glove

it is time to get a new glove. i have been using the rawlings PRO-701BFBT for about eight (8) years now and it is time to replace it. i figure that getting one in the fall is a good time... it gives me the winter to break it in. many people have a certain formula for breaking in a glove. i tend to oil it, play catch with it, put it under the mattress and keep a ball in the pocket (always keep a ball in the pocket even when it is broken in). i can't tell you how many times this piece of leather has saved my life from getting beaned with a hard hit line drive.

i am still debating on the whole method that is described below... i might try it, but when you spend a lot on a glove... it is hard to put it under a running faucet.


here is an article i found in the Denver Post:

TUCSON — Mike Gallego is the Rockies' glove guru. When a wide-eyed rookie arrives at spring training with a new glove, "Gags" teaches him how to break it in — big-league style.

"I think, through the years, I've got a pretty good method going," said the Rockies' infield coach, who played 13 years in the majors.

Players use myriad methods to bring a glove to life. Author Noah Liberman, who devoted a tome to baseball gloves, writes that hot water, cold water, hot air, tobacco, shaving cream, spit, scissors, bats, knives and mallets have all been used to baptize a ball glove.

Hall of Fame catcher Yogi Berra wrapped baseballs in the pocket of his Rawlings catcher's mitt with rubber bands, put the glove in a sauna, then stuck it in a clothes dryer for two days. Former Cardinals outfielder Willie McGee repeatedly beat a new glove with his bat to loosen it up.

Some players, such as the Rockies' Jeff Baker, dispense with all of the razzmatazz.

"I just break mine in by playing catch," Baker said.

But Gallego swears by his own method, step by step.

1. Pick the right glove

"The best gloves have to be stiff and firm, at least to start out with," Gallego said. "You don't want any bubbles or big imperfections in the leather. The gloves that are going to last are going to be difficult to close before you break them in."

2. Wet the glove

"Rinse it under warm water, but don't douse it under water," Gallego said. "Let water from the faucet run all over it. Get it all wet."

3. Pound it

Using the end of a bat or a mallet, pound the wet glove and begin forming a good pocket. "The water makes the leather more malleable," he said.

4. Oil it

"I put just a little dab of baby oil in the pocket and smear it in really good," Gallego said. "Then I rub mink oil all over the glove. I knead that into the leather."

5. Dry it

"I put the glove into the dryer, on high heat, for 15 minutes."

6. Oil it again

After taking the glove out of the dryer, Gallego advises pounding out the pocket a little more. Then comes another coat of mink oil to make the glove supple and bendable. "At that point, the glove should be ready to play with," he said. "It's not ready to play in a game with yet, but it's ready to play catch with."

Patrick Saunders: 303-954-1428 or psaunders@denverpost.com

Baseball

it has taken me almost a year to actually get on a team... but it was worth the wait. i am not sure if i can go back to playing softball... it is way more fun to have a pitcher throw the ball at you at 70+ mph and to lead off of a base.

here is the website...

Utah MSBL

kitchen and bath in three days?

so i hear this radio commercial that advertises a new kitchen and bath in three days... i am at a loss. i have been re-modeling my bathroom for the past month and it is a slow process. i keep thinking that i could do it quicker, but the quality wouldn't be there. it makes me wonder how many people they have working in that small space in order to get it done in three days.

in short, i have a hard time believing them.

Hometown folks...

Looks like someone somewhere has spilt the beans. Sounds like someone in the old hometown is excited...

(thanks to this site...)

blackberries

yep... if you would have asked me last week, i would have said nope i don't have a blackberry and i have no intention of getting one. i was pretty happy with the bare bones cell phone. i don't need much just a little food and a warm place to lie my head at night, but that all changed on tuesday of this week. my boss said that he and his wife needed a new phones. next thing i knew i was at the kiosk at the mall and getting a blackberry.

things i like about being tied to the internet 24/7:

• being tied to the internet
• espn.com
• free unlimited text messaging
• music player on the phone

things i don't like about being tied to the internet 24/7:

• being tied to the internet
• realizing that i get a lot of junk email
• getting work email after hours and then worrying about something that i can't do anything about because i am not in the office or in front of a real computer
• the thought that i will get brain cancer at some future time
  

is it worth it? not sure yet. it's fun for now, but i think that the novelty will wear off soon. i just hope that it doesn't become a need for me. 'cause that would stink.

the ultimate driving machine

yeah, i have always wanted to drive a bmw (2002tii), after all BMW's are supposed to be the ultimate driving machine. only i like the white 4-door, better than this one, although this one is pretty nice.

sleep deprivation

i knew that sleep was over-rated...

alternative enegry

let me first say that i am not much of a travolta fan and as long as we understand this i may proceed...

so, i saw the movie phenomenon years ago and it started me thinking about solar energy and getting off of the grid (among other things such as why can't my brain get smarter with a strike of lightning?). anyway, the talk has been out there for a long time, but never has there been this much enthusiasm for conserving energy (at least in my lifetime). i think that it is about time that americans started thinking about kicking the oil habit. i mean after all most of it comes from overseas.

so, what about a natural gas civic.

and if you are worried about finding a natural gas station here is a gov't website that can help you plan the next road trip:

natural gas stations

what do you think?

300 - 400 years

so i was looking up the density of garbage for work... and found this website, and thought that i would share...

oh yeah, and the density that i am using is 750 lbs/yd^3

engineers

sometimes i get to surf the internet at work... for work...

water dyes

• these dyes are used by public works departments, sanitary authorities, engineers, and many more to those who need to trace water. we sell the tracer dyes in three forms: powder, tablets and liquid concentration.

i have yet to use them... but you never know.

friday

friday.

high/low-lights of the week

• i got a sore throat.
  
• i am getting over my sore throat.
• i had one hit in two softball games.
  
• coincidentally, we lost both of the games.
• i shot trap on Thursday at the Salt Lake Gun Club.
• i hit several of them.
  
• i have a bruise on my right shoulder.
• i set up a badminton net up in the back yard
• i realized that my backyard is very small.
• i had my first violin lesson.
• i went back to panda express after a six month hiatus (it was bad... really bad.)
• got my economic stimulus package from the government.
• i think that i will cash it out and put it under my mattress.

Good Idea? Bad Idea?

full body scan?

i can't decide if it would be worth it. hmm... i hear the commercial on the radio and i imagine that there is something seriously wrong inside me and that without this i will die sooner than i would without it. but then again, wouldn't i die either way? or maybe a test like this would tell me that i am dying and put a fine point on that inevitable day... i mean, if you had something wrong with you that warranted a full body scan, would there be anything that you could do about it?

do you think that i could get a rebate if the test were positive with a terminal illness? maybe there is a terminal illness clause.

haiku

this is pretty funny.

hybrid

my sister says that she got a hybrid. i said she was going green. all the time i was picturing in my mind a toyota camry hybrid...

i guess i was wrong.

it was one of these she got.

Lhasapoo

smoking...

um... smoking kills people... i don't understand.

we have a smoke shop here next to the place that i work and well... people are in and out of that place ALL day. ummm.... hello, is there something to the surgeon general's warning that maybe you didn't understand? oh wait... wait just a second here.... that doesn't apply to me. it doesn't count... i am not going to DIE. i am going to look cool..........

i think that i am beginning to understand the reasoning behind it all...

sometimes nothin' goes right...

after this the sport wasn't the same for me... i had to retire.

r.e.m. / 13-1-11

for a long time i have enjoyed listening to r.e.m. well, at least until these past few years. since automatic for the people it just hasn't been that good for me. i am not sure why, maybe it is because of the fame, or maybe they are too good as far as musical talent goes. i mean you only get better as you practice and play more and more. it happens to every band. usually the first two, or three albums are the best, then they start sounding washed out.

i think that the albums recorded prior to bill berry leaving were the best. it makes me think that there is more to that than coincidence.

i also found out that he didn't stop playing music after retiring from r.e.m. it seems that he made an album and has done some work post-r.e.m. (besides farming) after all. too bad that finding his music is so hard.

not sure how long the link will last, i do know that the songs can't be downloaded anymore...

http://timedoor.textdriven.com/index.php?id=222

Button Hole Camera

Here is a picture from my button hole camera. i like
it better than a conventional pin hole camera.

1. Lexington, KY (Worst U.S. City for Allergies)
2. Greensboro, NC
3. Johnson City, TN
4. Augusta, GA
5. Jackson, MS
6. Knoxville, TN
7. Birmingham, AL
8. New Orleans, LA
9. Little Rock, AR
10. San Diego, CA
11. Oklahoma City, OK
12. Mobile, AL
13. South Bend, IN
14. Omaha, NE
15. Stockton, CA
16. McAllen, TX
17. Greenville, SC
18. Nashville, TN
19. Tulsa, OK
20. Harrisburg, PA
21. Louisville, KY
22. Dallas-Forth Worth, TX
23. Charlotte, NC
24. Tampa, FL
25. Philadelphia, PA

anytime there is something posted about allergies it catches my attention. this was on msn.com today. i used to live back east where it seems to be the worst for allergies, i am glad that i moved but miss it sometimes.

photoshop is cool.

i was thinking about this article i once read about how a person overlaid a logo onto a lemon in photoshop... and i thought that it would be cool to find it and try it myself. well, i never found it, but there are a lot of articles and tricks out there.

revised...

finally took the time to revise a few of my favorite things... and it's not like i have really watched any of the south park episodes, but a couple of years ago i thought that it would be fun to create a character based on what i look like. i am glad that i found it.