Sometimes, you just can't win for losing. Or something like that. Okay, maybe I'm overdramatizing here, but a friend of mind told me yesterday that there would be some soccer to be had tonight. At 35th and Throop. I'm damn near positive he said 35th and Throop, because I thought to myself "hmmm, that must be a different indoor soccer facility than the one at 23rd and something or other." So, first, I decide to wait until hearing a traffic report before deciding to take Lake Shore to 31st and then across, which I should have done from the get-go, because the inbound Kennedy is much more likely to suck at 6:30pm or so. I hate it when I'm right. So it takes me too long to get out to LSD, and I might have been better of just staying with the Kennedy for better or worse, but it's too late now and I've made my choice.

So, I get off at 31st, driving west into the sun, which always makes navigation, um, interesting. There's a car moving sort of slowly in front of me going into an intersection near Michael Reese hospital, taking up both lanes, so I have to wait until they make a move. The car signals left, and I pull into the right lane to pass. Then the car turns RIGHT. Fortunately, I had enough time to swerve out of the way, but suffice it to say, it was close. I could see, maybe, if the car was just sitting there, making no indication at all, that I might have jumped the gun in passing, but the car literally signaled left and turned right in the space of maybe three seconds. Idiot.

Anyway, I get to Throop, turn left towards 35th, and it dead-ends. Which I sorta knew was going to happen, but I figured maybe this place was in the area where the map said there was no road. So I hop down to 35th and have a look. Nothing. I turn around and head back east, hoping that there wasn't a Sox game to tie me up. There is, but traffic wasn't bad. On a lark, I figure maybe Steve meant 23rd and Throop, not 35th, or maybe I just didn't remember what he said. Behold and lo, there's an indoor facility at 23rd and Throop, only noone there except the regular Monday league and a youth practice. Here I thought there was supposed to be a kickaround/pickup game of some sort, but nothing.

What I'm thinking here is that if my friend (or I) got the location wrong, the date might be equally suspect. In any event, having almost gotten in an accident and having not played any soccer, I'm in a bit of a mood. Continuing on to the next planned part of the evening, checking out another open mike night at Fizz up on Lincoln by me, seems like a monumentally bad idea. Give me beer and a microphone when I'm ready to scream. Nuh uh. So it's back to the homestead, becoming one with the couch and getting sucked into another TV show via reruns. Such is the life I lead.