Randoms On My Mind
Virginia Tech ripped us off on football ticket shipping this year. For the past two seasons, tickets had been delivered FedEx 2-Day Air: quick to arrive, and easy to pick up after hours for those of us with jobs. This year, they charged us the same $15 for shipping, but chose UPS Ground instead and took a profit on the remainder of the money we paid. Result: tickets arrive 4 days later, and after their driver misses you at 11 AM, you have to throw a small tantrum over the phone to get them to take it off the truck at the depot so you can pick it up that night. If you think I’ve got experience with this, you’re right!
Disappointing news of the day: [Daryl][http://d103.com/] is calling it quits at D103.com as of the end of this month. I understand completely his not having the time to make it as good as he wants it to, as I’ve felt that way about BTN several times in the past year. A big complication for him is that, as a professional writer, a half-heartedly written blog could damage his professional reputation. For me, it’s simply a reflection of my priorities moving elsewhere; unless I do something deliberately stupid to poison my name on a Google search or start talking about work, the embarrassment of a poor effort is confined to the five or six of you that read regularly despite my slacking.
Speaking of other priorities, of the ten Nationals games I’ve attended since the beginning of June, the mediocre-at-best Tony Armas Jr. started 5 of them, including four in a row. Guess who’s starting tomorrow night?
The commuter’s dilemma: If I leave for work at 8:10 AM, I arrive approximately 9:05 AM. An 8-hour workday with lunch at my desk yields departure at 5:05 PM and return home around 6:10 PM, for a 10-hour day all-in. If I could arrive at work at 10, I would leave home about 9:20, leave the office at 6 PM and return home by 6:40 PM, for a 9:20 day. Unfortunately, this isn’t acceptable. What would be OK would be a 7 AM departure, arrive work 7:45, leave work 3:45 and return home 4:30 for nine-and-a-half hours total. But getting up at 6:15 really sucks.
The ticket market for Thursday night games in Blacksburg can be a little soft, as Tech fans occasionally have trouble getting time off work and making the drive southwest. So logically, the market for the Hokies’ Thursday night game at Maryland, only an hour’s Metro ride away from those of us in NoVA, is going through the roof, getting north of $75/seat. Maryland season tickets are only $155. Conclusion: I am now a Maryland season ticket holder and part-time ticket broker.
Towing companies: legalized auto theft. That is all.
22 August 2005 / 0 Comments / Tags: life, football, baseball, nova