A Whopper of a Meal....and other stuff

On Saturday, Beth and I stopped at Hoss's for dinner before heading to the Saturday night service at Cornerstone. Great music and message by a guest speaker (more on that to follow), but it begins with the dinner. For those unfamiliar with Hoss's, it's known for it's steak and seafood, but also for its buffet of salad and many other items. I documented the effort I put in one time last summer at Hoss's, and I was feeling like this could be a solid performance as well.

Just like when you can tell a pitcher's got his good stuff working on the mound and there's potential for great things like a no-hitter or perfect game, I went in to Hoss's feeling hungry. So, unlike the verbal description from last summer, I figured I'd capture the images of my evening at Hoss's:

Round 1: Salad, garlic bread, and cinnamon bread. Got me rolling and I was feeling good.

Round 2: Jello w/ whipped cream, pineapples, apple slices, and melon. Just to continue the warmup before the main course. (apologies on the blurry picture, I was hastily snapping the shots on the phone in an attempt to not appear weird--probably unsuccessfully--to the servers and other patrons)

Round 3: Steakhouse sandwich (formerly sliced-steak sandwich) and fries. And they sure loaded on the fries. I was worried I was starting to hit the wall and questioning my effort (much like one would a mile into a hard 5k), but I got my second wind and was rolling to the finish line (and preparing to roll out the door).

Round 4: A little mac & cheese and chips w/ nacho cheese. Just because.

Round 5: Dessert - A brownie on the bottom (a hidden treat!), vanilla ice cream, crushed oreo, peanut butter sauce, hot fudge, and whipped topping. Yum!

Round 6: Oatmeal Raisin cookie and applesauce. Think of it kind of like a cool down.

So there you have it. I do believe Hoss's didn't profit off me this evening. By no means was it a no-hitter or PR, but a very solid effort.

IN OTHER NEWS...

The current series at Cornerstone is dealing with Creation and is then going to transition to the End Times. With our summer travel schedule, we have missed a few Sundays, but that's the great thing about modern technology and podcasts. If any of this stuff interests you, you can check out the messages here (under Weekend Sermon Series)

I find the idea and debate of creation interesting, probably because I come from a mathematical/analytical background. On the surface, no one was there when life started, so this debate is not going to end any time soon.

The idea of "on the first day..., on the second day, ..." and so on is a sticking point for a lot of people. The Bible states in Genesis that the world was created in 6 days and on the 7th God rested. I must say that the whole 6 days to create the current world is hard for me to wrap my head around.

I don't want to turn this into a thesis of Creationism vs Evolution, but one other point I want to mention that really hits home for me from a mathematical standpoint. What evolution means to me is that these living organisms have changed over time (and now we have humans). However, the statistical probability of all the right things happening for us to end up where we are now leads me to believe that there is some higher being (aka God) guiding the entire process.

Some questions that I mull over any time this debate comes up:

*Is the 6 days literal? Or did it happen over a longer period of time?

*Suppose life is 'evolving' where did it start? Conservation of matter would go against the idea of a 'Big Bang' (but boy does that TV show with their physics and math jokes make me laugh!!)

*How is it that earth was perfectly positioned relative to the sun for climate, gravitational pull, rotation speed, and many other factors to sustain human life? Could this be statistically probable?

*If things are evolving, what's the higher level after humans?

*What is the probability of things working out perfectly for animals to evolve into humans? I am sold on adapting to your surroundings, but this seems like a stretch to me.

*One thing brought up in the message was about DNA and RNA (of which I've gleaned all my knowledge about from Law & Order and 48-Hours Mystery). How is it our cells are perfectly programmed to make us who we are? Again, I go back to the statistical significance of it happening.

So, the evidence for me leans me to the side of Creation. I'd love to look into resources and references that make cases for both sides. The one thing I hate with debates, though, is that it turns into a mud-slinging, name-calling, throw-out-all-the-facts-and-resort-to-yelling, and we lose the point of the discussion. So, if you are going to comment on either side be factual, informative, and don't be a meanie!

THE BELEAGUERED BUCCOS

Well, since the All-Star break the Pirates have looked great and then terrible, decent, and then terrible. However, the core (McCutchen, Tabata, Walker, Jones, Alvarez) is really starting to take shape. The pitching is a little uneven still, but I'm glad they held on to Maholm and Duke to give the younger guys some older stability.

The trade deadline was interesting this year. The last two years, they unloaded starters who were in the last year of their contract or had only one or two additional years on the contract (Nady, Bay, Sanchez, Wilson,...). By getting rid of starters, it was a clear sign of rebuilding. However, this year they traded two bench guys who were hitting .200 and three relief pitchers on one-year contracts. That's progress to me. That's saying we have our group and we're starting to move forward.

Now, the return wasn't the greatest, but what can you expect for backups and relievers? If ANY of the guys contribute (C-Snyder, SP-Martinez, OF-Bowker, SP-McDonald, OF-Lambo), it was a success because none of the players dealt away were going to be significant pieces next year. Progress!

Now, the Pirates just need to make sure to sign the two high-school arms they drafted in the first two rounds this year. More to come on that in mid-August.

OTHER STUFF

*Congrats to all the PR's at the Pittsburgh Triathlon this past weekend. Our friend Ben had the fastest bike split in the ENTIRE RACE and finished 12th overall and 3rd in his AG.

*AND, he's racing again this weekend with Beth and I down in Morgantown. Beth's doing the Olympic as a little tuneup and Ben and I are doing the Half IM. It'll be my first half and the goal is to finish. Under 6:00 would be great, but I just want to cross that line and check it off the list.

*Beth's coming to talk with the XC teams next week, so that should be a good time as she drops some nutrition knowledge on the kids.

*This Friday I'm meeting up with some Etown alums for a night out at the Pirates. We're in the All-You-Can-Eat seats, but I need to behave since the triathlon's on Sunday.

*The softball game last Friday didn't go too hot, I pitched the last three innings and there was a lot of solid contact (and a lot of balls getting through the infield and getting thrown to the wrong bag) and it wasn't too pretty. The silver lining of the night was that I was 0-for-4 with my first strikeout in years (in my defense strike two was low and outside and strike three was inside, but I guess you have to swing if it's close). Why was this good? Well, it saved some wear and tear on my body from running the bases. Yeah. It was that kind of night to have that as the silver lining.

Well, off to recover some more from my Hoss's eating episode and arm-contorting fastpitch appearance.