We got out of Chicago much faster and earlier than expected today, so we were able to make it back to Springfield around 9:30 tonight. I took a few photos of the conference that I’ll post, just not right now because my camera is downstairs at the moment.
-
Respect for Single Moms
This is to all those single mom’s out there. How in the world do you do it? Completely and utterly amazed by you all – total respect for being able to do it yourself. Besides getting 3 hours of sleep last night between various wake ups of our little David, I then had to deal with a 30 minutes screaming session while I was getting dressed and ready for work. That followed by him smiling at himself in the mirror while still sniffling from all the crying was enough to make me just want to go back to bed. We managed to eat breakfast, pack the car, feed the cats and water the garden without incident. But wow, what a morning. FYI, I had to do this all myself this morning because Eric is in Chicago for work. Usually he entertains David while I’m getting ready, as well as feeds the cats. I feed David and pack the car (garden is usually done at night). PLUS we split the who gets up to put him back to sleep duties. Eric won’t be back until Sunday (basically), so I’ll be doing the same battle tomorrow. Maybe David will relax a bit on day 2?
-
Java Updates
I swear there’s a new Java update every week, tonight I got so mad at the java icon yelling at me in the system tray on my server that I gave in and clicked it so it would go download the latest ultra-important POS updates that are Java.
What am I greeted with?
I’ve blogged about the JRE wanting to install Google Desktop before, but an entire Office Suite!?! Give me a break!
-
Power Plant
I drove just outside of Springfield tonight and took a few photos, here’s one of the sunset and CWLP.
Edit: A few more from the evening are located in gallery.
-
Bicycle Trailer
This afternoon I went over to Wheel Fast and picked up a bike trailer for David. It’s a Burley Bee which seems to be well built and collapses into a good size to store in the garage or trunk of my car. Here it is, attached to my bike and David getting all strapped in:
Well, lets just say he wasn’t too impressed or happy with his first ride.
Not happy David:
-
Instant Replay in Baseball
Some of you may have noticed, or even participated in, the current poll here (Should Instant Replay be used in Baseball?). What are your thoughts, readers?
Personally, I think that the writing is on the wall – it’s coming. Last November the General Managers voted for it and this spring they’ve been testing it out in some of the lower leagues (rookie leagues I believe). I think it’s only a matter of time for it to be approved by the various unions and associations and it’ll be upon us.
Damn. I just don’t like it.
Baseball is a lot of things: strategic; nuanced; a thinking man’s game; etc. But it’s also human. From the misjudged fly ball to the booted grounder to the errant throw, human error abound. A perfectly played game is just a pitch away from going awry, and it isn’t limited to the players – the almighty umpires are just as susceptible to mistake as the players. It’s a game where failure is the norm (if a batter failes 7 out of 10 times, he’s a star), you just suck it up and play. Bad call? Deal with it and move on, that’s why there are 162 games in a season – the best teams will still rise to the top. Real baseball fans know this, just as they know that arguments with umpires are more about firing up the team and disrupting momentum than genuinely trying to persuade Blue.
With instant replay involved, all of these dynamics go out the window and we’re left with a sport where whining can actually be rewarded. Nice thought huh? That sounds like just as good of an idea as making sure all of the 6 year olds in little league bat, number of Outs be damned. I’ll puke at the first flag thrown onto the field for a replay.
So, where does this leave us? I think the best we can hope for is that its use is severely limited. So limited, in fact, that everyone forgets it is there. I’m talking things like: no replays on balls and strikes; no replays to find out if the runner at third tagged up correctly; no replays to see if the second baseman tagged the runner on the stolen base attempt. Nope, none of that. Those plays have been going on for a hundred years and everyone can deal with the consequences.
I am, however, open to maybe using the replay in situations where the umpires have been put at a disadvantage over time. Like trying to look through the glare coming off the windows in Houston to determine if a ball was over the home run line. Or trying to tell if the 200mph line drive off of the latest steroid user is fair or foul. Maybe that should be the test when drawing up the rules for its use.
I repeat: balls & strikes and routine plays in the field should be strictly off-limits. I would even go so far as to say that its use should be discouraged – maybe only allowing a small handful of contestings (is that what they’re called?) per team per season.
Dear Major League Baseball, don’t screw this up. Thanks, A Fan.
-
New Weather Radio
We have a few weather radios in our house: one is in our emergency kit; two are builtin to some 2-way radios in the emergency kit; and two more are builtin to a pair of general use 2-way radios I have around the house. You’d think that would be enough, huh?
Nope. After the severe weather we had last week, I started my search for a weather radio/alarm that could wake us up in the middle of the night if something popped up we weren’t aware of. Since the last time I looked at these things, a few years ago, they have come out with a cool new feature called S.A.M.E. (Specific Area Message Encoder) which means the alarm will only go off for events in your county. A definite plus since I’d rather sleep when a severe thunderstorm is rolling through Champaign, for example. Even better yet, some of the radios/alarms today can even let you filter out certain alert types – I care about tornado warnings, but thunderstorm watches? Not so much..
For the curious, I ended up with the Reecom R-1650. It was delivered today and is now all configured. Once I get some backup batteries into it, I’ll move it upstairs to its resting place on my nightstand.
The Johnson Blog 