Tuesday

I had hoped to get back here yesterday, but the Mt. Rose ride got the better of me.  While my pal Pete made the climb without ever having to go down to the third chain-ring, I was there from the get-go.  Really no surprise in either of those results.  @bcbison can ride anywhere, and up any hill.  Any future on Mt. Rose for me will be only from the lake side.

The concept that I would have "thinkin'" time while on the road yesterday was a total pipe-dream.  There were a precious few times where there were lulls in the traffic, but for most of the ride, the roar of vehicles coming from behind was a constant reminder to maintain my line. My appraisal of the relationship between cyclists and vehicular traffic on Mt. Rose is that drivers acknowledge a rider's right to be there, but there's not a lot of slowing down.  And the biker needs to keep it steady.  Its not a place for the faint of heart.

It was sad to see 4 head back to The Big Apple yesterday.  (And I was about 300 yards too slow to be at a place on the ride where 2 could have pulled off for a final hug on their drive down to RNO.  My bad.)  With all the wedding-related festivities while she was here, we really didn't get a lot of pure FFF before she had to go home.  She's back to the salt mines tomorrow, and fully engaged with the apartment-hunting task as well.  Good luck, Kiddo!

Although I am not watching the Olympics, the TV here seems to be tuned to NBC most of the time so there's lots of access to the events being broadcast.  Is it real or is it Memorex?  Whatever.  Anyway, 1.1 suggested that there be a limit on the number of political ads allowed per hour.  Not a bad idea.  Why not impose a full embargo on all political ads for, say, the month of August?  Give the public a break.  If that proposal were floated to the voters, I'd take the Over that at least 70% of the electorate would fully agree to a holiday from the mud-slinging.

The road construction in the Tahoe area is impressive this year.  I'm theorizing that good ol' Harry Reid has found a way to bring stimulus money to his state to brace-up a lack-luster economy.  When Pete and I were coming down from the summit yesterday (he had had time to ride down to Incline and get the car before I got to the top), we saw a 6-man crew standing by, all in supervisory mode, as a bob-cat dozer was moving a small pile of gravel.  One of the standing guys had a long-handled shovel in one hand.  I figured that that was visual evidence of a project that was definitely shovel-ready.

We did have the NASCAR race on here Sunday when the 48 just ran away from the field.  When they brought NASCAR to Indianapolis 15 or so years ago, it was a big deal.  Now, they can't sell that many tickets.  Personally, I think that these big tracks don't offer that much excitement to stock car fans.  I mean, its two and a half miles around, and the cars get pretty strung out.  Without a little bump-n-running goin' on, the racing is as boring as the tape-delayed Olympics.

And they (the Olympics) have open-seating problems too.  I thought that the Olympics were sold out?  Again, if I were interested, I might research the problem, but that's not happening.

@srh4 and I are enjoying a few hours of Five Minutes Peace today(with 1.02) while the others are at Sand Harbor for the day.  Its good therapy after the stresses of  #07282012 and yesterday's Mt. Rose adventure.

Maybe an update later.

BCOT

Sunday

Well, that was quite a day for the fam.  I'll add some more during the next few days, but this is just notice that the blog is back "up".

I'm thinking that the wedding-reception MAY make the Top Ten list of best family parties...ever.  Good-bye Herky.  Hello 3.1!

Tahoe continues to amaze visitors with it's beauty.  For flat-lander's, the mountains make such a statement for the power of Mother Nature.  The lake is simply awesome.  Every pic can be a postcard. 

My pal Pete and I are planning to ride the Mt. Rose ascent from Reno in the AM.  I have my reservations about holding him back, but, it should be just a matter of time.  I know that I'm strong enough to get to the top.  I did the short side to the summit on Thursday on Revkev's bike which did not have a "granny" gear for the aged.  The bikes that we will rent tomorrow will definitely have the lower gearing.

I'm not that curious about the Olympic Games now being broadcast on the tube.  The fact that the events are mostly replays from earlier-in-the-day competitions across the pond leave me unimpressed.  If you can get the results on the Internet, why spend the time watching some human fish make waves in the pool?  And with NBC's multi-politically-correct-culturalism permeating every nanosecond of airtime, don't look for much Olympic coverage here.

That ride up Mt. Rose will give me plenty of thinkin' time tomorrow.  Look for more here after  we're done.

Many thanks to everyone who participated in the weekend!

BCOT

Thursday

Yeah, so I didn't get back to the post yesterday.  Sorry about that.  I thought that since we didn't have Fit Club last night that I would have the time to jump back on to the computer after dinner.  But 2 and I did a stop at the mall after work to check out wedding ties, and then I went over to the Palmer Hills golf range by my house to hit balls for the better part of an hour before dark.  (Gotta keep workin' on that handicap!)  Add in a bit of a queezie stomach, and my late evening motivation was in the tank.

The Tour today is spending the last day in the mountains in Southern France.  The last hill is shrouded in fog.  It doesn't look like the Yellow Jersey has any challengers.  Unless he falls off his bike, he'll waltz into Paris this weekend without ever having had to go much into his reserves.  The rest of the peloton needs better drugs.  (Sorry, Lance.)

The British Open is also in play this AM on the four letter network.  John Deere champ Zach Johnson has a nice first round in the books.

The early ride today was one of those when calling in sick might have been the better choice.  That stomach bug yesterday left me a bit of an energy deficit this AM and I was hard-pressed on the hills.  @bcbison is getting stronger and I'm regressing. 

RAGBRAI starts Sunday in Western Iowa.  With this heat, it's gonna be a tough one this year.  If you are camping, those 75 degree nights are about as uncomfortable as it gets.  Plus that slow leak in the air-mattress?  I'm at the point where I'll enjoy that action much more so when it comes out on video.

This also Happy Tax Anniversary day to 1 and 1.1.  Hard to believe that we have been through five years since that great week up in the TC.  I'm thinking that the proximity of their anniversary and 3 and Herky's Big Day next week will give me a remote chance of remembering both of these special days in the future.

I'm not sure how solid of an indicator this might be, but Northpark Mall was all but deserted when 2 and I were there last night.  This economy is rocky.  If its 100 degrees outside, I'd think that the mall would be a popular location.  Glad I'm not a retailer these days.

OK.  No guarantees, we do have Fit Club tonight, but maybe more later.

BCOT

Wednesday

I'm making 4 the Daughter of the Day today in recognition that she made it over two of the climbs that are on today's Stage 16 of the TdF.  The Tourmalet and the Col de Aspin.  Interestingly, last year's winner, Cadel Evans, who is sitting several minutes behind this year's leader, cracked on the ascent up the Aspin, which is not really that brutal of a climb.  Of course, I had to stop and rest numerous times on the same stretch!

Most of these Pyreneean peaks are at lower elevations than the Alpine summits.  We had to deal with cows, goats, and alpacas wandering across the roads.  And their droppings!  But its kind of neat to recognize the backgrounds in the TV camera shots.  The ski town near the top of the Tourmalet, La Mongie, remains a vivid memory for me.

I meant to comment on the TdF stage last weekend when there was an incident of sabotage(?) when some yet-to-be-identified idiot scattered tacks on the road and about 30 riders (including the aforementioned defending winner Evans) were flatted on a descent.  One guy crashed and separated his shoulder, requiring him to withdraw from the race.  I'm guessing that criminal charges would be in order if they could find the perpetrator.

Frank Schleck, a Radioshack rider, has been pulled from the TdF for testing positive for an unapproved diuretic.  This is not that big of a deal, but several media sources have lead with a headline of, "Former Armstrong Team Rider Tests Positive", even though Lance has been off the team for two years.  The bias/sensationalism in the media knows no bounds.

I've also noticed for the first time a steady diet of pro-Obama/anti-Romney pop-ups on the CBS and ESPN websites.  I am so over the political ads.  (I was fortunate to have missed the "Kiss Cam" ruckus at the last USA Olympic basketball exhibition game.)

I'll add more to this later.  No cycling or Fit Club today.  I wanted to get this up to recognize 4.

Have a great day.

BCOT

Sunday

So Iowa native Zack Johnson of Cedar Rapids came from a few shots off the pace today and won the John Deere Classic.  He has been a favorite of the local crowds over the years, and if Stricker couldn't pull out a fourth straight win, then I'm sure Zack's trip to the winner's circle is a popular result. 

20 Under (my prediction early last week) was the score that put Zack and another guy into a sudden death play-off.  Both managed to double-bogey (ouch!) the first extra hole, forcing a second one.  Johnson proceeded to hit an All-World shot out of a fairway bunker almost 200 yards from the hole to less than a foot from the pin.  The other guy missed from 20+ feet, so Zack won the trophy...and the cash!  Good story.

A noteworthy factoid from the golf tournament:  the John Deere Classic has the distinction of being the top tournament on the PGA schedule for generating the most charitable contributions to the host community.  A professional acquaintance of mine started the concept 10-15 years ago of "Birdies for Charity" that has become a template for other tournaments to raise funds for local not-for-profit organizations.

In other golf news, my effort to get to a 12 handicap yet this Summer is making progress.  I'm officially down to a 17.  My rounds yesterday and today (83 and 84) may be good enough to take the handy down one more notch.  (My net betting results with my pals may actually have been positive for the weekend as well.  Bonus!)  If I get in another good score before Tahoe, it will definitely be a 16.  And I'll only get the chance to play once this week.

The downside of two rounds of golf over the weekend is a stiff back.  Fit Club has definitely helped my flexibility, but I don't think that I'll ever do consecutive days real well.  Another negative...no bike ride up to the Sunrise Cafe this morning.  That really cuts into my target mileage for the week.  Bummer.

2 had her last big party before Tahoe at The Figge on Friday night.  The museum is hosting an exhibition on NASA art for the next couple of months and they had a kick-off party for members on Friday.  In deference to her wishes, I won't publish he pic in Star Trek uniform.  Beam her up, Scotty!

My goal this week is to knock out a few Tahoe planning items each day.  The reality is that once I get my wedding suit and my bike stuff packed, almost everything else is buy-able at Target.  But I do need to have the office reasonably under control so that I can head-off any major issues that aren't solvable over the phone or by email.  The IRS comes to mind.  While clients are almost all on the Internet, the IRS doesn't accept correspondence by email.  Those open cases on my docket need a two-week-hiatus-notice sent to the affected agents.  If you tell them in advance that you won't be on the grid for a couple of weeks, it's almost never a problem.
 

To get the Tahoe march underway, let's make 3 Daughter of the Day.  I think that @srh4 has a few more of these picked out for the reception.  This is one of my fav's.  Good luck with your last week of prep in The Big Apple, Kiddo!

My previously announced 60 month plan is officially my 57-month plan as of today.

Good luck to all for a successful week.  Thanks for reading.

BCOT

Friday

Friggatriskaidekaphobia!

So here is my obligatory Friday the thirteenth visual.  I tend not to be that superstitious, but then again, I don't ignore these things either.  I wonder what they call fear of stepping on the foul-lines when going to and from your position between innings in baseball? 

My basement memory-wall where I have hung my prior year calendars reveals that the days this year fall exactly on the same numbered days as 2007...when we had a Friday the 13th of July also.

(For history buffs, it is worth noting that we are celebrating this week the two-year anniversary of the last Tahoe family reunion.  Actually, the reunion picnic was on Saturday the 10th.  We spent that following week developing our "hanging out" skills.)

I was pretty impressed with the turn-around time on my new glasses at Vision-4-Less.  There was no eye-exam involved as my prescription  from last year was capturing my needs.  So all I had to do was get a sales clerk to wait on me, pick out the new frames and write a check.  That all happened inside of 20 minutes.  My prescription must not be all that unusual, because the clerk went to the stock room and pulled the lenses as part of her work.

Their protocol included an elective text-message notification to me upon their completion.  I was just concerned about getting the new glasses within a few days.  The text came within 90 minutes!  Fit Club precluded a pick-up last night, and my first attempt this AM was a bust due to a line, but I stopped on my way to lunch and was outta there in five minutes.

The one element of the process that was just a little difficult to swallow was the additional $25/pair that they charge for the non-scratch surface treatment.  My experience over the years has been that my usage will definitely scratch the lenses, so I always get this coverage.  But I gotta believe that the marginal cost for the in-store lab to apply this treatment is near-zero.  The add-on has to be a big profit number for the store.  Kinda like extended-warranties at Best Buy.

The Penn State report was pretty specifically damning.  Will the school (or the NCAA?) do anything? USA Today columnist Christine Brennan has a piece today calling for a one-year shut-down of football at the school.  Usually, I think she's a predictable lib-talker with little to say, but she has a point on this one.  What's worse:  the act or the cover-up?  One thing is certain:  the lawyers will be making money for a decade off of the cases that are sure to come. 

Hope the Peanut Gallery has a good weekend.

BCOT

Thursday

Is there a media organization more self-aggrandizing than ESPN?  I mean, what's the value of an ESPY award other than more face-time on the network?  Except for the visuals of some attractive athletes strutting their stuff on a red-carpet (Jenny Finch?), this is an event that has the same amount of meaning as a Joe Biden appearance.

Here's a couple of pic's from last weekend that 1 posted to Walgreen's Photo.  I left my camera in Woodbury and these are from that memory card.  The kids are growing fast!

The John Deere Classic is off and running.  The leader of the morning group finished at 7-under.  Which suggests that the 20-under estimate from my earlier post may not be enough.  The weekend scores tend to be less outrageous as the PGA puts pins in less-friendly positions on the greens.  Even so, the boys had better go low if they expect to be in the hunt.

More later.

BCOT

Tuesday

Really not much to offer today. 

I did pick up my suits from the Jos. A. Banks store at Northpark Mall yesterday.  I didn't even try them on at the store since I knew that if further tailoring was required, I would not be trusting it to them to get it done by our departure date for Tahoe.  Once I got home last night, I tried on each of the pants and, surprisingly, they all fit.  (I had declined the minor tweaking that the tailor had mentioned for the jackets, so their only task had been to make sure that the jackets that I had purchased actually made it to me with the pants.  They covered that bet, thankfully.)

The tailoring was not done at the store.  I had called in last week on the day that I had been promised, and the response had been that they had not received their UPS delivery yet that day.  (They did call me on Friday to let me know that the suits had been delivered.)  So I'm not sure what the seamstress's job is in the store.  Emergency work?  I know that she's not there full time.  Do the sales people not know how to mark-up a suit? 

My confidence level for that store (and their whole chain-wide business model) is not high.  Each cuff, let-out and crease has a separate additional cost.  Rather than a zippered suit-bag, I walked out with the suits covered by the thin plastic sheeting like you get from the dry-cleaners over your shirts.  And the ordering and cashiering were all structured in a way that whoever was ringing things up always needed to ask for help from others.  I felt like I needed to take a shower after the experience.  And I keep seeing their ads on the morning news for "600% Off" of everything (maybe an exaggeration!), and wonder if my 3-for-1 was just not that good of a deal.

Whatever.  Bottom line is that I have my suit for #07282012.  Plus two others for use at dress-up affairs that I have previously had little flexibility to meet the minimum dress code.  (And for the record, I'm taking the Under on the possibility of any future suit purchases in my lifetime.)

My pal Bill and his family spent last week down at Lake of the Ozarks.  He said that one of his temperature gauges registered 110 on Friday.  Wow!  That's Phoenix-eque.

Thanks for reading.  Maybe an update after Fit Club.

BCOT

Monday

The world has been moving pretty fast for me again.  That holiday in the middle of the week last week made the schedule discombobulated for lots of folks.  Then I left at noon on Friday for Harvest Path.  I'm still trying to get back to neutral.

Here's a nice pic of the Dornies right before I took off for Iowa yesterday morning.  1.01 was little annoyed after our muffin at the coffee shop.  1.02 wants his share of everything.  1.1's days of refereeing are actually just getting started.

I hope that I'm not getting ahead of the curve, but there seems to be some relief from the heat in our current and forecasted weather.  Most of the charts have our highs in the mid 80's most of the next week, with nighttime lows in the mid-to-upper 60's.  My pal Ron said that the temp for golf on Saturday in Muskie was 104!  Anyway, the Sand Harbor shot for the Home Page is timely.  Less than two weeks to Tahoe!

The PGA event is here in the Quad Cities this weekend.  The John Deere Classic.  The course is a relatively new TPC venue called Deere Run carved out of the hills of a Deere family farm on the Illinois side running along the Rock River.  I've played it a few times.  Hard for the Average Joe, but the pro's eat it for lunch.  Look for the winner to be 18-20 under par.  Steve Stricker will be trying to win it for the fourth time in a row.  That's almost Tiger-esque.  I've turned down tickets from several sources.  I don't like to fight the crowds to drink $7 beers.

(Speaking of deer running, @bcbison hit the brakes hard one morning last week while we were cooking down a hill on the early morning ride when a deer jumped out from the brush to cross the road in front of us.  I was lucky to have been just far enough off his wheel to see him slow and react accordingly.  The deer was startled too, and high-tailed it back to the woods.  We see deer about 1/3 of the time on the early ride and/or the DeWitt ride.  They probably need to thin the local herd.)

In the world of sports-drug news, 1) a NASCAR driver for Penske Racing (AJ Allmendinger) was suspended shortly before Saturday night's race after a positive drug test earlier in the week. Hmmm.  NASCAR doesn't mess around with this stuff.  So Dinger could be done for the year, if not longer if he elects to have the "B" sample tested and it too is positive.  2) Lance's lawyer's tried a BS move this AM that a Texas judge immediately tossed out this afternoon as BS.  He be in trouble, folks.  And 3) US soccer goaly (and DWTS veteran) Hope Solo tested positive for a banned substance...and got a minor slap on the wrists.

We just had a nice shower here at the office.  And my car (the Buick) windows were open.  Suite.  (More rain like this will push the winning score at the golf tourney South of -20.) 

This could be our first rain-out of Fit Club!

MLB's Home Run Derby is tonight as part of the All Star game in KC.  Can't say that I have much interest.  Same goes for the game tomorrow night.  I mean, I just don't follow the game enough to identify the players.  The game is meaningless.  And the commissioner's decision a few years ago to give the home field advantage to the winner of this game is as bad as the DH.  Not that I'm an Old School guy or anything.

I'm struggling a bit without an administrative assistant here at work.  Doing a UPS envelope is an exercise for me.  Funny that someone who has been around the block as many times as I have has to go back to grade school to literally get things out the door.  Good thing that Summer is a naturally slow time of year.  It ain't gonna be easy.

Rain is done.  May catch up here a little late on.  Thanks for reading.

BCOT

Wednesday

Happy 4th of July to my many followers!  I pulled out my old flag to hang on my house as well as raising Old Glory on the new flag pole.  We are very patriotic on Maplecrest!

I think that I am passing on the regular holiday cookout, and going instead with the salad from the refrigerator.  They keep saying everyday that tomorrow will be hotter.  And they have 100 in the forecast for Thursday and Friday.  As you can see from the gauge right out my kitchen window, triple digits is not much of a leap.

I elected to golf this AM, largely because I was due for a rest day from cycling.  Geneva has an informal "regular" game on Saturday's at 0800, and they usually do that game on Summer holidays too, like today.  Since my normal playing partners were otherwise occupied today, I figured that the "regular" game was my best bet.  You just show up, put your ball in a hat, the balls are thrown, and teams are set.  I hadn't played much with the guys on my team, but they were all good guys.

Each player puts $11 in a pot.  I really don't know how all parts of the bet are played, but the teams compete for low net and low gross on both the front and back nines.  (Net being your score with handicap deducted, gross being without handicap.)  Then there's also a "skins" game in which a player can earn a payoff if he has the lowest score on a hole among all the players.  This is done on both a net and gross basis too.

We won a couple of bucks as a team on the back side, and my net eagle on the 18th hole (three for a two) won a few dollars in the net skins game.  But my natural birdie on 18 (three for three) turned out to be the only birdie of the day on that hole, and there was only one other hole where only one guy birdied.  So the two of us split the gross skins pot of $90, meaning I won $45!  Totally unexpected, but well-earned.  The 18th is a tough 400-yard hole, and I followed a decent drive with an outstanding 3-iron that left the ball maybe four feet below the cup.  It wasn't a "gimme" putt either.

Sorry for being a bit wordy about golf there, but it was a pretty fun day, even shooting 89!

I'm going to recognize 2 as Daughter of the Day for hanging in there at the Figge for the Red, White and Boom event last night.  She always does a great job steering these kind of programs for the museum, and doesn't always get the recognition that she deserves.  Not that I am biased or anything.  You 'da girl, Kiddo!

Lots of crashes in The Tour this week.  At least three pretty good riders are hanging in there with casts on their wrists.  (LBH...anybody riding in the Tour is a pretty good rider!)  Rule #1 is definitely in play. 

I don't think that I noted here last week's news that my pal Erin Andrews is leaving ESPN for a new gig at FOX Sports.  I don't think that this was much of a surprise to anyone.  She may have gotten (a word?) a little too big for her britches for ESPN, especially since her DWTS appearance where she received all that non-sports publicity.  Money mattered too, I'm sure.

Her biggest problem may have been that she just got too old for the college boys.  I mean, her hay-day was the CWS a few years back when all those guys probably thought that they actually had a shot!  Whatever.

I didn't even know that FOX did college football.  I may have to watch this Fall.  Do they do the Directional U league?

Enjoy the remaider of the holiday.  Thank a soldier.  They deserve it.

BCOT

Tuesday

Still in the heat wave here in River City.  They're projecting the high 90's today.

Here's a preliminary recognition to Old Glory on her Tax Birthday!

We have enjoyed the visit of 4 from NYC.  She heads back this afternoon.  I'm making her Daughter of the Day for taking the detour to the QCA after the bachelorette weekend in the Windy City.  Great to see you, Kiddo!

The Tour de France is underway.  Today was actually the fourth day of racing.  They started this year in Belgium and finally hit Northwest France today.  Lance remains a sideshow to the Tour, even though he hasn't raced there for 2-3 years.  The US Anti-doping folks have brought charges against him, and others, in hopes of proving something.  I lean toward, "Let's move on, people. This might have been news 10 years ago, but now it just sounds like a spite hunt."  And I'm not that much of a Lance fan.

My weekend with The W went OK.  She remains a very needy girl, and she's got her own Summer allergies, but she has a lot of good points too.  The local critter population kept her attention any time that we were outside.  On Saturday night, she was stalking this bunny in my back yard.  This pic was taken with my iPhone and I couldn't get the rabbit in to clear focus, but The W definitely had her pegged.  What you can't see is that W is at the end of her yard leash!

I didn't remember that The Market closes at 1300 EST today.  Should be a slow afternoon here at the office.

Tiger's win on Sunday was a boon to the TV advertisers, and seems to verify that he is "back".  I mean, he's now won three times this year, which translates to a career for half the field in most tournaments.  But he still has his detractors, who basically say he's not back until he wins a major or two.  Again, I'm not that big of a Tiger fan, but that's a pretty high standard.

No big 4th of July plans.  Morning golf, I think.  Rest day from cycling.  My pal Pete and I have ridden each of the last three days, including that DeWitt breakfast run on Sunday, so I'm taking the day off.  2 has Red, White and Boom down on the riverfront tonight.  I try to stay away from the noise.

More later.

BCOT