Monday, February 16, 2004
back in the bay!
the theme for the end of the trip has been "Chafe."
CHAFES
1. after dealing with having our wallets stolen, Cody and I spend an hour on the phone trying to cancel cards.
2. Verizon, a sponsor of the Series, won't allow calls to 800 or 888 numbers from the game, possibly from the entire country. I have to call my wife and have her call and cancel the cards.
3. The Internet connectivity went down every game in the 6th inning and didn't come up until afterwards. So we were not able to do our thing until later - we headed to the field for the big bruhaha.
4. The game ended at about 12:30; add in the celebration on the field, the award presentations, the mulling around on the field, our search for our lost items, our frantic calls to the states, and our rush to put out stories for the final game, and it's well past 3AM.
5. We start to get pestered to leave after the after-party is over - they are persistent. We tell them we need to file one last post for Major League Baseball. They are not impressed. Doug is ready to take a swing at the big boss, who's yelling at us. Doug decides that it's not worth it and vows to file his report later that day. He then proceeds to bitch them out for being jerks and denying us the ability to do our jobs. They don't appear to understand English. They also dispute that the internet was ever down - competence is in short supply here. On the way out of the stadium, ALL the lights are out. I can't tell if it's a blackout or the end of the world. It's biblically black.
6. we then grabbed food at the Malecon - food was good, but the same guy we tipped generously two nights before tried the Gwailo gouge on us! Unbelievable - no good deed goes unpunished. Luckily Cody read the bill, or we might have overpaid by 12 or 13 cents.
7. after an exhausting few hours of packing, napping, and preparing, we got to the airport intact. My wait for the money-changing desk to open was in vain, and I decided, unfortunately, to change my pesos in the states.
8. said goodbye and many thanks to Doug, who helped us out after Cody and I got robbed and certainly didn't have to. Flight home was uneventful.
9. Changing money in JFK - instead of the 50 pesos to the dollar we got in the Dominican, JFK Money Gougers are buying them at 71! So now my 40$ becomes 25, just like that, AND they have the GALL to charge a $5.50 COMMISSION!!!! I want to open fire.
10. home, and the air smells different. Tearful reunions, and now I have to move into my new place.
CHAFES CONTINUED
11. moving - how completely ASS. Elaine says we don't need movers - wants to save some $$$$. SO After 3 days of moving a few loads a day, we plan to hit it hard on Sunday. I have 3 shifts of friends lined up. One with a truck, one to help with the TV, and one for the final stuff. The day begins at 8:30AM. I finally collapse into bed at 5:30AM.
12. My hands are bleeding, I broke some stuff, and the refrigerator broke, so all of our food is going to spoil.
BRIGHT SPOTS
1. Cody Monk, Dallas Morning News, et al. - What a great team we make, conquering the world, one third-world country at a time.
2. Enrique Rojas, AP et al. - Thanks to him and his lovely Mariella, we had a GREAT time in his beautiful country. He is a superstar in waiting, mark my words.
3. Doug Miller, MLB.com - Thanks to him for the great music, great help, and for getting my pics out to the world.
4. Ricardo Zuniga, AP - what a cool guy - I hope we can hook up soon. Sorry I couldn't get that pic of you and Tejada you wanted - I was busy getting robbed. Next time!
and for moving...
1. Jason Dommermuth - thanklessly hauled my crap for 11 hours. What a pal.
2. Dismas Hausner - drove 45 minutes each way to help me move - Gracias.
3. Frankie and Danny Nuñez - happiest father/son duo on earth - thanks for the life-saving truck and help.
SO now that chapter is done. On to the next adventure - Japan? China? Africa? Greece? Anything can happen - stay tuned for more - and for past pics!
the theme for the end of the trip has been "Chafe."
CHAFES
1. after dealing with having our wallets stolen, Cody and I spend an hour on the phone trying to cancel cards.
2. Verizon, a sponsor of the Series, won't allow calls to 800 or 888 numbers from the game, possibly from the entire country. I have to call my wife and have her call and cancel the cards.
3. The Internet connectivity went down every game in the 6th inning and didn't come up until afterwards. So we were not able to do our thing until later - we headed to the field for the big bruhaha.
4. The game ended at about 12:30; add in the celebration on the field, the award presentations, the mulling around on the field, our search for our lost items, our frantic calls to the states, and our rush to put out stories for the final game, and it's well past 3AM.
5. We start to get pestered to leave after the after-party is over - they are persistent. We tell them we need to file one last post for Major League Baseball. They are not impressed. Doug is ready to take a swing at the big boss, who's yelling at us. Doug decides that it's not worth it and vows to file his report later that day. He then proceeds to bitch them out for being jerks and denying us the ability to do our jobs. They don't appear to understand English. They also dispute that the internet was ever down - competence is in short supply here. On the way out of the stadium, ALL the lights are out. I can't tell if it's a blackout or the end of the world. It's biblically black.
6. we then grabbed food at the Malecon - food was good, but the same guy we tipped generously two nights before tried the Gwailo gouge on us! Unbelievable - no good deed goes unpunished. Luckily Cody read the bill, or we might have overpaid by 12 or 13 cents.
7. after an exhausting few hours of packing, napping, and preparing, we got to the airport intact. My wait for the money-changing desk to open was in vain, and I decided, unfortunately, to change my pesos in the states.
8. said goodbye and many thanks to Doug, who helped us out after Cody and I got robbed and certainly didn't have to. Flight home was uneventful.
9. Changing money in JFK - instead of the 50 pesos to the dollar we got in the Dominican, JFK Money Gougers are buying them at 71! So now my 40$ becomes 25, just like that, AND they have the GALL to charge a $5.50 COMMISSION!!!! I want to open fire.
10. home, and the air smells different. Tearful reunions, and now I have to move into my new place.
CHAFES CONTINUED
11. moving - how completely ASS. Elaine says we don't need movers - wants to save some $$$$. SO After 3 days of moving a few loads a day, we plan to hit it hard on Sunday. I have 3 shifts of friends lined up. One with a truck, one to help with the TV, and one for the final stuff. The day begins at 8:30AM. I finally collapse into bed at 5:30AM.
12. My hands are bleeding, I broke some stuff, and the refrigerator broke, so all of our food is going to spoil.
BRIGHT SPOTS
1. Cody Monk, Dallas Morning News, et al. - What a great team we make, conquering the world, one third-world country at a time.
2. Enrique Rojas, AP et al. - Thanks to him and his lovely Mariella, we had a GREAT time in his beautiful country. He is a superstar in waiting, mark my words.
3. Doug Miller, MLB.com - Thanks to him for the great music, great help, and for getting my pics out to the world.
4. Ricardo Zuniga, AP - what a cool guy - I hope we can hook up soon. Sorry I couldn't get that pic of you and Tejada you wanted - I was busy getting robbed. Next time!
and for moving...
1. Jason Dommermuth - thanklessly hauled my crap for 11 hours. What a pal.
2. Dismas Hausner - drove 45 minutes each way to help me move - Gracias.
3. Frankie and Danny Nuñez - happiest father/son duo on earth - thanks for the life-saving truck and help.
SO now that chapter is done. On to the next adventure - Japan? China? Africa? Greece? Anything can happen - stay tuned for more - and for past pics!
