Friday

I caught this pic (with max telephoto on my Canon minidigi) of the Metlife blimp at lunch as it flew overhead at our office building in Davenport on its way to the golf tournament on the Illinois side.  It is tethered at the private airport North of Davenport for the week rather than at the commercial airport in Moline.

(The new Home Page pic was snapped with my iPhone on the early ride yesterday morning around 0540 on Devils Glen Road.  Kind of a cool sunrise through the trees with freshly cut hay in the foreground.  Hard to get a good pic straight on at the sun.  I might try it another time with the minidigi to see if the clarity can be improved.)

My attendance at the tournament yesterday afternoon was worth the trip.  Of course, other than the $10 for parking and the tips to the bartender in the skybox, there were costs associated with the excursion.  Perfect weather.  Not overly crowded.  Plenty of friends to chat up.  But three hours was enough, and I won't be headed back this weekend.  I mean, you see things so much better on TV, right?

Interesting take on security at the tournament.  I parked at a lot a mile or two away and took the school bus shuttle.  To get on the bus, a sheriff had a wand scanner, and he actually patted me down for the side-pocket zipper, and the coins in my left pocket that set off the alarm.  No back packs.  Ladies had their permissible small purses searched and tagged (to indicate that they had been inspected).  Then once on the grounds of the course, you had to show a separate guest name-plate for the skybox area.  Gone are the days of free movement...even in Silvis, Illinois.  Hello Boston.

I had an experience with DirecTV this week that surprisingly ended up with me reducing my service package.  The last couple of times that I have called in to gripe about my bill, the Customer Service Rep would find a way to work me into a program that kept my programming the same, but at a cheaper rate.  The two gals I talked to this time just had little to say, and when I remained insistent on my quest to reduce my monthly bill, it was, "Okay, you can cancel HBO."  Which I did.  (The only reason I had HBO of course, was because on one of the same types of calls from a year or two ago, an agent must have found some short-term fee reduction by by adding a premium channel.)  Whatever.  Is that a sign of the economic times?

No big plans here for the weekend.  Bike and golf.  Wine, I'm guessing.

Make it a good one in your neighborhood.

BCOT 

Thursday

OK.  I still am having a problem with Blogger.  It must be a non-compatibility bug with my Windows Explorer browser.  I'll do a short entry now and see if I can get it to publish.  This is kinda like work.

I'm giving the nod of Daughter of the Day to 2 for meeting her annual fund-raising goal over at Augie for the fiscal year that ended June 30th.  This is not a small deal as meeting a target that was on the upside of challenging is a great achievement.  Way to go, Kiddo!

So I can't highlight or change the font.

The golf tournament is now in full-swing.  I'm actually headed over today for a while to check things out.  Normally, I decline most of the invitations that I get to join in at a hospitality tent, but I figured that a couple of hours on a Thursday wouldn't be too bad of crowd-combat.  Right?  Report to follow.

Great ride this AM.  It was almost 20 degrees cooler than yesterday, and way less humid.  I may not be all the way back from my Winter of Missing Fitness, but I'm getting close.  Its been a looong climb.

More later.

BCOT

Post-publishing Comment:  It publishes, but I still can't effectively edit.  The keyboard arrow keys are my only way to get around to different places in the written text.  The mouse is not mousing around.

Wednesday

This is very odd. I tried to get on to add to and edit last night's entry, and was unable to do so from my desktop PC here at the office. Blogger wasn't even allowing me to create a new entry. I'm in the process of rebooting the desktop to see if Windows needs to get out of an endless loop.

Now I'm going to try to publish this test entry from the iPad.

I'm trying to...

BCOT

Hmmmm.

OK. That works from the iPad. Is there a bug on my laptop AND my desktop? Really too weird for me to understand.

And after my reboot, I still can't access Edit/Entry on Blogger from the desktop.

It was 78 here at 0530. I elected to take a pass on my early ride. The forecast is for the humidity to go down today as winds shift to a northerly flow. Maybe I'll try the bike path this evening.

Today is the Pro Am over at the Deere Classic. That's the event where the average golfer can pay to play with a pro. The fee is likely North of $4,000 for the round. That fee does get you some other amenities for the week, like several tickets for entry to the grounds throughout the tournament, and various chatskies, but its still an expensive round of golf.

The Pro Am is one of the big fund-raising elements of any PGA event. They probably have around 300 participants teeing it up...which means that they've collected $1.2 million in green's fees for the day. Not a bad haul. Add in the admittance fees for the fans, concessions, parking and souvenir sales, and the tournament is off to a good start...before the pro's actually start playing for real.

Just a comment on the politics of New York. Eliot Spitzer is on CNBC this morning. He's come out this week as a candidate for Controller in New York City. Really? I think he got the idea from the seeming success of Anthony Weiner, the former Congressman who got in trouble with pics on Twitter, who is a candidate for NYC mayor. Politicians never go away. Regardless of their sins. If one or both of these guys gets elected, I guess its safe to say that NYC can look past anything.

OK. On to my day. Maybe Blogger will come around.

BCOT



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Tuesday

Yesterday was my actuarial 65th birthday.  Kinda like a tax birthday, except it involves the half year mark following your last birthday.  For actuarial computations, like used in life insurance annuities and pensions, once you have passed the six-month point following your birth date, you are considered the age of your next birthday.  It simplifies the answer to the question, "How old is he/she, really?"  Hence, the 8th of July is my actuarial birthday.  Since I was born in 1949...and next January is 2014...Well, you can do the math.

The significance of age 65 is generational.  When I was growing up, and then later when I first got in to the pension consulting business in the mid-70's, age 65 was the recognized "normal retirement age".  (In my business, Normal Retirement Age is a technical term.)  NRA was the age when people were expected to retire to The Life of Riley.  I'm not sure whether that happened with absolute regularity (obviously not so much for dairy farmers!), but it was certainly a cultural line-in-the-sand.

I know that I threw 4000 Days out there as a target time line for my own retirement, but it really never occurred to me in the same sense as a specified number of years.  I measured it as a combination of, 1) how long I might have to work in order to afford some sort of retirement, and 2) how long I could mentally take the abuse of work life.  65 was not part of the equation. 

The Boomer generation has been retiring for a few years.  Those who could, I guess.  Others have elected to keep working, either because the have to or because they enjoy their work lives.  I think that it's a matter of circumstances, no the least of which is health.  Amazing what people will do if they have good health.  In today's world, that age 65 thing has been fading away.

I'm publishing this now, but will edit more in the morning.  Blogger (or my laptop) is malfunctioning.

BCOT

Sunday

This is getting an early start to a Sunday.  If my pal Pete were around, it would be take-off time for DeWitt.  That trek will have to wait a week.

Our extended fff with the Dornies came to an end yesterday with their return to Harvest Path.  The days kind of merged together watching 1.01 and 1.02 keeping us entertained.  I'm sure that @srh4 will need a few days to get used to the quiet at her house.  A good time was had by all.

The PGA tour comes to town this week for the John Deere Classic played at a course on the Illinois side called the TPC at Deere Run.  It looks like they will have a pretty good field including recent Deere winners Zack Johnson and Steve Stricker.  The tournament is probably the biggest sporting event of the year in our area (although the Bix road race next month gets big local participation too).  Since Deere jumped on board as the title sponsor 10 years or so ago, the once iffy event became one of the most successful tournaments on the PGA schedule.

I have tickets to go out to the course on Thursday afternoon.  A local bank from Muskie that I do some business with hosts clients and referral sources in a hospitality tent that day.  If the weather remains favorable, it can be a fun day.  If it rains, I'm a no-show.  #fairweatherfan.

I was envious of 3 and 3.1 yesterday with their visit to Wrigleyville.  (Cubs win!  Cubs win!  Cubs win!)  Actually, I probably still enjoy the general "feel" of the Wrigleyville experience more than game attendance.  A cold one and a dog at the Sports Corner is always a trip worth making, game or no game.  3's picture-message to me let me know that she understands.

The pictures from the Tour show lots of snow in the sheltered areas of the mountain passes in the Pyrenees.  (Channel 220 on DirecTV.)  The favorite layed down the law yesterday and put more than a minute on other contenders.  With several climbs today, we'll see if the other guys can keep pace.  If not, the winner could be decided today...with two more weeks of him just staying out of trouble to get the Yellow Jersey.

Its interesting that the same announcers that cheered Lance for all those years now just ignore that history (at least as far as I have heard).  Not sure what they could say, but it is a bit odd.  When will an American get back to the head of the peloton?

I'm headed down to Muskie for golf.  Looks like it will be a decent day.

Maybe more later.

BCOT

Friday

The 4th of July was pretty much a non-event in the 52722.  My golf game in Muskie was forgettable in most scoring respects, but it was a Top Ten day weather-wise.  Low key afternoon and evening on Century Heights.  Bettendorf still does a big fireworks event, but we all took a pass.  Maybe when the kids are a little older.  Fireworks have never held my interest.

We did finally make it to Whitey's for some ice cream (which I think had some Twitter pics posted).  It was a successful trip (although 1.01 was too leery to jump in Margret with Mom!).

Anyone remember the viewing stand that we used to construct for the Bettendorf parade in the back of the truck?  I mean, why wouldn't we have a viewing stand?

My latest example of Sometimer's-related bumps in my daily routine involves my new, insulated coffee cup.  I really like the way it keeps the coffee hot, and I use it every day.  The problem comes in when I'm done drinking from my second cup and there may be as much as a half a cup left in the container.  I regularly forget to close the pop-up sipping lid, and whether I'm carrying the cup in my hands or have it sitting in the console of the car, I'll make some kind of a move that has the cup upside down and coffee spilling out the top. The car seat in the Buick, handouts for a client meeting, and some checks for bank deposit all got the coffee-treatment in separate incidents last week.  #slowlearner.

The TdF is getting into the Pyrenees.  The route this year goes clockwise, so after starting on Corsica, they headed West from Nice.  The stage Sunday ends in Bagneres de Bigorre where 4 and I spent four nights in August of 2011.  I wonder who will be staying in our hotel this weekend?  And what the room price will be? 

(Actually, I'm curious whether the teams will stay there Sunday night or elect to make the airplane trip North after completing the stage.  Monday is a "rest/travel day" and the Tour resumes on Tuesday in the Northwest quadrant of the country.  It makes sense to get to the rest day town Sunday night. So a stage-end-town like B de B might not actually have the teams in town for more than an hour or two at the end of the stage.  Maybe its better to be a stage "starting" town. )

The reviews for the new Lone Ranger movie are collectively tepid at best (and many say the flick is just plain bad).  I was a big fan of The Lone Ranger when I was a kid.  Half an hour on Saturday morning with other such notable shows as Fury and Sky King.  I'm pretty sure that I'll never see this latest iteration.  One review called it Pirates of the Caribbean meets the Old West.  Today's Hollywood needs to break down stereotypes and make sure that the public understands that absurdity is the norm.  All you old white guys are nothing but racists.  As though Johnny Depp is a role model.  Right.

Another steak-on-the-grill (modified fff) night ahead of us later before the Dornies head North tomorrow.  Maybe some pics later.

Enjoy the weekend!

BCOT 

Monday

Sorry for being AWOL much of the last week. That tends to happen when we have some modified fff on the docket. With the Dornies in town, the blog has taken a backseat. I'll try to be more attentive this week.

This entry is coming from a Starbuck's shop in West Des Moines at early coffee. I made the trip over to DM last night to meet up with my long-time client/friend Richard who is in town for a few days from his home in San Antonio. We did a Biaggi's dinner last night, and are tee-ing it up at 1000 this AM. I'll be heading back to the QCA after golf.

That first half of 2013 was a whisper...vapor...Jimmy Johnson flying past the start/finish line. With the things already on the schedule for the second half of the year, Christmas will be here like next week. Pluses and minuses for the elderly among us (and by "us", I mean me).

If its July, it means that the Tour de France is underway across the pond. They started this year on the island of Corsica...and have given the island three stages...which I think is a big allotment of stages for a relatively small area. They've already had a big crash in Stage Two, marked by the team bus getting stuck under the finish banner/assembly. Who's on first? They get over to the mainland tomorrow for a team time trial in Nice. A TTT is a unique event and you'd better have five guys who can hammer for 15-20 miles, or your General Classification rider will get disadvantaged.


Our visit with 1.01 and 1.02 to the local zoo yesterday morning was a hit. The kids are at ages where they are pretty easily entertained. The pics of 1.01 on the pony reminded me of one of my all-time favorite pics of 3 on a fake pony at that park in South Dakota from around 1990.  (I'll try to get @srh4 to dig that one out for a future entry.)

The crowd at the zoo was classic Walmart. No dress-code required. I'm always (un)impressed by the tats and piercings that adorn the masses.

Sounds like there is some consensus building for a full-FFF at Tahoe for 2014. It may not be too early to consider dates so that everyone can make appropriate scheduling for vacations. We're talking about 2 or 3 condos to make accommodations best for all parties. Those units at Third Creek look like good choices to me.

Each day there is more news out about the spying done by our government. It's not like I ever thought that I was below radar, but it is now apparent that everything I do is either on film or on an electronic record. I guess my reluctance to use a Hy Vee gas card for fear of further documenting my profile is really much ado about nothing. (@srh4 banked like 70 cents a gallon when we stopped at the store for just lunch fixin's yesterday.). I hate to give in to store promotions like that...but I guess I actually crossed that Rubican with my Kohl's car. Bring on Hy Vee gas!

My friends Ron and Jane stopped over Friday night for a late driveway visit after the family BBQ. I hadn't seen them since they had returned home from their 3-week trip to Europe. Jane showed off the hundreds of photos that she had taken on her iPad mini. Pretty slick. (But LBH, my interest in the pics pretty well vanished after around #10.) One of the things that I don't have a resolution to yet is the efficient transfer of pics from my Canon minidigi to my laptop or iPad. I like the Canon...but I like immediate publishing too...

So I'm getting my refill for the road and heading back to the hotel to check out. Maybe I'll get some pics added to this entry when I get back to Maplecrest.

Make it a Good Monday. Welcome back to the US of A to 3 and 3.1. Happy weekend to 4. Safe travels to C-town to 1 and 1.1.

Y'all....

BCOT

Note...The Home Page pic was taken today on the way back from Des Moines.  On my Canon minidigi while I was blowing past at about 80 MPH.  Not a bad rendition, eh?



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Tuesday

This was a highlight day for me in 2013. For the first time, I got out at 0530 for a ride on the country roads...not the bike path. And the results were at least "satisfactory", if not a little above that grade. I had the confidence to go out after doing inventory yesterday from the DeWitt ride on Sunday. The bod wasn't crushed, so maybe my training can now actually see some progress. Excellent news!!

Other items of good news include the effective, and continuing productivity of my sump pump amid torrential rain the last couple of days. I was concerned about power outages yesterday during the afternoon storms that had public facilities evacuate all personnel to the building basements. But no worries on Maplecrest. And how 'bout the possibility of the Beater surviving to live again?

I think that we have about three weeks now where for the big pro sports leagues, only Major League Baseball will be in season. Basketball and hockey are now done...thank goodness! Football camps will open by end of July. (Hard to believe, but that the college football season will start in about 60 days. Didn't Manti Teo lose his "girlfriend" just last week?)

I did a presentation yesterday in Dubuque to a group of about 50 field representatives who work for a company that sells drugs and food supplements to dairy farms. The "dairy farms" are generally bigger operations that milk lots of cows in pretty sophisticated operations. I was able to relate a number of stories from our farming days, including the fact that I had most likely shoveled more s**t in my lifetime than anyone in the room! It was fun to have some shared experiences with the group. I doubt if any of the various other speakers on the agenda had my grasp of just how a dairy farm works.

I started this post from the waiting room at the GM dealership up the street from the office while having the oil changed in the Buick.  This place does a nice job, but the DNA of a maintenance surpervisor can't be kept under wraps.  It wasn't an extra filter that was being recommneded for change: let's go for the front shocks-and-struts combo for a cool $2,500!!  Why wouldn't you?

OK.  I have a few things to get done before end of business.  Maybe more later.

BCOT

 Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Monday

We have started off the week with heavy thunderstorms beginning sometime last night.  I had my AC on and didn't hear anything until I got up this AM...to the sound of my sump pump running about every 20 seconds.  When I left for the office, I drove past the golf course on Middle Road, and there were streams of water across most of the fairways.  But Duck Creek wasn't out of it's banks, so the storm couldn't have been around for that long.  Whatever.  We needed some rain.

The ride to DeWitt for breakfast yesterday was probably a little longer than I needed given my modest level of training thus far this year.  Actually, the ride to DeWitt was fine.  We had a tail wind.  It was the ride home against the wind that pretty well confirmed my lack of stamina.  Fortunately, my pal Pete was there to pull me along.  I just need to get more miles in to build the base.

Here's a good story from yesterday's final round of the PGA tournament in Connecticut.  The winner was 44 year-old Ken Duke, a journeyman who had never previously won a tour event.  I've met the guy.  He's played several times in the local John Deere tournament, and when he has been here, he's stayed at my pal Roy's Bettendorf house.  (Not sure where Roy made the connection, but it is more than a casual acquaintance.)  We did a Biaggi's dinner a few years back where there were just 5-6 of us at the table.  He's a very soft-spoken guy who doesn't look like much of an athlete.  But he can golf his ball.  Good for him.

There's some possible good news that may suggest that the death of the Beater was a premature conclusion.  I had told my Perfect Neighbor that he should tell his friend who does fix-up-and-sell work on old cars that the Taurus was his for the taking (with a 15% commission to me upon sale).  The PN came over yesterday and said that he had done some under-the-hood inspection and he thought that the oil leak may be as simple as a bad installation of the oil filter.  OK.  So he's going to replace the filter, re-fill the oil intake, and we'll see what happens.  I have no problem putting in a quart of oil every week or two.  I mean, its an old car with a few problems.  I had concluded that it was a bigger issue than the oil filter.

Des Moines was the host last weekend of the USA Track and Field Championships.  Drake stadium is one of the top tack venues in the country, but I doubt that it will replace the likes of Eugene, Oregon as the fav among the athletes.  None the less, these annual national meets normally rotate to different spots around the country.  Getting the meet every 5-10 years is a good target for Des Moines.  The track produces some good times, and ultimately, that's what gets the attention of the athletes and the governing organization.

Finally, get ready for the Tour de France which starts Saturday on the island of Corsica.  With all the doping stories from the last couple of years, the shallow interest of the US public in cycling is even thinner than ever.  But it remains huge in Europe.  A little like maybe baseball here.  There was the "juicer era" of the long ball in MLB not that long ago, but the fans never really went away.  (As an aside, a new major sponsor of a Dutch team in this year's race is US-based Belkin, a technology company.  Among other products, they make the key-board that pairs-up with my iPad.)

Hey to 3 and 3.1 who are still in Italia.  Hope the trip is going well.  Enjoy!

Busy week for me.  Dubuque meeting this afternoon.  Actually have to go to Minneapolis later in the week when the Harvest Path family is here!  #poorplanning.

Thanks for reading.

BCOT

Friday

Just a few lines this AM to celebrate TGIF.

I think that today is the Summer Solstice.  I know that there is a math thing to the angle of the sun and the place the Earth is on it's orbit, but I just see it as The Longest Day of the Year (in terms of sunlight).  On the one hand, its a day to celebrate as I really like that early morning and late evening light.  But on the other hand (sounds like a country song!), the rest of the days of the Summer and Fall keep getting a little shorter on sunlight.  I find that fact to be a  little discouraging...knowing that there's an argument that the Summer is already winding down. 

There was quite a bit of blood in the streets yesterday from the market sell-off.  The talking heads are all over it on the morning news shows.  The combination of a weak economy, questions on action by the central bank in China, and maybe some profit-taking by investors suggest that we aren't done.  Its a very difficult time for the fixed-income investor whose "conservative" bond holdings are marching backwards.  With the equities also sliding, safe havens are hard to find.

I was rooting for the Spurs.  They really had their chance in Game 6...and I think that somebody missed a key free throw in the last minute of regulation that allowed the Heat to tie that game (which they won in OT).  Ya' gotta make your free throws.  The coaches stress that at every competitive level of basketball.  Its one of the always-true rules.  (For the record, I didn't watch much of any of the games.  But I would check the scores on-line.  I find it difficult to invest much time or emotion in anything NBA.)

3 checked in early this AM with a text from London.  My guess is that they are now in route to Milan.  A special shout-out to her and 3.1!

No big plans on Maplecrest for the weekend.  Maybe some golf (if the discomfort in my back continues to ebb), and Sunday may be my first visit to DeWitt on a ride with my pal Pete.  Its supposed to get hot, so nothing is written in stone.

Make it a Good Friday.

BCOT

Thursday

This is "bon voyage" day for 3 and 3.1.  They're headed to Italia to attend a wedding on Lake Como.  Tough life.  They are Daughter and Son-in-Law of the Day.  Good luck with travel!

I had meetings down in Muscatine yesterday, and then stayed in town for the afternoon to get in some practice at Geneva Country Club.  I hadn't played for a couple of weeks, and my game needs more repetitions to get the muscle-memory on my swing to kick in.  Then with just a couple of holes to play, my lower back got out of sync, and I'm still trying to get things back in line. 

(I still have a small goal to lower my handicap this year from the current 16...to maybe 13. I don't think I have the interest to practice enough to get it any lower.  That takes too much time.)

The markets went in a predictable tailspin yesterday after the Fed meeting and Ben Bernanke's subsequent press conference.  I'm of the cynical opinion that the markets would have tumbled, regardless of what Bernanke said.  There are so many talking heads with varying opinions, that a sell-off was inevitable.  We are in a position now where good news in the economy is almost bad news for monetary policy.  Any marked improvement in economic data will prompt the Fed to reduce easing, which sends the fixed income markets lower.

All of the weather in the past month has been about rain, sump pumps, and soggy ground, right?  Well, the tide has turned.  I've now had to start watering my ornamental/landscape bushes around my house.  When I mowed my yard Monday night, the ground was just plain hard.  Global warming for sure.

Its the College World Series in Omaha this week.  I've caught a few innings of the ESPN broadcast over the last couple of nights.  Looks like big crowds again.  Most of the teams have been there before, although Indiana was a fresh face (and were able to win a game before being eliminated last night).  Not sure who the new Erin Andrews is for the color commentary.

(The NCAA has stepped in to reduce the bat productivity, and the home run rate is way down again this year.  I think they made this change a couple of years ago to address both safety concerns and the false-data on hitters that the more lively bats had previously produced.  The metal bats introduced to amateur ball in the '70's were initially an economic step to reduce the costs of equipment...an aluminum bat doesn't break!  But a by-product had been this "whippiness" of newer models that gave the batter a big advantage. I'm not sure of the economics anymore.  Those aluminum bats are expensive, and it seems like every hitter has to have his own these days.)

A couple of notable deaths have hit the news in the last day or two.  Vince Flynn wrote some political thrillers that were good reads for travel or the beach.  A Twin Cities native (I think) and a graduate of St. Thomas.  Cancer at age 47. 

James Gandolfini was an actor who came to fame in the HBO series, The Sopranos (which I never watched).  He played a lot of "heavies" in different movies, and was that classic "character actor" who could carry off a supporting role in various military, cops-n-robbers, or other dramatic flicks.  At age 51, of a heart problem, I guess.

Both of these guys would be considered very successful in their respective trades.  And both are now part of history.  At very young ages.  Live life, folks.  Its a gift.

Looks like a good day here.  Make it a good one in your world.

BCOT

Tuesday

This took a little more effort than I could muster last night.  I'm thinking that this may have been shot at Adventureland in the Summer of 1987...but that's just a guess based on 4's age.

More later.

BCOT

Monday

The new Home Page pic is courtesy of my pal Ron who is now into a second week of a three week tour of Europe.  He and spouse Jane spent last week on golf courses in Ireland.  They emailed this pic to me, so I'm not sure if it is an iPhone product or from a point-and-shoot digi.  Nice landscape regardless.

When 2 was over last night for our Father's Day BBQ, she mentioned that several families in the extended family had posted pics to commemorate the day.  I don't have any of the "oldies but goodies" on this computer, so this one from just a few years ago will have to do.  I might try to get one from an earlier era this evening.

My corkscrew supply grew by one on my trip to PHX.  I was unable to locate my traveler waiter's key when I packed to leave, so I knew that I would be needing one when I did my shopping at the Total Wine & Spirits place in Scottsdale.  Since their cheap waiter's key option had a small blade (that I knew wouldn't make it through Security), I went with the cheapo version ($4) of the traditional handled corkscrew.  I put it in full view in a tub with my belt and shoes yesterday morning, and Security didn't even pick it up for inspection.

The fact that paying for a premium seat on an airplane gets you into Group 1 registered with my psyche.  I think the "exit row" seats were maybe $15 for each of the two segments that I made the expenditure, and not only did it give me the extra leg-room, it allowed me to get to my seat before the bag ladies, backpackers and assorted carry-on-ers stuffed the overhead bins.  But $15 extra is about my limit. 

Maybe a little more here this evening.

BCOT

Sunday

I'm giving this a shot this morning from the gate area at Sky Harbor.

I gave serious thought to going back out of the concourse, knowing that I would have to do Security again, to get a decent cup of coffee. The convenient Starbucks location near my hotel was blocked off from my direction by some early morning road construction, and my route to the airport didn't include a SB shop (that I could see). I passed on the in-airport SB shop in the general area before Security thinking that there would have to be another spot in the concourse. Wrong.

When I asked the girl behind the counter at the deli that was open near my gate what my coffee options were, she laughed and said, "Regular or decaf!" The taste of her "regular" option reminds me of the stuff that comes out of the automated machines in the basement at the court house or the DMV waiting room.

Moving on...

First and foremost, Happy Father's Day to all the dad's out there. Make it a great day.




3 and I will do a little celebration on the driveway on Maplecrest after I get back this afternoon. (I'll be glad to do stuff outside in a place where evening temperatures are less than triple digits!)

The rental car that I had this weekend was a two-door Nissan coupe of some sort. Not a bad car, but not much room...and one of the smallest trunks I've ever seen in a rental car. I suppose that this vehicle is a distant relative to my Datsun 240Z that was my first-ever new car (that I bought for $3,900) in November of 1971.




That was one fun little car. Two-seater. Hardly any room in the rear cargo space. I think a five-speed, manual transmission. I guess all young men go through a sports car phase. In relative terms, mine was a cheap date.

This trip did confirm the reality that elective travel to PHX between April and October is not recommended. I mean, I get that message about it being "dry" heat, but so is an oven. The early morning isn't bad, and once the sun goes down its tolerable, but you really need to stay inside while the sun is out. It's a different life.

The local news stations were all talking about the start of the "monsoon" season this weekend in Arizona. A check of wiki can give you all you might want to know about this "season", but basically, it's the Summer storm season. They get weather in the Summer, largely the result of prevailing winds shifting from the North and West to the South and East. This brings in the moisture from the Gulf, that mixes with the dry heat, and whalaah...storms!




I remember my friends talking about the monsoon back in the '80's when I was really naive about, basically, everything. I thought that they were just giving their own little private spin on the tendency to get some some weather. But the local culture has the monsoon as a recurring annual phenomena.

Ok. Enough for this AM. Make it a great Sunday. A special "hey" to the fam celebrating Father's Day on Harvest Path.

BCOT

Friday

I'm starting Friday from a Starbucks location near my hotel. The great thing about the first day when traveling West is that your body-clock is still on Midwest time, so you have lots of time to kill before business starts in The Valley of the Sun. Sitting outside in the shade. For 86 degrees, it doesn't feel too bad. The high today is supposed to be 106. Probably not going to be sitting outside for cocktails this afternoon.

This trip has now become one of "those" trips. Things are not proceeding like a well-oiled machine. The list so far:

1. Airline ticket snafu noted previously.
2. Hertz reservation wasn't posted on the Gold Club board on arrival last night. The agents kept insisting that I hadn't signed in properly, but I'm pretty sure that I did, and that there was a protocol thing when the website asked me to update my profile after I had reserved the car. Whatever. No big problem, just an unexpected wrinkle.
3. Hotel reservation for King bed was a bust. The only rooms available at check-in we're double beds.
4. The pre-pay hotel deal" was too good to be true. There was the matter of the $18/day "resort fee" that was not included in the pre-pay agreement. Shock.
5. My packing of my electric tooth brush was a great idea. Failing to include the brush-head for it in my kit not so much so.
6. Those charger adapters with a cord with a USB connection are handy. Leaving the plug-head in an airport electric socket defeats the effectiveness of the charging cord.
7. Leaving client materials on my desk that I had set out to bring along makes meeting prep somewhat meaningless.

So I am officially going into a "prevent" defense for the rest of the trip. Murphy seems to be my companion. Let's see if I can keep him in the background.

And I keep saying, "It's DRY heat."

More later .

BCOT




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Thursday

I'm just going to toss up a few lines here at ORD before my departure for PHX. The airport is busy, but not like a Friday night. I did a Chicago dog for dinner in the Food Court. Not even as good as a Chicago dog at the Waterfront Deli in Bettendorf.
I had a couple of short emails today from my pal Ron who is with his wife Jane on vacation in Europe. They're spending this first week in Ireland on the golf course. This pic was attached to his email. Pretty cool.




This trip to PHX reminds me of one from the mid-80's with my pals Pete and Jake when we drove from Phoenix to Tuscon and back. When we stopped at an Interstate rest stop along the way, I remember making indentations in the melting-hot asphalt as I walked to and from the car. (The status board here says that it's 104 in PHX now. Suite!!!)
I'm pretty sure that the most irritating people in the airport are those conducting extended, one-sided phone calls on their mobile phones. I really struggle to care about reports to home about a person's dinner from the night before, or the inconsiderate gate agent who made them check a bag. Get over it, people!
Now boarded. I seem to have paid-up for an exit row seat...which does have some decent room. A middle seat, but as I recall, that's why I bought the exit row. (It also got me in Group 1 for boarding...a nice feature.)
The fam has some fff this weekend up in Woodbury. Good to see 4 get


away from The Big Apple for a change of scenery. I'm betting 1.01 and 1.02 will be all over her.
So I will try to add some here from the road. Thanks for reading.
BCOT

Wednesday

Not sure what happened to Monday and Tuesday.  Visits from The Winniferous always disrupt my routines.  I am officially a hermit.

According to my basement calendars, 4 was moving to Lincoln in this time frame four years ago.  You've come a long way, Baby!  You are Daughter of the Day!

I guess I'm going to go through an upgrade on my iPhone.  My device is starting to act a little erratic, and my status with Verizon has me eligible for a change at 1/2 price for the new phone.  I think that the normal wear and tear on the phone tweaks the efficiency over the course of a couple of years.  Dropping it a couple of times a week, spilling coffee on it occasionally, and just handling it constantly on a daily basis has to drive down the effective operation of the unit.  (Besides glasses and your phone, what do you use everyday as part of your "person"?)

I've lost count of how many mobile phones I've owned since my first acquisition of a truck phone in the mid '80's.  (As contrasted to a car phone which was most people's first mobile phone.)  I'm guessing that I'm easily into double digits.  Each "new" one seems to be able to do so much more than the earlier iteration.  Of all the phones that I have owned, only the HTC Touch was a true POS.  That unit was totally worthless.

The Dodgers and Diamondbacks went to the mat last night in a full-blown bench-clearing brawl set off by a hit batter and the subsequent retaliation..and then the re-retaliation.  The stories this AM focus on the coaches who got involved in the melee (McGuire, Mattingly, Trammel, Gibson and Williams) and their influence on the younger players.  My take is that a key Dodger got hit without premeditation, but that the the Diamondbacks needed to stay one ahead after the Dodgers plunked a Diamondback to even the score.  Unwritten rules are hard to understand at times.

Baseball and NASCAR are related on this issue in the sense that teams and drivers have a thick book of unwritten rules that involve retribution.  Baseball has not only the throwing-at-the-batter action, but also the hard slide as a means to deliver messages.  NASCAR's favorite is the bump-n-run, or my personal fav, "puttin 'em into the wall." 

In other sports, this kind of thing is more frowned upon and clear steps are usually taken to keep it out of the game.  Funny how baseball keeps the tradition.  I guess football has payback plays as well, but many of them are handled in "the pile", or at least away from the ball.  Golf?  Tennis?  How can you have rivalries if there's not the opportunity to take a shot at the opponent?

Lots to do today and tomorrow.  I head to the desert (PHX) tomorrow afternoon for a couple of days, coming back Sunday afternoon.

Make it a Good Wednesday.

BCOT

Sunday

I survived the Member-Guest golf event down at Geneva, but it was a long two days.  You play 27 holes on Friday, and then another 18 on Saturday.  (If you have the misfortune to win your flight through those 45 holes, you have more golf Saturday afternoon in the play-off.)  For someone who might play twice a week (and that only occasionally), this tournament is all you want (and more).

My guest Rick and I didn't embarrass ourselves, and didn't come close to winning anything.  Rick isn't a long-hitter and Geneva isn't a course that is kind to someone who doesn't hit a good tee shot.  I kept us in most holes, but my putter went cold, so we were always just trying to tie the other teams.  Whatever.  It was a good social event.

This is also TOMRV weekend (Bettendorf to Dubuque on Saturday...and then back on Sunday).  I elected early on this Spring to forego the cycling trip this year, not only because of the conflict with the golf at Geneva, but also because I knew I was way behind on my bike training.  You could tell that the cyclists were in town Friday night with the bikes on racks on lots of cars at Hy Vee.  Can't say that I lost much sleep last night knowing that I had missed that 85-mile grind to Galena.  They'll have the ride next year, right?

They have changed bar managers down at Geneva due to the previous guy taking a "real" job with a local agricultural services/products company.  It was a good move for him, things like job growth in the future and full benefits.  The assistant got the promotion to run the bar.  Wine pricing under the new system became an issue with the first bottle I bought last week.  Let's just say that they set the price of that Jack London Cabernet (that they stock at my request) at a substantial premium over the menu price at the Blackhawk Hotel lobby bar...and you know those lobby bar prices!

I spoke with the Club Manager the next day and got the corporate song-and-dance about "the Board this...and the Board that..." And profit margins yada yada yada.  Whatever.  I subsequently talked with the head dining room hostess (who has been around there a long time) and she said that the Powers That Be had raised all of the wine prices.  The cheap Camus Cab (in contrast to the Select Cab) which had been on the wine list at $110 has gone to $150.  Like I'll be ordering a couple of those bottles soon!  I told the Club Manager that he could do his profit-margin-pricing formula and simply price the higher-end wine crowd out of his captive market.  There are other places to go to drink nice wine.

This wine-pricing study is not all that different from the debate in DC about taxing the rich.  I mean, the rich can afford to pay more taxes, and the country needs more revenue...ergo, raise the price of wine!  Except I might go pay my shekels at at a location where the price of freight is a little lower.  Do ya' think Nancy Pelosi would get that comparison?

I'm not sure on where I fall on this latest NSA revelation.  The fact that the government is spying on each of us doesn't surprise me.  The legal justification is absolutely BS.  This is another case of the cover-up being more of the problem than the crime itself.  I mean, Google has probably got my DNA coded on this laptop.  The airlines know my preferences.  I'm on so much film that a flunky private eye could trace my steps everyday from the comfort of his couch. 

Hmmm.  Where will the MSM come up with the cover for The One?  Well, that's a lay-up...it's Bush's fault!!

I'm doing some BBQ this evening.  I'll report those results on Twitter.

Have a good week.  Thanks for reading.

BCOT

Thursday

It seems like we were commemorating D-Day not that long ago.  Where has the last year gone?

I note that my wall calendar here at the office does not carry any recognition of D-Day for today.  (There was a small-print notation that yesterday was "World Environment Day".)  59 years is a long time to keep remembering, I guess.  We'll keep the torch lit here at 4000 Days.

A relatively small item in the sports pages this week has been the reneging of an ND football recruit from a previously signed National Letter of Intent (NLI).  The kid is a 300+ pound, 5-Star lineman from California who was/is one of the top seniors in this year's class and he had all the big schools after him.  He had vacillated several times before making his ND choice.  Now he has backed-out of the ND commitment and is headed to UCLA.

ND's Coach Brian Kelly has refused to release the kid from his NLI which means that he loses a year of eligibility at UCLA.  Critics suggest that ND (and Kelly in particular) are treating the player unfairly by digging in their heals on the NLI clearance.  Don't coaches leave schools in the lurch all the time for other coaching gigs at other schools for their own benefit?  It does seem like a double standard. 

On the other hand, schools shape their recruiting classes based on needs, and there's always the reality that one kid might not choose a school if it seems like a school already have other recruits slotted in for his position.  Plus, if it seems like a big rival (USC?) is in the mix, schools (and coaches) don't like to be unnecessarily cooperative in this kind of a change.  Welcome to the dark world of the NCAA.

I probably won't get back here until at least Saturday evening.  Lots of golf in the Geneva Member-Guest event between now and then.  In looking back, my golf history started my senior year of high school when I joined our golf team for the Spring season.  1967.  I had to borrow clubs from my girlfriend's dad, and it wasn't pretty.  I remember hitting practice balls in the field by the house on the farm.  The cows were not impressed.  Given the length of time that it takes to play 18 holes, the 6000 yards or so of average course length, and the many courses that I have played over the years, there's probably some scary numbers that you could compute on how much of my life has been spent chasing a little white ball.  Hmmm.

Finally, the 24 team and Hendrick Motor Sports have announced a further extension with a primary sponsor..Axalta Coating Systems (formerly DuPont Automotive Finishes).  Dupont sold off this division and it has been rebranded under the Axalta name.  The new paint-scheme looks a lot like the old one...with just a different name.  Gordon was on CNBC this AM, being interviewed by Carl Quintanilla on the floor of the exchange.  A confluence of one of my favorite sports with my business.  Very cool.

Make it a Good Thursday.

BCOT

Tuesday

We've had two pretty nice days, but the clouds are rolling in this evening.  Like we need more rain.

I made the classic mistake last night of rolling through a "Stop" sign in front of a parked, but occupied, police car.  A block from my house.  In Margret.  As I cruised passed their car, I saw it make a three-point U-turn and follow me...into my driveway.  I stepped out to greet the two of them, and was told, very seriously, to return to my vehicle.  Which I did, and pulled out my license and registration in anticipation of their request.

Long story short...they took pity on me, liked my ride...and gave me a warning.  Mostly, I think they thought I was pretty dumb to roll the "Stop" sign right in front of them.  Which I was.

My top ten list of Police Stoppages (with me behind the wheel):

1.  Speeding on the way out of Ottumwa on the day of Mother's funeral.  Not too smart, but I was too proud to play the, "I was at my Mother's funeral" card.
2.  Video ticket for running a red light 5-6 years ago while on the way to cheer 2 in the St. Paddy's Day 5K.  I tried to fight the video, but pictures don't lie.  My special circumstances position didn't fly.
3.  Speeding out of Muscatine a couple years back.  Arguing with the "county-mountie" on the posted speed, and losing.  But getting a warning because I had all the right answers.
4.  Speeding on the Interstate near Annapolis, Maryland when going home to Dover AFB after a weekend in DC.  Got off on that one too...for being a nice clean-cut Lt in the USAF!
5.  Speeding on Highway 22 (I think) while coming home from seeing Mother...maybe 20 years ago.  Was that 3 with me?  No defense and the trooper had no sympathy.
6.   Making a left turn on North Brady Street Davenport in the little blue Ranger...circa 1990...when the sign had a "No Left Turn" posted.  While sipping a Coors Light.  With at least a couple of the girls with me.  Warning from the cop (who missed the open beer).

So maybe I don't remember a full list of 10 stoppages.  I'll have to give it some more thought.

Headed out for errands.  Maybe more a little later.

BCOT

Monday

+++I just proof-read this entry, and it really isn't all that note-worthy.  I really need to get back to that Tomah story and find some ideas worth writing about.+++

My weekend wasn't that exciting, but I found myself otherwise occupied most of the time, leaving blank pages here.  Golf, basement re-hab, and other home maintenance were all big parts of the program.  A little wine to thin out the veins.  This pic was on Twitter on Friday night.  Let's give 2 the Daughter of the Day distinction for being such a good party host this weekend!

I played golf both weekend days to get an idea of my swing as we have the major golf function of the Summer this Friday and Saturday at Geneva.  Most country clubs have an event called Member-Guest each year to allow members to bring in a friend for a two-day tournament that is mostly social, with a little competition on the side.  There's plenty of food and drink, 45 holes of golf, and lots of conversation.  If the weather cooperates, its always a good time.

My goal at any Member-Guest tournament is to not embarrass myself.  Since I haven't played much golf this year, time is short to find a swing that can keep the ball in play.  This is especially true right now as the grass in most "rough" areas is high and thick.  Even if you can find a ball that is hit into one of these spots, getting a club on it becomes a challenge.  Maybe the course staff can get the mowers out more this week if the rain stays away.  I may try to get some more practice in this week before Friday.

The word on the BEATER is not great.  I took it to the repair shop last week and the report is that it could be $2-3K to get all the the oil leaks stopped.  Seals tend to wear out, and the car is around 13 years old.  But my perspective on this is to keep putting oil in the engine, be careful not to get too far away from home, and squeeze out another year or two of commuting miles from the car.  Its not a death notice, but the reality is that we're talking about a relatively short life-line.

They had a running road-race on Saturday that came down Maplecrest as part of the route.  It was a 5K charity race called "Color the Quads" in which the runners go through several stations where they are sprayed with corn starch (non-permanent) paint of some sort.  By the time they came past my place, they had been "colored" several times.  The race was "sold-out" at 3,400 runners, which makes it one of the largest local races in any year.

I'm not sure if I really "get" the point of the color-race concept other than that is just different from most races.  (1 will be glad to know that the organizers were the Fick sisters and their family's real estate firm.)  The race got lots of corporate support and had plenty of "goodies" and a big post-race party.  There are races every weekend that might get 300-500 runners.  Getting 3,400 in a first year event is a home run. 

I had another incidence of Its a Small World this morning.  Turns out that a guy about my age whom I see at coffee almost every morning is from Hedrick, Iowa (just North of Ottumwa).  And he had a sister (whom I believe is deceased) who was the librarian at BGM High School.  And he regularly visited her in Brooklyn, immediately recounting the roads to get there, including the gravel stretch just past Delta.  I'll get a name next time for Aunt Martha to confirm the connection.

And in health news, I had my pulmonary-function/appointment on Friday afternoon, and the results were "normal".  This is good news, as I had some concern that the pneumonia might have led to lower test scores.  (One of the oddest things about the appointment was that while waiting between the lab test and seeing the pulmonologist, I sat in the reception area with my general practice physician who was there to see another doc.  I got more pratical information sitting with him for that time than I ever had in my annual check-ups...at no additional fee!)

So a busy start to the week here and then golf to close the week.