Addendum To: Addendum To: Planning World Cup Viewing Where

And now the un-synching on Telemundo is back.  The video is about a second behind the audio.  And it's not just during the Game; it's happening during the commercials, too.  Is Telemundo aware of this?

It's annoying to hear the thump of a player kicking the ball before you see that ball being kicked.  It's so annoying that, since I'm seeing this for a second broadcast, I have to believe this is something Telemundo cannot fix and therefore I have to hold this against the network.  And if watching Telemundo for World Cup Matches is no longer a priority for me, that creates the possibility that I could, or should, just listen to Games while going through my storage unit.  Another consideration that might alter what I do this week.

I Want To Know When I Need To Go Into Work, That's All

Now, I preface this by saying that I'm blog posting this due to unusual circumstances, namely that my co-worker is going to be out for a while because she is hurting in a big way, though I don't specifically know why or how.  One would think that would be an acceptable reason to see one's schedule change, even though that would mean a change in time you start your shift, like my job does.

But most of the time -- and again, I'm not blaming anyone, this rises only to the level of annoyance -- I don't know what I'm doing at work, and therefore I don't know what time I need to get in, sometimes until my last day of my workweek (usually Friday), and sometimes I don't know until I get in to start my workweek (usually Monday).  Beyond knowing what time I need to get in and thus knowing what time I need to set my alarm, I would want to know what I'm doing -- whether I'm doing data entry, I'm in The Third Department, or The Fourth -- before next week starts so I can get into the right frame of mind.  Each different position requires doing different things, obviously, and I want to know what I'm expected to do each day of the week before that week begins.  Again, I understand I might not know when I want to know.  Things come up, such as my co-worker being in traction for a while.  Also, my boss is real busy.

But when things change on me, I have to alter my plans.  Let me be selfish and rant here.  I was given my work schedule for this week on Friday.  There, I was supposed to come in to work early on Friday only.  And considering we have been asked to stay beyond our shift to key almost on a regular basis since, oh, the year started, my plan was to work a bit extra yesterday/Tuesday, go to the post office downtown, mail my taxes, then celebrate by going to a fancy restaurant downtown.

My co-worker being out injured switched around my entire week.  Now, my early day was, actually, yesterday/Tuesday.  And while I had to stay a bit after to get all the data entry done, I got done before the post offices (at least the ones here) closed at 5.  That meant I didn't have to pay for parking downtown to file my taxes at the downtown post office, which closes at 8.  Yeah, that could be seen as a good thing.  But I don't like it when my plans are changed for me, even if it means I could get home earlier than I thought and wouldn't have to pay for parking, which is a huge pet peeve of mine.  I spent a substantial portion of my workday wondering if I should just go to downtown anyway, even though I would be there way earlier than I thought.  Ultimately, though, the facts that I could mail my taxes before the conventional workday was over and could do it without paying for parking convinced me I should move this dinner at the fancy restaurant, which I was looking forward to, to another day.  (I also realized that the Twins were playing at Target Field last/Tuesday night.  I don't think they're getting any crowds, even though they're playing quite well right now, but I didn't want to risk any chance of losing my temper over traffic.)

However, having my evening freed up invited another opportunity I had to spend some mental bandwidth contemplating: Working out.  I haven't been to my gym in weeks, and after bellyaching over, well, my aching belly after eating so much while watching the WNBA Draft Monday night, this might be a sign that I could, and should, work out.  But I remembered I also had a plan of finishing off the two ginger beers that have been open for weeks in a dark 'n' stormy.  Not knowing what to do, I decided to go home after eating dinner at a mom-and-pop Mexican restaurant and try and sleep.  If I couldn't lose consciousness in half an hour, I'd get up and work out.  Instead, I woke up around 7:30.  I walked up and down the street for exercise instead.  And I drank my cocktail.

Still feel kind of bad I haven't gone to the community center.  But that's what happens when your work schedule changes on you.

Doesn't Take Much For My Fucking Mother To Push My Buttons

I needed to talk to her last/Monday night about bills that came in.  I thought everything was done.  But she called back.  First of all, she called back during the weather forecast I wanted to watch, so that perturbed me.  Second of all, she worried about some stupid detail that she told me to take care of, namely writing checks instead of going online and paying herself.  And finally, she insulted me by explaining something to me that I already know and was also not what I was talking about.  That is probably due to the language barrier, but also because this happens all the time, I naturally get defensive about her condescension.

And I was being a good boy food-wise up till then.  I didn't drink any coffee at work; instead, I had a hot cocoa (given to me by my former supervisor two or three years ago) in the morning and tea in the afternoon.  After shoveling the driveway, I went out to use a gift card at a really nice brewery for chicken wings and two 5-ounce glass of different beers (plus a half-filled 5-ounce glass for free ... er, double free!!)  I thought I controlled my eating yesterday/Monday.  And then My Fucking Mother talks down to me and I'm wolfing down Dot's BBQ pretzel sticks to fill the hole she punched into my gut, and I feel all fat again.  Goddamn her.

She wants me to write and send out the checks in the morning.  I'll do it later tonight instead.  Because she can fuck all the way off.

And Another Snow Day!!!

This is more than ridiculous; this is fucking absurd.  Either this is one fucking monstrous snowstorm or Southerners really don't know how to deal with snow and ice, because when I woke up and checked my texts, my boss said there wasn't a shipment again this morning.  Third day in a row.  We've never had two days of no work, let alone three.  So, another snow day!!!

Not to complain too much, but you really can't enjoy a surprise day off if you have to wake up assuming you don't have the day off.  Compounding that annoyance is that today, because I was scheduled to go in and cut packages open, I had to wake up early.  Then, once I saw that someone was going to go in to work and do everything for the rest of us, I tried to go back to sleep but couldn't.  (This despite having only, at most, 90 minutes of shuteye overnight.)

Unlike yesterday, today I had planned on going out: There's a volunteer event my financial planner is putting on very close to my house.  And since he's treating everyone to dinner afterward, hell yeah, I'm going.  And since I am taking the car out today, I might as well go to the Walker today and use that offer to see the museum for free after buying a ticket to the Arrows.  I had planned on going Saturday, but the chances are now very good that I will be working that day, so I switched plans and went just today.

You know, I know I'm not enjoying these surprise days off as much as I should because one day, this will all be over and we will have to go back to work.  Something good will be taken from me, and anticipating that will happen makes me very, very sad.  But that day wasn't today.  And, to be fair, I really thought that it would be yesterday and it wasn't.  So I'm riding on free money.

The one thing I'm lacking right now is sleep.  I have to end this blog post now in order to try and get a nap in before I go to this volunteer event.

Expenses Without Receipt

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

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

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

Good through December 14.

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

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

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

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

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

Why Doesn't My Sister Just Fuckin' Have My Car, Huh?!

So my sister has been using my car.  It's small and short and thus manageable, unlike the unwieldy and old minivan my parents use.  That van is a warhorse, but it's hard to account for the size, and when I pull out of parking spaces, I'm always fearful that I'll hit something because it's so big.

Well, my sis has been using my car a lot, leaving me to use the minivan, mainly to go to and from work.  She now uses my car to ferry Mother around for physical therapy.  But before she has been using it for frivolous things, like seeing childhood friends and going shopping.  And it looks as though she is getting a little bolder when it comes to requesting it.  Last week she needed it Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, and I figured on Wednesday night that if she needed to use the car to take Mother to PT on Friday, I might as well use the minivan on Thursday as well as Friday.  I transfer the stuff I think I need to take to work with me -- sunglasses, sunvisors, maybe the tire pressure gauge -- into the minivan.  It doesn't make sense to me to use my car for just one day because I would have to shlep all that from the minivan back into my car, and then do the reverse so my sister and Mother could use it on Friday.

It's gotten more ridiculous this week.  Mother has physical therapy Tuesday and Thursday.  Sister said on Saturday that she wanted to use my car on Friday to see my brother and niece.  Finally, last/Sunday night she told me that her friend wants to see her for dinner, an early dinner, on Wednesday.  Well, shit.  If I need to take the minivan from Tuesday to Friday, I might as well fucking take the minivan today/Monday too, right?  So, for this week, it feels as if I own the minivan and my sister owns what used to be my car.  I should probably transfer the title to her since she's using it so goddamn much.

Fuckin' Christ, I think I transferred all my stuff from the van into the car, too.  I'll have to wake up early to dump all that shit back into the van.  Fuck me.  Oh yeah: I am annoyed, and my sister knows it, and she likes that I'm annoyed.  Pffft.

My Fucking Father Is Really, Really Pissing Me Off Right Now

It might be because I am gone for dinner so many nights lately and I have told my parents that the reason is I'm going out with friends, but My Fucking Father is back to telling me what to do.  He has frequently told me, once I get home, to take a shower and go to sleep.  He has gone out of his fucking way to do that.  And now he has gotten back to telling me whenever he can that I should clean my room.

Those repeated annoyances trigger me, no doubt.  But I have also seen another instance of, I guess, his OCD that I take as a sign of his wish to control me.  Every time I have come home, from work or an afternoon out, I see that he has straightened out the bath towel.  I never do, and yet it is always straight.  He's done this more or less since they came home, but I have not seen him be this militant about straightening the towel until now.

I really don't know what's fucking gotten into him.  But this motherfucker can get under my skin like nobody's business, and he knows it.  Hey, it's easy to do because he's My Fucking Father.  So, to fight back, I just ... won't do anything.  Hey, he wouldn't be repeating himself telling me to do things if he isn't triggered, either.  So let's trigger each other, OK?

Goddamn, when is he fucking leaving?

Some Things Shouldn't Be Done On A Phone

I have trouble -- maybe not old man trouble, but Gen X trouble -- typing on a phone.  It's the second most-frequent thing you do on a cell (behind scrolling I reckon), but I am permanently fixing my errors because my fingers are too fat for the small keys, and autocorrect somehow takes those errors and thinks, "Hmmm, based on what you typed, when you say 'got a good time' you mean 'I love MAGAts'" or some shit.

What I am worried about is doing more and more important things on a phone.  I am not comfortable, for example, having anything to do with any bank accounts I have on my cellphone.  I have gotten over loading my credit card information onto it, but having my money that accessible is a bridge too far for me.  I could easily lose my phone, or I could easily have it hacked and emptied of all my money.  Why would anyone pay like that?  Sorry, that's just me.

The annoyance of typing on a small device has been married with my fear of losing my personal information now that I have to onboard myself to a human resources company through my phone.  I need to do that in order to work Saturday, but I was completely caught off-guard that I need to do this, and it looks as though I can only do this through my cell.  I have had to put in my name and address a few times, and now I have to upload a voided check and an image of my passport.  Really?  Through my cellphone?  That doesn't seem to be a smart thing to do, and I have to do all this important stuff while not making a keying error.

Worst of all, I somehow have a deadline.  I need to do all of this today.  And check this out: I have a Zoom meeting I need to "attend" before I can get this all done so I can work.  A Zoom to do HR stuff?  Let me guess -- it'll be some AI bot I have to talk to, right?

God, technology is going to lead humanity to ruin.

HOAs Suck

I should ruminate on this more, but I have to go.

Mother needed my help with some homeowners' association stuff.  In particular, she needed to register for an account online for one of my parents' properties.  This property, however, they have owned for a long time, and I know that there was a different HOA, or at least a different website, to which they registered an account online.  This may not have been the first time for this property, either.  Plus, I know that other properties they own have gone through management changes whereby, suddenly, a brand-new company announces they are the new HOA/manager.

This is, frankly, ridiculous.  There is no reason to continue to change websites or management companies or HOAs for the same property.  I don't know what it is, but it absolutely screams scam.  And unfortunately, they have dozens they have to deal with.  It is beyond annoying.

Left Elbow Hurts

Just want to note that my left elbow hurts.  Not a lot, but it's noticeable, and it hasn't gone away.  It hurts especially when I try to straighten my arm.  I think it started ... oh, crap, maybe a month ago.  I think it started when I slept on it really hard.  Well, I guess, I don't know.

Like with many annoying ailments, I just didn't really think of trying to fix it.  I notice it, but I have to get on with my day, so I take note of it and then hope it goes away.  This isn't going away.  I don't know how to get rid of it, and I want to get rid of it, but it ain't going away, and that's starting to freak me out.

Thanks For The Help, But ...

I was stuck in The Third Department since Wednesday.  But a funny thing happened Thursday and Friday: My co-worker, who was in The Fourth Department, asked if she could help.  I gladly took her up on her offer.  And she did very well, and I thanked her for helping me, because I am glad she took some of my work, and therefore I am genuinely thankful.

But her asking if I need help is is a bad thing.  Now, the reason it's a bad thing is not about alleviating the stress of my workload, even though it definitely did.  No, the reason this is a bad thing is because this makes me look bad.  We both take turns being the only person working The Fourth Department.  So, then, how is it that I routinely slog through getting the work done while she appears to have gone through it so fast that she is doing some of my work?  Is she cutting corners?  Is she not communicating with clients, or not documenting the correspondence with them?  (E-mails, I have learned, is time-consuming to make and to send.)

Or, is she able to get through the work fast and, more important, I get through the work slow?  Don't tell her, but I am secretly jealous, possibly to the point of annoyance, that it looks as though she is able to easily do the job while I struggle.  Now, I want to do the work the way I do it, and I will not change unless ordered to (and even then I may not).  But doing things my way illustrates a difference in approach to working The Fourth Department that is clearly laid out when it comes to our timesheets, specifically when each of us leave for the day.  I have put in ten hours per day in The Fourth Department with some regularity.  Not only has my co-worker not done so regularly, she may be getting out at eight hours, which I find fucking impossible to do.  And I know my boss has noticed that difference between the two of us.

So if she continues to ask, from her place in The Fourth Department, if I need help in The Third Department, that will remind me how quickly she gets done compared to me.  I can't help but think that, and it's a thought I would rather not have, especially when in the middle of doing the work that evidently takes me hours to do when she can do it in, like, seconds.  I wonder if I will pay for this contrast with my job.

Won't Miss/Will Miss/Both

Things I won't miss about my parents:

• Having them tool around the house when I want to tool around the house, usually naked;
• Being asked by them for things, in particular the way Mother asks for me: "Nee hauw, nee hauw!" (that stands for "needs help," if you couldn't decipher that);
• Being force-fed so much food that I have ballooned in weight (even though I probably will balloon in weight if I find food for myself; this is more a complaint that I don't want food forced in me)
• Being force-fed that I have never tried, or even am able to describe;
• The questions about where I'm going, why are you doing this or that, etc.;
• Mother criticizing me -- I haven't really understood how much that has affected my life;

Things I will miss about my parents:

• If something in the house breaks, Father usually can fix it;
• I'll have to do all the chores around the house;
• I now have to worry about the house -- it'll be empty now for a part of the day;
• I now have to worry about my parents' real estate ventures;
• I have to open up all the mail and, if necessary, act on them;
• I need to look at my parents' e-mail in case there's something they will miss now that they're globetrotting again;
• How it'll get too quiet around the house;
• I'll be scared if they get hurt while they're travelling;

Another thing I won't and will miss about my parents that I have to worry about as soon as they leave:

• All the food that they have left me.  I need to quickly triage the foods I need to eat immediately and what can wait.  It looks as though I have to worry about the bananas and the lettuce first, followed by the leftover rice and the egg.  But it'll take weeks to get through everything they have left for me in the fridge that is in danger of spoiling.  And that's not even taking into account all the stuff in the freezer.  Hey, I love them, and I appreciate them leaving all this food for me.  It'll save me money, no doubt.  But I will be spending money today/Monday and tomorrow/Tuesday because the former is Cinco de Mayo and the latter is Game 1 of the Timberwolves in The Western Conference Semifinals vs. The Bastard Philadelphia Warriors.  A-wooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Price(s) Of Going To A Concert

As I may have mentioned earlier or in the past on WAF, I have wanted to see Helmet for some time.  I am familiar with only one song, but it's the song -- "Unsung," featuring the most kick-ass long outro this side of "Layla."  It probably is one of my 15-most favorite songs of all-time, and it could be top ten.

And because of that, and despite me not really being a Helmet fan just because I know the one song everybody else does, I decided to pay money to go to a concert to see the band just for that song.  It may not be efficient, but if I love the song enough, I have decided it's worth spending the money to buy an overpriced beer, stand behind people blocking the view of the stage, and wading through song after unknown song just to hear the one that you've been rocking out to since your twenties.  I didn't buy a ticket to the Dakota when Cowboy Junkies were in town.  "Sweet Jane" may be, IMHO, The Second-Best Cover Of All-Time, but the ticket was just too expensive when I might know only one other song that I have heard of from them.

But Helmet?  The ticket price was more manageable -- at least I thought.  I was going to go, but I really did not want to pay full-price for it.  So, once I remembered that the Helmet concert was last/Monday night at the Varsity -- I've been busy with work -- I waited and checked (when I could, or when I remembered) on scalper sites SeatGeek and Stubhub.  For some reason Stubhub was more expensive than face value and some tickets on SeatGeek were below.  But I also checked the firsthand website selling tickets to the concert and there were still tickets available.  I figured that so long as it's not sold out, people selling secondhand have to offer them for cheaper than full price, and that is where I really want to strike.

I was going to set a drop-dead date for Sunday.  If I didn't find a below-face ticket by then, I will just go to the firsthand website and buy there.  But then I got busy thinking about packing up the house for when my parents come home.  I decided that if I was going to spend any money on Sunday, it would be cash only.  So when decided that Sunday was a no-credit card day, I totally forgot about Helmet.  And so by the time I paid for Chipotle that afternoon and a carrot cake and tea at Caffetto that night, I had committed myself to only purchasing through paper currency, and that meant not using my credit card to buy a ticket to the show online once I remembered the concert.

But, dammit, I couldn't help myself.  If I waited until the next day, one where I would permit myself to go back to using credit cards, the place might be sold out.  So just before I went to bed, I checked Ticketmaster to see if the price of the ticket I saw when I was checking the same site a few hours before at Caffetto.  But the damn page just stalled out, and it gave me an error code.  Oh, shit.  Did they just sell out the show?  Or are they pulling all unsold tickets?

Well, as peeved as I was at myself with hesitating and losing, I decided then that if the ticket was above the price I last saw it as, which was a bit more than $41, I will skip seeing the band.  I tried again the next morning.  This time there were tickets available, but it was for $48.  And I saw the phrase "Day of Show" -- ohhhhhhhhhhhhh, so that's (probably) why I got that error code when I checked for tickets overnight.  They just needed to adjust its price higher.

And yet that made me dig my heels in more over not paying more for a ticket than I saw it as.  Never mind that I kind of screwed up.  Maybe people were still selling tickets they can't use.  So I waited through yesterday/Monday at work ... well, it was easy to wait because I got so wrapped up in all the crap that came at me at work that I totally forgot.  And when I got home, determined I was going to go to the concert, I was equally determined to eat Jimmy John's first.  So I got Jimmy John's, went home, ate, relieved myself, then got back in the car ... all the while forgetting to check SeatGeek or Stubhub.

I remembered I hadn't done so while I was driving.  Shit.  I had to go to a gas station and park while I got out my phone and looked at the scalper sites.  I saw one on SeatGeek going for $21.  Ah, so thinking there would be a dirt cheap last-minute ticket from someone whose friend cancelled did work after all!  And I tried to buy it, but as I progressed through the pages, I kept getting an error message, so when I went back, the ticket was gone.  Goddammit.  I might have had time to buy the ticket if I looked through SeatGeek while eating my sandwich, but I didn't, fuck me.

But I was still on the road, and I wanted to end a bad day at work with Helmet, dammit.  My only thought, then, was to go there and see if there were tickets still available.  Thank goodness the Varsity is not one of those places that has a fake box office, where the person behind the window tells you go to the app instead (that was the case, or at least I think, at the soccer park for St. Louis City).  Indeed, Helmet tickets were available -- and for $37.50.  That $48 I saw that morning included a convenience fee of $13.  So, all in all, buying the ticket the old-fashioned way was cheaper than buying online, at least in this case.  And I still remember the hell of not getting that Frozen Four ticket last year, so maybe I wouldn't've gotten that $21 ticket after all.

And you know what?  I liked the Helmet concert, even the other songs I've never heard.

Have I ever posted a video of "Unsung?"  Well, even if I have, here it is, the second version of the video with the remastered, "known" version of the song remastered once they signed a major-label deal:

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.

Couldn't Hide My Annoyance

So whenever I buy coffee or a mocha before coming to work, I transfer the cup into my mug so it keeps hot.  I do this in the break room, obviously, so I can get a stirrer and to make sure I pour it into the mug over a sink in case I spill.

The break room, however, has only one sink.  I guess it doesn't need two, but when it gets crowded, and it oftentimes does at work because some departments get scheduled breaks, it would make sense.  But it would make sense for me in this different case because, the other day, as I was about to do this pour, this guy from the lab comes up and starts to wash his hands.  He has done this before, and that is what annoyed me on this day.  Since it would be weird to remain right next to him, I scooted a couple feet away.  

Because I didn't want him to splash water or soap onto or into my cup or mug (usually there is still coffee left in the to-go cup, so I drink what's left in that, pour out a little more from my mug back into the to-go cup, drink all of that, then drink from my mug -- it's my thing), I grabbed both (or maybe one of the two, I don't remember that distinctly) when I scooted over.  And then, well, I just looked at him.  I looked at him while he thoroughly washed his hands, then grabbed a couple sheets of towels to dry them, then he started to walk away from the sink as he was drying his hands.  And that's when I swooped in to do my thing.  So, I think he got the impression that I was impatient and annoyed with him and that I would have rather him not be there.

And you know what?  That's totally true.  He ruined my routine.  All I wanted to do was pour my coffee/mocha and he interrupted that, and it wasn't the first time.  My problem was that I didn't hide it or give off the idea that what he did was not a big deal.  But by staring at him and waiting, I was totally saying, "Are you done yet?"  I didn't sigh heavily, but I might as well have.

So I'm afraid this incident is going to come back on me.  What happens if he does this again?  What happens if we cross paths in the lab?  Will he throw soapy water into my drink when I'm not looking?  Will he tip it over?  I'm not saying it will happen ... but there's a non-zero chance.  Just sayin'.

Helping Mother Over The Phone ... Yeah, Kind Of A Time Suck

One of the things that, well, annoy me about my parents leaving for Las Vegas is that, if Mother wants something from me, it sometimes takes a lot of time.  The last two times I spoke to her, Tuesday and just now, I spent many, many minutes trying to help her -- and I just realized it's basically about the same issue.

On Tuesday she needed me to go through her records to look for a company associated with her real estate holdings.  I couldn't find what she was looking for.  We even Facetimed so she can direct me to where in her office she thought this information was, to no avail.  I think that was 45 minutes.  I was trying to watch the finals of the NBA Cup.  I think she called at the start of the Second Half; by the time I was done with the call, the Game was over.

Apparently, however, Mother found the info she was looking for.  Unfortunately, she had an issue talking to this company, who sent her e-mails she didn't understand.  So her English-speaking son had to boot up his computer to check out these e-mails and see what he can do to (and I think this is the problem) correct mailing information.  But I couldn't; anyone who could help doesn't seem to be there on the weekend, and even worse, next week is Christmas Week.  There might not be a chance this issue will get fixed until after the New Year.

Meanwhile, that call took about 15, 20 minutes.  Felt longer than that, and with my chores of, um, shopping at Target and at Total Wine, I feel wiped out.  I want to have fun tonight; I plan on going to a stripper party, then shopping at the Megamall and probably eating at Hooters.  But because of this call -- and don't get me wrong, both calls were important, even though they were also both futile -- I think I need to take a nap first.  Hopefully I will still have time, if I do conk off.

Damn Plants Are Multiplying

Oh -- beyond the smelly, blooming one, my conniving Father bought several more plants for me to water just days before he left for Vegas, the bastard.  I want to say last year there were only nine for me to worry about.  Now, there are 16.  The fuck?  And to purchase them before he left ... I don't think he was trying to fuck with me, but I don't think he cared about the extra annoyance he threw on my lap.

And the thing is is that I feel as though I am still over-watering the plants, including the new ones!  My Father told me, once again, that the equivalent of a full pot of water is needed to water everything everyday.  I still don't believe that, but yesterday/Wednesday morning I did it, and ... well, I didn't want to oversaturate the poor plants, but once I went over each plant twice, I still had water left over.  So, after about half an hour or so, I thought, what the hell, and I used the rest of the water.  That still seems like a lot, and he wants me to give that much water to all the plants, old and new, every day??

Plants Stink

So I got home last night from the Timberwolves Loss -- T-Wolves suck right now, BTW -- and immediately the stench from Father's blooming plant or plants hit me.  It started the previous day, but it came out in full force when I got inside the house.  Whoa!  It was so pungent I started coughing.  I had to retreat into my room, which is as far away from the plants as you can get.  But if I ever had to step out onto the hallway -- and I had to several times because I suddenly got cottonmouth and was drinking everything in the kitchen that a human could -- dang, I could smell it.

Father is proud of his plants.  And this plant that blooms, uh, maybe once a year or less is a sign of its health.  Glad to see that vacation I took to Hawai'i for two weeks two years ago didn't kill it.  But ... golly, it smells.  I think it subsides after a week.  It'll be fantastic for Father to smell as he leaves for Las Vegas, but hopefully, that stink will die down shortly after I have the house all to myself.

Goodbye, Twitter/X, Hello, Bluesky

The election shouldn't have prompted me to do it, but I'm far from the only one.  I had heard good things about it from time to time in the months leading up to last Tuesday, but I didn't really consider jumping from the dominant social media platform to one of these upstarts.  For one, I got what I needed from Twitter/X: Engagement, smart people promoting their smart things, and jokes and dunks on stupid people.

But I knew that I was liking and reposting under a company owned by Elon Musk, a guy I once thought was cool but had turned into a thoughtless, id-driven man-child who only talked shit about the concept of "free speech."  I didn't see all the hateful comments others saw, but I kept many of my settings private and largely stayed in my own lane.  Still, yes, Election Day was the final straw.  I also knew in the back of my mind that he was using his highly-leveraged platform to, uh, platform, racists and vile Republicans in order to tip the balance of races on Election Day in Republicans' favor, and goddammit, it worked.  It took this to fully realize I am monetizing myself for that asshole, and that was enough.

I need to be honest, though: Since devoting my attention over to Bluesky, the thing I miss the least was all those fucking ads.  And it's always the same one: That game where you shoot at something with a flashing number on it, and that number keeps going down.  Meanwhile, there are hordes of people coming at little old you, and the demonstration shows the object of the game is to ... well, survive, I guess?  Anyway, that was, like, every third tweet I saw, and even though I click on "Not interested in this ad," nowadays I still see that ad.  (By the way, I believe it's the same company that came out with a different type of game promoted on X/Twitter that I actually signed up for.  The gameplay was nothing, and I repeat, nothing like the promoted ad on X/Twitter.  I am so goddamn pissed that I gave these bait-and-switchers my personal information for a shitty lie.)  No doubt that that cesspool was where the racists and sexists lived because Musk invited them back.  But, I was most annoyed by the ads ...

... of which there are none on Bluesky.  I remember having that platform recommended on a local news website by a commenter.  Last Wednesday or Thursday, seeing how I was engaging for Musk, I decided to look around and, after looking around real quick, I signed up.  It is growing at breakneck speed.  So far, many people poking around Bluesky liken it to the younger, more innocent days of Twitter, where there were no ads to avoid, and no Republicans there to try to get you going.  Since it still is in an embryonic state (even though it's been around for several years now), people are trying to instill a "culture" there that's directly the opposite of the one in the old place, one that demands inclusion and thoughtfulness, and one where Republican trolls are easily and routinely blocked.

I like it so far, mainly because it looks a lot like Twitter/X, just without the baggage.  The easy block features sets up situations where posters congregate in their own bubbles, but quite frankly, the "public square" aspect of X/Twitter has just turned into firehoses of disinformation from people whose handles end in a string of ten digits, so I don't really care if I'm in an echo chamber.  It's good for my mental health.  But at some point there will be a controversial topic I am fascinated with, and I will wonder how ... uh, tolerant the place will be if I sincerely ask something I don't know, or state a minority opinion.  I don't mind debate on social media.  I just want that debate to happen in good faith, and I know that's no longer happening in Arkham Asylum over there.  That's why I am severely limiting my eyeball viewing on Twitter.  I won't shut down my account(s) because I think I would give my paper trail to Musk, so I will just lurk and not repost or publish anything original over there anymore.

So far, the vibes are good at Bluesky.  There's a mixture of relief over escaping a hellsite that just realized its worst fears and basest instincts combined with a happiness that there seems to be a community of millions that look forward to something new, happier, and free from pain.  I think all correct-minded Americans need that right now.  Of course, maybe Bluesky isn't meant to last.  After all, I think it's owned by a tech bro -- just like Twitter was before that dude sold out to Elon Musk.