I've been a certified professional geek for six months now (six months!), and yesterday was officially my first appearance of work-related, at-home stress. Maybe the first. I'm not sure, but I definitely spent time last night thinking about today. And work. And its related stresses.

The plan was, of course, to get a full night's sleep, but that was foiled by conversation with a former baseball colleague - even a week before Opening Day, 'the next job' is always top of mind - and my desire to read the Baseball Prospectus previews of the Royals and the Rockies. Suffice to say, I've dug pretty deeply into the book. It makes me happy.

So, of course, I didn't get a full night's sleep. Lights off by 1 or so. Amazingly, I was then awake before my alarm which happens, like, never. In fact, I think it's never actually happened. The alarm goes off at 6, I get up by 6:50, usually, which is as inefficient and as silly as it sounds. No roommates anymore, after all.

Well, my first wake-up came at 5:38, I believe it was, which was just insane. I was able to turn off the various alarms - The Strokes on the reliable CD clock radio, E2V1 on the iPod, and local news on the TV - enough so that I successfully avoided waking up until 6:40. But out of the house and into the maelstrom at 7:12.

Suffice to say, of course, it went well. And I didn't really have that much of a role, when it comes down to it. Mostly an observer. Mostly sitting in the corner looking pretty, which is worth something. And I'm certainly good at it. But the conclusion was that, in this case, I'm pretty good at what I do. Then again, most everyone's pretty good at this - it's not that tough. Shh.

Cryptic, too.

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Friends, I've officially seen the last of the R/DS. Greener pastures for the R/DS. And he's bad. But he's off to greener pastures and, to be honest, I'm a bit happy for him. Presumptuously, I contacted the ballclub on someone else's behalf - I'm also not interested in getting back in that game, and I let them know.

Last year, there was a brief, fleeting moment where a Double-A 'foot in the door'-type opening came available. A lot of studio work, a little on air work, mostly grunt work for little pay. But Double-A, after all. It was about two weeks before my season in The Ring Fingernail was to start.

I pounced on it, I had a few people make calls for me, and I was one of two people considered for the job. I was pretty excited about it. In the end, though, they took the local guy, and not the guy who would've accepted the job on Sunday morning, driven 14 hours starting Sunday afternoon, and started work Monday morning. (Bonus! The route is through Canada.)

(In fact, I've just looked through my old email regarding the position. It opened on a Friday, about 3 p.m. I called my dad. He called a contact of his, a father of a player, who sent a glowing email. I called my friend in the league. I looked up possible apartments and roommate situations. I emailed my former boss in The Port. I had to work until about 11 or so that night, as we were about two weeks from opening a new ballpark. I sent an email Saturday at 12:04 a.m. I was my typical presumptuous self, though it was justified in this case. I mentioned that the club up here had 'knowledge of my intent to seek other employment if I find better opportunities,' which was kind of the truth. I sent at 12:04 a.m. on a Saturday morning. I closed with the sentence, 'I have no lease [here] and nothing tying me to the area, and I would be able to arrive [there] by Monday's off day.' I got a "No Thanks" call at the laundromat on Sunday. Sigh.)

Flash forward two months, and the individual who did the hiring regrets his decision - "Dude, I should've brought your guy in" - he says to my former colleague, his current colleague. (I learned this yesterday.)

Flash forward four months from there, and the individual who did the hiring decides he's had enough of the business - a decade-plus with the team, after all. His replacement? The guy who did the number two work last year.

Point is, had I been the guy last year, I'd be The Guy for a Double-A club this year. Amazing how it works out. In conversation about this last night, I couldn't decide whether I wished it had turned out differently, whether I wished I were preparing for a season right now. I think I kind of wish that I was getting ready to call a game eight days from now.

But then, I think about the sunset last night. And I think about the fact that there are about 180 more of them coming this beautiful, beautiful summer. And I think about the Harper Beach Bash in three months. Seriously, I thought about that. And I'm pretty excited about not having a season to get ready for.

And then I think that I'd've been two steps from the Big Leagues, and that I'd be seeing guys getting promoted directly The Show, and I'm just not sure.

Hmmm.

But, nope, no interest in the broadcasting job in The Ring Fingernail.

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Speaking of sitting in the corner looking pretty (earlier in the post), I've got a full beard at this point. It's some shade of badass. It was trimmed at Supercuts, or some other such location, a few weeks ago. It's an odd sensation, having a beard trimmed. I've taken to maintaining it with scissors. Less than ideal, but pretty cool. About a weekly scissors-cut. I've also decided that I'll start cutting my own hair.

I read in Newsweek a few months ago that Clooney cuts his own hair. Why not me? (My lack of motor skills.)

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Who'd've thought that Mark Prior would fail to make a big league roster in deference to Wade Miller? Pretty amazing, though unavoidable.

Are the Cubs any good this year?

I think Lilly's a good signing. Soriano'll be great, at least at the plate. DeRosa won't be great, anywhere. Nor will Theriot, if he's really the starter. Nor will Izturis. The way I see it, they're above average in center and at the infield corners. Barrett's a shade above average. The three corner outfielders are net below average, I'd say. The number one starter's an ace. I'm less-than-thrilled with Lilly as a potential number two, though kind of okay with it, and don't think Marquis should be counted on to be a number three. But Hill's a potential ace (older than Prior, by the way). Miller? Eh. Dempster's a joke, but the guys in front of him (Cotts, Howry, Eyre) aren't.

This is kind of off the top of my head, and I've not really thought about it much, but I guess the roster's good enough to be competitive in the division. St. Louis is in flux, Houston is old, Cincinnati's not much, Pittsburgh's bad (sigh, still), and Milwaukee's on the upswing. They got rid of Doug Davis, though, and I love Doug Davis.

I'll watch the box scores and listen to Pat and Ron and make my judgments by the end of April. There's not much to be excited for, but that's the case with the teams they're competing with, too. Though the Cards are coming of a World Series, so that's kind of exciting.

Remember last year, when people were excited about Juan Pierre? Juan Pierre! Ha!

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Gosh, I'm listening to 69 Love Songs. It's so good.