The Autistic Arbiter

Well, everyone, it's Thursday. And that means it's time for another post. "But why, A.A.?" you ask. "Why Thursday? Does that day carry any special meaning for you?" In a word - no. But if you look at the publication dates of the two previous posts, perhaps you'll notice something. A pattern, even. You see, they're seven days apart. Seven days. One week. I don't recall having done that on purpose, but since the pattern has been established, it only makes sense to continue it. I love patterns. From alliteration to palindromes to symmetry, I find beauty in them. They comfort me. They make sense to me. Consider the following arrangement: Let's ignore the box sitting off to the side, and just focus on the eight "XS" boxes. Why are they set up in this manner? How does a 2-3-3 arrangement make any sense at all? Now consider this alternate arrangement of these boxes: A 3-2-3 arrangement is symmetrical and palindromic. But look - there are t...

"I wear my sunglasses at night so I can, so I can..." Everyone knows this line from Corey Hart's famous 1983 song aptly titled "Sunglasses at Night." Though no specific instances of hearing this song as a boy come to mind, having a mother who graduated from high school in 1985 meant that '80s music was ubiquitous in our household, so it was probably played many times on the radio or the record player when I was growing up. In recent days, I've been thinking of these words in a new way. Even before receiving my official diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder, I would sometimes find myself wanting to "retreat inside my own head," so to speak. This would usually happen when I was particularly upset about something. In an attempt to close myself off from the world around me, I would don sunglasses and/or industrial ear protection and just go about my business. Once I no longer felt filled with too much of what I describe as "negative energy,...

Over the weekend of April 28-30, 2023, I had the privilege of participating in Washington Youth Soccer's President's Cup as a match official. The competition took place at the Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila, Washington, approximately 150 miles north of where I live. I packed two bags for the two-night, three-day trip. The brown bag contained my regular clothes, while the blue bag was for my referee gear. I decided to get the air in my tires checked and, if necessary, topped off before hitting the road, so I stopped at Les Schwab, which provides this service free of charge. (Sorry about the glare in the pic; I stayed in the car during the inspection.) After Les Schwab, I went to get some gas. My 2008 Toyota Prius seems to average ~42 mpg, so I figured I'd be able to make the entire round trip on a single tank. Spoiler alert - I did it! After getting fuel for my car, I needed fuel for my body, so Jersey Mike's Subs became my next stop. I'd never eaten there before...