Sunday, November 22, 2009

Through one quarter of play, Brady Quinn in on pace for the following statistics in today's game against Detroit:

32 completions
604 yards
12 touchdowns

Regardless, the Browns are still terrible and Notre Dame lost again yesterday. The universe hasn't imploded just yet.
It is often said to not go to the grocery store when you're hungry. The reason being, obviously, that you'll let your hunger dictate your buying and end up with far too much food bought. This seems plausible enough, but it seems that grocery shopping while hungry isn't the most likely way to buy a lot of groceries unexpectedly. No, it just may be that going to the grocery store at 7:30 on a Sunday morning is circumstance most conducive for overspending.

In a large Kroger in a densely populated area, it is customary to encounter jammed aisle, long waits for check-out and general chaos. This is simply not the case in the early morning on a Sunday, which creates a quite pleasant shopping experience. It is nice not dodging feral children, overhearing numerous "Oh no he didn't" cellphone conversations or fighting for position in the soup aisle. Such peaceful conditions even allows audible strains of the music being played throughout the store such as "Unchained Melody" and "These are a Few of My Favorite Things". That music might not ever be heard by customers during normal business, but it shines through nicely early on a Sunday morning.

For someone that does not spend a great deal of time in a grocery store, it's easy to miss some interesting things. When you're only there in the middle of the day on a weekend or after work during the week, it's basically like rush hour traffic. No peace, no quiet, no decency, no enjoyment. Being there in calm conditions seems to have an effect on everyone, customers and employees alike. There is actually room for everyone to do their business and everyone just seems to be in a better mood. It makes the experience almost enjoyable and encourages more time, and money, to be spent while navigating the aisles.

Something you'd never have the chance to know about by only shopping during busy times is that the frozen food cabinets are energy efficient. The lights in the insulated glass cases are controlled by motion sensors, which allow the lights to turn off when nobody is walking past. Then, as you walk down an empty aisle of cases, the lights illuminate your path. It's definitely a simple pleasure, but strangely pleasing and maybe even a little uplifting.

If none of this makes you want to be at the grocery store early on a Sunday morning, just imagine reenacting the video for Radiohead's "Fake Plastic Trees". Money.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Blogging is a fun thing, but it usually occupies a pretty low spot in the priority ranking for life activities. It's not intentional, but so many things just seem to get in the way. After all, as a great band once said, life gets in the way of living. For that matter, another great band once said life is what happens while you're busy making plans. Not to mention a band that once said you should be living.

Alright, enough of that. Leisure time seems to have been sucked into a black hole. If so, that black hole is known as work, overtime at work, feeble attempts at physical fitness, sleep, household cleaning, grocery shopping and other such luxuries. Gone are the afternoons of leaving work early, skipping the gym and going home to keep the sofa company while watching three movies in a row, episodes of Ken Burns' National Parks and TV on DVD seasons. Perhaps the greatest casualty has been the reading of books. That just does not happen anymore.

This gradual decline into the "no fun zone" of life has only been helped by what seemed like endless rain in September and October and Daylight Savings Time, which means a special effort is required to leave work before pitch black darkness. All in all, not a fun situation.

But as with the rain and the daylight, eventually things get better. Sometimes you don't realize it, but clouds part and days get longer. Then there might be time for something as inconsequential as committing thoughts to a permanent record that nobody really cared about anyway.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Daylight Savings Time came along at a good time this year. Halloween night. That way, all the kiddies out partying the night away can have an extra hour of revelry. You're partying until 2am and then, all of a sudden, it's 1am again. Brilliant!

The complete opposite of this viewpoint on Daylight Savings Time is to be in bed before 2am, thus gaining an hour of sleep. While being in bed before 2am is nothing to be ashamed of, there is something exciting about being able to make Halloween Night last an hour longer. However, if Halloween is not a big deal to you personally, that doesn't mean something scary can't result from the time change.

The scariness comes from knowing you're getting older when you awake around 8am on a Sunday and think it just might be time to get the day started. Then you realize it's an hour earlier and you could get back in bed for an hour and feel zero guilt for it. To look this opportunity in the eye and decide to not only stay up, but then do the following activities is completely ridiculous:

-Go for a 3-mile run
-Shower
-Eat a breakfast consisting of no pork or powdered sugar
-Watch a suitable amount of a blockbuster movie edited for TV
-Sweep the floors
-Clean the bathroom (including the under- and backside of the toilet)
-Wash hands with soap
-Cook lunch for two
-Watch NFL and obsess over fantasy football
-Visit the Lord's house
-Watch an independent film at a local not-for-profit theater
-Enjoy a pizza
-Be in bed at a reasonable hour of 11pm

Wow, with all this extra daylight, life can be so rewarding. You only have to be willing to take advantage of the daylight at 6am because there won't be any left by 5pm. This all begs the question, why can't daylight savings time occur during the work week? It seems like most people would appreciate the extra hour of sleep on a weeknight. Then again, people might undersleep, show up an hour early and the world would end.