Adventures in Anachronistic Consumerism # 42,985

After waffling most of the summer, I finally committed to going back for my high school reunion in Minnesota, crossing a pair of time zones and spending too much time in airports (Phoenix, really??) to get there — but that was the price of delaying, which is my own fault. And while there, why not go see a Twins game at new Target Field? So I made arrangements with a friend, N, to go see a game,  and hoped to be able to buy tickets online but simply mail them to her home in a suburb of Minneapolis.

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Boston Red Sox Buying a World Series Championship – Is George Steinbrenner Grinning in His Grave?

 I e-mailed my friend who brews with me about the next beers we are going to make. “What,” he replied. “no huzzahs and hosannas for the World Champion Red Sox?!”

 He’s from Connecticut. I don’t blame him for being a Red Sox fan. But I do note that he’s singing a new tune.

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Sports Break!

Aside from seeing friends, the impetus for this trip had been to see the Twins’ new baseball park, Target Field. Which of course doesn’t preclude some of the recurring rituals of my trips back to Minnesota. 

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Forehead Slap: Whups!

My friend and former roommate John emailed me in July. He’s now a professor at the University of Chicago, and was coming to the Bay Area for a conference. Did I have time to get together? Sure! We made arrangements for me to pick him up at the airport and for him to stay with us that Friday night, and we both went on with our lives. 

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Media, media, me media, mine!

I’ve got the Giants/Dodgers game on TV. But it’s not our usual local television announcers (Jon Miller and Dave Fleming), it’s some national guys, Kenny Albert and ex-Dodger Eric Karros, whom I don’t care for. So I’ve got the local radio team on KNBR (Mike Krukow, Duane Kuiper, with Jon Miller visiting!) with the sound turned down on the TV.

I’m amazed at how un-synchronized they are. The radio is about two pitches ahead of the TV! Which could be dis-orienting, but actually it’s okay, because:

I’ve got my computer on, too. Can’t you tell? I’m writing to you, after all. So I can bang away here at my keyboard, listen to the radio and, when something good happens, glance up and have plenty of time to see it on TV.

And hey, presto — there it is! Pat Burrell just hit a two-run home run to put the Giants ahead 2-1 in the bottom of the 8th.  I love all my media!

I’m going to have to hit publish and go use another appliance, the microwave, to warm my tea before the ninth inning begins.

Here I go!

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Bacon Kielbasa Bake

A coworker and friend of mine, L, went to Syracuse University, home of the Orangemen, who opened their football season by hosting the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers. As our alma maters were meeting on the gridiron, we decided to watch together, and I decided to cook a breakfast dish I haven’t made for decades.

 My mom sent it to me in the 1980s—back before my cholesterol tested high. L has high cholesterol, too. We’re both supposed to behave ourselves. As I’ve mentioned before, this is what makes stuff like bacon and kielbasa taste so good. (The vegetarian Mrs. O fled to run errands and avoid the carnage, both in the kitchen and on the TV screen.)

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The Phone Call with StubHub

 I spoke to Ms. Norberg, of StubHub.

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StubHub follows up

I’ve heard back from a senior supervisor of executive customer care at StubHub. Those who stop by frequently might remember we had three spring training tickets stolen a week before we left town.

And now, two months after we began e-mailing and calling StubHub to try and replace the stolen tickets before we got to Florida, this comment was made to my March 14th post about getting into the ballgame, with no help from StubHub:

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The large and small of spring training

You know how planning a vacation together can be stressful?

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A Spring Day in Florida

Having had my ticket to see the Twins play the Pirates stolen before we left town made things interesting, as far as getting into McKechnie Field (“Southern Home of the Pirates”) goes. StubHub, who supposedly guarantee the tickets we bought in December of 2008, and which were stolen 6 days before we left town, was worthless as far as getting me a re-printed ticket.

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