So there's this website in which you can sign up to do what I do for Vikings Games.  It's obviously through a different company, and for a different network.  There is no "in" for me through these guys; apparently I just try and sign up, and hope that they call me back and hire me on.

I got alerted to this through a guy I connected to at work when the Final Four was in town.  I first tried signing up for a Gopher baseball Regional, and the hirer called me back and told me he already got all the people he needed.  I have tried signing up a few more times since, but not only have I not gotten a job, I haven't even heard back from anyone who is hiring.  It's ... not right.  I would at least like to know if I do not get the job.

So let's talk about today.  When the football schedules came out -- and this is not only for Vikings Games, but also for Gopher football and my alma mater -- I decided to block out the last three workdays this Week for a vacation.  My alma mater had its bye this Week, and the Vikings are at Carolina Sunday, so I wouldn't have to stick around to work for them.  And in the hopes that the pandemic would finally be behind us, I needed like mad to get out of town.  Like I have said, the pandemic hasn't subsided, plus since my parents didn't go anywhere, it didn't feel as if I could just take a trip out of town before them, either.  So I decided not to go.

However, this opened up the possibility that I could work anyway, for the Gophers Game.  A couple things had to fall into place.  For one, there had to be a home Game, and I obviously knew there would be one when the team's schedule came out.  Then, the networks needed to decide which of them would broadcast the Game, in which the Gophers would host Nebraska; this website helps hire through only a couple of them.  That happened as well; these network decisions are made the Monday before the week of the Game (13 Days in advance, in other words), and when I saw on the Gophers athletic website where it would be broadcast, I was anticipating seeing it on the website.

And then I waited.  And waited.  And I think it was on Thursday when I finally saw the opportunity to work for this Game pop up.  Kind of odd; thought it would have updated sooner.  Nevertheless, I filled out the form (I was in the bathroom at work during break when I saw it), and waited.  And waited.  And I never heard back from the guy.  Maybe he got pissed I applied twice because I was afraid my first submission through my phone didn't got through?

Hey, for the record, I took back two days and took only Friday off.  And I did stay home and help Father with a bunch of yardwork (plus rotated my bed) today.  It's not a total waste, and I don't mind the recharge.  But it would have been nice to work instead because I was available.  Moreover, if I had known I wouldn't be hired on for this Game ... well, I still don't know if I would have gone through with the vacation, because I would still be mortally afraid of needing an ICU bed if I got into an accident.  But yeah, I could have gone out of town and not really missed anything.