23 Jun 98: Man oh Manny, it's great to be back on US soil. Don't get me wrong, I liked Australia, but it's good to be home. My bed, my toilet, good salsa, Tater Tots and lots and lots of TV channels. I can surf again! And lookee! Three new channels!!! Classic Sports Network, the Independent Film Channel and Fox Movies. Yeah!

Watched my first live baseball game Sunday since Memorial Day -Red Sox versus Devil Rays. I must say, that's the first time I ever heard "Blister in the Sun" on an organ. Seriously, the organist at Tropicana Field played it. I laughed my ass off. Still doesn't make up for the fact that have a freakin' dome. I don't give a rat's ass that it gets really hot down there and it would be uncomfortable to watch a game, I don't like domes. (Domes exist for the comfort of the fans, not the players. That was the reasoning behind the construction of the first dome, the Astrodome, in Houston. I guess that monstrosity in Seattle was built to guard against a lot of rainouts, but that's not going to steal my thunder. The new retractable domes that use grass are a decent compromise, but I still prefer no roof. Indoor football is even worse, but I'm not going to go into that just now.)

The best baseball of the day, though, was watching my beloved Indians give the Yankees a spankee on ESPN. Too bad the series was just a split (and the Skankees still lead the season series 3-2), but I'm not going to complain about an 11-0 drubbing. GO TRIBE!

Here's something I didn't miss -this stupid "local Ford dealer" ad with people singing this really annoying, and often off-key, tune, "Oh how happy you have made me. Oh how happy you have made me." Don't know if it was running before I left (I don't recall it, and I honestly think I wouldn't forget something that grating.) but I've already had enough. I hope that Ed Mullinax, the "local Ford dealer" in northeast Ohio, where I'm going on vacation, is still running the significantly less obnoxious country drawl "I've got a Ford on my mind mind mind" ad. Of course, I haven't lived in Ohio for nine years, so for all I know Ed retired that ad with his Members Only jacket years ago.

Man, jetlag blows. I've had three-and-a-half hours of sleep in the past thirty-six hours, and I'm still pretty awake at 2:30am. I was never this bright-eyed when I pulled all-nighters at MIT.