You Know What Summer Means?

It's almost football season. Yes, it is time to talk about football. Already. Pre-season starts in August, and that is only a couple of months away.

Why else is it time to start talking about football? Because today I secured a ticket to the Packers' season opener against the Bears. For face value. FACE VALUE. That's like $60. For Packers' tickets. Season openers. Against the Bears. Televised. Y'all, I am past the point of excited.

A friend and I had narrowed the choices down to three games: Bears, Vikings, or Lions. The Lions? I know we could beat them. The Bears? Oldest rivalry in the NFL. I have some respect for the Bears. It's the season opener. It fits better with my schedule. We're on the quarter system so classes don't start until the end of September. The Vikings? Those bastards are evil. And the whole Favre-playing-for-the-Vikings thing hasn't been settled. And if Favre does play for the Vikings (it would be stupid for all parties involved), I would love the chance to boos, hiss, and swear at him when he walks into Lambeau, but I don't think I could stomach it. Honestly. When I say I am a hardcore Packers fan, I mean it.

I bought my plane ticket and one leg will be first class. Thank you frequent flier miles. I had considered using the free ticket to go back down south to see some friends, but the Packers and Lambeau won out. The ticket isn't completely free, but with my frequent flier miles I could fly both ways coach or one way coach and one way first class for the same amount. I went with the second one.

So... this was a good way to end the week. I've had a shitty couple of weeks. The work situation hasn't improved a whole lot. The two people I spend most of my time with are both leaving this month for different jobs. One is heading down to New Orleans. She's a complete and total Yankee, so I have been giving her some advice and tips (you will never have to open another door again; central air will be your best friend; find a native Southerner to act as your trusted cultural interpreter; and so on and so forth). But I go from having a small support system to having zero support system. Why is this important? Because I work in the most dysfunctional place I have ever set foot in. I don't want to go into details so just trust me on this. With these two other people leaving, some have speculated that I would be next. I told one person if the market were better, I would probably be back on it.

But would I, really? I don't know. I've thought about it. I love this area, and I love living here. I am trying to think long term with the job and remind myself that organizations can change with the arrival of new people and the retirement of old people. And when that happens, it can change surprisingly fast. However, hiring new people is difficult given our current budget... I try to stay positive. But if you have ever spent more than two minutes around me, you know that seeing the silver lining isn't one of my strong points.

So, until then, I will focus on my trip to Chicago for ALA next month, on a possible trip to Portland to see some friends and hopefully drink several days into oblivion, and, of course, the Packers.