I am Employed

October 12th, 2010

There has been a long stretch of my not writing blogs.  It has been the longest stretch since I started this blog.  It is not something I wanted, but with my old webhosting company and the problems I got out of the habit of doing it.  Then trying to get caught up makes it difficult.

Then to top that off I have been in a situation where I am undergoing a major life changing event.  I was offered a contact job at Brian’s company.  This was something I was expecting.  Actually I was expecting a full-time job offer, but it is for one year.  The thing is I would be working out of the Kirkland office.  When I interviewed with them I was ready to move to the Seattle area, but lately that feeling has changed.

I decided to take the offer, but I haven’t told anyone.  So I went to Seattle for a visit, as far as anyone else knew.  But some people were suspicious.  Now, it is a lot more obvious as I have been working in Seattle for more than three weeks now.  I haven’t been keeping the secret so much anymore.  I have told some of the people in the Seattle area.  I also told Ryan.  During my second week the office manager came into my office and said he was offering me a full-time job.  It would be doing something similiar to what I was doing, but I would be more of a tester/developer.  But I could work my way to doing dev full-time down the road.  But it sounds like they are willing to let me learn on the job.

I am going to learn some new technologies life Flex and Iron Phyton.  I get to work from home on Friday’s so I will be going over to Pullman a lot.  But I also plan on staying home on some weekends. 

Yesterday I told them I was going to take the full-time job offer.  I have also done a couple projects that they are happy with already.  So it is good that things are going well for me right now.  I am not going to make as much as I would like to make, but I figure I will go in and work hard and do a good job and earn a pay raise as I show them I am worth it.

So my plan is to try to hide it for another month and a half at the fire department.  At some point I am going to have to do something there.  I don’t know if I will have to quit or if we can work out some sort of deal.  I hope we can just work something out.  I will cross that bridge when I come to it. 

Cooper pretty much knows that I am working in Seattle.  He wants me to stay on there and just put in my hours to keep my commission.  That is what I want to do as well.  I love being a deputy.

I am going to have to work something out with Pete as well.  I let him know that I didn’t know what the future held, but I do want to be the next coroner.  So I need to do what I have to in order to make that come true.  I also need to make sure I stay up with my OTEP training for my EMT certification.

For the last couple weeks I have been in Seattle Monday through Thursday night and then I drive to Pullman where I am until Sunday night.  I am probably going to stay there on some Sunday nights and come back on Monday morning.  But I have been playing all that by ear.

So far I have been doing what I did last time I lived in Seattle.  I work all day and then come home and do nothing until the next day at work.  I want to start to find things to do, but I need to start to rekindle some of my old relationships with some of my friends.

I am going to let the Sgt know at the marine patrol that I have my stuff with me and I am around a lot more so if they need someone in short notice that I should have some availability.  But it sounds like I will be a very busy man at work as well.  Once I start working as a FTE I will be working lots and lots of hours every week.  So with my other activities I may have a hard time doing they hours they want me to.  But right now it isn’t a big deal because all I do is sit around the house when I go home.

It is also important that I start some sort of work out program.  There is some workout equipment at the office building where I work and I have access to it.  I need to take advantage of it.  Maybe I can work out following work and get on the road around seven when the traffic isn’t as bad.

Outside of that I have been a busy guy.  I played in a co-ed fall league for softball with Spellman.  I also played in a softball tournament this last weekend.  We went three and out, but it was fun to play and it could be my last tournament with the Garden if I keep the job over here.  That sucks because I do like the team and the guys I am playing with.  Plus we picked up a ten-six-seven.  We played another touranment with him.  He is blonde and blue eyes.  Plus he is very cool.

ASA Western Nationals Day Two

September 5th, 2010

This morning we had to get up early for the first game. We were playing at eight o’clock in the morning.  The game did not go well at all.  We couldn’t hit as a team.  I hit the ball well having two doubles.  But as a team we were more or less skunked.  The team we played hit the ball well and crushed us.  Our run in the nationals tournament came to an end at nine in the morning.

I went back to the hotel and packed up and left.  I went back to Pullman and because I was back so early I decided to work the road.

ASA Western Nationals Day One

September 4th, 2010

We made our way to the field for the first of softball games. It is a straight double-elimination tournament. It is only a two game guarantee. That means we don’t have a lot of room to warm up. One of the guys who was supposed to play with us backed out. But he didn’t tell us so we were not able to find a replacement. He had known for several days. So that really screwed us over. We only have ten guys. Anyone gets hurt and then we are in even worst shape.

In the first game we played the team tight. I played well with two doubles and a walk as well as a reach-on-error. We were tied going into the seventh inning. But then they scored ten runs. We were not able to mount a come back to overcome that and we ended up losing the game. A couple us went to Panda Express for lunch and then back to the field.

Now we have our backs against the wall for the rest of the tournament. If we lose we go home. I really don’t want to leave the tournament in the first day. Our second game we were playing a local team. They lost by fourteen runs in their first game. It was like a baseball game against them. We won four to three. But it was a battle to just get those four runs. We just didn’t hit the ball very well. But our defense really helped us to stay in the game. I had a very bad game at the plate. I couldn’t hit the ball to save my life. I made three outs.

After the games we went back to the hotel. I got cleaned up and met several other guys at the swimming pool. There were a lot of people there playing in the water and having fun. I was thirsty so I went to get some water and pop from the store. Then we went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner. It was some good stuff. I was completely full by the time we left.

Made it to Boise

September 3rd, 2010

After getting a phone call this morning I decided to get up and start my trek to Boise for the ASA Western National E softball tournament. I got my stuff packed into the truck and headed down Ninety-Five. It was a long trip. It was about a three-hundred mile trip, but getting stuck behind slow car after slow car sucked. At one point I was stuck behind a string a cars for nearly thirty miles. It was a sucky trip.

When I got in I went to the hotel and checked in. Then I went to the field and get checked in and had my bat approved. As it turns out it barely made it through the testing process. They have a machine and my bat didn’t make a sound on one spot and barely made a noise in two other spots. But it passed. I guess the less sound it makes the hotter it is. My bat might not be able to get used next season.

I went to dinner with Bruce and his family at Cracker Barrel. It was my first time there. It was good food. When I got back to the hotel I chatted online with Jonathan and Gunnar. I had a great conversation with Jonathan. We haven’t chatted much recently. We talked about gay relationships. He has a very solid one and is to the point where some time he may choose to get married to his boyfriend.

I am getting more open with Gunnar and more willing to talk to him about subjects that made me uncomfortable in the past. I think I am finally getting to the point with him that Nick was telling me about. Nick told me that it takes time but as you are with someone longer you get to the point where you are comfortable around them to the point where your modesty goes away and you are more of who you are.

Busy Day on Both Side of the State

September 1st, 2010

I had an MRI this morning on my ankle. This is the fourth MRI I have gotten. I hope this will show something that can be fixed. But I don’t think there is a fix for my problem. After the MRI I hit the road and went back to Pullman. I stopped at the SO and dropped off some donuts. I spoke to Cooper while I was there. He asked me about my recent felony drug arrest. I told him about the circumstances around it.

I went home and did my laundry. I was going to hang out with Gunnar tonight. I picked him up on my way to the fields in Moscow. He watched my softball game. I had two stand up doubles and a single. It was a good day at the plate. My time in the field went well also. I played second and shortstop. I made all the plays that went my way. It felt good out there today.

We went back to my house and watched Stangers with Candy. Then we spent time talking with each other. We are getting more comfortable with each other. I was finally able to open up to him some more. I was able to talk to him about things that I had not been able to say to him in the past.

Lose One and Win One

July 27th, 2010

The first game was the one game playoff for the league championship. We were playing against Coors Light. It was going to be a tough game. Based on the guys I saw they brought one of their better teams.

We battled back from a big deficit to come within a couple runs. Then they had a five run inning in the seventh. We ended up losing by five runs. It sucked to lose the game.

But we had to turn around and get ready to play Bomb Squad as a team that we had to beat to get to the championship game. I got three hits and we won by nine runs. It was a good solid victory. I went to My Office with some of the guys from the team. I had dinner then went home and got my motorhome packed to head down to Colfax Fire.

I got my motorhome set up and I planned on being at the fire station for the next couple days to work on my training to be a temp full-time worker.

Post Season Tournament Day One

July 22nd, 2010

Today was the first games in the post season tournament. The first game was against TLC Green Sox. We easily beat them. Then it was against Chipman Taylor. They are a stronger team. We split the season series this year.

In the game against them we won putting us two and oh in the post season. We have two more wins to be awarded the championship.

Forced a Playoff Game

July 20th, 2010

Tonight’s softball games were both must-win games. First against TLC Green Sox then the Bomb Squad. The TLC team was not that big of a deal. They have been nearly an automatic win for us each time we faced them. The Bomb Squad game was different. They have gotten better as the season has gone along. In fact they were one of three teams that beat us.

But the game against them was close. The score didn’t make it look close, but we scored some padding at the end of the game. Up until then it was close each and every inning. But by winning the game we forced a one game playoff against Coors Light for the league championship. It was pretty awesome for that to happen. This will be the first time we have a chance to take first place against Coors Light in several years. They have really been very strong for several years.

My Office Softball

June 30th, 2010

My Office has spent most of the month winning softball games.  This team is set to break a bunch of offensive records for My Office.  We are even going to break some from the ought-three team which was nearly unstopable.  

Through out the month there have been different people stepping up and making the big hits or big defensive plays.  Million was pretty much a top player each and every night. 

There are only four single-game team records.  They all fell on the Twenty-Ninth.  It was an incredible night.  We scored thirty-six runs, twenty of which came in one inning.  It was crazy. 

As a team we are eight-and-one by the end of June and I was batting six-fifteen at the end of June.  On the softball field things are doing well.

Good Day on the Course

June 6th, 2010

I played golf this morning with Ron, Joe, and Mitz. Ron and I were on one team. The team who got the best score on a hole won that hole. There were no hold-over holes, so you only earn one point per hole, if someone won it. Ron and I ended up winning by one or two.

My drives were going great. I had several great chip shots as well. I only had one bad drive the whole day. I was only doing about seventy percent swings and it made all the difference in the world. I had a great round. We finished up around two and I went home and relaxed for a while. I was going to meet the guys at Zeppoz before this evening’s softball game. Cougar Country is playing Zeppoz.

I went to Zeppoz about two hours before game time. I had some pop and chatted with everyone up there. We headed down to the City Playfields about thirty minutes before game time.

We scored the first two innings holding them from scoring. But then they scored five to go up by two runs. They tacked one more here and there. We tacked a couple runs on. But we ended up losing by one run again. In games with the other two A-League teams we lost by one run. We just need a couple timely hits.

Following the game I went to Cougar Country for dinner and home to watch my Sunday night TV shows.

Grand Slam!

June 5th, 2010

This morning Kevin and I headed down to Lewiston for a softball tournament. It was a one pitch tournament where you started out with a three-two count with no foul balls. There was a mat, that if the ball it it or the plate, it is a strike. It was all about swinging at anything close.

In the second game we were doing well. The bases were loaded. I came to the plate and saw a good pitch. I swung and it came off the bat well. Before I knew it the ball was flying over the fence in left-center field. It was a grand slam! That felt good to poke one out.

One thing about being the catcher while playing softball is that I get a chance to sometimes chat with people from the other team and if there is a ten-six-seven I am able to get a closer look. Plus I really get a chance to see how people set up in the box and how they hit. It is interesting all the different styles people employ while hitting.

Cleaning Up

May 25th, 2010

I spent this morning working getting some job applications sent out. I am working to find a job. I had high hopes for a while, but now I am not so sure something is going to happen.

I spent this afternoon washing my rig. I also got some stuff inside the rig cleaned up and looking good. I then worked on my driveway to clean it up. It was something I needed to do for a while. But now that it is done it looks good. I worked on my lawn, but I still need more work on that.

I completed my work in time to get my uniform on for softball for tonight. I picked up Steve and headed to Moscow. I went to Tri-State to drop off the jersey’s to get numbers put on them. Then it was off to the field for the game. We were playing against Agripro. It wasn’t even close. We went out in the first inning and batted around. I played first base. I didn’t hit the ball too well. I was hoping to kick butt with the batting average this year, but so far, not so good. I was trying to hit a homerun two times when I came to the plate. That didn’t help.

After the game Bruce and I talked about the idea of a tournament and maybe doing a late season softball league. Bruce wants to try to do something like that in Pullman.

I went to Pullman and got ready to work the fire department. But it was nice and not-busy. That was good.

Just Like Back in the Day

May 23rd, 2010

Just like when I use to work full-time in the jail, I did another twenty-four plus hour day. I got home from the jail and went to Moscow for my softball game. We ended up losing the game. It really wasn’t close. I played first. I didn’t hit worth beans.

I hung out at the field for a bit talking to Billy, Ron, Bruce, and Heather. I got home and stayed up until noon when I was done being on call for the coroner. I then went to bed. I had been up for about twenty-eight hours. I was going to get about four hours of sleep before I would have to get up and head back to the softball field. Tonight I was playing a co-ed game against Ernie’s team. They are the number one team right now.

We played them tight. It came down to their final at-bat in the seventh. We had a three-run shot in the top of the seventh to put us up by one. Only to lose it with a two-run basehit.

I went home and got into my jail uniform. I went to the fire station where rig checks were going on. They were just completing them. I talked to the new guy about him starting to respond on calls. I went to Colfax and went to take a nap in the basement of the jail. I got up just before eleven and replaced the guys in the jail.

I was working with Brett again. It was pretty quiet for us. I did the first set of rounds and the last set. I also brought in Transformers Two. We got to watch that as the night went on. I headed out around six in the morning.

Oops, No Sleep for Scotty

May 22nd, 2010

This morning was cold and windy. I had a softball game first thing in the morning in Moscow. I am playing in a softball tournament. We were doing well on the first game and at one point had a lead of nearly twelve runs. But as time went on we allowed a lot runs for the other team. We were not scoring like we should have been. We soon gave up the lead and couldn’t win. We had a one game break and then played again. We won that game. Then we had another break of two games. We played again in Moscow. It was not to be. The rain started to fall. We were all getting wet and it was already cold. We lost the game by getting twelve runned by the Coor’s Light team.

When the game was done I told Matt I would work the road with him. I want to help the guys who need hours to get out there. I got my uniform on and Matt came over to pick me up. It was a long time since I put that thing on. We got to the SO and got the car ready. It turned out my map book and log book were in the car still. It has been nearly a month since I last worked. That car only got two hundred miles on it in the last month.

Just after I got to the SO, Cooper came into the Chaplain’s office where I was getting equipment. He closed the door and asked me what was going on. I wasn’t sure how much I wanted to tell him. He told me that if I have a problem that I can and should come in and talk to the guys. They are there for me. He said that a lot of the guys had been asking about me. They wondered why I hadn’t been working. They also saw I wasn’t quite my normal self. It is clear that he was good about keeping my wish of not telling people about my situation. He said Rick wanted to know what was going on and Cooper kept it quiet. I was very happy about that. Talking with Cooper was very helpful for me.

Matt and I went to dinner with everyone and then went to Albion to work there for an hour. We headed towards Pullman when my phone rang. It was the jail and they wanted to know where I was. It turned out my graveyard shift that I thought I was doing tomorrow night was supposed to be tonight. That royally sucked. I hadn’t slept since the morning. I wasn’t going to get any sleep at all and I knew that would mean I would be up for a long time. Also, because of all the softball on Sunday I figured I wouldn’t get a lot of sleep and I would be hurting.

I went home and put on my jail uniform and headed in. I was working with Brett. I was doing well for the first several hours. But as four o’clock in the morning was rolling around I was starting to get really tired. I had to be there until six in the morning. It sucked.

Early Sunday Rig Checks.

May 16th, 2010

We are doing an early rig check today. I got to the station around three o’clock and started to do rig checks on the engine. I got it almost completed when the other guys showed up. We were going to meet at four, but I wanted to make sure I was done in time to get to softball. When rig checks were done I went home and got my softball uniform on.

I headed down to the field and we had ten people on the nose. I played first base the whole time. We won pretty easily. I didn’t hit the ball great, but it was fun to get out on the field. We are undefeated so far this year. We had a good team for sure!

I then hit the road and headed back to Seattle. I had several interviews over the next couple days and the first one is at nine in the morning in Redmond at the Microsoft campus.

Summer Men’s Softball Season Starts

May 11th, 2010

I had a couple phone interviews today. One of them didn’t go well, but the other one was going better. I am actively searching for work in the Seattle area now. I need a job and I want to get into computer programming again. I know I can get on some softball teams. So, I may be Seattle bound in the next couple months.

I went to the fire station to find out where HazMat training was going to be held tonight. I also had a chance to talk to the guys on B-Shift. They said they were disappointed I didn’t get the job. They were hoping for me to get it.

Around six I headed to station one for HazMat training. But it was moved to the Deuce. I went to the Deuce and we went over some new testing kits we got for some biological agents.

Then I went to the softball field for our first men’s game of the season. We have had three rain outs. But tonight we were going to play.

I had a bad time pitching. I threw thirteen pitches. Only one was a strike. Then I went to first base. We went on to win the game. I had a hard hit ball down the firstbase line. I took a step or two and stuck my mitt out. I snowconed the ball. I could see it starting to move out of the mitt. As it started to fall free I barehanded it with my free hand for the out. I got a lot of people cheering me on for that. Even some people on the other field saw it and made good comments.

Hitting was a problem. I had two good hard hits. I finally hit a double like I did a few years ago. A solid hit to right-center field in the gap. It felt good. I hope to do that a lot this season.

Dealing with Crushing News

May 9th, 2010

Hard to think of anything about today other than the letter I received. I started out today up the tower working on doing EVAP check offs for the new guys.

I headed home and stopped to get my mail. There was a letter from the city of Pullman. Right away I knew what it was. I wasn’t selected to be a career guy. It felt like a kick in the gut. I didn’t feel like doing a lot, but I have to keep on.

I went to softball, but I went early. So many things are flying through my head I just need something to take me away from the overwhelming sense of rejection and failure. I wasn’t sure how to deal with this. But I do know is that quitting is not the correct option.

We played against Bill’s Welding in softball. We beat them. I did my normal stuff at softball. When we left I let Heston know I got the letter. I wanted him to know that I knew I didn’t get the job and that I was still the guy I normally am.

I did however find someone to cover me at the fire department. I needed to be away from it for a while. I talked to Turpin at the fire station for a little while and then on to the house. I had a couple beers and talked with BKoe for a while about it. We had some friends come over and played Settlers of Catan. It felt good to get my mind off of everything. What I need to distance from the whole things. Dwelling on it and yelling about it will not change it. I have to come to terms with it and then move on. As hard as it is, I need to do this.

I talked to Ryan on the phone about it for a while. He is the first friend I told I didn’t get the job. I let a couple others know after him. I also called my mom and wished her a happy Mother’s Day. I let her know I didn’t get the job.

That is what I am doing. I am not a big drinker and I am not one who needs to use alcohol when things go bad. For the most part I hardly touch the stuff. But tonight was a night I just wanted to sit in the backyard. Listen to some music. Sip on a cold one and just let me mind go.

I did that for the most part, but BKoe was there and I was able to get some things off my chest. That is what I need more than anything. It is good to get things off my chest.

Lots of Softball Today

May 2nd, 2010

I met up with Matt and headed down to Lewiston to play in the softball tournament. We lost both games yesterday. We played with nine guys all day yesterday. The first game was the exact same. We only have nine guys. I ended up getting the nod to pitch. I have to say I did fine. No walks. It felt good to do that with Billy watching so he can see I have the ability and maybe I will do something other than just pitch. It was a close battle with the game going either way multiple times. But we ended up winning.

The way today was going to go is that we would continue to play until we lost, then we would be done. The second game we played against a team from Oregon. We actually played them really tight. They had a couple guys who liked to go up the middle a lot. I don’t like that so much.

In the fifth inning we switch to a five man infield. I went to first base. The final play with us on defense was a double play. With the ball being thrown into the dirt. I made a good dig. Once again I was happy to do that in front of Billy. I just don’t want to be stuck as a catcher all season.

We were down by two runs. Then we gave up a couple more and were down by six. We needed to score a lot of runs, but we were not able to scratch any out and lost the game. It sucked to lose that one because we very well could have won it.

I went home and worked on the alternator for the motorhome. I have to put a new one it. I worked for a while to get it unbolted and the electrical wires unplugged. They were all gunked up making it take a lot longer. But once I got it unplugged I could not get it out of the engine compartment because of how tight things are.

I decided to go get a new bolt to replace one of the one I took out. It is partly striped out and I don’t want to put it back into the new one. I drove around yesterday looking for a replacement, but I couldn’t find one. I am going to have to search more tomorrow.

The evening I got a text from Ross about working the road. I said I would. So I ended up setting up the DVR to record the Simpson’s and the Family Guy.

Before working the road I went to play some co-ed softball. We are supposed to play B-league this season, but our team was doing well. We won nineteen to one. It was a blow out. After seeing the score I am afraid Kurt may put us in A-league. We have got some new women on the team and they are pretty good.

When the game was done I went home and got into my county uniform and headed in to work. Ross and I hit the road. We went to do some time in Albion. I was letting Ross do everything and I just sat there because he is working to get to first class. We made several stops during the evening. We called it a night around one in the morning.

I stayed at the SO for a little bit longer and worked on a template for Rick. I was able to get it completed and tested it a little bit. It worked nicely.

The Thunder Win!

May 1st, 2010

I was playing in a softball tournament in Lewiston this weekend. Our first game we played against a team we should have beat. They were not that great, but we couldn’t hit. I was hitless in the game. That really sucked. The team we played against had this guy who played catcher. He had brown eyes, but he was well built. Just a bit shorter than me. He had short hair. I was playing catcher too so I was able to check him out as he came to the plate each time.

I was dragging because of how late I was up. Several of us went to Sharps for lunch while waiting for our next game. We were waiting at the field. But a storm was moving in. It hit hard about twenty minutes before the game was to start. The rain caused a b ig delay in the game. I had to leave to do the Palouse Thunder football game. So I took off and headed to Lapwai.

I got to the field and got my stuff set up in the booth. The music was playing and I worked on getting the roster from the Columbia Basin Riverhawks squared away. The interested thing about football is that there are people of all shapes that play. There is always eye candy at such games. The Thunder went on to win. It was close for the first half, but the second half they pulled away. But the Riverhawks only had fifteen people on the team so they were playing both ways and they were getting tired.

Early Playoff’s Exit

April 19th, 2010

I went to the SO to do paperwork. I went in uniform in case I needed to hit the road. I never did. I completed my warrant and got it turned in. It was the first warrant I wrote up myself. I got it and served it.

I also had other paperwork I had to do as well. I spent hours doing paperwork, plus I had to do some time in court.

I went home to get ready for softball. It was the playoffs and I was planning on going a long way in the playoffs. We were playing against Connor’s team. But that didn’t turn out too well. We threw the ball around a lot and let runs score. We couldn’t hit the ball to save our lives and we ended up losing the game. I was very disappointed. I was expecting so much more. But it just wasn’t to be.

I got Victor to cover the remainder of my shift and I went to Matt’s. We played Scene It and hung out. BKoe came with me. Eric was there as well as Erin. It was a fun time. We left around two in the morning.

Spokane Softball Day Two

April 18th, 2010

I met up with Steven and Matt. We carpooled to Spokane. We had a single game today for the softball tournament. It was a consolation game because we lost the first two games.

I thought we might have a chance against this team because we played pretty well yesterday, but we couldn’t get the bats going too well. We had a couple innings where we scored a few runs, but they teed off on us.

While we were playing a guy who plays on Biesen’s men’s team. He came over shirtless. It was a pleasant sight. It was almost distracting… for me. He was pretty well defined and was worth looking at for a while. But he left and that sucked, because there went my eye candy.

After the game Ryan, Steven, Steve, Matt, and Faber all went to the Spokane Valley Mall for some lunch. We hung out in the food court eating and talking about major league baseball.

The tournament over all treated me well. I never ended up meeting with Todd, but there was good eye candy on both days to give me something worth looking at.

Softball Tournament in Spokane

April 17th, 2010

I met up with Matt, Steven, Faber, and Steve to head up to Spokane for the Spring Fling Softball tournament. I picked up Christopher in Colfax and we made it to Spokane in about an hour and a half. Other started to show up little by little. I had thirteen guys in all. Some of them were former Nadirs as well as current Nadirs. It was our first tournament as a Nadirs team.

We knew something was up when the other team showed up in matching pants, shirts, and hats. It wasn’t long before we found out we were in the wrong division. We were playing in the B league which would have been fine in Pullman. But in Spokane we should have been playing D or maybe C. But really should have been D. In the first game we only scored two runs. We got ten-runned, but aside from the first inning where we let up six runs. We only let up two or three after that. We just couldn’t score.

Christopher got hurt running to first base and hitting the bag wrong. So we lost him halfway through the first game and for the rest of the day. We hung out between games at the field. We ran into GPa and we were talking about our placement. He said “Whoa” when we let him know what league we were in. His team was playing in the C division. So we were way out of our league.

We got to the second game and played another team we found out plays A league in Spokane. We played them tight. We finally hit the ball well. We lost by five, nineteen to twenty-four. That was a fun game. It was a great confidence booster for us.

After the game we went to Red Robin for dinner. We were waiting for our turn and a guy who worked there, Connor, was ten-six-seven. We had to wait for a while, but I didn’t mind. Ryan and I were texting back and forth about him. He said I should invite him to sit with us when he went on break. If I thought he was family I would have loved to. It was a nice way to wait around.

After dinner we headed back to Pullman. I got home and went to bed after ten o’clock PM. I was going to get up early for our consolation game on Sunday.

Last Night of Regular Season

April 11th, 2010

After working all night last night and yesterday I left myself sleep in. I got up around eleven and got going on the day. I realized I need to get the rosters turned in to the city for softball, so I worked for a couple hours to get signatures from various people.

I went to the SO and did some patrolling. First I got my report completed from my arrest on Friday. I also had to get my tickets written up. Paperwork is the hangover of police work.

I went to my place and got ready for softball. Tonight is the final night of the regular season. We played one team and tied them. That sucked. It was only five innings because the time limit hit. before the game started I heard one guy on their bench say “oh it is that team”. They recognized us. I couldn’t hit a ball to save my life in the first game. The second game we won easily. I had a stand-up triple.

When we were done I went back on duty. It was slow. I did Tekoa time and drove on some county roads. I ended up making one stop on the evening.

Playing Ball with Ben

March 7th, 2010

I had a chance to play softball with Ben this afternoon. It was great to get out and play ball with him. It has been several years since we were able to hit the softball field together.

Our practice/scrimmage lasted almost two hours. This is the third week that we have scrimmaged a team that Steven knows. We pretty much destroy them from week to week. This week after the second inning we started to give them six outs per inning to give them a chance to do more batting practice. I hit the ball pretty well. Also I got a chance to see our new pitcher, Brandon, in action. He is a friend of Ben’s.

Softball Practice

February 20th, 2010

I got up and headed to Seattle for softball practice with the softball team I went to San Diego with last October. We practiced for about two and a half hours. I didn’t hit the ball very well, but I only had about fifteen hacks. I am rusty in the field right now too.

When practice was over I headed home. I got some food along the way as well as fueling up the rig. I spent the rest of the day the house watching some TV and taking a nap. I was tired from the lack of sleep and took the opportunity to have an afternoon nap.

Mom and Bill came home around two in the morning. I was getting tired and went to bed shortly after that.

Summer Softball Meeting

February 14th, 2010

I had a meeting with some of the guys for this upcoming seasons’ summer softball team. We met at Zeppoz at noon for that. We talked about the players we would have and that we want to play in a lot of tournaments.

After the meeting Christopher and I stayed up there and bowled two games. It was fun to hang out with him. He plays on my IM team and will be on the team is summer as well. I am excited to get out there and play some ball. The bowling went well for Christopher. I did my normal thing. I had some good frames and a lot of missed opportunities.

After bowling I went home and got my uniform on for working the road. I went to the SO and wrote a supplemental report for the search warrant. I hung out in the office for a couple hours helping out there. Then I went to the hospital for an Inmate who was taken there. I was at the hospital for just under two hours.

I went to Subway and got dinner and then I hit the road. I really only had just over two hours to go play. I hit the county roads near Pullman and worked SR two-seventy. I made a couple stops. I wrote one ticket on the night. As always it was pretty quiet when I was out there.

Ought-Nine in Review

January 1st, 2010

JanMr. President – I wanted to be the class president. There were two possible candidates that most likely would have been voted for. Myself and one other guy who works in the jail right now. He also would have been a very fine pic. But it is something I want to do. The vote was held by Ross putting out the ballots. When the counting was done it was nearly unanimous. I am now the Ought-Eight Reserve class President.

FebFinal Mock Scenes – Today was going to be a long day. I was expecting to be done around three or four in the afternoon, but today was the day I was going to prove I could do the job, or I would prove I need more work, or that I am just not cut out for being a cop. I have spent sixteen hours a week for nearly the last five months

MarFirst Day on Patrol – Following the swearing, Jimmy was doing a couple things at the SO before we left to hit the road. We went north on One-Ninety-Five looking for speeders. We pulled over one car, my first as a reserve deputy. I was the cover officer. I went to the car and the passenger was talking with me. The person was given a warning.

AprMy Latest Oil Change – I have lifetime powertrain and bumper-to-bumper warranties. It has a DVD player built into the radio. I have a rearview camera and backup sensors. It has the Hemi with MDS so it shuts down some of the cylinders when they are not needed to help save fuel. It seems to have some get-up and go. It feel great to drive it. Plus it has the newer traction control system so I feel better about driving it on the bad roadways.

MayFirst Code Run – we got to the first address we needed to go to Endicott for a call to back up the others there. We were going code and just passed some cars on SR One-Ninety-Five. After we got past the Albion road a burglary in progress was put out in Albion. So I had to turn around and go back to Albion. So I went code past the cars I had just passed.

JunContract with MH Terminated – Since April of Ought-Four I have been working as a software engineer for NetUpdate and then I was moved to MostHome when they bought out NU. I worked with them until I got notice today that my contract was going be terminated. The application that I worked on since I started with NU was a mortgage application. That was then sold to a competitor a couple months ago. I told MH that I wanted to remain on with them. But as it turned out the project I was put on just got sold off. So they are cutting their ties with me.

JulSecond Class Reserve – I was told I was moved up to second class. They shook my hand and said they had great expectations for me. They all believe that I will do a fine job. That was great. Now, I just need to start to set up times to ride so I can work my way to first class.

AugFinal Shift as a PFD Temp – We got on scene in the ambulance and were made into the backup team. We went to the attic where the seat of the fire was. Eric, who was on his first day back, was on the nozzle and put the fire out. It was still pretty small, but growing. It was lucky that we got there when we did and that the fire was not in the wee hours of the morning when it could have really taken off. I ended up putting in an hour and a half of overtime. So my full-time tally was one year, one month, four days and one and a half hours. It has been a good run.

SeptBushwood Golfs Again – I was hot on my short game. The problem is that we would use after we all hit a drive we would pick one. From that point each person hit his own ball to the hole. I didn’t do too poorly. I was able to keep up in score. In fact my putting made me lead some of the holes. I had some very nice putts including two there were around thirty footers for birdies. It felt great.

OctIM Championship Bound – I hit the ball well, as did the team. Our defense was very good. We went on to win and go to the Semi-finals. We were playing a team that had been using an illegal bat. Once they were called on it, in the previous game, they couldn’t hardly score. It turned out we shut them out. We scored nine runs. We didn’t hit the ball as well as I would have hoped, but we won. Ryan said it best, this is the most worried I have felt in a shut out. We never had a big enough lead that put me at ease. Not until we scored the ninth run and the other team no longer had a chance to win because of the eight-run limit.

NovGay Firefighter – Then I was asked a question about how I feel I am treated being a gay in the fire department. I said since I have been outed to everyone I don’t feel that I have ever been treated poorly due to being gay. Chris let me know that he has known for years. He said that pretty much everyone on the fire department on the career side knows. He said there are probably only a couple people who don’t really know. He said that they probably have been told, but think that people are screwing with them. It is without a doubt that the information is told to everyone. I am not sure who actually tells the others but the information is freely available. But once again no one treats me differently.

DecSearch for Missing Hunter – I was teamed up with three young men. It turned out it was the son of the missing man and his friends. They wanted to put a member of the SO with each team going out searching. We were sent down the road a ways to start our search. The son was leading the way as he knew the area well. We made our way along some level ground. There was about four inches of new snow. It was covering rocks on the ground so we had to be careful where we stepped.

This years review shows many things that were related to being a reserve Deputy. I guess that is the major thing that has happened to me over this last year. I am now a sworn reserve law enforcement officer. Many of the writings I had through out the year dealt with the class or going out to patrol. I also had an unusual suicide where I was able to trace the night leading up to the death of a young man. It was very unusual and probably affected me more than any other death I investigated. It didn’t make the list this year because the fact that I am a gay man who is a firefighter is something I am always thinking about. When it was finally brought up with some people I have never talked to about it before it was a big conversation to me. It was nice to hear his perspective. Ought-Nine was a good year overall. I had some frustrations at the fire department, but they were overall small in the grand scheme of life. I am jobless, but I do have a new contract where I will finally start to bring in some money again. It has been a year that I am happy with.

Softball in the Winter

December 26th, 2009

I thought my softball stuff was put away for the winter, but there was a softball pick-up game in Seattle that I was able to play in. It was put on by a guy who plays softball in the ECSA. Several others who played also are in the ECSA. Two of the guys really caught my eye. One was an athletic guy. He play shortstop for my team. He had the couple-day facial hair growth going for himself. I would have placed him in the cute category. The other guy was a little more of my kind of guy. He was blonde hair and blue eyes. He had a nice smile and also was athletic. He wasn’t over weight, but he had some bulk about him. He wore a baseball hat with a well rounded bill. He was ten-six-seven.

We played about an hour and a half of softball total. I was hitting the ball well. I had a fielding error. I let a ball go under my glove. But I had a great time.

I headed up to Bellingham to see Joe and Doug. I was also doing a ride along with Joe. I got to their place and we chatted about their house and about their cats. Then Joe and I hit the road. It was a pretty quiet night over all. I got a chance to see him do a DRE evaluation for someone suspected of being on drugs. I headed home at three in the morning.

Coming in Second Place, Twice

October 11th, 2009

Because of our play yesterday we are still in the winners bracket going into play today. I went to get some food this morning, but I think I had more than I should have. My stomach was hurting. My ankle was hurting pretty bad too. Even with walking around it wasn’t getting a lot better. I walked to the gas station to get some water and pop, then back to the hotel room.

We got to our game location. We won the first game meaning we only had to win two more games for the whole thing. But we ran into the semi-finals. The team was from Chicago. I was put on the bench for the game because of my ankle. I was brought it in late in the game for a pinch hit and I got a solid single, but we were not able to keep the lead. We had a one run lead going into the final game and lost it quickly.

So then we were in the losers bracket. If we won our next losers game we would face the team that just put us in the losers bracket.

I was put back in as a regular player. My ankle was feeling well. I was hitting the ball very well. We batted around in each of the first two innings. We continued to hit the ball okay and kept the lead from wire to wire.

We went to the championship game against the team from Chicago. We could not hit the ball well against them. They hit it well against us. They would get the lucky bounces on both offense and defense. We just could not keep pace and they went on to beat us. We got second place in the tournament and we got tee-shirts.

When we got home I walked to the restaurant in the hotel for dinner. The others went out on the town, but with surgery tomorrow and the need to get up early, I chose to go to bed early.

I watched The Simpsons and Family Guy while waiting to hear from Ryan about the IM’s championship game. We were playing Kelly’s team for the competitive league champion. It sounds like we were missing our star outfielder and we put an infielder into the outfield. I am not sure how I would have done it differently, but we ended up losing the game, but we scored around twenty runs over five innings.

So today both of my teams ended up in Second Place.

I turned off the TV and drifted off to sleep.

Final Ought-Nine Softball Tournament

October 10th, 2009

I came down to San Diego to play in a softball tournament. I am playing with a group of guys I don’t know. I was looking forward to just going out there and doing my thing. I am going to let me play do the talking. I started out hitting number eight. But my hitting was doing very well. I was hitting six of seven with a ROE in the first two games. Before I knew it I was batting second. I knew my hitting would speak for itself.

We started one and one in the round robin play. We were seeded in the lower-C bracket. We went out and played well. The first game we won pretty convincingly. The second bracket game of the night, our fourth overall game was a lot different.

We battled back and forth. It was close. I was hitting the ball well through the game. Before I knew it we went into extra innings. I was playing first base. In one extra inning they had no outs with two guys on and the score was tied. Our right fielder made an incredible shoe-string catch. The runners had been going and we had a chance to double them up. The throw to me was bad and it bounced on the ground past me. But the catcher got it and went to second base for a double-play. We got one more out and went into another extra inning. We had a total of three extra innings. In the final one we scored and we held them from scoring. I had the final ball hit towards me. I charged the high bouncing ball. I caught it off my chest and ran it to first for the final out and the victory.

We went to Red Robin for dinner. We were out there for a while. It was a great celebration. Our victory was big.

In the IM Championships!!!

October 8th, 2009

Victor and I were going to respond to calls today. There really wasn’t a lot going on. I was getting some things taken care of on the computer and around the house. I had to get my shirts folded and put away. I also had to take the motorhome to the storage place and bring the Bumblebee back. Before that got going we got a call for EMS. Victor and I went to the station but we were cancelled. So I went home and got the motorhome. I drove it to get the Bumblebee. Then I got some lunch and deposited a couple checks. I went to the worksource office but they were closed for the lunch hour.

I saw a sign while I was there. It said that you were not to leave your kids unattended in the car. I thought that it was strange such a sign was needed there, but then again… Anyway, I went to the fire station for training at one.

It was on the air cart. We pulled it out and took a look at it and the air lines that went with it. It was a short training, but it was good to go over it again.

I went home and started to think about playoffs. We had two games tonight. I also had a telephone job interview. That started at four. I got the phone call and spent about thirty minutes answering some questions. If I am good enough I will come in for another interview.

I went to the field and met up with the others from the team. People started to show up and I was getting the line up set. We had fourteen guys there. One was hurt so I didn’t worry about playing him. But we needed to win so I only batted eleven. I hit the ball well, as did the team. Our defense was very good. We went on to win and go to the Semi-finals. We were playing a team that had been using an illegal bat. Once they were called on it, in the previous game, they couldn’t hardly score. It turned out we shut them out. We scored nine runs. We didn’t hit the ball as well as I would have hoped, but we won. Ryan said it best, this is the most worried I have felt in a shut out. We never had a big enough lead that put me at ease. Not until we scored the ninth run and the other team no longer had a chance to win because of the eight-run limit. They were done. We had a couple guys on with no outs. So we were poised to score some more.

Ryan and I went to Rancho Viejo for dinner. We ate and talked softball. We set the line up for the championship game on Sunday. We also talked about finances. Ryan told me he advised his bosses that we was planning on resigning in November.

With us playing in the championship game on Sunday, I will miss it. I am going to be in San Diego playing softball in a tournament down there. We are also playing Kelly’s team. It was a game we have been wanting to have for a long time. Our team, defensively, is as good as his team, but hitting, we need to bring our sticks. We have a lot of pretty-good hitters. We need them to do their really good hitting on Sunday.

I got home and started to pack for my trip to San Diego. I was going to have to be out the door around eight in the morning. I wanted to wash my uniform so it was clean for the start of the tournament. I didn’t get to bed until nearly midnight.

Another IM Softball Playoff Game

October 6th, 2009

I got up and went in to the fire station to teach CPR to a group from Avalon. It was a great class. We had a lot of fun. It seemed like I was hitting on all cylinders. It was a lot of fun.

After the class I went to Moscow to get my vent for the motorhome. I went to the roof and worked on resealing the vent and then put the cover on it. I did that until it was close to the time to get ready for the softball game.

This evening we were playing in a softball game without Ryan. We had twelve guys there. I hit everyone. We were playing against a team that could hit. We had some of our better players there tonight. We had a four to three run lead then we let up eight runs. It was sort of deflating. Then we scored a goose egg. The next inning we held them scoreless and then scored eight of our own, including about four after two outs had been recorded.

We went into the sixth inning needing to score two runs to win. We were down by one run. We quickly got guys on base and scored one. Then Peter hit one down the line scoring the game winning run from third base. We are going to the quarter finals.

I got home and watched a new episode of NCIS with Brandon. I stayed up sort of late just lounging.

First Round IM Win

October 5th, 2009

Victor and I responded on calls for a while this morning and into the afternoon. We had a couple runs.

I was excited for the softball playoffs. Tonight was the first game. I went to the Rec Center to get Bruce’s eligibility form turned in and then to the field. Ryan met me there. I was pitching. We were playing very well. Our hitting was good. We scored fifteen runs, only having one inning without a single run scored.

With the first round win out of the way, Ryan came over and hung out for a while. We watched Saw IV. He left and then I realized that I was going to have to get up early to teach a CPR class.

IM Softball Week Three

September 27th, 2009

This is week three of softball for IM’s. We are playing our final two regular season games. We are two and two. We are coming off a horrible week of games. The first game was a FFT. So we spent time doing some BP until it was time for our second game.

That game went a lot better than last week. We scored eight runs in the first inning and never looked back. We had three innings of hitting and we scored sixteen runs total. This puts us at four and two. The worry is that with how we played against the teams in week two we might not be able to compete in the competitive playoff bracket. I was hoping to have a team good enough to be there. But really we appeared to be an okay team. Only time will tell where we end up.

Two Losses in IM’s tonight

September 20th, 2009

The day started with working on my report for the coroner’s office. While there I saw Ron updated his station on facebook to say he had some chili on the stove and invited people over to watch football. I went over to his place and had some chili and watched football until just after one. Then I went to the SO to work on my case reports for my arrests this weekend as well as the tickets.

I got the reports done first and started to get the tickets written up. When Cooper got there he reviewed one of my reports and he had some suggestions and things that I left out that needed to be added in. But because it was close to game time I went home and got my softball uniform on.

Ryan came down from Spokane to play softball. We had about thirteen people show up, but we were missing a key outfielder. So I have to put our right-fielder into left field. We played a team that was hitting the ball well and was killing the outfield. At first they played deep and the balls dropped in. Later we were playing in and they started to hit some bombs. We were not hitting the ball well and quickly got way behind.

Bruce let me know they were using a USSSA bat which was illegal in ASA play. We brought it up, but it was very late in the game and the damage was done. They were mad at us and started to chip at us.

When the game was done they had one. We shook hands, but three guys from their team wouldn’t come out and shake our hands. They were still mad at us from last season when we knocked them out of the playoffs.

The second game the team was using an illegal bat. We brought it up, but the IM office was using an old list of illegal bats. They said the bat was okay to use. We let them know they were using an old list, but there wasn’t anything we could do about it.

We lost that game too. When the day was done I was disappointed that we lost both games. I also felt like we were being a bunch of whiners about the bats too. I thought the bat shouldn’t matter because we should have been hitting better than we had been anyway.

After the game Ryan and I went to Cougar Country to get some dinner and ate it at my place. We watched some TV and hung out talking about Ryan’s future job prospects.

At about midnight I went to the SO to complete my reports. After the re-write Cooper looked over it and said it was better. I got both completed and turned in. It was a little after two in the morning when I got home.