Ups and Downs of the week.

 Netflix – Great service. Can’t believe I’m just catching on now.

 Red Sox – They trade Mike Lowell for a second (or third) rate catcher and $3million in savings? I don’t get it.

 Christkindlesmart – It’s on again. The live cam isn’t as user friendly, but it works.

  Illinois State Legislature – The chickenshit morons failed to pass a relatively minor tax hike, so now they aren’t paying the bills. Accordingly, state employees may be forced to take furlough days as early as January. I can handle the days off without pay, but many folks making less will really take a beating. How much sense does it take to realize that the state is about to go under and something needs to be done?

New Kitties – They all checked out fine at the vet today. Looks like we’ll be keeping them. Now we need to come up with names.

Ups and Downs of the week.

Marco Scutaro – Welcome to the Red Sox, Marco.

  Patriots – What an embarrassment against New Orleans.

 Positano – Another webcam with awesome images.

New Laptop – Dell Latitude Z600. It’s light as a magazine but has a 16″ screen. So far, pretty impressive. I’m liking Windows 7, too.

Ups and Downs of the week.

 Malwarebytes – Great little program for ferreting out deeply hidden malware on your PC.

 Patriots – Shaping up nicely. We’ll see how they do against Indy this weekend.

 Ramsau – The webcam is still kicking out awesome images.

Ups and Downs of the week.

 Adobe Bridge – Neat program. You can batch rename images, add copyright info, and do a ton more. Very handy.

  Ft. Hood/Orlando shooters – Why can’t these pathetic souls just take their own lives and leave others alone? 

 Weather – Finally some decent autumn weather. Mid-60’s today, 70’s for the weekend. Lots of sun.

  Yankmees – The Steinbrenners finally got their money’s worth.

Ups and Downs of the week.

 Vacation – Our ten days in Germany and Austria were excellent. I have a million pictures to post later, but for now, here are a few pics and a video from the Dom zu Salzburg in Salzburg, Austria.

You may recognize the background in this next pic from the webcam stills I post every now and then. It was great being there in person.

I’ll have many more pics later after I’ve done some editing and uploading. Below is a video I shot inside the Dom zu Salzburg during a program called LichtNacht (Light Night) on our second night in Salzburg, Austria. Salzburg is an amazing city with history everywhere you turn.

  Weather – Second wettest October in history here. We may even set a new record. So far 19 days of rain this month. 

 Phillies – They took one game in the Bronx. I hope they take all three at home and send the Yankmees off to play golf for the winter.

Sixt Car Rental – We returned our rental car on Tuesday evening. The attendant there walked around the car meticulously inspecting it for damage, even going so far as to wipe off some road grime to check for scratches underneath. He found no damage. Our receipt clearly states there was no damage on the car. But now, several days later, Sixt is claiming there is a dent and scratches on the trunk and bumper. This despite the fact that the attendant and I stood at the rear of the car while he finalized the inspection and neither of us saw any such damage. It should also be noted that upon picking the car up initially, the car was a long walk from the rental desk at the airport and there was no one around to inspect the car with me then. I did, however, look the car over and saw no damage. This is an entirely bogus claim. Still, I checked with Visa services about coverage and they said they’d cover any claims and that this type of claim was not unusual. It seems that Sixt knows they can make a few extra bucks off bogus claims when the car is covered under the credit card insurance. I would advise Americans traveling in Europe to avoid Sixt car rental as it appears that they will make claims after the car is returned despite the client having a receipt verifying no damage.

  Home – Good to be here after a long trip. 

Ups and Downs of the week.

 Vacation – As of today I’m off until Nov. 1st.

  Weather – It’s been a miserable autumn so far. Cold and rainy. The poor farmers couldn’t get their crops in the ground this spring, and now they can’t get harvest going. It’s supposed to warm up this coming week.

 Phillies – I’d love to see them take the World Series again. Talk about a quiet, under-the-radar group of performers.

  Kid-in-the-Balloon – Had to be a hoax. The father is a pathetic attention whore and should be billed for the rescue services.

  No Less Than Victory – Jeff Shaara’s latest novel is another winner. Outstanding novel about the end of WWII in Europe.

  Illinois State Employee Ethics Training – It’s sadly ironic that the crooks at the top of state government want us to take ethics training.

Well, the Sox saw their season end today. This series with the Angels was typical of the way the Sox have been playing the second half of the season. They had no offense until today and then their bullpen gave away the win. Not the first time we’ve seen those two things cost them a series. It’s going to be a long off-season. I hope they patch up some holes in their roster and say a fond farewell to some veterans who just can’t produce like they used to.  And next season, let’s not talk about the depth of the pitching roster until we actually see it in action.

Still, thanks for a good year, Sox. I’ll be here next season and I’ll still…

Making things worse today was watching the Patriots lose to the inferior Denver Broncos. The Patsies had that game and gave it away. Plus it ended in the NFL’s idiotic overtime scenario where the game is essentially determined by a coin toss. Better luck next week, Pats.

Ups and Downs of the week.

 Sarah’s home – She’s been away at a conference. No fun being alone. The kitties didn’t like it either.

  MLB umpires – It’s time to expand instant replay in baseball. Too many totally missed calls by the umps. I’m not talking about balls and strikes, although that’s bad enough. But the missed calls for baserunning and foul/fair is changing the natural progression of the post-season games. If the umps like CB Bucknor continue to badly miss calls, it’s time to bring technology into the game.

 Weekends – Gawd, I need this one.

  Red Sox – Great time for an offensive slump. They look pathetic.

  AAA – Talk about a great deal. For a few bucks a year you get towing, travel advice, and you can walk in and get an International Driver’s Permit (IDP) in about 10 minutes. Good deal all around.

Ups and Downs of the week.

 Backyard Deer – This little guy has lost his spots and red coat and is beginning to grow his antlers.

 Red Sox - As expected, they grabbed the AL Wild Card slot. Lester looked good last night, but he was facing the Indians, so a grain of salt is needed. All the pitchers will need to be on top of their games for the coming weeks. 

  Weather – Downright blah for the past few days and not looking great for the coming days. The last thing the farmers need is more rain.

Ups and Downs of the week.

 Red Sox – Pretty sure bet they’ll make the post-season. Close call with Lester getting drilled tonight, but it looks like he’ll be ok. Just hope no one else gets hurt between now and Game 1 of the first series.

  Sudden death – Saw my neighbor’s (Neighbor-A) dog get run over today. He was an old, old English Setter who was deaf as a post and had a bad habit of sleeping behind cars. I nearly ran him over with the Z4 once. I had to jack up the car to get him out from under it. My neighbor across the street (Neighbor-B) wasn’t so lucky tonight. He was very distraught about it. The dog’s owner was sad, but knew it would happen sooner or later. It’s a shame poor Neighbor-B has to deal with the memory of running the dog over, though. 

 Autumn – Love this time of year. Not as pretty here as in New England, but the weather is awesome and harvest will be starting soon.