I don't plan to be 'tossed' any time soon

hey y'all.
So I'm here in Yakima. for good (if by good you mean three months).

Woke up in New Orleans this morning after a lonely Monday night to find that the hotel had no power. Thank some higher power that I woke up in time for my flight. Shaved in the dark and almost had to take the stairs down 14 flights, but they had one elevator working manually.

Overpaid for a cab ride to the airport, but Rice is paying anyway, so who cares? My first flight was just to Houston, and I slept the whole way there. It was fun to come back to good 'ol IAH for a bit, but sad to realize I was actually leaving Houston this time for real after all the false starts.

Anyway, got into Yakima in the late afternoon and got stuff moved into my basement room without trouble. Called my boss and, wonder of wonders, there was a staff dinner beginning in 30 minutes. So I threw on a polo shirt and headed to the office and then Outback Steakhouse. Met a lot of people, and most seem prety cool. Aside from the owners, who answer the phones and do all sorts of stuff and are older, almost everybody was a 20-something. So conversation was plausible if awkward.
Apparently to be drunk is to be "tossed" up here. Who knew? They also say 'pop' for soda, something Derrick will undoubtedly get used to. Anyway, they're all about the wine-tasting up here in addition to beer, so now if I say I don't drink I'm just being uncultured. Oh well, we'll all have to deal.

Anyway, it's hard to tell how friendship is going to work this summer. I'm the only staffer traveling with the team, so I could very well have split worlds where I'm friends with the players when on the road and friends with the front office staff when at home. Much like at Rice.
Came back to the basement (I guess that's what I'm going to call it, for lack of a better term) and started unpacking. I don't really have anywhere to put clothes that don't hang or things that would normally go in my desk. I've got a lot of stuff to take to the office tomorrow for my desk, but I don't really have that much room, so it might not all fit. Anyway, my room feels a bit more homey now, so as long as the dog, cat, five-year-old, and seven-year-old don't invade too much, it should be a good time. I won't be here much once the season starts anyway.

alright that's about enough from me. a reminder you can hear my broadcasts at www.yakimabears.com when the season starts June 21.

I miss everybody, especially having people around who know you really well and are just there for you. Oh well, aren't we all? y'all rock, keep blogging.