Saturday

I have been a little deficient here this week. Guilty as charged.

The lament in our area is for the lack of sunshine. The temperature has been 20's-30's with constant cloud-cover and moisture in the air. Wednesday night it iced-up everything, and I ended up staying at Roy's after the party at the club that night. There saying more snow early in the week. It's winter.

I made it in as scheduled Wednesday, but my checked bag came in on Thursday. That Detroit connection to here is just a long way between gates. I had an hour between flights, but that's obviously not enough time for the baggage carriers. They delivered it to my house Thursday morning.

The talk over coffee these days is the change of focus in DC from health care to the banks. The Big O's politic-ing over bonuses sent a shiver through the markets. My personal belief is that the members of the House and Senate who are looking at re-election this year have figured out that the climate among their electorates is a bit sketchy. And we all know that the most important thing to politicians after they get elected, is to get re-elected. (Grandpa H excepted, of course.)

I did sign up for Hertz's #1 (or Priority?) Club for ease in future rentals. It's a $60 annual fee. It's a little like paying the freight for the RCL: you don't necessarily need the service, but you value the result. Kind of like tipping well. If you're likely to go back to the restaurant or bar, you might want the staff to remember you in a good way. Which is usually translated to cash remuneration.

The Radio Shack boys (Lance included) haven't had much to cheer about at the Tour Down Under. The race is really getting only nominal coverage on the cycling websites. Since the racing is done while we are sleeping, there's a disconnect to closely following it. Kind of like watching Asian Olympics on tape-delay. They do have nice uni's.

All for now. More from SB's in the AM.

BCOT