I got a car

Here is a picture of it. I really want my license plates to come in the mail, so I can get rid of the stupid dealer ones.

No, it's Not a Late April Fool's Joke

It really is me...I'm blogging...kind of. Just to catch you up on things, my NCAA basketball bracket went down in flames. Kentucky getting to the Final Four probably saved me from finishing in last place at my office. Oh well. Other than that, work is pretty solid.

The Pilots have finally shown some signs of life and are sitting at 6-3 going into the second round of league games that we might actually get to play because it seems to have stopped raining finally. Seriously. It's stupid up here. No way should there be water falling out of the sky for as prolonged a period of time as has been the case here.

Oh yeah. My car got totaled. Here are the pictures:

Yes...that is a fire hydrant laying in the ground, and yes, it is laying on the ground because my motor vehicle struck it.

Weather

In short, it sucks up here. Seriously, if this keeps up, I may be on my way to the Sheen Zone. I went to the grocery store tonight (because, you know...all the cool kids go grocery shopping and blog on their Friday nights), and I got peppered by hailstones on my way back to the car. Forecast calls for rain for the next week straight. I hate this place. And I gave up alcohol for Lent again. Not gonna lie...I might not make it this time.

Now Entering: The Sheen Zone

I want to coin this term so that it applies to any and all people who have just gone so absolutely batshit crazy that there are no words to describe them.

But don't take my word for it. Take Charlie's.

Hey! Remember me?!

It's ok if you don't...I totally understand. Half the time, I don't even remember me at this point, but the quick and dirty of what has been going on in DL land is that work is taking me behind the woodshed, and I'm trying to get out and coach as much as I can, but the shitty nocal weather is not cooperating.

However, since blogging and computer activities are best performed indoors, I have put together a site for the SJND baseball program. The roster pages will get a little more elaborate as I have more content, and once I have someone to take pictures, we will have some of those too.

Join the party. Subscribe to the blog. Follow the Twitter. Go Pilots!

(Also, for those of you who are into the reasons behind everything ever, I changed the color scheme on this blog when Pilots baseball activities started.)

Arizona...the many levels of FAIL

So other than watching high school girls' basketball, drinking ridiculous amounts and eating horrifically, I got to experience the "great" state of Arizona. Here are the lowhighlights:

• Arizona State undergrads: This is a special breed, here. It's widely known how much for Arizona State kids are, (after all, we did only get the "temptations of the flesh" speech twice when traveling for baseball--both trips down here), but until you have sat in a freshman writing class and heard the questions asked and the obnoxious tone in which it is asked...you really haven't experienced it. Also, Mill Ave. is soul crushing. Not unexpected on any count, but FAIL.
• Immigration policy enacted: The greater Phoenix area has a great light rail system, which we rode to campus for class the first Tuesday of the semester. It was packed. The train operator was angry. Students didn't care. That was the good half of the journey...but then came the ride back to the car. Like many light rail systems, they have a security guard checking tickets. Fine. Officer Banuelos came and checked my ticket. Then she checked the ticket of the gentleman across the aisle. Then she asked to see his ID. Then she asked to see his green card. I shit you not. He handed them over like it was no big deal while I'm sitting there with my jaw on the floor at the blatant racial profiling by a Mexican. Hey, Banuelos...let me see your green card. Unbelievable. I hate the state of Arizona. EPIC FAIL.
• Fender: Corporate offices for Fender musical instruments (guitars) are located in Scottsdale...which would be cool, but there is no store associated with them. So the address we found was simply a large office suite with a ridiculous amount of parking. Seriously. If I was their neighbor in the complex, I would be pissed. Mild FAIL.
• Friday/Next Friday: Apparently no one has ever heard of these movies here. Regulation FAIL, but when considering that they hate minorities here, I'm going to chalk it up to that and rebrand it a strong FAIL.

While this particular post followed the formula of most of what I write, this vacation was actually awesome. After being sick the whole time I was home, it was great to hang out with Sarah (who is due for another guest post on the DL), hit a hockey game in which America's hero, Ilya Bryzgalov was between the pipes and to just check out for a while. That being said, I still got a little bit of work done to keep things moving, so I don't have to start from scratch when I get back tomorrow. Call it a win.

Brand Overhaul

Happy new year, readers!

If you read this, you know me. And if you know me, you know that 2010 was a year of major, life-altering changes. I left the comfort of a sizable office at DJA and the familiarity of coaching at Crespi to move north and become a cube monkey at EPR and join the staff of a new (to me) program at SJND. And just for shits and giggles, I decided that I would join the 7 p.m. Sunday mass choir at St. Joseph's just because when I went to mass, it appeared that they were lacking a guitarist.

As much as I squawk about how much I dislike NorCal (which I still do...let's not get carried away with this optimism stuff), half a year removed from this decision, I can look back and know 100 percent that it was the right call. That's right kids. If I had it to do over again, I would do exactly the same thing. In fact, I would have circulated my resume sooner. It's a moderately frightening thought, actually.

The weather up here still sucks. People still don't know how to drive. My apartment is still ghetto. I'm just getting to a point where none of that matters.

I'm operating under great people--at the office, on the field* and at the basilica. That alone makes it all worth it.

I came up here with friends few and far between but have been able to grow the numbers exponentially. My colleagues have been great, and both of the junior staffers I work with on accounts have been promoted (deservedly) from intern to AC in the time I've been here. The Pilots are a great group of kids with a solid amount of talent...cannot wait until March, because it's going to be game on. St. Joseph Spirit Ensemble is just flat out legit any way you slice it. Onus falls on me to do my part with all of them.

2011 is already trending in the right direction...time to be better manager, better coach, better musician and a better individual. With support from my growing network and renewed drive, I have everything I need to take it head on.

*Please note: Despite being the least tenured coach on staff, I consider only one coach my superior--the head guy. The JV coaches are cool...we collaborate, but we're kind of like church and state on game day. Same deal with the pitching coach. My qualifications are not questionable. The rest of the staff knows that.