There are quite a few nice things about this time of year… the leaves changing color, quality sporting events (MLB playoffs and the NFL) and, of course, the new Fall TV season. I’ve decided to give a few new shows a shot, as I usually do, and most of my old favorites are still in my rotation. Monday night is the busiest night by far, and my DVR was definitely working overtime. Two news shows in the 8:00 hour, Chuck and The Big Bang Theory appear to have some potential with their similar geek meets babe dynamic. Neither one blew me away, but I will definitely tune in next week. How I Met Your Mother started off with a solid episode, despite the annoying presence of "guest stars" Mandy Moore and Enrique Iglesias, which took valuable screen time from Barney, who is –"wait for it" - by far the funniest person on the show. Heroes also reappeared with a solid start (and some answers) to season two. Finally there's The Bachelor, which absolutely positively cannot be watched in real time. If you are going to brave this disaster, you must be able to fast forward through the commercials and the annoying Coming up on The Bachelor" clips that precede each break. At this point, the only real reason I watch the show is so that I get all of the jokes on RealitySteve.com the next day. It's a hilarious website that I recommend highly – but beware, you might end up watching the show because of it! Among the other new shows I've sampled so far, Back to You is a bit disappointing so far considering its Anchorman-inspired premise and quality cast. The Bionic Woman is about what I expected, which is to say it's weak on the story side. Oh, and that girl isn't much of an actress. Survivor China looks like it will be a good season, especially if every episode features as much mud wrestling as the last one. And The Office returned with some quality laughs, despite the hour-long episode format (for the first few weeks only) that makes the show drag a bit.

This weekend I made the trek up to Massachusetts to visit with little Sara (and Steve & Kelly too, of course). I stayed up there overnight and slept on the couch with the doggies. Then Steve woke me up at 5:45 a.m. and said “You've got to see the baby right after she wakes up.” Having been sound asleep, I was not amused (it was still dark!), but figured out that he wasn't going to be going back to bed since I heard and smelled the coffee pot. So I got up and I have to say that he was right. She was all smiles and giggles. A great way to start a day for sure. After last week's four-bros tennis fallout spectacular (video to come once we solve the techincal difficulties), Steve was fired up to hit a ball around again, so later than morning (after the sun had come up) we all walked up to the courts. Apparently U.S. Open fallout is still in full swing, because there were tons of people playing. Fortunately, there are 12 courts so we managed to find a free one.

My next post was going to be about four-bros tennis fallout, but I'm still waiting (ahem) for some video or a screen shot to post. While we wait, here's another cute video of Jasmine.

Yesterday, my Dad and I went on a little adventure. We went up to Boston to go on a whale watch. I hadn't been on one since high school (obviously a loooonnnggg time ago) and he had never been on one, so I thought we'd have fun. But just like Captain Ahab, we ran into some problems... our White Whale being traffic on the Mass Pike (okay, maybe Ahab had bigger problems). In any event, we got to Boston and found a parking spot near Long Wharf. We walked over to the wharf (and saw a Westie on the way), and just as we walked up we saw them taking the ropes off and preparing to leave. Sadly, once they do that there's no boarding possible (I probably could have leaped on, Indiana Jones style, but I doubt they would have appreciated it). A nice guy on the ground crew (or whatever you call them) told us that a "Harbor Cruise" would be leaving in a half hour, so we decided to do that. It was actually kind of nice, because the last trip the two of us took together was similar - to NYC, where we took a boat tour around the city to see all the sites (and the diminished skyline) right after 9/11. While it was a sad time in that city (we visited Ground Zero), I very much enjoyed experiencing it with my Dad. I can say the same thing about our trip to Beantown. While missing the whale watch was a bit sad, I had a great time exploring the USS Constitution, going out to eat and even spending time in the car with Dad.

My bros and I got together for our annual golf outing today, but before we hit the road we played another ancient and revered game... hackey sack. The footbag we used has been in my parents' kitchen for decades now, having even been placed back into it's spot on the top of the door moulding in the corner even after the kitchen was completely remodeled. We only played for a minute but we achieved a "hack", with all of us getting a touch before the bag hit the ground. Actually, it was a hack-plus, as a certain diminutive member of the family managed to head the ball down to the ground in classic soccer style. So off we went to golf, where I was the heavy favorite. Things were going as predicted for much of the round, and I was thinking I had a good shot to break 40 for nine holes. Then it all went wrong. I hit a bad drive on the sixth hole (the second time I had to yell "Fore!") but recovered somewhat. Then on #7 I hit a five iron along the tree line and lost the ball. I tried to keep my cool but my concentration was broken. I finished quite sloppily (two more lost balls), while Adam put together a few good holes in a row to take the win. Larry and Steve played pretty well also, and the scores were much improved from last year. There was no trophy presentation, as I had not even bothered to bring it. D'oh! It was still a great time as always, and hopefully we'll get out there one more time before it gets cold.

Believe it or not, all of these ties were draped over a single hook in my closet. Every time I picked one out, a couple others would invariably fall to the floor. Amazingly, it only just occurred to me to me find a solution. After searching for tie racks online and not finding anything decent, I decided to browse around at Wal-Mart and found a towel rack that was just about perfect. I had to modify it slightly, and I'm very pleased with the results. I actually had more ties than this - but the ones I don't wear I put aside to go to goodwill (I need to find a box here in Westerly). While I was at it, I took out all the shirts, jackets and pants I never wear and added them to the pile. My closet now has a bit of space - at least until I pick up the clothes I brought to the dry cleaners.