Happy Canada Day

Posted on June 29, 2017 by

Just a quick update.  My second 4-day weekend was good, nice and relaxing.  I umpired a few games, took the dogs to the park a few times, had a few naps.  Sounds like I am ready for retirement.  Well, who isn’t?  Only issue is that I’d be out of money pretty quick.  Guess I will continue working.

This is a long weekend as well since Saturday is Canada’s birthday, we get Monday off.  No umpiring this weekend, most of the leagues aren’t playing.  I will enjoy the time off.  The weather is supposed to be nice which is good.  No plans on going to watch fireworks anywhere.  Not sure if I will see them from my place or not.  The dogs aren’t frightened by them anyway so that’s good.

Next Friday is Stampede Day in Calgary so it is the office event day, the office is closed so I am off – yes, I don’t work in the office but I still get it off.  That means next week is a 3 day work-week.

My two weeks of vacation is coming up too, it will be nice being off.  I am not sure when the last time I had back to back weeks off, but it has been a while.

Can’t believe July is already here.  Time flies.  Happy Canada Day.

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Four day weekends

Posted on June 20, 2017 by

I had a four day weekend this past weekend.  I have another four day weekend coming up so this is a nice, short, three day work-week.

The four day weekend zoomed by as quickly as a normal 2 day weekend though.  Friday was a relaxing day.  I went to an Okotoks Dawgs baseball game in the evening.  It started raining in the 3rd inning.  We got a little wet and were cold and after 45 minutes or so, we decided to pack it in.  The game did eventually restart but would not have finished until close to midnight.  Past my bedtime.

I had breakfast out on Saturday morning followed by a trip to the dog park.  There is almost always a trip to the dog park.  I umpired in the afternoon – good ball game, except for the whiny coach from Edmonton.

Sunday I took the car for a long trip, first since I bought it.  I drove to Cranbrook, BC and met a co-worker for lunch.  It was a good drive, good food and good to see a co-worker that I’d normally only see at our IT Conferences.  I made it with just over one tank of gas so the mileage was great.

I umpired again last night to round out the long weekend.  Will be a good pay day at the end of the month, I’ve done quite a few games this month.

I am sure this week will fly by.  I am off Friday and Monday again but no real plans as yet.  I do have umpiring this weekend but otherwise nothing is going on.  Sounds good to me.

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A little down time

Posted on June 14, 2017 by

I have had a house guest since Sunday night again, Lita, my friends’ dog.  Lita is going home this afternoon.  The four of them had fun playing outside all day Monday and yesterday until after dinner when it decided to start raining.  It is raining again today so they are inside and are all sleeping, I think they are tired out.

I have back to back 4 day weekends coming up, will be nice having some time off of work.  I am heading to an Okotoks Dawgs baseball game on Friday evening with a co-worker.  I have not been to a game in a few years.  Great ball park down there.  I am glad I looked online for tickets, they were almost sold out.  I was able to get a pair of tickets right behind the plate in the second row.  Should be a good time.

I have a few umpiring assignments thrown in, Thursday, Saturday and Monday.  All plate games.  Sunday, I am taking a day trip to Cranbrook, BC.  I am just going for lunch actually, the drive will be nice.  I have not been to BC since 1986 when I drove from Calgary to Vancouver for Expo 86.  I am taking two different mountain passes on Sunday so it will be a nice drive.  It will also be the first time I have had the new car out for a long run.

No other plans really.  I am sure the dogs and I will go for a hike or two.  I am looking forward to a little down time.  For those of you who are Fathers, have a good Fathers Day.

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Another week in the books

Posted on June 9, 2017 by

Another week just about over.  I did some umpiring last weekend and again on Monday, I umpire again tonight and a double-header on Sunday.  It has been a warm week and the house heated up some.  No need for AC, but Hera thinks there is.  It’s comfortable and for a change, Twix isn’t cold.  Blondie doesn’t seem to mind it.  Last night we had a rather powerful thunderstorm roll through.  Had torrential rain, a bit of hail and a fairly nice light show.  Since I am now in the NW where we often get hail, I am very glad to have a garage, I don’t need little dents and dings on my car.  I am glad that none of the dogs are afraid of thunderstorms.

Speaking of dogs, I will have a visitor for a few days again, Lita is coming for a few nights on Sunday evening again.  At least she’s learned I am trustworthy so she won’t be afraid of me for the first day and a half.  It should be a fun visit this time around.

Next weekend I am using some of my banked lieu time and taking a 4 day weekend.  I am looking forward to some relax time.  Right now, I have no umpiring scheduled for that weekend, I am sure some games will come around though, I hope so anyway.

I have two weeks booked off in July, I will be helping with the tournaments that Babe Ruth is hosting. I have an idea for a road trip in the back of my head – I am thinking of driving to Colorado for 4 or 5 days in total – catch a Rockies game or two.  That will be in August, if I decide to go.

Well, the weekend is here in a few hours, enjoy.

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It’s already June?

Posted on May 31, 2017 by

I am unsure where the month of May went, but it is just about over.  It was a pretty good month, lots of umpiring, not insane at work but busy enough to keep me out of trouble and, in general, nice weather and lots of time in parks with the dogs without them getting all mucky.

Our rainy season will start in a couple of weeks and will last until the mid-end of July.  It sort of throws a wrench into baseball games.  It also makes going to the dog parks a little tougher – we typically don’t go out when it is raining, I don’t like getting wet, neither do the dogs.

Nothing too exciting planned for June – I am sure I will get about 10-15 games to umpire.  I am not going anywhere that I am aware of.  No vacation time planned either.

So, hopefully, your June is more exciting than the June I have planned.  A bit of boring is OK with me though.  🙂

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The weekend, dog parks & umpiring

Posted on May 27, 2017 by

The weekend is here after a holiday shortened week.  The week flew by, as most weeks do – something about getting older, perhaps?  It wasn’t overly busy, but I have enough to keep me out of trouble at work at any rate.

Blondie, Hera, Twix and I just got in from the dog park, we were playing ChuckIt and now they are tired.  I hear, and believe, that a tired dog is a happy dog.  All three are zonked out on the floor, likely because it is cooler.  It isn’t hot out by any means, but when you run, full out after a ball for 45 minutes or so, I guess it will tire you out.  I get in a fair amount of walking myself so that isn’t bad either.

I am heading out shortly to do an inventory of baseball uniforms that we have in our equipment shed.  I have an assistant helping me, so we shouldn’t be any longer than an hour at most, I don’t think.  That will give me a good handle on what we have and will make ordering a lot easier next year.

This afternoon I am umpiring a double-header with a former baseball Dad of mine, should be fun.  An A game (I am on the plate) then a AA game with me on the bases.  I umpired on Thursday night at Foothills Stadium and had to eject a coach.  My partner called a balk on the pitcher (after neither of us called about 3 or 4 in a row) and the coach lost it.  Well, teach your player to pause before pitching and we won’t call balks on him.  Anyway, he whined and whined and I had heard enough, so I asked him to leave.  Yeah, that’s what I did.  Arrogant little coach anyway, oh well.

Tomorrow, I think the four of us are meeting with Lita and her Mom to go for a hike in Edworthy Park, it is supposed to be a beautiful day.  I think spring has finally arrived.

That will cause the weekend to go by even quicker than the week – always seems to happen.  Have you ever heard of someone saying that the weekend is dragging on?  Enjoy yours.

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Lita and Umpiring

Posted on May 24, 2017 by

In my last update, I mentioned that I had a house guest for a few nights, Lita, a friend/co-workers dog.  She is a Shepherd mix and a very timid dog.  She got dropped off on Sunday night and although she had met me a few times before, did not seem to trust me at all.  She was quite taken with Hera though, which was good.

She whined a bit on Sunday night but settled down and slept in the living room on the couch with Hera.  Monday morning, she still didn’t trust me…  She ate breakfast with the other dogs and played outside most of the day while I worked.  By Monday evening, she was letting me pet her, once, and then she’d scurry off.  If I walked by her, she fled, as if she was thinking I’d step on her.  She is just a 9 month old puppy so her owner and I agree that she likely had a rough few months when she was very young.

By Tuesday morning, she finally decided that I was a good guy, I got a wake up kiss from her – thanks Lita.  On Tuesday, I was her best friend.  She got picked up Tuesday evening and was happy to see her Mom.  My three seemed to miss her when she left.  I know they will be friends moving forward at least and that’s great.

It was fun having her for a few days and now I am sure she will love me when she sees me.

Umpiring has been going well.  I am not missing the coaching aspect at all, which is good.  I have been given only A and AA games thus far and that’s fine with me.  I am sure I will be given some AAA games as the season matures, and if not, that’s OK too.  Next year, I do plan on going to an umpiring clinic, I missed it this year since I was away.

I had a game scheduled for tonight but because they are calling for very heavy rain starting around noon, it has already been canceled.  I umpire tomorrow night as well and then a double-header on the weekend.  It is keeping me busy and out of trouble.

The dogs and I have been doing some longer hikes in the area parks, been fun and we’ve been getting some good exercise.  Hera is much better in the off-leash area than she was before I left for my trip as well.  She was being overly “playful” with some of the smaller dogs and was freaking out the owners.  I am sure she’d never hurt one of the little dogs but she is a big dog, now she’s just playing with the larger dogs which is good.

Well, the work day has started, better get to it.  Enjoy your day.

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A house guest…

Posted on May 16, 2017 by

This past weekend, like most weekends, zoomed by.  I umpired two double-headers so that kept me busy.  They were good games.  On Saturday, it was two Babe Ruth A league games.  For 13-14 year olds, the quality of the ball was excellent, not a lot of walks and some good defence.  I was impressed.  Sunday, it was the AA league and two more excellent games.

I also have a house guest for a few days.  One of my co-workers had to go away for a few days and her BF is working out of town so I have a 9 month old German Shepherd mix puppy to join my pack of 3.  They are all getting along well which is nice and Lita has decided that I can be trusted, she actually likes me now.

This coming weekend is a long weekend, it will be nice having the extra day off.  I am doing some umpiring and have a baseball meeting, the last one until after the season ends.  All of the uniforms have been distributed and swaps that were needed have been done as well.  I will do the job again next year, if the help is still needed which I am sure it will be.

Today is a sad day in history.  Two years ago, I had to put Zeus down.  It was one of the hardest things I ever had to go through and I still miss him, even with three (and right now four) dogs running around.  You were a good dog Zeus.  🙂

 

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Umpiring and Opening Day

Posted on May 9, 2017 by

This past weekend I umpired my first double-header of the season.  It was Babe Ruth A ball and was pretty good baseball.  I was behind the plate for my first game and on the bases for the second game.  My legs were sore, not used to crouching behind the catcher as yet.  I didn’t do any stretching, of course, that would have made sense.  It was a warm day which was nice.

Sunday was Opening Day for Babe Ruth.  Per tradition, it was cold and trying to snow.  We did get the festivities in though.  The Splumbo sausages were amazing.  I was able to swap out some additional pants for coaches and players who needed different sizing so that job is just about done.  I need to do an inventory in the next couple of weeks and also order pants for the travel clubs, but that’s about it.

More umpiring this weekend, Friday, two double-headers on Saturday and Sunday and another game Monday, I am sure I will be more sore and tired than I was this past weekend.  The extra money will be good anyway.

I am not missing coaching which is good, I wasn’t sure if I would.  I will likely return, at some level, time will tell.

Enjoy your week.

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Work, TV, internet, baseball and umpring…

Posted on May 4, 2017 by

My first week back to work has not been too bad.  The week zoomed by.  Monday was very busy, which is sort of unusual since it was the last day for us to file taxes.  The rest has been steady, but not insane.  I expect insanity to return next week, if trends from previous years continue.

I have decided that not only did I leave Telus for my cell service, I have decided to try Shaw for home internet and TV.  I will be saving quite a lot of money.  On the cell phone, my bill will be $40 per month with more services than I was getting with Telus and home services will be $90 for internet and TV for a year, then going to $140 something for the second year.  Even the $140 is a better deal than what I am paying now.

This weekend is opening weekend for Babe Ruth baseball.  Tomorrow night is our fundrasier night, silent auction and what not at Shanks South.  Sunday is supposed to be opening day, but the weather forecast doesn’t look good right now, we will see.  In the four years I have been involved, it has been moved at least twice and was VERY cold and damp on another occasion.

I have also decided to return to umpiring and thus far have 10 games assigned up until the long weekend.  That will keep me quite busy enough and will be good to get back on the field.  I didn’t do any umping last season at all so I am looking forward to it.

There, now you’re up to date.  🙂

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