Met4Life

In the recent dark days of Metdom, it seemed no one would be remotely interested in being associated with this team, long term, short term or any term in between. We've seen Beltran fly the coup, Reyes head for greener pastures, and I was sure that it was just a matter of time before Wright wised up and threw his hat into the free agency. But today word comes down that not only is Wright gonna stick around, apparently he's sticking around for awhile, possibly the rest of his career. The ink on the seven year $138 million contract has yet to dry, but it doesn't mean that I can't throw a mini-celebration tonight as a relief that finally someone likes us enough to wanna stick around. 

The Pavilion Lives To Sing Another Day

We've all seen a lot of the photos from the damage Sandy did. It's a mess out there. The people who I know live there are all okay and seem to be in good spirits. I'm glad we took Yuula out to Seaside this summer. Don't know when they think they'll be able to get it all up and running again, but I'm guessing it will never be the same.

This is Avon. That little white building on the right with all the windows is the Avon Pavilion where my sister got married. It stands unharmed, and with all the destruction around it too. Glad. It was kind of a special place. I sang a mean version of The Guess Who's These Eyes in that place. My parents spend almost every Friday night there over the summer as well with his band. It's almost surreal.

You Can Get Yourself Cleaned

Hi.

We are here. Still alive. Actually warm this morning as I'm writing you all from inside the loving arms of our local YMCA, where we are taking full advantage of their running hot water, mounted metal boxes full of heated airs and proximity to a Dunkin Donuts. Today is completely up in the air as our main goal is to stay out of the cold house, putz about town, all the while not spending any money and use as little gas as possible because apparently there is some sort of fuel crisis here as all of North Jersey has flocked here in a desperate attempt to drain every last drop from our stations. Another trick is attempting to to find a way to charge our electronics, our last gasp to stay connected with the outside world, but apparently that is on the top of everyone else's mind in the region and outlets have never seemed so endangered. Last night we managed to watch a DVD on the perfectly timed new laptop, Safety Not Guaranteed. It was nice and schmalzty. Enough to take our minds off the fire burning out at our feet. Oh, we've been sleeping in the dining room on the mattresses from the guest bedroom. And drinking wine out of dirty glasses. Word is we'll be back on the grid by the weekend. Or Monday. Or Wednesday. We're not even sure what today is so...

There's lots to catch everyone up on, and we have managed to continue photographing the whole experience. But for now, the girls have just stumbled out of the showers. They look brand new. Another adventure begins. We have a different definition of "adventure" than most people. 

Flushing The Bowl

My Mets hat feels a little lighter today without the weight of having to explain the existence of Luis Castillo & Oliver Perez on the roster. This new management is proving they're not afraid to make the big moves. I like that about them. Now we just wait for these two to get signed by another NL East team and come back to whoop us. Castillo already signed with Philly. Good luck.

A Human Liver Weighs 3½ Pounds

My brother got a liver transplant last night. A tense period of 36 hours for the family has ended with numerous sighs of relief. This is a day that has been waited for for quite some time and tho it's just the beginning of a long road to recovery I can't help but feel like things have changed for the better. My sister put it best this morning. Everything looks a little brighter today. Now if they could just do something about his head.

Unexpected Sad

I had to return my Smooth-On uniforms today. I won't miss them. I wanted to say bye to a few peeps, like Broccoli Rob & Alja-Safe Sean, but I didn't expect what I got. I got a handful of "congratulations", a few "we'll miss you"s and even a random "Happy Fathers Day!". But I also got tears. Tears and a hug. A hug that wouldn't stop, even when it got awkward. All this from Erin, the woman that made sure I knew how much she despised me and cursed my existence each and every day. Just goes to show you, everyone needs an adversary. I peeked in to say buhbye to my coworkers I saw everyday for the past four months, but when Sara came down from her post and hurried towards me, arms open, I hightailed it. And I did. I ran all the way down the hall, out the door and into my car. I heard some yells about "keep in touch" and "baby shower", but all I could get out was "Thanks buhbye". Guess I was excited.



Relieved is more the word. I immediately noticed the sun had come up, and tho I had yet to get to work that day and had the whole shebang in front of me, I was jovial. And just to remember my days here at the Smooth-On, I took some souvenirs, things I used on a daily basis, no matter how unnecessary they were for the job.

Finally 500

It took them almost 20 games but the Mets are at 500. And good thing with series from L.A., sans Manny, and those cocky Phillies coming up. They seemed ready to come out of this funk at just the right time. Plus it's always fun to see the Braves play awful baseball. And man were they awful. Can't wait for tomorrow on ESPN. Let's see how many flies they can drop in one series. Double digits?