Oh my, how we do love Papi!

You know, I was all ready to post tonight about my pure disappointment that we didn't do anything to take care of our pitching quandry prior to the trade deadline.

This is still, most definitely, a gripe, but one that I will set aside for the moment to proclaim:

Papi is the MVP, goddammit!
I don't care if he is the DH, this is one time too many for him to be cast by the wayside and disregarded for potention season MVP status.
This is a man who, time and time again, be it clutch or otherwise, pulls through for his team like no one I've ever seen.
Never mind the 100+ RBI's prior to the beginning of August (almost unheard of in the Sox house), never mind the uber clutch hits he pulled two years ago to keep us in the running against the Evil Empire, never mind all of that! This is a man who, time and time again, has proven his prowess, his, well, everything, when it counted, when it didn't count, hell, when his teammates and fans could just use a reprieve and a smile.

We love the Papi!

And that's all I have to say.
I'm going to bed now, safe in the thought that the entirety of RSN agrees with me, even though 99.99999999999999999% hasn't heard/read a thing I've said/typed.

Go Sox!

PS - Still concerned about our lack of pitchers. We're coming into the home stretch. The Yanks just made their team stronger (go figure) we sat still. I'm thrilled that we didn't move Loretta or Lowell, but I'm really, seriously, as a heart attach concerned about our pitching situation looking into the end of the season and (hopefully) the postseason.

I remain, as always, ever true. Fingers and toes crossed. Let's hang on. Hell, lets pull ahead. Please? C'mon boys. Let's keep it going and, oh yeah, preferably, decide a game prior to the bottom of the ninth, yeah? Thanks.

Afterglow

I'm still in a great mood this morning, if a little deaf.

I went and saw Muse play at the Aragon last night.
I really don't think I'm overreacting when I say it was quite possibly the very best thing I've ever seen live.
I'm so happy.
To me, going to a performance of a band you love is a great thing to do by yourself. It's kind of a relief, like going to a movie solo - you don't spend the duration glancing at your companion to see their reaction, and you can fully immerse yourself in the event and enjoy it for all it has to offer.

First things first.
The doors were supposed to open at 6 for a show that started at 7:30, so I hopped the train, and got there around 6:05. This may seem early to some, but being a psycho Muse fan, I thought I'd better play it safe and try to get a good spot in the venue, given health issues and all, I was hoping for an actual seat instead of standing in the pit.
So I arrive, expecting the doors to be open. Not so much. There is a line extending down the alley, around the corner and through the strip-mall down the way. So after walking by approximately four hundred people, I took my spot in front of a laundromat at the end of the line. By the time the doors did open, forty minutes later, the line had extended to around to the next strip mall down the way.

Now, here's the beauty part: This was a Thursday night and (ugh) all ages show, but the glorious thing about all age shows is that, once the doors did open, all the braces-wearing, teeny boppers, bee-lined for the pit. How great is that?
So I head upstairs to the balcony area and find myself a choice front row seat in one of the little balcony alcoves. Just beautiful.

I don't know what else to say. This is band that is just fantastic live, even with the less than ideal soundsystem at the Aragon. I was absolutely blown away.

*skips away* la la la! Happy Jess.

(and oh yeah, Go Sox!)

Pardon

I'm going to be a little presumptuous here.
I'm not pretending to be jinxing anything, so you can't blame me if anything turns around here.

It's just that it's late and while, granted, I'm no longer working tomorrow, it is still late and I'm tired.

We just finished scoring 6 in the top of the 8th to make it an 12-5 game at present. I realize it isn't over just yet, but I'm going to bed, content in the thought that we can't screw this up. Not really.

The midweek, leading up to the weekend, is looking good.

My mood is lifting. Further still, I'm going to go see my favorite band in concert on Thursday night, so I'm counting the hours as we speak, tiding myself over in the warm glowing warming glow of the Red Sox.

Good Night all.

Easy come, easy go

So, I'm out of work again. Just like that.
It sucks too, since the temp job I was working was looking pretty promising.
Just last Friday my boss was talking about the timeline for me switching over from being a temp to being an employee.

Then boom. Today, they tell me they're hiring a different person directly. See, this way, they don't have to pay the temp agency extra to end the contract and hire me directly.

I'm more than a little pissed about it.
Never mind that I was starting to get used to getting paychecks again.

*sigh*

Hopefully, another temp job will materialize shortly.

On the bright side, and, believe me, I'm clinging to this right now. The Red Sox won last night. Last late night. Damn west coast games.
But they won, so I take comfort in that.
Hopefully, they'll finish their west coast swing in the same fashion as last night.

More later, once I stop wallowing in self-pity.

Out of the loop?

I'll happily admit I haven't been paying too too much attention lately, just enough to relish in the Sox winning and the Yanks losing which, frankly, is always enough to make my day.

But I find myself taking pause when I scan tonight's lineup.
Youk at 3rd, Ortiz at 1st, Ramirez the DH and Gabe in LF.
Interesting.

Not a big deal, just interesting.
It's one of those things that catches my attention, especially when we're not playing an NL team in an NL park.

Anyhoo, leave it to our power first basemen to give us a solo shot in the first for the early lead.

That's all for now. I'm going back to watching the game. Hopefully it'll be a quick win. I gotta work in the morning.

And oh yeah, it's the 9th inning for the Yankees and they're down 7-3. One of the few times I'm pleased as punch to see the Blue Jays do well.

Finally!

Jon Lester at long last proved that he doesn't just pitch to get himself out of walk situations.
He actually made it through eight shut-out innings.

Good boy. Good, good boy. (don't worry, I'll start calling him a man someday)

All I can say, it's a good thing it was eight shut-out, considering we only gave him one run of support. But, I can't say enough about this guy tonight. 100 pitched. Eight innings. Good boy. Ok, I'll shut up about that now.


And now, the Papelbon. Ahem, eight, count 'em, eight pitches for the final three outs. Oh yeah. Gotta love our young save-machine.

Well, that's all I have to say. Except, oh yeah, a little cherry on top, not to jinx it, but the Yankees are down 4-2 in the eight. Go Mariners!

Quick postscript: Of course I jinxed it, because clearly a no-name in Chicago like myself has that kind of mad power. Now it's tied up in the bottom of the 9th. One on, two outs, and a rain-delay. Pfeh. I don't care. I'm still happy dammit.

My Neighbors are Sadists

Let me preface this with: Yay! Sox win!

Ok, now that that's out of the way.

For some reason, there's a "block party" going on tonight.
I have to put it in quotes because I have no idea why anyone is encouraging this.

They sealed off my block for the day. No one can park. Fine.

During the course of the day, it was going to be about the kids on the block. You know, inflatable swimming pools, all that garbage. That's fine.

But starting around 7 o'clock, we've had a garage band that never should have left the garage playing the same six songs over and over again. Poorly.

It's still going on, and I'm just about going ape-shit.
They just won't stop.

Never mind me, how about all the sub-ten-year-olds that can't go to sleep because of this.

And oh yeah, the "stage" and it's speakers are right outside my living room window.

Did I mention this band SUCKS!?!?!?!

I'm all for crappy karaoke, but at least then you know what you're getting into when you go out, SEEKING IT OUT.

I have no choice in the matter tonight. I chose not to go out because I worked today, I'm tired and was hoping for a quiet evening.
So much for that.
I'm just waiting for it to be over.

On the plus side, we won tonight. Yeah, so the White Sox absolutely sucked against the Yankees, but then, they did lose two out of three against us before the break.

Still, hoping for us to re-extend our lead over the next week.
Yes please.

Good night, such as it is, or at least, it will be, once the crappy-ass music outside my window stops.

GO SOX!

Balzanos

Well, instead of a postscript, I'll say that.
I'm actually a little speechless, or typeless at the moment.

Huh? No, seriously, without words to discribe my disappointment, not only over the loss, but over the manner with which that loss was sealed.
To tell the truth, I stopped paying attention during the 5th inning, but couldn't resist and came back in the 6th, only to get my hopes up with two runs in a pseudo rally. Yeah, not so much in that respect.

Geez. And the Yankees won.
Crap. So now we're only 1 1/2 games up.

Well, hopefully, if nothing else, the White Sox'll kick some serious ass in tomorrow's game of the week on Fox. 'Course, I'll miss most of it while at work, just hope I come home to find the Yankees losing most miserably.

Ok, now I'm really turning in.
Good night all. Keep the faith.

Now I'm getting peevish

We lost yesterday, fine.
It wasn't even Lester's fault, although the kid really needs to learn not to put himself in a position to get out of that many jams.

But today? What the hell?

It's only the top of the 4th.
We're down my 4, as in 4-0 and Beckett's almost at 80 pitches. Fine, so Lester had more pitches yesterday by this point, but he also had three fewer runs.

I'm irritated. Irritable. Annoyed, if you will.
I'm actually glad right now that I don't have anyway to watch this play out on TV.
Could you imagine? Given how pissy I am right now?

If nothing else, I hope it doesn't go into extra innings, unless it is to yield a win for us.
I have to go to work tomorrow morning too, so I'd rather not wake up tired and pissed off two days in a row.

*sigh*

Ok, ok. Let's focus on the good things, yes?
White Sox are playing the Yankees, and I think it's more likely for the Yanks to lose the series of games to the White Sox than it is for us to lose a series to Oakland, so if nothing else, we'll stay in the lead, regardless of tonight's outcome.
More importantly: It is only the 4th inning. We've turned things around later than this before.

Ok, yeah, I'm going to cling to that last one.
In the meantime, I've got some dvd's to catch up on.
It's all about TV series lately. I was tasted up for some TV Sci-Fi.
No, not Star Trek - I watch that all the time since the roommate has them.
I got Quantum Leap. Season one right now, but something tells me I'll be up on the whole series before long.
Good times.

Alrighty then. I've momentarily typed myself out of a bad mood.

More later.

Perspective

I'll be the first to admit that I often prioritize sports, specifically the teams I root for, over everything else going on in the world.
However, and ironically, between innings, I feel compelled to give myself a slap in the face for a little perspective.

Here's the basic gist of it, and I'll be brief because I have no right to get preachy about anything, least of all the state of the world.
I have a lot of family in Israel.
I'm worried about them, more now than I have been in a very long time.
While what is going on in that part of the world is of front page importance, I find most people on local news as well as just around town talking about a horse.

I feel horrible saying this, but please, a little perspective people.
I don't like to hear about anything bad happening to anyone, human or animal, but frankly, I'm getting progressively irritated.
I hope he's ok, although it sounds like he won't be, but I hope more that resolutions can be made in other parts of the world. I hope more that countless lives won't be lost, and I apologize for prioritizing this hope above my concern for a horse. Sorry if I upset anyone, not my intention, just had to get it out of my system.

*steps off soap box, breaks it into pieces, sets a bonfire, and goes back to watching the game*

Welcome back, baseball

Three days never felt so long.
I feel like the season's about to start and I'm giddy as hell.
The season's just starting, and we're starting three games in the lead!

This is how I'm choosing to look at it, as now is the time to really prove that we deserve to start the second half out front.

At any rate, just happy to have it back.
I feel like I've been suffering from serious cabin fever.
Didn't go out, because I'm actually working now, so wanted to get sleep, but no way to pass the time.
Nothing to blog about although I, of course, read a lot of others'.
Just lurking, not posting. You've been warned.

No, but yeah, happy happy joy joy.
Anyway, enjoy the evening!

Who needs botox?

Well, aw shucks. That's all I had to say today.
I'll make it brief, since I'm headed off to bed with the hopes that the AL pulls off a win, for what it's worth.

I was at work today (still has a nice ring to it for me, don't worry, the novelty'll wear off soon enough) when the chick who was brought in to help me asked me how old I was.
"Why do you ask?"
"Well, I'm pretty sure I'm older than you, but wanted to know for sure."

Allow me to preface this with the fact that there's no need for either of us to suck up to each other, since we're both hired guns.

"31" I tell her.

"No shit? Dang, ok, well never mind then, and don't tell anyone that, 'cuz you don't look it," she said.

"What do you mean? How old are you?" I asked, of course.

TWENTY-ONE!!!!!!!
hot damn!

Maybe she was full of shit, and granted, she definitely looks older than 21, but, in my mind, definitely younger than me, but regardless, I was grinning for some time thereafter.

Of course, I blame whatever cause on the lack of need of collagen, or botox. Natural, overweight bodyfat does wonders for filling in wrinkles.

Maybe I'll whine about it after the next 45 pounds lost but, until then, I'm downright chipper. Keep in mind, when I was a freshman in high school, people thought I was my brother's older sister visiting from college.
When I was 21 people thought I was in my 30's.
I'm fine with looking my age, but when someone who's 21 thinks she's older than me, well, you can imagine.

Back to the game. Again, not that it really counts, but, you know.
'Night, all.


Ok, postscript: It was too close too the end of the game for me to quit there.
We got the go-ahead run in the top of the 9th, thank you very much and, even without the Pap, we held on, so, provided that all goes according to plan, the Red Sox will have home field advantage during the World Series.

Too soon to say that? I don't think so, and if it is, hey, the world loves an optimist, right?

Now, officially, good happy night.

Twelve innings without beer and a killer sunburn for that?!

Six and half hours, nineteen innings (I've already mentioned the twelve w/o beer, right?) and we lost.
Truth be told, I'm surprised we lasted as long as we did, what with Tavarez pitching four innings, I thought for sure we'd be sunk before he was done, but in the end it was Rudy that gave up the game winning single with bases loaded.

I'm alright with it, actually. You'd think that in a game with, count 'em, two blown saves I'd be pissier, but for whatever reason, I'm not.
I'm sorry that Pap got another blown save, and his first run allowed on the road.
And I am pretty damn annoyed with Timlin.
I hope Schilling's ok after getting nailed.
Ok, that's it for the downside.

It was a fun day in the park, this time one of my friends, a fellow psycho Red Sox fan, was able to join us so we had a good time.
Also, I have to say that not once did I have any problems with the other Sox fans. I had heard that there were some altercations but I wasn't involved or anywhere near them. Even on the train to and, surprisingly, from games, I was able to have some very amiable chats with them. Of course there were other Red Sox fans there so that helped.

I did not plan well based on our seats. I have what I think is the worst sunburn I've ever gotten on my arms and kneecaps. It was really hard to sleep since I kept accidentally rolling over onto one of my arms. Most painful.
Ah well, the price you pay. It should be better by tomorrow.

Time for coffee, and a few days off for most of our guys.

I am so proud of our bullpen

These are the days when you really appreciate the unsung heroes of baseball teams.
Too often the scapegoats in games gone wrong, albeit often deservedly so, our boys really came through in a pinch today to get Beckett his win against the White Sox.

Bases loaded, nobody out, Beckett comes out of the game in the seventh with a three run lead and the heart of the White Sox order to be faced.
Lopez and Hansen got it done, and Pap finished them of by finishing the eighth and closing out the ninth.

I am indeed a happy camper.

It seems that all these great things happen in bundles.
I get a job, get to go to two out of three Sox-Sox games, with the third nationally televised so I don't have to miss it.
Well, it's about time, I think.

Tomorrow, Schilling going for the sweep. I'll be in the nosebleeds, but I'll be there, and that's all that matters to me right about now.
Everything's coming up Milhouse.

Pre Game Pit Stop

So, just to summarize, since I want to go watch today's game.
Last night kicked ass in so many ways.
First, I was surrounded my a ton of other Red Sox fans, very happy.
I was, of course, sitting between some White Sox fans, since they got me the ticket, but they were, somewhat, gracious in their defeat.
The home run to the third base side?
Just across the aisle from me. Close but no stogie.

Lester got himself into some jams, but got out of them as well.
Poised young man.
Add in a coupla homers, well, there you go. 7-2 final.

It was just fantastic. No need for specifics, I think, but it was wonderful.
Row 10. Best seats I've ever had. I've never been that close to Manny before but last night, he could hear me yell out to him.

Fantastic. And, to top it all off, there were some lovely fireworks after the game.
Not of the celebratory kind for the White Sox fans, but I took them as celebration.

And oh yeah, I'm going to tomorrow's game too. Not the same good seats. About five levels up, but I'll take it.

As for today. I get to watch it anyway since it's on Fox.
Go Sox!

I now know enough

To know I don't know anything.
Geez, I swear, I think I forgot everything I've ever known.
The beauty of being a temp is being able to tell your potentially short-term boss that you're not qualified to do everything they're asking you to do.
The job was misrepresented to me. Guess what? It's going to take a little longer here.
On the bright side, he appreciated my frankness, and we have a specialist coming in for a day on Monday, after which, I can honestly say, I'll have no problem taking care of things thereafter. Just need a little initial help.

Now, onto more important things.
I'm only here for a minute, the Red Sox are currently winning, for now.
So I'm happy.

What makes me happier still?
My buddy Rocky and I are going to the Sox-Sox game tomorrow night.
He's a die-hard White Sox fan and I, of course, am psychotic about the Red Sox, so we'll be having a nice mixed marriage outing tomorrow.
I wish I could say I'd be back with pictures, but that would require me locating my digital camera that was promptly "disappeared" on Monday.
I'll keep looking, but don't hold your breath.

Go Sox!

Postscript: Nothing like a six-run top of the ninth to quell any fears that were lingering after we gave up most of our lead.
Now the Pap is in to add lemon juice to the D-Rays long overdue papercut.
*sigh* So much better. And.........it's over. Thankfully, we've stopped our skid.
Now the boys come to my town, giving me the chance to not feel like such a transplant for a change. Hopefully the Red Sox fans will be out in full force tomorrow night. I know I will be.

Good night all.

what goes down

Must come up, yes?
Ok, so I get home from my five mile parallelogram trek, hop in the shower and emerge around noon to a voicemail from the temp agency. Yay!
So, they needed me to start this afternoon, since the person I was temporarily, if not permanently, replacing was having their last day today.
Hrm. Timing is interesting but I'll take it.
So, after five hours there, I know I seriously have my work cut out for me.

There's no other accountant there, and starting today, I was setting up their new accounting software, which I've never done before.

We'll see. Right now I feel like someone turned on the fire hose to give me a sip of water. Hopefully I'll settle in once everything's up to date on the new system.
The only problem is that my immediate boss doesn't have a clue about it and is expecting it to be ready, well, tomorrow.
Not likely, considering that I was only able to enter part of the payables, never mind everything else that is needed to use the general ledger, set up financials, etc. Not to mention that I haven't really worked as an actual accountant in about four years. "So, we can write checks tomorrow you think?" he asks. "Um, maybe?"
Again with the cautious optimism, what else do I have?

Ah well, work is work, if it doesn't pan out, it doesn't.
I'm hoping for the best.

Now back to trying to ignore the Red Sox game.
Oy. Why is it we can't seem to beat teams we have no business losing to?
I don't get it. But it's early. Here's hoping they turn it around to avoid a three game losing streak, especially since the Yanks are winning right now.

A Prelude to PTSD

So it's Independence Day.
That's all well and good.
I'm all for it. I even enjoy the fireworks.

What I do not enjoy is neighbors randomly setting off explosives.
The pretty, sparkly things are one thing, but the ones that just let off a loud bang and that's it - well, that makes me want to find a closet and pop whatever pills I can find to make me pass out til it's over.
In a weird way, I'm reminded of my dog from when I was growing up. A big Golden Retriever who, during thunderstorms, would tuck tail and run to the bathroom. We'd find him shaking in the bathtub, clearly a safe place, or he would run down to the basement. That's me tonight.
Allow me to explain:

Some years ago, I was involved with a man, Kevin. He was about ten years older than me and was, at the time, the first one who said he loved me.
He had his problems, but I was young and didn't care, mostly out of fear of never meeting someone who would feel that way about me again.

So, we were engaged.
He had his problems.

One night, he was extra fidgety trying to get to sleep, so I gave him his space and went out to the living room to crash on the couch. At least this way one of us would get some sleep.

I awoke at 4AM to the sound of a gunshot.
So much for him.

Not to gloss over it all, you can probably imagine, maybe.
I still can't hear sudden gunshot-like sounds without freaking out.
You'd think I'd be over it by now. Guess again.

So there you have it.
Off to self-medicate and sleep it away.

Happy 4th all.

I promise I'll be more chipper tomorrow.
(And oh yeah, Sox lost, but the Yankees are down 18-1 right now in the eighth, so it's ok, right?)

Vacation summarized

Well, all in all, I have to say it was a fairly decent trip.
Overall.

I'll just do a quick run-down here and then move on with the real life that I got to return home to.

Day one - arrived in Boston, no prob. Went home, said hi to the family, etc etc etc.
Aw, hell, never mind the whole day number thing.
First off, we started with some bad news. My brother and his wife were likely going to arrive very late, if at all. Suffice to say, for the second time in as many years, I'm not going to be an aunt. Not yet anyway. Tears shed, we continue.

We had the usual days of hanging out, enjoyed some tax free clothes shopping, including a nifty Varitek T to add to my collection of Soxwear.

After a few days, we made our way to Cape Cod, in a fierce rain.



That was the best shot I could get from the passenger seat as my Dad drove.

It did clear up for a bit, by a bit, I mean, it didn't rain for three of the days that we were there, while the rest we spent feeling rather like latchkey kids, completing jigsaw puzzles and reading. Thankfully, there was a tv and I was able to watch all the Sox games. God, I love NESN!
Sox did pretty damn spiffy while I was out there. Nice sweeps, nice streaks, only one loss in the twelve days I was out there.

Two days before our departure, my brother and my sister in law (still getting used to calling her that instead of "his wife", don't know why) showed up, so that was a treat. I had spent the last nine days among Polish speakers who tended to forget that my grasp of the language wasn't exactly as keen as those who, say, were born in Poland. With the arrival of Mike & Kelly, there was a lot more conversation for me to partake in, or at least understand. Here they are:



Mike was none too thrilled with the photo, since this was in the morning, and he felt they weren't at there best, but hey, who cares?

What else? Well, not much. That was pretty much it. Good food. Good company. Two walks on the beach, not quite as many as planned, but weather did not cooperate, and the sand was very sinky and hard to walk in. But still.
The last night we were there was the most beautiful. Here's the view from the back porch of where we were staying in Truro. Across the bay is Provincetown, and it's lighthouse, but it's hard to make out.



And there you have it. Back to Lexington on Saturday, back to Chicago on Sunday.
Done and done.

Now back to the Sox game. Schill just gave up a two run shot. dammitt.
But Kapler just got one of them back with a solo of his own.
Gotta go. Gotta focus.

Debriefing pending

At this point, I'm still trying to recover from approximately 2 hours of sleep per night over the last thirteen.
No, it wasn't due to having so much fun, please, I was with my parents, it was due to me sleeping on a couch that was not made for an Amazon.
Let me sleep tonight, for oh, say, twenty hours, then I'll be back with, bit by bit, my "vacation" with the family.

Suffice to say, good to be back.