SecondTour

Kohl's is going in. Walmart is staying where it is. Not sure about Luby's or Randall's yet.

Tradition seems like a very strange word to use for banning something. Maybe "decades-old rule" or "long time policy", etc. But Tradition? That sounds like it's something everyone looks forward to or is proud of - "Hey everybody, it's time for our 47th annual banning of food".

I'm leaning toward that section myself. After all my test-sitting at Fan Fest, I decided I really liked the view from there. More game - no giant scoreboard. I actually kind of stumbled onto it at the last game of 2008. Me and a buddy went to the Amigos restaurant (FiveSeven now) to raise a glass to the season. We sat out on their porch area and I loved the baseball-centric view.

Well done. I love that view of the stadium. Are your seats Bull Pen Boxes or Mezzanine?

Yeah, looks like it, but I'm still looking forward to every damn minute of it. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get a pizza ready for the oven - Hampton takes the hill in just over an hour.

In the spirit of the 2009 Astros season, I thought I'd offer up my story. Baseball is the only sport I follow. It's a passion. Non-nerds, you've been warned. Part 1 For many years I followed the Yankees very closely. As a former New York City resident, I was able to follow them on XM Radio & the Extra Innings cable package after I left NYC. I live in Houston now for the second time in my life. I saw probably 120 Yankees games a year (cable), listened to the ones that were blacked-out (XM), and attended a few on visits back to NYC every year. But a funny thing happened on the way to the office. This past off-season I found myself feeling disconnected emotionally from them. It started with the way they treated Pettitte. He's been a huge part of them making it to 6 World Series during his time there, but they very nearly discarded him. Then came the Sabathia deal. I just couldn't get behind the vulgar spending for C.C. Then, after Burnett & Texiera were added, I felt like an outsider. The spending was obscene, particularly considering the economy. They also doubled ticket prices at a time when half the country can barely make ends meet. I felt removed from their values. The Yankees have always had that "best team money can buy" label, but they also built from their farm system. Outsiders or casual fans seldom saw the team closely enough to realize the pennant-winning teams had been their home-built teams - Jeter, Pettitte, Williams, etc. The free agents got the headlines and the haters let them become the focus. But this past off-season, I felt they had become a team that openly sent the message that they'll just purchase championships now and moved away completely from building teams. I not only didn't agree with it, I felt myself bothered by it. Part 2 I grew up in Houston (60s & 70s), so my first exposure to the game as a child was the Astros. I fell in love with the game through the Astros. I spent many a night in the Dome and followed the team closely through the years. Cedeno, Morgan, The Toy Cannon, Dierker, Cruuuuz, Niekro, J.R, Nolan - I was there for it all. I always followed them through the box scores in the newspaper after I moved away (pre-cable & internet). Part 3 Since I've been back, I've certainly gone to plenty of Astros games and followed them somewhat. However, after I disconnected from the Yankees I found myself drawn back to the team that first moved me all those years ago. It wasn't a conscious decision at all - it just happened over the course of a few months. Truth is, it had been happening for years. I listened to every Astros Spring Training game this year and I've already been to Minute Maid twice this year. I put away my Yankees shirts & caps and I canceled the Extra Innings package. I bought a few new Astros shirts and two new Caps. On my desk at work, the Yankees cap that has always been displayed has now been replaced with an Astros cap. Next to it is a Milo bobble-head. I went to Fan Fest last weekend at Minute Maid and test-sat in several sections of the stadium to see where I want to buy season tickets. For the most part,I had the empty stadium to myself - Fan Fest was taking place in the concourses. I tried out about ten different sections - field, mezzanine, upper deck, etc, I was all over the place for about an hour. As I looked out at the empty stadium and the resting field, I took several minutes each time and pictured the game taking place. I've returned to the team of my childhood - and I feel clean because of it. It's good to be home.

I'm very happy with this move. I've never felt Q or Towles were our catching future, or at least I'd hoped they weren't. Pudge is a veteran addition to the team and - with the exception of Oswalt - we need all the help we can get with the pitching staff we have. Also, while his numbers aren't what they used to be, defensively he's still considerably better than what we were about to go into the season with. It's his experience that we'll most benefit from. Even if he's only with us a year or two, it buys us a little time to further develop Jason Castro or some other prospect.

Sounds like someone has never been to In N' Out. As a former resident of Los Angeles, and someone who has had a fair number of In-N-Out burgers, I have to say - I just don't get the hype. They're a good, quick place to get a fast-food burger & French fries for lunch - as are plenty of other places in L.A. There are also plenty of places here in Houston that are just as good - and in every city in America. Even when I lived there, I never understood the cult following. Yeah - they're everywhere, they have Bible verses on the cups, Googie signs, and most importantly - you can take your In-N-Out Burger bumper sticker, scratch of the B & the R and it will read In-N-Out urge. Clever. If you want an In-N-Out burger, put some Thousand Island dressing on a burger from Sonic.

This could be an ugly year alright. However, we know that going in so that helps with the season not being a heart breaker. It's baseball and I'll be at tons of games and watching the rest on TV. It's the only sport I care about. It would be cool if they were an upper tier team, but they're not. That's not the kind of owner we have. Drayton puts profits first, championships second - always. At least I'll get to see other teams and players. As much as I'd like to rant about all of it, it could be worse. I could be living in a city with no team. I'll take bad over none, any day.

A few people in my building (Heritage Plaza) saw him jump. One guy said he was pacing back & forth on the top level. Don't know much about the guy, nor do I want to. It was disturbing enough seeing the sheet covering the body. Glad my window doesn't face that side. Truthfully though, I wouldn't have watched anyway. I don't need to try to unsee that for the next few years. The one guy in our office that watched everything, and then went down to give a statement to police, is sorry he didn't look away. Said he wasn't aware of what was about to happen - just thought the guy was acting strangely. He's had trouble sleeping since the incident, which is understandable.

Interesting article in the Times today about vacancies. NY Times

For the most part, the landscaping is finished. They were painting the top parking surface earlier this morning. We received an email from building management yesterday saying we could start parking there on December 1st. It seems to be in it's finished state now. Too bad the giant grid was left off. It did look better.

+1

Yes, there will be a connection. I haven't been down in the basement floor in a while. It may be finished already.