Reaganing My Way to Spring Training

I know what you’re thinking.  “What is ‘Reaganing’?”  “Reaganing” is defined as going through an entire 24 hour period without making a single mistake.  Few people have accomplished this feat, and I am now among their ranks.

It’s that time of year – time for the annual trip down to Arizona to watch some spring training baseball and get real.  My flight was scheduled to leave Thursday night at 5:55 PM.  The Reaganing began Wednesday night.

I got home from work on Wednesday and packed everything for the trip.  Truth be told, I already had one foot out the door as far as work was concerned and was more than ready to leave.  The Diplomat, my annual spring training trip buddy, had left for Portland that morning and I was to meet him in Tempe Thursday night.

I got to work on Thursday morning and was completely disinterested in being there.  It was as if the air of the office itself was carrying a pollen i’m allergic to.  I ate some unusually crappy-tasting oatmeal and, around 8:30, called the airline to see how the earlier flights were doing, hoping I could hop on and get down to Arizona ahead of schedule.  The exceptionally nice lady at US Airways told me that the 9:50 flight had some open seats.  I walked over to my boss and said, “I’m going to be honest.  I am completely disinterested in being here today.  If you don’t mind, I’m going to see if I can get onto the 9:50 flight and be on my way.”  He was fine with it and off I went.

I got to the gate and asked the nice lady if I could fly standby.  She set me up and, towards the end of boarding, she gave me a seat.  It was a window seat towards the front of the plane.  This flight was stopping in Phoenix and then moving on to Orlando.  It was a big plane and it was PACKED.  In fact, only one seat was unoccupied on the plane, and that was the seat between me and the nice Asian gentleman sitting on the aisle.  And so, the Reaganing continued.

I landed and took a cab to the Tempe Mission Palms Hotel, which is where we’ve holed up for the weekend.  We got an extended patio, which allows me to sit outside and write excellent content, much like the post you’re reading.  Did I mention that we’re right up on the pool?

In any case, I continued my Reaganing by hitting the gym when I arrived, so the BSC wouldn’t suffer come Tuesday.  Once that and a shower were completed, I took a short hike to CVS and picked up three Red Bulls, a bottle of Captain Morgan, a 12 pack of Coors Light, three Powerade Zeros, a 2 liter of Diet Coke and a small can of mixed nuts for snacking purposes.  I returned to the hotel, poured a drink, and waitd for The Diplomat.

He arrived and we hit the pool, where we made friends with a lovely young lady from Virginia who is out here with her mother.  We were also able to convince the pool waitress to overlook the fact that we were bringing our our alcohol into the pool area, which is against hotel regulations.  #Reaganing

After the pool session we showered (separately) and were picked up by a friend of ours who produces a live American Idol-esque TV show.  It’s basically a karaoke contest in which the winner gets $10,000.  The Diplomat serves as a guest judge every year when we come out.  The way it works is that he sits on the panel and I, having a history as a performer, critique the singers and text him my thoughts.  He then uses my texts to critique the singers.  Oh, and we were treated to a lovely dinner on the house.  I had a rack of lamb.  #Reaganing

After the TV show we had a few drinks at the bar and then hit Mill Avenue, a fantastic street on which there are a load of bars.

We hit two or three bars and, before I knew it, 24 hours had passed.  Around 11PM I had successfully Reaganed my way through a day.

Did I fall asleep at the last bar and get kicked out around 1:30 AM?  Maybe.