End Of 2025 Thoughts

My now ex-boss ... yeah, he was a guy.  Not only did he announce he was leaving through e-mail the minimum two weeks before he actually leaving, today, his last day, he didn't stay the whole day.  And he just e-mailed everybody peace before he left for his car five minutes later.  We all made a goodbye and thanks card for him, but my co-worker had to run it out to him as he was about to leave.  I think I said this before: I would rather have him than a micro-manager.  But geez, this is the guy who hired me for my first full-time job.  He helped me turn into a responsible adult.  I would have liked to express my gratitude in a less shallow way.

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My co-worker to whom I leaned up for much of my job left at the end of 2024, so in that sense, 2025 has gone full circle.  It has been a challenge to see my job, and thus me, change, mostly because people above me were leaving.  (I forgot that my supervisor left in the late summer; I still haven't recovered from that.)  We'll get by, only because we have to.  But I have no idea what this change will bring, and I don't like change as a principle.

I think the main thing that happened in my life, though, is Mother's knee surgery.  I am able to live much of my life independently, and for the most part I love living alone.  I haven't been able to do that for the past seven or eight months because of what Mother has to go through.  I always adapt, and I am glad that she got her knee fixed (even though she complains that it is not as good as she wants it to be), but some days it hasn't been fun having them around here ... and yet, I want to cherish the times I have with my folks when they're good, like when Father helped me clear the driveway of snow, or every night I get to eat a great dinner my parents made.

My neighbor's death a few weeks ago still weighs on me.  She is the person in my life I have lost this year, so in that sense, I have been quite lucky.  That's why I want to enjoy my time with my parents when they should be halfway around the world.  One year I will look back on the year with great, intense sadness.  I know it'll happen, and I don't want it to.

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I'm driving down to my friends' place after I get finished with this blog post.  Hope I survive the drive down and back.  It's a tradition I intend on continuing for as long as possible, as a signpost that, despite all the setbacks and wrongs and pain I might have incurred through the year, I made it.

Happy New Year, everyone.  Let's make it a good one.

The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey

My annual, end-of-year reminder that, because I want to keep some part of The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey fresh, it will be published at a different day of the week for 2026.  It is always the day of the week January 8 falls under, so for next year, expect to see the WMNSS up every Thursday.  To catch up, next Week's survey will encompass Games from today, December 31, through Wednesday, January 7. 

#-1: Wild (Last Week: -5).  They have nipped that two-Game losing streak by winning both Games they had this Week, both of which were on the road because they're vacating the GCA so that the World Juniors could use the arena.  Minnesota crushing The (Last) Vegas Golden Knights, 5-2, Monday at their place was *chef's kiss*.  I liked their Win Saturday at The Bastard Atlanta Thrashers, too, but I wish it didn't have to go into Overtime to prevent Winnipeg from picking up a loser Point.  Alas -- Mats Zuccarello tied it up with 32 Seconds left in the Third Period, then Matt Boldy potted the Game-winner 39 Seconds into Overtime.  If they couldn't beat them in regulation, winning this way is kind of the next best thing.

It is confounding that the Wild may be both the third-best team in the NHL and the third-best team in their Division, but here we are ... even though they are creeping up The Team That Was Stolen From Us.  They continue their long road trip through the New Year by continuing out west: San Jose this/Wednesday/New Year's Eve afternoon; Anaheim Friday; then a pair of contests in Los Angeles Saturday and Monday night.

#-2: Gopher women's basketball (Last Week: -1).  OK, so this is what I want to see: This club with so much talent and promise going into hostile territory and not only winning but wiping out the home team.  I don't know how good Indiana is or isn't supposed to be, but I did not expect the U. to come away from Bloomington with a 71-48 shit-kicking of the Hoosiers.  This is kind of what I expect from a Dawn Plitzuweit-led team.  But a much taller task awaits to begin the New Year: At Michigan Monday.  Experts say that it'll be the Wolverines and UCLA atop The Big Ten, with UConn, Texas and LSU forming an unstoppable "Big Five" in women's college basketball from which one will almost assuredly win this Year's championship.  An upset Win there and ... hoo, boy.

#-3: Vikings (Last Week: -3).  Yeah, I have a sneaking suspicion the Vikes are playing harder than many other squads, including the ones on their schedule.  They actually won going away at home versus Detroit Christmas afternoon, 23-10, in a most inexplicable way possible: Detroit giving away six Turnovers.  I never imagined the Lions imploding like this, but their vaunted, high-flying Offense essentially shot itself in both feet.  And no offense to Max Brosmer, but if you can't beat a guy who went nine-for-16 for 51 Yards in the tilt -- and got sacked seven times in the Game -- you done fucked up.

I might touch more on this some other time, but right now, I can't stand the people who hate the Vikings for not tanking in order to secure a higher draft pick.  They reflexibly call the team (or the front office or the coaching or the players ... hell, why not all of them?) incompetent.  Well, winning four in a row, and possibly finishing the season above .500 if they beat the injury-racked Packers early Sunday afternoon, is very, very competent.  Don't you want your team to show you they might know what they're doing?  My belief that the Vikings could run the table remain very much in play.  I don't remember the last time, if ever, I have ever felt so good about a club that got eliminated from postseason contention so early.

#-4: Gopher men's basketball (Last Week: -2).  Finished the non-conference part of their schedule by routing Fairleigh Dickinson Monday night by 17.  FDU upset Purdue a few Years back in only the second #16-over-#1 upset in men's college basketball tournament history, but this current team is no great shakes, so the victory doesn't have that much juice.  Now, at Northwestern late Saturday afternoon, or home to Iowa Tuesday night?  I might start caring.

#-5: Timberwolves (Last Week: -4).  Of the five Twin Cities teams to play this screening Week, it's only the Timberwolves who lost.  Their defeat Christmas night in Denver is forgivable: The Nuggets remain a formidable opponent, Anthony Edwards hit a quick, spinning 3 to send the Game to OT, and even though the Wolves had a huge lead in Overtime, they only lost by four on the back of a superlative performance from Nikola Jokic.  I was able to catch the end of the Game, and people are calling it The Game Of The Year.

However, their Loss to Brooklyn Saturday, at home by 16, is much less acceptable.  The Nets are third from the bottom in The Eastern Conference.  And you get blown out?  I don't care how much of a comedown those players were on after that insta-classic two Days before; do they have any idea that they might not be able to take Games off, especially if the consequences might be losing to a shitty squad at home?

The T-Wolves were able to bounce back and finally win this Week by annihilating the Bulls in Chicago by 35 Points on Monday.  (Side note: The Timberwolves, Wild, and both Golden Gopher basketball clubs all played Monday, and they all kicked ass in their respective Matches.  It may be The Most Dominating Day In Minnesota Sports History.)  But they sit in a virtual tie with The Bastard Minneapolis Lakers for fifth in the West.  Getting into a groove and stacking victories would do a lot, promise.

This Week: They complete their four-Game road trip with visits to Atlanta (this/Wednesday/New Year's Eve afternoon), Miami (late Saturday afternoon), and Washington (early Sunday evening) before coming home and hosting the Heat Tuesday.

Fucking Hate Driving In The Snow

It may be recency bias, or it might be me getting old.  But I swear, driving yesterday/Monday morning was the most treacherous drive I've ever had.  I don't exactly know how it works since temperatures all day were below freezing, but the snow that fell on Sunday (and by the way, I don't think we got more than four inches; the problem was the wind was swirling it all around) melted and then froze, so what we got was more akin to ice than snow.

That meant we had to be really, really careful when driving, and there were a couple occasions (taking a right turn, stopped at an intersection) that I couldn't get going.  Worse off is the feeling when I was driving at, oh, 40 or 55 miles an hour that I didn't have complete control of the car.  It takes me back to when I was driving to a Wild Game in the middle of a snowstorm in my old car for work with the radio station; I tried to merge and actually spun a couple times and, thank God, rested right in the left shoulder, facing in the correct direction, without hitting anything.  But that loss of control always stayed with me, and I felt it a few times when driving to and from work yesterday/Monday.

Will the roads get better?  I want to say that road crews getting another day of it will finally make driving better.  But the problem is there are clippers coming in both this/Tuesday and tomorrow/Wednesday morning.  It shouldn't drop more than an inch in either case, but could it be enough to make driving bad again?  I don't need that shit.  I fucking hate driving in the snow.

Father And I Got Along Like Two Peas In A Pod!

You know when I said I didn't think Father really meant it when he said he wanted to spend the holidays with me here at home?  Well. ...

I woke up late in the morning to see flakes fly outside.  I've seen and driven through worse, but I didn't want to chance a risky drive to St. Paul just to see a hockey Game, especially since it was supposed to get worse.  I told Father, who noted the snow outside, that I wasn't going, so he fixed me up a sandwich and fruit to eat for lunch.

Later, for dinner, I convinced my parents that since I bought a couple extra bottles of sparkling apple juice, this would be a good occasion for us to break out the apple-cranberry bottle in the fridge.  So, even though it wasn't Christmas or New Year's, we got to celebrate a "big dinner" (and it was big -- nice pork and salad ... they went out for dinner last/Sunday night).

Right after that, Father wanted to clear the driveway.  I thought it better to wait, but he went out and prepared a pair of galoshes for me, so I went out too.  I've obviously plowed a driveway by myself before, and once you get that machine going, you're unstoppable.  But I've got to say that it was really, really nice to have My Father help with shoveling all the small parts of the driveway, like the walkway up to the stoop and right next to the cars.  He even helped scrape all the ice and snow off of my windshield.  With both of us doing it, that chore went by even faster.

And finally, after I got back in from plowing, I decided to finally wash the bedsheet, something I've wanted to do for a week now.  When I grabbed it from the dryer, Father saw me and said, "Aw, I could've washed it for you tomorrow."  "Nah, that's OK," I said, "but thank you!"

It was a nice, friendly conversation between father and son.  In fact, Sunday was a beautiful and ... well, loving day between us.  You know, for all my misgiving about my parents -- all the fake sentiments, the lies, the passive-aggressiveness, the fighting -- I have fantastic days like this with them when we're the family we should be and I forgive all that other crap.  My misgivings and grudges totally melt away.

You know, right now, I actually believe My Father wants to spend the holidays here with me.  And I want to feel this feeling more often.

Feet Are Hot

I think for the past week, though it might be only the past several days, my feet have been burning up.  I have had to sleep under the covers, but with my feet sticking out through either the bottom or, more likely, the side of my blanket.  And overnight, I actually slept about 6 1/2 hours above my sheets.

I don't know how this is happening.  What I really, really want to do is go outside and put my bare feet in the snow and leave them there until my feet get numb.  It's as if my body is just firing all this heat down to my feet, and by subjecting them to this intense cold for so long, my body will just reset, like a rebooted computer, and my feet won't feel so hot anymore.  But I can't do that because my parents will yell at me.

My feet are still hot.  They might continue to be hot when I finally go out to plow the snow.

Was Going To Go, But ...

Huh-huh.  I had heard about the impending blizzard we're about to have today/Sunday when I blog posted my previous blog post yesterday/Saturday afternoon, but I don't know if I quite believed it.  I don't remember any forecaster saying anything about a snowstorm.  Then again, I don't think I watched the news on Friday because I was coming home for a pair of World Juniors Games, and I don't think I watched the news Christmas night either because I came home from working the Vikings Game and tuned in to watch the Timberwolves Game.  So maybe it's me.

You know, when you buy a ticket online (firsthand, not through scalper sites), Ticketmaster asks you if you want insurance?  You pay an extortionate amount of money on top of all the bullshit fees they tack on to give you the option of refunding the cost you paid for your ticket in case you can't use it.  You're always supposed to say no because what are the odds you are going to miss a concert because, say, you got into a car accident?  Well, this would have been one of those times I should've bought insurance, because there's no goddamn way I'm going to drive all the way out to St. Paul for a World Juniors Game.  I wish I could, and I think if I were 20 or even ten years younger than I am I would do it.  But I'm older and maybe smarter now.  This blizzard is coming right as the Game starts and it's going to still be at its worst around the time it's over, so fuck it, I ain't going.

The younger me would be pissed at myself for eating $25, which is the cost of the ticket I bought.  I'm trying to sell it now and get back $4.50 for it, but it might not sell because there's a chance no one's going to this Game.  Damn vagaries of Minnesota winters.

Ironically, all that stuff I blog posted before about deciding to shop now as opposed to a later time is now moot.  I did buy a few items at the Megamall, but I won't know whether I overreacted because I won't be going to Grand Casino Arena to comparison shop and see if I paid more than I should.  (Aside: There were many items at MOA that I didn't see at Mariucci, and vice versa.)  Also, all that kvetching I did over changing my mind about staying inside and not using the car yesterday/Saturday is also moot ... well, probably.  I will need to go outside and, although I hope I don't have to, I might need to start the car and move it around so I can plow the entire driveway from the snow, dammit.

Was Going To Stay In, But ...

This might be a mistake.  But I went to a couple Games of the World Juniors at Mariucci, and there may be a few things I want to buy.  But the items on sale at that arena seem to be different, if not really different, from the items I saw at the IIHF World Juniors pop-up store at the Mall Of America.  Also, I went in the second Game, when Canada was playing.  The merchandise store at Mariucci was packed.  Now, the store is really small, even if the Game was only half-full, so the idea that things could sell out quickly based on what I went through last night probably is overblown.  Still, that has made an impression me, and add to that the items I thought I saw at MOA but not there has convinced me to change out of my clothes and go out today, to the Megamall, probably to buy some World Juniors stuff.  Other factors factoring into this decision: There are no important Games on TV I can stay home and watch (there are college football Bowls, but they're exhibitions, so they're not important; by the way, I think there are only three top-flight men's Games and one top-flight women's Game today, seriously!); weather's pretty good for driving right now (above freezing, no rain); and, surprisingly, I haven't been asked to come in to work.

I really don't want to drive, but instead I think I'll stay home next Saturday, when there will be a couple NFL Games on free TV.  This plan might blow up in my face, of course.  It's possible I could go down there and everything's sold out, or there are items there that I don't want to buy, or all the stuff there is exactly what I saw at Mariucci last night.  But like I said, the World Juniors ain't comin' around every year, so I might as well experience it while it is.  Let's hope it works out!

And Are They Done For Real Or What?

Weird and ominous text I got from my sister-in-law Christmas morning.  As I do with pretty much all my friends and family, I text them on the holidays.  My sis-in-law is someone I'm keen on reaching out to because the only person I give Christmas gifts to is my niece/her daughter.  But since they live so far away, I don't have time to buy and wrap those gifts for her.  It is so, so much easier if I buy what my niece wants on Amazon and have them shipped to their house.

What I didn't know, even though I probably should have thought about it, was that my sister-in-law intercepts the gifts and wraps them up for her daughter/my niece to open them at Christmas.  I guess she's done that every year I've sent gifts to them, and so, when I wished her a Merry Christmas, I thanked her for doing the hard work of wrapping the gifts without my niece (seemingly) knowing.

As she usually does, she sent pictures of my niece opening up the three gifts I got her.  Amazon said that they would come in two shipments and the shipment for one might come after Christmas.  I had told my sister-in-law that could happen (and that has happened before), so I wanted to confirm whether that second shipment with that third gift came in time after all.  (Yeah, it's obvious, but still.)  She never confirmed.  Instead, she said, and I'm paraphrasing, "Welp, next Christmas is going to be different ... and you can talk about it with your brother."

I've spoken about this here before: I've wondered for a long, long time whether my brother and sister-in-law were on the outs.  I've never seen them act like they, well, love each other.  And I don't know if I described this on WAF, but my sister-in-law and I had dinner out several years ago where she just fucking unloaded on him.  She never said she planned on separating from him, though, so it made me wonder if she was blowing off steam or if this is truly a rift that will not heal.

This was, I believe, before we and the whole family went to Hawai'i over the holidays a few years ago.  I thought that if they were going to split up, they would have done so before then because it wouldn't make sense to act like one big, happy family and then announce their separation.  And then I thought that maybe they all wanted an excuse to go to Hawai'i, and then they could drop this bomb after the New Year.  Well, there was no announcement at all, so I just figured they were still together, or limping along in this relationship because they can't overcome inertia.

So what should I make of that text?  There seems to be frustration behind it, so this could be another case of her blowing off steam because, say, my brother said something to her that pissed her off.  Or, this is an announcement months or maybe even years in the making; a separation might finally be in its final stages for some reason, and 2026 is the year the relationship changes -- or ends.  I don't fuckin' know.  I just texted her, "Um, OK," and she didn't respond.

This shit is just too weird, man.

Where The Hell Did Our Tree Go?

I came home, Kentucky Fried Chicken in hand, on Tuesday to see something missing in our front yard.  We had two trees, and the one closer to the street is gone, with only its scarred stump and shards of wood shavings left in its place.  I asked my folks, who presumably were at home all day and thus noticed this chopping down of our tree, about it.  They didn't call for it to be removed, nor did they stop it, and they didn't even open the front door to ask what was going on.  They just observed this tree, which has been there my whole life, being cut down and hauled away.

No idea they were doing this.  Now, I have read the city newsletter, published four times a year, where some trees in town had to be either treated for, um, whatever disease is going through the neighborhood or, failing that, chopped down.  When I was mowing the lawn this year, I noticed a small medallion hanging from a nail nailed into the bark of this tree with some numbers on it.  I thought that meant that this tree had been treated.  Maybe that meant that the tree was slated for removal, even though I wonder, if that is what that is, why it took till Christmastime to do take the tree away.

Just in case, I should call the city to make sure they're the ones who did it.  Then again, my folks weren't told they had to pay for the tree, so it's probably legit, though strange in how the city went about doing it.

What I'm Doing This Christmas Weekend; Christmas Song Review

It's not going to be much of a Christmas holiday for me.  I'm working today/Thursday/Christmas, and then, instead of just vegging at home, I've decided I am going to a few Hockey World Juniors Games, on Friday and Sunday.  I need to stand by my principle that I should go to things that might not come around here for a long time, and the Hockey World Juniors might not be in the Twin Cities ever again, at least not in my lifetime.  In fact, I changed my mind and bought tickets to not one but both Group Stage Games tomorrow/Friday at Mariucci.  I was going to go to Hooters at MOA after the afternoon Game, but as far as I know, Hooters will be around in 2026; the World Juniors will not.  I just need to figure out what I'm going to do inbetween Games.  Oh, and even though there are Games on Saturday, that's when I figure I'll just sleep in.  That's my time to relax for Christmas.

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Before I delve into this Christmas' Christmas song, I have to apologize for doubling up.  I was looking through past Christmas song reviews and didn't realize that I wrote about Brenda Lee's "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree" twice, last year and in 2019.  I don't know how I forgot I did it twice.  Sorry.  I will do better and check beforehand.

My Christmas song for 2025 is a challenging one because it's not originally a Christmas song.  It's "My Favorite Things," from the musical The Sound Of Music.  I'm still trying to understand how it accreted its Christmas meaning after it was made, but let me go through the chronology as I understand it.  I'm using articles from Mental Floss, Billboard, and Wikipedia (two articles) to research this.

The Sound Of Music first appeared on Broadway in 1959, with the song showing up in Act I, completely devoid of its current meaning.  The cast album was released that year and topped the Billboard charts for 16 weeks, then stayed in the Top 10 for the next two years.  Now here's where it gets weird: Julie Andrews, who plays the main character of Maria in the film adaptation of The Sound Of Music, performed "My Favorite Things" on a variety show on CBS called The Garry Moore Show at Christmastime in 1961.  Note that Andrews has no connection with the original stage version of The Sound Of Music.  She was eventually cast as Maria for the film version, but that was made in 1964 and released in 1965.  According to Wikipedia, a man by the name of Ernest Lehman was hired to write the screenplay in December of 1962.

It looks as though the "Christmasifying" (I'm taking that word from the Mental Floss article) of "My Favorite Things" came in 1964 due to, ironically enough, the film version of The Sound Of Music.  The music publishing division of the The Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization (Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II wrote the music and lyrics for the stage musical, their last together before Hammerstein died of stomach cancer in August 1960) knew the film adaptation was going to be released in March 1965.  It was being marketed as a tentpole movie (it would go on to win five Oscars, including Best Picture), but that publishing division wanted a song from that movie to become a hit before the movie came out, otherwise they were afraid the movie wouldn't make any money.

Someone from the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization went to a music producer named Mickey Kapp to see if there was a way to get a song from The Sound Of Music into any album Kapp was producing.  He told the representative that he was currently producing a Christmas album for a singer named Jack Jones; Jones, who died in October 2024, sang the theme song to The Love Boat, by the way.  This rep thought that "My Favorite Things" would be a good song for Jones to sing and for Kapp to add to the album, which is called The Jack Jones Christmas Album.

But why "My Favorite Things" for a Christmas album?  Well, that's where you listen to the song and note all the references to winter and Christmas, or at least references that lend themselves to the season and the holiday if you imagine big enough: "Warm woolen mittens"; "Brown paper packages tied up with strings"; "Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes"; etc.  Who knows if Rodgers & Hammerstein picked up on the Christmas allusions when they wrote the song.  But Kapp, sticking to the original context of "My Favorite Things," said it wasn't a good idea to put it on a Christmas album because it wasn't a Christmas song.  To which this promoter said, "Just add sleigh bells."

Well, Kapp did add sleigh bells, and Jones sang the song, and "My Favorite Things" was put into The Jack Jones Christmas Album, and ... it looks like it didn't become a hit, nor could people directly credit that song for people buying tickets to The Sound Of Music, the movie.  But people in the music industry apparently saw "My Favorite Things" as a Christmas song then, and thought it was good, because from then on other artists did their own version of "My Favorite Things" for their Christmas albums, and it then became the standard holiday song it is now.

But I'm not going for Jack Jones's or Julie Andrews's or even the original version of "My Favorite Things."  I love, and I mean love, John Coltrane's cover of it.  It swings so effortlessly, and my Buddha, his playing after the verses lifts me up to the sky.  I shouldn't leave out McCoy Tyner; his revolutionary piano playing on the song is a heaven-sent complement to Trane's virtuosity.  Only in the past year or so have I realized I now have a song that makes me feel happy every time I hear it.

And here's the ironic part of that: The album "My Favorite Things" is on (and the album is named after the song) was released in March 1961 -- a couple years after the stage musical premiered and almost four years before Mickey Kapp and Jack Jones put it on a Christmas album.  It wasn't a Christmas song when Coltrane recorded it, and yet you hear it come Christmastime.  I can't call this "retconning," short for retroactive continuity, but maybe this phenomenon could be called, uh, retroactive meaning-making ... or something?

OK, maybe not.  But here's John Coltrane doing "My Favorite Things."  Get happy, and Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays:

The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey

#-1: Gopher women's basketball (Last Week: -2).  Odd screening Week ... the top three teams went undefeated (they all played only Game, sure, but still), yet none of them were really impressive.

In cases like this, I look at all the squads' prospects of reaching a postseason.  Thus, the Gopher women's b-ballers take the top spot by virtue of a true road Win, 68-43 over an obviously outgunned Drake club in Des Moines.  The Bulldogs' record overall became 2-9, but it is a road victory, something they didn't have until Sunday afternoon, and that will help maintain their spot in the NCAAs, where Charlie Creme of ESPN.com still has the U. as a 9-Seed.

Conference play now begins, albeit quality: Minnesota visits Indiana early Monday evening.

#-2: Gopher men's basketball (Last Week: -3).  They wallop Campbell Sunday evening at The Barn by 28, but it's Campbell and these guys are going nowhere, yadda-yadda-yadda.  One more contest to finish up the non-conference portion of their schedule and the Year: At home versus Farleigh Dickinson late Monday.

#-3: Vikings (Last Week: -1).  Yeah, they've won three in a row, but Sunday they beat the Giants.  The fuckin' Giants, man.  And they had to squeak by with a Field Goal from Will Reichard, who, and I'm not shitting you, should be the MVP of this team.  Max Brosmer played the Second Half in place of J. J. McCarthy ... and he gained more Passing Yards in one Half (52) than Giants starting Quarterback Jaxson Dart did the entire Game (33).  The Vikings won, 16-13, but the biggest loser was the sport of football.

But back to McCarthy.  He hurt his hand as he was sacked and stripped of the football, which was returned for a scoop 'n' score that made the score 13-10 Minnesota at the Half.  That is now, I think, three different injuries McCarthy has suffered this season, and that's on top of the torn meniscus that forced him out of the entire 2024 Year.  I keep forgetting what is becoming the biggest liability to a long career for him: He gets hurt too often.  If this continues, the organization will have to find another new QB because it's looking more and more like McCarthy is just too injury-prone.

And still I think there's a faint chance that this club can run the table.  Detroit comes here tomorrow/Thursday/Christmas Day.  Even with Max Brosmer officially in as QB, I can see ways that a demoralized Lions squad, knowing that their chances of making the playoffs are just about kaput, throw in the towel and give Vikes fans a Christmas present.

#-4: Timberwolves (Last Week: 0).  A screening Week that began with an unacceptable six-Point Loss to The Bastard Vancouver Grizzlies at Target Center on Wednesday kind of boiled over to the next tilt, Friday's home date vs. The Bastard Seattle SuperSonics.  Chris Finch got tossed over a non-call on Anthony Edwards, and he had to be restrained from going after the refs.  He was yelling and pointing fingers as if he wanted to physically attack them.  (He got fined for his actions.)  Finch seems to be a mild-mannered man, so I have never seen him that pissed.

That may have sparked the Timberwolves, as they were able to close out a 112-107 Win, mostly on the back of Edwards, who drained a Three-Pointer, then executed a chase-down Block, then stole the ball on a sequence very late in the Game.  Following that up with victories over Milwaukee (by three) and KAT and the Knicks (by eleven, and all three Games were at home), and they have gotten past The Bastard San Diego Rockets for fifth place in The Western Conference.  But that defeat to Memphis still bothers me.

As one of the better teams in the NBA, they once again receive the privilege of playing on Christmas Day, this time at Denver in the final Game of the five-Game slate.  They then host The Bastard New York Nets Saturday before travelling to Chicago Monday.

#-5: Wild (Last Week: Positive Numbers).  Welp, they were going like gangbusters, with matching 5-2 Wins at Columbus and home to Edmonton to stretch their winning streak to seven.  But the latter half of the screening Week produced a pair of duds: 5-1 to The Bastard Quebec Nordiques Sunday and a 3-2 Overtime defeat to Nashville (both of these Games were at the GCA).

I won't sound the alarm: They are virtually an island to themselves in third place in The Central Division.  But the Wild acquired Quinn Hughes to be a difference-maker, and a final piece that would help Minnesota stand toe-to-toe with the West's best.  Colorado right now is the best of the best, on pace for a record number of Points in NHL history, and they came in here and dog-walked the Mild.  And then they took it from a team below them in the standings.  It's a two-Game slide, and that happens to every team.  But they need every Point they can muster to catch The Bastard Quebec Nordiques and The Team That Was Stolen From Us, those last two Losses give credence to the thought that this team is still a cut below.

The Wild now have to vacate Grand Casino Arena because the Twin Cities are hosting the World Juniors, starting on Boxing Day and continuing to January 5.  I have a ticket to a Group Game at GCA and at least one ticket (to a Quarterfinal) at Mariucci Arena, the other venue hosting the World Juniors.  I'm excited.  But, that means the Wild are road warriors for 13 Days and seven Games, starting Saturday in Winnipeg and continuing Monday in (Las) Vegas.

Her Mistakes Are Actually Ours

Work is kind of wonky the last two weeks of the year, as I believe it is in many other places.  The workload lessens because it's the holidays, but there are less people also because it's the holidays.  I always make the mistake of believing that because of the work, things will be lighter.  Not so.  Because there are so many people who are taking the week off, the remaining few have to take care of the work, as meager as it may be, by themselves.  So, all in all, it's a wash, and so I had a full day.

The Third Department by itself still has its moments even if it's been easier since the winter.  I thought I got pretty much everything done at a reasonable time.  However, while I was digging through a crate of work so I could put a folder where it needed to be, I pulled out a specimen that needed to go into testing.  It was held up because one person in our laboratory specifically needed to do something for it.  I remember touching this first on Friday.  I put a Post-It note saying that the person taking care of this on Saturday needs to speak to her about this.  But as I was leaving work yesterday/Monday, I see that these forms for this specimen weren't taken care of.  Instead, the person who was going to do this on Saturday wrote a note on the same Post-It saying that the person would be in on Monday, presumably indicating that she wasn't there on Saturday.  Well, this person was there yesterday/Monday, but I didn't fucking know that this wasn't taken care of, and by the time I saw these forms, the person I needed to speak to left for the day.  Goddammit.

Sure, I guess I'm responsible because I should have looked through everything before the end of the day.  But I'm gonna say it: I'm really peeved that this person just shoved this specimen, which should have gone into testing well before yesterday/Monday, back into the file where I couldn't see it.  She should know working the same position I am that you are just too damn busy with everything new that's coming in, from both e-mails and the lab.  Why would I need to look through a file for work?  What she should have done (and this is just coming from me) was to flag it -- put it on top of the crate or even my desk.  That way I know that this is a special case (which it is) that I need to pay special attention to.  I remember specifically throwing that test on her desk when I left on Friday.

No, it's not her fault.  But this points to something else that's troubling: I have seen her make mistakes in this job she shouldn't be making.  Another thing I noticed during work yesterday/Monday is that she doesn't keep track of the calls she makes.  One of our jobs is to retrieve information, and we are supposed to document what we have done to retrieve that info (calls and e-mails) so that, if someone else needs to step in and pick up the trail, we can do so easily.  Twice during work I saw there are literal forms that the lab needs to get.  I know through another program we use that my co-worker did make a call.  But we have other software to which we are supposed to document that we have called this place and/or we e-mailed this person.  That way we know what has happened and can avoid doing something twice.  That gets a bit more difficult to do if she doesn't state in this program what she has done.

She is the one who got hired over the summer, so I want to think that she just forgot.  Hell, I make mistakes in The Third Department all the time, still.  But I'm sure she was trained that she needs to document what she's done.  And yet, putting these two issues together, is there a possibility that she wasn't trained to document her trail, and didn't understand that these forms are important enough that she should have laid it on my desk so I could see it first thing in the morning?  If so, that's a failure in training, and that is why it sucked that my former supervisor moved on.  She could've used so much more seasoning, and my supervisor knew all the ins and outs of working that position.  I wonder what, if anything, she didn't teach her before she left, let alone what my colleague has now forgotten because my former supe isn't around to reinforce what she taught her.

And this will get worse now that my boss is leaving.  He, frankly, doesn't know much about this position.  But he was at least in a position of authority to find out, and he did the best he could answering all of our questions, including hers.  With him gone, I'm not sure our new boss (whoever he or she will be) will know how to fix any mistakes she makes.  That person might not even have the time to care.  And so I can see a case where my co-worker will continue to make mistakes because we couldn't or didn't step and tell her what she needs to do.

I/We have till New Year's Eve to tell my/our boss to tell her what she needs to do, and then we are all off on our own.  Don't know if it's going to be enough.  My frustration over seeing something that could have and should have been done already may very well continue unabated.

Fuck Fantasy Football

I know there's a Game tonight, but I have fucking crashed out in all three of my fantasy football leagues, and it's fucking demoralizing.

The one most important to me, the one I have money on, I lost last week.  It was the worst combination of my opponent overachieving and my team underachieving, and of fucking course it happens during the playoffs.  And this week my other two teams, including the one I'm commish in, fucking shat the bed.  Both of my opponents had Ashton Jeanty, who fucking went buckwild on my ass, unfortunately.  I have a ghost of a chance on one of them because I have Brock Purdy, but no, there's no hope.

Besides the league I'm commissioner in, I have not won once.  Why do I keep fucking playing?  Why do I keep fucking torturing myself with all this goddamn losing?

My Quest To Find A New Pair Of Glasses Comes To A Surprising End

OK, so I am getting new glasses today/Sunday.  I have an updated prescription for lenses that I haven't changed in, like, four years.  Plus, I think my HSA through my employer is going to change next year.  I could be wrong.  In fact, there's a good chance I'm wrong.  But I don't have time to understand it, so I'm just going to pay for new glasses before the year's out.

The problem, for me, became formal.  Do I want new glasses?  As resistant to change that I am, and as much as my current frames fit my face and personality, I decided I could use a shake-up.  But, I ran a poll where I sent for five pairs of glasses from Warby Parker, and I have decided that I am going to go for the one that finished second in the poll.  (Two of them were far and away the most popular amongst my real and Facebook friends, and I went with the more popular, which had just a few more votes.)

The problem is that I could not find the name of the frame that finished second.  I swore up and down that I made a spreadsheet for it, but I couldn't find it.  So for the past few days I have been looking at the Warby Parker website to compare their frames with the one I wore in my picture which I posted for my friends to look at.  I was looking at every detail to see if what I was looking for was actually the one I was looking for.  I was looking at the what the bridge looked like, how thick the sides of the glasses were, etc.  I was getting a bit obsessed, to be honest.

Finally, I found that Excel spreadsheet.  I did write down the names of the frames that were the most popular on the spreadsheet.  And, it turns out, the two frames are no longer sold by Warby Parker.  That's why the one I was looking for I couldn't quite find on their website; they no longer make them.  Either of them, actually; I was wrong in thinking that the frame that won my Facebook poll is the one that I'm currently wearing.  It isn't.  Should have realized that when I was frantically looking at these photos I posted, I was asking my friends to pick out my glasses ten years ago.  I changed frames since then, maybe twice.

So never mind all that.  There are a couple of frames that I could go for, but I really just wanted to go back to selected that old frame, and since I can't, I'll just get a new pair with the same design that I'm wearing now.  If it ain't broke, don't fix it ... even though I thought about fixing it.

I'm Not Mad At Them, Just Disappointed

Another thing about the funeral service for my neighbor: Neither of my parents went.  Mother was dead set against it once I told her; I thought Father would go, and he said yes, but the night before he said no.  So, even though we lived a few houses down from her, even though they sometimes waved to her when the neighbor was enjoying the outdoors on her porch, and even though, when my folks were making egg rolls for us to eat, would make enough for her to eat as well, they refused to say goodbye to her in the last time one could say goodbye to someone before the body is laid into the earth or cremated.

My parents are very private people, but I really, really thought the circumstances around this death would prompt them to behave differently this one time.  They knew her.  They live close by.  The service was two minutes away by car.  (I walked there; if it weren't cold, snowy and windy as it was that afternoon, they could've made it in five minute on foot, and even if they didn't want to go, I could fucking drive them.)  And they fucking had nothing else to do.  And yet, they refused.  Maybe you could blame the weather, maybe you could blame them being so old and not wanting to risk, for example, falling on the icy sidewalk.  But those are just excuses.  Fact is, they just don't fucking care.  And they showed their whole ass for my neighbor's children to see when I showed up but they didn't, even though it would have been so goddamn easy for them to put something clean on and stand for two hours.

Also, like I said in my previous blog post about this, they originally planned to leave for Las Vegas the morning of the ceremony.  They said they thought the flight they wanted to take would prevent me from going.  I told them when I first told them about the date of the funeral service that I could take them to the airport, come back, shower, dress and get to the ceremony, no problem -- and it wouldn't have been a problem.  I thought they stayed because at least one of them would pay their respects.  So, if they wouldn't, then why the hell are they fucking here for another three goddamn weeks?  If they're not going to be nice, respectful people in saying goodbye to a neighbor and trying to comfort her loved ones, why don't you just get the hell on out of here?

I'm not mad at them, I'm just disappointed.  No, I lie.  I'm disappointed in them, too.  I didn't learn to be a grown-up from them, that's for goddamn sure. ...

And The Hits Just Keep On Comin'

Lovely service yesterday.  Just about teared up when I saw my family friend's friend walk down the aisle after the memorial was over with a tissue in her hand.

More people you love die as you get older.  I don't think I'll get numb to it.  Quite the opposite -- it'll hurt more and more.

And after I got back from the post-memorial dinner (ate a whole lot), I saw on Facebook that the father of a high school friend was killed in a car accident.  No!  I didn't know the father, and I haven't seen this friend since high school.  But the service is close by me.  In fact, it's where we had the service for one of my uncles.  It's in the evening, and I already broke out my suit for this service.  I think it's the right thing to do to go to this service too, just to support my old friend.  But I'm telling you, this is getting harder and harder to deal with.

On my way out the door at work yesterday/Wednesday my co-worker stopped me.  I had logged off of my computer, and thus didn't see my e-mail.  But my co-worker was staying a bit longer and had me look at her e-mail.

My boss sent a letter, just as many of us were leaving.  He's leaving the company at the end of the year.

Look, I don't want to get too mushy, but I'm not taking this well.  So yes, I have complained about him in the past about overtime.  First of all, that's largely subsided in the past year or so, partly because most of the year has been filled with learning to do the work other people had been doing, partly because the workload has actually been tame enough that we've been leaving after eight hours ever since, oh, Halloween or so.  And even so, beyond one time where I started putting out feelers for other jobs (and by the way, I think he's leaving to pursue a passion of his), nothing too serious came about his, for lack of a better word, threats over it.  I didn't like what he said, but he didn't go beyond that to action that affected my workday or pay.

Beyond that, I actually like him as a boss.  He's overall easygoing, he for the most part provided answers whenever I had questions, and yet at the same time he sure isn't a micromanager.  I could go to him if I had issues.  Finally, I respected him as a boss.  He was dedicated to and serious about doing the work, even if he didn't take himself seriously, which is the best combination.  He wasn't a dick, and he didn't play games as a person in authority.

Now that he's gone ... well, it's not to say that I'm sure that I'll get the opposite, but we're heading into the unknown as to who we'll answer to and what he or she will expect from us.  And sure, I didn't know what I would get from him as a boss.  But he was the one who interviewed and hired me for my first (and so far only) actual job; I was going to have to deal with whatever he was going to give me and whoever he decided to be.  And I can say, for a fact, I could do a lot worse than him.  But he is gone, and frankly, on top of my neighbor dying, and the massacres at Brown University and Bondi Beach in Sydney, plus Rob Reiner and his wife being murdered by their son, and this corrupt and stupid piece of shit that cheated to win the presidency a second time getting away with it every day, this is more change I didn't want to have to deal with at the same time.  It's a blindside, and right now, it feels sad.

The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey

Positive Numbers: Wild (Last Week: -7).  Hockey is Shemp of major sports in North America; you don't know big names in trade talks the way you do in basketball, baseball or football.  So, in hockey terms, I respect that this is a big fucking deal: Quinn Hughes, the consensus second-best Defenseman in The National Hockey League, was traded from Vancouver to the Wild.

I wonder if fans of a team are fans of other sports teams in an area.  Do Twins fans, for example, care about this trade?  Because there is a lot of comparing and contrasting you can do if you are a fan of all your city's sports teams.  And I bring up the Twins because, if you have become disillusioned with the way the Pohlads run the local baseball club, you can see the very opposite happening with the hockey squad across the river.  General Manager Bill Guerin, with the (seemingly permanent) green light given by Owner Craig Leipold, has once again swung for the fences and is spending big, giving up Zeeb Buium, Marco Rossi, Liam Ohgren and a First Round pick in next Year's draft (completely unprotected) to get Hughes.  This trade could blow up in the Wild's face.  Buium was the linchpin to this trade and he could reach Hughes-level heights down the road.  Also, Hughes could decide he will extend his contract in Minnesota, and if that happens, the pressure is going to be on to trade him once Guerin can starting on July 1.  (There will also be pressure to, you know, win with him now.)

So I am not goo-goo-gaa-gaaing over the deal, at least not yet.  But beyond not acting scared, Hughes helps solve much of the problems the team has, namely puck possession and zone exits and entrances.  The dude apparently is a wizard with the puck, and he is so gifted on Offense that he basically exists as a fourth Forward.  He started his tenure here Sunday and scored a Goal in the Wild's 6-2 demolition of Boston at the Gicka.  He had an Assist in last/Tuesday night's 5-0 crushing of Washington at home.  In fact, they were home all Week and ran the table, defeating The Bastard North Stars Thursday, 5-2, and getting past Ottawa Saturday, 3-2.  They've won five in a row, and even though they're still in third in the Central (behind The Bastard Quebec Nordiques as well as The Team That Was Stolen From Us), it will make for a compelling regular season race.  Arguably, those teams are The Three Best Teams In The NHL.  All this excitement, coupled with all this winning, means that the Wild have, far and away, earned the top spot in this Week's WMNSS, and of course they're in positive numbers.

Another busy screening Week -- they visit cellar-dweller (and expansion brother) Columbus tomorrow/Thursday night, then come back home for Games against Edmonton Saturday afternoon, said Bastard Nordiques the following evening, and Nashville Tuesday.  Over last and this Week, they will have played seven-of-eight at home.

#0: Timberwolves (Last Week: -5).  They're still not quite the squad they were the past two seasons (and it might not matter if they even were, the way The Bastard Seattle SuperSonics are going to win the whole goddamn thing this Year, too), but in the hastily-made schedule this Week once the NBA knew the Timberwolves weren't playing in the NBA Cup Knockout Round, they got by The Bastard Philadelphia Warriors in San Francisco on Friday, then came home to surge past The Bastard Rochester Royals/Kansas City-Omaha Kings at Target Center Sunday.  Point Guard play is still hampering this club; Anthony Edwards is now the primary ball-handler, but he's been sidelined this screening Week, so the Wolves have had to rely on Donte DiVincenzo and, of all people, Bones Hyland to bring up the ball.  You know, there is a Guard recently cut off from his team that may be a fit. ...

One thing to note: Head Coach Chris Finch said after getting eliminated in last Year's playoffs that he needed to lengthen his rotation by playing his youngsters.  He meant recent draft picks Rob Dillingham and Terrence Shannon, Jr.  Dillingham, in particular, was seen as Mike Conley's eventual successor at PG.  The way both players have remained rooted in the bench makes me think they are not long for this organization.  That's a strike against both of them as well as Tim Connelly.

It'll also be a busy screening Week for the T-Wolves as they finish up a five-Game homestand facing, every other Day starting tonight/Wednesday night, Bastard Vancouver, Bastard Seattle (eek!), Milwaukee and (tear) Karl-Anthony Towns and New York.

#-1: Vikings (Last Week: -4).  The season is lost, but I gotta say I'm impressed.  I didn't think the Vikes had a chance to go down to Dallas and defeat the Cowboys.  They had no incentive to win; the Cowboys did; and the situation and timing led me to believe this would be a bloodbath, a la their disaster at The Los Angeles Chargers.  I watched the entire Liga MX Finals (Leg 2), where Toluca won the Apertura over Tigres on Penalty Kicks, before I wound up back on Channel 11 to see Minnesota get the final First Down to kneel it out, thus pushing the Cowboys to the brink, and that's always a good thing, for both the NFL and democracy.

J. J. McCarthy isn't putting up crazy numbers, but he has played well the past two Games.  Apparently, Head Coach Kevin O'Connell is going heavy with personnel, deploying up to three Tight Ends at times.  It also helps that the Offensive Line held up, even without the injured Christian Darrisaw; McCarthy wasn't sacked once.

There are people who met this Win with utter disdain.  They think the smart thing to do is to tank, thus giving the Vikings the best pick possible in next Year's draft.  That is cynical thinking, and I am a hateful cynic.  But there are three things I believe counteract that.  One, I don't know if I can stand this team pissing away the rest of the season while looking bad doing it.  This victory Sunday night showed that O'Connell hasn't lost the team, that there are players who are going to continue to give it their all, and, most importantly, that the coaches and players know what they're doing.  Two, I'm don't have a lot of confidence that General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah would draft correctly even if the club has a high draft pick.  And three, remember that Justin Jefferson was picked 22nd overall back in 2020.  Yes, he was picked by someone other than KAM, but it goes to show that you can find a good player late in the First Round of the draft.

I am going to go out on a limb here: There's a possibility that the Vikings run the table the rest of the season.  Sunday they visit The New York Giants, a team that's been in an existential crisis for about a Decade now.  They should -- should -- win that.

#-2: Gopher women's basketball (Last Week: -8).  They're about to finish up their non-con; they routed Alabama A&M by 38 Wednesday and Wyoming by 46 Sunday.  Of course both of these victories were at home.  Their final non-conference matchup is an intriguing one: At Drake Sunday afternoon.  This team is 1-2 against teams away from The Barn, and all three opponents are at least schools you have heard of if you follow football, which means they are athletic departments of some heft.  Drake is mainly a basketball school, so the Gophers are going into somewhat hostile territory.  Can they win and improve on their project 9-Seed, according to Charlie Creme (and which I still do not believe)?

#-3: Gopher men's basketball (Last Week: -1).  They could not follow up on their upset Win at home over Indiana; they got crushed at Purdue by 28.  So, they responded by beating up a squad that couldn't defend themselves: Texas Southern, who got slaughtered by the Gophers at Williams Arena Sunday afternoon by 36.

Their non-con isn't quite over: They host Campbell early Sunday evening.

OK, so my car got a clean bill of health, so I am going to drive half an hour to see *****y and get wanked by her.  I do not have more confidence in my car than when I just got it serviced, so I might as well drive as far out as I need to, and I will.  Wish me luck.

I'll Get To The Stuff On My Drawer ... Tomorrow

So whenever I get mail, I don't look at it right away.  Don't care.  I throw it either on a box of alumni-related stuff that was sent to me, which is at a perfect height and distance from my bed so that I feel that, if I want to, I can just reach over and grab it, or on the drawer next to my bed.

It's gotten bigger over the, oh, weeks or months since I last combed through it.  It has gotten to the point where I need to actually look through the mail, and I have picked at it.  I even grabbed a couple envelopes last/Sunday night.  But over the past couple weeks or so I imagined that I would have the time, just one night, to finally go through it all.  But I look at that pile, see that it's, oh, 1 in the morning, and I think to myself, "Nah, I'll do it another time."  As I did just now.

Hey, man, it's a busy week.  I'm even taking time off from work to do stuff I need to do.  I am that busy.

Expenses Without Receipt

Past time to do this again.  Starting from Sunday, December 14:

• Actually, let's go back to Monday, December 8, which is when Father paid me back for both lottery tickets and the denture sticky strips he needs to eat.  He was scouring the entire city looking for them, and he said he couldn't find them.  Hey, the Internet's good for some things.  An Infusion of: $21.
• And back on Wednesday the 3rd Father also paid me back, this time for Kentucky Fried Chicken as well as lottery tickets.  An Infusion of: $20.
• All the way back to Sunday, November 16 (damn, I need to do these more frequently) ... so I was in town so I went from the airport to ****e's place, where she proceeded to (after an early lunch) yank my cock out of my pants to suck it, and then to fuck.  Goddamn, I don't know where I'd be without her.  Cost: $120.
• And then on the way back I needed to fill up my gas tank.  This was one of those times where I overestimated how much I needed to put in, so when the host stopped, I had to go back inside to get the difference.  Thought $23 was going to be enough, but instead I only needed: $22.30.
• All the way back (again) to Sunday, October 26 (I have to do these more often!) -- I was supposed to fuck ****e then, I went all the way down there, but she wasn't even fucking there.  I still had the urge, however, so I pivoted quickly to calling ******e could give me a wank, and thank Buddha, she could.  Paid her: $120.
• Friday, October 24: I wished Great Clips gave out coupons more often.  Haircuts (there and everywhere) are getting fucking expensive!  Everybody is seeing inflation in their own way, and I see it most starkly when I get a haircut.  It's making me think I should go to a barber school and get them done for cheap.  But I went on Facebook and found a $10 off coupon for Great Clips, and I was able to use it then.  With tip: $14.99.
• Back on Friday the 17th I paid my co-worker back when, on a previous day (don't remember when), she asked if anyone wanted anything at Caribou.  I was really jonesing for oatmeal, so I promised to pay her back, and I think I did it on this day: $4.
• Finally, three EWRs on Thursday, October 16.  First, I went to see ******e for a HJ: $120.
• Then I went to Bebe Zito for lunch, namely a honey chicken tenders basket.  With tip: $15.14.
• Finally, with that basket in tow, I walked next door to Caffetto to pair it with a Dog 'n' Suds root beer.  With thip that root beer cost me: $4.54.

Hmmm ... thought that would take longer.  Phew!

Good through December 14.

Addendum To: How Long Can My Computer Hold On?

So that weird thing where I start up my computer and can't login in to open it up, so I have to restart it so I can login a second time?  Some time yesterday/Saturday it stopped doing that.  I opened it up and I was able to punch in my password to get into my computer immediately, like it's supposed to.  I don't know what I could have done to "fix" my laptop.

It was getting to the point where I would have been so fed up that I would have bought a new lap before the fall, which is when the extension on security for this laptop (it runs on Windows 10 and I cannot upgrade this to Windows 11 because it doesn't have the space for it) that I opted into runs out.  I am getting really frustrated at how much battery life my cellphone is going through, too, so I have thought about replacing that as well.  I was getting scared that both my laptop and cell would lose support in the fall, meaning I would have to replace both in the fall, which would be two big-ticket items I would need to pay for at the same time, and I don't look forward to that.  That made me think that maybe I should take advantage of the deals that might be floating around for a laptop, move up my timeline, and buy a new lap now.  But now, with this thing working "normally" ... yeah, I'll wait.

Cold And Car

Going out for my annual shindig with friends today.  My friend says that whenever we go out for Christmastime, it naturally is on a night where it's extremely cold, and this year (if the adage is correct; I haven't done my research) is no different.

I'm not looking forward to it.  Well, I am looking forward to being out with friends, but I'm not looking forward to going out in the cold.  I'm scared for my car and how it'll work when it'll be below zero tonight.  I saw on the news last/Friday night on tips of how to operate your car when it's this cold -- make sure your tires have enough air (I checked; the fronts are fine and I put enough air, I think, in the backs Tuesday) and have at least half a tank of gas (I plan on filling up after going out tonight).  Also, and this was weird as fuck, my defroster seemed to stop working on my way to work yesterday/Friday.  I was on the highway while it was sleeting, and I slowly saw my windshield ice up, from the top to more than halfway down.  I was crouching in my driver's seat, panicking.  The defroster was on but not doing shit.  I had to take an exit and park at some business.  I was going to scrape the ice off, but then it started melting almost immediately.  Guess the defroster kicked in.  Too late though; I was late for work.  Fuckin' hate that.  I checked the defroster when I got home; seemed to be working fine.  Was it the precipitation that was so bad it overcame my defroster until it stopped sleeting?

So I hope I get to have a good time tonight without worrying about my car.  Maybe that is up to me and my attitude.  I say it's up to my car.

OK, So We Have A Date My Parents Will Finally Leave ...

... and it's about a month from now.  Oh, well. ...

Thing is, they wanted to leave next week.  I would've loved it.  It just so happens, however, that was the same day of the memorial service for the family friend who died a week ago.  I asked my boss before I left work yesterday/Friday if I could take that afternoon off; even though it was short notice, he said yes.  And so I assumed that my folks would want to pay their respects, too.  Besides, it was going to be short -- an hour to mill around and say hi, and then an hour for the service, and I guess there will be stuff to eat afterward, but that's when we could just go home.  But Mother was looking for flights on that day because they were going to be as cheap as they would be before prices went up for the holidays.

Honestly, this was a dick move by them -- and not surprising.  They don't want to be here, especially in the cold.  And when Mother got the all-clear from the physician who performed knee surgery on her, I knew it was going to be a matter of time before they were going to skedaddle.  And still I thought they were going to listen to the angels of their better nature and go to the service.

Was I going to push this?  No.  Technically, the flight Mother was looking at was going to fly out around noon.  I could take them in the morning, come back, get dressed and go to the service by myself.  That would have been fine.  I think that if my boss let me go for the afternoon, he'd let me go for the whole day.  Also, I think it's important that someone from the family go to the funeral.  Ideally it should be all of us, but if my parents' friendship with her was fake, whatever.  What mattered to me was that I go to the service to pay my respects to the lady who lived just a couple houses down from us and who was always nice to us.

Now, I guess I could have headed this conflict off if I knew before yesterday/Friday that next week was the service, but I kept forgetting to check the date.  Also, it is a bitter irony that the day they were going to leave just so happened to be the same fuckin' date of the service.  If the service were the day before, it would've been perfect.  Alas, I am trying not to be angry.  This is about saying goodbye, after all, and this neighbor's death has me thinking about how my parents are still around, though not forever.

So, my ever-parsimonious Mother decided she would look for the next date with tickets as cheap as the one next week.  And that date is ... the first week in January!  Because of the funeral service, my parents will be here for another 3 1/2 weeks!  Like I said, I'm trying not to hate God for this.  There are some plusses to them staying.  For example, even though Mother has been cleared to get on a plane, her doctor advised her to continue walking because the threat of blood clots is still there.  However, the doc also said that risk decreases over time, so I want to think that the chances of her getting a blood clot will be notably less in January than next week.  Also ... well, I guess it's alright that I can be with my folks for the holidays, even though that wasn't their initial plan.  (When Mother bought the tickets, she said Father wanted to spend the holidays with me.  That's ... well, bullshit.)

OK, I can't think of too many upsides to them being here for the holidays.  I would like to them to be gone.  With my parents out of the state, I could go out to this bar on Christmas Eve, but that would be too weird now.  And I guess there are 3 1/2 more weeks of us starting a fight over something or other.  Whatevs.  They've been here since April, I think, so what's another month at this point?  Besides, and I hate to say it, I'm scared that another member of my family is going to fall ill this month.  If that's the case, and if they're off wintering, they'll just have to fly back home.  They might as well be here and save themselves the trip.

Oh, by the way, it looks as though Father will accompany me to the service but Mother won't.  That ain't her bag or some shit.

Just got on sort of a holy roll on Zynga Poker with someone, probably a bot, where, for the past, oh, 15 to 20 minutes of the half-hour I was playing (I have no idea how long I was playing; that's a sure sign of a gambling addiction), it was just me and him.  Usually, people (or bots) come in and take the other available spots, but nope, it was just this "guy" and me.

It's so addicting if you win big pots, like I did early, especially when there were other people besides this "dude" and me.  That hooks you into thinking you can win, and hooks you into pursuing that next winning fix, even though we're dealing with fake money here.  And then, as I really started losing "money" to this "person," I found it very difficult to pull away -- partly because I wanted to win, partly because I lost so much that I wanted to "get right" by winning, partly because the next hand came in immediately after the results of the previous hand because there weren't more "players" at the "table" to slow down play.  I had to leave by folding $100 million (in fake money) because I wanted to stop and I was losing all the money I came in with and then some.

When you get rolling, gambling, even fake online Omaha like I did, is intensely addicting.  Oy.

Got Seven Hours Of Sleep And I'm Still Tired

After working out last night my nose started to run like crazy, so I took some NyQuil before I went to bed to knock me out.

Father woke me up around 10:15, about seven hours after I went to bed.  That's nice and all, but if my body was left to its own devices, I probably would've been out till noon ... and I would've liked it, because right now, I have a damn headache and I still feel tired.

Hate being woken up when I don't have to.  I know, I know, they say you should go to bed and wake up at the same time every day because that's healthiest.  I am healthy when my body is fully rested, and right now, I ain't fully rested, oof.

At Least We Go Through Less Stuff In The Bathroom Now

It's been a few weeks since my sister left, and even though the house is a little emptier and quieter, there is one thing I am clearly thankful for once she went back home: We go through less stuff in the bathroom now.

It is astounding how much a third person churns through.  While my sister (and Mother, who moved upstairs in preparation for her knee surgery) was using the upstairs bathroom, we seemingly used a roll of toilet paper every week.  I remember Grandmother going through rolls that quickly, but I only think she did that because she was using too much on every visit.  Also, we cracked open a bar of soap at a frightening frequency.  Worst of all was the trash.  Father put in a too-small trash can (with a lid you need to open with a foot pedal, and that should be a blog post in and of itself) in the bathroom, and that damn thing filled up, like, twice a week.  I had to empty that thing so often it got absurd.  And by the way, if I ever get an up-close look at used tampons again, it'll be too soon.

Contrast that to when I'm the only one using the bathroom.  I go through toilet rolls maybe once a month.  I throw my toilet paper in the trash, so it does accumulate, but not on a semi-weekly basis.  And if my parents ever leave, I will feel less pressure to actually cleanse myself.  I'm sure I've reached two months before getting a new bar of soap, and I miss that longer frequency.

Mother still sleeps upstairs because she loves it, so right now we're in a liminal state between the chaotic burn rate of three people and the tranquil stasis when I have the bathroom all to myself.  We go through toilet rolls and soap bars at a slower pace, but they're still too fast for my liking.  So yeah, I can't wait for the day I have the run of the house to myself ... if I ever will. ...

The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey

#0: Gopher volleyball (Last Week: -4).  The U. volleyballers gain the top spot in this Week's WMNSS, one which overall was good for the local sports scene and the teams are ranked nominally.  What I mean by that is: I obviously put this squad, seeding fourth in their Region, first because they won their first two Matches of the NCAA Tournament, as they were supposed to.  Now, I put them above negative numbers because both Matches were sweeps (of Fairfield and then Iowa St.), something I didn't think this club could pull off.  (Aside: Women's volleyball usually plays to seed, and this season, of the top 16 Seeds, only 15 didn't make it to the second weekend ... and unfortunately, that one is my alma mater.  Fuckin' stupid.)

Now they face the 1-Seed in their Region, Pittsburgh, and they play the Panthers wagon at their place Thursday evening.  The ride probably ends there.  By the way, how in the hell did Pittsburgh, of all schools, get to have a powerful women's volleyball program?  They were nowhere ten and even five seasons ago.  They're in the ACC, whose resources are paling in comparison to the SEC and the Big Ten, of which Minnesota is a member.  What kind of infusion of infrastructure, amenities and/or NIL money has brought about this powerful team?  Whatever.

#-1: Gopher men's basketball (Last Week: -6).  I didn't see what happened last Wednesday night coming, and that was OK, because Niko Medved is still in his first Year.  Disappointments are going to continue to rack up; I am hoping that he was going to be able to clear the decks and implement his culture for a vault into competence next Year.

But he got an unexpected result that has energized the fanbase.  Last Wednesday, the ranked Indiana Hoosiers came into Williams Arena and the Gophers upset them, 73-64.  I don't know how it happened, and who knows if there will be more good surprised like that to come.  But I have to give them credit for this Win by placing them up here.

Now, can they pull off another upset, this one of current #6 Purdue in West Lafayette tonight/Wednesday night?  Probably not.  They then return to non-con play hosting Texas Southern Sunday afternoon.

#-2: Gopher wrestling (Re-Entry!).  Won a pair of Duals this past Week.  The first was over a ranked Arkansas-Little Rock team ranked 25th at the time, 23-9 Thursday at, of all places, a high school in Mequon, Wisc.  Apparently it was a grassroots outreach initiative for the sport, a "Wrestling Night In America" type thing.  Cool, even down to the randomness of a university from Minnesota and Arkansas playing in a gym in Wisconsin.  Then, back at home Sunday afternoon, the seventh-ranked Gophers beat North Dakota St., 26-9.  Doesn't heal the sting of getting upset by South Dakota St. (and I just realized they played that Dual at The Barn, so that's really depressing), but it's two victories nevertheless.

And these boys are done till the New Year!

#-3: Gopher women's hockey (Re-Entry!).  Swept a home-and-home with the school on the other side of the river, St. Thomas, by a combined 9-4.  Fine, but they got swept by Minnesota State-Mankato the previous weekend, so fucking what?  They too are done till the New Year, at which time they will visit Sacred Heart for a two-Game series.

#-4: Vikings (Last Week: -7).  I am going to credit Sunday's 31-0 Shutout more to the fact that The Washington Commanders were mailing it in even more than the Vikings were.  Have to say, though, that I appreciate the fight the Vikings played; it shows that Kevin O'Connell hasn't lost the locker room, although the Commanders losing Jayden Daniels (and, later, Zach Ertz to a torn ACL from a bad and, I must say, unnecessary hit from Vikings Defensive Back Jay Ward) tends to deflate a team.

This is the first time since the 1992 Denver Broncos where a team gets shut out one Week, then shuts out their opponent the next week.  (The Broncos got blanked at Philadelphia, by the way, then shut out Cleveland.  I'm looking up the last time the reverse happened, but Google's Artificial Intelligence apparently is having trouble with my query.)  What a weird thing to happen.  That tells me, if there's anything to be gleaned from it, that there is talent on this club; it just has to be more consistent.  And by the way, J. J. McCarthy is becoming a Game Manager -- he didn't lead the team to victory, but he didn't make any mistakes that led to a Loss.  Right now, you'll take that.

Lately, The Dallas Cowboys have been the bane of the Vikes' existence.  They'll play in Dallas Sunday night with a chance for the Cowboys to get back into serious playoff contention.

#-5: Timberwolves (Last Week: -2).  A 2-1 screening Week.  Would've made it a clean sweep Monday at home, but a couple Woofs had bad shooting nights, then Rudy Gobert got thrown out of the Game for throwing an elbow on someone while he was trying to dunk, so they lose to Phoenix, 108-105.  (My usher friend had a ticket to the Game, but I decided to stay home.  Made the right decision, for the snowstorm blowing in Monday evening as well as the defeat.)  Still in sixth in a tight Western Conference.  Still hoping to see them gel.

They failed to reach the NBA Cup Knockout Round (again), so this Week are the Games the NBA scheduled for the Woofie Dogs just so they have something to do: At Golden State Friday, home to The Bastard Rochester Royals Sunday evening.

#-6: Gopher men's hockey (Last Week: -3).  Split at Ohio St., doubling up the Buckeyes, 6-3, Thursday, then losing in Overtime, 6-5, Friday.  Took a quick gander at the PairWise ... yeah, they're not going to the NCAAs this Year unless they start dominating league action.

I kind of like the fact that all these college teams are taking a break for a month.  Well, besides basketball because it's a moneymaker.  This squad restarts B1G play at Penn St. in 2026.

#-7: Wild (Last Week: -1).  The team that was maintaining Twin Cities dignity the past Month or so had a bit of a stumble this Week, getting beat handily at bottom-feeder Calgary Thursday and at Edmonton Saturday, only to rout the Kraken in Seattle Monday.  They now go back to the GCA for a four-Game homestand with, of course, a few guys hurt.  But at least they're still third in the Central.

They will play that homestand this Week: The Team That Was Stolen From us tomorrow/Thursday night, Ottawa and Boston back-to-back this weekend, Washington (and the ageless one, Alex Ovechkin) Tuesday.

#-8: Gopher women's basketball (Last Week: -5).  How miserable, how shameful.  I was driving home from the Vikings Game where I saw the home team inexplicably pitch a Shutout, only to hear on the radio these Goofers taking a big lead on seventh-ranked Maryland at Williams in Overtime, only for them to blow it and go to a second Overtime -- where they had a nine-Point lead with about 40 Seconds remaining and choke on that, too, losing by a score of 100-99.

I don't fucking care that they're playing a Top 10 club.  You have a nine-Point lead with 40 Seconds left, you better goddamn win that Game.  Instead, the players pissed down their legs, throwing the ball away precisely when they couldn't, then giving up wide-open layups and Three-Pointers that allowed the Terrapins to come back and win.

I checked Charlie Creme's bracketology for the Week: This fuckin' team's still in, and as a 6-Seed.  I don't how the fuck that's happened when they shit the bed in their three most high-profile Games of the Year so far.  And if they continue to screw the pooch come money time, they'll fall out of Big Dance contention soon enough.  I'm sorry, but I am just about off the Dawn Plitzuweit bandwagon.  She's had more than two Years to fix this.  Players that have been under her for more than a season don't do the bullshit that I heard on Sunday.  And at fucking home, too!!

Host Alabama A&M and Wyoming this screening Week.

Too Much Fucking Snow

I've said before that I would have the cold than the snow.  I am getting less and less tolerant of the cold, but my preference still holds true.  Especially as the winter has started with much activity, namely frequent bursts of an inch of snow here, a few there, etc.  (Aside: The forecasters saying the La Nina weather pattern out in the Pacific Ocean will mean a colder and snowier winter for us in Minnesota is, so far and unfortunately, correct.)

If you really want to split hairs, those types of snowstorms are manageable, and I understand that the snow we get during the winter replenishes our water supply in the summer.  Doesn't mean it's safe to drive on it, and it gets tiresome to prepare yourself for so many days of driving in risky conditions.  For example, I wanted to go to my local Barnes & Noble last/Monday night and work on my receipts.  But I was blindsided on the snowstorm we had in the evening -- were we supposed to have one?  I needed to send some mail, I bought a Coke, and I tried putting air on my tires.  But the gas station I went to yanked the air hose out, and it was snowing so bad that I decided not to go to B&N and instead went home.

It snowed in the morning, too.  It was the nice, fluffy snow you imagine when you have good memories of Christmas, of being home with family, cozying up to a fire, drinking hot cocoa and unwrapping presents.  It's pretty to look at if you're inside and not needing to go outside.  But like I said, if you do need to go outside, that innocent-looking snow is deadly.

And all this moderation goes out the window because, apparently starting this/Tuesday afternoon, we're getting a big snowstorm, the second-biggest of our young winter if not the biggest.  It's hitting before I leave work, and it's going to get bad quick, so my drive home will probably be dangerous.  Worse than that, I have to get up early for work tomorrow/Wednesday.  There may be fewer people on the road, but I will not relish driving in what could be half a foot of snow early in the morning and in the dark.

Fucking hate this.

When You See Your Mother Scared For Her Life, It Changes You

So the weekend after Mother got her knee replaced, I was woken up by Father knocking on the door.  My sister, who was still home at the time, told him to wake me up.

When I got myself together and went to the dining room, I saw Mother sitting straight up but with her eyes closed.  My sister asked me to hold her because, according to my sis, she was feeling really dizzy, and she wasn't responding.  While my sister called the clinic at which she got her surgery, I started to hold her in case she fell over.  Mother continued to close her eyes, but all she could do was mumble.

Father thought she was just tired and needed to go back to sleep.  But after getting only the clinic's voicemail, my sister decided to call 911.  That's when, I think, Mother's mumbling started to get worrisome, like she was trying to tell us she was scared, but couldn't say the words.  Suffice it to say, I have never seen her like this before in my life.

The paramedics came.  They saw that her blood pressure was very low, caused by a combination of dehydration, constipation, and the pills she was taking.  But this wasn't a case where they give her some medicine and she'd be OK; they decided they had to take her to the ER.

Then, I saw something I'd really never seen before ... and something from Mother I had never seen before.  The paramedics needed her to get on this hammock they laid on the floor; from there, they would carry her into the ambulance parked outside.  We reminded them that she had just gotten her knee fixed; they knew, but this had to be done.

So, like ripping off a bandage, the only way to get her to lie on this hammock was to do it right in one straight shot, even though it would hurt like hell for Mother.  And it did.  Finally, Mother was able to speak, and loudly; in Chinese, she screamed, "Ow!  It hurts!"  (All this time she didn't speak English.  She must have been in some pain so deep that it made her revert to the long-term memory spots in her brain where she only knew Chinese.)  And she was really, really screaming, as if she was a little girl, howling for her suffering to stop.  I have known My Mother all her life as a domineering and even mean woman, oftentimes indifferent to other people's feelings.  But her she was, begging, even pleading for help, almost to the point of tears.  I've never seen her sound so ... well, helpless before.

---

We met Mother at the ER about an hour later.  Her eyes were open, she seemed awake and lucid, and she could even speak English again.  She was released several hours later with advice that she should drink water and electrolytes a lot more.

Mother hasn't been in that dire straits since, thank Buddha.  But the memories of that day are flooding back now that our family friend passed away unexpectedly.  While I was seeing her act like a little girl, I was thinking, "No, this can't be serious.  She can't be in real danger, can she?"  And while I don't know all the details about our family friend's death, I wonder if her relatives thought the same thing.  Maybe I haven't appreciated how close Mother was to the end.  But maybe her cries for help are something I have to heed if ... no, when the time really comes.  And that scares the hell out of me.  Because I am not ready for that, at all, and I don't think I ever will be.

The Light At The End Of The Tunnel?

So last week Mother was told by her physical therapist (she was taken by my brother) that she was progressing so well that she doesn't have to do any PT sessions anymore.  That's odd.  That is five total sessions cancelled because she was doing so well.

Therefore, what we were hoping for may still be true: Once the doctor looks at Mother's knee, if she gives her the OK, she is, for all intents and purposes, fully healed.  And, presumably, she is good enough to fly to somewhere warmer for the winter.

If so ... honestly, I have mixed feelings right now, but eventually, it'll be thank God.

So a family friend died yesterday morning.  She broke her leg a couple weeks ago.  She was in physical therapy.  Some more ailments piled up on her, but then she felt a bit better ... and then she didn't.  And now she's dead.

She lived just down the street from us.  We could see her house from ours.  Last time I saw her was when my sister and I were walking around the neighborhood for Halloween.  We stopped in her house to say hello.  She was a really nice person.

I'm still trying to process all this, but this death is really bothering me.  Mostly because of the suddenness.  My Mother was in physical therapy, and it looks as though she is going to be fine.  But this friend of the family never gets out?  That's not fucking fair, at all. ...

Bad Driver: TCS 729

Wow, I haven't had to deal with crazy motherfuckers like you on the road in a long time.  And unfortunately you wanted to let everyone know you could conquer the snow like a man when I was trying to get to work.  I don't remember anyone cutting in right around me that closely in a long time, if not ever.  And when you started tapping your brake and flipping me off (at least that's what I thought you were doing; I couldn't see your bitch ass finger all that clearly in the snow, boy), I began to realize that you might be on fucking drugs.  Who the fuck else does crazy shit like that on a county highway at 8 on a Friday morning while snow's falling?

Then, I rolled up behind you on the left turn lane.  I didn't think you were crazy enough to cut in front of someone on the right lane that was going straight through the intersection and then make a left turn before we had our green light or the traffic coming straight the other way had theirs, but maybe you're on some insane shit.  Or, you were afraid of me.  One of the two.

Bravo, though, you piece of shit.  I was calm enough to lift the license plate of your Honda sedan.  God, I hope I never, ever see you again, you dangerous fucking asshole.

He's Really Pushing Me To Change My Mind, Huh?

So we have been going to the same place to watch my alma mater's Games for upwards of a decade now.  I'm happy with it because of the familiarity we have built up with the place.  The owner and two of the managers, for example, I think I know and have dealt with since the beginning.  That's a lot of equity, and even though the setup is not ideal -- we could use sound, for instance -- we could do a hell of a lot worse, and so, every season, we come back here ... well, for the most part; there was one time this season we went to another place around the corner because another fan group had its team's Game playing the same time as ours, and their group is way, way larger, so we figured we would go somewhere else.

That might be part of the reason I have felt, for some time, that many of the regulars there are, um, restive about this being our go-to place.  In fact, I remember one time this season that, when we got there, it was busy with no place to watch our Game, and immediately one of the regulars thought we could go to another bar.  That place was packed even more than ours, thank Buddha, and so the insurrection put itself down.  And I mean to use that term; frankly, I don't like the fact that I continue to hear pulses of dissatisfaction with this place.  I remember the four or five places we went to before this bar.  All those places had their drawbacks, and I wouldn't've minded staying in one of them if not for the fact they closed down.  But these guys insist that the grass is greener on the other side, and it's just not.  And frankly, I don't have the energy to try something new, let alone say we're going somewhere else.

That hasn't stopped people, still.  One of my former regulars, who I think no longer goes because he's scared of downtown Minneapolis (he has to stop watching the news), e-mailed me about going to a different sports bar, also in downtown Minneapolis.  I have heard about this place before.  It is bigger, and it also has a program by which proceeds of food and drink can be donated to a scholarship fund for your alma mater.  My ex-regular may have touted this place before.  I have never stepped foot in it, so I can't say for sure it'll be bad, but yes, I am reluctant.  I would be giving up a hell of a lot to go to what is a chain restaurant.  Not only am I, dare I say it, loyal to this bar we've been going to for years, I don't like the idea of taking my business from a mom-and-pop and giving it to a corporation.  Also, I know for a fact that a big alumni group already goes there.  Will there be enough room for us?  Will we get sound?  And what happens if we get harrassed, which might happen because this is college football we're talking about?

To many of them think that we could do much better, and I don't agree at all.  But just to placate him, I'm going to be a bit open and tell him to go there and see how it goes.  I always need a backup plan in case this mom-and-pop bar goes under for some reason.  But I don't think this place is Valhalla.  I'm sure that, if I make the foolhardy decision that we'll watch all our Games here instead, we'll have the same damn problems we face in the place we're at now, and then some.  Then where are we?

Another Sign I'm A Crappy Uncle

I got really tired yesterday, y'all, really tired.  I didn't think I would be, but I was really draggin' at work in the afternoon.  And after my parents made spaghetti for dinner (yum!), I was going to lay down for a bit and, well, see where my body will take me before The Amazing Race comes on.

When I climb into bed, I get a text from my sister-in-law.  She says my niece is playing in a school concert, and we can watch it live.  If they had told me my niece played an instrument, I completely forgot.

I wanted to watch on my phone.  I really did.  But when I got my text, I was really, really tired.  So I set the phone off to the side and shut my eyes with the promise that, if I woke up by the time the concert started, which was about less than a half-hour after I got the text, I would watch.

I think I set my phone aside and shut my eyes at around 5:45.  I woke up, totally serious, at 10:15.  I was hoping the Vimeo had a "Watch from the beginning" feature, but it doesn't.  So I missed my niece's concert because I was tired af.  I know I need to make a more concerted effort to be present for her events ... but dammit, I was tired.  And probably a bad uncle, too.

I texted my sister-in-law to see if I can see a replay of it online.  Hope so.  Hope she's still talking to me.

The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey

#-1: Wild (Last Week: -1).  It should be noted that the local sports scene has been dreadful, absolutely abysmal for the past couple Weeks.  (That perception might be warped by the Vikings, which shows how much the NFL dominates American sports, but it is what it is.)  There have been at least a couple Days in this period of failure when several Twin Cities teams were playing at the same time and it was only the Wild who won.

For this reason, I am keeping them on top of the survey, even though they lost Saturday at the X Grand Casino Arena to Boston.  It matters that they lost to the Sabers in a Shootout only.  And even though that Loss ended a seven-Game winning streak (which ended this screening Week with an Overtime Win in Chicago and a Shootout victory at home over The Bastard Quebec Nordiques Black Friday afternoon), they beat the Oilers in Edmonton last/Tuesday night, 1-0, so they have won eight-of-nine.  They remain one of the hottest, if not the hottest, team in The National Hockey League, buoyed by the dynamite goaltending tandem of Jesper Wallstedt and Filip Gustavsson.  The early season doldrums can now be forgotten, even if they still sit only third in the Central.

That Win over Edmonton began a four-Game road trip that takes them to the Prairie Provinces and the Pacific Northwest.  Trips to Calgary, Vancouver and Seattle follow.

#-2: Timberwolves (Last Week: -5).  It was impossible that it would stay like that all season, but the T-Wolves finally beat teams with winning records this Week.  Two of them, actually -- Boston at Target Center Saturday by four, then San Antonio by a baker's dozen Sunday.  Now, the downside.  Both the Celtics and Spurs were cold from deep, which helped a lot.  Also, the Woofies were down against San Antone to begin The Fourth Quarter.  Chris Finch was desperate to spark something on the squad, so he sat Anthony Edwards and Rudy Gobert and went small.  That lineup did go on a run that finally put away the Spurs.  I like it when a Head Coach finds something that works and isn't afraid to implement it, especially when it means benching your star players and your defensive stalwart.

Nevertheless, the Wolves remain sixth in the West.  Also, they began the Week losing at Oklahoma City, so they still will have failed to reach the NBA Cup Knockout Round even once.  Drat.  But I wonder if this team is finding itself.  They begin this screening Week playing the second of two Games at The Bastard Charlotte Hornets tomorrow/Thursday night (they beat them in Overtime last/Tuesday night to complete a 3-1 Week -- don't have too much fun down in New Orleans, ya heah!).  They then come home for tilts versus The Bastard Buffalo Braves/San Diego Clippers and Phoenix.

#-3: Gopher men's hockey (Last Week: -3).  Seeing the squad's early stumbles non-conference, I don't hold out as much hope their season will be a successful as I do for the Wild and even the Timberwolves.  That's why they're down here.  But I have to note they played an extremely entertaining U. S. Hockey Hall Of Fame Game in Denver on Saturday, and they beat then-fourth-ranked Denver in Overtime, 6-5!  The Gophs held a 3-1 lead going into The Third Period and blew it.  L. J. Mooney scored on the Power Play to put the U. back in front, 5-4, only for the Pioneers' Boston Buckberger to tie it with 23.1 Seconds to go in regulation.  But then, with only 35.6 Seconds left in Overtime, Javon Moore, the Carver native, did this:

If I had the time to watch it, and if I thought the Gophers had a chance of winning this one, I would have been thoroughly entertained.

At Ohio St. this weekend to for the final Games of 2025.

#-4: Gopher volleyball (Last Week: -2).  Finished the regular season with two big Matches at home.  Defeated then-#11 Purdue Thanksgiving Eve in four Sets, but got swept by then-#10 Wisconsin late on Black Friday.  Still, that was enough to get Minnesota into a 4-Seed for the NCAA Tournament and the right to host the first two Rounds.  Still, there's no way this outfit wins it all, and I'm still not sure if they can win in the Second Round.  They play Fairfield first Friday night, but then play the next night either the Region's 5-Seed, Iowa St., or, playing in its first NCAA tourney in school history, Little Sister to the east, St. Thomas.  I didn't have plans on going, but I would love to see that Cyclones-Tommies Game ... if I was sure it wasn't going to sell out.

#-5: Gopher women's basketball (Last Week: -4).  I keep waiting for this program to break through, but I'm sorry, but for a third Year in a row, I don't see it.  In the championship contest of The Baha Mar Hoops Pink Flamingo Championship in Nassau, Bahamas last Wednesday night, they got clipped by Alabama, 63-58.  They have played two BcS schools, Kansas as well as the Crimson Tide, and while the Gophs made it close, they lost both times.  There is little to no heft in their non-con resume come tourney time, unfortunately.  Drubbing Samford by 37 at Williams Monday night doesn't mean much.

They have an amuse bouche of a start to conference season playing Maryland at home Sunday afternoon.

#-6: Gopher men's basketball (Last Week: -6).  This is a season that the players playing for Niko Medved have to take their lumps.  In their tournament this Year, the 2025 Acrisure Series in Palm Desert, Calif., they were the ones who went home winless, falling to Stanford Thanksgiving Night by four, then losing to Santa Clara the next night by eleven.  Ah, well.

They begin B1G play tonight/Wednesday night vs. 22nd-ranked Indiana at The Barn.

#-7: Vikings (Last Week: -8).  Just when you think this godforsaken club can't get any worse, they do, and by a large margin.  All those Vikes rubes clamoring for Max Brosmer got the obvious wake-up call they deserve.  The dude threw four picks?  I'm not sure he'll be on a team next Year.  Don't pin Sunday's 26-0 Shutout Loss in Seattle to the Defense; once again, they tried all they could to keep the team in this, and they held current Seahawk and ex-Viking Quarterback Sam Darnold to only 128 Yards and no Touchdowns.  They sacked him four times, too.

This Game, and season, is proving how valuable Brian Flores is.  Keep him.  Meanwhile, what is getting frightening is how the aura of Kevin O'Connell being this offensive guru is being stripped at supersonic speed.  Brosmer is not Josh Dobbs v.2.0; he didn't throw for a TD either, and he got sacked four times, just like Darnold.  Was there nothing O'Connell couldn't do to help Brosmer?  O'Connell once said that young players don't fail teams, teams fail young players.  Well, what does this fucking say to you?  And by the way, the reputation of Kwesi Adofo-Mensah is pretty much shit if it wasn't above that coming into this debacle.  That four Sacks came despite throwing a ton of money on the Offensive Line, a line whose two left positions are now hurt, again.

They probably would've lost anyway, but I think the Game turned on the decision by KOC late in The Second Quarter after Dallas Turner, one of KAM's draft picks who is playing better this Year, forced and recovered a Fumble in Green Bay territory.  Brosmer got the Offense to the Seahawk 4, but it faced a 4th & 1.  Although the O was constipated, Seattle only led at this point, 3-0.  I wouldn't have minded kicking a Field Goal then; a Game the Seahawks were supposed to have seized by Halftime instead would be tied, and Seattle could get a bit desperate as to why this isn't the case.  Instead, they go for it.  A Blitz comes, Brosmer stupidly tries to pitch it out of bounds underhand, and instead Ernest Jones IV catches it and runs it back 85 Yards for the tuddie.  The absolute worst goddamn thing that could happen to the Purple actually fucking happened.  It was 10-0 Seahawks, logic asserted itself, and that's when the Vikings lost the Game.  They lost the season long, long ago.

Kicking the short FG also would've prevented the Vikes from being shut out for the first time since 2007, 34-0 at Green Bay when the QB was Brooks Bollinger.  Honestly, I am surprised by how mad I am that this execrable club got shut out.  Kick the fucking Field Goal!

Marcus Mariota and The Washington Commanders almost beat the Broncos in Washington, D. C., Sunday night.  They're coming here Sunday -- and I think they're going to win easily.

#-Infinity: Gopher football (Last Week: -7).  Kind of feel bad whenever I end the Gophers' football season down here when they win their last Game, but hey, that's college football for you.  But at least they defeated Wisconsin to retain Paul Bunyan's Axe, 17-7 in wintry conditions to watch football on your TV.  Fourth time in five Years, too, and they currently claim the lead in the rivalry, 64-63 with eight Ties forever encased in amber.  And P. J. Fleck stays as Head Coach because Minnesota ain't gonna be fuckin' crazy and think they can do better, tossing millions into the air while doing so.