Indecisive

Rookie phenom Stephen Strasburg was pitching for the Washington Nationals in Cincinnati tonight, so that gave me an excuse to drive down to see what kind of stuff he has.

Complicating matters was the issue of potential inclement weather. The Reds and Nationals had faced rain delays the previous two days, and precipitation was in the forecast for this evening. I didn't mind the possibility of getting wet. After all, I take a poncho. What I was worried about was a very long rain delay, like the one in excess of two and a half hours on Tuesday evening. There simply was no way I could foresee myself driving two hours to return home if I wouldn't be getting to my car until nearly 1 a.m.

So I checked my preferred hotel and found that the rate was pretty good. Then I got to thinking, well, maybe I ought to go ahead and stay the night regardless. If I do that, I can go to the game on Thursday afternoon too! Thus began roughly 24 hours of mental seesawing.

Go ahead, you can afford it, and you know you want to do it. Plus, it's probably not a bad idea to get a hotel as a precaution rather than risk driving home tired. You know you'd like to see the pitcher the Reds are trotting out on Thursday. And don't forget, you could eat breakfast at that pancake place that you didn't get to appreciate fully last time because you ordered the wrong thing...

Yeah, but it seems kind of extravagant to do this so soon after being down here about a month ago for three games and two nights. Plus, I'll see the Reds again soon enough when I catch them in Chicago. While there is merit to the idea of checking into a hotel and getting to bed before midnight rather than arriving home really late, what if I'm not tired? And I shouldn't be eating the kind of breakfast I know I'll order if I go there...

Back and forth I went. I'll stay. No, I'll drive home. Well, maybe I ought to stay. Nope, I can make it back. I even did this throughout the game and on the mile or so walk to my car.

As it turned out, the rain held off, but the game did run kind of long. I reached the parking lot and got behind the wheel a little after 11 p.m. I was tired, but I also felt like I was probably alert enough that a hotel wasn't necessary. Fine. Let's head home. It's not like the Nationals are an attractive opponent anyway.

Truthfully, my internal waffling might have made the experience more enjoyable. The idea of having the freedom to decide on a whim that I'd take off work the next day was a pleasant one. I also liked knowing that I'd given myself pre-approval to stay overnight if the situation merited it. (It's been kind of an exhausting week, and I expected to be more tired.)

But I still wish I would be setting out for the ball park late tomorrow morning.