Because we would drive to Ranch 99 and Costco to buy groceries, I went to Lynnwood High to practice soccer at 7:00 AM. My plan was to walk to the formal field at the back to play if both fields in the front were still locked. If the formal one at the back was locked surprisingly, I would drive to the gym to work out for an hour. Fortunately, both were opened. I hesitated for a couple of seconds at the gate of the inside field but decided to practice at the outside one close to North Road because the other one was closer to several houses in which the residents might be bothered by the noise in such an early weekend morning made by my practices.
The weather was perfect, sunny with a little bit breeze, so it's pretty cool. I made two dozens penalty kicks on both feet, then the same quantities of free kicks too. Dashing back and forth on the field from southend to northend 5 times, I was exhausted. It took me almost an hour to get my body totally soaked by sweats. When I got into my van, I saw another guy practicing the soccer in the inside field by himself as well. I noticed he came in probably 15 minutes after I had come and he might be to stay there for a while. He dressed more professionally than I did and wore a pair of orange soccer cleats. While driving out of the parking lot, I saw my Dad walking by, it's his daily routine for workout.
The big news this morning was Ali passing away on Friday night, I caught it on CNN. I actually read a biography back in late 70s when I was an elementary school student in Beijing, so I knew him long ago. However, I am not a fan of boxing, so didn't know about his life after those years. I respect him as a person. I lost that book but found the cover of it on Baidu. However, this one must not be the first print because the publishing year was 1985. I am very sure the one I bought must be before 1979 when our family still lived in a shared apartment and I lent that book and Pele's Biography to the boy next door.
Switching to ESPN News channel, I watched the first 30 minutes of the International Friendly between Germany and Hungary, then drove my Dad out. Yes, it's such a wonderful Saturday morning, everyone was supposed to be joyful and I also put on my hawaii shirt bought in April in Wahu, but I wasn't so lucky. After dropping my Dad, I drove to Costco. At the second to the last traffic lights, I was the last driver to catch the green light to get through, a man drove his Volkswagen to switch onto my lane on the left without seeing me already passing his car's hood, so his car slightly scratched my van's sliding door on right side. We both drove into a parking lot on the right side of the road. When I got off my van, he said"I didn't see you." It's obviously 100% his fault but the damage on my van was very insignificant and my van was already 16 years old. At soon as I observed it, I already decided to let him go. However, I had to show him my driver's license and insurance card to prove my identity of legal driver and asked him to show me his in addition to the registration. I told him my point was to verify that he was a legal driver for his car. He was in his 50s and looked a good citizen. Wishing him luck, I drove away. I bet he would go to Costco as well because I saw his membership card in his wallet. It's probably why he tried to switch onto my lane, which led the road to the last traffic lights to have the cars turned left into the big commercial section where Costco is located.
Before leaving home, I signed the annual Costco reward coupon without paying attention to the detail. When I present it to the customer services representative, he told me it was for 2015 and already expired on 8/31/2015. How stupid was I? The year was specified on the coupon very significantly, I just hadn't read it through my mind. It's 95 bucks, a meaningful sum of money, so how could I miss it last year? We just came back from Scandinavia at the end of July, I probably tried to catch up a lot of stuff professionally and personally in the following month, so totally forgot this coupon. I recalled I did receive another new one for 2016 with a less value but might mix it with this old one. By the way, I still haven't found that one for 2016, it might be thrown away. In total, I probably lost 150 bucks.
I heard good recommendations of the foods at Boiling Point several years ago but never tried. I saw one of its franchises or branches close to Ranch 99 and ever suggested to try it to my son, he didn't want to do it. Today, only with my Dad since my son didn't come back home due to final exams in next week, we stopped by to sit into this restaurant. The hotpot was very delicious and both of my Dad and I loved the lunch. I would come to eat frequently in future. I bet my son would like it too, he probably just would need to order extra rice and meat.
Driving through McDonald's, I ordered Big Mac meal with diet coke for my mom. The guy at the first window to collect the money was impressed by my Hawaii shirt and wondering if I bought it in Hawaii, I told him I was there in April and it was my second time in two decades. He said he had never been there, I might respond a bit carelessly by saying "Find a chance to go." but with a big smile instead of being rude. Then he said he would like to go Mexico too, I responded "Mexico is fantastic as well" while proceeding my van to the next window. He was obviously offended. Anyway, I should have said nothing when he praised my shirt. His initial intent might not be negative but my response might be considered bragging and insensitive. It's why Trump has so many supporters now. I am wondering if Trump will have to file bankruptcy again, so he is trying to win Presidency to rescue himself. Wow, it's just a conspiracy theory.
Coming home to catch the second half of International Friendly between France and Scotland, I was so angry that the broadcasting was cancelled on ESPN2. ESPN is its flagship channel, they could have put the most significant program for today there. However, I knew this type of matches always being present on ESPN3, now it is called ESPN App. Generally, I don't like watching the matches on it because the pictures are not always high definition and can be broken from time to time. Without other choices, I sat in front of my laptop in study room and started watching the match. France won over Scotland at the end, it's a good friendly warm up before Euro Cup 2016 would kick off this Friday.
Next came Costa Rica playing Paraguay, the draw would be the best result for US and it was scoreless at the end. Valdez was subbed in the last 20 minutes but didn't control the ball much. USA would take Costa Rica on Tuesday. Many brawls broke out in this match because of reckless even brutal tackles.
Sleeping for a while, I checked the next match to be televised on FOX but found out with a surprise that Haiti taking Peru being played at Centurylink Field was broadcast on Univision. I never watched any program on this channel because it was in Spanish. This was a perfect chance for me to utilize it. Soccer itself is an universal language.
The most anticipated match at the end of the day was Brazil taking Ecuador. The most shining star was Willian and Coutinho was a very good player in my mind as well because I watched a lot of his plays at Liverpool. Later on, I figured out Filipe Luis playing for Atletico Madrid and Jonas playing for Lisbon. However, without several other stars, it's so difficult for Brazilians to make any effective offense. They even could have lost the match if the goal hadn't been called off. No matter if that ball was fully out of the bottomline, the referee had blown the whistle first, so it couldn't be ruled a goal anyway.
In between the last two matches, I drove to the gym to complete a full routine of weekend workout. The bad thing was the cold coming back for unknown reason. My throat became very tight and voice became funny again. However, I broadcast very frequently on Periscope through the day and even answered many questions raised by viewers. I would suggest my son to outline several subjects he is interested in during the summer break and start helping him building his online presence.
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