Something Random

Mercutio

Fatwah on Western Digital
Joined
Jan 17, 2002
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22,953
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I am omnipresent
I don't exactly jump at the chance to go to baseball games, but the place where White Sox play is uniquely awful. Wrigley field has a Red Line stop directly next to it and it's a very old place full of character. The Sox place is like bench seating at a McDonald's. I wind up at a baseball game every couple years. Usually the best time is just watching somebody who spent $200 on beer try to navigate a lot of stairs.

I have seen the Chicago Sky WNBA team play a few times. The tickets are cheap, their court is easy to get to (it's right next to the downtown convention center) and the players and audiences are decidedly queer, which is a very different vibe from other pro sports events. It's also a lot easier to interact with the players. The whole WNBA thing came to my attention because there's a team called the Valkyries, which is the name my partner used to work under. I bought a team shirt with "her" name on it and eventually we decided we had to actually go to a game. My partner is ironically more interested in football, but I've taken several out of town guests to see either Cubs or Sky mostly because both of their stadiums are extremely close to train stops. The football stadium is also accessible but 1. Apparently they're not playing there much longer and 2. I'm not OK paying $300/person to sit through a game I don't care about in the open air, right off the lake shore and in the fall.
 

jtr1962

Storage? I am Storage!
Joined
Jan 25, 2002
Messages
4,535
Location
Flushing, New York
I used to go to either Mets or Yankees games at least a few times a summer with my late father. He was a die-hard Yankees fan. He also may have come close to having a professional baseball career himself. He used to play in some kind of baseball club when he was in his 20s. Occasionally scouts would come to look for new prospects. He was approached by someone from the Red Sox. As a hard-core Yankees fan needless to say he wasn't interested in playing for the Yankee's arch enemy. I often wonder how his life might have been different had he been approached by a Yankees scout.

I was semi-seriously considering a professional cycling career in my early 20s but never was in any circles where a scout might have approached me. Once I learned of all the doping going on in cycling during that era I'm glad I didn't choose this path.
 

Mercutio

Fatwah on Western Digital
Joined
Jan 17, 2002
Messages
22,953
Location
I am omnipresent
My part of the world has just had terrible storms. Sustained 90mph winds. There are a million people in Northwest Indiana and Chicago's with suburbs without power. I don't expect to get power back for a couple weeks. They aren't running TRAINS here because of all the crap on the tracks. This is the second time in two months that it's been like this. It's bad enough that cars can't get within 15m of my apartment from all the downed trees, and we're so close to the lake that we're last on the priority list.

I spent my day today looking in on single moms, putting gas in cannisters (I waited two hours to get gas; there are only 2 stations open in my entire county), handing out power banks and making runs for powdered milk and bottled water. I secured a place to spend the weekend Northwest of Chicago.

Sure enough, about halfway there, my engine misfired.

There's no mechanic with power where I live, so now my car is at some random mechanic in Cicero, Illinois who thinks they might be able to look at Friday after next AND I just took a $150 Uber home. At least the Airbnb people fully refunded my stay.

Since I'm spending money now anyway, I went ahead and bought a $700 solar powered power station. Maybe I'll be able to run a fan at some point this weekend.

On top of all that, cellular service in my area is spotty for everyone. My phone is telling me it can't even find roaming towers about 40% of the time.

Something something climate change extreme weather but it's looking like I'll be spending 3 weeks in three months sitting in the dark Maybe I'll have thoughts about the Anker whatever the hell things I just bought by Monday.
 
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