The Post Office is the Mets of Federal Agencies

Arrrgh, the pain in the ankle persists. It's not gout. Probably tendonitis. Great, another thing. We're a bit miffed. 

By order of Mrs. Stroock (whose word is law) on this morning the game of football shall not mentioned in the Stroock House. 

Good morning, Stroock's Books associates and happy Tuesday. 

We had our routine heart appointment this morning. The doctor says everything is fine. We asked what he thought about a GLP-1. That is, would going on one of them drugs make our heart explode or anything like that? Our weight fluctuates between 235 and 250 - American. While we could always do more to lose weight, we didn't need that piece of challah bread last night, we've come to believe we've hit our weight lose ceiling [And what do you think you do when you lift, knobhead, you put on weight, only in this case it's muscle-Ed]. The doctor said a GLP-1 wouldn't be a bad thing, but be careful, his exact words. So we're thinking no. Is this drug really worth losing 25-30 pounds? 

Will goes postal: yesterday at the post office the woman behind the counter (also behind one of those gay and retarded covid era screens) insisted we hand her the envelope and money around the right side of the screen. She did so by holding out her hand. We inquired as to the necessity of transacting business this way, 'What's wrong with this side? Over here but not over there?', but were so offput and frankly, flabbergasted by the encounter, we don't remember what she said. But her reasoning was lame, we guarantee that. Anywho, we got out of there without further escalation. But we'll be back. 

Beat the Mets, cheat the Mets...a lot of Mets fans are calling this season the worst in Mets history. It was bad, given the player moves and expectations. And Pete Alonso leading the AL in homeruns and RBIs is like a kick in the nuts. But the worst? C'mon.  

We'll set the Mets' legendarily and comic early 60s seasons aside. They're a thing all their own. The Mets were next terrible in the late 1970s and early 1980s. During the late 2000s and first half of the teens the Mets were tediously bad but not bad enough to be fun in their ineptitude. 

The first truly terrible Mets team we saw were the 1993 Mets who lost 103 games. See also the plight of Mets pitcher Anthony Young. In 2002 the Mets brought a bunch of expensive all-stars (Jeromy Burnitz, Mo Vaughn, Robby Alomar...). They played .500 ball till the All Star break and collapsed in August, finishing 73-86 and finishing manage Bobby Valentine's stint with the team. In 2007 the Mets were 7 games up with 17 left to play and still managed to lose the division to the Phillies. During the last game of the season the hapless Marlins, whom the Mets antagonized, blew them out. Starting pitcher Tom Glavine didn't even get out of the 1st inning. 

So no, 2026 wasn't the worst season in Mets history. But it was pretty bad. 

DOGE report. 

We went through a chapter of World War 1990: Thatcher's War yesterday and made it much better. This included the assault on Dublin airport. For some reason we're having a devil of a time describing battle areas; Dublin Airport, Howth, etc etc....

Monday Blue and White Blew up, Blue and Orange is blue, Big Blue Blowed

A rare miss from Stroock's Books yesterday. We didn't have much to say. It happens. 

Good morning, people of the Book Stroock [The heck?-Ed].

Bah! Our right ankle is kinda sore. Feels like more gout. We are dehydrated this morning. Son of a.....

The Nor Easter gave us plenty of rain over the weekend, from a drizzle to a steady pitter-patter. The wind has knocked several small dead branches from the tree out front. The rain should subside in a few hours. 

Political note, local: New Jersey's governor, who's name we didn't know (Caldwell?), has resigned over sexual harassment allegations. We don't care.  Governor Mikie Sherrill has yet to do anything to piss us off.

Israel wrap...Various media entities are reporting that both Egypt and the UAE warned Israel that Hamas was planning to attack on 10/7. This information just happens to come out during election season...  JNS reports: 'IDF kills terrorist filmed abducting Noa Argamani, Avinatan Or'...Cue John Deacon: and another one bites the dust. Wretchard calls participating in 10/7 'A mortal curse', ROFL... Irish football players refused to shake hands with the Jews. Which brings us to...

Sports!

Mrs. Stroock's Nittany Lions blew a 17-0 lead 24-20. This is what happens when your coach decides you don't need to score anymore points. Coaches can be very dumb. 

The Giants are a bad football team which beat an even worse football team. A win's a win, though and the Giants are 2-1. Just maybe they won't have a lost season. The Giants should draft a QB. Mister we could use a man like Eli Manning again...What's Arch doing?

Despite the refs breaking out all the stops in Brazil yesterday, the Baltimore Ravens beat the Dallas Cowboys on a last second field goal. Reminder, when you play the Cowboys, you also play the refs. Ravens 34, Cowboys/Refs 31. And the Cowboys' defense is trash. 

And there it is. The Mets refused to bring back Pete Alonso, who went to the AL and lead the league in homers and RBIs. Letting Alonso go is one of the two or three worst personnel decisions the Mets have ever made.* It's the Mets Suck Week all week here at Stroock's Books. [Don't you like the Yankees?-Ed] Meh, haven't given a damn in at least a decade. 

The Grognard read Thatcher's War. We will look at his notes today. We read through a couple more chapters. And on Sunday we read through the Battle of Ardee which looked...decent. We're entering the 'Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good' phase of the process. 

You know, on Friday we couldn't remember at least half the stories in the 5th nuke novel. 'I wrote this?' we thought to ourselves as we read a short story about an Egyptian army officer on the Suez Canal. Anywho, we got two short stories to finish and one to write. 

*People will point to trading Tom Seaver to the Reds in 1977 as the worst Mets move ever. But Seaver was great and the Mets were terrible. The trade made sense. 

Saturday Updates

Happy Saturday, brave reader(s) of Stroock's Books. 

At the moment the Nor'easter has brought some wind and light rain here. But certain areas on the shore are without power. 

The gout persists. 

LOL Mets. Pete Alonso clubbed two homers yesterday. At 43/113 Alonso leads the American League in homeruns and RBIs. We once again remind the readership that the Mets could have had Alonso back for 5/155. Beat the Mets, cheat the Mets. 

Political note, nation: there's a 50/50 chance polls are right. 

DOGE report. 

The American Expeditionary Force began the Meuse-Argonne campaign 108 years ago today. Here's an article we wrote on the offensive for Military Heritage Magazine.  Here's our history of Pershing and the AEF.  Ten chapters; from a frontier constabulary to a modern army. Plenty of personalities, Pershing the bully, a young Douglas MacArthur, Colonel George Marshall toiling away at HQ, Patton forming the Tank Corps.

We are halfway done with the last read through of World War 1990: Thatcher's War. It's getting repetitive. 

So we looked into doing a short story imagining the Japanese landed at Midway. We found their plan. Even for the Japanese, this is something. Suicidal. It's like they wanted all their troops to die in a lagoon or something. The plan shows the Japanese learned nothing from the attack on Wake. Pro-tip, never assault an island full of pissed off Marines armed with Springfield Model 1903's. Those guys can shoot. Such a story would have zero drama whatsoever. So yeah, no. Hard pass on that story idea. 

We shall cast about for other ideas. 

F for Friday

Good morning, Stroock's Books Kibbutzim and shabbat shalom. 

Our foot remains sore with localized pain in the toe joint. This must be gout. Bastards.  

We hit the gym yesterday for some cardio. What can we say, we like the gym. And the good thing about cardio is you can always do more cardio. 

The weight lifting feels good but is leaving us sore. We are 53 after all. 

We await the Nor Easter. Looks like we'll get steady but not heavy rain. New Jersey's water and rain stats are looking good. Here's the state's 90 day rain fall total, well above average for the whole state. Reservoir levels are all shiny.  

So we watched Netanyahu's speech at the UN. It was fine. Bibi hit all the points and said all the things. But we've seen this from Bibi before and agree with Ynet's headline: 'Netanyahu fought Israel’s case at the UN, but spoke to a world no longer listening...' Did the world ever really listen though? 

What Will's Watching: we're making our way through HBO's The Pitt. This is a medical drama with each episode covering one hour in a Pittsburgh ER. We see the usual cavalcade of medical cases, typical, horrible, tragic, farcical, funny. 

Noah Wyle plays Doctor Robby Robinovitch, attending doctor in charge of the ER, a stone-cold expert with ice in his veins, saving lives every hour. He's also fatigued and spiritually exhausted. Dr. Robby is works with a host of doctors and nurses each with their own skills and quirks, each memorable. We also see a quartet of young, ambitious doctors on their first day, learning as they go. The Pitt is a masterclass on good characterization. 

Do note, The Pitt's world view is certainly left tilted, though not obnoxiously so. Seven episodes in we've yet to be sucker punched or even sucker-slapped. Maybe we've been sucker arm-flicked. 

Nevertheless, we are entertained, 4/4.

DOGE report.

Writing is hard. 

'Fuck it,' we said and sent the Thatcher's War MS to the grognard. So far so Mustaine. IYKYK. He said he liked all the sectarian violence. [He's just telling the author what the author want's to hear-Ed]. Cynic. 

We remain ghosted by REDACTED Magazine. Maybe they just don't like us [Now how can that be possible?-Ed].

Various on the 24th

Our foot hurts. We don't know why. Could be gout, but it's not in the right place for gout. We proceed cautiously. 

Good morning, reader(s) and happy Thursday. 

We await our glasses. 

A nor' easter is all the talk here, but it looks like the storm will mostly be coastal and concentrate east of New York. Long Island is in for it, it seems. 

Every morning now we check in to see what ex-Mets' slugger Pete Alonso is doing for the Orioles. LOL, 41/110 and leading the league in both. Remember, the Mets could have resigned Alonso for 5/$155. Beat the Mets. Cheat the Mets. Step right up and defeat the Mets. Bring your kiddies. Bring your dog. Come on out and eat like a hog. 

Netanyahu will address the UN today. So speaks the leader of the Jewish state. 

Related...the last Israeli poll we saw showed....a hung Knesset. We're a month out and nothing has changed. Eisenkot is leading FWIW. We'd be fine with Prime Minister Eisenkot. Exit question, if Netanyahu and the right bloc are so unpopular, why can't the left bloc take him out?*

DOGE report.

We are 1/3rd of the way through World War 1990: Thatcher's War. So far we see only tweaks and corrections. The reading is awkward, like a bad date. This is bog standard. 

The sub story continues improving. Do note that writing is hard. 

We have a gig to write two short stories for next year now. One will be For Want of an Arrow, in which Harold wins the Battle of Hastings. 

*Ch14, the Fox News of Israel, consistently shows the right bloc winning, like 64 seats. 

Midweek Mellow (need to)

Autumn is here in full effect. Temps are in the mid-50s right now. The sky is overcast. The leaves remain green, though.  

Aye, a busy day yesterday. Among writing, taxiing and household chores we got glasses. Mrs. Stroock has advised one that one must needs stop driving oneself crazy about paperwork and waiting room times, etc, etc. Mrs. Stroock is always right. 

We've taken to posting, beneath local stories of ICE roundups on FB, 'I voted for this'. We enjoy the angry comments. When someone calls us stupid we reply, 'I have an MA, sir.' When someone spits invective, 'Madam, might I suggest you switch to decaf?' [Really, this is what you're doing with your time? -Ed]. Helps us warm up in the morning. 

Pete Alonzo has hit 40 + homers for the fourth time in his career, but the Mets didn't want him at 5/$155. Beat the Mets, cheat the Mets. 

Thank you, New York Giants, for your participation in the 2026 football season. We've seen this injury prone quarterback movie before. The Giants should draft a QB. 

DOGE Report.

Same. Things are moving along. The sub story is getting cleaner and better. 

We still need one more story in the 5th nuke novel. 

We are reading through Thatcher's War. So far, so good...so what, as Dave Mustaigne would say. 

We discussed with the Grognard the Marines' defense of Iceland in a possible GIUK Gap novel. But one must needs not get ahead of oneself.  Damn you, Tom Clancy. And damn you, Harpoon for all those scenarios where the Soviets controlled Iceland. 

Note: this post is this blog's 6500th post.

Wither Blue and Orange, Blue

Baaah, for some reason we're up at 0530....We're tired with a dull headache. We know, more coffee

Autumn has arrived. We wore a pair of blue jeans yesterday for the first time since...May, we guess. We always approach these moments with a bit of hesitation. [Not great fear and trepidation? -Ed]. No.  But the jeans buttoned just fine and required a belt. Phew. 

We lifted yesterday. The back is a little tight but we are otherwise okay. 

Jaxon Dart is out. Jameis Winston sucks. And the Giants are not in the Rams' league. 

Beat the Mets, cheat the Mets...In baseball news, Baltimore's Pete Alonso clubbed his 39th and 40th homeruns last night, seemingly to stick it to the Mets. Lol Mets. The Mets also suck.

We filled out paperwork for an eye exam last night but left much of it blank. These people don't need to know or hobbies or 'social history' to check our eyes. 

Kurt Schlichter (the colonel is always right) vivisects Karl Rove and what's left of the establishment GOP for supporting Democrat weirdo James Talarico in Texas. Okay we don't quite agree with the unnecessary swipes at W. But this, 'We had his back even when he wouldn’t defend himself because he was too much of a gentleman to respond to them calling him Chimpy McBu$hitlerburton.' W never did fight back.

Election night 2004 was a great night, 22 years on now. Whoa. But W's second term led to...not very much. No governmental reforms. No reduced federal workforce. An attempt at amnesty (defeated by the senate GOP). Profligate spending (he promised $60 billion to New Orleans after Katrina), etc, etc... 

This blog has no use for the GOP-e. Losers. You see, Karl, there's more to politics than winning elections. You've got to get stuff done.

Trump is getting stuff done.

DOGE report.

More good work on the Soviet sub story.

We began the next and last read through of World War 1990: Ireland. 

The Grognard grognarded The Managua Campaign. We'll review his notes later.