Saturday

I decided to change the Home Page pic yesterday to bring back a little bit of the Italy/Sicily trip.  This view is from the middle of the Straits of Messina, looking back toward mainland Italy.  This was a big fav moment of mine from the trip.


Today is the anniversary of the WW II attack at Pearl Harbor.  A day that will live in infamy.

The Turkey Trot stitches are out.  I tried to get a retired doc who works at the coffee shop to pull them yesterday morning at my 1st Coffee, but she had no interest.  I was still undecided on my extraction strategy at noon when I walked across the parking lot to get some signatures from the dentists on a business matter, when I had the thought that one of them could do that while we had our meeting!  Well, we had our meeting first, but Dentist Greg and an assistant put me in a chair and snipped away!  Success in a few minutes...and no need to bother my pal Cal or go to a Doc in the Box.

The four D-I men's basketball programs in Iowa are playing a double-header tonight in Des Moines at Wells Fargo arena (the same place where my pal George Strait has appeared).  This is an effort by Iowa and Iowa State to reduce the games against Drake and UNI to one-or-the-other each year, and get those games at a neutral(?), bigger arena.  (Iowa and Iowa State have a separate game each year.)  Hy Vee throws a little money at it as the feature sponsor, and I'm sure that the Iowa Events Center tries to market it as a big deal for DM.  I'll be curious on the live gate.  It didn't sell out last year...the first year for it...but both Iowa and Iowa State have improved a lot.  Personally, sitting through two games would be a chore.

The year end awards program for NASCAR was held last night in Vegas.  JJ has won the top prize for 6 out of the last 8 years.  I'd say that that was a dominating performance...regardless of the sport.  Junior was again voted the Most Popular Driver.  I think that Jimmy's crew chief, Chad Knauss, is the secret to the 48's success.  In a sport where King Richard once said, "If ya' ain't cheatin', ya' ain't trying hard enough," Chad rides the closest to the edge of anyone in the garage.  With all the Hendrick drivers running essentially the same equipment, why is Jimmy always at the front?

Further illustrating ESPN's penchant for going over-the-top, their annual Jimmy V Week effort to promote support for cancer research, has been stretched to two weeks.  Why wouldn't they?

My pal Bill hosted a small, catered function for clients here at the office last evening from 3 - 7.  Kind of a combination recognition event for a long-time employee...and maybe a little holiday party as well.  In preparation for the guests, one of the "clean up" items was the retiring of the Lance Armstrong print from the lobby.  We had received enough comments over the last year about his doping admissions that a change was appropriate.  Anyone need some wall covering?  I mean, its a good, signed print in an excellent frame.  I think Roy even gave me some authenticity paperwork with the gift.

All for today.  Really nice here, but chilly.  Hope it is a good day in your neighborhood.

BCOT