Me and Raul Senior

This past weekend was one of the most fun I have had in a long time. My dad came into town to retrieve the BEAST of a truck I've been borrowing to move apartments. That was his cover anyway. He was really here to see Texas beat the crap out of Missouri. We even went to a tailgate before the game. He watched me down like 48 ounces of coors light in about as many minutes. He looked worried until I reminded him that you didn't have to be sober to ride a rickshaw halfway across downtown Austin. At any rate, we made it to the game and our seats without incident.

That's when I learned that there are two versions of almost every UT longhorn cheer. This was my first time sitting in the non-student section. I don't which cheers are the originals, and which ones evolved out of necessity, but lets just say that they both get the job done. From our seats we also had a clear view of Bevo 14, the most beloved walking piece of steak in all of Texas I think. Actually i have been informed that Longhorn meat is rather tough and not used by butchers. Did you know that? The game wasn't even close. I think it was like 35-0 in the fist half. I was enjoying my pretzel too much to care about the bet I (unwisely) made on the spread.

It reminded me of when I was a kid, and I would look forward to Rangers games almost completely because of the food. Seriously, when you were like 8 or 10 years old, weren't you excited about a place that had nachos, hot dogs, M&Ms, ice cream, cotton candy, pretzels, peanuts and corndogs. ALL IN ONE PLACE! It wasn't like I could get everything... it was just the selection that was overwhelming. I don't know how many stolen bases or diving catches I missed because of a mouthful of hot dog. I'll tell you what I never missed though. Homeruns and foul balls. Why? Because I was terrified of getting hit by one. Everytime we went to a game I was sure the day had come for Rafael Palmeiro to hit the one-that-was-coming-for-my-nose. I realize now what an irrational fear it was, but I was just a kid. Plus I saw a guy get nailed by a foul ball at Fenway once. They had something like a bed sheet behind the plate. At Fenway, no one was safe.

My dad and I spent Sunday getting the washer and dryer loaded into his truck to take back to Dallas. The dryer was easy, but the washer was no joke. I don't know if front-end loaders weigh more than top-loaders do, but this thing put my table saw to shame. I guess it didn't help that the Toyota's tailgate was a good 4 feet off the ground, but eventually we managed to flip the appliance into the truck bed. My hat is off to the guys that deliver those things daily. I have to admit it was hard watching the truck get loaded up with pieces of my past, but I guess the new apartment just has no room for those kinds of things. The hardest part was watching my old man leave. It was nice to have him here, even if just for a few days.