The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey

Positive Numbers: Gopher softball (Last Week: 0).  Don't look now, but the U. softballers are on a holy roll.  Five wins this week, two sweeps of their two closest geographic rivals -- a Doubleheader sweep at Wisconsin Wednesday, a three-Game sweep of Iowa at Cowles over the weekend by a combined score of 23-1.  Suck it, Kendyl Lindamann!

This team has won its last 11, stand at 37-10 overall and 18-1 in the Big Ten.  It is now very appropriate to project where the U. will be placed in the NCAA Tournament.  The only college softball bracketologist on the Internet has, as of press time, Minnesota as the overall eight-seed.  So not only would they host a Regional (which would be sweet seeing as I have not been to a softball game yet this year) but, if they win out, be in line to host a Super Regional, too.  And maybe make it to the club's first-ever Women's College World Series??

And yet, despite all of their powerful bona fides, the Golden Gophers are not in first place in the B1G.  In fact, they're not even in second.  Michigan is a half-Game ahead of them at 19-1, and Northwestern is leading the conference at 20-0.  Which makes this weekend so mouth-watering.  The Gophers play the Wildcats to finish out the regular season at home.  Considering that both the 'Cats and the Wolverines are projected by College Sports Madness to make the field but as unseeded squads, this should mean that Minnesota is favored.  Heck, if the Gophers sweep, they might take the regular season conference title.  I feel bad, then, that I'll probably miss the series.

#0: United FC (Last Week: -3).  Well, at least the Loons went undefeated this screening week.  On Wednesday, without the services of Jan Gregus and Francisco Calvo (both of whom got Red-Carded late in the defeat to Toronto), a fortified Backline of substitutes Brent Kallman and Eric Miller battled to a scoreless draw against the Los Angeles Galaxy (a match I had to miss because I was filling in at work second shift).  Adrian Heath, a Manager loathe to change starting lineups if his starters are healthy, apparently liked what he saw during that match (in particular the combination of Kallman and Ike Opara bottling up Zlatan Ibrahimovich) and not only kept Calvo but also Michael Boxall (who did not start midweek because of, well, sucking) on the bench Sunday afternoon against Wayne Rooney and D.C. United.

And, finally!



Courtesy of a (admittedly weak) tap-in by Angelo Rodriguez (with an assist by Romain Metanire, a Defender who is fast becoming a godsend for MNUFC), the good guys finally won their first match at Allianz Field. (It also helped that a D.C. United Goal was overturned after VAR.) So four Points and no defeats this week means that, as of right now, United FC are in a playoff spot. (Not a difficult challenge; more than half the teams will make it.)

Can the XI continue their non-losing ways at home Saturday versus Seattle?

#-1: Twins (Last Week: -1).  A lot has been made that the Twin Cities is the worst of the metropolitan areas with Quadspo (that is teams in the Big Four Sports) since the Wild were eliminated from the playoffs.  That means that neither the Wild, Timberwolves, Vikings nor Twins made it to the postseason their last year.  That fact has recurred a lot over the past two decades.

But if you have to take a guess as to which of those four franchises has the best chance of winning a championship, no foolin', you might as well bet on the Twins.  Sure, they began this screening week by dropping the last two Games of a series in Houston.  And sure, everybody will probably beat up on the Baltimore Orioles the same way Minnesota did at Target over the weekend (they swept the season series, 6-0, and have Major League Baseball's active streak of most consecutive wins over another squad).  But last (Monday) night Jake Odorizzi somehow outdueled the Astros' Justin Verlander (who smoked the Twins back on Wednesday, 7-1) in a 1-0 thriller, thus ending the Twins' week at 4-2.  Better yet, they sit atop the American League Central.

But maybe best of all is the feeling you get around these guys.  They are young, they are a tad cocky, and they are fun to watch.  Mostly it's because of their full embrace of analytics, and the dividends they are beginning to reap from obeying them.  The Twins currently lead the majors (I think?) in Slugging Percentage.  (It helps to uncork, like, a dozen Home Runs against The Bastard St. Louis Browns.)  Jose Berrios and Kyle Gibson are rounding into form as good, and maybe even reliable, starters.  And all this without Miguel Sano, who finally can start facing at-bats in the minor leagues this week.  In short, this is a team that feels like it's on the rise.  And it's possible that this season is going to extend into October.  Really, I have never felt so good about a team that finished third in a Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey!

But first things first: Three more against Houston (who leads the American League West) at Target Field, then the dreaded annual trip to the Bronx to face the Yankees.  Then they cross the border to start a three-Game set against Toronto starting on Monday.

#-2: Gopher baseball (Last Week: -2).  And finally, bringing up the wah-wah rear, are the Goofer male Nine, who lost two-of-three over the weekend at 23rd-ranked Indiana.  (Weirdly, the winning team scored seven Runs all three tilts.)  Oh, and tonight's (Tuesday night's) match vs. North Dakota St. at Siebert has been cancelled because rain's supposed to move into our area this evening.  But tomorrow's (Wednesday evening's) home Game against Wisconsin-Milwaukee is still supposed to be on.  That is scheduled to be the first of nine Games that will end the home portion of this club's schedule; they host Ohio St. over the weekend.

Hottest Babe In The Hooters Calendar: March

Need to do this before I get more than a month behind.

And it is difficult to assess the girls for March.  Partly it's because I've had to hide the calendar from my parents, so I haven't been able to look at the pretty babes every day and, through osmosis, passively analyze them.  But also (and this may be a byproduct of looking at them just now and quickly) I don't think this is a great batch.  For example, the "cover girl," Kaylee out of Flint, Mich., looks nice enough, but she's lying on her side, so she's not showing much.

In fact the other nine hotties for this page aren't showing much.  Some of them have too much covered up.  A disturbing number of them are shot from the side, for some reason.

But three stand out, and I just now decided that I won't do a three-way tie (which would be a first) and I instead will select a winner.  First, in third place is Phoenix's Nekkei.  Scoop-line bikini top, beautiful sideboob and ample titties.  The only problem I have with her is that she's posing with her arms bent vertically, which I find distracting.  The second-place finisher, Katrina from Farmingdale, N.Y., also does this; in fact, she's clutching the straps of her bikini top.  But she's got better-defined abs and she's wearing a Hooters bikini.  Being on message is always a plus in my book.

But the best babe for March is New York City's own Victoria.  I have seen more attractive, to be quite honest.  But she does have a nice smile, and she is sporting a red two-piece, her body parts are nice, and she's directly facing the camera, full frontal.  That's good enough for me.  So Victoria, congratulations, you win!

And I hope to have time to masturbate to all these chicks as I start working nights as well as days.

Creepy Man In The Neighborhood

Just for the record, coming home late this afternoon, I see this dirty-looking, crazy-looking, old white dude with a mustache, beard and what looks like a stack of branches hanging from his bag walking down my street just as I was going up my driveway.  I couldn't help but look at him, at which point he locked eyes with me with an expression that basically was, "What are you lookin' at?!" to which point he took a left away from my house and up the nearest cross street.  But dude looked like he was trippin'.  He had those murderous eyes to him.  And he probably could tell which house I live in.

So if I or my parents die, you know who did it.

Guess It's That Time Of The Year When I Molt

So last Sunday I went to Siebert Field to catch the Minnesota Gophers baseball game against Oklahoma.  It was perfect weather for a baseball game -- no rain, a wind that was there but not stifling, temperatures warm but not hot ... and mostly sunny skies.  It certainly wasn't the same weather as, say, the Allianz Field opener.  Temperatures may not have reached 50, and it was overcast all day, so I broke out my long underwear for just that one day.  The game Sunday, well, that was summer weather, so I wore just a t-shirt and shorts, the first time all year I wore the latter (obviously).

I did not expect, however, that the sun would be so, uh, hot.  It probably got past 70, but (and I know I shouldn't think like this) to me, that wasn't a high enough temperature to put on sunscreen.  I, in fact, thought that, since it was my first real exposure to the "hot" sun, my exposed skin could withstand it.  It felt good for most of the game, but near the end, I started feeling something.  It felt like my skin was burning, and not just tanning.  I am familiar with this feeling before, but I swear I had no idea this would happen to me just sitting and watching a baseball game.

After I got home, and probably the day after, that's when the pain hit me.  I remember reading once that a sunburn is like killing off your skin cells, and the burning sensation felt like I just let my skin cells fry and die in the sun.  My arms (well, the one that was facing the sun for most of the game) and, to a lesser extent, my legs felt painful to the touch.  I thought those areas would tan; instead, it went from pale to red, not brown.  It got so bad that I went online and have used two things that is supposed to lessen the pain from sunburns: Taking ibuprofen and rubbing something with aloe on the affected areas.

It has been a week, so the most painful sensations have gone away.  But not all of it; I still feel the burn whenever I twist my arm, or the shirt I'm wearing rubs up against my arms or legs.  And now I see that the skin on my right arm is starting to peel.  This time last night it was a small spot.  Now that spot has grown, and an even bigger one has popped up and started to spread.  It looks as though to fight a sunburn, you have to contain the damage and then push it up into the dermis, whereby my body can get rid of it by exposing the dead skin cells to the outside and the elements.  I wonder if the peeling skin will get worse.

This should convince me to wear sunscreen, even on a spring day.  But I know I probably won't do that.

Seeing My Late Grandmother's Best Friend

I don't think I've blogged about her.  If I haven't, or even if I already have, I should.

So I visit Grandmother's best friend, who, because of her late husband, gets to live in a veterans' home.  It's hell of a long way from where I live, and it is a pain in the ass.  But it was a pain in the ass to visit Grandmother in St. Paul, but I did it because I love her.  I love Grandmother's friend, too, even though, as a kid, I would always be angry about her cutting my hair.  That's how I know her: Grandmother would always take me and my brother to see her, when she didn't live too far away, and she would cut my hair.  She was good, even though I never was mature enough to admit that to her.

My days of getting my hair cut by her have been long gone, of course.  She got older, she lost her husband, had to stop cutting hair and then, eventually, moved to a home.  (This is her second home; the first one was close to our house, and she had an apartment.  I think she said that she had to move out because it was getting too expensive.)  And even though I tried getting those two to talk to each other once we shipped Grandmother out to Hong Kong, the time difference, where we would have to initiate the call at around midnight, made it impossible.  I think I remember the last time those two saw each other, when Grandmother was in the St. Paul home.  I brought Grandmother's friend there, and I think she arranged plans to get picked up by someone else.  I hope the visit was worth it for them.

I've tried to see this friend a little more often now that Grandmother has died.  I try monthly, but when I visited this afternoon it probably was closer to two months.  Her frailty is getting to her.  When she was first in the nursing home, we had conversations where she would start to meander, but I thought it was just because she was so lonely.  Now, I can tell what she is going to say because it's the same things she says every time I come over: How long has Grandmother been gone; I plan on going to Paris to see my friend; there's this guy on the floor who likes me, etc.  She has gotten to a point where she sometimes repeats things she has said on my visit already, and that makes me sad.  But I never got the impression that she was physically on the decline.

However, I have always been afraid of that, because one day, she will physically be on the decline.  In fact, because I am not family, if she dies, I won't know that until I go down to her home, visit her room, and see a nameplate with a different nameplate.  It'll be such a macabre and sad feeling, made worse by the tragic comedy of thinking she was alive and then learning through a nurse that she's dead.  And since I have no business being there besides her, I'll have nothing to do except, you know, leaving.  Just show up, "Oh, she died, sorry," and sign myself out.  That sequence of events is so pathetic, and yet I know that's going to happen one day.  And maybe soon.

I dropped down to see her this afternoon, but she was asleep.  She was lying face up, and she appeared to be a little more frail around the face than I remember.  (Better than the bruises I saw she had a couple visits ago; hope to Buddha that was from a fall and not, uh, man-made.)  I didn't want to wake her up because, hey, would you want to be waken up from a good sleep just to say hi?  I sure wouldn't.  But I'm scared as all get-out that that is the last image of Grandmother's best friend I will have while she's alive.  It has gotten to be a chore to listen to her, to be honest.  But better that than the day I learn she is gone.

Addendum To: Once Again, I'll Miss Second Shift

By the way, what really helped out this week (which is not specific to second shift because it applied to all shifts) is that we are celebrating ourselves this week.  To celebrate, amongst other things (such as a free raffle for prizes and special classes on country-line dancing and origami), the company has given us food from Sunday till tomorrow.  It was, in order:

• Sunday: donuts (which I didn't find, even though I made a special trip [even though I don't work Sundays here])
• Monday: bagels
• Tuesday: fruit
• Wednesday: pizza, salad and pop
• Thursday: bread with cinnamon-apple butter
• Friday: popcorn
• Saturday: bagels again

Free food makes the workday go by a lot better, if not faster, since I'm fatter now.

Expenses Without Receipts

Starting from Thursday, April 25:

• One of the things I wanted to do during this week of second shifts is go back to Caribou, a place where, when I was unemployed, I went to every morning to fool my parents into thinking I was working during the day.  It's been months since I've been here, and it's felt really good to come back to do something that was once routine for me, even if it was for one day.  Large mocha (which was a dollar off this day), small oatmeal chocolate chip cookie, minus ten cents for getting it right.  Got a receipt for that, so this EWR is just for the tip, which is: $1.
• Tuesday the 23rd -- With the shift on my workday for the week to second, uh, shift, I had wondered what to do with my mornings and afternoons.  Should I stay in and save money?  Should I go out and exercise?  Are there things that I haven't been able to do during the workday that I could do this week?  Ultimately I decide by asking what I usually ask: Are there things that I won't be able to do again if I decide to skip it?  Well, I'm not sure if there will be another weekday where the Nomad Pub will be open, so I left early on this day to take in Tottenham Hotspurs' EPL match against Brighton and Hove Albion, at least for the First Half.  (Spurs won with a Goal late, 1-0.)  Since there is no food served at the Nomad besides Heggies Pizza, I got there early, walked to Chipotle, and brought my bowl (first time I eschewed a burrito from Chipotle ... but I think I'm going back to burritos because I don't think I got a whole lot in my bowl) into the bar to watch the match.  I bought a Surly Hell, on special for soccer games, to wash the Chipotle bowl down.  With tip the beer cost me: $5.
• On Monday the 22nd I went to the library -- ostensibly to finally get tabs for my car, but Mother asked me to print something, and then while I was at the library she asked me to print something else.  Turns out neither of the two things I printed for her was what she wanted, so I'll have to go out again and get that printed for her.  Anyway, I printed six pages' worth, so I spent: 60 cents.
• Monday was Earth Day, and Dunn Bros. was selling all drinks for a buck off of what would be a small (regardless of the size of your mug) if you brought in your own mug.  I was starting my week on second shift, and I really wanted to switch it up, even though I didn't want to buy coffee every single day of the week.  But normally, if you bring your mug into Dunn Bros. you would only be charged for a small (no extra dollar off, like on Monday), so to switch it up just this one time, I went in.  It was still expensive, IMHO.  With tip: $4.75.
• On Sunday the 21st I went to the Golden Gopher baseball game against a school that doesn't come up these parts to often (well, not at all, at least not in half a century), Oklahoma.  Got one hell of a sunburn; should blog about that.  And the Sooners put the kibosh on the U.'s at-large hopes with a come-from-behind win.  In other news, they finally caught me.  I presented them with my decades-old student ID, and the person at the ticket window said that all students now have to go through the application.  I have no idea if it would work for me, and besides, the game was about to start, so I just paid for a ticket, albeit the student price of five bucks.  I don't remember what I paid for my hot dog and souvenir-sized Coke.  Add a program (which was a buck) and I am guessing at how much I spent at the game: $19.50.
• After the game/loss I had time to go to St. Paul and finally go to Mickey's Diner for the year.  Best to do it on this date: I could take in an afternoon snack in the afternoon, go to downtown St. Paul on Sunday when meters are free, and I'm going when there's nothing going on.  I mean, there ain't no Wild playoff game, heh-heh!  I was going to eat big at home in a few hours, so I just got a Potatoes O'Brian and a chocolate shake.  With tip: $12.50
• Friday, April 19 ... had this urge to get my hair cut.  Paid full price at Great Clips, even though it seems obscenely expensive to do so.  With tip: $19.
• That evening, after dinner, I went to McKinney Roe, this swank new bar in downtown Minneapolis, which was hosting the MNUFC watch party.  Great room and great atmosphere, even though the eventual come-from-ahead loss was ultimately a downer.  All Summits were on sale, so I got a Summer Ale for the less-than-90 minutes I was there.  With tip: $7.
• Went to Glam Doll afterwards.  Got a free donut this time around!  One paid donut, pour-over, tip, and a dollar for the free donut equals: $9.29.
• Tuesday the 16th I was in Dallas, where I spent much of my time with my friend with who I was staying with (well, she and her husband).  We went out to the Rangers game (they beat Anaheim).  I am fanatical for not paying for parking, but she insisted that we park as close as possible because she didn't want to walk.  In any relationship you compromise, so I paid for parking and she paid for food.  And I paid -- oof: $20.
• And then my friend found a couple stray dollar bills in her hand and gave them to me.  She didn't have to -- she was saying for food -- but she insisted.  I love her.  An Infusion of: $2.
• On Monday, April 15 (aka Tax Day) I left the hotel I stayed at for the day.  It was a run-down big hotel that had its days.  I wouldn't say it was a grand hotel, just big.  It was one of those that had balconies on the inside of the building, not the outside.  I find such a set-up fascinating, and if the people staying there were businesspeople and not those who are struggling financially, I would really like staying there.  Nevertheless I had a great room which I regret not staying in for more than a day.  Well, the toilet didn't flush.  I would press down the lever and the water in the bowl would just gurgle.  Oh, and my room was a weird mish-mash of old and new features.  The bathroom (toilet excepted) looks incredibly modern, but the walls in the bedroom are made of stucco.  Oh, and the TV is new school ... but after the evening I couldn't get the volume to work.  Anyway, morning housekeeper tip: $1.
• I've been to the Big D three times, and I have been to the institution called Sonny Bryan's every single time, including on this day.  Was treated nicer this time.  One of several instances I got sweet tea, which seemed natural to buy in this part of the country.  With tip the meal was: $10.63.
• Had an afternoon free, so I went to arguably The Greatest Soccer Pub In The U.S., the Londoner.  I underestimated the length of time I needed to drive from close to downtown Dallas to a suburb north, and so I was late for the game, which I hate, but hey, I had never been up there before, so I have to give myself some slack.  Smells like a soccer pub, which means a lot to me and may not make a lot of sense to you.  Per a recommendation on a Thrillist article on Dallas soccer pubs, I got a craft beer called the Blood and Honey from Revolution Brewery.  Really good.  In fact, I was impressed by all the craft beers I got while down there.  With tip: $6.
• Sunday, April 14 is the first day of my vacation to Dallas, whereby I was going to succeed in my twin goals of 1) seeing my friend and 2) seeing a Rangers game at Globe Life Park before they close it down at the end of the year.  (I needed to go in April instead of later in the year because I would lose all my Southwest Airlines funds if I didn't go before the 20th.  Have I blogged about this before?)  Tip for the rental shuttle: $1.
• My arrival time to Dallas was several hours before my departure time from Dallas.  If I had reserved a rental car for my entire stay in Big D, I would have had to pay for an extra day to cover those several hours.  I was not going to do that, so I gave myself a choice: Either stick around Dallas Love after arriving and maybe have a big lunch before getting the car, or return the car and get to the airport early and may have a big lunch then.  I decided to spend most of my time during my vacation watching baseball.  I wanted to take in a college baseball game, and I thought it would be at, of all places, Texas-Arlington hosting TCU.  But with my friend being free only on that night, and me deciding that we would spend that night at the Rangers game, that would mean that if I wanted to take in a college baseball match, it would have to be different.  Well, I had only one other option: TCU again, this time hosting, of all teams, Seton Hall.  Decided I would get the rental early -- touch down and get going.  (My friend had time Wednesday afternoon, so after I brought my car back in time, we had time to eat barbecue and sit alone together.)  The stadium at Fort Worth is faded, but it is a bona fide small baseball stadium.  Too bad the team lost to the Pirates, 7-3.  (Only saw after I got back home that TCU is actually a Top 25 team.  Didn't see it that day.)  The Horned Frogs also apparently started selling beer this year, what with the signs indicating that beer was available.  It was weird, though, to see a young girl, obviously too young to drink beer herself, pouring me a Deep Ellum IPA -- and twice, since her hand slipped off the first can she needed to pour into a generic purple (the main color for Texas Christian University sports) plastic cup and dunked the whole can in it.  Sunday was Dollar Dog Day, so that's what I ate.  With ticket: $23.
• Even though I didn't have the money, I had to go to a strip club, and so I went to "The" strip club in town, Baby Dolls.  Babes everywhere, and one babe, a domestic one, uh, made me cum.  Cover, tips, a Shiner Bock (a well-known Texas beer) and that lapper: $152.75.
• Saturday the 13th ... MNUFC's first-ever game at beautiful Allianz Field.  I wanted to record the opening kick, and goddammit, I forgot to press the button on my phone.  I charged my food on my credit card, but I tipped one of those drummer-buskers on my out of the match: $1.
• Oh, I parked at Rosedale and rode the A Line from there and back.  Because I wanted to make sure I wasn't fumbling around with my wallet if the bus taking me there was there, I charged the ticket on the way to the stadium.  But I used cash on my way back to the mall: $2.
• Tuesday, April 9: This was the day where I finished up my taxes.  I went to the library in order to make the copies of them: $1.50.
• On Monday the 8th, amongst other things, I went to get my shoes shined at Lisa's.  With tip: $15.
• Back to Sunday the 7th, where I spent the morning inbetween my stint working the Final Four at Diamonds to concentrate on my taxes.  I should drink tea more often, and I decided this was the day to do so.  Besides, I was drinking coffee like a fiend each and every day working the FF, about four cups a day.  With tip: $3.75.
• I then went to the Egypt's Sunken Treasures (or something like that) exhibit at the Minneapolis Institute Of Art.  Bought the ticket beforehand online and I charged the audio tour.  I threw in a donation on my way out, specifically: $3.
• Then went to the library.  When I was working on my taxes at Diamonds, I believed I needed to print out more forms.  That's what I did, and I printed out a letter for Mother, I think.  Total: 30 cents.
• Went to My Favorite Stripclub (Non-Cover Version) at night, I think.  With the price of coffee going up again there, I decided fuck it, I'll just get a beer like everyone else.  It's not as if I'm walking into that bar again come the New Year.  With a tip for the Budweiser, stage tips and possibly the first-ever lap dance I got from the big-titted veteran Julie U., I spent: $34.
• Wednesday, April 3 -- went to the library in the middle of my stint at the Final Four.  Went to the library after work, and I was so tired and flustered while working on my taxes that I forgot my fucking change.  Still mad at myself about it.  Printouts of tax forms and the change I "donated" to the library: $1.

Once Again, I'll Miss Second Shift

Without any authority figures around me -- once again I have the run of the department all to myself -- I can do my work at my own pace.  And since the people I'm supposed to help (from the other room) understand that there are many slow spots during the night (although not as much as I thought for a shift that ends at midnight), I can feel like I can blog this at work without feeling much heat (although I had one of them step into the room as I had a screen showing listings for satellite radio because I forgot to flip it to another window).  I should have taken my lunch already, but because I wanted to hear the NFL Draft, I still haven't done it.  And you know what?  I don't think I'll get much blowback.

I love working by myself!

To The Teenage, Privileged, Punk-Ass Virginia Thief (Getting This Off My Chest):

Takes a lot of balls to barge into the dining tent and take water bottles.  What made you think you could do that?  Was there a sign that says "FREE WATER?"  I know there wasn't.  And it sure as shit didn't look like you were working for us.

Why did you take water bottles from us?  Were you parched?  Were you going to die of thirst if you or your buddies or your family didn't get water immediately?  Your smirk while you were stealing water from us and then casually walking out the door made me think you weren't on your last legs, buddy boy.

The only reasons I didn't stop you were: 1) I was on my phone; 2) I didn't think anyone would have the balls, let alone the impropriety of taking things that were not theirs, to walk into a place you're not allowed; and 3) the catering company had bags and bags of water, and you taking several was not going to bankrupt them.  That still gives you no goddamn right to do what you did.  Those were not your bottles of water to take.

But the most galling thing of all?  You didn't even flip the cooler lid down.  You put it up, took the water ... and left it up.  You didn't have the fucking decency just to put it down, asshole?  Why not?  You wanted to show me up?  Were you being a troll?  Were you making a political statement?  Were you trying to stick it to The Man?  Because, to me, looking at the slick Virginia jacket you were wearing (after your team won the title game, by the way) and how you were acting, you're a Republican little shit who thinks taking things from people is his birthright, no matter how illegal what you did is (and yes, what you did is illegal even if I didn't stop you).  Stephen Miller is probably your spirit animal.

Next time you're probably going to steal something of real value, and that's when I, or someone with a much worse temper, will have to stop you by any means necessary.  Bitch.

Yeah, So What I Was Afraid Would Eventually Happen Did Happen

Got home late because I wanted to eat at the Pizza Luce in Roseville.  (They close at 2:30.  A hip, alcohol-serving, suburban sit-down place closes at 2:30.  There needs to be more places like this.)  Wanted a ticket to the MNRG bout Saturday (a friends' final game announcing) and then I wanted to eat at Pizza Luce.  Got home at around 1:30; went to bed soon after.

Woke up at 8:30.  Turned on Stephanie Miller.  Faded back to sleep, off-an-on.  Finally, just before 11, Father yells through my bedroom door, "Are you awake?"  To which I say yes and -- this might be where I erred -- I opened the door, which gives him the opportunity to say, of course, "Yeah, maybe you should find something to do in the morning!"

I slam the door shut so I could gin up the courage to say what I wanted to say to him under my breath: "I got home at 1:30, asshole, I WAS SLEEPING!!!"  But whatever, man.  I think I'll find "something to do" in the morning, like have coffee and talk to my therapist about you and the damage you continue to do to me.  And by the way, I should look up that test scoring job that might start during the evenings next week.  That'll give me another "something to do," huh, old man?