Sunday AM

SB's.

2 and I went to the Augie b-ball game last night. It was one of those games where you never felt comfortable, even with a big lead. And the other team did come back in the waning moments. Augie missed a bunch of free throws down the stretch. And if a desperation 3/4 court shot at the buzzer had been a little truer, we would have gone home losers. It was the kind of ending where even the Fat Lady was too exhausted to sing.

The Sunday NYT did appear on my driveway. It was there last night when we got home from the game. It is not a paper that you casually peruse in a few minutes.

The local papers report that the Krispy Kreme donut place on 53rd will be closing in the next month or two. Their donuts were always way too sweet for my tastes. The company had soaring growth a few years back, but has seen nothing but declines in more recent times. I'd like to think that their problems have had something to do with a movement toward healthier eating styles, but I suspect that the truth is more related to better marketing at Dunkin Donuts, and ineffective management. They say that a Chick-fil-A outlet will likely move into the property.

2 and I made it a point to avoid the streets immediately around the iWireless Center (formerly, The Mark) in Moline on our way to and from the the game last night. I had noticed extra traffic on the bridge heading to Illinois and had suspected that there might be a hockey game. But the added activity wasn't for hockey; the arena was hosting the Dancing With The Stars show for the evening. The review in this morning's paper said that there were over 5,000 people at the show. I don't get it. I mean who wants to watch Wayne Newton shuffle around for a few minutes and then mumble a few verses of Danke Schoen? Then again, I'm not a fan of reality shows.

In a somewhat related note (at least it is in the entertainment industry), Jay Leno is taking heat for doing his own writing for his late night show from the writers' union that is on strike. It's a little complicated because Leno is a member of the union. But Letterman, who owns his show, reached an agreement to allow his writers back on the set, and Leno simply requested a deal to exempt his own writing. The long and the short of it is that Leno has been beating Letterman in the ratings, which raise the question of the need for the writers, and the union that represents them. Ruben Navarrette Jr. has an editorial out today that covers this issue.

The parking design at this SB's is way under-engineered. It's an expensive lot, and the developers elected to put too much retail into too small of a space. The SB's drive-through stays busy and creates a low murmur of chaos most of the time. It gets real bad at noon when the Noodles restaurant crowd checks in. And there are unoccupied bays in each of the two buildings. Why would someone choose to rent here now knowing that customers would not have convenient parking? Given the finite amount of space on the site, I doubt if there is a good long-term answer.

These guys may have gone to the same school as the guys who came up with the design of the new Hy Vee parking lot at the Devils Glen store. Or the ingress-egress at the commercial lots on the corners of Jersey Ridge and 53rd. I suppose that ultimately, it all comes down to money. How do you get the maximum rental space on your development? And as far as traffic and traffic flow is concerned, well, that's the city's problem. I've always said that a contractor/developer's biggest concern once a contract has been signed with a buyer is not about taking care of that customer, but rather about getting the next contract signed.

One of the minor benefits of the new satellite arrangement is that I do get all the broadcast network channels on my basement TV (I couldn't pull in ABC or FOX previously). Which, on a day like today, means I can watch the FOX televised football game while pounding the peddles on my trainer. Which makes weekend training a little easier. And they left the HBO programming on my account, but I suspect they will see that error, or will ask me to pay for it, when the first billing cycle comes around. Regardless of how many channels come in, there is usually "nothing" on that a person wants to watch. No wonder that we spend so much time online.

My top five goals for 2008, not necessarily in order of importance:

1. Mt. Rose.
2. Read 15 books.
3. Waste less time. Grow the business. Be more like Pete.
4. Do more photography. Maybe take a class.
5. Turkey Trot. TOMRV. Maybe a day of RAGBRAI

Speaking of RAGBRAI, Crawford county, out in western Iowa, has passed a rule banning RAGBRAI from the county. This being the after-effect of a lawsuit where the county paid 3-4 hundred thousand dollars to the family of a deceased rider who fell while on the ride when it last passed through the county a couple of years ago. Now the state legislature is trying to pass a bill that would protect local governments from liabilities in such situations. Personally, I think that if you are out on the road by your own choice, you have only yourself to blame for your own messes.

Hope everyone has a good day.

BCOT