Phoenix. Scottsdale, actually. The Valley of the Sun. Hot.
The Fairmont Princess. Home of the PGA tournament here. $250 per night. Reeks of money. I'm staying at a Days Inn miles away.
Maybe 1 could give us some observations on her recently completed marathon. Training. Course. Aftermath. Compared to other marathons that she has done.
Have a great rest of the weekend.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Saturday
I think 3 has hit a home run for her first week as our guest blogist. I'm thinking that there ought to be an agreement among the sisters to share the load in the next few days.
I'm off to Phoenix until Wednesday.
See y'all on line.
BCOT
I'm off to Phoenix until Wednesday.
See y'all on line.
BCOT
Friday, September 28, 2007
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Thursday
I think Day 2 was a hit. A little Seinfeld-esque. No comment on the homeless asking for some "spare change"?
Go Cubs. Do they actually have to win another game to get in, or can the Brew Crew hand it to them by just losing?
Go Cubs. Do they actually have to win another game to get in, or can the Brew Crew hand it to them by just losing?
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Tuesday
I've asked 3 to be a guest editor/blog-ist for the next couple of weeks. Others are also welcome to contribute. I'll open an entry most days, but I'll look to others to share their wit and commentary.
BCOT
BCOT
Monday, September 24, 2007
Monday
It was a busy weekend. Lots of FFF.
1 broke four hours in the marathon on Sunday. You go girl!
1.1 broke two hours in the half, and had enough left in the tank to do another three with 1 in the 20-23 stretch when the heat was really coming out.
2 finished her half in good form and good spirits. Pretty suite for not having had much of a training schedule.
We had a brief period with 3 Friday night, but she had to return on Saturday AM to C-town for a work project.
4, Mom and I were the support team for the runners. We got a good workout in by just hop-scotching ahead to viewing points.
So that was pretty much the focus of the last few days. Nothing else major to report.
Entries here over the next two-three weeks will be a bit sporadic. I'm headed to Phoenix this Saturday for a three-day conference beginning next Monday. And there are at least a couple dozen tax returns due on October 15th that will take a lot of work. So the Blog will suffer. Guest entries will, of course, be welcome.
So congrats to the runners.
Hope everyone has a good week.
BCOT
1 broke four hours in the marathon on Sunday. You go girl!
1.1 broke two hours in the half, and had enough left in the tank to do another three with 1 in the 20-23 stretch when the heat was really coming out.
2 finished her half in good form and good spirits. Pretty suite for not having had much of a training schedule.
We had a brief period with 3 Friday night, but she had to return on Saturday AM to C-town for a work project.
4, Mom and I were the support team for the runners. We got a good workout in by just hop-scotching ahead to viewing points.
So that was pretty much the focus of the last few days. Nothing else major to report.
Entries here over the next two-three weeks will be a bit sporadic. I'm headed to Phoenix this Saturday for a three-day conference beginning next Monday. And there are at least a couple dozen tax returns due on October 15th that will take a lot of work. So the Blog will suffer. Guest entries will, of course, be welcome.
So congrats to the runners.
Hope everyone has a good week.
BCOT
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Wednesday
Our contracted computer consultant has been updating our network/system, and the new versions of some of our programs have been tweaked, I'm sure with the purpose to make them better. For the most part, with most things, old guys like things the way they were. Learning to accommodate those little "tweaks" requires new key strokes and sequences. Grrr.
I've also noted that Blogger's spell-check function has been upgraded to include a real-time underscore-alert for a possible misspelled word. The boys is the cubicles keep themselves busy.
In case anyone has not read a sports page in the last week or two, the bandwagon of, "ND Stinks", is a little over-crowded. The most blusterous of the passengers are the media types who criticized ND for the Willingham firing three years ago. As I have said on this blog previously, I supported the change in coaches then, and I still do. Weis is finding out that his recruiting skills need work. But when that weakness is corrected, they should win. The breast-beating over the racial issue repulses me.
Without doubt, ND football sucks right now. I can live with that. It would be nicer if they were winning, but, on the brighter side, tickets are easier to come by in the down years. Let's go to a game!
We moved here from Chicago in 1980. Since then, on every vehicle that I have owned, the set radio stations have always included three Chicago standards, 670 (previously WMAQ), 720 (WGN), and 780 (WBBM). Initially, I just liked keeping up with the old town, but then I figured out that I liked the programming (at least some of the time), so those stations stuck. Until last week.
670 (now WSCR, The Score), has been exclusively a sports station for the last 3-4 years when the parent company elected to give WMAQ's stronger signal to The Score (which had been operating in C-town on a lower wattage station). The Score prided itself on edgy, controversial talk show hosts, and nothing (or no one) was sacred. (They even reached out to flambaque Iowa and Steve Alford when the university didn't take decisive action on the initial Pierre Pierce problem. When they ambushed Alford on a live interview (after having first told him that the Pierce subject would not be questioned on the air) Alford hung up on them. Obviously, Alford was an idiot to think they were calling to just chat about "the team". Whatever. They never missed an opportunity after that to dump on everything Iowa.)
Anyway, on September 11th, last week, one of the afternoon drive time personalities segued from a brief remembrance thing on the 9/11 tragedy to a rant on the White House. Basically doing a Kieth Olbermann imitation. I have no problem with criticism of the politicians, but I can get that on the networks or cable anytime. So I have acted and now 670 The Score is gone from my radios. Take that you pea brains.
This action is somewhat similar to my shunning of the baseball pages in USA Today after the last strike by the players. It took be a year or two before I finally got back to checking out the daily stories and the box scores. But with WSCR, I can assure you that I will never return to it's audience.
Looking forward to some FFF this weekend.
BCOT
I've also noted that Blogger's spell-check function has been upgraded to include a real-time underscore-alert for a possible misspelled word. The boys is the cubicles keep themselves busy.
In case anyone has not read a sports page in the last week or two, the bandwagon of, "ND Stinks", is a little over-crowded. The most blusterous of the passengers are the media types who criticized ND for the Willingham firing three years ago. As I have said on this blog previously, I supported the change in coaches then, and I still do. Weis is finding out that his recruiting skills need work. But when that weakness is corrected, they should win. The breast-beating over the racial issue repulses me.
Without doubt, ND football sucks right now. I can live with that. It would be nicer if they were winning, but, on the brighter side, tickets are easier to come by in the down years. Let's go to a game!
We moved here from Chicago in 1980. Since then, on every vehicle that I have owned, the set radio stations have always included three Chicago standards, 670 (previously WMAQ), 720 (WGN), and 780 (WBBM). Initially, I just liked keeping up with the old town, but then I figured out that I liked the programming (at least some of the time), so those stations stuck. Until last week.
670 (now WSCR, The Score), has been exclusively a sports station for the last 3-4 years when the parent company elected to give WMAQ's stronger signal to The Score (which had been operating in C-town on a lower wattage station). The Score prided itself on edgy, controversial talk show hosts, and nothing (or no one) was sacred. (They even reached out to flambaque Iowa and Steve Alford when the university didn't take decisive action on the initial Pierre Pierce problem. When they ambushed Alford on a live interview (after having first told him that the Pierce subject would not be questioned on the air) Alford hung up on them. Obviously, Alford was an idiot to think they were calling to just chat about "the team". Whatever. They never missed an opportunity after that to dump on everything Iowa.)
Anyway, on September 11th, last week, one of the afternoon drive time personalities segued from a brief remembrance thing on the 9/11 tragedy to a rant on the White House. Basically doing a Kieth Olbermann imitation. I have no problem with criticism of the politicians, but I can get that on the networks or cable anytime. So I have acted and now 670 The Score is gone from my radios. Take that you pea brains.
This action is somewhat similar to my shunning of the baseball pages in USA Today after the last strike by the players. It took be a year or two before I finally got back to checking out the daily stories and the box scores. But with WSCR, I can assure you that I will never return to it's audience.
Looking forward to some FFF this weekend.
BCOT
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Tuesday
On cue, Al Gore made a cameo on Leno last night.
My pal Roy and I drove down to Kewanee, Illinois this AM to check out a below-radar country club that is looking for a White Knight buyer. Roy is a golf enthusiast and sees an opportunity to have a nice little course of his own that needs some work, but that has lots of potential. He's not looking to make it Trump Midwest, and the greens are really nice. Plus, even if the course were to just not work out, he can always sell the land. Compared to the follies (think, horses and jets) pursued by other wealthy clients, the downside here is not that bad. Tough life to have to figure how to use that extra cash just laying around.
The Fed made greater than anticipated cuts today in the applicable interest rates, and the markets took off this afternoon. But even street optimists recognize that the future still has more troubled waters to travel. Greenspan's successor is a hero for the day.
The horticulturalist in my house spent some time Saturday afternoon dividing a couple of the descendants of the Peace Lily from Mother's funeral, and there are now many descendants! For the taking, if anyone is so interested. Splitting the root balls was surprisingly easy. Maybe it was the composition of the dirt from the last replanting. In any event, the dirt broke cleanly away and the roots were untangled by a combing process. (Too much information on a who-cares topic?)
My biking friend who had the ambulance ride last week is in the hospital for a couple of days after they found a blood clot somewhere. Ouch. I'm going to stop in and see him tonight. I might give him a small Peace Lily.
Have a great evening.
BCOT
My pal Roy and I drove down to Kewanee, Illinois this AM to check out a below-radar country club that is looking for a White Knight buyer. Roy is a golf enthusiast and sees an opportunity to have a nice little course of his own that needs some work, but that has lots of potential. He's not looking to make it Trump Midwest, and the greens are really nice. Plus, even if the course were to just not work out, he can always sell the land. Compared to the follies (think, horses and jets) pursued by other wealthy clients, the downside here is not that bad. Tough life to have to figure how to use that extra cash just laying around.
The Fed made greater than anticipated cuts today in the applicable interest rates, and the markets took off this afternoon. But even street optimists recognize that the future still has more troubled waters to travel. Greenspan's successor is a hero for the day.
The horticulturalist in my house spent some time Saturday afternoon dividing a couple of the descendants of the Peace Lily from Mother's funeral, and there are now many descendants! For the taking, if anyone is so interested. Splitting the root balls was surprisingly easy. Maybe it was the composition of the dirt from the last replanting. In any event, the dirt broke cleanly away and the roots were untangled by a combing process. (Too much information on a who-cares topic?)
My biking friend who had the ambulance ride last week is in the hospital for a couple of days after they found a blood clot somewhere. Ouch. I'm going to stop in and see him tonight. I might give him a small Peace Lily.
Have a great evening.
BCOT
Monday, September 17, 2007
Monday PM
3's comment on 4's entry gave a peek at why men stay home when ever the term "shopping" is mentioned by a female.
There are two items of major news in the business press today. The first is the frenzied debate (that has been boiling for weeks) as to whether the Federal Reserve Board will raise the Fed Funds rate tomorrow, and if so, by how much. I swear, the commentators on the business channels have been micro-analyzing this thing to the nanoith-degree. I've had to "mute" the TV sound almost the entire day as very smart men (and women) espouse their theories, which, as the media commonly does, are, at any given time, exactly opposite those expressed in the immediately preceding segment of the broadcast.
The second story in the news is the book released today by former Federal Reserve Chairman, Alan Greenspan. Greenspan remains a highly respected financial/economics guru with an impressive curriculum vitae. But this tidal wave of media coverage in the last twenty-four hours (60 Minutes, Today, and all over CNBC) has a movie star's promotional tour taint to it. I suppose that he'll be on Leno or Letterman before the week's out. Release of the book the day before the highly anticipated Fed meeting also smacks of commercialism.
So what is the shelf-life for the importance (or relevance) of a retired government official? Interestingly, retired politicians can go away and never be missed. Until they find a new place to provide utility, a former governor, congressman or President might be a curiosity for a guest list, but their influence is thin. Think Al Gore. But a non-elected official in the government bureaucracy, like Greenspan, can potentially have longer-lasting influence in monetary and fiscal matters since the politicians neither understand nor control many things economic.
One of my favorite economics jokes relates to my first undergraduate econ course. Even back then the books were expensive, and you were always looking for a used alternative. The text for the course in question was written by another highly regarded economist, Milton Friedman. The trail of tears was pretty specific, for my year the text was a new edition and the professor was not going to use the old ones. The explanation as to why the author would need to republish a book on standard guns 'n butter Econ 101 was that while the questions at the end of the chapters had remained the same, the answers had changed. Yuk. Yuk.
Speaking of shelf-life, or lack there of, way to go OJ!
Have a great evening.
BCOT
There are two items of major news in the business press today. The first is the frenzied debate (that has been boiling for weeks) as to whether the Federal Reserve Board will raise the Fed Funds rate tomorrow, and if so, by how much. I swear, the commentators on the business channels have been micro-analyzing this thing to the nanoith-degree. I've had to "mute" the TV sound almost the entire day as very smart men (and women) espouse their theories, which, as the media commonly does, are, at any given time, exactly opposite those expressed in the immediately preceding segment of the broadcast.
The second story in the news is the book released today by former Federal Reserve Chairman, Alan Greenspan. Greenspan remains a highly respected financial/economics guru with an impressive curriculum vitae. But this tidal wave of media coverage in the last twenty-four hours (60 Minutes, Today, and all over CNBC) has a movie star's promotional tour taint to it. I suppose that he'll be on Leno or Letterman before the week's out. Release of the book the day before the highly anticipated Fed meeting also smacks of commercialism.
So what is the shelf-life for the importance (or relevance) of a retired government official? Interestingly, retired politicians can go away and never be missed. Until they find a new place to provide utility, a former governor, congressman or President might be a curiosity for a guest list, but their influence is thin. Think Al Gore. But a non-elected official in the government bureaucracy, like Greenspan, can potentially have longer-lasting influence in monetary and fiscal matters since the politicians neither understand nor control many things economic.
One of my favorite economics jokes relates to my first undergraduate econ course. Even back then the books were expensive, and you were always looking for a used alternative. The text for the course in question was written by another highly regarded economist, Milton Friedman. The trail of tears was pretty specific, for my year the text was a new edition and the professor was not going to use the old ones. The explanation as to why the author would need to republish a book on standard guns 'n butter Econ 101 was that while the questions at the end of the chapters had remained the same, the answers had changed. Yuk. Yuk.
Speaking of shelf-life, or lack there of, way to go OJ!
Have a great evening.
BCOT
Monday AM
Great to see 4 back at it.
My Sunday was not overly productive, and I just didn't get back here to make an entry. Actually, I tried to log on from Century Heights when I went over to feed Simba, but I couldn't clear the spam blockers on that computer.
This is a busy day here. I'll try to adds some comments later.
BCOT
My Sunday was not overly productive, and I just didn't get back here to make an entry. Actually, I tried to log on from Century Heights when I went over to feed Simba, but I couldn't clear the spam blockers on that computer.
This is a busy day here. I'll try to adds some comments later.
BCOT
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Saturday
This looks like it could be the perfect early Fall day. Bright sunshine. Cool , but comfortable temperatures.
I moved my potted annuals and indoor plants (that had spent the Summer outdoors) to the garage for the night based on a frost warning in the weather forecast. It was a good move as the car windows were lightly iced-over this morning. The good news is that the front was a one-night-stand as we're supposed to be back in the 80's most of the next week. But I have some work to do get those indoor plants prepared for the return to the house.
The critics who labeled ND as racist for the firing of Ty Willingham three years ago are thumping their chests with the dismal early results of this year's Charlie Weis-led Irish football team. I said at the time that it was a results, not race, driven action by ND. I do think that the ND administration mistakenly thought at the time that they had their football savior in Urban Meyer within their grasp, and that they needed to have the head coaching position open for him to accept. Their information on that account was obviously in error, and Weis was definitely their second choice. Whatever. Willingham was never going to be the answer in South Bend.
I don't understand why Weis is so under-talented at this point in his tenure. This is his third recruiting class ( although I will give him a pass on the group that would now be juniors since he was late starting for that class). He may need to steal a coach from Iowa. Ferenz consistently constructs an offensive line that can compete with anyone. With ND not having scored an offensive TD in it's first two games, I'm venturing a guess that the O-line is looking for volunteers.
The availability of personal information on-line is getting even more wide-spread. I saw an article the other day where Facebook pages are now (or soon will be) searchable by Google and Yahoo. The theory here is economics. More hits yield more dollars for advertisers. (Apparently, there is a security election that each Facebook user can choose which will disable the general search access for his/her page.) I suppose that these pages have already been available to the accomplished hacker, but this new policy makes those not-for-public-consumption pics and comments there for the world to see. Check your archives.
Similarly, electronic surveillance of everyone's activities just keeps becoming more widespread. All of those fancy gadgets from The Italian Job and Enemy of the State are being used by private investigators, suspicious lovers, and, of course, the divorce attorneys, for leverage in whatever the dispute. A story in today's NYT mentioned a device selling for $49 that can be loaded on another's computer that will automatically send a picture every 15 seconds of what is showing on the screen of the bugged computer. Ouch! Now that's cheatn'.
Before anyone spends the time, effort or dollars on any such investigation of me and my pal Roy, let me save you the trouble. We're guilty. I have no money. And Roy's prenuptial agreement is ironclad.
Get out and enjoy the day. Good luck in Ames. To both sides.
BCOT
I moved my potted annuals and indoor plants (that had spent the Summer outdoors) to the garage for the night based on a frost warning in the weather forecast. It was a good move as the car windows were lightly iced-over this morning. The good news is that the front was a one-night-stand as we're supposed to be back in the 80's most of the next week. But I have some work to do get those indoor plants prepared for the return to the house.
The critics who labeled ND as racist for the firing of Ty Willingham three years ago are thumping their chests with the dismal early results of this year's Charlie Weis-led Irish football team. I said at the time that it was a results, not race, driven action by ND. I do think that the ND administration mistakenly thought at the time that they had their football savior in Urban Meyer within their grasp, and that they needed to have the head coaching position open for him to accept. Their information on that account was obviously in error, and Weis was definitely their second choice. Whatever. Willingham was never going to be the answer in South Bend.
I don't understand why Weis is so under-talented at this point in his tenure. This is his third recruiting class ( although I will give him a pass on the group that would now be juniors since he was late starting for that class). He may need to steal a coach from Iowa. Ferenz consistently constructs an offensive line that can compete with anyone. With ND not having scored an offensive TD in it's first two games, I'm venturing a guess that the O-line is looking for volunteers.
The availability of personal information on-line is getting even more wide-spread. I saw an article the other day where Facebook pages are now (or soon will be) searchable by Google and Yahoo. The theory here is economics. More hits yield more dollars for advertisers. (Apparently, there is a security election that each Facebook user can choose which will disable the general search access for his/her page.) I suppose that these pages have already been available to the accomplished hacker, but this new policy makes those not-for-public-consumption pics and comments there for the world to see. Check your archives.
Similarly, electronic surveillance of everyone's activities just keeps becoming more widespread. All of those fancy gadgets from The Italian Job and Enemy of the State are being used by private investigators, suspicious lovers, and, of course, the divorce attorneys, for leverage in whatever the dispute. A story in today's NYT mentioned a device selling for $49 that can be loaded on another's computer that will automatically send a picture every 15 seconds of what is showing on the screen of the bugged computer. Ouch! Now that's cheatn'.
Before anyone spends the time, effort or dollars on any such investigation of me and my pal Roy, let me save you the trouble. We're guilty. I have no money. And Roy's prenuptial agreement is ironclad.
Get out and enjoy the day. Good luck in Ames. To both sides.
BCOT
Friday, September 14, 2007
Friday
No blog today.
They're talking frost tonight. I need to get some plants to shelter.
Mom and 2 are on the road to Florida for the weekend. 4 to Ames for football.
More tomorrow.
BCOT
They're talking frost tonight. I need to get some plants to shelter.
Mom and 2 are on the road to Florida for the weekend. 4 to Ames for football.
More tomorrow.
BCOT
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Thursday
So we have all stood in front of the gas pump at the Qwik Trip or other filling station trying to respond to the electronic inquiries from the card reader. Insert card. Remove card quickly. Debit or credit? Awaiting approval. Wash? Receipt? Lift handle to start. Push bar to start. Maybe, push button to start.
When I stop for gas at an unfamiliar station, I normally contemplate the pump's system like a new electronic gadget. I know that it requires a credit card to start things in motion, but I am immediately doubtful if I'll be able to get it right the first time through the sequence. Kind of like Gary Sinise in Apollo Thirteen when he's in the simulator late in the show trying to determine the right order for a procedure to save electricity in the re-entry vehicle.
I ran into a new one today. There were the regular queries on the screen. But above the pump on a separate small sign was a set of color-coded instructions. If to pay inside, press the yellow button. If paying by debit card, press the green button. If paying by credit card, press the blue button. Ok, but on the pump's credit card area, the yellow, green, and blue buttons said exactly the same thing. For whom were these separate sign instructions provided?
My first thought was that the color-coding was an effort to address the needs of the illiterate. But if you wanted to help out those folks, wouldn't you add little drawings to explain the colors rather than explain the colors with words?
The new HyVee in Bettendorf has made a trip to the store an adventure exercise. (I think that they hired the same traffic engineer who designed the ingress/egress patterns to the Duck Creek mall area.) It has always been a dangerous parking lot, but for now, there is no discernible main lane, and everybody is still guessing. Maybe when they get fully done with the mess it will be better outlined.
And I'm not so sure that they haven't got the store's dual "In" and "Exit" automatic doors reversed. Although I do think that either will open from either side. Talk about not knowing whether you're coming or going!
I know that somewhere, somebody, is getting paid for designing these traffic flow things. I wonder if their parents paid for their college educations? If you do a task that is so accepted by the general public as what one should expect, does it make any difference if you do it well or poorly? Is there ever any accountability?
Not that I'm complaining. Just observing.
I'm headed home to observe some Tuscan red.
BCOT
When I stop for gas at an unfamiliar station, I normally contemplate the pump's system like a new electronic gadget. I know that it requires a credit card to start things in motion, but I am immediately doubtful if I'll be able to get it right the first time through the sequence. Kind of like Gary Sinise in Apollo Thirteen when he's in the simulator late in the show trying to determine the right order for a procedure to save electricity in the re-entry vehicle.
I ran into a new one today. There were the regular queries on the screen. But above the pump on a separate small sign was a set of color-coded instructions. If to pay inside, press the yellow button. If paying by debit card, press the green button. If paying by credit card, press the blue button. Ok, but on the pump's credit card area, the yellow, green, and blue buttons said exactly the same thing. For whom were these separate sign instructions provided?
My first thought was that the color-coding was an effort to address the needs of the illiterate. But if you wanted to help out those folks, wouldn't you add little drawings to explain the colors rather than explain the colors with words?
The new HyVee in Bettendorf has made a trip to the store an adventure exercise. (I think that they hired the same traffic engineer who designed the ingress/egress patterns to the Duck Creek mall area.) It has always been a dangerous parking lot, but for now, there is no discernible main lane, and everybody is still guessing. Maybe when they get fully done with the mess it will be better outlined.
And I'm not so sure that they haven't got the store's dual "In" and "Exit" automatic doors reversed. Although I do think that either will open from either side. Talk about not knowing whether you're coming or going!
I know that somewhere, somebody, is getting paid for designing these traffic flow things. I wonder if their parents paid for their college educations? If you do a task that is so accepted by the general public as what one should expect, does it make any difference if you do it well or poorly? Is there ever any accountability?
Not that I'm complaining. Just observing.
I'm headed home to observe some Tuscan red.
BCOT
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Wednesday
I'm beginning to wonder if my theory of cycling being the "safe" sport for the aging athlete is flawed. I've always said that cycling is what you can do as you get older and some of the other activities like running and team sports become harder on the body. And I have then conditioned that statement with the caveat, "if you stay up on the bike". It seems that that caveat is coming more regularly into play.
I've been in two more conversations today about severe accidents had by local Boomers in recent weeks, one a separated collar bone, and the other multiple fractures of a foot. The collar bone accident occurred in the sticks and required an ambulance. The foot has required two major surgeries. Orthopaedists rejoice!
Maybe the reality of all this is that, regardless of the route taken, the doctors win. Be sedentary and eat capriciously, and drug therapy is bound to follow. Engage in a fitness lifestyle and the injuries are sure to ensue. Either way, the doc gets paid. Maybe different docs, but John and Jane Doe still have to pay the medical bills.
Most future retirees list the availability/cost of medical insurance coverage as one of their top three concerns. It's a hugely political issue. Within the political context, the docs may actually be the good guys. It's hard to root for the other players: the insurance companies, Big Pharma, the hospitals, the lawyers, and the elected officials.
Today is my high school girlfriends' 58th birthday. Why do I remember that? Why do I remember the phone number on the farm? The laundry tag number that Mother had to sew into every item of washable clothing at ND? By contrast, I have to go through a checklist to recall what I had for lunch on Monday.
I'm off for the evening. Send some love to 3. Tough week for the fam's #1 securities analyst.
BCOT
I've been in two more conversations today about severe accidents had by local Boomers in recent weeks, one a separated collar bone, and the other multiple fractures of a foot. The collar bone accident occurred in the sticks and required an ambulance. The foot has required two major surgeries. Orthopaedists rejoice!
Maybe the reality of all this is that, regardless of the route taken, the doctors win. Be sedentary and eat capriciously, and drug therapy is bound to follow. Engage in a fitness lifestyle and the injuries are sure to ensue. Either way, the doc gets paid. Maybe different docs, but John and Jane Doe still have to pay the medical bills.
Most future retirees list the availability/cost of medical insurance coverage as one of their top three concerns. It's a hugely political issue. Within the political context, the docs may actually be the good guys. It's hard to root for the other players: the insurance companies, Big Pharma, the hospitals, the lawyers, and the elected officials.
Today is my high school girlfriends' 58th birthday. Why do I remember that? Why do I remember the phone number on the farm? The laundry tag number that Mother had to sew into every item of washable clothing at ND? By contrast, I have to go through a checklist to recall what I had for lunch on Monday.
I'm off for the evening. Send some love to 3. Tough week for the fam's #1 securities analyst.
BCOT
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Tuesday
Road day. Back from DM. Got to share a late afternoon SB's with 4 in IC on my way home. A good trip.
I forgot to mention yesterday that the cast is off. They gave me a removable Velcro splint/wrap to be used as needed. It's great having both hands to take a shower. Just the simple task of washing one's hands is now a bit of a treat. I have a long way to go to get to a normal mobility for the thumb, and even then, it will probably be at some reduced range of motion.
In a weekend of forgettable domestic activities, I had the carpet in my second bedroom swapped-out (for carpet and pad that I had salvaged from my front-room make-over a few years back), an effort that I had planned for at least a couple of years. I had given my number to one of the guys who was on the crew that replaced some tile and carpet here at the office last month, and out of the blue, he calls me Friday afternoon and says that he can do it Saturday morning. After about three, "Who's this's?" from me, I finally figured out who he was and gave him the green light to do the job.
It took him and his spouse/assistant less than an hour and a half to rip out the old (carpet and pad), put down the new pad, and then measure out, cut and tack down the replacement carpet. And get rid of the rest of my remnant, and vacuum the finished room. With a 10 minute smoke break in the middle. His charge? $67. (I think he mentally valued my humble abode and figured that I was not all that flush.) I gave him a hundo and told him he needed a minimum fee in his pricing structure.
4 no longer has any carpet in reserve for a possible future need in IC or elsewhere.
The "community" Taurus has a new operator for a day or so. Mom has her car down for some scheduled maintenance and is using Black Beauty. It's been a good Plan B option over the last year or so. Knock on wood.
There was a time when I would schedule months in advance to get to the Iowa-Iowa State game. Not this year. The Clones would be better off playing the "Meek" Irish.
Have a good one.
BCOT
I forgot to mention yesterday that the cast is off. They gave me a removable Velcro splint/wrap to be used as needed. It's great having both hands to take a shower. Just the simple task of washing one's hands is now a bit of a treat. I have a long way to go to get to a normal mobility for the thumb, and even then, it will probably be at some reduced range of motion.
In a weekend of forgettable domestic activities, I had the carpet in my second bedroom swapped-out (for carpet and pad that I had salvaged from my front-room make-over a few years back), an effort that I had planned for at least a couple of years. I had given my number to one of the guys who was on the crew that replaced some tile and carpet here at the office last month, and out of the blue, he calls me Friday afternoon and says that he can do it Saturday morning. After about three, "Who's this's?" from me, I finally figured out who he was and gave him the green light to do the job.
It took him and his spouse/assistant less than an hour and a half to rip out the old (carpet and pad), put down the new pad, and then measure out, cut and tack down the replacement carpet. And get rid of the rest of my remnant, and vacuum the finished room. With a 10 minute smoke break in the middle. His charge? $67. (I think he mentally valued my humble abode and figured that I was not all that flush.) I gave him a hundo and told him he needed a minimum fee in his pricing structure.
4 no longer has any carpet in reserve for a possible future need in IC or elsewhere.
The "community" Taurus has a new operator for a day or so. Mom has her car down for some scheduled maintenance and is using Black Beauty. It's been a good Plan B option over the last year or so. Knock on wood.
There was a time when I would schedule months in advance to get to the Iowa-Iowa State game. Not this year. The Clones would be better off playing the "Meek" Irish.
Have a good one.
BCOT
Monday, September 10, 2007
Monday
I am headed out this afternoon for an evening event in Des Moines, and I have a morning meeting there tomorrow. So my entry here will be brief.
USA Today today had a story about a Mommy blogger who is getting 100k hits or more per day. She's got six kids, and "kids say the darnedest things", or something to that effect. Anyway, it got me thinking about who reads what on the Internet. So here's my uneducated assessment of that point:
1. Girls through age 20 or so read entertainment and gossip stuff.
2. Boys through age 20 or so read about games, sports and porn. Not necessarily in that order.
3. Young 20-Something women read about clothes, gossip, and what's "in".
4. Young 20-Something men read about games, sports, and porn. NNITO.
5. By 30, the women are reading about weddings and kids.
6. By 30, the men are reading less about games and more about sports and porn.
7. 30 - 50 year old women are reading about gossip, houses, vacations, kids, and school stuff. Sales at the on-line stores. This has got to be the biggest target market out there.
8. The 30 - 50 year old man is reading about sports, vacations and trucks or sports cars. And porn.
9. The post - 50 year old women are all over the place.
10. The post -50 year old man stays on point.
There are enthusiasts in every sub-category one can imagine: politics, religion, art, entertainment, ecology. The list goes on. Any voice can be heard if they can reach the audience that wants to hear what it is that they are saying. I am impressed that Mommy blogger gets 100K hits a day, but having sampled her entries, there's nothing on her site that appeals to me. Her readership is engaged because they have kids and husbands and can identify with her daily life. And she has the ability to express her thoughts in a reader-friendly manner.
I don't think men want to be subjected to a daily dose of ants in the pantry and variations of The Vanishing Sock story. Sorry. It's in the DNA. (For comparable reasons, I'm leaving the peloton in Europe, and NASCAR in the pits!)
BCOT
USA Today today had a story about a Mommy blogger who is getting 100k hits or more per day. She's got six kids, and "kids say the darnedest things", or something to that effect. Anyway, it got me thinking about who reads what on the Internet. So here's my uneducated assessment of that point:
1. Girls through age 20 or so read entertainment and gossip stuff.
2. Boys through age 20 or so read about games, sports and porn. Not necessarily in that order.
3. Young 20-Something women read about clothes, gossip, and what's "in".
4. Young 20-Something men read about games, sports, and porn. NNITO.
5. By 30, the women are reading about weddings and kids.
6. By 30, the men are reading less about games and more about sports and porn.
7. 30 - 50 year old women are reading about gossip, houses, vacations, kids, and school stuff. Sales at the on-line stores. This has got to be the biggest target market out there.
8. The 30 - 50 year old man is reading about sports, vacations and trucks or sports cars. And porn.
9. The post - 50 year old women are all over the place.
10. The post -50 year old man stays on point.
There are enthusiasts in every sub-category one can imagine: politics, religion, art, entertainment, ecology. The list goes on. Any voice can be heard if they can reach the audience that wants to hear what it is that they are saying. I am impressed that Mommy blogger gets 100K hits a day, but having sampled her entries, there's nothing on her site that appeals to me. Her readership is engaged because they have kids and husbands and can identify with her daily life. And she has the ability to express her thoughts in a reader-friendly manner.
I don't think men want to be subjected to a daily dose of ants in the pantry and variations of The Vanishing Sock story. Sorry. It's in the DNA. (For comparable reasons, I'm leaving the peloton in Europe, and NASCAR in the pits!)
BCOT
Sunday, September 09, 2007
Sunday
Just a few lines today. Looks like a Top Ten day here weather-wise.
I almost made it for the second half. By the final score, which I saw on the news this morning, I didn't miss much. Long day/night in Ames and Happy Valley for the other fans. And for Junior.
Let's talk garage sales. Is this a uniquely USA phenomena? My next-door neighbor had a big sale over the standard Thursday-Friday-Saturday schedule and the traffic was amazing. It was actually for their church, and they had a lot of stuff, but it was a steady stream of visitors yesterday, late into the afternoon. The neighbor said that they took in over $1000 on Friday alone!
One of the things that is happening is that there's a bit of an underground business of re-selling garage-sale purchases on the Internet. I suppose that this is a concept related to my entry here last week about the gal who bought Venetian glass on the Internet. One person's throw-away is another's treasure. Actually, I can see where a treasure-hunter might scout these sales to find a piece or two of glassware or other collectible to finish off a set.
This could also be a left-handed example of the US economy becoming a service economy. You have people buying and re-selling goods as opposed to making stuff. At the lower end of the curve, the goods in question are not likely collectible stuff, but simply serviceable items that are of use to a discerning (or not?) Internet buyer. Further up the continuum, I'm sure that you get into the higher value items that would make the descendants of the Biblical money-changers proud.
One of the speakers at our sales conference in KC last month told the story of a 20-Something whom she had met on a plane who had parlayed his Dad's collection and his own interest in baseball cards to a million-dollar enterprise on the Internet. Buying and selling. Knowing the market. Being able to ferret out truth.
The whole business in transactions involving used property, from glassware, to cars, to art work, is that there is always the element of the deal that plays on human nature. For both the buyer and the seller. A discount from new to the buyer. A premium on the flip to the seller. I learned in the auction that we held on the farm following Daddy's death that, at such an event, people will buy anything and everything. An auction is obviously slightly different than a garage sale, but as the saying goes, "Put a few things of little or no value (to you) in a box, and someone will buy it."
There are also some social angles to be examined (not here) that evolve in different segments of this dynamic. From the church ladies or neighborhood friends that organize and operate a sale, to the legions who make garage-sales must-see activities, and to the Internet players who get to know one-another only by their cryptic user names. I'm sure that there even must be an Internet dating service organized for the garage sale network.
And speaking of network, how many cable channels are there for shopping? Even mainstream channels have many infomercials on late nights and weekends. Have I got a deal for you! Bring it on, Monte Hall and Bob Barker. There's this bridge in Brooklyn...
So anyway, looks like a great day out there. Make it happen for you!
Be careful out there.
I almost made it for the second half. By the final score, which I saw on the news this morning, I didn't miss much. Long day/night in Ames and Happy Valley for the other fans. And for Junior.
Let's talk garage sales. Is this a uniquely USA phenomena? My next-door neighbor had a big sale over the standard Thursday-Friday-Saturday schedule and the traffic was amazing. It was actually for their church, and they had a lot of stuff, but it was a steady stream of visitors yesterday, late into the afternoon. The neighbor said that they took in over $1000 on Friday alone!
One of the things that is happening is that there's a bit of an underground business of re-selling garage-sale purchases on the Internet. I suppose that this is a concept related to my entry here last week about the gal who bought Venetian glass on the Internet. One person's throw-away is another's treasure. Actually, I can see where a treasure-hunter might scout these sales to find a piece or two of glassware or other collectible to finish off a set.
This could also be a left-handed example of the US economy becoming a service economy. You have people buying and re-selling goods as opposed to making stuff. At the lower end of the curve, the goods in question are not likely collectible stuff, but simply serviceable items that are of use to a discerning (or not?) Internet buyer. Further up the continuum, I'm sure that you get into the higher value items that would make the descendants of the Biblical money-changers proud.
One of the speakers at our sales conference in KC last month told the story of a 20-Something whom she had met on a plane who had parlayed his Dad's collection and his own interest in baseball cards to a million-dollar enterprise on the Internet. Buying and selling. Knowing the market. Being able to ferret out truth.
The whole business in transactions involving used property, from glassware, to cars, to art work, is that there is always the element of the deal that plays on human nature. For both the buyer and the seller. A discount from new to the buyer. A premium on the flip to the seller. I learned in the auction that we held on the farm following Daddy's death that, at such an event, people will buy anything and everything. An auction is obviously slightly different than a garage sale, but as the saying goes, "Put a few things of little or no value (to you) in a box, and someone will buy it."
There are also some social angles to be examined (not here) that evolve in different segments of this dynamic. From the church ladies or neighborhood friends that organize and operate a sale, to the legions who make garage-sales must-see activities, and to the Internet players who get to know one-another only by their cryptic user names. I'm sure that there even must be an Internet dating service organized for the garage sale network.
And speaking of network, how many cable channels are there for shopping? Even mainstream channels have many infomercials on late nights and weekends. Have I got a deal for you! Bring it on, Monte Hall and Bob Barker. There's this bridge in Brooklyn...
So anyway, looks like a great day out there. Make it happen for you!
Be careful out there.
Friday, September 07, 2007
Friday
I see where the Hawkeyes game tomorrow is scheduled for a 7PM kick-off. To accommodate TV, I'm sure. I remember when they had a similar starting time for a game with Arizona State, maybe three years ago. It was Dad's Day for Theta and I had made the trip to be with 3, at least for the pre-game Theta party. We walked to the stadium area from downtown, and I was amazed at the alcohol on display.
There were stories in today's local papers about U of I scheduling more Friday classes to combat the problem of binge drinking on campus. If the university was serious about the alcohol problem, Saturday night football games wouldn't even be considered. It's bad enough when they delay the start times to 2:30 or 3:00. Let's face it. The tailgating is going to start at 9AM (or earlier) regardless of game time.
Back when I was in college (when I had to walk 8 miles to class, in the snow, wind or rain...just joking there), we did have Saturday classes. Actually, almost all of the freshman year classes were three credit hour courses that met either M-W-F or T-T-S. It's my recollection that the Saturday classes met at 8:30, 9:30, 10:30, or 11:30. On home game days, the 11:30 class met at 7:30. Game time was always 1:30.
We knew how to tailgate. And alcohol was a problem then too. Some things don't change.
Since I have the satellite as my TV system (rather than cable), I have the broadcast of the game on my tube. It's a Big Ten Network program, and the parties have failed to agree on a deal with Mediacom, the major cable provider in most Iowa cities. So some of my friends have already suggested that I host the evening. Which I am glad to do, but they'll have to turn out the lights themselves when they go home, because, obviously with a 7PM kick-off, the second half will be well past my bedtime! (Just joking again...:))
3 is on the road to Tahoe for the weekend. Business deal, but she should get to check in on Uncle Phil. Disregarding her training in the Twin Cities, this is her first official business trip. You go girl!
Well, this was a little more than you might have expected for Friday, but consider it my pleasure to provide a little entertainment for the masses heading into the weekend. Now, I'm off for the Tuscan red.
BCOT.
There were stories in today's local papers about U of I scheduling more Friday classes to combat the problem of binge drinking on campus. If the university was serious about the alcohol problem, Saturday night football games wouldn't even be considered. It's bad enough when they delay the start times to 2:30 or 3:00. Let's face it. The tailgating is going to start at 9AM (or earlier) regardless of game time.
Back when I was in college (when I had to walk 8 miles to class, in the snow, wind or rain...just joking there), we did have Saturday classes. Actually, almost all of the freshman year classes were three credit hour courses that met either M-W-F or T-T-S. It's my recollection that the Saturday classes met at 8:30, 9:30, 10:30, or 11:30. On home game days, the 11:30 class met at 7:30. Game time was always 1:30.
We knew how to tailgate. And alcohol was a problem then too. Some things don't change.
Since I have the satellite as my TV system (rather than cable), I have the broadcast of the game on my tube. It's a Big Ten Network program, and the parties have failed to agree on a deal with Mediacom, the major cable provider in most Iowa cities. So some of my friends have already suggested that I host the evening. Which I am glad to do, but they'll have to turn out the lights themselves when they go home, because, obviously with a 7PM kick-off, the second half will be well past my bedtime! (Just joking again...:))
3 is on the road to Tahoe for the weekend. Business deal, but she should get to check in on Uncle Phil. Disregarding her training in the Twin Cities, this is her first official business trip. You go girl!
Well, this was a little more than you might have expected for Friday, but consider it my pleasure to provide a little entertainment for the masses heading into the weekend. Now, I'm off for the Tuscan red.
BCOT.
Thursday, September 06, 2007
Thursday
I actually saw the Craig Wilson column and thought of Daddy. I think he was much more committed to the random visitation activity than was Mother. He had a bit of a Seinfeld approach to visitations: if he didn't know the deceased directly, he could easily rationalize that he could have known the party, or that he had perhaps once met the party, or a member of the family, and therefore was obligated to attend the service. Besides, one of his routines after a visitation was to stop in at a coffee shop for a late evening cup 'o joe, and some toast and jelly.
The whole business of what is real and what is imagined is becoming a mine field in today's Internet society. Not only do you have what has become somewhat old hat in phishing, but there is an increasingly complex world of identity theft. In a newer deception, a story in today's WSJ described a situation of a young female singer who had enjoyed explosive growth on her UTube site. Turns out that her deal was actually an underground marketing effort of a major (yet unnamed) recording label.
Newspapers and magazines are always subject to ambitious reporters or contributors who choose a path of deceit or misrepresentation. Sometimes even the most determined publications get caught. The Internet is just so expansive, that anyone can dress up in a wolf's suit and proclaim anything.
The spam filters on my Yahoo and business sites have been catching in droves contacts from "a classmate" or "a family member". I think the classmate stuff has resulted from my registration this Summer on a site for my high school reunion. I wondering if the family member stuff is coming from the use of an American Greetings card site. Hackers are tireless.
The scary thing is that techno-sleuths can follow your electronic trail of "cookies", in reverse, to infect your computer and pass your data to other gatherers of this type information. Your cell phone has a GPS chip. Many of the newer cars have the same thing. Heck, the White House doesn't need an act of Congress to follow anybody. They just need an underground marketing contract with Apple/AT&T.
The NFL opens tonight. Why Thursday?
BCOT
The whole business of what is real and what is imagined is becoming a mine field in today's Internet society. Not only do you have what has become somewhat old hat in phishing, but there is an increasingly complex world of identity theft. In a newer deception, a story in today's WSJ described a situation of a young female singer who had enjoyed explosive growth on her UTube site. Turns out that her deal was actually an underground marketing effort of a major (yet unnamed) recording label.
Newspapers and magazines are always subject to ambitious reporters or contributors who choose a path of deceit or misrepresentation. Sometimes even the most determined publications get caught. The Internet is just so expansive, that anyone can dress up in a wolf's suit and proclaim anything.
The spam filters on my Yahoo and business sites have been catching in droves contacts from "a classmate" or "a family member". I think the classmate stuff has resulted from my registration this Summer on a site for my high school reunion. I wondering if the family member stuff is coming from the use of an American Greetings card site. Hackers are tireless.
The scary thing is that techno-sleuths can follow your electronic trail of "cookies", in reverse, to infect your computer and pass your data to other gatherers of this type information. Your cell phone has a GPS chip. Many of the newer cars have the same thing. Heck, the White House doesn't need an act of Congress to follow anybody. They just need an underground marketing contract with Apple/AT&T.
The NFL opens tonight. Why Thursday?
BCOT
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
Wednesday
How 'bout the advice, "Buy American", in reflecting on lifestyles in the US of A? Historically, labor unions have picked up this chant to discourage consumers from buying foreign-made cars and heavy manufacturing items. What does it mean today?
Most of the big Asian and European car companies have US assembly plants. Deere, Caterpillar, and other big US industrial equipment manufacturers have huge growth in their foreign market sales. Do any major electronic components for our homes get manufactured in the US?
It is an interesting study of modern-day economics. The high exchange of the Euro to the $USD gives rise to European purchases of US products, and creates pain for the US vacationer across the pond.
In a global economy, "Buying American" should be one of the least of our worries. Where do you draw the line? We need to be internationally competitive with the products from Japan, Korea and China rather than protect US companies from overseas alternatives. In the end, price and quality will prevail, and US businesses need to figure out a strategy to win.
If I want to own a Beamer or a Lexus, I shouldn't have to put up with some jerk who wants to key the side of my car because of a foreign label.
BCOT
Most of the big Asian and European car companies have US assembly plants. Deere, Caterpillar, and other big US industrial equipment manufacturers have huge growth in their foreign market sales. Do any major electronic components for our homes get manufactured in the US?
It is an interesting study of modern-day economics. The high exchange of the Euro to the $USD gives rise to European purchases of US products, and creates pain for the US vacationer across the pond.
In a global economy, "Buying American" should be one of the least of our worries. Where do you draw the line? We need to be internationally competitive with the products from Japan, Korea and China rather than protect US companies from overseas alternatives. In the end, price and quality will prevail, and US businesses need to figure out a strategy to win.
If I want to own a Beamer or a Lexus, I shouldn't have to put up with some jerk who wants to key the side of my car because of a foreign label.
BCOT
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
Tuesday
Busy day here at the office. Welcome to post-Summer reality.
A very interesting article appeared in the weekend edition of the WSJ written by a surviving daughter about her deceased Mother's "secret life", of sorts. The mother died in 2005 of cancer at age 60. The mother must have had a little money, and the daughter (and her sister) had enough money to frequently travel to Tucson to assist their sick mother. The girls became aware of the mother's addiction to eBay during her illness when Mom had them access her eBay account and monitor purchasing activities.
The mother, later in her life, became a collector of Venetian glass. (I remember a James Bond movie with some scenes shot in a Venetian glass factory, but my attention was on the Bond Girls, not the glass.) Anyway, the gist of the story was that the daughter got to know a lot about her mother, after her death, by sifting through the emails, purchase histories, and other documentation associated with Mom's glass collection.
Having taken care of my own Mother in the last years of her life, I am not surprised anymore by the testimonials of an adult child who learns unexpected things about a deceased parent when sorting through the departed's possessions. There are usually stories. Not all necessarily favorable.
The Venetian glass story does bring into play modern day technology. Computer files. Passwords. The generation of Boomers has jumped onto the Internet to do their banking, make their travel plans, and correspond with their progeny. Maybe those often recommended Powers of Attorney for Health, and the DNR orders, need addenda to spell out applicable computer passwords.
When the time comes to pick over my bones, don't read too much into the stray possessions which I failed to toss. I've got letters from old girlfriends. Stories (poorly written, I'm sure) from decades ago. A few knick knacks from different times in my life. Once I'm gone, they should go too.
My pal Bill is under orders to re-format the hard drive of my computer. After everyone has printed their collector editions of 4000 Days.
1 had her first day of school today. Good luck in Year 2!
BCOT
A very interesting article appeared in the weekend edition of the WSJ written by a surviving daughter about her deceased Mother's "secret life", of sorts. The mother died in 2005 of cancer at age 60. The mother must have had a little money, and the daughter (and her sister) had enough money to frequently travel to Tucson to assist their sick mother. The girls became aware of the mother's addiction to eBay during her illness when Mom had them access her eBay account and monitor purchasing activities.
The mother, later in her life, became a collector of Venetian glass. (I remember a James Bond movie with some scenes shot in a Venetian glass factory, but my attention was on the Bond Girls, not the glass.) Anyway, the gist of the story was that the daughter got to know a lot about her mother, after her death, by sifting through the emails, purchase histories, and other documentation associated with Mom's glass collection.
Having taken care of my own Mother in the last years of her life, I am not surprised anymore by the testimonials of an adult child who learns unexpected things about a deceased parent when sorting through the departed's possessions. There are usually stories. Not all necessarily favorable.
The Venetian glass story does bring into play modern day technology. Computer files. Passwords. The generation of Boomers has jumped onto the Internet to do their banking, make their travel plans, and correspond with their progeny. Maybe those often recommended Powers of Attorney for Health, and the DNR orders, need addenda to spell out applicable computer passwords.
When the time comes to pick over my bones, don't read too much into the stray possessions which I failed to toss. I've got letters from old girlfriends. Stories (poorly written, I'm sure) from decades ago. A few knick knacks from different times in my life. Once I'm gone, they should go too.
My pal Bill is under orders to re-format the hard drive of my computer. After everyone has printed their collector editions of 4000 Days.
1 had her first day of school today. Good luck in Year 2!
BCOT
Monday, September 03, 2007
Monday
I know that it has been pretty quiet here for a few days. But the holiday weekend has kept me otherwise occupied.
The trip to C-town yesterday with 2 was a great success. We were able to connect with 4 with little trouble, and made our way to 3's place with similar ease. We has rock-star parking immediately in front of 3's building for the day.
Some observations of the day-trip:
1. Sunday morning vehicular and pedestrian traffic in the Water Tower area was just as congested as most any other day. Maybe not evening rush-hour traffic, but certainly not low-key, nothing-goin'-on, everyone's sleeping-in stuff.
2. Iowa football fans don't know when to go home.
3. No more than half the people who head to Wrigleyville for a weekend afternoon actually have intentions of going to the game.
4. I never thought I would see the day when there would be bathroom attendants at Wrigleyville bars. At least attendants who weren't either bouncers or cops.
5. Living and working in C-town may not be that much different than it was 30 years ago except that things are more expensive.
6. Open-road tolling is a huge improvement. Don't leave home without your I-Pass. (I wonder what the payback period is on the re-built, hi-tech toll plazas? 3 may need to push around some more future value calculations.)
7. It remains a personal comfort to be able to make a relatively stress-free trip to a major city, get to various places in the city, either by car or by public transportation, and be able to accomplish the day's goals without making it a big deal. Chicago was not the fav four years of my life, but getting to know the city then has made my frequent visits to C-town in the last 27 years much more enjoyable.
8. You can still have the C-town traffic.
9. Invest in Starbucks.
10. There's always lots to do in Chicago. Even for us old folks.
I was surprised to discover that the Wrigleyville bars ID'd people at the entrance to their establishments. This threw a bit of a wrench into my plan to sit at the outdoor tables at The Sports Corner for lunch after the game started, but we made do with the limitations. We even did a switch-the-ID's to get 4 into the Cubby Bear after we had eaten our community bag of peanuts outside the bar. My guess is that the cops have put their foot down on underage drinking and checking ages at the door discourages more violators. But if you were like us, looking for Chicago-style hotdogs, limiting entry was a little heavy-handed. Which is why I participated in the Cubby Bear ruse.
I'm not sure if the eat-the-peanuts-on-the-street incident will make the same history as the broiled-chicken-at-the-airport story, but it may make the Honorable Mention category. They were good peanuts. But we were hungry.
The area around the ballpark really hasn't changed much since the '70's except that everything is more expensive. Mom and I would sit in the bleachers for $2-4 per ticket, and bring in a 1 and 1/2 gallon cooler with iced lemonade/rum, and 3-4 beers to boot. None of this $5/beer stuff for us. List price on the bleacher tickets now ranges from $17-42 depending on the date. (I just checked e-Bay and a pack of four bleacher tickets for tomorrow sold for $88.77.) There were lots of scalpers around the park, and we heard some outrageous quotes for standing-room, even after the game had started. It's a different life.
Other items of note:
1. ND stinks. If Saturday is any indication, they may not finish above .500.
2. Summer's over.
3. One more week in the cast.
Oh, and an observation on AM's comment from Friday about teachers' titles. I have a fairly old-time acquaintance in town whom I see out and about a bit irregularly, both for social and business things. I used to do some tax stuff for his business, and he played with us on a men's C-league basketball team in the '80's. My pal Roy and I ran into him and a group of his buds at a Village of East Davenport saloon one nothing-special Wednesday night last Spring. Roy and I were there to give a friendly needle to a bartenderess who also worked at SB's. When we asked this other acquaintance of mine what the occasion was for his group, he said it was their regular Wednesday night "coaches' meeting". And as to our inquiry about their sport/team, it was, "There's no team. We're just coaches." Roy and I were impressed.
Hope eveyone has a great day.
Be careful out there.
The trip to C-town yesterday with 2 was a great success. We were able to connect with 4 with little trouble, and made our way to 3's place with similar ease. We has rock-star parking immediately in front of 3's building for the day.
Some observations of the day-trip:
1. Sunday morning vehicular and pedestrian traffic in the Water Tower area was just as congested as most any other day. Maybe not evening rush-hour traffic, but certainly not low-key, nothing-goin'-on, everyone's sleeping-in stuff.
2. Iowa football fans don't know when to go home.
3. No more than half the people who head to Wrigleyville for a weekend afternoon actually have intentions of going to the game.
4. I never thought I would see the day when there would be bathroom attendants at Wrigleyville bars. At least attendants who weren't either bouncers or cops.
5. Living and working in C-town may not be that much different than it was 30 years ago except that things are more expensive.
6. Open-road tolling is a huge improvement. Don't leave home without your I-Pass. (I wonder what the payback period is on the re-built, hi-tech toll plazas? 3 may need to push around some more future value calculations.)
7. It remains a personal comfort to be able to make a relatively stress-free trip to a major city, get to various places in the city, either by car or by public transportation, and be able to accomplish the day's goals without making it a big deal. Chicago was not the fav four years of my life, but getting to know the city then has made my frequent visits to C-town in the last 27 years much more enjoyable.
8. You can still have the C-town traffic.
9. Invest in Starbucks.
10. There's always lots to do in Chicago. Even for us old folks.
I was surprised to discover that the Wrigleyville bars ID'd people at the entrance to their establishments. This threw a bit of a wrench into my plan to sit at the outdoor tables at The Sports Corner for lunch after the game started, but we made do with the limitations. We even did a switch-the-ID's to get 4 into the Cubby Bear after we had eaten our community bag of peanuts outside the bar. My guess is that the cops have put their foot down on underage drinking and checking ages at the door discourages more violators. But if you were like us, looking for Chicago-style hotdogs, limiting entry was a little heavy-handed. Which is why I participated in the Cubby Bear ruse.
I'm not sure if the eat-the-peanuts-on-the-street incident will make the same history as the broiled-chicken-at-the-airport story, but it may make the Honorable Mention category. They were good peanuts. But we were hungry.
The area around the ballpark really hasn't changed much since the '70's except that everything is more expensive. Mom and I would sit in the bleachers for $2-4 per ticket, and bring in a 1 and 1/2 gallon cooler with iced lemonade/rum, and 3-4 beers to boot. None of this $5/beer stuff for us. List price on the bleacher tickets now ranges from $17-42 depending on the date. (I just checked e-Bay and a pack of four bleacher tickets for tomorrow sold for $88.77.) There were lots of scalpers around the park, and we heard some outrageous quotes for standing-room, even after the game had started. It's a different life.
Other items of note:
1. ND stinks. If Saturday is any indication, they may not finish above .500.
2. Summer's over.
3. One more week in the cast.
Oh, and an observation on AM's comment from Friday about teachers' titles. I have a fairly old-time acquaintance in town whom I see out and about a bit irregularly, both for social and business things. I used to do some tax stuff for his business, and he played with us on a men's C-league basketball team in the '80's. My pal Roy and I ran into him and a group of his buds at a Village of East Davenport saloon one nothing-special Wednesday night last Spring. Roy and I were there to give a friendly needle to a bartenderess who also worked at SB's. When we asked this other acquaintance of mine what the occasion was for his group, he said it was their regular Wednesday night "coaches' meeting". And as to our inquiry about their sport/team, it was, "There's no team. We're just coaches." Roy and I were impressed.
Hope eveyone has a great day.
Be careful out there.
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