... and yes, I should have talked about this before Election Day, but I've been sick ...
a lot of the political attack ads Republican dark money has funded has talked about how Democrats, and in particular challengers Angie Craig and Dean Phillips, are the ones who will take away people's health care because they want to take that money for themselves. Or something. It's a Republican ad, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense.
Anyway, this isn't the most sophisticated take, but these are ads by Republicans ... who are known for taking away people's health care because they want to take that money for themselves. What they are accusing Craig and Phillips for is what Republicans do, and want to do. If they are right about Craig and Phillips (and they're wrong, because Republicans lie), why are they complaining about it? They should be their heroes, you know?
Tuesday, November 6, 2018
The Sickest I've Ever Been; Is It Because Of Work?
There might have been a time in my childhood I was coughing and groggy. That might have been the time where I got hepatitis, I don't know. But for the coughing alone, which I've had for about a month, this feels as though this is the sickest I've ever been.
And I have no proof that this is the reason, but I have never felt great about waking up at 5:30 in the goddamn morning. I'm not saying it's making me sick, but if I want to get better, sleep is an effective medicine, and frankly, forcing myself to get up at this ungodly hour cuts into sleep that my body needs to fight whatever the hell it needs to fight.
Off to work, goddammit.
And I have no proof that this is the reason, but I have never felt great about waking up at 5:30 in the goddamn morning. I'm not saying it's making me sick, but if I want to get better, sleep is an effective medicine, and frankly, forcing myself to get up at this ungodly hour cuts into sleep that my body needs to fight whatever the hell it needs to fight.
Off to work, goddammit.
Monday, November 5, 2018
The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey
Positive Numbers: Gopher soccer (Last Week: 0). Well, they did. The only way the seventh-seeded Gophers were going to get into the NCAA Tournament was to somehow win the Big Ten Tournament. And they did it!
After springing the slight upset of sixth-seeded Nebraska, 2-0, Friday, courtesy of a brace by B1G Forward Of The Year April Bockin (who scored about 2 1/2 minutes into the game and 2 1/2 minutes from the game's end -- how's that for symmetry?) in Westfield, Ind., on yesterday (Sunday) afternoon they did what they needed to do against a vastly superior side (who may or may not have had a compelling interest to go all-out for this match) and held Penn St. through 110 minutes, sending the B1G title game to Penalty Kicks. Both clubs potted four going into the sudden death seventh round. The Gophers' Makenzie Langdok scored; then, the Nittany Lions' Frankie Tagliaferri put the ball on the spot:
Gophers win 5-4 in PKs and win their third conference tournament title. But none, I'm guessing, more important than this year, a championship-or-bust quest that ended in pure victory.
The NCAA bracket is unveiled at 3:30 today (Monday). For all I know, the Golden Gophers could collapse in the first round. But marauding through the conference tournament when that was the only way to reach the postseason is a hell of an accomplishment in and of itself.
#0: Gopher volleyball (Last Week: Positive Numbers). Train keeps a-rollin', although their wins over Wisconsin on the road and Michigan St. at home were not sweeps (dropped a Set to the Badgers and, actually, two to the Spartans). These players remain undefeated in the Big Ten -- holy shit! And there are only six matches left, including games at home to the Indiana schools this weekend.
#-1: Gopher women's hockey (Last Week: -4). Swept a pair at Ridder of Bemidji St. by a combined score of 8-4. That's all I got. They have the next screening week off.
#-2: Vikings (Last Week: -7). One observation: Last year, when a contending year didn't seem to be in the cards, the club got it together and starting rolling through teams. It got to the point where the Vikes were overwhelming teams. I remember them playing The Bastard Cleveland Browns last year, for example. I was working the field for the game, and more than once, the white guy on the Ravens' Offensive Line was openly complaining about not knowing where to go or what to do. That's what happens with a Vikings team that surprises everyone -- including their own fans -- and dominates.
Contrast that to this year, where everyone believes they are a contender, and instead the team has been holding off teams at a much-too-uncomfortable distance. I think the shocking home loss to the Buffalo Bills will permanently jaundice any Vikes fan into pessimism (also, I know that that defeat, and the tie to Green Bay, will cost the team come playoff time). But take their victory over Detroit yesterday/Sunday, their first over the Lions at U. S. Bank Stadium (the Lions actually were undefeated here until yesterday). The game ended 24-9. It was essentially over when Matthew Stafford stupidly tossed the ball behind him on a rollout to Kerryon Johnson, who fumbled it because, like all of us on earth, he didn't fucking think Stafford would pull shit like that. (Danielle Hunter scoop-and-scored off the fumble; along with his 3.5 Sacks, he definitely will be NFC Defensive Player Of The Week.) And yet it was only a 15-point margin of victory. Any competent team could come back from that. Any team could, even if the Vikings' D put up a franchise-record ten Sacks. The Vikes are just not dominating like when they surprised everyone last year. That, plus losses to the Rams and the Saints, plus lurking team such as Carolina, and ... yeah, I don't know if this is their year.
Bye week. As good a week for a team to take one than any.
#-3: Wild (Last Week: -2). Their winning streak ended at five, and with a thud, 5-2 at Vancouver Monday. But they're in the middle of a two-game winning streak with victories at Edmonton and home to St. Louis, probably the most complete game the team has played this year yet. Once his career is over and the correctives start getting published, the trade for Devan Dubnyk will be considered one of the most pivotal in franchise history.
This week this squad is entirely on the road, versus San Jose, Los Angeles, Anaheim and St. Louis.
#-4: Timberwolves (Last Week: -5). Finished the screening week 2-2. Won two games, both at home. Then lost two games, both on the road. Yes, there was that 50-point turn-back-the-clock performance by Derrick Rose over Utah on Halloween, but for the life of me I don't remember his rape allegation, I really don't. The nadir probably was the 30-point loss at Portland yesterday/Sunday because Jimmy Butler decided he wasn't playing. He didn't play vs. the Jazz, either.
A California three-step this screening week: At the Clippers and Lakers, then at Sacramento.
#-5: Gopher men's hockey (Last Week: -6). I will always give a Head Coach in his first year on the job a mulligan. It's for reasons like this past weekend, where the Golden Goofers dropped both ends of a home-and-home to Minnesota State-Mankato, 5-1 and 2-1. One of the big things that ultimately led to the "resignation" of Don Lucia is his embarrassing record against the four other in-state schools, all of them smaller and thus more inferior to them. This is part of what Bob Motzko was brought in from St. Cloud St. to change. Next week they visit Wisconsin for two, another tall order.
#-6: Gopher football (Last Week: -3). P. J. Fleck last year had the excuse Bob Motzko has this year. But that excuse, of course, is gone, and now his team needs to fuckin' execute.
I really thought they could beat Illinois on the road. The Fighting Illini are a horrible team, led by Lovie Smith, an NFL lifer who's just in the college ranks for the money and because he probably still has some real estate in the Chicago area from his days leading the Bears. And yet, not only did the Goofers lose, they got the shit kicked out of them, 55-31. It got so bad, yesterday/Sunday Fleck decided to fire Defensive Coordinator Robb Smith and replaced him on an interim basis with Defensive Line Coach Joe Rossi. Good luck to Rossi as Purdue, a school that may have found an HC who "gets it" (Jeff Brohm) comes to town for the weekend.
After springing the slight upset of sixth-seeded Nebraska, 2-0, Friday, courtesy of a brace by B1G Forward Of The Year April Bockin (who scored about 2 1/2 minutes into the game and 2 1/2 minutes from the game's end -- how's that for symmetry?) in Westfield, Ind., on yesterday (Sunday) afternoon they did what they needed to do against a vastly superior side (who may or may not have had a compelling interest to go all-out for this match) and held Penn St. through 110 minutes, sending the B1G title game to Penalty Kicks. Both clubs potted four going into the sudden death seventh round. The Gophers' Makenzie Langdok scored; then, the Nittany Lions' Frankie Tagliaferri put the ball on the spot:
Maddie Nielsen FOR THE WIN! pic.twitter.com/fANSlUgJRc— Minnesota Soccer (@GopherSoccer) November 4, 2018
Gophers win 5-4 in PKs and win their third conference tournament title. But none, I'm guessing, more important than this year, a championship-or-bust quest that ended in pure victory.
The NCAA bracket is unveiled at 3:30 today (Monday). For all I know, the Golden Gophers could collapse in the first round. But marauding through the conference tournament when that was the only way to reach the postseason is a hell of an accomplishment in and of itself.
#0: Gopher volleyball (Last Week: Positive Numbers). Train keeps a-rollin', although their wins over Wisconsin on the road and Michigan St. at home were not sweeps (dropped a Set to the Badgers and, actually, two to the Spartans). These players remain undefeated in the Big Ten -- holy shit! And there are only six matches left, including games at home to the Indiana schools this weekend.
#-1: Gopher women's hockey (Last Week: -4). Swept a pair at Ridder of Bemidji St. by a combined score of 8-4. That's all I got. They have the next screening week off.
#-2: Vikings (Last Week: -7). One observation: Last year, when a contending year didn't seem to be in the cards, the club got it together and starting rolling through teams. It got to the point where the Vikes were overwhelming teams. I remember them playing The Bastard Cleveland Browns last year, for example. I was working the field for the game, and more than once, the white guy on the Ravens' Offensive Line was openly complaining about not knowing where to go or what to do. That's what happens with a Vikings team that surprises everyone -- including their own fans -- and dominates.
Contrast that to this year, where everyone believes they are a contender, and instead the team has been holding off teams at a much-too-uncomfortable distance. I think the shocking home loss to the Buffalo Bills will permanently jaundice any Vikes fan into pessimism (also, I know that that defeat, and the tie to Green Bay, will cost the team come playoff time). But take their victory over Detroit yesterday/Sunday, their first over the Lions at U. S. Bank Stadium (the Lions actually were undefeated here until yesterday). The game ended 24-9. It was essentially over when Matthew Stafford stupidly tossed the ball behind him on a rollout to Kerryon Johnson, who fumbled it because, like all of us on earth, he didn't fucking think Stafford would pull shit like that. (Danielle Hunter scoop-and-scored off the fumble; along with his 3.5 Sacks, he definitely will be NFC Defensive Player Of The Week.) And yet it was only a 15-point margin of victory. Any competent team could come back from that. Any team could, even if the Vikings' D put up a franchise-record ten Sacks. The Vikes are just not dominating like when they surprised everyone last year. That, plus losses to the Rams and the Saints, plus lurking team such as Carolina, and ... yeah, I don't know if this is their year.
Bye week. As good a week for a team to take one than any.
#-3: Wild (Last Week: -2). Their winning streak ended at five, and with a thud, 5-2 at Vancouver Monday. But they're in the middle of a two-game winning streak with victories at Edmonton and home to St. Louis, probably the most complete game the team has played this year yet. Once his career is over and the correctives start getting published, the trade for Devan Dubnyk will be considered one of the most pivotal in franchise history.
This week this squad is entirely on the road, versus San Jose, Los Angeles, Anaheim and St. Louis.
#-4: Timberwolves (Last Week: -5). Finished the screening week 2-2. Won two games, both at home. Then lost two games, both on the road. Yes, there was that 50-point turn-back-the-clock performance by Derrick Rose over Utah on Halloween, but for the life of me I don't remember his rape allegation, I really don't. The nadir probably was the 30-point loss at Portland yesterday/Sunday because Jimmy Butler decided he wasn't playing. He didn't play vs. the Jazz, either.
A California three-step this screening week: At the Clippers and Lakers, then at Sacramento.
#-5: Gopher men's hockey (Last Week: -6). I will always give a Head Coach in his first year on the job a mulligan. It's for reasons like this past weekend, where the Golden Goofers dropped both ends of a home-and-home to Minnesota State-Mankato, 5-1 and 2-1. One of the big things that ultimately led to the "resignation" of Don Lucia is his embarrassing record against the four other in-state schools, all of them smaller and thus more inferior to them. This is part of what Bob Motzko was brought in from St. Cloud St. to change. Next week they visit Wisconsin for two, another tall order.
#-6: Gopher football (Last Week: -3). P. J. Fleck last year had the excuse Bob Motzko has this year. But that excuse, of course, is gone, and now his team needs to fuckin' execute.
I really thought they could beat Illinois on the road. The Fighting Illini are a horrible team, led by Lovie Smith, an NFL lifer who's just in the college ranks for the money and because he probably still has some real estate in the Chicago area from his days leading the Bears. And yet, not only did the Goofers lose, they got the shit kicked out of them, 55-31. It got so bad, yesterday/Sunday Fleck decided to fire Defensive Coordinator Robb Smith and replaced him on an interim basis with Defensive Line Coach Joe Rossi. Good luck to Rossi as Purdue, a school that may have found an HC who "gets it" (Jeff Brohm) comes to town for the weekend.
Sunday, November 4, 2018
Women Problems
So I got burned by *a*** when she promised me a lap dance (I'm at My Favorite Stripclub [Non-Cover Division]) and then gave a couple to someone else without telling me so. I wave my hand, sort-of sarcastically, and she gets all pissy and walks away from me. We both overreacted, OK? I think it'll blow over after I give it some time off.
I was sort-of grumpy because I'm still sick and I had to field a call from Mother. After I get home I get sort-of reamed by Mother for even mentioning that I would renew a license online. Her condescending tone, when she doesn't know fuck-all about renewing online (otherwise she would do it her goddamn self), is something I really, really don't need. At all.
And in the meantime I'm staring to think That Bitch At Work is going to be a problem. Yeah, I changed my mind about her being cool with me. Maybe she's after me.
Man, I just want to turn my back on the world, or at least all females, till Tuesday.
I was sort-of grumpy because I'm still sick and I had to field a call from Mother. After I get home I get sort-of reamed by Mother for even mentioning that I would renew a license online. Her condescending tone, when she doesn't know fuck-all about renewing online (otherwise she would do it her goddamn self), is something I really, really don't need. At all.
And in the meantime I'm staring to think That Bitch At Work is going to be a problem. Yeah, I changed my mind about her being cool with me. Maybe she's after me.
Man, I just want to turn my back on the world, or at least all females, till Tuesday.
Saturday, November 3, 2018
Got Called Out For Listening The Radio Too Loud At Work Today
I don't care, for a lot of reasons:
- I'm still fucking sick af. If this floats up to my supervisor, that'll be my excuse;
- I was not in the mood to listen to chit-chat amongst the others, although I usually am not and that is why I listen to the radio;
- That Bitch e-mailed me. I'm not completely pissed. In fact, I think I have a lot of reasons to think that she doesn't think lowly of me. First of all, she said please. And second, that she even reached out to me (even though she used ALL CAPS I DON'T THINK THAT'S A BIG DEAL BECAUSE MOST OF OUR WORK ON THE COMPUTER HAS TO BE IN ALL CAPS) makes me think she's comfortable enough with me to plead with me to turn down the radio. If she thinks I'm a shitty person, she wouldn't even bother being this direct with me. She'll just, I don't know, talk to my boss, or start becoming passive-aggressive with me. You know, maybe That Bitch isn't that much of a bitch after all.
Check Your Privilege, Jaywalker
It's about time I write about this.
So the last time I was working the Vikings game, after leaving the Vikings game, I'm driving down Washington Ave. I get to this relatively busy area and I don't remember the cross-street, all I know is that there are no crosswalks there, OK? But there was a family walking across the street. And suddenly, the "father" of the group, who was holding by the hand two small individuals I assume were his kids, stops in the lane to the left of me and holds his hand up to stop me. Ostensibly he's doing that because there are other members of his group, including over individuals I presume are his parents, that are also walking across Washington Ave.
I want to emphasize, strongly, that there is no crosswalk in the area of Washington Ave. where I got, for lack of a better term, "stopped." And yet this asshole had the cojones to take it upon himself to stop his illegal walk and, from the other lane, put up a metaphorical stop sign so the rest of his party could jaywalk.
I have never had that done to me before in my life. And I let him know it as I locked eyes on him with absolute disbelief for the 15 seconds it took for the rest of his crew to jaywalk. This prick was tall and had effeminate curly hair and, obviously, a sense of entitlement.
Look, I haven't spoken to a cop about this. But let's just assume I was going under the speed limit. This asshole put up his hand because he thought I was going to speed through. Of course I was not going to plow into his loved ones. But is there a crosswalk anywhere in that part of Washington Ave. that would compel a car to slow down? No! Those fucking people walked across that street because they wanted to, and I bet it's not because they had the legal right of way. Instead what happened was that a car skidded to a stop on a very busy street where no cars should be stopped.
All I could do was burn a whole through that buttmunch. Eventually he put his hand together as if to say I talk too much, which is weird because I didn't say a thing to him. Well, until after he made that talk too much gesture, to which I gestured him to jaywalk his ass back to me so we could, uh, discuss the rules of the road a little more on the sidewalk. But he grabbed his kids and turned away.
I do not see myself as wrong on this, as much as this guy with his head up his own ass thinks he's not only right but doing the right thing by stopping traffic on a busy street at a busy time of day. What that entitled son-of-a-bitch believed he could get away with ... man, a part of me wanted to blow right through them. I am not going to be talked down to by people who think they can walk wherever the hell they want because they're on foot. You want cars to stop for you, prick? Find a goddamn crosswalk. And stop thinking that you're God.
Check your privilege, jaywalker.
So the last time I was working the Vikings game, after leaving the Vikings game, I'm driving down Washington Ave. I get to this relatively busy area and I don't remember the cross-street, all I know is that there are no crosswalks there, OK? But there was a family walking across the street. And suddenly, the "father" of the group, who was holding by the hand two small individuals I assume were his kids, stops in the lane to the left of me and holds his hand up to stop me. Ostensibly he's doing that because there are other members of his group, including over individuals I presume are his parents, that are also walking across Washington Ave.
I want to emphasize, strongly, that there is no crosswalk in the area of Washington Ave. where I got, for lack of a better term, "stopped." And yet this asshole had the cojones to take it upon himself to stop his illegal walk and, from the other lane, put up a metaphorical stop sign so the rest of his party could jaywalk.
I have never had that done to me before in my life. And I let him know it as I locked eyes on him with absolute disbelief for the 15 seconds it took for the rest of his crew to jaywalk. This prick was tall and had effeminate curly hair and, obviously, a sense of entitlement.
Look, I haven't spoken to a cop about this. But let's just assume I was going under the speed limit. This asshole put up his hand because he thought I was going to speed through. Of course I was not going to plow into his loved ones. But is there a crosswalk anywhere in that part of Washington Ave. that would compel a car to slow down? No! Those fucking people walked across that street because they wanted to, and I bet it's not because they had the legal right of way. Instead what happened was that a car skidded to a stop on a very busy street where no cars should be stopped.
All I could do was burn a whole through that buttmunch. Eventually he put his hand together as if to say I talk too much, which is weird because I didn't say a thing to him. Well, until after he made that talk too much gesture, to which I gestured him to jaywalk his ass back to me so we could, uh, discuss the rules of the road a little more on the sidewalk. But he grabbed his kids and turned away.
I do not see myself as wrong on this, as much as this guy with his head up his own ass thinks he's not only right but doing the right thing by stopping traffic on a busy street at a busy time of day. What that entitled son-of-a-bitch believed he could get away with ... man, a part of me wanted to blow right through them. I am not going to be talked down to by people who think they can walk wherever the hell they want because they're on foot. You want cars to stop for you, prick? Find a goddamn crosswalk. And stop thinking that you're God.
Check your privilege, jaywalker.
Friday, November 2, 2018
Bad Driver: 262 TBH (Red ... Nissan sedan?)
Oh, you just sized me up and thought you didn't want to be behind me at all, even though I was just exiting the Wells Fargo parking lot? So you just made this into some NASCAR shit and sped past me so you could dart down the street ... and then make an itty-bitty right turn on the next stop sign? Didn't want to get stuck behind me for even that long? Asshole.
If I weren't so sick to the point I didn't care, I would ... well, I don't know what I'd do, but I guess I would care more than I hopefully won't some time this evening.
If I weren't so sick to the point I didn't care, I would ... well, I don't know what I'd do, but I guess I would care more than I hopefully won't some time this evening.
List Of Things To Complain About To Doctor
Sorry, I thought I could wait to see him Wednesday, but after another restless night where my coughing fit made me stay up since 1:30, I can't do it any longer. I'm going in to see the doctor this afternoon, and I'll miss work in order to do it.
Here is a list of things that are still bothering me, listed from worst to least:
Here is a list of things that are still bothering me, listed from worst to least:
- Coughing due to post-nasal drip
- Nausea
- Diarrhea
- Insomnia
- Feeling hot and cold at the same time
Thursday, November 1, 2018
You Know, Now That I Think About It, The Worst Part Of How I'm Feeling Right Now Is ...
... the nausea. I am manufacturing snot like we're in a war, and inevitably it travels down my throat with such frequency and volume that I just have to cough it up, and that doesn't work because there's too goddamn much, so I cough harder, and that still doesn't work, so I start to open up my gag reflex, as if that's the only thing that will remove the "bad shit" in my throat, which it is not, BTW.
I can't see him tomorrow; he can't see me Monday. The earliest is Tuesday, aka Election Day, the day where I'm supposed to be a patriot and make sure everybody else is able to exercise their fundamental right to vote. But I can't because I apparently have to fucking take care of me, selfish bastard.
I can't see him tomorrow; he can't see me Monday. The earliest is Tuesday, aka Election Day, the day where I'm supposed to be a patriot and make sure everybody else is able to exercise their fundamental right to vote. But I can't because I apparently have to fucking take care of me, selfish bastard.
Wednesday, October 31, 2018
You Know, Maybe I'm Not Cut Out For This Job
Going off on dreaming about what I could do if I just became a temp again, today at work was hell. There were so many things, especially at the end of my shift, that I had never seen before. I had to ask people what's going on, and one person volunteered her advice even though she's starting to get a little overbearing about it. And then, I swear, I came upon something ... and I froze because I didn't know if I needed to do something or not. And no, still being sick (WHEN THE HELL WILL I STOP COUGHING UNTIL I GAG?!) didn't help. If something comes back to bite me in the ass, I'll use that as an excuse.
I'm really struggling with getting my job right. It's been two months now (I think?), and at some point I should just slide in and do the work like it ain't no thing. But I still doubt myself, still catch myself saying, "Wait, do I do ... this?" Yes, I think some mastery should be assumed by now. But I am very, very far from that. And because of that, I'm starting to really be unhappy at work. You know, I could throw it back at them and say that my training has been inadequate. And it has. But still, I'm in sink-or-swim mode, and too many times, like today, I was sinking.
Man, I don't know. I should quit because I get the feeling I should be fired.
I'm really struggling with getting my job right. It's been two months now (I think?), and at some point I should just slide in and do the work like it ain't no thing. But I still doubt myself, still catch myself saying, "Wait, do I do ... this?" Yes, I think some mastery should be assumed by now. But I am very, very far from that. And because of that, I'm starting to really be unhappy at work. You know, I could throw it back at them and say that my training has been inadequate. And it has. But still, I'm in sink-or-swim mode, and too many times, like today, I was sinking.
Man, I don't know. I should quit because I get the feeling I should be fired.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)