The Big Bad Wolf

I was listening to a hunting talk show for a while today. People were discussing why the deer hunting permits were down and less deer were being killed during this season. It's down about 10% and people seemed to be in an uproar although I imagine the deer our grateful. A lot of people are blaming the DNR because the wolf population is getting a bit high for comfort. It's too dangerous for the hunter's to be out there. Really? The wussification of America keeps going on and on and on. Dear hunters, you have guns and the animals don't. If a wolf gets too close to you simply shoot it like a mass shooter in a movie theater. Please stop the whining.

Barrow, Alaska will have no sun for about two months until January. It seems like they are really up there in Alaska. Like Russian Vodka up there!

The recount has started in certain states and Trump is all in an uproar about it. He says the recount is a scam. He also says that due to voter fraud he has million more votes that weren't counted. Umm, wouldn't you want a recount then if you actually believed that.

I've tried to avoid the news and Trump. Yet, he can't stop the twitter so I have to hear of his nonsense. Now he believes that flag burners should be locked up for a year and stripped of their citizenship. Did this guy even attend his 8th grade civics class? It's been decided by the Supreme Court that he can't do that due to a certain thing called the First Amendment. Only 4 more years of this asshole and that is my first amendment right you fricking lunatic!

Later

The Real Flo

Florence Henderson from the Brady Bunch passed away at the age of 82. She played the mother of a blended family and the show was really ahead of it's time. I was surprised to hear that she was 82 as she really aged well.

I really don't get the Black Friday sensation. Sure, there's some awesome deals out there but isn't there always if you look around. The crowds and lines just aren't for me.

Coco had his soccer clinic tonight. He's progressing well playing against the older kids. Most of them are 14-16 and he's still 12.

There will be an official recount in Wisconsin for the Presidential Election. Jill Stein raised the funds and pulled the trigger.

I cooked a 12 pound turkey today and it came out great. Fresh turkey sandwiches on great bread for the next 5 days!

Have a great weekend!

Later

Happy Thanksgiving 2016

 It was this day in 1984 that Doug Flutie threw his Hail Mary pass for a Boston College win. I'll always remember that day. I was on an airplane that was landing at Logan Airport in Boston and they announced it to the plane and everybody went crazy as they were from Boston. My friends and I were running a cross country race the next day and it's where I set my 10k personal best of 30:36!

Coco is over for the next week and we'll be leaving with Krissy for Illinois in a little bit for a trillion course dinner. They really do it big!

I keep hearing all these mattress commercials on television and a particular store advertises that they have no salesman at all to bother you. They really make a big deal about it and I wonder why I never realized how ruthless mattress salesman where!

I'm starting to feel a bit better about Trump. He's totally flip-flopped and just about everything he ran on. It's only a matter of time before his own party turns on him for not keeping a single promise besides perhaps one or two that will be marginalized.

Safe travels to all and enjoy this day especially and try not to argue about politics.

Later

NCC Clinches 17th Title

Congrats to North Central College for winning their 17th NCAA Men's Cross Country Championship title. We won two when I ran there and I'm immensely proud of my time in the program.

The Bears lost another game today dropping their record to 2-8. Maybe they are worse than I thought but someone is going to face the chopping block very soon.

We have a 12 pound turkey defrosting in the fridge. It's strictly for sandwiches come Friday.

We ate hogfish in Key West and it's a tasty big fish. Apparently everybody likes them because they've been over-fished and new catch limits will be coming shortly.

Burt Reynolds is in Key West this weekend for a lifetime achievement award. This man dominated the box office in the 1970's like very few ever have. Congrats Bandit!

Later

A Trace Of Snow

Yep, we went from 64 degrees to 31 degrees in less than 8 hours. We woke up to a small trace of snow but we are still on pace for the warmest November ever.

Coco was over last night and looks almost completely recovered. We'll try soccer practice tomorrow and see how it goes.

I ordered pizza online for us last night. Boy it sure was difficult. I could have called it in and picked it up faster but I wanted it delivered.

Tonight is 5 Card Stud at County Clare with John and Angela. Could be a cold walk as we aren't used to this yet. In two months this will be like heaven. You have to love the Midwest. Ok, you really don't but we always tell ourselves that until we can move somewhere warmer!

Later

Kris Bryant MVP

Kris Bryant became the 10th Chicago Cub NL MVP today. Last year he was Rookie of the Year and before that he was the College Player of the Year. he's only 24 so he has quite a career ahead of him!

Christmas music on the radio already. One station is playing it 24/7 in Milwaukee despite hitting 71 degrees today. No wonder I'm burned out on Christmas every year around December 1st.

The Christmas tree lighting at City Hall was tonight. Thousands of people come to the city to see them light the giant tree. It's almost 6 weeks away, what's the hurry?

I opened the door to let the dog out and the possum is back. He was in the same spot I saw him before by the deck. I hope he's not living under the deck.

A man dissolved to death in the hot springs at Yellowstone National Park where tourists do stupid stuff every day. I saw a man with a long stick open his mobile home door to feed a hungry grizzly bear when I was there. I also saw the boiling hot springs there. I was ten years old and old enough to know they were crazy hot. This man bent over to feel the water and slipped in. By the time rescuers came to the scene his body actually dissolved in the hot acidic water. Like I said, I could tell they were hot when I was ten years old!!!

Later

It's Mowing Season

I can't believe how many people were outside mowing today. It doesn't hit the 50's and stay very long in November but this has been a heat wave beyond recognition.

The downside is that it gets dark so stinking early. That's probably the reason why I've seen so many people driving without headlights this week.

Melvin Laird the former Secretary of Defense under President Nixon passed away today. Many a young men should be grateful for this man. He's basically the reason the military draft was done away with at the tail end of the Vietnam War.

It's going to cost taxpayers a bundle to guard Trump in Manhattan. It seems like the White House isn't good enough for the arrogant one so he wants to stay in Trump Tower most of the time.

Congrats to Kelsey Grammer on his 7th child. Not bad for a 61 year old guy!

Later

We Still Have Boats

As I drove by the marina today I noticed we still had boats in the water. Eleven good sized ones by a quick count on a 60 degree mid-November day. It will be interesting to see how long they remain there!

Coco is still sick and went to the doctor today. He has to go back tomorrow and he is battling a lung virus.

The Bears lost another game yesterday and Kyle Long is out for the season with an ankle injury. This is maybe the worst Bears season ever. Luckily, the Cubs won the World Series or we would be taking it much harder.

PBS anchor Gwen Ifill passed away from cancer at the age of 61. She was a PBS legend and will be missed.

I'm ordering school pics now for Coco. Never enough time in the day to finish everything!

Later

Back From The Ledge

What can I say? Nobody expected the Election results from Tuesday night, not even Trump who expected to lose. Clinton did win the popular vote which really isn't a consolation prize and there is no second prize. I watched Trump at the White House. He looked scared to death. He never really wanted this job nor is prepared to do it. He better learn quick but I have no confidence in the man. Obama is handing him a much better off country than Bush handed Obama. He has a GOP fully controlled Congress so there are no excuses. Put up or shut up time.

I was clearly angry and upset the last few days but was reminded by a conversation I had with a horse racing buddy of mine who was an attorney that I worked with. The owners of the company weren't paying their bills and later went out of business and one to jail. My buddy told me to do my job and do it well and not worry about them because that's life sometimes. Garrison Keiler wrote a similar article this week. He basically said all Democrats should go out and really really enjoy their lives as we have absolutely no power at the present time. If Trump screws up things will take care of themselves.

So, I'm going on with my life and focusing on my writing projects and making plans for a fantastic 2017 with Krissy and Coco. I quit watching all the political shows already which is a huge start for me.

Coco has been sick all week and missed soccer last night. It's the first time in a long time that he's been this sick.

Tonight is a happy hour at the new Mangoes Cafe East then down to Harry's on Brady to watch Five Card Stud.

This afternoon we are breaking down the yard. The bamboo is coming off the fences, yard lights off the trees and tarps over all the lawn furniture. We are in the midst of the warmest November ever but we had our first frost last night. I can't wait until next summer. It's going to be the best one yet!

Later

Election Predictions

It's almost a 60 degree Election Day in Milwaukee and lines were long already this morning. I waited for 40 minutes and had to take off to get Coco to school in time so I'm heading back in a few. Krissy managed to squeak in because the second half of the alphabet moved faster in their line. Go figure.

I'm getting sick of Donny Jr. This guy makes his old man look like a minor league con man. First he tweets about a fake assassination attempt on his father then this morning he was telling the morning shows that people whisper "good job" in his ear when he's at places like gas stations filling up. Yes, how much is gas in Manhattan Donny? I'm sure you drive yourself and fill up often right downtown. Speaking of gas, we are under 2 bucks a gallon in Wisconsin. Ole Donny predicted 6 dollar gas when Obama took over!

Anyways, here are my predictions for tonight. Clinton gets 352 electoral college votes and Trump gets 186. The Senate will be 53 Democrats and they also pick up 33 House seats!

These numbers might appear high to some people but I still have faith in people and in SANITY!!!

Go Vote!

Later

The Warm November

What a great warm November so far with multiple days hitting 70 and the forecast looks terrific for the next 10 days. I don't remember anything like this in the Midwest. Usually a day at most but that's mostly in October.

Krissy was up North for the weekend and Coco and I went to watch the Wisconsin State Soccer Championship. Congrats to Whitefish Bay on their second consecutive title. They played without their leading scorer and still won. It looks like they have 4-5 Division One players on that team.

Coco started both his soccer clinic and his soccer league practice this week. Soccer three times a week and he loves it!

I'm still on cloud nine from the Cubs being the World Series Champions. Such a great team and I'm looking forward to spring training!

Later

A Game For The Ages

Last night wasn't just a baseball game. It's been written before that the Cubs winning the World Series was the last great American sporting story of our lifetime. I believe that to be true. It's hard to put into words but it touched so many lives for the living and the dead. I haven't been able to wipe the smile off my face all day.

I listened to the radio today hearing so many great stories. One man watched the game in a lawn chair next to his father's grave in an Indiana cemetery. His father always wanted to watch the Cubs win it all with his son. Unfortunately, he didn't live long enough but his son never forgot his father on the night the Cubs won it all.

Another man in hospice care was given a few more hours to live. What does he do? He's down to single digits in the hours of life and he has his family with him to watch the World Series. He passed away at 3:47am today knowing that his Cubs were the World Champions.

It's hard for us die-hard Cub fans to put into words exactly what this means to us individually and as a collective Cub nation. The owner of the Cubs met his wife in the left field bleachers and he's not into this for the money. It's an experience I guess. A lot of ups and downs and more downs in our lifetime than the occasional good team.

It was a brilliant game with clutch hits, excellent base running, home runs and mistakes on both sides with a rain delay and it went into extra innings. One thing I'm certain that it was not. It wasn't merely just a game for us.

Later

We Have A Game 7

A big game from the Cubs as they win 9-3 and go to a game 7 tomorrow in Cleveland. It doesn't get any better than that. I'm so into baseball and hanging on every pitch and talking to my homeboys back in Chicago that I haven't been following anything else. I'm so wrapped into this that the rest of the world could explode and I might not notice. When you've been waiting your entire life for an event and it's actually happening not much else seems too important. Go Cubs!

We had the last dog training class for Mango and she graduated. In fact, she did her trick in front of the class quite well and we were very pleased with her.

Coco is now signed up for an indoor soccer league on Sunday nights and twice a week training classes with a pro soccer coach. It's all soccer for him after the World Series which he watched with me tonight.

One more night for baseball and baseball being the center stage. I think it goes my way and we win the World Series. Here's to dreams coming true!

Later