Sunday

I made a brief appearance on RAGBRAI yesterday. After my normal weekend ride to DeWitt for breakfast, I returned on one of my regular routes that just happened to be part of the RAGBRAI route...for five miles. I was on that segment around 9:30 AM, and it was thick with riders then, even though that location placed the riders within 10 miles of the end of the ride. The stipulated distance for the day was 53 miles, so those folks go up early to get done early.

2's Saturday night bachelorette party was an apparent success. I was drafted to man the grill, and concluded after-the-fact that I actually needed a second grill. My results were OK, just not up to my standards. It made me think of those monster-grills at Lowes or The Home Depot that are the equivalent of a full kitchen for the patio. I like to grill, but if I had one of those things, it would sit idle most of the time. I mean, I live by myself!

The Tour ended today. A Spaniard on the CSC team won. American Christian Vande Veld finished 5th.

Speaking of Spaniards, and Americans, is there a rule of grammar that stipulates whether a native of a particular state or country is an "iard, ian, man, or er"? An Englishman. A Canadian. A New Yorker. A Floridian. A Frenchman. A Dane. A Swede. Some nerd has probably written his thesis on the topic.

Before I am strung up as a sexist, I offer that the same question applies to natives of the female gender. Although does that point even come into play except where the designation is "man"?

See this link to a local hack who is several years behind on ideas:

http://www.qctimes.com/articles/2008/07/27/opinion/columnists/bill_wundram/doc48895408bcf90962488212.txt