JUL 26

2025

Saturday: today included a big break in our usual Saturday routines, as we had tickets to see the Savannah Bananas perform, and Julie and Steve wanted to get merch in the morning before the lines got long. I drove us over, and both Julie and I purchased shirts. (Steve bought a hat.) We proceeeded next to Taco Bell and Acme, where we did our normal Saturday shopping, after which I brought us back home to put the groceries away. We had a little bit of relaxation before it was time to go out again for the game. We walked south on Broad to meet up with Emily, but it turned out that neither Steve nor Mike would be arriving for more than an hour after us. We strolled the merch stands, and I took some photos of them with one of the Texas Tailgaters players, though we didn't get his name.

The guys eventually showed up, and Julie was able to present their tickets so they could get into Citizens Bank Park. The five of us headed up to the stage to watch the pregame entertainment; the games reminded me a lot of the evening entertainment on our cruise. The place was starting to get really packed, and how hot it was (and how much standing we were doing), I started to get pretty eager for us to find our seats. When the gates finally opened, we circumnavigated the stadium, stopping only to take pictures of the limited time only stands offering The Banana Dog: a banana on "a Caramelized New England Roll with Whipped Toppings, Fresh Sliced Strawberries and Hershey's Syrup."

Once our group was seated, Julie and I got back up to get refreshments, which in our case meant a tub of popcorn and a diet cola to go with our bottles of water. The show soon started, and it was chaos. It seemed like they couldn't get through an inning without a baby race, or a banana-throwing contest, or a stadium-wide sing-off, or a choreographed musical number. One player batted on a unicycle; another pitched on stilts. One guy was dressed up like a super hero; another was decked out in stuntman attire and dozens of necklaces. One of the players specialized in balancing things on his face: a baseball bat; a bigger baseball bat; random hats from the audience; a 10-foot ladder. The rules of the game were tweaked to minimize downtime and maximize drama; teams could score at most one point per inning until the 9th, and the game ended after 9 innings or two hours, whichever came first. If fans caught a foul ball, it counted as an out. There was an entire rule about a special overtime process in the event of a tie, and I wondered if they'd be playing so as to maximize that possibility, but in the 9th inning after two outs, a Bananas outfielder caught a fly ball to secure their victory. It was the guy dressed up like a superhero.

After the game, we ended up getting separated for a bit, but eventually our group reunited and walked to a bar. I thought we were planning to go to Philadium, but we ended up at SouthHouse instead, where they were having incredibly loud karaoke. Julie and I were hungry since we had only eaten popcorn since lunch, so we ordered food, and I requested that we eat outside; Steve joined Julie and I for the meal. I enjoyed my SouthHouse burger, but the cider I had was unremarkable. Eventually we finished our meals and made our way home, where we marveled at how sunburned we both were before taking showers and going to bed.

2024

Friday: in the morning, I started a load of laundry, and once my clothes could be moved to the dryer, we left for the day. Julie drove us to a Freddie's Frozen Custard south of the city for lunch. Seeing the Dr Pepper dispenser, I told her that this one week felt like an oasis in the desert. We were again unable to enjoy the fry seasoning they used to put out, but they had both their seasoning and fry sauce for sale to take home, if we'd been inclined. (When Pizza Hut stopped carrying sunflower seeds at their salad bar, I kept a container in my car that I'd bring with me on my lunch break. If there were a Freddie's close enough that we could visit more than once a year, I'd have done the same with their seasoning.)

After lunch, we went to Denise and Larry's house, and I got to meet their dogs (Stella, Newman, and Nina). We talked on the chairs in their garage until Julie's other coworker Emily showed up, at which point I set up the Kubb set in their yard. I ended the first game prematurely by knocking over the king, but our second game went so long that we hadn't finished by the time the grilled cheesesteaks were ready. Larry blasted a variety of 80s and 90s pop hits as we ate more than our fill of birthday brownie and cookies. I drove us home, where Julie concluded that she might not be able to handle much alcohol, any more. For my part, I fell asleep in the living room with the cats, but after I woke up, I came into the office to post this update.

2023

Wednesday: up far too early for how late I was awake. I had to get to my specialist appointment. I was fine to drive, but as is often the case on Broad St, I found myself in the wrong lane and had to do a lap to get back on-track. From there, I drove to the Acme on Passyunk to pick up my prescription, though I did get stuck behind the garbage trucks. Had to waste some time at Acme before the Rx was ready, so by the time I got home, it was almost 11.

I watched some of the TITANS prerelease theorycrafting streams before my shift. Seems like the DK decks I was excited by are already popular, though I'll find a way to deviate from the optimal list somehow. Work itself was good, since I was working on my project, and the follow-ups from yesterday went about as well as I could hope. More salad for dinner.

Julie met up with a friend for margaritas, and we had plans to go to Ray's Birthday Bar to celebrate at midnight, but exhaustion caught up to us before we could. I just played with the cats and posted this update before bed.