Just watched the latest press conference related to the "balloon boy" incident, and I've got to say, I think the authorities are overreacting a bit.  And no, that's not the cop-hater in me talking.  I was able to look at the individuals as they spoke without feeling revulsion or anger.  I just listened and tried to be objective, and after hearing everything they said, it baffles me that they want to press felony charges on these folks.  I do feel that they need to make restitution for leading the authorities and media on a wild goose chase, certainly, but "contributing to the delinquency of a minor" and a boatload of other potential charges?  You've got to be kidding me.  What do my readers think about this whole thing?  I'm just curious. 

That's about it from here.  I have a nice chunk of time tonight in which to catch up on e-mails, LJ comments, and the like, which makes me happy.

I've been having enough trouble with Internet Explorer on my home computer that I'm planning to download Mozilla Firefox in the next couple of days (i.e., when I have a baseball off day or other chunk of time to do computer maintenance).  I've started using it at work so I can get familiar with it, and I downloaded updates to my office computer today with no problem (and have heard that the initial installation is user friendly), but what about the add-ons?  There are a zillion of 'em listed on the Mozilla home page.  Rumor has it that adding too many will cause the computer to run slowly, etc.

So....all you Firefox users out there, what are your top recommendations for add-ons?  I'd be much obliged.

And I promise I'll make a real post soon.  Things are just hectic and I'm having trouble getting to it.

I think today was just meant to be an off day for me.  Despite my best intentions, all I got accomplished beyond eating, doing my stretching routine, showering and getting dressed was this: I ran one brief errand and took a couple of boxes of recycling out to the car, replacing them with empty boxes that will soon (hopefully) hold the fruits of my decluttering labors. That's IT.  With only two days in a week that aren't mostly taken up by work, I'm aggravated that I pretty much wasted this one.  :::shrugs:::  I guess this just means that I'll have to be extra diligent tomorrow.

Something that bugs me: I feel like my journal is terribly boring.  Due to my health issues I really don't have much life outside of work and baseball (and doG knows I'm no sportswriter, so writing scintillating game recaps isn't my forte).  Once upon a time, though, I DID have a very active social life, went places, did interesting things, had a lot of friends, and I have many stories to tell of my golden era.  I even have a pile of old handwritten journals to draw from if I want to jog my memory about what it was like.  So I'm wondering something: Would anyone on my f-list like to hear about when I was young, healthy, carefree, and had excitement and joy in my life?  Writing about these things could be seen as living in the past, I realize this, but it would certainly spice up my journal a bit.  I'm just curious to know what folks think of that idea.

On the subject of back in the day, I spent some time this afternoon reading the abandoned LJ of the daughter of one of my favorite (male) high school classmates. He's someone I've mentioned here before, several months ago. Chris was an amazing guy, very personable and talented. Last time I saw him was in 1978, and I accidentally found the daughter last year while Googling Chris to see if I could figure out why he had aged so badly (I had found a professional picture in my Web travels). I had found her LJ at the time and had gleaned some telling information out of it, but what I realized today was that back then, I didn't know how to navigate within journals so hadn't read the whole thing. So today, I read all of it. Let's put it this way, I know that people change a lot between 18 and their 40s, but it saddened me to see what a total asshole Chris turned out to be.  Part of the daughter's ranting could certainly be attributed to teenage angst, but on the other hand, her dad sounds like a major piece of work...emotionally and physically abusive. He was such a sweet guy in school. Seeing how he turned out was pretty sad, not to mention unsettling.

Game is about to start, so I'm over and out.  Comments on the direction of my journal would be much appreciated.  I just feel like such a crashing bore, I guess that's what I'm getting at.

So I'm sitting here reading Sox blogs and the usual media (Globe, Projo, etc.) when I should be getting stuff done around the house and time's a-wastin' as game time draws closer...and I find myself wondering what's going on with Manny and what the future holds. Seems like the media is calling for his head over sitting out last night's game, and they're saying that even his teammates are disgusted with him, as of course the the fans and front office are as well. I even saw reference to the possibility of him getting his walking papers immediately. I don't know what I think about this whole situation -- I do have a tendency to be stubbornly loyal when I shouldn't, and I know that, but I'm also wondering what happened to our sweet Zen Manny who showed up for training camp this spring. On the other hand, the media says this has happened with Manny every year, but on yet another hand (gee, I have a lot of hands today), the same media is saying that it's worse than ever before, what with the anger issues that have surfaced recently. Is all of this part of an early midlife crisis? Is he simply losing it? Is there something going on off the field that could be causing him to misbehave like never before? To me...it's worrisome at the least. So I'm wondering what y'all think about it.

Other than that...well, I'm glad that I'll get to see two whole games on TV this weekend, and against New York as well!  Always exciting stuff. I think I'll probably spring for MLB.tv to get me through the rest of the season, as not counting this weekend there are only four games remaining on my TV schedule (two national, two courtesy of WGN when we play the White Sox), unless more are added. And I hate the thought of only seeing video clips or still pictures during the stretch run to the playoffs.

I am SO looking forward to watching Papi now that he's back. He's such a big bucket of sunshine. Just the sight of him makes me smile...not in a "crush" way, just in the sense that I'm glad such a wonderfully good natured person exists.

Other stuff: I'll likely be scarce during much of this evening after the game because I more or less have to watch the reprise of the CNN special, "Black in America." It's of interest, certainly, but I'm sure a lot of it will be "been there done that" for me because I've already put a lot of time and effort into studying the subject out of sheer interest, and for many years I had a foot in the local African-American community through social channels, so I have a pretty good idea of what that community goes through day to day. But as part of the Diversity Resource Council at work, I was bombarded with e-mails and links about the special, and as our next meeting is this coming Friday, I'm sure it will be discussed, so I need to be up to speed. Unfortunately, I've read mixed reviews about the special in the wake of its first airing, so at this point it's debatable whether I'll make it through all four hours, especially as I have a lot of other things I'd rather be doing. Maybe I'll just watch the first half, I dunno.

Off to take a shower, do my back stretches, get organized for tomorrow's blitz of errands/chores, and get ready for the game.  GO SOX!