Monday, June 30, 2008

The Inning of All Innings

Tonight was one of the rare times where I get to go and play co-ed softball. I play men's league, and church league, and when a pitcher is needed, I go and pitch for a co-ed team. Well, I got to the diamonds tonight with a feeling of a couple of games that could be some good games. We got up to bat in the first game, so we are in the top of the first inning. Our leadoff batter gets up and grounds out. Our second batter follows suit with a ground out. I was second to last in the lineup, and thought I would have to wait to bat until later, and that maybe this team that we were playing isn't as bad as they looked in warmups. Well, our third batter homered, and that opened the flood gates. I not only got to hit in the top of the first with runners on, I got to hit twice in the top of the first inning. We went though the entire lineup twice. When I took the mound for the bottom of the first, I had it in the bag already. I had a fairly solid 20-0 lead.


After 3 innings and giving them a run or two, we won by 15 run rule. My night on the mound also ended there because some one else in the game wanted to pitch, and this was a perfect opportunity. So, I ended up having to go play in the field! I played second, and it was ok, but I had been looking forward to pitching. Well, we ended up having to play 4 innings, but eventually came out with the win via the 15 run rule again. The runs were big that night.

Sunday, June 29, 2008

Running on the Edge of Dry

Tonight was a more close call than I'd like to have again in a while. No, it had nothing to do with being in inherent danger while driving (contrary to what my mother and grandmother might tell you), because this happening would not have let me drive further. I was headed out to the lake for a gathering that my grandma invited me to, so I went. On the way out, I ran low on fuel, and had to go to the reserve tank. Fearing I would not make it back to town, I debated turning around and returning home. But, I decided to continue and hope for the best. I did make it back, but didn't like the uneasy feeling of not knowing when the engine was going to die, and that would be the end. I was warned not to run too long on the reserve as running out is a major problem, and I hereby vow to do everything to not let it happen again. I had images of the scene in "Wild Hogs" where they push the bikes through the desert since they run out of gas. Well, that would have been me, minus the desert part, and minus the pushing part. I'd have called on my cell phone for backup from town.

Well, I had planned on lots of saddle time this weekend, and it didn't quite happen as much as I'd hoped. I did get some miles on. As mentioned, enough to run me almost dry, but on Saturday I didn't make the trip to Woonsocket on the bike as planned. It was incredibly windy, and I rode in a vehicle with someone else. Riding in the wind would have been tough, but coming back would have been worse as we drove through not only high winds, but driving rains also. It was almost as smart of a move as not going to Redfield on Friday. Two good decisions in a row. I hope that kind of luck continues.

Friday, June 27, 2008

A streak that ends.


This has been the state of my SUV since the addition of the motorcycle. She just sits and waits for her next travel, often with a sad look as I ride away to work in the morning. Just after buying the motorcycle on that Wednesday morning, I came out with the intentions of taking the Blazer (as I did not have my license to drive the motorcycle yet) and it was like the Blazer knew the end was near. She was already running, as if to say, "Please take me, we've done so much together, please...." (I must have hit the auto start in the house when coming out.) Anyhow, the follow day, on Thursday I got my motorcycle license and hadn't driven the Blazer to work until today. The streak ended at 13 days of riding the bike to work as there was a steady rain this morning.

By afternoon, the clouds had parted, and the sun was shining. I needed to get to Redfield to get the title moved over, and paperwork finished, so I took off around 3:00. I wasn't quite to 281 yet just out of Huron, and I took a big bug off the chin again, and as it exploded on me, I thought to myself, "Self, you're going to spend the evening putting a windshield on the bike, so why torture yourself like this, just wait until next week when you behind the protective glass."

So I turned around and came back to Huron. Wow did that prove to be the smartest move I've made with the motorcycle yet. Not 10 minutes later, nasty thunderstorms were popping up right where I'd have been at the time. Hail, wind, lightning, and driving rain. I was at home in the comfort of the garage before any drops fell, and I was dry and happy! And, the windshield, by the way, is now installed, and works perfectly.


It will get more tests tomorrow with a morning trip to Woonsocket, and an evening trip to Lake Byron, and a trip tomorrow to Church, back to town, and back to the lake in the evening for supper. Gonna get some miles, and not get pelted by bugs again!

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

The Harley that was a Steal....

I recently finished reading a book (I'll pause here while some of you quit laughing and now rejoin me please. Thank you.). In that book, I found a cool story that will be modified slightly here in this post.

"Belonging to the King"

A California Man named Bob loved garage sales. He would often wake up early on Saturday to grab the paper, check out the local garage sales, and he would go looking for that great treasure. He wasn't quite sure what that treasure was, but he was looking for it. One day he had completed his normal run, but decided to go to the one last address that was on his list, even though the prime shopping time was gone and most of the good buys would be gone. He stopped and was looking at a table in the garage, and saw in the back an old Harley Davidson. So, he asked the older man handling the garage sale if it was for sale. The man told him his wife told him it had to go, so why not, he would sell if for $35 because that's what the local scrap yard would have given him for the metal. (Even I would take that for $35). He went on to explain it didn't run, and would need alot of work. But, Bob didn't care, even if his wife would be upset for a while, it was a good deal. So Bob purchased the bike and took it home.

After a few weeks, he finally got around to calling Harley Davidson for the parts. The parts man came on the line and asked for the serial number for the bike so they could accurately identify the correct parts. Bob read off the serial number and on the other line, there was a silence.

The parts man stuttered a bit, then said, "Sir, I need to have some information from you."

Bob wasn't to excited about that, but he gave out the info thinking he could get a catalog sent to him or something. So, Bob sat around a couple of days before getting a phone call from a very high executive at Harley Davidson.

The executive said, "Bob, I need you to go do something for me."

"Umm, well I guess," replied Bob.

"Bob, put the receiver down and go to the garage and take the seat off the bike and see if there is something written underneath."

Bob did as he was told and came back and told the executive that indeed there was writing on the bike. It said "THE KING."

The executive said, "Bob, I'm going to offer you $300,000 for that bike."

Bob was stunned. He said he would think about it and hung up. A day later, Jay Leno calls him saying he has a thing for old Harleys, and will give him $500,000. Bob's little $35 dollar Harley Davidson, was now big, really big. It wasn't just that it was a Harley Davidson motorcycle that made it famous and valuable, it had belong to none other than THE KING himself, Elvis Presley.



Monday, June 23, 2008

Cooking with T-dub 2.1 - Camping Breakfast

This weekend, I put my touch to work on the stove with cooking breakfast for our annual "Wipf Family Campout." We've been going as a family for 16 years now, dating back to 1993 when we started. This year, I cooked the Wrangler Breakfast. Here is the list for those of you playing along at home:

- To prepare, fry bacon ahead of time and be sure to grab a decent sized frying pan and a cooking utensil with which you can flip the Wrangler.

1. Butter a Piece of bread on both sides
2. Find an object to cut a hole in the middle of the piece of bread (a small mouthed cup works well), and remove and keep the center piece
3. Apply Cooking spray lightly to the pan
4. Put bread in frying pan on low to medium low heat
5. Add 1 egg into center of bread that has been removed, and beat yoke until broken
6. Add and mix cooked bacon into egg center
7. Fry both sides until golden brown, and egg is completely cooked.
9. Fry the circle taken from the hole in the bread until golden brown.
10. Enjoy!

Now, the first two times at this didn't go well. I flopped one, and badly burned one. Keeping to low or medium low heat is key here. Good things take time, just remember that. So, I'm making these for the 18 of us that attended this years campout, and many people enjoy these some much, they'll have up to 3 of them for breakfast. And after the first two failures, I got into the groove and rattled off more than 35 straight in perfect condition. I got so good, I was doing them two at a time. But of course, my family who has very few grateful parties when they are awaiting their food, especially Uncle Brian, had problems with my methods, calling them too slow. Try to do a good deed, and make someone breakfast, and all they can do is gripe about it. Not good for the popular uncle vote. Brian finds himself in dead last and falling back in the "Favorite Uncle Standings" after the weekend of nagging about breakfast.

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Living the Life of a Biker....Wild Hog Style


It's been an interesting week for this Wild Hog. I got a tat. The old Apple logo.


(Mom, relax, I didn't really do it, it was just a movie quote.) But, it has been quite an interesting week. On Tuesday, I'm out riding, and I get a guy asking me a bunch of questions about the bike while I was fueling up. So, politely, I answered his question, and he told me he thought it was a very nice motorcycle, and it looked very nice. I thanked him, and joined the rest of the gang (Spence and Lunchbox and the blonde). So, I headed back south on Dakota Ave., and went in to the station to work on an interview. I came back out 7 minutes later to a guy in a pickup standing there just staring at the motorcycle. He asked if it was mine when I came out, and he said it was very nice looking, and asked me about it, and told me about his motorcycle. So, we parted a few minutes later, as I went back to the gang, and he said it was a nice looking bike, and I again thanked him for noticing. Well, Lunchbox and I were hungry so we stopped at Zesto for ice cream. We sat at a booth in the corner and were talking, and a guy walks up and asks me if I'm driving the Red V-Star. (I'm not making this up, all this happened within 20 minutes of each other.) I said yes and he asked where I bought it. Turned out, it was the guy who had it before me, named Paul. So we talked for 20 minutes about bikes, riding, and the fun of it all. He wished me well, and we went back outside and headed home. Then on Wednesday, I had to go check some things on the west side of town. I was pulled up at a stop sign on Lincoln and Third when a Harley that had been following me for a while came up beside me and the guy asked me if I'd just gotten the bike. I said yeah, and he asked where I got it from. Turns out, this guy on the Harley was Paul's (the guy who owned the bike before me) brother. So we chatted a bit and he compliment me on how nice I had it looking, and he roared off. Quite a stretch of a couple days where people just kept coming with compliments for me. So now, I ride on in pride. Wild Hogs!

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

An Almost Perfect Evening

This evening was one of the better ones I've had in a long time. It started with a great late afternoon outside, which enticed me to get to the lake. I took the jetski out and ran around Lake Byron, which was quite smooth in the early evening until the low fuel light drove me in after only 45 minutes of riding. Kind of a disappointment, as I thought I had more in the tank, but I had to get back to trailer, and head back to town, which wasn't a bad thing, just get out the bike and enjoy the rest of the evening. So, that I did and it was quite fun and relaxing. The only thing which kept it from being perfect would have been more time on the water, and maybe even a skyski ride, and not having to put fuel in the jetski and motorcycle. But not even that was gonna get me down, I was quite happy. Of course, it's not like the motorcycle is a problem to fill up, tonight it took 2.3 gallons of fuel. Perhaps the fun part of the evening was the gathering that happened right in our driveway. I caught up with Lunchbox (aka Dwight to most people) and we rode a bit together, got ice cream, and came to get me a sweatshirt. We swapped bikes for a ride around the block, so I got the more powerful bike, with the passenger onboard, and went around the block like a pro. Didn't even matter there was an additional person on the bike, it wasn't hard at all, and his bike sounds awesome! Mine will not sound that good for quite some time, as the list of things to upgrade is growing by the day. But, the evening concluded with a gathering of friends in the driveway just enjoying a summer evening chatting. I only hope tomorrow can be as much fun.

Monday, June 16, 2008

The Weekend Update

Here is a summary for the weekend of soccer games I was on the reffing crew for, and other miscellaneous events that happened. *NOTE - THIS IS FOR ALL GAMES I'M PART OF THE REFEREE CREW, NOT NECESSARILY THE CENTER REFEREE*

- Mode of Transportation: Yamaha V-star 650
- Number of Miles travelled (one way):135
- Miles per gallon on trip down: 43
- Miles per gallon on partial trip home: 50
- Number of Soccer Games Refereed: 9
- Number of Cautions (Yellow Cards) given: 6
- Number of Ejections (Red Cards) given: 2
- Reason for Ejections: Fighting, two 16 year old girls tried to rip each other a part right on the field. We had to separate them. I thought I was gonna get smoked a couple times, because the one girl was really torqued off! We also had to separate the two teams after the game because they almost turned it into a brawl on the sidelines.
- Number of Coaches that made fools of themselves: 1
- Number of Girls that cried during a match: 4
- Number of old men that aimlessly wondered onto the field during a game carrying a lawn chair with players splitting to go around him and not run over him, and then stopped to watch him turn and leave again the exact same way he came with no clue he had interrupted our game: 1
- Number of bugs that hit my face on the way home: 8,310
- Number of miles I'll travel outside of town without a windshield: NOT VERY MANY

That is a summary rundown on the events of the weekend.

Sunday, June 15, 2008

The Open Road Weekend


It was a weekend where the bike was king and rolled on the miles. It was quite an adventure as I didn't know what to expect really, other than good gas milage. As it was, it was nice to spend time on the road with the motorcycle, but it was also quite an interesting battle with some elements, mainly bug. Really, really big bugs, and they hurt a bit at 60. So, after taking the bike to Sioux Falls this weekend to help referee a club soccer tournament, the conclusion is this: There will be some upgrades before we go on another "long" trip. Plenty of interesting things at the soccer tournament too, and I'll talk about that later on. But, for those that are wondering, with a smaller tank, I do have to make sure to keep fuel in good supply, as not to get caught in the middle of nowhere (and there are alot of those areas between here and Sioux Falls). The final talley was 42.6 mpg going down, and 50 mpg from the time I was in Sioux Falls back to Madison. I didn't really spend any length of time on the interstate, as my helmet (which for you, mom, I did wear) feels like it's gonna choke you if you go too fast. So it's also kinda a speed control device also, plus, we are talking about a very young rider who doesn't need to battle traffic and aggressive drivers quite yet. So, lots of time spent on the open road, and many more miles to be rolled on....

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Sticking it to the Oil Companies

Well, gas is peaking it's ugly head around $4 a gallon now, and I've had to find a way to beat it, and I think I've finally found that way.




For those who are wondering, it's an '07 Yamaha V-Star 650 Custom. I've been out with it a couple time, just getting the hang of it, and getting used to it. As soon as i pass the driving test, and have my full license, not just the permit, it will become my primary vehicle whenever possible. It will take me to work and back and many other places, with my trusty helmet of course. Hopefully the 50 mpg will help relieve a little strain.

Monday, June 9, 2008

The Weekend.....


I've already talked about the softball week, but this was all part of the very busy Saturday I had. We started out red hot, and then cooled significantly going just 2-2 on the day. I did have 2 innings pitched, with still 0 earned runs, and 1 unearned. That brings my total to now 13 innings with only allowing 4 earned runs. That's quite good, especially for softball.


The Big Jim tournament also coincides with Wheel Jam at the State Fair Grounds. They bring in alot of cars, trucks, motorcycles, and cooks for the event. I attended the chili cookoff on Friday night. I tasted 13 chili recipes, and still concluded that the chili I make, that I have posted about before on the chili dog post, and is my mom's recipe, is the best. I do recall that I even had requests for that recipe. I digress. There were several good ones out there, and some pretty nice looking autos also. One of the contests was the jake brake competition. So, we are playing softball, and we can hear these things going off a mile away. I'm standing in the outfield wondering really, how much money is being burned with diesel at $4.75 a gallon.



By about 2:00, we'd already lost the softball tournament, and I moved out to Wheel Jam, but it didn't take long and I could hear the lake calling my name. Sunshine, 75, and very little wind. PERFECT. So, I loaded up, grabbed my cousin Corkles, and headed to the lake. The water was a bit cool at first, but not too bad, and we had a good time. Corkles learned the beauty of starting on one ski, and did quite well all day. On the second attempt, we got her in the water, and got ready, and pulled her right out of the water. As we were moving along, we heard her yelling something from the end of the rope. We couldn't hear what she was saying over the jetski engine and the water, so we just kept going, Eventually, she fell, and we pulled around to get the rope to keep going, and learn what she had been yelling. In our skis, the one that is used as a slalom has a foot hole for the back foot to go in while only using one ski. Well, she had grabbed the wrong ski, and had no where to put her other foot. We had to take a 5 minute laughing break, because after she gets up on one ski, and makes it look easy, only then does she realize there is not back holder for her foot, and is therefore on the wrong ski. So, we pulled her back to get the right ski, much to the enjoyment and laughter of all those on the dock. Thanks to Tom and Steph also for the use of the dock and the great hospitality to make the lake an even better hangout for the evening. However, Sunday rolls around, and somebody didn't want to move, and neither did any of my muscles. Plus, having to move furniture to my brothers new house wasn't that much fun from a muscle stand point, but otherwise wasn't too bad. Would have been cooler if he'd have had the hot tub ready, but I'll get it next time. It was not a fun day as I felt quite old due to soreness and stiffness, but the 10 hours of sleep to wrap up the weekend was welcomed.

Friday, June 6, 2008

The Games....and Indiana Jones

Well, the softball experiment has been interesting. So far, we've only gotten in 3 games, as the triple header thursday was rained out. Now, on Saturday, we embark on a tournament. So far, I've pitched all four games we've played in, coming off impressive outings this past Wednesday. I seriously would have been great on a MLB fantasy team, let alone part of a softball league. I gave up a total of 4 earned runs in 11 innings of work. Our first game, I ended up with a loss, sadly, 1-0. Yup, a softball game 1-0. It was a very intense game, and the run was scored sadly on a fielding error. The next game we won handily, but that was the most interesting game I've been a part of. So, tomorrow, we play for quite some time, trying to win the Big Jim Tournament.

So, tonight we went to see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. What a cool name. You've got a wicked cool skull, and Indiana Jones, which automatically makes it a great movie right? WRONG!

******Editors Note - from here on contains movie spoilers. If you want to see it and don't want to know what happens, STOP READING NOW!******


I was excited because I love the first three movies. Now, we've got Indiana Jones, the KGB, a Crystal Skull, and aliens. Could they have possibly picked worse topic to revolve around??!? I don't think they could have. Aliens. What the.....aliens??? I felt cheated. It was like in the planning meetings George Lucus (the well known director) said, "People will love it. Star Wars was a hit." It was pretty bad, and disappointing. I mean seriously, aliens. The movie was about aliens. It did have some of the good makings of the other Indiana Jones movies. These ancient tribes in the Amazon Jungle with huge ants, burial sites, a cool crystal skull. And then came the freakin' aliens. Aliens, that's it. What a waste of a good movie idea, all because of aliens.

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Life on the Diamond

Many times I wonder about playing softball. I love playing and love playing hard, but I wonder often how the professional guys actually do it. Playing every day would seem to wear on a person, especially because we aren't quite in the same shape as they are. Our City League starts in the middle of May, and we generally play pretty much until September. I have refereed soccer games, then turned around and played in softball games the same night, so we know that we play close to September. Well, I've added some other things to the softball schedule this year. I've joined church league again after a several year absence. I'll be joining Bethesda who had the best contract offer to me as a free agent. I'm also the backup pitcher for a co-ed team this year also. I've picked up pitching the past couple of years, and it's a very valuable trait to have. I must take after my dad in that regard. So, after this week, I'll let you know how the pros do it. My schedule, rain allowing, is 2 games tonight, 2 tomorrow night, and 3 on Thursday, and on Saturday, tournament play, with a minimum of 2 games (more than likely more.) That's alot, so now if I could just figure out how I could get paid to do that, it would be much more fun. I'll work on that and update you also later.