The SoapBoxers

Tiger Woods
We haven’t talked about the Tiger Woods situation yet. Part of the reason for this is the fact that there really aren’t a lot of details yet. The picture that seems to be emerging is that there was some sort of argument about alleged affairs that Tiger may have had. There is additional speculation about whether Elin Woods smashed the car window s with a golf club in order to help him out, or smashed them prior to the accident, chasing him in a fit of rage.

On Tuesday, there was additional drama at Tiger’s house, as an ambulance transported a female to the hospital. After hours of speculation, it turned out that it was Tiger’s mother-in-law who was complaining of stomach pains. She was released on Tuesday afternoon.  This would appear to be completely unrelated to the earlier incident, but did serve to put Tiger back into the media spotlight again.

Tiger has always been very focused on the golf course – but will this be what causes him to lose focus and fail in his attempt to break Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 major championships (he currently stands at 14)? Tiger has always been a very private person. He has more money that he could probably spend in a lifetime – is it possible that he could walk away from the game in his prime? Stranger things have happened.

[Update: On Friday night, a day after I wrote this article, Tiger announced that he will take an “indefinite” leave of absence from golf.]

Sadistic People
A report of a recent crime in CNN really caught my attention. A woman thought that another woman was having an affair with her husband and was pregnant with his child. The woman forged a prescription for an abortion-inducing drug on a doctor’s stolen prescription pad, had a pharmacist fill the prescription, and then called the pregnant woman, pretending to be from the woman’s doctor’s office and telling her she needed to take this drug immediately.

The pregnant woman believed this, and took the drug. She had to be taken to the hospital, where here baby was born two months early (and is still in an intensive care unit).

That’s not the end of the story, though. After the baby was born, the other woman tried to poison the kid by attempted to sneak tainted breast milk into the hospital.

I have no idea if the woman’s suspicions of an affair were warranted. In any case, why punish an unborn child? That’s just twisted.

You can read the full story on CNN

The Salahi Saga

The attorney for Tareq and Michaele Salahi has responded to a congressional subpoena by saying that the couple does not intend to testify, but would instead invoke their 5th amendment rights.

Let’s review the 5th amendment:

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

First of all, I’m not even certain the the 5th amendment applies.  Let’s read the clause regarding self-incrimination:

nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself

Of course, a congressional hearing is not a criminal case, so this would not apply.  I suppose that an argument could be made that this clause applies:

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury

However, I don’t think that the Salahis’ behavior could qualify as an “infamous” crime.  More importantly, though, is that taking the 5th would completely contradict the assertion that the Salahis were invited to the state dinner.  If they truly did nothing wrong, then why would they fear self-incrimination?

I stumbled across Michaele Salahi’s Facebook page while writing this (on December 10) and was quite amused.  Not only does the page have photos from the state dinner (with a status that begins “I was honored to be invited to attend the First State Dinner hosted by President Obama & the First Lady …” but also has photos with other celebs, including Donny Osmond.  Oh, and there’s also contact information for Michaele, in case you want to book an appearance.  Hilarious.  [Note: it seems that content is being actively removed from the page – I’m not sure how much will still be there when you read this.]

There was a special energy inside the Thomas and Mack center in Las Vegas. The finals had come down to one ride. Defending champion Ty Morris needed a score of 91 in the short go to repeat as champion. Morris had a history of rising to the occasion, and the crowd was eagerly anticipating a great performance.

Morris was atop Crash Course in the bucking chute. His secured his grip on the rope, gritted his teeth, and gave the signal. The chute opened, and Crash Course exploded out of the enclosure and into the arena. Morris felt the fury of three quarters of a ton of bovine anger as the bull immediately attempted to buck him off. Morris easily retained his perch, but knew that the worst was yet to come. Crash Course had been named bucking bull of the year on two occasions and had already clinched the award for this year. The bull had a mean streak a mile wide and struck fear in the hearts of some of the riders.

After two quick steps, Crash Course leaped into the air, and Ty felt his hat go flying. He felt his body rise slightly into the air as Crash Course returned to terra firma with a jolt. Ty flopped forward before righting himself. He could feel intense pain in his back – the landing had aggravated the inflamed disc. Ty had to block out the pain and focus on the task at hand, as Crash Course executed a tight, quick spin that nearly made Ty lose his lunch. This was a hell of a bull – if he going to have a shot at scoring 91, this was the bull to ride.

The bull bellowed with frustration, angered by the fact that Ty was still aboard. He quickly spun in the other direction. Ty remembered this move from his last ride on Crash Course, and was able to shift his body in anticipation of the spin.

The angry bull once again showed off his vertical leap, and once again Ty popped slightly out of his seat but was able to stay aboard. Once again, incredible pain shot through his entire back as bull and rider returned to earth.

Crash Course quickly spun to the right. Once again, Ty readied himself for next spin in the opposite direction. True to form, Crash Course began his spin to the left. Before completing the spin, the bull quickly reversed course again and spun back to the right. Ty was caught by surprise – the spin left was a fake. He tried to compensate but felt his body sliding too far off center. Crash Course leaped into the air one final time, this time returning to the ground sans rider.

Ty Morris landed on the ground with a thud. He landed almost entirely on his back and felt an explosion of pain. This time the pain didn’t just shoot through his back, but spread to his entire body. From his position on the dirt, he saw Crash Course romp triumphantly out of the arena. Ty struggled to his feet, pointed in the direction of the arena’s exit chute as a way of recognizing the bull’s fine performance, and set about the task of finding his hat.

Traffic is getting worse. People have less patience and shorter tempers. Americans are willing to nearly kill each other in the name of bargains. Yes, the holiday season is once again upon us. In this time of religious remembrance, I’d like to talk about things I’m thankful for and things I’d like to see in my lifetime.

I’m thankful I live in a country where write my opinion with little or no fear of reprisal from those who disagree. While some would argue that freedom of speech is being slowly trampled on in the United States, we must all remember that the privilege to speak freely must be tempered by rational thought and realization of consequences.

In my lifetime I’d like to see certain “taboo” subjects able to be discussed without people looking at you with the same face they make when one smell sour milk. Sex is the big one. Americans have a strange love/hate relationship with sex that stems from being a country with exceptional freedoms but still having Puritanical roots.

I’m thankful I live in a country where I can proudly proclaim my agnosticism and have only minimal reactions. There are places in this world where not dressing the “correct” way can get you killed, so freedom of religion is a pretty big deal.

In my lifetime I’d like to see an even bigger separation of church and state. For all you right-wing Christians who just freaked out over that, imagine this: You’re driving down main street in your town and pass by town hall. There is a lovely display out front of Muhammad fasting for Ramadan, proudly bowing toward Mecca with his prayer book … wait, what? That brief bit of outrage you may or may not have felt is not unlike what many Muslims or Jews or Atheists feel when the government has any kind of religious display over another. We can’t continue to call ourselves the land of the free and the home of the brave as long as we fear religious equality and cower under 1800’s conventions.

I’m thankful for the Internet. Yes, I’m a geek. Yes, I’m probably addicted. But hey, you’re reading this online right now so you might be too. The internet is an amazing tool that allows anyone to get nearly any piece of information. It’s a wonderful diversion from life. It’s a way to communicate with people across vast distances.

In my lifetime I’d like to see a bigger government stance on what exactly net neutrality is and should be. I have no problems with communications companies making a buck off the wires they worked hard to string. I have a big problem with communications companies not clearly presenting the terms of service they will deliver while more or less being a monopoly. There are quite a few places where the company who offers a stable and reliable internet connection is the only gig in town, and with the Internet becoming almost as necessary as telephone, television, the local library, and the post office all in one, we need to prevent abuse. Any company that has stockholders to answer to will gladly screw over their own customers in a devious way if it means a few extra points on their shares.

I’m thankful for a democratic system of representation. It’s no where near perfect, but it’s better than most. The mayor of the town I live in will be sworn in tonight and he won by less than 100 votes. Knowing your vote counts is a good feeling.

In my lifetime I’d like to see more rules on political donations, lobbyists, and campaign transparency. It’s nice that we have a 2 party system when some countries still have 1 party or a dictatorship. It’s a shame the majority of both those parties are more or less owned by their corporate masters. William Gibson has written quite a few books about a dystopian future where corporations are the most powerful things on the planet and governments are more or less puppets of them, and the common man suffers. What he writes is fiction, but that concept is not. Every day lives are ended because someone cut corners because someone told them money needed to be saved. We’re almost at 2010, we should be growing more away from capital greed and more toward racial enlightenment. Do you really think Joe Lieberman is against a public health care option because of personal convictions? He’s listed as an independent, but he really should be the Etna senator.

Finally, I’m thankful I’m still employed. I have a degree in music and I’ve been lucky enough to have a job in computers that is reasonably interesting and fairly stable. My spouse has been out of work for a while and while things are tight, we’re not struggling nearly as bad as many.

In my lifetime I’d like to see this country get serious about infrastructure replacement and rebuilding. It would be expensive, yes, but it needs to be done. The I-35 bridge collapse is probably the most glaring example of infrastructure failure at the cost of lives, but it’s certainly not the only one. There are many other bridges, tunnels, roadways, etc across the country that are in even worse shape and just waiting to fail. Each one of those is also an opportunity to put people to work. Yes, it costs money to do so, but do we really need another stealth bomber or another year fighting a war on drugs that is unwinnable?

Regardless of if you agree or disagree with anything I said, may you and the people you hold dear find peace and happiness this holiday season.

12/1 – I really did a lot of editing before continuing the story.  My wife read the first two chapters and helped out a lot, especially in the female character dialog.  Finished up chapter 39 and chapter 40.  I have the main character working hard at being a good farmer.  He is working with and learning from his father in law.  I took the story to the end of spring and the end of the school semester.  The friends of the main characters have their baby as the last line of the chapter.

12/2 – worked on chapters 41 and 42.  The main character is really pushing for a child of his own.  The wife is not exactly against the idea, but needs some convincing.  Both characters have a lot of things going on in their lives.  In Chapter 41, the priest has a heart attach and they go to visit him.  In Chapter 42, there is an end of summer party that reunites many of the characters.  I wanted to get them all in the same place to compare and contrast the choices that they have made and their successes and failures.

I am getting in a lot of writing because I have to wait up each night for my daughter to come home.  She is only 17 and works retail.  Her hours are late because it is the Christmas season.  I think I will be done with the bulk of the writing tomorrow, then starts the hardest task, editing.  Just from what I have done myself and the one day my wife looked at it, editors are worth their weight in gold.

12/3 – DONE!  I finished just before midnight.  Three chapters.  Apparently I had two chapter 32s and missed chapter 35 so some of my previous entries may have missed parts of the story, or duplicated, I don’t know which.  I found out when I created a table of contents.  That is a very useful tool in Microsoft Word.  The final word count is just over 68,000 words.  It is really weird to have all of these ideas written down.  I have copied it to several computers and on two memory sticks.  I don’t want to lose it now that I am done.

The story reaches may peaks in these last few chapters.  The main characters decide to go ahead and try to get pregnant.  The main character’s wife goes off to a state school for college, it is close enough to drive to.  The priest passes away, this is not necessarily a bad event, just sad because they have lost a friend and counselor.  The main characters find out that the accident was not his fault, the other driver fell asleep at the wheel and crossed the median.  She gets pregnant and gives birth.  The final chapter is only three sentences long.  I think it wraps up the story very nicely, but the community will have to wait for the editing to be completed.  I want to leave some of it in suspense!

Writing these articles has almost been as much fun as writing the story.  It was a romance in the end.  My next effort will start next week as I travel again.  I am thinking Science Fiction this time.  Less dialog, more action and no need for sex scenes unless there is alien sex like in Star Trek.  Kosmo has invited me to continue with a weekly input.  I have agreed.  It will mostly focus on the joys and stresses of writing, although I will sometimes wax poetic on other topics.  I hope all of you have enjoyed and will continue to read my musings.  Thank you.

A lot of water cooler talk around the offices this week after the games this past weekend.  Today, Johnny Goodman looks to find the truth about many of the issues in College football.

Fact- Alabama and Texas will play in the BCS Championship game

Truth- yep I can’t come up with another argument here.  These are the two most deserving teams and I have no beef with that

Fact:  Alabama beat Florida soundly

Truth:  Florida really isn’t that good.  Who have they beaten or dominated all year.  Heck I think the SEC is terribly overrated this year.  A lot of good teams yes, a lot of GREAT teams?  C’mon…no way…This conference gets more verbal blow than anything and it is totally unfounded this year.  Play a bowl game or better yet a nonconference road game outside of the southeast sometime.  What is your conference record the last 51 times you have left the southeast?  25-26.  Overrated!!!!

Fact:  Mack Brown was named Big XII 2009 AP Coach of the year

Truth:  Did you watch the Texas vs. Nebraska game?  Then tell me which team imposed their will and their style of play and was :01 away from pulling off the upset as a 15 point underdog.  Coach of the year?  This guy can’t coach at all.  If Tom Osborne would have had the talent Texas gets every year in their program the Huskers would have had about five more national titles during his tenure.  Mack Brown is a average coach in arguably the easiest place to land fantastic recruits.  Saturday night was just another example of that.  His total and complete mis-management of the game clock at the end of the game almost prevented his kicker from having a shot at the game winning kick and the Horns from a shot in the BCS title game.  This guy is the luckiest coach ever…but he isn’t even in the top three coaches in his own conference.  Frankly I am surprised that Texas fans are not piling on about this right now.  After they get wood-shedded by Alabama, maybe they will be.

Fact: Cincinnati deserves to be playing in the BCS game against Alabama

Truth – you gave up a forty spot to Pittsburgh?  The argument stops there.  The Panthers are not exactly an offensive juggernaut.  Brian Kelly likely is gone to Notre Dame, and bad coaching by Wannestadt might make it a certainty now.  The Bearcats are good, but top 3 in the county???….nope.

Fact:  The refs put back one second on the clock in the Big XII title game

Truth:  They did get this one right although I hate to admit it being a Husker fan.  If time expired it would have made LSU coaching buffoon moves at the end of the game a few weeks ago look like no big deal.  The Truth also is that the #3 team was lucky to escape and was dominated by a team with a far superior defense who unfortunately for them has an offense that would barely be effective in your kids Pop Warner league.

Fact:  This year is a toss-up for the Heisman Trophy

Truth – Nebraska’s Ndamukong Suh should win the award but won’t.  Lets run down the top candidates here.  Tim Tebow – nope –  lost last game and cried on the sideline.  There is no crying in Football Timmy! – and had average statistical year, Colt McCoy, laid an egg in final game and last second (literally) gaffe almost cost team a shot at the title game.  Jimmy Clausen – hardly.  Mark Ingram – you can’t get pulled in the next to last game for being ineffective and win THIS award.  Toby Gerhart – I could see this as I think he has been most consistent – Suh –has been dominating in every big game for the Huskers defense which is very good.  He had 4.5 sacks and 12 tackles – 8 for losses – an numerous hurries in the Big XII title game.  Can you honestly say there is a better or more dominating player in the country this year?

Typically my article focuses on past or current events in the Middle East so I figured this time I would toss out a curveball and try to predict the future. More specifically I wanted to look at the where I think the Middle East will be at the end of President Obama’s first term. My focus will be the future of Israel, Iraq and Iran.

I think the future of Iraq is becoming fairly clear to most. The war in Iraq seems to have been a mistake for the United States as it sucked a lot of military resources from places of larger need and created too many broken families back home. For Iraq it may prove to be a mistake as I think the country will be left leaderless in the short term which could toss it into chaos as the US forces pull out. For the region it was a mistake as for good or bad Iraq provided a balance of power to Iran which will now will become unbalanced. So in three years I see the country as leaderless, without the protection of the US army and tail spinning into disaster. This normally creates the perfect storm for an extremist leader to come to power and basically put the country back on path to where it was ten years ago.

As for Iran, I believe the outlook to be much brighter, from their perspective anyway. Iran will become a nuclear power in the next three years. The efforts being put forth currently by the UN and US will be ineffective as Obama is not militant enough to make any realistic threats. In my opinion, this actually creates the most concern for Iran’s Arab neighbors and not Israel. Despite what most think the Arabs have a lot of internal conflicts and I could see Iran using a nuclear weapon on its Arab enemies. Israel is already a nuclear power so I believe that Iran will only use their nuclear power in rhetoric to threaten Israel but by default will actually have more of a “mutually assured destruction” mentality with neither side willing to commit suicide just to eliminate the other.

My second to last prediction is that Ahmadinejad will lose his seat in government. I think his course has run and his usefulness is diminishing. Besides popular belief he is a puppet character that is useful in taking international heat but yield little power. Lastly, the world will see more outbursts of human rights violations similar to what happened after the elections. Iran has never been a nice place but till now things like the war with Iraq and now the nuclear issue detracted from bigger issues facing Iran. With Iraq being eliminated as a super power and Iran going nuclear there will be no bigger storyline then human rights.

Lastly, Israel will probably be sitting in the same place as it currently sits. The economy will keep chugging along, settlements will be built and they will have to deal with terrorist attacks. The two places that I think Israel may make headway on are the way they deal with terrorists and their negotiation with the Palestinians. I believe, Israel is slowly learning that they can be harsh with terrorists and then simply dismiss bad press from things like tainted UN commissions. Israel is realizing that its own security is more important than public image. On the other hand I think Israel still does not realize how to deal with the Palestinians so in the next three years I predict more unbalanced deals, more concessions and no closer to peace.

Hope you all enjoyed, feel free to comment as this is not history but predictions so there is lots of room for error on my side.

For whatever reason, part 1 isn’t showing up in the table of contents. To start from the beginning, go here.

Jaymi watched the calendar for the next two weeks, anxiously awaiting the arrival of the 14th. After what seemed like an eternity, the day finally arrived. There was an extra skip in her step when she arrived at work that afternoon. Toward the end of the evening, Ray’s rig pulled into the parking lot, and he hopped out. Once again, Jaymi offered to make him supper at home, and Ray sipped coffee while the waited for closing time to arrive. Ray helped out with a few of the tasks at closing time, and they headed back to Jaymi’s house.

Jaymi had started a pot roast in the crock pot earlier in the day, and it was cooked to perfection when they arrived. The two of them sat at the kitchen table, enjoying the pot roasts and talking about the events that had shaped their lives in the last couple of weeks.

After eating, they went into a living room and flipped on the TV, which was featuring a movie that both of them had seen before. They each settled into an easy chair and mixed conversation in with the movie viewing. After a while, Jaymi began to notice that the conversation starting to become quite one-sided, and Ray’s responses gradually became less coherent. Eventually, he lapsed into complete silence, and Jaymi realized that he had fallen asleep. She nudged him into a somewhat awakened state, assisted him into bed, and tucked him in for the night. This guy was tired.

Ray and Jaymi spent a lazy morning together. They ate cereal and watched cartoons. They headed to Jaymi’s restaurant for lunch before heading to the movie theatre in the next town for a matinee. The movie was a chick flick that Jaymi had wanted to see. Ray said that he didn’t mind, and Jaymi noticed that he did seem to be enjoying the movie.

After the movie, they went to one of the better restaurants in town. They both had the same meal – ribeye medium rare, baked potato with butter and sour cream, and a house salad with French dressing. They lingered a bit over dessert, sharing a decadently chocolaty treat.

When they arrived back at Jaymi’s house, they decided to relax with the nice, friendly, competitive game of Scrabble. The game was neck and neck until the very end, when Ray played “dowagers” on a quadruple word square to put the game out of reach. Jaymi threw the rest of her tiles at him in mock frustration, ceding the game to him. Ray ducked and managed to avoid most of the letters, but a Q smacked him squarely in the head. He laughed and put the pieces back into the box.

Jaymi took Ray to bed with her that night. Meaning that they slid under the covers and watched Saturday Night Live together. On this night, it was Jaymi who fell asleep first, just a few minutes after Seth and Amy had brought them Weekend Update. When Ray noticed that she was asleep, he flipped off the TV and turned off the lamp. Soon he too was asleep.

The next morning, Jaymi drove Ray to the restaurant, where he would be jumping back into his truck and heading down the road. When Ray went to grab his bag, he noticed an extraneous bag in the trunk next to it. Ray was fairly certain that he did not own a bright pink duffel bag.

“What’s the extra bag for?” Ray asked.

“Take me along.”

Ray laughed. “I can’t. You can’t take off work.”

“Sure I can,” replied Jaymi. “I cleared it with the boss. I’m on vacation until the 22nd.”

“Oh, I see. So this was all part of your master plan.”

Jaymi nodded and hopped up in the cab.

4Info is a wonderful, and largely free, service that allows people to get all kinds of updates on their cell phones via text messages (note: they do charge for some of their content). I reviewed them on The Soap Boxers a while ago, and I am a big fan. I get lots of sports scores via 4info, and also get the result of every Troy Tulowitzki at bat.

Verizon Wireless, the nation’s largest wireless carrier, has launched a frontal attack against 4Info. As of Friday night, it began blocking calls sent via 4Info’s 44636 short code. This apparently is related to a Verizon policy about ads in text messages, although it appears that 4Info is being singled out, while other providers are not. 4Info’s CEO indicates that a new short code will be available perhaps as early as Monday, but I am concerned that Verizon will simply block the new short code as well.

It is important to note that the users of this service are fully aware of the fact that they will be receiving ads in the text messages. This is the reason why many of 4Info’s service are free – because the advertisers are footing the bill. The ads themselves are rather unobtrusive. At the bottom of a recent sports score is the ad “Gift ideas from Best Buy”, followed by a URL that will take you to that ad. Another message has an ad from Robitussin. I personally have never followed the link to any of the sites, but I have absolutely no problem with the ads. Knowing that Troy Tulowitzki hit a home run a minute ago is well worth the cost of seeing an ad on the bottom of my cell phone.

If you’re a Verizon customer, call and complain. If your neighbor’s teenager can send a thousand text messages a month to their friends, there is no valid reason to deprive you of your messages from 4Info. I suspect that this is an attempt at a money grab on the part of Verizon – in spite of the fact that people are already paying for text messaging (either a la carte, or baked into the cost of their packages). If you are thinking about switching to Verizon, take a moment to re-think your decision. Even if the 4Info issue doesn’t personally affect you, do you want to do business with a company that pulls these sorts of shenanigans? I certainly wouldn’t.

(at this point, we shift gears and become an anti-Verizon rant)

It really doesn’t surprise me that Verizon is the company in the middle of this. Honestly, I’m not impressed with the company. About a decade ago, I tried (and failed) to get DSL through Verizon. I work in IT, and have a very good working knowledge of networking. It was quite obvious that the problem was on their end. I spent hours on the phone with them one weekend trying to get the problem resolved. I was given the complete runaround, bounced from one area to another (and other times having me perform actions that obviously would not fix the problem). Of course, I had to repeat the information every time – this COMMUNICATION company apparently had no way to COMMUNICATE this information via some sort of problem tracking system. Finally, I gave up and canceled the order. I went back to dial-up.

I was given two options for returning the DSL modem. They could send me a box through the mail, or I could drop it off at the local Verizon Phone Mart. I decided to make it easy for them (big mistake) and save them the shipping by dropping it off at the store. The people at the Verizon Phone Mart seemed a bit perplexed at what to do, but took the modem.

A week later, I got a call from Verizon Phone Mart. They still had no idea what to do with the modem, and wanted me to pick it up. I told them that I’d contact the Verizon DSL people and ask them to contact the store. When I contacted the Verizon DSL people, they agreed to contact the store and assured me that this would be no problem. Awesome. Problem solved, right?

A week later, I get another call. The Verizon Phone Mart never got a call. Yeah, the DSL people essentially blew off someone in their own company. So I picked up a modem and arranged for Verizon to send me a box (at their expense).

And then there was the billing. For months afterwards, I was billed for service I had canceled. Every month I’d call, and the charge would be removed – only to appear the next month. Finally, one month, in an avalanche of strange credits on my bill, the charge went away and never returned. Of course, they even made a mistake on this bill. They actually credited me slightly too much. I’m normally a pretty honest guy – if a cashier doesn’t scan an item, I’ll point it out. This time, however, I kept my mouth shut. I was afraid that if anyone tried to fix this, they’d make a massive mistake and my bill would be messed up for the next year. I might be willing to spend hours on the phone convincing them that they owed me money, but I certainly wasn’t willing to spend hours on the phone convincing them that they owed ME money.

Welcome to The Soap Boxers.  If you drifted here from Lazy Man and Money, feel free to take a look around.  We’re not a niche  blog, but more of a broad based web magazine.  We cover news, sports, domestic and mideast politics, and much more.  Every Friday brings a new fiction short story.  So explore the archives, subscribe to our RSS feed, or simply stop by again tomorrow.  Thank you for spending a few minutes of your day with us.

This is the second part of a three part story.  Catch the conclusion tomorrow.

“Sit down, relax, and watch some TV. I’ll whip up some vittles for you. Burgers OK?”

“Yeah, burgers would be great” replied Ray, and he sank into the comfortable easy chair. He flipped the TV on to ESPN and watched highlights of the games from earlier in the day. It seemed like just a minute had passed before Jaymi appeared at his side, holding a plate with two burgers.

“Hey, you made one with American cheese and one with Swiss,” he remarked. “I like that.”

Jaymi grinned. “Well, you switch back and forth between the two, so I figured I’d give you both. I’m afraid I don’t have any coffee – would you like a Pepsi instead?”

“That would be great. Caffeine is caffeine!”

Jaymi disappeared into the kitchen and returned with a tall glass of Pepsi.

“Hey, you can change the channel to something else,” said Ray.

“No, you go ahead and watch whatever you like. I can watch TV any time.”

“I can’t thank you enough for this. It’s so nice to be inside an actual home for once. This is so much cozier than any restaurant. I definitely owe you a big favor.”

Jaymi laughed. “You supply me with an unending array of books. I think you’re ahead on points.”

“I am simply your humble librarian” replied Ray, with a smile.

When Ray finished the second burger, Jaymi whisked away the plate and put it in the dishwasher.

“I’m afraid I’m going to have to be a bit of a party pooper,” Ray said with a yawn. “This has been an incredibly long day and I’m dead tired.”

“No need to apologize. Let me show you to your room.”

Ray grabbed his bag and followed Jaymi down a narrow hallway. There were two doors at the end of the hallway. Jaymi opened the door on the right.

“Here you go – one nice, soft bed. There are some extra blankets and pillows in the closet. Let me know if you need anything. I’m right across the hall. Oh, yeah – we just passed the bathroom. It’s the other door on the right.”

“Thanks. I should be all set. I do appreciate the hospitality.”

Ray brushed his teeth, climbed under the blankets, and was asleep a few minutes later.

He awoke in the morning and heard noises coming from the kitchen. The noises sounded an awful lot like bacon and eggs frying. Ray climbed out of bed, threw on some clothes, and followed his nose to the kitchen. Jaymi was overseeing bacon and eggs on the stove. She had obviously just stepped out of the shower – she was wearing a pink robe and slippers, and her hair was still damp. Ray noticed that she smelled quite nice.

“Hey, sleepyhead,” she said, turning to face him. “I thought you’d like a nice hot breakfast before you had to hit the road.”

“You’re going to spoil me, Jaymi. Not that I’m complaining.”

Jaymi grabbed a plate, slid two eggs and several slices of juicy bacon onto the plate, and placed it in front of Ray. The toaster popped, and Jaymi grabbed the two slices of toast, butter, and silverware and returned to the table. She sat down across from Ray.

“You’re not eating?” asked Ray. “I can share.”

“No, that’s OK. I don’t usually eat breakfast. It’s fun to watch you eat.”

As Ray devoured the bacon and eggs, he wondered if perhaps the restaurant was not making the best use of Jaymi’s natural skills. It seemed that she was actually a better cook than whoever was actually in the kitchen.

When he finished breakfast, Jaymi had a fresh towel ready for him. He went into the bathroom to take a shower while she went into her bedroom to change into clothes that were more appropriate for the outside world.

Ray turned the water to a near-scalding temperature and soaked in the soothing heat. The showers at the truck stops were usually lukewarm, and it was nice to take a hot shower for once.

When Ray was finished with the shower, he went back to the guest bedroom ad changed into jeans, a t-shirt, and sneakers for the long day ahead. He gathered his minimal possessions, put them in his duffel bag, and zipped it. He took the bag into the living room and settled into the easy chair to wait for Jaymi to appear, so that she could drop him off at the restaurant.

A few minutes later, Jaymi pulled the car into the parking lot. Ray grabbed his bag and they headed toward his truck.

“We should do this again. Maybe you could take a day off the next time you’re in town and we could have a real date.”

“I’d like that,” replied Ray. “Let me grab my schedule and see when I’ll be back in town next.” He jumped into the cab and grabbed a notebook. “It looks like the 14th, and then again on the 21st. I think I can take off the 15th.”

“Sounds great.” Jaymi climbed up next to Ray for a second and kissed him on the cheek. “I’ll see you on the 14th.”

Earlier this week, the Red Sox signed shortstop Marco Scutaro. Scutaro (who has a wicked awesome name) was a “type A” free agent who was formerly with the Toronto Blue Jays. As compensation for losing him, the Blue Jays are entitled to the Red Sox’s 2010 first round draft pick, as well as a sandwich pick between the first and second round (sandwich picks are mysteriously invented and inserted into the draft – very strange).

There is, of course, a twist. If the Red Sox sign a type A free agent with a higher Elias rating than Scutaro, the team losing the higher ranked player would get the first round pick (and a sandwich) and the Blue Jays would get the Red Sox’s second round pick and a sandwich. And if the Red Sox signed TWO higher ranked players, the Blue Jays would get Boston’s third round pick and the sandwich.

Something similar happened to the Blue Jays last year. They lost type A free agent A.J. Burnett to the Yankees, but got their compensatory pick pushed back to the third round when the Yankees signed higher rated players Mark Teixeira and CC Sabathia.

In my opinion, the Scutaro signing is the tip of the iceberg for Boston. I think they will go after Matt Holliday very strongly. This would mean that the Cardinals would get their first round pick, and that Toronto would get their second round pick as compensation for Scutaro. Sacrificing a first round pick for a player of Scutaro’s ability seems to be overpaying for the talent. Sacrificing a second rounder seems like a fairer price. Not only that, but Boston would be able to boast a stronger team when they try to woo Holliday.

Clearly, Toronto doesn’t want Boston to sign Holliday, since this would decrease their compensation for Scutaro. In fact, it would be in their best interest to attempt to steer Holliday (and other players rated higher than Scutaro) away from Boston and onto the rosters of other teams.

How would they do this? One thought would be to engage Holliday (or, more likely, his agent, Scott Boras) in discussions, perhaps by making an offer that is not exactly a lowball, but not at the level it will take to sign him either. When the talks reach their inevitable impasse, direct the conversation to topics that make the Red Sox look bad and other suitors look good. Alternately, Toronto could simply leak disturbing rumors to sources in the press.

I don’t mean to suggest that the Blue Jays actually will use these tactics. I really don’t think they will. But the fact of the matter is that the current system would reward them if they were somehow able to sabotage Boston’s signings.

I don’t know what the solution is. Allowing each team to sign only one type A free agent doesn’t seem feasible. Nor would pushing back a compensatory pick into the future (for example, giving Toronto Boston’s 2011 first round pick for Scutaro if they signed Holliday).

Quite honestly, the entire system of compensatory picks is flawed and in need of a serious overhaul. Some of the statistics used in the Elias ratings are problematic.  For example, fielding percentage is one of the stats used to rank catchers.  Catchers are credited with a putout when a pitcher strikes out a batter.  This means that catchers on teams with high strikeout pitchers will have a better fielding percentage than a comparable catcher on a team with groundball pitchers – simply because they have a higher number of “chances”.  Perhaps a worse flaw is that the rating system does not adjust for age. In reality, a 27 year old has more value than a 39 year old with the same stats.

The system is starting to catch a few players who are unrealistically rated as type A. After they decline arbitration, they realize that no team wants to sign them because while they happen to be a fine baseball player, they aren’t worth a first round pick. The current collective bargaining agreement expires in 2011 – perhaps that would be a good time to tear down the current system and build a new one in its place.