Thursday

I had intended to get this written this AM, but it was a late start today and work got in the way.  While we had a brief period of snow before lunch, it amounted to not much and the streets are clear for the evening commute.  2 and I need cooperation from the weatherman for our visit to Harvest Path tomorrow afternoon.

Here's the artist's rendering of the ND Stadium expansion plan that was announced yesterday...at the Board of Trustees meeting...in Rome!  Why wouldn't you make a major announcement affecting ND football in Rome?

Why butting up to three sides of the stadium, you ask?  This will shock you, but I'm betting that the number one reason is M-O-N-E-Y!!  Let's say that the university needs more classroom/research/facilities for legitimate reasons.  Sure, taking a few acres from the parking lots has urban-sprawl negatives.  But really?  While on the other hand, you have several(?) new, state-of-the-art buildings, for academic purposes, of course, that just happen to attach to one of the most valuable pieces of US real estate not located on Park Avenue?  With conveniently-placed luxury suites for ND football?

Naming rights to the buildings?  The conference rooms?  The concourses?  The fund-raising for this deal will be done before a shovel is turned.  And the annual fees for those luxury boxes will pay dividends for decades.

The Phoenix Open is this week at the TPC Scottsdale.  They've run this golf tournament the week of the Super Bowl in recent years.  Its a very popular tournament on the schedule, and they get huge crowds.  Here's a shot of the par 3 16th hole.  They actually have two course at TPC Scottsdale...and for good crowd-friendly viewing reasons, they call this one the Stadium Course.

The boys golf trip has played the Stadium Course before, but not when I have been with the group.  They want around $250 a round for green's fees.  Its not a private course and so anyone can play if they pony-up the dollars.  We paid $175 this year at Grayhawk, which I would argue is just as good of a course.

I know that the Peanut Gallery is also thirsting for NASCAR news.  There was an announcement today about some changes in their championship Chase format.  They're still trying to capture viewers and get their "play-off" (race-off?) races more dramatic.  If Jimmie wasn't winning all the time, they wouldn't be tweaking the system.

Of more interest on the NASCAR scene is the fact that Junior's car still has some 2014 sponsorship available to the right bidder.  I find it interesting that the track's most popular driver is not fully booked for the year...and next year for that matter.  Rick Hendrick is basically saying, "We're OK.  We have a premium brand.  Show me the money...and your name goes on the hood of the 88."  And given Junior's air-time, an ad firm can probably work out the equation that show's it's a cheap date. As a matter of fact, I'm sure that Rick Hendrick has those stats already available for you to review.

Enough for now.  Need to pack for the trip North.  Watch for the Twitter feeds from the road.  And we'll add pics during the weekend.

Thanks for reading.

BCOT

Tuesday

I'm not sure which of today's most-hyped events I have less interest in: 1) Super Bowl Media Day, or 2) The POTUS's State of the Union address.  Both are much-ado-about-nothing.  There's probably more cleavage at SB Media Day, so I'm going with Option One.

The NFL has stepped out on to the thin ice (pun intended) and is hosting the game for the first time in a cold-weather climate.  Unless they end up with a blizzard, I'm guessing that the post-script will be that the event can be held successfully anywhere.  The big money has to be from the TV and associated fees which doesn't require sunny and 75 as game conditions.  They probably got more money from NYC to bring the game to The Big Apple than what New Orleans or Miami might have paid.  And as TV watchers, what does the weather matter?

The SB commercials tend to be hyped as much as the game.  At this point in the saturation-advertising curve, does a good commercial actually generate new business?

2 and I are headed to Harvest Path this weekend, so we'll probably miss the pre-game and first half as we return to the QCA Sunday afternoon.

Our Hy Vee store at Devils Glen has added a seating area next to the Starbucks counter.  High-top tables and chairs that are different from the dining hall quality stuff in their standard dining room.  (Not my pic here.  Just an example.) Curious.  I know you have your different groups, predominately retirees, who hang out at Hy Vee.  I missed the memo that said that the Hy Vee Starbuck's coffee drinkers needed their own area.  I give it 6-9 months.

This Hy Vee location did respond to customer complaints and moved a milk case to the front of the store.  On their original design, all of the milk was at the rear of the store so as to get customers to walk through the aisles to get to it.  Merchandising.  But the feedback was universally negative so they relocated a small case to a more convenient spot for the customer just looking for milk.

This was the week a year ago that I came down with pneumonia.  I remember it too well.

Here's to 3 as Daughter of the Day.  No special reason.  But I love this pic.  She and 3.1 can give us a play-by-play of the inconveniences, if any, encountered because of the Super Bowl being held in their back yard.

Looks like my second Winter trip to Scottsdale at the end of February has been derailed.  Alas, I need to go to Florida instead to fill out a second foursome for a group of guys already scheduled to go there from Geneva.  Hard times.

All for today.  Make it a good one in your neighborhood.

BCOT

Sunday - Not-so-short-Short-Story

Setting:  This entry picks up from where I left off on January12, 2014.  My protagonist, EJ McKay, has just returned to the Hampton Inn in Tomah, Wisconsin after his meeting at Badger Ag.  Maddie O'Rourke has greeted him from a table in the lobby breakfast area.

========================================================================

EJ walked over to Maddie's table and sat in the chair opposite her.  Maddie poured him a glass from the Silver Oak bottle, and they did an understated toast, lightly touching glasses before taking a drink.

"Why do I feel like I've been a puppet on a string today?" asked EJ.  "Why are you here?  How did you know I would be coming back just now?"

"And good evening to you too", said Maddie.  "This 2007 vintage is a nice bottle, don't you think?  I actually have a case of the 2003 in Chicago that I keep saying I need to find the right occasion to open.  Do you have a favorite bottle?"

EJ took a second drink, enjoying the complex flavors as it went down.  "Yeah.  Good stuff.  It certainly beats that open-bottle of Rodney Strong sitting up in my room.  So, really.  What's the deal here?  I don't like being played."

Maddie also took a drink from her glass.  "Well, let's just say that you've given me an opportunity to take care of that tool Karl Mandel once and for all.  Do you believe that guy?  He's made millions since Daddy sold that factory to the Madel's in '88.  All Karl ever had to do was fill the orders that came with those long-term contracts we gave him.  It was a layup.  He couldn't stand the prosperity."

"OK.  I get that part of it.  It didn't take me that long to figure out that Madel was a low-life", said EJ.  "But when did I become your answer to his shenanigans?"

"Fair question", said Maddie.  "First, you need to know that Rhonda Reynolds' younger sister Eleanor...we called her Ellie...was in my class at Tomah High School.  We were on the cross country team together.  You know, I seem to remember going to a meet down in Cedar Rapids one year.  Kind of a hilly course as I recall.  But whatever.  Ellie and I've stayed in touch over the years.  She and a couple of her friends do a girls' weekend at Christmas time in Chicago each year, and I usually meet her for coffee one of the days she's in town."

EJ poured each of them a little more wine.

"Last year she said that Rhonda thought that I should know that Karl Madel was looking at a business deal that would require a change in the lease with the foundation.  Rhonda is really a nice person and she's never been overly fond of the Mandel's.  I think Karl's dad tried to put a move on her when he bought the place from Daddy.  She was just a part-time receptionist at the time, but she needed the job and didn't say anything to anyone.  And she's been a loyal assistant to Karl over the years.  But this latest move really bothered her.  So we've talked on the hush-hush several times in the last few months as Karl kept pushing the plans for reorganizing the business."

"She told me last week that you were going to be in town today.  I couldn't figure out for sure at first why they went outside their circle for another consultant, but after looking at your history and connections, it became easily apparent why they made the call."

"What do you mean, "After looking at my history"?, said EJ a bit indignantly. 

Maddie smiled.  "Well, yes, I did have my people at the Foundation's office in Highland Park do some checking.  We do that sort of thing on grant applicants all of the time.  Its not like its illegal or anything."  She continued to show a Cheshire grin. "We're a little sensitive, eh?"

More wine for each.  The bottle was now empty.

Before EJ could think of a good response, Maddie continued.  "Rhonda let me know Monday that you would be staying here at the Hampton...where I always stay too...there not being that many options in Tomah  I arranged to come down a couple of days earlier than normal to visit Mother.  And as you are a predictable sort, I figured that I would meet you at the fitness room or at Caribou this morning."

"That work you did for Ottumwa Distribution Systems (ODS) corporation last year was very creative.  Getting the state to consent to that relocation plan was quite the accomplishment.  No wonder Mandel wanted you in on this deal."

"Well, that was a lot different than what's on the table here", said EJ.  "ODS wasn't trying to slide something past City Hall.  The owners had a true need to get more space, and that tract South of town was the perfect spot.  It had been in a bitter bankruptcy fight between divorcing spouses for three years.  I had done some expert testimony work for the wife, and she was just ready to be done.  We sweetened the pot by $50K and everything just fell into place."

Maddie responded, "From what I read, you're leaving out some of the important factors that no one else was able to resolve.  Like the release of the lien by the adjacent property owner and the compromise on that easement conflict with the pipeline company.  Didn't you have to negotiate with Berkshire Hathaway on that one?  If you can make a deal with Warren Buffet, your street cred is legit."

Maddie stood, finished her glass of wine and said, "Come on.  Its time for dinner. I'll drive."  EJ also rose out of his chair, downed the last of his wine and said, "No,  my male ego needs some traction.  Let me drive.  You navigate.  But please just don't tell me where you learned of my preference for an Italian menu."

Dinner at Ristorante Luigi's

The drive to Luigi's took only a few minutes.  Maddie did most of the talking on the way over.  She had spent most of the day sitting with her Mother at Rolling Hills Senior Living Center.  Maddie was not unhappy with the care that her Mother received at Rolling Hills, but she wished that there was more that she could do.  The recounting of her day with Mother as they made the drive was a bit therapeutic for Maddie, thought EJ.  Then again, it could have just been the wine.  Regardless, as they entered the restaurant, EJ felt that there was an ease in their conversation that made the inconvenience of the drive, the delays, and the forgettable meeting with Karl Mandel all of small consequence.

There were greeted inside at the hostess station by a pleasant young girl named Giana who quickly showed them to a booth toward the rear of the main dining room.  Their waiter, named Tony (of course), appeared with menus and the wine list.  EJ ordered a bottle of Barbera d'Asti from the Coppo winery in Italy's Piedmonte region.  (On a post-script basis, the wine was a home run.)

After Tony poured the wine and took their dinner orders, EJ asked Maddie, "I still feel like there's another shoe to drop.  What gives?"

"Well, yes.  I do have some things to discuss with you', said Maddie.  "The fact that you declined to work with Karl Madel was the confirmation that I needed to take the conversation to another level with you.  When Rhonda texted me that you were not going with the group to the club for dinner, I decided to get downstairs at the Hampton to see if I could catch you before you went to your room.  I was worried that you might even check out and go home."

"Do they stock Silver Oak at the Hampton for you?, EJ asked sarcastically.

"Very funny", replied Maddie.  "I had packed that bottle yesterday, knowing that I might need a little something after my time with Mother.  You were not scheduled for that part of my equation.  But this has been really nice, and I'm glad that I was able to snag you before you headed South."

"Other than the fact that you've done your little background check on me, I'm glad too.  Thanks," said EJ.  "Now.  Spill the beans."

Maddie took a drink of the Barbera.  "Hmmmm.  Now that's a nice wine. Excellent choice, sir.  You have good skill sets!

"Okay", she went on.  "Here's the deal.  The O'Rourke Foundation wants to engage you for assistance in developing a new long-range plan.  I've been interviewing consultants for the last six months and I've found exactly zero experts who have the vision that I need to get some energy back into our organization.  You're qualified.  You don't have any kind of a political agenda with us, and I think that you and I have personalities that can work together."

"Is this at all related to Madel's interest in walking away from the lease with the Foundation?" asked EJ.  "I mean, that has to impact the finances of the Foundation if he's successful in making that change."

Maddie broke out into a full laugh.  "Karl's an idiot if he thinks that he can change the lease!  That was never even remotely a concern.  Whatever he's paying his lawyer's on that analysis is a joke.  Daddy had that lease drawn up with absolutely no wiggle room for Badger Ag.  And the Mayor and the Governor are politicians who know that Karl's money is no match for votes.  They're just doing what politicians do...stirring the pot.  There's no risk to the Foundation.  If Karl tries to ignore the legalities, he'll void the original purchase contract.  Ultimately, he'll do what he's supposed to do, and Badger Ag will continue to make good money.  Its not that complicated."

"So you knew what he was trying to do with the lease all along?

"Of course!", said Maddie.  "Like I said, Rhonda is a good person."

Dinner came and the conversation shifted while they ate (Maddie a Cobb salad and EJ a seafood pasta) to dining experiences at favorite Italian restaurants.  Maddie mentioned several places in the Windy City, a couple of which EJ had also frequented in his past.  Both had also spent time in the Italian district in the North End in Boston, with Lemoncello's an intersection point.  It was an easy conversation.

After they finished their meals and Tony had cleared the dishes, Maddie said, "I think there is an offer on the table.  What are your thoughts?"

"I'm flattered", said EJ.  "But I'm not certain of the fit.  I've served on not-for-profit Boards before, and we've actually run some money for a couple of private Foundations associated with the University down in Iowa City.  This would be different."

"It absolutely would be different", said Maddie.  "And I can see how you would be cautious of stepping into an arrangement without having done your own due diligence on the lay of the land.  Tell you what.  Let's do a first step that's right in your wheelhouse.  We have one money manager who has underperformed the last two years and has already been given notice that we will not be renewing his contract next month.  As Executive Director and sole Trustee of the Foundation, I have the authority to appoint a successor manager...and I choose you!  Like I said, we've already done some checking on you, and your accounts at those Iowa Foundations...yes, I already knew about those from the public records at the IRS...those results have been outstanding!"

"That account is sitting at a little over $15 million as of this morning.  We allow managers a 50 basis points management fee, plus a participation in above market results.  Its an attractive contract.  What do you say?"

EJ was speechless.  He had come to Tomah thinking that there might be a nice fee-for-services engagement with Badger Ag.  Finding a major money management account while on the trip wasn't even on his radar screen.  "Tell you what, Ms. O'Rourke", said EJ with his own impish grin,  "I'll think about it."

They settled the check with Tony (Maddie insisted that she pay...and EJ left a generous tip), and made their way back to the Hampton Inn.  EJ wasn't quite sure of the good-night protocol for their non-date evening and was gratified when Maddie took the initiative and reached over for a "friend hug" as she exited the elevator for her second-floor room.  "Coffee in the morning before you leave?", she asked with a turn.  "And maybe an answer?"

"Coffee for sure", replied EJ with a smile.  "See you at 0700," purposely avoiding a response to the second question.  He was already looking forward to more time with Madeline Marie O'Rourke.

=======================================================================

That's a wrap on EJ and Maddie.

Y'all...

BCOT

Wednesday

Another day, another cold front.  I'm giving 1 the distinction of Daughter of the Day for her selfie Twitter pic yesterday during an outdoor run.   A work out in that weather definitely puts her in a small group of dedicated sorts.  Very burka-esque!

There is the suggestion that my back is recovering from Scottsdale.  So that means that three days of golf requires three days of bed rest for the under-prepared hack.  I really have some work to do between now and, say, May 1st.

http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/92892/buffet-a-billion-dollars-for-perfect-bracket So 3's friend Warren has thrown this out there for the clan's March Madness challenge.  I think the Under is the safe bet.

(For what its worth, my early favorite for March Madness is Kansas.  The Big Twelve is a murderous conference this year, and KU will be primed for a deep run if they stay healthy.  The freshman shooting guard, Wiggins, got all of the pre-season press, but that 7-footer in the middle, Embiid, may now be the #1 pick in the NBA draft this year.)

I'm throwing some props out to Hertz for my rental experience down in Arizona.  I rented this Chevy Suburban through my Number One (Gold Whatever) membership on line earlier this month.  When I arrived at PHX, I took the shuttle to the car rental center, walked past the Hertz counter to the car lot, saw my name on the board with the parking place of the vehicle.  I walk over to the car, the keys are in it, and I take off, showing my driver's license to the agent at the exit gate who quickly provided me with a copy of the contract.

When I returned the car on Sunday morning, I drove it to the return lane at the car center, the garage clerk made an electronic reading as I pulled my bags from the rear compartment, and handed me a printed receipt.  I then took the shuttle to the terminal, got through security and to the gate where I sat down with my pals and fired up my iPad.  An email from Hertz had already arrived at my Yahoo account with confirmation of the receipt provided by the garage clerk.

It strikes me as a pretty efficient process when you can go through a car rental experience with relatively little human contact and have it work this well.  And the ultimate bill was $2 different from the estimate provided to me when I reserved the car online two weeks in advance of the rental.  That $2 difference was on some airport fee that the estimate stated might change upon actual rental.

We drove 141 miles over the less-than-four-days of our visit and the total cost of the rental was $400 (or $100 each).  Not cheap, but compared to the golf/wine/food bills, not expensive.

I didn't see the visual evidence on the Suburban of the electronic tracking devices that I noted on my car rental when I had made the December trip to PHX.  But I have no doubt that NCIS knew exactly where we were at all times.

All for now.  Hope it is a Good Wednesday in your neighborhood.

BCOT

Sunday Evening

My original intent was to post a few pics from Scottsdale, but upon further review, 4000 Days doesn't need any more shots of four old men. 

Here's one for the record to show that we made it to the golf course.  This would have been taken by the starter on the first tee at one of the Grayhawk courses.

The courses don't change much year-to-year, so even though the new Home Page pic was taken on this trip, it looks preciously similar to shots from our prior year trips.  I think there were more birds in residence this year.  The par three holes on the Raptor course are all very visually stunning.  The greens are framed on a horizon dotted with mountains.  We had clear blie skies each day.  Truly postcard photography.  I need to work with 2 to get some of these new pics printed.  If I can get them enlarged, the mountains literally enter the picture.

After three days of golf, my back is killing me.  My goal between now and May 1st is to get the regimine of core work into my daily program.  I need to be able to swing a club without wondering about body aches. (Then you have the added factor of sleeping in a different bed for four nights.  That usually doesn't help the bod, regardless of golf.)

My goal this week for the blog is to complete the Not-so-short Short Story.  Lots to do at the office...as always.  There is already a hint in the air of Tax Season.  March 15th will be here way too quick. 

Someone forgot to mention at our office that the markets are closed tomorrow for Martin Luther King Day. 

Make it a good week in your neighborhood.

BCOT

Sunday

I'm inputting this while in the air from Denver to Moline. I'll add more from Mapecrest once I make it home.

I cooked a traditional Maplecrest dinner for the boys last night. We had wined and dined enough those prior three evenings that a night at home was pretty much what the doctor ordered. The condo abuts next to one of the fairways on the golf course, and the back patio has a complete outdoor kitchen. I did steaks, potatoes, broccoli and had additional side dishes of corn and some steamed mushrooms. Maybe not a home run, but a triple for sure.

We played Grayhawk Golf Club on both Friday and Saturday. They have two courses...Raptor and Talon...both desert style with plenty of bunkers as well. Lots of work for all of us. Top Ten weather for all of the days. Like Joe Nicols' current country hit, Sunny and 75. A nice way to spend the middle of January.

The one low-light from the trip...I never got to Total Wine & Spirits to inspect the wine selections. We had a tee time of after lunch on Thursday, and then met people after golf on both Friday and Saturday, so the time for that excursion to TW just never developed. Bummer. (But we still had those bottles of Jordan the first night, a bottle of Silver Oak that second night, and some VERY good stuff at DC Ranch on Friday night.)

Random observations from the trip:

1. My Safeway Club card from last year worked again.
2. Wine currency at Safeway was $12.99.
3. The Barrett Jackson auction had some collector cars sell for some BIG numbers. We watched on the tube. Hot August Nights has more American classic cars, I think.
4. Maggiano's might be a chain, but it's a good spot for Italian food. Reasonable prices. Decent wine list.
5. Roger Penske of auto racing fame (he has two teams in the NASCAR Cup series), is the owner of several luxury car stores that we always drive by in Scottsdale. We always commented on the stores, but we didn't figure out that it was Penske's until this year. They must have been entertaining for the auction.
6. Service to MLI out of DEN is from the last Tarmac walkway, from the last gate at the far, far end of the B Concourse. Reminded me of those connections in Detroit.
7. I saved a total of $70 by carrying-on my luggage for the trip ($35 each way.) The first bag, my clubs, cost $25, and a second bag was then going to be another $35. But I elected to gate-check the carry-on both ways since I already had to wait for the checked golf clubs. I think that makes me cheap.
8. The GPS device that I received for Christmas worked as advertised. Interestingly though, the yardage on the Talon course at Grayhawk was off 10 yards at most of the sprinkler heads. I'm actually going to write to Bushnell to see if they have had any similar feedback.
9. I haven't enrolled in any TSA expediting procedure, but I had clearance on my boarding passes each way not requiring me to take off my belt or shoes. So has more info from the NSA been provided to the airlines on me?
10. This is three significant trips in a row that travel has gone pretty much as scheduled. I don't like my odds on the next one.

Now landing at MLI. Glad they now let iPads be used in Airplane mode throughout the flight

More later.

BCOT


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Friday

Here's just a little wisdom offered from the road in Phoenix.

I continue to be amazed at how quickly the body adapts to the time change. Its only an hour difference between here and Iowa, and by this time most days I will have been up for at least two hours. And this group is notoriously early-rising. But not so much here. Not a peep out of my pals.

The short scoop on the trip thus far is that things continue to go well for the Lt. Travel was pretty seamless, although I did take a wrong turn out of the rental car lot and got caught on the wrong side of the airport as I tried to go back to pick up the boys (who had stayed there to get luggage while I went for the car). That and some rush-hour traffic made the drive to the condo a little more exciting than what we needed.

Great weather. Good food and wine. Just what we were looking for on our visit to the Valley of the Sun. (The pic below of the seafood pasta was my meal last night at Maggiano's Italian Restauarant. Good stuff, but maybe not quite on par with Salerno or Verona.




Our pal Roy had arranged a group golf lesson for us with a well-known instructor, Stan Utley. We spent about 3 hours with him yesterday morning. Very cool. He gave us all some great ideas (although my back didn't allow me to do some of the moves he'd like to see me do). In the afternoon, Roy and I just killed pals Ron and Cal. Life is good. Today, my pal Ron is my partner, so he'd better get his swing thoughts in better order!

I noted on Twitter that I successfully completed that patternless crossword on the flight from C-town. I only try to do those when I'm flying through Chicago and have the chance to pick up the Chicago Sun Times (that carries a daily patternless puzzle). There're too hard and really require brain matter. If you can't get the first few clues, its impossible to complete. BUT, if you can make progress on the start, then, because crosswords are symmetrical, you can maybe work up from the bottom as well. And then just kind of fill in the middle. The moon and the stars were aligned Wednesday.

Scottsdale is busy this weekend. The Barrett-Jackson Auto Show (Auction) is in town, and the Phoenix Marathon is Sunday morning. So the restaurants are busy and traffic is on the busy side of normal. We need to be careful Sunday AM to avoid the snags getting to the airport.

I'll add a couple more pics from my phone. Most of my photos have been taken on the mini-digi, and I don't have a card-reader available...so other boring pics of the trip will have to wait until we get back on Sunday.

Grayhawk Talon Course today. Lots of desert.

More later.

BCOT




Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Wednesday

So I changed the Home Page pic to recognize that the January Boys Golf Trip (JBGT) kicks off today.  This is a shot from a prior year at one of the Grayhawk par three holes.  I'll update to a current-year pic next week, but for now, well, you get the message!

My plan is to do a blog on the ORD-PHX leg of our trip later this afternoon.  I can't post until I get to Sky Harbor, but the Blogspot app has allowed me to write and save on the iPad, then publish once we land.  The plan is to work on a conclusion(?) to my not-so-short Short Story.

We have a group golf lesson tomorrow morning that my pal Roy has arranged.  The teaching-pro is a short-game specialist with whom Roy spent some time with last year.  We can all use the help!

More later from the road.

BCOT

Monday

1.01 is GRANDDAUGHTER OF THE DAY!!

Happy Birthday, Kiddo!!!





BCOT


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Sunday...Last Year's Short Story Part IV

So I'm going to give a shot at getting toward a conclusion on my Not-So-Short Story from last year.  My goal is to conclude in two segments, maybe three depending on the flow.  I've had some ideas on the progression, but I haven't got a firm outline.  We be doing this on the fly.

Review

The story is being told by EJ McKay, a financial consultant from Cedar Rapids, Iowa.  He has been referred in to Badger Agriculture Manufacturing in Tomah, Wisconsin to advise on a company expansion project.  He met Maddie O'Rourke over morning coffee where they exchanged a brief, initial  conversation.  In a drive through town, EJ came across the O'Rourke name at a city park and the library.  On a Google search, he learned that the O'Rourke family had a long history in Tomah, and with the Badger Ag company.

The three previous installments to this story are in blog entries dated 3/2/2013, 3/3/2013 and 3/17/2013.  These entries can be accessed by opening the Blog Archive listing to the right of this space, clicking on 2013, then on March 2013.  You'll then need to scroll through to get to these dates.

The story picks up now at the start of the business meeting at Badger Ag.  The first few paragraphs from the March 17, 2013 entry have been repeated here so that the players in the meeting are re-introduced to the reader.

Badger Ag Meeting

EJ stepped into the conference room and was immediately met by a tall, middle-aged woman with short, salt-and-pepper hair, dressed in a dark business suit and a white blouse.  The woman wore little make-up, small black onyx earrings and a complimentary strand of onyx pearls around her neck.

"Hello, Mr. McKay.  Welcome to Badger Ag.  I'm Rhonda Reynolds."  She extended her hand and made a firm shake while continuing, "I know that Mr. Mandel is very happy that you adjusted you schedule to come to Tomah today.  He just got in from Chicago a few minutes ago, and should be down here from his office shortly.  Let me introduce you to the other gentlemen here."

Rhonda released EJ's hand, stepped back  and motioned for EJ to follow her over to an open area at the far end of the conference room where three other men were standing.  "Gentlemen, we have our last participant with us now.  This is EJ McKay from Cedar Rapids."  EJ was just a step behind Rhonda and made eye-contact and an acknowledging nod to each of the other men.  Handshakes and short greetings followed each introduction.

Roger Simmons looked to be 40-something with a receding hairline and was maybe developing some middle-age girth around his midsection.  He was the internal controller for Badger, meaning that he might be the head bean-counter with the company, but Karl Mandel had not elected to promote him to CFO when his veteran financial assistant had retired.  He would be the guy responsible for all of the data used for management and financial accounting within the business.

Dan Carpenter might have been 35, had on a well-tailored Brooks Brothers gray suit with a magenta-colored tie, and flashed overly white teeth with a politician's smile.  He introduced himself as the regional representative from the Wisconsin Economic Development Office.  "Bingo," EJ said to himself.  "Politician."

The last hand shake was with Michael Stinnis, from Woodbury Figge & Stinnis, CPA's.  Michael was in the standard CPA uniform, dark suit with an unremarkable tie.  He let EJ know that his firm had done the audit and tax returns for Badger Ag for the last six years.  EJ could tell that the 50-year-old Stinnis took some care with his fitness and wondered to himself, "Marathon man?  Maybe.  I'm betting a cyclist though from the tale-tell tan lines above his wrists.  Biker gloves."  Unlike Carpenter, Stinnis came across as a low-key type who might have preferred to have been back at his own office where he could control his own productivity. 

Sounds came from the entry door to the conference room and the four men turned to see Rhonda Reynolds lead her boss into the room.  Karl Mandel was a dark-complected, stocky man measuring an inch or two below six feet.  His dark, short-cropped black hair carried just a few flecks of gray.  He had the look of a Mafia soldier.  The open-collared,dark-blue dress shirt, gold neck chain and gold rings, cuff links and Rolex added to the effect.  EJ wondered if Mandel's Mother was Italian rather than German. 

Mandel strode over to the group of men and greeted all, "Gentlemen.  And EJ, especially, thanks for making the trip.  Eddie said you were the man.  I hope you have your thinking-cap with you.  We're going to need it.  Anyone need coffee? A soda?"  And then turning to his assistant, " Rhonda, have them save one of the side rooms at the club for a 7 o'clock dinner.  We'll work here until 6 or so and then head out there to continue our chat if we need to.  And I think we'll need to."

"Yes, sir," she said.  "I'll stick around until you break for dinner, just in case you need something.  I'll be at my desk.  Just ring me if I can help with anything."

Mandel then turned to the men and motioned them to the long conference room table.  "Let's sit down and get started.  Maybe Roger can give us a little summary of the lay of the land, and then we'll give a listen to Dan's idea about financing that new facility in the industrial park.  You have the floor, Roger."

Roger Simmons stood and immediately handed out a small packet of papers to each of the other men at the table.  "These are the company's financials for the quarter that ended last month.  Sales are above projections and the balance sheet is solid.  We really don't have any issues with current operations.  But we'll definitely have to go to the banks for any plant expansion financing."

EJ scanned down the pages in front of him.  "Nothing very remarkable," EJ said to himself.  The statements showed no debt except for current accounts payable.  If they wanted to do a bond issue for a new factory, the banks would have no problem making the loan with the collateral that the company had available.  "Why am  here?", he said to himself.

Simmons spent another 15 minutes going over the statements, responding to Karl Mandel's inquiries  a couple of times to explain the handling of accrued income taxes and deductions for the company jet.  Stinnis, the CPA, confirmed when asked by Simmons, that his firm expected to issue a clean auditor's opinion on the year end statements.  EJ's mind drifted.

"Absolutely, Mr. Mandel.  I'm ready to go," said Dan Carpenter, bringing EJ's attention back to the meeting.

"Its a pleasure being here with all of you here today.  Thank you.  The Governor sends his greetings as well.  The Development Office stands ready to assist with this exciting new expansion.  We think that there may be as much as $10 million in eligible state tax credits for the project, and perhaps another $3 million in Federal subsidies if you comply with the green-energy regulations."

Carpenter had his own packet of hand-outs, a glossy folder with your typical inserts of state sponsored programs to encourage the creation of home-grown manufacturing jobs.  He went into additional details on the qualification rules, the time limits involved and the math on just how the dollars flowed to the company over the period of construction.  EJ was biased against these government incentive deals as the beneficiaries tended to be the developers, not necessarily the work force.  But its hard to fight City Hall, the Governor's Mansion, or Capital Hill.

"And as we have noted previously, Mr. Madel, for this all to work, that lease with the O'Rourke Foundation will have to be changed.  The tax credits require that rents on facilities with this type of funding must be paid to a taxable entity, not one that is tax exempt like the foundation."  

EJ was immediately interested as this little factoid had widespread implications for the adverse parties.  And Maddie O'Rourke would certainly be an adverse party to a change in the long-standing ground lease.  Had this point been out openly in the discussion previously?  If Mandel and Carpenter had talked about it previously, was anyone else in on the information?  It sounded like a curious provision, one EJ had never seen in incentive deals from Development agencies.  "Who's pulling the string on this one?", EJ thought to himself.

"Well, I haven't exactly put that out there to the Foundation," said Mandel.  "I spoke with attorney Howard Epstein in Chicago this morning, and he wants to read the lease agreement further.  But he thinks that we may be able to just let the lease lapse once the new facility in the industrial park is completed.  The Foundation can then have this place back and go find another tenant.  I'm tired of that monthly payment to the Foundation."

Alarm bells started ringing for EJ.  This was definitely taking the shape of a power-play for Karl Mandel with ramifications that could negatively impact just about everyone else involved with the proposal.  He didn't have the feeling that he wanted to be a spear-carrier for Mandel in this battle.

Once Carpenter was done with his presentation, a discussion went on for several minutes about whom else the company needed to bring into their group to promote the benefits of the proposal.  The mayor of Tomah and the Governor were political allies who had backed this legislation in the state senate, but putting themselves across the table from the O'Rourke family was not inviting.  Yes, the campaign contributions likely to flow from Karl Mandel had an appeal, but the Baby Boomers would remember all of those positives over the years from the O'Rourke family.  And Baby Boomers vote.

At 6:15, Karl Madel offered, "I've had a long day.  Let's break and get out to the club for a cocktail."

EJ was definitely ready to go.  But not to the club.  As the men stepped away from the table, he pulled Karl Madel aside and said, "Karl, I appreciate this opportunity, but I really don't think I'm the man you need for this job.  Your financials are strong.  Roger has done nice work with them.  You can get conventional financing at any of the big banks.  I think you're looking at a political situation.  The Governor must have some contacts who are better suited for this work than a financial planner from Cedar Rapids."

Mandel said, "I know that.  But I'm looking for someone with a fresh perspective.  New ideas.  That kind of thing.  Freddie said you were the guy."

"Freddie is an optimist", responded EJ.  "To be honest, I think you're swimming upstream on this one, Karl.  My senses are that the public won't like you rocking the boat.  Sounds to me like the O'Rourke's have been pretty good to this town for a long time.  And to your company as well."

"But,...", Mandel tried to speak before EJ had finished.

"I'm sorry, Karl.  My business is just too busy to take this one on.  Call the Governor."

EJ extended his hand to Madel who reluctantly shook it, still muttering under his breath.  EJ made his good-byes to the other men and walked out to his car.  He was debating whether to just head South and get home after midnight, or stay the night in anticipation of an early departure in the morning.  He pulled out of the Badger Ag parking lot and headed back to the Hampton Inn, thinking that a glass of wine might be his best move.

Thursday Dinner at Ristorante Luigi's

It was nearly 6:45 when EJ pulled into the parking spot at the Hampton.  On the way over, he had decided to stay the night in Tomah.  The room was paid for, he was tired from the trip up from Cedar Rapids last night, and his appointments for tomorrow had already been shifted to next week.  Given those factors, there just wasn't a compelling reason for him to take the abuse of another late night drive on two-lane roads.  He wasn't sure exactly what Tomah offered for an evening meal, but he hoped that it was more than Burger King.

EJ was running that dining debate through his mind as walked into the lobby.  As he passed the wide opening to the continental breakfast area and glanced in, he was surprised to see Maddie O'Rourke sitting by herself at one of the tables.  She was looking straight at him with a broad smile.  A bottle of Silver Oak Cabernet and two glasses were on the table.

"EJ McKay.  Welcome to my world", she said with a small laugh.  "Rumor has it that you favor a dry Cabernet.  Care to join me for one here before dinner?  We have a reservation for 8 PM over at Luigi's, not that they should be that busy tonight anyway.  You and I have some things to talk about.  You can close your mouth any time now.  Come.  Sit.  It will be OK."

*******************

To be continued.

*******************

The appearance of this entry is odd as Blogger handled the copying of the last part of the 3/17/2013 entry screwily.  Sorry.  And the wide breaks in paragraphs is also a Blogger issue I can't control.  I hope that the final installment will be more normal.

This is not award-winning literature.  I know that.  But I am challenging myself to complete things.  Ya get what ya get.

Make it a good day in your neighborhood.

BCOT

Saturday

Low key day on Maplecrest. We actually had the almost unheard of combination of above-zero temperatures and sunshine earlier this afternoon. Worlds collide!

Sorry to see the 'Clones run into a Sooner team in Norman that was ready for the upset. It looks like ISU may have an issue with teams that have size inside and three-point shooting from outside. Well, most teams will struggle against that combo, but the 'Clones got killed on the offensive glass today.

Travel challenges jumped up at both my pal Bill and my business associate Gary this week. Bill's flight out of MLI to ORD was cancelled on Thursday AM for a mechanical, and he, spouse (and a client who was booked on the flight also) elected to drive to ORD to make a connection to Denver. He made it to Steamboat, but lost a scheduled afternoon on the slopes.

Gary got caught coming from the other direction, his Denver-MLI flight being cancelled Monday evening...and he joined a couple of others and DROVE over night to Davenport. Ouch! But the choices from United were like Wednesday departures!!

(Another odd coincidence with Bill and Gary's travel snafu's was that each found out that he had an expired driver's license when he went to get the rental car. Now that can be just an awful oversight, but they were able to have a companion execute the rental agreement. Note to the unwary, your expiration date is probably your birthdate. Licenses are usually issued for 3-5 years...they aren't limitless.)

All of this makes our bump-free European trip in September even more remarkable.

A client from Moline who has a part-time home in Las Vegas made the case to me the other day for flying Allegiant Airlines to/from Vegas...so as to avoid connecting flights. He agrees that Allegiant is the Walmart of airlines, but that lack of gambling on connection hubs becomes the trump card. I guess so. If I take a late February trip to break up that last part of Winter, I may have to look at Vegas, specifically to limit the risk of a missed connection.




My pal @bcbison picked up his new car this week. (He had the thrill of using the BEATER for a few days at the start of the week.). A Honda Crosstour. Sharp car with all the current technology. Timely too as Illinois went to the hands-free phone usage law as of January 1st. That hatchback pops up, the back seats fold forward, and the bike goes in like it belongs there. Suite. Nice choice, pal.

Headed over to share wine with my pal Ron this evening. I elected to stop by and get another bottle of the J Lohr Carol's Vineyard for my contribution.

(And I noted again this morning the outrageousness of the local pricing differences in our standard wine currency. I stopped to pick up a donut at Schnuck's after coffee and noticed their basic J Lohr listed at $16.99. The same bottle at the Spring Street Hy Vee where I purchased Carol's Vineyard at lunch time was $10.99. Go figure that one out.)

More from here tomorrow.

BCOT




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Friday

I had the intention to get this up last night to give a short recap of my Wednesday celebrations, but it just didn't happen.  I'm finding that writing in the early AM is easier than doing the blog at night.  What does that mean?

Long story short, Wednesday was low-key all day, but lots of the right buttons were pushed and it was just the right mix of conversation and activity.  Plenty of chat at Coffee, lunch and all the right phone calls.  2 and I then shared that nice bottle of top-shelf J. Lohr for din-din...along with a quality Harris pizza...and saw Augie come away with that big win.  A quality day.  Thanks to all.

(Almost forgot...In addition to the other positives to the day, it was RCL Wednesday.  In my world, RCL days are always good days!)

I'm not sure if its the Sometimer's or me just being a male, but I really can't remember distinctly much of my adult birthday celebrations other than the 50th and 60th.  No recollection at all for 21, 30 or 40 which tend to be significant milestones.  21 would have been junior year at ND, but I suppose that I might have actually been in Ottumwa on the date since Christmas vacation back then usually extended a little longer than the two weeks that most colleges have now.  I'm sure it was a midnight drink wherever I was at the time.

The Big 3-0 would have been C-town.  We coulda been on a ski trip at the time, although those trips were usually for a week, inclusive of New Year's, so we should have been back in Arlington Heights by the 8th.  And 40 would have been Davenport.  I just don't have any recollection of big parties or wild times for either of those dates.  Back then, I was bullet-proof and I never gave age a thought.

Now 50 was a memory maker...boys golf trip in Cabo.  That was back in a time when I stayed up after 9 PM, and I admit that there was alcohol involved.  And 60 was the Surprise Party on Maplecrest...which did catch me by surprise.  Another good time.

That bottle of top-shelf J Lohr was the one carrying the label of "Carol's Vineyard".  I had noticed a year or two back that this top-shelf  bottle had two variations.  Initially, I had noticed only the "Hilltop Vineyard" designation on the label.  Then it may have been at my favorite spot, Total Wine & Spirits, that I noticed this second labeling for the bottle.  An Internet search got me a readable version of the back-side information.  You may be able to click on this text-shot to get the story.  Its a very nice bottle of wine.

Moving on...

I've never been a huge fan of Doug Collins or his son Chris, but if last night's dismantling of Northwestern by the Hawks is any measure, NW is going to need some serious reinforcements to be competitive in the Big 10.  I'm sure that people see NW as a possible Duke of the Midwest, but unless Chris Collins gets some players, it ain't gonna be pretty.  Just like Iowa's previous coach (Todd Lickliter) proved, a nice resume means zippo if you don't have Big 10 caliber players.

(OK sports enthusiasts, how many out there knew (before doing a Google search!) that Doug Collins went to Illinois State and was on that 1972 US Olympic basketball team that lost to the Russians?)

Finally, many thanks to the extended clan members who have graciously included me on their Christmas card lists.  I guess I've become "that little bit odd" uncle in Iowa who has those four girls.  I'm ok with that.

No big plans here for the weekend.  I'm just looking forward to having it not be minus a million degrees for a while.

Make it a Good Friday in your neighborhood.  And...

BCOT

***Had to change that Home page pic.  Made me cold just lookin' at it!***

Tuesday

So this is a little scenario that most of you have had to experience in some way as you have made your way through your respective careers.  Required training/continuing education.  In my world, that has meant meeting state CE requirements for CPA's, Federal requirements for some IRS things, and numerous CE elements in the regulated securities business.  Its not much of a stretch to say that I am over educated.

Today's addition to to my curriculum vitae related to my life insurance /variable annuity credentials.  One of the first things I did for security licensing 15 years ago was to get a life insurance license so that this one insurance company could pay me out of one retirement plans that we administered.  I think it was Nationwide who had this program that allowed themselves to pay an un-securities- registered service provider who had at least a life license.  So I completed the Iowa insurance producer examination to get qualified for that program.

Over the years, I've never sold a life insurance policy.  I've sold a handful of individual annuities, and there was a time where we also sold some small retirement plans funded with annuities...where the life license was our compensation portal.  In recent years, all of my securities sales have been through my general broker's license, but I have maintained the life license as just one of those things that you don't want to let go for whatever reason.

To keep the life license, you need to maintain 10 hours of Continuing Education every 3 years.  At the end of each three year cycle, I get bombarded with insurance CE literature.  I trash it all.
Here's the deal...and why I'm writing about it today.  My solution has been to re-take the licensing test every three years rather than waste time at mind-numbing CE conferences or doing on-line programs.  The test is two hours, held at one of those testing labs in town whose monitors think they are protecting the world from subversive life-agent wannabe's.  No travel.  No conference fees.  I keep the same set of study books that I have used over the last 15 years...and do a review of the practice tests before heading over to take the examination.

I was actually going to do some of that studying last night, but that didn't happen.  I came in this AM and put in a solid couple of hours trying to remember some of the terms and testing protocols.  There's really quite a bit of number-specific things that I never remember, and so I rely mostly on my test-taking skills.


It was another successful completion...yeah for the home team!  It doesn't say much for the height of the bar.  If your advisor's resume leads with, "Life Insurance Qualified", maybe look a little further for advice.

Now headed out for a little Tax B-day cocktail.

I will...

BCOT

Monday

I've always remembered January 6th as The Feast of The Epiphany.  This is a personal hard-drive synapse reflex that goes back to  St. Pat's grade school religion class.  (As though any class at St. Pat's wasn't a religion class in some part.)  Hail to the new King!

My pal Roy's brother John is also a birthday boy today.  John and I aren't necessary best-buds, but we are friends and I have always called him the Fourth King.  The January golf excursion years ago was often eight guys and John and I were both always celebrated by the other guys during those trips.  Live long and prosper, friend.

I see on my new NASCAR calendar that this date is noted as "Three Kings Day" in Mexico.  Random fact.  No cost to you.

And the term "epiphany" is commonly used in contemporary literature when an author is describing his/her own new-found philosophical recognition/realization/understanding of a situation or set of facts.  For a guy with Sometimer's, I have several epiphanies each day.

BCS title game tonight.  Could care less.  Bring on a Thursday crossword and DirecTV channel 809 (Hit Country.  Not "new" country.  Hit Country.  There is a difference.)  Or maybe a brief visit to Tomah.

1 gets the last brownie today.  Her -22 beats my -15.  I seriously can't remember anything in the last 20+ years with this kind of cold.  There were cold times, for sure, including once when we had frozen water pipes in the upstairs bathroom in the Scott Street house.  (Congrats to the builder who put water lines along the West-facing outside wall.)  But I always think back to those early days on the farm when we had to work with cattle in this kind of weather.  No choice but to deal with it.  No such thing as a wave-off for rain/cold days for a dairy farmer.

Hope it is a Good Monday for all.

BCOT

Sunday

More snow.  More cold.  And getting colder.

This is the time of year where I get to put up a new calendar in my downstairs bathroom, rotate last year's calendar to the Memory wall, and flip all of the previous calendars back to their January pages.  I went with another NASCAR motif this year.  Junior being the featured driver for January 2014.

I flip the months on all of the calendars on the first day of each month so as to compare my current travel, exercise and other activities to what I was doing on the same dates in all of those prior years.  I started the Memory Wall 10 years ago and it tells a lot of stories.  (Keep in mind, my handwriting, and the abbreviations that I use, make deciphering my notations a bit of a science.  Good luck to those who may at a point in the future try to reconstruct my life's path from these tidbits.)

I'm not saying that my basement is a man-cave, but it does have some of those characteristics...TV, exercise equipment, couch...and the huge collage of collectibles.  Like cavemen of old, eh?  Probably needs a wet-bar and a refrigerator to actually make the grade.

Let's go ahead and put 'er in the books:  Tahoe 2014 will begin in San Francisco on July 25th.  The SF Marathon is Sunday the 27th, and the plan is to drive up to the lake after the race that Sunday afternoon.  The Lt. will return to Iowa the following Saturday August 2nd.  The Harvest Path family will be staying until Tuesday August 5th. 

OK.  I'm going to throw out here to the Peanut Gallery my goals for 2014.  I'm going to call it The Year of the Story.

1.  Finish the travel book on Italy/Sicily with 2.
2,  Finish the long-ish book on Daddy and the farm.
3.  Finish my blog story from last year on EJ McKay and Maddie O'Rourke.
4.  Finish a travel book with 4 on our 2011 trip to Spain/France.
5.  Finish a fictional golf story on my pal Roy that I started years ago.
6.  225 entries to the blog.
7.  Get my golf handicap down to 11.  That's five strokes from now.
8.  Four days of cycling at Tahoe.  Mt. Rose (short side).  TOMRV.
9.  Day trip to a Cubs' game in C-town.
10. Break an hour (not my head!) in the Turkey Trot.

If I can get all that done in 2014, it will be a great year.  In addition, there are trips to NYC, KC, San Antonio and Scottsdale already planned.  It should be another year of 60 nights away from Maplecrest.

All for today.  Thanks for reading.  Make it a good week in your neighborhood.

BCOT

Friday

This is the last day in what has been an odd two weeks with the Wednesday Christmas and New Year's holidays.  In business, there will be a sigh of relief come Monday as we get a return to Normalcy.  Funny how the brain struggles with routine when we have these mid-week days-off.

And the cold persists.  -6 on the Buick this AM.  The forecast for the first of the week is for "highs' in the low minus digits.  Better put another log on the fire, eh?

Another hitch in the giddy-up on Maplecrest with Wednesday holidays is the RCL's schedule (since Wednesday is her regularly scheduled day at my place).  She did Thursday last week, but Friday this week.  She offered to pass on coming over, but I insisted.  Why would you want a week without the RCL?

Props to the Sooners for an unexpected win last night.  I didn't try to stay up for the finish.  I figured Alabama would sort things out at half and run up a big number in the second half.  Au contraire, you of little faith!  Like most of the population living outside of Alabama, I share the feeling that Saban getting beat is a big positive.  Oughtta be a good day for 2!

Speaking of the glass being half-full, the PGA tees off in Hawaii today for the first tournament of 2014.  (It's not the first event of the "season" as they shuffled things up last year and "started" the 2014 schedule with those Fall 2013 events that historically underperformed in terms of attendance and viewership.)  Its a 2013 winner's-only event with a field of only 30 or so golfers.  Kinda like a reward for last year's results.  No cut, so everyone gets paid.  Good work if you can get there.

Actually, there's lots of good things to consider for a Glad Game go-around.  Consider:

1.  Daytona is now just "next month" away.
2.  Pitchers and catchers will be reporting next month.
3.  The days are perceptibly getting longer.
4.  Congress is still on holiday.
5.  Christmas marketing is over...for a couple of months anyway.

My "pal" @bcbison has the BEATER for a couple of days.  I think he had to loan his car to one of his boys due to a mechanical problem in Omaha.  Been there a few times.  Not Omaha...lending a car to a kid.  (Actually, I've been to Omaha a few times too.)  My back-up is his back-up.  Always good to be able to help out a friend.  I gave him the same instruction I've given to the girls: "Don't lose the key.  It's my only one."

Quiet in the electronic universe for 3 and 3.1.  No reports from the Caribbean to share?  It looks like you made a good choice to get away from The Big Apple this week.

All for now.  Make it a Good Friday in your neighborhood.

BCOT

Wednesday...New Year's Day 2014

Happy New Year to all!  As often noted here previously, 2013 was a vapor trail!

Iowa couldn't quite get'r done in the Outback Bowl, but they weren't awful in the second half.  If Ruddock had stayed in, who knows?  One play here or there and it coulda been a different result.  If anything, Iowa has to come away with the realization that they can play with anyone.

The Home Page pic is an old one, from last Winter, I think.  We've had more snow today, maybe three inches, which required a full snow blowing effort.  Tomorrow, we go back to very cold temps and after a little respite this weekend, more below-zero days next week.  Scottsdale can't come soon enough!

I've elected to go with a home trainer for my bike rather than join The Y (FKA Gold's) and start up Spin Abuse classes again.  Actually, the motivation for this came from the idea to get 2 something to do on her own at home for her knee rehab.  Her look into the stationary bikes at Second Wind was not too positive, so the trainer seemed like a good alternative.  I checked with the owner of the bike shop where I do my business, and took his recommendation on this unit...Cycle Ops Mag Trainer.  And bought two., one for Highland Avenue and one for Maplecrest.

Of course, since my primary bike has been relegated to the scrap heap, I'll be using my back-up ride for this exercise...my 22-year-old Trek carbon fiber composite...last ridden about three years ago.  (Still no firm word on the warranty investigation.  But the bottom line is that it will cost me a few dinero to get a comparably-out-fitted new bike.  Bummer.)

Here's my Top Five Moments from 2013:

5.  George Srtait concert in Minnesota in February.
4.  Biking up Mt. Rose (short side) in August.
3.  Dinner at Rosemary's in NYC with 3, 3.1 and 4 in April.
2.  Healdsburg (generally) in Sonoma in August (Rodney Strong winery specifically)
1.  Straits of Messina in September.  Surreal.

And without being too morose, the low points:

5.  Basement flooding at the end of the Memorial Day weekend.
4.  September and October tax filing dates.  Extra miserable in 2013.
3.  Turkey Trot crash.  Memorable, and it can't quite be on the Positve listing!
2.  Travel snafu's, specifically that Dallas layover with 2 and a cancelled trip to AZ in April.
1.  Pneumonia in February-March.

Goals for 2014 will come out in another entry later this week.  One that I've been consciously wanting to address is my frequency here at the blog.  The system shows 206 entries for 2013, which is in the ballpark for the numbers of the prior couple of years.  I'm thinking that 225-240 is the preferred range. That alternative blogging site I signed on to last month might be the ticket.  I think that the various problems I have had with Blogger may have disincented me at times last year.

OK.  All for today.  Make it a good year in your neighborhood.

BCOT