I really showed my Canadian (Day 10)

I began this day the same as most of the others. I turned on the TV.

I was disappointed to find the new version of Law and Order on whatever channel it is that I have come to know (kind of) and love. I don’t like the new ones with the guy from Jurassic Park. It’s not the same, and I keep thinking that they’re looking for dinosaurs.

Nonetheless, I didn’t change the channel. I just wanted some background noise while I got my stuff together to go to work, and Jurassic Park Guy is sufficient for that.

I got to work knowing that I didn’t really have a task at hand. I knew I needed to try and get ahold of the Tigers pitching coach, again, but until he talks to me, I don’t really have an article to write about Detroit or their young pitchers. So I sent him another email, hoping he wouldn’t ignore me even longer because of my continued harassment of his inbox.

And then I got an email from Editor 2 saying that my quick-hit on Arizona from last week was fine, and that I could do more if I didn’t have anything else on my plate. He told me to begin with Atlanta, Baltimore and Boston, and go alphabetically if I had time.  So I started.

Putting together highlights and low points of the seasons of major league ball clubs has made me realize that sometimes one person really can make a difference. Jason Heyward has become the face of the Braves franchise in just one season, and he’s only 21 years old. It’s kind of sad when I remember that I am now 24. What have I done with my life?

But I’m not Jason Heyward. And when I think of the Braves, my mind first goes to Yunel Escobar and Alex Gonzalez, because they were a part of the Blue Jays trade with Atlanta in the middle of July. I included that in my quick-hit on the team, and probably paid more attention to it than I should have because it had anything to do with Toronto. But I guess that means MY version of the Braves isn’t just about Heyward. Other people matter, too.

Chipper Jones matters, especially since I drafted him in my fantasy league. Stupid torn ACL. I’m sure with him I wouldn’t have been able to climb any higher than the second-last place I finished in, but it didn’t help.

I’m off track. Baltimore really only had one person that mattered this season, too. That was Buck Showalter. I’m not ever going to be a fan of the Orioles, but I do kind of hope they can stop being so pathetic. I don’t want them to become so un-pathetic that they start beating the Jays, but sometimes they can just be sad to watch. That’s not good for baseball.

Boston just had a lot of injuries. Every team that doesn’t do well can blame it on injuries, but maybe the Red Sox had a bad doctor, too. I don’t know, but their season doesn’t really come down to any one person.

And this is what I learned from writing the quick-hits. Some of this information was already taking up space in the baseball part of my brain (the biggest part, obviously), but I learned some new things. So the longer I keep doing these, the more I will know. Maybe by the end of next week I will have the 2010 season down pat.

I also received an email from Editor 3 somewhere in the middle of taking in all of this newfound knowledge, saying that my Mets article was good and he was sending it to print. That was exciting, and I am pretty pumped to get the next edition of the magazine. I’m hoping they don’t see me sneaking away with a ton of copies of it, because then I might have to explain how excited I am, and that could be embarrassing.

And for lunch today we went for more barbeque. It was a different place this time, and they encouraged me to try something other than pork at this venue, so I did. I had the barbeque chicken, which came with my choice of macaroni and cheese as a side, and hush puppies. I’m still not sure I understand the concept of hush puppies, but I believe them to be some sort of deep fried cornmeal, and they were not bad.

Lunchtime brought on interesting conversation. I really showed my Canadian when we started talking about poutine. They knew what it was, because I had explained it last week, but I didn’t know that it wasn’t just the concept of gravy and cheese on french fries that was foreign to these people. They don’t put gravy on their fries at all!

I also later came to the realization (thanks to my mom) that they don’t put ketchup on their grilled cheese either. This was less of a shock but I didn’t know what to do about these new revelations. My only comfort came in the fact that Editor 2 had embraced poutine, and was checking websites and finding the nearest location of a place with the Canadian cuisine.

After the excitement of lunch, I went back to work on the quick-hits. I also heard back from Tigers pitching coach Rick Knapp, giving me his phone number and letting me know he hadn’t gotten back to me earlier because he is travelling today. So I will call him first thing in the Arizona morning tomorrow, because that’s where he currently is.

I’m excited to talk to him, but nervous too. I mean, they offered to pay me for this piece. Even though I stupidly declined, that means this is more important to them than the other stuff I have handed over. I plan on getting my line of questioning figured out before I call, too, because that way if someone does listen while I am on the phone with him from my cubicle, it might not be super embarrassing.

I worked away until I was finished the three teams I was given for the quick-hits. I mean, technically, he had given me all of the teams, and just told me to do them alphabetically, but he had only named those three, so I felt they were sufficient.

Then I headed to the nearest UPS, the mailing location closest to the office. And I knew this because I had looked it up before I gave the address to the GPS. The GPS needs to earn my trust now. It’s given me bad directions two times too many. The Internet now holds all of my faith, as it should.

I sent away a few letters, and my brother’s new sweatshirt, and I can only hope that they all get to their destinations, because I didn’t see the cashier put any stamps or anything on the envelopes. Here’s hoping.

After that I headed to the gym, knowing I wasn’t going to stay too long, because I had found a tanning place on the Internet I was going to make an attempt at finding, and I wanted to be home before 8 o’clock so I could watch House.

I found the tanning place, a new venue I will likely be frequenting after work, because I am hoping that I don’t burn to a crisp when I head to Mexico in December. Or, should I be able to afford a trip to Florida for Thanksgiving to visit my friend and classmate Nicole, I might hit the beaches then, too.

The girls at the tanning place were super nice, and made me wish I had roommates like them. I haven’t seen Thing 1 or Thing 2 today, in case you’re wondering. The two girls sitting at the tanning desk were from Indiana. We chatted about how different North Carolina is from places up north, and then discussed the idea of gravy on french fries.

They were intrigued by my Canadian ways, but we all had one thing in common. We love the weather here. I, like them, had heard that if there was a snowflake in the area, everything shuts down, and we all thought that was a hilarious concept. They were friendly people, and I appreciated having humans to talk to outside of work, even if they were just trying to get my business.

From there, I headed home just in time for House. When it was over, I found a documentary on baseball on the tube, so the rest of my night was settled.

Baseball when I wake up, baseball when I go to bed. I love it.