carrots, handbags, cheese | |
| brad - 5/14/12 - 4:26 am | comments (0) |
I ended up playing 4 soccer games last week. I rejoined the indoor team I played with in the winter. I don't have any outdoor games on Monday for the next couple months, so that day was freed up for me. Then I had a D4 and D5 game. On Saturday I subbed in on a team in an over-30 men's league. I may end up joining that team too since they play on Saturdays only. Four teams at once will fill up my schedule pretty quickly over the next month. I went 5 for 7 on days exercised last week. I hopped on the bike after two of my games and before my Saturday game. So that's two weeks in a row of giving a damn. Let's see if I can go for three.
Besides soccer, last week consisted of catching up on all the shows on my ReplayTV. 5 days in a row of picking off items on the record list. And it looks like every show will have their finale before Memorial Day. Perfect. June is EURO 2012 month anyway. The Devils ended up taking care of the Flyers in 5 games, joy. Bring on the stupid Rangers!
I also must make mention of the Manchester City vs. QPR game that I woke up at 10 am on Sunday to watch. One of the most exciting soccer matches I've seen. The implications were that City needed to match or do better than United did in their game to capture their first English league trophy in 44 years. QPR was trying to avoid relegation to the division below and needed to win or have Bolton tie or lose to secure another season in the top flight. There was a lot of soccer drama for the next two hours as scores from all 10 games going on simultaneously were coming in during the feed on ESPN2. It was coming to a crescendo as QPR were up 2-1 after 90 minutes with 5 minutes of stoppage time to go. That's 2 goals on 3 shots, compared to the 44 shots City had for the game. And that's playing a man down, a QPR player got a red card for an elbow 55 minutes in, and played with 10 the rest of the way. But what seemed like the impossible happened. It looked like QPR, 17th in the league, were going to keep 1st place City out of the net and spoil their season. I counted them out myself. But I'll be damned if City didn't put in two goals in the final 3 minutes of the game. One off a corner kick, and the other was sheer will and determination that saw the ball squirt out to an open striker to blast past the keeper. It was ridiculous to watch the events unfold. The final whistle came, the fans erupted, it was insanity. City beat out cross-town rivals United on goal differential to take the title. It would have been tragic if the differential wasn't in City's favor, as they had beaten Manchester United 6-1 and 1-0 during the season. And for QPR, all was not lost, as Bolton couldn't get past Stoke and ended up with a 2-2 draw, falling a point short of QPR in the standings. And I was pleased with that, meaning Norwich, Swansea, and QPR, all promoted to the Premier League last year, get to stay up another season. Good for them. A great day for English football all around.
I forgot how underwhelming raises are. I did get it pushed through, albeit for maybe two more pay periods, for a grand total of four pay periods. It's nice, it's neat to see a larger paycheck. But I'm desensitized to money at this point. Even with the bonuses I've received over the past year, the joy lasts for a day, then it goes back to being just a number on a spreadsheet. There's no pressing need for material possessions, even if I'm more than comfortably able to afford them. Semi-related, Best Buy sent me a coupon for *triple points* on any purchase because of my birthday last month. I printed it out, sat it in my mail holder on my desk, and figured I'd use it before it expired. It was well into May before I remembered it, and I came to the conclusion that I don't have the slightest idea what I'd even buy from there. Besides, for every $50 you spend, you get a whopping $1 worth of points. I remember how years ago it meant everything to buy things from Best Buy to get the points. I was hooked back then. It makes no sense to me now. So, I have a bunch of money and no desire to spend it. What good is money to me? For the only reason I've ever had: to be able to be unemployed for long stretches of time. Because one of my top 5 favorite things in the world to do is: not work. (Which means I need to work to get more money so I can not work when I'm old and decrepit. The irony... maybe? "It's like raaaiiinnnnn...")
I'm pretty sure other thoughts popped in my head over the past week, and I said I'd remember them, and I didn't, and it's late anyway and god knows what's in store for me at work this week, and I'm not looking forward to it, et cetera, et cetera... fax mentis incendium gloria cultum, et cetera, et cetera... memo bis punitor delicatum. Or something.
and loneliness is cleanliness
and cleanliness is godliness
and god is empty just like me"
-smashing pumpkins
