Guess what?

They lost.

⧫
I have a question:

Has anyone asked Trump why he had top-secret documents at his golf club?

What would cause someone to say to themselves, "You know, these classified documents would look great on my bookshelves. I think I'll just take them home."

Has anyone asked him why he took them home? I think that would be a great question and I would love to hear his answer.

⧫
Today was a successful Costco trip followed by a lengthy "Active Shooter Prevention and Planning" class.

Trust me on this one. If you ever find yourself in the same area as someone who is running around shooting people, you will have three choices: Run, Hide or Fight. I strongly suggest you opt for the Run option.

Enjoy these links while I watch baseball:

• Mikhail Gorbachev died.



• Based on what happened with the inner-city electric scooter rental programs, I can only imagine what is going to happen to these. I give it less that a year before every one of those cars is a burned-out hulk in some vacant lot in Stockton.



• Key phrase in this story: "That was the last communication the company had with the former employee..."



• Another reason to stay out of New York City.



• I have two questions about this story:
  1) Why was this woman hanging out the same area as a monkey hunting team?
  2) Why is Japan allowing monkeys to go around hunting people with tranquilizer guns?



• Oh Canada.

Another day, another loss

The Red Sox managed to lose to the Twins last night because, well, once again, the bullpen imploded.

Oh well, we'll get 'em next year.

⧫
Goofy Joe and his ilk have decided that they, and they alone, can "save democracy".

The problem is that Goofy Joe and his ilk seem to think democracy is only for those that think like him and everyone else is a fascist.

Listen up Joey because it seems that in your advanced stages of senility, you may have forgotten the basic premise of a democracy. A democracy is in place when leadership is elected to office by the majority of the people, not just by those that think or act a certain way.

If the majority of the nation want to be part of the Trump Cult and act like assholes, then that is who they are going to vote for.

I'm still shocked that the best the democrats could put up for office in 2020 were candidates like Biden, Warren or Sanders. There are a lot of good democrats out there who would be far better candidates for office but all you can give us are "progressive socialists" who believe they know what is best for us.

Idiots...

And before you think I've suddenly become a republican, allow me to enlighten you. The republican party is just as f'd up as the democrats because in 2016, all they could come up with was Trump, Christy, Bush and Huckabee.

Morons...

If, in 2024, my options are Biden or Trump, I'm going to have to abstain from voting. I've voted in every presidential election since 1976 but I can't bring myself to vote for either one of those twits. And voting for an outlier like the green party or the libertarians is a fools move. I did that once and vowed to never do it again.

⧫
Once again, it looks like I'm never going to be able to retire.

⧫
Yes, I'm going to watch the baseball game this evening.

No, I don't have high expectations.

While I do that, you can enjoy these links if you want:

• Here's a good safety tip: Don't get into a cage with a lion.



• Looks like the Ukrainians are fighting back.



• Give it a break, it's 45 years old. Sometimes us old guys mumble a bit.



• Oh Canada.



• Attention judges and prosecutors: Do you want to bring back vigilante justice? Because this is how you bring back vigilante justice.



• I spent 10 days in Bermuda back in 1985. I can assure you there are far worse places to be stranded.

The shake up continues

After yesterday's loss, the Red Sox have decided to shake up the bullpen

I can't help but think to myself, "Too little, too late".

I'm pretty sure that no matter what they do, they can't possibly overcome the deficit they find themselves in right now.

Tonight they are in Minnesota to play the first of a three-game series against the Twins

The Twins are playing kinda okay baseball right now so I guess we'll see how this series goes.

⧫
I'm gonna toss some burgers on the grill and watch baseball.

You may chose to enjoy these if you want:

• Do you want to know why I'm not a cop? I'm not a cop because I would have shot this douchebag in the ass. Twice. That's why I'm not a cop.



• I'm betting there are a shitload of christian fundamentalists having an apoplectic fit over this.



• "Peek-A-Boob" is my new favorite thing to say.



• Another reason why I don't fly commercial.



• Only in Florida.



• Update on the Pumpkin Riverboat Captain.

The new lights are up

I removed her old carriage lights, along with all the old, rusty, improperly installed hardware and put her new carriage lights up. They are securely affixed to the jblock, tight enough to keep the weather out of the electrical connections.

After that I replaced two improperly installed outlets with brand new ones that, as she put it, "are not sketchy at all!"

And yes, I rang the doorbell and set the dog off when I got there. It's the fun thing to do.

⧫
I have an announcement:

The Red Sox lost today.

That is all.

⧫
I'm watching the Steelers play the Lions and I'm noticing that either the Steelers offensive line couldn't hold the pocket open on a pair of jeans or the new guy, Trubisky, can't make a decision.

He takes the snap, drops back and within a few seconds, the pocket collapses and he is sacked.

This is not how football games are won.

⧫
You can enjoy these links if you want:

• Get ready for gas prices to go back up.



• At 8:15 tomorrow morning, I will either be watching this feed from NASA or watching this feed from LaunchPad. It depends on who has the best view.



• Is she still around? After getting blown out in the 2020 presidential election, I thought she might have learned her lesson and stopped talking.



• There is a possibility that the James Webb Space Telescope may have discovered evidence of life on another planet.



• Delinquent Orca Gang would be a fantastic name for a 1990s punk rock band.

Still working

Yesterday's trek over to Home Depot included a whole new doorbell config. She picked out a two-door chime, two lighted buttons and I told her what transformer to get.

Today was spent replacing all the bits and pieces that make up a doorbell. The old transformer was on the electrical panel so that was simple task of opening the panel, killing the breaker that powered the transformer, putting the new one in and buttoning everything back up.

Then came the fun part - tracing the wires to find where everything was junctioned. Once I found the place where everything came together, a quick test with my meter showed power was making it from the transformer to the junction. This meant the wiring was still good and doorbells would be powered.

Then I replaced the old chime with her new one and tested it out. This caused the dog to bark like a maniac. After that it was simply a matter of replacing the two doorbell buttons.

Now her little dog goes insane whenever someone pushes the doorbell button.

Tomorrow or Monday, the new carriage lights she ordered should arrive nd I can put them up.

The existing ones are fancy-shmancy timer/light/motion sensor things that don't work very well. She flips her lights on and they turn off after few minutes. That's not what she wants. No one wants that. I have no idea how the person that lived there before her accepted that.

So she ordered up two nice simple light fixtures that have no sensors, they just turn on when the light switch is flipped up and they turn off when the light switch is flipped down. She already has a smart home hub so all she has to do is buy two bulbs that can be controlled by the hub. That means she can leave the light switch on, set up a control program that turns the lights on at sundown, dims them at 10:00 or 11:00 so they don't bother the neighbors and finally turns them off at dawn.

This may also cause her dog to go a little nuts but not insane like when the doorbell rings.

⧫
The Patriots got their ass kicked last night but the Red Sox won last night and again this afternoon. I'll take that.

The Red Sox activated Story from the DL and sent Durran down to Worcester to work on his swing. They want him to stop trying to hit home runs and start trying to get on base. He has tremendous speed and if he hits singles, he'll turn them into doubles by stealing second.

As for the Red Sox as a team, I'm not sure they stand any chance at all of getting into the playoffs but it's nice to see them try.

⧫
Right now I'm watching a rerun of a 2008 Red Sox / Yankees game.

Spoiler: I looked it up. The Red Sox beat the Yankees 11-3.

While I watch that, you can do these:

• Key phrase in this story: "...she allegedly covered the sales floor of a local cannabis dispensary in condiments."



• When I read this story, all I coud think of was Arlo Guthrie's line from Alice's Restaurant, "Obie came to the realization that it was a typical case of American Blind justice, and there wasn't nothing he could do about it, and the Judge wasn't going to look at the twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy pictures with the circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one explaining what each one was to be used as evidence against us."



• The Todger Girls and The Willy-Wearing Group would be a fantastic name for a 1960's dance troupe and backup band for Lawrence Welk.



• More proof that some people have way too much free time.



• Apparently Clark the Eagle flies commercial.



• I'm thinking she should go buy some lottery tickets.

Busy day

No post today.

Here's a picture of the storms brewing over Monson as seen from the Home Depot parking lot:

⧫
Here are some links:

• MLB is doing everything it can to attract viewers.



• Key phrase in this story: "...trying to buy another child..."



• Oh Canada.



• Nope, I'm probably never going to be able to retire.

I went out for beers

That means you got nothing.

I'm gonna watch the Red Sox and fall asleep on my couch.

While I do that, you can enjoy these:

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



• Wile E. Coyote: Super Genius.



• This will never happen to Biden.



• Key lie in this story: "...no impact to drinking water."

Another loss

There are thirty nine games left to played in this season and right now, the Red Sox are seven games out of the wildcard.

In order to overcome those seven games, they need to win about fourteen of those thirty nine games and the four teams ahead of them all need to lose about fourteen of their games.

In other words, it's pretty much not gonna happen.

Here are the predictions from Fan Graphs for the American League:

As you can see, they are saying the Red Sox have a 4.2% chance of making the playoffs.

I'm still gonna watch them though...

⧫
Goofy Joe decided to "forgive" $10,000 in student loans for those folks earning $125,000 or less per year.

On the surface, this looks like a good thing but a little digging reveals that his forgiveness is gonna cost me money.

It's also gonna cost you money.

Someone needs to tell Goofy Joe that nothing is free. Everything he does costs someone money. Money that a lot of people don't have.

⧫
Several years ago, being the idiot that I am, I waited far too long to go see a doctor about severe stomach issues that I had been dealing with for a year or so. Once it got to the point where I was throwing up and couldn't stand up straight, my wife made me go to the doctor and I ended up in the hospital for 10 days. They took out my gallbladder and several inches of intestine that had turned gangrene. Trust me, it wasn't fun but that's not what I came here to tell you.

Two years ago, I began to experience severe pain and issues in my stomach and the first thought that crossed my mind was I had torn my innards open where they had sewed my intestines back together. Once again, I ended up in the ER where they did all kinds of tests and took numerous pictures of my innards. Once again, not fun but that isn't what I came here to tell you.

The MRI they did revealed scar tissue and lesions on my liver, my pancreas and my spleen. Most of them were identified as injuries from my robust and chaotic childhood but the one on the pancreas had them a little concerned.

Here we are two years later and my doc ordered a followup MRI to see if my pancreas had any changes. I went to Baystate Radiology on Monday, laid on a table and had my innards rigorously scanned by a giant magnet.

The results? I had a very active childhood and my external scars are not the only damage I did to myself. Apparently I did some damage to my innards and those scars all show up on these fancy scanners as "anomalies". There is nothing wrong with me or my pancreas and I've decided that the next time someone wants to take a picture of my innards I'm gonna tell them no.

⧫
I'm gonna eat some dinner and watch some baseball. Who knows, maybe they'll win.

You should check these out:

• Speaking of a robust and chaotic childhood, I would have gone down this three or four times at least.



• Bummer. Along with Johnny Unitas, Bart Starr and Don Meredith, he was one of my childhood heroes.



• Five days to launch.



• I'm more concerned about this than I was about covid.



• Oops.

I'm enjoying this rain

My neighbor yelled over to me this morning, "Looks like it's going to rain again today." I yelled back, "It can rain every day for the rest of the summer as far as I'm concerned. I've had more than enough hot sunny days."

Now if my lawn can recover enough to turn green in the places it survived, I'll know where the really dead spots are. I still have an ample amount of grass seed so it'll be a simple matter of scratching up the dead stuff, tossing the seed down and giving it a little shot of starter fertilizer.

By next spring, my lawn will look beautiful.

Well, at least until late June/early July when it will turn brown and die.

⧫
I'm not quit ready to write them off just yet but I am ready to say that I blame ownership for this teams woes.

Henry made it clear to Bloom that he did not want to pay the luxury tax and he wanted the payroll below the tax limit. That meant no moves during the off-season to pick up a free-agent pitcher who might have at least filled out the bullpen. It also meant no help when the injuries began to pop up.

I get it, no one wants to pay any additional taxes but if you want to win, you need to pay the salaries.

Then again, I've been a Red Sox fan since the 1960s. I'm used to saying, "Oh well. We'll get 'em next year."

⧫
Speaking of the Red Sox, they start a three-game series against the Blue Jays tonight.

If they lose this series, they can pretty much hang it up for season and try to become a spoiler & mess with the Yankees

⧫
Time for some dinner and baseball.

Enjoy these links:

• If the travel time is less than two hours, I'll support it but I suspect it's going to be closer to four hours.



• Only in Florida.



• You can add this to the list of ways I do not want to die.



• Key phrase in this story: "Luxury Sex Doll", which implies there is a bargain-basement sex doll...



• This is one of those stories that makes me say, "WTF!?!"

I really dislike our elected officials

If our elected officials choose to ignore Chapter 62F, they should be charged with Malfeasance and Breach of Fiduciary, arrested, and held in the Suffolk County jail until they stand trial. And it needs to be a jury trial. None of this "bargaining or negotiating" crap.

I voted for that law because back in the 90s, the state government was collecting too much in taxes from us and instead of adjusting the tax rate to stop collecting more than they needed, they would simply found new ways to spend it. The law was designed to stop that from happening.

It's beginning to look like our illustrious elected officials are simply going to ignore the law and do what they want.

This pisses me off and it should piss you off as well.

⧫
The Red Sox lost 5-3 to the Orioles last night. This means they lost the series that they really needed to win.

According to the math wizards that do the math, they now have a 6% chance of making it into the playoffs.

Six percents is not a lot of percents.

⧫
Nope, no retirement for me.

And Biden wonders why his approval rating is lower than snake shit...

⧫
We got some much needed rain today and to celebrate, I'm gonna toss some burgers and grilled cheeses on the griddle.

You can visit these links if you feel like it:

• More proof that there are some incredibly stupid people living among us.



• Number seven...



• The more you know.



• Key word in this story: "explodes".



• Pffffttttt... Rednecks...



• Thank goodness they got that straightened out.

A win is always good

The Red Sox beat the Orioles last night 4-3. I thought they were going to blow it but in the end, they managed to hang on.

Tonight's game is being played in Williamsport, PA as part of the Little League World Series. They aren't going to play on the little league fields, which would be funny to see, but are playing on a minor league field near the venue.

They need to win tonight if they want to win the series. Trust me, they really need to win this series.

Pivetta is on the mound tonight and I'm hoping for one of his great games where he throws a complete game like he did back in May.

⧫
Once again, not much to prattle on about so I'll just leave you with these links:

• I can't help but wonder if they'll lock his ass up too.



• I don't care, I'm still not drinking that crap.



• Somebody needs to find these three people and kill them.



• Oh Canada.



• I'f you've hired prostitute and she walks out on you you should probably not call the police to complain.



• Yes, alcohol was involved.

A loss and a win

The Red Sox lost to the Orioles last night, getting beat 15-10.

The Patriots beat the Panthers last night, winning 20-10.

It sucks the Red Sox are back below .500 but it was nice to see the Patriots play a pretty good game of football.

As for today, the game started at 4:00, it is currently the bottom of the 7th inning and the Red Sox are up 3-0.

⧫
Not much else to prattle on about.

Here are some links:

• Is this the same guy who led his cult in a chant of "Lock Her Up!" when talking about Clinton and her email server?



• Mike Pence is making sure we all know he isn't Trump.



• This guy is nuttier than a pile of squirrel shit.



• Key phrase in this story: "I didn't know that was possible!"



• Yet another reason I don't fly commercial.

It's a flipping kind of night

The Patriots are playing the Panthers tonight. First snap is at 7:00 and I'm hoping Jones is the QB.

The Red Sox are in Baltimore to play the Orioles. First pitch is at 7:00 with Crawford on the mound.

That means I will be flipping back and forth between NESN and NBC.

As for last night, the Red Sox collapsed and lost 8-2 to the Pirates. They still won the series but a sweep would have been nice. Hopefully they win this three-game series against the Orioles because if they want to stand a chance of making it to the postseason, they need to win all of their upcoming series.

⧫
The Prime Minister of Finland is 36 years old. She is very intelligent, very poised, very attractive and very married.

Apparently she went out clubbing the other night and got a little intoxicated. She also got a little friendly with some guys who are not her husband. This has a lot of people upset.

I have something to say to those people: Piss off ya stuffy prudes.

Leave the woman alone. She has proven to be a compassionate and intelligent leader of a nation that is under constant threat from Whacky Vlad. She also steered them through covid like a champ. If she wants to go out and party like a woman who is under constant stress, let her.

⧫
I'm going to watch some news. After that, I'm going to enjoy some sportings.

You can check these out if you want:

• Add this to the list of ways I do not want to die.



• Oh Canada.



• As a gun owner, I have no issue with these new laws.



• Is this bad? It doesn't sound bad but what the hell do I know.



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



• Key entry from our favorite police log: "8:46 a.m. Someone called law enforcement and said 'Congress owes me $4 million, you know what to do,' before hanging up."

She has a kitchen sink and outdoor spotlights

I made my last few repairs (yes, I know there will be more) today. I replaced the drain on one side of her kitchen sink and I rewired the backyard spotlights.

She can now do dishes and she can take The Dog out back at night to do her business.

And for the record, my back doesn't hurt...

...much.

⧫
The Red Sox have won two of the three games against the Pirates with the third game being played tonight.

They are currently four games out of the wildcard so they have a chance. It's a slim chance but still a chance.

⧫
Our drought just keeps getting worse. My town is currently in a "severe drought" and the "extreme drought" is creeping up on us.

My lawn is also getting worse. And when I say worse, I mean it's just about dead.

Since I keep getting notices from the town about voluntary water restrictions, I don't want to water it. I figure it's only a matter of time before they have mandatory water restrictions so I might as well start restricting now.

⧫
By the way, I have managed to stay awake for all nine innings of the last three games. Hopefully I can do the same tonight.

I'm going to watch the news and then baseball. You can check these out if you want:

• If I manage to stay awake until 10:00 tonight, maybe I'll go outside and look for these.



• Japan: They aren't like us.



• Proof that Carroll Bryant was right when she said, "Growing old is mandatory but growing up is optional."



• Face tattoo's are always a sign of someone who makes bad life decisions.



• They have a "mullet championship"?



• Looks like Wacky Vlad is planning a potential global catastrophe.

Yes, there was work on the house today

We are almost done. We are done to the point that my daughter and the small dog have moved in and are settling in to their new abode.

There are still a few things that need doing and they will get done.

⧫
So we didn't get home until after 7:00. I did not have any time to read the news or hunt for links.

I did find these:

• Turns out that the researchers at Tufts are my kind of people.



• Yet another reason I avoid religion.



• I've never understood the desire some guys have to pee on other peoples belongings.



• Here's a tip for you: If you ever find you have an unexpected $31,000 in your bank account, don't spend it. It's not yours.



• Australia: What doesn't try to kill ya, spills your beer all over the place.

No working on the house today

I told my daughter my back needed a day off so we didn't do any work on her house today. Tomorrow will be spent finishing up some painting, replacing some ugly light switches and replacing the kitchen drains.

As for today, I spent it working and then relaxing while my back recovers. I also spent some time watching a baseball game from 2017.

⧫
I've been ignoring most of the bullshit being slung by Trump in his attempt to start a war with the FBI and the Justice Department. I posted a few links to stories but today he said something that kinda pissed me off. He said, "Wow! In the raid by the FBI of Mar-a-Lago, they stole my three Passports (one expired), along with everything else!

In the first place, it wasn't a raid. A raid is when one group of combatants attacks the base of an opposing group of combatants. Or, as the dictionary puts it, "a sudden attack on an enemy by troops, aircraft, or other armed forces in warfare"

In the second place, they didn't "steal" anything. They had a warrant that described what was to be searched and what was to be seized.

He is firing up his crazies in an effort to get them to behave like this is an attack on him and they should counter-attack.

His rhetoric has already cost two of his crazies their life and it's only a matter of time before one of them succeeds and they kill someone.

And before some of you get all twisted about how I'm beating up on Trump, I would like to point out that in my personal opinion, the FBI should never exist as a police organization. It should be an investigative organization.

As a nation, we do not need a federal police force. Between the city/town police, the county sheriff department and the state police, we've got more than enough police organizations.

⧫
The Red Sox are in Pittsburgh to play the Pirates. I think I need to send a few of my cousins some text messages...

While I do that, you can check these out:

• Presenting this episodes Brilliant Criminal of the Month.



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



• Well, I like dive bars but I'm not a fan of Miller.



• No thanks. I'll stick with a full-service Marriott.



• This seems like it would be an every day occurrence in England.



• Only in Florida.

They won last night!

In what has to be the fastest Red Sox / Yankees game ever played (2:15), the Red Sox shut out the Yankees 3-0. It was Wacha's first game back from the DL and he pitched a great game.

That means they won the series against the Yankees. If they can keep winning series, they might just make it back into a wild card slot.

It also means that at 2:15, I was able to watch the entire game.

They are off tonight and pick it up again tomorrow with the first of a three-game series against the Pirates.

⧫
We spent this afternoon/evening moving stuff to my daughters house and painting ceilings.

Once again, that explains why this is late and short.

Here are some links:

• Why would anyone have three passports? I only have one passport. I also only have one drivers license.



• Well, I know what I'll be doing on August 29th. I'll be watching the SLS take flight.



• I can't imagine the smell...



• Key understatement of the century: "...a family argument got out of hand."

They lost last night

I really thought they were going to win when they went up 2-0 in the fourth but the Yankees came back in the fifth and tied the game. When I went to bed in the eighth, the score was still 2-2.

I found out this morning that the final score was 3-2 in favor of the Yankees.

As for tonight, they are in the bottom of the first inning with no score.

⧫
Once again, we spent the day working over at our daughters house.

Once again, my back is killing me.

Once again, this is late and short.

⧫
While I go pop three ibuprofen and watch baseball, you can look at these:

• I think they've taken the whole "e-Sports" thing a bit too far.



• I'm willing to bet that a little digging will reveal he has a "Truth Social" account and a Trump flag.

The Red Sox won! Again!

They beat the Yankees 3-2 in the 10th inning and that makes me a happy guy.

They're back at it again tonight and if they win, I will be unbelievably happy.

To be honest with you, I did not think they would win any of these games against the Yankees.

⧫
Today was spent doing work at my daughters house. We spent the entire day there and now my back is really pissed at me.

My wife spent the day painting and I spent the day doing handyman shit. I ran a circuit and installed a kitchen hood over the stove, I pulled the vanity and toilet in one of the bathrooms so she could lay her floor tiles and I patched the door jamb. I also put some molding around the fireplace so it looks a little more finished.

I have to go back tomorrow to sand & fill gaps where the patch meets the jamb and also check out a leaky kitchen sink. After that, I am done for a while.

My back is killing me.

⧫
Right now, I'm going to eat some leftovers and then watch some baseball.

Here are a few links you may find enjoyable:

• Key phrase in this story: "After some time, they broke the device but harmed the penis."



• No they're not. I don't remember anyone's phone numbers anymore.



• Oh Canada.



• Some people are idiots.

The Red Sox won!

They beat the Orioles last night 3-4. Tonight they take on the Yankees. Trust me, I would love to see them win at least one of the three games. I would be exstatic if they win two of the three. If they sweep the Yankees, I will need to go buy some lottery tickets...

As for the Patriots, they lost 23-21 but Belichick did not put Jones in the game at all. He used Hoyer and Zappe as his quarterbacks and the Patriots still came damn close to winning that game.

⧫
So some guy decided that the FBI serving a search warrant on Trump was a declaration of war and he posted a call to arms. Then he drove from Columbus, Ohio to Cincinnati, Ohio and tried to attack the FBI office there.

He failed.

⧫
If I see one more commercial for Shannon Liss-Reardon, I'm gonna have a aneurysm.

Who the hell is paying the bill for all her commericals? Who is funding her campaign because as far as I can tell, she is spending more money than most presidential candidates.

I don't like her. She is an annoying person, her commercials are annoying and she seems like an arogant, "I'm right and all of you are wrong!" kind of person.

In other words, she is just like Maura Healey.

I hope she loses.

⧫
Time for some Chicken Parmesan and then baseball. Maybe the dog and I will sneak a little ice cream while the game is on.

While I do that, you can do these:

• Australia: What doesn't try to kill ya, tries to single-handedly end the war in Ukraine.



• Seems to me that making a video record of quitting your job and posting it on the internet isn't good move if you plan on seeking employment somewhere else.



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



• At some point in the near future, those parents are going to arm themselves and demand answers at gunpoint.

Visit with the boys

This afternoon, I met up with some guys I haven't seen in a long time and enjoyed a few adult beverages

Now I am air frying some french fries and grilling some mushroom/mozzarella burgers.

After dinner, I will be flipping back and forth between the Red Sox and the Patriots.

Yes, I know the Patriots are preseason but I miss football so I'll watch as much of it as I can.

Besides, the Red Sox are probably going to lose to the Orioles...

⧫
While I do all of that, you can do these:

• Key phrase in this story: "...there's nobody more famous than me."



• Key phrase in this story: "...noticed a large bear breathing."



• What a loving family.



• Only in Florida.
  (Yes, we know that "Horny Manatee's" would be a fantastic name for a 1980s punk rock band)



• We should do this to congress.

Things I'm at a loss to explain

Questions that I cannot find satisfactory answers to:

1. What is a "youtube influencer"?
2. Why are the Kardashians famous?
3. When did Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City, lose his mind and become Trump's personal court jester?
4. Speaking of Trump, why do the democrats insist on helping him get elected?
5. Why did Russia invade Ukraine?

Questions that I can find satisfactory answers to:

1. Michelle Jenneke is still running, still hurdling and still dancing.
2. Whenever I see a pop-up that says, "You have no more free articles. Subscribe to support quality journalism!" I can't help but scoff. There is no longer any such thing as quality journalism. There are only editorial opinions.
3. Digital currency (bitcoin) and EFTs are scams.
4. There are seven holes in a Ritz cracker.

⧫
The Red Sox lost again last night. My son and his fiancé were at the game:

He discovered that since he lives in Boston proper, he qualifies for some kind of neighborhood discount and they get tickets for $9.00 on game day.

He is liking that immensely.

In other Red Sox news, they lost another pitcher to the 15 day DL.

Houcke is out with some kind of injury. They also might be sitting the new guy, Hosmer, for a day or two after he hit a ball off his knee and had to exit the game last night.

They just cannot catch a break.

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Rotisserie chicken along with a nice rice pilaf are on the table tonight.

While I enjoy that, you can enjoy these:

• Based on past history I can say with all sincerity that, Yes. Yes they will.



• Key phrase in this story: "...a careless smoker might have caused munitions at the Saki air base to catch fire and blow up."



• I don't recognize the guy on the left but I think the guy on the right is Bill Cosby.



• There are a great many less painful ways to commit suicide.



• It's Bud Light. He should get a raise.



• Only in Florida.

No housework today

I'm still trying to come up with a solution to the damaged door jamb. (Yes, I see that I spelled it wrong yesterday. I was tired and rushed. Give me a break.)

I'm leaning toward replacing the entire piece instead of trying to fit a patch. The jamb is kind of narrow and might not hold up to a glued section very well.

I guess we'll see what we can come up with.

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Chris Sale, who broke his finger when he got hit by a batted ball a few weeks ago, went and fell off his bicycle this past weekend. When he hit the ground, he decided to use his hand to break his fall and he broke his wrist.

The best quote in that story is from Bloom who said, "We need to dispatch some people to go find whoever has the Chris Sale voodoo doll and recover it."

It looks like he is done for the season.

The man pitched a total of 5½ innings this season and he's now done until next February when spring training starts.

The Red Sox, and Sale, just can't seem to catch a break. Well, maybe Sale catches breaks, just not the kind he needs.

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Remember yesterday when I wrote briefly about the "groundbreaking" bill the senate passed?

I found this article very interesting.

So much for "groundbreaking".

Do our elected officials even read the bills they are voting on? Do they ever do any analysis on the impact of their legislation? Or are they legislating for the sake of legislating. Are they passing new laws and programs simply because they think it makes them look busy and it keeps getting them elected?

Here's what I think:

I think if you vote for the democrats after all the "defund the police" crap and the numerous attempts at socializing our society, you are nuts.

I think if you vote for the republicans after all their drooling and fawning over that psycho Trump, the religious zealotry of their leadership and what they did to tip the scales of justice on the supreme court, you are nuts.

We are screwed no matter which side wins.

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I'm going to watch some baseball.

You can enjoy these links:

• I discovered today that if you ever want to see a live dinosaur, all you need to do is hop on over to Australia. Just don't get too close. That thing will rip your innards out just because it can.



• No thanks, I'll stick with my AC.



• South Korea: They are slightly less wacky than Japan.



• Only in Florida.



• Key phrase in this article: "He did not offer further details as to when lawmakers legalized use of the highly addictive stimulant."



• This is how the Americans defeated the British during the Revolutionary War. They kept killing the commanders until there was no one left to lead.

More housework

I went over to my daughters to help her out with some things but I still managed to find time to look for links and read some news.

Today was attempting to repair a mangled door jam (I failed) and then taping off all the walls in anticipation of painting (I succeeded at that). I also took a look at the electric meter because it isn't attached to the house too securely. It's not flopping around dangerously but you shouldn't be able to move it and you can.

Since I am not a licensed electrician, I cannot open the meter box to screw it into the side of the house. She will have to hire an electrician to do that.

As for the mangled door jam, whoever installed the locks in that door screwed up the cut for the deadbolt. There is a large hole in the jam when there really should just be a ⅝" hole covered by the plate. The hole is so large that you can't put a plate on it. When I installed her new locks, I tried to glue in a plug but due to the damage, the plug didn't hold.

I'm going to have to rout out a larger hole with precise cuts and then glue in a dutchman. Then it's a simple process to sand it, paint it, drill the hole and fit the plate.

Sounds easy, right?

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There are dozens of news stories about the "Groundbreaking Healthcare / Climate / Tax Bill" that just barely passed the senate (it needed the VP to vote on the tie breaker) and none of them tell me anything meaningful. And by meaningful, I mean, "How much are my taxes going to increase to pay for all of this?"

I hate these things simply because every time our government passes a "groundbreaking bill", I end up paying more in taxes and getting less in services.

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The Red Sox cannot lose tonight because they aren't playing tonight. Today was spent traveling from Kansas City to Boston.

Tomorrow they start a two-game series against the Braves. I do not have high hopes because the Braves are a damn good team.

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Enjoy these links:

• Bummer. I always liked her.



• I did not know that Agnes Moorehead was born in Massachusetts.



• Seems to me they should hold these thing way out in the country, not in the middle a major metropolitan area.



• Another reason why I like minor league baseball.



• I like zucchini. Just sayin' is all.

Housework

Got a few things done at my daughters house today so I didn't watch any baseball. I did listen to baseball but I didn't watch it.

Yes, the Red Sox lost today. They lost by a lot. And when I say a lot I mean 13 to 5 in favor of the Royals.

Yes, that means they lost the series to the Royals. The Red Sox won one game and the Royals won the other three.

Yes, that means they are probably not going to make wildcard simply because I don't see them improving.

Yes, I'll keep watching them but I've lowered my expectations. It's the 1980s all over again.

In other sporting news, the Patriots will play a preseason game against the Giants this coming Thursday. A quick check of the Spectrum television guide shows that the game will be carried by NBC so I got that going for me.

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Here are some links I dug up for you:

• Four? Maybe this is why the water in Las Vegas tastes like shit.



• $8,000 per month is $96,000 per year. That seems like a lot of money to live in a third-world country...



• When I heard about this on the news, I thought it was pretty funny.



• Hey, if my choices in 2024 are Biden, Trump or this guy, you can bet I'm voting for him



• Oh Canada.



• Yet another reason I don't fish.

I had an incredibly lazy day today

Basically, I spent the entire day doing almost nothing.

We got our grocery shopping done this morning and then we called it a day.

Sometimes you just gotta hit the couch, enjoy the air conditioning and watch minor league baseball on the tv.

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Speaking of baseball, the Red Sox won last night, beating the Royals 7-4 and moving back to .500.

Since the Orioles are currently beating the Pirates, if the Red Sox win tonight they will remain 2 games behind the Orioles.

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Speaking of baseball, I neglected to post the picture I took from our seats in Worcester on Wednesday:

We had good seats. Not only were we behind home plate, we were in the shade.

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You can click on these if you want:

• The FBI did good.



• Ten years is a very long time for a machine with no maintenance.



• Maybe next time he should wear some underwear.



• Massachusetts: We are concerned about everything.



• When I was a teenager, every bra was a tactical bra.

Get ready for big electric bills...

We've had the AC running for a few days because it's hot as hell. And when it's not hot as hell, it's hot and humid. And by humid, I mean swampy.

Since I don't really sleep very well, I decided I would take some screen shots on my phone of the temperature every time I woke up.

The top was taken at 9:27 at night, just before I headed up to bed. It was 83°

The middle was taken just after 1:00 in the morning and it was 76°

The bottom was taken at 4:35 in the morning and it was 72°

Here in western Massachusetts, the summer temperatures at 4:30 in the morning should be around 55° or 60°.

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The Red Sox lost 7-3 to the Royals last night.

Pivetta did not have a stellar start, giving up seven hits and three earned runs over five innings but that was nothing compared to Darwinzon Hernandez.

When Hernandez came in in the seventh inning, the game was tied 3-3. He almost immediately gave up four earned runs, effectively losing the game for the Red Sox.

I have a feeling they'll be sending him back to Worcester in the near future...

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China is launching missiles over Taiwan into the sea to the east of the island. They are also pushing warships over the border between the two countries, effectively invading Taiwan. They are also flying fighters and helicopters over the border. This is frightening the crap out of Taiwan and they have put their military on its highest alert level.

Psycho Nancy says, "Pfft... Their just making meaningless gestures. Look at me! I did a great thing by showing those Chinese that I won't be intimidated by them."

Nancy, by the way, is not currently in Taiwan. She is in Japan, safe and sound.

That entire region is on a hair-trigger and Psycho Nancy just poked it with a stick.

If war breaks out, she should be held accountable for causing the deaths of every soldier who dies defending their island.

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Enjoy these links:

• I'm pretty sure that the governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, is a whack job but I kind of agree with him on this.



• This is your brain. This is your brain on drugs.



• Yes, alcohol was involved.



• Key product description: "...CRAFTED FROM UNUSED AND DISCARDED SEX TOYS FROM DOC JOHNSON."



• When I was 18 years old, I was going to community college during the day and drinking beer at The Seven Gables Bar and Motel at night. 18 year old Natalie Lucas is delivering babies.



• Only in Florida.

They are a game and half behind the Orioles

I'm not sure that Bloom made the right moves to get the red Sox into the postseason. I hope he did but there isn't anything I'm seeing that makes me feel positive about things.

I will admit to being impressed by one of the minor leaguers they got from Houston for Vasquez. Enmanuel Valdez played in yesterday's Worcester game and I enjoyed watching him. He has a beautiful swing at the plate and his fielding is impressive.

As for the pickups they traded for, Hosmer, Pham and McGuire, time will tell. Boston is a tough market for some guys. They don't handle the pressures from the fans and the media very well. A couple of good examples are Carl Crawford or Pablo Sandoval. Both of those guys fell apart when they played in Boston.

Guess we'll see how this all works out in a couple of months.

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You can visit these links if you want:

• Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you The Loch Ness Fish Worm.



• Are these the same people who get trapped on a stalled escalator? Isn't the water only about a foot deep?



• Sometimes, a banana is just a banana.



• Key entry from our favorite police log: "9:20 a.m. A woman was caught utilizing a parking lot as a toilet."



• This guy should move out of Rhode Island.



• Great fielder. Terrible hitter.

Short post.

I got to watch the Red Sox lose twice today!

We met our youngest and his fiancé in Worcester to go to the Durham Bulls / Worcester Red Sox game. The Red Sox lost that game 3-1.

After that it was a quick trip to Boston to have a late lunch/early dinner and then drop the kids off at their apartment. The restaurant we went to had the Red Sox on so we got to watch the Boston Red Sox lose to the Astros 6-1.

And that is how I got to see the Red Sox lose twice. It's also why this is a late and short post.

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Before I leave you, I want to show you a picture I ran across this evening.

It started out fairly simple: I was looking for an image of Sgt Carter from the tv show Gomer Pyle - USMC when this picture popped up.

It shows Staff Sgt. Ty Carter receiving the Meritorious Service Medal. I thought, "Wow, that guy is no slouch."

Then I looked at the picture even closer and took note of the little blue ribbon covering the knot of his tie.

That, my friends, is the Medal of Honor.

So, yea, Sergeant Ty Carter is no slouch.

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Enjoy these links:

• Soon to be a movie starring Gene Wilder, Peter Boyle and Marty Feldman.



• Let's get some things straight:
  • Einstein's theories dictate that the faster an object goes, the more its mass increases. As a matter of fact, once it reaches the speed of light, its mass will be infinite.
  
  
  • The Milky Way is 52,850 light years across.
  
  
  • That means it'll take the aliens 53,000 years to reach us and they'll be so huge, they won't be able to move.



• Good job, there North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Marine Fisheries. Good job...

Mixed emotions

The Red Sox won last night, beating the Astros 3-2, which is way better than I expected from them. However, just before the game, they traded Vasquez to the Astros for a couple of prospects.

Vasquez has been part of the Red Sox organization for more than 15 years and to see him wearing a different uniform will be very weird. But baseball is a business and trading a guy who is about to become a free agent is a way to get something for him instead of just letting him go for nothing at the end of the season.

The Astros also picked up another guy who spent his whole career with one team when they acquired Trey Mancini from the Orioles.

Gotta be honest with you, neither one of them look thrilled to be wearing an Astros uniform.

In other moves, the Red Sox acquired Eric Hosmer from the Padres (not sure at what cost) and they traded reliever Diekman to the White Sox for a catcher name McGuire. They also picked up Tommy Pham from the Reds for "cash or a player to be named later"

As for the game itself, no, I did not stay awake for all nine innings. I made it to the seventh inning before going to bed. Not sure I'll do any better tonight.

With last night's win, they moved back to .500 but they remain half a game behind the Orioles in the ALEast.

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We got some much needed rain the other day and then again today but that doesn't seem to be helping us get out of the drought.

I was kind of hoping my lawn might start to turn green again but I don't see much change. The crabgrass and weeds are green, the real grass, the stuff I planted, the plants I want to grow, is brown...

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Enjoy these links:

• I'm starting a death watch for this guy. I give him less than a year before a CIA drone turns him into hamburger.



• If you own a motor vehicle, you might want to root around in the glove compartment every once in a while.



• I wonder what she'll say to the people of Taiwan when China starts launching missiles and hurling bombs prior to their invasion. I bet China has been paying special attention to the worlds reaction to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.



• I usually use a rolled up newspaper...



• Add this to the list of things I don't care about.



• Another reason I drink Bud bottles. They never run out of gas.

Late baseball

The Red Sox took their one-game winning streak down to Houston to play the Astros this evening. Since they are no longer in the same time zone as I am, the game will start later than normal. Specifically, the first pitch is at 8:10 tonight.

The Astros are a really good team so my hopes are not high for the Red Sox to win the series. As a matter of fact, I'm going to be happy if they win one of the three games.

After that, they head over to Missouri to play a four-game series against the Royals. The Royals are not a good team so my hopes are high that the Red Sox will win that series.

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The key phrase in this story is, "My father’s name wasn’t on all the flags that were there that day, that everyone was carrying".

That ass-clown needs to go to jail but his daughter has a valid point: All those idiots were doing what they were doing because that douche bag, The Donald, encouraged them to do it.

He continues encouraging those idiots to this day. Every time he gives a speech and says, "Democrats created the narrative of January 6th to detract from the much larger and more important truth that the 2020 Election was Rigged and Stolen", he feeds their tiny little brains a nugget of a lie that they turn into a "truth".

I've sat in bars and talked to people who are flat-out convinced that the democrats rigged the election. They will tell you over and over about how certain electronic voting machines created fake votes or that more than 10 million mail-in ballots were never counted. They will go on and on about the state of Georgia and hidden ballots.

I usually go home or go sit somewhere else when that shit starts up. Booze and Trump don't mix.

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Tonight is pizza night followed by a few innings of baseball.

Here are some links:

• Farts will no longer be a problem for you?



• If Goofy Joe gets us into a shooting war with China because of Psycho Nancy, I'm gonna be pissed.



• This is why I won't vote for democrats. I won't vote for republicans either but for an entirely different reason.



• I've said it before and I'll say it again: You will never see an attractive person at a public nudist event.



• I'm not convinced Goofy Joe knows how to tie his own shoes which means he probably has no idea what a recession is.



• Key thing no one really needed to know: "He'll hang out with me while I poop."



• Maybe she's one of them unwitting scorpion smugglers...