Buster the Bandit (Day 15)

In my sleep-deprived state of mind, I am forgetting things.

I don't want to blame it on age, so I'll blame it on lack of slumber. Yesterday I forgot to mention a few key points. First of all, I have been informed that RNA is actually the acronym for Royal National Association. I guess that makes sense. But I stand corrected. Again.

Also, I was informed of this by Alan, who came up to me before the practice at the field and asked me if I had yet learned what RNA stood for. He had been reading my journals. And much to my surprise, had been referred to them by someone else around here. My writing is spreading. I didn't think anyone here would be keeping an eye on it. Honestly, I pretty much thought my audience for this would be my mother. Hi mom.

So I warned Carl that he should maybe take a glance at them since readers actually might know him and realize that I'm talking about him, since I am in fact using his real name. He should have a chance to know what I'm saying about him when other people do. But since he hasn't been able to get rid of me since I arrived here, chances are that he already knows what goes on in my day-to-day life.

And another key point I forgot to touch on was my conversation with Gonzo before leaving the ballpark. Apparently the garbage-cleaning services that have been enlisted for the organization are really expensive. And if I could just do it, on my own or with someone else or whatever, we could cut costs and I could make some money around here. Honestly, I have never been so excited at the prospect of taking out the trash (rubbish, if you speak Australian). See mom, all I needed was a little incentive. I could have been getting rid of the garbage my whole life for the right amount of money.

So I am hopeful that can work out but I don't think I would have an opportunity to do that until the team is home again, on December 8. It's not that far away, but far enough that I may need to start thinking about money before then. My job hunt hasn't been going so well, seeing as I haven't been hunting. I will work on that. For now though, the idea of taking out the trash is a delightful prospect.

Despite my forgetfulness, the day today started really well. Whitey picked me up and we went to a place called Kelvin Grove, where Carl had to walk around in the mascot suit taking pictures and being filmed for the next edition of the Bris31 show. So that was hilarious. And I'm glad Carl got to experience the suit because if you haven't, you just can't comment on it. It's like wearing a snowsuit in a sauna under several heat lamps. Or something like that. I took a lot of pictures of that because I was enjoying it so much and here's where they can be found: 

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100737388754102.2928687.28135725&type=1&l=d7332350c4

After a long (not really) morning of being a mascot's assistant (also not really) we headed to the office. I had to get to work on sending out members' cards and writing names on envelopes and the like. Gripping stuff. At one point one of the interns, Jason, came to help me and we cruised through a bunch of them. I was kind of incompetent at using the lists of addresses that Whitey sent me though because somehow I had a bunch left over with no information. Or did I?

I actually did have most of the info for the people I was missing but I was illiterate at using Microsoft Excel. Whitey set me straight though and he tried not to make me feel like an idiot I think. Either that or I just chose not to feel like an idiot.

Later in the afternoon I made plans to interview Shayne Watson, the third base coach for the Bandits and one of the people who works at Baseball Queensland. Carl and I had previously discussed doing a story on Shayne, otherwise known as Watto, and so I figured I would just charge ahead with that and get the interview process started.

But Whitey and I also had an appointment with the owner of the bar I was at last Friday. For some reason when he offered us free drinks I decided to talk baseball and business, and it turned into a meeting. Since I don't really know anything about anything though, that's where Whitey comes in.

I was trying to get the interview done with Shayne without interrupting his day too much but before Whitey and I had to leave. When we finally sat down though, of course my phone rang. And since Whitey and Carl were in the office, I had no idea who it might be. It was the bar owner calling to cancel and reschedule. So that put an end to that but it gave me more time to talk to Shayne.

Just before we'd managed to sit down, Shayne's five-year-old son Joshua joined us in the office. He is adorable and he loves baseball. He's not even old enough to play t-ball here yet but he has a gun of an arm. When I was finished interviewing Shayne, me and Joshua hung out for awhile. I gave him all the different colours of highlighters and pens I had so he could draw some pictures and we talked about the best parts of Bandits games. For him, the highlights include hitting on the field with his dad, fireworks and Buster the Bandit mascot. A perfect night out.

Josh and Shayne managed to leave the office before I did but it wasn't long before Whitey was heading out and offered me a ride. I gladly took it of course.

When I got home, Erin was leaving to get some groceries and offered to pick me up whatever I needed. In the moment, I wasn't so good at thinking on my feet, so all I asked her for was bread and peanut butter. I had to take a moment though and make sure that peanut butter is the same here. It is. For those of you wondering, bread is also the same. You're welcome.

I ended up leaving while she was gone because Carl and I were headed to a movie. There wasn't really anything on at the normal movie theatre though so we ended up going to the Tribal Theatre. I have no idea why it's called that but they play a strange array of films, none of which happen to be new cinema. We went to see Casablanca because neither of us had ever seen it before.

In retrospect, hearing myself say it, it does sound like a date of sorts. Let me assure you though, it was not. We just went to see the movie because it seems like a movie that everyone should see. We also went to make fun of the people who were sitting in front of us. Okay, that was a modification to the original plan. But not a bad addition.

But it wasn't a date. Don't get the wrong idea here.

I enjoyed the film, but half the lines in the movie I've heard used somewhere else before. Also, the theatre was really cool because you can bring your own wine and beer and stuff like that. We didn't, though Carl made me hide cookies in my tiny purse (they took up the whole thing...so much so that I had to carry my wallet in my hand...I'm sure Iooked like an idiot).

I think there are actually a bunch of places around here, like restaurants and things, where you can bring your own drinks. I suppose that helps to supplement the cost of food. Maybe. I should reiterate to you how expensive things are. Very.

So it was a solid movie experience, minus the fact that I didn't have any popcorn. It's been too long since I've had movie popcorn. I'll just have to go to another movie. Probably not with Carl though, since I'm sure you think it was a date.

But it's just "the beginning of a beautiful friendship." Boom!