Monday, August 23, 2004

I Like Watching the Puddles Gather Rain

In my discussion of Bowling Green's traffic situation on Friday, one factor I forgot to mention was the weather. There was a steady rain throughout the state of Ohio that day. I can't imagine it was good for the already rough traffic situation in BG; I know it created some problems on southbound I-75 between Toledo and Troy, where many vehicles were traveling at 5-10 MPH under the speed limit.

The rain also threw a wrench into my plans to attend a couple of football scrimmages, as both of them were moved from the main facilities. The Trojans' scrimmage on Friday was moved to the freshman football field. I had no way of knowing, so I missed it. I probably wouldn't have gone anyway, as the freshman field doesn't have lights, so they couldn't have played for very long. The BGSU scrimmage was moved from Doyt Perry Stadium to the adjacent practice fields, and while I did know about this in advance, I didn't feel like going out there and standing the whole time on a muddy field. I'll just have to wait for each team's season opener (for the Troy Trojans, that comes this Friday night) in order to see them play.

I had a non-productive weekend all around, I'd say. I drove down to Troy for some family time, as my brother Jim was back in the States from Kyrgyzstan for a few days. I took my PlayStation along with the intention of not really doing anything strenuous. In that I succeeded, to the point where I didn't even take my PlayStation out of my bag. I just hung out with Jim and my mom and watched TV. I didn't accomplish anything, but it was a good weekend nonetheless.

I got back into BG yesterday afternoon. Traffic was still pretty thick, as tractor pull people were leaving town and a lot of students were still coming into town. Heavier traffic will be a given now that the University is back in session. I don't mind, though. It's a lot livelier when the students are around. Brandi and I went to Waffle House for an early dinner (waffles and sausage), and later on that evening we went to hang out with McComas and his younger brother Matt, who's now a BGSU freshman.

Today when I walked out to leave for work I found a mostly full parking lot at my apartment building, a first since the majority of BGSU students left town back in May. There were a lot of people out and about, streaming towards campus as 8:00 a.m. approached. I wish I could have been among them. I miss the college days, and I can only hope that someday in the not too distant future I'll have a chance to relive them to a certain extent with graduate school.

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