July 4th Weekend

I had a pretty packed 4th of July weekend. Started it off by heading to the lumber yard on Wednesday night to grab some new decking for my dock. Just moving this from the store to my car to my house led to a sore back. On Thursday night I was able to get out and prep most of the dock so I would be ready to go on Friday morning. My darling wife Sheri was more than a little obliging by helping me with laying out the new decking, drilling holes and screwing down the planks. We got done in the early afternoon just in time for the annual boat parade. Our friends came over with their boat and we spent an hour decorating it. After the neighbors set off their cannon, the line of boats took off around the lake shore. It was a small turnout this year...only about 15 to 20 boats. We were speculating why there were so few boats. One obvious reason was that gas is running about $4.50 per gallon. The other reason we came up with is that 2 cycle engines have been banned on the lake. Lots of people who have older boats didn't want to risk putting around and risk a big fine. All in all, we had a good time. After a barbecue, we settled down on our deck to watch the fireworks. The economy is still pretty good considering how much money people spent on fireworks. Each house tried to outdo the next with elaborate displays that went on for over an hour. When the show was over I was glad to call it a night.

On Sunday I went to the Mariners game in Seattle. They were playing Detroit and the M's have been doing pretty well lately. We had no traffic on the drive to Seattle and arrived with 5 minutes to spare before the start of the game. The sun was out and it was quite comfortable. The game proceeded at a quick pace. The Mariners scored a run early in the game. The Tigers came back in the 5th to tie it. The Mariners needed to go to their bullpen early and often. By the end of the 9th inning, the Mariners had used 5 pitchers. Detroit on the other hand had only used their starter Nate Robertson. We went to extra innings and it was still any ones game. Detroit brought in Joel Zumaya and he was consistently throwing 100 mph. Neither team was doing much. The Mariners brought in their 6th pitcher of the game in the 10th. He pitched 4 very good innings. In the 15th, things turned ugly. The Mariners gave up and decided to bring in their 3rd string catcher to pitch. This guy had never pitched at this level. There was a large contingent of fans who had stayed to this point. We deserved better than to be treated to a circus side show. Of course he gave up a double. The runner advanced on a wild pitch. He scored on a fly ball. In the bottom of the 15th, the Mariners were 3 up and 3 down. In the post game show, the Mariners manager Jim Riggleman said that he wasn't willing to play for a tie in the 15th. This was a very disturbing concept. Why go out to play if you don't intend to win? I often get the opportunity to bid on projects. I look at them closely and decide if I want to "play". A big determinate is whether or not I can win. In business, you make choices to participate or not. If you want to play, then you play to win.