So after my crazy road trip to Plant City on Thursday I designated Friday as chore day. I wanted to get everything around the house done so my weekend was void of must do’s.
It really is amazing how much different cleaning is with one less person and two less dogs in the house. The amount of scuzz that I pull out of the carpet is dramatically less and I didn’t even need to run the Scooba, the tile areas were totally fine.
It was also the first time I used my new mini-Dyson to vacuum the entire house. It did just fine although there were a couple draw backs. The smaller vacuum head means a lot more passes to cover the rug. Also it’s smaller size translates into a shorter power cord, meaning I have to do more unplugging and plugging than I used to. Neither thing is a big deal, just different.
Since I mowed on Tuesday I was totally done with everything by early afternoon. I sat down and decided to peruse my newly connected HBOGO service on my 360 (courtesy of my buddies’ Comcast credentials) I saw “Game Change” pop up, the movie about the 2008 presidential campaign and specifically that idiot, Sarah Palin.
Julianne Moore did a FANTASTIC job of portraying Palin. Not only did she look like her she sounded almost identical. Woody Harrelson was great as McCain’s campaign manager and Ed Harris made a pretty believable John McCain as well.
The movie did a great job of just portraying how overmatched Palin was being thrust into the role of potential VP. Her overall lack of knowledge was comical as was the campaign’s staff realization that they were dealing someone that had no business being there.
I knew very early on that Sarah was a joke so this film did nothing but to reaffirm that existing opinion. However if you are one of those people that still think Palin is the political answer to ANYTHING besides cancelled reality tv shows, please take two hours out of your life and watch the movie to free yourself of that silly belief. It gets an A.
I was unsure if I wanted to drag myself out of bed to do the club run on Saturday morning. I was still feeling sleep deprived from the way my week went, especially Thursday when my day started at 4am and didn’t end until after midnight.
Well I set the alarm anyway and drug myself out of bed, cursing myself all the while. I arrived at the start point of the run with 15 minutes to spare. When I saw Christy and Michelle show up I figured since I was feeling like my batteries were half full, I would just run with Ali and them. There was one problem, Ali wasn’t there. Ali came speeding into the parking lot just as the group had started walking out on to the main road.
So we started running at the rear of the pack. I ran with the girls for a little bit but their pace was just a little too slow for me so I slowly pulled ahead. I forgot my GPS so I had no idea what sort of pace I was actually running. At the halfway point I met back up with Matt and ran back with him so I am sure overall I had a negative split.
After I finished I hung out waiting for the girls to get back. I had asked Ali the night before if she had any interest in going to a game for the arena football team. After her run she said she would go. At first she sounded like she wasn’t all that interested in going but when I asked again she said it was a better option than sitting home. I told her how the tickets were only $7 and we could park for free at the outlet mall next door. It would be cheap entertainment.
My main task of the day Saturday was to thoroughly clean the SSR. The inside and outside of it was a mess from the drive to Plant City.
I spent a good two hours thoroughly cleaning the truck. One of the areas that required extra elbow grease were right behind the passenger side wheel wells where there was rubber residue from the retread I inadvertently drove over. One spot I was able to get off with just soapy water, the other spot required follow up with Goo Gone.
After the clean up I laid down for a much needed 90 minute nap so I wouldn’t be completely dead for the football game.
I headed over to Ali’s early. I told her I would spring for the pizza and we could catch up on the latest Biggest Loser. While I was there we took the girls for a long walk around the lake in Ali’s community. As we walked it started to rain progressively harder but neither of us really cared.
I also brought my clippers with so Ali could repair my self inflicted haircut. I tried to give myself and straightline across the rear of my head while using a mirror. Instead I succeeded in giving myself a ridiculous looking jagged edge.
We left probably earlier than we needed to. By the time we parked at the outlets and walked across to the arena it was 6:30, a full hour before the game was scheduled to start. We just bought two 7 dollar tickets at the box office, knowing the place would not be very full based on our past arena football experience.
You see Alison and I had season tickets for the first two seasons of the first arena football team in our area, the Florida Firecats, who folded a few years back. After two seasons of indoor football we sort of knew what to expect.
The new team is called the Florida Tarpons. They evidently are pretty damn good as so far they are undefeated.
The first thing we did was grab a beer. I was surprised that Ali ordered a Bud Light as well, she has never been much of a beer drinker at all. We then walked the around the concourse a bit just to see if there were any significant changes to Germain Arena since we were there last.
We then found our $7 seats which were at the very top row. Even being up top, the place is small enough that it isn’t a big deal. Plus I was positive we would be able to easily move down as the game progressed.
I did find myself annoyed that a bunch of people sat down right next to and in front of us. It seemed ridiculous that they would need to seat people shoulder to shoulder when there were so many empty seats.
So we just hung out in the seats and watched the Tarpons warm up. Later on the opposing team, the Mississippi Hounddogs came out. My eyes were immediately drawn in like lasers to number 60. He was not just fat he was SUPER fat.
This dude was so fat that the biggest jersey they had did not fit him. He had to wear a supersized shirt underneath his jersey to cover his humungous stomach.
Both Ali and I were amazed the guy was even on the field. The impact on his joints if he tried to run had to be tremendous. I also pitied any ball carrier that found himself underneath this guy.
It turned out number 60 only played sparingly during the game. I think we may have seen him in 4 or 5 series tops. He made zero tackles but he did sort of run around a bit. Ali felt bad when the PA system played the Fat Albert “Hey, hey, hey…” a few times when big boy was on the field.
Well the Tarpons didn’t waste much time showing why they were undefeated, jumping out to a quick lead. I found it interesting that in arena football you score a point if your kicker can boot the ball through the narrow uprights on a kick off, something the Tarpon kicker did two or three times. I don’t recall that rule in the other league.
As planned we steadily improved our seat position during the game. After half time we tried to really get greedy, moving down into the padded seats that include cupholders. Well unfortunately the old lady seat attendant walked over and asked we had tickets for that section. I told her we did, just a few rows up. She said we had to move.
It sort of pissed me off. Yea I understand we paid for $7 seats and were probably sitting in seats that cost $20 or more but really, who cares? If these seats are not sold, it isn’t like I am costing the team money by sitting in an unsold seat.
To me, with a new franchise that is trying to build a following, they should tell the seat nazi’s to chill out. If I am sitting in somebody else’s seat, sure tell me to move. But in my eyes, moving to an unsold seat is a no harm, no foul situation. If anything it makes me more likely to attend another game if I know I can improve my seat position with out getting hassled.
The Tarpons set a new standard for ugly mascots. Timmy the Tarpon was just fugly, no two ways about it.
The cheerleaders for the team, “The Reel Girls” were surprisingly good. They did a number of dance routines that seemed solid.
The Tarpons absolutely smashed the Hound Dogs, winning by a final score of 58-26. Ali and I ducked out with a little less than 10 minutes to go in the game to beat the traffic. Ali and I both had a good time overall, the game delivered pretty solid bang for the buck. I would go again.
I told Ali I had ideas of doing a bike/swim combo Sunday morning however the rainy forecast put it in doubt. I told her I would let her know in the morning if I was going to do it or not.
Well Sunday mornings weather radar looked bad, rain was definitely coming so we scrapped the plans. Instead I asked Ali if she wanted me to grab the dogs on my coffee run to take them to the house. Ali wanted to clean her place thoroughly and having the dogs out of the apartment would make it easier. She took me up on my offer.
So after picking up the girls we headed back to the house. I let them immediately out into the back yard. I can tell they really appreciate being able to roam around leash free now although during our walk at Ali’s place they also seemed quite happy strolling around the lake too.
My main Sunday project was to finally install the new spark plugs and spark plug wires I have had sitting on my workbench for the Tacoma for over a month. I was sort of putting it off since the truck had been running ok although I know at 138,000 miles and 13 years old, the plugs HAD to be changed.
So I decided Sunday was finally the day. I moved the SSR over and pulled the front end of the Tacoma into the garage to work on it. It had been raining off and on for most of the day.
Getting access to the plugs on the passenger side was not bad, I basically just had to remove the hose that runs from the air box to the throttle body. I was glad I invested in a magnetic spark plug socket. The plugs sit deep in tubes, the socket was able to grab hold of them easily once I loosened them up. The tool was equally useful in putting the new plugs in to prevent them from dropping down the hole and damaging the electrodes.
Getting access to the plugs on the driver side was a bit more challenging. I had to remove a few brackets and move some wires. I was also very fortunate to have bought a swivel extension bar set a couple months go. If I didn’t have it I am not sure if I could have done the plug by the firewall.
The plug wires were a new experience for me. The last time I did plugs and wires on a vehicle was probably my 69 Firebird back in the early 90’s. Back then you had one wire per cylinder. Well with the Tacoma, despite there being 6 cylinders/spark plugs, you only have three wires.
There is no distributor, instead each wire connects to a coil on the other side of the engine. That coil controls the spark for two plugs. I almost miswired two of the plugs but luckily realized my error before firing it back up. I was quite happy that when I turned the key the engine fired right up an ran normally.
When I pulled the old plugs it was confirmed the job was way overdue. The center electrode on the plugs was worn away from millions of ignition cycles over the years. I am doing a new mileage test to see if the new plugs and their better spark translates into better mpg.
Later, I hung outside with the dogs several times, walking around the yard and watching them play.
I also watched all Game of Thrones episodes, I am now current except for the latest episode. I really like the show. Sadie and Nicki slept in the bedroom with me while I watched the shows.
I asked Ali if she wanted to come out to pick up the dogs instead of me dropping them off. She hadn’t been back to the house since she moved out in early April. I told her I had some pasta in the freezer I could make. She accepted the offer.
So when Ali arrived I had already started working on making a salad for dinner, something that used to exclusively be Ali’s duty. I actually did 100% of the meal prep, it just seemed like the appropriate thing to do.
Ali watched the latest Celeb Apprentice with me while sitting on my new, used, furniture for the first time. She said the sofa’s were pretty nice and overall she said I did a nice job of arranging things in the house to make up for what was taken out.
When it came time for Ali to leave she was upset which upset me. It’s hard for her to be leaving like another house guest. It was hard for me too.
Over the course of the weekend we talked about if us seeing/interacting with each other as much as we have been since we separated is a good thing in the big picture. If we continue to act like a married couple that simply has two different addresses it probably isn’t the best thing long term. However this is a hard time for both of us and I think we both find comfort in each other’s company.
It’s early yet, we still have a lot of sifting through the trees till clear daylight is ahead.
My property has once again transformed into swamplands after a day of rain that included several periods of intense downpours. Yeah it’s annoying but dry season is right around the corner where we can flip pages on the calendar without seeing hardly a drop.
In addition to the move, I installed a new theme. I find the new lay out more visually appealing.
