There will be sports tonight.

Not much to say this evening.

I'm kind of hoping to see the Bruins win tonight because if they don't win, they go home.
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I will also be watching the Red Sox tonight.

They are playing the Braves tonight and the Braves are a pretty damned good team. This means my hopes are not high...

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While I watch baseball and hockey. you can visit these:

• Well, this leaves me out.



• Only in Florida.



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



• They cost $10.00. Don't risk your life for therm.



• I've said it before and I'll say it again: Never bring a knife to a gun fight...

Mitchy Two Bags is now a Padre

The Red Sox won last night 5-3 and despite the game going until after 10:30, I managed to stay awake to watch all nine innings. I stayed awake because the hitters were hitting the ball and the pitchers were pitching the ball. That meant it was like watching a major league ball game instead of a bunch of rec league players bumbling around and I figured I could stay awake to see it.

Who knows how many times we'll see that happen again this season....

In other Red Sox news, it kinda sucks that they traded Moreland but they got two young players that are considered "top prospects" and they should bring some decent skills to the team in the future.

Also, a young kid that I have been waiting to see, Bobby Dalbec, got called up to play first base today.

I enjoy watching a young kid play his first game in the majors. They always have immense energy and they are excited to be there. They make mistakes but they learn from those mistakes and they have a great time.

As for this afternoons game, the Red Sox won 9-5. They played pretty darned well and Dalbec made a good showing both defensively and offensively.

He played agood first base and while his first at-bat was a strikeout, his second at-bat was a home run.

Not bad for a kid who was probably nervous as hell.

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The Bruins are not doing too well. They are not in good shape right now and I'm assuming that Bruce Cassidy is reworking his lines to find the right combination. The Lightning leads the series 3-1 and if the Bruins lose tomorrow, they are done.

I'm pretty sure they are a far better team than I am seeing right now. They should be leading this series but they just aren't and I have no idea why. I'm hoping Cassidy knows why and he can fix it.

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I'm going to eat some dinner and then watch some DVRs.

Despite staying awake to watch the entire game last night, I still woke up at 4:30 this morning and now I'm tired. I'm working on forcing myself to stay awake until at least 9:00 becquse if I fall asleep at 8:00, I'll be up at 3:00 tomorrow morning.

If you are interested in links, here they are:

• Our choices are Ed "I do what Liz tells me!" Markey, Joe "Please stop calling me JoeJoe!" Kennedy or Vermin Supreme. Guess who I'm voting for....



• Yes, alcohol was involved.



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



• I'm pretty sure this is normal. College students aren't all that bright.

Pan seared scallops are the best

Cooking them is a truly messy experience but man, are they good. When they are done right, they are tender and they are sweet.

The problem is you sear them in a mix of butter and olive oil which spatters all of the place. Fortunately, I have a grill with a burner on the side for pots and pans so that is where I cook them. Then all I have to do is take the Windex^© and clean the crap out of the side of my grill and the little shelf where the burner is.

Trust me, it's a hell of a lot easier than trying to clean the stove top.

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The Red Sox really suck. They suck to the point where they are one game away from having the worst record in Major League Baseball.

As of right now, they are at .313 and the Pirates are at .310. Technically, they are tied for last but the Red Sox have played more games so they are ahead of the Pirates.

If they lose tonight, they will be in last place and probably in a position where they will unload all of their pending free agents. That means I'll spend the next month watching a team of guys I've never heard of get their asses kicked by everyone they play.

Oh well, I understand that management is calling this a rebuilding year....

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So anyways, I'm going to watch the game and fall asleep early

If you are interested, you can click on these links:

• Dangerous Drunken Flying Insects would be a fantastic name for a 1980s German techno band.



• Even the gods don't like crocs.



• Apparently Bigfoot is a vandal.



• Why did the chicken cross the road? Just to screw over this guy.



• What airline does she work for?

Supposedly there will be baseball tonight

Hockey will not be played tonight but I understand that the Red Sox plan on playing the Nationals.

I guess we'll see what happens at 7:30

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Did you know that a basic wheelchair only costs about $200.00? I thought for sure that like most everything that is medical-related, they were expensive as hell.

Huh.... I guess you learn something new every day.

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Again, I make it a point to avoid politics unless something big happens.

Well, something big happened....

The Biden campaign managed to register the domain for Trump's campaign slogan, Keep America Great.

I think that's funny as hell and I imagine that Trump is apoplectic over it. I picture him throwing a hissy fit and firing everybody.

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So now I'm going to cook up some chicken kabobs and see if that baseball game gets played

You can see if these have any appeal to you:

• Australia: What doesn't kill ya, messes up your toilet.



• I've been to Texas. It's the Australia of the United States.



• Key phrase in this story: "Currently unemployed and not in a relationship...".



• Maybe I should look into this.



• For the love of all that is sane, no one do this to me after I die.



• This is why I don't fish.
  Well, that and it's kind of boring.

Well, that sucked.

Last night, both the Bruins and the Red Sox got their ass kicked.

And by "ass", I mean their collective asses. Each and every one of them probably spent this morning soaking in a hot tub, trying to eliminate the soreness.

And by "kicked", I mean "J-F-C! What the hell is wrong with you! My paralyzed grandmother could play this game better than you!"

And that is all I have to say about that.

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I'm going to try and watch tonight's baseball game. Hopefully they do better than yesterday.

While I watch that game and yell at them in a helpful manner, you can click on these:

• If they release his after he leaves office, they need to release them for every politician.



• According to my math, she'll be 87 when she gets out.



• Another reason to not live in a city.



• I've been in a chicken coop. Now they really need to rollover a semi filled with air freshener.



• Who the hell drinks Miller Lite.



• Proof that having money and a doctoral degree does not make you smart.



• The Zoom meetings I'm on are all just boring meeting stuff.

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Update:

It turns out I will not be watching baseball this evening.

Oh well. At least they won't lose tonight.

The opposite of what I expected.

I expected the Red Sox to lose and the Bruins to win. Instead, the Red Sox won and the Bruins lost.

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After being behind through five innings, the Red Sox bat's came to life last night and they managed to overtake the Blue Jays in the sixth. And the most amazing thing is that they held on to that lead through the next three innings and won the game 9-7.

While I think all games are fun games to watch, this one was particularly fun because they played pretty darned well.

Hopefully they still have some life left in their bats for this evening's game. I would enjoy watching them win again.

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As for the Bruins and the Lightning, each team scored in each period and the third period ended in a 3-3 tie. This put the into a sudden-death overtime and the Lightning happened to score the winning goal.

The series is now tied 1-1 and they will face off again this evening.

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I am trying an experiment.

I discovered today that my telephone provider, Spectrum, offers free NoMoRobo so I signed up for it.

We get between 5 and 20 robocalls a day on our landline and it's gotten to the point where we don't even answer it anymore. The only reason we keep it is because everyone we currently do business with has that number as our contact information. Also, whenever someone asks for my phone number, that's the one I give them. I'll be damned if I'm going to give them my cell phone number. There are very few people/businesses that have my cell number and I'm keeping it that way.

So anyways, I'll let you know how it goes.

If the number of robocalls drops significantly, I'll be happy. If it turns out they are blocking legitimate phone calls, I might not care anyways because I don't really like talking on the phone in the first place...

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My plan for this evening is to once again engage my Picture-in-a-Picture technology and enjoy both baseball and hockey.

I you don't have any plans, you could always click on these:

• Turns out Ferdinand Alcindor Jr's son is a little crazy.



• The problem is that most people who do this are either 60 years old or ugly as sin.



• 2020 just keeps getting better and better...



• New Zealand: Not as deadly as Australia but a bit weirder.



• Apparently the English are crazy too.



• I believe that Salyersville is in the great state of Kentucky.

Turns out the Angels suck too

As of this afternoon, the Angels are in last place in the American League. They are playing as bad as the Red Sox and they've got Mike Trout playing for them. That guy is a baseball monster.

As for the Red Sox, today's game is, shall we say, a little weird.

They are playing the Blue Jays but they are not playing in Toronto. They are playing in Buffalo.

See, the government of Toronto said to the Blue Jays, "Hey, we'll let all of the hockey teams into our city, eh, but you baseball people need to piss of, ya big hosers." This meant the Blue Jays needed to find a new home field so they chose the field where their minor league affiliate, the Buffalo Bisons, play in Buffalo.

And the game time is a bit odd. Not only isn't it the traditional 7:05 start time, it's also kinda specific. It's scheduled to start at 6:37 this evening. Not 6:35 or 6:40, no sir. The first pitch will fly at 6:37 on the dot.

But all that aside, the kid Hart who pitched against the Orioles last Wednesday is up again tonight. He was pretty good but he only made it through 3½ innings. Hopefully he makes it through more than that tonight. If the Red Sox can win this series, they stand a good chance of staying out of last place.

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My post last night caused a minor stir among some folks in the world of law enforcement.

Look boys, I get it. Obama and his ilk have gone out of their way to demonize law enforcement while accepting no responsibility for putting cops into the role of being a parent, a social worker, a medic, a marriage counselor, a life saver, a decision maker, and many other things that no one seems to believe. And those same politicians have decided that the one or two cops that do something incredibly stupid are representative of all cops.

I understand, I really do. You have latched on to the one guy who actually thinks you are doing a good job. The one guy who is willing to stand up and back you up. The problem is, he's a first class asshole. The unions that are backing Trump have basically made a deal with the devil.

Given enough time, he will turn on you faster than he turned on James Mattis, John Kelly, Anthony Scaramucci and Michael Cohen.

Yes, Biden will screw you to the wall as bad as Obama did but don't trust Trump to have your back. Trump looks out for Trump and only Trump. We are all just a convenient pawn that he will dispose of first chance he gets.

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Baseball at 6:37 and hockey at 7:00. Thank goodness for Picture-in-a-Picture technology.

You should take a look at these:

• I'm willing to bet this is not an accident.



• I am very glad my daughter finished up and graduated this past spring.



• Only in Florida.



• We don't pay cops enough.



• Oh Canada.

The Bruins are on a roll.

As predicted, I made it through 2 periods last night and when I fell asleep, the Bruins were up 2-0 over the Lightning. When I awoke this morning, I was please to learn that while the Lightning scored twice in the third period, the Bruins scored one more goal and they won the game 3-2.

Taking the first game of any series is always important because it puts the other team into a place it has to climb up from. The Lightning are behind now and the best they can hope for in their next game is to tie the series.

The Bruins, however, can look forward to either a tied series or a two-game lead. That is a far better position to be in.

Their next game is tomorrow at the far more sane hour of 7:00. I'm kinda hoping to watch all three periods of that game.

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I have been trying very hard to avoid politics. I kinda snapped a bit the other day over the deluge a Richie Neal commercials but other than that, I have been staying as far away as possible from politics.

Having said that, let me just now say:

I would like a decent human being with a modicum of intelligance and a dash of common sense to please run for office.

I don't think it's too much to ask for. Can we please get someone to run for office who isn't a single-minded idiot with some "great idea for the future" and who is convinced that anyone who doesn't think like them is evil. Can we please have someone run for office who is worried about taking care of the here-and-now because to be honest with you, we're not in the best of shape right now and we could use someone who can maybe correct things a bit.

Basically I'm looking a functional adult.

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No baseball and no hockey tonight. Guess I'll have to watch some DVRs.

Here are a few links for you:

• Man, I can't win for trying. I'm right in the middle of EEE land. And for those of you that don't know what EEE is, it's a swelling of the brain that can result in death.



• Alcoholics everywhere rejoice!



• Mark Boughton should run for President.



• Finally - A cause I can get behind.



• Oh Canada.



• Am I the only one who thinks this is a really bad idea?

So much for not being in last place

With today's loss to the Orioles, the Red Sox are once again in last place in the American League.

They are now 29 games into a 60 game season so I'm pretty sure that without a miracle, they will not be in the playoffs.

I wonder if the new guy, Pivetta, is going to be a miracle?

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I have to be honest with you, I didn't do a damn thing today except watch the Red Sox, peruse educational Youtube videos and throw crumpled up paper balls at the cats, who, by the way, really seem to like playing with crumpled up pieces of paper.

Maybe we should stop buying them cat toys and just ball up a sheet of paper every once in a while and let them go to town.

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The Bruins take on the Lightning at 8:00 tonight and I suspect I'll make it through 2 periods.

While I watch that, you can click these:

• When it comes to covid lunacy, apparently the Mexican government is just as batshit crazy as ours.



• It's cute and all but am I the only one who thinks messing with the traffic signals that keep us from slamming into each other at a high rate of speed is a bad idea?



• Why are they buying laptops? Laptops are expensive. They should buy a shitload of Raspberry Pi's, keyboards, mice and monitors. Instead of spending $1,500 per kid, they'll only spend $300 per kid.



• At her age, she needs all the help she can get.



• Isn't this, oh, I don't know, maybe unethical as hell!



• It's the old, "They just appeared out of nowhere!" defense.

The Bruins will play the Lightning

Tomorrow night at 8:00pm, the Lightning will play the role of "home team" and host the Bruins in their game one of the second round of the playoff.

I'm not entirely sure I'm happy about that because the Bruins have a 1-4 record against the Lightning this season. The Lightning seems to have the Bruins number and they play them hard. The Bruins are an excellent PK team against everyone except the Lightning.

Hopefully the Bruins kick ass, win round two and move on to the semi-finals.

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As for the Red Sox, they have clawed their way out of last place with a three game winning streak.

They also traded away a couple of bullpen pitchers for a starter named Nick Pivetta and immediately assigned him to training camp.

Turns out ol' Nick hasn't started any games yet this season and the Red Sox need to get him up to speed before sending him out to face batters

I sure hope this doesn't turn out to be a bad idea...

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While I watch baseball and luxuriate in my air conditioning, you can click on these:

• Boston University has a unique anti-covid slogan.



• Key phrase in this story: "...because the convenience store happens to be around the corner from a drug testing facility."



• File this one under the heading of "No Shit Sherlock."



• When you are in South Carolina, Make sure your fly is zipped up or you will be searched.



• Oh Canada.



• Because no one wants to play with dirty balls....



• Australia: What doesn't kill ya, makes you freakin' rich.

Severe drought.

My lawn is dead and this is why:

I live in the darker tan / brown colored swath that the legend calls "02 Severe Drought".

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I'm sure Sister Mary Caritas is a wonderful human being and possibly even eligible for sainthood but after seeing the two or three commercials she made for Richie Neal being played over and over and over again, I'm done listening to her.

In 1980, I was at a party at my best friends house and Wimbeldon was on the TV. I was sitting on the couch with Congressman Ed Boland, who lived next door to my friend. We started talking about the tennis match, the neighborhood and Springfield in general.

At some point, a quick news promo came on that mentioned the mayor of Springfield, Richie Neal, and Congressman Boland said, "He's got his work cut out for him. This city is going downhill faster than they can keep up. He's doing a good job." My reply to him was, "I'm not a fan of Richie Neal and since I don't live in Springfield, he has no impact on me."

The Congressman looked at me and said, "Well, he's probably going to run for my job when I retire and he'll win. Then he'll have an impact on you. Now let's have another beer."

Turns out the Congressman was right. Not because he was good at predicting the future. He was right because he ordained Richie Neal to be our congressman.

Ed Boland had been grooming Richie Neal to take over the job of congressman and despite the fact that I thought Ed Boland was a good congressman, I have never voted for Richie Neal. For 32 years, he has been on the ballot and I have always voted for the other guy. If there was no "other guy", I wrote my own name in.

I dislike Richie Neal immensely and those damned commercials telling us how he's "a common man, a good man, a man of the people" are bullshit. He is an arrogant millionaire who made his money off the donations of huge companies. That means he is owned by those companies. They tell him what to do and he does it. The only time he pretends to be concerned about us is if it means he can trash Trump. We're nothing more than a tool he uses to harass Trump.

Sister Caritas should be ashamed of herself for lying to us like that.

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The Red Sox have a winning streak of two games!

I made it to the eighth inning last night before falling asleep. The Red Sox were up 3-1 and I kind of expected to wake up this morning to find that they lost it in the ninth. But they didn't. As a amatter of fact, they turned it on and ended up scoring four more runs, making the final score 7-1 and giving Evoldi another win.

As for the Bruins, turns out I am wrong about who they will play. The Islanders took their series against the Capitals but that's not who the Bruins will play. The NHL is going to reseed the teams after this first round is done.

The Bruins could end up playing the Phillies, the Canadiens, the Islanders or the Lightning. The Phillies currently lead the Canadiens 3 games to 2 in their series and as soon as that series is done, the league will reseed and we'll know who the Bruins will be facing.

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While I watch baseball, you can click these.

Or not.

Your call...

• Beloved stalk of corn is not a phrase you are likely to hear outside of the midwest.



• You've got to clean the floor. just doesn't sound like a helpful statement to make to a group of people who are on fire.



• Only in Florida.



• First he was fired by the Navy Seals and now he's been tossed off Delta. He needs to learn when to shut up



• I'm sorry but Hey world, look at my boobs! just doesn't seem very empowering to me. It seems kind of slutty.



• Key phrase in this story: "Zink had been in every classroom".

We are now extra covid free

My wife got her test results back and she is also 'rona free.

We're a healthy couple.

At least we think we are.

We're not convinced the test used is any good, but what the hell, we'll take the results and be happy with them.

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The Bruins came through yesterday evening and eliminated the Hurricanes from the Stanley Cup.

They will face either the Islanders or the Capitals in round two.


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The Red Sox are still in last place in the AL but they are less last-placeee than they were yesterday afternoon. With yesterdays win against the Phillies, they are now only one game behind the Mariners.

They are in Baltimore to take on the Orioles tonight and yes, I will watch them.

I'm really hoping they beat the Orioles because they could use a winning streak longer than one game.

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Kittens are a pain in the ass. They are cute as hell and I am constantly reminded of the old Looney Tunes cartoon Feed The Kitty but they are absolutely a pain in the ass.

One of the big problems with kittens is their ability to do something that really pisses you off and then make you look at them like, "What the hell, how can I be mad at this little ball of fluff!"

Cute little pain's in the ass...

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I'm going to eat some food and watch some baseball.

While I do that, you can enjoy these links:

• Between EEE, Covid and West Nile, we probably shouldn't mess around with nature until after 2020 is over with.



• I gotta get me some of those "marijuana candies".



• For the record, the Yale School of Art has the worst website since MySpace.



• Not sure I would call him "a good host".



• Anyone know where I can get some amino acid L-cysteine? Just asking for a friend...



• It should be legal to just shoot people like this and toss their bodies into the woods.

Guess who is covid free...

My test came back negative so I guess I can wander aimlessly around campus (and other places) without being concerned about infecting anyone.

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The Red Sox beat the Phillies 6-3 this afternoon!

Now if the Bruins can beat the Hurricanes, life will be good.

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I have no real update for you this afternoon/evening.

I guess that means you just get these links:

• There are worse forms of pollution.



• I went there once. It was a complete waste of money and time.



• I don't care. When I need to pee, I need to pee.



• Viral Inflatable Trousers would be a terrib le name for a Wallace and Grommet video.



• I would have covered it in Krylon...



• If you've been to Florida lately, Stay the hell away from me.

The Bruins are kicking ass

The Red Sox may be in full suck mode but the Bruins are kicking ass.

When I went to bed last night, they were down 3-0 in the third period and I was pretty sure I would wake up to find out they lost and the series was tied 2-2. Instead I woke up to the news that they scored 4 goals in the third, beat the Hurricanes and they now lead the best of 7 series 3 games to 1.

If they win the next game, they'll move on to face either the Capitals or the Islanders, depending on who wins that series. Right now, the Islanders are up 3 games to none in that series so unless the Capitals suddenly spring to life, it's probably going to be the Islanders.

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For the record, we have cats and one of them has taken a liking to my laptop. She likes to walk on the keyboard as I'm typing and I have to go back to correct her mistakes. I'm not the best typer to begin with and I guess what I'm saying is you may find more typos and garbage than usual. Particularly when she is in full blown kitten mode and wants to play.

Currently she is wacking away at my hand and keyboard as I type. It's annoying but cute as hell.

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The Bruins are off tonight and the Red Sox are playing the Phillies. I'll watch that but my hopes aren't all that high. Philadelphia has been playing pretty well lately.

While I fall asleep watching baseball, you can visit these:

• Key phrase in this story: "At night they light up the parks like a beautiful lantern".



• Key phrase in this story: "That’s my momma’s truck, so I can’t let him have momma’s truck".



• They got some pretty aggressive shoplifters in Alabama.



• Just when we thought 2020 couldn't get any worse, we get labeled "critical risk" for EEE.



• Yes, despite his reassuring bumpber sticker, alcohol was involved.



• Germy Toilet Seats would be a great name for a 1970s childrens book.

Tightening up our security

A few years ago I installed a doggie door in one of our porch screens and it's been a huge success. The dog goes in & out with no issues and the bugs are kept to a minimum.

Well, now we have two highly energetic and adventurous cats...

My wife expressed concerns that the cats would easily push the dog door open and flee into the woods, never to be seen again. This meant I needed to somehow add an additional level of security to the door or take it out entirely.

I should note that the primary reason the for the dog door was because the dog was running through the screens. That means removing the door isn't an option.

My daughter and I came up with a plan to add some additional magnets to the door and as I type this, I'm waiting for some glue to dry so I can attach the new magnets. I already tried them and they work fine but they are so strong they pulled the metal plate off the plastic door frame. I've glued some wood into the frame and once the glue dries, I can adhere and screw the metal plate onto the wood. That should hopefully be enough to secure it to the frame.

The only other option is to not let the cats out onto the porch and I don't think thats a very good option at all. The cat's seem to like it on the porch.

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Guess who got covid tested today!

In order to go back onto campus once things start b ack up, we all have to get tested and today was my day. I'll know tomorrow if I am covid-free.

Or not.

I figure I've got just as good a chance of have a false negative or a false positive as I do having a true result. These tests aren't known for their accuracy...

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They who shall not be mentioned are on at 7:00 and the Bruins are on at 8:00. I'm pretty sure I won't be awake long enough see the end of either game so It really doesn't matter which one I watch.

While I figure out what I'm doing this evening for my entertainment, you can figure these out:

• Potentially Holy Potato would be a fantastic name for 1960s rock-a-billy band.



• Key unironic name in this story: "Peterswood Park".



• If you've ever wanted to own your very own prison, now's your chance.



• I'm pretty sure that everyone is a racist.



• Scientists are having way too much fun with Uranus.

They changed the input toolset.

Blogger, the toolset used to create this piece of crap, changed recently and I'm not sure the new format is better or worse than the old format.

In the old format, things like adding the funky little diamond (⧫) between thoughts was a single click, now it's three clicks. Doing an interim save while working was automatic or I could initiate at with a single click, now it may or may not be automatic and it takes two clicks to initiate a manual save.

Another thing the new process does is it creates some of the weirdest HTML imaginable by using paragraphs, divisions and styles instead of simple cr/lf break tags.

I guess it'll just take me some time to get used to it. Until then, please excuse any quirky character displays or formatting that suddenly appears.

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I don't want to write about the Red Sox anymore

They suck and it's depressing to keep writing about that.

Instead, I'll focus on the Bruins who are currently up 2 games to 1 over the Hurricanes.

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I'm still gonna watch the Red Sox, I'm just keeping my comments to myself until they win a game.

Until then, here are some links:

• Another reason to not live in California.



• I'm pretty sure my 16 year old car is worth around $2,000.
  (Still runs like a champ!)



• Australia: What doesn't kill ya, tries to eat yer wife.



• How can you tell the difference between the Massachusetts State Police and and an Organized Crime Mob? The criminals don't have whistles.



• Well, I guess they're not brothels, are they.



• I'm willing to bet that the "occupants on the bus" were a bunch of 13 year old kids.

One more thing out of my basement

Our youngest showed up today and took his couch out of our basement.

Two years ago, his grandmother moved out of her house and he laid claim to the couch. For two years, the couch has been sitting in our basement and today was the day he finally got around to taking it. He recently moved into a new apartment with his girlfriend and they decided a couch would be nice to have.

One thing gone, a dozen more to go.

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The Bruins won this afternoon and are now up 2-1 over the Hurricanes. But that's not the big news out of Toronto.

No, the big news is that Tuukka Rask has decided to opt-out of the remainder of the season.

The teams are sequestered up in Toronto which means they don't get to see their families. Rask has little kids and if it were me, I'd opt-out too. Not being able to see your family for a few months kinda sucks.

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Yes, I'm going to watch the baseball game.
Yes, I'm going to hope that the Red Sox win.
No, I will not be disappointed if they lose.

While I do that, you can do these:

• Wow. I thought our government was screwed up. Turns out we got nothin' on Bolivia.



• We're all going to die because of people like this.



• Key line in this story: "...a suspicious looking bald eagle..."



• We don't pay cops enough.



• Key line in this story: "Uranus Is Fairly Big and Surprisingly Roomy".



• Must be a slow news day in Vermont.

Guess who went out tonight!

You get no post because I decided to go out with friends.

Deal with it....

The Red Sox are in full suck mode

Last night's loss was typical of the season. They didn't even come close to winning. They were down 8-0 in the 4th inning and didn't score a run until the 8th.

I said in the beginning of this season that I didn't care if they won or lost, I was just happy to have baseball back. Well, that was a lie. I'm happy to have baseball back but I'd like to see them win occasionally.

Today's game started at 4:30 and as I type this, it's the first inning and the score is 2-0 in favor of the Rays.

The Red Sox have a rookie named Kyle Hart up pitching and I'm hoping he is some sort of phenom who strikes guys out, I'm hoping he doesn't give up hit after hit and I'm hoping the Red Sox hitters actually hit the ball into play.

I have a lot of hopes...

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Now as far as todays post goes, it's pretty minimal. I've been a little busy and the internet is boring me a little bit.

Here are a few links to satisfy your link cravings:

• At least he wasn't homeless for those two weeks.



• If you ever needed proof that there are a shitload of idiots living among us, look no further.



• Eyes Painted On Butts would be a great name for a 1980s German Techno Band.



• Pffffttttt, Rednecks .

It's still sticky...

...and the Red Sox are still losing.

At some point, both of those things need to change.

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I had to go into work for a bit today so I could make some phone calls. Seems that one of our vendors had a data breach a while back and we are reaching out to folks in our community who may be affected by it. One of our clients who may be affected by the breach is also the victim of identity theft and she believes that the data breach is the cause of her identity theft.

To be honest with you, I can't say if it's the cause or not but I can say that it sure seems awful coincidental that a breach happens in May that involves her data and she becomes a victim of identity theft in July. It seems so coincidental that no one in their right mind would rule out the possibility that hackers gained access to her account using the data they obtained from the breach.

So anyways, I spent a good amount of time on the phone with her and got her to start breathing normally again. I gave her all the steps she should take to get control of her financial well-being and what steps she should take with the state of Connecticut, where she lives, to make sure she has the resources of the law on her side.

This little incident has occupied quite a bit of my time over the last two weeks and it's finally coming to a head. We've scheduled a conference with the vendor's VP / CISO and hopefully we can start getting some answers.

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So like I said earlier, the Red Sox lost last night and they are once again in last place in the AL.

I had a thought: Maybe the reason the Red Sox are losing is because of that idiotic decision to start their games at 7:30 instead of 7:05 like every other team in the MLB. Maybe they are losing because instead of behaving like this is a normal baseball season, they are changing the way they do things and it's screwing things up.

Just a thought...

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As for the Bruins, they did not play last night because the game being played before them went into quintuple overtime. That pushed the Bruins start time back to well past 11:00pm and they decided to delay the game until today.

The Bruins and the Hurricanes played at 11:30 this morning and they also went into overtime. It was only a double overtime but still, it was overtime.

The game ended around 2:50 when the Bruins managed to dump the puck into the Hurricanes goal and win the game 4-3.

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Here are some links that you can click if you want:

• Key phrase in this story: "I was trying to figure out what it was ."



• I have nothing to say about this.



• It's the old, "someone gave me these pants !" defense.



• Key line in this story: "An address clearly marked on the front of his home ."



• In the United States, we have the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster . In South Africa, they have the Church of Unlimited Booze . This leads me to ask, "Which one is the third world country..."



• Oh Canada .



• It's been a while since we had a Drunk on a Lawnmower story.



• Only in Florida .

It's sticky

Thank goodness for A/C.

⧫

The Red Sox lost 8-7 last night, which is very disappointing since they went were up 4-1 in the third inning.

The pitching was okay and hitting seemed to improve a bit. They had one error that they probably could have avoided if they were on top of their game.

All-in-all, it was a good game and my hopes are high that they win tonight's game.

Hey, I can dream, can't I?

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I will have the hockey game on in my fancy-shmancy "Picture-In-A-Picture" TV set. I won't be able to see it because I'm old and it's a small little screen but if something exciting happens, I might catch a glimpse and I can switch over quick to try and catch the replay.

When it comes to cross-over seasons, you gotta do what you gotta do.

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I'm going to make some leftovers for dinner and then settle in for my baseball/hockey extravaganza.

While I do that, you can do these:

• If you decide to visit Pearland, Texas, don't order the beef.



• Seventeen year old kids should not be tasked with controlling idiotic adults.



• Why is it always ugly people who get naked?



• This may explain a few things.

Yay! We get another heat wave!

I don't like heat and I don't like humidity.

I would rather be cold than hot and sweaty.

⧫

Tonight the Red Sox begin a four game series against the Rays and I'm a bit concerned. The Rays have been on a roll lately and they are currently in second place behind the New York Aaron Judges.

The pitching sucks, we knew that going into the season. What we didn't know was the mental block going on with the hitters.

I don't know if it's because of the 'rona, the short season or the lack of fans in the seats but whatever is causing it, they need to move beyond it and start hitting the ball.

Soon....

⧫

As for hockey, it's back on and the NHL wants to thank all the fans.

The Bruins were in first place in the Atlantic Division when the 'rona ended the season. The NHL decided to continue the season with a round robin format to determine seeding for the Stanley cup. So far, the Bruins ain't doing to well.

They lost to the Flyers last Sunday, the Lightning last Wednesday and the Capitals yesterday. Tomorrow they play the Hurricanes and I kinda hope they win because if they go into the playoffs with a high seed, they will end up in multiple battles for a shot at the cup.

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You can enjoy these links while I watch baseball:

• This seems to be happening a lot lately.



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



• This is going to get interesting...



• Caution: The Butt Area is overflowing.



• Attention Children of the Internet: Fire Bad.



• Hostile Cow Attack would be a great name for a secret offensive play in the NFL.

I suspected this several years ago

Our local newspaper, The Republican, is the result of a merger between two newspapers, The Springfield Daily News and The Morning Union. At some point, Newhouse bought the newspaper and merged it into their gigantic conglomerate called Advanced Local.

The problem is, Newhouse, Advanced Local and The Republican (operating online as MassLive.com) don't see themselves as a news organization, they are first and foremost a marketing company. They do not exist to report news, they exist to provide marketing services to big business.

This is why we don't get "news" anymore. Instead, we get opinionated and biased information designed to steer us along an agenda of some sort. Or even worse, to sell us some product like, oh, I don't know, maybe a politician or something like that. (Yes, politicians are products for sale to the highest bidder. That is why political lobbying is considered a "regulated industry" and not some kind of political machine like the two major political parties.)

This is why I don't trust the "news".

⧫

Grandchild update.

The following text exchange took place between myself and my son:

"Man Dad, this kid sure poops a lot!"
"Get used to it son, it goes on for a couple of years. Whatever you do, don't run out of diapers."
"Sage wisdom."

This has been your Grandchild update.

⧫

Well, the Red Sox lost last night and but they won today. It took them all nine innings to do it and they took the series against then Blue Jays.

They are not having a stellar season but at least they aren't in last place in the MLB. That privilege is reserved for the Pirates who are the proud owners of a 3-12 record.

The Red Sox currently have a 6-9 record which puts them in second-to-last place in the ALEast.

Next up is a four game series against the Rays. They need to win those games if they want to dig themselves out of the basement.

⧫

I'm going to toss some steak on the grill and then fall asleep early.

You can visit these links of you are so inclined:

• I suspect this kind of thing goes on all the time in Russia.



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



• Only in Florida.



• Key phrase in this story: "Whee!"



• According to our president, this is because we do too much testing. If we didn't test, we wouldn't have this problem.



• Key phrase in this story: "...rat line..."

We have power but no internet

Power was restored around 9:30 Thursday night and if you or someone you know is a linesman, I really, really appreciate the effort.

We still have no internet and if you or someone you know works for Charter/Spectrum, get off your ass and fix the outage on Pleasantview Road so my neighborhood can get back to the 21st century!

Perhaps one day the internet will return and I will once again provide you with links. Until then, you'll just have to make due on your own.

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UPDATE!    UPDATE!    UPDATE!

At 4:00 this afternoon, Spectrum/Charter managed to get my internet back on!

Wooo Hooo!!!

⧫

Right now I'm watching yesterday's Blue Jays / Red Sox game. Tonight I'll be watching tonight's Blue Jays / Red Sox game.

While I overdose on baseball, you can visit these links:

• Only in Florida.



• He'll probably get so much from the GoFundMe that he won't need to open the cart.



• ♫With Gilligan, the Skipper too.
  The millionaire, and his wife.
  The moooovie star.
  The Professor and MaryAnn!
  Here on Gilligans Isle! 🎶



• There was a time when I thought Bill Gates was a first class a-hole. Not anymore.



• How else are you supposed to save yourself?



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



• Beefy Snack would be a great name for a 1970s porno actor.

Still no power or internet

I hope you are faring better than us.

We have no power and no internet

Fortunately we have a generator and cell phones.

Other than not having National Grid supplied electricity or Spectrum supplied internet, we are all good.

I hope you are all good as well.

Early post in case we lose power and internet

The weather dweebs keep saying the name of the storm headed our way. They repeat it like it was some kind of mantra. "Isaias is coming up the coast and we can expect 40 - 60 mph winds from Isaias. Once Isaias passes by us, we will not have any high winds from Isaias."

The bottom line here is that a tropical storm is rolling up the coast and we're gonna get some rain & wind. I have fuel for my generator and plenty of food in the house. I'm pretty sure we are all set. If we're not all set, oh well, we'll just have to deal with things as best we can.

The only thing I ask is that I would really like to not have any tornados cutting through my town if it's all the same to Isaias.

⧫

The Westfield Starfires beat the New Britain Bees last night by a score of 2-0. Tonight's game against the North Shore Navigators has been postponed due to Isaias.

The Red Sox are in Tampa to play the Rays. Let's hope they don't come down with the 'rona while they're down there.

⧫

So anyways, the winds are starting to blow and the rain has begun to come down. That means you get an early and short post.

Enjoy these links:

• Key phrase in this story: "I looked and leaned in closer and a snake head slithered up."



• I believe Lancashire was a major coal mining area.



• Only in Florida.



• I'm not sure if the key phrase in this story is: "...it's all part of his plan to protect his faeces from falling into the wrong hands." or of it's "...deny determined sewer divers insights into the supreme leader's stools."



• This could be my next favorite police log, if I can figure out how to find it.



• Apparently people being idiots is not a new thing.



• Is there such a thing as a good mosquito tornado?

Quick Update While We Still Have Power.

I told him this was going to happen one day.

The road is blocked but fortunately it missed houses and wires.

Busy work day today.

Many things are afoot with bad people trying to scam good people and the good people are looking at me to stop the bad people.

So I do.

⧫

The Red Sox are tied for the second worst record in the MLB at 3-7. The honor of the worst record goes to the Pirates at 2-7. The two teams I like are in the shitter.

Maybe I'll start rooting for the Dodgers or the Rays. I don't like them and it seems the teams I root for all fall apart.

⧫

The Red Sox are off tonight but it looks like NESN is running a minor league. And when I say minor, I mean seriously minor. Like not even the Cape League minor.

NESN is showing a game between the Westfield Starfires and the New Britain Bees.

For the record, I looked on Google Maps find Bullens Field. That's where the Starfires play.

There are goal posts in right/center field...

Bet that makes for some interesting collisions.

⧫

Here are some links:

• Sex Mad Monkeys would make a fantastic name for a 1980s punk rock band.



• I'm betting they get that a lot.



• Australia: What doesn't kill ya, tries to crush you like a grape.



• It's the old Pandemic Stress defense...



• I'm not entirely sure whose side I'm on here. If they are requiring masks, enforcing social distancing and disinfecting everything after every use, why can't they open?

I'm a grandpa.

At 4:00 this morning, I become a grandfather.

My children never knew their grandfathers because both of them died before any of their grandchildren were born. You have no idea how glad I am that I lived long enough to see the birth of the next generation. This is particularly poignant because my son is a cancer survivor who went through some fairly intense chemo when he was 20 and was told that he might not be able to have children.

I will tell you that my boy is overjoyed with his boy.

No if you'll pardon me, I'm gonna I go look some pictures of my grandson.

⧫

The Red Sox suck.

They need pitching. And not just any pitching, they need some good pitching.

Sale is done, Rodriguez is done, Evoldi is trying like hell to hold his own and what is left is a bunch of guys that were either DFAd by their previous clubs or were non-tendered after the 2019 season.

They need to figure out what to do about pitching and soon. There are only 51 games left in this season and that's assuming the 'rona doesn't step in and cancel some of those games.

⧫

Key phrase in this story: "He noted that the bureau was forced to cut its Gun Violence Reduction Team at the direction of the City Council. The 34-member team was disbanded July 1 as a result of budget cuts to police units that have targeted a disproportionate number of black people in traffic stops."

This political decisions being made all over the country to defund the police is going to have very, very bad ramifications in the near future.

I have a better idea: let's defund the politicians. I personally think they are more than 90% of the problem.

⧫

I'm going to go stare at the baseball game and wonder once again why I am still a Red Sox fan.

While I do that, you can wonder why you are reading this crap:

• I always enjoyed his work. Specially his "diebeatus" commercials.



• It's possible that next spring, there will be a lot of widows selling used Harley-Davidsons, cheap.



• This commercial makes me want to buy a new ladder.



• In India, if the 'rona don't get ya, the booze will.

A streak of 2 is better than a streak of 1

The Red Sox lost to the New York Aaron Judge's last night by a score of 5-1.

They play them again tonight and hopes are high that the new guy, Godley, will pitch well. Tanaka is on the mound for the Yankees and historically, the Red Sox have hit him pretty good.

⧫

Time for another round of "This Weeks Episode of World's Favorite Operating System and Browser":

In the Browser category, Firefox has a commanding lead over Chrome and the judges simply can't believe that "Internet Explorer" is still in use. Some people must like it when their computer locks up for no reason.

As for Operating Systems, Windows continues to overwhelm all others while it looks like an old timer, WIndows NT, is trying to make a comeback. As it did back in 2008, the judges predict that this will not end well for Windows NT.

This has been another round of "This Weeks Episode of Worlds Favorite Operating System and Browser".

⧫

While we're doing updates, how about a kitten update:

They've taken over The Small Dog's bed and you can bet she is not very happy with that. She never really used the bed but dammit, it's her bed and who the hell do they think they are plopping themselves down in her bed.

Her method of resolving this issue is to come to me and whine. She's finding that this is not an effective method to resolve a problem because I can ignore whining with the best of them.

⧫

Here are today's links:

• Rhode Island has issues.



• I don't care what Jed Clampett says, between the 'rona, the wildfires, the West Nile and now this, California is not the place to be.



• What a moron. Everyone knows washing it doesn't get the germs off. You have to microwave it on high for an hour at least in order to kill the 'rona.



• Japan: Land of the very weird.



• For the record, Hungry Howie's is an excellent name for a pizza joint.



• Something tells me that Birds Bakery may be the target of some irate Irish.