A death in the family

Its 11:07 am

   Sigh. Its a depressing day in our house....we have suffered a terrible sadness,a loss of a beloved family member. One was loved almost everyday,whose name we spoke aloud with adoration,affection and longing.
 Everyday either Lori or I would slide over and gently wash,rinse and make sure our loved was filled with only the best of the best. Starbucks, 8 O'Clock,Tim Hortons,Dunkin Donuts.
   And while their history may not of always been so noble,their redemption of today helped overcome their not so glorious past.
  Of whom am I speaking of?  Our beloved Krupps Coffee Maker died this morning after 8 years of loyal service. The mighty maker of both hot steaming cups of coffee for Lori to huge Jimmy cups of iced coffee for me.
  It fueled many of writing sessions,brewed up enough coffee for those long trips to Ann Arbor or "Up North" (my Michigan readers will get that). Many of days we would wake up to heavy snow and instead of going "holy cat poo",we would happily gear up knowing that after shoveling 8 inches of snow,we would have coffee waiting for us.
  And while we did have to to replace a filter and a coffee pot,the machine itself went of brewing steadfast for the 8 years we had it. It was a wedding shower gift to Lori from her friend Karen. Now I might be hard pressed to name a wedding gift we received but never have forgotten the mighty coffee maker. And now its gone,suddenly and with no warning. I am mourning our devoted friend and I ask of you to raise your cup (or in Debbie Rochon's case,several cups) and give a toast to our coffee maker.
  That said,we're heading over to Bed Bath and Beyond to see what new models they so we can brew up a fresh cup tonight.

   Going to give a hearty shout out to my friend and fellow blogger Slade Wilson for has made the trek over from FB and is following me here. Will is one of my favorite people and another die-hard baseball fan. Sadly he follows the Mets and hates the Yankees despite my best efforts to get him to come over to the Dark Side (we have cookies!!) he shrugs off my best efforts and stays loyal to the "other team". He is a gifted writer in his own right and his takes on the current state of TV allows me to know what or not to waste my time on.
  I'm just tickled he has joined the growing (11) number of folks who are starting to read me here. I'm closing in on 2,000 views already and its only April.


Speaking of baseball,its been rather amusing to listen and read the local Detroit sportswriters this spring training. The Tigers have a massively talented looking team and one that could reach the World Series and the biggest question? What will happen to erstwhile 3rd baseman Brandon Inge? Inge,who was a Tigers fan favorite until his selfishness reared its ugly head (refused to play catcher,refused to go on the DL for a injured knee which not only cost Inge at the plate but the Tigers as well).
  Guy has never hit well (.235 average),shown so-so power with 139 home runs but has played great defensively. Last year after scuffling along and barely hitting his weight,he agreed to go the minors instead of becoming a free agent. Came back up in Sept and hit .321 before fading badly once again in the playoffs.
 When the Tigers signed Prince Fielder and moved Miguel Cabrera to 3rd this past off season,instead of asking for his release or a trade,Inge said he wanted to compete for the 2nd base job despite the Tigers having  many better players who have earned a crack at a starting job. Instead of stepping aside for a younger player who might really help the team,Inge is bringing  his .181 spring training average and is seriously being considered for the team. Brandon Inge has gone from a player who used to care about his team to becoming a cancer in the locker room. It has the baseball fans talking a mile of minute and where a couple of years ago,this would have been a 50/50 topic (50% love Inge,50% hate him),its now more like 85/15 against him,Inge has burned away almost all of his old support due to his hanging on despite not helping the team. Its pretty interesting to see this little drama unwind and I'm sure the other teams in the AL Awful,err,Central division are pretty happy to see this.

  Sort of weird to be typing this entry and hearing James Taylor singing Christmas tunes on iTunes. This must be my signal to wrap this up and go cut my grass!

Will share our hunt for a new coffee maker tomorrow.  Pretty exciting,isn't it???