#IYNT

Wednesday, July 3, was the first Ignite Your Natitude Tweetup, but not the first Nationals tweetup. In the spirit of twitter, all

paragraphs will be 140 characters or less...

I got there around 3:15, gates didn't open until 4, game didn't start until 6:30. People wanted the meet n greet with the players, that

was available to the first 10 people to check in. I almost got it, I was 13th in line. I probably would've gotten it if my belt had been

 tied tighter (i was essentially mooning people for a couple of seconds while running to the check in table) or if the ticket I had was

scanning properly (first time using mobile tickets so it took me a couple of swipes). My friend Tracy was able to win the meet n greet

, and I felt compelled to give him the ball I got from Livan Hernandez to have that signed. Tracy eventually got that ball signed by

Stephen Strasburg, and I kind of feel like that symbolizes a turning point of the franchise, a passing of the torch of staff aces.

Had a great time. I guess any time that the Nationals win is a good time. This was espicailly exciting because this is the first

time I've seen a Jordan Zimmermann win live(yes, I actually keep track of these things along with other stats). It's not that he doesn't

pitch well, when I go to the ballpark ( 3.65 ERA over 7 starts) but the offense never comes through for him, or he's not pitching when

the game is decieded. Its always fun nerding out with other Nats tweeters (the Center Field Gate Alliance, singing along to walkup music,

sacreligious Jesus Flores puns) even if you aren't familiar with them. I lucked out, my seat was near other tweeters I knew. One of the

things that I kind of hate about tweetups is that I tend to gravitate to people I've known previously. I need to do a better job of

introducing myself to new people and striking up conversations.

Two things really pissed me off. The special ticket offer came with 6 bucks credit for concessions. I've ordered tickets with

food credits on them before, no problem, but I was a little concerned since it was on my phone, so I asked one of the employees

working the Ignite Your Natitude Tweetup sign-in table and he tod me that it would be fine. Thinking I have 6 bucks credit, I go to

Jammin Island and order the combo with chicken and ribs and rice n beans and potato salad, only to be told that they couldn't scan the

code off my phone. (it hurt me deep to leave all that food stranded) Thinking that the stand doesn't know what they were doing, I go

to another concessions area, but I'm told the same thing. I go back to the sign in table, and another employee tells me that I need to go to

guest services, and they were able to resolve the issue. Would've been a lot easier just to tell me to go to guest services initially.

Before the food credit fiasco, I had a decent appetite, and wanted to go for the 8 pound Strasburger. I've taken doen a 6 pound milkshake

with a 1.5 lb sandwhich before, so 8 pounds of bread/meat/veggies should be no problem. I politely asked the person at the Red Loft if they

were serving the Strasburger today, she said no. TURNS OUT THEY WERE BECAUSE MY FRIEND STEPHANIE ORDERED ONE AND ATE IT WITH FRIENDS! That

is a customer service fail! This is your signature item, EVERY single employee at the Red Loft should be able to give a correct answer if

asked if its being served. If they do not know, ASK! It is a $50 burger, it is worth your time to ask. With the secrecy of when it is

 available, and the failure of tonight, I'm starting to think there is a worldwide conspiracy for me not to eat this burger. Thankfully

Stephanie saved me a slice, very succulent, and I can't to eat 8 pounds of that.

(Note that invalidates most of this rant. Turns out they weren't selling the Strasburger, but Travel Channel was at the park and filmed a special on the burger and my friend Andrea asked if she could have it afterwards and they said yes. Still, it would've been nice to have it available when a special about it is being filmed)

I wish they had charging stations for us tweeters. My droid uses its battery pretty fast and I was already on orange in the 3rd inning.

Luckily, there was a rain delay and I used that opportunity to find an outlet and charge up.

All in all, it was a great night at the ballpark, the metro ride home, that's a different story, but I'm looking forward to future baseball

tweetups, both informal and organized by the team.