Looking for Strikes and Outs!

Last years softball season allowed me the oppritunity to umpire a few of A and B's games... During one of those games, B ran through 2nd and the baseman tagged her after recieving the ball. She clearly beat the play to the bag but didn't realize you couldn't run through the bag as you can at 1st. I called her out and her reply was "Dad, I was safe!"... My reply was "Yeah yeah shut up and hit the bench you're out!" hehe... While you may think its wierd, that just made my day... Anyway...So after last years softball season I decided that I really wanted to umpire some more Little League games as an official umpire.

I have taken a few classes on the subject and starting in April I'll be all gussied up and ready to call some games. Being a fencing referee has helped me in this reguard since I am use to the constant disagreements one gets from parents and coaches... But having never really gotten to know the rules of softball and baseball aside from the rec league play, I'm finding out that there are lots of things to know. The biggest thing that I've learned is that while I may not know all the rules and will most certainly get them wrong, most of the parents and coaches know even less so it won't be that big of an issue.

Being an upmire is getting to play a game within the game... There are three teams, Home, Visitors and Umps... The best part of it all is that as part of the Ump team we never loose!!!

And if I do enjoy it as I'm expecting too, I'll be heading down to California next year for a week long umpire school!!! "Hey Casey, you've just completed one week of extreme umpire training, what are you going to do next"? I'm going to Disney Land... at least that's the plan... We'll see if it all works out.

Now its time to take me out to the ball game and start hunting those strikes an outs!!!

OK so I haven't been completely faithful in the posting of this blog... All I can say is that I've been a bit busy so get off my back aight!!!

Now that we are straight, let me tell you what I've been working on... We got a letter from the neighborhood yard Nazis that if I didn't begin the process of putting in a back yard and side yard they would detain me and have me tried and found guilty to which a summary execution would be held out immediately... aka (they would send me another nasty letter)... Sooo with all my free time, I had to begin the process of installing a back yard... However before I could begin the back yard I had to level out the Great Chasm of Poulsbo (my side yard) so I could get the proper tools to the back yard.

So here you will see "an almost" before pic of the side yard...

Now, on to the next step of lifting, dropping and the stacking of 97 landscape blocks to build the Great Retaining Wall. After building the Great Wall two, trips were made to the world renown Vern's Topsoil located in the sunny, bright and always dry Poulsbo WA... The leveling of the Great Chasm of Poulsbo required two loads of "3/4" minus basalt"(That's the dirt farmer's lingo for small rocks with sand)... two pairs of gloves, one cell phone screen, a new wheel barrow/cart, and bunch of band aids... Anyway after the wall was built I back filled the path with the 3/4" minus basalt, tamped it all down and voila'... instant level path...

Now that the great Chasm of Poulsbo has been spanned, I could now move onto the back yard...

Let me first preface that SWMBO doesn't have anything of a green thumb... Not green, chartreuse, jade, kelly, lime, malachite, moss, olive, pea, pine, sage, sea, beryl... not even aquamarine... Heather has actually killed a cactus... no lie... Anyway I have found something she can grow... ROCKS...

We began our first rock harvest about a week ago and let me tell you Heather is quite the rock farmer. I would dare say she could grow a rock underwater or in the complete vacuum of space... I've tried getting her rock growing secret so that I could try to make some money on it but each time I ask her for it she just rolls her eyes and walks off mumbling... I'm sure she's telling me the growing secret but since she knows I can't hear worth a darn she's just tormenting me even more... I guess its a closely guarded family secret cause I asked her dad and she just stares blankly at me without an answer... Man they are good at keeping those family secrets...

I think they are planting the rock seeds at night cause as soon as I harvested the ripe rocks from the back yard, the very next day I saw thousands of seedlings... I don't even know how she finds the time or energy to plant the seeds... Heather is quite the grower and that's something I never knew about here as I'm sure neither did any of you...

But I digress... I rented a huge motor tiller to break up the grown. SWMBO won't let me have a motorcycle so this was about a close to one as I could get... And sad to say it was only a 4 hour rental... I proceeded to ride this slow moving ground attack motorcycle through the back yard taking it through its paces and really trying to take this baby to its limits... The speed wasn't the best at a clocked speed of 0 to 1/2 mph at about 6.5 seconds. The cornering was really loose and it tried to get away from me on occasion but still it was an adventure... Getting the bugs in my teeth and the wind through my hair and the dirt in my nose was a refreshing break from the shovel and wheel barrow...

After our rock harvest, I was able to level out most of the yard and its now prepped for top soil and seed...

The funny things is just after the back yard was prepped, it SNOWED which will prevent me from grass seeding... However who would have guessed that rocks grow and flourish in snow covered ground.

Now it won't stop raining long enough for me to get the top soil delivered. But its not so bad, I can finally sit back and relax just a bit and try to enjoy some time with my youngest daughter Darcy...

Oh wait SWMBO just walked in with a paint brush... I wonder what she wants... hmmmmmm I let you know as soon as I get to the bottom of it.

In the Beginning

There was C² and the Universe. And C² came forth and said, "Let there be Blog" and the letters did form and the web did boil and composition came forth and created The Blog. C² saw that it was good... *smack*... "ouch"...

Well I guess that's about as much sacrilegious posting that Heather can take and so... "She who must be obeyed" has decreed that I can no longer speak in such sacrilegious ways...

So just to jump into the primordial blogging ooze, I have decided to create this simple blog so that everyone can find out what I'm up to and when my World Domination will actually happen. So, in between annoying "She who must be obeyed" (forever forth known as S.W.M.B.O. formerly known as Ole Hank) and finalizing my Zombie Plan, I will try to find time to write down a few thoughts and maybe... just maybe you will find them enjoyable... or pittiful... or sad... or inspiring... or...

Until then...