Kevin's Ramblings…

Last night, the AAA Rockies played the AAA Indians for our second match-up of the season.  In the previous game, our ace pitched a complete game and won 2-1.  Great game.

Last night, we didn’t pitch our ace but the pitching was solid, defense, not so much.

We were down 13-5 in the bottom of the 7th.  It looked like the Indians were going to slam the door shut on us and take the victory.

We battled back and got to 13-12 when the base umpire, presumably, decided that he wanted to go home and called an out at first that everyone in the stadium, including the Indians, saw as safe.

It goes that way sometimes.  A bad call here and a bad call there can change a game.  He has previously called a good game, although there were no close plays.  That happens, we are all human.  It was close but the foot was on the bag a half second before the ball was in the glove.

Anyway, being down by 8 and nearly coming back for the win is a sign that we never give up.  We’ll get ’em next time.

#GoRocs

I found out today that the position that I had applied for in Ontario does not pay enough to prompt me to return.  I had set a threshold of around 60k and it doesn’t pay that well.  I would not want to live and work in the GTA for any less.

So, I am glad that cloud has been lifted off of me.  I officially withdrew my application this morning.

Now I can concentrate on stuff around here, in Calgary, which I do consider my new home.  I am happy here, I have a good gig (even if it is a volunteer role) with coaching baseball, I am involved again in politics.  Why would I want to move back to Ontario?

I guess if I want to move into Management, I will have to come back to Ontario at some point, but, that point isn’t now.  I’m happy about that too.

I tried to log into Facebook this morning, as I do most mornings.  I was asked to verify my name as they only want people to use their real names.  I have no issue with that, I verified my real name.

Next, they wanted me to upload documentation to prove I was who I said I was.  Drivers license was one of the things they’d accept.  Yeah, right.

Do they actually think ANYONE on this planet will upload a copy of their ID to a social media site and trust that social media site to keep that information secure?

Here is what I uploaded:

I am sort of thinking that they will not accept that.  I had a friend check, my Facebook account appears to have vanished, I am no longer in his friends list.  When I try to log in, I am told that they are verifying my documents.

I know what some of you might be thinking – it wasn’t the real Facebook page…  I am an IT professional and I think I can determine when a site is good or not, plus I have tried from two different computers, my Android phone and my iPad Mini, same on all devices.

So, if Facebook is making this a requirement to log in for all users, I am pretty sure that Facebook is going to lose ALL of their users.  This is insanity…

I am sure I will update throughout the day.

UPDATE – After about 8 hours, I received an email from Facebook apologizing for accidentally disabling my account, it was re-enabled and everything was back to how it should have been. Considering they have a billion+ users! getting back to me in 8 hours is pretty quick turn around. Thanks Facebook.

Hmmm… Are the Bengals going to sue me for the title of this entry? I doubt it. 

With tax season, aka busy season, over at work, it is now busy season for those of us in IT. Today was pretty steady, the day flew by. We also, for some reason, had a number of people off. That made it a bit busier.

Nothing out of the ordinary, pretty easy stuff. I do like it when it is busy.

Speaking of busy, this is a very busy week for baseball. Tonight is the only day without anything on the schedule. Games on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday plus the weekend. It keeps me outa trouble, that’s for sure.

There are a few conflicts between my AA and AAA teams. Tomorrow, the AA’s are in the batting cage while the AAA’s are playing and both teams play on Sunday at the same time. No problem, we have lots of coaches. 

I finally have some umpiring on my schedule as well. My first game is a week Friday. I’m looking forward to it. I actually made my umpiring debut yesterday during our game, umpires were either not scheduled or were no shows. Either way, it was fun.

Enjoy your week.

My AA Rockies had a double header today, in Mothers Day. 

We needed to be at the park for 10am, an hour before game time which isn’t too bad. The batting cages at Glenmore park aren’t completed as yet so no batting practice prior to the games.

In game one, we faced the Giants. At game time, there were no umpires. Interesting, seeing as we hadn’t heard about a lack of umpiring. Anyway, being an umpire, I volunteered and the opposing manager agreed that I could umpire the game. I decided to put on some catchers equipment since umpiring from behind the mound generally makes the strike zone a bit of a nightmare.  One of the Rockies parents volunteered to do the bases.

It was a well played game with the Giants ending up on the wining end by a final of 7-4. Both the starter and relieving pitching was solid, a few issues with defence that we will need to work on.

Between games we had a bbq potluck. Nothing fancy, hot dogs and fixings, veggies and snacks. Nice break for the middle of the day.  One of my players got himself a sprinkle donut and now we are calling him “sprinkles”… I’m not sure what he thinks of the nickname…

We had umpires for game two. I was glad, didn’t really feel like umpiring twice when I should be managing. 

It was an excellent game with the lead changing many times. The Dodgers ended up winning 8-7 but considering that the last time we played them we were crushed, this was a great improvement. Again, pitching was solid, offence was timely but the D left a little to be desired. We did have some excellent defence as well, we turned a tough double play to end the 6th inning and stop additional runs from scoring so it was not all bad by any means.

We are now 5 games in, I think it is and we are 1-4. That record will improve, I’m sure. The boys are starting to gel, good to see.

This is a very busy week. We have batting practice Tuesday, games Wed/Thu and Sat/Sun so 4 games in 5 days. Will be a good stretch.

#GoRocs

The AAA Rockies had a double header today. The first game started out pretty ugly. We did score a run in the top of the first but by the second, we were down 10-1.  The relief pitcher who came in did a fantastic job and held the offence down. Over the next 5 innings, we blasted ahead, 12-11 which is how the game ended. Quite the victory, quite the comeback.

In game two, our ace started on the hill and threw a complete game for a 2-1 victory. Defence was solid, hitting was lacklustre but it was enough to get the job done.

Between games we had a pot luck lunch. Pulled pork, burns, veggies, quite nice. The parents do a nice job.

Tomorrow, the AA team also plays a double header. We are also having a bbq between games. It is also Mother’s Day. A couple of wins is a good Mother’s Day gift, isn’t it?

Go Rockies !!!

So, I applied for the posting at work, the job that is based out of our National office in Toronto.  I re-did my resume, that can’t hurt.  It was 3 years out of date and in a format that I really didn’t care for.  SS showed me the format that he used and I adopted it, thanks SS.

I am not sure when they will have interviews for the position.  I am not 100% sure that I will be given an interview, but I am pretty sure.  It would be a little insulting if I am not given one.

I have been thinking of the possibility of returning to Ontario.  It doesn’t really excite me.  A new job and new possibilities does, but not returning to Ontario.  Not sure why, but it seems to me if I do return, somehow, it is a step backwards.  I mean the job would be a step forwards but…

So, if the interview goes well, which I am sure it will, and I am offered the job, I will have a tough decision ahead of me.  The saving grace (if I really don’t want to return) is that I don’t think it is going to pay what I would like it to.  Guess we will see – wish me luck, either way, would ya?

Both the AA and AAA Rockies teams that I coach have a practice tonight.  It is an indoor practice which isn’t ideal, but it is better than no practice at all.

Both teams have some issues to work on.  Back to the basics, essentially.

Our pitching technical directory will be out this evening and I have asked him to cover holding runners and pick moves, which was a bit lacking this past weekend.

The AA team has a batting cage session scheduled tomorrow, but the weather is supposed to be cold and windy, 6C cold.  It will likely be cancelled.

Both teams have double headers on the weekend.  The AAA team plays on Saturday, AA on Sunday.  We are having BBQs between games both days, food is always good.

The season is young, but we have a fair amount to do still.  Looking forward to it.

I saw a job posted at work yesterday. The job indicated that it was based at our national office but I figured I’d ask if I could do it from Calgary since it didn’t look like there was any good reason for it to be based in Toronto.

No, I was told, it is in Toronto. Ok then.

So, I spoke with my boss about it anyway. I have not really given a lot of thought as to my career path but, if I eventually want to get into management, I would need to work out of our national office.

I don’t know how I fell, at this time, about moving back east. I have now been in Calgary for a little over three years and I truly do love it here. Ontario’s taxes are much higher than Alberta’s, if I was to return, my raise would have to be high enough that my take home pay wouldn’t decrease.

I also have commitments here that I can’t just drop. I am coaching baseball and although that is a volunteer position, I take it seriously. If I was offered the job, they’d have to be willing to wait until at least August before I could return.

If those conditions were met, I’d still really have to think about it and it would be a hard decision. I have no love for Toronto. After living here, I’ve decided that I do like big cities, but Toronto is something else. I am not sure if I’d want to live in Toronto or commute, say from Burlington. For the first while, I might even commute from St. Catharines, until I found the right place.

All,of this, of course, is way up in the air. I have not yet applied (I plan on it tomorrow) and I haven’t been offered it. Those are two steps, the first one easy, the second, yet to be seen.

What is even prompting me to consider this? I am not honestly sure. I feel no home sickness for Ontario, none at all. I do miss family and friends, and some of the things I used to do in Ontario, but Ontario itself, no, not really.

If I am offered the job and the conditions are met, it will be one of the hardest decisions of my life. Wish me some luck.

Well, last night was an interesting one.

First off, my AA Rockies made a nearly epic comeback against the AA Angels and won 14-10.  We were down 7-1 after the second inning, I pulled the started and the reliever was simply amazing.  Great control and excellent defense behind him.  Our offence was potent, hitting single after single and we had excellent base running to put runners in scoring position.  A few passed balls by the Angels catcher helped us score a few more runs.  It was the first win of the season, but the boys really needed it.  They had lost 2 games in the pre-season and were badly beaten in our first two outings.  It will be a great confidence booster for us, I am sure.  The AAA Rockies also played last night and I am told lost by a final score of 15-0.  I haven’t heard any details but that sounds pretty bad.

The Flames came back for a home victory, beating the Ducks 4-3 and getting a crucial win to bring the series to 2-1 in favour of the Ducks.  It is still an uphill battle for sure.  We (as in the Flames) have to still win out at home and win one on the road, something they have not done in an age.

In what I would describe as shocking, the 44 year Conservative dynasty was broken last night by an Orange wave of NDP.  I suppose that Alberta wanted a change, well, you’ve got it now, prepare to bow down to your new Orange Overlords.  In looking at the total votes cast, it was a split of the right (PC’s and Wildrose) that was the Conservative based downfall.  Perhaps the Alberta Conservatives need to regroup and merge back together.  I don’t know.  It will be an interesting four years, I am sure.