Not moving on... ADDING on

I remember a time long long ago when I started watching sports as a youngin in Colorado. John Elway was a third year quarterback leading his Broncos to their second Superbowl (his first of five). Alex English and Michael Adams were my favorite NBA players on a fun Doug Moe coached Denver Nuggets. And the Colorado Rockies? Well, let's just say that I'm so old that, as a kid, there was no MLB team in Colorado back then.

Three years later, my family moved to Washington. Although I was in Seahawk/Supersonic territory, there was no way I was going to root against my Denver teams. The Broncos were in the same AFC West division as the Hawks. And I was a die-hard Elway fan. But after he won his two late 90s Superbowls & retired, I felt it was time to move on and start cheering for my local, newly aligned NFC West Seattle Seahawks. It was a great time too... explosive players and a new commitment to winning. You knew fans were going to be in good hands with Matt Hasselbeck as their new QB and Shaun Alexander running the ball.

The Supersonics were a much easier team to transition to. I went to my first NBA game in 1992 and quickly fell in love with the Glove and the Reign Man. Easy fa breezy. Gawd how I miss that team... Seattle professional basketball under George Karl? YES!  The change of ownership and moving? Oklahoma Thunder? No thanks.

Baseball wise, I had no problem joining in on the Ken Griffey Mariner fun. The Kid brought excitement to baseball despite being part of a losing team in the early 90s. But Lou Pinella came along and Seattle became a hella fun baseball city. Griffey, Buhner, A-Rod, Randy Johnson, Ichiro... the list of fan favorites go on and on... Can't wait for the time when they're in the playoffs again...

So speaking of World Series, I don't think I could have come to SF at a better time. It's nice that the Giants aren't in the same league as the Mariners. I CAN be a fan without a single worry. Call me a traitor once I start rooting on the Oakland A's over my M's (that's not gonna happen).

I think one of my work besties properly prepped me for this new found fandom the past year and a half. She's the HUGEST Giants fan who's always singing their praises and it all came together for me when I went to my first game in early September. The magic in that stadium was amazing. Been following them ever since and so thrilled to have this enthusiastic feeling about a baseball team since... wait. Have the Mariners not been back to the playoffs since 2001? My oh my.

Even though I've only been a fan for two months, I think I'll look back at this year as the start of my love for this team. Like almost every other person in the Bay Area, I can proudly say... Go Giants!

Let's Wait Awhile

Because of my "situation", I've delayed plans to meet up with various folks in the SF area. And, by "situation", I'm referring to this whole accident/can't eat solid food thing I'm going through. To be honest, I'm a little tired of myself bringing up this subject. Seriously, it's like, alright Rodney, we get it already.  Woe is you. Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah...

Anyway, yeah, there are many people I can't wait to meet either for the very first time or that I haven't seen in so long. There's G's family in Alameda and my family in San Jose & Monterey. I have a close friend's niece to meet and someone I "met" via their blog a few years ago. I seriously feel lame canceling October plans to get together with all these people but I truly believe the best conversations go hand & hand with delicious food. And, because of that, we will wait to get our meeting up on.

Speaking of eating, I think the best meals I've had are:
     - Mashed potatoes & gravy
     - Tapioca pudding
     - Chocolate shakes
     - Chocolate ice cream
     - French onion soup
     - Smoothies
Yes, folks, life has been mmmm mmmm good.

And I raaaaan

This past weekend, G's cousin ran the Nike Women's Full Marathon in San Francisco, better known as, "Hell yah, give me my Tiffany necklace at the end of the race!" I guess this year the jewelry  was handed out by men in classy tuxes. In previous years, I guess firefighters gave the prizes -  motivating point number two for the ladies.

This was full marathon number mutha effin SIX for the cousin. I know. I'm dreaming of running my first while she's just gettin them done left and right. I wanna run my first full next year. I don't even care how long it takes, I just wanna do it.

But why Rodney? Why? Well, internal voice in my head, I think it just sounds so cool. Doesn't it? "What did you do this weekend? Watched the game? Oh me? I ran a 26-mile marathon..." Anything sounds better than, "I was on my kick scooter and had this accident where..."

I guess other things I could write about is how good for my health running will be, how I could lose a few pounds, blah blah blah blah blah blah... But let's be honest. I'm always gonna go back and forth between fatty mcfatty and not-so fatty mcfatty.  It's the sense of accomplishment that I'm really going for.

Side note... I'm on BART right now after quickly walking 25 minutes from the office. Soooo sweaty. Finally got a seat and I know when I get up, my wetness will be on the chair. Wish there was a  spray bottle and towel I could use to wipe up. Sigh.

Where it all happened

It's been almost two weeks since I've been in the city but here we are. Waiting for BART. On the walk from the apartment, I was a bit hesitant. What would happen when I was back at the spot where it all happened that Monday night? I figured I'd be okay. But as I walked closer to that intersection, I could feel myself tightening up. There it was. The curb. Where my scooter blindly hit and I was thrown off suddenly and I smacked my mouth into the ground. The wires on my teeth are a daily reminder of what happened.

I swear I thought I'd be fine. But I was suddenly weighed down by emotion. I wasn't ready to face all the suffering  from that fall. My eyes started to water up and I couldn't believe I was crying in public.  I could tell some passerbyers  wanted to comfort me but I bolted off before...

Well, none of that actually happened but I often like to be overly dramatic in this head of mine. Truth is, I'm meeting the wife downtown after working from home today. I actually thought it would be cool to see  traces of blood on the sidewalk from that nasty spill of mine but no such luck. Oh well... can't wait to be back in SF again.

And of course it had to happen to me...

Monday evening, on the way home from work, I was blogging it up on my phone about how my first "Casual Carpool" experience went. I had written about how I traveled only two stops from my BART station. I described saving $3.25 by getting off at Lafayette and then hopping into a stranger's car (just like mom & dad always taught). But it's a normal thing around here. Single occupancy drivers pickup passengers to have three total to use the carpool lane AND save on the tolls. Passengers get a "free" ride into the city - well, for me, only $1.75 to get to Lafayette. I had written about my "interesting" first experience. Jamie was with me in the front - we got in a niiice BMW with a dog in the back seat (sweetest dog ever) laying out and putting his head on my lap. Good ol' Buster. 

But that blog never got posted. Instead, last night, I got out of the BART, started scooting home, was at a crosswalk, thought I could safely use the upward slope from street to sidewalk, but as I was avoiding different couples walking...

*BAM*

...everything went dark. I suddenly couldn't see a thing as I was continuing to hold on to the scooter handles then went face first into the concrete. No, not face first... two front teeth first. I laid there for only a quick moment then quickly got up and right away I knew something wasn't right. My teeth were loose and I couldn't close my mouth properly. The sweetest couple came along and tried helping. "Oh my gawd, you're bleeding very badly." I grabbed a shirt from my backpack and stared at them and kept saying, "Oh, man, this is bad. This is very bad." 

I did what I do and kept cracking jokes about the situation - about how it was my first time riding into work with the scooter, how my wife was in NYC, how I had no idea that would happen, how I was new to the area with no dentist, and so on & so on & so on.  They couldn't believe I was making light of the situation and they kinda came off feeling guilty for laughing. I had to explain that, yes, I already had an overbite and not to be alarmed about that. Then... Jamie, my hero, came along and she made sure I made it safely home. 

Once I got home, I immediately emailed my coworkers to let them know the situation then proceeded to try to find a dentist. It's been quite the journey since yesterday but here I am. At home. In pain now that the drugs are wearing off after being worked on by an oral surgeon. My two front teeth were pushed back up where they belong. Actually, they might be situated a little better. They used wires on the upper portions of my teeth to keep them all in place. Basically, the good teeth to the left & right are supporting my two fronts. And, now, I'm feeling that wire grating into my gums... and the insides of my mouth. Ow.

Anyway, I love that I have Facebook to share throughout the day what happened to me. It's good to have my supporting friends/family share kind words (and hella funny ones too) virtually while I'm so far from everyone. Hopefully, I can get a good night of sleep... and wake up bright & early feeling better and ready to get a lot of reporting done from home.