5 Thoughts for December 31, 2015

1. USC Football: That final USC play in the Holiday Bowl perfectly encapsulates USC football and Cody Kessler this season. You've got 7 seconds left in the game and it's fourth and 10, so you throw the ball wide to a receiver who ran the route short of the 1st down. Last year it was a defense that would lose games on last second throws. This year it was a team that often didn't know what it's supposed to be doing. Signs: Leaving receivers uncovered on defense; allowing defensive players to come untouched through the line and straight to the quarterback; throwing short of the 1st down, on 4th down; dead ball personal fouls.
2. Northern Lights: No, there will not be northern lights in Portland tonight or tomorrow, contrary to what some folks in the news media have been saying. How do I know this? Because I've looked at the Aurora Forecast Center at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks' website and it clearly shows that the northern lights won't be visible in Portland.
3. Metromile: I got a year-end email statement, telling me that I drove 1,370 miles this past year. Yep, I fill up my gas tank about 6x a year. They also have a blog post about some other stats they've gathered from customers. Apparently Metromile users in Portland Oregon, average 4,940 miles this past year. It's been over a decade since I last averaged that much.
4. Sling TV: Ironically, I've stopped trying to use SlingTV via Chromecast, to watch football games on the big TV, and have instead used my SlingTV account to sign into ESPN WatchNOW, and cast that Chrome tab to the TV. Flawless. Ironic, but flawless.
5. New Year Resolutions: Next year, I am resolved to get done what I said I would do, last year, which was the same thing I had previously resolved to do the year before -- obviously I don't believe in New Years resolutions. Since I was in elementary school, I'd write them down at school, then promptly ignore them. I am comfortable with who I am, and have basically ignored what other people think of me, since I was 3 feet tall. Really.