Monday, December 17, 2018

Ollie's Bargain Outlet, Cheddar Biscuits, Morningside Mustangs & Benedictine (Kansas) Ravens

The preceding week had some rather different moments for me. Monday wasn't too out of the ordinary; I ended up at a Target but nothing noteworthy happened. Tuesday was different; I went on a little bit of a roadtrip to an open air mall I hadn't been to before. That place was fine and I went in a few different stores. I had a frou-frou smoothie from some random place and it wasn't the cheapest thing I could have purchased at the mall but at least it tasted good. Dinner was at a Moe's; years ago I once saw fervent debate among some people (who are insignificant but that's another story) concerning quick-order American-Mexican places between Chipotle, Qdoba and Moe's. I have had Moe's twice in my life and sorry to say, I am not a fan of the chain and give me Chipotle or Qdoba instead. That said, I am glad I went there; on the way there I passed by an Ollie's Bargain Outlet. That is a southern chain I had actually never been in before, so I gave it a shot. A bunch of random items that are about to expire soon or is otherwise discounted is cool with me, so I should have gone to one much sooner. Random food & drink were purchased, including Halloween candy, as why the heck not?

Wednesday I did nothing and Thursday I was gonna go to a restaurant with someone but that someone was under the weather, so the trip to Red Lobster had to wait until a rainy Friday. Thus, Thursday's dinner was Wendy's, as I hadn't been there in awhile. The quality of the food I got there (or lack thereof) means that it'll be a long time before I get food from any Wendy's, even if it was that particular location only that prepared lousy food on this occasion as there had never been a problem before. Friday's Red Lobster meal was for sure better. Of course, the service could have been better and I'd have preferred it if the menu at the restaurant and the one on their website had been identical, but... at least the food itself was tasty. I had wood-grilled shrimp, french fries and a baked potato... and the restaurant's famous cheddar biscuits.

Saturday I did go on another journey. This time it was to the Daytona Beach area. For the past few years a lower division of college football (the NAIA, to be exact) has held their championship game in the city. I went to it back in 2015, where the Marian (Indiana) Knights defeated the Southern Oregon Raiders 31-14. As this is the last year the NAIA championship football game will be in Daytona Beach (starting new year it will be in Louisiana) I figured I should attend. This time it was the Morningside Mustangs of Iowa against the Benedictine Ravens of Kansas. I had no dog in this fight but I ended up sitting on the side of the stands that had the Benedictine fans, whom outnumbered the Morningside fans. I was amused that for a Catholic school, plenty of Ravens fans were quite obviously intoxicated... not just from the beer that was sold in the stadium but from what had to be many hours of tailgating beforehand. In addition, the security and cops seemingly did not care if booze was brought into the stadium as I saw hard liquor bottles out in the open! I did not partake in any of that as I had a long drive home and considering that part of the journey was in foggy weather...

As for the game itself, Morningside probably had the better team but late in the 4th it was tied at 28; a pretty exciting game it was. Unfortunately for the Ravens, they screwed up a punt pretty badly so that one mistake allowed for the Mustangs to easily score and that final score was Morningside 35, Benedictine 28... I did feel bad for the Ravens that this was how they lost. I was happy that I did not sit by any of the intoxicated people so I did not have to move elsewhere during the game, and even with the fog and the expected poor drivers on the way there and back, it was a nice day indeed. Sunday I did not go anywhere; I slept in and relaxed even though the Bears were playing against their hated rivals the Green Bay Packers. Chicago won the game and for the first time in years will be both going to the playoffs and are the division champions.

I actually won't be returning next Monday, and it's not because that day is Christmas Eve. Rather, that is because it is time for the now-customary trip around Christmas to see one of my sisters in Kansas. Henceforth, I will return on New Year's Eve and talk about two weeks worth of activities.

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