Fear the Crab

Played softball on Friday. It was a mostly-informal tournament between some of the UH campuses and the Aloha United Way. 3-innings, slow pitch, 20-minute games or 10-run mercy rule. Your own teammate pitches to you. I played on the “Systems” team which included administrative, professional, and technical staff. Schedule of events were as follows:

* First game against the Aloha United Way team. We won that game thanks to the 10-run mercy rule.

* After about twenty minutes of rest, played against UH Manoa B (there were two Manoa teams). We lost that one because of the 20 minute rule and couldn’t score enough runs in time. That put us in the loser’s bracket.

* In loser’s bracket, an hour later, we played AUW again. Also again, we won by mercy rule.

* Another long wait until our next game against UH West Oahu. Won game after 20-minute rule.

* Not too much of a wait this time, and our opponent became Windward Community College. Won game by mercy rule.

* Suddenly we had to play another game, this time against the team that beat us, UH Manoa B. This time we won by 20-minute time out.

* Now, thanks to winning, we were in the championship and had to face unbeaten Kapiolani Community College. Another consecutive game without rest, and this time there would be no mercy rule nor a 20-minute game. It’s the championship and we would have to grind it out until three innings. I don’t know how long the game was, but we ended up winning with a final score of 21-3.

* Because we were from the loser’s bracket, in order to be considered the champion we had to play KCC again. Another consecutive game, our fourth in a row, and like before there would be no mercy and no time, just straight 3 innings. By this point, we were exhausted, and our batting slowed considerably. However, thanks to some great defense we managed to pull off the win by a score of 7-4.

Actually, defense was the basic key towards our success, but that knowledge came after a series of harsh lessons. After the first game, we got a bit complacent and any time someone got a hit, they’d jog around the field. That came back to harm us because we didn’t score as often as we could have, and learned a painful lesson about the 20-minute rule. When the other team scored ahead of us, we ran out of time to catch up and ended with a loss.

Later, as I was scouting the other teams, I noticed that some teams would field an extra infielder or outfielder. We only had the 4 basic infielders and 4 outfielders, plus 1 catcher. I brought this up to our “manager” (who was basically one of the VPs who volunteered), and he found out from the officials that we could field up to 10 players, so it was legal.

Finally that brings me to defense. We played in a baseball stadium, with the fence 325 feet from home. However, the bases were set at softball field dimensions of 60 feet. This meant that if a ball was hit past the outfielders, the batter would be rounding third by the time the ball was reached. Our players understood that it was better to keep any hits in front, even if it meant a single or double. This allowed us to keep the other team from scoring big runs.

Still, we had some skilled players. Most of us had previous experience in baseball or softball, so it wasn’t difficult to communicate effectively during play. It’s a lot easier when all you have to do is shout “Two!” to a shortstop and he knows that he should throw to second base.

This is why I say defense was key. Sure, our batters could knock some home runs (see rule about keeping ball in front; other team didn’t do that), and we started running hard to get extra bases, but it was our defense that enabled us to win by mercy rule or keep the other team from scoring. Our team had multiple double-plays (the only other team to turn a double play had just one), and we were the only team to tag someone out at home.

So we won the championship and was rewarded with UH football and volleyball tickets. I scored me some volleyball tickets for November, so I plan to attend as I have never been to one.

Last night the University of Hawaii Foundation called me, at 2045 as I was lying in bed. Normally I don’t expect calls from organizations at that hour, especially on a Sunday evening, but I didn’t feel intruded upon nor was I offended once I learned the nature of the call. After listening to the introductory spiel and want for information (I told them to look me up in the directory, but I don’t think the girl caught the hint that I was now staff), the UHF hit me up for $500.00.

Ew. No. Uh-uh. $500.00 is a big hit on my paycheck after all the taxes and other deductions, plus expenses coming up for household maintenance and it’s right before the big holiday season. I politely explained that I do not have $500 to spare, to which the girl responded with a request for $100.

Another no, since I was already put off by the five bennies. At this point I was starting to lose patience, so I asked if there was an online donation form or somesuch where I could at least consider an amount that I’ve determined myself. The girl told me that they can send me a donation card, but they’ll need a “minimum amount” to write on the card, and if I wanted to donate more then I could always donate more.

Of course, had they offered me that at the very beginning, when I was a lot more patient and pleasant and all-around in a good mood, I might have told them to send the card and mark it for something like $25.00. Trying to get people with a high amount from the get-go seems to be a surefire way to set someone on the wrong track.

On Saturday I went to softball practice. The women’s softball coach was gracious enough to let us borrow some bats and softballs. Only 4 other people showed up, though, so we just had batting practice. This lasted for a good hour, and right from the start I could tell just how out of shape I was (and still am). I also broke a couple of dime-sized blisters on my left hand, thanks to not wearing batting gloves and swinging a leather-wrapped bat with rapid frequency.

I’m going to use my bicycle gloves for Tuesday’s practice and Friday’s game. It’s not the same, but it’ll do for now. If I ever get into a regular league, then I will invest in new equipment.

I did manage to hit one over the fence, though, so that was a minor moment. Of course, the softball stadium fence is 200 feet away, so that’s not saying much.

As I understand it, a fair number of people in the US know that they are entitled to a free credit report every 12 months from the “big three” credit bureaus. It seems, however, that one of the three bureau reports is not quite so free. A quick, rudimentary google check of “experian” and “ripoff” will net you a truckload of blog posts, articles, and general complaints about what I call dirty practices by Experian.

Here’s how it works: In order to get your annual credit report, you go to annualcreditreport.com, enter your information, and are given the chance to choose from the three credit bureaus (TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian). You can select 1, 2, or all three bureaus and request a credit report from them.

When I got to the Experian website in early August, I entered the requested information and got my free credit score. What I failed to realize was that I had actually signed up for a “free 30-day trial membership” to Experian’s credit monitoring service. And wouldn’t you know it, early September I find a strange charge on my credit card. I didn’t cancel my 30-day free trial, so I now had to pay. Turns out that part of the information you are asked to provide is your credit card number. SO STUPID of me to provide it.

Basically, the charge is justified because I was a fucking idiot for not reading carefully. I was so caught up in getting my annual report that I failed to consider what was being asked of me. What I can do now is suck it up like a man, cancel my so-called membership, and closely monitor my statements to ensure that my membership is actually canceled.

TransUnion and Equifax don’t do this to you, nor do they ask you for a credit card number.

It seems like there are other things associated with Experian, such as that FreeCreditReport.com stuff we hear and see on media. If you go to freecreditreport.com (and not the other URL I provided above), you are actually signing up for “triple advantage” membership.

Basically, it boils down to this: If a company offers you a “free” service, but requests your credit card number, DON’T give it. Read carefully! Don’t be an idiot like me.

The boutique called Maile and told her that they got her dress. So she’s rather excited, to say the least. The dress ended up being a bit cheaper than Maile anticipated, though it still punches the wallet at $1,500.00.

Speaking of punching the wallet, the quote from the florist was $8,000.00 for everything. Bridal bouquets, boutonnieres, corsages for the mothers and grandmothers, archway for the ceremony decorated with flowers, stanchions, drapery, cake decorations, lei for the emcee, and centerpieces for 20 tables. Now, $8k is a lot of money, and much of that is for the archway (which we’re renting for $1,200) and the centerpieces (which we’re buying for $3,000).

We’re going to see if we can knock that number down to a respectable $3,000.00. For starters, the groom and groomsmen don’t need flowers, the cake doesn’t really need decorating, and the mothers can get by without corsages. We can also provide our own materials such as the vases for the centerpieces and linens for drapery, and get leis from elsewhere.

We will also see what the florist can do given our budget. The florist’s vision has little to no green, meaning there wouldn’t be any stems anywhere, and yet the size of the arrangements means more flowers. The types of flowers are more towards the expensive end, too. So we’ll see what we can do.

Today I joined Maile on her diet. Now I am a willing participant in the Medifast plan, since I could stand to lose some weight. I figure, since we both managed to kick the smoking habit, the two of us can maintain this diet without cheating.