I've been pondering getting a maroon cricket hat … and seeing how quickly it could be artificially weathered to make it go a pinker, lighter shade.
Worked with my last hat 🙂 That started out dark navy blue and ended up light purple after sunbleaching … (And then got retired due to bloodstains !)
w00t!!!
White stuff + fuchsia clothing dye = varying shades of pink. I've dyed white shorts a nice pink, a performance t-shirt a lighter pink, a ball cap a deeper pink. You can get tons of pink with dye!
Go for it! 🙂
Muahaha – I also believe that Smoke Theory is proven fact 🙂 And that I'll get more runs if I put on the awkward batting glove before the easier one.
(One batting glove has extra padding for the thumb)
Definitely think that as software gets more complicated, those wibblies have a chance to make their presence felt. Although those wibblies are more down to the accumulated efforts of terrible programmers and their bugs.
But you think that there are "wibblies" out there…. [grin]
Still very skeptical – but very definitely believing in that luck thing.
The organised religions make no sense whatsoever though, even when they're not contradicting themselves.
I'm actually quite surprised by this…. I thought – being an engineer/science type you'd be rather more skeptical…..
This one feels as if it’s getting more alive now.
The Pink Hat Project was an idea that first came up a couple of months ago now while chatting with one of my dearest friends over online chat. We had a colleague who touched our team a little while ago … She was one of the mainstays of a small team that got absorbed into our larger team and always answered my big popup meerkat grin with a little smile of her own.
But … she’s also been touched by breast cancer over the last couple of years and although we’ve seen her occasionally feeling well enough to be able to come in, she’s really struggled. So remembering her (aka The Rose) is part of my inspiration to be the focus for a charity effort instead of just the contributor.
Thumper is also an inspiration for this, the original Pink Hat Project idea was spawned after me thinking “Why can’t I do that too ?”
There’s a simple answer to that : In a year or two, I won’t be able to. Although I don’t look much older than when I was at uni, at 37 I can feel the advancing years catching up to me. I’d still be able to bat and impersonate a fielder but if I can’t Run Real Fast, I don’t think there’d be a point in continuing the cricket. I have to be in the team on merit or not at all. Hopefully losing weight will give me another few seasons, at least long enough to make it worth buying the gear I’m intending to pick up.
But … most sporty charity stuff involves running a half marathon or something like that. I’m not built for that. I don’t have any significant run-for-miles endurance but have very good recuperation powers. I’m built for short fast sprints and lots of them. Cricket is the perfect game for me. And cricket over a season is a marathon because it’s a very easy game to get injured in and someone like me will be carrying injuries over several games, plus you do more running in the field than you’d expect.
So my sponsorship idea revolves around cricket. And that can get really complicated as (if the shoulder behaves) I can do everything on the cricket field :
Cash for runs as a batsman (I’ll expect lots*)
Stumpings if I’m needed as a wicket keeper (these are rare)
Catches held (more as keeper)
Run outs caused (lolworthy if I’m batting!)
Wickets (unlikely to happen unless I can bowl more than just doosras)
* While I’ve held my catches and won games with my bowling, (6 wickets in a game once, 4 wickets several times) I’ve never scored a 50 with the bat. That’s something I Want to do, it’s unfinished business. I’ve also turned games with my fielding, keeping the runs down, getting key run outs or holding important catches. But while I’ve anchored sides to wins, I’ve never had that massive innings of my own.
Other performance sponsorship options are things like Cash per Game played. And I intend to play as much as my body lets me this summer. And then play anyway if I’m feeling slow. Oh, another reason for thinking about doing this is to give me some solid motivations to continue playing.
So there we have it :
Pink Hat Project = Sleepypete trying to get as much cricket in as possible, wearing as much pink gear as I can acquire. That’s been a struggle :
Pink cap – acquired, although I’m uncomfortable about wearing England badged gear on the field. I haven’t earned that right.
Pink floppy hat – only idea I have here is to get a red one and leave it outside to get sunbleached.
Pink keeping gloves – these exist … but I’d need to know I’d be keeping wicket.
Pink bat grip – I can get one of these at Globe Sports and will do so when I know which bat I’ll use this summer.
Pink helmet – think I’d be able to get a pink cover for mine … more investigation needed.
That’s the limit for pink stuff though. We play with red balls and in the evenings when the light starts becoming a factor, so pink outfit + red ball = tricky to see -> unhappy opposition.
As for the fund raising bit, I’ll be looking at Justgiving.com. I’ve seen other people posting up links to Justgiving and a colleague did a similar sponsored cricket thing a couple of seasons ago, I think using Justgiving.
That’s it for now – Pink Hat Project feels like it’s getting closer to reality the more I show people the picture of the Pink Hat I got last Friday 🙂
Another one grabbed from Facebook :
Of all the door to door people who come knocking, it’s the religion ones that I’m most wary of. The only one who’s come close lately has been the Anglian windows bloke who I thought would try and force his way in.
The religion ones are the worst of the lot though. I have nothing against people who live with religion close to their hearts, it’s the evangelists who I don’t have the respect for. The people who will drag a child with them when they go doorstep to doorstep, with that child being a moderator for any offensiveness that might be justified by preventing a stranger from forcing their way into your home.
And that’s what it feels like with the doorstep religion people, they expect that you will invite them into your home and often don’t bother waiting for an answer. Cue slamming of door in faces.
But that’s just style. I had a similar reaction to the Anglian windows person who :
Didn’t show any personal ID
Only identification was an “Anglian” on his fleece top
Was bordering offensive in his efforts to get me to talk to him.
Yep – I’m paranoid about the doorstep sellers and will only let them in if they’re as sexy as the Npower girl who convinced me to change away from British Gash, which is something I had planned to do shortly anyway. (Customer disservice again)
Before I go into the next lot which I suspect may upset a few religious people, I have every respect for what people believe in. It’s your answer and your interpretation to fundamental questions. And I have no right to question those beliefs. Organised religion, however, is fair game – muahaha 🙂
I have a kind of religion but it’s a personal one. I think there’s gremlins, spooks, ghosts, supernatural wibblies out there who like to toy with us. Use a computer for a while, you’ll know what I mean. Strange things happen that defy the logic these things are supposed to run on.
I also believe heavily in karma, do good things for others and they’ll remember when you need the favour returned.. And that stands me in good stead at work, where I get more responsiveness out of our contractors than some of my colleagues do. I think that’s partly the contractors knowing that I don’t ask them to do stuff which would be a waste of effort. I’ll also work through the problems and “how do we do this ???” to the benefit of everyone. Lol, I’m usually asking them to do stuff they know they should be doing anyway but without bashing them over the head with a reminder of that.
So that’s the “do unto others” tenet that the Christians like to think they follow. (Look up history, the Christian mob ethic has been consistently “do unto others before they do unto you”). Don’t get me wrong, it’s a fine belief system for individuals, it just goes badly wrong when it gets organised.
I have to admit being soured on Christianity by what I experienced in primary school over in Northern Ireland. I went to a Quaker school which was heavily populated by Protestant kids with the occasional Catholic. The playground could literally be a battlefield. It was also during the time when the Troubles were still active, when the Peace Process was not quite started up. As an 8 year old, I was confused : “You follow the same god right, why are you fighting ?”. I found it nonsensical and didn’t want to have anything to do with it.
Oh, there was also the ganging up on the English boy too 🙂 Everyone gets bullied for being different but our differences are what make us strong. I was also known as the Milky Bar Kid at that Irish school.
Yep – my pre-teen mind was so confused by the Protestant vs Catholic thing that it went its own way and sought its own interpretation. My own code of ethics borrow heavily from what I learned early on but a strong ethic of “Be Good To People” should be the core of everyone’s ethics, religion should not have anything to do with that.
In terms of meaning though … My superstition makes me think there’s a supreme being type entity out there. But not the capricious gods of most major religions. They’re more concerned about their worshippers legging it for someone less cruel than they are concerned for the welfare of those worshippers. (Yes greek gods, I mean you!).
So what do I believe in ? I believe in Luck. Fate. Destiny. It’s why I have my superstitions that guard against tempting fate. You can go some way to making your own luck. Don’t walk under ladders that are unstable and have things perched on top. Take precautions when working on that ladder.
Why luck ? Most religions are centred around the question “Why Am I Here?” and answer that question with something that keeps control of their flock. I prefer the scientific element inherent in the sheer luck involved in us being here.
Astronomic chances of a life bearing planet in a life supporting solar system
Having a moon that causes tides that generate our climate
Sheer random chance of those first amino acids getting together
Enough radiation to spark random evolutionary mutation
Random evolution making creatures as smart as we are
Incalculable chances of the chromosomes that made me ME coming together
The mind boggles at the staggering amount of luck that makes us US. And it is sheer luck that makes us what we are. When you look at it, luck makes a lot of sense too as a Creator. Bad luck comes along with Good luck. Believers in a perfect supreme being (Christians) have no explanation for the innocents inflicted with Bad Stuff. A perfect being can make no flaws in their design. We all know how many flaws are in this world and a bare fraction of those are punishments for evildoers. Nothing in this world is perfect (although someone I know comes close!) which puts the kybosh on “God made us in his own image”. Ok, that makes their god flawed and imperfect too and in no way befitting the tag assigned to them.
No. I prefer to believe in Luck, as I know how fickle luck can be. Luck will also respect it when you put the effort in to improve your chances.
And I’m now starting to run out of things to add to the Wall Of Text without repeating myself. Questions and last thoughts :
Always ask : does this belief make sense ?
Trust in your own choices
Have respect for the choices of others, particularly what they believe in
Treat others how you would expect to be treated in return
Being nice leads to cookies and chocolate
And a hug feels better than a sermon
Very last thought – would I get married in a church ? If it mattered to my partner, definitely. That’s part of having the respect for the beliefs of others. My feet might feel a little toasty but it’s her day as well as mine. Oh to find someone though both interested and interesting. I do know someone who more than fits the “interesting” part, she’s smart, sexy, full of life, has a good soul and most important, can keep up with my brain which works in its mysterious ways. But “interested” ? she’s got other stuff going on that’s got her full attention. There I go again with chasing the unattainable !
LOL
Yoinked from Facebook :
Love it