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| Read this on RotoWorld:
Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski referred to second baseman Placido Polanco in the past-tense during a press conference on Thursday. "No matter what happens, Placido Polanco has been a wonderful player and person," Dombrowski said of Polanco, seemingly giving strong indication that the impending free agent won't be brought back.
No, no, no.
That's so not past tense. That's totally present perfect. | | |
| So, I was going to write something, but then I forgot what I was going to write.
Oh well, never mind.
Oh, now I remember. I was going to say: checking my email, I realized that the school year at UCLA has started because I am starting to get those "Welcome" emails from student organizations. Even though it has been several years since graduation, I am still on multiple mailing lists. That says a few things:
1) Unlike some people, I use the same email address for a long time. 2) Some student organizations do a good job holding on to email addresses. 3) Or rather, they've been using the same list without really thinking about it.)
I still get weekly newsletters from ESUC (Engineering Society of UCLA). Some events are just there every year. You know, Welcome Day, general meetings, E-week events, info-sessions, etc. And of course, there are new ones too. But I imagine myself being bored if I am an officer for a long time doing the same thing year after year. And wow, after all these years, the membership fee is still $5. Inflation? What's that?
I am still on the Linux Users Group mailing list for some reason, even though I've never really looked at the emails after my operating systems class. Why am I still on it anyway?
I am still on the LCC mailing list. I rarely say anything on there nowadays, but it's convenient for me if I ever need to find information for the website. I've built some back-end tools so they can just update things without extended knowledge of how websites work, but every now and then I still help update things that I didn't build tools for. It's convenient for me to just be able to grab information I need that came up in discussions for the website.
And I am still on the TAU (Taiwanese American Union) mailing list. Actually, I didn't even participate in their events when I was a student. I pretty much only show up if there's Taiwanese puppets being performed. And that happens, like, once every few years.
And since I have some friends that are still students, I get some invitations for student groups when they invite all without thinking who they are inviting. Many times a year I get invited to rush certain frats. I think they would probably have turned me away if I actually showed up. (But I was invited!!) If I protest, maybe they'll give me a coupon or something.
And yes, school year is starting. | | |
| My co-worker was watching Beyonce's "Single Ladies" video. I walked over and grabbed the mouse. Then I clicked on pause.
But don't worry. I assured him that I would let him finish. Then I proceed to tell him that it was the greatest video of all time. OF ALL TIME!
I felt great. | | |
| Over the weekend I watched the Little League World Series that took place in Williamsport. The two teams that are going for the title are Chula Vista (California) and Taiwan. At first, the US team did not have hits, which is a little abnormal because they've been hitting really well the whole tournament. Taiwan wasn't hitting well, either, and had quite a few strike-outs. And then, Taiwan used a pinch hitter and he got on base. The next hitter, team captain Wen-Hua Sung hit a home run bringing it to 2-0. And then the next hitter, starting pitcher Chin Ou, hit a solo home run right after. The back-to-back home runs brought Taiwan a 3-0 lead. However, this did not last long. The US team started hitting, and the Taiwanese team, which had very few errors throughout the tournament, had a bunch of errors (some of which officially ruled hits). It was the pressure. Besides the errors, there were also many wild pitches and passed balls. At the end, the US team won the game 6-3 and got the title five years in a row.
Was I surprised that the US team won? No. The US team had won the title the last four years in a row. Taiwan got an early lead, but by the way they are striking out before that, they weren't hitting well overall. Also, they knew the US team hit fastballs well, so they were using other pitches more (sliders, curve balls, etc.). This, combined with pressure (part of which the US team's home court adventage), produced quite a few pitches that landed in the dirt. Taiwan had an early lead but if you look carefully at the game, you know it was a really shaky lead.
Towards the end, some of the Taiwanese players cried. This kind of stuff actually happens all the time in little league. You'll see that some players would make a mistake. Sometimes they are still crying the next inning out there on the field, but once the game is over and the parents and coaches bring out candies and hugs, their smiles are back. Ah, kids will be kids.
But they still did great. Silver was still really good. They beat all their opponents in Asia, then a bunch of regional champions from other areas, and finally entered the World Series. That was not an easy thing to do. They are going to remember this for the rest of their lives. They were a little bummed that they were not able to see the New York Yankees' Chien-Ming Wang, who is a national hero now, pretty much, but Wang actually made some change of plans to gave them a surprise visit. So what if they lost the championship game? I am sure that's all out of the window when they got a surprise visit from their hero. Wang praised the kids for a job well-done, handed each of them an autographed baseball, and had a meal with the players and coaches. I think that's what the kids are going to remember for the rest of their lives.
Baseball is beautiful. | | |
| You ever seen people cleaning escalators? It's actually kinda interesting. I saw people cleaning escalators and I think the basic rule is, if you are cleaning moving parts, stay at the same spot. If you are cleaning non-moving parts, you'll need to move. Now let me elaborate.
If you are cleaning the steps, since the steps move, you should just stand at the top or bottom of the escalator, and keep your mop at the same place. As the steps go by, your mop would be cleaning every single step without you moving.
If you are cleaning the side walls, since the side walls don't move, you should just stand on a step on the escalator. Then you have your washcloth against the side wall while the escalator takes you up or down. You are standing on the same step, but you are moving because the escalator is moving you. And that will take you to wipe the whole wall.
Now you know how to clean escalators provided that you understood the confusing way I explain things. | | |
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