Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 4:30 a.m. in "The City."

It is either late night or early morning, depending on your belief. I was outside with Ginger around 2:45 a.m. and the weather was cool but comfortable. The current temperature is 43° under cloudy skies. Later this morning, there is a 40% chance of rain showers as we try to achieve today's high temperature of 59°, Tomorrow, the high is forecast to be 66° with little chance of rain, but Saturday the high will also reach into the mid-sixties @ 65° with a 60% chance of rain/T-storms in the morning. Coincidentally, that's the day that I'll be walking to my monthly Irish Jam session at the library, so if the rain is over by the early afternoon, that's fine with me.

Sports news yesterday was mixed. The 2nd place Chicago Cubs fell to the Los Angeles Dodgers by a score of  0 - 2. Their big bats still aren't getting the job done. Players like Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, and Kyle Schwarber are struggling at the plate, resulting in this latest loss and the Cubs 5 - 3 overall record in the NL Central. Their next game is this afternoon today @ 2:20 p.m. EDT.

The Tigers got off to a rocky start in their game yesterday, but a mid-game Grand Slam by Andrew Romine, his first home run of the season,  gave the Tigers the victory 5 - 3 over the Twins and moved the Tigers into 1st place in the AL Central. Like the Cubs, the Tigers big bats like Miguel Cabrara and Victor Martinez are struggling @ the plate. In fact, Cabrara is batting an anemic .107 as he struggles, while Martinez is doing somewhat better with a .231 batting average. The Tigers pitching is getting it done, so far. The Tigers next game is @ 1:10 p.m. against those same Twins @ Comerica Park in Detroit.

My beloved Red Sox were crushed by the AL East leading Baltimore Orioles by a final score of 5 - 12. That finds the Sox in 3rd place in the AL East with an overall record of 4 - 4. They are getting the hits, with the exception of Mookie Betts, but their pitching has been less than stellar. They Sox play again today in Fenway against the Pirates @ 2:05 p.m. EDT.

The Caps played to a loss yesterday against Mary's sentimental favorite, the Dayton Dragons, by a final score of 8 - 10, to fall to 7th place in the Midwest League East @ 3 - 4. The Dragons lead the league @ 5 - 2. The Caps are on the road tonight against the South Bend, IN Cubs @ 6:35 p.m. A win is good, but in "A" level baseball the players are always trying to improve their overall game. How's that for a lame reason for their weak showing so far?

We made our appointment @ the veterinarians yesterday. We learned that Ginger's weight is fine, but that STWD has gained a few pounds to be about seven or eight pounds more than her ideal weight. We picked up a bag of low-fat, high protein food, that should help with that problem over the next several weeks. Sugar just isn't getting the exercise that she needs. We have been derelict pet-parents. We'll do better from now on.

I placed more pieces in my jigsaw puzzle and I am doing well after a short spell of puzzle block.

Otherwise, John finished the grouting of the tile, and I finished the sealing of the door for the bathroom while Mary was in her kitchen. Today, the fixtures go back in, the vanity goes back in, the door goes back on, and the bathroom will once again be usable. John does great work on paint, tile, and other sundry things.

I had asked Mary to pick up some pepperoni at the grocery store, but she whipped out her new cookbook, Veganize It!, and followed a recipe she found there, that's why she was in her kitchen. Her version of pepperoni turned out great. She wants to try other recipes that also look good. She used the leftover tomato paste from the pepperoni recipe to make a delicious sauce for the mostaccioli that we had for lunch. We ended the day with Mexican-style bean tacos from Arturo's. They are always good.

I have plans to read more today after the morning safari with our fur-children and Mary plans to do the same along with knitting. She finds knitting therapeutic with the state of our government and the accompanying news stories. I retreat into my music.

The sun will rise today @ 7:05 a.m. and set @ 8:25 p.m. Ciao.