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winterbadgerWell, the whole day had been incredibly annoying. But I was going to see DC United play. Nora was booked to have dinner with a friend, but my buddy Justin and I were going to hang and watch DC demolish Pumas of Mexico.
Then I got a late start from work. But it was OK, I was only about five minutes late.
Then it turned out that the Parkway was jammed up. But that was OK, when I got to DC it would open up. My contacts kept drying out, but I was able to rewet them in traffic without losing them. Barely.
Then I got onto the bridge into DC, and Constitution was solid traffic. But I met some Mexican fans in traffic who needed directions to the stadium, and we traded some banter, which was fun.
Then it became apparent that the traffic was going to be worse than ever. And I wasn't going to make it to the stadium on time (even though I'd left an hour to get there).
I guided my new Mexican friends to the stadium but the massive Lot 8 was full. We got diverted into Lot 7. I've been going to RFK for ten years, and I've never been in Lot 7. I didn't know that people were even allowed to park there since they built the Formula One track in it. I got into the stadium, and found that all teh prices ahd gone up, and what I had in my wallet wouldn't be enough for beers and food, only for (a very small amount of) food and a bottle of water (which I really needed at that point--I'm all for warm weather, but 83 degrees in April is obscene.)
I finally got in to my seat....well, it took me five minutes to *find* my seat, partly because there were people in it. The guys who had just appropriated it weren't really happy about my arriving, but since Justin and his friend Michael were there and there were ushers and a security guard ten feet away, they eventually relinquished it.
Well, I could go on in this fashion, but why bother. The game sucked: DC played very badly, the coach continues to play a defensive back who has no business playing professionally, and he nearly got thrown out of the game, as well as giving the pposing team countless turnovers. We scored first (which of course I missed, because I was still trying to get into the stadium), but then our offense got listless, the ref totally bent over backwards for the other team, who dove like Mark Spitz. I tried to get beer at halftime but, though I found two decent beer stands, one of the two ATMs had been removed and the line at the other was 20 people long five minutes in to the second half. While I was walking back to my seat from the far side of the stadium, someone on DC gave up a dubious penalty and Pumas evened the score. They dominated most of the second half of the game until we finally put in a few subs, including Wonder Freddy. DC couldn't manage to score again (though they got a little better in the last ten minutes of the game), and it ended 1-1, which is a disaster for us. Now we're going to have to beat them at their stadium--which is exceptionally difficult--to go through to the finals.
At least my new seats are near the exit for Lot 7 :-), and we didn't have to wait for the horrible traffic jam that is Lot 8 emptying. In the weird part of the District that it emptied into, I tried to follow the signs towards 295, but one of the crucial signs is missing, so I had to do some quick U turning to avoid ending up on the road to Baltimore. I stopped on the way home at my bank, got some money out, and got some food (totally nondiet, but it was comfort food time) and took it home to watch some TV before turning in.
Because tomorrow I have to do and get dental surgery *and* a second cleaning. Starting at 8.30.
And you know what? Even so it's going to be a better day than today.
Then I got a late start from work. But it was OK, I was only about five minutes late.
Then it turned out that the Parkway was jammed up. But that was OK, when I got to DC it would open up. My contacts kept drying out, but I was able to rewet them in traffic without losing them. Barely.
Then I got onto the bridge into DC, and Constitution was solid traffic. But I met some Mexican fans in traffic who needed directions to the stadium, and we traded some banter, which was fun.
Then it became apparent that the traffic was going to be worse than ever. And I wasn't going to make it to the stadium on time (even though I'd left an hour to get there).
I guided my new Mexican friends to the stadium but the massive Lot 8 was full. We got diverted into Lot 7. I've been going to RFK for ten years, and I've never been in Lot 7. I didn't know that people were even allowed to park there since they built the Formula One track in it. I got into the stadium, and found that all teh prices ahd gone up, and what I had in my wallet wouldn't be enough for beers and food, only for (a very small amount of) food and a bottle of water (which I really needed at that point--I'm all for warm weather, but 83 degrees in April is obscene.)
I finally got in to my seat....well, it took me five minutes to *find* my seat, partly because there were people in it. The guys who had just appropriated it weren't really happy about my arriving, but since Justin and his friend Michael were there and there were ushers and a security guard ten feet away, they eventually relinquished it.
Well, I could go on in this fashion, but why bother. The game sucked: DC played very badly, the coach continues to play a defensive back who has no business playing professionally, and he nearly got thrown out of the game, as well as giving the pposing team countless turnovers. We scored first (which of course I missed, because I was still trying to get into the stadium), but then our offense got listless, the ref totally bent over backwards for the other team, who dove like Mark Spitz. I tried to get beer at halftime but, though I found two decent beer stands, one of the two ATMs had been removed and the line at the other was 20 people long five minutes in to the second half. While I was walking back to my seat from the far side of the stadium, someone on DC gave up a dubious penalty and Pumas evened the score. They dominated most of the second half of the game until we finally put in a few subs, including Wonder Freddy. DC couldn't manage to score again (though they got a little better in the last ten minutes of the game), and it ended 1-1, which is a disaster for us. Now we're going to have to beat them at their stadium--which is exceptionally difficult--to go through to the finals.
At least my new seats are near the exit for Lot 7 :-), and we didn't have to wait for the horrible traffic jam that is Lot 8 emptying. In the weird part of the District that it emptied into, I tried to follow the signs towards 295, but one of the crucial signs is missing, so I had to do some quick U turning to avoid ending up on the road to Baltimore. I stopped on the way home at my bank, got some money out, and got some food (totally nondiet, but it was comfort food time) and took it home to watch some TV before turning in.
Because tomorrow I have to do and get dental surgery *and* a second cleaning. Starting at 8.30.
And you know what? Even so it's going to be a better day than today.
