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.

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.

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.

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.

Back on the Pitch....

Well, it was back to the soccer fields for us on Saturday. Sorry, I didn't help anyone's soccer referee fantasy team. Didn't even get to hand out one card. Had 2 games cancelled, which is sad most times, but this time it wasn't because in South Dakota Soccer, you get paid if you are scheduled for a game, and you show up and it gets cancelled. So that was a good deal. Still got to watch some kids play soccer, in the 12 and under division. These kids are fun to watch. Just as halftime ended and the second half was ready to begin, one of the kids comes out to the center of the field where I was standing and says, "Guess what. Our coach said if we come back and win, she will take us all out to Dairy Queen! We're not behind by much right?" I told him it was 4-0, and that did not even dampen his spirit. I also said, "Just remember, you can still come back. All you can do is go out and play hard and do your best, because that's what really matters." He was still so motivated by the small chance they could get to Dairy Queen, no other motivation was needed. That became the rally cry. "Do it for DQ!" They ran like crazy, passed well. The goal keeper did everything he could. Fully extending on dives for saves, leaping higher than he'd ever jumped before to make the save, taking shots off the chest, head, and face. He defended with all his might, but it just wasn't enough. As the second half wore on, and the goals for the other team kept mounting, you could see hope sliding away. Dairy Queen would have to wait for another day, as the team fell 8-0. I will give the kids credit though, they kept on trying even down by 8, and after the game it was a pleasure to shake their hands (which is apparently a soccer tradition that I HATE, except for this time). It was nice to tell these 12 year old boys they had done a great thing by keeping on playing until the time was up. Props to the U-12 team from De Smet for their effort.

Bringing back the Lawn Dart

Here is a story about how I earned this nickname which was brought back after last night's games. Last season, I went to play in the state tournament in Mitchell after a reffing clinic in Brookings. So, when I arrived we were already into the game, so I entered in the 3rd inning. Two pitches into my first appearance there is a short popup into what was my old position in left field. It was right down the line and going to be close, so I was hustling after it, and decided I would have to dive to make the catch. So, I laid out there thinking the thing that normally happened would happen. I'd catch it, and slide to a stop in foul territory, However, as I hit the ground, I found that the grass was extremely thick, and I wasn't going to slide at all. So, I hit the ground, my feet go straight up in the air as I'm standing on my head, at my same 5'10" height. Well, I was running, therefore, something has to give and my momentum must keep moving. So, I started to skid on my face with the feet straight up in the air. An odd burn followed, and I skidded for what seemed like forever (it was only about 6 feet). I finally flopped back down with the ball in hand. My team cheered, then broke down into laughter, and Matt Watson pipes up from the mound, "Nice grab Lawn Dart."

Last night wasn't quite the same, but it did resemble it somewhat apparently enough for Watson to again bring out the lawn dart comment. It is just the way I play, giving 100% all the time.

Memorial Weekend, Camping, Birthdays, Fishing, Watersports, Golf, and Sleep

Well, a big holiday for me is now behind us. It was a windy weekend camping, but we did survive, and so did the new digs. We finally got rid of the 1974 popup camper that we'd been using for a long time. I think Mom and Dad bought it from a garage sale in Minnesota for $400. Anyhow, this winter it was officially retired with the arrival of the new(er) fifth wheel camper, which received a huge approval from the other residents (Trent and Me). So, we were ready and it's Friday afternoon at 4pm when all the fun begins. First, a broken window on the pickup, so that had to be replaced. Then, lights to repair on the camper, then, load the camper since it had been in the shop all week with other work being done on it. So, we get away about 2 hours late. Then, Trent and I got the boat, and were ready to start to Watertown when we heard the pickup had pumped all the water from the radiator and reservoir. So, we got water and issued the repairs, The lights on the boat trailer weren't quite working properly, so we hurried to beat the darkness to Watertown, and barely made it in, only about 3 hours behind schedule.  Considering all the obstacles we overcame, that wasn't bad, but now we were camping and nothing could ruin that, not even the wind.

So, we then on Saturday got everything ready for the lake that we hoped to use one day of the weekend on Sunday. The forecast wasn't in our favor, although Sunday looked to be good enough. Then we decided to head to town to visit with my cousin Lorna at her restaurant (I'll write more on that establishment later). We got there in time to get dad completely surprised for his 50th birthday. He never saw it coming! Of course, he turned 51 one month ago today, so we were about a year and a month late. However, the timing completely threw him off! It was a fun time with friends that made the trip from all over.

So, Sunday, we went to the water, as it was a nice day and only a bit breezy. Trent and I fished for a couple hours in the boat that he recently acquired. That was fun. Now I'm not big into fishing, but I liked fishing from the boat. Then we decided it was warm enough to get in the water, and try it out. We did do some hydrofoiling and kneeboarding, and gave all the cousin's rides on the Seadoo. The event was cut somewhat short by the water being quite cold. I wasn't too bad, but I had the only wetsuit, and eventually, your arms feel like they are going to fall off after being pulled for quite some time, so then you stop. Trent went back to the water to fish, and I went golfing.


Fun to get out on the links for the first time this year, and like usual, there were some good holes (including a 3 stroke par on which I didn't mulligan even one shot) and some bad ones. But, still good fun and good exercise. Then when we woke up today to what seemed like icy cold weather, so we called a weekend and headed home. Now, I sleep good tonight, and have to return to work in the morning. I'm just looking forward to the cool side of the pillow.

All of the weekend's activities were also recorded in picture form, just head over to my online album on the right side of the page.