Men’s Double Header

Tonight was the first of two men’s summer games. We had a double header. In the first game we were not very sharp. We had throwing errors. Including one where I threw the ball into the outfield from the catcher position when I tried to go to second base. We were playing the other My Office team. We had to beat them for bragging rights. We did beat them, but by the skin of our teeth.

The second game was a lot better. We played defense better and hit the ball a lot better. We ended up beating the other team pretty easily.

Summer League Men’s Softball

Tonight we had a double-header to start off the Ought-Nine Summer Men’s Softball season. We were playing My Office #Two tonight. They are sponsored by the same bar that our team is. This was our first meeting with them. We also have been in a higher league than them. So we didn’t want to lose to them. We wanted the bragging rights. We ended up beating them by four runs. It was a little closer than it should have been.

The second game wasn’t even close. We all were hitting the ball very well and took a nice lead and beat them pretty soundly. It is part of last season’s Tubbs team. They are now called Sellas/Coug.

Following the games I went back to the FD to complete my shift. I had taken some time off without pay in order to play softball.

During the day we were doing hydrants. While we were going to one of the last hydrants I saw a guy standing in the road next to a cat that was laying on the road. I thought that cat had been hit, then I was a coyote. I knew what had happened.

We went to assist the cat. It appeared that it was hurt pretty bad. It was bleeding and appeared to have difficulty breathing. We got it to the WSU vet school and they worked on the cat.

I learned later on the cat’s owner had been notified. The wounds were cleaned and the cat went home. It wasn’t as badly hurt as we thought. That was great news.

IM Playoffs

This IM season hasn’t been one of our best in the last decade or so. In fact three years ago we would not have been in the playoffs, except Intramural’s changed how they do the playoffs. Now every team gets a chance to play and it is based on the record if you go to a recreational bracket or the competitive bracket. Before the change only about sixteen teams signed up to play comp and everyone else did rec. But that wasn’t very good, because a lot of competitive teams would sandbag.

Now everyone is all in the same league. Then based on the record they break the playoffs down. We were only one and five on the season, so we are in the rec bracket.

Tonight our big hitter was not there so we were going to have to do it ourselves. The first game the other team did not even show up, so we got a first round FFT. That gave us a second game. In the second game we were going to be down a player so I called up Heston. He came to play with us. We had ten guys and we hit the ball well enough to score eighteen runs. It was our biggest output of runs on the season and we won the game.

We will play again on Sunday.

Opening of the Ought-Nine Softball Season

This afternoon I spent some time on a telephone conference meeting. We were discussing some of the new code that I will be in charge of and what I am going to need in order to get my computer set up for the dev environment.

Tonight was the opening of softball season. Ryan was coming down from Spokane. I started to make sure my equipment was all together and ready to go. I got my cleats traded out with some new plastic ones. The old ones had rubbed way down. I made sure my uniform was all together and then I started to change into my uniform.

I got the score sheets, the schedule, and drove to the field. I walked down to the field we were first going to play on. I had three new players who were going to meet up with me there.

Our first wasn’t the greatest. We scored two runs per inning as they were. Then one inning we only scored one. But in the final inning we took a nice one run lead. But we were not able to hold on to it and lost in the bottom half of the inning. That did suck as they had their bottom three batters coming to the plate. The first two got out quickly. Plus they only had nine fielders.

The second game was worse. The team was good and crushing the ball and our outfield struggled to make all the outs that we were able to make. We had one guy with no cleats. He did some good slipping and sliding.

We ended up losing both games. Ryan and I went to my place and talked about life in general. We were going to go see the Fast and Furious around ten o’clock.

We headed to the theatre around nine-thirty. We got to our seats and the movie previews started within a minute of us walking in. The movie was good. It was great to see Paul Walker on the screen. He is looking great still.

Long Tiring Day

I was pretty tired a lot of the day today at the fire department. Having stayed up pretty late last night was keeping up with me. I was trying to keep myself active. That wasn’t too hard. We one had one call during the day. It was for a fire alarm. We cleared that just as it was turning into lunch time.

I spent most of the day getting work done on the computer. I wanted to make a web application where I could enter data that I have to type up for tickets. That would be saved into a database. This could be done while in the car or at the station. Then it will take that data and print off all the reports without having to type them up later on. It would take the few pieces of data I wrote up and it would merge it into a Word template. The nice thing is that I would have to save separate Word docs. It would all be in the database so if I did need a copy of it, I could have it reprint it.

It took some time to write it up and find the necessary resources on the web, but I was able to find it. I don’t have it polished, but I have proof that it will work like I hope. So now I just have to do the work to make it nice and save the data to the database, etc.

I had to stay up until midnight to sign my softball team up for this coming IM season. For the first time in, probably a decade, my team will be playing on a night other than a Sunday night. We are going to do Thursday night so I can make all the games.

I am Back with My Office

I decided it was time to wash my Durango. It was pretty cold outside, causing some ice to form on the driveway, but it needed to be done. It was sort of a quick wash job because I was going to going to lunch with KStew.

BKoe came along with me to Quiznos. We met up with Kelly. Weese also showed up. We had some lunch and started to talk softball. It looks like I will be back to the My Office team this year. I don’t want to leave this season. With the uncertainty coming up and the fact that I don’t want to leave my guys high and dry I decided to put it back together. Without me Nick was going to pick it up, but some of my guys would be left out. I didn’t want that to happen.

I am going to chat with Greg about this development. I am going to let him know that I am going to make myself available for tournaments so he can see how I will work out with everyone and if he likes me I will move to his team next summer permanently. But I think that will be for the best in the long run. Plus I will make it known to my guys that I will be leaving so they may want to think about finding another team or see about taking over the My Office team.

Pretty Tired

This morning the only task we were assigned was to do some building inspections. But we had some calls happen. It started out with a call towards Palouse. But that was cancelled. So we came back and started to do some inspections. We got a couple knocked out, but before we started the third we got another call. So we ran off to campus where the call was.

Later in the evening I got a call from KStew about softball for this coming summer. He said he wants to get together and remain on a team together. But there was confusion about my status. That was the last piece of the puzzle. Now that KStew is planning on coming back I know what my team will be all about. So now I have a decision to make.

I went to bed sort of early because I was tired. About thirty minutes after I went to bed there was a loud bang. It was the guys playing some more jokes on everyone. I didn’t get up because I didn’t want to give them the satisfaction. I think that depending on the results they get from me the more or less I will get it from them.

It really didn’t bother me so much. I could hear them down the hall giggling and doing the same thing to the others guys as well.

A Review of Ought-Eight

Jan – Body for Life – While I was researching that [number of calories in a Big Mac] I hit upon (I should say hit BACK upon) the Body for Life site. I am going to give their twelve week program a try that combines weight training, cardio, and nutrition into a program that lasts twelve week. That is eighty-four days.

Feb – NU Sold to MH – Today was the day I was going to get fired from NU. But it was one where I was told I would be fired. It was more of a formality than anything. They had to “terminate” everyone to close out the books. Then start the new company. I was hired back on.

Mar – Truck Traded for a Durango – I test drove two of the Durangos. One was a Ought-Seven and one was an Ought-Three. I like the color and seats of the Ought-Three. Plus the cab reminded my of the look and feel of the old Dakota. But the Ought-Seven was nicer over all, had many less miles and some other things I just couldn’t pass up. Plus it wasn’t a ton more than the older Durango.

Apr – Last Radio Show… Ever – This last semester or two the show has suffered from my lack of time preparing for the topics, getting guests, and whatnot. I don’t have the fire in my gut like I did. I just don’t have things to talk about like I did at one time. … I decided it was time to pull the plug on the show.

May – Multiple Softball Tournaments – Brandon came to the camp site and I got to see him for the first time a while. He got his uniform from Kelly and went to put it on. The team went to do some warm up hitting. I didn’t do so hot there. Brandon was crushing the ball as normal for him.

Jun – Snow and Fire in June – I opened the door and saw snow. I thought to myself “Am I more shocked over the fire or the snow?”. Then I looked up and saw heavy brown smoke coming from the south-east area behind my house. On the way to the station the guys leaving Station Two quickly called or a second alarm. I drove by the scene and saw the whole front of the building involved in fire.

Jul – Pullman Fire Temp Full-Time – I went to Heston’s office and said I that I am going to take it. He shook my hand and we scheduled my first day to be Monday of next week. I am going to only have three more shifts as a reserve. I am sad about that. I am going to miss working with those guys. I am now in a little bit of a haze as this is a big event in my life and I have a lot to think about now.

Aug – Playing in Nationals for Softball – We didn’t score enough runs and lost the game ending our hopes at the Western ASA D-league Nationals. It was fun to be here and I have my t-shirt to show for it.

Sep – Passed my Physical Test for Sheriff’s Reserves – I crossed the finish line in thirteen minutes and fifty-eight seconds. That was so huge. I passed the test. It felt great. I finally did it. We had some rest, then we had to run a sprint. That was seventy-one seconds for three-hundred and thirty yards. I knew I could do that without a problem.

Oct – I am a Sheriff’s Reserve – The first day of class I got a chance to meet up with some of the other students. We had the Sheriff tell us about ethics and what he expects from us. It was mainly a day of introductions and laying some of the groundwork of the academy. I am excited for the academy to get over with so I don’t have to worry about getting days off from work and then I can go out on the road and work on becoming First-Class solo patrol.

Nov – Met a Man – When the game was done I met up with Gunnar. We have been e-mailing back and forth the last two days and decided that we wanted to watch the movie Scream. So he called me up. We met at Starbucks. We sat there talking for a while. He is working on a project and he told me a little about what he is doing.

Dec – Treating Myself Well – I don’t usually splurge in the way I did over the last week. I have spent thousands of dollars on a new Tempurpeadic Rhapsody bed, a fifty-eight inch plasma TV, a new TV stand, and a new Sprint Touch Pro cell phone.

Looking back over the year some months I had a hard time picking out one thing because several things could have been listed as big events for me. But if I had to pick out three major things from the year I would say being a Pullman Fire Temp, a Sheriff’s Reserve, and making it to Nationals in Softball were the real big events.

Boringly Normal

This morning I was a little slow moving around, the after effect of the tequila was hitting me a bit. No headaches, but I just felt a little off. I had an appointment with the psychologist for the SO. I was going to get my results back and he was going to speak with me about any questions he had. If I pass this I will be good to go for completing the academy.

While in with the doctor I was being questions about some of the things that I wrote on my background packet. It was a packet that asked tons of questions about my history, my family, my upbringing, sexual history and more. I wrote that I chose not to enter the sexual questions. Something about putting some of that information on paper did not appeal to me. He said that was quite alright I did that. He didn’t asked anything more about that.

He then pulled out my test results. He pointed at one line. He said that all my points should be below it. Then it pointed at a second line and said that anything above it is reason for worry. I was not above any of the lines. He said my results show that I am “Boringly Normal”. He said coming from a psychologist that is a compliment. He congratulated me and said I should do just fine being a cop.

Today is the final game of the Ought-Eight softball season for me. The season started back on March Thirtieth. It snowed and I was having troubles hitting the ball. Tonight I hit a triple in my first at-bat. I had two at bats tonight and two hits. It was good. I walked off the field and tipped my hat to the rest of the team and thanked them for a good time. We ended up winning the game.

After the game most of the people on the co-ed team went to the Garden for some drinks. I opted to not drink, but I did drink water. I told BKoe that I was having Blue Dolphins. Which is a fancy way of saying water.

We were at the Garden for a couple hours talking softball and having a good time hanging out. By this time I was actually feeling good with no more effects of my tequila night.

Knocked Out of the Playoffs

In this evenings softball game we gave the other team a lead, but then we came back and too the lead, only to give up seven runs in the last inning to lose the game. It really sucked.

During the game I was on third base. There was someone on first. A grounder was hit to the middle infield. I started to go down the line. I got near the commitment line thinking that it was going to be a double play, but it wasn’t. The ball was thrown to the catcher. He stepped on the plate, but I was safe. So I waited by the line he ran towards me. As soon as he got to me I stepped over the line. I was called safe right away. The umpire made the correct call. The other team was confused by the play. The umpire explained it to them. Some of the guys on my team knew what I was doing because I explained it to them, but some others didn’t. They thought it was funny when it was all said and done.

As we went to take the field following that inning I heard one of the guys on the other team say “the old man is crafty.” Ryan said I should bean their batter for that comment!

After the game I went to Cougar Country with the rest of the team. We got dinner and voted for team awards. We also had some fun talking about the season and looking forward to the upcoming season.

Ice Cold Softball

This afternoon we had the Palousitics lunch at Pete’s Bar and Grill. Joe let us in to his place and opened it just for us. Normally he is not open for lunches. The food was good and it was nice to have the place to ourselves.

After lunch I got side tracked. I was going to work on winterizing my motorhome but I didn’t get it done during the daylight hours.

I went to the Valley Road Playfields to meet up with Ryan and the rest of the team. We had our first playoff game. We were playing against a team we already played and beat up on. But they had a different look to the team. We started off in a hole with a five run deficit. They had several players who kept hitting up the middle. I moved Jordan to play a fifth infield position when they would come up and it started to take away their hits.

In my final at bat I was looking at a pitch that was a little high. I swung at it and the ball was going right down the right-field line. I was expecting it to curve foul. But as it crossed over first base it was still fair. I thought I should drop my bat and run, but I was frozen there watching it. Soon it was getting near the fence. The ball was still going straight. Soon it went over the fence about two feet fair. It was a homerun. That felt great. We ended up winning the game and moving on in the playoffs.

Bruce and I went to Moscow to start the playoffs for our Co-ed team. There was frost on the grass in the outfield and the thermometer in Bruce’s vehicle said it was freezing. It surely was cold. We were playing against the team that last beat us in the regular season.

We went out hitting the ball well and then went cold, but started to get hits when it mattered and went on to win the game. We are a good team over all. We already have a tee-shirt for winning the league. I hope we earn one for winning the tournament as well.

When I got home I went to my motorhome and worked on draining all the water out it.

League Champs

This morning I did my weigh in, I was down about seven pounds from last week. I had only lost one pound the previous week. I am under two-sixty for the first time in a very long time! I can’t wait until I am under two-fifty. It is very exciting. It is like when I got under three hundred for the first time. This is one of those little mile stones I didn’t really have in mind, but it felt so good when I saw it.

This evening we had softball. We were playing for the league championship. This is a make up game for the rain out from last week. It is lucky for me because I ended up working when the last game was supposed to be played, but because of the rain out it was moved to tonight.

I have been hitting the ball very well in this league, just as I have been hitting very well in the intramural league as well. I guess last IM season I was just rusty. It was the opening part of the season.

We went on to win the game with a come from behind win. It was very exciting and we are the league champs!

Brandon came out to the game with me and then we went to Apple Bees after the game. From there we went home and played some games before I had to get to bed.

Outside the Park Homerun

Today was pretty busy for the most part. I got up and went to station one for the reserve testing. I got to drive the PL to the tower and back. I helped to set up everything. I also was an evaluator. I followed about seven of the people through their testing to keep time and make sure they did everything they were supposed to during the test. We were done after about five hours.

I was invited to My Office by two of the other career guys. We had some lunch and a couple pitchers of beer. We talked about a various number of things. One of the subjects that came up was about me. One guy has known since he was a reserve with me years ago. The other guy was a newer fire medic. I didn’t know he knew. But when I made a cryptic reference to the guy who knew, the other one acknowledged that he did know about me.

I asked how he knew. He said he over heard something about six months ago. He said it didn’t surprise him, but he didn’t care either. He has been a very nice guy to work with and I have always gotten along with him. I asked why he wasn’t surprised. He said it is because I am such a nice guy.

Following the time at the bar I went to my house to get into my softball uniform and went to the Valley Road Playfields for the games. I ended up pitching both games and did just fine while pitching. I had one ball hit back right at me in the second game and it hit my right on my cup. Good thing I had one.

Hitting was good for me. I had an over-the-fence homerun in the first game. It was the difference in the game. It was a two run shot. I took a pitch that was inside and up. I swung away and it just flew. I knew there was a good chance that it would go out when I hit it.

We lost the second game because no one could hit and all of our defensive players made an error. It was sucky.

Ryan and I got some dinner from Cougar Country and went back to my house to watch the Simpsons and Family Guy. After Ryan left I worked on my Town Crier column.

Co-ed Softball Defeat

Tonight was supposed to be our last co-ed softball game, however, with Monday’s cancellation we will have one sometime next week I suppose.

I got over to the field and started to warm up. I was going to play first base today. I am happy to not be a EH only. But I am just happy to be playing softball and enjoy my time out there.

Since the begining of the softball for the ought-eight year I have really come around with my hitting. Early on I couldn’t hit the ball very well. I was missing it and just not getting good contact.

Now I am hitting the ball with some power. I am starting to go to the left side a little bit more. I have to build my confidence to keep pulling the ball. But I am also going to right field most of the time. I am now getting some powerful hits as well as hard liners.

The game tonight was a close one, but we were not able to pull it out in the end. It was too bad. Now we must win the last game to win the whole thing.

Bad Turn at Two

This morning I was woken up with an EMS call outside of the city. By the time I was done working the call it was time to go home. I went off to the Rec Center to do some cardio. I have a test coming up on Saturday. With the looks of the way I am going right now I am afraid I will not be able to pass the test.

But as I have said before if it is meant to be it will happen. There is a chance it is not meant to be right now do to any number of reasons. It will not be clear right away, but if I don’t get it I have no doubt at some point in the future it will have been for the best.

I went to my softball game this evening. We played in Moscow. I ended up playing at second base. In the second inning there was a play that I tried to turn. But I didn’t square up my body and I threw very wide of first. About ten feet wide and I almost actually beaned the runner with the ball. Hitting-wise I only had a triple to the fence. I didn’t hit well besides that.

After the game Warren, Jesse, and I went to My Office. We had some chips and drinks. While there the “hottest guy in Pullman”, as Russell would say, walked in the bar. He sat a couple tables from us. Russell and I have been seeing him around Pullman for several years, I would have to think he is a Senior this year. This is the first time this year I have seen him.

Three for Three

I went into the fire station to participate in the new station committee. Following that I was waiting a while to speak with Chief Brown. As it was getting close to noon I decided to go home and get lunch. Just as lunch was getting done I heard them call for someone to do a transfer to Palouse. I called in for that.

We got to the hospital and found out we were delayed one hour. I worked on some stuff for my CPR class that I am teaching tomorrow to my shift. We did the transfer. I was in the back of the ambulance. When it was all said and done the whole thing took more than four hours. Chuck did the transfer with me and we talked some politics. We talked about being gay and it being out at the fire department. I think most of the guys at PFD know. I don’t tell people, but I think others make it know. For the most part I think the newer reserves are in the dark about it. Or at least most of there were in the dark about it.

I went to a softball game in the evening. I was the EH. I hit the ball well. I went three for three. One of them bounced badly and I was running hard. I got to third, but I had to slide. We won the game and I went to the fire department for training.

I was hoping to talk with the guy that saw the blog. But he wasn’t there tonight. I have been waiting to get a chance to speak to him. I have a couple things I would like to let him know. I also want to find out who it was that he told. The other guy never said anything to me at all through out the night. I was also ignored by one other guy. I am not sure if that was on purpose or not.

I have been keeping a low profile with the reserves right now. I am not sure who knows and who doesn’t. More importantly I don’t know who knows the whole story or part of it. I have been letting them come to me and talk. If they talk to me first then I figure all is good with them. Several of them talked to me so that is good. But I am not sure about two of them who were there plus the one who wasn’t. Only time will tell.

Lunch with a Commissioner

This morning I was fasting for a blood draw that was taking place this morning for my annual physical. I went to the Palouse Medical office for the blood draw. Following the blood draw I went home and had breakfast.

I went to the rec center to lift weights. But due to my hurt back I was being cautious of doing anything that would further hurt the back. I was able to get most of my work out done but there was some pain involved so I backed off when that happened.

When I got home I cleaned out the truck floor and vacuumed it. I was going to be picking up Tom to go to lunch at the Hilltop Restaurant. We were meeting with Jerry Finch a County Commissioner. We had a nice lunch with him talking about some of the political issues that are currently coming along as well as his pending re-election. I got a yard sign from him to put up next to my Rossi sign.

I had to go back to the doctors office after lunch for the rest of my physical. My eyes were good. My blood work came back good as well. I was a little worried about being overweight for years if that would have caused some problems. But it hasn’t… yet. With any hope my Body for Life work will make it so nothing does happen. The physical went well.

I had softball this evening in Moscow. I had been taking some pain pills through out the day in order to deal with the pain a little better. I went to the softball field and did what I could to hide the pain. I wasn’t able to make normal throws, but I was still able to throw the ball well. I did fine fielding the ball. My hard part was batting and then running with any great speed. But I did what I could.

We went out and took a fourteen run lead. But as the game went on we stopped hitting and the other team hit the ball well. They took over the lead. It was a battle, but they finally beat us twenty-six to twenty-five.

Ouch! There Goes the Back

I did my cardio today at the rec center. I failed the mile and a half yet again. But I was pretty close all the same. I need to have water with me for it so when my mouth gets some cotton mouth going on I can swig some water.

Afterwards I shot hoops waiting until I could sign up my team for softball. I have found out that I am hurting as far as players go. I am hitting the free agent market looking for some players to pick up. I have found three so far. With one more I am on the fence about. The problem is that he is an first baseman and I am not sure we need one of those.

I was taking some laundry down stairs and I felt my back go out. I felt the pain start to get worse and worse. Sure enough I sent it into a spasm. So now I am hosed for the next couple days. The problem is that I have things I need to do over the next couple days. This really sucks.

I had HazMat training tonight. I was about ready to go when I saw an e-mail about a problem with the events calendar. The e-mails are not getting sent to Heston. So I looked into it and found it was a problem I created when I was testing the system after adding in new functionality. I was able to get that fixed.

HazMat training was pretty brief tonight. People noticed my walking and knew I was hurting, but I denied it. They knew though.

The hurting back is probably going to cause me a bit of a slow down on this current Body for Life run.

Twelve More Weeks

Today is the start of a new Body For Life workout period. For the next twelve weeks I will be working hard on eating six good meals, working out six times a week, and losing weight. If the past is any indication I am expecting to lose about ten pounds per month. So I hope to be down another thirty pounds in the next couple
weeks.

My workout today was upper body. I am supposed to do one on Friday as well, but I may have to postpone it due to the activities I am going to have to do on the marine patrol on Saturday. I don’t want my arms to be tired. I think I am going to need to use them on Saturday.

I got home and washed my car. It was in need of it, especially the front wheels. They were really dirty with brake dust. I got it all cleaned and I also charged the battery in the Bumblebee. I plan on driving around the Bumblebee for a while and letting the Durango sit in the garage.

I found out there was a co-ed game tonight in Moscow. I went to play in it. I was batting lead off and playing first base. I got on and scored in each at bat. I also lead off every inning in the game. We only played four and a half innings because we crushed the other team. On defense I had a nice scoop along the way. It was a fun game.

National Tournament Day Two

We are no in do or die waters. We had ten people today, but I haven’t seen two of the guys play for ages. As it turned out they were rusty. But the rest of the team didn’t do very well either at the plate. We didn’t hit the ball at all. We scored a little in the first inning, but the inning was ended when Chad hit a homerun with no outs. Matt and Mike both packed on the pounds since leaving WSU. Mike was rusty out there as well. But it was good to see both of them.

We didn’t score enough runs and lost the game ending our hopes at the Western ASA D-league Nationals. It was fun to be here and I have my t-shirt to show for it.

I went to Ron’s hotel room for a while I shared a couple beers with him as we talked softball and then sports in general. I was there for a couple hours before heading to Jon’s to had a BBQ with them. I played around with some of the boys waiting until it was time to go see Dave.

Dave and I were going to watch Batman tonight. Dave had not seen it. He wanted to go the night before, but the movie was already starting.

We met at Southcenter and he complimented me on how much I have lost. He hadn’t seen me in a while. After the movie we went to Shari’s for some dinner and we spent time talking and getting caught up with each other.

National Tournament Day One

I got up early and working on finding one more person to play softball with us. I was still hurting after finding out that one of the people I was counting on would not be there. I only had eight confirmed. So I made calls and texts to lot of people. Most of the people were planning on going to the Cougar game. I called Jim and he said he would play. He saved my bacon. I texted Jon and wrote “Jim is my Huckleberry”.

I bought a tee-shirt for the tournament and waited for people to show up worried about everything. As people were showing up I had them sign the roster. I was worried about everyone showing up. We had no room for anyone to be missing. As the game started we were going to have to take an out for every time through the line up. It sucked. To top it off Ron got hurt in the second inning. That really caused us some trouble. We didn’t score any runs.

Later Brandon and I went to see Batman. I was told I need to see it in the theatre. We decided to meet at the Southcenter theatre. It is the first time I was there since they remodeled the whole mall. It is pretty incredible the difference in the look.

After the movie we stayed and talked for a while about work and whatnot.

Learning to Forge

While at work this morning I was working hard to get the roster completed. But due to the number of pick ups we would need I had to get one of them on the roster from the city of Moscow. So I needed to work a while doing photo copies several times in figuring out how to get the original photocopy which was signed to include one more name. So a photocopy of the original signature would not work. I needed to use the sheet with the photocopy. But I couldn’t just write in the name because it would be obvious that we had written in the name after the photocopy. So I had to write in the name and information on a blank sheet. And then photocopy that one line onto the form that was already filled out, but to get the right kind of ink so the photocopy would look like the other ones was a challenge, and then working to make sure it lined up was very difficult. When it was all said and done the time was wasted because they never even looked at my roster.

I went to Federal Way for the managers meetings. That is where we were drawing for game times. We also got information about the rules. The Hooter’s girls were there with wings and other food items for us. I sat next to McCoy. He was telling me that they were thinking about asking me to play on their team at the beginning of last season, but didn’t because they found out I had the My Office team. But he made it sound that if I ever want to change teams I would have a place on his.

Following the meeting I went to Seahawks Stadium for the game. It was Oakland that was in town. We went to the events center to start off. Justin was with us and he went through some of the things they had set up for the kids to do.

Once it was closer to game time we made our way to the seats. The Seahawks played pretty well and beat up on Oakland pretty good. We left a little early because I parked in the parking garage. It takes about an hour to get out of it once the game is done and we needed to be at the poker game.

At the poker game I was not playing it very well. I had a decent hand and went up against a girl who only played the nuts pretty much. I didn’t know that to start with. So I was dominated as I was throwing a bunch of money into the pat. That hurt. I never really recovered. I lost about sixty bucks through out the night. I just was not seeing any cards.

Rush to do the Paperwork

We are in the tournament for nationals, but that meant that we had to get the stuff turned in last week. Due to some issues we were given an extension, but I had to rush around today and pick up where Erik left off. I had to get some signatures and get a check. Then I scanned those things and e-mailed them to the man in charge of the tournament in Seattle.

That took more of the day than I had planned. I was going to be going to Colfax to spend time there at the fire department, but that got blown away. When I finally got everything done I did make me way to Colfax and worked on some stuff in the Coroner’s office until it was time for our meeting. The meeting covered the new video camera and some recent cases. We had some dinner and set up the call schedule for September.

Then I went to Palouse to help Rudy with his computer. I was there for about four hours backing up data and trying to fix his BSOD errors. After a couple hours of trying I talked him into reinstalling everything. That took some time as well. I wasn’t completely done, but I had to get going because of how late it was and the fact I had to work in the morning.

Lentil Festival Champions

Today I am playing in the Lentil Festival Softball tournament in Pullman. Our team is one of seven in the tournament. We started out with a win, but it was close, we had to do a comeback in order to win the game. With us in the winner bracket we had a couple hours off. I walked over to Reaney Park where the fire department was operating a dunk tank. CBass was in it. I threw some balls, but I missed with all of them. It was horrible. I was in uniform and CBass was ripping on my moustache. Later on Heidi got into the dunk tank. I sank her two of the three first throws. She also set me up for a ride with her tonight.

I went back to playing softball. We kept winning the games we were playing and we went to the championship in the winner bracket. We were playing the team we beat the first game. We knew they would be tough, but we also knew they would be less rested with us because they have been playing straight through. But they still came out and beat us in the first game. But that just made them more tired. We finally went out and took care of business. But we had to go into extra innings.

We were tied at the end of seven. In the eight they took a lead and we tied it up. In the ninth they took a three run lead. We got one run. Then with the batters we had coming up we were going to need a miracle. With two on, the miracle was starting to happen, we were down by two. There were two outs. Warren came to the plate. He hit a walk-off-three-run-homerun. Everyone on the team started to cheer. It was great.

I hurried home to clean up and then down to the police station for the ride along. I went out with Heidi for several hours. It was a pretty quiet night over all for an opening weekend of school. We had a couple drunks. One guy was arrested for assault. But it was all pretty tame. It was nice to ride with Heidi though.

End of the First Shift Night

I got up with the alarm going off for a fire alarm. It was up in Thompson hall. It was the one where we had to climb and crawl in the attic to get to it. We got it reset. Just as we got back to the station we were sent back there. We checked the detector location. With no fire, we reset again and disabled that detector. As we were getting back to the station we got dispatched to another fire alarm elsewhere.

I got out there about thirty minutes late. I went home and changed to hit the rec center. I did my workout. While I was there a ten-six-seven was working out. It seemed like each place I went he was near by. It was nice scenery to work out to. What was funny is that his body didn’t fit his face so much. He was very muscular, but he face looked very young.

I worked on some of the videos from softball. I am putting together a video for each person. I am placing each clip with a person together and playing music in the background for it. It is taking a while but it is fun to do.

This evening I had HazMat training. I went to the fire station for the training. We were touring campus looking at the places that hold on to hazardous materials. We were seeing the locations and how the rooms are set up in terms of safety equipment and what not.

Lost Early

I was over in Moscow for the first softball game this morning. We were playing for a spot in the Nationals for ASA. But we were flat and couldn’t get a basehit. We ended up losing the game and were sent home early.

Ron, Joe, and a couple others hung out at the fields watching some of the games after ours. We were having a great time watching the games and ranking on each other. While there I told to the organizer of the tournament. He said he doesn’t know of other qualifiers, but he said that if I call the person in charge of the tournament in Seattle that he may just let us in. I am going to see if I can get us in that route.

I went to Tri-State and got a folding chair and some new Levis. I needed some new jeans as my only pair are in bad shape. I got home and washed them with all the other clothes I needed to wash.

I went to the rec center and did the Cooper test again. I didn’t pass it because of the run, but I did do good enough to pass all the other sections of the test.

I spent some time getting things ready for my first day of work tomorrow.

Tournament to Earn a National ASA Spot

The softball team is playing in a tournament to earn a spot to play in the Nationals in Seattle this year. We need to be one of the top three teams to earn a spot. But in the first game we came out flat after the first inning. We couldn’t score runs and lost the first game. That is not where we wanted to be in the whole thing.

After the game we went to get some breakfast. I had already eaten so I just went for the ride. We got back to the field and hung out for a while. Our second game I pitched. I struggled for a couple batters then I was did really well from there on out. It was a close game, but we beat the team and went on to play another team later on. It was a weak team and we easily beat them.

While at the field one of the guys from another team that I met recently was at the fields. He is ten-six-seven. While in Bovile for the softball tournament there I saw him there shirtless. He is well built and had a nice chest. It was nice to see him again.

After the game we went to dinner in Moscow and then over to Pullman to hang out at the Sports Page. I played a couple games of pool and talked with the others who were there. We hung out there until around ten o’clock in the evening. I gave Warren a ride home before going home myself.

Bovill Day Two

I was up early again this morning on my way to Bovill. I got there around seven-thirty in the morning again. I got ready and we were playing just after eight in the morning. Our sticks were pretty cold. I wasn’t cold though. I have an inside-the-park homerun plus two walks and one fly out. We lost that game and got moved to the loser bracket.

The next game was two hours later. I had myself a cheeseburger and waited around for the game. We played a second team and beat them pretty easily. We had a big inning scoring a lot of runs. I have four doubles in the game including three that were ground-rule doubles. That is because there was a ditch in right field and if you hit the ball over the head of the outfielders it would go to the ditch. I did that three times.

Between that game and our next one the sun was beating down on us. There were several ten-six-seven’s walking around shirtless. It was something good to look at as I waited for the next game.

We played against a team with several players from the Pullman area. They went on to beat us pretty soundly. That was all for us. I would have liked to play some more, but it was good to get to head home.

When I got closer to Moscow I turned on my phone and found a call from Pete. He told me about a fatal car accident that happened near Clarkston last night. So I was right in my instinct that there was going to be a case last night. As it turned out though the person was taken to Lewiston before death was pronounced so it wasn’t really one of our cases, but I had a feeling it was a bad car accident.

When I got home I got some dinner at Cougar Country.

Softball in Bovill

I got up early this morning to get ready to head out to Bovill for a softball tournament. I have never been there and I didn’t know who I would be playing with.

I got out there around seven-thirty in the morning. I met up with Jackie and I was able to find the team I was playing with. We were playing on a field that had gravel and rocks mixed in with the dirt. There were no side fences and the backstop was the side of a little league backstop. I wasn’t sure what to expect out of the tournament, but I was happily surprised.

There were a total of ten teams. My team would seem to be like a bunch of scrubs, but we were not a bad team over all. We won the first game to remain in the winners bracket. There were kegs at the field and it was free for the players.

The second game wasn’t as good. We lost the game, but we ended up getting the win because the other team didn’t have enough players and used some players from another team. That means we play again tomorrow morning at eight o’clock in the morning — AGAIN! No sleeping in for me.

I came home and got some dinner. I didn’t do a whole bunch around the house because I was relaxing over all. Plus I had to get up early in the morning. I guess I get to “sleep in” on Monday.

I was on call for the coroner and I heard a call get dispatched down by the river. I had a feeling I may be going down there, but I never ended up getting dispatched to it.

Final Regular Season Game

Today we were at the tower doing some more evolutions. Today it was standpipe stuff.

After work it was off to playing softball. We were playing the final game of the regular season. We were not able to win the game, but it didn’t matter much we had second place locked up.

After the game several of us went to Pete’s to meet up with the guys who we played against. It was Bruce and Joe’s team — Tubbs. They beat us, so we had some good banter back and forth, but we beat them two of three times so I had that to hold over their heads.

Russell is Going Away

We had more softball today. I was playing first base most of the time. We had our first game against Zeppoz. We were not getting timely hits and we were losing. I had called Kelly about playing. When he heard we needed him he came in. It was great it was the boost we needed and we went on to win the game. We were in the losers bracket and now we were going to face Sports Page in back to back games. We had to beat them twice.

We won the first game and then went on to win the second game. Ryan and Russell came down and watched the final part of the last game. We won the championship. We got the trophy and got out photo. I went to Pete’s for a while with everyone, then it was off to Cougar Country.

Rhonda was happy we won the whole thing. She loved that we beat the B league team yesterday because one of her cooks was on the team and we was talking about how they were going to take us down. She put up the championship trophy and couldn’t wait to show her cook.

Russell, Nick, and Ryan also came along to Cougar Country. After we ate Ryan and I went to get some cake and stuff for Russell’s birthday which was coming up really soon.

Russell is leaving Pullman for good and we wanted to have a day out with Russell and we decided to celebrate his birthday as well. We were at Russell’s for a couple hours eating cake and watching some video’s on YouTube.

Co-Ed Post-Season Tourney

I started at pitcher and I wasn’t doing great. We were playing a coed B league team that was moved up into our league. I walked several people through out the first couple innings costing us runs. Finally I got Heston to pitch and the pitching problem went away. We started to get better at the plate and we started to get walked plus we were hitting the ball well. Sooner or later we finally took a lead.

It was a tight game but we ended up pulling it out and staying in the winning ways.

After the game we went to Pete’s Bar and Grill for some food and beer while waiting for our next game. But I was going to be going to the golf tournament.

I stuck around until the latest possible time I could wait until I had to go home and get ready to golf. Matt found a guy named Travis to cover for him on the team because Matt was unable to play. I called him and we planned on riding together to Colfax.

While the game was getting ready to start I got the lineup written and a couple umpired were roasting me in front of Heston and some others. I was laughing so hard. It was about my pitching. They said that Heston should never let me pitch. I took it very well.

As a joke I took the mound as the game was getting ready to start and one of the umpire who roasted me was there. I looked at him and pretended that I wasn’t going to pitch because of what he said. It was pretty good.

I went to home after that to get ready. I got my golf clubs and went to Dissmore’s. I got some water and picked up Travis. He is ten-six-seven. His complexion reminds me of BKoe.

When we got to Colfax he took his shirt off to switch to a different shirt. That was a treat because, as I said, he was ten-six-seven.

We finally got out on the course. I had Hansen and Pete playing with my team. We were not kicking butt, but we were holding our own. At the break we had some dinner and did the raffle. I won a couple prized including golf balls, a shirt, and a hat.

On the second round we were using the glow balls. It was harder, but I started to do better because I wasn’t trying to crush the ball. Towards the end of the round Pete hit a ball and it looked like he crushed it, but we don’t know where the ball went because he hit the glow stick out of the ball. Hansen did that twice as well. We were laughing so hard.

Starting On the Last Couple Shifts

Tonight was the night to beat up on another softball team. We were playing K&K; again. The first couple games were close games that we won. Today it was a run away for My Office. We had no problems beating up on the other team.

After the game I was on call for the fire department. I am starting the final couple shifts as a reserve. I am sad about the end of the run of being a reserve Crew Leader. I am going to miss working with the guys and I am going to miss having a position with some responsibility.

I feel like there are things that I have not done yet, so I don’t feel like I am ready to move along. But that is the way it is. I am not going to be able to stay and make the changes to the reserve program that will make it stronger.

Palousitics Lunch with Guest

Today for lunch we had our Palousitics lunch with a guest. It was the editor of the Daily News, Steve. We talked with him about the newspaper industry and about politics in the area and how the Daily News covers it.

We had a softball double-header tonight. We were playing Bomb Squad. We went on to beat them pretty easily tonight. It was the first time we beat them all season. Up until now we would not beat them for what ever reason. We took an early lead and then went on to win.

Then we played against Coor’s Light. But it was the opposite story. They crushed us. We couldn’t get the timely hitting, unlike we did in the first game. With that loss we are going to have to battle for second place.

The New Temp

I went to the fire station this morning to update a couple photos on the photoboard. I was asked by Wilkins if I would be there after I was done. I told him I needed to go to the rec center but I could come back later on. I had a feeling that he wanted to talk to me about the temp job.

I went to the rec center and did the LE physical agility test. I am still not there on situps. I also made the mile and a half in about the same about of time. I need to shave about one minute off that time in order to get forty points.

I came home and cleaned up. I called the station and I set up an appointment to meet with the Chiefs at three o’clock PM. In the mean time I talked with Jon a little about the upcoming decision that I have to make. I guess I am sort of in the drivers seat, because I don’t need to take the position. I sort of feel like I need to take it however.

I went to the fire station and I met up with the chiefs. I was offered the temp positions. It was said that I would not be guaranteed a job due to this, but it could help if I do a good job while working as a temp. I was given some time to think about it. They said they would work with me due to my other job. I told them I couldn’t give up my other job knowing that there may not be a position when this is all done because they want to change it to a paramedic position. They said they would work with me in reference to my other job.

I left and called Jon. We talked about it some more. He pointed out that this temp period is a good thing for a couple reasons. One is that if I don’t work out, then I still have a job to go it. If I don’t take this, and wait until a fulltime position comes open. Then I take it and don’t work out, I am out two jobs. Plus with them working with me I should be able to do both for a while. I am very nervous about saying yes, but I went back to the station to take it.

I went to Heston’s office and said I that I am going to take it. He shook my hand and we scheduled my first day to be Monday of next week. I am going to only have three more shifts as a reserve. I am sad about that. I am going to miss working with those guys. I am now in a little bit of a haze as this is a big event in my life and I have a lot to think about now.

I got a call from Gollnick. I thought he already knew. He was calling about playing poker. I figured I would tell him in person.

I asked Heston to hold off on the e-mail until as late as he can so I can tell my guys in person. It was going to work out because everyone was coming down for rig checks early, and A. Wilcox and I had to be there to clean the bay. As I got to the station I got another call from Gollnick. He had been at the station and heard some rumors. He called me to ask me about it. I told him what was going on. I told him that I was going to tell him while playing poker. For my guys, I waited until everyone was there.

I told them that I was offered and accepted the temporary position. They congratulated me. But I am sad. The E-mail had gone out and by the end of my softball game I had a couple texts from people congratulating me.

We played against Tubbs. My head was not fully in the game as I was thinking about the change in my life. I had a good night. I pitched the whole game and didn’t walk anyone on accident. One guy we walked on purpose a couple times. I also hit the ball pretty well. We won the game in the bottom of the seventh. It was great to win that one. We let up eight runs in the first, but came back to win.

After the game I went home and Gollnick came over. We played poker at my place until almost two in the morning. We spent a lot of time talking about the things I should do while I am at the fire station. What I should do on my first couple days. I had a pretty good idea having been around the fire services as long as I had been. The one I didn’t know is to make sure there is coffee always ready.

I lost some money playing poker, but it could have been worse. I was only down nine bucks on the night, but at one point I was down to two bucks left.

Today is one of those days, I was expecting the offer for the temp position, but I am still not mentally prepared to leave the reserves. Though I have spent a lot of time thinking about that in the last couple months. I also realize my dreams of getting back on the sheriff’s reserves will probably not be fulfilled. I am disappointed about that because I was really starting to think about how nice it would be to get that under my belt. It seems like everything went so fast.