I usually like weathermen.  This goes all the way back to my television days [caption id="attachment_240" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Outfield on Saturday after flooding"] [/caption]  about 100 years ago when the weather guy took me under his arm and taught me the real ins and out of local TV production. I even filled in for him while he was on vacation once doing the weather during local news broadcasts. Since then, I follow the weather closely.  And, as my Twitter followers know, I retweet our local advisories when I'm at home just in case there are folks out there that might miss it on their TV or local radio. [caption id="attachment_241" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="GM Jonathon Griffith Oversees Autograph Session"] [/caption] However, I am giving some serious consideration to putting out a contract hit on the weather guy in Woodbridge because he has been driving  me nuts recently. I've just finished a long home stand with the Potomac Nationals.  It started last Thursday with a game that was rained out. Friday's game was also rained out.  And was so bad that the outfield was actually under water. Saturday was a double header.  The grounds crew at Pfitzner Stadium did an awesome job and the field looked great by the 4 PM start. [caption id="attachment_242" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Storm Moving In"] [/caption] The game was huge for us, surpassing out previous best game by over $300.  Just to complicate things, one of my fryers died in the middle of the second game, but we got around it. Sunday was another double header and we started off at a better pace than Saturday.  But by the fifth inning of the first game, due to the heat, many of the fans, especially those with kids, began leaving and our totals for the day were down.  But still a good day. One of our customers, a lady who comes to every game, stands outside the tent and tells everyone within hearing distance that we have the best funnel cakes in northern Virginia.  Nice to get free advertising like that. [caption id="attachment_243" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Scary Skies Over The Pfitz"] [/caption] Monday was an off day. Tuesday, I was set up and ready to go when the storm from hell hit.  I've never seen skies so scary in my life.  When the first big gust of wind hit, it lifted the tent, two 6' tables and me off the ground.  As most of you know, I'm not a little skinny guy.  So that was a GUST of wind. Then it rained something like 4 inches in an hour.  Have you ever seen a box  with seven pounds of powdered sugar and 4 inches of rain?  What a mess. Wednesday, we actually got in about 5 innings before another storm hit. [caption id="attachment_244" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Emma Bailey Band"] [/caption] Thursday, just about game time, one cell went to the north of the stadium, one to the south but it missed us.  Probably scared off a lot of folks heading to the game, but we got the whole game in and it didn't hit rain until the drive home. Thursday was the highlight of the week for me, but not because of business.  It was Ladies Night at Pfitzner and the P Nats sponsored a concert before the game by the Emma Bailey Band. (www.emma-bailey.com) They set up right next to me and I had some entertainment for the pregame. The band has a couple of guitars, a bass, a bongo/harmonica guy that rocked, and Emma, who has a voice to die for.  They were fabulous, probably the best group I've seen at any venues the past couple of years. Too bad there weren't a couple thousand fans to hear them. [caption id="attachment_245" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Uncle Slam Enjoys the Music"] [/caption] They would have played after game as well, but the storms were heading right for us again. Guido, how much for a contract on a weatherman? I'm at the farm for a total of 14 hours, including the time I slept last night.  Then, I'm off to Harrisonburg for the weekend and back to Woodbridge for another seven day home stand of the P Nats. Then the Indy Race at Richmond. Reports to follow.