There was no joy in Mudville that night..

Well, the season is officially over.  The bats are being put away, the fields covered up for the winter.

We turn our thoughts to spring and the season that may be.  What will happen in the off season.  What trades will be made.  What new diamond in the rough will be found by the scouts to Ooohh and Awww us.

Alas for me the Tigers have gone down in defeat after a stunning sweep of the Yankees.  Only to have it returned by the Giants.  I have ties to both teams, but a Tigers fan first.  So I left with who brought me.

So what I would like from you class is something baseball related.  Something that says Summer is officially over and Fall is now upon us.


For your work I have this.

This little package (including the book) can no longer be had from the fine folks at Field Notes Brand.  I have however ordered a few of these gems for this giveaway.  

Are they free..  Kinda..  No random number pull here.  You have to send me something for it.  I will let you folks pick the winner.  First and Second and Third.  SO..  What else could I toss in....

First - The set (notebooks and A Drive into the Gap)

Second - The Notebooks

Third - The Book (A Drive into the Gap)

So there ya have it.  I will post anything you guys send in baseball related.  Something special going out to Bean for the most unique card I've gotten to date.

Thanks.  Now go take a bat to a Pumpkin.. and serve up some Diabetes to the neighborhood kids

Of Kaylee and the Dr. Visit... Dum Dum Dum!!

So this post has absolutely nothing to do with mail.  It does have to do with my spawn that lives with me.  Kaylee.  And her visit to the doctor (ie: merchant of pain and death).

For the past few weeks, we have apparently been getting these letters from the school nurse, informing us that our lack of parenting was jeopardizing the entire welfare of the school and surrounding community at large.

So while digging through her backpack I came upon the actual letter that had somehow gotten buried under the extra set of clothes, the happy napper and the folder crammed in there for her friday take home.

"It has come to our attention that the small alien unit you call Kalyee is remise in her vaccination schedule and shall be excised if your cooperation in remedying this situation is not handled post haste." (so forth and so on and such)

This was followed up by a letter from the school nurse (sent through the mail.. see a mail tie in after all) stating the same thing.  That our child would be excommunicated from the likes of Frontier Elementary Home of the Frontier Firebirds if our transgressions were not corrected and this would happen on forth coming Monday.  Holy carpal tunnel Batman!!

So being the super daddy that I am, I inform the school principal, her teacher and the school nurse that I will take care of the child they deem Typhoid Mary immediately. (and that I would be taking her out of class in the middle of the day to get her shot up)

OFF TO THE DOCTOR!! (badda badda bum)  (hey you try typing out batman sounds)

So we get to the pediatricians office only to discover that we are early and we didn't know that because the hours for the office had fallen on the floor and I was standing on the sign.

We get in there and I have a question as to whether she actually needs the vaccines in question (I was in there 3 weeks ago and asked if we needed any shots).  It turns out that I needed to wait another half hour for her previous doctor to be back from lunch to check his records.  (insert girl from iponema here)

2 O'Clock..  Yes Mr. Dodson she is due for her under 4 shots.  OK how many is that?  4.  Oh CRAP!

So I have been telling Kaylee this should be 2 at the most.  Now for those of you with small children you know what is coming.  For those of you without children, may you get pregnant soon.. We shouldn't have to go through this alone..

While we are there though I ask to add on her flu shot (nasal) for good measure.  Hey, were here.

Kaylee and I are joking, she's in a good mood.  I'm taking her out for a nice helping of Diabetes after the inquisition that I know is coming.

So nurse Jackie comes in with the tray.  Flu vaccine in the nose first.  No problem, daddy says just like the flonase we get every day.  Then comes the first needle.  My calm and happy child BOLTS off the table.. It was just one smooth move from sitting into my lap with a look of terror I will never forget.  You would have thought that the nurse pulled out a Stihl Chainsaw and fired it up and was looking to add some more human skin to her collection.

I have to tell nurse Jackie that I got this and picked up Kaylee, put her back on the table and held her tight while the injections took place.  3 in one arm and 1 in the other.  The nurse put the bandaids on and asked if she was OK.  Kaylee looked at her arm and the bandaid that was showing some air space and said "Do I look OK.  Look at the bandaid.. It's bulging up!!"

I pealed it up and put it back down.  See all better.  Now lets go and get some stickers.. (cause that will make it all better..  uh huh..)

We leave the office and get into the truck, buckle in, and I ask her  "what happened??  You knew you were going to get some shots.."  She look straight at me and said "I thought she was going to put all of those shots in my nose."

More to come folks, back in the mail business shortly.  Just a short pause in our day to day called life.

Neener, Neerer, We Have a Weener..

Now that I have your attention.  See how a title can just suck you in..

We had our Gold Rush Days this past weekend and I was able to secure almost everything I needed to complete the giveaway.  Almost.  I was unable to get any maps.  Turns out the rights to the map belong to the National Archive and are not allowing willy nilly reproductions.  :P

You know that mass mailing thingy I did 2 months ago, that thing you probably though was never going to happen.  Oh yea sure, he mails this stuff out and asks for me to send in my box tops and my ovaltine lids in a self addressed stamped envelope along with 25 cents.  What do I get BUPKUS that's what.  I waited outside my mailbox for the last 2 months and I got SQUAT.  I'm calling my post master and filing a fraud complaint.

Hold on there sparky!!  I told you I was moving.  I had to allow time for everyone to have a chance to send something in.  They may have been away, attacked by a plague of locust, ran out of gas, they didn't have enough money for cab fair, the tux didn't come back from the cleaners, a old friend came in from out of town. someone stole their car, there was an earthquake, a terrible flood, you know the usual stuff.

Anyway..  Here we go..  And this one time at band camp..

Oh yea, the WINNER(S).  I had quite a few responses (surprised).  This one actually made you send me something.  Not as easy as just "please reply to this post".  For those of you that made the effort, BRAVO.

So here is the list, name and what I will be sending out.

Becky Preston - Wild West postcards, Pony Express Penny

Cal Kitson - Wild West postcards, Pony Express Penny, Pony Express Recruitment poster, Pony Express Coin

Karen Isaacson - Wild West postcards, Pony Express Penny, Pony Express Recruitment poster

Dori Singh - Wild West postcards, Pony Express Penny, Pony Express Recruitment poster, Pony Express Coin

Patty Davidson - Wild West postcards, Pony Express Penny, Pony Express Recruitment poster

PostMuse - Wild West postcards, Pony Express Penny

And the big Winner is..

Jackie Parkins - Wild West postcards, Pony Express Penny, Pony Express Recruitment poster, Pony Express Coin, Pony Express Magnet, Wild West post cards (First Day Issue), The West (Hard bound book from the postal service) 1 Sheet of Wild West Stamps.

So there ya have it.  I will be sending all of these out next week.

You now have the choice to make the call or suggestion for something YOU might want in a giveaway.

Upcoming mailings (Hey I've haven't been getting this stuff to look at).

Movie Monsters (I have some neat stuff for this one)
Civil War (including the book)
Field Notes sets
Christmas (postal postcard set, I don't care if you are not christian IT's A CARD, SEASONAL)


Till next time..

Of Daisies and Little Girls

So we are mov-ed.  We are living in the new place.

I can now walk through my garage on 3 different axis.  Much like an H pattern.

Progress has been had.  My office not so much.  I can see my desk.  I can see my paper and writing stuff.  What I can't find is my sanity.

So I managed to get the mailing done and have received a TON of responses.  Mainly US.  I will be doing the drawing for that at the end of next week when I have everything for the package.  We are having "Gold Rush Days" in Sacramento over the weekend and I need to acquire some things from that event.

I have only received a few responses from overseas (kind of disappointed there so some goodies going out to everyone that did reply (it pays to reply :).

On to the Daisies thing.

Kaylee is in school now.  Real school.  You know home work and stuff.

We bought the back pack, lunch pail (she picked it out) the Happy Napper Unicorn (pillow).

Now comes the "fun"stuff.  This is the part where Mommy and Daddy get hit up by every organization with their hand out to "fund" activities and make her time at school "fun and enjoyable".

Folks if you need money JUST ASK FOR IT.  Don't try to sell me something you are going to get 20% back on.  I would rather just give you a flat donation where all of the funds actually go to the organization.  I really don't want my soon to be 5 year old pedaling your wares.

See this is the part that makes me feel REALLY OLD.  I am turning 44 on Friday.  I drop Kaylee off at school every morning and stand there with the 20 something parents whom honestly look more like they just got our of high school themselves. Dressed like they are in high school (YES PULL UP YOUR DAMN PANTS AND TURN YOUR HAT STRAIGHT).. See crabby old man..

Now I know there are other parents out there who I believe are still reading my blog (yea yea.. I've been busy.  Not Tammy Orr busy but busy).  When you are dropping off your kids for school, how many times have you seen parents pulling up while talking on the cell phone and almost taking someone out in the process.  This has happened to ME TWICE in the past 2 weeks.

Oh yea the Daisies thing..

Kaylee has/will be joining the Daisies (Girl Scouts).  She seems very interested in this one as there are a bunch of her class mates in the Daisies as well.  So Daddy, will be taking his little sweetheart to the Girl Scout store next week to gear her up.  I am TRYING to not get her bogged down in after school activities.  You know them well..

Let's see... Suzy has soccer on Wed and Friday.  Gymanstics on Monday, Thursday and Sat.  Macrame class on Tuesday.  Hog tying on Sunday..  When do your kids get to be KIDS.

We did a REALLY good thing when we moved.  There is a swim club across the street from the house.  We joined that.  Our little fish called Kaylee LOVES it.  She finally got the nerve to go down the water slide and hit the diving board in the deep pool.

Well I got my old fart monologue out of the way for awhile.  Promise to start sending some stuff out soon.  I mean hey, Halloween is just around the corner and I have another mailing to do.

Game on.. A drive into the gap

Some of you may know I have a penchant for Field Notes Brand notebooks.  I truly love these little books.  I carry one around in my shirt pocket daily for keeping my notes for work related stuffs.  Network settings, application install instructions, phone lists and such.  You know, things that the 43+ year old mind has a tendency to forget if not used on a daily basis.

Note: don't leave your notebooks laying around a 2 year old..

For the uninitiated, Field Notes Brand started out as a little project with Aaron Draplin and Jim Coudal.  Now I don't know the whole sordid tale of how these two met, what they had for dinner, who was on top, nothing.  What I know is that the continual flow of what they are calling the "color subscriptions" are worth the price of admission alone in checking out their site.

I have infrequent emails/conversations with Aaron mainly asking where my freakin' shirt I want him to put together is (and he came through - Thanks Big Guy!).  I have emails bouncing with the folks at coudal as well (asking to set some stuff aside for me - And they always come through).

So what is it about these little books made of 24 folded pieces of paper and a cover that make me desire them and collect them?  Am I just one of the many sheeple?  Not so much.

As many of the people that read this blog and others like it.  We long for a simpler time, a return of tactile feel.  In other words. PEN/PENCIL TO PAPER.  That in a nutshell is it.  I have these little notebooks everywhere.  I carry them on my person, have one in my truck, I keep one in my packs.  WHY so many?  The folks at Field Notes said it best. (lifted the logo guys..) 

That's right - I'm not writing it down to remember it later, I'm writing it down to remember it now. (their tag line).  Mine goes more like this " I'm writing it down now because I'm getting to many cases of CRS and can barely remember what day it is let alone what I may have to recall this crap later.  Who are you again?  I'm scared..  Do you know where I live?  Dad says I'm a good driver.. Yea..  K-Mart sucks.."

So where was I, oh yea the notebooks, subscriptions, colors thing. They came out with a NEW colors one for late/mid summer that has me all giddy.

So this one comes in 3 colors in the collection.  Outfield Green, Infield Brown and Hardball White.

 

Along with the normal 3 pack of notebooks you get a copy of a Drive into the Gap.  A great little story published by Field Notes Brand Books.  A first from them as far as I know.

I will be sending off one of these sets to one of my readers and another to someone who sent me something special during my baseball mailing.  I need to try and get a hold of a few more.

Disclaimer.  The folks at Field Notes or Draplin Designs have never given me anything for review.  I purchase their products because of the simplicity and great design of an american made and designed product.  They put a lot of effort into the design and use of the product.  I really like the sense of humor  they put in them as well.

If you would like to know what I'm talking about and have never put your hands on one drop me a line and If I have some spares laying around, I'll send you one.  They (the regular craft paper) come in lined, graph and blank.  The colors come in various graph or dot patterns (my favorite).

They include goodies in every shipment.  Could be a button, pencil, pen (also a big favorite), sticker or notebook.  If you catch them on a special day you get a free 3 pack (subscribe to their e-mail listing).

Till next time..

Rules, rules, rules, rules..

OK, some of you have started receiving the postcards...

But Derrick, what do I do with the amazing old west postcard that you have mailed me?

What does the number mean?

Why is Martha staring at her reflection in the sliding glass door?

Well dear mail recipient/reader/frequent mail buddy.. Reply to the postcard.  With the number.. And she heard something on the other side of the glass door and then became entranced with her own reflection.  Why else would she do that sheesh..

Don't toss the card with the junk mail.  It's not..

The way you were chosen as a recipient of my largest mailing to date was you are either have a posting on Good Mail Day, a reader of this blog, or someone I have been bouncing stuff back and forth with for a while.

I have started moving into the house in earnest this week.  a long and not pleasant process with the lovely triple digit temps here in Sacramento this past week.  When it hits 103 while driving back and forth between houses, you start to contemplate just leaving it and sending the landlord a check for disposal.

I'm probably 3 days from a finish though.  Had to pull my laptop out tonight and get this post done as I should have had this done the night I sent out all of the cards.

I NEED to get this move done soon though.  It has been a whole week and my office is still not setup.  That has NEVER happened before.  Trying to have everything in there before getting it setup.

So with that, here is the final instructions for the giveaway.  I need to go and take something for my aching ankle and rusty knees before tomorrows trial again.

1. Receive post card.
2. Read postcard.
3. Marvel in all it's glory
4. Admire the fine artwork
5. Wonder if you can extract some of my DNA from the back of that stamp. YES I licked every one.  Do these stamps make me loo fat??
6. Reply to the postcard with your number or without, but you must send me something and mention the mailing.  Just lets me know your paying attention.

Address (new.. and the peasants rejoice.. yea)

Derrick Dodson
6325 Matterhorn Drive
Sacramento, CA 95842

All of the items included in the giveaway are on this post A Call for printers and Giveaways

Thanks to all for reading and playing along with me.  Hoping to get back to writing and posting in the next few weeks when I have my room put together and not in pin every night from this moving thing.

And they're out of the gate!

The cards are on their way. 

Stats:
158 cards
5 sheets of 29 cent stamps
2 sheets of 85 cent stamps
2 sheets of 1 cent stamps.

The post cards were pre-stamped with 19 cent per.  So to make the 1.05, a single and an 85 worked well.  Wondering how long it will take to get to some of the further reaches.

Cards went out to Brazil, Poland, Germany, Australia, England/UK/Great Britain, Russia, India, Canada and the Philippines for the international portion of the giveaway.

So IT'S ON.

I will eventually be sending out change of address cards when I recover from actually getting in the house.  Of course it had to be 100+ all week with no end in sight to get this done.

I said it before and I'll say it again.  I WILL DIE IN THIS HOUSE.. I am NEVER MOVING AGAIN.  We have learned one really cool thing during the move.  The term I don't want to move this has become the mantra of the day.  The only place those things are moved to is the end of the driveway where the local vultures are circling wondering what we will drop out there next.  We have started to see regulars pop up when we return to make another load.

Remember when I did the "Crap Fest Mailing", think that on a much grander scale.  Instead of office garbage, I'm finding homes for some of my antiques.  Old Pie Safes, shelving (NO, I'm not putting that stuff on the street).

I'm writing this from work because I have yet to put my office back together.  Until I have everything that will go in the room there, I don't want to start setting things up knowing they will be moved.  The book cases are just to heavy when loaded.

Question..   Do any of you folks have hard wood floors.  and if so do you use a moving office chair?

I really don't want to jack up the floors rolling all over it with the chair.  Trying to figure out if I should put down a rug and a office mat on top of that to protect the floors.

So with that, back to the grind tomorrow.  I'm taking the rest of the week off from work the get the move complete.  The temps at 8am in the morning are much better than at 5pm after work.