This Glorious Weekend...

...hosted a small bachelor gathering for my old pal Brad last evening (Brad's not a small bachelor, but the gathering was small in size!)...it was a MAN night...no women-folk allowed.  Brad's getting married in two weeks so he'll be getting lots of women-folk time soon enough.  I grilled out burgers and brats and the group of us sat out on my deck and commiserated as the sun set gloriously in the west.

(the sun made a return appearance to the St. Louis metro area just in time to light up the sky and warm up the temperature appreciably yesterday.  Bless.)

we retired (well, walked as a group) a few steps into the house to watch the movie "Hot Fuzz" on DVD.  The movie is British and a spot-on spoof of cop/action movies that was very funny.

Chili-dog got more attention than she knew what to do with from the guys.  Fortunately she behaved herself and basically migrated from guy to guy looking for some lovin'.  They were only too happy to oblige.  So glad that I gave her a bath.  Chili was not glad at the time of said bath, but it was worth it, right?  Right?

I worked my fanny off getting the house in shape for entertainin' yesterday.  Got the yard in shape during the morning, got the inside of the house in shape in during the afternoon.  I washed windows, raked leaves from underneath shrubs. swept areas that hadn't been swept since I don't know when!  I only had to make two trips to Home Depot so that was a definite win.  I bought a GERANIUM, for cryin'out loud.  A CARDINAL Red one, to boot.  Hung it from my front yard lamppost, did I!  Anything to bring our local nine some luck or good karma or vibes or anything that might prevent them from swinging at pitches out of the strike zone.

(here's a blog shout-out to my neighbor Mr. B (he of the Polish last name with lots of consonants)...he saw that the downspout on the back of my house near my basement door was hanging off the back of the house after the wind blew it off the gutter.  It was WAY too high up for any of my ladders to reach and I was basically waiting for someone to loan me a way big extension ladder.  Mr. B. noticed this yesterday when I was out in the yard and mentioned that he had an extension ladder and offered to help me get the downspout re-anchored to the house.  WIN!  He installed a couple of concrete anchors to secure it to the back of the house.  I also caulked around the connection to the gutter so it won't leak.)

Speaking of our Cardinals, we interrupt this blog post to make this special announcement:

---PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE GUYS:  If you are hurt or are sore in a part of your body that is critical to your job function, PLEASE TELL SOMEONE.   Two of our pitchers (who shall remain nameless) went down due to non-disclosure issues this weekend.  If your coaches had known you had muscle soreness and/or elbow /forearm cramping issues, they MIGHT NOT HAVE SENT YOU OUT TO PLAY AND RISK FURTHER INJURY.  HELLO!--

(I am happy, however, that Mr. Kyle Lohse did pull it together to pitch a decent game last Monday night. I was at that game with my friend Renee and we were wearing layers.  In May.  Because it was cold.  But you hung in there long enough for the offense to have a chance to rally for the win in the late innings.  That warmed us up inside.)

That's all for now, folks.   Thanks for reading!

Friendly Open Letter To Cincinnati Reds Fans...

Dear Cincinnati Reds Fans,

I realize it's been FOREVER since your team was in first place, but seriously...

Last night, 12,409 of you showed up to see your first-place Reds beat the Milwaukee Brewers.  12,409!! This after they beat my Cardinals to take over the top spot in the NL Central the day before..  That mighty throng of fans must have made quite a noise when the NL Central standings were posted on the video board at Great American Ballpark.

Meanwhile...

Last night was chilly, with an intermittent light mist hanging in the air in St. Louis.  YET, my friend Renee and I braved these elements to be among the 38,005 fans who took in a game between our second-place Cardinals and the Washington Nationals.

A game which the Cardinals won 6-2, by the way.

Your team is worthy and we shall enjoy dueling with them the rest of the season.

Regards,

Matlockjohn

Mother's Day 2010

My mom spent part of Mother's Day planting flowers with a certain 2-year old girl.

Love ya, Mom!

Groovin' On A Sunday Afternoon...

thanks to the Young Rascals for those awesome lyrics from days gone by.

All is quiet on the south suburban front on this quiet Sunday afternoon.  I've had a pretty good weekend so far. Chili-dog and I are watching the Cardinals toy with the Reds (6-0 as I write this).

  Friday night, I was going to go see Over The Rhine's show at The Old Rock House, but some right hateful thunderstorms prevented it.  Tornado sirens blared just as I was going to leave so I decided to stay in, just to be safe.   I just saw OTR at Blueberry Hill last fall, so I didn't feel so bad about missing them this time around.

(aside on OTR:  They have in mind to record another album but are refusing to submit to the corporate record labels' profit-taking business model.  Their idea is to self-release the record on their own label and pay for it via donations from fans and sale of some of their outdated musical possessions.  It's a shame that it's come to this, but the record will be better for it.  They've lined up an awesome producer in Joe Henry and aim to begin recording on the west coast this summer)

I got up early Saturday so I could deliver my friend Renee to the airport for a morning flight to visit family.  She's the "R" of last Sunday's delicious lunch and has given me permission to use her name! :)  I stopped off at Concord Plaza for a haircut on the way home.  They had the A/C on full blast so it was a wee bit chilly inside but my wait was short, fortunately.  Once home, I laddered up to the roof of my house to unclog a gutter that was clogged up at the downspout opening.  Why is it always the one at the most dangerous corner of the roof?  Don't worry, I was extra careful not to fall.  Broken bones would put a serious crimp in my style.

Lunch was from my nearby Taco Bell, which I'd driven by for 10 years but never been inside of.  Try the stuffed grilled steak burrito, folks.  Trust me on this one.

The afternoon was overcast and (I thought) threatened rain so I took the afternoon to do a brain transplant on my laptop.  Some background - a couple of weeks ago it started locking up randomly, and eventually stopped powering on altogether.  I am a trained and certified computer technician; I work on computers such as these for a living and have done so for many years.  Thus, I decided to attempt a repair instead of just purchasing another laptop.  Extensive troubleshooting led me to decide that the system mainboard was the issue.  My friend eBay helped my find a used one in good condition, so I bought it.  It took most of the afternoon but I finally got it done.  The result?  Still the same behavior as before.  Frustration.  I happened to look out a window and noticed the sky was pretty clear and the sun was shining.  The idea of a head-clearing  bike ride suddenly sounded great.  I packed up my ride and headed over to Grant's Trail.  The late-afternoon sunshine felt great and even with a breeze, I managed to knock out 14+ miles.  Chili-dog got a nice walk after I got home.  After supper, I started in on the laptop again.  After another hour or so of work, all was well again, as my laptop powered up normally and it's working great.

Today was church and lunch from McAllister's (pot roast and carrots on a bed of mashed potatoes with a side of mac and cheese, yum!).  I have read the Sunday paper and devoured the large crossword puzzle as usual.  Am watching Tony L's postgame press conference after the Cardinals finished off the Reds.

Now the Cardinals head off to Pennsylvania for 4 games with the Philies.   These will be tough for the Birds.  Good thing they went 6-1 on this homestand.

Off to walk the dog and get on with my Sunday evening.