Possibly my THINNEST posting ever?
I have not prepared for this post in any way. And it shows!

It's a gas...or not dept.: I just saw a report on the TeeVee news that you can now buy "gas pills" for your car. That's nothing new. I can buy "gas pills" for me. They're called "Beano"!!! Anyway, you can buy gas pills and pop 'em in your car, and they're supposed to give ya 4% greater mileage. But there's a catch, there's always a catch. For the pills to do your roadster any good, you have to travel at 65mph or over. And city cops generally frown on you going that fast. Wonder what happens if you put Beano in the tank?

Chipping away at the madness dept.: Doggone, I wish I could still run, but right now, I'm content just to walk relatively pain-free. But in this year's Bloomsday run, all participants are gonna wear a computer chip that signifies WHEN you get to the start line, and when you finish. So, no more of those "add 10 minutes to your time" when you read the race results. I think that's really cool. Right now, if I began the Bloomsday run, I'd have to take it in shifts. A half-mile or so every day until I finished. At that rate, it would take me TWO WEEKS to finish. I think they shut off the race clocks before then, however.

Another reason its gonna be a long season dept.: "Everyday" Eddie Guardado, the "closer" for the Mariners has saved a heck of a lot of games. But he is hittable, very hittable. He doesn't have what I consider "closer stuff"; he's more of a "location" pitcher, and if he tosses it in the wrong place, BAM, POW, BOOM! He gets hit like Charlie Brown. Yesterday, he gave up a "walk-off" home run. Our closer. Eddie has made things interesting last season and so far this season. Right now I see the M's relief-pitching as the weakest link in the chain. No matter how well the starter does, if the closer doesn't git it done, it won't get done. Maybe Mr. Guardado's status should be "every third-day Eddie"?

Two guitars are better than one, in theory anyway dept.: Partly cloudy today, and that's maddening. You're warm for a little while until the sun goes behind a cloud. Then yer cold again. Acoustic guitars are temperature-sensitive and the changes in warmth are always causing strings to go out of tune. I needed some fresh air, went to the park, and a friend of mine was already there playing. So I played along; he was singing and strumming rhythm which gave me a chance to lay little "flavorings" on top, and that was a fun way to spend a couple of hours. The advantage to your guitar going out of tune? You can hit the wrong notes and they sound RIGHT. Well, sort of.

So what's happening "back" there dept.: If you're masochistic enough to be following my medical stuff, which I've posted here, well, an update of sorts: I got a steroid shot in my lower back last Thursday. At the time they told me it would take about a week for the steroids to have maximum effect. They're supposed to reduce swelling somehow. And it appears to be working; I felt like I was moving more smoothly today. I had discs & nerves that were being pinched by vertebrae, but no tears or ruptures. Well, a rupture in my FINANCES maybe, paying all those doctor bills, but I'm feeling pretty good right now.

Maybe I was being really stupid dept.: Two or three years ago, my primary care doctor advised I take Allopurinol, which gout patients need to take every day. Not being very disciplined, I didn't. I've been in all kinds of pain since then, and it has really interfered with my life. Well, finally, I started taking the stuff; I've taken it daily for 2 months now, and I have virtually NO gout pain...no wrist, finger, hand or elbow pain. Pain free, mostly! It's the kind of drug someone with gout has to take like a diabetic takes insulin. That's okay with me. I'll pop pills for a better quality of life any day.

Before this post becomes too self-absorbed dept.: You, faithful reader, have endured another "me-me-me" post, in which the whole world revolves around me, Me, ME, because it's all about me, after all. So I need to come down off my high horse and throw some objectivity in here. Okay, I can do that. Here, for you is an interesting little visual element...the Steamer "Idaho", cruising Coeur d'Alene Lake, long about 1907, some 98 years ago...



Here, we're looking south across the lake; in the foreground, this old Steamer, which probably nowadays resides on the lake bottom somewhere. I've often wondered, if it was possible to completely drain the lake for a day, what you'd find. Old cars, old coins, sunken boats, snowmobiles, and who knows what else. Stuff that "antiques roadshow" would love to get hold of, for sure.
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Finally, before leaving, a bumper sticker that kinda turned my head, on a car obviously owned by a lady: "That's MS. Bitch to you!!!" Okaaaaay...you could say I walked a wide circle around that auto.