Tommy Lasorda, a Blind Man, and Hulu

Day 219 on the road.

It's sunny outside and I'm having my morning coffee and reading the New York Times wondering if Hillary has a chance to overtake Obama. I watched Obama's speech on race relations and admired his attempt to save himself from the quagmire created by his former pastor. I'm sure Hillary was licking her significantly large chops over the whole thing.

But as a conservative, and a reluctant supporter of John McCain, I'm just enjoying the theater of it all. I must give Obama the credit for being an outstanding speaker. But I must not let the elegance of his oratory pontification overshadow the ugliness of his liberal and radical beliefs.

Enough politics.
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I’m not sure what I’ll do today. I’m thinking about just working on my web site and doing some reading, writing, and hanging out without having to drive anywhere too far…give my car and gas tank a day off. I’ll be here through next week, so there’s no need to be in any hurry to see other things in the area. I’d like to check out WestWorld in Scottsdale. And the McDowell Sonoran Preserve is another area I’d like to see. I’d also like to drive east to Apache Junction.

Tomorrow’s Rangers game is at 6 p.m., so I’ll have the day to kill. I will probably wash clothes at the Laundromat in Scottsdale I’ve used before, then slowly head to Surprise Stadium. I've only got three games left before Spring Training comes to an end next week.
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Tommy Lasorda and the Dodgers Moving Spring Training Here Next Year

The Los Angeles Dodgers are establishing a new “Dodgerstown” in Phoenix this week, making plans to permanently move their Spring Training camp to Glendale next year. The team has spent the past 60 years in Vero Beach, Florida. Sighting family concerns, the Dodgers are moving to Arizona. They feel the team’s families and friends will have an easier commute to Arizona than Florida. According to Charles Steinberg, the Dodgers chief marketing officer, “It was so difficult for families to make the trip from Los Angeles (to Florida).” A flight from L.A. is much cheaper to Phoenix, and the drive isn’t that bad, either.

So Glendale, a suburb to the northwest of downtown Phoenix, has another reason to celebrate. They are building a new baseball complex to provide a home for the Dodgers, and it will be completed by next year. They hosted the Super Bowl this year and have already begun to submit an application to get the Super Bowl again the next year it’s available. The city has agreed to spend $500,000 to assure the Super Bowl returns. Glendale is becoming a sports venue powerhouse. Just a few years ago, it was a small town with very little to brag about.

With the popular Dodgers coming to the valley, the Phoenix/Tucson area has more professional baseball training camps than any other place in the country.
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I'm attending an arts festival this weekend: the Fountain Hills Fine Art and Wine Affaire, Avenue of the Fountains, in Fountain Hills. Fountain Hills is located northeast of Scottsdale on the eastern slope of the McDowell Mountains.
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Inspiring Story of the Week: Blind Man Climbs Camelback Mountain

Jeremy Schmidt hiked up Echo Canyon leading to the top of Camelback Mountain last week, and the 27-year old area resident is blind. In less than a month, he went from having 20/20 vision to not being able to spot an eye chart in a doctor’s office. A genetic disease damaged his optic nerves, cutting off the signal from his eyes to his brain.

After two months of trying to deal with the loss of his sight, Jeremy decided he couldn’t just sit around and let his life slip away. Having been an outdoorsman his whole life, he went back to doing those things he enjoyed: horseback riding, hiking, mountain climbing. Last week, his 1.2 mile hike up Echo Canyon along with his father was one step in returning to a normal life.

“I didn’t think my whole life was over,” he said. “Not by far. It just meant it was going be one heck of a challenge.”
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Hulu.com is now up, and it looks great. The site arrives courtesy of NBC and Fox, and it will offer free episodes of shows like Arrested Development and movies like The Jerk. It’s a sign of things to come: television and movies will one day be watched primarily online…or will they? What’s going to happen to the cable companies once the Internet becomes the main portal for delivering entertainment? Will your cable modem one day be obsolete like the 8-track tape and cassette?

Rangers, Cubs, and Athletics

Day 218 on the road.

I'm now in Scottsdale for a couple of weeks, having said good-bye to Tucson. I love Scottsdale...I've never seen so many shopping malls, restaurants, art galleries, and of course, tourists. This is Tourist Mecca del Sol from January through May, and I can see why. Just a gorgeous place to have fun in the sun.

This morning I made my last visit to the Fine Arts Expo and talked with two artists, one a wood sculptor and the other a local man from Phoenix who paints in oil, watercolor and pastels... and also draws in pencil, pen and ink, and charcoal. "I see you do everything," I said. He even does some sculpture, though is booth was mainly full of watercolors, oils, and a few pencil drawings. This is the last week of the Expo until next year. Many of the artists were present today, working on various projects, and hoping to make that one last big sale before folding their tents.

Yesterday I watched the Texas Rangers hammer the Athletics with blazing bats. It was a fun game.


I took this self-portrait outside the Starbucks on Bell Road, just a few blocks from Surprise Stadium. The weather was a little cool, but not bad at all. Earlier in the week, rain and cold weather had blown through here before slamming the mid-west and Texas over the last few days. Today the high is expected to reach 80 degrees. The Rangers play another home game on Friday night, and I expect it will be downright cold during the game.

Yesterday I was the Rangers play the Athletics, but earlier in the week I saw the Rangers and the Chicago Cubs go at it. So, I've actually got photos and comments from two games.

First, from my day with the Rangers and the Cubs:

The first person I saw when I entered the stadium was Hall of Fame star Fergie Jenkins, sitting at a booth selling autographed memorabilia for his foundation. As a former pitcher for both the Cubs and the Rangers, it was fitting he be there for the game. Fergie won the Cy Young award in 1971, has the ninth highest strikeout total in history, including over 2,000 strikeouts with the Cubs (the most in Cubs history), and was inducted in the Hall of Fame in 1991.

When I entered the ticket gate, the ticket-taker looked at my Rangers hat and said, "You're out numbered today, buddy, the Cubs are here." He was right, of course. Cub fans outnumbered Rangers fans that day two to one.

Alfonso Soriano takes a swing, hoping to show why he's worth $14 million this year.

Cubs manager Lou Piniella and bench coach Alan Trammell. Piniella looks like he swallowed a basketball.

The following photos are from yesterday, Rangers vs. the Athletics:

Mike "Stringy Arm" Young. Actually, my cheap digital camera doesn't do a very good job of freezing action.

The Honor Guard was present for the game. Military jets also flew over a couple of times during the game. Jason Ellison (#37, an "invitee" not on the 40-man roster) and Josh Hamilton (#32) watch as the national anthem is being sung acapella by a hot babe (very good looking with a great voice but I don't recall her name).

It was another beautiful day for baseball, and the crowd numbered over 8,300. So far, the Cubs and the Athletics have drawn the largest crowds.

My cheap digital camera has a "movie" function, so I tested it out yesterday at the game. I posted the video on YouTube. So, here you go. Click below and be amazed by the camera work and quality.

Leaving Tucson...but I'll Be Back

Day 215 on the road.

I came back to Tucson for a couple of days to check on my mail and say goodbye to some friends. I've enjoyed my stay here through the Winter, and I can't think of a better spot to wait for Spring while most of the country suffers from bitterly cold temperatures and snow.

I'm leaving Tucson on Tuesday morning and won't be back for a few months. My plan is return in October to once again spend the Winter here. I love the area, and I especially like Scottsdale and the Phoenician valley. Tucson lacks the shopping and sophistication of Scottsdale, but I still enjoy being here. If I had a choice, Scottsdale wins hands down. But Tucson is smaller, has less traffic headaches (except for the construction woes), and seems to be a bit more intimate. It's cheaper to live in Tucson, I think, based on gas prices and motel rates I experienced in both places.

On Tuesday I'll make it to Surprise for a Rangers game and will remain in the area until the end of March. Then I'll be driving north to Prescott. From there, my plan is to spend some days in the Grand Canyon area. I'm not sure what April weather is like along the Colorado River in northern Arizona. It still may be a little cool. So my plans depend a lot on the weather--I don't want to run into any April snows at the higher elevations.

Poorly Designed Logos

Thanks Bert, for sending me these poorly designed company photos.

This and That...and Some Other Stuff

I've spent the morning trying to figure out the hosting account at GoDaddy.com. I like their prices, but really, can someone tell me how you work your way through the confusing web hosting and email account instructions? I've been with GoDaddy for three years, maybe longer, and I'm still trying to figure things out.

I'm developing my web site at MitchellAiken.com, and this morning worked out the hosting and uploading of files. Over the next few weeks the site will begin to come together. I am choosing to design the site myself with Microsoft Frontpage, because I'm so cheap I don't want to pay for someone else to do it.

I'm going to try my best to make regular updates to my blogs: here at WriteFinger, at 1100 Miles to Vegas, and at Straight Talk from the 7 Seat. My travel writing will hopefully take off this year as I try to break into that business. I have found a couple of good books on travel writing and will work a plan to publish both online and in print.

I'm working on an outline for a novel, but it's slow going. I'm in no hurry. Novel writing takes time, and I'm learning as I go. The research and reading of background material is fun, but exhausting. My goal is to have a basic outline completed by the end of the summer.

When a Dealer Plays at Your Table

He sat down two places to my right and immediately began talking. He didn't stop talking until the table broke about an hour later. I noticed he was a dealer at the casino, off duty and looking to kill some time.

It's not unusual to find dealers playing at the casino in which they work. In Las Vegas, especially in the old days, playing at the table was part of their regular shift as dealers. They filled in the empty seats to keep live ones in the seats. The dealers would play until they were needed for work, or if business was slow, they would play awhile and then go home.

So when this dealer-talker sat down in the one seat it wasn't an issue. I must admit I feel a little uncomfortable about it, being naturally suspicious about cheating and collusion. Will the dealer be treated to some nice cards by his pal who is currently dealing the game? Does the dealer/player have an edge over the regulars at the table because he has seen them play for months, even years, and thus knows their tendencies and style?

When a dealer sits down to play, my radar goes up. I become more attentive to his play and if I get a sense that he has killed what was once a good table, then I'll get up and leave or change tables. It would be rare and very unusual for any collusion between dealers, but it's always a possibility. For the most part, casinos don't care about me--I have to look out for myself. So if I get any hint of collusion or cheating, I'll simple get up and leave.

In this particular case, the dealer was a big mouth. He would give running commentary after every hand, commenting on his reasoning for the plays he made. To make matters worse, he got on a rush and won numerous hands in a row. In one span, he showed AA, AQ, KQ, KK, QQ, flopped a straight and two-pair, and almost doubled his money in about 20 minutes. It wasn't long before the players at the table left, one after one, until there were only three of us left alone with this dealer-talker.

I was the next one to leave, then the table busted. Looking back on it, it was pretty obvious this guy destroyed the nice game we had going. I'm not saying he was cheating. More than likely, he got lucky. And since he was an employee at the casino, a dealer, and a big mouth, I understand why the players abandoned the table.

As I move up to the higher limits, when more money is at stake, these kinds of issues are going to become more important. Part of my education as a poker player is to consider more than the cards I play. I must also evaluate the players and the "texture" and "environment" of the game.

This and That

I have a routine when I arrive at a new city: find a Starbucks, find a grocery store, find the casino, and find the Laundromat. Yesterday, I finally found a suitable Laundromat.

After a Rangers game last week, I saw a Laundromat on Bell Road as I was driving back to Scottsdale. I pulled in, washed my clothes, then left in a hurry because I feared for my life. The location of this particular place was a little creepy. In fact, I left in such a hurry I left behind a load of wash which I didn't discover missing until three days later.

Finding a clean, safe, friendly Laundromat is key to survival on the road. Most wash-shops won't be located near the places I hangout. The location for the local Laundromat is usually in the lower economic strata of the community, thus can be in some creepy parts of town. This is not always the case, I have found very nice places in safer parts of town.

Northern Scottsdale is an economically upscale area, and I knew I would have to drive outside of the community and find a Laundromat elsewhere. Yesterday I found a nice enough place, just off Scottsdale Ave. south of Old Town. The one problem I had: this place uses a card system instead of quarters. You buy a plastic card for 50 cents, then add money to the card in an ATM-like machine. Each washer and dryer has a card slot.

One tip for searching for Laundromats: look around the local college or university. A Laundromat is usually near a campus for college students and these locations are ususally cleaner and safer than your average wash-shop.

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A local Phoenix-area man was upset with Apple, Inc. because his laptop went belly-up. Apple said he spilled something on it, so it's not covered under his extended warranty. He told them he didn't spill anything on it. They refused to fix for less than $780. So he got his message across to them via YouTube and a sledge hammer.

After over 350,000 views, Apple replaced his laptop and apologized. See the clip below.




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Tomorrow I have another Rangers game in Surprise, then I'm driving back to Tucson for a couple of days to check on things there. I have a mailbox there at the UPS store, and I'll keep it for a while. My friends there will keep an eye out for important mail and will forward it to me. Once I'm back in Scottsdale it will only be a few days before I head west for southern California.