Random Post

I left work early last week to go to the WBC Finals.  Five minutes into my commute, I was hit from behind by a guy I had been watching for a few minutes in my mirror as he weaved in and out of lanes.  As I started to pull over (behind a CHP officer who was handing out a ticket yet had somehow failed to hear my accident), I saw the guy take off.  So naturally I sped after him and took part in my first-ever car chase. 

Unfortunately, the combination of the unnecessarily heavy weight of my American-born car and that punk's continued erratic driving prevented me from catching him or getting his license plate number.  I think it's about time I get my dream car; no one will ever get away from me again.

But then again, I'll probably end up getting hit from behind again, so I probably shouldn't waste my money on a car like this."

For those of you keeping score, this would be rear-end number seven.  If anyone knows how I can get this target off my back, I would greatly appreciate it if you could share.

Then to make it an officially bad day, Korea lost to Japan in ten innings.  I can go on and on about what I think went wrong, but what good would that do?  I'll just have to wait four years like everyone else for another chance at the title.  And in the meantime, if I can somehow talk to Scioscia into managing Korea's
team, we might have a legitimate shot at the championship because I know for a fact he wouldn't have allowed us to lose the way we did.

Speaking of Scioscia, we are on the verge of a new baseball season.  The Angels seem to be favored to win the division, but Oakland is actually scaring me a little bit.  They made some big off-season moves while we pretty much sat on our butts.  Apparently Arte didn't read my October post.  Sure, we got rid of my two least favorite players, but we also lost our best player. And our biggest move was signing a guy who is a replica of Canseco: a power hitter who can't field worth a monkey's butt.  In a nutshell, I'm hoping our pitching holds up, our young infield limits their mistakes (this will be Howie's break-out year) and our outfield will continue to be solid (minus Abreu).

Angels baby.  ANGELS.

Two Thousand Nine

I feel like it was just last week when I wrote my entry on 2008.  I also feel like it was last week when I paid nearly $5 a gallon for gas, and now it’s below $2.  What in the world?

So I’ll just begin w/ an update from my entry at the beginning of the year.

Softball league.  I did join one, though I initially joined the team as a sub.  The competition wasn’t very good (aside from one other team), but it was just fun being out on the field again.

Two highlights from that league:

1. Winning the championship
2. Witnessing Janet’s ESPN-worthy catch in right field.  Sorry BFF, the image will forever be stored in my memory.  Old age won’t wipe this one out.

Photography.  I bought Eddie’s 20D and have lugged the camera around everywhere since then.  It’s definitely been fun but I often catch myself getting frustrated because there are so many aspects to photography I still need to learn.  I haven’t taken a class yet so hopefully that’ll happen soon.  And I want to upgrade to the 40D.  :)

Reading/Writing.  I’d give myself a 5 out of 10 on this one.  I managed to read and write more than usual but there’s certainly room for improvement.

Restaurant Club.  Yeaaaah… you would think this would have been my strong point, but I failed miserably at getting this up again.  2 out of 10.  Let’s try it again in ’09.

Travel.  Didn’t get to Detroit/Toronto/Niagara Falls and I had to bail on the Chicago trip at the last minute, but I’m the most devastated about not making it to the northeast.  That’s definitely at the top of my list for next year.  Yosemite, Grand Canyon and Zion NP were all great though.  And I’ll be heading out to Texas next week to close out the year.  Yee haw.

Work out.  Sure.  I was about as consistent as I’ve been the past few years, all the while realizing I’m definitely not getting any younger.

2009.  Now this will be THE YEAR. 

2009 will be the year I make my career change.  I’ve known corporate America wasn’t for me.  And whether firefighting or counseling is for me, I need to make the switch. 

2009 will be the year I find a new church.  After 21 years of being at Canaan, I recently made the decision to start over.  Not only was I tired of the drama, I realized I had become much too complacent there and I felt it was best for me in the long run to leave.

And 2009 will be the year… when… I get… to see my beloved Niners make the playoffs. 

Happy holidays everyone!

Red Sux

*EDIT*

How disappointing was that?  Honestly, if the Red Sox really were the better team and we were annihilated in each game, I wouldn’t have minded so much.  But we were the better team (yes, we.  Every true fan refers to their team as ‘our’ team or ‘us’ or ‘we.’  Don’t deny you do it as well.)  Unfortunately, we made too many errors.  We didn’t play Angels baseball and it cost us a first-round series against Boston.  AGAIN.  Why couldn’t the Yankees make it to the playoffs?  We own them!

Here’s what we need to do in the off-season (in my non-expert opinion):

1. Don’t re-sign K-Rod.  I CAN'T STAND that guy.  I had complained almost all year that he was overrated and that he would blow it for us in the postseason.  So what does he do?  He blows Game 2 and makes me a prophet.  He almost blew Game 3 as well, loading the bases, but he miraculously got out of it and he had the nerve to celebrate like he just won the championship after he got the final out of the inning.  No doubt he’ll ask for an insane amount of money.  I just hope he ends up signing with another team for minimum wage because everyone realizes how overrated he is.  Meanwhile, Arredondo can learn to close for us or we can find another guy in our farm system.
2. Get rid of Matthews.  The guy had some decent years defensively (and one of the greatest HR-robbing catches I’ve ever seen) and one great year offensively, but he has a tendency to drop easy fly balls and his offensive numbers will only decrease as the years go by.  I wanted to include Torii Hunter here as well but his numbers are a bit higher and he’s more consistent on both offense and defense.  Matthews’ switch-hitting ability is a plus, and I do like him, but he has to go.
3. Aybar has to go as well.  Trading Orlando Cabrera for Jon Garland was one of the worst trades ever for the Angels.  It’s not as bad as the Dodgers trading away Beltre though because they groomed him for years to be that caliber player and got rid of him after his breakout season.  But we need a solid SS and Aybar is not that guy.  Plus, he’s a liability at the plate.  And to top it off, after his inability to get a bunt down in Game 4 to squeeze in Willits, I’ve seen enough.  Sorry, I have no tolerance for players who get paid millions and can’t make fundamental plays.
4. Garret Anderson needs to retire.  Next to K-Rod, he’s my least favorite player on the team.  His lack of hustle on defense and while running to first base drives me INSANE.  If I were coaching a little league team, I wouldn’t let them see videos of him running to first.  “Always run it out,” is something GA was apparently never taught.  Again, millions of dollars at work here folks.  Pathetic.
5. Re-sign Teixeira.  Simply must be done.
6. We need to work on Mathis’ offense or Napoli’s defense because we can’t continue to rely on one-dimensional catchers.  Or maybe Scioscia should stop making Howard’s TV commercials, get back in shape and play catcher again.
7. Find a way to get Griffey here.  He can DH.  How sick would it be to have Grif, Tex and Vlady in the heart of your lineup?  I'm still annoyed at the fact that he refused to take care of his body, thus paving the way for countless injuries and preventing him from owning the HR record, but he's still one of my favorite players of all time.

Bottom line, we choked.  100-win season down the drain, just like that.  As they say, there’s always next year.

In the meantime, I’ve been having a hard time deciding who to root for.  I don’t want to jump on any bandwagon, but as a baseball fan, I should cheer for a team that’s still in the running.

I can’t cheer for Boston for obvious reasons.

I can’t cheer for Tampa because I still think they’re a fluke.

I can’t cheer for Philadelphia because, well… does anyone cheer for them?

That leaves the Dodgers.  I mean, I’ve always liked the Dodgers; I just preferred the Angels over them.  And if I can’t get a Freeway World Series, I might as well get half of one, right?  But here’s the thing: as a Dodgers fan, you don’t want me rooting for them.  Why?  Because I have this strange luck of cheering for the team that ends up losing.  It’s almost guaranteed. 

*My apologies to Dodgers fans... I secretly rooted for them because I didn't want to jinx you guys.  But apparently that's still enough to uphold my sports curse.

Having said all that, I guess baseball season is officially over for me.  Bring on the Niners and yet another losing season!

Rice, Rice Baby

It had been an unusually warm weekend in San Francisco, a city typically known to have cooler weather.  Quen* and his friends had gone up from southern California for the weekend because their friend, Pedro, had supposedly never been there.      

On the second night of their trip, they decide to go to the Starlight Lounge at the top of the Drake Hotel per their other friend’s recommendation.  After driving around the block a few times, they are finally able to find a parking spot and make their way into the hotel.

Due to the lack of space in the elevators, only five of the friends are able to squeeze in along w/ a family consisting of a boy and his parents.  The other two friends are forced to wait for the next elevator.

Once inside, Quen presses the corresponding button to take them to the 21^st floor and then leans back against the wall, waiting to speed up the twenty one floors.  Instead, the elevator stops at the next floor, the lobby, and Sven turns to see who is coming in.  When the door opens, Quen finds himself face to face with the one and only… Jerry Rice.  Quen freezes immediately.  The smile on his face is gone in an instant.  If there was ever a time to use the term “OMFG,” it was now.

“OMFG,” thinks Quen to himself, “that’s Jerry Rice.  It’s JERRY RICE.  Okay, don’t be a fool and scream out his name.  Just be cool.”   

Quen had been a 49ers fan since his childhood, back in the Joe Montana era when they dominated the NFL.  He had watched through the years as Montana and Rice picked apart defenses and made their claim as the team of the 80s.  Even when the dynasty came to an end in the late 90s, he remained a faithful fan.  And now here he was, in the same elevator as the most prolific receiver of all time. 

“Gene!” he mutters sharply under his breath in an attempt to get his friend’s attention.  He wants Gene to look up and see who is coming in the elevator.  He is already in panic-mode and doesn’t know what else to do or say.  Gene looks up and realizes who has just stepped in.  Their three other friends, Estelle, Helga and Jenne, look up as well and recognize Jerry from somewhere but can’t quite place him just yet.

Quen takes a step back to let Jerry in and Jerry proceeds to stand no more than two inches from him.  They are now both facing Quen's friends and Quen realizes his body has become completely paralyzed and his breathing has ceased entirely.  He glances at the buttons on the elevator to see which floor Jerry is going to and notices he has not pressed a button.

“He’s going to the lounge too!” thinks Quen.  “Okay, you have to say something, but don’t say anything stupid.  Don’t say anything that he’s probably heard already.  Think of something to say.”

Nothing comes to mind.

He glances over at the buttons to see the light go from 2 to 3.  With the passing of each floor, Quen becomes more and more distressed.  The tension in the elevator grows by the second.  The awkward silence is becoming uncomfortable.

They are now passing level five.

Quen’s mind is racing.  “You have to think of something.”

Level six.

“Anything.”

Level seven.

Then out of nowhere, while looking straight at Quen, Gene says, “You should say something, you’re the big 49ers fan.”  With that statement, Jerry laughs and turns to look at Quen.  When he does this, Quen smiles and manages a nervous, “Hi, how are you?”

“I’m good, thanks,” replies Jerry, and turns back around.

Level ten.  Silence.

Level eleven.  More awkward silence. 

Level twelve.  Thirteen.

“You were great on Dancing with the Stars!” exclaims Jenne, recognizing him now from the television show and not as a football player.

Jerry laughs again and says thanks.

                The comment brings an incredulous look on Quen's face.  Hands down the greatest wide receiver in the history of the NFL with the reputation of having the greatest work ethic both on and off the field, owner of most of the major statistical records, three-time Super Bowl winner, member of 13 Pro Bowls and a lock-in for the Hall of Fame… and all they can compliment him on is his DANCING on a reality show?!  Oh the shame.

                The now-unbearable awkward silence goes with them the rest of the way up.  At the top floor, Jerry is greeted by the bouncer and is led directly in to the lounge.

                Quen and his friends are stopped by the same bouncer.

                “Please sign in here.  It will be $15 per person…”

*All names have been changed to protect their real identities.



Evite

*I was just kidding about being able to see what time you viewed it.