Win Ugly - Barley's

I woke a couple times during the wee hours of the morning with a slight headache, and a number of times I considered getting out of bed and taking some Advil but never did. I got up for good around 830am, which is pretty darn late for me, but didn't have a headache. Felt pretty good, in fact.

It was sunny and cool. I stepped out on the deck for a minute or so before prepping a pot of coffee. As far as I knew, neither one of us had anything planned, or anywhere we needed to be. Felt great! While coffee brewed, I checked on that work issue I was involved with end of the day Friday. Mindy came partially down the stairs asking if I would bring her coffee in a little bit. Yes dear! I got busy with work over the next 15 minutes. And then about 20 minutes later Mindy came down to get her own coffee. I apologized and shared that I was still taking care of a work related matter.

I'm guessing it was near 930am when we headed out on the deck. It was still a little cool but the sunshine warmed things up considerably. At some point Mindy asked if I could look at the grill, sharing that the two far left burners weren't working properly. I took a look right then. I could see right away what the trouble was. The burners were broken - gaping hole in them. Not only that, but the heat (flavor shields) were almost completely corroded, too. The grill is only 4 years old, and in service for just 3.5 years. One would think a good gas grill should last longer. I commented that it was pricier than our kitchen stove which is still in fine shape after almost 20 years of service.

I walked around the backyard with the pug, eventually heading back inside where we hung out lazily drinking coffee, puttering around the kitchen until almost 1030am. Mindy headed up for a shower about the time I readied and dressed for a relatively later run. She also decided to make a trip into school to get caught up on some planning, I guess. Earlier she had talked about doing that on Sunday.

Mindy was just finishing getting ready when I returned from my run. I was glad that she was still there. I wanted to apply some super glue to a couple of the ski stickers that are peeling off the Thule. I took care of that as soon as I was back at the house. Seemed to work well, but only time will tell for sure. Mindy left for school sometime close to noon.

After Mindy pulled away, I pulled the Accord along the curb so I could easily edge and blow, finally putting the finishing touches on the lawn chores I started on Friday at lunch. Once the lawn was addressed, I trimmed the ivy back away from the burning bushes and foundation on the east side of the house. It's a task that needs to be done at least twice each growing season and always right before winter or else risk having the shrubs ringed by rodents. I've learned the hard way.

The Buckeye game didn't kick off until 330pm. Still with plenty of time, I manually trimmed back the honeysuckle that grows along the pond. Again, it's a chore that if done about three times each growing season it isn't such a big undertaking. It must've been about 2pm when I headed in for a shower. I'm guessing that I spent about 2.5 hours working in the yard. That was plenty.

After a shower I made myself a snack then got nappy passively watching other college football games on ahead of the Buckeyes. Mindy texted that she was still at school around 245pm. Leading up the kick-off and then even into the first half, I spent a little time in the basement looking at the obstacles I'll need to overcome during the framing phase of the basement project. I'm disappointed with the lack of care M/I Homes took when they had the gas line feed ran in the basement. Same can be said for the way they plumbed the AC condenser until too. The gas pipe makes it almost impossible to frame in and drywall and still access the widow, while they plumbed the AC condenser by fastening the tubes to the bottom of the floor joist rather than running it between the joists.

Both basement windows have never been cleaned in the near 20 years I've lived here. I decided to take care of that Saturday. As you might expect, there was a lot of debris gathered around the windows too. I used the shop-vac to suck up all that, and then used warm soapy water to clean the removable windows before using Windex. That worked well.

By then the Buckeye game was underway. The Buckeyes took the opening drive and scored a touchdown. But Michigan State took the ensuing kickoff down the field and kicked a field goal on their very first possession. Just like that it was 7-3. The game was nip and tuck for the duration. For my money, we were using Braxton Miller on the read option entirely too much. It wasn't fooling anyone. Numerous times I suggested we run the ball up the middle with Carlos Hyde. I don't think the coach could hear me. The Buckeyes managed to stay in front until early in the 4th quarter in what was turning out to be the low scoring affair most pundits predicted it would be. Michigan State scored a touchdown and took their first lead of the game. Thankfully, though, it didn't last. The Buckeyes scored again with a quick strike TD pass and lead 17-13. Michigan Stated kicked a field goal making it 17-16 midway through the 4th quarter. The Buckeyes eventually ran out the clock for the slimmest of victories to remain undefeated.

As for Urban Meyer, not yet sure whether I care for his coaching style or not. I've seen a few things I like but also a handful of things I don't care for at all. He's the antithesis of Tressel.

Ben & Ryan texted that they were going to dinner at J. Alexanders. Invited us to come along .Mindy and I talked about going looking at new livingroom chairs while out after invitations for Bella's Skyzone birthday party. Around 6pm, well before the Buckeye game was over, Mindy decided to run up to Skyzone to get them herself and leaving me at home to finish watching the game.

Mindy wasn't gone that long. But the game was over by the time she was back. She offered that we should go out for dinner and suggested CBC. Going out for an hour or two sounded good, but my preference was Barley's. Mindy agreed with my reasoning. They didn't have any Bodhi at CBC. The evening was going fast. It was already after 730pm. Holy smoke! We left for Barley's near 745pm.

Not a huge crowd but still well attended. We took a couple open stools at the bar. I Sarah #2 was tending bar. I opted for a Centennial while Mindy went with a Russian Stout. Katy, who is a longtime Barley's employee, came in with her husband Rich and took the two stools next to Mindy and I. We chatted with the two of them for a while. About 3/4s into my Centennial we ordered food. Mindy ordered a pasta dish of some sort while I ordered 20 wings: 10 Gates of Hell and 10 K.C. I ordered a 2nd Centennial too.

Across the bar was another school teacher. This I learned from her rather loud conversation with the girl next to her. It wasn't long before she and Mindy struck up a lengthy conversation. I stopped drinking after two beers. I was already sleepy and it wasn't even 930pm. Mindy and I headed home before 10pm where I headed quickly for bed and tuned into the Wisconsin / Nebraska game. Wisconsin was ahead when I fell asleep. I'm guessing I was asleep well before 1030pm.