Yeah, That Is Racist

Before I left work -- and I should blog post about that next -- I left a note for my co-worker.  One of my duties in The Fourth Department is making sure every form that passes by both our departments is accounted for.  Since I stayed later than anyone back there, I was able to see if anything was missed with any form we had to take care of today.

There was.  Three forms weren't noted in this ... uh, system, let's call it that.  It wasn't my place to do it for them, and besides, I was staying so long, I didn't want to do it for them.  So I left a note for this guy saying, and I'm paraphrasing, "You didn't note these.  Mind doing them?"

I spent the rest of my evening downtown drinking.  (It was a bad day; I'll talk about it later.)  On my way home, I thought about the note I left.  Turns out, I'm not sure he was the one I should have directed the note to.  Now, there are two people in this department who could/should have done this, and one of them is off through Independence Weekend.  It wouldn't make sense to leave a note for her.  But honestly, I don't think I addressed this note to him, and implied he didn't do it, because of that.  I don't have any good reason to give him the note ... except, well, what I did was racist.

So, because I don't want to piss him off -- and I don't -- what I am going to do is wait until the Second Shift person leaves, drive back to work, and exchange notes.  I'm going to say something that, hopefully, will be perceived as less accusatory.  I think I'll find the right words.  But even if I don't, switching messages is something I feel I have to do.

Well, Excuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuse Me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I didn't know the people in the lab "have a spot."  And I have never been kicked out before.  But I went in for overtime at work early yesterday/Wednesday, and about a half-hour in some lady (who, by the way, I swear was the one who breezed past me as I kept open a security door for her even though she didn't punch in her security code ... that's her, isn't it?) came up to me and said this was her spot.  I apologized and she said she would go to another spot.  And then I was told by the lab supervisor that I needed to move.

Either that woman complained or the supervisor stepped in and insisted she get her spot back.  Regardless, this is another reason why I and so many others in The Main Department hate going in there.  We're getting in other people's way, apparently.  Also (and I may have blog posted about this before), we have to ask to get into the lab; our security codes do not work.  So, this is another stipulation about the lab that makes me feel we shouldn't be in there.  And I hate that.

My Rotation Of T-Shirts

I actually remember wanting to blog post about this last summer, but I never got around to it.  Till now.  So here we go.

I have so many t-shirts (and I refuse to part with them unless they break down) that I have most of them in three hampers, one of which has one broken plastic handle, which is a sign that 1) I or my family has had these hampers for a long time and 2) I have a lot of t-shirts.  The rest I have come to consider my "roster" of t-shirts I use every spring through fall.  (I have a rotation of long underwear that I use exclusively for winter.)  I don't remember when I implemented this, but some time ago I decided that at some point in the spring or summer, I would swap out the "roster" of t-shirts I have been using for a season or so and replace them with some t-shirts from a hamper.  It's not all because I use only one drawer for t-shirts, and it's a small dresser, and like I said, I have stashed a lot of t-shirts into each of these three drawers.

Me being both an OCD fiend and a Pisces, I want to keep things fair and even.  So, in this system, I would (cross your fingers) get through every single t-shirt I have (not counting any new ones I buy) ... uh, every six years or so ... ?  That's a long time, and it may not be, uh, worth it to only wear a t-shirt every six years or so -- and, despite me saying I use only one small compartment for the ones I use, I would be wearing them only, what, three or four times per year, max.  But again, I'm not throwing them away.

Still, while I say I have a system, I don't have a precise system.  And I could be better at it.  Like, for example, by keeping track of the hampers.  You see, I stash my hampers in my closet.  But they're not in really any order, per se.  I have a fourth hamper in there for my pants, which I also rotate, but not really.  And the other three hampers I kind of find room in my closet around this pants/jeans hamper.

This lack of order (disorder?) reared its ugly head, or it really bothered me, last year when I was doing my annual rotation.  I took out a hamper and began replacing my t-shirts ... and then I looked at the t-shirts I was rotating in and it looked like they were the ones I was wearing the year prior, in 2020.  I didn't know for sure; it was the start of the pandemic, sure, but they just ... seemed like the same t-shirts I wore the year before.  And even though I wasn't 100% certain, I was convinced that these weren't the t-shirts I should be wearing in 2021.

So I began putting the new t-shirts back in the hamper.  But I didn't know, and/or I couldn't remember, which t-shirts I should be using, or in other words I couldn't tell which t-shirts I hadn't used most recently.  And it was pretty damn frustrating, to say the least, that I didn't know which ones I should rotate in.  So I just picked a different hamper, shrugged my shoulders, and replaced them.  The ones I replaced them with -- the ones I wore from 2021 to about a couple weeks ago, seemed like ones I hadn't worn since 2016.

In my frustration last year I asked myself why in the hell didn't I label the hampers.  You know, just getting a few slips of paper, writing on them something like, "Last used in (year)."  I was beating myself up over not thinking to do that so I could avoid such a situation; I would totally forget which hamper I last used by the time the next year rolls around, so I could just rely on the note slipped into, like the side of the hamper.

But I didn't do that then.  And, honestly, I haven't done that now.  Yeah, I should have done that then, but ... uh, I couldn't find the right slips of paper.  I think last year I made a mental note that this hamper right here in the closet will be where I put the one I have used most recently, and then this other one on the other side of the closet is the "next-older" one (if that makes any sense), and finally this hamper under that most recent hamper is the "oldest" hamper and the one I will use next year.  Maybe.  Whatever; I could be wrong, but there's no way to tell at this point, so that's the decision I've made.

I'm looking to my left and see a bunch of slips of paper.  Mother keeps scrap paper just because.  Guess I could use them right now to label my hampers.  I think I shall do that.

My Sick Therapist (Alternate Blog Post Title: "G")

I haven't said anything about him, but maybe it's time.

I was supposed to talk to my psychotherapist a couple weeks ago, but then her secretary texted me the day of (we were supposed to talk over the phone, and we have done so ever since the pandemic hit) that he was in the hospital.  He is quite old and he has some maladies, but this hospitalization has been a shock.

I have not asked the secretary if he's out -- yet.  I figure that as a client, I should give him and his family and secretary some space as he recuperates -- if he needs recuperating.  I honestly don't know if he's still alive.  I'm afraid I'm serious.

I should reach out soon.  He usually takes a week around Independence Day off for a vacation, so if he is well, hopefully he'll be around now to let people know.  With that being said, I got a weird text on Sunday.  Out of the blue, I and another phone number (I presume it's another patient, but I don't know that for sure) got a text from him, or someone using his cellphone.  There was no message except the letter "G."  That's it.  I don't get it, and I have yet to respond to it because ... well, I don't know what to make of it.  It feels like a scammer, but all this hesitation is making me afraid that it really is him and I should text back.  Still, I have never seen anything like such a text from him.

Note The Arc Of My Start Times This Week

Because I'm filling in in a couple places this week, I have different start times at work this week.  I start at 8, go back to my normal start time of 7 Tuesday and Wednesday, then go back to 8 Thursday, and finally start at 9 on Friday.

So: 8-7-7-8-9.  It's an unusual week, but I see a nice and gradual, albeit uneven, arc of start times.  And I'm almost certain I've never had such a week at work ever.

Just want to note that.

No Reading Papers Today Either

You know, I had plans on attacking the bag of papers I want to read from over a decade ago.  Did I do that?  Nope.  Earlier this afternoon I got tested, ate at Chipotle (couldn't pay through my phone for some reason; that was stupid), got my hair cut then bought some N95 masks (along with some other stuff) at Home Depot.  Later in the afternoon, after I used the oven for the first time since my parents went back out to Las Vegas, I gassed up the minivan.  After ******e decided she wasn't going to give me a handjob because she had some family time instead (understandable), I didn't want to waste this beautiful, not-too-hot summer evening, so I went out and had ice cream at Dream and a beer at Pryes before shopping at Hy-Vee.

(Aside: I wanted to go out in the evening to enjoy myself -- knowing full well that I would instead either look at my phone or be all up in my thoughts.  And at Dream, even though it was nice to see all these families hanging out and having fun, I did both.  At Pryes, though, its wi-fi wasn't working, so I couldn't use my phone.  And then I realized I wasn't, like, living in the moment like I should be.  So I took a breath -- maybe it could've been deeper -- and I soaked it all in, namely the dwindling group of people, the setting sun, the motorcycles tearing ass in front of the brewery, and the fact that, even though we're in the middle of #AmericanApartheid, things are, relatively speaking, good.)

I should wash my dishes and prepare a peanut butter-and-jelly sandwich for lunch tomorrow.  Will I tackle the papers?  Not on this day, my friend.

Fuckin' MNUFC Sucks

Man, I'm so fucking pissed off at the Loons.  They blew a 1-0 lead for the second Match in a row and lost, 2-1, last/Saturday night at Inter Miami.  I was at the gym when Inter tied it, and I thought, "Well, might as well not watch ... just in case."  And I checked my phone once I knew it was over and, goddamn, it sure was over.

It's looking increasingly more tone deaf that the organization gave Adrian Heath a contract extension.  The powers that be thought that the worst slump in this side's history (I think the team has now won once in its last seven Games) means they should keep Heath here through 2024?!  Not if they keep allowing Goals after the 85th Minute and giving away Points once the final whistle blows.  Fuck that shit.

As I said in The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey, the timing of the announcement could not have gone worse.  Not only was it made during a bad losing slump, it was made the day (give or take a day) of the announcement of season ticket renewals.  Anecdotally, some STHs took the opportunity to yell at their season ticket reps before telling them they're not renewing.  I'm not there ... yet.  But they keep fucking choking on leads like this, and I won't want to piss away money on a loser team like this.

ATF Missed Connection Again? You Gotta Be Fuckin' Kidding Me

I was ready to go down to My Favorite Stripclub (Cover Edition) to see my ATF there, ******a.  This place is great because they have a webpage that shows the roster every day, and I believe it's accurate.  And she ain't workin' tonight.  Dammit.  I was going to switch into my porno pants and a t-shirt that says "Elect Hoes" on it and go there straight from work.

This is the second time this has happened.  The first time was the Friday of Memorial Weekend.  And like today, I was checking the strip club website every day leading up to the day I was going to visit to make sure she was working and not on a weeklong vacation, as she has told me she tries to do from time to time.  I thought that is she was working through the week, she'd work through the more lucrative weekend.  I've been wrong both times, and although she doesn't owe me a damn thing, I hate that my plan to see her has fallen through a second time.

Tonight I guess I'll work out.  The community center I go to is in summer hours where they are closed Friday evenings and Sundays.  Saturdays over there may be a madhouse, but I think it's worth it to work out on a Saturday night at least once this summer.  As for ******a, well, I'll try again next Friday.  I'm scared, though, that she'll take Independence Weekend off, in which case I probably will just go some time the week after just to see her, planning be damned.

The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey

#-1: Lynx (Last Week: -2).  Not a great Week for Twin Cities sports.  I felt more depressed than not this Week, actually.  As an example, the Lynx absolutely deserve the top spot this screening Week because of their 2-1 record.  Surprisingly, they swept a home-and-home with the Griner-less Phoenix Mercury Tuesday and Thursday.  (Aside: The fortunes of the Merc and the Lynx appear to mirror each other.  They both rose to prominence together, and now they're mired in mediocrity at the same time.)  But that squad blew a big goddamn lead in Las Vegas on Sunday and lost by a Point to the Aces.  And they have the second-worst record in the WNBA and worst in the Western Conference.

The only silver lining is that Sylvia Fowles has been cleared to come back and play.  Her first Game back was Thursday's 100-88 victory over Phoenix; Fowles scored 14 Points and collected ten Rebounds.  I don't know if she's the difference-maker, but it is her farewell season, so it would be nice to see her on the court.  Also, they are only three Games out of the final spot in the playoffs, so who knows?

This Week: At defending champs Chicago Sunday, then home to Dallas (Tuesday) and Las Vegas (Friday).

#-2: Timberwolves (Re-Entry!).  Hanging out at a bar Thursday night, stuffing my face with (first) wings and (second) nachos I couldn't finish while watching the NBA Draft, I realized I wasn't enjoying it as much as I do the NFL Draft.  I can't quite put my finger on as to why, but I have one guess: The way the National Basketball Association permits and announces trades is so damn confusing.

Take, for example, the Timberwolves' First Round pick, which was 19th overall.  I was watching the ESPN feed with the sound off, so I had to see that league newsbreaker Adrian Wojnarowski broke the news that the Wolves proposed a trade with Memphis, which had the 22nd overall selection.  Not made a trade, mind you, but proposed one.  I'm guessing league rules when it comes to trades don't allow, or at least don't make an incentive out of, trades where the teams, you know, actually trade picks and the team that traded up makes the pick.

Instead, the NBA forces teams to work official trades behind the scenes, or at least I guess.  Meanwhile, because it's not official but is all but a done deal, journalists like Woj have to couch these almost-trades in some cutesy wink-wink language.  Meanwhile, because trades haven't officially happened yet, Minnesota picked 19th -- with the assumption that the Grizzles told Timberwolves brass who to pick.  That pick was Jake LaRavia, some Forward out of Wake Forest I have never heard of.  Again, it was hard to keep track of all of this because there was no sound.  At first I was thinking the Woofie Dogs just Woofie Dogged again, but then I saw the bit on the far right side of the chyron say "Proposed Trade With Memphis."

I think there were at least of few of these "proposed trades" that went down in the First Round.  LaRavia wasn't there, but some of the players ensnared in these "proposed trades" were at the Barclays Center, and so they had to go through the bit where, after they get hugs from their family and support system, they walk up to the dais and wear the cap of the team that selected them ... even though everyone and their mothers know they won't play a single fucking Second for that team.  This bullshit performance theater has happened for years now.  Not only is it misleading, it makes no goddamn sense to have Rookies wear the logo and colors for teams they will be promptly traded from by the time the night is over.  And yet they go through with this charade.  Why?  And why can't the league and the NBA Players Association 86 these lies?

Anyway, the T-Wolves finally wound up with Walker Kessler, a Center out of Auburn.  He's not considered a generational talent or anything.  But he is the NCAA Defensive Player Of The Year, and both height and rim protection were things in extremely short supply in Minnesota.  I've never seen him play, but at least one mock Draft had him going to the Woofs, so because of that, I think that was a good selection.  I think there was another trade where the 29th, which I believe the Grizz gave to the Wolves along with the 22nd, was subsequently flipped to Houston (along with "future picks," another phrase used often by the NBA that is so vague that it's meaningless for Draft fans to keep track of) for the 26th pick.  And Minnesota -- or is it Houston? -- selected Duke Guard Wendell Moore, Jr.  I thought the Guard the Woofs would choose would be Kentucky's TyTy Washington.  And I don't think anyone foresaw Moore coming up here.  But if he pans out, he might supplant trade bait D'Angelo Russell and backup Jordan McLaughlin and become the Timberwolves' Point Guard of the future.

I think they picked two guys in the Second Round, but it's hard to follow.

#-3: Twins (Last Week: -1).  They once had one of the best records in the majors.  They also once had a huge lead in the American League Central Division.  Both distinctions are gone as of this past Week, when they went only 2-4.

After splitting the last two contests of a three-Game series at Arizona (the Diamondbacks won on Friday), the Twinks came home for a pivotal three-Game set with the Cleveland Guardians, the ballclub that was hot on their heels.  And they took two-out-of-three in Minnesota and left the state tied with Minnesota for the Division lead.  All three Games were decided by a one Run.  Most excruciating for Twinks fans: Their team had the lead on Tuesday and Wednesday, and the Bullpen blew leads and both Games.

On Tuesday, Minnesota had a 5-3 lead going into the Eighth Inning, but anti-vaxxer Emilio Pagan game up a Game-tying, two-Run Home Run to Franmil Reyes, and Griffin Jax allowed a bloop Single to Andres Gimenez in the Eleventh to give the Guardians the Win.

The next tilt was probably worse.  The Twinks led 5-1 after four, but Cleveland came back to take a 7-6 lead in the Seventh off a two-Run Homer by Oscar Gonzalez.  Minnesota responded with four in the bottom of the Inning and kept that 10-7 lead into the top of the Ninth ... where Pagan allowed a Run and left two men on for Jax, who then yielded three Runs (the Game-winner being a Sacrifice Fly by Owen Miller) and got hung for the Loss for a second consecutive Game.

Thankfully neither Pagan nor Jax pitched Thursday; four hurlers made Nick Gordon's Home Run stick in a face-saving 1-0 victory.  However, Colorado, which is mired below .500 along with the Arizona Diamondbacks that just took two-of-three from Minnesota, turned the tables on the Twinks last/Friday night with a 1-0 Win for the visitors.  The only Run came on a Fielder's Choice grounder by Charlie Blackmon, and German Marquez went 7 2/3 Innings to win despite walking five and striking out only two.  Saving grace: As of press time, Minnesota and Cleveland are still tied for the Division lead.

After finishing up with the Rockies over the weekend, they travel to Cleveland for a five-Game series that includes a make-up.  They then return to Target Field to begin a trio against The Bastard St. Louis Browns on Friday.

#-4: United FC (Re-Entry!).  Rigor mortis has set in on the only Minnesota sports team I have ever devoted a significant amount of money and time to.  On Sunday they couldn't hold onto a 1-0 Halftime lead and lost, 2-1, to the New England Revolution.  That makes them winless in five out of their last six Major League Soccer Matches, and that puts them in eleventh place (as of press time) in the Western Conference, albeit only two Points back of Seattle for the final spot in the playoffs.

Midweek did not bring another contest.  No, it brought something more important: The announcement by the organization of season ticket renewal.  And if Twitter is any indication (and I have to guard against hearing things only in a bubble like a certain social media platform), the team's ticket reps heard an earful before being told people won't renew.  I don't know how bad it's gotten, but I'm sure it's not good.

Hastening the bad vibes currently surrounding this club (if not its on-pitch fortunes), the franchise announced, also midweek, that they have extended the contract of Manager Adrian Heat through 2024.  There is now a rabid #HeathOut movement.  I don't know if the organization is ignorant about it or is aware and doesn't care.  But the timing behind this announcement probably convinced more than several season ticketholders not to renew.  I'm not one of them; inertia is my reason.  But I fear that next Year, Allianz Field is going to look mighty empty, that will be really sad.

But hey, maybe they can turn it around.  They've finally offloaded Adrien Hunou back to Ligue 1, with side Angers.  That'll free up some money, but many onlookers felt the attacker was never given a fair shake by Heath to contribute meaningfully to MNUFC.  I just hope Hunou's replacements can score.  Anyway, the Loons have a busy road trip ahead of them: They're in Miami tonight/Saturday night to face Inter, then play at the Los Angeles Galaxy on Wednesday.

Work was great until the last hour, when all hell broke loose.  I got through it -- maybe; there are a couple of things that were asked of me to which I didn't quite know what to do, and I wanted to leave, and so I made a couple decisions.  And at the top of the hour I'm going to go in to work, and there's a decent possibility I'll be confronted with the two things I did and be told I did them wrong, and my mood right now is already defensive, and so I hate if I get confronted because I know I'll react in a way that won't be considered, uh, "professional."

As I say in my subheadline: Things are good ... until they're not.

When Is The Best Time To Buy A Ticket To Hawai'i For Christmas? (It's Already Too Late, Isn't It?)

I've been procrastinating on buying a ticket to see my sister graduated in Honolulu.  She walks in December, and the family has decided we are all going to make a big family vacation out of it.

It's been hell.  The logistical nightmare of 1) flying off the mainland 2) to Hawai'i 3) around the holiday and 4) staying upwards of two weeks (maybe more) to sightsee and have fun means we need to splurge on 5) accommodations and 6) transportation.  Add to it that this family is as dysfunctional as any otherwise high-functioning group of biological connected members can be has produced a long slog of not thinking about it, burdening one person (my sister) to make all the plans, and bitching about any plans my sister does make.  The back-and-forth about what to do, let alone where to stay, how long and how much, makes me wish I could just fly in for a weekend, see her get her diploma, then go back home.

What is coaxing me to think about this vacation more, even if I'm not doing anything, are the parameters set up by my other family members.  What I mean by this is my brother (and his family) and my parents have finally booked flights to get to Hawai'i.  Knowing when my brother is going to Honolulu and when he's flying back gives me good enough reason to find flights that don't depart and arrive on the same day.  I might have to pay more, but the awkwardness of boarding the same flight but not sitting together is worth it.

I did, however, wait on my folks.  There was a possibility that they would really want me to, instead of flying to Honolulu, fly to Las Vegas instead, and from there all three of us would head to Hawai'i.  I think that idea would have been viable if there were dirt-cheap prices on such a flight; it would then be worth it, the thinking goes, to hopscotch from MSP to LAS and then to HNL.

Alas, early this week I saw that my parents booked a flight to Honolulu several days before my sister's big day.  They did not consult me on this purchase, so I think there is no expectation for me to be on the same flight as them.  Moreover, I do not want to miss that much time from work, so I have another built-in excuse to just go off on my own.

And beyond that, when I called Mother about this flight they purchased, she said that she is waiting on flights back to the mainland (I'm guessing Vegas, though I'm not 100% sure about that) because she found two tickets back right after Christmas too expensive.  She thought she would stick around Honolulu and hang with my sister and brother-in-law through New Year's ... and maybe beyond.  That actually is a good thing for me when it comes to planning.  I had thoughts about spending a day or two or more in Las Vegas with my folks ... but that would have been right after the vacation in Hawai'i.  Also, I don't have the paid time off from work to spend, well, upwards of a month, and even if I did, I don't think I would want to.

So that seemingly frees me to find a flight back home on my own.  Pair that with flying to HNL solo as well, and, well, I have the freedom to get there and back however I please.  That clarity, or at least the limits against which I know when I should fly there and when I can fly back, spurs me to action.

Sort of.  Price is nominally a concern, a big one.  But I have it in my head right now that I really, really want to break up the flights to and from Hawai'i on a non-direct flight because I want to accrue as many points as I can on the airlines with which I have a frequent flyer number: Delta and United.  So right now (well, not right now, I'm going to bed after this) I have set up alerts (or at least I think I have) for round-trip, non-stop flights to and from Honolulu, one-way, multi-stop flights to and from, and everything in between.  I will bite as soon as these alerts tell me the prices they see are the lowest they'll be.  That's all I'm waiting on.

Unfortunately, this is Hawai'i for Christmas.  I have seen that travel experts believe the lowest fares to Honolulu are at their cheapest 1-3 months before the trip, although I wonder if the international "Goldilocks window" of 2-8 months would be more appropriate for Hawai'i.  At any rate, I'm procrastinating because the prices I've seen weren't cheap enough.  Unfortunately, I don't think I've seen prices that low since.  I'm going to wait a little longer because hey, in for a penny, in for a pound.  But I fear that prices will only go up from now, and I'll have to pay even more.

Knowing when to buy a plane ticket at its cheapest is a dark art.

Sprinkler System Follies

I still don't understand why in the hell my parents put in an automated sprinkler system for our house.  Sure, moving around a sprinkler to make sure all parts of both front and back yards got water was a pain in the ass, but does that mean we need to install a whole automated sprinkler system?  What would the neighbors think about us?  And what if there's a drought?  Climate change is bringing ever closer the possibility that we won't be able to water the grass whenever we want, so why in the hell would we ever want an automated sprinkler system?

No matter, the 'Rents put them in.  And therefore I wasn't that cognizant that, once they left before watering season began almost a couple months ago, I would have to tend/worry about it.  Hell, if I had my druthers, I would just let the grass yellow and die.  It would save me from mowing, that's for sure.  But I think my folks would prefer green grass because apparently it's an ostentatious sign they achieved The American Dream.

Problem is, I barely know anything about how it works.  What I do know I had to learn because my parents asked me how the system worked and if there are any instructions to do this or do that.  It's one of those times where they essentially say, "You're an American boy!  Why can't you read English?  I can't read English!" moments throughout my life that have made me resentful towards them.  That doesn't mean I can fix a problem if something really bad happens -- say, for example, a flooded basement, or leaks on the outside pipe, the latter of which appeared to have happened when I checked said outside pipe just after work on Tuesday.  Had no idea what to do, so I turned a handle, and the water stopped shooting out all over the place.  Then I re-screwed some, uh, cap thingy because water was squirting out from under it.  I did my best to screw that cap in place, then I turned that handle the other way, and there was no leak.  Score for me, I guess.

However, I still don't know if everything works.  And because operating the sprinklers is a seasonal thing, matters about it that I would be on top of in the summer I have totally forgotten after a winter.  For example, the pipes are closed off for the winter, so if you want to water the lawn, you have to turn all the handles to open.  That creates an ominous-sounding whooshing sound throughout the house.  That's the water that had been cut off close to the, uh, main standpipe up to the edge of the house's pipe.  I thought the basement was going to flood, and indeed, parts of the pipe system at the back of my house was gushing with water ... and then it stopped.  The water had to achieve a new equilibrium, or something.

And then I have to worry about the grass itself.  There is the far corner of the front lawn, one that's next to the street and bordering along the neighbor's driveway, that always gets dry and yellow and brittle every summer.  If we're installing a sprinkler system, you use that system to prevent such things from happening.  And so I need to adjust the run time cycle of the sprinklers that do both yards so that that part of the frontyard gets some wet lovin'.  Haven't had time to figure that out yet.

And then I remembered that the last cycle/routine, the one my parents wanted, shut down the sprinklers in the backyard.  They wanted to water the backyard, and in particular the garden back there, manually.  Well shit, man, why in the hell do we even have an automated sprinkler system if you want to sprinkle water by hand?  Anyway, I forgot about this skipover, and so I see the backyard getting all dry and yellow.  I need to edit the cycle so that the sprinklers in the back go operational.  But I'm paranoid as fuck that because of a whole year of dormancy, those sprinklers won't work.  They'll keep watering well after the run time is over, or the hoses underneath the surface of the grass rupture and, well, flood the basement.

So, do I add the back sprinklers and risk a leak, or do I not get them operating and see the grass die?  Those were the choices I thought I had.  At first I compromised by bringing down the run times for each station and then adding the back sprinklers Tuesday night.  That way, I figure, if there is a huge rupture in the guts of the system, that particular, uh, operation won't last more than five minutes before it automatically shuts down and goes to the next set of sprinklers.  Or something.

And then yesterday/Wednesday morning, I realized something: I'm filling in for someone yesterday, today and tomorrow, and that entails a two-hour shift in my start time.  The cycle begins at 8 a.m.; I don't need to get to work until 9 the rest of the week.  So why don't I just shorten the cycle times for each set of sprinklers, cycle through all of the stations to see if they work, get the peace of mind I need to go on in life, and get to work on time?  The only way to do that is to shorten the three pre-determined cycles for the frontyard even further than I did Tuesday night.  Turns out that you can change run times for stations mid-routine, like I did, but only if that particular station hasn't started up yet.  Good to know.  Unfortunately, I didn't change the times before the routine began, and so I couldn't see all three backyard cycles start spritzing before I had to leave for work.  But I was able to see the first two, and they all seemed to work.  More important, after I got back from work I checked the basement and the pipe that leads outside -- no leaks.

Good.  Now (assuming there are no disasters coming down the line), the next pressing matter is finding the right times to water all parts of my yards without overdoing it and overpaying for it.  And then some of the sprinklers should have its spray radius adjusted so that it could spit out more water to the parts of the lawns that need it.  And all I need to do to figure all that out is some time and space -- neither of which I have right now.

Brooks Koepka And The Passion Of The Mob

I should've known Brooks Koepka was going to flip to the LIV Tour/Saudi Golf League.  In the run-up to last week's U. S. Open, he snapped back at a reporter's question about the LIV/SGL by saying he's tired of such questions, which cast a "black cloud" over the major.  There were other golfers (I think that included Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm) who made clear and unambiguous declarations of loyalty to the PGA Tour.  Koepka did not do that.  Looking back at it, that "black cloud" statement was him not choosing a side ... which should have made me think that he had chosen a side, and it was the bad one.  Oh, and he took a shot at The Media, too -- that's always a sign that a guy knows he's made a decision that won't look good in public.

Well, I heard on SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio Monday -- some guy in the morning, not "Gravy And The Sleaze," puke -- that Koepka was going to defect.  Some eagle eye noticed that his Twitter bio took down any and all mentions of "PGA Tour" Monday night and yesterday/Tuesday it was announced that he was going to go LIV, so to speak.  Koepka had been seen as one of the stalwarts fighting back against the upstart tour, but as Golfweek writer and cutthroat wordsmith Eamon Lynch details with such precision, he complained until the Saudis met his price.

I don't know why, but Koepka flipping hits me in a way none of the other defections like Lefty or DJ did.  This was already a wild story in the world of sports; for some reason, this particular flip makes this PGA/LIV showdown not just an existential fight for the soul of professional men's golf, but it may be the sports story of 2022.  And all such stories become the sports story of the year because they touch on issues that transcend sport -- in this case, politics, morality, and what one could and should do for money.

I thought Koepka was a stand-up dude.  I took his side over Bryson DeChambeau in their pissing match because he seemed to not be a dick.  Hell, he just got married and hired Ludacris for the wedding reception.  How cool is that?  But then after reports he's going to flip, I hear stories of him openly hating golf, and insisting he only cares about winning majors.  Oh, and he wants fuckin' money, of course.  Well, with this deal and the signing bonus I presume he got from the Saudis, he's got a lot of fuckin' money and he can play golf a lot less.

As for the majors?  Well, that might be the final decision point as to whether the PGA Tour continues to thrive or, frankly, dies out.  It appears as though everyone can play in the (British) Open next month, but next year the organizations running the (British) Open, the U. S. Open, the PGA Championship and the Masters will decide whether or not all traitors defectors can accrue Official World Golf Ranking points on the LIV Tour and qualify for the majors normally, or not.  For the sake of the PGA Tour and, in my estimation, the free world, they have to say no.  Because if they say yes, there is no reason, absolutely none, for the PGA Tour to even stick around -- not if there's a competing tour that provides a safety net (signing bonuses, no cuts, prize money to the guy who finishes last) instead of the PGA Tour's enduring meritocracy.

Right now, the PGA Tour and golfers are at a turning point.  There is a panic going on in the sport.  And although Koepka is only the eighth golfer in the world top 50 to flip to the LIV/SGL, observers predict more stunning defections by the time the list is announced for the next tour stop, next week in Portland, Ore.  Momentum heavily favors the Saudi upstarts, and I'm not sure that the PGA Tour's "Hey, we will give you the same things the Saudis give you!" concessions they announced yesterday/Tuesday will stem the tide, especially if the bodies that oversee the majors don't say no to the LIV.

Problem is, people get more stupid in a crowd.  Some libertarian "visionary" decides he'll buy his way into power (see Gates, Zuckerberg, Musk and Greg Norman), he bribes a few high-profile people to join him, and then more and more people rush toward the money because they believe that 1) they're going to be a part of something bigger and better than the tour they were in before and 2) the spigot will stop if they jump in too late.  When people don't think and instead are ruled by emotion -- either fear of missing out or arrogance of being part of a special group they know others are not a part of -- they do stupid, stupid things.  And the bigger the group, and/or the more scared they get, the stupider they get.

So how will the golfers who have defected and will defect manifest this zombie groupthink?  This might be a stretch, but I don't think so, so bear with me.  Let's say the majors allow LIV players to play on that tour and compete in the majors by qualifying like they always have.  That convinces the rest of the big stars to flip to the LIV because the Saudis are shoveling tens of millions at them to play as sparingly as they would like.  The PGA Tour as we know it ceases to exist.  And so PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan has to meet with Norman and the Saudis controlling the SGL to either agree to terms of merging what is left of the PGA Tour to the LIV ... or to tell Norman and the Saudis to kiss his ass, he'd rather die than give anything to them.

At that point -- and I can see the destruction of the PGA Tour moreso than ever -- I can see what would be the best-case scenario: Norman and the LIV being rude to Monahan and the PGA Tour on Twitter with Trump-esque insults.  The worst-case scenario?  Norman brings some Saudi goons to beat the living shit out of Monahan for not kissing Norman's ring.  (And by the way, how did Greg Norman become such a libertarian asshole?)  Oh, and someone somehow videotapes the beating.  And the footage gets out.

Either way, the top-end golfers will be asked questions about how they feel about those controlling their billion-dollar golf tournament acting like mobsters.  Many of them (at least I think) will be shocked ... but they can't go anywhere, because they have nowhere else to go.  So, many of them will be silent.  And some will be stupid enough to defend Norman and the Saudis' thuggish actions, or at least criticize those who criticize them, something I like to call "third degree defending," an insipid and cowardly method of arguing where you try to defend the monsters with which you've thrown in your lot without looking like you are defending the monsters with which you've thrown in your lot.  But you have.

I admit it looks far-fetched, but I don't think it is, at least not anymore.  The passion of the mob, as evidenced by Koepka's corrupted about-face, can call into question the existence of a tour that has been around since 1968.  And that same passion can make you overlook many things -- like saying you won't whore yourself for a tour that you suddenly decided to whore for because someone met your price for being a whore.

Addendum To: Addendum To: Addendum To: Heat Wave Begins

When I left for work yesterday/Monday morning, I made a note of how hot the thermostat says it was and compared it to how hot it was going to be when I came back home.

It was 81 in the morning and it was 85 when I got back.  Knowing that it was going to reach triple digits (I think the Twin Cities reached 102 on Monday), I thought it would be much higher than 85.

The heat wave has dissipated, but it's still hot.  And yet I've just opened up the windows and with the, uh, non-calm wind, it feels ... manageable right now, as I type this.

Addendum To: Addendum To: Heat Wave Begins

And, presumably, the heat wave is supposed to end sooner than I told you all it would end.  I misread the expiration time of the Excessive Heat Warning; it's not 1 p.m. today/Tuesday, but 1 a.m., or in other words less than a half-hour from when I am typing these words.  And I feel bad for somehow mistaking that.

In any case, it feels even hotter right now than Sunday.  That's because it was, technically, hotter than Sunday.  Yesterday/Monday, I think around 4 p.m. (the time I got home), it reached its high of 102.  And with the humidity it was supposed to feel like 105.  Ick.  The ambient heat has gotten into the house, and as much as I tried not to, I have cranked up the air conditioning, at least as I type this.  I'm still going to try and put on the fan overnight and hope that'll be cool enough for my body to let me sleep.

It'll still be hot the rest of the week; most of the days it'll reach past 90.  But nothing like Sunday or Monday.  Thank goodness; I don't understand why people prefer hot weather to cold.  Those people are weird.

Addendum To: Heat Wave Begins

So I caved.  Sort of.  While brushing my teeth -- in the downstairs bathroom to beat the heat -- I repeatedly went back upstairs to bring up all the fans that are in the basement.  And the difference in heat and humidity going up and down was so stark that, well, I got in my head that it would be unbearable to sleep with air conditioning.  So I turned it on.

But for, at most, an hour.  Because I was lying in my bed and feeling comfortable, but feeling guilty at all the money I'll eventually have to pay.  I felt I could sidestep the issue by turning off the AC but run the ... I guess you can call it the central fan, so I did.  And I fell asleep.  And it felt good enough that I did not wake up in a sweat.  Hopefully that saves myself some money.

For the record, I step out of the house with the thermostat reading 81 degrees.  We'll see how much that warms up while I'm working the hottest day yet.

Heat Wave Begins

Technically, according to the National Weather Service, the Excessive Heat Warning began at 1 this afternoon and won't lift until 1 p.m. Tuesday.  I avoided leaving the house altogether today, but I can't avoid it the next two days because I have to work.  I still plan on going out to my car and taking (or trying to take) naps tomorrow and Tuesday afternoon; I hope I don't bake myself to a crisp in my car.

I have periodically turned on the air conditioning today.  I know that if Father were here, he would do all he can not to turn it on until he absolutely has to.  I would always resent that because it'd be hotter than hell upstairs; it's way cooler downstairs, where my parents' bedroom is, and I sometimes wonder if they don't turn on the AC because they think everything's fine.  But now that I'm in charge of paying the electric and gas bills, I'm doing my damndest not to turn it on until the heat drives me crazy.  Yes, I've become My Father, and on Father's Day, no less.

"You Know You Got Your Dick Out?"

Yeah, ******a, I do -- and I am so turned on because I think this is the first time ever I heard her refer to my "dick."

Not that she did anything to it.  She didn't and still won't.  But I'll still take it as a turn-on.

She Spoke In English (For Once)

Visited Grandmother's best friend this afternoon.  Before she was incommunicative and, sometime, irascible.  She wasn't today, although I still couldn't understand her.

Except ... when I wheeled her chair back inside (she spends most of her days now with her wheelchair at the edge of her door, table of Lays and generic lemon-lime pop, watching everybody go up and down the hallway -- it's like people-watching from your front porch, except, you know, she's in a nursing home) today and she began to talk, she spoke in English.  First she said, "When you come up here, you have to think about what you're going to say."  Huh.  And then she said, "No matter what you say or what you do outside, tell people I am happy to be here."

And then she reverted back to Vietnamese and, like several times before, her voice started to crack and her eyes began to moisten.  She was sad about ... something, but again, because I can't understand her, I don't know what.  Maybe she isn't happy to be there as she said.

I wonder sometimes how lonely she is.  Also, are they drugging her up in an effort to make her docile?  Because that might make her even more confused and lonely.

I don't know if growing old is worth it.

The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey

#-1: Twins (Last Week: -1).  Uh-oh.  A 3-3 screening Week combined with a division rival going 8-2 over its last ten Games means that the Twinks' once-huge lead in the American League Central is now gone.  Don't look now, but the Cleveland Guardians -- they of the never-ending stories of player salary woe with the occasional thinkpiece of whether one of the most venerable franchises in Major League Baseball will even stay in Cleveland -- are, as of press time, just one Game back.  Gazoinks!

Sure, that stretch where Minnesota played Toronto, the Yankees and Tampa may have slowed them down.  Didn't help that they got blanked by the Mariners, 5-0, in Seattle on Tuesday, even though they actually won the series.  But this appears to be just a case where a competitor has gotten hot.  Unfortunately, what once seemed like a comfortable stroll through the season suddenly has turned into a fistfight.  Let's hope the Twins have the moxie to fight back.

The club finishes up a three-Game series in Arizona this weekend.  Cleveland then comes here for as important a three-Game set as you'll ever have in June.  Then they host Colorado for three.

#-2: Lynx (Last Week: -2).  Basketball fans, it is official: The Minnesota Lynx have The Worst Record In The Women's National Basketball Association.  Going 0-3 for the Week (one of them to previous worst record-holder Indiana on Sunday, and at Target Center, by God) and losing four in a row in total will contribute to that.  Sure, the last two defeats were close: The Fever beat the Jynx by four and Seattle struggled but had a last-minute score to win by a basket.  It's gotten to them a bit, as you would expect from any squad on a losing streak.  But I haven't heard any dissension, or grumblings about Cheryl Reeve -- yet.  Instead there's anodyne talk about how they've "almost put it together," and "we're close."  Grenades, horseshoes and dancing.  Whatever.

Still no timetable on a return for Sylvia Fowles.  Reeve continues to shuffle her lineup.

On the road to face Las Vegas (tomorrow/Sunday) and Phoenix (Tuesday).  That's a start of a home-and-home; the Mercury return the favor Thursday.

So About This Two Golf Tournaments Thing ...

I was listening to satellite radio last week, on the crest of the first tournament of this LIV Tour, this upstart golf tour backed by members of the family that rules Saudi Arabia.  It had been revealed recently that this LIV picked up many players from the PGA Tour, including Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, and Bryson Dechambeau.

Many of you know this.  If you don't, you should know by now.  But Saudi Arabia has been both this country's ally and a very, very sketchy actor on the world stage.  There is indisputable evidence that henchmen hired by someone in the Saudi ruling family beat, killed and dismembered journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul.  The country executed 81 people on the same day in March; I am a proponent of the death penalty, but even I'm thinking, "Whoa."  Finally, there are connections between the ruling family and many of the terrorists who carried out 9/11.

It is that family that's bankrolling this LIV Tour.  And among many other differences between it and the PGA, the money is the big thing.  Not only are the pots for the eight tournaments this year each going to be bigger than any tourney on the PGA, many of the big names have signed guaranteed contracts.  Apparently Lefty and DJ have signing bonuses in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

All well and good ... until you begin to grasp the bigger picture.  This is "sportswashing," the idea that oligarchs and countries can use sports to paint them in a more positive light despite its human rights violations.  Moreover, it is LIV's mission to poach the PGA's best players; without them, the PGA will cease to exist.  Ostensibly the LIV provides competition with the PGA.  I believe its secret mission is to destroy the PGA.  I can't see two competing top-money global golf tournaments surviving in perpetuity.

It's that backdrop -- even though the sportswashing is more important on a moral level than the survival of the PGA -- that served as a talking point on this show on Sirius XM's PGA Tour Radio called "Gravy And The Sleaze."  That's a name for a morning zoo show on a shock rock terrestrial station, not on a channel dedicated to the staid, stately world of golf.  But after hearing these two dumbass's takes on this, turns out it's as intelligent as a morning zoo.

They're totally pro-LIV.  The talked about how competition is good, even though the upstart "competitor" has upwards of $2 billion to sink into this project.  More than that, though, these two guys (and I can't tell these two dipshits apart) pulled out that argument many MAGAts do: Whataboutism.  Many callers actually supported -- if not favored -- LIV by saying that many PGA Tour players play in China, another country with a horrible human rights record.  Both Sleaze and Gravy opened up their gobs and said, "Yeah!  That's right!"  There was one caller who pointed out that golf events in China aren't backstopped by the Chinese government while the LIV Tour is (a good point, although the degrees of separation between the tours' backers and their respective governments isn't that different), and either Gravy or the Sleaze said something about getting money from the Chinese tour, so that's not different at all, whatever the hell that means.  And then I got so angered by their greed that I had to change the channel.

Whataboutism is just an excuse money whores use to whore themselves for money.  Scratch deep enough, everyone's a hypocrite.  And there should be some re-examination of Americans' dalliance with China and by extension the Chinese government -- although it practically is harder to extricate all ties with China because of their ubiquitous presence in manufacturing.  I mean, how many clothes do you wear that say "Made In Saudi Arabia?"

My point is that just because other people are doing something that they shouldn't be doing doesn't give you permission to do something you shouldn't be doing.  For all those who say, "Does it really matter where you get your money from?" I want them to read this story detailing the death and dismemberment of Khashoggi and ask me -- and themselves -- if they're really, truly comfortable taking blood money from the Saudi family that's funding the LIV Tour.  If you have any morals, you don't.

The idea that the entire world is a free-for-all and so you're just trying to get your paper is just a rationalization not to do the right thing.  Many golfers who've signed on the dotted line for LIV signed with the blood of people the ruling Saudis had killed simply because they don't like them.  And The Sleaze and Gravy both are on their knees and downing bucketfuls of mouthwash so they can fellate the Saudis and get that same blood money.  Those two talking heads probably think the January 6 insurrection was legitimate political discourse.

There are way too many people who think like these two goddamn bozos.  And so I am hoping that climate change comes quick and incinerates this entire world and the human race, because we clearly have shown we don't deserve to live.

Bad Driver: 9Z***(*?)

I haven't had as bad, nor as scary, a driver in a long while as this motherfucker.  Guy, who I think was in a black muscle car, tears past and cuts in front of me while I began my way back home.  We run up to an intersection that's blocking our lane.  I cut over to get past what appears to be an accident, but this asshole cuts in front of me again, trying to skitter past me without putting his turn signal on.

I honk the horn and that white piece of shit really went off.  He drove past me, but he was gesturing with his left arm (with tattooed sleeve) all the way to the intersection where I wanted to take a right.  But he was on that lane and taking a right, so I decided to go straight.  But then this crazy-ass fuck drives onto my lane ... so I cross over to the other lane so I can take a right ... but then this guy goes back to the turn lane ... so I have to go back to the other lane so I can go straight, and thankfully other cars came inbetween me and that psycho so he couldn't go back on my lane.  Didn't stop him from stopping and continuing to yell at me as I drove past.

Still shook.  I doubt that I'll see him again ... but I can't guarantee that knowing my luck.  I'm really fearful that if I leave work the same time today as I did yesterday, I'll run into him again.  I'm so paranoid that I'm seriously thinking about going home on a different route, just to make sure.

Anyway ... so it's a white guy with tattoos covering his whole left arm.  He was driving (I think) a black muscle car with a special Minnesota license plate.  I think the plate had a fish on it, I don't know, but I'm sure it's one of those special Critical Habitat ones.  And I didn't catch the whole license, but the first two characters were "9Z."

So, if I get murdered on the road, you'll know the fucker who did it.

Expenses Without Receipt

Starting from Tuesday, June 14:

• Went to Moler to get my face shaved.  My hairs were getting too long and I didn't want to shave myself, even though I should be trying to save money whenever possible.  Guy who shaved me was great -- deliberate, didn't cut corners, asked me at every step of the process about what he was going to do (especially with hot towels) and whether I needed anything (to put my glasses on the counter, if I wanted aftershave).  The only drawback was that there was some guy, probably a student who didn't have any clients, consistently coughing while cutting it up with some of the other guys in a corner of a huge but probably unventilated room.  Hope I don't get COVID after this.  He was so good, I gave him a fiver for a tip, so the total came out to: $14.
• To Friday the 10th ... ***e* called me earlier in the week to say that she was coming to town from Wisconsin and she was bringing ******e with her.  ******e was living in Las Vegas, but for reasons I still don't understand, she's moving back to Minnesota.  While she's getting situated back here, they thought they could make some money taking turns jerking me off.  I hope this doesn't get to be a frequent thing because it's really wrecking my accounts.  But it was good to see both of them.  And I was able to cum a day after jerking off on my own, so not only do I still have "it," they still make me lose control.  Total: $140240.
• Later that evening I went to a concert -- Mansionair, at the Turf Club.  I was going to buy a ticket online, but I balked after seeing the convenience fee.  Then I remembered: I don't have to buy a ticket online.  I can just show up at the venue and pay for a ticket there.  There wouldn't be a fee then, would there be?  And even if it is, it'd certainly be less than the, what, six bucks I had to pay online?  The only risk I was running was showing up and seeing that there were no tickets left.  That didn't happen to Mansionair, who I last saw at the Varsity open up for band Bob Moses and were good for their short hour-plus concert Friday night.  And the ticket cost $23, so I don't know if there was a fee tacked onto that.  Add a Loon Juice can and tip and I spent: $32.
• OK, I found a dime.  Don't remember where, and I don't remember when beyond the probability I didn't find it on June 10.  I just don't want to add a date just so I can say I picked up a dime off the ground and have that cash "transaction" be the only thing on that date.  So I'm lumping this in on the 10th.  It's my OCD.  An Infusion of: 10 cents.
• Assuming I'm not missing anything, we go back to Sunday, May 29, where I went to Blue Sun Soda Shop to stock up on craft pop.  Bought two: A Whistler for which I returned a bottle, and Blue Sun's new proprietary/generic brand, Billy's Bubble Pop.  There are five flavors, and the color you would associate with each flavor is not the color of the pop.  For example, I bought the cherry soda, and it's blue.  Both pops were delicious.  Total: $3.74.
• That evening ******a came over to rub me down.  I miss her massages, but I now think I have to pace myself with them because it's burning a hole in my pocket: $120.
• To Friday the 27th: After work and to start shopping for the long Memorial Weekend, I went to Caribou because a new ... uh, what do they call their new small-footprint, drive-thru-leaning stores, "cabins?" opened and they had a dollar-off deal for all handcrafted beverages.  I got a large cookies 'n' cream.  With tip: $6.68.
• Back to Saturday, May 21 ... I think I went to Dunn Bros. that morning because I had two bucks in rewards that was going to expire if I didn't use them by that day or shortly thereafter.  I got something to drink and something to eat, don't remember exactly what.  With tip: $7.16.
• That afternoon I went to the University of Minnesota baseball season finale, where they had a lead against Northwestern in the eighth Inning and lost.  Like I said before, this program appears lost.  Hot dog and Coke: $11.50.  (And by the way, I think I've blog posted this before, but all the straws continue to be broken.  One end is so brittle that it immediately cracks under the slightest pressure.  Not only does that make it difficult to suck up your soft drink, your tongue could get stuck inbetween the busted-up shards of straw.  I first saw this, I think, back in the fall for a U. soccer Match.  And they still have these fucking shitty straws!!!)
• On Friday the 20th I went to the Rogue Buddha for the first time since before the pandemic.  It was great seeing the owner, and I'm glad he's still around and thriving.  I donated some money in the gallery's petty cash box: $3.
• I then went outside to see an artist selling his art right outside Rogue Buddha.  Oh, this is during Art-A-Whirl.  I bought a sticker, and he invited me to grab another one free.  Cool.  Cost: $2.
• Thursday, May 19 -- oh, ***e* and ******e double-teamed me then, too.  Two times in less than a month ... OK: $240.
• On Monday the 16th, after work, I went to the Twin Cities Auto Show at the State Fairgrounds.  And like I blog posted, that day became much less about the car show and more about the Minnesota State Fair.  I collected few brochures from makes, and instead just spent the evening going around and eating and drinking everything, namely the Fresh French Fries, Cheese-On-A-Stick, lemonade, duck drummies and a Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy from Giggle's, a small chocolate shake from the Blue Moon Drive-In, and Tom Thumb mini-donuts.  What car show?  All told I shelled out: $47.
• Back to Saturday the 14th, where I stopped by Burger King before visiting Grandmother's best friend, who went nuts on my visit.  Spent: $7.08.
• Afterward I went to ******a's place to get a massage because it was on the way home.  She was frisky that day; she let me touch her boob!  Cost: $120.
• And because it was the first summery day I felt all season, I went to a local ice cream shop called La Michoacana Rose.  It's a Mexican ice cream shop, or an heladeria, and their chocolate ice cream is terrific.  It also gave me intestinal distress, but hey, it was cold ice cream on a hot day.  With tip: $7.55.  (ETA at 9:45 p.m. on June 20 that I have a receipt for this after all and so I don't necessarily need to keep this here and therefore I will strike it through.)

Phew.  Done through June 14.

Oh, You Stupid, Stupid Girl

Near the end of the day at work yesterday/Monday, someone comes up to me, she's holding a bag, which makes me believe she's one of these people who drop by to get a specimen and deliver it to somewhere else.  She needs my help getting through the secure door.

No problem.  Did she write her name in the log, because it has to be documented when she was in an area where she doesn't have her own code and is thus not authorized to be there?  Sure, she said.

Sure isn't yes.  I should blog post about this more.  But I digress.

And I get more inquisitive.  Does she thus need me to get her out of the building?  The exterior doors are also secured, and so if can't get through this door, she can't get through the outer door either.  No, she says, she's got a code for that door.

Oh, and I'm thinking aloud here, it's weird that she has a code to leave the building but not a code to get through this part of the building.  You see, if you are going through an area you don't have a code for, someone has to escort you.  Because we're dealing with sensitive information.  And she should know that, because she comes here all the time.  And I'm saying all of this, stream of consciousness-like, while entering my code.  And when I hit the enter button, this narcissistic bitch immediately just breezes through the door and melodically says-sings, "Thank you!"

Excuse me, little girl?  I'm confused as to what the hell you're doing in an are you're not supposed to be in, and you just blow me off?  I could not get her back for her attitude problem except to say, "You're welcome!" in that same goddamn annoying singsong way she threw in my face.

OK, I need to step back on this.  I got triggered because in my, uh, deliberate way of going through what she's doing in my work area and why she needed my help getting out -- people who deliver specimens don't go through my area a whole lot, if at all -- it appears as though she completely ignored me.  She didn't take my concerns of violating a secure space and doing what you're supposed to do seriously, and therefore she didn't take me seriously.  That sucks, and I'm afraid I'll have to face her ugly-ass face and entitled attitude in the very near future.

But there is something beyond this I have to consider.  Why did she blow me off?  Could she just be a bitch?  Sure.  Is it possible that she was confused by me when I didn't understand how she needed me to get through this one door but not the exit door, and she didn't want to explain herself, or even didn't think she had to?  Yeah.  That would provide more evidence that she is an unserious, bitchy individual who isn't taking the job or the company seriously, however.

However, is it possible she felt ... threatened by me?  That she didn't understand what I was talking about and that she wanted to get away from me as fast as possible?  That certainly wasn't my intention, but I don't think that means she gets to waltz around anywhere she wants to go.  Or, how about this: Did she think I was hitting on her?  My God, that could be it, couldn't it?  Well, she's a millennial or a Gen Z'er, and she's got bad skin, not to mention a pissy attitude, so if she felt that way, she's flattering herself.  I'm scared that she felt scared that I was talking to her in a way that made her feel uncomfortable.  Then that brings up larger hot-button issues like toxic masculinity (to my detriment) and generational fragility (to my benefit, and yeah, I want to believe this is true).  What would really be frightening, then, is if she complains about me to someone.  Then I'll have to defend myself, and however clearly and strenuously I speak my truth, the powers that be might not back me up.

Her fucking bullshit pissed me off so much that I had to drop by my boss's office to explain the situation and ask for some insight.  He said that like with me, there are some areas where these delivery people have access and don't have access.  OK, so I have areas I'm restricted from too; that makes sense.  But if that's the case (and I hate that I didn't think of this until, well, last night), what in the fuckety-fuck was she doing in an area where she didn't have access?  Yeah, I could escort her through, but really, the only people I see being escorted through our area are the cleaning crews and people hired to fix our copiers and scanners.  Why in the hell is some delivery girl, who should know better, sauntering around where I work?  I'm not the problem.  She is.

Oh, God, little girl, why in the hell were you where you weren't supposed to be?

More Money, Less Sleep ... And Then No Money

Being short-staffed at works means copious opportunities for overtime.  Such is the case this/Monday and tomorrow/Tuesday morning.  Got a text yesterday/Sunday afternoon from my other boss saying we can come in early for some data entry.  Since I don't have to pray for someone to let me into the lab, I think I'll take her up on her offer.

So, why am I awake now when I have to wake up three hours later?  That's a good question.  Anyway ...

... I want to make as much money as I can.  But I just did some mental math about the things I spend.  Just yesterday/Sunday I ate out for lunch and dinner; went to shop for groceries in two places; bought a ticket to a concert; and indulged in some iced tea.  There will be more spending today/Monday because I'll need some damn fine coffee to get me through the wee hours of the morning, plus I need to get a proper massage from the service up the street.

I think I spent more than $200 (all charged to my credit card) yesterday/Sunday.  I think I'm going to ask ******a to rub me down this week.  And I have a stripper party to go to this week, too.  Doing some rough calculations, I think I make, after everything is taken out, a bit more than $13 an hour.  A massage from ******a is thus less than 10 hours of my paycheck, this party probably 16, and what I spent yesterday was also close to 16.  That's more than a typical 40 hours per week ... which means I'm damn glad I am coming in early today, probably coming in early tomorrow, and did a full day back on Saturday.

But why don't I just, you know ... spend less money?  Another good question.

I Should Be On Vacation Now

I've spoken about how I'm jealous and quasi-upset that everybody seems to be taking a vacation this summer except for me.  That epiphany has hit me again now that I have attended the only Match Minnesota United FC has for the month of June, and even that wasn't a Game that counted; last/Saturday night I went to Allianz to see the side's friendly against SC Paderborn 07.  The Loons are back in league play, but I their next three contests are on the road.  They're not back at home until Independence Eve.

I have decided that any vacations I can take have to fit around any possible test scoring assignments I get (which I haven't gotten so far this year ... and I should worry more about that) and any MNUFC home Games because I'm a season ticketholder.  Starting today, there is a dead spot of about three weeks in which I could sneak away on a vacation.  It would be absolutely perfect.  But I can't.  Like I said in my blog post to which I linked above, I'm filling in for somebody pretty much every week until Labor Weekend.  (Ironically, this week is not one of those weeks ... but my boss told me I can't split because the company has inspectors coming in to do audits, and it's all hands on deck for times like these.)

So for the next three weeks without any United FC events to attend, I'll ... oh, I don't know, clean up the house, or exercise more, or sleep more.  Whatever.  But man, I could use a vacation right now.  I'm scared these three weeks will feel like three decades.

The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey

Before we begin, I want to take a deep breath here and welcome the slow period of The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey, where it is at its fewest number of entries; Minnesota United FC is on an International Break, so this Week's edition (at least) will be at the lowest it can be, with only two teams active.

#-1: Twins (Last Week: -1).  Blue Jays, Yankees, Bay Rays.  This was going to be the stretch of the season where this ballclub will find out what exactly they're made of.  And so far ... well, it's a 3-3 screening Week, but they still lead the Central as of press time by three Games, so it could be better and it could be worse.

Let's expand beyond the Week and talk about the previous two series.  They managed to take two-of-three in Toronto, although that one Loss was to former Twin Jose Berrios, who has had a bad season so far and yet struck out 13 Twinks over seven Innings, as if he has some lingering issues with the team that drafted him.  That 12-3 defeat still irks me because of him.  Then the squad came home and lost two-of-three to the Yanks, and the prevailing takeaway from fans is, "Well, at least we won once."  That is the harrowing depths to which we Twinks fans have Battered Woman Syndrome when it comes to facing the Yankees.  No matter that we -- my God, "we" -- had a chance to win the series capper Thursday, I guess.  Minnesota led the Bronx Bombers 7-3 after four Innings.  But starter Dylan Bundy gave way to a series of relievers who failed to the job, the worst of them being the once-formidable Jhoan Duran, who allowed four Hits the Game-winning and insurance Runs in a 10-7 come-from-ahead defeat.  The Bullpen, which was lights out and in fact carried the Rotation for the first six Weeks of the Year, has become an awful liability.

Meanwhile, there has been increasing concern over the slump Byron Buxton is in.  Or was.  He has hit two Home Runs in each of his last two Games.  I caught the second Homer against Tampa last/Friday night.  He had to dig deep to swing at the ball, and it didn't look like he got all of it, and yet it cleared left-center with several feet to spare.  Yeah, when he's not injured -- and most people aren't sure if he's playing at even close to 100% right now -- he's one of the most fearsome talents in the game.

Also meanwhile, it was revealed last/Friday night that Royce Lewis partially tore his Anterior Cruciate Ligament and will be out for a calendar Year.  Oy.  But at least the Twins are not the ...

#-2: Lynx (Last Week: -3). ... who split a two-Game set at New York, beating the Liberty by seven Sunday but getting blown out by 19 on Tuesday.  The very, very bad revelation came in that Loss, however, as it was revealed after that defeat that Jynx star Center Sylvia Fowles suffered a cartilage injury in her right knee and is out indefinitely.  Donde los yikes.

They weren't winning with Big Syl; right now the team is 3-10.  But if there is no timetable for their best player to come back to finish off her last season of playing ... well, like it or not, intended from the outset or not, the tankathon might as well begin now.  This team might as well start their future without Fowles now and lose on purpose to situate themselves for a high pick in next Year's 2023 WNBA Draft, which should be loaded; South Carolina rebounding machine Aliyah Boston and UConn wunderkind Paige Bueckers (who is One Of Us!!!) both will be eligible to declare.

In the meantime, it looks like it'll be the Dark Ages -- the first time in a long time -- for the Jynx.  I forgot in last Week's survey that they hosted Washington last/Friday night, and without Syl, they Mystics ran roughshod over Minnesota, 76-59.  The only team worse than the Lynx right now, the 3-12 Indiana Fever, come to town tomorrow/Sunday night; they then host Seattle on Tuesday.

Onanism No-No

Just jerked off, the night before two strippers are cumming here to give me a tandem handjob.  I'm not cumming as much, uh, cum as at my peak, which was at least before the pandemic (if not years before then), so I don't know if I've got, you know, bullets in my chamber to fire for ***e* and ******e later tonight/Friday.  It's be embarrassing if those two furtively jerk me off for, like, half an hour and I've got nothing to show for it.  Damn, I think I've just made a big, big mistake.

Hottest Babe In The Hooters Calendar: May 2022

Great month, I tell ya.  Maybe one of the greatest ever since I started buying the Hooters calendar.  Can't say that there any duds in the dozen gorgeous women gracing May '22.  That makes it extremely, uh, hard to choose which girls to point out and then rank them.  But with all due respect, I will.

I am going to rank seven, which is a record.  Not only have I never separated out so many Hooters waitresses for a month, I'm sure this is the first time I have chosen to recognize more than half of a month's girls.  It's an excellent month!

In seventh place is Madison, of Dayton, Ohio.  The only drawback to most of the photos in this month (although they are more than overpowered by the sheer beauty of the women -- that's how good May 2022 is) is that very few of the babes are posing with their bodies straight at the camera.  Madison is; in fact, she's on a swing, her beautiful smile and long, blonde wavy locks adorning a light blue two-piece bikini.

In sixth place is Madison, out of Weston, Fla.  She's also full frontal (so to speak).  She has long brown hair, some of it ending blonde.  A warm color/sunrise effect two-piece, and her right hand is grabbing the right side of her string bikini bottom, giving the illusion she's about to untie it.  Hot!

In fifth place is Orlando's Mattie.  Mattie's shot is different.  She is posing with her side facing toward us, and she's resting against a wood pillar.  She's got a black, connected one-piece bikini.  And she's not smiling.  But she's got a face and a look -- not to mention the long, straight blonde hair -- that is alluring, and tantalizingly sexy.  She is so hot, you really, really want to see her pose in a different way, but you're not mad at what you're looking at right now.

In fourth place is Virali, from Joliet, Ill.  Long, black hair, wearing a black two-piece, and she's grabbing her bikini bottom with her left hand while her right hand is holding the back of her head.  She is the only one smiling, and I mean smiling, grinning from ear to ear, and that smile makes her look devastatingly intoxicating.  Finally, and I just noticed this, she's got two tattoos -- one on her left forearm, one of what I think is a butterfly on her left bicep -- and this is, I swear, the first month where you can see Hooters girls with tats.  Fucking smoking!

(Aside: Another gigantic plus for the near-historic greatness of this month is the geographic diversity.  Usually the girls, and not just the ones I like the most, all hail from Florida or Texas.  But when it comes to the best ones for May 2022, there are babes from all over the United States.  That's a good thing, and I hope Hooters continues to reach out to find women from all their restaurants all over the country!)

In third place is The Main Girl, Enayyah, hailing from Daytona Beach, Fla.  Now, she's got her arms folded in front of her, which is a big no-no in my mind.  She also is wearing this yellow top (it is a two-piece though) that has sleeves that covers the whole arms.  But -- goddamn, she's fucking alluring.  Enayyah has long, black hair, a Mona Lisa smile, and either beautiful tan skin or a beautiful tan.  The whole package is very worthy of being The Main Girl.

In second place is Harmony, of Pelham, Ala.  Voluminous dark hair and a patterned two-piece.  But two details about her set her off.  One is the ass she's showing.  Yes, the Ass Showing Proviso applies, but it's way more than a perfunctory level up when it comes to Harmony.  She's posing with her side to us, so her ass is too us, and the 45% of booty she's showing is a juicy one.  The other detail are her tattoos.  Looks like she's got two tats on her right rib, one of a crescent moon and the other of ... uh, what looks to be a drawing of a pig.  Whatever -- tattoos are fuckin' hot!!!

Finally, in first place is Mia, from Addison, Tex.  Fucking gorgeous blonde with long hair.  Two-piece bikini with blotches of various shades of blue.  A come-hither, fuck-baiting smile.  And best of all, while she's posing in profile, she's swinging her hot ass out to us, showing off the, oh, 50% peach she's sporting out of her Brazilian cut bikini bottom.  She's lovely to look at, but in a field as crowded as this, it's that exposed dumper that puts Mia over the top.

So congratulations, Mia, and to all the women (ranked and unranked) in May 2022.  I have already masturbated to you all, but since this month is so goddamn good, maybe I'll do it again!!

Two Addenda

OK, first, I went to the dentist's on Thursday.  I did have to show a text of an appointment to a security guard, but the security guard I saw was not the "respect my authoritah!" toy cop I ran into before, so I didn't have to throw up my middle finger on him or anything, thank God.

Also, in my last blog post I referred to this brand new, first-of-its-kind-on-Earth Taco Bell as the "Spaceship" Taco Bell, but that is a very broad term.  The hive mind on Twitter, however, came up with probably a better reference: The movie Demolition Man, starring Sylvester Stallone and Wesley Snipes.  Remember that movie?  Because I don't.  I remember seeing it, but there are very few details from it I can recall.  I posted a status update that I went there last/Tuesday night, and a friend replied something about three seashells.  Was there a reference to seashells in the film?  If so, I stand corrected.  And regardless of whether or not there were seashells, from now on I think that new place should be called, instead of Taco Bell Defy, the Demolition Man Taco Bell.

OMG Spaceship Taco Bell!!!

I heard around this time last year about this brand-new, first-of-its-kind-on-Earth Taco Bell -- for some reason called Taco Bell "Defy" -- being built just over in Brooklyn Park, but then I forgot it until, I think, yesterday, when all my social media feeds lit up with the impending opening of this no-dining room, four-drive-thru lane, mobile order-catering, two-story restaurant with a kitchen on the second floor sending down your food on "vertical lifts."  Now, it is just Taco Bell.  Hell, I could walk to the nearest one if I wanted to.  And Taco Bell is a corporation, so is it really, like, important to go to the official grand opening of this potentially paradigm-shifting concept in fast food?

Uh, yeah, kinda.  The place already opened on the 2nd, dammit, but it "officially" opens to the public today, and I am going to grab food there, just to check it out.  I'm scared that the drive-thru lanes (and I'm going to order ahead so I can use one of the three dedicated to that, not the other, "real" drive-thru one) are all intractably busy and long, but they say people who order ahead and employees of delivery services will be able to pick up their orders in less than two minutes.  So I'll try it.  Besides, I want to take a close look at the building.  And I might video the belt bringing down my food.

Who's There?

OK, just about an hour ago, around 11 p.m., while I was making and drinking a smoothie in which I put in too much grenadine (the making of which in and of itself was an ordeal -- maybe I'll blog post about it if I haven't yet already), someone rang the doorbell.  Who in the hell would be coming over at 11 at night?

I froze.  I didn't know what to do.  But eventually I had to do something, so I went to the bay window to see a car, with its lights on, backing out of the driveway.  It's possible that if someone went up to the door and rang the doorbell, he or she could quickly realize it was the wrong house and/or a bad idea and scurried back into the car so he or she and the driver (I'm assuming the doorbell ringer is not the driver) could take off.  Whatever the case, the car was halfway down my driveway and halfway on the street when it froze.  I think they were looking at me through the window.  I got away from the window.  Why?  I don't know, I just went away.  I went back to the window shortly thereafter, and the car was gone.

I don't know what the hell that was.  But like I said, it's damn freaky to have someone ring your doorbell when you don't expect it, especially late at night.  If it's someone I know, wouldn't that person text me first?  Oh, right -- I stepped away from the window to check my phone to see if anyone said they had to drop by immediately.  But I got no texts.  So it's a total and complete stranger who got the wrong house.  

Or ... it's that goddamn crazy bitch who I thought was a stripper I wanted to rawdog.  She has all my information and went up to my house to see if it was me.  And when we locked eyes while I was at the window, they (they being her and her boyfriend, who I hear is a drug dealer) got visual confirmation that I live here.  Which means ... fuck, they're coming back to get me.

The Long Slog Of Going Through My E-Mail

My laptop, even with a new battery, felt too slow for me to go through the now-6,000 e-mails I've accumulated over the past couple months.  So I believe, or believed, that it would be better for me to do this task at one of the powerful computers at the library.  I mean, their hard drives never get hot.

But it's taking a little longer than I like.  First of all, I have to scroll all the way through two months' worth of e-mails in my inbox, and that takes time.  What I didn't think would happen was the load time for each e-mail as I go through each.  I don't have to wait until all the images in the message are completely loaded, thank God.  But I made the mistake of whipping through each message as soon as I saw the new headline.  I missed a lot of e-mails doing that so quickly.  See, this might be new or I might not have noticed until now, but every new e-mail message that you click on has a blue dot (at least it does on Yahoo!) next to the name of the sender, many of which in my case is someone running for office.  Once enough of the message is loaded, that blue dot goes away, the ticker in how many messages in my inbox are unread then goes down by one, and at that point I can go on to the next e-mail.  The time the first vestiges of the message pop up on this screen to the time the dot goes away is between two and three seconds -- not a glacial pace, to be honest, but it feels as though the message is taking a long time to load.  Those two-to-three seconds add up.  I have been here about an hour and I don't think I've made much of a dent in my unread caseload; it might be the gargantuan quantity I still have to go through, but what I consider to be the slow loading of each e-mail from two months back is not helping.

My goal, ambitious as it was, was to knock a thousand e-mails in the time I am here at the library.  I was going through my Facebook and my Hotmail, both of which are also way backed up, to be fair.  But I think I've gone through, ugh, 200 messages.  And now I want to go home and eat and nap before going out to work out in the evening.  This kinda sucks.

Money In, Money (Very) Out

Scheduled payments to both my credit cards just now.  And again, I am spending money like an old coffee maker is leaking water (like my alumni friend said on Zoom earlier last/Saturday night).  Mostly it's food, although I dined out enough in both monthly cycles that that contributed too.  Oh, and porn on OnlyFans.  And getting massages from ******a, that didn't help, either.

I remember back in the longest days of the pandemic that my bank account grew and in fact swelled.  There was nothing to do out of the house, so I stayed in-house, and so I had no chance to spend money nor charge anything to my credit card.  Now that I'm let out of the house and acting as if everything's back to normal, I'm whipping out my cards for anything I want to do.  And my bank account has shrunk back down as a result.

It's gotten to the point where the money I need to pay off my credit card bills is more than the money I'm bringing in from work.  That is a very, very bad thing.  And I want to do the right thing and not spend so much money.  But I probably won't help myself from my self-sabotage.

The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey

#-1: Twins (Last Week: -1).  Not a great Week for Twin Cities sports.  The Twinks repeat up here on the top spot despite going 3-5 in the screening Week, most notably losing four-of-five Games in Detroit.  So why are they up here?  Because the other two teams playing right now went winless for the Week.  Go fucking figure.

The injury bug has hit this squad kind of hard, most notably Byron Buxton, who's not on the Injured List but has been mired in a bad slump.  He's not producin', but hey, at least it's not so bad that he's out for, like, two Weeks.  But he is now allowed at least a Game off per series -- "load management," to use an NBA term.  We'll see how that goes.

But injuries aren't the only reason some Twinkies are not playing, at least not in Toronto this weekend.  Canada still (and rightly) has a law that states that no one who is not vaccinated against COVID-19 is allowed in the country.  Athletes aren't exempt, so for this weekend's series at the Blue Jays, Max Kepler, Emilio Pagan, Trevor Magill and Caleb Thielbar aren't on the team because they're fucking anti-vaxxers.  Goddamn, if there aren't enough objectionable players on this ballclub already, what with cheating Asterisk Carlos Correa.  By the way, he is on the IL.

At least those knuckleheads didn't hurt the team that employs that last/Friday night.  They busted out the boomsticks and tripled up the BJ's, 9-3.  Buxton went yard in a three-for-five night, so that's good.  Better yet, both Kyle Garlick and Jose Miranda hit two Home Runs in the tilt.  At least for one night they found the Offense that had deserted them for much of the past Week.

And Minnesota still has a healthy lead in the American League Central Division -- 4 1/2 Games, as of press time, on the Cleveland Guardians.  This recent back-up by the Twinks, while showing that this club may have some holes that need addressing, hasn't hurt them because the rest of the division fuckin' sucks.  None of the other teams in the division are above .500, even though Cleveland is only one Game below it.  The Tigers, who took four Games in that five-Game series versus the Twinks?  They sit at 21-31.  Says some damning things about the Twinks, but Detroit still blows.

However, this upcoming screening Week may flip Minnesota's fortunes.  After finishing up north of the border, they'll come home and play three vs. the fucking New York Yankees.  And then they'll have a three-Game weekend series against Tampa at Target.  Those are the two best teams in arguably The Best Division In Baseball.  These three series and eight Games will show us how good -- or not -- the Minnesota Twins can be.

#-2: United FC (Last Week: -2).  Before writing last Week's WMNSS, I didn't quite know that, beyond noting that New York City Football Club was second in the East, one writer for MLS.com called them The Most Complete Team In MLS.  Upon seeing that, my heart sank.  I had a bad feeling about Saturday night's Match against them.  And frankly, when they scored halfway through the First Half, I kind of thought it was Game Over.  And it was; try as the Loons might, they couldn't tie it up.

Maybe next Week I'll talk about their personnel problem.  But I have volunteered to pull in a full day of work today, so I want to get to bed as soon as possible.  I'll just say that, possibly because he's been pressed into yeoman's work, Dayne St. Clair has been The Best Goaltender In MLS, and experts right now believe he should be getting some love for Most Valuable Player, let alone Goaltender Of The Year.

The saving grace for this XI is that even as they're shuffling, MNUFC is still tied for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.  Right now they only lose out to the Houston Dynamo for that birth because of the second tie-breaker, which is Goals Scored.  So all's not lost as Major League Soccer pauses for the International Break.  The squad's next Match is a Friendly at Allianz against 2. Bundesliga outfit Paderborn, so its next real contest is at New England on the 19th.

#-3: Lynx (Last Week: -3).  We haven't seen the depths of helplessness and incompetence since before Cheryl Reeve was hired.  Defeats at home to Los Angeles and in Atlanta have dropped the Jynx to 2-8, tying them with, of all clubs, Phoenix for worst in the Women's National Basketball Association.  I don't know what Reeve is planning, or whether the current state of her team is something she expected.  But I do know that this is one sad last dance for the retiring Sylvia Fowles.

They have two consecutive contests at New York, tomorrow/Sunday afternoon and Tuesday night.

I Finally Feel The Great Resignation At Work

We've had people come and go semi-frequently since I got to the company, but mostly it was in my Main Department.  Don't know why so many come through there.  I hear some people were "asked" to leave due to poor performance, but lately the ones who left seemed to have just breezed through without so much as a peep as to why.  That includes one whose last day was Wednesday.  He couldn't have been at the job more than six months.

The other departments I've been in seem to be more stable.  There are a lot of lifers there, moreso than in the Main Department.  That is until I got to work yesterday/Thursday.  I saw through an e-mail my boss sent out that the guy who is The Fourth Department -- and who essentially acts as a one-man department -- is leaving in a few weeks to take a job out of state.  This comes out of the blue.  I think he's been at the company at least 20 years, bouncing around several jobs before he got to the Fourth Department, in which he has been at for many, many years.

So why did he leave, and for a job out of Minnesota?  I don't think he's a native Minnesotan, and he may be going back to his hometown.  But is it because, or also because, of the money?  I have heard of The Great Resignation -- both the outflow of people telling their bosses to take this job and shove it, and of people ditching their old jobs, maybe even after years of service, for something higher-paying.  I don't know if I'll ask him before he goes, but if the money's so, so much better than what he's making now, well, I guess I don't blame him for leaving and skipping town.  I'll miss him, though.  We talk about sports a lot, and he was always an amiable guy.  Well, except for that one time I asked if needed a ride.  Damn, he's militant about taking the bus.

Anyways, he takes with him a lot of institutional knowledge.  Plus, he really is the only guy who truly knows how that department works.  Of course I and a couple other people are going to have to step in on an interim basis, but even at our best, we won't be able to do what he does with such ease.  On top of that, with us needing to fill in at this department for the short (and possibly intermediate) term, I will be unable to take on any possible nighttime online testing jobs.  And even though those haven't come in yet this year, I won't be able to take any that could come up, and that irks me.  There is another person who is supposed to be in the position I'm in right now.  Even if that's filled tomorrow, the training process will take at least several months before that person could be deputized to do this job.  Blerg.

Finally, one other thing: If this guy left because of more money, and the people who left the Main Department also left for higher-paying jobs ... shouldn't I be looking for a higher-paying job, too?