Jetting back to Arizona after wrapping up some final transitions work for my dad back in Massachusetts (everything went swimmingly) and he’s very happy in his new digs. Once we got his remaining financial arrangements out of the way it actually got to the point where I started feeling guilty about stopping by his apartment in fear of upsetting his routine. So it feels really good to know that he’s in a great place with a happy and comfortable vibe that that I helped him find and transition into. It just couldn’t have gone more smoothly.

In the meantime:

While late October is a special time in New England with everything decked out and looking like Halloween, you could really feel the window closing in on the golf season. And while there’s a part of me that wishes I could stay there and watch the leaves coming down and the nor’easters roll in to turn everything from fall to late fall, I most certainly won’t miss seeing the days shorten to nothing when the clocks get turned back in a week’s time. There is nothing fun about that.

Congratulations to the World Champion Boston Red Sox! They certainly proved themselves the class of the baseball world this year. Between their 108 regular season wins and the way they played during the post-season, it’s clear the best team won.

The Los Angeles Dodgers and their manager Dave Roberts were a puzzle to me throughout the Series. The problem with National League baseball and having pitchers hit is that you have to fill your roster with role players who might be very versatile during the regular season, but come October you find yourself with a roster of spare parts that have a problem making any sense when it comes time to play the Americans in the World Series. All of a sudden, moves that might seem to have made sense in August and the over-managing one has to do during the first 170+ games don’t quite pan out as you planned. In Roberts’ case, taking Rich Hill out in Game 4 made no sense at all – but that’s what all the dopey analytics and playing the match-ups he’d been successful doing since April will do to you. BoSox manager Alex Cora, on the other hand, managed aggressively throughout the playoff and stayed aggressive throughout. Once he got the Dodgers’ neck under his boot (or, in this case, cleat) he didn’t take it off. And the players bought into that strategy enthusiastically.

Had dinner tonight at the Logan Airport Legal Seafoods restaurant staring at CNN and its closed-captioning for about an hour. I guess you have to expect that in Massachusetts, but I can see what President Trump means about certain media outlets – especially CNN. Every – and I do mean every segment was about Trump’s visit to Pittsburgh to mourn the victims of Saturday’s shootings, and 100% of it was negative. I mean, the guy would never be able to catch a break: he comes to pay his respects, they’re bitching about it. If he didn’t come, you know they’d be hammering him for why he didn’t. And that’s what the President means about “fake news”: if all you’re going to do is relentlessly hammer the guy and his administration no matter what they do, you might be being honest about your political opinion of him, but you are not reporting the news honestly. Only liberals can’t understand the nuance in that.

Ok, that’s enough for now.

If someone wants to stick to their “meat weeks 3 & 4” on the Eades diet you have to plan your meals carefully. It’s amazing how much junk and carbs are on restaurant menus. And breakfast can be tough (at least for me) because I’m not much of an eggs kind of guy. Heck, I’m not even much of a breakfast guy – I’ve always found that eating breakfast makes me feel sluggish for the rest of the day.

But when you’re on the “meat weeks” of the Eades diet you’re job is to eat meat and leafy vegetables throughout the day. So, knowing that the local Tony C’s sports bar where I’ve occasionally met my Goodboys friends in past visits offers a) bowls of chili, and b) sautéed spinach as a side dish, Sunday breakfast was a no-brainer:

It felt strange to have my morning coffee with chili and spinach – especially with all those happy little bottles of alcohol staring me straight in the face (Bloody Mary, anyone?) but I was a trooper and did it. Didn’t even touch the corn chips, which are a no-no. Meeting my Goodboys friends later in the day I had buffalo wings and green beans. Before heading back to Summer Place and calling it a night, I detoured into a Mexican restaurant down the street and ordered a beef nachos portion of ground beef in a bowl and poured a couple of salsas on top of it.

So while you might get a couple of raised eyebrows along the way, it is possible to stick to the Eades diet even while depending on restaurants for your meals. But it will be good to get home and back into a more controlled and regimented environment for the last week of this diet.

So here I am staying at my dad’s new digs for a few days to help him tie up some final loose ends relating to his move. Was heading out for some Dunkin’ Donuts coffee this rainy, gloomy morning when I see the big campaign bus for U.S. Senate candidate Geoff Diehl pull into the parking lot.

By the time I got back his two campaign staffers had set up a table in the atrium with donuts and campaign paraphernalia where the residents would be gathering for a meet and greet. Geoff was very approachable with not a phony politician bone in his body (at least that I could tell). We talked about his campaign and he sounded pretty optimistic (although realistic) about his chances against Senator “Fauxcahontas” Warren and was happy to have his picture taken with yours truly and give a shout-out to the Goodboys Nation webblog nation:

He stayed for well over an hour to give a short presentation to all the residents and took their questions in a relaxed, easy-going manner. I’m not sure about the breakdown between Democrats and Republicans here at Summer Place, but he got a warm reception from the residents who I think were happy to have someone running such a highly-visible campaign to take the time with his presence. I guarantee you would never see Fauxcahontas go off the reservation and come here – she’s too busy pow-wowing with her elitist friends and supporters about her run for president.

Geoff didn’t ask The Great White Shank for any advice as far as election strategy goes, but I left him with this: “Remember, you’re in the Peoples Republic of Massachusetts. Encourage the residents to vote early and often.”

Just one more thing loose end to help my dad tie up following his move to senior housing, so I’m heading back East for a fairly quick trip where I hope to see some autumn colors and get the feeling of Halloween before I return to the Valley of the Sun and much better weather. There’s a lot to do and friends to catch up with, so the typical weekending post might not get there.

But just in case…

Let’s see if Rush Limbaugh’s hunch about those phony bomb mailings pan out as he thinks. I’ll tell you, it wouldn’t surprise me – the polls and projected early voting appear to be turning against the Democrats to the point where the whole idea of a “blue wave” is just a dream, and someone is thinking this would be a way to gin up the base:

“In fact, you know, you say these are all deep state players — Soros, Bill and Hillary, Obama and so forth. It is curious. They’re not even on the radar in the midterms when you get down to it, other than they’re trying to get themselves on the radar. But see, that’s the thing. They’re trying to get noticed,” he said. “The Clintons desperately need to be noticed all the time, and Obama is trying to recapture some glory, trying to show everybody he can still move the needle. It isn’t working.”

We shall see soon enough.

The pipe bombs were fake, but this kind of behavior practiced by liberals is the real thing. Nor is this. Fear and intimidation? That’s the liberal left’s game plan for the mid-terms. And you know why? That’s all they have to go with.

Is anyone else amazed at the turnaround the Red Sox bullpen has made during this post-season? I agree with the Boston Herald’s Jason Mastrodonato – at least right now – Nathan Eovaldi is the team’s MVP. Sure he hasn’t pitched a lot of innings, but think about the impact he has made. Alex Cora had spent the entire season trying to find someone – anyone – who would embrace the 8th inning set-up role, and Eovaldi has embraced it with gusto. Which means Joe Kelly and Ryan Brazier can drop into the more comfy (at least for them) 6th-and-7th inning spots and shine, the rejuvenated Craig Kimbrel can do his unhittable closer thing, and – best yet – there are no sightings of Heath Hembree anywhere. The Sox are a very, very dangerous team right now, and they’re playing with such confidence a sweep of the Dodgers is not unthinkable.

Speaking of the Dodgers, L.A.’s pitching coach Rick Honeycutt is a moron. Just another reason to hope the Red Sox can sweep the Dodgers off the face of the earth. You’re in the World Series, dude – embrace the passion, don’t whine and complain about it. It’s not like someone is sending you phony pipe bombs. If you want peace and quiet, take up golf or tennis. Or join the Miami Marlins pitching staff.

I don’t feel one bit sorry for Megyn Kelly. When she first went prime-time at FOX News she was self-deprecating, cute, and entertaining. Then she thought she was going to be the one to take down Donald Trump and her head got too big and she turned into a nasty shrew. I think President Trump got inside her head and messed with it. Don’t believe me?

She’s got only herself to blame. But I guess she’s got ~ $69 million reasons not to feel too bad, I guess.

If I’m the Democratic National Committee, Twitter posts like this, this, and this ought to be sending ice water through my veins.
Ugh.

It’s not a migration, it’s an invasion, bought and paid for by those who wish the worst for this country. Keep ’em the hell out.

Funny how you don’t hear anything about this kind of thing in the mainstream media – especially given their love of the LGBTQEDIURXPIAEIOU etc. etc. agenda. But then again that would go against the narrative pushed by the Democrats and their political operatives in the mainstream media that refugee migration is only peaceful and good.

Look, regardless of how the mainstream media is freaking out, it’s obviously a stunt – I mean a “Larry the Cable Guy” sticker? But by whom and why? That’ll be found out soon enough. One thing for sure, it sure gets everyone talking about something else other than the invasion horde snaking their way towards our southern border for at least one day, right? Who knows, maybe that was the idea all along.

I just wonder where the mainstream media was with their outrageously outrageous outrage when the loons on their side of the political aisle were doing these kinds of things:

Hat tip: Conservative Treehouse

This storm blew up to our southeast and passed east and north of us the other day. Turns out it produced 60 MPH gusts and 1″ hail. Looked like quite a storm, glad we didn’t get that here! There was also a tornado reported in southeast Arizona.

Same thing happened yesterday, although we didn’t get any rain, but other parts of the Valley sure did.

What a crazy fall season it has been weather-wise. Typically, the heat gods swip the flitch around the second week of October, whereby the temps drop below the 100s for a week or ten day, then the drop into the 80s and the onset of that blissful time of year known as “Arizona winter”. This year, there was no waiting for that – we had the remains of Hurricane Rosa come in as the calendar turned, dropping a couple-two-three inches of rain on us, and left is in the 80s where it has remained since then. Very nice, good for the ground water, even better for the electric bills!

But a crazy fall season it has been, fer shure!

It’s the last day of my “Weeks 1 & 2″ of the Eades diet. I’m down eleven pounds and 3/4” around the waist. Tomorrow it’s on to weeks 3 & 4, called the “meat weeks”. Eat as much beef, chicken, lamb, pork and fish as you’d like with lots of green, leafy vegetables. No more protein shakes.

The World Series starts tonight in Boston. What the heck, I’ll toss caution to the wind and go with Boston in 6.

We’re also two weeks from the mid-terms elections. I’m not 100% ready for a prediction on that just yet. Two weeks is forever in politics and anything could happen, but I’m getting pretty damned close – there are some really interesting dynamics going on below the surface. More on that in a later post.

In the meantime…

OK, I’m going to admit it: I don’t really care what happed to the new saint of the liberal left: Jamal Khashoggi. First of all, they make him sound as if he was a regular contributor to the Washington Post – which he wasn’t. This is a guy who hung around with terrorists and was working hard behind the scenes to undercut the reform movement started in Saudi Arabia by Prince Mohammed bin Salman. But the Democrats and their political operatives in the mainstream media are so desperate to tie something – anything – to Donald Trump that they’ll push the death of a Wahabi-loving, women’s rights hating, Islamic fundamentalist day after day. I’ve got news for the mainstream media: no one cares!.

I can’t yet predict the outcome of that key senate race between Democrat Kyrsten Sinema and Republican Martha McSally here in Arizona – it’s all going to depend on who gets out their base the most. But I’ll say this: Sinema’s campaign is having to deal with a candidate who at heart is as far away from the independent, sober image she’s been trying to portray throughout the campaign. She’s a loon and a walking gaffe machine.

…speaking of loons, in this case I’m going to give Democratic (and rabid, drooling socialist) congressional candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez a break here. I understand what she was saying – she simply wants the same “all hands on deck” scope of commitment to combat global warming climate change as the USA did in World War II. I don’t agree with her, obviously, but there are plenty of other things more outlandish things she’s said than this. Besides, I think she’s damned cute.

…and as for leftist loons who used to be cute, as a Vietnam veteran of sorts, Hanoi Jane ought to know. Once a traitorous b*tch, always a traitorous b*tch.

Seems to me if the mainstream media were really so concerned about the lives of journalists, you’d hear more about this horrific story right in our own country. Or, what about south of the border, down Mexico way?

Reminds me of a song…

Good – you liberals deface property to make a point, we Republicans and conservatives will just vote to make ours. Let’s see who’s has the most lasting impact.

Headline: Man, 72, ‘stoned to death by monkeys’ in India. One of the commenters at Free Republic made me laugh out loud with this comment:

And we covered it. We know a thing or two because we’ve seen a thing or two.

I’m still laughing at that one. Very good.

Remember what I said in Saturday’s post about the mid-terms and watching for signs from the mainstream media? Here’s one, and here’s another. And here’s another. Honestly, folks, if these guys weren’t so predictable my blogging job wouldn’t be as easy as it is!

And finally, keep an eye on this story going forward. I think it will be a huge step in restoring common sense to our laws and culture. Of course, watch the “transgender industry” go nuts over it, but that would only make things more fun to watch.

A few thoughts as the days dwindle down to a precious few as far as my first two weeks on the Eades Diet goes:

…I’m ten days in on the Diet and have lost 11 pounds and 1/2″ around my waist. It hasn’t been pleasant, but neither has it been as tough as I’d expected it to be. No headaches or crankiness due to going cold turkey on the caffeine and alcohol. I think I’ve worked my way through the insomnia phase, which hasn’t been as bad as I remember it being last time.

…In four days I start the weeks 3 & 4 “meat weeks” where it’s any and all meat of every kind (as much as you can take) and green, leafy vegetables. I can go back to my normal half caffeine/half coffee regimen and can have two alcoholic drinks a week. The question is, what will they be?

…now I have to deal with a high blood pressure issue that has cropped up. Although my mom had it for (I think) quite a while, I’ve never had issues with my blood pressure, like, ever. It just so happened that I had to have a biometrics thing done as part of Tracey’s company’s “be well” initiative (I’m on her insurance plan), and, lo and behold, they take my blood pressure and I’m in the 160/100 range. So the guy doing the test freaks out, says I need to see my PCP immediately, and to expect a call from some nurse in ten days to see if I’m still alive and have gotten the needed blood work done.

…so I’m wondering why I would go from a non-HBP thing to a HBP thing? All the stress involving “The Client Who Shall Remain Nameless” has long ago subsided. Who knows – could that whole episode have tripped something permanent in my physiochemistry? Is it just that I’m getting older and this is one of those things that just go along with being past middle age? One thing’s for sure: it’s a good thing I’m on the Eades diet because one of it’s benefits is a reduction in your BP. Makes me wonder what it would have been had I not started the diet!

…congratulations to the Boston Red Sox for their advance to the 2018 World Series. That was quite a series with the Houston Astros. That Game 6 with closer Craig Kimbrel dancing on a pin of disaster was crazy, but I guess you can get away with what he did when you have the best outfield in baseball by far.

…and it wasn’t just the outfield’s performance – both defensively and offensively – that won the series for the Sawx. They don’t give the MVP award to managers, but has there ever been a manager in the post-season who has (at least to this point) been able to push all the right buttons as consistently as Alex Cora has? It was pretty amazing to watch. No wonder the team plays with such confidence – they know they have a manager who won’t screw things up on them.

…so we’re down to little more than two weeks before the mid-term elections. Forget about the polls – they’ve become meaningless, just words for lazy so-called “journalists” to take up space in columns on paper or something to induce clicks on a web page. At this point in the campaign, if you want to see how a political party is doing, just do what Deep Throat instructed in “All The President’s Men” and follow the money. Where is the national party allocating it’s resources? What candidates are having their national party support taken away from them so they can be reallocated somewhere else? What campaigns are seeing an infusion of dough-re-mi into their campaigns?

…and then there are the so-called “celebrities”. If you’re the Democrats, see where Barack Obama is being asked to go. Wherever he’s being asked to go, you know the Dems are concerned about holding a seat they once thought a given. If you’re the GOP, watch where President Trump is holding his rallies. As Deep Throat said, that should tell you a lot.

…also, watch for signs of one party or another seeking to expand their base. For example, if you see Barack Obama go to, say, South Carolina or Wyoming, you know the Dems are feeling good about the states and districts they already have and are seeing if a foray into “enemy territory” might allow them to pick off an additional seat or two. Likewise, President Trump isn’t going to visit places where the White House knows haven’t got a chance. Therefore, if you see PDJT scheduling rallies in places like Michigan or New Hampshire (something I’ve heard whispers about from my GOP party contact), that means he thinks there’s a chance to pick off a seat or two originally thought not to be worth contesting.

…also, watch what the mainstream media is writing. I know, they’re nothing more than Democratic Party operatives disguising themselves as so-called “journalists”, but in this case, watch for articles seeking to temper expectations – especially when it comes to Democratic turnout and hopes. Expect to see stories about “what happens if the GOP keeps the House and Senate”, or stories with words like “hopes” and “whispers” all over the place.

…finally, watch what the pollsters are doing. Until now, the majority of polls have been published under the guise of pushing a particular candidate or political agenda. At this point, the pollsters start worrying about their reputations and are looking at the ratio of early-voting and absentee ballots coming in by party, so they will start skewing their finding to match what they are seeing.

Seven days in on my Eades diet and I’m officially down eight pounds from where I started. The goal was ten, so I don’t think I’ll have any trouble making that. It hasn’t been as tough as I remember it being three years ago. I haven’t (at least as yet) had the insomnia yet, and I never felt any adverse effects from the no caffeine / no alcohol regimen. The above section of the kitchen countertop contains my consists of my life these days: soy-based protein shake makings, leucine powder, magnesium/potassium supplements, the blender, and the purple cup from which I drink my shakes.

They say time goes fast as you get older, but this last week seems to have taken a month to go by. I’ve got another week to go before I head into the so-called “meat weeks” which aren’t bad (obviously), although I’d kill right now for anything with cheese – enchiladas, chicken parm, bacon and cheese omelets, cheese and crackers, nachos – you name it. Last night I fell asleep thinking of playing a round of golf at Passaconaway C.C. in Litchfield, New Hampshire, then pigging out at Tortilla Flat up the road in nearby Merrimack over margaritas and a oven beef quesadilla.

But that time will come – someday. For now it’s “Power Up!” shakes and one meal a day carefully crafted by the Eades folks. I can make it. I can do it. Only one week to go.

I know there are a lotta folks out there – including those who regularly (or semi-regularly) visit this blog in their Internet travels – who either hate, despise, or disdain President Trump. I get that. But this picture pretty much sums up what the upcoming 2018 midterms are all about:

Americans like winners, but they despise bullying losers even more. Is Donald Trump’s rhetoric at times tough? You bet, but that what winners say and do. Bullying losers, on the other hand, use physical violence and threats of violence to intimidate their opposition into silence or capitulation. This is exactly what the political Left in this country is trying to do. It would be nice if Democratic leadership in Washington would have the courage and class to take the high road and act like leaders and condemn the actions of these people in the strongest terms, but, given their childish and reprehensible behavior during the Kavanaugh witch hunt confirmation hearings, that’s obviously expecting to much. So all one can do is look at what both sides are selling during this election cycle and choose what’s best for the country in the long run.

You don’t like Donald Trump? Fine. You want to consider yourself a member of the so-called “Resistance”? Fine. But there are lessons to be learned from the past – most especially, in the differences between our Revolution and the French Revolution. There were mobs in the early days of our Republic that threatened to upset the fragile coalition of states that had come together to form a more perfect union. Same thing in France. The difference between our respective revolutions is that our leaders at the time recognized the inherent danger of the mob and put them down before they had a chance to spread. In France they didn’t, and it took the likes of Napoleon to bring the bloodshed to an end – bloodshed that included the deaths of the very leaders who had formed the original Resistance against the monarchy to begin with.

The lessons before us are clear: you kow-tow to demands of the mob and allow the mob to grow in numbers and confidence, don’t be surprised when some day they come after you.