Wrapping up...

  The St. Mary Fall Festival is all done for another year. I spent the afternoon taking money for food and game tickets. I had heard so many horror stories about this assignment last year that I had to see what all the fuss was about. Yes, it was busy but no, it was not a horror. After the first 2 hours, I was playing chess with my assistant David Montealagre. He is just a beginner. We attracted so much attention and other kids wanting to play that I'm thinking about having a simul during next year's festival.

  My missing chess clock from the CyChess tournament was found in the playing hall and returned to the tournament director, Ames chess legend Roger Gotschall. I'll pick it up during the Ames Chess Festival in 3 weeks.

  Baseball season is over and I still don't know who the Yankees are playing. I'm rooting for the Twins, since the Yankees have always owned them in the playoffs and there is no need to see Justin Verlander and his 100 mile an hour fastball twice in the next week. Nice to see A-Rod play Mr. October to preserve his streak of 30HR-100RBI seasons. Let's see if he can be as clutch for the team instead of his individual stats.