Vacation
Just a crazy day for me today, I am very happy that I will be leaving for
vacation in Vegas in a few hours. Work was very busy, several meetings and
phone calls today. Of course I was missing the first eight tournament games,
so I was trying to keep up on the scores. For the record, the underdogs are
4-4 against the spread so far, with two wins straight up (UW-MIL and Pacific).
I had UW-Milwaukee winning in my bracket. Downside I had Pitt winning two
games.
I was also interested in the Congressional hearings today on steroid use
in MLB. I listened to the hearings when I could, they were being broadcast
on ESPN radio. Overall I do not want to give a lot of time to this issue
because I think it is ridiculous for Congress to subpoena these guys. Each
of them is going to say either a) I have never taken steroids or b) I plead
the fifth. I don't think we will ever know who was on the juice and who
wasn't. How can it be proved that McGwire and Sammy were on steroids in
1998? And weren't some of the drugs legal at the time (Andro? THG?)? Anyway,
I did like the way Schilling and Palmerio took some direct shots at Canseco.
Good for them. Schilling is a great interview and perfect for something like
this. He has nothing to hide, is well spoken, is not afraid to ruffle some
feathers, and is very believable. Sammy said a few words, I think they were
in English, but I have no idea what he said. Sammy's lawyer noted that Sammy
has never taken steroids. Canseco is still very dumb, annoying, and just
happy to be in the spotlight again.
Last night my Wednesday night bball team suffered it's first loss 79-74.
It was a great game, the opponent was very good (5-1 coming in, defending
league champs according to their T Shirts and shorts) and we were up to the
challenge. I would like to point out that a little known rule was enforced
before the game. Our guy Mike forgot his jersey and just wore a T Shirt.
Apparently this is a big deal and we were penalized five points. So before
tipoff, we were down 5-0. At the end of the game, we lost 79-74. That should
tell you how even the two teams are. And that Mike will not forget his
jersey again. For the record, Mike was unstoppable and had 33 points. I had
a good game too, 21 points, four threes, three layups, 3-3 from the line
including completing a four point play. I'm looking forward to playing that
team again in the playoffs, this time without the five point spread. I wish
I could play against them every day, I would be so much better. My defense,
passing, and dribbling still needs some work.
Super Weekend
Actually my weekend was not THAT super but I guess technically it was
Super Bowl weekend..... Friday night I met Pat and two of his
co-workers out for dinner which was fun. They were already at Prado
Restaurant in Balboa Park and I met up with them. We had a good time,
the food was terrific, and I was very impressed with Balboa Park. I've
always kind of known it was there, and have played basketball in the gym
there many times (big surprise, I know). But the restaurant is in a
different part of Balboa Park, and after dinner we walked around for a
bit. Everything is extremely clean, well kept, historic (old), and
impressive. It is a park in that there are lots of trees, grass, open
space, and very few roads. But it is a place to go as well, with an
outdoor theater, museums, and restaurants. In the summer there are
concerts and free outdoor movies in the park. I will definitely be going
back to Balboa Park soon.
Saturday I slept in, then played pickup bball at PB Rec, and
afterward lifted weights at the Mission Valley Y. I had a very athletic
day and a very athletic week. Saturday made four days of hoopin' and
three days of lifting for me. Not bad, I am in pretty good shape. The
most fun bball night was the Wednesday night 6' and under league. First,
my team won easily, something like 60-47, although it wasn't even that
close. Second, the team is full of guys who are either my good friends
and/or I have played on a team with them in the past. Subsequently, and
thirdly, there is a lot of unselfishness and teamwork out there, not
something I get in other leagues or in pickup bball. Fourthly, the 6'
and under league seems to have a lot of runnin' and gunnin' with no big
guys to slow things down, which I like a lot. Finally, the games are on
a court that is pretty close to regulation which is nice. The courts at
the YMCAs where I play are very small - the Mission Valley Y court is so
small the games are 4 on 4.
Saturday night my friend Jen came down from LA and we had a nice
relaxing evening with dinner downtown and watching a movie. Sunday I
watched the Super Bowl at Pat's house, we didn't really feel like going
to a big party. The game was good, about what I expected, I thought NE
would win but not cover and the game would be in the 20s. I should have
bet on it.
Underwhelmed
If you are checking my blog hoping for a super exciting, suspenseful
post....prepare to be underwhelmed. I really don't have that much to
report. The last few and next few days have been and will be all about
getting ready for my trip to argentina. Saturday and Sunday I ran a
bunch of errands getting all of the things I need, with a little pickup
bball and watching sports on TV mixed in. Tonight I will do some packing,
tomorrow night I have a bball game, Wednesday morning I will go to work
early, leave around 11am, and head to the airport. I'm a little nervous
about the trip but mostly excited. I just hope I can sleep for over half
of the overnight plane ride to Buenos Aires.
So the next few days and weeks will not have much in the way of new
features here on my blog, but the good news is, when I return, I hope to
have lots of cool stories and pictures of my South American adventure.
Weekend
I don't have much going on today so in the spirit of not having much to post, I
would highly recommend checking out the debate recaps on P's and C's site. You
can also check out B's site, where you will be hit up for money. I guess it was
only a matter of time.
Today was another very long day of meetings at work. It is rather unfortunate
that Fridays have become synonymous with all day meetings. I used to look
forward to Fridays. Now they are kind of a pain. But I am happier with my job
and enjoying my new cubicle-mate Anh, we get along very well. Maybe it has to do
with the fact that I am in meetings all day.
It looks like I will be spending Thanksgiving in Phoenix with Judy, Dave, E,
Mom, and C. That should be fun, I am looking forward to it. This weekend I do
not have much planned besides the 80's party tomorrow night.
In closing, please say a prayer for grandpa Warnock, who is back in the hospital
in Del Mar, CA. I will be doing what I can to help out g'ma and g'pa. I hope he
gets better soon.
I will be back with a better post on Monday, I promise.
Weekend Update
I hope everyone had a happy and safe Labor Day weekend. My weekend was great,
I got in lots of much needed rest and relaxation, and am very close to
having my new condo the way I want it. On Friday I got to leave work a bit
early. The boss came through around 2pm and said everyone could go home if
they "didn't have anything to do." Since I pretty much never have anything
to do, I went home, took a nap, and watched some football on TV. Friday
night I went to a comedy show at the "world famous" Comedy Store in La Jolla,
CA, which was just ok, not great, and certainly not worthly of world fame.
Saturday morning I watched the Michigan football game at 9am PST which I
thoroughly enjoyed. Saturday afternoon included such highlights as joining
the Mission Valley YMCA, doing some laundry, sitting by the smaller pool at
the Bluffs, and eating pizza from NYPD (New York Pizza Delivery) which is
steps from my condo. It was a good saturday. The pool was inhabited by
mostly old white guys in their 60s. Maybe the other pool has better scenery.
Sunday I took care of a lot of condo related errands with my friend Belle.
She provided some much needed assistance at the condo and a female
perspective. Together we hit Target, Bed, Bath & Beyond, Pier 1 Imports,
IKEA and several other furniture stores. My main goal on the shopping trip
was to find a "screen" aka "room divider" for my studio apartment. What I
really need is a wall to seperate the bedroom area from the living area in
my apartment. But a screen is the next best thing. This proved to be a very
difficult item to find, most of the stores listed above did not have such an
item. At IKEA it took over an hour to discover the item was not there, which
was extremely frustrating.
Monday I hit two more furniture stores, finally finding a screen at a
small, low end store in Point Loma. The price was right, the screen will do,
and it will arrive in 7-10 business days. I also did some rearranging at the
condo and hung all my pictures. I am very happy with the new setup and my
new condo in general.
One adjustment I will have to make in mission valley is with the
temperature. This entire weekend it was really HOT. I drove past a bank at
one point Sunday which said the temperature was 92 degrees. That is very hot
for San Diego. But having lived by the beach for the past two years, I am a
bit spoiled. Actually, I am probably not going to get a whole lot of
sympathy from readers in MI, OH, or AZ on this, but please bear with me. In
Pacific Beach (zip code 92109), the temperature is between 80 and 60 360
days a year. In fact, the temp is between 75 and 65 about 300 days a year.
Apparently, even though I only moved five miles inland, the temperature is
much different. After this past weekend, I can attest that it is definitely
hotter in the summer. While living in PB for two years, I never used air
conditioning and used a heater less than five times. This weekend in mission
valley I had to bust out the A/C more than once. I hope I don't get a huge
power bill.
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