Sabbatical blog - day three

Another miserably hot day here in central Texas. Even the weathermen sound sincerely bummed out by this heat wave. They have nothing positive whatsoever to spin about the heat. I was reading local weather dude Jim Spencer's blog (because you have time to do such things when on sabbatical) and the best he could offer up was no sign of hope in our forecast in the third week of July. Luckily for me and my family, Breckenridge is right around the corner.

My key sabbatical learning for the day today was that I found out you can get bit by a cricket. I'm 37 years old and did not know until talking to the dude at Petco today that you could get bit by a cricket. In fact, some people are actually allergic to cricket bites. Had I not been on sabbatical and in Petco today getting stuff for our dog on our upcoming roadtrip, I may have gone through life not knowing this crucial piece of information. How did this conversation come about? There were two big tubs full of crickets by the check out stand. Apparently people buy them for reptile food.

Before Petco, we dropped the Ciena off for its pre-roadtrip check-up at Bearden Automotive, btw, if you live in Austin and have a toyota, I highly recommend these guys. Had another Starbucks date with my wife this morning AND a lunch date at Daily Grill. Shockingly, Tricia doesn't seem to be sick of me yet. Spent most of the afternoon getting ready for roadtrip and determining how much stuff that we can cram into our van. I chose to do this at about 3 in the afternoon today, right when the heat index was probably well over 110. Not the best call on my part.

Did catch some of the Astros game this afternoon. I saw something you dont see very often from the Astros, a complete game shutout by their starting pitcher. Wa-Rod was dealing today, but then again, the glorified triple-A team that is the Pirates, can make some of the most mediocre pitchers look like top-line starters. However, 9 innings of shutout ball and 11 Ks at Minute Maid Park is still a decent accomplishment no matter who the Astros are playing.

By some miracle, the Astros are only one game under .500 and still in the race in what appears to be the most 'competitive' (although some may choose to call it the weakest) division in baseball, the NL Central. Yet, despite the Astros playing pretty well the last few weeks, I still think they need to move some of their most tradeable players for prospects now.

Other interesting things I read today:

Lenny Dykstra filed for bankruptcy. I watched a piece on him on HBO's Real Sports last week where he delivered a profanity-laced denial about his financial troubles from his soon-to-be foreclosed on mansion.

"Moneyball" author Michael Lewis wrote this insightful article for Vanity Fair about AIG.

Sabbatical day 3 in the books. Good night everyone.