Monopoly at McDonalds

"All visits within one hour constitute one visit for the purposes of this promotion." So read the official rules for this game. A family could only redeem one free food sticker per visit. What reminded me of this was when I saw an individual today on campus, waved and gave the customary sup, and then saw said individual about 30 minutes later. What are the ground rules for this kind of interaction? Do you ignore them the second time? It seems the second time usually has to be accompanied by some sort of a laugh directed at the coincidence. But what if there's a third time? Who makes the ground rules here?

Confirmation

I figure this thunderstorm is God's way of affirming through nature that this is in fact the week commemorating the passion of Christ. But I will wait to see what things look like during Holy Week 2: Revenge of Byzantium in like August or whenever it is this year.

I got pulled over last week by a cop that I knew was following me. When he lit me up, I figured he had somewhere to go. When he pulled up behind me, I didn't think that anymore. When I told him, yes, it was my car, he apparently thought I was lying and made me and my brother give him our IDs. And registration and insurance. The only thing he could have found suspicious was the fact that all documentation and background checks would turn up the same Los Osos address, after we had just told him we live in Buena Park and La Mirada. So he told me to fix my brake light and be on my merry way. First time I could honestly answer, "No, I don't know why you stopped me."

I figure this thunderstorm blows.

I'm working my way through How the Irish Saved Civilization. In the first chapter, Cahill suggests that "[t]he nearest we can come to understanding this divide [between the Roman legions on one side of the Rhine, and the Germanic tribes on the other] may be the southern border of the United States. ... The barbarian migration was not perceived as a threat by Romans, simply because it was a migration..."

I figure this thunderstorm should stop now.

I recently looked at the standings for Major League Soccer. And found that what began in 1996 is not what exists now. First off, my Dallas Burn is now FC (Football club) Dallas, in a trite nod to the game's unamerican herritage. The Kansas City Wiz lost their wizzing balls and became the Wizzards. The San Jose Clash are the Earthquakes, and we now have Real Salt Lake and Club Deportivo Chivas USA. Two wonderful quotes from these expansion teams' websites (respetively):

"Utah already boasts sizeable soccer-loving communities from outside the United States, as well as many former LDS Church missionaries who have returned with a love of the game," said Commissioner Garber. "That's what Salt Lake's home team will offer - exciting, action-packed, world-class, Major League Soccer."

and

"It was at the dawn of CD Guadalajara's entry into the professional ranks of Mexican soccer that its players were given their nickname, 'Chivas,' a name which means goat in Spanish and still has survived to this day. Following a 1-0 victory over Tampico in 1948, a reporter, incredulous that the club from Guadalajara had won the match, wrote that the team 'plays like hopping goats.' The nickname 'Chivas' was initially used as an insult by rival fans but eventually the name grew into a symbol for the club and readily accepted and embraced by its fans."

So now a marginal soccer league has to try to market teams whose mascots are either nonexistent or Mexican goats.

I figure I'll sulk about the rain for a while.

The irony aboundeth

Intramural softball year by year:

2000--Team named "Perfect Sacrifice," Mitch sings opera in the outfield, and I somehow get thrown in his sister's doghouse for what would amount to about four years. This might also be the last year we made the playoffs.

2001--Team gets named "Citizen's Arrest," and spends whole season being cornholed by vigilante justice. And Jesse's bag squeaked on the way to every game ater I woke him up.

2002--I name our team the "Circus," intending to find rainbow clown wigs for everyone to wear. Instead, we bring all three rings and can't find our way out of them.

2003--I am forced to join a team that was called I believe "No Names," or some other such nonsense. That's all anyone remembers about that year.

2004--I assemble a team that is supposed to have great potential. Instead, John Marashian and Justin Wheeler turn out to be actual llamas who lied out their asses about being good at sports, most people don't pay their dues, let alone shirt fees, and I secure the worst record in the league yet again.

2005--Working for Facilities Services, I now have a much larger draft pool. Not only that, but the guys at the warehouse have hookups. So get this:

We are being sponsored by Waxie (meaning our league fees were paid by a toilet seat cover company), and our shirts, kindly donated by Office Depot, proudly declare "Taking care of business!" Yes, sir, Waxie and we are takin' care of business. One job at a time.

Current record: 1-0.