Good morning GH. Here in "The City", we have just passed 3:30 a.m. Our current temperature is 73° as we head down to our expected high of 69°. We are expecting that the scattered T-storms, accompanied by 20 plus MPH winds, will start around noon today, peaking at a 60% chance around 2:00 p.m.. Right now, the winds that I feel outside the Weather Window are gusting in the lower teens. That's according to my personal observation, which is probably just as good as the forecast from the National Weather Service. They have access to a lot of sophisticated equipment, but I have the advantage of personal observation. In that sense, my Weather Window is just as good as their Doppler Radar™.

What it all boils down to, is that I am likely to be outside this morning, hose in hand, after Mary and I walk to the local garden store with Sugar the Weather Dog for some wasp spray. We both eschew using chemicals around the house, but in this case, our fear of wasps and their stings trumps our concern about toxic chemicals. I'll just be as judicious as possible in the use of the spray. There is one slight problem. Wasps are least active at night, but they react to strong lights. That means that I'll have to go out on the porch in the dark after having planned my escape route.

Our porch has only one escape route, when you eliminate going back in the front door, and that's down the front stairs. Mary has already assured me that I will have her moral support, but she will be inside with the front door tightly closed and the lights turned off, as I am trying to escape a horde of maddened wasps. If you see a man with a crazed look on his face, running down the street, at an age-reduced top speed, being chased by wasps, you'll know it's me.

Once that's done, I'll be ready for a nap when the sun sets at 9:16 p.m. During the day, I'll do that watering and then go to the man-cave to empty the dehumidifier reservoir. In spite of our lack of rain, we are getting enough humidity in the man-cave to fill that reservoir about every two days. Unfortunately, in a house as old as that found here on the palatial estate, there is no laundry sink in the man-cave. So I have to carry the reservoir up the stairs to the mud room sink for emptying.

Mary and I spent a considerable amount of time on the front porch yesterday, reading and watching the world go by. That is until we discovered that wasp's nest and came inside for safety. Since we both have a healthy fear of insect stings, that seemed a prudent course of action, The wasps had been there all along, but once discovered, it was time to move. We also discovered that the amount of dirt being thrown into the air by the nearby road construction is significant. The level of dust on the front porch tells us that a repaint of the railings and the deck boards needs to wait until the construction is over. Theoretically mid-July.

We also learned or confirmed that the world is full of idiots That's judging by the loud motorcycles that sped by in the afternoon. Mary and I are certain that the noise generated by their lack of mufflers is akin to the noise and soot generated by the idiot with the diesel pick-up truck on Harbor Drive, when we walked there on Saturday afternoon. As we passed Pronto Pup, the idiot had to show off how much soot and noise his truck could produce in order to prove his manhood. He succeeded at both, and also at demonstrating his lack of common sense on a road crowded with tourists, both walking and in other vehicles. We know it is tourist season, but that doesn't mean that common sense takes a vacation too. Oh wait, Mary reminded me the other day that when a person goes on vacation, so does their brain.

In sports, it was a mixed bag on Sunday. The boys in blue once again found a way to lose a game being pitched by their hard luck starter, Jeff Samardzija. This time it was 0 - 9, moving his won-lost record to 1 - 5.  The Tigers fell to the now 28-28 Seattle Mariners 0 - 4. However, my beloved Red Sox won their seventh in a row 4 - 0 over the Rays. Now they are just two games under 500. That my friends, is a roll. The Caps had a record-setting day, defeating the Fort Wayne Tin Caps, 19 - 1. Having recently suffered a record-setting loss, this big win was extra special, I'm sure, as they hit four home runs and belted out 17 hits to move within 2.5 games of their division lead.

Sadly, the season is over for the Blackhawks. I stayed awake to hear them lose in OT, 4 - 5. A good season said the talking heads, but the point of any professional sports activity is to play for, and win, the championship. The division titles, the playoffs, are for the fans in order to generate revenue for the owners and the player's salaries. At the professional level, read that being paid to play a kid's game, as the late Vince Lombard is oft quoted as saying, "Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing." So, the futility that is the boys in blue, the loss in the final game of the Western Conference Finals of the NHL by the Blackhawks, are just losses for money, not wins for the fans.

Since I haven't seen nor heard any northbound trains this morning, I'll assume that I must have dreamed the southbound one I thought I heard earlier. Sunrise will be in about two hours at 6:15 a.m. I'll get back to reading the biography of John Quincy Adams that I have on my book stand. A fascinating read about our sixth president. Ciao.