Thursday

We continue to enjoy moderate weather and relative calm here in the QCA.  And we watch anxiously as the fam works through their challenges in NYC.  3 and 3.1 are still hotel-ing it as they have no power in their apartment.  3's office building in lower Manhattan is not open.  (Google 60 Broad Street to see that location.)  4 has taken a cab to and from work the last couple of days as public transportation onto the island from Brooklyn is problematic.

I hear on the news this AM that the insurance carriers are suggesting that the damages from Sandy may not be covered under standard homeowner and business policies.  Shock.  Most contracts list a variety of exclusions from coverage, things like flooding, and maybe earthquakes.  Apparently in the case of Sandy, the official speed for the winds when the storm made landfall gets into a definitional thing.  (Where's Bubba when we need the definition of "is"?)  Love those insurance companies.  I can hear the spin.  They really want to help.  But daggummit, as hard as we try to make the damages fit the coverages, we just can't meet those dang contract requirements.  Sorry.

I completely avoided Halloween.  Trick or treating in Bettendorf is on the 31st.  Rather than go home after work, I made the choice to head to a small dinner party down at Geneva in Muscatine.  My pal Roy had made an over-the-top purchase of several cases of high-end wine last week from Chateau Ste Michelle and needed help making a dent in the supply.  These bottles are representative of the ones we had last night, but they are not exact matches.  We had a blend that was mostly Cabernet, but also included small parts of Malbec and Syrah (I think).  There's more to sample, so I'll get back to you with the exact bottle for recommendation.  If we can afford it, its a buy.

So the NBA is now in season?  And the NHL? 

This is departure day for LtPC.  So I'll be working through mid-afternoon and then making the break to head down to San Antonio (SAT) for the weekend.  All things working as anticipated, I should be able to jump back on here from one of the airports.  This will be my first trip with the iPad as opposed to the laptop.  Twitter updates for sure.

Good luck in NYC.

BCOT