My man Moose is officially retired.

I've been friends with Moose since the early 80's and I can tell you that he is a great guy.

The last time I saw him was at Johns retirement party.

Seems like a lot of my friends are retiring...

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It's raining again but I'm not complaining. After what we went through last year, I've become a fan of rain.

Right about this time of the year last year, we all started noticing the lack of rain and our lawns started getting a little crunchy.

I hate a crunchy lawn.

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The Red Sox have now won four in a row and are on track to overtake the currently-flailing Orioles and capture second place in the ALEast.

Tonight they will be playing the Mariners who are pretty much tied for last place in the American League. I would like to say that's a good thing for the Red Sox but after their performance against the Athletics, who are just a tetch above last place, I'm not willing to predict a sweep.

Hell, I'll be happy if they take two of the three games.

As for the weather, there is a 15% chance of rain in Boston which is better than yesterday when they basically played in the rain.

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The other day I was walking through Costco down in Enfield to price out inkjet cartridges and when I passed by the photo processing counter I glanced down at a display they had for a graduation photo autograph board.

I couldn't help but notice the steely gaze of the gentleman in the background wearing the Central High T-Shirt so I stopped and looked closer.

Ladies and Gentlemen, presenting my friend Jimmy from Springfield's Central High. Oh, and standing directly to his right would be my brother Mark and his partner, also Mark.

Mark, you and Jimmy are Costco famous....

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You can click on these.

Or not.

It's entirely up to you:

• As predicted.



• Key phrase in this story: "The defense does not wish to be heard either."



• I always thought face tattoos were the dumbest things you could do to your body. Turns out I was wrong.



• Monkey Mafia would be a great name for a 1970's Jimmy Breslin novel.



• I'm more of a rock and roll kind of guy but if you like Irish music, I guess it's okay.



• I wouldn't want to be the guy who had to mop the floor afterwards.