Giants v Braves

April 11, 2010

“The money lies with the RBIs.”
Jeff Kent

We left Russian Hill at 11am; light rain was falling, but there was no wind. We wanted to get to the game early for the ceremonies marking the 10th Anniversary of the opening of PacBell Park. Kirk “Woodie” Reuter will throw out the first pitch, he was the Opening Day starter ten years ago. Barry Bonds, Jeff Kent, J.T. Snow and most of the other members of that team will be in attendance. The Giants give good ceremony.

When we got off the 45 bus, it was very windy and the rain was getting serious. We met Sarah in the Dugout Store for the other important reason to be early: to get our Tim Lincecum wigs.

On into the park and up to the view level, to claim our excellent View Box seats. I got my routine Giants Dog and Harp, but there was no place to go and the wind-blown rain was pelting harder and harder. The only place covered is the concourse and there’s no place to sit. It’s 12:15, game time is 1:05 but there’s no way. The radio says they’re shooting for a 4:00 start. We took a vote: unanimous, we’re outta here.

View from the Promenade Level.

I taped the Masters, so we went home and watched that. Excellent choice. After the Masters, we tuned in the Giants game; it started at 5:15, with no ceremonies. The Giants trailed two-zip into the fourth inning, then 2-1, then 3-2. Lincecum retired after the 7th with 10 Ks and 107 pitches. In the eighth, Panda smacked a 2-run bomb into the Arcade and the Giants ultimately won 6-3. With the final out, it started pouring rain.

Marc eyeing the escalator… its in up-only mode.
Carol deciding if she likes being here.
Nice day, our seats are this way…
Sarah and Carol headed home.

“In all the years we’ve been doing this, this is one of the angriest bays we’ve seen.”
Duane Kuiper, Giants TV play by play guy.

Spring Trip to Reno

…and back It’s a beautiful sunny day and we’re on the road to Reno. We were last there in October; there is more snow now, but thankfully not on the road. (An ominous voice somewhere outside my consciousness says “Just wait, buster.”) Our lunch stop at Jack in the Box. OK, its fast food, but it is fast and unlike other burger joints, it has a broad selection of tasty menu items and it’s cooked when you order. Be nice if they paid some attention to the ambience… not to mention the restrooms.

fish n chips, fish sandwich
This dog loves his air (at 70mph).
Snowmobiling is over – or is about to start – on an early Saturday afternoon.

My mission is to drive Brian to Lovelock NV, about 70 miles east of Reno, to pick up a Tacoma he bought on E-Bay. Carol’s mission is to go shopping while we’re away. Brian has guests – Ken-the-kilt-guy and his wife Leigh – so Carol and I went straight to the Peppermill Sports Book to watch Butler kick K-State butt and West Virginia send Kentucky home.

What could be finer than soggy nachos? Not a good foodie day.
Back at Brian’s place, the Nevada sky at dusk demanded a picture.

SUNDAY

Sunday, Brian dropped Ken and Leigh at the airport and went to his office for a bit of catch-up. Sadly, I missed the drive through the desert, as the Tacoma guy brought the truck to Brian. For a late lunch, I grilled hot-dogs from Fatted Calf served with grilled Acme buns – stuff I brought from SF for the occasion – a step up from Saturday’s fare on the foodie chain. Michigan State led Tennessee by a point with 1.3 seconds to go… the Tennessee half-court heave at the buzzer was UGLY, sealing an MSU win. Duke had no trouble with Baylor, rounding out the Final Four.

Brian made broiled potatoes and carrots to go with grilled sausages. Carol critiqued.

After dinner, we played a game of Homer Simpson CLUE. That was fun (‘cause I won) (Marge in the Nuclear Plant with the necklace). MONDAY First thing Monday, Carol followed me as I took Brian’s Camry for an oil change. B is fixin’ to sell it, since now has a wikkid Toyota Tacoma truck, dark green with a big “Off Road” logo on the back quarter. We went from there to Legends featuring outlet stores for every National Chain you ever heard of. Whoop! But it’s well designed and landscaped, using their one-percent art for sculptures of Nevada State Bird, Flower, Tree and so on. On this day, it was really windy, a portent of things to come. Continue reading “Spring Trip to Reno”