Parkour!

Today is Monday, April 29, 2024. It’s the next-to-last day of April. May is right around the corner.

I missed yesterday, which will happen, from time to time.

Today is We Jump the World Day, which is apparently devoted to that strange thing known as “Parkour.” I don’t do that. Nope. But I do remember this:

We had a wonderful time at the horse races on Saturday. I kept forgetting what day it was, though, because we usually go there on Sundays. So all day, I was thinking it was Sunday.

The buffet was delicious, and we ate way too much. We did okay on the horses, but the important thing is that we had fun. We never bet more than $2 on a horse, and limited ourselves to $4 per race. So we all picked a couple of horses for each race, usually betting to place or show. I bet on one horse to win. It didn’t. C came out the best, with $17 and some change won, out of $28 bet. (We left with two races still to go, because we didn’t want to have to stand outside waiting on our car for a half hour.) S was almost as good, winning $16 and some change, out of $28 bet. I came in last, only winning $11 and change, out of $28 bet.

My frustration was that, in multiple races, one or both of the horses I picked would jump out to a big lead early, and then fade at the end. I did have a winner, though, in one race, but I had bet on the horse to show, so my winnings weren’t as big as they would have been if I had bet on the horse to win.

Yesterday was a good day. I had a nice morning at church, then we ordered Cotton Patch to be delivered for lunch. C went out and got her nails done, and the rest of the day was spent relaxing.

Today is a normal Monday. I’m off work and C is working from home. I have groceries being delivered in a little while, some laundry to fold, and I’ll be cooking chili for dinner tonight, as usual.

C will be going to Vegas on Thursday, to bowl in the Open Championships, as a “team building exercise” with her company. She works for the United States Bowling Congress (USBC), who runs that tournament that lasts about six months. Every year, USBC sends several teams of employees to bowl in the tournament. She will be there Thursday night, coming back late on Friday. One year (I think it may have been 2019), I went with her, and we spend the weekend there, as well. It was great fun.

The Texas Rangers beat the Cincinatti Reds 4-3, yesterday afternoon. They won the series 2-1, after losing 8-4 on Saturday (which was much worse than the score indicated, as they went into the bottom of the ninth with only one hit and no runs). Dane Dunning (3-2) got his third win, and Kirby Yates go his fifth save of the season. I also heard that he got his 500th strikeout in that game. This puts the Rangers at 15-14 for the season, and they are in second place in the AL West, a half game behind Seattle. They appear to be off today, and will begin a series with the Nationals tomorrow, at 7:05 CT, in Arlington. Jon Gray (0-1) will still be seeking his first win of the season.

The Boston Red Sox beat the Chicago Cubs 5-4, yesterday, with Kenley Jansen (1-0) getting the win in relief. They also won this series 2-1, after beating the Cubs 17-0 on Saturday! The Sox are now 16-13 for the season, still in third place in the AL East, three games behind the Yankees and two behind Baltimore. They are also off today, and begin a series with the Giants tomorrow, at 7:10 ET, in Boston. Cooper Criswell (1-1) will start for Boston.

The Atlanta Braves continue to be the best in MLB, with a 19-7 record. We’re still waiting on that first team to win 20 games. The Miami Marlins have overtaken (undertaken?) the Other Sox to be the worst MLB team! They are currently 6-23 for the season. (A lot can happen when I miss a day, right?) The Minnesota Twins have continued streaking, and have now won seven consecutive games. The Marlins, in their quest to be worst, have now lost six consecutive games. The LA Dodgers continue to have the most total runs, having scored 158. The Other Sox still have the lowest number in that category, having only scored 77 runs. The Red Sox are up to 139, while the Rangers now have 132. The Braves have the best run differential, having outscored their opponents by 47 runs, while the Other Sox are now at -77. That’s an improvement over last week, though, and the Rockies are only seven runs ahead of them. The Rangers are at +7, while the Red Sox improved to +33. A 17 run win can certainly help in that category.

I’m still reading The Guinevere Deception, by Kiersten White. I’m at about 60% and will either finish today or tomorrow. After that, I have a tough decision to make. The next book in my stack is due on May 4, and has no more renewals available. It’s almost 600 pages, which I’m sure I won’t finish in five days (never mind that I haven’t even started it yet). I may go ahead and return it tomorrow, and just skip to the next one, which isn’t due until May 11, with no more renewals. I can always check the other one out again. Of course, I also have the power to override the renewals, if I want to. I don’t like to abuse my privilege, though, you know?

I guess that’s about it. I hope you have a good Monday and a great week.

TTFN, y’all!