Sunday. I did attempt to watch the Republican debate last night, but found I couldn't receive it online. Dialed into the ABC feed, but it just hung and I couldn't maintain interest in the various news feeds that described what was going on. Wondered if it had to do with the ad blocker I have installed on the web browser, but turning it off didn't have an effect. Such is our political life. It will go on for the nonce, the life, if not the politics.

All of which meant lights out by eight. Eight. Awake at six-thirty, though, so a good long night's rest. Takes time for the head to come together, doesn't matter how long the night, but I headed for the garage, papers under my arm, to drive to breakfast until I realized I'd left the car keys in the bedroom. The habit is to leave the keys unless I'm going to drive, but it's easier and easier to drift off into your own thoughts and forget we're taking the car. OK, go back. Get the keys. Drive to breakfast. Another memory slip.

Clear sky, sunny morning, they're now saying it will last through the week and the temperatures will get into the high sixties, low seventies, here and inland. Hmm. There's a high pressure area off the coast that's forcing the current line of El Niño storms north into Canada, giving us warm weather through this next week. Warm enough to melt twenty to thirty percent of the snow that's accumulated to date up in the mountains. Not good to hear in the middle of a drought.

Then I noticed the (cherry?) trees in full bloom along Grand by the morning café. For the first time. How long have they been in bloom? And when do they usually bloom? This early in February? Let's hope I'm showing my gross lack of tree knowledge and they're not, say, blooming a month ahead of schedule. I've noted this in the past, early blooming cherry trees, but when? Go back and check.

Later. A friend commented on Twitter he thought the tree I was calling a cherry tree was actually an almond tree and that they did indeed bloom in February. We learn kicking and screaming, but we do learn. Eventually. Almonds. I believe they're the ones that require all that water, many, many gallons to create just one.

A walk to the 7-11 look-alike for bean dip, Doritos and a pint of ice cream because..., well, I don't know because. We'll start on them with the game and consume the both. Actually we'll consume them well before the game even starts. It's a Super Bowl Sunday, the weather feels like spring (in the high sixties as I was walking earlier) and so we might as well take the ball and throw caution to the wind.

And go with the flow.

This section seems to have deteriorated rather more rapidly than most.

Later still. The game is running over the air on the CBS channel so there's no reason to worry about dialing in on the computer or the tablet. Hasn't it always been thus? Seems they do in fact want a large audience and haven't hidden it away as they've done with the political debates.

I think people already know this.

You'd a think. I'd a thunk. Now to see how much of it I actually watch. Hard to screw up the actual playing of the game itself the way they've screwed up the pregame hype with their over the top comic book descriptions of the game in terms of epic battles between Supermen who are fighting to save the nation/world/universe from, well, something not very nice. Cartoon on top of cartoon versions of itself.

Settle down.

Hup!

Evening. Watched the first half of the game, switching to other channels to follow a couple of stories playing on other channels at the Super Bowl advertising breaks. Interesting how closely you can follow one or two story lines while missing but one or two plays.

I mentioned the bean dip, Doritos and pint of ice cream (Haägen Dazs, strawberry) I'd had earlier, but hadn't stressed the fact its brought on ocular incidents as often as not in the past. Perhaps because I find it so easy to put it out of my mind and forget. It didn't forget.

Kicked in just before halftime and I fumbled my way to bed in a haze, managing to turn off the television and the lights. Missed completely shutting down the computer and closing the balcony curtains, but the computer and the curtains will manage to survive.