Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 3:30 a.m. in "The City."

I took yesterday off from blogging because I was still in ecstasy from the Cubs' victory Sunday night that propelled them to the National League Pennant and then on to the World Series. I felt entitled after the long and arduous regular season and 58 years of being a Die-Hard Cubs' Fan. Maybe not as arduous an undertaking as that faced by the players and coaches and some even longer suffering fans, but the majority of the Cubs' weren't even born when most of us, myself included, began our personal journeys. However, I now feel entitled to just four more wins and a World Series title.
Call me greedy, but as the late Steve Goodman said in his song, A Dying Cub Fans Last Request,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFDWO5N7BpA, I now feel entitled. Just saying.

At any rate, the Cubs open the World Series in Cleveland tonight @ 8:00 p.m. The Indians also have a long record of futility that dates to 1948, but their suffering is a mere shadow of the suffering borne by us Die-Hard fans. I'm certain that Bonnie's mother-in-law and Ellen's father have suffered for the sins of the Cubs even more than yours truly. We've suffered so long, watching and listening to the broadcasts of the "Loveable Losers" by the late Jack Brickhouse, Vince Lloyd, Lou Boudreau, Milo Hamilton, Lloyd Pettit Harry Caray, Ron Santo and the current broadcasters such as Pat Hughes, Len Casper, Ron Coomer, and Mark Grote, that I/we want it all. So Hey Hey! Holy Cow! Holy Mackeral! Whee! Let's get them tonight and for three more after that.

I finished my final project yesterday. I got the balance of the hardware I needed to finish correctly mounting the resonator box to the back of Susanna, my ganjo or banjitar with a visit to the local big-box home center. After a short, one hour hiatus to cuddle Ginger following her much-needed bath, I got all of the pieces in place and tightened down. As the late Freddie Prinz used to say, "Looking good!"

I spotted the southbound run of the trains yesterday @ 12:10 p.m. while I was in the chair at the barbershop. My recollection is of locomotives 2019 and 2057 at the head of  about 17 mixed cars comprised of CHCs, DBTCS, and DWTCs. Later in the afternoon, @ 4:03 p.m., the same tandem of locomotives passed through on the RSTL heading north. They were towing fully laden cars which included 11 CHCs, nine DBTCs, and two DWTCs.

We got up early yesterday to make sure that Ginger was taken care of. That allowed Mary to get her latest Crockpot™ cooked vegan ham out of the Crockpot™ and that was coupled with a small salad for breakfast. Mary's late mother would have been appalled, as she came from the old-school belief system that breakfast was bacon and eggs. Lunch was a small President Nixon style lunch of cottage tofu topped with pineapple and sitting on a bed of lettuce. My cottage tofu luncheon also included a glass of almond milk that was something that Mr. Nixon didn't have when he was partaking of his everyday lunch meal.

Later, after we returned from casting our absentee ballots @ the GH City Hall, we traveled to JWs for adult libations and a small snack. When we returned home, we took care of the fur-children and then I repaired to the media room to watch Supergirl. Later, Mary gave me room service and brought up a delicious sandwich of her vegan ham which I accompanied with some potato chips washed down with a can of Squirt™. To paraphrase that old beer commercial, "It doesn't get any better than that."

Today, Mary has made enough progress on her index that she/we will be taking some time to go north and see the changing leaves in Newaygo, MI which is about 30 minuted north of GH. Newaygo is on the edge of the Manistee National Forest. Based on the forecast from the NWS for a 100% chance of rainy/windy conditions on Wednesday, this will be our best and perhaps last chance to see the leaves in all their glory. While we are in Newaygo, Mary will visit the local yarn store located there and we'll have lunch nearby. It should be a full day before I return to the media room for the opening game of the Cub's/Indians World Series matchup and Mary journeys to the La-Z-Boy for some serious knitting. All of that activity will be post morning safari and pre-evening meals for the fur-children.

The current temperature is 34 chilly degrees under clear skies. Later today, the NWS is predicting a high of 54° under mostly cloudy skies. The sun will rise @ 8:11 a.m. and set @ 6:45 p.m. Ciao.