Making It Up As I Go Along #366

SATURDAY...
— Work is pretty slow. And I also go to a fastpitch evaluation. Some fielding at shortstop and 2nd base... caught a couple of pitchers... and batting practice. It all goes pretty good, although my shoulder has a cranky day. Should know Monday if I’m drafted by this league.
— Only get through two periods of hockey tonight. Poor Montreal looking pretty bad against Boston.

SUNDAY...
— Work alone today... Phil takes it off. Pretty quiet morning and just comfortably steady in the afternoon.
— Vancouver does me good in hockey tonight. But I’m already running into hockey pool troubles with San Jose, Carolina and Philadelphia going in the wrong direction.

MONDAY...
— Busy day... go to the bank... get my mortgage taken care of. A lower rate this time means I’m saving about $22 every two weeks.
— Work goes fine... pretty quiet night.
— I’m drafted in softball. Joining a team as a backup catcher and infielder/outfielder. Looks like they’ll put my utility abilities to the test. Should be fun.

TUESDAY...
— Mom and dad are here. A pretty slow going day until I go pick them up in the evening. Then it’s some groceries, some supper, and some TV. Nice to have them around.

WEDNESDAY...
— Busy day, to IKEA with mom and dad... getting some bedroom stuff for the spare room... lunch there and back for work on the room. Watch a little HD TV in the evening... and dad and I watch the Calgary vs. Chicago game at night.
— Montreal out... not surprising but fairly depressing. Oh well.

THURSDAY...
— Out with mom and dad bringing my old computer to recycle and getting some stuff for the house. Lunch at Dick’s is good... softball practice in the evening (slowpitch practice). It’s fun... mom and dad go for a walk while I do it. Supper on Montana’s and then some TV in the night.

FRIDAY...
— Really testing out the GPS as mom, dad and I go to Lake Placid. A nice day and good drive. The village is really nice and going through the hockey rinks (1932 Olympic rink and the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” rink that it’s connected to) is really something. Walk the main street, take pictures, and stop for supper before walking back to the hotel.

SATURDAY...
— Go check out the ski jump site... the platform is huge. Go back through the main street again and get an Olympic shirt (thanks to mom and dad). We take our time heading back to Ottawa, stopping along some of the small towns on the way.
— Mom and I go out for some food and we all hang out at home and watch some TV afterwards. It’s raining tonight and it was a hot day... around 30 with the humidity.

SUNDAY...
— Get rid of TV box finally... Bless the Salvation Army. Walk around Mer Bleue with mom and dad and do some time at Price Club.
— Paula, Eddie and the baby come for supper. Mom does a very good roast and we hang out for some pretty good times.


Fries With That?
I have often spoken badly of commercials. Grey Power Insurance causes me to change the channel, cursing their name as that crazy woman thrashes about her car. Charmin toilet paper has made my boycott list. I’ve seen too much of the lives of pretend bears. No more cartoon bears bringing a newspaper to the tree for a five minute bout of alone time! No more bits of toilet paper left on the butts of young bears. No more... please God no more.

There are the kids blathering on, talking all serious like about believing in our Olympians. I don’t know how I can endure a year of this. And then there’s the four eyed infant (that is to say he has glasses on, not that he’s a mutant). He advertises East Side Mario’s, talking longingly about his good ol’ days in Italy and causing me to mutter with much hatred at the invention of computer graphics.

But if I should boycott Charmin and East Side Mario’s. And if I should speak harshly of Grey Power. I suppose that means I should give business to those who have put on advertisements that I like.

With that logic, I am forced to get myself to the golden arches of McDonald’s. I don’t know if it’s me suddenly being attacked by the father bug, if I’m getting soft with maturity, or if I just need to drink more beer and watch more wrestling. But the girl in the McDonald’s commercials... the one sitting in the store with her dad, nervously asking him if he ever wished she was a boy... that girl is just too good. She seems like a thoughtful, smart, cool kid.

Of course, with my luck, if fatherhood ever does come my way, I’d likely have that teenage doofus in the Delissio Pizza ad who catches his parents roll playing the pizza delivery boy/naughty lonely woman routine. “No wonder I don’t have any friends” doofus proclaims. “There’s more reasons than that”, I say in reply. Fool.

So does McDonalds get me thinking of continuing the Brown line? Will someone, some years from now, thank the fast food giant that feeds us near poisonous food, for their very life? It could make for a McDonalds commercial in itself. Not only the restaurant that entertains families as they eat, also the restaurant that creates families.

At 37, am I past the point of patiently handling babies? That girl in the McD’s ad makes me consider the possibilities. The doofus in the Delissio commercials makes me fear the alternative.