No offense to the fine folks at Blogger, but this has turned out badly. Hopefully, I've massaged their system enough for someone to be able to actually read this post, but who knows.

Eh

But it does look rather pretty.

As part of their relaunch, Blogger has added comments. That's kinda cool, so I turned it on. Hopefully, it works.

Not a lot of blogging for me lately, but I've done a hell of a lot of work over on the baseball pages.I should really work up a blog to do it for me, and I may well do that for June and beyond. I'll have to see. Right now, it's not that much of a hassle to do it all by hand, and I learn something new all the time.

Learning is cool. Stay in School.

And stuff.

M's lose, M's Lose

Ouch

Some of my blogging is taking place over in the baseball setion, so this space is becoming more of an observations section.

That's not so bad, really. Becasue it makes this more of a personal experience, and somewhat therapuetic.

Eh. It also means I can rant more effectively in a narrowly directed venue. Bleep 'em.

Job Search 04

I read a lot, and today I realized that the books and genres I like the most seem to deal with people who search for purpose in their life, finding hidden strengths and gaining wisdom in the process. These sorts of things are empowering, and like daily horoscopes, meant to appeal to a wide range of people.

But what if it's more than that? What am I supposed to be doing with my life? I wish I knew. While I'm a capable and effective person, I really don't feel a lot of satisfaction with the things I've been doing for the last ten years.

I want to do and accomplish things. I just don't know what those things are, or should be. I'd like to help people, but first I need to help myself. And that's a little bit harder than it seems it should be.

I once had a period of absolute contentment. No worries, no fears, no real problems that I couldn't solve with desire and effort. I left it behind to do things I felt I should do to succed in society, but through the lens of history, I think I made the wrong choice.

Not that I was a Lotus eater. Far from it. But the world seemed smaller and more comfortable then. Now it seems huge, and my place in it is both undefined (for me), and hard to locate. And sometimes it feels that every day I don't know it, it moves farther away from me.

There's a downer for you. Maybe not having a job and the attendant depression of uselessness is the problem. But I just wish I knew what I was supposed to do. If only the PSAT and the tests like it "they" had us take in High school really worked.

Or if we lived in some Fantasy world where secret masters could judge our potential and steer us towards our place in life.


But we don't. Back to the search for me. But if you are a secret master, and you have a little guidance to share, look me up.

I'm not doing anything right now. And I'd love to save the princess.

Free Baseball.

I love extra innings. I love everything about them. I like mocking those who leave, I like the long, endless AB in which everyone wants to be Barry Bonds, and watching grown men forget how to play baseball at the plate.

And I love, love, love a pitcher's duel. I really love getting two of them in one day.

But I'd much rather that a baseball game lasted 2 hours, like the ones I watched when I was a kid. STAN! and I were very happy with how fast tonight's pitcher's duel was going.

And then everything went to hell.

Even more M's

Jamie Moyer is 1-2. Jamie is a starting pitcher, who has had a little trouble with the longball this year. His last three starts have been fantastic, but he hasn't garnered a decision in any of them. Tonight, he pitched 8 strong innings, and left with the lead.

Freddy Garcia is 0-1. Freddy Garcia is also a starter, who has pitched 35.2 innings of amazing, low scoring baseball (5 starts). He hasn't given up a run in his last two starts.

Eddie Guardado is a closer. His job is to come in and get three outs, preserving a win for a starting pitcher. Eddie has pitched 12 innings, has an 0-0 record, and 4 saves in 6 opportunities. Eddie has also sent two games into extra innings in the last two weeks by giving up the tying run to the first of his three batters.

That's two wins taken away from starters, two leads that nearly slipped away. Specifically, From garcia and Moyer.

Ron Villone is a journeyman starter, playing the left-handed utility role out of the bullpen in Seattle. Ron's contract has a clause with hefty bonuses for every 5 starts he makes.

Ron has worked a lot in extra inning games lately. Ron Villone has pitched 19 innings this year, and has a 3-0 record.

He was also a very late invitee to Spring training. He had to earn his way onto the team, whereas the other three had contracts in hand. He narrowly edged out Terry Mulholland for the final spot on the 25 man roster. Terry Mulholland pitched against the Mariners for the Twins tonight.

Jamie Moyer will make 6.5 million dollars this year. He is expected to throw about 220 innings of baseball .

Freddie Garcia will make 6.9 million dollars this year. He also is expected throw about 220 innings of baseball .

Eddie Guardado will make $4 million this year. He is expected to work between 60-80 innings, and get 50 or so saves.

Ron Villone will receive $1 million dollars to ride the pine all year, and pick up the pieces when everything goes to hell.

The Mariners are now 10-16. One of these four pitchers will get traded this year.

You do the math.

Eric Strand is the devil. Well, like the devil, but not in the way you think. We both tend to lead each other into distraction.

Today, he mentioned a slight change I could make to the site, and then I mentioned another change I was considering. The net result of the conversation was that I said that I once had a bunch of plans for how to work my baseball calendar, but I had decided they were too time consuming.

So I went to make a small tweak, and ended up writing almost all of the changes I had originally considered.

I'll get him for this. I surely will.

On the road. I meant to say first series win on the road, and unbeaten on the road a few years ago.

But the emotion is the same. Goooo, Mariners!

That thing

So, I made the call, and got the temporary reprieve since the other party was out of town.

But the call happened for real this morning, and I am now officially looking for a new place to live. Drag, but somewhat liberating at the same time.

The problem is, I have a lot of crap in this house. It took a few weeks to move in, I've added to it in the last year, and now I have a few weeks to move it out. Luckily, I'm going to use the storage unit defense to get everything sorted out. Anybody have several dozen boxes?

It kinda sucks, because our plan was to use this house as a virtual office throughout the summer, and we spent some $$ getting that set up. Now, I have to cancel everything 1 month later.

Whatever. I was getting too settled anyway. Hopefully, this will all be over soon, so that my life can return to a more "normal" pace (I can hear Ryan scoffing now)

Sports Radio

For about a year now, I've been listening to Sports talk radio almost exclusively. I resolved that since I was passionate about sports, I should increase my knowledge base to include all of them.

So I listen to Sports radio. What I've really learned is that there are a lot of idiots out there that don't know a thing about sports.

And most of them listen to sports radio. I'd stop listening, but I get most of my news that way. Plus, I get to listen to basketball games, and college footbal games on the radio. I like that. Before I got the cable (have to cancel that as well) installed, It was my primary source for game action.

There should be more radio. there should be more sports radio. I'm just not sure we need so much talk to go along with it.

For the first time this year, the M's have won a series. This is a big deal around Seattle, because not so long ago, the M's went deep into June without losing one at all.

But today (the game just ended), Everything seemed to click for the M's. Pitching was tight, bats were hot, and runners got moved over and in on schedule.

Pretty good baseball, for a last place team. Maybe they'll ride that wave through May, and get back on top.

Either way, I'm heading out to the park. Plenty of good seats left

Other stuff

I'm not looking forward to a call I'm going to make this afternoon. But It needs tobe done, so I'm going to do it.
But I don't have to like it. More later.

Finally, the broadband connection is back up. Hopefully, I won't have to move it yet again, as it seems may be looming on the horizon.

Dialup is sufficient for basic needs, but it is not the preferred method at all for what I want to accomplish. Or, what I thought I wanted, as my home-based job appears to be smoke and mirrors. Crap.

Blogs

I've done a pretty good job of insulating this site from the rest of my online dealings. This allows me to be free and open with what I've got to say.

Soon, that may change, but I hope not. I'm not especially looking forward to working for someone else again. But working for myself is certainly not going to pay all of the bills, unless someone else is willing to hire me. It's a nasty circle, one I hope to break.

But I'm still going to watch what I say. Someone might actually read this site someday.

Ahh, the joys of the entrepeneur. Saturday was a complete loss, as my long distance service developed a fatal flaw. No sales for me. On the plus side, they were able to get a tech out to me the same day, and he did some extra work for me that will simplify my life immeasurably.

On the minus side, they lost my DSL order. From what the phone monkey told me, an order transferring my service to its new number was never inserted. So,instead of having service in the next few days, I must wit until next monday for high speed goodness. This really sucks, since I was supposed to start a new job this week using that service, which I was promised (order confirmation and everything) would be up ASAP.

So, the phone monkey is working on the problem, and someday, you'll be able to read this message . Which you can't, right now, since my website is DOWN. Luckil, I still have this lovely dialup account.

I had forgotten how very much I like the DSL.

I hate almost everybody. Go figure. M's are on at 4 PM, perhaps the day will get beter.

M's

Or not. the M's have lost five straight, and show no signs of improvement. Pitching has deteriorated badly, and the hitters only seem to be able to produce in the later innings, after a substantial deficit has been posted by the opposing team. what's a fan to do, besides grit their teeth, and hold on for tomorrow.

What a pain in the ass. But getting easier to manage. Set up the home office today, and now I should be better able to anticipate consumer needs and problems.

Plus, I can watch cable while working. (GOOOO Mariners) So it comes out as a wash.

Wish me luck, I'm going to need it. Lucky for me, I have plenty of space to do this sort of thing in.

Mariners

Heart...Breaking

Plenty of baseball left, that's my motto. Not quite a .500 ballclub yet, but getting there. I've seen a lot of good things in the last week, and a bunch of bad ones.

Hoepfully, back on the road will be good for the team. Plus, I get to wash my jersey. Mojo is nice, but April Fresh is better.

Hockey

Three of my teams made it to the second round. (poor, Poor canucks)

Maning that there is one playoff series I can completely ignore now, making the evening's viewing that much easier. ESPN, you evil, evil Siren. Looks like that cable TV was a good idea, after all.

More on the Home Office

When I was doing game design for free, working from home was a really good use of my time. Days were structured how I liked them, and I got a lot done, when I wanted to.But the dole was coming in, and We thought it was going to be temporary. 6 months later, the dole ran out, and I started coming into the office every day.

This time will be a little different, but I'm still enthused about the prospects. No Dole this time, even though last year, I had some weeks left, my app lasped, and those weeks just went away. Should have been a leech like everyone else, but that wacky honesty got the best of me. If this contract works out, I'll be doing pretty good. If not, It's back to the salt mines for a while. I'm not really looking forward to that, but one does have to pay the bills.

More on Baseball

Worked out a good roto trade last night. At least, I hope it will be. Roster, roster, roster. This is going to hurt, but hey, what can you do?

Just amazing. In an era where men like Barry Bonds have completely changed the game offensively, a home run isn't as exciting as it used to be. But they are real cool to watch, when they sail right in front of your face.

Which is exactly what has happend the past two nights.Raul Ibanez has stepped up his game, and started doing what he was hired to do. Hit homers into the right field stands of Safeco Field.

That and his defense, of course.

I admit. I'm jaded. I prefer a simpler game, where hitters get on base, advance each other along, and then get the perfect gap hit, and bring several home. Repeat as often as necessary. A group of professional, intelligent athletes should have no problem doing just that.

Yet overpaid millionaires (if the term can be accurately used) who can't hit 300 infuriate me. Especially when they don't do the little things. Ibanez is in a slump right now. No-one can deny that. But when the team has needed a big hit the last two nights, he stepped up to the plate and did his job.

Unlike Bret Boone, who can't seem to hit water with a paddle this homestand. But that's another story.

And yes, both Boone and Ibanez are on my roto team. Go figure.

So much has happened in the last ten days, I hardly know where to start. So I'm not going to.

It's been wild.

The Mariners are in town, and my friends and I are very much enjoying the seats I have for the year. We would like it better if they would continue to win, but we can't have everything now, can we.

The Canucks are at home tonight, trying to move on to the next round of playoffs. Hopefully, this can be accomplished with a minimum of fuss, and certainly without 3 overtimes, like Saturday night.

I'd like to have a job/contract by the end of this week. It would be nice to have money in the bank, to pay for little things like food. But I have options, and a network. I don't think I'll be out on the street anytime soon.

And for the record (even though another owner has him), Scott Spezio just flat out ROCKS!

End trans.

We hates them, hates them forever.

*Deep breath*

Pleanty of baseball left. But we will remember, and exact our revenge. Oh, yes we will.

Angels 5, Mariners 1.

A message from the Roto Commissioner, and some changes to the pages. I think I got all of the .css calls corrected, let me know if I'm wrong.

So I caved, and made a roster move. Details on the team page. Done for the day, real work to do now.

So, last night the Mariners lost to their division rivals, the Anaheim Angels.

So What. Major League Baseball was played in Seattle, making myself extraordinaily happy. It's the game for me, no matter what happens to it, or around it, or about it.

I just plain like it.

Now, switching hats, the game was a roto nightmare. The two largest portions of my team squared off against each other, and the result was (as my friend Carnes would put it) , A slobberknocker.

When the dust settled, the points looked like this

Real world: Angels 10, Mariners 5

Roto World (total) Angels 43, Mariners (-2)

Roto World (personal) Angels 1 , Mariners (-2).

Saddling me with a negative matchup. Go figure.

The one highlight of the Game (rotowise) occurred when 3 of my Seattle players were on base, with a 4th at bat. Swing and a miss on the third strike, but the ball got by the catcher, and the batter stole 1st base. This, of course, forced the other three baserunners to steal the next base. Normally, this would be a scoring coup, but alas, MLB's official scorekeepers did not rule it so. They simply credited the pitcher with an earned run, and moved on.

Jerks.

Ouch. Luckily, this will only happen 21 more times this year. Already I can feel the dark sabermetric demon invading my thoughts.

On the bright side, when I returned home after a suitable alcoholic interval, the game was being replayed on cable, and I see the eighth inning (wherein the aforementioned play occured) again, this time on television. Saw myself in the stands as well, another opening day tradition. Along with the obligatory showing of my baseball fannish self on the Jumbotron.(or the Real One Video Screen, as it is known in Seattle.)

A few hours later, as I was reading in bed, the radio broadcast was repeated after midnight, and I heard the first three innings again. (The ones in which the wheels had not yet fallen off Jamie Moyer's pitching performance, and the game was still fun.)

Hats

Every year since I moved to Seattle (six and counting), I purchase a new hat on opening day. Usually, the Opening Day cap has some sort of distinguishing mark to seperate it from the almost identical cap one purchased the year before, and this year is no diffrent. Like most of my obsessive collections, this one started quite by accident, but it meaningfull enough to me personally that I will continue it. this year it got a little more pricey, as my son requested a Mariners cap when he was out here last week. He likes baseball again this year, and who am I to say no? So two commemorative caps later (and one fotoball, the idiosyncrasities abound), I returned to my seat just in time to watch the eighth inning live (Mmmm, eighth inning)

Besides, the hats look cool. Sooner or later, I'll put up some pages detailing the collections I am most fond of. With pictures too, since I know how you love them so.

All for now. Must work today. Game is on @ 7:05 PM tonight, and I'll be taking my lovely lady to her first game of the year (Opening Day is for guys, dontcha know?)

Just one more, I swear. Added a blog archive. You can see the links at the bottom of the page.

That's it, really.

Fixed all broken links, redirected the under construction links to the main directory. Thanks again to Puck for his no nonsense, no pressure advice. Thanks to his thoughts on the matter, I've reduced the total size of the site to 1/3 its previous total

OPENING DAY

T-minus 2 hours as I write this. For the first time in 6 months, I've got all the gear on. I'm heading doen to the ballpark in about an hour, and I'm going to buy a new hat (more on the signifigance of the hat in a bit). Tickets in my pocket, and I may even keep score today.

I used to keep score all the time, and then I started playing Roto baseball. It was driving me nuts, and I stopped about the time I stopped doing everything else in July 2002 (not a good month for me personally, professionally, or financially.)

Now, I'm just this guy. And most of the above factors are okay. (well, .333 is the Hall of Fame, right?)

I'll report the score, and have pictures, over on the Schedule page tonight or tomorrow.

Pretty much everything. CSS is your friend. Now, I will eat, and drink Rum.
Lots more stuff on the Roto pages.

Found a few minutes to do up a Baseball master page. All the links should still work. These updates are disturbingly easy once you get the hang of it.

Eddie, Eddie, Eddie.

My Closer will miss the next three games with soreness in his shoulder. When I saw him and his pathetic warm-up tosses yesterday afternoon, I figured it was just a cramp. Now, I get some really, really bad news.

Especially since the other two potential closers on the Mariner's staff were drafted by others.

Must... Hold... Fast... To... Plan....

So much to talk about, so little time in the day. Maintaining these things is harder than it looks, mainly because of all the things I'd like to do with the site.

Hockey

The Canucks not only made it into the playoffs, but they finished off the season with 6 straight wins. Whoo Hoo! that gives them a season total of 101 points, which is just awesome.

I got a letter today about renewing my T-Birds season tickets, which I think I plan on doing. I'll have a page up for Hockey in a few weeks, right now I've got a lot on my plate trying to nail down this new contract. However, unlike Baseball, I'm going to need more of the money up front (that extra ticket really tapped me out, something I'm hurting on new that the season is starting). Plenty of good seats left, if anyone is interested.

More about Baseball

The Roto draft went well, but it will be a few days until I get the particulars up. Suffice to say, Drafting last sucks. The first Position's owner already has 30 points to his credit, after 3 games played (DAMN YANKEES). Myself, having drafted only one of the players involved in those three games, had a paltry .5 points when the dust settled last night.

As I had feared, I can already see my perception shifting as to how I will watch baseball this year. Half my team will be pounding on the other half in the next three days. My resolution not to tinker as much as I did last time through may be sorely tested i the next 30 days. but I made my plan, and I'm going to stick with it. (Victory be damned).

That Wacky TV...

Oh my goodness gracious, was the Sopranosgood last night. But even better (if possible) was the episode of South Park. Given my views on Hollywood and television in general, it is amazing how much I like these two shows. But they are on late at night, clearly intended for adult viewing, and You have to pay someone to watch them. So really, there's not that much room to bitch about the content.

I will say that I have never enjoyed a "phenomenon" as much as I have the last 8 years of South Park. I've never laughed harder, been more emotionally affected, or as shocked while viewing a cartoon. I'll have more to say on the subject of South Park as the summer goes on, but this season is the most shocking and offensive yet.

I love it.

I participated in rabble rousing, quite by accident. No lasting damage, but it does make me look askanse at one of my fellow roto league owners. At least he helped me out with scoring info for the league.

Did I mention I hate people? Well as a whole, I do. If you say you are going to do something, you should just do it. And if you are not going to do something, you should say that too.

I think there is more meat in the offing tonight. MMMMM, meat.

On a general level. Not quite a rant yet, but I did knock a few of the hard edges of my Religion rant. It's not my finest work, but it will eventually be its own page somewhere.

I'm hungry. I think I'll eat meat.

Too much stuff going on this weekend, for regular updates. I'll get it all up in the next few days.

Today was a good day. Got the contract I wanted, got lunch, and I worked out a nifty roto page. (I Likes the baseball, you see).

More later. Much later.

Gotcha, you little bastard.

Keep your hands of my miniscule and meager earnings. Get a real job. If you are smart enough and talented enough to pull this sort of thing off, you should be working a real, high paying job in marketing,(as opposed tot he one I have).

Jerk.

Everything moved. Hopefully it all works. I also rewrote Television a great deal. Enjoy, assuming anybody ever reads this but me.

Worse yet, the cigarettes were effective.

changed layout of drinking, far too easy. Will come back later and reorganize everything else.

My friend Jonathan Tweet has a healthy discussion and website format that I'd like to steal. Full props to Jonathan, and you should go to his site early and often.

Go ahead, Click it.

To that end, I've added the same guestbook service he uses, and will eventually have my own rants section ready to go. I rant often, and loudly, and welcome debate on a number of topics.

I frequently rant with Eric Strand and Ryan Dancey, who are among my dearest friends. And huge props to Puck who kept hounding me about leaving comments.

Okay, okay. Set your hypocrisy filters to high, because I really enjoyed this movie. It was a good, old fashioned cop movie, unpretentious, and not over the top. It dealt with cops trying to get a handle on a situation well beyond their resources, with only their wits to survive.

Really, it was Rio Bravo with automatic weapons, which is probably one of the reasons I really liked it. the violence was there, but not excessive, Woo-level violence. There was even a comment on the absurdity of Woo-style action, which is best appreciated when you take a step back, and admire the choreography of a scene, rather than it's truth.

The people all had problems, they dealt with them, and sequels would be as easy as writing out contracts.

Maybe they'll do the Searchers next.

Oh, Yes. I almost forgot.

Samuel.

L.

Freakin' Jackson.

Putting him in your movie is like deep frying cake icing over icecream in coconut oil.

SWEEEEEEEEEEEEET!

Last night I was rewarded for my patience, and got to see a fantastic movie with Sonja. The movie was Hidalgo (or as I affectionately call it, "the horse movie"), and it represents to me what going to the movies used to mean.

The long buildup of days, until schedules and money permits a viewing. A good, well appointed theater, that shows quality films for people in the neighborhood, not the corporate demographic.

No Profanity.

Plot.

Characters.

Subplots.

Values.

I won't spoil the film, because it really is something that all should see. But why don't films like this sell anymore. Like Miracle before it, the film tells a story. A real life story, one about people.

Most movies today are about explosions, and extreme violence, blood and death. Profanity, sex, adult situations. While these things can be done well, and in spectacular fashion (reference the Lord of the Rings set of films) most times they just sit there on the table.

Even comedies now are filled with all of the above flaws. Sure, there are amusing parts. Sure, there are fantastic performances by talented actors. the people on screen are just doing a job, and I really can't fault them for opening the garage to the dump truck of money that is backed up.

But why do they accept the parts? Acting in one or two of these bloated monstrousities would garner me more money than I'll ever need. But more and more of them keep coming out, with the same people, in the same situations.

Why humiliate yourself in front of (hopefully) millions of people?

Why promote a culture of violence and lavicious behavior?

WHy not make more movies about people?

Why not make Casablanca instead? There is war. Betrayal. Sex (romance, really, but something happened during that kiss)? Violence, and Death, set against the inhuman backdrop of National Socialist agression.

Because a) nothing can compare to perfection, b) nobody got naked, c) nobody cares anymore.

I admit, I have a cabinet full of DVDs that epitomize what I hate about movies, including Hard Boiled and The Killer, two of the bloodiest action movies ever. But I also have My Man Godfrey, The Quiet Man, and Ikiru . Films about people, dealing with plots.

The Woo films listed above are cop movies, about good people in impossible situations. This I like. the characters try everything they can to do the right thing, to not cross the line between good and evil. (In the end, they discover the line is inside, and balanced constantly.) But the buckets of blood, the balletic violence, and criminal underpinnings I could do without.

At this point in my life, I shudder to think that I've seen the best movies ever made. I am amazed and thankful that studios are willing to make movies like Hidalgo and Miracle.

But I'd rather see Casablanca.

Cigarettes Just plain Suck.

For example, I just found myself running around frantically, trying to get cigarettes for someone who would be much, much better off without them.

I haven't bought a cigarette in nearly 7 years. I haven't smoked one in almost 5.

I quit 10 years ago, and not a day goes by when I don't think to myself, "boy, I'd like a cigarette." This sentiment is usually closely followed by,"And a #^$#^%$# beer."

But I'm running, feeling the joints scream at me, praying that my ankle doesn't buckle, or my knees don't give out, because I need a carton of cigarettes for someone who works for me out of state, or we make no money this week.

And they needed them this morning.

And they have no money, because the problem is only now coming to my attention, and the money previously sent has been spent on cigarettes.

And I find out at 3:00 PM

And the deadline for overnight shipping is 4:00PM

Paying the cost to be the boss shouldn't include waiting breathlessly while a java monkey tries to figure out which end of the box is up, and is asking me a bunch of questions the monkey already knows the answer to. Because without a hit of caffiene, (or some nasty inhaled steroids) I'm going to have an asthma attack, and collapse on the floor next to the counter.

Shouldn't include the compulsion to explain that the carton of cigs isn't for me. Shouldn't include feeling like an idiot because I am paying almost the cost of the carton (a huge amount, on which I could drink all night, even in America) to ship the freaking death sticks in the shortest possible interval.

New pages today in the categories of:

gaming
entertainment
drinking
and general rants

As always, more to come.

I just edited my template, to match the rest of the site. Hopefully, the changes take. Maybe tomorrow, I'll learn to do cool things like Puck.

So, after long consideration, (and a spate of web envy), I have decided to join the blogger madness. Given my track record, the whole blog movement will probably end right after this post hits the web.

Ah, well.

Today, Not so much going on. Maybe more tomorrow.