Sorry I Didn't Say Goodbye To You!

So after work last/Thursday night I thought I would treat myself to a visit to the speakeasy I like to go to.  I want to remain familiar with the people who serve me cocktails, and it was great.  There's this one bartender who's great.  Just like before, we talked about stuff while she whipped me up some killer drinks.  She's a cool chick.

But as I was winding down my visit, which was about 105 minutes long, I guess I started to space out from having a couple drinks.  I was soaking the atmosphere in, people watching, seeing the now two bartenders sling cocktails.  Didn't even look at my phone once while I was there, which is almost an impossibility.  But I guess I was too busy soaking it all in, because I heard a faint, "Bye!" and I continued to space out, not knowing that the server I was talking to was cut and left at 8.

Now I feel bad.  We have a rapport, and we chatted it up.  I just didn't know that she was leaving, else I would have totally said goodbye back.  Instead I was just ... I don't know, looking around and stuff.  Not saying goodbye back isn't very mannerly of me.  Does she think I'm a dick?  I hope not.  I just wasn't, you know, paying attention.

She must think I'm a dick.

Wow, That's A Lot Of Sample!

First time this has ever happened.  OK, so I went to a taste test yesterday where I was supposed to taste ... you know, I think I'm sworn to secrecy.  Anyway, I always make it a deal whereby I eat it all.  I've always been told to at least eat three bites of something before answering the questionnaire that comprises the taste test.  But dammit, one of the reasons I do these things is to eat.  And since it was the Chinese/Lunar New Year, I was too frozen to eat anything until then because I was afraid I would eat something taboo.  Yesterday evening I no longer cared about that.  I was hungry!

So I didn't necessarily take my time, but I ate it all.  But for first time ever doing a taste test, I was given three variations of the same food.  And they were each big honking pieces.  I thought I could still eat them all -- you know, I wanted to make sure of what I was tasting -- but as I reached my final piece, I heard the person heading the taste test to finish up.  And then she came over and told me to hurry up -- "We are about to finish up," is what I think she was pretty much saying.  But I'm not done!  So I hurriedly stuffed the last pieces in my mouth.  Another person picked up my tray and said to me, "You know, I would do the same thing."  He gets it!

The taste test comprised two servings of the same three things, so there was a second and final serving of a taste test that is half an hour long, and to be fair, I don't remember the last time I've been to a taste test that short.  Still, I was determined to eat it all.  Shocked I was, then, that the next serving, also three plates, each had two ... things on them!  There are six things!  Now, normally I would just eat them all, but now I know somebody's watching me, plus we're supposed to be done in half a hour, plus (and I didn't think this would happen), I was getting full!  I took two bites, one from each end, of each of the (really) six things in order to answer the questionnaire, and just out of spite, I started to go back and take a fifth bite.  I was unable to take a fifth bite from the third plate before it was taken away, with most of the food I was given still left uneaten.

Honestly, I feel like I failed.  It's been more than a year since I've done a taste test, so maybe I'm not familiar with how it usually goes.  Maybe this experiment was different.  But a combination of the short session time, the huge heaping of food, me not being as hunger as I thought I was, and a proctor who was, shall we say, moving things along meant that for the first time ever, I have not eaten everything given to me in this type of food research study.  And I'm ashamed.

Happy New Year!

So I'm getting really superstitious -- maybe you can call me radicalized -- when it comes to heeding and obeying do's and don'ts for the Chinese/Lunar New Year.  I'm not showering or cleaning anything, and I hope I never run into a situation where I need to use sharp objects.  In fact, I woke up at 11 and have done literally nothing.  Maybe I should continue to do that.

Well, I have a research study I'm going to in the early evening, so I will be doing something.  I think going out and undergoing a taste test is allowed for Lunar/Chinese New Year.  Also, I didn't see anything about not spending money on this day, so I just hit up one of my stripper girlfriends on a booty call.  I didn't think I would have anyone cum over, but I'm bored as all get out.  But she just texted me that she's going out to work.  I didn't know she found a job.  I plan on using my free item from the Taco Bell app after the taste test, so I will be spending money then.  And actually, I just subscribed to two models on OnlyFans for a month, so I already did spend money on this New Year.  OK, never mind.

I should at least go through my stuff, setting aside (and not throwing away) any papers I no longer need.  But I will take a nap first ... even though you're not supposed to because taking an afternoon nap because that means you'll be lazy all year.  I actually don't have a problem with that!

The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey

#0: Gopher wrestling (Last Week: 0).  Wisconsin and Northwestern aren't anything to fear, but the Gopher grapplers beat both teams on the road in dominating fashion (39-3 at Wisconsin Friday, 29-12 at Northwestern Sunday), so they get the top spot this Week.  They have a formidable opponent coming into Maturi Sunday: 12th-ranked Rutgers.

#-1: Timberwolves (Last Week: -5).  So kudos to the Wolves for running table on a screening Week for the first time, I'm guessing, all season.  They nipped the Mavericks in Dallas by a Point Wednesday, blew away Denver by 29 at home Saturday, then defeated a depleted Atlanta Hawks club by eight on Monday.  They are seventh in the West, only a Game behind The Bastard Buffalo Braves/San Diego Clippers for that coveted non-Play-In slot.

So, why are they still in negative numbers?  Well, that they're still in seventh plays into my decision.  But I was at Monday's contest, and with Trae Young and at least one contributor gone, I'm still shocked and dismayed at how difficult it was for the Woofie Dogs to just put away Atlanta.  The Hawks have a lot of size, and their Head Coach, Quin Snyder (who, I have to note, wore dark-rimmed glasses and a tight sweater that made him look like an English professor who really just wants to groom and fuck his grad student TAs), kept trying to find ways to get his bigs to dominate down low in order to loosen the wings to shoot from three.  That team was able to do that, but they didn't do it enough to take advantage of a Timberwolves squad that looked out-of-sync offensively and still is nowhere near the defensive juggernaut they were last Year.  The Game was still in the balance until the Hawks' last possession, where a Steal finally led to the ball being thrown to Rudy Gobert who, after taking a beat as if to wonder why in the hell was his teammate throwing it to him, softly dunked it for the final eight-Point margin.  I also saw recent draftee Josh Minott finally get some run with the senior team.  Sadly, he turned in a bad performance.  He had, I think, one Rebound and was frequently out of position for loose balls.  And he blew an easy bunny when he was under the basket.

All in all, that Win was as demoralizing a Win as I've ever seen.  And Head Coach Chris Finch had the same thought, berating his troops after the victory for not waxing a foe that was overmatched on paper.  Even with the very recent good vibes, there remains a nagging feeling there is no jelling with this team.

This Week is busy for the T-Wolves: At Phoenix and at Utah on a back-to-back tonight/Wednesday night and tomorrow/Thursday night, then home to Washington Saturday and Sacramento Monday.

#-2: Gopher women's hockey (Last Week: -1).  Beat Bemidji St. (4-1 in Bemidji, 3-1 in Shakopee as part of Hockey Day Minnesota), but who cares?  A truly powerful club, Ohio St., comes to Ridder this weekend.  Beat the Buckeyes, then I'll be impressed.

#-3: Gopher men's basketball (Last Week: Positive Numbers).  Glad I was able to spit out that blurb of encomium for last Week's shortened WMNSS.  They ran into a buzzsaw last/Tuesday night in East Lansing and was shot out of the arena floor by #7-ranked and undefeated (in the Big Ten Conference) Michigan St., 73-51.  But there is no shame in that because on Saturday afternoon, they won their third consecutive Game (and their second straight over a ranked opponent), downing then-15th-ranked Oregon at The Barn, 77-69.  They appear to remain well out of any NCAA Tournament talk, but once again, Ben Johnson might be showing the fan base (and Athletic Director Mark Coyle) signs that he has the program going in a not-bad direction.

Hosting Washington early Saturday afternoon (which is going to kick off a very busy day around campus that day when five Gopher-hosted sporting events will take place), then at Penn St. Tuesday.  Based on their recent form, that could be two Wins there.

#-4: Gopher women's basketball (Last Week: -2).  See, Wednesday's home tilt vs. Michigan, like Minnesota a just-ranked team, is a litmus test between two even teams that the Gophers should have won because they were at home.  But the Wolverines played Freshmen who got home from deep, and they survived to beat the U., 70-65.  They came back Sunday afternoon to trash by 21 a Wisconsin program that is currently mired in controversy, but it's those 50/50 Games against the likes of Michigan that you need to win in order to be taken seriously.  Not as if to say Minnesota is a joke, but dammit, what a blown opportunity.

And this Week may be the most grueling Week this program has seen in a long, long time.  It's a road trip to Los Angeles to face two Top 5 schools: My alma mater Thursday, #1 ranked UCLA Sunday.  Charlie Creme currently has the Gophers in the real tournament, but two Losses this screening Week means these women are back in Play-In City.

#-5: Gopher men's hockey (Last Week: -3).  Tough weekend -- they went to second-ranked Michigan St. and lost five-of-six Points, getting tripled 9-3 (!!!) Friday, then losing in a Shootout Saturday.  No shame in that, although it brings into question the possibility of whether these Gophs have a chance against the Spartans if they play them again, either in the B1G or NCAA Tournament.

And yet, when you look at the PairWise, Minnesota is still third.  They are behind Michigan St., which is second (Boston College is first), but I feel like their PairWise metrics actually improved despite getting swept by Sparty.  Alas.  They host ranked Wisconsin over the weekend.

#-6: Wild (Last Week: -4).  Got waxed by The Bastard Winnipeg Jets/Phoenix Coyotes at home, 4-0, Thursday, then could not come back against The Bastard Atlanta Flames Saturday in a 5-4 Loss (also at the X) before doubling up the Blackhawks Sunday in Chicago.  But of course that's not the big news coming out of the organization this Week.  Yesterday/Tuesday afternoon it was revealed that superstar Kirill Kaprizov will have surgery for a "lower body injury" and be out at least four Weeks.  This club has been achieving all season, but the recent injury hits to Kaprizov and others has dampened its high-flying ways, and now they face at least a month without their talisman.  Oh, well; we didn't think much from this squad anyway since this is the final season of the big Parise/Suter cap hits.  Just wish the fantasy could've gone on a lot further that it probably will.

This screening Week culminate its five-Game road trip -- at Toronto and Montreal on a back-to-back (which are tonight/Wednesday night and tomorrow/Thursday night), then at Ottawa and Boston.

He's Not Taking Money From Me, He's Not Taking Money From Me ...

Last work week was weird because I had taken a day off, Thursday, to bring my car into the shop (and also to see my stripper girlfriend clean the house, even though she flaked on me), but because I was working so late on all the other days, and then my boss asked me to come in to work Saturday because they were short-staffed then, I really, really thought that I would achieve a rare case of overtime.  My eight hours of paid time off is not a part of the theoretical 40 hours of work one usually needs in order for OT to kick in (although that rule may be different in your company, and who knows what it will be like now that Trump and the Republicans have been reinstalled), but I calculated that at some point at work Saturday, I would have accrued, basically, 48 hours of work, and from that point on, I would get time-and-a-half.  It was only, like, 90 minutes, but I need every buck I can get, and besides, the novelty of this is something I wanted to reach.

But then yesterday/Monday at work I checked my e-mail.  I always get one when my boss officially approves my timesheet, which is a perfunctory thing.  However, I get another one where my boss adjusted my time.  I got back in paid time off on Thursday the work I did Saturday.  Therefore, unless my math is wrong, no overtime.

I have to keep the big picture in mind.  First of all, he probably has pulled this stunt (which I have to guess is company policy) at least once before at my job, so maybe I should have known better.  Also, I will be asking him for some days off and to take some days back in the very near future, so I don't think I should go off half-cocked over this.  He has yet to truly bitch at me over my long days yet.  So I'll just fucking grouse here on my personal blog about how I really didn't want part of my paid time off back and really wanted the damn OT.  Blerg.

I Should Survive The Subway Sub, Right?

OK, so I got a footlong from Subway and ate half of it before going into work.  I stashed that other half at the work fridge and remembered to take it with me when I got done, which is something I was afraid I would forget to do.  What I did forget was bringing it from the car to the refrigerator at home once I got home.  Instead, it stayed lain on the passenger-side mat until I realized it wasn't in the fridge when I checked yesterday/Sunday morning.

So the government says (until last Monday, but hey, scientists thought it's a rule, so I'll follow it) that you shouldn't allow unstable food at room temperature for more than two hours (and one hour if it's really hot outside).  Well, I think it was barely above freezing when I got home, and it dipped well below freezing overnight, so that would arrest any bacteria that would've formed in the sandwich, right?  Sure, I drove the car to The Current's concert at First Avenue on Saturday night and I put the heat on, but that was only 45 both there and back at most, and besides, it had to have been much colder down on the mat, right?

Just ate the rest.  I noticed as I bit in there was a bit of ... iciness in it.  I looked and saw that a bit of frost formed on the lettuce.  So the sandwich did freeze overnight in the car.  I was hoping 13 hours of it being in the fridge, which is set at 37 degrees, would "warm" it up to where there wouldn't be any ice, but guess not.  I know from previous bad experiences that my gut and excretory system do not like cold items in general, so I now not only have to worry about eating this sandwich that might have been too hot, but also eating this sandwich that might have been too cold.  And I'm doing this before a workweek.  Great.

No Stripper Wants To Come Over

**y, one of the stripper girlfriends who has serviced me in the past, was supposed to come over this morning to do me.  It's been a long, long time since she's done that, so I was really looking forward to seeing her (naked).  But when I woke up she texted that she doesn't feel well, so we're not doing it.

This comes on the heels of another stripper girlfriend, ****e*, cancelling on me earlier last week.  No sexual activity with her; no, she was supposed to clean the house in time for Chinese New Year.  But she too said she was sick.  My house will have to remain dirty.

Two stripper girlfriends, two rejections.  Sorry, it's hard to not take this personally.  Yeah, strippers flake.  Sure, strippers lie.  But I can't help but shake the feeling that after initially saying yes, they no longer want to keep their appointment with me.  Or, to put it another way, they find me and our relationship disposable enough for them to blow off our appointment if and when they want to.

All I know is my house is dirty and I am untouched and therefore I am not comfortable.

I Bought A Ticket To The Same Concert Twice

And now I turn my hate inward and admit that I bought a ticket to a concert at First Avenue that's tonight, and then I bought another ticket.  I bought them separately, which is obvious, but I don't remember how big a gap of time it was between buying them.  I'm guessing a couple weeks (and I bought both more than a month ago), which might explain how I forgot that I bought a ticket, then panic-bought a second ticket because I really want to go to this show and I was afraid if I waited long enough, it would get sold out.

Well, maybe that panic made me forget what I should have done, which is check on my application if I had a ticket in my account.  I did check my e-mail to see a receipt, but I didn't see one, and maybe all ticket companies should issue receipts.  Have to admit I could have checked harder before buying a ticket.

I was able to sell it.  Wanted to get rid of it as soon as possible, so I quickly checked all the other tickets that were being officially sold secondhand.  They were selling at face, so I listed it as such.  Unfortunately, when you sell secondhand, the same damn ticket company gets to skim off a percentage of the money you get back.  With that, I lost about $15 off the second ticket I should not have bought in the first place.  I should make up for that somehow, because the more I think about it, the more I am mad at myself for not checking before I bought that second ticket.  This might affect me enjoying the concert tonight.

I Hate Everything Right Now

Really mad, can't lie, and I feel helpless to do anything about it.  Nothing that's affecting me personally -- at least not yet -- but cursed me for having empathy and giving a good goddamn about the concept of democracy.

He's really doing it.  He's ending every single department that would hold him and other ne'er-do-wells accountable.  He is firing everybody that has a government job, left and right.  He's going to install ass-kissers that'll do what he wants in service of his ultimate goal: To loot American taxpayers dry of their money.  And the fucking goddamn Republicans will let it happen because 1) he believes he is their god-king who 2) will help fulfill their fantasies of remaking this country with white males standing supreme overall.  And he's doing it, up through now and these motherfucking Friday night surprises.

I am beyond angry.  And there is nothing I can do about it, even though I am pissed off right now.  And I know it's going to get worse, so even if I try to relax or take my mind off of this, I know that I'll have to hear some more bullshit coming from him, and probably something worse.

I fucking hate everything right now.

Stress Eating ... Stress Sleeping?

One of things I've noticed about myself since the holiday season, the new work that has come in from this now-shuttered lab, and the departure of my co-worker, as a ripple effect of all the long hours I have to pull to get the work done, is how awful I feel after I get home.  Sure, it's a relief, but often, I have grabbed a bag of chips or peanuts and I have just eaten, and eaten, and eaten.  And that's before I take the leftovers I want to eat out of the refrigerator that serves as my "proper" dinner.  I am not in the best shape right now because I have neither the time nor the energy to exercise lately, and I feel I am getting fat, no doubt.

Moreover, my sleeping patterns have taken a hit.  I haven't stuck to my four hours of sleep per night with a lot of frequency lately.  Partly that is due to not being able to sleep in my car during lunch at work because it's been so darn cold the past couple nights.  That results in me being really, really sleepy, but earlier in the night.  Partly it's also due to being able to sleep in during the weekends since my season of organizing Game watches and working Vikings Games is over.  I am able to catch up on my sleep, which means I can stay up later ... but that also means I get sleepy at other times of the day.  These things clash, but with the added stress of ten-hour days at work, my body seems to be crashing.  I say this because Tuesday night, my body told me to go to bed at 10:30 and I woke up, refreshed, at 4:30.  And I was able to stay alert at work all day, even with failing to fall asleep in the car for lunch.  I wish I could do more of that ... well, maybe go to bed at 10:30 and wake up just before my alarm clock goes off.

Took my car to the shop today.  Just for some fluid exchanges, although I was ready for more stuff they find.

Well, they found a few things.  The air filters I don't mind.  Brake pads?  I was told the last time I brought them in they think they needed to be replaced this time.  But the guy said the rear shocks are leaking and need to be replaced.  This same shop replaced them about a year and a half ago, and now they're leaking again?

Yeah, I gave the go-ahead, even though my estimate has quintupled, even though they should be replaced only every 50,000 miles and not ... oh, I want to say 15,000 miles like it's been.  I want to trust these guys, and they've been good for the most part.  I'll just say that I went to the dealership last month and they said nothing about the shocks (or the brake pads or the air filters, for that matter).  I don't trust dealerships more than these guys ... but (shrug)

I need to look at my bank account to see if I have enough money.  It'll make me feel better.

Just looked.  I don't have as much money as I thought I did.  Now I'm sad.

Got Fired From An Experiment

If I have been rejected for research studies before, I haven't been "fired" like this.  This particular research study comes from a group affiliated with the University of Minnesota for whom I had been a guinea pig for another of their experiments previously.  Moreover, I have struck a rapport with these guys.  They invited me to their office and brought me in for a discussion group.  I'm not saying we were going to have beers together or anything, but as far as research studies go, we had a, well, guess you would say a "relationship."  And it was neat.

But then came last/Wednesday night.  The head researcher, someone I have never met, is a gruff personality, which I chalk up to him being, I believe with evidence, to be a native of China by his accent and directness.  From my previous interactions with him, we were never buddy-buddy, but he never led me to think that I would be rejected for the experiment he is spearheading as I went through screening after screening, progressing like nothing was wrong.  But there was, apparently.  I was at home waiting for last/Wednesday night to conduct another phone screening that could last an hour.  I was kind of surprised when the head researcher called me; an obligatory screening is something one of his subordinates would usually do.  Turns out he wasn't doing a screening either; he told me that, based on the answers I gave on the online surveys I had to do before this screening, I was ineligible.  What I thought would take at least 30 minutes took only five.  He said goodbye; I think I beat him to hanging up the call.

I don't know what the fuck I did.  The research study had to do with pain, and boy, I have a lot of it right now.  Eventually, I would be enrolled -- and get paid to -- take part in classes that deal with rehabilitating the places where I hurt.  These classes would take a few months, and the surveys from those classes would last into the summer.  I have done these intermediate-term experiments before, and I enjoy them ... and the money that goes along with it.  But there would be no money beyond the $20 the head researcher paid me for the privilege of telling me over the phone, "Nope."

Have to look on the bright side.  It frees up time I would have had to devote to these classes.  And for last night, I could get to what I wanted to do after the call -- go out to my storage unit, bin my garbage at a gas station trash can, and eat at Taco Bell -- earlier than I planned.  But shit, man, I could've used the money, not gonna lie.

The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey

Came home from work late (again), ate, then felt so tired at 10:30 I fell asleep.  Woke up at 4:30, washed the dishes, started blogging, then realized Wednesdays are survey days, so I had to pivot to this.  But I have to go to work soon, and I don't think I'll have time to blog post when I get home, so I'm just going to make this Week's WMNSS a list:

Positive Numbers: Gopher men's basketball (Last Week: -7).  But I do want to say something quick about the Gopher men's b-ball team, because I'm afraid they won't have a screening Week like they just had the rest of the season.  Good for them for getting off the mat with two inexplicable Wins.  First was a victory over a ranked Michigan squad (their first over a ranked club in almost four Years) in Overtime at The Barn Thursday on a Dawson Garcia logo 3 at the buzzer.  Then, last/Tuesday night, the Golden Gophers go into Iowa City and beat the Hawkeyes at Carver-Hawkeye Arena for the first time in a Decade.  I really, really hope this is the start of an upswing.

This Week: Hosting Oregon, then travelling to league leaders Michigan St.

#0: Gopher wrestling (Last Week: -6).

#-1: Gopher women's hockey (Last Week: -1).

#-2: Gopher women's basketball (Last Week: -4).

#-3: Gopher men's hockey (Last Week: -3).

#-4: Wild (Last Week: -2).

#-5: Timberwolves (Last Week: -5).

Work Was A Fucking Asshole

I was in The Third Department yesterday/Monday.  There's usually only a skeleton crew on Mondays, but because there is now no one full-time in The Third Department, all the work that has to be done on that day falls on one person, and yesterday, that one person was me.

And actually, I thought I was doing fine.  There is a certain task where a lot of forms need to be looked over and processed, each one of those takes time.  Those types of forms usually are the reason The Third Department now sucks (IMHO), but I didn't have any to worry about.  I have been told that as soon as these come in, they're STAT essentially -- you throw everything you're doing off to the side and you do those immediately.  That doesn't take into account all the other stuff that needs to be done, stuff that I always have to shunt to the side when these forms come in that still need to be done before I leave for the day.

One of those relatively important tasks is making calls for forms that still have outstanding information.  God, I hate this part of the job.  Besides the calling and (sometimes) the rudeness you face, it's the overall accumulation of time this takes out of you.  It's not a fast job, and yet we are expected to call any for any outstanding information for forms that have been sitting around a few days.  The fastest I have gone through these is two hours.  That's usually not on a Monday, because on Mondays, because there's been a weekend that's gone by, I have to call for two days' worth of outstanding forms.  Once I get done, I feel like a little part of me died.

But, on this day, I still don't see these stat forms I thought I would need to jump on.  That gave me a lot of time for me to call.  I was slowed down by the occasional person who said they don't have a fax number, but can you e-mail your request so that I can the information back to you, and those take up so much damn time.  Still, I was going through the second day by the time I had to take my lunch, and I felt that if there were no forms coming in -- and they usually don't so late into the afternoon, around the time I take my lunch -- I would have time to finish my calls.

But god fucking dammit, I came back from the car and saw that there were forms.  Lots of them.  Like eleven.  I have never worked on so many before.  And all those needed to be done before the end of the day.  It took me 3 1/2 hours to do them all -- and I think I went through each in record time -- and that pushed me past 6 o'clock.  And I was so fucking stressed out because I simply didn't have the time to finish up all the calls I wanted to make before my self-imposed out time of 6:30.  I kind of think it's bullshit that such important work, and a lot of it, came so fucking late in the day.  I had absolutely no time to do anything else except the very, very important stuff that had to go out before I left.  And so I will be greeted with so much shit I need to do when I get back in the morning.

And I might take shit from my higher-ups when I get in in the morning and see all the work that piled up.  You see, yesterday morning I got an e-mail from my boss asking me why I stayed so late on Friday.  I was in The Fourth, not Third, Department Friday, and that was its own version of hell.  There was so much work that I had the foresight around noon to tell my supervisor that the work was piling up.  She stepped in and did a lot.  But, and I swear, there was still a lot left.  Once all the forms that came in on Friday went out, I had a lot of answers that came back that allowed testing to begin, and I did all of that.  By the time I was done, it was past 6.  I am certain that my boss knows that my supervisor helped with the new work and is thus wondering why I would have to stay past 6 on Friday.

And that's what pisses me off.  I take my breaks and I occasionally stop to sip my coffee because I have to, but I am absolutely 100% honest when I saw I fucking bust my ass at work.  I've had to because people are leaving and no one but me is doing their jobs now.  I do the best I can, I work as fast as I can, but I'm not going to half-ass my job, and so if it takes me staying past what I should, I will.  I did it Friday, I did it yesterday/Monday, I probably will do it today/Tuesday, and until the work doesn't demand it -- or if they fucking get somebody to help out -- I'll continue to stay after.  Dammit, these jobs can't be handled over eight hours by just one person.  If they think that it should ... well, I've said it before and I'll say it again: Maybe they need to hire someone else.

In the meantime, I'll do my job and I'll rack up the sweet overtime.  Shit.

And Now The Black Cloud Descends On Our Nation

I do feel a palpable dread from the correct-minded people of this nation now.  It has animated my anxiety and a lot of my short temper since November, but now that it's finally "here," I feel my sadness, anger an bitterness runneth over.

The thing I am still trying to reconcile is that, if I recall correctly, I felt things were going to be just as bad eight years ago.  Why is everything worse now?  Well, we correct-minded people really thought that our fellow Americans would remember the facts that he was convicted of multiple felonies, was called a rapist by a judge, acted like a petty asshole who talks like someone who has Alzheimer's and thought, "Yeah, I want more of that good shit," or didn't care enough to vote.  Our fellow Americans seem to be OK with liars and grifters and people who break the law.  And all of us who hated what we went through cannot deal with how we'll have to deal with all that bullshit again.

I see a meme on social media likening the second TFG's administration to watching the second plane hit the other Twin Tower.  That's totally apt.  The first time we were so confused as to what's going on.  Now?  We now know what's about to happen.  And we're terrified.

I hope that I have the courage and the resilience to resist more than I did the last time.  It'll be very, very hard doing so with the knowledge that there are Enemies Among Us who prefer dictatorship over democracy, and want to kiss the ass of a con man.  But soldier on I must.

I think I got it.  I just thought of something I want to add, and I should give it a once-over before I publish it.  But I have gotten over the hump.

It will be published after midnight.  Not here, but it will be published.  I hope it's accurate.

Have an opus I want to push out by Monday, but I'm still collecting my thoughts on it, and I'm afraid that if I publish it I'll remember something I wanted to write about but didn't.  Oh, the juice I'm getting over writing seriously again!

Not A Nightmare, But A Dream!

I just woke up from a really cool fantasy!  I was the fancy man, the guy with whom a girlfriend was cheating on her boyfriend.  I never saw who the woman I was with is, but let's just say that the boyfriend is a pretty famous football player and I'll leave it at that!

I don't understand how I became (and let's be honest) the hero of my own dream, especially these days where the world is about to end for good.  But it's rare that I dream of something real good!

The Coldest Winter Chill

Yes, I continue to insist that if I had to choose one, I would take the cold over the snow.  That doesn't mean I like the cold.  In fact, it's going to be as cold as it has been all winter starting tomorrow/Saturday and continuing pretty much through Tuesday.  The worst of it will be Sunday and Monday.  Thankfully, I can and will stay at home Sunday.  Not thankfully, I have to work Monday, which also is MLK Day, which is also Inauguration Day, which is also College Football Playoff Championship Day.  But mostly it'll be Inauguration Day, and therefore it'll be cold for more than one reason.

I still want to march tomorrow/Saturday.  It's going to be bitterly cold, and I wonder by how much that will dampen turnout.  I remember The Women's March eight years ago, and I swear I have never seen so many people before.  There cannot be that many people this time around.  Honestly, and sadly, I think it'll mostly be because people are broken by That Fucking Guy getting "elected" again.  But the cold will distort how many people would've gone if it weren't that frigid.  I hope to not be one of those people.  The death of our democracy can't be brushed aside just because I might get hypothermia ... I think.

OK, I'll be honest, I'm scared.  Not just for tomorrow, but for the duration of this cold snap.  I've been through longer and colder before.  But you never know when this is the time the furnace conks off, or the pipes freeze and burst.  I think I'll be fine, or at least I hope I will.  Just need to make it through, at the very least, Tuesday morning, if not Wednesday, if not the weekend.

Work Sucks Even More Now

Oh, man ... I haven't blog posted till now because last/Wednesday night I ate out, came home and, because I had woken up at 4:30 yesterday/Wednesday morning, fell asleep at 10:30 at night and didn't wake up till the alarm sounded at 7 this/Thursday morning.  Fell asleep so hard that I didn't even sleep with my clothes on.  Gosh, it felt good.

Anyway, work sucked, big time.  Worse, even.  I'm not sure if the snowstorm down south, which delayed a shipment from last week that we are still trying to catch up on, was the reason for all the crap I had to go through today or if it's just a bump up in workload compared to recent months, but there was a lot.  So much, in fact, that I have left work after spending my self-imposed two extra hours with work left over.  I'll be honest: I now track the specific number of forms I get in The Fourth Department, and number-wise, I have had "worse" days than today.  It might be the type of form or I might be out of practice (I last worked in The Fourth Department last week), but I was not close to finishing everything I should've done.

It's not a good feeling.  Sure, I can say that I did all I could, and I did do all I could.  But not since I started off on my own in The Fourth Department have I left so much to do till the next day, and back then I had the excuse that I was figuring stuff out.  Yeah, I have a lot to do, but I wonder if my higher-ups are going to come in in the morning, look at everything I still have to do, and wonder about me.

The worst thing about this all is the cascading effect.  Again, I don't exactly know why the work has been so much when until not too long ago I was afraid the company would shut down due to lack of work, but assuming there will be as much work as there has been recently, I am behind on finishing up the work I usually do in the afternoon.  That means the stuff I usually do in the morning has to be pushed back until the afternoon, and if there is a lot of new stuff, my God, there will be even more forms that will be left unfinished by the time I have to get my butt out of work.  And since tomorrow/Friday is my last workday of the week, I am leaving it for someone else to clean up.  Which might not be a bad thing for me personally, but probably not good when it comes to karma.

The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey

#-1: Gopher women's hockey (Last Week: -2).  Swept St. Thomas at Ridder Arena over the weekend by scores of 4-2 and 5-1.  But still, how in the fuck did they lose at home to Penn St. the Week before?

Nothing else to say.  Well, besides that the team is playing the second of three straight in-state schools, Minnesota State-Mankato, in a home-and-away (here Friday, there Saturday).

#-2: Wild (Last Week: Positive Numbers).  Got whacked at home to The Bastard Quebec Nordiques and at Team Privilege, aka The (Las) Vegas Golden Knights.  In between they defeated San Jose.  They continue to have so many of their best players hurt, yet they somehow remain second in The Central Division, and still there are only three teams that have more Points than the Wild.  How in the hell are they still keeping their heads above water like this?  Have to see what happens in the playoffs, reaching which seems more and more likely (and I didn't see that coming), but there are good vibes surrounding this squad, and for good reason.

Home to Edmonton, then at Nashville and Colorado.

#-3: Gopher men's hockey (Last Week: -1).  The third-ranked Gophers split a pair at Ohio St. (ranked eleventh at the time, ranked eighth now) over the weekend, and what's notable is that both Games were routs -- the Buckeyes keelhauled the U. 5-1 on Friday, and Minnesota returned the favor (and then some) Saturday by a score of 6-1.  Getting their asses beat on the road to a very good team isn't great; kicking ass at the same arena is pretty good.

Host Notre Dame for two this weekend.

#-4: Gopher women's basketball (Last Week: 0).  So after routing Rutgers at Williams last Wednesday by 26, they reached the Associated Press Top 25 for the first time since before the pandemic (2019 to be specific) at #24.  Fantastic!  At 16-1 at the time, bracketologist Charlie Creme seems to think they are moving closer to safely being in the NCAA Tournament.  And not the stupid-ass Play-In Games, I'm talking about the actual tournament of 64.

But we fans also know that the trip to Maryland, ranked eighth in the AP Poll, last/Tuesday night was going to be a gut check.  How good is this team really?  Well, they lost, 99-92, but yes, you can call this a moral victory.  Previous Golden Gopher iterations would've been blasted out the gym by the Terrapins, but this club won the First and Fourth Quarters.  They won't be winning it all, but these women can ball, and they can hang against some good opponents.  Northwestern is not one of them, but they get to visit the Wildcats Sunday afternoon, so that should be a Win for them.

#-5: Timberwolves (Last Week: -3).  Road victories over Orlando and Washington bookend an extremely frustrating 127-125 loss to The Bastard Vancouver Grizzlies at Target Center Saturday.  The Woofie Dogs led by four with 1:41 left and allowed Memphis to score the final six Points to steal it, the last two of which started with a Steal of Julius Randle.

This club is mired in eighth in the West.  And instead of maturing as a leader, Anthony Edwards continues to get fined for obscenities.  There's a bad vibe surrounding this franchise right now, and every screening Week that passes without a string of Wins that comes from this unit locking in on both ends of the court only increases the toxicity.  It's not getting better, and time is running out.

This Week: Home to The Bastard Philadelphia Warriors, at MSG, home to red-hot Cleveland (Cleveland??), at Memphis.

#-6: Gopher wrestling (Re-Entry!).  I don't remember Nebraska ever being a power in wrestling (even though they are in a part of the country where you would think wrestling is popular), but they were ranked sixth in the nation as they hosted the U. Saturday and, lo and behold, the Goofers (ranked eighth at least at the time) lost, 21-13.  Minnesota won only three of the ten Matches, but after Gable Steveson (ranked #1 in Heavyweight again) technically fell the Cornhuskers' Harley Andrews, the Goofs were leading, 13-9 ... only for Nebraska to win the final four Matches comprising of the lightest weights (125, 133, 141 and 149 lbs.) to take the Dual.  Host Michigan Sunday afternoon.

#-7: Gopher men's basketball (Last Week: -5).  It gets sadder, and yet more predictable.  Got annihilated in Wisconsin by 21 Friday, then lost at Maryland Monday by six.  Yep, by only six, and the Gopher men's b-ball Twitter account said, "Fought to the end."  Sure, they fought, but they are also winless in conference play at 0-6.  Now, they get Michigan at The Barn Thursday and visit Iowa on Tuesday.  Could they win one of those two?  Yeah, no.

#-Infinity: Vikings (Last Week: -4).  I don't know what to say, or else anything different from what I say when the Vikings or, to be honest, any Minnesota team that looks like they might have a chance of winning it all and finally freeing this goddamned state of its misery of loserdom lets us down again.  I don't think this is worse than any of the NFC Championship Game Losses, but Monday night's beatdown by The Bastard Cleveland Rams (in the home of The Bastard Chicago-by-way-of-St. Louis Cardinals because of the L. A. wildfires) is particularly disappointing because in these last two defeats that have ended their season, to Detroit and the Rams, they looked absolutely nothing like the juggernaut that went 14-3 in the regular season and had many Vikes fans (me included) that they had a chance, small but real, that this would be The Year.

It wasn't.  The Offensive Line, which I thought held up really well (especially after the season-ending injury to blindside Tackle Christian Darrisaw), was absolutely fucking shredded by the Rams, who sacked Sam Darnold nine goddamn times.  I don't know how prime Tom Brady could produce at all when you're being battered like that, but apparently Darnold didn't hold up his end by missing receivers all over the place.  (I say "apparently" because I turned off the TV shortly after the Second Quarter started and Will Reichard put Minnesota on the board, making the score 10-3.  I didn't like the vibe of the Game, and I was tired, so I took an hour-long nap, and then when I woke up, I still didn't turn on the TV.  I made the right choice.)  He was so good because, according to what I read on The Athletic, his timing was impeccable.  The incessant pass rush by the Lions and Rams destroyed Darnold's timing and thus his game.  We saw none of this over the previous 16 Games, but it reared its ugly head when the Games mattered most.

It was more than two Weeks ago that Darnold was thrown into the air by his teammates in the Vikings locker room after they beat Green Bay at U. S. Bank Stadium.  There was a crescendo of talk from Purple Faithful asking whether Darnold actually is The One, and that the squad should actually trade J. J. McCarthy and keep Darnold.  You are hearing none of that talk now, which I find funny; we toxic fans would treat a player like #1 one week, then #2 the next.  Maybe we should not get too high or too low until the season's over, huh?

With all that said, I don't think Darnold should come back unless he accepts a contract that underplays his performance this season, to be honest.  I really thought the savings from his contract as opposed to Kirk Cousins's contract bolstered a Defense that really needed it, and was really good (well, until the past two Games, but still).  But the O-Line still needs work, it turns out, and there's a bevy of Free Agents, and who knows how many will come back?  Why not punt on next season, start McCarthy, and save the money you would usually funnel to the QB position and instead spread it out amongst a team that still needs talent and depth?

Yeah, I understand that we were supposed to punt on 2024.  Yes, this is a surprising season.  But my fundamental point still stands: Any team's season that ends short of a title is a failure.  You can say that this team overachieved.  But that means that expectations change during the season.  I can be upset that a surprising team loses in a postseason very few people thought they would even reach before the  regular season began.  And I certainly be mad that the Vikings organization will go another year without winning the Super Bowl.

I Get Distracted By Other Things To Worry/Be Depressed About

The cold and the furnace breaking down worried me last night, but that was quickly replaced by the windshield not being defrosted for a good 45 minutes this morning.  I was 15 minutes late because I simply had to wait for the ice to clear.  It didn't.  I literally had to crouch while driving all the way to work because the very bottom of the windshield was the only speck clear of ice.  I've never had that happen before, but I guess that's what happens when I park my car just as it's snowing and just before the temperature starts to plunge.  That ice finally melted away under the radiation of the sun's rays, but I wished that happened before, like when I had to drive to work.

That was bugging me at work, but then some asshole hung up on me as I was asking for some information.  Fine, whatever, your loss.  But I had to go home and talk to Mother about mail, so I was worried about that.  And then the Vikings shit the bed, so I forgot about Mother.  And so I'm stewing about how the Vikes failed again.

I guess I have to always dote and/or agonize over something or else I'll die.  Not a great way to live, tbh.

Worried About The Cold

So yeah, the cold is worrying me.  I wonder how the appliances in the house I use to combat the cold is going to hold up as it has begun getting real cold and will be like this through about Wednesday.  The noises I hear scare me.  For example, while the heating is working like clockwork, I hear some extra, like, whirring or buzzing that makes me think the furnace is about to conk out.  Also, I was just at the dining room table reconciling my expense list for December and, for some reason, I heard tapping against the wall.  Now this is pretty much kitty-corner (and a floor) from the furnace, so I have no idea why there would be a sound coming from the other corner of the house when the heat's on.  That makes me scared to think that somehow there's another thing breaking down in the house.  And that's not even getting into the creaking of the wood that comes when it gets really cold.  That hasn't happened -- yet.

I really won't know what to do if the heat goes out.  I always relied on Father making sure the house would hold up this time of year, but I think he just looks at the furnace for a minute, checks to make sure there's nothing leaking or noises he thinks is bad and says to himself, "Yeah, that's fine."  Of course, he doesn't have to worry about the house because he's not here.

Yeah, I'm spiralling into playing the blame game.  I'll just not worry until I have to ... I guess.

No, I Will Not Shovel The Snow

So yeah, maybe an inch or two fell last/Saturday night.  Maybe.  Combined with the trace of snow that fell during the week and there is some snow that is on the ground.

I have seen this morning my neighbor across the street clearing his driveway.  I have also heard my neighbors to the left clear their driveway.  Will I clear my driveway?  Hell no!  For one it's a Stay-In Day.  And for two, the snow is low enough for me to drive through it.  Why expend energy when I don't have to?  It'll be above freezing later in the week anyway; it'll melt then.

I'm glad I don't live in a homeowners' association.  I think I would be hounded into shoveling even though it's completely unnecessary.  Still, I harbor bad dreams that someone will knock on my door telling me to shovel because it's "good for the neighborhood" or some shit like that.  That knock probably won't come, but still I worry, and still I am mentally preparing myself for a fight should it ever come to that extreme -- whether the fight be verbal or physical.

My Plan Was. ...

 ... to do all the chores I wanted to do between waking up today/Saturday and before the Houston-Los Angeles Chargers Wild Card NFL Playoff Game -- namely send off a piece of mail for Mother, dropping off metal drip pans at a recycling center close by, placing the old eggs my parents left for me in a compost bin at a park in Minneapolis, go grocery shopping, get a haircut, then eat Taco Bell (OK, this is not a chore) -- and have enough time to take a nap before the Game.

Nope, didn't happen.  I didn't leave the house till 11:30, which is about an hour after my ambitious dream time of leaving at 10:30, so that hampered me.  Also didn't help that I chose to stay and wait 45 minutes to get my haircut, but I really wanted to do it today.  Finally, I did stay up till around 5:30 this morning, so when my body got tired shortly after the start of the Game, it shut me down.  I think I woke up some time in the Second Quarter, when the Texans took a lead they never relinquished, but I woke up a bit past 7, missing the entire Game.  I guess I can comfort myself in knowing Houston routed the Chargers (which is a surprise, as was Justin Herbert throwing four Interceptions), so the Game would've been boring to stay up for.  But I wanted to stay up for it, and I didn't.  Hrmph.

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.