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Wednesday, August 20, 2014

End of the 3rd Quarter

So many fair-weather fans have publicly washed their hands of the Braves, and yet a full quarter of the season remains. Holes in the inconsistent offense, these “baseball expects” declare. Hello! Nothing we didn’t know back in March. Now that the bandwagon has  emptied, the Braves reel off five straight against playoff contenders (& 6 of 7). With so much time on the clock, would these front-runners give up on the Dawgs in so close a game? Not much of a fan are they.

AUG 5: When the Braves faced the best pitcher in the AL, people said they still couldn’t hit. No shame in losing to those three Dodger aces in LA. Not exactly a bunch of contact hitters these Braves, except for LaStella. Simmons makes contact and doesn’t strike out, but he’s hitting a lot of groundouts. Not a smart play for him to bunt with Gattis on third. Gattis’ average continues to rise. BJ is an automatic out. Justin is streaky. Johnson doesn’t take enough walks.

Last night Matthew and I ate at Moes and checked out Old Navy and Kohls. Will and I worked up a sweat working on bikes. We’ll give a little one away and get new tire tubes for Anna’s. Switched a tire from the Schwinn to the Cannondale so Matthew can have a sweeter ride. Will made a batch of salsa. He went to Cartersville to observe MC’s dad performing surgery.

ROB: Did you read Schultz's article on Friday (Aug 15)?  He talked about an artist.  The artist and I followed each other on Twitter until a few months ago.  Once night the Braves were losing big to the Marlins for the second night in a row.  He was tweeting out a bunch of negative tweets about the game and the team.  I responded to him that it was good the season was not 2 games long.  He responded that all my tweets to him were hostile and then he blocked me.  I could only find a few other innocuous tweets I had ever sent him.  Apparently, artists are temperamental - or drunk - or both.

I like Gosselin at 2B over LaStella.  TLS is a huge upgrade over Uggla, but he still has a league average OPS with limited range at 2B.

If we don't lose another series, we could finish 88-74 (playing .632 ball).  The opponents on our schedule have a combined winning percentage of .488 - thanks in large part to 10 games against the Phillies and Rangers.  The gNats would have to go 19-21 to get to 88 wins.  Given the way this season has turned out, I will gladly take a shot at the Wildcard this year - even if it meant playing in St. Louis.

ME: You are right – so many Braves fans have the football mentality that every loss is a season-ender. Forty games remain – 25% of the season. I think I finally removed myself from the Braves Tomahawk Club FB group, or whatever it was. Guy was never positive. But by leaving the group I won’t be able to rag him when the Braves make the playoffs. I’m still down on BJ, after Sunday night’s misplay. Couldn’t Gattis play center? Nice article in SI about Roger Angell. I liked his comment: “Nobody’s keeping score.”

I was trying to tell people individually about Edwin’s passing instead of as a FB post – especially Ceil’s friends. I was sick on Sunday, but when I drove M to Passion I met a guy down on Central Ave to trade bobbleheads: an extra Freeman for an Ichiro.  

Since I saw Anna in person on her birthday, I didn’t have to wish her a happy birthday on Facebook or Instagram. Had I not seen her, I could have called her on the phone. If the phone lines were down I could have texted or emailed her. Monday night we didn’t turn on the TV. Anna’s birthday, a late supper (baked chicken, gravy, rice, salad, chickfila cookies, and ice cream). Then M had homework – we were up late. Anna had a friend over. Her present: a nice new guitar, personally picked out by Emmy Awards-winning artist Reid Hall. He composed the music for the NBA on TNT. Anna has been baby-sitting, hanging out with friends, and going to art class. Her school started on the 18th. Ceil will be teaching art at M’s new school. Doesn’t pay much, but it helps with tuition.

Trying to lay low on that ice bucket challenge. I want no part of that. Lang accepted the KFC bucket challenge. Speaking of food, Tuesday morning Cheeseburger Bobbys was looking for Facebook five volunteers to test a new BBQ bacon cheeseburger – my favorite. On the 28th I get a free burger, fries, and drink. Just what I need. At David Norman’s wedding Ashley Corbett kept calling me Vince Gill. Not really a compliment. When I ate at Chilis I stayed away from that table-mounted computer. Someone played with it and our bill was charged extra. Was proud of myself for fixing the TV.

Yankees jersey - almost bought one in a thrift store. I’ve already sold two Yankee jerseys on EBay. I need to step up my EBay selling. Just bought 3 pairs of shoes that should fetch a decent price. Chattanooga plays Labor Day weekend, but all four days are bad for me. I can’t leave work early that day, church on Sunday, etc. But we’ll definitely do it next year.

Heroically worked through a huge problem at work that everyone else washed their hands of, and blamed everyone else for. A no-win situation. I solved the problem, with help from my superhero sidekick. The cost will be a few thousand dollars, which isn’t too much. The new people brought in to run departments like Shipping don’t know how to use the systems put in place to run the business. Through attrition their reports don’t know either. Suddenly orders aren’t shipping to customers. Because I know A, people ask me how to do B. I’ve used the same system to order material for several years. My DOS levels are always great. My requisitions are reviewed and approved, but still questioned by purchasing – even though they aren’t responsible for the material. Some co-workers obviously don’t care, regularly arrive late, ask the same simple questions month after month and year after year, disappear from their desks for long periods of time, use obscene language in the office, and try to get others to do their job.

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