Took my car to the dealer last week due to a message on the dashboard (Hybrid System Malfunction). Turns out that a rodent made a nest under my car and ate through all the wires. The entire undercarriage will need to be replaced at a cost of around $8000.00. I ended up calling my insurance company (State Farm) and was surprised that I have “rodent damage” coverage. Was told that insurance will cover the repairs minus a $100.00 deductible. The whole thing is a pain, but at least it was not a financial disaster.

The NY Mets, on the other hand, found a way to miss the 2025 MLB Play-Offs despite their signing of Juan Soto to a mega contract and bringing back Pete Alonso. They started off well, but injuries to some of their starting pitchers (who were carrying them) and a lack of continuity among the players took its toll as they slowly slipped down the standings, and eventually ended up losing out to the Cincinnati Reds base on a tiebreaker. Losing 2 out of 3 to the Miami Marlins ended the season and now the owner, GM, and players will need to do some self-reflection and see what needs to be done going forward. Not sure what I would do (I do like that they came out right away and said Manager Carlos Mendoza will be back). Will need to take some time to think about this.

The NY Football Giants made a QB change and then actually won a game on Sunday to move to 1 – 3. I have written numerous times about not being a fan of the head coach. I am going to hold off for a few weeks as we see how Jaxson Dart and the team perform after their emotional win in front of a home crowd that was starving for a win. They have a tough stretch coming up (@NO, PHI, @DEN, @PHI), and it will be telling to see how they handle things.

The season of Big Brother 27 came to an end on Sunday, with Ashley Hollis defeating Vince Panaro by a vote of 6 – 1. The fans then voted for Keanu Soto as their favorite player. It was an interesting session. Liked a design of the house, and some of the challenges. Didn’t really understand all the stuff with the “Mastermind”, ending with the Mastermind being a trio of past players (Jessie Godderz, Frankie Grande, and Eric Stein)

It was not one of my favorite seasons, as I didn’t really connect or care about the majority of the cast. There were some interesting people, but nobody who stood out as a talented player (Based on just watching the weekly episodes on CBS – Never watched any of the live feeds). Still addicting, and I will most likely continue to watch next year.

Currently watching

TASK (HBO Max) — Really good and worth the watch

Black Rabbit (Netflix) — Also very good.

The Rainmaker (USA) — Very enjoyable

Currently reading

Decided to try something different, and started reading “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” by Mark Twain. I don’t think I ever read it, and decided to give it a go. It’s kind of tough to read, since it was written over 100 years ago, and words and context have changed. But so far so good, and I will update things as I get further along

As for Survivor 49

While I am still a huge fan and continue my quest to become a contestant, I have to admit that the first episode was a bit slow. The Challenges seemed a bit too familiar, and while I like the journeys, they need to change things up a bit. Maybe send somebody from all 3 tribes, with the player from the winning tribe simply being an observer. It would be interesting to see how the winner and loser would explain what happened back at camp, knowing the 3rd person has all the info as well

As for the players, it always takes me a few episodes to feel them out, and come up with who I will be rooting for. It’s been a while for me to really think a contestant is among the all-time greats. Between the way the game is now played, where people seem to be afraid of rocking the boat, or making any kind of big move for fear of putting a target on their back, and the way alliances are formed, nobody this season (and the past few new era seasons) has really grabbed me.

Would like to see the producers bring back some of the older challenges where you had to vote or break a tile or pot among all the contestants, with the goal to eliminate players. This forced people to make tough decisions and show their hand. Need more of this so that players can’t simply form an alliance and run the table to the final 4

I mentioned previously that I enjoyed watching “The Snake” on FOX. I liked the format of the show and thought it was one of the better reality shows out there. But then they decided to “Jump the Shark” and decide who would be one of the finalists based on the roll of the dice. Of the last 5 players, the 1st person to roll Snake Eyes would be one of the finalists, and the last person to roll Snake Eyes would immediately be eliminated. I thought they will need to roll a lot of times for 5 of 6 people to roll a Snake Eyes. As they played things out, it only took 6 rounds and 24 rolls for 5 people to roll Snake Eyes. I thought to myself, there is no way. The odds don’t add up. It should have taken much longer

This really bothered me, so I wrote to one of the smartest people I could think of – Matt Parker of StandUpMaths and asked him if this made sense. I figured he might find it interesting. Not only did he find it interesting, he created a full video on his YouTube Channel about it.

He did mention that he got a lot of emails from people about this, which made me feel great, realizing that I am not alone out there and there are others who question things that don’t make sense.

Thanks to Matt, and here is the YouTube Video

More to come in the next few days

AverageAndy

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