Friday at lunchtime I was in my car to take my midday nap for work. Lately I have absolutely needed these naps. I sleep the previous evening and it's enough to shorten my sleep overnight, which makes me tired mid-to-late morning. So I need the nap -- and frankly I'm so tired that it's probably inevitable that I fall asleep during my lunch -- but it also energizes me; these past few times I've passed out in my car, by the time I wake up I have so much energy I could go 40 straight hours of working instead of the four I need to make it through the end of the day.
With that being said, on Friday I woke up not from the alarm but, egad, from this sharp pain on the side of my tongue. There is only one explanation: I bit it. My sleep was so deep that I somehow clenched down on it, hard. And goddamn, I felt that pain for the rest of the day and into the night. Only sleep made it better, and somehow, nearly all of the pain was gone by Saturday.
But golly. I have bitten the side of my tongue while sleeping before, but I don't remember when, and I don't want to repeat that -- like, ever again.
Monday, August 31, 2020
Saturday, August 29, 2020
Day!
This was a perfect day. After some humid and hot days, today was completely sunny with temps in the 70's. Wind picked up at times, but it wasn't a huge bother. Best of all, it wasn't humid.
I should have enjoyed this day. And I did, sorta. I went downtown to eat at two places that won't be around come September 1. There was a pop-up store that is a collaboration between the Birchwood Cafe and the Farmers Union, both of whom have a presence at the Minnesota State Fair and went in on this temporary store to sell the food they would have sold if the State Fair was going on. Had a sandwich and a lavender lemonade. Then, I walked down to Izzy's, whose Minneapolis store (and it's two stories big) is closing up its store (though not its manufacturing plant) after seven years (I think), even though it feels as though they've only been in Minneapolis for, like, seven months. (They were in St. Paul for 20 years, but closed in April.) I'll miss those mini, tophat-looking Izzy scoops they give. And the vanilla bean was so spot-on.
So did I ruin my day by deciding that after that (and I walked from one end of downtown to the other and back) I would just go back home and mow the lawn? I initially decided I would do it tomorrow, but I think I have it ingrained in my mind that I should do my weekend chores on Saturdays whenever possible. Still, a part of me thinks I should have, like, walked at the Sculpture Garden. It wasn't hot, although I got hot with all the walking I did. Should I have had all of today to myself to take in all the good weather? I now can do that tomorrow, and I don't have to get all sweaty and tired from mowing the lawn, but will the weather be as good tomorrow?
(shrug)
I should have enjoyed this day. And I did, sorta. I went downtown to eat at two places that won't be around come September 1. There was a pop-up store that is a collaboration between the Birchwood Cafe and the Farmers Union, both of whom have a presence at the Minnesota State Fair and went in on this temporary store to sell the food they would have sold if the State Fair was going on. Had a sandwich and a lavender lemonade. Then, I walked down to Izzy's, whose Minneapolis store (and it's two stories big) is closing up its store (though not its manufacturing plant) after seven years (I think), even though it feels as though they've only been in Minneapolis for, like, seven months. (They were in St. Paul for 20 years, but closed in April.) I'll miss those mini, tophat-looking Izzy scoops they give. And the vanilla bean was so spot-on.
So did I ruin my day by deciding that after that (and I walked from one end of downtown to the other and back) I would just go back home and mow the lawn? I initially decided I would do it tomorrow, but I think I have it ingrained in my mind that I should do my weekend chores on Saturdays whenever possible. Still, a part of me thinks I should have, like, walked at the Sculpture Garden. It wasn't hot, although I got hot with all the walking I did. Should I have had all of today to myself to take in all the good weather? I now can do that tomorrow, and I don't have to get all sweaty and tired from mowing the lawn, but will the weather be as good tomorrow?
(shrug)
I'd Fuck Becki Falwell! Wouldn't You?
A tip: If you're a horny man who loves to fuck, I believe that Republican women are more likely to fuck you than Democratic ones. I see too many of them working as strippers (at some point I should elucidate in a blog post), but more than that, Republican women are wild whores mostly because of the hypocrisy. Acting as if they're moral, biblically-upstanding ladies out in public -- and especially if they also moralize to other people about being moral and bibilically upstanding -- gives them license to turn slutty in their private lives. If you can maneuver yourself to be around one of these women, especially when they're in heat -- well then, the pussies should open up to you like flowers in bloom! But I could do without the husband, in this case noted evangelist and two-face Jerry Falwell, Jr., watching his wife and their pool boy fuck while he watches from the corner of the bedroom, let alone knowing about her side pieces.
The thing with the pool boy doesn't get me hot. It's the subsequent story, concerning Becki's son's friend, that gets me hard. One time the friend went over to the Falwells to practice band. He stayed the night. While he was in bed, Becki Falwell came in, crept into his bed and sucked his dick. She continued to text him, offering him gifts and giving him advice on his looks. Finally (maybe), after he rejected her advances, she texted, "Maybe time will heal whatever wounds that I have caused and your Christian heart will allow you to forgive me." Wow -- nothing like a fervent belief in God to use an excuse to whore!
Not that I would have minded if I were that kid. Or maybe I would. See, I have read that this really is not a "hot for teacher" case because the kid is young and scared and the cheating cougar holds the power in the dynamic. Guess I can't relate. If I were in that situation, I would not be embarrassed at all that the wife of the president of the university I attend fucks me.
Besides, look at her. Sure, there are hotter MILFs -- in porn! If you're really honest with yourself, really-really-really honest with yourself, in terms of married wives in their early forties (which she was when the dick-sucking happened), wouldn't Becki Falwell be at least a 7, if not an 8? And would you throw her out of bed if those lips locked around your stiff college-age cock? Fuck, I wouldn't! I mean, come on!
Friday, August 28, 2020
Gnarly Storm
Was woken up around 5:15 this morning (checked my phone before heading back into bed) to a huge, loud thunderstorm. I think I was thinking, as I was getting woken up by the thunder, that I could have slept through it were it not for the very loud rain that, I was able to surmise in my state of unconsciousness, could have been seeping into my bedroom floor because my window was open because for some reason Father did not turn on the air conditioning. And, sure enough, as I was closing my window with my eyes virtually closed, I was walking on water on my bedroom floor. "Hmmm," I thought, "There is water on bedroom floor." And then I went to bed because afterward I checked my phone, saw it was 5:15, and thought that I could just deal with the water once I had to wake up.
And when I did, I thought I could either just leave the water (and there was a lot of water) on the floor or, assuming the storm had passed and there would not be another coming, open the window again and just let the water evaporate. But then I remembered I could use my bath towel to wipe up the water. I've used that towel for the past two weeks; I needed to change it at some point. And I was able to do that before leaving, and I was still able to get to work in time.
Just wanted to blog post this.
And when I did, I thought I could either just leave the water (and there was a lot of water) on the floor or, assuming the storm had passed and there would not be another coming, open the window again and just let the water evaporate. But then I remembered I could use my bath towel to wipe up the water. I've used that towel for the past two weeks; I needed to change it at some point. And I was able to do that before leaving, and I was still able to get to work in time.
Just wanted to blog post this.
Thursday, August 27, 2020
It's Obvious Now: Cops Are White Supremacists
I should embed or at least link to the press conference by the Chief of the Kenosha, Wisc., Police Department following the shooting of an unarmed Black man by his cops while the Black man's back was turned towards them and his kids were in his car, followed by the murder of two protesters by a 17-year-old White Boogaloo Boi. But I'm not going to embed or link. I'm too pissed off to take that step, because doing so would mean I would have to see that chief's ugly-ass face and hear his toxic, racist words -- that the protesters took their lives into their own hands being out at night. The shooting that precipitated all this, and the brazen killing of two people by a (and you have to let this sink in) 17-year-old little shit who traveled from Illinois to kill -- and who, by the way, walked past KPD with his rifle after the shootings happened and the police didn't stop him at all (this Boi made it back home before he was arrested)? Not a single fucking peep. (ETA at 1:40 a.m. on August 27 that that's not the case. I [under great threat of self-harm] checked this story about this on Slate and this prick chief actually defended these militant assholes, saying they have a constitutional right to ... um, the story makes it seem as though he thought that right was to protect property, which is not a right enshrined in the Constitution. Anyway, fuck this guy.) Hmmm, why the difference in regarding those two groups, I wonder?
And I still can't get over what happened, and what may still be happening, in Portland. Well, there are continued protests in Portland; I think I saw a tweet that tonight marks 90 consecutive days of protests on the street around the clock. But I have to go back to one night not too long ago. There has been a contingent of counter-protesters. Shit, let's call them Republican terrorists -- Boogaloo Bois, insurrectionists, sovereign citizens, Three Percenters and, if it needs to be said, white supremacists. That group has clashed with protesters. What have the Portland Police Department done about it? Nothing. And that nothing was taken to an extreme this one night. It appears as though this racist counter-protesters went into the crowd of protesters and started beating them while the PPD stood back and did nothing. The fundamental job of police is to keep the peace. And they stood on the streets of Portland with their thumbs up their asses while these White rioters tried to kill peaceful, correct-minded protesters.
I don't know if I have to mention it, but there have been anecdotes that these bigots and the PPD have been friendly with each other. The police's job is not to make friends. So what else can I conclude if they stand back while these Republican terrorists try to kill Black Lives Matter protesters knowing what I know? Well, for one thing, I'm surprised that people who have been entrusted by the community with weapons aren't able to forcefully clear out a street; if cops need to rely on their own band of thugs to do their dirty work for them, they're fucking shitty cops. But let me spell out the obvious: If you let white supremacists be violent and get away with it, you like the violence. You want the violence. And you are as racist as your thug friends are.
The Kenosha Police Department is filled with white supremacists. The Portland Police Department is filled with white supremacists. It's obvious by now. If they do nothing to stop innocent protesters who are exercising their constitutional right to peaceably assemble from getting harmed or killed by Republican terrorists, they are not incompetent -- they condone racist violence.
With that being established, one has to ask: What do BLM protesters -- people on the street, really -- have to do to defend themselves from these domestic terrorists and the police who protect them and only them? And after seeing what we have seen these past hours and days, would they, would we, not be justified from defending ourselves?
And I still can't get over what happened, and what may still be happening, in Portland. Well, there are continued protests in Portland; I think I saw a tweet that tonight marks 90 consecutive days of protests on the street around the clock. But I have to go back to one night not too long ago. There has been a contingent of counter-protesters. Shit, let's call them Republican terrorists -- Boogaloo Bois, insurrectionists, sovereign citizens, Three Percenters and, if it needs to be said, white supremacists. That group has clashed with protesters. What have the Portland Police Department done about it? Nothing. And that nothing was taken to an extreme this one night. It appears as though this racist counter-protesters went into the crowd of protesters and started beating them while the PPD stood back and did nothing. The fundamental job of police is to keep the peace. And they stood on the streets of Portland with their thumbs up their asses while these White rioters tried to kill peaceful, correct-minded protesters.
I don't know if I have to mention it, but there have been anecdotes that these bigots and the PPD have been friendly with each other. The police's job is not to make friends. So what else can I conclude if they stand back while these Republican terrorists try to kill Black Lives Matter protesters knowing what I know? Well, for one thing, I'm surprised that people who have been entrusted by the community with weapons aren't able to forcefully clear out a street; if cops need to rely on their own band of thugs to do their dirty work for them, they're fucking shitty cops. But let me spell out the obvious: If you let white supremacists be violent and get away with it, you like the violence. You want the violence. And you are as racist as your thug friends are.
The Kenosha Police Department is filled with white supremacists. The Portland Police Department is filled with white supremacists. It's obvious by now. If they do nothing to stop innocent protesters who are exercising their constitutional right to peaceably assemble from getting harmed or killed by Republican terrorists, they are not incompetent -- they condone racist violence.
With that being established, one has to ask: What do BLM protesters -- people on the street, really -- have to do to defend themselves from these domestic terrorists and the police who protect them and only them? And after seeing what we have seen these past hours and days, would they, would we, not be justified from defending ourselves?
Wednesday, August 26, 2020
The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey
#-1: Twins (Last Week: -1). Not like it matters since (and I think I've said this before) eight teams from each League are getting into the Pandemic Playoffs this year. And as of press time they hold the third-best record in Major League baseball (along with the Bay Rays and trailing The Bastard Brooklyn Dodgers and The Bastard Philadelphia-By-Way-Of-Kansas City Athletics). But the team's 20-11 record disguises a hot start; this past week they only went 4-3. And so far, Cleveland (behind three members of their rotation that were all picked in the 2016 MLB Draft) and the White Sox (whose Lucas Giolito last/Tuesday night no-hit Pittsburgh) are not fucking around; both clubs are only 1 1/2 Games behind Minnesota.
So it turns out that at least for this vastly-shortened season, the American League Central will be a dogfight. But maybe it's OK to look at the glass as half-full. Kenta Maeda has looked really strong as of late. Rich Hill throws a shitload of pitches per Inning and acts like James McAvoy in Split. And Taylor Rogers, despite two very conspicuous Blown Saves so far this year, has been mostly a shutdown Closer. Now, the bullpen's run down now (the reason Cleveland came back to beat the Twins last/Tuesday night), Josh Donaldson's still on the Injured List and Jake Odorizzi went there over the weekend. With all that fatigue and missed Man-Games, the Twins still are in first, so if and when all those players come back and/or round into form -- hoo-boy (fingers crossed).
Rubber match at Cleveland this/Wednesday evening, then four at Detroit before they come home to begin a crucial three-Game series vs. the Pale Hose Monday.
#-2: Timberwolves (Re-Entry!). For only the second time in this woebegone franchise's history, the Minnesota Timberwolves won the lottery and hold the #1 pick in the National Basketball Association Draft. Moreover, it is the first time in the history of the Woofie Dogs that they have moved up from what their record says it should be. (To clarify, with help from an article by Neil Paine of FiveThirtyEight: Minnesota finished the coronavirus-shortened season with the third-worst record in The Association, behind Golden State and Cleveland. But, under the new Draft Lottery rules that were put in place a year ago, the squads with the three worst records are all given the same number of chances to win the first pick. However, if somehow all three teams "lost" the lottery and were not picked for any of the first four picks in the Draft, they would line up fifth through seventh in order of record -- which means Minnesota would fall behind The Bastard Philadelphia Warriors and the Cavaliers. So, in my mind, they were lined up to pick third. God, this parenthetical is long.)
That's the great news. The bad news, and somewhat befitting the damned existence of the Timberwolves (although, yes, the other time they got #1 Karl-Anthony Towns was waiting for them), this draft just so happens to be considered one of the weakest in a long time and one in which there is no clear-cut top prospect, plus all the contenders to be taken first overall have serious deficiencies or is an ill fit with the club. It seems as if there are two players who have separated themselves from the pack, maybe 2 1/2. Kevin O'Connor of The Ringer thinks that if the Wolves stay put (and I don't know if they will stay put, although Gersson Rosas probably is looking to trade down, and he should) they will draft Georgia Guard Anthony Edwards, but one of the big knocks on him is his questionable energy, and if he starts dogging it, Wolves fans will see nothing but Andrew Wiggins v.2.0. LaMelo Bell is considered to be a superior passer, but D'Angelo Russell already runs point on the team, and (like with Edwards) he is questionable when it comes to playing defense, and this is a squad that needs someone paying attention on their side of the court. (Also, with LaMelo Ball you get Lavar Ball, and I don't know if the Wolves really want that shit.) The "1/2" is Center James Wiseman, but he plays Center, duplicating KAT's position , and he only played half a season before he got "injured." So none of these young men are sure things. Minnesota, as of now, is in line to take a wild stab at superstar first. This was not a bad year to fall down the draft against expectations, which is what this organization usually does.
But hey, at least they're not the New York Knicks.
#-3: Lynx (Last Week: -2). First of all, a weird fact. Minnesota is 6-0 at home and 3-4 on the road, even though the Women's National Basketball Association is playing all league Games in Bradenton, Fla. In fact, the home team has won more than 60% of this season's contests in the "Wubble" despite not having genuine home-court advantage. Why is that? Howard Megdal of FiveThirtyEight asks. The answer? No one bleepin' knows.
And yet despite a 9-4 record and winning two-of-three Games this screening week, the Lynx sit in fourth place in the ultra-competitive Western Conference. They beat the two clubs below them in the West, surprisingly-slumping Phoenix and Dallas. But inexplicably they lost on Sunday to an Atlanta team that won only its third Game of the season. And the Lynx lost that matchup in uncharacteristic fashion. Minnesota has been a very good Second-Half team, coming back from huge Halftime deficits to win, sometimes comfortably. Against the Dream, however, they were spotted an 11-Point lead at the half only to see Atlanta turn the tilt into a 78-75 defeat.
That loss, according to Head Coach Cheryl Reeve, can be attributed to Rebounds. And who is the all-time rebounder in the WNBA? Sylvia Fowles, the Lynx Center who is still out due to a bad calf. The team is still trying to formulate a way to beat good teams without Big Syl, and with Seattle, Los Angeles and Las Vegas all playing really well now, they don't have much margin of error to find a workable Plan B.
This week they have home Games versus the Sparks and the Mercury. They sandwich a roadie against the Dream.
#-4: United FC (Re-Entry!). Well, the good news is that they're still second in the Western Conference (tied with Seattle, behind Kansas City). And it must have been good to finally play their first official match at Allianz Field in 2020 (after five Months and a hastily-arranged in-season tournament), albeit with no fans. Unfortunately they lost to Sporting Kansas City on Friday by a score of 2-1, each XI gifting the other with Own Goals. It is technically the first loss of the season for the Loons; that loss in the MLS Is Back Semifinal to Orlando City SC does not count toward the regular-season standings. And what felt like a team flying high has hit some rough turbulence.
Saturday they visit Dallas.
So it turns out that at least for this vastly-shortened season, the American League Central will be a dogfight. But maybe it's OK to look at the glass as half-full. Kenta Maeda has looked really strong as of late. Rich Hill throws a shitload of pitches per Inning and acts like James McAvoy in Split. And Taylor Rogers, despite two very conspicuous Blown Saves so far this year, has been mostly a shutdown Closer. Now, the bullpen's run down now (the reason Cleveland came back to beat the Twins last/Tuesday night), Josh Donaldson's still on the Injured List and Jake Odorizzi went there over the weekend. With all that fatigue and missed Man-Games, the Twins still are in first, so if and when all those players come back and/or round into form -- hoo-boy (fingers crossed).
Rubber match at Cleveland this/Wednesday evening, then four at Detroit before they come home to begin a crucial three-Game series vs. the Pale Hose Monday.
#-2: Timberwolves (Re-Entry!). For only the second time in this woebegone franchise's history, the Minnesota Timberwolves won the lottery and hold the #1 pick in the National Basketball Association Draft. Moreover, it is the first time in the history of the Woofie Dogs that they have moved up from what their record says it should be. (To clarify, with help from an article by Neil Paine of FiveThirtyEight: Minnesota finished the coronavirus-shortened season with the third-worst record in The Association, behind Golden State and Cleveland. But, under the new Draft Lottery rules that were put in place a year ago, the squads with the three worst records are all given the same number of chances to win the first pick. However, if somehow all three teams "lost" the lottery and were not picked for any of the first four picks in the Draft, they would line up fifth through seventh in order of record -- which means Minnesota would fall behind The Bastard Philadelphia Warriors and the Cavaliers. So, in my mind, they were lined up to pick third. God, this parenthetical is long.)
That's the great news. The bad news, and somewhat befitting the damned existence of the Timberwolves (although, yes, the other time they got #1 Karl-Anthony Towns was waiting for them), this draft just so happens to be considered one of the weakest in a long time and one in which there is no clear-cut top prospect, plus all the contenders to be taken first overall have serious deficiencies or is an ill fit with the club. It seems as if there are two players who have separated themselves from the pack, maybe 2 1/2. Kevin O'Connor of The Ringer thinks that if the Wolves stay put (and I don't know if they will stay put, although Gersson Rosas probably is looking to trade down, and he should) they will draft Georgia Guard Anthony Edwards, but one of the big knocks on him is his questionable energy, and if he starts dogging it, Wolves fans will see nothing but Andrew Wiggins v.2.0. LaMelo Bell is considered to be a superior passer, but D'Angelo Russell already runs point on the team, and (like with Edwards) he is questionable when it comes to playing defense, and this is a squad that needs someone paying attention on their side of the court. (Also, with LaMelo Ball you get Lavar Ball, and I don't know if the Wolves really want that shit.) The "1/2" is Center James Wiseman, but he plays Center, duplicating KAT's position , and he only played half a season before he got "injured." So none of these young men are sure things. Minnesota, as of now, is in line to take a wild stab at superstar first. This was not a bad year to fall down the draft against expectations, which is what this organization usually does.
But hey, at least they're not the New York Knicks.
#-3: Lynx (Last Week: -2). First of all, a weird fact. Minnesota is 6-0 at home and 3-4 on the road, even though the Women's National Basketball Association is playing all league Games in Bradenton, Fla. In fact, the home team has won more than 60% of this season's contests in the "Wubble" despite not having genuine home-court advantage. Why is that? Howard Megdal of FiveThirtyEight asks. The answer? No one bleepin' knows.
And yet despite a 9-4 record and winning two-of-three Games this screening week, the Lynx sit in fourth place in the ultra-competitive Western Conference. They beat the two clubs below them in the West, surprisingly-slumping Phoenix and Dallas. But inexplicably they lost on Sunday to an Atlanta team that won only its third Game of the season. And the Lynx lost that matchup in uncharacteristic fashion. Minnesota has been a very good Second-Half team, coming back from huge Halftime deficits to win, sometimes comfortably. Against the Dream, however, they were spotted an 11-Point lead at the half only to see Atlanta turn the tilt into a 78-75 defeat.
That loss, according to Head Coach Cheryl Reeve, can be attributed to Rebounds. And who is the all-time rebounder in the WNBA? Sylvia Fowles, the Lynx Center who is still out due to a bad calf. The team is still trying to formulate a way to beat good teams without Big Syl, and with Seattle, Los Angeles and Las Vegas all playing really well now, they don't have much margin of error to find a workable Plan B.
This week they have home Games versus the Sparks and the Mercury. They sandwich a roadie against the Dream.
#-4: United FC (Re-Entry!). Well, the good news is that they're still second in the Western Conference (tied with Seattle, behind Kansas City). And it must have been good to finally play their first official match at Allianz Field in 2020 (after five Months and a hastily-arranged in-season tournament), albeit with no fans. Unfortunately they lost to Sporting Kansas City on Friday by a score of 2-1, each XI gifting the other with Own Goals. It is technically the first loss of the season for the Loons; that loss in the MLS Is Back Semifinal to Orlando City SC does not count toward the regular-season standings. And what felt like a team flying high has hit some rough turbulence.
Saturday they visit Dallas.
Tuesday, August 25, 2020
You Late-Night Hosts Should Still Be At Home
I'm a huge fan of late night, and late-night talk shows were hit by the lockdown caused by the pandemic in a way no other genre on television has to go through. Their raison d'etre (I know I spelled that wrong, but I don't know all the French diacritical marks I need to put in that word) is being the last word, so to speak, for the events that happened the day of, so they have to do live shows, like, 250 days of the year. Also, they do it in front of a live audience because it's been that way since Steve Allen pioneered the genre at The Dawn Of The Age Of Television. Large crowds have essentially been banned until there is a vaccine for the coronavirus, and yet the virus itself is newsworthy enough that shutting down talk shows until there is a vaccine kind of feels like shutting down a television station. So for late night, the show must go on.
In a different format, of course. I think there was, like, one day -- and I think you know That Day, even though for the life of me I cannot remember the exact date of That Day -- where all the talk shows went on, business as usual, except for the hastily-decreed ban on audiences, so they were doing their shows in cavernous studios because there was no one there to cheer the next guest and laugh at the host's jokes. After That Day, governments got scared shitless over the virus and shut down all television productions not deemed essential (so, essentially, TV stations and that's it). So if I recall correctly (and again I'm kind of shocked I don't remember what happened five months ago), there were a couple weeks where there were no new episodes of late night. And that suuuuuucked.
But again, those shows can't just shut down for however long it takes until there's a vaccine. (Well, maybe Lilly Singh; she's been in reruns for months, and since the show just started, I swear they've re-aired every single episode they've made at least three times during this pandemic.) So they found a way to come back and do new shows: They were doing them at home.
And that is weird. Well, was. Seeing Fallon, Colbert, Kimmel, Corden and Myers set up ad hoc studios from a room in their houses (even though I know someone from the production potentially broke emergency orders and helped them set up lighting, camera and audio because, let's face it, hosts don't know how to do that shit) felt like a huge invasion of privacy. But I had to shove aside my principles because it's a damn pandemic, and who cares if they're doing shows from home? And by golly, I grew to like having a behind-the-scenes peek at these hosts' private lives. In particular I love the way Jimmy Fallon showcased his two rambunctious daughters whenever he enlisted their help for Thank You Notes, and I loved the Tuesday feature where he and his wife walked around the neighborhood and answered viewer questions. It was a nice and fun way to show the hosts are still trying to entertain America.
Then, as of a month ago, things changed again. Under pressure from a public in the conniption fits of caution fatigue, governments decided it was OK for larger work environments to reopen with stricter protocols in place to fight transmission of the virus. Fallon was the first to drive back to work and do shows from his studio, even though there still is no audience and they reconfigured the set (whether it was done to accommodate a setting with no crowds or if it was already planned, I don't know). A couple weeks ago Colbert and Corden did the same. Myers is still doing his shows from home. Kimmel just decided to take a vacation for the rest of the summer; guests hosts have been filling in, doing shows from a set that apparently is an abandoned mansion with, I'm guessing, a skeleton crew.
And I say this as someone who regularly criticizes things for being different until I get used to it, but I find the current setup with shows back in studios to be jarring. There should be people in the audience, but there are none. So why are you back in the studio? The audience is a very important part of a live-to-tape show, and especially talk shows. You don't have instant feedback, you might as well be taping a drama in a closed set. Also, remember that all this time the late-night hosts have been doing interviews with guests via videoconference calls. The hosts are at the studio, but the guests can't be. So, once again, why are you back in the studio? If the guests are doing interviews from home, the hosts might as well do the same. I understand getting stir crazy and putting a firm boundary between work and home, but it seems like such a waste of time and fossil fuels to drive to a studio to do a talk show when it doesn't feel at all like a talk show. Hell, I kind of feel sorry for the behind-the-scenes people who have had to schlep back to work when talk shows decided to go back to their venues.
Anyway, I'm glad there are new shows to watch, period. And maybe, someday soon, there will be a vaccine so everybody can go pack the studios and late night shows can be late night shows again. And all this awkwardness will be a faded memory.
In a different format, of course. I think there was, like, one day -- and I think you know That Day, even though for the life of me I cannot remember the exact date of That Day -- where all the talk shows went on, business as usual, except for the hastily-decreed ban on audiences, so they were doing their shows in cavernous studios because there was no one there to cheer the next guest and laugh at the host's jokes. After That Day, governments got scared shitless over the virus and shut down all television productions not deemed essential (so, essentially, TV stations and that's it). So if I recall correctly (and again I'm kind of shocked I don't remember what happened five months ago), there were a couple weeks where there were no new episodes of late night. And that suuuuuucked.
But again, those shows can't just shut down for however long it takes until there's a vaccine. (Well, maybe Lilly Singh; she's been in reruns for months, and since the show just started, I swear they've re-aired every single episode they've made at least three times during this pandemic.) So they found a way to come back and do new shows: They were doing them at home.
And that is weird. Well, was. Seeing Fallon, Colbert, Kimmel, Corden and Myers set up ad hoc studios from a room in their houses (even though I know someone from the production potentially broke emergency orders and helped them set up lighting, camera and audio because, let's face it, hosts don't know how to do that shit) felt like a huge invasion of privacy. But I had to shove aside my principles because it's a damn pandemic, and who cares if they're doing shows from home? And by golly, I grew to like having a behind-the-scenes peek at these hosts' private lives. In particular I love the way Jimmy Fallon showcased his two rambunctious daughters whenever he enlisted their help for Thank You Notes, and I loved the Tuesday feature where he and his wife walked around the neighborhood and answered viewer questions. It was a nice and fun way to show the hosts are still trying to entertain America.
Then, as of a month ago, things changed again. Under pressure from a public in the conniption fits of caution fatigue, governments decided it was OK for larger work environments to reopen with stricter protocols in place to fight transmission of the virus. Fallon was the first to drive back to work and do shows from his studio, even though there still is no audience and they reconfigured the set (whether it was done to accommodate a setting with no crowds or if it was already planned, I don't know). A couple weeks ago Colbert and Corden did the same. Myers is still doing his shows from home. Kimmel just decided to take a vacation for the rest of the summer; guests hosts have been filling in, doing shows from a set that apparently is an abandoned mansion with, I'm guessing, a skeleton crew.
And I say this as someone who regularly criticizes things for being different until I get used to it, but I find the current setup with shows back in studios to be jarring. There should be people in the audience, but there are none. So why are you back in the studio? The audience is a very important part of a live-to-tape show, and especially talk shows. You don't have instant feedback, you might as well be taping a drama in a closed set. Also, remember that all this time the late-night hosts have been doing interviews with guests via videoconference calls. The hosts are at the studio, but the guests can't be. So, once again, why are you back in the studio? If the guests are doing interviews from home, the hosts might as well do the same. I understand getting stir crazy and putting a firm boundary between work and home, but it seems like such a waste of time and fossil fuels to drive to a studio to do a talk show when it doesn't feel at all like a talk show. Hell, I kind of feel sorry for the behind-the-scenes people who have had to schlep back to work when talk shows decided to go back to their venues.
Anyway, I'm glad there are new shows to watch, period. And maybe, someday soon, there will be a vaccine so everybody can go pack the studios and late night shows can be late night shows again. And all this awkwardness will be a faded memory.
Monday, August 24, 2020
I'll Get Around To It
Father washed, dried and folded my laundry ... um, some days ago. It's still in the hamper. I'll get around to it.
Mail and papers are piling up in my bedroom, so much so that even I am taking notice. I should look through them, maybe throw some of them away. I'll get around to it.
I keep forgetting this: I did a research study a month ago. I was handed a check ... and I haven't deposited it yet. I'll get around to it.
You know, I'm just busy. With working and ... taking naps and ... being on the Internet and ... blogging and ...
Mail and papers are piling up in my bedroom, so much so that even I am taking notice. I should look through them, maybe throw some of them away. I'll get around to it.
I keep forgetting this: I did a research study a month ago. I was handed a check ... and I haven't deposited it yet. I'll get around to it.
You know, I'm just busy. With working and ... taking naps and ... being on the Internet and ... blogging and ...
Sunday, August 23, 2020
Yesterday Was ... Eventful
So, yesterday I talked about going to Centro for lunch before going to work yesterday? Yeah, funny story. ...
The way I went to Centro on Friday was across these train tracks that are very rough and potholey. There were certainly other ways to get there, but I thought just being a little more careful and slower through the tracks would help with the otherwise rough, scary ride across them on Friday.
Unfortunately, while I was crossing them (and there are two of them, one going each way) I heard the bell. (In retrospect, while there for about 75 Minutes Friday the train went by several times.) I panicked. And so I gunned it across the tracks, hoping nothing would happen to my car. The ride through was (deep breath) damaging to my car. And something really bad happened to it. I parallel parked, then jumped out to make sure my tires weren't flat. I heard a loud hiss, though. And after trying to see the bottoms of the two passenger-side tires that were in inches of water because of the storm that passed through the area overnight, I saw the bottom of my driver's-side front tire virtually flat. Well, guess I wasn't going to eat at Centro after all.
Thankfully this happened two hours before I had to go to work. So I had time to change the tire and go to The Mechanic Around The Corner ... but they couldn't change it because, even though they say the service department is open on Saturdays, the cashier said everyone else was sent home. Great.
I went back from where I came to Bobby & Steve's. They couldn't get me in before I had to go to work because there were people waiting in front of me. Instead of gambling on getting it done before going in to work, I calmed myself down, told myself I put in the spare tire correctly, and I can get to work using side roads and, if need be, making sure I'm driving (well) over 50 miles per hour. So, I went to work. Hell, I had enough time (I left Bobby & Steve's a bit past 1) to eat at McDonald's and rest my eyes for 10 Minutes in my car after I parked at work.
Went in at 2, got done around 6. Thank goodness people have better things to do than on a Saturday than get their car fixed, because this time around I immediately got serviced ... except that they could not patch the tire. I had to get a new one. (I swear I saw a nail puncture and hole in a tread on my tire. The mechanic who gave me back my car said that the break came on the side, right next to the rim.) And on top of that, they didn't have a tire my size. Got my car back, no charge.
This guy said Discount Tire would have one. Discount Tire is closed at 6:30 on Saturdays. Still wanted this done today, so the guy called up the Bobby & Steve's in downtown where, thank Buddha, they did have one (and only one) tire my size. Drove down there. From the time I entered the store to the time I left with my brand-new tire: Half an hour. And I checked -- the new tire is the same exact brand and model as my other three.
My initial plan after work was to go visit my game-watching party bar, which was also downtown. Ate outside, chatted it up with the co-owner. Wanted to get home by 9 to catch the beginning of the back end of the Liga MX doubleheader, but I was getting home a little after that, and besides, "Rusty Cage" was on The Current, so I had to stay in my car and listen to that.
Could have been worse. Didn't want to spend $150 on the tire, but given that the first Bobby & Steve's place said I could go to Discount Tire -- where it would probably be cheaper -- I don't think they were ripping me off. (Plus, they didn't charge me to diagnose the source of the break on my tire.) I did get my tire fixed the day it broke. Got to work on-time, and went to eat at my (ex-)alumni club's place. Best of all, it took me only half an hour to change my tire. I may have peeked in my trunk to see the spare once, maybe twice, and I had no idea how to assemble the jack. But I followed the owner's manual and, with dirty pants and disposable gloves (given to me just the day before by the stripper girlfriend who cut my hair), I got the spare on all by myself. Yes, I felt like a man. Still do, actually. And moreover, honestly, it feels good that I was able to figure something out and not be in need of someone, whether it be a tow truck or anyone who just walked or drove by who could say, "Hey, you need help with that?" (By the way, even though the area I was in was semi-busy, no one stopped to ask if they could help. Huh.)
As for Centro ... got a ticket the first time I went there, got a flat the second time I went there. Maybe this is a sign I should, like, stay away from the place. Might go there in a couple weeks. And I will take a different route besides across the fucking train tracks. Actually, when I was driving close to Centro, I knew the general direction it was as I was crossing cross streets, and I remember thinking, "Hmmm ... wouldn't one of these streets get me to Centro so I wouldn't have to cross those goddamn train tracks?" Should've listened to myself when I told myself that. Would've been closer, too.
Everything's right with the world now, albeit a bit lighter in the checking account. The only mortal fear I have is that driving so hard and fast on extremely bumpy train tracks fucked up my suspension and alignment. My car seems to be driving OK on my way home from yesterday's adventure, and I hope it stays that way so I can forget how anxious and paranoid I am about that right now.
The way I went to Centro on Friday was across these train tracks that are very rough and potholey. There were certainly other ways to get there, but I thought just being a little more careful and slower through the tracks would help with the otherwise rough, scary ride across them on Friday.
Unfortunately, while I was crossing them (and there are two of them, one going each way) I heard the bell. (In retrospect, while there for about 75 Minutes Friday the train went by several times.) I panicked. And so I gunned it across the tracks, hoping nothing would happen to my car. The ride through was (deep breath) damaging to my car. And something really bad happened to it. I parallel parked, then jumped out to make sure my tires weren't flat. I heard a loud hiss, though. And after trying to see the bottoms of the two passenger-side tires that were in inches of water because of the storm that passed through the area overnight, I saw the bottom of my driver's-side front tire virtually flat. Well, guess I wasn't going to eat at Centro after all.
Thankfully this happened two hours before I had to go to work. So I had time to change the tire and go to The Mechanic Around The Corner ... but they couldn't change it because, even though they say the service department is open on Saturdays, the cashier said everyone else was sent home. Great.
I went back from where I came to Bobby & Steve's. They couldn't get me in before I had to go to work because there were people waiting in front of me. Instead of gambling on getting it done before going in to work, I calmed myself down, told myself I put in the spare tire correctly, and I can get to work using side roads and, if need be, making sure I'm driving (well) over 50 miles per hour. So, I went to work. Hell, I had enough time (I left Bobby & Steve's a bit past 1) to eat at McDonald's and rest my eyes for 10 Minutes in my car after I parked at work.
Went in at 2, got done around 6. Thank goodness people have better things to do than on a Saturday than get their car fixed, because this time around I immediately got serviced ... except that they could not patch the tire. I had to get a new one. (I swear I saw a nail puncture and hole in a tread on my tire. The mechanic who gave me back my car said that the break came on the side, right next to the rim.) And on top of that, they didn't have a tire my size. Got my car back, no charge.
This guy said Discount Tire would have one. Discount Tire is closed at 6:30 on Saturdays. Still wanted this done today, so the guy called up the Bobby & Steve's in downtown where, thank Buddha, they did have one (and only one) tire my size. Drove down there. From the time I entered the store to the time I left with my brand-new tire: Half an hour. And I checked -- the new tire is the same exact brand and model as my other three.
My initial plan after work was to go visit my game-watching party bar, which was also downtown. Ate outside, chatted it up with the co-owner. Wanted to get home by 9 to catch the beginning of the back end of the Liga MX doubleheader, but I was getting home a little after that, and besides, "Rusty Cage" was on The Current, so I had to stay in my car and listen to that.
Could have been worse. Didn't want to spend $150 on the tire, but given that the first Bobby & Steve's place said I could go to Discount Tire -- where it would probably be cheaper -- I don't think they were ripping me off. (Plus, they didn't charge me to diagnose the source of the break on my tire.) I did get my tire fixed the day it broke. Got to work on-time, and went to eat at my (ex-)alumni club's place. Best of all, it took me only half an hour to change my tire. I may have peeked in my trunk to see the spare once, maybe twice, and I had no idea how to assemble the jack. But I followed the owner's manual and, with dirty pants and disposable gloves (given to me just the day before by the stripper girlfriend who cut my hair), I got the spare on all by myself. Yes, I felt like a man. Still do, actually. And moreover, honestly, it feels good that I was able to figure something out and not be in need of someone, whether it be a tow truck or anyone who just walked or drove by who could say, "Hey, you need help with that?" (By the way, even though the area I was in was semi-busy, no one stopped to ask if they could help. Huh.)
As for Centro ... got a ticket the first time I went there, got a flat the second time I went there. Maybe this is a sign I should, like, stay away from the place. Might go there in a couple weeks. And I will take a different route besides across the fucking train tracks. Actually, when I was driving close to Centro, I knew the general direction it was as I was crossing cross streets, and I remember thinking, "Hmmm ... wouldn't one of these streets get me to Centro so I wouldn't have to cross those goddamn train tracks?" Should've listened to myself when I told myself that. Would've been closer, too.
Everything's right with the world now, albeit a bit lighter in the checking account. The only mortal fear I have is that driving so hard and fast on extremely bumpy train tracks fucked up my suspension and alignment. My car seems to be driving OK on my way home from yesterday's adventure, and I hope it stays that way so I can forget how anxious and paranoid I am about that right now.
Saturday, August 22, 2020
A Parking Ticket? Haven't Gotten One In A Long Time
So I went to Centro, a highly-regarded taco place. I wanted to go there because the Little Blue Food Truck, which I have been following all summer, was at Indeed, which was the next building over, and shoot, I might as well eat at Centro, see if I can eat something at the truck, then pick up a crowler of a beer even though I had never been to Indeed. I wanted to do all of those things even though it took a lot longer to get my hair cut from my stripper girlfriend (that's a blog post in and of itself), I was still determined to do so. And it was all good, even though I paid for it last night.
Well, I sort-of am paying for it now. Some in the row of cars I parked with got tickets on their windshields, and dammit, that included mine. Then I took a second look at the parking sign. I thought the arrow underneath the "P" circled and crossed out told me that the driveway I was close to when I parked was not allowed. I needed to realize what that arrow, which was pointing in both directions, actually means. Yeah, I wasn't supposed to park there -- even though the truck I parked behind was also parked there! I really need to do a better job at looking at things and think through what they mean.
Yeah, I'm bummed that I got a parking ticket. Don't remember the last time I got one. Was it while on vacation? Frankly, I think by the time I got back to my car I was too buzzed by the margarita I had to care about a ticket. Also, I was so damn determined to eat and drink at these three complexes that I was going to "take all consequences" in order to do so. Plus, this was my first time around there. Finally, I have enough money to pay for the ticket.
But now I know. Next time I go to Centro & Indeed (the food truck is on its way to new adventures), I'll know where I can and cannot park. And I think I'm going back this weekend. Just to prove to myself I can park there without getting a ticket, you know?
Well, I sort-of am paying for it now. Some in the row of cars I parked with got tickets on their windshields, and dammit, that included mine. Then I took a second look at the parking sign. I thought the arrow underneath the "P" circled and crossed out told me that the driveway I was close to when I parked was not allowed. I needed to realize what that arrow, which was pointing in both directions, actually means. Yeah, I wasn't supposed to park there -- even though the truck I parked behind was also parked there! I really need to do a better job at looking at things and think through what they mean.
Yeah, I'm bummed that I got a parking ticket. Don't remember the last time I got one. Was it while on vacation? Frankly, I think by the time I got back to my car I was too buzzed by the margarita I had to care about a ticket. Also, I was so damn determined to eat and drink at these three complexes that I was going to "take all consequences" in order to do so. Plus, this was my first time around there. Finally, I have enough money to pay for the ticket.
But now I know. Next time I go to Centro & Indeed (the food truck is on its way to new adventures), I'll know where I can and cannot park. And I think I'm going back this weekend. Just to prove to myself I can park there without getting a ticket, you know?
A Good Run Of Music On The Current Just Now
Want to note it, from the time I turned it on to the time where, well, I wasn't feeling it and so I turned off the radio:
- Lizzo, "Cuz I Love You"
- Run The Jewels, "Ooh LA LA"
- Daft Punk featuring Panda Bear, "Doin' It Right"
- Joan Jett, "Jeepster"
- Bill Withers, "Harlem"
- Sylvan Esso, "PARAD(w/m)E"
- Brittany Howard, "You and Your Folks, Me and My Folks"
Friday, August 21, 2020
THE HONDA GIFT CARD IS IN THE DESK!
OK, so about 11 Months ago my starter on my supposedly new-ish car broke. I've blog posted about this disaster before, but I'll rehash it here. It had been on the fritz for the past several months, but I would be able to start my car after pushing the ignition button a second time. But then it became three. Then it wouldn't start at the gas station. And then it went kaput for good at work the night Minnesota United FC beat Sporting Kansas City and secured its first-ever Major League Soccer playoff birth. (Instead of getting a tow truck right after work, I downloaded Lyft and used a car-sharing service for the first and, so far, only time in my life to get to Allianz Field. A friend from my ushering days drove me back to work, and that's when I called for the tow truck. Had it dropped off at The Mechanic Around The Corner. In the morning, I walked there without My Father noticing my car was gone.)
Got it fixed from The Mechanic Around The Corner. Still, I was pissed. A starter does not go out on a five-year-old car, and especially a Honda, even if my warranty ran out. I both asked the dealership for a break and called Honda American Corporate for relief when I brought my car to the dealership after the incident at the gas station, which was only a few days before the starter went kaput for good. Both entities said no.
That still wasn't good enough. I got it fixed, but I eventually (and I think this was in the late winter or early spring -- these days, time both stretches and shrinks) decided I was going to raise a little hell over this. First I tweeted to Honda American. Then I sent a letter to them. And wouldn't you know, I got a call back. Someone from Honda American wanted to investigate. I gave her all the information I could about the steps I took to ask for financial defraying on getting a new starter. After playing phone tag for a bit (and I think this was in March, just as the pandemic convinced the country to shut down and send workers home to work), she offered a gift card in the amount of $350. Maybe I should have bargained. But I guess I was so flattered Honda American did something about my complaint that I was going to take the first thing dangled in front of me. So I said yes.
The gift card came in the form of, uh, an actual gift card, slotted in a card the size of a, uh, greeting card, in an envelope the size of a, uh, greeting card. I have to activate it, and I have only till 2022, I think, to use it. My timing chain will need to be replaced in the next 24 Months or so, I think -- that gift card will be given to the dealership to defray the cost of fixing that. Anyway, the important thing is I have it, and so it was in safe keeping.
Until I realized that I didn't know exactly where the hell it was. When I opened it for the first time and looked at it, I stroked my ego for a bit. I mean, I didn't think writing to customer service would work. I've done it before and was successful before, but shoot, this is the first time I got a $350 gift card. That's frickin' golden! So I felt a well of self-satisfaction, and then I threw the gift card onto the stack of mail I just keep once I opened them up.
And then I couldn't find it. I guess it didn't matter since I don't plan on using it for, probably, two more Years. But that is essentially $350 in cash, and I shouldn't lose it. And so a couple times in the Months since I got it, including a sizable freak-out a few days ago, I felt the urge to find it, just so I know where exactly it is. At some point my mood was, "Well, I don't know where exactly it is, but I know it's in my bedroom, so where else could it be?" But in those couple times, that wasn't good enough.
The first time I freaked out over it, I had to give up because I simply couldn't find it. This time around, and this was Wednesday night, I went over to my desk, where I stash all the "important" mail that I don't want "lost" even though I don't exactly know what's in there. But, by golly, that's where I found the gift card. Apparently when I got it in the mail, I at least thought about it enough to put it somewhere special. Too bad I forgot that the desk was that special place.
So maybe where I put it now will be, like, the real exact place where it's going to be safe and special. All car owners are told to keep all the receipts from repairs somewhere. Well, I have put mine in my desk -- namely the long, flat drawer under which you put your legs, you know? I have put all my receipts stretching back to my old car in there. I have yet to throw any of them away. And since my gift card is a car thing, well, it makes sense for me to stash it in with my receipts.
So there it is, and there it will stay until I need to use it. And just in case, I am going to note here, for the record, that that is where I put it; that's why I put the title in all caps. But doing so doesn't ensure that I'll remember to even look at my blog in order to remember where the gift card is. For that -- well, I guess I'll have to just rely on faith.
Thursday, August 20, 2020
Nothing like going down a Wikipedia wormhole about serial killers to make the sleep you want so bad right now scary to take. Again.
I wanted to blog post something longer, but I don't want to stay up -- well, assuming the serial killers I read about don't keep me up. Also I tried finishing editing my sister's paper. Hope it goes well when I send it to her tomorrow, like she asked.
I wanted to blog post something longer, but I don't want to stay up -- well, assuming the serial killers I read about don't keep me up. Also I tried finishing editing my sister's paper. Hope it goes well when I send it to her tomorrow, like she asked.
Wednesday, August 19, 2020
The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey
#-1: Twins (Last Week: -2). I just listened to one of those Games that could only happen in baseball. Not saying it was the greatest Game I've heard in a while. Well, it was going to be, then it turned into a disaster, then it turned out OK.
So for last night's home tilt vs. The Bastard Seattle Pilots, Kenta Maeda took a No-Hitter into the Ninth Inning before giving up a bloop Single to Eric Sogard. Then Taylor Rogers comes in after that Hit and, even though it wasn't totally his fault -- a Ground Ball could have turned into a Game-ending Double Play, but a throwing Error by Second Baseman, top-of-the-Inning substitute and new acquisition Ildemaro Vargas plated two Brewer Runs -- Rogers No-Decisioned Maeda after giving up three Runs. Missed chances and a litany of subs by Rocco Baldelli prolonged the agony into the 12th, where Byron Buxton was able to cross Home Plate on a gasping dribbler up to the mound courtesy of Jorge Polanco. Twins win, 4-3 in 12, in a contest that could have ended in historic fashion and should have ended with an easy victory.
Nevertheless the Twins capped off a 5-1 screening week with that win and therefore maintain their lead in the American League Central, even though Cleveland and the White Sox are nipping at their heels. Well, maybe it's a moot point since eight teams from the AL are going to reach this year's postseason. I am worried about cylinders not firing a third of the way through this sprint. Rogers remains a leaky governor, Miguel Sano ain't hitting and Josh Donaldson is still in traction. Then again, as anxious I and some Twins fans may get, Michael Baumann of The Ringer points out in his MLB Power Rankings that the squad (Baumann placed Minnesota fourth) is near the top of the Junior Circuit in Run Differential, and if everybody gets back and is healthy (the above players plus the Starting Pitching), they should still be on track to be a dangerous contender. Well, then, let's hope they avoid further calamity.
After finishing the three-Game series against Milwaukee, the team visits Kansas City for three over the weekend before starting a three-Game set versus Cleveland in Cleveland.
#-2: Lynx (Last Week: -1). When you're not expected to be all that good, you can take injuries in stride. A looming storyline with the Jynx may be the continued health of Sylvia Fowles. In Thursday's important showdown against Las Vegas, Big Syl got hurt in the first Minute of the Game. She went out, was diagnosed with a bad calf, and is out indefinitely. Minnesota fell behind The Bastard San Antonio Silver Stars in the First Half, but despite a surge in the Third Quarter (something the club has done several times so far this season, a testament to Cheryl Reeve), they still lost by ten.
Fowles was the final piece in the back half of the franchise's dynastic days, and even though she's not washed up, these stints on the injured list are beginning to pile up. Her absence and the search to try to score and defend without Fowles on the floor are starting to get to the Lynx, who now sit in fourth place in the ultra-competitive Western Conference (as of press time the would lead by a half-Game in the East). However, the youth movement seems to be developing nicely. The team came back Saturday and waxed New York, who has lost #1 Draft pick Sabrina Ionescu, by 30. Napheesa Collier is shaping up to be a very good player, and maybe the next leader on the team. So far, she's got a hot teammate in rookie (second-round Draft selection and, like Collier, a UConn grad) Crystal Dangerfield. Plus the team got a pick-me-up in the rout of the Liberty with the return of Odyssey Sims (five Assists in 14 Minutes), who just got back from maternity leave. And really, shoot, if they don't progress far in the WNBA playoffs, that's OK. The future is looking brighter and brighter. I think Big Syl will leave the team in good hands.
This week Minnesota has Games against Dallas, Phoenix and Atlanta on alternating days starting tonight/Wednesday night.
So for last night's home tilt vs. The Bastard Seattle Pilots, Kenta Maeda took a No-Hitter into the Ninth Inning before giving up a bloop Single to Eric Sogard. Then Taylor Rogers comes in after that Hit and, even though it wasn't totally his fault -- a Ground Ball could have turned into a Game-ending Double Play, but a throwing Error by Second Baseman, top-of-the-Inning substitute and new acquisition Ildemaro Vargas plated two Brewer Runs -- Rogers No-Decisioned Maeda after giving up three Runs. Missed chances and a litany of subs by Rocco Baldelli prolonged the agony into the 12th, where Byron Buxton was able to cross Home Plate on a gasping dribbler up to the mound courtesy of Jorge Polanco. Twins win, 4-3 in 12, in a contest that could have ended in historic fashion and should have ended with an easy victory.
Nevertheless the Twins capped off a 5-1 screening week with that win and therefore maintain their lead in the American League Central, even though Cleveland and the White Sox are nipping at their heels. Well, maybe it's a moot point since eight teams from the AL are going to reach this year's postseason. I am worried about cylinders not firing a third of the way through this sprint. Rogers remains a leaky governor, Miguel Sano ain't hitting and Josh Donaldson is still in traction. Then again, as anxious I and some Twins fans may get, Michael Baumann of The Ringer points out in his MLB Power Rankings that the squad (Baumann placed Minnesota fourth) is near the top of the Junior Circuit in Run Differential, and if everybody gets back and is healthy (the above players plus the Starting Pitching), they should still be on track to be a dangerous contender. Well, then, let's hope they avoid further calamity.
After finishing the three-Game series against Milwaukee, the team visits Kansas City for three over the weekend before starting a three-Game set versus Cleveland in Cleveland.
#-2: Lynx (Last Week: -1). When you're not expected to be all that good, you can take injuries in stride. A looming storyline with the Jynx may be the continued health of Sylvia Fowles. In Thursday's important showdown against Las Vegas, Big Syl got hurt in the first Minute of the Game. She went out, was diagnosed with a bad calf, and is out indefinitely. Minnesota fell behind The Bastard San Antonio Silver Stars in the First Half, but despite a surge in the Third Quarter (something the club has done several times so far this season, a testament to Cheryl Reeve), they still lost by ten.
Fowles was the final piece in the back half of the franchise's dynastic days, and even though she's not washed up, these stints on the injured list are beginning to pile up. Her absence and the search to try to score and defend without Fowles on the floor are starting to get to the Lynx, who now sit in fourth place in the ultra-competitive Western Conference (as of press time the would lead by a half-Game in the East). However, the youth movement seems to be developing nicely. The team came back Saturday and waxed New York, who has lost #1 Draft pick Sabrina Ionescu, by 30. Napheesa Collier is shaping up to be a very good player, and maybe the next leader on the team. So far, she's got a hot teammate in rookie (second-round Draft selection and, like Collier, a UConn grad) Crystal Dangerfield. Plus the team got a pick-me-up in the rout of the Liberty with the return of Odyssey Sims (five Assists in 14 Minutes), who just got back from maternity leave. And really, shoot, if they don't progress far in the WNBA playoffs, that's OK. The future is looking brighter and brighter. I think Big Syl will leave the team in good hands.
This week Minnesota has Games against Dallas, Phoenix and Atlanta on alternating days starting tonight/Wednesday night.
Tuesday, August 18, 2020
Women Relying On Me
So Mother prolonged this stupid entanglement with the credit card company and this company that didn't send her this thing she wanted for three months. She kept badgering me and badgering me to do something about this, so I eventually just sent a complaint letter to the credit card company asking them to credit the price of the purchase. Well, My Fucking Mother yesterday was able to cajole my sister into talking with the company to just give the item, which Mother just received, for half off. So now I have to talk to the credit card company telling them, "Hey, that letter I sent certified mail? Never mind!" But I'll wait to do that until this company actually credits My Mother back the money they promised my sister they would.
Mother has been a pain in the ass lately. She's been aggravating me on a bunch of things, but in this instance, where I do something for her, only for me to need to unwind that because she bothered someone else to help her with her complaint, is another level of annoyance that I would rather not spend brainpower or time on.
Speaking of my sister ... she hepped me up to a paper she's writing, and she wants my help in editing it. She sent it last night. It's 23 pages long (well, 21 without footnotes), and it's on her level of expertise, which makes any suggestions I would have when it comes to sentence structure and wordiness very difficult to convey. I am reduced to spelling and grammar checks -- important stuff, but I think I could help her more with concepts of organization and word economy, and I don't think I can do that if I don't know the subject matter.
Actually, overall, even though I'm flattered she asked for my help, and will do my best to help her because that is what families are supposed to do, I'm scared that my edits will in fact get her paper a worse grade. Instead of helping her, I am afraid I will in fact hurt her. I'll pray that's not the case. Actually, I'll pray that I can edit her paper in time. Sis says the weekend is fine, but ideally she would like it back by Thursday. That might be difficult, especially since this "college thing" has a meeting I think I should drop in on, if not fully participate in, this evening.
Oh, and ******a. I like the boundaries that we have when it comes to sexual activity. She allows none of it, but she is trying to hustle a business by giving massages, and she has given into my request to get massaged completely naked -- mostly because my left hip is killing me, and I think a knot is centered in my left ass. ******a wants me to make massages with her a regular thing. I'm OK with that, but we need to discuss frequency and price.
But beyond that, I have to say that she's a bit ... neurotic. We were texting back-and-forth about setting up an arrangement last night. ******a is very unique when it comes to texting -- namely, I don't know of anyone, stripper or non-stripper, who texts so much. How can anyone's thumbs pound the surface of a phone that much I don't understand, and the strain in my eyes in trying to look at small, frequently misspelled text in a small screen dissuades me from texting so long.
Anyway, after we left the subject about me being a regular massage client, she told me that she just had to break into her house because she locked herself out. And then she texted other stuff about going to the neighbor's and going to the cops and batteries and how she locked herself out ... she goes on and on about some things, and my eyes just glaze over. She's nice, and she's hot, but I cannot engage with her on stuff like that, especially when she is in the middle of a stream-of-consciousness text, so I replied with, "Oh, OK. Good night, and I'm glad you're safe!" (She did end her text by saying goodnight.)
I don't think she needed anything from me. I ... well, she's a weird bird, I guess I wanted to talk about. Hot weird bird, but a weird bird nonetheless.
Mother has been a pain in the ass lately. She's been aggravating me on a bunch of things, but in this instance, where I do something for her, only for me to need to unwind that because she bothered someone else to help her with her complaint, is another level of annoyance that I would rather not spend brainpower or time on.
Speaking of my sister ... she hepped me up to a paper she's writing, and she wants my help in editing it. She sent it last night. It's 23 pages long (well, 21 without footnotes), and it's on her level of expertise, which makes any suggestions I would have when it comes to sentence structure and wordiness very difficult to convey. I am reduced to spelling and grammar checks -- important stuff, but I think I could help her more with concepts of organization and word economy, and I don't think I can do that if I don't know the subject matter.
Actually, overall, even though I'm flattered she asked for my help, and will do my best to help her because that is what families are supposed to do, I'm scared that my edits will in fact get her paper a worse grade. Instead of helping her, I am afraid I will in fact hurt her. I'll pray that's not the case. Actually, I'll pray that I can edit her paper in time. Sis says the weekend is fine, but ideally she would like it back by Thursday. That might be difficult, especially since this "college thing" has a meeting I think I should drop in on, if not fully participate in, this evening.
Oh, and ******a. I like the boundaries that we have when it comes to sexual activity. She allows none of it, but she is trying to hustle a business by giving massages, and she has given into my request to get massaged completely naked -- mostly because my left hip is killing me, and I think a knot is centered in my left ass. ******a wants me to make massages with her a regular thing. I'm OK with that, but we need to discuss frequency and price.
But beyond that, I have to say that she's a bit ... neurotic. We were texting back-and-forth about setting up an arrangement last night. ******a is very unique when it comes to texting -- namely, I don't know of anyone, stripper or non-stripper, who texts so much. How can anyone's thumbs pound the surface of a phone that much I don't understand, and the strain in my eyes in trying to look at small, frequently misspelled text in a small screen dissuades me from texting so long.
Anyway, after we left the subject about me being a regular massage client, she told me that she just had to break into her house because she locked herself out. And then she texted other stuff about going to the neighbor's and going to the cops and batteries and how she locked herself out ... she goes on and on about some things, and my eyes just glaze over. She's nice, and she's hot, but I cannot engage with her on stuff like that, especially when she is in the middle of a stream-of-consciousness text, so I replied with, "Oh, OK. Good night, and I'm glad you're safe!" (She did end her text by saying goodnight.)
I don't think she needed anything from me. I ... well, she's a weird bird, I guess I wanted to talk about. Hot weird bird, but a weird bird nonetheless.
Monday, August 17, 2020
Toxic Masculinity On Zoom
Let me just say that I have not seen a guy yelling his fucking head off and acted like he was entitled to it like I saw last night on Zoom. There was no reason to yell, but the situation in which he decided he did was classic toxic masculinity: A woman disagreed with a point being made, she calmly but firmly made her point known without raising her voice, and so this horse's ass comes over the top and starts screaming as if authorities were taking away his yacht. I hope, I really hope, people saw what was going on ... and then we should all hang our heads in shame for not calling him out right then and there for acting an asshole.
I've been exposed to meetings that have been hijacked by toxic men so often that I think my subconscious makes me predisposed to hating meetings. I wonder if I hate them more because they're boring or for shit like what happened last night -- people losing their heads for no good reason. And so I have to be honest: We were discussing college stuff, and I'm not all that passionate about continuing on with the rebellion. I mean, I think we have a point to make, and it's not like I want to just give in. But there are things that I prefer we not do that, in this meeting, we decided we would do, the point this loud prick tried to make included, and I just went with it because I didn't care one way or the other. And if this guy is going to just start yelling at us when he should be aiming his verbal assault only against the other side -- man, it is so tempting now to just fuckin' check out.
(By the way, sprinkled in with his toxic masculinity is the fact that he didn't verbally assault the other side. In fact, he was quite complimentary about the other. In fact, he bent over backwards to fellate the other side. For someone so abusive, he has acted so obsequiously when talking about the people we are discussing our grievances with. So fucking strange.)
I've been exposed to meetings that have been hijacked by toxic men so often that I think my subconscious makes me predisposed to hating meetings. I wonder if I hate them more because they're boring or for shit like what happened last night -- people losing their heads for no good reason. And so I have to be honest: We were discussing college stuff, and I'm not all that passionate about continuing on with the rebellion. I mean, I think we have a point to make, and it's not like I want to just give in. But there are things that I prefer we not do that, in this meeting, we decided we would do, the point this loud prick tried to make included, and I just went with it because I didn't care one way or the other. And if this guy is going to just start yelling at us when he should be aiming his verbal assault only against the other side -- man, it is so tempting now to just fuckin' check out.
(By the way, sprinkled in with his toxic masculinity is the fact that he didn't verbally assault the other side. In fact, he was quite complimentary about the other. In fact, he bent over backwards to fellate the other side. For someone so abusive, he has acted so obsequiously when talking about the people we are discussing our grievances with. So fucking strange.)
Sunday, August 16, 2020
Zooms Petered Out?
So I had two Zoom meetings I had joined, off and on, since the pandemic and lockdown started for this ... uh, social group I have sporadically been a part of. Even though the meetings (each of them are for a different age group, but [and I don't know why I did this] I just started going on both) are virtual, I mentioned that my times participating in the group have skyrocketed since these Zooms, which is obvious; I found it hard to make time, dress up, go and socialize in person, but I can just boot up my computer and start talking to other people. I'm not a huge fan of Zoom meetings (maybe that'll make for a good topic to blog post about), but I had grown to like hopping on.
Well, for a while. And then ... well, I'm not saying I didn't want to talk to people. But it was always kind of a chore for me to talk to people I don't really know, and for the one-to-two hours these meetings had become. I'm just not that much of a talker. Then my sleep schedule changed whereby I would take (and still take) these heavy naps that last between one and two hours right in the middle of the evening. Hey, if it's not safe to mess around outside, what's there to do at home besides sleep? Oftentimes that meant I would wake up at the tail end of these meetings. That was a blessing in disguise: I didn't feel the heavy lift of trying to sustain enthusiasm for a couple hours and instead I could just pop in and show them the bright, cherry side of myself for upwards of an hour, well before my fatigue takes over my body.
However, sometimes I would wake up, know that the meeting was going on, and decide I just wanted to do something else. Again, it's not them -- it's me. It soon became a 50/50 proposition on whether or not I would get on these calls at all. When I did, I subconsciously made a point of getting on well after the call normally would have ended; more often than not, I would see I was the only person there, and I would think to myself, "Darn! Missed it!"
(Here I should add that this thing with my college has taken up my time the past several Sundays. That Zoom has been scheduled around the same time as the Zoom for my social club. I did make a point to pop into the social club for a couple minutes to tell them hi, that I'm thinking about them, and that I regret not being able to stay long, which I both do and don't. Like I alluded to, being on such a call for only a minute or two is actually something I like.)
So, maybe there is a very good explanation, such as the host of the social Zooms is on vacation. But I noticed on Facebook on Friday (the invitations are posted on Facebook) that the host had not notified us of meetings for this week. I am afraid that participation, which had started out strong, had petered out to the point where no one cared any longer. And if that is true, I contributed to that eventual disinterest, and I am very, very sorry for that.
Well, for a while. And then ... well, I'm not saying I didn't want to talk to people. But it was always kind of a chore for me to talk to people I don't really know, and for the one-to-two hours these meetings had become. I'm just not that much of a talker. Then my sleep schedule changed whereby I would take (and still take) these heavy naps that last between one and two hours right in the middle of the evening. Hey, if it's not safe to mess around outside, what's there to do at home besides sleep? Oftentimes that meant I would wake up at the tail end of these meetings. That was a blessing in disguise: I didn't feel the heavy lift of trying to sustain enthusiasm for a couple hours and instead I could just pop in and show them the bright, cherry side of myself for upwards of an hour, well before my fatigue takes over my body.
However, sometimes I would wake up, know that the meeting was going on, and decide I just wanted to do something else. Again, it's not them -- it's me. It soon became a 50/50 proposition on whether or not I would get on these calls at all. When I did, I subconsciously made a point of getting on well after the call normally would have ended; more often than not, I would see I was the only person there, and I would think to myself, "Darn! Missed it!"
(Here I should add that this thing with my college has taken up my time the past several Sundays. That Zoom has been scheduled around the same time as the Zoom for my social club. I did make a point to pop into the social club for a couple minutes to tell them hi, that I'm thinking about them, and that I regret not being able to stay long, which I both do and don't. Like I alluded to, being on such a call for only a minute or two is actually something I like.)
So, maybe there is a very good explanation, such as the host of the social Zooms is on vacation. But I noticed on Facebook on Friday (the invitations are posted on Facebook) that the host had not notified us of meetings for this week. I am afraid that participation, which had started out strong, had petered out to the point where no one cared any longer. And if that is true, I contributed to that eventual disinterest, and I am very, very sorry for that.
Saturday, August 15, 2020
Anti-Masker Asshole
OK, so I just got my car washed, and I was trying to pay, but this motherfucker kept dancing around the cash register. I thought he was done, so I went up the register and gave the cashier my ticket. But it became apparent by the way the cashier needed to take change out of the coin tray that she wasn't done with this motherfucker. He was buying an air freshener. So I moved behind him -- well, until he started walking around in circles again.
As frustrating as that bullshit is, that wasn't the worst of it. Not only was this motherfucker not staying in line, he wasn't wearing a mask, even though the car wash place had signs everywhere asking everyone coming in to wear a mask. Plus, this motherfucker was talking loudly into his cellphone. If he has the coronavirus, there's a chance that motherfucker gave me it. Even if he doesn't, that asshole is annoying as fuck. I was there no more than five minutes, so I hope that prevented me from loading up on the virus.
But this in particular annoys me, and I have to criticize myself. I realized this motherfucker was an anti-masker and shouting into his phone after I left the car wash. It was at Target, where I went to next, when I realized, "Hey, that motherfucker didn't have a mask on and he was talking loudly into his phone! He was spraying COVID everywhere!" Why wasn't I secretly pissed at this asshole for those two reasons, and why was I instead secretly so pissed at this asshole for not staying in line and paying for his stuff like normal people do? It seems so obvious that this guy was maskless and shouting into his phone, but I didn't "see" it till I'm five miles away from him. This is one of those times where I ask myself, "What's wrong with me?"
Eh, whatever. This is not my fault, and I don't really fault the car wash company, either. Fault lies with the person. And if I get COVID-19, I'm going to hunt down that motherfucking asshole and kill him for giving this to me, swear to God. ...
As frustrating as that bullshit is, that wasn't the worst of it. Not only was this motherfucker not staying in line, he wasn't wearing a mask, even though the car wash place had signs everywhere asking everyone coming in to wear a mask. Plus, this motherfucker was talking loudly into his cellphone. If he has the coronavirus, there's a chance that motherfucker gave me it. Even if he doesn't, that asshole is annoying as fuck. I was there no more than five minutes, so I hope that prevented me from loading up on the virus.
But this in particular annoys me, and I have to criticize myself. I realized this motherfucker was an anti-masker and shouting into his phone after I left the car wash. It was at Target, where I went to next, when I realized, "Hey, that motherfucker didn't have a mask on and he was talking loudly into his phone! He was spraying COVID everywhere!" Why wasn't I secretly pissed at this asshole for those two reasons, and why was I instead secretly so pissed at this asshole for not staying in line and paying for his stuff like normal people do? It seems so obvious that this guy was maskless and shouting into his phone, but I didn't "see" it till I'm five miles away from him. This is one of those times where I ask myself, "What's wrong with me?"
Eh, whatever. This is not my fault, and I don't really fault the car wash company, either. Fault lies with the person. And if I get COVID-19, I'm going to hunt down that motherfucking asshole and kill him for giving this to me, swear to God. ...
Only Five Days?
I finally got around to reconciling my monthly expenses list for July. (Have I told you guys about reconciling my monthly expense list? When I first got my Franklin Quest day planner it had a month-end half-sheet where you could break down expenses by date and category. I decided to do so every month to keep track of how much I'm spending and what I'm spending on. Big caveat/loophole: It's only for expenses where I pay in cash -- no credit card. So no, it may not be the most accurate representation of my spending habits. And it has still not done what I originally wanted this monthly check-up to do, which is to make me reflect and ultimately curb my spending.)
When I sit down and do this chore, especially when I get around to it later than earlier in the month, it feels like I'm rolling a boulder up a hill. That's probably why I often procrastinate doing it. But it has to be done, and I finally got around to doing it for last month. So, I get out my receipts (I most always get them), I put them in order (although I had already done so some time ago), and then I write down all the totals for expenses I paid cash money for. But a funny thing happened: For nearly all of the receipts, I saw "credit card." I had a huge pile of receipts, but I was whipping through them because I charged whatever I spent. After I got done, I looked through my Franklin Quest and saw that I had written down expenses for only five days. In other words, if I am correct, I took out my wallet and used money to buy things on only five days.
I consider that remarkable, even moreso because we're monthslong into the pandemic. With the onset of the coronavirus spreading throughout the country, not only did I not go anywhere and thus not spending money, whenever I did spend money I was more apt to whip out my credit card than cash. I got very concerned over catching the virus through the exchange of legal tender, specifically the bills and coins I would get back in change. I now understand that picking up coronavirus through "fomites" (objects or materials which are like to carry infection -- thanks, Oxford Languages via Google!) is now regarded as a minor way to get the virus. Still, my reluctance to use straight cash money has persisted and, apparently, still persists now. Besides, it's fast. The cashier and I have one fewer thing to exchange (although I usually always ask for a receipt), and once I stick that card in and take that card out, I'm out. Consequently, a shorter stay means I'm not lingering around an indoor space where I could pick up COVID-19 breath from someone standing close to me.
I've been astonished and, actually, quite pleased at the number of dates I have spent cash money on since the virus hit. Usually there are 20-5 days I have to list down a page, and that gets along and imprints the thought that doing this is a pain in the ass. But that hasn't been the case in the past five months. The pandemic and ensuing lockdown, if you will remember, began in March; I was tossing bills and coins around like nobody's business in the first half of that month, but I virtually shut down once I and the country realized this was a big fucking deal. In the end, I used cash on ten days in March. I remember being just frightened of everything all through April, so it basically was work-Target-home all month, and so I spent cash on only two dates. I used tender on five days in May, which is probably a reflection of the caution fatigue that set in. That's further confirmed by the ten dates in June when I used currency -- maybe as normal as things get for me during The New Normal.
So how come I went back down to five for July? Don't know. Maybe it finally sunk in that things are so much easier/convenient/better if I just used my credit card for everything. Or, like I said, I could be wrong and I overlooked a pile of receipts that showed I tossed money around all of July. But I wanted to note my shortened monthly expense list(s) here.
One other thing. There is a national coin shortage. How in the hell could that be? People may not be spending money nowadays, but I'm sure some people at least are using dollars and cents when they do spend money. Eh, but what do I know. ...
When I sit down and do this chore, especially when I get around to it later than earlier in the month, it feels like I'm rolling a boulder up a hill. That's probably why I often procrastinate doing it. But it has to be done, and I finally got around to doing it for last month. So, I get out my receipts (I most always get them), I put them in order (although I had already done so some time ago), and then I write down all the totals for expenses I paid cash money for. But a funny thing happened: For nearly all of the receipts, I saw "credit card." I had a huge pile of receipts, but I was whipping through them because I charged whatever I spent. After I got done, I looked through my Franklin Quest and saw that I had written down expenses for only five days. In other words, if I am correct, I took out my wallet and used money to buy things on only five days.
I consider that remarkable, even moreso because we're monthslong into the pandemic. With the onset of the coronavirus spreading throughout the country, not only did I not go anywhere and thus not spending money, whenever I did spend money I was more apt to whip out my credit card than cash. I got very concerned over catching the virus through the exchange of legal tender, specifically the bills and coins I would get back in change. I now understand that picking up coronavirus through "fomites" (objects or materials which are like to carry infection -- thanks, Oxford Languages via Google!) is now regarded as a minor way to get the virus. Still, my reluctance to use straight cash money has persisted and, apparently, still persists now. Besides, it's fast. The cashier and I have one fewer thing to exchange (although I usually always ask for a receipt), and once I stick that card in and take that card out, I'm out. Consequently, a shorter stay means I'm not lingering around an indoor space where I could pick up COVID-19 breath from someone standing close to me.
I've been astonished and, actually, quite pleased at the number of dates I have spent cash money on since the virus hit. Usually there are 20-5 days I have to list down a page, and that gets along and imprints the thought that doing this is a pain in the ass. But that hasn't been the case in the past five months. The pandemic and ensuing lockdown, if you will remember, began in March; I was tossing bills and coins around like nobody's business in the first half of that month, but I virtually shut down once I and the country realized this was a big fucking deal. In the end, I used cash on ten days in March. I remember being just frightened of everything all through April, so it basically was work-Target-home all month, and so I spent cash on only two dates. I used tender on five days in May, which is probably a reflection of the caution fatigue that set in. That's further confirmed by the ten dates in June when I used currency -- maybe as normal as things get for me during The New Normal.
So how come I went back down to five for July? Don't know. Maybe it finally sunk in that things are so much easier/convenient/better if I just used my credit card for everything. Or, like I said, I could be wrong and I overlooked a pile of receipts that showed I tossed money around all of July. But I wanted to note my shortened monthly expense list(s) here.
One other thing. There is a national coin shortage. How in the hell could that be? People may not be spending money nowadays, but I'm sure some people at least are using dollars and cents when they do spend money. Eh, but what do I know. ...
Friday, August 14, 2020
Too Late??
It's around this time every year that the sports networks reach out to me and the local help to see if we can work Vikings Games for the upcoming season. Things have become so routine -- I expect an e-mail, I get the e-mail, I reply that I can do all the Games, they say cool -- that I can reliably forget it comes until it does, and once it does I can check all the boxes and send it back knowing I have just reserved as many Sundays for work at U. S. Bank Stadium as I could, and I could forget about that until Vikings season begins.
This season, of course, is different. What I forgot, actually, is the season itself. I am still highly doubtful that the National Football League is going to get their season off -- not just in time, but at all. There is just too much uncertainty -- not just with fans in attendance, which the league is crazily thinking could actually watch in sizable numbers -- but with players; college football is shutting down (though there are a few stragglers) because there have been reports that players who caught COVID-19 developed the condition of myocarditis, which is inflammation of the heart. They can't play. My conference announced their postponing the football season into the New Year, but that's still too soon. They can't fucking play.
Anyway ... what else has changed is the person who e-mails me the annual availability. I didn't notice that it was sent until, uh, a day after I received it in my inbox ... ? I've had, like, four people from this one network do this job, the fourth of which is this new person I did not recognize. That's why I didn't immediately zip, "Yes, I can do all of the games!" back to her ... partly.
That was on the 1st. She replied that what I usually do probably will be shut down for the season because of distancing fears, which I understood. However, there is always a need for at least one person to run around giving the crew stuff, so I made sure that if my skills are needed anywhere else in production, I would certainly love to do that. And then I forgot about it.
Fast-forward to me coming home from work and teleconferencing my shrink. I receive a text from, I realize, this crewer from the network. "You didn't reply yet to my e-mail asking if you were still available to work all Vikings games," she said, "But I want to ask if you are available to be a Runner for this date?" Hell yes, I am! And then I wondered, "So ... she replied back to me?"
She did. I checked my e-mail, which I had let run to over 100 messages unread. Inbetween I finally found her name and her e-mail she sent Wednesday in which she said, essentially, "Sorry I didn't get back to you till now. Are you still available for game days? We might have something for you! Respond ASAP, please!"
Shit. So if I got the timeline right: Something came up whereby there was a need for people for a Game or Games; she e-mailed me; I did not reply; she then resorted to texting me about work for a specific date; I replied via text and that e-mail; she responded, "Thank you!" to the text, but, "You're locked in for this one date, and if anything crops up for the others, I'll let you know. Please confirm, thanks!"; I confirmed.
OK. First of all, I don't understand why she had to ask me if I was available for all Vikings Games because I said in my last e-mail before she asked a second time that, and I quote, "I will probably be available!" With that being said, my ... uh, procrastination/oversight caused a gap of time between the time my inbox received this new e-mail and me replying to communication offering work of more than a day. If I take "Are you still available for game days?" as saying, "Are you still available for all game days," did not seeing that e-mail for more than a day cost me gigs for four other Vikings Games? If so, I will hate myself till the end of time.
Why and how did it happen? Well ... (sigh). I receive a lot of e-mails. I know, I know, everybody does. But I am getting more than I usually do because I currently am inundated with political e-mails from Democrats hitting me up for money. It was totally easy for me to miss it. Also, I had that stressful Zoom with my college on Tuesday and I just wanted to unplug, and for more than a day. That's why I let 100 messages pile up in my inbox. Plus my parents are harshing my buzz because I have been eating this sugary Chinese swill shit they're making me eat and drink the past several days. Excuses, sure, but that's why I wasn't more attentive in checking.
I'm worried that I was first to be contacted, and because I didn't reply for over a day, she went on to the other, less-tenured people on the list, and they sucked up all the other Games. And since she's new, she is now thinking that these other people are reliable and I am not, and so once everything gets back to normal, she'll go to those people first for the plum jobs for Vikings Games -- namely my job. And I'll be stuck working only one goddamn Game a year.
So now, beyond predicting, I am now hoping that the NFL season is canceled, or is at least postponed. That way the slate probably will be wiped clean, she'll have to ask everybody again, and this time I'll totally jump on the e-mail as soon as I see it (it should be less cluttered since such an e-mail would probably be sent after Election Day) and take up all the Games!
Yeah. Probably not. Too fuckin' late for me. Goddammit.
This season, of course, is different. What I forgot, actually, is the season itself. I am still highly doubtful that the National Football League is going to get their season off -- not just in time, but at all. There is just too much uncertainty -- not just with fans in attendance, which the league is crazily thinking could actually watch in sizable numbers -- but with players; college football is shutting down (though there are a few stragglers) because there have been reports that players who caught COVID-19 developed the condition of myocarditis, which is inflammation of the heart. They can't play. My conference announced their postponing the football season into the New Year, but that's still too soon. They can't fucking play.
Anyway ... what else has changed is the person who e-mails me the annual availability. I didn't notice that it was sent until, uh, a day after I received it in my inbox ... ? I've had, like, four people from this one network do this job, the fourth of which is this new person I did not recognize. That's why I didn't immediately zip, "Yes, I can do all of the games!" back to her ... partly.
That was on the 1st. She replied that what I usually do probably will be shut down for the season because of distancing fears, which I understood. However, there is always a need for at least one person to run around giving the crew stuff, so I made sure that if my skills are needed anywhere else in production, I would certainly love to do that. And then I forgot about it.
Fast-forward to me coming home from work and teleconferencing my shrink. I receive a text from, I realize, this crewer from the network. "You didn't reply yet to my e-mail asking if you were still available to work all Vikings games," she said, "But I want to ask if you are available to be a Runner for this date?" Hell yes, I am! And then I wondered, "So ... she replied back to me?"
She did. I checked my e-mail, which I had let run to over 100 messages unread. Inbetween I finally found her name and her e-mail she sent Wednesday in which she said, essentially, "Sorry I didn't get back to you till now. Are you still available for game days? We might have something for you! Respond ASAP, please!"
Shit. So if I got the timeline right: Something came up whereby there was a need for people for a Game or Games; she e-mailed me; I did not reply; she then resorted to texting me about work for a specific date; I replied via text and that e-mail; she responded, "Thank you!" to the text, but, "You're locked in for this one date, and if anything crops up for the others, I'll let you know. Please confirm, thanks!"; I confirmed.
OK. First of all, I don't understand why she had to ask me if I was available for all Vikings Games because I said in my last e-mail before she asked a second time that, and I quote, "I will probably be available!" With that being said, my ... uh, procrastination/oversight caused a gap of time between the time my inbox received this new e-mail and me replying to communication offering work of more than a day. If I take "Are you still available for game days?" as saying, "Are you still available for all game days," did not seeing that e-mail for more than a day cost me gigs for four other Vikings Games? If so, I will hate myself till the end of time.
Why and how did it happen? Well ... (sigh). I receive a lot of e-mails. I know, I know, everybody does. But I am getting more than I usually do because I currently am inundated with political e-mails from Democrats hitting me up for money. It was totally easy for me to miss it. Also, I had that stressful Zoom with my college on Tuesday and I just wanted to unplug, and for more than a day. That's why I let 100 messages pile up in my inbox. Plus my parents are harshing my buzz because I have been eating this sugary Chinese swill shit they're making me eat and drink the past several days. Excuses, sure, but that's why I wasn't more attentive in checking.
I'm worried that I was first to be contacted, and because I didn't reply for over a day, she went on to the other, less-tenured people on the list, and they sucked up all the other Games. And since she's new, she is now thinking that these other people are reliable and I am not, and so once everything gets back to normal, she'll go to those people first for the plum jobs for Vikings Games -- namely my job. And I'll be stuck working only one goddamn Game a year.
So now, beyond predicting, I am now hoping that the NFL season is canceled, or is at least postponed. That way the slate probably will be wiped clean, she'll have to ask everybody again, and this time I'll totally jump on the e-mail as soon as I see it (it should be less cluttered since such an e-mail would probably be sent after Election Day) and take up all the Games!
Yeah. Probably not. Too fuckin' late for me. Goddammit.
Thursday, August 13, 2020
I Like And Will Miss These Businessman's Specials
If there was an upside to sports shutting down back in March (and I am still not totally advocating for sports to come back even now because it sends a message that things are safer than they actually are), it's the approach many leagues have deployed in coming back. Due to money (obviously), leagues around the country and world felt immense pressure to come back and play (giving fans an escape from worrying about the pandemic? Yeah, [wanking motion]). How to do it safely and in a way that doesn't make the general population jealous that players are getting tests and treatments they aren't getting was the rub.
I'll be honest: I think sports has done more than a good job of operating safely and giving us Games that indicate some semblance of normalcy. The European soccer leagues, starting with the Bundesliga in Germany, came back first, and they came back sooner than leagues in the United States because, let's be frank, the continent has done a much better job shutting everything down to the point where the coronavirus was suppressed, then tested the hell out of its people as they started opening back up. On a smaller scale this was done in the European leagues, and although there were some hiccups to start (a couple of soccer players in England got caught throwing parties at home just before the EPL resumed), once they got going, I heard of no cases. In some ways, that's remarkable.
Remarkable still was that those leagues played at the pitches of the teams they were originally scheduled to play in. The first thought was they would resume at neutral sites, but the leagues, especially the EPL, hated that. Playing in originally-planned places opens up so many venues and means that many more roadtrips that could invite the virus to come and wreak havoc. That it didn't happen is a testament to leagues implementing a virus policy, the players and staff following it, and good, dumb luck. (Oh, and all these Matches were played in front of no fans, which is obviously the right thing to do.)
Most of the leagues that have resumed play have resorted to neutral sites -- the "bubble" approach. The National Women's Soccer League (in Utah), Major League Soccer, the National Basketball Association (both in Orlando) and the National Hockey League (in Edmonton and Toronto) decided to sequester teams in one complex where they would play, practice, sleep and eat in a confined area until their seasons could be completed. As in Europe, there were some complications as the bubble was set up -- the Orlando Pride (NWSL), FC Dallas and Nashville SC (MLS) were so riven with infections that they just left the bubble and didn't play -- but ever since play resumed, I have heard of zero positive cases. It too helps that there are no fans, but I like to think the leagues and the players decided this pandemic was serious enough that they needed to follow a routine somewhat akin to a lockdown, knowing this is how they get paid and that this is not permanent.
(Now, contrast all of that to Major League Baseball. MLB is based in the U. S., but decided to play their Games, without fans, at home ballparks because there simply wasn't a city that could host so many teams for an intermediate amount of time. Whether it's the number of venues, the travel or the lack of taking precautions seriously, there have still been cases and breaches of policy. The vast majority of Games are going on just fine, though, so can MLB be considered a success?)
I say all this, now that I realize I've been rambling, because of one significant compromise all these sports leagues have made. They need to finish up their seasons, but they don't have as much time to complete their seasons because they have to consider trying to start the following season as close to on time as possible, or else scheduling problems ripple into another year. Moreover, leagues playing in bubbles have a lot of teams but only so many venues. All the leagues, but especially European soccer, were affected by the former; the leagues playing in bubbles obviously are affected by the latter. So, to make for lost time and to get all the Games played in a somewhat rushed fashion, sports events are being played in the afternoon during the workday. And as a sports fan who has to work during the day, I have been in sports bliss for the past three months.
It started with the Bundesliga. Germany was able to corral its significant COVID-19 pandemic to the point where, with strict controls, the league resumed May 16. And they had to play a lot of matches in the middle of the week. Add the time difference, and I could listen to a Match at 2, 1 or even at noon through SiriusXM. (SiriusXM FC actually does not broadcast the Bundesliga, but they did once the league resumed, probably because there were few other sports leagues around the world that had resumed.) Same thing with the EPL, and it seemed even more frenetic because, and I could be wrong, they resorted to meting out their Games over the days to the point where there was, if I recall correctly, EPL fixtures played in 12 Days of a 14-day span.
The NHL and NBA has picked up where European soccer left off. (The NWSL and MLS did not have that much of a time crunch. Fewer teams and/or fewer matches, plus the heat of the outdoor climates, made afternoon Matches unsafe and unnecessary.) The NHL started off with 24 teams playing at least eight Games each in two sites; the NBA, 22 teams playing at least eight Games in a sports complex that has three suitable arenas. And you can't string out this part of the season forever, so both leagues stacked up the number of Games each day and had, and have, teams playing Games in the afternoon, sometimes as early as 11 a.m. Central Time.
Thank Buddha, God and the deities above! It's not like I don't have anything else to listen to on the radio. But when sports comes on, I will naturally switch to that channel, listen and get to the end of my day before I even know it. That is what has happened several times already. Sadly, with the NHL already into the "real" portion of the Stanley Cup Playoffs and the NBA about to set their playoff lineup, I'm kind of scared that these "businessman's specials" are about to come to an end. With that being said, today there are NBA Games at 11 and 12:30 and an NHL Game at 2, so maybe I should just be thankful for what I have today.
Contrast all this, again, to MLB. There was a story on Yahoo! Sports about why baseball hasn't loaded up on afternoon Games like basketball and hockey are in these unprecedented times where, at least theoretically, there is a captive audience that might tune in to watch a Game for lunch. Simply put: Since baseball decided they would use ballparks like usual, there was no need to schedule Games in the afternoon (at least not more than your usual getaway Games) when all the teams have a venue all to themselves. Ironically, it is baseball that usually has these "businessman's specials," and ironically, they are the ones who are being criticized for not playing more in the afternoon. Go figure.
Oh, there is one afternoon baseball Game at 12:10. You know, I have tuned in to an occasional afternoon baseball Game at work when I don't want to listen to "The Common Man" on The Fan. That was good. What I have now is even better. And I'll miss it when it's gone.
I'll be honest: I think sports has done more than a good job of operating safely and giving us Games that indicate some semblance of normalcy. The European soccer leagues, starting with the Bundesliga in Germany, came back first, and they came back sooner than leagues in the United States because, let's be frank, the continent has done a much better job shutting everything down to the point where the coronavirus was suppressed, then tested the hell out of its people as they started opening back up. On a smaller scale this was done in the European leagues, and although there were some hiccups to start (a couple of soccer players in England got caught throwing parties at home just before the EPL resumed), once they got going, I heard of no cases. In some ways, that's remarkable.
Remarkable still was that those leagues played at the pitches of the teams they were originally scheduled to play in. The first thought was they would resume at neutral sites, but the leagues, especially the EPL, hated that. Playing in originally-planned places opens up so many venues and means that many more roadtrips that could invite the virus to come and wreak havoc. That it didn't happen is a testament to leagues implementing a virus policy, the players and staff following it, and good, dumb luck. (Oh, and all these Matches were played in front of no fans, which is obviously the right thing to do.)
Most of the leagues that have resumed play have resorted to neutral sites -- the "bubble" approach. The National Women's Soccer League (in Utah), Major League Soccer, the National Basketball Association (both in Orlando) and the National Hockey League (in Edmonton and Toronto) decided to sequester teams in one complex where they would play, practice, sleep and eat in a confined area until their seasons could be completed. As in Europe, there were some complications as the bubble was set up -- the Orlando Pride (NWSL), FC Dallas and Nashville SC (MLS) were so riven with infections that they just left the bubble and didn't play -- but ever since play resumed, I have heard of zero positive cases. It too helps that there are no fans, but I like to think the leagues and the players decided this pandemic was serious enough that they needed to follow a routine somewhat akin to a lockdown, knowing this is how they get paid and that this is not permanent.
(Now, contrast all of that to Major League Baseball. MLB is based in the U. S., but decided to play their Games, without fans, at home ballparks because there simply wasn't a city that could host so many teams for an intermediate amount of time. Whether it's the number of venues, the travel or the lack of taking precautions seriously, there have still been cases and breaches of policy. The vast majority of Games are going on just fine, though, so can MLB be considered a success?)
I say all this, now that I realize I've been rambling, because of one significant compromise all these sports leagues have made. They need to finish up their seasons, but they don't have as much time to complete their seasons because they have to consider trying to start the following season as close to on time as possible, or else scheduling problems ripple into another year. Moreover, leagues playing in bubbles have a lot of teams but only so many venues. All the leagues, but especially European soccer, were affected by the former; the leagues playing in bubbles obviously are affected by the latter. So, to make for lost time and to get all the Games played in a somewhat rushed fashion, sports events are being played in the afternoon during the workday. And as a sports fan who has to work during the day, I have been in sports bliss for the past three months.
It started with the Bundesliga. Germany was able to corral its significant COVID-19 pandemic to the point where, with strict controls, the league resumed May 16. And they had to play a lot of matches in the middle of the week. Add the time difference, and I could listen to a Match at 2, 1 or even at noon through SiriusXM. (SiriusXM FC actually does not broadcast the Bundesliga, but they did once the league resumed, probably because there were few other sports leagues around the world that had resumed.) Same thing with the EPL, and it seemed even more frenetic because, and I could be wrong, they resorted to meting out their Games over the days to the point where there was, if I recall correctly, EPL fixtures played in 12 Days of a 14-day span.
The NHL and NBA has picked up where European soccer left off. (The NWSL and MLS did not have that much of a time crunch. Fewer teams and/or fewer matches, plus the heat of the outdoor climates, made afternoon Matches unsafe and unnecessary.) The NHL started off with 24 teams playing at least eight Games each in two sites; the NBA, 22 teams playing at least eight Games in a sports complex that has three suitable arenas. And you can't string out this part of the season forever, so both leagues stacked up the number of Games each day and had, and have, teams playing Games in the afternoon, sometimes as early as 11 a.m. Central Time.
Thank Buddha, God and the deities above! It's not like I don't have anything else to listen to on the radio. But when sports comes on, I will naturally switch to that channel, listen and get to the end of my day before I even know it. That is what has happened several times already. Sadly, with the NHL already into the "real" portion of the Stanley Cup Playoffs and the NBA about to set their playoff lineup, I'm kind of scared that these "businessman's specials" are about to come to an end. With that being said, today there are NBA Games at 11 and 12:30 and an NHL Game at 2, so maybe I should just be thankful for what I have today.
Contrast all this, again, to MLB. There was a story on Yahoo! Sports about why baseball hasn't loaded up on afternoon Games like basketball and hockey are in these unprecedented times where, at least theoretically, there is a captive audience that might tune in to watch a Game for lunch. Simply put: Since baseball decided they would use ballparks like usual, there was no need to schedule Games in the afternoon (at least not more than your usual getaway Games) when all the teams have a venue all to themselves. Ironically, it is baseball that usually has these "businessman's specials," and ironically, they are the ones who are being criticized for not playing more in the afternoon. Go figure.
Oh, there is one afternoon baseball Game at 12:10. You know, I have tuned in to an occasional afternoon baseball Game at work when I don't want to listen to "The Common Man" on The Fan. That was good. What I have now is even better. And I'll miss it when it's gone.
Wednesday, August 12, 2020
The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey
#-1: Lynx (Last Week: -1). I think it's fair to say that the Lynx are the surprise team in the Women's National Basketball Association so far in the "Wubble" in Florida. The squad got clobbered by an underachieving Los Angeles Sparks team Sunday, 97-81 with Sylvia Fowles out with a bad calf. But the team won their other three Games, including Friday's 87-80 victory over Indiana that was the only Game out of nine between Thursday and Sunday that a Twin Cities team won. (Check it, it'll make your fuckin' skin crawl. I mean, we were on such a high the previous week, and now Minnesota sports is shit!)
Minnesota currently sits at 6-2 ... but is only tied (with Las Vegas) for second place in the Western Conference because the West is so fucking competitive again. This week gets a bit quieter, with only two Games on tap. The more important one comes Thursday vs. the Aces. They also play Saturday against New York, the team with the worst record in the league.
#-2: Twins (Last Week: -2). Uh-oh. The Twinks were just cranking out the wins. But this team just went 2-5 this past screening week, including a four-Game losing streak, in which included a sweep at the hands of the fucking Kansas City Royals. As of Wednesday morning, they sit only a half-Game up on ... the Detroit Tigers (!!!) for the lead in the American League Central.
What the fuck happened? Well, Buxton's hurt and Sano's striking out again. Oh, and Josh Donaldson's on the Injured List with a balky right calf. But the bullpen, which had been buoying them to a hot start, has taken on water. Taylor Rogers, in particular, gave up the ninth-Inning, Game-winning Runs in a 6-5 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates Thursday that precipitated their four-Game losing streak (which was the capper to The Worst Fucking Day In Minnesota Sports History), then coughed up a two-Run, tie-breaking Home Run in the Eighth Inning last/Tuesday night to give The Bastard Seattle Pilots a 6-4 win. Four-Game losing streaks and 2-5 weeks are bad enough in baseball, but in a 60-Game season, that's flirting with fucking disaster.
It'll be Groundhog Day this screening week for the Twins. One more Game in Milwaukee, then they come home -- four against the Royals and the start of a three-Game set versus the Brewers.
#-3: United FC (Last Week: 0). Hrrrmph. I would have been OK -- not happy, just OK -- if the Loons bowed out to Columbus in the Eighthfinals or to San Jose in the Quarterfinals. But after they routed the Earthquakes Saturday 4-1, I thought they should have at least gotten to the MLS Is Back Tournament Final, if not won it. That's because their Semifinal matchup was against Orlando City SC, and FiveThirtyEight had MNUFC favored to win that Match, largely because the Lions have an anemic Offense. They have only one guy, Nani. They stop Nani, they stop OCSC from scoring.
So what happened? They didn't stop Nani. Nani scored twice against United FC, including the Game-winner, and they were upset Thursday, 3-1. Yeah, they were sort of a hurting unit. Ike Opara opted to sit out the bubble in Florida, Romain Metanire's hamstring forced him to sit out the Semi, and Kevin Molina's hamstring prevented him from starting the Match, although he came in as a substitute. But they didn't really need much Defense to take out Orlando. Just get two guys to stop Nani, then run some Attacking Midfielders and Forwards onward and score. Seems like a winning plan to me. (By the way, Orlando summarily lost in the Final to Portland last/Tuesday night, 2-1, even though FiveThirtyEight had the Lions favored. Soccer -- not a chalky sport.)
Maybe the takeaway from this is Major League Soccer, for all its inveighing, still is a retirement home for once-great football legends from Europe and South America who want to turn back the clock and play like studs again. Beyond that, I don't know what to glean from this run besides disappointment they didn't win. This would leave a bad taste in my mouth if this is the last action from this side in 2020. It still could despite MLS saying they are going to try and cobble together a regular season and a postseason, and do so with Games being played in home pitches (although without fans, or with the maximum capacity of crowds allowed according to local law). Major League Soccer is copying Major League Baseball in attempting this, and right now, the jury's out on whether MLB is pulling this off right. If not, MLS is inviting the coronavirus to really fuck up their plans.
(One other thing, and this isn't germane to the team, but it is bothering me just the same. I don't give two shits about soccer academies, whereby franchises set up teams of adolescents and coach them in order to raise them into players on their senior team. MLS has mandated that their squads have age-based squads to play in tournaments. But the Loons recently disbanded their academy, and did so after, according to insiders, years of neglect. As hinky as that sounds, word leaked of a Zoom set up by MNUFC Chief Soccer Officer Manny Lagos. According to the disturbing details provided by United FC website E Pluribus Loonum, Lagos spent only 15 Minutes with families of kids in the academy and told them: There will be a "part-time" academy; there will be an announcement in about two Weeks; not to trust The Media [wanking motion]; he wasn't going to take questions from them because, and I quote, "I want to protect you guys." What in the fuck?!?! Again, I don't really give a shit, but this really creepy, controlling, Republican bullshit, and this reflects poorly on me, a season-ticket holder. Who does Lagos think he is? And why can't he set up a real academy, with real kids who can grow up to become real good players that might actually win United FC a fucking tournament or playoff Game, you think about that? Fucking Christ. ...)
#-Infinity: Wild (Last Week: -3). I said last week that I shouldn't glean much from the result of this Stanley Cup Qualifying series, in which they lost to Vancouver in four Games. Maybe not, but, well, when you blow not one, not two, but three goddamn leads in your Elimination Game and then give up the Game-winning, series-winning, season-ending Goal 11 motherfucking Seconds into Overtime -- well, I feel a bit salty, and I think I have a right to feel a bit salty.
I will go back to the general assessment of the club before The Pause: Rapidly aging with no good Centers and a dearth of young talent -- oh, and not much of a farm system, either. Some speculated that the Mild actually would match up well with the Canucks, who are young and not well-equipped to deal with a slugging, grind-it-out street fight Minnesota knows how to play. That definitely didn't happen, if losing three in a row is any indication.
So now, the questions:
- What happens with the Goaltenders? Devan Dubnyk suffered through a health situation with his wife that has lingered all season; he was affected by it noticeably, but yet people point out that his play has not been up to snuff the past few seasons. Alex Stalock eventually replaced Duby between the pipes but he seemed to falter throughout the Qualie. Does General Manager Bill Guerin bid farwell to both and bring in Kappo Kahkonen, AHL Goaltender Of The Year, even though most scouts say he's not an NHL netminder? Goalies are rarely drafted high, but one mock draft on The Athletic says Minnesota will select G Iaroslav Askarov.
- Does Zach Parise get traded barely more than halfway through his franchise-altering contract? He somehow was about to be traded to the New York Islanders before the money got just didn't work out. But his contract (as well as that of Ryan Suter) are massive millstones getting in the way of a true rebuild for the organization. (There are many other capped contracts on the squad, but that's because Chuck Fletcher put too much faith in role players and Paul Fenton is an abusive asshole.) You can free up a lot of cap space if Parise were to move on, even though that savings may have to be spent on the likes of Kevin Fiala and Kirill Kaprizov.
- Will a Defenseman be traded? Just about the only strength the Mild have, Blueliners represent the only assets Guerin can trade for something of value. The team is in dire need of a #1 Center, but they'll have to trade Matt Dumba or Jonas Brodin -- plus some other stuff -- in order to get one. A D-man might have to be traded anyway to keep under a salary cap that is expected to stay flat due to the devastation to the economy because of the pandemic. And don't forget the Seattle Kraken Expansion Draft; anyone signed for another year may very well be snatched up by them the following offseason.
The seven losers get filed in ninth through 15th in inverse order of winning percentage (the second through eighth slots were already filled with the seven teams so shitty they weren't even invited to the bubbles to play after The Pause). That sort-of helps the Mild. They came in with the fourth-worst winning percentage of the 24 clubs, but the three clubs that were worse -- Chicago, Montreal and The Bastard Winnipeg Jets -- all sprung upsets and advanced to the "real" Stanley Cup Playoffs, so they floated up to ninth. However, it seems like it's an eight-man Draft, so the franchise got unlucky again. Pffffffffffffft.
Tuesday, August 11, 2020
Like I said before, am I strong enough? This evening's the big day, and I am nowhere near as prepared as I should be nor as my colleagues need me to be. I totally took a dirt nap in the evening, so one quick meeting I totally missed.
I am not going to be one of the ones doing the heavy lifting, thank God. But it dawned on me just now -- and maybe it shouldn't have -- that it would be plenty awkward if I didn't say something. Unfortunately we went through a dry run and I think my response to a mock question was the type of threatening bombast that my people don't want. Then again, I felt really good saying what I said because it came from the heart. And that might be the problem. So do I sit quietly and not contribute, or do I share my thoughts and potentially hurt our cause? And I'm not even thinking about worrying about getting what we want. We could all do our part of the presentation to the very best of our abilities and we still will be told no. What then?
Man, all I wanted to do was stand up for something and I now have to ... stick my neck out for something. God, I have no idea how this is going to go.
I am not going to be one of the ones doing the heavy lifting, thank God. But it dawned on me just now -- and maybe it shouldn't have -- that it would be plenty awkward if I didn't say something. Unfortunately we went through a dry run and I think my response to a mock question was the type of threatening bombast that my people don't want. Then again, I felt really good saying what I said because it came from the heart. And that might be the problem. So do I sit quietly and not contribute, or do I share my thoughts and potentially hurt our cause? And I'm not even thinking about worrying about getting what we want. We could all do our part of the presentation to the very best of our abilities and we still will be told no. What then?
Man, all I wanted to do was stand up for something and I now have to ... stick my neck out for something. God, I have no idea how this is going to go.
Monday, August 10, 2020
RIP Facemasks?
It's funny how I and the world has come around on facemasks. I should blog post about it some other time, because I was going back to one in March at the advent of COVID-19 where I was adamant that I did not need a mask at all. Fucking worm turns.
Anyway, it was around that time Mother made me a mask, unprompted. First I was all, "Er, OK ... thanks, I guess." But pretty soon I came around to believe that there were a lot of people carrying the virus without knowing it, so it would help to wear a mask to either stop it from reaching me or, more likely, to prevent others from getting the virus I was carrying. So I came around relatively quickly to wearing that mask, and the three others Mother made later, whenever I was out in public.
Mother also taught me how to wash them. She gave me a big metal bowl wherein she would fill it up with the hottest water coming out of the bathroom sink. Throw in the mask and some detergent (we have a lot of detergent, a lot of which is not high-efficiency and thus useless to use in the relatively new HE washing machine we got a few years ago), then hand wash. Pour out the water, refill with hot water again, and let the mask sit in there to rinse. Pour out, hang the mask to dry, iron, then reuse.
I have been doing that with all four of my masks for months now. Still holding up. But I can see the wear on them. This afternoon I stopped by Dunkin' Donuts to cash in on a discount I got through T-Mobile (or at least I think I did) when one of the customers complimented me on my mask -- it looked comfy, she said. And for some reason I decided to expound on the fact that I thought it was getting old. I even thought to take it off. Yeah, that was stupid of me. I looked behind me to see if any customer was coming in, and seeing that there wasn't, I took off the mask to show that there was just a second layer, a liner of ... cotton I guess behind the knitted cotton that presses up against my nose and mouth, and it was getting frayed, as was the yarn. I hope I neither got nor gave corona.
Anyway, that wasn't an epiphany that struck me at Dunkin'. As I was washing and rinsing and ironing each mask, I noticed the fraying and the holes getting a little bigger. So I have looked online to see if there are better-manufactured masks that I can buy. Currently I am obsessed with finding ones with the recommended materials, first as decreed by the World Health Organization, then by this French organization that deals in, like standards in industries called AFNOR. (They have a guide to the best materials, but 1) I am not allowed to download the list and 2) it's in French so I can't read it.) It looks as though the "ideal" mask has three layers: An outer layer that is man-made, like polyester, in order to keep moisture and other people's moist breaths from reaching your face (I'm actually thinking the cup of a bra would make a great shell for a mask); an inner layer made out of cotton that lets you breathe in comfort; and an inner, possibly removable, filter layer, ideally made out of polypropylene that captures the virus. As far as I can tell, no mask fits this standard, which surprises me, because if a company or even someone on Etsy can, it or she can just put on its or her advertising "Meets WHO Standards Of Masks," and it or she could make millions. But I shall keep looking.
In the meantime I am getting slightly worried that the masks are no longer up to snuff. But I am a tad more worried that my mask will be seen as no longer up to snuff. All these months I have not seen a knitted mask. Most people are masking up now, but all of them seem to be made out of, well, man-made materials that do a better job. They probably have more than two layers, neither of which is starting to break down, like mine appear to be.
I appreciate so much Mother making me these masks. And when the time comes, I will show her that they're starting to wear, and is it possible she can make new ones, better ones, ones that fit the standard of safety the world seems to be abiding by now. And I think she'll make them. Till then, I will continue to wear and wash these on the weekends -- to keep my community safe, and as an appreciation for Mother's love.
Anyway, it was around that time Mother made me a mask, unprompted. First I was all, "Er, OK ... thanks, I guess." But pretty soon I came around to believe that there were a lot of people carrying the virus without knowing it, so it would help to wear a mask to either stop it from reaching me or, more likely, to prevent others from getting the virus I was carrying. So I came around relatively quickly to wearing that mask, and the three others Mother made later, whenever I was out in public.
Mother also taught me how to wash them. She gave me a big metal bowl wherein she would fill it up with the hottest water coming out of the bathroom sink. Throw in the mask and some detergent (we have a lot of detergent, a lot of which is not high-efficiency and thus useless to use in the relatively new HE washing machine we got a few years ago), then hand wash. Pour out the water, refill with hot water again, and let the mask sit in there to rinse. Pour out, hang the mask to dry, iron, then reuse.
I have been doing that with all four of my masks for months now. Still holding up. But I can see the wear on them. This afternoon I stopped by Dunkin' Donuts to cash in on a discount I got through T-Mobile (or at least I think I did) when one of the customers complimented me on my mask -- it looked comfy, she said. And for some reason I decided to expound on the fact that I thought it was getting old. I even thought to take it off. Yeah, that was stupid of me. I looked behind me to see if any customer was coming in, and seeing that there wasn't, I took off the mask to show that there was just a second layer, a liner of ... cotton I guess behind the knitted cotton that presses up against my nose and mouth, and it was getting frayed, as was the yarn. I hope I neither got nor gave corona.
Anyway, that wasn't an epiphany that struck me at Dunkin'. As I was washing and rinsing and ironing each mask, I noticed the fraying and the holes getting a little bigger. So I have looked online to see if there are better-manufactured masks that I can buy. Currently I am obsessed with finding ones with the recommended materials, first as decreed by the World Health Organization, then by this French organization that deals in, like standards in industries called AFNOR. (They have a guide to the best materials, but 1) I am not allowed to download the list and 2) it's in French so I can't read it.) It looks as though the "ideal" mask has three layers: An outer layer that is man-made, like polyester, in order to keep moisture and other people's moist breaths from reaching your face (I'm actually thinking the cup of a bra would make a great shell for a mask); an inner layer made out of cotton that lets you breathe in comfort; and an inner, possibly removable, filter layer, ideally made out of polypropylene that captures the virus. As far as I can tell, no mask fits this standard, which surprises me, because if a company or even someone on Etsy can, it or she can just put on its or her advertising "Meets WHO Standards Of Masks," and it or she could make millions. But I shall keep looking.
In the meantime I am getting slightly worried that the masks are no longer up to snuff. But I am a tad more worried that my mask will be seen as no longer up to snuff. All these months I have not seen a knitted mask. Most people are masking up now, but all of them seem to be made out of, well, man-made materials that do a better job. They probably have more than two layers, neither of which is starting to break down, like mine appear to be.
I appreciate so much Mother making me these masks. And when the time comes, I will show her that they're starting to wear, and is it possible she can make new ones, better ones, ones that fit the standard of safety the world seems to be abiding by now. And I think she'll make them. Till then, I will continue to wear and wash these on the weekends -- to keep my community safe, and as an appreciation for Mother's love.
Sunday, August 9, 2020
The Republican National Convention Is Being Held In Sturgis Right Now
So the coronavirus was able to populate/invade our shores because the Republicans in the White House was too late in detecting the virus in Wuhan Province, China, then closed the borders way too late and to the wrong side of the world. Too many asymptomatic people were getting it and then passing it on, and the first mass casualties were the elderly living in congregate care homes. We shut everything do ... or so we thought. We became babies who couldn't hold their piss together -- "Come on, can we leave our homes now?" -- so we half-assed the shutdown, and when we opened everything up, too many dumb assholes thought it was Rumspringa and congregated in bars and parties, and it's spread everywhere again.
Already some states (the dumb red ones down South) are opening up schools, creating yet another goddamn petri dish whereby this virus can continue to live and thrive. And now, beginning this weekend, there is another place where experts agree could (I think they really want to see "will" but are too afraid to say it) become the nation's next super-spreader event: Sturgis.
There have already been many super-spreader events in this country already: The bars and nightclubs and restaurants that needed to be shut down; the parties the mayor of Los Angeles is threatening to shut down; and schools that have already sent students home because dozens have tested positive. But Sturgis is special in its own regard. People estimate that a quarter million bikers are going to converge in the city in South Dakota, which makes it an infinitely bigger event than a choir practice or a funeral. But it's also the appearance regarding the staging of the event, including the decision to stage the event itself, that makes this fucking party an emblem of how the United States has so royally fucked up its response to COVID-19. And speaking of party: Sturgis is also a distillation of Republicanism, and the twisted values of blissful ignorance and fevered arrogance that have taken hold in a disturbingly large minority of the country and, wholly, in a political party that has cheated its way into control of this nation -- which is completely why the United States has so royally fucked up its response to COVID-19.
This (behind a paywall) is one of several pieces by the New York Times on the start of Sturgis. I didn't read the story because I'm too cheap and have yet to feel comfortable enough to sign away information to the NYT. But the quote in the headline pretty much gives me all I need to know about how the motorcyclists who are attending the week-plus-long event feel about the coronavirus: "If we get it, we chose to be here." What the fuck does that even mean? I mean, just take that sentence and pull it apart. There's a condition, but this stupid worker (she works at a biker apparel shop) says that if that condition is true ... she states where she is located? Huh?
The next person in this article came into town from Rapid City, S. D. He, like I'm pretty sure 99% of the bikers there, are maskless. Why? "I haven't seen anyone out here wear a mask so it kind of feels like it defeats the purpose." Shit. OK, I understand that wearing a mask protects people from the wearer more than the other way around. But even if other people choose not to protect you from them, does it really make sense to say "Fuck it!" and not wear a mask yourself? This dumbass might have the virus and not know it. And maybe, just maybe, wearing a mask will help block the virus from this prick's nose and mouth. Not worth a shot?
Let me go back to the MAGA imbecile working in the shop. This is the classic reason why so many people are showing up to Sturgis, I know it: "We are allowed to make our own choices." Sure, you are. We don't have the choice of catching corona if you get near us, but watching out for your fellow American isn't top of mind to these people -- or to Republicans. See, that statement is, to many, freedom and freedom in America in its purest, ideal form. Never mind that we all want to live; the assumption that we all have that in common, or at least feeling we all have a responsibility to each other to keep each other alive, may be the most frightening revelation about Republicans wielding power under Trump that we have not yet noticed. There is a lot of stupidity and obliviousness going around, but the cyclists there have to know that there is a very scary disease for which there is no cure spreading in the country, and that it is known to kill people. But taking steps to stop that, so people don't die, is a fundamental breach of their God-given rights. 'Murica!
Individual rights that have curdled into blind selfishness is a hallmark of current Republicanism. And everyone who is connected to the event going forward -- the bikers attending, the locals and the strippers who come to town to make money, the governor who decided to allow the event to happen with no restrictions -- exhibit in action and probably state in words that they are exercising what the Republican party has repeated in a psychotic loop for at least 40 years. They can do whatever they want because they have the power to control their own lives. Well, bless your hearts, assholes.
Oh, one other thing that pisses me off about the RNC at Sturgis. If infections start to happen, people who endorsed Sturgis going forward this year will say something to the effect of, "This could have been a lot worse. You see, many of our events were outside, so you should give us credit for not stuffing these riders in bars where the virus really could have spread!" That would be a real fucking stupid thing to say, and I would bet, oh, ten bucks someone would say that. My point is that people at Sturgis, and Republicans, will move the goalposts a country mile in order to justify doing what they do even if the shit hits the fan. Close down Sturgis for the year -- "No! South Dakota can hold events this big without spreading corona, and the state needs the money, and it's just the flu, and FREEDOMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!" But then the Sturgis Emergency Room will start to fill with people in leather vests who can't breathe and have fevers and those same people will go, "Hey, it could have been worse -- we planned on holding our lingerie fights in the bar! And we were spread out, sorta, because we were outside! And look at the money we made!" They spin every bad thing in a way that makes them look good. They can't lose. They can't ever lose. And they are never, never wrong, no matter if circumstances make normal people reconsider their choices. That is Republicanism in a nutshell.
I am shocked that Trump hasn't announced he'll go to Sturgis this week. He'll be hailed by motorcyclists as a conquering hero, even though he has done jack shit about stopping the coronavirus, or anything, for that matter. Leni Riefenstahl, where the fuck are you? (Dead.)
And yes, this makes me regret all those times I've sat in a restaurant for a couple hours.
Already some states (the dumb red ones down South) are opening up schools, creating yet another goddamn petri dish whereby this virus can continue to live and thrive. And now, beginning this weekend, there is another place where experts agree could (I think they really want to see "will" but are too afraid to say it) become the nation's next super-spreader event: Sturgis.
There have already been many super-spreader events in this country already: The bars and nightclubs and restaurants that needed to be shut down; the parties the mayor of Los Angeles is threatening to shut down; and schools that have already sent students home because dozens have tested positive. But Sturgis is special in its own regard. People estimate that a quarter million bikers are going to converge in the city in South Dakota, which makes it an infinitely bigger event than a choir practice or a funeral. But it's also the appearance regarding the staging of the event, including the decision to stage the event itself, that makes this fucking party an emblem of how the United States has so royally fucked up its response to COVID-19. And speaking of party: Sturgis is also a distillation of Republicanism, and the twisted values of blissful ignorance and fevered arrogance that have taken hold in a disturbingly large minority of the country and, wholly, in a political party that has cheated its way into control of this nation -- which is completely why the United States has so royally fucked up its response to COVID-19.
This (behind a paywall) is one of several pieces by the New York Times on the start of Sturgis. I didn't read the story because I'm too cheap and have yet to feel comfortable enough to sign away information to the NYT. But the quote in the headline pretty much gives me all I need to know about how the motorcyclists who are attending the week-plus-long event feel about the coronavirus: "If we get it, we chose to be here." What the fuck does that even mean? I mean, just take that sentence and pull it apart. There's a condition, but this stupid worker (she works at a biker apparel shop) says that if that condition is true ... she states where she is located? Huh?
The next person in this article came into town from Rapid City, S. D. He, like I'm pretty sure 99% of the bikers there, are maskless. Why? "I haven't seen anyone out here wear a mask so it kind of feels like it defeats the purpose." Shit. OK, I understand that wearing a mask protects people from the wearer more than the other way around. But even if other people choose not to protect you from them, does it really make sense to say "Fuck it!" and not wear a mask yourself? This dumbass might have the virus and not know it. And maybe, just maybe, wearing a mask will help block the virus from this prick's nose and mouth. Not worth a shot?
Let me go back to the MAGA imbecile working in the shop. This is the classic reason why so many people are showing up to Sturgis, I know it: "We are allowed to make our own choices." Sure, you are. We don't have the choice of catching corona if you get near us, but watching out for your fellow American isn't top of mind to these people -- or to Republicans. See, that statement is, to many, freedom and freedom in America in its purest, ideal form. Never mind that we all want to live; the assumption that we all have that in common, or at least feeling we all have a responsibility to each other to keep each other alive, may be the most frightening revelation about Republicans wielding power under Trump that we have not yet noticed. There is a lot of stupidity and obliviousness going around, but the cyclists there have to know that there is a very scary disease for which there is no cure spreading in the country, and that it is known to kill people. But taking steps to stop that, so people don't die, is a fundamental breach of their God-given rights. 'Murica!
Individual rights that have curdled into blind selfishness is a hallmark of current Republicanism. And everyone who is connected to the event going forward -- the bikers attending, the locals and the strippers who come to town to make money, the governor who decided to allow the event to happen with no restrictions -- exhibit in action and probably state in words that they are exercising what the Republican party has repeated in a psychotic loop for at least 40 years. They can do whatever they want because they have the power to control their own lives. Well, bless your hearts, assholes.
Oh, one other thing that pisses me off about the RNC at Sturgis. If infections start to happen, people who endorsed Sturgis going forward this year will say something to the effect of, "This could have been a lot worse. You see, many of our events were outside, so you should give us credit for not stuffing these riders in bars where the virus really could have spread!" That would be a real fucking stupid thing to say, and I would bet, oh, ten bucks someone would say that. My point is that people at Sturgis, and Republicans, will move the goalposts a country mile in order to justify doing what they do even if the shit hits the fan. Close down Sturgis for the year -- "No! South Dakota can hold events this big without spreading corona, and the state needs the money, and it's just the flu, and FREEDOMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!" But then the Sturgis Emergency Room will start to fill with people in leather vests who can't breathe and have fevers and those same people will go, "Hey, it could have been worse -- we planned on holding our lingerie fights in the bar! And we were spread out, sorta, because we were outside! And look at the money we made!" They spin every bad thing in a way that makes them look good. They can't lose. They can't ever lose. And they are never, never wrong, no matter if circumstances make normal people reconsider their choices. That is Republicanism in a nutshell.
I am shocked that Trump hasn't announced he'll go to Sturgis this week. He'll be hailed by motorcyclists as a conquering hero, even though he has done jack shit about stopping the coronavirus, or anything, for that matter. Leni Riefenstahl, where the fuck are you? (Dead.)
And yes, this makes me regret all those times I've sat in a restaurant for a couple hours.
Saturday, August 8, 2020
Hottest Babe In The Hooters Calendar: July
A very good month, if I may say. Of the dozen for the month, I say eight-to-ten of them are spank-worthy. And it's really difficult to rank them. I mean, there's:
But I'm giving the #1 spot to the main girl, Alex, hailing from Sanford, Fla. She's got long, pure jet-black hair, and she's sporting a perfect smile. Her bikini top is blue with white stripes and her bottom is red -- yes, it's American flaggish. Most importantly, she's got her left hand on her hip and she's saluting with her right. And this non-military citizen in turn salutes you by getting hard over your photo!
I already masturbated once tonight, but after seeing this bevy of beauties, I can do it again right now!!! Fap-fap-fap!!!
- Alexandra, of Pasadena, Tex., with a bikini patterned after the American flag (of course being July). She has large black hair, but she's got an enormous and distinctive smile;
- Kara, of Atlantic City, with long brown hair and a red two-piece bikini. She is one of the few who's mostly facing the camera, and her right hand on her hip makes her really hot;
- Samantha, of Albuquerque, with long brown hair and a cute smile. Her body is angled, and her right hand is resting on something that is covered by, I think, a towel, and I don't know and it's kind of driving me crazy;
- Ashley, of Jacksonville, N.C., with her long black hair and a red two-piece, the top being a more material, athletic bra-type. More side-angled than front-facing, but her left (back) arm is up to the side of her head, and that makes her shot look really hot;
- Makayla, of Loveland, Colo., with her long blonde highlights and a white two-piece, the top being bandeau. There is some terry cloth on her left fingers, and that thing has the Hooters logo on it. She's totally facing forward; in fact, she's sticking her (slim) bosom out and putting both hands on her hips. Makayla's sporting a Mona Lisa smile, which I find either devastating af or off-putting, depending on the second;
- Katrina, of Farmingdale, N.Y., with her long dark hair, ebony skin, red two-piece, broad smile and left arm on top of her head. She's somewhat turned to the side, but you can still see how big her breasts are;
- and Haley, of Louisville, with her long, pure blonde hair, porcelain skin and blue two-piece bikini standing on the side of a pool. She's also posing at an angle, but she has tits even bigger than Katrina!
But I'm giving the #1 spot to the main girl, Alex, hailing from Sanford, Fla. She's got long, pure jet-black hair, and she's sporting a perfect smile. Her bikini top is blue with white stripes and her bottom is red -- yes, it's American flaggish. Most importantly, she's got her left hand on her hip and she's saluting with her right. And this non-military citizen in turn salutes you by getting hard over your photo!
I already masturbated once tonight, but after seeing this bevy of beauties, I can do it again right now!!! Fap-fap-fap!!!
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