MY LIFE - MAY 1999

May 31, 1999

We had yet another computer crash tonight. It came when my younger sister was on the computer and a storm happened to come by. Well, remembering that the computer should be turned off during a storm to prevent any problems, she did just that. Just one slight problem. She didn't shut down the computer, she just hit the power button. Normally this wouldn't be a problem except that this time, something actually happened. The files on the computer essentially fried, causing the computer to overwrite what my mom had set up, leaving our computer eternally in safe mode. We wound up having to reinstall everything back onto the computer, which takes time.

She did right by turning off the computer. She just forgot to shut down properly. Funny thing is, this has never happened before. They're being serious when they say to shut down every time because you can have something happen eventually. It's rare, but as we found out, it does happen with less than encouraging results. Now I have to go and spend the next couple days recovering all the information lost due to this latest crash. I now find myself writing this at 2:30 in the morning just so that I could get the last day of May in. Thank god that I don't have to go to school.

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I took a trip down to Akron today to get an idea of where the hell I'm supposed to go on June 6th for my commencement. I found that the directions to the James A. Rhodes Arena (JAR Arena) were pretty straight forward and that there are a couple of ways you can go to get there. The only problem during the trip was that as I was turning onto interstate 71, it began to rain. Hard. Now if you don't know, driving in a downpour can be an adventure in itself. Now add to that equation some rather large hailstones. That can be downright bad for your heart. As I headed south, the hailstones began to fall and the rain picked up in intensity. The hail would stop, but the rain didn't. What made it annoying was every mile or so, the rain would slow down, then pick back up.

That made the trip south interesting. The other thing that made it interesting was that the speed limit goes from 65 to 55 in quite a hurry. On my way back I found myself being tailed by a cop. Thankfully, he was after the guy in front of me so I was out of the woods. Once we hit the 65mph zone, I was more than happy to high-tail it away from the area. While down there, I saw four people either pulled over or get pulled over by the police and highway patrol. Once again, I escaped without a ticket, leaving me with a clean record still aside from my little adventures in accidents.

Um, anyway, I found the way to where our commencement is going to be held this weekend. I just didn't see exactly where the building was. What the map failed to mention was that there are about a half-dozen different buildings on the one side of the road as it is, half of those which are for parking, the other half curiously unmarked except for signs out front that I couldn't read. Thank goodness for the practice commencement in which we'll all see where to go, saving some major panic attacks on Sunday.

When I got back into Strongsville, I decided to take another trip up to the lakeshore to see how the storms looked out over the lake. It was something else as expected. Watching a storm out over the lake is just an unreal experience as you watch the lightning strike the water and you see those dark clouds hover above the water. If you're lucky, you'll see a waterspout over the lake, although I'm entirely thrilled about getting too close to one of those. They aren't nearly as strong as a land-born tornado, but there's always that chance that a waterspout could come onshore, becoming a tornado and causing minor damage. Damage I want no part of. With a feeling of both relief and disappointment, I found there to be no waterspouts today.

I didn't spend a long time there because it began pouring again, but I spent enough time to give myself a chance to think. Again. It may seem like I think a lot, and by golly you're right. I do think a lot. I think about everything that goes on, which I find to be a lifesaver sometimes because it allows me to plan ahead if I'm thinking of doing or saying something. Understand this about me. I always have a back-up plan either worked out or being worked on while I'm doing something. That way, if something should come up, I have an alternate plan. Thankfully, I haven't had to use back-up plans too often cause they probably would backfire like most everything else in my life. But I do think a lot.

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These next two things are interrelated, so bear with me. I'll start with the best part of the news, the Cleveland Indians went into New York on a three-game losing streak and promptly beat up the Yankees, 7-1. It's always good to see the Indians win, but it's especially sweet to do it against the Yankees, the snobs of all baseball. I don't know what it is, but the Yankees always seem to be linked with greatness no matter what they do. It seems to me that they are the soap opera of baseball to many, but they come off as snobs to most of us in Cleveland. It all really has to do with what the Yankees did during spring training last year.

In that game, Yankee hit Louis Soho was up to bat against Jaret Wright. Wright threw inside like he's always done, hitting Soho in the wrist, breaking it. The Yankees, whose pitchers aren't exactly squeaky clean, cried foul and labeled Wright a head hunter. Of course because it was the Yankees, who play in New York, the media, the league, and the league offices decided to go along and attach the label as well. The Yankees claimed it was intentional while Wright claimed it was a pitch that got away. The Yankees made it their own personal goal to beat the Indians any way possible and did just that in the playoffs.

Fast forward to this year. Wright, who's continued to pitch inside, has hit four batters in the first two months. The league continues to claim he's a headhunter while the New York media makes a huge issue out of it again. No one pays attention to the fact that seven other pitchers have hit four batters, three have hit more, and that one pitcher, who coincidentally is on the Yankees in David Cone, has hit seven. Who cares? Wright has hit four, and he plays on the Indians, a team that everyone wants to hate for whatever reason. Gene Budig, president of the American League, decides that a meeting with Mr. Wright is in order to discuss this issue. Wright, who's distracted by all of this, goes out and has three lousy outings, two of which see him hit batters with curve balls.

Let's examine this, shall we? Wright is a young pitcher learning how to control his pitches. He, like every other pitcher, has that right to pitch inside on hitters and brush them back. He, like every other damn pitcher in the majors, has hit batters. He doesn't lead the majors, or the AL in that category, but because he's on the Indians, the best team in the majors record-wise, and because he hurt a Yankee, he's under the microscope. I wonder if it's a coincidence that the AL offices are in New York? Cone plays for those Yankees, so why would anyone call him in? Simple, he's a veteran pitcher who plays on the most well known team in organized sports. Wright is young and plays on a team that always seems to find itself in trouble with the league.

I find all of this to be silly. Wright is just that, a young pitcher who still has to learn how to control pitches. To sit there and call him a head hunter is ludicrous, but so goes the media. I think that Mr. Budig is taking this a bit too far and needs to realize that the game of baseball has always had pitchers who've hit batters. Hitting four batters this year does not justify him as a head hunter. If it does, then why aren't the other pitchers who've hit as many or more batters being labeled the same? The league office has to sit there and ask itself that very question before going out and deciding to take action on a young, albeit feisty, pitcher who pitches in a market that is doing incredibly well, much to the disdain of the Yankees and New York in general.

In short, I find this all silly and just another way for the Yankees to try and mess with the Indians.

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My dad decided to drop on over for the day. If it weren't for the fact that he was obviously doped up on something, it might have been normal. So goes the story of my life though....It's been warm, it's been sticky, and I'm uncomfortable. I think I'll begin lobbying for central air again since I don't sleep well in those conditions....In case anyone wondered (fat chance!), the question mark next to my work schedule for Tuesday is simply there because I have to call in to see if I'm needed early at work. If so, my schedule would be 1:30-10pm instead of 3-10pm. That's all that was. Not that anyone actually gives a shit.