Wednesday

I had another one of those moments this AM when I received word that a fellow grad from my high school in Ottumwa had recently passed away.  Cancer.  Tim was a year behind me in school, but we ran in the same crowd, played some sports together, and he also went to ND, graduating summa cum laude.  Iowa law school with honors, and a successful career practicing in a firm in our hometown. 

Tim was always known in high school as "the brain" in his class...and that mental talent seems to have kept him at the head of the pack all these years.  I have good memories of sharing some adult beverages with him on campus with Mary, a girl from our high school who was two years ahead of me across the road at St. Mary's.  The three of us made it a point to get together on a regular basis that one year when we were all there...swimming in the deep water a long way from Ottumwa.

We pretty much lost contact over the years, but that early history remains a vivid memory in the LtPC archives.  His passing brings to the fore one of my favorite maxims (a la Gibbs' Rules), which I have borrowed from baseball Hall of Famer, Satchel Paige.  I've modified it here to reflect my cycling perspective.  It has universal application.

In better news...

I have been pleasantly surprised to receive the cycling kits which I ordered from an unknown Internet provider based in California.  I was concerned from the start about the quality of the material, and the sizing for my different-sized friends.  This fear was exacerbated when I got notice of shipment...from Beijing, China.  I figured that they would all be sized to fit a 5'5" biker from China weighing in at 150 pounds.

But the delivery arrived as scheduled...and the sizes seem to be true.  The design as pictured comes across in real time with the exact look.  Instructions say to wash in cold water, which I'm thinking means that the colors will run if that instruction is not followed.  I will alert the RCL.  We'll see how durable the material is as the kits get worn over the next few weeks.  TOMRV is now just 10 days away.

Other news...

Mother Nature has not been kind to some wild life in my world in the last few days.  One family of small ducklings was substantially, although not totally, dismembered by the rain-swollen Duck Creek last week.  The quickly rising creek must have carried most of the ducklings away from mom and dad.  And some carnivorous crows took care of the rabbit's nest in my front yard that had survived at least two mowing's by the LtPC.  Interesting that the crows even found the nest.  I don't recall seeing crows in my yard...ever.

Let's give another nod of Daughter of the Day to 3.  She was back on the road yesterday for a day trip to Minneapolis.  Wall Street is a tough road.  You are a star, Kiddo!

All for today.

BCOT