Saturday

I think that we officially have started the Christmas week, probably did so yesterday afternoon.  You can definitely see a pick up in traffic.  A word to the wise: don't be in a hurry.  There's a driver out there just itching to do something stupid.

As I noted on Twitter, its 1.02's Tax Birthday.  You are Grandson of the Day!

AmEx insurance has lived up to my expectations.  I received an email today saying that since they didn't get a response from Hertz Spain they were ceasing work on my claim.  Of course.  I mean send a couple letters to the Black Hole of Europe.  Do nothing else.  Drop the case.  Great work, AmEx.  Now, I have to make the follow-up that you were just too bureaucratic to do.  Insurance companies all operate the same way.  Deny.  Deny.  Deny.

I took the Buick in for an oil change this AM since I was over the mileage and will be driving into ORD on Wednesday.  The days of the cheap LOF at these drive-in shops are over.  With a $5 coupon, it was $59+ today.  You can get an oil change at a dealership for closer to $30, but I didn't want to wait until Monday.  The dealerships use oil changes as loss-leaders to get customers in to their service departments.  But you can end up spending an hour waiting for that work to be done.  I was in-and-out at Jiffy Lube in 15 minutes.  (I declined the swap-out of my air filter!  It wouldn't have felt like an oil change without the offer of an auxiliary filter.)

I saw in the paper this morning that the Bulls lost in four overtimes last night.  Fortunately, I didn't get caught watching the game...as I found out at coffee that my pal Pete did.  Four overtimes is an awful way to lose.  As a player, so much energy expended.  Nothing to show for it.  As a viewer, a game that just won't get over.  (Hoiberg is not having a great run in C-town thus far.  I know that he knows the pro game.  The good and the bad.  There hasta be nights when Ames looks pretty good.)

Vitale is such a Krzyzewski apologist that I need to mute the TV.

The four D-1 programs in Iowa come together today for a double header in Des Moines at the Wells Fargo Arena.  Iowa gets Drake and the 'Clones have UNI.  My pal Dr. Doug elected to not buy tickets this year, so no invite to LtPC.  I think the first game will be a mis-match, but UNI could give Iowa State all it wants.  (The UNI coach, Ben Jacobsen, has been mentioned as a candidate for the Wisconsin job next year.)  Somebody makes money on this deal, but maybe not so much for the schools.

I took a drive to Muscatine last night to have dinner at the country club.  (There's a $50-60 minimum each month for the dining room and I haven't been so good about meeting that number recently.)  The wine that I chose from those offered by the bartender was one by the makers of Freakshow.  (I figured out that connection just by the label design.)  Its a petite syrah that I would rate as meh.  I checked online pricing just now and its listed at the winery for $18, and $13 at discounters.  Makes me feel great about being charged $46 at the club.  Ouch!  (And they wonder why I don't make the trip that often.)

Separately, my entrée selection was billed as a "half chicken".  It was basically the size of an average chicken breast, grilled with some foo-foo sauce.  In both serving-size and taste, it paled in comparison to the chicken breasts that I bbq'd last week for salad-in-a-pot (that was admittedly a home-run). 

So if this were an entry for the food-critic's column, Geneva would be havin' some 'splainin' to do.

Finally, its worth noting that the market sold off yesterday as traders settled up the week to close out various positions on options that automatically expired.  I  think that the Fed's interest rate hike, some concerns in the junk bond market, and the continuing questions on the price of oil combined to give the sellers a reason to head for safety for the weekend.  I don't think we'll see a Santa Clause rally as the year closes.  Bummer.

Make it a Good Saturday in your neighborhood.

BCOT