Waiting 'til First Pitch

Since the inception of this blog I haven't really done a ton of waiting, at least not the type of waiting which is inferred by the name of my humble little blog. The Cubs were 106 games under .500 in the four seasons since I started the blog. Then 2015 came and things have changed all of a sudden.  I'm not used to playoff baseball and I find myself looking at the clock over and over again.

First pitch is coming soon, right?

No.
Fine, I'll blow the leaves out of gutter.

How about now? 
No. 
Crap, let's mow the lawn then.

Surely game time is close now! 
Nope. 
Argh! Let's go for a run to burn off some nervous energy.

It's absolutely driving me crazy.  It's as if time has come to a standstill.

I was able to take on a small project this weekend between stealing glances at the clock.  The faucet to the utility sink in the basement has had a slow leak and my loving wife gave me an end of October deadline to get it fixed.

It should have been an easy job, but the packing on the cold water valve was shot and it wouldn't turn off.  The result was a wet cat, who was giving unsolicited help, and me having to turn the water off to the entire house.  I over-tightened the first replacement valve and I must have cracked the inside, because I could never get a dry seal.  A second trip to the big box store was required, but I learned my lesson and didn't screw the next valve on so far.  Oh, the joys of home ownership!

This valve will haunt me in my dreams.

Then I had another set back. I had trouble removing the hex nut on the under side of the faucet, which resulted in me removing the entire sink, with faucet attached, from the counter top. Luckily my dad had a dremel and he's pretty darn good with it.  He sliced right through that hex nut like a boss!  Thanks, Dad!

Once the valve was fixed and the old faucet had been removed it was a petty easy job.  But those two curveballs were more than frustrating. 

Hugo seems to like the new faucet. 

The best part is there's no more leak and now I resume staring at the clock.  Sigh.

I'm not making any predictions for tonight, because the Cubs lost and my pick to click didn't register a hit. I'm hoping the extra day of rest does Arrieta some good, but I'm worried. Maddon rode him pretty hard down the stretch and I'm wondering if he's got anything left in the tank. We'll have to wait and see, if we can ever get to game time.

Go Cubs, go!  #FlytheW