Game 1 is History

13-1! Wow!

A political pollster called me last night and asked me unanswerable questions: Am I conservative, moderate, or liberal? (I'm all three -depends on the issue); Do I lean toward the Democrats or the Republicans? (Depends on who's running); etc.

And she gushed that I, at age 73, was so "active" and well-informed. Who did she expect, Pa Kettle?

Governments always need more money because people want or need more services. Democrats raise taxes; Republicans borrow against the future. Hmmmm...seems like the latter is not a very conservative trait! My father, a Russian-born New Englander always said "Don't spend money you don't have." And he was a staunch Democrat!

So how do we cut government spending? Some of it is easy. (1) No more pork. (2) No more riders on bills that have nothing to do with the actual bill. (3) Impeachment for the slightest impropriety in office. (4) I guess if the capitalist system didn't encourage business owners to be so "about money", we wouldn't need so many watchdog laws to try to keep them on the straight and narrow. (5) Simplify the tax laws. (6) Eliminate the ceiling on Social Security contributions.

I has spoken. ;-)

Laptop Quandry

I think I want a laptop, but I'm in a quandry.

Should I buy a used Lenovo T40 from eBay, a refurb Dell 1420 from their outlet store, or what?

I plan to run Linux on it, but if I got one with Vista, I would dual-boot it and Linux, and use the Vista partition for learning. (More and more of my neighbors are getting new computers with Vista Home.)

After writing that, I think I'm leaning toward the Dell. :-)

In the World Series Again!

I don't know if my heart can take the Red Sox!

Down three games to one -- in Cleveland, with the Indian's huge (6'7" 290 pound) ace, C.C. Sabathia pitching game 5 --, they come back to win three in a row to take the American League championship!

However, I've seen nothing on TV or in the press about the spectacular catch Coco Crisp -- in as a defensive replacement -- made to end the game. An over the shoulder, leaping grab for the final out, and then he crashed into the bullpen wall. He was limping when he came in from the outfield and no one has said anything about his injury -- or his catch!!!

Followup at 7PM: Kevin McNamara, Journal Sports Writer, reports that Coco said ''I was feeling a little pain but it feels nice now.'' Phew!!!

Four more wins!!

ALDS

I was sorry to see the Yankees lose game 4 of their series with the Indians. I had hoped that it would have been a 5 game series with lots of hitting and many pitchers, so that whoever won would be worn out by the time they met the Red Sox!

Now the Sox will have to win on their merits. :-)

Catching Up

I have been preoccupied!

Happy for the Red Sox; sad for the Phillies.

We had a "Cathy's maternal line" family picnic last Sunday and it went quite well, I thought. If you'd like to see them (and the garden and our patio), there are pix at http://www.flickr.com/gp/34125946@N00/91o1vo

Wonder of wonders -- I've been exercising more. And after stopping Toprol XL, I believe I'm breathing better! I promised myself that I would catch up medically -- I need to make appointments with the allergy doc, urologist and maybe the gastroenterologist, and with the respiratory rehab place. Oh, yes, also the dental surgeon to finish his part of my implant and the regular dentist for a crown. "These are the golden years!" I can't complain much: my bridge partner is only around 60 and he's wheelchair-bound with MS and his wife who is in constant pain from some undiagnosed back ailment just had a small stroke. This community really shows who genetics affects us. We have people who are 70 and look and act (a) younger, (b) 70) and (c) older. It's dawning on me that the number is in itself meaningless.

Birthday coming up. I'll be 0x49!!

Cathy discovered a middle-eastern restaurant just north of Princeton so she & I and S & P went there last night. I had a kafta kebab platter that was the best middle-eastern food I've ever. We bought desserts to go and went back to their place where the women had decaf and S made us Turkish coffee. Only fitting, doncha think?

I'm still having fun whipping up a Linux box. It's almost where I want it, Linux-wise. Now I have to start to install a couple of Windows applications (solitaire and TypeItIn), and I'll be all set. Then I think I will buy a laptop and dual boot it -- many of my neighbors are buying Vista computers so I need to know more about it to be able to help them. I'm using a wireless keyboard-cum-trackball with the Linux desktop and I find it awkward to manipulate with the KBD in my lap.

We saw an interesting play at Passage Theatre in Trenton a week or so ago. What made it interesting was that it was a work-in-progress. So much so that the actors carried scripts and made frequent reference to them! But they did it pretty smoothly and the presence of scripts was not at all disconcerting.

The place where my wife works has a big party to celebrate the completion of the reconstruction/expansion of their building this Saturday. Unfortunately, the work is far from being done and they are bound to embarrass themselves as all the high mucketymucks of the city will undoubtedly scratching their heads!