Exhaustion and lousy wifi have kept me from updating thus far, so here's a quick update.
Day one of the drive took us through the Sierras, the state of Nevada (the northern part, which is huge and desolate), and into Salt Lake City. Nevada still creeps me out, since I-80 takes you through Reno and then 410 more miles of pretty much nothing before dumping you into Utah and the salt flats, which I thought were way cool. Salt Lake seems like a nice place, and predictably enough, does not present many dinner options at 9 PM on a Sunday.
Day 2 included the Wasatch range in Utah (which is really just an amazingly beautiful state) and then Wyoming. Wyoming is like Nevada, but greener; long, generally pretty, and with hardly any towns. My coastal brain doesn't cope too well with being 50 miles from the nearest town. K and I stopped in North Platte, Nebraska, which had the lowest budget local news I've seen (the library is getting new carpet, and swimming lessons are a good way to keep your kid from drowning this summer), but seemed like a nice quiet place.
Day 3, yesterday, ended in Davenport, Iowa, after crossing the rest of Nebraska and Iowa. K and I ate at a brewery downtown and walked along the Mississippi (Davenport is the biggest town on the Big Muddy without a levee). It was a nice way to spend and evening.
Today we crossed the river, Illinois (including the Chicago southland), Indiana, and most of Ohio, ending up here in Cleveland. We went to Jacobs Field to see the Indians-A's game, which had gotten out of hand before the weather got ugly, chasing us back to the hotel.
Tomorrow, we'll drive to Cherry Hill, NJ, so K can get licensed to work in the Garden State, and will drive from there to NC on Friday. It's been a nice trip, though we're tired of driving, and can't wait to relax in NC. Current mileage total is 2200 and some change. We're on Eastern Standard Time again, it's humid, and there's a thunderstorm outside. It's funny to realize all the things we've missed on the left coast...
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Thursday, June 21, 2007
baseball addendum
So the Orioles fired their manager, Sam Perlozzo, a couple of days ago. I think it was the right call- he made several game-losing decisions this year that violated all rules of common sense and baseball strategy. You can't have the manager losing games for you. Today Joe Girardi, the O's first choice for the job, turned down the job. This is fine with me, and here is why:
According to the Baltimore Sun, Davey Johnson is interested in the job. Davey Johnson has managed a world series team, but that's not why I like him. He played for the O's during the good times, which helps. He managed the O's to consecutive playoff appearances, including the wire-to-wire first place run of 1997, after which he was named AL manager of the year. Davey left amidst a conflict with Peter Angelos, who is a poor man's George Steinbrenner. Angelos, though, has just hired successful baseball man Andy MacPhail to be the Chief Operating Officer, and it seems that Andy has control of baseball operations. The time is right for Davey to come back, as Angelos is currently eating the crow which has been carefully prepared and seasoned during the past 10 consecutive losing seasons.
Davey Johnson is one of the only managers around who actually adds wins to his team. A good manager usually just doesn't get in the way, allowing the team to run its natural course. Davey understands players and also holds a friggin' degree in math, meaning he can make use of statistical analysis, which the Oakland A's and Boston Red Sox have proven to be a very good way to strategize and win games (see: Moneyball, 2004 World Series). Hiring Davey will make the team better.
The other named being kicked around for the job is Dusty Baker. I will probably develop a stutter if the O's hire him. Just get Davey. Do whatever it takes to get Davey.
According to the Baltimore Sun, Davey Johnson is interested in the job. Davey Johnson has managed a world series team, but that's not why I like him. He played for the O's during the good times, which helps. He managed the O's to consecutive playoff appearances, including the wire-to-wire first place run of 1997, after which he was named AL manager of the year. Davey left amidst a conflict with Peter Angelos, who is a poor man's George Steinbrenner. Angelos, though, has just hired successful baseball man Andy MacPhail to be the Chief Operating Officer, and it seems that Andy has control of baseball operations. The time is right for Davey to come back, as Angelos is currently eating the crow which has been carefully prepared and seasoned during the past 10 consecutive losing seasons.
Davey Johnson is one of the only managers around who actually adds wins to his team. A good manager usually just doesn't get in the way, allowing the team to run its natural course. Davey understands players and also holds a friggin' degree in math, meaning he can make use of statistical analysis, which the Oakland A's and Boston Red Sox have proven to be a very good way to strategize and win games (see: Moneyball, 2004 World Series). Hiring Davey will make the team better.
The other named being kicked around for the job is Dusty Baker. I will probably develop a stutter if the O's hire him. Just get Davey. Do whatever it takes to get Davey.
Best get moving.
The big move is nigh. K had her last day of work on Tuesday, and we are in full-time packing and logistics mode. This, I think, is probably the worst part of a cross-country move. The numbers of i's to be dotted and t's to be crossed seems to multiply exponentially as departure nears. The City of Berkeley gets some props, though, as the staff at their permit center was actually very helpful in the process of acquiring the necessary permits for parking a moving truck on our city street for several days. Their paperwork, like all government agencies, was still a special vision of hell, but the people were very nice.
ENORMOUS props go out to my parents and sister. The whole gang, including my brother, was out here last week, and we had a good time being Bay Area tourists and visiting Yosemite. The truly clutch aspect of their visit came when my parents and sister took our cats back to NC with them on their respective flights. Taking a cat on a plane is not the simplest of endeavors, and it made their traveling considerably more complex. Now, though, our cats are happily in the 'boro, eating, drinking, pooping and being merry, and K and I get to make the transcontinental road trip sans felines. This means we can get out of the car when we stop for lunch, can stay in any hotel we find, and have more freetime at night. We plan to attend at least one baseball game on the way out, and will explore our options as we go. Our drive out here was not so much fun, because we had an unhappy cat singing the blues in the back seat. This will be much better.
In the department of looking beyond the tip of my own nose, the best news this week has to be the birth of Tadpole Taco Country, son of Big and E Country, good friends of ours in NC. That's one lucky baby, getting to have parents like them. We'll get to visit the Countries and meet the baby in a couple of weeks, which is something I am looking forward to a whole lot, on several levels.
Assuming that they have internet access in our hotels next week, look for some incredibly self-indulgent posts from the road. As a quick prelude, though:
The desert scares me. Wyoming is sparsely populated. Nebraska is long and flat. Iowa is like Bill Bryson said it was. Chicago! Toll roads suck. Jacobs Field is a nice baseball park. Woohoo, we're back on the right coast! Relaxing in NC.
ENORMOUS props go out to my parents and sister. The whole gang, including my brother, was out here last week, and we had a good time being Bay Area tourists and visiting Yosemite. The truly clutch aspect of their visit came when my parents and sister took our cats back to NC with them on their respective flights. Taking a cat on a plane is not the simplest of endeavors, and it made their traveling considerably more complex. Now, though, our cats are happily in the 'boro, eating, drinking, pooping and being merry, and K and I get to make the transcontinental road trip sans felines. This means we can get out of the car when we stop for lunch, can stay in any hotel we find, and have more freetime at night. We plan to attend at least one baseball game on the way out, and will explore our options as we go. Our drive out here was not so much fun, because we had an unhappy cat singing the blues in the back seat. This will be much better.
In the department of looking beyond the tip of my own nose, the best news this week has to be the birth of Tadpole Taco Country, son of Big and E Country, good friends of ours in NC. That's one lucky baby, getting to have parents like them. We'll get to visit the Countries and meet the baby in a couple of weeks, which is something I am looking forward to a whole lot, on several levels.
Assuming that they have internet access in our hotels next week, look for some incredibly self-indulgent posts from the road. As a quick prelude, though:
The desert scares me. Wyoming is sparsely populated. Nebraska is long and flat. Iowa is like Bill Bryson said it was. Chicago! Toll roads suck. Jacobs Field is a nice baseball park. Woohoo, we're back on the right coast! Relaxing in NC.
Friday, June 01, 2007
Dear ESPN,
Please stop labelling as "top plays" or "web gems" plays in which an outfielder playing in the HHH Metrodome reaches over the wall to bring back a would-be homer. Torii Hunter is a great center fielder, but the left and center field wall in the Homerdome is seven feet high. Torii is 6'2". Yours truly, a profoundly non-athletic 6'0" beanpole, could "rob someone of a home run" in the Homerdome without leaving my feet. My considerable 12" or so vertical leap would allow me to haul in a ball that would have cleared the wall by nearly two feet. If I could do it, it's not a top play. Thanks,
SJL
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