Random Access Memories

Had a reasonably decent trip to AZ last weekend.

Saw Sarah and the rest of the crew. Everyone seemed happy to have rain come down with me.

Just can’t say i’ve really felt much like babbling lately.

So as I was walking to the bus stopop I saw the bus coming up behind me. Knowing only the #5 served that stop I broke into a run to beat it.
As I came up to the stop only one of the many people waiting got on. “It’s only the local” one lady said to me, my thought in return was “so?”.
According to the bus schedule the #5 express bus would indeed get me to downtown faster, a whole 2 minutes faster. Since the express was due along in 3 minutes the bus I got on will beat it to downtown by 1 minute.
I take a bus earlier than I have to so i’m on time if I miss it and have to take the next one, so either way I get to the office a good 20 minutes early.
I’m glad that i’ve slowed down enough to just be worried about catching the bus, not catching the fastest bus.

Finally getting used to riding the bus. A friend at work gave me an unlimited yearly bus pass which cuts 65$ out of my monthly expenses.
My throat is feeling better little by little and i’m looking forward to seeing Sarah again in a few weeks.
Hopefully work will assign me a permanent shift soon so I can begin scheduling my private life a little more.
Life goes onward.

It’s hard to see but this circle of a line goes all the way around the fourth floor of the Pacific Place shopping center.

They are all waiting for Speed Racer.

I estimate three hundred heads.

(I found out this morning that it was an advanced screening, since it seemed kind of odd for a movie to open on a Monday)

I caught this on the news and even tho i’m not a big sports fan I think it deserves attention.

Carrying injured opponent around bases eliminates CWU from softball playoffs

JOSEPH B. FRAZIER; The Associated Press
Published: May 1st, 2008 01:00 AM | Updated: May 1st, 2008 07:36 AM

PORTLAND – With two runners on base and a strike against her, Sara Tucholsky of Western Oregon University uncorked her best swing and did something she’d never done, in high school or college.

Her first home run cleared the center-field fence at Central Washington University’s home field in Ellensburg.

But it appeared to be the shortest of dreams come true when she missed first base, started back to tag it and collapsed with a knee injury.

She crawled back to first but could do no more. The first-base coach said she’d be called out if her teammates tried to help her. Or, the umpire said, a pinch runner could be called in, and the homer would count as a single.

Then, members of the Central Washington University softball team stunned spectators by carrying Tucholsky around the bases Saturday so the three-run homer would count, an act that contributed to their team’s elimination from the playoffs.

Central Washington first baseman Mallory Holtman, the career home run leader in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, asked the umpire if she and her teammates could help Tucholsky. The umpire said there was no rule against it.

So Holtman and shortstop Liz Wallace put their arms under Tucholsky’s legs, and she put her arms over their shoulders. The three headed around the base paths, stopping to let Tucholsky touch each base with her good leg.

The only thing I remember is that Mallory asked me which leg was the one that hurt, Tucholsky said. I told her it was my right leg, and she said, OK, we’re going to drop you down gently and you need to touch it with your left leg, and I said OK, thank you very much.

She said, You deserve it, you hit it over the fence, and we all kind of just laughed.

We started laughing when we touched second base, Holtman said. I said, I wonder what this must look like to other people.

We didn’t know that she was a senior or that this was her first home run, Wallace said Wednesday. That makes the story more touching than it was. We just wanted to help her.

Holtman said she and Wallace weren’t thinking about the playoff spot, and didn’t consider the gesture something others wouldn’t do. As for Tucholsky, the 5-foot-2 right fielder was in pain.

I really didn’t say too much. I was trying to breathe, she said in a phone interview Wednesday.

I didn’t realize what was going on until I had time to sit down and let the pain relax a little bit. Then I realized the extent of what I actually did.

I hope I would do the same for her in the same situation, Tucholsky added.

As the three reached home plate, Tucholsky said, the entire Western Oregon team was in tears.

Central Washington coach Gary Frederick, a 14-year coaching veteran, called the act of sportsmanship ‘unbelievable.’

For Western Oregon coach Pam Knox, the gesture resolved the dilemma Tucholsky’s injury presented.

She was going to kill me if we sub and take (the home run) away. But at the same time I was concerned for her. I didn’t know what to do, Knox said.

Tucholsky’s injury is a possible torn ligament that will sideline her for the rest of the season. Her home run sent Western Oregon to a 4-2 victory, ending Central Washington’s chances of winning the conference and advancing to the playoffs.

In the end, it is not about winning and losing so much, Holtman said. It was about this girl. She hit it over the fence and was in pain, and she deserved a home run.