1) I just have a sick feeling about this. When you say "I love you twice and only get a "Good night" back...
2) MM and MP hooking up. I can't say I'm shocked, especially after what I saw at karaoke Thursday night. I guess it goes back a month when I heard about these sushi nights they were having. So I guess I've learned the key to hooking up with a knockout...Remain unemployed for a year and live at home.
3) Gene and Georgetti was a really good steakhouse. I ordered a bone in strip and it was incredibly juicy with a nice char on the outside. And hey, free cottage fries! Not bad! Wasn't thrilled with the creamed spinach, it tasted too light. But the asparagus we replaced it with was much better, along with the Hollandaise sauce. I would say the surprise of the evening was our appetizer, the mussels marinara. $19, but my gosh. I have never seen mussels this big before. These mussels had to be on steroids! And the marinara they came with was beautifully seasoned with onions, garlic, and crushed pepper.
4) And I'm glad I got to see Steve Harvey on his "final" standup tour. The porcupine joke from Family Feud was one of the funniest lines I have ever heard in my life. And I think I saw maybe 15 other white people in the audience.
5) Another softball loss, this time 14-6 to St. Peter's. We're officially out of the playoffs. Only batted 1-for-3, though I scored twice. But I got a workout in left field. I think I made 9 or 10 catches. Of course, there was one low liner I couldn't handle. Somehow, the ball managed to jam my left thumb back and knock me in my....junk.
Monday, July 30, 2012
Friday, July 27, 2012
2012 NFL Predictions
AFC
East
z-New England 13-3x-NY Jets 10-6
Buffalo 9-7
Miami 5-11
North
y-Baltimore 11-5x-Pittsburgh 10-6
Cincinnati 7-9
Cleveland 3-13
b-Houston 12-4
Tennessee 9-7
Indianapolis 5-11
Jacksonville 2-14
West
y-Denver 10-6
Oakland 9-7
San Diego 8-8
Kansas City 5-11
NFC
East b-NY Giants 11-5
x-Philadelphia 10-6
Dallas 9-7
Washington 6-10
North
z-Green Bay 12-4x-Chicago 10-6
Detroit 8-8
Minnesota 3-13
South
y-Carolina 10-6
Atlanta 9-7
New Orleans 8-8
West
y-San Francisco 11-5
Seattle 7-9
Arizona 5-11
St. Louis 4-12
AFC
NY Jets over Denver
Baltimore over Pittsburgh
New England over NY Jets
Houston over BaltimoreSan Francisco over Chicago
Philadelphia over Carolina
Philadelphia over NY Giants
Super Bowl
Green Bay over HoustonMonday, July 23, 2012
Not exactly humming along...
Well, the softball team is now 1-7; I guess that's what happens when we get promoted to the competitive league. And in many of these games, we've been getting beat by ten runs. But this game against New Covenant, that was a loss I could at least swallow.
First of all, we were missing our shortstop, left center fielder, and our top two pitchers. So we called on several replacements, some of whom had not played in a single game all season. Alex was there, we had Brian who I used to play with to patrol LCF. Pink 'n tan George showed up and gave us a hand at catcher. Grant returned as well, which instantly depleted our right field defense. Good speaker, good guy, pretty good hitter, but the guy can't catch a cold in the North Pole.
But two things doomed us. Again, we played with three outfielders while our opponents had four. We held up ok, but they knocked two or three shots in between Brian and Grant that led to triples or home runs. The same thing cost us in a 7-3 loss to Redeemer Fellowship last week. But the biggest problem was pitching. With Darren and Eric out, Ken tried his hand at pitching. He walked one guy after another and when that's going on, you're not gonna have a lot of efficient innings, even if you have the best defense in the world behind you. Ken pitched six innings and allowed at least two runs in all but one inning.
As for me, I played my best game. I batted 4-for-5 with two runs scored and two RBI. Two weeks prior, I dropped from a 28-ounce bat to a 26-ounce bat and today I really started to see the results. I roped one line drive after another. I also made three catches in the field and my throws sailed straight on course. But maybe my signature play came on a shallow pop behind third base. I made a face first dive and the ball popped out of my glove and I rolled right on my head. But I knew the ball had gone to my left, so I popped back up, grabbed the ball, and fired it to Alex at second base just in time to nab the runner who was going for a double. I can still feel the tightness in my neck when I look straight up!
At the end, we lost 15-9, and I think we would have won it if Darren was on the mound. We left the bases loaded twice including in the seventh inning. Even worse, was the three called third strikes against us, which to me there is simply not an excuse for. I'm all for plate discipline and trying to work out a walk. But at least try to swing the bat.
I don't know what's going to happen from here. We do have three more games and I just hope we get a shot in the playoffs. I think we can win some games, if we have our full lineup and optimum defensive team (Waldrop at short, Ken at catcher, Tom out of the outfield, etc.). But through the heat, the leg aches, and the errors, I'm gonna keep going as hard as I can. I know no other way to play.
First of all, we were missing our shortstop, left center fielder, and our top two pitchers. So we called on several replacements, some of whom had not played in a single game all season. Alex was there, we had Brian who I used to play with to patrol LCF. Pink 'n tan George showed up and gave us a hand at catcher. Grant returned as well, which instantly depleted our right field defense. Good speaker, good guy, pretty good hitter, but the guy can't catch a cold in the North Pole.
But two things doomed us. Again, we played with three outfielders while our opponents had four. We held up ok, but they knocked two or three shots in between Brian and Grant that led to triples or home runs. The same thing cost us in a 7-3 loss to Redeemer Fellowship last week. But the biggest problem was pitching. With Darren and Eric out, Ken tried his hand at pitching. He walked one guy after another and when that's going on, you're not gonna have a lot of efficient innings, even if you have the best defense in the world behind you. Ken pitched six innings and allowed at least two runs in all but one inning.
As for me, I played my best game. I batted 4-for-5 with two runs scored and two RBI. Two weeks prior, I dropped from a 28-ounce bat to a 26-ounce bat and today I really started to see the results. I roped one line drive after another. I also made three catches in the field and my throws sailed straight on course. But maybe my signature play came on a shallow pop behind third base. I made a face first dive and the ball popped out of my glove and I rolled right on my head. But I knew the ball had gone to my left, so I popped back up, grabbed the ball, and fired it to Alex at second base just in time to nab the runner who was going for a double. I can still feel the tightness in my neck when I look straight up!
At the end, we lost 15-9, and I think we would have won it if Darren was on the mound. We left the bases loaded twice including in the seventh inning. Even worse, was the three called third strikes against us, which to me there is simply not an excuse for. I'm all for plate discipline and trying to work out a walk. But at least try to swing the bat.
I don't know what's going to happen from here. We do have three more games and I just hope we get a shot in the playoffs. I think we can win some games, if we have our full lineup and optimum defensive team (Waldrop at short, Ken at catcher, Tom out of the outfield, etc.). But through the heat, the leg aches, and the errors, I'm gonna keep going as hard as I can. I know no other way to play.
Friday, July 20, 2012
Heading into the weekend
1) A few comments on the tragedy that took place in Aurora, CO at the Dark Knight Rises premiere. First of all, all my prayers to the victims and their families. I really do wonder if we'll be going through metal detectors at theaters now. But one other note. It took ABC News two hours to link James Holmes to the Tea party. Is that what this is really all about? Great job by our over-liberal media to continue kissing the President's backside. I rarely get into politics here, so enjoy it. Maybe I'll make another political comment in say, six months.
2) Lineup for Friday night: Bike ride with JN, dinner somewhere, Batman Begins DVD.
3) Lineup for Saturday: Gym, TBA, Teresa's birthday party, AAW wrestling show in exotic Marionnette Park. Davey Richards vs. Finlay!
4) Lineup for Sunday: Church, softball (likely minus our pitcher), Lucky Monk, Dark Knight Rises, possible late stop at Aberdeen Court...
5) I'm ready to get a new phone. This stupid think has automatically restarted five times on me in the last 36 hours. And each time it does that, it drains literally half the power out of a full phone.
6) I love the cranberry orange bread from Breadsmith, but it tastes much better with the walnuts baked in.
7) Good job by Mom to help get the AT&T U-Verse bill lowered by about $75 a month.
8) Since this is point #8, this seems like the right place to put this. Eight days till I see Steve Harvey perform live at the Civic Opera Theater!
9) Zac Brown Band tickets go on sale tomorrow morning, the show is September 30. I can get one for as little as $40, including fees. The show is at the vastly expansive First Bank Amphitheatre in Tinley Park. This is basically the venue where all the big artists play. Now here's the funny comparison. Kenny Rogers is coming to the Arcada Theater in two weeks. That is a very intimate theater in little old St. Charles in the west suburbs. The cheapest ticket costs $69 and that's without the ordering and processing fees! With the fees added on, I'm sure it would cost upwards of $75. Hellooooooo? Something does not add up here.
10) August concert lineup: Mindy Smith on the 2nd and Charlie Daniels on the 18th! Stellar!
Song pick: "Cure For Love" Mindy Smith
2) Lineup for Friday night: Bike ride with JN, dinner somewhere, Batman Begins DVD.
3) Lineup for Saturday: Gym, TBA, Teresa's birthday party, AAW wrestling show in exotic Marionnette Park. Davey Richards vs. Finlay!
4) Lineup for Sunday: Church, softball (likely minus our pitcher), Lucky Monk, Dark Knight Rises, possible late stop at Aberdeen Court...
5) I'm ready to get a new phone. This stupid think has automatically restarted five times on me in the last 36 hours. And each time it does that, it drains literally half the power out of a full phone.
6) I love the cranberry orange bread from Breadsmith, but it tastes much better with the walnuts baked in.
7) Good job by Mom to help get the AT&T U-Verse bill lowered by about $75 a month.
8) Since this is point #8, this seems like the right place to put this. Eight days till I see Steve Harvey perform live at the Civic Opera Theater!
9) Zac Brown Band tickets go on sale tomorrow morning, the show is September 30. I can get one for as little as $40, including fees. The show is at the vastly expansive First Bank Amphitheatre in Tinley Park. This is basically the venue where all the big artists play. Now here's the funny comparison. Kenny Rogers is coming to the Arcada Theater in two weeks. That is a very intimate theater in little old St. Charles in the west suburbs. The cheapest ticket costs $69 and that's without the ordering and processing fees! With the fees added on, I'm sure it would cost upwards of $75. Hellooooooo? Something does not add up here.
10) August concert lineup: Mindy Smith on the 2nd and Charlie Daniels on the 18th! Stellar!
Song pick: "Cure For Love" Mindy Smith
Thursday, July 19, 2012
A few off topic thoughts
This post I will keep sports-free.
1) Really enjoying Ted DiBiase's autobiography. Everybody has a price for the Million Dollar Man. After I finish that, I'll read a new Donald Miller book.
2) 12 days alone in the house. It’s been nice to be able to refresh myself. The house has been much quieter, and that’s been a good thing. It will be nice to see Mom tonight though.
3) So a girl who is basically dating five guys at the same time thinks she has the right to tell me what’s appropriate and isn’t appropriate for me to do in my personal life? She needs to take a look in the mirror.
4) I enjoy these 100 degree days! We only get so many in suburban Chicago, so that's why I appreciate them that much more. Come February, I'll miss them.
5) I've only played four rounds of disc golf all summer. Maybe it's because I've just gotten so into working out or maybe it's because I've wound up going to a lot more social events than I'm used to. But I still enjoy playing.
1) Really enjoying Ted DiBiase's autobiography. Everybody has a price for the Million Dollar Man. After I finish that, I'll read a new Donald Miller book.
2) 12 days alone in the house. It’s been nice to be able to refresh myself. The house has been much quieter, and that’s been a good thing. It will be nice to see Mom tonight though.
3) So a girl who is basically dating five guys at the same time thinks she has the right to tell me what’s appropriate and isn’t appropriate for me to do in my personal life? She needs to take a look in the mirror.
4) I enjoy these 100 degree days! We only get so many in suburban Chicago, so that's why I appreciate them that much more. Come February, I'll miss them.
5) I've only played four rounds of disc golf all summer. Maybe it's because I've just gotten so into working out or maybe it's because I've wound up going to a lot more social events than I'm used to. But I still enjoy playing.
Friday, July 13, 2012
Mid-season Mets report card
A+ R.A. Dickey, David Wright
A Terry Collins, Johan Santana
A- Scott Hairston, Jon Niese
B+ Mike Baxter, Dillon Gee
B Jordany Valdespin, Daniel Murphy, Ruben Tejada, Chris Young
B- Frank Francisco, Tim Byrdak, Ronny Cedeno
C+ Josh Thole, Omar Quintanilla
C Miguel Batista, Ike Davis, Lucas Duda, Kirk Nieuwenhuis
C- Jeremy Hefner, Andres Torres
D Jaosn Bay, Mike Nickeas, Ramon Ramirez, Jon Rauch
F Manny Acosta, Chris Schwinden
A Terry Collins, Johan Santana
A- Scott Hairston, Jon Niese
B+ Mike Baxter, Dillon Gee
B Jordany Valdespin, Daniel Murphy, Ruben Tejada, Chris Young
B- Frank Francisco, Tim Byrdak, Ronny Cedeno
C+ Josh Thole, Omar Quintanilla
C Miguel Batista, Ike Davis, Lucas Duda, Kirk Nieuwenhuis
C- Jeremy Hefner, Andres Torres
D Jaosn Bay, Mike Nickeas, Ramon Ramirez, Jon Rauch
F Manny Acosta, Chris Schwinden
Thursday, July 05, 2012
Fireworks on the 4th
I spent the 4th in oppressive heat in Itasca on a big grass field near the Westin hotel with the Willow Creek group. It was a long time coming, I hadn't been there in maybe 11 years when I went with my mom and ex-stepdad for David Crosby and CPR.
1) Five people in Matt's truck, me, Matt, Luke, Natalie, Melissa. One word: Entertainment.
2) The Natalie Raver GPS="OK, at the traffic light, you either turn left or right, but don't go straight." That really narrows it down...
3) Great job by Leinenkugel selling the 12 can variety pack. Three summer shanties, sunset wheats, berry weisses and honey weisses. I'm glad I saw it and had no problem buying it for the group.
4) 10 inch chargrilled Italian sausage sandwiches with peppers and onions. Stellar! I didn't realize it would lead to so many jokes about my ten inches...
5) I also had no idea my chair would be so popular. Just a maroon lawn chair with a cup holder and a footrest. At least eight different people besides me must have sat in it. Including Luke, who passed out drunk in it. He must have been in dreamland for at least two hours.
6) Let's see who was there besides the aforementioned five...Joe (shaven), Mario (and his red wine), Olga (doesn't care to dance), Manish (eventually), Heidi (very cool girl), Dave (he actually recognized me this time), Jolene (didn't have a chance to catch up with her), Kristin (back rubs, dancing, and no beer). And there were an awful lot of 40's and 50's folks I didn't know too.
7) 7th Heaven is a pretty good band, I really got into it when they busted out some cover songs. Everything from Stayin' Alive to Sir Duke to Livin' On a Prayer to American Girl.
8) The fireworks show was amazing. I never really remember fireworks long after they happen, but I'll remember sitting in a chair with a big smile on my face and clapping.
9) Luke apparently needed food after his drinking escapade. So after finally getting out of Hamilton Lakes around 11, we drive around looking for any open restaurant. Popeye's, Burger King, KFC, all closed. All we found was McDonald's. So we went to the drive thru. It took 30 minutes to get through the whole line. This is between 11:15 and 11:45 on a Wednesday! My head was pounding from fatigue and I just wanted to get back in my car. We wound up getting back to Melissa's around midnight and I arrived home at 12:45 or so.
10) Jean. Met her for the first time yesterday. She was really easy to talk to, our conversation must have lasted two hours. We even shared a dance or two. Free Fallin, Don't Stop Believing, and It's Still Rock n Roll To Me; I have a new appreciation for all three of those songs now. I have a feeling I may see her again.
1) Five people in Matt's truck, me, Matt, Luke, Natalie, Melissa. One word: Entertainment.
2) The Natalie Raver GPS="OK, at the traffic light, you either turn left or right, but don't go straight." That really narrows it down...
3) Great job by Leinenkugel selling the 12 can variety pack. Three summer shanties, sunset wheats, berry weisses and honey weisses. I'm glad I saw it and had no problem buying it for the group.
4) 10 inch chargrilled Italian sausage sandwiches with peppers and onions. Stellar! I didn't realize it would lead to so many jokes about my ten inches...
5) I also had no idea my chair would be so popular. Just a maroon lawn chair with a cup holder and a footrest. At least eight different people besides me must have sat in it. Including Luke, who passed out drunk in it. He must have been in dreamland for at least two hours.
6) Let's see who was there besides the aforementioned five...Joe (shaven), Mario (and his red wine), Olga (doesn't care to dance), Manish (eventually), Heidi (very cool girl), Dave (he actually recognized me this time), Jolene (didn't have a chance to catch up with her), Kristin (back rubs, dancing, and no beer). And there were an awful lot of 40's and 50's folks I didn't know too.
7) 7th Heaven is a pretty good band, I really got into it when they busted out some cover songs. Everything from Stayin' Alive to Sir Duke to Livin' On a Prayer to American Girl.
8) The fireworks show was amazing. I never really remember fireworks long after they happen, but I'll remember sitting in a chair with a big smile on my face and clapping.
9) Luke apparently needed food after his drinking escapade. So after finally getting out of Hamilton Lakes around 11, we drive around looking for any open restaurant. Popeye's, Burger King, KFC, all closed. All we found was McDonald's. So we went to the drive thru. It took 30 minutes to get through the whole line. This is between 11:15 and 11:45 on a Wednesday! My head was pounding from fatigue and I just wanted to get back in my car. We wound up getting back to Melissa's around midnight and I arrived home at 12:45 or so.
10) Jean. Met her for the first time yesterday. She was really easy to talk to, our conversation must have lasted two hours. We even shared a dance or two. Free Fallin, Don't Stop Believing, and It's Still Rock n Roll To Me; I have a new appreciation for all three of those songs now. I have a feeling I may see her again.
Tuesday, July 03, 2012
Ribfest recap
I would first like to acknowledge weather.com for their incompetence. I checked Sunday's weather in Naperville every day for five days leading into Naperville ribfest. I saw the same hourly report every time. Plenty of sun early, ten percent chance of rain till about 2 pm, then about a 30 percent chance of an isolated thunderstorm for the entire night, and a brief period of 40 percent between 5 and 7 p.m.
So after seeing Louis Zamperini's video interview at Christ Community Church, I went outside and realized the skies from blue when I walked inside to that bright gray where you can see the sun shining form behind. I began driving south towards Naperville North high school. Halfway through my drive, the steady rain began. I thought ok, it's good if this rain gets out of here now. I arrived as the brief shower stopped, and found out from the volunteers that the park would open at 1 pm, instead of 12. Not the worst news in the world. I drove five minutes to downtown and sat out by the riverwalk. I tried to tan, but the clouds kept getting darker. I got back to Naperville North around 12:30 and by now a crowd of maybe 30 people was standing around in the parking lot. But the ominous sign to me was those bright gray clouds had turned completely black. My mom called and she told me hail the size of lemons was falling in St. Charles. That surprised me because it wasn't even raining where I was. Then I decided to drive over to the the park to see what was going on. During my drive, the rain poured down like buckets. One of those rains where even the fastest windshield wiper speed doesn't look like it's making much of a difference. Mom called again and told me our electricity was out. So finally, I decided to just head home.
I think it was around 12:45 when I left, leaving me about a 30 minute ride, even with several traffic lights out of order.halfway through, when I was driving west on Rt 38 in West Chicago, I could spot little patches of blue sky. The rain ended just before I got home, around 1 p.m. So I picked Mom up and we headed to Outback in Bloomingdale for lunch. Used my $25 card. We went outside and the weather was back to 90 degrees, blue skies. Not a hint of gray anywhere to be seen. I was starting to feel just a little annoyed that I agreed to head out with mom. Then we went into the mall and mom ran a few errands at Carson's and Kohl's. We also spent a half hour browsing through CD's at the Half Price store. But getting home was the worst. Three or four lights on Army Trail were out, which meant a lot of 4-way stops. We finally got in around 4 pm and even though a part of me didn't want to go back, I knew I didn't want to stay home all night. And I had already brought my $20 ticket and I knew I would never be getting a refund.
So I swallowed my pride and headed back to Naperville. After taking the shuttle, which was delayed since they were changing drivers, I got to the park around 5:45. I headed straight to the rib vendors and man, the lines were as long as I can remember and I've been to this festival maybe 5 or 6 times. It took me 20 minutes to get through Howling Coyotes and 30 minutes to get through Hog Wild aka Smokin Joe's. The Coyotes sampler was ok, the meat wasn't as tender as I was hoping. I got a half slab at Hog Wild, which was really good again. I still think this is my new fave even though the awards keep going to places like Porky n Beans, Armadillo's, and Uncle Bub's. I would have like to have grabbed one more sampler from maybe Mojo's or Armadillo's, but it was just too late in the day. I also had a corn muffin, roasted ear of corn, and a lemonade. I headed back towards the main stage and grabbed a strawberry/pina colada smoothie inside a pineapple. All in all, I think I spent $39. I thought about grabbing a plate of sweet potato fries, but even that line was at least 30 people long. Even going to the bathroom, it took 20 minutes to get inside.
The opening music act was Christian Conner and Southern Gothic, the only really memorable thing was the Russian female fiddle player in a thrash/metal type band. It was a little too metal for my liking. After they were off, Navistar and Pepsi presented some very large checks to the Rotary Cub. Then the US military officers came out while two Aurora sisters sang "The Star Spangled Banner". Very moving moment. There is still something very cool about a USA chant, it does not have to be corny at all. ZZ Top started around 8:10. Here's the setlist.
So after seeing Louis Zamperini's video interview at Christ Community Church, I went outside and realized the skies from blue when I walked inside to that bright gray where you can see the sun shining form behind. I began driving south towards Naperville North high school. Halfway through my drive, the steady rain began. I thought ok, it's good if this rain gets out of here now. I arrived as the brief shower stopped, and found out from the volunteers that the park would open at 1 pm, instead of 12. Not the worst news in the world. I drove five minutes to downtown and sat out by the riverwalk. I tried to tan, but the clouds kept getting darker. I got back to Naperville North around 12:30 and by now a crowd of maybe 30 people was standing around in the parking lot. But the ominous sign to me was those bright gray clouds had turned completely black. My mom called and she told me hail the size of lemons was falling in St. Charles. That surprised me because it wasn't even raining where I was. Then I decided to drive over to the the park to see what was going on. During my drive, the rain poured down like buckets. One of those rains where even the fastest windshield wiper speed doesn't look like it's making much of a difference. Mom called again and told me our electricity was out. So finally, I decided to just head home.
I think it was around 12:45 when I left, leaving me about a 30 minute ride, even with several traffic lights out of order.halfway through, when I was driving west on Rt 38 in West Chicago, I could spot little patches of blue sky. The rain ended just before I got home, around 1 p.m. So I picked Mom up and we headed to Outback in Bloomingdale for lunch. Used my $25 card. We went outside and the weather was back to 90 degrees, blue skies. Not a hint of gray anywhere to be seen. I was starting to feel just a little annoyed that I agreed to head out with mom. Then we went into the mall and mom ran a few errands at Carson's and Kohl's. We also spent a half hour browsing through CD's at the Half Price store. But getting home was the worst. Three or four lights on Army Trail were out, which meant a lot of 4-way stops. We finally got in around 4 pm and even though a part of me didn't want to go back, I knew I didn't want to stay home all night. And I had already brought my $20 ticket and I knew I would never be getting a refund.
So I swallowed my pride and headed back to Naperville. After taking the shuttle, which was delayed since they were changing drivers, I got to the park around 5:45. I headed straight to the rib vendors and man, the lines were as long as I can remember and I've been to this festival maybe 5 or 6 times. It took me 20 minutes to get through Howling Coyotes and 30 minutes to get through Hog Wild aka Smokin Joe's. The Coyotes sampler was ok, the meat wasn't as tender as I was hoping. I got a half slab at Hog Wild, which was really good again. I still think this is my new fave even though the awards keep going to places like Porky n Beans, Armadillo's, and Uncle Bub's. I would have like to have grabbed one more sampler from maybe Mojo's or Armadillo's, but it was just too late in the day. I also had a corn muffin, roasted ear of corn, and a lemonade. I headed back towards the main stage and grabbed a strawberry/pina colada smoothie inside a pineapple. All in all, I think I spent $39. I thought about grabbing a plate of sweet potato fries, but even that line was at least 30 people long. Even going to the bathroom, it took 20 minutes to get inside.
The opening music act was Christian Conner and Southern Gothic, the only really memorable thing was the Russian female fiddle player in a thrash/metal type band. It was a little too metal for my liking. After they were off, Navistar and Pepsi presented some very large checks to the Rotary Cub. Then the US military officers came out while two Aurora sisters sang "The Star Spangled Banner". Very moving moment. There is still something very cool about a USA chant, it does not have to be corny at all. ZZ Top started around 8:10. Here's the setlist.
- I Thank You
- Waitin' For the Bus
- Jesus Just Left Chicago
- Pincushion
- Heard It On the X
- Gimme All Your Lovin'
- Vincent Price Blues
- Heaven, Hell, or Houston
- My Head's In Mississippi
- Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers
- Stages
- Sharp Dressed Man
- Legs
- LaGrange
- Sloppy Drunk
- Tush
A few notes: Sharp Dressed Man, Tush, and Legs got absolutely huge responses. Frank Beard drinks Tab soda; I don't if it's cool or quirky. And his bass drums had these huge skulls on them, I liked the attitude. I also like the white furry guitars Billy and Dusty play during Legs. It's amazing how good music can sound with just a guitar, bass, and drums. Even though I was surrounded by mostly sweaty, drunk men, it was just a fun show.
What wasn't as much fun was getting home. I was standing ten feet from the stage so I had to work my way past a thousand people in the dark to the north exit and to the shuttle bus. By the time I got there, the line for Naperville North was already 150 people long. Five school buses came pretty quickly. That was a good sign, I knew I would be on the next one. What I didn't know was the next bus would not arrive for another 15 minutes. I realized why ZZ Top recorded a song called "Waitin' For the Bus". Finally, we got on and I chatted with a woman from Louisiana on the way back, who spent most of her time texting with her son, trying to track down where he was. the odyssey of raising a teenage, maybe one day, I'll get to find out what that's all about. I got to my car around 10:15, pumped up the air conditioner, and got home around 10:45.
By the way, did I mention not a hint of rain or gray sky came all afternoon or all night long? Weather.com, I'm rid of you.
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Payback!
OK, I'm posting this 6 days later than I should have. Gonna have to be the cliffnotes version. Pictures included, now that I finally thought to add them again.
1) Hot Doug's for lunch. Arrived at 10:20, ten minutes before open. Great to see Doug as always. Got the Beer and Onion Chicken Sausage with Spicy 4-Cheese Dijonnaise, Crispy Fried Onions and Duck Confit and an Ale and Chipotle Buffalo Sausage with Smoky Bacon Sauce and Sage Derby cheese. Topping duck with buffalo was a little weird. Even though I can't say I get the most delicious meals there, I always get something unique and exciting.
2) I parked in my usual spot on Greenview St about two miles north of Wrigley Field and walked through the 95 degree sweltering heat to Murphy's Bleachers. Had a Goose Island beer and got bored quickly, so I headed inside the park. I had a guy take my photo while I was sitting in the Bartman seat. I'm glad the ushers allow us to do that. I went up to the upper deck and sat in Dec' seat. I tanned and waited for him and his mom to show up. After a half hour, I headed down to Section 215, Row 9, Seat 13. Right in between Seats 12 and 113. That's not a type-o.
3) The Mets were 2-18 in games I attended at Wrigley Field. No more! With the wind blowing straight out to center field, only the Mets took advantage. Four homers, and several shots off the ivy. They avoided the sweep and absolutely thrashed the Cubs 17-1.
4) It took me 30 minutes to drive south four miles to the Fifty 50 bar on Division. I walked another 10 minutes in 95 degree heat and I was so ready for a drink. I really didn't want to pend money in Wrigley Field, but I gave in around the 6th inning and got an Aquafina. I was thirsty again in probably a half hour. So I guzzled down the water and iced tea. And I don't care if Sweet 'n Low has saccharine or whatever it's called. It makes tea taste much better than Equal does. Bottom line. Anyway, I ordered the four courser sandwich, which was featured on the Best Sandwich in America on the Travel Channel. Pretzel roll, house smoked pulled pork, gouda cheese bechamel, mac and cheese that gets crisped in a waffle iron, sweet potato chips, deep fried jalapenos, and BBQ sauce. Despite so many random ingredients, all the flavors just came together so well. The jalapenos added a touch of heat, the crunch from the chips, the gooiness of the mac and cheese, the pork and gouda blended together for smooth rich blend. And the grilled pretzel roll stayed firm even with all those ingredients. For ten bucks, I would recommend ordering this sandwich again.
5) And I even ordered dessert. When I saw they had snickerdoodle cookie bowls, I knew I had to try it. I ordered the half for $4.00. I looked at the bowl they gave me and my mouth dropped! It was a Carole's snickerdoodle, which is only the best cookie maker in the entire world. Throw in the scoop of vanilla ice cream and whipped cream with sprinkles. I should have paid 8 bucks and got the entire cookie!
1) Hot Doug's for lunch. Arrived at 10:20, ten minutes before open. Great to see Doug as always. Got the Beer and Onion Chicken Sausage with Spicy 4-Cheese Dijonnaise, Crispy Fried Onions and Duck Confit and an Ale and Chipotle Buffalo Sausage with Smoky Bacon Sauce and Sage Derby cheese. Topping duck with buffalo was a little weird. Even though I can't say I get the most delicious meals there, I always get something unique and exciting.
2) I parked in my usual spot on Greenview St about two miles north of Wrigley Field and walked through the 95 degree sweltering heat to Murphy's Bleachers. Had a Goose Island beer and got bored quickly, so I headed inside the park. I had a guy take my photo while I was sitting in the Bartman seat. I'm glad the ushers allow us to do that. I went up to the upper deck and sat in Dec' seat. I tanned and waited for him and his mom to show up. After a half hour, I headed down to Section 215, Row 9, Seat 13. Right in between Seats 12 and 113. That's not a type-o.
3) The Mets were 2-18 in games I attended at Wrigley Field. No more! With the wind blowing straight out to center field, only the Mets took advantage. Four homers, and several shots off the ivy. They avoided the sweep and absolutely thrashed the Cubs 17-1.
4) It took me 30 minutes to drive south four miles to the Fifty 50 bar on Division. I walked another 10 minutes in 95 degree heat and I was so ready for a drink. I really didn't want to pend money in Wrigley Field, but I gave in around the 6th inning and got an Aquafina. I was thirsty again in probably a half hour. So I guzzled down the water and iced tea. And I don't care if Sweet 'n Low has saccharine or whatever it's called. It makes tea taste much better than Equal does. Bottom line. Anyway, I ordered the four courser sandwich, which was featured on the Best Sandwich in America on the Travel Channel. Pretzel roll, house smoked pulled pork, gouda cheese bechamel, mac and cheese that gets crisped in a waffle iron, sweet potato chips, deep fried jalapenos, and BBQ sauce. Despite so many random ingredients, all the flavors just came together so well. The jalapenos added a touch of heat, the crunch from the chips, the gooiness of the mac and cheese, the pork and gouda blended together for smooth rich blend. And the grilled pretzel roll stayed firm even with all those ingredients. For ten bucks, I would recommend ordering this sandwich again.
5) And I even ordered dessert. When I saw they had snickerdoodle cookie bowls, I knew I had to try it. I ordered the half for $4.00. I looked at the bowl they gave me and my mouth dropped! It was a Carole's snickerdoodle, which is only the best cookie maker in the entire world. Throw in the scoop of vanilla ice cream and whipped cream with sprinkles. I should have paid 8 bucks and got the entire cookie!
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Monday night no-show
I took off from work at 4:45 and started driving down I-90. I got to the Cumberland station around 5:20, pretty good timing. That toll merge right before the exit is such a pain in the neck, I have to say. I took the blue line five stops to the Addison station and connected to the 152 bus, which goes straight east on Addison directly to the ballpark. It took about a ten-minute wait with about 50 people boarding along with me. I can’t say it was ideal, but in terms of time, it was better than taking the blue line all the way south to Jackson only to take the red line a half hour ride north.
I met up with Q at the gate and he handed me my vintage Kerry Wood ticket. I passed on picking up a David DeJesus bobblehead and grabbed a bison dog and Sierra Mist. Although I asked for Mountain Dew, I get a Sierra Mist. Seriously, can we bring Coke and Coke products back into the ballparks already? That’s why I drink more beer at these games now, because I can’t stand the sodas! Anyway, I added grilled onions, yellow mustard, tomatoes, green relish, and a dash of celery salt to my dog. I enjoyed it very much. And for fifty cents more than a regular dog, it’s well worth it.
So we sat in Section 226 and the wind was blowing directly in from left center field and the breeze was cold to boot. I probably should have brought my gray Mets hoodie. So the game began and Johan really looked solid for most of this game. His changeup danced all over the plate and for most of his six innings, the Cub hitters had no chance against him. Chicago mounted a few threats, but he managed to escape.
The Mets, on the other hand, made Travis Wood look like Steve Carlton, Sandy Koufax, and Clayton Kershaw all rolled into one. And the Mets are great at making any left-handed pitcher, except for David Price, look like Carlton and Koufax. And they let this clown Wood pitch seven smooth innings, and managed just five hits and scored no runs. And this one at-bat really annoyed me. In the top of the fourth, Lucas Duda saw three pitches. He took all three and every one was a strike. Absolutely no excuse at all for not pulling the trigger at least once in that at bat. None.
You just got the feeling one run would make the difference. And in the bottom of the fourth, that’s exactly what happened. After a two-out walk, Joe the Beaver Mather drills a shot into the stiff Chicago wind and knocks it two rows deep into the left field bleachers. As scrappy as the Mets may be, I knew right there that they were in a whole heap of trouble.
It got even worse in the seventh inning. With runners on first and second and two down, Justin Turner pinch hit for Santana. Lazy flyout to center field. Adrian Cardenas, whoever he is, leads off and pops one up high. Two feet in front of home plate. Wright charges in, calls off Mike Nickeas, and shuffled his feet; he looked completely flustered. The ball bounces off his glove and rolls all the way to the backstop. Cardenas takes third and I knew it was over. I took off and stood on the corner of Addison and Clark, waiting for the 152 bus. Little did I know the Mets would make two more errors that inning, leading to four more Cub runs. Sure, Ike Davis drilled one out in the top of the ninth but it was a classic Mike Cameron-esque home run. Because the game was over and it was a meaningless solo shot. Mets lose 6-1. I drop to 2-18 in Wrigley Field. What a total disgrace.
I wish I could change who CI roots for, but I know it would never be genuine. This whole thing would be fun, if once in a while, my guys could have a moment of triumph. I don’t know how long it’ll last (happy AB?), but one thing is for sure. I will never date a Yankee/Giant fan ever again.
I met up with Q at the gate and he handed me my vintage Kerry Wood ticket. I passed on picking up a David DeJesus bobblehead and grabbed a bison dog and Sierra Mist. Although I asked for Mountain Dew, I get a Sierra Mist. Seriously, can we bring Coke and Coke products back into the ballparks already? That’s why I drink more beer at these games now, because I can’t stand the sodas! Anyway, I added grilled onions, yellow mustard, tomatoes, green relish, and a dash of celery salt to my dog. I enjoyed it very much. And for fifty cents more than a regular dog, it’s well worth it.
So we sat in Section 226 and the wind was blowing directly in from left center field and the breeze was cold to boot. I probably should have brought my gray Mets hoodie. So the game began and Johan really looked solid for most of this game. His changeup danced all over the plate and for most of his six innings, the Cub hitters had no chance against him. Chicago mounted a few threats, but he managed to escape.
The Mets, on the other hand, made Travis Wood look like Steve Carlton, Sandy Koufax, and Clayton Kershaw all rolled into one. And the Mets are great at making any left-handed pitcher, except for David Price, look like Carlton and Koufax. And they let this clown Wood pitch seven smooth innings, and managed just five hits and scored no runs. And this one at-bat really annoyed me. In the top of the fourth, Lucas Duda saw three pitches. He took all three and every one was a strike. Absolutely no excuse at all for not pulling the trigger at least once in that at bat. None.
You just got the feeling one run would make the difference. And in the bottom of the fourth, that’s exactly what happened. After a two-out walk, Joe the Beaver Mather drills a shot into the stiff Chicago wind and knocks it two rows deep into the left field bleachers. As scrappy as the Mets may be, I knew right there that they were in a whole heap of trouble.
It got even worse in the seventh inning. With runners on first and second and two down, Justin Turner pinch hit for Santana. Lazy flyout to center field. Adrian Cardenas, whoever he is, leads off and pops one up high. Two feet in front of home plate. Wright charges in, calls off Mike Nickeas, and shuffled his feet; he looked completely flustered. The ball bounces off his glove and rolls all the way to the backstop. Cardenas takes third and I knew it was over. I took off and stood on the corner of Addison and Clark, waiting for the 152 bus. Little did I know the Mets would make two more errors that inning, leading to four more Cub runs. Sure, Ike Davis drilled one out in the top of the ninth but it was a classic Mike Cameron-esque home run. Because the game was over and it was a meaningless solo shot. Mets lose 6-1. I drop to 2-18 in Wrigley Field. What a total disgrace.
I wish I could change who CI roots for, but I know it would never be genuine. This whole thing would be fun, if once in a while, my guys could have a moment of triumph. I don’t know how long it’ll last (happy AB?), but one thing is for sure. I will never date a Yankee/Giant fan ever again.
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Sunday night baseball. Mets vs Yankees. R.A vs CC. Live blog.
Top 1. Dickey induces a Jeter groundout to the mound on the first pitch. Granderson also grounds out and after nearly getting hit in his growing noggin, A-Rod is frozen on a fastball for strike 3. 9 pitches. 3 outs.
Bottom 1. Torres leads off and works Sabathia to a full count before grounding out to short. Ruben Tejada returns from the DL and after another full count, whiffs.Wright lines a single to center for the first hit of the night. On a 2-2 pitch to Scott Hairston, Wright steals second and the throw to second skips into center field, and he easily takes third. I can see why CI doesn't much care for Chris Stewart being the Yankees backup catcher. Unfortunately, Hairston strikes out on a pitch in the dirt.
Top 2. Cano flies out lazily to left field. Teixeira grounds to first, Justin Turner flips the ball to Dickey, and the throw is too high. A total gift baserunner and that is not a good omen. Swisher walks. Now I'm nervous. Up comes Ibanez. Base hit. Bases loaded. Holy crap, I'm never gonna hear the end of this. Stewart pops up. Infield fly. Two down. Now Sabathia, who is an excellent hitting pitcher. A sharp grounder fielded by Wright, who touches third. three out. Whew!
Bottom 2. Duda leads off with a ground single to left. Turner has not looked good since coming off the DL. Double play ball. 4-6-3.And it really hurts since Cedeno and Thole knock back to back singles before Dickey grounds out. And the side is retired.
Top 3. Yank load the bases again on two walks and a single with one out. No 8-9 up this time. Teixeira with a sac fly. First earned run allowed since May 22. 44 2/3 innings. Three walks already in this game and I am not feeling good. Swisher up and this umpire is not giving Dickey any calls. And wouldn't you know it. Three run HR by that cocky asshole. 4-0. I'm having second thoughts abou typing...
Bottom 6: Mets rally! 5-5! Andres Torres with a huge 2-run single to make it 5-4 to chase CC and then Tejada singles off Corey Wade to score Vinny Rottino. Of course, Nieuwenhuis whiffs on a change up with the bases loaded. Side retired. Now with Dickey gone, three innings from a depleted bullpen are needed. I still think they're losing this thing.
Top 7. Batista gets Jeter, Granderson, and A-Rod. Very impressive.
Bottom 7. Logan in to pitch. Nothing happens.
Top 8. Cano HR. 6-5. And of course CI celebrates.
Bottom 8. Torres singles, steals second, and moves to 3rd on a balk with two out. Just a huge spot for Tejada. I so want to shut those damn Yankee fans up. And of course he grounds out. Another failure.
Top 9. Parnell in. 1-2-3. Well done...
Bottom 9. Wright leads off against Rafael freakin Soriano. This is NOT Mo Rivera! Strikeout. Of course. Duda does nothing. Then one hit by Murphy. And Davis chokes with a weak flyout. What a freaking embarrassment. 5 losses in 6 games. I feel absolutely sick over this disgrace of a franchise.
Bottom 1. Torres leads off and works Sabathia to a full count before grounding out to short. Ruben Tejada returns from the DL and after another full count, whiffs.Wright lines a single to center for the first hit of the night. On a 2-2 pitch to Scott Hairston, Wright steals second and the throw to second skips into center field, and he easily takes third. I can see why CI doesn't much care for Chris Stewart being the Yankees backup catcher. Unfortunately, Hairston strikes out on a pitch in the dirt.
Top 2. Cano flies out lazily to left field. Teixeira grounds to first, Justin Turner flips the ball to Dickey, and the throw is too high. A total gift baserunner and that is not a good omen. Swisher walks. Now I'm nervous. Up comes Ibanez. Base hit. Bases loaded. Holy crap, I'm never gonna hear the end of this. Stewart pops up. Infield fly. Two down. Now Sabathia, who is an excellent hitting pitcher. A sharp grounder fielded by Wright, who touches third. three out. Whew!
Bottom 2. Duda leads off with a ground single to left. Turner has not looked good since coming off the DL. Double play ball. 4-6-3.And it really hurts since Cedeno and Thole knock back to back singles before Dickey grounds out. And the side is retired.
Top 3. Yank load the bases again on two walks and a single with one out. No 8-9 up this time. Teixeira with a sac fly. First earned run allowed since May 22. 44 2/3 innings. Three walks already in this game and I am not feeling good. Swisher up and this umpire is not giving Dickey any calls. And wouldn't you know it. Three run HR by that cocky asshole. 4-0. I'm having second thoughts abou typing...
Bottom 6: Mets rally! 5-5! Andres Torres with a huge 2-run single to make it 5-4 to chase CC and then Tejada singles off Corey Wade to score Vinny Rottino. Of course, Nieuwenhuis whiffs on a change up with the bases loaded. Side retired. Now with Dickey gone, three innings from a depleted bullpen are needed. I still think they're losing this thing.
Top 7. Batista gets Jeter, Granderson, and A-Rod. Very impressive.
Bottom 7. Logan in to pitch. Nothing happens.
Top 8. Cano HR. 6-5. And of course CI celebrates.
Bottom 8. Torres singles, steals second, and moves to 3rd on a balk with two out. Just a huge spot for Tejada. I so want to shut those damn Yankee fans up. And of course he grounds out. Another failure.
Top 9. Parnell in. 1-2-3. Well done...
Bottom 9. Wright leads off against Rafael freakin Soriano. This is NOT Mo Rivera! Strikeout. Of course. Duda does nothing. Then one hit by Murphy. And Davis chokes with a weak flyout. What a freaking embarrassment. 5 losses in 6 games. I feel absolutely sick over this disgrace of a franchise.
A weekend at home for a change
Welcome to my 20 regular readers, even though I only know who maybe, 2 of you are.
1) Good to visit Swedish Days after missing it last year. I enjoyed my Egg Harbor cheeseburger and lemonade shakeup followed by a Swedish cinnamon roll for Graham's.
2) Went to a Hi Infidelity concert. I enjoyed it, though I realize how few of those arena rock songs I know. And I am incredibly disappointed that even though they played four or five REO Speedwagon songs, they did not play "Take it On the Run." Terrible job.
3) Softball is 1-2, game 4 is at 2 p.m Sunday. After some serious training this week, I'll be back after missing Game 3, and more than ready to go.
4) Kristin seems like a really cool girl. Not sure I can keep up with someone who dances as much as she does, but hey, I can go for a challenge.
5) So I'm going to two games at Wrigley Field this week. I may as well wager money on the Cubs winning Monday and Wednesday and the Mets winning on Tuesday, since that game is the only one I won't be going to.
6) I sometimes think I would rather be in love with someone who doesn't care about sports vs. someone who hates most of my teams.
7) Can't wait to try the Four-Course sandwich at Fifty/30 on Wednesday afternoon.
8) It's amazing how much healthier I feel when I tan. Then again, that can be a sign of danger...
9) Some days I wish you could get a good foot rub...this is one of them.
10) Great job by the Daily Herald publishing a half page article on R.A. Dickey today. We need some K's Dickey, wins Dickey. Don't break our hearts Dickey...
1) Good to visit Swedish Days after missing it last year. I enjoyed my Egg Harbor cheeseburger and lemonade shakeup followed by a Swedish cinnamon roll for Graham's.
2) Went to a Hi Infidelity concert. I enjoyed it, though I realize how few of those arena rock songs I know. And I am incredibly disappointed that even though they played four or five REO Speedwagon songs, they did not play "Take it On the Run." Terrible job.
3) Softball is 1-2, game 4 is at 2 p.m Sunday. After some serious training this week, I'll be back after missing Game 3, and more than ready to go.
4) Kristin seems like a really cool girl. Not sure I can keep up with someone who dances as much as she does, but hey, I can go for a challenge.
5) So I'm going to two games at Wrigley Field this week. I may as well wager money on the Cubs winning Monday and Wednesday and the Mets winning on Tuesday, since that game is the only one I won't be going to.
6) I sometimes think I would rather be in love with someone who doesn't care about sports vs. someone who hates most of my teams.
7) Can't wait to try the Four-Course sandwich at Fifty/30 on Wednesday afternoon.
8) It's amazing how much healthier I feel when I tan. Then again, that can be a sign of danger...
9) Some days I wish you could get a good foot rub...this is one of them.
10) Great job by the Daily Herald publishing a half page article on R.A. Dickey today. We need some K's Dickey, wins Dickey. Don't break our hearts Dickey...
Best in the World Predictions
Thankfully the ROH PPV stream is working unlike last time. Picks for this afternoon's card at the Hammerstein Ballroom in the Manhattan Center in New York City.
ROH World Championship-Anything Goes
Kevin Steen vs Davey Richards
Pick: Kevin Steen
ROH World Tag Team Championship
Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin vs Kenny King and Rhett Titus
Pick: All Night Express
ROH World TV Championship-Elimination Rules
Roderick Strong vs Tomasso Ciampa vs Jay Lethal
Pick: Roderick Strong
Eddie Edwards vs Homicide
Pick: Eddie Edwards
Hybrid Fighting Rules
Adam Cole vs Kyle O' Reilly
Pick: Adam Cole
Fit Finlay vs "Unbreakable" Michael Elgin
Pick: "Unbreakable" Michael Elgin
Jay and Mark Briscoe vs Truth Martini's Guardians of Truth
Pick: Jay and Mark Briscoe
ROH World Championship-Anything Goes
Kevin Steen vs Davey Richards
Pick: Kevin Steen
ROH World Tag Team Championship
Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin vs Kenny King and Rhett Titus
Pick: All Night Express
ROH World TV Championship-Elimination Rules
Roderick Strong vs Tomasso Ciampa vs Jay Lethal
Pick: Roderick Strong
Eddie Edwards vs Homicide
Pick: Eddie Edwards
Hybrid Fighting Rules
Adam Cole vs Kyle O' Reilly
Pick: Adam Cole
Fit Finlay vs "Unbreakable" Michael Elgin
Pick: "Unbreakable" Michael Elgin
Jay and Mark Briscoe vs Truth Martini's Guardians of Truth
Pick: Jay and Mark Briscoe
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Happy camper? Probably
After my car passed the emissions test, I stopped at Wal-Mart to buy 14 pounds of ice and a package of styrofoam cups for the trip. I eventually arrived at Melissa's apartment in Arlington Heights around 12:30. It would have been 12, but Natalie forgot to bring the banana chocolate chip bread and zucchini bread, so she had to rush home after work to pick them up, and we delayed our departure time by a half hour.
The rain lasted for maybe an hour and then we returned to our site. I opened our tent door and to my horror, I saw a large puddle sitting inside the tent right by the door. May have been the size of a large dinner plate. My only relief was that none of the water touched my stuff. Unfortunately, it got to Manish's sleeping bag and mattress. Without a squeegee handy, we used the lids of the styrofoam coolers to sweep the water out of the tent. I finished it off by wiping up the remaining water with my bath towel.
So we made lunch as the sun started to peek out. I made a turkey sandwich with more guac along with some salad and pita chips. Oh, and plenty of watermelon, it completely hit the spot with that hot weather. From there, I headed down to the beach with Melissa and Kristin. Earlier that morning, Sophie told me this was the tiniest swimming area I could ever imagine. And she wasn't kidding. I've seen plenty of lakes and ponds that had roped off areas to swim, but this was a rectangle that wasn't even the size of a hockey rink.
I went into the water first, and it felt pretty comfortable. Walking on the grass on the bottom of the pond felt a little creepy, it was like someone or something was crawling on me. Eventually, the ladies (who were looking gorgeous in a pair of bikinis) came in. And as we walked out, I flicked a hint of water at both of them. It didn't even qualify as a splash. Well, I paid for it. Melissa warned me after the flick to sleep with one eye open. A half hour later, Melissa caught me while I was laying face down. I was enjoying the rays warming my back. And I suddenly felt a cold rush going down my back. She doused me with a bucket of water. It was really no big deal, I dried off pretty quick. Oh, and this was a little weird. They were laying to my right. To my left were about 8 steel canoes. They asked if I was looking at them, I told them they were better to look at than the boats. I guess that was a compliment...
Afterwards, I walked with Catherine to the neighboring Nature Preserve. We walked on a dock and chatted for the first time. She's got a few years on me and he's quite smart. I got to learn about her pastoring and scientific backgrounds, she seemed like an interesting woman. But what we saw on the dock of the preserve really disturbed both of us. These kids, maybe 11 years old, were fishing. Then I saw they had a turtle on the dock. Apparently, the turtle had taken the bait and they had pulled him up. I looked closer and I could see this one blonde-haired kid was stepping on the shell of the turtle. And then I could see the turtle's mouth stretched completely open, as far as it could go. He couldn't make a sound, but it was easy to see he was in a lot of pain. A few of us on the dock asked him what he was doing and why. So then the kid grabbed him by the tail and dangled him over the water for a solid 5 or 10 seconds before finally releasing him into the pond. I have to say it was very disturbing to watch.
So we went back and it was time for the 8:00 hay ride with Manish and Kristin. Seems like I spent a lot of time with Kristin, and I have to say, I didn't mind it at all. On the ride, which wasn't too thrilling, Kristin explained to me the difference between red oaks, white oaks, and burr oaks. We saw some honeysuckle and black locusts too. So she wound up being my tour guide. During the ride, I also saw a disc golf course on the other side of the property. I even had my discs in my car, so I was a little bummed I had no knowledge of this!
When we returned around 9 pm, Jim, Mike, Catherine, and Ian had all left already. It was completely dark outside by now, so we started another campfire. We had some different conversations about faith, including how we got saved and even a long talk about Evangelicalism vs Catholicism. It's not that I wasn't interested, but I just felt so drained. I nodded off at least three times. All of a sudden I felt it. A drip. Then two drips. Then came a couple more drips. Then the drips quickly morphed into a thunderstorm.
I knew our tent was going to flood. Fil and held the slanted roof of our tent up, trying to deflect the water off. More water did start to seep in through the corners of the tent, I had to cover my suitcase with a towel. But there wasn't much we could do about the rain that was leaking through the roof except to wait out the storm. Manish, meanwhile, well, he didn't have it so good. He had left his phone on the picnic table outside and it got ruined. He wound up staying in his van for a while. After about an hour of trying to prevent more dripping, Fil and Manish threw a tarp over part of the tent. It helped, but it didn't really solve the problem. Once again, I had to use my towels to dry up the rain water inside the tent.
Eventually, we all laid down and tried to sleep. As more water snuck in, I started singing "Raindrops keep falling on my head." BJ Thomas, great voice, bottom line. Anyway, neither Manish or I felt comfortable sleeping near the sides of the tent. Fil had an elevated cot placed in the middle, so he was ok. But eventually, Natasha agreed to stay with Natalie and Kristin while Manish and I took her tent over. We definitely appreciated that sacrifice.
It was still not the easiest night to sleep. As I laid down on her very soft inflatable mattress, I realized both a corner of my pillow well as the bottom of my sleeping bag were completely drenched. And Manish woke up maybe twice during the night to take a leak too. Thanks for the interruptions bro.
We woke up around 6:30 and after taking an early shower, I immediately started cleaning up the site. After arranging food, gear, and packing bags, we left around 7:45 for the pancake breakfast with eggs, fruit, sausage, and cereal. But I could just feel the vibe of the group was we had fun, but we're ready to go home.
So I walked back with Manish and Kristin (again!) and as I headed back to our tent to disassemble it, I found a turtle hanging out behind Leigh's truck. Kristin took quite a liking to him and I took a few photos of him, including one of Kristin holding him. She let him off in the woods behind our site.
So we resumed cleaning by taking the tents down, packing the coolers, and dumping the trash (with Kristin). We even had some extra Cokes that Jim had brought so I took three cans and packed them in my duffel bag. I think it took us another hour and we were all gone by 9:30. Again, I drove Natalie and this time, she slept most of the way. Sadly, Dogs N' Suds was closed at 10:20 am, we had arrived in Richmond, at the northern border of Illinois, about 40 minutes early. I guess that first taste of the root beer will have to wait for another day. So I dropped Natalie off at Melissa's place and helped upload the cars. Melissa was nice enough to give me a bottle of water for the road and I made it home by 12:30.
I just felt too drained to play softball that afternoon, I found out we lost to St. Peters again. I'll be ready for Sunday afternoon.
We loaded our two cars with countless bags, grills, tents, and coolers, Lord knows my Honda Accord has never carried this kind of weight before! After about two minutes, I could almost hear the engine crying out to me, "Adam, did you put some weight on?" I drove Natalie while Melissa rode in Leigh's truck. On the way, the two of us made a stop at Target to get 28 more pounds of ice. On top of that, Natalie wanted to stop at the adjacent McDonald's, and I may have rolled my eyes at that one. She ordered two sweet teas for herself, so I decided to bite the bullet and I got one too. I took a sip through the straw and immediately, I remembered why I haven't spent any money there in 20 years. The sweet tea had no freaking sugar whatsoever! Isn't that the point of sweet tea? I only drank it down because it was cold and the temperature was around 90 degrees outside.
We arrived in Camp Timber-Lee in East Troy, Wisconsin around 3:30 pm. Natalie and I registered the group and we started unloading at sites 29 and 31. We had four tents, three for the ladies and one for the guys. Now, the first three were from Eddie Bauer and Ozark. These were modern tents with metal stakes, velcro fasteners, zippers for windows, all kinds of modern amenities. Then we came to the guys tent that Natasha brought; she came up with her daughter around 4:30. I think this tent was a relic from World War 1. I opened up the canvas bag and I pulled out a huge tent with had tape covering some holes, 20 metal poles, and a dozen yellow plastic stakes. It took me a solid hour to get the tent to the point where it would just stand up. Even with a rubber mallet, i could only drive the stakes halfway into the ground. The bottom of the poles were rubber capped, which I wasn't too confident about either. Eventually, we got it up to the point where it would just stay up and at the time, that was good enough for me. I was jnust hoping the winds wouldn't exceed 5 MPH... After we finished, I enjoyed an orange icee-pop and cup of lemon sparking water. J-Schu would have been so proud of me.
We started setting up for dinner. As the lone guy, my job was to eat a lot. I wound up wolfing down four turkey burger patties, a hot dog, grilled corn on the cob, salad, pita chips with hummus, and a ton of guacamole, regular and spicy! Feeling a little bored afterwards, I walked down to the road to the activity center, where they have ping pong, air hockey, and carpetball. I wound up playing carpetball (sort of like hand-held shuffleboard without points) with a guy from Bartlett for about 20 minutes. I came back and we set up a campfire with s'mores and then Kristin and Manish arrived around 9 pm. I don't remember too much of the night, except setting stuff up. I do remember going to the office late and signing up for Saturday activities. We had choices like horseback riding, archery, the pancake breakfast, and the creation walk. We didn't stay up too late, we headed to bed around 11, which is lights out at Timber-lee anyway.
All night long, Manish and I could hear giggling coming from Kristin and Natalie's tent, which was maybe 5 steps away from us. So we decided to do something about it. I snuck out of our tent, walked a few steps to Manish's truck, opened the door, raised the roof of the cooler, and grabbed two handfuls of ice cubes. I closed the van back up and tip-toed gingerly to their tent and pelted the outside of their tent with the ice. Then I hauled ass back to my tent! Thankfully, there was no retribution.
Since a few of us had signed up for horseback riding at 8:45, Manish and I took charge of making an early breakfast. We went with eggs, although a frying pan might have been a nice addition. I wound up lining a grill basket with aluminum foil and putting it on the grill. I also had to use a metal spatula and indeed, some of the eggs slipped through the foil and onto the burner. I'm sure that didn't make cleanup a fun experience. I also fried up some turkey bacon. I guess it's healthier, but has so far less flavor than regular bacon. We also had some fruit salad and Natalie's aforementioned breads. That zucchini bread, in particular, tasted awesome.
Since a few of us had signed up for horseback riding at 8:45, Manish and I took charge of making an early breakfast. We went with eggs, although a frying pan might have been a nice addition. I wound up lining a grill basket with aluminum foil and putting it on the grill. I also had to use a metal spatula and indeed, some of the eggs slipped through the foil and onto the burner. I'm sure that didn't make cleanup a fun experience. I also fried up some turkey bacon. I guess it's healthier, but has so far less flavor than regular bacon. We also had some fruit salad and Natalie's aforementioned breads. That zucchini bread, in particular, tasted awesome.
Natasha, Sophie, Kristin, and I left for the ten-minute walk to the stable around 8:30 am. Two other people staying at the camp joined us, they were both first time riders. They fitted me with an XL helmet and then they led us out where the horses were tied. I rode a white horse called Cash, who had a steel muzzle wrapped around his mouth. That meant this horse was an eater! And he proved it when five minutes into the ride, he took a dump. The casual ride lasted an hour or so and it was a cool experience. It cost me $14.00, I would have liked to have done a little trotting for that price!
We all planned to go on the waterslide, which was only open from 9 am to noon. So I changed from my jeans into my bathing suit and then a few of us were sitting around on the picnic tables. And then all of a sudden, the bright gray skies let the rain go all over us. We scurried to get the chairs and coolers into the cars and then we all went to the activity center to kill some time. While we were there, Jim, Catherine, and Mike all showed up. No, not that Catherine. Jim even brought some styrofoam coolers filled with Coke and that soda really hit the spot for me. The highlight of that time in the center was probably Mike and I playing ping pong against Manish and Catherine. The matches were all very competitive, but we won 2 games to 1. It was interesting seeing the ladies giving each other shoulder massages while sitting right next to the table. A little risky, if you ask me. Indeed, a few errant balls hit Melissa and Natalie in the head, I have to admit, I thought it was hysterical. By now, Natasha took Sophie to another camp about 90 minutes north of where we were before returning herself that night.
The rain lasted for maybe an hour and then we returned to our site. I opened our tent door and to my horror, I saw a large puddle sitting inside the tent right by the door. May have been the size of a large dinner plate. My only relief was that none of the water touched my stuff. Unfortunately, it got to Manish's sleeping bag and mattress. Without a squeegee handy, we used the lids of the styrofoam coolers to sweep the water out of the tent. I finished it off by wiping up the remaining water with my bath towel.
So we made lunch as the sun started to peek out. I made a turkey sandwich with more guac along with some salad and pita chips. Oh, and plenty of watermelon, it completely hit the spot with that hot weather. From there, I headed down to the beach with Melissa and Kristin. Earlier that morning, Sophie told me this was the tiniest swimming area I could ever imagine. And she wasn't kidding. I've seen plenty of lakes and ponds that had roped off areas to swim, but this was a rectangle that wasn't even the size of a hockey rink.
I went into the water first, and it felt pretty comfortable. Walking on the grass on the bottom of the pond felt a little creepy, it was like someone or something was crawling on me. Eventually, the ladies (who were looking gorgeous in a pair of bikinis) came in. And as we walked out, I flicked a hint of water at both of them. It didn't even qualify as a splash. Well, I paid for it. Melissa warned me after the flick to sleep with one eye open. A half hour later, Melissa caught me while I was laying face down. I was enjoying the rays warming my back. And I suddenly felt a cold rush going down my back. She doused me with a bucket of water. It was really no big deal, I dried off pretty quick. Oh, and this was a little weird. They were laying to my right. To my left were about 8 steel canoes. They asked if I was looking at them, I told them they were better to look at than the boats. I guess that was a compliment...
Meanwhile, the others did archery and the creation walk. Some of them even got to hold a boa constrictor. I didn't know that was going to be on the list! Fil and Ian had arrived by now also, although Ian stayed about four hours before going back home again. While we prepared dinner, and Fil was preparing his BBQ ribs, Natalie applied put a cucumber-melon mask on my face. I have to admit, my pores felt much tighter. I guess that's a good thing. Anyway, Fil prepared pork ribs with a mango-chipotle sauce, braised in a coffee-based porter. He also threw in a lot of different spices like cinnamon, all spice, ginger, coriander, etc. They tasted tremendous, but they were a little hot! We also enjoyed Natasha's potato salad and our grilled veggies. Just a great dinner.
Then, most of us went boating around 6:30. Jim and Catherine took individual kayaks, while Mike and Natasha shared a canoe, and Manish, Kristin, and I worked on a paddleboat. We rode around the pond for about an hour. I will say, I wish there was a boat where I could adjust my seat position forward and back, like a car. Let's just say my legs were a little long for those pedals, so my knees were basically tucked in my sternum for most of the ride!
Then, most of us went boating around 6:30. Jim and Catherine took individual kayaks, while Mike and Natasha shared a canoe, and Manish, Kristin, and I worked on a paddleboat. We rode around the pond for about an hour. I will say, I wish there was a boat where I could adjust my seat position forward and back, like a car. Let's just say my legs were a little long for those pedals, so my knees were basically tucked in my sternum for most of the ride!
Afterwards, I walked with Catherine to the neighboring Nature Preserve. We walked on a dock and chatted for the first time. She's got a few years on me and he's quite smart. I got to learn about her pastoring and scientific backgrounds, she seemed like an interesting woman. But what we saw on the dock of the preserve really disturbed both of us. These kids, maybe 11 years old, were fishing. Then I saw they had a turtle on the dock. Apparently, the turtle had taken the bait and they had pulled him up. I looked closer and I could see this one blonde-haired kid was stepping on the shell of the turtle. And then I could see the turtle's mouth stretched completely open, as far as it could go. He couldn't make a sound, but it was easy to see he was in a lot of pain. A few of us on the dock asked him what he was doing and why. So then the kid grabbed him by the tail and dangled him over the water for a solid 5 or 10 seconds before finally releasing him into the pond. I have to say it was very disturbing to watch.
So we went back and it was time for the 8:00 hay ride with Manish and Kristin. Seems like I spent a lot of time with Kristin, and I have to say, I didn't mind it at all. On the ride, which wasn't too thrilling, Kristin explained to me the difference between red oaks, white oaks, and burr oaks. We saw some honeysuckle and black locusts too. So she wound up being my tour guide. During the ride, I also saw a disc golf course on the other side of the property. I even had my discs in my car, so I was a little bummed I had no knowledge of this!
When we returned around 9 pm, Jim, Mike, Catherine, and Ian had all left already. It was completely dark outside by now, so we started another campfire. We had some different conversations about faith, including how we got saved and even a long talk about Evangelicalism vs Catholicism. It's not that I wasn't interested, but I just felt so drained. I nodded off at least three times. All of a sudden I felt it. A drip. Then two drips. Then came a couple more drips. Then the drips quickly morphed into a thunderstorm.
I knew our tent was going to flood. Fil and held the slanted roof of our tent up, trying to deflect the water off. More water did start to seep in through the corners of the tent, I had to cover my suitcase with a towel. But there wasn't much we could do about the rain that was leaking through the roof except to wait out the storm. Manish, meanwhile, well, he didn't have it so good. He had left his phone on the picnic table outside and it got ruined. He wound up staying in his van for a while. After about an hour of trying to prevent more dripping, Fil and Manish threw a tarp over part of the tent. It helped, but it didn't really solve the problem. Once again, I had to use my towels to dry up the rain water inside the tent.
Eventually, we all laid down and tried to sleep. As more water snuck in, I started singing "Raindrops keep falling on my head." BJ Thomas, great voice, bottom line. Anyway, neither Manish or I felt comfortable sleeping near the sides of the tent. Fil had an elevated cot placed in the middle, so he was ok. But eventually, Natasha agreed to stay with Natalie and Kristin while Manish and I took her tent over. We definitely appreciated that sacrifice.
It was still not the easiest night to sleep. As I laid down on her very soft inflatable mattress, I realized both a corner of my pillow well as the bottom of my sleeping bag were completely drenched. And Manish woke up maybe twice during the night to take a leak too. Thanks for the interruptions bro.
We woke up around 6:30 and after taking an early shower, I immediately started cleaning up the site. After arranging food, gear, and packing bags, we left around 7:45 for the pancake breakfast with eggs, fruit, sausage, and cereal. But I could just feel the vibe of the group was we had fun, but we're ready to go home.
So I walked back with Manish and Kristin (again!) and as I headed back to our tent to disassemble it, I found a turtle hanging out behind Leigh's truck. Kristin took quite a liking to him and I took a few photos of him, including one of Kristin holding him. She let him off in the woods behind our site.
So we resumed cleaning by taking the tents down, packing the coolers, and dumping the trash (with Kristin). We even had some extra Cokes that Jim had brought so I took three cans and packed them in my duffel bag. I think it took us another hour and we were all gone by 9:30. Again, I drove Natalie and this time, she slept most of the way. Sadly, Dogs N' Suds was closed at 10:20 am, we had arrived in Richmond, at the northern border of Illinois, about 40 minutes early. I guess that first taste of the root beer will have to wait for another day. So I dropped Natalie off at Melissa's place and helped upload the cars. Melissa was nice enough to give me a bottle of water for the road and I made it home by 12:30.
I just felt too drained to play softball that afternoon, I found out we lost to St. Peters again. I'll be ready for Sunday afternoon.
Monday, June 11, 2012
A lost weekend
I should never have gone near CI this weekend. This weekend was about seeing Nona and her friends first and foremost. CI was secondary, even though I stayed at her house. And considering the Mets were playing the Skanks in Skank Stadium, I knew going in this would likely be a disaster.
I got the last flight out, at 8:20 and arrived around 11 pm. Of course it took them another half hour to arrive, which was a joke. And I have never seen worse security at an airport in my life than this dump. There were four lanes for passenger pickup. Three of them were being used by cars that were already parked. I even saw one car parked against the curb...and there was not a person in the car or around the car.
So we're having breakfast a diner in Middle Village and Rob Dokes sends me a FB message. He has the nerve to ask if I want to go to the Subway Series. I hadn't seen him in maybe eight years, so I thought that would be good. Plus the tickets were free, eventually I find out he has two. Even though it was good to see him, I should have said no. We went anyway. Four HR's off Johan. 9-1 final. Not to mention all the taunts I had to deal with from the "classy" Yankee fans, none of which I will repeat here.
Saturday night was just another rough loss, but at least I was already gone for the utter collapse of Sunday afternoon. Oh and the Devils are still alive too. I mean, nothing went even close to right. I expected Rex Ryan to die of a heart attack and Michael Del Zotto to get a 5 year contract extension.
I loved seeing Nona again and it was great meeting Jeanne, Carlos, Nelson, Dan, and everyone else. In fact, a part of me wishes I had just hung with them and them alone. The Thai place for Friday lunch, Saturday brunch at Peel's, Euro Cup soccer, fun conversations about unique and different things (technology, travel, the Bible, siblings, the Middle East, restaurants, and yes, sports); all of that was fun. I had good times alone going to Gray's Papaya and SBI-NY as well. And sure, a repeat visit to Arturo's is always good. The sports and dealing with those five damn cats was pure torture. I just don't want to deal with it anymore.
I got the last flight out, at 8:20 and arrived around 11 pm. Of course it took them another half hour to arrive, which was a joke. And I have never seen worse security at an airport in my life than this dump. There were four lanes for passenger pickup. Three of them were being used by cars that were already parked. I even saw one car parked against the curb...and there was not a person in the car or around the car.
So we're having breakfast a diner in Middle Village and Rob Dokes sends me a FB message. He has the nerve to ask if I want to go to the Subway Series. I hadn't seen him in maybe eight years, so I thought that would be good. Plus the tickets were free, eventually I find out he has two. Even though it was good to see him, I should have said no. We went anyway. Four HR's off Johan. 9-1 final. Not to mention all the taunts I had to deal with from the "classy" Yankee fans, none of which I will repeat here.
Saturday night was just another rough loss, but at least I was already gone for the utter collapse of Sunday afternoon. Oh and the Devils are still alive too. I mean, nothing went even close to right. I expected Rex Ryan to die of a heart attack and Michael Del Zotto to get a 5 year contract extension.
I loved seeing Nona again and it was great meeting Jeanne, Carlos, Nelson, Dan, and everyone else. In fact, a part of me wishes I had just hung with them and them alone. The Thai place for Friday lunch, Saturday brunch at Peel's, Euro Cup soccer, fun conversations about unique and different things (technology, travel, the Bible, siblings, the Middle East, restaurants, and yes, sports); all of that was fun. I had good times alone going to Gray's Papaya and SBI-NY as well. And sure, a repeat visit to Arturo's is always good. The sports and dealing with those five damn cats was pure torture. I just don't want to deal with it anymore.
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