When to leave a baseball game / Snakes / Koch Brothers

The best way to go to sleep that I know of is listening to a baseball game.  Been doing it all my life.  When I was a kid I had a little transistor radio that I would have on next to the bed.  Now it's my iPhone on the MLB Network.

Being retired I can actually stay up and watch the west coast games and they are costing me sleep as I valiantly try to stay awake until 12:30.  Last night?  Could not make it to 1:15.  That power outage killed my chances (there were 2 power outages in MLB stadiums last night).

Normally I'll pack it in if one team is winning and it looks dire but NOW I have a cheat sheet on when to leave or turn off a game.  Follow these rules and you can shut off or leave a game 95% of the time and know the out-come.  The average game time is 5 minutes shorter this year with an average is now just about 3 hours (compared to Collage football which is near 4 hours).

Taking all the games from 2010 to 2015 here is when you can comfortably leave a game and 95% of the time you will know the winner.

Inning - Runs ahead/or behind

1st - 6 runs
2nd - 6
3rd - 5
4th - 5
5th - 4
6th - 4
7th - 3
8th - 2

In 2016 with 1,750 games if you used that cheat sheet and left, only 61 times would you have been wrong to leave. 96.5% correct  AND you would have saved 1,612 hours of your life.

But for me it's not a big deal. I personally do not believe games take too long and enjoy even the last out.

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All day yesterday we were having issues with slowness with the internet.  Took a speed test and we were at a below dial-up speed of 0.7megs download.  NOT GREAT!!  LOL

So I called Charter and they reset everything - back to the 58.7meg DL this morning - HOWEVER - they said bring my modem and router in and exchanged it for free to get up to 200 meg - or whatever is the fastest speed available in Columbus (probably more like 100 but we shall see).

Which brings up a question.  I know that the State Government does not allow another internet company to service Columbus and I wonder how long these regulations (started 7 years ago?) will last.

I have had almost zero issues with Charter but always looking for faster cheaper.  I know Sun Prairie government TRIED to form their own company but it was FUBR.  Governments are not for profit businesses and especially when you don't have actual business people trying to form a business.

ANYWAY - we shall see what I get.

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The biggest mystery in US history is how a country can go from electing a brilliant, caring, sincere African American as President, and 4 years later replace him with a stupid, sexist, white supremacist pig.

It's almost like another country sabotaged us.

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OH - here is the silly rumor of the week.

Why is Columbus Government denying Sprecher a liqueur license. Is Cercis Brewing causing this and is our government dirty?

ummmmm - well, since Sprecher will be serving Cercis brewing beer I doubt there is any collusion between them and city government.  Also since Sprecher has had their license for a while now and is opening August 8th it's not an issue.  Fast lanes (NOT owned by Sprecher it seems) will have 48 taps AND a State of the art  pizza oven and will be open from 10:00 to midnight or longer. 

Columbus is also getting ready for a new wood fired pizza place with their 1000 degree ovens about that time also.   James Street Pizza. Opening soon.

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Seems when you become 1% dehydrated (hiking a moderate speed for 1 hour will dehydrate 1.5%) will cognitive flexibility by 12%.

Off Your Mental Game?

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Trump is considering lowering taxes for the top 1% which will cost the other 99%  $1.2 BILLION over the next decade.   Seems fair.

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Coke is raising it's prices and blaming Trump.  Aluminum tariffs are just the beginning.  Meanwhile the Koch Brothers came out and said they will no longer support Republicans candidates that do not believe in fiscal responsibility and they pulled all of their funding OUT of three crucial Senate races.

They said Trump is KILLING our economy long term and they will support whichever party believes in free trade and economic responsibility (which it seems the Republicans have abandoned).  Even the Koch Brothers believe Trump AND Walker (in a 60 Minutes interview before the election) are buffoons.

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Backyard panoramic.

 OH - weeding yesterday when I saw a tail disappear.  Upon further investigation in was a 2 foot long Garter Snake.  Then I find out it's common our our neighborhood as others showed photos of THEIR snake in their yard.

Eat some ground Squirrels please before our basement caves in. 

Where are the Cooper Hawks when you want them. We have a special on ground Squirrels this week.

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WEATHER - long slow steady climb in temps up to NEXT Thursday (the 9th) when we hit 90.  Columbus STILL has not had real rain now for 10 days.  Had a Trace yesterday. Maybe even less then a trace.

Chance of rain Thursday.   Otherwise pretty much the same every day. Sun, pop up Thunderstorm and sun.

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SPAM - I've been deleting SPAM from the comments. If you see Moderator has deleted comments - they are spam.

TURN Finale' / Brewers

Watched the series finale' of TURN: Washington's Spies  last night and I would have said it was in the top 2 of series finale's with Justified as the other great finish.

But alas.  The show took so many liberties with the truth in the finale 5 minutes it fell down the list.

OH - for the most part it was true to form and the major things happened. But for the characters and especially when the final scenes had the "what became of them" part.  WELL, some of the characters were just made up completely.  What became of the made up characters? Come on!

Abe Woodhull was NOT married to his wife ( his cousin) until after the war and there was no affair with Anna Strong.

Abigail (355) - not a real character and did not get sent away to prison or whatever by accident as . . she never actually existed.   The woman who was 355 has never been identified. The only person in the Culper ring that no one knows who she was but was VERY important i winning the war.

Edmund Hewlett became a world class astronomer . . . . was fictional, not a real person. Their was a Hewlett in Setauket who was a British officer but he was actually an American loyalist from Long Island.

James Rivington the Royal Gazette publisher - switched sides and was a spy for Washington. That story line never made it to the screen. 

But there were many many true things.  Simco - the A-hole in charge of the Queens Rangers and the guy you REALLY REALLY wanted to see a long suffering death . . . . founded Toronto in his later life when he was Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada and was a key player in the 1793 Act Against Slavery.

The law, titled An Act to Prevent the further Introduction of Slaves and to limit the Term of Contracts for Servitude within this Province, stated that while all slaves in the province would remain enslaved until death, no new slaves could be brought into Upper Canada, and children born to female slaves after passage of the act would be freed at the age of 25

Benedict Arnold's life when steadily downhill once the war was over. Nobody liked him and when he dies in England they did not even give him a military funeral.

His wife Peggy died 20 years after the war and did not lead a happy life either.

GREAT show and I will miss all of my TV-land friends I had come to know.

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Brewers won last night and I am surprised at how they did it.  Home Runs.  AT&T park is the hardest stadium to hit a home run.  Last year it was 39% harder to hit a home run compared to the average park. I looked at my Strat-o-matic ball park ratings.

To compare.

If you have to roll a 20 sided die for a Home Run in Milwaukee, you would have to roll any number 18 or less.

If you have to roll a 20 sided die for a Home Run in San Francisco you would have to roll . .a 1.

It is that hard to hit an HR in San Francisco. Wind coming off the ocean

In other Brewer news

Ryan Braun has to be secretly happy that Hader had some bad Tweets as a dumb ass stupid teenager.  Now fans in other ball parks won't boo him as they boo Hader.

The bullpen got some help, as if it was needed.  Some BIG help. The Crew acquired Joakim Soria, the Chicago White Sox closer.  A GOOD one.  Remember how good Kneble was last year?  Soria is better then Kneble and you will see more ground balls.  Plus the Crew get Matt Albers back from the DL   

The Brewer bullpen which was near the best in MLB just got a LOT better.

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I'm into the men drifting at sea part of the new Indianapolis book but I had never heard accounts of what was happening as the ship sank.  Something I did not know is that as the Indianapolis was exploding and sinking an Air Force PBY was flying right over it at 9000 feet. 

They watched in awe as fire erupted thinking they were having gunnery practice . . . and flew on not reporting it.  The SOS did get out and the radio man went down with the ship. Nobody believed it.  "A Jap hoax".

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I heard Trump bragging about the GDP and making up false claims - problem with the GDP this quarter is that it's a false positive.  Many countries purchased a LOT of material before tariffs kicked in.

It was like America told the world all prices are going up - BUY NOW.

Here is the thing.  Can the President really boast?  This is like borrowing $30,000 from your credit card in cash and then claiming you are rich because you have so much money to spend.

OF COURSE the economy is doing great when you borrow and give everybody free money.  What happens when they have to pay it back? 

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Scott Walker is in big big trouble and is far behind Tony Evers (zzzzzzzzz) in polls.

An NBC/Marist Poll (a good poll) said in Wisconsin 63% of the residents do not believe Trump should be re-elected.  But these kinds of polls are "question dependent". Trump would not lose by 30% in an election.

33% of Americans approve of Trump’s handling of his summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki

26 of the 39 Republicans are retiring from politics. The most ever pure retiring.  8 of the 16 Democrats are retiring completely from politics.  The least in 10 years.

I do not own any stocks in Facebook . . . thank goodness.

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Have I posted this?  I probably have - sorry. When I got my haircut I was asked if I had any images of an F35.

Goes with my B17

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Weather - nothing has changed - today will be like yesterday but less windy. Upper 70s this weekend. Maybe a pop up thunderstorm here and there - no big deal.  good chance of t-storms next Wednesday into Thursday  and it turns a little warmer at the end of NEXT week.

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Have a great weekend. 

TGC19

Golf lessons really do help . . .20 years later.    I had a golf lesson weekend in Lake Geneva a few decades ago and the instructors (there were like 5 of them) stressed that they would not FIX our game but show you how to fix issues LATER in life. 

The take away was that a lesson is great short term but most people would go back to their normal problems over time. They gave each person a few things to TRY to remember about their particular issues for when things went belly up with their game.

WELL - I was having issues getting off the tee earlier in the year and the one thing I remember was they said I needed to flatten my swing if I started slicing.  "If you start to slice you need to flatten your swing".

My issue is that when I swing my driver in a more vertical arch I loose my hips and become all arms.  Flattening makes me move my hips more. Last week was my first try (again) on a flatter swing and it seemed to work for the most part but last night it felt more comfortable as I hit 5 of 7 fairways for my 2nd 45 in a row at The Oaks and that included an "8" on one par 4.  happy!

What happens is with a flatter swing I swivel my hips and my timing is MUCH better as my hips start to rotate towards the target BEFORE my club starts towards the ball.  Plus I need to have my club head speed, on all my shots, increase as I hit the ball.

The "swing easy" is BS in my book.  I try to hit the shit out of the ball every time. If I swing easy I open up and the ball slices. 

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With that said. For any gamers out there that love golf  . . .I have been playing TGC and TGC2 every day on TGC Tours and a new iteration of TGC is coming out soon called TGC19??

TGC  has the best ball dynamics of any game out there and if you want "realism" in a virtual golf game this is the one to get. The developers came out with a sneak peak.  Boring for most but for golfers pretty freaking cool.

https://youtu.be/WxTGSYPuIVs
   

EA sports makes Tiger Woods and Rory but those are basically arcade games.

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Liberals are all in a tiff about a few tea party Republicans trying to impeach Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, Not going to happen. The bill was introduced but not signed.  Move on to another wind mill to chase.

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I wish there was a chiropractor in Columbus that took Quartz (Unity).  I have one I don't really love in Sun Prairie but my lower back has been hurting for a couple weeks now.  Can't seem to shake it.  I had one FANTASTIC Chiro in Columbus but he closed up shop.  SAD.

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Going to be cold coming up - anything below 80 is cold in my book.   I don't see 80 in the forecast until at least NEXT Friday.  Off and one tiny rain chances every day but nothing major. Temps in the lower or mid 70s. Below normal. 


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There seems to be a duck day care going on in Minnesota as this mama duck had over 70 ducklings trailing her.

1 Hen, 76 Ducklings: What’s the Deal With This Picture?

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All I got without bitching about something

Red Spotted Purple

My FIL passed away 1 year ago today.

My man crush - Hunter Scott (right), the hero for hero's. When he was just a kid he watched JAWS and asked questions about the USS Indy.  The small child ( 11 ) saw that things did not add up and was doing a history project and many irregularities in the Navy's details. As he grew up into his teens he started to go in front of Congress saying Captain McVay should not have been court-martialed and was used as a cover up for navy blunders.

McVay later committed suicide.  His wife passed away and she had been hiding all of the hate mail for decades. When she passed he started getting the hate mail and he took his life with his service revolver.

Hunter (pictured) is a submarine hunter in the Navy now.

In the book - because of ULTRA it seems EVERYBODY knew the Japanese sub I-58 is in the area EXCEPT the Indianapolis. The day before the USS Harris found the sub and launched hedgehogs at it for 6 hours.  Each hedgehog has 24 separate bombs that fan out in a 50 yard circle, they had the sub. 168 separate bombs and no hits. WTF?

Upon review each one was off by 10 degrees with a wrong setting. Thus - 168 misses.

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Watching the Brewer game last night.  For all of the injury issues this year I tell ya - the Brewer minor league clubs are STOCKED!! Seriously. How many times can they dip into the well and get young players that actually produce.

When you turn on a game and see the bases loaded with Orf, Miller and Kratz.  Those are names you would not expect to see when the season started.

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We took Gus to the dog park yesterday and saw this Red Spotted Purple or as I like to call him, a Limenitis arthemis.  He (or she, I didn't look) it is one of the most dramatic examples of hybridization between non-mimetic and mimetic populations.  YEA - who didn't know THAT!

 
Watch out, males can be aggressive . . . . .to other males it seems as they defend their woman.

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Did you see FOX news blamed Mr. Rogers (this is 100% true) for ruining and entire generation of children with his propaganda?  One person LITERALLY called him evil.   this is the show  Trump watches and takes his que's from.  Pathetic.

https://youtu.be/b5JkzyGXJ2w


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Weather - small chance for a thunderstorm starting about 7:00 tonight as a cold front sweeps through.  We'll be in the low to mid 70's for 4 days. Good chance of rain on Sunday and Monday

MAD MAX . USS Indianapolis

Seventy three years ago today the first bone head blunder happened that would lead to the largest Navel disaster in history.  It seemed small at the time when a communications to Rear Admiral McCormick Commander of Task Force 95.7 was missed.   95.7 was accidentally changed to 95 and he did not receive a submarine update in the Pacific.

One of many many mistakes and cover ups about what was to happen in the next 12 days.

This weekend was the annual USS Indianapolis reunion and only 4 survivors were able to make it this year.  Sad. 

I'm reading "Indianapolis: The True Story of the Worst Sea Disaster in U.S. Naval History and the Fifty-Year Fight to Exonerate an Innocent Man"  which is the precursor to an HBO mini series and it's fascinating.  This is, so far, a military book with great detail of all involved.  A fun read for anybody that likes military books.

My FIL is in the book and is guarding the secret crate which SEEMS to be diversion as the REAL prize is the two canisters of uranium which are sort of unnoticed.

Jumping forward to 1997 we are learning about Bill Toti, the Captain of the Nuclear Submarine USS Indianapolis and a really cool guy that we have talked to in Indianapolis.

He explains that when you are put in command of a ship you are not only responsible for the the crew and the ship but you are ALSO in command of all previous ships under that name.  You do not what to ruin the reputations and dishonor ALL that came before you.

But one part that got me (among a few) is that he was a navel historian and when the Nuclear sub Indy was about to be decommissioned he sent a letter to all survivors (I remember hearing about this letter).  I don't know why this gets to me. He writes.

Since you were never able to decommission your ship, I would be honored if you would attend the decommissioning of mine.  But I have one request: that you would stand in formation during the ceremony and be part of my crew, as one crew, the combined crew of the Indianapolis.       

If you want a learn about the Indy I suggest  In Harm's Way: The Sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis and the Extraordinary Story of Its Survivors"  This is a fantastic book and a very good read, a true story kind of book that you can't put down.

Anyway - I was surprised to see today's date from 73 years ago in the book

I was also surprised to see DJ and I are in the new book . . .in the "Thank You" for helping section.

I mentioned a while ago that my daughter found a video filmed 73 years ago that shows Mel getting off the rescue plane in Guam.

That is Mel hanging on to the railing.  We have a full 12 seconds of him.  It's amazing what you can find on YouTube

And last night I put a video on YouTube of Mel being interviewed from 2016

https://youtu.be/nAw-j8bEj6o


Indy went down July 30th just after midnight.

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The Brewers continue to struggle with yet another starting pitcher going down.  To be honest I'm surprised they have done this well with their injuries.
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Kris Davis was a Milwaukee Brewer in 2013 when he had his best and first year with a .279 batting average.  Here is the weird thing.  Since that first year Davis has hit .244, .247, .247, .247, and this year he is breaking out with a .249 average.  CONSISTENT!

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Expect gas prices to go up and up as the price of oil jumped 2% today when Trump threatened to annihilate Iran and bomb it back into the stone ages and Iran threatened to start "the mother of all wars" with America.  All is well.

Of course get the 2 leaders in a room together and Trump would cave in to anything Hassan Rouhani asked for and Trump would claim victory.   It's Obama's fault anyway.  The emails the emails Benghazi Benghazi

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Newest studies are showing that a cardio routine of 1/2 hour is the magic pill for health.  That half hour is the key (hmmmmm  I go 28 minutes, I suck)

 Cardio could be the closest thing to a miracle drug that we have, but doing it shouldn't take a whole day. 

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OH - we watched MAD MAX: Fury Road.  WOW - I can totally see why it won 6 Oscars, was in the running for best movie and many call it the bast action adventure of all time.  DJ loved it and I was astounded.

What everybody says is 100% true.  Thin plot, and 90% chase scene but you literally can not stop watching as it never ever gets boring, even for a non-action movie lover like DJ.  It's one of those "what happens NEXT" movies.  No real blood and gore but it's a thrill ride from the get go and hang on.   BRAVO

Mad Max: Fury Road was named the nineteenth-greatest film of the 21st century in a 2016 BBC critics' poll.

In 2017, it was named the nineteenth "Best Film of the 21st Century So Far" by The New York Times.

The 2nd most nominated film in the 88th Academy Awards and won six Oscars. 

https://youtu.be/YWNWi-ZWL3c



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Weather - A little above average for the next 3 days (very little) then cooling off Thursday and we will be a little below average for a week or so.  No BIG chances for rain.

Columbus had a little more then 2 inches of rain this last weekend.

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talk at ya later.

mmmmmmm Plantains - not the banana kind

We were at the Columbus dog park yesterday and for some reason DJ see's a weed and comments about it being an "old time" weed that as a kid she played with.  I said I played with them also and was wondering what the name was.

For some odd reason we remembered the conversation and looked it up.   OMG

It's called a Plantain and is a Super Plant with AMAZING healing powers that has been used for thousands of years.

The Native Americans used it to heal wounds, cure fever, and to draw out toxins from stings and bites.  It coagulates blood, is antimicrobial, soothes insect bites and superficial wounds and prevents infections along with accelerating healing.   It clears acne and boils, is great with sore throats and will clear up dandruff  poison ivy and sumac?  It will improve liver and kidney function and is great with cold, flu, and respiratory infections.

It's a pretty amazing weed.

16 Amazing Benefits and Uses of Plantain

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Just to answer a question "when did you first start to write" - I think the first time I ever wrote seriously,  like a blog, was after my first GRABAAWR experience, a 500 mile bike ride through Wisconsin.   It was my 2nd long distance ride after doing RAGBRAI which is a ridiculous ride with 13,000 of you closest friends.

peloton

THAT, is an experience.  100% honest here.  They first day of RAGBRAI you are so packed in it literally looks like a 10 mile peloton.

I still have vivid memories that first morning.  I was having a small issue and I could not get off the road for 5 miles and once I did it took 5 minutes to find a space to get back on the road.

There was a yell of "biker down" and it was 2 miles ahead of us as we were cruising along at about 17mph and I could literally touch the person next to me.  A LITTLE scary to say the least.

Later in the week on a windy day I hooked up with a group of about 25 fast riders and we all took turns leading. I think I lasted for MAYBE 30 seconds leading. 

That was also the day many of us made the ill fated decision to do the 110 mile option not knowing that we would have a 30 mph headwind the final 70 miles.  It was like a disaster party with 13,000 all suffering together.

ANYWAY - the next year I did GRABAAWR and a year later I was the official photographer for the ride but it sort of took away the fun.  I wrote a daily account of my journey.

Since I have some dyslexia I never really wrote that much until spelling checkers were invented.

Then I started a real blog about online poker which got me a job writing for FullTilt Magazine about how to win at online poker (I was really good - island vacations, trips across the country and yada yada) and then I wrote a weekly column in the new Columbus Newspaper and so it goes. 

That is my writing story. 

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A salvage team discovered a Russian war ship sunk off the coast of South Korea with $130 BILLION in gold.

Which brings me to The Magnitsky Act.  Just remember that name as I think we will be hearing it again.  Magnitsky was a Russian tax accountant who discovered a $230 million fraud among Russian officials.   He was arrested and never heard from again it seems.

49 Russian Oligarchs, all friends of Putin AND Trump were targeted by the Magnitsky Act.  It seems Russian officials steal money from small businesses and can transfer all they wealth to other countries . . or used to. Only in America can Russians hide stolen money as other countries have recently stopped this.

What did Trump and Putin talk about?   Let's see if in the coming weeks or months "Magnitsky".

Remember that really weird house deal Trump had a few years ago. It came out a few months before he was elected.  He buys a house for $10 million.  Never ever goes there, it's empty for 2 years and then Trump sells it to a Russian oligarch for over $100 million. All legal of course. The Russian oligarch has yet to visit his $100 million home.

Seems weird right?   Magnitsky - remember it.
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IT'S BOMBER WEEKEND IN MADISON

B17

F35

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I hope Parks and Red pick up all of their signage for soccer.  I saw 5 just driving around yesterday.  They ain't going to just vaporize by themselves.

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I have a list of 19 economic predictions from Nov 11 2016.

3. There will be no Muslim ban.   WRONG

7. But there will be no "trade war." Nobody, including the United States, can afford one, and money always supersedes ideology on the international stage.

13. A furious Trump, worried that Fed tightening will tip the country into recession and ruin the economy for the self-proclaimed "King of Debt,"will not reappoint Janet Yellen when her term expires in early 2018.

17. Election year recession in 2020.

18. To fight the recession, Congress will pass more stimulus and the Fed will roll out QE4.  NOPE - did that already - there will be NO WAY to fight a recession now. 

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49 years ago today Americans landed on the moon.  

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Weather - expect off and on again rain and thunderstorms today - slowing tomorrow (Lake Mills Art Fair) and finally getting out of here slowly Sunday Lots of sun coming with highs for the next week or so hovering around 80


      

Nike Vaporfly / Scott Walker / Golf

A couple of people (one) questioned my comments on soccer dwindling numbers and the rise of baseball for youth sports (does Columbus have a little league)?

What's Killing Youth Soccer in America

Study shows youth baseball, softball participation on the rise

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From my point of view and my skill lever as a 22ish handicap golfer,  golf is 60% skill and 40% luck.  Last week I did horrible.  Every bad shot went into a sand trap and every sand trap I was on a down or uphill or sidehill lie.  Every freaking bad shot I got penalized.

In golf you can hit bad shots that come out not bad.  Last week I even had  great shots that turned out bad.  Hitting a 3 wood 210 yards (where the hell did that come from)  and over running the fairway so I'm on a steep downhill slope and so forth.  It was a nightmare round.  I shot a 55 (I'm happy with a 47 to get some idea).   I'm not sure I hit one shot straight. LOL

THEN after golf I get home and have an issue.  Our homebrew club was in the beginning stages of putting a benefit together with a few other breweries to help the Barr family in Sun Prairie and I get a few text messages.  I mentioned our benefit on facebook and was feeling pretty good about this. . . . . and I got some remarks

deleted - it was just an angry vent

Well OK then.  I actually was NOT having a good day but thank you for hoping I would have one now!  Not actually what we were thinking of with a benefit.  Add that to the list of wonderful things happening to me last Wednesday night. 

Thursday morning I had a tooth pulled from a failed root canal from 30 years ago so the 24 hour period was just wonderful.

HOWEVER - LAST NIGHT in league on Hole #1 I started with a "B" drive and a "C+" approach shot that was just off the green by 15 yards.  Looked like a "easy" chip shot to get close and I was feeling good.

I use my 8i to get some elevation and chip the ball.  The ball flies toward the hole and for 1/2 second confidence is high.  Gravity takes hold and the ball is falling as it should and then BOING!!  It hits a plastic cover for a sprinkler head and bounds over the green and down down down the other side of the green.  WTF?

I make a great chip back and drill the putt for a welcome bogey.  I shot 45 with great putting. My bad shots left me in good shape and my putting was rock solid.

Looking back up the hill at the guys on the 5th green at the Oaks 

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BTW - I want to thank former alderman Clark for volunteering to help with budget time in absence of a 2nd alderman in his district.   I don't think the Mayor should appoint anybody that does not agree with his philosophy and should wait for an election to fill the seat.   

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Since I am typing this there was a survey about how many spaces after a period.  One? or two?  The under 30 demographic there is a 40 point margin of victory for ONE space after a period.  Overall (including the OVER 30 demographic) 47% like one space, 36% like 2 spaces and the rest don't care and have no opinion.  HOW CAN YOU HAVE NO OPINION ON SPACES AFTER A PERIOD.

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Wet weather is coming.  Look for rain starting this afternoon and continuing all day tomorrow and into Saturday morning.

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I see Scott Walker (one of 3 conservative governors seen hugging a Russian spy) is bragging about how he is pro education. Really?

2010 - pass Act 10 which takes away collective bargaining for teachers (did you know that Columbus only has 2 substitute teachers this year?)

2015 - weakens tenure protections for professors for the UW. 

2016 - cuts millions in funding to the UW system

2017 - gives $800 million to voucher schools while ignoring public schools.

and now he calls himself the "education governor"? 

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HA - those cave kids.  Seems they were worried about their bikes and how they would have to ride them back when they were rescued.

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The Supreme Court - by 2026 there is a less 50% chance of all 5 conservative justices still being alive.  By 2023 there is a less then 50% chance of all 4 liberal justices still being alive. 

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It's been 4 days since the Brewers lost a game.  Feeling pretty good.  No losses!

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Running shoes - seems Nike's Vaporfly shoes really do improve your performance according to  500,000 long distance runners data.  3 to 4% faster.   68% of racers that switched to the Nike Vaporfly have had personal highs.   WELL - for $250 I would HOPE they run faster.

Nike Says Its $250 Running Shoes Will Make YouRun Much Faster. What if That’s Actually True?

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Who is the biggest advertiser on Facebook?  Out President has spent $274,000 on facebook ads since May.   Oh oh - remember how trump canceled the military exercise off the coast of North Korea saying it would save 12 million dollars?  That is how much his military parade will cost on November 10th. What luck. 

At least we now know for certain that Russia has stopped attacking America. Trump said so. Putin told him.

And now we see why everybody hates me  :-)


Nuff said.   

Soccer and Art fairs

Two cats

We went to Art Fair on the Square yesterday. It's one of the more prestigious art fairs in the country. It costs $150 to apply (no refund and hundreds get turned down) and about $600 to enter.  I've never tried.  It's a freaking headache to pack in and pack out but profits are pretty good. One friend made near  $45,000 a few years ago but that is rare.   

It was hot and I see metal is the new canvas for photography.  I LOVE metal images but they cost so much to produce..   I have a couple.  This is printed on aluminum and is in the basement.  

This would look good on metal. 

Peripheral

OH yea - this 30x40 metal print is above our sink 

The Time Machine

As you can see I believe you need a lot of color with metal which is sort of big now I think.  I did not see any muted brown art like you always see in Parade of Homes. 

Notice the last two images - MAN they do not go next to each other do they.  Peripheral is so colorful on it's own but get Time Machine next to it - yuck.   Something most people never notice but booths are a piece of art on their own.  Hours and hours are spent moving things around to get the right layout.   I have spreadsheets with every layout.  

You need to have everything you need to run a small business right there.  It's is a nightmare which is why don't art fairs anymore, and that is on GOOD weather days. rain? is a double nightmare.

Harmony

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Speaking of weather, for anybody counting, we have had 17 days above 90.  The swimming pool should be making a ton of money THIS year.  Everyone knows 90 degrees are the money makers in swimming pools. 

We have a change in weather patterns sliding to just below average (like uppers 70s) for the next few weeks.   No real rain until Thursday and Friday and should be quit pleasant for a stretch. 

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Seems your typical bag of Cheetos is 59% air. 

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Annual injuries to children playing soccer is up 111% in the last 20 years. This emphasis on playing one sport and no others has had what appears to be a substantial effect on the injury rate.  " U.S. youth soccer may be “hyper-exclusive” and “too expensive” and “causing injuries to children at an unprecedented rate” and “forcing specialization too soon at the athletes’ 

Who knew soccer would be the EXPENSIVE sport.  Meanwhile - the greatest player ever to play soccer is American and playing in Europe.  He was given a contract when he was 15 and he DOD NOT go to a hyper-exclusive camp.  But actually plays for fun and only practiced twice a week.  

Sadly I don't have a clue what his name is (it was on TV) but from all reports this kid is far far above anything anybody has seen before.  

All this while soccer is dying in America.  Child participation  6-12 is down 14% in the last 3 years.  

On that note why does Columbus even HAVE a soccer program. It makes zero sense to me. There is a MUCH better organizational in Columbus. Why are we trying to invent a wheel when we have one already - why not SAVE the city money and concentrate on something we're actually good at. 

If there is an organization already providing a service, why do we need to expend energy AND money with ANOTHER ONE!  It's just financially irresponsible and makes no sense to me.   If we had a company that plowed our roads for free should the city say - "NO, we will plow them and charge the citizens".      If there was a very good tennis group that was vibrant, should the city decide to ALSO have a tennis group and charge it's citizens with taxes?

If there is an outside business that fulfills a void why not let THEM do it and do something that we do not already have.  sigh! 

MEANWHILE - baseball and basketball (ignored by the city) is on an uptick when it comes to youth sports. American soccer is lost 600,000 kids in the past few years to other sports. And here is Columbus trying hurt private business with a duplicate organization. 

Columbus needs to get out of the soccer business.  Nuff said.  

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Taking Gus to the shop to get Kennel Cough shot - talk at ya later. 

Rod 

                 

  

   

Implants

Brewers lost but it was as predicted, they were underdogs (big ones).  They should be favorite the rest of the way to the All Star game.

Brewers are 55% chance of winning tonight.  With a small sample size in 24 games of 50% top 55% the Crew have one 62% of the time. The line is -119 which you have to win 53% of the time to make money

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MEANWHILE - I had my 2nd failed root canal tooth pulled and I tell ya, not at all as bad as it sounds. Don't fear the pliers.   Seriously, one ibuprofen and that is all you need (well, 3 maybe).  OH - the first part where they numb ya up sucks but then the nitrous oxide takes hold and it's a fun multi task time the last 25 minutes.

Who cares what they are doing in your mouth. Could be having a party and I wonder why I was not invited but then I remember that thing that I forgot but now it's gone again.  PICKLES!

Then I believe I'm being driven home and sleep for 3 hours,  Done.  Move on.  I have cadaver bone with a post and it will heal in 3 months and then ripped open and a tooth put on the post and there ya go I can eat on my left side again.

If ONLY Fort Atkinson had fluoride when I grew up I might not have had limestone teeth.  Fall River got rid of their florid and now Columbus dentists are reaping the benefits of no fluoride rotted teeth.

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Had my first sweet corn this year - sort of tough to eat as I'm a left side chewer and had to go right side.   I found the corn across from the BP in Columbus and it was pretty darn good. 

I had been buying corn on Wednesdays at the farmers market in Madison from one guy that was AMAZING good (from Randolph I believe) but I had not found good corn in Columbus.  The stuff near Pic-N-save always tasted old and chewy.  I heard there is a great place out on 16 but they have been closed so far.

Wednesdays were always a problem anyway - I have never seen Concerts on the Square because the last 40 years I have either had softball league or golf league on Wednesdays - that means when I purchased sweet corn it always had to wait a day . . . . but I bore you.

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Listening to Trump give a press conference.  He just called the BBC fake news.  I always believed a

President should be smarter them 99.9% of Americans . . . now we have one where I truly believe I am smarter and sound less ignorant . . . some of the time.  The guy can't complete a whole

And now he has gone off script and is blaming Obama for pretty much everything - what a f*cking embarrassing senile buffoon.  Oh! Putin is a very fine fellow.   And now he is saying he took over nothing but problems and is fixing everything.  WHAT?   Nothing but blatant lies coming out of his mouth now.   sigh.  He just makes up shit for his base who believe will anything.

Remember - Fox news told us there is no debt now and the world actually LOVES America.  Putin is our friend (even though he attacked us). 

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Anybody used exclamation marks?   Seems men use it more then woman. When an email from a woman has "!" it is deemed "very professional" by 49% of men.  But when a male used it only 39% of woman thought it was "very professional" 

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Saw a post from Salvatore's Pizza in Sun Prairie - so sad.  He said there is still food on all the tables, wine is still there.  Looks like Pompeii except with a smell of rotting food.  Closed until further notice, same with Eddies.  So sad.

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Here is a photo of the new pizza oven for James Street Pizza  (

112 E. James St.

It is a combination of a gas and wood oven that can reach 1000 degrees.  Opening in August with New York style pizza.

I put a link in the name above so go check out their fantastic menu. Can't wait!

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WEATHER - going to be a HOT one today.  Cooling off with the cold front that will go through today near sunset (a little before actually) should have a fair amount of rain so we might have to mow the yard again this year. A little bump in temp on Sunday but then cooling off to 77ish by the end of next week.

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The World Cup - sort of like in baseball.  It's pretty much all luck on who wins.  There is no correlation between how many stars you have on your team who how much money you spent.  Once you get the the World Cup - it's all random and has nothing to really do with talent.   

Now if you played 30 games it would mean something.

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OK - nuff said - I'm still alive  - OH - I was surprised how many people REALLY dislike "The Prison" in Fireman's park. Also called the caged in beer tent for the hot and sweaty.  Nothing like crowding people into a cage with nothing but cement and beer.  So so welcoming and unneeded.  Perhaps we should follow Port Washington's example and have a place where families can enjoy music AND a beer while sitting on grass.

cheers   

Game Night - Brewers and Mr. Ed's Carnival

Seemed there was some issues at the carnival this weekend as 5 guys quit(??) at some point and multiple rides were being run by one person???  At least that is the rumor and when we were there I heard a complaint that rides were going on too long!

WITH THAT SAID.  We took a few photos and walked around.  Looked for tiny donuts but at 7PM they were sold out.

We parked on the street next to the park and walked over. The parking lot behind the pavilion was maybe half full.  Seems nobody even checks there.

ANYWAY we walked around took some photos and Cherry Pie was jammin' behind the chain link fence with guards at the chain link door and three police officers standing outside. Not that I mind being safe but geez LOL 

That place is just dumb, I hate it.  TEAR DOWN THE FENCE!   Good grief.  If you have bands put up a larger wooden snow fence and let people breath a little.  It was packed like sardines at night.  For the larger area put a patrol officer wandering around inside.  They could pretty much be where they were standing already.

But I know I know, there are rules and regulations. sigh.  But that place is just too small.

SO - we left without going into the cage and as we excited the park we walked through Sherwood Automotive (sorry, no website) and a van just pulled up looking for a parking spot.

I went up and commented that there was parking right behind the pavilion.  The reply was more like a scold "WELL, I'M JUST WAITING FOR MY DAUGHTER but thank you"  And she gives me this, I will kill you stare.

"WELL"! I comment after a brief blank stare. "We will go on our way then". And we walked off feeling oddly invigorated.

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In the Where The F*ck was that news category - While everyone is fixated on the Presidents random word speeches where he talks about not having an organ (he really did)  here is some older news you might have missed. - NASA announced that the Mars rover Curiosity found organic matter in soil samples of an ancient lake bed about 3 billion years old.   (Dramatic Pause) 

Meanwhile - The amount of beer America is consuming is going down . . . however dollars in sales is going up. This is actually one of the good trends for the economy.  People are opting to buy more expensive beer but drink less. People have more money in their pockets.  This is like RV sales.  When sales are good people have disposable cash.

Speaking of which - I tried a Bud Lite Orange flavored beer. (Dramatic Pause)   it was exactly what you think it would taste like.  A few drops of synthetic orange and you have an half assed voyage into canned Manmosa.   mmmmmmmmm!

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Nate Silver, before he became a pollster was a brilliant sports procrastinator.  I have always appreciated his work on predicting baseball games (since I can't).  This weekend I took all of his Brewer predictions and lined them up with the what Las Vegas was predicting to see if I could get some inside.

What I found was when he predicted the Brewers had a +50% chance of winning the Crew won 69.45% of the time . . . OK so far so good.  But what about of you were betting on those games (59 in total).  That would have given you 18.87 units.  A little stagnant for the last 20 games though (like the stock market) if you bet ONLY when they are favored.

Betting on the Brewers when they are underdogs you would have lost 2.48 units.

Tonight they are 58% favorites.  58% or less they win 70.73% of the time.  The money line is -138.  At -138 a team needs to win 58% of the time to break even.  -138 means if you bet $138 and win you get $138 plus $100 back.  If you lose you lose $138.

NOW - OF COURSE the 29 other teams could all suck and this might only work for the Brewers.  But with all systems, you find a trend, follow it until it breaks (as they all do).  I had one NFL system that did not break for 21 years.  One collage football system lasted 11 years. Baseball?  Normally a week.

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So Scott Pruitt the friend to the energy industry is gone and replaced by a guy that was actually paid by the energy industry - a coal guy who loves coal and hates alternate forms of energy. COAL IS THE FUTURE.   sweet!!

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I just remembered - we actually saw this on Colorado.  I'm not even sure what they were advertising but the slogan was "It's not how much you spend, it's how much you save".

What?  Did they actually say that?  We went back in time and replayed it . . . .  "It's not how much you spend, it's how much you save".    I thought for a second I was going to have an aneurysm.

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 I will not watch Trumps reality show on TV tonight for Supreme Court.  Big f*cking deal.   Personally between the 4 contenders I'm voting for Thomas Hardiman as the least despicable.  Better then Sean Hannity at least.

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If you wear a cow costume to Chick-Fil-A tomorrow you get free food.  I can't find mine.

Mt. Olive Bread and Butter Pickles - AWESOME.  But Bread and Butter?

Here is the story - Their origin is obscure, as people have been making these kind of pickles for millennia. But the name "bread-and-butter pickles" is easily linked to Omar and Cora Fanning, Illinois cucumber farmers who started selling sweet and sour pickles in the 1920s. They trademarked the name "Fanning's Bread and Butter Pickles" in 1923.

During the post-World War I agricultural slump, the Fannings survived by using undersized cucumbers and bartering them with their grocer for staples such as bread and butter.

 Bread-and-butter pickles are a sweet pickle.  They consist of cucumbers marinated in vinegar, sugar, and spices.  REALLY GOOD!

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There is going to be a big meeting Thursday to talk about what citizens want for a new Police Chief.   I had planned on going but we shall see.  I'm getting a tooth pulled Thursday (another failed root canal from 40 years ago - seems they only last 30 or 40 years).  It's really not as bad as you think it is.  Just juice me up on Laughing gas and I'm good to go.

They put cadaver power in it's place so a new tooth can go in at some point.

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Watched GAME NIGHT last night. Not bad, actually funny.  It stars Rachel McAdams who looks just like Jennifer Garner and of course Jason Bateman.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmxMAdV6s4U


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WEATHER - hot day today, Cooling off mid week but Thursday the dew point gains some strength and a hot but not unbearable weekend coming. Starting Thursday a chance of rain every day for at least a week.

Cheers

Unemployment ticks up - who cares! - GREAT weather coming up

Yes - I have read The Killer Angels, AND The Last Full Measure AND Gods and Generals  - HOWEVER - I have not read Jeff Shaara's (Micheal's son) book The Rising Tide: A Novel of World War II and I'm waiting for the new USS Indianapolis book (Indianapolis: The True Story of the Worst Sea Disaster in U.S. Naval History and the Fifty-Year Fight to Exonerate an Innocent Man) that comes out Tuesday and I am thinking I might start to read the Horatio Hornblower (saw a few shows of the mini series) series.

With that said - I'm curious to see what Trumps Presidential library will have in it since he literally cannot read a book according to the person who actually wrote "Art of the Deal".

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WEATHER - awesome . . .but let's look at the past.

The hottest Heat Index was at 5PM on June 29 when we hit 107.0 degrees. We have been over a heat index of 100 three times with once at 99.9.  The Dew point has been over 75 degrees seven times.

Coming up, a small stretch of GREAT weather  . . at least until Monday  but basically - normal summer hot. Nothing special.  No chances of any real rain for the next few weeks.

OH - yea - that heat wave?  I was in Kewaunee - the high temp there was like 74.  When we are in 107 heat index I called my brother and it was 74.

Kewaunee pier

and while walking on their beach I saw this . . weed.

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Going to check out Boulders climbing wall in Madison today I think.

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The Bill Clinton Whitewater Investigation

6 Years in duration

0 indictments 

0 Convictions 

The Hillary Clinton Benghazi Investigation

4 years in Duration

0 indictments

0 convictions

The Hillary Clinton Email Investigation

2 years in duration

0 indictments

0 convictions

The Donald Trump Russian Collusion Investigation

1 year so far: plus Mueller just added two more Prosecutors to his team (ominous music here – Da Da DUMMMMMM)

19 indictments

5 guilty pleas

4 convictions

And this one is the witch hunt?

Trump and his family are going to jail at some point.

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Massachusetts and Vermont become yet two more States that have legalized cannabis.  Wisconsin?  We have increased cannabis arrests by something like 15% in the last two years.

Columbus is searching for a new head of the Police Department.  I THINK there is a meeting coming and I THINK it's the same day I have tooth #2 pulled.

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After America kidnapped 3000 children from their parents, sent them thousands miles away with absolutely no way to reunite them  . . . all of a sudden we have to give them back . . . HOW?   OOPS - our inept GOP in power never really thought this one through did they.

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Kids trapped in cave - bad news as an X-Navy seal has died as he ran out of air.  HOWEVER - here comes Elan Musk to the rescue with an idea.  His idea is a giant tube, inflate it and the kids could get out that way.  Like a giant bouncy castle of tubes. 

The big issue now is air and the monsoons that will start up this weekend that will flood the cave. 

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For the 93rd month in a row the US hired more people that it lay off.  Oddly full employment, which is what we have now, is not that great for the economy.  When in order to hire someone for a job you have to have that employee first quit the job they have already  . .  it raises the pay which also raises inflation.

In fact for the first time EVER - there are more jobs in america then there are people to fill them. The REAL unemployment rate is 2.6%.  These are people that WANT a job but cannot find one.  34% of Americans are unemployed but do not WANT a job (like me).

So far inflation is in check but with the GOP trade war starting . .today? we shall see what happens.   I know China was suppose to buy 97 million tons of soybeans from America (Wisconsin) and said they are canceling that order.  SWEET!! More for us!!  YOU get a ton of soy beans and YOU get a ton of soybeans. And some farmers in Wisconsin have said they will begin pouring milk into the fields and that market has dried up.

all is well

The news today is that "unemployment" went up to 4% . - meaningless as this number gets adjusted twice more in the coming months. Well, not THAT number but all the numbers associated with it.

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So that is all I got.  Have a GREAT weekend.

NEW backyard - thank you Jahnke Property Group

Well, the big news and the reason for no blogging last last week was the transformation of our back yard.  I actually physically worked Thursday and Friday hauling wheel barrow after wheel barrow of mulch (13 cubic yards of which I took down 2) those hot days.

That 13 c-yards was spread across 1200 square feet of  new landscaping with some really sweet plantings.  The Janke's dug out 13 cotenesters that Elwood and I planted 11 years ago but were now mosquito retreats and blocked all the air on the patio.

In their place will be three Wine and Roses Weigela

An extremely dark-leafed variety, its bold, dark purple foliage keeps its color all summer long. Blooming in late spring and often reblooming in summer, its bright, rosy-pink flowers provide an extraordinary pop of color. Many trumpetlike blooms are irresistible to hummingbirds so expect many visitors!

Well - not sure what to do now being "Trump"like.

On the outside of the bed are three amazing Limelight Hydrangea

this impressive rounded-form shrub is covered in large clusters of creamy white florets that mature to chartreuse green in the midsummer weeks. As fall approaches, the dense flower panicles change to deep pink for an altogether different look. Sturdy stems keep the flower heads upright and visible through any kind of weather. Robust plants can reach a height of 13 feet and will be loaded with 8-12" flowers in no time. 

THIRTEEN FEET?   everything I read said 8 feet - even the tree form specimen.  

We put in a tree-ish plant - a Cole's Select Serviceberry  -  a large shrub or small tree with multiple stems. It has dependable brilliant orange-red fall color display. This is an outstanding selection of Serviceberry. It produces excellent, edible blueberry-like fruit that can be enjoyed by birds and people. Ripens in June. Mature size is around 20' tall and wide.

Actually this was a favorite tree for American Indians as the berrys were very tasty and high in anti-oxidants - something the American Indian scientists worked on for years. 

Cole's Select Service berry 

Lot's of grasses and sedums and spirea.  

What amazed me was the Jahnke Property Group (sue.jahnke@jahnkepropertygroup.com)  did this in 2 days.  Two people, 105 heat index, 1200 square feet of sod removed, 13 cubic yards of mulch (minus 2 yards I did) and 51 plants, shrubs and trees planted.  

Unlike when Elwood and I do landscaping,  Plant a flower - have a beer and talk about how wonderful we are.  This would have taken us all summer. 

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And then there are the Brewers - I think injuries are starting to catch up to them in the form of bullpen issues.  When you have 3 out of 5 starters injured and then you get injuries to the fill ins . . . . .   I have always said,  The injury to a starting player in any sport is not a big deal - it's the injuries to the 2nd stringers that become the real issue.   

MOST clubs have 2 layers, it's that third layer of players that are the important ones.  I have been surprised at the depth Milwaukee as shown.  Keep fingers crossed.

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We had a Home Brew Club meeting last Thursday at a house in Sun Prairie.  The talk was about breweries and of course Cercis.  Everybody knows that Hydro Street made infected beer with tired yeast.  The scoop on Cercis?

Jeff who is opening a tap room in Beaver Dam said he was totally jealous of  Cercis look and feel. BEAUTIFUL place.   The beer is . . "good"  but there is room for improvement which as everybody agreed would be easy as they get to know the equipment.  

Now - when they say "good" that is a pretty big compliment for a group of home brewers.   A home brewer can make BETTER beer then any brewery.  Coors can bottle 18,000 bottles a minute with too much air getting into the bottles and just more hands on love with home brew.  So "good" is a big deal.   Not GREAT award winning but very very drinkable.  

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I won't go all political. It's a royal clusterf*ck out there. 

You do know that since 1988 the Republicans have only won the National popular vote ONCE.  Gerrymandering really works for the GOP.  They have figured out how to cheat the system.  The polls for Clinton were almost exactly right.  5% margin of victory and she won the popular vote by 4%.   Gerrymandering was the winner.    

OH - Micheal Cohan has flipped!  

What will Mexico's new FAR left President be like -  SCARY!!   

And of course Wisconsin is #10 when it comes to losing population. More people are moving out of the state then moving in. I WONDER WHY!!  

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A new USS Indy book will be out soon. NOW HBO can move forward with their mini series (or whatever) as they can not do anything without a book (weird). 

I don't know Lynn Vincent, certainly know Sarah (I think DJ was talking to her a few weeks ago on the phone).

This hits the shelves next Tuesday.

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I was told to stop complaining about things and instead MAYBE I should try to make things better instead of just sitting around doing nothing to help Columbus.   sigh!

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MOSQUITOES - hate we the itch?  simple way to stop the itching.  YOUR SALIVA!!  YUP - try it.  Actually works (or is a placebo - does it matter if it works?)   (or an antihistamine) .

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Anybody play Fortnite?  That free game where the average player spends $58.25 on new things?

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The battle for Gettysburg started yesterday 155 years ago with residents of Columbus saving the day as the Iron Brigade ( Second Bull Run, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Mine Run, Overland, Richmond-Petersburg, and Appomattox campaigns).  The Iron Brigade suffered 61% casualties at Gettysburg and the 2nd Wisconsin 77%

Now I have to watched Ted Turners epic movie Gettysburg.  When this came to theaters _ actually watched it twice in a row.  8 hours??

OK OK - this is getting long in the tooth.

WEATHER - normal July hot and humid - not CRAZY  Dew point will be rising until Thursday - good weekend coming up.

My brother in Kewaunee - the high Saturday was 74  - anyway scattered thunderstorms Wednesday and Thursday as the front go through