How Long Can My Computer Hold On?

For the past ... um, I want to see the past several days, my computer has done this thing where it boots up just like normal, but then, when I try to put my password in, it won't move.  I hit the keys but the cursor just sits there, blinking a lot slower than normal.  I have to now restart it; upon its restart, I can put my password in to open up my computer.

My laptop is now old.  It runs on Windows 10.  It does not have the processor or the storage space to be upgraded to Windows 11.  Windows 10 is no longer supported as of last month, but I opted into getting updates for 10 for another year, at no charge, which makes me think then that Microsoft should have just said they won't support Windows 10 next year.  Anyway, I don't want to pay for something so expensive if I don't have nor want to.  But since it's getting older, other issues are starting to crop up.  Could something worse than this weird restart thing happen over the next year?  Possibly, and it might affect me being able to use this laptop at all.  Did I make the right decision to keep using this for another year?

Really tired right now.  Should go to bed, obviously.  But I fear that I'm so tired I won't wake up in time for the Vikings Game.  What I usually do in those cases (but especially for Vikes Games) is keep my laptop open and use it as a second alarm.  I hope I won't be so tired as to sleep through both my cellphone and my laptop.  It's never happened, and I hope it won't happen this time.  Wish me luck.

I woke up this morning at a normal hour -- 8:30-ish, when I could hear my sister leaving for something.  I spoke with my sis last night about monitoring Mother while she does her exercises this morning and, well, I figured my sister has done so much caring for My Mother, I think it is my turn to get out of bed and help out with Mother's PT while she takes several hours for herself.

After she got done exercising, I figured I had the time and the energy to clean out the gutters, something that needed to be done.  This was the perfect time; I was up, I don't have any other time to do it this weekend, and I don't know if it will be warm enough and/or not snowing for me to do it two weekends from now because I might not have time next weekend, either.  I thought there would be more leaves and detritus to clean out, but either there wasn't as much as I thought, or I didn't look closely enough, which is a possibility.

While sweeping away the leaves from the driveway, I looked up.  The skies are gloriously cloudy, and the trees on my street are still turning vivid shades of yellow, orange and red.  This weekend, this morning, would have been the perfect time to leaf-peep.  And I checked the temperature on my phone: 35 degrees, and it feels like 28.  But it doesn't feel like 28, or 35.  Maybe I'm hot from all the gutter-cleaning I was doing, but I felt quite warm and cozy for what I was wearing.  Anyway, this looked like perfect fall weather, and so I had to take a couple pictures of how I want the sky to look every day for the rest of my life.  No, really.

Just How Long Could I Have Kept My Bandages On?

I don't remove things if it's not hurting anything.  For example, do you know those stickers on credit cards telling you how to active them, and then once activated you're supposed to remove the stickers?  I don't remove them.  Scandal!  But why?  Would my card get stolen if someone got ahold of it with the sticker on?  Don't think so.

I'm the same way with bandages.  I swear, and I say this with a certain amount of pride, I have kept bandages on for shots I've gotten for more than a month.  It's not hurting me none, so why take them off?  It's a testament to how well the adhesive on the bandage is sticking to my skin.  Sure, I've taken bandages off once one side gets wet and flops off my skin.  There's no way I can keep it on when it's not doing its job anymore.  But removing a bandage that remains affixed to my skin even after taking shower after shower?  That's like ripping a baby from their mother's arms.  I couldn't do it.

OK, I might be exaggerating when I say a bandage on your body for a long time isn't hurting anyone.  I got my flu shot at work the middle of last month, and I got my COVID shot at my doctor's check-up the Friday before Halloween.  Both bandages were adhering fine, even excellent.  I only ripped off the perfect flu shot bandage after ten days because it was getting a tad itchy underneath, and I might have been imagining the itchiness.  The bandage for my COVID shot was not itching me at all, but I figured I would take it off also after ten days because ... well, maybe it's a bit silly for me to keep a bandage on well after the needle puncture has healed.  But maybe it hasn't after ten days and it still needs the Band-Aid?  OK, I'm kidding, I think.  Maybe I did so after ten days because of my OCD; if I took off the flu shot bandage after ten days, I'd give the COVID shot bandage the same amount of "life."

I will say this: If the area underneath the flu shot bandage wasn't making me scratch it, I would have kept both on.  And no, I wouldn't've cared that people think it would be weird.  Heck, both bandages are on the top of each bicep (flu left arm, COVID right arm) and it's fall/winter; no one is going to see my arms and know I've had them on longer than any other normal human.  Who knows, one day I might keep my bandages on for two months, or even longer. ...

I've been so busy with work and taking care of Mother and my sister being in town that I have yet to follow up with my clinic about the blood tests I took and the referral for physical therapy.  I've been meaning to do it, but I've been sidetracked by, well, everything.  And now I just remembered that I need to write down on the family calendar when I can't come home for dinner.  Gosh, things continue to get away from me.

Yes, this is a short and pithy blog post.  But it's all I have time for.  Sorry.

The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey

#0: Vikings (Last Week: -6).  Nope, I sure as shit did not see this coming.  I thought they would march into Detroit and walk out pissing and shitting down their legs after the Lions beat their asses.  It would have been their third defeat in a row, accelerating talk that this should be a rebuilding year and the main goal for the rest of the season is to see if J. J. McCarthy is The One.

I keep forgetting that the NFL is The Best League In The World because you don't know what the fuck is going to happen week to week.  Playing ten Days after their worst Loss in quite some time, where no player wearing purple seemed prepared to be on the same field as The Los Angeles Chargers, they confidently went into Ford Field and eked out a close but well-earned 27-24 Win.  It ranks up there with that historic comeback Victory over The Bastard Baltimore Colts as The Best Win in The Kevin O'Connell Era.

It looks like it matters very much when you get your best players back from injury.  Especially Andrew Van Ginkel, the Linebacker who helped control the Detroit run game and sacked Lions Quarterback Jared Goff five times.  Meanwhile, the Vikings run game looked stout and even mighty at times, a testament to how the Offensive (as well as the Defensive) Line actually dictated the tenor of the Game.  It looked like Minnesota was pushing Detroit around on both sides of the ball, something I didn't think could happen even if the Vikes were at 100%.  And still, the Lions had a chance to win it at the end.  But McCarthy, who had an up-and-down performance, came through in the clutch, firing a Pass to Jalen Nailor that gave Minnesota a First Down under two Minutes that allowed them to crouch in Victory Formation until time ran out.

Yes, Minnesota is 4-4 and, technically, in last place in the NFC North Division.  But given they just beat a Super Bowl contender at their house, and suddenly hopes springs anew.  For sure that's why they get the top spot this screening Week, and why they get to rise above negative numbers.  But now they have to parlay this upswing in hope at home vs. The Bastard Cleveland Browns, who, like the Vikings, had high expectations but have underachieved in the face of injury so far this season.  Both clubs want to get onto better playoff footing, but only one team will actually do it.  We will see who on Sunday.

#-1: Gopher women's basketball (NEW SEASON!!).  Year 3 of The Dawn Plitzuweit Era began with a 91-47 immolation of North Dakota at Williams Arena last/Tuesday night.  While her Gophers won the WBIT last season, I was hoping the upward trajectory would be a bit higher by now.  Still, there is an expectation that the U. will finally get into the NCAA Tournament.  We shall see.  In the meantime, they continue the four-Game homestand that begins their season with tilts versus Manhattan on Friday and, and this is nothing to sneeze at, Marquette on Tuesday.

#-2: Gopher men's basketball (NEW SEASON!!).  This is Year 1 of The Niko Medved Era.  Ben Johnson was a nice guy who has maroon and gold in his DNA, but I can see why Mark Coyle decided to end his tenure as Head Coach after four Years.  Coyle brought in who any Athletic Director would bring in to jumpstart a program: A hotshot Coach from a lower school who should flashes of brilliance, hopefully within the NCAA Tournament.  Oh, and it helps that Medved is from Roseville.

And the Gophs started out well, crushing Gardner-Webb at The Barn Monday, 87-60.  We'll see how this works, but I always rely on my edict -- give a Head Coach in their first Year a mulligan.  Oh, by the way, I ranked the male b-ballers below the female ones because of lower margin of victory.

They host Alcorn St. early Saturday afternoon.

#-3: Gopher football (Last Week: -5).  Michigan St. may be The Worst Team In The Big Ten (although two once-proud programs, Wisconsin and Penn St., might give the Spartans a run for their money), and yet the Golden Gophers only beat them in OT Saturday, 23-20.  This is the kind of struggle-against-a-bad-opponent result too indicative of The P. J. Fleck Era when they should be beating such clubs as a matter of course.  But hey, this isn't the Minnesota of the Bronco Nagurski years.  What is Coyle going to do, fire Fleck when LSU, Penn St., Florida and UCLA are looking for Head Coaches, too?  All you can do is shrug and accept the Wins no matter how hard they come.

Oh, winning isn't coming for the U.'s next Game.  They are at Oregon on the 14th.

#-4: Timberwolves (Last Week: -4).  The good news is is that they shook off that inexplicable loss to The Bastard Minneapolis Lakers last Wednesday (via a miracle by Austin Reaves) with Wins at Charlotte and Brooklyn.  But those two squads suck.  Without considering the opponent, the T-Wolves appear to be blending in solidly on Offense, particularly Julius Randle, but so far, the intensity on Defense that was there the last two Years has yet to show up.  Maybe it will -- and definitely it should -- show up on this busy screening Week.  The Wolves visit Karl-Anthony Towns and The New York Knicks in Madison Square Garden tonight/Wednesday night, then they travel home to host The Bastard New Orleans Jazz in their first NBA Cup Game, then travel again to face The Bastard Rochester Royals Sunday night and Utah (again) Monday night.

#-5: Wild (Last Week: -8).  Still not liking the vibes.  They began the screening Week losing emphatically at home to Pittsburgh Thursday, 4-1.  It was so bad that certain players refused to speak to The Media, which is a sign of an immature, unprofessional team, if I may say.  But they wrapped what would have been a horrid long homestand with a pair of Wins.  Saturday's 5-2 victory was nice.  Last/Tuesday's 3-2 Win over Nashville had to go into Overtime because Steven Stamkos scored for the Predators with .3 Seconds left, and then the Wild were awarded the Win on a Goal by Marcus Johansson even though the Preds' net was dislodged.

They're still near the bottom of the West, though.  And now they have to go on the road to start a busy Week: The Bastard Hartford Whalers tomorrow/Thursday night, at The New York Islanders Friday, then home to face The Bastard Atlanta Flames (Sunday) and San Jose (Tuesday).

#-6: Gopher women's hockey (Last Week: -1).  The good news is that they went to Madison and beat top-ranked Wisconsin on Halloween, 5-1.  The bad news is that they lost to the Badgers the next night by a score of 7-2.  Did Wisconsin just allow Minnesota to win on Friday, or is this a sign the Gophers can finally hang with one of the true powers of women's hockey?  I really don't know.  But through half of the eight regular season Games that only matter, they're 2-2.  Could be better, could be worse.

The squad has the weekend off before hosting Bemidji St.  While the Saturday afternoon contest will be at Ridder Arena, the one Friday afternoon will be at Mariucci Arena.

#-7: Gopher volleyball (Last Week: -3).  At home this Week they swept Illinois Wednesday, but lost to my alma mater in five Sets Saturday.  Don't know what to make of that, but one volleyball maven on a chatboard I lurk from time to time says the Gophs are a 4-Seed and thus get to host the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament.  Unfortunately, the ol' resume is going to get a couple blotches because this might be The Worst Regular Season Week In Program History: They are at 11th-ranked Wisconsin tonight/Wednesday night, then host top-ranked Nebraska Saturday afternoon.

#-8: United FC (Last Week: -2).  Yeah, this is what I was afraid of.  Our oppressors, The Seattle Sounders, tied up their First Round series with the Loons (very) late Monday night with what I consider to be a fairly solid 4-2 Win in Seattle.  It was the kind of victory over MNUFC that is typical of their outings at Lumen: They made it 3-0 right near the end of the First Half.  I am heartened, just a bit, that United FC stormed back with two Goals in First Half Injury Time; Nectarios Triantis got the Loons on the board in the 45th+1, then old reliable Robin Lod drew another one back in the 4th+5.  They just couldn't score the equalizer, and Obed Vargas scored his second to shut the door.

So the series is tied going into Saturday afternoon's rubber match back at Allianz.  It kicks off at 3, which is kind of a pain in the ass because my sister is doing something until 1:30 and I think the whole area will be buzzing for Game 3.  Minnesota might not be a main draw in MLS, but Seattle is, and yet both Hell Is Real and Miami-Nashville will play later in the evening.  Regardless, as much as I hope they break free of their chains and advance to the Quarterfinals, I have a bad feeling that I and all Loons fans will leave the stadium disappointed, again.

#-9: Gopher men's hockey (Last Week: -7).  I forgot that this program lost so many veterans during the offseason.  Maybe their rank threw me off, or I thought that the young talent wearing the "M" sweater will be able to get quickly.  I was wrong, decisively so, after these lambs to the slaughter went to Madison (maybe along with the U. female icers) and got swept by scores of 5-2 (Thursday) and 4-0 (Saturday).  I don't remember the last time this team lost four Games in a row.  Anyway, they must be unranked now (when's the last time that happened?), and they host Notre Dame for Games Friday and Saturday.  It might be a long Year ahead for these guys.

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

Yesterday/Monday morning I woke up early, or tried to wake up early, to see if I moved all my stuff from my car to the minivan, which I planned to take to work because, again, it looked as though I would have to use the van from today/Tuesday through Friday, so what the hell, why don't I just use the van all week?

As I was leaving, I see My Father putting his shoes on.  Where's he going?  A doctor's appointment, I would learn later.  He didn't tell me this anytime it would have been useful to me; guess I know from whom I get my propensity to keep secrets.  Anyway, it looked as though he planned on using the minivan.  Mother was up at the time and tried to ask him if he should use the car instead, which led to him just bolting out the door, which led to her telling me to tell him if I wanted to use the van instead, which led to me kind of yelling at her that that's exactly what I was fucking doing.

I stopped Father in time to look into the van.  It was clean; I didn't remember, but apparently on Saturday night, I did take time after I came back from the Game I was watching to put all my stuff back into my car.  (Remember, all that stuff about planning on using the minivan all week wasn't a thought in my head until Sunday, when my sister said that she was taking the car tomorrow/Wednesday to meet her friend for dinner.)  Meanwhile, My Father got into the minivan and peeled off to the doctor's like he just robbed a bank; I don't remember the last time he took off for anywhere that fast.

So, I used my car yesterday/Monday.  And it turns out I will be using it tomorrow/Wednesday, as well.  My sister told me that the dinner her friend wants to set up changed from tomorrow/Wednesday to today/Tuesday.  Also, Father has another doctor's appointment then.  So that means that after I come back from work tonight/Tuesday night I'll have to move all my stuff from the minivan into my car (I have already put all the stuff I'll need for work today/Tuesday in the minivan).  And then after work tomorrow/Wednesday, I'll have to move all my stuff from my car into the minivan, which I will use to get to work Thursday and Friday.

Man, life will be so much simpler once everybody leaves.

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.

So Mother was rushed to the ER yesterday.  She was complaining about being quite dizzy.  When the EMTs came, she said she had very low blood pressure.

She got stabilized at the hospital close to us.  I had work, but she looked like she was stabilized, plus, thank Buddha, my sister was there with her.

Mother got out four, five hours later.  Side effect from her medication, not enough water, constipation ... it looks as though it was a combination of all those things.  She seems fine now, but that reason seems a bit too vague for me, and I'm scared that she will have a relapse again -- especially today, since sister is out with family and took my car (again).

I hope Mother is getting better, because I can't tell.

My Sister Knows Too Much

So my sister Thursday night busted me for not putting aside the bathmat.  My Mother is using the upstairs bathroom because for now she's confined to one floor and she should where the food is.  But she's still using a walker, which means that any loose object on the floor can trip her up.

My sister had warned me to put the mat away once I was done in there, but I forgot after I took my shower.  She told/admonished me through my bedroom door, and she specifically told me that she was just going to leave the mat there for me to put away.  I guess I can't complain about her move too much, but in the context of siblings calling siblings out, I'm still quite peeved.

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Just to blow off some steam, I tried to look at porn Thursday night, too.  But the damn pop-up ad started off with a woman moaning in ecstasy as the guy stuck himself inside her, and I was listening to Halloween music on YouTube when that fucking happened.  And my sister's bedroom adjoins mine; we share a wall, and both our beds push up against that wall.

Did she hear?  I assume she has, even though she may be asleep.  I turned the sound down on my computer as soon as that porn star screamed, but it may have been too late.  My sister's smart and observant; she hears everything.

I love her, but I'm getting to the point where I wonder when is she leaving.