Raincharm’s Weblog

Yes, we were at a Mariner’s game tonight.
The Mariners won 7-0. A fast hitting start, singles, doubles, triples and home runs. Followed by a pitching gem.

But this isn’t about the Mariners. And it is not even about Carl. It is about me.

I have played a little softball in my time, but it was the slow-pitch variety. But I was never what I would call a good softball player. My at bats generally ended up with the ball in the infield between first and second. I got on base a bit, because I could run and a lot of the second basemen on the other team were also not so good. On defense I usually played catcher. It did not require as much depth perception, which I sorely lack, as outfield. It also keeps you involved in the game, which I like.

After college I played on company teams here and there. In Colorado I was usually playing with guys that would run in to cover home plate, leaving their base open. This resulted in some odd plays, but I was kind of OK with being shoved out of the way.

When I played with my current employer, a few years ago now, I continued with my catching duties. The difference with this team is that they expected I would actually be able to play the position. So in one of our first games there was going to be a play at the plate. Our shortstop, a true athlete, fired the ball home while the rather large male runner was closing the gap between third and home. Low and behold I caught the ball (man it hit the glove hard) and held it in front of me to tag the runner out (also a rather hard hit). But it worked, and I still remember the play.

Today, after 25 years of attending baseball games, watching others play BP and catch balls, I CAUGHT A BALL. Now I have gotten 2 or 3 other balls in BP, either thrown up by players, or bouncing in after hitting the seats. But this one was on the fly, from home plate, hit by the Oakland Athletics Travis Buck.

To set the stage, I was sitting in our seats, front row, right center field. The crowd was relatively small. Carl got three balls – one on the fly and two others thrown up. Earlier there had been an early teen hanging out, talking with Carl. He had at least two balls, both thrown up I think. He left and a man with his son showed up and started calling for balls. Two more boys showed up – and it was one of the boy’s 9th birthday. A player threw a ball to the birthday boy – nicely done. More than a few balls were flying our direction, and we got into a little dance. I would stand up and the boys would slide in whatever direction they thought would work best for their chances to catch or call, sliding in front of me several times. I joked with the lady behind me that my glove was strictly for defensive purposes – for protection. She said she expected me to protect her.

So Buck is up and hits a mighty wallop. I stand up, the kids slide in front of me. I am expecting them to catch the ball, and it is coming right at us. They both reach up, but at some point it registered that I am the tallest one there, and I don’t think they are going to catch it, so I stick up my mitt …

SMACK – just a little sting. I look in the mitt – and there it is – still. It didn’t pop out. I just started laughing and turned around to find Carl. He saw it all and was laughing too. The people around are saying great catch, and an Oakland pitcher is pretending to bow down to me. I don’t know that it was a great catch, more of a reaction.

Batting practice continued, and then ended. When the boys were getting ready to leave for their seats I gave them two of the balls that Carl had gotten earlier, so they each had a ball. The Dad told another person in our row that he really appreciated that – I hope they had a happy birthday game. [Carl does this kind of thing all the time, but I was the one at the seats with most of the balls today.]

It was fun, and many of the regulars stopped by. Of course they know this was a rare event. I have always had the fewest balls from batting practice in our family. But now, at least, I can say I caught one too.

Like pigs to the slaughter. I don’t know why that saying is in my head, but it is.
I have been vaccinated, and now am preparing myself to go out into the weather and watch a Mariner’s game. This is where the “true fans” separate from the “fair weather fans.” It has been sunny at times today. But the temperature may only reach 60 degrees for a moment or so. So my dilemma, is what to wear. Or rather, how much to wear. I am currently seeing 4 or 5 layers on top, and probably 2 plus a blanket for the half that sits. Gloves, hat, …and a heated pad would be nice.

I have been scheduling a lot of things lately.
Sometimes I have made good decisions.
Sometimes not so good.

Like getting tickets to a play I really want to see, ASSUMING when my soccer game would be. Bad assumption, now I have a conflict, and a fairly high price to change tickets to seats that are not as good. So – I am keeping the conflict and going to miss a game. That is my decision, but unfortunately it is a decision that affects others as well. First of all the team (whether this is seen as a good or bad decision is up to them). Secondly – Ashlan, who is bound by my decision as well – probably.

I have also scheduled lots of visits now for a study on the swine flu vaccine, as I got accepted to be a guinea pig. Should be interesting.

Ashlan has scheduled a visit home – and appears to be requesting a ride back. She may have neglected to realize that it is not a holiday in the US even though it is in CA, and both parents are supposed to be working. I will be consulting my work calendar shortly.

Other schedules for the holiday season will be forthcoming shortly. (too soon – aaaaah). I was out buying an implement of weed destruction this evening and there were many different holiday items for sale. Halloween, T-Day (US or CA) and Christmas. I guess now is the time for those that plan to buy. My neighbor saw my implement of destruction and decided it was medieval and that Carl should mind his P’s and Q’s.

Now that I have one more implement to play with the weather has turned. I think it is winter now. Temperatures were in the 50s and 60s, but the wind was gusting, rain was pouring and there was thunder, lightning and hail. No snow, so I guess it is now autumn.

The weather tested my resolve to walk to any massage appointments since they are within 6 blocks of home.  The massage, of course, conflicted with the Mariners game tonight, for which I had a ticket. I think Carl got it to some deserving soul, so no harm done.

The Mariners are close to ending their season (Sunday), since they are not going to the playoffs. The last three games are usually attended by our family, or what portion of our family is in town. One of our friends is in a play, leading role, and the last three shows are in direct conflict with the Mariners. Don’t know exactly how that is going to play out….

No inspiration today.
But I worked through several work items, even coming to conclusion on a few.
One new one perked it’s head up with a due date – so I guess that is where to go next.
All of these things are individual customer driven.
I want to work on the big picture anvil hanging over my head instead.

On another front. I am vitalized by exciting times for others in my life. I can feel the anticipation of the unknown. And I mean a lot of unknowns all at once. It probably feels more daunting than exciting when you’re at the eye of the storm, but still… Oh, to be at a crossroads again.

But wait, that doesn’t mean I am not content in my, “I have a job, and a mortgage, and goodness knows how many other bills,” status. I am.

And that is why I often lack inspiration.

First of all – I blame the coffee. Unusual for a Seattleite, but I had coffee too far into the day yesterday, so I stayed up late, so I got up late. But I do not shut off my alarm on the weekend. [too worried I won’t remember to turn it back on] I just listen to the radio on those Saturday and Sunday afternoons, or turn it off. The radio is tuned to the local NPR station.

This morning as I sort of woke up, they were talking about the UP! (Upper Peninsula of Michigan. I really forget it is not a common acronym when you get far away from Michigan.) Even wanting to listen did not completely wake me up, and they would go to the news or other bits occasionally. So when I finally woke up for real, I went to the computer and spent the better part of an hour listening to all of the segments. It is focused on the Marquette area folks.

For those that loved the movie Fargo for the accents, check these out, you won’t be disappointed, and they are real.

One of the segments is on pasties and specifically on the Lawry Pasties.
Quick story. In about 1980 I had a used 1976 Mustang that I drove from Colorado to the cabin (in the UP) for a summer vacation. Somewhere in Nebraska (I think) I got some bad gas. On the trip out in various backwaters we had the fuel filter and fuel pump changed out (2 different stops). Going up a hill the car would lose power and sputter. This seemed to do the trick. That is until the trip home started. As soon as we were on a hill of any kind it would start to lose power again. I pulled over to a corner store in Ishpeming, and the kind kid (with the strongest accent I have ever heard) told me there was a Ford dealership in Marquette. Glancing at the Colorado plate he then told me where Marquette was located. The Marquette dealership was kind enough to squeeze us in to their schedule, that is after a drive around the city in which a butterfly kamakazied on my arm out the window, and the car finally lost power for the mechanic.

So – my friend and I are waiting in the dealer’s showroom, and decided to have lunch. As luck would have it, my father had purchased pasties from Marie’s (I think) in the Soo the day before, heated them up in the morning and wrapped them in newspaper to keep them warm for our trip. When we unwrapped them and the smell filled the room, several workers popped out of their offices and asked if we had bought them at Laurie’s. (My mind spelling, which I now realize would be Lawry’s.)

For the autophiles, the problem was finally located in the gas filter directly at the fuel tank, which they replaced. No further problems with loss of power until we almost ran out of gas in South Dakota. Their work had apparently knocked the gas gauge a bit out of whack, so it did not appear at E when in fact it was. Just a short run down the exit ramp after push starting the car with my friend in the driver’s seat, and coasting into the gas station.

I have  been rather lazy with posting lately, so will try to summarize the last few days.

Wednesday-Thursday: Don’t really remember too much unique about these days. Work, drive, eat, talk. Did do some additional work in the backyard. Two trees came down last year. Now 90% of the grass has been taken up. (It wasn’t really grass, it was a mixture of moss, weeds and a smattering of grass.) What we (good friend Doug mostly) have discovered, is that the roots of the large tree now gone are very, very close to the surface. To reinvigorate the soil with amendments and roto tilling really requires getting these roots out. They are also big. They have been exposed, but getting them out is a different matter entirely. I may call the tree guy to see if his stump grinder can take care of them as well. I would like to get the new lawn installed before the winter rains hit. The edge planting areas can wait, but a winter to establish roots would be good. My good growing friend at work says at this point in the season we should be thinking sod not seed. It will soon be too cold for the seed to really take and we would just have to repeat in the spring.

Friday: Blood sucking – twice. Two studies, completely separate. They both want blood draws, and I did schedule them sort of back to back to minimize time away from work. The first is for the long term aging/memory study that I have been in for 10 years roughly. I give blood fairly regularly and go to the North Seattle center or a church near work. This study draw was at the downtown Puget Sound Blood Center. Even though it was only a small draw they said I could have coffee, drinks, snacks afterwards (they had asked me to not eat or drink other than water before the draw). Since I had more than an hour before my next appointment, I went to their sitting area. They have a machine that grinds and brews Starbucks coffee by the cup. It was excellent. I may have to change my donation site.
The second draw was for a new study – for the H1N1 vaccine. If I pass this initial screening I will be given the vaccine, or rather one of 5 levels of the vaccine. I will find out on Monday probably.
Took a walk in the evening to the Wallingford Wurst festival. Carl enjoyed a white wurst with sauerkraut. We had sausage at work earlier, so I just enjoyed the crowd and ambiance. This festival is a fundraiser for a local catholic school. One of Carl’s kids is going to preschool there this year. It is a favorite of mine, not only for the food but for the truly local draw and effort.

Today: Planning to take a walk. To another annual local food event, the St. Demetrios Greek Festival. This is a longer walk, and we usually drive. But it is sunny today and a long walk will be a good way to balance the food intake. Walk is done, about 5.5 miles total, modest length. [But the last mile is all uphill, so tired legs at the end.] Midpoint food report. Gyros (mmmm), Spanakopita (spinach & cheese in phillo pastry), Tiropita (feta cheese baked in phillo pastry, Loukoumathes (fried pastry with honey & cinnamon)[Carl called these Elephant ba**s, instead of Elephant Ears], and Greek coffee.

Oh – Rey, hope you are feeling better.
Ashlan – hope school is going well. And here is a comic you should really enjoy given this summer (look for 9/26/09 if it comes up with a different date)

I don’t know how far away from technical summer it has to be to be an Indian Summer, but today would certainly qualify. I, the cold one, took a walk after getting home late from work, stopped for dinner at a Mexican restaurant (Taco’s Guayamos I think), and walked home – in a short sleeved shirt and shorts. Half of the walk was after the sun had set. And without real benefit of hot flashes I only had one flash of, “it’s getting colder”.

Extreme hecticness as work, muscles still recovering from soccer sunday, time for bed.

Summer is not over yet, so we got another summery day today.
Had a soccer game at 9:15 this AM, and it was sunny throughout. No need to worry about long pants and sweatshirts.
Then on to the Mariners/Yankees game. Sunny there too, after the sun got high enough to get over the building shield. About the first inning. Luckily I still had my blanket in my backpack to help me through to the sun.

Last night – Yankees win – wearing bluejeans, t-shirt, fleece jacket, rain jacket, hat and blanket.
This afternoon – Mariners WIN! – wearing shorts, t-shirt and hat. Blanket went bye-bye as soon as the shadow left.

TIRED! All this being outdoors is great, but I seem to get more tired. (Of course it could be 90 minutes of soccer with no substitutions. After a summer of lots of walking but really no running.)

The last few posts have been about doing nice things, for others.
I was picturing in my mind the small things we do for one or a few others.
Last night Ichiro made 28,935 people happy in a matter of a few seconds.
Walk off home run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth.
First pitch – GONE. [capital letters because there was no doubt about it from the moment it left the bat.]

Probably not all 28, 935 people were happy. Some had left already, so we don’t know.
And the Yankees always draw a few fans that are draped in their regalia. (front runners)
But the cheer was louder than any cheer from earlier in the game.

And the Tennessee Smokies won their game too, in the bottom of the ninth, to stay alive in their Championship Series.
Rey’s boss had said they can lose money in post-season games due to lower attendance. School has started, a little cooler, tourists have gone home. They are helping their cause with today’s game by showing the Tennessee football game against Florida on their big-screen before the game. Good idea!

Time to work on some “home arithmetic”. That’s what my Dad always called it. I have been remiss since coming back from vacation, so this could take a little longer than usual to gather and balance.

To explain the previous post a bit more.

One of the things they tell you at the end of the Breast Cancer 3-Day walk is that you will experience a let down. A day or two later you will probably feel depressed.

I think I agree. This year I noticed it in myself, in hindsight of course. I blew up at everybody at once after arriving at the cabin. It was over a matter of garbage sorting, a subject dear to my heart. (No – really – it is.) At least I didn’t take the time to focus on one or two unlucky souls, I gave it to everyone. They could then bond over the figuring out what just flew at them.

After Seattle’s event I was just generally grumpy and sullen for a few days. I hope those around me get over it. I have.

I think the reason for the downward trend is the incredible level of support that is provided on the 3-Day. There is a real, common, important goal and a group focus. The petty items that pick at you day in and day out seem to disappear. Then it is back to reality. As they always say in the closing, “No one is going to cheer for you when you cross the street Monday morning.”

For me, the nice thing about being an eternal optimist is that it is hard to stay down for long.