Wednesday

Yesterday was the first day that I had the substitute RCL in for the weekly cleaning.  And this is at least the third-team RCL as I had a message on my cell phone on Monday from an Irina or Karina or Some other 'rina indicating that she would be in on Tuesday to do the house.  It was almost like she was reading from a script.

Anyway, I prepped for her in the same manner as for my regular RCL (towels and jeans started in the laundry), and hoped for the best.  When I got home last night, everything was done just as though the true RCL had been there.  Down to the position of drain stoppers in the sinks, folded clothes in my laundry room, and pillows on the couch.  I was impressed.  How detailed are my regular gal's notes?  Do they have an RCL School? 

Tonight is the annual basketball game between local small college rivals Augie and St. Ambrose.  It will be the last such game for a while as Augie has elected to not renew the game past this year.  Another case of bureaucracy rules.  Here's why.

Augie is a member of the NCAA Division III.  St. Ambrose has elected to remain in the NAIA which is a similar, but competing, organization for small college athletics.  The NCAA has gone to a generally technical evaluation of results in determining at-large bids to the season-ending D-III tournament.  (I think in an effort to take politic-ing out of the at-large bid debate.)  Thus, if you don't receive you league's automatic bid, your results are plugged into the computer and compared with other teams in your region.  The team (or teams) with the best outcomes get the available at-large bids.

One of the criteria in the computer analysis is total win-loss record...against NCAA D-III teams.  Games against NAIA schools don't count.  So if your total record is, say, 20-5, with one of those wins against an NAIA school, the NCAA considers your record to be 19-5.  Which places you below, in the pecking order, another D-III school with an identical record, but with all wins against D-III opponents. 

This exact thing happened to Augie last year.  And they didn't get a bid, whereas a team in their conference with the same record (and whom they had beaten) did.

It doesn't look like I'll get to the game tonight.  I have a late afternoon meeting down in Muskie, and I'll probably go over to the club for dinner afterwards.

I remain amazed, and a bit uncomfortable, about the deep tracking done by retailers on a person's Internet trail.  That notification yesterday of being followed on Twitter by Silver Oak was either a case of incredible kismet, or some troll is reading the labels on the pics that I have sent out on my Twitter account.  And the side-bar ads that pop-up on my Google page are for Canon and Nikon cameras, because I have looked at such items on searches recently.

There is no such thing as "below radar" these days!

Hope everyone has a good Wednesday.  (Monday for 4!)

BCOT