Sunday, June 28, 2009


Anonymous: ugh, terrible day
me: why
Anonymous: had a crush on a cute girl who works in the office in another division
i stalk her
and shes got an engagement ring on

Monday, June 22, 2009

Doug Glanville Wisdom for Monday Morning.

Since my retirement, I have searched for the next passion that could fill the void that a life playing baseball creates when you are no longer putting on those spikes. It is a daunting journey, and many players never find that closure or that next love. But they keep looking, even if other parts of their lives are crumbling behind them. Maybe that was part of the problem: searching. I found myself agreeing when I heard John Locke, the main character on “Lost,” say, “I found it just like you find anything else, I stopped looking.”

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Truth About Umpiring




AWESOME AWESOME piece by Doug Glanville, almost bought tears to my eyes. I want to marry him, only if I can't marry David Wright of course. If only every baseball player/coach of all ages and levels can be like him. (or David Wright)

Thursday, June 11, 2009

I Love commuting


I LOVE COMMUTING.


There are so many reasons why I LOVE spending FOUR hours a day on the move. For one, it provides me with time to read. It limits my hours of sleep to less than 7 per day. It gives me time to nap. It motivates me to wake up at 6am to start my day. It is why I curse myself for staying up too late cooking or taking cuts on the batting tee. During the summer, it gets me outside to enjoy the brief glimpses of sun light that I would otherwise miss out on. During the winter, it gets me out on the pitch black streets to admire the star filled skies. It is a fabulous ice breaker and conversation topic for me that usually go like this:

Co-worker / Stranger: So where do you live / where do you work Felix?
Me: Brooklyn / Tarrytown
Co-worker / Stranger: Wow, how long is your commute?
Me: 2 hours each way
Co-worker / Stranger: Oh Em Gee! Why don't you (blank)...? (In their head: Felix is an idiot)

I love the being able to cozy up to strangers on trains. I am stoked (literally) when someone tries to squeeze in the two inch space between the pole and where I sit when they obviously need space 50 times that size to fit. There’s no better way to meet New Yorkers than to snuggle so close to them that I can almost smell their BO, if I haven’t passed out from it already. I love standing in the subway car and getting beaten mercilessly by textbook filled book-bags carried by Asian kids half the size (pretty kinky I know). This ritual serves to toughen me up for football, for all the rough 2 hand touch tackles that I’ll encounter during the season. I also love the distinct smell of an empty subway car during morning rush hours. When I step in and sit in such a car, I know that the unforgettable smell will not only stay with me, but also with the disheveled and homeless man or woman sitting in the opposite corner of the car.
I love the surprise I get every time I step into a subway car. Living in a relatively temperate city like New York, it is heavenly to be able to experience the temperature extremes of different climates. Who needs Texas or Maine when you can experience the blissful chills of Antarctica or the idyllic heat of the Sahara right here in New York, in my very own subway car. Better yet, the inability to anticipate and predict the climate of one's subway car makes the commute so much more interesting. Invariably, I’m always dressed for the wrong subway climate, shivering numb during the summer and sweating bullets during the winter. Just remember, the climate changes between transfers too so the excitement never stops. Most of all, my favorite part of commuting is watching the train that I need to catch pull away from the station just as I am getting there. Why you might ask. Well, every time that happens, it’s guaranteed that I’ll miss my connecting Metro North train as well as the connecting Tarrytown shuttle bus. Consequently, I’ll be at least 40 minutes later than usual, which means I get to stay at work 40 minutes less. It’s a win win situation.
I LOVE COMMUTING. If only I get to commute on a boat to work every day as well, then the world would be perfect.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Kids

So I got to enjoy the day off work today since I LOVE taking random days off in the middle of the work week (it's a joke). I decided to spend part of the day at Prospect Park doing some reading and writing (I am actually illiterate but I pretend I can read and write, in English that is). Apparently, I picked the same day to go to the park as the 30 teachers who planned their class trips. Consequently, I wound up sitting in the park trying to read with literally a 1000 kids running around yelling and screaming.

As I tried to weather (pun!) the chaos around me and work through the accounting textbook I was reading (I read those for fun), I realized that watching the kids run around like maniacs and do stupid things to each other was actually pretty fun. It was fun to watch because THEY were having fun. While I was sitting here on the wet bench under cloudy skies shivering and cursing the Gods for making my day off much colder than the 75 degree lie that weather.com had propagated, the kids all around me thoroughly enjoyed themselves laughing and running around like chickens with their heads cut off on the puddle infested grass and muddy fields. It really made me envious that they were so happy even in such a crummy environment whereas I see the same situation as an imperfection in my day off, a day where I DIDN'T even have to work. Nothing could trouble these kids. Well, except for maybe that some of the parents screwed up their lunch and forgot to pack a bag of chips or gave them the wrong flavor of Kool-Aid.

I thought to myself, why is it so difficult for us adults to truly enjoy what's around us? It's so simple but we can't seem to appreciate what we have instead of worrying about what we DON'T have. Why can't we get rid of the nagging thoughts in our mind like work, careers, money, relationships, animal rights, and laundry (similar group of important concerns obviously)? Maybe all we need is a ball, a frisbee, a friend, or just open space to truly enjoy ourselves. If you were to ask me today what I needed to have fun, just give me a super wet and muddy field and 30 minutes of recess.

What I wouldn't do to spend a day in the shoes of a kid again...


Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Derek's Gift

I was somewhat surprised when Derek told us last week that he got all of us gifts from Japan. I thought to myself, what kind of gift could Derek have possibly have gotten us? As it turns out, one glance at my gift and the connection was instantaneous. It was magical.


The Humping Dog, USB meets Love. I mean, just the name itself exudes awesomeness. Plus, it was a useable USB drive! I proceeded to take a look a the back of the package.

Although I am totally illiterate in Japanese (surprising I know), I did recognize some characters on the top right corner of the package. The characters zoomed in is below.

Essentially, what this translated to was that the item is aimed at people aged 15 and up. A gift with a age warning is obviously a perfect gift for me.

Fumbling around in a rush to open the package, I was eagerly anticipating the awesomeness of plugging it in. (That's what she said) And behold, when all was said and done, it did not disappoint.




Derek, thanks for the gift buddy. Can't imagine you staying in Japan for ANOTHER year but I guess it's happening since you are leaving on a flight, TODAY. Hopefully, over the next year, you'll decide to come back instead of staying in Japan for the long haul. Either way, I'll try to get out there and visit.

A side note, Eric wound up getting a robotic dog that danced to different music and JD got a mechanical beetle that knows to change direction, pretty sweet stuff.

Carrying The Torch

Today is the last day for my manager in her long and storied career at General Foods/Kraft. Not only has she been my manager for the last year, but she was also my manager during my internship and was a big reason why I decided to work for Kraft. Consequently, after her 27 years with the company, she's leaving big shoes for the rest of the group to fill.

Apparently, I was nominated to fill some of those responsibilities. Yikes.


- She was a devoted member of the Kraft morning gym crew. I am now expected to replace her membership in the gym. I am supposed to workout at the gym from 7am til 8:30am. As a result, I am expected to wake up by 4:30 and leave my house at 5 so I can get to the gym on time. Crap!

- She trained for her Olympic 100m dash trials by running thru the hallways all the time. I am now expected to take her spot and train for the event as well. Does this mean I can wear sneakers at work other than just Friday?!

- Lastly, she always brought deserts for birthdays and office parties. Her famous triple fudge soft brownies are ridiculously good. (see picture) I am fine with making brownies for events as well, as long as people don't mind eating brown bricks of burnt fudge.


<== Mounds of deliciousness seconds before all of it was devoured









All jest aside, thanks for everything LR. You'll be missed.


"She's an old fossil too!" - OD

Monday, June 8, 2009

And so it begins...

Why I enjoy working with people at Kraft:
I could have tried to become a finance director, but I found it much more satisfying making a difference in the life of another person. - LR