Wait, that was a Ray Bradbury story.

Well, she didn't say "your favorite fog stories of non-fictional things that actually happened to you personally," so I suppose the Ray Bradbury story counts, in a sort of hand-wavey way.

No cake or parties at work, but I did get unexpected free sushi at lunch, so that was nice.

(And feeling really, really bad for Susan every time the Mariners fall down. We have our strong local loyalties but it's no fun to have other Buffistas feeling actively lousy about their teams.)

Thanks, JZ! It takes a big heart to feel the pain of the losers in your own division.

If I could bundle up the fog and pass it your way, I would. We had smoky haze yesterday, but this is definitely foggy-fog-fog blowing in from the ocean, with November levels of cold and that unpleasant damp that goes right to your bones.

Seriously? I'm still getting the mix of fog+smoke. I can tell because of the exciting fun way my eyes tear up and my throat gets scratchy every time I step outside.

rethinks visiting the Zmayhems this weekend. considers bringing a personal space heater.

Susan, one of the many current objects of scorn and hatred chez Zmayhem is ESPN's "Baseball Tonight" and its incessant East Coast MLB ass-kissing.

A couple of weeks ago, when Justin Duchscherer pitched a masterly game and came achingly close to pitching a no-hitter against the Red Sox in the middle of a 3-game sweep, BT dwelt on the game in some detail: close to 10 minutes of fretting about various Sox players and how they were struggling and what their recent misfortunes might mean for the rest of the season, and I swear to God they not only didn't even mention Duchscherer's name, they barely allowed the word "Athletics" to pass any announcer's lips. Like some completely mysterious Team With No Name had descended upon the Red Sox to wreak mysterious havoc and then disappeared before anyone could say, "Who were those masked players?"

The Giants, doing way better than expected, get no respect; San Diego practically never rates a mention; and the Mariners only turn up on BT for alternate rounds of mocking and pitying tongue-clucking. I dream that someday, some sweet day, all the West Coast teams will make it to the playoffs and there won't be a single team east of the Mississippi in the post-season, and everyone's heads at ESPN will explode with a satisfying pop!

I kind of love JZ right now.

If I could bundle up the fog and pass it your way, I would. We had smoky haze yesterday, but this is definitely foggy-fog-fog blowing in from the ocean, with November levels of cold and that unpleasant damp that goes right to your bones.

Well,I just looked(I'm obsessed).and your air quality isn't much better than ours. One or two days in the moderate zone usually is dealable.But this has been toooooo long. OTOH, I am grateful that I no longer work in livermore. They have had levels that are bad for people with good lungs. The worst part about this -- I don't sleep when I don't breath.

But, in good news for the day... the 'abnormalities' in Percy's xrays --- strictly due to the fact that he was under anesthesia . And the kidneys looked reasonably good. Because his sugars dropped so drastically just from diet change we are giving him two more weeks on the new food ,then testing his sugar again. I am guessing he will need insulin, but I think we will get a better idea of what he needs.

I'm so sorry to hear the news about your aunt, Tamara. Much ma to your family.

My fog story, I went to the drive in with my friend and her parents when I was about 7 or 8. It was a double bill of You Light Up My Life and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. The fog was so thick we couldn't see the screen during the second show and left.

I've also been in some Newfoundland fog that was unbelievable.

all the West Coast teams will make it to the playoffs and there won't be a single team east of the Mississippi in the post-season

Ummm... That's not actually possible. The whole point of divisions by region within the league is that at least two teams in the playoffs have to be from east of the Mississippi. Which, presumably, is why you didn't mention the LA/Anaheim/wherever Angels, because they are the AL team likely to take the playoff spot in the West.

Also, you might consider: not only are the east coast games done earlier, making for more consistently easy-to-report games, the eastern time zone counts for half the US population. I have fantasized many times about how to redistribute the teams, because the leagues and regions having different team-counts bothers me (because I am crazy), and I really can't do it properly. Even giving Vegas an ML team (it currently has a AAA franchise), there just aren't enough distinct big cities to make it work on the west coast. As it is, Texas has to count as west (sometimes but not always) to make it work at all.

(Assuming that no one TV market -- LA, Bay Area -- would sustain more than two teams, one in each league, or else the owners would scream bloody murder, and assuming that Portland, Oregon just isn't big enough to warrant a team of its own.)

Las Vegas should be big enough by now to support a major league franchise, surely?

Las Vegas should be big enough by now to support a major league franchise, surely?

From what I understand from hockey and basketball, there's huge interest in the city for major league teams, but there's a big fear in the leagues about gambling and a hometown franchise and the chance of undue influence on games.