Seeing as I did my usual Sunday ride to Stomping Grounds to get a muffin and latte yesterday, I should have gone for a walk. I didn’t though, I rode the bicycle back there this morning. Latte, but no muffin.
Last Thursday I didn’t leave the house. I didn’t have anything I needed to go out for and it was lightly raining, so I made my own coffee at home and settled in. Friday I went to Fred Meyer for the weekly grocery shopping trip, and later in the day I ran to the post office to mail a postcard. Both in the GTI. Saturday I spent the rest of the day inside after the morning’s bike ride. Today, Sunday, was almost the same as yesterday, bike ride then inside. Three out of four car-less days.
And the Red Sox won their 13th in a row and are creeping up the standings.
Red Sox chances of making the Wild Card round in the 2026 playoffs: 61.1%
Because today was the day I was supposed to ride the exercycle, I opted to do the Sunday ride today. I had my usual latte and muffin at Stomping Grounds, and I was home at 8:30, and, since I had some time this morning, I watched the first episode of Season 2 of Andor.
I finished off Season 1 last night. And while I am enjoying it, if I stopped right now, I’m pretty sure I would carry on with my life just fine. This afternoon after the Red Sox game I watched the second episode, so I guess I’m in it now.
On a side note, the Sox won the game; it was their twelfth in a row. But as a true fan of the team, I know it is only a matter of time before they revert to the “loveable losers” I know them to be.
Red Sox chances of making the Wild Card round in the 2026 playoffs: 54.6%
The Sox were one of Apple TV+’s selections for Friday Night Baseball tonight. The last time they were on Apple, I didn’t particularly enjoy the call from their announcers. This time I noticed that you could swap the audio to either team’s radio broadcast. Nice. So I changed over to Boston’s WEEI to listen to them while watching it on TV. Really nice. The advantage of this setup is that you don’t have to pay close attention to the TV, and when something good happens, you can look up and see the replay of it.
I’d like to do this for the regular Red Sox games; MLB.TV offers that option as well, but they never have the timing together. You’ll see what happens before the radio call, or you hear what happens before you see it. Apple TV+ nailed it, perfectly in sync.
The Red Sox had a bad delay happen on their flight into NY from Chicago, so they didn’t even get to NY until almost 5:00PM for a 7:40 start. And the team took it right in stride; they suited up, did some stretching, and went out and won the game 6-2. They have been on a tear for the last couple of weeks; they are 12 of 14 in those games.
The chart below was started about 3 months ago when they started playing awful and were almost 15 games below .500, and I decided I wanted to watch as they slowly descended down to a zero chance of making the playoffs. Well, a funny thing happened…
Red Sox chances of making the Wild Card round in the 2026 playoffs: 41.3%
On April 25th the Red Sox fired manager Alex Cora because the team started out the season playing just awful. Highlighted with a square is the 25th and at that point they had a 39% chance of making the playoffs. They got a not unexpected “new coach” bounce and, then, you can see what the odds have done since.
Maybe next year…
Red Sox chances of making the Wild Card round in the 2026 playoffs: 11.2%
Like most of my impulse buying of nifty gadgets and items of clothing recently, it started because of an ad on Instagram. This photo shows what the entrance to the kitchen from the living room looks like. And I always wanted to add something in between the cutout above the entryway and the ceiling but never found anything that I liked. Until the FlightWall popped up. For $175 I could put one of those up there. I am literally right under the landing path to PDX!
The Mini for $175 is 12.6 inches long x 6.3 inches high. That is roughly the same area as a sheet of paper and would look kind of silly in that spot. But they also sell a Wiidescreen model that is 50.4 inches long x 12.6 inches high. So how big is that opening? It is 52″ x 15″ tall on the shorter end and 20″ on the taller end. It’s like they were thinking of me when they offered that size.
I have had a shortcut to FlightWall on my phone’s home screen for about three weeks. Every other day or so I’d look at it and think I should buy it, then think the Widescreen is too expensive, at lmost three times more than the Mini, and not follow through. Tuesday, I deleted the shortcut off the phone.
On Tuesday’s Late Show with Stephen Colbert, he had the other four members of the Strike Force Five (insert thunder crash sound effect here) as the only guests. At the end they teased a final 13th episode of their pandemic-created podcast. So yesterday I watched/listened to it on YouTube, and near the end, they had the wives answer the question, “What does he want for his birthday?” Steven says he’s been dropping hints about a nice leather desk organizer. This is the answer his wife gave:
So maybe in reality it is not Steven’s fault I bought the Widescreen FlightWall this afternoon; it is his wife Evie McGee’s.
Red Sox chances of making the Wild Card round in the 2026 playoffs: 37.4%
It dawned cool, cloudy, and drizzly, so I immediately thought, I have no place I need to go, so after my 45-minute spin around Bavaria on the exercise bike, I changed into my loungewear and have been dressed that way ever since.
I farted around on YouTube, finished a jigsaw puzzle, and watched two episodes of LOST, then watched the Red Sox, much to my surprise, win a baseball game. After this I may go watch a movie, or read some more of the book I have going, or just zone out listening to Radio Paradise while watching their slideshow.
I’m three-quarters of the way through season two, watching 2 episodes a day. If you thought the first season was jam-packed, so far in the first 18 episodes of season two, the reveals and new stuff have been more of an avalanche. I have to admit that I almost pulled the plug at episode ten. Never been a fan of any of the Charlie episodes, but this one is the worst, IMHO. But I shouldered on.
Red Sox chances of making the Wild Card round in the 2026 playoffs: 35.3%
I have been fighting with my last upper molar on the left, probably for a couple years. Last April I had a root canal done on it. But even a couple rounds of antibiotics haven’t cleared an infection in the tooth. At my semi-annual cleaning, I asked the dentist if he could refer me to an endodontist so they could re-do the root canal.
The endodontist’s high-tech, super-powerful x-ray allowed him to have what looked like an MRI image. He basically 3D-rendered my skull and, along with the imaging software, could zero in on the offending tooth, then show any cross-section of it, both vertically & horizontally. It found zero evidence of nerve, but it did look like it had a crack in it. His recommendation was to pull it.
Today, a nice young doctor grabbed a rusty pair of pliers, and while his even younger assistant held my jaws apart with his hands, he yanked out the offending tooth.
I used to get a shiny nickel from the Tooth Fairy for every baby tooth I lost. Today that nickel has the buying power of 55-cents, but the tooth has a crown of gold. With the current price of gold, that tooth is worth almost $500. I’ll let you know how much I find under my pillow tomorrow morning.
Red Sox chances of making the Wild Card round in the 2026 playoffs: 44.1%
Seeing as I did my usual Sunday ride to Stomping Grounds to get a muffin and latte yesterday, I should have gone for a walk. I didn’t though, I rode the bicycle back there this morning. Latte, but no muffin.
