| Author | Message | ||
| R TERRY (64.12.96.235)
Rating: N/A |
What's the first thing they tell you in shop? Use the Right Tool! (What's the last thing they tell you? "Let me get that screwdriver out of your eye. Next time, you might try using the RIGHT TOOL.") That Craftsman socket and breaker bar cracked the lugnuts loose so easily, you would have thought they were only finger tight. Imagine my surprise. Naturally, I had brought all the tools in the world except the ones I needed. GRRRRR. With the right tools, they came "auff like buttah". Time was running out. I jacked up the bus, put a jack stand under the frame on each side of the axle and let the tire fall off. Forget the rear tire, I decided, we can drive it to the tire shop on just three tires and let him do the work. We tossed the flat tire into the pickup, drove over to Arche's just west of the freeway, drove back to the east end of old downtown to return the borrowed tools and pick up my camera, and back to Arche's to get our 40-dollar new tire. Arch was gone. It was 5:02 PM and he was nowhere to be found. Time had run out. Ryan said, "Hey, Dad, look at that! Let's go to the game." Across the street from Arche's was the Howard Johnson Field and they were getting ready to play baseball. As far as Quality Time goes, if you don't take your kids fishing, for Heaven's sake, take 'em to a baseball game. "Sure, why not!" I suppose it was the other way around; Ryan actually took ME to the ball game. I know very little about sports, and even less about baseball (and nothing at all about fishing). He patiently explained all the intricacies of the game as they occurred, keeping me up to speed on the plays, the strategy, and why someone was bunting instead of trying to hit a home run. I kept asking, Why'd they do that? What's with all that spitting? I loved that weird thing the ump did when the pitcher threw a strike. He became a robot, mechanically pivoted 90 degrees to his right, trust out his arm with his index finger rigidly pointing to someone who wasn't there, and bellowed like an moose. Oh, yeah, that was great! It was a two-team double-header, the Johnson City Cardinals against the Bristol White Sox. Ryan explained the minor league thing to me, the 7 innings instead of nine, how major league scouts go to these games, and stuff like that. What got me into the spirit of the game was the charcoal smoke drifting through the bleachers from all the hamburgers being grilled. It's impossible to just sit there under those conditions -- you've GOT to go down there and get a hamburger and a Coke. But here's a word of WARNING: Check the cheese before ordering a cheeseburger. These people put Nacho Cheeze Sauce on the bun! Eat at Your Own Risk! For the modest crowd of enthusiastic fans that night, they got their rip-roaring money's-worth! I can't imagine a more exciting evening of baseball without being at the World Series. Throughout the first game, it seemed obvious to me that the White Sox was the better team. The Cards were plagued with errors, poor hitting, and sometimes slow responses. They were striking out right and left, and that umpire thing... oh, yes, made my day! Bristol whipped them pretty good. A fine game of ball, I thought. Something miraculous must have happened between games, though. Maybe the Cardinals chowed down on some of those cheeseburgers. In the second game, it wasn't long before the Cards were up five to zip and Bristol was wondering what the heck went wrong. But it didn't last. By the end of the sixth inning, the score was tied five to five. Maybe that Nacho Cheeze Sauce had kicked in. At what would have been game end, the score remained five to five. The eighth and ninth innings came and went with the score permanently stuck on five to five. Bottom of the tenth inning, same score, but Johnson City has three runners on base, two men out. Here comes the pitch.... one moose call. Here's the next pitch... another moose call! Score still tied in third extra inning, bases loaded, the batter now with two strikes. Someone in the stands yells, "YOU CAN DO IT!" Here comes the pitch.... KA-BLAM!! A Grand Slam Home Run straight over center field and out of the park! I can't believe it!! Well, neither can Ryan. He says the bases were empty and the final score was six to five. (Hey! Write your own story, punk!) OK, so maybe I enjoyed the game more than he did. This much I know: Nacho Cheeze Sauce belongs on NACHOS! R TERRY | ||
| Adam P (172.164.225.100) Rating: N/A |
Wow, well worth the wait!!!! The minor leagues do play a better game of ball... I mean, there really playing hard!!! To me, the majors are just to over paid, and lazy.... So you got a really good intro to baseball. I too, am not much into sports... But the minor leagues make it fun to watch!!! Looks like I hit it right on the head with your lug wrench.... ask me how I know!!! It amazes me to see a 2200 pound, 60 year old utility tractor with lugs torqued to almost 800 lbs.... Five foot cheater pipe....and lots of PB blaster.... Well, as always,,, I'm looking forward to the next installment... (I'm sure everyone else is too!!!) Adam P | ||
| charles seaton (170.28.128.106) Rating: N/A |
OK, last installment I learned you brought a camera with you. Hooray!!! With Pix, someone will buy this!!! As an aside, sone firends of mine went to California a few years ago and instead of flying back, one of them bought an AC Transit bus and they drove it back. I still have that videotape. And one of by buddies still has the GM TDH 4523. | ||
| Ryan Terry (67.3.185.86)
Rating: N/A |
Hey Dad! GREAT story. It's like I'm actually In it! Oh...wait, I WAS! You know, I would write my own story, but it would be dwarfed compared to this. Good golly Miss Molly. Let's do another road trip. Right now!  I finished the suspension on the Camaro and I'm waiting for you on the interior. The F86 looks good, too. Bye! | ||
| R TERRY (205.188.208.39)
Rating: N/A |
Ryan, Let's put that B-29 together, then go get the bus in Oregon before somebody steals it. And thanks for taking me to the ballgame! You're the best! Dad PS - Do you still look like Harry Potter? |