Go Cubs Go!

Ain't this a great T-shirt?? My sentiments exactly.

They did it. National League Central Division champions.

No more yelling at the TV. No more turning it off because I can't watch anymore. The motto this season was "It's Gonna Happen." I truly believe it now.

Today is the final day of the regular season, with the Cubs traveling most likely to Arizona for the Division Series opener Wednesday. Let's hope Carlos Zambrano pitches like he did Friday when the Cubs shut out the Reds 6-0 to clinch.

The Milwaukee Brewers put up quite a fight, but in the end the better team really did win out.

Thanks Cubs -- first to my three favorite players, Mark DeRosa, Ted Lilly and Ryan Theriot. The other difference-makers? Alfonso Soriano, Aramis Ramirez, Derrek Lee and last but not least, Jacque Jones. And how can I not mention Kerry Wood, Carlos Marmol, Bob Howry and Daryle Ward?

Michael Barrett? Sorry buddy. Your fight with Z banished you to San Diego. But you will forever be one of my all-time favorites for sucker-punching A.J. Pierzynski of the White Sox last season.

Bleedcubbieblue.com is an excellent Cubs blog and should be checked out. Also, the Go Cubs Go! song has been remixed. Check it out here.

Now if the Bears could just get their act together. Canning Rex Grossman was a good start.

World Series or bust baby. I can feel it.

Reality TV update

So now it's Survivor: China and Kid Nation.

The Chicken Man and the pro wrestling chick are gone from Survivor, which is probably best. Though the Chicken Man would have been pretty entertaining if he had remained. The other chick was just annoying.

This season's cutie is Todd, a 22-year-old Mormon gay flight attendant. His parents must be proud (note the sarcasm). He's smart and should go far.

As for KN, not sure what all the hub bub was about. Child labor, uncaring parents, blah, blah, blah.

This is probably the best thing that has and ever will happen to these kids. It's tough, but I think they are getting a lot more out of it than just a $20,000 gold star.

I guess we'll find out soon enough. When does Amazing Race 12 start???

Todd photo courtesy CBS

Sister Sue update

She's home after about a week in the hospital. She had a lobe in right lung removed, along with some lymph nodes. The lymph nodes had some cancer, but not in all of them, which the doctors said was a good thing. She's still in a lot of pain, but it can't be anything like what she went through immediately after the surgery.

So now the rehab begins. Chemo and radiation. But she's got to gain some weight -- she was down to 89 pounds when she left the hospital. She should weight about 110-120.

And even though she didn't quit smoking until the day of the surgery, she has quit. Let's hope she understands how she got in the mess she got in and doesn't return to that nasty habit.

Still a very long road ahead, but for now at least, the outlook is favorable ...

Perfect ...

An award should go to the United Airlines gate agent in Denver for being smart and funny, and making her point, when confronted with a passenger who probably deserved to fly as cargo.

During the final days at Denver's old Stapleton airport, a crowded United flight was canceled.

A single agent was rebooking a long line of inconvenienced travelers. Suddenly an angry passenger pushed his way to the desk. He slapped his ticket down on the counter and said, "I HAVE to be on this flight and it has to be FIRST CLASS."

The agent replied, "I'm sorry sir. I'll be happy to try to help you, but I've got to help these folks first, and I'm sure we'll be able to work something out."

The passenger was unimpressed. He asked loudly, so that the passengers behind him could hear, "Do you have any idea who I am?"

Without hesitating, the gate agent smiled and grabbed her public address microphone.

"May I have your attention please?" she began, her voice bellowing throughout the terminal. "We have a passenger here at the gate WHO DOES NOT KNOW WHO HE IS. If anyone can help him find his identity, please come to gate 17."

With the folks behind him in line laughing hysterically, the man glared at the United agent, gritted his teeth and swore "(Expletive) you."

Without flinching, she smiled and said, "I'm sorry, sir, but you'll have to stand in line for that, too."

The man retreated as the people in the terminal applauded loudly. Although the flight was canceled and people were late, they were no longer angry at United.

End of an era -- sort of

So Ed and I are going to RFK Stadium tonight to see the Washington Nationals face the Philadelphia Phillies in what's supposed to be the next-to-last baseball game ever played at RFK Stadium. They say the new ballpark will open next April, but there's a lot of work yet to be done, so we'll see.

Lots of good times at RFK, even though the teams haven't been very good. The Nats did tease us in 2005 when they actually had a shot at the playoffs in September, but other than that, a lot of losses.

We're going to tailgate one last time -- not many parking spaces at the new ballpark, which is a shame. But it's going to be a nice park. I just hope they keep some of the ambiance of RFK -- like the moving seats along the third base line, Sweet Sixth, the Presidents races.

Can't wait.

The pictures above are an artist's rendering of the new stadium, and a picture of Ed when we were allowed down on the field last season. Click here for a look at the construction of the new park.

Verrrrrry scaarrrrryyyy!

It's almost Halloween. Need some pumpking carving ideas? These are a hoot ...

Reality TV

One ends, another begins.

Big Brother 8 ended while I was away, but I caught up with the finale last night. Evil Dick was a deserving champion, because he played the game the same way all the way through. Daughter Danielle would have been OK too. Like I had a choice.

Can't wait until Big Brother 9 next summer.

Survivor: China also debuted while I was gone. Looks to be a good season, though I didn't agree with the voting off of the Chicken man.

Some real cuties to tide me over until the return of The Amazing Race in early '08...

My sister Sue

Just got back from a drive to Arkansas, where I visited my sister Sue. She was diagnosed recently with adenocarcinoma, a form of lung cancer.

She's 50, and has smoked cigarettes since she was 15. In fact, she didn't quit until the day of the surgery.

She was supposed to have surgery last Monday, but the surgeon was in the hospital after having a bad reaction to a drug he was taking. Turns out that was probably for the better because we were able to spend some time with her before she had the surgery Wednesday.

She came through it OK, minus one of the lobes in her right lung and some lymph nodes. She'll also have to have chemo and radiation.

Felt pretty bad for her after I saw her when she had woken up because she was in A LOT of pain, which took several hours for the doctors to get under control.

But she's doing better, and is sitting up for an hour at a time. Still a long road ahead...

The tease continues

Well, there's about a week left in the regular season and the Chicago Cubs are still in first place in the NL Central. They beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 9-5 today, and lead Milwaukee by 2 games, with the Brewers playing the Braves later today.

Come next Sunday I'm either going to be happier than a pig in sh*t or drowning my sorrows in beer. Lots of beer.

I'm betting on the latter. There's no way they can yank my heart out of my chest again.

Can they?

NASA's 45th anniversary

NASA has put together a short film of its 45 top moments. If you like space stuff like I do, it's kind of a neat retrospective.

Click here

Things didn't quite work out this way ...

This cartoon was in a 1950 issue of Popular Mechanics.

My sister Sue

I just haven't felt like blogging, and the following is one reason why.

My sister Sue, who turns 51 this year, just found out recently she has cancer. She had lost a bunch of weight, and was down to about 93 pounds when she finally went to the doctor. Doctors think it started in her adrenal gland, and it has now spread to her right lung. She's seeing a surgeon today to talk about her options, so a trip to Little Rock will probably be in short order.

I won't be going to the Gay World Series in Phoenix. The only time off I had for the rest of the year was for that, and it's much more important I use that time to be with Sue and her man Sammy.

She's much too young to possibly be as sick as she is. And despite the fact she's smoked since she was 15, this cancer probably wasn't caused by smoking.

My dad died of lung cancer in 1992 at only 64 years old. My mom died of a heart attack in 1979 and she was only 47.

So there's lots of things for our family to worry about. We just hadn't planned on it so soon...

Cubs

It's September 5, and my Chicago Cubs are still in first place in the NL Central.

Barely. By 1/2 game over Milwaukee, 1 full game over St. Louis.

They are driving me crazy. Granted, I'm happy to be where we are. I don't get to cheer like this very often. But they've lost two straight to the Dodgers and can't seem to hit their way out of a wet paper bag. Five double plays on Tuesday.

Carlos Zambrano blasts the fans. The same Z who just signed a $91.5 million contract. The same Z who went 0-for-August. Steve Trachsel returns in a trade with the Orioles and looks like what Z should be, despite losing the game.

It's going to be a long rest of the month, with 5 games next week against the Cardinals. Those games -- 4 in St. Louis -- are likely to go a long way in saying who goes to the playoffs and who stays home, because the wild-card winner will come from someplace else.

My Reality TV

OK, so here are MY latest updates on Big Brother 8 and Pirate Master:

BB8 is coming down to the wire, and thankfully, we won't have to hear Amber cry about it all the way to the finish line.

Zach is this week's HOH, and he nominated Jessica (revenge) and Jameka (just doesn't like her and knows she would beat him in the final two). Danielle chose not to use the POV, so one of them is going home. BUT -- it's a double eviction week, so it will be interesting to see how that unfolds.

I do feel sorry for Eric -- he's definitely in an unenviable position having to juggle his own interests along with being America's Player. And then he falls for Jessica, which just complicated everything.

PM rode off quietly into the sunset -- on Internet video -- with cutie boy Ben going home with the $500,000 first prize. I was glad he came clean with Louie on throwing the competition that ultimately cost Louie his stay on the ship.

Still can't wait for what looks to be the final season of Amazing Race, with the 12th version of the chase around the world for $1 million starting in January or February.

By then, I'll also be into American Idol, Desperate Housewives, Lost and House.


Ben photo courtesy CBS

I know, I haven't blogged in a while ...

... So sue me.

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...