I figured that, since I still technically write here, it might be a good idea for me to pop in and say hello for the first time in three weeks. Anyways, for those of you who did not know, I am not currently in the United States of America. I have been in Brazil for the past two weeks to visit step-relatives and enjoy Carnival! As such, my access to internet connections has been very little, and that combined with my desire to get away from the evils of technology has fueled a lack of online activity.
Immediately before I went to Brazil I was in Tallahassee for three days, and that really made doing the things I had hoped to accomplish before I left difficult. While I did have some internet access in the first four or five days I was here, in São Paulo, it was still fairly limited, and slow. The few times I did check email and visit DRB and RaysBB, I found it much easier to just post short comments rather than long stories, so I just avoided posting regular articles here.
For the past week, however, I was in the rural beach community of Ubatuba, where internet access was restricted to the worst of the worst: dial up hell. Windows '98 was still all the rage there, so I tried to avoid using the computer unless I absolutely had to, and that's a good thing. The area around there was so beautiful and I enjoyed my time at la praia, and the lack of computer access forced me to enjoy it.
I got back to São Paulo late last night, and have been using today as sort of a catch-up day for schoolwork and for the site here. I have attempted to change as much of the site as possible so as to reflect the fact that it is no longer the offseason, by putting up that ST capsule as well as refreshing the Featured Articles, however I did not want to undertake anything big because I am not sure of the reliability of my internet access from day to day.
As far as the site goes, it is quite obvious in reading through the past week of posts that R.J. and Jake (and you too, Mom) are doing an excellent job of keeping the ship running in tip top shape. Everyone in the community (including some new users) are contributing to this site's rise in prominence. Reading the David Price interview made me extremely pleased, and while I would be lying if I said I wasn't jealous of the opportunity Jake had to communicate with my favorite player from my favorite school, he nonetheless did a great job with it, and I hope to see Price in Devil Ray green (or blue, or yellow, or whatever the hell we'll be wearing next year) come June.
While I would never trade the previous two weeks for the opportunity to attend the start of training camp and Fan Fest, I have long maintained that spring training and its associated activities are my favorite part of the baseball season. My residency in the state of Florida allows me the unique opportunity to enjoy so much baseball during the spring, and I love it so much. Unfortunately, I won't be able to take advantage of this benefit for the first weekend of games, however I look forward immensely to hearing the crack of the bat, the pop of the glove, and all the other baseball clichés you can think of when I return next week.
I will be back in los Estados Unidos next Monday night, after which I should be able to resume a regular posting routine. Should all go well, I should even be able to make a few posts this week, although I can't guarantee that. But I'd like to send out a profound thanks to R.J. and Jake for all the hard work they have put into supplying great content for this site in my absence over the past month. They truly have done an excellent job, and we are seeing the benefits of that work with the increased plugs on local radio and on other sites. I have never been more proud over my 18 months on this site of the work we as a community have produced, and that is part of the reason why I look forward so much to returning next week and enjoying another season of Devil Rays baseball!