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