Minor woodwork

I spent some time today shaping the transitions for The Vet's kitchen so they fit the corners where the seams meet the walls.

I gotta be honest with you, they came out pretty damned good.

All that needs to happen now is she needs to stain and urethane them. Once that is done, I'll nail them into place and this phase of home ownership will be behind her.

⧫
Not much else to prattle on about. No sportings tonight so I'll probably continue watching DVRs.

While I do that, you should check these out:

• I'm thinking that Goofy Joe might have gone off the deep end.



• Only in Florida.



• We have sports book, Maine has cockroach racing.



• Australia sure seems to have a lot of snakes.



• That is what is known as a shitload of chicken wings.



• I did not know that they called West Hollywood "WeHo".

The Superb Owl is set

The conference games are done and in two weeks, on February 12th, the Chiefs and the Eagles will play each other in the Superb Owl.

I have only one thing to say about that:

Go Chiefs!

If Mahomes can keep his ankle and knee from imploding, I feel like they will beat the Eagles.

On the other hand, most of the ESPN talking heads think the Eagles are going to win and the Chiefs don't even need to show up:

• Matt Bowen, NFL analyst: Eagles.
• Mike Clay, fantasy writer: Eagles.
• Jeremy Fowler, NFL national reporter: Eagles.
• Dan Graziano, NFL national reporter: Chiefs.
• Matt Miller, NFL draft analyst: Chiefs.
• Eric Moody, fantasy/betting writer: Eagles.
• Sal Paolantonio, NFL reporter: Eagles.
• Jason Reid, senior Andscape writer: Chiefs.
• Mike Tannenbaum, NFL analyst: Eagles.
• Seth Wickersham, NFL writer: Eagles.
• Field Yates, NFL analyst: Eagles.

Trust me, if the Chiefs win, I'm going to send an email to each and every one of those clowns reminding them that they said the Eagles were going to win.

If the Eagles win, I'm going to shut up and not say anything.

⧫
As for the Bruins, the Hurricanes ran all over them last night, beating them 4-1.

They still hold a nine point lead over the Hurricanes in the NHL and I expect them to get back into a winning stretch in the near future. I am, however, realist and know that every team goes through a tough stretch so I'm not going to panic over a few loses.

Next game is Ground Hog Day (Wednesday) against the Maple Leafs. For some reason, the puck drops at 7:30 which means I'm going to struggle to make it through all three periods...

⧫
I'm going to watch some DVRs because, well, I've got a lot of them to watch.

While I do that, you can do these:

• He was a hell of a hockey player.



• If you want to kill your family and commit suicide by driving off a cliff at a high rate of speed, don't do it in a Tesla.



• I agree. Our biggest problem in this country is our government.



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



• This is probably going to turn into a people-killing machine.



• This is going to smell awful in a day or two.

The highs and lows of hockey.

Last nights game was one the Bruins should have won. They controlled the game nicely, had more shots-on-goal, more power-plays and basically they were outplaying the Panthers. The Panthers weren't ready to roll over and die because in the third period, they tied the game 2-2.

Then, with 0:48 seconds left in the game, the Bruins scored the go ahead goal, making it 3-2 Boston and making me believe the game was over. I was ready to turn the tv off and go to bed but I figured with less than a minute to play, I'd watch it to the end.

With 0:01.4 seconds left in the game, the Panthers scored, tying the game 3-3, making me exclaim, "WTF!?!" (Only I didn't say just the letters) and forcing sudden-death overtime.

The OT period got underway and 0:17 seconds into the sudden-death period, the Panthers scored, winning the game and making me mumble, "WTF..." (Again, not just the letters).

Hockey can be an emotional rollercoaster and last night was doozy.

The Bruins are back at it again today, taking on the Hurricanes. The game will start in just a few minutes, or maybe it started a few minutes ago, depending on when I clicked the "Post" button of todays posting.

⧫
In direct competition with the Bruins is todays AFC conference playoff between the 49ers and the Eagles.

As I type, ther Eagles are up 21-7 at the half and the 49ers are playing with a third-string QB after Purdy suffered an elbow injury in the beginning of the second period

I'd love to see the 49ers win this game and move on to the Superb Owl but my main desire is to see the Chiefs run over the Bengals and move on. That game, the NFC conference playoff, will start at 6:30 this evening.

⧫
I'm busy watching many sportings so lets just get to the links:

• I try to avoid malls whenever possible. I'm more of an online kind of guy...



• Australia: What doesn't try to kill ya, jumps off your roof.
  (Yes, I'm aware that Reptile Explosion would be a great name for a 1980s punk rock band)



• Here's your Not Naked Guy In The News story.



• Fashion: I don't get it.



• Jason Vandergound strikes me as one of those nutcases that shows up on your doorstep talking about how their special invisible friend would be glad to love you.



• Apparently, this is a thing now.

I was wrong

Yesterday, when I said todays hockey game was at 7:00, I was in error. According to Alexa, the Bruins game starts at 6:00pm and if there is one thing I've learned in the two or three years that I've owned an Alexa it's that she is rarely wrong.

So anyways, that means I will be able to watch all three periods of hockey without nodding off somewhere in the middle of the third period...

⧫
We have moved on from the furniture moving stage to the picture hanging stage and I'm fortunate that she wanted to start with the really heavy stuff first. That means I got to hang a really heavy mirror in an equally heavy oak frame this afternoon.

I also took down a damaged mirror in our bathroom and patched the wall where it was hanging. She has another undamaged mirror that I will be putting in its place this evening, after the plaster and paint dry.

Other stuff that got put up today that is a pain in my ass - one "floating shelf" which requires meticulous measurements in order to place the screws precisely for the hidden notches to work correctly and a rather large copy of the painting The Tea that was given to my wife at one of her bridal showers a long time ago.

I have been assured that we have now reached the point where everything else that needs to go up on the walls can be held in place by single nails/hangers so no more drilling, inserting molly's and threading screws into place.

⧫
I'm going to make some dinner and watch some hockey.

Here are some links:

• Japan: It's not like where I live.



• This guy committed fraud and is trying to cover it up.



• Oh Canada.



• Key phrase in this story" "...Shonkwiler would succumb to the rare instance of falling over from a seated position and now required medical attention."



• My money's on Pence.



• Wild Cat and the Grumpy Expressions would be a great name for a 1950s rock-a-billy band.

Extra busy day

The curtains are up and we are slowly rearranging furniture.

I only had to make one trip to Home Depot today because we needed new window shades and some stain.

Slowly but surely things are getting put back together and eventually we (my wife) will be happy with the ways things are and we will be done.

⧫
The Bruins lost 4-3 to the Lightning last night.

It was a pretty good game, with each team playing hard.

My kind of hockey.

The Bruins will stay in Florida for a game against the Panthers. Puck drops at 7:00 tomorrow night.

⧫
I'm slowly sneaking up on that possible retirement thing...

⧫
Since I was kinda flat out today, I didn't have very much time for interwebbing. That means I don't have a lot of links for you.

The few I do have are here:

• The Red Sox have acquired another guy I never heard of. Then again, there are a lot of baseball players that I never heard of.



• He needs to stay away from motor vehicles.



• What most of us think of as traffic, young Mr. Chacon thinks is "people following him".



• They were happy to help.

The hallway transition has a filler

I cut a length of old mahogony I had laying around into a filler strip for the hallway transition at The Vets house. I cut the transition to size and glued the filler strip to it. It's currently clamped up and sitting in her kitchen.

Tomorrow, after the glue dries, I'll install it, tuck in whatever additional small filler pieces it might need and then nail it into place. Once it's stable, I'll probably drive some brass screws into it just for the added strength.

Then I'll cut the pieces for the long transition between the dining room and the kitchen. Those should sit nicely so no need for filler, just need to create a nice joint between the two pieces.

⧫
As for my house, we are done with all the fixing. The electrical is finished and the stairway bannister is back in place. And once The Professor is home from work, she can show me how she wants the curtain rods put up so they fit her curtains correctly.

Once she gets her curtains up, we will then get into furniture moving mode which is my way of saying that we will move furniture all over the place while she says things like, "What do you think? Does that look good over there? I don't like it over there. Let's try it over there. No, let's try it back where it was..."

I told her that I will give her the entire day to move furniture because I know that while it might take her some time to get it just so, once she gets it just the way she likes it, it will stay that way for a long while.

⧫
I'm going to put up curtain rods and figure out what to have for dinner.

Then I'm going to watch some hockey.

You can check these out if you want:

• Key phrase in this story: "Garland declined to comment about the Kremlin’s relationship with Hive." I can tell you what the relationship is - The Kremlin runs the Hive. That's the relationship.



• Stowaway Gecko and the Strawberry Package would be a fantastic name for a 1960's hippie band.



• Camels are pretty big. I wouldn't just up and slap one...



• Only in Florida.



• You know what? Seems to me that is a bow tie and the school administrator is an asshole.



• Key phrase in this story: "It may cause giggles in children, and certain adults."

Busy day, again...

The house is slowly being put back together after having some work done and today was my day to do some additional electrical work.

After that I ran over and got a much-needed hair cut.

Finally, it was over to Home Depot to meet The Vet and help her pick out floor transitions. She settled on unfinished oak but the Home Depot here only had one piece and she needs three. I told her to buy the one piece and then go get The Dog and head home. I ran into Connecticut to a Home Depot down there and picked up two more pieces.

Once I got to her house, we moved her stove and refrigerator back into place, gouging three of her brand new floor tiles in the process. I hooked her stove back up to the gas line and her ice maker back up to the water line. Then she told me she was going to replace the three tiles so I headed home to get some much needed dinner.

She sent me a picture of the replaced tiles because she knew I felt bad about the damage:

As for my house, tomorrow will be putting all the wall plates back on the outlets and switches. Then I'll put up the new curtain rod brackets The Professor bought so she can hang her curtains.

Once the work involving tools are done, I will make a filler strip that The Vet needs for the transition from her hallway (which is not level) into her kitchen (which is very level). From there, it's a matter of fitting the filler and putting the transition into place.

There is also a transition from the dining room into the kitchen but that is pretty straight forward and the only cuting required is to notch it around a small wall at each end.

She can then decide if she wants to put some stain on the wood or just a couple of coats of polyurethane.

Things are looking pretty good over there. She's doing a good job making it her own.

⧫
The Bruins won last night, beating the Canadians 4-2.

Tomorrow night they face off against the Lightning. Puck drops at 7:00 and I will be watching.

Until then, here are some links for you to enjoy:

• The Red Sox DFA'd Matt Barnes. Then again, as I mentioned yesterday, Chris Sale assures me he is ready to go.



• Australia: What doesn't try to kill ya, runs amok and smashes windows at the gas station.



• Key line in this story: "...appeared to be under the influence of narcotics."



• Lost Anuses would be a fantastic name for a 1980's horror film starring Marty Feldman.



• This is a pretty bad look for that school administration.



• Just in case of what???

A cheap brad nailer is worth it.

I decided I'd had enough of smashing my fingers trying to hammer small nails into wood so I ran over to Harbor Freight and picked up the cheapest brad nailer I could find.

Despite the fact it is a dirt cheap $30.00 air gun made by some company named "Banks", it works like a charm. I set my compressor to 80psi and it drove 1 inch brads into molding with no problem. The nails were set just a touch below the surface, giving enough room for a dab of wood putty.

Man, I should have bought one of these things years ago...

⧫
The Bruins are in Montreal to play the Canadians this evening. Puck drops at 7:00 and I will be watching.

As for the Red Sox, Chris Sale announced that he is in top form and ready to go. If that is true then along with the recent additions to the team, it's very possible the Red Sox could have one of their best seasons.

They acquired another infielder I've never heard of named Mondesi. Again, I hope he can hit because they need players who can move the line along and score runs.
Spring training starts in 22 days and I'm starting to get excited to watch some baseball...

⧫
She knows how to relax...

⧫
Speaking of relaxation, I'm going to get some. I'm also going to eat some food and watch some hockey.

You should get some relaxation and check these links out:

• I'm telling you, they should check the houses of Obama, Bush, Clinton and Carter along with all the VPs. Seems like all of them just stuff top secret documents into a bag and store them in their closet.



• This clown has a million stories to tell, each one more full of bullshit and lies than the previous ones.



• Key phrase in this story: "...all eight Marines were able to defeat the robot using techniques that could have come straight out of a Looney Tunes episode."



• As far as I'm concerned, this is one of the greatest movie scenes ever!


• sI have no intentions of ever eating ground-up bugs on purpose.



• Meanwhile soccer players drop like a stone and roll around on the ground in agony if someone so much as touches them.

New outlets and faceplates for everybody!

We had some work done in our living room and I decided to replace all the electrical outlets and faceplates.

I'm please to say I only had to put a little bit of plaster on one spot and I only got electrocuted once.

The first plug I took out managed to rip out a large chunk of wallboard with it, enough so that the faceplate didn't cover the damage. After patching, drying and repainting, I learned my lesson and the remaining faceplates / outlets got a quick outline with a razor knife to break any old paint.

I managed to do one switch, one telephone and five additional electrical outlets without any further problems or damage. Then I got to the seventh outlet...

Turns out there are two circuits in my living room and I had turned only one circuit off.

On the seventh outlet, I unscrewed the faceplate, unscrewed the outlet and proceeded to pull it out of the work box. That was when I switched my grip and I grabbed the outlet by it's sides. By doing that, I placed my thumb on the "hot" screws and two of my fingers on the "neutral" screws of a live circuit.

Thankfully I was wearing rubber sole'd shoes and I was standing on a wood floor, neither of which are good at conducting to ground. That meant that the electricity only flowed between my thumb and fingers. My hand got more than a little tingly but the rest of me avoided any electricity-induced issues

So now I know - there are two circuits in my living room...

⧫
Yes, I watched both hockey and football last night. Yes, the Bruins won, again, and the 49ers won.

The Bruins beat the Sharks 4-0 last night, maintaining their 12-point first-place lead in the NHL.

Their next game is tomorrow (Tuesday) against the Canadians.

As for football, both teams I want to see in the Superb Owl have advanced to the conference finals.

This Sunday at 3:00, the 49ers will by in Philadelphia to play the Eagles. After that, at 6:30, the Bengals will be in Kansas City to play the Chiefs.

Unfortunately, the Bruins will be playing the Hurricanes at 5:00 on Sunday so there will be some channel-flipping going on.

⧫
Time for food and then DVRs.

Here are some links:

• A lot of these terrorists thugs that attacked the US Capital are going to spend a lot of time in prison.



• Trust me, just say everything is fine. If you tell them something is wrong, they will give you more work to do so you can come up with solutions to "your problems".



• Key phrase in this story: "But now we get it, even a candie's shoes can be polarizing."
  Trust me, if you are offended that a marketing cartoon isn't sexy enough, you need a therapist.



• This is why the Ukrainians want German Leopard tanks - They need to transport their beer while beating the shit out of the Russians.



• Oh Canada.



• Only in Florida.

Go Chiefs!

The Chiefs managed to beat the Jaguars 27-20 despite losing Mahomes for almost the entire 2^nd period.

Mahomes went down with what looked like a nasty ankle or knee injury but apparently the Chiefs trainers/medical staff have the right skills (or drugs?) and they managed to get him back in the game for the second half.

As for the other games, I didn't watch the Eagles/Giants game but the Eagles won. I also didn't watch the Bills/Bengals game either but the Bengals won that. The only divisional game left is the Cowboys/49ers. I'll watch as much of that as I can because I would really like to see the 49ers make it into the Superb Owl.

⧫
The Vet is making good progress putting her new floor down. She sent us this picture:

She informs me that we should be able to move the stove and refrigerator back in place tomorrow.

⧫
I spent my day watching the LPGA Championship and, man, watching golf makes me want to go play golf. If Pat and possibly Willie are up for it, I'm looking to head out the first nice spring day we have.

We all suck at it but we all seem to enjoy ourselves. At least I know I do.

⧫
Here are some links for you:

• And they say us Massachusettsians drive like crap...



• This is why I don't play rugby.



• Warning: Don't play hide-and-seek.



• Key entry from our favorite police log: "12:28 p.m. A woman got a ride to a gas station so she could heat up her burrito in the microwave."



• Only in Florida.



• Key line in this story: "The first sausage arrived in the summer of 2022."

Busy day

The Vet has been ripping up her kitchen floor and has reached the point where all that was left was the flooring under her refrigerator and stove. I went over today, disconnected the gas line for the stove & the water line for the fridge, and then we moved them both into her dining room.

While she was ripping up the last few feet of floor, I was in the basement trying to figure out why one light was not working. Turns out it was rusted to the point of uselessness.

I ran home, grabbed a spare light fixture I had and ran back to her place. Thank goodness she is only 10 minutes down the road.

I replaced the rusty crapped-out light fixture with the nice not-rusty light fixture and now she has light where once there was none.

⧫
Today starts the NFL divisional playoffs with the Chiefs hosting the Jaguars at 4:30 and then the Eagles hosting the Giants at 8:15.

Being as I'm a self-declared "Mahomie", I'm hoping the Chiefs run all over the Jaguars.

In the end, I would like to see a 49ers vs Chiefs Superb Owl this year.

⧫
Tonight is chinese food night here at the Daily News™ World Headquarters.

While I watch football and eat crab rangoons, you can click on these:

• Sounds like someone doesn't want to go to prison.



• I hate these things. As far as I'm concerned, they violate the fourth amendment that prohibits unreasonable searches and siezures.



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



• In the parking lot?



• Yes, alcohol was involved.



• This is also on the list of things I didn't need to know about.

And yet another win

Not only did the Bruins beat the Rangers last night, I actually made it through all three periods!

At this point, if they only win three more games for the rest of this season, they will end with a .500 record.

Do I think they are going to lose 34 of the next 37 games? No. As a matter of fact, based on their level of play, I anticipate they will win at least 25 of the remaining games and finish the regular season with a 61-10-10 (.804) record.

⧫
Maybe I can retire one day...

⧫
There will be chicken cordon bleu (or as like to call it, chicken gordon blue) for dinner. And speaking of gordon, here some trivia for you:

Chicken cordon bleu gets its name from the French term for blue ribbon, this dish actually stems from Switzerland.

Looks like the French stole the dish from the Swiss...

⧫
I am going to put some Gold Rush DVRs on the tube and eat my dinner.

While I enjoy that, you can enjoy these:

• I'm getting a little sick and tired of being informed of yet another disease that wants to kill us.



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



• My little town is not the quiet place it used to be.



• This may not be as bad as it sounds...



• Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Headline of the Year.



• It must be a slow news day in Youngstown, OH.

They keep on winning

I only managed to see two periods of hockey last night because not only did the game start at 7:30, they had a lot of commercial breaks. When I went to bed, the Bruins were up 2-1 over the Islanders.

When I woke up this morning, I discovered that the Bruins had defeated the Islanders 4-1.

It's good to be a Boston fan...

Tonights game (yes, two in a row) is against the Rangers and the puck drops at 7:00. Also, TNT is not carrying the game so maybe there will be fewer commercials. That means I might make it through all three periods.

⧫
I've been avoiding talking about the 6 year old kid that shot his teacher but this story kinda pisses me off.

Let's start with:

"Our family has always been committed to responsible gun ownership and keeping firearms out of the reach of children. The firearm our son accessed was secured"

Bullshit. If it was secured, the child would not have gotten ahold of it.

Next up is:

"Our son suffers from an acute disability and was under a care plan at the school that included his mother or father attending school with him and accompanying him to class every day"

Again, bullshit. If the parents were supposed to be there, where were they? And why do children who do something wrong all have some kind of disability?

Finally, and this is always my favorite line:

"we love our son and are asking that you please include him and our family in your prayers"

That is a rather arrogant way of saying, "Hey, we're hurting here too you know! What about us?"

They left that gun loaded and readily available. That child picked it up and took it to school, probably on more than one occasion. This just happened to be the time he decided to pop his teacher.

One of those parents needs to answer for their negligence. And they need to lose the ability to ever own a firearm or anything else that requires a modicum of intelligence and responsibility.

⧫
I gotta go figure out what to do about dinner and then watch some hockey.

You can figure out whatever you want to figure out.

Here are some links:

• Canada: They do weed right.



• She continues to make decisions for the good of the people.



• If they cut Social Security, I'm gonna be pissed.



• I gotta be honest with you, I never heard of Raimel Tapia. Hopefully he's good.



• It's about damned time. The place looks like the Vegas strip at night.



• I think the funniest thing Saturday Night Live could do right now is invite Jon Lovitz back to do a George Tommy Flanagan Santos skit.

Less than a month until baseball

We are now 28 days away from the reporting date for pitchers and catchers. The full team reports in 33 days.

I'm not sure how this team is going to fare in 2023 and I'm certainly not going to place huge expectations on them but I'm excited to see the Red Sox get back on the field and start playing baseball.

⧫
Yes, I will be watching hockey but I'm not sure how much of the game I'll make it through. Despite testing negative for the 'rona almost two weeks ago, I still have a bitchy head cold that is causing some sinus issues and my sleep habits have gone to hell.

I'm going to cut this short and get right to the links.

• Is anyone shocked by this news? No, no one is shocked by that news.



• Wait. I thought he said that his thingee, "Truth Social", "works better than Twitter" and he saw no reason to go back.



• These Boston Dynamics robots fascinate me.



• There is something wrong with our world when an 11 year old gets arrested for "carrying a concealed weapon and possession of drug paraphernalia".



• Key phrase in this story: "If there's a fish that's actually pulling him around, you don't know where he could go."



• Australia: What doesn't try to kill ya, does indeed want fries with that.

Attention "News" anchors:

I don't care if Tom Brady has played his last football game, I don't care if he retires, again, and I certainly don't care who he is dating.

As a matter of fact, I care less about Tom Brady than I do England's royal family.

You can stop talking about both subjects now.

⧫
Is this idiot actually suggesting that they should aim "for the leg"?

If someone is using deadly force against me (car, knife, gun, etc..), I'm aiming for the biggest part of the body - the torso. It's hard enough to hit something that big when it's standing still and not threatening you. When it's moving around and shooting back, it's almost impossible to hit.

I'm pretty sure Goofy Joe has had several mini-strokes. Either that or he is drunk all the time. His speech is slurry, he rambles off-topic and he says things that no sane individual would say, like "aim for the leg" or "just walk out on the balcony here, walk out and put that double-barrel shotgun and fire two blasts outside the house!"

⧫
For the record, with 39 games left in the NHL season, the Bruins could lose 31 of those games and still finish above .500

It's good being a hockey fan in Massachusetts.

Now if Red Sox can manage to get their collective shit together and once again become a winning team, I will be a happy guy.

⧫
Leftovers for dinner.

Enjoy these links:

• This is probably for the best but I'm glad I got to see him pitch in Worcester.



• India: They do some weird things there.



• Dogs: You gotta love 'em...



• If you've ever wanted to put a Japanese curse on someone, here you go.



• I know at least two people who I would gladly pay to have their names used for this.



• Key phrase in this story: "Footage shows the crowd scattering as the sweets fall on top of them, with many beginning to scream and cover their heads."

Another win

The Bruins beat the crap out of the Flyers this afternoon, besting them 6-0. It looked like the Flyers were going to score in the last few minutes of the game when the Bruins had two players in the box and the Flyers were on a "5 on 3" power play. Even then, they were overmatched by the Bruins and outplayed.

Next game is against the Islanders at 7:30 Wednesday evening. The game will be on TNT which means I don't have to listen to that twit Jack Edwards yell "juicy rebound!" over and over.

Also, can someone tell me why TNT needs the games to start at 7:30 instead of 7:00? Do they think they'll pick up more viewers by shifting the start by a half hour?

⧫
Did they find anymore top secret documents in Goofy Joe's garage? What about Slumlord Donald's country club?

Has anyone checked Barack Seriously guys Obama's laundry room for any top secret documents? What about George My name is George too! Bush's dinning room, Jimmy Howdy Doody Carters chicken coop or Bill Bubba Clinton's bedroom?

I gotta be honest with you, based on the way the federal government treats it's top secret information, I'm a little concerned that they have my social security number and date of birth. I hope they are securing my data better than they are securing our nations secrets which is to store it in a locked garage with Biden's car...

⧫
I'm going to make some hot dogs for dinner tonight and then probably watch a little football.

You can check these out if you want:

• It was only a matter of time before the Russians got involved.



• Mark Williams and the Gential Wasps would be a fantastic name for a 1980s grunge band.



• Researchers: Contributing to the betterment of our society or a conmplete waste of perfectly good oxygen.
  (My last name starts with "B" and I can assure you that I was not viewed favorably by my teachers...)



• Key entry from our favorite plice log: "5:42 a.m. While out walking his dog, a man got into a fight with a bush."



• To all of my black friends: Move to San Francisco right now!



• Nope...

Another win

The Bruins beat the Maple Leafs 4-3 last night and it was a serious hockey game.

Both teams played hard, swapped lead once or twice and tempers flared occasionally but in the end, the Bruins came out on top.

They are still nine games ahead of the Hurricanes in the NHL.

Their next game is tomorrow at 1:00 when they face off against the Flyers.

⧫
Two hundred and fourty seven years ago, a bunch of people wrote a letter to the King of England calling him a big wanker and telling him to piss-off. Then they fought a war against the king's army and eventually beat them.

Then, two hundred and eleven years ago, another bunch of guys declared war against England and went on to beat them.

After more than 200 years and 2 wars, WHY ARE WE STILL TALKING ABOUT THEM?

Just askin' is all...

⧫
The Bills beat the Dolphins today.

I don't really care but I thought maybe some of you might so I just wanted to mention it.

⧫
The Professor has a nice roast, along with some seasoned 'taters, in the oven so I have nop dinner worries.

You might want to see if there is anything interesting in these links:

• Key phrase in this story: "They're trying to put lipstick on a pig."



• Australia: What doesn't try to kill ya, just wants to print some documents. Then it wants to kill you...



• I would have loved this when I was in school. Admittedly I would have skipped class and gone to the Quabbin with some buddies and a six pack but it's the general idea that counts.



• I guess everybody has their own little "kink"...



• Video of the week.

Let's try this again

I am now up and running my small computer (thank goodness for backups) and I will be bringing my main machine to the Apple store to have it looked at.

This computer I'm working on is a 13" screen and my main one is a 15" screen. At my advanced age, the bigger the screen, the better...

So anyways, I am limping along on this smaller one for now and I'm still finding things I need to restore from my backup. For instance, I am in the midst of trying to get a safety recall taken care of on a treadmill (seems it might suddenly accelerate with no warning...) and I need to get all the paperwork/emails moved over so I can continue that quest.

And to be honest with you, I'm thinking of keeping this 13" as my primary because it's substantially lighter than the 15". I guess we'll see what the cost is to repair the bigger one.

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In the world of "I get the best spam", I've suddenly started get inundated with messages about my bitcoin account.

For the record, I don't have bitcoin, or any other crypto currency. As far as I'm concerned, crypto currency is a huge scam being foisted on a gullible public by con men who are really good at getting you to give them your money.

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For the first time this season, the Bruins lost a home game in regulation when the Kraken beat them 3-0.

With their record, it's kinda hard to get upset about this first loss. At the halfway point in the season, they are 32-5-4.

That is a hell of a record...

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Yes, I bought a lottery ticket. No, I did not win. There was one winner in Maine and I didn't buy my ticket in Maine. I bought it at Tommy's.

Yes, there is hockey tonight and I will watch that. I will also try and figure out something to eat for dinner.

Maybe some nice Lottery Loser Soup...

You can enjoy these links if you want:

• I wonder if Goofy Joe regrets calling Slumlord Donald "irresponsible"?



• He's even starting to look like Tommy Flanagan.



• Apparently deer get high.



• Ukranian Beavers would make a fantstic name for a 1980s EuroTrash Punk Rock band.



• And Olive Garden and the Loose Cow would make a great name for a 1950's rock-a-billy band.



• Another reason to not fly commercial.

Oops.

I have a problem with my laptop so I had to transfer some stuff over to my backup machine.

Since I was doing that all day, I never got around to updating this mess.

I'll have something for you tomorrow.

I tried

I wanted to avoid talking about anything related to politics or the government but then I read this story and realized there was no way I couldn't not say something about it.

I had two thoughts:

1. Trump must be having a seizure over this, ranting about how he was vilified and persecuted over his top secret documents but Biden gets a pass.
2. Biden is proving my firm belief that the democrats are just as sleazy, arrogant and slimy as the republicans, if not more so.

As for as I'm concerned, Goofy Joe is not any better then Slumlord Donald and they should both be investigated by someone with nothing to lose.

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My town is trying to get ahead of an upcoming problem.

This is the property in question:

I remember that place in the 1970s as a rundown fleabag "motel" that never had any customers.

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The Kraken are in town to play the Bruins at 7:00 tonight and I will be paying attention to that game.

A quick check on the standings shows the Bruins are nine points ahead of the second place Maple Leafs.

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Leftovers for dinner and then hockey.

Here are some links:

• Sounds like maybe Matt Patricia might be looking for a job.



• Looks like George Tommy Flanagan Santos is willing to resign if 142,000 people ask him to.
  Well, let me be the first: "Hey Santos, you lying sack of phlegm, you should resign!"
  Only 141,999 more to go.



• Key description of this must-have item: "Napalm compatible"...



• These people should not be allowed to own guns.



• He must have had a lot of porn on that laptop...



• Presenting the winner of the Mugshot of the Year award.

Busy day

I had a meeting with my finance guy this morning and he seems to think I might actually be able to retire.

My finance guy is a saint of a man who reminds me of Fred Rogers. He would never say or think anything bad about anyone but I'm pretty certain he thinks I'm a whiny little bitch whenever I say, "Man, I'm never going to be able to retire!"

What he said was, "You two are in great financial shape. Yes, the market has given everyone fits this past year but you guys have prepared well for your retirement and are all set. Let's meet again next April and see where things stand."

It's nice to hear we have done the right things.

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After that it was time to do some much needed "refreshing" of the woodwork in our bathroom.

When we had the bathroom done several years ago, I put some molding in place between the shower and the sink. Nothing fancy, just something to close the gap between the edge of the counter and the shower wall. Because it's a small bathroom with a shower, the room gets steamy and things get wet, including the woodwork. In the case of this particular woodwork, it looked grey instead of brown and there was almost no polyurethane coating on it anymore.

I pulled the molding out and took it downstairs where I sanded it, applied a fresh smear of stain and then two coats of polyurethane. It now looks brand shiny new.

I figure it'll be another five or ten years before it needs to be refreshed again and by then I'll probably be dead. If not, then I guess I'll do it.

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Let's talk about NOTAMs.

A NOTAM is short for "NOtice to AirMen" and it is a FAA public notification to pilots of anything that they need to know about. For instance, if someone decides to build a building near Bradley Airport and they erect a 100' tall crane to do that, there will be a NOTAM for Bradley telling pilots to be aware of that 100 foot tall crane. If the lights on a taxiway at Barnes Airport go out, there will be a NOTAM that identifies what taxiway is out of service.

Here is an example of a NOTAM:

DUE WIP TWY B SOUTH CLSD BTN 'F' AND 'R'. TWY 'R' CLSD BTN 'A' AND 'B' AND DIVERTED VIA NEW GREEN CL AND BLUE EDGE LGT.

My interpretation of that is:

Due to work in progress, taxiway B-South is closed between taxiways "F" and "R". Taxiway "R" is closed between taxiway's "A" and "B". Traffic will be diverted. Follow the new green centerline and blue edge lighting.

Clear as day, right?

If a significant event is happening. like the Superb Owl, or a VIP is at a particular location, there will be a special NOTAM called a TFR (Temporary Flight Restriction) issued that tells pilots they are not allowed to fly with that airspace. Washington DC has a permenant TFR in place:

When the system went down last night, most major carriers said, "No way we're gonna fly around without knowing where there are problems" and they all put on a full stop.

So if you were trying to get somewhere today and your flight was delayed or cancelled, blame the FAA.

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Maybe I'll get around to buying a ticket for this one.

$1,350,000,000 divided by 30 payments is $45,000,000 every year for 30 years. That's roughly $27,000,000 after the feds and the state takes their cut in taxes.

I could absolutely retire on that...

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I'm going to wallow in the knowledge that someone thinks I might actually be able to retire.

You can enjoy these links if you want:

• His constituents must be so proud of him...



• Key quote in this story "My girlfriend called me and said 'Hey, can you get my bag that I left there' so I went back inside and I heard rumbling outside."



• It's only a matter of time before they outlaw knifes.



• I did not know this. Did you know this? I bet you didn't know this.



• "Worlds Best" is a flat out marketing lie.



• Key entry from our favorite police log: "3:11 p.m. A man approached a woman on the walking path, offered a piece of bloody meat, and then asked if she was looking for a good time.."

I need to remember this

On January 10^th of 2023, my town was no longer experiencing any drought conditions. Hell, we aren't even "abnormally dry".

I want to remember this come July or August of this year when my lawn turns brown and then a light grey and we find ourselves in the midst of an "extreme drought".

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Before everyone starts ranting about how they searched Trump's office because he had classified documents, let's keep in mind that the FBI is indeed investigating Biden et al over this. They didn't need to get a search warrant because the Biden documents were found by staff at the center and immediately turned over to the national archives. In Trumps case, the documents were found by staff and hidden. They also failed to respond to subpoenas demanding the return of the documents. The FBI had no choice but to conduct a search.

So let's recap:

• Biden's people found the documents and said, "Holy Crap! We're not supposed to have these! We better get them to the appropriate government agency right away!"


• Trump's people found the documents and said, "What? We don't have any documents. We might have some documents but they aren't classified Oh, those over there? Those used to be classified but we took them out of the envelopes that said 'TOP SECRET' so they are no longer top secret. Besides, President Trump waved his magic wand this morning and declassified them anyways."

Biden is a bumbling fool and he's a liar but I don't think he's as arrogant and self-centered as Trump. He knows when things go wrong, he needs to be able to say he did the right thing. Trump believes that he can do whatever he wants to do and screw the rules. He believes rules are for "the little people", not him.

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I still can't retire but at least it's moving in the right direction.

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Once again we are at a loss for what to make for dinner.

While I consider my gastronomic options, you can consider these:

• Well, this doesn't sound good. No sir, not good at all.



• Why is it that when they win, it's a fair and honest election but when they lose, it's fraud and the results need to be overturned?



• Oh no! They're gonna put a letter in his permanent file!



• Why are people in the United States so in love with these inbred dingbats? I would like to remind everyone that we fought a rather lengthy war to get away from those people.



• I've decided that people are stupid and have too much money to spend.



• Oh Canada.



• Oh that's too bad. Don't you just hate it when wealthy people lose money because they made a stupid investment...



• I'm good with this. I thought he did a good job last season.

Update

No, I did not buy a Mega Millions ticket. $1,100,000,000 just isn't enough for me to spend $2.00.

I made it through two periods

I was able to watch two periods of hockey last night before I felt my chin hit my chest. Well, it's not so much "my chin" as it is "my neck fat"...

Anyways...

When I went to bed, it was 4-1 Bruins and it didn't look like they were in any mood to slow down. When I woke up this morning, I learned the Bruins beat the Ducks 7-1 which is kinda humiliating for the Ducks. The Ducks had 29 shots on goal and Swayman had 28 saves which means he stopped 97% of the shots taken against him.

That is some pretty damned good goal tending.

They are on their way back to Boston where they will enjoy a three-game homestand. It starts this Thursday with a 7:00pm puck drop against the Kraken.

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Please make note that on this day, I said something nice about our government.

One of the concessions that McCarthy made when trying to convince people to vote for him was the following:

Efforts to raise the nation’s debt ceiling must be paired with spending cuts.

In my opinion, that should have been a law, not some decision made by the Speaker of the House. But it's not a law so I'll take the rule.

Any time there is a situation in my house where we've had to figure out if we needed to borrow, we also looked to cut our curent expenditures so as to minimize the amount of money we had to borrow. For instance, when we were paying college tuition for three children, we took out loans to help cover the tuition but we also cut back on things that we designated "nice to have but not necessary".

Our government should be legally required to cut spending whenever it finds itself in the situation where it needs to borrow money. I'm not against the government borrowing money but I am against borrowing money so they can keep spending money on bullshit like the $1,600,000 to help make the shellfish industry in Rhode Island more racially diverse or the $3,000,000 to help fund a museum in Palo Alto, California, one of the richest cities in the nation.

This rule is a good thing because making sure the Speaker stops any bill looking to raise the debt ceiling without cutting spending on earmarks, you at least stand a pretty good chance of reducing the overall debt.

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If you know what these are, you are old...

I found those while cleaning out an old box of stuff I pulled off a shelf in my basement.

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Stuffed shells with leftover meatloaf in place of meatballs sounds like a dinner dinner. Add a slice or two of garlic bread and it moves into the realm of great dinner.

While I watch DVRs and enjoy my dinner, you can enjoy these:

• Whatever you do, don't get sick in New York City.



• I would like to see a ledger that clearly states what that "good use" is.



• Gaetz is a Trump cultist and to expect him to behave any different than Trump is a fantasy. Everything Trump does is geared towars getting his cult to send him money. Gaetz does the same thing.



• It's a pretty good bet he killed her.



• If you have a runny nose, science has the cure.



• Biden seems to be getting a little senile but not this senile.

Vacation time for the Patriots

The Patriots needed to win todays game to make it into the playoffs and they just couldn't do it.

The game was tied 14-14 at the half and the Patriots looked like they were in it to win it. Then they came out for the second half and it was all downhill from there with the Patriots losing to the Bills 35-23.

If the Steelers and the Dolphins had both lost their respective games, the Patriots would have still made the playoffs but the Steelers beat the Browns and the the Dolphins beat the Jets. Unfortunately with the Dolphins win, the Steelers were also eliminated from the playoffs.

I'm not overly disappointed in the Patriots season but I was hoping Jones would be better this year.

Actually, now that I say that, I am kinda disappointed with them.

I would like to have seen more of Zappe in some games where Jones appeared to be struggling. I get that Belichick likes to stick with his guy and that's probably a good coaching trait to have but when the game is on the line and "your guy" is struggling, maybe think about trying the other guy...

On the upside, it could be worse - the Chicago Bears and the Houston Texans each won only three games this season. Because the Texans (3-13-1) have one tie, they have a better record than the Bears (3-14) and that means the Bears get the number one pick during the upcoming draft.

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The Bruins won again last night, beating the Sharks 4-2.

Tonight's game against the Ducks starts at 8:30 so I'm hoping to see at least the first two periods.

I gotta say that having a .846 (31-4-4) record after 39 games is pretty damned impressive. There are 43 games left in the season so even if they lose 41 of those remaining games, they will end up with a .500 record.

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Neither The Professor or myself have any idea what to make for dinner. Maybe I'll just eat a bunch of leftover Christmas cookies...

Here are some links:

• Apparently we aren't the only nation where morons storm the capital when they don't get their way.



• Who cares. I can tell you that if he turns out to be a great hitter, the fan base will quickly forget about who used to wear that number.



• This is the first theory I've heard that makes sense.



• Only in Florida.



• He's probably upset about being called "Elvis"...



• Key entry from our favorite police log: "10:39 a.m. A cyclist kept flashing people and saying he was from the future."

I guess the house has a speaker

The House of Representatives elected a speaker this morning when Kevin McCarthy promised to give Matt Gaetz a blowjob on the steps of the Capital building at noon.

Okay, maybe he didn't really promise that but don't be surprised if Gaetz, a Trump cultist who has convinced himself that he is the smartest person in the room when Trump isn't in the room, ends up as the Chair of the Finance, Oversight, Budget or Ways & Means committee. He wanted something from McCarthy and he used his clique of fellow Trump cultists to get it.

Or maybe he'll become the Chair of the Armed Services Committee. Who knows.

What I do know for a fact is the U.S. House of Representatives made a laughing stock of itself over the last few days and with people like Gaetz, Taylor-Greene and Boebert as members, I expect the embarrassment to continue.

Add to the mix the fact that Little Ronny "Honestly, it's not doing anything and we gotta stop with this covid theater" DeSantis stands a pretty good chance of beating Goofy Joe in 2024 and there's a real good chance our once proud nation will begin to look like what was depicted in the movie Idiocracy:

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No, I haven't bought a Mega Millions ticket yet.

I know the lump sum payout looks like a good deal (roughly $340,000,000 after taxes) but if you take $1,100,000,000 and divide it into 30 payments, you get $36,000,000 each year for 30 years. After taxes, that's roughly $22,000,000 each year.

Considering the fact that I personally could live quite comfortably on $2,000,000 each year, that leaves $20,000,000 to bury in a tin can in my backyard every year. All those tin cans will add up to $600,000,000 at the end of 30 years and I will have been living a nice soft life on $2,000,000 a year.

Normally I would tell you to take the lump sum and invest it but when this much money is involved, the annuity is the better option. You have a steady lifetime income and if you invest it in low-risk growth equities or bonds, you'll leave a legacy behind that could potentially make generations of your descendants pretty darned comfortable.

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I'm watching some golf and some football. I'm also going to make mushroom/mozzerella/bacon burgers and onion rings.

While I do that, you can enjoy these:

• Speaking of our embarassing House of Representatives...



• Yes, alcohol was involved.



• Emotional Support Snake would be a good name for a Psychology 101 text book.



• Key phrase that in this definition of college students: "...conceived of the idea of coauthoring a paper in 1970, while first-year graduate students at Princeton University, for the express purpose of enabling this joke.



• This sounds like something from that great book by Jimmy Breslin, The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight.
  (If you've never read it, you really should.)



• Oh Canada.



• The Red Sox announced another player acquisition. I'm hoping he's one of those guys that hits 30 home runs.

Another win

Despite the fact I was not able to stay awake to watch last nights game, the Bruins won again. They beat the Kings 5-2, bringing their record to 30-4-4 (.842) and a full 8 points ahead of the second place Hurricanes.

There is some bad news out of Boston - The Bruins placed Jake DeBrusk on the long term injured list meaning DeBrusk will probably be out for at least 4 weeks. Apparently he took a hit during their win over the Penguins last Saturday that resulted in hand and "upper body" injuries. Oh, and for the record, the only reason the Bruins beat the Penguins 2-1 is because DeBrusk scored both of their goals.

The Bruins take on the Sharks tomorrow at 10:30 so, once again, I won't be watching the game.

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Aside from the Devers extension, there is another rumor going around that the Red Sox are in talks with (or may have already signed) Yuli Gurriel to a one year contract.

Gurriel is an infielder who won the American League batting title and a gold glove back in 2021. His 2022 season wasn't as good but it wasn't terrible either.

Hopefully he's a good addition to the team.

I'm actually starting to feel pretty good about this team. Not great but I'm not as skeptical as I was. I guess I'll know more about how I feel in 5 or 6 weeks. Pitchers and catchers report in 38 days and shortly after that, spring training games begin.

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The republicans are still shooting themselves and each other in the face.

I don't like McCarthy but I'd vote for him just to make this happen.

What an incredible group of spoiled little children they all are. And I'm not just talking about republicans. The democrats are all spoiled little brats too. Just read almost anything said by Lizzy "I'm gonna get me, um, a beer." Warren since she became senator and you'll see what I mean. As far as they're concerned, it's their way or the highway.

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Another entry in the list of "I get the best spam":

I'm reminded of that old meme from SEGA Zero Wing:

Somebody set up us the bomb!!
How are you gentlemen.
All your base are belong to us.
You are on the way to destruction.

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For the record, I am no longer positive for the 'rona:

I'm hoping to remain negative for at least another year.

I'm also hoping to not get covid again...

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Tonight's dinner is leftovers because, well, we got a lot of leftovers.

While I enjoy my evening, you can enjoy these links:

• I'm thinking this is a very screwed up family.



• Key entry in our favorite police log: "1:16 p.m. A man flopping around on the ground was just fine."



• Australia: What doesn't try to kill ya, produces less methane when it farts.



• Jesse Hawthorne and his Prosthetic Penis sounds like the name of a 1970's Disney movie starring Jan Michael Vincent.



• This is why women live longer than men.



• I know some people that need this.
  (I'm probably one of them...)