Thursday, August 30, 2007

Day game fun

Took yesterday as an annual leave day and went to the last weekday day game of the Dodger season. Did not sit down in my seats, but instead made a reservation at the stadium club for brunch and a bottle of wine. The brunch buffet was great, as always. Sat at the glass next to a few other old timers and had fun watching the Dodgers come from behind to tie and eventually win in extra innings. I loaned my tickets to another couple who were going to take clients down to the seats and watch the game close up. They offered to pay for my meal, and of course I agreed. Turns out that their clients did not want to go down there, but stay up in the club. Still got my meal though. Took the rest of my wine to their table when the clients left and enjoyed their conversation until the guards kicked us out about a half hour after the game ended. Went straight home after the game and fell fast asleep. Woke up at three this morning to the sound of thunder. Thunderstorms in Southern California? Very rare indeed, usually left over from a tropical storm from Mexico. Almost no rain, and what little I saw on the ground at 3 AM was gone by the time I went out to the car at 6 AM. Water doesn't seem to last in the desert. Was in the high seventies before the sun came up, and may go over one hundred again today. Maybe I'll find an air-conditioned movie house after work today...

Monday, August 27, 2007

3000 Celebration for Biggio




While I was in Houston, my sister-in-law received some passes to a company event at Minute Maid Park for the Astros game and before the game started there was a celebration of Biggio's 3000th hit. Excellent, free beer, free food, free game, all I had to do was pay for closer parking than my brother wanted to. They take such good care of me when I come to visit. A glass of wine after every evening meal. A key to come and go as I please, and a pool for when it's hot, that the big o'chocolate lab of theirs takes laps in every day too. So rested now, it's hard to get back to work. Have I been back a week already?

Friday, August 24, 2007

So That!

You Are 76% California

You're so Californian, you belong in Hollyweird.

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Swell gone

Well, the swelling was from the last of the antibiotic. Seems when it attacked the virus it released toxins and puffy checks were then in vogue. Took my x-ray and referral paperwork to the endodontist who scheduled me for September tenth. Great, three more weeks with a chipped tooth. Must be careful not to infect it again. I love these little floss rakes. Don't have to waste so much floss wrapped around fingers anymore. Enough of all that, have a nice lunch at a local diner and head back to work. Tons of e-mail awaits. What did these folk do when I was gone? Last regular season Dodger Day game at home is on Wednesday the twenty ninth. You won't find me at work that day. Celebrity poker tournament in town today, think I'll swing by there after work tonight and see who wins. May play a cash game or two, too.

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Tooth better?

Early Friday morning, about eleven days ago, I started to get a pain in my upper left jaw. The night before, Rich had burnt the lamb chops on the grill under the beach house, but still served them up as the only meat of the evening. I soaked two of them in applesauce thinking it would help. It didn't and I even chipped a tooth on one of them. Our host had already gone home the night before on a family emergency, more like lots of little things piled up on the spouse and he had to go. I had the keys to the place, [to lock up on Saturday with] but knew I had to see a dentist come dawn on Friday. I asked Tom for a referral, He gave me a card for a dentist in Bay City and I was off as Rich and Bob were waking up and getting ready to pack to go home. Tom and Glen would stay all day Friday. I cross the drawbridge after a barge goes by on the inter coastal waterway and head up the state highway to Bay City. Get out my special Oklahoma cell phone and cheaters and dial the number on the card only to find out that they can not take a new patient today and give me a referral. I call the Bay City Dental office they referred me to, but they had a dentist call in sick and were rescheduling patients. Argh! [throb] I pull up to the original one I was going to and asked them to call around for me. They found a guy a few blocks away that could take me. I cruise over to K street with a twenty mile per hour speed limit, and pull in just fine, only car out front. Announce my presence and they give me a form and take my insurance card. When the dentist arrives, the first thing he does is ask "who has that mini cooper out there? I want to talk to them!" So I rise, and walk outside with him, and press the remote to open the top and let him get in. He impressed with the dash and the room and asks all sorts of questions. I answer as best as I can and finally close it up and we walk back inside. The staff can not believe how good my insurance is, and ask me if I pay extra for it. I do. They x-ray and prod me and perscribe me an anti-biotic to take to clear the infection and to make sure and see a dentist when I get home for that root canal that has to happen. Great, that is what I am going to do today, off to the local dentist in five minutes. The anti-biotic seems to have worked as the pain went away quickly, but it is starting to swell today, so I better go now and get it checked. Cya.

Monday, August 20, 2007

Home, Home, Home

Woke up in Las Cruses last Tuesday morning, and realized I had tickets for that night's Dodger game. Eleven hours later I was there. Thirty two hundred miles of fun during those days, L.A. to the gulf coast of Texas, to Houston, and back. Some poor critter at night ran under my right front tire in west texas. A week later as we were packing up the beach house, my host noticied a bubble in my tire. Looked in my mini-guide for the nearest mini-dealer. Sugarland, Texas. Wouldn't make it by closing that weekend, so instead of heading for L.A. first thing last Monday morning, headed for the dealership, in and out within four hours after describing the issue to the tire insurance company. Then went to my brothers, packed up the rest of my stuff, said bye to my niece and nephew and headed west. Made Las Cruses by midnight, spent the night for free [well, used some rewards points] and then headed west again to make the game. Had the rest of the week off from work, so just kept going to Dodgers games the rest of week and last weekend. It seems when I was gone, they slipped from first to fourth place, by losing seven straight series of games. I'm glad they are starting to win again, but it is a long row to hoe to even get to a wild card spot, let alone back into the western divisions first place. More stories later, back to work I go...

Saturday, August 4, 2007

Bacation

Made it to El Paso, had fun driving through Arizona Monsoons, and rush hour in Phoenix. Didn't leave LA until noon, so it was dark when I reached Texas. A little hotel sleep, shower, and head out this morning for a border island beach house on the gulf of mexico. Cya in ten days or so.

Wednesday, August 1, 2007

Loud Crowd

Dodger Stadium was packed to the rafters with one of the loudest crowds I've ever witnessed. Every other inning it was the chanting of 'Barry Sucks' that was the loudest. I stood up for each of his four at bats with the rest of the crowd around me. By his third at bat, the flashes from all of the cameras going off looked to me like a supernova with each pitch. How could anyone hit the ball with that kind of a distraction? Well, he didn't, until his fourth at bat of the night with a blooper over the shortstop. When no runners were on base, the Dodgers pitched to him. With runners in scoring position, the Dodgers walked him. Very good strategy, except for one thing, forgot to score enough runs to win the game! Hopefully he will not tie nor break Hank Aaron's all time home run record here, but the next two games are sold out in anticipation. If he does break the record here, those poor San Francisco fans will have to watch the highlights from Los Angeles. That's the only part that makes me grin. Of the next few pitchers BB faces, Friday night in San Diego against Greg Maddux is his best shot. BB has hit 8 home runs off of GM in his career. I'll be there again tonight and Thursday, clapping for the Dodgers and booing the other team.