Watching Da 5 Bloods, and I guess I am missing the drive behind Delroy Lindo's character (Paul). He acts like an insane, unhinged shithead for the entirety of the movie. I don't care how much PTSD he is carrying around from Vietnam, it is no excuse for the majority of his actions in the present day. Paul is just an asshole. I was happy watching him dig his own grave. I would expect Spike to spend 10-20% of his writing time shoring up the bullshit (plot holes) in this movie. Each bar of gold they were supposedly walking out in canvas backpacks would weigh more than 27 pounds. They had 45 bars. Those four Vietnam vets were each humping around 250 lbs in rigid metal bars. Not only would those old fucks not be packing that weight out of a jungle, Paul's evil tree branch would have bent or snapped. I didn't do the math, but did they bother to try a trail walk to recover Paul's $6.5 million?

Fuck all. That stupid movie reminds me of another dance-of-retards called Triple Frontier that had the same fucked plot hole: failure to properly plan the exfiltration. Hey, let's try to overload our helicopter that is trying to fly over the goddam Andes! Oh, and why not invest in a fucking pair of satellite telephones in the event you need to call your boat away from the guarded port towns? "I'm sure all the towns are being watched..." Well, how about a set of GPS coordinates in the middle of fuck-where on the coast?

Both of these movies also had the give-away-all-the-money-to-charity endings. That also irritates the shit out of me. Now, Spike didn't give the entire candy store away. We do see the widow getting some kind of check, and two "share holders" took a dirt nap, so there was some cash left for each survivor. Those chumps in Triple Frontier gave it all to the family of the dead guy. But when we meet them, a couple were desperately broke. It would have been more believable if each had at least taken $100,000, to ease the transition. Shit, none of them indicated that they had cab fare for the ride home. And if there was going to be a Part II expedition to recover the dropped jungle and crevasse money, a little bit of working capital would be helpful. That mountain town is going to get some visitors soon, I think.

_______________________________

I hope those fucking jerkwads in The South don't fuck up the rest of our year. But I am sure they already have. Goodbye football. Good luck when those hurricanes start hitting.

Is there a chance I am not jumping in the lake tonight? No, not one.

I have to figure out a way to thank Jake for the rye taster flight. I also need to find a good excuse to drink more of them. Covid is killing the social drinking for me. And it rarely occurs to me that I could drink hard alcohol by myself at home.

________________________________

Watched all three of the released Lost in Space seasons. Slow at times, but I will be watching season four when it comes out.

Caught up on Castlevania, will watch season four when it comes out.

During the pilot, stopped watching Warrior Nun. Probably won't turn it back on.

I would much rather have the new Charlize Theron movie as a series.

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That new Theron movie had me thinking about solving the "stash/horde" problem. There are some places the group drop into that has extra gear and possessions. It wasn't locked with a key they were carrying around. Where can you put your stuff that wouldn't be stumbled upon over time? Generational homes would be tough to swing unless you had a really stable country and a good exploit in the legal system to spoof new identities. I doubt you could get away with that long term. The same problems comes up with bank boxes. Stashing in a remote spot like the Yukon would make retrieval an ass pain. You have to watch for archaeologists in the countryside and the wrecking ball/fires in the city.

In this modern era, I figure a shipping container stashed in a pile of other containers would a possibility. But I think you would still have to shuffle it around every few years. How long before rust becomes an issue? Padlocking is a problem, too. There are nearly zero padlocks that can survive a knowledgeable attack for more than a half hour.

To be continued, maybe. I am going swimming.

UTC = Coordinated Universal Time

EDT = Eastern Daylight Standard Time

UTC is currently running four hours ahead of EDT.

So, no, they weren't playing trivia after midnight.

Today will be a bicycle day now that the weather is cooperating. I need to re-toughen my bicycling butt.

Prime movies I watched because some list said to do so: Neon Demon, The Messenger, The Ghost Writer, and Transsiberian. None of these movies are necessary viewing. New Obi-Wan and an old James Bond are in Ghost Writer so if you must watch one of them, that is probably the best bet, unless you want complete art-house bullshit. If that is the case, enjoy yourself some Neon Demon. It is a complete coincidence that two of those movies include Woody in the main cast. I started watching 8th Grade because I really like Bo Burnham and everyone was heaping the lavish praise when it was first released. "Oh, you captured the essence of how it feels to be a middle-school girl!" Then, with the help of the opening scene, I remembered what middle-school girls are like. I promptly bailed out and have no intentions to return.

Do we know anyone who has betting lines for calendar-year-total Covid-19 infections/deaths in America? If you do, I might want to place a wager with my new government cheese check that I received yesterday.

It is tough trying to find something to watch on just Amazon. I actually have broken down and watched commercial broadcast television lately because the streaming options are so slim. I need to get some HBO (Westworld) in my life if I am to be stuck at the house without sports.

I am watching about The Loop now that it is active. It is some kind of WTF story line. The more I watch, the more I am glad that I am watching. I am trying to go really slow since there is never enough episodes for this kind of stuff. From the little I researched, it is based on an art book. No wonder I just love the way everything looks in this 70s Manitoba discarded-tech setting.

I ordered a can for my .45 ACP. I needed to order a special twist piston because zee Germans use a LH twist on their H&Ks. I picked up a second piston so that the can can work with my .22 LR pistol. I will still need to buy a threaded barrel for that .22, but it is a common Ruger barrel that shares the same twist with a particular AR barrel I might have ordered from Palmetto. Eventually, its going to be much quieter shooting over here.

I walked out of the doc review office a few weeks ago after discussing the emergent virus news with my closely-seated coworkers. I stood up and said, "what the hell are we doing here?!" and left with a "call me when you are ready to authorize work-from-home". Four business days later, they the authorized work from home. A day after that, Detroit started to blow up. So through the end of last week, I was a captive of the desktop work at home during the days. It made avoiding people easy without making me feel like I was trapped at home. This week, the project is over and I haven't transitioned to another (yet?). Now I am having a bunch of extra time to feel like the rest of you shelter-in-placers.

I did some water-colors, started a new carving, made teriyaki, took some bike rides, and made popcorn over the fire pit. I wonder how a bunch of people I know are doing, but I off the social media, so I have no idea. Spence$ did text the other day, so at least I know he was alive.

I am amassing a spreadsheet of Gin drinks to formulate now there is time to spend on creation. I had no idea St. George's was an elderberry liqueur. Frankly, I am not really sure what an elderberry is or where it comes from. I do know where lychee comes from, but I just now found out about Lichi-Li. I will own a bottle by the end of this week. I am also sourcing hibiscus flower petals to make hibiscus simple syrup. We just put the kibosh on a handle of Magellan, and the Elephant is going fast. Gonna be drinking like Royals over here.

Missing poker. I have been watching some online, but that is a shallow substitute for playing. I have the time, I guess I should change my brakes and figure out how to fix the shorting radio antennae in the car. I could also do some rust grinding and painting. Maybe detail the inside. Then, maybe, I will find my sunglasses.

I hope this helps you pass the time, Cy. I will try to remember to jump on here more often.

I have been on the other side of the state on some doc review projects, so I haven't had much time to update. But I am free this week, so I went to poker last night.

Hold 'Em: From the two tables, I was knocked out first. I had two made hands that got hit by fifth street suck outs. One got their ace of spades for their flush, and the other pulled a six to convert two pair into a boat. I was bummed, but I decided to hang out. The Eagles were making a comeback and a gratis Rocky Patel Churchill Vintage 1999 Connecticut kept me occupied until Omaha started up. As an aside, here is what Cigars International has to say about that cigar:

The '99 Connecticut uses an exquisite 7-year-old Connecticut leaf to tame his award-winning mixture of 8-year-old Dominican and Nicaraguan long-leaf ligeros. The result is a hearty, slightly spicy cigar with creamy notes of earth and toasted wood. Enjoy this mellow change of pace from Senor Patel, a choice cigar to pair with your morning cup of coffee or w​orkday commute.

If I am ever smoking cigars with coffee on my morning workday commute, I give you advance permission for an intervention. I reserve an exception in the event my  coffee and morning commute is occurring on a boat in tropical latitudes.

Anyway, I took down the Omaha game, so things worked out in the end. My favorite hand was a Satan flop (6,6,6) with an A & 7 on 4th & 5th. There was plenty of action between two parties and myself. I had pocket Kings, so I only had to worry about that extra 6 showing up or someone with pocket 7s or As to over-boat me. One guy ended up betting on his tens, while the other guy had momentarily lost his mind and was betting his single Ace. Three players took advantage of a rebuy before the cutoff, and it felt good to take them all for a second stack of chips.

I found some cherry, white oak, and walnut pieces in the burn bins of the local shuffleboard maker. The owner is a solid citizen, letting me snatch up a few pieces without charge or persuasion. Next, I need to start making some cheddar so that I can snatch up one of those tables. Beautifully crafted. I am carving a pencil Santa for my mother's Christmas gift. I am encouraged by how the sea turtle turned out.

'Tis the season for Eggnog and Holly Nog. With bourbon. Stir with peppermint candy cane.

I am trying an experiment in computing. I dropped off a parent lappy to the recyclers after it hit the critical broken features & outdated software threshold. A young geek was working the counter nearby, so I took a shot at picking his brain about a replacement for my lappy with the busted hinge, busted wireless, busted boot sector, busted touch screen. That lappy was an attempt to buy cheap Acer via Costco. That is a failed experiment. Young Geek hooked me up with a refurbished IBM ThinkPad. More features, better performance, built like a brick house, and only cost 4-bills. Being business surplus, it has the quick access  panels to get to the guts. That Acer needs me to take the entire chassis apart to get to the good stuff. So far, I am pleased with the decision.

Michigan does not want to play Alabama's next-year starters in this bowl game. I think they would have been much happier to get a Cincinnati match up. Maybe Virginia. A win. That is what I am trying to communicate. Michigan would have been much happier getting a win. Losing to Alabama's second string is not going to help the recruiting.

I shoveled snow today. It was only a light accumulation of wet stuff, but the seal is broken.

I was in NE Nebraska for Thanksgiving. On the way home the Sunday afterward, I was driving along the Missouri River when I noticed movement in the sky. I pulled off the highway, because I had never seen anything like it before. It was an overcast day, but it was clear visibility without precipitation. From the northern horizon to the southern horizon, an unbroken caravan of geese were traveling about a 1/2 mile up. They were like black razor stubble on the grey clouds that constantly shifted around while generally headed in a southerly direction. I am used to seeing low flying goose "V" formations during the fall that contain 12-24 geese per. The biggest V formations I saw in Iowa that day were so large they had arms of 40-5o each with additional overlapping V formations of all sizes in a continuous stream. As dozens would disappear into the clouds to the south, their counterparts would emerge from the clouds to the north. I am certain 90% of the people on the road that day didn't even notice.

While I was in Nebraska, the brother-in-law and I rekindled our Liars' Dice meta game. I forgot that I had taught so many of my cousins how to play in the past. We kept a table of five-six going for an entire evening. My uncle's discount vodka from 1978 was designated punishment bottle, and that fifth was cashed by bedtime.

Fantasy football has been a buster for me. Except for Eagles and Patriots playoff hopes and that Michigan bowl game, I think football is dead for the year. I guess I will watch LSU if they make it to the final round. Michigan Hockey doesn't appear that they will pick up the slack.  I suppose I am all yours, Juwan.

Here is a wonderfully rendered illustration of a parking lot I have used recently on a semi-daily basis:

In case you have a frail mind that cannot comprehend what is happening here, allow me to explain. The black arrows show the in/out to the main road from the parking lot. Green shows the curbs and grass islands. Blue indicates parking spot lines. The yellow bar is a huge speed bump.  If a star appears yellow, know that it is actually orange.

Now that we have all that settled, indulge your higher brain functions of the quiz below.

1. Is the guy who parks every day in the orange-starred spot, despite dozens of open spots closer to the door, best described as a/an:

a) parent whose kid was run-over by a speeding car in a parking lot   b) sad little man desperately asserting a perceived power over others in society   c) owner of a nearby suspension shop   d) complete anti-social asshole

2. Is the guy who parks in the red-starred spot when the orange-starred spot is open best described as a/an:

a) fuck-face piece of shit  b) miserable shit monger  c) mother fucking pissant  d) raging hemorrhoid asshole in competition with orange-star guy for the title of Most Prolapsed Shit Chute

3. What is the best poetic justice to deliver unto orange-star and red-star guys?

a) use monster truck to transform their cars into a continuation of the speed bump   b) tow their vehicles and dump them in the Detroit River   c) repaint the lines and erect handicap parking signs, then call the meter maid to ticket them daily   d) break a car window, and pay a homeless man to then sleep and defecate in the car

----------------

Losing poker hand from two weeks ago:

Me: A-K

Bet heavy before flop to get rid of straight and flush hunters. Four others pay to see the flop of A-7-8. Big bets around get two to fold. 4th Street: A-7-8-8. No longer worried about A-7. Chances of A-8 out there? Not feeling it, but one of my callers re-raised me on 4th. The other guy drops out, I call. I know I am fucked, but I have a fleeting hope that an Ace on 5th Street will save me. Instead, the dealer turned a Jack. I hoped that we would check it down, but he put me all-in. 80% of my already depleted stack was in the pot, so I called, hoping for a bluff or over-reach. He flipped pocket 7s. The guy who folded on 4th was also holding A-K. Lovely.

Tonight is a season-ending jackpot night. I need to play tighter, or get lucky while playing with reckless abandon. I guess my early cards will dictate my course of action.

The boats are out of the water as of this past weekend. That is the true sign that nice weather is over. I started the Seadoo and backed it off the lift. My plan was to do a couple laps while the trailer was put into position on the ramp. Instead, the Seadoo motor quit. It quit and never restarted. I started drifting along the shore at about 40' from the beach. I was wearing work gloves, basketball shorts, Vans, T-shirt, light flannel, and my life vest. Worse case, I figured I would drift until I beached on the leeward side of the lake.

The wind was steady with occasional sleet. I wasn't really that cold, except for my forehead. I cannot remember the last time when my forehead was feeling the cold the most. Usually it is ears or nose or fingers for me. It was a comfort that the other Seadoo that is stored indoors on the trailer started up quickly to come tow me back in. I am a little bummed that I didn't get that November last-craft-standing victory lap on the lake.

Le Batard has been MIA for a couple weeks. Weiner cannot carry that show. He is sidekick material. Supposedly Le Batard is back next Monday. I hope so, otherwise I might have to listen to Dan Patrick over-indulge his too-often-heard Danettes.

I need to find a good piece of wood. My mom has a collection of pencil Santas. After my relative success with the sea turtle, I am going to try to carve a pencil Santa.

Pictures on Google show that the Echo Point "upgrades" are complete. They totally removed any chance of throwing clays there. I am planning a day trip down there this week. Anybody want to go shooting? Bring .380 ammo, and I will supply the 9mm.

This is not good:

Eat plain noodles if this is your only choice.

I am not satisfied with the second season of Mr. Blunt's Jack Ryan. The writers were not up to the task. Or they needed to have an additional polish before shooting. Also, when you are deciding whether to cast Noomi Rapace, remember that you can always do better. Probably for less money.

Bad fantasy football is starting Brissett against Wilson this past weekend. After below average point totals in a rec league with ridiculous bonus scoring, I finally had a respectable mid-120s score. Thanks to the comedy styling of Jacoby and Russell, I am going to lose 120s to 160s. At least I still have a chance in the law school league. I will watch the Monday night defensive struggle (hopefully) during poker. That is, unless I am knocked out before kickoff because I went with "reckless abandon"

Today, I watched Joker in my own private movie theater. At the end of the trailers, an usher/employee peaked into the theater for a few seconds. But I was alone for the entire movie. It was glorious. I should have brought a flask. My only other movie experience with an empty theater was with Way of the Gun.

If the next wave of Batman movies are going to be like this, there better be a bunch of Lego movies to distract the kiddies. Did he kill the neighbor(s)? Did he leave all that food from the fridge on the floor? I am trying to imagine the smell of that apartment.

Was the comic book Joker one of the smarter villains? Or was he just chaotic? Is this Joker a one-off? I probably could look all that up somewhere.

I am glad I saw the movie, but I don't think I will ever watch it again. Other movies I feel this way about: The Road, Night Crawler, any Texas Chainsaw story (except I will pause momentarily during a channel surf if I see Biel in that white tank), Soylent Green, Midnight Express, Broke Back Mountain, Donnie Darko, The Tree of Life, Ad Astra, Rain Man, A Bridge Too Far, Kids, Ready or Not, the first four Friday the 13th installments, Hellraiser, the recent remake of A Star is Born, Crash, Unfaithful, The Passion, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, 2001: A Space Odyssey (never again front to back, but I can see watching a few minutes at a time just to marvel at how good it looks), Dr. Zhivago, Rosemary's Baby, The Muppets Take Manhattan, Basketball Diaries, The Beach, Gangster Squad, Sully. I am sure there are others, but that is what shows up in the archives tonight.

I pulled a third place cash in the Hold 'Em tourney last night. I made it that far despite only eliminating one other player, which is unusual. The blinds ate me up in the Omaha late game. Technically, we were playing Irish for a change of pace. For those of you unfamiliar with Irish Omaha, everyone drops two after the flop hits and the game becomes Hold 'Em. About 30% of the time, the winning cards are the cards discarded. I went out with Ah-Kh-Ad-Jd. After the rainbow scattered flop, I kept the aces. Running tens gave a house to the small pocket pair flopped trips.

This is not an amazing take, but I am going to put it out there: Don't select your individual beer samples based on creative naming or artwork. I went to the local specialty store to pick up a few beers to enjoy during poker. I picked a single can of Stranger Than Fiction Porter, Evil Twin (NY) Learn What it's Like to be Taken Seriously and Laugh at the Rest Double Dry Hopped IPA, and Latitude 42 Lucifer's Cuvee Double Chocolate Stout. To be fair, the porter had different can art than is currently displayed by the maker's website. I infer that I might have been sold an outdated beer. Overall, I doubt I will spend money on any of the three again. Something I just learned while looking up the links above: There are two Evil Twin homepages. Evil Twin was a homeless collaborative gypsy effort until opening in NYC. I feel as if they do have some of the more interesting naming conventions. I hope to try an Even More Jesus.

In reference to a previous post, Tony helpfully informed me that I could get Red Zone on my Verizon phone for $35...once I upgrade from my Flippy*. Did we, as a species, spend money on 50+ inch televisions to watch things on a four inch screen? Fuck all of you who rather peer into the tiny box in your hand. In a quasi-related note, I walked by a parked car in a grocery store parking lot that had (an assumed) dad-mom-daughter occupant mix. All three were sitting there looking into their individual phones. Fuck talking to each other. Fuck going into the store. Let's sit collectively in the car and stare at our idiot bricks. I assume brother was inside getting dinner for the phone zombies. Sucks to be low man on the totem pole?

Some wrestler/actor commenting on "[professional] wrestling being fake": When I hit you across the back with a folding chair, you tell me how fake it feels. My counter: When I go off script  and shoot you in the pelvis, you tell me how real that feels. With MMA being so available now, I don't understand why so many people devote their time choreographed wrestling soap opera. I am about to rage quit Fox NFL games because of their incessant plugging of Fox's new wrestling partnership. That is aside from my impending rage quit of all NFL games because of their shit rules, rule application, and poor officiating. That Lions/Pack game was ridiculous.

Poker is providing a quasi-regular excuse to grab a cigar. If I get knocked out early in the Hold 'Em, a good cigar helps pass the time until Omaha. Otherwise, it is an unwritten rule that smoking is allowed during the late game, after most of the anti-smoking crowd has gone home. Last night was a Punch Diablo Diabolus. Rating: Would Smoke Again. Two weeks ago, it was a La Gloria Cubana Series R Esteli Maduro.  Also, Would Smoke Again.

As this post is starting to become a collection of reviews, I feel that Tony's Chocoloney > Chocolove. That's not to say any of it is bad.

Time to change the cooler ice. Then it will be time to patty and grill the burgers. After which, it might be time to pour the scotch.

*Unit shown is a VN-150, while I own a nearly identical UN-150, circa 2010.

Who knew that having a conversation about commercial heredity genetic tests would lead to uncovering uncomfortable truths about the intellect of people in the room? I can reconcile the religious beliefs of anybody as long as those beliefs are not held in face of observable scientific discovery. For example, if you are going to believe that the planet Earth is about 5000 years old because you added up all the documented years in the bible, then I am going to err on the side of labeling you an idiot. I will double down when you claim dinosaurs and humans lived at the same time or the dinosaur remains are a trick by the devil. At least that example takes science completely out of the context.

What I experienced last Saturday while watching college football at a friend's house was more disturbing to me. During a conversation about these mail-away cheek swab tests, I tried to point out the veracity of the results regarding the supposed geographic origin correlations those companies attempt to make with their "heritage reports". The statement was then made by my friend's wife that everybody in the world has Middle Eastern genes. The foundation for this belief was, obviously, that Adam and Eve lived in the Middle East and they are everybody's original ancestor.

Shit like that is enough to give a guy a permanent facial tick.

Oddly, Prime is saving my Thursday night NFL access. Currently, I am cut off from most of civilization as I only have access to Prime and basic cable. Luckily Fox Sports 1 is somehow part of basic cable. ESPN surely is not. I am almost ready to write off my college teams. I was ready to spite bet the money line against Michigan today. So far, they are managing Iowa (poorly). If Nebraska can't deal with Northwestern later today, they are off my watch list until bowl time.

As a work-around to my limited channel selection, I generally have been catching my Saturday football at a friend's house. His setup was especially important for those BTN broadcast games. He is from the South, so his only priority is 'Bama. We go old school style and set up two TVs in the living room. I am concerned that his access to BTN and Fox just was killed. A copious number of TV commercials indicate satellite-fed consumers (like my friend) just lost those channels. I haven't been over there the last two weeks. He is out of town this week. Luckily, Michigan and Nebraska are both Fox games this week.

Last week, I skipped afternoon football for a kayak down the Muskegon river near Baldwin. We put in at M37. The canoe company spotted our car at Gleason's landing. It was a great day for being on the river. The salmon were running. We easily passed a hundred fishermen (and women) on our float. I forgot how big those salmon can get. A petite blonde picked up her catch for the photo op as we were passing by. That fish was longer than her torso and almost as wide. Some of those fishermen know how to do it right. I saw some grills rigged on boats or set up on stands in the river. The kayak paddle is a two-handed tool, otherwise I would have taken advantage of the free hamburgers and beer offered on the way down river. Next time, I am on the river, I will will bring a cigar or two. It had never occurred to me before, but a couple of those anglers had some quality smoke.

I can now say that there could actually be two people checking in on this renewed experiment. Unprompted, MH mentioned he had pulled up the site recently. You guys crack me up. There must have been one good post back in the day that has kept an ember burning. I guess I understand since Tony lived off the hope generated by one manifesto-style post for years. I am sure Cyrus still has that bookmarked/saved somewhere.

A reminder to those who aren't, cover your camera lens. Setting aside that they are usually script-generated mass mailings, someone I know recently received a blackmail email claiming the sender had hacked and used the device camera to capture embarrassing footage. It was all likely bullshit this time, but there is no reason not to put a penny's worth of electrical tape over your camera. And for those of you using the Alexa pucks, you are all fucking idiots and deserve any fallout that results. I was struck by how insulated the blackmailer's life must be. He is so buried in his dark room of computers in Asia and his online life that he has no idea how the mass-blackmailed live. Nothing like scaring the technically non-savvy into paying your price, only to demand payment in an obscure cryptocurrency without providing any instruction for the average person to obtain that cryptocurrency. Well done, blackmailer idiot(s).

Is it ridiculous for a county to charge its citizens $100 for the right to drop off recyclables as the county recycling center? Rhetorical question. Do you want that stuff in the county landfill? I drove to the county next door and dropped off my cardboard. That county has a set of huge dumpsters that anyone can self-serve 24-hours per day. That seems like the sensible approach.  If I was a kid who lived in the neighborhood next to the recycling plant, I would raid that cardboard bin for fort material on a regular basis.

Anyone else noticing that pretense is falling away in our society? People are openly being assholes or crooks without attempting to cover for their actions or spin a defense. At least the President will tell a blatant lie to counter criticisms of his actions. But I feel like I keep running into people who just let their racism fly in casual conversation. Or the usual feeling-out statements are hardly-veiled prompts to illicit a racist response. And I am not only focusing on racism, but ugly human behavior generally. Bud Light is now running advertisements where the theme of the commercial is excluding a long-time friend from a party because instruction from the cool kid. Buick commercials paint their targeted customers as insufferable fools. You want to verbally command your car to start while you are still in your bathroom? Unless I see a foot of snow piled on that car, you are just a gas-burning asshole. You probably keep the faucet on while you put toothpaste on you brush, too. You want to bet that the guy taking you out to dinner can't parallel park? Fuck you, bitch. Oh, and you are going to take that harpy's bet and make the bet for sushi? Fuck you, you soi-boi tool. Then, to "win" your bet, you let the car do it for you (because the harpy was correct in guessing your "manliness" ended where the car gear is set to "R"). Oh, and if you are on a goddam airplane and you are just now remembering to lock the doors on your car, well then fuck you, you absent-minded fuck. When you get back, I hope your car is stripped and graffiti-covered with a homeless deuce in the rear compartment. Or I hope someone just smashes your window out and takes those left-in-car-during-vacation valuables you should have left at home.

Michigan has no killer instinct. They suck. At least the defense tries. I hope the Michigan State defense does more than try tonight.

I drink percolated, next-day-cold, black coffee by the liter-sized mug. I do not understand the draw of the classic Styrofoam cup of burning hot coffee. Especially during months or at places where there is no snow on the ground. Why do I need mouth burns for the first fifteen minutes of my coffee experience? Is it a historical lesson of deferred gratification? Also, while I like that Bailey's in my coffee, I still think you have to be an alcoholic to dump Irish whisky in there.

I have this. I think I wrote about my struggle in deciding on whether I should pursue making or buying this. My initial hindrance to building/assembling was that I couldn't find a stand alone booster/Nielsen device for sale. That has changed. Do I know anyone with a CNC router?

Sweet. I just saw a shot of the Michigan student section that included a Sikh sporting a gorgeous beard, aviator sunglasses, a yellow T, and a matching yellow Dastār. Rock on.

Bad beat of the week for last Monday: I have A-2 in spades. Flop is A plus two spades. 4th is a pair to one of the spades (eights, I believe). 5th is the 6 of spades. Guess the hand to which my good top two pair turned top flush lost. Fucking pocket sixes, of course. River boat, indeed.

Ad Astra was more philosophical than I had expected. Interesting take adding the religious undertones in places. Spoiler: Was his dad eating the help? Even with the kill-off of a big chunk of his crew early on, was he outlasting his supplies/stores? Is that part of the reason the loyal ones decided to go home?

Pretzels: Salty, flavorless dust compressed into bark-like chunks and branch-like sticks. People who think "pretzel bun" is an upgrade must live a miserable existence.

I am working a project on the other side of the state. Driving sucks, long days suck, and AirBnB...well AirBnB is kind of an adventure. I've been overnighting at AirBnBs stays so I don't have five hours of driving each day. Renting a room in a stranger's home is a goofy deal. It encourages me to be out before anyone wakes up and to stay at work until the evening so I don't run into anybody on the way back in.

The "shared" bathroom set up is the most stressful part to me. I live my life in a way to minimize the use of toilets not located in my residence. In calculus terms, the function of me using strange toilets has a limit approaching zero. I have been fairly lucky so far. There was only one weak-flushing toilet encountered so far, and it was handled without incident with a rapid-fire of courtesy flushes. To a lesser extent, one has to be wary of the 1950s midget toilets. This past week, I was perched on a bowl that was so low that it felt like my knees were even with my chin. Even so, it flushed like a 1950s-what-is-water-conservation-we-built-the-Abomb toilet should.

The other big dice-roller is the showers in these places. A detachable wand is how things should be set up. That is rare. And even those with wands are often low-pressure disappointments. This week I had a wand that, when pointed at the ceiling, couldn't make a bubbler more that a couple inches off the wand. The one I have at home can put up a fountain four foot tall when adjusted to the power stream. It is ironic that having experienced that most disappointing of shower wands, I also experienced the Holy Grail of shower pressure from a standard spread fixed-head at another place. That shower could blast the paint off your house siding. If you live in a brick house, this thing could blast the red out of your brick. There are car wash sprayers that have envy/inadequacy issues because of that  shower. Berger would approve. It was glorious, except the tub stall was 1950s midget-people sized. The standard shower curtain they hung was bunched up because it was way too big for the shower opening. Even the counters in the bathroom were lower than expected. Most counters hit me about mid-pelvis. I would have had to slightly crouch to settle my bag on the surface of this one.

I watched Ready or Not this week. I am not sure how I feel about the ending. It wasn't a bad ending as much as it did not have any finesse. I did enjoy the movie, though. Samara Weaving (discount Margot Robbie) does a good job. Do not trust any family with a goat pit.

Working east, I missed out on Monday Night poker. Instead, I went to a bar where I helped out some hopeless locals with their trivia competition while I ate and watched MNF.

Time for On the Bench.