Updates ...

The health department approved our deck permit, since the septic tank is nowhere near the deck. Turns out it's probably under the driveway, which is not good either. And the septic tank is another story in itself. Turns out it was put in in 1953, without a permit. Go figure. It will be pumped and evaluated on Friday ...

Back to working nights tonight. Been filling in for vacations, working days, the past 10 days. Sucks. Oh well, you live, you learn, you move on ...

Finished painting the shed over the weekend, and it now matches the "new" house. And now people won't be asking us if we own the garage next door, which is the color of the "old" house. We'd love to own that land, but that's probably not going to happen ...

Haven't been to the gym in quite a while. Been kind of leery since I caught a staph infection there during the spring. But with softball and general summer sweating, I'm now a svelte 165 pounds, down from 190. It also helped that I didn't drink beer for about a month while on antibiotics...

Big Brother 8

So Dick and Danielle are on the block. No big surprise there. Everything they did last week to get Eric evicted came back and bit them in the butt.

It'll be interesting to see how the Power of Veto competition goes tonight, because if one of them is taken off the block "America's Player" is bound by what America wants to get Dustin put up.

That would suck. Dustin, who is in complete control of the house (and nobody seems to know it) was the vote that kept Eric in last week.

And while I'm not a big fan of Jameka and the religion she wears on her sleeve, I have to give her props for standing up to Dick's truly evil ways.

Don't know what to think about Dick anymore. I like him, but he's a jerk, and isn't helping Danielle's cause at all. He says he'll do whatever it takes to keep Danielle in the house. We'll see.

But everybody should keep an eye on Zach. He's all alone out there, just floating under everybody's radar.

Dick photo courtesy CBS

Just a couple of updates ...

The siding is done and it looks fabulous! Ed and I still have some work to do around the house, a little painting here and there, but it's really looking good.

The Fairfax County Health Department is coming by today to give us an evaluation on our septic tank, which we found out was installed in 1953. Yikes! It's all a part of the permit process we're having to undergo because of the neighborhood idiot who reported us for rebuilding our deck without a permit.

We think we know who did it, and boy, the neighborhood is not happy about the can of worms that has been opened...

My thumb is doing GREAT. In fact, I think I'm ready to pick up a softball bat again, and it's not even been four weeks since my surgery. Timmy the tumor is gone, though he could come back. I'll cross that bridge if and when I get to it.

In the meantime, softball is back in my picture, with the upcoming MAGIC Tournament here in D.C. over Labor Day weekend, and then the Gay World Series in Phoenix in October. Can't wait ...

Back on track...

The Chicago Cubs are going to drive me into an early grave. But after losing four in a row and five of six, they got back on track last night in Colorado, beating the Rockies 10-2.

Despite their recent swoon, they are still only 1/2-game behind Milwaukee in the NL Central because the Brewers haven't been any better.

And it's not going to get any easier for the Cubs, who lost Alfonso Soriano until at least Sept. 1 with a torn quad. And Aramis Ramirez is battling knee and wrist injuries.

Hopefully GM Jim Hendry can swing some kind of deal to get a big bat in the lineup. If they can just stay close until their two big bats return, the division is there for the taking because the Cubs have a fairly easy September schedule -- at least on paper.

And they better keep an eye on their rear-view mirror -- the St. Louis Cardinals, who somehow won the World Series last year, are lurking.

Pirate Master

I know, I'm one of the few people watching this show, which was cancelled by CBS before the final five episodes could be telecast.

But I'm hooked, and have been watching the final episodes on the CBS website. This week it was Kendra's turn to be set adrift, after four consecutive weeks of being in the final two. Thank God. She was definitely the weakest player on the Pirate ship.

With only five Pirates left, my vote to win is Ben, who thinks his alliance with Jay is tight. But he better watch his back beause Jay is a sleaze bag. But then aren't all Pirates supposed to be sleazy?

If not Ben, then Louie is my second choice. He just looks like a Pirate...

HA!

Big Brother 8 just gets better and better.

Just when everybody thought America's Player, Eric, would be voted out of the house, WHAM! It's Kail, leaving Dick and Danielle befuddled about another vote that went astray. Thanks Dustin!

Serves them right. They don't know the whole story about Eric, and shame on the person who flew over the house with the banner last week. And shame on Amber for going off on Eric. Sure, it was wrong of Eric to betray a confidence of hers to Dick, but for her to stand there and say she's never lied in the house, when it was her who planted the idea of back-dooring Nick (yum ... sorry) is just so hypocritical.

So now it's up to Jessica, the new Head of Household, to stir things up. Hopefully she'll put one of these people up for eviction, in order of preference: Zach, Jen, Dick, Danielle. It should be a good week.

Jessica photo courtesy CBS

Big Brother 8

Tonight's episode is going to be very interesting. America's Player, Eric, is screwed if somebody wins the Power of Veto, because pretty much everybody has him figured out now as the one who voted against the wishes of everybody else the past two weeks.

But it's not his fault. Blame the plane that flew over the house during the Head of Household competition last week with a sign that said "Amber and Eric are liars."

Hopefully, he'll stay, and Jen will finally get the boot. I know I said last week that I was starting to like her, but she's just a mean, spiteful person. I was really glad when Danielle won Head of Household and put her and Kail back on the block.

The guy I really feel sorry for is Nick, who was booted last week. He really got hosed because everybody believed he was the one who cast the votes. He tried to tell everybody he wasn't the one, but nobody would listen.

And one last thing -- if Amber doesn't turn off the faucet, I'm going to puke.

Siding, Day 2

Man, the work they've done has completely transformed our little abode. Here's a couple of pictures from yesterday, when they were here from about 8 a.m.-8 p.m.

We'll have a little work/painting to do when they are done, including the shed, but the biggest job is complete. We'll also have to repair some damage they've done to some of our plants, but I guess that was inevitable. And with the drought we're having, some of those plants were in trouble anyway.

It's amazing/funny to watch people's reactions when they pass by our house. Ed and I immediately upgraded the neighborhood just by moving in. I'm sure a lot of the reaction now is "Oh my, look what the gay guys have done now!"