Mother And Father Fighting -- Man, That Takes Me Back

My God, my parents just had the biggest goddamn fight I've seen and heard (mostly heard) in years, if not decades.  And it all stems from a letter.  And from me.

They just sold one of their properties here, and they told me last (Wednesday) night to write a letter to the insurance company to cancel the homeowner's insurance policy.  And quickly, My Father and Mother showed they had very different ideas on how to write a cancellation notice.  First, Mother wanted me to write out a letter which she will type at the library later today.  Then, Father said that I could just write it out on a piece of paper because the plan is to fax it, not mail it.  And after I wrote a very perfunctory and quick request to cancel this policy number which is for this property (they came back from some errand) Mother wanted me to write a return address down.  And then she told me to write down the phone number.  And then no, not the landline, but Father's cell #.  (I asked her why she couldn't do it; she said that a letter written two different ways would arouse suspicion.)

So I did it and got up and left in incredulity.  My Mother took the sheet I wrote and walked to My Father, who was finishing up washing the dishes, similarly getting incredulous that I wrote down not one but two phone numbers.  At this point it was apparent that she wanted to be as meticulous as possible with this letter I wrote for them while he wanted to just get the damn thing sent.  And he let her know about as soon as I entered my bedroom: "I told you I wanted a simple goddamn letter!"  And so I heard a yell-fest between the two that rivals anything I heard when I was a kid, and they were arguing as soon as they came home late at night and continued as they went down the stairs and hit the shower.

This fight did not last as long as those childhood memories: Ten or fifteen minutes at the most, long compared to arguments between decent and sane couples but short for my folks.  But they went at it.  Through the Chinese I thought I could make out, My Father was on the attack, berating My Mother for continually ignoring his desire for a quick letter quickly sent.  Mother may or may not have ridiculed him for thinking he could do a half-ass effort for such an important letter, but I think she just started to get defensive about Father haranguing her.

I was just going to let the knock-down-drag-out fight outside as I retreated to my safe space.  But then I heard something slightly different.  Father had already locked the door when they came back from that errand after dinner.  But I heard Mother quickly unlatch all the locks and storm out, with a grunting Father shoving open the screen door after she exited.

Then I heard their minivan start up.  I've heard this a couple times before; after a fight, Mother just takes off.  She would be gone for hours at a time, but she would come back before we went to bed.  That's what I thought she felt like she needed to do, but this time Father chased after her.

So now I had to see what the fuck was going on.  Mother wanted to bolt for parts unknown, but this time Father wouldn't let her.  She started the car; he may have talked her down to the point she turned it off.  She continued yelling and started it up.  He walked away from the driver's-side door, but instead walked behind the car.  The minivan started creeping back before Mother realized she was about to run Father over, so she jerked it to a stop.  Finally, as he circled back beside her, she turned off the car and went back inside.

I didn't see anybody driving or passing by.  I have no idea how no one at least heard them; they were screaming so loudly (at least Mother) that if a cop car was rolling by, I know a cop would have stopped to ask what the fuck was going on.  But as embarrassing as that was, I couldn't help but focus on the behavior of both of my parental units.  Both of them were terrible.  But I don't know who was worse: Mother for storming out of the house and yelling so loudly the neighbors could hear, or Father for manipulating Mother's feelings and then challenging her into staying, even by standing behind a car that could run him over.  She shouldn't have bolted out the door, but he shouldn't have forced her to stay.  Both of them suck.

And so I go back to one of the statements I tell myself whenever I feel the need to sum up my life: I have been ruined because of my parents.  I have both My Mother's penchant for overreacting and My Father's need to be right.  And all my yelling?  Turns out I get it from both of them.  I learned really well listening into downstairs when I was young.

She didn't leave the driveway, but she's sleeping in my sister's room.  Just another day in the Unforgivable Wetness household.

I Am Having A Surprisingly Stressful Week

It kind of blindsided me, but it is stressful.

I found work, and being unemployed is kind of stressful.  But I started yesterday (Tuesday), and there are a lot of things I need to do that I don't have a handle on.  And the person who's training is the person I'm replacing on an interim basis, so if I don't get this down by Thursday, I'm screwed.  And since Labor Day is Monday, there's a damn good chance I'll forget everything she taught me when I come back next week.

Then there's the Mensa thing.  The local Mensa chapter has had a booth at the Minnesota State Fair for years now.  I first thought of joining after passing by it once.  Well, the LocSec (the Local Secretary, aka the boss of the chapter) sets up three daily four-hour, two-person shifts for the booth for the entirety of the Fair, and there were two holes left to fill.  Because I want to be a more-active member of Mensa, I volunteered to staff our booth Thursday.  But that means I have to cut out of work an hour early (thus losing out on a hour's wage), get there on time, be able to solve the puzzles we have on display, stay awake for four hours, and be civil to anyone who comes by our booth.  I'm sure I'll get some asshole who'll ask me a question to which I won't know the answer, to which he'll say, "Ha!  You're not as smart as you think you are, dumbass!" which will force me to commit violence on his ass, and that will mean I'll get drummed out of Mensa.  Just you watch.

And then there's Saturday, the beginning of my alma mater's football season.  Expectations are high, but that's not the reason I'm anxious.  I'm anxious because, once again, I have to find a spot to watch our football game away from our customary home.  This carriage deal is getting ridiculous, but if you're the head of your alumni club and your football team is a traditional power, what is there to do?  Last year, in a similar situation, we went just up the street.  A week or so ago I went back to that place to inquire about watching it there again, and the bartender said I should take it up with the people working Saturday.  That means that there's no reason to do anything before then.  But that means I'm not 100% sure we can go there, and if we can't, it'll be too late to find a different spot.  It's just waiting till we get closer to kickoff.  That hasn't stopped me from telling people that's where we're going this weekend; hope to Buddha I won't be proven a fool.

So Thursday and Saturday are the really excruciating days to deal with this week.  But along with Tuesday, it has been plenty excruciating.  Once I get to Saturday evening, I can breathe a sigh of relief.  Maybe.

The Perils Of Working So Close To Home

So I start a new position today.  It's short-term, but although I was initially led to believe it would be only this and next week, another person who says he has better knowledge of the company says I should expect it to last a month.  At any rate I will be out before the health insurance company asks me back, which is in November, which is a month later than last year, which really scares me.  It also doesn't help that it's part-time, about 24 hours a week.  I mean, I am glad I'm getting any work at all.  But if I'm good enough for 40/week, I should be seeking that out, even if it's going to last only six weeks.

One big advantage is that the job's in the next town over.  In fact, it's in the same city as the high school I went to.  In fact, it's only five minutes away.  But is it really an advantage?  For one thing, I'm so close that my parents might drive past my place of work and my car.  I don't think this will be the case because I'll be driving in a direction my folks don't go.  Famous last words, of course, but they have no reason to be up in that part of our neighborhood.  However, I didn't think till tonight (I agreed to the job basically this morning) that since I'm in a part of town where I went to high school, there's a chance that I'll be working with or even for someone I went to high school with.  I doubt it ... well, now that I think about it, it's a decent chance.  Man, what will I say -- "Hey, how's it goin'?  Long time no see, eh?"

I'm screwed, aren't I?

I Can't Touch It!

My laptop, that is.  This has happened a couple times.  I turn it on, and whenever I want to use the screen to move down the webpage (the Dell is a two-in-one, meaning it works both as a laptop and as a tablet), I can't.  Sometimes I can, but as of now I can't detect a pattern as to when the touch feature just, for lack of a better term, disables itself.  And right now I can't find any solution to it online.

I've had this new laptop for more than two weeks now, so it's too late to return it.  I'm stuck with it.  And actually I should say it's a good laptop; if nothing else, it's nice to be able to carry something that is three pounds instead of my decade-old Samsung, which is 30.  But this capricious touch turn-off is something I had heard of before I bought it, and yet all the reviews universally praised it, as if this was flawless.  Touch turning itself off, In My Humble Opinion, is a serious issue, especially if you don't know when it does it.  How good can this lap be if it does this to enough people that they complain about it online?

The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey

#-1: Gopher volleyball (Re-Entry!).  Promising start to what appears to be yet another veteran-laden, nothing-less-than-the-Final-Four-type run.  They rightfully won both games in their part of the Big 10/ACC Challenge in Madison last weekend by sweeping North Carolina and defeating Louisville in four sets, two wins over pretty decent programs.

Minnesota is at the stage where they are reloading and not rebuilding.  While there is some speculation that Head Coach Hugh McCutcheon had interest in taking over Stanford's job (I think there was mutual appeal, but I don't think we'll ever know the real and whole truth), his return keeps an important cog in a team that still has the tools to finally win its first title ever.  They will be lead by Setter Samantha Seliger-Swenson (heretofore known, sometimes, as SSS), Outside Hitter Alyssa Goehner, and Senior Libero Dalianliz Rosado.  However, they are in the Big Ten, The Best Conference In Women's Volleyball.  They have enough talent to compete with the likes of Nebraska, Penn St. and Wisconsin, but that doesn't mean that they'll win.

Since my parents are leaving next weekend I won't have time to see this squad host the Diet Coke Classic.  You don't see the likes of Texas-San Antonio, West Virginia, or Tennessee up in these parts (although the Volunteers were here in a tournament game once; it was a Sweet 16 game vs. Ohio St., Tennessee won the first two sets but then lost the match), so for that novelty alone I would try to attend at least one match over the two days.  Oh, and the tournament, as always, will be played at the Sports ... wait, the what?!  The Maturi Pavilion?!?!  Oh yeah, they renamed the Sports Pavilion officially earlier this month (although they sort of already did it in December).  Hey, it's better than 3M Arena replacing Mariucci.  But wouldn't you think a sports facility would be renamed in honor of someone who actually was successful in Gopher sports teams, instead of one whose claim to fame is hiring Tim Brewster as Head Coach of the football team?

#-2: Gopher soccer (Last Week: -2).  Meanwhile the Gopher XI remain undefeated, crushing North Dakota St. 3-0 at Robbie Stadium Monday and drawing with 24th-ranked Notre Dame at 1 Friday in their first game in the Iowa Tournament in Iowa City.

I did not notice, however, till now that they don't appear in any Top 25 poll when in fact they were ranked in a couple of the four women's college soccer polls before the season began.  So last week they tie Washington St. and that was enough to drop them?  Eh, whatevs.

They finish the Iowa Tournament playing Iowa St. early this afternoon.  They then host their own Minnesota Classic (if I've never heard of it, can it really be a classic?) Labor Weekend.  They play California-Santa Barbara -- another team that doesn't come around here often, and a school I regret not being able to see -- Friday night.  They also play Providence Sunday afternoon, and I'm pretty sure I'll be able to see the Friars for my first Gopher soccer match of the year.

#-3: Lynx (Last Week: -3).  They're still in massive trouble.  On Sunday they ran out of gas and lost by nine at New York, a team that appears to be ascending right now.  But with ensuing victories over Phoenix at home and San Antonio on the road (not to mention the gaudy record the club rolled up before injuries to Lindsay Whalen and Rebekkah Brunson), the Jynx did finally capture the double-bye for the WNBA Playoffs.

In case you are not aware, the WNBA does away with conference designations for the postseason.  Instead, in a nod to some mad-scientist fans, the eight teams that qualify for the postseason enter a quasi-stepladder/bowling format.  The bottom four teams play each other in a pair of one-off games; those winners take on the third- and fourth-seeds in another single game.  Those ensuing winners face Minnesota and the other team that gets the double-bye in a best-of-three, and those winners meet in the best-of-five WNBA Finals.

It was essential that the Lynx get to the semifinals.  I don't know what's wrong with this team, but there's something wrong with this team, and they are highly susceptible to a knockoff defeat against a hot-shooting, hungry squad itching for an upset.  This team needs the cushion of a loss in a series, and their two-game winning streak provides that.  Now, of course, they have to win -- not just against Los Angeles, but against New York and against everybody.  Right now, I think they can lose to anyone.

Another three-game screening week.  They visit the Sparks tonight, travel to Indiana Wednesday, then host Chicago Friday.

#-4: United FC (Re-Entry!).  I want to be more positive over what this side has gone through this week.  But a loss Sunday at Seattle, in which they were battling over a tie before coughing up a Penalty Kick Goal to Clint Dempsey in the 94th minute, forces me to push this team down to the penultimate spot in this week's survey.

Nevertheless, this season-ticket holder wants to laud the Loons for finally winning its first match on the road last (Saturday) night, where they beat the Chicago Fire 2-1 on a first-half brace by Abu Danladi.  I was driving to Glam Doll and hearing the dying minutes of the match, hanging on Callum Williams's every word.  My throat tightened when the Fire's David Accam halved the lead.  But after the ref blew the whistle after 94 minutes, I pumped my fist while I was in my car.  They finally nicked a team on the road.  And it's no podunk rebuilding team -- Chicago is third in the Eastern Conference and was once leading it.  This is a morale booster.

Manager Adrian Heath was satisfied enough with the Starting XI in Sunday's loss to the Sounders that he trotted them out again last (Saturday) night.  With the glut of wingers this franchise acquired, Heath inserted former Columbus Crew member Ethan Findlay on a wing opposite Sam Nicholson.  Danladi was the sole Forward because Christian Ramirez is still hurt.  And even though I am still somewhat puzzled by Miguel Ibarra's standing with Heath, the results speak for themselves.  Plus, Batman got out of the doghouse as a substitute in the Chicago game.  I still think it's too late for the postseason, but this recent form insinuates a return to competence, which is all you want to see in an expansion team.

This week is a worldwide league break for country duties, mostly for World Cup Qualifying.  MNUFC return to play on the 9th.

#-5: Twins (Last Week: -1).  This is how good, and thus how unforgivable, this week's WMNSS is.  The Twins finish last ... yet as of press time would be ALWC2, by a half-game over Seattle and Anaheim.  I don't think they had a great week.  It started off fantastically, where they finished off as sweep of a very good Arizona squad last Sunday at Target.  But they lost a five-game series at Comiskey against the last-place White Sox and have so far split a pair at underachieving Toronto.  This week saw too many cases where the lineup was hitting but the pitching was poor, or the pitching was great (or at least decent) but the bats were silent.  And yet, because the other Wild Card contenders also seemed to have choppy screening weeks, they remain in solid contention of the other WC spot.

This isn't a great team, but I still believe they should have dominated the Blue Jays and the White Sox.  They have a chance to win the series versus Toronto this (Sunday) afternoon, and then they host the Pale Hose for three beginning on Tuesday.  They will then host an important three-game set with the Kansas City Royals for the weekend.

Roadtrips Are A Killer

Got home last night in one piece.  Did not stay at a hotel room on the way.  Did not get home before dusk, either, though that was the plan.  It did not work out that way because it took me 4 1/2 hours to get from Washington Park, Ill., to Cedar Rapids, Ia., where I planned on stopping (and insisted on stopping) at the two places recommended by Roadfood.com; kolaches at Sykora Bakery and then the breaded tenderloin sandwich at Little Bohemia.

After leaving Little Bohemia a little past 6 I loaded up home on the Garvin my parents lent me.  (It was their idea and it proved to be indispensable.)  The estimated time coming home: 11:30 p.m.  I seriously thought the "half" of the trip from Cedar Rapids to the Twin Cities would take 3 1/2 hours.  At that point I had no choice but to press on for home (forget about the strip club in Albert Lea), and I would have to come up with a lie on the way there.

Then I remembered the horrendous bottleneck I had to go through close to the Minnesota-Iowa border.  I saw a sign that said "Road Construction, Next 4 Miles," and I still don't know if that means in the next four miles or for the next four miles.  We were all driving stupid because we were all piled into one lane when the other lane, supposedly the one about the close, we left empty for some damn reason.  And the cones disappeared before we saw any construction workers or lane closures or anything.  I didn't see any reason we had to slow down, let alone we merged onto one lane immediately after we saw the sign.

There was an even bigger, longer traffic tie-up on Highway 57 West coming back from the eclipse.  I should blog about that some time.  But those two incidents made me come up with an idea: Tell my folks that I am in southern Minnesota, but I unknowingly got backed up.  So I texted them around 7, which, if I do my math correctly, would have gotten me home by 8:30 if there was no traffic, which there wasn't.  Father texted back, essentially, "Fine, just take your time and be careful."  He didn't know I was in north-central Iowa.  And to cover my bases I texted him an hour later saying that traffic was so bad I crawled only ten miles, to which Father replied "Take your time" again.  Got home around midnight in a steady downpour, but neither parental unit was angry.

While I'm glad I got home in the manner I wanted to (largely; I still wanted to hit the strip club before heading home), I have to admit that the driving, both to and from St. Louis, got to me.  For one thing, I have never felt my back feel this bad and in this way, if that makes any sense.  It's as if someone snapped me in my lower back, the pain was that excruciating.  And I got tired too, especially at night, when the glare from the headlights bothered me more than I thought it would.  Night driving is something that never really bugged me until I had to drive 500 miles in one day.  And oh, by the way -- those estimated times I got from Google Maps are bullshit.  It said 8 1/2 hours going down through Des Moines, and eight going up through Cedar Rapids.  More like 12 1/2 going down, a dozen going up.  Yes, I took lunch and breaks.  But it can't be 50% longer than estimated.

And now that I know the toll all that driving takes on my body, I now have second thoughts.  I mean, I am glad that I did it just to experience it.  Driving through farmland proves just how beautiful America is.  But I now realize that travelling is something that is hard to do alone.  And finances are another concern: I started thinking about roadtripping because the sale prices I usually get on a Southwest flight weren't available because of the eclipse.  But even with an inflated airfare, it might have been cheaper than renting the car and filling up the tank five or six times.  Maybe I'll be industrious enough to do the math.

So maybe a shorter road trip -- to, say, this human research lab in West Allis, Wisc, which keeps asking for paid volunteers to stay for a week for thousands of dollars -- would be a more tolerable sojourn.  Otherwise ... eh, I'll have to think about it.

I'm Coming Home Because Mother Said So

All I wanted to do was check in with my folks the day before I come home from my road trip.  But instead of a quick hello, me telling her I might be coming home late prompted a huge warning from her.  "No!" she said, as if I was a child.

You know, shit like this, when she tells me that she does not want me coming in this late, is why I'm emotionally stunted.  I'm serious.

So she tells me either to come home early or just stay at a hotel overnight.  I got so pissed with her that I hung on her.  My parents do that to me all the time.

But after cooling off I realize that I don't really have much of a choice if I still want to stay at their house.  Besides, I have to go away from Minnesota this (Friday) afternoon to see (and fuck) this chick one last time before I go.  So my plan on going to the casino near the Iowa border and then the strip club about 15 minutes away are out.  (I'll make it up by using their minivan to go down there one night.)  I'm going to come home early, because I have to return the car Saturday morning and I want to be home to make sure I don't get hit with late fees.

Look, she makes one good point.  The drive down here, especially the part through the open country of Iowa, killed me.  I got here in one piece, but the tedium of the road made things dicey at some points.  And, don't tell Mama, but it got worse at night.

I don't like acceding to her wishes.  And I'm damn sure I could make it home at midnight, or even 2 o'clock, which was my original plan.  But growing up I am learning not to pick so many fights.  This one, I'm afraid, I lay down my arms for.

Got Ripped Off, Then Got Lost

Not a great morning.  I thought about getting up early, but decided to let my body rest, which it did till 9:30.  I then went to St. Charles (an hour after I would have gotten up if I wanted to set an alarm), and that was nice.

It was all downhill from there.  Popped into a Target because I thought its ATMs didn't issue fees.  Nope; had to pay $2.75.  Then after picking up a caramel cake and a rib tip sandwich, I got lost on my way back to the hotel.  And now I have less than an hour to sleep -- all of a sudden I got really tired -- before I go to the Arch and the Cardinals game

I'm tired and I want to go to sleep.  What a way to wind up my trip here.

Still Not Enough Time

I accomplished another litany of things I wanted to do last (Tuesday) night: Hit both strip clubs, go to the Hooters where two hot babes were in the Hooters pageant (neither one was working there then, I think -- no surprise), and I was able to stay up all night at Coffee Cartel, St. Louis' only 24-hour coffeeshop, to work through two years' worth of ATM receipts in my checkbook ledger.  I then was able, in a drowsy fog, to get home (even though I got lost, again) and go to sleep close to 9 in the morning.  But I woke up half past noon.  And now, here I am.

There are still things I want to do, and have to do.  I am planning on going to the Cardinals game, for example.  But I also have to print out tickets.  And then I still want to visit St. Charles for an afternoon.  Since I'm awake, maybe I can do that now?  Or maybe I should do that another time.  And then I have to hit the casinos, too.  Shit, I ... I can't decide what I need to do.  Maybe I should just crawl back into bed.

Running On Adrenaline Right Now

OK, so the eclipse was great, but I don't have time to give it justice by writing, so I'll talk about something else.

Today (Wednesday) I woke up at 9, tried to go to the Arch, saw that tickets were sold through the evening, went looking through the Old Courthouse instead (which is something I wanted to do), went to Fairmount Park for horse racing, went to the stripclub to get sucked by Autumn but didn't because I couldn't get it up, went to the library to buy tickets and for some goddamn reason couldn't, came back to the hotel to shower and, well, here I am, blogging.

And after I get done with this and purchasing tickets, I am going back out to the Hooters were these two hot pageant contestants work and then to the other strip club where I might be able to get it up.  Then, if I have time and energy, I'm going to the casino and to this coffeeshop where I'm going to catch up on balancing my checkbook.  Because right now I am running on adrenaline.  I have so many things I need to do, and despite doing so many things, as well as driving for long distances, I don't think I'm so tired that I have to go to bed.

Maybe.  Something's creeping over me right now.  But no!  I'm going back out right now.  ADRENALINE!!!

Wish Me Luck Finding The Eclipse!

I am both excited and mentally shrugging over the eclipse tomorrow.

Let's face it: A lot of people are trying to drive to the path of totality, and I don't think 1% of those people know exactly what they're doing to maximize their chances of seeing the total eclipse and minimize any problems getting there along the way.  So the vast, vast majority of us -- me included -- are really flying blind.

I mean, my plan, such as it is, is waking up early in the morning and driving to the coordinates to what is being called the point where the total eclipse lasts the longest.  It's somewhere in the city of Makanda, Ill., the Solar Eclipse "Centre," and I'm planning on driving there.  How?  Fuck if I know.  I plan on waking up and immediately leaving my hotel room at 4 or 4:30, but I have no idea if that's too late.  I also hear that traffic will reach levels not unlike that of people fleeing the path of a hurricane.  Since I am unfamiliar with hurricanes, that analogy means nothing to me.  So what if I do if I'm stuck on the highway at, oh, 6 in the morning?  Do I tough it out or do I go to a different place?

Plus I just saw the weather forecast which said the weather in Carbondale is going to be cloudy.  However, the next best place to see the eclipse, Hopkinsville, Ky., may have fewer clouds.  So instead of driving 2 1/2 hours (without traffic, of course), it looks as though I'll be driving 4 hours into Kentucky for a chance, just a chance, to see the eclipse totally unobstructed.

Again, I'm flying blind here, and maybe I shouldn't.  The whole purpose of this trip to STL is this.  I don't want to blow, but since I don't know what I'm doing, how can I not blow it?

I need to do to bed now.  I am going to face a shitty, tired day tomorrow.

The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey

#-1: Twins (Last Week: -1).  Well, looky here again!  While they dropped two-of-three midweek at home to Cleveland (the American League Central Division is just about a done deal for them), they won Sunday in Detroit to take the three-game series from Detroit, and they ended the screening week with a pair of wins vs. a very good Arizona Diamondbacks squad.  Therefore, after another week, they remain tied with The Los Angeles Angels Of Anaheim Angels Of Los Angeles Angels Of Anaheim Of ... for ALWC2.  They were left to their own devices, and they decided to fight, and fuck all of us.  That's the kind of personal determination that gets people on your side.

This appear to be the week where Miguel Sano and Byron Buxton finally lived up to the standards (as shifting, even lowered, as they may be) the Twins organization wished for them.  Sano remains a terror (albeit a dinged-up one) at the plate and has flashed some leather, too.  Meanwhile, Buck may have figured out how to hit.  And that speed -- goddamn, that speed:




Since the company Statcast figured out how to track every single movement of players on the field, we know that that inside-the-park Home Run is the fastest since 2015, at 13.85 seconds.  That is fucking fast.  This year I realized how important defense is to baseball.  And I'm starting to realize that speed kills also, both on the basepaths as well as on the field.  That ITPHR tied the game against Arizona at 3.  The D-Backs scored their three runs first, and the Twins, with Buxton's help, answered with ten of their own.  This is the wherewithal a team needs to truly become a dangerous, successful unit.

At the very least Target Field will host meaningful games in August and September.  After going for the sweep today (Sunday), the Twins play a five-game series at the White Sox.  (The second game is a make-up game for May 10's rainout.  The first game will begin at 4:10, a couple hours after the eclipse [it's partial in Chicago].  They then travel to Toronto for three for the weekend.  That's two downtrodden teams; it's a prime opportunity to solidify their contention for the postseason.

#-2: Gopher soccer (Re-Entry!).  The U.'s pitch XI begin their 2017 season with a scoreless draw at Washington St. Friday, thus beginning the 2017-8 college sports season.

The side reached unprecedented heights last year by winning what constitutes the double in women's college soccer (claiming the regular season title and then the tournament that comes right after it).  But despite getting one of the 16 national seeds for the NCAA Tournament and playing at home, they utterly failed their fans in losing in Penalty Kicks to a turtling N.C. St. squad.  They lose so many of their best players, including Forward Simone Kolander and Goalie Tarah Hobbs.  Who steps up, and how well they do in the departed Seniors' places, will determine whether Minnesota even sniffs the tourney this year.

They open the home portion of their schedule Monday night against North Dakota St.  Next weekend they are in Iowa City, Ia., to start the Iowa Tournament; they play Friday against Notre Dame.

#-3: Lynx (Last Week: -2).  While the Twins are ascending, the Jynx -- make no mistake -- are in a tailspin.  Rebekkah will miss two weeks and maybe the rest of the regular season with a sprained ankle.  With her and Lindsay Whalen out of the lineup, the Jynx suffered their first losing streak in god-knows-when when Crystal Langhorne laid in a bucket late in Wednesday's 62-61 loss in Seattle.  It doesn't matter that they set records for scoring streak and margin of victory in immolating Indiana at the X Friday, 111-52.  In fact, a score and effort like that, to me, is a desperate bullying tactic they put on the Fever to trick themselves into believing they are the dominating force they were in seasons past.  They still are two games ahead of Los Angeles for home-court -- the Sparks defeated Minnesota last week, but then lost to New York for some reason -- but deep down this is an old and scared club that's on the brink of disaster.

The WNBA season is still on a finishing kick -- another three-game week.  They are playing New York at Madison Square Garden right now (Sunday afternoon); they then host Phoenix Tuesday and travel to San Antonio Friday.

Roadtrip!

Well, for the first time in my life, I am vacationing not by taking a plane to my destination, but by renting a car and driving.  It's my annual sojourn to St. Louis, and that the city is somewhat close to the path of totality made this the perfect time to go down there this year.  But, possibly because of the eclipse, airfares were expensive compared to the $100 I have been able to buy a ticket for in the past.  Combine that with the experience I have gained in driving for long hours first out west (to Yosemite) and then out east (to Niagara Falls), and my fear that I will get into a crash and die while driving long distances and hours has kind of melted away.  Finally, gas prices are reasonable (at least for now), and I got enough points through Enterprise (thanks to the van we rented to our trip out west) to get two of the seven days I'll have the car for free, so I took the plunge.

My plans are still somewhat fluid.  I went to AAA to help me find a path down to St. Louis, but even after going back a second time to change my path back, I have to sort of throw my TripTik out the window because I forgot that the world-famous Iowa State Fair is still going on.  I planned on driving to one of two restaurants recommended by Roadfood in Cedar Rapids, but hey, when will I ever have the chance to hit the Iowa State Fair ever again?  So now I will have to improvise (with the help of Google Maps and Waze) to drive down 35 to Des Moines, then to STL.

And after that I still don't have my itinerary straight.  I have actually given myself seven days down there -- more than the four or five I usually give myself, but I have wanted to stay down in the Loo for that long for some time.  That gives me a lot of time to pack in all the things I want to do that I haven't done yet -- visit St. Charles, go to Connelly's Goody Goody Diner -- and do the things I regularly do down there -- hit the Arch, Cardinals games, casinos and, of course, stripclubs.  But I have yet to write down what I'm going to do then.  In fact, the fact that this is a road trip makes me question planning this vacation on the fly.  I think deep down things are going to be OK when I have no guarantee anything will be OK.

And that doesn't include the eclipse, which is the focal point of this trip.  I really have no idea where I'm going to go or what I'm going to do.  Well, I have a plan of going a couple hours to Carbondale, Ill., which is the site in the United States where totality is going to last the longest (assuming there are no clouds or rain, knock on wood).  I really don't know if there is a "right" way to watch an eclipse, even though there should be.  I mean, who's going to tell me when it's OK to take off my eclipse glasses and stare at the Sun?  I don't know, and I should.  Hell, there might be so much traffic going into Carbondale that I have no guarantee I'll even see it.

Eh, just go with it.  That's the best I can do at this point.  Well, you guys can wish me luck.  One thing I like about renting a car is that I am not under any luggage restrictions.  I am going to bring my new laptop, and I might bring both a blanket and a chair for the eclipse.  Or maybe not.  Hey, I'm winging it!  It's a roadtrip!

It's Over (Losing My Mental Fastball)

The project and potentially test scoring the rest of the season as well.  We finished around 1:30 today, so I don't have to worry about missing any time on my roadtrip, which begins tomorrow.

And thank goodness it is.  I don't want to confess this, but I must.  When we get a question we need to score students' responses to, obviously we try them out first to see if we get it.  We get the answers anyway, but it's good to solve them yourself, you know?  Well, of the 50 problems I and the room went through for the project (and these were all math questions), I got the answer wrong, uh, more than my share of times.  And although there were some concepts I had forgotten since my studying days, sometimes I just made some dumb mistakes.

Take today, for example.  Not to get into it too much, but I had to find the area of an oddly-shaped "room" in order to get the answer.  What I did was cut it up into three pieces.  But that meant that you had to tweak the original lengths in order to compute each of the three separate pieces correct.  I did not do that.  Instead I multiplied together the two sides that were already written down.  And since these three shapes were basically rectangles and the lengths given were opposite each other, I multiplied the two opposing sides together -- not the way you compute area.  That leads to a yes or no question; once I heard the room boss that the answer is supposed to be "no," I had to redo all my work, and that's when I realized my friggin' mistake.

I didn't tell anybody I screwed up, obviously.  Didn't have to; if anyone was really paying attention, they could hear me furtively erasing my screw-up.  But it is humiliating that I could not answer questions meant for 9- and 10-year-olds without help.  And so, in that sense, I'm kind of relieved I'm done and can put this project behind me.

Yeah, Over Traffic

OK, this test scoring project, the one I used to lead (sorta) once, starting last year they are in this huge building on the other side of town.  It's been kind of a pain to get there, but it's been manageable.

Not any more.  It's been touch-and-go whether I get there on time, but the past two days I've reached my breaking point.  It takes me at best 40 and at worst, oh, an hour to get there.  Nevertheless, the traffic on the way down there was exacerbated when 394 East to 94 East (I think) was shut down for two weeks starting Monday.  The traffic was detoured to 100 South to Crosstown East.  So on 100, the path I usually take, had this sudden influx of drivers.  That meant that Waze, which I rely on every morning now to get me to work as fast as possible, took me on contingent paths yesterday and today.  Nevertheless, there was so much traffic that my commute has taken longer.

Yesterday I started the car at 7:11, and remembering this new road closure, I knew I was going to be late.  And I was; even with a circuitous route Waze took me, I got to my workroom at 8:04.  Not the worst thing, but it irks me.  So it was my intention to get out of the house sooner to deal with the traffic better.  And this morning I started my car at ... 7:07.  I also thought that traffic would get worse because I didn't think that for the first few days drivers fully comprehended nor decided which Plan B they would take.  And yes, it was worse; with yet another tour Waze gave me, I got to work at 8:05 and they already started working.  I don't think anyone cared except me, and I still am pissed.

I have to come to the logical conclusion that this place is too far for me to go to.  I'm fed up.  Yes, this 394-to-94 closure is just two weeks and the second week I'll be in St. Louis.  (Besides, this project I'm working on should be done tomorrow.)  And I am sitting on the can strolling through my Twitter feed a little longer than I should.  (I set back my alarm clock by five minutes, but even at 6:25 in the morning I'm dilly-dallying my way out of the house.)  But the longer your drive, the greater the chance you will run into traffic and thus lengthen your commute.  It always seems to be something, and I'm kind of done with it.  Now, I say this thinking that it'll be the last time I'll work there this season (although you never know), so I might forget I even blogged about this.  But I'm getting too old for this shit, and unless they find a new warehouse closer to home (or if they open up a permanent branch at the Mall Of America, a place that I would not mind working at and which may be closer to home than where we're currently working), well ... I should reconsider working there ever again.

Expenses Without Receipts

Yep, I let this get too long again.  Starting from Tuesday, August 15:

• For my day off I went to see Spider-Man: Homecoming.  It wasn't too long ago when Andrew Garfield and before that Tobey Maguire donned the suit.  Having yet a third guy in two decades don it seems like overkill.  But this take was a breezy reboot of the character.  I appreciated that Uncle ... Ben's death wasn't included in this film.  It's an acknowledgement that we have seen him die twice already; it's an understanding that we already know parts of the story.  Grade: B+?  Ticket, popcorn, pop: $9.64.
• After dinner I went to Great Clips to have my hair cut after a two-day delay.  You know, kind of how it took two days for President Trump to denounce Nazis, except less important.  The cut itself cost $7.99, but this EWR is specifically for the tip only: $3.
• I then went to the library to print out invoices for Mother.  She needed my help because, even though she is learning how to do them, she has had trouble with a few format characteristics I put in the invoices I have done for her.  Also, she types slow, and after doing two invoices today, she got tired.  So I did two and re-did two.  That's four, and that means: 40 cents.
• After the library I went to My Favorite Stripclub (Non-Cover Edition) for the first time in a few weeks, I think.  I remember seeing two of the four chicks on shift.  Actually five -- one new girl replaced Giselle, who left after her first shift -- the very first shift -- after I got a dance from her.  I feel bad that I think I kept her at work longer than she wanted to.  Broke an extra five so I could tip two new strippers before I decided to leave.  With coffee it comes out to: $32.75.
• To Sunday, August 13 ... I went to the State Capitol for its grand opening celebrations; it's been refurbished and cleaned up for the past four years, and even though I really couldn't tell any difference, it looks new.  I wanted to get in there and then out in less than an hour, but I stayed for three.  Mostly because there were parts of the first tour I didn't get to, such as the Deliberation Room in the State Supreme Court.  I latched onto a second tour to see that, and then I stayed because the tour guide, though robotic, was real cute!  Oh, I also met up with some dude who, like me, was doing the tour by himself.  Tim's a good dude, and I'm glad I could show him where he could the State Capitol hat.  Oh, wait ... I didn't give any money there.  I went to Runyon's thereafter because I need to grease the way for our alumni club to see the first game of the season there.  They have great wings, although they're a bit hot.  With a Coors Light on special and tip, the total came out to be: $21.
• I had planned on doing the Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey at Caffetto after Runyon's, but staying at the State Capitol for so long pushed lunch really late.  And since I wanted to get my hair cut after doing the WMNSS, I decided it was simply too far to go from downtown to Lyn-Lake just to type that up.  I had brought my new laptop, my Dell, with me.  It would have been the first time I went out in public with it.  I was going to get my Dell hooked up with a public wi-fi spot for the first time, and I wanted to "christen" it at Caffetto because it's one of my favorite spots in town to work on my computer.  Alas, my actions altered that, and instead I "christened" my first wi-fi connection through my new lap at Diamonds, the coffeehouse much closer to home.  It worked out fine.  Got freshly-squeezed lemonade there.  (Oh, BTW, I did not get my hair cut [I stayed at Diamonds less than half an hour] because there was an hour wait at 4 o'clock and they closed at 5.  Got a coupon out of it for my trouble.)  With tip: $3.50.
• I needed to get lotto tickets for Father on my way back.  Funny story: I went home because I wanted to change shirts (to a dirty one) before going back out to get my hair cut.  But since there was no way I could get my hair cut I went home.  I changed and crawled into my bed when I realized that Father texted me to get lotto tickets.  So I went out a second time to buy them and came back.  Oh, and my parents' only friend was there the whole time.  I had to park inbetween his car and my parents' van not one, not two, but three times.  Anyway, Father paid me back for the tickets, an Infusion of: $15.
• On Saturday the 12th I finally went with my friend, who I made at My Favorite Late-Night Italian Place, to a sporting event together.  We've been promising each other for years we'd do it, and it was time.  We went ... dirt-track racing, at this place up in Ogilvie.  Dirt-track racing is his thing, and he wanted to show me once, and I was interested, so I finally said yes.  And it was ... interesting.  I will admit that the power when I first heard the cars running at full speed was something.  And honestly, I wouldn't mind doing this with him again.  Next year.  But the dirt getting kicked up into my face and pants and teeth got tiresome, and it was tough breathing in the gasoline and the smoke from the spectators.  And, I have to admit, I saw if there were any minorities in attendance.  There was one black lady, and I think there were two black kids working the concessions.  So I was the only male person of color there.  That isn't a reason not to go again.  But I was girding myself in case some asshole showed up to the track with a "Make America Great Again" hat.  Price for the ticket, the walking taco I got for the first time ever, the Twisted Tea I got for the first time ever, and tips for both equaled: $31.
• I kind of lied to my friend when I said I wanted to go home after track racing.  Because I'm road-tripping next week, I wanted to hit the Glam Doll closer to home afterward so I wouldn't be such a stranger there.  Made it quick -- about an hour -- because I didn't have my laptop with me.  Two donuts and milk, with tip, cost me: $9.36.
• Oh, and before I went to the track Father paid me back for the lottery tickets he asked me to get for him before I came home, an Infusion of: $20.
• I think I didn't spend anything until Tuesday, August 8.  If I did, I'll revise it here.  But Tuesday was my last day of my three-day sabbatical, and I took advantage of it by getting my shoes shined for the first time since early July and then finally depositing all the Hong Kong money I've had in my wallet since late February at the downtown Wells Fargo.  First I had to find parking downtown: $1.50.
• Then I got my shoes shined by Lisa.  This time she took the laces off first.  With tip: $15.
• But I had enough time to get to the theater to see Wonder Woman from Second One.  I think I missed all the trailers but got there before the movie started -- great timing!  The film itself was ... OK.  I'll give it a B grade.  Gal Gadot is smoking hot, and it was great to see an icon of feminist imagery depicted onscreen (even if it Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and, possibly, American plutocrats the Koch Brothers produced the film).  But the story seemed kind of pat.  I believe the DC Comics is the more of the serious, sober of the two comic-book behemoths.  It's characters dealt with somber treatments of good and evil, and didn't shy away from reflected real world events.  By contrast, Marvel was the simpler, sunnier alternative.  And yet, for the most part, Marvel's movies have been more complex, and thus more entertaining.  DC Comics is still going full-bore with its Cinematic Universe, so hopefully they'll sharpen their storytelling.  Ticket, popcorn and pop: $9.64.
• On Monday the 7th I went to the library to print out portions of our alumni club charter in order to remain a viable chapter.  It seems odd that this, well, bible of the existence of our club really consists of four pages, three of which I had to print out, write "of the Twin Cities," and scan back.  And really I only had to do the fourth page -- the last one, the one I had to sign.  I actually was afraid I would have to do print, scan and send back every page -- all 20 of them.  After I sent back the four relevant ones, I got two e-mails from the Alumni Association saying that I really only had to sign the last page.  Thanks for telling me that too late, guys, could've saved me 30 cents.  Instead I spent: 40 cents.
• The library I did this at was the one close to ***a*, my side chick I can call on whenever I feel the urge to get a blowjob.  And, with more frequencies, a rimjob.  I totally fucked her Monday.  Actually, she fucked me -- she got on top of me, opened up her twat, and swallowed my dick whole.  And then she actually swallowed my dick.  Man, I got all up in there even with my fingers.  I stuck them up her ass too, if all the brown shit on fingers after I left her place was any indication.  I just felt bad I didn't remain so hard that I came.  I had to do it myself -- into her mouth, of course.  And then we slept together.  Shit, we even ate our separate lunches at the stove together in between.  Spent a total of 3 1/2 hours there.  And even though I had to jerk off to spurt, now that I write about this, I think I should see her again, and quite soon.  Total: $120.
• Saturday, August 5 -- oh, shit, this is where I realize that I haven't been as vigilant in keeping track of my expenses as I should.  OK ... uh, I started at this mock trial where the motive for it didn't really come into focus until the end, where I think I realized that only one side commissioned this mock trial to see how the presentation of its case was going to look.  So I got (in cash, a rarity for these research studies these days) an Infusion of: $275.
• We go back to Friday, August 4 ... for a long time I didn't know if I could keep my commitment to the U. experiment I signed up for.  At first I thought that the test scoring project I was doing at the time was going to finish up early; that's why I signed up.  But then we were told that we were going to help another room with its questions, so I thought we would actually work the whole week.  But then we worked fast enough to get done the afternoon before.  So I had all day to walk from one end of the U. to get to this very interesting experiment involving "combinatorial auctioning."  I thought I did better than I actually did.  You were guaranteed ten bucks and on average would make $15.  I did better in the last two of my three auctions because I was setting up bogus bids everywhere and got plots at the end of them.  But instead of making $50, which was the maximum, I only made $4.80 above average, which kind of bummed me out.  An Infusion of: $19.80.
• Back to Wednesday the 2nd, where, after work, I took in a night of Da Beauty League, where NHL players (many of them from the area) decided to get back into game shape by playing 4x4 hockey games at Braemar Arena in Edina.  It started last year to great buzz, so I decided to take in a game this year.  I actually thought it would be more packed than it was.  But I liked that professional hockey players were playing in a local rink mere yards away from us.  Three mini-games for only: $10.
• Saturday, July 29: A busy day; got tired doing a lot of things I wanted to do.  The first EWR of the day was for Glensheen, the musical my friend is in.  I parked at a strip mall and took the light rail into downtown St. Paul, but I charged my ticket there because the train was coming.  I used cash on the way back: $1.75.
• The place was nearly packed, so I'm glad I got a rush ticket for the show: $15.
• Tried to go to Comcast to dispute my bill.  Saw there was a long line, so I did not go to Comcast.  Instead I went to park for the United game.  Hot dog and Redd's: $14.50.
• After the match (I think the Loons lost) I went to Glam Doll.  Did I have milk then?  I wrote down at the time that I had milk, so I guess I did.  With two donuts and tip: $9.36.
• On Thursday the 27th I helped *****a break in her new home with a welcome-home party.  This was the party where ****a sucked my dick for the first time in a long time.  Unfortunately I had to pay a bedroom fee in order to get it.  Man, these girls are nickel-and-diming me to the point I don't want to go anymore.  All that plus cover, tips for the girl who was minding the money (the host's sister) and dances from said host, Lana and Destiny came out to: $213.
• Sunday, July 23 ... went to the library to print stuff out: 30 cents.
• Saturday the 22nd -- went to Moler to get a shave.  I have two people who have shaved me.  The first one was the only girl there, and she was so good I wanted to patronize her, but the next time I came in, she was busy, so I had to get someone else, and he was so good that from then on I asked for both.  I got him a couple times, never her.  But this time I got neither and therefore I got a third, who also was really good.  Meticulous, clean.  I don't know how effective it is to get a card with your name if I can't get you the next time I come in for a shave.  So if I come in the next time I have to write down three names, I guess.  With tip the shave cost: $9.
• I then went to the United game.  I think they won this one.  It was dollar hot dog night, and I got there early enough to grab my one dog.  With Redd's: $10.
• I then went to Caffetto -- or was this in the morning?  Small iced mocha plus tip: $4.75.
• On Friday the 21st I went to Glam Doll, the farther, original one.  Two donuts, pourover coffee and tip: $12.27.
• On Sunday, July 16 I went to the alumni club's normal spot to make sure I wasn't a stranger.  Reminds me I'll need to go back there again, soon.  Lunch with tip: $18.
• Saturday the 15th ... I finally went to the Rustica Bakery at the Megamall because their bitter chocolate cookie is highly recommended.  I am glad I got there; recently they closed.  Too bad -- a local bakery tried to make a go of it at MOA and all the shoppers there decided to turn their backs on them.  Their loss; the cookie is distinctive.  With tip: $2.01.
• That evening I went to the United game.  Did we lose?  I think we drew.  Hot dog, Redd's: $14.50.
• And then I went to My Favorite Late-Night Italian Place, where I had a heart-to-heart with the owner about her intention to sell.  Little did I know that she would sell almost a month later.  With tip (I forget what I got) I paid: $11.75.

Phew!  Done through August 15.

You Know What? I Think Martin Freeman Is An Asshole

I guess I need to vent my rage over what happened in Charlottesville by spraying my hose at another person.  But when I saw what I saw last night, I kind of want to talk about it.




You know Martin Freeman, actor?  Bilbo Baggins, he's on Fargo, he is Watson on PBS' Sherlock?  I think he's an asshole.  I kind of knew that in 2014, when an in-depth piece about him was done in Entertainment Weekly in conjunction with his stint in Fargo.  This guy, who seemed to be a diffident Englishman on TV came off as, well, as a defensive prick.  It's kind of eye-opening how odd of a mensch he was in this story, and you should read it.




That perception of him was reinforced on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert last night.  I stayed up to watch Anthony Scarramucci at the beginning of the show and Liam Gallagher at the end.  But in the middle was guest Bob Odenkirk, who was appearing for Better Call Saul.  Colbert asked him how Odenkirk, who made his bones as a comic actor, has changed his approach in acting now that he's a dramatic one.  He eventually said that one of the main differences is that you cannot suggest how your fellow actor should do a scene in a drama the way you can recommend a line to your co-star in a comedy.  He learned that the hard way from Freeman (who he says are now friends ... OK) on the set of Fargo.  When Odenkirk said that Freeman should do something different in a scene they're about to shoot, Freeman stared at him, burned his sight through him and said, quietly and thus menacingly: "Don't ever do that again."


I wasn't there on the set, obviously.  But if any actor did that to me, just for suggesting something, that asshole would be dead to me.  So all you people who are fanboying and fangirling over Freeman, you people are starfuckers.  I see right through him.  I see the real him.  He's an asshole, and thus unworthy of my respect.


Will see him in The Black Panther, though.

Unexpected Furlough; Change Of Plans

OK, I didn't see this coming, even though maybe I should have.


At the test scoring place, we are answering questions for two grades.  We got done with one grade today.  We could not immediate proceed to the other grade because 1) there is clean-up work that leadership has to do before we continue and 2) presumably they have to prepare for the other grade because they've been too busy to do that up till now.


So, after quick consultation from her boss (which came 45 minutes after we got done with our last question), the room boss told us to go home the rest of the day.  And take tomorrow off, too.  Come back Wednesday, where they'll be bushy-eyed and something-tailed and prepared to do the rest of the questions.


OK, I guess.  I don't have a choice.  Plus, this is what the "gig" economy gets you -- cut early, told to come back when they say so.  It is what it is.  But I had assumed that the 50-some-odd questions we had to plow through we could do one-by-one.  I had tracked how many we went through per day, and even though we were slacking Friday and today, I thought we would be done Thursday morning, maybe Wednesday afternoon, and I would have my Friday free to pick up my check stub from the other test scoring place and maybe swing by ***a*'s place to pick up my sweater and fuck.


But that's out the window now.  Good news is that I have the next 1 1/2 days off, and since that includes Tuesday, I might be able to see a movie at a discount.  (It was supposed to be War For The Planet Of The Apes, but the theater took it off their schedule this week.  If I had known that they would and leave Wonder Woman on instead, even though WW has been out longer, I would have seen WFTPOTA last week, dammit.)  And I snuck in a well-needed session with my therapist today.  But that means that I'm working the rest of the week, so there's no way I can pick up my check stub Friday.


Furthermore, I thought we would be done with this project this week, but that no longer appears to be the case.  Not only do we have all of this to do starting Wednesday, we have been going so fast that it's likely we'll be taking other questions from other rooms in order to help them out.  Well, not "we," because I'm done as of Friday -- eclipse roadtrip starting Saturday.  I actually don't mind much of this project, and so I'll miss it greatly.


If only it'll still be going on after I come back.  Nah, probably not.

#Charlottesville

I'm scared.

I appreciate the vigils and outpouring of anger at the Klansmen/domestic terrorists that flooded that college city -- one of which murdered a counter-protestor.  But I can't help but feel that thousands of white males showing their white pride (without masks) while parading around that town, capped off by a murder, that they somehow won.

I guess I kind of feel that way because those Nazis have a fan in the President.  His pussy-ass Both Sides Do It speech to "condemn" what was going on basically was a green light for the racists in Charlottesville -- many of whom voted for him -- to continue arguing for the subjugation of every racial group that's not white.

Oh, and by the way, even though I haven't seen people argue for this: Yes, the woman who was murdered, Heather Heyer, is white, and she is physically attractive.  The nation and the world may indeed be "woke" because terrorism killed a cute white woman.  I don't care.  She was doing what I and many other people who hate what's going on say but don't do: She protested.  She got up in the face of the people who hate and shouted back.  She died for us.  SHE DIED FOR YOU.  Respect that.

(I saw one tweet where Bernie Sanders commemorated Heyer, who was active in his campaign in Virginia.  That tweet was quoted by a pro-Hillary/anti-Berners who admonished Sanders for using Heyer as a political prop.  He was noting all that she did for him.  This internecine warfare is how these Republicans got into power.  FUCKING STOP IT.  NOW.)

The nation's reaction -- forget Trump and the White House, and fuck the Republican Congress too -- will set the course of our society, and whether we decide to go down the path of justice or destruction.  There's a Twitter account, for example, hoping that crowdsourcing will identify and eventually get into trouble all the white Klansman who marched with tiki torches Friday and beat protestors Saturday.  I have a little trepidation -- a little -- that the mob will get the wrong guy.  But I'm more afraid that we put these bigoted assholes on blast, identify their employers, tell those companies they should be fired ... and then those companies will say that what their employees do on their own time is their business and they won't be fired.  That won't be unlike what Trump said on Saturday -- not taking a stand against racism, and therefore condoning racism.  If people who sympathize with these Klansman start to take a public stand, well, that shows how emboldened bigots are because of the election (with help from Russia, voter suppression and gerrymandering, of course).  Then where will we be?

The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey

First of all, a toast to the last short WMNSS until next year.  Next week Gopher soccer play games that count, then the week after that U. volleyball returns, then it's the Gopher football team and then, well, the sport season swells again.  I'll have to spend a lot of Sundays in front of my new computer.

#-1: Twins (Last Week: -2).  Well, looky here!  As soon as I was ready to call this squad dead and buried, they almost run the table last week and thrust themselves back into the playoff picture.  They salvaged a four-game series split in Dallas Sunday, sweep four games of a home-and-home series with Milwaukee, then crush the Tigers in Detroit Friday before getting clipped at the end of Saturday's match, 12-11.  No matter; at the end of Friday's action, they were American League Wild Card 2, a half-game ahead of Seattle, Anaheim and Tampa Bay.  They fell behind the Angels after Saturday, but as of press time they were leading Detroit, so they could get back into ALWC2 after today.

While the bullpen has improved greatly lately, the offense, which let them down in their recent swoon, showed some pop this week.  With their starting pitching still shaky, it is nice to see the lineup generate some runs and give the arms some insurance when they take the mound every inning.  You don't want to rely on outhitting the opposition, but this O had been absent for weeks at a time, and you can't reach the playoffs without some production.

Both Cleveland and Kansas City seem to be several games ahead of the Twins in the division, so the Wild Card route may be the only viable path to the postseason for them.  After finishing up in Detroit right now, they come home for three vs. Cleveland beginning on Tuesday, then play a three-game series against a really good team in the National League, Arizona, starting on Friday.

#-2: Lynx (Last Week: -1).  OK, I had no idea Lindsay Whalen's injury would send the Jynx into a tailspin.  This was their first losing screening week in God-knows-when -- only an 81-72 victory in Atlanta Tuesday prevented this club from having their first three-game losing streak since, well, God-knows-when.  But Indiana got a late-tip in to outlast Minnesota, 84-82 Sunday.  Then on Friday, against the only opponent they need to worry about this year, the Los Angeles Sparks, they got their doors blown off -- at home, on the night they unveiled their new (shitty) logo -- 70-64.

Look, I thought that after Whalen's injury the Starting Five should take some minutes off.  But not against LA Sparks.  Those people, you need to teach them a lesson.  But they didn't.  And if we are supposed to take Head Coach Cheryl Reeve at her word when she said that her team is not taking games off the rest of the regular season, this means that L.A. beat the Jynx fair and square.  Which means the time to fucking panic is now.  I don't care that Minnesota is 2 1/2 games ahead of the Sparks; Los Angeles is the team to beat.  The Jynx are pretenders until they prove to me otherwise.

I could go on further, but I am already so pissed off at this team that I would start to make even less sense than I usually do.  This week: At Seattle Wednesday, home to Indiana Friday.

No, I Don't Want You To Know Where I Live

It came together quickly.  The friend I met at My Favorite Late-Night Italian Place has suggested for a long time that we go to a sporting event.  I really did want to finally do something together beyond our favorite restaurant.  So this week, finalizing it just now, we are going to ... something he loves, auto racing.  We're going an hour north to watch cars smash into each other.  Honestly I have no idea what to expect.  I hope my friend understands that I'm trying this once and I might not like it.

We ironed out the details over Messenger.  It is so far north that I have to skip out on dinner, which is something I don't like to do.  Anyway, he said he was going to pick me up.  And I hesitated at the idea.  I'll be honest: One thing I am not sure about is whether my parents are going to be OK with not knowing until the morning that I'm not eating dinner at home.  I have decided to concoct the excuse that work which I skipped out on early Friday afternoon (when in actuality we were cut early) is something I need to make up, and my bosses decided it was best to do it in the late afternoon, after which I would maximize my time by doing stuff Saturday night.  I really can't say that I'm working when someone picks me up.  Does that make any sense?

But I have to be honest about another thing: I don't want him to know where I live.  I have never had friends come over to the house.  I think it's kind of shabby, and you guys know I have never cleaned the house, so I know I will probably make a bad impression on any of my friends who drop by.  Also, I always got the sense that my parents did now want any of my friends coming over.  But ... I don't want him knowing where I live because I don't want him knowing about this part of my life.  I know this makes me sound like a prick, but I just don't want him knowing my address, or knowing what my folks look like.  That's a part of my private life I don't want him to know about, or at least not until I know him better, which I don't.

Hey, I need to socialize more.  But at the same time I think I can set boundaries.  And, frankly, I feel OK about lying about the circumstances for these boundaries I don't want him to cross.  That may make me a jerk.  You might not be wrong.

Can't Poop, Can Poop, Can't Poop

I've been getting anxious lately.  Work has been bothering me; this is the type of job where you can't really go and use the bathroom when you want, doubly so in a case like this, where there are so few answers per test question and have to be ready to answer questions about the test question.  Maybe the frustration on that is building up in me.

Or, it could be because I'm not pooping.  Yeah, I've noticed that over the past ... oh, three, four weeks I haven't had any prodigious excretory sessions.  I do shit, but it's rabbit pellets.  Have no idea what I am eating or not eating, doing or not doing, that's making me this way.

I had a respite, however, on Sunday.  Had a huge eating day then.  Had a beer and a chicken sandwich for lunch, then had a bowl of pho for dinner.  That loosened up my bowels to the point where I was almost ringing the bull, to be gross about it.  Then I went to My Favorite Late-Night Italian Place because the owner was working one last time before signing over the papers the next day.  Even though I had just eaten, I went full bore with spaghetti and salad, the mainstay dish I had there for years when I began being a regular there. Pasta dishes there regularly get me regular, and Sunday was no exception.  I think I raced to the bathroom a couple times to take these massive shits.

And then, poof.  Or the sound makes when your sphincter closes up again.  I'm back to rabbit pellets, and that's including Monday and Tuesday, when I had large mochas and bakery items in the morning, a breakfast combination that also reliably (until now) triggers movements.  In the meantime I'm feeling fat; the past couple days, while I've been driving, I've noticed this ache around my waist, where my pants are cutting into my fat gut.  I've been eating a lot, but it could also be water weight, weight that should be flushed from my body if I were pooping on the regular.  This would not be a good time to weigh myself.

More Bad Vibes

Started the new test scoring project yesterday (Wednesday), and while I am thankful for something like this out-of-season (it's rare to score papers in the month of August), I did not realize until we began that this was a field test.  And the last two years when I was assigned to a field test, our time on them was drastically cut.  I mean, we were slated to work 2 1/2 weeks and instead worked, at most, three days.

It seems as though that the plan is to work through 50 questions, which would give us 1 1/2 weeks of work.  That would be great; this was also supposed to run 2 1/2 weeks, but I have to be gone after next week on my roadtrip, and the company actually said it was OK, so cutting it this short means I would actually be done with this project before I take off.  And yet I'm still wary that I'm going to come in this (Thursday) morning and the leadership is going to say, "Sorry, they don't need any more papers -- your last day is today!"  That would piss me off.

As it would this guy I see from the other test scoring place.  This is the guy who ripped the creamer out of my hands and apologized for doing it a couple weeks later.  (He actually was one of at least three other people I know only from the other test scoring place who I was surprised to see there.  Moonlighting apparently isn't something only I do.)  He still seems like a nice guy, but I think his blow-up with me is part of a pattern.  I say that because, when in the middle of discussing how to zoom in on a paper, one of the other test scorers (someone I've worked with before and who is really nice) told him something he apparently already knew, and he told her that rudely: "BUT I ALREADY KNOW THAT!" he shouted/snapped at her, without any justifiable provocation.  Yep, that guy has anger issues, so maybe I should discount that apology since he does not seem to be able to learn that it's less useful to apologize that to finally learn not to do something you have to apologize for in the first place.

Oh yeah, I also don't feel as though my feedback I theoretically get to give on these field tests is valued because the room boss takes, like, three minutes to ask all the questions we have to ask.  Plus she's at the front of the room while she asks them and I'm in the back, so I feel as though she can't see me.  And this screamy guy who took my creamer likes to give his opinion frequently, so I cower in his shadow.

Guess what I'm saying is that I'm getting real bad vibes with this project and wouldn't totally mind if it ended soon.  Like today.

First Time Blogging On My New Computer!!!

I did it!  I finally bit the bullet and bought a new laptop.  It's a Dell XPS 13, probably the highest-recommended lap out there right now.  Got it at a huge discount because I went the open-box route, so I'm still kind of hesitant to believe it completely works, and there was one website where it looked weird, for lack of a better phrase.  But I bought it Saturday, booted it up and added security Monday and started really fucking around with it last (Tuesday) night, and so far, can't complain.  Well, it's not as fast going from page to page like I thought it would be.  But than again the processor on my decade-old computer is completely shot, so anything going from site to site on the Dell would be an infinite advantage.

My initial plan is to still use my old computer for office work (Word and Excel), and because it has the 10-key, calculating my expenses each month.  I spend most of my time online, and that is what I want to use the Dell for.  But this is so expensive I am still hesitant to take this out for fear it will get stolen.  But if it works so much better than my old computer, I might not have a choice.

As giddy as I allow myself to be for anything.

Have to say that this morning I am feeling extremely full, as full as I have ever felt waking up in the morning.  I am at my local Caribou (told my parents [well, at least Mother] that I'm going to the doctor today -- it's kind of a lie; I'm not going to the doctor, but she knows I'm not working, at least in the morning) and taking in their two items for $5 promotion.  Although there were more expensive food items on Caribou's menu, I am taking advantage of it, getting a large mocha and a muffin.  I'll get a ham & gruyere pretzel roll next time.

Unfortunately, I am consuming these on a full stomach.  A very full stomach.  I don't think I ate a whole lot last night.  Well, I had rotella and chicken -- dinner was good last night.  And then I had a Coke around midnight.  Man, drinking soft drinks makes me more and more bloated the older I get.  That combination, if not the Coke itself, probably is why I feel as though I don't have to eat this morning.  But I am.  And I have a busy (if not long) day ahead of me -- going downtown to get my shoes polished and to finally divest myself of my Hong Kong money, then getting to the early screening of Wonder Woman in time, then ... well, I guess there's nothing else I have to do after that.  But I'm still busy.

Goodbye, My Favorite Late Night Italian Place; Tackling Shutterfly

OK, so it was not technically My Favorite Late Night Italian Place's last day last (Sunday) night.  The owner is selling it.  But unless something major happens -- and she's afraid that the new owners won't show up to sign the papers this (Monday) afternoon -- Sunday was her last day working there and owning the place.

Just like I thought it would be, it was packed that evening.  When I go there I am often the only one.  But then again, I go there close to midnight, not during dinnertime.  Anyway it was packed, and I like to think it was because they heard it was her last day.  For sentimentality's sake, I got what was from my early days eating at My Favorite Late Night Italian Place my go-to dish: spaghetti with a side salad.

Shortly before I finished my meal the owner came out from the kitchen where she was busy all night.  We talked, I wished her well, I got a picture from her, and for the first time ever, we embraced each other.  Then her family took out the cake (ice cream cake from Dairy Queen ... had a piece ... man, haven't had DQ ice cream cake in years) wishing her well in her retirement.  And that's when her son reached out to hold her ... and she laid her head on her shoulder and held him for a long, long time.  We talked afterward and she was wiping the tears from her eyes.

This is bittersweet to her.  But from our conversations, from both last night and a few weeks ago, she is ready to stop.  I hope she does.

I may not see her ever again.  But at least I have her picture.  I should make it my Facebook profile pic for the week.

---

There is one week before this promotional free book on Mother's Shutterfly expires.  She has wanted me to generate a photo book for my niece, and it's been a struggle to 1) upload the photos, 2) teach Mother how to upload the photos, and 3) understand how Shutterfly works.

I still don't know how Shutterfly works, but this free book offer expires Sunday, and we're no where near getting it done.  I tried to make headway since Mother says she has uploaded the pictures she has of her granddaughter, but I ran into a roadblock.  Apparently Shutterfly just insists that we pick the style of each page for the photobook -- you know, we have to get creative.  Mother and I both thought that we could just order up the book, show Shutterfly the photos and say, "Here, do it."

Instead we are asked to pick the style of each of the pages, and the front cover too.  There are dozens of formats to choose from -- one photo per page, two, five, 11 for two-page spreads, text only, pictures and text, etc.  Not only do we have to determine which styles to use, we also have to choose which pictures go where.  Right now I'm not sure we can put in all 200+ photos of my niece; I thought that was a given.  So now we have to do triage and select several for this book.  And what if the book is not free after all, or if the book is free but technically we still have to pay for the photos or something?  If that's the case, I know Mother will say "Forget it" and we'll never even think about this project again, because she would feel she got suckered into a raw deal.

Because of this overwhelming task, we are to sit down in front of her computer Monday and figure this out.  Pray for both of us.

My Fucking Father is on one of his cleaning jags again.  Stomping around and wiping shit down all morning.  He was complaining so much about his bad foot yesterday morning that he wanted me to mow the lawn for him.  (I couldn't.  I had work.  Seriously.)  But when I came home from Glam Doll last night I saw that the grass was all mowed, and now this.  Bad foot my ass.

And because this fucking red mist of sterility descended upon him, I knew he was going to chastise me again for not cleaning my room up to his specifications.  But this time, on my way out the door, he opened my bedroom door (which I left ajar because I knew he was going to tear through it), and he specifically pointed out the stuff on my nightstand, I think.  He seemed kind of angry, too, moreso than usual.  It makes me think that he might actually clean that shit out, which would piss me the fuck off.

Man, I just wanted a Sunday where I could see the golf tournament.  I might get into an argument with My Fucking Father instead.

The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey (Scheduled Post)

#-1: Lynx (Last Week: -1).  In an overall down week for local sports, the Lynx are, once again, on top, but this week they suffered what potentially could be a season-ruining injury.  Maybe.  In their 69-54 home victory over Atlanta Thursday (they also beat Seattle Sunday at Xcel, 93-82), Point Guard Lindsay Whalen broke her hand.  She has had surgery on it, but there is no definite timetable on when she can come back.  The typical recovery period is three-to-four weeks, which would mean that she would be back around Labor Day, just as the WNBA regular season is coming to a close.

That actually could be a blessing in disguise.  The squad has already sewn up a playoff spot, and at 20-2 they are three games clear of the Los Angeles Sparks for home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.  Head Coach Cheryl Reeve said that she does not want her team to throttle down and coast for the rest of the year.  But let's face it -- only a complete collapse would knock the Lynx off the best record in the league.  The season that actually matters comes next month.  Resting Sylvia Fowles and Maya Moore and Rebekkah Brunson and Seimone Augustus should be paramount.  That would give the bench serious minutes and hone them into game shape just in case they are needed in a pinch in the playoffs.

And not to browbeat on Whalen, but the Lynx sent four players to the WNBA All-Star Game.  Guess which starter didn't go?  I'm not saying she's expandable; I've seen many games in person where the offense stagnates without her vision and creativity.  But Renee Montgomery is a capable back-up, and her youth compared to Whalen gives her an athleticism that is a necessary change-of-pace in a postseason contest.  Whalen's absence probably impacts the rotation the least of any of the starting five.  And besides, they have a month's worth of games for Whalen to fully heal from her broken hand, and she will have a few regular season games at the end of the season for her to get back into fighting trim and for the starters to rediscover their chemistry.  They're playing with house money, but only if they don't play as if they're fighting for a playoff spot, because that's the worst thing this club can do right now.

A relatively busy week for the Lynx: At Indiana Sunday, at Atlanta Tuesday, then hosting The Only Other Team That Matters, the Sparks, at home Friday.

#-2: Twins (Last Week: -3).  The slide continues.  The Twinks' 2-4 screening week puts them four games below .500, and with Cleveland and Kansas City playing well if not lights-out, it's over for these guys for 2017.  It was fun while it lasted.

The fans have quit on this season the same way as the front office has.  Before the July 31 trade deadline, Chief Baseball Officer Derek Falvey and General Manager Thad Levine went into sell mode.  The short, strange trip of Jaime Garcia did come to fruition as he was flipped to the Yankees in exchange for two prospects.  (Garcia left the Twins and went back to Atlanta -- he was traded to the Twins from the Braves -- to pick up his things to take to his new team.  There, he was informed that instead of going to the Twin Cities, he was to fly to New York instead.  Think about that; he played for Minnesota once, on the road -- he never played in the city he was initially traded to.)  And then they traded Closer Brandon Kintzler to The Bastard Montreal Expos.  So now they don't have a stopgap grinder on the mound and they're going with one of the many anonymous arms in the bullpen to end games -- assuming they're leading in the ninth, of course.  Falvey and Levine has responded to this dearth of development by firing four scouts last (Saturday) night.

The season isn't without its bright spot.  A big bright spot.  Bartolo Colon became the oldest Twin in a quarter-century to go the distance in Friday's 8-4 win at Target over The Bastard Washington Senators v.2.0.  Just last week he was contemplating instant retirement.  He might still retire, but let's be honest; with Jose Berrios not being able to go to the late innings, Adelberto Mejia still finding himself and Kyle Gibson seemingly on his last chance to stick with the organization, the 44-year-old nicknamed "Big Sexy" may be, behind Ervin Santana (who was masterful in going the distance in Wednesday's 5-2 win in San Diego), the best starting pitcher on the team.  The Twins might want to make a play for him in the offseason.

In the meantime the Twinks are going to try and salvage a split with the Rangers this (Sunday) afternoon.  They then play a split four-game series with The Bastard Seattle Pilots -- two here, then two there.  The Nine will then stay on the road for a three-game series vs. a team that had high aspirations this season but conducted a fire sale earlier in the week, the Detroit Tigers, starting on Friday.

#-3: United FC (Last Week: -2).  If the Loons were going to contend for a postseason berth in their expansion year, they had to capitalize on their five-game, five-week homestand that comprised the month of July and bled into August.  Instead, they won once, drew once and lost three times, and they were shut out in four of those five games.

So in other words, it's over.  No playoffs.  They're fighting to avoid being the worst Major League Soccer this season, and luckily, they are only third-worst.  Nevertheless, like the 3-0 drubbing by visitors the New York Red Bulls on the 22nd, Saturday night's 4-0 ass-kicking at the hands of the Seattle Sounders (whose fans travel and, therefore, I now hate them as much as My Asshole Brother) was dreadful.  The match actually sold out; more than 22,000 people (ignore the empty upper bowl, guys) saw an expansion team get their teeth kicked in by a side by the defending MLS champs who have finally found their footing after a slow start.  A bit after those guys made it 3-0, the crowd started to escape from Das Bank, and I retreated to looking at my Facebook and Twitter.

(I will say that through this long homestand I think the crowds have steadily increased.  It may be the repeated times casual fans and curious locals had to snag at least one game, or maybe it was the Twins' slow slide to irrelevance, or maybe it was the dog days of summer that convinced people to check out something new.  But interest, at least in a one-night-stand kind of way, has been working.  Now, I also think that a good effort, or even a win, would make them fans, but, well, baby steps.)

I need to constantly remind myself that this is an expansion team, this is an expansion team.  But routs like this are hard to watch.  Injuries to Christian Ramirez and Brent Kallman may have meant better form, but it was clear that the Sounders were going to win as soon as they scored -- very early in the first half, like all of United's opponents seemingly have done.  It's getting to be a tired act.

They have a home-and-home with Seattle, but MNUFC's return date isn't until the 20th.

RIP, My Favorite Late Night Italian Place

Got the news from my friend, who goes there every Saturday, that My Favorite Late Night Italian Place just got sold.

Oh wait ... have I told you yet about the Late Night Italian Place being up for sale?  Shoot, I don't think I have, have I?

Yeah, I had reduced the times I've gone here to about once a month, if that, because my parents stayed in Minnesota through the winter and so I didn't have to eat there because I was eating at home.  I was just driving by it many months ago when I saw this huge "For Sale" sign on the grass.  I nearly drove my car into a ditch.

The few times I subsequently popped in there I didn't really address the elephant in the room.  Well, I take that back.  I think the first time I was able to eat there I talked to the owner of the place.  I think she's there every day, just like my parents with The Store.  She was matter-of-fact about it -- "Yeah, I put it up for sale -- let's see if someone wants it."

She spoke a little longer about it when I ate there almost a month ago.  She's tired and wants to retire.  I told her that it is kind of a shock to me, and I liken this to when my folks decided they wanted to quit The Store.  At first I was furious that they would do such a thing because, in my selfish, juvenile and ridiculous mind, that is how I'd always known them to be, and they would be betraying my image of them if they just quit, even though they're old and of course you're supposed to quit at that age.  It took me several years to accept it, but now I understand.

As I am beginning to understand with her, someone who's always been hospitable to me.  She let me stay there for hours on weekend nights.  While other people were partying and drinking, introverted me sought refuge there.  Since nobody sat down to eat that late at night (they did most of their business delivering) I had the place to myself.  I nearly always had my table, the one closest to the power strip so I could plug my laptop in and surf the Internet while eating pizza or hamburgers or chicken or one of their many pasta dishes, especially the fettucine alfredo, which I have gravitated toward within the past year or so because My Favorite Late Night Italian Place has these coupons for pasta dishes for $7.50.  I spent many a Friday and Saturday night "living it up" while eating, watching sports and being on the Internet until they closed on weekends at 2:30 in the morning.

With all the security and hospitality she's given me, it'd be unfair to be angry with her now that she decided she no longer wanted to own and work there.  She's earned her rest.  How can I be mad?

My friend, who I met because he always goes there on Friday nights, said she sold the place to a couple.  Guess they're now pursuing their dream of owning their own restaurant.  The American Dream is passed onto another, the way it should be.  And yet ... well, you know, restaurants aren't always the same under new ownership.  In fact, they usually aren't.  Not that I'm upset with that either.  The owner owns the restaurant, he/she/they have a right to run it however they want, and in fact it would make sense for these two to redo the menu because they'll be the ones cooking it.  But will I have the rapport with that couple the way I did with this owner?  Will they let me just veg out in front of the TV for two or three hours?  I don't know, and it's that initial trepidation that makes me start to think I'll have to look for another late-night place to sit in when I want to feel like I'm going out when I'm really not.  Either I look for another place, or I will realize that I won't have My Favorite Late Night Italian Place anymore.

At any case the change is coming quick.  The owner's last day as owner is Sunday.  I wonder if it's going to be packed.  If not, I want to sit and eat there one final time.  If it is, I'll pop in and say goodbye.

RIP.  Maybe I'll see you again soon.

Damn Right I'm Leering At You. Damn Right I'm A Pervert

OK, so on this day off, instead of doing something really productive, like getting a tube session in at the U. or seeing my shrink, I did the following:

• Finally got the party's photos up on social media at the coffeeshop close to the test scoring place -- OK, so my day was productive after all;
• Picked up my check stub at the test scoring place so it wouldn't go over the mail, where it would probably be picked up by my folks tomorrow;
• Looked at Best Buy in that area, where the only open box laptops available at a discount were Apples, which threw me for a loop because I've been dead-set on getting an XPS 13;
• Went to the mall on the other side of town to eat the lunch my parents prepared for me;
• Going to Comcast to dispute the discount on my bill because it's supposed to be larger;
• Not going to Comcast because there was a line;
• Parking at the University of Minnesota and walking from one end to the other to go and do this really interesting business school experiment regarding combinatorial auctioning;
• Going to the Best Buy close to my house to see if they still do not have any Dell XPS 13's, all of which disappeared from when I first saw it over the weekend by the time I re-checked yesterday (Thursday).  They're still none.
• Blogging this at the library the hour before they close.  Thank Buddha this county's libraries close at 6 instead of 5.

My blog post is centered on this hot chick, probably underage, while I was at the food court at the mall eating my hard-boiled eggs and cherries.  She was walking with what I believe is her sister.  She is thin and tan.  She wore a tight shirt and she pulled the front of it into a know which she laid over her sexy, fucking hot navel, showing off her belly.

I couldn't help but stare as she and her sis (who probably wasn't all that bad, but I wasn't looking at her) as they walked by.  And I tried to steal glances of her hot body as those two sat with what I think is their mom at a table close by.  I tried to steal more glances as I dumped the shells of those eggs in the trash, but I think those three were on to me.  What, you show off your hot body like that and you think I won't look?  That's what you want me to do, don't lie!

I wanted to jizz over her stomach -- OK, I admit that.

It's Been Almost Two Weeks ...

... and I still haven't put up much stuff regarding the event the alumni chapter hosted.  I'm such a slowpoke.  Anything I put on there now really is old news.  But I got busy!  And it was complicated to ... upload pictures and stuff!  And there were these two that was sent to me that I couldn't upload because they were JPEGs and not GIFs.  I just got all those saved, I think, and yet I'm too tired to upload these all, put them into an album on Facebook, and finally write about what was a successful event.

I needed the momentum and good vibes from the party to foster interest in the club.  I needed it so someone would volunteer to host next year.  But because I got busy with trying to understand this newfangled technology and work and helping my friend move and sleeping ... it's all gone.

And I'm too tired to continue writing here.

Too Much Stuff

My stripper friend who had to move out somehow got a two-day extension, so she, her man and her man's son both had August 1 and 2, yesterday and today, to finish packing, moving, and painting the apartment she, in fact, has to move out of.  So after helping her for two days, she texts me asking for more help last night.  Although I had plans on doing some alumni club stuff, I relented and went over there to help.

It was only a few hours, so instead of painting and hauling stuff to their storage space, both tasks that took up a majority of my time on my previous two visits, all I did last night was pick up odds and ends and carry furniture to the curb.  They were headed to their storage space when I came in; they said the side door was open and there were clothes and other knickknacks that can be thrown into these huge, construction-grade trash bags that were laying all over the house.

And I've got to be honest: At some point I had to stop throwing crap into these bags because there was so much crap.  There were big items, small items, things that looked valuable and things that looked like trash.  I didn't know what had to go, even though I had the sense that with less than 48 hours to go, everything had to go.  But it was so overwhelming to see all this stuff that still remained and had to moved out.  They had roll upon roll of trash bags, but it still seemed like such an impossible task that I froze, thinking that I can't even start if I can't see when all of this was going to end.

This was the point where I started thinking about my stuff, and the house.  I couldn't help but think, as I was helping out cleaning her basement, all of the things that are in our basement -- the tapes, the old clothes, the tools, etc.  I started mentally walking through each room and feeling this metaphysical gut punch at all the stuff that would have to be removed if we had to move.  How do you start?  What's valuable and what's not?  And frankly, if there is stuff that's not valuable, why do you have it now?  It's only going to weigh you down once (and not if, once) you are forced to move.

I am uniquely sentimental about my stuff, and I clash constantly with My Father over cleaning up my room and throwing things away.  But if moving is inevitable, I am so feeling this need to trash things, to get them out of my way so that any potential move I need to make as a result of an unexpected event doesn't leave me behind the 8-ball, like it apparently is for those three.  I know that when someone moves they're shocked at all the material things they've accumulated.  But moving cannot be the time when you start picking through them and figuring out what to keep and what to toss.  Right now, I am of the mindset that the fewer things you have, the better.

Shoot, I really just might start -- gulp -- cleaning my room after this, and gladly!