Tuesday, May 31, 2005

Take me out to the ball game...


Charlie Brown Day at SBC
Originally uploaded by Alanmine.

I had the pleasure of going to two Giants game in a row. One has been planned for a while, the other was a last minute thing. On Friday, work was giving out bleachers tickets. I didn't make the first cut of the ticket drawing, but some of the tickets were returned because people can't make it so I got one. I hadn't actually sat in the bleachers in a long time - I've been spoiled by the luxurious club level and lower level seating lately. It was good time, I hadn't really spent a lot of time outside of work with my co-workers, and it was fun to see them in a more relaxed (and alcoholic) environment. The game sucked though. The Giants were never in it and Brian Lawrence didn't even break a sweat. I had the feeling it wasn't going to get much better the next day...

And I was mostly right. It started ominously as the whole reason for heading out there was because my sister saw that it was Charlie Brown Bobblehead day. It was only to the first 10,000 fans 14 and under so my kids were enlisted for duty. I even got a ticket for Hannah to make getting the bobblehead more legit....so I should've known when the usher didn't even look in Sara's direction when she went through the gate. Totally ignored her. I walked up to another usher and told him that my daughter didn't get one and he told me that coming through the gate was her one and only chance...jerks. We settled in to see the Giants at least tease us with SOME clutch hitting only to see the bullpen fall apart. Great. I have a 1-3 record at SBC this year. This might be the first year in a long time that has happened. I am hoping I can put a stop to the voodoo by attending the even worse A's and D-Rays game on Two Dollar Wednesday. Go....er... B.J Upton?

Monday, May 30, 2005

When the heat goes out...

(The next few post might be out of order since I have a few on draft status waiting to be finished... I have a short attention span, what can I say?)

Britt was baking cookies today while I was making dinner when the oven was all of a sudden...not hot. My oven of all things gave out today. The burner works fine, so dinner went well (see other blog shortly). At least I can maybe still catch those Memorial Day sales tomorrow, huh? ... If anyone is interested in some peanut butter cookie dough, I have quite a bit to spare....

Sunday, May 29, 2005

Return to Sender....

No one likes junk mail, but sometimes they are amusing - both in content and in origin...you ever wonder how you get on certain mailing lists? I know your name and address just gets sold like cheap t-shirts outside sports stadiums, but how many issues of tattoo Weekly do you need to get before they get the message that piercings are really your thing? ... I still get the occasional mail at my parents house even though I haven't lived there for almost a year. I went over the other day and saw a Frederick's catalog laying around and figured that it was for Britt. I picked it up to make sure it wasn't to my mom's (a very quick, sickening thought, by the way) and the addressee was one...Hannah Kwong.....Is my five year old ordering things without telling me? Is there a lot of things she isn't telling me? Does the Disney corporation own more businesses than I thought? I'd rather see things mailed to a dead guy than a lingerie catalog to a five year old girl......grrr.....

Saturday, May 21, 2005

Bay to Breakers

I guess I could have posted sooner since it happened almost a week ago, but I've been recovering... So it's Bay to Breaker time again, my third time, and still no costume. I think I do it every year for two reasons: an excuse to convince myself to exercise in preparation, and to see the more "colorful" side of the Bay Area...By no means do "colorful" mean naked, of course... I hadn't decided if I was going to be running or walking with my wife this year until we got there. I guess seeing all the people running by kind of inspired me. I was off for a good pace for a while there. Then the Hayes street hill hit and reality set in. With about two blocks left up the hill, I was pretty much done...which brings me back to the naked guys. I have to hand it to them, they really helped me get through it. Whenever I started to get tired and started to walk, I would see the backside of one of them and be motivated to run past them. They kept coming and I kept running. Two hours and two minutes later, I was at the Great Highway standing between a taco and Tinkerbell.

There was a whole thing about not finding my wife and friends for two hours while she was taking a picture with a naked guy, but that's another story. Anyway it was fun. I recommend it for anyone for the experience. But please, a stupid costume is preferred over no clothing.

Wednesday, May 11, 2005

The Talented Ms. Sara...

Sara was in rare form yesterday. First, she went into the bathroom and put hand soap all over her hair. Then she took her bag of pretzel into her room and smashed them one by one with her Bob the Builder hammer. I don't know which was worse...

Saturday, May 07, 2005

Siete de Mayo

A follow up to my last post:

- The Company picnic went off nicely. The sun even made an appearance. I brought my mitt and played catch for a while, and a pick up game of touch football took place (I didn't play). There was a raffle for things ranging from $10 gift certificates to Extreme Pizza to the coveted $100 gift card at Target. I did not win any of that stuff. At 2pm, I promptly went home to get ready for the baseball game.

- The Giants-Nats game was pretty much a case of bad to worse. We had pizza beforehand and took a stroll through SBC Park since my co-worker's nephew came along and had never been to SBC before (he is a Dodgers fan of all things. He wore a Dodgers hat and a Piazza Mets jersey. Bad omen #1). We were pretty early and somewhere while watching batting practice, my voice decided to take a vacation. I got more and more hoarse, until I just couldn't talk. I wasn't even heckling. I can't talk right now. This is now my only venue for communicating with the world. Stay tune...

- Then there was the game. The most exciting thing was the fireworks at the end of the game. I don't know what's worse, the Giant's lack of clutch hitting or the pitching staff that likes to give up two out RBIs.

- Forecast still calls for rain tomorrow for my barbecue. We'll see if this weekend gets any better......

Thursday, May 05, 2005

Cinco de Mayo

As I type this, I am watching a news report on TV of a riot going on about a mile from my house. Apparently, tequila and Coronas beat out green beer on the ethnic partying scale. I also learned that both St. Patrick's Day and Cinco de Mayo are more Americanized holidays than anything else. In their native countries, the people don't really give a hoot.

This week started out looking like it was going to be good, but unfortunately...

- I've been sick for the past few days. I think I shared it with Sara, but she is a lot better while I am not. I think it's a chest cold or something, but I'm never sure because I am not sick very often...

- It's kind of a short week at work this week. Friday is Employee Appreciation day and we are having a catered lunch (turns out it's salads from Fresh Choice and cold cut platters from Costco - whoopee). The threat of rain might move this from a nearby park to the cramp break room at work...bummer.

- Most people at work are also speculating that we get to leave work early after this lunch. The chances also decrease if we are still at the office...

- A co-worker invited me to the Giants-Nationals game tomorrow night. Fireworks night AND KNBR night...threat of rain puts all of this in jeopardy as well...

- After much debate, we decided to celebrate Mother's Day with our first barbecue of the season...it is also expected to rain on Sunday.

I'll go with April showers, but this May...er...storms is ruining a perfectly good week.

In related news, the weather just pleasant for rioting. Bring your own rocks and bottles...

Wednesday, May 04, 2005

More of my kid's amazing talents...

For those of you that have had the pleasure of meeting my kids, you know that like most kids they love to play. They both also have great imaginations. I have told you of how Hannah talks a lot while on the toilet, but they both also have conversations with just about anything. All their dolls come to life in their room, as seen here when Hannah got a new Little Person and arranged a getting-to-know-you party with her other Little People.



Meal times turn into social hour when they start talking to their forks, coloring time is halted when crayons starts to talk to each other, and my personal favorite, while in the car seat, Sara takes off her socks and shoes so they can talk to each other. You have not lived until you've seen a sock and a shoe have a conversation.