Sweet Baby James

The El Paso Diablos minor-league baseball team and I go way back. Dad, Robert and I would go to two or three games a year at that old crackerbox Dudley Field, right next to the city zoo. The park was so small, pitchers’ ERAs came to El Paso to die every year. Robert and I would stalk the ice cream stand for whatever helmet we needed… And we’d watch the baseballs fly out of the park and watch old Texaco scoreboard light up. Great times, to be sure.

Anyhow, Paul Strelzin was the public address announcer for a lot of years. A legendary voice in El Paso for decades, but he also had a way with ruffling feathers. He’d nickname the players every year-- right about the time when Chris Berman at ESPN went places with his nickname shtick. Daryl ‘Jaws’ Sconiers, 'Chilly' Willie Lozado and Bill ‘Shotgun’ Schroeder were just a few of the players we watched pass through town every summer.

In 1982, Dion James was our center fielder, a player who found success with the Brewers, Braves, Yankees and Indians. Strelzin dubbed him Dion ‘Sweet Baby’ James. I’m not quite 11 years old at this time, so I have no idea what this means or where it comes from.

It’s not until a few decades later that my rudimentary music knowledge tells me that Strelzin must have been a James Taylor fan, since it’s the title of what’s become my favorite JT song. He played in the second set of his show in Birmingham Tuesday night, a show which the First Lady and I were delighted to attend. He’s in his mid-60s, still tours and still obviously loves what he does. He basically sang the same songs he’s been singing for the last 40 or so years, but they were sung with a passion and with heart. We truly enjoyed every note of every song.

But the concert was the perfect cap to a perfect day the wife and I spent in the Magic City. I started the day mowing my lawn for the first time with our brand-new rotary mower. Okay, so maybe that wasn’t so awesome, but it’s a new thing for me. We headed into town and grabbed lunch in the Five Points district, at a restaurant called 26 Twenty-Six. The décor was a 1960s meets The Jetsons motif.

But the food was great—I had Carolina barbecue pork with macaroni and cheese on top. The pork was very sweet, and it was complemented perfectly by the mac and cheese. It was the kind of meal you don’t want to eat, because it’ll be over soon. We also split a chocolate chip ice cream cookie, served open face. Homemade ice cream and a delicious cookie. Definitely a meal to remember.

We spent the balance of the afternoon shopping and browsing for items to furnish our new home. We managed to pick up some dishes and other accessories, as well as get a few ideas together for the long-term plan.

Five Points hosted our pregame meal, a Tex-Mex place called Fuego. We took advantage of half-priced margaritas and two-dollar tacos on Tuesdays. Another excellent choice, since we’re both used to the homogeneous Mexican food restaurants that seem to be everywhere.

After we eat and drink, it’s off to the show, and our first trip to the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Center. We both noticed that most of the crowd seemed to be our age, though there were a few pups in attendance. Great music sung and performed by people who care about the music.

Cardboard City

We are at the close of another week-- moving week for the wife and me. We moved out of our second-floor apartment and into a really nice three-bedroom home about a mile and a half away.

So Sunday, Monday and Tuesday were big packing and moving days, and I spent those days off from work. You never realize just how much crap you have until you start to put it into boxes. So a little bit during the week prior, and some on Sunday, then Monday and Tuesday were hard-core. Starting at 7:45 Monday and at 7 Tuesday, we loaded our lives into cardboard boxes and plastic storage bins. The springtime weather in Alabama actually cooperated and provided temps in the 70s, unlike some of those Texas summertime moves, when the mercury really got up there. The only time we really stopped was to play semi-final trivia with our friends Monday night (we advanced to the finals, btw).

The movers arrived Tuesday morning and started hauling and loading as we packed out the kitchen and living room. By 3 pm, most of what we own had been transported. Strange thing is, we had everything done by 5 pm. Cable guy stopped by on time, as did the delivery types with our brand-spanking new king-size bed. Clockwork. The most important things got covered that evening-- putting the entertainment center together, as well as rigging cable TV and our wireless Internet.

So the last several days have been spent unpacking boxes and sorting their contents, deciding where things should go, and figuring out what all we need. Stuff like trash cans, watering hoses, a mailbox and stuff for the ant beds in the front yard. There will be more to be sure, but we love our new home. We'll get more stuff unpacked as the weeks go by. It's a great problem to have.

Character Flaws

I don't do confrontation well and I don't stand up for myself.

I'll avoid making a scene or getting into arguments at all costs. Unfortunately, it doesn't always work out. And when it doesn't, I sit and simmer and ponder and think about the whole thing. The things I wish I'd said. The possible scenarios-- how things could have played out. What would've happened if I'd done/said X. How I feel I'd have to watch my back if I did stand up.

Our society seems to thrive on conflict. Not constructive conflict that makes our world a better place, but silly, meaningless Jerry Springer-type stuff. I don't even do conflict on TV well. Conflict scenes in shows or movies? Can't do 'em. I guess I put myself in the position of the oppressed. Perhaps it has something to do with being in that position many times in the past.

Spending time dwelling on negative things is not healthy. I tense up and my temples tighten and I'm sure my blood pressure spikes. Not to mention the positive things or productive things or 'advance the ball' things I need to be focusing on. The negatives are all I can think about.

It's part of the ride-- you spend time around people and there will be differences. I understand that. It's the dealing I have trouble with. Even with things that happened 25 years ago. Even with something as small and trivial as what's in my head tonight.

So in the absence of coherent and organized thoughts, maybe getting this out in the open will be a catharsis somehow and help me figure things out.

Back to Work

Following last Wednesday's tornado, I had four consecutive days off. There was no work, since there was no way to get to the running store. The First Lady and I have spent some time volunteering at our church, though we both admit we can do more. There will be chances for us to pitch in.

But Monday, I went back to the store I started at-- basketball and children's shoes. Relearning where things are, since the stockroom had been reorganized. Though the two store are owned by the same people, working at each is vastly different. Pulled three shifts there-- Tuesday and Wednesday as well.

This morning, I opened the running store-- my first time back since about 3:45 the previous Wednesday afternoon. My first time going south of the campus since that storm cut a swath through my state and my city. Intersections were unrecognizable, vans on the wrong side of the street from the not-there-anymore restaurant, fractions and splinters of trees still standing, gas stations blown away... It was all amazing, in a way. That one single event could do this much damage.

But I also saw things to be encouraged by-- construction types and clean up crews on the job at 8:45 (though I'm sure they'd been there a while already), a major laundry detergent company setting up its free washing machines, battery companies setting things up, and more. People moving forward.

Elsewhere in the news...

I'm starting to get back into the running groove, after a minor injury. It's difficult to start back up after a break. Something about an object at rest tending to remain at rest. Working our way back slowly.

And the tornado also brought my spring semester at UA to a screeching halt. I had an accounting assignment due the next day, and a test scheduled this past Monday. Both were canceled, with students choosing to take the final or take their grade as of April 27. So after much gnashing of teeth, I took my B in Intro to Accounting and ran. And I'm also not giving up on this as a potential career path.