And then there were two

I was suppossed to have lunch with my buddies today but this morning Jim called and said, "I'm not gonna make it. I dismantled the deck around my pool yesterday and now my knees and back are killing me."

Keep in mind that Jim is in his 80s.

Then BillB texted that he couldn't make it. He's only in his 70s but I'm betting he did something silly too.

Since it was just BillE and me, we decided to do something we haven't done since we worked together 11 years ago - we went to Taco Bell for lunch!

We are big fans of Taco Bell. I have no idea why but it's something we used to do once a month or so.

And now for my complaint about Taco Bell: They require you to use a "kiosk" (touch screen) to place your order.

The first thing that goes through my mind when I see those order stations is how many people lost their job when the company brought in those things? How many kids don't have a summer job anymore because of those kiosks?

Oh, and they are a pain in the ass because touch screens aren't designed to be used by hundreds of people poking at them over and over again. They start to lose sensitivity and you end up having to jam them pretty hard to get them to accept your entry.

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The Red Sox were off yesterday and someone made this:

It made me laugh.

They are starting a 3-game series against the Rangers this evening. First pitch is at 7:10 and Gray has the start.

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Up, down, up, down.

I have no idea if I should leave my investments alone or take it all out and bury it in a tin can in my backyard...

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Here are some links:

• I'll be over here waiting for Dementia Donny to blame the democrates for the algea in his new pool.



• I have some advice for Mr. Juan Hernandez: SELL!!! Sell it all right now!!



• Attention everyone everywhere: The government is not going to protect your money.



• Whelp, I guess I won't be going to the cape this summer.

He's gonna get fired.

Sam Kennedy, CEO and President of Baseball Operations for the Fenway Sports Group (aka: The Boston Red Sox) was on the radio this morning and he said some things the caught my attention.

His opening remark was:

I think it's important just to acknowledge how embarrassing and unacceptable, maddening, frustrating, whatever words you want to use, the past two and a half months have been.

It's nice that he admits that. It's nice that he admits the season has gone to shit and the team sucks but he did not acknowledge that the off-season was also embarrassing and unacceptable. The FSG made it abundantly clear that they were unwilling to pay the asking price for any high-calibre infielders/hitters and they lost one on their own players who opted out of his contract.

Then he was asked if Breslow's job was safe:

Look, I fully understand and appreciate questions regarding Craig Breslow and his job security and all that but the issue of a change there, just to be clear, that's not even on the table. He is working as hard as anybody in terms of getting things back on track, but again, words are hollow right now.

I would like to know which words are hollow? The ones where he says Breslow's job is safe or the ones where he says Breslow is working as hard as anyone to get back on track?

Then he was asked if his own job was safe:

Nobody, nobody is free and clear of blame.

Does that mean he is not safe? I mean, the guy is a small-time partner in FSG so can he even be fired? Do they have to buy him out if they fire him?

The one question that no one has ever asked either Kennedy or Breslow is, "Why did Breslow fire most of the scouting staff in 2025 and most of the coaching staff in 2026?"

Based on the performance of the players he has brought onto the team, or let go from the team, Breslow is looking more and more like a guy with the same level of baseball knowledge as me.

And trust me, I could never run a major league baseball team.

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Let the bombing begin anew!

Or not...

I realize he does not understand that Iran will never negotiate with him and I realize that when he announces that "the war is over" on a weekly basis, he is doing it because he is a firm believer in the old adage, 'Tell a lie often enough and it becomes the truth".

What I do not understand is how his minions and his cult-followers can continuously fall for his blatant lies.

I mean, I guess the alternative is to put the democrats back in power which is even worse because their lies are usually well-crafted and more believable. At least with Dementia Donny we know he's lying to us.

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I know some of you love the game of soccer and are very pleased that some of the World Cup games are being played the U.S. so I know that what I am about to say may upset you soccer people...

I don't care about soccer.

I know, you are shocked that I don't give two shits about soccer but truth be told, soccer wasn't a thing when I was a kid.

We played baseball, we played hockey and we played football. Hell, we even did gymnastics but none of us played soccer. Soccer was something that was done in Europe by people who fell down and cried anytime someone came near them.

Don't get me wrong, I understand the rules of soccer and I even understand the excitement of the game. I coached it for 6 or 7 years when my kids played in the town rec league and I learned the rules so I didn't sound like a complete idiot when I talked to a referee.

I just didn't like it.

To be honest with you, I was pretty happy when my kids decided they didn't want to play soccer anymore and moved on to other sports that I could enjoy watching like tennis, field hockey and lacrosse.

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Here are some links:

• I guess ol' Phill can't keep his hands to himself...



• How much of an asshole do you have to be to use a gun to rob little kids.



• People need to stop being jerks. I get it, you don't like the guy but vandalism isn't going to make him go away.



• Putting on a blonde wig and a white dress does not make you look like Marilyn Monroe.

And they keep on losing

The Red Sox got swept by the Rays.

The only good thing that can be said about the Red Sox is that they are not the Los Angeles Angels...

When ownership decided to fire the manager and most of the coaching staff and put the AAA coaches from Worcester in charge, did they think things would improve?

On the upside, they can't lose tomorrow because they are off tomorrow.

In other news, the Patriots first preseason game is in 64 days...

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The DJIA continues to drop:

This selloff is being driven primarily by Dementia Donny claiming everything is great and Iran is begging him to negotiate. Everybody knows that is bullshit and stocks are paying the price for that instability.

Things would be great if we had some stability in our government and our economy but that's not going to happen anytime in the near future.

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Here are a couple of links:

• The Ninõ is coming.



• So where the hell is it? I'm betting that somehow or another, Trump has figured out how to make money off it.

Welcome to the rookery

Today was "Trim The Bushes" day so I dragged the trimmer, the ladder & the rake out of the shed and set about trimming the bushes.

I did the two bushes next to our porch and garage:

Then I moved over to the line of bushes at our property line. That did not go so well...

I always inspect the bushes before I trim them and today I found not one, not two, not three but four different nests in four different bushes. Here is a conveniently labeled picture of the bushes at our property line:

The catbird is a firm in her protection and won't move off the nest when I approach. The robins, however, are all in full self-preservation mode. If I get near the bush (like a foot or two away), the robins will scram out of there at a high rate of speed, leaving the eggs or babies behind to whatever fate befalls them.

One of the nests is located in a spot that I could get a nice picture of so here you go:

We are apparently considered a high-end bird neighborhood. All the cool birds want to move here.

And one idiot bird who thinks parking her nest out in the open, a foot or two from the street, is smart.

Some bluejay or crow is going to spot those eggs and have themselves a nice meal.

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Speaking of birds...

Years ago, my Aunt Carolyn had a couple of hummingbird feeders that were visited by numerous hummingbirds. This collection of birds included one she called "Ivan the Terrible" because he would attack all the other birds.

Turns out we also have an "Ivan the Terrible" at our house because yesterday we spotted a hummingbird swooping back & forth and up & down. My wife thought maybe it was a brain-damaged hummingbird but when she asked google why the bird was acting that wya, she discovered that it was protecting its food.

In other words, it has decided that the feeders I tend to are its personal food source.

Hummingbirds are weird. Interesting as hell to watch but just plain weird.

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Yes, the Red Sox lost last night.

Yes, my level of hope is approaching the level of hope I had back in the 80s and early 90s when the Red Sox sucked all the time.

Do I think they should fire Craig Breslow? No, I do not. Simply because there is no one else out there that is any better that will take a job working for Sam "I am not a liar!" Kennedy and the penny-pinching organization known as the Fenway Sports Group.

They are kinda screwed and right now all we can hope for is that they don't make any stupid moves in a misguided & panicky attempt at "making the team better".

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Here are some links:

• Someone has compiled a list of the 37 (or is it 38?) times that Dementia Donny claimed a deal was near.



• Given a choice of jail or wrestling alligators, I'll take jail.



• The Coasties have stopped looking for Hooker.

Falling

With yesterday's loss, the Red Sox have fallen 10½ games behind the Rays and 2½ games behind the Orioles.

At this point, they have 99 games left to play in this season and since they usually fall apart after the All Star break, I don't think they will have much in the way of success.

My level of hope is almost non-existent at this point.

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In other sportings, Korda won the Women's US Open yesterday.

That young lady sure knows how to golf.

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Here are some links:

• Here's your Naked Guy In The News story.



• Get ready for really expensive beef.



• She really likes to be in the limelight.