Wednesday

Coming to you from KC.  Hot KC.  104 on the car thermometer around 6 this evening.

Three years ago when I was here for this meeting, the weather was just as hot, I left a newspaper on the back seat, and the heat "melted" the newsprint and made a permanent stain on my leather seats.  4's story on the wine problems on her trip home from fff earlier this month registered, and I took my travel bottles into the conference for the afternoon rather than risk a similar fate.  (I'm staying at a hotel down the street from the conference center and hadn't checked in before going to the meeting.)

When I cut South just after Adventureland around 1000 this morning to bypass DM, I ran into a bit of the RAGBRAI-support-vehicle caravan as those folks began getting into Altoona to pitch tents for the bikers.  My pal Ron texted tonight from their party's fancy dinner at Noah's Ark in DM, a place I've been to several times.  @bcbison was to catch up with the ride today as well.  (As I predicted, Lance's visit to the ride was pretty brief.  The stories in the DM Register were pretty muted.)

I noticed today that the front page of the Register now carries in its front page banner the tag line, "The News Iowa Depends Upon."  This in contrast to the former tag line, "The Newspaper Iowa Depends Upon."  I don't know if there were some copyright issues with the old saying, or whether the ownership simply chose to recognize its reduced presence in the state.  Whatever.  Today's Register is a shadow of its former self. 

3 reports that they were at the Silver Oak winery in Napa today.  Heady stuff.

I listened to a Vince Flynn book-on-CD on my drive today.  By far not the worst book that I've listened to over the years, but his style is pretty much beach-fluff.  Grisham-ish, if you will.  Easy reading, but you feel hungry again right after the meal.  And not for more of the same thing.

My tentative plan is to try to get a ride in before the sessions begin in the morning. Over/Under on getting in 18 miles?  Better than 50%.

Thursday is 4's Tax Last Day for her job in Lincoln.  Not sure where that falls on the hit parade.

BCOT