Flossing and Crosswords

Some acute readers have noticed a general inability for me to follow through with certain things. It is true. I have gusto and drive in the beginning, only to have it falter in the later stages. Now, this doesn't extend to life's big events. I finished university, got a post-graduate degree and I hold down a job. It is the small stuff.

Flossing and crossword puzzles. This morning, I was flossing in the bathroom right before stepping into the shower and I had done everything upstairs and most of the downstair of my mouth, but I just couldn't be bothered to get at those pesky molars. Now, I managed to do the molars in every other part of my mouth, but those lower right hand molars just said "Not worth the effort."

Why? Why couldn't I just have done that simple little act? It could have been done and dusted in under 20 seconds, but I just couldn't get my act together. I disposed of the floss, got in the shower, and went to work.

I do the same thing with crossword puzzles, although I don't feel quite as bad. In the grand scheme of things, not taking the time to fill in "9 - Light the passions once more" or "7 - Tendency to flirt etc" isn't going to affect me in any great way, like making my teeth fall out of my gums, but it is indicative of me not being able to finish small, menial inconsequential tasks. Normally, that wouldn't bother anyone, but I revel in the inconsequential. The inconsequential aspects of life are the ones that are the best to poke fun at.

Coke vs Soda, the pants gnome, home field advantage and the semi-colon. I hope you see a pattern here.

But, if I can't perform the inconsequential, can I really be in a place to question the inconsequential?

Home field advantage -- meaningless stat?

I have noticed a fairly odd trend in the standings this year. American league teams enjoy a fairly substantial home field advantage (HFA) while National league teams do not.

In the NL, the teams with the greatest bias towards playing at home are Colorado (+9 games), Milwaukee (+8), and Pittsburgh (+8). The mean bias for the NL +3.125 and the median is +3.5

In the AL, the teams with a bias +10 or above are Cleveland (+10), Oakland (+11), New York (+11), Toronto (+11), Seattle (+13), Chicago (+13), Texas (+14), and Boston (+15). Over half the teams in the AL have a home field advantage of +10 or greater. The mean bias is +7.8 in the AL and the median is +10.

I wonder why? I'd put some thoughts, but I must get back to work.

A bittersweet love returns

Last night, as I was killing time around Holborn and the LSE library, I rekindled an old flame. The affair had everything: sunny days in the park, drunken encounters late at night, slipping out for a little something-something. But, I had ended the relationship. It wasn't good for my well being and it was quite necessary to move on. The break up was hard. My body yearned for another meeting, for something that would make me feel full on the inside. But I was strong.

Last night, I gave in. I stopped by one of our hangouts, and everything was as it had been. And it was good! So very, very good. I took everything I wanted and enjoyed it all. But as soon as I was finished, I was overcome by a wave of guilt. How could I have been so weak? How could I have given in to temptation so easily? But, what I did can not be reversed, and it can not be washed off in the shower.

After a year apart, I visited a McDonalds. To have the salty, oily flavour of the fries on my tongue, and salty, oily flavour of the chicken McNuggets was pure heaven, and to wash it down with a Coke was the perfect ending.

But, McDonalds, on the whole, is bad for you. Salt, oil, fat, sugar. Not good, not one bit.

McDonalds is a lusty wench, but lusty wenches have a way of biting you on the ass.