Rutgers Football
I'm sitting in front of my computer at a little after 6:30, Saturday evening. The title of this post might suggest I spent the day watching a Rutgers football game. This is not the case. Rutgers played last night, getting trounced by Louisville, 56-5. I watched part of the first quarter before setting out for the airport to drop off my brother-in-law, who was in town for 2 days from Taiwan to renew his visa. Observers might ask, what makes less sense, having watched last night's game or having flown around the world for a 2 day stay? Luckily I did neither.
When I left it was 7-3, when I came back it was 28-5. The 3rd quarter had just begun and the game was clearly over. I watched for a little bit more but then threw in the towel, knowing that today was going to be a long day. There seemed little reason to watch a game that was already over. Sure, anything is possible. But not on my time dime.
I got up at 6:30 and made a coffee. We were out the door by 7:45, on our way to a breakfast place in Harding on 202 just south of Morristown. If you've ever been there, I could care less. But they do make good hash browns. After that we stopped at the in-laws, an American food store, Costco, the Chinese market, Trader Joe's, and finally Whole Foods before rolling into the driveway minutes before noon.
After a sporadic unpacking, kitchen cleaning, and putting food away, I ate a cursory lunch and went for a bike ride in the swamp - roads only, not actually *in* the swamp. I had a great ride but the temperatures are dropping fast. The season will be over before I know it. Hopefully I can get in another 100 miles this year to reach the magical 2000 mile mark for the year - roads only, not in the mud or anything. I've ridden about 50 miles off road this year. Yes, that's rather unbalanced.
After the ride I came home and worked on the yard, which is a combination of mowing leaves, raking sticks, digging out roots along the neighbor's fence in an attempt to clean up the mess there and make grass grow, and burning various wooden things in the chiminea. This brought me up to 5:00, when I went inside and showered up. My wife started cutting the duck and vegetables for dinner.
Dinner was a Thai green curry duck recipe that was out of this world. I'm sure the fact I was tired & hungry had something to do with my liking it so much, but then my wife really liked it as well. It's a simple recipe from this month's Eating Well. I highly recommend the magazine. The recipes are solid, easy to make, yet not mainstream. There are only something like 6-8 issues a year, so you don't get blown away by the next issue before you get through the last one. It also has decent articles, so it's not just a mini cookbook every time you get one in the mail.
After I post this I'm going downstairs to have a cup of decaf with my wife. I don't love her decaf but I can't really get away with drinking a regular cup of coffee this time of day, which I'm really hankering for right now, as opposed to hankering for a hunk of cheese. Following that, I'm sure I'll eat more and then I'll have a beer, or maybe a glass of wine. Maybe we'll watch a movie, or maybe we'll watch TV, or maybe I'll just put on the PJ Harvey CD I got again and we'll relax in the living room.
If this had been a Rutgers football Saturday, my day would have been no different. I don't go to the games anymore because I can't justify to myself the time spent there. I like hanging out with the guys, eating good food, and drinking good beer. But in the overall scheme of things, I just can't find time for that anymore. If this was a Rutgers football Saturday and I had gone to the game, I would be slightly hungover, drained, and reading & posting to the message board for no good reason.
Instead, I squeezed a hell of a lot out of today. I'll do the same thing tomorrow, even though I'm in a fantasy football league and facing the division leader this week, who holds a 1 game lead on me. The previous me probably would have watched games on and off all day. The now me will be out in the back yard at 9:00, raking, mowing, and burning more brush and roots, and junk that isn't any good to burn when you actually want to sit down in front of a fire. You need to save all the good stuff for when it matters. These moist roots do nothing for your viewing pleasure. Of course, I'll have myself a cup of coffee or 2 before I head outside. And I'll take a break around noon for a 25 mile ride, if I can spare the time. You never know how many more nice weather days you'll get this year, and tomorrow is supposed to hit 60-65.
But I won't be watching football. Sure, I'll check the scores. But otherwise, the day is all mine.
When I left it was 7-3, when I came back it was 28-5. The 3rd quarter had just begun and the game was clearly over. I watched for a little bit more but then threw in the towel, knowing that today was going to be a long day. There seemed little reason to watch a game that was already over. Sure, anything is possible. But not on my time dime.
I got up at 6:30 and made a coffee. We were out the door by 7:45, on our way to a breakfast place in Harding on 202 just south of Morristown. If you've ever been there, I could care less. But they do make good hash browns. After that we stopped at the in-laws, an American food store, Costco, the Chinese market, Trader Joe's, and finally Whole Foods before rolling into the driveway minutes before noon.
After a sporadic unpacking, kitchen cleaning, and putting food away, I ate a cursory lunch and went for a bike ride in the swamp - roads only, not actually *in* the swamp. I had a great ride but the temperatures are dropping fast. The season will be over before I know it. Hopefully I can get in another 100 miles this year to reach the magical 2000 mile mark for the year - roads only, not in the mud or anything. I've ridden about 50 miles off road this year. Yes, that's rather unbalanced.
After the ride I came home and worked on the yard, which is a combination of mowing leaves, raking sticks, digging out roots along the neighbor's fence in an attempt to clean up the mess there and make grass grow, and burning various wooden things in the chiminea. This brought me up to 5:00, when I went inside and showered up. My wife started cutting the duck and vegetables for dinner.
Dinner was a Thai green curry duck recipe that was out of this world. I'm sure the fact I was tired & hungry had something to do with my liking it so much, but then my wife really liked it as well. It's a simple recipe from this month's Eating Well. I highly recommend the magazine. The recipes are solid, easy to make, yet not mainstream. There are only something like 6-8 issues a year, so you don't get blown away by the next issue before you get through the last one. It also has decent articles, so it's not just a mini cookbook every time you get one in the mail.
After I post this I'm going downstairs to have a cup of decaf with my wife. I don't love her decaf but I can't really get away with drinking a regular cup of coffee this time of day, which I'm really hankering for right now, as opposed to hankering for a hunk of cheese. Following that, I'm sure I'll eat more and then I'll have a beer, or maybe a glass of wine. Maybe we'll watch a movie, or maybe we'll watch TV, or maybe I'll just put on the PJ Harvey CD I got again and we'll relax in the living room.
If this had been a Rutgers football Saturday, my day would have been no different. I don't go to the games anymore because I can't justify to myself the time spent there. I like hanging out with the guys, eating good food, and drinking good beer. But in the overall scheme of things, I just can't find time for that anymore. If this was a Rutgers football Saturday and I had gone to the game, I would be slightly hungover, drained, and reading & posting to the message board for no good reason.
Instead, I squeezed a hell of a lot out of today. I'll do the same thing tomorrow, even though I'm in a fantasy football league and facing the division leader this week, who holds a 1 game lead on me. The previous me probably would have watched games on and off all day. The now me will be out in the back yard at 9:00, raking, mowing, and burning more brush and roots, and junk that isn't any good to burn when you actually want to sit down in front of a fire. You need to save all the good stuff for when it matters. These moist roots do nothing for your viewing pleasure. Of course, I'll have myself a cup of coffee or 2 before I head outside. And I'll take a break around noon for a 25 mile ride, if I can spare the time. You never know how many more nice weather days you'll get this year, and tomorrow is supposed to hit 60-65.
But I won't be watching football. Sure, I'll check the scores. But otherwise, the day is all mine.
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