Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 2:00 a.m. in "The City."

Amazingly, I am able to blog at this time because the fine folks at the cable company decided to allow the internet to return It took about 50 minutes this time. Reliability is not their middle name, Perhaps not even their third or fourth name. Oh well, it sure is a good thing that there is no such thing as a cable monopoly. Oops. I spoke too soon. The internet went out again @ 1:31 a.m. Wait, it's back, again @ 1:33 a.m. Will it last? Stay tuned to this space for further developments.

We had two train runs yesterday. The first @ 10:29 a.m. and the second @ 4:08 p.m. In both cases, there was a single locomotive, EMD GP 38 - 2 #2019. The morning southbound relatively short, with only seven CHCs, four, DBTCs. one GTC, and five DWTCs. The afternoon northbound train consisted of 10 DBTCs and three DWTCs. with one of those bringing up the end and girdled by a green corrosion resistant paint stripe.

Sports news yesterday was mostly bad. The Cubs took an early two-run lead but watched it slip away to result in a 2 - 3 loss to the Padres. That loss following two wins over the Padres left the Cubs with a record of 36 - 35 in the NL Central, still good enough for 2nd place. As I've said before, a long winning streak not followed by a long losing streak is an imperative. The Cubs travel to Miami to meet the Marlins tonight @ 7:00 p.m.

The Tigers dropped another one to the Mariners in a game that just finished on the West Coast. The final score was 5 - 7 and dropped the Tigers to 32 - 40 and kept them firmly in 4th place in the AL Central. The only bright spot, if it was a bright spot, was that Justin Verlander, JV, was sharp through four innings, but then gave up three runs on four hits in the 5th. The game took 10 innings to complete, but the outcome was not a positive one for the Tigers in spite of a lead-off home run by Ian Kinsler and a game-tying home run by J. D. Martinez in the 8th. Verlander's relief gave up the winning runs to the Mariners in the bottom of the 10th. The Tigers meet the Mariners again tonight @ 10:00 p.m.

My beloved Red Sox dropped one to the Royals, 4 - 6, following a rare collapse by the Sox' bullpen. The Sox are still in 2nd place, 1/2 game behind the Yankees. The Sox welcome the Angels to Fenway tonight @ 7:10 p.m. One bright spot for the Sox is the play of left fielder Andrew Benintendi, whose 454 foot home run in last night's game was a sight to behold according to observers. The Sox still need a good hitting solid third baseman.

The Caps return to Fifth/Third Ballpark tonight @ 7:00 p.m. to face the Lansing Lug Nuts as the second half of the MWL East season opens. The Caps finished the first half with a record of 46 - 22 and a guaranteed spot in the playoffs at the end of this season.

We got some good news yesterday. Our carpet is finally in at the carpet store. Now, we have to await a scheduled installation time. In addition, I picked up the mirror that we had completed @ City Glass and Mirror here in GH. We picked up the frame on Monday and then dropped it off that afternoon. The mirror is a good fit and the polished brass frame is a perfect match with the other fixtures in the room.

The current weather conditions show a temperature of 64° per the NWS, under partly cloudy skies. This morning there is a 40% chance for T-storms as the temperature climbs to a forecast high of 86° with 17 mph winds and 66% humidity. We'll drop back into the low to mid-70s by Friday and stay there until July 3.

We are hoping to get some household things done today. Mary needs to do some sewing as soon as I get the machine changed over to a different color thread. I decided that since I am awake that I'd do it now. Done!


I am reading yet another Amish based romance novel in my favorite, large print, entitled The EBB TIDE, by Beverly Lewis. Amish based novels are one of my little vices that Mary turned me on to about two years ago, much like watching romances on the Hallmark Channel.

The sun will rise @6:05 a.m. and set @ 9:08 p.m. Ciao.