Saturday

A little Saturday afternoon action at SB's.

I'm meeting my pal Roy for din-din, and then a trip over to Augie for the first home basketball game of the season. The defending D-III champ is in town. They've had a re-hab of the Augie gym over the Summer. The building is named after Roy's dad who contributed the money for the original construction 25-30 years ago. I'll take some pics for posting tomorrow.

The shoppers are getting a head start this afternoon on next Friday's official launch of the holiday shopping season. 53rd street was in gridlock at the light to the theaters. Duck Creek parking is a joke. There is a recession going on, right?

The local holiday season event called the Festival of Trees kicked off today with a parade in downtown Davenport. They usually have 12-15 large helium-filled character balloons like this one to give the parade a bit of distinction. I've never been down to watch it. 2 over sees a function at the museum during the parade that allows guests to view the parade from the comfort of an inside perch. I suppose if they did this when the girls were little I may have made the effort for their benefit. Or not.

I did 5.3 miles today just to give myself the knowledge that I in fact could do 5 miles come Thursday. (1 did 16, but my motor has gone way beyond warranty.) My route ended with the last 1.2 into a southerly breeze that reminded me that it was not July anymore. My goal of under 60 minutes remains realistic.

I'm thinking that "running my age" in each year's Turkey Trot may be an acceptable parameter for the next few years, particularly since I dislike running so much. This method gives me the built-in measuring stick that allows me to exceed the one hour limit without abandoning a goal that requires a lot of effort.

In golf, "shooting one's age" is considered quite an accomplishment for most retirees. Consider that most of these guys are in their sixties and seventies (with an occasional eighty year old tossed in), so 75 for a 75 year old would be a real good score, even if he used the ladies tees.

Minnesota lost to ND in women's soccer last night 1-0 in OT on a penalty kick. Ouch.

They had to plow a foot of snow off the field in order to play the game. South Bend is susceptible to "lake-effect" snow that rolls off of Lake Michigan. (I may have reported here or elsewhere in the past a tongue-in-cheek "river-effect" snow coming off the Mississippi. That phenomena does not exist.) Basically, you have cold winds blow across wide expanses of warmer water, pick up moisture, and then drop the resultant snow on the land just off the lake. With prevailing winds this time of year being northwesterly, South Bend is in the perfect spot for these snows. I remember it well in my previous life.

3 's in the Big Apple for the evening. 1's over in DM for the Christening of her friend's baby. 4's hoping for a win in the TC, and 2 will be over at Augie. The fam is on the move. Have fun, but...

BCOT