Applied and identified

It was mixed day of mostly non-productivity, however by necessity. I had to spend two hours of the morning getting badges for my newest employees, and then two hours of my afternoon taking care of final details of Darby and Shelby's transfer application for public school. Both tasks completely necessary, but leaving me with not much to show for of my work day since I was out of the office for half of it.

In particular, the afternoon task required much driving around town. I had to stop by the girls current school for standardized test scores, meet up with their mother to get some papers, and of course swing by their prospective new school to turn everything in. We don't find out for a month if they get in.

Speaking of test scores, I was rather surprised by the results of the girls' Stanford scores, which were from last year (they test in the next couple weeks for this year). While Shelby tested mostly at the first grade level (her grade at the time of the test), there were a few surprises in the results. For Darby, there were many surprises. In particular the fact that her overall reading level was rated at 7th grade, though she was only in third at the time of the test. Actually, of the eight major categories tracked, she scored above her own grade level in all but one (math, not a surprise). The real kicker was that in one of the reading subcategories, "word study skills", she score at the 11th grade level! Her overall level was fifth grade.

Album update

Not that I'm all enthused about another photo of myself or anything, but at work we took new photos of the team, so since it was there, I went ahead and put the new pic of me into the album. For the record.


The back story: In the pic, I'm about to burst out laughing, because the photo attempt just prior, I was standing more in the center of the fake shrub behind me, so it looked like I was wearing a leafy hat or something. We had to retake off-center, but the laughter kept flowing, making it difficult to hold a semi-straight face.

Budding artists?

It's that time of year when the girls' school has their local art show. Historically both girls have had artwork accepted to the show, but this year Darby's art was not taken, while Shelby's was accepted. Strange. Shelby will actually have three works on display, but I picked my favorite of the three to post here. I'll let you know how the show, which is next month, goes.


Update, 30 March
I was misinformed. Darby did, in fact, get accepted to participate in her school art show, but with different art than what she brought home the other day. Here's my fav. She, also, will have three works on display.

Drilling for tornados

We had two, count 'em TWO, tornado drills at work today. I'm mostly fine with that, but they had one at around 12:30, and the other at 5:20, both periods of reduced population in my building. Seems like those are the worst times to have such drills. Plus, people coming in from lunch would go straight upstairs, not realizing there was even a drill. How is that helpful?

Eight below no more

Having just signed up for baseball, we spent much of the afternoon at the park getting some glove-time in. After our session of catch, the girls played at the playground for a couple hours.

Intending to finally see Eight Below, we went downtown to grab a bite to eat before catching the movie... but that was a mistake. The downtown restaurants were all VERY packed. Wait times were 1-3 hours for the most part. We did finally find a place with a 40-minute wait time, though it was going to be close to the movie start time before we could get out of there. When we were finally seated we had twenty minutes before show time. We ordered right away and I explained to the server our predicament. The server was quite helpful in moving us along, so we got out of there just in time and didn't miss any of the movie.

Darby LOVED the movie (she's a big-time dog person), though not the sad parts of course (SPOILER: only six of the eight dogs make it out alive). Shelby didn't get to watch the movie because of her school behavior the last couple weeks, so she had to stay at the day care. Of all the kid movies we've seen the last couple months, this one was definitely one of the more parent-friendly.

Baseball signup

Darby's softball team is not playing this Spring season due to lack of players. So I got Darby signed up on a co-ed baseball team so she doesn't miss a season of ball. She's played almost continuously since she was 4. This should be interesting, as it's been a couple years since she's been on a co-ed team.

Yao-ser

With plans to attend a Hornets game tonight with some family, I needed to leave work early. But I didn't. So we were behind from the start. Then I learned that Darby didn't get her homework done in after-care as I had asked. So she almost got to not go to the game, but she only had math and was able to get it done in the 15-20 minutes we had prior to heading to the game.

It turns out Darby could have had plenty more time. While we planned to get to the game early because the crowd was expecting to be large due to Yao Ming's presence in OKC, my aunt forgot the tickets at her house, 20-minutes south of my dad's, where we were meeting-up. So she had to head back to her house for the tickets, which put us rather behind.

We did make it to the seats just in time for the start of the game, but it wasn't without some complication (further delay due to afforementioned big crowd traffic, another brief who-has-the-tickets moment, etc).





The game was reasonably exciting. The Hornets were winning at the half (54-45), but had a TERRIBLE third quarter (10 pts) and so fell behind for most of the rest of the game. They took the lead again late in the 4th, but couldn't hold on and lost by one. Oh, and that halftime show... OUCH!

Spring my butt

It's snowing. Right now. And it's entirely uncalled for. I am disappointed in the sun for failing in its duty to "light and heat the earth".


UPDATE, 23 MARCH
Yeah, there was like almost two inches of snow on the car this morning. NOT cool. Though fortunately it was all melted before the day was over.

Sigh of report card relief

Report cards are in today. I was a little worried about how Shelby's would be because of her recent performance (6 of the last 7 school days she hasn't finished her classwork in class). Fortunately she had all Bs and one C, an improvement form last quarter. Darby had four As and three Bs.

Spring sneaks-in mostly unannounced

A cold, damp morning greeted the first Spring day, unduly depriving us non-winter-people of that much hoped-for clean-break feeling. That winter water-shed so to speak.

When I left work, it did seem as though Spring were trying hard to show itself. Literally half the sky was sunny, and the other half was cloudy. It was somewhat warm (though windy) and a double rainbow briefly poked out as though to say, I'm here, really, and I'm coming... just give me a sec to shake off this terrible hangover.

Trouble is, it's not supposed to get out of the forties the next few days. Not exactly conducive to that Spring Clean(break) feeling.

So, so tired of the rain

I'm a big Pearl Jam fan, so if I wanted to live in Seattle, I'd have gone there by now. I know we need the rain, but four straight days of rain is just enough already.

But I guess the weather was appropriate for the activity of the day. Today was the memorial service for my friend's mother-in-law. It was a rather emotional event.

Same story, different dog

Having promised the girls for awhile now to take them to see Eight Below, I figured today would be the day. However, they both had their hearts set on seeing the Shaggy Dog. So that's what we saw. They both REALLY liked it (though I thought it was just okay), and Darby even said it was the funniest movie she ever saw. Clearly she has a short memory. Personally I would have probably liked Eight Below better.

Successful launch

Failure to Launch was, contrary to what the critics seem to imply, not such a failure. I'll not go around saying it was a GREAT movie, but it was VERY funny. I spent the majority of the movie laughing. Much of that at the character played by Zooey Deschanel. She's funny, and picks roles wisely. She was perfect for this film. If you're bummed or otherwise seeking the experience of laughter, go see this flick. If you're expecting oscar caliber cinematography... why the heck are you here anyway?

Almost lost it over lost luggage

When I questioned the people in Rapid City about getting my $50 reimbursement for the replacement items I had to buy when they misplaced my luggage, they said there wasn't enough time to process the paperwork because the plane was about to leave. They said they'd make a note in the computer that I'd do it in Oklahoma City.

So when I got off the plane in OKC, knowing it takes them way too long to get the baggage off the plane and to the baggage claim, I went straight to the ticket counter to process my lost luggage claim paperwork. Only to be told I was erroneously informed about the process. The guy said they didn't owe me $50 because they got me my luggage within 24-hours. He said what I was told (about being reimbursed for items I had to buy so I could attend my meeting) was contrary to the airline's policy.

As you might guess, I was pretty displeased with the way the conversation had gone. I was about to lose it. However, I explained one more time the full sequence of events, showed the guy the comments block on my paperwork where the lady wrote "reimburse $50". Finally he said, "well, it's on them anyway, not me, so I'm just going to write the check."

After getting the check, I went to baggage claim, and within a few seconds, my luggage was there on the conveyor for me. I went straight to the bank from the airport to cash my reimbursement check in case they changed their minds. Then I went to work to do my expense report. Glad that's all over with.

Unintentionally inconsiderate

I did a terrible job at getting sleep last night, so I woke up later than expected and was rushing all the way to the airport. I did make it by fifteen minutes prior to the listed departure time, but as I walked up to the gate, they were announcing "last call for boarding", so I'm comfortable saying I barely made it.

I was mostly packed last night, so that wasn't too big a deal, but I really needed to not hit snooze this morning (I failed). Then I wasn't expecting more snow, so I had to scrape the coating off the rental car when I was already behind. After I checked out of the hotel, I grabbed a complimentary muffin for breakfast on the go (a treat, as I don't usually eat breakfast). It didn't help my hurry that the airport is ten miles outside the city.

At most airports I've been to in the last several years, you pull up to a "rental car return" area and someone gives you a receipt and takes the car. Expecting a similar routing (incorrectly), I didn't think the rental return would take much time at all. However, at the small regional airport, you park the car yourself in roughly the same area you got it from, which it turns out is about the furthest away from the terminal possible. It was 14 degrees and I had packed my heavy jacket away to save airplane seat space, so I was rather chilly, dragging my bag behind me with one hand, my laptop backpack on, and the muffin I grabbed earlier in the other hand.

The check-in process was longer than expected because I had questions about being reimbursed my $50 from the lost luggage replacement items. When I finally got to security, I heard them announce boarding for my flight. I started to hurry more, and in the process I inadvertently crushed my muffin. Bummer. Holding it all that time I started to get hungry.

So I was pretty much the last person on the plane, and when I got to my seat I was next to a lady with two kids, one young enough to sit on her lap. I expected bad things from this experience, but I tried to remain open minded as I have two kids and so shouldn't rush to judgment about someone else's.

Right before we got underway, a flight attendant asked if I wanted to move to an open seat in the exit row. Feeling like it might give the impression of offense to the lady with children, I declined. However, it would appear as though that was the wrong decision. After I decided not to move seats, the lady huffed and puffed a few times, and made comments to her kids like, "no honey, don't do that, it's very cramped in here". It was only an hour long flight, but she had to sit there with that kid on her lap the whole time. I had actually fallen asleep, a by-product I'm sure of my lack of sleep last night, and was only occasionally awaken by the lady's comments/actions.

So I considered moving my seat half-way through the flight, but then it really seemed like it would be saying, "you're bothering me, I'm moving". I had no ill will in staying in my assigned seat. And let's not forget that every flight I've been on during this trip has been full, so how could I have assumed there were free seats? Somehow I still find myself feeling as though I did something wrong, something greatly inconsiderate.

So once we landed, I got out of there quickly, to get that whole situation behind me, not that the guilt didn't follow. Now I'm serving out my 3.5 hour layover in Minneapolis. I've found a comfy sports bar not far from my gate. The chips were horribly stale, but the BBQ brisket sandwich was decent. I'm sitting in the middle of four TVs with various flavors of news, and one sports channel, which I found a little strange. Seems like a sports bar should have more sports than news.

Hopefully, the airline doesn't lose my bags again in the three hour wait.

A passing, untimely

A good friend called me a short while ago with bad news. Her mother-in-law had passed. I knew her mother-in-law, who was always very nice to me, and I was fairly shocked to hear the news. While she always commanded respect, seemingly without effort, there was never a hint of condescension, a rare combination in a manager/matriarch with such wide influence. It's a shame it was so sudden.

Not so long ago, I did some computer work for their family business, and it was evident how important she was to that operation. She managed so many aspects of the day-to-day operation, it's going to take them some time to just to get back to normal.

My condolences to the family and employees. She will be missed by many, and in many ways.

Rushmore after all

I didn't anticipate getting to see one of the nation's great (and truly out of the way) monuments while here in Rapid City, nor did I have any idea when I'd get back up this way again. Because the work agenda had us working until five or later each day, and with the margin between then and sunset, considering it's 30 miles south of here, I just didn't think it would happen.

Well, today, we finished up a little earlier than expected, and while on they way back to my hotel, I saw the sign pointing the way to Rushmore. In a moment of (rare) spontaneity, I turned off the highway, toward a seriously unknown path. I had done no research, I had no maps, both my work and personal laptops were back at the hotel, and I generally had no idea what to expect of the journey. All I knew for sure was that I was in the right state, and that I had plenty of gas.

I must admit that I figured you could maybe see it far away while on a highway or something. You know, off in the distance. But I was very much not correct. You really have to get up into the mountain roads to get anywhere near where you can get a glimpse. It's out of the way and not exactly a quick endeavor. And while I only spent a whole ten minutes there (the touristy stuff was closed), I'm glad I made the effort.

I was worried about making it before sunset because the lack of light would ruin any potential photo ops, but I was fortunate to have barely made it. As you can see from the couple decent pics I took, the sun is clearly behind the mountain and on its way down. Here's a couple more that are less common to see.

So I'm not saying to drive all this way just to see Rushmore, but if you're anywhere in the area, do make the effort. I wish I had the time/sunlight to have made the additional 11 mile journey to see Crazy Horse. Maybe "next time" if there is one.

Fire and ice

Not long after I learned there are wildfires not all that far from my house in Oklahoma, it started to snow pretty heavily here in South Dakota. Like the several inches of snow on the ground already wasn't enough. Only 1-2 inches is expected according to weather.com, but it hasn't been snowing very long and it looks like it's already at an inch.

Finally some relief

I had A LOT of work today. Eight to five jam packed. Yet all day I wondered about my luggage. Where could it be? I called the hotel twice to see if it had shown up. Nope.

But I was surprised/relieved to find it was here when I got in from work. I'm so glad to not have to worry about it further, or buy more clothes from walmart, or shiver when the wind blows because I'm in a light jacket. Especially since it's supposed to snow tomorrow. Not that we need more. The remnants of the 11 inches from the weekend is still largely apparent. The roads are good, though. They know how to do it here.

Tonight's mission? Eat, drink, and be sleeping, very deeply. My lack of sleep the last two days, perhaps in addition to the stress, has thumped me good.

Welcome to the suck

If you've seen the movie "Jarhead", you're familiar with the proper usage and context of the phrase "welcome to the suck". If you haven't seen the movie, I'm here to give you a superb utilization example in the form of a recollection of my day.

When I got home last night, it was straight to laundry and packing, in preparation for my next departure in less than twenty-four hours. Having stayed up late for that, and knowing I was entering a cold-zone, I took extra time this morning to make sure I got SOME sleep, and that I had some semi-warm gear packed. I went to work for about five hours, and then headed out to the airport.

When I got to the OKC airport, the problems cropped up immediately. The check-in line was unbearably slow, and I heard things like "missed flight" and "weather delays" said to or by other passengers. I even heard someone be told they could come back tomorrow to catch the next flight. I didn't like what I was hearing. I felt a bad omen overcast.

The wait became further agonizing when one of the two counter people disappeared for awhile, and none of this is to mention the fact that I WAS ALREADY CHECKED-IN! I checked in on the net last night and only had to check my luggage.

I noticed I was running more behind than I would have liked when I finally got my bag checked. So I rushed over to security, did the ridiculously usual disassembly/reassembly routine, and got to the gate as quickly as I could to make sure everything was in order for a timely departure.

I was immediately struck-odd as I noticed that my flight information was not listed on the gate marquee. I double checked the gate number. I knew the gate had been re-verified only minutes ago by the check-in lady, so I had to stand there in complete knowledgelessness until SOMEbody made some kind of announcement. It was probably twenty minutes before I knew anything. At all. Turns out the flight before mine, which was scheduled to depart at 3:40pm, had still not departed two hours later. Oh, and not only did that flight not get off the ground for another twenty or thirty minutes, but that whole time my flight was on the ground, waiting for the gate to become available (along with another plane that was to follow mine). Somewhere in all this I also learned that my connecting airport (Minneapolis) had been closed earlier today due to the snow, creating some nationwide delays. Ugh.

We did finally get off the ground, quite late, but in my waiting to find out details I didn't take a minute to get any dinner, not knowing how much time I had before they started boarding. If it were any indication, the scheduled arrival time in Minneapolis was 7:42pm, though it was 9pm when I stepped off the plane. While that might seem sucky enough all on its own, my scheduled departure from Minneapolis was 9:06pm, so my long layover seemed to have been nicely reduced (though in truth there was no way I could have made the connection in six minutes). That is, until I learned the plane that was to take me to my destination hadn't yet left Dallas, and that the estimated departure from Minneapolis was now midnight, three hours following my arrival, thereby extending, NOT shortening my layover.

Right about here is when I said to myself, "welcome to the suck". Perhaps it would help if I mentioned that I probably wouldn't be landing at my destination until 12:45am, that it would take time to get a car (possibly a serious issue here -- will they be open/have cars in a small regional airport?), and take time to get to my hotel in what could be poor road conditions. And lastly there's the fact that I have an 8am meeting in the morning, that I've never been to these parts, and that I have no idea where I'm going. Are you feeling the suck yet?

As though the other components of suck weren't enough, I was soon reminded that in Minneapolis it was snowy, cold, and 19 degrees (did I mention it was 85 when I landed in OKC yesterday). And it's a whole 12 degrees at my destination, Rapid City, South Dakota. I'm looking so forward to that. The first order of business upon getting my suitcase will be digging out the heavy jacket, scarf, gloves, and ear muffs.

Aside: It occurred to me that my luggage has probably been sitting in the 19-degree cold for hours now (not to mention the cold of the 2-hour preceding flight). So I'm wondering now if my shampoo will be thawed in the morning when I got to use it.

Just when I thought everything was settling down, they changed the departure gate on me. Twice Three times. Right as I got comfy, had my laptop out, composing this bitter post, and listening to some Hawthorne Heights, they announce a gate change. Now I gotta pack up and move. What is with that? There's not even a plane at this freakin gate, it's not like anyone is in the way!

So I'll have to let you know how the rest of this "adventure" turns out. I predict only further suckage.



UPDATE, 14 MARCH, 5am
THERE'S MORE SUCK WHERE THAT CAME FROM

So the delays continued, and it was 2:05am when I stepped off the plane in Rapid City. THE AIRPORT WAS CLOSED. Seriously, there was nothing else going on except the people getting off my plane, and a skeleton crew of airport employees. Just before I boarded the plane in Minneapolis, I called the Hertz at Rapid City and asked them to wait up for us. Fortunately they did, and I went straight to the rental car counter from the plane, figuring the luggage would take a minute, and wanting to ensure I'd get a vehicle. Fifteen minutes later, I had myself a rental car. And that was about the first right thing to happen all day.

With rental car papers in hand, I went to grab my bag and go. But when I got to the baggage area, I noticed some disarray. People were saying things like "this is the wrong luggage" and "is that all there is?" and suddenly I had the most sinking feeling. Soon, the baggage conveyor stopped and a whole bunch of people were left standing around looking at themselves as though to convey, YOU HAVE GOT TO BE FREAKIN KIDDING ME.

That's right folks, they lost the luggage. Was it the three gate changes? Was it the last minute actual airplane change that I forgot to mention above? Was it some other form of unbelievable stupidity? We'll never know. What I did know was that in mere hours I had a meeting, but I had no toiletries, and no clothes to change into. Holy crap. Suck suck suck.

Even though I had looked three times, I just kept hanging around the baggage looking for my suitcase, hoping it would just show up all the sudden. Everyone else had gone to file missing baggage claims. By 2:33am, I went to join them. And as it turns out, it was a complete failure on my part to have not booked it immediately to the claims area, because I found myself the last in a very long line of really ticked-off people. I started laughing out loud it was getting so ridiculously funny, which got me shut-the-hell-up peers from those in front of me, which was everyone.

It was 3:10am when I stepped outside toward my rental car when I realized... it's freakin cold, I'm wearing short sleeves and a light jacket, and my heavy jacket is packed in my lost luggage.

As I walked out to the rental car I started to get yet another bad feeling. The parking lot was very icy, and I started to think perhaps I should have paid the extra for the rental car liability insurance. And maybe extra for that all-wheel drive vehicle. When I got to my rental (a Camry), there was yet another problem, like I should have been surprised. The car was covered in a thick layer of frost. So I spent ten minutes in the freezing cold wearing a light jacket at three-something in the morning scraping frost off a car that wasn't mine in a city I already wasn't liking much wondering if I would ever get to bed or even make it on time at this point to my meeting.

Well, I did make it, finally, to my hotel room just before 4am. But the clock read nearly 3am. Holy crap, I'm in a different time zone! I get a whole extra hour of bad stuff happening!

Okay, well, I did have something semi-good happen. I passed an OPEN SuperWalmart just before I got to my hotel. I remembered the lost baggage claim lady telling me they'd reimburse me up to $50 if I needed to acquire items prior to them recovering my luggage, so after I got checked into my room, I headed back to the store.

So I bought myself a swell walmart outfit for my meeting in the morning, as well as underwear, socks, and toiletries, totaling $60. While they say they should be able to find and deliver my luggage tomorrow afternoon, if they don't, I'll have to be making another trip to the walmart, or maybe I'll find a mall tomorrow... ahem, later today.

Looks like I'll get a couple hours of sleep anyway. Had there not been a timezone change, I would have been staying up and getting ready for the meeting. Unfortunately I have no hope of more sleep until 8pm at the earliest. And even then, probably not.

This day is brand new, yet I'm already longing for its immediate end.

It's snowing where I'll be in 24 hours

Weather.com shows I'm headed for some white stuff. There's an active "snow warning" there right now. Worse yet, the snow is heading toward the city of my connecting flight. I foresee weather delays, which means my 9:42pm arrival time could become much later. And the forecast, oy. After having just come back from Phoenix (albeit a Phoenix with a cold-snap), 42 as the highest predicted temperature the whole next week is not something I look forward to.

Sports weekend wrap-up

3.5 days (9th-12th), 4 cities (Phoenix, Scottsdale, Tucson, Glendale), 3 sports (basketball, baseball, hockey), and 5 games/venues (Suns-Spurs [U.S. Airways Arena], USA-South Africa [Scottsdale Stadium], Brewers-Japan [Maryvale Baseball Park], Diamondbacks-Mariners [Tucson Electric Park], Coyotes-Mighty Ducks [Glendale Arena]) later, I am VERY tired. But I am also very pleased. All things considered, it was a heckuva weekend, and I'm glad we did it.

The trip back to OKC was delayed, but otherwise uneventful. However, I have less than 24 hours in town before having to head off again.

To Tucson and back again (more Spring Training?)

I got up at 7am (6am OK time) on a Saturday to go rent a car so that I might make a trip from Phoenix down to Tucson to see my ailing grandmother. I couldn't personally allow myself to be less than two hours north of my grandmother without making an effort to visit her. Of course, while we were in Tucson, the idea was to also catch another Spring Training ballgame, weather permitting (and it didn't seem like it would).

The rental car process was tedious at best (we had to go to the airport because the neighborhood rental places were out of cars), but we got on our way in ernest, only to encounter rain for much of they way. Where there was not rain, there was dust. Dust blowing so thick it was hard to see the car in front of us. And where there was no dust, there was a barrage of tumbleweeds, practically attacking the car, making me nervous of noticeable damage since I did not purchase the damage waiver insurance.

We fortunately found Tucson to be largely dry, though not dust or high-winds free. The occasional splatter of raindrops kept us nervous, but, though it was unseasonably chilly as with Phoenix, it seemed like okay baseball weather.

The first order of business was quick family visiting. I got to visit an aunt, a couple uncles, a cousin, a couple family friends, and, of course, my grandmother. She looked quite bad, nothing like she did when I last saw her in November, but I'm told she's looking and doing better than she was a month ago. She's hanging in there. We're not sure for how much longer, but she's hanging on.

So what about the ballgame? Well, we missed a few innings because of the visiting, thought that was okay by us. We got to see the meat of the game, the 3rd through 7th innings. Well, we thought it was the meat, as the Arizona DiamondBacks were winning when we left. Not five minutes after we left, while listening to the radio, we learned that the DiamondBacks had already lost their lead, which they never got back.

The drive back to Phoenix was tense, because it was raining even worse than the morning. There were many accidents, and at times the rain was so heavy that I had to drive quite below the speed limit. It didn't help that we had a time crunch, but the fact of the matter was that we had yet another sporting even to attend in the evening, all the way back in Phoenix.

We got to Glendale, Northwest of Phoenix, just in time for our Phoenix Coyotes NHL hockey game, but we had to park seemingly a half-mile away, which meant we got drenched by the rain during the trek inside. Even so, we only missed a few minutes of the game.

Our view was pretty good...



... I even got a distant glimpse of the coach, Wayne Gretzky...



But the Coyotes lost. While the overall experience was definitely better than that of an OKC Blazers game, the fans were nothing like those in OKC. Plus there were a lot of Mighty Duck fans, so it wasn't exactly a unified crowd.

Fortunately, the rain lightened-up enough to make the walk back to the car less miserable, though the temperature had dropped, so it wasn't exactly a pleasant walk.

It's definitely raining outside. Definitely raining.

After a hundred and forty-two rainless days here in Phoenix, it spit at us a couple of times last night at the ballgame, but I'm not sure we could call that rain.

This morning is another story. I was awaken by the downpour. Mother nature knows how much I dislike the rain. I think she did this on purpose. It's probable that the Spring Training game we were going to attend today is now off. Bleh. The "Phoenicians" are happy to get the rain, but I stand to be a bit disappointed if the big sports weekend is abbreviated.

Spring Training

Determined that the WBC wouldn't be the only baseball of the weekend, we hit an MLB Spring Training game this evening. Perhaps more special than a typical Spring Training game, the game we picked was the Milwaukee Brewers vs. the Japanese National Baseball Team, which was in the country for the WBC. It was a pretty neat experience, though a surprisingly cold night for Phoenix. I did bring a jacket with me to Phoenix (along with gloves and a knit cap, knowing the temperature variance potential of the desert), but it was a light jacket, and I only brought t-shirts, nothing heavier, so I was pretty much freezing my butt off most of the game.

A particularly cool aspect of the game was the fact that Ichiro, of Seattle Mariners fame, was on the Japanese team.



Also cool, was the glimpse I got of potential future baseball stars, in the form of Tony Gwynn Jr. and Prince Fielder (who hit a homerun). Oh, and let's not forget the famous sausage races!

Classic mismatch

The primary (though not sole) reason I'm in Phoenix is to attend a game of the inaugural World Baseball Classic. It's a pilgrimage of sorts. And oh how it lived up to its mythic possibilities. It was a mismatch to be sure, but it was unequivocally entertaining.

On the one hand, I came all this way for just five innings of (US-dominant) baseball (there's a run-rule in the WBC, can you believe it?). On the other hand, I got to see Clemens...



Jeter...



Rodriguez...



Damon...



...and Griffey...



...all play in ONE game. I even got to see Barry Bonds walking around, getting booed by the crowd (didn't get my camera ready before he ducked into the dugout). And lastly, there was Willie Mays to throw out the first pitch.



I certainly would like to have seen South Africa put up more of a fight, but I'll not be complaining beyond the brief thought.

The long road to Pa-ho-nix

If the start of the day was any indication, I probably should have stayed in bed. But the potential of the day and the weekend was just too great to miss.

I woke up powerless. Literally. I sleep with a little white-noise (TV on, radio, something), so about ten minutes before I usually get up, I was startled awake by... silence. The power was out. What terrible timing.

I had almost completely packed my bags the night before, but there were a few things I had to do still. And then there was getting ready for work and getting the kids going. We're generally on a tight morning schedule anyway, so one thing I didn't have time to do was candlelight management.

Of course, laying in bed another twenty minutes hoping the power would come back on didn't help with the schedule. So I got up, took a shower in the dark, got the kids up to get ready, finished packing, etc. But the whole morning felt off, wrong somehow. I didn't like the fact that when I left, my alarm was running on battery. I didn't like the fact that I had no plans to be home again for days. How would I know if the power came back? Well, I did eventually figure out that I could call the house to see if the answering machine picked up, which it did, thereby putting my mind at ease.

But the work day reached full stress capacity, as I was trying to wrap things up for an early departure, yet new things kept coming. There were a couple errands I needed to run before heading to the airport, and as I probably would have predicted early on in the morning, I got out of the office much later than expected.

Despite my late departure from the office, I made it to the OKC airport with enough time to grab a bite to eat before the flight. I must compliment the designers of the airport remodeling team, as it's looking quite good. It had been about a year since I last flew anywhere, and at the time it was in much disarray. I don't think it's done yet, but finally our airport is getting a respectable look to it, not to mention the much improved amenities.

The flight was jam-packed. And it was the bumpiest and noisiest flight I'd ever been on. Noisy as in loud people. The pilot had to change our altitude to get out of the turbulence, but we still had a non-calm ride. The landing in particular was unnerving. Not only that, but we landed later than expected, which put the next part of the trip in question.

After the luggage took FOREVER to show up at the baggage claim, a semi-quick cab ride got us to downtown Phoenix, where we had tickets to the Suns-Spurs game. I thought for sure we had missed a good portion of the game, because it was supposed to start at 8pm, and it was nearly twenty to nine before we got there. Fortunately for us, the game was part of a TV double-header, so they weren't going to start the second game until the first game ended. When we got there, there was still four minutes until tip-off.

The Suns game was pretty cool, though they lost to the Spurs by a wide margin. The view from our seats was decent, but because I've been to four Hornets games in OKC this year, I found myself comparing the two experiences often. And I must say, I like the Hornets experience MUCH better, not that the Suns experience was anything to scoff at. The sound system at US Airways Arena didn't seem to fill the stands as it does at the Ford Center, the crowd wasn't as into it as they are in OKC, and the dancers weren't as creative or energetic (in my opinion) as the Honeybees seem to be.



It was quite late when we got out of there, and the culmination of a VERY long day. I expect the weekend to be just as draining, as there are a number of sports activities on the agenda over just a few days. The only flaw in the plan? The fact that Phoenix has gone 142 days without rain, yet there is rain in the forecast just in time to impact the big weekend.

Focusless week for the Shelbster

It has been a very bad week for Shelby. "Only" four tallies (she's had worse), but every single day this week she has had classwork to bring home, and she's been up past 10pm doing it. She's been missing recess to get work done, missing playtime after school to get work done, and then going to bed. Basically it has been a week completely absent of fun. Maybe that's appropriate with next week being Spring Break, a week when she'll probably have too MUCH fun, so to speak.


UPDATE, 9 MARCH
She actually got her work done today! Still had to miss recess, but also no more tallies...


UPDATE, 10 MARCH
Back to her slacking ways, Shebly goes into Spring Break having to finish her classwork from Friday.

Is there an anti-baseball conspiracy?

What is with all the bad baseball news?

Yankees bash the WBC... Kirby dies... the truth about Barry is laid out... sheesh. You'd think there was some vast right-field conspiracy or something.

This is supposed to be a happy time for baseball. The beginning of a new season. The cradle of an essential promise... NOT a time of rejection, sadness, or shame.



Update
Ugh, it just won't stop!

Pop

Talk about a day from heck(tic). Not that it couldn't have been worse. I hit the ground running as today was the deadline for employee reviews. We recently shifted from anniversary-date reviews to focal-point reviews, so that made the entire process more arduous.

We were also attempting to launch an application today, but unfortunately we failed. We had a number of problems that kept us from releasing. We could have certainly released anyway just to say we did, but I had way too many quality concerns. The delay should just be until tomorrow, but we had a successful demo on Friday and touted today as the big day pretty heavily, so we've got a small bit of egg on our face at the moment.

Sometime after 1pm I got a call from my dad. He collapsed at work with some kind of back spasm and had to be taken to the doctor. He asked me to go with my little brother to pick-up his car at work so it wouldn't sit there overnight.

So... after picking up the kids, dropping them at my dads, riding across town with my brother, and driving my dad's car back to this side of town (all in rush hour traffic by the way), you'd think I'd be done for the day. However, I had previously promised an uncle that I'd build him a computer tonight, as I'm soon to be rather unavailable.

I had previously acquired all the components, so only needed to spend a few hours this evening getting it all together, getting an OS on it and patched, putting all the software on it (particularly the security software), and then providing a little basic training. The kids had fallen asleep long before I had finished.

Okay, so maybe the day could have been MUCH worse, but I did feel at several points like I might pop at any time. And tomorrow is expected to be similarly hectic.

Family visiting

Some relatives have been in town from California, and we spent the afternoon with them and other local relatives today, catching up. Oddly enough, the relatives from California we'd seen more recently (Summer 05) than the relatives here in Oklahoma. Hopefully that won't be the case in the future now that we're all acquainted again.

The girls had a blast playing in the back yard. They were even caught sitting on the roof of a dog house howling like dogs.

Class-less display

You know, I've never been a big Yankee fan. I've not despised them the way some do, I'm just... indifferent. Generally, I've rather admired them for their historical significance. They've done something that will probably never be overcome in the remaining history of man (sorry, but with free-agency, it's probably just not possible for another team to do). Heck, I can even be seen often wearing a comfy Yankees hat that I got while in New York City visiting my sister in 2000. And lets not forget the Yankees shirt I sometimes wear, having bought it at a Yankees game, in Yankee Stadium, in 2004.

So, please, don't mistake me as a Yankee-basher when I say the Yankees have done something not particularly classy, very un-Yankee-like if you will. They practically bashed the World Baseball Classic (PDF). While I don't hold up the WBC as the pinnacle of baseball, with the absence of baseball on the future Olympic stage, it's very important for the sport's global standing that it have a world stage of some kind. Do they not see that the lack of a forum for the world's great baseball teams harms the sport, and even the Yankees themselves?

Well, if you don't feel like reading the article, fine... but you MUST read the sign they posted:

"Thank you for expressing your concerns. We are sorry that certain players will not be present for portions of spring training. These players have elected to participate in the World Baseball Classic. The World Baseball Classic is an event sanctioned by the commissioner of Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association.

The New York Yankess did not vote to support this event. Any comments you have regarding the World Baseball Classic should be directed to the commissioner of Major League Baseball or the Major League Baseball Players Association."

(yes, they misspelled "Yankees")


Seems a little like biting the hand that feeds them, huh?

This generation's "Splash"

The girls wanted to see Aquamarine tonight. I had no real desire to see it, but they were pretty excited about it, so we went. It was a big time teenie-bopper movie, essentially the girls' generation's "Splash". You know, girl meets boy, girl loves boy, boy doesn't know she's a mermaid, boy finds out the hard way, mix it up with some comedy and an antagonist that tries to expose the secret... etc, etc.

Well, at least we had a nice, big, tasty dinner at TGIF (where the girls love to get spiffy balloon animals) before hand , as I wasn't particularly fulfilled by the movie myself (not that I didn't get a laugh in on occasion).

Dinner by the Lake (No good deed goes unpunished)

It was the nicest day in many months, nearly 90 degrees, so I picked up some dinner, picked up the girls, and we went to a nearby lake to eat at a picnic table. Seemed like a decent idea at the time, and the girls quite liked it. I mean, there are worse dinner-time views than ducks on a pond, huh?

Well, the girls played until sunset, but the longer we stayed there, the worse I got. Allergically that is. My nose rather hates me right now, as I've barely been able to stop wiping it since we left the lake. In fact, by the time we left -- and we were only there like an hour total -- my eyes were watering heavily, my nose was running, and I was sneezing. So maybe it wasn't such a great idea.