well, since the comments bar seems to be bustling with excitement, i'd like to tell you a story, "rud goes to des moines."

it starts Monday, 10:00 a.m.

10 - Rud wakes up, immediately does laundry
1045 - with clothing in the dryer, Rud goes for a walk
1140 - Rud gets stuff out of the dryer, and folds
1230 - Rud eats some beef and beans and rice and tabasco
1245 - Rud begins to pack, both for the trip to Des Moines and for the trip to Appleton (where I currently report from)
120 - Rud considers the three-hour drive to Des Moines, and considers that check-in time is at 3:00, and considers that he'll see nobody important tonight at all on Monday night, and considers that PTI starts at 420, and Rud decides to leave without showering

418 - Rud arrives in Des Moines. Fills up the tank. Gets the car washed. (Might as well.) Price tag - $33. Rud checks in...and misses the first segment of PTI. Sigh.
500 - Rud reads USA Today (pronounced OO-sa-TAH-dy) because he loves getting stupider at hotels.
630 - Rud begins studying, using wireless internet, the local pizza places. He has decided not to eat at the hotel restaurant - too pricey. He calls a local chain - Paul Revere's - and orders a pepperoni (sp?) and pineapple pizza. Later, Rud will be unimpressed with the pizza - not enough sauce.
700 - Rud listens to the radio broadcast, while 'scoring at home.' The thought is that this will help Rud tomorrow. It won't. Rud also 'scores at home' the entire previous series.
1030 - Rud does some ironing, and that's about it. Rud sleeps at 1230 or so.

Because this was neither funny nor interesting, I'll summarize Tuesday and Wednesday in sentence form.

On Tuesday, I arrived 9ish, to see that my contact was not yet there. He showed up at about 915, and we went on the tour. I met several people, including the GM and owner, and confirmed that there would not be a quiz at the end. By 1030, after a stadium tour, I was in the radio booth with nothing to do. So I did some studying and reading and things of that nature, not really understanding that reading and studying is really no way to learn about a team. (There's really no way, it turns out.) Number one guy arrived at about 330 - it had been a long travel day, beginning at 7 am and ending when they arrived at about 200 - and he was not unpleasant, but certainly was also not happy to see me. We made some unsubstantial small talk, and he quickly disappeared to do other things. I remained in the booth, doing some studying [I had only recently realized that the ICubs and Oklahomas had met earlier, so I was updating myself on that series], until he arrived back in the booth at 6. Did you get anything to eat? Nope. Oh, it's outside. Again, not cold, but not pleasant or helpful. But, then again, maybe I wasn't eager enough.

The broadcast itself left me a bit unfulfilled. I did starting lineups in the pregame, did some commercial reads, did some color during the first three and the last three, and did play by play during the middle three. I was not knowledgable, and didn't feel like I could really help out. Worse, number one didn't really want to educate or make small talk or anything, so it was a struggle.

Still, my dad called afterwards and said he was proud of me. I thanked him, said it went "okay, not great," and moved along.

The highlight was postgame, when I had beers with a former coworker and his wife. We talked shop, and i was impressed with his new life [making actual money, and things of that nature].

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As I am a dramatist, I'm sure you've anticipated that Wednesday was much better.

Although it had a rocky start...Tuesday's game had not been properly recorded, owing to the fact that I couldn't get a proper output from the at-ballpark board. That meant that I had to do some traveling on Wednesday - first to a Wal-Mart (yeah Midwest) to get cassettes for air-check purposes and then to the radio station, about 30 minutes away from downtown Des Moines. Expected Round Trip time - about 58 minutes. Actual Rud time - About 2 hours. Hey - I couldn't find the interstate...although my tribulations helped me find the interstate after the game.

Anyway, I returned to the hotel - after all, I would only study at the ballpark - and did some cleaning up and repacking and things of that nature. I returned to the ballpark about 1215, shortly after check-out time.

number one broadcaster arrived about 2. (he's a salesman in the offseason, and basically a radio guy only in-season.) i got to ask broadcast- and career history-related questions of him. he was happier to talk to me, although we still weren't best buddies. i stopped by to say hello to the visiting number one broadcaster, and we got in an oddly long conversation. about his history [i had studied his bio - knew he was a chicago-based youngster who started his career calling horse races...i prepared my somewhat-falsified arlington park stories in anticipation of this small talk] and his equipment and his ballclub and things like that. probably 25 minutes worth.

then i joined number one to go do his interview. [i studied his techniques and watched and those things.] met the great ben grieve, who had walked-off the previous night. then we returned to the press box, where the food was...sonic cheeseburgers. just about the worst press box food ever.

broadcast was very very good. there was some chemistry there. he was happy to discuss his techniques on pitch counts and things like that. we talked about some of the terminology he uses. i think he liked me a bit more wednesday than tuesday. [the only downside? when i asked what i could work on, he said... "well, i think you do a nice job. you say the score a lot. that's what really matters." that's the worst, but most common, piece of constructive criticism a broadcaster can get.] and, more importantly, there was some chemistry. [however, late in the game, i brought up a good piece of uniform-related silliness, and he didn't pick up the joke and run with it.]

my play by play was also good. i nailed a ben grieve home run call. i did fairly well on a calvin murray [!] home run call. generally, the play by play was good.

in my final inning, the team's owner came into the booth for what would become a long, long [seven-run] side of the sixth. the owner, who i had met briefly before, is a fairly influential iowan and also a certified good [and an extremely nice man]. i made at least two jokes, and my parents thought i nailed 'em both. the first one, based on the clothing being worn by mr. owner, got a strong response when i sarcastically said he 'immediately becomes the best-dressed man in the booth.' came out better on-air.

the second one, the main cubs guy was talking about the owner [name withheld to avoid looking silly if he googles himself and comes across this drivel]. and he was talking about his statewide influence. and then number one says, "i'm sure you've read about [name withheld] and seen his picture plenty of times in the papers in the quad cities..." and i responded "not nearly enough." ba-boom!

as the postgame was beginning [i had only a minute role in the postgame], i saw the owner heading off for the night. i jumped out to the booth to shake his hand and say thank you. it was really a nice conversation...he said, "you're very good. come back any time."

[i was thinking that i've only twice heard my current boss say that i'm very good, and it's both times followed by the words, "but we just don't have it in the budget for this year..."]

long story short [failed already]: i left happy. i left without a job offer. but with an invitation to return. and, again, pretty happy.

i also left with at least one more new contact [visiting radio guy] with whom i had a bit of friendly chemistry and who has already indicated that he'd like to bring out a number two. that means two potential openings down the line. and, more importantly, two openings for which i'd have the 'inside track.'

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i nearly missed the bus thursday morning. [i left the office at 3 a.m., repacked for the current road trip by 4, and woke up at 710 for my 730 bus. i'm usually on the bus by 715, and at the ballpark by 645.] i didn't shower, but i did make it. thursday was rough, especially because i had to watch - on about 3 hours of actual sleep - a nine-inning, 3:30, 16-15 game in which my club allowed six runs in the bottom of the ninth inning. today, friday, was also rough, but i made it through.

what's left for the des moines trip - i have to write and mail out thank you cards to the four people i met. i'm doing that when i'm done blogging. i also have to figure out a time to suggest that i should do it again...i've got a pair of off days in august, and they're home then, so i'll probably call at the beginning of auguest to try to make it happen.

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i've been listening to the streets - both records - a lot lately. that shit is really, really good. really good. and this is no cody chesnuTT - it's actually really really good, and i'm loving it with good reason. i'd highly recommend that you check it out, if you haven't. if you're a downloader, i'd strongly recommend "blinded by the lights," "dry your eyes," and "fit but you know it" from a grand don't come for free [which, it turns out, reached number 82 on the billboard 200], and "stay positive," [sort of] "the irony of it all," "don't mug yourself" and "geezers need excitement," among others, from originaly pirate material. totally badass stuff.

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haaaaaahper has joined the blogosphere, which is fantastic. freakin' didi is the only e2er left. we'll get her soon.

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i'm not a caffeine addict, but i did eat my plain instant oatmeal with cinammon and water and coffee tonight. wow. i'm done.