Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Remember me?

Hello again.

As is now quite obvious to all (and by 'all' I mean both of you who still come into the Asylum occasionally), I have utterly failed in my one New Years Resolution (which was something along the lines of NOT going a month at a time without posting). Sheesh, I just don't know where the time has gone! Suddenly it's FEBRUARY! Punxatawny Phil has already made his forecast for the coming spring (or lack there-of) for crying out loud!

All I really have is a lame bag of excuses, so I won't even bother to bore you with them. They would sound pathetic. I know work has been quite busy. QUITE. BUSY. But that isn't it. Somehow my home-hours have disappeared without my consent or knowledge. It's like I come home from work and wake up in time to get ready for work. My weekends seem to go by even faster. And I don't really feel like I'm getting anything done. Well, that's not entirely true. This past weekend I did put in a new hot water heater. Turned out to bea MUCH larger job than anticipated. About 2 weeks ago I noticed the wall behind my heater was dark (it's in our finished garage, sitting on a nicely finished pedestal in a corner-nook by the door going into the house). Closer inspection revealed it was mold growing up the wall. And on the other wall too. And below where it was sort-of standing. The constant dripping and the weight of a full 40 gallon unit had melted it's way thru the finished sheetrock like a hot-knife thru butter. Moldy butter. Under the goopy moldy sheetrock was wet plywood. I invented a little catch-basin for the leak, with a piece of tubing (from an old camelback hydration unit) funneling the water into a coffee can. The area mostly dried up in the week and a half that it had with no dripping water until the moment I was ready to replace it.

I knew removing the unit was probably the easiest part of the job. I was right. Shut off and removed the gas line, hooked a hose to the drain valve and drained it (took longer than I thought),  torched the pressure relief valve copper tubing to unsolder it, and then unscrewed the incoming and outgoing water pipes from the top. Then I just loosened the two retaining straps screwed into wall studs, and it was free. Lifted the leaky beast off the pedestal and that was that. NOW I had a good view of the damage a leaking water heater with no drip pan can cause. Ripped apart the pedestal, both layers of plywood had to go (wet and stinky). Scraped the mold off the walls, realized that the mold appeared to go deeper than the top layer and into the sheetrock itsself, so modified my plan and cut out some fairly decent pieces to totally eliminate the cancer. Another trip to Home Depot (I think I had 3 trips on Saturday and 3 on Sunday, and this doesn't count the trip or two I took before hand buying the new unit and everything I THOUGHT I needed at that point. I have a theory on "how many trips to Home Depot" any particular DIY job will take me: "one more trip" is the answer to that question. After I made that trip, I ask the question and it's still the same answer. It's almost like I'm locked into my own little bizzare "Ground Hogs Day"/Bill Murray time warp thing were I keep going back, buying different stuff each time, yet never quite getting everything I need (in my defense, in each phase of the overall big-picture project is when I find what I should have gotten for that phase).

In the end I'll say that I think I saved us a lot of dough by doing all this myself. A hired plumber would have taken out the unit and then gone away until a carpenter did all the work ripping out and replacing damaged wood and sheetrock. And then taped the joints, slathered on the 'mud', let it dry and sand it down, spraying orange-peel texture to match the rest of the walls, and finally paint the entire area so the plumber could now finally install the new unit. And of course, the new unit had different locations for ALL the fittings. The new unit was taller, bigger around (not a lot), but required me to re-work the gas line, pressure relief line, exhaust vent ducting, and the intake/outgoing water lines. And then after all that there was the NEW drain line for the drip pan (1" PVC, which is a pretty large line). That had to be routed outside (so I had to core-drill a hole thru the wall/stucco) as I have no drain inside my garage. And quite honestly I'm still not quite done. There is more spackling on the sides of my pedestal that needs to be done, and sanded/textured and painted. But I'm somehow in no hurry to finish that particular part...I have hot water again and we're happy. I was SUPPOSED to be up in Sunnyvale on travel for the last 2 weeks, and boy am I glad I didn't end up going. Jeannie most likely wouldn't have noticed the leak for many more days after I did, so the mold/water damaged area would have likely been far more substantial. And she (we) would have paid a fortune for other to come in and do all this. Canceling my trip saved us a BUNCH of cash for sure.

OK. Enough on that...(I'm sure you have been thinking that to yourself for like 10 minutes now). What else is going on? LOTS, that's what. The top of the list is that CHRIS HORNER HAS A TEAM FINALLY! Isn't that great news? He likely won't race le Tour, but it sounds like he will be at the Giro, AND if he stays healthy he will get to defend his Vuelta title! I'm sure he's somewhat disappointed at his new salary, being a Grand Tour winner last year, but it's better than early retirement! And hey...what if he does real well in either/both Grand Tours this year? Wouldn't THAT be exciting! What else...the Super Bowl...sadly (or not) I missed most of it working in my garage. But turns out I didn't miss much...I was rooting for Denver...no, strike that..I was rooting for Peyton Manning (as a Raider fan I HATE the Broncos...but I do like Peyton). I sure hope he comes back for another year,  because having THAT as your last game before retirement would be a horrificly sad way to end such an amazing football career (note: the Raider fan in me just did a double-take at my saying "I hope he comes back next year"...now the same inner Raider fan is slapping me silly wondering how that sentence escaped my brain/fingers). Back during the playoffs I reveled when Denver went on and Indy was out (again more inner slapping my face)...I hate it when teams have NO loyalty to guys who have done SO MUCH for the team/city and then trade them away for the newer younger cheaper (or not?) guy. Such as when Indy let Peyton go and picked up Andrew Luck (I'm not saying I don't understand it, but I still HATE it when they do that). Or when San Fran let Montana go to KC so they could play Steve Young. And Jerry Rice too. And when my Raiders let Marcus Allen go to KC also. I think the teams OWE these players who were the heart and soul of their teams for so many years, that they should suck it up and let them play until they say they are done. Yeah yeah...if I was the owner I probably wouldn't do that either, but I WISH they would.

And HEY HEY HEY!! Bum bum...ba-BUM Bum...ba BUM Bum (always have a hard time putting the Olympic theme into words)....yes, it's THAT time again! The WINTER OLYMPICS! So sad that Lindsay Vonn won't be defending her title...she is so amazing! But we have such a plethora of AWESOME winter athletes...and the winter Olympics are just SO much more exciting than the summer Olympics in general! It's like most of the events are right out of the extreme sports category! Downhill skiing (hitting nearly 700 miles per hour on SKI's!), bobsled, luge, skeleton, half-pipe, sprint skating, it goes on and on! And what about those guys flinging those uber-heavy "Rocks" down the ice with little sweeper-dudes steering/clearing the run? DANGER DANGER DANGER! Oh my gosh...that sport is RIFE with potential for disaster! (aren't those sweeper guys going BACKWARDS?) Figure skating...mens, womens, ice dancing, it's pretty much gymnastics on razor blades! And then my personal fav: Ski Jumping! OMG!!! That ramp is so long and steep...the guts to jump into those two little tracks and fling yourself off the end of that ramp at just under light-speed is so far beyond me that I get goose-bumps every time they go! I remember Eddie the Eagle from the UK a number of Olympics ago...they had never had a jumper before...he was their first. In the big scheme of ski jumpers he wasn't very good (as compared to pretty much everybody else doing it), but he DID IT! Over and over again he went off that jump and lived! He was a hero and I can't watch that event without thinking of him (WAY TO GO EDDIE!!!!!) Or the year Jamaica finally had a bobsled team! That is a VERY dangerous sport...a lot is riding on your captain NOT killing you all with less than stellar steering.

What other events...biathlon! Cross Country Skiing at world-class pace, and then shooting TINY TINY little targets with your heart beating out of your chest! I shoot, and I can attest how hard shooting is under the BEST of circumstances...doing it over and over again in the middle of an endurance ski race is plain CRAZY! Crazy FUN that is! Those guys and gal's are just amazing! Gosh...I'm just giddy that they start TOMORROW!!! I am a bit worried though...they are a huge worldwide event, which is a wonderful target for BAD people. I sure hope and pray for all the athletes that the bad people don't use the games as their 15 minutes of fame to the world. I sure hope the Soviet security is and has been on it's "A" game! We'll know soon enough.

I've been riding as much as I reasonably can...we did have almost two weeks of SUMMER back when the rest of the country was getting hammered with storm after storm! I think my little town of Santa Maria actually had the national high one day in that run...we were at 87F! And now that our 'normal' winter temps have returned (actually we've been below our average the last week or so, rats!) it's very difficult for me to coax myself out on the bike in the wind and cold (by cold I mean 40's and 50's...not cold like MOST of you know..but for us that's QUITE cold I'm sad to say). We do need rain in a desperate WE WILL ALL PAY DEARLY FOR PRODUCE AND SUCH IN THE COMING YEAR IF WE DON'T GET RAIN AND LOTS OF IT VERY SOON sort of way. California is one of the largest produce growing states, and we are in trouble. Our reservoirs are at or near record lows, the groundwater is at or near record lows...bad times are ahead if we don't get SOME rain. We're probably about half-way thru our 'rainy season' and I heard the news last week that here in Santa Maria we are 12" behind our annual average. I think we've had like .3" of rain in almost a year. Not good. VERY not good.

OK...I'll wrap up this veritable smorgasbord of topics blathered into a single post wishing for the rest of you that Ol' Phil the groundhog was WRONG, and you all have an early spring coming. In the meantime, it's OLYMPICS! Woo-HOO!!!

GAMES ON!!

9 comments:

  1. The POOP (Pontifications of Olympian Proportions) -

    1st, I believe I’ve mentioned this here once or twice, or thirty, but I’m a Ring Head. Just LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the Olympics. Wintertime, summertime, ANYtime, 5 rings & I’m there. Being such a fan, I have opinions, which must be shared. It’s the law.

    Anyhoo. Sochi! 7 years, $51 BILLION (more than ALL the previous Winter Olympics combined), corruption, malfeasance, dead dogs, & hundreds of unfinished hotel rooms later, here we are. Let the Games begin!

    Last night’s, er, pre-show. Kinda strange to watch competition BEFORE the Games actually begin, but hey, I’ll watch it! Starts out with Queer Eye, I mean Costas (ouch, poor Bob!) & goes straight to the slopes. Style that is. Personally, I don’t like the course. Also felt the camera work left MUCH to be desired (have they never watched the X-Games?!) It’s not just that the jumps are so high, the course just doesn’t seem to “flow” right. Which brings me to my 1st Sochi judging grump – actually a double grump, because I don’t like Mark McMorris, think he’s mouthy & obnoxious, & to defend him makes me wanna hurl but come on, his score was ridiculously low! On the other hand, this makes figure skating look good.

    Ahhhh, speaking of the sport of flat ice & sequins – Jeremy Abbott! O.M.G. This guy has competed near flawlessly (& won!) at several US Championships & yet at Olympic & World Championships, he’s replaced by an evil podperson that can barely stay upright on his skates. Unfortunately this time, he didn’t just hurt his own prospects but the entire American skating team at the new “team event”. Which, even though I’ve been a figure skating nut since the age of 3, I’m not sure if I like. I’m staying open-minded for now. My faves of the night – the Japanese guy & the Canadian pairs. Awesome.

    Alrighty, my POOP of the Day Award. Several vying for the title – poor, pitiful Jeremy, or the IOC prez who said about Sochi that there’s “only a small hiccup here or there” (where is HIS hotel room?), but I’m going with the most successful US male Olympian skier of all time who stated in yesterday’s presser – “Not to take anything away from the Olympics but it just isn’t the same after you’ve done it as many times as I have”. Oh, Bode, Bode, Bode, WHO are you kiddin?! You busted your ass the entire past year after knee surgery to get into the best shape of your LIFE, all to get that ass back HERE. At the OLYMPICS. Where America will actually watch what you do & hopefully win before you ski off into the sunset.

    Can’t wait for tonight’s Opening Ceremony! I’m expecting various country uniform fashion fauxpas during the Parade of Nations, GIANT inflatable (or otherwise) animals dancin, things flying up, down & all around, lights!, music!, reenactments of history (hopefully a pogrom & a purge or two), some mandatory technical glitches, followed by the goosebumping, tear-swelling cauldron light-up. Flame on! Man, I LOVE the Olympics!
    :) :) :)

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  2. Yay Susie, welcome back with an awesome rant! I'm with you on the luvin' stuff for the Olympics! Can't get enough (well...16 days from now I'll need to sleep for 2 straight days I'm afraid). It was very odd to have events BEFORE the opening ceremony, no doubt. I wasn't sure about the slope-style, but it's growing on me...those 3 big kickers...wow! No pressure or anything though...you just need to do THREE big insane jumps in a row, sticking all 3 landings...easy peasy! And the opening ceremony...LOVED IT! Very original! And that little girl..is she fearless or WHAT! They had her floating around pretty dang high up there with the islands in the sky and such...sure, the fish stadium and the rest of the spread cost a RIDICULOUS amount of cash...I guess they just looked at what OUR gov is doing and followed suit...let's print more money...how easy was that! (Sorry...got political for a moment there, and the games are NOT the place for that...you hear me NBC? Lets drop all that and just stick w' the athletes and the games!) Enjoyed watching the cross country mens and womens...I've done a bit of that (and I shoot also)...can't FATHOM how you can skii your ass off and then stop and shoot a teensy eensey itty bitty hole at 25 yards (meters?) not just once or twice, but FIVE times in a row, then skii some more and do it again STANDING this time. Is that hard? It's freaking IMPOSSIBLE! Then the moguls...Hannah banna cabanna you GO GIRL!!! And we've got SKII jumping...possibly my FAV event (though it's hard to choose cuz most everything is so awesome!) Something about the jumping tho...flying like a bird...even on the "normal" hill they are flying a football field..just blows my mind...it must be one of the coolest (scariest?) feelings to do that. And now some Luge is coming around today...that, skeleton and bobsled are also my fav events...along w/ Alpine skiing, (oh Bodie...what happened? You OWNED the mountain in practice!) Then there's Super G, all the ice skating (how abut Davis and White in the team...were they awesome or WHAT!!!!) well, lets face it...I'm with Susie..I love it ALL! this next 2 weeks is gonna FLY by as I do my best to stay only one day behind in my viewing. There's just TOO MUCH coverage!!! (ok, just kidding...there can't be too much). Just finished watching the mens slope-style finals, how about that US kid? Barely eeked himself into the finals, then throws down a fabulous run and wins it! OMG!!! Love his laid-back style too...kind of what I see snowboarding as in the first place...laid back, cool, styling and profiling...and kudos to the Canadian kid for even being on the mountain w/ a broken rib...and I see there is smack talk to the flying Tomato already for pulling out of that event...but I have to admit I can't hardly wait to see what he throws down on his signature event the Half Pipe...I bet it will be special! Go Mr. White!! Gosh...I'm already forgetting too much...it's just overload and it's only just BEGUN!

    GAME(S) ON!

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  3. SO much to say! SO little sleep! And it’s only Day 3! I’ll need some of the Seahawks’ PEDs just to make it to the Closing Ceremony…

    Anyhoo. Opening Ceremony. Well, um, geeze, not to be a grumpypants but I was expecting more. I guess it was one of those things like a mediocre band that is MUCH better live & in person. I’d stayed away from media’s tweets & live blogs last Friday just so I could be surprised but I did see a few headlines that said “spectacular!”, so I was expecting to be wowed. Eh. Some I did love (little ‘Sara Bareilles’ floating girl – talk about BRAVE!, electrified animatronic TROIKA at beginning & Olympic athletes at end, the floating islands, the giant colorful & fun inflatable onion domes, luv me those inflatables), some was ok (War & Peace), & some left me bored (red & white sections). I was especially disappointed with the Swan Lake section near the end. That country is KNOWN for ballet! Must have tens of thousands of ballet dancers pirouetting around. Couldn’t they have put 500-1000 in white/black swan costumes & dance away? No, they put dancers out there in long white dresses, with incomprehensible things spouting off the top of their heads that made them look like a cross between jellyfish, mop heads, or the underside of a weedwacker. What?! And the cauldron light-up was not imaginative. On the plus side, despite the media & others snarking about them the entire past month, the USA OC uniforms were by far the best – colorful, unique, looked GREAT on camera, especially en masse. (Many of the other countries sported parkas that looked off the rack from Target, no creativity at all). Would *I* wear 1 of those USA sweaters? Probably not – Ralph seemed to forget the cardinal rule of accessorizing – right before you leave the house, take ONE THING OFF. Bit too much, Ralph! Still, they looked great marching around.

    Days 1-2 : Loved Sage & Jamie (Snowboard Slopestyle) even if I thought the judging wasn’t completely accurate. Bode disappointed only because his training runs were so fab & got everyone expecting him to win (note to those who only watch skiing every 4 years – DH training is akin to NFL preseason, means NOTHING). Best TV commentator so far – CHAD at Biathlon & XC Skiing. If you can’t get excited about those events when Chad is in full-on CHAD mode, then you are deaf. He’s a hoot! And when paired with Steve Schlanger at Biathlon, you almost expect them both to pass out from the excitement. As Dan Patrick said yesterday during NCSN daytime coverage – “Chad doesn’t cheat ya”. Yep. I also got a kick out of the ‘London Bridge’ reenactment at the Finish of the Women’s XC Skiathon – ALL FALL DOWN! And yes, there is now an Olympic event called SKIATHON. :) :)

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  4. Final POOP on Days 1-2 : the Figure Skating Team Event. Still not sure how I feel about it & do think the scoring needs tweaked, but overall, I did enjoy. I especially like that the NBC’s LIVE commentators are Terry, Tara & Johnny & the Primetime cast is Tom, Scott & Sandra. The different takes were interesting. I was happy that Gracie Gold skated very well & now surprisingly think she even has a shot at a medal in the Ladies event. Didn’t think that a week ago. The Russians definitely deserved the team Gold BUT I am very concerned about the judging – every Russian in the team event was overscored, even the ones that deserved to be placed 1st. Not a big deal in this event but could be ominous for the individual competitions.

    About Yoool-lee-ah (Julia). I’ve read about her for 3 years (I subscribe to a Skating mag, yes, yes, I do) & seen her perform on TV for the last year, & I think she is very skilled & had been a bronze medal probable before the Games began. Now, Kim & Mao need to worry about the Gold. However, I find her a bit of a automaton. She fakes emotion on the ice & does not really feel/skate with the music. That’s typical of a young skater though.

    As for Plushenko – argh, have never liked him. Arrogant, self-absorbed, dismissive, entitled, obnoxious. Of course, what would you expect from a guy going for a repeat of a “platinum” medal?

    Meryl & Charlie were sublime. Fred & Ginger live again.

    As for American hopes/chances in the individual events – if someone had told me 25 years ago, heck, even 10, that for 2 straight Olympics there would not be an American ‘lady’ on the podium let alone the winner of the Gold AND that the USA & Canada would fight for/trade gold & silver in Ice Dancing (Russian ‘owned’ for decades) in 2 Olympics back to back, I would have said you were insane. Figure skating is officially down the rabbit hole.

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  5. The POOP on Day 3 (Mon) –

    Julia Mancuso! JULIA MANCUSO! That gal is unbelievable! For the past 8 years, she’s very rarely even stood on a podium let alone actually won a race during skiing’s yearly World Cup circuit & yet, at the past 3 Olympics, BOOM, there she is! I would imagine the other female skiers must be a bit irritated? In America, thanks to her Olympic success, she is viewed as one of the best female skiers ever. The TODAY show should have asked Lindsey about THAT.

    OH Canada! Remember the grief Canada took over their pre-Vancouver program called “Own the Podium”? Especially when they got off to a slow start at those games? Well, hey, Canada – it’s STILL working! It’s looking like they will even top their medal haul at Vancouver. Watch out, Norway!

    Dutch Treat! If you don’t like the color orange, you will NOT have a good time at Longtrack Speedskating. Talk about your Orange Crush! The Dutch male skaters have SWEPT the podium at both of the men’s events so far. Including yesterday’s 500, in which the Netherlands had NEVER before won Gold. And for an added “treat”, that podium included a set of identical twins! The Dutch women also took the Gold in the only women’s race so far. What’s the Dutch equivalent of “Oi, Oi, Oi!”?

    Poop of the Day award – Bob Costas’ eye infection. OUCH! Not only has it not cleared up, it’s spread to the other eye. Mad props to Bob for gutting it out the past 5 days. I did hear this morning that Matt Lauer will sub tonight for the Primetime show. (My pick would have been Mary Carillo). Hopefully, NBC has flown over an eye specialist & Bob will be back on the air soon.

    Hey Matt - today is the 1st women's ski jumping at the Olympics. Hope all do great! And also SHAUN WHITE in the Halfpipe. I've read the pipe is terrible but hopefully, Shaun will do his thing. He is still FABULOUS! Go Shaun!

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    1. Hey Susie...thanks for your daily POOP...I just don't seem to have the time. I'm already 2 days behind suddenly in my viewing. Crawled out of bed this morning...Olympics always nearly kill me cuz I just have a hard time turning off the TV. Was stoked to hear Julia did good, sad that Bode did his thing (again). Also was heartbroken to watch Hannah Kearney...she had so much pressure, and that one little blip off the big flip and BAM, so much for the repeat. But she seems pretty classy and after her initial sadness has rallied and is proud to have won the bronze...good for her. Really anxious to watch THE FLYING TOMATO...no pressure on him either tho. Hope he's as good as we know he can be. That's the brutal reality of sports though..especially individual events. Train your whole life and then one tiny blip and it's all over. The agony of defeat (still recall that OLD NBC Sports bit...that guy spinning in a crash and flying off the ski jump, being the poster-child of "the agony of defeat".

      Gotta run...happy viewing!

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  6. The POOP on Day 4 (Tues) -

    HalleLUGEah! Yes, the long drought is over for America! We finally have someone on the podium in Luge singles. It takes a woman.

    Terminators/Poltergeists – they’re BACK. After dominating the Figure Skating Pairs competition throughout the 20th century, this century has been a bit of a struggle for the Soviet/Russians. Why, in the last Olympics, there were NO Russians on the podium at all. Much handwringing & vodka later, going by last night’s Short program, this will not be the case again.

    SHOCK & AWWWWW CRAP! Both the reaction to the Sochi Halfpipe by all the competitors & of me when Shaun White failed to 3-peat. I’m still in shock & still bummed. Guess all the injuries the past couple years & time spent on varied interests & not just snowboarding finally caught up with Shaun. Still, he’s the best snowboarder of all time (including NOW) & threw down the best run the entire day in the qualifying heat. Triple damn. Kinda wish I was Bob Costas so I didn’t actually have to SEE Shaun lose. And yes, I was rudely yanked out of “Heaven” yesterday when I’d heard.

    Finally! It’s Been a Long Time Comin’! Don’t know if the soundsystem at the Sochi Ski Jumping venue was cranking out Cece Penniston & Sam Cooke yesterday, but it should have. Women’s Ski Jumping is finally an Olympic event! Too bad that none of the American women medaled as they seemed to have been the biggest instigators for why the event is finally in the Olympics, but it was still great nonetheless. And so glad the IOC, one more time – FINALLY, decided to risk the competitors’ “uteruses (uteri?) falling out”. Yes, that was one of their actual reasons for barring women.

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  7. Didn't get to see much last night, but the Russian pairs...sheesh...they are indeed BACK! Everybody else was skating for third...they were pretty freaking amazing! It was hard watching Shani Davis place 8th...it's like he just didn't have it...he came out of the start like gangbusters and I really thought he might pull it off...but then he just ran out of gas it seemed. Didn't get to see Shaun White do his thing, but also had heard...very sad at that. It's like he cut his hair and got all respectable and has lost his mojo or something (though I didn't get to see his awesome qualifying heat run). Very cool on the womens ski jumping...still one of my fav events...they just fly SO FAR of the end of that ramp (however, in the downhill ski event there are some wicked big jumps they do this year...heard they're doing around a football field @ the speeds they hit...which is also pretty freaking incredible!)

    Part of the reason I didn't get much Olympic viewing last night is Jeannie brought home a movie from Redbox...can't remember the title..it's Robert Redford in a sailboat having a bad day(s)...it was ok...tho kind of a Castaway type movie...in the first hour the ONLY words spoken was when he tried his radio to call out an SOS...other than that it's all zero other people and words. Then later on as things get progressively worse he utters the F bomb and "GOD!"...and that's it for speaking in the entire movie. We were discussing this after and were WISHING he'd have had a volleyball named WILSON (or something...ANYTHING!) to talk to. Gotta dash...happy viewing!

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  8. The POOP on Days 5-9 (Wed – Sun)

    Secret A-gent Man, Seee-cret Aaa-gent Man. Who knew that my fellow Marylander & founder/CEO of Under Armour, Kevin Plank, was actually a covert operative for the Netherlands? Code name AGENT ORANGE. Wow, don’t think I’d ever seen the USA completely shut out of the medals in speedskating til now. Whether it was ‘the suits’, lack of adequate prep or a voodoo hex, someone in USA Speedskating’s got some ‘splainin’ to do. Meanwhile,

    The Dutch 2014 Olympic Speedskating team, the 60s Celtics, the 95-96 Chicgao Bulls, the 72 Dolphins – the most DOMINANT teams of their sport in their era. We bow.

    Broncos on skis – the Norwegian XC ski team. Whoo, the folks in Norway are aghast if not enraged as THEIR dominant team is being smacked around by the Seahawks, I mean, Sweden! Gonna be HOT up there in Scandanavia for the next 4 years.

    SWEEP style. I agree that the USA team performed the best in the men’s Slopestyle Skiing event, but would have rearranged the podium – Goepper (the bronze winner) SHOULD have won the Gold.

    Sweep denied! The Women’s Snowboard Halfpipe event should also have been an American sweep, with Kelly Clark taking the gold. She did a 1080! She goes far higher than ALL the other women! The pipe & slopestyle judges at this Olympics have been almost as bad as the courses.

    Answer – No More Drama. Question – what Mary J. Blige hit is NOT the anthem for Men’s Figure Skating? Between Plushenko’s withdrawal due to “injury”, Jeremy Abbott’s slam on the ice in the Short program but rising to continue, to the ‘Canadian Curse’, not sure which was the most jaw dropping. Guess I’ll go with Jeremy Abbott. I’ve never really been a huge fan, partly because he has NEVER competed up to his abilities in international competition & partly for his whiny excuses for it afterwards. When he slammed down hard on the ice after the quad & lay there for what seemed like an hour but was really only 10-15 seconds, I thought, yep, that’s his career in a nutshell. But, then, he RISES up, continues & skates great! Very impressive & inspiring. And even though he had no chance for a medal, he then skated great in the long program. I thought, WOW, I’ve been wrong about this guy all this time! He’s a gamer! But then he says ‘F*** U” to all those who pointed to his lack of international success. Oh, Jeremy, you were SO close to going out a winner.

    The Crying Game. Second only to “it bleeds, it leads” as a TV media mantra is “there are never too many waterworks”. Yes, I thought Cristin asked Bode maybe one too times about his brother’s death & what his 6th Olympics medal meant to him, but I’m thinking that little voice in her earpiece was instructing her to do so. 36 years old, ancient in Alpine skiing, & the guy wins another medal. Not sure when or if America will again see as great of an overall male skiier as Bode Miller. True original. Meanhile, the MAN, as in ‘Mancuso’, of the American men’s team – Andrew Weibrecht- took the silver in the Super G.

    ‘Oshie in Sochi’. It was destined.

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