Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 12:30 a.m. in "The City" where the current temperature is 65° under partly cloudy skies. Today's high is forecast by the NWS to be 79° with 75% relative humidity. We had a good rain event yesterday, so I won't have to water again later today.

We only have one thing planned for later today, and that is a visit to the podiatrist for my quarterly tune-up. Given the beating my feet have taken in the last few days, that is a fortuitous event. This will be my first such visit as a Medicare patient.

We had to go to the car dealer yesterday to have the outside rearview mirrors checked for a problem. The service advisor thought he had solved the problem by pushing the mirror mounting into its correct position, but the thrill of victory was short-lived. A new switch has been ordered.

Trainspotting yesterday was quick and easy. At 9:00 a.m., locomotive 2019 passed through on a solo southbound run. In tow were five CHCs, one GTC, and seven DBTCs. At 12:06 p.m., the same locomotive passed by again heading north. This time, the number of cars was significantly less and included only two BCs and two DBTCs.

When the clouds parted @ around 11:00 a.m. yesterday, I took the morning safari with a reluctant STWD. We made it to the Bookman and picked up the newspaper and then headed home. We had a lunch of leftover Coleslaw and roast beest sandwiches. I sat and read for a while and then it was time to go to the car dealer as I noted above. We also stopped at the Seasoned Home store there for some spices that Mary needed for her kitchen. Since I am the official pie baker, I got to purchase a new flour sifter too.

We decided that a stop at the favorite watering hole was in order for dinner. It is nice to have our city back now that the tourists have mostly left town. We wouldn't have as many places to get food without the tourists, but it is still nice to get a seat.

All of my baseball teams won yesterday. The Cubs swept the Reds in Cincinnati, taking the final game of the series by a final score of  9 - 2, to move their NL Central record to 97 - 55. A bit of quick math says that the Cubs should be able to get at least 100 wins during the regular season. Dexter Fowler and Kris Bryant both hit dingers and Miguel Montero went three for four with three RBIs. Bryant's home run left the park and landed on Waveland Avenue. The Cubs are off today before traveling to St. Louis to play the Cardinals @ 2:20 p.m. on Friday.

The Tigers defeated the Twins 8 - 1 to move to 80 - 70 in the AL Central. That's still only good enough for 2nd place, as the division-leading Indians also won. The Tigers once again face the Twins this afternoon @ 2:10 p.m.

My beloved Red Sox took another game from the Orioles in Baltimore in an AL East game by a final score of 5 - 1. Some odd fielding plays allowed the Sox to defeat the Orioles and move to a division leading record of 88 - 64. That means that the Sox' magic number is six games to clinch the division, Things are looking good. Thye play the Orioles again tonight @ 7:05 p.m. Once again, the fans in the Ballpark at CambdenYards were heavily disguised as empty seats. That's a shame for a game between the 1st place Sox and the 3rd place Orioles.

Other than that doctor's appointment, we/I have no plans for today. We'll walk the intrepid one and then go to the hospital. If the temperature and humidity are as high as forecast, I don't plan to walk.

The sun will rise later today @ 7:33 a.m. and set #_@ 7:41 p.m. Ciao.