every year for the last five years on this day we do the same thing. we hop out of bed and have a quick breakfast (bagels, donuts, etc.), we line up the laptop next to the desktop and get all three phone lines ready, we watch the clock and then we wait.

because this is the morning that mets opening day tickets go on sale.

so i watch 8:57...8:58...8:59.....dial and click, click and dial, "all circuits are busy"

i know the drill. just keep clicking, just keep calling.

but this year? we were shut out. after two hours of dialing and clicking we finally got through only to find that the tickets were all gone. there were none to be had.

it's a sad, sad day here. i did snag some tickets for the first series, but it just isn't the same--that same "this is the year" feeling that goes along with opening day.

we still have the day off and are trying to make arrangements to watch the game somewhere really fun. but no stale hot dogs, no jeering at the fools who show up with yankee jerseys, no cheering as they take the field for the first time as a team.

at least there's a cute puppy to play with--that helps a bit.