National Thoughts, Day Three

1. Rick Reuschel was going through the motions. Clearly bored. He looked up about 67% of the time.

2. Paul Reuschel has a sweet-looking signature. He was a gracious signer. He also has a couple of awesome cards. I wish I had a scanner here to illustrate, for those who don't know.

3. Buddy Bell, 60 later this month, has aged well. Nice guy. I decided since I really liked him in my youth, I had to get a ball signed. I also used a couple of wildcard tickets for a couple of card autos. Naturally I somehow forgot to bring along a card with Bell as a Red. Sure wish I could have found a card shop or someone selling cards nearby.

4. Card sellers/dealers are apparently overwhelmingly Republican. Just sayin' - for what it's worth. I don't necessarily care about any of that but I got a bit tired of hearing political bellyaching while I thumbed through cards, otherwise enjoying myself. It happened four times today and, yeah, I moved on. Sometimes it's nice to take a break from the real world.

5. Got dangerously close to finishing my '76 set. I'll probably have 20 to 30 left by the time this thing ends.

6. I wish my work would leave me alone when I'm trying to have me-time.

7. I'll likely never stand in line for another autograph. But, ahem, if my daughter ends up landing autographs when I start taking her to baseball games, well, you know, that's another story. And, I'll gladly accept them in blogger trades! Did I mention the George Kell that SewingMachineGuy sent me recently!? Just had to mention that again.

8. Despite #7, I did meet some great people in the lines today. I didn't ask if any of them blogged. Perhaps I should have. Met a nice man with his daughter. He realized in line that he didn't have a Rick Reuschel as a Cub - only some Giants' cards. I had a couple of extras and it was nice to be able to give him one - an '85 Topps.
 
9. Leon Durham seemed a bit distant from what I observed in the line. However, much to his credit, when the guy in front of me handed over the freshly taken picture of himself and Durham, Leon saw that his eyes were closed and insisted that another one be taken. That was classy.

10. While I've missed some floor time handling personal business, I've spent gads of hours roaming the concrete - and it's not been near enough time for me to see everything I want! Tomorrow's my last day, probably a half day. Argh!

11. I've picked up a total of 10 hobby packs to participate in the Topps promo for the Heritage rookies. I missed Dee Gordon yesterday but got Dustin Ackley and Mike Moustakas. I see they're listed for a minimum $20 on ebay. I wonder if they'll sell for that. Hmm, maybe I should start selling on ebay.

12. Kindergarten Cop just came on TBS. I think I'll pass. I hope I don't regret this decision.

13. While in line for Mr. Bell, the guys behind me said they had already gone through the line and that right when it was their turn, Buddy decided to go over and chat for 15 minutes with Roger Staubach. Funny.

14. It would have been nice to meet at least one blogger, but I suppose I didn't work hard enough on that.


15. I miss my wife and daughter but this has been a lot of fun.

16. I wish they held something like this in my hometown every few months. Is that too much to ask?