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Pirates Morning Report: You Knew They Weren’t Going To Win Them All.

Final Score: Pirates 3 Nationals 5

Why The Pirates Loss: Another mediocre pitching performance by a Pirate starter, this time by Mitch Keller, led to this defeat. In 5 and 1/3 innings of “work” he gave up 5 runs on 8 hits, walking 2, striking out 5, while throwing 84 pitches. Of the 8 hits 5 were doubles and another one a home run. Not a lot of cheap hits in the bunch. There was catcher interference that made one of the runs unearned, but all in all another forgettable performance by a Pirates starter. This time the Pirates bats could not overcome the rotation ineffectiveness. In fact, they were pretty silent striking out 13 times and getting only 4 hits. There were only 3 players in the starting lineup that got hits. Lots of collars were worn in this game for the Pirate offense. Their last hit was the home run by Jack Suwinski in the top of the 6th, and they were retired in order 4 times during the game. The bullpen did well again, giving up no runs on just 2 hits and striking out 3 in 2 and 2/3 innings. The offense was pretty punchless the last 3 innings and really never threatened to cut into the Nationals 2 run lead. It looks like 162-0 is now just a pipe dream.

Key Moments Of The Game: It was the ability of the Nationals to bounce right back every time the Pirates did do something on offense. The Pirates got 2 runs in the top of the 2nd and the Nationals came right back lighting up Mitch Keller to score 4 runs in the bottom of the 2nd. The Pirates got within one in the top of the 6th and the Nationals got that run right back in the bottom of the 6th. Each time, it allowed the Nationals to either get momentum or maintain momentum.

Next Game: This afternoon, Nationals in D.C. Martin Perez will make his 2nd start of the season and maybe he can give the Pirates their first quality start of the season. It would be nice to see them take the series today because even though they are headed home they are going to go up against one of the best teams in the American League in the Baltimore Orioles, with the Detroit Tigers to follow. Looks like Jared Jones will be starting the home opener, and he certainly had the most dynamic start so far this season, even though it did not count as a quality start. The other reason that a win today would be nice, is believe or not the Pirates have Barry (I am at) Falter penciled in to start on Saturday. I see no guarantee that the Pirates are going to score 10 runs that day, which is what they will need if he really starts that game. Come on management.

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Post Covid

Daily writing prompt
How have you adapted to the changes brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic?
View all responses

During the pandemic there were many changes that happened. Staying home more, traveling being basically banned, trying to keep from getting sick and trying not to make anyone else sick. I tested positive for Covid on December 28th, 2021, and fortunately it was nothing more than having a cold, although not as severe as some colds I have had, persisted longer than most. I would say I did not feel fully recovered until day 25 or 26. I coughed and sneezed mostly and did not even get a sore throat. The biggest symptom I had was being very tired throughout the whole experience. Now that it is no longer a pandemic, life for us is pretty much back to normal. The one thing that we do not do anymore which we use to a lot, is go to the movies. Even before Covid, most movie theaters were pig sties. carrying all kinds of bugs and diseases. It does not take near as long for a movie to either hit a streaming service or a cable outlet as it did before Covid. We both feel it is not worth the risk to see a movie and come down with a second case of Covid. I have been vaccinated and have had 4 boosters and will be getting another one in the summer. Compared to the way things were during the pandemic and how things are now, I think we have adapted very well. I think overall I would say our main theme has been to err on the side of caution. We still grocery shop during low volume times when before Covid we would always go on Sunday, when it was much busier. I used to walk the Mall in the winter on cold days but now I just walk outdoors no matter how cold it is. Compared to some, I feel blessed and fortunate that Covid has had virtually no effect on me or my family. Hopefully our medical scientists will continue to produce vaccines that will be effective to help control and someday end this horrible disease. Quite frankly I have no desire to inject disinfectant in my ass.

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Pirates Morning Report: Lumber Company Revisited

Final Score: Pirates 8 Nationals 4

Why The Pirates Won: The Pirate offense scored 8 runs yesterday to fall one run short of averaging 8 runs per game over the first 5 games. Not only does that explain why they won yesterday, but why they are 5-0. The offense could “only” manage to score 3 runs when 2 were out yesterday. All the starters got at least one hit except for Olivares. Michael Taylor surprisingly led the way with 3 hits, 2 runs scored and an RBI. Taylor, a lifetime .240 hitter, right now is going at a .471 clip. Andrew McCutchen may have found a new way to come out of a horrendous slump. His first two plate appearances he struck out and did not look good doing it. Then he took a 90 MPH slider right on the knee. It looked like he might even come out of the game. He hung in there, stayed in, and in his next 3 AB’s he went double, single, walk and drove in a run. Five players got 2 hits each. For the game the Pirates scored 8 runs on 15 hits and walked 6 times. It’s a good thing the offense is on fire because for the 5th consecutive game the Pirate starter could not get through the 6th inning. Marco Gonzales did not have a bad line for 5 innings giving up 1 run on 4hits, walking 2, while striking out 2. In the top of the 6th, he could not get an out and a 13 pitch at bat by Lane Thomas seemed to take it out of him. The bullpen did give up the tying runs in the bottom of the 7th when Roansy Contreras gave up a 2-run homer to knot the score 3-3. Then the new Lumber Company took over and scored 3 in the 8th and 2 in the 9th to win going away.

Key Moments Of The Game: The first came in the bottom of the 6th when Marco Gonzales seemed to run out of gas after throwing 77 pitches. He gave up a single and a walk to put runners on first and second with no one out. In came Roansy Contreras to make his 2024 debut. He got out of the jam getting a strike out, ground out, and strike out on 11 pitches. Unfortunately, he gave up the tying runs on a 2-run homer the next inning. The Pirates bounced right back in the top of the 8th to score 3 runs with 2 of those coming with 2 outs. The big hits were a double by Conner Joe, and 2 out hits by Hayes and McCutchen. The bullpen really did not have to face a high leverage situation again and it was 5 in a row for the new Lumber Company.

Next Game: Wednesday, the Nationals in D.C. The rotation starts over with Mitch Keller taking the hill for the 2nd time this season. Maybe he will start a new trend for the rotation, like contributing to a win. We all know that hitting is a sometime thing. The most runs scored in the modern era is 1067 by the 1931 New York Yankees in a 154-game season. That is averaging almost 7 runs per game. The all-time record is 1220 runs by the Boston Beaneaters. I did hear that they stunk in the field or was that they stunk up the field. They set the record in 1894. I have a feeling that both records are safe. If the Pirates kept up their current pace, they would score about 1260 runs. I think Michael Taylor has a better chance of winning the batting title.

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Pirates Morning Report: OK Rotation, When Are You Going To Contribute.

Final Score: Pirates 9 Marlins 7 in 10 innings.

Why The Pirates Won: Again, it was the 2 out lightening of the offense, this time scoring 8 of their 9 runs after 2 were out. This offense, which is on fire, scored 9 runs on 11 hits and 7 walks. The hits were spread out pretty evenly with only Ke’Bryan Hayes and Jared Triolo getting 2 hits. The only starter to not get a hit was Jason Delay, but he walked and laid down the beautiful bunt that scored the go ahead run in the top of the 8th. It was another offensive win for the Pirates who scored 31 runs in the 4-game sweep. Barry Falter pretty much stunk getting touched up for 5 runs in the 1st inning including a grand slam home run. In his nifty 4 innings of work he gave up 6 runs on 4 hits, including 2 home runs while walking 3. Hopefully this will be the last time we see Falter starting for the Pirates. They should move Luis Ortiz into the starting rotation by the end of the week. I did hear that the Marlins may be interested in acquiring Falter so they can have 5 awful left-hand pitchers in the rotation. The Pirates did announce that Marco Gonzales will start against the Nationals today so he must be ok. The only weak link in this Pirate team has been the starting rotation. Jared Jones had the best start, but it was still not considered a quality start. The rest of the rotation has been pretty much terrible. The bullpen has been lights out, but this cannot go on forever. The team needs a starter to go 6 or 7 innings. The Pirates are miraculously 4-0 when they could easily be 2-2 or even 1-3. The Marlins looked lousy in this series, but it will be interesting to see where these teams are at the All-Star break.

Key Moment Of Game: The Pirates trailed 6-4 going into the top of the 7th and got the first two runners on base. Then Suwinski flied out and Triolo struck out to bring up Rowdy (Please Let Me See A Right-Handed Pitcher) Tellez. He had struck out 3 straight times against left-handed pitching but finally got to bat against a right hander, Vladimir Gutierrez. He battled for 8 pitches working the count to 3 and 2, fouling off the last 3 pitches. On the 9th pitch he lifted a towering drive to centerfield for a 3-run homer to give the Pirates the lead 7-6. A rusty Bednar gave up a tying home run in the bottom of the 9th to send the game into extra innings. The Marlins completely botched up 2 bunts and walked in another run to ensure that the Pirates would sweep the series. Hunter Stratton pitched a solid bottom of the 10th, getting a nice low-ball strike to end the game and seal the win.

Next Game: This afternoon, the Nationals in D. C. Marco Gonzales will pitch for the Pirates. Why he did not pitch yesterday I do not know. Maybe they did not want him to make his Pirate debut with the typical goofy Sunday lineup. Hopefully this does not affect his confidence that they made it look like Falter was the 4th starter over him. Let us hope that Falter can lead Indianapolis to a championship.

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Pirates Morning Report: Along Came Jones

Final Score: Pirates 9 Marlins 3

Why The Pirates Won: Jared Jones made his MLB debut and did a very nice job, not spectacular like the Pirate shill team claimed, but in 5 and 2/3 innings he was charged with 3 runs giving up 3 hits, 2 walks and impressively striking out 10 batters. There were only 7 outs made in the field. What was spectacular was the Pirate offense. The Pirates scored 9 runs on 16 hits, 5 of them doubles, and walking 4 times. What was most impressive is that the Pirates scored 7 of their 9 runs with 2 outs. It was indeed an offensive explosion. Conner (Keep proving me wrong) Jo led the way with 3 hits, 3 runs and 2 RBI’s. There is a rumor going around that his real name is Joe Conner, but I don’t think that it is true. Bryan Reynolds, Ke’Bryan Hayes, Michael Taylor, Oneil Cruz and Jared Triolo all got 2hits each. The bullpen proved they can perform in non high leverage situations too, by shutting out the Marlins over the last 4 and 1/3 innings. It was nice to see David Bednar get out there in the 9th in an easy situation and perform well. The Pirate defense made another error, but they made no base running gaffes in this game. Another impressive win for the Pirates.

Key Moments Of The Game: While there was no big key moment in this game, it was the Pirates ability to put 7 runs on the board after 2 were out, that was the key to this win. Edward Olivares, Conner Joe, twice, Ke’Bryan Hays, Bryan Reynolds and Jack Suwinski all drove in runs with 2 out hits. The offense sent the Pirates to their 3rd win in a row, on the road, against a team that made the playoffs last year. I know the season is extremely young, but the Marlins look like they could be in big trouble.

Next Game: This afternoon, the Marlins in Miami. I am a little surprised to see Barry No Falter Insurance be placed into the 4th slot ahead of Marco (I had rare forearm surgery) Gonzales. In fact, he is not even officially listed to pitch in the 5th game of the season against the Nationals. Hopefully nothing is going on with Gonzales. This last game was the best game the Pirates have played so far in this short season. I admit I would have been happy with a split. Now the Pirates have a chance to sweep a 4 games series on the road. Hopefully Falter will be up to the task.

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Pirates Morning Report: Making It Look Easy Despite Misplays.

Final Score: Pirates 7 Marlins 2

Why The Pirates Won: Well, the bullpen did well again. Other than that, I don’t know why the Pirates won. They made enough mistakes to lose this game, but the Marlins managed to not even make this game close. The starting pitcher for the Marlins A. J. Puke, I’m sorry, Puk pitched so bad, that he made his manager puke. In 2 plus innings he gave up 4 runs on 3 hits while walking 6 batters. The Pirates should have scored more runs, but poor base running did them in for the second game in a row. After 3 innings it was 4-0 but you thought the Pirates may have blown it by not taking advantage of all the walks. However, the Marlins perfected the technique for hitting into double plays by hitting into 4 of them. They would have hit into more, but some bad hops tried to save them. Nothing could save the Marlins in this game. The Pirates added single runs in the 6th, 7th, and 8th inning, by getting a few hits, a walk and a sacrifice fly. Ke’Bryan Hayes made 2 errors but again the Marlins could not take advantage. The Pirates got another mediocre start, this time from Martin Perez, who could only go 4 and 1/3 innings giving up 1 run, 6 hits, 3 walks, while throwing 86 pitches. Ryder Ryan went 1 and 2/3 innings giving up no runs and Josh Fleming went the final 3 giving up 1 run on 2 hits and walk. One final note and I don’t know how much this contributed to the win, but the Pirate pitchers got the low-ball strike and the Marlin pitchers do not. Maybe the home plate umpire has some relatives that work at Disney.

Key Moment Of The Game: It came in the bottom of the 5th with score 4 to 1 Pirates. The Marlins had 1st and 3rd with one out when Ryder Ryan came into the game. The Pirates had really let the Marlins off the hook in the 2nd and 3rd by scoring only 4 runs. A big hit here would have gotten the Marlins right back in the game. Ryan shut down the rally by striking out 2 batters on 14 hard fought pitches. The Pirates started adding to their lead one run at a time beginning in the 6th inning to win going away. All Pirate fans should give a big shout out to A. J. Puke, damn it I mean Puk.

Next Game: This Afternoon, the Marlins in Miami. Jared Jones makes his Pirate debut today as the Pirates try to make it 3 in a row over the Marlins. I am not sure if the Marlins really know the regular season has started yet. The Pirates are 2-0 simply because the Marlins have played worse. It had to be challenging to play worse than the Pirates did last night. But hey, we will take it. Hopefully Jones will be able to do something the first two starters could not, give us some innings.

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What Makes Me Laugh?

Daily writing prompt
What makes you laugh?
View all responses

You mean besides these writing prompts. One of the shows that makes me laugh a lot right now is Two and a Half Men. Certainly, there have been other comedies in Television and Movies that have made me really laugh, but that is what they are supposed to do. What I find that I laugh the most at, are shows that are supposed to be serious or even tearjerkers but have hilarious moments in them. One of the best examples I know of this is the lunch date that Jack Nicholson and Shirley McClaine have in the movie Terms of Endearment. If you have never seen this movie, it is a must see, but it is a tearjerker. It was a major Oscar winner. There are many things that can make me laugh in real life. Watching mine and other people’s golf shots can be a scream. As I get older looking for things like glasses, car keys, cell phones, and other necessities of life even though frustrating will put a smile on my face when I find them. Fortunately, I have always found them which is good since the space I am looking for them is usually pretty small. There are many things that do make me laugh. Big things in the world and sports. Everyday things that just seem funny. There is no question that laughing is therapeutic. Now that I think about it, the thing that I laugh the most at are my own jokes. Although I must admit the writing prompts come in a close second. Keep up the good work, people do need a good laugh to start the day.

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Pirates Morning Report: Maybe For The Marlins and The Pirates They Should Start The Runner AT Third.

Final Score: Pirates 6 Marlins 5 in 12 innings

Why The Pirates Won: A very strong performance by the bullpen triggered this win. In 6 and 1/3 innings the bullpen gave up only 1 hit, 2 walks, while striking out 4. Luis Ortiz and Jose Hernandez were particularly impressive in the extra innings holding the Marlins scoreless despite the fact they started each inning with the phantom runner on 2nd. The Pirates never even had to make a play at the plate during those 3 innings. Mitch Keller did not have his best stuff giving up all the runs in just 5 and 2/3rds innings, on 7 hits and 2 walks. The Pirate offense hit 3 home runs that accounted for 4 of the 6 runs. Oneil Cruz’s opposite field dinger in the 8th inning tied the game at 5. Jared Triolo was having a tough day at the plate until he got the game winning single in the top of the 12th. The most important thing the offense did was getting a very effective starting pitcher out of the game after 5 innings. The Marlins bullpen was not up to the task of protecting a 3-run lead. Despite the Pirates making an error that led to a run in the top of the 2nd, their defense was outstanding and helped snuff out numerous scoring opportunities the Marlin had, especially in extra innings. Some players had rough games at the plate as the Pirates struck out 17 times with McCutchen striking out 4 times and Cruz 3. All in all, it was a great opening day win for the mighty Bucco’s.

Key Moments Of The Game: There were many key moments in this game, not the least of which was the jam that Mitch Keller got out of in the bottom of the 2nd. The Marlins had posted 2 runs and had 2nd and 3rd with no one out. Keller bore down and got 2 weak pop outs and a fly ball to end the inning, keeping the score 2-0. The Pirates returned the favor in the top of the 6th by loading the bases with one out but failed to produce one run. At that point in the game, they were trailing 5-2, looking like they were headed for an opening day loss. In the top of the 7th the Pirates made things interesting by getting 2 runs on an Edward Olivares pinch hit home run and a McCutchen ground out which scored Michael Taylor from 3rd base. Then Oneil Cruz went deep in the top of 8th, and we were tied 5-5. The biggest play of the game came in the bottom of the 10th. The Marlins were able to move the runner over to third with one out. The Pirates intentionally walked the next batter. Jake Burger grounded into a 4-6-3 double play, only made possible by the great play by Conner (I know I didn’t like it when they signed him) Joe, when Oneil Cruz threw a low hard one way left of the bag. Joe dove to his right, caught the ball, and managed to stay on the bag. The inning was over, and Joe had saved the game. In the top of the 12th the Pirates finally scratched out a run to win the opening game of the season.

Next Game: Tonight, the Marlins in Miami. Martin Perez will start for the Pirates to see if he can keep the momentum going. This was a real nice gritty win for the Bucs. They made some first game mistakes but were able to overcome them, and pull out the victory in extra innings, thanks to a great performance by the bullpen. They are going to open the season oddly enough by facing 4 straight left-handed pitchers. The Pirates left-handed batters are going to get plenty of practice hitting left-handed pitching. One final off the field question. Are the Pirate announcers really into hair gel or did they just get out of the shower before they went on the air? Enquiring minds want to know. I can wait to see Bob Walk.

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Pirates Morning Report: Opening Day, Optimism Rampant

The Pirates open the 2024 baseball season tomorrow, visiting the Miami Marlins. There is much optimism for the coming season. This time last year it seemed like I was the only one that felt the Pirates might contend for a playoff spot. They got off to a hot start, but in the middle of that hot start Oneil Cruz suffered a season ending broken ankle. That essentially ended any hope that they would be a contender. This year many are writing that the Pirates will contend for a wild card and might even win the division. Certainly, the Pirates seem stronger this year in every phase of the game. What will determine how the 2024 season unfolds and how successful will the Pirates be? It goes without saying that the Pirates will need to avoid the devasting injury that befell Oneil Cruz last season. Assuming that the Pirates will remain relatively healthy, this is what must happen for the Pirates to make the playoffs or win the division.

I previously wrote that Ke’Bryan Hayes and Jared Triolo must come close to producing the offensive production that they showed the last 2 months of the 2023 season, and nothing has changed my mind. The Pirate management team showed they have a lot of faith in Triolo by making him the starting 2nd baseman. Last fall I thought Triolo would be on the team, but in the role of the super utility man playing 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and possibly shortstop. I also thought that the Pirates would keep both Nick Gonzales and Liover Peguero. Instead, they will both open the season in AAA. They did not show enough in spring training to warrant being kept on the team, once it was decided that Triolo would be the full-time 2nd baseman. Keeping Alika Williams was a surprise, but I imagine that that he will be sent down once Ji Hwan Bae is healthy. That says something about the Pirate offense, where management is comfortable playing a no-hit glove man once in a while. Speaking of Bae, in 16 plate appearances in spring training, he did walk 4 times, so there may be hope for him yet.

Bryan Reynolds must get closer to being the player he was in 2021. He has been in a steady decline since then. Looking at two areas, WAR and OPS+, beginning in 2021 his WAR has gone from 5.9 to 3.0 to 2.4 and his OPS+ has gone from 145 to 127 to 113. In order for this team to win the division Reynold must at least play between his 2021 and 2022 levels. In an earlier blog I mentioned that the Pirates would be fine if Reynolds even played at his 2023 level. Since that time, I have changed my mind especially if they want to win the division. Reynolds has not had a particularly great spring, slashing .196/261/476. I never put a lot of weight on springtime performance. He could be experimenting around a little with his approach and swing. I feel that Reynolds will bounce back because he just seems to be a solid skilled player. How much he bounces back will go a long way to determining how this Pirate season turns out. If he would continue his decline, then this may be the first Pirate problem of 2024. On the other hand, Jack Suwinski is headed in the right direction. Using the same formula, Suwinski has seen his WAR go from 1.2 in 2022 to 2.2 in 2023. His OPS+ went from 99 in 2022 to 115 in 2023. If he can continue this upward trend the Pirates will be able to take another step closer to the division title.

There is no question that once the Pirates acquired Michael Taylor and decided to play Triolo at 2nd base they were going to put their best defensive team on the field in this century. If Carlos Santana was going to be at first base, they might be putting the best defensive team in the league on the field in 2024. Even without Santana this will be a very strong defensive team at least on paper. Will they play to that potential in 2024? In my view it is a very likely occurrence. I have always gone with Baseball’s Reference’s Defensive Efficiency Rating as my main comparison stat when it comes to fielding. Last year the Pirates finished 18th in DER. I expect them to crack the top 5 this year if they are going to win the division.

Then there is the Pirate pitching staff. The Pirates are going to prove or disprove the theory that you cannot have enough pitching. They have 24 pitchers on the 40 man Roster and only 4 are 30 years old or older. The Pirates have 9 pitchers that could easily go into the starting rotation and by mid-season that number should grow to 11. Two mainstays of last year’s bullpen are going to start the season on the IL, Colin Holderman and Carmen Mlodzinski, and it looks like the bullpen will not miss a beat. Dauri Moreta is going to miss the entire season due to elbow surgery, but there is no talk of getting bullpen help. With the high number of arms that is on this squad, hopefully, they will find 13 that will be very good to excellent in run prevention. The Pirates should be better in every phase of the game, hitting, fielding, base running, and pitching. The question will be, will this be good enough and will the players perform to their expected levels.

Can this team win the division? As long as they can avoid the injury bug, I would say they have at least a 50-50 chance. Could the Pirates win the American League East or the National League West, not a chance in hell. Thankfully the Pirates are in the National League Central, where all the teams are in a state of transition. I think it will boil down to how does the core of the Pirates perform, Jack Suwinski, Bryan Reynolds, Oneil Cruz, Ke’Bryan Hayes, Jared Triolo, Henry Davis, and the starting pitcher that day. They will either be the Magnificent 7 or the 7 Little Foys. It should be one of the most interesting and exciting seasons that Pittsburgh has seen in about 10 years, starting tomorrow. The Pirates Morning Report will start on the following day with a concise, no nonsense look, (well maybe a little nonsense, I just can’t help myself) at why the Pirates won or lost each game. I can hardly wait, but I must.

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Blizzard Conditions With Lots Of Deaths.

Daily writing prompt
What is your favorite type of weather?
View all responses

Blizzard conditions is my favorite weather where people are stranded for days, and power outages lasts for weeks. WHAT THE HELL TYPE OF WRITING PROMPT IS THAT? Let’s look at the possible answers. Now there are some people out there, that actually like snow. They say it looks beautiful coming down and is so pretty. Meanwhile it causes all kinds of havoc, and when it does warm up you cannot play golf, because the damn course is covered in snow. Bottom line, I hate snow. Next is rain. We need rain, so even though it is not my favorite weather by a long shot, I know it is necessary to continue life on the planet. Then there is hot and humid and miserable. I do not mind this, because the golf courses are usually pretty empty, and as long as you take your time, drink plenty of fluids, it still is a good experience. Then there is cold weather. I will play golf anytime it is over 36 degrees, with little or no wind. Next to snow, windy is my least favorite condition. It is very tough to play golf and it is the least enjoyable experience. Most people I assume would answer the question with the answer, sunny, around 75 to 80 degrees, low humidity and gentle winds. The problem with that answer is, if that is all the weather we ever had, we would all be dead within a year. Hoping to have great weather is like hoping you can pick your favorite way to die. Both things are totally out of your control. My best answer to this prompt would be having weather that is 100% predictable. I am still amazed at how wrong they sometimes can be. I will say this, weather forecasting does seem to have improved over the last 10 years, especially the 3-to-7-day forecasts. The greatest lesson you can take from the weather is accepting something that you cannot change. Whatever the weather is, just make the best of it and enjoy the day as much as you can, except when it snows.