Great, Another Phone Update

That's the last thing I need as I leave on vacay.  I still have PTSD from that time my iPhone said it needed to update and the damn thing broke.

But ... I started the update about three minutes ago, and apparently, it's now done.  And I still have my iPhone.  Phew, I guess ... ?

Guess I Should Start Packing, No?

I leave tonight and besides piling a few things (my 3-1-1 toiletry sandwich bag, my plug-in charger and earplugs), I haven't started packing.  I think I have decided to pack clothes I am still wearing.  But honestly, I think I haven't given it a second thought.  I should; not paying attention to what I need to take with me now will open up the possibility that I am rushing to throw everything into a suitcase and not figuring out I need to bring something I totally forgot.  That's where I'm at right now.

Have to be honest: If I didn't have to use that huge Seatgeek voucher in one fell swoop, I would not take this trip.  My plan -- and I thought SeatGeek told me this was possible -- was to use these over the course of the year on, like, three or more local concerts.  But I was lied to, and so I needed a big-ticket event to use all $149 on it.  My alma mater's football opener in Las Vegas was the only thing I could think of that interested me.  And then other things fell into place that made this vacay sensible: I could finally use my parents' condo, which they have repeatedly offered to me to use for fun; I could see my alma mater for the first time in years; and I have a solo vacation to boot.  To be clear, I would not miss those things if I didn't need to use this credit all at once.  So maybe that's why I'm so nonplussed about packing: It's not as if I am totally looking forward to this vacation, even though I should be.

Welp, time to pack.

So Hungry, So Tired

Like I feared, we were told to stick around to strike.  Got done around 2 in the morning.  Ugh, but we are going to get some sweet overtime beyond the really good rate we're already getting.

But we really, really worked hard and let into the night.  So much so (and I may be speaking for myself) that I didn't get to eat once the Game was over.  However, once we did get done, there was a lot of leftover pizza left.  I took a few slices (too bad two of them were Hawaiian, ugh) and I wanted to eat after I took a shower.  So I showered at around 3 and then ate the pizzas, and downed them with a can of cherry Pepsi that I got from the MNUFC Match.  I'm pretty sure I could have gone without eating so close to going to bed.  After all, I'm going to the Fair one more time later today.  But while I am tired, I was more hungry, so I ate and am deciding right now when to go to bed.

Work And Job

This week has been kind of weird, to be honest.  I initially took all this week off in anticipation of working somewhere else all week, even though I didn't work this Game last Year and wanted to.  When it wasn't looking as though I was working the Game all week, I had the option of taking back my paid time off to work at my day job instead.  I was severely lacking in paid time off later in the year.  But ... I really, really don't want to work in My Main Department right now.  Why?  Because I might hit somebody in the lab.

Guess I should talk about this now.  Once a week, all of us in The Main Department have to go in and open up packages to start getting urine samples ready to be tested.  It's a menial job, so everybody has to do it.  I think I've complained about this before, but sometimes these samples leak, and so you're reaching in to an open package and touching piss.  Sometimes it's really gross.  I don't know how people are unfazed by this, but I think I'm a very different person now that I have a job whereby I touch piss on occasion.  It's ... debasing.

Moreover, I had a run-in with one of the lab people a couple weeks ago.  This isn't the asshole who was riding me like a high schooler over accidentally cutting myself.  This was some older lady who has her own way of getting through all the hundreds of packages that we need to cut open and whose contents we need to get out for her, in that position, to scan into our system.  She was, let's just say, impatient, and I got that hostile vibe and so I kept away from her as much as possible.  I, of course, don't want to be there at all, but that does not motivate me to work faster.  Anyway, we were getting down to large packages, which the lab has as protocol the thing we do last because it takes time to open boxes that large packages usually come in.  I'm throwing the last of the packages onto the counter, and apparently one of them just happened to slide too close to her, so she throws it back to the other side of the counter -- missing me, but not by a lot -- and says, "No!  Not that!"  And that just made me vent at her: "Hey, sorry I threw that package your way!"  And it was loud enough for her and the other people at the workstation to hear, and probably to sense my defensive tone.

That was a couple weeks ago.  I am sure that if I added back dates this week, I would be sent into the lab.  And not as if I would run into her again -- like us, they are on a rotation as to who opens up packages at this station every day and every week -- but after that blow-up, I think it was a good idea to ensure that I don't go into that lab for another week.  I didn't go in there last week either (that was a decision made by my boss), and I think it's good I go at least two weeks without being seen in there.  Maybe cooler heads will prevail.

---

Where was I?  I didn't think I would talk about that incident because I want to talk about the gig I have today.  Anyway, I compromised; I went in to my main job on Monday because I wanted to take back one day of work.  Turns out, by the way, that the day I am taking off next week I am getting back; my boss asked me to come in on Saturday, and that would replace Tuesday, when I am coming back on my flight.  After these two weeks, I will have two more days off of paid time off I can take this fall and winter, which is two more than I thought I would have.

But I am only working this other gig today/Thursday.  The other days ... well, I went and am going to the State Fair.  It's weird to wake up whenever you want to instead of when you have to wake up.  I mean, it's great, but I remember that for three of these four days I could have gone in to work instead.  Instead, I'm waking up largely when my body wants to wake up, which was, I think, 10:45 Tuesday and around 9:15, maybe, yesterday/Wednesday.  And I have been lazing around thinking, "OK, what should I do?"  I am, hate to say it, kind of bored.

And this gig, by the way, starts at 1.  It's a lot better than having, say, a 7 a.m. call time.  But I woke up on my own at a quarter to 10 when I set my alarm for 11:30.  I think I'm ready to go to work now.  But I have 90 minutes to go before it's showtime.  And by the way, I think I am setting my alarm for 11 (to go to the Fair) tomorrow, but my body might be awake well before then.  I was looking forward to my body having time overnight to sleep and wake on its own, and yet it seems like I'm waking up too early.  I might be scaring myself more than I need to.

---

This blog post became different than what I initially thought it would be.

The Can Of Worms I Opened Up Is Making Me Fearful

All I asked were things about my parents' condo in Vegas when I'm using it for a few days -- how do you want me to deal with the trash, where are the bath towels, etc.  I need to know, of course.

But, like fucking always, my parents, in this case Mother, used that to ask other questions that are pressing to them but bring existential crises to me.  After she got done answering my innocent questions, she asked me if I want to buy the house.  Where the hell did this come from?  And how in the hell did you go from "Do you have soap in the guest bathroom?" to "How about I sell you the house through contract for deed?"

Now, to be fair, we have talked about this before.  They are getting up there in age, so they need to discuss the house at some point.  Also, my folks want to strip as much evidence of their Minnesota identity as they can.  This isn't a total blindside.  However, this Very Important Discussion reminds me of another step in growing up, and that's the last goddamn thing I want to do.  I don't want to stress over how to keep up with the house, so I keep it out of my mind as much as possible, even though that's exactly what you're not supposed to do.  That type of preparation scares me, and I don't need to be scared more than I have to be.

Spent almost seven hours at the Fair yesterday/Tuesday, from just past 1 p.m. to just before 8 p.m.  Did all the food and drinks I wanted to consume, and even though many reviewers thought this year was a very disappointing year when it comes to new foods, the four rookie foods I zeroed in on were all really good.  Had four drinks as well, all of which I liked.  The worst of the four, the Purple Reign IPA from Dino's, wasn't all that bad -- I was thirsty enough from all my walking that I was able to down it with ease -- plus I got these Prince-inspired, Lolita-like purple heart-lensed sunglasses.  By the way, the best of the drinks was the Honey 'n' Spice Espresso Shake-Up from Hamline Church Dining Hall.  It was so good that, when I go back (and I will, maybe even twice more, because I love the people-watching), I think I'll get it again.

Now, I did feel it when I got back home and had to hit the head, if you know what I mean.  (Aside: The Eco Building had this big pillow in the shape of human fecal matter representing the amount of human solid waste an adult expels out of his or her body every year.  It's 312 pounds, if you're wondering.  No, I didn't need to see the representation of a turd.  I saw one group snap a photo next to it.)  But all in all, it was a beautiful day, and I want to take stock of it.

I may have gotten an hour of sleep overnight last/Monday night.  Kind of what happens when you almost pay off all your sleep debt over the weekend; I got about 7 1/2 hours of sleep Sunday and napped for another two or so Sunday evening.

Even though it was hot as the devil's balls outside, I was tired enough to take a hard nap for lunch yesterday/Monday afternoon at work.  Felt refreshed the whole workday -- even in the morning, come to think of it -- and I got home and ate.  And then, as the evening started to creep up and my parents went out for their after-dinner walk around the neighborhood, my head started to feel really, really heavy while I was relaxing while doomscrolling.  I got so tired that, even though I was lying in bed, my eyes started to droop and my arm started to collapse.  I caught myself, but that was terrifying.  I mean, what if I were driving instead of in my bed?  I wanted to stay up until my folks got home from their walk.  It was difficult, but I heard the front door open, and then I was able to relax, toss my phone to the side, and nap for a couple hours.

That sudden pass-out may have happened to me while in my bedroom once before.  Scary as hell.

---

Oh, and as I am trying to clean up things in anticipation for my quick weekend trip to Las Vegas, I accidentally washed a shirt wrong.  It was a white shirt with the logo of the old minor league baseball team I interned for when I was in El Paso.  I checked the tag that said to wash it delicately, but I forgot that and I put it in the regular wash with my other white t-shirt and all my white socks.  Other times I would have figuratively beat myself over the head over that mistake, but tonight ... meh.  Maybe I should remember the times I'm nonplussed about screwing up the next time I make a mistake and go ballistic at myself for it.  Hey, it's just a shirt that probably has been washed wrong before.  Who cares, right?

The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey

#-1: Lynx (Last Week: -1).  Don't look now, but the Lynx may be the hottest club in the WNBA.  They not only remain undefeated after the Olympic break, they are now only a 1/2-Game behind Connecticut for second place and getting home court for the Second Round of the WNBA Playoffs.

All three Games they won this screening Week were impressive.  It seems more apparent that the defending champion Bastard Utah Starzz/San Antonio Silver Stars don't seem to have it this Year.  Still, the Lynx won both ends of their home-and-home with the Aces, and decisively -- by 11 there Wednesday, by 13 here Friday.  (Aside: A'ja Wilson is the W's best player.  I was thinking for a while that she not only had the MVP sewed up, it would probably be unanimous.  But Vegas has fallen behind Seattle and are now in fifth place in the league.  Team record has a huge influence on MVP voting.  If the Lynx get past the Sun [and presumptive candidate Alyssa Thomas], and if voters are divided on whether Breanna Stewart or Sabrina Ionescu deserves that award for New York, the team with the best record in the league, is it possible Napheesa Collier, who's been on a damn personal tear lately as well, can sneak in and claim it?)

Then, Saturday night, Caitlin Clark and The Indiana Fever came to town.  I thought Minnesota was going to lose this Game; they played a squad they most likely got hyped up for just 24 hours before, and unfortunately, Iowa Hawkeyes fans were going to once again overrun the seats and turn it into a pro-Clark (if not pro-Fever) crowd.  I didn't realize this statistic: Clark was 6-0 all-time playing in Target Center for both Iowa and Indiana.  Welp, that fucking changed as the Lynx finally held home court and defeated the Fever by ten.  Friday was also the night Maya Moore's jersey was retired.  The Starting Five of Lindsay Whalen/Seimone Augustus/Moore/Rebekkah Brunson/Sylvia Fowles are now all up in the Target Center rafters.  Good.  Oh, and they clinched a playoff spot with that Win, too.

This Week: At Phoenix, at Dallas, home to Chicago.

#-2: Gopher soccer (Last Week: -2).  So in a Match I thought about going to but didn't, the U. went across the Mississippi to St. Thomas and crushed the Tommies yesterday/Sunday afternoon, 4-1, on the strength of a Hat Trick from Lino Lakes native and Centennial alum, Forward Khyah Harper.  The U. remains perfect over UST (3-0), and they've won the first two Games of their Year.  Also encouraging is that they're scoring; Harper and teammate Caroline Birdsell (who braced last Week in the victory over Creighton) already have opened up their accounts, and I hope this signals more Goals for the program.

They now hit the road for the first time and go to Milwaukee to play the two top-flight programs that are located there.  They play Wisconsin-Milwaukee Thursday, then Marquette Sunday afternoon.

#-3: Twins (Last Week: -3).  Making Closer introductions a huge production, filled with the Closer's entrance song and the lights all coming down and flashing up, has become a thing in recent Years.  Guess it started with Trevor Hoffman coming in to Padres Games with AC/DC's "Hells Bells," but I don't know if he had the lights and the lightboard and all that.  Edwin Diaz of the Mets started the visual portion of the entrance, and I think the Twins have gone all-in with everything for Jhoan Duran.

The only thing me and my pessimist heart has always hated about this, and for the Closer, is what happens if the Closer blows the lead and/or the Game.  All that build-up just to see him fuck up?  It would be schadenfreude-alicious if I were rooting for the other team, but it would be cringe-inducing to get all hyped up to think, "Yeah, Duran's coming in!  The Cardinals are done!" only to see him struggle like Matt Capps or Ron "Crash" Davis.

So that happened yesterday/Sunday afternoon in the heat of Target Center.  Duran came in with the Twinks up in the top of the Ninth, 2-1, and he blew it.  Now, it didn't help that a second runner got on via Fielder's Choice.  But Closers close.  Closers don't allow Lars Nootbaar to single to left-center field to plate the tying and go-ahead Runs.

To be fair to Duran again, that was only his second blown Save-turned-Loss of the season, although he came in in a tie Game back on the 18th and lost to The Bastard Washington Senators v.1.0.  But this was symbolic of a rough Week for the Twinks, who lost series to both the Cardinals at home and on the road to Texas to go 2-4.  It could have been worse, though: While they are now tied with Kansas City for second in the A. L. Central (and both teams are 4 1/2 Games ahead of Boston, so there's no danger yet that they'll miss the postseason), they are still only three Games behind falter Cleveland.  They still can't erase that damn deficit.

The organization continues their World Series reminiscences as The Bastard Boston-via-Milwaukee Braves come in for three starting tonight/Monday night.  They then host Toronto for a trio this weekend.

#-4: United FC (Re-Entry!).  With the Loooooons getting bounced from The Leagues Cup and the Group Stage, they at least had the time to retool with reinforcements from the Transfer Window.  And retool they did: They have brought in five players (one via trade) and shipped out One Of Us, Caden Clark (to Montreal, where he presumably will have the chance to play at his natural Wingback position).  One of the problems (among many) this squad has is last of individual talent.  There hasn't been anyone on MNUFC since Emanuel Reynoso was traded away that could break down one or two or even three players, no one where he didn't something on the way to scoring where you go, "Holy shit, did he just do that?!"

Thank goodness, then, for Kelvin Yeboah, a Ghanian from Genoa of Serie A.  He was put in alongside Teemu Pukki as a Striker in Saturday night's Match at home vs. Seattle.  Head Coach Eric Ramsay has already given him Penalty Kick responsibilities, and he slotted home his PK to tie it up in the First Half at 1.  He then fought off a Sounders defender and, without even needing to settle the ball, chipped it over the Goalkeeper to tie the Match at 2.

Unfortunately, a bigger problem, Defense, was not addressed during this Transfer Window, even though they apparently tried to sign at least one guy.  And the D remains leaky as Seattle made United FC their bitches again, losing, 3-2.  (The sports analogy is: Sounders:Loons::Yankees:Twins.)  Glad Minnesota was able to respond twice.  And to be fair, the second and third Goals were more a product of Sounders individual virtuosity than a breakdown by the Looooooons Backline (although that's a reminder that this team still doesn't have much top-end talent; I checked the last 15 Minutes-plus of The Leagues Cup Final, where Columbus scored two Stoppage Time Goals to beat LAFC, and really, both clubs were going back and forth across the pitch like it was a basketball Game.  That ball was whipping around like an atom in the Large Hadron Collider.  Why can't MNUFC be like that?).  But maybe better defenders would've been able to stop those Goals.

So these guys have now fallen out of the playoff picture, mired in 11th place, one Point behind Austin for 9th.  I don't know how much time they needed to gel since they had about three Week where they could practice.  But now time is getting short, and they have a winnable Match at San Jose Saturday to make themselves, and us, feel decent again.

Addendum To: I'm A Teenage Rebel Again!

One factor I didn't consider when sorta deciding whether or not to wake up early to watch soccer before coming home to mow the lawn: How sunny it was going to be.  From what I have observed and remember, when there is an Excessive Heat Warning (EHW), more often than not it is mostly cloudy.  It was kinda like that today: There were times when I mowed that the sun was out and oppressing me, and there were times my skin and soul were saved my clouds.  It is cloudy now, and I am typing this 2 1/2 hours into this EHW.

So maybe I could have endured 105 Minutes of watching St. Thomas host the U. of M. in women's soccer today.  That is moot and past, however; I woke up a quarter to 11, already too late for the EPL Matches, and there was absolutely no way I could make it to St. Paul to watch Tommies/Gophers.  Besides, I think it takes me two hours to mow both lawns, so theoretically, by the time I got done, I would not be in either yard once the EHW goes into effect.

Such as it is, I got done at 12:30.  I treated myself to Dairy Queen (cashed in on some free onion rings), where I stayed till past 1.  I then went to Target to buy some juice (amongst some other things), gassed up the car, then went back to DQ for a sundae where my app had a deal because it was feeling hot outside.

I'm A Teenage Rebel Again!

And just as I feared, Father talked to me last/Saturday night about today/Sunday.  He first asked me if I were going anywhere, to which I said, "Uh, I don't know."  And so he asked me to mow the lawn.  I checked the lawn yesterday/Saturday afternoon after I woke up.  From the second floor, the grass doesn't look tall at all.  Now, when I got into my car and was able to see it close-up, yesh, I guess it could use a military trim, but it wasn't that bad.  It was last mowed last Sunday.  I know that because Father fuckin' mowed the lawn and woke me out of bed at 8 o'clock in the goddamn morning.

And then, as he was leaving, he threw in a, "Maybe you should go to bed!"  And it's 3 in the fucking morning and I have no fucking plans on going to bed.  He just turned me back into a teenage rebel again!  You want me to mow the lawn!  OK then, I'll go wake up in the early morning and go to the Black Hart to watch EPL first, then go to St. Thomas and see the Tommies women's soccer team play the University of Minnesota, and then I'll go get gas for my car, and then I'll stop by Dairy Queen because it'll probably be past 1 p.m. and that's when the Excessive Heat Warning starts (and it won't end until 8 Monday evening), and then I'll mow.  OK?  I ain't staying home.  I'll mow the lawn, but I ain't staying home.  And I'll mow when I want to fucking mow.

But ... OK, so I spent last night at the MNUFC Match.  I got there on time even though the kickoff was 5:30 and not 7:30.  I actually prefer earlier kickoff times, but only if we eat dinner early, and we didn't this time around, probably because we had lunch at noon.  In my mad drive to Allianz Field, I realized I couldn't take my usual route because I would come to a screeching halt in State Fair traffic.  I got to the Match in time, but because I had to drive longer than I usual do, I eschewed sunscreen, and my seat got hit with the blazing sun about 15 minutes into the Game.  Right now, my skin feels like it's on fire.  So, do I really feel good about sitting on iron bleachers with sunscreen but no other sun protection for 105 Minutes when the temperature is supposed to be hotter than it was?  I do not.

Add to it that I would have to wake up early in order to see the EPL, and that I would be driving to essentially the same place in St. Paul two days in a row, something I don't like to do unless it's home or work, and there are many, many reasons not to go out.  Frankly, on the way home from the Match I thought about sleeping in instead of going out.  And even though I can't really do that if I have to mow the fucking lawn ... well, maybe I won't go out.  I take that back; I should get gas for my car, and in my own impotent way of semi-rebellion, I might go out to DQ anyway, because my parents are leaving in the morning to do repairs on the house they own.  So I am going out!  Just not in the way I kind of wanted to go out.  Sorta.

Yeah, I'm a total rebel.

So I was woken up today by Father knocking on the door.  Lunch time, of course.  It was Burger King this time; they even bought a "wild cherry" Slurpee/Big Gulp-like frozen drink.

I was kind of groggy, but I finally was able to peep the time on the stove clock.  It was past noon.  Well!  I think I went to bed a bit past 3, so getting in nine hours of sleep, after the work schedule I had and after a night walking and eating at the Minnesota State Fair, seemed very doable.  But for all my folks know, I was just lolling around in my bed since 9 in the morning.

Or so I thought.  After we got done with our BK, I checked my phone in my bedroom.  Father called and left me not one but two voicemails around a quarter after 11.  Uh ... I turned off my phone ... ?

He hated how I woke up very, very late.  He hasn't busted my balls over it for the past, oh, ten or 15 years, or since I got regular work.  But this might the instance when he'll blow his top and say something.  Let's see when we eat dinner today and then I say I have to leave really early because of (and I'm not going to tell my parents this) the MNUFC soccer Match.

Went to the Fair last/Friday night.  Got there a couple hours later than I wanted to because I was blindsided by a huge pile of work that kept coming and coming.  I spent the maximum ten hours working yesterday/Friday, and it looks as if everyone was so overwhelmed trying to get the work done that my boss left without asking me how I was doing, which was swamped in work.  I think he wanted to get out of there, and already knew I was swamped at work, and so I think (or want to think) that at least on this day he would understand why I had to stay an extra two hours.  Hey, I like how the workday felt like old times, with the OT piling up and stuff.  I just didn't need it during Fair time.

Nevertheless, I spent between two and possibly 2 1/2 hours there, and after eating four items and drinking two, I actually felt that was long enough.  And of course, in that time I looked at all the talent showing off their bare bellies and stuff.  And it was nice, real nice.  However, like at the Cage The Elephant concert, I am getting so old that every babe who was showing off their hot bodies now look suspiciously young.  That can't be, but I am getting so old, man, so old.

And I'm Back To Thinking I'll Be Laid Off Again

Working in The Fourth Department Wednesday through today/Friday, and man, the first two days back there were like the hectic days of yore.  I don't know what happened, but the number of forms increased to almost twice as much as we've gotten on a daily basis lately.  Now, there has been some reorganization of tasks; before, forms that had some missing pieces of information were shunted to The Third Department, but now that my co-worker was shitcanned for still-unknown reasons, every form that is missing something is sent to The Fourth Department.

Even that streamlining of tasks, however, does not explain fully, in my humble opinion, why there is so much work coming my way this week.  It's not as if the full shipment going outside has increased.  I guess there are just a lot of mistakes being made by collectors.  And it's my job to hunt that missing info down.  And it has made me stay later than eight hours -- nine Wednesday, nine yesterday/Thursday.  I like to think that I've gotten good enough that, if I were faced with this much work when I started out back there, I would've gone ten hours and still had stuff left over.

Still, I am back to the thought that my boss isn't happy.  To be fair, on Wednesday, he e-mailed me that if there was enough work that kept me late, stay no longer than an hour.  I managed to get done when I left after 8 hours and 59 minutes of work.  Yesterday/Thursday it was a full nine.  When there are forms to which you e-mail clients about what is missing, they generally answer you in e-mails you receive the following morning.  That happened yesterday/Thursday morning, which meant I got to the new stuff in the early afternoon, and like I said, there is more stuff than has been coming in in 2024, and after all processing all the answers I got from clients before I left for the day (as well as one phone call that for which I had to drop everything and figure out how to deal with), boom, it was 5:30.

My boss, by the way, didn't e-mail saying I could stay up to an hour extra for overtime yesterday/Thursday.  I am thinking he gave me grace Wednesday, but that's it.  I have a ready-made excuse -- look at all the work that came in! -- but I wonder if the person who just got fully trained in is as fast as the other person who works all four departments like me.  If they are faster, and if my boss is happy at the number of answers they both get ... well, the company will think of me as a liability.

Man, these are the dog days of summer.  I just want to hit the State Fair, eat, and say goodbye to this endless summer without working about unemployment.

Just A Half-Hour Kiss Of Air Conditioning -- Perfect!

So when my parents went out to Africa on safari a couple weeks ago, I jacked up the thermostat.  I didn't mind it being cool in the house -- there were times when Father wouldn't turn it on no matter how hot I got -- but the settings as they were when they left on vacation were a little too low for me.  Besides, I'm now paying for the cooling bill, and I'm not going to cool the house if no one's in it.  What am I, made out of money?  (I know this is My Father talking; if the 20-year-old me could look at present me now, he'd shake his head at how money-conscious I've become.)

So, following guidelines set by the United States Department Of Energy, in the summertime my thermostat should be set at 78 degrees, and when no one's home, put it between seven and ten degrees higher.  So even though I didn't change the times the new limits kicks in throughout the day (Father put those times all cattywampus, and they're so weird I decided not to change them myself), I put it at 78 when I was here and 85 when I wasn't.  Didn't really matter that I changed the temps; like I said here, it only kicked for the first time under my settings about 13 days after they left and a couple days before they were to come home.

Thing is, my parents either don't remember that I told them that I raised the temperatures on the thermostat or they don't care, because Father hasn't fiddled with the thermostat since they've been back.  That may be because the weather since they've returned has been seasonal, and maybe even a bit cooler than average, so they haven't really sweated in the house since coming back from safari.  With that being said, for the past few overnights, the air conditioning hasn't started up until 1 in the morning, which is when the thermostat high temp drops from 85 to 78.  Again, it hasn't been that hot all day, but apparently it is warm enough that it apparently is above 78 by the time 1 a.m. rolls around.

Like clockwork the past few nights, it comes on and then, after about 30 minutes, it shuts itself off.  Frankly, feeling the air conditioning through the vents feels really nice.  Moreover, it shuts down relatively quickly, and the air feels both much cooler and drier afterward.  It's cool and dry enough that the air conditioning doesn't start up again until 1 o'clock the next night.  And that's great; sometimes Father swings the pendulum too far in the other direction and the AC is on for so long it makes the house too cold, and that in turn increases the energy bill.  It's a win-win.

Now, summer comes back with a vengeance this weekend, when it'll be both hot and humid until, I think, Tuesday.  I alerted Father that I changed the thermostat once, but I might have to remind him again if even I think 78 degrees is too high a setting and want the air conditioning to blare all weekend.

Well, now that I have one foot out the door of work, yesterday/Monday happens, where new city-instituted rules regarding paid time off actually make it easier for me to use my days off when I want to.  And then I overhear my boss saying they are indeed looking for another person to work the same position as I do.  Instead of thinking I'll get pushed out, I am thinking that there is still room to grow in the departments I work in, and thus the company is still (for now) stable.  Finally, my boss e-mailed me asking if I can work three Saturdays from now and, instead of taking paid time off that Tuesday (which is the day after Labor Day; I'm going to Vegas that weekend), I just work normally and get holiday pay for Labor Day, to which I agreed.

So now I feel secure in this job and won't look for other work.  See how easily satisfied (and compliant) I can be with just a little encouragement?

And Now My Right Knee Hurts

It has traditionally been my left knee, which I think I got on that long road trip I took by myself from here to St. Louis to see the total eclipse in 2017.  But now my right knee hurts more than my left (even though both hurt).  It's been hurting for some time.  I think it began over the summer when I started wearing my Chaco sandals around.  They say they're supposed to be good for flat feet, but if so, why do my knees hurt, and why is my right one, which is supposed to be the "better" one, hurting worse than my left now?

Even though I wear my Docs at work, my right knee noticeably aches me.  I hope that my insoles would make it hurt less.  I should be wearing them every time I go out; I'm sure that my knee pain would go away if I dutifully used them.  But hey, those Docs are pretty chunky to wear when it's hot out, so I don't.  Maybe once the weather turns more seasonal and it makes no sense to wear sandals will I go back to using them full-time, and maybe then my knees won't stop hurting.

Knee pain is a definite sign I'm getting old.  I don't think I complained about knee pain beyond falling and getting my knees scraped.  Now, I bend or squat and I'm scared I'll snap them.  Dang it.

The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey

#-1: Lynx (Last Week: -2).  OK, maybe I was wrong about Cheryl Reeve having a post-Olympic hangover stemming from Team USA having a very unexpected challenge from France in the Gold Medal Game.  They swept Washington in a home-and-home to basically pick up where they left off.  Even better, while they remain third in the WNBA, they now sit only half a Game behind Connecticut for second place.  (First place belongs to New York, and they're four Games ahead, so they're not gonna catch the Liberty).  They keep up that Defense and do their best to hold off hard-charging Las Vegas, and they should be seen as a contender.

Speaking of said Bastard Utah Starzz-via-San Antonio, they have another home-and-home, this time with the Aces, this screening Week (there Wednesday, here Friday), then have another shot at Caitlyn Clark and Indiana Saturday night.  You'll remember that the Fever came into Target Center and beat the Lynx by seven July 14 in a Game where Hawkeyes fans turned the arena into Carver North (again) and Clark may have showed up Coach Reeve for not selecting her for the Olympic team even though Clark says she's not upset.

#-2: Gopher soccer (NEW SEASON!!!).  The college season normally kicks off with women's soccer, and this one will be unlike any before, with Minnesota and the Big Ten Conference annexing four Pac-10/12 schools to make for the super-conference every sports fan dreads.  The U. will face both Los Angeles schools this season.  But they begin this season with a 2-1 Win over Creighton at Robbie Stadium Thursday via a brace from Redshirt Freshman Forward Caroline Birdsell.  This program has yet to reach the NCAA Tournament under Head Coach Erin Chastain; don't know the prospects of this team, but is this the Year?

They're easing into the season; they have only one Match this Week, and that's against St. Thomas in St. Paul Sunday afternoon.  I wonder if I should go. ...

#-3: Twins (Last Week: -1).  This is a harsh ranking for the Twins.  Really, all three local teams had great Weeks.  It's just that only the Twins lost any Games.  They did go 5-2 this screening Week, and it really should've been 6-1 with a Week-ending four-Game sweep of The Bastard Washington Senators v.2.0, but inexplicably Jorge Alcala, who has been pretty steady this season, cratered in the Seventh Inning, allowing five Runs to blow a 4-0 lead.  Minnesota would tie it up in the top of the Ninth but lose it in ten.

That was a sizable blown chance to creep ever closer to Cleveland, who got swept in Milwaukee by The Bastard Seattle Pilots over the weekend.  Still, the Twins are now only two Games behind the Guardians.  (Meanwhile, Kansas City remains a Game behind Minnesota after they swept the Reds in Cincinnati.)  The Athletic's Aaron Gleeman pointed this out on X/Twitter; discounting the first 20 Games or so of the season, the Twins have the best record in the league.  I don't want to sound like a Pohlad Pocket Protector, and as always it only matters what this team does in the postseason.  But even with their small-market mentality and their maddening unwillingness to spend nor trade big, they have managed to overachieve, and this team appears to be a standout edition of that approach, like it or not.  I have to give them credit -- for now.

This Week they're in San Diego for a three-Game series versus the Padres beginning tonight/Monday night, then come back home to play a weekend trio vs. St. Louis.  I wonder if I should go. ...

I Just ... Did Nothing

I went to have lunch at a place close to the U.  Just as I was getting done, a crazy woman asked for cigarettes, lipped off to the only server who was at the place, and then spat on her.  My God, I have never seen that shit before.

And as much as I shouldn't make this about me, I need to check what I did in response to that -- which was nothing.  I ignored this crazy lady, but I was shocked that she would do such a thing, and that's why I didn't do anything, I guess.

But that's no excuse.  And that sure as shit doesn't make me feel good.  There were two other guys there, both of them alone and, along with me, sitting at the bar.  None of us could come to her rescue and ... well, I was going to say kill her, or maybe beat her up.  But that would be illegal, wouldn't it?  What she did was misdemeanor assault, but we can't do anything because we would be arrested for, you know, actual battery.  So we just ... let that bitch just get away with it.  That's not right.  Frankly, I'd prefer if we, or maybe just I, jumped this woman for what she did.  I'd run from the scene, and I'd hope those three others would let me get away with it.

I replay in my head what I should have done.  If I were security, I think I would do something because that would be my job.  If I were a regular at this place to the point I knew this server, I think I would do something because this cunt hurt my friend.  But I am neither and, well, that would be two other reasons I froze.  And it still doesn't make me feel any better.

One other complication: I know I am going back to this place in a couple months.  My alma mater's football team is playing up here, and this place will host the pre-game.  I doubt anyone crazy will walk around a college neighborhood a few hours before a Game, but I know see proof about the area not being quite quiet.  Besides, there's a chance this server will be there again, and my presence there will trigger bad memories for her, and I don't want to do that to her.

The server cried, man.  The server cried.  And I didn't do a goddamn thing?

And yesterday/Saturday it turns out my boss didn't call me at all asking for help at work.  I really, really thought he would do so for the third Saturday in a row.  It got to the point where I am half-relying on him to ask so I can rack up some overtime.  Got my deposit Friday and it was about, if I'm not mistaken, $50 more than my previous one.  That ain't much, but I'll take any increase from this job.

Hey, the upswing in OT opportunity is a sign, at least to me, that the company isn't dying.  If that's taken away, or if that was never the case in the first place -- well, back to the want ads I go.

I Am A Dirty Old Man

So I went to the Cage The Elephant concert at Target Center Monday.  Cage The Elephant bridges the gap between alternative and the most popular strain of rock nowadays.  Similarly, they are not too highbrow and not too lowbrow.  What they are, however -- and I am pretty surprised by this -- is that if the concertgoers are any true indication, the band's fans skew young.  I like many of their songs; I'm surprised at how many of theirs I knew as they played them.  But these guys have been around for some time.  Definitely not the grunge era, but if they have racked up hit after hit from album after album, there's got to be fans my age, or maybe just several years younger, who have grown up and grown old listening and singing along to their music.

Not true.  I venture to guess that I may have been part of the oldest 1% of the concertgoers in the arena.  And I was looking at all the women who went.  Honestly, to a girl, the vast majority of them had to be in their twenties.  Even for those sporting a few tattoos, I can't believe they would be older than 30.  Again, it's shocking.  I estimate that Cage The Elephant broke out when these young women were in elementary school.

Which raised a conundrum.  To a woman, nearly all of them were hot and showing of their hot midriffs by wearing crop tops.  If I were twenty or even ten years younger, I wouldn't be having the erectile dysfunction I have now, and I would be sporting my hard-on proud.  Still, I noticed all the talent at the concert, and I was aroused.  And yet ... these girls are just about half my age now, therefore the thought I had foremost in my mind is, "You should put more clothes on, ladies!"

I am a man, and I am dirty, but I am getting quite, quite old.

The Hottest Babe In The Hooters Calendar: July 2024

Afraid to say that this month is disappointing.  Could be one of the worst I've ever seen.  Of the dozen women featured in July '24, only three pop, and frankly, I've seen better and hotter.

Of the three, I initially considered them to be so equal in quality that I was going to say all three are tied.  Upon further reflection, I think I am able to stratify them.  That being said, if I were doing this list 24 hours from now, I could change my mind.

So, in third place is Cassidy, the Main Girl, hailing out of Grand Prairie, Texas.  She has long, wavy dark brown hair and is wearing a blue two-piece whose top criss-crosses.  She seems rather tiny, but she has a broad smile and, very important, is standing directly to the camera, so you get to see her tight body in all its glory.

In second place is Madison, of Wilmington, N. C.  Straight dark blonde hair; she's sporting a dark blue two-piece bikini with two strands wrapping around the top of her rib cage.  Her breasts are on the small side, but I love her hands-on-hips pose.  It puts her in a confident, even dominating position, as if she's saying, "Fuck yeah I'm hot -- worship me!"  And I do!

Finally, in first place is Orlando's Portia.  She has straight, dark blonde hair and is wearing a stars-and-stripes bikini which technically is a one-piece but has a huge circular hole in the middle that shows off her flat stomach.  She is posing at an angle, so you can tell that her tits are big and, probably, fake.  No matter; she's gorgeous, and because she is posing with her heads on top of her head, she gives off a sultry vibe.  I remember seeing her before -- not just in the pages of previous calendars (that's a given), but I swear I actually had her as a waitress when I ate at a Hooters.  She works in Orlando, but I haven't been in Orlando, and in fact in Florida, in at least a decade, if not more than that.  You know, is she originally from St. Louis?  I recollect going to a Hooters in the STL area and getting served by this goddess named Portia.  That must be her!  If that's the case, she has to be my #1!

You know, I think because of Portia, this month might not be as bad as I have made it out to be.  I have already masturbated to this month.  Twice in fact, because I jerked off again to this month in case I misremembered jerking off before.  So I'm covered there.  Anyway, thanks to Portia, and also to Madison and Cassidy.  Appreciate it!

Not At My Best Last/Wednesday Night

Yeah, I continue to get drowsy the hour before I go to lunch at work.  Need to work on that, maybe.

I have this OCD thing where ... well, a long time ago, my parents (actually Father) widened our driveway from two car lengths to three.  I think he wanted to be able to park three cars at our house.  It's actually a good thing; when it comes to trash and recycling day (and they come at the same day for us), we can put the bins at the edge of the driveway at the "lane" besides the ones our cars are in.  One time (and this is when the driveway was three car lengths wide) my sister was going out to work and I forgot that the recycling bin was behind her car at the end of the driveway.  She bowled the bin over.  She was already acting as though she was going to be late, so I felt bad that I made her more late by 1) putting the bin there and 2) not telling her.

Anyway, my OCD is that of the two cars that are now there, when I use both, I park back in the lane that was empty.  Know what I mean?  I want all the parts of the driveway to be used evenly.  Well, I drove my car out to work and back.  When I returned, I parked in the middle "lane," the one from which I backed out in the morning.  I didn't pay attention to which "lane" I had left from, so I made a guess that I was parked in the rightmost one in the morning.  I know I was wrong because, after I parked, I saw a spot of oil on the rightmost lane, and I remembered seeing that spot (I'm guessing it's from my parents' minivan, which I have been using while they've been gone) when I went out in the morning.

So for today/Thursday, I have to park on the other one, the rightmost one.  And I get to "make up for it" because I have to use my car twice, to work and then to see a screening of The Palm Beach Story.  I would alternate spots on my driveway, but to make things right (at least in my OCD-addled brain), I drive out of the middle "lane," drive back home from work (and, well, I need to get groceries and Father's medicine, too) and park in the right "lane," leave to go to the movie, and then come back (after getting Chick-Fil-A) and park in the right "lane" again.  To assist in that, I have put the trash bin at the bottom of the right "lane."  I sometimes use it as a marker on trash day; I won't run into it in the morning because I'm in a different lane, but when I come back from work and shopping, I will drive around the (empty I assume) trash bin and park in that same "lane."

I have to do that to make up for my mistake.

---

I am somewhat concerned about COVID, especially since my parents are coming home from safari.  Moreover, I still have a lot of those tests you could get for free.  I have no idea if they're any good or if they're expired, but I plan on using all but one (I probably will save that one for safekeeping).

I used one last/Wednesday night because I have been out and about.  I wanted to see if I had it.  You know they tell you (at least for the version of test I have) that once you put the swab in place, wait between 15 and 30 minutes for the results?  Well, I forgot that.  I was doing the laundry and irrigating my nose, and then I was on my roller to break up my fascia, and then I realized I still had the test to look at, but it was about, oh, about 20 minutes after I "can" look at my results before it apparently is unreliable.  It's negative, but I'm not supposed to be able to trust it.  So I have to take out the other test in the box and use that one tonight/Thursday night.  So stupid, and it's my fault.

---

Oh yeah, I didn't follow instructions to turn inside out a shirt I needed to wash last/Wednesday night.  It was one my aunt (whose husband, my uncle, died in March) bought for me last year when she and her sister (I guess my other aunt) went to Australia to visit her side of the family as a present and gift for taking them to the airport.  I remember looking at the wash tag, but I probably looked at "wash inside out" and then completely forgot about it.

Now, there's a chance that I did in fact turn it inside out before I washed it.  And besides, every single piece of clothing I have has not been washed (nor dried) per instructions every single time.  My Father continues to wash my clothes since he has nothing else to do while he's here, and I'm sure he's a wash hot/dry high kind of guy, so all my clothes are beat up like that.  Still, it was the first time I was washing this pretty nice polo, and it would have been nice to wash it how I was supposed to.

---

Damn.  This evening has not lived up to my standards.  I need to expect better of myself.

Two Milestones That Only I Care About, And Even Then I'll Forget About Them Quickly

1. I decided I was going to work out last/Tuesday night, and of course I have to shower afterward.  That will mark the third straight day I have taken a shower; I needed to shower Sunday after mowing and feeding the lawn, and on Monday because I decided to get my hair cut.  I don't remember the last time I showered three days in a row.  It may seem nasty to not shower every day, but frankly I don't have the time or the energy to do that.  Besides, some experts say that showering three or even two times a week is more than enough.  I like that frequency.  Then again, I have been careless to the point of going a full week between showers.  Sue me.
2. I was going to blog post about something else until, just now, the air conditioning kicked in.  It hadn't turned on at any point since my parents left for Africa on the 1st.  And after they left, I jacked up the temperatures on the thermostat to 78 degrees (when I'm here) and 85 (when I'm gone).  It has been pleasant -- warm and not humid -- for the past two weeks or so, but just now the temperature and humidity has ticked up enough to trigger the aircon.  Think that's interesting, too.

Just Like Old Times At Work, Sadly

So for the first time in months, I am working in My Main Department all week, even though I took yesterday/Monday off.  No file room, no Third or Fourth Departments -- nope, just data entry ... well, that and all the other stuff I do in My Main Department.

At one time, if I were stuck out there, I would've been happy.  But now that I've gotten into the thick of things and realize that things back there are a bit more flexible and easygoing, I hate that I'm stuck in My Main Department all week.  Why?  Well, first of all, I need to get there at 7 each day, which means I have to wake up at 6, which is an hour earlier than I want to wake up.  Second of all, I am not having a full night's sleep where I wake up at 6, so invariably I will be getting drowsy at some point while keying, and that's not good.  And third of all, I have one day where I am going into the lab in the morning (presumably to reach into packages of leaked piss bottles, yay me) and scanning forms in the afternoon.  I can't think of a time where I'm in My Main Department and won't be typing at all.  And while I am bored to death with doing data entry, spending all day on my feet doing two jobs I'm not too keen on is a first, and it's a first I don't want to experience at all.

With this third person fully integrated in The Fourth Department, two of three people will be working back there each week, which means one of us will rotate in all week at My Main Department tri-weekly (or at least that's the thinking).  It's inevitable.  Doesn't mean I have to like it.

Should I be looking for a new job again?  I should be looking for a new job again.

Me And My Bright Ideas

So I had my screening for work this morning.  And I don't know if other companies do this -- I guess they do, otherwise our company is an outlier, and I can't imagine us being that -- but we get discounts for meeting certain metrics.  I think I've talked about this before, but those metrics both expanded and tightened up last year.  There are five of them, and meeting three of them gives you the full and maximum discount.  Filling out an attestation that you won't smoke is one.  Basically making sure you're not fat is another, and I think I meet that requirement through both my BMI calculation and the fact that my waist is less than 40 inches around.

What bothers me (again) are reaching the other three, which I think are high blood pressure, cholesterol, and A1C.  I think I got all but the HBP last year, but this is this year, and while I may have met these other three, I was scared that I wouldn't this year.  I noticed that weight affects all three of these metrics.  I also know that when I had to prepare for my colonoscopy screening a little more than a year ago at this time, the prep, which was to overload myself on Miralax to push all my waste out in the form of liquid, made me lose weight like nobody's business.  I weighed myself the day before my colonoscopy; I was at 162 pounds, and I don't remember the last time I was that light.

Yeah, you know where this is going, right?  Once I decided I wanted to do my screening while my parents were away on safari, I had this notion that I would blow out my colon again by prepping as if I were having another colonoscopy.  Wait, wait, wait -- OK, I didn't use that much Miralax.  It actually is funny, if you think about it, that nurses are telling you that it's OK to use Miralax in a way not recommended by Miralax.  I couldn't go that far.  Instead, I would follow instructions, namely to add a capful of Miralax to four-to-eight ounces of some drink, both Saturday and yesterday/Sunday.  I did my screening on a Monday because I wanted all weekend to do this and run to the bathroom if need be.  And if it all worked out, I would evacuate my bowels (though not to the extent of the violent liquid shits that came out of my asshole before my colonoscopy) and be able to go to the screening at a weight tiny enough that my cholesterol, my A1C, and maybe even my high blood pressure would look sterling ... without worrying I'd shit my pants on the way there.

Have to say, didn't happen.  My plan was to have some Miralax some time Saturday evening after I got home from working out.  But I came into work and left in the early evening, so I decided not to work out and instead go to Caffetto to work on my receipts.  I had some Miralax once I came home, then again Sunday evening.  I feel kind of bloated in my stomach, which I think Miralax says is normal.  But I haven't pooped at all since taking it.  I think the instructions say that it might take between one and seven days of using a capful daily for your bowels to loosen, but I no longer need to use it because the screening was this morning.  And to be honest -- and ironically, and TMI -- I was crapping like no one's business on Saturday.  I had a bloody Mary to drink while watching the U. S. women's Olympic soccer team take gold during the day on Saturday, then I stopped by Chipotle before heading into work, and that triggered a big bowel movement.  The red velvet cake and hot chocolate I had at Caffetto triggered another one.  I kind of thought I should have just kept doing what I was doing and I would be losing the weight I wanted to lose.  Instead, I took the Miralax and I got the opposite of what I wanted.

For the record, my blood pressure was too high this morning, so I hope my cholesterol and/or A1C is within limits.  But yeah, my plan didn't work.

The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey

My annual lament here in the WMNSS that this heralds the survey at its smallest, slowest and most manageable.  The college sports season starts Thursday when top-flight women's soccer (including the University of Minnesota) start play, and the frenzy only grows from then, reaching peakes in October and March (I think) before dying down once the NBA and NHL seasons are over.  Actually, with the Loooooooooons doing nothing for the next couple Weeks, there should be only one entry this screening Week, but I have something to say about the Lynx.  I am doubling up the work I need to do, but alas, I guess I am gearing up for the work I have to do the rest of the year:

#-1: Twins (Last Week: -1).  Shit's getting serious from this point forward, and so far, the Twinks continue to tread water.  They follow up a losing series at Wrigley vs. the Cubs with a Doubleheader sweep of Cleveland on Friday, only to cough that up by losing the last two Games of this pivotal series to the Guardians Saturday and Sunday.  They went into that series 3 1/2 Games behind them, and they finish that series 3 1/2 Games behind them.

What's worse is that the injury bug piled on the organization at once Friday morning.  Brock Stewart is done for the Year, and the Twins announced injuries to Brooks Lee, prospect Luke Keaschall and, most importantly, starter Joe Ryan.  There is still no prognosis yet for Ryan's Grade 2 teres major strain, but most players who've gotten this have had to deal with it for weeks, even months.  Fuck.

Worse even than that: Kansas City, nipping only a 1/2-Game behind Minnesota, come to town for three starting tonight/Monday night.  I had a thought that they would sleep the Guardians to pull a 1/2-Game ahead of them in the standings, then get swept by the Royals.  Anyway, a backsliding Bastard Washington Senators v.2.0 may be a balm, but that four-Game set (beginning Thursday) is in Arlington.

#-2: Lynx (Re-Entry!).  OK, here me out.  They restart the season with a home-and-home versus Washington Thursday (that's at home, they're in Our Nation's Capital Saturday afternoon).  They are here because of Cheryl Reeve, Lynx Head Coach and Head Coach of The United States Women's Basketball Team.  You know, the one that has won eight straight Gold Medals and 61 consecutive Olympic Games.  Well, that eighth gold and that 61st Win was almost not to be.  They were heavy favorites against France in the Gold Medal Game yesterday/Sunday morning in Paris, but they were fighting for their fucking lives on the court.  The French were up by ten in the Second Half, but behind A'ja Wilson, Kelsey Plum and Kahleah Copper, and seemingly on those three, they managed to eke out a 67-66 victory over the home team.

It should not have been a struggle.  And beyond the Caitlyn Clark Cult that thinks the wunderkind can solve The Middle East, one of the main criticism into how the team got into a sludgy fist fight was rotation and substitution patterns.  That falls on the coach -- Reeve.  Sure, they won, but a lot of people are still scratching their heads thinking what the hell was that shit.

And yeah, I think that befuddlement is going to infect the Lynx once Reeve gets back stateside.  Led (unfortunately) by Clark groupies looking for any reason to take umbrage, they're going to continue to fan the flames of nitpicking anything Reeve does that makes her team look bad.  And once Minnesota loses a Game, they're going to scrutinize Reeve's role in the Loss.  And that might have a spiral effect that will hurt the Lynx.  Yeah, I said what I said.

So my folks are coming home in about a week.  Haven't heard from them, at all, in Africa.  They must be living their best lives there.  Or, they don't have adequate access to wi-fi and/or have no means of calling or texting me.

It's funny; I worry about them a lot when they're away from home, but when they're home, I often wish to keep my distance.  So long as they're alive I'm happy, and I can obviously see they're alive if they're put-putting around the house, so what else do I need to do with them?

Is thinking that somewhat mean?  Yeah.

... and it turns out that my boss needed me to work today/Saturday.  And no one came in, so he didn't text me that I didn't have to go in.  I had the USWNT Olympic Gold Medal Match I wanted to see at the Black Hart, like last week, but after that was over I then got a free drink (with two tacos I bought) at a Chipotle on the way, and then I spent 4 1/2 hours at work, all of it OT.

I am guessing that overtime is now authorized, at least for the time being.  I haven't seen one person who usually works out at The Main Department for the past couple weeks now.  Maybe she quit.  That might be one reason they need more people to come in on a Saturday.  If so, hey, I want the money!

She Trusts Me

So have I told you that my ATF at My Favorite Stripclub (Cover Edition) and I have exchanged phone numbers and now text each other?  Yeah, I think I talked about this, but I text her when I can visit her at the club.  That's all that is; we haven't really engaged in small talk or anything like that.  I don't think I have much of a personality to talk about other things besides if she's working on a particular day.  But also, I don't want to come off as, well, a weird creep who's only interested in sleeping with her.  I am interested in sleeping with her, but she's a cool woman, and I've known her for upwards of two decades, and I really, really just want to be friends with her more than anything.

I don't think this is a big milestone, but she texted me pictures for the first time yesterday/Friday.  While I was getting dances from her, she talked about how she's been busy renovating her home -- specifically that she's been tiling.  She said she'd send over pics of her work, and she did.  I thought it was her floor, but these are on her walls.  Impressive.  Not that I would know anything about what goes into it.  Really, I don't care about decorating or even making a house look good.  What I need is shelter.  What I need is to make sure there is a roof over my head, and there are no holes or leaks.  I could never do what she has done.  And she might not be done with her projects.

Beyond that, she taking photos of something ... well, not intimate but a bit more personal from her (let alone the fact that she is showing me pictures of her house, even if it is just walls) shows that she trusts me even further.  I appreciate that, and I don't take that for granted.  This is where we are, and I'm very, very grateful for that.

I actually was productive Wednesday night since it was the bi-weekly recycling day in the morning, this morning.  After I got home from working out (probably explains how I had the energy to be productive), I broke down and tied together boxes I had been saving in storage, went through my junk mail, and dumped a lot of stuff into the recycling bin.

When I got home last/Thursday night from My Favorite Stripclub (Cover Edition) to see my ATF, I pulled up to see the recycling bin still where I had thrown all that stuff I worked so hard to toss.

You know, when you intend to have the stuff you want recycled recycled, you kind of have to wheel the recycling bin down to the end of the driveway in order for the dump truck to take the recyclables away.

I do have this remote fear that my parents, who come home next week, will see all the stuff in the bin that I mean to have hauled away and ask, for example, "Where did these boxes come from?" and "Why don't you throw away more of your garbage from your bedroom?"  I hope they don't inspect it too much when they toss things in the bin.  Also, the bin is more than halfway full, but with only me here for one of the two weeks before the dump truck comes around, I hope that it won't be full two weeks from now.

So the overriding feeling is shame and self-hate for forgetting to frickin' put out the bin to get recycled.

And Another Political Thought

OK, Tim Walz has been a very good governor, both righteous and fearless.  I threatened to not vote for Kamala Harris because the Democratic power behind the scenes and the moneyed class combined to fuck Joe Biden, but if Walz is the vice-presidential candidate ... yeah, I guess I'll vote for Harris/Walz.

I have one ancillary thing to say about this election.  I see the outpouring of enthusiasm once Harris replaced Biden, and while it's still a few months from Election Day, the Democratic ticket has been given a palpable jolt, no doubt about it.  I think -- and hope -- that Harris will win.  I think that Biden would have won, too, even though it probably would be more of a slog than it might be if Harris were running instead.  But that leads to my point.  The reason I think/hope both Democrats would beat Trump is because I cannot believe that this country is so goddamn racist that they would vote for Trump again.  Yeah, they did it once before.  But the Trump campaign asked for help from Russia and who knows how many other countries -- and by the way, THAT SHIT IS ILLEGAL -- and the brainwashing of the masses was unprecedented.  As flimsy an excuse that is, Americans don't have that now, especially since Trump's presidency, despite all the revisionist history courtesy of those Republican mouth breathers, was an abject failure.  After what that corrupt, incompetent motherfucker put this country through, people are going to vote for him again?!

I cannot believe that Americans would legitimately elect Trump back into the White House.  In fact, that piece of shit shouldn't get even one vote.  That he still has a viable shot of being elected, by Americans and Americans alone, back into the presidency ... that is unfathomable to me.  I cannot conceive that in my mind, or at least I don't want to.  So, if he does win fair and square (again, unlike in 2016) ... well, this country isn't the beacon of freedom it says it is.

Was The Night Fun, Or Trash?

Yesterday/Tuesday, after work, I went downtown.  There was a flag I needed to drop off at the bar where our ex-club sees all of our alma mater's football Games, but the manager wasn't there.  Still, I dropped it off with one of the servers whom I know.  Hope it gets hung up, but I am kind of scared that, somehow, it'll get lost or something.

Then, I had some time to kill.  Maybe.  Hell, I just decided to go to a basement bar (not necessarily a speakeasy; there is a sign above the front door) not necessarily to have a drink but to see if these cool server was working there.  He was, and it had been a long time since I saw him, so I was happy to catch up with him.  I usually get two drinks when I sit down, but I had a beer at the bar, so it was only one cocktail, and just because the dips are good there, I had fries, too.  Big mistake; near the end of finishing the fries, I was burping to the point where I was throwing up a little in my mouth.

I got home, popped an antacid (didn't really help), then fell asleep.  Didn't want to sleep all night because I had lime juice getting loose in the fridge, and I wanted to make another cosmopolitan for myself (see, that's why I didn't get a second cocktail).  I managed to nap for only an hour, which allowed me to make myself that cosmo, but since it was between 10:30 and 11:30, I don't know if I'll be able to conk off for bed.  Which is why I wonder if this was a fun night or an effed-up one.

Expenses Without Receipt

Oh, yeah, I should do this.  Starting from Monday, August 5:

• And we go back to Saturday, August 3, where I finally got back to Al's Breakfast for the first time in years.  I think I tried eating there some time last year, maybe over winter break, but the line was so long I ditched that plan.  I got there at 6:30 in the morning, and it was a Saturday, and it was before the students came back on campus, and so after about 20 minutes of waiting, a group of eight long-time alums left and four of us singles got to sit.  Got a Wally Blue and half an Eggs Benny, and filled my thermos with the coffee that was poured for me by the really cute college student serving as waitress.  The guy who was at the head of the line waiting for stools (funny, he waited outside the front door when typically people pile into the alley-wide diner and wait menacingly behind those eating) wound up sitting to my right, and right after he got his big plate of food, he needed to use the bathroom.  I didn't know any customer could use what I thought was the private bathroom, but the waitress opened up the bar counter so he could step into the working area and around to the bathroom.  And then I could hear him from, oh, two yards away.  It was either retching or vomiting sounds, one of the two.  And that convinced me I should act like a diner and leave as soon as I was done.  Miss the place; it's a local treasure.  And in this digital age, they remain cash only.  With tip: $22.
• Afterwards I went to the Black Hart, where I was able to last through the first two of the four Quarterfinals of women's soccer being played at the Olympics that day.  I didn't plan on staying for all four, AKA #DoinTheQuad, because I thought I was going to go into work, but then my boss said I didn't have to.  And then I didn't think I could stay because 1) there were chores I needed to do, 2) I had planned on ******e and *****a double-teaming me, and 3) I was too tired to stay awake -- and I wasn't; I conked off near the end of the final Quarterfinal, where Brazil upset host France.  I used my credit card to pay for cheese curds to pass the time for the second Game, where Spain came back to beat Colombia, but for the first Match, where the U. S. edged Japan, I paid for a Bloody Mary with cash money.  With tip -- and I threw in another dollar once I realized I should have --, it came out to: $9.
• Just before coming home from the Black Hart I had to pick up medicine for Father at Wal-Mart.  I was prepared to use my credit card, but his cream cost only: $1.
• So ******e and *****a came over and gave me a HJ.  Well, only ******e did; *****a, for the second straight time, bit my nipple but went nowhere near my dick.  She got totally naked this time, though.  I should talk to ******e about *****a being a bit more, uh, comfortable with me.  Anyway, this was very expensive, but hey, I have needs as a man: $240.
• Back to Sunday, July 28, where I started off my day going to the car wash because I thought it needed cleaning for when I take my parents to the airport later that week.  Charged the wash, but tipped in money: $3.
• I then went down to Diamonds to work on my receipts.  Young woman serving me was also hot.  Cup (not bowl) of chili, can of regular Coke and tip came out to: $7.25.
• And this date is where I will throw in the two pennies I found on the ground (both head's-up, of course) either on this day or another day.  An Infusion of: 2 cents.
• On Thursday the 25th I went to the Heights Theater for the first time in a long time.  They are showing a retrospective of Elizabeth Taylor's seventies, post-Richard Burton work.  The movie this night was Secret Ceremony, co-starring a young Mia Farrow.  Taylor, who plays a prostitute (even though I don't think there are any overt clues given in the film), is riding on a bus to the cemetery on her to see the grave of her long-passed child.  On the bus, Farrow's character insists she is the mother who left the house a long time ago.  Liz's character sees a similarity of her dead child in Farrow's character.  Farrow invites Taylor to her home and then yells at her for leaving her for so long ... and then Taylor just acts as if she is her mother.  It was at that point where I was permanently lost, and that doesn't include the acts of incest.  Robert Michum shows up as the father-in-law -- hint hint -- and I have to say that Mitchum is a creepy son-of-a-bitch in this one.  More swearing and hints at sexual intercourse than I thought would be in a late-sixties flick.  But yeah, I gotta say no to this one.  But I'm still glad I got back to this beautiful, beautiful theater.  Popcorn and tip for both the popcorn and the organist equals: $7.50.
• On Tuesday the 25th 23rd I went over to *****y's condo and got a handjob from her.  She is expensive.  I think I still get nasty with her because I know she doesn't give handjobs to just anyone from My Favorite Stripclub (Non-Cover Edition, RIP).  Total: $150.
• To Saturday, July 230 ... went to Moler to get my face shaved in anticipation for this party happening the following weekend.  Really good shaver.  With tip: $14.
• Oh, wow -- I have to go all the way back to Wednesday, July 3 where, on my way to seeing the Loons lose, I paid these two kids selling cookies on my way to the stadium.  Nice cookie, and I wanted to encourage their entrepreneurship.  Cost: $1.
• Finally, back on Tuesday the 2nd (ETA the correct date at 3:11 a.m. on August 12, 2024), Mother gave me money to pay for the electric bill.  I shorted the previous month's bill by ten bucks.  Don't know or remember how that happened.  I thought I paid for the whole bill.  Weird.  Glad the utility doesn't charge interest.  The bill was $85, but because it was $10 more than it should have been, this was an Infusion, by Mother, for: $75.

Good through August 5.

The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey

#-1: Twins (Last Week: -1).  Started off the screening Week losing two-of-three to The New York Mets.  But then the White Sox came to town, and they're everybody's slump-buster this season, and the Twins swept them to finish the Week on a four-Game winning streak.  The ChiSox have now lost 20 Games in a row, and I think the Twins have lost to the Pale Hose only once this Year.

And that stubborn deficit in the Division to Cleveland remains the same size, 4 1/2 Games behind the Guardians, who still hold the best record in Major League Baseball.  (Also, Kansas City remains their stalker horse, 1/2 a Game behind the Twins for ALWC2, even though the Royals are ahead of Boston by 3 1/2 Games for the final playoff spot.)  To improve their situation, the Twinks ... did nothing at the Trade Deadline except trade one no-hope minor leaguer for a reliever from Toronto.  The fan base are assailing ownership for once again being so damn cheap and unambitious, burning away all the currency from advancing a stage in last season's postseason because they have essentially done nothing.  Yeah, the team is 14 Games above .500 and look likely to reach the playoffs, but why not try and make a move or two to go farther than last Year, and maybe even try for a championship?  Maybe it doesn't matter; they're back on Bally Sports North because a deal was reached last Week, but they've been off of most television sets for so long that many people may not care anymore.

They're in Wrigley Field to face the Cubs for three starting tonight/Monday night.  Then a big one: A four-Game set at Target Field versus Cleveland, beginning with a Day-Night Doubleheader Friday.

#-2: United FC (Last Week: -2).  What I saw on Tuesday might be the most electrifying defensive performance I have ever seen in my life.  Robin Lod scored vs. Necaxa at the Tenth Minute.  And then Dayne St. Clair stood on his head, officially making 16 Saves to make that 1-0 lead stick.  And I'm telling y'all, man, DSC made some fucking incredible Saves:

Obviously it's a franchise record and, for what it's worth, a Leagues Cup record.  It ties for the most Saves for any Major League Soccer Goalkeeper in an MLS-affiliated competition since, I think, 2019, when Vancouver's Maxime Crepeau saved that many in a loss to San Jose.  (Both Goalies, by the way, play for Canada internationally.)  The Loons were a hurting unit while St. Clair was doing international duty, and this was a sign as to how valuable he is for the club.

And it's all for naught because last/Sunday night, Necaxa beat the Sounders is Seattle.  In the three-side Group they're in for The Leagues Cup, they all beat each other.  So the tie-breaker is Goal Difference, and because MNUFC lost to the Sounders on July 26, 2-0, they're the ones eliminated.  And now they have nothing going on for them until the 24th ... when they host Seattle.

Olympics Thoughts

I haven't seen much of the Olympics, to be honest with you.  I only care if I can see these events live, and since they're taking place in Paris, which is seven hours ahead of me, most of the sports finish by the late afternoon, when I am usually at work.  And I've been busy on the weekends (save today; I plan on staying at home and not even cracking open the front door), so I haven't been able to get into it when I'm not at work.  Feel bad, but these Olympics have been more of a rumor to me.  I get the news after the fact on Twitter/X and The Athletic, so I know what happened.  I just don't know what happened as it happens.

Still, it's obvious that Americans are really into these Games, way more than the one in Tokyo three years ago.  We were still coming out of the pandemic then, plus the Summer Olympics being held in the Far East when most events take place overnight here made it hard to get into, or even care.  Which is too bad, because I know the athletes then were working just as hard.

Moreover, I think the world is more interested in these Summer Games, too.  The number of memes I've seen on social media for the Paris Games far exceed the ones I've seen for Tokyo, as noticed by Andrew Bucholtz of Awful Announcing.  Actually, as I think about it, I don't remember any memes from the Tokyo Games.

Those are my thoughts.

Running In Place Financially

So I went to the ATM yesterday/Saturday afternoon to get money for the first time in a long time.  And I saw the balance; it's still below five figures, which to me has become the threshold by which I feel I "have money."  Now, I do have money below five figures, obviously, but I noticed when I fell below that mark.  I think that was at least a few months ago, and I have not gotten above that mark since.

And this is where I take mental stock on all the things I spend my money on.  I think I have cut back on entertainment options, in particular messing around with strippers.  I do eat out, but I have cut back on that, too.  I think what has changed, or at least I thought would change, was all the food I would get in the morning before heading into work.  That adds up, and now that The Fourth Department has slowed down to the point where it now seems easy (and I never thought I would ever say that), I don't have the excuse/crutch of needing a mocha from McDonald's or Caribou whenever I'm back there.  Now, I don't think I can quit cold turkey.  But I think I have averaged three days a week, and I think I can cut it to two.  And I might go down to one if my checking account doesn't grow.

I may be over-emphasizing it in order to pity myself, but I do have those occasional big charges that come at me out of the blue.  There are necessary things, like car maintenance.  And then there are things such as travelling to Las Vegas to see my alma mater.  They come up on occasion, and if you have budgeted yourself up to some level of discipline, a big charge like that would ruin everything.

Speaking of which ... the reason I went to the ATM yesterday/Saturday afternoon was because my parents are now gone and I have the whole house to myself, so I invited ******e and her new friend *****a to savage me and yank on my cock.  It was worth spending the money.  And so I won't go online and look at my account for a while.

Addendum To: Being Told To Leave Work Early ... Just To Go Back And Work More

And after all that, I didn't come into work today.  Got a text from my boss while watching the Match.  He was asking for overtime help because he was anticipating someone not making it in today.  Well, she did, so OT was cancelled.

You know, I would be OK with this if I haven't been jerked around when it comes to making extra money in the past -- both this week (see previous blog post) and all the times my boss has yelled at me for racking up overtime in The Fourth Department.  Sure, I was able to get some chores done in the time I would be at work, but still, this blindside fucking sucks. 

Being Told To Leave Work Early ... Just To Go Back And Work More

So at work yesterday/Friday my supervisor, as she was helping to do some of the stuff in The Third Department I wasn't able to get to (making calls in this position is such a damn time suck), mentioned that the "goal" was to get me out of here short of eight hours so that I cut down on overtime.  Fine, we're doing that shit again?  As I always say, I am there to get the work done, and so if I have to stay extra, I will -- for the good of the company.

Ironically, even though it didn't seem that way at the time, the work dried up before eight hours.  If she had left the work that she did for me instead, I would have stayed after.  But I left 15 minutes early.  Hey, I don't think I'm leaving the job just yet (although that may change soon, stay tuned), so maybe my boss will be happy if it looks as though I was making an effort to leave early, even if I still accrued overtime overall?

After making a deserved 2 1/2-hour stop at a speakeasy for dinner and drinks as a reward to myself for toughing it out in The Third Department (observation: I may need to blow off steam by cooling my heels at speakeasies on days after working The Third Department now instead of The Fourth Department; it might now be more difficult to work in the former than the latter), I went home real quick before hoofing it to Total Wine before they closed.  My phone picked up the house wi-fi and so I got the texts that transmit through wi-fi.  One of those was from my boss ... who asked me and another co-worker if we could come in to work today/Saturday.  And OT was authorized.

I planned on waking up early, trying to line up and eat at Al's Breakfast, then scoot over to the Black Hear to see the USWNT play Japan in the Olympics Quarterfinals, and then go home and sleep.  But I don't know the next time overtime will be authorized, so I think I'll stop in for at least half a day.  Which gets me to thinking.  First of all, why did my supervisor ask me to get out of work as soon as possible when my boss later asked me if I could come in the next day to work?  Furthermore, why is this company, and my boss, so stingy when it comes to OT when (even though I don't remember the last time it was authorized) it's OK this week?  I remember the halcyon days of this company when there was so much work, overtime was being offered like free beer at a LIV event.  I want to think that today is a harbinger of those days coming back, so my boss won't have to be so miserly when it comes to overtime, which would then persuade me to think that working there is still good.

This Is Not A One-Person Job

So I used to love The Third Department.  It seemed really easy, and all the tasks I learned I seemed to have done pat in no time.  That allows me to sneak in some downtime, and since I'm tucked away at a back corner, I feel as though I can do that without prying eyes.  It was absolute bliss.

Was, because since my co-worker was laid off/fired (or both), and everything fell to the only person now in that department, I could sense that all the work that was easily covered by two people easily overwhelms one.  No wonder why she wanted to take a couple days off.  And so, for yesterday and today, that whole department falls on me.  And, it sucks.

Maybe I was dragging yesterday/Thursday because I had to take my folks to the airport.  Or, I needed to make sure I got to work on time (after doing the McDonald's drive-thru; I thought I would have enough time after dropping my parents off at the airport, but for some goddamn reason I missed the 55 exit and had to take 35WN all the way instead, and that took extra time) because the new tardiness rules kicked in yesterday/Thursday.  Or, I was flummoxed when I was told I now take the seat vacated by my laid-off/fired co-worker. 

Probably all three factors conspired to start me on the wrong foot.  I have a checklist of things I need to do and when, but there was just so much stuff first thing in the morning that I didn't make headway.  Then, the big task with this department dropped on my head like an atomic bomb: Testing samples that came from a different lab.  There is a long list of things to do with each sample, I got more than a half-dozen of them.  They are such a high priority that I am supposed to drop everything and do those stat.  And since there were several of them, that took the majority of my day.

My supervisor had to bail me out by stepping and doing some of the work.  And yet more of these important samples that now have to be sent to other labs pretty much eliminated any chance that I would get to finishing all the things I was supposed to finish.  In fact, I had to leave one sample undone because I was under strict orders from my supervisor to not stay past 6.  I shrugged as I left.  There were messages in the inbox I hadn't even looked at and calls that needed to be made but weren't.  I didn't have the time to get to everything I needed to do before I was told to leave.  That doesn't make me feel any better.

This department is not a one-man job.  It simply isn't.  There was slack when two people shared the load, but it feels as though one person now must do the work of, like, 1 1/2 people.  And so it stands to reason that work will be left over for the next day ... when more work might pile on at the end of that day, and so on and so forth.  Things could snowball so badly that I would be so triggered and snap over the burden I am being told to carry.

I really don't like this.  I got help and the work still wasn't finished.  Am I expected to do everything by myself, especially when I only work there some of the time?  I can't believe my boss thinks that should be the case.  Because if he does ... well, another reason to look for another job!

Just Like Old Times

The sleep debt I'm accruing over sleeping only 3 1/2 hours overnight caught up with me big time yesterday/Wednesday at work.  I thought the longest hour of work was my last hour.  I was wrong.  One of my co-workers once remarked that the longest hour actually is the last one before lunch.  That makes sense; I haven't gotten my lunchtime nap in yet, so if I'm not awake coming in to work, I'll feel the fatigue worst of all then.  And I did; right before it was lunch, my eyes started to droop real, real bad and I felt my head start to fall.  I was about to pass out, right at my desk, because I was so bleepin' tired.  I was able to snap my head, and thank Buddha it was lunch time right then and there; I got to my car and within three minutes, I'm sure I was out like a light.

The last time I was so fatigued was when I was a temp for Radisson World Headquarters about two decades ago.  I thought my body maturing eliminated situations like yesterday.  I swear, that has been the most tired I've ever been at this job.  Don't want to do that again.

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Ever since I frightened myself with my bit of road rage when I got caught off in April, I have not revved my engine at all.  Seriously.  I have seen assholes in trucks pass me by and I go, "OK, man, you do you."

But ever since I got a clean bill of my health for my car from the shop a couple weeks ago, I feel the urge to drive like a bat out of hell again.  I have listened to the angels of my better nature ... until leaving work for home yesterday/Wednesday.  Since it was early enough in the afternoon that I didn't think highway traffic had built up yet, I decided to take the fast way home.  That involves taking a right onto a long road that becomes a de facto on-ramp to the highway.

I make this turn just as oncoming traffic, from the left, got the green light from the intersection.  One of the vehicles is, of course, a black truck that is gaining ground on me even though the two lanes were going to merge into one.  I know the asshole wanted to get past me because he overestimated how much asphalt he had, so he accelerated quickly through the other lane.  But fuck that, bitch, I stepped on the gas pedal and made sure that motherfucker had to merge behind me.  Ha!  I had to step on my brake to merge into traffic, but it was worth it!

Takes me back to when I didn't think I had to baby my car.  Hope I haven't hurt it.

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The Vampire Weekend concert I bought a ticket for was last/Wednesday night.  (Review: VW has a lot of songs I know now.  And Ezra Koenig is a unique kind of frontman, unthreatening and affable.)  They started at 8:30 and ended before 11.  Nowadays, if I had known that they would start and end that late on a school night, I wouldn't go to the concert (I said this in my last blog post), but I was dazzled over Live Nation trying to save face and offering tickets for $25 not too long ago.

I waited out the storm that passed through by taking a power nap that lasted only 90 minutes to which I set an alarm.  (Feel really alert right now, BTW.)  Thought that if it were storming all night I would actually skip the concert, but when I woke up there was a hole in the storm whereby I thought I could drive downtown and walk to the Armory without getting wet.  So I told my parents that ... I was meeting a friend ... and that I would be back by 10, or so.  I think I arrived home around 11:20.

Man, I haven't 1) lied and 2) underestimated to my folks when I would get back home by at least an hour since I just got out of college and they were worried what I was doing with my life.  Man, just like old times!

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Yesterday/Wednesday was a blast from the past.  Those were the days!