Took a few games (5 to be exact) but finally won a softball game last Wednesday. It was a decent game--both teams played fairly well--so that made it more fun. My other team followed it up the next day with a big win, we "12 runned" them. I also hit my first home run of the season which made the game all the more satisfying.
Speaking of W's, the Mariners aren't earning many. Mariner's management seems pretty surprised at how bad they're playing, with so many players batting below their career averages. I don't understand why they're surprised as players typically start to decline after their early 30's. Players like Edgar that continue to be productive into their late 30's are the exception rather than the rule; and even Edgar's age is finally catching up to him.
Randy Johnson pitch a perfect game tonight against the Atlanta Braves. It was the 17th perfect game in major league history and at 40 years of age, he's the oldest pitcher to accomplish the feat. Pitching a perfect game may be the rarest of individual feats in all of sports. Randy Johnson is a true competitor and truly deserving of all he's accomplished. He doesn't care about the fame or the fortune, he just wants to be the best pitcher he can be. I only wish that he was still a Mariner...
I took part in my eighth Seattle Works Day today. My project was at an elementary school where did some landscaping. Due to budget cuts, there was little to no money for grounds maintenance. So we tore out a lot of overgrown weeds and bushes and spread out some mulch. What impressed me the most was the number of people that came out from the surrounding community. These were working class families trying to help out the school that their kids attended. It always makes volunteering more satisfying when the whole neighborhood comes out.
Played my first softball game of the season for the Rum Runners.--one of the two teams that I'll play on this summer. Unfortunately we lost, unable to recover from their big first inning. I'm still not comfortable pitching after taking a line drive to my collarbone two summers ago. My first reaction to a ball hit at me used to be to catch it, now my first reaction is to get out of the way. This results in a ineffective attempt at both catching the ball and getting out of the way. Add to that my batting troubles where I've gotten worse every year over the past five years and I start to wonder why I'm still playing this game. I'm definitely not as passionate about softball as I was several years ago when I would play on four or five teams every summer. Perhaps the end of my softball career is in sight...
Sperling's BestPlaces did a study of the best and worst cities for dating and the ranked Seattle as 5th best. They based their results on factors such as demographics, coffee shops and bowling alleys. Bowling alleys?!?! I don't think I've ever met someone at a bowling alley that wasn't part of the group with which I was bowling. And coffee shops? Seattle had the most coffee shops in the study but that's because we're addicted to caffeine. Another factor that contributed to Seattle's high ranking is because it has the highest percentage of online daters. But don't most people use online dating because the old fashioned methods aren't working? Just about everyone I know would say that Seattle is a tough place for dating.
I took the bus to work a few times this week. It's worked our very well as I get on the bus about 3 blocks from my house and I get off just around the corner from my office. Admittedly, I spend 20-30 more minutes each day in my commute but I use the time to read the paper and listen to NPR. Mybus.org is a site that let's you track your bus. It doesn't work quite as well as I hoped but it's not bad.