So Iowa wins yesterday, rather unspectacularly, over a team without many Big 10 athletes. But when you"re on a 7-game losing streak, the old adage applies: A win is a win is a win. ("old adage", of course, being redundant.) It will be interesting to see what happens next week in Ames. The 'Clones scheduling an "open date" after their first game? Really?
ND showed little at The Big House. Can you say, "9 wins"? And a trip to the Boise Bowl?
I recently got caught by Gap in an ad misinterpretation on an on-line "sale". It was a 30% Off For the Day deal. I had previously decided that I needed a couple of new pairs of khaki's for the Italy trip, so when the 30% ad hit my email, I figured it was a good time to make my purchase. For good measure, I added a pair of jeans to freshen my wardrobe. I went through the process and thought I had applied the discount and had the right net cost as I hit the "check-out" key. Wrong-o, Bucko!
When the package arrived last week...on schedule, as usual, for Gap...the slacks were all the right sizes and the colors that I had ordered. When I checked the enclosed packing invoice, I finally noticed that they had not given the discount on the jeans. My first thought had been that there was a computer error, as I was fairly certain that the ad had been a 30% Off Everything type of promotion. But when I went to my email confirmation from the order, the jeans showed no discount on the original invoice.
I then mentally exercised that there must have been a small-print exception for jeans (and maybe other selected merchandise) which generally hacks me off when retailers do that, and capture some sales that might not otherwise get made. So I called the Customer Service line, actually got through in a short period of time, and registered my gripe with the Service Rep. The gal was actually very nice, credited me with a 20% Off on the jeans, and took down my Old Men Think 30% Off Everything means 30% Off Everything complaint. I'm sure that my feedback will influence Gap to change their business model.
A couple of comments on my other sports of interest...
Yes, I do consider NASCAR a sport. Anyway, the 24 had the pole for last night's race, the final one before the 10-race schedule to crown the annual champion. He had to have a high finish to get one of the last spots. Bottom line? Uh, he be racin' for wins in these next 10 events, not the championship. He finished 1, yes 1, point out of the final spot.
There was some controversy at the end when one driver, Clint Bowyer, perhaps did an intentional spin-out to get a Yellow flag, which meant that the field then had to reset for a couple-lap dash to the checkers. If not for that Yellow, the 24 and Ryan Newman looked like they'd have made it in for the championship running. It just so happens that the 24 crashed-out Bowyer in a late race last year, and the other benefactor of this Yellow flag was a Bowyer teammate who would have been outside looking in if Newman had won. In the garage, they know that this Yellow was not an accident. These boys have memories.
The peloton is in the high mountains of the Pyrenees right now, today's stage finishing not all that far from where 4 and I rode last year. Chris Horner, the 41-year-old American, remains in 2nd place over all. But he's 50 seconds back, and it doesn't look like he has the oomph to get up to the top spot. They still have 6-7 days to go, but the leader is in a strong position. (If this placing holds up, the winner will have gained all of his time-advantage in the Individual Time Trial stage held last Wednesday, where he bested Horner by about 90 seconds in the race against the clock. Is that really racin'?)
The race has had a lot of drop-outs, not an uncommon result for this event. Only 150 riders finished the stage today out of the original 198 who took the starting line two weeks ago. There'll be a few more who will cut bait before the finish in Madrid. The long season, the up-coming World Championships, and the normal crashes/illnesses all have contributed to the attrition. More so than the TdF and the Giro, the Vuelta pays the price of a somewhat reduced interest in riders thinking that they need to finish the three-week race to validate their bona fides for the peloton and their sponsors.
Switching gears...
Just a comment on the Friday night concert that 2 and I attended at the River Music Experience (RME) Redstone Room. 2's contact at the RME had comp-ed her some tickets and we had a "Reserved" table with a personalized name-plate awaiting us. Suite! There were maybe 75 people in the room.
I'd give the over all rating of C+ to the night's entertainment. Gretchen Peters has talent both vocally and in her writing. But we left after an hour or so of her music. She has a moderate, feminist, life-is-hard edge, and I didn't feel like entertaining the crowd was as important to her as was getting her thoughts across to the audience. Not overbearingly so, but I still got that "message" feeling in most of her songs. (Plus, it was certainly after my bed time!)
Her opening-act was a gal singer with lots of dark perspective in her songs. We left this presentation after 5-6 songs for better wine in the lower-level bar, returning with "go" plastic cups for Gretchen's performance 40-45 minutes later. (We had rejected the wine offered in the Redstone Room. There might have been a box with a spigot behind the bar.)
No other philosophy to offer here today. Hope the Peanut Gallery has a good day. Thanks for reading.
BCOT
A couple of comments on my other sports of interest...
Yes, I do consider NASCAR a sport. Anyway, the 24 had the pole for last night's race, the final one before the 10-race schedule to crown the annual champion. He had to have a high finish to get one of the last spots. Bottom line? Uh, he be racin' for wins in these next 10 events, not the championship. He finished 1, yes 1, point out of the final spot.
There was some controversy at the end when one driver, Clint Bowyer, perhaps did an intentional spin-out to get a Yellow flag, which meant that the field then had to reset for a couple-lap dash to the checkers. If not for that Yellow, the 24 and Ryan Newman looked like they'd have made it in for the championship running. It just so happens that the 24 crashed-out Bowyer in a late race last year, and the other benefactor of this Yellow flag was a Bowyer teammate who would have been outside looking in if Newman had won. In the garage, they know that this Yellow was not an accident. These boys have memories.The peloton is in the high mountains of the Pyrenees right now, today's stage finishing not all that far from where 4 and I rode last year. Chris Horner, the 41-year-old American, remains in 2nd place over all. But he's 50 seconds back, and it doesn't look like he has the oomph to get up to the top spot. They still have 6-7 days to go, but the leader is in a strong position. (If this placing holds up, the winner will have gained all of his time-advantage in the Individual Time Trial stage held last Wednesday, where he bested Horner by about 90 seconds in the race against the clock. Is that really racin'?)
The race has had a lot of drop-outs, not an uncommon result for this event. Only 150 riders finished the stage today out of the original 198 who took the starting line two weeks ago. There'll be a few more who will cut bait before the finish in Madrid. The long season, the up-coming World Championships, and the normal crashes/illnesses all have contributed to the attrition. More so than the TdF and the Giro, the Vuelta pays the price of a somewhat reduced interest in riders thinking that they need to finish the three-week race to validate their bona fides for the peloton and their sponsors.
Switching gears...
Just a comment on the Friday night concert that 2 and I attended at the River Music Experience (RME) Redstone Room. 2's contact at the RME had comp-ed her some tickets and we had a "Reserved" table with a personalized name-plate awaiting us. Suite! There were maybe 75 people in the room.
I'd give the over all rating of C+ to the night's entertainment. Gretchen Peters has talent both vocally and in her writing. But we left after an hour or so of her music. She has a moderate, feminist, life-is-hard edge, and I didn't feel like entertaining the crowd was as important to her as was getting her thoughts across to the audience. Not overbearingly so, but I still got that "message" feeling in most of her songs. (Plus, it was certainly after my bed time!)
Her opening-act was a gal singer with lots of dark perspective in her songs. We left this presentation after 5-6 songs for better wine in the lower-level bar, returning with "go" plastic cups for Gretchen's performance 40-45 minutes later. (We had rejected the wine offered in the Redstone Room. There might have been a box with a spigot behind the bar.)
No other philosophy to offer here today. Hope the Peanut Gallery has a good day. Thanks for reading.
BCOT
1 comment:
Gap is pretty well know for their good customer service. I think they realize they have a lot of competitors and that most of their stuff goes on sale at some point, so it doesn't do them much good to alienate and old guy who might buy more jeans down the line. Most of the folks I've worked with at the other stores in the family brand (Banana and Old Navy) also have better than average customer service. Makes a difference!
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