CAPTURING THE SUN

Wishing you a little sunshine in your life.

SEASON OPENER

This evening I decided to take in the Winnipeg Goldeyes' season opener at the CanWest ball park. It had been an absolutely gorgeous day, with the high reaching 23C under mostly sunny skies. I am within about a 10 minute walk of the park, so parking is a non-issue. I bought my ticket online, printed it out, grabbed my jacket and headed to the game. The park is beautiful and I had a great seat (see the yellow dot on the picture below? that's me) right behind home base - first row.



Baseball is rarely a sport of much action, but I like it anyway. It is about watching the plays, watching the people in the stands, and just relaxing and enjoying the evening. I bought some fries and gravy, which I rarely do these days, and a Mike's Hard Lemonade (I am NOT a beer drinker so was very pleased to see they had Mike's) and headed to my seat. Settled in seat 7 in row 1 of a section almost directly behind home plate. Not bad for having just purchased the ticket online a very short time before the game started, I thought!

Only two other people in the row with me and several seats in between. There were a fair number of empty seats still so I was hoping it would stay that way. Unfortumately, it was not to be.

A man squeezed into the row, with his diet Pepsi and a big, overloaded sandwich, squooshing mayo and mustard out the sides. Now this guy wasn't very tall - in fact, probably only about 5'6", but I swear he was that big around the middle too. And where did he sit? Right next to me. His thigh and butt oozed out under the arm rest, spilling onto my seat, forcing me to slide over as far as I could to the other side. And I could not avoid touching him... so I was seriously thinking of moving over one seat, when the two on the other side of me were suddenly occuppied by a man and his elderly father. Who just happened to know the rotund fan next to me. Then the big guy's wife piled into the row and plopped down in the seat on the other side of him.

She had a huge tote bag loaded with big bags of cheesies and chips, drinks and chocolate bars. While she was not as large as Mr. Big, she's close. Thank the gods that be that the two on the other side of me were both slim. As it was, I was trying to not get in the old man's space but was still attempting to get as far from Mr. Big's blubbery thigh as possible.

Then the game started and I found out who I was really sitting with. Mr. Big is the guy in the stands with the loud voice who heckles the ump, yells at the players and generally never shuts up throughout the entire game. He's got one earbud in as he listens to the plays on the radio, stuffs food into his mouth constantly, making as much noise as he possibly can. What the hell would he have been like if he had been drinking beer and not diet pop? I shudder to even consider it!

At one point, we both had to hit the potty at the same time, and I ended up following him up every single stair in the place (remember I was in row 1?), which was obviously difficult for him, and bloody painful for me to watch as his gigantic bum and stubby legs waddled and heaved him up each and every one of those steps as slowly as possible.

So the game was not the most entertaining and the Fish lost, and I didn't have the pleasant evening that I was hoping for. I will have to remember the next time I buy a ticket that I will not buy in that section or that row.... the last thing I want to do is be stuck beside that guy again....yik. But I will go back, especially mid-summer when it is hot in the evening, because I do like baseball, and it is a beautiful park, and the games can be good.

TRUCK UPDATE

Well.... the little b*stards who tried to steal my truck, as shown in the post from yesterday, caused approximately $1200 in damage! Amazing that the door handles and little bit of body work that needs to be done to fix the gouges will cost that much.

Now I just have to find the time to take it in and get the work done. ((sigh)) Hopefully it won't take too long, because while I am without it, I can't go ride my horse, I can't take the dog to the dog park and I won't be going across town to visit anyone either.

It just sucks.... big time.....

BUNNIES IN THE BACKYARD

I live in an area of Winnipeg that is close to some parks and two rivers. So we get a fair bit of little wildlife wandering through the yard. It is not fenced, which means when the dog wants to go out for a pee, I have to go with her. And stand and wait.

I have tried tying her outside on a rope, but she is then permanently paralyzed and won't move, no matter how long I leave her there! Soooo pathetic..... so stand with her I do.

The past couple of weeks has seen a plethora of bunnies wandering through the neighbourhood. And because my yard (the house is a rental) is unfenced, the bunnies are constantly in the grass, munching away at juicy blades of the green stuff.



Zoe is the kind of dog that needs the animal to move before she gives chase, which certainly works to my favour! So far, every time we have ventured out to the yard and there has been a bunny hunkered down in the grass, the dog waits for the rabbit to make the first move. Which means I have time to grab her collar and tell her to "leave it."

One of these days the bunny will make the mistake of going into the side yard, where it will be trapped by the house on one side and the fence on two - with the dog covering the fourth..... Here's hoping that doesn't happen, because I really don't want to pull a half killed bunny out of my dog's mouth! Eeeeewwww. Because then I would have to kill it completely and I am not really into snapping bunnies' necks to save them the agony of a slow and painful death after being mauled.

I'm just hoping the skunk that came by numerous times last summer isn't the one in the side yard when she goes on the attack. PEEEEEYYUUUUUWWWWWW!!!!

MY TRUCK!

Yesterday was an absolutely gorgeous, sunny and warm day, so I went on a bike ride in Birds Hill Park with a friend. We were to meet at the park so around noon, I went out to load my mountain bike into the back of my Chevy Blazer.

Lo and behold, much to my dismay, it appears someone had the audacity to attempt to steal my truck during the night. The driver's door handle was sticking out slightly and the paint underneath has been chipped off and cracked, with a dent in the metal and a gouge in the plastic handle. It stayed in place when I pushed it back in and the door works, but the window clunks as it is rolled down (electric) so something inside the door is obviously out of place.





The passenger door handle is worse - it is sticking out and very loose, so I haven't even attempted to open that door. Not sure if I would be able to close it again, so I am not even going to try. The paint under the handle is cracked as well but not chipped off.





Now, I park in the back of the house, on a gravel parking space in the yard right next to a large light on the hyrdo pole. So the area is well lit at night. Plus I have a bright red Club on the steering wheel. And just last week, I had the mandatory immobilizer installed that good old MPI (our provincial auto insurance monopoly) has required for me to re-insure/register my vehicle. It seems the Blazer is in the top ten list of stolen vehicles. ((sigh)) There are stickers on the windows of both doors stating it has an immobilizer installed.

Obviously, the would-be car thieves can't read and didn't look in the window before making their futile attempt. It doesn't look like they even got the door all the way open. Nothing damaged on the inside. Guess someone finally noticed the Club or the immobilizer stickers.... DUH! Why waste the effort of all that on a vehicle they wouldn't be able to move anyway. Idiots..... f*ckin' idiots!

I am so pissed off... Now I have to go through the police to report it, which I have already started. And the claim report through MPI, which I started over the phone and have to go to the Claims Centre tomorrow after work. And worst of all, I will have to pay my $200 deductible because this claim will probably be seen as vandalism and not attempted theft (more than likely, because they didn't wreck anything on the inside - like the steering column from trying to pop the key thingie with a screwdriver). Several people at work have told me I should ding it up myself with a screwdriver to make it look like attempted theft so I won't have to pay the deductible, but that just doesn't sit right with me. So I will leave it as it is and see what they say tomorrow.

Both doors will more than likely have to be repainted. Both door handles will have to be replaced. The driver's window will need to be repaired, but hopefully when they fix the door handle, that will be taken care of.

I will have to take the truck into a repair facility. My insurance doesn't cover me for a replacement vehicle. Good thing I am within walking distance of work, so that is not an issue, since that is what I usually do anyway. Except when I work evenings, as I am not crazy about walking home around midnight. I've done it a time or two but feel a bit on edge walking around alone that late at night - you just never know what kind of crazies are out at that hour. And I have no idea how long it will take for the repairs and the painting.... which sucks because then I will be without a vehicle, other than my bike. ((sigh again....))

The little f*ckers that do these car thefts ought to be strung up by the balls. There just isn't any reason for them to quit. The consequences are so minor, it is laughable! A slap on the wrist and off you go, until you have been caught 40 or 50 times and then they might, just might, slap one of those trackable ankle bracelets on you. But some of those car thieves have already proven they can cut those off and keep thieving, so what's the use in that?

I propose some Texas Chain Gang methods for these guys. Not jail - make them work at hard, physical labour at minimum wage until they have paid for all the damage they have caused. Something like breaking boulders with a little ballpean hammer to make gravel. Something that is back-breaking, mind-numbing, sweat-producing, blister-inducing hard work that will make them think twice about what they've been doing. And if they have to do that every time they get caught, maybe they will think twice about stealing cars.

And if that doesn't work, I will be in line with a gazillion other angry people to nail their balls to the wall with an airgun nailer and just leave them outside for the crows - damn little bastards.

Can you tell I am really pissed off?????