I should be playing golf

Days like today are too nice to not be doing something enjoyable outside. And by enjoyable, I mean anything that does not involve a gardening impliment, a lawn mower or a tool of any kind.

Today would have been a nice day to collect up my assorted golf clubs and head out to the field of frustration, a.k.a. the golf course.

As the old saying goes, "A bad day of golf is better than a good day of work."

On the other hand, there's another old saying that goes, "To play golf is to spoil an otherwise enjoyable walk."

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No, the market isn't doing any better today than yesterday. As a matter of fact, it's worse.

We really need to stop being so divided and start electing people that can actually govern. People that are more concerned about people than they are about their own ego's.

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Yes, the Red Sox lost last night.

No, I did not stay awake to watch the entire game because when the middle of the eighth inning rolled around at 10:00 and the score was 9-3 in favor of the Reds, I couldn't see any reason to stay awake.

Turns out I missed them almost, but not quite, making a comeback.

The final score of the game was 9-8 in favor of the Reds.

They are now in last place in the ALEast and only half a game ahead of the best team in the ALCentral, the Twins.

They are back at it against the Reds tonight. Paxton is on the mound. Problem is, no matter how good the pitcher pitches, the hitters still have to hit and they just aren't doing that. They are also making a lot of errors lately. Particularly Hernandez. That needs to stop.

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You can visit these links if you want:

• Even when Krazy Kim aims for the sky, he still hits the ocean.



• It's beginning to look like Ukraine has decided that the best defense is an offense.



• Pimple-Popping Shenanigans would be a great name for a 1980s Irish Punk band.



• I hope it's nearby. I like their fried clams.

Debt crisis BS

It's beginning to look like no matter what he does, Goofy Joe just can't seem to do anything that helps the stock market.

Even when he claims to have settled the debt crisis, the market still goes down.

I hope Trumpee never gets reelected president but I'll be glad when Goofy Joe is no longer president.

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Yes, there is baseball tonight.

The Reds are in town to play a three-game series against the Red Sox and it starts tonight at 7:10pm.

Bello is on the mound and so far, he's proven to be a reliable starter. I hope he does it again tonight.

I also hope the Red Sox hitters manage to move the runners along and they step on homeplate more than the Reds do.

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Time to fire up the grill and make some dinner.

Here are some links:

• This is dumb. Funny as hell, but still dumb.



• Apparently the Ukrainians are taking the fight to the Russians.



• The annual Gloucestershire Cheese Rolling contest took place recently.



• I don't use twitter and I don't understand the people who do but this is funny.



• You probably don't want to attend EMS training at the Cromwell Fire Dept.

They lost yesterday

The Red Sox just couldn't overcome and they lost 4-2 to the Diamondbacks.

In the end, the Red Sox took two of three games so they won the series but a sweep would have been nice. They are just three games above .500 so they need wins to stay out of the cellar.

And speaking of the cellar, that leads me to this interesting tidbit:

The worst team in the ALEast is a full game ahead of the best team in the ALCentral.

That ain't right.

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We had barbeque chicken and now I need to go clean my grill.

You should check these out:

• How are there still people in the United States willing to vote for this piece of shit?



• Yes, both alcohol and Florida were involved.



• There are some people who can be described as "Daredevils". Then there are people who are best described as "Idiots".



• The phrase "a series of miscalculations and logistical and technical failures" is another way of saying, "We are incompetent boobs who have no idea what we are doing and should never be allowed to be in charge of anything ever again."



• Key phrase in this story: "85-year-old man"...



• Normally I would type "Oh Canada" but this time I think I'll type, "Oh Shit".

They won last night.

I watched the Red Sox beat the Diamondbacks 2-1 last night.

I thought Whitlock had a pretty good outing for his first one in more than a month, going five innings, giving up one earned run and striking out four. What was even nicer was that the bullpen held its own over the remaining four innings giving up no runs.

One play that I really liked was their second scoring play of the game. It was in the fourth inning, Casas was on third, Hernandez was on second and Reyes was on first. McGuire came up, swung & missed at the first pitch, got back into his stance and proceeded to lay down a beautiful sacrifice bunt between the pitcher & the first base line. That moved the base runners along, scoring Casas and giving the Red Sox the lead.

Todays game started around 4:15 this afternoon and it's currently in the fourth inning. Houck is on the mound and so far he seems to be struggling. The Diamondbacks are up 4-0. Hopefully that improves for the Red Sox as the game goes on.

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Looks like Goofy Joe and Krazy Kevin have worked out a debt limit deal. Problem I foresee is someone idiot on either side of the aisle refusing to vote for it unless he/she gets something they want.

I guess we'll see what happens over the next few days because as far as I know, the deal has to be sealed before June 5^th. There are a lot of ego's at play in the Capital building and some of them would love to watch the world burn rather than see someone else get something

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Look like another "friend" of Psycho Vlad has taken ill.

Hey, at least he didn't "accidentally" fall out of a seventh story window like the last five or six "friends" of Psycho Vlad.

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

You can visit these links if you want:

• Lawyers: Not only are they arrogant pricks, sometimes they are also stupid.



• Oh Canada.



• The Yankees kicked the Padres ass this afternoon but they still managed to make idiots out of themselves.
  To quote Jomboy Media, "Were they throwing the ball with their eyes closed?"



• Key phrase in this story: "I clean it every day, and when I come back, it's covered in seagull poop."



• Ya know what Pete? We probably didn't need to know that.

A lot got done

I started my day by mowing my lawn. After that, I set about changing every doorknob on our second floor.

For the record, that is four bedroom doors, two bathroom doors and three closet doors (the other closest have slding doors) for a total of nine doorknobs.

If I never change another doorknob again, it'll be too soon.

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Sale pitched a pretty good game last night despite the fact he was dealing with a stomach virus of some sort.

He went five innings, gave up one earned run, walked one and struck out three. The bullpen did well, giving up only one earned run.

More importantly, the hitters hit the ball and the runners stepped on home plate. In the end, the Red Sox won the game 7-2.

Whitlock is on the mound to start tonight. It's his first appearance since April 22^nd when he went onto the IL. Hopefully he's good to go and makes quick work of the Diamondback batters.

Oh, and for the record, first pitch is at 7:15 this evening and that means I can watch tonight's game.

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Nope, still no movement on the debt ceiling talks but looks like maybe Yellen said she might be able to squeeze another dollar or two out of the current budget. She extended the limit to June 5^th.

Look, I don't care about the debt limit. I care about the value of my IRA and my wifes 403(b). That's what I care about.

If the country stops paying it's bills and defaults on it's debt, the nations credit rating will get downgraded. If the credit rating drops, the ability to borrow money on the world market will be impacted. That means bad things happen to the stock market which impacts my IRA and my wifes 403(b).

I care about that.

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I'm going to watch some news and then some baseball.

You can enjoy these few links:

• Connecticut: Making themselves feel good about themselves for more than 300 years.



• Only in Florida.



• I was either a very expensive phone or he had his porn collection stored on it.



• This is why I don't go camping.



• It's only a matter of time before someone shoots one of these assholes.

Might be a lack of water

So I did some studying up and it turns out those trees need a lot of water. That means I need to water them twice a day.

I watered them last night and again this morning. By the middle of the day today, the leaves that hadn't died were no longer dropping.

Guess I'll be watering them twice a day from now on.

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I don't have much for you today other than to say that Sale is pitching tonight. I will try to watch the first inning to see if he is having a good outing or a bad outing.

I'm really hoping for a good outing. And I'm hoping the batters manage to drive runs across home plate.

Here are some links:

• Yet another reason I don't fly commercial.



• I liked his music but he's 81 years old. It's time to retire.



• Presenting this episodes Brilliant Criminal of the Day.



• If you are not doing anything at 10:30 tonight, you can watch a supernova as it explodes.



• Maybe she really had the munchies.

My red maples are dying.

As you can see in this picture, the leaves are wilting, turning a mottled brown and falling off the tree.

This just started in the last day or two. Prior to this, both trees were healthy with bright red leaves and full branches. Now there are bare spots on some of the branches where the leaves have fallen off and the leaves are turning brown.

We've had plenty of rain and I water them when we don't have rain so I don't think this is due to a lack of water.

It's pissing me off because I really like those trees.

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The Angels swept the Red Sox last night and this time it was because both pitching and hitting sucked.

Paxton only made it through three innings, giving up five earned runs. Then it was the bullpens turn.

Pivetta also went three inning but he only gave two earned runs.

The hitters, once again, were hitting the ball but not when there were runners that could score.

In the end, the Red Sox lost to the Angels 7-3.

So to recap, pitching sucked and hitting sucked. Basically, they sucked.

They are off tonight while they travel to Arizona where tomorrow night they will start a three-game series against the Diamondbacks.

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sedition (n): The act of inciting revolt or violence against a lawful authority with the goal of destroying or overthrowing it.

The people that attacked the Capital were violent. There was nothing peaceful about them. Not only did the so-called "oath keepers" fail to keep their oath to uphold the constitution and to defend the United States, they went one step further and took up arms against it.

And that, my friends, is the definition of treason.

They are traitors and should be treated as such.

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This evenings repast will be calzone's. Specifically, Leone's House Calzone's.

After that I will be watching some DVRs and falling asleep early. Turns out I have three Gold Rush: White Water on the DVR. I wish I knew that the other day before this whole Red Sox west coast crap started up.

Enjoy these links:

• I think Trump is a grade A jerk but I have absolutely no sympathy or empathy for this bimbo.



• Guess I better start taking multivitamins.



• It's about damned time. Now do something about that annoying smart device sitting on the table they want me to use to pay my bill.



• I asked my sister if her son Kyle was there. She replied, "Not that I'm aware of!"



• This high school has either got the toughest graduation requirements ever or the dumbest students imaginable.



• Feel free to stick me in one of these things.

Costco kind of day

Amazingly enough, I went to Costco, I did not spend $400.00 and I didn't buy any giant bags of candy!

Actually, my trip was for five specific things: eggs, spanakopita (greek spinach pastry), butter, dishwasher detergent and some baguettes.

Next time I go, there will be giant bags of candy. And maybe those huge muffins.

I love those huge muffins.

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Nope, still no movement on the budget...

We are all screwed.

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The Red Sox lost again last night and again, it was not because of the pitching.

Bello went seven innings, gave up two earned runs and struck out six batters. The bullpen could have been better, with two more earned runs over the remaining two innings.

The big problem was the hitters. They failed miserably, getting only two hits over nine innings.

In the end, the Red Sox lost 4-0.

Oh, and yes, I was awake to watch the first three batters. I'm hoping to do the same thing again tonight but I'm hoping the Red Sox do something different and win tonight's game. Paxton will be on the mound and his last outing was outstanding.

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Enjoy these links while I watch more of the NCAA Championship:

• Welcome to New England. Our bears know what they want and they know how to get it.



• Louisville, KY: They take their Hot Pockets very seriously.



• Key phrase in this story: "It’s not often you see a woman stealing a John Deere tractor while wearing a pink dress."



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



• "So Mabel, what do you do for a living?"
  "I'm a worm judge!"



• Key phrase in this story: "This should never have happened."

The bedroom is done

The color of the bedroom walls went from a bright blue (my kids picked the color a long time ago) to a nice subtle gray. The problem is that when I first studied the walls to find any defects, they didn't show up very well on the darker color. Once I had the first coat of the new paint on the wall, all the defects suddenly popped.

So I spent my morning finding defects, scraping, patching and then sanding. After sanding, I used a brush to apply the "first coat" to all the spots and let it dry.

While the paint was drying, I went and had lunch with my fellow retired guys.

Back at home, I applied the second coat of paint. Fortunately, the walls dried fairly quickly and I was able to get all the electrical outlets and switches replaced today.

This completes that particular bedroom.

I have one bedroom left to do and that will finish the second floor of my house. Every bedroom and bathroom will have had a new coat of paint and new electrical outlets within the last three years.

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The Red Sox lost last night but not because of pitching. Houck went six innings, giving up one earned run, walking two and striking out eight. That's pretty good pitching.

The problem last night was the hitters were not hitting and the baserunners were not stepping on home plate. In the end, the Angle's won 2-1.

Tonight's game starts at 9:40 so I doubt I'll see much beyond the first few batters.

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Trump appeared in a New York courtroom today via a video feed from Florida.

This is probably the best courtroom sketch of Trump I've ever seen:

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I'm watching the NCAA D1 College Golf Championship (Women's) and I have no idea who is winning. The scoring system is not something I'm able to decipher. It appears to involve some form of math. But that doesn't matter because they are playing some excellent golf.

Here are some links:

• Trust me, the answer is, "Yes".



• Thirty tons is a shitload of ammonium nitrate. By comparison, it is estimated that the Alfred Murrah Federal Building bombing only used 2.5 tons



• Only in Florida.



• Groins of Fire would be a great name for 1970's Richard Simmons workout video.

Oops

I got tied up with some stuff yesterday and forgot to post something.

Sorry about that.

I'm busy patching and painting the walls in one of our bedrooms. Since I'm not a painter, I try to take my time and avoid making a huge mess of things.

As things stand right now, the walls have been scraped, patched and sanded. I've taped all the woodwork and finished the trim painting. Once that was done, I was able to roll on the first coat.

Tomorrow will be more scraping and sanding to get any runs or holes I see in the finished wall. Then finally, a second coat should complete this job.

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The one game in the Red Sox/Padres series that I got to watch was the one game they decided to lose.

The Red Sox failed to sweep the Padres yesterday afternoon. Kluber pitched a fairly bad two and a half innings before getting pulled. The bullpen didn't do much better with four different pitchers going the other six and a half innings.

The hitters didn't do anything at all and the Red Sox runners failed to step on home plate at all. The game ended with the Padres winning 7-0.

The Red Sox remain on the west coast, starting a three game series against the Angels tonight. First pitch is at 9:40 which, as we all know, is way too late for me.

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The DJIA fell again today:

This is because the republicans are insisting on spending cuts (not on anything that the republicans like, just the things the democrats like) and the democrats are threatening to enact section 4 of the 14th amendment which says:

The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned.

It also says a lot about citizenship, voting rights, untaxed indians and insurrectionists but that one sentence says that the US always pays its bills and no one should question that ability. This includes congressmen and senators.

Unfortunately, if Goofy Joe attempts to claim the 14^th gives him the right to override congress, he will set off a constitutional crisis that will involve the supreme court, the congress, the senate and the executive office.

None of this is good and the only people who will be hurt by it is us little people.

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Since I spent me entire day doing painting stuff, I only have a few links for you:

• Speaking of Goofy Joe...



• Let them show up here and start pecking holes in my house, I'll make them extinct...



• I play golf like Jordan Spieth. I'm not saying I'm as good as him but I express myself in much the same way.



• Rick Hoyt is once again running with his dad.



• Only in Florida.



• Australia: Blah, blah, blah.

They won

Despite the fact I only managed to watch the top of the first inning, the Red Sox managed to beat the Padres 6-1.

Paxton went six innings, giving up one earned run, walking two and striking out five. Then Winkowski came in and finished the next three innings, giving up zero hits.

Sale is on the mound tonight and the first pitch is at the ungodly hour of 10:10 and I will not even watch the first pitch.

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As stated, our youngest is with us for the day so this is all you get.

Enjoy these links:

• This is why I stopped going to golf matches. Well, that and the fact they're boring as hell.



• Everybody loves ice cream but I'm pretty sure this is in poor taste.



• Only in Florida.



• In Massachusetts, we spend money on stupid things but we got nothin' on California.



• This is what is known in the legal world as "a desperation move".



• This is what happens to a society that defunds law enforcement.

Long day

I spent rather large part of my day replacing a rotted door jamb at The Vets house.

That picture shows the hinge side of the frame after I had removed the rotted jamb. I did not take a picture of it after I had it all put back together. Trust me, it looks good.

After that it was grocery shopping and finally a stop at Texas Roadhouse to grab a bite to eat.

So that all means I did not do any newsing or webbing. I got nothing for you.

Tomorrow probably won't be any better because The Drummer and his Fiancé will be here in the afternoon. That means I need to get my lawn mowed in the morning so I can spend time with them.

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My wife uses coconut baskets in her hanging plants.

Well, the Orioles have discovered them and are stripping the fibers out to make their nest.

(Yes, I know the picture sucks.)
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Another win

Bello pitched a good game and the hitters were hitting the ball well. They were hitting so well in fact that the game was in the eighth inning when I went to bed. I figured no sense in forcing myself to stay awake when the score was 12-3 and the Mariners didn't stand a chance in hell of overcoming that deficit.

They are off tonight so I'll have to find some other way to entertain myself.

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No, "our" government still hasn't figured out how to work together and solve something as simple as paying our bills.

And when things come to a screeching halt, the only people hurt will be old people on Social Security, military personnel & their families and all the clerks that work in all the various government offices.

You know who won't be hurt? Congressmen, Senators and the President. They will all still receive their paychecks even though they didn't earn them.

They will receive their paychecks because of the 27^th amendment that says:

No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of representatives shall have intervened.

In other words, the only way to "vary" or change their pay is to have an election of new representatives.

Interestingly enough, the purpose of the 27^th was to prevent a sitting congress from giving itself a raise. Instead, it now provides a way for them to get paid should the government fail to pay its debts.

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We need to figure out what to do about dinner and I need to figure out what I'm going to watch tonight.

While I do all that figuring, you can visit these:

• I have a feeling he's not gonna like being in prison.



• Key phrase in this story: "The snakes were surprisingly nonaggressive but fairly large."



• Crime is rampant in Spartansburg, Pennsylvania.



• This is probably the best thing to happen to them.



• Key phrase in this story: "...civil defense officers in hard hats chasing the elusive bird around the tracks with brooms..."



• Back in my day, they just called in a bomb threat.

That was a pleasant change

The Red Sox managed snap their four-game losing streak last night by hitting the ball and scoring runs.

Pivetta was okay. Not great but good enough to hold off the Mariners through four innings. The Red Sox took a four run lead in the first inning but Pivetta gave up four earned runs in the fourth, tieing the game.

Pivetta came back out in the fifth and took care of the Mariners. The Red Sox hitters managed to drive three runs in, giving Pivetta a lead after five. He came out and face one batter in the sixth before being pulled with one out.

The bullpen did a great job and the hitters kept scoring runs. The game ended with the Red Sox winning 9-4.

They have one more game against the Mariners tonight and tomorrow they head off on a two week trip to the west coast where they will play three games against the Padres, three games against the Angles and three games against the Diamondbacks

They still need to dig themselves out of last place in the ALEast but I'll take wins when they get them.

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In hockey news, the conference finals are set and the games start tomorrow night:

The first game is tomorrow night when the Panthers will play the Hurricanes. On Friday night, the Stars will play the Golden Knights.

The winners of each of those best-of-seven series will play each other in the Stanley Cup finals.

I will never understand the Bruins collapse in round one...

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The US Supreme Court turned down a request by a gun rights group in Illinois to overturn a state law banning "assault-style weapons".

Two things to say about that:

1. What the hell are "assault-style" weapons? That is the most non-descript description ever. Anything can be an assault weapon.
2. The US Supreme Court made it clear that the states have jurisdiction over their domains when they overturned Roe v Wade.

The Illinois state laws do not ban firearms, they ban what I assume are semi-automatic rapid fire Armalite-style rifles. And for the record, the "AR" in AR-15 stands for Armalite Rifle, not assault rifle.

The republicans may soon regret stacking the deck because those judges don't seem to me like they are lap dogs for the republican party.

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Here are some links you can enjoy while I watch baseball:

• They are also all on my nuisance kill list.



• Surfing Gator would be a fantastic name for a 1970s song by Jerry Reed featuring the Beach Boys.



• I call bullshit. Absolutely no one I know does this.



• Apparently he was not only drunk, he was also wearing a lego head.



• The Yankees are always very quick to accuse other teams of cheating when in reality they cheat all the time.



• He's going to jail over some used pants and shirts.

They are in full-blown-suck mode

The Red Sox lost last night and I can't even begin to explain it.

Houck actually had a decent outing, going six and a third innings, giving up a two-run homer and two hits before being taken out. Then the bullpen imploded. Again.

I'm not even going to list who did what. Suffice to say that when the game ended, the score was 10-1 in favor of the Mariners.

They are back at it again tonight with Pivetta taking the mound at 7:10.

Yes, I will watch. They may suck right now but I am not a fair-weather fan. I'll watch them win and I'll watch them lose.

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I made some barbeque chicken tonight. It was good.

You can visit these links while I watch baseball:

• Republicans: They can't even get clarity on who is endorsing who...



• Democrats: Despite controlling the White House & Congress and splitting control evenly with the Senate, they still can't get anything done...



• Personally, I am not shocked by this. She always struck me as one of those, "I'm right, your wrong. Do as I say, not as I do" types. She was the one who told her office to not prosecute low-level crimes which in turn led to a lot more high-level crimes. You know the huge increase in shoplifting at CVS and Walgreens? You can thank her.



• Australia: Blah, blah, blah.



• Key entry from our favorite police log: "4:23 p.m. Someone accidentally dialed 911 while discussing the best model Subaru to purchase."



• Driving High with Squirrels would be a great name for a 1970s high school garage band.

They got swept

Kluber did not have a good outing last night and neither did the bullpen.

Kluber went five innings, gave up four earned runs, walked three and struck out five.

Bernardino went half an inning, gave up two earned runs, walked one and struck out one.

Braiser went two and a half innings, gave up three earned runs, no walks and struck out two.

Bleier went one inning, gave up zero runs, walked none and struck out none.

The hitters weren't doing very well either scoring only one run in the first inning.

When the game ended, the Cardinals won 9-1 and they went home with a three-game sweep of the Red Sox

The Red Sox DFAd Braiser and I won't be surprised if some other team picks him up. If not, maybe I'll get to see him pitch in Worcester.

Today they start a three-game series against the Mariners. I'm really hoping this series goes better than the last.

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In another episode of "I Get The Best Spam", we see something that worries me a bit:

That one invitation to "Find Paid-Clinical-Trials In Your Area" is not only a bit odd, it's also kinda scary.

If you get one of those, don't go signing up for any paid clinical trials. Last thing you need is to become a testbed for some scam artist.

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I guess we're gonna finish up the leftover chinese food for dinner and then watch some baseball.

And by "we", I mean me. The Professor could care less about baseball.

Enjoy these links:

• You know what? You sell beer. Your clientel aren't exactly suave, worldly, social justice warriors. They are, for the most part, rednecks and fat old guys. Stick with the hotties in bikini's...



• Yes, alcohol was involved.



• This guy is full-tilt bozos. He's crazier than Trump.



• Key phrase in this story: "...cocaine flew from under the rubber stomach she was wearing."



• I've been to Pennsylvania. Someone will shot this thing the first time it makes a move.



• Australia: Getting weirder everyday.

Happy Mothers Day to all you mothers

I hope all you moms out there had a nice day.

I know my wife spent the day with my daughter doing whatever it is that they do when I'm not with them. The boys sent their Happy Mothers Day text messages / phone calls this morning.

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Sale went eight innings last night, giving up one earned run and walking one batter while striking out nine. In other words, he had a fantastic outing and when he left the game after the eighth inning, the score was 3-1 in favor of the Red Sox.

Then they brought in Jansen and he just failed miserably. He pitched one inning, gave up 2 earned runs and one unearned run. When the game ended, the Cardinals ended up winning 4-3.

Not sure what is going on with Jansen because up until the other day, he has been lights out. I can't help but wonder if maybe he has something wrong.

Tonight's game is listed as starting at 7:10 but since it's on ESPN, I suspect it will start sometime around 7:30 or so.

Kluber is the starter.

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I spent quite a bit of time trying to take the old grill apart so I can dispose of it. Unfortunately it is so rusted that the bolts holding it together don't want to come out. I have to spray a little WD-40 on them, let them sit and then try to get them out. When that doesn't work, I have to cut the metal around them.

No matter what, it's a pain in the ass and it turns out I don't have enough room in my barrel to dispose of it all at once anyways

Guess I'll be doing this for the next few weeks.

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Enjoy these few links I found:

• Turns out playing baseball can be dangerous.



• Speaking of baseball: I can't wait to see this kid play.



• Again, I have to ask, "Why is this person allowed to govern?"



• Never bring a sword to a gun fight...



• This is why my idea of camping involves a Marriott or a Hilton.



• Oh Canada.

Yet another busy day

Many things got done today. It was a multi-step kind of day.

Step 1: Go grocery shopping.
Step 2: Mow the lawn.
Step 3: Clean the porch screens.
Step 4: Replace the screens that didn't survive the winter.
Step 5: Get the porch ready for its summer finery.
Step 6: Watch the Red Sox.

Now you know how I spent my day.

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Speaking of the Red Sox, Paxton had a great game last night, going five innings, giving up two earned runs, walking one batter and striking out nine. When he left the game, the Red Sox were winning 4-2.

Then the bullpen imploded...

Winckowski, who has been stellar in his last few outings, just didn't have it last night and he gave up three earned runs in only half an inning. Jansen didn't have it either. He faced only three batters and gave up three earned runs.

In the end, the Cardinals won the game 8-6.

As for today, the game started at 4:10. Right now it is the bottom of the sixth inning and the Red Sox are up 3-0

Sale is pitching really well.

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This is what I like about my state representative:

He sends a birthday note to me every year. It's not that I think I'm special because I'm pretty sure he sends a birthday note to every one of his constituents. Still, all things considered, the man goes out of his way to say happy birthday.

If I need something from the state government, I reach out to him and he always either calls me back or emails me.

I have always and I will always vote for him. He is not a bullshit artist who pretends he is concerned about your needs. He genuinely gives a shit about us.

All politicians should be like him.

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I'm going to watch the rest of this game and then see if there is anything on the golf channel worth watching.

Here are some links:

• Only in Florida.



• I tried watching pickleball on television. It's slow-motion tennis.



• Key phrase in this story: "The boy's mom eventually came outside..."



• I have no idea how you accidentally shoot yourself.



• I'm thinking someone watched a little too much Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.



• If you are riding a motorcycle, you have to be a special kind of stupid to break-check someone in a car.

Busy day

I spent my morning hunting for painters who can paint our house and then I spent my afternoon turning all of this:

Into this:

So I could get rid of this:

My 15 year old Kenmore gas grill finally rusted through and I noticed flaming grease was dripping on the propane tank. That didn't seem like a good thing so we ran over and picked up a nice new Weber.

If I can get 15 years out of this one, I'll be happy.

I'll probably also be dead so it won't really matter how happy I am.

⧫
The Cardinals are in Boston to play a three-game series against the Red Sox. We finally get to see James Paxton pitch and I for one am hoping to see him pitch well. He has been hyped up by the coaches as being a hell of a pitcher but he hasn't pitched in the majors since 2021. He's gonna be rusty.

While I watch that game, you can check these out:

• Key phrase in this story: "...we want to express our gratitude to the cows for their assistance."



• Queue Tim the Enchanter: "For death awaits you all with nasty big pointy teeth!"



• This is why you should never leave your drink unattended.



• Not my circus, not my monkey.



• I usually just pack clothes and a toothbrush.



• They sound like fun people.

They did not suck.

Bello had a great outing last night. He went six innings, giving up two earned runs, striking out five and walking one. The bullpen finished up with no additional runs. That includes Jansen, the closer, who managed to rack up his 400^th career save.

The Red Sox hitters remembered one of my favorite sayings - the team that wins is the one that steps on home plate the most times. They hit the ball to parts of the field where there were no Braves defensive players and they managed to step on home plate more than the Braves did.

In the end, the Red Sox won the game 5-2, splitting the series with the Braves and moving back into third place in the ALEast.

They are off today and tomorrow they start a three-game series against the Cardinals.

⧫
Tonight at midnight, the order known as "Title 42" will expire and the U.S. Border Patrol will no longer be authorized to immediately send migrants back across the border. Instead, the old rule known as "Title 8" will go back into effect and anyone who makes it across the border will be given the opportunity to explain why they crossed into the U.S.

Now on the surface, this looks like no big deal. The only difference is they get to ask for asylum and explain why they deserve it. Right?

Yes, that is true, but that's not the major difference.

The big difference is that under Title 42, there was no penalty associated with crossing the border. The Border Patrol would send them back into Mexico and they could turn around and cross the border again. And again. And again...

Under Title 8, anyone crossing the border without cause is subject to an expedited removal from the U.S. and is not allowed to seek asylum for at least five years.

So basically, all this news about this change is hysteria & hyperbole and it's driving migrants to suddenly storm the border for fear of facing the penalties under Title 8.

Once again, I feel compelled to state that the media should shut up.

Oh, and one other thing. If you ever wonder why the cost of lettuce or strawberries or new home construction has skyrocketed, it's because we no longer have a large pool of "undocumented workers" available to work for low wages.

Let's face it, there aren't any Americans willing to pick crops or swing a hammer for minimum wage.

⧫
Why is this person allowed to govern? She can't put a coherent sentence together but she's allowed to make decisions that effect all of us? How is that right?

Then again, we had Trump in office for four years and we managed to survive his insanity so I guess it really doesn't matter.

⧫
I need to find some entertainment for this evening. Maybe I'll watch the Rays / Yankees game. I'd like to see the Yankees win and knock the Rays down a peg.

Here are some links:

• Bo Knows...



• Australia: Blah, blah, blah.



• And all they keep hearing is, "What time are you coming home?"



• This is what drugs will do to you. That is one very rough looking 33 year old woman...



• The only thing you need to know about this story is: "Toilet Go-Kart."



• I have never understood the difference between the little boy and the little girl.

They sucked

The Red Sox hitters couldn't figure out the Braves pitcher, Morton, and the Braves hitters had no problem figuring out the Red Sox pitcher, Pivetta.

Pivetta went four innings, giving up seven earned runs and three walks while only striking out two batters. It was not a good night for him.

As for the Red Sox batters, they were hitting the ball but just couldn't seem to keep the line moving and get guys to the plate.

In the end, the final score was 9-3 Braves.

Hopefully this evening goes better for Bello and the Red Sox.

⧫
There is some rumblings going on about some possible misdoings in the Biden family. Specifically, someone is making accusations that several members of the Biden family had taken money from foreign entities while Biden was vice president.

According to some news sites, those are very serious accusations and they should be investigated.

Okay, let's investigate them:

A business being run by a member of the Biden's family conducted business in a foreign country. I'm pretty sure that is what businesses do - conduct business. And by conducting business all over the world, that business increases it's customer base, thus assuring it has a steady flow of income.

There, the investigation is over.

Can you guys talk about something else for a while? This whole "Hunter Biden Laptop / Business Dealings" storyline has lost it's shine and you really should find something else to look into.

⧫
Once again, I need to figure out what to have for dinner and then settle in to watch baseball.

While I do that, you can do these:

• Looks like Tommy Flanagan might have a date with a jury.



• I guess Donald "Better than Lincoln. Better than Washington" Trump might have changed his mind about the "fake news network"...
  I love this guy, he's the gift that keeps on giving



• I remember when professional sports teams stayed away from Vegas because of the whole gambling thing. Now they have a hockey team, a football team and a baseball team.



• Key phrase in this story: "But there’s always someone ready to complain about someone else."



• Poisonous Hairs would be a fantastic name for a punk rock band from any time period.



• She went from Prime Minister to hot single chick in one short year.

I've been invaded

Apparently there are Baltimore Orioles living in the trees behind my house and man are they loud.

And no, I'm not talking about the baseball team. I'm talking about the birds.

Here's a crappy video I managed to capture of two of them talking to each other.

Trust me, you won't see them but you'll hear them...

⧫
One problem with having your lawn fertilized is it grows and right now it's growing very quickly. Despite mowing it on Friday last week, I had to mow it again today.

Granted the reason I wanted to mow it today was because I'm trying to avoid bagging the clippings and if I let it get too long, I'll be forced to bag them.

Still, if I have to mow it every four days, I'm gonna need to buy a bigger gasoline container.

⧫
Now I'm going to figure out what to make for dinner and then I'm going to watch baseball.

While I do that, you can check these links out:

• Here's a little something to make you smile.



• I can't wait to see what he twits about this.



• I'm really enjoying the stuff coming from The James Webb Space Telescope.



• Key phrase in this story that should result in him getting the death penalty even though the girl lived: "...he opened fire after seeing 'shadows'."



• I guess we're now different than the rest of the world. We got nutcases in my town too.



• Only in Florida.



• Key phrase in the story: Lemelle recommended that Hamilton be evaluated while in prison for substance abuse and 'physical and mental health issues'."



• Something tells me Psycho Vlad is not a happy person.



• Yes, alcohol was involved.

No sportings today.

The Red Sox are off today, the Rays are playing the Orioles and the Yankees are playing the Athletics. That means it's highly likely that the Red Sox will remain in fourth place in the ALEast.

Hopefully tomorrow they get back on the winning track but realistically, the Braves are the number one team in the National League and have been on fire lately. Since it's a two-game series, I'd be happy with a split.

⧫
The Professor and The Vet pointed out several small trees in our yard that I needed to dig up, put into pots and make ready for shipment over to The Vet's house. I moved two of them the other day and she planted them in her backyard.

I dug up another one today and it was a pain in the ass. Seems it was growing in a very rocky spot and digging rocks kinda sucks.

I also popped out several tiny trees that looked to be about a season old and put them into a pot. She's going to put them into pots at her house and nurse them through the "I'm no bigger than a blade of grass!" stage.

In a few years, she's going to have a grove of some nice flowering tree in her backyard.

⧫
So now I'm going to figure out what to have for dinner and see if I have any DVRs to entertain me.

Here are some links for you to poke at:

• That must have been a pretty powerful fart.



• He really wasn't all that funny.



• Key phrase in this story: "Thank god the policewoman had a cigarette."



• Oh Canada.



• Holy Shit! Bet he had to go change his shorts after that.



• Ouch.

Wins are good.

The Red Sox won last night, beating the Phillies 7-4 and winning two of the three games against the Phillies. Unfortunately they couldn't complete the sweep, losing today's game 6-1.

Houck pitched okay, going five & a half innings and giving up three earned runs. The bullpen didn 't do so well, giving up another three earned runs over the remaining three innings

In other Red Sox news, it looks like Dalbec is back for a little while. Hopefully during his time in Worcester, he has learned how to hit the ball.

They also picked up a new guy named Littell. He is a pitcher who has been in the major leagues since 2018. He hit free agency last year and signed with the Rangers but they couldn't find a way to make room for him on the roster. The Red Sox traded for him and now he's on their roster.

I feel compelled to note that of the three earned runs the bullpen gave up today, two of them were Littell's....

They are off tomorrow while they travel to Atlanta for a two-game series.

⧫
So a nut job went off the deep end and killed a lot of people in Texas. I really hope it's only a matter of time before the government finally does something about this. There are too many incidents of this kind of thing.

Oh, you thought I was talking about the guy who shot and killed a bunch of people the other day?

Well I am. I'm also talking about the guy who ran down and killed a bunch of people today.

It's not the guns and it's not the cars, it's the people. Let's start talking about the people instead of the tools they use to kill us. Let's do something about the people.

⧫
Dinner is done and golf is on.

While I enjoy that, you can enjoy these:

• Growing up, he was one of my hero's.



• I hope she had a good time wandering around and enjoying the scenery.



• I think I'll just use DuckDuckGo.



• This is not why they invented the internet.



• Key phrase in this story: "...our current card system is not the most secure and having more machines would pose a risk."

Another win

The Red Sox beat the Phillies last night 5-3. Sale had a great night, going six innings and giving up three earned runs. The bullpen gave up no runs and in the end, the Red Sox won the game 5-3.

On another note, the Yankees got beat by the Rays last night and they are in the process of getting beat by them again this Afternoon. As I type, it is the 8^th inning and the Rays are up 2-0. I'm actually hoping the Yankees win just to knock some overconfidence out of the Rays players.

So the Red Sox are now in third place in the American League:

They play game two of their three-game series against the Phillies this evening. First pitch is at 7:10 but since freakin' FOX is carrying the game, it'll probably get thrown around 7:30.

⧫
We got some stuff done in the yard today so I didn't have a lot of time for interwebbing.

Here are some links:

• Big Eared Chuck is the biggest waste of time and money on the planet.



• During one of my many business trips, I was in Kentucky and I went to see Churchill Downs. It's a shithole. I also went to the Wild Turkey distillery and got some booze for my buddy Willie. It was not a shithole.



• Australia: What doesn't try to kill ya just want's to help you clean your house.



• Yes, alcohol was involved.



• Key phrase in this story: "...left tied up in the woods when a sex game went awry..."

It's a four-game sweep!

Once again, everyone had a great game yesterday and the Red Sox swept the Blue Jays.

Bello went 5 innings, striking out five batters and giving up only two earned runs. The bullpen held its own, giving up three more earned runs but that was not enough for the Blue Jays to overcome the eleven runs the Red Sox hitters drove across the plate.

The Red Sox have now moved into third place in the ALEast:

What is even better is that they have moved into fourth place in the American League:

Tonight they start a three-game series against the Phillies. First pitch is at 7:05pm.

⧫
I found this yesterday during the whole "May The Fourth Be With You" thing the internet does and I thought it was a fairly good description of my life:

⧫
The Professor has suggested that we have taco's in honor of Cinco de Mayo. I think we should have taco's anytime we want.

I'm gonna go brown up some hamburger and turn it into some excellent taco filling. Then I'm going to watch some baseball.

Here are some links:

• The British have a unique way of making their feelings known.



• After watching this, I'm pretty sure we don't have to worry about AI taking over any time in the near future.



• I tried coming up with a funny line about the people who invented golf but I can't figure out how to connect the two.



• I can't help but wonder if The Sopranos aren't somehow involved in this.



• Something tells me "your average nude gardener" don't look anything at all like the woman in the picture.

Everyone is the best

The Red Sox won again last night, taking the first three games of their four-game series against the Blue Jays. Turns out that pretty much everyone had a great game.

Pivetta struck out six and gave up three earned runs over six innings, the bullpen finished up the remaining three innings, giving up only one hit and no runs.

The hitters were hitting the ball to parts of the field where there were no Blue Jays players, getting on base and stepping on home plate with regularity.

Despite being a long game (3+ hours), when it finally ended, the Red Sox beat the Blue Jays 8-3 and I was still awake to see the final out.

Tonight is the final game of this series. First pitch is at 6:10.

⧫
Busy day today.

I took my car over to get the oil changed and they discovered that some nefarious critter had chewed a hole in some vital system. Basically, it's a one inch hole in a four inch long tube that has something to do with air flow to the engine.

So anyways, after my oil change and conversation about when the replacement part will arrive and when I can bring the car back, I headed over to Lowes to pick up some stuff to run a couple more ethernet lines for the animal clinic. Then it was over the clinic to run the aforementioned lines.

The new lines took a little over an hour to put in and test. Then it was home to get some food that I shared with The Dog. According to her owner, I spoil her. And you know what? My daughter is correct right, I do spoil her dog. I like her dog.

⧫
So anyways, the ball game is on soon and I'm going to watch that.

You can enjoy these if you want:

• Seems like Psycho Vlad is extra-psycho lately. I wonder when he'll blame the US for this.



• Apparently we don't say "homeless" anymore. Now we say "unhoused". I think we should start calling politicians "societal leeches".



• Key phrase in this story: "We're patching holes as fast as we can."



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

Wong is the best

Last night it was Wong who was hitting the ball out of the park and winning the game.

The Red Sox beat the Blue Jays 7-6 which means the worst they can do is split the series. I would like to see them win tonight and win the series because it would bring me joy.

Pivetta is on the mound. His last start wasn't his best so hopefully he is on his game tonight.

⧫
Has anyone else been reading the commentary about the Biden administrations move to increase interest rates for people that have good credit so the people with bad credit can get lower interest rates? If not, you should pay attention to what I'm about to tell you.

It's not interest rates that are being raised or lowered, it is the fees the FreddieMac and FannieMae charge. Basically, they are trying to get people with bad credit a better shot at home ownership. They figure if they lower the fees for some people and raise the fees for other people, they will bring "equity" to the market.

Let me say this about that: Bullshit.

In the first place, no bank is going to lower fees for someone just because they can charge higher fees to someone else. They will charge everyone the same fees and take the savings they get from Freddie and Fannie as an increase in their profits. This will result in higher bonuses for the executives.

In the second place, does no one in this administration remember the Clinton-era policies of giving favorable rates to impoverished areas of the country? It led to what was known as a "housing bubble" where there were so many home buyers that house prices rose throughout the 1990s and into the early 2000s. Then, in 2006, the bubble popped, the market collapsed and house values plummeted.

When the housing market collapsed, all of those mortgages were now more than the value of the houses they covered. We called those loans "subprime" because they were below the standard rate, they were for more than the house was worth and the people had no way of paying them back. That meant banks were foreclosing on houses like there was no end in sight.

The upside to all of that is that when the government finally got it's head out of it's ass and stopped the policy that allowed banks to lend money to people that couldn't pay it back, it was too late and people with good credit were snapping up million dollar homes in Florida for pennies on the dollar.

Seems to me that Goofy Joe is in the process of causing another housing crisis like the one in 2007. He wants to lend money to people with no way of paying it back. That will increase the number of buyers in a market that already has limited supply. When those people start defaulting on their loans and the housing values begin to plummet, it will be too late to blame him. He will be well out of office and probably shitting his pants in some nursing home somewhere.

⧫
Breakfast for dinner - french toast, sausages and scrambled eggs.

I'm going to watch some baseball.

Here are some links:

• Key phrase in this story: "I would take anything coming out of the Kremlin with a very large shaker of salt."



• I was wrong. He wasn't in Mexico, he was in the closet.



• Meet the luckiest man alive.



• Oh Canada.



• Only in Florida.



• This is a new one. He doesn't have "mental issues", he has "messed up medication"...