THEBOY: Good Luck Charm

THEBOY and I went to the ballpark today for a meet & greet with Rangers first baseman Mark Teixeira.

It was a special affair for members of the Jr. Rangers fan club. This is the second year I've enrolled THEBOY. For $13 he gets a cap, assorted goodies like wristbands, vouchers for monthly gifts (usually posters or somesuch) and vouchers for some really cheap tickets.

A few hundred parents and kids filed into the lower home run porch. Teixeira and Rangers announcer Chuck Morgan showed up right on time. Morgan asked Tex a few questions, then started taking questions from the fans.

The questions ranged from "What's your favorite ice cream?" to queries about teaching a child to be a switch-hitter like him. He gave good answers, was respectful and down to earth, seemed glad to be there and certainly made a good impression.

And THEBOY raised his hand. I asked what he wanted to say, and I didn't hear him well. I knew it was something about home runs.

Morgan finally called on THEBOY, who simply said, "I love it when you hit home runs!"

Tex smiled and said, "I love it when I hit home runs too."

I was proud of the boy for not being too shy to speak in front of all those people.

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The Q&A session lasted about half an hour, and given the heat, that was about perfect I'd say. After Tex's departure they had some drawings for door prizes, but we didn't win anything. Kelli's the one who always has luck in those things.

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And my camera died quite noisily while we were there. It's the automatic, not the good one Dad gave me. Something inside it started grinding, and we got no photos. A lady next to me said she'd email me hers.

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Oh, and when Tex was leaving THEBOY yelled goodbye to him, and Tex waved.

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So the game came on tonight. As Tex came to bat the first time, I told THEBOY to watch in case he hit a home run.

And BOOM, HE DID! First at bat he banged one off the fair pole, close to where the meet & greet had been held that afternoon.

THEBOY was thrilled, and I wonder if there's any chance Tex thought about the little boy who told him how he loves those home runs.

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A few innings later I called THEBOY to watch another Tex at-bat.

And you know, he hit ANOTHER home run. This one landed nowhere near where we'd been sitting.

THEBOY: Good luck charm.

***

I got it in my head that I'd like to have a really good pocket knife. Typical me: I want an excellent product at a reasonable price, so I go online and read as much as I can stand about it.

I hit Academy last night, and the poor clerk didn't know what hit him. I was asking him about steel quality and he was lost in about 10 seconds. And I'm no expert.

I asked to see a Gerber knife. He was demonstrating the locking mechanism, and lo and behold it failed and closed unexpectedly. He was staring at it with much consternation as I began to think I'd be better served in a real knife shop. His phone rang and I took my exit cue.

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I managed to hit the Parks Mall in Arlington tonight and got to the knife shop there with about 15 minutes to spare before closing. The sales guy was very helpful without being pushy. He clearly knew his stuff, and he was very patient with me, even as they lowered the gate to close the store.

But it was pretty easy once he showed me the Columbia River M16-00K compact (http://www.crkt.com/m16edc.html). Airplane-grade aluminum frame, AUS-8 carbon steel. Very light, very durable knife with very good quality steel. Fits nicely in the pocket, and is just big enough without being obnoxious Closed it's about 4" long, 7" open.

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When did the Parks Mall become so scary anyway? I thought I'd need the freakin' knife just to get to my car safely.

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Tomorrow's Father's Day, of course. I'll touch base with Pop, see if he got the package.

I'm determined that we're going to eat seafood for lunch. THEBOY's dying to try some crab. Not sure Razzoo's has it, actually. Joe's Crab Shack will, sure, but it could be a zoo in there.

Might break down and go to Red Lobster. Not exactly my favorite place, but we can probably get an okay meal. I guess there's no guarantee THAT place won't be overcrowded though.

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Oh, the knife's got a lifetime warranty, and the shop where I bought it will sharpen it for free whenever I want. There's one in a mall that's not so ghetto, so maybe I'll do that once in a while.

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Ya'll have a good weekend.