Work Has Been Really Much Lately

So since my co-worker retired, we have had to fill in for her.  We have, or at least I have, realized I need to refresh my memory on how to do things, and there are new things I either haven't done in ages, haven't done at all even though I was trained to do it, or have not been taught how to do.  On top of that, there has been primarily only one person assigned to The Third Department every day, and the work is not manageable enough for only person to do all day.  Well, it can.  I've done it a few days a week this past work week.  It's just that I have had to stay an extra hour, or two.

I used to call The Third Department my favorite department because it was a difference in both task and environment from the first two positions I got trained in.  But with no one who's been at the job for years to lean on anymore, we are fending for ourselves, and even though I guess I am getting by, it's been overwhelming, particularly this week.  I cannot call this department my favorite anymore.

Yesterday/Friday was an indication of how bonkers it gets.  We get our shipment of forms every morning flown in from the South.  As usually happens once in January, a snowstorm down south prevents the shipment for that day.  That happened yesterday/Friday: A flight was cancelled, and we got a third of the forms we were supposed to get.  That meant that all the people out in data entry (My Main Department, although I think I might have to change that designation because I work in the back a little more often nowadays) got done very early.  (They might have to make up for it, by the way; the shipment that got delayed might come as early as today/Saturday, in which case they will have two days' worth of work to do over the course of one day.  I am on call in case that delayed shipment comes in, and yes, I might be doing data entry for several hours this afternoon if need be.)  But, and maybe I should have realized this earlier than I did, the work they get does not come from the same sources from which I get work in The Third Department.  While all the keyers left, I got flooded with things I needed to do -- so much so that I stayed an extra 1:45 minutes yesterday/Friday.  That was on top of the extra 1:15 or so Thursday.

Work so far in 2025 has been so stressful, and has me so strung out, that after work both Thursday and yesterday/Friday, once I came home, I eventually got really groggy and conked off to take naps deep in the evening -- about 90 minutes Thursday night, maybe a half-hour just this past evening.  I wanted to stay up to listen to both College Football Playoff Semifinals on SiriusXM, but I just couldn't.  I fell asleep to both Games and woke up after they both got done, even though I may have woken up just long enough to listen to Drew Allar throwing that Game-losing Interception for Penn St. and Jack Sawyer's scoop-and-score for Ohio St. to seal their Win before I fell back asleep.  Or maybe not.  I don't remember the last time work has physically beaten me into unconsciousness.

Now, a part of the general weariness I have leaving work is that this lab closing continues to flood the company with work I have had to deal with in The Fourth Department, which is also not a picnic.  That is supposed to subside at some point this month.  The work in The Third Department will not.  The workload that has been will continue to be.  The big problem, and I don't know if my supervisor or boss sees this, is that The Third Department is not a one-person job.  It may not be a two-person job -- I still wonder whether my co-worker back there was simply laid off over the summer in a cost-cutting move -- but it sure as hell is not a one-person job.  I should add that yesterday/Friday, the person holding down The Fourth Department helped me with an important task I should have gotten to well before the mid-afternoon but simply couldn't.  Without her coming to rescue me like an angel from on high, I would not have been able to finish all the work I absolutely had to do before I had to leave ten hours after I bleepin' started work.  She said that she was busy with work too, and she was surprised she put in a full day when many other departments scrammed after only a half-day.  I'm still shocked she still had time t help me.  And if she can get through her day of work in that position faster than I can ... well, my higher-ups might have questions as to why she can get done faster with her stuff faster than I can.

And, well, that's my saving grace in all this.  I might be inundated with all this work, but the company wants the work to get done, so I am racking up the overtime.  Yeah, I don't know if I have mentioned this, but my boss has not bitched at me about OT since around Easter.  I think my co-worker getting let go (or fired) has resulted in a paucity of workers to do all the work that has to be done.  Maybe others can do their job at 40 hours a week, but I can't, I haven't, and I haven't heard any crap for it.  Maybe I will hear more blowback now that the holidays are over and overtime is priced at time-and-a-half and not time.  (By the way, that might change now that That Fucking Guy will be installed as President again.  I think he and Republicans are proposing a change that allows companies to spread overtime thresholds over a whole month instead of a week.  Stupid damn MAGAts).

My boss is going to have a meeting late in the month about how The Third Department is working out now that there is no one full-time back there.  I don't want to lose work per se, but I really don't want to be overworked and abandoned back there, so I am going to tell him that it's too much for one person.  That might bring about meaningful change ... or it might bring about me losing my job.  Who knows?

In Fear Of What's About To Happen

I don't want to pussyfoot too gingerly around everything, but I think that when I say I've been in a state of unease since November, you know what I mean.  I think most of my unexplainable anxieties and fears since then has been this existential dread over how delusional and evil other people really are, and how I'm supposed to live once this incompetence and selfishness comes into power in about ten days from now.

I truly, truly believe that there will be a new ... let's just say toxicity that will become a new way of life in America not too far from now.  People will be emboldened now that their guy is the putative leader of the free world, and so I can see assholes drive 100 mph and cut people off on the highway, insult people based on their race and sex and orientation, and make decisions nakedly driven on self-interest.  Not as if they can't already do that now, which only speaks to their fundamental stupidity: They're acting like nice boys and girls now, but once he has the power to pardon them for anything they do, fuckin' watch out!

Because of that, I'm seriously thinking of visiting ******a at My Favorite Stripclub (Cover Division) next week.  If I see her after that, I might run into people who, uh, don't think I have a right to be left alone.  And as for the day itself, I think I will keep to myself -- just go to work, then go home and stay home.  I have to venture out at some point, but not on that day.  Seriously, too dangerous.

I Got Two TVs, And I Might Buy One More

So my friends -- well, they're friends with my friend, but since we are Facebook friends together, I think we could be called friends, and what I did last/Wednesday night is a sign that we're now first-degree friends -- posted on Facebook that they have a bunch of old stuff they're willing to give away.  All anyone needs to do is pick it up from their place.  One of them was a flat-screen TV, I think 31 inches diagonal.  After I said I was interested, one of them said they had lost the remote.

That's fine.  I said I could pick it up.  That's when one of the couple said they had another TV, one that was 55", it does have a remote, but it has these discolorations on the screen as a result of branding by gaming.  Eh, I'll take that, too.  So yesterday/Wednesday, after a long and stressful day (and night) of work, I drove out past the loop and grabbed both TV sets.  Well, one of the two helped me lug the 55-incher through the trunk of my car while the other one put the 31" set on my passenger seat.  I didn't think how I would carry the 55" TV flat-screen into the house by myself, but I finally thought it best to carry it vertically.

And now I have two TV sets.  They are both used, and I haven't even tried turning them on yet.  If they're old or otherwise beaten up, I don't see why I can't dump them with help from the city.  If they work, though, hey, I've got two more televisions.

The thing is, I might need to buy one more.  Before my parents left, Father wanted a new TV ... and he wanted one at least 65 inches diagonally.  I told him that might be too expensive for me.  But I just got on Best Buy's website and I'm seeing the generic (meaning the Best Buy) brand of flat screens that size going for $300.  That's not too expensive.  I just hope they're still at that price when I finally bite the bullet.  Also, after going through what I went through to just get the used 55-incher up the stairs, I am hoping (assuming?) that the 65-incher will come in a box with handles, or at least holes through the box so I can at least clutch and drag the thing upstairs.

There were just three television sets in the house: One in the dining room, one in my parents' bedroom, and one in my bedroom.  Pretty soon, there will be double that in the house.  Huh.

The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey

A reminder that for 2025, Weekly Minnesota Sports Surveys will be published on Wednesdays, the Day of the Week January 8, 2025 falls:

Positive Numbers: Wild (Last Week: -1).  Well, look at what the Wild are doing in the New Year!  They had a perfect Week-plus, sandwiching home Wins over a pair of not-good clubs (Nashville and St. Louis, the latter in which Minnesota and then Blues blew multi-Goal leads before the Wild won, 6-4) with victories on the road over a pair of really good squads, Washington (in a Shootout) and The Bastard Hartford Whalers, whom they destroyed, 4-0.

The team's still suffering under an injury bug, and they still have the $15 million-plus millstone around its neck, but they are tied with three teams for the third-most Points in the NHL.  And Kirill Kaprizov is starting to really state his case for The Hart Trophy.  The name "Wild" sucks, but this team doesn't.  Pray that continues.

Host The Bastard Quebec Nordiques, then visit San Jose and Las Vegas.

#0: Gopher women's basketball (Last Week: -2).  OK, this is the kind of fight I want to see from this program in its second Year under Dawn Plitzuweit.  On New Year's Eve they traveled to Madison and came away with a 59-50 victory over Wisconsin.  Then on Sunday afternoon, after visiting Illinois turned a tie at Halftime to an eight-Point lead after three Quarters, the Golden Gophers ran roughshod over the Fighting Illini in the Fourth Quarter, 28-13, to win by seven, giving Plitzuweit her 400th Win in her coaching career.  Illinois isn't ranked, but they received votes, so getting a victory over a team like that, and to do so in comeback fashion when they needed a comeback, is a sign of a good club.

This screening Week: Home to Rutgers tonight/Wednesday night, who may or may not have its best player playing after she put her Head Coach on blast Sunday.  Then a sterner test comes Tuesday: A tilt at Maryland.

#-1: Gopher men's hockey (Re-Entry!).  Swept Mercyhurst at Mariucci last weekend.  Went for Friday's series opener.  Good to see the crowd back filling up the place, as they have done for the past few seasons, to be fair.  Odd to hear only recordings of The Rouser because the band wasn't there.  Sure, it technically was Winter Break, but couldn't any student who lives in the area just drive from home, plop his clarinet or trombone in the marching band section, and play?  Anyway, the Lakers made it 3-2 in the Second Period before pulling away with three Goals to triple up Mercyhurst.

They keep chugging along, safely ensconced close to the top of the PairWise.  But this weekend comes a trip to 11th-ranked Ohio St. for a two-Game series.  This should be a fight.

#-2: Gopher women's hockey (Re-Entry!).  Opened 2025 defeating Bemidji St. on New Year's Day in The U. S. Hockey Hall Of Fame Museum Face-Off Classic in Lakeville, then started the East/West Showcase at Ridder Arena over the weekend trouncing Brown, 9-1, on Friday.  (By the way, this tournament involved four teams, and Bemidji St. was the fourth team but did not play the Gophers in this tourney because, of course, they played New Year's Day in Lakeville.)  I am quite, quite concerned, however, that Penn St. blew the doors off the U. Saturday afternoon by a score of 6-2.  The Nittany Lions are ranked, but Minnesota is ranked higher.  To get their asses kicked like this and at home?  I continue to insist that this program is a clear cut below Ohio St. and Wisconsin, and bad results like this is just more proof.

Two at home against St. Thomas this weekend.

#-3: Timberwolves (Last Week: -3).  This is now a walking headcase of a team.  If I were a sports team, the 2024-5 Wolves club would be it.  They began the screening Week-plus losing three in a row.  The last of those three, a 119-105 Loss in Detroit, came despite Anthony Edwards popping off for a career-high 53.  Afterwards, he was popping off about how he's doing everything and his squad is still losing.  The big picture issue of this team not jelling is bad enough; the maturation (or lack thereof) of the putative Face Of The Franchise is an unnecessary distraction.

The Wolves have won their last two.  Monday they had to survive a Three-Pointer miss to survive The Bastard Buffalo Braves/San Diego Clippers at Target Center, then they survived The Bastard Charlotte Hornets in New Orleans last/Tuesday night.  (By the way, besides the Pistons, they lost to The Bastard Seattle SuperSonics and Boston.  Wins over not good teams always makes a team feel good.)  They are in eighth place and only a Game back of sixth.  However, Chris Finch still has limited time and limited moves to finally lock this team into place.  In the Win over the Clippers, he benched Mike Conley, then brought him in and benched Julius Randle in the clutch.  Rudy Gobert's decline in play means the team can't score when he's in the lineup, but it's still not good enough to play great Defense when he's not in the lineup.  Finally, Rob Dillingham is banged up, and who knows if Conley can run the point for even half of a Game.  The West is wild, but they could still be roadkill by the time the season's over.

This Week: At Orlando, home to The Bastard Vancouver Grizzlies, at Washington.

#-4: Vikings (Last Week: 0).  It is neck-breaking, and yet predictable, how our hopes for this franchise -- or really any franchise, if we're being honest with ourselves -- can turn into fears on the basis of one Loss.  Leading up to Sunday night, we were talking about how Sam Darnold is a fringe MVP candidate and Vikes social media was lighting up with talk about whether he's the team's Quarterback going forward instead of J. J. McCarthy.

Then, in The Biggest Regular-Season Game In NFL History (no matchup heretofore had clubs with more Wins than the 28 both Minnesota and Detroit were sporting), the Lions took the NFC North, the #1 Seed in the NFC, and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs by making the Vikes look silly, 31-9.  And frankly, and unfortunately, a lot of the defeat can be put on the shoulders, or rather the arm, of Darnold.  Minnesota reached the Red Zone four times and did not score a Touchdown in any of them.  And Kevin O'Connell was able to scheme at least one receiver open pretty much every time, but the depleted Lions Defense just blitzed the fuck out of him (at the behest of Lions Defensive Coordinator Aaron Glenn -- credit to him; he risked sending what guys he has left to pressure Darnold, and the plan worked beautifully) and, well, scared him into throwing errantly, and usually high.  I'm not sure if the Vikings would've made it a Game if those passes connected, but it would've been a hell of a lot closer, that's for sure.

And because of all this, Minnesota sports pessimism has (rightfully) crept in.  Before Sunday, I would've been OK if the Vikings lost.  Sure, they would be the #5 Seed, but they're still a good team.  (Aside: NBC pointed out that only two #5 Seeds have ever reached the Super Bowl ... but both teams won.)  A victory over the Rams Monday would mean a rematch with the Lions in Detroit about two Weeks after this beatdown; resuscitate all the "it's hard to beat a team three times in one season" talk.  And remember that Minnesota only has lost to two teams, the Rams and the Lions.  They most likely will have to play the Rams and then the Lions to reach the NFC Championship Game.  How about a revenge tour?  It's like The Bride, Beatrix Kiddo in the Kill Bill films!!

Or the psyche of the squad has been shattered and they can't overcome a now-fully-back Rams team that had already defeated the Vikes (albeit on a Thursday night) in Los Angeles before.  Yeah, it's one Game.  But things can fall apart quickly.  All 14 remaining teams feel good about their chances, but 13 of them are going to end their season disappointed.  Based on the huge letdown on Sunday, this team probably is going to be one of the 13, and they might be ushered out of the postseason as soon as Monday.

#-5: Gopher men's basketball (Last Week: -4).  At this point it's just sad.  I am sure Ben Johnson is a good person, but his seat is scalding after his squad began the New Year and restarted conference play by losing a pair at home.  On Thursday they got walloped by Purdue, a team that made it to the title Game last season but is nowhere near that level now, by 20.  They played much better against Ohio St. Monday, but missing so many Free Throws (they missed 15 of their 27) was the main reason the U. couldn't put the Buckeyes away, and instead they fell in Double Overtime, 89-88.

This squad now goes on the road to play Wisconsin and Maryland.  They have started Big Ten play 0-4, and I'm afraid that "0" ain't going anywhere a Week from now.

Yeah, It Was A Mistake Eating Those Eggs

Before they left -- have I blog posted about this already? -- my parents left me four cartons of eggs.  And they told me to eat them.  Sure, eggs are perishable, but I've done this dance before.  Despite the expiration and best-by dates, I've eaten eggs that are supposedly "spoiled" and I came out of the other end just fine.  I'm still alive, aren't I?

I was thinking that after a month of them being gone, it was finally time to eat these eggs, and there was no better time than after exercising Sunday.  Of the four cartons, one of them only had three eggs in them, so I started there.  I eschewed the float test because 1) I thought it better to just crack them open and see if they were discolored or otherwise looked and smelled bad and 2) I had ideas of using egg whites an incorporating them into a couple cocktails I wanted to try.  The third egg I cracked open had a runny yolk, even though I accidentally drove my thumb through the egg shell when I cracked it open, so I threw that one away.  The other two looked and smelled and seemed fine, so I had them scrambled.

I knew I was in trouble a couple hours after I ate them when I felt bloated.  A bit later, I let out a noxious fart.  And then, about 90 minutes after I fell asleep, I was jolted awake by my body, which told me I needed to go to the toilet, immediately.  My excretory system was barking at me so loud that I couldn't fall back asleep, and I had to make two trips to the porcelain throne, before I left for work and during morning break at work.

That's when I looked at the Julian calendar three-digit stamp on all the cartons.  They were packed around mid-October and Halloween.  The United States Department Of Agriculture says that eggs are good to eat four-to-five weeks after the packing date -- which means the eggs were good until, well, the time my folks left for the winter.  And they told me I could eat them?  Now, like I said, I'm sure I've eaten eggs well past this threshold and was fine.  But after the episode I had yesterday/Monday morning (and I still feel slightly nauseous, which might be a sign my body is still fighting the salmonella poisoning), it would be stupid of me to even risk it.  So I'm going to find a way to dump them in an organics pile in Minneapolis.  Don't care if it's three full cartons of eggs.  What, are my parents going to know?

Expenses Without Receipt

Starting from Sunday, January 5:

• Well, there's nothing going back to Christmas Eve, where I stopped by this Ecuadorian bakery before work.  Asked for a coffee and a Nutella croissant.  Paid for it, but they the cashier said they didn't have a Nutella croissant, so I opted for a walnut danish instead.  Even though the danish was a buck more expensive, she didn't charge me the difference, thank Buddha.  Cost: $6.69.
• At work we pooled in for the Mega Millions jackpot which, once again, we did not win: $4.
• Sunday, December 22: Got my car washed.  There was a guy who was really meticulous, to the point of being annoying, about how the people there were going to treat his car.  He even stepped in to vacuum it and then wipe it down.  Dude had a Honda SUV, but damn, man, you're living in Minnesota -- the damn thing's gonna rust anyway.  And anyway, with tip, the wash cost me: $32.46.
• My favorite speakeasy, I learned recently, is actually open Sunday nights.  Wanted to get out of the house and stop in.  I think I am there often enough whereby at least one bartender there is familiar with me, and it was overkill on this night because the doorman and both bartenders know me.  It's good to be a regular.  Anyway, I had a couple drinks and listened to some jazz, for which I tipped the band: $5.
• Finally, on Saturday, December 21, I went to one of ******e's parties, the first time in several months.  I am sad that I didn't know that ****e, a woman who out of the blue sucked my dick, was at the party.  I would've gotten to the party a lot earlier than I did, because I was at the party maybe half an hour before she quickly got dressed and left.  We did hug while she was naked, though.  I swear, if she cums to another one of ******e's parties again, I'm there, first thing.  As a consolation, I got three dances from the host ******e herself.  I think there was a transsexual at the party, too.  With cover: $90.

Good through January 5.

I confess that I have fears that my parents are going to come home suddenly.  Not necessarily without telling me, like that bullshit years ago.  But my cousin is worried about her mother, who is my aunt, who recently fell.  My cousin thinks she's "the next to go," and that's kind of harsh to say, I think (then again, I don't know the details of my cousin's relationship with her mother).  But I have texted my cousin's brother -- also my cousin, of course -- lately and when I've asked about him and his mother/my aunt, he hasn't mentioned her.  My aunt seemed to be in good spirits and in a good mental frame of mind, but I do find him not saying anything about my aunt kind of suspicious.

And if for some reason my folks have to come home suddenly, I'll be caught with my pants down.  My stuff is literally everywhere, and I haven't really started to go through it.  Also, while I cleaned some of the dishes, I haven't cleaned them all.  And everything is dirty.  I remember back in March when I was told my uncle died, and Father said he was coming home from Las Vegas that night.  No way I could've done everything I should have done to tidy up the house, plus I was working at Target Center till the afternoon, so all I had time for was throwing all my crap back in storage.  I don't think I can do that again.

With that said, I think I will take a nap.

An Instance Where I Stayed Calm

I lost my Swiss Army knife a few weeks ago.  I knew I had used it, and I had misplaced it, and after some time trying to look for it, I gave up.  And I didn't panic, because I knew it had to be somewhere in the house, and that it didn't grow legs and walk out of it, so I knew I would come across it at some point.

Well, a couple (or maybe a few) days ago, I was searching through my computer bag and, lo and behold, I found it.  Guess it fell into it from my nightstand, that's all.

I remember when I was a kid I would freak out and yell at Grandmother to help me find it.  I was in a permanent tizzy back then.  I hope I grew up enough for her to see me not overreact like that.

Lazy Saturday

I have nothing I need to do today.  Therefore, I will stay home and not spend any money.  Now, there are things I should do.  For example, go through my stuff.  But I did a lot already -- eat the rest of the hotdish I made (by the way, my verdict: I don't think I should add rice anymore and should substitute a vegetable instead, even if preparing it will elongate the prep time), kill off the Moet I bought and watered Father's plants.  Now, I'm watching sports (thank goodness for weekend sports all day) and probably going to take a nap because I'm feeling the champagne.  I'll go through my stuff later, and maybe do some laundry, too.

I think I am entitled to a nothing day like this, because I am human.

Weird Dipshit At Work Being An Asshole Again

OK, so it was another long and shitty day at work in The Fourth Department yesterday/Thursday.  It was January 2, and even though I don't know if this usually happens, there wasn't a lot of work that came in because not many people take drug tests on New Year's Day.  A lot of people left early, including my supervisor and boss.  I did not.  In fact, I stayed an extra 90 minutes because somehow, I had a lot of work.  Whatever.

On Tuesday I bought a cannoli from a relatively new panaderia close by, and I decided to bring it with me to eat.  I took my afternoon break way after I should have.  I sat down in the break room where there was only two other people.  One of them was the moppy-headed incel that was the last of The Four Asshole Horsepeople I complained about in this blog post.  We were not close at all; I went to sit a table diagonally from his and, just to bring up a reference to the pandemic, about six feet away from him.  He looked at me after I made noise sitting down and, for some unknown goddamn reason, he got up and moved to a table further away from me.

Don't fucking understand why.  If I could hazard any guess, maybe the mask I took off to eat my cannoli made him think I was sick, and he's a germphobe snowflake who didn't want to take any risks, so he moved further away from me.  But if he is so scared of getting sick, why in the hell doesn't he wear a mask?  You know, I don't know him, but after that blog post where I called him out, he nodded at me in a good and professional way some time after that incident.  Because of that, I thought I was wrong about him, and that we at least didn't have to walk on eggshells around each other.

But then this asshole had to do what he did, like a dipshit, and he just reinforced the weird behavior he exhibited back in the summer.  Is this prick offended by me for some fuckin' reason?  Whatever, man, I have other shit to worry about, like work.  I'll eat somewhere else before he makes this too personal.  I mean, what the fuck was that??

The Hottest Babe In The Hooters Calendar: December 2024

So glad that I could finally get up my Hooters calendar once my folks left.  I had a month's worth of beautiful images of gorgeous, relatable women wash over me, and since I'm facing the calendar, it's one of the first things I see when I wake up, and one of the last things I see when I go to bed.

With all that said, and no disrespect to the other waitresses in this month, but of the eleven (odd, I can't remember the last time there was an, well, odd number of servers for a month, and I really don't think I've ever encountered exactly eleven in a month) girls for Dec. '24, I will only recognize two.  Again, after a month visually absorbing them, it's only those two that stand out.

In second place is Kaitlyn, out of Mesa, Ariz.  She is wearing a light-flannel bikini top and a white bikini bottom, which is kind of incongruous.  But she has beautiful tan skin, she's playing with her long, slightly-wavy blonde hair, and she's got a ravishing smile.  She looks like she's having a good time, and she can give a good time, too!

And in first place is The Main Girl, Olivia, hailing from Loveland, Colo.  She's got dirty blonde hair that rests on her shoulders, and she's wearing a ribbed green two-piece.  She's in a pool, and the photographer told her to pick up some water and let it slip through her fingers; that's an action shot that always seems superfluous to me.  But what puts her over the top for me is that she's wearing this ... I don't know what to call it ... it's a top that has full sleeves for her arms, so she's wearing it (it's also green and ribbed, so it goes with the two-piece bikini), but it's joined only by a thin piece of fabric that stretches across her front just below her clavicle.  It doesn't make much sense, but it looks as though she's lifted up a shirt to show off her bikini.  It's a total illusion, but I'm a fucking sucker for it!

So, congratulations to Olivia for winning the last month of the 2024 Hooters calendar.  I will be touching myself to these two in good time!

I Don't Know If This Hotdish Is Gonna Turn Out Well

This time around I limited the ingredients (not including salt, pepper and paprika) to eight: Black beans, blackeyed peas, diced tomatoes, white rice, a can of cream of chicken (heart healthy, according to Campbell's), the last half of the box of mostaccioli (the first half of which I used a week ago, on Christmas, for pasta), ground beef, and cheese, some of which has been in the fridge for a long time.  Moreover, the can of tomatoes had a use-by date of August 28, 2023, the can of black beans had a use-by date of January 26, 2020, and the can of blackeyed peas has a use-by date of I can't decipher.

I just got it out of the oven, just right now.  It's not the most aesthetically-pleasing hotdish, tbh.  I also am aware that with only tomatoes as a vegetable, this is a carbo load if there ever was one.  Finally, I don't remember the rice being reduced to mush like it was when I mixed all the ingredients before putting it onto the casserole dish.  I thought the last time it looked fine, but maybe I'm misremembering.  Also, the leftover cheese was left over long enough that it began to stink, and the stinkiness is still there on the hotdish, so there's a second sense this hotdish offends.

Supposed to let it cool for ten minutes before diving in.  Hope to Buddha that the taste isn't the third sense to offend.

Will I Get Sick To Start Off The New Year? Who Knows?

So I got back from my long-running New Year's Eve/Day tradition of ringing in the New Year at my friend's with his family.  Love it -- it's always great to greet the New Year with people.  (I think I've said this before: As a follower of an Eastern religion but a man born in the West, New Year's Day is, in many ways, much more sacred to me than Christmas.)

But -- and my friend forewarned me about this -- a couple of his family members in the house have the flu.  They did not come downstairs for the party, instead staying in their house while I was there.  With that being said, of course, they probably interacted with their family members, many of whom were downstairs with me as the ball (well, we watched the one on CBS/Channel 4, which was based in Nashville, so the eighth note) dropped.  So, could the flu bug have been passed on to me through these intermediaries?  Absolutely.

Don't feel sick in any way -- yet.  Hope this isn't my start to a 2025 that, politically at least, will be very, very crappy.