Erin's Softball Season, so far

With rain outs (not entirely unexpected in March/April), the season is starting slowly, but with the potential to pick up in a hurry. Out of the first 4 series, only 1 could be played and the OU-L 2008 team performed well enough. Their second opportunity took place on a day that I already felt a little guilty about because we (Sherry and I) had ticket to see the Reds at Great American BallPark. Okay, so they weren't great seats, but they were okay and we paid less than $40 for the 2 of us. So, although (as I said) I already felt a little guilty at blowing off Erin's softball games, I didn't let it become debilitating. Late in the game in Cincinnati I get a call from Erin who is at one of the Miami University branches (Hamilton or Middletown, it clearly doesn't matter too me much). It turns out without us parents there, she became reacquainted with her batting stroke including a double off the wall (that she swears should have been a home run). Late in the second game, Erin was coming around to score and what happened next is lost in mists of pain and pain relievers. As close as I can tell, Erin reached the plate (scored!), then possibly slid across the plate or digs in the soft earth at the end, resulting in Erin's ankle attempting to move in ways that are completely in opposition to the laws of nature. In other words, she tore something. Several days of trying to get members of the medical profession to speak English has resulted in the doctor stating he believes something is torn, but that it can't be made any better in the near term by surgery or whatever and that no more significant damage is likely, so she'd like to soldier on through the games against OU-Chillicothe on Sat (3 May), and Southern State on Sun (4 May), leading up to the actual ORCC tournaments (which the doctors have already verbally agreed to). It turns out, these OU-L Cougars may have a legit shot at the Conference Championship after splitting a double header today with OSU-Newark. The score was 4-3 on tie breakers in the first game (OU-L win) and 7-6 in the second (OSU-N won). The teams look to be well matched so whatever edge one team can get (like a powerhitting left-handed catcher getting back in the lineup) could be all the difference. She is moving more and more daily with relatively little discomfort (there will be some discomfort for a while, but she'll deal with that after the season). We shall wait and see.

It was a good day to fly

Yeah, I know, I owe a post (and pix) about Nicaragua, but I'm not blogging about that tonight. I just got done updating my web logbook, I updated the underlying database on Tuesday, but I use static web pages for this, so that I don't have to constantly query the backend databases. I went flying on Tuesday. I originally thought I'd just go around the pattern a few times and get the landings to remain current to rent at VTA, but when I actually got airborne, I felt the pull to just go fly a little. It was a little bumpier than I anticipated, some clouds were rolling in as I flew though no rain even that evening. You can see the logbook entry, so I won't bother recapping that here other than to note that I tracked radials to the APE VOR, practiced some steep turns and generally enjoyed my day.

I'm back and still alive

Yes, I made it back from Nicaragua, though the flight(s) home were more of an adventure than we had planned on. It was a great trip and I'll post about it (with pictures) sometime in the next few days. I've been pretty tired since I got home though, hence no new posts until now. Today is opening day at the Columbus Motor Speedway where my friend Beau Davis races. I hope the rain holds off long enough to get Beau's race in.

Update: The entire racing program was rained out last night, so opening night will be next Saturday night.