MY LIFE - JULY

Thursday, July 25, 2002

If you go driving west on interstate 90 around the Detroit Rd. exit in Rocky River, you'll probably still see the remains of my front passenger-side tire that decided to shred while I was attempting to drive my sister to Tri-C for her class that was at 11am.

Needless to say, we never made it. I knew when it happened too because I felt the car bumping up and down repeatedley and it started pulling towards the right. I also happened to see chunks of my tire flying up in the air in my rear-view mirror and had to get my ass off the highway.

Naturally, I was in the fast lane when this happened.

A call was made to roadside assistance and after an hour and ten minutes, a guy showed up and helped change the tire. I would've done it myself, but the realization hit me that I did not have the tools necessary to do the job. It only took him about 5 minutes to get the spare on and it was time to head on home since by the time he had gotten there, it was after 12 and my sister's class started at 11am.

Not the way I wanted my day to start.

This was one of those days though. My stomach's been hurting all day and my mouth is hurting in the one corner from a wisdom tooth that isn't coming in the way I was hoping it would. It's the only one out of four that's coming in wrong too, but it's still painful.

We got back at around 12:30 and I immediately sat down and, well, did really nothing. I did get to talk to my new friend again today, but outside of that, there was nothing going on at all and nothing I could do really until I went and had a new tire put on.

I ultimately must have passed out while laying on the couch because I woke up around 7:30 to hear my mom say that it was time to get my tires replaced. We went to Sears at Great Northern Mall and in about 20 minutes, the tires were changed. I also had to have new tie rods put in because they were loose, which would make sense. I had noticed the alignment was off a bit when I was driving. My brakes are fine though and I have new wheels, which should be good for another 30,000 miles or so.

Today has been the day from hell with my stomach though. It has not stopped rumbling and cramping at all today and still hurts right now. I've made more runs to the bathroom today then I had made in the last two weeks combined, just to give some perspective on how bad it's been.

Instead of getting better, it feels like it's getting worse and this is starting to concern me. I haven't had cramping this bad in several years and the last time it led to me going to the hospital for tests. I'm not to keen on that repeating itself right now, although it may come down to surgery.

I've taken my medicine, eaten things that shouldn't upset me, yet it's hurting worse today then ever. I can't stand it sometimes either. If this doesn't get better in a couple weeks, I'm going to have to review my options.

As for my tooth, this bastard just started hurting about three days ago, right after Susan had her wisdom teeth pulled. It makes me mad more because I have four coming in, and this last one (in the lower right corner) is the one that's hurting. The others have hurt briefly from time to time, but haven't been a problem in the last several months. This last one flared up and has not gotten any better. In fact, it's getting worse. It's getting harder and harder to open my mouth to eat like I'm used to.

There's also swelling in my mouth as well. If you put one hand on one side of my mouth, then put your other hand on the other side, you can feel the swelling building up. All it takes is a slight push and you can feel it, at least I can. I can also feel the swelling with my tongue, although I should stop doing that because it hurts. But hey, I'm not the sharpest knife in the shed.

Outside of that, it's been a good day off. Nothing got done, I had a flat tire, my stomach hurts, and my mouth is sore now. Gee, can we say not having a good day?

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I've been watching with amusement the whole labor process going on in baseball and it seems that neither side is thinking of the fans, well outside of the owners wanting more parity. Both sides are talking about millions of dollars and it's becoming more and more absurd with each passing day. The players are clueless, the owners are trying to fix their own mistakes now, and Bud Selig is just a fucking moron.

This guy looks about as disheveled as he is, incapable of appealing himself to anyone. I think he scares more people then Mike Tyson does, not because you're afraid he might bite you, but because he starts talking numbers that aren't true.

Someone must think us fans are stupid, and in a sense, maybe we are. After all, we keep paying the prices to go to these games and watch in some cases sub-.500 teams play. At the same time, we want that overpaid slugger to come to our team while not spending as much money as that player wants. If the player comes or stays, he's greedy. If he leaves, then obviously ownership has no clue.

Baseball's also the only sport that can have an All-Star game run out of players and call it after 11 innings with the score tied. Up until then, it had been a very good game. Thanks Bud, once again you've proven just how big of a knob you are.

The answer is simple. Minium payrolls along with a salary cap for each team. Revenue sharing increases as teams like the Yankees give teams like the Devil Rays and Royals more. A world wide draft and a maximum amount that a drafted player can sign for. No more $5 million bonuses for some kid who's never played professional ball.

Unfortunately, greed is going to make any kind of agreement impossible. Both owners and players want more money even though they already have ridiculous amounts, which means there will be a strike or lock-out, the World Series will be canceled for the second time in 8 years, and fans will pretty much say the hell with baseball, when's football season?

Speaking of which, training camp has opened for the Browns. Just thought I'd throw that in there.

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No Tribe Watch tonight since the Indians were off. They play at home against Detroit tomorrow, Saturday, and Sunday. If they can't beat the Tigers, then it really is hopeless. I'll try and have a summary of the game tomorrow.

Oh, and in case anyone forgot, I feel like shit, otherwise I'd write more.