Random Thoughts And Musings For The Blog's 6th Anniversary

April has been the month for milestones on this blog. I wrote my 300th Haiku, as well as my 1,000th post. Now we've reached the 6th anniversary of Diamond Jesters! I didn't have anything really special planned for today, so I'm just going to throw out some randomness, mostly hobby related, although not all sports-related.

 

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I'm going to start off on a little bit of a downer, but I have an overall positive message stemming from it, so please bear with me. I've been working in the same small-town computer shop for 16 years. Back in February, my boss suddenly lost his 21 year old son. It was a shock to us all, especially me since I had been with the company so long I saw this individual grow from a kid riding his bike in our parking lot to the independent young man he was becoming. Anyways, at the funeral service a few of his friends spoke of him. The son was very much into online games, and one of his friends mentioned that for the longest time, they never knew what each other looked like, and that it didn't matter as they grew to be great friends virtually. The friendship and support was there, even if they didn't "see" each other. He ended on the point that he didn't need his friend to be physically there to feel his presence in his life, and that presence will always be with him. That struck a chord with me. In the 6 years I've written this blog, I've gotten to know so many of you. We've commented on each other's blogs, traded, and enriched each other lives. Yet, I couldn't pick any of you out of a lineup, and I know only about your lives outside of this hobby from what you've publicly shared on your blogs. Despite having not met any of you in person, know this: I consider each of you a friend, I care about you and your well-being, and I will support you on any path life may take you on. Thank you for your friendship in turn.

 

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On to more happy-happy-joy-joy stuff. Recently I was on the receiving end of a random act of kindness from Greg over at Crocodile Sports. 

 

The Yaz is a thick card, and Trevor Story is even thicker than that. I'm not sure how I feel about these cards. Are they even still "cards"? How thick can you go and still have it be considered a card? The helmet is cool though, but I'm not as impressed with the 70th Anniversary piece. 

Anyways, Thanks a bunch Greg!

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Is anyone else having issues adding new blogs to your Blog List gadget under Blogger? I can click on Layout, select the gadget, scroll down and select Add A New Item. I can fill out the information and save it, but there's no way to close the pop-up window short of closing the browser tab. I go back in, and the new blog isn't there. Anyone else? Just me? Cool...

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My eldest daughter turned 16 earlier this month, so we drove up to Richmond, VA to see a performance of one of her favorite musicals, "Hamilton". It wasn't Broadway obviously, but it was an incredibly impressive and entertaining performance nonetheless. Even if musicals aren't your cup of tea, it's worth going to if you have a chance.

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We're a month into the baseball season, and my Red Sox are doing OK all things considered. They've been hovering around the .500 mark all season, although that still gets them last place in the talented AL East. They've been entertaining, and I think they have one good hot streak in them that'll put them into playoff conversation.

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Every now and then, I'll read about damaged envelopes. Usually the fault of the post office, with some occasional rain dampness or beloved pet shenanigans sprinkled in. I think I have a new one for you. I present to you the artistic 2-year-old:

 

 

Don't worry the cards inside were fine, even if my heart did skip a beat upon finding this on the dining room floor.

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My sincerest thanks to the guy in my fantasy baseball league who dropped Adolis Garcia and allowed me to benefit from his 5-5,3 home run,  8 RBI night. It was the difference maker in a close head-to-head matchup against the leading team in our league. Never drop a healthy Top-100 guy in April...

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I announced a contest during my 1000th post, so we'll end things by announcing our winner! I had a nice round 10 commenters on the post, so I went to random.org and selected a random number between 1 and 10. I did this 6 times (being my 6th anniversary and all) and determined a winner:

 

 

The 8th commenter is our winner! That would be:

 

Congrats Derek! I'll get in contact with you to confirm your address!