Wednesday (Finalized on Thursday)

Looks like the worst of the heat wave has passed us by.  Pretty strong showers yesterday afternoon seemed to break the spell. Still warm, but not oppressive like it was Sunday and Monday.

2 heads out tomorrow for her visit to Beantown to see 3.  Then SRH leaves Friday afternoon for her weekend in the TC with 1.01.  (Let's be frank; she's not going up there to see 1 and 1.1!)  That leaves me with The Winniferous.  And 4 where?

My pal Pete and I have been doing the early morning ride this week.  Same plan again tomorrow.  We leave at 0540 and are done with 19 miles by 0700.  Not a hugely difficult workout, but it definitely gets your body rolling for the day.  I'm going to try to do a couple of longer rides over the weekend.  While The Winniferous naps.

The Second Inning

In a baseball game, the second inning is another part of a feeling-out process.  Usually, the lower part of the line-up didn't get to bat in the first inning, so those hitters have been biding their time, anticipating their first at-bat, trying to coolly and efficiently get into the game.

Pitchers often experiment with their pitches and locations with the lower half of the order that first time through it, and they also get a sense of where the home plate umpire is calling the game. This should all help out in later innings when the game may be on the line.

My second innings in life would be things like sophomore year at ND, my first few months at Dover in the USAF, and maybe the second year of my own business here in the QCA.  None of these were bad times, nor were they really distinguished by major successes.

In the service, they call the passage of time while in a certain rank as time in grade.  They also talk about "putting in your time".  I'm thinking that Second Innings are, in large part, putting in your time.

Second Innings can also be very forgettable.  Here's a sampling of my Most Forgettable Second Innings:

1.  My second busy season with the local CPA firm in Davenport.  Spring 1982.  (Maybe the first one too.)  No recollections at all.  Learned little. Just got acclimated to business in the QCA.

2.  My second car.  Acquired maybe 1965 or 66.  A mid-50's Chrysler Something that Daddy got for me after my 1949 Pontiac died.  (Loved my black Pontiac with the Straight Eight and Hydromatic Drive.)  I killed the Chrysler.  Ran it dry of oil.  Not a pleasant day on the farm.

3.  Playing baseball the Summers after freshman, sophomore and junior years at ND with the Ottumwa Merchants semi-pro team.  I mean, there really wasn't a league, a tournament or any purpose except for some old guys to keep playing the game.  Laudable perhaps, in an Americana sense of things, but uh, why are we playing in Hills, Iowa in 95 degree heat?  (I still will look over at the field whenever I drive through Hills. Actually, they have a bike ride there that I might sign-up for this Summer.)

4.  My Master's in Taxation from DePaul.  OK.  It looks nice on the resume.  (Actually, my resume is now of limited (read; near zero) usefulness.  This Master's degree, in a very technical, and admittedly constantly changing field, was acquired 30 years ago!) But I digress.  At the time, I'm sure it was a nice thing to have and to be able to affirm that yes, I was keeping up with all of the other tax nerds.  Whatever.

5.  Riding the commuter train in C-town.  OK.  This is a bit complicated.  It was a choice at the time that seemed logical.  The years in Chicago, collectively, were good for us.  And taken within the context of a life's time line, those last three years were definitely early innings for LtPC.  But the commuting by itself was a generally forgettable experience.  True, my studying for the CPA exam and the Tax Master's degree was largely completed on the train, but those benefits pale in comparison to the torture of a daily 90 minute one-way commute.
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So I really don't have another five points here.  Which remains true to my earlier statement that this exercise was not going to be a series of Top Ten lists.
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Two of the sports that I follow, NASCAR and cycling, also have elements of their regular competitions that fall within the "putting in your time" category.  These sports both have races that are commonly several hours long and cover relatively lengthy distances.  Laps and segments after whatever might be called the opening of the race are often competed with only modest posturing. The experienced racers know that the key to winning is getting through the larger part of the race unscathed and then be in a position to go for the gold when the laps are few and there's business to be done.

I'll leave to Dr. Phil and Dr. Laura the psychology of The Second Inning as it might apply to relationships.  That night I had the conversation with Dr. Phil at the bar convinced me that folks in that trade can't tell you what game it is, let alone the inning.

Which reminds me, I need to book a ticket to PHX.

Sorry my Second Inning thoughts were/are not more entertaining.  The Second Inning usually isn't.

Have a great holiday.

BCOT