Selection Day and Such

A few minutes ago, I was reading off the list of today's televised "big basketball games" to Bill. They start at 10 a.m. and lead up to Selection Sunday at 3 p.m.

Looks like March Madness is hitting one of the many climactic stair steps on the way to the Final Four.  

I also read several suggested scenarios, put out by key media outlets, about Gonzaga's seeding and their trip to the Dance.  One puts them in Orlando, another San Antonio and yet another in San Diego.  

Of course, a lot of this is speculation, just like the ever-growing speculation about the missing airliner.  Talk about a gripping and disturbing story!

I read one comment on Facebook yesterday by a former student who says he's starting to believe some of the wild and wacky possibilities.  

To which I added that, in reality, this is all the filming of next year's top-rated reality TV show. In this filming for the show, the news agencies are all pawns in the show, just as we are.  

In all seriousness, I wish that were true because the ongoing mystery wouldn't be quite so unsettling, especially as we get ready to take long air flights to other countries.  

I hope all our pilots are happy and that our planes are in tiptop shape.

More than those concerns, however,  my journalistic curiosity has me pretty tuned in to the story.  I was telling another journalist friend last night that whoever covers the actual ending to the story will have the journalistic opportunity of a lifetime, no matter how it ends-----if it ever does!

Anyway, our other focus on this Sunday before St. Paddy's will be on making it through the day to 3 p.m. to learn the outcome of the ZAGS and all those other teams who have been fun to watch this season.

In the meantime, yesterday didn't turn out exactly as expected, weatherwise.  When John Fuller, the horseshoer,  came at noon, so did a heavy cloud filled with rain for the "nice" day that we had been promised.

My toes felt like frozen cement by the time he nailed on Lefty's last shoe.  John said it was pretty hard to pound those nails cuz their feet are so cold.

I think Lily and Lefty were his first shoeing jobs of the year. 

Later in the day, the rain quit, and it was a bit more pleasant outside.  I wanted to go for a bike ride last evening but found that my back bike tire has worked its way off the frame, and we can't figure out how to put it back. 

So, it will go to the repairman this week.

Fortunately, (fingers crossed) we avoided the Appliance Doctor yesterday when the washer quit working in mid-wash, of course, with several gallons of water and a whole lot of heavy wet towels in the tub. 

After uttering a few ^#$%%^, I called Mike to set up an appointment to get the washer fixed. He said the first thing he'd be doing is unhooking the cold-water hose and cleaning out whatever lint had gathered up.

I think that was a hint that maybe we could do that ourselves.  So, I proceeded to get started.  I wonder how many households have that ugly build-up of lint, socks, dirt, grime, coins, flashlight batteries, pill bottles, etc. hiding behind their appliances.

I'll bet we're not alone.  Before even tackling the hose, I had a major cleaning job behind the washer, which eventually led to a vacuum cleaner hose that would NOT suck ( a Dyson, no less).  

That led to disassembling the vacuum cleaner and pulling out all the sticks, lint, dirt and pills from the pill bottle that had clogged up the hose.

After fixing the vacuum cleaner and getting the majority of the gunk cleaned from behind and on the back of the washer, I started to work on the hose. Loosening the end plugged into the washer sent an instant message.

Probably not a good idea with a tub still filled with several gallons of water. The potential scenario did not thrill me.

So, I tightened the hose and plugged in the washer, which proceeded to work like a charm. We've used it twice since and so far, so good.

Thank you, Appliance Doctor, for saving us time and money. 

I'm seeing it's about time that my friendly editor may sign on, so I'd better sign out and wish everyone a great day.  

GO ZAGS!  Let's hope for some fun games this week. 

Happy Sunday.