It was hot.

My part of the world did not experience the heat that the weather dweebs predicted but it was close.

At 2:00 this morning, I was awake and listening to the ac's pumping out their cool air. I decided to see what the outside temperature was so I grabbed my phone and checked the weather:

At 2:00 this afternoon, I decided to see what the outside temperature was so I checked my thermometer:

For the record, the sensor for that thermometer is on the back wall of my porch in the shade. That means that 99° is air temp, not sunshine temp.

When it's in the upper 70s at 2:00 in the morning, you know it's going to be a hot day. Turns out it was a hot day.

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No baseball for me to watch tonight so I'll watch a little bit of the opening round of the John Deere Classic and then I guess I'll burn through some DVRs.

Then again, I didn't get a lot of sleep last night so maybe I'll just go to bed early and read until I pass out.

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Here are some links:

• The words "forcefully and violently' are a typical Trump minion lie. Sort of like when Kristi Noem called Alex Pretti a "domestic terrorist" after several ICE agents wearing masks forced him to the ground and executed him by firing 10 bullets into his back from close range.



• Give it a few days and I'm betting the Ukrainians return the favor 10 fold.



• Seems to me this was the opening scene to several sci-fi horror movies back in the 60s.



• WTF! Why would they do that?

I need an explanation

How is it that the Red Sox can win 4 of 4 games against the Yankees and then turn around and lose 2 of 3 against the Nationals?

Can any of you explain that to me?

The needle on my hope-o-meter is dipping...

They are off tomorrow while they travel to the west coast where they will play a 3-game series against the Angels.

Since the Angels are worse than the Red Sox, I really hope they win that series.

Unfortunately, I won't be able to watch any of the games because they don't start until after 9:30 at night.

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The AC has been running since 10:00 this morning.

If you don't have air conditioning, I feel really bad for you. At my house, the temp got above 96° and the humidity was above 70%.

That, my friends, sucks but it's going to be worse tomorrow. The weather dweebs keep throwing around tempartures like 102° and even higher humidity.

Oh, and they are also saying the low tonight will be somewhere around 75° so none of that "cool night air" for us! Those air conditioners will run all night long.

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Here are some links:

• Apparently Dementia Donny has decided that his "best and most important trade deal ever" is not quit so best or important anymore.



• Idiots...



• It's my guess that frustrations are running high on that team.

Five in a row

The Red Sox have won 5 games in a row! According to Fangraphs, there is now a 20.6% chance the Red Sox will make the playoffs!

My concern is that I find this all quite fantastic and I feel like I am being led along the yellow brick road.

But then again, I'm trying hard to be Mr. Optimistic so I'll go along with Fangraphs.

Tonight's game against the Nationals starts at 7:10 and Early has the start. I'm hoping for a 6^th win.

I am well above the middle on the hope-o-meter and in all honesty, it's creeping a little higher every day.

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It was hot today but not all that humid. That means no air conditioning for us. We spent the majority of the day under the ceiling fan on the porch. It was very comfortable.

Tomorrow will be a different story and you better believe there will be air conditioning. Once the humidity rears its ugly head, ceiling fans don't cut it.

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Several years ago I was heading out to Boston to pick my eldest up from college. When I went there, I always took the exit formerly known as "18" off the pike and drove down Storrow Drive.

On one particular trip, I got off of the mass pike at the Allston-Brighton exit (18) to find myself in a parking lot. Not the normal, "Boy, there is a lot of traffic but it's moving" parking lot. No sir, this was a full-on parking lot. No one was moving. And since the highway exit is a bit elevated, I could see that no one was moving further down the road.

Turns out some guy in a 11' 6" tall camper bus tried to drive down Storrow Drive.

He drove under this sign:

Which I bet a dollar made a racket when he hit it.

Did that stop him? No, it did not. He continued down Storrow until he hit this bridge:

Where his giant air conditioning unit got ripped off the top of his camper and shattered on the road, effectively closing the road.

When the state police showed up and cleared the road, they had to keep it clear so the camper could reverse all the way back to exit 18, Once there he could pull into a parking lot for a DoubleTree Hotel.

This is an event that occurs often enough that it has its own name. It's called "Storrowing" and it pisses everyone off.

I spent 2 hours in that traffic jam. Thanks to our modern cellular communication devices, I was able to call my son and tell him I would be late picking him up at school.

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Here are some links:

• I don't think I've ever heard it referred to as a "jail purse" before.



• Our society has gone to shit.



• Key line in this story: "But what’s the good in being a semi-professional time-traveller if you haven’t got a time machine?"



• I gotta be honest with you, it always bothered me that if you come here from Venezuela, you got free tuition but if you come here from Rhode Island, you get shit.



• Dementia Donny has sent all his minions out to lie about his fair.

A sweep!

Sometime around 8:15 or so, NBC finally switched over from golf to the Yankees/Red Sox game and I finally got to watch the game.

And a hell of a game it was.

The Red Sox took a 2-0 lead into the 9^th inning but Chapman couldn't hold it and the Yankees tied it 2-2. The Red Sox failed to score in the bottom of the 9^th so extra innings it was.

In the top of the 10^th, the Yankees scored 2 runs, making the score 4-2 which meant the Red Sox needed to score at least 2 runs to keep the game alive.

Well, they scored 3 runs, won the game and swept the Yankees in their 4-game series.

This evening, the Red Sox will start a 3-game series against the Nationals. Suarez has the start and first pitch is at 7:10

My hope level is slowly creeping up into the upper-middle of the hope-o-meter scale.

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Here are some links:

• On the Fourth of July, I will fly my flag as I always do. I do not feel the need to explain why I fly it nor will I use it as a means to communicate anything other than the fact I am a citizen in the United States of America.



• It is possible that Psycho Vlad may have taken on more than he can handle.



• It should be perfectly legal to shoot these assholes before they cause a plane filled with 200+ people to crash.



• I hope they don't send Tolle, Early or Bennett down to Worcester.

I'm kinda pissed

It was my intention to watch the Yankees @ Red Sox game tonight. NBC was supposed to carry the game.

Guess what? They decided to carry the Travelers Championship instead.

This is why I hate MLB for selling games to national networks. The national networks don't always do what they say they are going to do and as a result, it is the fans that get screwed.

So I'm listening to the game on the radio and staring at MLB GameDay.

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Here are some links:

• The nutcases in Iran are crazier than Dementia Donny.



• Goofy Joe thinks Dementia Donny is a loser.

Yea, I know...

Yesterday was a another busy day and I never got around to posting anything.

I had things to do and this wasn't one of them. This is not a "job" and writing it is something that I do when I'm bored and I have a few spare minutes.

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One of the things I had to do yesterday was go to a wake for my friend Paul's father.

Normally when it comes to wakes, I'm a "zip-in, offer my condolences and zip-out" kind of guy but Paul's wife, Diane, cornered me and decided I needed to tell their children about all the things Paul and I did in our misguided youth.

It was fun, which is not a word one usually uses to describe a wake...

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The Red Sox, fresh off their series loss to the Rockies, aka "The Worst Team In MLB", decided to play real baseball and they beat the Yankees on both Thursday night & Friday night. They played again this afternoon at 1:00 and the Red Sox managed to beat the Yankees for a third time.

I have no idea how they can lose to the Rockies and then beat the Yankees. The Yankees are the best team in the American League and have a formidable line up. They are are a flat-out good team who are currently at .585 but for some reason, the Red Sox come to life when they play them.

This is a 4-game series and the Red Sox are up 3-0 in the series. That means they have won the series which, as I always say, is the important thing. Winning series always moves a team up in the standings.

My hope level that they will sweep the series tomorrow is above "middle". Not high but nowhere near low...

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Anybody been to the Great State Fair that Trump is holding in Washington DC?

Anybody?

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I found this and it made me smile.

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Here are some links:

• Key line in this story: "...because they constantly get wet from showers."
  I'm betting it's not the "spray of water out of a plumbing system" kind of shower...



• Seems like the "president of peace" is having some issues.



• It's gonna get toasty around here next week.

Busy busy day

As a matter of fact, I was too busy to go golfing with Pat and Willie today.

I hope they didn't lose too many balls...

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Here are a couple of links:

• I don't know much about the middle east but I do know that if there is a problem between a man and a woman, the woman is always wrong.



• This whole "peace deal" is nothing more than a joke.

Another embarrassing loss

The Red Sox went into the 7^th inning with a 6-3 lead.

The game ended with a Rockies 8-6 win.

Did I mention that the Rockies were the worst team in MLB?

Guess who the second worst team in MLB is...

They are the worst team in the American League.

Tomorrow they are back in Boston (where they have a worst record than on the road) where they will start a 3-game series against the Yankees.

This is not going to go well...

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I had things to do today and did not have time for internetting.

Bad loss

The Red Sox went into the 9^th inning with a 2-0 lead. Chapman came in and proceeded to give up 3 singles, loading the bases and then he gave up a triple to give the Rockies a 3-2 win.

The Rockies, by the way, are the worst team in the MLB. There is no one worse than them.

I've decided that the Red Sox have not hit rock bottom. There is still time for them to get worse...

They play again tonight. First pitch is at 8:40 and Gray has the start.

This is the same Sonny Gray who recently said, "Hey, if you are looking to trade me, go right ahead."

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Back in April of 2025, my wife and I went to Washington DC to do the whole tourist thing.

With the recent kerfuffle over the reflecting pool, I figured I would go through the pictures I took while there to see if I had any shots of the reflecting pool.

This was taken from the top steps of the Lincoln Memorial. It shows the reflection of the Washington Monument.

It also shows my wife. She's the woman on the extreme right. And when I say extreme right, I mean she is not the woman walking towards me up the stairs but look at the absolute right edge of the picture and you will see my wife.

So anyways, as you can see, the Reflecting Pool looked just fine last year. It was pooling and reflecting without any problems. It also does not appear to be painted with anything.

Not sure why Dementia Donny felt the need to paint it in the first place.

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Here are some links:

• Key line in this story: "The man didn’t report receiving any serious injuries and was able to walk away from the incident after being hosed down by Cal Fire."



• All Trump has to do is veto the resolution.



• This sounds like a pretty darned good idea.



• Anyone shocked that Iran is claiming there is no nuclear inspection deal.

Second day of summer

Yesterday, the sun was at its highest point above the Tropic of Cancer. That means it is officially summer in the northern hemisphere.

Yes sir, it's summer...

Where I live, that is the season where the weather is normally sunny, hot and humid.

Not today.

Today it was rainy, cold and muggy. The thermometer at my house got up to a whopping 67°. At one point, my wife broke out her hooded sweatshirt and made herself some hot chocolate.

Then again, my lawn isn't going to complain about the rain.

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Only a $1.20 to go...

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The Red Sox are in Denver to take on the Rockies tonight.

First pitch is at 8:40 and Bennett has the start.

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Here are some links:

• Turns out Trump was right. The President can weaponize the DOJ.



• Key line in this story that I agree with: "Long Island golf fans are a stain on the game of golf."



• I hate to think how I would react if I found out some slimeball did this to my 13 year old daughter. I'm pretty sure a baseball bat might be involved.



• Key line in this story: "...it kind of looks like there’s a septic leak going on..."



• He has proven time and time again that he is not a team player.

It's Fathers Day.

If your kid gave you a tie or socks, be a nice guy and say, "Wow! A tie/socks! Just what I needed! Thanks!" and then give your kid a hug. Even if they are 30 years old, give them a hug.

Kids like hugs.

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The Red Sox managed to win again last night which now puts them at .514 on the road and .324 at home.

How the hell is that even possible...

They are currently playing the final game in this 3-game series. First pitch was at 4:10 and Tolle had the start.

Right now it is the 3^rd inning and the score is tied 1-1.

My hope-o-meter is slightly above medium

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It's been a while since we looked at the stats for this collection of verbs and nouns:

Those stats are for the last 7 days.

As you can see, Chrome is still the dominate browser. In the operating system world, Mac OS is creeping up on Windows.

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Here are some links:

• Dementia Donny is now claiming the mess in the Reflecting Pool is a result of vandalism.



• Apparently it is the ranch dressing, Waffle House and Buc-ee's that makes the United States of America the greatest nation on earth.



• I gotta admit that Musk's companies do some pretty interesting stuff.



• What the hell is a "children's prison"?



• I have never had a desire to go to a rooftop bar. In my opinion, a big, well-lit, place without any "live music" and with plenty of seating is the perfect bar.



• In 1987, The Very Stable Genius paid somebody named Tony Schwartz to write a book about negotiating called The Art Of The Deal. I wonder what chapter contained the "Threaten To Kill Them" strategy?

Finally, a win

The Red Sox played the Mariners in Seattle last night and imagine my surprise when I woke up this morning to find that they had won.

I do not understand what is causing the Red Sox can be a .500 team on the road but a .325 team at home. Apparently Tracy, Breslow and Kennedy also do not understand what is causing it.

Is it the workout rooms at Fenway? The dirt on the base paths at Fenway? A chemical used by the cleaning company? A daily mandatory meetings with non-players? A musty carpet smell coming from the MGM Music Hall?

Seems to me that instead of hiring a collection of "data-driven baseball experts", Breslow should be hiring someone to find out what is different at home vs. everywhere else because whether anyone wants to admit it, those two numbers should be considered the most important numbers right now.

Anyone that can solve that problem should take Breslow's place in the organization because whatever the hell it is that he is doing isn't solving any problems.

They are back at it again at 10:00 tonight. Early is scheduled to start.

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The lawn is mowed. Not only did I mow it, I felt the need to water it.

I have several brown spots appearing and the green stuff was starting to look a little crunchy. I figured a few minutes of water after being run over by a lawn tractor was a pretty good idea.

My wife also convinced me that maybe I need to water it more than I have been so I changed the schedule to fit our current drought situation.

We'll see how the lawn fares over the next few weeks.

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The US Open is being played in New York and I've been watching it a bit.

Five amateurs have made the cut and one of them is tied in the 27th spot with Scheffler.

Pretty impressive for an amateur.

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Here are some links:

• I wonder how many foreign listening devices are hidden throughout that plane...



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



• I wonder if the people in Russia are maybe getting a little pissed-off at Psycho Vlad.



• Key entry from our favorite police log: "11:59 a.m. A naked man laying on a bench turned out to be fully clothed."

The Trump Presidency in a nutshell...

I am laughing out loud at the fiasco that is the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

Back in March, Dementia Donny handed a no-bid contract to a company named Atlantic Industrial Coatings to "repair the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool". Trump chose them without looking at proposals or bids from any other contractor. He said that he consulted with three companies that had worked on his swimming pools, but chose one that had performed work at his Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Va.

“I have a guy who’s unbelievable at doing swimming pools. He looked at it. He called me up. He said, ‘Sir, we can do something on it.’”

On May 7, Trump was asked about cost and he said,

"We had estimates to fix it of about $355 million and it was going to take 3.5 years, you can see by the size of it. And so we're going to be able to do it for about ($1.8 million), and it's going to take one week."

He did not say who gave him that $355 million estimate.

On May 21, Trump said,

"I originally thought I'd do it for $2 million or $3 million, just do a base. But now we're fixing up the exterior of it we're doing. So, we'll probably be in it for less than $20 million."

When questioned about handing out a no-bid contract to someone he knew, he said,

"Also, I didn’t give out the contract, ‘Interior’ did, to a contractor I did not know, and have never used before."

So to recap, Trump handed $14,000,000 to a guy that he may, or may not, have known to do a job he said would take 1 week and cost $2,000,000 but ended up taking 6 months. And this is the result...

I can't wait until the "Trump Ballroom" collapses into a pile of rubble...

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With last nights loss, the Red Sox are creeping up (or is it down?) on last place in the American League:

I do not understand how Breslow still has a job...

Anyways, there will be no baseball for me tonight or tomorrow since the Red Sox are in Seattle and the games don't start until 10:00.

I will be sound asleep by then.

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I caught this giant rodent eating the plants my wife has worked hard to grow in her garden.

After I took the picture, I went outside and said, "You kids get off my lawn!" which caused the cheeky bastard to look at me and challenge my authority.

I walked up to him and said, "Git!" and he got. He got as far as the side of the driveway where he stopped and stared at me as if to say, "You wanna go? Cause we can go. We can go right now old man. You don't frighten me."

So I started walking towards him and he sauntered over to my neighbors house where he promptly started eating all their plants.

Giant rodents...

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Here are some links:

• What are they going to do? Bomb them?



• How's that peace agreement going there Donny Boy?



• Looks like European soccer fans like ranch dressing.



• Remember yesterday when I said, "There are a lot of people that think homosexuality is an affront to God and their religion. Forcing those people to participate in some corporate event that is designed so the company can say, "Look at us! We're great!" is wrong"?
  Well, looks like I'm not the only one who thinks that.



• Key line in this story: "When the driver lit his cigarette, the lighter ignited the mixture, causing the explosion."



• Apparently pickleball is not the sedate sport I thought it was.

27 Innings = 4 runs

In the last three days, the Red Sox have played 27 innings of baseball.

In the last three days, the Red Sox have scored 4 runs.

That, my friends, is not good baseball.

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Yesterday, war monger Helmart Hair Hegseth came out and said,

Europe’s borders flew wide open, welfare states expanded, defense budgets cratered.

He's right.

I hear you say, "Steve, WTF?"

I know, right! I'm agreeing with him! What the hell is wrong with me????

After WWII, America made itself the worlds policeman. We stepped up and provided unparalleled defensive facilities for most of the countries in Europe. They didn't have to spend a dime on their own defense because we were there.

Along comes Trump and he says, "Hey Europe! Time for you to pay your own way. You've forgotten how to defend yourselves and your milking us dry. In the meantime, you have all this money that you are spending on things we don't care about like socialism and stuff."

I'm not saying we turn our backs on Europe but the cold war ended back in the 80's and maybe it's time they stopped living like spoiled trust-fund 20-somethings and started looking out for their own welfare.

You know, pay their own damned bills.

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Did I mention that I bought a new push mower?

I bought a new push mower. It's a Toro.

One thing I can tell you about this new mower is that it weighs about half what my 30 year old Snapper weighed. I can also tell you that it's nice to once again use a self-propelled mower. The propelling part of my Snapper died two years ago but I kept on using it because the mower part worked just fine.

So anyways, I am once again mowing around bushes without killing myself.

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Here are some links:

• After 4 years, it appears that Psycho Vlad's "special military operation" still isn't going as well as he planned.



• As near as I can tell after reading through this Iran is going to get rich like the Saudi's over the next several years.



• There are a lot of people that think homosexuality is an affront to God and their religion. Forcing those people to participate in some corporate event that is designed so the company can say, "Look at us! We're great!" is wrong.

Oops

I was busy yesterday and I forgot to post something.

Deal with it.

And yes, the Red Sox lost to the Blue Jays last night.

Tonight's game starts at 6:45.

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Pat and I went golfing yesterday and I'm just gonna say it:

We each got at least one par!

If I could putt and Pat could hit the ball off the tee, we probably would have gotten several pars. The problem is I hit the ball off the tee pretty well but once I was on the green, I hit the ball numerous times in an attempt to get it in the hole.

As for Pat, it took him several strokes to reach the green but once he was on it, he was dead-eye to the hole with his putter.

Oh well, we decided we were going to try again in a week or two. Maybe this time Willie will join us.

Oh, and I also spent some time enjoying adult beverages which is my excuse as to why there was no post yesterday.

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Dementia Donny kept threatening to fire Powell because Powell refused to lower interest rates. Since Trump had "no cards" (the federal government has no control over the Federal Reserve Bank's governing body), he couldn't do it.

Now that Powell's term has ended, Trump was able to put his guy, Warsh, in the chairman's seat and guess what? Warsh also refused to lower interest rates!

Not only did he not lower interest rates, he said that there might be an increase in interest rates in the near future. This caused the stock markets to implode again:

I wonder how long it's going to take before The Very Stable Genius starts threatening to fire Warsh, which, by the way, is still something he can't do.

He has no cards...

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Here are some links:

• Chris Kohler is a genius at explaining things.



• Trump did not release the "Memorandum of Understanding". Instead, they had a minion read it out loud to the press. That means we still don't know what it says. What we do know is that Trump has already figured out who to blame when it doesn't work out.



• Seems to me that every dollar the federal government spends to help out people is suddenly being labled as fraud.



• Apparently California is stressed out.



• More news about the Tartan Army.

One step forward, one step back

It looks to me like Dementia Donny's War on Iraq resulted in nothing. No change in the Strait of Hormuz, no change in their nuclear ambitions, no change in their support of terrorist organizations.

The end result of his war is an agreement to chat about their nuclear program and lifting the US sanctions. And maybe, just maybe, there is a possibility the cost of a gallon of gasoline might drop below $3.00, which is where it was before The Very Stable Genius and Helmet Hair Hegseth started their bombing runs.

Good job there Donny...

On the upside, the DJIA did pretty well today:

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The Red Sox lost last night so no sweep but hey, they won the series.

But more importantly, the Scots invaded Fenway and turned it into a roaring good time for everyone.

Those people know how to party. You could hear them singing throughout the game and at one point, the field reporter went into the stands to interview one very drunk human being.

It was great.

Despite the fact I don't care about soccer or the World Cup, I've got to admit that the Scots are bringing a good vibe to the city of Boston. My youngest loves seeing them around town.

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Here are some links:

• This isn't good.



• Shit... I'm probably screwed. I own 3 Roku TVs and you know as well as I do that FOX will screw this up and probably turn it into a subscription service.



• I hope he does not end up back with the Red Sox.



• Remember last week when I said, "I'll be over here waiting for Dementia Donny to blame the democrates for the algea in his new pool"? Well, I guess I don't have to wait any longer.

And the war with Iran will maybe, possibly be over today!!!

At least that is what Dementia Donny says.

Anyone want to place bets on whether or not an agreement gets signed?

And even after the "agreement" is signed, anyone want to place bets on whether or not either Iran or Trump will uphold that agreement?

Iran will still do what Iran wants to do. They will still attempt to disrupt shipping in the Strait, they will still be the foster parent to several terrorist organization, they will still issue orders to "destroy the US and the zionists!" and they will still try to obtain a nuclear weapon.

It's what they have done since the 1970s. They will continue to do it until someone turns the Tehran into a large glass parking lot. It's who they are.

Trump will continue to do what he has done since he took office. He will continue to look for ways to enrich himself and his kids. It's who he is.

Then again, what the hell do I know...

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The Red Sox will play the third game in their 3-game series against the Rangers tonight and a win will give them a sweep.

Hopes are not high and they are not low. They are right in the middle. That means I think there is a good chance they will complete the sweep.

Early has the start and first pitch is at 7:20.

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Here are some links:

• I find this to be dishonorable and generally pretty shitty. I guess it could be worse, they could have done it at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier...



• Key line in this story: "...no one has fully explained what they were breathing in..."
  Well, Buzz Aldrin is 96 years old so whatever it was, it didn't kill them.



• Medieval Flying Monk would be a great name for a 1960s bubblegum pop band with its own Saturday morning sitcom.

Series win

The Red Sox beat up the Rangers last night, winning the game 10-1.

Today is a little different.

The Red Sox were up 6-3 going into the 9^th with Chapman coming in for the save and save it he did.

With that win, the Red Sox win the series and that is what they need to do.

What would be even better is if they sweep the Rangers by winning tomorrow's game.

It should be an interesting game because old friend Nasty Nate Eovaldi is the scheduled starter for the Rangers while Connelly Early is scheduled to start for the Red Sox. First pitch is at 7:20.

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I mowed my lawn this morning and after looking at it, I decided it might appreciate a little extra water so I ran each zone for 5 minutes.

I have no idea what I'm doing with my lawn. I don't know if I'm watering too much or not enough but I do know that lawns like water so I figured I can't really hurt it by giving it a little drink after running it over with a tractor.

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Here are some links:

• He's probably throwing another one of his famous spoiled brat hissy fits.



• I'm also betting he's throwing a hissy fit over this as well.



• Key line in this story: "No law enforcement personnel were injured as a result of the gunfire."



• Best test pilot name ever: Jim "Clue" Less.

And then there were two

I was suppossed to have lunch with my buddies today but this morning Jim called and said, "I'm not gonna make it. I dismantled the deck around my pool yesterday and now my knees and back are killing me."

Keep in mind that Jim is in his 80s.

Then BillB texted that he couldn't make it. He's only in his 70s but I'm betting he did something silly too.

Since it was just BillE and me, we decided to do something we haven't done since we worked together 11 years ago - we went to Taco Bell for lunch!

We are big fans of Taco Bell. I have no idea why but it's something we used to do once a month or so.

And now for my complaint about Taco Bell: They require you to use a "kiosk" (touch screen) to place your order.

The first thing that goes through my mind when I see those order stations is how many people lost their job when the company brought in those things? How many kids don't have a summer job anymore because of those kiosks?

Oh, and they are a pain in the ass because touch screens aren't designed to be used by hundreds of people poking at them over and over again. They start to lose sensitivity and you end up having to jam them pretty hard to get them to accept your entry.

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The Red Sox were off yesterday and someone made this:

It made me laugh.

They are starting a 3-game series against the Rangers this evening. First pitch is at 7:10 and Gray has the start.

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Up, down, up, down.

I have no idea if I should leave my investments alone or take it all out and bury it in a tin can in my backyard...

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Here are some links:

• I'll be over here waiting for Dementia Donny to blame the democrates for the algea in his new pool.



• I have some advice for Mr. Juan Hernandez: SELL!!! Sell it all right now!!



• Attention everyone everywhere: The government is not going to protect your money.



• Whelp, I guess I won't be going to the cape this summer.

He's gonna get fired.

Sam Kennedy, CEO and President of Baseball Operations for the Fenway Sports Group (aka: The Boston Red Sox) was on the radio this morning and he said some things the caught my attention.

His opening remark was:

I think it's important just to acknowledge how embarrassing and unacceptable, maddening, frustrating, whatever words you want to use, the past two and a half months have been.

It's nice that he admits that. It's nice that he admits the season has gone to shit and the team sucks but he did not acknowledge that the off-season was also embarrassing and unacceptable. The FSG made it abundantly clear that they were unwilling to pay the asking price for any high-calibre infielders/hitters and they lost one on their own players who opted out of his contract.

Then he was asked if Breslow's job was safe:

Look, I fully understand and appreciate questions regarding Craig Breslow and his job security and all that but the issue of a change there, just to be clear, that's not even on the table. He is working as hard as anybody in terms of getting things back on track, but again, words are hollow right now.

I would like to know which words are hollow? The ones where he says Breslow's job is safe or the ones where he says Breslow is working as hard as anyone to get back on track?

Then he was asked if his own job was safe:

Nobody, nobody is free and clear of blame.

Does that mean he is not safe? I mean, the guy is a small-time partner in FSG so can he even be fired? Do they have to buy him out if they fire him?

The one question that no one has ever asked either Kennedy or Breslow is, "Why did Breslow fire most of the scouting staff in 2025 and most of the coaching staff in 2026?"

Based on the performance of the players he has brought onto the team, or let go from the team, Breslow is looking more and more like a guy with the same level of baseball knowledge as me.

And trust me, I could never run a major league baseball team.

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Let the bombing begin anew!

Or not...

I realize he does not understand that Iran will never negotiate with him and I realize that when he announces that "the war is over" on a weekly basis, he is doing it because he is a firm believer in the old adage, 'Tell a lie often enough and it becomes the truth".

What I do not understand is how his minions and his cult-followers can continuously fall for his blatant lies.

I mean, I guess the alternative is to put the democrats back in power which is even worse because their lies are usually well-crafted and more believable. At least with Dementia Donny we know he's lying to us.

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I know some of you love the game of soccer and are very pleased that some of the World Cup games are being played the U.S. so I know that what I am about to say may upset you soccer people...

I don't care about soccer.

I know, you are shocked that I don't give two shits about soccer but truth be told, soccer wasn't a thing when I was a kid.

We played baseball, we played hockey and we played football. Hell, we even did gymnastics but none of us played soccer. Soccer was something that was done in Europe by people who fell down and cried anytime someone came near them.

Don't get me wrong, I understand the rules of soccer and I even understand the excitement of the game. I coached it for 6 or 7 years when my kids played in the town rec league and I learned the rules so I didn't sound like a complete idiot when I talked to a referee.

I just didn't like it.

To be honest with you, I was pretty happy when my kids decided they didn't want to play soccer anymore and moved on to other sports that I could enjoy watching like tennis, field hockey and lacrosse.

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Here are some links:

• I guess ol' Phill can't keep his hands to himself...



• How much of an asshole do you have to be to use a gun to rob little kids.



• People need to stop being jerks. I get it, you don't like the guy but vandalism isn't going to make him go away.



• Putting on a blonde wig and a white dress does not make you look like Marilyn Monroe.

And they keep on losing

The Red Sox got swept by the Rays.

The only good thing that can be said about the Red Sox is that they are not the Los Angeles Angels...

When ownership decided to fire the manager and most of the coaching staff and put the AAA coaches from Worcester in charge, did they think things would improve?

On the upside, they can't lose tomorrow because they are off tomorrow.

In other news, the Patriots first preseason game is in 64 days...

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The DJIA continues to drop:

This selloff is being driven primarily by Dementia Donny claiming everything is great and Iran is begging him to negotiate. Everybody knows that is bullshit and stocks are paying the price for that instability.

Things would be great if we had some stability in our government and our economy but that's not going to happen anytime in the near future.

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Here are a couple of links:

• The Ninõ is coming.



• So where the hell is it? I'm betting that somehow or another, Trump has figured out how to make money off it.

Welcome to the rookery

Today was "Trim The Bushes" day so I dragged the trimmer, the ladder & the rake out of the shed and set about trimming the bushes.

I did the two bushes next to our porch and garage:

Then I moved over to the line of bushes at our property line. That did not go so well...

I always inspect the bushes before I trim them and today I found not one, not two, not three but four different nests in four different bushes. Here is a conveniently labeled picture of the bushes at our property line:

The catbird is a firm in her protection and won't move off the nest when I approach. The robins, however, are all in full self-preservation mode. If I get near the bush (like a foot or two away), the robins will scram out of there at a high rate of speed, leaving the eggs or babies behind to whatever fate befalls them.

One of the nests is located in a spot that I could get a nice picture of so here you go:

We are apparently considered a high-end bird neighborhood. All the cool birds want to move here.

And one idiot bird who thinks parking her nest out in the open, a foot or two from the street, is smart.

Some bluejay or crow is going to spot those eggs and have themselves a nice meal.

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Speaking of birds...

Years ago, my Aunt Carolyn had a couple of hummingbird feeders that were visited by numerous hummingbirds. This collection of birds included one she called "Ivan the Terrible" because he would attack all the other birds.

Turns out we also have an "Ivan the Terrible" at our house because yesterday we spotted a hummingbird swooping back & forth and up & down. My wife thought maybe it was a brain-damaged hummingbird but when she asked google why the bird was acting that wya, she discovered that it was protecting its food.

In other words, it has decided that the feeders I tend to are its personal food source.

Hummingbirds are weird. Interesting as hell to watch but just plain weird.

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Yes, the Red Sox lost last night.

Yes, my level of hope is approaching the level of hope I had back in the 80s and early 90s when the Red Sox sucked all the time.

Do I think they should fire Craig Breslow? No, I do not. Simply because there is no one else out there that is any better that will take a job working for Sam "I am not a liar!" Kennedy and the penny-pinching organization known as the Fenway Sports Group.

They are kinda screwed and right now all we can hope for is that they don't make any stupid moves in a misguided & panicky attempt at "making the team better".

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Here are some links:

• Someone has compiled a list of the 37 (or is it 38?) times that Dementia Donny claimed a deal was near.



• Given a choice of jail or wrestling alligators, I'll take jail.



• The Coasties have stopped looking for Hooker.

Falling

With yesterday's loss, the Red Sox have fallen 10½ games behind the Rays and 2½ games behind the Orioles.

At this point, they have 99 games left to play in this season and since they usually fall apart after the All Star break, I don't think they will have much in the way of success.

My level of hope is almost non-existent at this point.

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In other sportings, Korda won the Women's US Open yesterday.

That young lady sure knows how to golf.

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Here are some links:

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



• Get ready for really expensive beef.



• She really likes to be in the limelight.

Postoned until August???

Yesterday's Red Sox game was postponed until August 29^th when they will play a double-header. Can someone explain to me why they aren't playing a double-header today?

I suspect this is a clever manipulation on the part of the Yankees. They are currently without their #1 guy, Judge, and this postponment means he will more than likely be back in their lineup by August 29^th and they will stand a better chance of winning.

Anyways, todays game was at 1:35 and Suarez had the start. He faced 25 batters over 6⅓ innings, giving up 1 run, striking out 6 and walking 0. When he left the game, the score was tied 1-1 in the 6^th

The bullpen took over and managed to give up free runs to everybody in a Yankees uniform and when the game ended, the score was 6-1 in favor of the Yankees.

The Red Sox are now on their way to Florida where tomorrow they will start a 3-game series against the Rays. First pitch is at 6:40pm and it appears that Early has the start.

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Dementia Donny told everyone that he was such a peaceful guy that he felt he should have won the Nobel Peace Prize. He said it so often that the actual winner of the Nobel Peace Prize gave him hers just to shut him up.

Then the assholes from FIFA (and yes, if you talk to anyone who regularly follows soccer, they will tell you that FIFA is an awful organization that screws everyone they deal with) decided to give him the "first annual soccer ball of peace that they just made up" prize, just to shut him up.

Finally, after all his rambling and pontificating about how he is the bestest most peaceful president since forever, he decided to threaten to invade Greenland, threatened to take over Canada, invaded Venezuela and finally he started a shooting war with Iran.

Look, when I talk shit about Trump, it's aimed at his lines of bullshit about what a peaceful guy he is, it is not at his decisions to use force. Trust me, I'm actually kind of glad someone finally got off their ass and did some damage to Iran and it's terrorist leadership. And I'm also kind of happy that someone took out that idiot in Venezuela.

Let's face it, there are a lot of terrible people in this world who are focused on doing terrible things to people. These are people who consistently accuse everyone but themselves of being evil when in reality, they are the devil in disguise.

I don't know if The Very Stable Genius has an actual plan but I do know that Iran is in a shambles right now. Most of their government was killed, most of their military leadership was killed, their navy was sunk, their nuclear program was turned into dust and their civilian population is making it known that they are happy about all those things.

Why do I bring this up? Because even the biggest news organization in the middle-east seems to think it is a good thing...

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Jacob Misiorowski is a true phenom.

He is 6' 7" tall and when he pitches, his step towards the plate is about 5 feet. That means when he releases the ball towards the plate, it only travels about 55' before it crosses into the strike zone. Yesterday he threw the fastest pitch ever recorded by MLB at 103.7 mph.

An object travelling 103.7 mph is traveling at 543,840 feet per hour. Dividing by 60 gives you 9,064 feet for minute. Dividing that by 60 gives you 151 feet per second. Divide 55 by 151 and you get 0.36 seconds.

That means a batter has only 1/3 of a second to see the ball leave Maciorowski's hand, start the bat moving, guide the bat to where he thinks the ball will be and then hit the ball.

Anyone that can do that is an amazing human being. I'm pretty sure there aren't very many people that can do that...

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The Women's US Open is in its final round and right now, there is a four-way tie for first with Chun In-Gee, Nelly Korda, Kim Sei-Young and Gaby Lopez at 7 under par. Not to be forgotten is Charley Hull sitting at 6 under

There is also an amatuer named Kiara Romero who is sitting in 8^th place at 3 under. Not bad for a 20 year old college player.

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Here are a few links:

• Those nasty reporters need to understand that they are not allowed to ask him to prove any of his baseless claims. Just accept what he says and move on.



• Key lie in this story: "Kirby defended the rationale for a deal with American, saying he believed it would have benefited consumers."
  No CEO has ever done anything that benefits consumers. They only do things that benefit their comnpany. Best line I ever heard a CEO utter was, "What does the customer want and how much are they willing to pay for it."



• I've been to Vegas numerous times and I can say that this is not the weirdest thing you will see there.

Excellent win last night

The Red Sox beat the New York Aaron Judges 5-3 last night.

Gray pitched a good game, facing 27 batters, giving up 3 runs, walking 2 and striking out 3 over 6⅓ innings.

They are back at it again this evening. First pitch is at 7:35 and Suarez has the start.

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Right now I'm sitting on my porch watching the Worcester Red Sox beat up on the Buffalo Bisons.

This is just one reason that smart TVs are worth the money. No cable wires or boxes needed, just plug it in, turn it on and bring up the Spectrum app.

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I decided to check the stats on this collection of crap I put out every day. This is what the last 24 hours looked like:

In the browser battle, Chrome still has a significant lead over the others but in the OS wars, Apple is creeping up on Microsoft.

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Here are some links:

• Do you think Dementia Donny has figured out yet that the Iranians don't care what he wants and they aren't going to negotiate anything?



• Attention people: If you get into a fight or a disagreement with someone who works at a restaurant, do not go to that restaurant.



• Key phrase in this story: "...it was found that law enforcement lost a dash camera memory card that may have captured the shooting."



• What shall we do with a drunken sailor, early in the mornin'

Good luck to ya.

Yesterday I mentioned that I thought it was time for the Red Sox to cut ties with Bello. Well, I guess the Red Sox are not ready to cut ties with him. Instead, they are giving him a chance to rehabilitate himself down in Worcester.

Look, I get it, they have a lot of money invested in the kid and they don't want to just throw it away. Instead they want to give him a chance to get his shit together and come back as the potential ace they thought he was.

I just don't think he really wants to rehabilitate himself. I think he's going to show up in Worcester and pout and whine and piss & moan about how Tracy & Breslow are jerks who just don't understand.

I have a feeling we have seen the last of Bello in a Red Sox uniform. He'll spend June & July in Worcester and on August 3^rd at the trade deadline, they will trade him to the Marlins for a bag of baseballs and maybe a new set of golf clubs.

Damn shame because all of us Red Sox fans had high hopes for him when they signed him to that 5 year, $55 million contract back in 2024.

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In case you ever wondered what a bad day in the stock market looks like, wonder no more:

The DJIA is down 1.3 percent.

The S&P 500 is down 2.7 percent.

The Nasdaq is down 4.2 percent.

The Very Stable Genius is doing a great job with the economy. Many people tell him this is the best economy ever. Past presidents have called him and said they wished that they had as great an economy as he does. This is a huuuuge economy, bigger than any other economy. Bigger than Lincoln, bigger than Washington.

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Here are some links:

• But hey, she can get a job at any full service restaurant.



• Did anyone think to ask indicted arsonist Tommy Qualls what he was doing at the time of the crime?



• This headline helps explain why english is a very confusing language.



• Only in Florida.



• Everything I read about these soccer tournaments just confirms my belief that I wouldn't spend a dime to attend one.

One step forward...

...two steps back.

The Red Sox won last night, beating the Orioles 8-1.

The Red Sox lost today, getting beat 8-2 by the Orioles.

Right now they are on their way to the Bronx where tomorrow they will start a 3-game series against the New York Aaron Judges.

My hopes have dipped back down to little or none.

For the record, I think it's time for the Red Sox to cut ties with Bello and move on. He flat out sucks.

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Here are some links:

• You might be able to see the aurora tonight.



• Give me a break.



• I'm betting this is expensive.



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



• Tandu and The Humphead Wrasse would be a great name for a 1970s high school garage band.