Busy day

There have been changes at the college and I will be working less hours. This change is not unexpected nor is it unwelcome.

I could have taken a layoff but I decided against that because, to put it simply, I like working at the college and the cut to my hours doesn't hurt too much.

I also have a new boss.

My new boss is a good person and we spent some time going over what what be a good schedule for me and for the college.

I have found over the years that the one thing you can count on is that things change. I've also found that when things change, it's usually for the best.

⧫

I'm watching some old-time-hockey so I don't have much in the way of links.

What I do have are here:

• She seems happy with her situation.



• Loose Emu sounds like a really embarrassing medical condition.



• With all the crime in Lawrence, I would think masks are part of a standard outfit even before the 'rona.



• It is damned hard to feel bad for people like this.

I need to mow my lawn again

I cut my lawn last Saturday and it looks like I need to cut it again.

This is what I get for having a fertilizer guy.

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I have to say, I'm getting a little sick and tired of all the commercials telling me about "our new normal" and that "we are all in this together".

Bullshit.

Dear Subaru, Ford, Toyota, etc...

We are not all in this together. We are in this alone. They've told us we need to be alone. They've given it the name "social distancing" but no matter what you call it, it's alone.

And if this is our "new normal", take me now God because this is not how I want to live. This is boring at best and I'm sure there are a lot of people that are bordering on insanity.

Stop trying to sell me your product (Except for you Ford. As a stockholder, I really want you to keep selling product) by convincing me you care about me. Stop telling me you understand what it's like to be me because you don't have a clue what it's like to be me.

You know what it's like to be you and that is all you know. I'm doing okay and your desire to make yourself feel like you are "right there with me" is annoying. It makes me want to not partake of your services.

Except for you Ford. Keep on selling.

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I know this may shock you but tonight's baseball game is game three of the 2004 ALDS. I also understand that you may find this a little shocking as well but I can guarantee you that the Red Sox will win tonight's game.

You see, the Red Sox swept the Angels in the ALDS playoffs and moved on to the ALCS against the Yankees. I know this because I watched every game. Some of them I watched with my mom because she was a huge Red Sox fan and two of the three games were on during the day.

I liked watching baseball with my mom.

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Enjoy these links:

• Key phrase in this video: "You may also start drinking at 10:00am."



• You gotta love his mugshot.



• This is what happens when you dance with the devil.



• Oyster Flatulence would be a fantastic name for a 1980s punk rock band.



• Spain has way better news broadcasts than we do.



• If there is one newspaper you can trust to accurately predict the future, it's The Sun.

They're multiplying

We have suspected for the last few days that Albert was not alone. He seemed to be in two places at once so suspicion was building.

This morning we discovered that Albert has two siblings when we spotted all three fledglings, along with mom, in one tree.

Below is a crappy picture I took of them. I circled each owl because it isn't really apparent they are owls. In the picture, you might think you were looking at tree tumors but trust me, they're owls.

Mom is on the lower branch:

Then, later on and with the aid of some binoculars, I managed to get this picture of the three fledges sitting on a branch together:

I am really hoping for a chipmonk-free summer.

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Tonight's baseball game is game 2 of the 2004 ALDS. The Red Sox won last nights game and I predict that they'll win tonight's game.

Well, "predict" might not be the right word. I "know" they win tonight's game.

While I watch baseball, you can click on these:

• He's a lot more pale in real life than he looks on TV.



• Some people are losing their minds over this quarantine thing. Some people were crazy before they went into quarantine.



• Only in Florida.



• The previous 10 launches resulted in incredibly awesome fireballs.



• Somewhere in Boston a design engineer is being yelled at.



• China, the world's biggest liar, says the US lies. Not sure who I believe.



• This is a government mandate I could get behind.



• I may have mentioned this in the past but in case I haven't, Jose Canseco is full tilt bozos.

Albert is still hanging around.

Albert the Owl is still sitting in various trees in our backyard. He has gradually spreading his wings and is taking higher and longer flights. As I type this, he is sitting about 40 or 50 feet up in a pine tree, looking down on our backyard.

I am encouraging him by pointing out all the known chipmonk locations in my yard and informing him that the chipmonks in my yard are the tastiest chipmonks in the area.

He doesn't seem to be listening to me but then again, he's essentially a teenager - they never listen.

⧫

Governor Baker did not say he was extending the lockdown past May 4th but he didn't say he wasn't extending it either. I'm still working under the assumption that the state will relax it's rules on May 4th and I will be able to get together with my instructor & go flying on May 5th.

I have not flown since November. I'm pretty sure I've forgotten something about flying and I really hope it's not the landing part.

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The other day, I told you that my coronavirus mask is one of my dust masks and I showed you a picture of it.

Well, I ran across this today and thought to myself, "Yea, that's about right."

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The shelves are complete and awaiting the arrival of my daughter's stuff.

If they collapse, I'll let you know.

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Time for today's grass growing update:

Yep, it's grass. There are some spots of crabgrass but for the most part, it's regular grass.
Guess i need to figure out how to make one of those time lapse movies.

This has been todays grass growing update.

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Tonight's baseball game is game 1 of the 2004 ALDS when the Red Sox went to Anaheim to play the Angels. Unfortunately it's one at 8:30 so I have no idea how much of it I'll be able to watch.

Enjoy these links:

• This guy will be on Trump's Coronavirus Task Force in a few days.



• Presenting this episodes Brilliant Criminal of the Week.



• Be on the lookout for the Saint Albert Egg Cracker.



• Essential Shark Poop would be a great name for a snooty French perfume.



• My first thought was, "What the hell was Steve Martin doing in Burlington, Vermont?"



• For the record, Bonny Island is in Nigerian.



• Two hours seems a bit excessive.



• Ouch.



• That's a pretty big trout.

Good day despite the rain

Despite the whole social distancing thing, our youngest and his girlfriend came down from NH and we celebrated his birthday because I'll be damned if I'm gonna celebrate one of my children over the internet.

For his birthday, we had a cake and we gave him toilet paper.

It was a pretty good birthday and it was good to seem him.

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Now it's late so I'm gonna call it a day.

Enjoy these links:

• This sounds awful.



• This also sounds awful.



• I would not have thought this would be one of the results.



• Only in Florida.

The lawn is mowed

The lawn is mowed and my bald spot is sunburned.

I probably should have worn a hat.

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The shelves are 95% complete. I'm waiting for the top shelf supports to dry and then I'll cut the top shelf to fit and glue it into place.

This will end the shelf building project.

Unless of course they collapse into a pile of kindling under the weight of her stuff. If that happens, the shelf building project will turn into the shelf buying project.

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Here are some links:

• Neither the cat, the dog or the woman were any help in this situation. Also, he was pretty big wuss himself.



• This is a bad idea on many different levels.



• If you are missing an ass, the city of San Angelo, TX may have it.



• Oh Canada.



• At this point, I think we can all sympathize with her.



• I have no idea what this story is about. I stopped when I saw the mug shots.

Survival of the Fittest

Do you remember that scene in Terminator 2: Judgement Day where Sara Connor takes the prison psychiatrist hostage so she can escape from the prison?

You know the scene I'm talking about.

It's this one:

She fills a syringe with some kind of cleaning/disinfecting fluid and sticks it onto his neck. Then she tells the guard, "Open it or he'll be dead before he hits the floor!"

Yea, well that's kinda what our genius president just told everyone to do. Inject some lysol and you'll be cured!

I suppose that technically, he is correct. You can't have coronavirus if your dead...

By the way, the best statement in that article I just linked to is, “Don't take medical advice from Trump.” I would also like to point out that that statement also applies to his hydroxychloroquine bullshit.

The company that manufactures Lysol, Reckitt Benckiser, even went so far as to release a statement that contains the admonishment: "we must be clear that under no circumstance should our disinfectant products be administered into the human body".

So, in case any of you were thinking about taking our presidents advice, let me be the first to say to you, "Well, it's been nice knowing you. Enjoy your extremely painful death. Thanks for killing yourself and increasing the overall intellectual level of our society!"

Speaking of politics and coronavirus, I've decided that if Bill Gates decides to run for president, I'll vote for him. In my opinion, he has been a voice of reason in this shitshow.

Not that Gates isn't erring on the side of caution, he most certainly is. He'll be the first to tell you that things are looking grim and we need to move slowly. My concern with Trump is that he is inconsistently jumping on every willy-nilly bandwagon that comes along and he is getting his advice from people that I know are not qualified to make make any statements at all about humanity and its health.

At least Gates is listening to medical experts. Trump seems to be listening to nutcases.

⧫

Time for today's grass growing update:

The grass is growing. Some areas are still barren but most of the backyard is showing signs of green. I'm really hoping the green I'm seeing is Kentucky Blue Grass and not New England Crab Grass...

This has been today's grass growing update.

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Today's baseball game is from 1991 and I can guarantee you that I did not watch this particular game. The Red Sox were in Oakland to play the Athletics and it was a night game that started at 7:00pm. That would be 10:00pm eastern time. There is no way I was awake at 10:00pm on a Monday night.

Here are a few links that you might find interesting:

• First he does an interview with Howard Stern where he talks about Gronkowski's penis.
  Then he violates the order to stay out of public parks.
  Now he is wandering around and walking into other people's houses.
  Now that he is no longer under the control of Belichick, I can't help but wonder if we are beginning to see the real Tom Brady.



• Oh Canada.



• Gather 'round people whilst I lay a little wisdom on ya: STOP USING YOUR MICROWAVE TO STERILIZE THINGS!



• Researchers: Contributing to the betterment of society or a complete waste of perfectly good oxygen?

Don't be an ass.

When I was watching the news this morning, I notice that Big Y grocery store had announced that it was requiring all employees and shoppers to wear face masks.

For those of you that haven't been paying attention, the mask thing is not so you won't catch the Wuhan Boogaloo, it's so you won't give someone else the Wuhan Boogaloo.

So I went into my stash of crap and dug out two disposable dust masks from my supply and we were good to go.

We wore the masks not because we are worried about the 'rona but because if you don't do things that the experts claim will prevent this crap from getting worse, you are frightening people who are easily frightened.

I don't want to frighten people that are already frightened. It would be a shitty thing for me to do.

⧫

I got the following text from Verizon today:

It occured to me that I haven't used any cellular data this month because I'm at home, connected to my WiFi. This got me to thinking, "Huh. I wonder if any of my kids have used any data?" so I checked:

Nope, no one else on my plan has used any data either. Huh. That must mean I still have all 12g of my 12g plan:

Huh. 22 days into a 30 day billing cycle and we've used 0% of our cellular data.

So to recap, Verizon is giving me free cellular data during a time period that I am stuck at home, connected to wifi and using no cellular data whatsoever.

That's darned generous of them....

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Today's baseball game is from September 10th, 1988 and I probably won't watch it. Watching a game from 1988 is not high on my list of things to watch today. I just don't feel like it. Besides, the History Channel is running an "America: Facts or Fiction" marathon.

While I find out what "facts" about American history are actually bullshit, you can click on these:

• It's the old, "I was just demonstrating!" defense.



• Another reason why you should not be using Facebook.



• I didn't even read the story. One look at the mug shots told me these were today Brilliant Criminals of the Month.



• Maybe she's a zombie?



• This just looks like an accident waiting to happen.

Nice quiet day

One of my meetings got rescheduled and another was short.

My kind of day.

⧫

The Shelf project is now 90% complete. I have installed the long support ribs for the top shelf and as soon as the glue dries on those, I'll install the short ribs. Once those dry, I can cut and install the top shelf.

Since the shelf is going to be made out of pressboard, I'm going to give it a generous layer (4 or 5 coats) of oil paint to seal it as best I can.

Once that is done, I'll put the shelves where they are going to be and level them using shims. At that point, they will be ready to accept all of the "non-essential" stuff my daughter will be bringing home when she returns.

Hopefully she doesn't have too much "non-essential" stuff because I make no guarantees about the weight limit those things will handle..

⧫

Today's baseball game is from July 25th, 1988 when the Red Sox went to Arlington Texas to take on the Rangers.

Here are a few links that you might find entertaining:

• I'm not entirely sure this is the right way to get your check.



• I believe one of my children used to watch a cartoon called "Kim Possible".



• Oh Canada.



• Seems to me we should probably keep this kind of thing quiet from, oh, you know, people that might want to attack us.



• Only in Florida.



• Turns out Planet of the Apes might just have been a documentary.



• I may have to get HBO.

Found some improvements

Whenever I move code into production mode, I always look at the results and say, "Ya know, if I did this thing this way, then this other thing would do this thing faster and better." and then I set about doing that thing that way so that other thing did its thing faster and better.

Well, that's what I did today.

All copied all that code from production and I spent my day re-writing a big chunk of it. Tomorrow I'll finish testing & tweaking and move the new code into production where everyone will look at it in awe and say, "It's a miracle!"

Pffffttt... If you believe that, I got a bridge in New York City to sell you.

When it comes to computer code, no one is paying any attention to this stuff until it doesn't work. When it doesn't work, everyone is paying attention to it.

⧫

Time for today's grass growing update:

Yes! We have grass!

Unfortunately, nothing is growing in the spot The Dog used to poison every time he went out but I kind of expected that. I'll work that spot over in the fall after it's had time to dilute. Everywhere else is starting to turn green.

Wait, I just had a thought - It's either grass or all the crabgrass that normally grows back there has started to sprout.

Crap... I hope it's not crabgrass.

This has been today's grass growing update.

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Tonight's baseball game is from April 29, 1986. This is the game where Clemens set a record for the number of strikeouts in a nine inning game. Clemens pitched all nine innings and struck out 20 Mariners batters.

While I enjoy leftovers for dinner and watch an awesome baseball game, you can visit these links:

• This should be interesting.



• Well, this is one way to lighten up a boring and tedious process.



• As long as it's not Scottish, we should be able to understand them.



• Key entry from our favorite police log: "3:56 p.m. A Kalispell woman reported that her neighbor was 'freaking out'. Apparently, the quarantine is getting to her."



• I'm pretty sure it's because she is either an alien or a vampire.



• Your word is 'canceled'.
  Canceled. C-A-N-C-E-L-E-D. Canceled.

Nice quiet day

I got some coding finished up and moved into what I call "production". It's pretty simple stuff - find everyone that has completed their annual training, create a completion certificate, send the certificate to HR. Find everyone that has not completed their required annual training and send them an email reminding them to take it.

Real simple stuff.

⧫

The shelves are 80% done.

Each shelf unit is going to have four shelves but since I ran out of plywood, I need to create the top shelf of each unit out of some pressboard. That will be this weekend's project.

As it stand right now, the shelves are sturdy and stable. And that, my friends, is all I ask of them. This is not "fine furniture", this is a basement storage solution so appearance is not at the top of the list of must-haves.

Besides, they are made out of scrap lumber.

⧫

Albert the owl is still with us. He is further back into the woods, residing on a tree that snapped in half during the October snowstorm. Trust me, that's much more stable platform for a bird of his size. Mom shows up several times a day and delivers him his meals.

Basically Albert is lounging around on a tree, pooping and squawking, while mom is doing all the work.

Kinda like a teenager...

⧫

Before we get to the links, I want to leave you with this screenshot:

In case you don't see it, that is a report showing that the price of a barrel of Brent Crude oil is -$25. That's negative twenty five dollars. Basically they are saying that if you would like a barrel of oil, they'll hand you $25.00 to take it off their hands.

If this is accurate (and according to all the news I read on this, it is), gasoline should be free.

Which is good because my retirement account ain't doing so well right now...

⧫

Today's baseball game is from April 20th, 1994 when the Athletics came to town to play the Red Sox. I believe NESN chose this game because it's one that Clemens pitched.

While I watch that, you can click these:

• I want one of these and if the past is any indicator, we will all have them soon enough.



• Key phrase in this story: "Every one of these folks were asymptomatic. None of them had a fever, and none of them reported symptoms."



• You gotta love The Sun. They got all the breaking news.



• Mushroom Canoe would be a fantastic name for a 1970's folk-rock duo.



• Listen up boys. This is NOT how you attract the ladies.

Shelf build continues

I have built the two sides to the second unit and added some extra support to the first unit. Now I am out of clamps.

Once the sides dry, I can release the clamps, add the shelves and clamp them in to place.

I still need to build a top shelf for each unit but I ran out of scrap plywood so I'll make the tops out of some particle board I have laying around. I'll just have to add some support under it because the one thing I know about particle board, it does not have a lot of strength. I'll also tell my wife and daughter that they should not put any heavy stuff on the top shelf.

⧫

We woke this morning to find that the owl was still resting on the branch it settled on yesterday. Mom showed up and fed it. By this afternoon, it was gone.

I suspect it decided that it was time to fly and headed out to settle its own territory. I'm betting mom is resting comfortably in her tree behind our house, thinking how nice it is to not have a hungry mouth to feed.

⧫

Time for today's grass growing update:

Nope, no grass yet.

This has been todays grass growing update.

⧫

No baseball today but there was a hockey game.

It was the Bruins / Canucks Stanley Cup game 5 from 2011. I remember that game because I remember thinking to myself, "Why is everyone so enamoured with Tim Thomas? He's okay but he's not great." Then he made several miraculous saves and I said, "Oh, okay. That's why everyone is so enamoured with Tim Thomas."

Enjoy these links if you want.

Or not.

It's your choice...

• We don't pay cops enough.



• Pretty soon there's only going to be one airline in operation. Trust me, that will be bad.



• No, but it would be fun to try it.



• My youngest is a drummer. All the chicks dig him.



• Some people have too much time on their hands.



• I'm pretty sure this doesn't really bother me all that much.

Busy day

My wife asked if I could build some shelves out of all the scrap lumber I have accumulated and I said, "Sure. I can do that". Then I set about ripping all of my scrap lumber into pieces that can be turned into shelves.

As it turns out, I don't have lumber that is long enough to make one shelf unit the size my wife wants but I do have lumber that is long enough to make two units half the size she wants. So today I set about to make the first one. It is currently in the basement while the glue is drying.

Have you ever done a project and when you reached the end of it, you realize that if you had done something just a little different, you would have saved yourself 2 or 3 hours? Well that's what happened to me.

I'll be taking an entirely different approach to building the second unit and hopefully it won't take me as long. I'll still be using screws and glue but instead of trying to build it from the ground up, I'll build the sides first and then build the unit on it's side.

Ikea ain't got nothin' on me.

⧫

We had a little visitor show up in our backyard today:

When I sent that picture to my daughter, the vet, she said, "His name is now Albert and I love him".

Albert is still hanging out in that little tree as i type this and mom appears to have shown up with some food, or as I like to call it, "chipmonk tartar".

⧫

Today's baseball game is from May 14, 2016 when the Astros showed up in Boston to play the Red Sox.

While I watch baseball and periodically check up on Albert, you can visit these links:

• This is what is known as a good neighbor. First they do the right thing when they see something suspicious and then they apologize to the neighbor for thinking they were suspicious.



• Ouch.



• Hey, if people are being reasonable, why not. People need to be people.



• And yet the persisted...



• Australia: What doesn't kill ya, annoys the shit out of you.

Once again, another quiet day

Only three meetings today which is a very light day. I suspect a lot of people are beginning to settle in to their WFH routine which means they are requiring less hand-holding.

⧫

Got this from a buddy today and it made me smile (turn your sound on):

I hope it makes you smile too.

⧫

Tonight's baseball game is from September 12th, 2015 when the Red Sox went down to Florida to play the Rays. I can pretty much guarantee you that I watched that game. (If you click that link, you will see a picture of Kirby in his favorite chair. He was a great dog.)

While I watch baseball, you can click these:

• This is why I think Thomas B Modly should be tried for dereliction of duty and negligence. 



• I've decided that doctors, nurses, pharmacists, therapists, etc... should be allowed to refuse treatment of covidiots.



• Say what you will about the flamboyant folk of San Francisco but you gotta admit they are a hell of a lot smarter than the covidiots.



• The pilot did a great job. The drivers, however, are tailgating idiots.



• It should not shock you that this happened in Los Angeles.

Nice quiet day

I only had two meetings today and those were both pretty short.

I like quiet days.

⧫

Here is your daily grass growing update:

No, there is not grass growing but our hopes are high that soon we will begin to see the first green tips appearing from the dirt.

This has been your daily grass growing update.

⧫

Today's baseball game is from my 21st wedding anniversary back on September 21st, 2006 when the Twins came to Boston to see if they could beat the Red Sox. (Spoiler alert: They don't beat the Red Sox)

While I watch that, you can click these:

• I went to Mexico once. I've never wanted to go back.



• One of the things I like about Florida: "The resident who fired the shots is not facing any charges."



• What could possibly compel someone to beat a sedated 91 year old man with a metal pole? This is the kind of person we need to permanently remove from our world.



• Good thing they released him from jail. Otherwise, he might have caught the Wuhan Boogaloo and our world would be deprived of the benefit of his deep intellect and societal support.



• Attention Mr. Ian Hanson: Drug smugglers have no ethics or morals. It should not be shocking to anyone that they are also despicable.



• Oh Canada.



• It doesn't matter what people are spending the money on as long as they are spending it.

Busy day today

I actually spent time away from my house today.

My first stop on my venture was the Big Y grocery store in town to see if they had any toilet paper. Luck was with me and they had just unloaded a truck.

My next stop was our veterinarian. When we took The Dog in, my wife asked that he be cremated and she wanted his ashes. Those came in yesterday so I stopped to pick up the urn. They also gave us some molds of his pawprint. They are nice people, those Ludlow Animal Clinic people.

Finally, since I was able to find toilet paper at Big Y in Wilbraham, I figured I would stop at the Big Y in Ludlow just to see if they had any there. Luck was once again with me and there were three packages on the shelf.

For the record, I am not a hoarder. With our daughter heading home in a couple of weeks, our TP use will increase by roughly 33%. Also, my mother-in-law is going to need TP in the very near future.

I'm sure the four rolls we gave her three weeks ago are about gone.

After my successful venture, I returned home to deal with my daily online meeting schedule as well as my daily review of the latest governmental notices in the world of Information Security.

Then it was dinner and now it's baseball.

⧫

Here is today's grass growing update:

No, there is no grass. What there is is some pretty evenly distributed seed.
A quick inspection of the dried dirt shows that the seed is still fairly well distributed even though there are pockets of it in the footprints and ruts.

This has been today's grass growing update.

⧫

I wasn't going to say anything about this but the more I think about it, the more I feel like I need to say something...

I get it, you're unhappy with your decision to live in a big city.

Well I have six words for you: Shut up and get over it.

The truth is, no one wants anyone from New York City anywhere near them. Or any city for that matter.

All of us that chose to scratch out a living in the backwoods did so for the sole purpose of avoiding people you. You see, we don't like you.

It's not that we're overly worried about the virus, it's that we just don't like you. We don't want you around on a good day, never mind during a pandemic.

⧫

I'm watching a game from June 11, 2006 where the Red Sox hosted the Rangers.

While I watch that, you can check these out:

• Thank goodness I got my toilet paper when I did.



• On Monday, I posted a link to a story about a woman looking for beer. Well, seems that Coors came through for her.



• Man, we are an inventive species. When there is a need, there are people who will find a way to fill it.



• Only in Florida.



• Sound advice.

Online meetings are interesting

And by "interesting", I mean boring and a little odd.

⧫

Time for today's grass growing update:

So it looks like the heavy rains we had yesterday may have done some damage to my plan to grow grass. It looks like the seed was washed into pockets and low spots. At one point, I'm pretty sure there were several puddles at least 2 inches deep back there and when I looked today, those spots were loaded with grass seed.

Also, in the middle of the storms, our power went out. Working from home means not having power was a problem, particularly for my wife, the professor. This meant I had to wheel my generator from the garage onto my back porch which took me through the mud that currently makes up my "backyard".

I left several deep footprints and two deep gouges where the wheels from the generator went into the ground.

My wife is attempting to make light of things by pointing out that the footprints and the two ruts will stand out because they are currently loaded with seed. She says they will look cool.

She's trying to be nice and make me think things aren't as bad as they seem but I know better. Grass clumps shaped like footprints will look ridiculous.

This has been today's grass growing update.

⧫

Tonight's baseball game is from September 29th, 2005 between the Red Sox and the Blue Jays.

While I watch that baseball game and agonize over the catastrophe that is my backyard, you can click on these:

• Key phrase in this story: "But hey, once you're poor you don't have anywhere else to go but up."



• We don't pay prison guards enough money. No matter how much we pay them, it's not enough.



• Key entry from our favorite police log: "12:40 p.m. A local man called 911 because he thinks people are sneaking into his house to film pornographic movies but no one believes him. He said he had proof of the alleged filmmaking and needed a deputy to come down and check it out."



• Hey, you gotta do what you gotta do.
  (Caution: Naked People)



• I imagine there are some people who would argue that they are "essential workers".

Holy crap, it was windy

Several days ago, I stuck some plastic edging into my lawn that the bottom ten feet of my driveway. I'm trying to stop the water runoff from washing away the grass seed I put there.

Well, sometime around 2:00 this afternoon, that edging was unceremoniously ripped out of the ground and blown across my front lawn.

So much for growing grass along the lower edge of my driveway.

⧫

Speaking of grass, here is your daily update on the grass situation:

There is no grass, just water.
Too much freakin' water. I think the seed may be drowned.

This has been your daily update on the grass situation.

⧫

Tonight's baseball game is from September 23rd, 2003 when the Orioles came to Boston to play the Red Sox.

While I watch that, you can visit these:

• Typical drug addict - Brings a knife to a chainsaw fight...



• Come on, give the guy a break.



• Ouch.



• The only reason he apologized is because he got caught, not because he felt bad about what he had done.



• Someone help the poor woman out, fer cripes sake.



• Some people should be locked in a small room and beaten on a regular basis. Not for their whole lives, just until they figure out how to stop being an asshole.

Movie day

We got a few things done around the house and then settled in for movie time.

The BBC ran the Ocean's 11 remake and then all of the sequels so we watched those.

At some point, we broke out the Netflix DVD and watched Knives Out. Not a bad movie but I had a hard time accepting James Bond with a southern accent.

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Here is today's grass update:

Nope, still no grass.

This has been today's grass update.

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Here are some links for you to click on:

• Here's another reason why I don't live on the coast.



• This is actually a brilliant idea.



• Only in Florida.



• Key phrase in this story: "...improper handling of a firearm in a vehicle."
  (Caution: Autoplay)



• Well, who knows. Maybe he's right.

Still no grass

I keep looking for those tell-tale green tips but so far, I got nothing.

Maybe I'm being a bit anxious. Maybe I need to stop staring at the dirt. Maybe I should stop telling you about it.

Nah.

I'll be sure to update you tomorrow!

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So far today I have managed to avoid all of the Wuhan Boogaloo news. The only thing I've watched today are some cooking shows on the All Guy Fieri Network, formerly known as The Food Network and several Last Man Standing I had on DVR.

Tonight's baseball game between the Red Sox and the Yankees is from April 11, 2005 and I'll watch that when it's on at 6:00.

All of which means I will not be watching any 'Rona news.

I think that taking a break from the daily body count might not be a bad idea for all of us.

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While I watch some baseball, you can visit these links if you want:

• Anyone tries this in my neighborhood and there might be a problem.



• When I was 13, all I wanted to do was play baseball, ride my dirt bike and smoke cigarettes while playing pinball down at the Wilbraham 10 Pin bowling alley.



• I think he's smart and I think we're lucky to have someone like him but man, this guy is just a fountain of depressing news.



• Only in Florida.
  (And Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, etc...)

Chilly April day

I only went for one walk today because, well, I was busy with work and it was windy as hell outside.

No sense getting a dried, chapped face to go with my dried, chapped hands.

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I've stopped watching the briefings that Trump and his minions have been giving because I've about had it. Every time he opens his mouth, I want to scream, "Shut Up! Let the experts talk! You are a landlord with no medical background. Let the people who know what they are talking about have the microphone."

As for things the medical folks are saying, well let's just say it wouldn't do them any harm to take a civics lesson.

This idea of a Medical ID Card / Immunity Certificate thing is a bit frightening to me. What other medical conditions will they put on your card? And who will be allowed to demand to see your papers?

I do, however, like the idea of a test that tells you if you had the Wuhan Bugaloo or not.

They say that about 25% of us have it but we don’t have any symptoms at all and we don’t know we have it. That percentage is based on the number of people that managed to get tested without any symptoms. Since it was almost impossible to get tested without any symptoms, I imagine the actual percentage might be higher.

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Tonight's baseball game is from April 13, 2015 and the Red Sox are playing the Nationals.

While I watch that, you can click on these:

• There is a lot going on with this story.



• Presenting this episodes Brilliant Criminal of the Month.



• Key insane phrase in this story: "...you can raise your white blood cell count by masturbating more."



• Do you want a riot? Because this is how you get a riot...



• These two win the Loving Family of the Year award.

Grocery shopping day

We decided to run to the grocery store today and go on a hunt for stuff. Compared to several weeks ago, the stores are understocked but not bad. In my opinion, they are focused on stocking the important stuff like food and medicine.

I was a little surprised to see a pretty empty milk case since according to the news I saw yesterday, there is a milk glut. I would think there would be plenty of milk.

The vegetables and fruit were plentiful, the meat dept was okay. Not great, just okay. The seafood was petty well stocked.

Cleaning supplies and toilet paper continue to be non-existent.

Personally, I would like them to focus a little bit more on toilet paper. I can grow vegetables but I can't grow toilet paper...

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Tonight's game is from 2010 and the Red Sox will be once again playing the Yankees.

Enjoy these links if you would like:

• My youngest informed me that Jimmy Buffett is streaming a bunch of his past concerts because he knows I like Jimmy Buffett. If you like Jimmy Buffett, you will enjoy these.



• I don't know if he's right but it's an idea worth looking into.



• Only in Florida.



• Listen up people, we all have cell phones with cameras. There needs to be pictures of things like this.



• Australia: What doesn't kill ya, helps you file your reports.



• The real concern should be whether or not face masks are being worn.

I'm finally starting to get into the WFH groove

Now that I've been working from home for the last two weeks, I'm starting to get the hang of it.

I get a lot of work done but I also have time to fit other things in. The most important things I fit in are my two or three walks around the block.

Gotta stop those muscles from locking up

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I wonder what the ‘rona is doing to the lottery? With no bars open, no one is playing keno or getting drunk and buying $100 worth of megabazillion tickets. I’m betting that lottery revenue has got to be down by at least 75%.

Since I live in Massachusetts, I have a feeling that when all is said and done, the state will increase my taxes by some outrageous amount because they’ll need to make up for those lottery losses.

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I have a theory about the toilet paper shortage and it’s not because of hoarders.

Sure, the hoarders emptied the shelves pretty fast but almost immediately after that happened, the stores started limiting the amount people could buy. Since they were limiting the amount people could buy, you would think the wholesalers could restock the retailers but, amazingly enough, that hasn’t happened. It’s almost as if the wholesalers have stopped making it.

I don’t think they stopped making it, I think they are making just as much as they used to make but since we are now all at home all day long, we aren’t poopin at work. Work is where they have commercial toilet paper which is manufactured differently than home toilet paper. The manufacturers don’t have the capacity to manufacture enough home toilet paper for us to be home all the time.

Did that make sense? It made sense to me but I’ve noticed over the years that things that make sense to me sometimes don’t make sense to anyone else.

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Back on April 8, 2011, the Red Sox hosted the Yankees and NESN is replaying that game.

Here are some links:

• Never thought I’d see this in the United States.



• Covidiot of the day.



• There are some first class assholes living among us.



• It’s time for Sanders to shut up and go away. He’s become nothing more than a rabble-rouser at this point.



• Oh, wait. He is going away. never mind.



• I'm pretty sure this is not a good idea.

Still no grass

I keep looking but so far, nothing but dirt.

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Do you know what a snake oil salesman is?

I will not be shocked if we learn that Donald Trump is heavily invested in the company that makes hydroxychloroquine. He is pushing this untested “cure” awfully hard and sometimes he sounds like a paid celebrity spokesperson for the drug.

Has anyone asked him if he owns stock in the pharmaceutical company that manufacturers the drug? I'm betting he owns stock in a drug company that makes that drug. Someone should ask him that.

Also, just so everyone is clear, Trump is getting a lot of his "medical" advice from a television quack name Mehmet Oz, a doctor who who has been accused of unethical and misleading behavior in the past.

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NESN is running a game from April of 2008 this evening and that means Don Orsillo may be calling the game alongside Remy.

I miss Don Orsillo.

Enjoy these links:

• Seismologists are finding it easier to detect minor earthquakes and small volcanoes because we are not driving cars and running machinery as much as we did before the lockdowns. Apparently our cars, trucks, planes, machines, etc… make the earth’s crust vibrate.



• The conspiracy theorists have a new theoretical conspiracy as well as a new theoretical leader.



• Yes, the pastor is an idiot but the hundreds of people that showed up aren’t rocket scientists either.



• Pussy Galore is no longer with us.



• I will not be surprised if we see the first mutiny of a US warship, ever.



• Key phrase in this story: “It also begs the question of why aren’t these companies working with the feds directly, or if they are, why are they holding back needed resources for political reasons?”



• Covidiot of the day.



• Key line in this story: “…it is likely the infection was re-activated after remaining dormant in the patients, as opposed to them being reinfected.”

Nope, nothing yet.

No grass yet:

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Here's another picture. This one is titled Angels Blowing Bubbles. It made me laugh:

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Back on April 3, 2017, the Red Sox played the Pirates and NESN is showing that game this evening. You can bet I'll be watching some of that.

Here are today's links:

• I know someone from Scotland and this does not shock me.



• See if you can pick the lie out of this line: "It will be done in a dignified, orderly–and temporary–manner."



• Only in Florida where apparently the baby alligators are heavily armed.



• Covidiot of the day.



• I don't know what "fly-tippers" are but they sound like assholes.



• This is another reason that Trump needs to shut up.



• Key phrase in this story: "WTF is that smell?"



• Only in Florida.

I am trying, once again, to grow grass.

For the past 20 years, my backyard has belonged to my dogs. I never treated it with anything and the crabgrass took it over. Not to mention that Kirby was basically a poison dispenser. Nothing grew where he pee'd. And by nothing, I really mean nothing. The area right outside our back porch was his primary target and for the last 10 years, it's been a patch of rock-hard dirt.

Over the last two days, I dragged my dethatcher back and forth over the dead crabgrass and break up the dirt.

The routine was to drag the dethatcher then put the bags on the tractor and pick up whatever was loose.

Then I repeated that at least 5 more times.

This morning, I did a final drag & pickup and then threw down 40 pounds of grass seed. Once that was done, I set up my sprinklers and watered thoroughly.

Hopefully the grass grows and fills in before The Small Dog arrives home in May or June, depending on whether or not the testing center opens up and my daughter can take the vet exam.

Personally, I'm hoping she is home by May. The grass can deal with her little dog.

So anyways, tomorrow I'll start taking pictures of the yard and post a timelapse of the grass growing, if I can figure out how to turn a bunch of pictures into a time lapse movie.

I'm no Ken Burns...

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Here are a few links for you to click on:

• Key phrase in this story: "...he saw a quarantine-related spike in divorces."



• Key line in this story: "Don’t try and get up."



• Key entry from our favorite police log: "2:10 p.m. A Kalispell woman was throwing all of her boyfriend’s belongings out on the lawn."



• The best coronavirus mask has got to be the birthday hat.



• Somewhere there is an insurance agent about to have a coronary.

Words to live by.

Here are some words of wisdom from me, your humble host:

If it moves, and it's not supposed to move, use duct tape. If it doesn't move, and it's supposed to move, use WD-40.

Always wear good shoes because there is nothing worse than bad feet. If you can't afford good shoes, go barefoot. Except on a plane. Never go barefoot on a plane. No one wants to be trapped in sealed tube with you and your stinky feet.

If your car is so expensive that you need to take up two parking spaces because you can't afford to fix a scratch on it, you shouldn't have bought that car in the first place. Buy a cheaper car next time. Or just stay home, you arrogant twit.

We're in the middle of a pandemic that is frightening people. I'm not saying those people are right to be frightened but frightened they are. If you are doing things that cause frightened people to be even more distressed than they already are, you are an asshole. Stop it. Act like you give a shit about people. If you go out in public and start coughing without covering your mouth or you start getting close to people and breathing on them, you should expect to be punched in the face with a chunk of sharp-edged concrete. Dipshit...

These have been words of wisdom from me, your not-so-humble host.

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Enjoy these links:

• So no, China is not donating anything. Tsai is buying them from China and shipping them to New York. In this case, China is just a retail outlet.



• Sounds like maybe the "Acting Secretary of the Navy" is having second thoughts about his most recent decision.



• Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.



• They found a use for all the empty parking lots at the fairgrounds, baseball parks, etc...



• Key phrase in this story: "...hoping others don't make the same mistake he did."

Sad day.

The Dog, also known as Kirby, finally reached a point where he was no longer able to function and we made the decision to ease his pain. He is at rest now and we are grateful that we had him in our lives for as long as we did.

We gave him the best life we could and he repaid us with unconditional love and happiness.

And that is all I have to say about that.

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I'm going to get make some dinner and then watch Game 6 of the 2013 World Series.

Here are some links for you:

• Sometimes in our lives,
  We all have pain, we all have sorrow.
  But, if we are wise,
  We know that there's always tomorrow.



• The Kennedy clan just needs to stop going out of their houses.



• Some people are stupid.



• Key phrase in this story: "The arrest comes after President Trump claimed that some medical supplies were being swiped from New York City hospitals, which Mayor Bill de Blasio dismissed as insulting."

I miss flying

First it was snow/rain that caused me to cancel scheduled flights, then it was a stretch of gusty wind that prevented me from scheduling any flights. Then, when I finally scheduled a slot with my instructor to get some time back in the air, the coronavirus hit and shut down everything.

And after what I saw on the news in the last few days, I don't think I'll be able to schedule anything until May.

I haven't been up since November. That's 5 months, and there is no way I'm going up without having an instructor with me while I relearn how to "Aviate, Navigate, Communicate".

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Unemployment has never been this high and I can't help but wonder how the economy will recover from this.

I also can't help but wonder what is going to happen to the crime rate. Some people are going to turn to stealing while others are going to be real easy to piss off. Either way, I don't think our society is going to be better than it was.

Fortunately I have a decent supply of ammo...

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Here are a few links that may entertain you:

• Key phrase in this story: "I don’t want to shoot him, but I’m going to have to!"



• Only in Florida.



• There is an argument to be made that he isn't cheering them up at all.



• Apparently ducks make good quarantine buddies.

I know someone with the 'rona

One of my family members has CoViD-19.

The downside? He's my age which puts him right at the, "this isn't good" age bracket.

The upside? He's been sick for the last two weeks and it's wrapping up. He said he felt a little crappy for a few days and has a nasty cough but for the most part, the biggest problem has been isolating himself in a room, away from his family.

Do you want to know the real upside? In two weeks, when he's all done with his isolation, he'll be immune to this shit while the rest of us are wondering if/when we're gonna get it and how bad it will be.

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Game 4 of the 2013 World Series is on at 7:00 so I'm gonna watch that.

Here are some links for you:

• I'm assuming this caused a lot of unnecessary nagging...



• Key phrase in this story: "...her out-of-state neighbors from New York arrived with mild coronavirus symptoms and still went to the grocery stores."



• On the one hand, she's an arrogant twit. On the other hand, locking up and fining people for going out is kind of a dick move.



• Of all the idiotic things our society has started doing, the 'gender reveal' is at the top of the idiotic list.



• I'm pretty impressed with American Gothic.