Rackets

 This morning was another thrilling day of dental fun.  Yesterday they called -- the impressions didn't take, and I had to come back.  This was fine, I said (though it was not), as I was in pain.  So... today, they looked at it, said it was infected, and gave me a prescription.  Rah.  In the meantime, with all the poking and prodding to get the best impression and the re-application of the temporary cap... I left there in more pain than I arrived.  Sigh.  The antibiotics are working, a bit, as it is less sore now...but not good.

So, Trump's been indicted... I can't help but note that Biden seems to be slipping in the polls, as is Ron DeSantis (guess which one troubles me more).  I wonder what the end game here is; indicting him to get a plea won't work, and I would like to think that if this is all they can find on the Donald... I am underwhelmed.  To be sure, it is a hit among the general population of voters, if not the GOP primary electorate.  I guess the danger for the Dems is that if the economy remains iffy (people are concerned about inflation) it plays to Trump's strengths, and getting him on the trail is... well, I think the man works best with a crowd and an avenue of obvious attack.

I finally got around to listening to Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon," and, as we know from Facebook, it was not exactly an earth- (or ear-) shattering event.  I mean, it was fine, but... one, I have a tin ear.  Two, more importantly... I think it is like "Star Wars."  Had I heard it when I was younger and more impressionable, I think it would have been cooler, but now... my musical tastes are now more settled, and the music sounds a bit dated.  While it was fine, I don't think I need to hear the whole discography.  And I will be fine.

The Day of Soup

 So, yesterday I had a dental appointment... one of the teeth in the back right of my mouth had a cavity and is cracked, so the plan was to fill it and then attach a temporary cap, to be replaced by a permanent crown.  All I can say is... oi.  I got a megashot of painkiller, which certainly made the procedure painless, but I am still feeling the needlepricks now.  Because of the tooth position, it was a challenge to keep my mouth open, and worse, they had to hold my tongue in place with a dental mirror.  The dentist said I had a strong tongue (insert inappropriate comment here) which was nice, but it was incredibly uncomfortable and thus slightly painful.  Anyways, that eventually happened and then it was the temporary cap time...which took a while to get, for a bunch of reasons (I suspect I couldn't get the biting down, since I couldn't keep my mouth closed that long).  I was there more than two hours... 

Worse, I have to go back for the permanent one in a few weeks.  Which, of course, is not permanent!  I asked how long the permanent one lasts, and the tech said "5 to 10 years."  This was a problem for a few reasons.  One, I have no desire to go through this anytime soon, and two... I have a couple of stainless steel crowns that I went through hell to get many moons ago...but there they are, still.  Which brings me to problem two... they want to remove them and replace them with modern, "permanent" caps.  Each time, of course, I remind them how I went through hell to get them, and as they are fine... oi.  Very annoying.  And, now that I know that the "permanent" ones are anything but...

Anyways, so yesterday and much of today I have been on a soft foods diet... plenty of soup (I like clam chowder, damn the sodium) and oranges.  Things are slowly getting better, and I hope tomorrow I will actually eat something semi-normal; baked fish is actually fairly malleable, and it is healthy, at least.  Also, the reason I didn't post yesterday was because I popped a OTC pain pill right after J! and was asleep before the end of the South Carolina game.  Woke up just after 11.  Oops.

WATCH: GOP Senator Stumps Biden Judicial Nominees Again, and Again, and Again (freebeacon.com)

I get a kick out of these things; one would think after the first few of these got around, other nominees would start brushing up on the Constitution and federal law... of course, they are Hope and Changers, so they are not exactly being hired for their brains.

Ron DeSantis would destroy our free speech rights, and he’s coming to Northeast Ohio: Letter from the editor - cleveland.com

Ron DeSantis is coming to Akron??  I looked it up... tickets start at $100, or, twice as much as it cost for Lindsey Graham... interesting.  I sort of want to go, but there are plenty of other uses for my $100, like dental bills (until the reimbursement comes) and I do have a HELOC... never a bad time to start economizing, right?

The Travels of Mattie

 Quite the impressive windstorm yesterday; thankfully, I missed most of it, as I was helping some friends set up (and then attend) a fundraiser.  It is vaguely incestuous, all helping each other with each other's charity work, but it is a good cause, and these things can use the money, so I suspect it evens out -- who among us is pro-cancer!  (Don't answer.)  Far as I could tell, I did not lose power, and the only damage was to the tree in front (I guess it IS dead), which lost some bigger branches.  When the ground dries a bit in the back I will add them to the compost pile, and I guess I have to get the rest removed -- it is suspiciously close to the house.

One thing yesterday -- I was bouncing from a couple of tables -- was how people were discussing the Trump/DeSantis battle.  It seemed (and it was maybe a third each and a third undecided) that those who liked Trump felt he best represented their message and that maybe he was cheated.  The DeSantis crew were more focused on electability, it seemed; that and those who were parents liked what he was doing with education.  This heartened me, since his push to victory will have to come from the suburbs, and if he is winning parents... 

I did notice at the OC today that the critter issue seemed to be less -- didn't hear them running amok, and yesterday we noticed less evidence of their presence, as well.  I think I will call the exterminator again and see if we can flood the zone, if you will; not saying I like it but we have the cash and the volunteers are for it.  There is a scent of death -- I suspect a couple ran afoul of the poison and died in the foundation.  Not the most pleasant of odors but I rather approved.  In the summer we can get some foundation work done and hopefully reduce this...

The Gonzaga loss means that all of my pools are officially in the dumpster.  Alas, as the Zaga one, I was the only one who had selected them, so... had they gone on, I would have been in the money round.   Alack.

So, today I went to pick up some clothes from one of our Polish parishioners -- she said she had several bags, which she did... she also invited me for coffee and snacks, which I accepted -- normally I don't -- but it was quite delightful.  She was a bit deaf, and English was not her first language (the few words of Polish I know should not be used around elderly ladies, I suspect), but we chatted about many things, and I daresay I made a friend!  I then went back to the OC with the "loot" (still no critters) and deposited them in the clothing room storage area...which was completely empty.  I have not seen it devoid of garments for years, so this was slightly unsettling, but also good -- the volunteers do a nice job of getting stuff or distribution and getting them on the racks, and our clients, of course, pick them apart (in the nicest manner possible).  I hate to say it, but maybe we soon will need another call for donations.

Emptying the Shelves

 All the #1 seeds are out in the men's tourney... while I am not exactly sure that this is a sign of parity across hoops -- wouldn't then every conference get an equal number of seeds -- I think it is a good sign overall; at least the transfer market and NIL stuff has made it possible for more schools to have access to better players (even if only for a bit) and that is good, if not for the game, for the "student" athletes.

OC duty today; the count was 98, and more than half came in the last hour, so we all had the feeling of being busier than we actually were -- I was telling some of the newbies about it, that while they were tired, think of how bad they would be if we had, say, 150 clients.  They were not exactly thrilled to hear that... at least we cleaned off the tables (not much produce to distribute so it all went) and moved some stuff around.  One of the volunteers insisted we put out the clothing racks; of course, when the wind knocked them over, she was not there to pick them up.  Sigh.  It was funny; our ops manager was insisting we clean out freezers, so she was digging around for various hams and such.  I was fascinated because, of course, one client sees one, and they all want one, and -- mercifully -- we had just enough ham/turkeys to distribute.  Two freezers were emptied, and another was consolidated, so I guess it was worth it, but, God forbid we had run out...  

I am not surprised the Fed hiked rates again, but -- given the bank run and low level of job participation rates -- I think they are at the limit of their effectiveness.  I understand what they are trying to do, but I remain convinced that price hikes will be mitigated once the labor market eases, and the only that happens is to get more people into work so the endless parade of "Help Wanted" signs is...less.

Dinner and Dessert

 Funny; last night I went to bed and couldn't fall asleep, and then this morning I was slightly sluggish, at least until I had the morning coffee.  Now, of course, the same thing is happening again... oi.  I guess I could just go to bed extra early and wait it out, but... alas.

It's been a banner month for packaged desserts.  First, Ron DeSantis and his eating pudding with his fingers, and now Kyrsten Sinema saying that all Democrats do is eat jello.  It's actually quite droll.  I think I am beginning to see her strategy -- assuming the GOP runs someone like Kari Lake, and the Dems run someone like Ruben Gallego, there is a path down the middle.  Now, I think it is a very narrow path, but... of course, it's not like she can win the Democratic primary, so... at the very least this guarantees her a spot in the finals, at least.

My sister and I did our monthly dinner today, and I chose Au Jus -- the newish Italian beef place in Parma.  It was quite busy -- four or five people there when I was waiting for the food, my sister said that many came in while she waited for me, and there were a number of online orders.  No real place to sit down, so we went to my sister's place.  It was... good?  Beef was a bit spicy.  Jus was decent.  Onion rings were a bit disappointing.  Certainly a large meal -- more than I have eaten in a while!  Of course, it was fairly...traditional... of a meal for me, so I told my sister to expect chilled monkey brains for sure at the next dinner I choose.  Let's just say she was not exactly surprised -- or thrilled -- by that one.

Started At The Bottom...

 It was quite the morning today... on the way to the dentist, the low tire pressure indicator light came on.  Sigh.  As this is the third time in about a month... anyways, while this round of periodontal cleaning was not too bad (I told the hygienist I brush four times a day, which surprised her), I have a slight crack in one of the back teeth, and it will need to be capped.  To be sure, I was told this a few years ago (the cap, not the crack) and I decided to put it off.  Maybe it was worth it, time-wise... but two bits of unpleasant by nine, and before the morning coffee, was rather a bit much.

At least one bright side of this...the day could only get better, and it did!  I had plenty of stuff to do at the home office when I did return, and got much done, always a plus.  Even caught up on some other stuff -- coordinating the payments from my medical savings account -- which, come to think of it, needed to be done, as I will undoubtedly have more.  As a matter of fact, the only other bad thing today was me completing blanking on the Final J! answer -- I knew the book but couldn't recall the name of the author.  This mental decline as I age is not fun.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/03/27/will-the-ozempic-era-change-how-we-think-about-being-fat-and-being-thin

Interesting, I guess; I mean, diet and exercise will still play a role, I think (as it should), but if we can crack the obesity epidemic by this...well, I would think it is by and large for the good, even if we should retain the shame factor.

https://behavioralscientist.org/the-psychology-of-overhead-aversion-and-what-it-means-for-charitable-work/

I thought this was quite good.  It's funny; many people think those of us at the OC are paid, which is immensely amusing.  I wonder if this is why a lot of people tend to have more faith in Catholic-based charity groups, as the large number of volunteers means you do cut down on overhead...

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/midwest-roots-shaped-ron-desantis-political-values-youngstown-ohio-rcna73797

Didn't realize his roots were from around here; I guess I should have been a good Republican and bought -- and read -- his book.  But it does explain a lot; I just hope this part of the message can be better known...

Shade and snark

 So yesterday I nodded off while lying down, and when I woke up, the lights were on and it was 4 in the morning.  Alas.  No blog yesterday.  I guess I needed it, though I also needed to finish The Impending Crisis (which happened today).  Anyways... well, today I did feel a bit better, and needed less caffeine.  Rah.  Funny; yesterday, I had all of these little things that popped up -- an extra visit by the exterminator to the OC, a couple of minor work projects -- and they all were handled, but it seemed like I was malingering.  I need to stop doing that, obviously (not).

One thing that did amuse me (vastly, of course) was the shade throwing -- first Tara on her men's counterpart at Stanford, and then Nick Saban on Nate Olds.  Who doesn't love this sort of thing?  Also amusing was the hand-wringing abut Rick Pitino and his new job.  I guess on the one hand he is slimy, but on the other... he and everyone else knows this (or should), so anyone who hires him (and the guy can coach, like it or not)...well, I don't fault them, nor do I fault him for going out and getting a new and better job.  I got one and am quite happy!

In other news, I met another SVDP Conference today -- St. Therese in Garfield.  Quite well -- good set of volunteers, good ministries, plenty of good works.  I think all of my parishes have that, we just need more of everything -- volunteers, resources, etc.  I guess that is also part of my job, figuring out how to get more of that flowing.  Also, a couple of them were surprised at how young I was, which, as you can imagine, was immensely gratifying.

I have been quite forgetful today; three times I made a mental note to myself, and three times I remembered it a couple of hours later.  I know that this is just life and nothing more sinister (I hope), but as with everything else going in my stage of life nowadays...it was, if you will, vaguely unsettling.

Fatigue

 I guess yesterday caught up with me, as I was a sleepy boy for much of the day; I could just feel it, and even fell asleep during the Wisconsin-Liberty game.  I went to the gym this afternoon and after a stop at Bakery 57 for a muffin and a large coffee (it's quite good there, I don't want to know why, either)... well, I feel more enervated now.  At least I managed to partially clear the email inbox and handle a lot of food pantry/SVDP stuff while watching basketball, even though the season is dead to me.  :)

It was cold this morning when I went to Mass, but after... there was snow!  And a lot, relatively speaking -- about an inch in the city.  It seemed a bit sketchy there, so I just went home after Mass and the food pantry (hence the PM gym visit).  Of course, here, in the suburbs, there was very little snow, and it melted away.   That might have affected my fatigue, as normally I hit the gym in the AM.  I will admit, I did feel a little lost being home some early in the morning.

We have a rodent problem at the OC.  I didn't see any but heard them this morning, and other volunteers have seen and heard them as well.  The traps were full, too.  We do have an exterminator, and they are doing yeoman's work, but -- and I have been making inquiries -- the rat/mouse problem seems worse in the city this year.  Couple of volunteers discussing bringing in a .22 or a .38 to plunk a few (I noted in that part of the world, the noise would be unnoticed), and I asked if anyone had cats or rat terriers to have camp overnight.  To be sure, we have an old and poorly sealed building, and a buffet of food for any critter, but my patience -- never very high -- is completely exhausted.  Thankfully as a Civil War buff I know what a Barnburner was, and I am not contemplating that course of action.  Yet.  Any volunteer can bring in traps at reimbursable expense for the immediate duration -- I invested $25 in glue traps, and hope they provide some modest relief.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/14/opinion/barstool-social-conservatives-abortion.html?campaign_id=2&emc=edit_th_20230315&instance_id=87461&nl=todaysheadlines&regi_id=31060267&segment_id=127802&user_id=f914b0e213c5e2b4265494b6d07fe88f

Interesting, but I don't necessarily think they are in opposition; indeed, in some ways they complement each other, as there is a sort of inherent moral conservatism in the Barstool approach; I can easily see these guys, in ten years (especially if/when they marry and have families), shifting more to the right, morally as well. 

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/03/17/federalist-society-democracy-opinion-00087270

Amusing; I would argue that they are taking the arguments and approaches of the left and deciding that this, too, can work for conservatism.  And... there is nothing wrong with that, is there?  Good for the goose, good for the gander, correct?  Of course, on the left, you can two geese, two ganders, or whatever... which, to the FedSoc, is exactly the problem they are trying to solve.

A Very Long Day

 Woke up at the crack of dawn for food pantry duty, as we were short-handed, especially of runners/people who can use the computer.   One nice thing about the Order, I guess; I am still young enough to be the kid.  So there I was -- I should have brought more than the hoodie, as it was a little cold out there (and got worse during the morning, odd).  The crowd was about average, if a bit less, which was/is surprising, given the hullaballoo about SNAP cuts.  At least we gave away all of the produce, always a good sign.

Then it was home for a bit -- only just enough time to make my mint brownies and watch a smidgen of Duke before going to my friend's fest.  We both noted that Duke was...well, we were quite sure that this was going to be the end of their run, and we were sadly correct.  TN certainly had defensive toughness, and as Coach Scheyer is not yet getting the calls... to be sure, some questionable decisions -- letting Roach play with four, letting Proctor shoot so much, forcing much of the offense to Filipowski, despite his not exactly being a threat... oi.

Anyways, I didn't stay for the whole game, as it was off to fest two for a bit -- friend from church is going to the Navy soon, so I brought my tray of brownies and stopped there for a bit.  It was nice just to hang and chill, and it is always good to just hang.  But not for long!  Off to fest three for a surprise bday for a friend at Mongolian BBQ in the PSRCH.  That was nice -- good to catch up with old friends -- but it was certainly pricey.  I should have gone back for a third bowl (they seemed to be smaller) but it was time, and, of course, there is the fatness factor.

Then off to fest four -- a brief stop at a kid's bday party.  I delivered the present and hung out a bit; I decided that more food was suicide and politely pawned my piece of cake to the birthday boy, which he appreciated immensely, if not the parents.  To be sure, they did see this coming...

Then home, where I did some reading, the Lenten devotions, boiled some eggs, and went through some websites and emails.  Tomorrow, for better or worse, we go through the emails and the bookmarks, which seem to be piling up, and, dare I say, not leaving the house after Mass/gym...

Action on the Court

 It has been a glorious day of basketball action today -- close game with MD-WV, the big Furman win (what was UVA thinking?  why does UVA tend to blow it in the postseason?), and of course the Princeton win -- which I am quite sure no one saw coming.  I mean, plenty of people picked Furman to win a game (or more), but Princeton?  This is why we watch!  Thankfully, Duke avoided the upsets by beating Oral Roberts, as the Lord called them home.  The defensive intensity was what impressed me; I figured Duke would score points, but so would ORU.  But no!  Long may this glorious run continue...

Course, one downside of the day is that aside from work and watching basketball, I did little else, so I have a couple of things to accomplish tomorrow morning.  Hell, I still have to wash some dishes, though the pile could sit another day or so.  I did get some reading some, and broke open the pile of Games magazines.  Ok, it's two, but I still should do them; at the very least, I can make sure I turn in the mail-in puzzle, in the one-in-a-million chance that I solve it and get the prize.  (Both are equally implausible.)

One thing I have noticed -- and I know it is easier than it looks -- but if you know the trap is coming, why don't you design a play to get the ball to the middle of the court, where the risk of a trap is slightly less?  It seems teams invite the old CYO offense play of "dribble into the corner and call timeout."  Again, I know the defense is working to prevent the center pass, but it does seem to invite trouble to not try something else...

Height and Talent...

 ..were too much for the Youngstown State Penguins tonight, and they lost to Oklahoma State in the NIT.  I know this, as I was there -- I took a drive out to Youngstown to see the game, as, well, how often does one get a chance to go to a NIT game, especially when YSU -- the lower seed -- was hosting?  (Thoughts of Robert Morris!)  As I told one friend, one nice thing about having no life is that if and when you want to do something, you can!

It's actually an easy drive -- 99% highway from my house, Turnpike to 680 to 422 and follow the signs.  The arena (and the football stadium) are just off the highway, and ample parking -- at $5!! -- was right there as well, literally two blocks away.   A brisk walk (I had to pee) and I was there; not only that, none of the metal detector crap, which was nice.  Dinner was $9 -- a pretzel and a brat -- and on the whole...well, aside from the gas and drive, it was fairly inexpensive.  Always a nice touch!

The place itself is a gym -- a large one, but a gym nonetheless.  It does have a Jumbotron, though (Ahem, CSU), and it seemed like they have 90% less staffing than CSU -- you were pretty much on your own to find a seat.  I was in general admission, though, and as I arrived early (ahem) I chose a close spot on center court, though, as I soon turned out, it was also the "stand up here during the game and bullshit" section... of course, I am used to it by now.  Sigh.  One thing I did notice is that the boys -- by a WIDE margin, in every sense of the word -- were a lot better looking than the girls.  I was going to ask if the dorms were all served by 24-hour buffets, but I figured that would be wildly inappropriate.  Of course, asking the wildly inappropriate (and offensive) questions is my life's work, if you will.

As for the game itself... one thing I immediately noticed was the size difference.  The tallest Penguins were 6'7" and 6'8", while the Cowboys had several over 6'9" and a center who was 7'1".  He was from Africa, and while he was not much of an offensive threat, he was a real force on defense, especially because he was not Shawn Bradley tall; he -- and the rest of OSU -- were beefy guys.  This was in contrast to the Penguins, who were more...Lincolnesque.

Now, the Penguins led for much of the game, but it was mainly due to three-point shooting, two quick fouls in the first half on the seven-footer, and, dare I say, maximum defensive effort.  All of this good, but I never got the feeling that OK State was out of it; you just looked at the size -- and the fact that YSU had very little inside game (the seven-footer mainly stayed in the lane, and no amount of decoy work world draw him out; the Cowboys had the better athletes to make up the gap), and after a while OK State just bullied the ball inside, and took the lead.  To their credit, YSU didn't fold -- even forcing a couple of turnovers late to keep it close -- but the miracle was not to be had, and that was that.  But it was fun, and there were a lot fewer idiot fans around me (which might have been the miracle), and all in all, it was an enjoyable way to spend a Wednesday evening, and I would certainly go back.

The sense of mehness

So today I watched "The Little Mermaid," and I was...underwhelmed?  It is on the National Film Registry, but I cannot see why.  The animation is fine, nothing special.  Aside from the one song... meh.  Ursula is an anodyne villain, at best -- and certainly the fatphobia is problematic nowadays!  The lessons? Kids, disobey your parents for love and ruin your life?  I mean, it is 813 on the list, but... well, it wasn't "
Hairspray" awful, but...

'Funny; today I was so busy that I didn't leave the house, which was odd -- even skipped the gym late as the blood sugar was low.  (Sigh.)  I did cross off some things from the to-do list, and did plenty of reading and research, but then I was like what exactly have I done?  Of course, there are plenty of things on the list, so the opportunity to have a few days to do nothing but work on the list is...well, not exactly a thing at my last job, let me put it that way.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/joe-biden-must-be-the-world-s-worst-catholic/ar-AA18CYOb?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=72b76be5cf4142d8824508cf1453530e&ei=29

Um....yes.

https://www.tker.co/p/profit-margins-inflation-controversy/comments

I guess this is also an um...yes comment as well.  I don't doubt that a consumer revolt is a good thing; in some ways I wonder if it is not happening already, or will be as the SNAP reductions continue to roll through the economy.  Now, I don't want to sound like Pocahontas here, but shouldn't Congress step in and pass legislation to fix this?  Excess profits taxes are not a bad thing, especially when companies are making strong profits.  I think it should be on the table, at least....or should have been!

The Liberty-Nova game in the NIT was...fascinating.  McGhee for Liberty made a number of threes that not even Steph Curry would take, and watching LU play defense was impressive, but I couldn't help but think that Nova let that game get away from them, missing all those shots inside, where they had a height advantage.  Of course, every time a shot rattled around (I counted at least four) I couldn't help but think it was the Holy Spirit...

Ragtime

 Finally filled out ALL the pools -- multiple men's brackets, and of course the women's bracket, followed by the NIT and the CBI.  Yes, we have immense bragging rights.  Different winners for each one; indeed, different paths all around.  Funny; I have followed college sports less in the past couple of years, but tournament time there I am, catching up with reckless (or feckless) abandon.  Very odd, all I can say.

Is it me, or the fact that the President has yet to visit East Palestine, but had time to bail out a Silicon Valley bank...well, methinks the optics are quite poor, in my humble opinion.  Yes, I understand the rationale for the bank bailout, but every GOPer should be making ads on this -- millionaires get their money back (to say nothing of the Barney Frank connection; always good for mockery) while the people of East Palestine suffer.  To be sure, for some on the other side, this is a feature and not a bug...

So, I was checking the TCM listings for the week, and "The Sting" was on tonight, and as it is one of my favorite films, I just had to watch... and it was as good and amusing as ever.  It is a perfect film in many ways; it's fairly light, the plot is the thing that makes it easy to root for so not-so-bad guys, who doesn't love a good con story, and Redford and Newman?  Easy peasy.  I'll even give them a pass for the musical accompaniment being anachronistic.  I didn't realize how many Oscars it won; looking at the other nominees for Best Picture... maybe "American Graffiti"?  I liked "Save the Tiger," in that Matt way, but I am not quite sure it stacks up to say, being a great.  Ok, "The Exorcist" has help up, but it is a different type of film...

Selection Sunday

Well, that was fast....no NIT for North Carolina.  How terrible...  I guess Selection Sunday was as predicted.  Not a lot of opportunities for mid-majors, which means that none of them can get screwed, though that is a screwing in and of itself.  Duke gets a very tough road -- starting off against a solid Oral Roberts team (with experience in picking off top seeds, ahem) and then the Purdue quadrant -- not sure they can handle all that size.

Today was restful, if not exactly productive (though I read about 90 pages of The Impending Crisis, so that is something).  Watched some hoops, went through the email chain, texted some friends... about 8 of clock I realized that I was probably tired due to the time change.  I noticed it was brighter later but never put that fact together, either.  I guess I was just glad to get up on time (can't miss Mass, especially when one is the EM).

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/10/opinion/thomas-massie-republican-party.html#commentsContainer

This is...pretty cool?  I mean, everyone thinks he is some right-wing kook, especially the readers and staff of the NYT, but looking at this... I am impressed.  And he is right; I would love for him to start going to peoples' houses and check out their carbon footprints; I think it would be hilarious.

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2023-03-09/crypto-bank-had-a-boring-collapse

Go down to the WWE section... One thing I have noticed is that wrestling fans -- some of them -- tend not  to want to admit that the thing is fixed.  I mean, most do, but a big hunk have always told me (vehemently) that the sport is...not fixed.  Well, here it is in the SEC filing -- the matches are predetermined!  I wish I could show this to them, but the type of people who insist that the sport is... a bastion of integrity (ok, it is, in its own weird way) are the types who will glaze over a government document.  Alas.

Closures

 You know, the basketball games have been incredibly entertaining today.  The MEAC game was incredibly tight -- I think it was a one-possession game for nearly the entire second half. The MAC game was close for most of it, until KSU pulled away (now they can post videos about Akron!).  The America East playoff game was the same, until the superior talent of UVM showed through.  Hell, the same could be said for the OSU-Purdue game; after a while, too much height and talent for the Boilermakers.  The idea that tOSU should have a postseason berth is...well, laughable.  Even the Duke game -- while uncomfortably close for some of us -- was fairly competitive, if... well, sort of a slog.

Funny; my plans for today were cancelled, so I slept in a bit, went to the gym, and then came home to settle in front of the TV and watch some games... I also handled a bunch of food pantry/SVDP stuff.  Looked over some grant applications, did some paperwork, reviewed the annual reports of all the East District conferences, sent out some follow-up emails... all good!  To be sure, I could have finished them in two hours if I had shut the TV off, but priorities...  I also finished book 15 -- and honestly it was one of the better and more interesting books I have read.  Certainly challenged what I would say are commonly held beliefs about education.

Yesterday I went to two churches.  For lunch I went down the street to St. Joseph's Byzantine in Brecksville (few places offer lunch!), and it was...fine, in that good but not outstanding way.  For dinner I re-crossed the river and went to Blessed Trinity, off Puritas; never been, and I just wanted to see what it was like.  Stations went long so I arrived late, where I discovered that they were out of salmon, fries, and cole slaw (the last two flummoxed me a bit, honestly, though equally honestly many of the people there could have laid off the fries).  The nice ladies suggested I order off the a la carte menu, so I went with the sole filet, clam chowder, and crab cake sandwich; I later snarfed a plate of cookies from the dessert table.  The crab cake sandwich was the best -- bit of a kick but not overwhelming -- and the other two were fine; would have preferred something not fried and breaded, but such is the cost of tardiness...

First Loser

 Late night, I guess.  Tonight was Pub Quiz out on the East Side, and we came in...second.  Alas, alack; biggest loser.  It was fun (mostly) and good to see Team XI again.  I did get a couple pull-it-out-of-my-ass questions correct which kept us in contention, so I cannot complain.  More seriously... going there is pretty much how I went to work at Freedonia every day, and while driving there -- with much less traffic -- I couldn't help but reflect upon how little I miss of it -- the work, the drive, the grind... the people were fairly nice, to be sure, but I cannot help but look at my life now and compare it to then... well, there really is no comparison.  Hell, I got a card from the CEO today thanking me for my recent work -- I received my company's award for resilience, and while I am simply doing my job... it is nice to be thought of positively and rewarded for it.  And, in the all's well with the world category, Team XI did mock me a couple of times for my politics, and the conservative members of the team mocked them for not knowing about the magic of "Gutfeld!"

https://gizmodo.com/grindr-data-track-gay-priests-catholic-laity-clergy-1850207618
Am I missing something here?  I realize this is gizmodo, and yes, the technological/tracking implications are a bit scary, but... as we all know, Catholic priests take a vow of celibacy (and thus chastity); furthermore, the Church has rather strict (for now) teachings about homosexual behavior.  Expecting priests to try and live up to them -- and calling them out when they do not -- seems more than appropriate, in all honesty.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/in-accusing-cardinal-mcelroy-of-heresy-bishop-paprocki-was-aiming-higher/ar-AA18q8D9?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=afbb296523e342e9b0024d554e77b3f9&ei=28

I have been following this story a little more closely...  First of all, I am shocked, shocked, that a Jesuit and Son of Erin is doing a merry jig along the line of heresy, while a wonderful Polish bishop is asserting the traditional teachings of the One True Faith.  Second... this could be more, but Paprocki is correct there; there is open discussion of issues, but it must remain that... once, of course someone starts promulgating that which is not in the Catechism (like it or not), corrective actions must be taken.  

So, they had the Big Ten Tournament on at the restaurant during the PQ (finally, a higher seed beat a lower one, though it would have been embarrassing for a team to have lost to Minnesota), and they displayed a graphic that indicated the Big Ten would have nine teams in the Big Dance.  I don't know; I realize there are plenty of advanced metrics they consider in addition to wins and losses, but... to me, nine teams in a conference -- five or six in the 7 to 11 lines -- means you have a bunch of teams beating up on each other, and that does not exactly mean that you should put them ALL in the tournament.  I realize this is part of the continuing plan to screw mid-majors out of spots, and the NCAA is completely fine with this, which is another reason why we need to go after them as well.

The Passing of Eras

 I finally finished (I hope) the megaproject at work today... this might be a bit premature, but I think my work on this is over.  This is good, as I have plenty of stuff on my project list -- not only do I have the stuff from before, but plenty more projects have been added.  Alas.  On the other hand, I have plenty of time to get them done, and many of them, once I get started, will progress quite nicely.  

The Southland Conference championship was quite entertaining, especially as these teams will mostly be 16 seeds.  On the other hand...it's what they play for.  I did note that Northwestern State had a player with one hand (amputated at 6); I couldn't help but think that the next time someone complains about not being able to do something... imagine playing D-1 hoops with one hand.  

Is it me, or was the retirement of Jim Boeheim... forced?  To be sure, I am no fan of the guy (too slimy, even for me) and I suspect that he, like a lot of older coaches, simply didn't want to deal with the new world of NIL.  But... everything -- his speech, his body language -- seems to me that he is being pushed out and that he wanted to stick around.  I don't know; has he won enough?  Probably not, nowadays, but on the other hand, given his record... he deserved to go out on his own terms.  I don't think he will coach again, alas...  I have to admit, I always was impressed by guys like Rollie Massimino, coaching at some D-3 school in Florida in his 80s.  Hoops get in the blood, I guess.

I am almost halfway through Caplan's The Case Against Education which is quite interesting, if a bit provocative.  His point is that much of college education is simply virtue signaling and wage inflation.  He notes that people aren't necessarily smarter, despite this education, and that much of the wage gap between those who have a college degree and those who do not is simply caused by the fact (maybe a bit less now) that traditionally those jobs have paid more, no matter whether or not they are important or needed.  I think he is correct in some, but I wonder if anyone (say a GOP governor) will work to reduce requirements for degrees, especially in those majors like engineering and such.  That and working to dismantle the diversity complex would make college much more affordable, and given the current conditions, I think it would be a winning political message.

Walking Down Memory Lane

 Well, it was a noble effort, but one of the CSU teams did not make the NCAA Tournament, as the men fell in the nightcap.  It was an entertaining game -- CSU worked to dominate inside, and often did so, but too many turnovers (especially dumb ones) were the cause of the defeat.  Can they get a CBI bid?  Will the Wolsteins chip in with the money?  :)  In the meantimes, the Lady Vikings are going to the Tournament, so kudos to them... I tried to follow the game on the phone, but with all the other stuff going on... alas.

One thing I decided to do while watching tonight's action -- Oral Roberts certainly put the wood to ND State to win the Summit -- was to go through the pile of photos I had lying around.  They are in a couple of places (the closet, the box from Mom) and it was high time to organize them.  I also decided to look through all of the old photo albums -- a lovely trip down memory lane, actually.  Most of them were roughly organized, but a couple were jumbled -- stuff from generations.  My Mom labeled some of the older ones, but in most cases I was able to figure out the older ones (such as the ones before my time).  Anyways, I bought an album today and was able to organize the family photos.  But.... my parents took plenty of photos of me and the stuff I did.  Good Lord, they could have paid off their house with what was spent on film!  That and I actually forgot about some of the stuff we did as a family (trips) and shit I did... Even worse, I need another album, and maybe another couple of plastic bins to store them -- I have decided that I like these sorts of things for storing stuff (safely, more or less).  Oh well.  There are plenty more games to watch, so I can theoretically put everything in an album.

I have a plan to organize my closets, and while this is part of it, I get the feeling that I should be doing something more...

Not-So-Lazy Sunday

 My Sunday was... interesting.  Mass and breakfast with the sister, followed by a trip to the tire place (again), as the low tire pressure sensor went off (again), sigh.  Then the original plan was to hit the gym and head home for an afternoon of basketball watching.  But, a friend of mine just moved back to town, and I had offered to help if he needed.  As it turned out, he decided he did, so there I was, off to Ohio City with a bag of tools to assemble a bed and everything.  I distinctly recalled Watson (in "The Adventure of the Bruce Partington Plans") walking to meet Holmes with a batch of burglary tools...

As it turned out, we spent nearly six hours together... moving stuff around the apartment, putting the bed together, and a trip to Parma to the hardware store (for a drill/screwdriver set) and Target.  At least the place was largely put together when I left, which was...fine.  I came home, snarfed some dinner, and decided that my original plan of cleaning my kitchen was still a valid idea, so there I went... and like a dervish devotee of Mr. Clean, the kitchen was cleaned -- kitchen table cleared off and dusted (next time I will dust the light fixture first), floor Swiffered, counters and stove top scrubbed; even the sink was subjected to a Drano blast (probably not enough).  And it is glorious.  To be sure, I should probably clean a little more often, and thus work less hard, but...

Anyways, I had some other stuff to handle, and it was almost one when I was ready to go to bed... and then I got a text from another friend.  His flight home was delayed, Lyft and Uber weren't working... could I pick him up at the airport.  I will admit some small (in every sense of the word), Hopey and Changey part of me said to just roll over, but I then decided (in addition to being East District President) that if I was stuck at the airport at 1 in the morning... so I got dressed and took him home.  

I am feeling it today, though; not only was I tired, I also feel a cold coming on (again), which is no fun, as, given the way I run things, it will be a month before I am actually better.  Alas.  I am bumping up the fruit and vitamin C, and will try to get some more rest (ha).  Maybe I will look at the kitchen and revel in its cleanliness, or, more likely, I will start cleaning out the medicine cabinet during halftime.  Yes, I want the bathroom done, even if it will be a couple of months before I start planning that.

 https://digg.com/music/link/90s-one-hit-wonders-uAPkHbb3Py

Some good songs here, though to call Lisa Loeb's "Stay" just a one-hit wonder...sigh.

Lazy Saturday

Matt was out late last night and then decided in turn to sleep in.  This was probably a good thing, though I have felt vaguely unproductive all day.  To be sure, after an AM trip to the gym and a spate of paperwork... well, I still feel guilty.

One thing I did -- I had entertained notions of a restaurant visit -- was to make one of the recipes from my list.  So, after making some mint brownies for an upcoming fest, I kept the oven at 350 and fired up some white chocolate brie cups (in phyllo dough) with orange marmalade toppings.  They are...good?  Not sure I would make them again.  Cutting brie is... a difficult thing.  But the recipe itself is fairly easy, and as a quick appetizer, one could do worse.  Now I am in the recipe-crossing off mood, which is not exactly a bad thing.

It's March Madness time!  I mean, it's March, so I should have put one and one together, but it is one of my favorite times of the year -- so many games with so much meaning, all kinds of excitement, and, of course, you never know what you are going to get.  My TV and movie viewing -- in so far as it exists -- is severely truncated, and it is really quite glorious.

Tomorrow I need to do some kitchen cleaning.  Hell, I need to do some kitchen table cleaning; I had done some of it during the week -- cleaning away some paperwork, doing some medical claims -- but it has come back with a vengeance.  Half of the stuff is in the category "too important to throw away but not sure what else to do with it," hence the sitting in piles.  I should do some adulting and put it away altogether, which is then followed by the realization that I should do some adulting/throwing away in other corners of Chateau Mattie...

The Miracle at the Wolstein/The Belly of the Beast

 First, this counts as a Thursday post!  Second, let me tell the story of my day in reverse.

So, tonight I went to the basketball double-header for CSU at the Wolstein Center.  My meetings ran early (as expected) and I do like college basketball.  Quite frankly, there is no reason -- save for the usual laziness and inertia -- not to go to more games; they are not that expensive, CSU is hardly a pain to get to (or get out of), and while yes, I do have a HELOC and a mortgage to pay off...well, you get the picture.  Anyways, the women's game was first, and it was fairly entertaining.  I think we could tell that CSU was the more talented team, across the board, and while every time the Lady Vikings got to within double-digits in the lead the Panthers would cut it back to single digits... I don't think anyone really thought they would lose.  And they did not!

I had pretty good seats -- front row actually -- but it soon developed that there was a problem:  namely my section was the designated "let's stand here and bullshit for large blocks of time" area.  This would not have been a problem, but everyone -- and this included everyone on the media and the leadership of the CSU Athletics department -- chose to do this IN THE MIDDLE OF THE GAME.  Again, this was a game that was... moderately competitive?  Certainly, the Lady Panthers were playing with 110%, and that deserved our full attention.  To be sure, some of the people eventually realized they were in the way and knelt down, but several of them... let's just say they had physiques that were of the type that they were not the kneeling type, which was unpleasant, as they were type to block out most of the view of the game as well.  I realize some bullshitting is part of every job, but it did seem to be a bit disrespectful to the lady athletes, being the superior feminist I am.

Then I grabbed dinner at the Happy Hour; the sausage sandwich was so good I ordered another, and a box of popcorn...let's just say that my heart will not be at the 94th percentile after that one (even if I did plenty of walking at the game).  And then it was the men's game, which was...quite entertaining.  It was obvious that RMU (I had to explain to several people in my section who Robert Morris was; obviously, no history majors at CSU!) was the more physical team, especially inside, and thus they would get most of the calls.  Most of the fans seemed not to notice this, which was a problem.  I mean, it wasn't that the refs were bad, but they did miss a couple of egregious calls against CSU, which didn't help.  Anyways, CSU was down by double digits late in the second half, and most of the people seemed ready to write them off.  I was not, for I am a Duke fan, and I have learned that the Blue Devils -- of all teams -- can quite easily piss away big leads, and if the Sacrament of Duke Basketball can cause such as effect, so too can the Robert Morris Colonials.

And so they did!  CSU finally figured out a way to drive inside, and then got a fourth foul on one of RMU's big men, so he had to play a less aggressive role, and soon it became a two-possession game, then a one-possession game, and then RMU committed a stupid turnover (the type CSU committed with eagerness and alacrity through the first 30 minutes) and then CSU tied the game with FTs with 7.7 to go, and the place went crazy (in so far as 2,000 can).  A defensive stop, and then it was OT, and the superior talent of CSU (and their newfound inside game) prevailed, and the home team went away victorious.  And all were pleased.

You know, I like attending games at the Wolstein -- cheaper and more intimate than Rocket Mortgage -- but I can also see how they would tear it down.  No Jumbotron, which seems anomalous in this day and age.  The acoustics are not so good; I sat on the side opposite the PA announcer, and it was roughly gibberish (not every fan knows to look at the ref for foul calls).  Also -- like last year -- the shot clock broke in the first quarter, so obviously, no electrical engineering majors at CSU, either!  I still believe, of course, that the Horizon League should adopt the top seed is the host format -- I think the fans storming the court is one of the best things in college hoops -- but when I think of ESPN sitting there while they fiddle with the wiring...

The first half of the day was largely fine... I lifted in the morning, and stupidly jammed the side of my hand on the bar, so I now have a pus-filled bump by the little finger of my left hand.  I will wait a bit before giving it the Dr. Pimple Popper treatment I so want to do...alas.  I visited the NE Coalition for the Homeless to pick up some Streetcards -- we have gotten an increase in homeless people at the OC, and some of the East District Conference Presidents have requested them, so as part of the volunteer job, off I went.

I also visited the Midtown Market food pantry, part of the network of our new corporate overloads at the Hunger Network.  They have a "client choice" pantry, where people can pick what they want (within limits, of course).  They also use a points system  -- clients get a set amount by (self-reported) family size and can "shop," taking what they want based on the points something "costs."  It is a not a large space (like ours in that way), and while I liked some of what I saw, some might just be untenable at our site (use of tablets, meat shopping, letting people dawdle, letting people remain past operating hours)... I do like seeing other sites, as part of a good/not-so-good practices tour, I just wish others on the Board would feel the same way.

The Turd in the Punchbowl

March already....hard to believe.  And the weather is...quite good; unseasonably warm.  Some day we will have real winter, and no one will know how to handle it...

I had another medical appointment today -- this time with a new dermatologist to see about this nagging eczema I have.  I would not say that I was optimistic, but at least the doctor has a willingness to try new things, which is something new.  One thing that did amuse me was her review of my test results -- according to her, everything was quite normal, and she remarked that -- even with the diabetes -- I was remarkably healthy (another reason the nagging quality of the eczema was mysterious).  I didn't want to tell her that I certainly didn't feel that way, but maybe it is true.  I suspect most of my issues are caused by things I could control (or at least try to), like lack of sleep and the gallon of caffeine I daily consume.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/florida-republicans-bill-ban-state-democratic-party-rcna72917

This literally made me pee my pants when I first read it, and I am still chuckling now.  But, he does have a point; if we are going to start canceling people and things, this is as good a place to start as any.

Today I had yet another meeting about the cut in SNAP benefits... being me, of course, I had to ask the following question:  Given that a good deal of the inflation that is harming the poor is caused by excessive government spending, and a further share of this inflation is caused by the fact that people are not returning to the workplace (thus driving up wages but also prices)... is not the responsible thing to cut SNAP benefits?  As you can imagine, that went over...fairly well.  Now, to be sure, while I am for cutting them (what part of "temporary" don't you understand), I am not sure a precipitous drop is the best -- a gradual plunge, if you will, might have been ideal.  On the other hand... I have noticed in my long association with food pantry that very few of our clients are starving (or even look like it), that they have plenty of cash for booze and smokes (legal and otherwise), and they certainly make it to other food pantries.  Also, 90% of these people voted for the administration that brought us this mess, so... you get what you deserve.  Plus, there is not a lack of food pantries and other resources out there (for now); I counted in one adjoining zip code 24 places to get food.  Now, if every place gives out a three-day supply of food, that gives you... well, a client could get a 72-day supply of food (some of them, of course, look like it).  Which seems...excessive.

I guess my point is that we should leery of the doom and gloom projections; yes, the reduction is severe, but there are more than enough opportunities out for people to find alternatives (such as getting a job), and at some point... I do not think it is the government's job to feed every man, woman, and child in this country, especially when there are plenty of people who are actually doing what they need to make it without the public dole.  Oi.