Author: robertjames1971

I'm wicked tall.

A Nice Halloween Gift

I did not watch a single pitch of the World Series this year. Why would I watch a series played between two teams that I loath? Nope. Not a single pitch.

I did check the scores each day to see if the team I hate more than the other team I hate lost. Last night before I went to bed I checked the score and the team I hate the most was winning again. Shit.

Today is Halloween. Happy Halloween!

As I was getting ready to start my morning routine I checked the score again. The Dodgers came back and took the lead in the eighth inning and won the game and won the World Series! I hate the Dodgers, but they are practically family compared the the fucking Yankees.

The Yankees lost!
The Yankees lost!
Happy Halloween everybody, the Yankees lost!

Marvel Moment

I just watched the final episode of the first season of Agatha All Along on Disney+.

Now I need to go back and rewatch Wanda Vision to cement it all in context, and then I have to rewatch the whole season because HOLY SHIT!

How’s that for a spoiler free review?

Hiccups

I used to get the hiccups all the time. I mean all the time. Not only that, but they were never ending. I tried all the things you’re supposed to try to get your hiccups to stop and nothing ever worked. Nothing. Ever.

Eventually the problem was solved by the great Bill Nye the Science Guy. He had a video… somewhere… that I watched that said to get your hiccups to stop you have to get your brain to stop waffling between the am-I-breathing and am-I-swallowing states and force it to do one or the other. He said to take a drink, but instead of drinking normally, take five small gulps in quick succession. Gulp-gulp-gulp-gulp-gulp.

I tried it. Lo and Behold, it worked.

Oh the gloriousness, it worked.

Then I had the Gastric Bypass Surgery. Fast forward a little over two years and I was talking about something with my wife and it occurred to me that I had not had the hiccups once since the surgery. Not once. That was lucky, as Bill Nye the Science Guy’s cure would have been tough for me because I couldn’t drink fast anymore. I had to pause between sips, and the sips had to be small. As time continues to pass, that is less and less of an issue. I can’t gulp drinks like I used to, but it is not as difficult as it was in the early post-surgery days.

Which is lucky, because tonight after dinner… for the first time in two years and almost six months…

I had the hiccups.

Bill Nye’s trick still works, thank goodness.

Stay Focused

I have tomorrow off from work. It’s Halloween. I like taking Halloween off. I don’t have any real reason to take it off, I just like having it off.

I also have a shit load of work to do for a deadline at the end of next week. Like, a literal mountain of paperwork type stuff.

My brain is starting to get into you-have-tomorrow-off-woohoo mode where I am easily distracted by trivial things and lose focus on what I am doing and I start slipping into day off mode early.

I cannot do that today. I cannot. I must not. Too much stuff to do. Too many tasks with a fast approaching deadline. Stay focused, Robert. Keep your nose to that paperwork-grindstone. Don’t let your attention slip!

Oh look, here is a picture of a guitar that I took this morning.

60/365

Huh… uh oh.

The Horror

Last night the Bruins lost to a team that has been playing pretty bad this season so far. They got shut out.

In the World Series, the fucking Yankees, who were trailing 3-0 in the series, beat the Dodgers to stay alive.

Basically, it was the worst pro-sports night imaginable for me.

The horror… the horror… the horror…

Lunch Break

I am just about to wrap up my lunch break on this fine Tuesday-in-the-office. I have a few minutes before the next thing starts so I figured I’d come here and write something… anything…

Unfortunately, I have zero inspiration for any topics at all. Way to have an empty brain, Robert. Ugh.

So… here’s a topic. If the Dodgers win tonight they will complete the sweep of the Yankees and win the World Series. I freakin’ hate The Dodgers with the passion and fury of a thousand burning suns. Fortunately I hate the Yankees even more (with the passion and fury of a million, million burning suns) so that’s actually a good thing. As a lifelong Red Sox fan, watching the Yankees lose is fun for me. Watching them get humiliated by their (former) cross town rivals, The Dodgers, is even more fun. The only thing better would be watching them lose in humiliating fashion to The Red Sox… like they did in 2004. ‘Member that? Yeah, I ‘member!

What else I can I write about… hmmm… oh, here’s a quick topic worth mentioning. My step son, Harry, has been trying to get me to watch Better Call Saul for months now. He’s actually taking a class on the show at UVM and has been rewatching and loving the hell out of it. I told him I would start it this week, and last night I did. One episode down. Who knows how many to go. I did not see the twist at the end of that first episode coming, but when it happened I was all shit-eatin’-grins. I have to work episodes in around the shows that are currently airing, though most of my watch list is ending in the next week. There’s Daryl Dixon (which has been a little disappointing this season but this week’s penultimate season two episode was good) and The Penguin (which is excellent) and Only Murders in the Building (which is always fun) and Agatha All Along (which took a couple of weeks to suck me in but has turned out to be really good) and What We Do in the Shadows (which kicked off with three episodes last week, all of which were excellent). That’s a lot of TV. I’ll get to it all, somehow.

What else, what else… the Bruins have been pretty mediocre to start the season. They play Philly at home tonight and Philly has been pretty bad. Here’s hoping the offense wakes up. Also the defense. Also the goaltending. Yeah, it’s been a long first nine games here in Bruins nation. The same cannot be said for my old school, UMass Lowell. I actually saw a poll last night (I think it was US College Hockey Online’s poll but I’m not sure) that had them break into the top 20 teams in the country. They are 4-1 overall and 1-0 in Hockey East. The spanked Merrimack College last weekend (that’s my brother’s old school. Sorry, John). I should pay closer attention to my alma matter. Did I spell alma matter correctly? Google tells me I did not. It’s alma mater. There. Better.

Okay, folks. Time to go join a conference call or two. Hope you’re all having a good Tuesday afternoon. I hope you all had a good lunch. Hang in there, folks. Talk to you later.