San Diego Padres - 40 Men and a Roster

The San Diego Padres coaches may have an excellent line up to work with, but that doesn't mean they don't still have their work cut out for them. No matter how you line them up, however, the Padres have a great group of coaches standing up this year. The list includes first base coach Rick Renteria, third base coach Glenn Hoffman, pitching coach Darren Balsley, bench coach Ted Simmons, hitting coach Jim Lefebvre, bullpen coach Darrel Akerfelds and bullpen catcher Justin Hatcher.

Sometimes not nearly as noticed or given as much credit are the other staff members who help to whip the team members into shape. These include head athletic trainer Todd Hutcheson, assistant athletic trainer Paul Navarro, strength & conditioning coach Jim Malone, direct of team travel/equipment manager Brian Prilaman, assistant clubhouse manager Tony Petricca, assistant to the equipment manager Spencer Dallin, bullpen catcher Mark Merila, sports therapist Phillip Kerr and video coordinator Mike Tompkins.San Diego Padres

What do all these aforementioned members do? They work together to make a really great team out of the 40-man roster that will be heading off to Spring Training soon. The roster includes pitchers Mike Adams, Cha Seun Baek, heath Bell, Matt Bush, Cesar Carrillo, Mike Ekstrom, Ernesto Frieri, Josh Greer, Justin Hampson, Wade LeBlanc, Wilton Lopez, Cla Meredith, Ivan Nova, Scott Patterson, Jake Peavy, Jackson Quezada, Cesar Ramos, Chad Reineke, Jae Kuk ryu, Joe Thatcher, Virgil Vasquez, Mark Worrell and Chris Young; catchers Nick Hundley and Jose Lobaton; infielders Matt Antonelli, Everth Cabrera, Travis Denker, David Eckstein, Adrian Gonzalez, Edgar Gonzalez, Kevin Kouzmanoff and Luis Rodriguez; and outfielders Luis Durango, Jody Gerunt, Brian Giles, Scott Hairston, Chase Headley, Drew Macias and Will Venable.

So where do you guide a good group of coaches and trainers and managers with a 40-man list? Well, if you're the Padres, you get everybody packed and ready to go and you head down to Peoria, Arizona. The Peoria Sports field will host the Padres this year for Spring preparation, which officially begins with a goodwill game on February 25 vs. The Mariners.

The games carry on with a set up that comprises games versus the Cubs, Brewers, Dodgers, Rockies, Athletics, White Sox, Angels, Rangers, Diamondbacks, Royals, Indians, Giants and Brewers in the month of March.

With this type of line-up and thorough Spring preparation, it sounds as though the Padres will have very few moments to stop and get sore or sit around and calm down but then this is baseball term coming up and if the Pirates are as eager as they should be about getting back into the swing of things, then there won't be a lifeless moment in the preparation, on the field, in the games or any other time that the Pirates are doing what they like to do best, which is playing baseball.

House Cleaning Services in San Diego CA - Rankings

I began by opening the phone book and calling several cleaning companies My purpose was to find the best results (I'm picky about a clean house) at the best price. There were many options. Mother and daughters who worked under the table, small locals companies, new companies, students, and chains.House cleaners seem to find a majority of their business from referrals. For the new residents in the San Diego Area, I have made your life a little easier.

My residence is three bedroom, two and half bathroom New England cape-style home with hard surface floors and approximately 2400 square feet. I hired the companies once every other week.

#5. Magic Maids

Magic Maids is a small chain with an office in San Diego and a couple of locations in San Francisco. The office staff was pleasant, well-organized, and did a great job of describing what type of services to expect. Not to my satisfaction, the cleaners arrived later than expected without a phone call. The cleaners apologized for their tardiness then began cleaning. They made several trips out to their car during the cleaning. I was unsure what exactly they were doing, but it interrupted their cleaning immensely. Magic Maids provided a decent result, but the team had some issues with equipment and timeliness which were not to my satisfaction.

Final Word:

#4. Dirt Divas

I found Dirt Divas through a website called Service Magic which matches homeowners with pre-screened service professionals. Their profile said that they used environmentally friendly products so I decided to give them a call. The office staff spoke broken English, but we decided to book anyways.

The team was very experienced and professional. They worked fast to get the cleaning done. They met their time goal, but a several things were left uncleaned. There was mold under the toilet seat, and the tops of the picture frames had a layer of dust.

Final Word:

The result may have been better if they didn't rush in our home.

# 3. The Maids

The Maids drive distinctive yellow Subaru's which I happen to run into frequently. They have a large staff (40 plus cleaners) and are a national chain. I was anxious to try the Maids. They seemed very professional. Jen, in the office, boasted the Maid's long-time presence on the Seacoast and reputation as a leader. When discussing prices she was somewhat arrogant and protective of the pricing.

Final Word:

The cleaning was pretty good. There were a few spots left in the microwave, baseboards not dusted, and the trash cans were not re-bagged. The deal-killer is that I felt that they are way over-priced.

#2. Maid Brigade

The Maid Brigade is another chain located in down the rd in San Diego. I had driven past the location a few times and seen the cars parked outside. The company is smaller than the Maids, and also boasts that it is "Green Clean Certified." The office staff was friendly and provided house cleaning quote over the phone. She told me how long they expected to clean for and how they expected to do it.

The cleaners arrived on time, working efficiently, and in an organized manner. The cleaners were great and addressed some of our specific concerns.

Final Word:

I would use them again.

#1. National Maids

National Maids

Like Dirt Divas, I also found National MAids of San Diego on ServiceMagic's list of pre-screened professionals. The gentleman in the office promptly responded to my request and was very friendly and professional. He also gave me a quote over the phone. Cleaning Safari is a local company and without the brand name of "the Maids" or "Maid Brigade."

The cleaners got right to work when they arrived. The kitchen  and bathrooms looked fantastic. There was a little confusion about the price of the cleaning, but they called the office and straightened it out. They did more organizing than the other companies.

North San Diego County's Unique Plumbing Requirements

Every part of the world is different in plumbing in the San Diego County area has a few quirks that are important to understand. Although we have a moderate climate we have a broad range of environmental features that affect the installation and maintenance of plumbing systems. San Diego County's 70 miles of beaches, including communities such as Oceanside, have humid, salt air and mild winters. Not far to the east, homes located in Julian stand at an altitude of 4235 feet and have snowy winters and thin, rarefied air. To the northeast is the Anza Borrego desert with its searing heat and glaring sun. Between these extremes we find many varieties of climate whose most notable plant life is chaparral, more than a million acres of it. Chaparral are specialized plants whose lifecycle is tied closely to the fires common to their habitat.

Along our coast we must deal with the salt air and humidity which play havoc with metal, causing failure through corrosion. In the mountains we must prepare for cold winters where hose bibs can freeze above ground but buried pipe may also freeze. Alternately, desert communities face intense heat during the day and deep cold at night which can brutalize plastic pipe, making it turn brittle and crack.

Each region of San Diego County requires that a plumber be familiar with the particular issues found in the climate and the resulting code peculiarities. Along the coast water heaters frequently fail from the corrosive effect of the moist, salt air. Copper tubing, galvanized pipe and even faucets fall prey to it. Water heaters should be wrapped in water heater blankets, special blankets that normally are used to lower operating costs by keeping in the heat, to help reduce the effect of the corrosive air. Copper tubing should also be sleeved or insulated, not just where exposed but throughout the home. In the mountains, pipe must be thermally insulated in the ground and frost-free hose bibs, bibs that have an expansion chamber, should be used to keep pipes from bursting in the coldest days of winter. In the desert, plastic pipe should be avoided, favoring instead copper tubing. The extremes of hot and cold, particularly in the summer months, will cause plastic pipe to crack. Pipes also must be insulated but this time against the heat to avoid scalding temperatures in your home on the hottest days of summer.

In most of North San Diego County, communities such as Poway, Vista, Carlsbad, San Marcos, and Escondido for example, the moderate climate means that pipe may be buried close to the surface. This reduces the costs of installation and makes repairs much easier.

The most common problem that generally affects all areas of North San Diego county is an issue with water pressure. While it remains at about 50 psi for most of the county in the daytime it can creep up at night, sometimes exceeding 120 psi. In some areas of the county water pressure can be up to 120 psi during the day and this requires that pressure reducing valves be checked regularly in order to prevent damage to PVC water service lines and fixtures in the home.

With chaparral as common native plants it is a good idea to have a sprinkler system around your home to wet down the area in the event of approaching fire. While this is no guarantee that a home will be spared it has been known to help in the past.

I'm Gary Tanner and I was born into a plumbing family. Town and Country Plumbing located in North San Diego County, is our family business. Please visit our website and check out our "Plumbing Topics" section, located in the left lower column on each page, to learn more about plumbing issues so that you can plan ahead. Over 80% of our clients are repeat customers. Tell your friends about us; that is how a family business grows, by word of mouth.