Notes of the Week

I was not at all prepared to scrape ice off of my car before I could leave for work yesterday morning, but that's exactly what I had to do. I'm not talking about a little bit of frost, either, but serious, full-fledged ice. It seems to early for that sort of thing, but I guess it doesn't matter how it seems. The first freeze of the year always happens on a morning when I'm running just a little bit behind, and this was no exception. I did manage to get it sufficiently de-iced in time to get myself to work without being late, but it was a near thing. I had to scrape a little bit this morning as well, but it wasn't too bad.

Of course, the situation was not helped by the current parking situation at our apartment building. They're replacing the walkway in front of the building and the steps leading into each section of apartments, and frankly, it's been quite a snafu. The majority of the parking spaces in the lot are located adjacent to the walkway, meaning that cars can't be parked there when they're working. This was supposed to be a four-day project beginning last Monday, but it's taken this long already and probably won't be finished today either. It was also supposed to be broken down so that only half of the parking spots in the lot would be off limit at a time; it started that way when they blocked off the first half, but then they ended up blocking them all off and it's been that way for a week now. It's really irritating, because they've finished replacing the walkway along the first half of the building, so it would be nice if they could re-open that half of the parking lot. With all of those cars being displaced, parking has been a serious pain in the ass. On a couple of occasions, I've had to park more than a block away. It's not the end of the world by any means, but it is inconvenient. Also, with the step leading into the front door of our apartment being replaced, we've had to walk clear around the building to utilize the back door. Again, not the end of the world, but irritating, especially Monday when I had to unload groceries. Also, being impossible to get into our front door, I'm not sure how/if our mail is being delivered right now. It's all a huge mess, and I'm just irritated that it's taking so damned long when it was supposed to be finished last Thursday.

With the upcoming election, I'm also very irritated by all the political ads on TV. I have a modest proposal concerning them, actually. I think that ads endorsing a particular candidate should not be allowed to mention the other candidate at all, neither by name nor by inference. You want me to vote for your guy? Tell me what your guy is all about. I don't want to hear why the other guy sucks; just because he sucks doesn't mean your guy is any better. They're all politicians, so they all suck in one regard or another, I'm sure. I don't care what the other guy is lying about, I don't care which way he swings, I don't care if he doesn't pay his taxes. Just tell me what your guy is going to do if he's elected, and let the other guy tell me the same. That way we, the voters can make, you know, an informed decision. A radical concept, I know.

While I'm tired of election season and quite ready for it to be over, I'm having a hard time believing that this coming Friday marks Week 10 of the high school football season, which is the end of the regular season. It takes forever for the season to arrive each year, and then it passes by so quickly. I'm looking forward to watching the Trojans play one last time, even though this season hasn't turned out as well as I would have liked. Even with the Trojans out of the running for the playoffs, though, I love the coming of the postseason. Even with one game left, I've been checking out the computer points standings, trying to figure out if there will be any teams I'd like to check out potentially playing in the Toledo area for the first round.

As one season ends, another begins. One week from today, the Cleveland Cavaliers kick off their season, and a week after that, the BGSU men's basketball team plays an exhibition game in preparation for opening their season on November 11. With football season wrapping up, I'm definitely looking forward to getting into Anderson Arena and checking out some Falcon hoops. I have no idea what to expect from them this year. They've had two public scrimmages so far, but I've had to miss both of them. We have a lot of newcomers this year, and it sounds like they have a lot of potential. It should be fun to watch them develop, and hopefully they'll win some games along the way. One of the most fun times I've had in my life was watching live as the Falcons advanced to the championship game of the MAC Tournament in Cleveland a few years ago, so here's hoping they can make another run at it.

On another sports-related note, Brandi and I will be attending our first-ever NFL game this weekend. We're heading down to Cincinnati to see the Bengals host the Atlanta Falcons. She bought the tickets for me for my birthday, which was in July. I'm totally stoked. It should be a good game, with both teams being pretty good. It'll be really cool to see Carson Palmer, Chad Johnson, and Michael Vick play in person. I can't wait to see how fast Vick really is.