OBTW- Padres are N.L. Western Division Champs!

Not to slight the Padres but they clinched the Division while I was out in the desert. What a team. They are more hot and cold than the water in a cheap motel. Let's hope they get hot and stay hot in the playoffs! Who are they going to use as starters on the mound? My money is on Peavy, Astacio, Eaton and Williams. Pedro Astacio is hot, hot, hot right now and to bury him in the pen would be crazy. They'll use Lawrence and Park as long men out of the bullpen.

Go Padres bring home the Series !

Brad gets piped over the side

Well the dude got piped over the side and retired from the Navy. It was a packed house as many, many friends and family said fair winds and following seas to the good doctor. I was blessed to be chosen to give a short, humerous speech and I hope it was recieved well by all. A nice reception was held afterwards. It was very moving and well done ceremony- a fine topper to a fine military careeer. It makes me wonder again whether or not I will have a retirement ceremony next year when the time comes. John said that you don't have the ceremony for you- but for everyone else so you can get closure and to say thanks to everyone who supported you over the past 20+ years. Right now I'm leaning towards a quiet exit stage right... no fuss no muss just one day going from a military guy and the next day waking up as a civilian... but what John said is making me re-think things.

Aside from this bit of excitement nothing else is new. I looks like we'll go out to eat tonight. Perhaps the kids would like to go someplace special- maybe Red Lobster or some place like that.

Back in the Stumps

Well it was the usual 3 hour ride back to the desert. At least it wasn't raining this time. Well I sit hwere in my office trying to put out the buring fires that being away for two days will bring. It's only 0900 and already it is getting hot outside. They're expecting 100 degrees again today. Looking forward to attending a friends retirement ceremony this Friday. Only 368 days until I can join him!

walking the beach

Yesterday I was down at Pacific Beach to enjoy a long walk in the sunshine and salty air. I walked the length of the boardwalk south to the jetty and then back along the beach. It was empty for the most part. All the summer tourists are gone. Everyone else was at work or sleeping in!

I listened to Brain B's Sports talk show. It was a sad one regarding the untimely passing of a young Arizona basketball star.

Also for you travellers out there check out the Rick Steves website:

http://www.ricksteves.com/

You can download or listen to his weekly radio broadcast on-line. We used his guidebooks to travel in Europe (Lisbon, Obidos, Sintra, Barcelona, Madrid, Salamanca, Munich, Rome, Florence, London, Greenwich, Bath, Blackpool, Edinburgh) and found it an excellent and compact guide to hitting the highlights. If you're flying over the pond to tour Europe you should check them out.

On another note. We're getting ready for Halloween. October first is the start date to get our "Black Ops Project". It is so top secret (cosmic) that it cannot be mentioned aloud. All the kids are sworn to secrecy. Stay tuned for some photos around that time.

Chargers win 45-23 !

What a nice way to top off a great football weekend. First the Spartans pound the Illini. Next Wisconsin upsets U-M. And to complete this Trifecta of football bliss, the Chargers stomp Eli Manning 45-23. All-in-all a great weekend !

Sunday Church @ 10:30 am...Chargers @ 5:30 pm!

Good Sunday services at the Maranatha Chapel w/ Pastor Bentley. Hope Marty Schottenheimer is as inspirational to the 0-2 Chargers ! We went out to the Soup Plantation for Lunch all four of us. It was good to get everyone together for the meal. Yesterday everyone, including JoJo, enjoyed a Papa Clemenzu's Spaghetti Dinner.

I'm thinknig Waaaaaaay ahead about the next car we buy. Choices include:
> Mazda Miata
> Scion xB
> An early model Mercedes Benz (read that as cheap!)
> Ford Mustang
> Chrysler PT Cruiser

Spartans Win- Wolverines Beaten!

Oh happy day!

Mich St roars to Another Win

Check out the family wrestler on the right. --->>>

Another fine MSU Sparty win. This time they dominated Illinois 61-14. A 4-0 start makes you think of Rose Bowl! They have played well this season with a high scoring offensive machine. Drew Stanton is quite the QB and has run a well oiled offense that seems to get great running performances from a different halfback each week.

Heres the recap:
"CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) -- Drew Stanton set a school record with five touchdown passes and No. 17 Michigan State scored on six of eight first-half possessions in a 61-14 romp over Illinois in the Big Ten opener for both schools Saturday.
Michigan State (4-0, 1-0), which entered the game with the fourth-ranked offense in the nation, rolled up 705 yards. Illinois (2-2, 0-1) gave up 381 yards before halftime as Stanton did as he pleased during a 28-point second quarter.
Stanton tied the school record, held by seven others, by halftime and broke it with a 2-yard toss to Kellen Davis on the Spartans' first possession of the second half. Stanton's second pass of the day was a 75-yard TD strike to Kyle Brown, and he hit Dwayne Holmes, Jerramy Scott and Matt Trannon for scores in the second quarter. "

Can we beat the hated Michigan Wolverines? Sure hope so! Guess we'll find out soon.

Its terrible all those hurricanes on the gulf coast. It has been two huge windbags to blast them in a row. Pray for the Americans who live down there. We had a minor earthquake near Bakersfield on Friday, it was a 4.7 at WheelerRidge. I didn't feel it out in the desert- did you?

Senior Year

Well it's the fall and our daughter is entering her senior year. Erin has gotten her driver's license and about 300 letters from different colleges throughout the country. It's an exciting time of year for her and we're all very proud of her achievements. Have a great year kiddo!

View from monkeyland at the San Diego Zoo

Hope you can get out to the new monkeyland area of the San Diego Zoo. You're up close and personal with endangered primates from around our globe.

Hello

Welcome to Running the bases with Powayslugger- a daily/weekly/whenever account of whatever is interesting to write about. Hope you enjoy it