Welcome to Daylight Savings Time (DST)! That wonderful time of year when all our animals think we’re absolutely nuts for upsetting their feeding schedules. All 11 of ours have been fed, the dogs have been out, and we’re hanging out together listening to the late Ronnie Milsap’s 1979 album “IMAGE.” So far, everyone seems to be in a good mood. After yesterday’s rough start, a calm morning is appreciated. I may even make pancakes after taking a shower.
Yesterday was pretty quiet around the house. Tipper went to the salon with her mom for a pedicure and then had lunch with her grandmother. Apparently, they discussed the lingering prevalence of negative female stereotypes in anime over an anime-themed McDonald’s meal. Watching this little girl grow up and form her own opinions is one of the greatest joys of my life. The thought that I might not be here as she continues to grow hurts deeply in my soul.
G took advantage of the quiet to play video games that didn’t require him to do coding. The educational aspect diminishes the level of pleasure in playing the game, but he’s nonetheless proud of his accomplishments. He enjoys the solitude he gets in his room on the weekends. At his core, G’s a rather private person. He manages social activity at school through the week but doing so is exhausting. He’s high functioning enough that it’s easy to forget he’s on the autism spectrum and is challenged by social situations. He needs the alone time to recharge for the next week.
Yesterday’s biggest challenge was finding space on the bed so I could nap. The Gang of Five has recently become a steady Gang of Eight. For those who are new, we have a total of nine cats and two dogs in the house. When I first moved into the Recovery Room a year ago, it was a rotating mystery of who was going to settle in here. Not everyone likes the room. Not everyone gets along. Now, Lyndy and Fat Guy snuggle with G and Jack curls up on top of the dog food container. Everyone else is right in here with me, trying to fit on a queen-size bed. Lying down for a nap involves carefully circumnavigating all the bodies, trying to not fall on top of anyone, until I reach a spot on the pillows large enough for my big head. Getting up without someone hissing at me is almost impossible. It’s a snuggly existence, which is nice since no humans want to get that close.
Oh, while I’m thinking about it, we have a huge (three-pound maybe?) log of Canadian bacon in the back of the freezer. It’s been there a while and I’m not totally sure where it came from. I know I didn’t buy it. My question is: what the hell am I supposed to do with this thing? The only time I’ve experienced Canadian bacon is on pizza and this is way too much for pizza. Any suggestions? It’s just sitting at the back of the freezer taking up space. I don’t want it to go to waste, but I’m clueless about how to use it in a way that is pleasing to everyone.
I’m laughing at this line in a song, “Put on your high-heeled sneakers we’re going out tonight, And bring your boxing gloves in case some fool wants to fight.” The lyrics are funny enough on their own, but when you remember that Ronnie Milsap was blind, it makes for a hilarious mental image.
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Sunday Morning Update
The One With All The Frills
Sunday, I so wasn’t ready for you yet. Yeah, technically I’m starting an hour later than normal, but what I wanted was something more like two or three hours of extra sleep and that just didn’t happen. No, you woke me up early, notified the cats, and there was no going back after that. We fed all the animals, refreshed the water supply, and made fresh coffee because I’m going to need a lot of it if I keep a civil head about me today. There are some interesting things to talk about, even if you don’t follow football. But first, you need to see this:
Look, I’m never going to be as exciting as a Taylor Swift concert or a Travis Kelce spotting (yeah, he was here; the Chiefs don’t play until Monday night). Still, I think we put things together in a unique way that engages people in a manner that most communication outlets can’t. Namely, we talk about our family. You won’t find that on CNN. Not yet, anyway.
Yesterday was rather quiet around the house, though. Kat left and headed North around 9 and Tipper left with her friends a couple of hours later. G played online games with his friends and I did my best to interrupt as often as possible. I took a nap and then settled in to watch football games. Even the dogs seemed bored with the day, keeping their outside time to a minimum. How do I know the dogs are bored? When they ask to go inside before I’m ready.
While the games we watched were entertaining, some of the more interesting moments were off the field. Jason Kelce smashed a Penn State fan’s phone after the fan called Travis a homophobic slur for dating Ms. Swift. The elder brother’s reaction was quick and severe. Obviously, the Penn State student has never watched the Kelce’s podcast or else he would have known how fiercely the brothers protect each other.
Next, there’s the University of Louisiana at Monroe (ULM) offensive line coach who is likely going to lose his job after having a complete meltdown on the sidelines. Yeah, ULM was losing their game to Marshall (final score 28-23) and yeah, his o-line was playing poorly. Still, that’s absolutely no excuse for his behavior, especially with one of the players. The university is saying they’ll take “disciplinary action,” but the chances of this dude still being employed are slim.
THEN, there was Friday night’s cold-shoulder handshake between the University of Southern Florida’s (USF) Alex Golesh and Florida Atlantic’s Tom Herman. Normally, coaches at least tell each other, “good game,” or something similar. Not this time. FAU had just rolled over USF, 44-21. Golesh didn’t take the defeat well. He barely touched Herman as he passed and kept on walking. Maybe he felt that FAU had unnecessarily run up the score. Maybe it was because this is the second year in a row that USF has lost this game. He’s not saying. Still, someone throw a flag for post-game unsportsmanlike conduct.
All the excitement wasn’t limited to NCAA men’s football, though. The NBA is investigating after the Philadephia Sixers’ Joel Embiid yelled at and then shoved Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Marcus Hayes. The Sixers had just lost to the Grizzlies and Hayes had questioned Embiid’s professionalism in a recent article. So, yeah, he was a bit emotional. Is that justification for his action? Nope. He can most likely expect an example-setting fine from the NBA.
Back to football, though. OU finally won a game! Granted, it was against an undersized and underclassed Maine team that, outside of the touchdown on their opening drive, spent most of the rest of the game carrying injured players off the field. I mean, OU was physically bigger which allowed them to steamroll over Maine. This was the first time the two teams have ever met and after this performance, I wouldn’t expect to see a repeat any time soon.
I was deeply concerned about Georgia possibly losing to Florida, though. They were behind by 7 at the half and the rivalry between the two schools is legendary. This is one of those cross-the-border games where one can normally throw out the record books, and for a while, it looked as though this might be the case again this year. UGA came back strong in the second half and ended up winning, 34-20. Still, this wasn’t a pretty game on either side. Looking in the stands, I think there were almost as many Georgia fans in the Jacksonville stadium as there were Florida fans.
The SEC was pretty hot yesterday, overall. Tennessee held off Kentucky, 28-18. South Carolina surprised Texas A&M, 44-20. Ole Miss absolutely ran the fuck over Arkansas, 63-31. And Vanderbilt again showed that it’s no milquetoast, beating Auburn 17-7.
13th-ranked IU still isn’t getting the respect it deserves. They beat Michigan State, 47-10, giving the team its first 9-0 start in the program’s history. Where’s the love? Why the hell is 6-2 Clemson ranked above them, especially after they lost to Lousiville, of all teams, 33-21? Sure, IU hasn’t had the roughest schedule, but look at how they’ve dominated in every game they’ve played! Bring on Ohio State or someone. I’m pretty sure IU can handle them. [We’ll find out November 23]
In fact, I find it rather disingenuous that Notre Dame is getting all the love and support for possibly making the College Football Playoff after that early season loss to Northern Illinois. The two teams haven’t met since 1991, and they’ve never played at Bloomington. All the games between the two teams have been in South Bend. Come on, guys! This is a game that IU needs! This is a game that Indiana needs! I suppose there’s always the chance they could meet in a bowl game or a CFP game, but this should have been a regular-season matchup.
Oklahoma State and Purdue both lost and, at this point, their seasons are effectively over. They’re neither one ending on the positive side of 500.
A couple of teams are likely looking at fines from the NCAA for student behavior. Clemson fans were throwing water bottles onto the field. That’s a HUGE no-no and the students should already know better by this point in the season. South Carolina already knows that they’ll owe Texas A&M $250,000 after their students rushed the field yesterday. Bad behavior seems to be a thing in the SEC and the conference needs to apply more pressure to the schools to get it to stop before serious injury occurs.
Meanwhile, you’ve got to see this to believe it:
There is some non-football news. Today is the New York City Marathon. I know of at least one person from Indy who is among the 50,000 people running. Good luck and stay safe!
The entire New York Times Magazine is worth reading today. Fortunately, they posted some of the articles yesterday or I wouldn’t be done with it yet.
I suppose there’s other stuff, but none of it is going to make your day any better. You’re better off relaxing and enjoying the day with your family, or a good book, or perhaps a favorite movie.
Personally, I’m going to need to take a fistful of meds. The pain this morning is severe and it’s been a struggle trying to type when my body doesn’t want to participate in anything at all. You’d think I’d be accustomed to this by now. Sorry, that doesn’t seem to be happening.
Maybe I’ll make mashed potatoes for dinner or something.
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