Salvation

 Yesterday I went on a rescue mission... to save my brick.  Many moons ago my parents had bought me one of the bricks for the Bob Feller statue (one of the first, it was quite close), and when they announced they were tearing up the plaza... well, at first I wasn't sure if I should, but my sister reminded me that Mom and Dad were so proud of that brick, so... Friday night I went on a made search for the paperwork (which I knew I had), found all sorts of stuff to go through and pitch/recycle/sort, and eventually found the purchase agreement ($50!!), which included the original location.  Phew.  

Saturday I woke up earlyish and drove downtown.  I ended up parking at Reserve Square, as I certainly wasn't going to give anyone money to get my shit back... so I hauled ass across downtown and arrived at Progressive Field, where -- as shown on TV -- a long line awaited.  Basically, you waited in line (outside) until you got to the table, where some employees with computers would track your brick.  I was quite glad I had the paper, as some people just had a name, or a misremembered inscription, and God help them.  Of course, plenty of people (like me) had their stuff, and... then you were given a piece of paper with the new location of your brick and it was off to the other line, where you stood until a staffer got to you and they brought you your brick.  I have to admit, mine was in perfect condition, and for all the talk of these things ready to fall apart...well, let's just say that the general opinion of the crowd was that that was extremely spurious.  Then it was back to Reserve Square; the thing was heavy but not terribly so, but I still felt a bit ridiculous trekking across downtown.

Indeed, the whole theme of the morning (it took about 90 minutes from start to finish) was one of...superfluous sadness?  No one seemed to think this was handled well -- shouldn't they have realized people would have wanted these back?  (Not the first time the Dolans completely misunderstood their fan base.)  Only two days to recover them?  To say nothing of the cock-and-bull story about the bricks being bad shape... and, of course, why the need to move them now?  To be sure, I fully suspect they will be putting in new bricks for the CBT, but... good luck selling them.  At least I was able to read 150 pages of Leavy's Big Fella, her bio of Babe Ruth, which is quite good; I have read her Koufax and Mantle bios, and she seems to have a good handle on her subject.

The deeply human love stories of people and their AI sex dolls | British GQ (gq-magazine.co.uk)

I think I have seen everything...on some days.

https://www.politico.com/f/?id=00000187-a908-dfb1-a5df-e90da92d0000

This was quite interesting; love this stuff!

‘The Most Dangerous Person in the World Is Randi Weingarten’ - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

I think the interview on CNN -- where she was assailed by a CNN reporter, of all people -- nailed it spotlessly; it's not that they were wrong, but that there hasn't been any remorse.  The damage to our children has been severe, and no one seems to grasp that (on her side).  I don't necessarily blame her for this -- she would lose her job, I suspect -- but the fact that opposition has crystallized around this should be at least partially illuminating...