Thursday

This is "bon voyage" day for 3 and 3.1.  They're headed to Italia to attend a wedding on Lake Como.  Tough life.  They are Daughter and Son-in-Law of the Day.  Good luck with travel!

I had meetings down in Muscatine yesterday, and then stayed in town for the afternoon to get in some practice at Geneva Country Club.  I hadn't played for a couple of weeks, and my game needs more repetitions to get the muscle-memory on my swing to kick in.  Then with just a couple of holes to play, my lower back got out of sync, and I'm still trying to get things back in line. 

(I still have a small goal to lower my handicap this year from the current 16...to maybe 13. I don't think I have the interest to practice enough to get it any lower.  That takes too much time.)

The markets went in a predictable tailspin yesterday after the Fed meeting and Ben Bernanke's subsequent press conference.  I'm of the cynical opinion that the markets would have tumbled, regardless of what Bernanke said.  There are so many talking heads with varying opinions, that a sell-off was inevitable.  We are in a position now where good news in the economy is almost bad news for monetary policy.  Any marked improvement in economic data will prompt the Fed to reduce easing, which sends the fixed income markets lower.

All of the weather in the past month has been about rain, sump pumps, and soggy ground, right?  Well, the tide has turned.  I've now had to start watering my ornamental/landscape bushes around my house.  When I mowed my yard Monday night, the ground was just plain hard.  Global warming for sure.

Its the College World Series in Omaha this week.  I've caught a few innings of the ESPN broadcast over the last couple of nights.  Looks like big crowds again.  Most of the teams have been there before, although Indiana was a fresh face (and were able to win a game before being eliminated last night).  Not sure who the new Erin Andrews is for the color commentary.

(The NCAA has stepped in to reduce the bat productivity, and the home run rate is way down again this year.  I think they made this change a couple of years ago to address both safety concerns and the false-data on hitters that the more lively bats had previously produced.  The metal bats introduced to amateur ball in the '70's were initially an economic step to reduce the costs of equipment...an aluminum bat doesn't break!  But a by-product had been this "whippiness" of newer models that gave the batter a big advantage. I'm not sure of the economics anymore.  Those aluminum bats are expensive, and it seems like every hitter has to have his own these days.)

A couple of notable deaths have hit the news in the last day or two.  Vince Flynn wrote some political thrillers that were good reads for travel or the beach.  A Twin Cities native (I think) and a graduate of St. Thomas.  Cancer at age 47. 

James Gandolfini was an actor who came to fame in the HBO series, The Sopranos (which I never watched).  He played a lot of "heavies" in different movies, and was that classic "character actor" who could carry off a supporting role in various military, cops-n-robbers, or other dramatic flicks.  At age 51, of a heart problem, I guess.

Both of these guys would be considered very successful in their respective trades.  And both are now part of history.  At very young ages.  Live life, folks.  Its a gift.

Looks like a good day here.  Make it a good one in your world.

BCOT