Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 6:30 a.m. in "The City."

Well, another year has come and gone and I continue to go along for the ride. As I enter my 68th year, I can't help but think about all those who made that possible. Mary certainly is at the top of the list, as she has been here for all of my ups and downs with her love and support. There are many others too, like Adam and Steph, not to overlook the people in many walks of life and many locations who have also been instrumental.

As Joe Walsh sang with the Eagles, Life's Been Good to Me So Far. Naturally, I have to include a cut from YouTube™ to make this a complete reference. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=063LYBBlR3c

Of course, what birthday would be complete without a song from The Grateful Dead? In this case, another YouTube™ reference to to the Dead, and their song, Truckin'.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pafY6sZt0FE&list=PLb952MoF5Q2I2LIYdWy3O2mOOnWRMkT6i

In both cases, I can only aspire to being as good on guitar as Joe Walsh is, or Jerry Garcia was, but like is often said, "If wishes was fishes, we'd all cast nets in the sea." There is an Irish folk tune that opines that same sentiment, and of course, I had to include another reference from YouTube™ for that one too. This is one version of that song from David Maloney.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNonIrtd3zE

But I digress in a very maudlin way. Life often takes turns we don't expect, but when you have the chance to let someone else drive once in a while, you learn many things along the way. Such has been the case with my life. Nearly 45 years ago, I put my faith in Mary's driving and I have never regretted it. Multiple careers for me, lots of educational opportunities, some medical issues, but most of all, the chance to just make it to retirement and sit back and try to relax. It's that last part that seems to be the trickiest, but I'm working on it. If I wait another couple of decades, I might perfect the formula.

We have a current temperature of 53° under clear, and sunny skies. Today's high has been forecast by the NWS to be a very nice 73° under those sunny-skies with low relative humidity. As was once said in a commercial for Old Milwaukee Beer, "It doesn't get any better than this." The sun will rise @ 7:07 a.m. and set later @ 8:22 p.m. In between, no rain is that forecast and that's a change from the last several days.

Last night, Mary got a jump on my birthday eating by making a delicious spaghetti and vegan meatballs dinner with garlic bread. Today, I have already asked for sauerkraut and Swiss cheese on rye sandwiches. What I haven't told Mary is that I'd also like Tater Tots™ as a side dish. Not quite as bad as Chef Boyardee™ Beefaroni with Tater Tots™. so I think she'll acquiesce. There's an inside joke in that reference.

Baseball news yesterday was about 50/50. The 1st place in the NL Central Cubs, finished their suspended game with the 4th place in the NL East Mets, with a tiny win, 2 - 1. Then the Cubs were crushed by the Mets, 10 - 3. Cubs' starting pitcher, Alec Mills, dug the hole in the 1st inning when he hung a fastball and the Mets' Todd Frazier sent it into the left-field bleachers. Mills settled in after that, but the damage was done and the Cub's bats didn't make any thunder as Mills's relievers kept on digging. The Cubs are off to Atlanta to play the 74 - 58, 1st in the NL East Braves tonight@ 7:35 p.m.

My beloved 1st place in the AL East Red Sox were losing early on in their game against the 5th place in the NL East Marlins, but the Sox bats awoke from their slumber and the Sox cruised to a 14 - 6 win. The Sox move on to Chicago tonight to face that other team tonight @ 8:10 p.m.

That other team moved into 2nd place in the AL Central and pushed the Tigers down to 4th, with a 4 - 1 win over the Yankees. The Tigers were crushed, 9 - 2, by the Royals as they sink slowly into the proverbial sunset, or is it the primordial ooze? The Tigers move on to NYC tonight to face the Yankees @ 7:05 p.m.

The 5th place in the MWL East Caps, took a game from the 8th place Dragons last night, 6 - 2. The Dragons have a 56 - 77 record, so the Caps should always win. The Caps and the Dragons play in Dayton tonight @ 7:00 p.m.

We got the fur-children groomed yesterday and they look and smell much better. Neither of them liked the experience, but we like the results.

We'll be walking them this morning and then getting on with our day. A couple of road trips are possible. Ciao.