In Eckleburg's Eyes - 4/9/2008

I spent Tuesday night with KLTW, KJW, and RAW since I will not be seeing them for the rest of the week. No, I don’t think I will go into KJW withdrawal.

KLTW had her first day back at the hospital after a two week break between quarters. While she cooked, KJW and I helped RAW procure leaves to ignite his fire pit. KJW preferred to do her leaf hunting one leaf at a time.

Eventually, KJW ate at her portable table outside. She ate macaroni and cheese with a side of peas. KLTW almost served her corn instead of peas. This would have been ironic as the only two things I know that I am allergic to are macaroni and corn. I have no explanation as to what it is in mac & cheese that I am allergic to as I am bothered by neither cheese nor pasta, I can only tell you it affects me negatively.

On this night, I brought KJW the book Elmo’s Mother Goose and a Bobby Labonte #43 diecast car I acquired out a box of Honey Nut Cheerios. One of the added benefits of a baby is having a repository for items such as swag that comes out of cereal boxes.

KLTW filmed a video of KJW with her performing the staples of “Sumo,” “Guns” and “Karate.” If and when it appears on KLTW’s MySpace, I will let you know.

I was supposed to visit JTH at MoFoS for the last time, but he had incorrectly transcribed his schedule. That happens more often than you might think. His last day at MoFoS is Saturday (4/12). It is sad that I will miss “working” shifts with him.

I went home and watched the Lady Vols win their eighth national championship and second in a row over the Stanford Lady Cardinal 64-48. The Lady Vols avenged an early season overtime loss to Stanford (December 22). Coach Pat Summitt is now 8-7 in national championship games as the Vols become only the fourth team in history to repeat as champions.

The game featured last year’s player of the year (Candace Parker) against this year’s equivalent (Candice Wiggins). Anyone who has followed Summit at all knew the Lady Vols would not play as miserably as they did in the national semifinal game.

We will enjoy it while it lasts as Tennessee loses much of its roster. 5'2" senior Shannon Bobbit the shortest player in lady Vol history and as such my 4'11" mother’s all-time favorite player closed out her career with a great game, scoting 13 points.

Now that all NCAA Tournament games are done, I can report the typical abysmal results of my brackets. In my Yahoo Sports Pick ‘Em “Potty Trained & Potty Mouthed” Bracket, I finished 13th out of 25 entries. This is actually better than I usually do but most of the group struggled this year. I placed in the 24th percentile nationally. CAD won the bragging rights.

In my ESPN Tournament Challenge bracket, I finished sixth of 8th (one person signed up but did not fill out a bracket). I finished in the 17th percentile nationally. At least, I am consistent. SMA won this bracket.

I did receive one bit of bad news on Tuesday. I learned via snail mail that I had been fined $50 for allegedly running a red light at 3:03 pm at the corner of Merchants Drive and Clinton Highway on March 24th. I say allegedly but there is little doubt as they have a video evidence. I honestly cannot even tell you why I was there so I have no defense. At least I got a nice photograph of Chanana II in action. I also watched the video several times. Unfortunately, there is no option to post it on my blog. Do you think I should send the government a request?

In closing, I passed a sign on Lyons Bend that noted that Tennessee basketball commentator Bert Bertelkamp turned 50. I have no idea why I acknowledge this.