Wednesday

One of my objectives with this entry is to evaluate Blogger from the laptop.  That experience yesterday morning when I was finalizing the post about the fair racing was just bazaar.  When I added that pic of the midget racer, the system wouldn't free it from the cursor...it was just going wherever I drug the mouse.

No similar problems tonight.   Welcome to technology.

Toby Keith brought in an estimated crowd of 28K last night.  (They really don't have an accurate count as entry into the fairgrounds does not necessarily mean that everyone will go to the concert.)  I wonder how long it took people to exit the place.  Josh Turner tonight.

The Pope has been visiting Rio de Janeiro to celebrate World Youth Day.  This pic of the crowd on the beach is impressive.  I'm guessing that they didn't have an exact count on attendance there either. 

When Pope John Paul visited Iowa in 1979, Mother and Daddy made the trip to Living History Farms in Des Moines for the outdoor Mass that he celebrated there.  The records that I was able to access this evening suggest that the crowd was North of 300,000, perhaps close to 350,000.  Mother had a commemorative book of the Pope's visit that she kept on the coffee table for years.

The only pictures that I found that captured the size of the Iowa crowd were like this grainy aerial shot.  I know that they shut down the roads and just Interstate-parked the hundreds of buses that brought the people in from across the Midwest.

(I may have noted here years ago that the Pope was in Chicago prior to his visit to Iowa.  We called it "Pope-fest" for the crowds that gathered wherever he went in the city.  That being a play on "fest" terminology used for all of the various events that C-town hosts each year.  From my un-openable office window 24 floors up from street-level, I could hear the roar of the crowd as he stepped from the "pope-mobile" and walked into a downtown church one evening.  It was really a little surreal.)

Moving on...

For that Augie basketball trip to Rio that kicks off next week, Coach G is taking his family...wife and three sons...two now going to Drake and one still in high school.  The high school kid is doing an Eagle Scout activity on the trip...giving out T-shirts that he has collected to needy folks in areas that they will be visiting.  Hearing about the project, @srh4, my pal Bill and I all added a bag of extra tee's from our supplies to the effort.  Here, Here for this Eagle Scout!

Now off to bed to get shut-eye.  That early ride tomorrow won't be easy.  It was dark and foggy this AM.  This time of year, you get that heavy, dewy morning air.  My glasses never cleared-up on the ride.  This evening, I tried to buy a head lamp at the bike shop on Devils Glen, but the store was closed, and the clerk, who didn't know I was a friend of the owner, had no interest in re-opening his cash register.  So it will be another morning of the first 30 minutes in the pea soup.

Thanks for reading.

BCOT

Tuesday

The blog recognizes my sister Rosemary as Sister of the Day.  Happy Birthday! ( I'd highlight the designation, but either Blogger or my desktop is limiting use of the editing functions again today...very annoying.)

And today is also the one year anniversary of my retirement from biking up the high mountain roads.  Here's a reprint of the pic of my pal Pete and I atop Mt. Rose last year.  The reason he looks so cool, calm and collected is that he had time to take a nap back at the condo, get the car, and come back to the crest to pick me up!  I will NOT be making the climb from the Reno side again!

Finally, from history, my basement calendars indicate that 2 closed on her house on this date five years ago.  You've come a long way, Baby!

The Mississippi Valley Fair starts today in Davenport.  It runs through Sunday.  Toby Kieth is the grandstand feature tonight.  Country singers Josh Turner and Jake Owen headline a couple of the other nights.   I'm guessing that they'll have 20-25,000 for each of those shows.  That's a lot of folks to put into the fair grounds.  The fair sells a "Fun Card" (for like $25 when they first go on sale in the Winter, and $45 now) that gets the holder in for all of the shows.  That seems pretty cheap compared to what you pay for an arena show, but the finances must work.  They've been doing it this way for lotsa years.

Our county fair from growing-up days on the farm was in Eldon, Iowa.  The Wapello County Fair.  It was a big deal.  I'm sure that I've mentioned it here before.  It was the equivalent of our annual vacation.  4-H projects and displays.  Living in the dorm there for 4 nights.  Walking the "midway" of rides and food booths.  The grandstand events were horse racing (trotters, not thoroughbreds), a car dare-devil show (Joie Chitwood, I think), and some auto racing on Sunday. 

That auto racing was always my favorite.  Today, they would call them midgets, I think.  Was that the start of my NASCAR interest?  Daddy would usually get grandstand tickets from the sales guys who called on the County Supervisors, so we always had good seats.  The cars were loud, and they threw up sprays of dirt/mud as they slid through the corners.  Very macho!  (The guy who drove the Bardol Special... the black #2 car, Booby Grim, actually made it to the Indy 500 in later years.)

OK.  Blogger has gone nuts on me.  I can't even get it to do some basic things, like go to a paragraph, now.  I'm hitting the "publish" icon and maybe I can get some editing done later.  This is like WORK!!

Make it a Good Tuesday.

BCOT

Sunday...UPDATED

An early salute to 3 and 3.1. Happy Anniversary!!!

I'll be working on a Top Ten list of items from the wedding and the last year while I'm chasing the little white ball this morning to be added here later.

Have a great day, you guys.

BCOT


NOW LATER...

Busy day in Eastern Iowa.  I answered the bell and made my tee time for the second day of the Geneva Club tournament.  I 'd rate my back as marginally out-of -sorts tonight, but I managed the damage by swinging easier...which is almost always the way to go with golf.  My pal Ron contributed to my economic welfare again, which is really the only score that matters.

I got home early enough to slip out for 85 minutes on the bike path, do a little yard work, and entertain 2 and The W for brats from the Maplecrest Grille.  Not a bad day.

Sounds like the anniversary-ers have had a good day too, and must now be finishing up dinner in Manhattan.  I'm still amazed at the water under the bridge since 07282012.  A Top Ten list of note:

1.  Iowa game with the crew.
2.  Iowa basketball in the NIT.  Go Hawks!.
3.  Christmas on Harvest Path.
4.  My April visit to NYC...Yankee game and dinner at Rosemary's.
5.  Condo ownership!!  Kinda.
6.  Italy!
7.  All those other weddings...and bachelorette parties.
8.  NYC visits by 3 and @srh4.
9.  Easter in Iowa...loving those donuts!
10.  Concerts galore...that I cannot name.

If 3 and 3.1 put a pen to paper, this could be a very long list!  What a great year.  You are truly blest.

Here's the "News" from Maplecrest.  I've decided to go on a "cleanse" over the next couple of weeks.  Its more a lifestyle effort than one directed at health or diet.  Then again, the primary focus is my mental health, which is, I guess, health-related after all.  I've vowed to, 1) not watch commercial TV (like there's something to watch?), 2) drink no wine during the week (a little effort required there, of course), and 3) get with the core body training program that I did last Summer.  (I even have a lead on a trainer girl who I'm going to talk with this week to help get me back on the horse.)

The TV thing is going to be easy.  When 4 and I got back from Spain/France two years ago, I had been cleansed of my TV interest by those two weeks abroad.  The wine thing is more of a challenge, but staying away from alcohol may help me sleep better.  I'm curious about how my body will adjust to a less-vino intake regimen.  And I know for a fact that my back will be better with those exercises.

Combine these things with some clarity that has formed with regard to a couple of major office-related changes, and the next 60 days will be very interesting.  I was telling 2 over supper that we have just 50 days until we depart for Italia.  That time will go in a heartbeat.  I have so much to do!

So this is a little disjointed.  I'm extremely happy for the NYC-ers.  Now the challenge is to make Year 2 even better.  Go for It!

Thanks for reading.  Have a good week in your neighborhood.

BCOT



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Saturday

I changed the Home Page pic to recognize some RAGBRAI scenery.  This is a new shot of the same overlook that may have been here previously...North and East, just this side of McCausland.  It looks like a RAGBRAI hill.  (It actually is on the Sunday route home on TOMRV..which I no longer do.  But I do a circuit to McCausland on the weekends when I'm looking for around 30 miles with some hills.  This is a good one.)

Just thought I would offer up this photo-op of me with my pals Cal and Ron on the first tee this morning.  It was cool and windy all day on the course...the jackets never came off.  Our golf games were nothing to write home about...not to discuss on the blog.  Good friends.

Congrats to 2 for getting her training run in this morning by doing the Bix 7.

And Happy Tax Birthday to 3 and 3.1.

I'll be back here tomorrow with the latest news.  And probably a rehash of some old stuff as well.

BCOT

Friday...UPDATED

Just a little something here for the Peanut Gallery as we head into the weekend.

I was actually going to do this entry last night from the Figge Art Museum while attending that function that 2 participated in, giving her six-minute slide travelogue presentation on her favorite Views of Paris.  I know, being on the computer at an event like that is poor etiquettet. But I figured that we would be in the second-floor auditorium with stadium seating and dimmed lighting, and my separate little ministrations wouldn't be all that apparent.  It didn't work out that way.  So no blog last night.

The Figge must have some NSA technology on site as my Internet service on my iPad was extremely slow and limited.  I tried my own Verizon service as well as the Guest WiFi offered by the museum.  Trying to upload a pic to Twitter from an iPhone was blocked.  And just trying to email a pic to Gmail or Yahoo was like dial-up access.  Interesting.  I felt like I was in China or one of the places where the government limits your surfing activities.

This has been RAGBRAI week in Iowa.  They over-night tonight in Fairfield, and finish tomorrow in Ft. Madison.  I volunteered to be a driver for my pals Ron and Pete for Thursday and Friday, but the schedules just didn't work.  I guess Lance was on the ride for a couple of days earlier this week.  He had a comment in the paper that he felt well-treated by the crowds and that it was good to return to Iowa.  Again, not a big fan of Lance.  But I think that its okay that he rides with the commoners who comprise RAGBRAI.  I think that his charitable work is praise-worthy.

If its RAGBRAI week, then it must also be Bix weekend here in Davenport.  In addition to the seven-mile run on Saturday morning, they do a kid run tonight (I think), and they had a variety of divisions last night for the Race up Brady Street Hill.  Girls. Boys. Open.  Senior.  Relays.  It all looked way too hard from my couch.  (I mostly walk up Main Street Hill in the Turkey Trot.)  The food vendors and craft people were setting up last night when we were at the museum.  I'll be avoiding the crowds this weekend.  (For many years, my pal Pete would do several days of RAGBRAI, and then get back Friday night so that he could do the Bix run on Saturday. Why?)

Margret is in the shop today for an oil change and other routine maintenance.  There's a piece of chrome that I've asked them to stick back on the passenger-side running board.  (A small indiscretion by moi last year while pulling away from a banking drive-up station.)  I think its been almost two years since her last visit...and less than 1000 miles.  Over/Under on the bill?  $125.  Taking the Over.  (See UPDATE below.)

Finally, anniversary alert for 3 and 3.1.  One year on Sunday.  Where did the time go?

All for now.  Hope it is a good weekend in your neighborhood.

BCOT

UPDATE...So I only missed the Over on the Margret maintenance fee by about $100!!!  They charged only for the oil change, nothing for the lube, fluids top-off...nor for the body shop guy to come over and reattach the chrome molding below the passenger door.  $32.73.  Stopping to buy a lottery ticket on the way home.  I think that they got a kick out of seeing a well-maintained classic car and wanted to do their part to keep 'er on the road.  Suite deal!

I forgot to note earlier that I did get out on an early ride this AM, not only in the dark, but also in the rain.  (Not having the sun up until nearly 0600 is a true bummer.)  It wouldn't have happened if it was also cold, but such was not the case.  Actually doing a ride like that says volumes about how far I have come from the pneumonia bottoms.  And I plan to get out in the morning before heading down for golf in Muskie.  Loving my healthier self!

Wednesday

I had this plan to get a post up yesterday, and some Freakshow Cabernet got in the way.  This bottle has become my current "go to" selection for everyday driveway use.  Mostly because the Hy Vee wine department has a nice special on it...and its a decent wine.  It runs a little higher than the J Lohr, but with the special price and case discount, I think I've been paying around $15.  The unique label is a bit of a conversation piece as well.

This Ryan Braun thing in MLB sounds like a player without much going on in the cranium.  It makes you wonder if these guys have any conception that being caught is even a possibility.  I'm assuming that the guy has some natural talent.  The economics of a failed drug test have to be in the high eight-figure range for him.  I don't get the logic.

Speaking of idiots, Anthony Weiner.  What more can I say?  If he stays in the race, and is elected, the residents of NYC will have proof positive that they have lost all contact with reality.

The CIC is flying to Moline International Airport today, then ground-transporting to Galesburg, an Illinois county-seat town just South of the Quad Cities.  Following up on his transformational, inspirational speech on race relations last week (as judged by the non-partisan network journalists), the seas are due to part following this presentation of his new vision on an economic plan for improving the lot of the 99%.  I guess.  What office is he running for now?

(I think "Playing in an American Legion baseball game in Galesburg" is my correct answer to the question, "Where were you when they landed a man on the moon?")

I saw a story on line this week where Maria Bartiromo, a fairly high-profile CNBC business anchor, is perhaps looking to make a change later this year at the end of her current contract.  I'm not a huge fan of hers, but she's OK, not overly annoying.  But she has reached the status where she can become part of the news herself, not just a reporter of the news.

Hosts and anchors tend to get into this cross-over area after having had ratings success.  You see it in all media segments.  Dan Patrick was an ESPN Sportscenter anchor.  Now he's The Dan Patrick Show, columnist and self-determined high-priest of sports news...and extremely annoying.  (Jim Cramer is the ultimate annoying business anchor.  I mute him or turn the channel before he speaks.)

The story on Maria Bartiromo suggested that CNBC overall ratings were declining and that she wanted off a sinking ship.  Network business news has to be an illusive thing to maintain success in, given from the start that it is cable, not a broadcast production.  Then you have an even narrower audience from the get-go.  I mean, its not The Kardashian's, so you don't pick up the casual viewer.  I wonder if Maria will find her way to FOX?

Beautiful day here.  Make it a Good Wednesday in your world.

BCOT

Sunday

I've never been a big fan of Michelson's, but give the guy his props: with the field wilting around him (Tiger and the flora included), Phil reached up for the brass ring, grabbed a firm hold, and put his name on the Claret Jug with a brilliant final round 66 at Muirfield.  He was the only guy to finish under par for the tournament...on a course that had the best golfers in the world muttering unmentionables after almost every shot.  Here, Here to Phil.

I finally washed Margret yesterday for the first time this year.  She still spiffs up pretty nice.  The next step is to get her into the dealership this week for routine maintenance.  There's a guy at the place in Bettendorf who's been around forever who I've been using for this work the last couple of years.  (The older guys down at the car repair place in West Davenport both retired...and the son doesn't do his best work on cars twice as old as himself.)

The original Margret was not all that reliable.  Daddy bought her for me going into my senior year at ND.  I had signed up for the USAF, received ROTC scholarship money for junior and senior year, worked the farm in the summers, and I think the folks thought I had earned the car.  That and I probably was relentlessly arguing for my own wheels.  I had no say on the car that Daddy ultimately bought for me.  

At the time, 1970, she would have been less than half as old as the Beater is today.  Things went reasonably well in the Fall, but I think that her alternator/generator failed on a weekend trip back to Iowa, and my buddies and I spent a night someplace South of Chicago while it was repaired.  That fix didn't work long.  I had no money, so the car sat for 2-3 months until I could buy new parts.

We must have done some work on the car after senior year because I did several long drives after I entered active duty.  I drove to Witchita Falls, Texas for my initial base of duty (three months of training), and I had at least one round trip back to Iowa that summer for a wedding in Iowa City.  Then I eventually got to Dover, Delaware in the Fall...and I know that I was back to ND for at least two games that year.  (There may have been a St. Mary's girl involved with that scheduling.)  I have no recollection of any car trouble on any of those trips. 

(I really haven't had huge problems with the new Margret, but that said, I won't take her any further than the other side of the river for half-price bottles at the Chop House in Moline on Friday nights.)

The original Margret was traded-in on that hot little two-seat Datsun 240Z in the late Fall of 1971.  Surprisingly...maybe...I never thought about it until now...but...on an historical basis...I always had a great deal of affection and positive memories from the Datsun...but not so much from the original Margret.  Now, I can say without reservation that the new Margret is the most enjoyable car I have ever owned.  And the Datsun is just another line-item in my history book.  Kind of funny how the road twists and turns through the years.

Not much else to add for Sunday.  Make it a good week in your neighborhood.

BCOT

Saturday

So we're giving Daughter and Son-in-Law of the Day to 1 and 1.1. Happy 6th anniversary!! Many good things have happened since that great day in St. Paul. Congratulations!!

And congrats to 1 for getting through her literature class. Always nice
to get a good report card, eh Kiddo?

The ride up to DeWitt today was imperfect, but not by far. The outward bound leg had just a tad of northerly breeze, but not awful. (There was no @bcbison pulling me...he was doing a 100-miler today.) Great breakfast at the Sunrise Cafe. Then there was a discernible tail wind on the return trip. 48+ miles was enough. It gave me 100+ for a week for the first time this Summer.

The British Open golf tournament is played on "links" courses that are not very similar to the tracks that we play here in the US. The courses do not have sophisticated watering systems, and it looks like they're playing in mowed grazing fields. Fields that are bone-hard. Balls will roll forever. One guy had a drive of over 400 yards yesterday! And they have these deep, sod-walled bunkers that you might have to chip out away from the hole. They say that this is "real" golf. Hmmm. I'm OK with the Americanized version.

And the TdF wraps up tomorrow with the guy who has been in the lead for the last two weeks taking the yellow jersey. These last three days in the Alps have been as hard as any I can remember. I'm sure that they have had equally tough stretches, but it's been relentless hill-climbing. I'm betting that the peloton is ready for Paris.

Froma Harrop, a liberal-speak independent national columnist who is published regularly in the local fish-wrap, had a piece this week taking a swipe at the weekend cyclists in Central Park, and some sharp criticism of the bike-share program recently started in the Big Apple. Seems she feels like the denizens of the city ought to act more refined and respectful of the great thinkers strolling along the streets of NYC. Cry me a freakin' river, Miss Priss!

Anybody who thinks The Big O's broadly published and extolled remarks on the outcome of the Zimmerman trial were anything but pandering to his political base has sipped way too much Kool-Aid. As his former Chief of Staff publicly stated, "Let no tragedy go to waste."

My pal Roy left this AM for a week in Hawaii. One of his car dealerships won an award from Toyota, and they present the recognition to him and other similarly honored dealers at a boondoggle in Hawaii. The auto industry is famous for giving out trips to dealers, salesmen, and service personnel for performance. Those trips are usually looked upon as big items, particularly to the lower-ranked employees who might qualify, since that's a trip they might not otherwise make. And the trips probably aren't that expensive for the factory to fund given the discounts they likely negotiate with the travel industry. Yeah, I know...Roy needs a trip to Hawaii.

On that topic of funding...and the auto industry...how long will it take for the White House to find a way to ease the pain in Detroit?

All for now. Again...Congrats to 1 and 1.1. Make it a great day.

BCOT
Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Thursday

This is an "epic" day on the TdF.  Truly.  I guess as part of the 100 year anniversary they needed to do something special, so they have the peloton going up probably the most noted climb in France, le Alpe d' Huez...TWICE!  And the descent after the first trip up is on a narrow road that looks like the equivalent of a bike path.  I'm betting that the riders are all rolling their eyes at the choices by the race organizers for this route.  And they still have two more days in the Alps.  The overall winner will certainly earn the Yellow Jersey this year.

2 is on a business trip to C-town for the next couple of days...so The Winniferous is taking up residence on Maplecrest.  With it being so hot out, we'll be spending most of our time inside.

I've gotta send out props to Vision For Less again.  One of my glass frames broke again over the weekend...the ear piece coming off frame containing the lenses.  This has happened, I think twice, in the last few months.  And they replaced the frame again, at no cost, even though I was a few days out of warranty.  I think that there's a technical flaw in the design of these frames, but I'll wear this set till they break again, and then find something a little more sturdy.

Just to throw it out there, we're just a couple of days away from the anniversary of 1 and 1.1's wedding up in the Twin Cities.  Among my memories, the fact that I had a serious bike accident the weekend before the wedding that left my right thumb with a detached ligament (which was repaired in subsequent surgery). 

I'll add more here this evening from the couch.  Stay cool in the meantime!

BCOT

Wednesday

So I missed the All Star game telecast last night.  The media stories today seemed to give it favorable reviews.  Mariano Rivera, the Yankee reliever who was given the game's MVP award, has been a class act for a long time.  He gets the MVP award for throwing 16 pitches in a three-up, three-down appearance in the eight inning.  Basically, a lifetime achievement award.  He will be in the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.  No quarrel from LtPC on that one.

Hard to believe with so much rain here this Spring and early Summer, but we're kinda dry right now.  The parking portion of my front yard (the grass between the sidewalk and the street) is showing some brown-ness, and I see splotches of browning grass off the fairways at the Duck Creek and Palmer Hills golf courses that I pass daily on my way to the office.  The field crops are not showing stress at this point, but they'll need rain within the next week or two.  Feast and famine.

The red-winged blackbirds are in attack-mode again on our country cycling roads.  It must be nesting season.  I've been dive-bombed each of the last two days by the same bird on Forest Grove road at 0530. This is a new spot for the attacks from prior years.  It seems like a single biker is the prime target.  For whatever reason, they don't go after us when @bcbison and I are together.  Don't fool with Mother Nature.

(It looks like I have a fully functional Blogger program today.  No clue on the correction that seems to have occurred.)

My favorite "hot days of Summer" drink is a rum/lemonade icy. 

Today is definitely a day for an icy.  (I seem to recall telling the story here on the blog from our Chicago days when the rum/lemonade icy was the drink of choice when we packed for Wrigley.  Can you believe that in the late '70's they allowed you to take your own coolers into the stadium?  With a couple of cans of beer also in the cooler?  Heck, today, you can't even carry an open beer on the street around the ballpark.)

All for now.  Stay cool and hydrated!

BCOT

Monday

Still haven't got the entry issues with Blogger resolved.  I'm going to have a discussion with our IT contractor to see if they might be able to help with the situation.  There's no notices on the web to suggest that it is a Blogger-wide problem.  This is really annoying.

(I was  watching the end of the John Deere Classis as I started this entry late yesterday afternoon.  Zack Johnson bogeyed the last hole to let in two other guys for a play-off.  Turns out that they played five extra holes before the young kid came out on top.  Winning a PGA Tour event is just really hard to do...especially if your name isn't Tiger or Phil). 

Home run BBQ on Maplecrest Saturday night.  Steaks.  Veggies.  Wine.  Outstanding weather.

The TdF went up Mt. Ventoux Sunday, and the overall race leader took the stage win as well.  Pretty evident that he is the class of the field this year.  (For the record, I have absolutely no interest in trying to go up Ventoux.  I'm over that "gotta climb that hill" phase.) 

Geneva Country Club became a Muscatine destination Saturday...but not so much so for Club members.  They hosted an outing for a local wildlife conservation group on the course in the AM, closing the course to members until 1:30.  On a Saturday.  In July.  Then they had a wedding reception/dinner that took up both levels of the clubhouse beginning at 5:00.  So you could play golf in the afternoon, but couldn't even get a soda on the property.

Clubs do these things to make money.  I get that.  Doesn't mean that I have to like it.  (Turns out that my old club in Davenport was closed to members on Saturday morning as well in order to host an outing for Deere executives in town for the tournament.  I'm betting that that wasn't a cheap rental for Deere.)

Does July 15th mark the Middle of Summer?  I can tell that we're definitely losing early sun in the mornings, but just looking at the calendar, if you count June 1st and September 1st as the general demarcation points for Summer, we're now heading down hill.  With many of the schools now starting their academic years in August, students and teachers are already on countdowns to the first day of school.  Ouch!

MLB takes its mid-Summer break with the All-Star game tomorrow night at Citi Field in New York.  I think that there was a time when being chosen to the All Star squad was a real accomplishment.  With fan voting, you end up with more of a beauty contest, I think.  Plus, I really don't follow the game that much anymore, so there are dozens of players who will be in the game that I don't recognize. 

MLB, like all pro sports leagues, has struggled in making their All Star game relevant.  They had that tie a few years ago when the game went into extra innings and they ran out of players.  Ran out of players!!??  Whatever.  Now they give the home field advantage in the World Series to the league that wins the All Star game.  That's no small item, but I'm betting that in July, the players at Citi Field will be saying, "Home field in October?  Meh.  What's on the post game buffet?"

All right.  Now headed to the piles on my desk.  Hope it's a good week in your neighborhood.

BCOT

 

Friday

I caught this pic (with max telephoto on my Canon minidigi) of the Metlife blimp at lunch as it flew overhead at our office building in Davenport on its way to the golf tournament on the Illinois side.  It is tethered at the private airport North of Davenport for the week rather than at the commercial airport in Moline.

(The new Home Page pic was snapped with my iPhone on the early ride yesterday morning around 0540 on Devils Glen Road.  Kind of a cool sunrise through the trees with freshly cut hay in the foreground.  Hard to get a good pic straight on at the sun.  I might try it another time with the minidigi to see if the clarity can be improved.)

My attendance at the tournament yesterday afternoon was worth the trip.  Of course, other than the $10 for parking and the tips to the bartender in the skybox, there were costs associated with the excursion.  Perfect weather.  Not overly crowded.  Plenty of friends to chat up.  But three hours was enough, and I won't be headed back this weekend.  I mean, you see things so much better on TV, right?

Interesting take on security at the tournament.  I parked at a lot a mile or two away and took the school bus shuttle.  To get on the bus, a sheriff had a wand scanner, and he actually patted me down for the side-pocket zipper, and the coins in my left pocket that set off the alarm.  No back packs.  Ladies had their permissible small purses searched and tagged (to indicate that they had been inspected).  Then once on the grounds of the course, you had to show a separate guest name-plate for the skybox area.  Gone are the days of free movement...even in Silvis, Illinois.  Hello Boston.

I had an experience with DirecTV this week that surprisingly ended up with me reducing my service package.  The last couple of times that I have called in to gripe about my bill, the Customer Service Rep would find a way to work me into a program that kept my programming the same, but at a cheaper rate.  The two gals I talked to this time just had little to say, and when I remained insistent on my quest to reduce my monthly bill, it was, "Okay, you can cancel HBO."  Which I did.  (The only reason I had HBO of course, was because on one of the same types of calls from a year or two ago, an agent must have found some short-term fee reduction by by adding a premium channel.)  Whatever.  Is that a sign of the economic times?

No big plans here for the weekend.  Bike and golf.  Wine, I'm guessing.

Make it a good one in your neighborhood.

BCOT 

Thursday

OK.  I still am having a problem with Blogger.  It must be a non-compatibility bug with my Windows Explorer browser.  I'll do a short entry now and see if I can get it to publish.  This is kinda like work.

I'm giving the nod of Daughter of the Day to 2 for meeting her annual fund-raising goal over at Augie for the fiscal year that ended June 30th.  This is not a small deal as meeting a target that was on the upside of challenging is a great achievement.  Way to go, Kiddo!

So I can't highlight or change the font.

The golf tournament is now in full-swing.  I'm actually headed over today for a while to check things out.  Normally, I decline most of the invitations that I get to join in at a hospitality tent, but I figured that a couple of hours on a Thursday wouldn't be too bad of crowd-combat.  Right?  Report to follow.

Great ride this AM.  It was almost 20 degrees cooler than yesterday, and way less humid.  I may not be all the way back from my Winter of Missing Fitness, but I'm getting close.  Its been a looong climb.

More later.

BCOT

Post-publishing Comment:  It publishes, but I still can't effectively edit.  The keyboard arrow keys are my only way to get around to different places in the written text.  The mouse is not mousing around.

Wednesday

This is very odd. I tried to get on to add to and edit last night's entry, and was unable to do so from my desktop PC here at the office. Blogger wasn't even allowing me to create a new entry. I'm in the process of rebooting the desktop to see if Windows needs to get out of an endless loop.

Now I'm going to try to publish this test entry from the iPad.

I'm trying to...

BCOT

Hmmmm.

OK. That works from the iPad. Is there a bug on my laptop AND my desktop? Really too weird for me to understand.

And after my reboot, I still can't access Edit/Entry on Blogger from the desktop.

It was 78 here at 0530. I elected to take a pass on my early ride. The forecast is for the humidity to go down today as winds shift to a northerly flow. Maybe I'll try the bike path this evening.

Today is the Pro Am over at the Deere Classic. That's the event where the average golfer can pay to play with a pro. The fee is likely North of $4,000 for the round. That fee does get you some other amenities for the week, like several tickets for entry to the grounds throughout the tournament, and various chatskies, but its still an expensive round of golf.

The Pro Am is one of the big fund-raising elements of any PGA event. They probably have around 300 participants teeing it up...which means that they've collected $1.2 million in green's fees for the day. Not a bad haul. Add in the admittance fees for the fans, concessions, parking and souvenir sales, and the tournament is off to a good start...before the pro's actually start playing for real.

Just a comment on the politics of New York. Eliot Spitzer is on CNBC this morning. He's come out this week as a candidate for Controller in New York City. Really? I think he got the idea from the seeming success of Anthony Weiner, the former Congressman who got in trouble with pics on Twitter, who is a candidate for NYC mayor. Politicians never go away. Regardless of their sins. If one or both of these guys gets elected, I guess its safe to say that NYC can look past anything.

OK. On to my day. Maybe Blogger will come around.

BCOT



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Tuesday

Yesterday was my actuarial 65th birthday.  Kinda like a tax birthday, except it involves the half year mark following your last birthday.  For actuarial computations, like used in life insurance annuities and pensions, once you have passed the six-month point following your birth date, you are considered the age of your next birthday.  It simplifies the answer to the question, "How old is he/she, really?"  Hence, the 8th of July is my actuarial birthday.  Since I was born in 1949...and next January is 2014...Well, you can do the math.

The significance of age 65 is generational.  When I was growing up, and then later when I first got in to the pension consulting business in the mid-70's, age 65 was the recognized "normal retirement age".  (In my business, Normal Retirement Age is a technical term.)  NRA was the age when people were expected to retire to The Life of Riley.  I'm not sure whether that happened with absolute regularity (obviously not so much for dairy farmers!), but it was certainly a cultural line-in-the-sand.

I know that I threw 4000 Days out there as a target time line for my own retirement, but it really never occurred to me in the same sense as a specified number of years.  I measured it as a combination of, 1) how long I might have to work in order to afford some sort of retirement, and 2) how long I could mentally take the abuse of work life.  65 was not part of the equation. 

The Boomer generation has been retiring for a few years.  Those who could, I guess.  Others have elected to keep working, either because the have to or because they enjoy their work lives.  I think that it's a matter of circumstances, no the least of which is health.  Amazing what people will do if they have good health.  In today's world, that age 65 thing has been fading away.

I'm publishing this now, but will edit more in the morning.  Blogger (or my laptop) is malfunctioning.

BCOT

Sunday

This is getting an early start to a Sunday.  If my pal Pete were around, it would be take-off time for DeWitt.  That trek will have to wait a week.

Our extended fff with the Dornies came to an end yesterday with their return to Harvest Path.  The days kind of merged together watching 1.01 and 1.02 keeping us entertained.  I'm sure that @srh4 will need a few days to get used to the quiet at her house.  A good time was had by all.

The PGA tour comes to town this week for the John Deere Classic played at a course on the Illinois side called the TPC at Deere Run.  It looks like they will have a pretty good field including recent Deere winners Zack Johnson and Steve Stricker.  The tournament is probably the biggest sporting event of the year in our area (although the Bix road race next month gets big local participation too).  Since Deere jumped on board as the title sponsor 10 years or so ago, the once iffy event became one of the most successful tournaments on the PGA schedule.

I have tickets to go out to the course on Thursday afternoon.  A local bank from Muskie that I do some business with hosts clients and referral sources in a hospitality tent that day.  If the weather remains favorable, it can be a fun day.  If it rains, I'm a no-show.  #fairweatherfan.

I was envious of 3 and 3.1 yesterday with their visit to Wrigleyville.  (Cubs win!  Cubs win!  Cubs win!)  Actually, I probably still enjoy the general "feel" of the Wrigleyville experience more than game attendance.  A cold one and a dog at the Sports Corner is always a trip worth making, game or no game.  3's picture-message to me let me know that she understands.

The pictures from the Tour show lots of snow in the sheltered areas of the mountain passes in the Pyrenees.  (Channel 220 on DirecTV.)  The favorite layed down the law yesterday and put more than a minute on other contenders.  With several climbs today, we'll see if the other guys can keep pace.  If not, the winner could be decided today...with two more weeks of him just staying out of trouble to get the Yellow Jersey.

Its interesting that the same announcers that cheered Lance for all those years now just ignore that history (at least as far as I have heard).  Not sure what they could say, but it is a bit odd.  When will an American get back to the head of the peloton?

I'm headed down to Muskie for golf.  Looks like it will be a decent day.

Maybe more later.

BCOT

Friday

The 4th of July was pretty much a non-event in the 52722.  My golf game in Muskie was forgettable in most scoring respects, but it was a Top Ten day weather-wise.  Low key afternoon and evening on Century Heights.  Bettendorf still does a big fireworks event, but we all took a pass.  Maybe when the kids are a little older.  Fireworks have never held my interest.

We did finally make it to Whitey's for some ice cream (which I think had some Twitter pics posted).  It was a successful trip (although 1.01 was too leery to jump in Margret with Mom!).

Anyone remember the viewing stand that we used to construct for the Bettendorf parade in the back of the truck?  I mean, why wouldn't we have a viewing stand?

My latest example of Sometimer's-related bumps in my daily routine involves my new, insulated coffee cup.  I really like the way it keeps the coffee hot, and I use it every day.  The problem comes in when I'm done drinking from my second cup and there may be as much as a half a cup left in the container.  I regularly forget to close the pop-up sipping lid, and whether I'm carrying the cup in my hands or have it sitting in the console of the car, I'll make some kind of a move that has the cup upside down and coffee spilling out the top. The car seat in the Buick, handouts for a client meeting, and some checks for bank deposit all got the coffee-treatment in separate incidents last week.  #slowlearner.

The TdF is getting into the Pyrenees.  The route this year goes clockwise, so after starting on Corsica, they headed West from Nice.  The stage Sunday ends in Bagneres de Bigorre where 4 and I spent four nights in August of 2011.  I wonder who will be staying in our hotel this weekend?  And what the room price will be? 

(Actually, I'm curious whether the teams will stay there Sunday night or elect to make the airplane trip North after completing the stage.  Monday is a "rest/travel day" and the Tour resumes on Tuesday in the Northwest quadrant of the country.  It makes sense to get to the rest day town Sunday night. So a stage-end-town like B de B might not actually have the teams in town for more than an hour or two at the end of the stage.  Maybe its better to be a stage "starting" town. )

The reviews for the new Lone Ranger movie are collectively tepid at best (and many say the flick is just plain bad).  I was a big fan of The Lone Ranger when I was a kid.  Half an hour on Saturday morning with other such notable shows as Fury and Sky King.  I'm pretty sure that I'll never see this latest iteration.  One review called it Pirates of the Caribbean meets the Old West.  Today's Hollywood needs to break down stereotypes and make sure that the public understands that absurdity is the norm.  All you old white guys are nothing but racists.  As though Johnny Depp is a role model.  Right.

Another steak-on-the-grill (modified fff) night ahead of us later before the Dornies head North tomorrow.  Maybe some pics later.

Enjoy the weekend!

BCOT 

Monday

Sorry for being AWOL much of the last week. That tends to happen when we have some modified fff on the docket. With the Dornies in town, the blog has taken a backseat. I'll try to be more attentive this week.

This entry is coming from a Starbuck's shop in West Des Moines at early coffee. I made the trip over to DM last night to meet up with my long-time client/friend Richard who is in town for a few days from his home in San Antonio. We did a Biaggi's dinner last night, and are tee-ing it up at 1000 this AM. I'll be heading back to the QCA after golf.

That first half of 2013 was a whisper...vapor...Jimmy Johnson flying past the start/finish line. With the things already on the schedule for the second half of the year, Christmas will be here like next week. Pluses and minuses for the elderly among us (and by "us", I mean me).

If its July, it means that the Tour de France is underway across the pond. They started this year on the island of Corsica...and have given the island three stages...which I think is a big allotment of stages for a relatively small area. They've already had a big crash in Stage Two, marked by the team bus getting stuck under the finish banner/assembly. Who's on first? They get over to the mainland tomorrow for a team time trial in Nice. A TTT is a unique event and you'd better have five guys who can hammer for 15-20 miles, or your General Classification rider will get disadvantaged.


Our visit with 1.01 and 1.02 to the local zoo yesterday morning was a hit. The kids are at ages where they are pretty easily entertained. The pics of 1.01 on the pony reminded me of one of my all-time favorite pics of 3 on a fake pony at that park in South Dakota from around 1990.  (I'll try to get @srh4 to dig that one out for a future entry.)

The crowd at the zoo was classic Walmart. No dress-code required. I'm always (un)impressed by the tats and piercings that adorn the masses.

Sounds like there is some consensus building for a full-FFF at Tahoe for 2014. It may not be too early to consider dates so that everyone can make appropriate scheduling for vacations. We're talking about 2 or 3 condos to make accommodations best for all parties. Those units at Third Creek look like good choices to me.

Each day there is more news out about the spying done by our government. It's not like I ever thought that I was below radar, but it is now apparent that everything I do is either on film or on an electronic record. I guess my reluctance to use a Hy Vee gas card for fear of further documenting my profile is really much ado about nothing. (@srh4 banked like 70 cents a gallon when we stopped at the store for just lunch fixin's yesterday.). I hate to give in to store promotions like that...but I guess I actually crossed that Rubican with my Kohl's car. Bring on Hy Vee gas!

My friends Ron and Jane stopped over Friday night for a late driveway visit after the family BBQ. I hadn't seen them since they had returned home from their 3-week trip to Europe. Jane showed off the hundreds of photos that she had taken on her iPad mini. Pretty slick. (But LBH, my interest in the pics pretty well vanished after around #10.) One of the things that I don't have a resolution to yet is the efficient transfer of pics from my Canon minidigi to my laptop or iPad. I like the Canon...but I like immediate publishing too...

So I'm getting my refill for the road and heading back to the hotel to check out. Maybe I'll get some pics added to this entry when I get back to Maplecrest.

Make it a Good Monday. Welcome back to the US of A to 3 and 3.1. Happy weekend to 4. Safe travels to C-town to 1 and 1.1.

Y'all....

BCOT

Note...The Home Page pic was taken today on the way back from Des Moines.  On my Canon minidigi while I was blowing past at about 80 MPH.  Not a bad rendition, eh?



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