Free(dom) Food

My day was shortened today by a deep slumber I only broke out of at 1:40 pm, I’m happy to say. A Sunday morning well spent.

I went to the kitchen after waking up, and my flatmate told me about some free food which had been dropped off in front of each residence hall earlier that morning, and asked me if I wanted to go commandeer some. I told him that commandeering free food was one of the few sources of real joy in my life, so we went outside to get some. Immediately, I was struck by how warm it was outside. Today was about 50 degrees Fahrenheit; a beautiful day, and perfect conditions for food commandeering. We walked over to the pile of free microwaveable rib, beef and chicken sandwiches (each of these meats had their own respective sandwich, though the prospect of combining all three into one "sandwich to rule them all" is very intriguing) and took a couple boxes for ourselves. On the way back, we noticed the large stack of sandwiches in front of our own dorm which we had walked within two feet of and somehow managed not to notice, so we took a couple more from that stack.

The sandwiches were being given away because most of them were intended to be eaten by today’s date, so presumably they will grow intense amounts of mold as soon as the clock strikes twelve midnight. I did my best to remedy the situation by consuming four of the delicacies over the course of the last eight hours, but we still have a bit of a problem on our hands, since twenty-five sandwiches remain uneaten. It’s a monstrous problem, for which I see no easy solution, so I have trouble keeping despair at bay as I shove the delicious rib sandwiches down my throat. It’s just one thing after another. One sandwich, that is.

I went to the gym with my flatmate and worked on my upper body with him for a couple hours. It was nice to lift again, and we are of similar strength, so we make good lifting partners. Later, I headed back out to the gym to try out for the Queen Mary basketball team. We began the tryout with a fitness test called the Beep Test, which is apparently pretty common in England. It is an endurance test. With about twenty other kids, I ran back and forth on the gym floor for about ten minutes, gradually raising the pace every fifth length. It was a difficult test, but I think I passed. I scored a ten, which was what the coach told us to aim for. There is another tryout practice on Wednesday I'm supposed to go to in order to make the team.

The rest of the practice, we ran a three-on-two, two-on-one drill, tested our vertical jumps and scrimmaged for a little while. I played pretty typical Kevin basketball, which, for those of you who haven’t experienced the phenomenon, is well-described by my performance today. The first incidence occurred on a down-and-back. I ran to the far end of the court, turned around and pushed off to run back and immediately leveled another kid trying out for the team. He fell flat on his back and I yelled an apology as I ran off. The second incidence occurred during the three-on-two, two-on-one drill when a kid tried to steal a pass directed towards me. Our arms interlocked and I nearly unintentionally ripped his out of the socket going for the ball, which I quickly apologized for. The third (count ‘em, three) incidence occurred during the scrimmage when, in the mysterious way I have, I jabbed a kid in the hip with my elbow and he excused himself for several plays to limp around on the sidelines. I may not be a basketball player, but if they need a battering ram, I think I’m first in line.

I think I can make the team, but I’m not sure if I want to play even if I do make it. If I were to play a sport, I would prefer rugby, and I may not even play that because I don’t want to be tied down in case I would like to travel on the weekends. Decisions, decisions….

Anyways, I just finished up my fifth rib sandwich of the day and feel an urgent need to lie down. If I wake up in the morning, I’m sure you’ll hear from me again tomorrow.