Get Rocked

In the first game of our summer co-ed league single-elimination playoffs, Red Rock Pub pulled out one of the great all-time come-backs last night. Defense started out rocky, giving up 5 in the first and another 5 in the second. Offensively, our bats weren't weak, but the balls seemed to have a homing device for the opposing players, the runs were scarce. Just just barely sneaking in under the 12-run mercy rule, we entered the seventh down 16-5.

Then the sun came out (really, it did), angels sang (or was that Mary Jo cheering us on from the bench?), and a miracle occurred. Red Rock put up a 13 run seventh, 7 of those runs with 2 out, to put us up by 2. An outstanding defensive bottom of the seventh secured the win.

Man, it doesn't get much more fun than that!

Lash Chevrolet is rude

Our local Chevy dealer, Lash Chevrolet, is staffed with rude and unhelpful employees. I wouldn't buy a vehicle there, or have a vehicle serviced there, no matter what.

This started when I called the service department to ask if there were any known trouble spots I should be on the lookout for on the '03 Silvarado I was going to look at. The guy on the phone made it pretty clear that if I wasn't buying the truck there, he had no interesting in helping me out

A couple weeks ago, I was looking at used trucks on Lash's lot. They had nothing for me at the time, but said they'd look around and let me know if they found anything. They also asked that I call if I found a truck, so they could stop looking for me. (1) I never heard from them. (2) Today when I called the sales department back to let them know I found a truck, I took the opportunity to share politely my experience with the service department. The salesman hung up on me.

Moral of the story:

Never deal with Lash Chevrolet

By the way Coughlin Ford has always been helpful and polite, and has gone out of their way to help me out. Maybe that's why I've bought a truck and a car from them, and why all my Fords are serviced there.

No more sissy truck

Robin never did like our truck. Even though it worked hard, it just wasn't the testosterone infused beast she envisioned a work/farm truck should be. We are sissy truck owners no longer. Last week we bought a new-to-us '03 Chevy Silvarado 3/4 ton, 4 wheel drive, standard cab, long bed truck.

We didn't really want to buy a new truck, but after Robin and Perrin were stranded on the highway with horse in tow (every horse owner's nightmare), our faith in the old F-150 was seriously shaken. Couple that with the fact that (1) the Ford recently violated "Provenzano's axiom of horse trailer towing" - get a new truck at 150,000 miles, (2) the Focus will be paid off in August, and (3) gas prices have depressed full-sized truck prices; and the time was right.

For some reason, I'm feeling the need to name this truck. Something other than "the truck" or "the chevy." And by the way, is it pronounced chevvy, or chivvy? Or is that a function of your address relative to the Mason-Dixon line?

2% Solution

This is a post on a softball statistic you won't see in any record book.

I pitch for 2 slow-pitch softball teams. In one 24 hour period, I was hit 3 times by batted balls - once in the chest (finally there's a bruise - which I deserve), once in the right shin, and once in the left knee.

I got to wondering, what are the odds of that happening? Well, here's the math.

The rubber is 50 feet from home, so the length of the circumference of the quarter-circle between the foul lines is 75 feet. I'm about 1 foot and a half wide, which is 2% of that arc. So, assuming hit balls are evenly distributed around the field, there's a 2% chance one of them comes my way.

Now, softball games are 7 innings. Let's assume that each inning, I face 6 batters: 3 outs, 2 left on, 1 run scored. That's 42 batters per game. Times 2% means I have to deal with a batted ball once per game.

Better get to work on my reaction time (there's stats for that too... less than .4 seconds from bat to rubber).

Maybe I'm getting too old.

Update: in last night's game, the opposing pitcher took a line drive right to the, uh, "legs apex." He managed to protect the important parts.

Get Oriented

Just got back from Madeline's DePaul Freshman Orientation. The more we hear, the more we like this university. We think she'll thrive here. A few highlights.

In the "boy, we're sure glad we got that taken care of" category, Madeline's now on a first-name basis with the local tattoo/piercing shop owner. She was having trouble with her lip ring (don't ask), so Robin took her to the Tattoo Factory to get fixed up. Wouldn't want to send our baby off to college without the essential local contacts, would we?

Going to school in Lincoln Park just might offer a slightly skewed view of the universe. This is a very well-to-do neighborhood. Walk 1 mile east, and you're on the Million Dollar Mile, the 2nd wealthiest neighborhood in the US, behind the upper east side of Manhattan.

View from my seat

Wednesday, the night before orientation, I took in a baseball game at Wrigley. Just my luck, the Reds were in town, so I actually had a rooting interest (though the guy in front of me, who is from the south side, comes to Cubs games just to root for whomever they're playing). Wrigley is very cool. Cubs fans are nuts. The game was good too. Two out in the top of the ninth, Reds down 5-1, load the bases. Brandon Phillips has a full count... one swing and this game is tied! But it's not, Phillips strikes out, the game's over, and the Reds loose. Bummer. I catch a bus, and for $2 I'm dropped a half-block from our motel.

Thursday evening, Robin and I walked to Lake Michigan. We walked past the Nature Museum and the Zoo. Took a little detour around a garden built around a lilly pond. Got to water's edge just as a thunderstorm rolled in. Hung out under the Lake Shore Drive overpass, then headed back to campus.

The drive back wasn't bad, though we didn't get home until about 2am. I imagine it will get easier each time - just like the trip to Knoxville did.