A Day in the Life

It's snowing today in Salt Lake City. It snowed pretty much all day yesterday, and it's supposed to snow most of the day today. Good. I like the snow, and we can use the precipitation.

While watching the news yesterday morning, I was amazed at how many accidents and slide-offs were reported. Is it possible that people who live in an area that gets snow every winter just 'forget' how to drive in the snow when the weather is good? Inconceivable.

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I know that in the grand scheme of things, college football is relatively unimportant. But I'm a fan of the sport, and the BC$ is a pet peeve of mine. If the goal, as stated, is to produce an undisputed college football national championship, the current system doesn't work very well. In its current form, it never will. But that's okay, because a legitimate national championship is not really the goal. Dan Wetzel of Yahoo! Sports had this to say in his editorial today:

The reason [Bowl Championship Series commissioner Kevin] Weiberg has not seen a reasonable playoff structure is because there is none that allows the six "major" conferences the power and control they currently enjoy. Yes, a 16-team playoff system, similar to the ones used in all other levels of college football, would increase the money pie. But the BCS guys would have to cut more slices and, most importantly, give up control of the knife.

If the goal is to make a lot of money and keep most of it in the five major conferences (the Big East doesn't count any more), then the current bowl system, including the BC$, works just fine. But if the goal is to create an accurate and fair national championship, then a playoff system is the way to go. And that's not going to happen.

I read once that there are two things you have to keep in mind when you hear people talking politics. First, no matter what they're telling you, they're not telling you the whole truth. And second, no matter what they're talking about, they're talking about money. The same seems to hold true in the big-money world of college football - especially if they're talking about a national championship.

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I have a . . . what's that word again? Oh yeah, 'date'. I have a date on Saturday night - my first in a very long time. I should be a little nervous, considering that even when I was in practice, I was never exactly a 'dating machine' (except in the sense that the Edsel was a 'driving machine'). But I'm not nervous. I'm pretty excited, actually.

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For the last six weeks or so, I've been trying to get into an advanced chemistry lab that I need in order to graduate. It's only offered during spring semester, and there are only 24 seats in the class: twelve each in two sections, only one of which fits my new work schedule. Every time I've checked it, both sections have been full. The new semester starts on Monday, and I still can't get into that one class.

I got online to print my class schedule his morning, and decided, just for kicks, to check on that chemistry class. Lo and behold, one seat had opened up, and it was in the section that I needed. I grabbed it. My registration is now complete. I feel so fulfilled now. I just hope the financial aid people will let me keep going to class.

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Off I go, out into the falling whiteness. I'm making a scouting trip to campus to identify the rooms where my classes will be held. I'm also going to stop by Financial Aid and see what they can tell me. Then I'm headed downtown to the courthouse to pick up the final documents from the legal proceedings. (It's not their policy to mail them.) Maybe I'll follow that up with a quick trip down to Workforce Services to see if there's anything interesting available. Then it's off to work.