The big 50

I sit here today, not without anything to say, but just really lacking in motivation to say it. It has been my curse for the last few days really, I get an idea in my head, usually away from the computer, By the time I get to sit down in front of the computer and think of where I might begin, I just drag my feet about getting started. Well, given there isn't much to do right now, what with it being 5:27pm here in Pittsburgh and me off for the evening, yet it being so damned hot (the heat index still has us over 100 degrees currently), blogging seems like as good a thing as any.

For those that don't know, I will get all meteorological for just a moment. The heat index is much like the wind chill factor in reverse, it determines what the temperature feels like when taking into account the actual temperature and throwing in some humidity for good measure. A quick check of the Weather Channel has us currently at 92 degrees with 50% humidity, though those numbers are taken at the airport and not reflective of the inner city temp which is usually a few degrees warmer, given our affinity for all things concrete. Maybe if we opted for grass huts things would be a few degrees cooler, and the rent on my apartment cheaper, but alas we got all crazy with our opposable thumbs and built stuff.

Well, I can start anywhere here, but I think I will start with Mother Theresa. Not that I have an affinity for her, though I don't have the Christopher Hitchens disdain for the woman either, but her writings have come up in the news today. Apparently there were times that, get this, she questioned her faith. Far be it for someone to go about doing good works, the media has been fixated today on some of her personal writings that said, gee, maybe she doesn't have all of the answers and maybe there are moments just like the rest of us, where she has doubts just like the rest of us. While I am sure that the media picked up this story for all of the wrong reasons, so that they can trumpet that she may have had issues with her Christian (Catholic) faith, I find the story quite reassuring for a change from a segment of society that far to often seems to have all of the answers about how I should live my life, she was there questioning those very answers that were being provided. Sometimes the smartest thing we can say is "I don't know", because it forces us to seek out the answer to the question rather than blindly following the edicts of others, so while the media may have been looking to trivialize her faith with the story, they actually increased my respect for the person.

Okay, lets kick the soap box to the corner for a few minutes. If I get on it, it could make for an incredibly long and hot night, longer and hotter than it already promises to be. Instead, we will start by celebrating the big 50. No, I am not 50 years old, though after this week I wish I were, as it would put me 12 years closer to retirement and retirement looks like a good thing right now, but rather the friends list has once again climbed to 50. This number has been crossed before, only to see me weed the friends list back down after finding I had people on it who have taken this 360 thing upon themselves simply to just collect names and add nothing to the conversation, at which point my people (me) would weed them back out of the list for far more deserving folks. The result is a list that it far smaller than many people's but one that gets updated my its contributors enough that hopefully this page, if nothing else, becomes a launch point for you to go check out their work after mine has sufficiently disappointed you. With that being said, after reading this (the dozen or so that made it past the first three paragraphs) I would suggest that you all go check out Charli's page as well, as she is the latest addition to our cast of...well, some.

Oh, if the updates were to stop there, then we could all be happy, but sorry, that is just the beginning. We do have a change meter to take care of after all. Another $.46 gets added to the total, though it could have been more, but once again, that which is noble got in the way of that which is profitable. The new total is now $27.71 and the chance of breaking the $30 barrier by the end of the year looks a little bit better this evening than it did 6 months ago. Some of you old timers will remember the ethical dilemma I had regarding the change meter, which actually brought out a semi spirited debate ( I say semi spirited because anything too spirited in this weather would just lead to profusive sweating) regarding what should and shouldn't be added to the change meter total. Earlier this year I found someones bank card. so provided the card was active, I could have cleaned out the guys account and added to the meter as found money, but more than the ethical question, the overwhelming problem was simply that I didn't have the gentleman's PIN number, so I really had nothing more than a card in my hands. Maybe someone with a larger skill set in scamming people could have come up with a way of profiting on the find, but I am stupid in that regard, so after trying to track the owner down, I just turned the card over to the host bank. Given that the owner of the card didn't even have the decency to call me back when I tried to reach him, it is probably good I didn't have access to the account, because I may have kept something for myself simply because he was a jackass. That being said, after a cigarette break at work the other day (they haven't outlawed cigarettes yet, thank goodness), I stopped to get a can of Pepsi from the vending machine (cigarettes and Pepsi, you can draw alot of correct assumptions about my diet by putting those two together) , there on top of the vending machine was a wallet. Dare I say it was like fate had in fact went back and read some of my early blog entries just to see if reality would play out the same as the argument that was had back then. I opened the wallet to the ID page and realized that it belonged to someone who works on the first floor of our building so I just turned it in to their receptionist, I know there were bills in it, I did see a couple sticking out of the very top, but I didn't check any amounts to see how much treasure that I am passing on, but I do know the owner holds one of the bigger corner offices on the first floor of our building, so it is safe to assume he makes much more money than I do but still, it would have been like taking money from someone that I know. Had I found this wallet out in the middle of nowhere and had no idea who it belonged to, we may be having a different discussion right now and the change meter may be much further along, but instead it remains at its paltry level after almost two years of picking up other people's change.

That being said, I have issue with Chris Hansen. Most of you know the idiot as the guy who does the "To Catch a Predator" crap on Dateline. While I am all for removing people from society that would opt to prey on children, I am equally appalled by someone who would practice something that borders on entrapment simply for the entertainment value of it. There is no followup on these stories to find out if the game they are playing actually leads to convictions of child predators, then again, that isn't why they do it in the first place, they do it because for a few minutes they can put people on the TV screen that you can make fun of. His pseudo pubic service as entertainment is appalling, yet it is cheap to produce and puts some butts in the seats, and that is all TV is good for, so here you have it. That being said, the other night, he did a take off of his "To Catch a Predator" thing, where instead of trying to catch child molesters, they were looking to catch Ipod thieves by leaving unattended packages lying around and seeing if somebody picks them up. Maybe it is just me making the moral distinction here, but if someone leaves a package behind unattended, then it is not stealing. If I come into your home, onto your property or remove something from your person or from a designated area (a stipulation for those who think I would support stealing cars from parking lots), then that is stealing. When you in your infinite wisdom, leave a package behind in a public area unattended and just wander off to parts unknown, then you are an idiot and taping people who pick up said packages that you planted and calling them thieves in order to boost your network's sagging third place ratings is dishonesty in advertising of the highest order. Oh how I wish that I were one of them, that screams of a lawsuit just waiting to happen.

Damn that soapbox, you can tell I haven't done this recently as it keeps getting in the way. Instead I will say that my fantasy baseball team has done a phoenix like rise from the ashes thing. In my 11 team league you will remember that I was flirting with last place quite a bit, and when last place would ply me with enough liquor, I would gladly take bottom. That being said, I can proudly say that the team that was 11th out of 11 teams is now in 5th place out of 11 teams. A nice turn of the bats after the All Star break, as well as me tweaking my pitching to where I am am now throwing out healthy starting pitching pretty much every day has given me new found hope. Not that I will catch the top three mind you, they distanced themselves from the pack a while ago, and there is a healthy 13-15 point difference between my score and theirs, but it is nice to at least be competitive and where I thought before I might only get 10 dollars back (for leading in stolen bases), now getting 30 back isn't out of the question as I still lead in stolen bases, and I now lead in strikeouts as well and cut the lead in pitching wins down to just one, after trailing in that category by as many as 15 just a few weeks ago. Not easy to do, given that we only have American League pitchers to choose from (it's an AL only league). So, I would like to say thanks to my starting rotation, because without them, I would still be being plied even as we speak. The following gentlemen can take a bow; Josh Beckett, Roy Halladay, AJ Burnett, Miguel Batista, Jeff Weaver, Edwin Jackson, Joel Piniero (who was traded to St Louis in the NL, but because I drafted him in the AL, I get his stats as long as I hold onto him, regardless of league), Joe Blanton, and Matt Garza.

For those that may have wondered where I have been recently when I haven't been in here, I did restore my Pogo account for a month and have once again been working on Pogo badges. I have scooped up all three badges the last three weeks that were offered, as well as picking up four game award badges in Hog Heaven slots. I am hoping to complete that game as there are only 5 game award badges there, after every ten levels, and right now I am sitting at level 42 which means I only have the level 50 badge to go. It is just one of the mindless goals I set for myself. Truth be told, I have never completed a Pogo game, so there is a sad sense of accomplishment if I can get to 50. And people wonder why I am single.

Actually, I got to do a funny bit on that during my last radio appearance on Doug's show. I equated working in the producers booth with the Sports Illustrated cover jinx when it comes to women. For those unfamiliar, and I assume there are many, the SI cover jinx goes something like this. Whenever an athlete appears on the cover of Sports Illustrated, for whatever reason, they experience a downturn in their career, even if it is ever so briefly. So if a first place team pops up on the cover, they can expect a losing streak and what not. It is similar to the jinxes associated with the Campbell's Soup commercials or the cover of the Madden football game. Anyway, I said the same applies to guys who work in the producer's booth at the radio station and their luck with women, seeing as how we are all single. It was one of my better performances as a guest on the show, as I also got to contribute by disagreeing with an assessment of Bob Costas of all people. Doug mentioned that he saw Costas on TV talking about how if it weren't for steroids we wouldn't be mentioning Barry Bonds name in the same breath as the greatest players ever in baseball. I disagreed simply because even if you took just Bond's numbers prior to the whole steroid scandal you are still looking at a player with 500 HRs and 500 stolen bases, an accomplishment that only Willie Mays and he are able to take credit for. We then looked up his numbers and if you take out the 73 HR season that Bonds had, the numbers in that category are still remarkable consistent, usually in the 30-40 range both pre and post steroid era (something which I didn't know). I knew he was the only player to have 30 HRs and 50 steals in a season, which he did here in Pittsburgh, but I didn't realize how relatively consistent the power numbers were.

I am tentatively scheduled to be on the show again this coming Friday, provided I am not working my part time job. I didn't ask for it off, I can always use the money, but I have been getting Friday nights off pretty consistently, as evidenced by the fact that here it is on a Friday and I am blogging. If I do end up on the radio, I am sure I will let you all know about it so you can find someplace else to be on the internet while we are streaming the show.

I haven't done much with the Joe Random guy recently either. I guess I have been opting for Pogo instead, but I have snuck a game or three in when possible. That being said, in my third season with the create a player option on MLB 2K6 The Show, I am still in AAA after 52 games. I can request a call up to the major league club in three days, but I am not sure I want to, given it looks like I would be the starting first baseman in the AAA All Star game at this point. Not sure I want to go to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays only to sit on the bench, when I am playing literally everyday in the minor leagues. On days where I am not in the field, the manager (because in create a player, you don't get to set lineups or anything like that, the computer does it) the manager is having me DH, so I am literally playing in 9 out of every 10 games right now. For those that are wondering just what my numbers are (and I admit that there is probably no one that wonders this, but it is my blog so I get to pick the stuff that goes here) in 52 games I have the following: .502 AV, 61 R, 54 RBI, 14 HR, 26 doubles, 1 triple, and 2 stolen bases. The only problem I have with staying in the minors is that the Devil Rays are only 9 games out of first place, and I think I might be able to help out in that department, but I am being greedy and thinking of my own self for the time being.

While TV continues to disappoint this summer, though singling out summer is really not necessary, it usually disappoints all year round, I took last Friday to going to CD Warehouse after the radio appearance, figuring I would treat myself to a DVD of some movie I wanted to see that I could pick up used relatively cheaply. I must say, I outdid myself. I didn't get a movie, rather I got the entire first season of The West Wing. While I got the last season for Christmas, I didn't have anything else from the show, and given the DVD sets usually run between 50-60 bucks, it is not something I can afford to drop alot of money into on a regular basis. But as I am going through the rack, I see a used copy of the show for $19.99, which to me would have been a steal at that price, but then again, I wasn't sure I wanted to spend $20 on DVDs, after all, that could be 4 nights of Chinese food, which is also something I could treat myself with. I kept browsing, and I found another copy of the first season, but this one was $12.99. Check please, we are done here, as I scooped up that amazing deal before my head had a moment to try to talk me out of it. Needless to say, I have had good television in my apartment for the last week, because I will just pop an episode or three in and relax. Of course sitting at home just watching DVDs is yet another reason why I am single. I am a sex change and an apartment full of cats away from being a punch line to a joke.

Well, there you have it kids, a real live blog from yours truly and I didn't steal anything to do it. I will be spending the weekend working, looking for the next Asshat winner, cleaning my apartment and if all goes according to plan, I may even glog the Steelers-Eagles game Sunday night, since I haven't glogged since hockey season. But for now, you are just left with this.