Wednesday

I started to make this entry yesterday (Tuesday) afternoon at the office, but I ran into an input problem for this pic taken at the Bettendorf library when I stopped to vote over the lunch hour.  My desktop had picked up another virus late Monday, and the IT folks who cleaned up the mess had put up more firewalls to limit future problems.  But one of the ancillary items blocked was my USB picture download device.  Still trying to get that cleared.

In the alternative, I loaded the pics onto my laptop, but my evening last night did not include time for the blog.   I emailed thes pics to my Yahoo account and then downloaded those to the desktop.  Way too much work for a small point.

But I can now attest that I have officially performed my civic duty and have cast my ballot for next Tuesday's election.  You could say that I have supported the Democracy, but I probably supported the Republic more so.  If they had an option of Anti-Incumbantcy, I would have been even more aptly described.

This whole business of early voting is an interesting development.  Mother and Daddy were always big in capturing the "Absentee" votes, but the early voting that is now available offers a pure convenience opportunity for anyone.  I'm wondering what the next iteration will be for the voting process as technology renders the physical "voting booth" more and more meaningless.  We file most tax returns now on an electronic basis, why not the vote?

Of course, electronic voting might make voting fraud even more appealing to the disreputable.  Can you say, "Identity theft?"  Imagine what the folks in Chicago could do with electronic signatures.  "Vote early, vote often" would so inadequately capture the mantra of the new age Chicago Machine.

World Series tonight.  Taking the Rangers.  If all else fails, Cliff Lee can throw three times.

More later.

BCOT

Monday

Here's a little Monday greeting for/from Margaret.

The game plan is to head over to 2's shortly to pick up The Winniferous for our Monday night run.  She likes Monday Night Football as well.  I did the early spin class to make up for sitting on my butt all day yesterday.  We'll see how the bod does with two-a-days.

Off the wall topic:  Who takes positions in debates and who is always hedging?  I noticed this phenomena last week when I went from listening to some financial strategists on CNBC to some former players/coaches commenting on ESPN.  When the interviewer at each place asked the guest whether "this" or "that" mattered most in the particular situation under discussion, the responses were uniformly mealy-mousey "some of each".  Give me a break.  You aren't runnning for office!

More here after my run.

BCOT

Sunday

I'm pretty much exhausted.

The Iowa City experience yesterday was completely draining.  Driving over with traffic.  Parking.  Getting to the stadium to meet up with my pal Doug.  Stressing through the heartbreaker to the bitter end.  Repeating the reverse steps.  Its so much easier to watch from the couch or a bar.

And this was after pounding I-80 for most of Friday for that DM meeting.  I came up with a new adjective for the pace on the Interstate on Friday afternoons: GOFTFWF!!  (Get-Out-Of-The-F---ing-Way-Fast!!)  For the posted 70 mph speed limit, I usually peg my cruise control to 76 and let 'er ride.  Friday, if you weren't doing 80, you were even being run down by the little old ladies in their Skylarks. 

BTW, hats off to the 'Clones!!  Super win!  With ND in the tank against the Midshipmen, at least we had one team able to git 'er done.  (Not in Husker Nation at this point.)

It looks like they're scheduling the Michigan State game for a 2:30 start time on Saturday.  The positive is that there's no rush to get over to Iowa City.  The negative is that the game won't get over until after 6.  We'll be lucky to get to the CR hotel by 8.  Great minds need to get a game-plan together for all of our FFF team.

Definitely adding more here later.

BCOT

Thursday

Another day, another "lost keys" story.

When I came home at lunch yesterday to pick up the Buick for the drive down to Muskie for golf (switching from the Taurus which doesn't go out of town), I couldn't seem to locate the primary set of Buick keys.  I was under a little time pressure, so I used my extra set and figured that I'd find the others when I wasn't so rushed.  Long story short, I had to come home for lunch again today to take Margret to the shop for some routine maintenance, and I made a commitment to find the lost keys.

The good news is that I found them.  The bad news is that it was like a brain teaser to locate them.  I knew that they had to be in my house.  And the garage door opener had to be with them.  I looked in the freezer, the microwave, and every drawer in my kitchen.  After retracing every possible step from the last time I drove the Buick on Tuesday night, I basically gave up and figured that I would come across them in the normal course of living.  As I sat down on the couch, I remembered that I had stopped to water my backyard plants after I had put the Buick in the garage on Tuesday night.

I walked outside to the rear garden hose, and the keys and clicker were sitting on the air conditioner.  Of course they were.

So the lesson to all my girls who lose keys, wallets, phones and the like is this:  don't beat yourself up too badly when it occurs next time.  Because it will.  Its a lifetime thing.  (That doesn't mean that you shouldn't be careful.)

RevKev's comments about political calls strikes close to home.  I cancelled my last land line in that house I had with Mother.  After she passed away, I lived there by myself and shut down the phone after getting so many political solicitations.  Eventually, I got rid of cable and AOL as well.  I was a bit of a hermit.

2 and The Winniferous were over for a 3.4 mile training run this evening.  The W is a bit of a trooper.  But her motivation is instinctive: those squirrels gathering nuts in the yards and park-like areas along the way kindle her breeding to protect the cairns from rodents.

I'm over to DM for a meeting tomorrow.  Oh-dark-hundred departure, but I should be back by early evening.  Hoping that construction will be minimal.

Make it a good Friday.

BCOT

Wednesday

This will be just a short entry to mark the middle of the week.

My six-month dental check-up was this AM.  I had put it off at least a couple of months because of a problem with one of my back molars that I knew would lead to a "project".  And the visit confirmed that need.  Basically, a tooth that originally had a large filling from youthful days, that was refined with a composite crown sometime 20-odd years ago, and then root-canaled last year, is now designated for extraction, and to be replaced by an implant.  None of this sounds good.  And yes, it will be expensive.  Happy Wednesday!

Between braces, bridges and other maintenance on my teeth, I have certainly contributed to the college funds of the kids of numerous dental professionals over the years.  (The guy who did my braces in Ottumwa was the first orthodontist in town and he retired a very rich man!)  When you spend that kind of money, it would be nice if there was part of the process that you enjoyed.  Not sure I like my side of the financial equation on this one. 

On the other hand (there's that country song again!), dental hygiene is an extemely important aspect of good health.  Mother's poor dental care lead to full dentures in her last year, and she never got comfortable with them.  She never ate solid food once the teeth were gone.  Obviously, there were other mental and physical issues at that time, but the dental stuff was not insignificant. 

A story in the news this week has Starbuck's looking to expand its offerings to include wine.  Actually, I kind of like the idea, but implementation would be imposing.  I mean, I can't imagine asking one of the baristas about this or that Cabernet!  What would they do, go to boxed wines?!?

I'm headed out for an afternoon of Indian Summer golf at Geneva with my pal Roy.  Looks like a great day.

BCOT

Tuesday

It was good to get back to my own bed last night.

The trip back from the Gulf coast was pretty much as scheduled.  The only small hitch in the giddy-up was that I was told by the hotel clerk on Sunday night that there was not an additional charge for transport to the airport.  Come 0545 yesterday morning, the call came to my room that my taxi was waiting for me.  Not being a pure rube, I suspected that the cab was an Lt.-pays ride.  I was right.  A $13-plus-tip addition to the room charge, if you will, for a five minute ride.  Whatever.

In another example of "It's a Small World", 3 and I were passing ships at O'Hare yesterday.  She came into town from NYC by way of Concourse C a couple of hours before my late-morning, one-hour layover in Concourse B.  That would have been a suite bonus if we had had closer connections.  Serendipity?

As a baseball afficianado, I've been enjoying the playoffs.  As a hitter, I feel bad for the guys going up against these great pitchers.  Cliff Lee looks like a Yankee-Killer extraordinaire.  Over/Under has the Yanks signing him in the off-season for a gazillion dollars.  And that's mostly so they won't have to face him in the play-offs again next year.

My latest example of out-sourcing:  I engaged my Perfect Neighbor to put the second coat of stain on my deck.  I had been able to get the first coat on a week ago, but with the travel and shortening days, that second coat didn't look promising.  So for a nominal contribution to their church, the second coat went on this afternoon.  Almost RCL-esque.  I like it.

Still a little off from the travel.  Maybe more here later.

BCOT

Sunday...UPDATED

Another great day on the Gulf.  Here's a pic of Richard and me on the 15th tee.  The Gulf is behind us, but hard to see in this photo because of cloud-cover merging with the water.  The course is carved out of the dunes on this barrier island.  Designed by Arnold Palmer.  Typical resort course with lots of trouble off the fairway.  Beware of snakes!

Going to be working on my "hangin' out" skills this afternoon.  Maybe back here after a nap.

BCOT

UPDATE...

Just a few more lines before hitting the sack in anticipation of that oh-dark-hundred return flight in the AM.  I had my friend Richard bring me to a hotel close to the airport late this afternoon so as to save him from the early morning trip.  And I think that he and his wife Kim were ready to throttle it back from all the company.  They had like 30 people for the Friday evening catered party, with about 12 people staying overnight (they now own two houses here!).  And four of those couples stayed over Saturday night as well.

This map is a little hard to read, but Port Aransas is a Gulf-side city on this barrier island across from Corpus Christi.  I wouldn't call it ritzy by East or Left coast standards as I know them, but the homes in the newer developments on the island are likely in the mid six figures.  The golf course we played is at about the "361" road sign below Port Aransas on the map.  It was designed/constructed as a housing development about three years ago, and none of the lots have been built upon.  The course is in bankruptcy.

Now I'm no weather wizard, but they do get hurricanes in the Gulf, right?  Seems to me that building houses on barrier islands is not dis-similar to building in a flood plain back in the Midwest.  But just like like "river" people back home, the beach folks down here just can't resist the allure of the sea.  I guess.   Love visiting here, and I'll likely be back, but I like my permanent turf high and dry.

Lots of Texas fans in the group.  Hard-core Texas fans.  Rather than watch Ohio State or NASCAR live last night, they watched replays of the Rangers' baseball game and the Texas-Nebraska football game from the DVR!  Say what?  I filtered down to my room and to the kitchen on a regular basis to catch the other events and to snack.  (I elected to leave my Nebraska t-shirt in my bag for the evening!)

So I'll be back on line from the road tomorrow.  Thanks for reading.  Make it a good and safe week.  Y'all...

BCOT

Saturday

Happy Birthday to 3!!  She is Daughter of the Day.  (A little acknoledegemnt to 1.01 for sharing the spot light here.)  Celebrate your achievements, Kiddo.  We are so proud of you.

Life on the Gulf coast is good.  Great (but slow!) run on the beach this AM.  Golf after lunch.

More later.

BCOT

Friday....UPDATED

The now new home page image was snapped this AM  on landing approach to Corpus Christi.  I'm in Texas for the weekend to visit my friend Richard at his new place on the Gulf coast. 

This entry is coming to you from the Dallas/Ft. Worth airport.  My connection to Corpus Christi leaves shortly.  UPDATE items are entered from Port Aransas which is on the barrier island called Mustang Island.

The problem with my laptop previously reported here earlier this week was Sometimers.  There's a manual switch on the side of the machine (which I, of course, never knew about!) that can turn the wifi router in the computer on and off.  I must have brushed the switch to the "off" position when I shut it down on Monday night.  LtPC is not exactly hi-tech.

3 is Daughter of the Day.  Happy Tax Birthday, Kiddo!  (This is a repeat pic, I know.  But it's a fav.)

I don't watch MSNBC, but the conservative blogsphere has been having a field day with the network's new tag line, "Lean Forward".  Really.  They actually have run a commercial on the NBC family of networks.  Talk about awkward.  They must have gone to the same agency as Drake and Gap.  The punch lines are just too easy.

I may or may not get back to this later today.  Get out there and enjoy TGIF.  But...

BCOT

UPDATE...

Richard's place is just maybe three hundred yards from the Gulf in a small single-family development.  The shore line reminds me a little of Delaware with the dunes and scruffy grasses.  No ocean wading/swimming for me.

Routine travel.  I did have the luxury of an empty seat next to me on the flight from MLI.  And I was in the single side of the two-on-one-side, one-on-the-other-side puddle jumper from DFW to Corpus.  DFW's arrangement is circular.  And not that busy today.

The schedule here is Open House party tonight, golf tomorrow, and hangin' out on Sunday.  Not a lot different from lobby-sitting.  Suite.  I can do that.

Have a great weekend.  Enjoy your first birthday in The Concrete Jungle, 3!

BCOT

Wednesday

October 13th.  Do you feel lucky?

Just really busy here trying to wrap up those October 15th due dates.  Ugh.

A couple of notable items.  First, a little related to Drake's misstep with their new logo, The Gap tried the same type of change, and their customers basically made them go back to the old one.  This is just simple preference to stay the same rather than the new logo being offensive or something.  Can't say that I have a lot of interest one way or the other, but it is interesting that Gap customers care enough to make the Board retract the switch.  Lots of money spent on this thing too.

The other point, unrelated to the Gap business, is a word of caution to the fitness folks in the peanut gallery to make good decisions on clothing and self-protection for those early morning or evening workouts outside.  I almost collected a female jogger after sunset last night as I turned the Taurus onto Maplecrest around 1900 hours.  She certainly wasn't wearing bright clothing, nor did she slow down or anticipate a problem as she assumed a pedestrian's right-of-way from turning traffic behind her right shoulder.  I had to brake hard, and she had to jump away from the front of my car. 

That turning car from behind you is a danger for runners and/or bikers.  That's one of the disadvantages of the  iPod as well.  Whatever.  Be careful!  Anticipate that the driver of that car has no clue about you.  Wear the bright shirt/jacket.  Wait if you must.  There are no awards for getting home in time to see DWTS.

Loving the cool weather.

BCOT

Monday...UPDATED

What's that guy looking for?

I failed to comment yesterday on the 10-10-10 business, but really, did it matter?  Except for a unique date for a new baby, or a catchy sale come-on for the local mattress outlet, does anyone else care?  I mean, its a number!

1.01 completed the Chicago Marathon yesterday.  I know that he's not happy with his time, but he drew the short straw on weather again, and finishing in good health was a positive result.

Lots to do here this week.  I head out at Oh-Dark-Hundred on Friday to visit a client on the Gulf Coast in Texas for the weekend.  That means that a bunch of files need closed out by Thursday afternoon.  Nothing like deadlines to motivate a professional procrastinator.

Maybe more here later.

BCOT

UPDATE...

I forgot to comment earlier about a couple of thoughts that had stuck with me from the weekend.

First, Kenny Chesney has the current #1 country hit, The Boys of Fall, a song so full of platitudes that it belongs in a politician's stump speech.  Now aren't all country songs painfully vacuous,you ask?  Well, yes.  And isn't Kenny Chesney the Master of Fantasy?  Right again.  This one just hit me as being so far over the top with cliches that the singer needs to be called out on it.  Artistry?  It's nothin' but a money grab. Uh, silly me.  What isn't?

Then there was the dynamic duo of Anderson Cooper and Enimen on my favorite show last night, 60 Minutes of Lib Speak, talking about respect.  Not sure which of those guys could make me retch first.  You wouldn't need a stop watch.  (For the record, I was channel-surfing between innings.  It was a fleeting moment of loss before I was able to locate the clicker and get back to the game.)

I feel better now after getting those two things off my internal memory card.

Again,...

BCOT

Sunday

Not sure why I wasn't able to get a blog up on Saturday.  I sure spent enough time on the couch.  Looks like we are going to have a super day here today.  Maybe a little too warm actually.  1.1 is running the Chicago marathon this AM, as is my pal Cal, and I;m sure that it is too warm for those folks.

I admit to be a little slow on the uptake, but it took me most of the game yesterday to figure out that ND's starting tailback and middle linebacker share the same number "5" on their jerseys.  If the NCAA has rules for limiting the number of players that a team can suit up for a game, and I suspect that they do, I'm betting that its over 100.  Which gets you into the double number situation.  I suppose that its not the most critical issue in sports.
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Here's a little nod out to 3 who is headed to The City by the Bay for a couple of days.  Her first couple of weeks on the new job have been almost non-stop.  Good luck, Kiddo.  Find a good red from Napa while you're there.
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ND jumped on the Breast Cancer Awareness Month bandwagon yesterday with pink highlights for both the players and coaches.  Along with the visors, the coaches had special pink-logoed golf shirts and the players had pink towels and arm/knee bands.  The wagon is a little over-crowded at this point and I find myself moving to the camp where a little can say a lot, and the current trend is just too much pink.

Not to pile on, but is there any truth to the rumor that they're replacing the score board in Ames with a calculator?  Sorry, couldn't resist.

Lincoln, Nebraska was a big part of the cover story in today's Parade Magazine.  It was a story of Iraqi immigrants who have relocated to Lincoln after being forced to leave their homeland.  I didn't read the whole article, but it covered mostly one fairly large family in a US government program that had been put together to address the needs of these newly arrived foreign nationals.  I'd be curious if 4 could shed some light on this program from the perspective of the local community.

So I've got to do a little office work this AM and then get that deck done this afternoon.  Hope everyone has a good day.

BCOT

Friday

Beautiful day today in the QCA.  The change in the 4000 Days home page picture is to a shot taken today at lunch on a bench along Old Muddy in Bettendorf.  And here's a reverse view, looking at me!  I've got skills when it comes to the correct usage of a park bench.


Looks like I may want to consider a mid-May visit to Tahoe next year.  The Tour of California announced the 2011 route this week and it starts with two stages in the Tahoe area.  You should be able to double click on the image to get it big enough to read.  My guess is that they'll draw thousands of folks for the weekend.  Including casual fans like me.

Looking forward to a weekend at home with domestic chores.  That deck still awaits.  No Hawks or Huskers.  Clones and Irish need to keep up the good work.

Enjoy TGIF.  I know I will.

BCOT

Thursday (UPDATED)

Greetings from Day 2 in The Windy City.  The pic is just to break the monotony of text.  I'm going to take a walk at lunch along the lake to get a couple more shots for the portfolio.

"Hey" to 3 who is on the road back to NYC after three days in Richmond.  From her Twitter entries this AM, it sounds like she's ready to be home.

The Walgreens wine selection last night was pretty limited.  They had about four bottles above $10.  I had to choose from a Da Vinci chianti or a Menage a Trois California red. I elected the latter and was surprised at the cash register when it rang up at $9.99!  What a deal.  I had a couple of glasses (or should I say plastics?) in the room while I watched the Twinkies-Yanks.  It was by far not the worst bottle I've sampled in my time.  I figured my cost of the bottle might have given me a single glass of the house cab at The Capital Grille located next to my hotel.

Too bad about the Twins.  They seem to find a way to lose against NY.  Today's game is their season.

It was about a 15 minute walk to the Fairmont from my hotel.  And I was out a little last night to pick up a few things.  The streets of Chicago have not changed much over the last four decades.  Tourists.  Beautiful people on Michigan Avenue.  Business people on the commute.  Bums and the homeless.  But, except for the latter groups, everyone now has an iPod, cell phone or camera. And they're using these techie items all of the time.

I'm wondering if seminars like this should request that session participants refrain from the use of mobile devices during presentations?  Like schools.  I know I am constantly checking my phone during the program.

More later.

Now Later....

I took a couple of pics in Millennium Park at lunch, but Blogger has been slow to upload.  So maybe I'll try to put them up later today.  (Now done!)

I also had a "Chicago Dog" in the park for lunch.  Four bucks.  But no mustard available.  (Say what?  No mustard?)  I declined the 16 ounce water for $3.25.  Sure felt like the ballpark.

The lunch presented at the conference could not be identified, even with the placement card on the buffet table.  It was a wrap.  But the innards were green, creamy, chunky and mysterious.  I passed.  Not cookie either.  What a crock.

I noticed on my walk that the Aon Building (formerly the Amoco Building and once, the Standard Oil Building), is now owned by a real estate investment trust (REIT), shares of which I have sold to several clients.  Understand that a diversified REIT usually holds dozens, if not hundreds, of properties with geographical dispersion.  So the Aon Building is just one of many of the trusts' holdings.  But whatever, I hadn't realized that I had clients with a piece of the C-town lake front.  (And didn't SRH work there a few life times ago?)  Kind of interesting how small the world is.


BCOT

Wednesday

Live from Chicago...fingernail scratching on the blackboard.

The conference is at The Fairmont near Millennium Park in downtown C-town.  With 500+ attendees, I'm not sure that this place is the best facility for the program.  They've had to utilize rooms on the lower level and on the second level (with the hotel lobby on the first  level), and don't have full coffee/soft drink services on the second level (where I have spent the entire morning).  But it's a high-end place and well-located.  We'll see how my attention-span holds up over the next 30 hours.

I elected to drive in last night and stay at a lower-priced hotel a little North from here.  In the past, I've done a variety of things for downtown seminars, all driven by time, costs, and hassle factors.  Maybe leave early AM from Iowa, knowing that I would have traffic and would likely miss at least the first session.  I've often driven in the night before, but stayed at a suburban location (for a much cheaper rate), and then left early for The Loop from the out-lying hotel, like 0545 or so, to beat most of the traffic.

I haven't stayed downtown much because of the hotel and parking rates.  But traffic is a huge dis-incentive, and I chose this time to pay the fees and avoid the most acute stresses of travel.  Its not much of a stretch to state that my parking fees per day could alone approach the rates at a discount hotel in Oakbrook. Ouch! (I did save a few bucks by not doing valet parking and having to tip the attendant.)

The program is training for various service providers to retirement plans sponsored by businesses.  The combination of Federal laws and regulations, and the private litigation environment (this is not so new!), gives consultants, investment advisors, third party administrators and data processors lots of incentives to develop definitive CYA procedures.  As an old f**t, and getting older, it makes me wish that I had hit the lotto a while back so that I could leave these battles for others to wage.

The run with 2 and The Winniferous last night wasn't too bad.  Far from easy.  I've been pretty good about getting in 4 runs per week, but I need to be looking at extending the Sunday distance this week or next.  The Trot is 49 days from tomorrow.

I'll add more here later.

BCOT

Tuesday

Here's a little change of pace.  I'm headed into C-town tonight for a couple of days of a securities-industry conference.  At the Fairmont.  I, of course, am staying at The Red Roof Inn.

And I have added some pink in recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  If the NFL can wear pink shoes and pink chin-straps, 4000 Days can go a little pink as well.

3 is on the road this week with the new job.  Richmond, Virginia.  Sounds like they are embedding her into the work pretty quickly.

Baseball's post-season starts tomorrow.  It will end in November.  I'd say more, but I'm sure that I've made those comments previously.  MLB doesn't have to say much more to indicate they're disdain for the fans.  Money Ball is not just a book.  It's a way of life.

More later.

BCOT

Monday

So the trip to the Twin Cities wasn't so good for blogging.  There's something about active fff (note lower case) working against me.

Here's a couple pics from the finish line yesterday.  For good reason, 1 is Daughter of the Day.  Her under-4-hour time (3:54:59) for the race was a great accomplishment for a new mom.  Congrats!

Frost was on the pumkin all weekend.  Mid-30's at start time on Sunday morning.  Great running weather.  A little chilly for the old guy chasing on his bike.  An extremely well-run event. 

I hope to jump on here later today for a few more observations from the weekend.

Have a better-than-average Monday!

BCOT

UPDATE:

So I have continued to struggle with keeping the synapses connected today.  Yesterday, my effort to get to specifyied viewing points to see 1 along the route was a very shaky exercise.  I never got a strong hold on my internal gyroscope and triangulating my viewer's route was fruitless at times.  I even had to ask for directions.  Twice!  I swear, I had to look at my map to get across the parking lot.  You should be able to read this map if you double click on it.

I'm going to come back here and discuss this further after my run with The Winniferous.  Suffice it to say, 1's comment after the race that, "You weren't quite on your game, were you?" was a correct statement.  Then. And still.

BCOT

Friday

The last couple of days have been a little stressful here at the office and the evenings have not afforded convenient blogging time.  This entry is just an appetizer for something later today.  SRH and I are headed to the TC in a couple of hours to catch up with 1.01 and to support 1 during her marathon on Sunday AM.

3 has phoned in a couple of times and seems to be making progress in NYC.  The job is looking good.  She thinks that she has found a good apartment that she'll hopefully be able to move into in two weeks.  All good news for Mom and Dad.  (Sorry for the multiple "goods" in this paragraph.)

Hey to the folks from Tahoe who have spent the week in Hawaii.  Life is tough.

More from the road later.

BCOT