Sunday

Wow! Almost Spring-like here today.  Getting close to 50 degrees out there.  Suite!  I'm almost tempted to fire up the grill this evening.

Before I forget...Happy tax-Valentine's Day to 1, 2, 3, 4 and 1.01!  Your cards are not in the mail.  Maybe later this week.  Or not.

So we are now six weeks into the new year and we are already having "empty" bikes in spin classes.  At yesterday's 9AM class and at this morning's 10AM session, both normally max-attendance times, there were actually several open positions.  I know that that Saturday class had some drop off when they purposefully rescheduled a "Body Works" class for the same time as opposed to the following hour where they had it before Christmas.  And there's a special "marathon" cycling program that started this weekend that is designed to grow to a two-hour class over a six week period.  But bottom line?  I think the "resolution" folks are off the wagon.  Which isn't a bad thing for us "regulars".

I followed up today on an urge that I have almost every Sunday and visited the Camera Corner to chat them up about the equipment in their weekend ad.  I took along my mini-digi and basically asked one of the experienced guys whom I have dealt with previously if there was a substantial upgrade available in the new stuff in my price-range (under $200).  He considered my inquiry for a few minutes as we looked over some of the units that another customer was inspecting, and his honest answer was, "No".  Hmmmm.  That probably means I'll spend more at some later date.  But for now, I'm keeping the powder dry.  Another not-bad result for the day.

This local new car dealers hosted their annual Iowa-Illinois (or is it Illinois-Iowa?) Car Show this weekend in Davenport.  My pal Roy and I have historically made it over there one of the days, but not this year. It's a poor step-child to the shows in Chicago or Detroit, and we just couldn't crank up the requisite enthusiasm.  Besides, we're not exactly green-hybrid-save-the-planet types.  Au contraire.  We probably qualify for the Neanderthal classification.  Bring on that Cadillac CTS with the 600hp Corvette engine!

Yes, NASCAR 2011 did kick off last night with the Bud Shootout.  (I only watched pieces of it, but there's definitely going to be different racing this year, certainly at Daytona and Talladiga, the super-speedways where breaks are rarely used). Then there was pole qualifying today, with Junior and the 24 securing the front row spots.  The rest of the 43 car field will be set by the Gatorade Duel 150's on Thursday.  The 500 is next Sunday.

An additional NASCAR note.  This Daytona 500 is the 10th anniversary of the death of Dale Earnhardt (senior) and the planned tribute is for there to be a "Lap 3 Moment of Silence" over the entire racecourse (except for the roar of the cars, of course).  Understand that Dale Sr. drove the #3 car, and that to this day, many fans will stand during the third lap of any NASCAR race and hold up three fingers.  I was putting it out there even before qualifying that there would be an agreement among the drivers to bring Junior to the head of the field for that third lap, regardless of his starting position.  Trust me, with him on the pole, there will be no racing until lap four.

Here's a little Top Ten List of Cures for the Mid-Winter Blues, all do-able, by all readers:

1.  Set up a calendar or chart to count down to a warm weather event.
2.  Figure out a bar-b-que  for one of these non-frigid weekends.
3.  Buy a box of pop cycles.  (One of my fav's!)
4.  Run/walk outside.  (A lay-up, I know.)
5.  Watch golf rather than basketball.
6.  Write a note or thank-you card to surprise a friend.
7.  Buy some vegetable seeds to start garden plants.  (Chia pet, not so much.)

8.  Read a beach junk-book/magazine, or rent a similar movie.

9.  Sort through and clean off that pile of mail/stuff on the counter.

10.Not sure if one of these is in my future, but try something similar the next time you're out and about.

Busy week ahead for me.  The plan is for 2 and I to head to the TC to check out 1.01 next weekend, so I need to be productive in advance of my departure.

Thanks for reading.

BCOT