If It's Politics It Must Be SSDD

Ugh

USA Today 

WHAAAATT?
USA Today

Oh goody.
USA Today 

But there IS good news!

Great News for Great Pitchers

USA Today 

SSDD Translation:  Same Shit Different Day

Opening Day

Opening Day logo from MLB.com

Just want to get in a notification I am watching some Opening Day baseball tonight. First game was Yankees vs Orioles @ Camden Yards. Orioles won 10-5. Take that Steinbrenner!

Watching the Dodgers vs Padres in San Diego. Oh how I wish I were there. It's 70 degrees and sunny and everyone is in tee shirts. Jeez. Pads & Dodgers are my two favorite teams...home town favs. LA will always be my first choice to win, however. Very excited now that Joe Torre is managing. He'll get those guys in shape yet.

Boston vs Tampa Bay openers at Fenway was rained out today. It's in the low 40's and pouring here. No wonder I miss California.

P.S. Dodgers won 4-1!

Joe Biden/Bob Uecker: Coincidence? I think not.

The Natural

Have I written about my love for baseball? my love for Robert Redford? "The Natural" delivers both and, in my humble opinion, is the best baseball movie I've ever seen. "The Natural" has all the elements of great drama, melodrama, morality play, what-have-you: good vs. evil, true love vs. seduction; promises vs. betrayal; purity vs dishonesty. It's a fairytale story of redemption.

Whether you've seen it once or dozens of times (like me) it grabs you and won't let you go. Roy Hobbe's faded golden boy, haggard, aging, aching but still dreaming the dream. The evil Memo, a platinum blonde in black. The steadfast Iris, a soft blonde bathed in a halo of light. Pop Fisher, the old time manager who wants only to win the Pennant before he retires, betting the future of his team in the process.

It's simple, really. The good are eventually rewarded for their patience, hard work and unwavering loyalty. The wicked are punished. It's a depression-era story with a depression era happy ending. Hey! What more can you ask for?

Travails of Travel

The plane trip last Thursday was your now all-too-common Jet Blue style clusterfuck. We boarded on time for a 5 1/2 hr flight to the West Coast. That was the last thing that was on time. We spent three hours on the plane sitting @ the gate. A Fuel line wasn't registering. They actually had to siphon all the fuel out of the plane and re-fill it to see if that would shake the fuel line into working. It took two hours. We were not allowed to deplane, order beverages (make that drinks) although we could use the lavatory. The plane was full.

Every once in a while the captain, whose voice could penetrate steel, would announce in a bit-too-bright tone "Hello folks. This is your Captain speaking. We're still waiting to hear from maintenance about the fuel line and it should be 'just about' fifteen minutes before we know when we'll leave." He must have done that five times.

And he was no Bob Uecker.

When they finally fixed the line, the airport shut down. T-strms in the west. No planes in or out. I thought people were going to go postal. I was sitting with a nice young couple and their 7 mo old baby. The baby kept me sane. He was a good happy baby and he loved me! Go figure.

Two hours & 45 minutes into this the Capt announced that we were hoping for clearance by 8:15EST as San Diego airport has noise abatement policies and they shut down@ 11pm PST. Honest to God, I never thought we'd fly out. I called AA to ask for a room. I envisioned spending the night @ Logan trying to sleep on a chair; taking a flight out the next morning; missing lunch with my high school boyfriend, etc. I stayed calm. Can't say that for many folks around me but what could anyone do?

Long story short, we left @ 8:15, arrived @ 11:20 and now all I have to worry about is the flight back next Monday.