Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 2:30 a.m. in "The City."

Not surprisingly, I am listening to Coast to Coast AM, with host George Noory, who is interviewing Liz McIntyre. a cyber security expert, regarding ideas described in a recent book written by Katherine Albrecht entitled Spychips. That book details the upcoming shift to RFID technology, Radio Frequency Identification, a technology that would/will eliminate many cashiers' jobs in grocery and department stores because products with RFID chips will be able to be scanned and the cost deducted from a person's credit or debit card at the check out kiosk. Plus, there is a possibility of having a personal RFID chip implanted into a person that would contain all of that person's personal information, such as their name, address, SSN number, and banking information. The chance to be personally "Hacked" by an identity thief would increase exponentially. Scary stuff, indeed.

The answer to whether I had missed the northbound train run on Wednesday was answered yesterday morning @ 11:04 a.m. as MMRR locomotive #2057 passed by on the RSTL towing two CHCs, and two DBTCs. To borrow from Porky Pig, That's All Folks!

I was outside with Ginger around 1:00 a.m. and the weather was calm and comfortable. The current temperature is 71° under cloudy skies. We had a good storm overnight yesterday with thunder and a goodly amount of rainfall. Today, the high will reach 73°, with clouds in the morning and sun in the afternoon and only a 20% chance of additional showers. We had a severe weather warning from the NWS yesterday afternoon, that was to include hail, high winds, and more rain. As usual, that warning was premature and we didn't get any of those. That's life here in West, MI. Later this morning, the sun will rise @ 6:54 a.m. and set tonight @ 8:42 p.m.

I just finished filling out another in my long line of rebate requests. This one was offered under the auspices of the Michigan Energy Smart Program and was made available to us through a mailing that came with our electric bill from the Grand Haven Board of Light and Power. While $15.00 may not seem like much, I'll take that anytime for only the cost of a postage stamp.

Sports news yesterday was on the negative side. The Cubs and their ace pitcher, Jon Lester, surrendered nine runs in the bottom of the 2nd inning. Lester threw a total of 46 pitches, 40 in the 2nd inning alone as he surrendered seven earned runs and the Reds scored nine total in the 2nd alone en route to a win and a 10 - 13 loss for the Cubs in the NL Central. Lester left the game after 1 2/3 innings with an injury to a muscle and will be evaluated today.

The Cubs staged a home run derby, launching four in the top of the third, with Ian Happ, Kris Bryant and Alex Avila going back to back to back and adding more later from Javier Baez and Kyle Schwarber. However, the Reds staged their own home run derby and the rest is history, as is often said. Even with that loss, the Cubs hung on to 1st place, one game ahead of the Brewers and one and one-half games ahead of the Cardinals. The Cubs welcome the Toronto Bluejays to the Friendly Confines today @ 2:20 p.m. EDT.

My beloved 1st place in the AL East Red Sox, were off yesterday before they welcome the 2nd place Yankees to Fenway tonight @ 7:10 p.m. The Sox have a record of 69 - 51 and a four game lead over the Yankees, who won yesterday.

The Tigers were mercifully off yesterday. They welcome the Dodgers to Comerica Park tonight, also @ 7:10 p.m. The Tigers are mired in 4th place with a record of 53 - 67 in the AL Central, eight games ahead of that other team from Chicago.

The Caps fell off the rails for the second straight game, losing to the last place Dayton Dragons yesterday, 1 - 3. The Caps still have a strong hold on 1st place in the MWL East with a record of 36 - 16, but they lost to the Dragons who have a record of 17 - 36. I guess the Dragons were able to summon the strength to play the Caps very hard. The Caps travel to Bowling Green, KY to face the Hot Rods tonight @ 7:35 p.m.

Our carpet has been repaired. The spot needs to dry for 24 hours, but it should be fine. Plus, we learned the best and safest way to spot clean a little spot caused by the fur-children. A little warm water and a wet/dry vacuum and we will be good to go.

We had dropped Ginger off at daycare and grooming before we set out on some errands yesterday. After picking up some food for STWD, we traveled to the hospital so that I could get those X-rays on my hip and have them ready for the doctor on Tuesday. My hip joint is still painful and walking is a challenge beyond a short distance.

We made it to the mall for a bedspread and also to the big-box home center for some items. Then a stop for libations before picking up an excited Ginger and heading home. Mary washed the fur-children's "Jewelry", their collars, harnesses, and leashes. The fur-children felt naked without their bling.

Today, Mary has to index and I have to rest after the fur-children accompany us on the morning safari. Ciao.