Cleaning update: I am making headway, but not enough.  I no longer am going to go through my things and see what I can dispose.  I am in the mode of gathering everything up and seeing what I have to put back in storage.  That is not done, however.  I wish I could start picking up in my bedroom, but I am pushing that back another day.

I am pushing back a lot of things another day.  I decided I am going to go out to watch the MNUFC Match.  If I have the energy to come back home and continue to gather, I will, although I should get around to cleaning clothes, too.  The final step is putting everything back in storage.  I want to do that tomorrow/Sunday just so that I have three days of having ****e* cum and clean and, if need be, pick up any last-minute items that I can't leave here.  That's why, even though I am operating under some lassitude, I am trying to set an "end" date of cleaning everything up as tomorrow/Sunday.

So I went to My Favorite Stripclub (Cover Version) (because it's weird to visit a stripclub these days with my parents in town) last/Friday night.  And I've been on a high since -- not just because it was great to see my ATF, but also because there may, may, be a chance for her to give me a massage at her place.  We just talked about it a little more, and I hope I have earned her trust to try it.

Yeah, I dreamed that there would be more than that.  It was a nice three-hour nap I just had.

The Place Where Pop Bottles Are Still Cheap (Well, Not Anymore, At Least Not Quite)

As I've gotten older, I have gotten more attuned to how much things cost.  I guess I could have been more aware of that earlier, but maybe that ignorance is a sign of how blessed/privileged I am.  Still, inflation is a thing (though it shouldn't've been enough to throw Joe Biden out of the race), and even I am beginning to grouse about the price of things.

To wit: Pop.  It increased the past several years to the point where I reconsidered that a second reason (the first being that it's bad for you) to cut back on drinking it as much as I have.  Emphasis on the past tense: I might be a caffeine addict or have a sugar tooth, but after cutting back, the withdrawal was too much for me to take, and I have been back on my pop tip since.  But still, I notice.  And I have tried to counteract that by keeping a mental list of how much a bottle of pop is at the grocery stores and gas stations I buy them from, so that maybe I will patronize places that sell it regularly for cheaper.

There was one place that consistently sold it for cheaper: The mom-and-pop grocer not too far from here.  While a bottle was going for $2.79 and up, this place was selling them for, get this, $2.19.  Whoa!  Now I fully understood the concept of comparison shopping.  Why in the hell would I buy the same bottle of pop for sixty cents more -- sixty?!  The problem is that I did not patronize buying bottles of pop here as much as I should have.  I usually succumbed to convenience -- for example, since I was already at the gas station to get gas, I might as well buy the pop there, even if it is $2.79.

And now I feel regret about not exploiting that financial disparity.  For one thing, I went to a gas station to get gas for my car late last/Thursday night, and I noticed that they are, ugh, $2.99 there (although you can buy two for $4.50 or something, I think).  More unfortunate, however, is that the mom-and-pop grocer recently, and finally, raised the price of pop bottles they sell -- to $2.49.  Yes, it's still a pretty sizable bargain compared to what you'd get at other places around town.  But I swear a bottle was selling for $2.49 everywhere not too long ago.  And the reason I didn't hoard bottles there at $2.19 is that my parents would yell at me for indulging in such a sugary drink, and they're coming back soon, so I can't hoard at $2.49, either.

At this point, the grocery store will ratchet it up to $2.79 soon enough, and then I'd have to question how much of a difference it would be to buy there instead of anywhere else.  But for the longest time, a bottle of pop there (and it was both Coke and Pepsi products) was just $2.19.  Those were the days, man, those were the days. ...

So we got socked with a lot of snow overnight and through yesterday/Wednesday morning.  I had no time to get the measuring stick out -- turned out I was an hour late getting to work -- but reports I saw from spotters around where I live pegged the amount as between seven and eight inches.  Yowza.  Glad the snowblower got through, oh, three-quarters of my driveway before it conked out for the second time.  Have to get that carburetor cleaned.

Unfortunately, I have only so much energy.  I got to work late, and considering all the work that has come in, I thought I had to pull another ten-hour day, so I would get home in the heart of the evening.  But I didn't; with some help from another co-worker, I got out there after working only an extra half-hour.  That was great because I used that extra time getting home early to clear up almost the entire driveway (a driveway, by the way, that lost a lot of the snow and ice that was on the ground; man, the Sun's rays this time of year can attack the deepest of snowdrifts, including the one made yesterday/Wednesday morning).  But I had no energy to do anything after that, and this was the day I was going to stay home and start cleaning up my stuff.  But the damn snow was the priority.  I'll have to put my stuff off yet another day.

---

My supervisor is going to shadow me at work today/Thursday.  I think she's cool, and this is only because she's trying to streamline the work we all do so, well, we won't have to pull ten-hour days on the regular.  So why am I so nervous?

The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey

#-1: United FC (Last Week: -7).  I really thought the Loons were going to drop their home opener to FC Montreal Saturday night.  We have had a good stretch of weather where the temperature was well above freezing ... except for Saturday.  It was warm before then and it was warm after, but a pustule of cold air went over the Twin Cities that day.  No matter; Tani Oluwaseyi's attempt on goal found the bottom of the right (?) boot of Kelvin Yeboah and he stuck it home to give MNUFC the 1-0 Win.  Not bad -- and good enough to take the top spot in this Week's WMNSS.

At San Jose Saturday.

#-2: Gopher baseball (Last Week: -5).  I don't know how good Arizona St. is supposed to be this Year, but they are a traditional blueblood in college baseball.  So I think it's a remarkable achievement that these guys took two-of-three from the Sun Devils -- and at Tempe, Ariz.  They followed that up with a 16-4 quadrupling of Wisconsin-Milwaukee last/Tuesday night.  That's the way to fly into conference play, namely a three-Game set at Das Bank v.2.0 against Purdue this weekend.

#-3: Gopher softball (Last Week: -3).  They hosted their own tournament this weekend: The Gopher Indoor Classic at U. S. Bank Stadium.  And they went 4-1 over the weekend, their only Loss being ... to St. Thomas?  Yeah, the Tommies beat them Sunday afternoon, 8-6 in eight Innings.  That is not good, especially when seeing that the squads the U. beat are North Dakota St. (twice), Wagner and Miami (OH).

This is their final non-con screening Week.  They participate in the LSU Round Robin this weekend down in Baton Rouge, La., where they play host LSU and South Alabama two tilts apiece.  Then they mosey on over to Beaumont, Tex., where they play apparently a neutral-site contest vs. McNeese St.

#-4: Gopher men's basketball (Last Week: -8).  Defeated the Cornhuskers in Lincoln, Neb., Saturday afternoon, 67-65, on a Three-Pointer by Brennan Rigsby with 4.1 Seconds to go.  This is a stunning fact: Five of the Gophers' seven conference victories are Quad 1 ones.  That should be interpreted as a sign that Ben Johnson, despite his still evolving tenure as Head Coach, gets his players motivated to play a big opponent.  That stat's kind of mind-blowing.

This is the final Week of the regular season for men's college basketball.  They host Wisconsin tonight/Wednesday night, they finish off 2024-5 at Rutgers Sunday afternoon.

#-5: Wild (Last Week: -6).  Started the screening Week with getting their asses beat twice (at Utah Thursday, 6-1, and at Colorado Friday, 5-2).  Ended it with a pair of one-Goal victories (1-0 Sunday at home to Boston, 4-3 last/Tuesday night in Seattle).  Joel Eriksson Ek's return to playing seems more implausible by the day, and the continued blackout as to how (or even if) Kirill Kaprizov is healing from his injury is a puzzling but major concern.  Still, even though this team is treading water, they're still in playoff position -- and still might make one more move before the NHL Trade Deadline.

This Week: At Vancouver Friday, then home to Pittsburgh and The Bastard Quebec Nordiques.

#-6: Timberwolves (Last Week: -4).  Like the Wild, the Timberwolves also had a 2-2 Week where they also lost their first two matchups (at The Bastard Minneapolis Lakers and The Bastard New Orleans Jazz) and then also won their last two matchups (at Phoenix, home to Philadelphia).  But they remain stubbornly in Play-In position -- seventh place in the Western Conference, now a half-Game behind The Bastard Philadelphia Warriors for sixth.  That's why they slide below the local professional hockey club for this Week's Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey.

This Week: At Charlotte and Miami, then home to San Antonio.

#-7: Gopher men's hockey (Last Week: 0).  Finished the regular season losing in Overtime and then defeating the Nittany Lions at Penn St. over the weekend.  Then, The Big Ten Conference says that the Gophers and Michigan St. both won a share of the regular season conference title.  If the conference tournament has the Spartans listed as the 1-Seed and the only team granted a bye, and if Minnesota is listed as the 2-Seed and needing to play a best-of-three Quarterfinal series at home versus Notre Dame this weekend, then there is no sharing.  The Gophers fucking lost the regular season title.  Come on, the time for yellow participation ribbons is fucking over.

#-8: Gopher women's hockey (Last Week: -2).  They advance to the WCHA Final Faceoff again (this season it's in Duluth after winning their First Round series over Minnesota State - Mankato.  But they had to do it in three Games because, my God, in yet another example of how this program is far from the indomitable power they were in their championship days, they lost Game 2 to the Mavericks in Double OT.  I want to say that's the first time MSU-Mankato has beaten the U. at Ridder.  They're playing Ohio St. Friday afternoon and they're a lock to reach the NCAAs, but if they can't sweep the Mavs at home, how in the fuck are they going to win it all, which is the only point?

#-9: Gopher women's basketball (Last Week: -1).  It's been a roller coaster ride at the end of the season for the female Goofs b-ball team, and right now they are on the low side -- the very low side.  They lost yet another Game to a team equal in talent to them -- Wednesday to Washington by ten and (and this part really hurts them) at home.  And then they finished losing by 15 at ranked Michigan St.

They now fall into the First Round of the B1G Tournament and play the Huskies again this/Wednesday afternoon.  And I think they need to make a run to ensure they're in.  ESPN's Charlie Creme has the U. falling into play-in territory -- ick -- but note that there are two huge factors that don't favor the Goofs: They have no Quad 1 Wins, and they have an awful strength of schedule rating, especially when you count only non-conference SOS.  Those are two gigantic red flags that might be too hard to overcome.  I'm really afraid they won't get in if they don't win two, maybe even three times.

Oh, I Might Be Losing A Tooth!

Tonight, as I was eating a Son Of Baconator from Wendy's (haven't had Wendy's in the longest time) and then potato chips dipped in hummus, I was working the upper-right back teeth and yep, they still continue to hurt.

You know, I have thought for a long, long time they hurt because I grind my teeth while I sleep, and that has contributed to this, shall we say, "carryover" pain whenever I bite down back there.  But tonight, as I was eating, it occurred to me that I might be feeling pain just because my tooth or teeth back there are rotting and the plaque is starting to hit the nerves.  And that sounds like a much more plausible cause.

I should go to sleep.  A fucking winter storm is coming, plus there's a big meeting at work in the morning.

Snow? Still?

The last goddamn thing I need is to deal with a snowstorm.  Haven't been paying attention to the weather report, so hearing last/Sunday night that there is going to be a potentially nasty snowstorm that will start tomorrow/Tuesday morning as rain and switch at some point over to snow by the time it wraps up some time Wednesday was a rude blindside.  And it doesn't help that the initial range of snow forecast is between two and six inches of snow.  I can handle two inches; I might not even shovel.  Half a foot?  Well, shit, I have to break out the snowblower again, and I haven't even tried to clean the carburetor, which prevented the plow from working at its peak.

I have to devote as much time as possible to gathering my things and taking them to storage.  The last fucking thing I need is to take that time to shovel and or plow snow.  Fuckin' A, man.

Calling Ice Out As February 28

I don't know whether there was any snow in my front yard either yesterday/Saturday or Friday, the latter because I was rushing home to see the start of Fox's College Hoops Friday.  (And I did, I was not late, even though I stayed at work over ten hours.)  But considering how warm Friday was, and considering that I don't see any snow now, I will say that the snow completely disappeared Friday, which is February 28.  This is just a note for me to, uh, note.

Time To No Time

I have, or had, the luxury of knowing I had some time to pack everything up and clean the house (or, really, get the house cleaned) before my parents come home.  Right now, I am in the middle of a penultimate weekend.  I have the whole week, then another weekend and then, if need be, two more days before it's all over.  Even considering my procrastination, I knew I had those two days to just throw everything into boxes and make several hurried trips to my storage locker if need be.

Well, I don't know if I have any free time now.  The killer blow, so to speak, is finding out that alternative band Helmet is playing here Monday the 10th.  Now, I only know one song of theirs/his, but it's "Unsung," one of The Ten Best Songs From The Grunge Era.  (Note that it has a long, wordless outro.  It's the "Layla" of the '90s.)  And even though I might not know or even like any of their/his other songs, I am making a point of going to a concert to see a band or an artist even if I am going for that one song of his/hers/theirs.  I in the past have decided not to do so for other acts, but on how I keep crushing on "Unsung," I'll do it for Helmet.

But I had plans on staying home that night, presumably to pack everything up.  Now, I checked online and the ticket is a bit pricey, so maybe I won't go.  But if I do, that's a very important date where I won't be getting the house ready.  And once I envisioned that, it started to feel as though I had no days where I could stay in and move out my stuff.  For example, on Monday I think I am going to that stripper awards ceremony.  On Tuesday I will probably be wiped out from work, but then I'm going to see Captain America: Brave New World just as Putin's Orange Bitch starts speaking in the U. S. House chamber.  Wednesday or Thursday I am eating out at my speakeasy one final time before my folks return, and on Friday I am going to see my ATF at My Favorite Stripclub (Cover Division).  Plus, I can totally see my weekends being just like the one I had yesterday/Saturday: Wake up late, fix me a drink, find something to eat, be so tired from drinking and eating that I take a nap, wake up from said nap, and watch TV all night.  And so I would waste all this time -- again -- when I needed to clean the house.

Maybe I need to stay in instead of exercise, like I plan on doing tonight.  But I just have no motivation to clean my house when I don't want to.  But every day closer to the return of the 'Rents will force me to question that motivation to be lazy more and more, till I ... well, do it or give up.

Just Realized I Bought Too Much Food

I don't know why I still do this, especially as my parents are coming home.  I feel the need to stop spending money ... and I do this by buying too many groceries for me to eat before they come home.

What I did this afternoon is a prime example of this.  The first thing is I went to Dream Creamery -- or, as I like to call it, Dreamery -- to eat a hamburger ... even though I have so much food I have already bought that is sitting in the fridge.  I just wanted to eat a hamburger at Dreamery (by the way, review: This is the second time I've eaten it, and it's good mainly because it's not messy, and I also really like the seasoning, but the patty is really thin).  I then wanted to eat chili at a local grocer because I have so much pop that still needs to be drank, and while I was there, I wanted to buy a lime because, well, I have a lot of liquor that still needs to be drank.  But the grocer's limes were gross.  I mean, they were sickly.  And I was willing to buy a lime for $1.29, but not for limes that bad.

I remember that there is a discount grocer within walking distance.  I'll talk about this discount grocer some other time, but I know their limes were cheap, and I got one from there about last week and it was good.  It couldn't be any worse than what I saw at this grocer, so I walked over there to buy limes ... and they were better, but they were small.  I guess the limes being made right now aren't good or something?  But hey, it's a discount grocer, so they are three for a buck.  I bought three hoping that that would give me enough to make at least one drink.

So right now I have deli meats, deli cheese, several cans and one bottle of pop, a bottle of juice, a bottle of Arizona Arnold Palmer, a bottle of tonic water I haven't even opened yet, three limes and a tub of ice cream I haven't opened yet.  I bought the ice cream because I have a jar of cherries I haven't finished.  Oh, and while at the first grocer's a Girl Scout troop was selling cookies, and I needed to buy the kind that they're discontinuing after this season.  And oh -- before that I went to the panaderia across the street to buy a cookie and a ... malva?

You see, I had this grand plan of finishing all the food I had, but in order to eat them all I needed to buy food to go along with it, and now I just have more food.Man, I am not bright.  And I'm not going to eat any of that food in the refrigerator because I am going to the MNUFC Match tonight.  And I am eating out with a friend for lunch in St. Paul tomorrow.  Oy.