What I did on my summer blog hiatus

I've been trying desperately to come up with a set of entertaining excuses for why I haven't blogged in a ridiculous amount of time -- alien abduction being among my finalists -- but the sad and boring truth is that I've had a combination of technical and personal "issues" that have left me without the resources to blog since just before the July 4 holiday. A perfect storm of factors, you could say. Anyway, for those who care, I thought I'd catch you up on some of where I've been and what I've been doing, in pictures, since I last blogged here...   In baseball-related activities, I did attend the Independence Day game. The game itself didn't turn out so well, but featured an almost-comeback after Lackey racked 'em up in the early innings. By far the most memorable part of that game for me was the pregame / first-pitch ceremony, where US Navy Petty Officer Bridget Lydon surprised her family, who thought she was still on an aircraft car...