Monday

I had a few minutes and chose to update the Home Page pic with one I took from the Incline lookout as I began my trip back from Tahoe on August 10th.  That view always makes an impression, eh?

It may be the last day of August, but Summer returned today with a high near 90, and they say this week will all be the same.  At least with tomorrow being September (!!!), the heat will not be with us forever.  And the nights cool down for decent sleeping.  The glass is more than half full...:)

I'll save the details, but I've had two visits to my family doc over the last couple of weeks to clean out my ears.  The first visit for my right ear was a necessity as hearing shut down on that one and it was either a squeeze-me-in-appointment with my doc or a drop-in to Redi-Med.  Let's just say that the remedy was relatively painless...but not pretty.  He told me to try some drops on the left ear and then come back in two weeks to see if the drops were effective.  They weren't.  But my hearing is now fully normal.  And they did have to bring in a HazMat team to clean the examination room.

Yeah, I didn't even come close to watching the video awards show last night.  Isn't there a limit on how many times the same reality-show fools get camera time?  Really, people!  Let's find other topics to occupy leisure time.

I've begun making my lists for Barcelona.  On that first trip 2 and I took in 2009, we had to turn around right after we got across the Mississippi Rive bridge (we flew out of ORD) because I remembered that I had forgotten my cycling helmet!  And the trip's primary goal was the ride up the Galibier! 

When I travel, I have one mental checklist for drugs, another for hygiene items, and one for electronics.  And I've done okay with those items in recent years.  But with a cycling trip, a whole other checklist comes into play with the gear, the clothing, etc.  And with Europe, you have the over-packing-urge to beat down.  2 has helped me get better with that over the years.  But getting a head start on the checklists is a good way to avoid panic on the day before departure.


All for this evening.  Have a great start to September!

BCOT

Sunday

Kind of a no-headlines weekend on Maplecrest. Not that that is a bad thing.

The Sunrise Cafe ride wasn't going to happen anyway, but the fog this morning would have scrubbed the trip regardless. I had taken The W out for an early walk, and the street lights weren't even visible from 200 yards. Hitting the road on a bike in that shroud wouldn't have been an option. I plan to ride in the morning, so I hope there's not a repeat performance of the fog.

It's always a change of pace for me to host The Winniferous. She's a needy girl. But for a single night like this time, I don't have to make many adjustments. We do our walks. I always bar-b-que something with a leftover bone as a special treat for her. And she follows me everywhere!! On a weekend with fair weather, we spend a lot of time outside. She knows most of the squirrels on my block by name.

The new truck is a hit. I still need to adjust to its size. In my driveway, that parking spot to the East side of the front of my garage is kinda tight for this ride compared to the Taurus. When I tried to back the Buick out one day last week, it was a multi-positioning effort. Given that close of a squeeze, parking Margret in the garage on that side is no longer even an option. (The license plate from the Taurus was transferable...the BEATER lives. My insurance premium went up by $6 compared to the Taurus. Since I only cover the other guy in an accident, not my vehicle, does that mean that the truck can cause more damage?)

The 2015 calendar must work out more traditional. Last year, I was at the first Iowa football game with my pal Doc Doug that last weekend in August. Must be something about how Labor Day falls because I left the game after halftime for a visit to Harvest Path...as I must have had Monday off. I like this year's schedule better. Football in August goes against my grain.

When I ride in the Buick, I listen to Prime Country on the Sirius radio service. That station plays predominately '80's and '90's music. (In contrast to Y2K Country which is the newer oldie channel playing songs form the 2000's.).
Anyway, I now find myself turning the channel elsewhere when I am in one of the other vehicles with the local country FM station WLLR on the radio. New country is way too too for me. How old does that make me?

How's this for bringing generations together? We OWG's are paper-readers, right? (Except when they raise the prices past the value point...or when the papers are so bad you elect not to read them.) Millennials have always got their news online. I find myself reading the local Illinois paper on line now since I stopped buying it each morning. It doesn't feel the same.

Lots to do this week. Really looking forward to FFF in Iowa City.

Make it a good week in your neighborhood.

BCOT





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Thursday

Throwing up a few lines here in the last hour or two of the continuing education conference in C-town. I plan to get out of here a little early to get in line for the rush hour traffic around O'Hare. These programs continue to test my sanity.

CPE programs like this have embraced the technology revolution. They did snail-mail me my attendance badge, but everything after that is electronic. You scan your badge to register your presence...but only once a day...why not for each session? Your session attendance gets formally credited when you go online to give your session evaluation.

The presenter outlines are all electronic. Really, the amount of paper used on-site for these seminars has become a single-digit fraction of what was handed out say, 10 or more years ago. Save the trees.

I'm surprised that the price of the conference includes no lunch or break munchibles. No free coffee. Usually, program sponsors make an effort to provide these types of things to encourage return visits to the next year's seminar. I'm guessing that it's a budget thing for this one, but I'd rather pay a little more and have some options. Whatever.

My hotel accommodations a couple miles from the conference center closely approach the "it's a dump" category. Old. Located about 10 feet from the busy 294 Tri-state Tollway. Loud. Half the channels on the tube. My employer needs to upgrade the travel budget.

State CPA societies have become societal leaders in pulling the equal rights bandwagon. Both the Iowa and Illinois groups' monthly journals go to considerable lengths to emphasize and recount current examples of their commitment to inclusiveness. The two first keynote speakers here were preaching from the PC bible.

The thing that occurred to me as I was listening to the PC news was that all around me were mostly OWG's. I'd say that the attendees here are 85% male, 15% female. There might be a total of 10% non-whites in the group. Professionally speaking, there's gotta be opportunity in them thar hills; I mean, these OWG's are going to be retiring sooner rather than later.

***************
Now later...home on Maplecrest. Another relatively painless, but sufficiently traffic-y, drive home to remind me that Chicago's expressways are not for the faint of heart. And that is disregarding the miles of construction in central Illinois.

Hats off (not mine 😀) to 3 who is chasing bid'ness in the City of Angels. You are DAUGHTER OF THE DAY !



I did get most of the Wednesday and Thursday puzzles done, including the patternless ones, during the sessions. Wednesday's were too easy. But today's NYT trick puzzle was a bit of a challenge. Getting "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" into a normal puzzle's format was a bit creative by Will (or whomever chose to claim authorship).

Now bed for me. Hope it is a Good Friday in your neighborhood.
BCOT

Monday

I had full intentions of posting an entry here yesterday, but the old body had a very poor response to the DeWitt ride yesterday, and I spent a majority of the afternoon and evening on the couch.  It was almost like I had a 24-hour virus of some sort.  Extreme body aches, upset stomach, headache, and loss of appetite. I am marginally better today.  Kinda like bad shrimp.  Whatever.

So the big news on Maplecrest is my acquisition of the latest BEATER.  My "new" 1996 Ford F-150 was picked-up late yesterday afternoon.  This is a very basic vehicle with few extras.  With only 110,500 miles, it should have plenty of useful life ahead of it.  I'm sure that there will be some repairs on it in my future, but I'm glad to get back into a truck.  Soberingly, this truck is 15 years newer than my first F-150 that I drove in the early '80's.

The purchase transaction was not without a procedural snafu.  The truck was located on a farm about 10 miles into the country from town.  I was to meet the seller's dad there at 4PM to complete the paperwork.  When I left my house, I was sure that I had locked the door with the set of keys that had remained in the lock since returning from the DeWitt ride before lunch.  And I was equally sure that I had dropped said set of keys on the floor of my friend's car when I got into the car for the ride out to the farm.

When we got back to Maplecrest with the truck, I didn't have that set of keys with the "stuff" (paperwork, garage door opener, pen, pliers, checkbook, etc.) that I had transferred to the truck at the farm.  And they weren't in my friend's car. I figured that I had somehow dropped them in the course of putting the license plate on the truck and helping the seller' dad clean out the glove compartment and other areas of the truck.  Typical mental displacement when doing unusual, non-repetitive tasks.

The extra element of aggravation was that that set of keys belonged to MARGRET.  And, I think, my only set of keys for MARGRET.  So I call the seller's dad.  No answer.  I then conclude that I had to go out and scour his gravel/grass driveway and near-by areas where I may have walked.  Which I do.  10 miles out.  10 miles back.  Again.  Absolutely no luck.  Consternation.  Irritation.  Frustration.  A real gloom on what should otherwise be a fun/enjoyable situation.

When I get back to Maplecrest, I'm still singing the blues on my inattention.  It just didn't make any sense.  So I make an effort to mentally retrace my steps from the original departure to the farm, remembering that the keys had already been in the lock from the return from DeWitt.  And I remembered that I had considered not even locking the door for the trip to the farm, it being the middle of the day and the likelihood of an intruder being extremely remote.  But I did anyway...

That's when it more or less hit me, I may have locked the door, but could I have just dropped the keys into the geraniums to the side of the steps like I do when I head out for a bike ride?  Uh, yes you mental giant, there are your keys, right where you left them!!  Amazing.  Really.

The truck takes up a lot more space in my driveway than did the Taurus.  It makes backing the Buick out from the garage a little more exciting.  And it will make things really cozy in the Winter with the truck in the garage (after MARGRET goes to storage on Century Heights).  But I sure like sitting truck-high on the road again.

More carnage on Wall Street today.  Every pundit has their own spin. Everybody says that China is a big part of the problem.  Add in the business about interest rates and the price of oil, and you have lots of doubts out there.  Cash sounds pretty good these days.

Really enjoyed these pics of the kids yesterday.  They are growing up so quick!

All for now.  Hope it is a good week in your neighborhood.

BCOT

Friday

Hello Friday.  Looks like a great day out there.

This has been a tough week in the markets.  I think there was a fair amount of pent-up selling sentiment, and once the ball got rolling, gravity took over.  Its August.  China.  Oil.  Iran.  The Fed and interest rates.  Take your pick.

I find it interesting that the business channels are quick to bring out the mouth-pieces of the short-sellers in these bearish times.  They had James Chanos on today at considerable length talking up how China is "worse than whatever you think it is".  Its to his advantage to spout from his bible, and I'm convinced that these before-the-close commentaries of doom-and-gloom do not go un-noticed by traders and retail investors.  Can you say, "self-fulfilling prophecy"?

My RCL is on vacation this week...and the substitute is otherwise not available.  So I've had to do my own laundry, water the plants, and all that other stuff that the RCL has taken care of these last few years.  She's back next week, thank goodness.

The new truck was supposed to have been in my possession tomorrow, but there has been a small delay to Sunday evening or Monday.  The owner actually lives in DSM and had planned to be over here early Saturday for the exchange, but there was a change in plans due to a family matter, so he's sending the title to his Dad who will handle the paperwork with me.  No biggie. 

For the record, the BEATER was sold for $1 to a needy family in the snow-plow-neighbor's church.  I expressed a complete disclaimer on the car's mechanical status.  But really, even if there is a repair necessary, it will be a relatively small one to keep it on the road.  I just had reached the point where I was done spending on the thing.  When I had to replace the water pump a few weeks ago, I drew the proverbial line in the sand.

(That same snow-plow-neighbor just traded up to one of those new, fully-loaded aluminum-body F-150's.  Very sharp.  But really, I have lots of different ways to spend $50K.  My new ride might be 20 years older, but the no-payment arrangement is my idea of sound financial planning.)

Tiger is playing this week in the PGA stop in Greensboro, a tournament that he has never played in previously.  The A-Team members (Spieth, Bubba, Phil, Rory, et al) are taking the week off.  Not that there aren't really good players there this week, but it is different.  Anyway, Tiger basically needs to win or his season is done.  The way they have the play-offs in golf these days, you have to finish in the top 125 to advance to the first round.  Tiger is so far back, a win this week is the only way he can play in the next tournament.  Its hard to be humble.  (Drink for a country-song-title.)

Those pics from earlier this week of 4 and me on our 2011 trip were great memories for me.  Note the Guggenheim in the background here. Staying in that small French town near the Tourmalet was a wonderful experience.  Looking forward to more of the same next month in Barcelona/Bordeaux. 

Make it a good weekend in your neighborhood.

BCOT

Tuesday

 

OK.  This is another big day in my cycling history, a day I had the pleasure of sharing with 4.  It's the four-year anniversary of our climb up the Col de Tourmalet, the most iconic summit in the Pyrenees for cyclists.  4 was a star.  It was a death march for me.  Let's make her Daughter of the Day...again!! 

Make it a good Tuesday in your neighborhood.

BCOT

Monday

Just a special note.  Today is the four-year anniversary of 4 and I making it up the Col de Aspin in Spain.

 

This makes another day when she is Daughter of the Day!

 

More later.

 

Happy Monday!

BCOT

Sunday

Not a lot going on in the 52722 for LtPC this weekend. There was a certain hangover effect from last weekend's travel, and I made a conscious decision to hang close to home in the evenings. I be gettin' old...er!!

Great visit from 4 for a few days this week. She had some comp time at work and decided to re-charge in the Hawkeye State. She is DAUGHTER OF THE DAY.











That little visit over to Iowa City on Tuesday night was a hoot. Airliner pizza is a no-brainier...although I think I do like the deep-dish option rather than their standard crust. How 'bout that rock-star parking?








Golf with my pal Ron on Saturday was financially and personally rewarding. For not having been on the course in a month, I played well, and got into Ron's pocket for $4. Better yet, he didn't have convenient cash on hand...which means he OWES me. There won't be a lot of golf in my future this year. So much stuff to get done, places to be, yada, yada, yada. As the carrier flight-director on Top Gun would say, "The pattern is full."

The visit to the Sunrise this morning was an expensive one.





As I may have intimated in recent conversations, the BEATER is on the way up the exit ramp. There was an issue last week with a leak of transmission fluid...and I told the PN that I would spend no more money on it...and that he could contact the guy at his church who fixes and sells old cars (to benefit the church) that they could have at the Taurus. If they elect not to take it, it goes to a salvage yard.

So anyway, at a farm that we rode passed this AM on the way to DeWitt, there was an old F-150 sitting in the drive-way with a "For Sale"sign in the front window. I stopped briefly to check it out, and decided that there was a chance that something like that could be my new "back-up" vehicle. After lunch, I took a drive out to that farm, ended up taking the truck for a test-drive, negotiating on the price...and buying the thing!! I don't take possession until next weekend.

It's old...a 1996...standard size cab and hauling box...4-wheel drive (of course it is!)...white...only 110,000 miles. Other details and pics will follow after it comes to Maplecrest. I'm excited😀

I'm also excited about the FFF coming up that first weekend in September. I agree with 1 that we need t-shirts. That means that 2 needs to get busy with design and ordering! I'll supply the financing.

This course that they played the golf tournament on this weekend in Kohler, Wisconsin is just sick. It's crafted along the shores of Lake Michigan, and from the air, it looks like some fairways occasionally interrupting sand dunes, gorse and ravines. And these guys play it from the furthest-back tees ("the tips" in golfer lingo), and the winner ( good-guy Jason Day) is 20 freakin' under par. Insane.

This is State Fair week in Iowa. All of the politicians ( and The Donald) are stopping in to make their case on the "soapbox". Really, does anyone care? I gotta say, I did catch a little of Bernie Sanders' shtick from his fair presentation that was on Fox News yesterday when I was driving back from Muskie, and exactly WHO is going to pay for everything that this guy wants available to everyone...for free?


Why wouldn't the unemployed, under-employed, non-ambitious, lazy and entitlement-demanding others want Bernie as their leader?

And staying on politics, a telling point that actually raises even more questions on Hillary's work at State to me is, if there was no classified data on her home server's 50k+ emails, how did she do ANY State business? I mean, how can the Secretary of State NOT have classified email? Whatever. If the U.S. elects HRC, they deserve what they get.

So this week is a big production week for me at the office. Lots needs to get done and out the door. The Dog Days of Summer for me.

Hope it is a good week in your neighborhood.

BCOT



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Monday

This looks like it might be a longer day than scheduled. The flight out of Reno was delayed because of weather in Chicago. You can make up time when heading East, but I suspect that we can still run into delays getting slotted in for landing. I mean, if they held us in Reno, other flights will be in the same boat. Love the joys of air travel.

My routine for these three mornings was to stay on Central time...pretty much...and go to 1st Coffee at Starbucks while most of the rest of the house was still in bed...RevKev's fishing trip being the exception. I'd stop at the 7-11 to get a sweet roll and the newspapers before crossing over to SB's. Interestingly, I paid $2.75 for the daily San Francisco Chronicle, quite a bit above my normal limit. The Reno paper may have only been $.50. Neither were noteworthy, but it gave us some reading material.

We saw no bike riders on either side of Mt. Rose on our way down to the airport this morning. Whatever the bet might have been set at, the Under would have paid. There were a few riders on the road over to South Shore yesterday afternoon, but boy, the narrowness of that track with all the cars parked on either shoulder is scary. The LtPC will be scheduling other activities next year.

Just for yucks, here's a Top Ten list on the fam's vacations to Tahoe:

1. 07282012. The whole week.
2. Our first visit. I remember us stepping into the lake onto those rocks by the road.
3. That first hike up Squaw when 4 just left us in the dust.
4. 2014 when we had 1.01 and 1.02 to entertain us.
5. Any of my death marches up Mt. Rose.
6. The all-fam reunion in 2010. A great day at Burnt Cedar Beach.
7. Carrie and David's wedding. Lots of family.
8. The retro-condo in Kings Beach.
9. Any of the Wally days/beers/lunches on South Shore.
10. Sand Harbor.


Frank Gifford died yesterday. At 84, and 18 years older than me, I have no recollection of his playing days. I don't think I could have even remembered the fact that he went to USC. But he did have a second career as a sports announcer, and I do recall, generally, the MNF booth with him, Howard Cosell and Dandy Don Meredith. (Was his third career that of husband to Cathy Lee?) I'll add that gritty, black and white picture of Chuck Bednaric standing over him after a vicious hit when I have the chance. That's an iconic photo attesting to the violence of football even 50+ years ago. It put Gifford on the sidelines for most of two seasons.



I was surprised to hear from Tahoe Phil that the permanent, year-round population of Incline Village is less than 10,000 people. That's an interesting demographic for a destination that is so highly praised. But the reality is that the climate is more attractive to vacationers than it might be for someone looking to settle down. Housing is very expensive. There's little industry outside of tourism and leisure. They probably can't find enough service-industry workers, and there's probably little opportunity for young professionals. For me, as much as I like to visit, I won't be making an offer on any of the available housing any time soon. (The South Shore probably has a little different story. There's a lot more development on both sides of the border, and the gaming industry has a big footprint on the Nevada side.)

(Totally random...in-flight movie that I am not watching...Harrison Ford and Blake Lively? Really, Hollywood. Don't. Just don't.)

OK. I have no creativity left. I'm guessing that my ETA on Maplecrest will be 2230. That'll be fun.

Finally, a special thanks to Tahoe Phil and Jan for them being their typically superior hosts for the weekend. You're the best. We'll get a date for our Tahoe2016 set as early as we can.

Hope it is a good week in your neighborhood.

BCOT




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Sunday

Just a few lines to let the Maddening Crowd know that life is good in Incline Village. I can't remember the time that I would have been here without a visit to the beach or a ride on a bike. Total Wine has enabled us to get by with this less-planned schedule.

We were a little disappointed in the auction on Friday afternoon. The number of cars seemed down, and those that they sold while we were there were not overly special. I wonder if the number of auctions hurts the inventory for Reno. The one in Scottsdale in January was much bigger. I know Barrett-Jackson does several throughout the country during the year.

For those in the fam, I can report that little has changed in Incline/Tahoe. Same Starbucks, same Raley's, same cars along the roads to Sand Harbor. No difference over in South Shore for Wally beers, although they had little action at the outside seating area. We bought our Coors Lights inside and planted ourselves at a table on the deck.


One thing that has changed is that they have put up new tourist-trap shops immediately across from the hotel. The big development on that site that was stopped in the 2008-2009 financial crisis with just the pilings showing has never found a new money-man. So to cover the gloom, they have put up a long, single story retail building with several t-shirt/trinket shops. What was once old and trashy, is new again. I wasn't even tempted to go over to see what their 4-for-$10 deal was.

Pat and Anna (and Lindsay) came up from Reno for the evening, pulling their new Hood River trailer. I have no interest in that kind of "camping", but this thing is set up with virtually all of the amenities. He hooks it up with an electrical cord to a regular outlet and they're good to go. They slept in it last night.






Props to RevKev for doing his frontier-man duty yesterday...early to the lake for fishing...and bringing home the goods for dinner. Lake trout of some sort...which he then cooked on the bar-b-que. I don't think I have ever previously dined on Tahoe-raised fish. Potatoes, asparagus and salad. Very good.

RevKev is now in the truck business. He has one of those new aluminum Ford F-150's...very sharp. Of course, the way they build out new trucks, the interior is almost like a luxury sedan. Still, it has a good feel, and makes me think of the good old days when I had a truck. That said, the entry cost for these things is over the Maplecrest budget.















It looks like there will not be an extended family reunion in 2016. Both Tahoe Phil and SF Margaret have their 50-year wedding anniversary's next year, and their big 2016 trips will be to celebrate that milestone with their families. No worries. That just means that our FFF trip to Tahoe will be similar to 2014 where we will be on our own. Bring on the Forest Pines condos!!



All for now. More from the road tomorrow.

BCOT



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Friday - In-route to Reno

So this is another entry initiated while I am in the air, this time for the quick visit to Incline Village. All things working correctly, I'll publish this post when We hit the deck in Reno

I really don't remember my exact logic when I bought this ticket with the direct flight on American out of ORD. I'm guessing that it was a combination of price and timing...as well as the appeal of a non-connecting flight plan. In any event, my schedule this AM was actually a little later than yesterday when I did the first half of my early ride in the dark. But I still had to deal with what was most of three hours from 1st Coffee at Dunn's to arrival at the remote parking lot at ORD. Not the worst drive in my life, for sure, but still there was some stress from the drive, traffic, construction and logistics once I got to the ORD area. Whatever. No travel is stress-free.

I didn't watch the debates last night. I had some curiosity, but not enough to overcome my distaste for The Donald. It sounds like Carly Fiorino may have come away with the most positive vibes from the evening. Is it politics or a circus? I guess we'll see as the tail-enders run out of money.

The Shania tour continues to roll on. She's playing (or has now played) Des Moines this week. The DM Register had a story about her show yesterday. She must wake up every day not knowing where she might be. I wonder how many times she will mis-state (literally!) her location in her in-show small-talk segments. She has to be making some serious coin with this tour.

Reba was in Davenport this week at the Mississippi Valley Fair for a one-night-stand. I think she drew an audience of 30K or so. That fair has a history of bringing in some top-line stars...I know Alan Jackson, Brooks & Dunn and Toby Keith have all appeared there in prior years. It must pay.

I did stop buying the Illinois side paper (due to the price increase). Dunn's usually has a house copy of the QC Times, so I'll cruise through it quickly most days at 2nd Coffee...mostly for the obits. They've changed the font arrangement on that whole paper, reducing paper quantity used, I'm sure. I wonder how much longer an actual local paper will still be published in paper form on a daily basis? Once the market figures out a more efficient method for distribution of the sales ads, the newspapers will be toast.

In other media news, there's talk of Disney taking ESPN to a stand-alone offering in the media space, similar to HBO or Showtime. Interesting. I don't understand streaming, Netflix, Hulu, or any of that stuff, but I get the concept of ESPN separating itself from other, less-ambitious content providers. They say that live sports is one of the primary drivers in viewer demand. With Disney in the cat-bird's seat right now, why not flex some muscle and stick a finger in the eye of the cable/satellite providers?

What's a cat-bird? And exactly what kind of a seat is it? Just sayin'.

Speaking of Disney, the sell-off in their stock this week may be a buying opportunity. I mean, there were all the elements of "buy on the rumor, sell on the news" being the play before their earnings were announced Wednesday after the bell. After their run-up, profit-taking should have been expected, regardless of anything in the earnings report. It sounds like they have another iteration of Star Wars coming to theaters in the next year that may be the biggest grossing movie...EVER. Frozen. Theme parks. ESPN. If we avoid economic Armageddon, Disney should do well.

No big plans for Tahoe. I'll add here or on Twitter as I feel the inspiration.

Hope it is a good weekend in your neighborhood.

BCOT









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Wednesday

Another flash of a week.  I swear, there's an accelerator out there behind my life.  The train is barreling though the stations like a rocket-ship on wheels.  Sounds like a country song.  C. W. McCall:  Convoy!

There are lots of notations on my prior-year basement calendars about trips to Lake Tahoe and to Kansas City during the latter part of July and the first part of August.  When the girls were younger, we usually made our trips in those time-frames to get in the vacation before school started.  Plus, I had determined that that was also the time when many of my clients and other business contacts also took vacation.  So if everyone else was out, why not hit the road too?  Good times.

This shot may have made it to Twitter.  I get confused at times as to what medium may have been used for these things.  This was taken last Wednesday morning when 2 and I said our good-byes at an early 2nd Coffee.  Good lookin' crew, eh?  2 has the selfie-technique down to a science.

Speaking of Twitter, the stock has been in a nose-dive recently.  The company admits that they really don't have a solid, long-range business plan.  And with the myriad of social media options in the world today, you hesitate and you lose.

I don't follow any non-family, non-close-friend on Twitter now except for @nicolepetallides on Fox Business Channel.  And she's on a short leash, even if she is cute.  (Her early morning teases for her pre-Maria Bartiromo show are becoming annoying.  But I digress.)  I followed a couple of cyclists (including Lance Romance) a few years ago, but dumped them after the big drug expose.  There are more and more people finally realizing that what so-and-so has for lunch isn't worth the time or distraction.  And the political class is becoming an echo-chamber: you know what a reporter, writer, politician or pundit is going to say from his/her previous statements.  Who cares?  Is the beer cold?

My hit-and-run visit to Tahoe Phil's is this weekend.  I'll be leaving at oh-dark-hundred on Friday to make an 1100 hours departure from ORD.  I opted for the inconvenience of the drive into Chicago in exchange for the direct flight to RNO.  The return on Monday obviously offers the same exchange. The commute saves enough dollars to also offset the inconvenience factor.  Sounds like SF Margaret and Howard are coming up to the lake as well.

Moving on...

I'm not surprised anymore by the daily examples of our municipalities, universities, corporations and other institutions/enterprises getting in step with the politically correct movement de jour.  This week, we had TCU disciplining a student for anti-Muslim comments on social media, several airlines banning transport of big-game trophies/carcasses, and the highly popular UFC women's champion taken to task for not wanting to fight a transgender opponent. 

I offer up the opinion that the spike in, and really, the recent success of, these liberal/progressive causes is directly linked to the broadcast and print media's widespread embracement of the Occupy Wall Street movement.  (I capitalize these words reluctantly, mostly to use as a time-line reference point.)  That those who were predominantly full-time dissidents were effectively allowed to take up a national stage with daily headlines was an accomplishment not lost on protestors from every cause.

Obamacare was also a key development.  Knowingly or not, the elements of that legislation that brought the law of the land against religious organizations broke away more of the foundations of traditions that go back to the origin of our country. I don't think that there is any question that the gay rights groups were emboldened by the success of the Occupy people and by the Administration's willingness to use Obamacare against the Christian fundamentalists.

And bring in the social media mob, and Nothing is safe.  Nothing.

I'm not entirely sure what all this means except that we are rapidly drifting toward TOWCGA (The Old White Christian Guy's Axiom) that the inmates are running the asylum.  They be railing against the nasty people who pay the taxes that fund all of the government's largesse.

Hmmm.  Not sure where that came from.  Whatever.

Gotta go.

BCOT

Sunday

Following up on my comment yesterday about the cost of the local Illinois paper, the weekend edition has also increased in price from $1.25 to $1.75.  I'm pretty sure that the value proposition here has gone to the Dark Side for me.  For the Sunday paper in particular, don't they make their money from the ad-inserts anyway?  Whatever.  I'm sure that they have an algorithm that makes this the right move.  I can find the obituaries on-line.

That little birthday party for my pal Roy last night was a hit.  Just the right number of people...maybe 40 total...and a perfect combination of casual surroundings, good food and drink and great friendship.  It was held in a large party room at the office building of one of Roy's business associates...where they actually have a separate car-collector club in the lower level with room for 12-15 exotic/racing/classic cars on display.  Very cool.  I've been there for a number of functions in the last couple of years...always a good time.

A special thanks to 2 for making the trip over for the evening. 

1.01 got an upgrade on her bike this weekend.  She needed more size...that's what happens when kids grow at those rates.  Its hard to raise the seat to the right level.  Lookin' good, Kiddo!

In other news...

I recently purchased a package of on-line continuing education programs from the Illinois CPA society to help meet my on-going CPE requirements by September 30th.   I thought I could do at least one of these one-hour videos each evening at home to increase my personal productivity.  Of course, I made the fatal assumption that I could just pull these programs down on my iPad easy as pie.  Uh. not so fast there, Kemosahbee.

The CPA society's site first required me to go through the OS update that I had, of course, ignored forever.  So I had 30 minutes or so of Apple examining my habits, contacts and financial records, I'm sure.  Next it was an alert that I needed an update to my Adobe software.  First the free one didn't work.  Not surprising.  Then I look for, find and purchase the Flash Player for iPad (at $4.99 from the App Store).  Should I have been surprised when the spool-up of the Flash Player then came with the notice on Step One that Flash Player was not supported on the iPad?  How many $4.99 purchases have been made for zippo results?  Not a bad business model.

So I now need to reactivate Verizon on the laptop to access the CPE courses.  And I'll probably need to then buy the updated Flash Player for that computer before I can view the CPE courses.  Technology is great, but really, can it be any more flummoxing than this little exercise?

Finally, another note of inflation in my world, my all-you-can-eat luncheon salad bar at the Eastern Avenue Hy Vee increased by $1 to $7.99 last week.  Maybe not a bad price in today's market, but no longer a bargain.  That's a 14% increase overnight.  I'm wondering which items on the salad bar really drove the increase?  Salaries or foodstuffs?  Again, the pricing algorithm that they employed probably supported the increase, but the new cost will keep me from making as regular visits as in the past.  Kind of interesting how we notice things in our daily lives that don't even register on the radar of other folks on different glide paths.

Hope it is a good week in your neighborhood.

BCOT

Saturday

Not a lot on the docket today.  August?  Ya' gotta be kiddin' me!!

4 wondered if I had any thoughts on the new Lion King saga going on with recently deceased Cecil.  The story was actually in at least two places in the Wednesday Minneapolis paper that I read when we were there for the Shania concert...before it exploded into an international call to justice. 

I've never been much of a hunter.  I tried a little as a teenager with some squirrel efforts on the farm, and a couple of pheasant excursions to western Iowa.  But it never caught on, and I've spent most of my adult life being afraid of guns.  I'm not anti-gun, but I just don't like 'em.  And for as long as I can remember, I have found incongruous the concept of hunting for an elk in the Rockies or a Grizzly in the woods for "the sport" of it.  Sitting in a hunter's hidden perch to down an unsuspecting animal with a high-powered rifle doesn't resonate as much of a "sport" to me.

But I digress.  It sounds like our friendly dentist associated himself with some boys of questionable character who promised him a shot at a big cat.  And the dentist had to know he was with guides who walked a thin line between being lawful and poaching.  He paid lots of money to get to that spot.  And though I haven't had the interest to research his past, I've seen references to some prior legal issues with his hunting experiences.  The guy is not an innocent.

The real message in all of this is the passion of the social media mob, the willingness of do-gooders of every ilk to cast stones, and the risks for Everyman when he/she knowingly or unknowingly crosses a line in the new (and evolving) Code of Acceptable Conduct/Beliefs.  Little did the dentist know that when he released that arrow toward Cecil, his life would never be the same.  Regardless of the legal aspects of the act, he's done as a dentist (at least under his current name and any where near his current location), and will have to go through the equivalent of a witness protection program to re-establish some semblance of normal life.  Welcome to the Age of the Internet.

Activism has become one of the most socially-acceptable efforts in our modern culture.  From Occupy Wall Street, to Same sex Marriage, to Black Lives Matter, to Bruce/Caitlyn Jenner, support for minority causes is the new prerequisite for measuring the bona fides of anyone who happens to find themselves in the crosshairs of the judges.  What was once a fairly simple two-question standard..1) pro-life or pro-choice, and 2) pro-military or anti-war...has expanded to the point where you need a scorecard.

Moving on...

In other news, the Illinois-side paper here moved its price from fifty-cents to a dollar today.  Bummer.  And it doesn't even have a decent crossword!.  I've been buying it daily for the last several years, in no small part due to the price relative to all of the other papers on the stand.  Newspapers are dying.  Not news, I know.  Hate to pay $1 for something that yields only a few minutes diversion.  The NYT is $2.50 daily...and I only buy that when I'm on the road.  What's a guy to do?

I'm not saying that the Buick has a big blind spot in the rear left corner, but there's a problem.  I hit a light pole in the parking lot at the coffee shop last week, and I still can't figure it out.  And it has a back-up camera to boot.  I've told 2 that I need her to give me more guidance  I've been seriously considering taking the advice of my pal Doc Doug's neighbor who says to make three right turns rather than a left turn for safety's sake.

OK.  Make it a Good Saturday in your neighborhood!

BCOT