Sun Diego

I just got back from San Diego. That is where my work sent me for yet another conference. As destination cities go, San Diego isn't too bad. I was shocked to find that people in my group wanted to go to Old Town, or the beach, or Little Italy, or the Naval Yard, or Sea World, or the San Diego Zoo, or Balboa Park or Phantom of the Opera, when the Padres were in town. I went to 3 games vs. the Diamondbacks and almost got to see a perfect game on Tuesday. That would have been sweet.

Plus not to mention that it was dollar hot dog and dollar drinks at the park for the month of July. On Monday and Tuesday, I had two hot dogs and a lemonade for dinner. On Wednesday, I pulled off a hat trick with 3 hot dogs. My total hot dog consumption in San Diego = 7. And they were pretty good hot dogs. (I had to work up my hot dog tolerance -- the first night, those hot dogs stayed with me until noon the next day.)

Also, for a good one, while I was in the ticket line, I was talking to a San Diegan, and he said how he moved into town, and sold his car, and how much money he's saving. Then I said "What do you do if you want to go on vacation?" He said: "I live in San Diego, why would I want to go on vacation?" I thought that was a good point.

Too bad that the Padres had a day off on Thursday. That meant I had to find something else to do. That something else was to go to Pacific Beach and ride bikes. Others in our group tried to talk me into surfing. I've been fooled by that routine before. I didn't want to try to swim out in the ocean 3 miles, just to not be able to stand up on a surf board. Plus, there was all this panic about a riptide. I was not aware that you could spot a riptide by just looking at the water. Plus how Seinfeld says that the riptide is like the angry bouncer that takes you into the back room and roughs you up a bit. I saw a few people getting roughed up whilst lifeguards in red swimsuits were trying to rescue them. Obviously, those lifeguards were running in slow motion. (Jokes aren't funny if you have to explain them, but the above was a Baywatch reference and a clever one at that.)

We also ate at a place that was way too expensive, but on the bright side, I didn't get totally hammered and make a fool of myself.

That was also the day that Manny Ramirez got traded to the Dodgers. I was thinking it would be sweet if my plane left on Saturday instead of Friday, then I could catch his Dodger debut, but they lost anyway. If anyone doesn't know who Manny Ramirez is, he is the best hitter in baseball, but sometimes does things that aggrivate his team or thier fans or are just plain strange. This is known as 'Manny being Manny'

The following would be a list of good ones that Manny Ramirez has done:

8- Trying to 'pants' David Ortiz at home plate after hitting a game winning homerun.

7- Before Thursday's trade, held up a sign in the dugout during a game that he should be dealt to Green Bay for Brett Favre.

6- Last month, in an attempt to field a ball, tripped over his feet, rolled onto the ball, then tried to go opposite hand behind his back to grab the ball.

5- Went into the Green Monster to take a bathroom break during a coach's visit to the mound and barely returned in time for the next pitch in 2005.
4- Climbed into the Green Monster to make a call on his cellphone during a pitching change July 9.
3- Lost a way expensive diamond earring when he slid into third base in 2002.

2- Made a running catch on a deep fly to left field in Baltimore this season, then high-fived a Red Sox fan then threw to first base to complete a double play.

1- Dived to cut off a relay throw in the middle of the outfield, allowing the Orioles' David Newhan to complete an inside-the-park home run.

Here's hoping the Dodgers start to dominate. And by dominate, I mean score 2 runs.

Bubba