The weather has little to do with sunny days.

Today's Tids Issue 3,684

For Harmony:

The air is clear, skies incredibly blue;

As exhilarating as writing to you!

But mostly what I want to come true,

Is for market manipulators to go screw.

One of the little annoyances of life is stopping to let a driver enter a crowded highway and not getting a thank you or any kind of acknowledgement.

The super talented Gayle Vanderwaal winning AGT last night makes you feel real good. Just her jumping up and down like a crazy unadulterated kid was worth a million to see.

The Question:

Name a famous Food Network Chef who actually got his start winning The Food Network Star contest. Bonus: What are the Top Five wealthiest NFL Teams?

The Headlines:

--Markets Higher; Applications For Unemployment Benefits Rose.

--White House Buries Damning DHS Report Showing Ineffectiveness At Catching Illegal Immigrants.

--“O” Takes Aim At Corporate Off-Shore Tax Avoidance.

--Syria Fires Not-So-Smart Missiles At Israeli Jets Racing Towards War.

--Deal Reached To Avoid IRS Chief Impeachment Vote.

--Golfsmith Chain Files for Bankruptcy.

--Ohio Police Shoot And Kill 13 Yo Boy After He Pulls Out BB Gun.

--Trump Making Gains In Battleground States; Hill Already Has Enough Projected electoral Votes To Win.

--Trump And Hillary Both Look Healthy With Typical Senior Ailments In Records Released Yesterday.

I believe there are 4 distinct major parties in this country – Democrat, Republican, Conservative and Liberal/Progressive.

The Picks! We were 9-7 last week. Twas Not a great start. But. It is another week and many more good games on Tap. At least, I know what kind of QB the Pats have and that the Browns aren’t too great regardless of the QB. The real posers are Jets-Bills tonight, Green Bay-Minn, Cinn-Pitt and Dallas-Washington. I’m going Bills, GB, Pitt and The Skins – and that wasn’t easy. The semi posers are Philly-Chi, Atlanta-Oakland, Indy-Denver, TB-Ariz, KC-Houston, NO-NYG and Miami New England. I’m holding my breath and picking Philly. Oakland is on the rise and should win. But, TB is also on the rise, but still not a match for Arizona who will be mad. Denver loves to rush QB’s like Andrew Luck, and will keep him off balance for a win. KC is a solid team and I’m not sure about Houston’s QB. KC. I’m still not sure about the Patriots QB, but I am sure about their coach. Pats. The Giants have no Identity and Brees is a better QB than Eli. But I think the Jints are a little better overall team. For the rest I have Carolina over San Fran in the Flag Bowl, Balt over Cleve, Detroit over Tenn, Seattle over LA and Jacksonville over San Diego.

A young guy I was talking to yesterday made a point about why so many formerly secluded get-aways are so much more crowded these days. Younger generations arriving in former Edens immediately social network their exhilaration (Ruining my exile-eration) and everybody who reads it piles in. Stop it.

A pleasant taste treat for locals is “Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner. Everything on this very limited menu is super delicious. The Mac n’ Cheese is crazy cheesy and the biscuits had to have been made in heaven. And at night they serve mashed potatoes and G-r-a-v-y! Zowie! Great flavors from this inventive little restaurant foursome – twin sisters and their chef husbands – who also own the amazing Hamburger and homemade hot dog place named Mission.

Spell Check is always trying to get me to change my innovated use of words. It must have to the same DNA as all of my English teachers who could never seem to see my work as any better than a ”C”.

The only discussion Kaepenick has achieved is whether or not it is a good idea to desecrate the flag for a cause.

The White House sends out the cheerleaders in Red, White and Blue outfits when they kill a terrorist leader. Then they turn around a let more known terrorists out of Gitmo. Oh, btw, two more recently released leaders just returned to the battlefield. Crazy.

As part of its war against injuries, the NFL issued its new Kick-off rule that would put a touchback kick on the 25 yard line. The intention was that the receiver would consider that great and not attempt to return the ball. But like so many things, the NFL got it wrong. They forgot that the coaches would think that 25 yards is way to much of a generous a start to give away. Now kickoff team are kicking High and short to force runbacks with the hope that it can be stopped way sort of 25 yards. Are you sure that the NFL isn’t a branch of big government?

That reminds me of governments and institutions who hire purely for diversity rather than seeking the absolutely best people who could actually contribute to improving productivity and efficiency.

The Parking Lot: Chapter 69 Continues:

   Alexander Taft sitting towards 5:00 O’Clock at the big oblong table started to drift away as Claudia Howland continued to talk. She was in defense mode, and he wondered now if he and the others ever knew the whole truth about the lucrative opportunity.

 He remembered Nancy Joachim from their days at Brown. She was definitely not the typical Brown student, but may have been as smart as any of them. She was a superb lacrosse player, and in fact  he remembered her a very attractive woman. But, much too serious for him.

   Yet her face faded as he his mind kept returning to his former legal associate David McGuire and that image of him laying across the red, white and blue center line of Hope Street on July 4^th kept flashing before him as the woman rambled.

His eyes rose away from that ugly vison and he searched the faces of the others around the table. He didn’t see the commitment he had felt when they all first met almost a year ago. He saw more fear than confidence He saw deep concern.

   His eyes went back up to Howland. She had transformed since they last met, no longer the confident, sophisticated old Yankee. Something is going very wrong. What has he gotten himself into now?   

The Answer:

I like guy Fieri. He eats like I do, at least he does on his Drive-ins, Diners and Dives show. I also enjoy his Supermarket show which tends to show just how resourceful chefs can be.  Yes Guy won the Star contest, and you know what happened. Most of the other winners have done well since, especially with successful cookbooks. The Dallas Cowboys with are fist followed by the New England Patriots, New York Giants, San Fran and Washington. Interestingly, just by moving to LA, the Rams value mysteriously doubled and the team moved up to 6^th from the twenties! Rounding out the top ten we have The Jets, Chicago, Houston and Philadelphia. The next Ten are Denver, Miami, GB, Balt, Pitt, Seattle, Minn, Indy, Atlanta and Oakland.

With all of the beauty of the changing seasons pulsating in my senses, I still have half an eye on the stock market which is jumpier than a frog in a toxic pond.