Mental Health Day 2

Last week's Monday Mental Health Day went so well that I've continued it this week and hope to continue it for, at least, the next 4 weeks. This week was the week we had been planning (in our heads) since January to be in Baltimore, relaxing, pigging out on all things crab and catching the Mets at Camden Yards. But, since my job security is STILL in limbo, we're home instead. So I'm taking those 5 days and using them for Mental Health Mondays.

Speaking of my Mets, what a weekend. After Friday night's game, I really thought I could never watch a game again. Seriously. In all the years of ups and downs (many downs), I've stuck with them. But Friday night almost pushed me over the edge. And really, they actually played a pretty good game; it was just that one guy who threw it away in the bottom of the ninth, 2 outs, Mets leading 8-7, and a routine pop-up, courtesy of A-Rod, DROPPED by our 2nd baseman, Yankees score and win 9-8. However, by Saturday, I was over it and actually felt bad for Mr Castillo. My next door neighbor, a Skankee fan, suggested that I might want to take down my Mets' flag, but, as you can see, it's still fluttering in the breeze at the front of our house. Also, Metstradamus never fails to make me laugh and his take on Friday night was no exception. Check out his post from Saturday for a good giggle.

In other big news, I got tickets to see McCartney at Citifield on July 17!!! Tickets were only available through the Mets ticket office and let me tell you, they could teach Ticket-Scheister a thing or two. Tickets went on sale at 10AM; I went online and had my tickets by 10:15AM. No getting booted off, no server going down, just "got in line" and got my tix. Very, very excited.

I've been annoyed with myself for not keeping the blog updated as usual, but I've truly been extremely tired by the time I've gotten home from work lately. I have the Epstein-Barr virus, which causes Chronic Fatigue. And it seems to be getting the better of me lately. This only started about 2 years ago and I've learned there's a big difference between being tired and being fatigued. When that fatigue hits, I feel like I have weights on my legs; I can hardly lift them. It's an effort to even move. Raising my arms over my head takes all my strength to do. And you can sleep 8-10 hours straight and still be exhausted when you wake up. It's starting to really interfere with my everyday life. For instance, those McCartney tickets. I pray to God that I'm not having an episode at that time. It's rough because I still want to make plans to do things, but I never know how I'm going to feel. And it's a hard thing for people to understand unless they've experienced it. I mean, we all get tired, but this is beyond tired.

Believe it or not, I've finally learned to download pix from my camera to my Mac. I've always relied on the LSH for all my technical needs :). So, now, who knows what photos are going to pop up here? Stay tuned!

One Happy Jersey Girl

The LSH was full of surprises today.  He managed to score 2 tickets to one of the Springsteen concerts at Giants Stadium in the fall.  Bruce & the band are doing the last concerts ever at Giants Stadium, as it's going to be torn down after this season.  It's only fitting that Bruce & the gang be the final act, as they hold the record in concert attendance (56 sold-out concerts, not including the shows this fall) at the Meadowlands, the entertainment/sports complex that includes Giants Stadium and the Izod Center.  

A few weeks ago, we received an invite to a party on June 20, which happens to be my birthday.

I assumed we would be going, so I was going to RSVP.  But the LSH said "I was going to surprise you.  I got tickets to see the Mets on that day."  Yippee!  Now, I just have to decide what I'm going to have to eat at the ballpark that day,  a Shackburger, the best burger we've ever had, from Danny Meyers' Shake Shack, or the taco platter from the Taqueria, or maybe some ribs from Blue Smoke. No matter what I have, I have to save room for this from Mama's of Corona:

A Good Wife Supports Her Husband (And Her Team)

Because my wonderful husband cannot tell a lie, we're going to the Mets-Nats game on the 25th!
We were invited to something on the 25th. It was related to an organization the LSH belongs to. He really didn't want to go (I didn't either, but would have if he wanted). He didn't want to come right out and tell them we didn't want to come, but he didn't want to lie either. So he said to me "Aren't the Mets playing?" Well, you don't have to ask me twice. I immediately went onlne and, lo and behold, the Mets are home. So, although I said I was going to try and hold off buying tickets early on, I couldn't let the LSH lie. What kind of wife would I be?
Also, the Mets' ticket office is trying to wear me down. They keep sending me emails with special offers. It's nice to be wanted.

5 Star Stadium

i LOVE CITIFIELD!! I know there are fans out there complaining you can't buy beer in plastic bottles anymore or that they hate that the security people are wearing red jackets (yes, these are real complaints posted on the Mets.com message board)! From the increased legroom to all the dining options to the large concourses to the.....well, I could go on and on. But the one thing no one could control was the weather. It was SOOOO COLD! Gusts of 50 miles an hour of cold wind. We thought we were dressed for the cold (except I forgot gloves, but I now own a pair of black gloves with an orange Mets logo on the wrist; tres chic).
We left after the 6th inning, something I would NEVER do during a regular season game, but the cold and the fact that the Mets were losing 7-1 (final score 9-3), made the decision easier.
While walking to the train, we were stopped and interviewed about our reactions to Citifield by NY1 (the "CNN" of NYC and the 5 boroughs). As we live in Jersey, we don't have tv access to it, but I found the news clip on line. My comments were left on the cutting room floor, while they used the LSH's comments (with me standing next to him, wearing the weirdest expression; I have no idea what that was about).
The bad thing about loving Citifield so much is that it's going to make it harder to resist buying tickets to future games. I can see me giving in in the near future and buying some tix. When it comes to baseball and chocolate, I have NO willpower.

Back On My Soapbox

I've written a few posts in the last few weeks about ticket prices and availability and I really thought I had gotten it out of my system. And then I see this picture. It's a photo of a NYC ticket scalper (oh, sorry, ticket broker). The stacks on his desk, as well as on all the desks behind him, are Mets tickets. And not even for the entire season; those tickets are just for April and May, a total of 26 home games. How many tickets do you think are there? I don't know, but it goes into the thousands. And this is just ONE broker; multiply that by God knows how many other brokers/scalpers that are out there.
Someone please explain to me how this is permitted? When we regular guys call or go on line to buy tickets, we are subject to a maximum # of tickets that we can purchase. It's so obvious that deals are being made behind the scenes. How is this allowed to go on? Ex NY Governor Spitzer (or, as he's known to some of the "ladies of the night," Client #9), signed a law, ending limits on how much brokers can charge for a ticket. According to #9, it would make more tickets available. It probably does, just not to the average Joe (or Kathy). And probably not to him either, after Mrs.#9 takes him to the cleaners. Hopefully, for his sake, she'll leave one tv for him, so he can watch the games, sitting at home, like the rest of us.

America's Pastime May be Passed

WARNING - Today's blog is going to be the Jersey Girl ranting again about tickets and prices. So, if you don't want to hear it, please come back tomorrow when I may be in a better mood.
Mets' single game tickets for April & May are going on sale Sunday; however, as a past ticket package holder, I can buy them this week before they open the sale to the public, one of the "benefits" of being a loyal Mets fan.
So I went to the site to check it out. I selected a Saturday arbitrarily just to see what was available and requested the best available. What I got back was 2 seats for $240 EACH! Now I'll admit they were great seats. But, come on. God, add in the cost of the train and some food and you're looking at at least $600. For a game in April. Of course, there are less expensive seats. There are actually 28 different seat categories, starting at $27. (You can guess where they are.)
In the past, a few times during the season, we would splurge and buy tickets on Stubhub to have the chance to sit in some good seats. Now, those seats, buying directly from the Mets' ticket office , top off at $210. God knows what they'll charge on Stubhub.
I know I'm going to sound like my dad did when I was a kid (you younger people, don't be smug; your day will come). But there once was a time when you could take the family to see a game and not have to take out a mortgage. I'm disgusted. It's just a matter of time before team owners will impose seat license fees, following football's lead. And attending another sport will be out of reach of the average fan.

Fun & Frustration On Friday

The fun started for me first thing this AM. If you follow my blog, you know that I'm a HUGE Mets fan. The "official" Opening Day of their new stadium, Citifield, is 4/13, their first home game of the season. I wasn't one of the lucky people to get tickets. However, the Mets are playing an exhibition game against the Red Sox on 4/4. Tickets went on sale this AM at 10 and I was able to get 2. Haven't even told the LSH yet. I'm really looking forward to this. I plan on getting there early (just like the other 42K+ will be doing) to check things out. Woo-hoo!
I also received a lovely fruit arrangement from the gang in my department at work, saying that they miss me and can't wait to see me on Monday. The basket included pineapple dipped in chocolate. Yummy!
I went to the hospital to get some blood work done. I registered at the desk and sat down to wait to be called. I had remembered to bring my book with me, so it wasn't so bad. When I finally got called in, the technician tells me that, in order to get accurate results on one of the things the doctor requested, the blood has to be drawn first thing in the AM. It would have been nice if the doctor had told me.
I mentioned a few posts back that I got a new cellphone, one of the so-called Smartphones. I'm completely frustrated with it. First, it has a touchscreen that the salesgirl had absolutely no problem using. Me? I have to touch (actually hit) the screen over & over again to get the damn thing to respond. In addition to an instruction book, the phone came with the instructions on CD.
Now, I'm not a stupid person (you're going to have to trust me on that). So, I sit here with my laptop, watching the CD, following their instructions. And damn, it ain't happening. They'll say something like "hold down the Menu key, then hit C. This will bring u to the "whatever" screen. Well, not for me. George Carlin was famous for his "7 Words You Can't Say On TV." Well, thank God I'm not on TV because I would have been cancelled and fined heavily by the FCC. But, I will press on and I WILL prevail.

Wow

I just got a call from someone in the Mets' Ticket Development Dept (their term, not mine; don't know why they don't call it ticket sales anymore). The last couple of years, we've purchased some sort of ticket plan, but haven't done so yet for this year because I was unhappy how they have packaged the games. Before you could buy a Sat. or Sun. plan and your tickets would be for the games at home on either Sat. or Sun. Makes sense. This year, if you purchase what is being marketed as a Sat/Sun plan, you get tickets for 10 Sat/Sun games, but also 5 weekday games. It obviously has pissed off a number of fans. They could have prevented some of this negative fan reaction by marketing it as a 15 Game Plan, rather than as a Sat or Sun package.
Well, I didn't commit to anything but, maybe because Opening Day is fast approaching or I watched my first Mets game of the year yesterday or because this time last year we were down in Port St Lucie at Spring Training, I feel myself weakening. I'm going to talk with the LSH tonight, but I know he's just going to leave it up to me. I'm torn; we should be watching our pennies right now and Mets tickets aren't a necessity. But, going to a Mets game is one of my very favorite things to do. Oh, I don't know. I guess I'll sleep on it.

I'm On My Knees.....PLEASE!!!

Please, Omar.....please hurry up and sign Manny before it's too late!! Please give us something at the Ollie press conference this afternoon.
Some folks are saying that now that the Mets have agreed to pay Perez $36 million for 3 years, they won't want to spend the bucks on Manny. I know Manny's age (36) is an issue if he's looking for more than a 1 year deal, which I believe he is. But, what Met fan would not want to see:

1. Jose Reyes
2. Carlos Beltran
3. David Wright
4. MANNY RAMIREZ

I have no idea, business-wise how this works. I just know I want Manny!!

We have Ollie back with us for 3 years. On the whole, I'm okay with this. When the good Ollie is on the mound, magic happens. However, bad Ollie can emerge around the 4-5th inning and all hell breaks loose. Ollie HAS to be able to pitch well at least through 6 innings, preferably 7. I heard he got married during the off-season; maybe that will help him overcome his schizophrenia on the mound.

The one face I'm going to miss the most is Pedro's. I've heard that the Mets haven't totally discounted him, but, as much as I love him, i don't think it would be a good move to sign him. I understand he will be playing for the DR in the WBC'; maybe everyone's waiting to see how he does there before making him a serious offer. I have great memories watching Pedro at the morning workouts during Spring Training the last 2 years, always with that great smile on his face, so friendly to all the fans there. He's had such a great career, it would be a shame if it ended now, coming off last year's problems. I wish him well, wherever he goes.

Love the analogy Metstradamus makes today regarding Omar and Ollie.
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Will I See Citifield This Year??

I thought I had gotten over this last month, but a conversation at work today brought my disappointment back and I need to vent my anger and disappointment with the Mets organization and the 2009 ticket plans. If you're not an avid baseball fan, you may as well skip this post because there is no way you will understand the way a long time fan feels.
The only partial plans being offered for the 09 season are 40 games and 15 games. Prior to the plans being announced, we were considering a Sunday plan. However, the "Sunday" plan is just 10 Sunday games and 5 WEEKDAY games. Hey, I wanted a weekend plan because I (like alot of other fans) work during the week. What am I going to do with weekday games? The best you can do is try to sell them, but then, the onus falls on you to try and unload them and recover some of your expense. On top of this, no playoff tickets guarantee; not even a pre-sale password. Post season rights are the main reason to pay for all these games anyway, otherwise there is no point in renewing as you can just pick the number and dates of the games convenient for you, not picked by them.
From reading various Mets online sites and speaking with many fans, there are a lot of very unhappy fans. I know a few couples who have been either season or partial ticket holders for over 10 years who are passing this year. As it is, the new stadium has over 10,000 less seats than Shea to make room for more deluxe boxes for corporations and the well-heeled. These tkt plans were developed when the business economy was still pretty good; we can only hope that they have a problem selling
the pkgs. and put together some better offerings. Hell, they'll be lucky if Citibank doesn't sell their naming rights to the stadium before it even opens to recoup some of their mortgage/investment losses.
I wonder what the cost would be to take the Citifield name off of everything and start from scratch re-marketing the whole thing?
Can you tell I'm just a wee bit bitter?