2025 Bears Predication Update: Third Quarter Results

The NFL season is three-quarters over, with most of the teams completing their bye weeks and the Chicago Bears are 9-3.  I don't know whether to go with Wow or OMG.  

My pre-season predictions had them at 6-6 and I've never been happier to be so wrong.

and Swept Pennsylvania too

There are a lot of haters out there saying the Bears haven't played anyone.  Yet they just played a complete game against the Super Bowl Champion Eagles and beat them soundly.  

The thing is, we Bears fans just wanted a better season than the last few years.  They went 7 and 10 in 2023 and 5 and 12 in 2024.  That was literally the floor.  At the start of the season, we ambitiously hoped for 8-9 or miraculously 9-8 and a wild-card berth.  

That they are already at 9 and 3 with 5 more games to play is a Christmas Miracle.  It has been fun to watch them go from 0-2 to being in the Wild Card Hunt to leading the division and now, with the LA Rams losing to Carolina yesterday, being top of the NFC!

Can they keep it up?  Who knows.  

Per the self-inflicted rules,  I'm sticking with my predictions.  For their last five games, I predict the following:

If these predictions are correct, that would place them at 12-5, surely enough to get into the playoffs.  Will it be enough to win the division?  Unknown.  If New England and Denver can win 8, 9 games in a row, why not the Bears?

On Social Media, I've pointed out how this year seems like the magical 2001 year when they went 13-3, but then blew it in the playoffs against, ironically, Philadelphia.    In fact, on Friday we watched the first quarter of the game at a bar in Skokie while meeting up with former neighbors and it had 2001 vibes of when I had a group of people ever week meet at Donovan's to watch the game.

On a personal note, I have been able to watch 8 of the 12 Bears games so far.  However, one of those was because I was in Illinois at the time.  While driving up, I was streaming the game against Pittsburgh but missed most of the 4th quarter because my kids were using my hotspot and ran through my data.  Fortunately, we got to the hotel in time for me to run up to the room and see the last few minutes.  

The game against the Eagles was on Black Friday, so I would have been able to see it down here.  The game against the 49ers is on Sunday Night Football, so I can watch that one.  Since they flexed next week's game against the Packers to 3:15, I suspect I can watch that one too, though I cannot confirm until Wednesday afternoon.  

Update: Yes, the whole nation gets to watch the Bears play in Lambeau Field while Arizona and half of California, get to watch the Cardinals play spoiler to the LA Rams.  

The last game of the season against the Lions hasn't been set a time.  I suspect the NFL is waiting to see which games are playoff impacting, but it wouldn't surprise me if this game gets flexed to SNF, which means I get to watch that one too.

I guess my prediction last year that if I didn't pay to watch the games, the Bears would be good has come true.  I just hope it continues.  

The Morning Routine

With the exception of preparing their lunches, which Nightingale does, I am in charge of getting the kids ready and off to school.  Almost every day is a challenge, but different than the day before.  I get them up at 7 and ask what they want for breakfast.  They rarely, if ever, want the same thing.  

Once they are sitting and eating breakfast, I pick out Boris's clothes.  Natasha picks out her own, but left to his own devices, Boris would put on the worst mismatching clothes possible.

Then they brush their teeth and have some screen time.  Then it gets tricky.  Some days they are ready to go, other days I have to keep after them to finish getting ready.

I try to leave the driveway by 8:00 AM.  If I catch both traffic lights (small town, yo!), we get to school -- or prison, as they affectionately refer to it -- in exactly six minutes.  They call it prison because school hasn't been fun since the 3rd grade.  They are restricted on when they can talk among their peers.  They have a very short amount of time for lunch relative to everything else.  And they have to carry everything back and forth in their backpacks (11 lbs) because the school refuses to provide on-site storage like they did in previous years.  

Drop off takes exactly 1 minute, even with Boris dilly-dallying.  And I'm back home six minutes later.  

Pickup takes longer.  It took me over a year to realize that if I leave the house later (say 3 pm) then I don't have to wait in line so long because it does move quickly once they open the doors.  We generally get back around 3:30 pm and even earlier if I do get in line sooner.

*****

I'm a little giddy because the Bears are 6-3 and tied for first place in the division.  They are doing about how I predicted at this point, though not the way I thought.  Except for the game against the Cowboys, every win was close and could have easily gone the other way.  In a way they are looking like the 2001 team that went 13-3 but got exposed in the playoffs.  Heck, the last two games could be the equivalent of the 2001 Browns and 49ers games (whom they play later this season).

When the Bears win, I spend the week reading everything about them.  When they lose, I avoid the write-ups like the plague.  if the Bears play like they did in the last four games, they will lose this weekend because their luck has got to run out.

I have been able to watch at least half of the Bears games down here and will be able to watch at least three more that I know of, including this week's game against the Vikings.  This validates my decision not to invest money into being able to watch all the games.

*****

On 10/28, the recruiter for Big Bank called me.  He said they hired the person who got the contract job and wanted an additional member for the team, and asked if I was available.  I said I was, but big surprise I have not heard anything in the last 16 days,  I don't expect anything from that one anymore.  

Meanwhile a new recruiter has reached out to me about another contract role but I'm not holding my breath on this on either.  He reached out to me late Wednesday afternoon wanting to talk "today" and when we talked yesterday, he didn't really have a lot to ask.  He seems like he was just collecting resumes.  

Update from the future: He actually reached out late Friday via LinkedIn Messaging:

apologies for the delay in feedback. They are going to pass for now, but will circle back around for more functional roles open up! I will send you out to all our other Account Managers for openings!

Nightingale insists it's okay that I don't have a job and focus on being the primary child care person.  But I sense judgment from the family and a loss of power from not bringing in a paycheck.  While my kids refer to school as prison, I refer to Living in Mississippi as being in purgatory.  

Grill Deep Cleaning Time

 Last week, I finally got around to doing a really good deep cleaning of the grill my FIL gave us four years ago when we moved down here.

The reason is one part laziness and two parts, not doing it during the window when it’s not too hot and not too cold down here.  To be fair, I'm certain FIL never deep-cleaned it either. 

There was a lot of dirty, caked-up grease, charred food bits, ashes, and carbon.  

I watched a few YouTube videos on the best way to do this, and while most of them are fairly the same, there are some nuanced differences between content creators.

Some say it's okay to use an Easy Off-like product; others are purists and say to avoid chemicals.

I will note for next time that it is better to take the grill apart and work from the inside out instead of outside in, like in the videos.

Also, you are never going to get your grill to look like it did before you used it the first time, or even how it did the first month.  you have to decide how much effort you want to put into it and I decided six hours of scrubbing, scraping and brushing was sufficient to get me through another season.  I also opted to replace the rusted heat shields (or falvorizors as some call them).  

I will make an effort to deep clean more than once every four years, though.  Ideally, twice a year but since we don't really do as much grilling as we did back in Chicago, once a year might be enough.   

2025 Bears Predication Update: Second Quarter Results

The NFL season is about halfway over, and the Chicago Bears are a surprising 5-3, which is what I predicted them to be at this point of the season.  I'm 6 and 2 in my predictions.  The Bears could conceivably be 7-1 were it not for the meltdown in the season opener and the anemic offense against Baltimore.  They could also be a lot worse because three of those wins could have easily gone the other way.  Woulda, coulda, shoulda.

What's important is that after a 0-2 start, the Bears won four in a row, before choking against the Ravens.  Yesterday, they made it up with a nailbiter against the Bengals that should not have been that close.  

If the Bears can go .500 the rest of the season that would be 9-8 or even 10-7 which I think could earn them a Wild Card.  The division isn't off the table yet, but they probably need to win at least three of the four remaining division games and get a little help.  

For their next four games, I predicted the following:

Team        Record    Streak    Prediction

Giants              2-7        L-3            W

at Vikings        4-4        W-1            L

Pittsburgh        5-3        W-1            L

at Eagles          6-2        W-2             L

 

As always, I'm sticking with my predictions, but I'll be very happy to be wrong on two of these. These are not weak teams.  And the Giants won't want to lose a fourth game if they can help it.  The Bears' secondary has to get healthy fast.

It will depend on which Vikings team shows up in two weeks.  Hopefully it's the bad one.  

The Philadelphia teams are the strongest, but even they are showing some cracks in their armor. 

The Bears have played eight games, and I was able to watch 4 of them.  Three of the next four are Sunday nooners, with the Eagles game being on the Friday after Thanksgiving.  I should be in Illinois, headed toward Chicago, and be able to catch some of the game against the Steelers.  As for the Friday game, it's at 2 pm, which is prime in the middle of our last full day in town.  

Happy Halloween and October round out

A few things happened this month that I should have written about in real time but was busy with the things.  Or being lazy.  

Firstly, the weather finally became more bearable. In fact, early last week, I was able to turn off the AC.  Now it's cold in the mornings and warm in the afternoons and early evenings and chilly overnight.  I did put the heat on low a couple days ago but was able to turn it off again as it is oscillating back to warmer temperatures.

Secondly, a few Mondays back, I alluded to "some other news to share this week."  I am was employed again!  Alas, it didn't last and while I wrote up a draft about the adventure before my contract ended, I'm gonna whittle it done to the essentials.

And lastly, a couple of weeks ago we were in St Louis for Fall Break.  Fall Break down here occurs the week before Columbus/Indigenous Persons Day.  We left on Wednesday around 1 pm and got to the hotel just around 5:30 pm with one bathroom break.  We brought along our pseudo-3rd child, and the kids rotated sleeping on an air mattress.  Actually, Natasha found that it was so comfortable that she ended up sleeping on it most of the trip.

We visited the City Museum on Thursday and spent most of the day there.  City Museum is a great place to burn kids energy but you have to have a system because you will get separated from them.  Oh and the food is high-priced and terrible.  Best to pack a cooler and tailgate in the parking lot.

On Friday we did apple picking along with seeing the Arch, which was closed because of the government shutdown.  On Saturday we did Grant's Farm.  Every night was spent back at the hotel for pool time.  I was also able to met with Jewel on Saturday for dinner.  

Stray observations.  I'm glad I didn't cancel my participation in this trip for what turned out to be 8 days of employment with nothing to do (story to come later).  If I could do this over, I would have met Jewel for dinner earlier in the trip.  We had good food at the restaurant she found and the leftovers would have made good lunches.  Instead, we ended up dumping them because we were leaving and didn't have good options to keep them cold.

I think we did a lot and had fun but we overloaded the kids' batteries.  While kids are resilient, they didn't have enough time to recover from Day One to fully enjoy Day Two and then Day Three.

Grants Farm is a fine place to visit, especially in October when it is decorated for Halloween.  But be warned:  While admission is free, everything there is to do comes at a cost, some outrageously high.  I will say the food at the Bauernhof Courtyard is decent proportions at reasonable post-pandemic prices.  

3rd Child was also starting to get on my nerves.  She is better behaved than my douche nuggets, but her "grandparents" spoil her, and it was bleeding over into our trip.  Case in point, we ordered lunch, which came with a side.  She said she didn't want a side, so I said "Since it comes with one, order something and someone else can eat it".  She was about to order a side no one wanted, but I put an end to that.

All in all, it was a lovely trip but if we do it again we have to do things in a different order and allow more recovery time.  

Chicago Baseball in October: Over and Done

After losing two games against the Brewers, the Chicago Cubs did a rare thing since the playoff format changed some time ago: they forced a Game 5.  I did not expect that to happen and actually had a reasonable belief they might be able to pull it off.

Alas, they did not.  Milwaukee won and moved on.  But I'm grateful that the Cubs gave us fans 8 more games beyond the regular season.   Next Year.

Meanwhile, I was able to watch the Bears on MNF and they similarly beat the Commanders to how the Commanders beat them last year.

I'm beyond annoyed that I cannot watch this week's game against the New Orleans Saints.  New Orleans is closer to Olive Branch/Memphis than either Philadelphia or Minneapolis.  But the networks are forcing us to watch that game.

Bathroom Renovation Project Finished

The long renovation project is completed.  Demolition began on July 28th, and the final touches were completed on September 17th.  There was some idle time in between because it took longer than anticipated to receive the tile, the vanity, the shower door, and other items.  Some of that was supple chain issues.  Some of it was our own, sitting on our butt instead of making a decision.

Nightingale basically let me manage this project though I did consult her for most of the aesthetics.  I wanted a kick ass shower with a pleasing bathroom attached to it and I believe we achieved that.  We scoped two extra items:  first, we moved the toilet to where the old shower was and made it a de facto water closet (no door, but still).  And I had them install some updated lighting in the living room.  All in this project came to about $25K.

The hardest part of this, besides the money, was the decision-making.  Moving the shower to the old tub and the toilet to the old shower was easy.  But where do you want towel racks?  Where do you want new outlets?  Where do you want shower heads?  It can be nerve-racking because some of these decisions are irreversible.  

As far as contractors go, the crew at All Around Renovation were great.  They cleaned up every day (as best one can during demo and construction) and they did their best to keep me apprised of things like when they were turning off the water.  The fact that my frady cat Elsa didn't shy away from them tells you that they are good people.  

That's not to say things were flawless.  my contractor was rather annoyed that we didn't have our tile and everything else picked out when the project began.  Not the worst scenario by far.  You can see the before pictures here.

Chicago Baseball in October: Wild Card Done and Won

The Cubs managed to win the series 2-1.  The latest MLB playoff format had every wild card game occur at the ballpark of the team with the best record.  This meant all 3 games were at Wrigley Field.  And I got to watch all three of them.  

Now they move on to the Divisional Round against the Brewers.  This is a best of five format, with the first two games at Brewers, then the next two at Cubs, and the last, if needed, is back at American Family Field.  

Since the Cubs seem to be doing a good game, bad game pattern, they need to win this first one.

The Aftermath of Still You Gotta Try

I wrote about three opportunities that arrived in my LinkedIn message box in early August.  

It should come as no surprise that none of them panned out.  I cannot say what legitimate shot I had at any of these but for a hot minute, it looked like either Big Bank or Consulting Gig would have hired me.  I was feeling a little randy so I emailed the guy who went on vacation 2 hours after contacting me and he said the position was still open.  We spoke and I sent him my resume but no news.  Not unexpectedly, he is not a follow-through guy, and for recruiters these days, right or wrong (it's definitely wrong), they cannot expend any more time on a candidate the client isn't interested in.

Jeepers Creepers

The recruiter for the consulting job did follow through and it feels like he was more upset than I was about not getting the job.  The reason, I suspect, is that it is hard to fill some roles and when you have a candidate that is good on paper, what is the reason for not going with them if they do okay on the interview?  The reality is this was a case of the recruiter didn't understand the assignment.  They were looking for someone with a skillset that included a range of software tools that the last place I worked produced.  But I only had skills in one of them.  

This happened years before whe No-Name Software Company was acquired by a bigger company.  I'd get calls from recruiters saying I'm perfect for a role but if they had just spent 5 seconds reading my profile, they would see it was for the other side of the business.  Think Samsung TVs vs Samsung Washing Machines.

I have absolutely no way of knowing but I suspect the position at Big Bank went to a candidate who lived in one of the preferred cities.  

2025 Bears Predication Update: First Quarter Results

The NFL season is already 1/4 over, and the Chicago Bears are 2-2.  I had them at 3-1, and they would have been had they not melted down in the 4th quarter of the first game against the Vikings.  And they almost lost Sunday against the lowly Raiders.  

Instead, the Bears win on a blocked field goal and they are 2-2 going into the Bye Week.  I suspect the early Bye week is due to the Chicago Marathon -- the NFL ensures that home games are not scheduled during that event.

It's interesting to note that the NFC North "could" have had all teams at 2-2 this weekend.  The Vikings barely lost.  The Bears bearly won.  The Packers ended in a tie with Dallas.  Only the Lions played lights-out football. On the other hand, I have a 3-1 record in my predictions.

The good news is the Bears are still very alive in any playoff hunt.  The bad news is they have already lost to two division rivals and they have a history of losing tie-breaker scenarios.  

For their next four games, I predicted the following:

I stick to my predictions but note that the Commanders are maybe having a sophomore hangover in their overachieving starting QB.  The Ravens on the other hand seem to be losing games they should be winning.  That Bengals game is looking like it will be a Trap Game.  This time of year, good teams and coaches make adjustments so we will see.  The Bears may be 2-2 in these next four games, but just not in the way I've predicted. 

That would make them 4-4 with 9 games to go.  Down that stretch, I think they need to go 5-4 to make the playoffs as a wild card.  

As a side note, I've only been able to watch the first game because it was MNF and the 3rd game because it was a late afternoon against Dallas who is still considered America's Team by the Old Farts that run broadcast TV.

I should be able to watch the MNF against the Washington Commanders and I might be able to watch the following week against the Saints because New Orleans is in Louisiana, and that's the South.  I could be wrong about both of these things.  Most of their remaining games are Sunday Noon games which generally don't get shown here.  They do have a Friday game after Thanksgiving so I should get to see that one at least.  

stay tuned

Chicago Baseball in October

I never intended for this to be a Sports Blog but lately I haven't had much else to write about.  I do have to post an update to the bathroom remodel (it's finally completed and looks great). and I might have some other news to share this week.

I generally don't pay attention to baseball until at least after the All-Star Break and usually not until August.  I don't remember when I discovered Cubs Magic Number but I have been following it closer since moving down here.  In 2023 the Cubs outperformed so well in May and June that the owners couldn't justify cleaning house.  They faded in August.

So the Cubs fired the manager who made that happen and hired Craig Counsell, the coach of the Milwaukee Brewers.  The next year, they faded a little bit later in the season.  This year, they were better out of the gate.

After sweeping the Pirates, the Cubs got swept by the Reds, who squeaked into the playoffs, edging out the Mets, whom I would have preferred.  The Cubs have won 92 out of 162 games this year and swept the Cardinals (serves them right for intentionally walking Busch instead of letting him try to hit for the cycle). 

But here's the thing:  once the playoffs start, everything resets.  That's what the insufferable Baseball Purists hate about the changes to the baseball playoff format.  Over a 162 game season, teams have winning and losing streaks.  A team like the Reds, who are barely over .500, might just catch a team that had over 90 wins in a slump during the playoffs.

My hope is that the Cubs beat the Padres this week and move on to the next round.  I don't expect them to do much beyond that, but there is always hope.

It's gonna happen

 As of Wednesday evening, after sweeping the Pirates, the Cubs secured a playoff spot for the first time since 2020.  

When it was 4 games to go, it really felt like it would drag out. Then it was 2 games, and that felt doable.  It took them winning each game on their own because the other teams are giving up, but that actually makes it sweeter.

Now the challenge is to get the Top Wild Card Seed.

The top Wild Card seed doesn't just get home field advantage in the Wild Card Series, they get to host all of the games in that round. The top two division winners get byes in the Wild Card round.

The Cubs hold a five game lead over San Diego for the top Wild Card seed and sit six games behind Milwaukee in the Central.

The Top NL Wild Card Seed CMN drops with any Cubs wins or Padres losses.

In a way, the Cubs were in the playoffs all along.  First to get a WC berth.  Now to get the top seed.  My prediction is they will make it to the division round.  Beyond that is hopeful but not completely impossible.  I do doubt they will go much farther than that.

With not much else going on in my life, besides recruiters dangling carrots only to pull them away, I have to admit this has given me something to look forward to.  I usually don't pay much attention toe the Cubs until August, but this year the Magic Number was dropping at a steady pace.  It almost mirrored the 2016 pace.  The people over at CMN are fun to chat with, and they are very helpful in filling me in when I cannot watch a game because it isn't on free TV.

I also predict the World Series will be between Philadelphia and Toronto, with Canada winning because we deserve that schadenfreude right about now.

McDonald's hates it when you do this

In an effort that can only be described as the laziest kid in the classroom attempting to show effort, McDonald's has come up with some(what) cheaper meal deals.

As I want and need to lower my cholesterol, I wanted an Egg McMuffin.  However, it costs $2 more than the Sausage McMuffin with Egg.  The Sausage McMuffin w/out egg costs $4.99.  So to be clear: with everything, it costs $5.  Without the Egg, you save a penny, but get only the Egg McMuffin and you have to pay $2 more!

I was hungry and about to cave when an idea hit me.  I ordered the SME but then customized it to hold the sausage.  Customizing sandwiches is meant to get you to order extras so the sandwich costs more but I gamed the system.  I wondered if the workers would give me a SME and remove the meat but no they did the obviously smart thing and just gave me an Egg McMuffin.  

Apologies to those who will suffer when McD Corporate finds out what I did and writes code to prevent it in the future.  And by the way, an Egg McMuffin without the sausage tastes like ass.  

Easy Come, Easy Go

Today was the last visit for the Research Study at the Eye Clinic.  It went quickly enough and was fun.  I've built up a rapport with the Researcher, who replaced the first Researcher a few sessions into this study. The first Researcher was very clinical.  The second one was more [word that means human].

When I started the study, I knew it would be for a year, but I didn't realize how long that truly was.  Every night for 462 days I had to put drops in my eyes.  It helped that I could set an Alexa reminder but it was still annoying to have to keep a log on a sheet of paper with small fields to enter information.

my blood pressure is doing better too

Also, when I started the study, I decided to use the $1550 for something either fun or to help pay existing expenses.  However, in November, our refrigerator and dishwasher went kaput, so the money was allocated to paying off the Home Depot bill that was on an 18-month interest-free charge.

That's how my luck work.  If I happen to come into some money, something happens that spends that money faster than I can enjoy it.  If I won a scratch-off lottery ticket for $1000, I'd come home and find out we need a $990 repair to our furnace.  So it goes.  

Anyway, they had my $1550 check waiting for me.  I thought it would be sent in the mail and I didn't realize I'd be paying taxes on it, but what can you do?  I have already scheduled the payment to pay off the charge card and since we have paid the balance down a bit since November (while modestly adding to it each month for those dam water cooler jugs) we actually have about $350 left.

We can splurge and get a couple of Five Guys cheeseburgers!

Something to look forward towards

It looks like the Chicago Cubs will at least make the playoffs as a Wild Card.  With 13 games left, they only have to win 4 more to make it in.  

Thus, I will pause my Chicagoan skepticism and think positively for this one.  They can clinch as early as Tuesday night.  They play the Pirates, who are already eliminated, and while they would love to be the spoilers, the Cubs have to win the series if not sweep.

Next, the Cubs play the Reds in Cincinnati this weekend.  They are 2.5 games back so they are still in it.  They will be fighting to win that four-game series.  

St Louis is hanging around because the Mets had a long losing streak, but the Cardinals failed to gain any ground during that time as well.  They lost a heartbreaker to the Brewers in extra innings that would have helped them and perhaps the Cubs.

The Cubs last two series are at home against the Mets and the Cardinals, respectively.  As of now both of those teams have something to play for.

Meanwhile, Milwaukee is already in the playoffs but can clinch the division by Friday.  They are on a bit of a decline down the stretch but there isn't enough stretch for the Cubs to take the Division away from them.  Other than the Padres, they aren't playing anyone really good but they also play the Reds and the Cardinals who might be still be in the hunt. 

I hope they can go deep in the playoffs and even get to the NLCS.  Given how they have been playing in August and September, I'm not confident they can go further than that but there is always hope.  

At the moment, I certainly cannot say the same for the Chicago Bears!

Overbooking my Thursday

 One of my superpowers is scheduling different things on the same day, which often leads to conflict.  I made an appointment to get a liver ultrasound today, not remembering that it was also the day our cleaning lady comes.  She doesn't have a set time, but it is usually the 9 am hour, often the last half of it.  

Fortunately, this is a small town and it doesn't take long to get across it.  Mrs E also came relatively early so I was able to give her some instructions that I needed to relay; otherwise, I would have left the garage door open and gone to my appointment early.  I also called them and they said i had a 15-minute grace period so no need to reschedule.  As it was, I got there at 9:35, no thanks to some black sedan that wouldn't make a left when the light turned green.  when it failed to move the second green light, I went around it.

next week I have my last eye clinical trial appointment.  It is on the day that our shower door is supposed to arrive.  The door was supposed to be here on Tuesday but they called and said it was delayed.  

Win some, lose some:  I paid my lawn guy an extra $150 to remove the weeds from the front of the house.  it might have been too much, but neither Nightingale or I were gonna do it.  I was so proud.  But after picking up the kids, I discovered that the stand-up freezer had been opened a crack all night.  For some reason, my kids (probably Boris) just cannot remember to close the doors correctly.  I'm not sure what we will do about all the food.  

This isn't the first time either.  Last week, they left the garage fridge wide open, and now NG won't let us use the 70 eggs for anything besides scrambled or hard-boiled.

Something to look forward to

 Eight days ago, I posted the Cubs' record.  Since then, they have only won 3 more games, lost a few heartbreakers and had a day off.  As it stands today, their Magic Number for the Division is 24, which they won't get because Milwaukee has a 6.5 game lead, and their MN is 11.

Happier Times

For the Wild Card the Magic Number is 10 and they have a 6 game lead for the top WC spot.  I believe there are 17 games left so if they go .500 and the Giants lose a couple, they are in.  The Cubs don't play a good team until they face the Giants in the last week of regular season.  They finish up against the Cardinals, who could make a run for the last playoff spot but doesn't seem likely.  They did take 2 of 3 from the Giants which helped the Cubs.

Meanwhile, the Bears managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.  I don't know what is worse: seeing them get spanked from the start or them playing good football for 75-85% of the game just to lose in the 4th quarter.  We even had a pick six!

I will say this. The Bears looked better than last year even with all of Caleb Williams' missed throws.  I think they will get better.  Playoff Better?  Not sure.  Winning record?  perhaps.  I'm still glad that I opted not to buy any streaming service to watch the games.

This crate literally arrived via a slow boat from China

This crate looks like one of those crates you see in old Mummy movies, filled with Egyptian artifacts.  This one contains our new bathroom vanity.  I ordered it on July 28, 2025, and it took until Sept 2nd to arrive.  

Better not be any mummies in here

We ordered it through Amazon, but it was via a 3rd party vendor.  On August 25th, I got the following message from the seller via the Amazon portal:

"Dear customer, your goods have arrived in the western port of the United States, is arranging for the driver delivery, the driver will complete the distribution will communicate with you by phone time to sign for, please pay attention to answer the call, thank you!"

So it took a month to get here from China and then another week to get to my house.  It was delivered in a semi-truck, which creates its own issues.

The road that runs parallel to my subdivision prohibits trucks.  I'm not sure about the one on the other side but the truck driver who called me probably didn't want to chance it.  he called the local police and got permission to ignore the sign.

This is a case of the Spirit of the Law overriding the Letter of the Law.  You don't want trucks driving on certain roads because of long term damage.  But you need to be able to transport things to homes without having to offload to a smaller vehicle.

Technically, the delivery guy was supposed to leave it at the curb but he was nice enough to bring it up the hill (with my help) to our detached garage.  My contractor and his crew got to work on it the next day and it mostly went off without a hitch.  There are some issues and we are working on them.

Begin Rant: so while in hindsight I know there were things we could have done better and faster and maybe even cheaper, I refuse to let this damage my already life-long beaten confidence.  The learning curve is high and I did not get a lot of help from my contractor.  For something like this you need input from a designer and the only contractor to offer that was the guy who quoted twice what our contractor quoted.  I'm not saying Obi-wan wasn't helpful, he's been terrific, but I feel like he could have helped us more with the tile selection.

End Rant.

An Unhealthy Relationship with Chicago Sports

In past years, when I lived in Chicago, September signaled a key sportsball time.  Both baseball teams were still playing ball (occasionally still in it for a playoff spot) and Bears football was just starting, so they also were still in it, at least until October.  I recall once watching the Cubs game on one screen and the Bears game on another at the Cubby Bear while having brunch with a few friends -- Cubs were on the road that weekend.

This year the Cubs look like they will finally make the postseason, albeit as a wild card.  They had a division lead up to the All-Star break but had a weak August, while Milwaukee had two great win streaks in a row.  With 24 games left and the Cubs are looking like they are righting the ship.  In the previous two years, they came close but faded in August and by late September were eliminated.  That could still happen but I like the odds.

Watching games down here is challenging.  The Cubs put the majority of their games on the Maquis Network so you have to pay to watch, even if you live in Chicago.  I think there are some other streaming services that carry some of those games but the point is, there are less and less Over The Air games carried on my local network (streamed through Fubo).  

I often "watch" the game online at either Yahoo Sports or MLB.com.  These virtual games combined with chatting with the people over at Cubs Magic Number get me through the games I cannot watch.  It's kinda like the olds days at the No-Name Software Company where I would read the live blog of a game at the long defunct ChicagoSports and make a few comments while waiting for customers to get back on the phone after a long hold.  

Meanwhile, this region of the States doesn't usually carry Bears games so I usually get to watch a third of the season.  We are not gonna pay for the YouTube TV package this year because it is ridiculously expensive, not sure how the Bears will do and since too many games are Sunday at noon, it cuts the day in half when I need to be more productive.

The thing about Chicago Sports teams and their playoff potential.  It takes an entire season to get there and that means time is moving on.  There are more days behind me than ahead and investing in a whole season of games just to see them tank is frustrating.  Let me clarify that last sentence.  Of course I'm gonna watch the games regardless.  But I only have so many years left to see another Bears Super Bowl or Cubs World Series.  

2025 Bears Playoff Prediction: Who the hell knows

I'm not sure I have it in me to do another one of these.  Every year before the season begins, the Bears look good on paper.  But then the season begins and they find ways to snatch defeat from the Jaws of Victory.  For the last few years, most of the disappointment was because of organizational incompetence.  Mostly.  

Looking at their schedule and based on how the teams they play did last year, I'm saying they will go 9 and 8, though I secretly think it might be more like 7 and 10.  The two uncertainties for me is the game against Dallas and Green Bay at home.  SBNation analytics says they win 8.6 games and our picks match except they think the Bears will also beat the 49ers and the Steelers, but lose to the Bengals.  

That can be 8 or 9 games...or 7

A lot of winning in the NFL depends on when you play a team as much as how you play them. Catch a team before they find their identity and it looks like an easy win. Catch them during a winning streak and they blow you out. Or if they haven't won in 5 or more games, you are the trap game.

The Cowboys usually start off good but then get shaky as the playoffs draw near.  The 49ers are usually the opposite.  The Bears have a tendency to meet a struggling team after they have worked through their struggles.

Anyway here is my 2025 prediction.  I'm not planning on buying the expensive YouTube TV package this year.  I cannot justify the expense.  

Winning the Division:

As always, the Chicago Bears have two ways to make the playoffs: Win the Division or via the WildCard.  Given how well the other teams played last year, the odds are not in their favor to win the division against the Lions or Packers. The Vikings are a question mark because they have a rookie QB but they seem to have built a team that doesn't require an elite QB so they can plug almost anyone in and win. 

WildCard:

To earn a Wildcard seed, the Bears need to be in a position to win any tie-breakers.  I have been a fan long enough to see them miss the playoffs with a winning record because of losing tie-breakers.  And the NFC North is good enough that if all four teams have winning records, the Bears would likely be watching the playoffs at home.  

Note from The Past:  writing this in July, scheduling for Sept 1.  If anything significant changes between now and then, I reserve the right to edit.

They keep stringing me along

 Yesterday at 4:49 pm  Call-Center Recruiter reached out to me to tell me that Big Bank client wanted to do a 2nd interview.  He said I was shortlisted.  But when I pressed him, he said the other two candidates were also shortlisted.  

The available spots were today at 10:30 am or Thursday.  I didn't want to drag this out.  I also have a crew here working on the bathroom, and an HVAC guy coming to look at my AC, which is not behaving correctly.  Because that's how my life works.

As far as interviews go, this one went well.  We figured out the solution to the technical issues (log in as a guest).  That doesn't mean i have the job.  The primary person who was supposed to be on the call didn't make it.  And the techy who interviewed me had better things to do and was quite happy when half our time was over.  He did say I did well, and I think he was being genuine.

But here's the thing.  the job spec is for a hybrid with 3 days in a Big Bank Office.  If any of the other candidates live in a city where just one member of the existing team lives, that is an advantage because in in-person meetings.  

And I just checked.  Memphis has Big Bank locations, but I'm not sure they have offices for back office staff.  That could be a problem...for a fucking job that does not require being on site for any good reason!

kids extracurricular activities

 With the exception of Tuesdays and Fridays, our schedule is busy with kids' extracurricular activities.  They are both in martial arts twice a week but in different classes.  Natasha also has soccer practice twice a week: Mondays at 7:30 and Thursdays at 5:30 pm.

Can we just talk about how Fucking Insane that is?  One is too early the other is too late.  We have more flexibility with the Martial Arts, but Boris wanted to switch to Jiu-Jitsu instead of Tae Kwon Do (to be fair, he wanted that from the beginning, but we pushed him to do TKD with his sister so it would be easier...on us).  Unfortunately, Ju-Jitsu is only offered Mon and Wed at 7 pm.

The good news is he has found his people in that class.  There are at least two other kids who are just like him.

Natasha wanted one free day a week so we let her drop the second class.  She opts to go on Wednesdays at 5:30 pm when her cousin is there, along with Confederate Jethro.  We have great conversations.

The hardest night is Thursday because I have to have Natasha ready for her 530 practice by the time Nightingale comes home so she can put Natasha's hair in a French braid.  

And this is just practice...next month, the games begin.  

Last Week of August

On the way to school Friday, I turned on the radio and there was an advertisement for the K-Pop Demon Hunter Sing-along movie.  Natasha zeroed in on it and said we should go on Sunday because she had soccer team pictures Saturday afternoon (more on that later).

and I made shrimp scampi

I looked it up when we got home, and indeed it was for Saturday and Sunday only at participating Malco Theaters.  Since it's a cost item, I reached out to upper management (aka Nightingale) and we decided we would do it.  We also invited SIL and her crotch goblins to join us, but she was sick, perhaps with COVID.  

We offered to take the crotch goblins along without her, which she reluctantly agreed to.  She was hesitant because of costs, not trust.  Everything is so expensive now, and she, like everyone, including us, is stretched to the max.  That's what happens when you vote for a lying, petulant, insecure, thrice married, serial wife-cheating, porn star-banging, blue collar-worker-stiffing con artist.

With the soccer pictures being at 1:30, it meant we had to pick a later showing to be sure we could get changed and make it there in time. In the past, soccer pictures consumed at least an hour of your time, not counting the less than 10-minute drive to the field.  This time, however, was different.  We got there at 1:25 and, after filling out the required form, were in line immediately.  The total time investment was 30 minutes!

Something was different this time, and I think it was that they staggered the photo times between teams more widely, so that you weren't waiting for one team to finish before you got to take your photo.  Or maybe the later start time was when most of the other teams were already done.  Either way, yay! 

This coming weekend is Labor Day, and NG has invited the family over for a cookout.  Nothing is set in stone or finalized because we would need to check the weather.  The issue is that our kids like playing with their cousins.  But Confederate Jethro cannot go 5 minutes without saying something that would get you called into HR.

Going through the motions

 Follow-up to my job hunting post.  Have not heard from or reached out to law firm recruiter.  He obviously found some other candidates and/or read the fine print and realized I'd need to live in a particular city for that role.

The consulting recruiter asked me to suggest some times for an interview this week, and I gave him a half dozen, in order or preference.  He, or the person he forwarded them to, didn't "notice" my mention of Central Time Zone.  This is a common occurrence among lazy, incompetent people.  The recruiter also sent both versions of my resume that he requested rather than pick one.  Again, lazy.

I decided to just have the interview an hour earlier and get it out of the way.  It actually was one of the better interviews I've had but that is mostly because the majority of interviews suck.  

Since I had this interview and NG managed to get me a long overdue doctor's appointment, I proactively reached out to the Call-Center Recruiters to tell them that my Wednesday was no longer an option.  They called and what an amazing coincidence: the client reached out to them at the exact moment I sent that email.

They begged me to have a call with them on the same day.  So for those keeping score at home, two interviews with 2 hours between (thanks to time zone screw ups) followed by a doctor appointment.

I did it but regret it because the call didn't happen because the  Bank people had a Production Outage they had to deal with.  There were also technical issues because they were using WebEx and they have it so locked down, I could join the call but no audio.  

WebEx!   What, Skype wasn't available?  it's like using AOL chat instead of Slack. We rescheduled the interview for the next day and it went somewhat okay.  Still had technical issues so we just did a phone in.  They asked a question I couldn't answer and couldn't bullshit.  Call-Center Recruiter told me afterwards they had interviewed two other people so unless they fucked up more, I'm not getting this role.

Finally, Mid-August is bad for interviews because people are squeezing in last of summer vacations and Labor Day is fast approaching.  No one wants to work this time of year.  And interview fatigue is a thing.  If they talked to two other people before getting to me, they are exhausted of asking the same questions.  Throw in the technical issues so they didn't get a chance to introduce themselves and the overall dysfunction they have emanated and I think I will have to just settle for working overnights at the Home Depot.