Pitcher of Record

HVAC Classes

2009-10-21T21:48:00.000-07:00

When I first started college earlier this year it was all new. I was Homeschooled all my life and never had I been a in a class room situation. As a result I scored 89 and 87 on my first two test in HVAC. (one for Basic Electric and one for Refrigeration Principals.) But after that I took off. I have found it much easier now that I have started interacting with my fellow students in lab. At first I just did what I was required to do and left it at that. I soon learned that I am the most experienced tech in both classes, with my 2 1/2 years in the field. There is one guy who has been working longer but with a bigger company, thus he has been over looked as far as training goes. Everything seems easier when you teach others. I was very happy when my instructor appointed me to help him tech the rest of the class in lab. I think it has given me the confidence I needed to focus more on what I am learning, and then teaching in labs. A lot of people seem to think that everything I am helping them with comes from my field work. But I have found that though the work in the field has help me grasp things better, most of what I use to help my classmates I learn from the teacher first. It is odd, like when I was trying to figure out a problem that was not clear to me, and had me scratching my head, a student came up to me and asked the same question that I was having the problem with. When he asked it I came up with the answer right then and there, seemingly without thinking about it. When I had just spent two minutes stumped on the same problems.
Earlier this afternoon I went over to the AC building after finishing my math class and signed up for an EPA exam. While there I got to see the afternoon class (I am in the night class) be tested on the wiring diagrams that we had been working on for the past month. Out of maybe twelve students one failed badly and four barely past. Out of fifteen in my class how took the test later that night everyone did fairly well, save for one guy who was having trouble, but who, I think got a chance to redo it and I believe he past. Which was good because I had been helping him right before class started. I had also helped a guy who was convinced he was going to fail, but with those last five minutes before we headed into the test I was finally able to get the difference between contactors and fan relays and what they were used for to make since to him. He past with a 100. So in a way I fill proud of the people that I have come to view as my students. That we out did the afternoon guys by about 5-1 with D's or worse is something that I fill in someway responsible for. After all, we have the same teacher...the only difference is that my teacher has help in his night class...He goes it alone in his afternoon class.

Robert L.

Oh Rats.

2009-10-20T12:57:00.000-07:00

As of two seconds ago I moved all (except my last one) of my "My Life as an Attic Rat" post to another file on my computer and deleted all the old ones from this account. It does not mean that I will stop writing them and posting them, it just means that I will be storing the on my PC now and not on the Blog. Also when I deleted them all of the comments made where lost as well. So I wanted to take this time to thank y'all for 1. Subjecting yourselves to reading them, 2. Commenting on them and re commenting on them again and again, 3. For whatever point I forgot.
So here's to you readers, thanks for everything!

Robert L.

College.

2009-10-15T20:29:00.000-07:00

College is not what I had expected it to be. Yes it is time consuming but overall it is easy. The Math class could be past by a monkey, the Computer Science is the most time consuming but easy all the same. My Basic Electric for HVAC and Refrigeration Principles are by far the two fun classes that I have. I did not know that the College that I attend is (as some people have said) one of the top five A/C programs in the nation. There is so much to learn from this program it is amazing. I was told (and it was true five years ago) that I would know more then the instructors in some things with my two and a half years in the field. But five years have changed the program. It is amazing now.
As far as other news go, there has been very little else going on. Another date marking that on which I was born has past. I am now considered to be twenty. (What ever "considered" means...I will leave that to you to decide.) I have started reading some books by Tom Clancy. Though I enjoy them I must also say that they are a little rough around the edges, and could do with some editing. I have only read Tom Clancy's EndWar by Michele Davids completely but am almost done with Without Remorse. EndWar not being part of the main line of books in the Clancy Universe I read first as I waited to get the before mentioned Without Remorse which is the first book chronologically. EndWar I enjoyed a lot. It was short but action packed not at all in the style of Tom Clancy though. However I would still recommend younger people asking their parents before reading EndWar or ANY other of Tom Clancy's works. Also if you would like to read EndWar, I would recommend first playing EndWar the game for X-box 360 or PC. The game was made first and has a lot of story line laid down that the book builds on.
Anyway I need to get to bed. I just thought I would update y'all let you know that I did not get to close to a NLE that I would not be returning from. (see last post.)

Robert L.

A near life experience.

2009-09-07T19:05:00.000-07:00

What is a Near Life Experience (or NLE)? Well it has been defined many different ways. But first we must look at it's better known counterpart Near Death Experience (or NDE). A NDE is when someone comes so close to dieing that, one; they are traumatised to the point that they enjoy the rest of their life a lot more then before. Two: Someone comes so close to dieing that wired things start happening, such as time appears to slow down, and everything is very vivid. Also there is the times when some one dies and before they are revived they see thing, of which I will not get into because it is not important. So besides that last little bit remember what I said about NDE, it will be refer to again.
So then what is NLE? And what are the ways that it has been defined. Here are what a few popular sources had to say on NLE.
1. The GBPT (The Grannies Book of Proper Terms.) A NLE is when someone almost plays that board game where you get married and have kids get jobs and can go to college.
2.From the TBFA. (Terrorist Book of Failed Attempts.) A NALE (a near AFTER life experience) is when you forget to put the detonator on your bomb. Resulting in a NALE and ESAG (Extended Stay At Getmoe*.) (Note: No clue if I spelled that "*" right. I only hope you know what I am talking about.)
3. This one is taken from Pg. 10,347 in the WDPFM (Women's Derogatory Phrases For Men.) "A Near Life Experience occurs when he almost turns off the X-box."

How do I define it you ask? Oh...You did not ask? Well I will tell you anyway. Remember that little spill about NDE? Well bear that in mind for what I am about to tell you.
Have you ever heard it said "To really live you must almost die." The same concept is push forward in a song that goes "Some day I wise you get the chance, to live like you were dieing." Don't ask who wrote it I do not know. It is a country song I think. (where was I...)
Yes, to almost die you must really li...sigh...to really live you must almost die. It is a famous saying so just pretend you know it. So lets go to the old math board shall we...

If this is true that almost dieing produces really living.
AD makes RL
Then we can take our next step. Now let say that AD is equal to a NDE. So...

NDE makes RL.
So now let's add in a "Factor". What if you add a Almost to NDE. That would change things to...
ANDE makes ARL. We can now say that Almost Really Live is equal to Near Life. We can change it to that with out losing context...I think. So...
ANDE makes a NLE. That's Almost Near Death Experience will cause a Near Life Experience.
What do you mean this does not make any sense? Oh...you did not say that either...But you thought it! It will make sense when I apply it to a real word situation. Enter... (bet you did not see this one coming)

THE RETURN OF...MY LIFE AS AN ATTIC RAT.

So it was a hot summer day...(what other type is there around here) it was a normal summer day for south Texas and I had received a text dispatch from my boss early that morning. "Service Call CR 57, A/C not cooling." Well County Road 57 was right down the street so I went over there right away. Upon getting there I went to work. This was easy to figure out what the problem was. The unit was pulling a zero degrees supper heat. Dirty coil, yes sir. In fact I noted that the condenser coil was dirty to. I sold the job there on the spot and went right to work. After cleaning both coils ( I will not go into what all that Intel's, if you want to know ask me in the comments) I prepared to recharge the system. I opened the first valve. The hiss of the trapped freon racing into the vacuum in the lines met my ears letting me now that very thing was working right so far. I inserted my yellow jacket refrigeration ratchet into the hole on the second valve. I turned it once...then twice and then...my world was turned upside down. (it was really just me that was upside down) My vision was gone, engulf in a fog like vapor. My hearing...there was a loud crash and then a high pitch whine and nothing else. Next thing I know I was air born and spinning like a Hamster wheel. I landed on my back and bounce/rolled till I opened my eyes...I was fifteen feet away from where I had been crouching. The burst valve and my tool had both half covered them selves in the dirt when I found them. Some where in between there the old man who lived there found time to walk all the way from the front of his property to the back of the house to help me up. I am not sure how fast he moved, but something tells me he could have stopped to hard boiled an egg on his way and I would have never known the difference.

That is what I call my Almost Near Death Experience. Or as you might recall my Near Life Experience.

Now that you know what a NLE is, leave a comment with your NLE. If you do not have one tell about your ANLE, or AANLE............

Robert L.

P.S. Yes this is a joke do not leave nasty comments about poor math logic and dumb talk.

In V.A.

2009-07-13T17:35:00.000-07:00

Once we arrived in V.A. the fun never stopped. The first day was spent in greeting old friend. One year had changed many of them. Fortunately it was only outward changes, and everyone was the same friend that we had parted with just a year earlier.
The lectures were as they always have been very good. The themes of which as many of you know was on John Calvin, the theologian. Chris Strevel was given the opportunity to speak the most, which was fine by me. Out of all the pastors in the RPCUS, he is one of the few that I am unfamiliar with and was happy for the opportunity to change that.
The Second day came and with it so did the games. Early that morning I downed five opponents in ping-pong as I started my quest for my sixth straight ping-pong title. After that Ultimate Frisbee was started. My friend William G. Anderson introduced me to Stewart Orr right before we got started. I soon realized that he was a valuable teammate as well as friend. I cannot remember how the first game went as far as the details go, I do know that Stewart and I dominated enough that we were selected for team captains in the second game. I won the toss and got to pick first, which started the end. With some great D from my teammates and some lapses in coverage by Stewart's team, we rolled over them with a 5-1 win. The third game I appointed the two oldest of the group to be team captain's in hope that Stewart and I would be on the same team again. No such luck. We were the first two picked. This time however Stewart and his team blasted me and mine 4-1 as we called the game due to the large deficit the one team faced and the lack of energy left in the players. Sometime between the first and last full day there was one game played that took the top for most well fought game that year. I was late to join, and was disappointed again when I found that I was being put on the losing team. Not that I minded the fact that they were losing, it was that again Stewart was on the other team. Which was why my team was losing. However things were made better by the fact that William Anderson was on my team, which had just given up a third point with out scoring one. The tide turned when another person joined (I do not remember his name) he was fresh and in his place we traded on of the other players who had been playing for awhile to the winning team. With two new fresh players on our team we turned things around. We answered their three point with two of our own before Andrew connected with Stewart for a 4-2 lead. However my team found a second wind and for what seemed thirty minutes of hard playing by both teams, my team put up two more points. We were all knotted up at four. At last it seemed like the marathon game had ended on a little flare thrown to the corner of the end zone by our team after a long drive had brought us with in feet of the goal. However the catch was made with one foot out of bounds. The longest game that I had ever played of Ultimate Frisbee would continue. Not long however, as the other team, now warn out from playing longer then I and a few of my teammates had, made a bad pass that was blocked only a quarter of the way down the field. Two passes later I found myself with the Frisbee and a small shot at hitting William near the end zone. There was one player that stood between us, and as hard as I tried to get a perfect pass off I failed and air mailed the Frisbee. However it could not have worked better. The Frisbee tipped a branch and change from what was a air mail throw while it was over the covering man, to a perfect strike to William. And between him and the lone man in the end zone...no one. An easy toss made us the come from behind winners.
Finally on the last full day Stewart and were on the same team again, for the first time since we had started that first game. And we gave everyone enough reason not to want to let us be on the same team again. 5-0, a complete shout out. However in an attempt to balance the teams, they traded both of us to the team that had just been blasted 5-0. I was surprised but happy. The good news was William was on that team. So for the first time the three of us were going to be on the same team. The bad news was Stewart had to leave for singing practice. The three of us never were on the same team. That last game started out bad. Within three minutes the score was 3-0, we were losing. It seemed as though Stewart and I maybe were to the reason for the 5-0 win in the last game. Ten minutes later however, a whole nother story as we were set dead even at 3-3. We were forced to tie it up again at 4-4 and end the game with an amazing one handed catch from a throw that had started half way back across the field. 5-4 was the final as my team pulled out another come from behind win. After that last game I found Stewart and told him he had mist a great game. He said, "I know, I have been told that. More then once already." Word traveled faster then I had thought...
The Dancing was fun as always, I learned one new dance that I like very well...I will for go the trouble of trying to explain it. Maybe one day one of my sisters will post a video of it, and I will post a link to their sites. Besides that there is not much to say about dancing, it is not like sports where you can go on and on about things my reader(s) (I know at least one person reads the whole thing.) care little about. So that when I get to the dancing I am out of things to say...What a let down I am sure. But what more needs be said then it was fun.

One last note. And yes it has to do with sports. Congrats to Isac Johnson, for holding a lead on me late into a ping-pong game. And then after falling behind at the end, coming back and knotting it up at 20-20. However he fell short 22-20. I went 11-0 in ping-pong this year and took home my sixth ping-pong championship title, and third title without a loss.
Players lost too in V.A. and the win to loss ratio that for those years against those players.
1st year, Pastor Johnson. 2-1 record overall.
2nd year, Mr.Candler. 3-3 record overall. (note: I have beaten Mr.candler all seven times I have played him since.)
4th year, Tommy. 2-1 record overall.

Robert L.

Travels to a far off land.

2009-07-06T17:15:00.000-07:00

As most of y'all know me and my family, minus my brother and mother, traveled to V.A. about a week ago. It is a trip that has been made by members of our family for the past several years, since 2004 to be precise. But to start this story I will have to take you a year further back, to the 2008 trip. That time it was my two sisters and my brother who made the trip. My brother was still driving the first leg of our journey when the car started acting up. A sort of sputtering and choking fill to the way it was running. We made it all the way up to Houston before it broke down. This was the first time that we had ever broken down (in my memory, so the time when I was one does not count) on a trip. Triple A came to the rescue within ten minutes, however the toe truck could only hold one other person. So Calvin (my brother) went with the man driving the truck as me and my sisters headed for the closest donuts shop. In Gods mercy the mechanic shop was only a block from where we broke down. So Calvin walked back to where we were and took us to the shop where we began our first wait. Again mercy was shown to us, as the men who worked on the car stayed late to get us on the road again.

Late that night I was driving, as we were pushing hard to make up lost time. Around 11:45 or so I looked down and my thermometer. It was hovering right above the little red line on the wrong side of the meter. After an hour of driving with the heater turned on to full blast and the windows down trying to cool the engine down, we finally made it to a hotel. Next morning we found a mechanic shop and tried checking our selves in. But they were booked. That story repeated two or three times before we found one. But even then they were booked as well. However the owner of the shop felt so bad for the sorry lot of Texans that had just walked into his shop, that he did something unexpected. He came out of his two year retirement from being a mechanic and fixed our car himself. He got us back on the road after only two hours, for which we were and still are grateful. The first time we broke down it turned out to be the fuel pump that had gone bad. The second and final time was the thermostat in the radiator that had went out. It was 1:30 am when I pulled that car into the parking lot at Bluefield Collage for the family conference. We had mist the first night of it.

One year later and two week ago. We were about an hour and a half from home when the van started filling with the smell of gasoline. Upon getting out and inspecting the damage I found that we were leaking gas very bad. My father turned us around and we headed back south for about twenty minutes before reaching a gas station where we tried to find a mechanic who could fix the problem. Only thing was, I had to work earlier that day so we left home at 5:30 P.M. which of course means that all the shops are closed. however we were saved yet again. We got a hold of a mechanic on wheels and gave him directions on how to find us. He soon found the problem after he arrived and with the right tools fix us up and had on the road after only a hour or so lost. Skipping forward. When we left Tazwell V.A. and started home the last thing on our minds was worrying about having car trouble. I mean we already had on breakdown this trip, and two last year...but that is what we ended up doing from V.A. to T.X. after we left, the sound of small part of tire hitting the undercarriage of our van motivated us to pull over. Again I inspected and found that the driver side rear tire had started to came undone. However we pushed on. From state to state, we moved closer to home and the hope that the tire would hold became more and more of a reality. However we never found out. The passenger side rear tire blowout before the driver side. No problem...all we had to do was replace it with the spare tire. Big problem...one of the nuts was striped. Try as we would nothing work in getting it off. Triple A said it would take them an hour and forty five minutes to get to us. So we found a cow pasture and sat down under some trees and waited for our rescue. It came...an hour and thirty minutes early. Not Triple A but a man who had a socket set. He found a socket that almost fit and with the help of a hammer we had, he went to work. It ended up reshaping the nut down to the size of the socket. Again, for the fourth time in two years we were saved, by the kindness of complete strangers. We fixed the other tire at the next town.

Another post will follow highlighting the time that was spent at the Family Conference. featuring new and old friends, good fellowship, fun dancing, and some of the best competition in sports.

Robert L.

Update.

2009-05-23T12:02:00.000-07:00

Not much has happened as of late. Thus the long time between my post. And even now not much has happened. Work has been steady, it is heating up down here (which means 95-100 degrees, anything less is not all that hot) but that only means work will be getting more busy. The Houston Astros have been standing firm. Not letting them selves get in a large hole early this season that would make their yearly comeback at the end of the season a hard task. Last Thursday we played Halo with the East again. This time Mr.East and Calvin joined in. The first game was played minus Rebecca though. So we divided the teams up as best as we could. Mr.East, Calvin and Jay on team red. For my team mates I got Daniel and Savannah. The map we played was Cold Storage. At first things seemed to be going even as we where tied at 10. However halfway through the teens it was apparent that the red team was slowly building a lead. However things turned. By the time blue team was closing in on the 50 point mark we had built a 9 point lead. I though it was going to be easy to finish off the reds. However before the final five points could be scored by the blues, the reds turned things around again and tied us up at 48. I had just fallen to give them their 48th point. While I was waiting for my timer to count down for my respawn so I could get back into the fight, the game was showing me the moves of one of my teammates (Savannah). During which time I wittiness her kill and get killed by Jay. 49 to 49. The next team to score would win. I respawned and moved out for the kill. However on my radar I saw two red dots appear close to me. I desperately looked around for them expecting them to be around any corner. I soon realized that they where both a level above me. Without going into to much strategy I will just say I was in a bad spot. However, else where on the map while I played cat and mouse with the two foes that could pounce down on me and anytime, my teammate, Daniel engaged and killed the remaining foe that was not on my radar. 50 to 49 final. We play five or six other games, two infections (of which I won one, a first) a Juggernaut which was really called nijanaught. And then we played two or three more team slayers. Of which the blue team won all but the last one. (When Rebecca joined she was placed on the red team for all the other games.)
We also took a trip to Dallas last week. Just me and my three siblings. But besides that not much else has gone down around here.

Robert L.

Halo.

2009-05-03T15:53:00.000-07:00

The other day I played Halo 3 over X-box live with some good friends of ours the East. I had been anticipating playing with them for the past couple of days ever since we had started planning the match. My littlest sister joined me on my side, and on the East side Jay, Savannah and Daniel set up shop. The first game we played was a team slayer, with Rebecca (my littlest sister) and I on a team against the East. Much to my surprise we won the first game. Jay then won an infection match we played, we then changed up the teams for a team slayer match again. This time Daniel and I won against Jay and the girls. Jay won another infection match easily. I then won a Juggernaut round by the skin of my teeth as jay was only a few shy of winning him self. Again Jay dominated in an infection game. Finally we added a twist to the Team Slayer. Jay and I were on a team against the younger three...the catch was we could only use pistols, the other could use any gun they chose. Needless to say it took a long time...but in the end Jay and came out on top.

Ping-Pong moved to 21st.

2009-04-19T22:14:00.001-07:00

The ping-pong match that I spoke of in my last post has been moved to Tue. of this week. I will post the results of the matches, and give a "short" run down of each game.

Nothing else of interest as of late to report on the blog. Baseball is now in finishing it's second week, with little to report on that side. With such a long season the games right now do not mean a lot to most people. So I will try to avoid mentioning it on the blog for as long as I can.

Robert L.

Call to paddles!

2009-04-13T19:50:00.000-07:00

This week the "Table of Pain" will heat up as Pastor Otis and I take on a father-son team that Pastor Otis meet while playing tennis. Pastor Otis invited them over to the church to play ping-pong and then deiced to call me in so we can play doubles. The scouting reports on the father and son are not what I would call complete, but they are clear. These guys are good. That is all that I was told by Pastor Otis. In preparation for the showdown if dusted off the table at my house and played with my brother this evening. Right now it looks as though the match will take place on Friday. Hopefully this will spur us on to start playing tournaments again...anyway I just thought I would post about something other then baseball for once this month.

Robert L.

This date in baseball History. 2

2009-04-09T18:29:00.000-07:00

1965

In the opening ceremonies of the Astrodome, 24 astronauts threw 24 ceremonial first pitches as the Colt 45's become the Houston Astros and begin playing 'Eighth Wonder of the World'. Mickey Mantle hits the first indoor homer ever in an exhibition game with the Astros hosting the Yankees. President Lyndon Johnson was supposed to throw out the first pitch but arrived late.

In memory of Nick Adenhart.

2009-04-09T17:46:00.000-07:00

Nick was only 22 years old. Link. (Commercial may proceed clip.)

This date in baseball History.

2009-04-08T19:27:00.000-07:00

At the Astrodome, the Astros and Dodgers play baseball's first game on synthetic grass. Thanks to the Monsanto chemical company, who proposed using an experimental playing surface of nylon grass, the plan to play on an all-dirt field, necessitated by the need to paint the dome's glass panes to reduce the glare which prevented natural grass from growing, was alleviated by the use of 'Astro Turf'. Find out more at this link.

And Now...The Moment we've all Been Waiting for!!!

2009-04-06T15:02:00.000-07:00

Opening Day!
Granted, the Braves and the defending Champion Phillies played last night, with the Braves downing the Phillies 4-1. But for the Houston Astros and me...Baseball starts tonight. Cubs at Astros, Zambrano vs. Oswalt, Jeremy against Robert. It is all here...the makings of a good season, with only twenty-nine teams standing between that good season and another so-so season. We have 162 games to go before the eight best* teams face off for a chance to be called "World Chamions". Stay tuned for the outcome...and get off the edge of your seat, its bad for the chair.

Robert L.

"Fire up the crowd! Here comes the Astros..."

2009-04-03T14:44:00.000-07:00

Last night me and my two sisters along with a friend from our church went to Whataburger field, home of the Corpus Christi Hooks, to see them host their major league affiliate, the Houston Astros. This was a spring training game so it did not mean any thing as far as standings go.
The Astros flew in all the way from Florida to play the Hooks, for just one game. And what was great was that they all came. Even the starting pitchers and relief pitchers that would not pitch in the game came with the club. The Astros scored first on a wild pitch, and added another run the next inning. By the fifth inning the Astros started bringing in their second string. And after the sixth they took out the starting pitcher. And as fate would have it the Astros had three non-major league pitchers scheduled to pitch in relief that night some of them being former Hooks players. The first one came in and gave up a two run shot to start the inning, which tied the game. He then proceeded to give up another run to make the score 3-2. The Astros' hitter showed off their major league ability when they pulled off two hit and runs in the next inning and put up a three spot to go back on top by two. Then they brought in the other minor league pitcher. He did the best out of the three relief pitchers the Astros trotted out, he only gave up a solo shot. He had to get a double play with the bases loaded to get out of the inning however. The Astors sent out the third and final pitcher for the botten of the ninth. Two batters later and we had a walk-off on our hands.

Robert L.

P.S. Hope any none Baseball people or baseball haters where able to understand that...In fact I hope even you baseball followers understood that.

An unclassic finesh.

2009-03-23T16:49:00.001-07:00

The Calvary never rode in. Team U.S.A. had their Classic run end last night when they fell in a single elimination game to Japan. Hard fought all the way through the classic they were one of three teams that were left standing when they lost to the defending champions. The next Classic will be held in four years...I am already looking forward to it.

On a further note Japan will match up against Korea in the finals. Which brings me to the quote of the year. "The two greatest rivalries in the World Baseball Classic are, the Japan vs Korea rivalry and the U.S.A. vs the World rivalry."

Robert L.

A Blast From the Past.

2009-03-18T12:36:00.001-07:00

Three years ago I sat out in my father's home office, watching the computer screen. On was the game-day feed from MLB.com of the U.S.A. vs Mexico game in the World Baseball Classic. Roger Clemens had pitched in that game for the U.S.A. and had only given up two runs. Problem was the U.S.A. batters had only managed one run. However the U.S.A. were coming back it seemed. The ninth inning had come, Johnny Damon was on first base, and Vernon Wells was at the plate. I think we had a runner on third or second, or maybe we had just lost a runner in a fielders choice. I cannot recall but it looked like things may have been coming together for us. When the animated pitch on the screen finished in the strike zone as a blue dot meaning that the ball had been put in play, my heat beat doubled. I waited for the computer to update and tell me what the result of the ball being put in play was. Finally the words "In-play out(s) recorded" came up. That meant we would be down to one out, the U.S.A. had just one more chance to come back and beat Mexico to advance, and by doing so bump the soon to be Classic Champions Japan out of the World Baseball Classic. But then words appeared on my screen as a further update. "V. Wells grounds to second baseman (someone) to shortstop (someone) J. Damon out, to first basemen (someone) V. Wells out. Doubleplay. The U.S.A. would not have another chance. It was over, we were out.

Three years later.

I sat out in my father's home office, watching the computer screen. On was the game-day feed from MLB.com of the U.S.A. vs Porto Rico game in the World Baseball Classic. Ted Lilly had pitched for the U.S.A. that night, and given up three runs. The team from Porto Rico had added two more runs one of which had just been put up against Johnathan Broxton in the top of the ninth. That run was big for the Porto Rico team seeing as the U.S.A. had only pushed three runs across all game. Now Porto Rico had a two run lead. Again we were in the bottom of the ninth. Derrek Jeter had just flied out to the right fielder and the runner from second advanced. This was it, I had been here three year ago. A ground ball could end the game, and the U.S.A. would go home again with a loss. Every second seemed like a minute. J. Jollins would walk. Minutes seemed like hours. K. Yukalis would have to face a new relief pitcher as Fernando Cabrera. Fernando Cabrera found his command lacking however against the batter he was brought in to face. K. Yukalis was walk which forced in a run the score to 5-4. And David Wright came to the plate. Know what had happened three years earlier. What was going to happen this time. A homerun like Joe Carter? A single like Luis Gonzalez? A error like Bill Buckner? Or a doubleplay...like Vernon Wells? Wright's at bat. (Commercial may proceed clip.)

The World Baseball Classic.

2009-03-15T14:53:00.000-07:00

Pool A. Korea won Pool A with a 3-1 record after they beat rival Japan 1-0 in the final game of the round, Japan also advanced with a 2-1 record. China and Chinese Taipei were eliminated with 1-2 and 0-2 records.
Pool B. Cuba won Pool B with a 3-0 record. The runner up was Mexico with a 2-2 record. (Mexico was in three mercy-rule games with a 1-2 record in those games.) Australia and Republic of South Africa were eliminated with 1-2 and 0-2 records.
Pool C. Venezuela won Pool C after beating Team U.S.A. 5-3 in the final game of the pool, after both teams had already advanced. Venezuela had a 3-1 record with a mercy-rule lose to the U.S.A. who had beat them in the second game of the pool. Team U.S.A. advanced with a 2-1 record. Canada and Italy were eliminated with 0-2 and 1-2 records.
Pool D. Porto Rico won Pool D with a 3-0 record. The Netherlands were the Runner-up with a 2-2 record. (The Netherlands two wins both came in huge upsets over the Dominican Republic.) Dominican Republic and Panama were eliminated with 1-2 and 0-2 records.

Robert L.

Double Dutch!

2009-03-11T09:24:00.000-07:00

Two post ago I said something that I would like to retract. I said that the Netherlands beating the Dominican Republic, 3-2 in the first game they played was most likely the biggest upset of the Classic. Last night I was proved wrong. That game was only half of the upset. The same two teams played each other again, and the result was even more fantastic then the first one. The Netherlands, a team that has hardly any MLB players on it, if any at all. Against a team that has a former A.L. MVP, a cleanup hitter from a team that has won two World Series from 2004-2007, two of the fastest players at the top of their order, and many, many more stars. And for 11 inning the two teams that are so far separated in "talent" remained scoreless. That ended how every when in the top of the 11th, Jose Reyes, (Mets) scored from first when an error was committed by the Netherlands. This put the Dominican Republic up 1-0, and only needing three outs to avenge them selves on the Netherlands (The Dutch). However the Dutch found a way to get men on base. And the rest would fall in place for them. An RBI single brought in the run the tied the game, at 1-1. And with two outs in the 11th and the Dominicans only needing one more out to go to the 12th where they would have a chance to go up on the Dutch again, but an error by the first basemen after a failed pick off attempted that went wide and move the winning run 90 feet away from home, bought the Dutch another upset of the Dominican team. Watch the Comeback!

We move on.

2009-03-09T17:01:00.001-07:00

Team U.S.A. will advance to the second round. After pounding the stuffing out of Venezuela 15-6 in a mercy-rule shorten game. The U.S.A. will now wait to either play Venezuela again, or the winner of the Italy vs Canada game. (Right now Italy is up 3-0 in the 4th)
Other news would be that our rivals to the south, the Mexican team got pounded by the boy down under. The Australians surprised the team from Mexico early and late. In the first World Baseball Classic, back in 2006, the Australians only scored four runs in the three games they played. This time they scored three run before making an out. This game also had the Mercy-rule invoked.

I will post the results of the first round of play after everything is in.

Robert L.

World Baseball Classic.

2009-03-07T16:33:00.000-08:00

The World Baseball Classic started today for the U.S.A. as they played their first game of the tournament today. Already some of the other teams have played a few of their games. Of note, the Chinese Taipei team has been eliminated after losing their first two games. Japan has already clinched a second round spot after routing Korea, a team that had upset them twice in the first Classic played back in 2006. Earlier today the upset of the Classic may have taken place. The Netherlands, "The Dutch" beat the Dominican Republic 3-2. You can equate that to a AA team beating the Red Sox.
Then our team played. Though the Canadians scored first to take a 1-0 lead, and again to take another lead after we had tied it at 1-1. The U.S.A. would hit a solo homer in the fourth to tie again, and then McCann (Braves)would hit a two run shot later that inning to put the U.S.A. up for good. However Canada would push it to 4-3, and then again 6-5, after another two run homer had the U.S.A. up 6-3. The U.S.A. would end up dropping the Canadians into the loser bracket, where they will need to win their next two games to advance. Both teams are waiting to see who they will play, based on who wins the Italian, Venezuela game.

Robert L.

Find out more about the World Baseball Classic

The 7th...Just remember that date.

2009-02-28T20:59:00.001-08:00

On the 7th day of this upcoming month there will be something for us as a nation to look forward to. The U.S.A. will be put to the test once more. And only a small group of men wearing our uniforms will stand between victory, or shameful defeat. That small band of men, will stand by them selves against the world. I ask only one thing from you! Support these men! Tell your friends, family and anyone else you may meet to support them. They are...Team U.S.A.

Watch Team U.S.A. play their first game on the 7th against our rivals to the north, the Canadians!
Watch the World Baseball Classic! Don't miss it!
"I live for this."

Robert L.

Spring Training Is starting!!!

2009-02-24T19:54:00.001-08:00

It is finally here...The start of thirty some odd meaningless games before the real season starts. Do you know what that means? It means I won't miss one of them! That's right I listen to them all on the radio. Spring Training Is starting!!! Get ready world! Here comes Baseball!

Robert L.

P.S. Do not forget to cheer your countries team in the World Baseball Classic.

No I am not a Red Sox fan...

2009-02-07T20:32:00.000-08:00

Here is something I found funny and thought that y'all might enjoy it. That means you Jeremy.

The Answer

2009-01-29T18:16:00.000-08:00

Okay...I said I knew two of my readers should know the answer to the question I asked in the first comment one my post called "Rosters". Neither of them have seen the question I am guessing. So here is the answer for the rest of you who were waiting for it. (that would be no one) And for those of you who had forgotten about it, and are sick of my baseball post...(that would be everyone)...here it is anyway.

Click here

Joey Devine was the pitcher that gave up Chris Burke's homer in the bottom of the 18th inning, sending the Astros to the NLCS for the second stright year. Six games later they were in the World Series.

Rosters

2009-01-25T15:41:00.001-08:00

Here are the Team U.S.A. World Baseball Classic Roster. Jon Lackey no longer seems to be on it. And I know a few players that are still on the roster have dropped out.

Robert L.

The latest poll.

2009-01-19T15:05:00.000-08:00

In the latest poll on my blog, I ask my readers to vote for their favorite tool. Much to my disappointment, my favorite tool did not receive the winning votes. Here are the final totals, and a picture of each tool.

The hammer came in first place with 50% of the votes. (4 of 8).
A hammer is used to drive nails into wood. However though this is it's most popular use it is also commonly used for demolition. It is said that if you use more then three strokes with this rugged tool while driving a nail, you are considered a rookie with the hammer.
Screwdriver came in second with 2 votes.
The screwdriver is often used for more then what it was meant for when it was first thought of. Besides the obvious driving of screws, it also is used as a small crowbar. This is a very common use for it now day, because we use drill to drive screws more often then not. Even if we can use a screwdriver.
Tap measure only got one vote.
The tap measure is a tool that cannot be lived with out. Or if it were you would not live very long. There is no end to it's use when it comes to making something straight and square.
DK1 only one person voted for my favorite tool. I would sit here and sing the praises of this kindred spirit of mine...if it were not for the fact that I was the one who voted for it.
The DK1, though not as slick or sharp as her sister the DK6S, she is still a very reliable and easy to use Duct Knife. This one pictured was my first DK and has sense been retired. It is also the only tool pictured here that is really mine. I could not bring my self to post pictures of my real hammer, screwdrivers, or tap measure, for the reason that they are just too ugly. After a year or two of being used, they have become...a little less then stealer.

Robert L.

Get ready to playball!

2009-01-14T13:10:00.000-08:00

"True to his word, Padres pitcher Jake Peavy has agreed to play for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic in March." WBC.com

Joining Jon Lackey and very good friend Roy Oswalt in the rotation for team U.S.A is Jake Peavy. There was talk that Roy and Jake might play on the same team this season, as the Astros were interested in treading for him from the Padres. But the deal fell through, and now they will both settle with playing for their country. Roy, when he heard that his good friend Jake Peavy may be coming to the Astros, told his GM that he would be willing to re-work his contract if it would help bring in better players. But it was going to take more then a smaller salary to get Jake Peavy over to the Astros. The Padres wanted a lot in return for the ace and the Astros did not have what they wanted. So Padres held on to him. Last year Peavy bested Roy Owsalt in the season opener at PETCO Park, not only with his arm but with his bat. But for now they will be teammates, and savor every moment of it.
Jake Peavy pitch for team U.S.A in the 2006 World Baseball Classic. He made two starts for them, beating Mexico in the opener, and pitching the first part of the game against Japan, a game that the U.S.A. won in the bottom of the ninth.
Jon Lackey is not a stranger to playing against other nations teams. He was part of the All-Start squad that went to Japan to play their All-Stars, the year after the Japan team had won the first World Baseball Classic. The U.S. All-Stars beat the Japan All-Stars five Games to none.

Robert L.

WBC

2009-01-12T17:28:00.001-08:00

Great news! Roy Oswalt is going to pitch for the U.S.A in the World Baseball Classic!

Comment Promises.

2009-01-11T15:12:00.000-08:00

I promised that I would post about the twelve things that can go wrong when putting up Christmas lights, after I had posted the twelve things that go wrong while getting your lights to work. But I never got around to it as things got busy. I guess I will save it for next Christmas season. I am sure no one is that disappointed. I made the last one kind of long and will try to make the second one shorter.
I had also said in a comment on my post "Of the Games" that I would make a post about some single ping pong matches that were played, in order to rectify a misrepresentation of a players skills due to the one bad night they were having on the table, of which night I made my post of. So the player informed me that they had not been filling well that night thus the reason they did not do so good. And so I said that this post would follow. So with out any further babbling here are the records that proves the player in question to be an able player.

The top four players the night of my post were Myself at 21, Johanna at 16 or 18 (she went in earlier then the rest of us), Calvin at 12 or something like that, and Sierra at 9. That was the problem. Sierra is known as the second best Texas Tornado player among us. So the fact that the only time I gave the finals in one of my post, was the only time she was not in second, might have been a tad unfair. But she made up for it in single play later. After I had played Mr.Candler I had Sierra play him. She had been teasing him every time made a mistake, say things like "Dad how could you do that!" and so on and so fourth. So I figured a little humbling would not hurt. Mr.Candler is the only person to have beaten me more then once while playing for the V.A. title at the Family Conference. We split the games 2-2, but I held a doubles tie breaker over him. I really wanted to play a fifth game but we never got around to it. Anyway, that was all history, and even though I have beaten him the last six of eight games we have played, I still think of him as the second best player that I have played against. So it came as a surprise when his daughter beat him. I then sent in Calvin to see what he could do against her. And for the first 15 points I thought the buck was going to have to stop with me. But with the score in her favor 9-6 and momentum clearly on her side things fell apart. Calvin hit one good slam. It rattled her enough that he picked up several more points. It was not till the score was 18-12 did she regain focus and start playing like she had for the last game and a half. But it was too late. Final there was 21-14. Then later that night, the highlight of her ping pong career took place! With midnight approaching she held a 11-9 lead over her closest competitor in Texas Tornado. In eight head to head matches she had won six of them against him, and with it she had tie breaker over him. But after he pulled within one there was only one thing left to do. Making it to the finals herself she faced off with the would be tier. She beat him regaining a two game lead over him. But over the next four rounds she failed to make a finals appearance, getting knocked out late in each round. The second place player did win however. Making it to the finals three times but only managing two wins out of it. That was enough to tie them at 12-12. everyone agreed that this would be the last round. All she had to do was win the round or have him not win it. She still held the tie breaker over him with head to head wins. One by one player dropped out of the last round. The final four, the last three and finally the finals them selves. The tie breaker meant nothing now, she had made it but so had he. The winner would take all. *battlefield music starts playing here* Just across from her stood the player that had been neck and neck with her all night. Now was the moment of truth. Now all the chips were on the table! This is what makes legends! The man and the moment were about to meet! And...she lost but it was close. *Music stops suddenly here with a trumpet striking a wrong note*

Robert L.

Are you ready?

2009-01-02T13:40:00.000-08:00

We are looking for some revenge. It does not matter whether we were ready last year or not. We are the U.S.A. we win...and do not forgive. But we will forget. The World Baseball Classic that was played back in 2006 is forgotten. We are ready for this years match. No one will stand in our way. Here we come world! The U.S.A. is back!
Here are the highlights of '06.

Of the Games.

2008-12-30T11:15:00.000-08:00

It has been a busy week. With little work and lots of play. Two Sundays ago our friends the Candlers came down from Illinois. When they come down it means it is ping pong season. This time it was not different in the least bit. On Monday we heated things up after I got home from having lunch and a business meeting with my boss and co-worker. We started it off with Texas Tornado, and we played that till they had to leave for Brownsville later that day. The following Saturday they came back, and we hardly skipped a beat. Frisbee was the order of that day. We played the first game of Frisbee, in the middle of the day, it was hot, and hot...did I mention that it was hot? Anyway we were burnt out before we had even reached the half way point in the game. After our second water break, both teams were tied at 3-3 and we deiced to play to 4. We finished up with our water break, and went back to the game. The rest of the game only lasted 30 seconds. Sierra started by throwing a fade out to Lena towards the left, and seconds latter she connected with a pass to me in the end-zone to end the game. It was rather anti-climatic. We went back to our house and after a little X-box we were recovered, and set up the Volleyball net. Some more friends came over, and joined in the game. We played a total of three games of Volleyball before moving on. The team that I was on won the first two matches, but took a crushing loss in the third game. The sun was lower in the sky now and we set out to play Frisbee again. This time we had more players, as my brother in-law had joined us along with our other friends.
Now I am not going to blame it on the fact that our team had a disadvantage in size, or that about half of them had never played the game before but...we were crushed. Flat out killed. 7-0. It was not even a near run thing.
Again we turned to ping pong...Yes! Texas Tornado was played till the rest of the guest had to leave late that night. At which point a challenge for a rematch between my older brother Calvin with Josiah Candler against each of their younger siblings. Two year back now we had played each other with those same teams and the younger siblings had won 2-1 in a best of three set. This time Josiah asked for a single game elimination. And that is what his sister and I gave him and Calvin. 21-11 final.
Yesterday we played Volleyball again, this time at the beach. Mr.Candler, Calvin, Johanna (my younger sister), and Rebecca (My youngest sister), against Josiah, Sierra, Lena and myself. We lost after we tied them up at game point. Final 16-14. Frisbee followed, and we kept the same teams. At the break, my team, or rather the team that I was on, was down, 4-3. But Lena found herself in the end zone three times in the second half holding the Frisbee. I through for three Touchdowns as well, while Josiah and Sierra both through and received Touchdowns respectively as we won 7-5. We finished up by playing Texas Tornado last night again...after several hours of X-box. Hehe...I think I have hooked the Candlers on it. The finals for Texas Tornado is as follows.
Rebecca 1.
Lena 3.
Josiah 5.
Sierra 9.
Calvin 11.
Johanna 16.
Robert L. 21.

Needless to say I am worn out...and beat.

End post.

Robert L.

I got your back!

2008-12-22T16:17:00.000-08:00

Our pastor's son from G.A. came down this weekend to stay through the holiday. It is tradition that we play paintball every time he comes down and we did not break the streak. We brought in some new recruits as well. W.Daniels and K.Burk joined us. They are some of the newest members of our church. G.Rogers was also going to play for the first time but he had a job dropped on him for Saturday so he had to miss. But overall we had six players. K.Burk, W.Daniels, D.Otis, B.Otis, my brother and my self. We were going to play three on three, but when we got to our battlefield, we found it already in use. Eight other paintball players were just about to rape things up when we showed up. The "Battlefield" was and old abandon cotton gen. It is by far the coolest place I have ever played at. When we showed up however the players that had been playing before decided to stay if we wanted more players for our game. We were glad for the extra people, we knew that it would be rather lack luster with only three on three. We agreed and the teams were slit up.
We stuck together as the six of us went up against six of them. Sounds fair? Well they had been playing at this place every weekend for the past year or so. We were on their home turf. It was rough. The first game started and we all split our own ways. Two to the left, two down the middle, two to the right. I had played here before so I moved quickly up along a trench I knew of, staying under cover to the right side. At the end of the trench I got up and ran for the bunker. I got behind it without drawing fire. Moments later I felt a hand on my shoulder and W.Daniels said "I got your back." A three count later and I took off for the next bunker as W.Daniels put down covering fire. We had already spotted two foes and W.Daniels had one pined down. The other one was on the move by the time I had stopped. Three shots later from my M98 and we had a one to nothing lead as the target was hit. W.Daniels then asked for covering fire as he moved up. I did so and he made it safely. We spotted one more of the enemy moving far out to the right in tall grass. W.Daniels asked me to continue the covering fire and he moved up again. And then I blow it. The man in the tall grass could not get a shot at my teammate but the guy who had been pined down before could. He started fire at W.Daniels' feet that were out of cover. However that gave me a chance at the man's head that was fire at W.Daniels. I guest that it would take longer for our foe to hit my guy's feet, then it would take for me to hit my target's head. I was wrong. There was a bush that had small branches hanging over into my line of shot. My paintballs broke on them and never got close enough to make the other guy pull his head down. He hit my man in the foot, and he was out.
I had used my own man as bate so I could get a shot at a foe and I had failed. I could have shouted out a warning to my man, to pull his feet in but I did not. Now I had two foes to deal with. However that changed. I started taking fire from my left, where I thought my men were. I moved and the guy in the tall grass saw my. He started opening fire on me so that I could not raise my head to see where his two other teammates were moving to. But they did not have to move to get me. A shot from the other guy in the grass came through a crack in the bunker and hit my leg. Later I learned why I had been flanked when I got back to my base. Three others besides W.Daniels of my team had been taken out already. That left one other guy and he followed us soon after. In the end, we lost 6-1.
We avenged ourselves in the next game. I started by moving into the tall grass that my former foe had been in. I was some what separated from the rest of my men, with the closet being my fellow Ghost Squad member, my brother. It was not long before I had crawled on my stomach so that I had a good shot at my first target. My M98 did all the talking and she only needed two shots to conclude the conversation. However I was then in turn fired upon. The grass parted around my head as shots mist me, coming from a man that was taking cover behind a small bush. I crawled backwards as fast as I could. A shot glanced off my shoulder, but upon my inspection it had not burst, thus I was still alive. I roll behind a large bush, which turned the tables on the man that I was having a fire fight with. I found a nice hole to shoot from, so that my shots would not break on the branches. I put 10 shots into the other mans bush before he called out "hit".
By the time I fineshed working my way around to the main battlefield, my team had cleaned up on the rest of them. My old buddy W.Daniels and B.Otis, (our two military guys) were still standing. We won 6-3.
I sat out the next round so B.Otis could use my gun, as his had stopped working. I finished by playing the final round as we were out numbered five to four. We lost that one, 4-1. I got the only kill, and added a death to my total, to end the day with, 4 kills and 2 deaths. I was proud of that, as I was playing at the other teams home filed. Overall we did okay.

Later we played basketball that evening, and that was not so pretty. I was fifth string in those games. And it showed. I made one shot in three games, and only tried three times. But I did have the most steals, I just never had the ball past my way so I could take more shots. But then the other players on my team were better options, to get the ball to. The team I was on won all three games, but I had very little to do point wise with that. By the way, did I ever mention that I do not like basketball. :)

Robert L.

P.S. I know I promised another Christmas post, but that will come later.

Lights. Lots of lights.

2008-12-15T13:34:00.000-08:00

How many of y'all put up Christmas lights? I do not mean just on your tree, but on your house, or on the bushes out side. We do. Every year for as long as I can remember. We also reuse our lights every year. If you have every reused your lights before, you know what that means. Every year the lights need to be repaired, fix, but at almost any coast not replaced. This year we got a lucky break and bought some new lights, rather then fixing the same lights that we had patched up, rewired, rigged and beat into working condition for us the past ten years. For y'all that have never had the joys of fixing lights, I will give you a quick run down of what it is like.
1. You get down the lights from your attic or storage place. (Please note, if you are a A/C tech and work in attics a lot, you are now the favorite person to do this job.)
2. You unpack the lights and separate them from each other.
3. You pick up the first one and plug it in. It turns on.
4. You smile and say "So far so good." reach to unplug them and put it in the good pile, when you bump the lights and half of them blank out.
5. You find the lose bulb and wiggle, flick it, press it tilll it is in tight. The lights turn back on.
6. You plug in the next set. Only two out of three sections work. You sigh. But then you see the problem. A bulb is broken. This will be easy. You change the bulb, it works.
7. The next string of lights work. Good. You do not say anything like you did the first time, as you know the lights will hear you and stop working. You throw this set into the working pile before they have a chance to break.
8. The fourth string does not work. Only one section out of the three are working. No shaky bulbs that you can tell, nor are there any broken bulbs. Time to grind.
9. You pull out every non-working light from front to back, checking it to see if it is the bad link. It is a three hundred sting of light, with the sections divided up into three of one hundred each. You get lucky and find the bad bulb on the 11th light. One of the two small wires from the bulb is broken. You do not know how this happens every year, but it does. You replace it and the ten light behind you and the eighty nine lights in front turn on. Not to bad...Yet.
10. Two of the three sections of the lights are now on. But if you remember from #8 there is still one more that is out. You go to one end of the dead lights, and start pulling them out again. The lights are tight in there and you pinch your fingers often. By the 15th light your fingers are throbbing. By the 25th you have small blisters on your finger tips. By the 50th light the blister have fallen off and the is tinder skin exposed to these harsh conditions. By the 75th light you find the problem, at last! Another wire brake. You replace it. And stare in disbelief. There more then on problem. You try sucking on your fingers as you glare and the dumb lights.
11. You move on to 85th, and are still mad. 95th, and you cannot fill your fingers anymore so you do not care. 100th! And there is nothing wrong with it. You do not know what to think or say. You sit for fifteen minutes and say nothing. You do nothing. You just stare.
12. Then you start back at the beginning trying to find one you may have missed. You get to light number 33, and as you pull it out, a small wire falls out of the socket. You realized that you had broken it as you put it back in the first time when you checked it. You replace it. It works, the last one hundred lights turn on. You are done. Time to put the lights up on the house. You sigh. and suck you fingers.

To be continued in "The Twelve Things that Goes Wrong While Putting up the Lights."

Sports clip

2008-12-07T18:21:00.000-08:00

Here is a video clip that is pretty cool. Click here.

Current pictures.

2008-11-14T09:33:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures of well...Me. I was asked the other day to post "updated pictures" of my self. I did not think that was going to be hard. But then there was the fact that I did not have any current pictures of my self.

Robert clears the flat to his left.
Robert moves up and makes sure the flat to the right is clear.

Robert slides into cover to avoid hostel fire.Robert looks at the camera and says..."This is stupid...It is just me and you out here, taking pictures so I can post them on my blog."

Robert gets the sign from his catcher (the camera).
Robert comes out of his motion to deliver the pitch.

Well that was so bad. As I said I did not have any pictures on this computer that was resent, so I had to update some pictures. Instead of posting paintball pictures from two years ago, I just geared up and remade the pictures to be current. Same with the baseball pictures.

Delta.

2008-11-07T14:17:00.000-08:00

I am not sure how many times I have said it. But I will say it again. There is no telling what I might be doing on any given day at work. Sure most of the time it is A/C work...but then...there are those days when I find myself putting up Christmas lights, playing billiard or watching TV at my boss' house because we are in rain delay. Or it could be that I am painting a house, boarding up a house for a hurricane, mowing grass so on and so forth. But those things all have one thing in common. They have nothing to do with Air Conditioning work.
This time however, it was a side affect of doing my work. I needed to do this before being able to even start on my job today. Here is the setting. It is early in the morning. It had rained at the job site the night before. It is a new construction house that we had started on the day before. So far so good, what is not good is that since it is a new construction house, guess how many people are living there right now. That is right, zero. Now how do I get in. Both the front and the back doors are locked. So I try each window. No go. That is fine I know what to do, this is not the first time something like this has happened. I call my boss and ask him to call the builder, and have him open the house. At most ten minutes of waiting, and I will be in and working. My boss calls back. There is no chance that the builder can make it out to the site for at least an hour and a half. I am instructed to try anything I can to get in, short of damaging the house. Like cutting down walls or breaking windows. My boss suggested using a credit card to open the door. Does that really work? Well no harm in trying. I tried the front door first. It had a good sill on it. I could get the card in, but I was not sure what I was really supposed to be doing. I gave up. I was about to head back to my truck when I remembered a conversation I over heard the day before. What had the builder said??? "This back door does not stay closed all the way. You need to fix it." The Carpenter assured him it would not be any trouble, he could fix it without a problem. But that was late yesterday. The carpenter had to have left just minutes later. Could he have fixed the door so that it would shut before he left? did he have time? I had already tried it and it was locked, but was it shut tight. That was the question. I went to the back again, and pushed on the door. It move back about an inch and a half. It was still lose, but it was also still locked. I pulled out a card from my wallet. This time selecting something other then a credit card. I tried sliding it up. I tried sliding it down. I tried moving it back and forth. I tried a combination of the three. No go again. I tried one more time. I am not sure what I did, but... *Slick* *Click* *Swing*. The door opened.
So on this day I did do A/C work. But I also picked a door lock with a card. And I thought that was something you only could do in the movies.
Here is the card I used.

The day did not end there. When my co-worker, was cutting off the cap to the 7/8 copper line of the coil, things took a turn for the worst. Coils have pressure in them from the manufacture so that when we install it we know if there is a leak. You can cut the 7/8 line (what he did) or unscrew the 3/8 line nut (it is twice as slow, it is also happens to be the way I do it.) we now will be able to tell if there is a leak already in the coil. If pressure is released then there is not a leak and we are good to go ahead and install it. Most of the time when someone cuts the 7/8 line it only makes a small hole, and the pressure is released gradually. Then you just finish cutting the cap off and your done. But then from time to time that does not happen. This time it did not. The already weakened cap did not spring the small hole and leak out slowly. The hole thing popped, and the cap became a bullet. It busted the side of my co-workers lip open and shot down and hit the wall above my head. But it did not stop there. When the wall did not give way to it's high speeds, it turn around and came after me. I had heard it pop, and heard it hit the wall. But it was not till it zipped past my ear that I even had time to look up and the sound of it popping. Good thing to. If it was moving any slower, I would have had time to look up at the noise and turn my head, right into the path of the missile.
My co-worker finished with the copper and then, had to go home. His lips had swollen so that he was having problems talking. Not to mention the taste of blood in your mouth can drive anyone trying to work insane. I stayed and tyred to finish. But in the end I ran out of supplies and my boss told me to call it a day.

Here is the cap that became a missile.

Towards the split in the big wagon gate.

2008-11-05T15:51:00.000-08:00

Hear is a run down of what as happened as of late.
The Phillies beat my Rays in five games to win the World Series.
Work has picked back up, and I am busy. Now that we have dropped two of our employees during the time that we were slow, things are really hectic.
We had a Reformation party the other night. It was a lot of fun as we played games long into the night. We played a game called "Bulls Eye Washers" which is similar to horse shoes. I bought the game some months ago, which in the end payed dividends as I had practice with the set for some time. There were at least three other people that had played one form or another of the game. But the games they had played were all different enough that I was able to keep my edge in the rounds I played in.
Barrak Obama won the election. This can have several ramifications for third party voter like myself. 1. Democrats hate us for our opposition to them. 2. Republicans hate us for not voting for their liberal candidate McCain. 3. Republicans will learn not to put forward such a liberal candidate, that would compromise our morals to vote for him. And insteed run a man that has real values.
The Republicans had eight years to show us that they were worth our vote. They failed. We lost more rights under Bush then we did under any president dating back to 1860-1865. Then after that what do they do...They run someone else out there that is even more liberal then Bush.
My message to the Republicans. Give us a real candidate that we can vote for with out selling our souls to the devil in four years.
My message to Obama. Hit me with your best shot. You have four years to do your damage, then if the Republicans have learned anything your out! This country, with Gods help, can survive you for four years.
God help us.

Robert L.

Houston.

2008-10-25T11:53:00.000-07:00

Thursday Oct. 23, 2008. I left to Houston for a business trip along with one co-worker and my boss. It had been slow for the past two weeks in the A/C business and my boss had sold a job up in Houston. We would not have done the job for any other reason save for the lack of business here in Corpus Christi. We left around 1:00 PM Thursday after doing a real quick job for our new construction builders that we work with. That would end up being costly, as we arrived in Houston at rush hour. And we were heading towards the north side of Houston. As for you people that do not know, Corpus Christi in below Houston. So we were coming from the south. Thus we ended up going straight through Houston, from one side to the other. And as for those of you who have been/lived in Houston, you know that we could have done better for our selves going around Houston. In the end we got to the house around 6:30 PM. However we did the outdoor unit that evening, to give us a head start for the next day.
We stayed at the Marriott, and the next morning went to work early. It was a little rough, as the unit was a gas furnace in an attic. Those are always the hardest. But this one was easier then most, as it had a lot of room in the attic. It took us six hours in all to get the job finished. Compared to the nine hours that we spent on the road. Overall it worked out rather well.

Robert L.

Here we Go!

2008-10-19T20:52:00.000-07:00

"Ground Ball to Second! Iwamura has it! Rays are going to the World Series!"
Yes they are! The Rays beat the Red Sox 3-1 tonight, with pitching, and just enough runs. It was amazing!

Robert L.

Second tag.

2008-10-18T13:35:00.000-07:00

Alright now I have been tagged twice. As for everyone that I tagged before you will have to scroll down to the next post to find out the rules. But now on to this one.

1.What's your favorite movie? I do not really have one. But I like the movie Cromwell a lot.
2.What did you have for breakfast this morning? Breakfast Pizza.
3.How good are you at ping-pong? Well I've won five straight titles at the Family Conference in Bluefield V.A. And am second only to my pastor at my church. I think that puts me somewhere above so-so.

And I have already tagged everyone that I know so I am punting. No tags.

Tagged.

2008-10-15T19:38:00.000-07:00

Well it had to happen sooner or later. I would get tagged in the end, one way or the other. Thank you Jessica! :) Now I need to post six things that I have learned in the past month. And then tag six other people. So here we go.

1. I have learned how to diagnose a circuit board failure on a AUX363624 Goodmen airhandler.
2. I have learned how to play an instrument. (It is called the X-box 360.)
3. I have learned how to deal with customers when my boss is not around. (And believe me, when a customer thinks he is right, there is only one way to change his mind. Show him he is not. Telling him does not work.)
4. I have learned a lot about the stock market.
5. I have learned not to post comments on pink blogs. (Hannah.)
6. And that I am not any good at story writing, and am about to scrap the past two years of it.

Okay, now for the people I am going to tag.

1. Yeoryia.
2. Jay East.
3. Jennifer Marks.
4. Josiah Candler.
5. Joahnna Martinez.
6. Lauren East.

Robert L.D.

It is time for your MLB update!

2008-10-09T12:24:00.001-07:00

The Dodgers swept the Cubs out of the playoffs, as the Cubs repeated last year’s postseason performance. They did not kick the bucket, but rather as it has been put, "The Cubs kick the ball." (All right let me explain to y'all that did not get that. In baseball when an error is committed it is referred to in reference of the fielder as "he kick (or booted) the ball. And in game two, which was the pivotal game of the set, all four Cub in-fielders Booted/kicked the ball.) But all that matter is that the Cubs are out. Yes!
The same fate for the Brewers awaited them in the long run. They went down 0-2 in the first two games but won the 3rd. That set up game 4. In which that good for nothing commissioner of baseball throw out the ceremonial first pitch. And then stayed to watch his beloved Brewers get the fire beat out of them by the Phillies. Yes!
The Rays went up 2-0 against the White Sox and were not affected by the loss in game 3. They came right back and put the White Sox away till April. Yes!
But then the Angles... Down 0-2 to the Red Sox, they pulled together and won a very hard fought game 3. It would not make a difference in the long run. As they would loss in the Bottom of the 9th on a base hit by the Red Sox. Red Sox advance. No!

The Dodgers and Phillies start Game 1 of the NLCS tonight. Followed by the Red Sox at the Rays going head to head in the ALCS Fri. Don't miss it!

Robert L.D.

A perfect day.

2008-10-08T14:41:00.000-07:00

Today is a day that has been remember by many over the years. Oct. 8. Most people celebrate it, and a few disdain it. But either way you look at it, there is something spacial about. No matter what side you are on. It was something that only happened once. And what accrued that Oct. 8 will sound down the corridors of history! And on that day, Oct 8, The man and the hour were about to meet. See it here. (If the link did not work, please read about it on the comments. Thank you.)

This is nice.

2008-10-06T16:05:00.000-07:00

Hay y'all. Take my test that I have up it is at the top of the page you cannot miss it. I was not sure if it was going to work so I did not put up anything hard. At least for the first four Questions. My sibling should get the top spots for sure. I took the test already just to see if it worked and purposefully made only a fifty. That way the person that gets the most answers right will have their name on top, instead of mine.
Also I have two new songs on my playlist.

Update.

2008-10-03T20:17:00.000-07:00

Three out of four postseason sets are going the way I want them to. As y'all already know the Twins lost to the White Sox in the 163 game of the season. It is hard when you play that many games to be watching come Oct. and the playoffs. But that has left me free to pull for the Rays. And they have responded. Beating up on the White Sox in the First two games. They only need to win three to advance to the next round. Other sets such as the Dodgers at the Cubs has gone the Dodgers' way in the first two games, and the Phillies have gone up on the Brewers 2-0. The one that is going against me so far is the Angles and Red Sox. The Red Sox won the first game and right now have a 5-2 lead in the second game. Thus the Baseball update comes to an end.

I will try to think of something to post that is not baseball next time. I know that a lot of y'all are being patient while I carry on in this baseball high.

Robert L.

It is Over.

2008-09-28T15:51:00.000-07:00

Sat. night the Astros won. However so did the Brewers. It left the Astros 3 1/2 games back with two games to go. And that is where the Astros will stay for the rest of the year. Our season is over and now I need to find a new team to cheer for this October. Go Tampa Bay Rays!

My thoughts on your Votes.

2008-09-26T09:05:00.001-07:00

This is a post on the last two polls that I had up on my blog. The first one "If you were joining a Medieval army, what would you like to be?" Well two of y'all went with horsemen and two for the archers and just one for the swordsmen. I was not surprised that the spearmen did not get a vote. Seeing as though the spearman's main purpose was to kill the horse that the rider was on, and I know for the most part that the followers of my blog love horses. I am not sure who voted swordsmen...It was kind of a surprise. Archers as I suspected was also a favorite pick.
However the second poll was not so popular. To which I have two words. "GOOGLE IT!" "What is Bobby Thomson's famous three run homer call?" The shot heard around the world. As much as I do not like the Giants, I must say that this is one of my favorite moments in baseball history.
http://mlb.mlb.com/media/player/mp_tpl_3_1.jsp?w=/library/open/moments/bbm_51reg_100351_bknnyg_350.wmv&vid=7808&pid=gen_video&cid=mlb&v=2
This is a link to the recap of that moment, for any of y'all that are interested. You may have to download an advanced video setting but it should not take to long.

Here we go Astros!

2008-09-22T17:07:00.000-07:00

The Astros are four games back and have just seven games left. The good news is that the Mets who the Stros are trailing have four straight games against the Cubs, one of the best teams in baseball (this year). Between the Mets and the Astros are the Brewers, who have been free falling in the standings for a long time now. More good news is that the Astros have six "easy" home games against the Reds and Braves, followed however if it is necessary, by a signal game against the before mentioned Cubs. Right now with the way things are looking the best we can hope for would be a tie with the Mets and or the Brewers by the end of the season. I am not sure what happens if there is a three way tie, but if only two of us are tied we get to play one of the most fascinating games in baseball. A one game playoff. Winner takes all the loser go's home. The Astros have only ever been tied at the end of a season for a playoff spot once before. With three games left to the season the Stros held a three game lead over the Dodgers. All they had to do was win one game or the Dodgers to lose one. As it turned out the Astros would be swept in the last three games. But there would have been hope still if the Dodgers lost just one game. Unfortunately the Astros were playing the Dodgers in the last three games so as they lost the Dodgers won. And so they were tied. However this game 163 (it is called that because there is 162 in a season) was not going to be another Dodger win. The Astros pitcher shut them down as the Astros escaped a late season melt down and made it the post season.
But now I have left topic and will not be able to get back on it now that I have made this post to long.

Playing with toys!

2008-09-20T16:09:00.000-07:00

We have all played with them. Some of us played with guns and rubber snakes, others played with with plastic horses and dolls, but when it comes down to it we all played with toys. And in some of my reader cases, it may be that they still do play with toys. And after today so do I. I will not go into all the detail on how it came down to it, but as it turned out I ended up being put in charge of watching three young boys for about four hours today. I no longer have most of the toys that I played with when I was their age so for a while I was stump as to what I was going to do to entertain them. Fortunately I still had my Hot wheels sets from the old days. My brother and my younger sisters all once raced Hot Wheels together. For a time it was all that we would do, day in and day out. However I found that the track, that I had stored up in the attic over the years, were in fact all bent and warped by the heat. So I drove down to the store real quick and picked up 10 sticks of track and three new cars for the boys to use. It worked. The boys were so taken with the racing that I hardly had to do a thing at all. But do you think I did nothing? Nope. I was racing my old cars right next to their new cars. I had just as much fun as they did playing with those cars. However I think I had fun for other reasons then when I played years ago. Back then I played to have fun, win and make memories. Today I played to remember the fun memories I had made with my siblings, along time ago. I enjoyed the memory of having fun just as much as I had enjoyed the racing of the cars years ago while making those memories.

Do you get it?

2008-09-17T12:52:00.000-07:00

A man is woken up in the middle of the night by his wife.
"Honey? If I died would you remarry?"
"What?" He asked half asleep. She repeats the question. And this time he gets it. "What type of question is that at 2:00 A.M.?" But when asked a third time he answers the question. "Well I am still young... I guess I might." A few seconds later he is asked another question.
"Honey? If you remarry would you let your new wife wear my cloths?" He groans and put his pillow over his head. But his wife ask him again. So he answers.
"I guess there would not be any reason to spend more money on new cloths, so...yes." He almost falls asleep again when he hears his wife again.
"Honey? Just one more question. Would you let her drive my sports car?"
"NO!" He answered.
"But why? If you let her wear my cloths why not drive my car?"
"That just it. If she was already wearing your cloths, she could not drive your car."
"Hows that?" She asked puzzled.
"Because she could not drive in a straight jacket."

Wrigley Field North - better known as Milwaukee’s Miller Park.

2008-09-14T16:18:00.000-07:00

Somebody at the Commissioner's office must really not like the Astros. After having our games canceled at home they decided to move three of the two games to a "neutral" park. That is fine in and of it's self. But maybe some where like the Rangers park, or the Twins and even the Diamondbacks home parks would work. But no! They moved us to Wrigley Field North - better known as Milwaukee’s Miller Park. Wrigley Field being the home park of the Cubs the team we just so happen to be playing. Wrigley Field is just 90 miles away from Miller Park. It will be packed with Cub fans. And Home feild advantage is very important for those of y'all how don't know. I cannot help but think Bud Sileg had something to do with it. He being the commissioner of the MLB, was even before that owner of the Milwaukee Brewers. It is the Brewers and the Phillies that we (the Astros) are trailing, and if the Cubs hammer us at Wrigley Field North (Miller Park), then we will be less of a threat to the Brewers playoff hopes. The Brewers would be left to deal with the Phillies on their own, with two games left to a four games set they started over the weekend against the Phillies. Thing are looking a bit better for the Brewers. That was till they drooped the first game today against the Phillies. Oh well. That is my conspiracy theory for the day, that Bud Sileg and the Commissioner's office are trying to set up the Playoff hunt.

Robert L.

Strike three!

2008-09-13T15:23:00.000-07:00

Ike swings and misses! Well at least he failed to get us. Not one drop of rain! Not even a gust of wind. Calm, that is the only thing that I can say about the weather, save for the fact that it is hot. It is a good thing that we never got the parts to put the wood up on the windows. Other wise we would still be looking at a lot of work we need to undo.

Robert L.

Four straight, three back and two "Down".

2008-09-11T20:34:00.001-07:00

The Astros completed a four game sweep of the Pirates, putting them just three games back of the Brewers who fell to the Phillies 6-3. The bad news however is that the first two games against the Cubs (12th-13th) have been postponed due to Ike.

Oswalt #44 flips the ball to Berkman #17 from his knees after diving to the ground for the force out at first base. Berkman congratulates Oswalt on his second straight complete game shutout. In which he faced only 27 batters. Outstanding!

The Astros high five each other as the final Pirate returns to his dugout after grounding into a game ending double play.

Astros!

2008-09-11T13:07:00.000-07:00

The Astros won there fifth straight game overall and third straight against the Pirates Wed. Pictured above the Astros Celebrate after Miguel Tejada #10 hit a grand slam. The Stros are now just four games back in the wild card race and are tied for second overall.

Robert L.

Hurricanes.

2008-09-10T17:40:00.000-07:00

No we are not in any danger. We may lose power for a day. A tree might break. No need to fear. Just a reminder we are not in Corpus Christi, we are in Robstwon. The only thing that I am worried about right now is if the hurricane hits Houston. They might have to move the Astros game to another ball park. And with out the home field advantage...Gulp! We will see how things work out.

But there is no need for concern yet, we are taking every precaution to make sure nothing turns out worse then what I am making it out to be. So the boards go up on the house tomorrow, the chickens will have a place built for them in the garage, anything that might move an inch during 100 MPH winds is being secured. So like I said...We will be fine...in the end.

Robert L.

Pirates

2008-09-07T16:34:00.000-07:00

Pirates. When most people think of them they think of scum on the high seas. Although I do not have a much different opinion of them I do not think of them as being on the high sea. If fact during the next couple of days I will think of them as the road the Houston Astros have to travel over to make post season play this year. The Pittsburgh Pirates have been a thorn in the side of the Astros for the last two years, handing us more losses then another division foe. And we have seven games with them out of the twenty or so we have left to the season. And with the Cubs and Brewers stumbling as of late and the Astros playing the best ball in the second half, makes me feel that the six game deficit we have in the wild card race is not a long shot. The Astros won't give in and I will not give up hope. The Phillis and the Rockies had great comeback runs that lead to the playoffs last year, with the Rockies making it to the World Series.
So with those two teams in mind, along with the 04 and 05 Astro comebacks..."Go get them Stros!"

Helpful.

2008-09-05T19:31:00.000-07:00

In the poll that just closed on my blog I asked the people that follow my blog to vote on what they would like for me to do next on it. In the end I had a tie at 5 votes for two of them. I noted that the first two people to vote, voted for all four of the options. Now I know I made that poll so that y'all could pick more then one answer...but really...When asking for advise it is common to help the person that is asking by narrowing down their question to one or to picks. You don't say all of them at the same time that helps about as much as a kick to the head. :) Anyway, as a result I have gone no where with this last poll. And obviously the people that vote for me to post "Anything and everything have gotten their wish.

Robert L.

Archers at the ready!

2008-09-04T16:55:00.000-07:00

This is my bow.

A long shot.

2008-08-28T11:56:00.000-07:00

I must say that I was disappointed by one of my last polls that I had posted on my blog. The outcome however I knew from the start was going to be disappointing. In the poll I asked my voters to chose their favorite bow. As I suspected the crossbow failed to get a single vote. However to my small surprise the compound bow received one vote, this I attribute to Jay East. And to my disappointment but no surprise my recurved bow received only my own vote. The longbow had won even before I posted the poll. My brother Calvin is one of the biggest fans of the longbow that I know. And my sister also are wrapped up in the romantic history of the slick weapon. I must also admit that I am a fan of the longbow, but use the recurved as my weapon of choice. So by their three votes alone the longbow cruised to the easy win. Maybe next time.

Robert L.

Six flags, five stars.

2008-08-21T12:43:00.000-07:00

From the previous post you may have gathered that I and my three youngest siblings went to Dallas this past weekend. While we were there I had an opportunity to use two tickets that my boss had given me to Six Flags as a boniness. As for those of you who may not know what Six Flags is, it is a park much like, say... Disney World. (Or Disney Land. What ever it might be.) I had only been on roller coaster twice before, once up in Minnesota, and once again in California, so this was going to be good. But to say the least I had quite forgotten the joys of such rides. However there was still a few obstacles in our way before the fun could began at Six Flags. First I had to find the tickets before we left. That took almost 30 min. But I found them in the end and we set forth. The next obstacle was the waiting line. After about 10-15 min. waiting we were the next group in line to get on the ride. However it was canceled do to thunder storms in the area. It looked like it was going to be a short trip, when Mr.East (our host and a season ticket hold to Six Flags.) lead us to an indoor roller coaster. It was great! With one hitch, it was pitch black inside the indoor roller coaster. This as you might guess, was a good reason that I could not see the track in front of me. To make a short story shorter I thought that the first turn was to the left and set my self up for such a movement. It went right and I was jerked hard the wrong way. I aggravated a muscle strain on my right side, which had first accrued when working in an attic. When we got done with that ride and spent some time here and there doing other things the bigger rides reopened as the thunder storm had past, taking with it as it seemed most of the other people that had been there before. The rest of the group that I was with started running from ride to ride so that they would not have to wait in line as long. This however turned out not to be a problem as there was hardly anyone waiting for the rides. The only problem there was, turned out to be the one that I felt every time I took a step or drew a breath. The muscle strain had me far behind the group at all times. And after two rides on "Bat Man" one on "Mr.Freeze" and three (two of them back to back) on the "Titian" I learned to put mind over matter and forget about it for a time. It was however after the "Texas Giant" That I really felt bad. Matter won out in the end of mind. In the end we made that our last ride for the day and returned to less active hobbies such as X-Box.

Robert L.

P.S. I loved Six Flags...Thank you East for taking us, and thank you Joe for giving me the tickets!

The pitcher of recored?

2008-08-20T17:34:00.000-07:00

Nope not me. The player of the game? Still nope.
The other day while up in Dallas visiting our friends the East, we (Calvin, their oldest boy Jay, their second oldest Daniel and myself) did so batting practise. I started and for the life of me I could not hit the ball. Maybe I did not swing when Calvin through a good pitch. Or maybe Calvin did not throw a pitch close enough for me to swing at it. Any how I did not do good. Then Jay came up and I took over pitching. I throw without winding up, which is the way that pitching coaches do it, so that the pitch is not to fast and more accurately thrown in the strike zone so it can be hit. This helped as Jay belted pitches left and right. Calvin went next and at first he was smoking them too. But then I got tired and started throwing them wide. And then Calvin had the same problem I did when I was batting. Daniel was next and that helped. I came in closer and found the middle of the plate for him a lot more then I did for Calvin. I had one more turn before we had to leave, Jay pitch and the first one was good. However I hit it straight back to the back stop. The next thirty pitches I either watched as they went wide, or I reached for the pitches, missing them more often then not. The only comfort that I could bring back in the end is that I was the best pitching coach. Oh, and that out of my five hits, three of them were bombs. Maybe not home runs in a big league park but in any little league park, they were long gone.

Funny?

2008-08-10T14:15:00.000-07:00

My family is rather funny sometimes. If fact more often then not someone is saying something or doing something that is funny. Sometimes it is funny right then and there, other times it is something that we laugh at later. For instance the other week when my mother asked Rebecca (my youngest sister) why the kitchen had not been cleaned all the way, Calvin (my older brother) interjected teasingly that she had slept through kitchen clean up time. She tried to defend herself and made the profound statement "I have not slept since I woke up." We all found this very funny.
Then there was the time that Rebecca decided to do her school work up in my parents room. And she decided to open the window. This time it was not funny till it was over. She left the room for lunch and when she came back, a whole hive of Yellow jackets had found there way through the open window and were making themselves at home in my parents bedroom. Twenty or thirty of them if I recall. She called for help and I responded. The Yellow jacket problem was fixed finally when I turned on the fan and shut the door. Five minutes later all but two of them were gone. The air being disturbed made it hard for the Yellow jackets fly around at will and they high tailed it back to the outdoors. We then shut the window and killed the last two. At the time that it was happening it was not funny at all. The thought of battling twenty-five stinging insects for the rest of the day did not sound funny. But after the crisis was over...it seemed a lot easier to laugh about it.

Ping-Pong.

2008-07-30T15:25:00.000-07:00

My brother in-law taught me how to play ping pong. In fact the single most important part of my game comes from him. That is as those of you who have seen me play know, is the way I hold my paddle. It is a very good defencive method.
He taught me everything I knew...that lasted for as long as it took me to learn everything he knew, then I started teaching him what I was learning on my own. Then pastor Otis came down from Georgia. And every thing that I knew from My brother in-law (Christopher Marks) and that I had picked up myself did little to no good. It took a year, but I finally beat Pastor Otis, once. Then back to the same old same old of losing. About a year ago now I started beating him every so often. As hard fought as are games are now days and as much as he says we are even with one another, I still believe that he has about a 3 to 2 advantage over me. This is best shown in a tournament that we held lately.
Pastor Otis and I as expected blow past everyone else in our respective brackets. He was in the top Bracket and I was in the lower. And we were set up to play each other in the Winner Bracket's final. First however me and my teammate in the doubles bracket played pastor Otis and his teammate in that bracket's winner bracket. Me and my teammate got hammered and we were sent down to the loser's Bracket where we pulled out a near run victory. So back up we went, to face Otis' team that had just beat us, in the final. We had to win twice and they only had to win once because they were from the winner bracket and were undefeated to this point. We changed that with a turn around win to force a winner takes all rubber match. They won in convincing fashion again.
Back to the singles match, where the two of us squared off for the final battle. I fought tooth and nail to get back with in striking distance and tied it up at 20-20. He had been playing better then me for the hole game so it did not come as a surprise when he rolled off two quick points to win by deuce 22-20. I had to play in the loser bracket after that but was able to carry the momentum from my 21-9 victory over the runner up of the loser bracket, into the championship against pastor Otis. I took a 3-2 advantage during the first serve and never looked back. Having anywhere from a 1 to 2 point lead the hole game. And I never had any doubt after the first round of serves as to how it would turn out. 21-19 was the final (yes that is close in score) but I really did not feel like I was being out played that game. The final game was a no doubter as well. He out scored me 3-2 every serve and the game ended 21-14. If we had played two more games I thing I would have won the fourth and been outscored 21-14 (or there about) in the fifth game. He will beat me 3-2 no matter how you look at it. I will one day hopefully (soon) turn the tables on him like I have to both my brother and my brother in-law. But till I can hold at 1-1 against pastor Otis there is no point in thinking about beating him 75% of the time. Let get 50% before the 75% shall we.

Robert L. D.

Pics From trips.

2008-06-27T19:51:00.000-07:00

Me and my Aunt at Stone Mountain Park.
My Mom and my Aunt at Stone Mountain Park.
Me and my Mom coming down Stone Mountain.
Me and my Aunt on the river boat at Stone Mountain Park.
Me and my friends the Anderson family from left to right: Molly, Bryan, Courtney, William and me.
Pic from the ski trip that we took when we were up in C.A.

Pitcher of Record.

2008-06-27T15:03:00.000-07:00

You may wonder why I picked the name for my Blog that I did. But then you might not. There is not any real deep reasoning behind it. Nothing profound, nothing that would be the reason for hours of conversation. And as everyone has already assumed, the name has to do with baseball. In every game there are two pitchers of record. A pitcher that is recorded as the winning pitcher, and one as the losing pitcher. There are two other records kept in the game of baseball for pitchers, though they are not always recorded in all games. Saves and Holds. However the pitchers that acquire these records are not call "The Pitcher of record", I thought it best to explain that to my already asleep readers.

Robert L.