sure if I had no more questions, she blew me off by saying "Thank you, bye-bye," while not making eye contact with me at all.  Something on her computer was totally transfixing her, like maybe Candy Crush.  Oh, that good ol' Comcast customer service.

You know, I really am not big on manners.  But with all the bullshit I got yesterday, I am big on manners right now.  Was it just that it's a holiday weekend and people just didn't want to be nice and instead wanted to be real?  Is that it?  The worst is Comcast, partly because I was and am still afraid of their notoriously shitty customer service, partly because I knew all of that shit and still decided to sign up for them anyway.  At this point they've got me by the shorthairs.  Rhonda, by fucking God, I hope to need to deal with your bitch-ass face ever again.

Went to Wendy's for a late lunch, and even though the service was better -- the manager was actually nice to me, and the two other people who helped with my order at least weren't rude -- the service wasn't really that competent.  It took me five minutes to get my "fast" food order.  This day I'll take slow and not rude over fast and rude.  But shit, can I at least get someone who's both professional and competent, please?

So thank Buddha for the young woman who helped me get tickets at the gas station close to my house before I came home.  You don't need years of experience; just a good attitude and the understanding you're there to help someone.  That's not too much to ask.

The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey

#-1: Lynx (Last Week: -1).  The Jynx is the last team that's undefeated in the Women's National Basketball Association, but I don't know if I've had more doubts of a team that has started off 5-0.  The squad claimed both ends of a home-and-home with the Connecticut Sun, but the game at home (well, the X instead of Target) Tuesday finished 80-78.  I don't know if their 82-68 win at Mohegan Sun is indicative that they've turned a corner or something.  Point Guard play remains suspect, and the rebounding could be better.  And the team isn't getting any younger.

Hmmm, interesting ... the team plays only two games, both on weekends.  Tonight they host San Antonio, and they play at Seattle Saturday.

#-2: Twins (Last Week: -2).  Hey, hey, hey ... a 5-2 screening week keeps the Twinks atop the American League Central!  Pitching remains solid, led by an unheard-of (and hopefully natural) start of the year by Ervin Santana, who, if he and the team keep succeeding like this, definitely should not be traded.  The lineup is hitting too, even though Miguel Sano has slumped to the point where he sat out yesterday's (Saturday's) and today's (Sunday's) games.  And Byron Buxton still can't hit, but the rest of the bats appear to have taken up some of the slack so that the organization has accepted his limitations.  Hey, things could be better, but it could be worse, and if they can keep this up and improve on their weaknesses, these guys are going to stick around.

They finish up the series against the Bay Rays of Tampa at Target today/Sunday, then The Best Team In Major League Baseball, the Houston Astros, come to town for three games starting tomorrow (Monday).  They then embark on a three-series road trip starting in Anaheim against the legendary Mike Trout and the Angels for four games beginning on Thursday.

#-3: United FC (Re-Entry!).  Did someone say that Christian Ramirez couldn't play in Major League Soccer?  The way he's been playing the last two matches I wonder how he hadn't gotten picked up by another team before this year.

The man they call Superman scored three Goals in Sunday's match against Los Angeles and last (Saturday's) match vs. Orlando.  One of them was an athletic, slow-bounding side kick to tie the Galaxy at 1.  Another of them came off a fantastic backheel flick from the mercurial Johan Venegas that sprung into an open area in front of Ramirez; he eluded the OCSC Goalkeeper and another defender before tapping it in.  That resulted in that match's only score and broke a two-game losing streak (and extended to six a streak where the Lions have not won a game).  The third, unfortunately, extended that losing streak to two; off of a Corner Kick, the ball found Ramirez's foot and skittered past Bobby Shuttleworth to give L.A. a 2-1 win.

One other thing I want to point out is that I saw a lot of individual prowess in last night's win.  Ismaila Jome headed a 50/50 ball into open space, which continued a forward run.  I mentioned the Venegas flick.  Francisco Calvo took the ball out of the defensive half using a spin-o-rama.  And Ibson (who was on the cover of last night's roster card) kept possession of the ball with this weird spinning move where he had one knee on the pitch.  It was a sight to behold, but the almost 19,000 at TCF Bank Stadium was able to say "Whoa!" several times last/Saturday night.

Saturday they go to Kansas City.

#-Infinity: Gopher baseball and Gopher softball (Last Week, respectively: -3 and -4).  OK, let's get the baseball Nine out of the way first.  They fought, and they fought hard.  The greatest moment probably was their second match-up with Big Ten Tournament host Indiana in an elim game.  The U. was down 6-0 before crawling back with four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning.  The Hoosiers scratched in single runs in the top of the seventh and eighth innings to make their lead 8-4.  But they came back to lead and, it turns out, win the game with five runs in the bottom of the eighth, the last three of which came on a Home Run from pinch-hitting Eduardo Estrada, Jr.  Wow.  That was fucking thrilling.

That put them into a contest with Iowa, which they won by tripling the Hawkeyes, 9-3.  (Oh, they started off the tourney by beating Indiana, 5-4 and losing to Northwestern, 11-7.)  But their luck ran out last (Saturday) night, 7-5 in 13 innings.  Again, a hell of a run.  But they needed to win this whole shebang to make a repeat appearance in the NCAAs, and due to a late-season swoon including dropping series to Long Beach St. and Purdue, their season is officially done.

But let's talk about the failure that is the University of Minnesota softball team.  Yeah, yeah, they lost to a very tough Alabama team by a pair of 1-0 scores, blah-blah-blah.  You guys had the balls to play the disrespect card and wear t-shirts that said "Win Anyway."  Well, you didn't fucking win, did you?  DID YOU?!?!?!

They needed to win the Regional.  I don't care that it was on the road.  If you're as lofty as you say you are, and if the polls say you are (the coaches gave the U. a bone by ranking them #1 after getting snubbed), then you march into Tuscaloosa and win.  Period.  And they didn't.  Which -- and I said this last week -- means that the NCAA was totally right in saying that Minnesota was not one of the 16-best teams in top-flight softball, despite having the best record and the most wins in Div. I.  They were seeded appropriately.  They did not deserve a host.  And those fucking goddamn losses are the reasons why.

What a humiliating end to the college career of Pitcher Sara Groenewegen.  Made the NCAA Tournament all four years, but the program only won one Regional during her tenure.  Yeah, she is The Greatest Gopher Softball Player In History, but after this, so fucking what?

You know, I'll bet that the NCAA will give Minnesota a host next year even though Head Coach Jessica Allister will have nowhere near the club she (supposedly at least) had this year.  What fucking trolls.

RIP, Chris Cornell

I hate it that you never really appreciate your heroes until they're gone.

I got hooked on Soundgarden after getting turned onto Superunknown after my friends started listening to it.  Soundgarden set themselves apart from Nirvana and Pearl Jam in that they understood and, if not embraced, accepted the commercial and marketing aspects of promoting their music.  I remember back when the Internet was breaking, going on my brother's Prodigy account (remember Prodigy?) and seeing Cornell answer some fan's message or e-mail about how he makes a song.  Seeing that has just stuck with me.  In a sense, that's how I got hooked on Soundgarden.  And Superunknown is, in my estimation, The Best Record I Have Ever Heard.

I don't have too many people I revere.  Shit, I guess I don't really revere anyone who hasn't sucked my dick.  (I don't mean to be glib, but that's the truth.)  But when it comes to music, I don't know if there is any band and/or artist I love more than Soundgarden.  John Mellencamp, maybe (and this reminds me that he's going to be in concert at the State Fair this summer -- mental note: See him before he's gone).  But yeah, it's Soundgarden.  Cornell's one-of-a-kind caterwauling, the band's obsession and mastery of fucked-up time signatures, and the ability to coax hits and killer riffs out of oblique and morbid lyrics is something I don't think anybody else can match.  I should give King Animal another try; "By Crooked Steps" is getting to be a song that stands alongside the band's best.

I remember my Resident Advisor telling me at my dorm room door that Soundgarden broke up.  That was my senior year at USC, 1998.  If Nirvana's Nevermind reaching #1 on the Billboard album chart was The Birth Of Grunge, the first break-up of Soundgarden was The Death Of Grunge.  As depressing as that genre of music is, it felt as though nothing good could ever last.  I'm still bummed about it.

But after a quick solo record (a song of which I'll end this blog post with), he hooked up with Rage Against The Machine sans Zach de la Rocha to form Audioslave.  And in the wake of the post-grunge, pre-emo rock era, that band's eponymous debut album probably saved rock from getting permanently castrated.  I'm serious about that.  Anchoring it all was Cornell again -- his voice, his songwriting, his ability to make songs that are both great and can top the charts.  To be able to do that with two bands?  Fucking genius.

---

I had heard he had a history with drugs, but that may only be because I believe every person in a grunge band had a history with drugs.  I really had no idea Chris Cornell dealt with depression.  And I had no belief that he would take himself out like he did last week, hanging himself in a haze of anti-anxiety medication ... although, if TMZ is correct, he may have shot himself up with drugs that day.  Soundgarden was a grunge band, but because of its commitment to promote their albums, they seemed to be the most professional band in The Grunge Era.  You can't really be fucked up if you do that.

I don't really do concerts.  But as a testament to my loyalty to him, I saw him on his solo tour at the Fitzgerald in St. Paul Easter Sunday of 2011, and I saw Soundgarden when I was vacationing in Kansas City in 2013.  I got the full-blown Chris Cornell Experience: His chops and charisma (and voice) fronting Soundgarden, and his more contemplative, tender work as, in his maturing days, a true singer-songwriter.  (Euphoria Morning doesn't get enough love, and his last single from his latest solo album, "Nearly Forgot My Broken Heart" from Higher Truth, is another song that should stand the test of time.)  I won't say those concerts were life-altering; sorry, I just don't see concerts that way.  But those concerts were fucking fantastic.

Finally, I have to say that his first single from his first solo record, EM's "Can't Change Me," is My Favorite Song Of All-Time.  It replaces, actually, Soundgarden's "4th of July," which I will still play every Independence Day.  "Can't Change Me" strikes me on a very personal level.  I have heard Cornell say that it is just a song where he tried to change his personality and behavior but realized that he didn't give a shit about what people thought of him.  They say that once someone releases a song to the world, it's not really that person's song anymore, and so I would rather love it for the reasons I want to think of "Can't Change Me": I know I should change, I know I can be a better person, but I have realized that at the end of it all, I have to be me, for better and for worse, because I am all that I have.  So, I will remain the deeply flawed and imperfect person that I am now.  And if you don't like it -- well, it's not "Go fuck yourself," which may be what Mr. Cornell would say, it's "I'm sorry."  That's how I want to take Mr. Cornell's song.

A couple guys who attended the show at the Fitz surreptitiously videotaped it.  "Can't Change Me" was, if I recall correctly, the third song he did.  It was on YouTube, and I would love to embed it here, but some time ago it was pulled down for some reason.  Alright; I will post an acoustic performance of the song he did in conjunction with a promotional push by, of all companies, Wal-Mart.  You know, none of his fans felt he sold out.  That's a testament to his character, maturity, and talent.  This is the way I want to remember him.

Rest In Peace, Mr. Cornell.

Two Jobs, One Goal ... Moving Target

OK, it's time that I switch wi-fi providers.  My 60-month promotional period where I got a deal on my slow, 3-meg wi-fi finally is up, but the billing cycle begins on the 3rd.

Meanwhile, I have confirmed that ... might as well say it, Comcast still has a deal on their introductory price for the year.  I went to their store to ask some questions, and I think I'm ready to pull the trigger on this deal.  Now I just need to do this do-see-do: Cancel my 3 Meg service and get the 55 Meg service installed.  I kind of think I can't have both of them at the same time, though, so I am trying to disconnect my old wi-fi while being able to pick up the new wi-fi the next day, if not immediately.  Is there a way to do that?  There isn't some law, is there?  Man, maybe I'm overthinking this; maybe I just need to do it.

However, finding the time to cancel and to call a guy over to start my new Internet is predicated on having time during the day to do it.  I have some time right now, as in I have about a week to schedule the cancel date and an appointment from the Comcast guy to come in and upgrade our wi-fi.  But the constant shifting of work for both of my projects has me flummoxed.

I've talked about the day project before.  I have never experienced a project where the work just wasn't there.  We were cut loose early a couple days last week, told to go home somewhat early Monday, then told to go home after about 2 1/2 hours Tuesday.  At the time we were told to come back at 10 Wednesday ... but stay by the phone just in case.  And that's when we were told not to come at Wednesday after all, and stay by the horn Thursday.

Well, Thursday (yesterday) morning I was settling into Caribou/Einstein where, after about three bites of my bagel, a bit past 8, I got a call from my immediate supervisor, who sounded more overjoyed than she should have that we had work.  "When should I come in?" I asked.  "Oh, whenever," she said, and I was fucking lost at that point.  I didn't want to drop everything and rush on over there.  I knew I basically was on-call for this job, at least for the day, but I wanted to catch up on my receipts, and, if possible, I would have taken the time to schedule the installer appointment.  But instead I went to work.

And things are still touch-and-go.  There was work Thursday, but it seemed to have slowly petered out.  We were then told to be on-call Friday/today, but before we left we were told that there was work and that we in fact could come in early.  However, the room boss said that could change.  We might be behind schedule, so a part of me thinks that, even though it hasn't been even seriously considered, we'd be coming in Saturday (assuming, of course, there are papers to grade).  Hell, we were told a week or so ago that we'd be able to fucking work Memorial Day.  All they seem to know is that we will work Tuesday because school officials will be there and we have to work then.  I don't get that; I would think that they would rather know that the work is being done, the earlier the better.

While I could use the work, I appreciated the fact that, at least, I had the time during the day to get this wi-fi switch done.  I could use another day to get all my questions answered and to iron out all the details in order to finally commit to this.  I wished/thought it was Thursday, but now it's not, and the worry is is that I don't know when I would have a day free to finally do this.

However, all of that would be relieved if I had my nights free.  Which takes me to my night project.  It was slated for three days, but the questions are so easy that it probably will get done in two.  However, earlier this week I felt like we were cruising along, to the point where we might -- with the help of Saturday, at which would be able to work -- we would get done this week.  That would give me all of next week to set up all the times and appointments.  It would be the best of both worlds: I would maximize the promo price for my old wi-fi and delay for as long as possible getting the new wi-fi, and I would have the time to go seamlessly from one to the other.

Now that might be up in the air.  With the knowledge that we are speeding along, my room boss for this project switched a half-dozen people last (Thursday) night into another room.  That will slow us down, possibly to the point where we will go back to our original target date of completion, which is Monday, June 5 -- two days into the new cycle.  If I'm stuck in nights working as well days, I won't get this done.  And so I'm in the weird position of actually hoping that this job gets done sooner so I have time to switch Internets.

(sigh) This is so freakin' complicated.

Am I Flirting With The Donut Guy?

OK, so at the donut place I go to often there is usually this guy there.  Cool guy -- young, tall, glasses, a mustache pretty thick and advanced for someone his age.  I'm guessing he's gay, not that there's anything wrong with that.  We've seen each other so often that we give each other this "Hey, it's you!" look whenever I walk through the door.  It's good to have familiarity with people at a place, and it is the reason I try to go there on a regular basis, even though I haven't done so in the past two weeks.

What I usually do when I'm there is to get one donut, called the Night Moves (it's a fantastic donut; I love the jam and the graham cracker crumble, but what's best about it is the cake donut itself) and pour-over coffee.  It takes some time to make, the coffee, mostly because someone has to, uh, pour it, but I like the taste of it, and I appreciate the barista taking a few minutes away from a line that oftentimes gets extremely busy to do it (oftentimes it is him, although he usually works with at least one other front-of-the-house person).

What I usually do after I get my donut and coffee is sit down and immediately scarf down the donut.  That's before I get the pour-over, so I have nothing for the coffee to wash down.  Plus, I'm still hungry usually, plus I want another of their tasty donuts.  So I get up and get another donut.  Well, I've gone there so often that when I go there, he and a couple of the other people who regularly work there give me that second donut for free, assuming that it's not one of the really premium donuts they offer.  It happens more times than not.  As I said, it's good to have familiarity.  And I am honored to have bought/earned that privilege.  And I signal that thanks by throwing in a buck for a tip anyway.

But then something happened a few weeks ago that kind of threw me off.  I went down there, he was working there, I got my usual ... and he said it's on the house.  Not the second donut, but the first donut.  What?!  And the pour-over coffee too, which is $3.50?!?!  The whole thing?!?!?!

And I'm like ... wow.  I stammered out a thanks.  And then I opened up my wallet.  Not pulling out a $10 or $20 to pay for the whole thing threw me off.  And honestly, the first thing I thought of was, "Well, if I'm getting this for free, I'm not going to give so much in tip because that would defeat the purpose of getting something for free!"  And I swear my fingers were trembling as my mind was trying to figure out how much money to give.  I finally put into the tip jar three singles: One buck each for the donut and coffee, and another dollar just in case.  That's how my mind works: As soon as I get something free, I become a miser and look out for spending as little as possible.

I really enjoyed getting that for free, and I truly enjoy getting a second donut for free.  But the reason I got those second donuts for free is that I bought that first donut and coffee.  That is the relationship I have established with the business for whom this really cool dude works for.  Honestly, I am kind of weirded out by this change.  Is this going to happen from now on?  If so, I think I'm going to rob this business blind.  What's worse, though, is if he doesn't do it the next time.  I'll probably think that he doesn't like me anymore.  I mean, what else am I supposed to take from yanking away the privilege of getting a donut and a pour-over coffee for free?

And there's one other thing, and I hope to God you guys don't take this the wrong way.  I wonder if this guy likes me.  I mean, likes likes me.  I'm pretty sure I give out a straight vibe, but maybe I don't, or maybe he doesn't care.  I feel so dumb for thinking this, but I don't know for sure: Is it possible I have been given all this food for free because ... OK, I'm not saying that he wants to date me or anything like that ... I'm saying that he ... is he just ... fond of me in a way?  You know?  Huh?

If that's the case, I'm in a bind.  If I do anything to break that, by not tipping, or not tipping enough, or not showing up (which I may have been doing since I haven't been there in two weeks), will he get upset, and would that then spur him to take back the free food he offers me?  But if I continue to accept his free food, will that mean that he thinks I, you know, like like him too, and that'll mean that we'll spend more time together?  I like the guy, but not in that way, so I don't want to give him the wrong impression.  And yet I wonder if accepting this free food, which got real serious the last time I saw him, is giving that wrong impression.

But I am going to go to this place this weekend, just in case my absence ends any chance of getting any more free food.  Then again, I run the risk of ... uh, rekindling the ardor of the donut guy.  Or maybe not; maybe I'm both overestimating my skills as a lothario and insulting a guy just because he's gay.  Oh, fuck, I don't know what to do.  I just want to eat a donut for as cheaply as possible, OK?

OK, Now This Is Both Messed Up And Presents A Perfect Opportunity

OK, I said last blog post that we're going to start on a brand-new test scoring project today at 10.  I didn't mention that there was a possibility that we would not, and if so, we would receive a call in the morning.  Well, I did get a call this morning saying, uh, don't come in at 10, and then we'll call you later today.  Coming in later than 10 doesn't really make any sense, so I'm guessing (and he thought this as well) that we're just not coming in today.

This project, like the one at the Mall Of America, has now officially become a clusterfuck.  I have never been told not to show up for work I thought we had.  Is this a sign of the "gig" economy the entire world will now be forced to live under?  But at least we'll get paid for the day.  Sweet.

So now I have the day all to myself.  What to do?  Well, I'm spending the morning blogging about this at a coffeeshop, so my morning's not totally wasted.  But I saw something on my way out of the house this morn.  I went downstairs to Father's computer room to see if he wanted any Powerball tickets.  (The jackpot stands at a quarter-billion, so get your tix now.)  And he was on the Internet, looking at an article in Chinese, but the goddamn wi-fi modem was blinking red again.

I had thought about getting back on working on changing networks last night, but now that I should have my afternoon free, I think I need to start working on looking at other places.  I have CenturyLink for right now, but their 60-month period ends soon, and I am planning on just ending Internet service with them and just going with a landline.  Simultaneously, I would find someone else (probably Comcast -- ugh) and start the process of going with them.  And so I will probably visit a store after I'm done blogging this and get more information.  And if this 60-month promo price ends soon -- I thought it ended around Independence Day, but I got my bill saying I'm at month 60 of 60, so who knows -- I should switch providers now.

See, I wouldn't be able to do all this if I were at work.  So that's a silver lining.  Right?

Oh yeah, I might fuck a girl this afternoon if she's free.  And if not, I might watch a soccer game.

Anyway, I should go.

Does Anyone Do Those Surveys At The Back Of Those Fast Food/Restaurants Receipts? They're Getting To Be Ripoffs

So I got cut from work real early from the day scoring project.  There was just no work.  So after being told to come in at 8:30, at around 10:45 we were told to leave.  Moreover, we were told to not come back tomorrow until 10, at which point we will start on a brand-new project.

Alright.  I spent my afternoon watching Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 (a great movie, much better than Vol. 1), buying candy for the night scoring project, going to Arby's and taking advantage of their Happy Hour for the first time ever, and taking a nap before blogging about this here.  This is something I want to blog about.

I always take my receipts because I keep track of my expenses.  You may have noticed this, but on the back of many receipts from fast food restaurants there are invitations to either call or go online to fill out a customer satisfaction survey.  If you do, they say you can get something.

I literally have dozens of them stuffed in my computer bag back home.  I promise myself that I'll go through them, and although I have from time to time, I haven't done it in some time.  Maybe if I'm back on the dole, I'll do it, because then I'll need it.

In a way.  You see, back several years ago, if you filled out a survey, chances are they'll give you a free sandwich (provided you buy something else, such as a drink).  Free food for telling people my opinion?  Sweet!  But over the past few, several years many fast food restaurants have changed that prize to an entry to a sweepstakes where you can win $1,000 or some shit I never win.  Since I never win, I don't think I've filled out one of those surveys in some time.

So, I think it's time to make a list of fast food joints, as well as sit-down restaurants, I go to and the prize you get for filling out their surveys, either food or money.  I will highlight in bold the ones I like.  That's not necessarily all-food prizes, as you shall see.  And I hope this is both correct and up-to-date; if it is not either, I might update it at a future date, but don't hold me to that.

Here is the list:

• McDonald's: BOGO (Buy One, Get One) on Quarter Pounders or Egg McMuffins
• Burger King: Free Whopper with the purchase of fries and drink, or hash browns and coffee
• Wendy's: $2 off a large sandwich or full-size salad (ETA at 11:13 a.m. on May 24 that I found a more recent receipt and they've changed the prize to a BOGO sandwich.  So now I do not want to do Wendy's surveys.)
• Subway: They say it's a food reward, but I got it redeemed once; it's a cookie
• Taco Bell: $500 sweepstakes
• Arby's: $1,000 sweepstakes
• Kentucky Fried Chicken/A&W: Free Go Cup with the purchase of a drink
• Pizza Hut: Sweepstakes including $1,000
• Culvers: Free single dish or cake cone with any purchase
• Dairy Queen: Free Dilly Bar
• Caribou: $1 off a medium or large hand-crafted beverage
• Dunkin' Donuts: Free donut with the purchase of a medium or large drink
• Sonic: Free Route 44
• Jamba Juice: A free beverage with the purchase of a menu drink
• Checkers: Free sandwich with the purchase of a large drink
• Charley's: Free fry and drink with the purchase of a sub
• Hard Rock Cafe: $5 off any $25 order
• Buffalo Wild Wings: $5 off any $25 order
• Old Chicago: Free Tavern Bites with any purchase

Hmmm ... so the survey prizes I don't like are the ones where you enter into a drawing, have to buy a lot in order to get a discount, involve desserts, or the ones where you need to buy one thing in order to get one of the very same thing.  In my humble opinion.  The ones that are worth it are getting few and far between.  Also in my humble opinion.

Expenses Without Receipt

OK, starting from Monday, May 22:

• Actually we have to go back to Sunday the 21st, where I hung out with a couple of fellow Mensa members for the Northeast Art-A-Whirl.  I had something called the Beechcomber (?) at Bauhaus Brewery.  Nice beer, but I liked the brewery better.  With tip: $7.
• An art crawl is nice, and I should do it more often.  I have noticed that I have been giving to charity more often nowadays.  Maybe it's a reaction the Trump presidency.  But I'm doing my small bit, such as donating to Art-A-Whirl: $2.
• Had to skip out of crawl because United was playing at 4.  Close game, but they lost, and now they have a losing streak.  I got there just in the nick of time, but the line was packed.  Mental note: Get there early, save myself the aggravation.  Got my usual hot dog and Redd's: $14.50.
• Went to My Favorite Stripclub (Non-Cover Version) after the match.  Haven't been there in a long time, and it looks like they're introducing a bunch of new girls to the roster.  I tipped all of them, but I got an LD from the only "veteran" I've seen there before, Dakota.  Knocked my socks off.  With Sprite and tips: $31.75.
• On Saturday the 20th, after work, I traveled down to Canterbury Park.  From work (at least the site I'm working at now) I can get to the track in almost 15 minutes.  That makes it too easy to feed my degenerate gambling jones.  Which is even worse considering that I am horrible at picking horses.  That continued for the three races I bet on this day, including the Preakness.  Hell, I thought that the favorites for the Kentucky Derby would automatically compete for the Preakness.  But no, not this year, not when I'm betting on them.  Fuck Always Dreaming.  And who the hell is Cloud Computing???  That's when I regretted not taking that free voucher I got from the track (for two bucks) and immediately leaving.  That's when I also knew that the best money I spent at Canterbury was the Beef Stroganoff that was on special.  With a program (you have to pay for a program??), an Elysian Superfuzz (with tip), the whole "entertaining" day out cost me: $30.
• I had to skip out to the library because I had to print out this PDF regarding a business deal in Vegas that Father believes was shady.  You know, I should talk about this some time.  I also printed out an e-mail string that's related to this.  Total: 40 cents.
• Back to Thursday, May 18, where I went out to my first party in a long time.  I got invited out by ***y, who I promised I would have fun with the last time I saw her.  She didn't disappoint.  I, however, did.  After bargaining her down to $120, I had to jerk myself off before my four songs were done.  Sometimes I wonder if I'm getting too old for this shit.  But hey, at least she bit my thighs.  On the bright side, I finally saw ***e* for the first time in months!!!  And by God, she is fucking huge -- more than seven months pregnant!!!  I usually don't get dances from ladies who are expecting because I think that's gross, but this is my friend ***e*, and for $20 she still touched my pee-pee for a little bit.  Plus -- and this is most important -- she remembered me and my travails, including my rocky relationship with my old man.  Now that's a friend.  Unfortunately I didn't have the time or the money to get down with the other two chicks there.  I swear they're good to go, if only I could get them in a room alone.  With cover: $160.
• To Wednesday the 17th -- one of these days as I'm pulling a double shift I have to come home and actually shower.  What had prevented me from doing so is being so tired that I had to fall asleep before my hair dried and being afraid that it would cause brain damage or something.  So I took advantage of getting cut from work early to go to Great Clips (I was in the area where a stripper was cutting hair, but she apparently quit).  Have a receipt for the car, so this EWR is tip only: $3.
• Back on Sunday the 14th I finally got back to some EPL watching.  I was at The Local, where I plopped myself down for a hearty breakfast of something.  With beer (I think) and tip (I know): $13.50.  (ETA on 11:39 a.m. on May 28 that that price can't be right.  I got the receipt -- I list it here because I include the tip, which is not on the receipt -- and the price before tip is $13.35.  And I'm not a bad tipper, so I re-calculated the price and, with tip, I have got to have given them: $15.75.)
• Later that afternoon I went to the library to print out an invoice for my folks: 10 cents.
• Friday, May 12: Went to the Gopher baseball game against powerhouse Long Beach St.  My old card still works, thank Buddha.  Program, hot dog, souvenir-sized Coke: $12.
• Afterwards I went to My Favorite Stripclub (Non-Cover Division), where I didn't get a lap dance.  Just coffee and tips: $7.75.
• I finished my night at Glam Doll, where I was too stuffed to get more than one donut.  I know, it's a change of routine.  But eating there is expensive!  With tip: $10.36.
• Thursday the 11th ... OK, so maybe it was only two weeks between parties.  But I hadn't seen *******a in a long time, and even though her parties are tame, I wanted to see her and check up on her.  ******y was also there, and even though she is dirty, she had to play clean for this party.  Didn't prevent me from flashing my cock on her while she was smoking out front.  There was a third girl there.  She was new, and she is *******a's protege.  She needs some work, because she didn't take off her top when I got a lapdance from her.  But she took it off for all the others.  WTF?  I suspect racism.  Got one $20 dance from all three girls, and plus cover the total for the night came out to: $95.
• Track it back to Tuesday, May 9, where I had time to finally get my car washed.  I went to Waterwerks, the place on Louisiana just off 394 that for years was the Mermaid.  Hmmm.  Can't complain; the wash and service was great.  Just wish it didn't fucking rain an hour after I got my car washed.  Have a receipt for the wash, so this is tip only: $3.
• Then I went to the Bulldog at Uptown to visit a friend who was in town to bury her grandmother.  Her friends were there, none of whom I know except for this real annoying one.  Didn't have to talk to him.  Didn't talk to any of her friends because one of their sons held a conversation with me for the hour we were there.  Wow.  Got a Belgian tap, which is a buck off on Tuesdays.  With tip: $6.
• Back on Sunday the 7th there was another United match, and ... OK, maybe I did change up my eating routine this time.  I got a Redd's, but I also got Surly-battered cheese curds, which were really good, even though it was overpriced and, have to admit, I wasn't all that hungry.  Total: $17.
• Remembered to drop off my old Whistler soda bottle at Blue Sun.  There was a huge bottle drive the day before, but I missed it because I was busy at the track.  But they still need bottles, so I exchanged an empty one for a filled one, which I drank that evening to wash down the Pizza Hut we had.  Total for the pop: $1.58.
• Saturday, May 6 was Derby Day.  Even though I was working at Plymouth this day, I still had the wherewithal to go down to Shakopee because I thought I was going to win big.  No, I did not.  made three bets, lost all of them.  Well, at least I didn't spend money on food and drink there.  With the price of admission: $20.
• That evening I went down to Glam Doll.  I should write about this: The guy there, who I've seen regularly at Glam Doll, decided to give me my first donut and coffee for free.  I was so stunned I didn't get my customary second donut.  Shit, I should talk about this.  Tips only for the free food: $3.

And I am good through May 22.

Do you know how tired and/or possibly disinterested I am in working, as great as the people in both places are?  I got so tired last night, a result of staying up Saturday night and waking up after only 3 1/2 hours so I can watch The Final Day In The EPL downtown, I fell asleep around 10:30, so I didn't get around to doing important things, such as blog posting for today.

I got cut loose from work early today, just now.  I would usually be pissed that I missed work.  Instead this gives me the opportunity to get my daily blog post in today, right now, as I type this and you write this.  In fact, I got a little hyper that I would miss my chance of doing this because of all the bullshit traffic in this part of town.  Not necessarily missing the start of my night project, missing doing this.

Goddamn, I'm tired.

Now, I have to go to my other job.

The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey

#-1: Lynx (Re-Entry!).  So, after that humiliating Game 5 upset loss in the WNBA Finals to the Los Angeles Sparks at home (I still can't forgive myself for wasting money and witnessing that shit in person), they are, unfortunately, put back on the Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey.  And I think they'll be here for a long, long time.  I know I've said that for, like, the past five years.  But this time the decline will really, really happen, you know?  I just can't think that a team that has relied on its starting five for so long won't get old very quickly.  There are only a dozen teams in the WNBA, and that does mean that every team is deep enough to keep good talent stuck in the bottom of the bench.  But shit, the Jynx are old, aren't they?

And through this first week, some cracks are showing.  Maybe.  Despite being evicted from their home -- Target Center has shut down to do the final and most extensive renovations to the arena, so they will be playing at the Xcel Energy Center for the season -- they have started the season 3-0 and thus reign atop the WMNSS.  Nevertheless, Head Coach Cheryl Reeve complained about rebounding in the season-opening, 70-61 victory over Chicago at home Sunday, and Point Guard pressure made for a bad second half as Seimone Augustus had to bury a jumper with about two seconds left to beat the Dallas Wings last (Saturday) evening, 89-87.

I tweeted at a writer at SB Nation site Canis Hoopus.  He or she said that we should wait to see if the team can fix their initial problems.  But the writer does see problems.  Rebounding and the 1 might be those problems.  Let's see if these players can get shit straightened out as this week they have a home-and-home versus Connecticut.  Three days apart.

#-2: Twins (Last Week: 0).  Through all the insightful analysis and in-depth talk about how much better the Twinks are than they were last year, I didn't realize something: This team is in first place in the American League Central Division.  How in the hell did that happen?  Well, getting above average pitching from your #1 through #3 guys helps.  Hitting also helps.  And, finally, this club may have found its staff ace of the future.  In Thursday night's lightly-attended make-up game against the Colorado Rockies (Wednesday's game was rained out), Jose Berrios, who looked overmatched in the majors last year, went 7 2/3 innings and struck out 11 in defeating the Rockies, 2-0.  Maybe the future is bright for this team after all?

Unfortunately these guys went 2-3 this screening week, so I don't know if they still are leading the division.  Weather has made a mess of the schedule.  Thursday was a day-night doubleheader, and after yesterday's (Saturday's) match against Kansas City at Target was rained out, they'll have another double dip, this one a pure doubleheader (where the second game will be played approximately half an hour after the end of the first one, and I think one ticket will let you attend both games) with the Royals this (Sunday) afternoon.  They then strike out for Baltimore for a three-game series starting tomorrow (Monday) before coming home and beginning a trio vs. the Bay Rays of Tampa over the weekend.

#-3: Gopher baseball (Last Week: -2).  Holy shit, what happened to this team?  I know I've said that at least one time before this year, but this is not the time to get upset to inferior squads at home.

But first of all, let's talk about the final regular season series the Nine had, vs. Purdue at Siebert.  Since this was the last series of the year, instead of playing Friday-Saturday-Sunday, it was played Thursday through Saturday.  The two teams were cruising along in the first game ... well, actually the Boilermakers had their way with the Goofs.  But then, in the seventh inning, there was a power outage.  Not at Siebert, at least not technically, but it happened off-site and that took out the power in the ballpark.  So that meant they had to halt the game until the following day.  Moreover, weather was coming in for Saturday, so they decided to play the game scheduled on Saturday also on Friday.  That meant that they played all three games of this series in one fucking day.  OK, maybe that's getting to be dramatic.  But two games and 2+ innings, OK?  And this isn't like the days of old, where scheduled Big Ten doubleheaders would last only seven innings.  These are actual, proper, nine-inning games they had to play two of after completing the first game.  Whew!

Unfortunately they wound up losing the series.  Sleeping on it didn't reverse the U.'s fortunes in Game 1; they lost 5-2.  And then they got pummeled by the Boilers in Game 2, 11-1.  Purdue probably thought they suffered enough, as the Goofs won Game 3 by a score of 9-2.  So now, even though they achieved the 3-seed for the B1G Tourney and finished with records of 15-8 in-conference and 33-19 overall, they have no chits they would get them into the tournament as an at-large invitee -- even after sweeping Rutgers in a Tuesday fly-in doubleheader (6-2 and 6-0), getting trounced in the rubber match against Top 10-ranked Long Beach St. Sunday, 9-1 essentially killed any hopes of that.  So they now have to win the tournament and claim the automatic bid.  That uphill climb begins Wednesday morning against Indiana ... which is hosting the tournament.  (Aside: I thought Target Field had a deal where it and TD Ameritrade Park, home of the College World Series, would trade hosting duties for the conference tournament for the time being.  Was I wrong, or did they redo the deal?  If it's the latter, is it because true attendance for tourney games at Target numbered in the triple digits?)  Uh, good luck extending the season, guys.

#-4: Gopher softball (Last Week: Positive Numbers).  The most pernicious fallout from the NCAA Softball Selection Tournament Committee's decision to reward a 53-win, major conference-double-champion who the coaches put as the #1 team in the country at the end of the regular season with nothing except a road trip to Alabama and a potential second-weekend matchup with the top overall seed in said tourney are the conclusions people will make if they lose.  Minnesota is facing up against a lot of good teams, but now they have to face them on the road and earlier than one would probably presume given their lofty record and credentials.  Given that rigged system, what do you think the narrative from the haters would be if the U. loses to the Gators in the Super Regional, or even to the Crimson Tide in this weekend's Regional?  Oh, the NCAA Committee was right, the Goofers were just paper tigers, they didn't deserve a national seed like they and their fans thought they did, etc.

And you know what?  I would be one of those people sorely disappointed in them.  After all, like Bill Parcells said, at the end of the day, you are what your record says you are.  Guess that makes me a hater, too.  But hey, if you're pissed that you didn't get to play at home, fucking beat the opponents' asses at their place.  If you're a national seed, win like one, goddammit.

Which makes, or made, the inevitable matchup with the #1 seed, Alabama, this weekend so pivotal.  If Minnesota won, they would have proven the NCAA wrong and confirmed the suspicions from many college softball fans that they got fucked over royally.  But if the Tide win, well, it would look as though the Golden Gophers weren't as good as people said they are.  Sure, this is double elimination.  But the #1 seed and the most wins of any team in top-flight college softball leads one to believe that Alabama would be a decisive underdog.

That didn't happen.  It was a tight game yesterday (Saturday), and the game went into extra innings.  But Minnesota failed to bring home runners in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings.  Sara Groenewegen may have hit a batter, then she loaded the bases, and then she issued a game-ending walk in the bottom of the ninth to put the top-ranked team in the country into the losers' bracket.

They were scheduled to play again later in the day against either Louisiana Tech (whom the Gophers beat Friday) or Albany, but instead that game will be played this (Sunday) afternoon.  If they survive that, they have a rematch against Bama shortly thereafter, and if they beat them, there will be one final, winner-take-all contest Monday.  But that loss, though ... I think that's a killer.  These players are good, but after a gut punch like that, I don't think they'll ever recover.  And then the doubters will have a field day.  Including me.  And, I'm afraid, they'll have a great point.

Falling Back Into Old Habits

I'm strung out from both of my jobs, I am going to work in the morning and then going to the track to bet on the Preakness, and I kind of have writer's block about what to talk about.

Because of all of those things, I have noticed that when I am writing and or surfing on my laptop (which I am using on my bed because I am too tired and lazy to put it on my cluttered desk), I have gone back to resting on my side or my elbow.  That puts tremendous pressure on my left arm and shoulder, places that are already effed up from years of overuse and poor posture.  But I can't help it.

Ugh.  That's all I've got.  Gotta go to bed soon.

The Grind

Even though this double shift, where I work a test scoring project during the day and then one at night, is supposed to last only two weeks, my body is already feeling the effects.  Last night marks, I think, the third night, if not the third straight night, I fell asleep early.  I already know my body simply can't just keep going 14, 16 hours a day, not without at least taking a nap.  I think I did that yesterday afternoon and I still fell like a felled tree at around 10:45 last night.  I'm up, but I've got a double again today, so there won't be any partying for me to start the weekend.  At least I don't think so.

Man, I've got stuff to do before I head off to work.

From Spending No Money To Spending A Whole Lotta Money (Scheduled Post)

Well, this thing about doing two test scoring projects at the same time (one during the day and one at night) has gone a little sideways on me.  Then again, since being a slave to the amount of work/being jerked around is or should be something I'm used to as a worker in this "industry."

Echoing what happened at the project at the Megamall, both projects from both test scoring companies have said that the papers have not come in yet.  That has prevented us from jumping directly from training to actual scoring/working.  That hasn't really been a problem at the start of our projects because, obviously, we are training.  But we are coming to the end of that.  Usually, though not always, everything is set for us, and once training's over, we go to work.  That may or may not be happening right now.

That may be the reason why we're going so slow in the day project.  We have had only two tests per day, and we've been given three hours or so to do them.  This isn't the SAT, guys.  Not that I'm complaining; I refuse to fear a test, so I go with my gut and I'm done within, oh, 15 minutes and then I got to my car to take a nap.  In fact I appreciate all this.  Yet if this is my room boss' reasoning, it still isn't working.  Today we were asked to give our phone numbers.  I think that is in case there is absolutely no work and that we shouldn't come to work at all.  That sucks, and that also isn't quite what I signed up for.

In the meantime, we've been cut early both yesterday and today.  In a way, that alleviates any worry that I wouldn't be able to get to training in time at the night project.  But I've had so much time that, to pass the time, I've spent money on things.  I didn't plan on doing that.  In fact, part of the reason why I decided to do two projects at once is to prevent myself from spending money.  But free time abhors a vacuum, and I at least are getting some things done.  I just got my hair cut, for example.  I'm blogging this for publishing overnight -- did so the same time yesterday -- which allows me to not have to stay up all night to do my daily blog post.  And that's free, too.  But now I am done with this blog post, and I still have time, so I am going to park my car over at the night scoring place and walk over to a restaurant to have a beer.  Why?  I don't think I've ever drank before work, at least at this place, and I may not have the opportunity to do again.  I'm spending money on a once-in-a-lifetime moment.  Uh, fair enough trade, I guess. ...

A Tale Of Two Stripper Parties, Part One (Scheduled Post)

These two parties happened in the two weeks my parents were gone, shortly after I came back from Hong Kong.

The first one was at a house within fair driving distance.  It was three girls at a house hosted by a guy I have come to know and trust as someone who will keep my perversions private.  He's actually a real cool dude.  He was the one who tipped me off to this party.  I thought I knew one of the girls, but when I came over, she wasn't there.

However, it turns out that I in fact did see one of these hot women before.  At least I think so.  I saw her a long, long time ago at *******a's party.  I swear that she was the one who attended my high school.  Regardless, I knew she was cute and I promised her then that I was going to get a dance from her next time.  I didn't think next time would be at least three years afterward.

Nevertheless, even though I don't think she recognized me, she kissed me on the lips as an introduction.  And when she flashed the horde of horny men just kibitzing in the solarium, I decided to swoop in and see if she would promise me the "fun" the host texted me these girls would do.

So we went upstairs and we got to talking.  She seemed really nice.  I didn't want to push it; it felt as though she was not going to charge me for all this talking.  But, organically, it was sexytime.  I, being a gentleman, did not surprise her by whipping it out.  Instead I stood up in front of her while she sat on the bed.  She unbuttoned my fly, then expressed (feigned?) shock that I wasn't wearing any underwear.  After soliciting a price (which I gladly accepted), she took me into her hand ... and then, after a moment, took me into her mouth.  Lovingly, deeply.

And then I heard a knock on the door.  Another stripper working the party, who also a friend of hers, came in, fresh (or "fresh") from doing a VIP.  Thank Buddha the guy she was with didn't come into the room with her.  So my girl -- oh, let's call her ******e -- lets her in and they talk.  I am totally naked at this point.  ******e, by the way, is not.  (She's still smoking hot, fuck ... she works as a masseuse [the clean kind] and I felt her strong, powerful arms as she was sucking me off.)  The other stripper is clothed too, though that didn't stop me from trying to thrust my cock inbetween her butt cheeks as she turned around and bent over to get a compliment from me about her ass.  It was nice, though a bit bony; I'm just glad she saw me naked!

So we were just there, the three of us, and it's a CFNM (Clothed Female, Naked Male) situation, and the two were just talking about stuff.  Then the conversation turned to me, the naked guy standing inbetween them.  And suddenly, ******e just grabs my dick right in front of her!  Holy shit!!!  I'm excited as fuck.  And yet this other stripper, who was still plenty nice ... well, I don't know if she ever looked down to stare at my pee-pee.  Huh.

So then the other girl left and ******e got down on her knees on the floor to continue to fellate me.  Since she was so willing and aggressive about going down on me, I wanted to make sure if she was OK with me cumming in her mouth.  "But we just met," ******e said, and respecting her wishes, when I was ready to blow, I took myself out and splooged all over her impressive (fake?) tits.  "Oh my God, there's so much!" she cried.  I take that as a compliment.  And I've got to say, I emptied myself onto her chest.  I mean, once I was done she took spread apart her breasts (which she had been handling during my orgasm), and there was this rope of semen that I managed to lace on both her boobs.  When she spread her girls out, she stretched that cum, and I don't know why, but seeing that stays with me.  I still imagine that.

So if she made me do that the first time we were intimate, imagine what we would do now that we're "familiar" with each other.  Once we got done and dressed ******e invited me down to her place for a party the following week.  She really hyped it up as something with bells and whistles and lights and all that.  I tried to be positive, but that's not my thing.  What we just did is my thing, and you don't need accouterments for that.  And she had been texting me after our encounter to keep me posted about other parties, but the other snag with that -- that she lives so far away -- may have been a reason she has stopped communicating with me.  I asked about one-on-ones, and I'm certainly down as soon as the summer starts.  But I hope that offer still stands.  I need her mouth around my dick again, OMG. ...

Poor Bastards Of The Moment: The University Of Minnesota Softball Team

A 54-3 record.

Most wins by any team in top-flight college softball this year.

Took the double -- the Big Ten regular season title and the Big Ten Tournament title.

An RPI of #12.

Ranked, depending on which poll you're looking at, third or second in the country.

A 25-game winning streak, the longest active in the College Softball Nation.

Clearly the best University of Minnesota softball team in program history.

And yet, despite all that, my presumption that I would get to see these ballers host (and presumably crush) their opponents in the Regional this weekend, and then (hopefully) crush their foe at Cowles Field in the Super Regional the U. would ever host next weekend, will not happen.  Not only did the NCAA Committee not deem the Golden Gophers worthy enough of a top-eight seed and thus the possibility of playing the first two weekends of the NCAA Tournament at home, they didn't even regard them worthy enough for any of the 16 national seeds and are thus deprived of even hosting a Regional.  They are the 2-seed -- yes, the fucking goddamn 2-seed -- in the Tuscaloosa Regional in Alabama.  The Crimson Tide are the overall 16 seed, so, as you may have surmised, if the Gophers overcome this obstacle and get out of that Region, they will face the overall #1 seed in the tournament, Florida, in Gainesville the following weekend.

I'm not saying that Minnesota has no chance against the Gators.  I'm not saying that they wouldn't lose to Alabama this weekend.  And I'm not saying that they deserve the #1 overall seed.  What I am saying that it's an absolutely goddamn screwjob that this softball team is forced into this indignity even though they have proven that they are worthy of better treatment.  I don't give a good goddamn about their triple-digit Strength Of Schedule or that they're only 2-2 against the RPI Top 25.  No team -- and I mean in any sport -- has never finished the regular season ranked so high and be brought this low in the tourney.  From ranked second to unranked???  Fucking really?!?!?!

Monday the NCAA barfed up some propaganda bullshit justifying this disgrace.  But SB Nation U.-centric site The Daily Gopher deftly noted in this takedown piece that this ass-covering by the NCAA won't work due to one small but huge problem.  The NCAA is now doing this thing where they're teasing which team is where in the weeks leading up to a sport's selection date.  College football started doing it several years ago (even though the NCAA has nothing to do with it; college football is such a racket that the NCAA does not deal with most of the affairs regarding top-flight college football), and college basketball has recently started to announce which teams are on track to be the best teams come the tournament.  It's a really stupid idea to string teams and fans along like this, especially when the committee decides to change its mind.  Any drastic changes, be it rises or drops, will have to be explained given the ranking that team was given before.

And this is where the NCAA is caught with its hand in the cookie jar.  Just last week, on its Twitter feed, it teased its order of seeded teams.  Guess what?  Minnesota was ranked seventh:

Take a look at the second Top 10 ranking by the NCAA DI Softball Committee! #NCAASoftball pic.twitter.com/tuDAf1F8t4

— NCAA Softball (@NCAAsoftball) May 7, 2017

Still too low in my estimation, especially given what the team accomplished. Nevertheless, they were in line as of just last fucking week to receive a national seed.  And so the NCAA thinks Minnesota went from seventh to unranked in a space of a week?  When all they did was win their conference tournament title??  And oh, with a No-Hitter to boot???  Bullshit.  Absolute fucking bullshit.

I'm not being overdramatic.  This may be The Worst Ranking For Any Team In Any Tournament In Any Sport In NCAA History.  Injustice is the first of what you can call this disaster.  Seriously, I'm really fucking pissed off about this.

I thought people were being a little too cruel, ridiculing the NCAA on such matters as paying the players.  Not any more.  Not after fucking the Gopher softball team like this.  (I know those two matters are unrelated.  I'm angry, let me have this.)

Oh, and even though they're women and technically this is not correct to say: Poor Bastards.

Well, That Was Surprising In A Good Way

Today marks the first day I start two projects at once, at both test scoring places.  I had done it already, a few weeks ago, but I find it notable that I am starting training today at both places, and I am switching sites between the companies; the place I had been working at during the day I am on my way to after I blog post here, and I just came from the company I had been working at night.

This day project at the other test scoring place was the same one I did last year.  This was the one project I spoke about here.  I kind of violated my own principles when I thoughtlessly agreed to this job, but it was presented to me, it fit my schedule, and since I got rejected for a full-time job last week, frankly, I need all the work I can get, principles be damned.  I did not think about it happening again, but if it did, well ... shit, you know?

But -- after weaning my way around the entire Twin Cities and around all the fucking construction for a goddamn hour -- I made my to the much busier, compartment-filled room where I saw several familiar faces.  One of them was an immediate supervisor who will be my immediate supervisor.  She came up to me and said, almost immediately, "You will find this year to be different.  We are much more organized."

She knows it.  Before she came up to me, I saw the list of people immediately supervising the project under the room boss.  There are seven.  That's plenty.  That also makes me think that these are all the immediate supervisors that will oversee the project -- in other words, there is no need to find these people by those acing the first test we take.  No guy who's a fucking temp suddenly deputized to look over other people's shoulders.  (No offense to that guy; like I said in the blog post I linked to, even he thought this was fucked up.)

She didn't know how upset this made me.  But I told her: "Yep.  I see that.  I have thoughts about what happened last year, but I'll keep those to myself.  I'm just glad things are different this year."

OK.  I feel better about this project!

The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey

Positive Numbers: Gopher softball (Last Week: Positive Numbers).  Whatever publicity this team is getting now locally isn't enough.  Each week they keep topping themselves and achieving what had never been done in program history.  And now they stand on the precipice of ultimate glory.

First of all, they rose yet again in the rankings, to either second or third.  Then, Catcher Kendyl Lindaman was named Big Ten Freshmen Of The Week ... for eighth time this season.  Then on Wednesday, Minnesota swept the individual conference awards.  Jessica Allister won Coach Of The Year (her first award); goddess Sara Groenewegen won Pitcher Of The Year (her second time doing so), Lindaman won Freshman Of The Year -- and was named B1G Player Of The Year.  Surprisingly (I think it's a little high), this is the fourth time in league history that a freshman won POY (I assume that a freshman who wins POY has also won FOY).  Maddie Houlihan, Allie Arneson and Danielle Parlich join Lindaman and Groenewegen also were named to the All-Big Ten First Team.

And then they won the tournament title to go along with their regular season championship.  In their Quarterfinal against Northwestern (I'm surprised that this tourney is not double-elimination), Groenewegen tossed the first No-Hitter in the history of the B1G Tournament, striking out 11.  Surprisingly (there's that word again), the U. won by a score of 5-1.  In the top of the seventh inning, Groenewegen walked Centerfielder Sabrina Rabin, who advanced to second on a groundout, got to third on a Wild Pitch, then scored on a sacrifice fly.  Wow, now that's called manufacturing a run.  Whatever, the Gophers won comfortably.

The Semifinals and Final were held on the same day, yesterday/Saturday, in Ann Arbor, Mich.  The Gophers' toughest game of the tourney would be the semi against Illinois.  The Fighting Illini would take a 2-0 lead on the U.'s Amber Fisher before coming back with five runs in the bottom of the fourth.  But then Illinois would plate three in the top of the fifth to tie the game at 5.  Then, in the bottom of the seventh, First Baseman Sydney Dwyer did this:



Everything else was gravy from then on out for the Golden Gophers. In the Final they shut out Ohio St., 6-0, to clinch their second straight tournament championship and third in four years. The club has now won 25 games in a row. And they will ensure they will receive a national seed for the first time ever when the NCAA field is announced at 9 tonight.  This program has never reached the Women's College World Series before, so despite their lofty ranking I naturally am disinclined to favor them over entrenched powerhouses in the sport such as Florida and Oklahoma.  However, they should have no problem in the Regional which they will host next weekend, and I expect the team to be victorious in the subsequent Super-Regional which they will host (again, a program first) the following weekend.  In other words, reaching Oklahoma City should be the goal.  Anything short would be a disaster.  Good luck.

#0: Twins (Last Week: 0).  Got drilled last Sunday at Target by Boston, 17-6, a game that was close until the top of the ninth, where the bullpen coughed up ten runs and made everyone frightened that the relief corps will be just as horrendous as they were last year.  They then took two games at Comiskey over the White Sox (the middle game was rained out and will be made up as a doubleheader the next time the Twinks swing by), then took the first two vs. Cleveland at Jacobs.  Actually, not a bad week.  They're getting shelled now, but if they lose, that loss goes into next week's WMNSS.

All I can say is that it feels as though this team is solidifying its place as one who can beat bad teams and might be able to take one-of-three against good ones.  Let's see if that theory holds up this screening week.  After today's game, they'll come home for series versus Colorado (the team's first Interleague match-up) and Kansas City.

#-1: United FC (Re-Entry!).  As a season-ticket holder I attend all matches at home, obviously, and because I've been so busy I am usually out doing stuff when the Loons are playing on the road.  Yesterday/Saturday was the first time I have seen a telecast of a match, at Toronto FC.  So I got to hear, for the first time ever, United FC's play-by-play man, Callum Williams.

I thought I've said this once before on WAF, but I'll say it here if I haven't: I think that soccer commentators are grossly overrated.  They have a tendency to be extremely dramatic, almost operatic in how one goal almost assuredly means pure ecstasy for one team and utter dejection for the other.  (Yeah, they give complete confidence in such extreme feelings -- that's another thing that bugs me about them.)  They also seem to have a compulsion with wordplay that is annoying in its calculation.  And finally (and this may sound like I'm contradicting my first point, but I'm not), they are rarely clear if someone fucking scores or not.  Americans would say "Goal!" all the time when the ball goes into the net, but UK play-by-play guys prefer the picture to tell the audience whether or not there's been a score.  It may seem redundant to them, but if you're just going to let the pictures do all the talking, there shouldn't be any damn commentators at all.

Saying all that, when I heard the first half of Reds hosting Loons (on free TV, no less!  Watching professional sports teams on local TV isn't completely dead yet!) and heard the mellifluous Birmingham stylings of Williams, I actually got a smile on my face.  I've never met the chap, so I'll assume he's a good and moral person.  Yet he was prone to these unicorn-riding rainbows of pronouncements of how these goals were so grandiose, and how ... well, I don't exactly remember the context, but when Toronto FC Striker Tosaint Ricketts scored the game-winner in their 3-2 win over United, he strung together the rhyme "headline, scoreline, and frontline," or something, and I didn't know if I should feel more embarrassed that he just came up with that or if he actually planned that.  And yet ... all I could think of was, "Dude, this guy's British ... and he's calling our games!"  It's as if Williams flew across the pond on angels' wings, saw our little isolated nook in the Colonies, and decided to touch down here to spread the gospel of "real" football and grace us with the Art Of British Soccer Commentary.

Just a thought.  Man, now I don't have the energy or time to talk about the side's best game so far, a thorough and controlled 2-0 victory over Sporting Kansas City.  All credit goes to Miguel Ibarra, who crossed on both Goals.  Batman can play in Major League Soccer.

I left them off last week's Survey, and I'll leave them off next week's because their next game isn't until next Sunday.

#-2: Gopher baseball (Last Week: -1).  I don't ever remember a non-conference opponent coming to Dinkytown so late in the college baseball season, and certainly not one the caliber of Long Beach St., currently ranked tenth in Baseball America's rankings.  I don't know the reasoning and the process behind landing this pretty unique series.  But this appears to be a win-win: Minnesota gets to host a big-time program in order to boost its RPI and thus its chances of getting into the NCAA Tournament; same thing with the Dirtbags (which I learned is the official nickname of the Long Beach St. baseball program), although, as a member of the Big West, I figure that facing a mid-level BcS squad on the road is worth the RPI boost they would receive with each victory.  Combining those two factors together convinced me to make a commitment to watching Friday night's first game of the series for a long time, even if I had to skip work in order to watch the game.  (Turns out I didn't really have work to miss; turns out this night scoring project that was scheduled around this time has been delayed.  That's just a shitshow, and maybe I'll talk about it some other time.)

And the Gophers were game Friday.  I didn't know that their ace, Lucas Gilbreath, was undefeated for the season at 5-0.  Unfortunately he got shook down for his first loss Friday night.  The Dirtbags sac bunted a lot, and their general aggression contributed to single runs in the fourth, sixth and seventh, erasing Terrin Vavra's run-scoring double in the third.  (Well, I have to say that Darrin Jackson Homered to Center in the sixth.)  The Gophers had a huge chance in the eighth, where they had the bases loaded partly due to three Walks (which chased LBSU SP Darren McCaughan).  But while they eked out one run from a bases-loaded Walk, Jordan Smith Baltimore-Chopped to second to end the inning, and Long Beach St. eventually went on to survive, 3-2.

But hey, the Gophers doubled up the Dirtbags yesterday/Saturday afternoon, 12-6.  What does this do for the squad's NCAA tournament hopes?  I really think Friday's loss was fatal.  They needed, at the very least, two-of-three.  They probably needed to sweep the Dirtbags.  Maybe even that isn't enough.  But now, I think the Nine need to devote their attention to winning the Big Ten -- that's the Tournament, because I don't know if the regular season title is going to be enough.

Besides, they have an extremely loaded scheduled this week.  Remember the Rutgers series that was cancelled?  Well, because of the Gophers' performance, I believe the conference "compelled" these two teams to play.  And it seems as though the Scarlet Knights found enough money and cheap-enough tickets to come to Siebert Field to play a doubleheader Tuesday.  Finally, the U. wrap up the regular season playing a three-game set against Purdue.  There are two saving graces to all this.  One, all eight games they're playing (starting on Friday) are all at home.  Imagine doing this on the road.  And two, both Rutgers and the Boilermakers are patsies.  We'll see what these guys need to do to reach the NCAAs this time next week.

Addendum To: ZOMG! My BFF Just Totes Unfriended Me On Facebook!

While she un-/defriended me, she didn't block me.  So I thought about being snarky and Messengering her with something like, "Well, you may have unfriended me because of politics and because you couldn't take what you dished out, but I can say this will be the most tempestuous relationship I'll ever have on Facebook.  It's been real!  (kissing emoji)"  But I thought against it because I could have really incurred her wrath, or worse, get the Zuckerberg police on me.

So I decided to just Messenger someone else, the third person in this conversation that led to this chick's juvenile decision to ghost me.  He replied to me something that kind of shocked me: He said that after she defriended me, she made a racist comment towards me.  Well!

Seriously, this kind of bugs me.  I know that people say racist shit to someone to shut them up, and then they have power over that person.  But I have never been able to stand up, or at least react correctly, to those comments.  I hope to God she never knows my ... uh, fear.  But now that I know what she said about me, I'm glad I didn't re-engage with her.  I just blocked her, and I will square her away as "crazy bitch, possibly bigoted," and hopefully I'll never encounter the likes of her, or anyone like her, ever again on the Internet.  (Yeah, right.)

ZOMG! My BFF Just Totes Unfriended Me On Facebook!

Sometimes I wish some people would just fucking grow up.  But on the other hand, dumb shit like this reminds me of when I was young and tried to build up a fantasy world which I only ruled, and I think of a simpler time that I suddenly am sentimental for, like high school.

I friended this girl on Facebook because she had some nasty comments about some Republic or Trump supporter (same thing), and when we began talking to each other she seemed to be a real cool chick.  Had strong opinions, but I thought our views aligned well enough that we were on the same side.  She said she friended me because she had a Korean girlfriend.

She then introduced me to this kinky Facebook page where you could be as perverted as you want.  That was great until the guys in there (there were some girls there too, and many of them were pretty fucking hot, at least according to their profile pictures) started posting memes that veered to close to rape fantasy.  That was the point where I became a lurker and not a poster.

As I had seen more of her status updates (which she does frequently) and her messages to some people, I got the feeling that she was the aggressive, if not tempestuous type.  That's when I kind of knew that if I ever said something that she perceived as "crossing" her, she would unfriend (actually I think the term should be "defriended," but that's for another blog post) me.

And so it happened last night, where she went on a rant about how the Democrats are as bad as the Republicans and in fact are worse because at least Republicans have their shit together or something.  I kind of had the feeling she was a Bernie Sis before this.  Nevertheless, I decided to go into a back-and-forth with her (there was another person in the conversation and he was taking my side).  She said something I said was ignorant, I went, "No, you are," and then when I was waiting for my next Facebook notification, it didn't update.  Oh, yeah, I knew she swung her ax.  I checked both of her profiles and I am no longer a friend.  And I have been thrown off this Facebook page she introduced me to.

It doesn't hurt me to be unfriended.  I've never met her, and I increasingly got the feeling over our relationship (of about six months) that we may not be friends IRL.  And I certainly don't take back what I said about her stupid Both Sides Do It stance.  Like I said, I just harken back to a time in my life where not only I had the time to worry about shit like this, but to also think it was important enough to swiftly take a guy I met on Facebook out of my life, completely and instantly.  I know I have defriended people on Facebook, but I know I didn't feel as though I had to do it because that person violated my moral code or some shit like that.  I think she thinks it was much more important to her.  She probably thinks my offense was all-encompassing, even worthy of execution.

Whatevs, man.  Bitch is probably crazy.

That's It -- I Am Just Unemployable

So the axe fell Wednesday afternoon.  I knew it was bad, so I avoided looking at it until this evening, when I was alone, in my bed; otherwise it would've affected my production at work and my conversations with my parents.

Human Resources, the person who administered my first interview, sent me this bullshit message that had the balls to have the false subject line: "Thank you for interviewing with us!"  So we all know what comes next: "We decided to move forward with another candidate."

I don't know how in the fuck I lost this job.  I was in the department the past two seasons, for God's sake!

Maybe I'll expound on that when I have a more level head and feel like I want to devote more time to writing about this.  But right now I feel so fucked over.  Goddammit, I'm 41 years old and I still have yet to have a full-time job with benefits.  It's high time I do.  It's past high time.  And I thought this was a slam dunk, I really did.  That I didn't get makes me feel that I blew it some how, and so I feel very, very bitter about it.

Wonder if there is a reason, justified or unfair.  I don't interview well; maybe my answers weren't as good as they should have been; maybe the person who interviewed me questioned my commitment, or worse, my integrity.  Maybe it's all of the above, to which I tried my best to answer honestly while also insisting that I'm the right person for the job.  Guess they didn't see it that way.

At this point I don't know if I'll ever land a "real" job.  So this leads me to believe that I am just chronically and permanently unemployable.  Whatever I do, whatever skills I demonstrate, whatever commitment I have given to a company and its employees, however much time I have spent, it's not enough.  I've tried as much as I can, and it's obviously not enough.  And now, assuming that they'll want me back for the season -- they want me as a boytoy but not as a husband -- it'll be so goddamn awkward walking around the floor and seeing the person who rejected me.  I mean, how can I stay with this company in a situation like this?  Why in the hell should I even go back at this point?  Things are so toxic that maybe I should just move on, to the next temp job, to further burnish my reputation as somehow that can't or won't hold down a job.

I feel so self-destructive now.  I really do.

Wrong Recipient, Goddammit

So there is this battle between my parents and this real estate agent in Las Vegas that I am now involved in even though I do not have all the information.  All I know is that I have been asked to write some communication because they can't speak English well enough to translate their problem.  Or something.

The latest incident happened just now.  They wanted me to e-mail some company about these documents that need to be dealt with.  Or something.  I knew that my folks (or at least My Father) is in an argument with one of these parties.  So I did ... only that I sent this e-mail to the wrong party, namely the party they explicitly didn't want to talk to.  The e-mail I don't think is provocative or would seem to be doing an end run around this party in particular, and I certainly didn't say anything nasty about this party.  But Jesus fucking Christ, this e-mail was not supposed to be seen by this person, and I just sent it to her.  I tried looking up "unsending e-mail" because I heard that's possible, but it was impossible and too late.

So now I'm scared that this party will know what "secrets" my parents are "hiding" by "going behind her back."  If this gets really bad, to the point of legal action, mistakenly sending this to her will be used against them.  And then I'll have to lie my way out of it -- "What!  I don't remember!  What are you talking about!"

This shit always happens.  My parents ask for my help because of my fluency in English, but I don't know the ins and outs of this certain situation, and I overlook something and this happens.  And then it's my fault.  Hate this.  Hate this all the damn time.

Nightmare (First Time In A Long Time)

Wanted to blog post before going to sleep, but didn't because, for some reason, Mother (and eventually Father) wanted to cook something late at night.  I think they were still cooking in the kitchen when I finally fell asleep around midnight.  Not mad about going to bed early, though, because I could have used the early sleep time.

By blog posting now, I have something to blog post about.  Specifically it's about a nightmare, the first one I've had in a long time.  I've thought that the reason I haven't had one recently is because I haven't been able to sleep for a period long enough for the dark recesses of my mind to conjure up one.  I woke up a quarter after 5 this morning, however, so I had just about more than five hours only in which to have one.

And here it is: I saw my old car, the red Jeep that was eventually given to me by my parents, who bought it for themselves.  By the time I got it it was a piece of junk, and in its last years of life it had such a bad problem that it was virtually unusable even though I had to rely on it for the last year of its life.  (This conjures up bad memories; maybe I'll talk about it some other time.)  But I was gazing at the Jeep, sitting on our driveway, from afar.  And I knew it was going to explode, right in the middle of our neighborhood, and it was ... uh, planned that way, even though I had the urge to go up to the car and stop it, somehow.  (With nightmares I'm always vague with the details although I'm very sure with how I felt at the time.)  I thought I said in the nightmare, "It's going to explode!" to which someone I do not see says, "Let it happen!"  And I woke up before it exploded, or before something happened.

I knew it was an intense nightmare because, when I woke up, I made a pretty sizable imprint into the left pad of my anti-grinding retainer.  As frightening as it was to be in the middle of it, for some reason I think having nightmares is good for your health.

The Drug Doesn't Work Anymore

Frightening change to my allergy medication over the past 48 hours.  As I've talked about from time to time, I have really bad allergies in the spring -- hayfever when the flowers bloom.  It's been a permanent struggle to find relief; most years, especially in my childhood, relief only came after spring gave way to summer.  That's why I have come to hate spring so much, at least on an unconscious plane.

As a grown-up I've started to tackle the problem.  After years of believing that shoving stuff up my nose sounded so ew gross, several years ago I relented, took my doctor's advice and started using a nasal spray.  It was Nasonex -- you know, the one with Antonio Banderas as the bumblebee?  And it worked like magic.  It was spackle for my nose.  No running snot, no itchy eyes, nothing.  It was a godsend.

And then I switched health insurance and it didn't cover Nasonex.  Nowadays it's available over-the-counter, but I still prefer to find something that's cheaper and covered with my insurance.  So I was back in the wilderness again, using an entire box of tissues every day to blow my nose.  After trying a few other drugs, one that seemed to work was Flunisolide, an asthma spray that, uh, has been repurposed just for me.  I had said it worked ... however, when I was out at the United match Sunday afternoon, I felt the winds of the day go up my nose and get the better of me.  I was sniffling and sneezing like nobody's business, and I had to use several napkins from concessions to clear my nostrils.

Frustratingly it continued yesterday at work, at least for a spell; some time in the afternoon I felt this attack of congestion and eye redness, and it was like I was a kid all over again, being bullied by Mother Nature and her hayfever.  And I was surprised because I took my last shot at 3 in the morning.  It usually works in the afternoon.  It should.  But it didn't this time.  I wonder if I have underestimated the 12-hour thing and that I really do have to take it twice a day for it to be effective.  Or, maybe that they've reformulated it so it doesn't work for me now.  Or, maybe it's the, uh, "type" of allergy that Flunisolide can't beat back.

I don't know what the culprit is.  I do know that I was lucky to fall unconscious last night without waking up with a stuffed nose.  (I was supposed to work my night scoring project last night; maybe more on that in a future blog post.)  My body was so deprived of sleep that I skipped Dancing With The Stars and woke up at 4 in the morning.  That's why I'm typing this now, and thank goodness I have the time to write up my daily blog post.  But I'll have to venture into the outdoors soon, and I'm scared that the drug I'm going to shoot up my nose again just won't work.  I'm going to pack the two other nasal sprays I have, put them in the car, and shoot them up my nose for lunch.  That is to combat any fading effects of the Flunisolide over the day and to see, just in case, if the other two sprays may magically work this time around.

I am surprised that it's May and I'm still suffering from allergies.  Then again, all this blooming should have been done with in April but wasn't because of our prolong cold weather.  Mother Nature is making up for lost time, and I'm starting to lose some battles.

Wish me luck.

So I Guess I'm Going To Just Let It Happen

I was supposed to know by early this week whether or not I am getting a third interview.  Something tells me, though, that if I hadn't interviewed at all by early this week, I didn't get the job.  Therefore, I didn't get the job.

In harkening back to my interview I realized another telltale sign that I flunked it: When she told me, "You'll know later this week or early next week," she didn't look at me.  That's a sign that she's thinking in her head, "No, not this guy."

I had a thought that tonight would be the last night I could call the supervisor who tipped me off to this job.  If early this week is the very last day to do this, and if she somehow forgot, this would be the very last day I could try and say, "Hey, I interviewed last week and I'm still waiting on a call back for that third interview.  Did you forget me?"  I thought about all the drawbacks to doing that, but I thought I was going to go through with it anyway because at this point, I have nothing to lose.

However I have, unfortunately, decided against that.  The one thing I realized only just now is that the person who interviewed so long ago (Monday) is the person I would be answering to.  She answers to this supervisor, but I would be answering to her.  Therefore, the supervisor might not like me doing an end run around the person I have to work for.  If I did e-mail her, and in fact if there is a third interview, and in fact if my supervisor told her employee (my immediate boss) about what I did ... awkward!

So I won't e-mail her.  Then again, they might have already decided to reject me, in which case my seemingly mature decision not to napalm this entire process would be rendered moot.  I feel as though I'm just twisting in the wind, my fate already decided but not known.  But I can't just spout off passive-aggressively to those in power because "I'm not supposed to do that."  (sigh)

The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey

Positive Numbers: Gopher softball (Last Week: Positive Numbers).  This team is aided by the relative paucity of rivals because they play during from the mid-winter through early summer, when the crowd of teams playing locally thins out.  Nevertheless, you cannot dismiss the holy roll these players are doing for the U.  Yet another pair of mercy-rule games at Penn St., which lasted a combined 11 innings and a lopsided aggregate score of 25-2, means that the Gophers have won the Big Ten regular season for the first time since 1991.  (Did the conference even have softball back then?  Did the NCAA have softball back then?)  They have won 50 games in a season for the first time in program history.  They are the first club in top-flight college softball to win 50 games this season.  And earlier in the week they rose to #4 in the polls, establishing a new all-time best rank.

With both the Lynx and the Gopher women's hockey teams both failing to repeat as champs and the Wild failing to meet expectations, it is very possible that the University of Minnesota softball team is the best team in the Twin Cities right now.  And it might not be close.  Add to it that the Golden Gophers might receive a national seed for the NCAA Tournament and will surely be in line to host not just a regional but (at least according to College Sports Madness, I think the only place that does bracketology in softball) also a super regional, and these ladies have a chance to not only be historically great, but to be good enough for even the casual fan to notice them.  They deserve the publicity.  Things are getting real exciting for this ballclub.  Minnesota is now a bonafide title contender.

But first they have to finish off the Nittany Lions this afternoon.  That's it for the regular season; later in the week is the B1G Tournament, being held at Michigan.

#0: Twins (Last Week: 0).  This week I want to talk a little bit about the starting rotation for the Twins, who went a respectable 4-2 for the screening week.  (For that reason I am closing the gap and putting these guys at #0 this week.  That plus it's weird to go from Positive Numbers to -1 every week.)  Michael Rand or Phil (Phil?) Chiu (Chiu?) of the Star Tribune noted the cleave between the top three and the bottom two Starting Pitchers so far this season.  Ervin Santana, Phil Hughes and Hector Santiago have been good (Santana in particular being uncharacteristically spectacular).  The back two, which was Kyle Gibson and Adalberto Mejia, sucked -- so much so that I think both of them are back in AAA Rochester.  The organization is trying to spackle the ass end of those arms, but on Saturday, call-up Nick Tepesch got rocked in an 11-1 ass-kicking at home by the Boston Red Sox in front of a lot of Sawx fans coming into town (but school's still in session!).  Doesn't matter anyway since this is still a rebuilding year, but it would be nice if there is at least one answer to what appears to be the three-armed monster that will take this team through at least the trade deadline.  Could it be Jose Berrios, finally?

After wrapping up against Boston today, they hit the road for the week: Three vs. the White Sox, three against Cleveland.

#-1: Gopher baseball (Last Week: -3).  Split a two-game set against Georgia St. at Siebert, then won a squeaker (6-5) and then a blowout (17-1) at Penn St. to commence this weekend.  All well and good, but these are not good opponents, and losing to them would be damaging to the squad's tournament hopes.  It's still not good; as of the middle of last week Baseball America didn't even consider the Goofs for the NCAAs.

So that's whey next weekend's series is so important for the team to have any chance of making it to the postseason.  It's against Long Beach St., which as of right now, according to the same bracketology at Baseball America, has the U.'s future opponent hosting a regional to start the first weekend of the tourney.  If Minnesota can clip a game, or two ... no, most likely they need all three games ... if the U. can sweep them, they're right back in consideration.  (Of course, they need to also sweep the Nittany Lions with a win this [Sunday] afternoon.)  Nothing else in the schedule can bolster the squad's CV.  Next weekend basically is the season ... well, unless they can win the conference tournament and get the auto-bid.  Yeah, there's that.