Vegemite Crackdown

As if US Customs officials didn’t have enough things to do, like checking for illegal immigrants or inspecting baggage for terrorist devices or weapons, now they’re cracking down on Vegemite. Harmless Vegemite. Okay, so maybe it’s harmful to your taste buds, but whatever. It’s really not so bad once you get used to it, and realize that it’s not designed to be spread on as thickly as nutella (like many Americans mistakenly think at first). I hated it the first time I tried it, but it grew on me so that by the time I left I could actually tolerate it now and then. I never could bring myself to try a Vegemite & cheese sandwich like my friend Kieran was constantly urging me to do though, because I didn’t wanna risk wasting a perfectly good piece of cheese. Now I’m kinda sad that I didn’t bring a bottle of it back with me two years ago. Heck, it’d probably still be good. And when I say “good” I mean “not spoiled.” I wonder if Vegemite is the Spam of bread spreads…
Yesterday was Jeff’s birthday! Vic gathered a bunch of the grad students together a bit before noon to sing happy birthday and enjoy some of the ice cream cone-cupcakes he’d made for Jeff. Then in the evening a bunch of us took him out to dinner at Champ’s, it was a fun time.
After I got back from dinner Dan, Shane, Bongsoo & Byran came over men’s group to play some games and hang out for a bit. We played some Apples to Apples, teaching Bongsoo some new words along the way (such as “redneck,” hehe), and after a bit Tim came by! We were all glad he was able to carve out a little time to stop by and hang out, since he still had a fair bit of stuff to do to get ready before leaving for Japan for a year this following morning. We’re gonna miss having you around Tim!
The fall colours may be past their peak, but there are still plenty of good hues left on a few trees on the walk between Walker Building and my apartment. Maybe this weekend I’ll take a drive over to Lewistown or something to take a gander at what colourful foliage is left. But then again, this weekend is looking pretty crappy, with rain starting tomorrow and lots of wind. I doubt there’ll be many leaves left on any trees around here after this weekend with how windy it’s gonna be.
This evening we had our fourth IM flag football game of the season, and it was yet another close, hard-fought game. After giving up a long touchdown play on one of the first plays of the game, we looked to be in trouble after Moyer threw an interception to set the other team up in good field position. Fortunately Steve picked off a pass on one of the next plays to keep us from falling behind by two scores. We led 8-6 at the half, and kept the game at that margin for most of the 2nd half before the other team went on a long drive, killing us with dink-and-dunk plays all the way for a touchdown to go up 12-8 with four and a half minutes left. We mounted a solid drive in response that got us all the way down to the 5-yard line or so, with a 4th and goal with 40 seconds left. The play was intended for Tim in the left half of the end zone, but I ran my route across the field and found myself wide open breaking toward the right half of the end zone. Fortunately Moyer saw me too and lobbed a pass my way, but initially both of us thought he’d led me way too much. Knowing that we’d lose the game if the pass fell incomplete I sprinted as fast as I could and managed to get to the ball in time, catching it and getting two or three feet in bounds in the end zone before my momentum carried me out of bounds! Our defense held on in the last 30 seconds to preserve the 14-12 victory, evening our record at 2-2. I’d never scored a game-winning touchdown in my life before (at least in a game that wasn’t just between friends), either in flag football or ultimate frisbee, so I was pretty excited! I was just glad I was able to make it to the ball and hang on for the catch, since if I dropped it I would’ve lost the game for us. I doubt that Walter & I will be able to make it back from the NCEP Ensemble User Workshop in Washington, DC in time to make it to our final game of the season next Thursday evening, so if that ends up being my last game of the year that’s not a bad way to go out! 🙂