Tuesday

Didn't realize the interest in this pic!

BCOT

Monday

These are just a sampling of our FFF from the weekend. I used an anti-redeye option on the software to try to soften the glare from the mini-digi's flash. We'll do better at Christmas.

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More later.

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BCOT

Sunday

The pics from the weekend will have to wait another day. Since we really never "did pictures", I'm going to have to put the candids on my desktop and use the photo-adjust function to get rid of some red eye and extraneous background clutter. Stay tuned.

Under the presumption that 4 gets back to Lincoln shortly (and 3's flights tomorrow work out), it's fair to say that the Thanksgiving weekend in the QCA was a success. Lots of good food, relaxation and FFF.

My earlier prediction of a 6-6 ND (when they were 6-3) came to fruition. Now the parties need to do the dance and send Weis on his way to the NFL. With his pockets full. Make it quick. The trouble is that they need to get a guy in there who can break the chain: Davie to Willingham to Weis doesn't exactly inspire greatness.

Does Tiger get the same media pass as the Big O?

One of the revelations that comes out of a weekend like this where we spend a lot of time together, and the girls get into wide ranging conversations, is that I have very little clue about what goes on in the culture of 20-30 year-olds. Whether it is music, movies, TV, Internet connections, or any of the topics that might come up in their chats, it's just obvious that I live in another world.

I put my BBQ away for the season this afternoon. And all my garden hoses. Does that mean Winter is nigh?

3 went with me to spin class this AM. I'm thinking that for the next six weeks or so that I'll just do the Sunday and Wednesday classes to keep a base in cycling. I'll wait until mid-January before I get serious about cycle conditioning for the 2010 season. I've got plenty of other exercise equipment in my personal gym to keep me busy in the mean time.

One of the other things that did come out of the weekend is that our crew collectively wants to get the clan's 2010 Tahoe reunion set on the calendar. Keeping in mind that some of us plan to stay a week or more, later in July seems to be the preference. We all have scheduling considerations, but the sooner we can set the date, the better. I'll call Tahoe Phil to get the ball rolling.

More tomorrow.

BCOT

Friday

Here's our post-Trot shot at SB's. It was a successful day for all the runners. LtPC came home in 57:33 chip time, so I over-trained!! 2 was my co-pilot and did a great job of keeping me on track. Thanks , Kiddo.

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4 was the Official Photog for the event, but those pics are on the other camera. I'll post any worth viewing later today.

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3 made it in for the post-race coffee event. Her flight was pretty much on time. (I was glad to hear that she had an 0655 departure from Beantown rather than that 0600 flight, which would mean an extra early oh-dark-hundred wake-up call for a girl who prefers to get her sleep.)

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SRH was the star of the mid-afternoon meal. Turkey with all the fixin's. Lots of grazing the rest of the day.

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The office is casually open today. The staff is off, and I'm hanging out until the market closes. A little down-turn on news from the mid-East. Can you say Dubai? How do you say, "Real estate can only go up" in Arabic?

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Now off to Chilli's for FFF lunch with the shoppers.

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BCOT

Monday

Again, no strong excuse for my absence here. Just never quite got in the mood to sit down at a computer yesterday.


Iowa City was pretty tame on Saturday. It was nice for mid-November, but still a little too cool to be pure party time. By the end of the game, we were ready to fire up the car and get some heat going. It was one of the more boring games that I have attended in a long time. The highlight was a goal-line stand by the Iowa defense. With more punts than total points between the teams, and like 300 yards of total offense, raking leaves would have been more exciting.

My earlier post on Charlie Weis at ND is coming home to roost. A loss this coming Saturday at Stanford, and you have a 6-6 record. Who would have thunk it? While ND may not have the most talent out there, they have enough that a good college coach should be able to get 9-10 wins against their current schedule. I mean, Navy got beat by Temple who lost to Villanova who lost to New Hampshire. Whatever. At this point, I've lost interest.

1 is very excited about Joe Mauer being named American League MVP today. He is a stud. Will they be able to keep him in the TC?

2 and I did a pass-through to the Augie game on Saturday night. The competition wasn't that good, and we left at half with the home boys up by 20+. I repeat my earlier evaluation: these guys could be pretty good by the end of the year. Lots of horses. They'll wear most teams down. But probably not Gonzaga when they play there in a couple of weeks.

I do my last training run for the TT tonight. A very light workout tomorrow night. Spin on Wednesday AM. And then it's Showtime. The Danny Sheridan line on me making it home in under an hour just moved to +120 seconds which means that "the house" thinks my time will be 62 minutes plus a second. On that analysis, take the under.

I'll get back to this after I do my run.

BCOT

Thursday

Wednesday November 18, 2009.

Chicago.

Life In The Fast Lane!

I want to provide some more details on the trip to C-town. I've edited this a couple of times as Blogger keeps messing with me on the size of print after that original posting of the first picture. If there are some Word protocols that they follow here, I haven't figured them out.

How did the timing work out? Pretty suite. No trouble with the flight. Departed Davenport around 1530. The driver was waiting for us at the private terminal at Midway (Are you Bill?), and he got us through traffic to the Near North area for pre-dinner cocktails at Kiki's French Bistro.

What was it all about? The four of us were celebrating our 25th year in business together. My pal Bill and I wanted to do something way out of the ordinary.

And the planning? All Bill and myself. The girls were not told anything other than that we would be going out to celebrate with a nice dinner. Bill may have got a little help from a friend who does some party planning. LAM and TDS claim that they were totally surprised when we drove up to the Davenport airport.

And the private plane? Well, we wanted to do something out of the ordinary. It's not like it was the jet or anything. We chartered the cheapest King Air in my pal Roy's fleet. It seats like eight or nine. Took about 40 minutes from Davenport to Midway.

Dinner? We ate at what I would call a medium high-end place call "mk" in the 800 block of North Franklin. I'd say the food was ok (notice the lower case), and the wine was excellent. We couldn't tarry, as we had a 7:30 show to catch at the Apollo Theater in the 2500 block of North Lincoln Avenue.

And the show? Worth the price of admission. The Million Dollar Quartet. One of the more enjoyable live events that I have been to in a while. We were about six rows up, center stage in a 40% full 450 person theater. See chart attached.Google the name for some details, as the show is based on a real event. It's probably got some legs for theaters on the coasts.

The homeward leg of the trip? Piece of cake. The driver (different guy and vehicle, same "Are you Bill" question) was waiting for us outside the theater. Easy trip (with no traffic at that hour) to the airport. Our pilot was waiting, and we were in the air in about 10 minutes. Another 40 and we were back home.

So that's about it. Sorry for doing a "What I did today" entry, but the event was worthy of recording. Another element in what has been a great year for Lt. PC.

Now with a return to normalcy, let me just say...

BCOT

Wednesday

Short entry today. My pal Bill and I are taking our two assistants who have been with us now over 25 years out for the evening. Detail and pics to follow tomorrow.

Winnie and I did a 3 mile run last night and she shows signs of being a good workout companion. Also signs of the carefree puppy.

I manage to partially unhook Winnie harness after the run, and unbeknownst to me, she chewed through one piece rendering the harness useless. I gave 2 a $10 bill to buy a replacement. Since when does dog-sitting cost the sitter? Then SRH told me that she had picked up the harness at Wally World for $3 bucks! So 2 makes $7 on the deal? No wonder 4000 Days ain't getting shorter!!

2 did confess that my Sunday entry had her hooked until the end. How do you spell "easily swayed"?

My front landscaping is 75-80% complete. I think that the the prairie flower stuff and mulch will wait till Spring. Pic to follow.

Now headed out for the evening. Can you say, "Private plane to C-town"?

BCOT

Monday

Hawks ahead.

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Hawks behind.

Sunday

So I missed the official anniversary day of the blog. Not a bad day. Just didn't prioritize.

Thought it was time to move on from the Italy pictures. This is a shot from our last official FFF in StL last Summer. We need some new material from the upcoming Thanksgiving weekend.

A reporter named Rhonda Michaels (not her real last name) from the Fort Wayne (IN) Journal Gazette called me yesterday afternoon to follow-up on a lead that she had received from a guy I knew in Chicago a couple of lifetimes ago. The paper was running a series on former Arthur Andersen accountants and somehow my name had come up. They had done a Google search and, remarkably (actually, shockingly to me), had found 4000 Days. (The story on how they got my cell number really doesn't wash, but I'm not quibbling on that one.)

The long and the short of Ms. Michaels' inquiry was a dead end for her AA & Co story: I had no knowledge of the guys who were still in the C-town office when the Enron thing exploded. But we had a nice conversation comparing dates, places and used-to-be's, and then we started comparing experiences in blogging. She had scanned some of the history recorded in 4000 Days, and she asked if I would respond to some questions for possible use in another personal-interest story in her file. As best as I can recall, here's the gist of that part of the conversation:

RM: So I've read various entries on 4000 Days, but I'm not sure that I have a handle on it's purpose. Can you fit it into a broad topical category?

LtPC: It's primarily a family gig. My kids have been out of the house (and mostly out of town) for many years, and I felt pretty detached from their lives. I literally stumbled on the blogsphere about five years ago, and they say, the rest is history.

RM: And the title?

LtPC: It just came to me. I'd been looking at the calendar, trying to realistically figure out when I might be able to retire, and at that time, 10 years seemed like the closest round number. 10 Years didn't have much of a ring to it, nor did 3650 Days. Since early retirement, whatever the date, didn't seem likely, 4000 Days won out.

RM: So how does that math look today?

LtPC: Four years down now means that I'm a little less than 40% home from the original estimate. That's still ballpark. But, retirement? Who knows. I doubt if I fully retire for a long time. Unless the Powerball comes home. (And you have to play to win. Which I don't.)

RM: Do you have a writing schedule?

LtPC: Not really. When I first started, I tried to write everyday. But for the last couple of years, I've been lucky to get in entries three to four times a week.

RM: And your topics?

LtPC: I haven't checked, but I used to have plenty to say about cycling, NASCAR, and miscellaneous other sports. I've backed off much of any extended commentary in those categories because I don't think my (few) readers have a lot of interest in those things. The same now with politics.

RM: But isn't a blog supposed to be the perfect forum for an author to express his/her opinions?

LtPC: True. But that gets into the debate of the "why and what" for the author. Lots of times, opinions on hot topics like politics, religion, social issues and the like can impede otherwise good relationships. And check the ratings: not a lot of folks out there care about the ascent up Mt. Ventoux, or the RPM's in the 24 car.

RM: For what it's worth, I have no clue what you just said. So what's been the best part of your blog?

LtPC: I like the daily contact with my daughters. I like the outlet for that creative gene that never quite succumbed to the technical deluge in graduate school and my business career. I like turning a couple of good sentences into a paragraph, and a few paragraphs into something cogent. About something.

RM: What is your biggest challenge when you open an entry?

LtPC: There's always a form of Writer's Block with which to deal. I prefer to do something original as opposed to just recount my day (usually very boring). I like humor from my daily life, and I draw upon my relationships with several very good friends. My pals, Pete, Roy, Bill, and occasionally Jake can make things interesting.

RM: But isn't that just more of "What I did today"?

LtPC: It can be, but my friends and I manage to present some trials and tribulations worth a little recognition. We are not a mensa group.

RM: What's the deal with the numbers 1,2,3, and 4?

LtPC: Uh, that's not showing your best investigative reporter traits, Ms. Michaels. It's not much of a secret that those are my anonymous names for my four daughters, by birth order. I generally avoid the use last names here, and for the girls, not even their first names. The blogsphere is a dangerous place.

RM: So have you had any problems of that nature?

LtPC: Nope. You're the wildest hare I've encountered. Although Bob Costas was a little sketchy on the flight back from Europe.

RM: OK then. I've got a deadline to meet. One last question. What do you see for the future with 4000 Days? Any new ideas?

LtPC: My goal is to keep at it. To keep coming up with some original ideas that will make my narrow readership smile. Maybe even lol (...:)) occasionally. It keeps that almost-daily contact going, and gives Dear Old Dad the illusion that he still matters. And it feeds the bandit gene that has never quite left the frontal lobe. I may even write about this interview.

RM: Thanks for your time. We have a great wine bar in Ft. Wayne next to the paper. Let me know if you're ever in town. I have an aunt who might be available.

LtPC: As long as she doesn't read the New York Times. Stay in touch. You can always comment here.

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There you have it. Another reader who just couldn't tear herself away.

Have a great week.

BCOT

Thursday

Just a "Twitter-like" entry tonight. After work, I became the "Winnie sitter" for the evening. We did a three-mile run-walk, that didn't tire her out near as much as it did me. And we watched a little of the Bears' game and CSI. She's a fun companion, but has lots of energy. Maybe too much for an old guy.
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My pal Roy is in the hospital with a case of pneumonia. He had felt bad all week, and finally our pal Doctor Cal took some action by admitting him last night. He was much better this afternoon (after a lot of drug-therapy), and should be discharged tomorrow. Is pneumonia better/worse than H1N1?
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We signed a contract at the office this week for an entirely new telephone system. We'll have the standard features of direct-dialing for incoming calls to specific people, cordless headsets and handsets for several of us, and integration with our Outlook for messages and transfers. Hope to be up and running before Christmas. Cool stuff.
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So looking forward to TGIF. Have been all week.

BCOT

Wednesday

So I dug out some of my old USAF uniform stuff to wear over to the Arsenal later today. I've worn the shirt on an occasional basis over the last few years. Found the silver Lt. bars, but haven't located the blue, plastic nameplate. I'll keep my eyes out for it over the next year.

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My office computer still has a virus. The IT vendor has been trying to isolate and remediate the bug remotely over the last couple of days, and the worm has proven to be very illusive. (The service provider has a "Go To Meeting" -like linkage which gives the tech access to my machine from afar.) Not real dastardly at this point, but a nuisance. It's cookie allows pop-ups to enter just about anytime that I'm on the Internet. I'm pretty sure that the bug was attached to a blue email that I received from one of my better clients last week.

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There will be a small celebration here on the blog later this week as I pass the four year anniversary for 4000 Days. My recollection is that I started this with a 10 year projection to some kind of retirement, and rounded the 3650 total to 4000 for presentation purposes. Four times 365 + 1 (for the Leap Year day) equals 1461, which, when divided by 4000 equals 36.5%. Not sure what that statistic means.

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The media vulchers are circling the football offices in South Bend. Can't say that I am all that troubled by this development. The guy can't beat anyone with a winning record, and I don't think that it is now a question of on-the-field talent. I mean, Navy? (Don't get me wrong; I never cheer against the military academies.) And given the records of their next three opponents, and the passion that those opponents will bring to the games, a 6-6 final record is not that much of a stretch. Certainly if that is the final result, Charlie Weis will be gone. And deservedly so.

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Augie's b-ball season (and one of my main Winter pastimes) opens tonight with a controlled scrimmage against Loras College. They start playing for real next Monday. I had toyed with going to their game at Gonzaga in December, but that is just not going to happen.

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More here later.

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BCOT

Tuesday

Remember tomorrow.

BCOT

Lt. PC

Monday II

That ripple in the water of my home page picture is Lake Garda Nessie stretching her dorsal fin.

My Turkey Trot training has uncovered a serious question with national security implications. Over the last several years, our local communities have systematically converted the sidewalks at most of the busy street corners to a ramp-style grade with no curb to conform with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Around here, most of those new, graded sidewalk crossings have a metal plate about 2' by 4' with "bumps" across it right in the center of the ramp.

The picture is a close representation of what I'm talking about, although this example is a little longer across and orange compared to the yellow ones I'm used to seeing.

Anyway, on my run last Saturday morning in Lincoln, I came across the same kind of plates at the street corners near where 4 lives. As it happened, my pace Saturday morning was a little...slow? Which gave me a pretty good view of each plate. I noticed that the little bumps on the plates weren't fully rounded, but rather, had several little "nubs" atop each, somewhat flattened bump. A little like the Braille bumps on an elevator panel.

Maybe the current television series "V" just has me spooked, but I'm concerned that the nubs on the bumps are actually a series of signals to aliens (or some other form of bad guys) for an all-out assault at some near-term date. Who knows who's reading these signs?

This is really a time to...

BCOT!!!!!!!

Monday

Turkey Trot registration is at http://www.getmeregistered.com/

More later.

BCOT

Sunday

Not the best of days yesterday for the Hawks, Irish or Clones. The moon and the stars had to be aligned on the wrong axis again. At least Iowa still has a chance for Pasadena. Is there a course available on campus, "Horseshoe Quarterbacking for Visitors"?

Lincoln on game day is dressed in red. But the masses are generally well-behaved compared to IC. No Melrose Street mayhem like South of Kinnick. And the bars downtown were crowded, but not packed. (We even got chairs. Is $7.50 a pitcher a good deal?) No obnoxiously over-served collegians marauding downtown with a case of beer on their shoulders.

The home team rewarded it's fans with a victory (as I learned this AM). But it was patently un-offensive. But a win is a win is a win. Don't some of our fav's wish.

Enjoyed (and agree with) yesterday's comments on the library hypothesis. Mostly, I think that the role of libraries has, and will continue to evolve. While I have used the library to find books just to read, my most significant use was for research. (High school, college, grad-school, and originally for my tax work.) And that aspect of libraries has certainly faded with the expansion of the Internet. (We actually had a "library" room in our office building when it was built 20 years ago, but that room has long-ago been converted to more-productive office space.)

For high school and college, the library was definitely a social gathering-spot. "Going to the library" was always my cover for a mid-week date with my high school girl friends. And I met a number of "friends" at the St. Mary's library during my ND days. I mean, ND was a non-coeducational institution in those days.

Tall Americano's for the sleepers. More from the road.

BCOT

Friday

So Friday night coming to you from the newsroom at Channel 8 in Lincoln. 2 and I made really good time and arrived in town a little early. We're keeping an eye on things as the 10PM newscast is being put together by 4 and her associates. Cool!

Need to amend that earlier posting about my stupidity. You could say that I am improving. Or not. But I did find the smart phone holster. Hiding under some stuff in my office. (My new trick is dropping the phone and the little magnetized stylus popping out of it's receded position at the bottom of the phone. So far, I've been able to retrace my steps when this has happened. At least twice this week. But it's just a matter of time.)

Mid-60's today in the QCA. Could be near perfect tail-gating weather tomorrow in IC. Hope the Hawks show up for kick-off this week.

2 and I put a murder/mystery book-on-CD for the ride over this evening. Marginal. We got though just about half of it, so our memories will be challenged come Sunday for the return trip. It does help pass the time. I'm mildly surprised that the library doesn't have a bigger selection.

Query: What is the future of libraries? At some point, won't all of the information be on-line? I mean, look at Blockbuster. That's a business that will be toast in 3-5 years. Star Trek is us.

A couple of points on Starbuck's. As noted on Twitter earlier this week by 1, they are discontinuing the Gold Card program as of the end of the year. Supposedly to give even better deals to their customers. But do the math. The new deal will be a free drink after 15 purchases. Great, but right now I get a 10% discount on every Cup o' Fire. So by the Transitive Principle, I get a free drink after 10 drinks. So why is a free one after 15 a better deal?

It may be to pay for the increase in cup usage as a result of the new policy that they can't use your same cup on a re-fill purchase. I know Wendy's went through the same policy on their unlimited soda offer several years ago. I figure that the SB's change is swine flu related. (I refuse to use the PC reference to H1N1.)

1 reports that the baby aced her first test. All systems were at the "excellent" level in her check-up this week.

So it's getting close to show time. Maybe I'll check in tomorrow. Lots of football.

BCOT

Wednesday

Who are these hotties?

I had a little incident last night that has inspired me to have a Top Ten list of stupid things that I have done lately. Mind you, this is not anything approaching an all-time list. This is just recent stuff that makes you wonder how I get through the day.
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Number One on the hit parade requires a little explanation. So the weather has been frosty at night and I've been moving my big ficus tree into the garage most days because it's so heavy and I'm too lazy to make the effort to get it in the house. But when I take a car out of the garage, or return it, I have to move the tree. So I get home from work last night, pull in the driveway, click the garage open, get out of the car, move the tree slightly (knowing that the tree has to stay in the garage), get back in the car, and pull it into it's space in the garage.
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I shut the car off, pick up some take-home things, get out, open the rear door to take the laptop into the house, close the rear car door, now with my hands pretty full, and click the garage door down. WITHOUT MOVING THE FICUS!! YOU IDIOT!!! How did I miss seeing it in the path of the door? Amazing. The next thing I hear as I'm a few steps toward the house is the cracking of branches. I'm stunned. Too stunned to get my hand on the clicker until the door hits the huge half barrel planter.
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So my most distinctive plant that I had previously pruned so that it would in fact fit in my house for the Winter now has a few more major branches pruned by the garage door. Brilliant.
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2. Lost my smart phone holster. Which leads me to carry the phone in my hand a lot. The phone was one of the items in my hands last night as I was juggling things to get into the house. .

3. Pulled Margret too close to the cement island at the bank drive-through, and ripped off a chrome piece on the passenger side below the doors. Really a smooth move there.
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4. Drove 1.5 hours into the mountains in Italy, one way, before finding the bike shop for my Galibier bike six blocks from our hotel in Turin. Maybe a 15 minute walk.
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5. Bought and installed end-to-end about 50 standard paving bricks as edging for the East front half of my house without looking at the brick edging on the other side of the front steps which happened to be a different color.
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That's all I have for now. Maybe a little more of my on-going tale of woe later.
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BCOT

Tuesday

Can you say November? Or Standard Time? I knew that September would fly, but what happened to October? And when you say "The November Classic", the World Series is not what immediately comes to mind. Whatever.

I'm working on a new twist for occasional blog entries using a collection approach. Really just a way to throw out unrelated ideas in the same entry. Some columnists use formats like, Some Things I Think, or Today's Headlines, to structure a repetitive template. My idea is to use title concepts to help bring my thoughts to publish-able material. I dabbled with the idea earlier when I suggested using the standard USA Today sections as creativity catalysts. This maybe expands that thought with almost a Top Ten theme to things.

The title concepts include (and could be added to) as follows:

Travel
Fitness
Nutrition
Politics
Religion
Family
Finance
Technology
Entertainment
Environment
Work
Home
Education
Art
Literature
Science
History

That's certainly a good start. Now I need to figure out if Blogger can help with the presentation format. It would be nice if I could just hit a key and the titles would populate the page. (I doubt if that is going to happen.)

More later.

BCOT

Sunday

So the Hawkeyes managed to give all their fans a complete dose of depression for three quarters yesterday, and then came up with a spectacular fourth quarter antidote. I'm sure that the national press corps will skewer Iowa as an unworthy BCS finalist, but if they win out, they'll deserve at least third place. Under the presumption that Texas and the Florida-Alabama winner are also undefeated at the end of the season, Iowa will most certainly go to Pasadena for The Rose Bowl.

But before anyone gets too excited, Northwestern will come to play on Saturday.

Looked to me like there were more than a few empty seats in the Alamo Dome last night for the ND "home" game. But my guess is that a few dollars were deposited into ND's bank account and that the experience will make the future away/home games even more successful.

Low-key weekend for me. The high-light may have been dog-sitting Winnie this afternoon. What's that say about my life? Also mowed my yard. How often do you mow your yard in November?

2 and I are headed over to Lincoln on Friday to visit 4. Oklahoma is visiting the Huskers (although we don't have tickets). I'm guessing that the Sooners will be spotting the hosts a couple of touchdowns.

Edmunds, Inc ran into the New Reality late last week when they released a report from their research on recent US auto sales, specifically the Cash for Clunkers program. The gist of the report was that the incremental sales from the $3 billion program were only in the 125,000 range, meaning that it cost the Treasury $24K per vehicle to fund it. The White House didn't take kindly to the report and jumped all over it on their blogs and other media. Another example of Don't Mess With Us.

I've used Edmunds' websites numerous times in the past, most notably when I was searching for classic cars several years ago (a search that ultimately led to Margret). I never even thought of them as political. This response from the WH to a mildly critical report smacks of an immature, grade school mentality.

There is a philosophical koolade being passed down from the Democratic leadership, and then around by their complicit friends in the media, that anyone who doesn't believe in true health care reform, abortion rights, taxing the rich, and international appeasement is a member of some right wing fringe group. Whatever.

My new nickname can be Fringe.

Have a great week.

BCOT

Friday

I have no excuse for failing to get here this week. My evenings were no more congested than other times. Maybe a little less motivation or something. Whatever.
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My current Amex bill had the gift that keeps on giving; the Hertz bill for the car in Italia. The transaction got posted the day after my September billing cycle closed, so it appeared on the October statement. No surprise, but I did calculate out that the exchange rate was $1.52+, which is no small currency loss on that transaction alone.
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I have no direct point of reference, so it's hard to say if the trip cost more than it should have. Or not. When I first started thinking about it two years ago, I anticipated a Euro dollar at maybe $1.25 US dollars. In that line of reasoning, I spent an additional 20% ((1.50 - 1.25) /1.25) for the deflated US dollar to finance the experience. And since I had no control on that cost, I can intuit that 2 and I spent 10 days on the road in Italia (air, hotels, car, bike, and cash) for less than 5 grand, all in. I can live with that.

The march to the Turkey Trot is going slowly. With less than four weeks to go, I have serious concerns on my ability to make the one hour time goal. My outside runs have revealed a lack of wind in these old lungs. And not much better on the treadmill at Gold's. We'll see.

It looks like a new phone system here in the office will happen before Christmas. We are still using the same equipment and technology that we installed when we built the building 20 years ago. Most of the features on new phones can't be just added to our existing hardware through a black box concept as the digital technology just won't communicate with our analog-based stuff. Of course, I can't tell you the difference between digital and analog, but that's a separate topic.

A partial culling of my plant collection occurrred last week when I left several of my indoor plants out on too-cold of a night. Tropicals just don't handle frost all that well. Note the top of my big ficus. I'm thinking that this occurrence was akin to "defensive indifference", the term used in baseball to describe the defensive team's lack of concern for a baserunner's advancing to second or third when that team in the field is ahead by several runs in the last inning. Maybe a stretch, but it is the season for baseball analogies.

I generally don't root for the Yankees (or any American League team in the WS), but I'm glad they won last night. Pedro is such a tool.

And I'm in the camp that is glad to see Mark McGuire coming back into baseball as the hitting coach for the Cards in 2010. I'm wondering what he will need to do to satisfy the dirt-seeking sports writers/talk show hosts on the 'roids thing? I can live with no revisiting of the past, but the media hacks won't be so kind. The Cards and McGuire need a plan to face the music on Day 1 of training camp so that it won't be the constant topic all of Spring Training. And beyond. Then again, for some writers, they'll never give McGuire a break. As though everyone in Cooperstown is a saint.

ND flexes it's TV muscle tomorrow with a "home" game in the Alamo Dome in San Antonio against Washington State. Huh? I read the story on NBC's webpage and the concept is kind of interesting, but it also reflects ND's snootiness side. (Not to mention notredamenomics! (sic)) With the 12 game schedule, ND is now structured to have 7 (!) South Bend games every year, four for the road, and one "home" game at a neutral site. With traditional home-and-home relationships with USC, Purdue, Michigan, and Michigan State, the scheduler will need an abacus, at least.

Back to work. Have a great weekend.

BCOT

Sunday

Well, I survived The Night of the Living Winnie last night. It wasn't too bad. A couple of messes, but I don't exactly live in a palace. And things can be cleaned. We watched some football, took some walks, and generally hung out. She's an early-riser, and we took our two-mile morning jaunt at 0530.

I wouldn't do well with a full-time pet. I have enough trouble keeping track of myself, let alone have to worry about another party. Winnie, when in the house and not in her kennel, follows you around like the toddler who is constantly at your knees. And, for the obvious reasons, she needs lots of outside walking time. 2 may need a semi-regular dog-sitter so that she can have some alone-time.

(I'm sitting here on my couch with both of my digital cameras, my smart phone, wireless mouse, and the Direct TV clicker all at hand. When I try to switch between the Yankee baseball game, and the Arizona-NY football game, it's been taking me at least two attempts as I keep picking up the wrong device. The phone and the cameras are good, but not that good.)

2 will be pleased (probably not interested) to learn that the organizers have just announced that the 2010 Giro d'Italia will have it's celebratory final stage finish in the historic Romanesque Arena in Verona (exactly where we visited last month). Cool stuff. The Arena comprises one side of our favorite spot in Verona, the Piazza Bra'.

That last stage is an individual time trial, and they'll clear out the floor seating shown in the pic. After pounding around a route through the streets of Verona, they'll finish with a lap around the Arena. Kind of like what the race organizers did at the Green Bay Marathon where they had the runners do a lap around the inside of Lambeau Field.

While 2 may get her thrills out of The Arena being in next year's race, I'm more interested in the Giro's choice of spokesperson for the 2010 event.

Need to give props to the Hawks, the 'Clones, and the Irish for all winning games Saturday that could all have gone the other way. Of the three, ISU probably pulled the biggest surprise as a win in Lincoln is pretty special. Iowa's last second, last play win was storybook stuff. ND is just trying to get wins, and maybe they deserve a break or two after a couple of forgettable seasons. (Getting these logos positioned here is a pain in the backside for sure.)

I received editorial clearance today to provide the link the blog under construction by 3 and 4. Check out www.thehoranies.com.

The girls are trying to add to this on a more regular basis. To date, there's just a handful of postings. Both can give us stuff worth reading.

We now enter one of my least favorite weeks of the year, that of Halloween. The trick or treating, the inane parades, the endless rebroadcasting of the same movies. Can a person be "Bah Humbug" earlier than Christmas?

Have a great week. Thanks for reading.

BCOT

Friday

Not much to report. My sump pump has had a good workout over the last 24 hours.

It looks like I may have Winnie responsibilities Saturday as 2 makes a trip over to IC for an event, and SRH is conveniently on the road with some friends for a Master Gardener workshop in Ames. I've used Ames with friends as cover in my lifetime, so Master Gardener workshop sounds legit to me.

Off to Biaggi's for our own version of Friday Night Lights.

BCOT

Thursday

The topic for today is instant replay in Major League Baseball. And thoughts on other types of regulatory control.

The boys in blue (the umps) have had a tough time of it in the play-offs this month. Replays have shown numerous blown calls on not just bang-bang plays at first base, but on fair/foul calls on balls hit down the lines, force outs, tag outs, and one bizarre play the other night at third base in the Yankees-Angels game. With the blanket coverage on the live TV broadcast, endless replays on Sportscenter, and the chorus of calls for justice on sports talk radio, baseball has a problem.

I haven't followed the games close enough to know if any of these blown calls have decided a game or not. (I did see where a blown ball-strike call by the home plate ump in tonight's game cost the Angel's starter his place in the game.) But the use of instant replay in virtually all of the other pro sports (and for home run calls in MLB), almost demands that baseball look at ways to improve this area of the game.

Old School baseball people (me included) are reluctant to change the game. Of all the major sports, baseball, much more so than the others, has resisted change. (For example, traditionalists continue to maintain that the Designated Hitter cheapens the game.) Although the game's stewards have followed the Sirens' enchanted song to a longer season and TV money, they still use the wooden bats and the heater is still king. And if the ball easily beats the runner to the bag, I am not terribly troubled if he's called out, even if the fielder's swipe misses the tag. That's part of the game.

But just as basketball can go to the replay to see if a shot beats the buzzer, and football can review many of the calls, baseball needs to do something. There's no reason why replay shouldn't be used on fair/foul issues. Maybe tag outs. Maybe tag up disputes on sacrifice flies. Not balls and strikes. I don't think first base outs. And I don't want a darn computer telling me if the shortstop stayed on the bag long enough on a double play. It's a slippery slope.

(The cynic in me wonders whether the Reverends Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson might implore the President to intervene here for what must surely be discrimination. I mean the umps are calling people out. You don't call these good people out. If they want to stay in the closet, that's their choice.)

Moving on...

I had planned to comment on the recent news about government limiting executive pay, but it has gotten a little late on me. Suffice it to say, this is a political issue. (If you put the math to the Cash for Clunkers program, you're talking about billions spent gratuitously with little to show for it. But great press reviews. And the proposed $250 per retiree Social Security payment is nothing but a bribe to AARP.) There has been Infernal (sic) Revenue Code and Treasury regulatory guidance that has limited officer compensation in certain situations forever. I think that the Administration is really now talking about the Wall Street compensation limits in almost a penal sense. Another slippery slope. As the esteemed Charles Barkley said, "I ain't never got a job from a poor guy."

And to bed.

BCOT

Wednesday

Notice the upward gaze in the new photograph used for my homepage here. It's a "WTF" moment as I must be doing a little computation of my immediate future midway up the Galibier. Caught on the zoom lens by 2 from a perch on a switch-back further up the mountain.

My pal Roy and I had to run into C-town Monday to meet a a guy about another one of Roy's company's. Flying private to a little airfield on the North side called Palwaukee Airport. I was along for support as the matter was more of Roy listening to another plea for capital. (He has a lot of folks who think he is their answer to bad economics. Whatever.)

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Anyway, I'm sitting in the lounge doing another one of 3's Outside The Box NYT's crosswords when a big guy comes over and sits down opposite me, snarfing down a Diet Coke and a chocolate-frosted donut. (Is there a more obvious disparate combination?) I notice an ND logo on his briefcase, and then getting a direct look at his face, I realize that I'm sharing the waiting area with Charlie Weis!

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LtPC: Coach Weis, I'm an ND alum from way back. What the heck are you doing here?

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CW: Just getting back from a recruiting trip up North. We had an alumni association rep in our party who had to get to a fund-raiser in Winnetka tonight, and this was the closest airport. Now they decided that we needed to refuel our plane. When did you graduate? And what are you doing here?

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LtPC: Before your time. 1971. I'm here with a client who is in the conference room putting the squeeze on a guy who hasn't been able to meet his revenue projections for the year, and who now wants more capital for a new product. My official role on this one is traveling companion. So did you get the recruit?

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CW: Who knows. Kids these days change their minds every day. We won't know for sure until signing day. And even then there's always the possibility of a last minute change of heart. I hate recruiting. At least in the pros, the money is out front on the table. You never know with the college game.

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LtPC: Didn't you have a bunch of recruits in South Bend on Saturday for the USC game? How'd that work out?

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CW: Kind of like the game. It would have been better if we had won.

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LtPC: It looked like the USC defensive line was the difference in the game.

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CW: Yeah. We knew that they'd be tough. I think they got worn down though by the end of the game. I mean, they had a pretty good workout chasing Jimmy down all afternoon.

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LtPC. How come you don't get those type of guys at ND?

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CW: Two words: Sunshine and academics.

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LtPC: But you had to know that coming in here. Winter has been a bear here forever. And we always had a smattering of the football players in our regular classes in the '60's and '70's.

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CW: Kids today can play in the South or West and get the same amout of TV time as playing at ND. And without naming names, I don't think that they make it to all that many calculus or engineering classes.

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LtPC: That's not likely to change.

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CW: I don't know. Coach Holtz won a national championship here. He said academics are for losers. (Of course, there was a bit of a cloud when he left here.) Father Jenkins and the Board want to get back to those big paydays in the BCS. And we need some stars to compete. Plus, Father Hesburgh and Father Obama are both committed to getting us back on course.

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LtPC: What does the President have to do with this? And do you realize that you just called him "Father?"

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CW: Oh, he received all kinds of distinctions when he was here for commencement in May. They didn't publicize it, but as part of his honorary degree, they also added Holy Orders in the fine print. He and Mayor Dailey had a couple of Olympic events scheduled for our facilities and that was going to mean a bunch of upgrades at no cost to anyone. I'm not sure where the funding is going to come from now.

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LtPC: Coach, I don't think that it's wise to mix religion and politics. Can't you just get some players who can run fast?

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CW: We're working on it, LtPC. In the meantime, we're upgrading our schedule. Next year we have William and Mary instead of Michigan, so our secondary will definitely show improvement.

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LtPC: Right, Coach. Gotta run. You seem to have everything covered.

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CW: Thanks. Make sure you send in your contribution to the university. Make it a big one.

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LtPC: You can bet on it.

.

***********************************************************************************

My pal Roy and I had a pleasant trip home.

.

BCOT

Sunday

Congrats to 1.1 on his completion of the Des Moines marathon. He deserves another, "You 'da man!" Although, really, doing two marathons in a month suggests a need for a sanity check-up.

3 and 4 can crow for the week with the Hawkeyes' win at Wisconsin yesterday. The way that Iowa plays, every game is an adventure, but if they keep at it, they have a chance each Saturday.

The Irish played well and came close to USC, but with the loss they now need to book their rooms for the Outback/Gator/Sun/Boise/Whatever Bowl. Whoopie.

I feel badly that we haven't had a proper celebration for 3's birthday. She was in NYC beginning Thursday night, and she had a full schedule for the weekend. We need to make this up to her at our next FFF.

2 was over for a very laid back Friday night and we shared a bottle of Italian red that was bottled in a town that we actually spent some time in last month. Peschiera. A small town West of Verona, near Lake Garda. It was a bottle that I picked up at Hy Vee last week. Not bad.

I'm back at Gold's on a semi-regular basis. Part jogging. A couple of spin classes per week. Just trying to get ready for the Turkey Trot. Occasionally wondering about a plan for 2010.

Here's a thought: when you're mind is working, what tense does it spend the most time in? This concept came to me this morning at spin class when the instructor kept talking about where we were on her imaginary ride. Regardless of her chatter, the only thing I was thinking about was my trek in the Alps last month. She would be talking about accelerating to the crest. I was remembering how I was just trying to get in another 100 meters before I had to rest again.

Anyway, the question of where you spend your thinking time is pretty interesting. Just about everything you do, all of your personality traits, and lots of intangibles influence this allocation. When you're real young, it's always the present, and the future. For the older crowd, the past seems to be stronger. And for the big segment covering the balance of the crowd, the meter is all over the place.

When you live alone, you have lots of time to think. (I suppose living alone is not necessarily a control factor, as people living unhappily together may spend a lot of alone time together.) Anyway, on a daily basis, I bet I spend more time in the present and in the future, than in the past. I do have those thoughts of previous times and events, but planning the next thing, scheduling the work week, trying to remember what I forgot at work so I can get it done the next day, doing the blog, watching a game, and the like, make it a forward-dominant perspective.

But why do I remember my high school girl friend's birth date? And my first shot at the state basketball tournament in 1967? That list of stuff goes on. And I won't even mention the stories noted here last week with my pals Pete and Jake. Whatever.

Looks like a good week here. Hope it is in your world too.

BCOT

Friday

Happy Birthday to 3!!!

I need to get some new pics for the girls for posting here. While 2 has plenty of opportunity to be in front of my cameras, my pics of 1,3, and 4 are getting a little dated. So when I ask for smiles at our next meeting, give 'em up.
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The damages from yesterday's filing deadline are not overly bad. My guess is that we'll have to amend a half dozen or so returns, but that was going to be the case regardless. Just glad to be past the date so that we can work on some other stuff.

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Great news: my RCL is back on schedule! All's right with the world.

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My pal Jake from KC was in town for about 24 hours on Tuesday-Wednesday. We met up with our friend Pete for a glass of red at Biaggi's. What a crew! We repeated to ourselves (and a couple of unfortunate souls nearby) the same outrageous stories that we tell each other every time we get together. And they're still funny. At least to us. Lots of miles on those tires.
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And my pal Roy put on the serious dog when I delivered his tax return to him on Wednesday night at the club in Muscatine. Two bottles of Caymus Special Selection (at a cool $200+ per bottle!) over dinner. When we started talking with the bartender about what quality reds he had in the wine room, he mentioned a Chimney Rock and another in the $75 range, which was already well out of my tax bracket, but Roy said, "No, we have a real wine afficianado here, and only the best for my pal LtPC! Bring on that Caymus!" It is a fine bottle, trust me. The second one lived up to the first.

.

More later.

BCOT

Thursday

Hugely busy here. Drop dead date for 2008 returns.

Happy Tax Birthday to 3!!!!!

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More later.

.

BCOT

Tuesday

2 and I formally started our joint Turkey Trot training last night. And I survived. It will take some work, but I'm thinking that the one hour for completion as a goal time is still possible. Assuming that I remain injury-free.

Here's another fairly vacuous topic from my inventory of same: my new electric tooth brush. Now in theory, an electric tooth brush has got to be fairly high on that list of needless items in our culture. (Then again, what does an iPod contribute to the good of society? Steve Jobs may have an opinion on that question, but we'll leave that to another day.) I'm thinking that I had one many years ago, but this latest acquisition came only last week.

One of the by-products of my SB's habit is a tendency toward less-white teeth. This in spite of my commitment to otherwise pretty strong dental hygiene. Some where along the line, in a conversation in a forgotten location, someone suggested that a good electric tooth brush would help nominalize the coffee stains. When I had scoped out the devices earlier this year, I was put off by the price and had decided to wait. Well, as described here previously, I was in Kohl's last week with that 30% off coupon, and they had some electric tooth brushes already on sale, so I crossed the Rubicon.

The early results are very positive. I really like the way that the high-speed vibrating brush cleans right at the gum-line. In my semi-annual teeth cleaning at the dentist, that plaque build-up at the gum-line is always a topic of improvement areas. I can tell already that the new brush addresses that concern. I am curious if continuous use of the brush will not only keep my teeth cleaner, but will actually help whiten them as well.

(I have always felt that poor dental hygiene was a key element in Mother's decline. In her last year in the care facility in Ottumwa, she was not able to do proper brushing on her own, and her teeth quickly deteriorated. Once she got here and I had to fit her with a full set of dentures, she never got back to a solid-food diet, and that liquid stuff just didn't cut it. You can't say that the teeth thing was the only cause for her decline, but it was certainly in the top five.)

On the economics/financial side of this equation, I was a little surprised to find the brand-name Braun on the package under the primary name of Oral B. In my world, Braun is best known for electric shavers, and does most of it's advertising at Christmas and Father's Day. Turns out that both brands are owned by consumer powerhouse Proctor & Gamble. In a day where the right business combinations are important for survival, this one makes sense to me.

Still frosty-cool here.

Have a great day.

BCOT

Saturday II

Unless you are color-blind, you will note that I have added a little "pink" to the blog in recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. I thought it was pretty neat the way that the NFL teams added pink to ball caps, shoes, gloves and other ancillary gear for this month. So I am following the crowd for a very good cause. You should too.

BCOT

Saturday

Hard frost here last night. And snow flurries out my window now (1100 CST). Hello Fall! Not sure that a night game in IC tonight will be all that comfortable.

Then again, the NL Divisional playoff game in Denver scheduled for today has been postponed because of cold and snow. They showed a pic of snow-covered Coors Field on the news. Not sure if the tarp was thought of as insurance for snow.

Another omen of the near future: I had to turn on my furnace for the first time this AM. (This after a new record-low utility bill of $33 for September!)

I covered my indoor plants that are still outside with blankets before I went to bed. And I think that I'll move those plants to the garage for the next couple of days. It should get a little warmer by mid-week. Sometime soon I'll have to decide if they all will be saved or if maybe my collection will go through a needed "freshening". I've reached the point where just because a plant can stay alive under my care is not necessarily justification for it staying around.

Finally went through my September VISA bill to match up my Italy expenditures with my clutch of credit card receipts. Not an easy exercise given the many transactions, but fortunately, no surprises. The conversion rates on direct purchases was certainly better than those on currency exchanges at the banks, but there was also the occasional "service fees" over and above the conversion amount. Everybody needs a little sugar.

4 is in town for the wedding of a high school classmate. She did the drive-all-night thing in the early hours of Friday after getting off from work after Thursday's newscasts. When I was that age, I did similar driving escapades, one in particular from Texas to Iowa, and back, on a regular weekend. Ouch! Now, over to Des Moines is a long day.

A bit of a revolt going on at our SB's. They brought in a new manager a few weeks back, and all of our favorite baristas are now either gone or have given notice. I'm really not sure why the staff has reacted so negatively to the new gal, but it was such from the first day. She's an outsider, and the staff may have thought one of their own should have been given the position. Whatever the case, the atmosphere in the store has taken a step to a direction of something less positive.

SB's corporate has been on a major effort over the last couple of years to find better traction in the market place. The latest is their instant coffee. Can't say that any of these ideas have made much difference in my opinion. If anything, the different strategies may create distractions that inhibit the employee group from keeping their eye on the ball.

More later.

BCOT

Wednesday

I had an appointment with my family doc today to check out my shoulder. I had self-diagnosed myself with a torn rotator cuff since I had been unable to raise my left arm above my shoulder for the last month or so. There wasn't an injury, but when I made a quick move, or needed to reach high and left, I had a problem. I was already trying to figure out when I could find 6-8 weeks for surgery and rehab.

The great news is that I would flunk out of medical school. My doc confirmed my problem as some kind of a "locking-up" of some longer muscles on the outside of my shoulder blade. A cortisone shot and some stretching exercises and I'm already 300% better. (He did say that if the condition were allowed to persist, the shoulder would have essentially frozen in the limited position, and surgery would have been required to correct it at that time.) Makes you wonder what the gladiators and frontiersmen did with nagging injuries. Gives a whole new perspective to "playing hurt".

I did three of the "outside the box" NYT puzzles last night, one after the other, completely, as I laid down to sleep. Strange. I'm usually lucky to do one, 85% or so, in the same time frame. It's not like I ate some special brain food before bed, or had a particularly successful evening. The synapses were just popping off in the proper sequence, I guess.

I stopped off to visit 2 and Winnie on my way home from the office this evening. They are both on a learning curve. Cute dog.

Congrats to the Twins for last night's huge victory. A really good game. Now they need to steal Friday's game in the Big Apple.

So I'm headed to bed to test the synapses.

BCOT

Tuesday

Here's a little equal recognition in the fam. 4 is Daughter of the Day in delayed recognition of her re-entry into the blogging business with The Horanies. We all like reading your work!

1.1 was in the house last night at the Metrodome for the Vikings-Packers game. I managed to stay up through most of the first half. Looks like the Vikes made a good move in getting Brett to sign as their QB.

More later.

BCOT

Monday

Here's a little recognition to 1 and 3 as Daughters of the Day for doing the family thing this past weekend. Glad that 3's schedule worked out to catch the crew before she returned to Beantown. And 1 figured out that chasing a marathoner has it's own stress factors. Way to go you two!

Bad news for the Midwesterners. I walked out of my house at 0630 this morning to fire up the Taurus, and as I efforted to wipe the dew off the windows, I discovered, not dew, but ice!!! Not sure that the ground had frost, but there was no mistake about the glaze on the car. So I took the Buick. Even before noticing the ice, I had put on the dryfit runner's gloves as I knew it was a bit cool outside. I guess you could say that we are in a full Fall weather system at this point.

A couple of economic observations. Three points actually.

First, the September auto sales numbers were back in the dumper. Did Cash for Clunkers actually work, or did the government hand-outs just accelerate normal purchases by a quarter or so? And I saw some pretty damning figures on the "benefits" of getting those clunkers off the road. Something like saving $300-400 million in gas money by exchanging to more efficient cars. For $3 billion in a government supplement program. I'm real anxious to have those Einsteins re-tool healthcare for similar savings.

The second rhetorical point on economics is in regard to my Kohl's shopping habits. I basically only shop now when I receive a 30% discount coupon in the mail for my Kohl's charge card. I'm wondering about the variables in the equation that the Kohl's financial people are following when they try to get everyone who comes through their store to use a Kohl's credit card. If they regularly send out discount coupons to these card holders, and the card holders only shop when the coupons are issued, getting the people into the store sooner, and buying at lower prices must yield a better result than selling less stuff (or selling the same amount of stuff over a longer period of time) at higher prices. I actually think about these things.

And the last lesson in economics today is that my confusion in Italy over dollars and Euros, and gallons and litres, led me to what has to be my pal Roy's routine reality; I gave up trying to figure out the cost of day-to-day needs. If I needed gas, I pulled into the first conveniently located station and filled my tank, without regard to whether it was the best deal or not. And if I wanted a snack, I picked out what I wanted and handed over my VISA. A little like Vegas. Once you're there, whatever it is, is whatever it is.

Back to work. Maybe a little more later.

BCOT

Sunday

I had actually started this at SB's this AM, but a friend came and sat down, and I never got back to it.

Here's to 1.1. He's Son-in-Law of The Day for his sub-4 hour time in the Twin Cities Marathon today. (This is a pic from Houston in January.) You 'da man! Congratulations.

Pretty exciting up in the TC today for baseball fans as well with the Twins managing to tie for the divisional title which will be decided by a one-game playoff on Tuesday. I'm not much of an American League fan, but it's hard to not root for Joe Mauer. Interesting that you play a 162 game regular season, and then play one game to decide it all. Life is not always fair.

I've got to admit that I watched the Olympic selection coverage on Friday and was indifferently gratified that Chicago was passed over for Rio. Having lived in the Chicago metropolitan area for four years, and having maintained close proximity to C-town for the last 30 years, my opinion of Cook County politics and Cook County politicians had me convinced that Chicago would set Olympic records for corruption in the years of construction and other preparations for the Games. The corruption phase would only have been exceeded by the subsequent years of litigation that would have surely followed.

Then you have the outrageousness of various Hollywood sympathizers coming to the defense of film director Roman Polansky who is possibly being extradited to the US on a decades-old rape charge. Very interesting the obtuse logic used by these "progressive" thinkers to white-wash a heinous crime committed on an 13 year old girl.

Finally feeling like my body is back to normal. The first 80% came back in just a couple of days. But that last 20% was very difficult.

More added here this week.

BCOT

Friday

Just a quick entry today as Biaggi's is calling.

I still haven't had a chance to debrief with 2, so there may be another entry to re-hash Italy at some later date, but for now, here's a wrap on the trip by a Top Ten list on the best parts of the adventure:

1. Few hassles. None with baggage, airlines, car, or hotels. Suite!
2. The majesty of the Alps. Breathtaking at times. Literally.
3. The ambiance of evening on the Piazza Bra in Verona.
4. Lunch on the shore of Lake Garda.
5. Almost perfect weather for the full trip. Perfect the day up the Galibier.
6. Hotel breakfasts (as part of the room charge).
7. Dinner in the neighborhood restaurant in Turin. No English speaking!
8. The good wine. (Not the cheap stuff!)
9. Driving in the countryside looking for vineyards.
10.Getting safely home. Still speaking to 2. Sleeping in my own bed.

In retrospect, hardly any of the fears that I expressed here on 9/8/09 materialized. Finding a bike was a bit of a challenge, but otherwise, it was pretty smooth sailing. I feel lucky.

Have a great weekend. Good luck to 1.1 in the TC Marathon on Sunday. Hey to 3 who is hanging out an extra evening in the TC to visit.

Ciao!

BCOT

Thursday

Rainy day here today. And cool. October. Maybe my favorite month.

A couple of Top Ten lists to wrap up coverage of the trip to Italy.

First, how about the Top Ten Surprising Things that I encountered. Not necessarily in order of importance:

1. Not a lot of billboard advertising on the highways.
2. No Starbuck's! Until Copenhagen 's airport.
3. When you order water at a restaurant, order naturale, or you'll get seltzer!
4. Cheap wine in Italy tastes like cheap wine in the USA.
5. The tourist shops sold the same junk as you can get at S.Dak's Wall Drug.
6. Don't expect to find anything open between noon and three.
7. VISA works everywhere.
8. Cabbie's in Turin use Garmin's too.
9. Road construction hassles are not limited to the USA.
10.Different towns (Verona and Turin) have different personalities.

And for a little bit of good humor, how about the Top Ten rip-offs for the trip?

1. That 33 Euro ($50!) toll for the tunnel coming out of the Alps.
2. The Turin hotel's 6 Euro ($9) per hour Internet fee.
3. The Milan hotel's 11 Euro ($16) per 24 hour minimum Internet fee.
4. The 8 Euro ($12) fee each to get in to just walk around the arena in Verona.
5. The 5 Euro ($7.50) the auto pay machine kept at my first gas stop. (Think of our confusing machines here, with all the instructions in Italian.)
6. The 18 Euro ($27) per day insurance coverage for the car. Then again, if I didn't take it, we all know that there would have been a problem.
7. We think that 2's rain coat was in fact ripped-off in Verona.
8. The 35 Euro ($52) that the Turin bike shop charged for a used set of Shimano peddles for my bike. They treated me OK on the bike, but they got greedy on the peddles.
9. The buck-eighty for remote parking at ORD. If C-town gets the Olympics, watch out!
10.The two litre water bottle that 2 bought in between planes in Frankfurt, right before we had to go through security. Again.

That's it for today. I might have some other ideas for a final entry on the trip after a debrief with 2.

BCOT