First tournament for 2010, first Win

The 16u Tsunami (travel Softball) team Had its first tournament with its new roster for 2010.
Tsunami San Diego or TSD(for short) won every game they played. 6-0. in the Desert heat 97 deg, and 90 the next day. 'A' got a lot of play time. She pitched 3 games and got to pitch in the final Championship game.
It is fun to watch her play. but the final game was so close and stressful that I am sure Icant take too many more of those.

Over the Line champs 15-20 womens.

There is a game that is very popular in San Diego, Called OTL ( over the line).
It is played on a court, 3 against 3.
3 batters, against 3 fielders. Your own teammate tosses a ball to the batter, and they try to hit the softball, into the peramitters of the court, for a single, or a home run, like softball, there is 3 outs, then you rotate to defense.

This game is played in the sand, and this time it was on Fiesta Island.
My friend Dave asked if "A" would be interested in playing on a team with Amanda, and Marissa.
They showed up Sunday, and had to have some last minute rules explained to them. as it was their first time. They warmed up, and put on their cute little matching shirts shirts.
The age division they were in was a bit scarce, so they only played one other team.
The team they played was called triple 'A', and they were 17 years old, or older.
our girls were: 14, 14, and 16 years old. Our girls were called "The Desert Rats"
The Desert Rats, and triple A played best 2 out of 3, and won 2 games, then they played the same team in a 6 inning match for the championship.

The Desert Rats won 7-4 to bring home the placques!!









The sun came out and we got sun burned, and Kim and 'S' finally showed up when it was over, and brought the dog we walked along the shoreline as a family..... what a great day.

Saturday 'S' and I went out to the desert early in the morning, and went for a ride to test out her new bike. Dave also wanted to test out his new Polaris RZR-S. We had to get out there early due the the heat. by 10:00 it was already in the 90's. We wrapped things up around 11:00, and drove home.

Fathers Day

What a great fathers Day I had, or should I say "We" had.
Started the morning off getting some doughnuts.
Hung out at the house, and then packed the girls and some golf clubs into the truck for a little trip to a golf course I had never been to.
The course is called "San Louis Rey Downs".
It had been a while since we had golfed. I expected some frustration, but it wasnt too bad. 'S' actually surprised me the most. She had some nice chips, and a nice blast out of a green side sand trap. We only golfed 13 holes, got tired, and called it quits. We drove to the Red Lobster resturaunt, and met Kim there for dinner.
What a nice day!

New baby has arrived

On the way home from Lancaster. We stopped in Murrieta and vist a very nice family that had a bike for sale. This bike is going to be for 'S'. She has outgrown her current bike, and this is a step up. The Honda CRF150rb is a very potent racebike and can be used as a trail bike. It is actually lighter then her old smaller bike, and way more powerfull. There is almost no hill that she can't climb with this bike. When she rode her friends bike( the same model) she rode more aggressive, and was not intimidated by any obstacle. This bike should last her a while. We got a good deal on this bike, and look forward to her first ride.

Visit to the Antalope valley

I took 'S' to Lancaster, and Palmdale for a softball tournament. I was able to visit a dear friend from the past, Jodale. Jodale was married to my friend Steve. I used to stay at their house from time to time when I raced at Willow Springs.
She accommodated 'S' and I for the night, and we lost our only game of the day, and headed home. While Driving through Palmdale I thought I would call my old Buddy Steve ( who used to be married to her), and tell him I was visiting his old stomping grounds ( Steve had moved to Michigan, then Florida) He said " well, I am in Palmdale also!". What a small world, he was just down the road from us. We visit with him for about 45min, took a picture, and went on our way. It was so good to see Jodale and Steve.

Beach Party sweet 16

Big 'A' turned 16, and wanted a Beach party. Well, that meant a lot of work on Mom and Dads part. Dad and 'A' were the first ones out to the beach in the morning. Around 6:30am we arrived to reserve or stake out a fire pit for the day. Every pit had someone next to it, and we assumed we were out of luck, A kind surfer told us to check on one of the pit occupants, as he may be a left over from last night. We woke this guy up, asked if he was saving this pit, he said no. We put up our canopy, and had ourselves a pit. The party didn't start until 1pm, but we spent the next 6 hours just hanging out, and having an occasional nap. We had plenty of snacks for the kids, and ordered pizza from Dominos. The festivities and bonfire went on til 10pm when we called it a night.
30 kids showed up. There was a marine layer most of the day that kept the temperatures down, the sun broke through for about 3-4 hours, then it was overcast again.
Lack of prevention caught 'S' and I without enough sunscreen on. We both were sunburned. I mostly had it on the top of my feet. 'S' had it all over.

Another helmet

To break up the mood. I needed to do something to keep my mind off of Softball.
I had some one donate a catchers helmet to me to help protect my head when I catch for the girls pitching.
The helmet was pretty beat up. But I figure it would give me some practice, as another parent of a catcher asked about a similar paint scheme. I wanted to try to used a pearl mica against the white. Unfortunately I had to do it by hand, so it is less then perfect. But all in all, not bad.

Neighbors, can't pick em can't bump them off...

So some neighbors moved in behind us. To set the scene, there is a hill behind us, and they are one house over. So, they have the ability to look down into my yard, and even our house. They will sit on the fenceline, or Deck ( which comes out to the edge of the yard.
They play loud music, talk loud, have dogs that bark at any weed that moves. they will yell, and scream. They have a young girl who also yells and screams. The young girl has one of those battery powered jeeps, and it's loud, too. One of the dogs jumps the fence, and sits at the top of the hill.

You don't realize how good you got it, until it's gone. The blissfully quiet nights of sitting in the back yard, are gone, and replaced by chaos, and noise.

Can I buy a rattlesnake, or a Coyote and put it in their back yard. I could just see me paying off a coyote as I slyly pass money, as we both look for possible witnesses.
" you get the rest, when the job is done"

tryout with the Renegades

The games went well. 'S' played 2nd, RF, and 1st base. she had her best showing at 1st. on offense, she did not strike out! she grounded out x 2, popped out, walked, and hit a single to right.



shes ready













This was the single to right:














scooped this low throw, out of the dirt

Getting ready for my Daughters dating. Oh, and an Earthquake

It was time. The girls have finally reached an age where they can handle the responsibility of shooting and handling a gun. I wanted to make sure everything was in working order.
'A' has started dating, so what better time then now to find out if the guns are sighted in.
'S' and I took a beautiful drive out to the East county (Dulzura) to the foothills of the Cuyamaca Mtns. The range we went to was surrounded by Green topography.
We placed the target at 100 meters, and slung some lead ( or whatever it is nowadays) at the target only to find out 'S' is a better shot then me. I also found out it was too dang far for eyesight ( scope assisted or not) We moved the targets in to 50 meters. and we had a better result in our grouping. 'S' again did very well.
She mostly shot a .22 long rifle. We also shot a Russian Mosin Nagant (762 x 54r) NATO round( kicks like Hell, no scope, and the sites are off). We also took the .38 special hand gun. 'S' became proficient at popping off 5 rounds, clearing the cylinder, reloading in a rush ( never know when your going to need to be able to do that).




EARTHQUAKE!!!!
We drove to my friends house in Chula Vista, to return the ear protection we borrowed. While we stood in his Garage, I felt like the ground was bouncing. like when a heavy truck drives by over bumps. The it turned into swaying.... then the garage shook, and I could see his cars suspension working, as they swayed left and right. I also saw Street lamp posts swaying. it went on for almost 30sec. I actually got a little motion sickness. Weird. It was exciting! It wound up being a 7.2 quake in Mexico about 60 miles South of where we were shooting, and 80 miles from his house.

Video highlight of the weekend game

'A' had a great weekend. she pitched the winning game, as well as having a banner day at the plate. She had two triples ( only got one on film) and a home run.
She also ragged up on 3rd to run home for the winning run.
Tried my hand at video editing. lets give this a go!

You comfortable?

chasing one down

Chelsea King

A beautiful young High School girl named Chelsea King went missing last week, while jogging around Lake Hodges in North San Diego. Her parents became woried when she did not check in that evening. The parents were able to coordinate her phones whereabouts through the phone compnay, and found her car parked near the trailhead.

Her Body was found yesterday in an underwater grave 15ft off shore. Rest in peace Chelsea.








My heart goes out to her Parents, family, and friends.

















Myself like others are wondering where His parents where when they heard about this.
> Why didn't they turn their son in ? ( when the police found him, he still had mud on him up to his knees.
> Didn't they become suspicious?
> When the incident in December happened, didn't they do some detective work?
> When their son did become the main suspect for this case, why didn't they go question their son, and try to help police find Chelsea, or Maybe find out if he was responsible for the disappearance of Amber Duboise ( another missing teen from nearby, missing for a year now)












Shame on you John, Burn in Hell!, and shame on his parents!


This piece of shit! John Gardner had prior arrests ( lewd act on a child under 14) he beat a 14 yr old severely, and fundled her. It has also been confirmed he attack another women jogger on that trail in December.

Rest before the drive

After a few hours of riding out at Superstition mountain. we stopped into a little hole in the wall Restuarant in Ocotillo. The food was Great, and so was the company.
Kam, Bob, Eric R., Eric C.
Also broke my kick starter on my bike out there.

tryouts, and home improvements

This weekend saw the Ratza's going to Tryouts for the High School Softball Team. 'A' did good. Has a good shot at Varsity.
I tried my hand at hanging some doors. We bought 4 doors, that are 6panel doors, and the intent was to give the house a better look than what was installed originally.
Kim also purchased new hinges, and door handles. My Buddy Denny installed the first door, and instructed me as we went along. The last three were alll mine. It worked out pretty well.

Glamis 2010

Our camping, and riding trip started off all right, until all the people showed up.
Sasha tried to make friends with dogs from other camps. That was a mistake, as she was attacked by a dog from another camp, and the dog put a couple holes in her legs.














Here are some of the pictures of the higher points of the weekend