Brunch, nap, circuit training (Day 50)

When I woke up, I got immediately to work. And by that I mean that I posted my story on baseball road trips on the Bandits website. This is it.

After that it was time to head to the RNA to meet Whitey and Carl. I had to open the gates because I still had the keys from last night. It wasn’t too long before the guys showed up, but even when they got there, there wasn’t any immediate instruction from them on what we were doing. It appeared that Carl and I were both awaiting directions from Whitey because Carl didn’t know what we were doing either. After watching Carl walk around frustrated for awhile, I suggested that we go fix the tarps on the outfield fence, and that’s exactly what we did. It certainly was a two-man job, and we got it done pretty quickly.

While we were doing that, Gonzo asked if I’d ever gotten paid. The answer of course is no. I know Gonzo is pretty frustrated about the situation, since he’s been calling people at the ABL and the accountant pretty much every day, trying to get it done. I’ve just started to accept the fact that my bank account lives nearly on empty.

We finished things up around the park not long after that, just fixing some signs and making sure we wouldn’t have too much to do before the first game of the weekend series. Carl took off, because he and his girlfriend were going to make an attempt at heading to the water park during the day. Whitey and Gonzo and I went for lunch, despite the fact that it was not even 11 o’clock in the morning.

When we realized the burrito place was closed, we had to resort to secondary plans. Whitey directed us around his neighbourhood until we found something that was open. The place we ended up at was pretty good. They had amazing smoothies and we were all impressed with everything we ordered. We were there for a good while, talking mostly about the Bandits making a playoff push, where the other teams are in the standings, and how the upcoming weekend would affect everything. No one's lost hope yet, and the Bandits still have a very real chance.

Almost as soon as Gonzo dropped me off at home, I fell asleep. Lately I’ve been starting to feel like I am jetlagged again, if that’s what I even was before. I can’t seem to sleep through the night, and then I take afternoon naps when the opportunity arises.

When I got up, Erin was around. I talked about wanting to go for a run, but I would need to exchange my new running shoes first. She said that she was going out to the grocery store, so she could drop me off on her way if I wanted, because it was starting to look like rain. That sounded good to me, so I took her up on her offer. It didn’t rain while I was out but I did exchange my shoes, got my nails done and got more phone minutes, because mine are starting to run out. Now I can check all those things off my list.

After I got home and had something to eat, I started talking again about going for a run. Perhaps I was thinking that I could convince myself more easily the more I said the words out loud. Erin suggested that instead of just going for a run on my own, I could go with her to a park in the neighbourhood, where there are paths and equipment for circuit training.

We headed to Downey Park, me with my new running shoes, and both of us with our baseball gloves, ready for some physical activity. It’s definitely something I’ve been lacking lately. On our way there, I received a phone call from Shayne, asking if I had the keys to the park for training tonight. I did not, but it got me worried about how the guys were going to get in for their batting practice. Shayne had already called both Whitey and Gonzo and got no answer from them. There wasn’t really anything I could do though since I didn’t have the keys, so he said he would just try them again.

Downey Park was nice, and along the path were stumps doing step-ups (at least that’s what I used them for), bars for chin-ups (I couldn’t do any of those), and other spots for doing push-ups, sit-ups, hurdles and stuff like that. I also did a bunch of jumping jacks, feeling especially motivated.

When we’d had enough of the circuit training (and it didn’t take long to get to that point), we played catch. Erin had also brought a bat with us, so she hit me some ground balls. When I tried to hit her some, it didn’t go as well. The first few I tried to hit ended up being line drives, going well beyond the targeted area. I didn’t get much better, but I did eventually get a few balls near Erin, at least close enough so that she could catch them.

On our way home, I called Whitey to ask about the key situation. Since Carl and I would have to clean the park in the morning before the game, I figured it would be easiest for me to just get the keys from Shayne, who was now in possession of them. I guess he went to Whitey’s place and got them so the guys could get in for batting practice. Erin dropped me off at the RNA and I got the keys from Shayne, but not without taking some heat from the guys about them being stuck without a way in earlier. I'm sure they didn't believe me when I said it wasn't my fault.

I ran home from the park, which took only a few minutes. I showered and started to catch up on some more journal-writing. Erin had cooked both of us spaghetti and garlic bread for dinner, and so I took a break when she said it was ready. It was pretty awesome having dinner cooked for me at home. I feel like I should start cooking more, or at all.

After that it was pretty close to bedtime, save for some more journal-writing and net-surfing.