Good morning GH. It has just passed 2:00 AM in "The City" and it is 36 degrees with rain, leaves, and other things falling. Thursday we expect a high of 47, but the chance of showers drops to 30% from 60%, Thankfully none of the forecasts, including  that of Sugar the Weather Dog, includes any thunderstorms.

Mary went out with her friend last might. I was left to my own devices. For me that included Beefaroni, Tater Tots, and baseball. I kept the phone with me as instructed, but after about six hours, I gave up waiting for a call, and went to bed to listen to the end of the baseball game.

Sugar joined me for a walk in the AM and then later for bed. I didn't rakes any leaves, nor get the old bags out to the curb, because it was raining. Maybe today, if I am up early enough, I'll put them down at the curb before I go to the orthopedist. In the old days, I knew when the trash pickup was scheduled by what our neighbor, Mr. Olsen did. I didn't have to worry about when there being no pickup due to a holiday, because his trash would be out there if there wasn't. However, that never included when the actual pickup would occur for the various parts of the trash service. Regular trash was different from the regular recycling and the pickup of lawn refuse. That's the same here, but I don't have any clue as to when the three things happen here, any more than I did in the past.

Today, I have that appointment at the orthopedist to have my semi-annual knee treatments and to get an opinion on my ailing shoulder. I got in some extra music time yesterday in anticipation of bad news. If the news is good, I got in extra practice time anyway. If not so good, I am going to ask if I can put off any surgical intervention until spring. That may seem counter-intuitive, but in the spring, no snow removal nor leaf raking is necessary. A bit of lawn mowing, but Mary can handle that. We have such a narrow driveway, that a regular snow service can't get a plow attached to a truck through.

Once I am done at the orthopedist, my knees take a day to recover, so I won't be doing any long walking until Saturday. That's okay at this time of year. Sugar doesn't much like short walks, but she'll make do with Mary at the other end of the leash. Sugar's walks may just be a bit shorter on Friday.

I hope things went well for Barb during her visit to the doctor.

In sports, the only game that mattered saw my beloved Red Sox downing the Cardinals 8 - 1. Adam sent me an email that the U.S. Marine who sang "God Bless America" during the seventh inning stretch nailed it. I replied earlier, "Yes he did, just like the Sox nailed the Cardinals."

So that looks like about it for Wednesday and Thursday. Leaf bags to curb, doctor's visit, and reading. Mary will be off to Holland with her friend and I will be going to chair with Sugar. Ciao.

P.S. I just had to mention, that the second train of the night just passed by heading north. We had an earlier train about 11:30 PM Wednesday heading south. That one had a more creative engineer who managed to simulate the sound of an old steam whistle with his air horns. This guy just blew the horns as required by law. Ciao for sure this time.