I watched more curling Saturday than I have in my entire life
I hope everyone had a decent Valentine’s Day and by decent Valentine’s Day I mean you did something so that a fake holiday didn’t ruin your entire weekend.
I pulled a professional move myself and grabbed a few things on Friday morning and had them waiting for when Mrs. SeanJo got home from work.
We don’t normally go out or make a big deal about a special dinner or anything, so I was in the clear on Saturday. Again, pro move on my part.
That meant essentially a wide open Saturday. I got to see the sad state of the current NBA Dunk Contest where the effort for some is very, very low.
And for others, they’re trying dunks they’ve clearly never attempted before. But don’t worry, one of those dunks was rewarded with the dunk hitting the side of the backboard followed by a head bounce off the floor.
What a show. A show I only caught on social media. I checked out of the festivities after watching a couple of bricklayers make a mockery of the 3-Point Contest.
Instead, I did something that I haven’t done in so long that I couldn’t even begin to tell you when it was. I put on the Olympics. I didn’t flip over for a few minutes, we left on for an extended period of time.
After watching some ski/shooting event that left the competitors so exhausted they were dropping down to the snow after crossing the finish line, I watched more curling than I have ever watched in my entire life.
I have no idea what was happening, but at the same time, I was oddly intrigued. I’ve never been particularly interested in it before, and truth be told, I probably won’t be again, but, curling and I will always have this evening together.
Team USA defeated Germany, by the way.
Ultra-runner planning penis-shaped run for charity
Next weekend is a big one for ultra-runner Lizzie Gatherer. She’ll be running 70 miles in the shape of a giant penis. She’s not doing it just for the fun of it.
She’s doing it to raise money and awareness for Prostate Cancer UK. She’ll be tackling her penis-shaped run for charity on Saturday, Feb. 21 across the Black Mountains and Brecon Beacons, reports the Abergavenny Chronicle.
“You may remember that in 2024 Terry Rosoman ran the ‘World’s Largest drawing of a GPS Cock and Balls’ raising over £5,000 for the Movember charity,” Lizzie explained.
“Having seen the route on Strava, I immediately saved it as I knew that it was something I would like to do one day. The Black Mountains and Brecon Beacons are my favourite places to run and I am eager for the chance to run there whenever possible.”
Lizzie added, “Many of my male running friends and also a family member have been treated for prostate cancer, I felt that this was a great opportunity to raise awareness and money for a fantastic charity.”
Italian Curling Girl
– Ronnie writes:
Sean:
Is it me, or does this curling girl from Italy (playing against the US now) need to be more famous?
Thanks for the good work,
Ronnie
Coffee Tease
– Paul from St. Paul writes:
I’d prefer this type of entertainment paired with a Grey Goose martini – extra dirty, Seanie!
But I’m not too proud to stumble in for a cup of joe and be treated to a little sumpin’ extra to go with my Jamaican Blue Mountain java and cream! Wish I had the pleasure.
Best,
PCA
StP, Mn.
Reply to Jim T. in San Diego about Word Perfect
– Jim T. in San Diego wrote:
Dean from Fond du Lac should know that WordPerfect is more than “niche” software – due to how Microsoft Word calculates the word count in any document, and because legal fillings usually have a word limit, many courts require legal filings to be submitted in WordPerfect format!
While I’m no lawyer (nor do I play one on TV), I use the current version of WordPefect. In fact, when I built my new rig last fall, I purchased the current version of WordPerfect (WP 2021) because my previous version was reported to be a bit buggy in Windows 11.
Why WordPerfect?
Because I own it! With Word, you have to get into a subscription model.
– Dean from Fond du Lac, WI writes:
Jim pretty much made my argument about WordPerfect being a piece of “niche software” with his example of lawyers using WordPerfect instead of Word. MS Word and other MS Office products became the dominant office productivity software around 3 decades ago due to Microsoft’s market position back then, not necessarily because it was a better product than MS’s competitors (in most cases, it wasn’t). Lotus 1-2-3 was the gold standard spreadsheet software back in the good old MS DOS operating system days of the 1980’s and 1990’s, yet MS was able to conquer the spreadsheet market with MS Excel the same way that MS Word dethroned WordPerfect when MS Windows replaced MS DOS as MS’s PC operating system.
For the record, if it wasn’t obvious from my gushing about WordPerfect’s tech support back in the day, I LOVED WordPerfect! When my employer (I retired from this employer about 4 years ago after 33 years with them) switched to the MS Office suite around 1997 when we went from MS DOS to MS Windows, I lost the ability for the tech support that WordPerfect provided as MS was too big to care about providing phone support to end-users or first level IT support people like me. Trying to figure out answers to questions my staff had of me in supporting MS Word and the other MS Office applications was a challenge in the early days of the internet – many times, I just had to spend a lot of time recreating the issue and then figuring out the solution. So, yeah, I missed WordPerfect’s phone tech support as well as its features that MS Word didn’t have.
As for MS Word (and the other MS Office applications) needing a subscription service, that is not totally true. I own my copy of MS Office, with me owning the current version that I purchased back in 2024 as my much older version was no longer supported by MS and I think didn’t work with the Windows 11 that came with my new laptop. You can purchase the various MS Office suites with a one-time purchase instead of a subscription as I have done so myself. For example, currently on Amazon (not endorsed by me, just a quick and easy way for research in one place for my response here) MS Office Home 2024 – MS Word, MS Excel, MS PowerPoint – has a subscription price of $129.99 per year while a one-time purchase will be $179.99. The subscription service will get you continuous support and updates for the version you have along with upgrades to the follow up version of the product. With a one-time purchase, it pays for itself in less than 18 months and you still get support and updates from MS until MS sunsets the product (and ceases any support and updates to the product), which is usually several years down the road, at which point I then make another one-time purchase, thus saving money versus having the subscription. Subscriptions work best for companies to have unbroken support and updates and product upgrades while home users can get by with the one-time purchase. Unfortunately, the subscription model is what many software companies are going to and MS offering a one-time purchase is more of an exception to the rule than not. Having a one-time purchase without buying a newer version of a piece of software years later could be an issue as well if MS makes changes to their latest version of Windows that causes that older software to no longer work as I have had cases where an older piece of software no longer works with that newer version of Windows.
My mother still uses a WordPerfect license that she acquired about 3 or 4 computers ago, which I dutifully install every time she gets a new computer and thus support when she has questions. She retired from her job as a secretary at a law firm about 20 years ago, where she learned to use and liked WordPerfect (I hadn’t known about lawyers and WordPerfect until Jim’s response to me and now I know why my mother wanted it at home). She wanted it for her home computer, so she acquired a license back then. So yeah, I understand that devotees like Jim T in San Diego have for WordPerfect and respect their devotion to WordPerfect as my mother is just like Jim T in their love for WordPerfect. Thanks for your response to me Tim as I pretty much agree with you!
I apologize for this long response, Sean, but I felt that I needed to explain where I am coming from.
MEAT and True Romance
– Galen in Sunset Beach NC writes:
Hey SeanJo,
Hope your Valentine’s Day was filled with True Romance. I mean, after all, you and Amber keep us dialed in to all things that keep the peace.
I submit my Valentine’s Day contribution for MEAT and True Romance. Clams with freshly harvested oyster clusters and both are considered aphrodisiacs.
Throw in some Veuve Champagne, a Vols sweep in opening weekend of baseball, and Vols basketball beating LSU…it makes for a perfect evening!
SeanJo
Galen, you definitely understand True Romance. Bringing MEAT and True Romance together is a brilliant move on your part. I hope everything worked out as you planned.
———-
That’s all for the first Sunday following the end of the football season. MLB teams are reporting for Spring Training and as much as those in charge try to ruin the game, I still look forward to the baseball season.
As always, the inbox is open for anything and everything at sean.joseph@outkick.com. Go follow me on Twitter and over on Instagram.
Numbers from:Stuff You Guys Sent In & Stuff I Like: