Almost a week since a post, so I guess I should post something, eh?
Been too busy this week to do much while at work. We were all here until after 7:00 on Tuesday moving our servers over to a new switch we got as part of a big grant. The same grant that bought the new rack and pair of new servers we just set up. And we have two additional new servers coming in soon for other groups in the College.
However, the support requests have really dropped off. It's funny that as soon as the new guy Matt started things really quieted down. We keep telling him it's usually busier than this. It is nice though being able to pretty much take care of each request that comes in same day now.
No softball game tonight, this is our bye week. I think it was scheduled that way because our coach is going to the Buffett concert.
I say scrimmage because the other team showed up late... about 5 minutes after the umpires called ballgame on a forfeit. So now we're officially 2-2 despite losing the scrimmage the two teams played last night by a score of around 11-4.
The whole game was ugly because we were pissed off the entire time. The umps apparently didn't hear what the head guy at the sports complex actually said. This is kind of how it breaks down:
8:30pm - game called on forfeit, umps leave
8:35pm - other team shows up from their previous game on another field at the sports complex where they were playing that was part of a different league.
8:40pm - they run to the parking lot, find the umps, talk to the head guy and them come back to the field.
8:45pm - ump tells us it's a real game, no forfeit, and says that's what the head guy told him. So, we're miffed from the beginning.
9:10pm - after playing 3 innings and being down 7-2, the ump says "oh, by the way, we're only playing 4 innings". But somehow it's a real game still??? No explanation.
9:15pm - calls "game" after 4.5 innings after letting us bat once more (we're visitors) at the score 11-4.
9:19pm - our coach talks to the head guy... apparently he meant to tell the umps that the forfeit still stood no matter what and just for the heck of it and for practice he told the umps to call 4 innings worth of ball and then stop play.
So, we still technically get the win even after losing by the score 11-4 and thinking it was a real game all along. But the whole scene and the back and forth trash talking between the teams (won't even get into all that) was ugly. Would have been a much better night if they would have shown up on time, but that's what they get for playing in two leagues on the same night.
Good news is I didn't make any mistakes all night except hitting a fly ball out, which happens. No bad throws from short, no bad decisions on offense or defense... pretty smooth game for me. Only batted twice though and counting the fly ball went 1-2 with a single and no runs scored (forced out at second).
We met a few of the guys from the message board out at Flying Saucer Friday night... way too many Dos Equis (they were the Fire Sale that night). Then we cooked in the sun Saturday for the Spring Game. The big tailgate was fun and so was the game. We remembered sunscreen this time so no horrid burns like last year's game. The season is still a long 4 months away though... and we start on the road this year which is strange. Our first game is against Vanderbilt up in Nashville. We'd love to go up there for the game, but no plans have been made as of yet.
Sunday we went out to the ballfields and practiced for just shy of 2.5 hours. Christina and I got there early and found a softball so we started practicing pitching a little and a bunch of grounders to short. Until she missed one of the throws and it smacked her in the center of her thigh. Small bruise, but no serious injuries. You have to keep your eye on the ball!
Anyway, long weekend... Here are a few pictures from the Spring Game:
The tailgate group from the message boards
Some Dad and his kids I saw and snapped a picture of quickly
We are no longer winless! We won last night... somewhere around 24-20 or 25-20 I believe. However, we won despite my best efforts. I'm not sure what it was, maybe the fact that we were winning and the excitement or something, but I made a lot of stupid mistakes. I think I cost our team something like 5 or 6 runs personally through bad decisions on fielding and bad base running decisions.
Regardless, it's a win. And I went 3-4, scored two runs and got two RBIs. So, for the season it looks like:
AV: .666 (scary)
R: 3
H: 5
2B: 1
3B: 0
RBI: 2
The team we played was horrible so that certainly helped. In fact, many of the hits last night for our team should have been outs but they couldn't field very well. And again, walks really gave them about 15 or so of their runs... something we really need to eliminate. We did have our very first walk of the season for our team last night though. Two of them actually, and the second one drove in a run. The other 23-24 runs were earned the hard way. Hopefully the walks will get under control.
Christina had her interview for her new position yesterday. Exciting stuff! I still don't see how they can interview someone for an hour that already works in the department, but since there were 4 interviewers I guess the time could add up quickly.
They also interviewed this other secret candidate that Christina didn't deal with even though she's the Chair's assistant right now. I've got my money on Christina though... she could take her down.
Spring Game is only a few days away! This Saturday at 1pm actually. I think we're getting down to the stadium around 9:30-10:00 though for a big Spring Game tailgate. Slowly but surely the season is getting closer and closer. Our schedule really improves this year too, so hopefully it'll be a little better. I read on a few different sites that when all was said and done, we played the 6th or 8th (depending on the site) hardest schedule in college football last season.
Tomorrow night is our 3rd softball game and it's at 6:30pm, so it should be light the entire game. Hopefully there will be more pictures this time... and more without the fence.
We did the Carowinds thing today. Our credit union had coupons that got you in for $19.99/each, so we thought we'd spend a Saturday riding some coasters. They have a new one this year called the Borg Assimilator, obviously themed after the Borg from Star Trek. It's the first coaster I've ridden where you lay down below the car and the track... sort of like Superman flies, if that makes any sense. Anyway, it's a great way to ride a coaster and I hope more are built in that style in the future.
Here's a link to some pictures on my Pbase site. As usually, the small pictures are just thumbnails on Pbase and when you click on them, you'll see larger versions.
I played in my first game last night in our softball league. It was the team's second game since I missed the first while I was sick. We're officially off to an 0-2 start. We lost last night 14-3.
I went 1-2 with a single, no RBIs and scored a run. The out was a line shot straight at an outfielder. Played shortstop the whole game and got to make a few outs here and there on the defensive side of things, so that was fun. Overall, it was a lot of fun, but some of the things about this league will get on my nerves.
Walks are the worst though. We don't have any walks on our team this year. If we don't learn to take some walks, we won't win a game this year I bet. How boring and stupid is that? But, when a guy walks, you get to take 2nd and the girl gets a choice of hitting or taking 1st right behind you. So, two people on instantly with a guy at the plate. Still, going up there looking for a walk is boring... I'd rather hit the ball.
Only slightly less annoying is when we walk someone for the other team, they have two on base and a guy's up and hits it to a girl in the outfield who lets the ball go right by her all the way to the fence and the guy ends up with a home run. Blah. Half of the girls playing on our team are really good, and half are... less than that. We could certainly use you on the team if you were still around, Laura!
I guess I'm going to start taking the first pitch no matter what from now on. The strike zone is tiny where the ball has to land, so most pitches unless someone is really, really good are balls anyway. We just never give opposing pitchers the opportunity to walk us, because we're all up there swinging at the first pitch.
Christina took a few pictures, but not many. Most were focused on the fence in front of her automatically by the camera and therefore didn't turn out very well. Hopefully there will be better pictures of games to follow:
I thought it would break by today but I still feel like crap. Also made me miss our first game last night.
We ended up losing though, so apparently I didn't miss much. 22-14. I guess these games are going to be high scoring. It turns out that not walking people is the most important thing and I guess we did a lot of that from what I've heard. You have to bat boy, girl, boy, girl, etc, etc. If you walk a guy, he goes to 2nd base automatically and the girl behind him gets to decide if she wants to hit or just take first automatically. Horrible rules. Like having only 3 balls and 2 strikes instead of 4 and 3. I really need a baseball league.
My Mom flew out this morning and Brian and Tasha left last Saturday. I'm home today on my 7th day off work counting the weekend trying to catch up on chores, bills, and the other things you put off while you have company. And it's a good thing I've been off since last Friday because I've been sick since Monday night. A little gift from my lovely wife who was sick over last weekend. You have to love pollen season in South Carolina, that's for sure. Going back to work after a week off will be fun I imagine.
We had a great time the last couple weeks though. It was nice to see everyone again and show off our state's gorgeous weather. Charleston was a lot of fun too... we drove around quite a bit. We also saw the markets, Waterfront Park, and Rainbow Row along the battery of course. My Mom wanted to say she had been in the ocean here in SC so we went down to Folly Beach, the last of the major beaches down there I hadn't been to yet, so that was nice. I'd have to see it in full swing during the summer, but it's supposed to be one of the more popular ones. I'd still say Isle of Palms is my favorite out of all of them.
Another day she was here we went to the State Museum in Columbia. The next day we drove around to a ton of different places on a city tour and we also walked through the State House, another thing I haven't done since moving here. Showed her where I'll be tailgating for football this season. Found out that I got a reserved spot around the other people we walked to tailgate with last year so this year should be a lot of fun.
