Well at least it feels like a Winter now

. . . even if it still only looks like a Fall. It's cold enough to keep man-made snow alive at our local ski slope. There's not enough snow to stick and accumulate and make for sled action, but there is enough snow to make Saturday morning's 5am trip to Pittsburgh a little dodgy. It was my turn to drive the gang to the RC track, so AK let me take The Giga Crusher (Ford Expedition). My racing buddies were concerned not only about the difficult driving conditions, but also about the Giga Crusher's failing front brakes. Me? I was concerned about the gallon-a-minute Mr. Giga was drinking. How was I going to afford yummy track snacks? How would I maintain a Hammy-like Caffeine High all day if all my money went into the gas tank?

It was a great race day, one of the best this Winter so far, can't wait to go back next Saturday and duke it out in the Stock Truck class.

Today, I slept in while the rest of the gang went to church. While sleeping in did catch me up from the early early Saturday it did little get me up and at 'em, bright eyed or bushy-tailed. So despite my being still pretty damn diddly BEHIND after spending a week applying instead of painting, I declared today a Not So Much With The Work Day.

-Watched "Talladega Nights", in my 'jammies, curled up under the UAB (Ugly Acrylic Blanket)

-Showered /dressed enough to do short shopping trip for family.

-Ate a few too many cinnamon waffles for lunch

-Played "Dread Pirate", a game I think we got for Xmas from someone, with the whole family.

The twinks are almost old enough and attention-span-endowed enough to last a whole game. In this photo you can see Queen Pirate Administrator keeping the chaos in check. Ben is -- and this is one of the things that makes a game with the twinks a challenge -- touching something. You can't see Milo and I'm not sure exactly what he was doing but I can guarantee whatever it is it's at a very high volume. Max is in character, talking like a pirate, and declaring Emily to be a Giant Vicious Sea Poodle.

After clean up, AK settled in for a quiet afternoon of knitting. . .

That's my future hat she was knitting. One of the many downsides to being a Relatively Handsome Bald Man Who, Regardless of Your Feelings About Bald Men, Smells Really Good, is that your head gets cold. A few minutes after she settled in, from the kitchen where I was cleaning, I told her how grateful I was that she was trying to finish my hat, and how much it meant to me. This was her response. . .

Now I'm taking advantage of the fact that one of the big playoff football games is on the one TV channel we pick up on our old-school rabbit ears. I'm watching the AFC championship (I think) between the Colts and the Patriots, and I'm thinking of how much more interesting it would be if I followed football. Or had a bet on the game. Or gave a flip. Maybe I'll read the newspapers between now and the Super Bowl so I can enjoy watching that game at least. Who wants to invite me to a Super Bowl party?

I pay attention whenever the Niners are good (I grew up in the Bay in the 80s so they'll always be my favorite. I was 10 and remember EXACTLY what I was doing when I saw "The Catch". Where were you?). I paid a lot of attention to the Vikings when we lived in MN because it helped me fit in at the dealerships and Daute Culpepper was really something to watch. But otherwise I just haven't caught the fever, even living here in Steelerville last year. What I really miss is following hockey and actually being able to attend games. I was only an attendee for about half-a-Sharks season, but it took several years of rabid fanhood for that excitement to wear off. It doesn't translate well to TV (though it's not as bad as soccer) but there nothing as exciting as a live hockey match. It's intimate, you can see everything, and the size, speed & precision of those guys is freakin insane.

My feet are cold, I'm going to have to close the laptop to seek out The UAB. End blog here.