Wednesday

This comes to you from the iWireless Center in Moline, Illinois where I am attending a continuing education seminar on tax topics for the upcoming season. I've been to programs at this place before, and it is a bit interesting what this facility may do for (and against) the local convention business.

(We'll see how that pic works on the final entry. I still don't have a handle on posting photos from the iPad.)

The smart phone and iPad (both connected to my desktop Outlook service) make being out of the office so much better than the old days. I was always super-concerned that I'd miss an important call. Now, I might not get the call immediately, but the message recorded on my voice-mail hits Outlook right away, and I can decide if I need to make the return call now, or perhaps just send a short email to indicate a follow-up when I'll be back in the office.

Of course, all of that said...with the same technology that makes you always available, you're ALWAYS available. Hiding below radar becomes less-easily explained.

That spin class last night was about as much fun as pulling out your fingernails. It was my first time on a bike since the trip up Mt. Rose with @bcbison on Monday, July 29th. I hadn't missed the experience. Either on Mt. Rose or the spin room. It was a well-attended class with only a hand full of bikes open. Could it be that New Year's resolutions have already started?

As I am wont to do, I did some math while I was taking the spin-abuse. It had been 121 days since my last ride. When I measured that number of days on the other side of the wedding, I got into the latter part of March of this year. Which seems like a life-time ago! And if I add that number of days to the current date, we're back into March 2013, which is equally eye-opening. For me. Not so much for anyone who actually has a life.

The political posturing on the "fiscal cliff" seems to have extended the campaign. I've said since the election that it would be interesting to see what The Big O did with himself, now that there was no elective office to pursue. Obviously, the lure of the campaign trail was too hard to resist. As though his constituency needs further encouragement to tax the rich.

(Keep in mind, my business keeps this political/economic/finance debate in my daily life. Its almost impossible to separate these aspects in the discussion. There is no report on the business news that doesn't consider the political forces in play. I'd much rather spend this time of year worrying about the SI swimsuit cover than the Alternative Minimum Tax...or Buffet's secretary's tax rate.)

My long-time-ago pal Wally and I would schedule three-day weekend in Vegas this time of year (after Thanksgiving and before Christmas) to argue over the college football bowl games. Of course, the number of games in those days was no more than 10 or so, so the interest in each game was considerably more so than today. I remember sitting at the bars with the "tout" sheets from the casinos and putting $5 per game with Wally (not the sportsbook). In most years, Wally and I never made much money off of each other.

Speaking of bowl games, the first one I attended (and only one now that I think about it) would have been the 1970 or 1971 Cotton Bowl when ND played Texas. I really can't remember which year, or the result of the game. ND lost the '70 game and won the '71 game. Some ND friends and I drove Phil and Margaret's car from Iowa, straight to Dallas, and slept on the floor of a player's room whom we knew. Details are sketchy. There was a huge snow storm on the way down (that did little to slow us down). There were some coeds from Baylor involved on New Year's Eve, and a private club in the middle of "dry" Oklahoma on the way home. All very foggy.

(I saw Joe Theismann in a TV shot of the sidelines at the LA Colesium last Saturday night shaking hands with Teo and some of the other players. He was a classmate of mine and the QB of those '70 and '71 teams. He's had several network TV jobs over the years after a reasonably successful pro
career, but not sure where he is now. His shtick wears thin after a while with most viewers. He was never what you would call a shy guy.)

So I may try to dress this entry up once I get to my laptop at home.

Thanks for reading.

BCOT


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