Storm the Field

Walked out of my office around 6:30 yesterday evening. The "breeze" blowing into the parking garage felt like someone was aiming a hair dryer directly in my face. Blastfurnace indeed. 2 days of extreme heat ahead in Houston before we get some relief. A wet bulb temperature over 90 is basically "spend as little time outside as possible." "Nice" isn't the word, but it will be relatively decent this weekend. High of only 95 on Saturday.

Was on vacation the final week or July and first week of August and got out of my usual gym routine, and obviously ate and drank a shitload. Finally had a normal 5-day week last week and got back to the gym, though I probably only lifted at about 80% of my usual weight levels. This week it's back to full effort. I'm really pleased with where I am today, strength-wise, compared to when I got serious about getting back in shape back in Spring of '22, but still want to shed more fat off my mid-section. Gonna extend the amount of time I spend on cardio before lifting and try and be a little stricter about my diet during the week. Once the weather gets a little more tolerable, planning to do a lot more outdoor activity this Fall on top of usual gym work during the week. Much longer walks with the dogs, 15+ mile bike rides on the weekends...etc. Haven't weighed myself in ages, but I assume I'm currently a hair under 200 and probably ~22% body fat. Going to hop on the scale tomorrow morning after weekend bloating subsides and start actually tracking my weight again. Long-term goal is to get down to 188 and drop 3-4% more body fat by end of January '25.

Haven't touched my bike in months. Currently have a flat tire that I need to replace, but too damn hot to even bother with it. Looking forward to getting back out on the streets later this Fall, but gonna keep collecting dust in the garage for a few more weeks.

Welp, we made it most of the Summer without suffering through extended periods of triple digits, but the next 72-96 hours are really gonna suck. If you'd like to take a trip down memory lane to the misery of last Summer, pretty good chance that tomorrow between 4-7 will be the highest temperature readings of the entire calendar year (107 in Austin, 103 in Houston). It will still be in the high 90's at sundown tomorrow evening and won't drop into the 80's until damn near midnight. Fortunately the high pressure heat dome that's currently parked over Texas should start to dissipate and temps should go back to just normal late August levels of shitty by this weekend.

I asked my buddies on the Stros text thread if Espada was shitfaced drunk when he filled out today's lineup card. Took my folks to the game today and when they were announcing the Astros lineup, my Dad and I looked at each other in utter confusion when they got to Jake in the cleanup spot. Thank god we had Good Framber throwing against arguably the worst team ever assembled in modern professional baseball. At 30-95, with a .240 winning percentage, the ChiSox are solidly on pace to record the most futile season in the last 75 years of professional baseball, "beating" the 2003 Tigers (43-119 = .265). Hell, they would have to significantly improve to be only as bad the putrid 2013 Astros (51-111 = .315).

Totally missed that Autry Stephens died yesterday.

Got a completely unexpected half hour of light showers around 6:30 yesterday evening in my neck of town. Just enough to soak the ground. Definitely a pleasant surprise. Long-term forecast has improved the past 48 hours. Highs start to drop back down closer to average towards the latter half of next week. Gotta make it through the gauntlet of the next 4 days though. Pretty good chance that Monday and Tuesday will end up being the hottest 48 hour stretch of the entire Summer. 101 in Houston. 105 in Austin. Sidenote: Today will be the last day of the year with a sunset of 8 pm or later in the Houston area.

What a dumb loss. Single-handedly beaten by Luis Robert and all-around shitty personnel management by Espada, both utilizing the pitching staff and refusing to do anything about Chas until it's too late.

Sloppy inning.

Sorry about your puts, I guess.

Each August that passes down here has me more and more convinced I can't spend Summers for the rest of my life on the Gulf Coast. It obviously still gets hot pretty much anywhere in the country, but most places are hitting the part of the year where it starts getting pretty nice in the mornings and evenings. Shit, it's not like you have to go that far. Even in the Old South, the weather starts to drastically improve by this point of the Summer. Check the weather in Atlanta, Charleston, Nashville...etc.. right now. Highs in the low 90's, lows in the high 60's. Wife and I have definitely started talking more and more seriously about eventually (~10 years or so) selling our house in Houston and downsizing to a condo and then buying a place somewhere much more tolerable. Spend part of the year living and working here, but GTFO for pretty much all of June-September.

Yep. I hopped in the pool this past Sunday evening for the first time in about 3 weeks. It was 91 degrees and not the least bit refreshing. First time all Summer that it's been like that. Caught some pop-up showers the last 3 afternoons here in Houston, but it looks like that well has run dry. Nothing better than a 20% chance any day in the 15-day forecast. Every day is basically 99/80 and sunny. Likely have at least 30 more hot, sweaty days to slog through before any hopes of even a moderate cool down. 8/1 through about 9/15 is easily my least favorite part of the year weather-wise.

Can't wait for it to cool down. Too damn hot right now. Birria tacos on a cool, rainy day are a gift from heaven.

Jobless claims come in light, retail sales for July surprised strongly to the upside (1% vs 0.4% estimate). Stonks to the moon.

FWIW, as of today, Fangraphs playoff odds/projected records: Astros 88-74. 67% chance to win AL West, 77% chance to make playoffs Mariners 85-77. 32% chance to win AL West, 46% chance to make playoffs And for laughs: Rangers 77-75. 0.2% chance to win AL West, 0.6% chance to make playoffs.

Hah. It's true.

Headline CPI at 2.9% YOY. First time at 3.0% or below since March '21.

Pretty accurate recap of the Trump interview last night:

Walmart has 40 lb bags for $7.29. Academy store-brand corn is $7.99 for 40.

The SCW guys define it as the "first day with an overnight temperature reading of 65 or below at IAH" Based on historical data (for Houston area), it typically occurs no earlier than 9/1 and no later than 10/15, with the average date being ~9/20.

Blastfurnace looks to be on cruise control the rest of the month. Weather gods set the thermostat to 100 and sunny and then headed out on a long vacation.

Dubon wanted to get home. GIDP facing a position player, lol.

It's a Boston Massacre!