Day 51

I'm just going to get straight to the awesomosity today. I have told you all how much my baseball team sucks, right? Well, not anymore!

We played a game last night at Jackee Joyner-Kersee center in East St. Louis (not the REAL bad part though, its actually a pretty nice facility, though I don't think anyone has ever even tried to care for the field, it is a bad baseball field, but I digress). We were supposed to play at 6, but the game got moved to 8, I'm not sure why.

We were 2-1 at one point in the season with a bright outlook for the future. Then we lost 17 straight. But last night we played a team that is not a whole lot better, they are 5-15. Our main problem has been hitting the ball. We hit ok, but it always goes right at an opposing player, not good if you want to get on base. I think Babe Ruth said something like, "Hit 'em where they aint." We haven't been doing that so well. Until last night that is.

We were stringing together multiple hits and running the bases well for the first time all season. I was even 2 for 2 with a walk, 1 RBI and a run scored. Not bad, eh? The Million $ Men managed to put up 17 runs to break our 17 game losing streak. We still gave up 6, which is too many, but when you're scoring, it doesn't matter so much.

We even played decent defense last night. Catching fly balls, getting grounders, and not making too many errors. It was a lot of fun for the first time in a while. Totally awesome, hopefully were going to get hot for the playoffs which are coming soon. If you want to see us play, we have a game this Sunday at 3:30 at Ozzie's Sports Complex in St. Peters. Let me know if you want directions to watch us continue our winning streak.

One of the players told me not to mention this, but I am an honest guy. The other team last night only had eight players, but we still hit the ball a bunch and played well, and I'm sure we still would have won, so don't hold it against us, we really needed a win and were going to take it any way we could.

Over the weekend, someone compared my new hairstyle to that of Moby. Jim Barnard not only didn't win the awesome poll, but doesn't believe me. So here is a comparison photo with Moby. Whaddya think? Oh, and here is a funny video of Moby, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog and Eminem at the VMA's a few years back. Pretty Funny. Now the pics:

Moby
Me trying to look like Moby

See you tomorrow!

Day 46

46, oh what to say about 46. I know. Vote on the poll. Click on the ads. Tell your awesome friends about the awesome blog. Comment on the blog. Add up your awesome points and let me know.

I am playing baseball as I think most of you know. I used to play baseball in high school and for 1/6th of my years in college (that's just one year). I used to play 10+ years ago. I currently play less than 3 days ago.

I thought it would be a ton of fun, which it is. I thought I would pitch well, which I have to an extent. Here is what I didn't think. That I would need to get in shape. What, just because I'm gonna throw 100 or so pitches every 10 days or so I should be in some kind of shape? (And I guess I am kind of in a shape, just not in shape.)

So, long story short, my team, not doing so hot this year. This is our team's (Million $ Men) page, and this is the league's (MSBL) page, if you're interested in seeing more about that. In fact, we have lost 16 straight. But hey, if we get hot in the playoffs, anything can happen, right, right? Ok, maybe not, but I gotta keep some hope alive.

Ok, back to topic (like there is a topic). I didn't get in shape and pitched a bunch. My arm hurts. Duh. Well, I had a doctor's visit recently and asked him about my elbow. He said I have Golfer's Elbow (I explained to him, that while I golf, I think pitching a baseball is what caused the issue. Apparently Golfer's Elbow is just the name, there are a lot of things that can cause it, check out what else causes it here.) The doc recommends I stop pitching (we all know that won't happen) or at least get some physical therapy (like I can afford it).

A physical therapist calls me to schedule an appointment. I explain that I am poor, she says, "Let's see what your insurance will cover." It covers up to a $25 co-pay. Like I said, I'm poor. She says, "How about a $5 co-pay?" I say, "When can I come in?"

There are many kinds of treatments available for those that have golfer's elbow and won't quit using it. Basically, I need to ice it several times a day, take I-B-Profen (I can't spell the real word) a few times a day, and stretch regularly. But it won't heal until I quit using it (6 more games). In addition to all this, the therapist says that I should get some medicine called Dexamethasone Phosphate. According to Web MD, it can treat all kinds of stuff.

Anyway, they give it to me using a treatment called transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS). They squirt some meds on a pad thing, then they hook it up via two sticky pads on my arm and shock me. Basically, they are making a negative current go through the pad, through my muscles (boy, that's a long way, what with all those big, hug muscles) and into the damaged tendon. It is pretty awesome. I show up and they do some ultrasound (can't tell if its a boy or girl yet) and then they shock me for a half hour or so.

Physical therapy is awesome. They can help heal all sorts of stuff. And, they totally cut me a deal. I was trying to remember what this therapy was called, but I knew it had to do with negative ions, so I googled negative ion physical therapy. Apparently there are some serious medical breakthroughs happening with this technology. Seriously, you should check out the Google results.

Enough already, physical therapy is awesome, especially when they shock you.

Here is a picture, you better enjoy the stache while it lasts, there's no telling how long it'll be around or what is next.


See you tomorrow!

Day 39

Wow, I still can't believe my persistence at this. Oh, and get your vote in today, should people be my awesomosity?

So, if any of you follow my twitter, you probably already know what I did today, which was totally awesome and today's winner, but first, I will tell you the runner up, which was my activities last night.

Many of you are aware that I am playing on a 25 and up men's baseball league this year. If you didn't know, you do now. I have been pitching (and was woefully unprepared, just ask my elbow). I have also caught and played shortstop (I know, whoda thunk it?). My team is 2-14. We rock. Most of our games have been losses by more than 12-15 runs, which are no fun. But last night, no, last night we truly made a game of it.

We were down 4-2 in the 4th when one of our more powerful hitters hit a 3-run jack, prompting his wife who was in the stands to stand and scream, "That's my husband!". Totally awesome.

I personally had a good night at the plate with a walk, an RBI (my first of the year, I suck at hitting) single, and a sac bunt to put the tying run on second in the last inning. I also played passable defense at short, with just one error.

That was awesome, but what beat it? Golf. Golf is always awesome. Always.

Today we (myself, Alvan Sage from EmbroidMe, and Harold Long with AAA insurance) played The Missouri Bluffs, a beautiful course just off 40 between the Boone bridge and 94. It was a little pricey, but totally worth it. Here, take a look at the 13th (sorry my phone's camera sucks):


I know it's hard to tell, but the fairway is down probably 100 yards on this gorgeous par 5 (I think I parred this hole). This really is a beautiful course.

The most awesome thing of the day was my score though. For the first time ever, I shot under 100. I got a 99 (I didn't say far under 100). I was quite proud of myself. If it weren't for a few totally shanked shots, I would have done much better.

So that's awesome today. I encourage you to go play golf sometime soon. There are plenty of reasonably priced ($20-$30) public courses around, and if you aren't really into the whole "playing 18 holes" thing, go to a driving range, they will even let you borrow clubs if necessary. If that is too much work, go play miniature golf, that is also a ton of fun.

I will be happy to do any of these things with you (including throwing a baseball around), just let me know if you're interested.

Thanks for reading, don't neglect those Google ads, I'm up to $8.01 so far, almost 10% to actually money in my pocket. Here is my picture, taken from that beautiful 13th hole.

Day 26

I can't believe I've made it this far. I couldn't have done it without you, faithful reader. So far 437 people have read my blog total. That's awesome.

On to the awesomosity. There is so much to choose from today. My leading thought coming here this morning was to have it be firefighter's funeral. Ryan Hummert died Monday in the tragedy in Maplewood. You can read more about it here. They say the funeral procession could be five miles long, with firefighters and other emergency service people coming from all over the country. That is awesome.

However, that seems like a bit of a downer, and I don't like downers, especially on this blog, so I have chosen a different awesomosity for today. Rain.

Normally I do not like rain, but the rain yesterday and through the weekend is great for so many reasons. I'll start with yesterday. Did you realize how cool (obviously comparitively, it was still like 80 or so) it was yesterday? My AC didn't run all day and I was very comfortable in my home.

I was supposed to have a baseball game (playing) last night at 9pm in East St. Louis at Jackee-Joyner-Kersee (I have no idea where the dashes go in her name, so I put them everywhere). Needless to say, who wants to be in East St. Louis from 9-11:30 at night? Besides that, I had to get up early yesterday and today, and haven't had a night at home in a while. I've had "The Bank Job" (great Jason Statham movie, but I like most of his stuff) sitting at home for almost a week and haven't had the chance to watch it yet, until last night.

What else is good about rain? Well, this Monday my mother will help me do some weeding in my yard, and more importantly, in my rasberry garden. All this rain will help out with pulling weeds.

Do you want to learn more about rain? Check these out:

Wikipedia (the definitive source for everything)

A kid's page about where rain comes from (much more comfortable conversation for parents than the old, "Where do babies come from?")

So, today, rain is awesome. So is my mother, which is why she is featured in today's picture of the day (also because she was still home when I got here, but she really is awesome!)

See you tomorrow! Don't forget to vote in the poll and leave me a comment!