My Week that Was - October 8

A view from the Badger State Trail. 10/1/22 dwm

My week started with an hour on the treadmill at the gym.  After that, my wife and I picked up breakfast then made our way to the grocery store.

 

Re-living my days as a grocery store clerk (which predated scanners) I scanned our items.  It was maddening because the belt wasn't always noticing the item I placed on it, sounding an alarm and telling me to put the item on the belt.  Turned out, the belt would detect the item if you threw it on the belt with enough force.

 

Wisconsin played its home-opener for the B1G season and was as uninspiring as their loss a week earlier to the conference's leading team, Ohio State.  In several ways, losing to Illinois was worse because it felt like a team we should beat.  It will be interesting to see how the Badgers react.

After the game, it was time for a ride.  This time of year it is hard to predict when the riding season will end.  When you have a day like Saturday, sunny with highs in the 70s, you get out and enjoy it because there is no telling when those days end.  It was a quick ride over familiar territory, the Military Ridge and Badger state trails, I traveled 23 miles in under 90 minutes.

A cup of tea. 10/2/22

 Sunday morning was even nicer than Saturday, so I set out on an early ride with a downtown destination.

 

 The week before a work friend of mine sent a link which let me know there was a Poindexter Coffee in town.  While I'm not a coffee guy, I was curious to see how they were representing the Pointdexter style.

 

 The coffee shop is part of the Graduate Hotel chain which aims to serve parents of college kids and visitors to major universities.

 

 I enjoyed a nice cup of tea, then headed home, racking up 25 more miles in 2022.

 

Sunday evening the state learned how the Badgers would  react to Saturday's loss as the news scrolled across the TV during the Packer game that Badger football coach Paul Chryst was fired.  I was shocked and surprised by the news.  The choice of Jim Leonhard as interim head coach was logical.  When we lived in Augusta, Leonhard was a high school phenom in three sports at tiny Tony High School.  He walked on at the University of Wisconsin, became a starter, earned a scholarship, and played 10 seasons in the NFL.  I'm excited to see how he does.

The Green Bay Packers had a tougher match with the New England Patriots than expected.  Aaron Rodgers had his worst first half as a pro but played better in the second and got help from his teammates in a game the Packers won in overtime, 27 - 24.  

 

Their next game is Sunday morning in London as they play their first regular season game outside the United States.  Green Bay is the last team to play overseas because giving up one of eight home games would bad news for Titletown's economy.  

 

Now that the NFL plays a 17-game season, every other year each team gets a 9th home game, Sunday won't remove a regular home game so there is no economic harm.  I wonder if there is an impact when a game starts at 8:30 Central Daylight Time?  

The Milwaukee Brewers finished the season 86 - 76, eliminated from the playoffs Monday night by the Philadelphia Phillies.  86 wins used to be a triumphant season for the Brew Crew.  There were plenty of years my wildest hope was the Brewers might win 81 games.  

 

Turning color at Oakwood. 10/7/22 dwm

Times have changed.  Making the post-season four straight seasons increased expectations for everybody.  Fans can turn their attention to the Packers and the Bucks, who start later this month, and set a wake-up call in February when pitchers and catchers report to spring training.

The next to last scheduled rickshaw ride was Thursday.  It was nearly 15 degrees cooler with a breeze out of the north requiring passengers to be heartier than usual.  I had one passenger.  Hopefully next week will be warmer or sunny so we can end the season on a high note.

As Friday came to a close we're expecting the coldest weather of the season in south Wisconsin.  It's a good thing we had the furnace tuned up Tuesday morning.

Stay warm and have a great week!