minus the bay bridge

so who doesn't know about the bay bridge closure? it has wrecked havoc on the roads and it's amazing how the bay area copes (or doesn't cope) with the closure of this bridge...the latest news is that the bridge will not be open in time for tomorrow's morning commute. and that's all caltrans is sayin'.

it took me 1.5 hours to get to work this morning. i am still at work and it's 7:42 p.m. because traffic is so bad out there right now...it makes no sense for me to get into my jeep and hit the road only to be at a standstill. i might as well get some work done in my office. yes, real work. done by me. and i'm even missing game 2 of the world series!

i did catch last night's game and heartily enjoyed the phillies knocking down the yankees. cliff lee was on fire. awesome pitching. however, on my last check on yahoo! sports, it looks like the yanks are leading 3-1, top of the 8th. c'mon, phillies!!!

halloween is this saturday and i'm still not sure what the plans are, though N. and R. will meet me and we'll definitely have drinks at Harvey's. after that...if we're still standing and sober...we'll see what trouble we may get into.

hey, ump! what are you lookin' at?

i watched the yanks crush the angels in last night's alcs game and have to say i was left scratching my head on a number of bad calls by the umpires on plays. for a great article addressing his own befuddlement of the game, go to Sport Illustrated's Tom Verducci column here. he's one of my favorite sportswriters and i think this column is packed with good stuff to think about (yes, i do think umpires need some refresher courses!! and no, i don't think we need more instant replay!!) and some general analysis on baseball.

life has been hectic. i wrapped midterms last week and am now buried under some hefty projects - all a combination of group and individual work. some of it is just material i have a hard time wrapping my head around and i haven't been motivated to put in some extra work...it's been a tough balance of juggling work, grad school, and a long-distance relationship.

there are nights A. and i Skype at around 2 AM my time and while i love talking with her, it doesn't leave me with much time for sleep and getting to work in the mornings wouldn't even be possible without some strong coffee. it has been hard for us at times to manage our schedules and talk with each other...Japan is sixteen hours ahead of me here in San Francisco. but when we do get time together, it's always very good. it's worth the late nights...

what a blowout

just wrapped watching the phillies v. dodgers game 3 on tbs and man, what a blowout it was! who would've expected the phillies to blank the dodgers, 11-0?? certainly not me. but it sure was fun to watch the phillies stomp 'em and to see the very impressive cliff lee with 10 strikeouts...as most of you know, i'm not a dodgers fan. and so i will continue to sheer for the philles in the ncls. as for acls activity, i don't care who wins..the yanks, the angels...whoever, whatever. i'm behind the phillies.

and when i'm not catching all this postseason play, i've been studying and just wrapped midterms. whew. i'm glad we're past the mid-semester mark and now i gotta plow through to the end. first up, i have a fairly difficult assignment for one of classes and it requires more group work...i'm hanging in there but i admit it's been hard at times to catch up and get work done. i have been stressed out more than usual...it's more than just juggling work and school, i know that my workplace has been hit bad financially and i am starting to feel like i might be up on the chopping block soon.

so i'm just trying to take things day by day...that's all any of us can do, right?

just got swept

goodbye, postseason. the angels just swept the red sox in the alds at fenway. AT FENWAY.

season's over. we just didn't get it done. see ya in 2010.

hanging in there

i'm watching game 3 of the alds match between the red sox and the angels - the sox are up 6-5 but it's top of the 9th and papelbon's on the mound, runners on 2nd and 3rd. they're walking torii hunter. i'm hanging in there despite really needing to take a pee break -- this is a nail biter.

NO. NO!! angels just scored due to vladimir guerrero's hit into centerfield, bringing in chone figgins and bobby abreu. torii hunter moves to 2nd.

papelbon's out, they're bringing okajima in.

Oki gets that last out. whew. ok. moving into bottom of the 9th...and my pee break.

6:37PM PDT / 9:37PM EDT tonight on TBS!

tonight, game 1 of the alds between the sox and angels.

lester v. lackey

game on. Go Sox!

the nlds continues as the dodgers go up against the cards -- i'm rooting for the cards so here's hoping they win tonight (as everyone knows i'm NOT a dodger fan).

and as i type this, the rockies are up 4-3 in the 6th against the phillies.

also, here's hoping TBS has got their shit together after last year's debacle of a broadcast.

small

well, the Yankees swept the Sox over the weekend and then we lost last night to the Blue Jays. plus, Beckett was scratched due to back spasms. all i can say is that as we head into post-season i hope our guys rest up, take care of themselves and prepare for what will be some tough baseball ahead. might have to start wearing my lucky Red Sox cap every day pretty soon...

A. misses San Francisco. she misses me too, but that's a given. (*-*)

she went shopping the other day and stumbled upon a small shop that sold "American goods" as she liked to term it. she sent me a photo of what she bought and commented on how small the sizes were in comparison to what they were in the United States. she bought the Skippy peanut butter because it reminded her of me (in that i love Skippy). cute, eh?

hang in there

whew. what a stinker - we lost game 1 but it looks like lester will be OK and maybe even make his next start. it sucks to lose and i have to say, the yankees played really well - but the important thing is jon lester looks like the dinger he got in the bottom of the 3rd won't derail him. so here's to getting well soon and taking care of that knee!

here's hoping game 2 is better and Dice-K continues to throw the heat since returning from DL.