Sniff Sniff
Can you smell it? Freshly cut grass, dirt, resin, hot dogs, peanuts... That's the smell of summer, my friends.
Although honestly the only thing I can smell right now is the poison stench of smoke. They've hired this little guy to come in and do some work part-time. He looks to be about 40 and lives with his mama. And when he comes into the room, the stench of smoke off his clothes is stronger than any I've ever tried not to smell. I've affectionately nicknamed him Smokestack. We basically have someone on Lysol duty to just follow him around with a can all day. And by someone, I mean me. He doesn't seem to mind.
But I digress (and hold my breath). Summer is here. Oh sure, maybe not solstice-wise. But now that Pluto is no longer a planet, I figure we can pretty much throw anything we've learned about astronomy over the past thousand years out the window anyway.
Today is Opening Day for major league baseball. Opening Day means a fresh start. Everybody is tied for first. It means my beloved Reds will be on ESPN, for one of the few times all season. It means a brand new season full of possibilities and optimism. Except of course for the Royals. But at least they have a stadium with pretty waterfalls or fountains or something.
Opening Day is about hope. And in that way, isn't it a little metaphor for life. Because really, without hope, what do we have?
You'll notice I've changed my sidebar scoreboard from basketball to el beisbol. That's just Bone's little tribute to the increasing number of Spanish-speaking baseball players.
Welcome, amigos. Vamos Cincinnati!
"Baby, if you've ever wondered, wondered whatever became of me, I'm living on the air in Cincinnati..."
while I'm in LA this week, I will be attending the Dodgers Opener!
ReplyDeleteI {heart} baseball season...
Only you Bone would follow somebody with Lysol--most people use Febreze or something like that when stalking smelly people.
ReplyDeleteWhat am I saying? Most people try to be polite. If not an anonymous note asking him to wear freshly laundered clothes and to take a shower before coming to work would still be snarky.
How can he not mind?
He looks to be about 40 and lives with his mama.
Vintage Bone--how it's written.
Think you can add Pluto to the Bone obsessions
Love the fresh start analogy.
The Yankees didn't win last year, and don't have a stadium with fountains but one that looks like a Roman ruin. But, uh....and we're the birthplace, in a way, of the Dominican baseball player.
The sun just came out.
Your posts are increasingly bringing out a side of me best left hidden :-)
But, for the record, I love the posts, anyway
WKRP!!!!!
ReplyDeleteYou are such a dork with your el beisbol :-)
ReplyDeleteTime to buy some Giants tickets!! Let's PLAY BALL!!
It definitely feels like summer here in Florida! I love it!
ReplyDeleteAs for your smokestack, perhaps this is your chance to get him to quit... post signs all about the building... id even know what it is you do, but instead of 'Kick Me' signs you can post anti-smoking slogans! lol
Anyway... sounds like you are reved for summer and baseball season. I am still on the NBA high myself... ok in truth its all because of work... I could give a flying rats butt... especially after being dumped for Duane Wade... ohhhhhh forget it its the long story of my weekend...
Happy Monday!
DCChick: I want to be in California!! Sounds fun. Take pictures.
ReplyDeletePia: Oh, trust me, you would have been following him around, too. Or kicking him out. It was unbearable.
The sun just came out.
Like just as you were typing this comment? Thanks for the instantaneous NYC weather update. Back to you, Tom.
HotPink: Yep! I loved that show.
Arlene: I am not a dork! Well, maybe a little :)
Kate: It did cross my mind to say something to him today. But I figure no one wants to be told to quit smoking in this day and age.
Dumped for Dwayne Wade??? I can't wait to hear this story :)
Can you smell it? Freshly cut grass, dirt, resin, hot dogs, peanuts... That's the smell of summer, my friends.
ReplyDeleteWhy, yes, now that you mention it, I can smell it.
I love and adore baseball season. Most amazing time of the year.
Vamos a jugar el beisbol!
mmmm... beisbol.
ReplyDeleteThe only problem is now I have to make a decision between watching an afternoon game in its entirety or watching Jason Morgan in that hot leather jacket. Decisions, decisions.
great now i am singing the wkrp song.
ReplyDeletei am totally jazzed to go so some baseball games here in seattle!
I would be using a home perfume in one hand, and Febreeze in the other, and kinda get both of them on him at once
ReplyDeleteI have an actual question that I probably should blog, but
Soccer leagues are beginning to overtake softball ones
Do you find that sad?
And yes the sun came out in however long it took me to type my comment
The same sun that shines on Seinfeld who lives about eight blocks away
Yeah, pretty soon they'll players will have to have preferences to call strikes and balls...1 groin tug for English or 2 groin tugs for Spanish.
ReplyDeleteThe Royals have as good a chance as anyone. But the crown in the outfield is stupid.
Thankfully the Rangers are back to playing at The Ballpark. Not that it will improve their game any.
TC: I wasn't sure if dirt had a smell. But I think it does.
ReplyDeleteHeather B: I'm having the same dilemma here, as you can probably imagine since I remind you of Jason Morgan. El beisbol won out today.
Sizzle: I'm just so happy a few people remember that show! :)
Pia: I'm actually beginning to wonder if he's smoking more than cigarettes.
Yeah, soccer has grown a lot in the last several years. It doesn't make me sad. I hope kids still get to experience baseball and softball though.
Lass: Oh, please. Although the Royals did win their first game :)
I was with you in the beginning. I could smell all of those things.
ReplyDeleteThen you had to go into old Smokestack and all I could do was gag and choke!
Luckily you went back into your Summer/Baseball mode and made me long for warm, flat beer, my feet kicked up on the top of the dugout and some moderate cat-calling of the other team.
Congratulations on your team winning, Bone!
Any game that needs a 7th inning stretch is too long. :) I think baseball would be better at 4 innings.
ReplyDeletePeople that smoke really don't understand how bad they smell to other people!
The whole city of Houston erupted into joy in celebration of opening night. With David Carr gone and the Rocket MIA at the moment, I think the city was ready for their beloved Astros to take to the field. Alas, though: It had to be against the Pirates.
ReplyDeleteWhy did they have to play the Pirates for opening night? Why, God? Why?
Dirt totally has a smell. If you need proof though, I suggest driving by some cropland that has recently been plowed, OR just digging in it for a little while and then smelling your hands.
ReplyDeleteEither way, that should be all the proof you need. :)
And Carmen: seriously, the 7th inning stretch is one of the best parts of baseball!!
I used to run an HR department in a warehouse. They used to sit in their cars in winter during breaks and chain smoke for 15 minutes, then come back in teh building to my desk to ask a question. ICK! The smell.
ReplyDeleteRe: baseball...I was saying the same thing myself just YESTERDAY!
Go Orioles! If they only played with their shirts off...
hey, the Pirates won (as I see Zeus pointed out). When you're a Pirate fan, you're glad any little think such as being on the top of the box for a day!
ReplyDeleteI saw the Reds and Pirates in the NLCS game in 1990--or was it 91--the Reds took it and went to the world series and my heart was again crushed!
The other day I heard them talking on the radio about the ballpark opening next week. I can't wait! I love to go to baseball games in the summer. It doesnt seem like its that time already.... but yeah!
ReplyDeleteHang air fresheners around his desk. lol
Avery: On top of the dugout... You often get front row seats, Miss Laine? :)
ReplyDeleteCarmen: I think major league games are fine. However, when I go to a game of the local AA team, I'm usually ready to leave by the 6th or 7th inning.
Zeus: Well, that's another great thing about baseball. There's always tomorrow, at least for 161 more games.
TC: just digging in it for a little while and then smelling your hands
Sounds a little Mary Catherine Gallagher-ish.
Esmerelda: If they only played with their shirts off...
Now how are you gonna tell who's who? Somehow I think we might be watching for a completely different set of reasons :)
Sage: It was 1990 :) The Reds last title. Man, I was on such a great sports run in the early 90's--the Reds, Bulls, the Cowboys. Even Alabama. There have been few highlights since.
Kerry: I was thinking about disgusing the Lysol as a bottle of Off! and telling him mosquitos were in the building and to spray himself down so he wouldn't catch West Nile :)
Carmen is right about smokers not being able to tell how bad they stink. The smoke messes up their noses and they can't smell anything...my mom is like that. BLECH!
ReplyDeleteI wonder if you could get one of those air fresheners that shoot out every few minutes to put in your office or around the office building. Smokers make me gag...and I don't hide it. They made it law here that you can't smoke w/i 15 feet of any building but the smokers don't pay attention much. So I come out of the museum gagging. What I don't get is that they do this near their children. My cousin's wife smokes and he asks her to not smoke in the car with the kids, but she does because driving makes her need a cig. Poor kids.
re: baseball, thanks for the head's up. I guess that means that the world series will be here soon enough and DH will want to watch that. I may take DD out shopping or something.
Just to clarify: We root for everything Pittsburgh in this house. =P
ReplyDeleteWe missed opening day at Citizens Park in Phila by just one day. Monday was much better weather wise than Sunday was anyway. There's a girl in two of my classes that's a ball girl for the Phil's! Fun job!
ReplyDeletehaving had my Mom die of lung cancer, I have a need to tell everyone I like/love to attempt to try to quit. I actually bought a set of those patches for a guy in a pharmacy recently... we were waiting for our perscriptions... got to talking... he smoked but wanted to stop... idk just had to do it.
ReplyDeleteAs for Freaking Dwayne (lmao not only did I not know who this guy was and have to google him... I knew he was a sports player... nfl or nba as that is the arena I work in mostly... but I even spelt his name wrong! lol Actually I did that on purpose so no one would Google him and link it to me! There is some intelligence under this blond hair! lolol)
hummm so ya want the dirt or the story? Dirt is generic and you could probably guess it (relationships that shouldnt be happening in places they shouldnt be actually he is a pretty good guy all in all. Especially by players standards! )..he story isnt terribly interesting... I travel 2 hrs to get this meeting to happen about this project/event I an working on with these guys in Miami... one has become a pretty good friend over the last 6 months... or so I thought. I get there, he is late, comes in and tells me I am on my own in Miami that night as he has to meet with my buddy Wade over this deal that has been lingering for 2 weeks and needs to close. She(his partner) doesnt even show up. We had time for a late lunch (as I arrived about 2) and he spent the entire flippin time on one of his 2 phones. grrrrrr I even had to order something for him for lunch as I knew he had to leave.
I really was humbled and crushed to have been treated that way ( I am leaving out so many details too so idk that all of this even makes sense to you but )by a friend. Ik its his lifestyle and idk why I should expect to be treated better (ok yes id because that is the correct way to treat people...lol) It did a number on my self esteem but I am bouncing back and have my guard up again. As long as I get paid, I know the deal now and will just move on. I cant get emotionally involved and I did.
Ohhh this is way too long, read it then delete! sorry! (ya ik not as sorry as you are that you asked! hehehe)
cheers
Renee: You're welcome. And oh by the way, the NCAA tournament is over. I remember you said to give you a heads up on that ;)
ReplyDeleteI guess that means that the world series will be here soon enough
LOL You crack me up.
Zeus: Oh! OK. Well then, your team is 2-0, I see :)
Carnealian: Ooo, a ball girl would be fun. I had no idea they were college-aged.
Why are there no ball men?
Kate: Well, at least you got dumped for one of the best players in the league. At least it wasn't for someone like Jason Williams or Michael Doleac :)