• A little less scared

    We’re thinking it turned out something less newsworthy than a child abduction happened yesterday. We’re pretty sure a kid plucked off the street by strangers near a school bus stop would get at least a mention on the local news web site. Nothing’s been reported.

    I may try to talk Cheryl into calling the sheriff’s office tomorrow just to make sure (she’s the one in law enforcement), but I think we’ve got one less thing to worry about tonight.

  • I am all that

    I never make predictions. I’m well known in the office as a sports pessimist. I always think my teams are going to lose. It’s easier that way. But I got a little ornery this spring when a couple of my coworkers started the annual bit of Rays bashing (sure to be followed by a large dose of indifference). I did that thing I never do. I made a prediction. (Not that I want to rub it in or anything, but it was March 31st.) I said the Rays would have a winning record this September. They said it was easy to make predictions that no one would remember, so I picked up my friends beloved desk calendar, flipped to my birthday (which is coming up on the 18th – it seemed lucky at the time), and wrote: “The Rays have a winning record – JK.”

    It was a pretty silly thing to do, considering the Rays never won more than 70 games. Sure, folks said the Rays had the best farm system in the majors, along with a nearly unrivaled collection of young talent – but no one was predicting any success for years… if at all, considering they play in the AL East.

    Well, a funny thing happened on the way to the funny farm. The Rays went and made me look like some kind of idiot savant. They’re in a divisional championship race with the Red Sox, a game up after tonight’s walk-off win, and their magic number for clinching a playoff spot is six. Six freakin’ wins and the Rays, who only managed to avoid finishing last in their division once, will be in the playoffs. Man, this has been a fun run.

    Can you believe the Rays are one game away from winning 90 games?

  • Verizon: better than you think we are

    It’s been a while since we dropped the land-line. We’re relying on our cell phones full time. It’s worked out well so far, or until recently when we stopped getting a signal on our block. It’s been pretty infuriating, considering the damn phones work everywhere else. I get a better signal in elevators and stairwells than in my backyard, so I figure it’s not my phone. I’ve done everything Verizon tech support has suggested, short of taking them up on a free new phone… with a new two year contract of course.

    Saying you’ve got a beef with your wireless carrier is like complaining about the refs in sports. None of them are perfect and it’s not like you’ve got any real choice, so what’s the point? Well, at least my in-laws get a signal at our house with AT&T. Yeah, I know. Talk about jumping from the frying pan into the fire. What can I say? At least I’ll get an iPhone out of the switch.

    To tide us over at home until January (when our contract is finally up) we’re giving Skype a try. Three bucks for nationwide calling ain’t bad. It’ll be a bit of a pain calling folks back when incoming calls drop out on the cell phone, but we’re hoping we can put up with it for a few months. Skype is a bit more expensive to receive incoming calls, and we’re not keen on keeping the Mac powered up just to receive calls (or buying a Skype phone just for three months).