Not Quite a Superfan! ...

... but maybe some what close.  Back in May when the Toronto Blue Jays played in San Francisco.  Crystal and I had to go (not just to 1 game, to ALL 3 games!)

Holy cow are Jays fans crazy.  There wasn't just a few of us, there was A LOT of us.  I thought I was a super fan, but alas, I only had to take a 1-hour train ride and a 20-minute bus/train ride from my apartment.  Almost everyone else actually flew down from Canada!

For each of the games, I had selected specific seats in specific sections via Stubhub.  Since there does not seem to be anything available from their site.  The prices were very reasonable and even below cost in some cases.

Game 1:
So, we had decided to treat ourselves to some INCREDIBLE seats!  Row 1, right behind home plate! Seriously.  The Super Bowl has sort of skewed my ticket values, and that's not a good thing.  So, you are allowed underneath the stadium in the tunnel. And you can go to where the visitor's dugout is and look who was walking by!

Edwin!

In theory, if I wanted to, I could have simply waited around there to see the players go in and out of the clubhouse.  But you gotta watch the game if you sitting RIGHT BEHIND home plate.

Look its me taking a picture of me on TV.

Not only that, the umpires come out right in front of you before and after the game. Lucky, "Cowboy" Joe West, Angel Hernandez or C. B. Bucknor were not umping the game.

Umpire heading out before the game

Post Game Photo

Pre-Game 2:
Instead of taking the CalTrain back and forth from the City, we actually spent two nights in San Francisco.  Crystal really had not been to SF yet.  So we decided to head down to Pier 39.  Word to the wise, do NOT get a churro and eat it near the dock.  The seagulls will dive in and attempt to grab it from you.

This is the seagull that attacked me!  I know who you are!!

Look at all them sea lions!

Game 2:
Bullpen side, 3rd row.

I got tickets for Matt L. and Sarah! Blue Jays won.  Osuna and Chavez seemed to get into it while warming up.  It was great catching up with Matt and Sarah, I haven't seen them since Birthgivingfest.

View from our seats

Why can't we all be friends?

Game 3:
Outfield seats!

So, if you know Crystal, she does not like to be on camera. She really didn't appreciate that she was potentially going to be on TV.  So, I had figured that there was no way that we would be on TV in the outfield. I guess I was wrong.  Courtesy of Lee (again), he snapped a pic of the broadcast. And yes, you should go and get your 2016 Authentic Jersey with 40th Sleeve Patch.  We only have the replica.

We were given bonus baseball!  Although the Blue Jays lost in 11, but at the time it was expected since their bullpen was pretty terrible except for Osuna.

View from our seats

The girl laying down behind us?
Yes, she is really hung over. HAHA

Summary:
If you do go to AT&T Park for a game.  Here are a few recommendations.
1. Get some ballpark food.  Its good!  Their garlic fries are awesome. The nachos is ridiculously good.  There is a 'food plaza' in centre field. Check that out.

Assuming its organic ... so its healthy for you.

2. If you go to a night game, bring a jacket or sweater!  Even in July/August.  It gets cold and its gets windy.  You will not be very comfortable.

Crystal and I had a great time. We got to explore a very tiny part of the city and we will probably be doing another weekend in the City in the summer some time.  Blue Jays won the series ... and well now they are playing much better.

Yes, I know this is pretty late but I will try to do better with these updates (I'm working on the Stanley Cup Finals one now).

Stanley Cup Final - Game 4 ...

Mid-week update ...

Crystal took the video of Metallica.

My hands were full with these delicious "Monster Chicken Nachos" - Earl you gotta try them!

Traitor for a day ....

... Yes, I know this is REALLY late.  But I should really post about this little event we went to - Super Bowl L (errr, Super Bowl 50). The experience was awesome.  It was a lot of fun!  I can't bolieve we went!  It was as good if not slightly better as drinking under the bridge for game 5 of the World Series in 2014!

How did you get tickets you ask? First off, I had attempted to win the lottery for the tickets.  Unfortunately, I did not win (kinda like the H1B lottery). So, around the mid-late November, and the Patriots were doing well, I started looking online to see if there were packages available for purchase.  I came across the "NFL on Location."  This company is part of the NFL. So, I figured, might as well attempt to e-mail to see if they have packages available. Unfortunately, they were sold out around June.  So, in early January (end of the season), I reached out again to NFL on Location and asked if there were packages available.  Of course, they were none available and with each passing day, it becomes less and less likely there will be more available.

At this point, disappointed I still wanted to be a 'part of the Super Bowl,' there was a race called, 'Run the Road to Super Bowl 50.'  It was a 10k race. So, I ran it ... without any training.  The last time I had run was in August.  Here is an official 'Run the Road to Super Bowl 50' photos.  As you can tell, its one of my finest photos.

Finishing Strong!

After some recovery time

Looking back, it was one of my best races.  I felt really good (considering I hadn't ran in about 4 months) and I had a good pace. My official time was: 1:06:03.

Jets were practicing near our apartment!

So, Wild Card weekend passed. No news.  Divisional Playoffs passed. No News.  Friday morning at 8:30 am, before the Conference Championships, I got an email from NFL on Location.  There are packages available! A lot of people asked, how much was it?  Let's just say it was pricey. We got one of the better packages and with ACCESS ON THE FIELD after the game!  Once we secured our tickets, we went out an bought replica jerseys!  I figured, if you are going to buy SUPER BOWL tickets, why not just spend a little more on a couple of jerseys!

Traitor for the day!

Super Bowl Day!  We boarded the boys for a couple of days because well, apparently now all you know, Tucker likes to PEEEEEEE! We got up 'early' - 10:00 am and left the apartment by 10:30.  We took Uber to and from the stadium - $15 each way. Even Uber got into the 'Golden Super Bowl' by colouring the cars gold.

Jeffrey was an awesome driver!

So getting into the stadium took quite some.  Security was crazy! I had never felt more secure.

One of several national guard officers

As part of the package, there was a pre-game fancy party we could attend.  That's why we got up so early for the game.  The food was super fancy and I was hoping for game day food.  Nachos, hot dogs, fries, etc ... But it was crab, sushi, fancy cut chicken and roast beef (Zeroth world problems here).  They had a guest speaker ... SHANNON SHARPE!

Shannon Sharpe and me!

At the museum with the 49ers' Super Bowl Trophies

Queue the pictures of the game.

Blue Angels!

View from our seats

Fancy Bud Light

Half Time Show

Stunt #2!?

Yes, I'm at Super Bowl L

So much confetti! (Don't worry I got a bag full)

Congrats Peyton! 

Post game on the field!!

Post game on the field!!

Confetti Angel! - Needed more confetti :(

Lay down on the 40-yard line?  Sure!

So, while wandering on the field post game. I saw ARASH MADANI of Sportsnet! It was hilarious.  I shouted out, "Oh man!  Its Arash Madani!"  He had a real surprised look on his face.  I'm guessing he wasn't expecting to be recognized in Santa Clara.  He was a great sport and nice guy. Especially since he was talking to a some what inebriated guy on the field of the Super Bowl!

Arash Mandani!

Found us!

https://gigapixel.panoramas.com/superbowl/50/

So, that was our Super Bowl experience.  Was it worth the money? Yes. Would we do it again? Probably not do the package and just tickets.  The package tripled the cost of the tickets.  But man, the experience was awesome.


And yes, I will start to lock down my account.  Darn boys!

HIII!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11111

PREHAIRCUT!

TUCKER HERE!!

THIS IS AWESOME! EVERYTHING IS AWESOME! WHEEEE!! LOTS OF TOYS!!!
I LIKE TO PEEEE!!!  AWESOME AWEOMSE AWESOME!!

PEOPLE SAY I HACKED MY PERSONS ACCOUNT! AWESOME! TOYS!!!!! BUT MY PERSON IS AN IDIOT AND DIDNT LOG OF OUT BLOGSPOT!  AWESOME! I LOVE TO PEEEE!!!

I GOT A HAIR CUT!

I LIKE HANGING OUT WITH MY BORTHER AND SLEEPING ... BUT IM HYPER IN MY SLEEP!!!!! AWESOME!!! EEEEEE!!!!

TUCKER OUT!!!

woof

hi

man this is hard work

brodie here its been about 6 months since i moved out here and boy things are sure different down here. my persons are now in this tiny place but there are super big windows so i can look outside. they finally got a desk and setup this super big computer so now i can sneak on it to send you all an update. right now, they are still sleeping so i think i have some time.

so what has it been like? well, my fellow furry friends, warm. so very warm. there is no snow down here and as a canadian i really miss it. other then that, its like spring and summer all of the time

got to meet santa again

about 2 months ago my persons took me on a car ride. we went to this place where there were birds and other dogs. i met this little dog, they called him "brutus" and we seem to get along. my people seemed really happy about it. the strange thing is that after "brutus" and i met, we went for a little walk. my people talked for a little bit and then went back into the place with the birds. i thought this "brutus" guy was going to be left and we would go home. but he was coming with us!! i figured, well maybe he needs to be taken care of for a little while. so i just shook it off. we all piled into the car and drove to the place where all of the toys and food and what not. my people picked up another bed? why! i have a bed and its super comfy.  but you know, you can never have too many beds. we got back home but they didnt drop this other guy off. he WAS COMING UP WITH US!? i did not know what to think. my people were talking and asking each other things like, "franklin?" "lincoln?" "tobias?" "tucker?"  i did not like tobias or tobie for short, it confused me. eventually, they stopped using "brutus" and called him "tucker." i figure he would not be around for long so whatever.

apparently he may be staying

so tucker said he was born and raised in california which is strange because californians are supposed to be super laid back. i have really been trying to fit in here, so i have been super laid back, except when it comes to food and treats. tucker is not laid back. its a myth. almost all of my friends back home are way more relaxed than what he is. every little noise he is up and barking. i'm like cmon man, chill. i thought you were from california. he said that he did not get to come inside often with his other person so he had to stay outside. poor guy. he gets cold super easily and he really hates the rain. i cannot imagine if he ever saw snow.

anyways, its been 2 months now and i figured he isnt gone by now i should make the best of it.

our typical day

oh hamburgers .... i think someone is waking up! i gotta go ... peace love and happiness (thats what we californians are supposed to say right?)

One Year Later ....

... Happy 1 Year Anniversary from being let go from BlackBerry. How do I feel? Hmmm, right now.  Kinda tired. I guess I would say that it still stings from getting let go.  But on the flip side, I was in t-shirt and jeans in January ... and February. So, there is that.

Crystal! and Brodie! still are in Canada, I bolieve they will be joining me soon.  We are almost ready to list our house. Once the house sells, then they will come down and join me.  So the timelines are difficult to track.  Soon we'll be together again!

Its a Small World ...

Since I have been down here:

... Matt P. has moved into the same building as me

... Saw Ahmed at the Sharks-Canucks game, he was seated IN THE SAME ROW as Dave and I

... Got a message from an old BestBuy co-worker, Roberto.  He mentioned he is starting a new job the following Monday.  Where was he staying temporarily? Same building, one floor down

... Was in the cafe looking for seats and who do I see?  Xin! Who had left RIM 3 years ago to go to California with her husband

... Went to the company Christmas party and upon entering the party, I turned around and low and behold, its Kyle! Yet another ex-BestBuy co-worker!

Its nice to see familiar faces.

Baseball, Hockey and a Freeway!

I've been pretty busy! So many visitors. Lauren, Rob, Chris and Dave. And so many exciting things have happened! The San Francisco Giants won the World Series! I went into to "The City" for Game 5. No no, I didn't go to the game, but I did go by the stadium and picked up a World Series program. So, Rob and I went somewhere for the next best thing ... Go watch the game under the freeway! 

Check out the setup! Such fancy furniture

That's the freeway

They were streaming the game over the Internet and setup the TV.  The best part of the night?  Around the 8th inning, the streaming signal started to break up and go bad. So they brought out a digital antenna! For the inning they were trying to get a good enough signal to the game would come in.  They had a guy standing there with the antenna adjusting it. Eventually he gave up and they went back to streaming it online ... only missed about an inning.

Last Thursday, Dave and I went to San Jose Sharks - Vancouver Canucks game.

Apparently San Jose Sharks play in the SAP "Center"

Waiting for the game to start

And ME with the Sedins!!!

Needless to say, this was pretty epic.  The seats were literally RIGHT behind the bench! Although, I couldn't see half the game (damn players standing up). And the Canucks won the game! I guess you can say I now have been settled. I have found a bar with trivia, the Britannica Arms Pub!  The trivia is done by Triviolity. Its pretty good (better then the PubStumpers).  I have been a one-man team (and not scoring the greatest, but I'm having a good time). Now all I need is my family to be here with me.

Home ...

... Yes, I found a place.  Its in the same building as my temporary housing, so it was really easy to move - not that I had a lot of stuff to actually move. I would post a bunch of other pictures ... but that seems like a lot of work.  So instead, I made a slideshow ... check it out. Click here to download/watch. The video is about 150 MB but its in HD!

I'm finally feeling like I'm getting settled in. I have pretty much finished all of my administration stuff with the exception of getting my driver's license. I really have not done anything super awesome, because of all of the stuff I've been needing to do.  Also, there is that work thing!

Its like I'm a student again because all of my furniture is still in Waterloo and won't be showing up until April-ish.  So, I had to buy a bunch of the necessities.  Pot, pan, plates, bowls, cutlery, can opener, sharp knives and towels and what not. I figure I'll have to buy some more miscellaneous stuff.

Hopefully next post, I will have some interesting stories to tell.  But we'll see ...