Whatever

Do No Harm

Tonight we watched episode 20 which finishes disc 5, leaving only 4 episodes of Season 1 left. Off island in flashbacks, Jack gets married to a women he saved after a car accident and on island Jack tries to save a Lostie who is injured badly in a plane crash that wasn’t Flight 815. Definitely a 4 hankie episode; the wedding, a new romance blossoms, Boone dies & a baby is born.

If you follow sports even in the slightest you know what happened last night. If you don’t, a quick recap, The FRS were losing last nights ALCS game seven to nothing in the seventh inning with two outs (meaning they only had seven outs left) and they pulled it out winning 8-7 on a two out single in the bottom of the ninth. It was the second largest run deficit overcome in a playoff game. The other one didn’t really count because it happened nearly 80 years ago, so the only people who knew about were baseball statisticians and they had to look it up (and the only reason they looked it was because of this game.)

As I said last night I figured the FRS were out of it in the first inning when they were trailing 2 zip. I handed the remote to my wife in the 4th with them losing five to nothing. I checked just before my pre-bedtime shower and Tampa’s lead was up to seven. After the shower the Red Sox had broken through for 4 runs thanks in the most part to Big Papi’s 3 run homer. It was after 11:00 o’clock and even though my wife asked if I wanted to stay up to watch the end of the game, based on they way they had played tonight and in the series so far, I went to bed. I figured stick a fork in ’em, they’re done.

Today the sports world was all ga-ga over the comeback. There was tons of second guessing of the Rays manager; he should have left the starter in longer or he should have brought in so ‘n’ so to face that batter or whatever. He played it how he played it to get the team to where they are, one victory away from the first World Series in the team’s short and up ’til now, dismal, history. Pretty easy to second guess on the morning after isn’t. And just how many Major League Baseball games have you managed?

There was also plenty of negativity hurled at the fans at the stadium who were leaving after the middle of the seventh. The same went for the folks at home who turned off their TVs and radios (like me.) We were told we need to get off the bandwagon, turn in our Red Sox Nation membership cards and should never be allowed into Fenway Park again. Screw you. I’ll root for the team in the manner that got me here, watching them win and turning off the game if I think they are going to lose.

I wasn’t always able to turn away, but something happened in 2004, against all odds the Red Sox won a World Series. And to do it, they had to come from a 3 games to none deficit to the MFY in the League Championship Series. The fate of the world no longer rested on a victory in a playoff game or series, they had done it and I had reached a zen like level of fandom. If a game ran late I could just go to bed and find out the score in the morning. If they blew a lead and lost there was no more tossing and turning replaying the failure, as my head hit the pillow I was asleep. To quote the Great Guru of Baseball, “(If) It doesn’t happen, so who cares? There’s always next year. It’s not like it’s the end of the world.”

Started down, went up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/08: 383

Blame Me

I sensed it was over right after B.J. Upton hit the three run homer in the third inning. I turned the game off at the end of the 4th with Tampa Bay leading 5 to 0 to watch an old Law & Order rerun on TNT.

There is a comedian (I say comedian, I think he wants to be considered an impersonator, but of the numerous imitations he does, the only one I recognize is George W. Bush, and that is not very good) called Frank Something-or-other who has a show on TBS that is getting relentless promotion during the baseball playoffs on that network (so much so that in an effort to try and take the edge off, they even filmed a commercial with Frank threatening even more promos if we didn’t watch the show or whatever.) So what do you think happened during breaks of L & O on TNT? Right, I got a couple of Frank TV promos…sigh.

I checked in on the baseball game later via the web to see if I was correct in my gut feeling that the FRS were going to lose, hoping against hope that they had had an offensive explosion and I was way wrong. It didn’t happen, they were losing 9 to 1 in the ninth inning. The official Sox web site put the best positive spin on things they could by trumpeting the fact that the FRS had scored a run in the seventh — the Nation rejoices. Who are they fooling, the headline should have just said, “Red Sox Are Road Kill!”

You can blame me for the defeat though, it is all my fault. When I crossed paths with a fellow Red Sox fan (Hi Jerry) at work today I said, “We’re back in Fenway tonight, home cooking and lights-out Lester is on the mound, we can probably go ahead and chalk this one up in the win column.” We are both old-school Sox fans and are more used to having our hearts ripped out in game sevens than this whole World Series Champ thing, so he smiled, shook his head and replied, “I wish.” I knew the feeling, so volunteered, “Yeah, will probably get our asses whooped.”

Damn if it didn’t happen.

Started down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/08: 382

Whatever The Case May Be

Twelve of eighty-two and we learn just how devious Kate is, both on and off the island. The little airplane is a reminder of a person Kate says she loved, and said she killed. We do know that she orchestrated a bank hold up and shoots several people to get the toy plane. A replica of that plane (included in the Kate “action figure”) sits on my mantle right next to the life-size replica of the dingus from the movie Maltese Falcon.

At the Chocolate Festival this past weekend one of the books I picked up Appaloosa by Robert B. Parker. It is no secret that I devour his Spenser novels like a starving man at a Thanksgiving buffet, so I figured I’d at least like the book. I do, plus I have already come across one or two of the scenes from the book in the trailer and if the rest of the movie tracks as well to the book as those bits, this one might be worth seeing in a theater.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sw1XFu-mFVk

Started down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/08: 376

Red Envelope in the Mail

When we got home today and checked the mail there was a familiar red envelope in the box. Upon closer inspection it was a clever advert for the service. Inside were four cards, offering 1 month free trial to Netflix that you would hopefully pass out to your friends and when they signed up you would get a bonus movie shipped to you from your queue.

Sounds cool, but I won’t be passing any out and here is why, when you sign up you need a valid form of payment (most likely a credit card, but I’m sure direct debit from a checking account is an option) and this I understand, but the part I don’t like is that they will automatically start charging that card or whatever if you do not cancel before your month is up. I’m not stupid, I know why they are doing it that way, they are betting you won’t remember to cancel in time and they can charge your account. They are also betting you won’t even see it on your monthly bill and can probably get a couple months of money before you figure out what happened. That just smacks of sleazy.

How about playing fair and using the opt in policy, send a couple three emails after the three week time frame and ask if they would like to continue? We had just recently considered giving someone a gift of Netflix for Christmas, but decided against it for the same reason.

Started down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/08: 360

Press 1 For Incompetence, Press 2 For Frustration

We picked up the cable converter box last night, but I didn’t hook it up until just before leaving for work this morning. I didn’t have time to put the batteries into the remote, but when the TV was tuned to channel 3, I did get a cable channel.

Tonight when we got home from work there was a message from the cable company saying they had a man at my house at 3:15 PM to upgrade my service and I should call back and reschedule. Huh? I didn’t need any upgrade, when I asked for the converter box I told them I wanted it so I could have the digital basic line-up. As the woman handed me the box I also asked did she need to program it or anything (the last couple years this was the procedure) and she said no. So I was mystified as to why they needed to send someone out, until I checked the channel line up, I didn’t have any of the upper channels (which is what I wanted.) Guess I better call them.

I dialed the local number and was greeted by a message stating that the number was no longer in service and I should dial the 1-888 toll free number. I did and it was answered after one ring and I was dumped into voice mail hell. Press 1 if you blah, blah, blah, Press 2 for yadda yadda, Press 3 for whatever, etc. I try 1 and get a secondary menu with no options that I need, press 9 to back up one menu. Try 2, but that leads no where as well. Third time is a charm because I just punch in zero for a customer service representative. Wait, wait, wait while listening for advertisements for their internet service, their phone service and a friendly reminder that on February 19th of 2009 I better have all my TVs hooked to their cable or I’ll be out of luck. The office is less than a mile from my house so just about the time I decide to just unhook the box and take it back, I get a human. Dan takes my info and asks some basic questions: Is the box hooked up? Am I home and in front of it? Do I have any picture? Yes, yes and yes. He says, “Let me send a signal to your box.” “Try a channel above 100. Anything?” No I tell him. “Let’s try again,” he says. “still nothing. He suggests “re-booting” the box. I unplug it, wait 10 seconds and plug it back in. A sequence of lights flicker and I’m in business. Dan comments that he didn’t know why they didn’t do that in the office. I tell him I didn’t think that the woman I was dealing with yesterday in the office was the sharpest crayon in the box.

How come I can set a couple different lists of favorites, but I cannot subtract channels I don’t want to see, or hear, in the case of the music channels?

Started up, went down, back up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/08: 219

Say What?

Our plant is No Smoking inside, has been for years, but apparently some people on the off shifts think it is OK to take a few puffs every now and then in the restrooms. First a simple smoldering cigarette with the international red slash through it stickers were placed on all the bathroom doors. Didn’t totally eliminate the problem. Then they placed some official looking signs that had the word NOTICE on top with the phrases No Smoking, No Eating, & No Drinking in every restroom. I guess that wasn’t totally successful either as now we have some 8-1/2 x 11 laminated sheets of paper tacked to all the bathroom doors that say, “Smoking in unauthorized areas of the plant is prohibited and will result in discipline action.”

I’m no English major, but shouldn’t that be disciplinary action?

I have been trying to have a glass of red wine with dinner for a while now, the antioxidants or whatever are good for heart health (I also read Playboy for the articles.) After a bit of experience I have decided that I like Pinot Noir [PEE-noh NWAHR] the best of all the reds. I am working my way through the varieties at my local grocery store in search of my favorite inexpensive (under $15 a bottle) pinot. The latest one I found has three monkeys on the label in the classic see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil pose and it is called Pinot Evil.

Cute, I thought at first, but the more I analyzed it, shouldn’t the label have just one monkey standing upright with his back to us and stream of er, well, you get the picture…

Started down, went up, back down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/08: 194

Membata…

…is Indonesian for “doubt” or “uncertainty”.

The last episode didn’t actually jump the shark but it did water ski precariously close. The same thing that really derailed National Treasure for me is one of the things that stretched credibility to the breaking point. Ben blows up the “vault” in the Orchid Station so that he can get to the place he needs to be to move the island. He follows a tunnel for a while then has to kick his way through a sheet of ice and starts to climb down a ladder into a room that looks as if it has been sealed for a very long time. A rung of the ladder breaks because the wood is so old it is dry rotted and Ben tumbles to the icy floor. He then gets up, dusts himself off, pulls some matches from his pocket and lights one. He takes the match to a hurricane lantern hanging on a nail, lifts the glass and the wick lights! That Dharma Initiative lamp oil must really be something.

Another little thing that I need someone to explain to me why the lying. Locke convinces Jack who in turn convince the rest of the Oceanic 6 to lie about the whole island experience. They concoct a story about how they were the only survivors to protect the ones they left behind. Why? The island is no longer where it was, Locke moved it (in space or time or both), how are they going to get found?

I loved the wooden wheel thing that Ben had to turn to activate the whatever that would move the island, reminded me of the Wheel of Pain that Conan had to turn as a child slave that made him the strong man he was. Also kind of reminded me of the wheel that the donkey was chained to in the blacksmith’s shop where Will Turner worked. Or maybe the helm of the Black Pearl. Where’d those last two references come from? TDPM was on USA tonight and I would have watched the whole thing too, if Donna hadn’t make me rewatch “There Is No Place Like Home Parts 2 & 3” at around 9:00 PM.

Started down, went up, back down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/08: 182