Minor League Shenanigans

Minor league baseball is just not meant to have a huge following. Who really wants to watch players that just don't have what it takes to play in the major league of any sport. That's why they have a never ending array of stunts, gimmicks, and random ploys to bring in fans along with well-priced food and beer. Okay, so it really can be a good time, but the extra incentives are still vital for people to be interested.

Coming soon to the home of the Gastonia Grizzlies (of the collegiate wood-bat summer Coastal Plain League...if i say so)  just down the road is none other than the first player to ever hit 40 home runs and steal 40 bases in a single season....Jose Conseco. Not only will he be there for a meet and greet VIP hang out session with all you can eat and drink, you can also participate in a softball Home Run Derby! Sounds pretty sweet. All of that for just $50. If you make the finals, you will get a chance to hit after Jose Conseco. You could be his next Bash Brother or maybe just a Roid Relative. Maybe he'll sign the picture of his infamous ball off his head home run. Fortunately for him, i pretty much stopped watching baseball when he was still on the A's so i'd still be impressed to see him.


Other fun minor league fun...

• Human Home Run - man will be shot from cannon from home over the fence after the baseball game. It sounds pretty cool, plus i've never actually witnessed someone's death. 

• "Jose Canseco Juice Box Night—Jose Canseco finished his tarnished career with the Long Beach Armada and long time rivals Fullerton Flyers. The Flyers gave 500 boxes of juice away when Canseco came to town, mocking the release of Canseco's book, Juiced. "

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Thanks be to Mint

i use two credit cards on a regular basis. Basically so it doesn't appear quite as large because it is divided on two bills. i always hear about those scams where bad guys charge small amounts to people's credit cards unknowingly. Geniuses. Just $1 to 100,000 credit cards is a decent payday. Do it once a month and life is good...until you get sent to federal pound-me-in-the-ass prison.
Despite my knowledge of these potential fraudulent activities, i typically don't peruse my statements too intently on a regular basis.  Every once in awhile, i go through them using the Mint app on the iPhone. In doing so this past week i noticed two charges from Buy.com on the same day at the end of December. i order so many random unnecessary items from so many different places online, it's hard to keep track. However, i would remember two purchases the same day from the same company. After not finding any order history through Buy.com...apparently i don't even have an account. That's what they get for making it so damn easy to use other payers (paypal, google, even amazon).
So to Paypal i went where i found the two payments for the same item. If you must know, it was a 12-month Xbox Live card. i still have no clue why they got paid twice, maybe there was confusion since i purchased the item from Buy.com via Ebay using Paypal. After just one email to Buy.com, they apologized and said they saw both charges but only had one linked to any purchase. i guess they thought i was trying to get in my charitable donations at the end of the year. Either way, they told me they would refund the money. i was very satisfied with their speedy response to my concern. So no hard feelings. Moral of the story...you should be using Mint to monitor your financial well-being.
i suppose i should probably keep an eye on my statement to see if i ever actually get my refund. 

Incredible and Edible.

In an attempt to make some sort of breakfast the other morning, i came across two easy recipes. The easier or the easiest (which is in turn the easiest of them all) was the Breakfast Burrito. It gives me an easy way to use up some additional taco shells that are leftover from taco night and a super easy breakfast that isn't cereal. You can click the link for the official directions, but basically you just:
1. Put a paper towel in a cereal bowl
2. Put your taco shell on top of paper towel
3. Break egg into taco shell (*hardest step)
4. Gently fork it up a bit
5. Microwave for 30 seconds
6. Fork it up some more
7. Microwave an additional 15 to 30 seconds
8. Remove from microwave
9. Lift by holding paper towel and set on counter
10. Add salsa, cheese, whatever.
11. Fold it up.
12. Enjoy.