It seems that after four days away, very little has changed. Some people are parading around in silly hats. Horatio Alger still doesn't like Barbara Lombardo (or, apparently, her family). And lightning struck two more people, this time at a ballet performance of SPAC. And since when does lightning "splash?"

Some things did change. First of all, I've got new neighbors, who moved in some time at the end of last week. It seems that the two men (father and son) now living in the second apartment of my building, after being evicted from their North Broadway mansion for the track season.

Also, my lawn was soaked following the weekend's rain. And, there's some new bling hanging above my dresser, in the form of the two medals I picked up at the Empire State Games while on my "vacation." I think I'm going to need another vacation to recover from the four days of racing.

In any event, it seems that everything is pretty quiet in the city. However, not as quiet as things are at the track, which is apparently resembling a ghost town more than anything else. You can read more about that in tomorrow's paper. Well that's all for now. Hopefully I'll be back in the fold tomorrow, and will hit you up with scintillating stories from the trenches. Until then, I hope everyone is well.