Spring Training 2008

We secured tickets to three games this year, and with great timing.......Friday and Saturday games with Barry Zito and Matt Cain pitching in Scottsdale and a Sunday stint by Tim Lincecum in Surprise (AZ).

Barry looked good...probably not yet in the zone, but you see he's trying to get there...Matt was in the zone, and you really don't realize how big a guy he is 'till you see him live. On both days, my brother and I enjoyed the hot Arizona weather.....lemonades, hawaiian noodles, hot dogs....Giants fans don't really know how spoiled they are until they visit the other stadiums.....which is what we discovered in Surprise......not that much selection with food....but hey, parking is way easier there than it is in Scottsdale.

Tim was doing really good, as well. You just listen to the Rangers fans react to his pitches and you know he's pumping "....look at this kid.....how does he whip out 96 on that small frame?....." You just survey the crowd and it was easy to make the conclusion that the stadium was dominated by Giants fans.

This was a short getaway for me. I had a lot of work all the way to Thursday evening before I left and I dig back into it come Monday morning....and with that Sunday night flight, I needed all the caffeine I could take to get my day started.

But hey....I ain't complainin' :)

Package Tex

It's that time of the year in my workplace where you could get an opportunity to attend a conference...which this year happened to be in Texas. We stayed at the Gaylord-Texan...a resort hotel...or as we came to call it: the "Biodome". The whole place is under one roof. If you stand in the center atrium, just make a 360 degree turn and you'll get a glimpse of everything Texas...from the Alamo and Spanish churches to accents meant to remind you of the lone star state's cowboy past.

This year also happened to be the year I get to speak at one of the conference's sessions (last year's abstract was not selected) and I personally think I did alright. We met with a lot of vendors and I am still feeling the effects of being stuffed with caravans (well I gotta use a tex reference, right?) of food and drinks.

Still.....I can't really say I've been to Texas since we never really strayed that far from the "Biodome"...can I at least say I've been to DFW? :)