Lazy day

We got our housecleaning chores done this morning but since there has been no wind, I did not have to do any yard work.

I did take the snowblower out to make sure all the repair work I did this summer didn't screw it up.

I fired it up and let it run for about 10 minutes. That should have gotten the engine hot enough to cause the valves to expand and make the engine lose power. I'm pleased to say that did not happen. Apparently my dressing of the valve stems was enough to let them still seat properly.

Hopefully that means I do not need to buy a new snowblower this winter.

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The Lightning and the Senators both won last night and that pushed the Bruins back down to 4^th place in the standings.

It's not as bad as it sounds because you'll notice that it's actually a 3-way tie for second place in points but the winning percentage puts them at the bottom of the tie.

What is as bad as it sounds is the news regarding McAvoy. He had surgery and is now listed as "out indefinitely" which could be interpreted as "out for the season".

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Today was the day that baseball teams had to offer contracts to all of their eligible players or they become free agents. In the case of the Red Sox, they did not offer contracts to Lowe or Winckowski. They did offer contracts to Crawford, Houck, Casas and Gonzalez.

Assuming all four of those guys accept the contract without going to arbitration, I think that will give Breslow all the time he needs to start looking for new players to add to the roster.

In other words, once those four sign on the dotted line, Breslow can get down to business.

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Here are some links:

• This is good news.



• I give it a week before Trump starts insulting him and blaming him for something stupid..



• Trump's latest peace plan is: Psycho Vlad gets what he wants and the Ukranians get shit.



• I am sick and tired of hearing about this woman.



• Have I mentioned that I'm pretty sure Avi Loeb is crazy as a loon.

Still clean

My lawn is still spotless.

Amazing how that happens when there is no wind...

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The Bruins lost 3-2 to the Ducks last night. This means they have dropped to second place in the Atlantic division.

They are off tonight and tomorrow they will be in Los Angeles to take on the Kings. Once again, the game will start after my bedtime.

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Here are some links:

• Ladies and gentlemen, presenting Brainworm Bobby, our Secretary of Health and Human Services! I jumped to one of the better parts but feel free to watch the entire video.



• If they wanted to know how tough moss is, they could have asked me. I got that shit growing in some spots on my side yard and it just won't die.



• Looks like Maye and the Patriots might have some competition this weekend.



• Key line in this story: "Japan owns $1.2 trillion in U.S. government debt."

Nice and clean

Since there was no wind and the temps were above 40, I decided today was a good day to clear the leaves off my lawn. I also did my next-door-neighbor's lawn because his lawn guy is done for the season. Also, he's a old codger who probably shouldn't be doing much in the way of yard work.

So anyways, our lawns look great.

Now if I could get the people around us to do their lawns, we would probably be leaf-free for the winter.

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I got to reading up on how a bill is passed into law and found a unique process that I'm betting The Very Stable Genius will invoke regarding the bill to release the Epstein data.

When a bill is passed by the Senate and Congress, it is given to the President for his signature or veto. He has 10 days (not counting Sundays) to either sign it or veto it.

If the president chooses to veto the bill, congress can override that veto if they have enough votes and the bill becomes law. If they don't have enough votes, the bill dies and does not become law.

If the president signs the bill, it becomes law.

There is, however a rarely used process called a "pocket veto".

If the president does not sign or veto the bill during the 10 days (not counting Sundays) it becomes law. However, if he does not sign the bill and the house goes into recess during those 10 days, it does not become law and the House has to start the bill all over again.

I bet a dollar Trump leaves the bill on his desk and Johnson sends congress home the for the holidays.

Trump is going to say he didn't have time to read & sign the bill and Johnson is going to say congress had to go on recess for the holidays

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I have been accused, once again, of being an uber geek.

I had a conversation with a friend the other day and he asked what I used to back up data. I told him both my wife and myself have external hard drives that we periodically plug into our laptops and the operating system automatically backs things up.

Then I told him I also have a linux server on my network that I use as network-attached storage (NAS). I usually drop copies of important files like pictures of my grandkids on the server. He told me I was a nerd.

Then I told him I also have a SQL server, a VPN server, two different web servers (NGINX & Apache) and a MVS Z/OS mainframe emulator.

When he realized I said I had a mainframe he asked why in the hell I needed a mainframe. I told him because all of those devices help me keep my brain functioning. When I play with them, I have to think about things and do things that make me work my brain hard.

The way I look at it, I can spend my days staring at the TV or I can go sit in a bar or I can rumble around on the internet watching shitty youtubes.

Or I can do things that makes me think.

Since I don't want to turn into a mouth-breathing slug, I think I'll do the things that make me think.

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The Bruins game isn't on until 10:00. That means I will not find out what happened until tomorrow morning.

Here are some links:

• Only in Florida.



• The last time these two had a problem with each other, things did not go well for either side.



• Is anyone shocked by this?



• Look, we got enough problems with the whole "AI" bullshit thing. Let's not introduce artificial neurons into the mix.

They lost.

The Bruins lost 3-1 to the Hurricanes last night but they remain in first place in the Atlantic division.

Too be honest with you, they kinda deserved to lose. They did not play well and they looked tired on the ice.

Tomorrow they are in Anaheim to take on the Ducks. It's a long flight and the time change always makes things difficult so my hopes are not high but you never know what they'll do.

Maybe they'll be fired up on adrenalin and they'll beat the crap out of the Ducks.

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In baseball news, the Red Sox have DFA'd Nathaniel Lowe and traded a pitcher I never heard of named Luis Guerrero for a utility infielder I never heard of named Tristan Gray.

In all honesty, it's not a great start to the off-season roster building. Then again, what the hell do I know. Maybe this guy Grey is a hell of an infielder.

Guess we'll see what happens in March.

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I'm pretty sure The Very Stable Genius has no idea what the hell he is doing in regards to the economy.

Wait. Scratch that.

I'm pretty sure he has no idea what the hell he is doing in regards to anything but he is especially ignorant of the economy.

When the DJIA drops almost 5% in 5 days, that is not good.

Not good at all...

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Here are some links:

• I'm not seeing it.



• More than 30 years working in systems has taught me that most files will eventually grow beyond an expected size of entries.



• Key line in this story: "The worst decision I've ever made in my entire life."

There is hockey tonight

The first place Bruins will take on the Hurricanes this evening and if they want to stay in first place, they need to win.

McAvoy is still out and I don't blame him. Getting hit in the face with a hockey puck would put me out for the season.

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The 2026 Baseball Hall Of Fame ballot is out and I'm surprised to see Rick Porcello on it. I did not realize that it has been five years since he retired.

Pedroia is still on the ballot. I didn't think he would get the requisite 5% minimum votes to stay on the ballot last year but he did. As a matter of fact, he got 12% of the votes last year. Maybe he'll get more than 12% this year.

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Here are some links:

• Key line in this story: "profound investigative missteps".



• If someone knocks on your door and fire a bullet through the door, you are not defending your home, you are comitting murder.



• I'm betting this is going to stink up the entire island. Maybe they should get a bunch of dynamite.



• Imagine that. Who would have guessed that bees like open fields more than concrete and buildings.