Alcohol Plus 21 Plus 2am Equals Death

This past Saturday night my wife woke up at 2am to the sounds of *crash* outside our apartment here in Redmond. We are on the corner next to a pretty busy road, and we constantly hear the traffic go by and a siren every other hour. We've heard honking and tire screeching, but no crunches. Anyway, she wakes up and goes to the balcony to try and see what happened. There is a row of trees blocking our view, however you could make out a car crash. Soon the sirens came.

When I woke up the next morning around 9am, Ashley told me of the accident. I didn't think much of it, but as we were preparing to go to the grocery store, we noticed the road being blocked off. I grabbed my camera and went down to the corner to see what was up.

There about 30 yards from my place was a wrecked Honda. It was resting in between the guard rails, airbag deployed. The cops had blocked off Redmond Way, and were only allowing the neighbors in. We turn on the news to see if we can catch anything, and I just get the end of a story involving a car wreck. I wasn't sure if it was the same one or not (there are wrecks here all the time). I later came across the article.

Come to find out, it was about this car wreck, and unfortunately someone died. The driver of the car was a 21 year old male who was sent to the hospital. The passenger was a female, no name or age given. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

You can't tell from the picture, but how the car ended where it was is odd. The only thing I could think is that they passed the turn they wanted and the driver tried to do a really big U-turn. That or he just lost control and took a hard left into the guardrail. The report said speed and alcohol were "contributing factors" in the accident. Yeah, that was a tough one to figure out. I'm pretty sure most accidents that occur at 2am are alcohol related.

I feel sorry for both of them, including the girl's family. It is a very sad reminder that drinking and driving is stupid. I'm no angel, and I've been stupid in the past, but I definitely learned a lesson.

Take a cab or sleep it off - it's just not worth it.

First Softball Game - Inside the Park Home Run

Well, I signed up to play softball this summer with a bunch of coworkers. Our first game was tonight. Actually, it was a doubleheader. I haven't played softball in 8 years and was a little nervous on how I'd do. Well, my first at bat was pretty nice - I hit an inside the park home run. with a 1-2 count, I drilled one over the center fielder's head. I don't really remember much of the at bat, except that I was breathing pretty heavy rounding third. I think the cutoff man (or woman) bobbled the ball which allowed me to score. it was the first game and first at bat of the season, so that was pretty cool. As you can see, our teams fill the stands.

Unfortunately, that was the only big highlight for me as our team dropped both games. I'm batting 1.000 for the season, but I'm sure that will change. After the Home run, the rest of my hits were singles. I think I might have had an rbi or two, I was too busy to remember. I'm also the team manager, which is a very demanding position. You wouldn't think coed softball could be hard, but imagine a team with players who have never played the game before. It's definitely a challenge. I sat out the entire first game and only played one inning in the second game. We also need to get some pitchers. Our first pitcher left with an injury and the second was out there WAY too long. She did a great job, but it's really hard to pitch 1 1/2 games.

Hopefully we'll get a win or two this season. We all need to work on the fundamentals of the game. It's just tough because we don't have any practice times set up and everyone at work is busy. Maybe I'll just concentrate on the after game festivities. A beer tastes so good after a game, win or lose.

Italy Wins The World Cup Over France

Italy defeated France in the World Cup today 5-4 in penalty kicks. All non-soccer fans can now enjoy the next 3 years and 11 months. The thing that gets me about soccer and penalty kicks is that the goalie has almost no chance of blocking the shot. The goal is huge, they can't come off the line till contact, and the ball is too close for these superfoot atheletes. The only reason France lost was that one of their shooter's hit the crossbar. The Italian goalie jumped the opposite way, so it wasn't like he made a great save or anything. In all, the World Cup champioship match between Italy and France was just okay. If Zidane didn't get the red card for headbutting an Ital in the chest, maybe the PK's would have been different.

One final comment on soccer players - You guys are a bunch of sissies. I've never seen so many cry-baby, flopping, beg for whistle chumps since I watched a dook basketball game. Man up and stop falling down every time someone runs by you or brushes up against your shoulder. Pansies, everyone on you that flop. Play like a man, or go back to your doll collections.

Slow Drivers Make Me Insane

I know it says speed "limit" but who doesn't drive at that speed? I'll tell you who - People from Washington State. Now, I'm from the South, where people say we are slow, but hell no we aren't this slow. I've never been anywhere where the majority of drivers refuse to come close to the speed limit. I've been on the highway where the speed limit is 60 and people are doing 45. 45!!! So frustrating.