Happy 4th of July!

And happy birthday to my friend and fellow blogger Sam Johnson (one good plug deserves another, right, buddy?). I'm currently writing this on the patio outside the cafeteria at the Padres facility in Playa Najayo, so things are pretty great. The facility is beautiful, the weather has been gorgeous, and we're going to be getting rolling on a 4th of July barbecue in just a little bit. The last few days have been both difficult and rewarding, and I promise to fill you in on them in a bit. For now, though, I leave you with a brief set of random notes and observations.

1) A lot of people in this country seem to have their cell phones set to ring very, very loud.

2) I have now twice tried to post some photos; Yuma, my Japanese classmate, has been taking great pictures, and he let me go through them and pick out some to throw up on here for all y'all's consumption. However, the two times I have tried to post those photos, about midway through the second sentence of what would be an introductory paragraph I hit whatever button it is on his keyboard that switches it from the Latin/Roman alphabet (which I like to think I am capable of communicating with you in) to (I think) the Japanese katakana alphabet (which I am very much not capable of communicating with you in). I'll try again later.

3) Jersey competition update: Warren Sapp (Bucs version), Jerome Bettis, Peyton Manning, Miguel Tejada (my find, Orioles era), Steve Nash (Dallas), and a contender for best/most obscure, not due to the player's lack of skill or notoriety but rather because the team no longer exists--a Juan Howard Washington Bullets uniform.

That's it for now. Stay tuned later tonight or tomorrow for (what I hope won't, but almost certainly will, turn into) an epic update on the last couple days.