Every morning, shortly after waking up, I have to answer the question that determines the direction of the day: How much am I going to care? I often go to bed thinking that I care a great deal, full of ideas for how I might comment on the day’s activities. Yet, by the time I sit down at the desk the next morning and am ready to write, my opinions are likely to be quite different. I’m struggling this morning. There are a number of things that I could talk about, probably should mention, and opine upon. Motivation escapes me. I want waffles. I want to go back to bed.
Tipper had a great time yesterday at the furry meet-up at Riverside Park. She brought home the shell of a big-assed furry head that goes down over her shoulders! She also brought home all the leftover soda. What is the sweetest thing, though, is that she won a raffle for a hat with mushrooms painted on the crown and ivy on the brim. In her opinion, it’s a “cowboy” hat and she couldn’t wait to give it to me when she got home. It’s actually a wide-brimmed fedora, and I’m not sure where or when I will ever wear it, but it’s a gift of love that I’ll cherish.
G starts the trek back home from Florida today. We won’t see him until after school tomorrow, though. They’ll get in late enough that it makes more sense for him to go to school with his friend. I’m hoping that he’s not too tired to answer all the questions that I’ve been saving up for him. Kat and I have missed having him around. The cats have missed having him to snuggle. It will be good for him to be home.
Kat felt some better yesterday, enough that I didn’t need to go with her to the salon. She’s still struggling, though, and this constant pattern of getting over one illness only to catch another is wearing heavily on her. There are too many days where it’s impossible for her to keep down anything solid. I wish I could give her a giant box of good health, but that’s not in my bag of tricks.
I’m looking at the weather maps this morning and we’ve got this stupid high-pressure system sitting over the entire Ohio Valley that’s keeping our days warm and sunny, but also very, very dry. Be careful with your autumn bonfires, please. There might be the slightest chance of scattered showers on Friday, and temperatures will cool down starting Tuesday, but I don’t see anything that’s going to give us the drought relief we need. Hurricane Oscar became a reality yesterday, but it’s too early to tell how it’s going to impact us, if at all. At the moment, it’s giving Cuba hell, which they didn’t need after their power grid failed this week.
College football was interesting in places, and disappointing in Oklahoma. Both the Sooners and the Cowboys lost. At least the Oklahoma State game was close, but OU is looking as though they forgot how to play the game. WTF happened? They both started the season strong, but there’s no wind in their sails now.
Likewise, Purdue lost to number two-ranked Oregon Friday night, 35-0. I’m not sure that many people in Indiana care anymore, though, because IU absolutely slaughtered Nebraska yesterday afternoon, 56-7. This whole going undefeated thing is new for Indiana, and it’s giving some rise to questioning why the team is still ranked so low. They’re not only winning, but they’re doing so by large margins against teams that have previously taken them to the woodshed. I think it’s about time they started getting some credit.
Most of the other top 25 teams handled their games well enough, but where there were exceptions there were some amazing games. Number 6-ranked Miami held on to beat Louisville, 52-45, but they had to work hard to get there. The unranked Louisville team was out for blood from the first kickoff and were it not for a litany of mistakes they might have won.
Both Army and Navy are still undefeated which is as remarkable as IU’s record. One has to go wayyyyyyyy back in the records to find the last time this happened. Next month’s Army/Navy game is going to be hot!
The game everyone is talking about this morning is number 5-ranked Georgia knocking off #1 Texas, 30-15, and let me tell you, it was never that close. After a scoreless first quarter, Georgia spent the second quarter intercepting balls and scoring touchdowns. It got so bad, that Texas pulled starting quarterback Quinn Ewers and replaced him with redshirt freshman Arch Manning. That helped, but it wasn’t enough to get them past a Georgia defense that owned the line of scrimmage for the entire game. UGA coach Kirby Smart felt that they were having to play against the officials the entire game, and to be fair, 23 penalties in the first half is a lot of yellow flags floating around. Then, there was a reversed call on an interception after Texas fans threw water bottles onto the field. Again, Smart was pissed. “Now, we’ve set a precedent that if you throw a bunch of stuff on the field and endanger athletes that you’ve got a chance to get your call reversed,” Smart said. “And that’s unfortunate because, to me, that’s dangerous. That’s not what we want, and that’s not criticizing officials. That’s what happened.” Be careful bringing up this game around the coffee pot this morning. There are still some hurt feelings out there.
The Holocaust’s grandchildren are speaking now. Generational trauma is the topic. The current war isn’t helping any.
Boeing workers to vote on new wage deal that could end strike. Boeing is making a slightly better wage deal, but don’t expect it to be enough.
Judges punishing Jan. 6 rioters say they fear more political violence as Election Day nears. This is insane behavior one normally expects from underdeveloped, undereducated countries. Can a complete collapse of our governmental system be that far behind?
Those are really serious topics, though, and do you want to be that serious today? I know I don’t. This recipe for pork chile verde looks interesting. I just don’t need the rice. And someone needs to come wash the dishes.
I am surrounded by orange cats. One behind me, one on the armrest, and one on the desk. I think they’re looking for a brain cell. There are none here.
And I’m not sharing my coffee.
Morning Update: 10/06/24
Have you ever tried finding a big, black dog in the dark? Hamilton damn near took me out at the knees this morning because I didn’t see him coming. The sky was so bright that it almost felt as though the constellation Orion was trying to slap me in the face. That resulted in heavier-than-usual shadows into which our lab/pit mix disappeared. Belvedere was waiting patiently to come back inside. I whistled for Hamilton and didn’t see him. I whistled a second time, no obvious response. I was in the midst of whistling a third time when wham all 76 pounds of dog hit me. He almost made me spill my coffee!
If that’s the way today is going to behave, I’ll just go back to bed now. Yesterday was strange without Kat or Tipper here. Tipper is spending the weekend with a friend to avoid the noise from the races at IMS. Someone needs to tell the racing industry that scheduling an eight-hour race to start at noon in October is a bad idea. It was dark by the time the last laps were completed. The oval at IMS isn’t lit (only the dirt track has lighting). See how that might cause some problems? There are shorter races today, but they’ll finish by mid-afternoon. Oh, and in case you were wondering, Keanu Reeves spun out at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in his pro auto racing debut. Running in circles is more difficult than it looks. Some of you could give lessons.
The only news that isn’t a re-hash of the week is that Tropical Storm Milton has formed in the Gulf of Mexico and could intensify to hurricane, threatening Florida. This morning’s map looks like this:
At this time, Florida is taking most of the impact. South Georgia, especially South of Savannah, will see heavy winds and rain. While this model shows the Carolinas missing out on the worst of the storm, stay aware that a lot could change between now and landfall later this week. Storm surge will affect both the Gulf and Atlantic coasts. This is not the last storm of the season, and anyone living in these areas would probably do well to plan a long vacation elsewhere.
Hurricane Helene is causing some unique problems. False and misleading claims about Hurricane Helene are spreading about the storm and recovery efforts. What is especially concerning is that these factless claims aren’t just coming from Russia and Iran. The people who say they want to lead us for the next four years are doing far more damage! In addition to the Orange Felon, who lies every time he opens his damn mouth, Elon Musk, North Carolina’s lieutenant governor, Mark Robinson, Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga. are among the worst spreaders of misinformation. These lies reduce the ability of people on the ground to address the many problems. Don’t spread them. Don’t share them. And tell those who do that they need to fuck the hell off.
The worst fallout from the hurricane is in western North Carolina, but at least five other states are grappling with their own intractable problems. Now, with a second hurricane potentially coming right back in on top of them, the rush is on to find as many people and secure as much shelter as possible. What doesn’t help is the fact that Homeowners hit by Hurricane Helene face the grim task of rebuilding without flood insurance. Who in Western North Carolina thought they’d need flood insurance? Not many. Now, with supplies already in high demand, those same residents have to prepare for the reality that, at the very least, they’re going to get hit with more rain.
Be thankful if you are safe enough to indulge in distractions such as football. Yesterday was a day full of chaos among the top 25, and there were plenty of surprises elsewhere as well. The big one making headlines this morning is Vanderbilt knocking off number-one-ranked Alabama. I hadn’t planned to watch this one because, under normal conditions, why would you? ‘Bama always routs Vandy. Even when a score popped up showing Vandy in the lead, I falsely assumed the Tide would come back and win. Didn’t happen. Alabama got beat up and this could be a game-changer for the rest of the season.
#4 Tennessee fooled around and lost to Arkansas, 14-19. The problem here wasn’t that the Razorbacks are any good, they’re not. The Vols were sloppy, undisciplined, and made one mistake right after the other. It hurt to watch this game, especially in the fourth quarter. I should have gone on to bed.
What was fun to watch was the way that Texas A&M knocked the wind out of #9 Missouri, 41-10. Missouri was never in this game. A&M was on point, avoided making too many mistakes, and even blocked a field goal in the final seconds of the first half. I never have liked Missouri, so this game had me smiling a lot.
#11 USC played sloppy ball and lost to Minnesota, 24-17. This didn’t have to happen. USC should have won this game. That game-changing interception? Everyone saw that coming. USC’s ball handling sucked the entire game (double-entendre intentional).
This could be the year we see a number of teams who are traditionally underdogs rise and beat the living hell out of long-standing powerhouses. One of the stats I’m finding impressive is that both Army and Navy are now 5-0. Do you know the last time that happened? 1946! While we might question the toughness of their schedule, the military service schools don’t normally field teams this good. Good players go elsewhere. This is going to make the upcoming Army/Navy game on December 14 more watchable than normal.
And who the hell thought IU would be the first bowl-eligible team this season? They extended their winning record to 6-0 yesterday by running right over Northwestern, 41-24. The win makes the Hoosiers the first bowl-eligible team in college football. Who had that one on their football bingo card? Anyone? I’m not sure Bloomington was ready for this!
Folks in West Lafayette are questioning Purdue coach Ryan Walters’ decision to fire their offensive coordinator leading to yesterday’s 52-6 beat down at the hands of Wisconsin. There are plenty of excuses and attempts to explain the move, but who the fuck does this in the middle of an already-questionable season? Yesterday’s loss showed a complete lack of leadership from the sideline. This team has the talent to be winning. The coaching staff needs to step up and earn their ridiculously high salaries.
The chaos could continue today in the NFL. The 2-2 Colts are barely a favorite over the winless Jags. With QB Anthony Richardson out, and Jacksonville really needing a win, I don’t see this one ending well for Indianapolis. I doubt I’ll watch more than the highlight reel. There are plenty of opportunities for other upsets in today’s schedule, so watch where you place that dip while you’re watching the game. No one wants ranch dressing all over the carpet.
Does anyone else have problems with their bones randomly hurting for no obvious reason? Just me? Okay, I’ll deal with it. Now, where’s that Tylenol bottle?
Make the coffee strong this morning, folks! This could be the start of an interesting week.
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