I've taken a brief hiatus from posting, much to the dismay of no one (I used to think that was one word, like "noone". That would be a Sileo-ism.) We've been putting in overtime here on the yard to keep up with 95 degree temperatures, only to find out that we just don't care about this yard and the house it sits on. Why, from a guy who's only immediate employment ambition is to mow lawns, would I say that? Our landlords came and removed a garden box over the weekend and stomped all over the vegetables we planted (unknowingly, I hope) without any warning. This would normally not send me into a spiral of general angst, but they Fucked With My Shit. Not the first time, either. Since the snow melted (the Dawning of Spring, I like to call it), we've been feverishly working to establish a fine yard/garden, pouring money into new seed for the grass and plants while performing mind-numbing and back-breaking work weeding the 392 gardens that line our house, only to have them show up and do their own gardening. On top of that, when we dug up the eyesore wildflowers (four of them, which looked like nothing more that weeds with blooms), a condescending message was left with Mandy stating that "it was okay, I guess, that [you] dug them up, I suppose." This contradicts a conversation that we had with them 8 months ago, when we explained our position on gardening and our plans for the coming summer (now). All was fine then, when we had "good ideas" for the yard and its landscaping potential. Now? Trampled strawberries. Fucking awesome.

Here's the deal--if you want to garden someone else's house, even if you own the deed, then you inherit all other lawncare duties and mow my fucking yard, end of story. It's a package deal--don't make me waste gas and engine life on my mower, blower and weed whipper, and you get free reign of the plants. If you don't want to mow, then stay out of our tomato plants. It's that simple. We sacrificed yard space for the kids to run around to make sure that grass would come back from dead spots that they created, and now they're here wasting my time and effort to plot some land that they don't live on anymore, presumably because it's nicer that what they have to deal with at their own house. Pay me for my services, or stay the fuck out of the backyard.

We didn't barbecue on Sunday due to recent weeks of poor turnout--not blaming anybody. We're going to wait a couple of weeks to hopefully drum up interest so we can have a good one again. We'll let everyone know when the next one will happen.

Softball finally resumes this week. We were off last Thursday due to the holiday on Monday, which is stupid because not very many people get Memorial Day Thursday off. Oh well, we haven't been playing all too well anyway, and we probably could use the break. However, I didn't do anyting to better my game with the off time, and I'm going to assume that no one else on the team did, either. So I predict another split this week, with numerous beers consumed. I haven't tried hitting from the left side of the plate yet, because I'm kind of scared. I've never hit left-handed against a live pitcher in a game situation, save for once (base-hit to right). I want to convert, and I know it would be better for my game, but I fear failing at things I'm supposed to be good at, and it would take a couple of weeks to adjust. If we were undefeated, I'd already have 10 ABs in from the left side of the plate, but every game is too close for me to mess around with that.

Still looking for "accounts" with the lawn mowing thing. Flyers coming soon....thinking about a name referring to Saint Paul's gangland heritage, like "Hollyhocks Lawn Care" or "Nina's Lawn Boy". Don't know what I'm talking about? Read this book, which I'm currently reading, and it'll tell you all you need to know about what the Capitol City used to be.