The Autumn Equinox Is Killing Me

I love fall.  I really do.  But that might just be my mind, because my body is not adapting well, at least I don't think.

I had enough sleep over the weekend, and yet because I only slept about four hours overnight Sunday night, I felt really, really achy at work yesterday/Monday.  Also, not for nothing, my co-worker had a bad, bad case of the sniffles.  She put on a mask, thank Buddha (I have a stash, she asked for one), but it ain't no N95 or KN95, so let's see if I'm sick, too.

I had to go this place I was at Thursday because I have a deal that expires today/Tuesday.  There was a deal that was for one day only on Thursday.  Before these two times, the last time I was at any place at this chain maybe was a decade ago, and that was in the western metro at a place I think has closed down now.  Anyway, I got there and stayed for two hours while watching Monday Night Football.  The deal was a free full order of garlic bread so long as I buy some other food, and stupidly (even though it is good), I went for a personal-sized pizza.  I didn't finish either.  And when I brought it home, I fell back into my doomscrolling stupor, then went to bed just after watching the weather forecast.

I got up for good around 6 (an hour ago as I type this), but I must have been tossing and turning in bed for, oh, an hour before that, so even though I am awake, I think I've been up since 5.  My body feels better.  But last night I did what I've done often in the past month or so.  Sure, going to bed may be healthier for me, but my parents' coming back is looming, and I haven't done a damn thing.  I need to start cleaning up, but I had a chance to do that on Sunday because I stayed in all day, but I chose to do the laundry, start (but not finish) my receipts, eat and watch football.  I will bang my head against a wall the moment my parents tell me they're coming home because I had all this time to put myself in a better position and I haven't done it.  Right now I'm sorting my week as to when I will have time to start doing that, and I still feel the pull of going out and, say, watching a play or a movie.

Maybe the oncoming winter is killing me.  Or maybe it's my bad decisions.  Or maybe it's the specter of my parents coming home, like a bleepin' sword of Damocles.  Or probably, it's all of the above.

Expenses Without Receipts

Starting from Sunday, September 20:

• We actually go back to Wednesday, September 16, when I fucked ****e.  She took me into her mouth thrice!!!  Cost: $120.
• I noticed I got three crisp, consecutive $1's in change, and even though this was not the date, I decided to record storing these dollar bills on this date: $3.
• On Monday the 15th I went to the Trylon to see It Happened One Night.  Still holds up as a brisk screwball comedy after all these years.  And now, seeing it a second time, I had not appreciated how, um, saucy the final sequence is.  It was made pre-Hayes Code, after all.  The thing about the Trylon is they do not rely on credit cards at all.  That's admirably old school, but they do allow payment by check.  Shit, man, I thought I last saw someone pay by check in-person at a grocery store two decades ago.  But I didn't have enough money to buy a ticket and popcorn and Coke (the ATM on the way there from work does not have after-hours access), so I went back out to my car to grab my checkbook.  So I filled out a check for $8 for the ticket, which freed up the remaining money I not only for some concession, but a large popcorn and a bottle of Mexican Coke, exactly what I wanted!  And I paid: $8.
• Back to Labor Day, the last day of The Minnesota State Fair.  For the record, I stayed there for, I think, six hours, which is possibly a record amount of time I stayed there.  I charged the Blue Barn's Cracklin' Ribs, a second Pina Colada I got from Manny's Tortas, Tot Boss' elote tots, and the twist raspberry-and-peach beer cone from Lulu's.  I paid cash for the Bee-Nut pie, the lemonade slushie from Holy Land, the Sausage Sisters' When Pigs Fly, and a small Lift Bridge root beer.  That all came out to: $37.
• Saturday, September 5: Went to see ******a at My Favorite Stripclub (Cover Edition).  Cover, tips, drinks for her and me, and 20 table dances from ******a: $231.
• On Thursday the 3rd I went to Charito's for a wrapped package of day-old cookies.  The guy gave me a discount, and I still gave him a tip.  Total: $8.50.
• Later that evening I went to the Dakota to see Bob James, a smooth jazz pianist best known for the theme song to Taxi.  It's weird, but the Dakota gives a discount to anyone paying for their ticket in cash.  I had enough to spare, so I was ushered from the front desk to another guy who handles cash for tickets, or something.  He didn't have a register with him, so I could only give him cash if I had exact change -- well, it was $50.41, but he was OK with $50.40 because I didn't have a penny.  Whew!  I went on and used more cash for the black caesar salad, gumbo and drink I had.  With tip for my meal, it all added up to: $125.40.
• Going back to Sunday, August 30, and there's a whole of shit I paid cash for.  Start with Chipotle, where the cashier rounded down.  With tip: $11.10.
• I then got wanked by *****y: $150.
• I then went to Dairy Queen, which, according to my notes, was my second meal that evening, which I don't quite understand now that I'm doing the final draft.  There was a deal through the DQ app I used for a small chocolate malt.  Then, there was a fuck-up where I had to wait almost half an hour to get the malt.  Apparently my order was "bumped," and only after I asked did they go back and find it.  The person who rang me up up-sized my malt to make up for it, which I didn't necessarily want because the small was the portion I wanted, but OK.  Oh, and this Dairy Queen rounds up, so I had to pay: $3.25.
• Late that night, for the first time ever, I went to Bunker's to see Dr. Mambo's Combo, which may be the longest-running residency in the country.  Nice hang, especially for a late Sunday night.  Cover, cider, Coke and tips (plus free popcorn!): $28.
• More EWRs for Saturday the 29th ... I was able to wake up very early that morning, which allowed me to do something I wanted to for some time and eat at Al's Breakfast before parking meters began getting enforced.  With tip I paid, and this seems expensive to me: $21.
• Went to my game-watching bar to see my alma mater's football team start up the season.  I paid cash because this is one of the places that has a credit card surcharge.  I don't take advantage of this all that often due to the convenience of credit cards, alas.  But on this date I used legal tender, to the tune of: $40.
• Finally, I went to the Midway Saloon after the MNUFC Match.  Don't know why.  I think I should go only after they won, and they only drew with Orlando City.  Plus, they coughed up the lead late into Second Half Stoppage Time.  Maybe I wanted to celebrate that they scored thrice in four Minutes.  Anyway, shoutout to the babe bartender baring her belly.  Cider and tip: $10.

Good through September 20.

No Foresight When It Comes To Toilet Paper

So I ran out of toilet paper just now, and I didn't have a back-up.  So I walked downstairs, shirt on but nothing covering me below the waist, to go to the master bathroom and grab the roll from there.  We've got rolls, I just don't want to grab a whole pack right now.  Anyway, I obviously didn't wipe my ass before going down there, so my shit gets to be on more of my skin.  And I overlook that I was walking around the house naked, including at my front door, so if someone stepped up to the front door just as I was walking down the stairs, I'd be fucked.  And of course, I overlook that I have walked around the house naked many times before, especially after fucking around with my stripper girlfriends, so why would I be worried that I would get caught now, and to that I say, well, I'm more embarrassed at just what happened and when I'm fucking around with my stripper girlfriends I would, well, not be ... unless my parents blindside me.

I have stayed out late a lot, especially lately.  And even though I endeavor to do things once I get home, I am usually too tired.  Well, I often eat and/or drink, and that makes me too tired to do things I should do -- the laundry, the dishes, my stuff, you know, the usual things I complain about.

And today is one of those nights.  I was going to go to sleep and blog post something in the morning because I didn't have anything to write about.  Well, I do now ... and now that I've done it, as pithy as it is, I am going to try and sleep.

Deleted Zynga Poker

Just did it, around 11:28 a.m. now/Saturday.  A lot of reasons why I did it after years of Zynga Poker (and, before that, Mafia Wars, from which I was gatewayed into playing Zynga Poker after Zynga shut down Mafia Wars).  The big reason, if there is one I can point to above all, is that Facebook/Meta has de-platformed Zynga, and I find I don't want to play Zynga Poker if I can't easily get to it through my Facebook.  Also, they took away the Daily Bonus, where I was given up to, and then more than, a million "dollars" just by checking in every single day.  That is how I was able to play Omaha, with their huge initial antes, and then win, thereby propelling myself up the leaderboard and rise in status.  How high did I get to?  Master I, apparently, the lowest stage of the second-highest tier in the Zynga Poker pyramid, looks like.  Well, if I can't get money, I won't be able to win the money I need to keep up my status.  And tumbling down the pyramid is no fun.  Finally, even though they say the cards are random, too many times I felt like I got screwed in the end when an opponent (or a bot -- another reason I'm quitting is because I simply don't believe the people I am playing against actually are people) backdoored me.  For all those reasons, I decided to quit.

Maybe I shouldn't be as surprised by this, but I don't miss it.  Zynga Poker didn't feel like an obligation to play every night per se, but I've been to the website, oh, maybe twice in the past ten days since September 1, around the time they got tossed off Facebook.  I've been busy, and it has been too, too easy to forget that I haven't played poker.  And I'm OK with that.  If that's the case, maybe it's best to delete it.

Like a drug pusher, Zynga Poker has somewhat emphasized that I have seven days from now to change my mind.  All I have to do is go back to their website and push a button, and all my relegating settings will be restored.  I hope I don't get sucked back into playing again.  Hopefully, I'll forget that I even requested all my data be deleted.  And then I'll be done with Zynga Poker.

RIP, Psychologist

So I attended the funeral of my therapist yesterday/Friday afternoon.

It was raining all day -- not the ideal weather conditions to travel to a church and then attend the post-funeral reception, but it was the appropriate mood.  I didn't know anyone there except his secretary, but I was allowed to just stand and pace and look around in the church and wait for the ceremony to begin.

Nice-looking church.  Churches are always nice looking.  I'm not Catholic, but some of the psalms and beats and call-and-responses were actually familiar to me.  Then I remembered that I attended the funeral of my sister's best friend's mother back in December.  She too was Catholic, so I remembered what I had seen yesterday from back in December.  And then it dawned on me that I've been to two funerals within the past 12 months, and that I may be going to a lot more as I get older.

I will never know what to say, or how to behave, at a celebration of life memorial.  I mean, what can you say?

I saw the family march out in the steady rain to bury him.  It was not my place to accompany them, so I drove to his son's townhouse for the reception, then waited about a half-hour to make sure I saw people park and go to what I hoped was the right address.  (In the meantime I fell asleep, or at least tried to; a couple of times, as I was about to doze off, I could feel my Adam's apple press up against my collar and tie, and I felt this fear that I was drowning shoot up inside me, and I woke up again.  Wearing a collar and tie will always feel like I'm choking myself.)

Feels tacky to say this, but I will: The son has a nice place.  For a townhome whose driveway they split with another family, it's really spacious.  The food was decked out in what looked like a small indoor racquetball court.  I could totally see a family live here.  Heck, with the downstairs wet bar, I could see myself living here, even though it might be a big too spacious for just myself.  There, I did what a person who was not the deceased's immediate circle would do: Eat and keep to myself.  Eventually the daughter-in-law introduced myself, and that was nice to not feel like a total stranger.  I wanted to shake hands with her husband, the son, but on my way out (I didn't want to stay too long) I did what I thought was the absolutely necessary thing to do and give my condolences to my therapist's wife, the widow.  I remember a couple times calling him  where she picked up and handed the phone to him.  She said she knows who I was and remembers him raving about me.  I can't imagine being one of the people he remembers so fondly, but that's nice to know.

---

Seeing a man so loved made me tear up a little at the church.  It is jarring to see his two sons break down as they memorialized him.  And it is sad to watch, but it's a testament that he was so loved and valued, and what more can you want from a life?  I only know him from our relationship, but it was at the church where I saw how many friends he made, and how many lives he touched.  He was a hell of a guy who did a whole bunch of nice things, for his family and his professional community.  And his patients too, like me.

I have friends, but I don't confide in them like I did with my psychotherapist.  There are things I've told him I haven't told my family.  It's mostly my fears and sexual urges, and frankly, those are things I am not completely certain I can tell my friends, and definitely not my family.  (Sidetrack: Those things, especially my sexual urges, I would totally tell my stripper girlfriends.  But nearly all of them do not seem to want that level of emotional intimacy I am ready to give them at the drop of a hat.  That favoritism is something I think I told my shrink.)  And through all my rants and paranoia and erotic fantasies and violent ideations, for the 10-5 years I had known him, he just ... listened.  And that's what I miss about him the most.  He was a sounding board, someone I could not only talk to but talk at, and he just listened to me without judgement.  That isn't a healthy relationship, but that is definitely what my damaged, damned soul needed, to be listened to without judgement.  OK, so his advice the past several times we spoke over the phone were strange and not productive.  But that doesn't take away the fact that over the years he was someone I could talk to, and he helped, and tried to help, me when I needed someone to speak to in private.  I don't know if I can find another one like him again.

RIP, sir.

Goddammit, I Hesitated And Lost!!! (I Think)

Late Tuesday night I was doomscrolling through Bluesky when I came across a skeet that posted a screenshot of another skeet or tweet from someone who either works for an organization that watches oil prices or is just an obsessive oil market watcher.  That person said that he predicted a huge jump in the price of gas within the next 24-48 hours.

Hmmm.  When I saw this I had half a tank.  The next morning (yesterday/Wednesday) I was going to drive a ways so I could see/have sex with ****e.  If I woke up early enough, I thought I could top off.  But that skeet/tweet said this was going to affect the Great Lakes States.  Well, Minnesota borders Lake Superior, but the skeet/tweet did list states east of us -- Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin (although not quite, according to this person ... Wisconsin has lower gas tax), and not Minnesota.  Frankly, I didn't have time, so I was going to check prices when I came back from laying pipe into her, and if I see prices shoot up, I'll go searching.

On the way down the prices were what they were Tuesday: $4.25, which is obscene, but that was the price it had been for a few days.  OK, I still have time, or so I thought.  But when I came back home, I see all these signs for $4.50.  Shit, the early afternoon was when everybody raised their prices.  I go to my go-tos which usually have the lowest prices in the area, but it was too late.

So I should've not taken any chances and just filled it up all the way on my way to seeing ****e.  My only saving grace is that I have just downloaded a new gas station application, and my reward for signing up is getting 25 cents off my next five fuel-ups (even though they expire in about three months).  Sure, that would mean I'm still paying $4.25 a gallon, but it is a discount.  That's all I got.  Seriously, though, these fucking prices are ridiculous.  There is one man to blame directly, but there are about 77 million Americans who should also share the blame for this bullshit.  Fuck you, you stupid motherfuckers.

The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey

#-1: Vikings (NEW SEASON!!).  I still don't know how they pulled off this victory.  The Offense, already rocked because Kyler Murray was lost for the Game late Sunday afternoon, wouldn't get going, while The Green Bay Packers picked apart the Vikings' so-called vaunted Defense.  It was going to be a long Fourth Quarter, and maybe a lost season.

But then Packers Head Coach Matt LaFleur got an Offsides call while kicking a successful Field Goal and, up five, decided to take the Penalty, which resulted in Fourth Down and short, and went for it.  Just between you and me, the Quarterback sneak looked like it got past the line.  But the referees and Instant Reply said Jordan Love was short, and somehow that flipped a switch.  From then on, Carson Wentz couldn't lose.  Meanwhile, the Vikings' D bowed up and started knocking Green Bay's Offensive Line with impunity.  And the Packers, who ended last season coughing up double-digit Second Half leads and losing, allowed Minnesota to score the last 29 Points in the Game.  The Vikes went from being down 22-10 (and it felt worse than that) to blowing out the Pack, 39-22.  When's the last time something good like that happen to a local club?

Now, can they do that again at Chicago, which racked up 59 Points to defeat Carolina in Charlotte, Sunday?  If so, they'll have to do it without Murray, who remains in concussion protocol.  But I have to say that in the time he was on the field, he looked cooked.  I know it's a very small sample size, but I saw enough to say that he isn't the answer.  Far from it.

#-2: Gopher volleyball (Re-Entry!).  Used to be The Diet Coke Classic consisted of four teams playing around robin over a weekend at the Sports Pavilion.  Dem's da days ... there are only two opponents flying into Minneapolis now, so that halves the number of Games to only one a Day.  I would've loved to have seen the Match featuring the two guests, in this tournament Miami and St. Thomas, but I was working the Gopher football Game.

Sadly, the caliber of foe is also different.  I won't begrudge sweeping both the Hurricanes and the Tommies last weekend, but I don't have to go that deep into th recesses of my mind to remember that the Gophs used to be able to invite and beat squads much better than Miami and St. Thomas.  (And talk about your sweeps: St. Thomas swept Miami in three Sets in the Saturday Game.)  And the U.'s strength of schedule will take a further hit when they travel to Sioux Falls, S. D. (for the second time this season -- they were there three Weeks ago for the season-opening State Farm College Volleyball Showcase) to participate in the South Dakota Lottery College Volleyball Classic.  The Gophers and Washington are two Big Ten schools playing two Summit League schools, and naturally, in South Dakota, those two schools are South Dakota and South Dakota, whom Minnesota will play, respectively, tomorrow/Friday night and Saturday afternoon.

#-3: Gopher soccer (Last Week: -1).  Started conference play this screening Week ... a 1-0 Win at home over then-25th-ranked Iowa Thursday, followed by a 1-0 Loss at unranked Penn St. Sunday afternoon.  Too early to judge how good this XI will be or not, but they're 5-1-2 so far.  That matches their start last season, which didn't end well, so who knows?

Home vs. Northwestern Sunday afternoon.

#-4: United FC (Last Week: -3).  Lost 4-2 at St. Louis Saturday.  I'm not a doomsayer about this side -- yet.  But they are winless in their last four.  And not only have they fallen out of a playoff spot, but they are only a single Point above next-to-last Seattle (Sporting Kansas City is in last place and has 11 fewer Points than MNUFC ... but they beat the Loons in July, by the way).  They are also only a single Point behind San Diego for ninth and a chance in the Western Conference Play-In Game, so all is not lost.  But time's running out, and United FC have established a pattern of striking futility than will probably sink them.  Hosting The Los Angeles Galaxy, one of team that have passed them, at home Saturday.

#-5: Twins (Last Week: -4).  Yet another two series lost, yet another 2-4 screening Week.  Seriously, I am as bored with this team as Twins employees are.  Well, there's elimination -- it is looming, we just don't know when.  They're out West for a four-Game series versus Anaheim (can I call them just "Anaheim" now that Arte Moreno has agreed to sell the franchise?) beginning tonight/Thursday night, then play at The Bastard New York Giants for three starting on Monday, the final road series of the Year for the Twinks.

#-6: Gopher football (Last Week: -2).  I was working this Game, which I thought would be much more competitive than it turned out to be.  I was looking at the odds leading up to the Game, and unless I'm seeing things, that line jumped between the two clubs as much as any line I had ever seen.

Apparently the line ended at Mississippi St. -1 1/2, and the oddsmakers at least got the winning team right.  The Bulldogs, picked in pre-season to finish next to last in SEC play, beat the ever-lovin' shit outta the Gophers, 38-13.  Their Quarterback, Kamario Taylor, is one badass dude.  And MSU played hurry-up all day.  They found open receivers without too much effort, and the Goofer Defense was cooked after they somehow got a Sack and Fumble in the End Zone for a Touchdown.  Beyond that great play, it was a bewildering performance by a team I thought would win on Saturday and definitely thought would be more professional than the moribund effort they gave.  They simply weren't in it.  This was like the Tim Brewster years.

Well, they get to retreat to their pussy-ass non-conference scheduling policy and host Akron Saturday.

The Hottest Babe In The Hooters Calendar: August 2026

A good, solid month.  Of the dozen women posing here, I will point out half of them.  I notice that five of the six I will not point out are wearing tops on top of their bikini tops, and the sixth is wearing a boring one-piece swimsuit.  I don't think that's become an automatic "thing" for me to judge these servers on ... but maybe it is.

In sixth place is Monique, of Albuquerque West, N.M. (is that a city?).  Long, black hair that reaches down to her hips, she's wearing a two-piece bikini that is colored in baby blue and bordered in white.  Nothing remarkable about her pose (well, beyond the fact that her right hand might be clutching onto, um, fireplace pokers), but she's standing straight and almost directly facing the camera.  She's got a bam! body.

In fifth place is Orlando's Ashlyn, whom I swear I've seen before in previous calendars.  Straight, dark brown hair that cascades to her hips, she's sporting a baby blue two-piece.  She is standing up and just a canter from directly facing the camera.  (In that sense, she's a mirror image of Monique; while Monique is slightly twisted to her right, Orlando is twisted to her left.)  Her hitching up the sides of her bikini bottom elevates her a tad.

In fourth place is Ava, hailing from Ontario, Calif.  Straight, dark brown hair that go down to the bottom of her tits, she's wearing a purple two-piece bikini that gets to the bottom of her titties.  She's leaning against a stood-up, girthy bamboo pole (never seen anything like that before), so her left arm is nowhere to be seen.  But her body is facing directly at us, and she's showing off her nice bod and porcelain skin.

In third place is Jess, working out of, ooh, Newcastle, England.  Stringy black hair that gets to her breasts, she is wearing a dark and patterned two-piece.  Nothing quite stands out about her, either; she's got a good body, but her boobs are on the petite side.  But she is facing the cam, and she does the thumb-under-her-bikini top thing that gives her a nonchalant aura in her photo.

In second place is Brittany, from Portage, Ind.  Wavy black hair, she's wearing a two-piece bikini that looks like it's made out of a doily.  She's kind of big compared to other Hooters waitresses you see in the calendar, but she is by no means obese.  Better than that, she is wearing a Hooters baseball jersey that is wide open, showing said doily bikini underneath.  It makes me want to think she unbuttoned her jersey right in front of me.  Oh, and she's tugging the front string between her two bikini tits.

Finally, in first place is Zakyla, out of Clearwater, Fla.  Everything about her is exotic.  Her hair is black at the roots, but died blonde at the ends.  Also, some strands of her hair (which extend all the way down below her hips!) are messily kinked, and some are in cornrows.  What's best on her, however, is her two-piece, which looks like it's made out of yellow surgical masks.  Her top is a bandeau, so that bikini top is quite skimpy -- the "masks" cover just enough of her knockers.  Oh, and she's dug both of her thumbs underneath her bikini top -- fap-fap-fap!!!

So, congratulations to Zakyla, and to all the other Hooters girls I've pointed out here.  I've already masturbated to them, but Aug. '26 is so good, I wouldn't mind jerking myself to this month again!!!

And That Busy Week Has Gotten A Bit More Complicated

How?  First of all, I didn't think I would be so swamped with goddamn work in The Fourth Department like I did.  Don't know why or how -- and I never do -- but there was work waiting for me in the morning, then more came during the morning, and a little more in the afternoon, and I had to leave for Pizza Hut and Monday Night Football after ten hours.  I had to give myself a limit because not only was I determined to watch the football Game (which I was late for; I thought I put in the Pizza Hut order overnight, but apparently the order didn't go through, so I had to order it there and wait 15 minutes), but I was fucking pissed off at all the goddamn work that blindsided me that ten hours was my limit before I was going to go postal.  I did all the work I absolutely had to do.  But had I done all the work I usually do to wrap up my day, I might have been there another damn two hours.

So I know what I'll be working on once I get in this/Tuesday morning.  And this is why I always try to stay late to get any work done -- if I leave it till the morning, I might put myself behind the 8-ball if there is an avalanche of work that comes in the morning.  That could have a cascading effect whereby I would be leaving even more work.  I don't work tomorrow/Wednesday, so technically it won't be my problem, but it will be my co-worker's, and I can't speak for them, but I am usually pissed as hell if I had a shit ton of work that was left for me.  Saying that ... I am racking up the hours.  If this workload keeps up this week, I would be getting overtime pay ... but I'm not working tomorrow/Wednesday.  Which makes me think I should pull back my paid time off and work.  I have arranged to fuck ****e that afternoon, and I plan on seeing a movie after that, but I can reschedule those.  I don't know how big work is going to be, but I feel confident I'll be staying as late today/Tuesday as I did yesterday/Monday, so a little bit of OT for working all five days would be guaranteed, and I'm a slave to capitalism.

But then last/Tuesday night I got the word: My psychiatrist passed away.  His memorial service and funeral will be Friday afternoon.  Frankly, I don't know if a patient of a psychiatrist should attend his memorial and funeral.  It feels like an invasion of privacy, as if I'm crossing a boundary and infiltrating the sacred, vulnerable space of those closest to him.  Although I poured my heart out to him, I can't say we're friends, so I wonder if going is a bit exploitive.  On the other hand, this will be the last time I get to see him.  Also, his secretary was the one who texted me the news about his death and funeral arrangements, and I think that she wouldn't divulge the details if patients weren't invited.  Finally, it's relatively close to work, and I think I can take off half a day, and start my weekend early, to go to a funeral service, even though it looks like a total washout outside.

I really feel like this is important to go to.  But assuming I can attend the funeral service, that'll be, like, four hours of paid time off I will be giving up.  That's on top of the eight I'm using tomorrow/Wednesday.  That's a lot, and even though I need to make sure I use up enough by the end of the year to get below a threshold above which I would just be giving hours away, I don't want to use so much this year.  So if I work tomorrow/Wednesday instead, I would get myself closer to the 40-hour mark above which I will get time-and-a-half.  There's no chance to get OT pay if I take 1 1/2 days off, obviously.  So, maybe I should do it?  On the other hand, my therapist's death is a reminder that you have only so many days on this side of the dirt, so maybe I shouldn't sweat getting just below the maximum number of hours before the New Year and instead take off when I want and watch what I want and fuck who I want.

Nah.  I'll wait until I see how I feel at work today/Wednesday.  I am so wishy-washy.

Yet Another Busy Week Ahead ...

... and I think I will allow it to be dominated by movies.  But first, football -- it's the first Monday Night Football of the season, and this one will be on free TV (as well as the following two, as well as most of the rest of MNF [and I still don't get why it's not back on ABC like it was in the olden days]).  To mark this annual return to normalcy, I will get Pizza Hut ... which I should, because if I don't buy from them at least every six months, I will lose my points, and I think that six-month mark is coming later this week.  Just in time.

I've also become obsessed with this, um, deal with this special, independent theater in South Minneapolis.  They currently are running a series about road films.  In conjunction with that, they have created this "passport."  You get a free ticket if you see eight of the 14 movies.  I'm too late for that, but I have seen two of them, there are three flicks left, and if you see four in the series, you get a free popcorn.  I like the idea of this series, I like the theater, and I am now fixated and seeing two of the final three films.  This week's screening is It Happened One Night, which I've already seen.  It's fantastic, and I think I want to see it again, if only to avoid risking needing to see the final two movies in case something bad comes up.

I have taken Wednesday off, just because.  Maybe I shouldn't because I am thinking of taking a trip to see my parents.  There is a logjam of things that I can with my day off.  For example, I could have this roof inspector come over and give an estimate of replacing the roof, which is something Father wants done.  I could also work out, something I haven't done in a long time.  What I have done instead is arrange a meeting to "see" ****e.  Ironically, after I made the arrangement yesterday/Sunday afternoon, another stripper girlfriend, *a***, said I could "see" her that afternoon, and unlike other visits, she's close by.  When it rains, it pours.  But beyond that, I think that I am going to see another movie, By Any Means.  I think it's a KKK-bashing, civil rights flick very loosely based on true events.  I think I would like to see that fantasy these days.

So, even though I will be eating at home tonight/Monday night, technically I won't be doing the homebody thing and saving money until, at the very latest, Thursday.  I should do that, and should want to do that, more.  Gas prices are only going up.  Oh, and I need to shop for chicken breasts that are on sale, too.

Getting Up Early Is Good?

This take is shaped by how I didn't and don't have to report super early to my jobs this weekend, so even when I was waking up "late," I probably had enough sleep where I could roll out of my bed and immediately head out.  That's what I have done and that's what I like doing.  But lately I've been going to sleep earlier in the night.  Did that this and yesterday morning, which meant and means that I didn't/don't have to dash out of the house.

You know what?  I don't mind it.  I had things I had to do, though they're not pressing, and I had time to do it both mornings.  It was nice to shower and shave and water the plants and even do this thing for Mother when she texted this morning and asked me to call her so she can explain this thing she wanted me to do for her.  And I have the time to do them, unrushed.  This is a new feeling for me.  And it feels good.

Now, I always want to get to work first thing because I don't have as much energy as I will once I fully wake up.  I am worried that being up three hours before work will mean I will get tired once I get to work today.  But for now my stress is low, I know I shouldn't be late for work, and I will hope I have a good day.  My mind is relatively clear and relaxed.  This may go sideways on me, and I might sing a different tune tonight.  But right now, I'm good, and it might be because I got up when and how I got up.

I Got More Hats!

So before I went off to my gig yesterday/Saturday, I brought two hats: One to represent the company I was working for in the afternoon, and one to represent my alma mater, whose Game I would be watching from our bar if I went there straight from the stadium.

Well, they asexually reproduced, because I came home with four.  I was given another hat from the company.  And on my way to the bar, I saw a Twins cap on a walk button stand.  It's a yacht rock-themed captain's hat, and this was for a giveaway that I believe was from a Game two Weeks ago.  So it looks like someone who went to that Game wore it yesterday/Saturday and dropped it and didn't bother to pick it up or something, so someone else picked it up and put it on the stand in case the owner wanted to retrieve it.  Instead, I stole it.  Now, it's been worn already, so I don't look forward to absorbing another man's head sweat.  But it was unclaimed, it's free, and now it's mine, as is the other three I brought home with me!

Worried About When To Eat Pizza From Where

I'm taking the optimistic and lazy way of living through life right now and assuming my folks in fact will not come home.  And instead of doing chores, I've been looking at the Internet and thinking about when I should eat pizza, and from where.

This was all prompted when, at work yesterday/Friday, I was given this e-mail/coupon because it's my half-birthday.  It's at Green Mill, a chain of pizza restaurants I haven't been to in at least a decade.  I get a free order of garlic breadsticks if I buy some other food item.  Trick is I have to use it by the 22nd, or is it the 21st, can't tell.

Meanwhile I have a hankering for Pizza Hut.  Thought about eating from there for the season premiere of Monday Night Football this Monday.  I kind of need to, too; my points will expire if I don't buy from them after six months.  I just checked, and six months is next week.

Well, might as well have pizzas for the next two Mondays, since I can see MNF on ABC/Channel 5 for the next three Mondays.  So it's Pizza Hut this upcoming Monday, then Green Mill the following Monday.  And yes, this is how I spent a large part of tonight.

Maybe They're ... Not Coming Home?

I blog posted about not wanting to directly talk with my parents because I don't want to hear from them that they're coming home, but it's been about a week since I last spoke with them, and frankly, that is kind of weird.  I'm a chickenshit, but even this period of incommunicado was getting ridiculous.

Still, I took a baby step after my long day at work last/Thursday night.  No mail came that I needed to alert Mother about, but I looked at an e-mail on her e-mail account that she paid for the trash bill at an amount lower than what was stated on the bill I got and told her.  I was concerned that there was a reason she didn't pay the amount I thought she needed to pay, but as I've done the past week or so, I only texted her.  I thought she would call.  Well, Father called back on his cellphone, and he started off by giving me the number of a roofer who was willing to come by the house and inspect and give an estimate for replacing the roof.  He really wants me to call him, then take a day off to let his guy go all over the top of our house.  Well, if you're coming home, why can't Father do that?

Father then got Mother on his phone.  She got my text; she put in that amount on purpose after haggling with the trash service.  Nothing else she said rocked my world for the worse.  In fact, she said that they might be planning a trip.  After coming back here?  Before?  Instead??  I got the feeling, then and there, that my parents might not be coming back home after all, even though Mother said as early as August that they would.  I didn't press her on this issue because I don't want to jinx anything.  But if they're going to be away from home for upwards of a calendar year ... well, that just means the ultimate state of freedom for me, isn't it?

Ironically, though, this makes me believe that I should visit them.  They have things here they might need if they are taking a long trip out of the country.  Besides, and don't tell them this, I kind of miss them.  And I don't my hanging out with them so long as they're away from all my stuff that I've strewn around the house.  I should start making plans to fly to see them, risk of getting kidnapped by the government be damned. ...

The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey

#-1: Gopher soccer (Last Week: -4).  I'm not wowed by any team that played this Week, but I cannot overlook the U. "footballers" annihilating Colorado College Sunday afternoon at Robbie Stadium by a 5-0 score.  The team finishes 4-1-1 in non-conference action, so it's Big Ten foe after foe now till the end of the conference tournament.  They host Iowa tonight/Thursday night, then travel to play at Penn St. Sunday afternoon.

#-2: Gopher football (NEW SEASON!!).  Despite them crushing only a second-Division team, I can draw hopeful signs of their 59-7 immolation of Eastern Illinois at Huntington Bank Thursday ... foremost among them being that they rightfully kicked ass over an inferior program.  Not too long ago, you could see the Gophers struggling with a team like the Panthers.  I want to believe that this professional performance means we will see some smarts from the U. gridiron footballers throughout the season.

Mississippi St. comes to town Saturday.  If I weren't working the Game, I would go see it.  I am always intrigued when a BcS school that's not from the B1G play in the Twin Cities.  I mean, when would be the next time you see a school that you see on TV so often play up here?  For the record, this is the first time the U. has hosted an SEC team since Vanderbilt in the '59 season.  That's 67 Years, or two-thirds of a Century, ago.  The Gophs are a slight favorite.  If you have a chance to watch in person, go.

#-3: United FC (Last Week: -1).  So the bottom now drops out, and as it has happened so often, it's the pro teams bringing up the rear.  Have to tell you that the fanbases for both the Loons and the Twins are dejected.  But whereas the Twins' fanbase has rapidly lapsed into resignation (see below), the fanbase for MNUFC has reached apoplexy.  And it may be because I'm in the bubble of this since I'm a season ticket-holder, but people are mad.  This feels as toxic as the following of a college football team -- or, come to think about it, any other soccer team in the world.

Yeah, they lost both their Matches this Week.  You would think by some social media braying (some coming from people I know) that they lost at Portland and home to Dallas 10-0.  No, they were one-Goal defeats.  Furthermore, on Saturday, the Timbers were up 3-0 after just 26 Minutes, but United FC came back to score three of their own over the course of 18 Minutes in the Second Half.  Yes, Portland scored another two to put that Game away, but Tomas Chancalay scored in Second Half Injury Time to make it a 5-4 result.  Last/Wednesday night, despite their offensive ineptitude, Kelvin Yeboah equalized in the Second Half before the Hoops got the Match-winner in the 84th.

Man, I'm not making my argument that the Loons don't suck that bad, huh?  (Also, I admit that I gave my season ticket for last night's Game to my friend because I really, really wanted to see Jungle ... and I made the right choice.)  I'm saying that a one-Goal defeat, by its very definition, isn't the hopeless rout many disbelievers lament.  This is soccer, for God's sake -- a Goal can be scored by an Own Goal or a dumb deflection.  That happens in either Match and MNUFC gains at least one point.  Also, not for nothing, they've battled back to tie in both Matches.  That has to count for something.  Well, it doesn't count in the standings, whereby they are now out of the playoff picture.  But one Win and they take back a postseason slot.  They have a chance to do that Saturday ... but they have to visit red-hot St. Louis.  Well, they play much better on the road.

#-4: Twins (Last Week: -3).  Despite actually winning two Games this screening Week, I am putting the Twinks below the Looooooooooooons because winning only the middle Game of both series they played is the final nail in the coffin for the squad's playoff hopes.  This was the time to try and get back in the postseason race because they were facing Division rivals the White Sox and Detroit.  But they have now fallen 4 1/2 Games back of Cleveland for ALWC3, and they still have to beat back four other clubs between them and the Guardians.  Different sides of the Twinks let them down -- either it was no offense or shitty pitching or the Bullpen's lack of a killer instinct, the organization's weaknesses took turns in sinking the Twinks for 2026.

Home to Cleveland for a trio starting tomorrow/Friday, then they host the Yankees for three beginning on Monday.

(Another) Busy Weekend

It's rare that I will be working both a Gophers and a Vikings game on the same weekend.  Come to think of it, I'm not sure if I've ever done that before.  But I will be doing that this weekend.  That's cool, and dare I say, I am proud.  It's a sign that I'm wanted and people think I'm still doing a good job.

Both games are on the same network, so I wonder if the company, or at least someone back at world headquarters, know that I'm working two games for them back-to-back.  They should ... shouldn't they?  Well, if they don't, can't think that would matter.

Anyhow, it's cool that I'm doing this.  And I don't take it for granted that these opportunities (setting aside the timing that I'm working two games on the same weekend) are going to be around forever.  That means my weekend will be quite busy, but I'm not wishing for the alternative.

Bad Driver: 160 ZYG (blackout)

Saw you coming and thought, "Will this asshole catch me before I peel off to Cleveland?"  I was hoping not, so I went onto the lane you were on, but goddammit, you had places to go, you man of intrigue with your dilapidated sedan, and 70 was not fast enough.  I see you get in front of me a little too close, motherfucker.  But hey, were you going to the Fair?  Has a stripper you've seen for over two decades finally given you two HJs?  I'll believe my life's better than yours.  Prick.

I've been fantasizing over Dian Parkinson for a long time -- you know, that Barker's Beauty from the OG The Price Is Right, the real, real hot one.  I say this even though another of the Barker's Beauties, Janice Pennington is a Playboy Playmate, and she is gorgeous as well.  But whereas Pennington posed before TPIR, Parkinson posed after -- twice.  First time, in 1991, she flashed her tits.  In 1993, however, she surrendered the pink and finally showed her pussy, too!!!  I had fantasized about Parkinson the most, so seeing her in her birthday suit twice was a dream come true.  I saw her two spreads just now and pleasured myself.

She's 81 now, and definitely doesn't look how she did when on TV or in Playboy.  I don't care; if she is still of sound mind, and if she said yes, I would be honored, blessed even, to lay pipe into her.  That would be so, so nice!

No, I Don't Want To Know When

It's been over a week since I spoke to my parents.  And when I say that, I mean literally speak to them.  Since then I have been in contact with them, through text.  I usually do that, and only do that, when there is a letter regarding an issue with one of their properties for which Mother needs some idea of what's going on, and telling her just won't cut it.

But over the past week bills have been sent.  Usually I just get on the phone and tell Mother that, hey, this bill came in and it's for such-and-such an amount.  I also tell her about checks that have come in, but when the latest one came over a week ago ... well, I just texted her that it's here.  And she was fine with it.  Then, a couple bills came and I figured this is something Mother needs to know about, so I texted her to call me, but I didn't hear from her the rest of the evening.  OK, this is unusual.  And I didn't want to wait to call after work the next day, so I texted her the nature and amount of these two bills at work the next day, and she said she would take care of it.  Not going to lie, I am in a texting mood now, so the bills that have come in since I have only told her through text.

Yes, it's easier.  But I have to admit that the real reason I am now texting her is that I don't want to hear her tell me that they're coming home.  They should be coming home by now.  And don't get me wrong.  When I say "should," I don't mean that it's the right thing to do, or it's preferable.  I mean that they've been gone over half a year, and they say they would be coming back, so logic would dictate they would mean what they say and be back.  Now, they usually summer here in Minnesota, and they didn't do that.  Mother later said they'd return in August, and obviously that's not the case.  They have said they want to come back to look at the mail that's accumulated, or to start working on a new roof, or figuring out what to do with the minivan, or to see that the trash is now being picked up.  But they're not here -- at least not yet.

Still, I have had this creeping fear that, as time marches forward, the inevitable end of me having the whole house to myself has to come.  Surely, they would be making a decision now that it's Labor Day ... even though, and I may be pointing this out to myself in order to give myself hope, generally this is the time of the year my parents leave Minnesota.  And hey, maybe they realized they just want to stay out there, and that there is no reason to come back since everything is hunky dory, and it is hunky dory here right now.  But I feel like I'm tied to a conveyor belt with my legs spread open with a laser beam ready to zap my genitals, like that scene in Goldfinger.  If/When they tell me, I have so much shit I need to do -- pack up all my things (and I am visually overwhelmed with all the packing I'll have to do ... my goodness it's a lot), take them to storage, and clean, clean, clean.  I don't have the time to do that, I don't have the energy to do that, and I frankly don't have the will to do that.  So I don't talk to Mother nowadays because being incommunicado with her lets me leave all my stuff out where I want.  And that is a ... don't want to say a fiction, but a situation I've created in order to make me feel good about myself.  As long as she doesn't tell me they're returning, I get to live how I feel.  So I don't talk to her because that way, she can't tell me anything.

You know, this is something I would talk to my psychiatrist about.  God, I could use someone to talk to about my anxiety right now.

Got a call a few hours ago that my psychotherapist, whom I had seen for upwards of a decade, is in hospice.  The Parkinson's finally got to him, goddammit.  His secretary called me; she said his wife told her he has a few days at most, and he will not be taking visitors.  But she will do her best to call me again when, well, it happens.  I hope I will be able to go to his memorial service.

I feel bad I have been going on with my life and temporarily forgetting what is happening to him in the hours since I heard the news.  Life -- it never ends well.

So for the second consecutive day and night, the juice I had prepared for a cocktail I thought I was going to make has been sitting, or rotting, in the refrigerator till the next day because I got home from something I was doing in the evening and I was too tired to make the drink.  Coinciding with my penchant these days for falling asleep at a decent time and actually resting for an appropriate amount of hours, I'm scared that this is a sign that 1) I will develop Alzheimer's and 2) I should stop drinking, which is not good since I bought some spirits yesterday.  What to do?

I'll leave it at that.

"I Surprised Myself"

I feel like I want to go into detail about what ******a did to me two massages ago.

So this was the second time she rubbed me down.  (As of right now, she's rubbed me down thrice.)  The first time was chaste.  Sure, I was naked.  I wasn't under a blanket, but she didn't touch me sexually, and I had no expectation that she would.  Hell, I was just glad that she would come to my house and give me a massage.  If all she did from that point on was look at me naked and give me a proper massage, I would have been more than happy.  After all, she does give a great massage, and she's cheaper.

Now, that doesn't mean I wasn't hoping for more, and being the scamp that I am, I tried.  And, glory be, things changed, happily.

So this second time she came over, she said that she was in a rush.  She had just dropped off family (!!!) when she saw me, so she had no room to put in the massage table on which I got rubbed down by ******a the first time we did this.  So, she rubbed me down this time on the bed -- a place where, during this first massage, we thought about moving to the next time we did this, both for the space (I was given a queen by my folks -- still too fucking high for my taste, but whatever) and the sturdiness.

Nothing at the start of the massage to indicate that this was going to go from legitimate to, um, illegitimate.  I started face down and ******a rubbed and then smacked my ass.  That was nice, but she did that the first time.  When I say that I was leading her to hoping she would "do more," I meant that when I was face down, I moved my dick so that it was pointed towards my legs.  Also, I spread my legs just a big apart, so she would have seen my blood-engorged prick while she was moving her hands around there.  She did glide her hands down to my schlong and my balls, but it was just a glance.  Again, I would take that, and I didn't expect more.

But!  After I went face up and ******a massaged my chest, arms, and legs (she is good and proper when rubbed me down for real, by the way), she said, "Now I'm going to go reverse cowgirl on you!"  She turned her back to me and sat down right between my stomach and abdomen.  Hey now!  She then spread her bottle of coconut oil over my pelvis, including a stream right across my peen.  ******a then started massaging around my hips, then moved onto my pelvis, then moved onto my pubes ... and before I know it, she started knocking into my cock, like she was trying to grab onto something and it was in the way.

******a did this "accidental" touching for several seconds.  Then she started massaging my balls -- not knocking into them, and not really massaging them, but moving her hand up and down on them, like hs was scrubbing my testicles.  And then she began rubbing around the base of my penis -- not my wang itself, but right around it.  She wasn't saying anything while she did any of that, but I started to get the idea that she knew what she was doing, and she wanted me to know that she knew what she was doing.  

I had ejaculated the day before, either on my own or with the help of another of my stripper girlfriends, I don't remember right now.  When that happens, I usually can't cum the next day because I am an old man.  And I certainly wasn't banking on "saving" my nut for ******a.  But when you get surprised by ecstasy offered by a beautiful woman whom you've wanted to be sexual with for decades, well, I had no choice but to respond to all this friction by getting hard, as erect as I've been in a long, long time.

******a got off of me and laid beside me.  I started moaning -- "oh ... oh!" like I was afraid of what was about to happen, even though I wanted it to happen for so, so long.  She went back to working my sack, and she said, "Oh, so smooth!" and that sounded like the kindest compliment I had ever heard.  Finally, the teasing was over and the jerking off began: ******a started wanking me, hard.  I was such putty in her hands and I asked her to jerk me off harder and faster, something I rarely ask a stripper to do, but I was in the thralls of her vicious hand lovin'.  Finally, I nutted, the sweet release that is the end point of my first time ever laying eyes on her at the club, all those years ago.  And yes, I moaned in ecstasy.

This was a surprise, so I asked ******a to open my closet door and give me my jerk-off towel.  She had to run to the bathroom to wipe up.  And when we both cleaned up, well, there was still time left in our session, so she went back to massaging me straight up.  It was weird, but it wasn't as if we didn't act like what happened didn't happen.  But we didn't really even talk about until she was leaving.  I thanked her for turning me out, and she said, "Yeah, I surprised myself!"  That's surprising to hear!  After the last time she made me nut -- a second time, the last time she's visited me at home -- I thanked her again, and she again said she surprised herself.  Wow ... she was just dropping by to give me a massage, but passion just took ahold of her and she had no choice but to give me an HJ?!  I'm so blessed!!!

I love ******a, and I hope our relationship is reaching a new level.  But my teenage dream of a stripper who's not supposed to do shit with me doing shit to me ... it's come true!

Weird.  Needed to talk to my folks about some bills, but Mother, who is really attentive in calling back, didn't.  I texted her Wednesday night, but it wasn't until the day yesterday/Thursday that she replied, and she said the bills, for which we usually talk about, she will handle.

Honestly, I have tried avoiding talking to them, only because I fear the date they come home.  Not ready for that.  Still, I need to be sure they're alright, and not being in contact with them for more than a day after I said I need to speak to them sets me a bit on edge.  The text is fine, but it's something to monitor.

The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey

#-1: United FC (Last Week: -3).  My God.  I don't think I've ever had a WMNSS where most of the teams had a .500 screening Week.  Here, four of the five do.  I wallow in a field of over-abundant mediocrity, so I don't know who to put first.  In fact, if I do this survey in the morning, I'll probably have a different order.

But for now, I'm giving it to the Loons.  My excuse: They're the only club that didn't lose this past Week.  Yeah, that's it.  Now, I was at Allianz Field Saturday night for their 3-all Draw vs. Orlando City, and that was weird shit.  The Lions got up 1-0 in the First Half, and knowing how mid they've been all Year, I started concentrating on my cellphone.  Then, in the Second Half, OCSC scored a second and then I really got into my phone.  Then, by God, MNUFC scored not once, not twice, but thrice in the span of four Minutes to take the lead, and I swear, I don't think I've seen a comeback like that from any Minnesota team, let alone United FC, in Decades.  But then in Second Half Stoppage Time, the Loons' leaky-as-shit Defense allowed the Match-tying Goal, and they give away two Points.

There was a home Game vs. Portland several seasons ago that is the closest to what happened here.  The Loons led 3-0, then allowed the Timbers to score four Goals, and then they tied it up led to steal a Point.  Here, their Tie puts them in ninth place and the last playoff spot in the West, glory be.  That doesn't mean they're a good team.  Not at all.

Saturday they travel to Portland.  Wednesday they host Dallas.  I don't know if I want to go that Match.  For one thing, the NFL season begins that evening.  Also, Jungle is playing at The Armory, and I really, really want to see them.  MNUFC, give me a reason to see you instead of football or Jungle.

#-2: Gopher volleyball (NEW SEASON!!).  They started off busy, tell you what.  I don't remember if they've ever played four Games in a Week.  But they did and they went, you guessed it, 2-2.  Three of their opponents were ranked and, unfortunately, they only won one of those, so when considering the quality of their foes, the volleyballers land in the middle of the survey.

The results are so mixed that I'm not prepared to slot them as a great team, a good one, or an underachieving one.  In the season-opening State Farm College Volleyball Showcase in Sioux Falls, S. D., they got swept by then-#12 Arizona St. on Friday, then swept then-#13 Creighton on Saturday.  (By the way, this tournament was weird.  There were five teams in it, and only five Matches were played.  Purdue appeared in the first Match on Friday and then was done.  The Bluejays, meanwhile, played thrice while Minnesota and the other three schools played twice.  Huh?)  In the Big Ten/SEC Challenge, being hosted in Madison, Wisc., they lost to 17th-ranked Florida in four Sets Tuesday, though they came back to defeat unranked Auburn in four last/Wednesday night.

They host The Diet Coke Classic, far from its flush days when there were three other clubs and they all played each other at the Sports Pavilion over three Days.  There are only two other colleges now.  Tomorrow/Friday night they host Miami; Sunday afternoon they host the exotic school St. Thomas.

#-3: Twins (Last Week: -4).  They finish 3-3 this Week, they're six Games below .500, and somehow it's not outlandish to say that they're still in the playoff hunt -- only 3 1/2 Games behind Cleveland for ALWC3!  But the Bullpen still can't be relied on, the Offense won't hit if Zebby Matthews isn't pitching (Matthews had a spectacular August), and we don't know when or even if Byron Buxton is going to be back in the Lineup.  The organization is relying on its youngsters now, but it still seems as if the organization is spinning its wheels.  What are supposed to feel about this club?

Last Week they hosted the White Sox and Detroit.  This Week they travel to the White Sox and Detroit.

#-4: Gopher soccer (Last Week: -2).  In their second and final marquee non-con Match, they bitterly lost 1-0 at then-#15 BYU last Thursday evening, 1-0, in the 78th Minute on an, ah!, Own Goal.  They came home to defeat St. Thomas at Robbie Stadium Sunday evening, 2-1, but damn, that stupid Loss to the Cougars is costly.

Their second of three straight Matches at home continues Sunday afternoon versus Colorado College.

#-5: Lynx (Last Week: -1).  The only squad not to go .500 this screening Week is the one you'd least expect -- the Lynx, the only glimmer of hope in these parts of bringing home a championship.  On Saturday they lost for the second straight Game, 89-81 in Atlanta.  Just before that they lost at home to Golden State, and I rationalized that by saying that Cheryl Reeve wanted to experiment with her lineup.  I don't know if that's the case this time around.  No, they may have just gotten beat.  And that is scary for the fanbase's belief that a title is in the bag.

Many people believe the Valkyries, who sit second in the standings behind Minnesota, are now the odds-on favorite.  That's because they have the #1 Defense in the WNBA, and have had the top spot pretty much all season.  The Lynx are fourth in Defensive Net Rating, and have slipped on D since the All-Star Break.  And hate to say it, but Napheesa Collier hasn't had the impact upon returning like I thought she would, or should.  And now she (along with three or four other Lynx players) are in Germany for the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup.  I don't know if I want Phee playing in a tournament, even for country.  Meanwhile, A'ja Wilson left Team USA, ostensibly to rest for the WNBA stretch run.  That's a smart idea; why isn't Collier doing that?  And that's not even thinking about what would the squad do if Collier got hurt bad.  Then what?

Bad vibes around this team.  All around.

Teeth Things

Yesterday/Tuesday I went to the Fair.  Great time to go, especially since 1) work so non-existent I left an hour early and 2) the forecasters says it is going to be as dry and cool as it will get the rest of the Fair.  (I thought about going today/Wednesday, but, even though the air temperature today/Wednesday will be a few degrees lower than yesterday/Tuesday, the dewpoint today/Wednesday is higher, so that will make it feel hotter today/Wednesday than yesterday/Tuesday.  And I enjoyed myself (more than five hours!!) to the point of exhaustion (that's why I am blog posting now) and getting a stomach ache eating all that I could.  Too bad I started yesterday/Tuesday biting my tongue so hard while eating oatmeal before work that I could feel it my entire time at the Fair.  Shit, man, I feel it now.  Sucks to bite your tongue.

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Just woke up.  Took my guard out.  It's been two days and already the pads that are supposed that keep my molars from touching and grinding each other are beat up and flattening.  But I also noticed that the right pad seems more worn out than the left.  That's not the case, not usually.  I use them to the point where I break through one of the pads; I replace it only when, like, almost half of the pad is torn through.  That's usually the left one, like I grind more on the left side of my mouth, for some reason.  But looking at the pads, it looks like I'm grinding more on the right.  Maybe something is changing?

Everybody needs to take care of themselves, and of course it would be far too easy for me to say they should tough it out.  Just remember that these assholes have a screw loose, and all they want is to dominate and humiliate and bully anyone they want to when they want to.  That is a large part of these culture wars we see.  And they're crazy because they're willing to play the long game even though everybody who lives in the real world don't think this is a game at all.  We just want to live, and yet we now have to live in fear because their personal information is being revealed by motherfuckers who want them to shut up.  And they do, and we do, and so they/we cede even more ground to these fascists.

It has to be stopped.  Utterly, and soon.