Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 1:30 a.m. in "The City."

I was outside with the fur-children @ 12:30 a.m. and according to the NWS, the T-storms should have begun just about 12:45 a.m. As of now, @ 1:30 a,m,. there is a light rain falling. The extremely muggy temperature is currently 78° under very cloudy skies, so maybe. The T-storms are supposed to abate for about one hour and then return in earnest again about 3:00 a.m. I am at the ready here in the Weather Center with my trusty Weather Window to my right and STWD nearby, so if anything happens, I'll be one of the first to know in GH and so will you, my loyal readers.

Speaking of watering, our crops are still doing well, although the harvest of tomatoes is waning @ the end of their growing season. Potatoes are due any day now. In addition, our giant hibiscus, "Pink", will be blooming her dinner-plate sized flowers on another few days. Our gardens, both vegetable, and flower are doing great due to my constant watering and attention.

Sports is another matter altogether.

The Cubs eased past the Reds last night, 7 - 6 in an NL Central game. They play again today @ 2:20 p.m. The Cubs have an overall record of 63 - 56, allowing them to remain in 1st place, 1.5 games ahead of the Brewers and 2.5 games ahead of the losing Cardinals.

My beloved Red Sox also eked out a win over their opponents, the Cardinals, 5 - 4. That gives the 69 - 51 Sox a solid hold on 1st place in the AL East by 4.5 games over the winning 2nd place Yankees. The Sox are off today before they welcome the Yankees to Fenway Park on Friday @ 7:10 p.m.

Once again, I wish I had good news regarding the Tigers, but I don't. They were pounded by the Rangers last night, 6 - 12 in an effort to cost manager Brad Ausmus his job @ season's end. The Tigers tied the score in the bottom of the 2nd inning, went ahead in the top of the 3rd, but then allowed the Rangers to tie it up again in the bottom of the inning as the Rangers went into cruise control. Two runs in the top of the 9th were all that the Tigers would add en route to that lopsided loss. The Tigers are also off today before meeting the NL West division leading Dodgers, who are 30 games over .500 in the NL West, Friday night @ Comerica Park @ 7:10 p.m.

The Caps dropped another game to the lowly Dayton Dragons last night, 0 - 7, in an MWL East game. The Caps are still solidly in 1st place with a record of 36 - 15 and they play the 16 - 36, last-place Dragons, again tonight @ 7:00 p.m., hopefully with better results.

I have one-half of a "Trainspotting" from yesterday. I observed the southbound passage of EMD GP 38-2 locomotive # 2057, once again solo, as it passed by on the RSTL. In tow were 11 CHCs, one DWTC, and two DBTC. Did I miss the northbound run later in the day? I dunno.

I rode my bike yesterday and the results were mixed. Post-riding, I felt fine. However, long term, I found my hip aching. I called my orthopedist earlier in the day and arranged to have an X-ray of my left hip before consulting the doctor next Tuesday.

We had the technician from the cable/internet provider out yesterday to exchange our modem. His efforts seem to have helped the sporadic dropping of the WiFi signal here in our nearly 114-year-old manse with its two-stories. solid oak woodwork and thick plaster walls. If the relief proves to be only fleeting, we may have to invest in a high-powered WiFi router, as the one we are paying the cable company for is likely too weak for our large expanse. Sigh.

I forgot to mention that we traveled downtown and bought a new tablecloth that was on sale for 1/2 off! Plus, I got my new winter jigsaw puzzle, a topographical depiction of the Great Lakes. It will go well with our map motif in the living quarters when I finish it and have it framed. Another plus, we got a coupon in the mail that gave us 20% off on a single item at that same store, so I got to once again enjoy my frugality.

Today, I will continue to assist Mary in her indexing efforts after walking the fur-children between the raindrops later this morning. Otherwise, I have nothing pressing on tap. I started a new semi-non-fiction book entitled Haunted Baseball, written in 2007 by Mickey Bradley and Dan Gordon. I heard about this book on  Coast to Coast AM one night. I plan to read excerpts from the book from those sections that are of most interest to myself.

The sun will rise today @ 6:52 a.m. and set @ 8:43 p.m. Ciao.

Well, it is 3:45 a.m. The T-storms began about 30 minutes ago and STWD joined me due to the thunder. The rain is falling as forecast by the NWS. Surprise! Most of the morning and into early afternoon, the NWS is forecasting showers/T-storms. I won't have to water!