Tuesday update

My job starts at 9 in the morning, so ideally I like to sleep until about 7:30. That didn’t happen this morning though, and it hasn’t happened several other mornings lately. About 6:15 someone who lives in my building or nearby takes a barky little dog out to do its business on the Main Street Mall. Since I’m still in bed at that hour, I’ve never seen the dog but it has to be a chihuahua or similar size breed. That thing barks constantly for 5 or 10 minutes. By the time its owner finally takes it back inside, I’m awake enough that rolling over and trying to get back to sleep is pointless. I wonder how many of my neighbors get woken up by that dog as well.

On a better note… as I lay in bed wide awake post-dog, I realized something… I’m actually excited that I get to go to work today! It’s not that today is a special day or anything. It’s just that I realized, there is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about this job that frustrates me, that makes me dread coming there. I just show up, turn on the computer, and grind away. I spend my time there indexing tens of thousands of documents so the lawyers can quickly find the ones that are important. I won’t go into details of the particular cases, of course, but it is really interesting work.

The Daily Memphian’s Jennifer Biggs came back Downtown for this week’s My Favorite Things column, with a visit to Maciel’s Tortas and Tacos. There she had the caldo tlalpeno, the chicken chipotle soup served over rice with crumbled tortilla chips and avocado slices. Yum! I have seen someone get this soup delivered to their workplace, and let me tell you, the large bowl ($7.50) is giant, easily enough for two people to share.

It’s one of the few items on the menu there I’ve never had. Hmmm…. you may see a photo of a troll standing next to caldo tlalpeno this week. That’s one thing I have that the Daily Memphian doesn’t, a troll. Maybe they should get one. Might increase their subscriber count. Everything’s better with trolls.

The Grizzlies were on TV last night, and I finally got a look at the new additions to the team. Man… Brandon Clarke made the front office look like geniuses for trading up two spots in the draft to get him. The talent he displayed was way above the #21 pick level where Memphis got him. Ja Morant dazzled at times – there was a sweet pass to Jaren Jackson Jr. for a made three – but he struggled, as would any 20-year-old with no NBA experience would when being asked to be a team’s starting point guard. The loss to Charlotte was disappointing, but this year the excitement is more about building toward the future than winning now.

Jaren Jackson fouling out is not good though. Nor was the Grizzlies falling apart in the fourth quarter, something we saw all too frequently last season.

If you’re the type of person who forgets to charge your phone, here’s a link you might want to bookmark: How to send a text from your computer to any phone. It’s done through something called an email-to-SMS gateway. Very handy when you need to text someone right away but your phone is at 0% and you don’t have time to wait for it to charge.

Loflin Yard will host a fall dog show Saturday, November 2 from noon to 6. Dog talent show, puppy games, and an obedience training demonstration (wish the owner of 6:15 AM barky dog would come to that and decide to sign up his animal for some obedience training). Mutt Mafia will be there doing adoptions. Costume contest, ugly dog contest, photo booth. Drink deals for humans and dogs.

Jello shot Jenga is now a thing. Looks like an item is going to need to be added to the agenda of our next BBQ team meeting.

Penn and Teller come to the Orpheum Friday night. Tickets are $32.50-$80.

That’ll do it for today. Time to head to work. After I get off maybe I’ll walk over to Maciel’s and get a bowl of that caldo tlalpeno.