A Mariners game, today, August 26th 2025. At the bar at work.

Picture of a television playing a baseball game from 8/26/25. It is the Seattle Mariners at home vs the San Diego Padres. The 6th bottom of the inning.

The “Vedder cup” (or, for those out of the loop, or fucking everybody, is referencing the guy, the band leader, the singer from Pearl Jam, Eddie Vedder. This “cup” is imaginary event created by capitalism marketing(propaganda) arm. Sub branch, The Seattle Mariners baseball club. (A corporation)

This game is sponsored(inadvertently. AKA: NOT. But I would sell out for it because I am practical and this company is good.)

From Waynes world: I'm having a good time... NOT.

The above gif from the movie Waynes world, a “not” moment, is an accurate visual metaphor for being a Seattle Mariners fan.

Thats not how it works. From Star Wars the Force Awakens.

by and taking place at the Seattle Cider company bar. In three ciders in, and I am a lightweight.

THEREFORE, I am smashed (an idiom for drunk on alcohol.)

Seattle Mariners versus the San Diego Padres, 8/26/25

Chapters

Welp, five innings flew by

This game started with a bang, with the Padres scoring 5 runs in the fifth. And my drunk, autistic, distracted ass, missed most of the rest of the game. Thought as am experienced baseball and Mariners fan, I didn’t miss much action.

Just as I write the above, Mariners outfielder, left fielder, Randy Arozarena crushed a pitch into the upper deck in left field.

Padres 5, Mariners 3. MVP candidate, statistics breaking, season of a lifetime, a career, for his position catcher, mr 50 home runs so far, Mr Cal Raleigh to bat.

At this point in the TV broadcast, ROOT SPORTS, the prime TV partner, the capitalist monopoly on the broadcast, cuts to the game between division leader, the Houston Astros vs the Colorado Rockies, cuts to that game to give us the fans an update on the race to winning the AL West playoff race. Which as a baseball fan is important because it increases without hard data and my intuition… Our teams chances to go farther and win more games in the MLB playoffs.

It’s now 3-1 against slugger Josh Naylor, now 3-2, with runners on second and third with 1 out. As I write this live. And…….. He popped out to left field. Two outs. Eugenio Suarez, the fifth batter and slugger to bat.

As an aside, as an acknowledgement of where I’m watching the game, its on mute without subtitles playing.

EUGENIO HITS A THREE RUN HOMER AND THE MARINERS TAKE THE LEAD, 6-5.

BOO YEAH!

We are ahead with the lead with a better chance to win the game. It’s not over as 4 innings remain, but it helps.

I can’t help but notice the pretty, new bartender. Well, maybe she is not new, me going to the bar or any bar in general is unusual. Especially not on an Tuesday. My original point stands. I don’t want to make things awkward, and want to have fun at the bar since I was late to the original planned event of an after work Cider tasting featuring multiple different styles and brands of cider to taste.

Time passes, coworkers and customers enter, then eventually leave. Due to my natural uncontrolled ADHD time blindness and working on the below piece of art, a color in the black and white page with crayons.

A demonstration of my artistic coloring skills as a 39-year-old man. 😅

Bottom of the 6th inning and the Mariners are back at bat, now behind.

It’s 7-6 Padres lead.

Two outs go by, hardly competitive at bats, and a couple of pitching changes by the Pads

Two outs.

Mariners second baseman Cole Young to bat.

Strikes out on four pitches.

Ad break.

I decide to leave, and walk back to my car to return home.

I crave burgers, fries, and greasy impulsive fast food.

Which is not a smart decision to do as I’m scraping by with little money.

Barely enough to pay bills, but my “fun” budget has been spent for August.

I search anyway for that craving spot.

I’ll check on the game later.

I search “burgers near me” on Google maps.

As I push the ignition on my old Toyota Prius, the Bluetooth connects, and book six of the Dungeon crawler Carl audiobooks begins playing from the je spot I left off, on chapter 21.

I choose “Sma5h burgers” a spot is saved for later, and previously wasn’t able to eat at because the owners are Muslim and I happened to arrive at their designated prayer time.

Fast food, and the drive home.

On intuition, I change my destination to the Jack in the Box in the same neighborhood as the work bar.

Order the new Bacon double smashed jack combo.

In an instant, a fast forwarding moment, in my impaired state of mind, a modern marvel of fast-food inguinity, my order is ready.

The burger is hot, juicy, squishing, satisfying, just edibly hot but not mouth burning fat into my mouth as the flavors of the bacon, cheese, and beef dissolve and slide down my throat to my stomach with ease.

The fries? Steamy, salty hot goodness.

The process repeats as I eat in my car, with the power partially on as Dungeon crawler Carl: the butchers masquerade, chapter 22 as I have an orgasmic food experience.

As I finish the meal, the eco friendly straw, like a certain male sexual part has become half flaccid and it’s impossible to get that last bit inside. (I only know as a member of the heber with an external member) I remove it and the straw so I can quench my thirst for water, and cool my body with its contents of approximately half it’s full contents of ice.

(You know, the original name of frozen cubes of water, and not a lazy abbreviation of a violent arm of capitalism, now American facism. Thought both deserve to be crushed in a mouth into a liquid and swallowed for future, in this case demicratic sustainability.)

Finally, I am sober. Well… 80% sober as compared to three hours previously. Nature wins again as it’s been three hours since my first alcoholic drink. I am sound of mind and alert enough to drive home, versus waiting for certain, another 30 plus minutes.

The greasy spoon , deep friend, griddle made, assembled and cooked by others, corporately owned (Boy, he sure is talking a lot about corporations and capitalism this post! /Jim Gaffigan voice off), food substance sure was fulfilling and helped sober me up. Before this meal, I had eaten hours earlier, but it was not hardy and belly fulfilling satisfaction.

I press down the car brake, press the start button, and wait a few seconds for the car to shudder on.

I proceed to drive home.

The road, the journey

It’s slightly easier as compared to driving home after work. Following behind another car at this hour, we both make slight adjustments around the two mentally ill unhoused people walking on the surface of the road instead of the empty sidewalk.

I choose to take a longer path home, driving by the intersection where my father died drunk, causing a car crash, which disabled another driver, leading to a decade long lawsuit and suffering for his and my immediate family after.

Thought I have lived longer than I knew him, and didn’t really know him much because of his internal problems, and because I have now driven by this light hundreds to a thousand times… I always remember him and that period of life, for a moment while driving through before I forget, and present in the present once more.

Home

I make it home, unscathed.

I remember that I have a previous agreement to take care of my neighbors cat on vacation, and fulfill that at, in the dark of night, at 948pm. About 45 minutes later, after doing the necessary duties of cat caretaking, including a long amount of time playing with and visiting my neighbors sweet orange cat, I say goodbye to him, and head on home.

My cat Coconut is waiting for my return. Peering at me in the narrow opening in the front window. Glaring at me like I am a wild animal in the night. That is until I am near the top step of our house stairs, and she disappears out of sight. To her regular spot next to the door, waiting for me to open it and enter.

She smells me as is her routine, as cats have done to humans for thousands of years. She checks my smell as to ascertain my whereabouts, with that nose far more powerful than my ordinary human nose, knowing in an instant where I’ve been, and which animals I’ve been around.

Things return to normal.

I am back at the home laptop putting the finishing touches on this post.

As for the mariners game, we lost. The score did not change after I left the bar at the end of the sixth inning. That happens in baseball. While breakthroughs in technology and application of statistics in baseball has greatly influenced the game as a whole, and this recent Mariners team, sometimes the other team wins. Especially when they are also a borderline playoff team with one of the top five records in their league.

It sucks. I process it. I move on with my life.

One thing I want to note before I close. I do not have a drinking problem. Not anymore. I do enjoy drinking every once in a while. I have a handle with it, and nobody should drink and drive. Even if you feel under the legal limit.

My day continues.

The end.

Reilly's blog