O's on the Toes!

O's toes

The American League East Champion Orioles have brought swagger back to Baltimore baseball! Winning the toughest division in baseball for the first time in 17 years will do that for a city.

And crazy things are happening. 

Like in the manicure shops where O's are being painted on toes.

Yes, I wrote that. O's on the toes!

In preparation for attending the first game of the final home series of the regular season tonight against Boston, Chris had her toes painted. Unfortunately, she had a hard time explaining to the service professionals at the nail salon exactly what she was looking for and it didn't come out exactly right.

I think they are cute!

And very personal. Far more temporary than the tattoo I was thinking about. I wasn't seriously thinking about getting a tattoo--but . . . 

A World Series ring might change the math on a tattoo.

I believe this city is going to go even more crazy as the playoffs arrive. And I am going to be part of it.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Riordin in a Wreath

Riordin in the Wreath

Why do we have animals? 

Because our children are grown and they make us smile when they do crazy stuff. Grandchildren do crazy things too, but they aren't around near as much as animals.

Enter Riordin.

Yup, the cat that came back and the undisputed king of the castle. 

The other night we received a nice gift of a wreath for our door. Riordin saw it laying in the counter and determined it to be his personal space.

Riordin Relaxing

It was pretty funny--of course being a cat, the humor was lost upon him. But, we laughed and photographed his antics. 

He makes us laugh.

Belly laugh!

That is why we have animals.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Day at the Pentagon

I had the opportunity to spend most of yesterday at the Pentagon. Because I was there for the whole day, I was able to explore more of the venerable old building than I have been able to do on my many other visits. 

I was able to visit the America Hero's Memorial to the 184 men, women, and children who died in the attack on September 11, 2001. It was sobering to stand at the precise location where American Airlines Flight 77 impacted the Pentagon on that September morning.

It was an emotional moment for me to stand there and think about that day. Although I was out of the country, the memory of the fear and the realization of the complexity of the attack washed over me as I remembered those who could not be with us today.

I wonder if we have begun to forget that day and our call to duty that the memory is those who perished at the Pentagon, in the field in Pennsylvania, and in the World Trade Center calls us to remember. The memorials seemed more subdued this year on 9-11.

The new threat in the world is ISIL (a/k/a ISIS and IS). They are the new players on the stage of worldwide terrorism and oppression that needs to be stopped. I believe that if anyone thinks that terrorism will ever be defeated, they are living in a dream world. There will always be those who desire anarchy and chaos and support death and the destruction of the mechanisms of society that result in culture, peace, and prosperity.

We must never forget and we must never rest in our quest to rid the world of those who foment terror and chaos!

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

AL East Champions!

The Baltimore Orioles win the American League East Division on September 16, 2014!

The first Division crown in 17 years!

The team, the city, the game!

This team is about baseball as a team sport.

Who is the hero?

Every one of them and the fans.

Next stop--the playoffs!

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Five Days in September

Glasses in Waiting at my Place for the Wine Dinner

Life has been very busy since the middle of last week. Last evening was the final scheduled event of an extremely busy set that began Thursday evening at the Ravens game, continued Friday with an Orioles game, was planned to include fireworks for the Star Spangled Spectacular on Saturday, a visit to the theater on Sunday evening and closed out with friends in Frederick, Maryland, last evening for a Wine Dinner featuring wines from the Willamette Valley Vineyard. Check my wine blog Wine4YourLife for a review later of the wine dinner later in the week. 

Busy does not even begin to describe the past five days of events--and they were extremely diverse events.

Nine holes of golf and a youth football game were interspersed in that schedule as well.

Wow!

And I my not be done yet! I am going to see about going to the Orioles game tonight because they can clinch the division with a win. They won't be the first team this season to clinch a playoff berth, but they would be the first to clinch a division this season. 

And the pace continues!

But, hey, it is what makes life full and interesting.

OK--I think I need a break to veggie out and watch a sappy movie or something. Oh, wait, the pool needs to be closed for the season.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Monday Musings - September 15, 2014

1. Magic numbers are the latest rage in Baltimore. What I find interesting is that a magic number is an elimination number viewed from the other direction. Today, the Orioles Magic Number is 3. They could clinch the MLB American Division East as early as tomorrow!

2. I stretched myself last evening and attended a musical at the Hippodrome Theater. The musical was Once--and while the music was good, the acoustics in the Hippodrome really impeded my enjoyment of the show.

3. Given the low temperatures, there is a very real prospect that the pool will be closed for the season this weekend. Evening temperatures are falling into the 40's--meaning the water is getting too cool to swim.

4. My propane company called me to tell me that they can no longer service my propane tanks used to heat the pool because their new trucks do not have hoses long enough. Really? What gives with that? I wish there was natural gas in my area.

5. Golf can be addicting if not monitored. Now I have practice balls and are whacking them and losing them in my yard. 

6. It was an interesting football weekend. I'm just happy my team played on Thursday and I could watch the Red Zone Channel to stay up on all of the games.

7. Found this in history: On this day in 1978, boxer Muhammad Ali defeats Leon Spinks at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans to win the world heavyweight boxing title for the third time in his career, the first fighter ever to do so. 

8. September 14, 1814--the morning that Francis Scott Key was aboard a British ship in Baltimore Harbor seeing the American Flag flying after a night of heavy bombardment against Fort McHenry. He penned the Star Spangled Banner. Happy 200th to our National Anthem.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Disappointing Trip to a Golf Store

I made my first ever trip to a golf store yesterday after playing an afternoon round of golf.

Blue Angels over Baltimore

The golf was great--since there was rain and it was the afternoon, we had the course to ourselves. It was truly awesome. If only my game was nearly as awesome. 

During our golf outing, we were treated to a performance by the Blue Angels. I am very happy that they are on our side! The roar of the jets brought back very fond memories.

The truth is--I am not much of a golfer. Not much at all. I am still learning the game which is far more complex than I ever imagined it to be.

Even so, I was really disappointed in golf store. Frankly, I felt very discriminated against. 

More blue Angels

Yes, I really wrote that!

I am left handed and apparently, left handed people do not golf. I was looking at racks and racks of really expensive clubs--just because I was amazed at the prices, and then I noticed that there was not a single left handed club in the displays. In fact, I had to ask where the left handed clubs were displayed and was informed that they were in the corner along the wall. There was not nearly the selection that right handed people had. There were row after rows of clubs of all kinds and prices for right handed people. There were fewer than 15 different and much lesser clubs for lefties.

My question was, Why aren't the left handed clubs integrated into the displays with the right handed clubs? If I want to check out a really nice club by a well known maker, why do I have to go elsewhere in the store--which, by the way was as far from the fitting area as possible. And I also noticed that the areas used for swinging and fitting clubs were set for right handed people and did not appear easily configurable for lefties, like me.

Then I went looking for a glove--same story. Three aisles of gloves for right handed people. A small area of about 12 gloves for lefties.

What gives? 

The situation is just wrong!

The store was Golf Galaxy and from what I saw it was less of a galaxy and more of a sand box. 

Do golfers really that discriminate against lefties? Thank goodness that racquetball is a hand agnostic sport.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

A Fan Says Good-bye

Beautiful Friday Evening Orioles Game
September 12, 2014

Last evening while I was attending the Orioles game against the team that shall remain nameless from up north, I had the opportunity to watch and appreciate the career of a great baseball player participating in his final regular season series in Baltimore.

Derek Jeter at the Plate during an
Orioles Game
September 12, 2014

I have never liked it when Derek Jeter came to the plate during his career which began much the same time I arrived in Baltimore and became an Orioles fan. I have watched him play and cringed when he stood at the plate during a critical game situation. Despite the fact that he played for "the other guys," I cannot deny he has had a great career and been a classy, complete competitor who has avoided the scandals and drug allegations which have felled so many of his contemporaries. 

Derek Jeter was a class act among too many other baseball players who succumbed to the lure of performance enhancing drugs which will forever tarnish their participation in the sport and the records they possesses. Coincidentally, it was on a night when Orioles fans were reeling from a suspension announcement for one of our own whose career will also likely be similarly tarnished.

By the way--just saying, but I will always remember the final time I saw Jeter play that his team was swept in a by the Orioles in a doubleheader for the first time since September 24, 1984! Yes, it has been 30 years since the the Orioles swept a doubleheader from the team from up north. 

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Football Season Gets Personal

Baltimore from M&T Bank Stadium

The young NFL season entered its second week last night with the Ravens hosting their arch rivals, the Steelers, at M&T Bank Stadium near the heart of Baltimore.

I was there. 

The weather, although thunderstorms were predicted, was warm and very pleasant. It was a huge contrast to the game I attended last Thanksgiving where temperatures hovered just above freezing. Football is much more enjoyable in summer-like conditions.

I was impressed by the view from the stadium looking out across the sea of parked cars in the parking lot. Baltimore is a beautiful city and even more so at night.

Ravens-Steelers, September 11, 2014

But, the main event was in the stadium--the game. The fans, the food, the drinks, and the sport against the backdrop of the media circus revolving around the League's handling of the Ray Rice affair.

The game went on--and the Ravens overcame a stunning loss on Sunday against the Bengals to win handily 26-6. Almost everyone I talked to before the game was convinced that it would be a blow out--we just didn't know which team would be the winner given all of the distractions. 

The Stadium from the Parking Lot while Tailgating

My own personal observation found the Ravens fans much more subdued than the game I attended last year. The vile comments aimed at Steeler's fans, and Jeremy who accompanied me in his Steelers jersey, were far fewer than last Thanksgiving. I noted the mood during the tailgating preceding the game and it continued into the stadium for the game. It made attending the game much more enjoyable.

And the Ravens are in the win column! 

Tonight? Baseball of course as the team which shall remain nameless from the north comes to Baltimore for a doubleheader.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Sleeping with the Windows Open

Looking for the silver lining in the autumnal weather which has decided upon us, I have found one. It is cool and dry enough to sleep with the windows open and the air conditioning off.

I am sleeping great!

No residual fan noise or cold air conditioned breeze blowing on me as I try to sleep. 

The sound of the evening critters helps me sleep.

Last evening I was enjoying the sound of the cicadas in the trees, I know they will soon be gone as the trees lose their leaves and the autumn deepens into the Halloween season. But for now, I enjoy their songs enjoying the still warm evenings before the cold descends.

I do enjoy this part of the season--fully loaded up on allergy medicine and enjoying the cool evenings and the sounds of the critters as summer begins transitioning into autumn.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD