After my spa adventure I was off to Queen's Creek to see Jay, Christy and Little Girl Kate. The last time I saw Kate she was Baby Kate. I'm not familiar with child growth spurts and when talking and stuff happens. I've been clueless of that for, forever. Children scare me. I feel they are radioactively allergic. If I knew why I'd try to explain it. There were lots of children around growing up since the Natina's tend to reproduce by spores annually.

Jay gave me directions on how to get to San Tan Saloon. This is to say he handed the phone to Christy. Christy's navigation skills were perfect. The only thing she left out were the sights I would see. Cow asses, landfill and 62,000 signs for houses, real estate agents, subdivisions and the like. I'm not exaggerating. Every 15-20 feet there was another sign. The area I was driving through was a suburb of a suburb. Urban sprawl disgusts me, but in Phoenix it is especially putrid. Everything is built horizontal. There are no multi-story buildings or very few apartment complexes. High-end condos are the norm in most of the area.

In this area, however, there was a dearth of same size and structure dwellings being built. And all with the requisite adobe and earth tone colors. It's something I often rail against, the cliche'ing of our culture. From personalities to food to entertainment. Then again, I'm an asshole because when people go to the other extreme and present a faux personality or superfluous affectation I am equally outraged. Outraged I tells you.

San Tan was what looked liked a country and biker hangout. By biker hang out I mean the weekend executive and management crowd. If that throttles your groin, more horsepower to you. Out back they have saddle dealies where kids could sit and eat at a counter. This was cool. There was a place in the Mt Shasta Mall that had a similar set-up. But it was a dungeony grease pit that never seemed to have customers. It was a few shops down from the place where you got frozen bananas or the chocolate dipped ice cream bars with nuts. I was sans nuts, of course.

The Saloon was awkward. It seemed nobody wanted to take our order and Jay was ready for his second beer. Let me correct a misconception from Part II - I specifically stated that getting drunk via beer is so pedestrian and with such low brow beer to boot. Tonight is kind of special, let's not make it a crap beer with a fake Bavarian sounding name. Not that drinking beer is pedestrian. Jay happens to be an authority on the subject and later agreed if the plan is to get drunk there are more efficient ways to do so.

Anyway.

Little Girl Kate was gregarious after being bashful. But she did seem to enjoy the old-tymey stuffed Tigger I gave her. She was giving Christy her workout by running around and climbing on things and carrying Tigger by the tail. Jay and I talked shop over food. Which I was jealous of Little Girl Kate's corn dog. But we both had lemonade so that made things a little more digestible.

Jay is on the build side of an Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system while I am the implementation side. When it came to discussing my situation Christy took the opportunity to get Katie home and finish some yard work. Yard work that Jay started but she was going to have to finish. I get way too animated about my job and the politics surrounding it. People tend to get frustrated with me. I keep repeating myself. Mostly because I just don't get why politics and sluggish behavior is the norm. Especially with health care.

Jay listened while I bitched and moaned about cubicle society and he offered some relativity. We headed back to their house a few minutes later. A windy little enclave of houses. Jay and Christy have been there for a while. There was a gas station with mini mart just a few blocks away. So at least there was never an out when it came to gas or junk food. This is always good.

We headed to the back yard where Kate commenced calling me 'Zachy-Poo' and I volleyed 'Katie-Poo' for the next hour. Christy was clearing pebbles from the corner where they had planted a tree. Kate was throwing and shoveling dirt in the same vain. Jay and I talked baseball and the like for awhile as Kate decided to risk teeth and limbs on her swing set thingy. Christy went inside to watch the red carpet before the Academy Awards.

When it started to get dark, and Kate was at her next to highest volume, we wandered inside. Jay showed me his laboratory and he explained the concept of being both MAC and PC literate. Makes sense. Like being able to switch hit in baseball or splitting aces in Blackjack.

Once the Academy Awards started the broadcast became boring like a tunnel to nowhere. So. I launched into the tale of all tales. I listened less than I spoke; then again, I was telling the story. What I hate is having to gloss over some of the important details and really deliver how this evolved from something that was not expected to the best thing that has ever happened to me. It's hard to tell people in the same breath that my heart was broken in the first 20 minutes and that for the first time in my life I had fallen in love.

Jay and Christy were both really supportive of how big of an idiot I have been. This was nice. Family usually props up pathetic and they did just that. They both had view points that made sense and friends had similar experiences in that area. It all seems to come back to the same point, though; there's nothing I can really do. I can only think of how stupid I was and how stupidly I handled things. How contradictory that 48 hours before that night and 48 hours after that night were.

I'll drag that week around for the rest of my life and I'll challenge people to convince me otherwise that I am done. Finished. I blew my opportunity and short of a drastic move that could ruin a life or two I have to sit and wait. And scurry around to find those scraps of hope that keep me insane.

After the discussion I lingered for a bit and then I eventually decided that my hotel room was not being used properly. Why have a room you're not in? Jay pointed to way out of the subdivision. I made it out. Then missed the turn Christy had me take on the way there. It was night and the two lane road didn't have lights. So, I ended up having to drive an extra 12 miles to catch the freeway rather than the easy route. I probably could have flipped around and took the road less than not traveled. But I was in thought mode and it was dangerous to get lost when I think.

When I got back tot he hotel I moved things around and took a shower. I used the face scrub stuff and then washed my face again. I paced for a bit and then I started thinking that I should go running. It was dark and I don't have any reflective gear. The 'gym' at the hotel consisted of a treadmill (out of order), Stairmaster and one of those stretched out bike things. It closed at 11:00 and it was well after 10:00. I resigned to run in the morning and did some basic stretching to try and relax. Didn't work. I was up until 2:30 or later. Eventually I rolled into a locked position and fell asleep.

Monday morning I got up, showered and headed toward the A's Spring Training Facility. I wandered around for a bit and the team broke just before noon. I drove back toward the hotel and stopped at COSTCO to grab water and Vitamin Water. I changed at the hotel and adjusted the knee strap thing in order to go jogging. It wasn't right. I had stopped running for a week on Dr's orders. My right knee was bothering me and I was supposed to Rest, Ice, use Compression and something that begins with 'E'. R-I-C-E. Acronyms are big in health care.

The wind was picking up and with the knee strap and my gait all over the place it just wasn't happening. After a mile or so I started loping instead of running. I tried to concentrate on my feet hitting the ground in rhythm and consistently. It wasn't working. I tried to slow but that seemed to make things worse. The graham cracker marshmallow contraption was crumbling.

I pushed for another mile or so and stopped at a gas station. I bought a 10 pound bag of ice and spent the rest of the day hobbling, numbing and reading. That night I tried to put a knee sleeve on. After about an hour my calf began to swell and bruising was visible.

This was not good.

Tuesday my limp was exaggerated and severe. It hurt. Not, "owie, there's feeling there that normally isn't there and it's not good." It was groin crunchingly painful. I had tried Aleeve, but generally that stuff doesn't work. Both my brother and I hate pain killers and similar pharmaceuticals. Though my friends always seemed to like borrowing my Vicodin.

I ended up at the Spring Training facility again that afternoon. There was an intersquad game. Usually they last only a few innings and generally they are lax and the guys seem to have more fun than anything. Rene Lacheman was calling balls and strikes and introducing players as they came to the plate. He's relatively funny and pointed out some of the obvious issues that the traditional media doesn't print.

"Now batting, the MVP of the American League Championship Series - if anyone else on the damn team would have hit, Milton Bradley".

"Now coming to the plate the Venezuelan wonder, the only utility player who seems to play in a 150 games a year, Marco
Scutaro."

"Striding to the plate is a four year veteran of the A's who has appeared in fewer games than I have and has a lifetime batting average of .250; he's 1-for-4."

I drove to the Muni where the A's play their ganes against other teams and I bought tickets for Friday and Saturday's games. Jay, Christy and Little Girl Kate are coming to the game Saturday. Christy mentioned that I should get standing room only tickets since they usually end up on the grass, anyway. One of the changes to the ticket policy is that children over two must have a ticket. I asked, "Do you card the kids?" I also ventured to the Team Shop and bought a straw A's hat. I call it the 'Scout Hat'. It's a little better than having sunburns with the raccoon eyes from sunglasses.

That night I returned to the RICE and answered phone calls and email and had another long talk with a friend. It gets difficult over time having friends. I always worry about disappointing people and not being able to hold up my end of a friendship. People let me down on occasion and I try to not let that be a cop out for me to use whenever it's handy. I tend to think that everyone plays on the level and above board. The deeper I venture into my life I find that I am really naive or unable to place myself in another person's context. As much as I rail against cliché, we are all different to a certain degree. It's when you surround yourself with people who are the same is when you become a cliché yourself.

Next time - why Wednesday and Thursday were a little bit better.

. . . Continue to Part V . . .