Good morning or good evening, wherever you may ber. It is just past 5:30 a.m. in "The City."

We have a current temperature of 30° according to the NWS in GR, or 34°, according to my DTWS (Desk Top Weather Station). Either way, it was cold when I let the fur-children out @ 4:30 a.m. If you go by the forecast from the NWS, there is also a freeze warning in effect too. All in all, fall has arrived. Still, today's high temperature forecast of 54° from the NWS under mostly sunny skies, should be pleasant once the sun rises @ 8:02 a.m. and long before it sets @ 6:57 p.m.

Never let it be said that the Cubs are far from this Die-Hard fan's mind. I was perusing their official MLB™ website and I learned that Anthony Lapoce, the current hitting coach from the Cubs' minor-league system, has been named to replace Chili Davis, the former hitting coach f the Major-League™ team. Lapoce says don't look for him to wave a magic wand and fix the team's second-half woes at the plate, but he was welcomed by several players on the roster of the Major League™ team.

In addition, according to the cubs' powers that be, there is still no need for surgery on Kris Bryant's left-shoulder, something that I can identify with. His revised grip on the bat should help after some rest and time-off. Yes, manager Joe Maddon moved his players around a lot, and yes, some felt frustrated by that, and yes, they understand the need to get all of the great players into the line-up, but...

Some pundits asked if the acquisition of pitcher Tyler Chatwood last December was a bust? According to the Cub's front-office, the jury is still out. He did walk a lot of hitters last year, but he struck out many right handed hitters and held those same hitters to a .150 average towards near the end of the season, so...I could go on, but clearly, there are many unanswered questions for next season. One answer I can give is that the Cubs need another reliable starting pitcher.

On to better news in baseball. My beloved Red Sox are just one-game away from the World-Series™, following their ALCS win over the Astros last night, 8 - 6. If you needed a hero from last night's game, it would be left-fielder Andrew Benintendi, whose spectacular catch in the bottom of the 9th in Houston sealed the win.

With the bases loaded, and two out, the Astros' Alex Bregman hit a sinking line-drive to left-field that, if it had dropped in, would have tied the game. However, Benintendi raced in and instead of letting the ball drop for a safe play, he made a "Five-Star Catch" and caught the ball as he slid towards the infield to make it a win. The Sox and the Astros next play tonight @ 8:09 p.m., when David Price once again takes the mound for the Sox.

Meanwhile, over in the NLCS series, the Brewers fell to the Dodgers, 2 - 5 to fall into a 2 - 3 deficit as they head home for game six tomorrow night @ 7:39 p.m. If I'm the TV people, I'd want the World Series™ to be between a West-Coast team, the Dodgers, and an East Coast team, my beloved Red Sox. Just saying.

Otherwise, we made a trip to the big-box almost everything store and refilled some of the holes in our larders. Plus, we made a stop @ Stan's Bar and Grill in Spring Lake. Inside Stan's, they were having a fund-raiser for a Sprig Lake man who had accrued huge medical bills for a rare blood disorder. He is now recovering at home, but the need for a fund-raiser to offset medical bills is a phenomenon that is flat-out wrong in a country as wealthy as the USA.

We can't MAGA until our spineless politicians confront the inequities in our health-care delivery system caused by the for-profit insurance industry and the for-profit pharmaceutical industry and their huge "donations" through their lobbyists to those same politicians. Can you say Medicare for everyone? Sure, I knew you could. If you don't like what's happening, get out and vote on November 6, 2018 for a candidate who will actually improve our health-care delivery system, not promise and deliver huge deficit producing tax cuts to the wealthy 1%. All that while watching the majority of our citizenry plunge into near or actual bankruptcy over medical bills. Plus, some of those same politicians say that that same deficit will necessitate a cut in our Medicare, Social-Security, and Medicaid systems, which aids older retired and poor families and their children.

I am off to see the orthopedist today regarding my still-ailing left-shoulder. My bill will be paid by Medicare and my supplemental insurance plan. Fortunately, I have satisfied the deductible for this year, but without that plan, we'd be in deep doo-doo. Plus, I have an appointment at the podiatrist this afternoon, also paid for by those plans.

That looks like about enough for one day. I've ranted and cheered, and now it is time to kick-back. Ciao.