Ups and Downs of the Week.

Weather – Glorious late summer weather. Cool nights, warm days, blue skies. It’s about time. Aside from the nasty thunderstorms and tornado sightings yesterday, it’s all been good. And the rain yesterday was a good thing (could have done without the 63 MPH wind, though).

New Floor – The new floor downstairs went in yesterday. Now we need to move all the bookshelves back into place.

Ups and Downs of the Week.

Weather – We finally got some rain and now the temps are back to what would be considered normal. Hope it stays this way.

Red Sox – They still stink and are still 2 games under .500, but Buchholz pitched a complete game gem tonight and got the win despite some defensive blunders by the Keystone Kops playing behind him.

Red Sox – They keep finding ways to lose. They’ve dropped two in a row to the lowly Twins. Just bad.

Gas Prices – I can’t see any reason other than greed for a 70 cent per gallon spike in a week.

Drought – It’s already too late for the corn, but the soybeans are reaching the point of no return now. If we don’t get rain soon, they’ll be lost as well. The ditch in the second picture should be half full of water.

Ups and Downs of the Week.

Red Sox – They took 3 of 4 from the White Sox courtesy of Cody Ross’s 3 HRs and some long lost power from Adrian Gonzalez. But tonight they dropped the opener against the Jays, courtesy of Josh Beckett, who is becoming a sure bet to lose. The Sox desperately need to beef up their rotation. Finding a new home for Beckett would be  good start.

Weather – Today was comfortably in the upper 70s and low 80s. It was a welcomed break from the recent heat waves. But tomorrow we’re right back into the tropical temps. Still no rain in sight.

Ups and Downs of the Week.

Red Sox – They beat TB at the Dump…er, Trop tonight, but they blew so many scoring chances it was ridiculous. And the letter that went out recently to season ticket holders shows that Red Sox ownership is still living in a world of foolish dreams.

Heat Wave – Back to temps over 100F here on Monday and into next week.

Photoshop – Always fun to play around in it..

The corn stalks are quite high, but I heard on the radio this morning that this year’s yield is going to suffer because of the drought we’ve been having. We’ve received very little rain since late spring. The corn has a few ears, but they may be fewer and smaller than normal.

Ups and Downs of the Week.

 Red Sox – Back in the tank. They’ve lost 4 in a row, including a sweep by the lowly A’s in Oakland. They lost to the Yankees tonight after a lousy 1st inning by Josh Beckett. The only reason they were in the game at all was that the Yankees pitcher also had a lousy 1st inning.

Heat Wave – Continued temps over 100F here. We’re all looking forward to the mid-80s on Monday. I hope that forecast holds.

Lens Baby – This cheap little toy lens produces some interesting images. Should be fun to play with. I took these today at an Indian take-out place in Champaign called Mirsung.

Ups and Downs of the Week.

 Red Sox – Still playing well. Franklin Morales pitched a gem last night but the bullpen gave up one run, which was enough for the equally brilliant Felix Hernandez to take the win.

Health Care Law – The law has a lot of issues, but I’m glad it was not to be decided by the courts. Congress needs to do what it is supposed to do and come up with decent laws and programs and stop doing everything they can to thwart the other side of the aisle. Too bad we can’t pass a law to fix the idiots in Congress.

Heat Wave – Over 100F yesterday and today. Tomorrow is supposed to be the same. Yikes.

Ups and Downs of the Week.

Red Sox – They can’t string together wins and their “ace” pitchers are totally inconsistent. Lester was awful tonight and lost the game early on.

Monaco Weekend – The best race on the Formula One calendar is this weekend in Monaco.

Heat Wave – Into the 90s today and through the whole weekend. Too early for this kind of heat.

Three Day Weekend – But it *is* a 3-day weekend. Just what I needed about now.

The corn is getting near perfect weather for growing. Loads of sunshine and occasional rain. Here’s a rabbit’s eye view.