Longfellow Trudge?

I noticed today that the Red Line has been trudging oh-so-slowly across the Longfellow Bridge today. When I left work and made it down to the Kendall stop, the trains were simply crawling through the tunnel. I think you could easily walk over the bridge faster than the trains were running. (Note: all I can picture is that scene from Office Space where Peter is stuck in traffic and watches the old man with the walker pass him by on the sidewalk) Despite that, the ride from Kendall to Porter was just as normal as can be.

So, I checked the MBTA's Transit Updates and I saw this brand new excuse for subway delays:

Red Line is experiencing 10-15 minute delays through the downtown area due to a track problem at Charles

I thought I'd seen every excuse from the MBTA. Usually Red Line delays are caused by "Medical Emergency", "Signal Problems", or "Switching Problems".

The thing is, I'm a train guy, and I have no idea what a "Track Problem" is! What the heck is a track problem?

Sports Karma?

So, a bit of history: I'm a born and bred Cubs fan from Illinois. My grandma started taking me to Wrigley Field for Cubs games when I was 8 years old. As a result, I've come up with this fuzzy sports karma for the night.

• Bachelor in Porter watches Oakland vs. Boston baseball
• Oakland defeats Boston in baseball
• Boston defeats Detroit in basketball
• Detroit defeats Pittsburgh in hockey
• Pittsburgh defeats Chicago Cubs in baseball

So, that must mean

• Chicago Cubs watches Bachelor in Porter blog

In Soviet Massachusetts, baseball watches you!

What the heck does this even mean? Does this make any sense? Have I had too much scotch tonight? Are pigs flying? What time is it?

Eh, I know the answer. I blame Global Warming! (Even the NFL is concerned)

Almost Warm Enough

Its 60 degrees outside right now. If it was about 10 degrees warmer, I think I'd be deck-blogging tonight. Its something that I've always wanted to do - but just haven't done so yet.

One of these days I really want to take my laptop onto my deck, kick back, grab a beer, and do a little blogging from the deck. I don't know what I'll talk about - but that's not important. Sitting on my deck and wirelessly typing gibberish is the name of the game.

Stuff I Don't Know - II

I don't know why I find this picture hilarious. I really don't know why.
Why is this funny?

Stuff I Know - VI

There's a few things that I know today:

• Leaving your umbrella at home is stupid. I left it at home today and ended up getting drenched walking from the Porter subway stop back to my apartment. Ugh.
• I don't eat Indian food. There's something about it that just doesn't sit well in my Midwestern stomach. I grew up with Mom-cooked meatloaf, pork chops, pot roast, and fish sticks. Yum.
• Staying out at the bar until 1:30 A.M. on a WEDNESDAY night is downright dumb. However, it sure seemed like a good idea at the time.
  

Time to Get the Heck Out...

Its time to get the heck outta Dodge Dome. Its obvious that domes and the Sox are not getting along very well this season. They've got a mere 2 wins in 12 games - having been swept in Toronto and Tampa. They eeked out a win in Tokyo, and only took 1 of 4 here in Minnesota.

Baseball is meant to be played outdoors on natural grass. I can accept a retractable roof, as long as the stadium has some natural grass - which Milwaukee and Phoenix have done very well. No more turf! No more domes!

Why Remy and Orsillo Rule

During a slow Red Sox game, Remy and Orsillo have some of the funniest banter. This evening was no exception.

In the top of the 8th, after some prodding from Remy, Orsillo finally admitted he stole the pajamas he got on the JAL flight to Tokyo. And even better, he says they're comfortable, and make you look like a chef.

Of course, Remy, in his typical gruff style, couldn't stop complaining about the length of the flight. He's never going to take a flight that long again - his back has finally recovered! Its obvious he's not a big fan of long trips. He admitted that in his opinion, Taunton is too far.

Classic. That's why I love these guys. They're a big reason I love watching Red Sox games.

I've Got Nothing To Say

I've got nothing to say right now. However, does the fact that I'm telling you I have nothing to say, actually mean that I have something to say?

Stuff I Know - V

The Sullivan Tire commercials with Dustin Pedroia need to go. I love crappy local commercials, but this one is full of pure awfulness. (Shudder)

I used to think that the Eagle Insurance commercial I saw growing up in Chicagoland was the worst ever. Now, thanks to Pedroia and Sullivan Tire, I'm not so sure. Decide for yourself:

Look at those low rates that 1980s hair!

Even More Brain Fried-ness

I just walked into my kitchen to pour a glass of wine. Instead, I opened up my cupboard and started to make coffee. I now have a pot of coffee ready to be brewed tomorrow morning, an empty wine glass, and another random blog post.

Pedroia Smash!

In the top of the 8th inning tonight, scrappy 5' 6" Dustin Pedroia (MLB politely has him listed at 5' 9" and 180lbs -- what a joke!) lifted a short fly ball to left field with the bases loaded and only one out. When he got back down into the dugout, NESN had a great shot of him smashing his baby helmet into the rack.

Why is that interesting? I don't know! As soon as I saw that, the first words out of my mouth were "Pedroia Smash!".

Granted, that's never going to supplant the image that I think of every time I see the guy bat. Don't get me wrong -- he's a great baseball player. But, man, he's got a great equation to describe his life:
[Jack Daniels] + [Holiday Inn Express] + [Dustin Pedroia] = DRUNK

My Brain is Fried Tonight

I just had one of those days at work that was utterly mentally draining. My brain is just fried. I spent all day reading though, understanding, and refactoring some of the worst J2EE code I've ever seen in my life. I've never seen someone use so much code to dynamically create a simple HTML SELECT box!

My brain is just so dead, I've been staring at my blog for the past 20 minutes trying to figure out what to post. This is all I could come up with.

However, I do have enough brain power to tell NESN and the Red Sox: I Approve! Nice job NESN!

Celtics or Red Sox

Well, deciding which game to watch tonight started out as a tough decision. But, after bits and pieces of the first half of the Celtics game, it was obvious that I had to tune into Tim Wakefield's gem tonight. He pitched an incredible game tonight. He merely pitched eight innings, gave up a meager 2 hits, 0 runs, and struck out six. I always enjoy watching classic Wakefield.

Now, to make things even better, the Sox game was a quick 2 1/2 hours. So I can watch the rest of the Celtics playoff game -- let's hope that the 2nd half is much better than the first.

Stuff I Know - IV

Super Mario Kart for the Wii is totally awesome. Nintendo has kept some of the good parts from the GameCube version and brought back the best parts from the N64 version of Mario Kart.

Its fun to play with the Wii Wheel, but its soooo much better to use the Wiimote and the Nunchuck.

Heh. The spell checker didn't like this post at all. :-)

Man, I Feel Old Today

No, I'm not talking about slowing metabolism, nor the loss of unlimited energy, nor the fact that I can't party like its 1998. I feel old today because 10 years ago:

• Seinfeld went off the air
• Kerry Wood had his 20 strikeout game (Wow, check out the SportCenter clip. Those were some of the nastiest sliders and curveballs I've ever seen in my life)
• I graduated college!

Its just scary to think that these memories are still relatively fresh in my head, yet they all happened 10 years ago. I've been out of college and working in software for 10 years!

Wow. Unbelievable.

Green Apple Pop?

I dropped by Shaw's in Porter after work today to pick up a 12-er of Sprite. Instead, I left with a 12 pack of this Jones Green Apple (Pop) Soda stuff. I'm not usually an impulse shopper, but I like apples, and especially green ones - so I figured I'd give it a try.

Man, this stuff is tasty! I've had some other Jones Pop (Soda) in the past, and it was pretty good. But, dude - this stuff tastes like candy. Its awesome. And, without even realizing it, I picked out the 0 calorie sugar-free stuff. I'm honestly surprised that it tastes so good. I'm not much of a fan of the diet pop stuff.

Speaking of crazy pop, does anyone remember OK Soda? It was this crazy Dr. Pepper like, purple soda. Way back in my college days, I think the Coca-Cola company was test marketing it in the dorms at Boston U. I really liked the stuff. Unfortunately, they seemed to halt its production after my freshman year of college. Boo!

NOTE: Despite spending over 1/3 of my life out here in the Boston area, I haven't been able to kick a few of my Midwestern quirks. I still drink cans of pop instead of soda or tonic, and I wear my tennis shoes around every day instead of sneakers!

Holy Fog Batman!

Some thick fog has certainly rolled in. I can't see the Prudential building from my deck tonight. In fact, I can barely see 2 blocks down the street!

Its actually kinda eerie out there tonight. It feels so typically New England outside tonight. I don't know how else to describe it. Its just really cool hanging out on my deck peering out into the fog in the distance.

Stuff I Know - III

I need a new belt. I've had this belt for a couple of years now, and the 4th belt hole (the usual place I buckle it) is falling apart. My pants won't stay up without a belt, so I really should just go get one. I don't want anything crazy - just your standard brown boring belt.

Yes folks, that's some really exciting news. Enjoy responsibly!

Was That the Sun I Saw?

I'm pretty darn sure the answer to that question is yes! I saw the sun trying to pop out from the clouds around 6:30 tonight. So will the rain go away for a while now? Its about time!

More Crazy Baseball Telecast Tidbits

I just finished up watching the Cubs beat up the Cardinals 9-3 this afternoon. YAY! Of course Soriano was worthless again, but that's old news. The rest of the Cubs lineup has been on fire this season - and that's just fine with me.

So, just as I noticed in last night's Red Sox game, FOX was using that same zoomed out camera shot from center field for their broadcast today. I'm wondering - is this some sort of new directive from the MLB offices? The only reason I can see them switching to this new angle is to display more advertisements behind home plate. With this new angle, you can see BOTH of the rolling ads that are displayed behind the batter - instead of just one.

I'm not too sure if I like this new angle. One cool bit, though, is that you can see the break of the pitches much better. Other than that, I'm not convinced I like this new angle. We'll see if its permanent.

The other bit that I noticed was that in the 6th inning FOX somehow predicted Mike Fontenot's 3-run home run! Granted, I don't think it was a prediction - but it was a pretty big production error. While Fontenot was batting, the right-hand side of the scoreband across the top displayed "HOMERUN - Cubs" and the score switched from "3 - 0" to "6 - 0".

At first I thought this was just some "hypothetical" thing FOX was trying to relay to its viewers. I thought to myself: "Oh - so FOX is telling me that if the Cubs hit a home run here, the score will be 6 to 0. Well, thanks FOX, but I can do math just fine in my head." But right after that, the HOMERUN text faded back into the current pitch speed and the score flipped back to "3 - 0". And then, something funny happened. On the next pitch, Mike Fontenot ripped a 3-run home run on the next pitch!

So, my questions are:

• Does FOX have the godly power to change the course of a baseball game?
• Are the folks at FOX able to see into the future?
• Is FOX secretly trying to influence baseball games and pulling for the Cubs to win the World Series?

I think my third bullet is the right answer. That's gotta be the answer. They knew Fontenot was going to hit a home run before it happened!

It couldn't possibly be a simple production error due to the fact that the game telecast is on a broadcast delay...

The Glow of Fenway Park

With the overcast skies, I can see the white glow of the lights of Fenway Park from my deck. The sky over downtown Boston has an orange glow. As you turn your eyes from East to West, you can see the glow change from orange to white to orange.

NESN Camera Angle

Is it me, or is the camera angle from the outfield at a higher elevation than usual? I can't quite figure out what's different about NESN's broadcast of the Red Sox game tonight. It seems as if they've zoomed out the typical camera shot from behind the pitcher.

I hope I'm not going crazy!

I Lost My Train of Thought

I was in the middle of writing a great blog post, but then this damn Celtics game grabbed my attention and I totally lost my train of thought!

What a great game! (so far - its still the 4th quarter).

Once the Celtics are through, then its even more sports with the rain-delayed Red Sox game! Maybe hanging around my place on this Friday night isn't so bad....

Stuff I Know - II

I know that I need to get a digital camera. I'm not interested in some cheapo, throw-away camera. Nor do I want some super-cool-mega-awesome-pixel camera. I'd like something that relatively powerful, but small enough to fit in my pocket.

There's so much that I see during the day - so many random images of daily life that I'd like to capture with some decent quality. I'm pretty sure a camera will solve that problem.

Finding solutions to problems -- that's what I do best.

Red Sox Rain Delay

When I left work today, there was a nice steady rain. I walked from the subway back to my apartment through even more rain. I came home and flipped on NESN expecting to watch the Red Sox game tonight. Of course, though, they had the tarp over the field and there was a rain delay.

For some reason, despite walking through a downpour, I simply expected the Sox game to be on. Fenway Park and the Red Sox are on the television. The weather over here in Porter Square shouldn't affect something on TV! How can the weather at my house affect the Red Sox?

And then, after my 10 second mind blip, I came back to my senses and remembered how the "real world" works.

Stuff I Don't Know

I really don't know what it is about catnip that makes cats so crazy. I found and old catnip toy and gave it to my cat tonight - and he wrestled the little snowman for about 10 minutes.

After that, he ran a few laps across the apartment. Now, he's just standing on the floor staring at nothing.

That catnip must be some good stuff!

Yay. Its Friday

Hooray. Its Friday. Its too bad that its raining out tonight - its going to be a lonely night tonight. What's better to do on a Friday night than to go back to your apartment and hang out with your cat and your laptop?

Well, I can think of so many better things to do. However, I am kinda tired. And now that I'm home, I'm comfortable. I think I'll grab a brewski and surf the Intertubes tonight. Maybe I'll make some random blog posts -- if anything of interest comes to mind.

Its Friday! What are you doing tonight?

Stuff I Know

I know that I need some new shoes. My Vans have holes in the sole. If I wear them when its wet outside I'll end up with ultra-soggy socks.

So yeah, I need to get off my lazy ass, get to the shoe store, and get some new shoes.