Sunday

Congrats to 1.1 for a marathon p.r. up in Minneapolis this AM. You 'da man!!

My pal Pete and I did a ride to DeWitte for breakfast. It was a Top One day! (I don't think that it could get any better unless there was a tailwind each way!)

I'm headed over to 2's to help with some yard work.

More later.

BCOT

Friday

A little lunch with 4 at Golick's. Hard to beat. Especially with Margret as transportation.

My recollection of my post-graduation Summer is a bit sketchy. I know that I came back to Iowa for a week or two. Then I drove South and visited my senior-year St. Mary's, Cajun-French girlfriend in New Orleans for a week. (That went well, but I don't think that we saw much of each other after that trip. An early chapter in my history of unreliability.)

Then it was back to Iowa before an early July reporting date with the USAF in Wichita Falls, Texas for three months of Transportation Officer training. I lived in a sparsely furnished base dorm called the BOQ (Bachelor Officer's Quarters). Not unlike a motel suite. Upon completion of the training, I'm pretty sure that I drove back to Iowa (in the original Margret), and then on to Dover, Delaware in September for my first assigned duty.

At Dover, I again checked into the BOQ before learning the local lay-of-the-land. Within a few weeks, I moved in to share a two-bedroom apartment off-base with another Lieutenant who worked my same job with another crew on a different shift. Very basic living with tacky furniture and Wal Mart-quality utensils, appliances and window treatments. Then again, we were two guys with no lives, no families close-by, and little money.

I survived two years in that situation in Dover. And another 14 months in the similarly, plushly furnished BOQ in Kunsan, Korea.

(Just remembered. We had Polish cleaning ladies in the dorms at ND. And Korean cleaning ladies in Kunsan. Turns out that I have a bit of a history with International cleaning ladies.)

I'm betting that 4 will do just fine with her adventure in Lincoln.

Have a great weekend.

BCOT

Thursday

Another night with expectations to mow the yard. Another night doing other things. I guess the hardware store was just funning with me when they called last week and said that they were ready to do the tune-up on my machine. It just wouldn't be right if you took a mower in and they fixed it in a couple of days. Seinfeld wouldn't have anything to talk about.

Among the other things signified by Memorial Day is the start of Road Construction Season here in the Midwest. Our area here is heavily dependent on movement back-and-forth across the Mississippi River. There are five bridges that span the river, and rarely are they all fully open. While the commuting times don't rival the two hour ones from my C-town history, an extra 15-20 minutes to move from state to state is common. At times, it almost seems that the Road Maintenance schedulers are in cahoots with one another.

More tomorrow.

BCOT

Wednesday

4 made it official today and signed her employment contract as a news producer with the TV station in Lincoln, Nebraska. She starts July 6th. Lots to do between now and then to get ready for Real Life 101. The fam is proud of you, Kiddo!

My Sometimer's surfaced tonight when I headed home to do a quick mowing of my yard before dark. I stopped and picked up some of the big yard-waste bags and the associated pick-up stickers. Since garbage day is tomorrow and having figured that catching the clippings from a slightly damp lawn made good sense, my plan was coming together. I got home, changed to work clothes, and opened the garage to get started. One problem: no mower. I had taken it in for a tune-up Saturday morning. And forgot to pick it up.

Turns out that it's a good night for blogging.

I've had a few texts from my Pal Roy's IPhone. He's staying at a freak'n Five Star Fairmont at the foot of Mt. Kenya!! With a golf course!!! I think that using the term "safari" may be a bit misleading.

Here's a little philosophical exercise for all (ten) of my readers; list your Top 25 Days in your lifetime. The idea originated last week when 4 graduated from from Iowa. For me, that was definitely a Top 25 Day. They don't necessarily have to be happy days to make the grade. Others on my list would include:

1. ND graduation, May 1971. I still remember sharing it with Mother and Daddy.
2. Iowa High School b-ball quarterfinals, March 1967. DM's Vets Auditorium. A huge victory.
3. 1 and 1.1's wedding, July 2007. TC. Has there ever been a better party?
4. ACL surgery, April 1989. End of my b-ball career. Hello bike!
5. The move from C-town to Davenport, August 1980. A clean slate.

It's a good exercise, and requires each person to define their own criteria.

Have a great day.

BCOT

Monday

Happy birthday to 1!! She is Daughter of the Day. She needs to enjoy her last year in her 20's!

My pal Pete and I did 30 out to the Eldridge Hardie's this AM. Can't say that I feel all that strong at this point. With TOMRV now just 18 days away, my prospects for being in good form for 85 miles is marginal.

I also got over to Arsenal Island for the Memorial Day program. No flower drop any more. And they no longer allow you to park your car even remotely close to the ceremony area. And the bus system is a little short on organization. Whatever. It is the government. I look forward to their operation of GM.

Here's another deep topic of conversation. When you are out on the road on your bike, you always shift down to an easier gear when you head up a hill and the going gets tougher. In contrast, in spin class, the instructor is always telling (yelling at?) you to "grab another gear" to simulate a harder climb. So if the reality of the road is that you shift to an easier gear, is spin class a little like photography where the lens reverses the view? It's a thought.

Maybe more later.

BCOT

Sunday

Well, it's been a few days, and I have no great excuse. Just busy and knowing that my five readers have all been on the move too.

Happy Tax Birthday to 1.

4 has received a firm offer for a job at a TV station in Lincoln, Nebraska. Not many details at this point, but it is full time, with benefits. Starting after July 4th.

And what is giveth, is also taken away. 1 will be looking for another position for the Fall term.

3 gets noted for attending baseball at Yankee Stadium on Saturday, and Fenway Park today. With 1, 1.1 and 2 at the Twins' game last night, over half the fam was contributing to MLB's economy on the same day. Suite!

A little yard work here today. After SB's, exercises and spin.

Anybody ever come up with observations about daily activities and the non-elective music in the background? The concept occurred to me while sitting in the dentist's chair last week. And without any deep thinking, I could name several other places where music was a constant; SB's, Gold's, very places at the mall, and most bars. There's got to be some psychology involved with this whole idea. Not to mention the variety when you are put on "hold" on the phone.

I remember being solicited by some Muzack competitor when we were equiping our new building 20 years ago.

Who can forget the commercial, "Is it real, or is it Memorex"? (Not sure if that is germane to the point.)

Anyway, Gold's has it a bit louder and with a beat. SB's likes to think it has an eclectic mix. And the dentist wants to put you to sleep.

Back to the yard work.

BCOT

Thursday

I've been off-line due to another virus on the lap-top. The latest one precluded me from even logging-on. I'm suspicious that it may have been embedded from the last go-around.

Busy times here in catching up after the graduation weekend. And I go in this morning to complete a root canal that has made day-to-day life nothing short of miserable these last few days.

My pal Roy heads out today for a 10 day trip to Kenya. He got carried away last Fall at a fund raiser for the local zoo, and the next thing he knew, he was the proud owner of a safari for two.

So maybe I'll be able to find some rhythm to my entries this weekend. Hope so.

BCOT

Monday

Here's a little shout out to 2 as Daughter of the Day!. Happy Birthday, kiddo.

More later.

BCOT

Sunday

Here are a couple more pics from graduation. I guess that it is appropriate to name 4 Daughter of the Day.

Dinner at Biaggi's last night was a big success. Good food. Good wine. Good FFF.


Departure day for everyone today. The next gathering looks like StL in late June for baseball at the new Busch Stadium.


Among other challenges for myself this past weekend was the small matter of a root canal on Thursday morning. I'm still dealing with it. Tough stuff. Another Vicodin prescription.

Will normal return this week?

BCOT

Saturday

This is one of those days of a lifetime. Iowa City with the full fam. At Carver Hawkeye Arena for 4's college graduation. She has already come across the stage and received her recognition.

The pics are from yesterday and last night. More to follow.

BCOT

Tuesday

I'd like to go to Tahoe too. Except I am saving my shekels for Italia.

RCL day today. It's a good day.

I've made another camera purchase. This time, a cell-phone-size Fujifilm digital that I bought specifically for biking. And Italia. Here's a couple of the first pics on it. Margret in the driveway. My pal Roy at coffee. And Mom hard at it at her desk.

I'm still trying to figure out the camera's functions. It may be a full Summer's job. Among other things, it's waterproof and has a 3x zoom. Cool. It has a disk with the Owner's Manual. One downside; the rechargeable battery is a $45 replacement! Ouch. A spare for the road is a bit pricey.

The personal trainer expenses are some of the best dollars that I have spent in recent years. The program that she has designed is already showing some positive results. Now I need stay with it and keep the progress going. For a life-long jock, it's pretty humbling to accept the fact that you have no strength in your core muscles. Another session in the AM.

As an FFF Alert, I purchased a case of smooth Cabernet yesterday for the weekend. Get here quick. I've already opened number two!

Enough for tonight. Not all that creative. But the camera is a big deal.

BCOT

Sunday

This image is Mom's choice for her recognition on Mother's Day, as Mother of the Day. She and 2 made some priceless purchases, including this one, at the Beaux Arts Fair yesterday.

I'm not sure if the three of us being in the same location constitutes FFF, but it was the closest thing to it for today.

Margret was the transportation method for the day.

Looking forward to The Gathering of the Clan this week. I've enjoyed telling friends and acquaintances that the last of my four daughters will be graduating from college this month. My long-practiced mental gymnastics of four girls times four years of college each is rapidly coming to a conclusion. Thank goodness.

(Three more weddings is a different order of math.)

Hope everyone has a great week.

BCOT

Saturday

Sitting in O'Hare. Waiting for my connection to Moline.

Commercial air travel is a true pain in the butt. And the trip thus far has not been anything out of the ordinary. But I was up at 0430 local in PHX. Did the rental car return to the separate facility outside Sky Harbor. Rode the shuttle to the terminal. The wrong terminal. Although mine was a United reservation, the PHX - ORD leg of today's journey was to be on a U.S. Airways flight. Say what?

But after another shuttle ride to the correct terminal, I got checked in with no problem. The SB's counter was too tempting to pass up, and I bought my Americano right before going through security, so I had to sit down and read the paper there before heading to the gate. But no problem. And I got lucky with seat assignment and moved to an exit-row aisle seat in the half-full plane, which made the trip almost tolerable.

Just had a Chicago-style hot dog right here in Chicago. Imagine that. Unfortunately, it was a poor imitation of a Chicago-style hot dog. How ironic.

RevKev and 1 are showing a little snootiness with their Wally World stories. Maybe too many lattes and designer jeans? Not that I don't have my own WM tales. But at 0630 on Sunday's, I don't run into too many folks.

More later.

BCOT

Friday PM

Another warm day in the Valley of the Sun.

Here's a nice little story from last night. I stopped at a Safeway after the program yesterday to pick up some snacks and a bottle of wine. It was a modern store and had all the departments. There was a good selection of wines and I selected a Liberty School and one other for my stay. It took me a little longer to find a few other things in the store.

I had forgotten about Safeway's "club"membership program to get the best prices. We had encountered it at Tahoe when we were stocking food at the retro condo. The store's standard prices without the membership card make you cringe. But in this case, I was/am only making that single visit, so I wasn't inclined to fill out the paperwork to get the discounts.

While in the checkout line, a mother with two little girls came in behind me. One of the girls reached for a separating bar laying on the other side of the moving surface, but she couldn't quite reach it. So I moved it just enough so that she could grab it and position it to separate their purchases from mine in the order of things. And the mom nudged her with the gentle reminder, "And what do you say?" And the little girl dutifully responds, "Thank you."

So the cashier starts ringing me up and, having already decided that I wasn't in the market for a Safeway card, I idly asked about the whys and wherefores of club membership just to make conversation. It only took him a few seconds to pass my purchases through the scanner, and he was responding to my question as he hit "total". As he was offering to make me a card member, the mom reached over, punched in a number in the key board and said, "Please, use mine."

On a $45 bill the card saved $8.50. 20%. That's significant.

Two observations: 1) Safeway has to make millions per year on non-card purchases. I think that that is technically called a rip-off. 2) And much more importantly, a very small gesture on my part was immediately, spontaneously and graciously returned. I'll remember that little exchange much longer from this trip to PHX than anything I have heard at this conference.

Hope everyone has a good weekend.

BCOT

Thursday PM

Afternoon sessions. Glad I have the computer.

The speaker in this hour is a LA attorney who has carved out quite a niche f0r himself in the Employee Benefits marketplace as "the outside expert". I've been at conferences as far as 15 years ago where he has been on the program. The sponsor of this seminar is probably the 5th or 6th different organization who has used this guy to bulk-up the faculty list.

Not to say that he isn't competent. To the contrary, he definitely knows his stuff. But the shtick hasn't varied regardless of the audience (and regardless of the specific topic) and he basically tells the attendees, 1) If you don't adhere to this particular procedure or regulation, you're screwed; 2) If your client doesn't follow the rules, you're screwed; 3) In almost all cases, whether it be a case of commission or omission, you're screwed.

I always come away from his presentations wanting to become a Wal Mart greeter.

Will add more later.

BCOT

Thursday AM

1 gets a Daughter of the Day nod for making a visitation yesterday in St. Paul for a long-time tax client of mine who passed away earlier this week. It was meaningful to me to have a representative at the event, and I'm sure that it meant a lot to the family. You 'da girl!!

Long day yesterday. I'm beginning to get a little concerned about the potential discomfort level on the flight to Italy. I don't do well in a confined space for a long period of time.

I should finally be able to spend some time on the blog later today. I've missed it.

BCOT

Monday Night

Really don't have much to add tonight except to explain my absence over the last week.

Just have had a full plate. Very busy weekend. Lots of scheduled activities out of the house. Did have that chance to see 4 in IC last night.

Short week this week. But the pattern is full. PHX on Wednesday for a conference. Get back Saturday night. Flying commercial, and in coach with the common folk to boot.

Given the amount of stuff that needs to be handled before Wednesday noon, the next entry from me will likely be Wednesday night or Thursday morning from The Valley of the Sun. Guest entries are welcome.

BCOT

Monday

Iowa City last night for Airliner pizza. Cool!

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Congrats to 1.1 on completing the Pittsburgh Marathon yesterday. You 'da man!

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More later.

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BCOT