This is maybe the most iconic day in the United States that isn’t also an official national holiday. Even people who don’t care about football (and they are legion) are affected by the fact that everyone else is watching the game. (And besides, there’s nothing much on TV except the game and a bunch of reruns.)

Those of us who do watch the Super Bowl often watch it with friends and family. It’s a communal thing, enjoyed more when shared with people of similar interests. I had that chance today, to watch the game with David and Kylie, but I foolishly passed. Or maybe not so foolishly, because last night I was feeling so feverish that I looked through my medicine cabinet for a thermometer.

As it turned out, I didn’t find the thermometer, and by today I wasn’t feeling sick. Just tired, as if I’d run a marathon a day for the last week or so. And anyway, David and Tammy were out late last night, so I figured they could use the rest as much as I could. That’s my excuse, but I kind of wish I’d gone ahead and watched with them. I haven’t had a lot of opportunities to spend time with them lately.

But I watched the game at home alone, and it was okay. I could turn away when it got tedious, and I could take notes on the commercials, in case I wanted to do an entry critiquing them. They were nearly as interesting as the game, and there were a few really good ones. But without an Internet connection, I couldn’t even check and see what other people were saying about them.

That’s another disadvantage of my dead phone line. I have to rely on my own unfiltered thoughts to decide how I feel about something like this. It’s way farther out on a limb than I’m use to being.