Monday

So I mowed my yard for the first time of the Spring tonight after work. This isn't it. Actually, mine looks pretty good, but it can always use work. The current biggest annoyances for me are last year's leaves from my neighbors' large, mature pin oak tree. It's one thing to rake your own leaves. It's another to rake (and rake again) someone else's.

In economic news, Hy Vee is now stocking a store-brand competitor to Gatorade at about a 45% discount to the name brand. It's not bad, and the price is right, a 32 ounce bottle for $0.77. My guess is that if they can gain some share, they'll raise the price by a quarter. (I'm wondering if they had any covenants with Gatorade on shelf space that came into play?)

In other economic news, my pal Bill's son totaled his car Saturday morning on Devil's Glen, right after pulling out of Hy Vee. Another car had pulled out of Burger King across the street, at the same time, heading in the opposite direction, and Boom-Boom. The traffic flow in that area is primed for accidents. Lot's of non-traffic-lighted entry/exit points. The old, looking left-right-left, doesn't cut it if that other vehicle enters the road the instant after your first look to the left.

My pal Roy is evaluating internal accounting controls at his new golf club. His concern is that cash may not always make it into the register. Any business that deals in cash, like restaurants, bars and clubs, needs to be very careful with cash management. And with Roy being mostly an absentee owner, he needs to employ very reliable staff. We'll see.

Good luck to 2 on her final tomorrow in IC.

I see where Lance broke three hours today at Boston. I'm sure that he does a lot of that on pure talent. I doubt that he follows the recommended training regimen . (I also see where he resigned from some Director position recently that had paid him $70K, and he had never been to a single meeting. Nice work if you can get it.)

My pal Terry (Sarah's dad), the guy who had the cycling accident last Fall, had another spill recently and had to go in for X-rays. Nothing broken, but his hand is still swollen. Us old guys need to stay off the deck, or bad things happen.

I opted to avoid the Monday Night Ride tonight. Maybe later in May after I've built up some legs. I could just do Monday beers at Gov's in the meantime.

So have a good evening.

BCOT