They lost the series

The Red Sox lost to the Giants in eleven innings last night, getting beat 4-3.

I really thought they were going to win when they were up 3-2 in the eighth but the Giants tied it in the ninth and pushed the game into extra innings. Since it was a bullpen game, they just didn't have much in the way of strong pitching available and they just couldn't hold them.

But that wasn't why they lost.

They lost because they just couldn't push a run across home plate when they needed to.

They really need pitching but the offense needs to step it up and start scoring runs.

They are now in Seattle for a three-game series against the Mariners starting tonight at 9:30.

No, I won't be watching the game. I might catch the first inning but after this weekend of driving and partying, I'm kinda beat and probably won't make it to see 10:00.
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I'm going to try and stay awake to see an inning.

You can check these out:

• He's probably pulling one off in heaven.



• Oops.



• If this happens, I'm not gonna like it.



• Maybe we'll see more of this. It is, as far as I'm concerned, the answer to climate change.



• Key phrase in this story: "Particularly in the Western world, we do see a lot of polarization in society."

Heck of a weekend

My "busy-ness" this weekend consisted of a long drive to Portland, Maine so we could particpate in our youngest offsprings wedding ceremony.

It was a great event with all of our family in attendance. We all had a great time, including the bride and groom, which are the ones that should have a great time. I'm betting it would suck to not have a good time on your wedding day.

On a side note, as we were driving through New Hampshire, about to cross into Maine, I realized that I had never been to Maine. It's a lot like the rest of the New England states except they say "ay-yup" a lot.

Just kidding. We were in Portland. I never once heard anyone say ""ay-yup" Nobody from Maine goes to Portland. It was full of cars and people from New York, Ohio, Florida, Massachusetts, Wyoming, etc...

I suspect the residents of Maine stay the hell away from all the non-Mainers during the tourist season. I also suspect they say "ay-yup" to each other when we aren't around.

This was the view from our hotel window:

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I was not able to watch any of the Red Sox last night because my son and I decided it would be a bad idea to slip away from our wives and watch baseball.

Unfortunately, the Giants were able to take game two of the three-game series, beating the Red Sox 3-2. Also unfortunate is the fact the Aaron Judges managed to beat the Orioles, closing the gap between them and the Red Sox to one game.

Today's game started at 4:00 and I was home in time to watch the first pitch. As I post this, they are in the middle of the 3^rd inning and the score is 1-0 in favor of the Giants.

Bernardino was the opener (yes, it's another bullpen game). He did pretty well the first inning but the second inning kind of suckecd. He hit the first two batters and the third batter dropped a bunt down, loading the bases with no outs.

Schreiber was up next and he managed to give up a hit to third. Devers got the runner going to third out but the runner going home scored. The next hitter drove a ball out to center that looked like it was going to drop but Duvall made the catch and then threw in to second base for a double play.

The Red Sox need to win this game. They are knocking on the door of a wild card slot, only two and a half games behind both of the current wild card holders, the Blue Jays and the Astros.

I would love to see them get into playoff contention soon.

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I'm going to toss some burgers on the grill and enjoy an early dinner.

You should check these out:

• Only in Florida.



• Parachuting Beavers would be a great name for a 1950s rock-a-billy band.



• Someone will do this simply because there are a lot of idiots living among us.



• Like I just said, there are a lot of idiots living among us.

Got a break in the busy-ness

The Red Sox managed to hold off the Giants last night, beating them 3-2.

I managed to watch a couple of innings before falling asleep and it looked like Crawford was pitching pretty well. A check of the box score shows he went five and two thirds innings, giving up one earned run and striking out seven. So yea, he pitched pretty well.

Tonight's game is at 7:00 so maybe I'll see more than an inning or two. Or not. Depends on the busy-ness factor.

In other baseball news, the New York Aaron Judges got beat 1-0 by the Orioles and are now two full games behind the Red Sox.

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Nope. Still not high enough...

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And suddenly my busy-ness break is over with.

I did have time to go link hunting for you:

• Oh Canada.



• Presenting this episodes Brilliant Criminal of the Week.



• Key phrase in this story: "Moscow has so far made no public comments on the issue."



• Stop. Just stop. Barbie might be a hit but there is absolutely no demand for this shit.



• What kind of anal-retentive, uptight a-hole complains about ice cream truck music?



• Oh Canada, Part II.

Busy day

Extra busy day today and tomorrow looks just as busy.

Here's a picture I found that made me laugh out loud:

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Have an enjoyable evening.

Sweep!

The Red Sox beat the Braves 5-3 last night, sweeping the best team in MLB!

Bello pitched okay, going six innings and giving up three earned runs. I say "okay" because that's actually pretty good pitching but not his usual excellence.

The bullpen stepped up and did a great job, holding the Braves to just those three runs and the batters managed to move the baserunners along, scoring five runs in those last innings to win the game.

They are off tonight while they travel to San Francisco where they will play a three-game series against the Giants starting tomorrow.

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For a brief period this afternoon, we got our ass kicked.

Right after I took that picture, the skies opened and the winds ramped up to Holy Shit! Sure hope my gas grill doesn't blow away. speeds.

This is what the radar looked like:

Yes, the purple is over my house...

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Leftover for dinner and DVRs for entertainment.

Here are some links:

• Yesterday I linkd to a story about McConnell and I said, "We've got far too many doddering old fools in our government."
  Well, what can I say except, "I rest my case."



• Imagine being up there, chatting aweay with Houston (or wherever) and suddenly you got nothing.



• This is why they invented to internet.



• Pons-Brooks and the Horny Comet would be a great name for a 1990s childrens book that was written for adults.



• I've said it before and I'll say it again: Companies should stick with business and stay the hell out of social issues.



• I gotta be honest with you, if the Patriots were to drop Mac Jones and go with Bailey Zappe, I would not be disappointed.



• Another reason I won't buy a Tesla.
  Well, that and the exploding battery thing.

Nice win last night

Schreiber opened the game going one inning and gave up one earned run. Then Pivetta came in, went five innings and gave up zero runs. This meant the Red Sox beat the Braves 7-1.

I did not know that until I woke up this morning because there was an hour & a half rain delay and I was only able to watch five innings before I went to bed.

Tonight is a normal game with Bello on the mound and no rain predicted. I'm hoping that Bello is in his usual groove and I'm also hoping to see all nine innings.

Oh, and the Yankees lost last night which means the Red Sox are now in sole possession of fourth place in the ALEast, one and a half games behind the Blue Jays and the third wild card slot.

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We have some very aggressive humingbirds living in our yard.

Those little shits think nothing of chasing other after other birds that are easily three or four times their size. I watch one actually fly into the back of a sparrow.

I'm no bird expert but I did look up humingbirds in Massachusetts and based on pictures I found, these appear to be Calliope Humingbirds, the smallest breeding bird in north America.

For such a small bird, it sure is pushy. They are also not willing to stick around to be photographed by an old guy with an iPhone. Whenever I open the door, they fly off at what seems to be supersonic speed.

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Tonight I will be preparing cheese burgers and corn-on-the-cob.

Then I'll watch some baseball.

You can check these out:

• We need term limits. If not term limits then at least age limits. We've got far too many doddering old fools in our government.



• I've heard several stories about electric cars bursting into flames. Those lithium batteries are a firefighter's nightmare.



• Key phrase in this possible bad decision by the Red Sox: "...the right-hander has been awful this season..."



• This sounds awful.



• Sometimes the Chinese seem a bit odd to me.



• I'm not going to tell you what I think Tapping Beavers would be a great name for...

Old guy lunch day

Today was the monthly (or there about) lunch with the fellow retirees. I call us the ROMEO's - Retired Old Men Eating Out.

We are basically a bunch of "Statler and Waldorf's", sitting around, talking about our kids, the news, politics, our latest ailments, who we know that has died and who we know that is still alive.

It's fun.

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I remember the good old days when political parties had a strategy that involved finding the best candidate and then putting on the best campaign they could. The winner would get the office and the loser would ride off into the sunset.

Nowadays they have a new strategy. It's the "We lost the election but instead of finding a better candidate or putting together a better campaign strategy, we're gonna accuse the winner of unethical behavior or a crime and attempt to get them tossed out of office."

The democrats did it with Trump and the republicans are doing it with Biden.

That, my friends, is the worst possible way to decide who should run this country.

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Looks like today is another bullpen game for the Red Sox. They just announced that Schreiber will be the opener and that might be a good thing because the last time he faced the Braves, he went two innings and gave up zero hits.

The Braves, however, have announced their starting pitcher is Charlie Morton.

I seem to recall that Morton is a pretty damned good pitcher.

Oh well, guess I'll just have to wait and see how things go this evening.

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In hockey news, Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron announced that he is retiring from the NHL.

I gotta say that he is going to be missed but it's time. He spent 19 years playing his heart out in a professional sport that damages the body almost as badly as football.

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Lasgna and baseball - it's a good way to end my day.

Here are some links for you:

• Qin is out. Wang is in.



• Gravity Hole and The Plumes of Lava would be a great name for a 1980s big-hair girl band.



• Key line in this story: "...it will attempt to get the former president to pay in advance this time for Saturday’s 6 p.m. rally..."



• It's time for Boone to go and this may be the first step in the transition.



• I'm not sure if this a good idea or a bad idea...



• Key phrase in this story: "Because with enough cheap domestic beer anything is possible..."



• Seems to me that the people who live in Northampton need to get jobs or something. They sure have a lot of free time on their hands.

Good win last night

The Red Sox bullpen did a good job last night, holding the Mets to six hits and only one run. They beat the Mets 6-1 and are once again tied for last place with the Yankees.

And speaking of the Yankees, apparently Aaron Judge will be coming off the DL in the near future. I know this because ESPN wrote an article about his recovery and how great he was during the 2022 season.

The New York Aaron Judges will be back soon.

As for the Red Sox, they have an off day today while the best team in the MLB, the Atlanta Braves, travels to Boston. The Red Sox will play a two-game series against the Braves on Tues and Weds before heading to the left coast where they will first play the Giants and then the Mariners.

I'm hoping they sweep the Braves but I'll be happy if they split the series. Anything but losing both games...

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In case you were interested, we are not experiencing drought or abnormally dry conditions:

Not only are we not dry, I would go so far as to say we are extra wet...

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I had my annual visit with my doctor today and it was kinda interesting. Apparently Medicare has requirements.

The first requirement they had is that I needed to fill out a three page form that with a lot of interesting questions.

First thing was they asked me to do was draw a clock showing 11:10. It also asked me if I fell down a lot or if I had anyone that could take care of me. Basically they asked a lot of questions that led me to believe they were trying to find out if I was ready to be institutionalised in some kind of nursing home.

The form was followed up by two more requirements: I got an EKG and then an eye exam.

I asked my doc if this was something they required because they think we're all infirmed? His response to me was, "Well, you are one of those folks that doesn't have medical problems. You would be surprised by the things we see in people over 60."

Look, I get it; Medicare works with the lowest common denominator and a lot of people my age have issues but I don't have those issues. I have carpal tunnel problems but that's it.

So yea, I got the carpal. After 30+ years working with computers, doing repetitive work on keyboards without so much as a twitch, I suddenly find myself with a left arm and hand that periodically goes numb on me for no reason at all.

Since I was very clear that I did not want surgery, he suggested I go get one of those wrist braces and wear it as often as possible, including when I'm asleep.

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Me and my carpal nerve thing are going to go eat some leftovers and then find something to watch on television.

You can visit these links if you want:

• Propaganda at its best: When Russia attacks Ukraine, it's a "special military action" but when Ukraine fights back, it's a "terrorist attack".



• Apparently one of Jupiter's moons, Ganymede, is perfect for peroxide blondes.



• I'm of the opinion that there is no reason for talks. He went there on his own, leave him be.



• Scientists also can't rule out that I am the Emporer of Earth.



• Otter 841 would be a great name for a 1970's sci-fi movie starring Michael York and Farrah Fawcett.



• I wonder what those Trump NFT cards are selling for...

Last place...

With last nights win over the Mets, the Red Sox were once again tied in with the Yankees in last place in the ALEast. At 4:30 this afternoon, the Yankees beat the Roayls and took a half a game lead on the Red Sox.

The Red Sox really need a win tonight to get out of last place.

Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how it goes, tonight's game is a bullpen game. Bernardino will be the "opener" and if he can go two or three innings, the Red Sox stand a chance. First pitch is at 7:10.

Also, the game is on ESPN and I think I've made it clear over the last several years how I feel about ESPN.

I hate ESPN...

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I have all the necessary equipment to teach myself how to weld.

I've always wanted to learn how to weld and through various means, I have acquired a small wire welder, a welding hood, gloves, a chipping hammer and small wire-wheels. The welder is capable of MIG (gas) and flux-core (gasless) but since I don't have a gas bottle, I'll be using flux-core wire. That means a lot of slag, hence the chipping hammer

I need to find some steel to test with and I think I have just the stuff in my garage.

My goal is to see if I can do this without burning down my neighborhood or going blind from looking directly at the arc.

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My buddy Tommy is on his annual pilgrimage to his homeland of Greece and all I keep seeing in the news is that Greece is on fire.

I haven't heard anything from him so hopefully his little town isn't anywhere near the fires. He's on the island of Corfu and from what I can tell, they are okay for now.

Update

I heard from Tommy's wife:

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It's Taco Sunday followed by baseball.

Here are some links that you might want to check out.

• Key line in this story that I agree with: "I don't like it, man. I don't like it. I've seen that play too many times the past two years."



• These assholes are going to start world war three.



• Only in Florida.



• Ladies, sometimes it's best to just leave him be.



• Bear Hunting and the Gallbladder Prostitutes would be a fantastic name for a 1960s western starring James Garner and Jack Elam.



• I can only imagine the amount of flabby, saggy, wrinkled skin you would see on this thing...

Extra baseball today

Last night's baseball game only made it through four innings before the skies opened and it poured buckets. That caused them to first delay and finally postpone the game until today.

That means I get to watch one and half baseball games today.

The last five innings of last nights game were played at 2:00 this afternoon. They started with the score 4-3 in favor of the Mets and finished with the score 5-4 in favor of the Mets, pushing the Red Sox back into last place in the ALEast.

This evening's game will be played at 7:00. Paxton will start and I really hope he brings his "A" game. They need to get back out of last place.

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If I didn't buy a ticket when the Powerball reached $1 billion...

I'm certainly not going to buy a ticket when the Megamillions reaches $820 million.

Maybe when one of these things reaches $2 billion, I'll buy a ticket.

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Between baseball games, I watched the LPGA Great Lakes Bay Invitational. It's a fun format with two golfers per team playing best score.

The problem I have with CBS carrying golf games is they tend to show a lot of people talking about golf instead of people playing golf. They like to show the commentators in the booth blabbing about what some golfer did last week and I hate that.

I didn't turn on the show to watch some bonehead tell me about how he/she would have done something differently than the professional golfer. I turned it on so I could watch the professional golfer.

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The Vet apparently has turkeys living in her woods:

The Dog probably has a bit of a fit when one of them shows up. They're about the same size as she is.

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Time to toss some steaks on the grill and then watch some baseball.

Here are some links for you:

• Remember the other day when I said, "Here's my guess: This is an attention-seeking hoax"? Well, It's looking more and more like I'm right.



• I've said it before and I'll say it again, "It should be perfectly legal to shoot these assholes in the kneecaps."



• Presenting this episodes Brilliant Criminal of the Week.



• Emotional Support Stripper is a terrible job title but I'm betting the soldiers love her.



• Vegas: The Florida of the south west.



• Key phrase in this video: "I just got shat on!"

Insert witty title here

Or don't. It doesn't really matter.

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I'm going to watch some baseball and fall asleep early.

You can check these out if you would like:

• He was great in the movie Analyze This.



• This sounds kinda promising.



• This, on the other hand, sounds kinda bad. Particularly with the recent growth of AI.



• I have no idea why I still live in Massachusetts. It's kind of a shitty place to live.



• Oh Canada.



• It should be perfectly legal to shoot these assholes in the kneecaps.

No, I wasn't in L.A.

Someone in Los Angeles is very, very rich.

There was a single winning Powerball ticket sold at the Las Palmitas Mini Market at 1205 Wall St. Los Angeles, California.

I point this out because that particular area of Los Angeles is essentially what we used to call a ghetto or a slum. It is just down the road from several homeless encampments which means there is a very real possibility that someone has just gone from sleeping in a cardboard box to billionaire.

Oh, and the owner of the mini market gets a million dollars just for selling that ticket.

And that, my friends, is what the lottery is all about.

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Fifty four years ago today, Buzz Aldrin took a picture of Neil Armstrong.

To celebrate that accomplishment, I waited in a very long line to get my car inspected.

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The Yankees lost yesterday so the Red Sox remain one game ahead of them and out of last place.

No baseball for the Red Sox tonight while they travel back to Boston before starting a three game series against the Mets tomorrow evening.

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I'm going to toss a bunch of hot dogs on the grill and then watch some Storage Wars I have on the DVR.

While I do that, you can check these out:

• For those times you really, really need to get the back fourty tilled and ready for planting.



• They'll release this pill to the public right around the time they bring flying cars to the market...



• Key phrase in this story: "And they’re vocal. Very vocal."



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



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



• Key phrase in this story: "You never know what you'll see on night shift.

I didn't miss much

I watched two innings of last nights Red Sox game and when I went to bed, they were down 3-0 to the Athletics. When I woke up this morning, I discovered the final score was 3-0 in favor of the Athletics.

It was another bullpen night for the Red Sox with Jacques (pronounced "Jakes") going only 1⅓ innings and giving up all three runs. The next three pitchers did pretty well with Murphy going 4⅔ innings, striking out six and giving up zero runs. Rodriguez came in for one inning and he was followed by Bleier in the ninth.

Other than Jacques, the pitching did good. It was the batters who just couldn't get it done. With 32 at-bats during that game, they only managed five hits, one walk and zero runs.

Todays game started at 3:30 which means I'm able to watch the entire game. Bello is the starter and as I post this, they are in the top of the 5^th inning and the score is 6-2 in favor of the Athletics.

I'm really hoping this improves in the Red Sox favor because they need to keep winning.

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Update on the hornets nest:

The ground under the hornets nest is littered with dead bodies.

This has been your update on the hornets nest.

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I turned my air conditioning off last night because the temperatures outside were in the low 70^s and I figured that it was time to get some fresh air in the house.

Turns out that was a mistake.

Everything in my house is clammy because while the temps were in the 70^s, the humidity was around 90%.

Tonight is predicted to be in the upper 60^s so I'll probably turn it off again. That also means I'll probably wake up to a clammy house again.

I hate having a clammy house but having the AC on when it's 65° outside seems kinda dumb to me.

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In other news:

No, I have not bought a ticket.

Yet...

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I'm going to continue watching this game and then figure out what to do about dinner.

You might want to visit these:

• Key phrase in this story: "...urgent research into the consequences of sex in space."
  (Sounds to me like he's begging for someone to work with him...)



• This is why I review my EZPass account activity at least once a month.



• Only in Florida.



• I imagine that Hernandez is a bit nervous. He constantly commits errors and he isn't hitting well at all. He's probably going to end up on the outside looking in.



• This is why I avoid driving on I-95.

Not quite four innings

I made it through three and a half innings last night and apparently I missed a hell of a game by Pivetta.

Since no starters were available, last night was a bullpen night. Bernardino started and pitched a respectable two innings, giving up zero runs and striking out two.

Pivetta came in in the third but I didn't see him because I was busy walking upstairs to go to bed. Turns out he went six innings, gave up zero runs, walked two and struck out thirteen. That, my friends, is some pretty darned good pitching.

The Red Sox won the game 7-0. And while they were beating the Athletics, the Angels were beating the Yankees. That means the Red Sox are now in fourth place in the ALEast, one game ahead of the Yankees.

Oh, and they are also only 1½ games behind the Astros who are currently in the third wildcard spot.

Remember on Sunday when I wrote, "I'm kind of hoping they send Faria back down?"

Well, they didn't send him back to Worcester, they DFAd him. Apparently he didn't have any minor league options so they had to designate him to make room for a returning Bleier.

As for today's game, it is currently 4:00pm, the Red Sox have not announced a starting pitcher.

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I've made it clear that I don't like Trump. I think he is an arrogant, self-centered egotist who does whatever he wants and gets away with extremely unethical behavior simply because he's rich.

Having said that, I'm also pretty sure the democrats are being more unethical in their abuse of power in trying to convict him of a crime.

That has to be the third or fourth attempt to convict him of attempting to overturn an election.

Give it a rest people, you failed two or three times already and this one probably isn't going to go any better. Just stop.

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We have a bald (white) face wasps nest in the lilac tree in our backyard. If you are unfamiliar with white faced wasps, consider yourself lucky. They are the meanest little pieces of shit in the insect world. They make yellow jackets look like friendly pets. They will attack you just for walking by their nest. And their sting is painful. Trust me, I know.

Imagine getting hit by a ball peen hammer that had been preheated to a few thousand degrees.

That is what a sting from one of those little m*erf*ers feels like.

Last night I went out and hit the nest with some foaming hornet spray.

This morning, I went out and saw dozens of corpses on the ground but dozens more flying around so I hit it with a strong dose of that liquid spray, hoping it would penetrate the nest.

This afternoon, I went out and saw another dozen or corpses but I also so what I thought were maybe a few more flying around. That's when I got the garden hose and hit the nest with a full blast.

When it tore open, I could see numerous live hornets come rolling out so I quickly made my way to the porch. I might be a bit crazy but I'm not stupid.

After they had calmed down, and before the storms hit, I went out with more foaming hornet spray and this time, because the nest was already torn open, I'm pretty sure I got all of them.

At least I hope I got all of them. I hate those things.

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I'm going to try for four innings again tonight but hopes are not high. Wish me luck.

Here are some links you may find interesting:

• Safety tip of the day: If you are on a tour of a war zone, don't cross into enemy territory.



• Some people are just plain stupid. Simple as that. It's not a matter of bad luck or confusion or lack of forethought, it's just simple, plain old fashioned stupidity.



• If you watch only one bowling video today, make it this one.



• Only in Florida.



• Here's everything you could ever want to know about taking a dump, dropping the kids off at the pool, pinching off a loaf, dropping a deuce, etc...



• Art: I don't get it.

My lawn is kinda brownish-green

You would think with all the rain we've had over the last few weeks, my lawn would be a lush green color.

You would be wrong.

I'm thinking that no matter what I do, I'm destined to never have a nice lawn.

And you know what? I'm okay with that.

I'll still bitch about it but when all is said and done, it doesn't really matter what kind of lawn I have.

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I'm going to see how many innings of baseball I can watch tonight. My stretch goal is four innings but realistically, I expect to see two.

While I do that, you might want to visit these:

• This means we might see the northern lights and we'll also probably have internet outages.



• I thought this had been cancelled...



• Good for him. He is a great guy who's well liked by all who know him.



• Why do businesses feel compelled to ruin a perfectly good product in order to promote a movie?



• What part of, "Stay away from the 1,000 pound wild animals" do these idiots not understand?



• Key line in this story: "Ok, this is disgusting, but… still incredibly cool.

Another winning streak?

The Red Sox beat the Cubs 11-5 this afternoon and I'm hoping that it's the start of another winning streak. They need another winning streak.

Crawford pitched a great six innings, giving up zero runs and striking out nine batters. The bullpen had an interesting moment when Faria made his big league debut and proceeded to walk four batters in a row to give the Cubs their first run of the game. He ended up giving up five runs over two innings.

They are headed to Oakland to play a three game series against the Athletics. I won't be able to watch two of those games because they won't start until 9:40. I'll probbaly be able to watch two innings before falling asleep. The third and final game out there will start at 3:30 so I will be watching all nine innings of that one.

They also DFAd one of their bullpen pitchers, Scott, this afternoon. He had a terrible outing yesterday and if I never see him on the mound in a Red Sox uniform again, I won't be disappointed. I'm kind of hoping they send Faria back down but I doubt it. They are so short on pitchers that I won't be surprised to see Arroyo take the mound at some point.

Oh, and the Rockies beat the Yankees this afternoon so guess who is once again tied for last place.

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After baseball, I put on the American Century Championship which is a lot of fun to watch simply because it's nice to see those athletes screwing up golf shots as badly as I do.

For the record, Steph Curry managed to win it.

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We went grocery shopping this morning during the height of a massive downpour and I'm here to tell you that if you drove on Rt 20 between Home Depot and Dunkin' Donuts, you are kinda crazy.

There had to be a foot of water on that road.

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Here are a few links:

• I am not shocked by this.



• Here's my guess: This is an attention-seeking hoax.



• Yea, I'm pretty sure I'd get away from it to.



• No, I did not buy a ticket.



• Presenting this episodes Brilliant Criminal of the Year.

Interesting read

I don't do facebook anymore. It got too toxic and too political. Instead of seeing what my friends and family were doing, I was seeing all kinds of crap about how great this politician was and how terrible that politician was and I decided I got enough of that kind of bullshit in the real world, I didn't need it in the digital world.

I bring that up simply because someone sent me a screen capture of this facebook post. Since the person who sent it to me is a fine, upstanding, ethical person, I have no reason to believe it is fake but if you have a facebook account, you can probably go to the Ware, MA Police Department facebook website and verify this is real.

Because of its size, you probably have to click next to it to make it big enough to read. If you click directly on it, it will open it the size it currently is but if you click slightly to the side of it, it will open the original sized jpg:

The key phrase in that lengthy statement is:

"This Bill does not address criminals. Rather it focuses on making criminals out of law-abiding citizens and further hampers police agencies from combating true crime."

Once again, the Massachusetts government thinks the best way combat crime is to turn law abiding citizens into criminals.

Republicans are banning books and democrats are banning guns. I hate them all.

They just keep restricting and squeezing us and if we continue to let them do that, we are going to end up with less rights than a citizen of North Korea

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The Red Sox took game one from the Cubs, beating them 8-3. I didn't see them win because the game didn't start until 8:10 and I was falling asleep by the sixth inning.

I did see Bello pitch a hell of a game, going six innings, striking out five and giving up three earned runs.

That win put them in a tie with the Yankees for last place in the ALEast and only two games behind the Blue Jays.

As for today, the game started at 2:00 which means I was able to watch all nine innings.

Paxton was the starter and he had a tough outing, only going three inning and giving up six earned runs.

The bullpen didn't do much better, giving up four more earned runs.

The Cubs won with a final score of 10-4.

So much for not being alone in last place...

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I'm going to watch the Dana Open and then fall asleep early.

You should visit these:

• I'm sorry to say that, no, I have not been to Chicopee lately.



• Fare-dodging Snake would be a pretty good name for 1970s high school talent show band.



• Today's safety tip is: Don't put your lunch in your Home Depot plastic bucket.



• I'm betting his house was not featured in the latest edition of Home Beautiful.



• Nope.

Another lazy day

The Dog and I spent the majority of our day once again lounging around doing as little as possible.

I had to muddle my way through reseting my top-secret, super-duper government infosec account because last year, the group was infiltrated by fake (foreign government actors?) accounts. Since it wasn't a hack, it was an infiltration, they decided to lock all accounts and create a process to verify everyone.

Today was the day I got verified and it took more than a few minutes. First I had to send them information about me. Then I had to scan my passport and send it to them. Then I had to stand in front of my laptop's camera while they compared my passport info to my pretty face.

Once all of that was done, I had to go and create a new account.

It was a pain in the ass to do but now it's done and I can once again read all of the scary internet stuff the NSA/FBI/CIA/DHS/CISA puts out.

Things like this:

And this:

Exciting stuff, ain't it!

And by the way, I selected those two notifications because they are TLP:Clear which means it's perfectly legal for me to release them to the world.

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When I was a kid, there were two stores on the city/town line. The first was Forbes & Wallace and the second was Sears & Roebuck. At some point, they decided to build a long, twisty hallway between the two stores that would connect them together. This hallway contained numerous other stores, the biggest being Steigers, the weirdest being a toss-up between Spencers Gifts and Fredericks of Hollywood.

While they were building this hallway, my childhood friend, Johnny, and I snuck into the building and road our bikes up and down the yet-to-be-completed hallway. We discovered fountains & movie theaters & bars & restaurants. We also discovered that the guys building the place weren't very happy with us and they chased us out with threats of death.

That was 1968 and I was 10 years old. Since its creation, I have spent hundreds of hours and probably hundreds of thousands of dollars in that mall. Hell, I probably spent $1,000 just in Spencers and KB Toy & Hobby alone. But the big drain on my finances came in 1976 when it became legal for me sit in The Flaming Pit, play PacMan and drink numerous amounts of beer. At some point, for a very brief period of time, I worked at the Friendly's Ice Cream shop that was there. Worst job I ever had.

Well, this week the Eastfield Mall will finally close and it will eventually be torn down.

And you know what?

I could care less.

It was a giant money-sucking retail operation that had no significant impact on our society. I don't understand why the media is making such a big deal about it.

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I'm going to eat some pizza and then watch some baseball.

You can click on these:

• There are a lot of things I don't know about and there are a lot of things I do know about. Then there are things I could care less about and don't need to know about.



• Nope.



• Oddly Shaped Breasts would be a great name for a 1980s porno movie.



• I would love to read the incident report on this.



• Key phrase in this advertisement: "Not recommended for use with actual babies."

Quiet day

Because all of the house sprucing tasks have been completed, The Dog and I spent a fair amount of the day being lazy.

Sometimes you just need to be lazy.

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The Red Sox are in Chicago where tomorrow at 8:05 pm, they will start a three-game series against the Cubs.

Bello will be on the mound as the starting pitcher and I will be on my couch as the relaxing fan.

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I have next to nothing to say today so here are some links:

• I did not know that the phrase "Taco Tuesday" was trademarked.



• The most secure building on the planet and they have no idea who dropped a baggy of cocaine on the floor...
  (Kinda makes me wonder if they know who did it but they decided the scandal would cause a problem.)



• Russian generals don't retire or fall out of tall buildings. They just disappear.



• Travis Heights and The Dive-Bombing Hawks would be an excellent name for a 1950s rock-a-billy band.



• After all those people died in the Station Nightclub Fire, you would think clubs in Rhode Island would try to be a little safer.



• Kosovo: They have an interesting way to govern.

All done

The shed is complete and the front porch bench is kinda complete.

All of the hinges on the shed door have a nice fresh coat of paint on them. I wasn't able to remove the bottom hinges due to the amount of rust on the screws so I left them in place, taped around them to protect the new paint, applied several generous coats of vinegar, scrubbed them as best I could with a brush and applied the rustoleum.

No, they did not turn out as nice as the others but they are acceptable.

The porch bench has had a second coat of paint applied and I'm waiting for it to dry before we bring it back out to the porch. It was white and now it's light grey. You would think that one coat would cover just fine but you would be wrong.

This pretty much completes all of the tasks I set out for myself and it means our house is now all spruced up.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go take some ibuprofen for my back and knees.

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The National League beat the American League last night in the MLB All Star game and I did not watch it. Also, that victory means absultutely nothing.

That's right, the winning team gets nothing. Nada. Bupkiss. Zero. Zip. Zilch.

There is no advantage to winning the All Star game. It's strictly an exhibition game that the MLB puts on to get as much money as possible from fans and broadcasters.

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The Webb Space telescope has had a busy year. This is its latest image:

That is a picture of something called the Rho Ophiuchi Cloud. It's a star nursery a long way away.

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I have some burgers to grill and a bunch of Storage Wars to watch.

While I do that, you should check these out:

• Key phrase in this story: "If you’re going to take on the king, don’t do it with a Nerf bat."



• To all my family and friends in the law enforcement community: Keep your head on a swivel, watch each others back and always wear your damned vest.



• Key line in this story: "...this was a bit too much."



• I would not want to be that business owner. I'm betting that pissing off a bunch of Texas brides a good way to get shot.



• No one has ever said snakes are smart.



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

One down, two to go

Man, these hinges are in bad shape.

This is what they look like before I do my thing:

Soak in white vinegar for 24 hours to get rid of most of the rust, use a wire wheel to remove all old paint and remaining rust, spray paint with some nice gloss black rustoleum and you get this:

Yes, I'm fully aware that within a year or two they will probably begin rusting again. I'll deal with it when it happens.

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This is how Trump has gotten away with everything in his life: Delay until it goes away.

I kind of hope the courts tell him,

"Donny, you were asked to return any classified documents and you denied you had any.

You were then told to return all of the classified documents the government knew you had and you said you had declassified them.

Then you were informed that you were in possession of top secret documents and you were ordered to return them immediately but again, you said you declassified them even though you knew you couldn't.

Finally, you were informed, through your attorneys, that the DoJ was going to serve a search warrant and seize all classified documents. You basically dared them to do so.

The court thinks you've had more than enough time and opportunity to clear this matter up.

My answer is: 'No. Get your fat ass into court on the scheduled date or face arrest for failure to appear'."

I doubt it will happen but I surely would like to see it.

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I watched two minutes of the Home Run Derby last night before I realized that anything, including a root canal, would be more entertaining than listening to the voices of the ESPN talking heads.

Instead, I watched a movie I've seen at least four times in the last two year, Guardians of the Galaxy.

Anything was better than ESPN.

Tonight at 8:00 is the All Star Game and that is on FOX. I took a look at the FOX Sports announcement and discovered that they have no less than eight talking heads covering the game.

They are:

Alex Rodriguez
David Ortiz
Derek Jeter
Joe Davis
John Smoltz
Kevin Burkhardt
Ken Rosenthal
Tom Verducci

Can anyone explain to me why they need eight people to talk about a baseball game?

My plan is to watch as much of the game as I can but if they end up with the camera facing the booth showing two guys talking about how they would have thrown a different pitch instead of showing me the baseball game, I'm going to find an old movie to entertain me.

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Chicken kabobs and rice will be our repast this evening.

While we enjoy that, you can enjoy these:

• Huge Heat-Emitting Blob would be a fantastic name for a 1980's Meatloaf cover band.



• How come every single picture of BigFoot, the Loch Ness monster or a UFO is always blurry?



• Some people are buried, some have their ashes spread at a special location. Others just hang out at the dead letter office.



• We don't pay cops enough.



• Oh Canada.



• Australia: They don't understand hockey...

Almost done.

With the installation of the window shutters, the front porch is complete.

The only thing left to do is I need to remove the hinges on the shed doors, soak them in vinegar to remove all the rust, wire wheel them and then apply a nice coat of black enamel paint. Because the doors are kind of heavy, I'm going to do the hinges one set at a time.

Today I removed the center hinge from each door, leaving the upper and lower hinges in place to hold the doors.

Depending on the weather, I'm hoping to have them painted and reinstalled tomorrow.

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The Home Run Derby will be held tonight at 8:00. I'll turn it on and watch it for a few minutes but since I can't stand the talking heads on ESPN, I'll probably turn it off and watch something on the All Guy Fieri All The Time Network or see if there is a bad movie on TNT/TBS.

While I determine how my evening is going to proceed, you can visit these links if you want:

• Is there some kind of contest going on in the media to use the dumbest measurement units possible to describe the size of an asteroid?



• A little bit of Florida just landed in Minnesota.



• We have another "expert" with "indisputable proof" of the Loch Ness monster.



• Psycho Vlad is probably having a hissy fit over this.



• That's what they want you to believe.



• We need to reopen the asylums. There are too many crazies out there trying to kill us.

The porch is done

We spent the morning putting all the perimeter rug tiles back down. I'm please to say that for the most part, they fit back in nicely. There is one side that is off by about a millimeter and the edge of the last tile kinda buckles out a bit. It'll settle down in a few weeks and look just fine.

My wife spent the rest of the morning putting all the fixin's back on the porch, including the folding chairs and small tables.

As for me, once I had the rug put back together, I mowed my lawn and then settled in to watch some baseball.

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Earlier this year, I started receiving email from a homeowners association that was basically a series of conversations about their lawn and it's watering schedule. After two or three emails, I replied to the group with a nice polite, "Hi. I think you have inadvertently added me to your email list. Please remove my email from your list. Thanks.

Several months went by and all of a sudden, in June, I got a few more emails so I replied to the group, "Please remove this email address from your mailing list. I am not part of your group. I don't care about your lawn."

Today I get another email from them so I sent the following:

I wonder if my threat will make them stop sending me lawn watering emails?

And by the way, It's not an idle threat. I will subscribe them to every porn website, every travel website and every sales website I can find. I will sign them up for journals, magazines, daily news stories from QAnon, etc...

All they have to do to avoid that is stop sending me emails about their damned lawn.

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The Red Sox beat the Athletics last night 10-3 and then they beat them again this afternoon 4-3.

That gives them a sweep of the Athletics going in to the All Star break.

Speaking of which, today marks the end of the first "half" of the season and sends the players off on a mini four day vacation. The Red Sox are now off until Friday when they travel to Chicago for a three-game series against the Cubs.

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Here are some links that you might enjoy:

• This is some incredible bullshit.



• Doesn't something have to actually look like the orginal to be considered a forgery?



• Presenting this episodes Brilliant Criminal of the Month.
  (I almost feel bad for him.)



• I'm guessing he's no longer in line for Employee of the Month.



• We don't pay cops enough.



• I wonder if he'll get reelected when his term is up?

Very busy day

We spent the day putting our porch back together and managed to complete 90% of it.

The floor of our porch is concrete with stick-on rug squares and I pulled all the rug up around the perimeter. That meant the painters had about 8 inches of no rug around the walls and could paint without worry. I also removed all the screens and the two doors.

The other day I had put the rusty door hinges into some white vinegar to soak. This morning I used my wire wheel to strip off all the remaining rust and some old paint. Then I painted the hinges along, with the screws, a nice gloss black.

After that I put all the screens back up. Doesn't sound like much until I tell you it entails driving 180 screws. It's tedious work but now it's done.

By then the hinges were dry enough that I could put them back on the doors and put the doors up. I also installed new door closures. After that it was replacing the two electrical outlets with nice new weatherproof outlets.

Now all that's left is to put the rug back down and that will get done tomorrow.

Oh, and I also put up two shutters, one of which had to be customized to fit against a sloped roof. And by customized I mean I cut the bottom off at the same angle as the roof.

And last but not least, I put a brass kick plate on the garage door.

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The Red Sox won again last night, beating the Athletics 7-3.

As for this afternoon, they are currently in the sixth inning and the Red Sox are up 9-2.

This is making me happy.

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Now it's time for dinner. Cod is the choice today.

Here are a few links:

• Oh Canada.



• I like to think that trends like this are good for our species because they are killing off the idiots in our society.



• If you ever have a bad day at work, just remember, you aren't this guy.



• Like a scene from a Looney Tunes cartoon.



• Here's an interesting headline.