Separated at Birth: KC Royals Edition

Gavin



KC Royals Hall of Famer, George Brett

Play Ball! (Fall 2007)

Well today marked the beginning of the two-month fall season for baseball here in Pflugerville. He's playing for the Royals (Iola rules!) this time around and has the same coach as in the spring, which is great because he has made a lot of good progress with him so far. Today's first game was against the Cardinals with no sign whatsoever of Pujols, which is a good thing.



There's a slight twist this season, though and you're looking at 'im. Yep, you guessed it. Coming from out behind the scorekeeper's notebook is Coach Ron! Of course, he's the only coach cool enough to wear flip flops. This is the first time Gavin and many of his teammates have played kid pitch, so there's still lots of new rules they are learning. I'd try and teach them but that would be like the blind leading the blind. I muddle my way through somehow as usual. I even bought a book that teaches befuddled parents how to coach baseball.



Gavin playing second base - baseball ready!



Needless to say there weren't too many hits as both teams were just learning how to get the ball into the strike zone. There was a huge difference, though, by the end of the game.



I think Gavin took this base after getting clocked by the ball. He wasn't alone as many of players from both sides took bases after getting beaned by a new pitcher.



One of the most interesting things to watch in this game was the kids learning that you could actually steal. This is the first time they've played with those rules, but it wasn't long until they took to it like a duck in water. By the end of the season when teams will control the ball better it will be a much different story I'm sure and the number of bases stolen will be much smaller.

In the end it was a close game and the Royals lost 10-8. However, considering they've only had three practices so far and several of the kids on Gavin's team hadn't played before, we're looking forward to the improvement they'll all make and ultimately a great learning season!

What on Earth DO You DO? (Pt. 3)

Cats have a mind of their own.

Cats like to tend to their own business, not others.

Cats tend to have a free spirit.

Cats don't come when you call them.

A Product Manager herds cats. Cats like software engineers, or people who write the code. Cats like quality engineers, or people make sure that the code is sound and not likely to accidentally bend the space-time continuum and end the world. Cats like marketing folks, who can sell ketchup popsicles to women in white gloves. Cats like press relations folks, who in a sense, have their own cats to herd. Cats like sales people, who are in every sense of the word, CATS. Your average enterprise software company is full of cats, each doing their own thing...

Suddenly, down the hall, a haggard individual appears with scratches all over his face. Years of scars line his hands and arms. He walks with a bravado and a sense of purpose. His flip flops are dusty and worn in from the countless air miles traveled. His ass is missing large chunks from too many customer conversations about things that didn't go quite as well as originally conceived during the sales cycle. His corporate card is his only weapon out in the cold, harsh realities of enterprise software. He wields it wisely and effectively, always with the company he represents in mind. He alone can tame the cats. And he wouldn't have it any other way.

What on Earth DO You DO? (Pt. 2)

What on Earth DO You DO?

I get this question quite a lot. It's okay - I sometimes ask myself the same thing and ponder why I couldn't have a job like a fireman or even a librarian. At least then the answer would be easy. I weep for my kids on career day, but at least their mother is a teacher and that's always a good one to have.

What do I do? I herd cats. And when I'm not herding cats? I get interviewed.



I was totally taken out of context! I would never say something like that! It's just like the power-hungry press to take what you say and twist it around for their own evil schemes!

(I always wanted to throw that tantrum!)

File Under the Category of "It's My Blog, Not Yours and I'll Post What I Want"

One of the cool (well it WAS cool until today) things about working from home is that I get to remove any orphaned meal remnants from the freezer for lunch. Today I found some greens from God knows when - it was a cool (75 degrees!) rainy day and I was in the mood for comfort. I got the opposite.

Ready for Sports!

We're one week away and counting from non-stop kid sports weekends for about two months. Both Reagan and Gavin have their first games next Saturday. Reagan's playing soccer for her second season and Gavin continues on with Baseball.

For Father's Day I asked for a lens with more "oomph" so I could take better pictures of the kids while they do their thing, whether it's sports or a play, or whatever! Yesterday, our neighbor Alex had his first soccer game, so I whipped out the new lens and practiced taking some action shots. Check these out!



Alex proves that not just Superman can fly.



Moments like this happen so fast on the field that you can't see the intensity in these little kids' eyes. Just look at how physical they get trying to jockey for position.



A quick celebratory hop, skip, and a jump in real-life is captured in a split-second with Alex celebrating a goal.



Gavin and Alex didn't see me snap this quick shot from across the field. They're either talking strategy or about the new Transformers game. (Probably the Transformers...)



This is my favorite shot of the day. I had no idea what I had when I took it because the action happens so quickly on the field. But to see Alex guarding the ball from the entire opposing team is hilarious and also impressive. Again, the photo really captures the spirit and the action on the field, when it real life it happens so fast, that the details seem to get lost.

I Still Hate My Brick (But Life Just Got a Little Better)

I still both hate and resent my brick, AKA the HTC 8525. I'm angry that I have to give up the one true mobile device that brought joy to my little heart. However, my life just got a little better, thanks to Mr. Jobs:



That's right, my name is on one of the first of these babies to roll off the assembly line later this month. It has everything I loved about my iPhone except the phone and the camera. But let's face it, a cell phone camera is a cell phone camera and you expect it to be of lesser quality. And let's also face the facts that I'm a recluse and despise talking on the phone. So, this is perfect! I can't wait to bust out V: The Miniseries on my next overseas flight!

(I still hate MacOS. I had to say that so this wouldn't be classified as a 100% fanboi post for Apple.)

Rhubarb Pie Extraordinaire

I'm not much of a desert guy, but for some reason I've been jonesing for my Mom/Grandma Weseloh's rhubarb pie. At the grocery store today they had some fresh rhubarb so I whipped up a pie. It sure looks good, however it's unclear if it tastes good...



I know there are some of you out there who will say that the lattice isn't really a complete lattice. I recognize that and I'm sure there's some kind of 19th century secret that I haven't mastered yet, but I will. Oh yes, I will and then you'll all be sorry.



MMMMmmmmmmm... pie... A good-looking pie and a hot woman, all in one shot. This picture will be on some fetish website by the end of today.

UPDATE: I'm sure nobody really cares about this but me, but the taste was excellent! However, the texture was a little runny for a custard. Perhaps next time I'll reduce the temperature (so the crust doesn't get any more brown) and cook longer.

Welcome to the Blog-o-sphere!

There are two new blogs out there that are very special to me so I'm linking to them here. Of course, more people probably read their blogs than mine, so it's kinda ironic that I'm linking to THEM. But oh well... Ironic is my middle name. I've known both of these kids, err, this man and this woman for a long time and when I see them all grown up and going to college it makes me feel old (but still virile, just in case you wondered).

Ryan "Then, 2001"

Ryan Cameron: http://www.xanga.com/rtcamero

Soneeg "Then, 2004"

Soneeg Allahverdian: http://www.xanga.com/soneeg

Welcome to the blog-o-sphere!