Short post.

We spent most of the day working at our daughters new abode. Trust me, that place needs a lot of love and we're going to be as helpful as we can.

Today was spent replacing locks on the doors, putting gfci plugs near all the sinks and painting cabinets. I did the locks and the plugs, my wife did the painting.

I think she had the harder job...

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Time to throw some steaks on the grill and read up on the Red Sox game that I missed today. I hear they won!

Here are a few links to fill your time:

• It is rare for me to say this so enjoy it while you can: I agree with Trump.



• They have better politicians in England than we do in the United States.



• Key phrase in this story: "I have worn this skirt to prior executions without incident."



• I've never understood those stories about miserable lottery winners.

No, I don't live in Illinois

Looks like someone in Illinois won themselves $1.34 billion.

For the record, $1.34 billion is a lot of money. If you took the annuity, you (and your heirs) would receive $42.7 million (pre-tax) every year for thirty years.

I could live quite nicely on $42 million a year. After taxes I would probably clear $23 million. That's a lot of money coming in every year.

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Yes, the Red Sox lost to the Brewers 4-1 last night.

Yes, they are losing to the Brewers (6-4 in the 8th inning) this afternoon.

Despite their inability to win a ball game lately, I'm still going to watch them. It's what I do.

The only time I stopped watching baseball was back in the 80s when they went on strike and I got pissed off that a bunch of grown men who got paid to play a game I loved to play suddenly decided to stop playing because they didn't get paid enough. I personally thought they were jerks for doing that and it turns out I was right.

Back then, you could take a family of four to a baseball game and not have to refinance your house to pay for it. As soon as the owners caved in and started paying exorbitant salaries, going to a baseball game became something only the wealthy can do.

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Had an incident with my new car this afternoon when it refused to start and displayed a bunch of messages about "brake system failure", "low tire pressure", "radar system failure", etc...

I called the dealership and they said, "Your battery is dead. Can you jump it and bring it down here? We close at 2:00 but if you can get it started and head down, we'll stick around until you get here." I said, "You bet", jumped the battery and headed for Enfield.

I got there about 10 minutes after they closed but as promised, they were waiting for me. A quick checked showed that the battery had died (the mechanic said he thinks one of the cells went bad) and they slapped a new one in. He told me to expect all kinds of initialization messages for about 5 miles but I was good to go.

Trust me, I hate car dealerships but if you are looking for a place to buy a car, head over to one of the many Lia dealerships. I happened to buy mine from Lia Honda in Enfield, CT and they just proved to me that customer service is important to them. That means they proved to me that I am important to them. This is completely opposite of the experience we had at the other big dealership in the area. I won't mention their name but it rhymes with what you would call a small suitcase...

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Enjoy these links:

• I am genuinely concerned that Krazy Kamala may end up as the president if Goofy Joe can't kick the 'rona.



• If it's in The Mirror, it must be true.



• The $10,900,000 Wilbraham Senior Center project just went to $11,300,000.
  I said it before and I'll say it again - why does a town of our size need a $11,000,000 senior center?



• I don't know and I don't care. I'll be long dead by then.



• Things have gotten so bad in New York City that they are now locking up the SPAM.



• Philadelphia: The city of Brotherly Love.

They split the series.

They managed to win last night and split the series 2-2 with the Guardians.

They still haven't made any moves as they approach the trade deadline but I don't imagine there are any moves they can make right now. I mean, their problems are so many that there is no quick fix. They have no starting pitching, they are making errors in the field like one of my old rec league teams and hitting is something that might happen every once in a while.

Who are they going to get to fix all those problems?

I just hope ownership doesn't do anything stupid and start blaming Cora. If they decide to "move on" from him, the fans will riot.

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Hey! Guess what went up again!

Good thing I bought a ticket.

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I was a little busy today so I'm going to end this now.

Enjoy these links:

• "Spock, Bones, Scotty, come with me. Ensign RedShirt, go behind that big rock and see if you can find my wallet!"



• Only in Florida.



• Well, this kinda sucks...



• Also only in Florida.



• Staffordshire Pub and the Big Beaver would be a fantastic name for a 1960s porno movie.

They are below .500

They lost, again, and they are now below .500.

The Boston "experts" are all beating up on Bloom to see who can find out what he's going to do about the team. Specifically, they are all asking him if he is going to be a "seller" or a "buyer" before August 2nd, which is the trade deadline

The one thing I know about baseball executives is they never, ever, tell the media what they are going to do until they do it. They do not give away their plan because the worst thing you can do when you are negotiating with the other teams is to announce your plans.

If they win tonight, they will have split the four-game series with the Guardians. If they lose, well, that will suck and they will be even further below .500 than they are today.

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To my limited knowledge, Pelosi is not the President of the United States and she is not tasked with any aspect of our nation's foreign policy. Too be honest with you, as far as I am concerned she is a crazy old lady who should not be allowed out of whatever office it is she has in California.

If she gets us into a diplomatic spat with China, I'm going to have a problem with that. Someone in the White House needs to tell her to shut up and sit down. She should concern herself with her constituents and their needs, not the people of Taiwan.

I'm getting sick and tired of people going around poking hornets nests with a short stick just because they think they should. Particularly when those hornets could turn around and attack someone other than the poker.

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It just keeps growing...

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I'm going to sweat and watch baseball.

You can check these out:

• Seems like getting made at people who don't speak the local language isn't strictly an "American" thing.



• I love reading about this stuff. It reminds me that as a species, we can sometimes be pretty freakin' intelligent.



• My little sister lives in North Carolina...



• Key phrase in this story: "THIS IS NOT MY MOM!"



• Meet Mary Volz: The luckiest, or the unluckiest, person in Michigan.It kinda depends on the results of the investigation.



• Yet another reason to stay out of coastal cities. Now that I think about it, just stay out of cities in general.

They are in last place

With last night's loss, the Red Sox are now in last place in the ALEast, half a game behind the Orioles. Also, they are now at .500 (49-49).

This is not good and I don't think they are going to be improving at any point in the near future. They are waiting for all of their injured players to make a return but I suspect it might be too late for some of them. The majority of them are listed as early August but that's just a guess. I won't be surprised to see half of them return in August and the other half get shut down for the remainder of the season.

On the other hand, the Patriots reported to camp today. That means football season is fast approaching.

And right behind that is hockey season.

Given the way the Red Sox are playing, I don’t think I’ll have to do very much “picture-in-picture” viewing come October...

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Here’s a guy who should not be wandering around on our planet:

Key phrase in this story: "...possession of a firearm without a license to carry (fourth offense)..."

Key phrase in this story: "...pleaded guilty to 14 gun related charges..."

Key phrase in this story: "...arrested for operating a motor vehicle under the influence of drugs."

Why is a guy with four firearms offenses and fourteen firearm-related charges against him not in prison?

See, this is the kind of stuff that pisses gun owners off. Why are you creating new laws to restrict my 2nd amendment rights while allowing people who violate the law to wander around and continue doing bad things? We used to have a law that said if you commit a crime with a firearm in your possession, you went to jail for a year. When did we stop enforcing that law?

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No, I did not win the MegaMillions last night.

I am, however, going to buy a ticket to this Friday's MegaBillions drawing so I got that going for me.

Wish me luck!

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Yes, I plan on watching the baseball game tonight. What the hell else am I gonna watch...

You can visit these if you want:

• Key phrase in this story: "I’m gonna blow y’all up."



• Yet another reason I don't fly commercial.



• Emu's: Don't mess with them.



• It's gotten so bad you don't even have to use gun to injure people and wreak havoc anymore.



• So we can still call them "murder hornets"?



• Key phrase in this story: "The simple answer is that these bills are all made up."

Nice day

Whenever the weather is like it was today and I mow my lawn, all I can think of is the movie My Blue Heaven.

That was one of the great movies of our time and if you never saw it, you need to make it one of your life's goal to find a copy and watch it.

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The Red Sox won last night, beating the Guardians 3-1. I'd like to say they played well but they didn't. It's just that the Guardians played worse than the Red Sox.

They don't seem to have any motivation. Except for Yolmer Sanchez. He seems to have a lot of motivation simply because I don't think he is any hurry to go back to Worcester. Same with Rob Refsnyder. He's in no hurry to go back to Worcester either.

They are at it again tonight and once again, I'm hoping they win. If they lose, there is a good chance they'll drop into last place in the ALEast.

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Remember yesterday when I said I might be able to retire one day?

Yea, maybe not...

I did, however, buy a MegaMillions ticket this afternoon. Playing the lottery is a terrible retirement plan but it is a plan...

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While I watch baseball, you can click on these:

• Someone needs to explain to me why this woman was allowed to roam freely in our society.



• Key phrase in this story: "...he heard the president tell him to steal the vehicle."



• A Bevy of Angry Otters would be a fantastic name for 1960s teenage garage band.



• Everytime I see this posting, I laugh out loud.



• New York: More screwed up than any other city in the world.



• Still no sign of Jimmy Hoffa.

Busy day

Got some work done and then my registration came through so I went and got my car inspected.

I also got some things done with my webserver that I've wanted to do for a while.

And now I'm watching baseball. Hopefully they win today.

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I took this screen shot yesterday evening. It shows the busiest airspace in the world right now:

That is the traffic flying into Whitman Field in Oshkosh Wisconsin for the annual AirVenture airshow. For one week, the skies around that small airport become busier than any other airport in the world.

Oh, and by the way, they've already had three accidents. That is why I will never fly in to Oshkosh during AirVenture.

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Who knows, maybe one day I will be able to retire:

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I turned my ac off because, well, it's 75° out there and it just seems silly to have the ac on.

Here are some links you can click on:

• Japan: It's not like where we live.



• In case you didn't know, they got religious crickets in Idaho.



• Huge Charismatic Walrus would be a great name for 1980's children's book.

This is getting old.

They lost yesterdays game but at least it wasn't a complete blowout. They lost 4-1.

Today was not any better, losing 8-4.

They are now in fourth place in the five-team ALEast, half a game ahead of the Orioles, who lost to the Yankees this afternoon.

This is bad. They are currently 12-28 against the ALEast teams. That's a .300 record against teams in their own division. This is really bad.

The Guardians come to Boston tomorrow and first pitch at 7:10. It looks like Pivetta is on the mound and I really hope this start goes better than his last start when he lost to the Yankees 14-1...

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It's currently 5:30 and the temperature outside is still 94°.

Thanks goodness for Willis Carrier and his wonderful invention, the air conditioner. Without it, most of us would be nothing more than a damp spot on the floor.

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I'm going to toss some burgers on the grill and get my ass back in the air conditioned house.

You can click on these if you want:

• Hey, no matter what you think of it, a prize is still a prize.



• I've been to Church Street in Burlington, VT and I can assure you that this is not the weirdest thing you will see there.



• Yes, alcohol was involved.



• Man, they got world records for everything.



• I gotta wonder what George Lucas thinks of this copywrite violation.



• I'm thinking he might have been sampling his wares.

They should be embarrassed

In what is now a franchise record for runs against during a single game, the Red Sox lost to the Blue Jays 28-5 last night.

I stopped watching the game when the score was 23-3 but I did get to see the Blue Jays hit a in-the-park grand slam.

Think about that for a minute. The Red Sox played so poorly last night that not only did they not catch a fly ball hit to the warning track in left field, they then couldn't get to the ball and throw it in to get at least one of the four base runners out.

Like I said, I gave up watching it when the score was 23-3 in the middle of the fifth inning but I learned this morning that in the ninth inning, after going through six different pitchers, the Red Sox didn't just use a position player to pitch, they used a position player from the Worcester Red Sox to pitch. They put Yolmer Sanchez, who plays for the Worcester Red Sox, on the mound and let him have at it. Turns out he did okay, giving up 3 hits and 1 earned run.

I really hope this afternoon goes better. The game started at 4:00 and the Red Sox are currently down 3-1 in the top of the fourth inning.

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Still not high enough for me to think about buying a Mega Millions ticket:

John says he's going for the $790 million but I'm waiting until it hits at least a billion

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Grilled teriyaki sirloin tips for dinner tonight. Yes, it's as good as it sounds.

While I watch baseball and enjoy my dinner, you can enjoy these links

• Well this isn't good. Not good at all.



• I can think of no good reason for this guy to still be alive.



• If you are ever in Birmingham, England and you are looking for a quick meal, trust me, avoid the ham rolls.



• If you have ever committed a crime, never, ever, blow into a breathalyzer.



• Key phrase in this story: "...astronauts could get impregnated by stray fluids."



• I'm pretty sure this is a bad idea.
  Unless it involves two-for-one Bud bottles. Then it's a great idea.

Groceries are expensive.

We did our weekly grocery shopping this morning and man, things are getting expensive. The one item that really caught my attention is chicken.

We like chicken salad so we usually buy some of the pre-made stuff. In the recent past, a pound of chicken salad at the deli sold for around $4.00 or $5.00. Today it was $11.00.

And it's the same for almost anything that has any kind of meat. Chicken, beef, pork, it doesn't matter, it's doubled or tripled in price in the last year.

Add to that the price of gasoline and I can't help but wonder how some people are paying their bills.

Normally I don't blame the current executive for the economy but in this case, I'll make an exception. We gotta get rid of Goofy Joe and his policies before we all go broke.

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No, I still didn't buy a Mega Millions ticket. If no one hits it tonight, I'll think about buying one for the next drawing.

I have zero luck when it comes to gambling so when I buy a lottery ticket, I'm doing nothing more than turning my money into a piece of paper that I will throw away in a few days. I could cut out the middleman and just throw my $2.00 directly into the trash. That will at least save me the cost of the gasoline I'll burn driving to the store.

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The request for tonight's dinner is breakfast. I've been informed that I need to make french toast and sausages for dinner.

While I enjoy my world famous french toast, you can enjoy these links:

• Looks like someone might be going to jail.



• They really need to do something about their first base problem.



• Japan: It is a very weird place.



• Only in Florida.



• I thought they stopped looking for him years ago.



• When I read this, all I could think of was this.

Highway speeds

I took the my new motor vehicle on the pike today and man, that things gets up to speed fast.

My old car had an inline five cylinder engine that had decent acceleration and it was more than capable of going uphills without any issues but this new one has a turbocharged four cylinder that is designed to give good gas mileage while delivering power when needed.

I'm going to be one of those guys that has to pay attention to his speedometer because I'm not used to driving a car with that much power.

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I have no idea if JJ Watt just got scammed or not but I am certain he is a compassionate human being:

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No, I have not yet bought a Mega Millions ticket.

I'm waiting until it gets over a billion. No sense wasting $2.00 for a measly $660million

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I need to figure out what I want to have for dinner. My wife and daughter have settled on a nice caesar salad but since I'm not a rabbit, I try to avoid salads.

Unless it's a taco salad.

I never avoid taco salads.

Enjoy these links:

• Goofy Joe went and got the 'rona.



• I would absolutely watch The Elite Average Games.



• Do you idiots want to start WWIII? Because this is how you start WWIII...



• I wish no one any ill will but I can say with all honesty that I will not be unhappy when all the anti-vaxxers are gone.



• Nope. Nope, nope, nope, nope.



• Australia: What doesn't try to kill ya, just wants to take a nap in the drive-thru.

The All Star Game was "meh" at best.

It was fun to watch players I don't see much of but to be honest with you, I stopped watching it in the third inning.

I will say that at least they found someone with a decent voice to sing the National Anthem...

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The key phrase in this story is, "State officials did not specify which banks and ATMs have been affected by the recent hack."

Why not? Why is the state not telling us which ones we should stay away from?

Seems to me that if they don't say which banks and ATMs are at risk, they are effectively helping the hackers.

Why would they do that?

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I have a question:

Am I the only one who thinks Rudy Giuliani looks a lot like Simon Bar Sinister from the Underdog cartoon?

Every time I see him, I expect to hear, "Simon Says Vote For Trump!"

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I'm going to eat some dinner and then figure out what to watch tonight.

Here are some links you can visit:

• Beer: Is there anything it can't do.



• Some people have way too much time on their hands.



• Key line in this story: "Johnson also told police that this wasn’t the first time his 4-year-old child had gotten his hands on a gun."



• If this happened at my house, my wife or daughter would probably adopt it and make it a house pet.



• Key entry from our favorite police log: "8:42 a.m. After reporting an assault, a woman asked if officers could hold off on arresting the person today because she needed them to watch her kid."

The home run derby kinda sucks

When I was a little kid, there was no home run derby. In 1960, there was a weekly television show called Home Run Derby that I believe only lasted one season. It was a matchup between that weeks AL and NL home run leaders. That was the first time the words "home run derby" were used and once that show went off the air, there was no home run derby.

Then, in the mid 1980's, the shittiest sports network on the planet, ESPN, decided to revive the home run derby but instead of a weekly show, they made it an annual thing. And they also decided to turn it into the flashy, gaudy, hot mess it is today.

I turned it on and was immediately assaulted by what had to be the worst rendition of the National Anthem that I have ever heard. It was performed by someone I've never heard of who is the poster child for that old saying, "He couldn't carry a tune in a bucket."

After that it was a game of who can hit the ball the fastest and maybe we'll count them, maybe we won't. It turns out that Schwarber hit one more home run than they actually counted and he lost because of that miscount.

I turned it off and put on reruns of Good Eats.

Tonight is the All-Star game on FOX. Fortunately the announcers are Davis and Smoltz and those two are not only tolerable, they actually have intelligent things to say every once in a while.
I'll watch some of it but since it starts at 8:00, it's a pretty good guess it won't end until 11:30 or midnight.

If it sucks, I have a couple of hours of DVRs I can watch instead.

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Enjoy these links:

• It is freakin' hot in England.



• Japan: It's not like where I'm from.



• Key phrase in this story: "They ordered three hot wieners and a pizza from a local restaurant."



• Only in Florida.



• Key phrase in this story: "...also known as 'The Devil's Arse'..."



• This is why we just had a band at our wedding.

I bought a car

After 16 years of driving a sedan, I made the move to a SUV.

I am now the proud owner of a Honda SUV:

Things I now need to learn:

1. When I leave the store/office/bar/restaurant, I have to look for a black SUV, not a green sedan.
2. I start the car by pushing a button, not turning a key.
3. I can make a phone call without touching my phone.
4. My gas cap is not on the right side of my car.
5. Because I now have an SUV, I no longer have to remember to take my golf clubs out of the trunk before I go grocery shopping.
6. When I'm trying to make a right out of a side street and someone pulls up alongside me on the left, I can now see over most of them

That Volvo served me well and more than got my money's worth out of it but it was time. Also, despite being a 2019, the Honda had less than 17,000 miles on it, was well maintained and is currently the number one rated midsize SUV on the market. That was enough to get me to make the move.

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The Home Run derby is on tonight and I will probably watch a little bit of it.

But right now, I'm going to go play with my new car.

While I do that, you can check these out:

• Let’s recap - “she” used to be “he” but then decided “he” was a “she” until “she” conveniently became a “he” again and “he” now is upset that “she” is being called a “he”.
  Oh, and “she/he” is also a murderer.



• So I guess his, What do you mean I could end up in prison? I’ve changed my mind and I’ll talk to you now!" defense didn’t work very well.



• Well that sucks. I would be pissed if that happened to me.



• You people need to stop. We've already got more than enough shit to worry about. We don't need anymore worries.



• I haven't received any of these since Spectrum changed over to its new spam blocker.



• Only in Florida.

They got their ass kicked

Last night, the Red Sox completely imploded, losing to the Yankees 14-1.

This afternoon they didn't do any better. They lost 13-2.

Also, Sale left the game in the first inning with an broken finger on his pitching hand after he got drilled by a batted ball.

All this combines to mean they are once again struggling with their pitching rotation and they are no longer a wild card team:

It also means they are close to moving in to last place behind the Orioles.

It also means that they have a very difficult second half of the season ahead of them.

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I decided to empty the 17 years of crap out of my car today so when the time comes to trade it in, I don't have to worry about it.

Man, I collect a lot of crap.

I have stickers, patches, pens, pencils and blankets from various work/life events. Since I don't like to have coins in my pocket, I have tossed coins into every cubby within my reach. I have a bunch of toothpaste because every time I go to the dentist, he gives me a toothbrush and a tube of toothpaste. For some reason, I bring the toothbrush into the house but I toss the toothpaste into my glove compartment and promptly forget about it.

I have two umbrellas, two snow brushes, a set of jumper cables, a first aid kit and a road safety kit.

I need to sort through it all and figure out what needs to be thrown out (most of it), what needs to be saved (very little) and what needs to go into a new car (a few things).

Once everything is sorted and tossed in the trash, I need to get a new car.

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Dinner will be simple tonight - hot dogs.

While I create that gastronomic delight, you can enjoy these links:

• No. No it's not.



• This is what is known as bullshit government over-reach.



• Only in New York City.



• Some people should never be allowed to have a gun. Joshua Murray is one of those people.



• Maybe it's belly-button lint.

Another busy day

Yesterday was lawn mowing and inspection stickerizing.

Today was house cleaning and car shopping.

Yes, you read that correctly, I am car shopping.

My wife has spent the last several months trying to convince me that it's time and she finally succeeded. My current car has a loud clunk every time I go over a bump, the rug under my left foot has a hole in it from wear-and-tear, the radio suddenly stops producing sound every once in a while and the driver seat is split open at the seam.

In other words, it's old and it's time.

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I watched almost eight innings of baseball last night and when I went to bed, the Red Sox were up 4-3. Turns out the Yankees tied the game 4-4 in the ninth but the Red Sox came through in the eleventh when Bogaerts stole home on a passed ball, giving the Red Sox a 5-4 lead.

Brasier came in in the bottom of the ninth and pitched a zero hits, two strikeouts inning to seal the 5-4 win.

Tonight the game is on FOX so I get to listen to that mediocre catcher A.J. Pierzynski ramble on about how great he was.
Turns out I was wrong. Tonights color commentator is John Smoltz. I can tolerate Smoltz. Also, he was far more than mediocre when he played. He was freakin' great.

Maybe I'll make it to the eighth inning again. Maybe not. Who knows. It's a Red Sox/Yankees game and those usually go four hours or so.

That is past my bedtime.

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Here are some links that you might find interesting:

• Babies and grandmothers are being killed by the Russians but the French are worried about the impact on their mustard.



• Duuuuuuddddde!



• Australia: What doesn't try to kill ya, tries to kill ya.



• Fortunately, I am way over 40...



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



• Oh Canada.

Not much to prattle on about today

1) The Red Sox kinda suck lately.

2) Goofy Joe is screwing us to the wall and gasoline is gonna be $6.00 a gallon pretty soon.

3) I am one of the most forgetful people on the planet.

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This morning I got an email from the Registry of Motor Vehicles telling me that my inspection sticker might be expired. I went out and looked at my car and sure as shit, the inspection sticker had a "5" on it.

Since I'm a pretty smart guy, I knew that the current month was "7" and that meant I had spent the last month and half driving around with a bright orange "pull me over and fine me a lot of money!" sticker.

Suffice to say. I made it to the inspection station, spent 3 hours in line and got my car inspected.

For the record, this is not the first time I have done this. I believe my original inspection sticker had a "2" on it. My new sticker now has a "7" on it.

I figure if I do this enough, I'll get a whole year of no inspections out of them...

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I'm going to watch this game and fall asleep.

You can do whatever you want. If clicking on links is what you want then here you go:

• They are trying to suck me into moving to California.



• Key phrase in this story: "It showed a full bottle of water around the size of 250ml stuck in the pelvis area."



• I'm betting it'll be $7.00 a gallon before he is done with them.

It's an official losing streak

Three losses in a row means they are on a losing streak. It also means they are in third place in the ALEast, a game and a half behind the Rays.

I didn't watch any of last nights game because I was enjoying a nice dinner with numerous family members but I did turn on NESN when I got home so I could be find out the score.

I probably should have turned on something other than NESN...

Tonight's game is at 7:00 and Crawford is on the mound to start. Hopefully he gives them 5 or 6 good innings and the bullpen does not implode.

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As I mentioned, I was at a family dinner yesterday. It was at the Springfield Country Club in West Springfield.

Towards the end of our meal, I glanced across the valley at downtown Springfield and saw this:

It's not the sharpest picture but it is an "okay" picture of a red moon rising over the city.

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Dinner this evening will be an experiment. It will be followed by baseball which is also beginning to look like an experiment.

You can enjoy these links if you would like:

• Key phrase in this story: "If you want to be a law enforcement officer, you know there comes a time when you're going to have to react."



• I'm pretty sure he meant to say "horror" but then again, he's Goofy Joe. Even he isn't sure what he meant to say...



• Speaking of Goofy Joe, I can't help but wonder if maybe he's about to get us into a shootin' war with Iran.



• Yes, alcohol was involved.



• Key phrase in this story: "He appeared to be under the influence of something."



• I'm just gonna stay indoors from now on...

Short post.

Busy day followed by a family get-together means no time for interwebbing.

The few links I have for you are here:

• The last person I want talking to the people who control the price of oil is Goofy Joe. He’s gonna say something to piss them off and gas prices here will go up to $10.00 a gallon.



• If this woman gets elected, we are all going to be taxed right into the poor house.



• Key phrase in this story: "At my age, I refuse to do anything illegal."

The democrats are screwing up. Again.

I watched some of the hearings being held by the committee investigating the attack on the U.S. Capital and I've decided that all they are doing is giving Trump a reason to run again.

He lives for this level of attention and as far as he is concerned, this is the best thing that has ever happened to him.

If the democrats had even a small lick of sense and intellect, they would start looking for a viable candidate to put up against the republicans instead of keeping Trump in the spotlight. Right now, the democrats have an incumbent who has one of the lowest approval ratings since Carter and they aren't doing anything to improve themselves.

We're gonna end up with either Trump or DiSantis as president and I'm not sure that's a good or a bad thing. In one sense, it's good because I can't stand Biden, or any of the others who will probably say they are running. On the other hand, it's bad because I can't stand either Trump or DiSantis.

At some point, the democrats need to figure out what they are, who they represent and what their goals are. Either that or they should at least be honest and rename themselves the socialist/communist party.

As for the republicans, they have made it clear that they represent the psychos like the proud boys or the patriot front.

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With Brayan Bello from Worcester on the mound last night, the Red Sox lost to the Rays 5-10.

Tonight is Chris Sale's first appearance since last October when he pitched 2⅓ innings against the Nationals.

Let's hope tonight goes a lot better because back then, over those 2⅓ innings, he gave up four hits and two earned runs before he was pulled by Cora.

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NASA released the first few images from the Webb Space Telescope and I'm pretty damned impressed.

This image is of four galaxies that are 290,000,000 light-years away.

Look carefully at it and you can pick out the individual stars. Over 290 million light years! That's like being able to see individual grains of sand on a beach from 100 miles away. And some of the galaxies you can see in the background are billions of light years away and you can make out the swirl of the individual arms on some of them.

Yet banks here on Earth still have security cameras that take such bad pictures of people that you can't tell if it's a man, a woman, a child, or maybe a dog standing on its hind feet.

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Not sure what I am doing for dinner tonight so you'll just have to guess.

While you do that, you should check these out:

• Stupid people should not be allowed to climb mountains. Or volcanoes.



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



• Demon Ducks of Doom is the perfect name for ducks from Australia.



• If you've been looking for ice cream that is blow-torch resistant, look no further.



• I've come to the conclusion that Indians are grand masters at scamming people.



• Key phrase in this story: "Never a dull day."

They split the series

The Red Sox made the jerks from ESPN look like idiots last night when they beat up on the New York Aaron Judges.

I know I like to say that I hate the guys from FOX but I really hate the way ESPN fawns all over the Yankees, particularly Judge and Stanton.

At one point last night, during the middle of a Red Sox at-bat, they cut away from the game (okay, they left a small little tiny bit of a window in the corner of the screen showing the game) to show a 10 minute interview of Judge.

Another time they again minimized the game to show Alex Rodriguez interviewing Roger Clemens, who are two people I don't give a shit about.

I just want to watch the freakin' game!

Tonight's game against the Rays is thankfully on NESN so I don't have to listen to the boobs on either FOX or ESPN.

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There is another new variant of the 'rona and, once again, "experts" are concerned.

You know what? Wash your hands, use a sanitizer and don't go kissing any strangers. Other than that, live your life and avoid the paranoia.

I'm getting sick and tired of all the paranoia.

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Here are today's links:

• I'm sure they are lining up for this.



• I'm thinking Steve "I'm an arrogant prick!" Bannon isn't going to like the outcome of this trial.



• Every day? I gotta pick up my game.



• We haven't had one of these in a long time: Drunk on a Lawnmower.



• Only in Florida.



• These are the luckiest people on the planet.

Lazy day

I'm leaving the front and sides yards to grow long in the hopes the lawn won't burn but I did mow the backyard. I also did a change of the litter boxes and then I spent the rest of the day watching DVRs.

I also read a lot of news sites trying to figure out what the hell is going on with the economy.

After reading at least a dozen articles from so-called "financial experts", I can say with full confidence that no one knows what the hell is going on with the economy.

Hell, my uneducated guess is as good as all of their guesses and my guess is that between Trump screwing around with the federal reserve bank and Biden screwing around with the just about everything else, we're going to be years recovering from this mess and I'm never going to be able to retire.

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The Red Sox managed to come back from a 3-1 deficit and beat the Yankees last night. This moves them back into second place in the ALEast and 15 games behind the Yankees.

Tonight is looking the same. They are down 2-0 after one inning thanks to a piss poor call by the home plate umpire. Stanton was down 2-1 when Pivetta threw a perfect slider that caught the outside corner of the plate. The umpire called it a ball and the next pitch, Stanton hit a home run to give the Yankees a two run lead.

Hopefully the batters are running hot and they score a lot of runs tonight.

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I'm going to watch the rest of this game.

You can check these links out:

• Only in Boston.



• I wonder if The Great Quantum Debate will replace Jeopardy! in the 7:30 time slot.



• Oh Canada.

Four in a row

Another loss last night means four losses in a row and sixteen games out of first place.

What was interesting about last night is who the closer was.

With the score 11-5 at the end of the eighth inning and the plan for a bullpen game today (Saturday), Cora had little choice but to go with a position player as his closer. He chose Bradley Jr. to do that.

From what I saw in the videos posted online (I went to bed in the middle of the eighth inning), he actually did a pretty good job. He hit 90 a few times and he struck one batter out.

Who knows, maybe Cora has found a new bullpen arm...

So tonight has Crawford as the opener. The last time he pitched, he managed 5+ innings. If he can do that again tonight, the bullpen stands a chance of not imploding.

First pitch is at 7:15 tonight and the idiots from FOX will have the game. Maybe I'll put my radio on and watch the game on FOX with WEEI audio.

⧫
I've been watching the Worcester Red Sox on NESN and now I'm going to grill some steaks.

After that, I'll put the Red Sox on and pray that they win and avoid the sweep.

You can visit these if you want:

• I am looking forward to the "grand opening" on July 12th.



• I don't care that his parents fought. I don't care that his mother was a drunk and his father was an asshole. I don't care one bit. And neither do the seven people he murdered?



• According to the state legislature in Texas, she is correct.



• Perhaps he is looking to get his GED.



• If you are a handy guy and are looking to buy yourself a nice little fixer-upper, here you go.



• Man, they got world records for everything.

Yet another loss

The Red Sox tried like hell to make a showing of it but in the end, they came up short. The final score was 6-5 in favor of the Yankees.

Winckowski pitched okay considering he was up against one of the greatest lineups in the MLB. He gave up a grand slam & a home run in the third inning and a run scoring double in the fifth. That looks bad when you say it but considering the lineup, it's not terrible.

Devers tried his best to make a show of it by hitting two home runs and driving in all five of the Red Sox runs.

Tonight they are back at it with one of the Worcester kids, Seabold, on the mound. I have a feeling he might get his ass kicked.

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As my brown lawn can attest, I (the blue dot) am under a moderate drought:

I do not like having a drought and neither does my lawn.

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This is what I hate about protesters.

Because you don't like his legal decision, you have decided to damage a business, and it's employees, because he was a patron of that business.

Right now there are probably a lot of young men and women being told, "Don't come in to work, there is no work for you" all because these idiots think they have a right to ruin a business.

You don't have that right. You have the right to petition government for redress of grievances. That is your only right.

Go protest in front of the supreme court, don't hurt someone who only wants to earn a living.

⧫
I'm going to watch some baseball.

You can visit these:

• We lost Agarn. He almost made it to 100.



• What the hell is a "Squeegee Worker"?



• Yes, alcohol was involved.



• Only in Florida.



• You can add this to the list of ways I don't want to die.



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

Another loss.

With last night's loss to the Rays, the Red Sox are now tied for both second place in the ALEast and the AL wildcard.

I'd like to blame the pitching but I can't. Yes, the kid from Worcester, Bello, got smoked, giving up six hits with four earned runs over four innings and the bullpen didn't do much better. But that wasn't the only problem.

The batters got six hits over nine innings, resulting in only one run.

The only thing that wins baseball games is stepping on home plate more often than your opponent and the Red Sox failed to do that.

Tonight starts a four-game series against the Yankees. I will be happy if they win one and ecstatic if they win two.

An speaking of Worcester, Chris Sale made a rehab start for the Worcester Red Sox against the Scranton RailRiders last night and while Sale wasn't overjoyed with his performance, I thought he did pretty well.

He went 3⅔ innings, giving up three hits and one earned run which is pretty good for his first almost-major league outing since last year.

No definitive news on when he will return to the Red Sox rotation but rumors abound that if he remains pain-free after his rehab start, he could be activated next week.

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Tonight is leftovers and then baseball.

Here are some links:

• This might turn out to be kind of interesting.



• Bummer, I liked him.



• Key reader comment on this story: "You have to feel for the poor cameraman. He was traumatized, yet he valiantly filmed and filmed and then filmed some more."



• Only in Florida.



• Also only in Florida.



• Oh Canada.

Way more than 16 ice cubes

It is going to take me some time to get used to the sounds an ice maker makes. The high pitched squeal when it fills with water and then the clunk when it dumps the ice into the bucket are not sounds I am used to.

On the other hand, I no longer find myself constantly filling ice cube trays which is nice.

⧫
So the Red Sox imploded yesterday and lost to the Rays 8-4. On the upside, they are still in second place by a game.

Tonight is the MLB debut for Brayan Bello, or, as the Boston sports media likes to call him, the second coming of the savior.

I don't want to say this kid is under a lot of pressure but the talking heads out there are comparing the kid to Pedro Martinez. Give the kid a break. Let him pitch at least an inning or two before you start comparing him to not only a hall of famer but arguably one of the best pitchers Boston has ever seen.

I will admit to looking forward to seeing this kid pitch. I hope he is half as good as they are making him out to be but if it turns out he is as good as they are saying, it should be amazing to see.

⧫
This is "social butterfly" week.

Today was lunch with an old friend (Pat - Kathy says hi) and Friday is lunch with the ROMEOs (Retired Old Men Eating Out).

I haven't seen the boys for almost a year now. Covid, age and general bodily breakdowns are making it hard for all four of us to get together as often as we used to.

I'm hoping we get back into the monthly lunches now that things are settled.

⧫
A request was made for lasagna so tonight is lasagna night.

While I consume that and watch baseball, you can visit these:

• Oh Canada.



• Here's a piece of advice: When you reach 48 years of age, you should stop acting like an asshole.



• Apparently things are not going very well for Russia's newest restaurant chain, "Tasty and That's That".



• Key entry from our favorite police log: "12:45 a.m. A car successfully stopped at an intersection after colliding with the stop sign."



• Key phrase in this story: "...ignorant fools acting stupid."



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

I have 16 ice cubes

When we bought our new appliances, we ended up with a refrigerator that came with an ice maker. Since we didn't have an ice maker in our old refrigerator, we did not have a water line running to it. Since I did not want to shut the water off to half the house while both my wife and daughter were home, I waited until this afternoon to install the line.

I hate saddle valves and will never install one. That mean installing an actual 1/4 inch valve in an existing line. After some research, I decided to use a sharkbite tee to create my access point into the system and a sharkbite 1/4 inch valve to connect the PEX supply line.

I'm going to tell you that if you ever have to do any plumbing in exposed areas, those sharkbite fittings are the way to go. Just don't ever put one in a wall. That is a code violation and also kinda stupid. If the thing leaks, you won't know it until a puddle forms and your drywall is ruined. I only used them in the basement and they are visible. If it leaks, I will know it.

So anyways, the supply line is connected and the ice maker has, as of this writing, created a total of 16 ice cubes.

WooHoo! Let the party begin!

⧫
Tonight was calzone night. Now it's time for news followed by baseball.

While I wait for 8 more ice cubes to drop, you can visit these links:

• It seems to me that a large number of these assholes claim to be "rappers". If I were Run-D.M.C., Ice-T, 50 Cent or Lil Wayne, I'd be kinda pissed off about that. I'd also be black but that's neither here nor there...



• Phew. That's a relief.



• Meet Addison Bethea, the newest member of the A-Team.



• Yes, alcohol was involved.



• This is why I don't live in cities.



• This is why the Irish drink. They are bored out of their minds.

Merry Independence Day!

As you can see, my flag is out and my lawn is brown.

That pretty much sums up my Fourth of July every year.

⧫
The Red Sox beat the Rays this afternoon 4-0 using only their bullpen and a kid from Worcester.

The "starter" was Davis. He's usually a long reliever and he gave up one walk and no-hit the Rays through 2 innings.

Next up was Kutter Crawford, the kid from AAA Worcester. He gave them a solid 5½ innings, giving up 2 hits and one walk.

After him was Schreiber who no-hit the Rays over the final 1½ innings.

All-in-all it was a good start to this three-game series.

As for tomorrow, a normal starter will be on the mound when Pivetta throws the first pitch at 7:10pm.

Oh, and before I forget, the Red Sox are now back in second place in the ALEast, a full game ahead of the Blue Jays. If the Blue Jays lose to the Athletics tonight, the Red Sox will be 1½ games ahead of them.

⧫
Another day, another shooting.

Someone much smarter than I am needs to figure out why people are suddenly going on shooting sprees. What is causing this?

⧫
Dinner was a couple of hot dogs. I'm going to watch some bad television and fall asleep early.

You can click these if you want:

• Only in Walmart.



• Only in Florida.



• If you ever visit South Africa, do not get a gin and tonic.



• Yes, alcohol was involved.



• I've been to Iowa. There a lot there that can't be explained.

Bit of a downward slide.

I thought Winckowski pitched pretty well last night but the infield made two errors that cost them two runs. The hitters hit the ball hard but right into the gloves of the Cubs outfield.

In the end, the Red Sox lost 3-1.

As for today, the Cubs took a one run lead in the first inning but the Red Sox answered with two runs in the fourth. The Cubs came back with another run in the eighth to tie the game and force it into extra innings.

In the top of the eleventh inning, with two outs and two men on base, Story hit a bloop that should have been an out but the Cubs pitcher had some kind of seizure and threw the ball so far over the first baseman's head that not only was Story safe at first, it allowed two runs to score, giving the Red Sox a 4-2 lead.

In the bottom of the eleventh, Diekman (who I'm convinced was one of the brothers on Duck Dynasty) managed to hold off the Cubs and win the game 4-2.

Now it's back to Boston to start a fourteen game stretch that is probably the toughest one they'll face this season.

⧫
Busy day doing, to be honest with you, nothing much at all. Regardless of why I was busy, I didn't spend a lot of time surfing the interwebs.

The few things I did find are here:

• Oh great. As if covid and monkeypox aren't bad enough...



• Key phrase in this story: "...the driver was taken to the hospital due to numerous bee stings..."



• I've decided that the Russians are dicks.



• First we had to worry about the 'rona. Then we had to worry about monkeypox. Now we have to watch out for rat lungworm.

My lawn is turning brown

Despite my attempts at watering it periodically, my lawn has decided to turn brown for the summer.

Today's rain may help stave off the inevitable but it seems that no matter what I do, my lawn turns brown every summer.

After 30+ years living in this place, I'm kinda used it.

⧫
The Red Sox bullpen managed to implode yesterday and they lost to the Cubs. That put them back into third place in the ALEast. They are currently one game behind the Blue Jays

Today's game is at 7:30 and it's on FOX.

I hate when the game is on FOX. They are more interested in telling me about their day than they are in reporting on the game.

If I recall, their color commentator is A.J. Pierzynski. He's an arrogant loudmouth who was a mediocre catcher in his prime.

I dislike A.J Pierzynski.

⧫
I'm going to watch some golf and then some baseball. At some point, I'm going to sear some scallops and have some dinner. Also some desert. Probably some ice cream on some brownie

Do you think I used the word "some" enough in that last paragraph?

Enjoy these links:

• Key entry from our favorite police log: "8:03 p.m. A woman riding her bicycle around the block kept hollering every time she passed through the alley."



• What kind of deranged nutcase names their kid "Latrine"?



• Key piece of advice in this story: "Don’t start an alpaca farm."



• I can't help but wonder if maybe he's a homesexual. Not that there is anything wrong with that...



• "Hey there. Just stopped by to give you your land back. Good luck with the really poisonous mercury and other stuff we left lying around."



• Sloppy Kiss and the Frisky Orangutan would be a great name for a 1970s lounge band.

Replacing door knobs

What should be the easiest job on the planet can sometimes become a real pain in the ass. Replacing door knobs is that kind of job.

If the new door knobs fits the holes and mortices that were made for the old door knobs, it's a simple plug-n-play kind of deal. You take the old hardware out, you put the new hardware in and, presto-chango, new door knobs.

In my case, I was replacing closet door knobs that have been in place since the 1970's. I probably should have replaced them 10 years ago but I didn't so today was the day.

The problem is the hole for the latch on the old hardware was a simple 3/4 inch hole with no mortice for a latch plate. The new hardware had a latch plate and that meant I had to mortice out the door to fit the plate in.

That meant breaking out my handy-dandy wood chisels and very carefully gouging out the amount of wood necessary to fit the plate. One slip of my old, unsteady hands and I would be looking at a door with big old chunk of wood missing from it.

I dragged a chair over, sat my raggedy butt down and took my time gouging out the mortice. It went okay and I'm pleased to say we now have new hardware in all of our gouge-free first floor closet doors.

Sometimes you're the bug, sometimes you're the windshield. Today I was the windshield.

⧫
The Red Sox did not play last night but the Blue Jays did. They beat the Rays and that moved them into a tie with the Red Sox for first place.

This afternoon, the Red Sox are in Chicago playing the cubs and right now, in the bottom of the sixth inning, they are down 6-5. The Blue Jays are also playing right now and they are up 5-1.

That means that there is a possibility the Red Sox will be in third place by one game at the end of the day today.

Right now, the best thing that can happen is the damned bullpen stops walking in runs and the batters start hitting the ball.

⧫
I'm going to watch the rest of this ball game and then toss some burgers on the grill.

You can check these out if you want:

• Apparently parrots and kangaroos are working together to take over the world.



• This is just one of many reasons why I will never live in a city.



• Ain't nothin' worse than a sperm shortage.



• Attention Alanis Morissette: This is irony.



• For that kind of money, I'd get off the plane and drive home.



• Everyone has some kind of weird little kink. Some are weirder than other.