Night Owl Cards

That is the outdoor temperature where I live as I write this. It's a conversation starter, but it's really no big deal. We north country folk can depend on the temperature plummeting to this number or below just about every winter. You deal with it for a few days, then it gets warmer, and maybe you deal with it again later in the winter. On you go. The most amusing part is seeing how other parts of the country handle that same cold front. In those parts, it's maybe 18 degrees and oh, what a crisis. This also happens during a snowstorm. The more populated portions of the Northeast will get 6-8 inches and they've been "hammered." Meanwhile, the lake effect machine in the north country will stir up maybe 2-to-3 feet in a 24-hour period almost every winter, and we're a mere chuckle on the Weather Channel. No state of emergency, no run on gas and food staples. It's just Friday here. In fact, today I went outside without a coat. I had to let the dog...

Topps' Christmas gift came with a cost. To receive my final installment of Diamond Giveway cards, I paid $3.98, plus whatever money I spent on packs to yield the redemption cards that led to the cards that I ordered. All told, I paid about $17 for the 15 cards I ordered through the giveaway this year. Again, plus whatever money I spent on packs. Yes, the cards aren't free. But they were some really cool cards, and you can't put a price on the fun of the whole giveaway game. Plus, it's Christmas Eve, and if anyone wants to crank anymore about it on this day, be prepared to be visited by Marley and three other ghosts. So, let's see the final cards I grabbed: I ordered this card because Hale started his career with the Dodgers, and it's a 1979 need off the list in case I ever truly decide to complete the '79 set. This card is in immaculate shape. It puts 99 percent of my other '79s to shame. And my cards in that set are really in pretty de...