A few weeks ago I was asked to do something at work that I thought was totally inconsequential: Copy some images from an xD photocard to a CD.
I guess the thing that made this a bit more than a normal task was that the pictures belonged to one of the vice presidents of the company I work for. He was so happy with what I did for him that he offered me four tickets to an Oakland As baseball game which I gladly accepted.
It wasn’t until after I had the tickets (actually, it was more like this morning) that I realized the tickets he had given me were on the field. Well, almost on the field. I was two rows back in the private field boxes. You know, the ones that only have two rows of seats in them? Yeah, those.
Not only that but he also gave us parking passes and snack vouchers so that we were able to buy goodies while we were there.
That means that my two oldest daughters, the two of my five kids that I chose to bring to this event, got to experience their first baseball game with their mom and I on the field. And to make things all the better they were able to get two players autographs, get two, count them, two game balls, experience one of the best baseball games I have ever seen let alone been to AND experience and As victory on one of the nicest baseball weather days of the year. Who could ask for anything more than that?
I was so excited and happy that I was able to share this experience with them. It was so amazing for them and for Sandi and I. I have never been that close to a game before nor have I had the wonderful experience of sitting in the field boxes enjoying concierge service and just an all around nice experience. It was just one super fantastic day of fun and sports shared with my two older daughters.
To make it even better, after the game we were able to all go to dinner. The two youngest kids were staying the night with grandma and Adriannah was staying the night with Auntie Katie so it was just my wife, my two oldest daughters and me for the entire evening. That meant that dinner was manageable and enjoyable. We went to a restaurant we hadn’t been to in eons then went home and played a few board games before getting ready for bed (and blogging) tonight.
I can’t remember the last time I had this kind of fun with my family. And what made it the best is that Sandi is now at a place where she can make it through an afternoon of activity fairly regularly now without feeling wobbly, over-exhausted or faintly. Yeah, I would say things for her are looking better which means things for our family are looking better.
And if nothing else, at least, for the briefest of moments, we, as a family, were able to have one heck of a day.
In 1985 I got really into skateboarding. I am not sure what it is that got me so into the sport but I really got into it. I also had gotten some of my friends into it with me so that we could all have something to do together. It didn’t take long for all of us to become enormous skateboarding obsessed fanbois.
I also became a huge fan of the Bones Brigade. So much so that my little clique of friends actually emulated the them down to my friend Jason Theil taking on freestyle skating a la Per Welinder and Adam Green skating in a lanky, gangly fashion like Tony Hawk.
The reason I was thinking about that is because of a totally raw out video I saw the other day. It is a video of Tony Hawk tearing it up on a freakish ramp doing things that really only a skater like Tony Hawk can do. What stood out the most to me was that I got into skating 23 years ago.
Side note: there is no way in hell I am old enough to have picked up a hobby 23 years ago.
Whatever the case, Tony Hawk was only 17 at the time and had just turned pro a few years earlier. He was bad as all get out back then, doing things that no one else was doing, including preparing for the 720 and doing a sick number of consecutive 540 McTwists. I remember watching Bones Brigade Videos and watching the guys skating streets, launch ramps, quarter pipes, half pipes and downhills.
In fact, the most memorable moment I had of the gang was the end of the Search for Animal Chin video when they finished up the movie on that sick back-to-back half pipe that had the inner cut away taken out for a spell and allowed pretty much the whole crew to skate at the same time while some were catching air over others skating through. It was sick.
The ramp had half pipes on the deck too, and the entire thing had to be 60 feet wide. It was awesome. Have a look:
Then along came this little gem. And I am taken aback. I knew Tony Hawk kicked butt. I never knew he kicked butt licked this. Prepare to have your mind blown to bits.
I so want to be this rad when I am Tony Hawk’s age. And if not… well, hopefully I can still find videos of him.
Every now and again someone gets a truly original idea. Sometimes these ideas leads to huge amounts of fiscal wealth. Other times these ideas lead to improvements in living conditions, or perhaps positive changes to our environment.
The following idea is certain to have an impact on everyone’s personal life. I personally hate being disturbed by incessant phone calls at all hours of the day and night. But short of using electroshock defense mechanisms that pulse through the phone, the only recourse I have had until now was to screen my calls or let the machine answer them for me.
Like I said, until now.
Without further introduction, I present to you a video that will forever change how you handle telemarketers and cold callers. Enjoy this lesson.
Many thanks to my colleague Jason for providing this excellent find.