Going it Alone

I bought a ticket today to go see my favorite band when they do a show in the area in June. The last time I saw my favorite band I swore I wasn’t doing it again. It had nothing to do with the band. I still love them and they still put on a good show. It was me saying it was the last time I was going to a show alone. All but one of the Bowling For Soup shows I’ve been to have been a solo affair for me. My son went once before he started listening to different types of music. Otherwise, it’s been me alone. I went to one in Baltimore the night before a conference and then drove to Ocean City immediately after, arriving at around 4am. I drove 90 minutes alone to see them in Lancaster, PA. I’ve gone to Baltimore other times to see them. This time I will be going alone to a new venue to see them with Reel Big Fish and Nerf Herder.

I finally decided to go alone for the same reason I recently had dinner alone when I had a free entree for my birthday and the same reason I sometimes go to the movies alone. My kids are away. My wife works a lot and when she is not working she likes to stay at home. She thinks movies and concerts are too expensive and likes to eat at the same places and even then, very rarely. I don’t mind being at home. I enjoy being home with her watching our shows or the sports we enjoy. I do, however, still want to to the movies occasionally. I don’t want to miss my favorite band being in town. I want to try new restaurants. The easier option here is to go it alone. I’m off every other Friday. I can go to the movies then while she is at work. I went to the restaurant alone while she was working late. The concerts are a once a year or so event. I can do the things I enjoy without taking too much time away from tome together. I just need to learn to deal with being the loser sitting alone.

What’s Good in Tater Town 3/24/19

This was not a great week. Two stressful days to start the week. My days off to watch basketball made stressful by a sick dog and an anxiety-producing phone call. A bad customer service encounter at a local business. It’s a good week for me to try to find the good to prove that there is good on even the worst of weeks.

March Madness started this week, so no matter how bad the days were I knew I had basketball to look forward to when I got home.
I took Thursday afternoon off to be home to watch the games so I saw more of the first round than usual. I’ve been meaning to do that for years.
Kentucky won their first game easily. It’s nice to have one game that doesn’t stress me out.
Friday was my normal day off, so I had a second day to watch the games.
Emergency vet visit did not find anything serious wrong with the dog and she is getting back to normal.
My daughter made it to and from South Carolina safely.
Kentucky won a tough game yesterday without their best player so I have real rooting interest in the tournament for another week.

I think that does it for the week. Not a bad list for a bad week. I would probably have more if I thought to make note of things as they happened. Tune in next week to see if the results of the phone call from above mean a really bad or a really good week.

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My Week in Books, Movies and TV 3/22/19

My screen time has been taken over mostly by basketball so I don’t have a lot to post about there. I do have an increase in books this week, but I’m still below my goal for the year.

Movies – If I watched a movie this week I don’t remember it. Eventually, I will find the time to go see Captain Marvel before Avengers opens. Normally, today would be the day for that, but I have plans with my couch and March Madness. I do need to start treating myself to a movie out on my Friday off again. I do enjoy going to the movies.

TV – My daughter was home for a couple of days, so we spent some time catching up on shows we watch together. When it was her turn to choose we watched Victoria. When it was my turn to pick we watched Legends of Tomorrow. Two very different shows. Legends of Tomorrow has become my favorite of the DC TV shows. I’m watching the season finale of All American as I type this. I don’t think it will get a second season which is unfortunate. It is a really good show, but probably not the right fit for the CW crowd.

Books – I finished three books this week:

The Ruin by Dervla McTiernan – the first in a planned Irish mystery series. I should like it. I do like my Irish mysteries. It took me forever to get into the book and I never really cared about any of the characters. I felt like too much was added to the story as set up for future books. It wasn’t terrible, but I doubt I will read the next book.

The Black God’s Drums by P Djeli Clark – A nice, short 100-page book that takes place in an alternate worldNew Orleans where the US split after the Civil War and New Orleans is neutral territory. There are pirates in airships, mysterious weather weapons, gods and nuns. A lot for such a small book. I enjoyed it. I don’t know if I would have wanted to read more than 100 pages of it.

The Book of Essie by Meghan MacLean Wier – Essie is a senior in high school and the part of a reality show pastor’s family. When her mother discovers Essie is pregnant, she is determined to marry her off fast to cover the shame, but she is unaware Essie is secretly pulling all the strings. It was a quick, easy read. I alternated between the audio and the print version. The audio was well done. I liked it, but it might have been a little too long for what it was.

On Deck – At some point when basketball isn’t on my wife is going to make me watch the new version of Point Break. We also have Widows on DVD. I’m not sure when we will have time to watch that. I like Super Troopers, so I might watch Takoma FD’s first episode since Tru TV is hyping it so much during the games. Abby’s, the new sitcom with Natalie Morales premieres Thursday. I really like her and Neil Flynn, who is also in it, so I will give it a try. I’m currently reading Bearskin by James A McLaughlin.

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Midweek Blues

It’s been a long week and it is only Wednesday. I have to go to work soon, but I really don’t want to have to deal with the world. I need to find a job that will allow me to work from home and have limited contact with other people. At the very least, I wish I had an office job where I have limited contact with other people. I’m sure the other people would be happy to be rid of me.

I get in this type of mood on occasion. I just get worn down by dealing with people and need a break. Luckily, this week I will have limited time I am dealing with others. I took the afternoon off tomorrow so I can relax and enjoy March Madness. Friday is my normal day off and there is more basketball. I have no reason to leave my couch after 1:30 tomorrow afternoon until Saturday morning when I have to go back to work. I won’t have a reason to care about what anyone else is doing with their time. My day won’t depend upon anyone else but myself. Hopefully, the two days of basketball and relaxation gets me back in the right frame of mind to deal with other people.

It’s too bad I’m not good enough at the writing thing to make money. It would be great to be able to make money without ever leaving the house. Maybe I should stop on the way to work to buy a Powerball ticket. Being a multi-millionaire would be a good reason to have an excuse not to work outside of the house. In the meantime, if you enjoy my blog and would like to support my blogging habit or buy me a cup of coffee you can click here

This is the end of my whiny post. Maybe tomorrow’s post will be more fun. Maybe I will attempt to GIF the news again.

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My March Madness Teams I Hate and Love

Even though I do a bracket every year, I still have certain rooting interests that override my wanting to be right. I always root for the upset unless the game involves Kentucky or any other teams I love. I have teams I will always cheer for and teams I will always cheer against. Here is a short breakdown of those teams:

Teams I Hate:

Duke – I really can’t remember if it all started with the Laettner shot or before, but I can’t stand Duke, Coach K or anything related to the team. I want them to lose every game they play. I picked them to win this year, but I would love for them to lose the first weekend.

UNC – The dislike here isn’t as strong as the Duke hate, but I’m really tired of dadgum Roy and the Tar Heels. I hate that they got away with players taking fake classes. I hate their dumb light blue uniforms. I hate the hype the Duke/UNC rivalry gets.

Louisville – The annoying little brother who won’t go away, but also embarrasses you by getting caught with prostitutes. I think I hate them more than Duke. They are less hateable with Pitino gone, but I still hate them. I don’t know how other Kentucky fans cheer for Louisville. They are our biggest rival. You can’t cheer for your rival.

Kansas – There’s just something about Bill Self that makes Kansas easy to hate. I don’t think I hated them when dadgum Roy was there, but I do now. I can’t really explain this one.

Syracuse – I’m not a Boeheim fan. I always pick them to lose early and they always win more than expected. Stop making me look dumb!

Cincinnati – I used to live outside the city and work in the city. I liked living and working there. I never liked the team. I liked Huggy Bear, but I really don’t like Cronin. He’s a terrible person an builds a team with his personality.

Tennessee – Stupid orange team full of floppers. They flop more than the floppiest of Duke teams. I hate floppers. Stupid floppers.

Teams I Love

Kentucky – Obvious one here. I grew up in Kentucky. I went to UK. I attended every game while there. I knew some of the players. I attended father/son camp there with my son. I will always do what I can to plan my life around watching Kentucky basketball.

Murray State – a small Kentucky school with a chance to surprise people and win a couple of games. I always cheer for Kentucky teams unless they are Louisville.

Northern Kentucky – I lived down the street from NKU for a couple of years. I did my grad school classes via a UK extension program at NKU. I will always cheer for them.

Anyone playing the teams I hate – The above three are all I have in the tournament this year. WKU didn’t make it. Morehead didn’t make it. I really only love Kentucky teams that aren’t Louisville. I get more teams to love by loving any team playing against the teams I hate. It’s just as fun to have someone to cheer against as it is to have someone to cheer for.

So, my tournament cheering is focused on upsets, Kentucky teams that aren’t Louisville and any team playing Duke, UNC, Kansas, Syracuse, Cincy, and Tennessee. It’s always interesting to see which ones I hate more once they play each other and I figure out who I want to lose the game.

Now, let the games begin!

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Tater’s Picks of Madness

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! March Madness! I finally got smart and took Thursday afternoon off to watch the games. Friday is my normal day off, so I have two full days of basketball with no pesky job to get in the way. I do have to work on Saturday, so I run the risk of being at work during a UK game. I love March Madness. Now, on to my picks. This year I did not pretend to know anything about basketball. I went through the bracket, chose winners on instinct, changed a couple that I didn’t like and then left it alone. Here is the result.

Upsets:

1st round: Yale over LSU, Murray State over Marquette, UC Irvine over Kansas State, St Mary’s over Villanova, Seton Hall over Wofford

2nd Round: Miss. State over VA Tech, Buffalo over Texas Tech, UC Irvine over Wisconsin(Badgers? We don’t need no stinking Badgers), Cincy over Tennessee, Auburn over Kansas

Final Eight: Duke, Louisville, Florida State, Michigan, Virginia, Purdue, UNC, UK

Final Four: Duke, Florida St, Purdue, UK

Championship: Duke over UK. I just threw up in my mouth a little typing that..

I also did a homer bracket with UK winning.

Pick the exact opposite of this and you will win your pool

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What’s Good in Tater Town 3/17/19

It was generally a good week this week. I started the week with a day good enough to post a good day post and then, while there were some stressful and frustrating times, it was a decent week. I won’t cheat and use the list from Monday for the list today. That would be too easy.

I will start with something from Monday – I’ve been involved with the state library association almost from the start of my career. I’ve presented at conference three times. I’ve been on the conference committee multiple times. I thought this year would be the first time in a long time I wouldn’t be there and then a received word that I was approved to go and am now registered.
I’m really enjoying the extra hour of daylight and hope to continue to take advantage of it with walks after work.
I normally wouldn’t put a job interview on a list of good things before hearing the result, but there are two good things with this one – it’s over and the result will give me final indication on the direction of my future job decisions. It will be good to have that clarity.
Speaking of MLA, I had a meeting at the offices Thursday morning. It was a nice day for a drive to Baltimore.
I stopped on the way back to the branch for a nice, quiet lunch with just me and my book.
Friday was another really nice day and I had another nice lunch outside.
My daughter was home for spring break when I got home from work. She’s abandoning us and going south to visit a friend tomorrow, but we got one weekend with her home.
We had lunch at the normal birthday spot for our kids yesterday with both of the kids. It’s unusual these days to get both kids home at the same time.
My son stayed long enough after lunch for us to play our now traditional game of Life. It’s become the standard for when we are all together at home.
I have one more day off work today and an excuse to spend it watching TV with my daughter.

Today is the day the NCAA brackets are revealed. I will probably be posting my upset and final four picks tomorrow. Next week’s What’s Good post will probably be filled with basketball-related things, hopefully involving wins by Kentucky.

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