Thoughts On Election Day, Part 4 (And Final)

I have taken so long doling out my thoughts that, especially with the fucking coup attempt on Wednesday, they're not just old, they're irrelevant.  But I'll press on with some clean-up on my mental notes.

I'm saddened about what happened state-wide.  DFLers kept the House but, tried as they might, too many stupid outstaters kept the Senate in Republican hands.  This was very important this time around because it's a year ending in -0, and thus there is the Census and its resultant redistricting that has to be done.  If the DFL had control of both houses of the state legislature, they had the power to gerrymander the shit out of the state to ensure control of state government and the state delegation to Washington, D. C.  Republicans are bloodthirsty, and we'd be foolish to think they wouldn't gerrymander if they had all the levers of government.  But what we now have is gridlock, so the same bullshit that has, and hasn't, happened the past two-to-four years will continue, sadly.

Not saying that people of color made the presidential election closer than it should have been and helped Republicans win down-ballot.  But Biden's support came from ... suburbs, which are rapidly getting more diverse but is still overwhelmingly White.  Is it fair to say that White people, at least educated ones, gave the presidency to Biden?  (That being said, Black people overwhelmingly voted for Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff in the Georgia Senate runoffs, and thus gave the Senate to Democrats.)

So the correct people have control of the executive and legislative branches of federal government.  Phew.  Still, Democrats underperformed (save for Biden and the two Georgia Senate seats) compared to what the polls say.  I think this proves that a lot of Republican voters are no longer telling pollsters they're voting Republican.  I feel certain that Republicans now consider pollsters to be part of The Media, and are acting conspiratorially because of it.  But I also reconcile this supposed dissonance by saying that most Americans are A-OK with undocumented kids in cages, defiling the environment, rolling back rights for women and the LGBTQ community, and giving our hard-earned money to the ultra-rich.  They just got tired of an uncouth asshole as President.  That's all.

There are still enemies of America in America.

Expenses Without Receipts

OK, jumping on this a bit sooner, as I should.

Starting from Friday, January 8:

• Didn't spend anything on the 8th, but on Thursday the 7th, I went over to ******a's for a massage I arranged on the fly because I got cut from work early.  I got cut from work early the day before and texted her to get a massage that afternoon, but she only got back to me on that text the day next day, just as ... you know, I want to blog post about this.  I'll just say that because ******a asked me to help her set up some new e-mail accounts, she slashed this session half-off, so: $40.
• And then on Wednesday the 6th, with the afternoon in front of me, and with ******a not quickly responding to my texts, I went to Glam Doll.  The past couple times they were sold out and closed, but on this afternoon they were open.  And, according to the guy I've seen there for a long time, business was not good.  In fact, he said that, even though he had about a half-hour left, he was going to close after I left.  And then he offered to just give me the donut I wanted.  I then felt generous and doubled my usual tip.  And then I thought, and then I looked at the description card to see how much the donut cost ... and it cost the same amount as the tip I gave.  I mean, I shouldn't bitch about this too much, but if someone is going to give me free food, shouldn't I keep some of the money that essentially was handed back to me?  Oh, I threw in: $2.
• OK, back to New Year's Eve, where I spent my afternoon (had the day off) at Southdale.  I went there Christmas Eve, as I usually do, and saw that the H&M store there was going to close in mid-January.  I remember going to Southdale some time ago and just happening to come upon this H&M on its grand opening, which was not too long ago.  It's sad that even a large store has to shut its doors after only a few years.  I felt obligated to buy something then to celebrate the occasion, and even though I couldn't find anything to buy on Christmas Eve, I made a point to drive all the way down there, through roads that still were pretty icy from the rain that froze on contact and the snow, again to at least find something to buy.  (I bought khakis.  Fitting rooms are closed because of the pandemic, so I hope it fits me.)  And then I decided to go to this restaurant I've seen and never eaten from: Deleo Bros. pizza.  Charged a pizza slice (mmmm ... haven't had pizza in a long time) but gave a tip in cash: $1.
• To Tuesday, December 29 ... oh yeah, this is the week where I worked Sunday to Wednesday, and from Monday to Wednesday I was working second shift.  So I got up around 9, then went to get my shoes shined at Lisa's.  Immediately after I saw my left shoe frost up.  I should go into details in a future blog post, so I'll just say that I paid Lisa, with tip: $15.
• I then went to get my hair cut.  I thought I last got it cut earlier in December; didn't seem too long ago.  But my hair was getting long, annoyingly so, and so I decided I was going to brave close contact with someone and get it chopped off.  Charged the cut, but because the woman cutting my hair was so nice and engaging I gave her a tip of: $5.
• Then went to get COVID-19 tested in Brooklyn Park.  The spitting kind, which I thought was hard the first time I did it, but ... you know, have I talked about this?  I don't think so, so maybe this would be another good blog post in the future!  Anyway, I got done, went back into my car, then went to Subway to buy a sub and Coke, both of which I would consume at work the next day.  It was cold enough whereby I left my sub in my car overnight.  Yeah, temperatures were below freezing, but it still was edible!  Charged the two items, but threw in a tip of: $2.

ETA at 12:49 a.m. on January 10 that I am good through January 8.

The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey

Reminder that this is the first WMNSS of 2021, and for variety's sake, the survey for this Year will be published the Day of the Week January 8 falls on -- therefore, Fridays.  And to make sure we pick up all the Days left over from 2020, this survey covers Games from December 30 to January 7:

#-1: Gopher men's hockey (Re-Entry!).  Gosh, I'm really, really excited for this team (knock on wood).  The balance of the season was released before the New Year, and the first series (another one being played on unconventional Days, this one being Sunday-Monday) was a home one vs. Arizona St., who, for this season (at least -- hint, hint) are playing other Big Ten teams.  And they get out of that series still undefeated, still the #1 ranked team in the land after sweeping the Sun Devils by scores of 4-1 and 6-4.  I only bust these young men down to -1 because their streak of starting the season not even trailing in a Game was broken just short of 485 Minutes; Arizona St.'s Matthew Kopperud opened Sunday's contest with a score on the Power Play at 4:53 of the First Period.  No worries -- the U. scored thrice in the Second in a span of five Minutes to put that away.  Minnesota actually squandered a 2-0 lead in Monday's tilt by allowing three Sun Devil tallies in the Second Period (the Gophers have now trailed a total of about 19 1/2 Minutes this season), but Sampo Ranta (named B1G Second Star Of The Week) scored 1:31 after Johnny Walker's (what a name) go-ahead Goal, and they kept that lead the rest of the way.

What augurs even better for this club?  Minnesota played this series without three of their Defensemen.  Jackson LaCombe, Ryan Johnson and Brock Faber were playing for Team USA in the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship.  The Americans came home victorious, upsetting Canada 2-0 in Tuesday's Gold Medal Game -- which was played, by the way, in Edmonton.  As the series with the Sun Devils shows, the Golden Gophers' Offense is flying, and there hasn't been defensive deficiencies that Bob Motzko has had to worry about.  And now he'll get three D-men back for the second half of the Year.  Things are going really, really good for these guys ... but they go to Wisconsin for a pair this weekend.

#-2: Gopher women's hockey (Re-Entry!).  My goodness, this club has been through the ringer to the start the New Year.  It was announced before the end of the old Year that the Gophers' first series in 2021 was to be versus Minnesota-Duluth on Monday and Tuesday at Ridder Arena.  Then, on New Year's Eve, it was announced that that series was postponed because the Bulldogs had too many players out, presumably due to COVID-19.  The next series is still on track, namely a home-and-home with St. Cloud St. Saturday and Sunday.  But with all this new free time I guess the U. thought, what the hell, why not play a third Game with the Huskies?  And so the two schools made it a three-Game series, tacking on an additional contest for yesterday/Thursday afternoon at Ridder -- which the Gophers came back to win, 2-1.

The women's hockey team's record may not be as sterling as the men's, but the players are 6-1, the only loss being a 2-1 decision at home to Ohio St. all the way back on Nov. 22, and they're ranked second in the nation behind Wisconsin.  Can they keep going, especially since their trip Sunday to St. Cloud begins a five-Game road trip?

#-3: Gopher women's basketball (Last Week: -1).  Overall the direction of this program remains very troubling.  But at least this team won a conference Game.  Sunday afternoon they doubled up Wisconsin (in Madison no less) 22-11 in the First Quarter, but eventually the Badgers forced this Game into Overtime, where the Gophs scored the first seven Points of OT on their way to winning, 88-83.  The scored 18 Points total in the extra frame, tying the program's record for most in Overtime.

And then they went to Iowa Wednesday and got clocked, 92-79.  The Hawkeyes have a player named Caitlin Clark who's really good.  She dropped 37 on the Goofs.

The squad hosts Penn St. Sunday afternoon.

#-4: Gopher men's basketball (Last Week: Positive Numbers).  I'm only putting the Gopher men's b-ball team underneath the Gopher women's b-ball team because the women went 1-1 for the week and the men went 1-2.  It ain't all that bad, however.  A bad 12-Point loss at Wisconsin and a really bad 25-Point loss in Michigan (Minnesota was down by six to start the Second Half) sandwich a 77-60 rout of Ohio St. at home.  So through six conference Games the U. has won three of them, all of them at home, and lost three of them, all of them on the road.  Yeah, even in pandemic times where there are no fans, a team (at least this team) plays better at home than on the road.  That's OK, especially when you're playing in inarguably the best conference in top-flight college basketball.  And besides, they're in the middle of a gauntlet after which I thought they would be on a seven-Game losing streak.  And according to Joey Brackets, the wins the squad has accumulated in league play has bumped it up to a five-seed.  No time to panic.

A revenge Game at Iowa is on tap Sunday afternoon.

#-5: Timberwolves (Last Week: 0).  A moribund shitshow.  Again.  An 0-4 screening (home to Washington [which didn't have Russell Westbrook but won their first Game of the Year going away], and Denver, then at Denver and Portland) Week extends their losing streak to six.  Karl-Anthony Towns has been injured all this time.  They still can't defend worth shit.  Ricky Rubio is lost on both ends of the court and has been relegated to the second team.  The Power Forward position is a massive liability.  And the Owner wants to sell the squad, but the only people who want to buy the Timberwolves want to move the Timberwolves.  Oh God.

At least they have a four-Game homestand coming up.  And it begins the first of the new wrinkle this season: Back-to-back Games against the same team in the same arena.  They host the Spurs this weekend, then Memphis Wednesday (and Friday).

#-Infinity: Vikings (Last Week: -2).  I really, really thought they were going to lose their season finale in Detroit.  They had no reason to win it.  And it was a shootout.  But thanks to an apparent god-awful Roughing The Passer call on the Lions, the Vikes won their season finale, 37-35, to finish the season 7-9, third in the NFC North and with the 14th pick in the NFL Draft in the spring.

I am somewhat shocked that there is no talk that Mike Zimmer is going to be fired.  Zygi Wilf has had three previous Head Coaches, and all three were fired a Year after they reached the playoffs, just like Zim has.  But apparently the pandemic plus all the injuries convinced Wilf to give Zimmer another season ... even though I think, and he should, have a short leash.  If they get off to a slow start. ...

Heads are still rolling, however.  Special Teams Coordinator Marwan Maalouf's contract expired and Zim, in no uncertain terms, said he will not be brought back.  There was one Game where, after a bad result from a Punt or a Kickoff, you could see Zimmer absolutely scream at Maalouf.  That's when everybody knew Maalouf might as well pack his bags.  Another departure, at least in the making, is that of Offensive Coordinator Gary Kubiak, who apparently is contemplating retirement.  Most correct-minded fans realize that the Offense was not the problem this Year.  But due to his health, I guess, Kubiak is probably leaving -- maybe to be replaced by his son, Clint.

The Vikes are in the cruz of a few bad intersections right now.  They could still use improvement on the Offensive Line, they're still young in the Secondary, they have no pass rush (although Danielle Hunter and Michael Pierce could help with that), and on top of all that, they're capped to the max.  There are many holes to fill and yet not a whole lot of money with which to fill them.  People are gone, left and right -- Anthony Harris, Kyle Rudolph, Riley Reiff, to name a few.  And yet there are enough pieces there (Dalvin Cook, Adam Thielen, Justin Jefferson, Eric Kendricks) that you don't want to just blow it all up.  With the help of a third-place schedule, the Vikings are going to have to find a way to spackle the weaknesses shut and be a playoff team (and not just a playoff-caliber team) in 2021.

Republican Terrorists Invading The U. S. Capitol ...

... yeah, it pisses me off.  Understatement of the year, of course.

I heard while listening to Thom Hartmann that these white supremacists stormed the Capitol.  But I didn't know till later that these juvenile gorillas took to breaking windows, climbing the walls of Congress, stealing shit and basically turning the entire place into fucking Animal House.  What kind of a goddamn animal just decides to do this?  Well, Donald Trump cultists.

And while this is not totally germane to the big picture, which is that the current occupier and thief of the presidency directed his minions to riot and stage a coup, there is one aspect to this that is, I hope, undeniable.  Sure, I make this conclusion based on one photo and a video snippet I saw on Twitter, and one officer admitted they were completely overrun, and the only person who got shot was a seditionist who clearly had it coming.  There also needs to be an investigation into how Capitol Police got overwhelmed so quickly.  However, there is a preponderance of evidence that not only did forces sworn to protect legislators not only did not beat back these white Republican terrorists, some of them in fact invited them in.  And yet, if this were a Black Lives Matter protest, there would be police in riot gear, and the tear gas, rubber bullets and batons would be fucking out in force as they outnumber peaceful protestors by at least a ten-to-one ratio.  These motherfuckers had guns (and, my God, zip ties) and were willing to break windows in order to get into Congress; once the curfew began, police allowed most of the rioters to just leave.  People of color march on the streets chanting, "Hands up!  Don't shoot" and begging, begging for police not to kill them, and police will beat the shit out of them.  Don't bullshit me: This is nothing less than racism, unfairness and hypocrisy rolled into a ball of fascism.  And I hope correct-minded people understand, once and for all, that the color of the skin of these protestors or rioters (which term you use depends, again, on the color of their skin) dictates how law enforcement treats them.

One more thing, otherwise I'll just pop off for the next 60 minutes.  Fuck all Republicans.  Not just Donald Trump.  All those Senators and Representatives who sided with Trump and planned on stirring shit by contesting state election results that have already been checked and certified wanted this invasion to happen.  But don't stop there.  Any Republican who had a chance to stand up to dictatorship and decided not to, either because they wanted tax breaks for themselves and their fatcat friends or because they wanted to seed our judicial system with Republicans for the next four decades, they have proven themselves yesterday to be part of the problem.  They allowed this violence to happen.  So in my point of view, they're no better than Trump.

Arrest them.  Try them.  Jail them.  And if justice can't be done that way, fucking shoot them on the streets of Washington.  Republican goddamn traitors.  All of them.

Passive-Aggressive Much? Maybe?

OK, so for a certain part of data entry, a few of my co-workers have this ... uh, one final check of the folders that contain forms that contain the information we enter into the system.  If a date is missing, or if the name of the donor looks illegible, one of us will flag it.  It is then the job of these people to make a decision on whether the date is the 22nd or the 27th, or if that is a last name and not just a last initial, and there might be more things that need to be done down the line.

Anyway, there are at least two, usually three, and rarely four people who do this.  The folders are put in a rack of folders of alternating colors.  What usually happens, with three people, is that the one in the middle of the three does an initial check and then hands it off to the person to her left or right depending on the color.

I was helping scan yesterday just so everybody had stuff to key.  The rack was empty.  Before I put this just-scanned folder into the rack, and just because, I moved the front-most folder to the back.  That means that a different color was in the front, meaning that the person, either on the right or the left, who would get that folder and any subsequent folder that is placed first in the rack would be different from the one who had gotten all throughout the day.  It wouldn't make sense if folders come in one-by-one because then the same person would be getting it all day, you know what I mean?

So anyway, more folders come in -- not a lot, maybe a few small ones.  I go back to the rack, which is empty again.  I swear that the folder I switched to the back and was put back in the front.  I remember moving one color to the back, and that color was back in the front.

The person in the middle ... well, I've spoken about her before.  She helps, but is sometimes overbearing, and she has an attitude sometimes.  Sometimes people complain about her work, too.  I suspect she was the one who moved back the folder I put behind all the others.  She probably thought it was not my business to do that -- which, technically, is true, but people move folders in the back all the time, usually when there are a bunch of folders and these people have gone through the folders in the front and they put those empty folders in the back so the folders with folders would be in the front, you know what I mean?  I just don't get what the big deal is.  I moved a folder for variety's sake.  Why the passive-aggressiveness?

Addendum To: A Blessing In Disguise, But My Penis Does Not Think So

Yeah, about going still doing the risky business of seeing strippers for sexytime stuff (forget about the risk of, you know, getting venereal diseases and stuff) ... the more I think about it, the more I'm scared about doing it.  I said in a previous blog post that I just can't help trying to get fucked.  But ... well, not like I have friends who have gotten it, but this girl who posed in Playboy while she was in college -- have I blogged about her before? -- anyway, she said on Facebook that she and some of her kids got it.  Even though my circle of family and friends has remained largely COVID-19-free, knowing that a Facebook friend has it has shook me.

What would help a lot is some direction from the state stating goals and timelines on vaccine rollout for the general public.  I have heard that after they vaccinate doctors and nurses in hospitals and the elderly in long-term care homes, one of the priority groups are people 75 and over.  That includes Father.  The goal is to get those people vaccinated this month.  I heard that another goal is to have a website up whereby people know when and where to get their shots.  I haven't seen it yet.  But if I do, if I know that these vaccinations are reaching into the community and that there is a plan, that light at the end of the tunnel gets closer.  I would be able to see that eventually it'll get to me -- or, if I'm really hunting for stink, my parents will eventually get inoculated against the coronavirus, so I won't have to worry about giving them the virus as I traipse around my stripper girlfriends.  Then I could feel better about refraining from getting my fuck on because I would feel as though I could wait.

Right now, though, I can't, although the need to refrain from any sexual activity is strong with me now.  Like I said before, I would feel horrible if a vaccine were coming, but it would be too late for my folks because I gave them the virus before they got their shots.  I have my Friday afternoons free for the time being, plus I promised at least one woman I'd "cum" over and fuck her.  I would like to get my rocks off at least once over the winter, and I don't want to go back on my word, but ... wouldn't it be worth it to hold off for, what, one month?  Or two?  Maybe more ... ?

When Free Food Is A Bad Thing

I endeavored, after work yesterday/Sunday, to get home in time to see the tail end of the early NFL Games, some of which (especially Giants-Dallas) had playoff implications.  But first, because I used my credit card for a raspberry white mocha (and a free pastry since it was my "birthday" -- I just didn't update my profile information) at Dunn Bros., I was going to use my credit card a second time at Taco Bell, sit in the parking lot, open up the app and use the wi-fi to watch the Games (but not the ends of them!!) before going home, which is not too far away.  All I wanted was a couple items to go down with the Pepsi Vanilla I bought.  I'd scarf them down, feel as though that I have rightfully asserted my independence from Mother and her cooking (well, for this dinner Father pitched in a lot), then come feeling like I'm not some kept son.

The problem came when I got my Taco Bell.  The guy murmured something.  One huge downside about these masks, at least for me, is that I can't understand what people are saying sometimes.  That is a problem when people aren't wearing masks, too, to be honest, but I think it helps me to at least see a person's lips moving to understand what that person is saying, even though I cannot read lips.  It may be a thing or I could be full of crap.  Anyway, the Taco Bell guy said something and I just nodded as if I understood him.

However, I think he said something about my food order.  And sure enough, it wasn't what I ordered.  I saw three items, in fact, not two.  In addition to one of the items I had ordered, he threw in two hardshell tacos even though I didn't order even one.  I don't have time to eat three things at the gas station parking lot -- I needed to go home to watch football!  But I couldn't waste food, especially when it was free.  So, goddammit, I just sat in my car and ate free Taco Bell.  Oh, and when I was about to throw away the bag, I felt heat at the bottom of the bag.  There was a fourth item in it ... and, embarrassed to say, that was the other item I had ordered.  I just forgot that I ordered it.  So, (sigh), I had to sit and eat that too, all while the noon football Games were finishing.  Maybe it didn't matter: The wi-fi cut out and so I couldn't see the end of those Games anyway.

So I couldn't go home when I wanted to because I had to sit at a parking lot to eat free Taco Bell.  It would've been nice to catch those endings at home.  And on top of that, of course, is that I ate a whole fast food dinner -- in my car -- just before eating actual dinner.  God, I'm fat.

One More Accomplishment From 2020, If I Do Say So Myself

I think this marks the second consecutive year when I blog posted at least once every day.  I want to be consistent.  I remember that I either forgot or deliberately did not write the second-ever day of Wailing And Failing, and for some reason that fact stays with me.  I know I will forget, and in the future there will be extenuating circumstances that will not permit me to blog post.  But I have done so consecutively all through 2019 and now all through 2020, and I will endeavor to keep that going in 2021!

A Blessing In Disguise, But My Penis Does Not Think So

So ******a texted me earlier this morning.  We had tentatively scheduled a "session" today, but she says she's busy with stuff.  I could come over in the evening, but we're still in the pandemic, so I would have no good reason to tell my parents I am leaving to go out on a Saturday night without doing something that could bring the 'Rona back home.  So, we're "rescheduling."  Actually, after all this, I'm not going to call ******a, at least not for a while.  At one point she wanted me to see her weekly.  Now, after I have been trying to reschedule day after day after day, she doesn't want to see me?  I don't get it.

Maybe I should see the bright side in this.  Maybe I should take this as a sign.  I have been having ... thoughts/fleeting nightmares that my parents will die -- not necessarily due to COVID-19, but I can't think how my thoughts and nightmares aren't triggered by the pandemic.  And it would be just my bad goddamn luck that now that we have vaccines, knowing that shots at least for my old parents are going to be available in the not-too-distant future, now that the light we can see at the end of the tunnel is accompanied by the heat of redemption we can already feel, I would fuck it up by getting the virus because I was getting a massage from a stripper and I gave it to my parents.  I'm not saying ******a is a carrier or is careless, but you never know.  And maybe her rejecting my massage sessions is a sign that I should keep my dick clean for, oh, two more months.

And yet I feel such ... well, it's not blue balls, but a frustration.  I have been trying to set something up with ******a for some time, and I thought we would eventually be able to, and I'm ... well, I guess I'm mad that we're not.  I have this urge for sexual activity, and I've been blighted, and I'm mad because I feel entitled to it.  And, that's why I think I will go and get whacked off by a couple other of my stripper girlfriends to assert my manhood ... even though I might be putting my parents in danger.

Hey, Mother, How Do You Like My Closet?

So my brother and niece came over this afternoon, for two reasons.  The main reason, or so I thought, was for my parents (well, actually Mother) to play with my niece.  But besides playing bingo and bowling over water bottles, she was more concerned with the new laptop my brother sent to the house.  My mom got it a few days ago, my brother told her to charge it up, and when he came over, he set up ... everything my mom wanted him to set up.  Eventually that took over Mother's attention, and so I was the one tasked with playing with my niece.  And that was hard.  I love her, but three hours felt like 30.

We played a quick game of hide-and-seek.  I hid first.  I went into my room to hide; I slipped behind my bed, the side away from the door, ostensibly because I wanted to scroll through my phone.  My bedroom was the first place my niece went into, but she did not even peer around the bed.  Eventually she gave up, whereby I just walked out and told her where I hid.  I'm surprised she didn't find me.

But let me fill in the donut hole.  After going into the room the first time and then walking around to other rooms, my niece enlisted the help of Mother, who, for the first time I can remember, walked into my bedroom.  She did not look behind the bed either.  Instead, I think she asked my niece, "Could he be in the closet?  Why don't you open it?"  To which my niece replied, "Can you open it?" at which point Mother did.  Oh, shit.  My Mother and my niece didn't see me ... but they did see all the clothes I've piled up and don't use, they did see the bags of pamphlets and brochures I've accrued from Twin Cities Auto Shows over the years, and they did see my cum towel.  Maybe, they even smelled it.

I can totally see Mother telling My Father, "WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  You should see all the clothes in his closet!  And all the papers, too!  And the towel!  My God, it smells so bad!"  And then Father will either confront me about it, or just rummage through my closet and tell me to throw some of that stuff away ... and, my goodness, he might even wash the towel, too.  Fuck me.

Maybe she won't rat me out.  But maybe she will.

Goddammit, why did my niece want to fucking play hide-and-seek?