Welcome to the DNC.

I arrived at the train station this morning a few minutes early, since I didn’t know what to expect. No random searches or anything today, but there were five Framingham cops standing at the station (a normal day is zero). Three of them were in riot gear, complete with bulletproof vests and big, intimidating looking rifles. The train doesn’t seem any more crowded than normal yet, so either people are sticking to their cars, or so many people took the week off that it’s not going to be a big deal.

They’re going to have F-16s flying over the city this week. I’m not sure exactly what they’re supposed to do, but they’ll be up there. All in all, it should be an interesting week.

After Friday night’s loss, the Sox sure picked things up over the remainder of the weekend. Saturday’s classic 11-10 win may have been the turning point in this season that the Red Sox need. The excitement started with a shoving match between Jason Varitek and Alex Rodriguez after Bronson Arroyo hit A-Rod with a pitch. Both benches emptied, and there was even some blood as Tanyon Sturtze got beat down by Gabe Kapler, David Ortiz and Trot Nixon after Sturtze put a choke hold on Kapler from behind. The Sox rallied from a 9-4 deficit and the game ended with Bill Mueller’s two run homer off the Empire’s super-closer, Mariano Riviera. The Sox took the Sunday night game 9-6, as Derek Lowe came up big after a shaky start. Things got a bit tight after Hideki Matsui hit a grand slam off Mike Timlin to make the game 9-6 in the 7th, but the bullpen shut them down the rest of the way, including 1 2/3 hitless innings by Keith Foulke.

The biggest development of the weekend may be the reawakening of Kevin Millar. Millar’s recent offensive revival continued, as he was 10 for 13 for the weekend, with four homers and 8 RBI in the three games. This could be a huge development for the Sox, as having a productive Millar in the lineup makes them a much more dangerous offensive team.

We’ll see now if this is truly the turning point for the Sox. They go on the road for the next two weeks for their longest trip of the season. It starts tonight in Baltimore, where the Orioles have given them fits all season, including taking 2 of 3 at Fenway last week. We’ll see if the two big wins against the Yankees were the start of something big, or if they go back to the win one, lose one trend we’ve seen since May.

Funny story: most nights after I read to J. for bedtime, we play a song or two on the iPod. Last night I asked him if he wanted to hear a Beach Boys song, since he had asked in the car earlier in the day to hear one when we didn’t have the iPod. He said yes, and I asked him which one. He said he wanted to hear the one that went “Give me the Beach Boys and free my soul, I wanna get lost in your rock ‘n roll...” Of course, it’s not “Beach Boys” but “beat, boys” in the song “Drift Away”. It was very cute.

We took a little road trip to Connecticut yesterday to meet my niece and sister-in-law at the Science Center of Connecticut in West Hartford. They live in Florida, so we only get together a couple of times a year. They were up here for a wedding and were staying with my sister-in-law’s parents while my brother was in Chicago on business. My nephew didn’t make it, as he was a pretty tired out after staying up late for some family events the previous two nights. It was great to see them, though, and the kids got along very nicely. R. and my niece walked around holding hands alot, which was very sweet. After the museum, we stopped for some ice cream before heading back home.

Back to writing this on my way home. Turns out that LOTS of people decided to stay home this week. According to folks at work, the drive in on the Pike was like driving in on a Sunday morning. People coming from the north and south reported some slowdowns, but nothing major. The city seemed pretty empty, aside from people wandering around wearing Kerry/Edwards buttons.

One upsetting thing happened on the way in. I got off at Yawkey station near Fenway Park as I often do when the weather permits and walked to work. While I was walking through the Fenway, a young woman fell off her bicycle and either broke or dislocated her elbow. She was in some serious pain. I was one of several people at the scene and got her bike off her while another guy comforted her. I was going for my cell phone to call an ambulance, but a woman beat me to it. The ambulance was on it’s way and there were plenty of people there, so I started to walk off. After I got about 50 yards away, about a dozen Boston cops on bicycles came around the corner and took charge of things. It was nice to see that there were some good samaritans around to help her out when she needed it.

A final note before I upload - it’s now evening at home. I’ve been flipping between the Red Sox-Orioles and the Reds-Cardinals on ESPN. The Great American Ballpark looks like a pretty nice place. I could see a trip to Ohio and hitting Jacobs Field and and Cincinnati sometime in the next couple of years. During the game, I saw Wily Mo Pena hit a home run for the Reds. That’s not particularly important. I just think that Wily Mo Pena is a great baseball name.

Sox win, 12-5. Three in a row. Yahoo!!!!