The Correspondent

I'm reading a great book I think you would like: The Correspondent. A novel about a retired law clerk and all the letters she writes. Even has a foreboding element of potential danger. Heard the ladies at the gym discussing it, just as my reservation from the library became available. Makes me want to write more letters. 

Finished the chick lit novel Great Big Beautiful Life. Had a twist at the end that I didn't see coming. 

Left out yesterday afternoon at 4:45 for out 6:30 meetup down at Westside Provisions. Arrived just before six. Had time to visit Warby Parker to get my glasses tightened. 

Big crowd at Taqueria, but they went out of their way to accommodate our large group. Good food and a good time. Afterwards we wandered over to Jeni's Ice Cream for dessert. I was stuffed. 

Then we all drove out to Anna & Caleb's new house. They've already got their nursery set up. The route Ceil's relatives took to their AirB&B took them past the Big Chicken, so I made a big deal about it. Stopped at the red light next to them and acted all excited. Didn't get home until almost 11.

Up early to golf this morning. Teed off at 6:50 am and finished nine holes by 8:10. Played well. There was a guy playing behind me, so I couldn't quite take as much time as I would've liked. 

Foggy morning. Southbound traffic on the downtown connector was backed up, so I gave Matthew a heads up. As I drove north up 75 he probably passed me in the southbound lane, headed to work. 

1. Hit three tee shots: one right, one left, and one straight. All three wound up not far from each other. Only one of the three light up balls were working, but it was already light enough to see. A good fairway shot, but only one great chip out of three. 

2. Mulligan was straighter than my first try. Two of four chips were okay.

3. Hit my first 8 iron left, but the second two were straighter. Hit several chips, but none were great.

4. Hit a great 6 iron that drew down to the front fringe, about 15 feet from the hole. Shot of the day. I hit a good mulligan as well. Couldn't sink a birdie putt, but came close.

5. Hit a good long straight 5 iron off the tee, to just short of the green. Pulled my mulligan left. Good lag putt.

6. Hit driver off the tee. Felt good, though I really couldn't see where it went. Found a ball on the fairway, if it was mine then it was my best tee shots ever. I really should pay more attention to what kind of ball I am hitting. Hit two good 5 irons, and a decent chip to the front right fringe. Then a good lag putt to about one foot.

7. Another great drive, all the way up to the top of the hill. Then a good straight 6 iron, that rolled down to the left rough just short of the green. And a good chip up to the front of the green. Hit two good lag putts. 

8. Hit driver from the old tee box, but it stayed right and got knocked down next to a tree trunk. I played it where it laid, and poked a sweet low 7 iron under the trees, then rolled down to the rough near the green. Popped a decent little chip onto the green, and rolled two lag putts close to the hole.

9. Hit a good straight hybrid. Hit three chips, one to the front left fringe. Hit a couple of lag putts up the hill toward the hole, but not too close.

Ceil usually eats a late lunch. Yesterday at 6 pm she was yaking on the phone. I was starving so I fixed myself a ham sandwich. At 7:40 we are burgers, firis, and kale. 

Got to the gym a little earlier this morning. Lifted weights, sat in the sauna, and walked on the treadmill. Stopped by Dollar Tree on the way home. 

Eating at the Westside Taqueria tonight: Anna & Caleb, Matthew, W&MC and the girls, Anna's three cousins, plus Ceil, Teresa, and Kelly. Not sure where 14 people will sit. 

The Braves released their 2025 earnings report. Revenue and profits were up. Some think Liberty Media  might sell the team. The Battery real estate development brought in almost $100 million, and additional 13%. So many uneducated fans are quick to claim the team isn't reinvesting this money back into the team, but that simply isn't the case. Payroll keeps growing every year, and is currently the 8th highest in baseball. 

I'm glad the Braves just don't throw money around just for the sake of it, like the Mets and Yankees. The Braves have been just as successful as the New York teams, if not more so. They just extended Chris Sale's contract, making the future hall of famer a brave for life. The Braves traded a minor league shortstop for Sale - and had the Red Sox pay Sale's salary for his first year in Atlanta. A much better deal than paying all that money for Max Fried, who continues to fade in September and October. 

Sure it would've been nice if the Braves had signed an extra starting pitcher for the 2026 season, but GM AA considered the current stockpile of young pitchers already in the Braves system to be the equal of better  of anyone they would've had to overpay for out on the free agent market.       

The developer behind Ponce City Market will be redeveloping North Point Mall, adding an arena with hopes of attracting a NHL team to Alpharetta. There are two or three other proposals by other groups to build arenas a few miles north up 400 in Forsyth County, off McFarland Road or another exit. MARTA does serve the North Point area, but not Forsyth County. Both the Flames and Thrashers drew big crowds, but were plagued by poor management.   

DENISON: Artificial Intelligence is not afraid of nuclear weapons.

CLEON JONES [SABR Bio] was called ine greatest New York Met of all time, in the 1969 all Star game program. The quote was probably framed & hung in Tom Seaver's trophy room. Jones played for the White Sox in 1976, his last season. Jones's .340 average in 1969  was the highest in Mets history until John Olerud hit .354 in 1998. He played himself on the  Everybody Loves Raymond episode that aired on 01-Mar-1999 "Big Shots".