Sunday

I couldn't decide what to do with the Home Page pic, so I just went to an old fav.  This would have been the reunion day picnic in Incline Village, July 2010.

Had a pleasant visit from 2 and The W on Saturday evening.  Very low-key at the MCSC, but there was a little company to make it seem like pre-IC times.  The Total Wine inventory is a bit light at this point.

My daily reference to my calendars revealed that yesterday was the five year anniversary of 2 bringing The Winniferous home from the kennel.  If this pic wasn't taken that day, it was the next one.  Cute puppy!  You are Pet of the Day!

The Cards are in the play-offs again.  As an organization, they continue to set a high standard.  There's not more than a couple of players still on the team from the squad that won the World Series in 2011.  Their reward for winning their division this year?  They get to face the Dodgers and Clayton Kershaw starting Friday.  But Kershaw doesn't pitch every game.  StL will compete.

I read an article someplace that the MLB schedule for next year could have a World Series game played in November.  I think that may be a little late, eh?

The Americans threw-up on themselves again in the Ryder Cup matches this weekend.  Not that there's a lot of golf fans in the Peanut Gallery.  But stay with me on this.  They play a total of 28 matches over the course of the three days.  The Europeans won 16 and a half to 11 and a half.  It wasn't that close.  In the alternate-shot format that is used in eight of the matches, Europe won 7-1.  For whatever reason, the US golfers can't figure it out.  In two years, they'll do it again in the Twin Cities area at Hazeltine.

 

Another big week on tap here.  I'll love it when October 15th is here.  But it will be misery getting there.

Make it a good week in your neighborhood.

BCOT

Thursday

Yeah, I'm not going to try to fit that Home Page pic any better than now presented.  It won't be on for long.  Keeping with the current theme, today is the one-year anniversary of our tour of the Greek temples in Agrigento, Sicily.  Pretty cool stuff.  It was a warm day. 

After the morning tour, we drove the last segment of our vacation, from Agrigento to Palmero.  Getting to Palmero, and then to our downtown hotel was a bit of an adventure.  Google Maps went down just as we hit the outskirts of town, and it was close to panic-time for my navigator.  Fortunately, the system reset while we were stopped to fill up with gas, and we were able to maneuver to our destination (although the parking garage was not an easy find).

The Captain's last home game at Yankee Stadium is scheduled for this evening.  Rainy forecast in the Bronx.  MLB has given him a season-long send-off.  Cover of SI this week.  Seems like a good guy.  Shortstops are generally not the heart and soul of a team.  They tend to be lighter hitters and more important defensively.  A team has to be solid up the middle of the field.  But I'll give Jeter some props.  He's played a lot of games, won championships, made it to 3,000 hits, and stayed off the police blotters.  Why would Olbermann wanna trash Jeter?

Great article on KMOX radio in last week's SI.  Lots of commentary from Joe Buck, Bob Costas (whatever), and others about the unique position of that station with the Cardinals and other StL sports teams.  I know I listened to the Cardinals as a kid on the farm off the KMOX feed.

I've said throughout my professional career that the path to wealth is selling a commodity, not your time.  CPA's and attorney's use hourly rates to bill clients.  While today's rates at the big firms tend to be breath-taking at times, there's still a limited number of hours a firm can bill.  Compare that to a manufacturer who has a machine that spits out widgets.  The machine can produce product that is sold by price, not hours.  Sure, there are economics involved about how much can be charged and how much it costs for inputs.  But if that ratio is figured out, the money can just roll in.

The new widget is electronic services.  Prime example today:  the purchase of a Certificate of Good Standing form for an operating company from the Illinois Secretary of State.  In the securities business, you need to supply said Certificates to open an account with Schwab, Vanguard and the like.  You go on-line to the SoS site, search for the company name, then go to the retail site to purchase an authentic copy.  Takes five minutes.  Never comes close to a warm body.  Fee:  $52.  What a racket.  Wish I had that kind of  a widget going here.

I am extremely reluctantly staying in the QCA this weekend rather than going to Harvest Path.  I am failing the LLYWD test.  But I have that October 15th deadline staring me down and it won't be pretty.

All for now.  Maybe a final addition here after this little cocktail party that I have to hit on the way home.  I think the wine selection will be Red or White.  May not be my kinda party.

Thanks for reading.

BCOT

Tuesday II

So that crossing of the Strait of Messina was just one of those times that your mind and body experience a confluence of time, space and atmosphere that makes it totally unique.  Those grade-school geography books, or this space-age photography just can't capture the feeling of being right there on that sliver of ocean between two historically rich landfalls.

One of the more remarkable aspects of that little ferry ride across the strait was the efficiencies of the ferry crew.  I think I commented on the blog at the time that the crew ushered the cars and trucks onto and then off of the ship with extreme skill.  Big trucks on the lower deck.  Cars and smaller vans on the upper deck (but not top-side).  I loved the absence of government inspectors (like an OSHA guy) that would have required a bunch of safety equipment and liability disclaimers (if it was a US operation).

Here's a good summary on the mythology of Strait of Messina. http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Observing_the_Earth/Earth_from_Space_The_Strait_of_Messina

(It is also worth noting that 2 and I were staying in Torino, Italy at this time in 2009.  We had spent four nights in Verona earlier in the trip.  Torino was our staging point for the French Alps.  We drove to Briancon, France from where I did two long rides into the mountains, including the big climb up the Galibier.  More on that later this week.)

So anyway, it was a great day...in a far away place.  But there's been lots of good days on home soil since then.  Scottsdale three times., Florida, NYC, TOMRV, SF, Tahoe...and lots of  Harvest Path and MCSC. Life is good.

Thanks for reading.

BCOT

Tuesday

I had to change the Home Page pic to recognize today as the one-year anniversary of our crossing of the Strait of Messina.  It was the single-most surreal event for me of our trip to Italy/Sicily.  Hard to believe that it has been a whole year since that day.  Then again, lots of water under the bridge since then.

Also anxious to embrace the Clinton Global Initiative today.  Wish I was in NYC to share the vibe with all the best and the brightest.

More here later.

BCOT

Sunday

I'm making 2 Daughter of the Day.  As I may have mentioned earlier, and on Twitter, this is the time frame that she and I were in Italy a year ago.  The first few days were in the coastal town of Salerno.  According to the calendars on my wall, this was a rest day (after a couple of day-trips to Pompei and the Isle of Capri).  Here we are with the obligatory selfie on a park bench near the Salerno waterfront.

 Cycling season may be over for me.  @bcbison and I had planned to do the DeWitt ride yesterday, but we passed on the trip due to a rainy morning forecast.  I may do a couple more mid-day rides, but my enthusiasm has pretty well vanished, so the rowing machine may be the fitness program of choice for the next several months.

I sat at an outside table for 2nd Coffee with my pal Terry O and his wife Linda this AM.  (Hey to Dr. Sarah if you are reading this to verify that your Dad made the blog!)  He was talking about this barn theater that they had attended on Friday night up near Maquoketa.  Some folks have taken the back-to-the-roots concept and applied it to a musical venue for, generally, new music (I think).  Here'a photo from their website, www.codfishhollowbarnstormers.

The website references many singers/groups who have played at the barn.  Gotta admit.  I didn't recognize one name.  What does that say about the LtPC?  Its a BYOB set-up for alcohol, which sounds like a good plan.  Vendors for food.  Interesting concept.  Terry said that my pal Bill and spouse Teresa were at the show as well.  Pretty sure I'll stick with the ambiance of the MCSC.

In kind of the same vein, the local paper picked-up a story in today's edition about some non-mechanized farming operations out in upstate New York.  I'm sure that type of endeavor goes on in many places throughout the country.  Use of horse rather than tractors.  No chemicals.  Here is a link to the AP story.  http://www.pressherald.com/2014/09/19/horse-power-making-a-comeback/  There's a regional monthly tabloid here called The Radish, that caters toward sustainable farming and the like. http://radishmagazine.com/about.php

It is interesting the choices that people make about life style.  Having worked on a farm throughout my youth, there was never a time that I thought "getting back to my roots" was a path that I wanted to pursue.  Shovel enough manure and getting back to basic farming sounds a little less bucolic.  But people get attracted to the road less travelled.  Good for them.  And the same for those aspiring musicians.  I hope they all can be successful enough to pay their bills, create opportunities for their off-spring, and otherwise add to their communities.  I will stick with the urban conveniences of paved roads, coffee shops and mid-to-top-shelf vino.

Putting this up just so that I don't forget.  It's the 24's paint-scheme for the race today in New Hampshire.  Very unusual, but out there to make a statement for the AARP Drive to End Hunger that sponsor's the car.  AARP makes a big effort in September for this goal, and the 24 car is a good place to catch eyeballs.
A cynic might compare this to NBA, college, and NFL teams that modify uniform designs for different games or anniversaries/celebrations/special-dates.  An ulterior reason is always to sell more collector jersey's.  In NASCAR, they're always selling collector model dye-casts of the race cars.  (For the record, my only such car is on the mantle at Harvest Path.)

(The paint-scheme didn't help in the race.  He cut a tire with about 10 laps down while running 6th and went into the wall.  Finished deep in the pack.)

Another busy week in my future.  25 days until the next tax deadline.  And many other side projects with closer due dates.  Unfortunately, stress is a constant by-product of this life-style I call mine.

Thanks for reading.

BCOT

Friday

This week really got away from me.  I need to re-set my schedules so that I get back here more regularly.  Its an old problem.

Actually, its been a pretty good week.  Fun night on Tuesday over in IC with 2.  How can you go wrong with Airliner pizza?  And Wednesday down at Geneva with my pal Roy was a hoot.  Last night, I worked until 7 or so, and then my pal Pete and I finished a bottle of Total Wine inventory on the driveway.  These days coming after that Sunday DeWitt breakfast ride.  Toss in two mid-day 15-milers on the bike path, and you'd have to say that LtPC has kept the LLYWD mantra on the first page of the leader board.  Good stuff.

I'm still struggling with the paperwork on the change in securities business providers.  Having now dealt with the procedures at three major investment clearing companies in the last 18 months, it is interesting to note the different policies and procedures that are employed at the different firms...to comply with the same rules and regulations from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

"Papering the file" is a term that wasn't defined or described in any of the formal education programs on my resume.  In my current position, papering the file is Job One.  I blame the lawyers.  Or the bureaucrats.  Its worse than what you deal with when you by a house or a car.  And why all the paperwork?  To protect against lawsuits.  Or is it just to protect against "the suits"?  One and the same, eh?

I initially thought that ND was camped out in the NYC area this weekend.  But actually, they have an open week this weekend, but then they play Syracuse at Metlife Stadium next Saturday.  I've been getting email notices all week about alumni receptions being held in the metro area.  For the discounted rate of $75, monogram club members can party at the DL Rooftop bar on the lower East Side.

I'm theorizing that this is ND's recruiting strategy for the NYC area.  Kinda like the Big Ten and Rutgers, right?  Its all about recruiting.  And money.  Maybe, mostly about the money.

The Thought Police have taken the NFL by storm.  Its another interesting intersection of mores and money.  1.01 and I have often referred to "troubled" athletes as either being "good citizens" or not.  The term is a convenient euphemism to describe the jock who has good character, or not.  A rap sheep, or not.  Some humility, or not.  Bottom line is that most high level NCAA football and basketball teams, and all NBA and NFL teams have team members who wouldn't make top grades in good citizenship. 

There's a measurable correlation between athletic talent and the defective good citizenship gene.  I'm guessing that this has always been the case.  But with the emergence of technology/Internet/social media/TMZ, the dark side of any one's personality eventually gets plastered across the front pages of print or electronic media tabloids.  I'm pretty sure that strength in these new media mud-slinging circles is not all good, but with some of these citizenship issues, more light is not bad either.  The slippery slope is where the public judgment concept leaps the fence from crime cover-ups to philosophy on life.

Big day here today.  Make it a good weekend in your world.

BCOT

Saturday

Big day for football in the state of Iowa today.  The line is still at the Hawks giving 12 and 1/2.  Hawks win.  Don't cover.

I hope the politicians stay away from any debate on whether the two schools should continue to play this game every year.  I mean, why wouldn't you want this game?  Oh.  I forget .  It makes sense to play. 

ND is playing Purdue in Indianapolis and giving 29.  I'm thinking that will be hard to cover as well. 

As 4 noted on Twitter yesterday, ESPN Game Day is set up today in Fargo, North Dakota.  This recognition is due largely to the Bison's success against upscale competition.  Including Iowa State and Minnesota.  The prevailing logic for the future for any of the power conference schools looking for a nice pre-conference game is DON'T schedule North Dakota State!

Speaking of logic, how is it that every investigative reporter in the world is looking into every crevice and under every rug as to what Roger Goodell knew or didn't know at various points on the Ray Rice time line, but can't bother with routine follow-up on the l-o-n-g list of White House mis-speaks or mis-rememberings?  Fergasun, Missouri.  Michael Samm.  Gotta have the right perspective in our mass-media culture.

It was in the high 30's here this AM.  I'm okay with that.  My pal Pete and I will do the DeWitt Ride in the morning, and that will likely be one of my last rides of the season.  Darkness.  Cold.  Low-hanging sun.  All dis-incentives for a less-than-motivated cyclist.

I signed and dated a lot of tax returns yesterday.  I'm amazed that I always remember the date...9-12.  For a guy who has a history of not remembering dates.  High school girlfriend's birthday.  Pancreatic cancer victim a couple years back.

Views from the past!

Make it a great weekend in your neighborhood.

BCOT

Thursday 9/11 Anniversary

Wednesday

I got an email overnight that @isuckatgolf is now following me on Twitter.  What that means is that there is an Internet auto-bot out there scrolling for the phrase, "I suck at golf", which I included in a tweet on Sunday.  You are never below radar.  Remember that.

Speaking of trolls watching everything, some Fox and Friends hosts got in trouble with an off-hand comment casually thrown out to summarize the Ray Rice disaster.  "Take the stairs."  Neither the public, the press nor the feminist activists saw any humor in that comment.  Goes to show, there's usually no upside to any gratuitous aside on any issue of controversy.

Could Goodell lose his job over this one?

3 and 3.1 are Couple of the Day.  Here they are in a nice shot on Wally Day at South Shore in Lake Tahoe.

We've had some serious rain this week.  Probably somewhere in the area of 3-5 inches.  The storm on Monday night got so loud and close that I considered going to the basement for safety.  There were a couple of thunder caps that had to have originated on my roof.  Needless to say, my sleep pattern was totally messed-up and work yesterday was a bear.  Ya gotta get your sleep.

Speaking of rain, this wasn't the best week to be in Phoenix.  Here you have water over I-10.  They don't have the drainage for rain, so when it comes in, flooding is common when they do have a storm.  Of course, there are real brain surgeons driving those cars that think they can get through a little water over the road.

Some key questions of the day:

1. How many viewing parties are being organized for the Big O's speech tonight?
2. Why are they having a FIBA basketball tournament?
3. Why are they sending NBA players to the FIBA tournament?
4. At $350 a copy, how many Apple watches will be sold in year 1?
5. Anyone care to go to Indy to watch ND-Purdue?  Why?

This has been a big week historically for Iowa and Iowa State football.  Not sure for this year.  Iowa has struggled to two wins.  The 'Clones are 0-2.  The game is in IC, so I'm going with the home team.  The line in Vegas is the Hawks giving 10 and 1/2.  I say they win, but won't cover.

All for today.  What day is it 3?

BCOT

Sunday

Yeah, the weekend has been vapor.  Really not looking forward all that much to the next eight days.  September 15th is the extended due date for 2013 entity returns (corporations, partnerships, and trusts).  I have way too many to get out the door.

The MCSC was a big hit on Friday night.  I had declined an invitation to meet friends at Bass Steet in Moline (1/2 price wine there on Friday nights), but offered up that the MCSC might still be open if they wanted to check in on their way home.  Well, they did, and came over, and brought another couple (who I also know well).  So we ended up doing some damage to the Total Wine inventory.  Really a fun night.  (Those un-planned parties often are the best.)

The primary reason that I wasn't all that excited about a Friday evening "out", was that I knew I was scheduled for a road trip on Saturday evening.  My pal Roy had invited me to join a small group he had organized to go over to Des Moines for dinner.  Roy's wife Pat's daughter Emily and her husband are involved with an Italian place called the Cosi Cucina in West Des Moines.  The restaurant had closed last spring and this was a Grand Re-Opening of a sort.  So Roy being Roy, he wanted to show familial support.  Ergo, Road Trip!!

Of course, this would be a road trip by air.  Bring on the King Air 350.  It comfortably seats eight adults, along with spots for two pilots (we had one).  Four of us boarded at the Davenport airport where the plane is stationed, and then it was a short 12 minute flight down to Muscatine to pick up Roy and Pat and another couple.  Flight time to Des Moines was 35 minutes.  Roy had arranged for a limo-mini-bus (seating for 12) for the 15-20 minute ride from DSM to the restaurant.

Dinner was a hoot.  Food was above-average to very good.  The wine list wasn't bad...and we had brought in several bottles from Roy's cellar to boot.  The trip home was an exact inverse of the trip over.  Back on Maplecrest by 10:30.  Not quite the opera in San Fran a la Pretty Woman, but not bad for Iowa. 

One task the my pal Ron and I had to take care of this morning before heading down to Muskie for golf was rescuing his mother-in-law's car from the towing impound lot.  He and wife Jane and others had attended the QC Symphony concert in the park last night.  He had bragged on Friday night how he had the "perfect" parking spot for the concert...it is an annual event that attracts thousands each year and he had been using this one spot for the last several years.  Ron was almost giddy with his little secret spot.  But Murphy lives.  Last night when they returned after the concert...no car!!

Car Dead Call Fred has the city's towing contract, so that's where we had to go this AM.  They wouldn't take a check, debit card or credit card.  Cash only.  $202.  We had to pool our resources to get the car.  Ron is still grousing over the whole deal.  I'm betting that he'll remember this year's concert for a long time, and it will have nothing to do with the music.

Moving on...

I admit to what many of you may have suspected...I miss having 2 and The Winniferous around.  Its a little odd not having them stop over for some wine on the driveway or a little BBQ. 

Glad that the Hawks pulled out a win yesterday.  Not much of a statement day for the Big 10.  With Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State all losing (as well as Northwestern and Purdue...both to Directional U's), a spot in the 4-team NCAA play-off doesn't seem likely.

Finally, did you see where the NCAA considered Geno Auriemma committed a recruiting violation when he made the congratulatory phone call to the 13-year old girl pitcher (Mo'ne Davis who also made the cover of SI)  in the Little League World Series?  How absurd can the NCAA make itself?  And how deep does the dislike for Geno and UConn go among the competition?  I'm betting that the school who filed the complaint won't be raising their hand to take credit any time soon.

And relatedly, the SI Cover Curse has legs.

OK.  All for tonight.  Hope everyone has a good week.

BCOT

Thursday

Yeah, that Monday posting of pictures was done on Tuesday.  Sometimer's again.

So the weekend was all good.  Can't decide if the highlight was the Hawk's win, the wonders of 1.01 and 1.02, or my three-case visit to Total Wine.  Not a bad trifecta to choose from.

The pics posted "Tuesday" were all on my iPhone so I just did the entry with the BlogPress app while I was at 2nd Coffee.  You can't adjust/amend a BlogPress entry through the desktop/laptop formats, so I just never got back here to fill in the blanks.


I've had the BEATER for what, 10 years or so?  Sounds about right.  I noticed on the radio this morning that the FM function has two sets of possible selected stations for the six numbered buttons that you have on the face of the radio.  When selecting FM, you get the first six, and then if you hit the FM selector again, you get a second set.  A little "1" or "2" appears beside the digital "FM" sign at the side of the display bar.  Never noticed the distinction before.  How much more of life has passed me by?


3 gave me instructions yesterday to get the emoticon keyboard on my phone.  Taking a pass on that one.  I see nothing masculine in that action.

My book-on-tape for the weekend, Marine One by a guy named James Huston, was okay to listen to, but in a post-mortem analysis, the conclusion of the novel again illustrated an author's challenge to make all of his/her story lines relevant.  In this case, there were wide swaths of the book that were nothing but "filler pages", and he left out some key points of character development for the protagonist.  I kept asking myself, "Why isn't he telling us more about his wife and kids?"  And his time line was often like the old Notre Dame football replays on Sunday mornings when the overlay announcers would say, "And now later in the game..." when it was convenient to skip some actual-game time to fit the broadcast into the allotted TV replay time.

So don't go rushing to the library to check this one out for a riveting experience.

Another note somewhat related to my trip...I think I may have to look at replacing the Buick within the next year.  I mean, we're talking about a 2007 model year.  The tires are ready for replacement...over a grand there...the front-end suspension is on its last legs...and mileage is approaching 120K.  Not really sure of my options as the Lucerne is no longer in production, and it just doesn't look like Buick or Chevy are making many 8-cylinder sedans.  And I hate calling the car guy as once you show any interest in making a change, the full-court press on getting you into a new (or new-used) car starts immediately.

The entertainment news on the hacking of compromising personal photos of some attractive celebrities is the latest example of the intersection of social media and the economy.  While revealing pics of Kate Upton generates some Internet buzz, the collateral effect on Apple, as a result of the associated iCloud involvement, sent Apple stock down over 4% yesterday, and it is negative in the pre-market today.  We're talking billions of dollars of market capitalization evaporating yesterday due to some hackers looking for some skin.

All for today.  The weekend for 4.  Another day in Ordinary Time for the rest of us.

BCOT

Monday

Weekend pic's



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More later.

BCOT


Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone