At least the Bruins won

I forgot the Bruins were playing last night but I was fortunate enough to check my calendar. It contains all of the Red Sox and all of the Bruins games.

For instance, this is tomorrow:

And this is my calendar for next week:

No, I am not a busy guy. Yes, I put my trash day on my calendar so I get a reminder to take my trash barrel out. Yes, I use a 24 hour clock instead of two 12 hour clocks. I've done that my entire adult life.

So anyways...

The Bruins beat the Blue Jackets in overtime 2-1 and it was a pretty violent game. The referee's were kinda letting things get out of hand. One Bruins was quoted as saying, "I guess that's what's so great about hockey is you get to put it in your own hands."

Tomorrow they take on the Penguins. Puck drops at 3:00.

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Time for my opinion:

I think the New York City district attorney got a bug up his ass and despite the fact his predecessor and two federal prosecutors found no cause to pursue any charges, he made it his mission to find something to bring Trump up on charges.

Do I think Trump is an arrogant, self-centered, cult leader who is causing more problems for this country than he will ever solve? Yes.

Do I think Trump is an unethical New York slum-lord who is willing to bribe, cajole, threaten and cheat to get his way? Yes.

Do I think Trump cheated on his wife with a porn actress? Yes.

Do I think he gave her money like she was an overpriced hooker and told her to shut up about it? Yes.

Do I think that is illegal? No.

It's stupid, it's slimy and it's indicative of the type of flea-bag Trump is but it's not illegal.

I guess we'll see what his followers do next week when he shows up for his mug shot and to have his fingerprints enshrined in a folder.

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She thinks she is a dog...

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I'm going to get into some comfy pants, watch the end of the Worcester Red Sox game and then watch the LPGA tournament until I fall asleep.

You can check these out if you want:

• Last Supper Selfie would be a great name for a low-budget comedy starring Jack Black, Jonah Hill and Dave Chappelle.



• Oh Canada.



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



• I'm pretty sure none of my kids know how to drive a car with a manual transmission.



• Key phrase in this story: "Wu appeared to be clueless..."

Opening day.

The boys of summer are on the field, Terry Cashman is singing one of my favorite songs and I am reliving some of my childhood memories.

In case I haven't made it clear, I love baseball.

When I was a child / young man, I played hockey (broke my arm), I played football (broke a finger or two and I'm pretty sure I broke my nose), I played golf (never broke anything) but my favorite times were when I played baseball (broke more than a few fingers).

Apparently not only was I an active child, I was also uncoordinated...

Anyways, now that I'm an old guy, I like watching hockey, I like watching football and I like watching golf but man, I love watching baseball.

Also, I find that watching sports results in fewer injuries.

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Speaking of baseball, the so-called "experts" have made their predictions again. This year, I decided that instead of making fun of them for their predictions, I would join them:

I guess we'll see how I did come October.

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And since we're talking about baseball, let's see what the current ALEast standings are, shall we:

Looks like the Red Sox are at .000 on the season.

Kluber had a crappy outing, going 3½ innings and giving up 5 runs. The bullpen gave up another 5 runs. That means the Orioles had 10 runs. The batters tried but they could only score 9 runs so that means the the Red Sox loss 10-9 this afternoon.

I had higher hopes for Kluber but as everyone keeps telling me, it's the first game of the season against a team that is projected to be pretty damned good.

I'm still wondering about my bet.

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I'm going to watch a How The Universe Works DVR and see how an asteroid the size of a city block is going to destroy the United States

While I do that, you can click on these:

• I didn't even know they were closed.



• Oh Canada.



• It only works after you go to jail.



• Bummer. I enjoyed his work.



• Australia: Blah, blah, blah...



• Someone got yet another crystal-clear "picture" of the Loch Ness Monster.

Busy, busy, busy.

I had a get-together this morning with an ex-coworker and then when I got home, it was yard work nirvana.

I got the gardens, the side yard and the back yard cleared of leaves.

Once that was done, I did some basement cleaning.

All-in-all, I got some stuff done. Next up will be changing the oil in all my machines. I'm thinking tomorrow may be the oil-change day. That way I'm good to go when the weather warms enough for me to run my tractor over the lawn with the thatcher thingy. That way the lawn is ready for the fertilizer guys when they show up.

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My Youngest tells me he will be at Fenway Park tomorrow for the Red Sox opening day game against the Orioles.

I told him I expect pictures.

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Speaking of pictures, I was doing s little interwebbing when I discovered this gem:

That is Michael Jackson in the video for his song, Beat It.

If you look close, you will see that the pool table he is standing at has no pockets. As a matter of fact, none of the pool tables in that video had pockets.

Information like this is why Al Gore invented the internet...

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The Bruins lost to the Predators last night and that win may have been enough for the Predators to make it into a wild card slot.

The Bruins are still in first place in the NHL and still above .800.

They play the Blue Jackets tomorrow night. Puck drops at 7:00.

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I'm going to get into my sweat pants and watch crappy television.

You can visit these links:

• Why do tourists still go to Mexico?



• Well, at least one national scandal has come to an end.



• Key phrase in this story: "Remember, a strong and healthy perianal microbiome is a very good weapon to have in your arsenal."



• Australia: Need I say more?



• Again, it's Australia.



• Keshondra Howard Turner is the latest member of the A-Team even though I don't think she wants to be.

Another loss

Today was the final spring training gamne and the Red Sox managed to lose to the Braves 7-5.

They open the season on Thurdsday against the Orioles and I'm really hoping they win.

Actually, I hope they win the World Series...

In other sportings news, the Bruins will play the Predaters this evening and I will watch as much of that game as I can.

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ESPN has projected the Red Sox to be the 19th place team at the end of the season and they give them a ½% chance of winning the World Series.

And while I'm a little worried about my bet, I am not that worried.

I'm a bit more optomistic than the "experts" at ESPN"

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I'm going to make some shrimp scampi thing and then watch bad television.

You can check out these links:

• Well, this should be interesting.



• This should be a felony. Even if it's a kid who does it, there should be a severe penalty.



• When you gotta get a taco, you gotta get a taco...



• Remember yesterday when I said, "...something about her having mental health problems"?
  Well, the key phrase in this story is, "Police say Hale was under a doctor’s care for an undisclosed emotional disorder."



• This is one of my favorite There, I ruined it vidoes.



• Key phrase in this story: "...test a new 'green' propellant."

I'm beginning to regret my bet

In a complete reversal of yesterday, Tanner Houck got his ass kicked by the Braves today, going three innings and giving up six earned runs while the bullpen gave up no runs over the remaining six innings.

They play the Braves again tomorrow @ 1:00 for the final spring training game.

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It looked like the Bruins were going to blow last nights game and technically, they did. They were up 3-1 at the end of two periods and they gave up two goals in the third to tie the game.

No one scored during the sudden death so it went to a shootout and the Bruins managed to beat the goalie enough times to take the win.

They face off against the Predators tomorrow. Puck drops at 7:00pm

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Turns out I recorded five hours of DVRs over the last week. That means I have entertainment for the evening.

What I don't have is a plan for dinner. Neither The Professor or myself are hungry.

While we review our gastronomic possibilities, you can click on these:

• We need to do something. I have a feeling that I'll be reading a report in the next few days that says something about her having mental health problems.



• Hey, I don't like ESPN either but I'm not throwing bricks at them.



• I'm beginning to think that Robert Kraft may be losing his mind a little bit.



• He must really like those Taco Bell grilled breakfast potato burrito.



• I've traveled to almost every state in the United States and I can attest that this is accurate.



• I think I'll just stick with drinking the occasional beer.



• Only in Florida.

Sale had a good outing

I can't say the same for the bullpen...

The Red Sox lost 7-2 to the Twins this afternoon but Sale went five innings, giving up two earned runs.

Then four bullpen pitchers, Ort, Bleier, Schreiber and DiValerio, came in and went four innings, giving up five earned runs.

So in a nutshell, Sale did good, the bullpen sucked.

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The Bruins are facing off against the Hurricanes at 5:00 this afternoon so I'll be able to watch all three periods.

As I said yesterday, the Bruins have locked down the Atlantic division with the Maple Leafs and the Lightning in a battle for second/third place. In the Metropolitan division, the Hurricanes, the Devils and the Rangers are in a battle for placement.

The big battle right now is for the four wildcard slots available to the rest of the Eastern conference. It currently looks like the Islanders, the Penguins and the Panthers will survive but the fourth slot is a tie between the Sabres and the Capitals.

As for the Western conference, no one knows what's going to happen over there. Right now it looks like the Golden Knights will take the Pacific division but the Central division is a wild guess. Only three points seperate the top three teams in that division.

It's going to be an interesting end to the regular season.

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I'm going to watch hockey. While I do that, I'm going to make some bacon cheeseburgers for The Professor and myself.

If you would like to look at some links, they are here:

• Australia: Everything is trying to kill you.



• Key line in this story: "...Clark grabbed her and told her that if she was going to have sex with Crutcher for money, she should give Clark a cut."



• No thanks.



• ♩My Maserati does 185♬
  ♩I lost my license♬
  ♪Now I don't drive♬.



• In my mind, I'm picturing a 300 pound drunk guy wearing lederhosen, standing in the middle of the road and yelling, "Velcome Ladies! It is zo good to zee you! Come gif poppa a big hug!"



• Only in Florida.
  (You gotta admit, that's kind of impressive.)

No errands today

The Professor spent her day catching up on paperwork.

I spent my day surfing the web and watching baseball & hockey.

That, my friends, is a pretty good day.

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The Red Sox lost to the Rays 4-2 this afternoon. Kluber had a good outing, going 4 innings. Yes, he gave up 3 earned runs but it's spring training - he's still working the kinks out and trying things out.

The rest of the team consisted of players who are working hard to make the team. Guys like Fitzgerald, Sogard, Abreu, etc... They play hard and I think one or two of them may end up on the roster.

I guess we'll see what happens in the next four days because they break camp on March 28^th and the roster will be finalized on the 29^th.

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The Bruins beat the Lightning 2-1 this afternoon and clinched the Atlantic division.

As things stand right now, the Bruins have clinched their division and the Hurricanes have clinched a playoff spot in the Metropolitan. The Western and Pacific divisions are both still up for grabs, with only one point separating the Western and four points separating the Pacific.

There are only 10 games left in the regular season and the playoffs start on April 17th.

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Steak and potatoes for dinner tonight followed by a rerun of the LPGA tournament.

While I do that, you can click on these:

• The French as blaming us because they stink.



• This is going to end poorly.



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



• This is the kind of competition I could participate in.



• Australia: Everything wants to kill ya.

It was a good game to watch

The Bruins and the Canadians played a good game of hockey last night, with the Bruins winning 4-2.

They are off until tomorrow when they will face off against the Lightning at 1:00. After that game, they hop on a plane and head down the North Carolina to play the Hurricanes on Sunday at 5:00.

Those are good times for games because us old guys can stay awake to watch them.

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Today was another busy day with numerous errands followed by house cleaning duties followed by more errands.

No, I did not go to MGM again. I don't gamble, I occasionally give away money.

No, I did not go to Tommy's for more adult beverages. I'm a lightweight when I go out - three beers gives me a three-day hangover. If I drank beer two days in a row, I'm pretty sure I'd end up sick as a dog.

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As I type this, the Red Sox are up 2-1 over the Braves in the fifth inning.

I'm going to stop typing now and pay more attention to this game.

You can pay attention to these if you so desire:

• Farting Lawyer and The Crown Prosecution Service would be a great name for 1960's pop/bubble-gum band.



• Why is this guy still walking around?



• In my expert opinion, the answer is yes.



• You know things are bad when the comfort dog has to retire because of the stress.



• Key entry from our favorite police log: "10:08 a.m. The owner of two continuously barking dogs blamed the squirrel in her yard."



• If this is how Universal Health Care works, I'll skip it.

I went out.

You get no post today because I was busy during the day and then I went out for adult beverages.

What I can tell you is that during my errand running, I stopped in at MGM and I did this:

Yes, that is a $10.00 wager that the Red Sox will win the World Series this year.

In November, I'll let you know how that went...

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I'm going to watch the Bruins play the Canadians and fall asleep early.

Tomorrow I will have links.

Japan is the WBC winner

The US made it close and it looked like they might tie the game in the ninth but it wasn't to be. Japan won the World Baseball Classic, beating the US 3-2.

So now all the MLB guys are headed back to spring training camps to get in synch with their teammates and start the season in eight days.

The Red Sox will open their season on March 30^th at home against the Orioles. First pitch is at 2:10 and Corey Kluber is scheduled to be the starter for that game.

Until then, we have several more spring training games to enjoy, including today's game at 6:05 against the Twins. I know that Houck will be the starter but I have no idea if my buddy Walt will be there watching.

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The Bruins beat the Senators last night 2-1 and with that win, I *think* they have mathematically captured home ice advantage for the divisional playoffs.

Then again, if they keep going the way they are going, they'll probably have home ice advantage for the duration of the Stanley Cup.

It doesn't look like there are any teams that will knock them out of first place in the league. The closest are the Hurricanes who are thirteen points behind and next are the Devils who are fifteen points behind.

There are only twelve games left in the season so if the Bruins lost every one of those games, the Hurricanes would need to win seven to take the lead and the Devils would need to win eight to take the lead. If the Bruins win five more games, there is no way anyone can knock them off the top.

Their next game is tomorrow against the Canadians. Puck drops at 7:00

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Rumors are swirling around that all of the so-called "Trump cult leaders" are telling everyone to stay home. The reason? They are telling everyone that Trump turned his back when all the people that attacked the capital on January 6th 2020 got arrested they should turn their back on him now that he's getting arrested.

I don't know if that's true or not because that cult is pretty faithful to it's demented leader. I think the problem is they want him to be more specific. Like when he said, "And if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore."

I think they want him to say, "Go to the DA's office and fight them!"

Either way, I've got a box of microwave popcorn ready to go because my plan is to sit back & watch while Stormy "Spread 'Em Danno""Daniels gets yet another 15 minutes of fame, Rudy "Do you think anyone will know I dyed my hair?" Giuliani makes an ass out of himself, again, and the idiots of "the cult of Donald" get their butts handed to them by the NYPD.

After that, maybe I'll put on a Gold Rush DVR.

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Here is a screen shot of the spam I received today:

As you can see, I've made several payments for things I never ordered, I need to do an "upgradiation" on my slow device and my non-existent McAfee subscription is ending soon. Oh, I also have diabetes...

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I need to find something for dinner. After that, I'll settle in to watch some baseball.

Here are a few links that I found for you:

• Get ready for internet & television outages and maybe some nice views of the aurora borealis.



• I like the guy and all but he's 97 years old. Someone take his car keys away from him before he kills someone.



• This is why I never walk and perform a mental arithmetic task at the same time.



• California says Skittles aren't good for you.
  California can kiss my ass. I'm still gonna eat them.



• Key line in this story: "...it crouched down and continued to watch the couple."



• Australia: What doesn't try to kill ya, just wants to take a nap. And then kill ya...



• It should be legal to shoot these people with bb guns.

Not a good day for Sale

This afternoon, Chris Sale went five innings against the Orioles but he gave up 6 runs, all of them earned.

That's not good.

I guess that's why he's not the opening day starter...

I really hope this is not going to be a bad year for him. I had hopes he would come back and be close to the Sale we all saw two or three years ago.

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For the record, I slept for 8 hours last night.

It's amazing what you can do when you don't have the chills and aren't hacking up a lung every half hour.

⧫
So last night I said, "I'm not even going to say anything at all about how I think Japan is going to beat up on Mexico."

Well, Japan didn't really beat up on them but they did win it in the 9^th when they walked it off. That means that tonight they will play the US in the finals. Japan is the home team and it's anyone's guess who will win.

I'll be rooting for the US to win but I'm also going to be rooting for the Bruins to beat the Senators.

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While I click back and forth between hockey and baseball, you can click these:

• So if I understand this correctly, his peace plan is, "Stop fighting. Once you stop fighting, maybe Russia will leave."



• It looks like Donalds cult might be outnumbered by people who are not part of Donalds cult.



• Apparently the people of Brakpan, South Africa are afraid of owls.



• Stop. Just stop. No one wants to eat crickets. Stop trying to get us to eat them



• This sounds like the plot line of a 1980s sci-fi/horror movie.



• Only in Florida.

They lost to the Pirates!

The Red Sox got beat by the Pirates this afternoon, losing 7-5. On the upside, Turner was back in the lineup and he seemed fine at the plate.

Whitlock went three innings, which is what they planned for him, and he gave up two runs, none of which were earned.

Tomorrow they face the Orioles with Sale on the mound. Unfortunately, I won't be able to watch because it's only being streamed on NESN360. Guess I'll just listen to it on the WEEI-AM online stream

The World Baseball Classic semi-final between Japan and Mexico is on tonight so I'll watch some of that.

And speaking of the World Baseball Classic, remember yesterday when I said, "Again, my expectations are not high for the US but they proved me wrong last night so obviously I have no idea what's going to happen."

Turns out I was right, I had no idea what was going to happen. The US beat the crap out of Cuba last night, winning the game 14-2. So having said that, I'm not even going to say anything at all about how I think Japan is going to beat up on Mexico.

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I am in full head cold (maybe the flu) mode. I'm pretty sure I got a total of 30 minutes of sleep last night. Between the body aches, the cold sweats and the coughing, I was constantly awake.

I hate being sick.

⧫
Time for some baseball.

You can visit these if you want:

• How screwed up do you have to be to leave a baby on a doorstep overnight during the winter.



• No, it doesn't look like Shrek. It looks like something that came out of the girl in The Exorcist.



• But Tucker Carlson told us they were just there as tourists.



• If I ever get a letter saying "We're sorry to hear your dead", I'm gonna frame it and hang it on my family room wall.



• By the time you turn 52 years old, you should know better.



• I'm not all that crazy about the regular flavored ones...

Birthday celebrations

The Professor succesfull completed another trip around the sun last Thursday and today we went to brunch to celebrate.

Our daughter, our youngest and his fiancé joined us for a nice lunch at Center Square Grill in East Longmeadow.

Afterwards the kids went off to do what they do and we went to our couches where I watched baseball/hockey and she watched her Netflix.

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Speaking of baseball and hockey, last night the US beat Venezuela 9-7. This afternoon, the Red Sox beat the Phillies 9-5 and the Bruins beat the Sabres 7-0.

The Red Sox will welcome Justin Turner back on Monday. He's the guy who got hit in the face two weeks ago. I'm hoping he doesn't have a case of the yips everytime a baseball is thrown because he's a good hitter and they need him to perform at the highest level.

The US takes on Cuba this evening at 7:00. Again, my expectations are not high for the US but they proved me wrong last night so obviously I have no idea what's going to happen.

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I have a full-blown head cold going on right now and no, it's not covid. I took one of those damned tests and it came back negative. I've had covid two or three times already and it didn't feel this bad.

With covid, I was tired, I had a runny nose and it lasted three days. This thing has been going on for about 1 week now, I have a sinus headache that makes a hangover feel nice and when we went shopping on Friday, we bought six boxes of kleenex so we don't run out.

Oh, and on top of that, I get no sleep because I cough all night long.

On the upside, I discovered that the Sci Channel runs reruns of How The Universe Works and the History Channel runs reruns of The Food That Built America at 2:30 in the morning...

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Here are some links that you can click on while I watch baseball and blow my nose:

• Key phrase in this story: "My sheep do a wonderful job of putting organic matter back in soil where it belongs."



• This is why I don't do reenactments.



• Dog Flap and the Stolen Vibrator would be a fantastic name for a 1980's British punk band.



• Oh Canada.



• Just what we need, preserved sneezes.



• I don't even think once about it.

Furniture moving

The Vets aunt, my sister, gave her some furniture that consisted of a table, a hutch and a curio cabinet and today was the day we moved them from my sisters to The Vets.

None of it was overly heavy but it was bulky and there was a lot of glass. That means we wanted to move it one piece at a time so there was no danger of things bumbing up against other things. Thanks to my brother-in-law letting us use his giant long bed pickup truck, we were able to move everything in only three trips.

So now all the dining room furniture that sat in my sisters house for the past 20+ years is now sitting in my daughters house.

And I'm quite pleased to say that I came through it unscathed. My back is still straight, my legs are still functional and my hands don't hurt.

Life is good.

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The Bruins beat the Wild 5-2 this afternoon, pushing them back over .800 to .801 on the season.

Next game is Sunday at 1:00 against the Sabres.

In a split-squad set of games this afternoon, the Red Sox beat the Orioles 9-6 and lost to the Rays 3-1. I got home in time to watch half the televised game against the Orioles. I'm still considering going to the sports book and putting $10.00 on the Red Sox to win the World Series.

Then again, I don't gamble so probably not.

Their next game is tomorrow against the Phillies at 1:00. Looks like NESN+ will carry that game

⧫
After baseball and hockey, it was time to watch some golf. I flipped on the Valspar Championship and watched Speith stay in first place until he gave it up to Adam Schenk in the last two holes.

Tomorrow should be a good final round so maybe I'll watch some of it.

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In still other sports, the last of the quarter finals in the World Baseball Classic is at 7:00 tonight when the US and Venezuela will play each other to see who advances to the semi's.

My suspicion is that the US will be going home. Venezuela has a hell of a team.

⧫
It's time for this to come to a conclusion.

Here are a few links:

• Looks like Trump is firing up his rioters again.



• Key line in this story: "I’m just happy to see that science is finally willing to tackle the big questions..."



• Key line in this story: "...Florida has the largest per-capita population of sugar daddies in the U.S."

A win and a loss

The Bruins beat the Jets 3-0 last night and I was able to make it through two periods.

Tomorrow they face off against the Wild at 2:00pm so I should be able to see all of that game.

The Red Sox took a big loss against the Braves today, getting beat 8-0. Houck went 4½ innings, giving up 4 of those Braves runs.

He pitched pretty well and I suspect he's going to make the starting rotation out of camp but it's anyones guess if he'll stay there. He was a long inning reliever last season and he did well in that role.

Tomorrow they go up against the Orioles at 1:00pm

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No, I don't celebrate Saint Patricks Day. I'm not Irish, I don't like parades and I don't like getting drunk at 9:00 in the morning.

If you celebrate the day, I hope you enjoyed it but please stop shouting, "Everyone is Irish on Saint Paddys Day!"

Go home, you're drunk.

⧫
This head cold is killing me. I don't think I slept more than 4 hours last night because I kept waking myself up by coughing.

The links I found are here:

• I'm pretty sure no one is going to arrest Psycho Vlad.



• Oh Canada.



• I gotta be honest with you, I'm not a fan of these road-side memorials. They inevitably turn into trash piles of half-burnt candles, empty booze bottles, broken vases and every type of faded, busted-up holiday decoration.
  
  
• Researchers: Contributing to the betterment of our society or a complete waste of perfectly good oxygen...



• Get your popcorn ready, there's gonna be another riot.



• Only in Florida.
  (Yes, we are aware that Karleen Biswanger and The Avocado Attack would be a great name for a 1960s German accordion band.)

A picture is worth a thousand words

The military released footage taken by the drone that shows the Russian fighters attacking it.

Russia's claim that the drone crashed because of "sharp maneuvers" seems to be a bit of bullshit because the video clearly shows the Russian fighters coming in from behind, dumping fuel and swooping towards the drone. After the second pass, it's clear that one of the drones propeller blades is damaged.

My concern is that this is going to turn into a shooting war. Psycho Vlad is playing Goofy Joe like a fiddle and Biden is one of those guys who doesn't see himself being manipulated. He does dumb things and I worry that he's going to do something really dumb like decide to send troops over to Ukraine or order the Navy to start making provocative incursions into the waters near Ukraine.

I have two nephews currently in the military. Joe is in the Air Force and Mike is in the Army. If they are asked to defend the United States against an attack, they would do so without hesitation but I personally would find it very upsetting if Biden were to force those two young men into a shooting a war over Ukraine.

Yes, Putin is an asshole and Russia is committing war crimes that the world should hold them accountable for. Yes, the people of Ukraine are suffering terribly and the world should provide them with aid but the United States does not have any military agreements with Ukraine. They are not a member of NATO and we are under no obligation to defend them or supply them with weapons or personnel.

⧫
I have no problem with people gambling. I've been known to play an occasional game of keno, I've been to Las Vegas and played blackjack in the casinos and I'll go buy a lottery ticket when the Power Ball Mega Bazillions reaches a billion dollars. But gambling is an addiction and it destroys peoples lives.

I've sat at a bar and watched someone spend their entire paycheck playing keno and I know for a fact that person can't afford to do something like that. I've been in Vegas with a coworker and his wife. He told me, "I just won $2,000 on a slot machine!" only for his wife to tell me he spent almost $5,000 to win that $2,000. He lost $3,000 but in his mind, he won $2,000. That's not good.

Massachusetts needs to get a handle on the mobile gambling ads that we are being inundated with. I have no problem with a sports book but when they make it as easy as picking up your cell phone to place a bet, that's a problem.

Between MGM, FanDual and Draft Kings, I must see 10 commercials during a Red Sox game or a Bruins game telling me how easy it is to bet on sports. They need to tone it down a bit.

And the news outlets need to stop doing stories that glorifies online gambling. I've seen news stories on television that make it sound like this is the best thing to happen in this state since the pilgrims landed.

⧫
We have no idea what to do for dinner tonight. Both of us agree that nothing sounds good. I have another freakin' head cold (Or maybe it's covid. Who the hell knows...) and it's giving me a shitty sinus headache. My appetite is almost non-existent. On the upside, maybe I'll lose a few pounds.

The Bruins are on at 8:00 tonight which means I'll probably only watch the first period before falling asleep. They lost to the Blackhawks the other day so I'm guessing my losing streak prediction might not be far off the mark.

While I try to figure out what to eat and then struggle to stay awake, you can check these links out:

• As far as I'm concerned, he deserves every accolade and award he receives.



• How, exactly, do you steal them?



• Key phrase in this story: "We don’t have much else..."



• Australia: What doesn't try to kill ya, takes big ol' dump on ya.



• Key phrase in this story: "...I obviously got the wrong one."



• That seems like a lot of uranium...

My new favorite scam

I have several email addresses. One of them is my dump account. It's the address I give to websites or companies that ask me for my email address when there is no reason they need it.

They want an email so they can send me junk or sell it to the highest bidder who will then send me junk. Hence the name "dump account".

One of the emails in the inbox was the following:

This is the best scam in the world because if you go to that youtube video, you will see a four year old news conference of a guy from New Jersey named Richard Wahl who won $533 million in the mega millions.

These guys are getting better and better at trying to steal my money.

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I had several errands to run today and some things to do that required my attention. That means this is short.

I did find a few links for you:

• Australia: What doesn't try to kill ya, has babies in your house that will try to kill ya.



• If you are so afraid to fly that you have to drink before you get on a plane, just take the train to wherever you want to go.



• So basically they are 7-year old me.



• Key line in this story: "...the kind of shopping that would embarrass a Kardashian."



• Key line in this twit: "Hasn’t anyone taught them to review sculptures from all angles."

1-2 inches of slush

Instead of the 4-6 inches of heavy, wet snow they were predicting, we got an inch or so of slush.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not unhappy because if we had gotten 4-6 inches, we probably would have lost power. I like having a generator and I'm glad I can keep my lights & heat on but I really like not having to run my generator to do that.

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The Red Sox played the Tigers this afternoon and it looks like they brought along some MLB players.

I'm going to assume it was a good game but since it wasn't on TV, I couldn't see it. Lou Merloni and whoever the other guy is did their best to keep me appraised of what was going on but you can't beat watching it.

So anyways, the Red Sox lost 6-2. Tomorrow they take on the Rays. First pitch is at 1:05 and it appears that NESN will carry the game so I should be able to watch it.

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The Bruins will play the Blackhawks at 8:30 tonight. Since I'm still trying to recover from the damned time change, I'll probably only watch the first period of that game before falling asleep.

I may have mentioned this in the past but I really dislike the time change thing.

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There will be some sort of pasta dish for dinner.

Here are today's links:

• For the last 40 years, we have been told repeatedly that a "superconductor breakthrough is going to change the world!" only for things to stay the same. It's like the alleged breakthroughs in fusion they keep telling us about. I can't help but notice we still don't have any fusion power plants or superconducting transmission lines. Hell, I'm still waiting for my flying car.



• At some point, this is going to turn into a shooting war.



• Once again, our senator is a day late and a dollar short.



• I'll still be watching the Patriots but I'm pessimistic about their chances of winning more than losing.



• Well, this makes me want to never buy a Tesla.



• Well, duh. Imagine what a chicken would look like if there were no bones in its wings...

They got their ass kicked

The Red Sox went over to the Blue Jays ballpark and got their ass handed to them, losing 16-3.

Granted, there were almost no MLB players there. I'm pretty sure only one or two MLB guys showed up. The rest of the team consisted of AA and AAA players. This includes the pitching staff which was all minor league guys.

Tomorrow they take on the Tigers. Starting pitcher is scheduled to be Pivetta. And like today, I'll have to stream the radio broadcast if I want to pay attention to the game.

As for the Bruins, they are traveling to Chicago to play the Blackhawks tomorrow night. I'm hoping they get back on the winning streak but I'm also half expecting them to go into a losing streak.

The way I look at it, every team goes through a slump because players get hurt, players get tired, travel starts to wear them down, family issues come up, etc... I'm pretty sure the Bruins are not immune to those kinds of things.

They've already clinched a playoff spot so hockey will be played beyond April 13^th

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This morning, I got the following email from the credit union I belong to:

I also got all this spam:

To summarize, my money is safe & sound but my cloud storage is full and my anti-virus software is expired.

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I'm going to watch Israel play Puerto Rico.

You can click on these:

• Baboons: Don't piss them off.



• Australia: What doesn't try to kill ya, just wants to curl up and watch TV with you.



• Step it up boys or before you know it, we'll start outliving them.



• For the record, a flock of crows is called a "murder".



• If you ever want to see what a 60 year old German woman looks like naked, now is your chance.



• Looks like Josh McDaniels may have found himself a quarterback.

Again with the channel flipping

The Red Sox played the Yankees at 1:00 and the Bruins played the Red Wings at 1:30.

The Red Sox tied the Yankees 3-3 and the Bruins lost to the Red Wings 5-3.

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Looks like the Berkshires are gonna get some snow.

Better them than me...

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I watched some of the Players today and there was some amazing golf being played.

But more importantly, the commercials for the Grant Thornton Invitational made me laugh.

Now that looks like it's going to be a great tournament to watch.

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Pizza for dinner followed by bad television.

Here are some links:

• This was invented by people that are not parents. Every parent on the planet can tell you that babies have their own built-in alert system...



• Key phrase on his T-Shirt: "That Was Just A Bonus".



• Presenting todays edition of Russian propaganda.



• Australia: What doesn't try to kill ya, first tries to kill your daughter and then you.
  (Jake Coombe is a good dad)



• Two Pigs and A Goat would be a great name for a 1960s children's book.



• Key phrase in this story: "But we are concerned about depositors and are focused on trying to meet their needs."

Lots of channel flipping

The Bruins and the Red Sox both played at 1:00 this afternoon. They streamed the Bruins on ESPN+ but ABC carried the game as well so I was able to flip back and forth between NESN and ABC.

Have I mentioned that I hate ESPN+?

The Red Sox lost 4-3 to the Twins. Sale was the starter and he pitched a great 3 innings, striking out 5 and giving up zero earned runs.

Tomorrow there will be a couple of split-squad games with half the team traveling to play the Orioles and the other half staying home to play the Yankees. The home game against the Yankees will be on NESN+. First pitch is at 1:00

As for the Bruins, they beat the Red Wings 3-2. They were down 2-0 after the first period but came back to tie the game in the second period. They scored the game winner in the third period and held the Red Wings off until the final horn.

Tomorrow they travel to Detroit to play a second game against the Red Wings. Puck drops at 1:30 and the game will be on NESN so I get to be annoyed by Jack Edwards saying "Juicy Rebound!" over and over again.

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One of The Sisters spotted her first robin of the spring today when one of them flew onto our front porch.

She started chittering and twitching like she really wanted to go catch that bird.

Trust me, she is a terrible hunter. I've seen her stare at a mouse running across the basement floor without her so much as thinking about chasing it. Her idea of hunting is picking up the food she drops out of her bowl.

The Dog, however, can catch pretty much anything and she brings them to us like they were presents for us to enjoy. Well, she bring half to us. She usually chows down on half of whatever she caught before she decides to share it with us.

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Giant cheeseburgers and some fries will be the dinner of choice this evening. After that I will probably watch some of the World Baseball Classic. The US will be playing the UK at 9:00 this evening and I can't help but wonder if they even know how to play baseball in England. Guess I'll find out at 9:00. Until then, I'll watch the Dominican vs Venezuela (Yes, they both know how to play baseball).

Here are some links:

• Rain of Worms would be a great name for a 1990s all-girl punk band.



• Last year they were in an extreme drought. This year they are under water.



• Looks like Tommy Flanagan is up to his old tricks.



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



• More proof there are idiots living on our planet.



• Key quote in this story: "I get to go home when I’m done with my 15-, 16-, 18-hour shifts and do the same thing."

They both lost

The Bruins winning streak ended at ten games last night when they lost 3-2 to the Oilers.

The Red Sox winning streak ended at four games this afternoon when they lost 2-0 to the Blue Jays. For those of you that are wondering why they only have a four game winning streak when they are undefeated, it's because the games that they didn't win were tie games.

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I was watching The Players Championship this afternoon and, man, they got a whole on that Sawgrass course that looks hard. It's a short par 3 (about 150 yards) onto an island that looks like it's only about 50 feet across.

I'd probably go through a dozen golf balls playing that hole.

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No sportings for me to pay attention to this evening but I do have some DVRs. I'm going to warm up some leftovers, watch some Bearing Sea Gold and fall asleep early.

You can click on these:

• Huh... It's beginning to look like Stormy Daniels might be the one who takes Trump to task by using his infamous, "Grab 'Em By The P**sy" tape as well as a lot of documents showing that Trump paid hush money.



• I don't think $70,000 is a good price to fix something that should have never been broken.



• If this happens I will be a happy guy.



• Another reason I don't go to New York City.



• Only in Florida.



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

Still undefeated.

The Red Sox beat up on those poor defenseless Yankees this afternoon, beating them 11-7. And they did it without most of their actual MLB team.

The Red Sox traveled to the Yankees facility with only two of their MLB guys - Nick Pivetta and Reese McGuire. The rest of the team were all AAA, AA and "offered a minor league contract with an invitation to camp" guys.

According to my youngest:

I'm not certain that the Yankees suck because normally they are a pretty good team but they did kinda look bad today. They basically got beat by the Worcester Red Sox.

The Red Sox play the Blue Jays tomorrow at 1:00.

In other baseball news, the World Baseball Classic started and I haven't watched any of it because the games are on at either 5:00am or 10:00pm.

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Yes, there is hockey tonight but I probably won't be able to watch it. It's not on television, it's being streamed on ESPN+.

I dislike ESPN but I hate ESPN+. They have the absolute worst announcers who know nothing about hockey.

I'll try the stream but I suspect that I'll end up watching some Gold Rush and falling asleep early. I can't imagine that ESPN is going to let me watch their stream for free.

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Jerome Powell needs to shut the hell up.

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We picked up the worlds biggest chicken pot pie at Costco the other day and today is the day we are cooking it. I suspect we will be eating leftover chicken pot pie for days to come.

While I do that, you can do these:

• Oh good. As if covid wasn't bad enough, now we're gonna have to deal with this.



• Key phrase in this story: "...the media’s advice to 'learn to code' may have been like investing in typewriters."



• If you were ever interested in what Russian propaganda (lies) looks like, have google translate this article to english. The best line in it is: "The explosion of American love for the Russian president was provoked, paradoxically, by his extremely tough stance towards Russia's enemies."



• This is probably the most New Jersey thing you will read today.



• Nothing I share with you is fake. It might be idiotic, insane and maybe humorous but never fake.



• Oh Canada.

More evening baseball

The Red Sox beat the crap out of the Braves last night, beating them 10-2.

Most importantly, no one got injured.

Tonights game against the World Baseball team from Puerto Rico starts at 6:00.

In an interesting twist, the Red Sox short stop, Kiké Hernandez, will be playing against the Red Sox. He'll be in center field for the Puerto Rican team.

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The Dow Jones Industrial Average is still trying to figure out what the hell the Chairman of the Federal Reserve System is talking about...

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Watching baseball while enjoying some ham and macaroni & cheese for dinner sounds like a good idea to me.

Another good idea would be for you to see if these links are any good:

• This sounds like a problem.



• Key phrase in this story: "...male reproductive organ drawn in the snow of Tea Cup Bowl..."



• Key phrase in this story: "...it became difficult to identify any suspicious odors present in the house."



• Key phrase in this story: "...a lot of traditions in the UK are odd."



• Oh Canada.



• If NBCSports isn't going to carry curling, they should at least carry this.

Evening baseball today

Today's ball game against the Braves is at 6:00 and it is one of the few away games that NESN is carrying this spring training season. That means I get to watch it.

Turner came out on social media this morning and said the following:

He strikes me as the kind of guy who will be back at it in a week and the only reason it'll take a week is because the Red Sox will tell him to sit down and take it easy for the week.

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When the Chairman of the Federal Reserve System comes out and says, "If the totality of the data were to indicate that faster tightening is warranted, we would be prepared to increase the pace of rate hikes", this is the kind of thing that happens:

Someone should tell him to shut up.

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The Professor is on spring break.

Wait. Let me rephrase that.

The school is on spring break so the Professor isn't on campus working 12 hour days. She is at home working 4 or 5 hours days.

Today we spent all of this morning running numerous errands, including one of our notorious Costco trips that ends up costing us at least $400.

It's impossibly to go into a Costco and only get a few things. Everywhere you go in a Costco, you hear people saying to each other, "Oh. We need some of that. We should get two."

Say that enough and before you know it, you've got hundreds of dollars worth of "stuff" in your cart.

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I'm going to make air-fried fish fillets and onion rings (no, it's not healthy but it is tasty). Then I'm going to get into my sweat pants and settle in to watch baseball.

You can visit these if you want:

• Normally I would say something snotty about researchers but I like bumblebees.



• Speaking of things I like.



• Key phrase in this story: "He’s a pathological liar."



• If you're bored and you want to learn who really invented everything about your computer, read this.



• Only in Florida.



• Cats: They aren't the sharpest tools in the shed.

Another win, another injury

Justin Turner, the guy they signed to be their DH, got hit in the face with a fastball this afternoon.

That's four players that have been injured and the season starts in just under four weeks. If things keep going the way they are going, the Red Sox will be made up of AAA players and Worcester may not be able to field a ball team this season.

Despite the injury, the Red Sox managed to beat the Tigers 7-1 and remain undefeated in spring training play. Sale pitched a great 2 innings and didn't get hurt, which, based on his last two seasons, is a freakin' miracle.

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Remember about 10 years ago when the media was telling us that we would all be driving around in hydrogen-powered cars?

This is why I don't believe anything the media tells me. During my life time, I have been told that in the 21^st century, we would have flying cars, hydrogen-powered cars and self-driving cars.

We still have cars that run on gasoline and they run on roads that are so congested and beat up that there is no way I would trust a self-driving one to navigate safely.

Nope, no flying, no self-driving and no hydrogen. So far the media is batting zero when it comes to cars.

⧫
The news is pretty boring lately and I didn't find much in the way of interesting stuff.

Here are some links:

• Imagine that, the Russian government lied to him...
  It's only a matter of time before he has one of those "falling from a 20^th floor window" accidents that a lot of Putin's buddies seem to be having lately.



• Why is it "disgusting and inhumane"? It's not all that tasty but it's not any more disgusting than eating a lobster.



• This is not what I expected.



• Australia: You gotta be a little crazy to live there.



• Attention criminals: Use a car that runs on gasoline.



• More proof that there are a lot of idiots in our society.

The Red Sox remain undefeated.

The Red Sox beat the Marlins 4-1 this afternoon. Unfortunately, there was another hamstring issue today when one of their top prospects, Wilyer Abreu, came up lame running to first.

That's three guys (Wong, Paxton and Abreu) out with hamstring strains in three days.

I'm beginning to wonder what the training staff is doing.

Sale is the projected starting pitcher tomorrow and if he blows out his hamstring, the Red Sox should look into hiring some new trainers/coaches.

⧫
Kurt Kitayama won the Arnold Palmer Invitational today. It was a hell of a match with 6 players in first place at one point.

It was a good sportings day for me.

⧫
Since I was busy watching sports and doing a few manly tool-related jobs around the house, I don't have much else to add.

Here are some links:

• Key line in this story: "...inserted like an endoscope into hard-to-reach incisions and orifices, such as the rectum."



• Our society is filled with idiots.



• Presenting this episodes Brilliant Criminal of the Day.



• Key entry from our favorite police log: "12:09 p.m. Someone reported that a wheeled suitcase had been chained to a mailbox for three days and wondered if this was a new thing the USPS did."



• Only in Florida.

I dislike ESPN

ABC carried the ESPN coverage of todays Rangers / Bruins game and once again, ESPN showed me why I dislike them.

ESPN has always been a bunch of New York "homers". They speak highly of teams from New York (Giants, Rangers, Yankees, Nets, etc...) and ignore the achievements of teams from almost any other city. They particularly dislike teams from Boston (Patriots, Red Sox, Celtics, Bruins, etc...).

They admitted that they lied about the deflated football accusation with the Patriots, they dismissed the Red Sox during their 2004 World Series run and as far as they are concerned, the Rangers are the team that will win the Stanley Cup come June.

I really enjoyed watching the Bruins beat Rangers 4-2. It didn't shut the ESPN guys up but they had to grudgingly talk about how good the Bruins actually are.

⧫
The Astros / Red Sox game was also played at 1:00 today so I had to do the switching back and forth thing.

The game ended in a 4-4 tie so the Red Sox remain undefeated in spring training play which means they are in first place in the grapefruit league.

I'm still thinking about placing that bet but I need to do it soon before the odds-makers lower the odds.

⧫
We have two cats. One of them is afraid of everything and tends to stay by herself until it's time to go to bed. Then she crawls into bed and curls up to sleep. The other one is an outgoing little shit that needs constant attention.

She starts out by crawling up on my right side, between my hip and the table I have next to me.

Then, after a few minutes, she makes here way to the spot between my legs on the other side of my computer:

And finally, after feeling like maybe I'm ignoring her and not paying any attention to her, she digs her way between my left leg and the back of the couch, forcing me towards the outside of the couch. She'll push on my leg until I start petting her.

Have I mentioned that I am not a cat person? I don't really like cats. I don't dislike them but no one in my family has even heard me say, "Hey, you know what I think? I think we should get a cat."

⧫
In case you don't believe me when I say I'm old, here is proof that the federal government says I'm old:

⧫
I'm pretty sure I have two Gold Rush's on the DVR, one of which is 3 hours long. That should get me through the evening.

You might enjoy these links:

• It's like a bad Saturday Night Live skit.



• I'll have to remember this.



• Australian: What doesn't try to kill ya, scares the shit out of you and causes you to have an accident which will probably kill ya.



• In case you were wondering what Trump or Biden looked like with a mullet, wonder no more.



• No thanks. I'll stick with vanilla.



• If you read this article, you should make note of the fact that he never once said "women" when asked who would be topless.