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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Weekend is done, back to work

Posted on April 30, 2017 by

I have not done my regular job in over a month now.  I am back to work tomorrow.  By back to work, I mean I have to walk down the hallway to my office since I work at home.  I am glad to be back to a regular routine.

I was able to get all of the uniforms distributed for Babe Ruth.  There are some swaps that will be needed over the next week or so.  I am going to order some some pants so we have a stock of some additional sizes.

I have also been assigned a handful of baseball games to umpire.  All Babe Ruth games, so that will be fun.

Today was the wrap-up of the Jamboree tournament.  I watched parts of both the AA and AAA Rockies.  The AA’s lost by a run or so, the AAA’s were up when I left.  The weather mostly cooperated, it was cloudy and cool one minute then the sun would come out and the temps would rise – typical April baseball in Calgary.

Hope you enjoyed your weekend.

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Baseball and back to work…

Posted on April 29, 2017 by

I picked up the jerseys and hats for Babe Ruth yesterday and put together packages for 5 clubs (10 teams) so I am more than half way done with it.  The Jamboree tournament starts today.  I plan on doing this job next year and hope to have the stuff a week earlier so I am not so rushed, but, I do work better under pressure.  It will take me another few hours to get the rest of the uniforms together this morning, I plan on starting just after 8 am.  I worked last night until 8:40 pm or so and then it was getting a little too dark to continue.

I am happy to report that my decision to not coach this year appears to be the correct decision.  I am not missing the coaching aspect of it, at all.  That is a good thing, I was worried that I would miss it but thus far I am not.  I am glad I stayed with the league to help out.  There have been a few snags with uniforms this year but nothing major.

After today, all of the uniforms packages will be put together and the majority of my job will be done.  I do want to do a complete inventory of uniforms so that I have up to date information.  I also have decided that we will only offer one style of pants for next season, that will make things a lot easier.

I am back to work on Monday.  I am actually looking forward to getting back to it.  This was a nice relaxing week and I am still not back completely on schedule here.  I am back to not sleeping 7-8 hours – not 100% sure why though.  I am hoping that it will improve.

I am heading for an early breakfast with a friend and then off to the ballpark.  I may even catch some action today.  Enjoy your weekend.

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A nice relaxing week…

Posted on April 27, 2017 by

I woke up pretty early on Tuesday morning, earlier than I figured I would seeing as I had not slept since Saturday.  I suppose I did have a short nap on Sunday afternoon, but does that really count?  Anyway, I was up early, before 4 am.

I got some stuff done around the house including unpacking my one suitcase.  The second suitcase, mine, did not make it on the flight from Montreal to Calgary and would be delivered on Tuesday.  Oh well, not a big deal, I was home.  It was pretty much the one glitch on a month long get-away.

I went to pick up the dogs around 9 am.  I was looking forward to seeing them for sure.  A month away is too long.  I did not know what their reaction was going to be.  They were happy to see me for sure, but they didn’t act much different than when I leave them at the pet resort over night.  Perhaps what they say is true, a dog’s concept of time is different than a person’s.  I hope so anyway…

They were tired and spent most of the rest of Tuesday lazy about.  I did as well.  I tried to stay awake on Tuesday evening but fell asleep on the couch around 6 pm.  I woke up at 9:30 and stayed up until 11 or so and went back to bed.  Last night I went to bed at 6:30 and woke today shortly after 3.  I am obviously still mostly on Mauritius time.  I will be out tonight so I won’t be able to go to bed early so maybe I will get back to a regular routine.  We will see.

This week has been a relaxing one.  I do have to start getting uniforms ready tonight for the upcoming baseball season.  I am picking up hats and jerseys tomorrow.  Everything will be ready by the end of the weekend.

I am back to work on Monday and am actually looking forward to getting back to my normal routine.  How odd am I eh?

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Home, finally…

Posted on April 25, 2017 by

I arrived in Calgary last night around 6:30 pm.  I slept like the dead seeing as I had not slept since Saturday night.  I wonder what it is that I can’t sleep on planes.  It was a long trip home.  For anyone who’s interested, I’ve detailed my trip to Mauritius and even reversed the order of the entries so the oldest one is first.  🙂

I am looking forward to getting my dogs in a couple of hours.  Today will be a relaxing day, I think.  The weather is crappy and I am sure jet lag is going to catch up to me soon.  I slept very well but a 10 hour time difference is quite something.  They say (who are “they”, anyway?) that travelling west is worse than travelling east.  Guess I will see.

I am off this week, no big plans.  I do have to do some uniform stuff for Babe Ruth but otherwise, want to spend time with the dogs and get back into a routine.

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I’m leaving, on a jet plane…

Posted on March 23, 2017 by

I went to pick up my passport after work yesterday.  I found parking right in front of the Service Canada building, that was sort of a surprise.  I paid for 40 minutes and thought that it likely wasn’t enough.  I went in and since I was picking up, it is a different line – there was only one person in front of me.

So, I waited less than 5 minutes in total and got my passport – no issues, no hassle.  The picture doesn’t look bad, as far as passport pictures go.  So, I am now free to roam for the next 10 years.

I leave in less than 24 hours for Ontario and will spend 5 nights in my former province.  I am taking the red eye to Toronto, it leaves Friday morning at 12:35 and arrives in Toronto shortly after 6am.  I have reserved a rental car at the airport, the only issue is that the credit card that I applied for at the beginning of the month has not yet arrived.  I called them and it was sent out on March 9.  Now, I know that Canada Post is slow, but this is a bit ridiculous.  The card hasn’t been activated or used, so that is good at least.  If it does not arrive then I guess I won’t be getting the rental, unless they will take a debit card but I don’t think most rental places will.  I will cross that bridge when I come to it.  If needed, I will take a bus to Niagara, it will work out – I don’t let issues like this stress me out, I can’t do anything about it, so, why worry about it?

I am staying with friends in Welland, it will be good to see them.  We are going out on Saturday night where I am meeting other friends.  I am also having breakfast Sunday with my sister and brother-in-law.  On Saturday, I will be going to the memorial for a good friend of mine.  He will be missed by many.

I head back to Toronto early on Monday morning.  I either drop the car off at the airport and take transit downtown, or I take a bus back.  I work in the National office for 3 days and have lunches and dinners with various co-workers – it will be good to catch up with everyone.  I am staying with my Aunt in Toronto and am looking forward to seeing both her and my cousin who’s coming to Toronto from Washington.

I will be hitting up the Mandarin twice on my visit – love Chinese food.  Monday for dinner is Red Lobster with my Aunt and co-worker.  Tuesday, my boss is trying to kill me with the Buffet Tri-Fecta, buffet breakfast at the Royal York Hotel, lunch at Mandarin (visit #2) and dinner at Copacabana, a Brazilan Steakhouse.  I might be a tad full.  On Wednesday, I am taking out the Senior Manager of my group at work and finally paying off a Super Bowl bet from a number of years ago.  This is our first opportunity for me to be in Toronto and be able to take him out.

My flight leaves on Wednesday evening, I need to be at the airport around 6:30pm.

I will be chronicling my trip on my blog, will try to make daily entries – follow along:

https://kdarcy21.com/Mauritius

For today, one more day to work and then right after work, I will drop the dogs off at the pet resort.  I am going to miss them – that’s for sure.  Before I got Zeus, almost 11 years ago, I hadn’t ever really thought about having a dog of my own.  Now, with three of them, I can’t imagine never having a dog again.  I know they will have a great time and I am already looking forward to picking them up.

If you will, wish me safe travels.  Thanks.  🙂

Posted in Blondie, Hera & Twix, Personal, Work | Leave a comment