the classics

so i've been busy working at henrik's doing odd jobs like cleaning up rooms so the carpet guys can work and tearing out a stair case in the entryway. but today i got the brush back out and slapped some paint around. instead of painting in the house or somehting like that, hes got me out in the barn. I dont know if maybe i should take this as a hint at my painting abilities or what...but im coating the raw wood before they cut it and take it in. tomorrow i have to go back and finish up before i take off and finish up the work at the field. I still have to string the rest of the net to the fence on the backstop before our home opener Sunday; im hoping that will only take about 2 hours but i cant be sure because people keep showing up and i get sidetracked. the field also needs water bad but i think they are calling for rain tomorrow (friday) so that will help. i learned earlier today that setting up the sprinklers on the field is a pain in the ass. First you have to connect a huge hose to the valve at one sideline of the soccer field (conviniently on the opposite side of the baseball field) and drag it across as far as it will reach. having a hose that made it all the way across would be the smart thing to do, but nope that would be way too easy. so to the end of the huge hose connects a run-of-the-mill firemans hose which must be put through a hole cut in the fence because it is JUST long enough to make it to the water pump we have at our field. so once that is connected, you must go down to the metal container and drag 5 awkward sprinklers and attached hoses back the length of the 2 soccer fields to the baseball field and set them up around the field...are you sensing a pattern developing here? the soccer guys that built and maintain this place "arent fans of baseball and make everything as much of a bitch as possbile." (Stephan Hassenpflug 2009) so now you are ready to go back across the soccer field to where you connected the first hose and turn on the water...oh and did i mention that after the watering the field for two hours, i have to drag all that stuff back so the soccer guys can have their practices. i hate rain just as much as the next guy but i hope it rains a little bit all week so i never have to water the field.

so yesterday me and thies were throwing before practice and we've been working on his curveball for awhile now and i told him that i was going to start calling him Nuke LaLoosh. Now being a baseball player (even if he is in Germany) I would have expected this to be an understood joke. so i was astounded when he replied with, "whats that?" "what's that, what do you mean whats that? dont tell me youve never seen Bull Durham?" the first thought that went through my head was that i was in the Sandlot (Another classic baseball movie) and he was Smalls not knowing who the Great Bambino was. so as the conversation went on i came to find out that he has in fact never even heard of Crash, Annie, or breathing through your eyelids like the lizards of the Galapagos. Thankfully i have a copy here with me (thanks Mom) and i'm introducing him in the future. Later last night at our practice, when Thies was up to bat, I yelled "Noonun" right before he swung. this time is was Rene "the Big Cat" Schmidt who was thoroughly confuzled. "What the [hell] is Noonun?" you've never seen Caddy Shack, the golf movie? you guys are way out of the loop on great comedic sports movies. I'm going to have to do something about this." A new goal has been set for teaching these young ball players the ins and outs of Classic American Cinema and i'm open to suggestions on titles... I was even thinking about opening their world to Bolton's Bombers and the finer points of playing better softball.

In other news, I have made a huge discovery that i think any young broke kid my age would appreciate. There is another knock off of Captain Morgan making its way into cheap cocktails all over Deutchland. Admiral Vernon...not to be confused with his American counterpart Admiral Nelson, is the poor mans Morgan here in Germany. Seeing as how me and...well i cant call him the admiral anymore since i found out there is more than one...me and Nelson had some damn good times together back in college, I couldnt help but laugh at finding Vernon. and as a tribute I will drink with Vern and any other Admirals i find along the way, and i can only hope they are as good as the original.

thats a big 10-4, over and out

A-Ron