Falcons: Not So Super

Survive the weekend? It has been COLD.

I’m not going to spent time bemoaning the Falcons loss. Winning in the NFL ain’t easy. They were the only NFC who’d made the playoffs in 2016 to make the playoffs again in 2017. The offense wasn’t as explosive as they’d been last season – seems like that blame should be heaped on the new offensive coordinator. The Falcons did better this year than all but four teams in the league – not bad considering they really hadn’t played well all year. People hate on Matt Ryan and Julio Jones, but they did all they could. Had that defender made the interception at the end of the half the Falcons could’ve kicked a chip shot field goal to win the game.

Left work Friday at six. Got home, changed clothes, and headed out to the Oglethorpe game. The parking lot was crowded. The girls game was finishing up. The girls overcame a large halftime deficit to win going away. David Norman was at the game. I kept my jacket on until I finally warmed up, then announced to those around me that it was time for the big unveiling – underneath my jacket I was wearing my Oglethorpe shirt. Oglethorpe shot poorly and the game was close the entire way, but the good guys won in overtime.

Learned my young friend Connor Smith had played high school ball with Memphis Grizzlies guard Kobi Simmons. Connor was a senior and Kobi was a freshman. Now Connor is a redshirt senior (he was hurt last year) and Kobi is in the NBA. On Sunday Connor hit five three-pointers and now holds the school career record for most three point shots made.  

After the game it was cold cold cold. My low gas light had lit up on the drive to the game. I probably could’ve made it back to East Cobb, but I took Windsor Parkway to Roswell Road, and filled up at the Kroger. Really really cold. It was almost 11 pm before I got home.

Saturday morning I cleaned upstairs. Had a PB&J for breakfast and one of Ceil’s leftover sandwiches for lunch. Took a nap and watched the Falcons. Also did some laundry. Matthew cooked fish and chips for supper. C grilled me a chicken breast. Watched some of the Patriots and Gilmore Girls.

Another good SS lesson on the armor of God. Brian keeps it simple and to the point. Bryant Wright preached on the wayward son. Stopped by Whole Foods on the way home. Lunch was rotisserie chicken, wild rice, and salad. Drove down the the Westside to get my new glasses adjusted, so now they fit much better. Back home I took a nap and watched a little football and a lot of Girlmore Girls. Ordered a new wallet off Amazon, made from Rawlings baseball glove leather. 20% off.

Also discovered another website for a guy who makes wallets from old baseball gloves.

Anna had been sick all weekend. She skipped a girls trip to Atlanta yesterday, but seemed to be feeling slightly better Sunday.   

Ceil doesn’t have school today. M went to work at seven. C has a birthday lunch, then is helping Beck Norman with wedding invitations for Charles. Will is going to miss the wedding – it’s when he’ll be Peru.

I’m had lunch with my brother today at the Duluth Diner.

More from my Neil Armstrong book: when Apollo 10’s lunar module split off and flew down close to the moon it experienced unforeseen computer problems that caused it to tumble out of control. The astronaut had to take manual control, jettison the lower landing section early, and fire the return rocket to get out of trouble.

Then as Apollo 11’s Armstrong and Aldrin descended to the lunar surface, they experienced a similar computer overload when Aldrin ran two computer programs at once. They were able to continue their approach but overshot the planned landing spot by four miles. Then they almost ran out of fuel before they found a suitable (flat) place to put down. Armstrong figured that with the moon’s gravity only 1/6th that of earth, running out of fuel only 20 feet off the ground wasn’t that big of a deal. After the landing NASA told the press the astronauts would rest for four hours, when in fact they were working feverously to prepare for their moonwalk. Had something gone wrong they wanted to be sure to have samples of moon rocks to take back.