Sunday

I'm really looking forward to getting rid of February.  For the shortest month, it sure was a long one this year.

We enjoyed an all-too-brief of a visit from 3 this weekend.  She and Herky were through town on their way to a family event for Herky in IC.  We did have a small fff lunch yesterday at The 11th Street Precinct, supping on the unbreaded tenderloin.  This pic was the only decent one out of the four that I snapped on the mini-digi right after we ate.  I'm guessing that this makes 2 and 3 Daughters of the Day!

I discovered too late that the camera had been set on "Night Portrait" and I could tell that that setting was not giving me clear pics in the inside environment.  Sometimes too much technology is too much technology.

As noted from the earlier posting, the 24 car had a good day in PHX.  I've got to admit, my own enthusiasm for the sport had waned over the last couple of years when Gordon wasn't consistently competitive and Jimmy was doing all of the winnin'.  Aunt Martha will need to give us a report from Trackside Live! next weekend when the haulers take the cars to Vegas.

(4 has offered that NASCAR is in Kansas City June 3rd-5th.  Interesting idea...)

Very odd goings-on with my laptop Verizon connection.  It's been cutting out a little too regularly...like just now.  Then again, there have been storms recently, and like cell phones, weather impacts signal clarity.

Another item of good news; the Augie basketball team won their conference tournament Saturday in suburban C-town.  After taking care of business in the semis on Friday, they had an unexpectedly easy win in the championship game over the team (Illinois Wesleyan) that had beat them earlier in the week in their last regular season game.  The D-III tournament seedings are announced tomorrow at noon.  Look for Augie to be a one or two seed and host a four-team sub-regional this coming weekend.

Public confession: spin class has become a burden.  I spent most of today's class trying to compute the number of classes I'd be going to before my fitness routine shifts to the outdoors.  Realistically, it's hard to plan on many late-March days being warm and dry enough for after-work rides.  Maybe a couple of days.  If I'm doing five classes a week, the Over/Under on remaining beatings by Spin Nazi's is 30 classes.  I think I'll be optimistic (trying to set a good example to the peanut gallery) and take the Under. For a bottle of top-shelf J Lohr.

I admit to having below-zero interest in the Oscars.  This year or any other year.  I don't go to movies.  I don't read trash magazines.  I don't have any interest in the gossip pages.  I'll throw a big generalization blanket over Hollywood and characterize the lot as an overly self-absorbed, materially dependent, shallow club of excess.  Other than that, I think they're great.

Busy week ahead.  In NASCAR terms, I've had at least one of my eight cylinders not firing exactly right for the last couple of weeks.  A juggling act that is consistently missing one ball in the air.  My goal starting tomorrow is to get that mental acuity back on track.  Just like the 24.

Thanks for reading.

BCOT

Sunday

Regular blog to follow.

Friday

Just a few lines this afternoon before calling it a day.

I don't think that I have commented here about my recent Continuing Professional Education experiences which have been something less than uneventful.  I hold an Iowa life insurance agent license solely for the purpose of being able to sell certain off-the-shelf 401(k) programs from various insurance carriers who cater to the very small plan market.  The Iowa life license is re-newed every three years.  You need 36 hours of CPE in that three year period to maintain the license.

You can also keep your license by sitting again for the agent's exam.  This is the route that I have taken for all of my renewal periods since the test is only a two hour examination.  True, you do need to study a little bit, but I have above average test-taking skills and it's a much better use of my time.

Of course, a person is supposed to know when the license expires.  LtPC is a little weak in that area.  I had submitted one of those small plan applications to Hartford a couple of weeks ago, and the processor called me to let me know that their licensing people were going to be calling me about my Iowa license being inactive!  Hmmm.  Even before they called, I went to the Iowa site and sure enough, I was listed as inactive by the Department of Insurance.

I called the folks in DSM and the gal said that, yes, I was on an expired license and that I had not completed the CPE requirements.  I noted that I couldn't recall receiving any notification from the Department about the expired license, and that I was pretty good about not throwing that kind of mail away gratuitously.  Oh, she said, we don't send hard copy mail out any more.  We only use email.  Fine, I said, but what email address do you have for me?  (Because I definitely didn't get any contact on that basis.)  Let me see, she said.  Oh, we don't have an email for you!  Double hmmmm.!

Anyway, I sat for and successfully completed the test on Tuesday and they reinstated me on Wednesday (you can look it up on their website!) after hard-copy receipt of the passing score and my check for the pleasure of holding the license.  Plus a $100 reinstatement fee!  I wrote a letter appealing that assessment due to lack-of-notification-facts, but that plea fell on deaf ears.  Welcome to bureaucracy!

In a separate matter, but on a similar topic, I also hold a low-profile designation as a Fiduciary Analyst from an organization out East that has their own little CPE requirement...10 hours per year.  I did a little dance with them last month suggesting that certain courses in my other professional pursuits should qualify rather than make me listen to tapes on their site that come from their own hosted events.  Not so fast, LtPC.  Our three-year-old recordings are much more valid than say a similar, but now current presentation by the same guy at another conference last Fall.  Whatever.  I've been listening to the dated tapes this week while I do the blog!  It's almost like being there!  The only thing missing is a crossword!

Looking forward to seeing 2 tomorrow as she comes through town with Herky on their way to IC.  Godspeed on your travels, Kiddo.  Maybe get The Winniferous out for an afternoon run if the weather cooperates.

Be safe if you're headed out for the evening.

BCOT

Thursday

3 has posted on her weekend in the Hamptons.  http://www.thehoranies.com/. 

My post from Tuesday was actually written Saturday afternoon in the TC (under the watchful eye of 1.01) and submitted last weekend for a local writing contest.  A competition that I earned third place in a couple years ago.  The judges this year were not so impressed.  Hmmm.  3 has suggested that I use the interview as the basis for a longer story on Tommy Hardin.  I'm thinking that it has the right basics for me; baseball, Chicago, wine, hotdogs, and writing a book.  Why not got with it? Look for a little High Over First here in the future.

More good news on the shoulder today.  My follow-up with the ortho doc was basically, "LtPC, you're good to go!"  Not even the second cortisone shot, or any additional supervised PT.  Life is good.

I don't understand the dynamics of the collective bargaining agreements in major professional sports.  (And I thought the acronym stood for the Continental Basketball Association!)  There were numerous trades this week of some big name players in the NBA before a certain league-set deadline.  And we had the Lebron/Bosh/Miami thing last Summer.  And all the talk at Mike & Mike on ESPN (among others) is about the expiring NFL contract in March.  And they can't sign Pujols in StL?  How much money is enough?

OK.  Signing off.  I've lost the Verizon signal twice while writing this entry.  I'll try to add more tomorrow.

Thanks for reading.

BCOT

Tuesday

I was able to capture another interview done by Bob Costas last weekend.  2 had gone to sleep and ESPN Classic was running "filler" material between movies.  The following is my transcript of an interview that was filmed at Superstation KMOX sports talk radio in St. Louis last Sunday night on the "LIVE! with Bob Costas Show".  Bob's guest was former major league baseball player Tommy Hardin.

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BC: Good evening, folks.  Welcome to the program.  In the studio tonight we have the good fortune to chat with a man who recently made headlines when a book recounting his life made it to #1 on the New York Times Best Seller List. Tommy Hardin, thanks for joining me.

 .

TH:  Thank you, Bob.  My pleasure.  I've always enjoyed your show.

 .

BC:  So tell me, how involved were you with putting the book together?  I know that John Finstein did the writing, but did he do it after a series of interviews, or was it an on-going process?  And how did it even get started?

 .

TH:  Well, it was definitely and on-going process.  And kind of your classic, "a guy who knew a guy", that got the ball rolling.

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BC:  Hmmm.  Interesting.  But maybe before going there we should first go back and do a short history lesson and make sure that all of our listeners are up to speed on the essence of your story.  You came up through the Blue Jays organization, right?

 .

TH: Yeah, that's right.  I went to Tyler Junior College out of high school, and then got drafted after my freshmen year when we won the National Junior College World Series.  I spent a year split between "A" ball in the Quad Cities and "AA" in Tidewater.  That following year, I was on the AAA club in Reno all season until they brought me up to the Big League team in September.

 .

BC:  Always at second base?

 .

TH: I actually played shortstop through college, but they moved me to second right away once I got to the Quad Cities.

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BC:  Okay.  So you were in Toronto for a few years, made a couple of All-Star teams, lead the league in fielding percentage, and then got traded to Chicago.  What was that all about?

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TH:  Well, there were a couple of contract issues for sure, but basically, the Cubs needed a replacement at second when Sandberg retired.  They gave the Jays a sweet deal and I became a Cub.  They thought I was going to be at second base in Wrigley for ten years.

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BC:  When did the wheels come off?

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TH:  April 2nd, 1998.  Opening Day at Wrigley Field.  37 degrees at game time.  A cool breeze coming in off  Lake Michigan.  In the fourth inning, I chased a pop fly down the right field line, tripped over the pitcher's mound in the visitor's bullpen, and fell kind of awkwardly against a bench along the wall.  I felt something "pop" in my right shoulder.  When I fielded a ground ball a couple of batters later, my throw to my first baseman went high over his head and into the stands.  It never got better.

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BC:  That bullpen has caught a lot of guys over the years.  Did they diagnose an injury?
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TH:  That's the funny thing.  There was that "pop" when I fell.  They sat me for a few days, had me do a lot of physical therapy, and I got a lot of deep muscle massage.  But none of the x-rays, MRI's or scopes, (then or later for that matter), came up with anything definitive.  And I had no pain.

 .

BC:  But you couldn't get the ball over to first base?

 .

TH:  Weirdest thing ever.  I had played ball for 20-odd years and all of a sudden, I couldn't even get it close to first base.

 .

BC:  What happened next?

 .

TH:  Well, they did all the things you might expect.  They sent me down to the Florida Instructional League for the rest of that year, trying various things to find my throw.  Obviously, nothing worked.  They had me meet with a sports psychologist of course, and even a hypnotist near the end.  When nothing worked, they told me to "go fishing" for the Winter and come back with a clear head next Spring.  So I spent the off-season on the beach in Key West and worked on my tan.  I gave it another shot that next Spring, but my first throw in the first inter squad game at camp in Arizona was caught by some kid in the third row of the stands.  I was done.

. 

BC: I remember that story on the wires, but there wasn't much follow-up.  It was kind of like you fell off the face of the earth for ten years.  What happened?

 .

TH: Well, my mental health wasn't at a high point, for sure.  I had spent more than twenty-five years working on my trade.  Depending on your math, that was maybe forty percent of my life expectancy, and I was all of a sudden back at the starting line.  I mean I was a non-functioning baseball player.  Even though the Cubs offered me some positions with their minor league organization, I had no interest in coaching or managing in the game.  (I still don't get it why those guys wear uniforms!) 

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BC:  Lots of former players get into the broadcast booth.

. 

TH:  True enough, Bob, but I had always had trouble speaking in front of people, and I just didn't want to do something for the paycheck.  I was depressed and really at a loss.

 .

BC:  Well, you're now #1 on The Times Best Seller list, so obviously something good happened.  What was it?

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TH:  The Wrigleyville area around the ball park had quickly become one of my favorite spots to eat out, meet people and entertain friends.  The owners of most of the places took real good care of all of the ball players; always great service and "below radar" treatment.  The Sport's Corner at Addison and Sheffield behind right field became a second home for me in the Summer of 1999.

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BC:  You wouldn't be the first ball player to hang out too much at the bars.

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TH:  I drank a lot of iced tea that year, Bob.  And ate a lot of Chicago-style hot dogs.  The owner, Myron Hampton, was a real hoot.  Still is.  He had lots of stories. 

. 

BC:  Wait a second, I spend quite a bit of time in Chicago, and I have certainly been at The Sports Corner a few times. As I recall now, that place that opened next door a few year's back is named "Wild Over First".  That's your book's title, right?

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TH:  There you go, Bob.  Myron owned the brownstone on Sheffield next to the bar and he kept telling me all that Summer how much he wanted to develop that property as an add-on to The Sports Corner.  I told him that a place with specialty hot dogs could make it in the Summer, for sure.  And with all the finer restaurants on Clark Street, a person could do a wine bar in the evenings.

. 

BC:  That's quite the combination, Tommy.

. 

TH:  That's what Myron said.  But we had become really good friends, and he thought we could just go 100% dogs if the wine idea didn't work out.  He was (and is) a hard-core baseball fan, and he wanted to help out another hard-core baseball guy who had literally lost his game.

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BC:  I hear those "Tommy Dogs" have won First Prize in the Chicago Dog competition each of the last several years at the Taste of Chicago in Grant Park.

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TH:  I'm pretty proud of that score, Bob.

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BC:  And what's the box score on the wine venture look like?

 .

TH:  We're making headway.  The customers always come back.  We could use a few more.  You should stop in the next time you're at Wrigley.

 .

BC:  You can count on that, buddy.  But getting back to the book, how did Feinstein get into the picture?

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TH:  Oh, he's a long time customer at The Sports Corner too.  He didn't know who I was for the longest time, and then when he found out, I couldn't get rid of him.  He thought people would want to hear my story.  Plus, I think that his rotation of sport's books had found it's way to baseball and he was desperate for a story.

 .

BC:  Interesting.  I'm sure that John appreciates your candor.  Or not.  OK folks, we have to wrap up this segment.  Tommy, I want you to come back again.  It's a great story.  Love the hot dogs.  And now a word from our sponsors.

Monday

Just a couple of pics from the weekend.  Lots of in-house time in the TC with 1.01.  The snow came in Sunday morning and travel became problematic.  But we had original entertainment with us.  So life was good.

Auntie Tooie did her best to spoil 1.01, playing all the age-appropriate games with her until something else grabbed her attention (1.01's!).  Plastic balls, blocks, and musical toys can be very amusing.

Finally, LtPC got a little attention when he split some oranges on Saturday afternoon, and 1.01 couldn't get enough.  Just like her mother.

A little excitement getting out of the hotel parking lot in the TC this morning, but SB's was open, and we enjoyed a last visit before the morning nap.  The trip home was not bad once we hit the Iowa border. Even made it to spin class at 5:30.  Glad to be in my own bed tonight. 

Busy day tomorrow.  The many moving parts are extremely disconnected.

BCOT

Sunday...UPDATED

Well, Winter has returned to my world.  It started snowing when I was in Gold's this morning and has been coming down here in the TC like a blizzard all day long.  If 2 and I get back to our hotel tonight, I'll be surprised.  I mean, the drifts in 1's little cul du sac are already enough to keep us inside.  Not sure how far South the snow extends.  Nice that our departure wasn't scheduled until tomorrow.

So the Daytona 500 ended, finally, after lots or crashes and restarts with the winner being the youngest driver in the field, with one of the oldest teams.  Many of the favorites got caught up in early accidents, and I switched away from watching most of the last 2/3's of the race.  Caught the final few laps.  Good day for NASCAR.  This new kid can run with the big dogs.  With Daytona out of the way, regular racin' can start next week.

I wasn't the most attentive grandfather yesterday afternoon to 1.01. I had to get my entry in by 1700 to the writing contest that I have entered the last three years.  The prompt was issued on Friday afternoon at 1700 and there was a 24 hour time limit.  (No time to write on Friday night in DSM, but 2 took some notes for me on the morning drive to MSP.)  This year's prompt was, "Probably 40% of his life...gone.  Wasted on a project that could never be duplicated".  I used the interview format from the blog and had Bob Costas talk on his radio show with a former major league second baseman who had written a book about his loss of the ability to make the throw to first base.  We'll see if the judges have any room for sports in their hearts.

Amazon delivered the goods and 4 received the three travel books that I had ordered and direct-shipped to her.  Why would a person buy these things in a store for face price?

As the girls can attest, I'm no Tim McGraw fan.  (Don't Take The Girl could be the worst country song evah!)  But I kind of like his recent single, It Felt Good on My Lips.  Harmless lyrics, and a good beat.  I'm wondering if they reduced the loudness of his voice on the cut, because it almost sounds like they've purposefully tried to ratchet him down a couple notches on this one.  Check it out.

Another song that I have liked recently is the collaboration that brought Alan Jackson on to a song with the Zac Brown Band,  As She's Walking Away.  Kind of like the Five O'Clock Somewhere song he did with Jimmy Buffet a few years back.

More Later.  1.1 has dinner ready for the stranded crew.

UPDATED....

Shockingly, 2 and I made it back to the hotel.  1.1 had done some reconnoitering outside after dinner and had talked to some other folks who reported that the main streets weren't too bad.  He had shoveled the snow from around the Buick, and I was able to get to the street, and then to the arterial to our hotel.  Over a foot of new snow!  Lots of plowing needed over night.

Hope we can get home tomorrow!


BCOT

Thursday

Just a few lines tonight.  The best laid plans got washed away this evening with an unexpected dinner.  After a 5 o'clock tax appointment that hadn't made it to my calendar.  No spin class for you, LT!

60 degrees here today.  70 in Lincoln.  Double suite!  Even if only for a day.  All of the snow except the piles is gone.  And boy, do we have pot holes!

Looking forward to the weekend.  2 and I will do din-din in DM tomorrow night with our good friends, then take off for the TC early on Saturday.  Very curious on the changes in 1.01 since Christmas.  Watch for reports and pics here while we're on the road.  Hope the forecast for iffy weather on Monday stays as rain.

We marked another level on the technology ladder at the office today: a wireless router now allows us to use our laptops in our lower-level conference rooms where my pal Bill and I don't have hard-wired connections to our own network.  I had been able to get to my desktop from my Verizon card on this laptop, but Bill's laptop isn't similarly connected.  Everything is possible these days.  For a fee.

I was in a discussion over dinner about some recent local civil law suits where the attorney's for the plaintiff's have been quoted several times in the papers about how the complaints for damages are "not about the money".  It's about justice.  Right.  Uh, never forget this basic rules of lawyer-speak:  when they say, "It's not about the money."  Always remember, it's about the money!

All for today.  More from I-80 West tomorrow.

BCOT

Wednesday

Another warm day here.  I had a long-sleeved dry-fit over a polo golf shirt, and didn't put on my coat for lunch or an afternoon errand.  I like it. 

One of the items of big news in sports this week has been the issuance of the SI Swimsuit edition.  We still get the magazine at the office, and the cheesecake came in yesterday's mail.  I've lost almost complete interest.  Almost.  Not quite.  (I did reduce her cleavage for this fam-friendly site.)

I've endured all day the mis-match color combination of my black dry-fit and my previously-thought-to-be-black-but-actually-dark-navy polo shirt.  This is a dilemma that I regularly face in the mornings; that is, the telling the difference between black and navy shirts (since most of my golf shirts are either black or navy).  The anomaly today was that the selected polo shirt was specifically purchased as a black shirt last month at Grayhawk.  By me.  And I think that I have worn it a couple of times since then.  As a black shirt.  I am a man of many talents.  Color distinctions not one of them.

The half-price wine night last night at Biaggi's was a good time.  The favorite bottle was a Jordan Cabernet.  Even at half price, it was a little pricey, but it was a nice treat.  Very smooth.  Modest crowd compared to last year when they must have done a little more publicity.  But there had been the long Valentine's weekend.  And I think that they had a "Wine Dinner" on the schedule for one night this week as well (like seven courses?).  Even wine snobs have a limit.

My earlier NASCAR prediction for Sunday's Daytona 500 Dale Earnhardt Lap 3 commemoration and Junior leading the field is hereby withdrawn.  He wrecked his primary car in practice today and he's now in his back-up, starting (by rule) at the rear of the field. I don't think that they'll shuffle him forward for Lap 3.

We are a clan of readers.  The Border's bankruptcy filing today was expected, I guess, but it's a pretty sobering reality check for bricks-and-mortar providers of goods that may be destined for the Internet.  I mean, I still enjoy meandering through the Border's stores, but I rarely buy a book there.  My recent excursion on Amazon is a perfect example of the modern consumer.

Blockbuster Video is still trying to operate in bankruptcy.  Again, bricks-and-mortar. 

Lots of comments by the girls on the Valentine's Day posting.  http://www.thehoranies.com/  I've never been a big fan of the day, but I don't absolutely dislike it in the vein that I dislike Halloween.  I'm thinking that most men past a certain age are just trying to avoid trouble on that day.  Some are more successful than others in that quest.

I'm ending my day on a bit of a bummer.  I stopped at the Cook Hospice house on the way home to visit with the family of an all-time Top Ten client who is spending his last few hours there.  Not a young man.  Pancreatic cancer.  Ugh.  I had to open a top-shelf Louis Martini when I got home. 

But a forgotten bonus coming home?  RCL day.  Suite!

Make Thursday a good one.

BCOT

Tuesday

Just a little help to RevKev.  I ran this through my picture manager program.  Never figured out how to run pic's through the Comments sections though.  http://www.camperkev.com/

Cute card. 

Monday

Happy Valentine's Day to the Daughters of the Day!!!  And to The Chosen One!!!

Sunday

Wow! Almost Spring-like here today.  Getting close to 50 degrees out there.  Suite!  I'm almost tempted to fire up the grill this evening.

Before I forget...Happy tax-Valentine's Day to 1, 2, 3, 4 and 1.01!  Your cards are not in the mail.  Maybe later this week.  Or not.

So we are now six weeks into the new year and we are already having "empty" bikes in spin classes.  At yesterday's 9AM class and at this morning's 10AM session, both normally max-attendance times, there were actually several open positions.  I know that that Saturday class had some drop off when they purposefully rescheduled a "Body Works" class for the same time as opposed to the following hour where they had it before Christmas.  And there's a special "marathon" cycling program that started this weekend that is designed to grow to a two-hour class over a six week period.  But bottom line?  I think the "resolution" folks are off the wagon.  Which isn't a bad thing for us "regulars".

I followed up today on an urge that I have almost every Sunday and visited the Camera Corner to chat them up about the equipment in their weekend ad.  I took along my mini-digi and basically asked one of the experienced guys whom I have dealt with previously if there was a substantial upgrade available in the new stuff in my price-range (under $200).  He considered my inquiry for a few minutes as we looked over some of the units that another customer was inspecting, and his honest answer was, "No".  Hmmmm.  That probably means I'll spend more at some later date.  But for now, I'm keeping the powder dry.  Another not-bad result for the day.

This local new car dealers hosted their annual Iowa-Illinois (or is it Illinois-Iowa?) Car Show this weekend in Davenport.  My pal Roy and I have historically made it over there one of the days, but not this year. It's a poor step-child to the shows in Chicago or Detroit, and we just couldn't crank up the requisite enthusiasm.  Besides, we're not exactly green-hybrid-save-the-planet types.  Au contraire.  We probably qualify for the Neanderthal classification.  Bring on that Cadillac CTS with the 600hp Corvette engine!

Yes, NASCAR 2011 did kick off last night with the Bud Shootout.  (I only watched pieces of it, but there's definitely going to be different racing this year, certainly at Daytona and Talladiga, the super-speedways where breaks are rarely used). Then there was pole qualifying today, with Junior and the 24 securing the front row spots.  The rest of the 43 car field will be set by the Gatorade Duel 150's on Thursday.  The 500 is next Sunday.

An additional NASCAR note.  This Daytona 500 is the 10th anniversary of the death of Dale Earnhardt (senior) and the planned tribute is for there to be a "Lap 3 Moment of Silence" over the entire racecourse (except for the roar of the cars, of course).  Understand that Dale Sr. drove the #3 car, and that to this day, many fans will stand during the third lap of any NASCAR race and hold up three fingers.  I was putting it out there even before qualifying that there would be an agreement among the drivers to bring Junior to the head of the field for that third lap, regardless of his starting position.  Trust me, with him on the pole, there will be no racing until lap four.

Here's a little Top Ten List of Cures for the Mid-Winter Blues, all do-able, by all readers:

1.  Set up a calendar or chart to count down to a warm weather event.
2.  Figure out a bar-b-que  for one of these non-frigid weekends.
3.  Buy a box of pop cycles.  (One of my fav's!)
4.  Run/walk outside.  (A lay-up, I know.)
5.  Watch golf rather than basketball.
6.  Write a note or thank-you card to surprise a friend.
7.  Buy some vegetable seeds to start garden plants.  (Chia pet, not so much.)

8.  Read a beach junk-book/magazine, or rent a similar movie.

9.  Sort through and clean off that pile of mail/stuff on the counter.

10.Not sure if one of these is in my future, but try something similar the next time you're out and about.

Busy week ahead for me.  The plan is for 2 and I to head to the TC to check out 1.01 next weekend, so I need to be productive in advance of my departure.

Thanks for reading.

BCOT

Friday

Glad that the week is winding down.  The stresses of more volume on my "to-do" list makes for less fun at the office.  It is amazing how much it takes to get certain projects "out-the-door".  I know that I'm not the most efficient person around, but I think that it's more than just me.  The challenge of getting from "here to there" with some tasks is just hard-wired to be a slog up-hill.  Whatever.

4 relates that there was a ripple in the force at her station when a viewer or two called in this week to object to the on-air use of the term (word/acronym?) snafu.  I didn't even bother to Wikipedia it, but I suspect that it has either a military or government-service origin: Situation Normal; All F***ed Up.  Interesting.  Usage of the term has been fairly common in my lifetime, among various social strata, without particular unease.  I'd say that for the military or government-service, usage is probably more accurate than not in describing daily activities.

I've actually been more uncertain of propriety in the use of "WTF" in current day communications.  The LSM (sorry, Left Coast) got a little huffy after Palin's needle at the Big O for his Win The Future slogan in the SOTU speech.  In my opinion, that would have been a fine observation at the Washington Press Club roast, but it probably didn't need to make the open wires that following day.

My shoulder is already improving.  I met with a physical therapist this morning and will be doing some stretching exercises over the next few days to get that range of motion back to a more normal setting.  All good news.

I did have a run-in with the PT office administration yesterday after I made the appointment.  They are so bureaucratic and fixated with procedure that I couldn't handle the third call that came to me about the appointment.  I was in the middle of a separate problem here at the office with a couple of Compliance people at my broker/dealer who were obviously not talking to each other , and who both were young and fixated with their own procedures.  And the PT folks kept calling me Paul, which means they hadn't read the chart.  And they were rushed because my appointment was the next morning and they had "all this stuff" they needed from me.  I was not a pleasant patient.

Headed out for Friday wine.  Maybe a little more here later.

I'm guessing Mubarak was holding out for a better retirement package.  That yacht on the Med did it.

BCOT

Wednesday

Watching "The Puffy Shirt/Low Talker" episode from Seinfeld.  Too funny.

This was a good day for LtPC.  I had my appointment with the shoulder guy this morning figuring that I was headed down the road toward MRI analysis, surgery and 5 months of rehab for my right rotator cuff.  The orthopaedic surgeon (a college frat brother of my pal Jake), did a very thorough examination, and concluded with 100% certainty that I had a "frozen" shoulder.  The solution was a cortisone shot, a little physical therapy, and some home exercises.  Wonderful news!  The shot was a great start and I'll get in with the PT guy tomorrow.

That news was slightly tempered by a couple of ripples in the force produced by a hanger-on to my pal Roy.  So many people want to spend his money.  And he's not very good at just saying, "No!"

I have at least three projects that "have to" be done tomorrow.  Ugh.

Six months, almost exactly, to Bilbao.  The math is interesting.  Number of spin classes.  Number of blog entries.  Nights away from home.  Other trips.  What will 1.01 be doing by then.  All good thoughts.

Make Thursday a good one.

BCOT

Tuesday

Back in the Deep Freeze here for a couple of days.  Not sure if we got out of single digits today. 

So the die is cast.  The flight schedule for Spain is set for August.  Hello Bilbao!  I'll let 4 work through the details for further publication.  But we will be spending some time at The Guggenheim Museum.

I can disclose that we're flying out of Moline rather than Chicago like 2 and I did for Italy.  I just concluded from a not-too-narrow marginal cost analysis on the Moline segment that the hassle of the drive to ORD, the associated fees and the net time difference combined to make a local departure an easy choice.

My absence here yesterday was due to me joining my pal Roy's small party at the Bass Street Chop House last night to celebrate his brother's successful angioplasty last week.  (I know, angioplasty and Steak House might be medically incompatible for a heart patient, but it's Roy and John, and conventional wisdom is an afterthought, at best.)  The hit of the night was a Frog's Leap Cabernet.  I'm guessing that it was $100+ at the restaurant. ( And a Grgich Hills cab wasn't bad.)  Love going out with Roy when he's picking the wine and picking up the tab.

A humorous little anecdote: on the Frog's Leap cork, rather than reflecting the name of the winery or a logo, one word in block letters printed on opposite sides of the cork read, "RIBBIT!".

The bartender at Bass Street is the former bartender at Biaggi's, whom Corporate let go when she read an ID wrong in a undercover "sting" and gave a drink to an underage patron.  She did tell me last night that Bass Street is doing "half-price-bottles" on Friday nights this Winter.  It's a good wine list.  I may have to make a visit.

In the same vein, Biaggi's is running their February 15th half-price wine night next week.  Last year, we showed up by chance on February 15th, and the place was packed to the rafters.  We had no clue what was going on.  With advance notice this year, they already have the "Reserved" sign going up on my table at 4:30.  We may be talking "cab" come Tuesday.

Spin in the AM.  Hope everyone has a great Wednesday.

BCOT

Sunday....UPDATED

Had to make a change in the Home Page photo again.  That snow is depressing!  I considered the Coors Light twins in honor of my Big Game (non-Super Bowl) party, but why needlessly poke the sexual harrassment pinata?

The Augie game last night was a bummer, but it just goes to show that you need to bring your game every night.  Way too many empty possessions (15 turnovers), and no solid answer to Carthage's zone defense.  Not too difficult to project that Augie will see that 2-3 zone (or varieties thereof) the rest of the year.  The boys will need to consistently make some three's to make the other teams pay for packing it in in the paint.

The Winniferous and I did fine during her visit.  Probably 8 miles of walk/running over the 23 hours she was here.  But she's way too needy for me.  I'm thinking that 2 may spoil her.

They've been making noise this week from Dallas that the Super Bowl belongs only in warm-weather climates.  That observations begs the question, "What qualifies as a warm-weather climate?"  I'm thinking that Glendale would qualify, but the Phoenix Open has been fighting frost delays all this week at the TPC course in Scottsdale.  Does Orlando make the cut?  Iowa fans froze last year at the Orange Bowl.  I'm guessing that the reports are all being fed by the San Diego Convention Bureau. Maybe New Orleans.

A bit of conversation in recent days at coffee has been the opening of a new shop just down the street from my regular Starbuck's.  Dunn Brothers is a chain (not one I have heard of), and the local franchisee is a client of my pal Bill.  The shop serves some fresh sandwiches in addition to all of the coffee drinks.  I'm sure that they will pull some customers, and they have a drive-thru which some people like.  The owners are good people.  I hope that they make it.

4's post from yesterday mentioned some of our tenetative travel plans for August.  Bilbao, Spain looks like the preferred port-of-entry for our trip.  Pau (pronounced "Po") may be our staging point for our venture into the Pyrenees from the French side of the mountains.  Lourdes will be one of the towns we check out, maybe on bikes.  Airline tickets may be purchased as early as this week.

I'm going ahead and posting this with the idea that I'll add a little more later this evening. 

LATER...

I failed to watch much of the Big Game, or the commercials.  So Green Bay wins.  Does this mean anything to anyone?  Does anyone care?  Anyone?  Bueller?

Next up on the national sports stage will be the progression toward March Madness.  The power conferences are now in the second half of league games, and then you have the conference tournaments, followed by The Big Dance.  Sure, there'll be a few stories on NASCAR, Tiger, and the low rumbles of Spring Training, but in the next couple of weeks, all the talk will move to, 1) Who's on the bubble?, 2) Where will Duke be seeded?, and 3) Which is really the toughest conference?  Pretty sure that I couldn't care less to the answers to those and dozens of other equally inane questions.

Had a friend/client scheduled to tour the pyramids in Egypt next week.  Cruising the Mediterranean.  Now headed to Turkey in the alternative.  All travel is a pain in the butt.  (2 may differ on that point.)  The farther you have to go, the more variables come into play.  Doubt if Richard had an uprising in Cairo on his radar screen when he made the reservations.

OK.  Off to bed.  Busy week ahead.  Lots of balls in the air this time of year.  Good luck to all.  Play some Glad Game when it seems like the lions have all the Christians on the run.

BCOT

Saturday

Just a few lines before I head over to the last regular season home game for Augie tonight.  They have four road games over the next two weeks, and if they win all or most of those games, they should then host the four-team conference tournament that third week.  Funny schedule this year.

2 is in IC tonight for a party with some of the MBA students from the Hong Kong trip.  That means that The Winniferous is the charge of the LtPC and SRH for the evening.  We did our 3.4 mile Turkey Trot training loop this afternoon, which was not bad in 30+ degree temperatures.  All but two homes on the route had the deep snow cleared, but the ice from two weeks ago was still around in lots of stretches.  I think I could see my own footprints captured from those W walks back then.

I was a hero at spin this AM.  Last month on my birthday, one of the gals let the cat out of the bag that it was my birthday, and the instructor made a big deal about, "Where are the treats?"  So I finally delivered today: a 12 ounce Poweraid for each spinner.  It doesn't matter the time, location or occasion: people like freebies.  Good class.

Wow!!! Hawks win at Indiana by a point.  A two-game win streak!  Worlds collide!

OK.  Off to Augie for the game.  Maybe more later.

BCOT

Friday

What a strange week.  Tuscan red seems to be the next move.

Weather remains a story here, but nothing extreme.  The cities are now trying to remove the snow piles from the downtown's, corners of key streets, and cul de sac's that have no place to put the snow.  And the forecast has more snow on the way.

My RCL came through today.  I actually saw her for the first time in 2-3 months.    It's always good to come home to a clean place after she has done her work.

The golf tour is in Phoenix this week.  The course is right across the street from where we normally stay in Scottsdale.  I've attended a couple of conferences over the years at the Fairmont Hotel that is on the property.  Very toney!  But we had better weather last month when we were in town than they are having this week.  They've had to delay play each day due to frost, and they won't be done until Monday.  You can get that in PHX in January.  Heck, they've had snow at that tournament in years past.

Glad to hear that 3 and Herky have booked March Madness.  That weekend will be here before you know it.

More here later.   Off to see Cal and 2 for Friday therapy.

BCOT

Thursday

Sorry for not getting anything posted today.  Busy at the office.  1730 spin after two days off.  Augie game with 2 this evening.  Augie wins by 10 against an inferior team.  Now bedtime for Bonzo.

I'll get an entry up tomorrow.

BCOT

Wednesday...UPDATED

So the weather is the story in our area today.  I changed the home page picture because it just didn't seem right to have that shot of the Arizona golf course given our current landscape.  (These pics from today really don't do justice to the storm.  The air conditioning unit is fully covered to the right of the swing in the pic above.)  Few things are open today, at least this AM.  Still trying to find an open Starbuck's.

It took me a solid hour and a half this morning to snow blow my driveway out to the street.  The drift at the street, admittedly aided by the street plows, was over three feet.  But there was a similar drift in front of my garage.  I actually had to break the drift down with a shovel before I could use the blower.  Probably the biggest single dumping of snow that we've had here for several years.

The small bit of humor out of my work was that I still managed to get stuck backing out of my driveway when I left for coffee.  Everything was so white that I lost perspective and backed into the drift oppisite the mailbox.  Fortunately, it was a single five-minute shovel job and I was then free and onto the street.

My pal Lee in C-town says that the trains are on weekend schedules and he just told his employees to work from home today.  I'm glad the The Fates had not had me scheduled to fly through O'Hare or Midway today.  My guess is that it will take a couple of days for the airports to get caught up with traffic.

BTW, what happened with the groundhog?

I'll add more here later today after the lay-of-the-land is fully disclosed.

For sure...


UPDATE...

Bunkered down now for the evening.  Other than a relatively brief project to shovel the snow pushed across my driveway entrance by the street plows, my morning clearing didn't require any repetition this afternoon.  Suite!  But they have the temperature scheduled to go down to -10 overnight, with lower wind chill, of course. 

Not sure what the scoop is, but the Hawks are up 20+ on Michigan State in IC!  Don't take this the wrong way 4, but this doesn't say much for MSU.  And there are a few empty seats in Carver-Hawkeye.

Actually, the biggest surprise for me for the day was the fact that my regular Starbuck's never opened this morning.  I can understand a late opening, but not at all?  I suppose that getting staff in was a safety issue, but it still surprises me.  (It should also be noted that the Kimberly Hy Vee deli wasn't open either, and the Devil's Glen Hy Vee had no deli service even tonight at supper time.)

I'm guessing that Gold's being closed all day ranks along side the Starbuck's situation.  I'm guessing that they could have staffed to have the place open by at least noon, but with the general advice by authorities being to stay home unless absolutely necessary, the local Gold's management had to say, "Uh, let's not be heros".

Finally, Augie used good judgement and rescheduled tonight's home game to tomorrow night.  I don't think that they had to concern themselves with "have to play" provisions in their television contracts.  Which they don't have.

Hope 3 and Herky don't have trouble with this storm system in NYC tomorrow.  Hang in there, guys.

And everybody this side of the Left Coast, in particular...

BCOT

Tuesday

I just pulled this image off of the Channel 6 website.  I think that all that blue is snow!  Looking out my window here at the office, I'd say that it's still Winter out there!

2 twittered a few minutes ago that they had sent the museum staff home...until Thursday!  We sent people home early too, but didn't make the call about tomorrow yet.  Unless they can't get the plows up my street, I'll be here when the bell rings at the NYSE.  (The Weather Channel forecast map has a big 19" smack over the QCA!)

I just checked the Davenport Gold's website and they are closing for the day at 1700 hours.  And not promising that they'll be open for the oh-dark-hundred classes.  I'm taking the Under on that one.  No spin class for LtPC.

Desperate times call for desperate measures.  In this case, I'm headed downtown to visit my pal Cal who's "on call" tonight and is camped out at the Raddison.  Happy Hour it is!

More later from Maplecrest Road.

BCOT