Three Up, Three Down

I have just learned a whole new meaning to that phrase. Have you ever done something that you know is a bad idea but you just can't help yourself? Just keep going back for more? Ok, no, I'm not talking about drugs, although...just kidding. The last 2 days, I've gone to 3 Mets-Braves games, and all 3 have been equally terrible. On Tuesday, I was lucky enough to see the Mets barely show up to lose twice to the Braves. First, was a makeup game from a rainout in April, so I got to sit in the hot sun for a couple of hours - yes mom, I used sunscreen! (although I missed a spot on my neck). Yet the Mets lost, 6-1. Former Met and currently hated human (by me and many Mets fans) Tom Glavine tried to give the Mets a couple of runs in the first inning but they wanted none of it. The Mets were actually winning, 1-0. That didn't last. They didn't even get another hit until the 9th inning! Not a fun time.

In between games we went back to my friend Patrick's car and tailgated to kill some time. Met a couple of college kids parked next to us. We chatted with them for a while, they were trying to get their grill going and had a tough time of it, it was pretty windy in their defense. Eventually they got it going and after sacrificing a couple of hot dogs (picking up hot dogs off a grill with a spatula is harder than you might think!) they shared their food and beer with us! So, not all Braves fans are bad. After hanging out drinking for a couple of hours, I met up with some other friends for the second game - Matt, Divya, Jason, Tara and Eggbert*, . I also met up with Brian, who was in town for business. He was lucky enough to get some pretty good seats in the lower section. Our seats were in the front row of the upper deck, not bad at all! But...then came the rains. Lots of it. What better way to start a second game of a doubleheader than a 98 minute rain delay???? The second game was pretty bad too. I'm not sure if the Mets knew the game had started, they were on the field, but sometimes I wonder if they were even trying. It wasn't until the 8th inning that they showed up I think, already down 4-0, they managed to make it 4-2. Only to give the Braves 2 runs back in the bottom of the 8th to make it 6-2. Which also turned out to be the final score. As if thats not bad enough, on the last play of the game, arguably the Mets MVP of 2008 so far, Ryan Church got hurt:

Damion Easley grounded into a double play to end the nightcap, but New York right fielder Ryan Church and Braves shortstop Yunel Escobar were hurt on the play. Church, who was on first after a single, tried to break up the double play with a slide. Escobar, racing toward first after he fielded the ball, had his knee collide with Church, who was left with a bloody forehead after it scraped off the dirt. Both Church and Escobar had to be helped off the field. Church was diagnosed with a minor concussion and was taken to Piedmont Hospital. Escobar was limping in the locker room after bruising his right knee.

I will say this, I have HATED Chipper Jones for a long time. But when Church was laying at second base motionless, Chipper was the one calling for the Mets medical staff to come out and stayed right by Church until he got up. So, for one day anyway, I didn't hate Chipper as much as I usually do. But that was a pretty shitty ending to a pretty miserable 11 hours at Turner Field.

But thats not all. Wednesday I went back for more punishment. But this time I brought my secret weapon. My friend Jeanie. Whenever she goes with me, the Mets win. It happened twice last year and once the year before I believe. Those are probably the only wins the Mets have in Atlanta the last few years. We got off to a good start, 1-0. Then it got ugly. In the bottom of the 3rd inning, with one out, Mets left fielder Moises Alou walked off the field. One of the strangest things I've seen. He just left. Of course, in the stands, we've got no clue whats going on. Turns out he had cramps. CRAMPS!!!!! Are you f-ing kidding me??? CRAMPS???? Ughhhhhh. It got worse from there, the Braves went up 11-2, and won 11-4.

So it's been a pretty awful couple of days at Turner Field. And for some reason, I'm going back for more tonight. But, this time I very well may wear a paper bag on my head. It's getting embarrassing!

*-Eggbert is the official name of Jason & Tara's unborn child.

The Week in Review

First things first, Happy Birthday Mom!!!!!

This past Tuesday there were some pretty powerful strong storms around 6am or so. I woke up, turned on the TV to see if I'm supposed to be hiding in a bathroom or something. Luckily, I was perfectly safe in my bed. During the weather reports there were talks of power outages in Kennesaw (where I work). I had the brilliant idea of calling my extension to see if voicemail was working. It was not! A busy signal! I went back to sleep.

About 7:30 I called a coworker (Monica) to get an update. Stuck in traffic, but she'd update me when she got there. Eventually I got word that there was officially no power in the office and that everyone was to go home and check back around noon. I sent an email to my boss and back to sleep I went!

Slept all the way til 9:30! (sarcasm). Then I remembered it was NHL trade deadline day! Which was to be a big deal for the Thrashers. They had several soon to be free agents to trade, including Marian Hossa who is probably the most coveted impending free agent. I was glued to the internet, waiting for the Thrashers to do something when all of a sudden it was after noon already! I had just spoken to another coworker (JOAN!) who said that the power was back but nothing was working. So I stayed on the couch. Ooops! Got an email from the boss asking where I was. No one told me!!!!! Anyways, went to work. After expecting Hossa to get traded to Montreal all along, out of nowhere came the Pittsburgh Penguins. We gave up Hossa and one of my favorites, Pascal Dupuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis for Erik Christensen, Colby Armstrong, a prospect (Angelo Esposito) and a 1st round draft pick in 2008. That's A LOT! Unfortunately they didn't trade any of the other upcoming free agents. Oh well. The Thrashers are now 0-0-3 since the trade. And Hossa is out with an injured knee. Oops!

Wednesday was another wacky day. Oh, I forgot to do my rant on everyone being pregnant. My good friend and coworker, Beth (the one who actually trained me when I first got to Aarons) had her baby on Feb 19 (Claire Elizabeth Robinson - aka - E-Claire). She was a few weeks early. Another coworker, Lakeisha was due before Beth and didn't have her baby until Tuesday (Feb 26 (Stephen Champion Moore). Then on Wednesday, it was my friend Jill's birthday. She was, what looked like about 2 years pregnant. Met up with her at some Italian restaurant called Il Localino. I had no idea what kind of place it was, I just showed up in my Thrashers hoody and jeans. Apparently it's a somewhat fancy place. Oh well, the owner had a good time with us. He actually told me that a few guys from the team are regulars! I'll never understand the lifestyle of spending $100 on a meal, but amongst about 10 of us, we racked up a $700+ bill! Hooray beer! A lot of that was wine, which, luckily I'm not a fan of. It was a good time, Josh (Jill's husband) has some wacky friends. Josh was wearing a crab? hat the whole time. Another girl (Bonnie?) had a Viking hat. Very strange. But it was a fun time.

Thursday I had my first episode of Beth withdrawal. Usually I make her come with me whenever I have to buy anything at lunch. Well, I needed new work-shoes. I'm a guy, what the hell do I know? I had to somehow choose between brown and black shoes. Beth was nowhere to be found. I called Lauren and she talked me into the brown ones - actually, I eventually realized they didn't have the black ones in my size. My newest problem is, they come with light brown and dark brown shoelaces! What do I do? (Seriously, I'm clueless here)

Thursday night was the first Thrashers home game in over 2 weeks. And it was a mess. Traffic was terrible. I got there in time for the traditional pregame 44oz beer. Met up with Pat and Jeremy. I was waiting on Divya with my ticket, but she was stuck in traffic. And it turned out that the tickets that were supposed to be waiting for her never showed up! Matt couldn't get off work til about 6:45. Erica got there right around 7:00 and happened to have an extra ticket. So in with them I went. I had all kinds of friends there. I stayed with Erica and Peter for the first period (in the good seats). My friend Jason was there for "guys' night" so I told them I'd hang out with them for a bit. Went upstairs in between periods, hung out with Jason, Mike, Adam, Seth and some others. With a few minutes left in the 2nd period (and with the Thrashers losing 3-0) I finally heard from Matt, who was apparently sitting nearby. He called and said to come over, he ran into our favorite usher...Millie! So I ran over. I don't remember if I ever mentioned Millie on here, but she's hooked me and Matt up numerous times, including getting us lower level seats for the 3rd period of the all star game. Anyways, Millie had us follow her. Usually this involves going down lots of stairs. Well, not this time. She had us sit in the very last row of the upper deck. In her defense, apparently she said "wait here, I'll be back". Well, she came back, but we wound up staying there the rest of the game. Oh, as an added bonus of sitting in the last row, I had the bright idea of jumping over the back of the seat and landed flat on my ass. Oops. Oh, the Thrashers came back to tie the game, but lost in OT. Like you care.

Friday, Violet Louise Reiter was born (that's Josh & Jill's). That thing was almost 10 pounds!!!!!
Friday night began my Family Guy marathon. I'd managed to avoid Family Guy for years. Everyone said that I would love the show, but I just always thought there is no way it could live up to expectations. Well, it has. Jeremy got a hold of the first two seasons on DVD. Started watching it right away. Love it!

Saturday, me and Matt went to go visit Jill & Josh & Violet in the hospital. We parked at what we thought was the right place. Oops. Walked around a building that seemed like a hospital for a while. Walked through a parking garage for a while. Finally found the front door of what looks like what used to be a hospital? Still not sure but it became obvious we were in the WRONG building. We managed to get directions from a security guard and jumped back in the car and found the right place. The only thing I wonder about this whole baby thing, both Beth & Jill have cats. How do they know their kids aren't gonna be allergic????? (Cats suck)

After the hospital Matt introduced me to this place called Raging Burrito. It was REALLY good but I found out a little later why I think they call it that. Ok, sorry, that was gross. But the burrito was really good. Two words - Pineapple salsa!

That's about it. This week is spring break. Yippee. Doesn't exactly mean the same now that i'm working. All it means is that I don't have to be awake for an 8am class (which I'm consistently 15 minutes late for, hell, I'm consistently 15 minutes late for anything AM related) Any advice is appreciated!

Moving Sucks (2006 version)

First, before I begin my rant, a big thanks to:

Shari, Janice, Jeremy, Joe, Kim, Ric, Tracy, PK and Cintron!!!!! You guys made it a hell of alot better than last time!

Now for the rant. Whats better than waking up at 6:30am on the day you're moving to a HUGE thunderstorm!!! You have GOT to be kidding me right? Well, I went back to sleep and thankfully the storm was gone and not a problem at all. But it definitely provided me with quite a scare. So I go to pick my truck up at UHaul...and apparently I because some girls' bitch!!! I asked to use a couple of those blankets to protect furniture. She says they're $1 each, but there are "a few" in the truck and she'll let me use them for free if I just fold them before returning the truck. So I think thats the greatest deal ever, us jews like free shit! I leave with the truck. When we're about to start loading it, I see why she offered me this deal. There were about 25 damn blankets in there!!!!!!!!!! In the end...I used 1. 1 lousy blanket, I saved $1. At midnight when I was dropping off the truck, I sat in the parking lot folding those damn things. ONE DOLLAR!!!!!!!! What a lazy bitch that chick is!

In the end, the move was not nearly that bad. The only casualty was about 3 broken glasses, which I'm pretty sure were 3 that I've "accidentally" walked out of local bars when they've somehow managed to find their way into my pocket or something. I guess thats Karma.

So, June 30, 2007....who wants to help me move? :)

Just Another Friday night at the Waffle House

So there we were, Friday night, around 2am, where can you get some good late night grub in the ATL? Waffle House! Of course, when you go to Waffle House you get more than mouth watering delicious food, you get entertainment. It never fails. But nothing, and I mean NOTHING can possibly live up to this past Friday night at the waffle house.

So lets set this up. I went to the Braves-Mets game Friday, and for the first time I think EVER, my Mets won (last year the Braves won all 6 times I saw them play the Mets) so it was a big deal. After the game (and after a very entertaining ride back - how's that hangover, PK?) I did what anyone would be jealous of doing on a Friday night...I had my friend Jeremy come by to try and get rid of a virus from my computer!

Anyways, about 1:30am we needed a break - and some food. Waffle House was the obvious pick, but we had no idea just how much entertainment would follow us...

So we get to Waffle House and pick our seat, the first thing I notice was this really old guy in a bright purple shirt and cowboy hat. Right behind him was the perfect table of drunkeness. There was a dude (later I would learn he's from Tallahassee...ughhhh!) with 2 girls. One of the girls obviously forgot a few articles of clothing on her way out that night. Her goods were jumping all over the place...and, as typical guys, we stared, they were definitely worthy of it! Even through the reflection in the window, it was too easy - Waffle House does a good job of keeping their windows clean!. But, I digress. At some point the guy she was sitting with was on his phone and seemed pissed and hung up on someone. Maybe 10 minutes later a car pulls up outside and stops in the middle of the parking lot. A guy gets out and walks in and slams his hands down on the table where the boobs and the pissed off guy were sitting. Pissed off guy takes a swing at the guy (later we would also learn that these two were "best friends"). It was now that the waffle house crew tells them to take it outside...and they DID!!!!!! These two guys went at it for a while outside. Nothing too exciting, alot of rolling around on the ground outside wrestling. While this is going on, another sketchy looking guy comes in and immediately comes over to me and says he loves the Mets - I had my Mets jersey on - although he was wearing a Washington Nationals hat...odd. Anyways, not a minute later, this washington dude is outside trying to break up the fight. Whats the best way to break up a pretty uneventful fight? Where would pulling a gun out rank? Yep...this dude pulled a gun from his pants and fired 3 shots in the air and put the gun right back tucked into his pants like it was no big thing. Meanwhile all of us inside waffle house are sitting there watching as if its an episode of 24 or something. I'm pretty sure its this point where the cops were called. The fight kinda took a few minutes off then and everyone outside left...including our gunman. A few minutes later they started wrestling around again, nothing good really. But, eventually they took their wrestling match elsewhere. Lucky for them, they escaped a good 30 minutes or so before any cop showed up. Gotta love the new found Sandy Springs PD!

As if that wasn't enough for one night, a new set of three come in and sit at the same exact table as our original entertainment. This time we had a VERY drunk girl, a fat friend (all the hot ones have em) and a guy with them. This guy couldn't have possibly wanted to be there any less. Drunk girl kept wanted to come over and sit at our table. But her friend wouldn't let her move, so instead, the two of them started making out...more than once...right in the middle of waffle house still. Awesome.

It took alot to actually leave that place. Its like you're actually at a taping of a Jerry Springer show. Its really hard to look away! But, alas...we left...and about 20 hours later my computer is virus free!!!!!

I know that someone, somewhere out there has a waffle house story that can top that, and I'd love to hear about it!!!!