Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 3:00 a.m. in "The City."

A sad note to begin this blog. A longtime friend and colleague, Ellen, lost her father yesterday. He had a long life, but there is never enough time to do everything we plan or hope to do. My condolences to Ellen and her family.

Here in the Tri-Cities area, the current temperature is 47° under partly cloudy skies. Later today, the temperature will stay about the same with similar skies. The sun will rise @ 7:45 a.m. and set later @ 5:15 a.m.

Good news, I am walking better without a cane each and every day. While I am not where I'll be in another week or month, I am improving and that is the goal. I'm just not a patient man. I want my yak to be better, NOW!

We took a long ride to Pentwater, MI yesterday. While most of the attractions were/are closed at this time of year, it was nice to get out. We made a stop at the state park there and viewed the waves breaking against the shoreline. On the way home, we stopped in Hart, MI, to pick up some apples for making applesauce. A pleasant day was had by all. While we were traveling, Ginger was @ daycare and having her face trimmed. She seems to like it there, with the exception of that grooming thing.

I tried to let Ginger out @ 1:00 a.m., but she didn't want to go, so I emptied the dishwasher and hand-washed the other dishes. Now the kitchen is ready for anything Mary can throw at it. I plan to read and do some indoor chores. Mary got started on those last night, but there are more.

I spent some time in the bed yesterday and it was great. I am not able to lay in all positions, yet, but I did get in a couple of hours of bliss.

Right now, I am listening to Christmas music, shhhh, don't tell Mary,. I love it. I have a thing for the season, what can I say?

In sports news, I am awaiting the start of the most important time of the year, when pitchers and catchers report to spring training in early February. While the Tigers and the Cubs have not posted official dates, I was able to discern that the pitchers and catchers for my beloved Red Sox report on February 13, 2018, with their first workout the next day. The position players report on the 18th. with the first full workout the next day. As anyone who knows me can attest, I believe that the first day of spring will be February 13, 2018. I can't wait! A side note, the Red Sox, and the Tigers will have new managers and coaching staffs in place.

So, that looks like enough for one day. Ciao.

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

In keeping with my usual format, I will start with the latest weather report. We have a current temperature of 45° with rain occurring on and off all night @ 40%. Later today, the rains will continue @ 100% and the temperature will remain @ 45°. The sun will rise later this morning @ 7:41 a.m. and set later today @ 5:17 p.m.

Yesterday, Ginger and I did some trainspotting. At around 8:30 a.m., we heard the train roll through towing what I imagine was a long string of cars. However, while Ginger observed the entire train as it passed, she was unable to tell me more. The length of the train is based on my personal experience as a trainspotter who spotted from a comfortable spot on the bed. I was able to lie there for about one hour and then I had to give up and return to my chair in the media room. However, I think I am improving overall. I am eight days post steroid injection, so I have another two weeks to go before the full effects will be felt.

But I digress. I was able to spot the northbound run of the train @ 1:10 p.m.and with Ginger's help, I can tell you that locomotive #2019 rolled past on the RSTL towing two CHCs, three, DBTCs, and six DWTCs, with three of those having red, noncorrosive stripes painted around their mid-sections. Also worthy of note is that Ginger probably feels vindicated when she barks post-train passage. She must be certain that her barking made the train go away, just as she planned.

Mary and I traveled to the grocery store yesterday and I returned the cans that Mary loathes returning. However, the store itself was a disaster as the trash bins were overflowing, the can redemption machines were partially out of order, and the shopping carts were all in the parking lot. Let's just say that the store's condition is a far cry from what it was after it was remodeled two years ago when they had a huge staff on hand and everything was perfect. I know that Mary hates going to the big-box everything store, but it is no worse than the current state of the regular store that she prefers.

Before we traveled to the grocery store, I made more of the vegan sausages yesterday and they turned out great.

Sports news is limited at this time of year. Adam clued me into the NIU Huskies game against the Western Michigan Broncos. The Huskies defeated the Broncos 35 - 31 and their next opponent is the Chippewas of Central Michigan on Friday, November 24 @ 11:00 a.m. Then the Huskies play in the MAC Championship game on December 2, @ 11:00 a.m. Their opponent has yet to be determined.

The MSU Spartans fell hard last week in a game against the Buckeyes of Ohio State, 3 - 48. That means that bowl games may be offered, but a shot @ the national championship no longer exists. The Spartans are home today to play the Terrapins of Maryland @ 4:00 p.m.

Speaking of the Terrapins, the Wolverines of Michigan pummeled them last week, 35 - 10. Today, the Wolverines face the Badgers of Wisconsin @ 12:00 The Badgers are for real and the Wolverines will have their hands full.

A perfect segue to my activities for today. I plan to have Mary drop me at the library for the Irish Jam session @ 1:00 p.m. I changed the strings on Abagael yesterday and she is ready to go and sounding great. I have been working on a few new songs to sing while I am there.

I am nearly done with my book club read, Ali, and then I can get on to some other books for pleasure reading. I enjoyed the Ali book, but I am ready for some pulp-fiction. Mary will be doing something crafty now that the Christmas tree skirt is done. Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 12:30 a.m. in "The City."

We show a current temperature of 24° under mostly cloudy skies. Later today, the NWS is forecasting a high temperature of 36°, also under mostly cloudy skies.The sun will be rising @ 7:32 a.m. and sunset will be @ 5:24 p.m.

Thursday afternoon, Mary and I traveled to Muskegon for my appointment at the yak doctor. I received an injection in my spine to relieve the inflammation of one of the disks in my spinal column. I had been given a prescription for valium to make me more steady while lying face down on the table in the procedure room. Let's just say that the valium didn't do a thing. The injection pain was not as bad as the pain that I got from lying in a prone position,

However, I survived the pain of both lying down and receiving the injection. It has now been about 36 hours since the procedure and Mary says my speed of walking has increased. The discharge directions note that relief may take from two to three weeks. Here's hoping that the effects will last for a significant time period, otherwise surgery will be the only resolution.

Ginger and I did some trainspotting yesterday. At 10:11 a.m., MMRR locomotive #2019 passed by heading south towing five CHCs, 11 DBTCs, and five DWTCs, with red stripes around their mid-section and two DWTCs with green stripes in the same location.

At 1:55 p.m. that same EMD GP 38-2 locomotive was spotted by Ginger and I heading north towing one DBTC and four DWTCs.

Mostly, I read the book that I chose for our book club, the latest biography about the late prizefighter, Muhammad Ali. He was an interesting man and the book is offering new insights into his thoughts and character. I am about 1/2 the way through.

Today, I plan to watch the Spartans of MSU take on the Buckeyes of the Ohio State University, game time 12:00 p.m. Mary has promised a nice brunch and also some popcorn for my viewing pleasure. Later, she also plans to make a vegan pot roast with vegetables for dinner. I plan to put horseradish on my pot roast.

Otherwise, not much is on our agenda. I finished the laundry yesterday and between football and reading, I will have my day complete. Mary has nearly completed our Christmas tree skirt. It has been a long process since she doesn't work on Christmas items until after Thanksgiving. Ciao..

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 4:00 a.m. in "The City."

Recently, a friend queried me regarding my reference to my Yak. I guess the best way to remind my loyal readers about that reference is to reprise a variation of that old Tibetan Yak joke.

Once upon a time, a mountain climber came across a Tibetan husband and wife sitting outside their yurt in the Himalayas. He noticed an interesting aroma emanating from the yurt. He just had to ask what it was and he received the following reply from the wife.

"Well, while my husband was out hunting, I decided to make his favorite dinner. Yak. I basted, I rubbed and I put his favorite dish into our oven. However, if you don't watch the progress carefully, you can burn it and it makes an awful smell. But, since I did watch and tend the dinner carefully, what you smell is a well-prepared dinner of baking Yak."

So the answer to the query is that if you prepare the Yak well, the wonderful aroma is from the baking Yak. So, I like to refer to my aching back as my baking Yak.

But I digress. Yesterday, college football was very interesting, The MSU Spartans were home against the Penn State Nittany Lions. However, about halfway through the 2nd quarter, the game went into an extended weather delay due to an electrical storm that lasted nearly three-hours. Ultimately, the Spartans defeated the Nittany Lions 27 - 24 to move their Big 10 record to 5 - 1 and 2nd place in the Big 10. That loss dropped the Nittany Lions to 4 - 2 in the Big 10, behind the Spartans who play @ Ohio State next week @ 12:00 p.m.

Speaking tangentially of the OSU Buckeyes, they were drubbed by the Hawkeyes of Iowa, 24 - 55 in a game that puts the Buckeyes playoff hopes in peril.

The Wolverines of Michigan were also delayed in the "Big House" in Ann Arbor by that same electrical storm. They ultimately prevailed over the Golden Gophers of Minnesota, 33 - 10. That gives the Wolverines a 4 - 2 record in the Big 10 as they prepare for their next opponents, the Terrapins of Maryland next week @ 3:30 p.m.

Yesterday we mostly didn't do much as we watched the morning lineup on MSNBC and then did some reading and listening to music. Mary made a nice brunch of chopped vegetables and vegan cheese to accompany our morning's activities. In the early afternoon, I tried a new recipe for chocolate-chip cookies. They turned out OK, but the recipe is not a keeper.

Dinner was more pedestrian, consisting of vegan hot dogs on poppy-seed buns after we returned from an afternoon stop @ JWs.

We then repaired to the media room and watched Dirty Dancing for the umpteenth time and liked it once again. By the end, the fur-children had had their final out and Mary went off to bed as I fell asleep in my La-Z-Boy. I'm up now, as you can discern.

Today, Mary plans to spend some time in her kitchen while I watch pro football and read. I chose a book about the man who self-proclaimed himself, "The Greatest!", Muhammad Ali. I've just started, but it is a nice companion piece to the book we just read for our book club about Malcolm X. Mary is the book czar for our next book club meeting and she chose to have us read books about people who have done great or memorable things.

The current temperature is 48° under foggy skies. Today, the high is expected to reach 52° with a 50% chance of showers after the sun rises @ 7:24 a.m. and long before it sets @ 5:31 p.m. Mary and I suspect that the fur-children will take some time to internalize the change from EDST to EST and they will be expecting their breakfast and dinner on their old schedule. We'll see.

Oh, by the by, I mamaged to reset my Citizens Eco watch to the correct settings. Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 8:30 p.m. in "The City."

Let's start with some good news. Mary and I traveled to Hackley Hospital in Muskegon so that I could get a sedated MRI on my aching yak. Fortunately, in spite of my size, I was able to fit inside the machine while sedated and the test went smoothly. I now have to await my appointment at the yak doctor on Monday to get a final diagnosis as to the cause of my aching yak.

I have to take a few moments to share something that I have been meaning to say for a few day. Mary has been a trouper throughout my yak ordeal. I think I have probably said on many occasions that I have not been to the easiest person to live with, as I don't do sick/pain well. However, Mary has been there for me and in spite of my being a pain in the patootie, she has taken care of me, driven me and put up with me. A man can't ask for more than that.

In fact, Mary was responsible for the first trainspotting of the day today. At approximately 10:30 a.m., I heard the train rumbling past the manse heading south. According to my apprentice trainspotter, EMD GP 38-2 locomotive #2019 was towing a long line of cars. Mary, in her expanded role as a solo trainspotting apprentice, recorded the following: 11 CHCs, six DWTCs, two with corrosion resistant stripes, six DBTCs, and five GTCs.

Later this afternoon, the same MMRR locomotive rolled by on the RSTL towing 10 CHCs, one DBTC, and one GTC with a black stripe. All in all, a good day of trainspotting.

Football news was less than great yesterday, as the 4 - 1 in the Mac 10 NIU Huskies football team, fell to the Rockets of the University of Toledo, 17 - 27. However, the Huskies are still in 2nd place in the Mac 10 West Conference. The Huskies play the Ball State Cardinals on November 9, @ 7:00 P.M.

The Spartans of Michigan State take the field again tomorrow versus the Nittany Lions of Penn State University @ 12:00. The Spartans are 2nd in the Big 10 with a 6 - 2 overall record, but a 4 - 1 record in the Big 10. The Nittany Lions are also in 2nd place in the Big 10 with an overall record of 7 - 1, but also a 4 - 1 record in the Big 10.

The 4th place in the Big 10 Wolverines of Michigan take the field tomorrow @ 7:30 p.m. against the Minnesota Golden Gophers, who are in 5th place in the Big 10. The Wolverines easily handled the Scarlet Knights of Rutgers last week, 35 - 14, after having been thoroughly outplayed by the Nittany Lions in their last game, 13 - 42.

The weather today was mostly sunny with a high temperature in the mid-forties. Tomorrow, the skies will darken and the rains will return with an NWS certainty of 100%. Sunday, T-storms are expected with a 90% chance. The high temperature is forecast to reach the mid-forties once again.

The sun will rise @ 8:23 a.m. and set @ 6:32 p.m. Since Daylight Savings Time is ending, I will once again have to set my watch back by one hour, a task I always dread. I'll also have to set back and clocks that are not connected to the internet. Don't forget to set all your clocks back by one hour before you go to bed.

In other news, Mary finished the last index last night and I edited her work and out it went. The next index comes in early December. Tomorrow, we have to watch the morning shows on MSNBC and then spend some time in the kitchen. I have some cookies to bake and Mary just wants to have some free time. Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 9:30 p.m. in "The City."

This is the perfect opportunity to place a picture of my latest kitchen creation, my annual vegan Halloween Pumpkin Pie. I haven't yet tasted it because it is our monthly contribution to the book club session. However, since everything went well during the cooking/baking process, I anticipate that it will be a success. More on that soon.

The crust is perfect, and the filling solidified as expected.

Mary made dinner tonight and it turned out to be a variation on her regular recipe for Spaghetti Roll Casserole. It seems that she forgot to add TVP, or the vegan sausage that I made yesterday, or the meatballs that I also made yesterday. However, the end result was great.

Speaking of the vegan meatballs that I made, since the portobello mushrooms that are normally part of the ingredients were spoiled, I substituted the left-over pinto beans that I used to make the sausages. Unfortunately, it seems that the portobello mushrooms add both some needed texture and some earthiness to the vegan meatballs. They still taste great, but their texture is not what I was hoping to achieve. Better luck next time/

Ginger and I spotted trains today, the southbound run of locomotive # 2019 @ 8:48 a.m. was towing three DBTCs, and one DWTC. Later, @ 1:05 p.m. we spotted that same locomotive heading north, towing 10 CHCs, two DBTCs, and one DWTC moving at a relatively high rate of speed.

We had only one set of visitors for Halloween tonight. That means that the Smarties™ that we bought for the occasion are all mine for the year. Oh well, their loss is my gain.

I just finished watching NCIS and the writers have redeemed themselves. I will be off shortly to watch NCIS New Orleans.

Tomorrow, our reupholstered chairs will be coming into the Flower Room. If they turned out as we hope, they will look great.

Later in the afternoon we will be going to the book club and sampling my pumpkin pie as we discuss the book we read.

We have a current temperature of 40° that feels like 37° under mostly cloudy skies. Any precipitation of significance will hold off until the early evening hours. The sun will rise @ 8:19 a.m. and set @ 6:36 p.m. Our high-temperature forecast from the NWS calls for 47° under partly cloudy skies. Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 11:00 p.m. in "The City."

Well, I got out today in order to visit the big-box home center and also to put gas in the old buggy. That followed a good night's rest in my media room La-Z-Boy. I'd prefer the bed, but until I can sort out the issues with my baking yak, I can't lay down for more than a few brief moments.

Fortunately, I do have an appointment scheduled for a sedated MRI next Friday in Muskegon to see what's going on with my yak. Until then, I have to take my rest/sleep wherever and whenever I can get it. I'm not really complaining as there are people a lot worse off than me.

We have a current temperature of 42° that feels like 37° as we head for today's high of 45° while the rain/sleet of today abates tomorrow. The sun will rise tomorrow @ 8:15 a.m. and set @ 6:40 p.m.

Sports today was a great mix of good college football and World Series baseball. The Wolverines of Michigan defeated the Scarlet Knights of Rutgers, 35 -14 as freshman QB Brandon Peters came into the game and took charge. I hope I saw the future of Wolverines football.

The Spartans of MSU didn't fare so well as they dropped a game to the Wildcats of Northwestern in the 3rd OT period, 31 -39. The usually stellar Spartan's defense was stymied by the offense of the Wildcats, dropping the Spartans to 3rd place in the Big 10, behind Penn State and Ohio State.

The Huskies of NIU eked out a win last Thursday over the Eastern Michigan Eagles, 30 - 27 in DeKalb. The Huskies take the field again next Thursday against the Toledo Rockets.

Otherwise, not much is happening. I have been in the kitchen doing some cooking and baking and tomorrow, I hope to do more. We have a book club meeting coming up next Wednesday for which I will be baking some sort of sweet treat. I don't yet know what that will be. I finished the book for our next meeting and now I am reading a book by John LeCarre entitled A Legacy of Spies. If you are into his works, you'll like this one which is taking us back and forth through time.

I did make vegan meatballs early last week and they turned out great. An entirely new recipe that will be memorialized in our own vegan recipe book.

Mary is still working on our Christmas tree skirt, but, she is heading into the home stretch so to speak. I anticipate being able to add her efforts to our decorations this year.

John has been hard at work refinishing some of the doors both upstairs and down. I like his work as he is meticulous and takes his time.

The fur-children have been their usual selves. Ginger is being very sweet as she spends part of the night with me in the media room and part of the night with Mary in the boudoir. I guess you could call Ginger an equal opportunity snuggler.

I guess that wraps things up except for a short and heartfelt thanks to Mary for persisting over my objections and complaints. Like I've said before, right now, is is the worst part of the vows. I'm glad that she is able to force me to do what I should do when I should do it. I am lousy at feeling ill. Ciao.

P.S. Get well John P.