Weenie Wednesdays

It’s amazing how much time one can spend working on a computer before realizing the entire day has slipped away. Today was one of those days. I should’ve known the day would work out that way and yet it still surprised me when the day blurred by and most of it was spent staring at a screen. I could’ve swore that one of my reasons for doing a trip like this is to avoid days like this. Sigh.

Between editing photos, updating this blog, writing a blog entry for CAA’s blog The Daily Boost … did I mention I’m writing blog entries for CAA’s The Daily Boost? Well, I am. Anyway, there was a lot to be done and apparently not much time to do it.

The morning began simply enough. Actually, the morning began with Alex and Caity preparing an excellent french toast feast for breakfast. From there, Annie and I took her dog, Lady, for a walk/tour of the area – the walk was for Lady’s benefit, the tour was for mine. It ended up being about a two-hour tour at which point we returned to the house where the computer began to take hold of the day.

Alex and Caity were planning on hitting the road today but were still at the house when we returned – they too were being consumed by computer activities – ie. blog updates. We were all very focused on our work but we all had a common weakness. A weakness that was exposed when I uttered the phrase, “Anyone want some M&Ms?” Personally, I feel that’s about as rhetorical of a question that could be asked. I mean, who wouldn’t want some M&Ms. I’m not sure if it was impressive or embarrassing how quickly we devoured the entire bag. Either way, they were clearly enjoyed by all.

By 1:30, Alex and Caity were packed up and ready to hit the road towards Nipigon. But not before I remembered to get a group photo with our super-host, Annie.

With Alex and Caity gone, I was once again relegated into the world of my computer. Not particularly exciting stuff but stuff that really needed to get finished. Most of which did and I turned off the computer around 5:00.

At around 6:30, after a gourmet dinner prepared by Annie, I headed out to TBayTel Field – home of the Thunder Bay Border Cats minor league baseball team. I had noticed the stadium the other day and, as luck would have it, they had home games this week. This turned out to be the highlight of the day. Yes, even more exciting than staring at a computer screen all day.

My $10 ticket got me a seat directly behind home plate and I watched all of one inning from there. Then I started to wander. Apparently, my wandering gene extends to sporting events too. I love visiting minor league parks. New ones. Old ones. It doesn’t matter. I don’t know how old this stadium is but I’d say it falls into the “old” category. And I quite like it. The only thing I didn’t like is the amount of netting around the field to protect the fans from foul balls. It seemed excessive and distracting … all in the name of safety.

I eventually ended up down the left field line, on the roof of the concession stands – yes, people are allowed on the roof. It was about the only place I could find where the netting wasn’t really an issue. There were a few picnic tables there and a handful of other people. So, there I was, out in left field enjoying a beer and two hotdogs. Actually, by that time I had already had two hotdogs, so this was actually hotdogs number three and four. Did I mention it was “Weenie Wednesday” at the ballpark? “Weenie Wednesday” translates into $1 hotdogs. As such, buying one seemed silly. Although, one could argue that buying four was equally silly.

While enjoying my dogs and beer, I met Johnny and Patricia, who were both a lot of fun. We talked about the usual things, the less usual things, and everything in between. They even bought me not one, but two beers. On a completely unrelated topic, the stadium uses those crazy bottom filling cups for beer. I find those cups far more interesting than I should. If you haven’t seen them, well … as the name suggests, the cups get filled from the bottom using a process called, “magic”. Anyway, I would’ve gladly bought a round but I embarrassingly didn’t bring much money to the game. So much so, that I had to search through every last pocket to find enough money to buy some 50/50 tickets. Spoiler Alert: I didn’t win.

It was an entertaining game with my entertaining new friends but shortly after 9:30, the game ended (the home team won) and it was time to go home. I said goodbye to my new Thunder Bay friends, but not before getting a photo with them. They were definitely the highlight of my night – and no, not because they bought me beer. They were just great people.

Today’s totals:
Time on computer: Too much.
Time not on computer: Not enough.
M&Ms eaten: I’d rather not say.
Hotdogs eaten: 4
Hotdogs enjoyed: 2