I was pretty busy today. I was trying to get a lot done in order to have a decent end-of-the-month check for next month. So far it’s a little low. I’ve got a few days to get it higher, but it’s still not going to be like an average month for me.
Michael went to the gym with me today. He talked about wanting to go because he just felt worn down and thought it might help him get out of that. I’m glad he’s interested in going because my own attendance has been a bit poor lately and it always helps to have someone go along with you. With my gym membership I can take one person along for free anytime I go, so he went to check it out today. It’s the first time he’s ever gone to a gym and he said it felt odd at first, but once he realized nobody was paying him any mind I think he got more comfortable.
Afterwards we stopped by Subway. I wasn’t going to get anything, but I was hungrier than I realized so I got a cold cut combo. We went back to the house and ate. Amanda had already eaten or I’d have picked something up for her too.
Michael left and Adam stopped by shortly thereafter. There’s been a big pseudo-secret lately that he had ordered a papillon puppy for him and Renee. I mean, it’s a secret to Renee (or was- she’ll have met him by now), but everyone else knew what he was doing. He had a bit of trouble with the people who were shipping the puppy.
Adam bought it from a breeder somewhere in the Midwest and they delivered it through some company. Not a big standard one, I’m guessing, as they’d told Adam they’d meet him someplace within an hour of his house to deliver the puppy. Well, he was supposed to pick it up yesterday afternoon, but they rescheduled on him after he’d already taken off of work early. Then they wanted to meet him well outside an hour away. He told them the place they picked was too far and they got snotty with him, going up to the point of telling him that they didn’t like doing service for people who expected everything on a silver platter. Adam talked to a few people (including the breeder, who I’m sure was embarrassed by the service being provided by someone she hired) and finally got things settled with the delivery people, telling them he was trying to follow their rules and that he knew the area better than they did, and what they wanted to do was too far.
Anyway, he ended up meeting them in… I forget, but it’s the exit Amanda and I take to go to her grandparents’ house in Beulaville. Adam had asked me if he could come by our place since we’re right off of I-40 so he could leave from here and get there more quickly.
Adam came by with the puppy, whose name on the breeder’s website was Wayne I think, something like that. He was in a hurry to get back home so he just had me and Amanda come out to the car to meet the new baby. He’s adorable, of course. Adam decided to name him Dobja, which is Slovak for “good” and was the name my grandparents had given their dachshund years and years ago.
Adam left and Amanda watched the girls sing on American Idol. Duke played Georgia Tech at 9:00 so I watched that in the office until 9:30 when Idol went off. Duke started out running and gunning but the Yellow Jackets didn’t want to go away. They took and exchanged the lead a couple times but Duke was up six at the half. Right before the half, I mean as the buzzer was sounding, a Georgia Tech player, Causey, got in Greg Paulus’s way as he was about to jack up a halfcourt three and fell to the ground, slamming his head. Just a few minutes before that the Mike Patrick and Len Elmore were talking about all the injuries he’s had and how he’s never missed a game. I like Causey, he’s a scrappy little guy. They think he ended up concussed, and when they first showed him in the second half his eyes were rolling back and such. I guess he got better though because he went back in.
Duke won 71-58. Duke’s three point shooting was cold, but the defense was really good and they did well from the free throw line. The nice thing about this is people can quit talking about how Duke will lose when the threes aren’t dropping. The bad thing is that they still really need to get back into the offense. Gerald Henderson was in great form though, which is terrific because he hasn’t been playing like himself lately.
Duke needs to snap out of it, and soon. They won, but they didn’t play as well as they’d played earlier in the season. I really don’t want them losing at Cameron to Carolina next week (well, in a week and a half) and they’ve got a streaky NC State team this Saturday and Virginia next week before all that. Then there’s the ACC Tournament and the NCAA Tournament. I just want them to return to form and play like we know they can.
Mike Boscaljon asked if I could give him a ride to work tomorrow. Kaitlyn has a substitute teaching job to do and needs the car for it and the scooter isn’t in the best running condition right now. He offered to give me some money or buy me some lunch or dinner or something, but of course that wasn’t necessary. He has to be at work at 9:00 so I’ll have to actually get my ass up out of bed and be ready to be out the door at about the time I usually wake up, but it’s not a big deal. I’m glad to help.
Zach Dotsey