Temporarily Out of Service

Awhile back I made the decision to replace my once-a-month updates with more frequent writings; not just what I'm up to, but other shit that I might want to just rant about. You know, like in the good 'ol days of this blog.

"Yea, gotta write more often . . . definitely gonna do it."

Then our internet died. Yup, it happened, what can I say. Came home from work about three weeks ago to find that the entire house was web-less and, what's more, that they wouldn't be able to fix our problem for two fucking weeks. Trust me when I say I can do without the internet, it's really not a big deal for me since I spend most of my time watching sports or taking care of business elsewhere, so I wasn't as devastated as most of my housemates. I figured I'd just get out of the house a little more, maybe try to organize a football game or something.

Then I got sick.

*sigh* Thinking back on it, I can't say it was unexpected. The weather is getting colder, the city is once again flooded with college students from all over, and I'm waking up much earlier every day to go to work. Practically hits me every damn year.

So with my original game plan pushed back a month, I need to take care of current events.

Let's start with an unfortunate oversight from my previous entry. I mentioned how I was coaching our first soccer game of the year by myself and that I would "explain later" why, then I plain forgot. Well, the missing explanation is that I have a new baby sister. "Sister Sarah", as I like to call her, finally arrived on September sixth. Frankly, it's a little nutty having a new sister, especially when you consider that I'm older now than my dad was when he had me. It is pretty cool though as she hasn't gotten on my nerves yet, plus she's a cute kid, so I'm optimistic her approval rating will remain high.

Shortly after Sarah arrived, another little bundle I had been waiting for came: my first paycheck. I was so far in debt and had already maxed out my credit card, so the word "desperation" couldn't do my situation justice. It was also nice to finally reap the benefits of my shitty job. . . . yea, it's official at this point, I don't like my new job. It really isn't even the work itself I don't like as much as it's the people I work with. Not only does my boss give little insight into what my work actually accomplishes, but he assumes I already know how to do everything. My coworkers are no picnics either: one likes to talk about her kid or her cancer recovery/colonoscopy work, and the other is my age yet he can't bother inviting me to lunch with his work buddies. Did I mention that none of them like football, or sports for that matter?Everything else has been on a loop. Soccer games followed by football on Sundays, practice on Mondays, history class Tuesday night, another practice on Fridays before going out and enjoying what little weekend I have. Don't misunderstand me, I love coaching soccer and watching my brothers develop into little soccer studs, and watching football is no chore either, but the fact is that it's all fairly repetitive, week to week.

There is one other thing......

The Dreamcrusher is back! Once a week, team Discovery channel has been saddling up and heading over to Ross Commons to shoot stick. That's right, the pit of nameless Freshmen victims who think they can play pool is once again being replenished. My abilities came back to 100% almost immediately and we've been getting a good 3-5 hours of playing time in each week. Honestly, it's like I'm slipping back into an old drug that I went cold turkey on months ago and it feels good. If you have a deep passion for something like I have for billiards, then you will appreciate the following quote from "The Hustler", a movie that easily finds itself on my top 10 list of movies (don't worry, that will be explained next time):

"I coulda beat that guy, coulda beat him cold, he never woulda known. But I just had to show em, just had to show those creeps and those punks what the game is like when it's great, when it's REALLY great. You know, like anything can be great, anything can be great, I don't care... BRICKLAYING can be great, if a guy knows. IF he knows what he's doing and why and if he can make it come off.

When I'm goin', I mean, when I'm REALLY goin' I feel like a ... like a jockey must feel. He's sittin' on his horse; he's got all that speed and power underneath him... he's comin' into the stretch , the pressures on him and he KNOWS... just feels... when to let it go and how much, cuz he's got everything workin' for him: timing, touch. It's a great feeling, boy, it's a real great feeling when you're right and you KNOW you're right. It's like all of a sudden I got oil in my arm, the pool cue's a part of me. You know, it's uh - pool cue, it's go nerves in it. It's a piece of wood and it's got nerves in it. Feel the roll of those balls, you don't have to look, you just KNOW. You make shots that nobody's ever made before. I can play that game the way... NOBODY'S ever played it before."

If you can understand that, then Sarah Packard is right: you're not a loser, you're a winner, cuz some men never get to feel that way about anything.