Definition of *Old*

When I was in college I told my mom that you are officially *old* when there are no longer any Major League Baseball players younger than you are.  Carlton Fisk and Nolan Ryan were 45 and 46, respectively, when they retired in 1993.  But it was 46-year-old Charlie Hough whose retirement in 1994 finally signaled the end of my mom's youth.

After watching 44-year-old Tim Wakefield hand the Mariners their club record 15th straight loss this afternoon it dawned on me that I'm probably getting very close to *old* now myself.  I was actually a bit surprised to find out how close... according to a posting I found on the MLB Trade Rumors site, as of May, there were only 11 active players who are older than me:  Miguel Batista, Craig Counsell, Jason Giambi, Darren Oliver, Arthur Rhodes, Mariano Rivera, Takashi Saito, Matt Stairs, Jim Thome, Omar Vizquel, and the aforementioned Tim Wakefield.  Batista has since been released so I'm down to my final 10... and, judging by their stats, Counsell and Stairs will probably be the next to fall...

The Great HOT North

I got to take a last minute trip to Ontario this week.  I flew into Buffalo and got there with just enough time to get across the border and do a drive-by of Niagra Falls before sunset.  The falls are a very impressive sight but the town is an over-the-top tourist trap that reminded me of everything I loathe about Las Vegas.  One thing that surprised me was the direction of the falls—the high side is to the south. I guess I naturally thought it would flow from north-to-south not south-to-north, but it makes sense because the Great Lakes eventually outlet to the Atlantic Ocean.

I spent a few days working in a city about 90 minutes from Toronto.  It was hot but temperatures in Canada are reported in Celsius so I wasn't exactly sure how hot until I did the math.  I also heard the term "humidex" for the first time while I was there.  Apparently that is how hot it feels with the humidity; sort of the heat analog to "wind chill".  It reached a record 35°C (95°F) with a humidex of 47°C (114°F) the day I flew home...

On Wednesday night I drove into Toronto to see the Mariners play the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre (formerly Skydome).  The roof was closed during batting practice due to the heat but it opened before the game and that was a nice bonus to get to see.  The Mariners came into this game riding a 10 game losing streak so I was hoping to be their good luck charm... not so much.  Jason Vargas was wild and the Blue Jays had a 4 run lead by the second inning.  That, combined with our horrible offense, meant the game was pretty much over before it began.  I had a seat out in the first row of left field so I was in a prime spot to hear fans heckle Mike Carp in the outfield.  The best part about that was almost every heckle ended with "eh, Carp?"... gotta love Canada :)  Final score was 11-6, the M's lost their 11th straight, and I visited my 11th away ballpark.

What's in a Birthday?

Yesterday I joined the ranks of those who are 40 year old and, just like my grandma said, I don't feel any different than I did the day before.  My mom, my sister, and a few of my closest friends treated me to a surprise celebration on Saturday night at The Ram (which was also "born" 40 years ago).  And on Sunday, my mom treated my sister, my brother, and I to fine dining at Palisade in Seattle... I had king salmon, yum :)  And afterward I got a mint chocolate chip ice cream cone from Baskin Robbins :)

July 3rd.  What's in a birthday?  I've known for a while that my exact birthday happens to be the very day that The Doors lead singer Jim Morrison was found dead in Paris... "3 Julliet 1971" according to his death certificate. Just today I discovered that Julian Assange, the eccentric founder of Wikileaks, was born on the very same day as I.  The Find-A-Grave website lets you search for famous deceased people who were born or died on a particular day... looks like my birthday is more noteworthy for deaths.  The New York Times and Wikipedia have events listed for every day of the calendar year, too... Tom Cruise and I were born on the same day but he's 49 as of yesterday.  The most historically significant (and tragic) event that I remember happening on my birthday was the USS Vincennes shooting down a commercial plane from Iran.  July 3, 1863 was the end of the Battle of Gettysburg according to the The History Channel.

Without a doubt, the very coolest thing about my birthday is that it is the same as my great grandfather's.  Yesterday would have been his 109th birthday if he were still alive.  I think he was 72 in the picture below.