Soccer, Floaters, and Garbage

I have a readership that rivals that of the Cincinnati Post. Pretty impressive, I know. Well, anyway, a few of my readers have written in and asked if I had a blog clog. Consider the clog cleared. On with the show.


Soccer Tournament:
I was the coach for the HOPE high school soccer team at a tournament this past weekend. Tim, one of my favorite people over here and also the school science teacher, was co-coaching with me. It ended up being a very good experience. It was cool to get to know the kids in a different arena. But our team is way out-classed by the other high schools in the area. We lost all 4 of our games and managed only 1 goal to the competitions' 24 or so. But, our guys did show some chutzpah and a willingness to tough it out even though (1) they are relatively poorly conditioned, (2) seldom get to play together, and (3) it is quite hot over here even this time of year (I would say it is probably comparable to playing soccer in Cincinnati in July).

Floaters:
Floaters are these things that some people like me have inside their eyeballs. They float around and if you look up at a clear blue sky or a white wall you see things; a little hair over there and, wow, how-about-that, a paramecium off to the left. You are tempted to get a better look at them, but as you divert your glance in their direction, they run away. It is really annoying. And, if you do not have floaters then you probably will be thinking I am clinically insane. I *am* insane, but it has never been clinically proven *and* I do have floaters. Oh, but the point here was not to provide an in-depth discussion of the finer points of ophthalmology. It was just to let you know that I have a new floater, placed off to the right in my peripheral vision. Unfortunately, it looks just like a darting mosquito might appear in one's periphery. So, I have been a little more on edge than I need be. Oh, but at my new place, the number of mosquitos I see in a week is probably around 3. At my old place, there were at least 20 on the screen every night (and a small number roaming about).

Garbage (Rated PG-13):
Yes, it is a band. No, I do not know that song by them. But, garbage in Cambodia is collected from assorted piles rather than cans. There is a small, fragrant, fly-haven of trash placed conveniently on my walk to school. That is where I drop off my trash and provide the flies of Cambodia with sustenance. An aside... I did see a dead rat lying on the same walk to school. He was just there on the sidewalk. I think he probably got hit by a vehicle, but there was no blood or tire tread marks. It is possible he ate poison (or Lucky Burger) and made it to that very point before expiring. It is hard to say. He was a rather large rat, by the way, so I think the world is a little bit better place now. I am sure that the flies buzzing around its mouth agree.


I have a variety of other topics of various levels of hilarity and appropriateness to discuss, but need to get this published now. I will add some other stuff later on.