1. My Wife is Missing... no actually in Boston being that cool chick that she is.
2. My new Plate Shoes
3. Running
4. Strobist
The Wife
The let you loyal Ricky weblog fans know that for the remainder of the week I am a bachelor. Without the benefits... not those you sickos. The one of not being lonely. I still have my dogs and work. With my queen gone of doing royal business I am home with the royal jesters doing Man things. Last night for instance, Man Burgers with Tim. Tonight baked Rigatoni with Italian Sausage... I mean Man baked Rigatoni with Italian Sausage, followed by some American Idol (Go Kris Allen), probably NCIS, some PS3 and finalizing my umpire clinic we are putting on here for the Lane County Umpires' Association Saturday at Willamette. The next days will be filled with boys (Friday) and girls (saturday) basketball and Umpire training. Then I will anxiously await my wifeys arrival.
Plate Shoes
This is my first official unofficial review of a product. Let it be known. The Reebok Field Magistrate Plate Shoe. Reebok tested the product with several MLB umpires and the review went well. The shoes were put on the market for this spring.
I have worn the New Balance shoes for both plate and bases for the last 4 years and really have liked them. Howevert there was a tear (my fault) and I needed to replace. I put in an order to Jim Kirk at UmpAttire.com and he put me in a pair of mid cut plate shoes (They come in both low and mid cut). First right out of the box I liked the look. I'm not a patent leather guy so these appealed to me right off. There is a shine to them similar to the NB shoes so they look like they will shine well. There is an awful lot of white on them due to the large logo. Many old school umpires may balk at that (punn intended) because they want all black. I think it looks good. Well how about polish? Actually majority of the black around the logo is synthetic suede and should not need polished.
I ordered them in a 4E width due to needed some width. That is what turned me on to the NB years ago first having that option. I know the option to go wider is a plus for many guys dawning the mask.
Comfort? Yep, I like em. Plenty of room in the toe box and a nice feel. Granted I need a few bout behind the dish to really test them out. I'll post on that for sure
Design seems good. Nice extra wide guard for the entire fore foot and the steel toe to keep those toes safe. I also like the small aggressive molded turf soles to keep you with great traction (quite helpful in Oregon). There is an extra padded tongue, antimicrobial footbed and some moisture wicking properties.
Again I'll give it ago this season and let you all know how I like it. From foresight it looks good
Running
Well I finally caved in. I live in Eugene (Track Town USA) and decided to given running a try. I have always hated running with a passion. I hurts and doesn't feel good... until now! The back track a bit I umpired a Scrimmage game for the University of Oregon Ducks on Presidents' Day and had a great time. But I never had felt more out of shape. I decided if I am 26 and feel this bad doing one of my favorite things it's time to do something. Sure I like to workout. Break a sweat on the eliptical and lift some weights but thats it. Last friday after a brisk workout on the eliptical I got on the treadmill. 8 minutes and .5 mile later I was feeling like crap. Man I am out of shape. But if it is this hard and I feel this bad I decided to give it a try. This has been the 4th day this week of running, 5 total, and I have bumped up to nearly 2 miles per run. I even stopped today b/c I was out of time. I actually could have kept going. So long story short I'm going to do it. Hey maybe I'll become a better husband from it. Not sure how but Billie Jo may be the only person to read this this anyways so figure I'd write it.
Strobist
Great blog site. Teaches you all about shooting (photos) with a off camera flash(es). I really like this style of photos. So if you get a chance go to http://strobist.blogspot.com/and check it out. Has great info how to do it. I just need to get the equipment to do it. Along with that the money to buy a flash and the remote sensors to shoot them off camera. Any ways thanks for reading and hopefully I'll post some new pictures later tonight.
