Selection Sunday.
Did ribs at the Circle Tap last night. Still great after all these years. But they did raise their price from $15 to $18 since my last meal there. The family that owned the place at one time is the family of the Iowa State women's coach. The Cyclone women were on the tube last night in the Big 12 championship game. They did a nice job, but in the end, they had no answer for the big girl for Oklahoma.
For the more decadent locals, The Circle will be open at 9 AM on St. Patty's Day.
3 made it to her cruise ship in Miami. She may have to do some juggling to get on the web to enter the clan's NCAA contest. She got her run in before they went to the ship.
1, I had a nice visit with Sarah at coffee this AM. She is always so nice. Hope she gets the appointment that she wants.
Also spoke with Mrs. M. who came in for a while. One of her boys who went to the Naval Academy is at Harvard.
The time change went ok. In near record response to the change, I updated all of my clocks this morning. Even in the Taurus. This is in contrast to a year not all that long ago when I never change the clock in my bedroom.
I gave the bad news to the contractor that he was going to have to move the light in the bathroom as discussed here earlier. He feigned ignorance. Maybe he didn't feign it. I did get a little humor out of the fact that when I called him to let him know that I hadn't got his check in the mail the prior day, and that he could come by the office to pick it up, he gave the old, "Ho-hum, whatever, yeah, I might be out and could stop by", response. So I left the check downstairs at our front desk. Later in the morning, I just happened to be on my bank account website, and the check had already been cashed. Not that there is anything wrong with that.
May have 2 and 4 come over for a little BBQ this evening. Not quite warm out, but certainly better than anything lately.
One of the interesting things about these conference tournaments is that the teams can get gassed in these championship games. NC State had no legs in the last five minutes against Carolina. I remember the high school state tournament when we played three games in three days. I was deaded meat. Try to do four in four.
The paper today had an article about Suzy Orman. This is the irritating talking head who has made millions by authoring some fairly basic financial planning books. I mute the TV whenever she is on as I find her personality so grating. She was in the news recently when she came out of the closet with her sexual preferences. I guess she was looking to publicize her latest book. Turns out that, basically, she doesn't believe in the markets. Even thoughe she spends a lot of time talking about the science of investing, less than 10% of her assets are placed in equities. She prefers AAA rated munis. Not that there's anything wrong with that. AAA bonds, that is.
So hope everyone has a great day.
Be careful out there.
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Saturday, March 10, 2007
Saturday
FFF at Buffalo Wild Wings did occur. I think we all guessed "over" on the Carnac game on the bill.
3 is now in Miami to catch the liner for the cruise starting tomorrow. She said that the late/early drive into O'Hare was a little exciting with the scenic route they ended up taking. But they got there in plenty of time, and although the plane was delayed in departing, they made their connection in Charlotte and arrived as scheduled this afternoon in Miami.
There was a small story in the local paper this AM about the shortage of parking at the airport. Seems as though all the students and families on Spring Break have gobbled-up all the spots. Which begs the question, what do you do if you're headed out for a business trip at oh-dark-hundred and there is no spot to park? Park illegally and get your vehicle towed?
I'm headed out to enjoy the rest of the day.
Remember to reset your clocks tonight. "Spring" forward. Hope that your computer doesn't explode.
Be careful out there.
3 is now in Miami to catch the liner for the cruise starting tomorrow. She said that the late/early drive into O'Hare was a little exciting with the scenic route they ended up taking. But they got there in plenty of time, and although the plane was delayed in departing, they made their connection in Charlotte and arrived as scheduled this afternoon in Miami.
There was a small story in the local paper this AM about the shortage of parking at the airport. Seems as though all the students and families on Spring Break have gobbled-up all the spots. Which begs the question, what do you do if you're headed out for a business trip at oh-dark-hundred and there is no spot to park? Park illegally and get your vehicle towed?
I'm headed out to enjoy the rest of the day.
Remember to reset your clocks tonight. "Spring" forward. Hope that your computer doesn't explode.
Be careful out there.
Friday, March 09, 2007
Thursday, March 08, 2007
Thursday
The Madness has begun. There have already been a few upsets in the conference tournaments. The expansion of the power conferences has made Wednesday and Thursday busy game days for the conference tournaments. If you aren't in the top four seeds, you need to win four games in four days to get the trophy. Not many teams can do that.
Interesting that the Big 10 has elected to give Indianapolis a five year contract to host the tournament beginning next year. It has previously rotated between Indy and Chicago. The United Center is located in a fairly tough section of town. You really can't walk to the stadium. In Indy, I think they have the restaurants and hotels right there and you have a true tournament atmosphere. I remember how nice it was in KC when they had the Big 8 tournament there. With the expansion to the Big 12, Dallas and Oklahoma City get in the rotation to host and that just gets too far for me.
The Coaches Clinic last night was just more of the same. The instructor came to my seat before the class started and asked me to not read the paper during the session. I think he's worried that I might actually want the certification even though I have told him that I am just "auditing" the class. Can you "audit" a class even though you have paid the fee? Have you ever heard of someone auditing a community adult education class? I don't think I fall into any category of traditional students.
If anyone cares, the Assumption girls lost in the state semifinals today to the defending state champs. Close game. Assumption has no seniors so they should be back there next year.
My pal Pete says that the PV administrative officials made no friends with their tight controls in the gym after the the sub-state game last night between Bettendorf and Davenport Central, which Bettendorf won. They wouldn't allow the students on to the floor to celebrate, and they raised the baskets right after the buzzer sounded which precluded the team from cutting down the nets. I guess they eventually convinced the AD to lower one of the baskets.
But there are colleges around the country who have also taken significant measures to control the crowds. I think that it is a combination of safety fears, for both the players and the fans. Not to mention the possible law suits.
3 and 4 go on Spring Break tomorrow. 3 on a cruise with friends. 4 has plans to work a couple of extra days in IC (Europe is not cheap) and then join with 2 to go up and visit 1 in the TC. I wish I could go on Spring Break.
The NASCAR boys are in Vegas this weekend. I would be curious of the general feeling about town this weekend compared to last month when the hoodlums from the NBA were in for the All Star game.
Sorry for the lack of creativity. It has been a tough week.
Have a great evening.
Be careful out there.
Interesting that the Big 10 has elected to give Indianapolis a five year contract to host the tournament beginning next year. It has previously rotated between Indy and Chicago. The United Center is located in a fairly tough section of town. You really can't walk to the stadium. In Indy, I think they have the restaurants and hotels right there and you have a true tournament atmosphere. I remember how nice it was in KC when they had the Big 8 tournament there. With the expansion to the Big 12, Dallas and Oklahoma City get in the rotation to host and that just gets too far for me.
The Coaches Clinic last night was just more of the same. The instructor came to my seat before the class started and asked me to not read the paper during the session. I think he's worried that I might actually want the certification even though I have told him that I am just "auditing" the class. Can you "audit" a class even though you have paid the fee? Have you ever heard of someone auditing a community adult education class? I don't think I fall into any category of traditional students.
If anyone cares, the Assumption girls lost in the state semifinals today to the defending state champs. Close game. Assumption has no seniors so they should be back there next year.
My pal Pete says that the PV administrative officials made no friends with their tight controls in the gym after the the sub-state game last night between Bettendorf and Davenport Central, which Bettendorf won. They wouldn't allow the students on to the floor to celebrate, and they raised the baskets right after the buzzer sounded which precluded the team from cutting down the nets. I guess they eventually convinced the AD to lower one of the baskets.
But there are colleges around the country who have also taken significant measures to control the crowds. I think that it is a combination of safety fears, for both the players and the fans. Not to mention the possible law suits.
3 and 4 go on Spring Break tomorrow. 3 on a cruise with friends. 4 has plans to work a couple of extra days in IC (Europe is not cheap) and then join with 2 to go up and visit 1 in the TC. I wish I could go on Spring Break.
The NASCAR boys are in Vegas this weekend. I would be curious of the general feeling about town this weekend compared to last month when the hoodlums from the NBA were in for the All Star game.
Sorry for the lack of creativity. It has been a tough week.
Have a great evening.
Be careful out there.
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Wednesday
This will be brief. Roy and I are off to Day Two of the Coaches' clinic which cuts my day way too short.
I watched 4's YouTube effort yesterday, and I was surprised at the length and obvious planning that went into it. I'm not sure of the plot, but I can understand how a person intrigued by cinematography could get excited about the opportunity of publication through the Internet.
I hope to get 3 and WB's picture on the Criterium Financial website in the near future.
Have a great evening.
Be careful out there.
I watched 4's YouTube effort yesterday, and I was surprised at the length and obvious planning that went into it. I'm not sure of the plot, but I can understand how a person intrigued by cinematography could get excited about the opportunity of publication through the Internet.
I hope to get 3 and WB's picture on the Criterium Financial website in the near future.
Have a great evening.
Be careful out there.
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Tuesday
I am totally behind the eight ball.
Last night was the first class for my pal Roy and I for the coaching certification. Since he was unable to attend the local classes in Bettendorf last month, we have to do the 40 minute drive to Clinton for 10-12 days over the next month. Nothing like a little FFF with Roy.
The class was a bit of a joke. It was taught by a former JC coach who admitted that the state did not have a specified curriculum/outline/syllabus for the class: the instructor was just supposed to present "good coaching" information. For five hours on three different nights. We lasted about three hours and he said it was time for a game to start at the high school, so the class was dismissed.
All of the other attendees at the class had a reason for being there. My reason was that I was Roy's driver.
My bathroom is basically done. Except that the doors aren't ready. And the light fixture is too low and will have to be rehung. It's a decorative metal fixture with four bulb receptacles in frosted shades. But since the previous light had the bulbs fit in horizontally, the contractor made the fatal assumption that he could just move the wiring box to center over the new vanity without considering the fact that the bulbs on the new light were designed to hang down.
When it was time to hang the new fixture and the new mirror, the contractor's solution to the bulbs being too low, was to turn the fixture upside down with the bulbs pointing up. A contractor's equivalent to that recent TV commercial where the woman was at the counter of a fast food restaurant and changed her mind from a Number 6 to a Number 9 and the server simply turns the serving box 180 degrees.
My Russian cleaning lady came in today and I'm sure the home front will be much more to my liking this evening. The dust and grime of the last week have been hard on me. And Jake's Pants stayed until this morning which created other stresses. I like my solitary life style.
2 and 4 have announced plans for Europe this Summer before the wedding. 4 is doing a six week program for school and 2 will join her for a couple of weeks of travel after the classes are done. Must be nice.
3 was in Omaha talking to the real Oracle yesterday. She has a picture. Uncle Phil says that she should send WB a copy for his autograph.
Big lottery drawing tonight. I normally do not play, but I think a couple of us from the office may do a $5 shot in the dark. I've probably said it before, but if I were to win, I would not be one of those guys who says that he's going back to work just like normal and not let the money change his ways.
My securities software DST patch has been applied. I wonder if this is a scam like The Year 2000?
All for today. Have a good evening.
Be careful out there.
Last night was the first class for my pal Roy and I for the coaching certification. Since he was unable to attend the local classes in Bettendorf last month, we have to do the 40 minute drive to Clinton for 10-12 days over the next month. Nothing like a little FFF with Roy.
The class was a bit of a joke. It was taught by a former JC coach who admitted that the state did not have a specified curriculum/outline/syllabus for the class: the instructor was just supposed to present "good coaching" information. For five hours on three different nights. We lasted about three hours and he said it was time for a game to start at the high school, so the class was dismissed.
All of the other attendees at the class had a reason for being there. My reason was that I was Roy's driver.
My bathroom is basically done. Except that the doors aren't ready. And the light fixture is too low and will have to be rehung. It's a decorative metal fixture with four bulb receptacles in frosted shades. But since the previous light had the bulbs fit in horizontally, the contractor made the fatal assumption that he could just move the wiring box to center over the new vanity without considering the fact that the bulbs on the new light were designed to hang down.
When it was time to hang the new fixture and the new mirror, the contractor's solution to the bulbs being too low, was to turn the fixture upside down with the bulbs pointing up. A contractor's equivalent to that recent TV commercial where the woman was at the counter of a fast food restaurant and changed her mind from a Number 6 to a Number 9 and the server simply turns the serving box 180 degrees.
My Russian cleaning lady came in today and I'm sure the home front will be much more to my liking this evening. The dust and grime of the last week have been hard on me. And Jake's Pants stayed until this morning which created other stresses. I like my solitary life style.
2 and 4 have announced plans for Europe this Summer before the wedding. 4 is doing a six week program for school and 2 will join her for a couple of weeks of travel after the classes are done. Must be nice.
3 was in Omaha talking to the real Oracle yesterday. She has a picture. Uncle Phil says that she should send WB a copy for his autograph.
Big lottery drawing tonight. I normally do not play, but I think a couple of us from the office may do a $5 shot in the dark. I've probably said it before, but if I were to win, I would not be one of those guys who says that he's going back to work just like normal and not let the money change his ways.
My securities software DST patch has been applied. I wonder if this is a scam like The Year 2000?
All for today. Have a good evening.
Be careful out there.
Sunday, March 04, 2007
Sunday PM
Looks like a decent day out there. Cool, but sunshine.
Hope everyone has a good finish to the weekend.
Be careful out there.
Hope everyone has a good finish to the weekend.
Be careful out there.
Sunday AM
Saturday was another dis-jointed day and I didn't get back to the office to make an entry.
Way to go Hawks! I think they have that NIT berth secured.
I see where the team that beat Augie on Thursday night pulled another upset yesterday in St. Paul by beating the Tommies at home.
The bathroom project is another day or two from completion. And they still don't have the replacement doors available so the true completion is probably as much as 10 days or more away. I hate the mess. There is a little film of dust on every surface throughout my entire house.
I'll add a true Sunday entry later today. I need to come back in to do some office re-arranging as a new employee starts tomorrow and we aren't ready for her as the offices are now set up.
Be careful out there.
Way to go Hawks! I think they have that NIT berth secured.
I see where the team that beat Augie on Thursday night pulled another upset yesterday in St. Paul by beating the Tommies at home.
The bathroom project is another day or two from completion. And they still don't have the replacement doors available so the true completion is probably as much as 10 days or more away. I hate the mess. There is a little film of dust on every surface throughout my entire house.
I'll add a true Sunday entry later today. I need to come back in to do some office re-arranging as a new employee starts tomorrow and we aren't ready for her as the offices are now set up.
Be careful out there.
Friday, March 02, 2007
Friday PM
Just a couple of quick items before heading out for the evening.
My buddy Jake's Pants is in town tonight so we'll be out there for a couple of adult beverages. We are no longer that dangerous to the general public. Needing to be in bed by 9PM limits our exposure to risks.
The bathroom project is not quite done. Glad I didn't try to do it myself.
My pal Bill and I had lunch down in the Village of ED today. Hard to beat their tenderloin and home fries. Actually, I've been there a time or two when the two of us have split a single sandwich and still had plenty to eat. We rarely finish a shared order of fries.
I received a written thank you note from a new client today, just to thank us for taking care of his financial stuff. What made it doubly sweet was that we had sent yesterday to him a very nicely arranged folder with his retention copies of the several forms he had signed to set up his brokerage accounts, along with a brief letter of thanks from our end. As I have said here previously, written notes are valued pieces.
So I'm off into the elements. We don't have the awful weather that seems to exist North and West of us. But it is Winter. In March. Then again, the girls' tournament starts in DM next week. One shouldn't get too anxious for Spring until after those high school tournaments.
Be careful out there. Especially you,1.
My buddy Jake's Pants is in town tonight so we'll be out there for a couple of adult beverages. We are no longer that dangerous to the general public. Needing to be in bed by 9PM limits our exposure to risks.
The bathroom project is not quite done. Glad I didn't try to do it myself.
My pal Bill and I had lunch down in the Village of ED today. Hard to beat their tenderloin and home fries. Actually, I've been there a time or two when the two of us have split a single sandwich and still had plenty to eat. We rarely finish a shared order of fries.
I received a written thank you note from a new client today, just to thank us for taking care of his financial stuff. What made it doubly sweet was that we had sent yesterday to him a very nicely arranged folder with his retention copies of the several forms he had signed to set up his brokerage accounts, along with a brief letter of thanks from our end. As I have said here previously, written notes are valued pieces.
So I'm off into the elements. We don't have the awful weather that seems to exist North and West of us. But it is Winter. In March. Then again, the girls' tournament starts in DM next week. One shouldn't get too anxious for Spring until after those high school tournaments.
Be careful out there. Especially you,1.
Friday AM
Sorry I missed last night. It got busy here in the afternoon and I had to leave a little early to meet 2 for a glass of wine before the Augie game.
Augie lost to a pretty good team that had their gunner come to life in the last nine minutes. Augie had no answer. They played something less than their best game and in the tournament, you don't have many cupcakes.
There may be such a thing as the 4000 Days blog jinx. My pal Pete's son was a feature in the blog yesterday, and he had a very sub-par game last night.
My evening was capped-off with a little running-out-of-gas adventure on our way home from the game. I had forgotten to check the mileage on the trip odometer in recent days, and, boom, the Taurus just dies on 53rd street by the theaters! In a blizzard!. Fortunately, we were able to get to a third right-hand lane and were real close to 2's car, which I ran over and retrieved. The gas station across the road wanted $10 for a small plastic gas can (no loaners available), so we drove the two miles to my house, got my lawn mower gas can, picked up some petro at the Shell station, and returned to the scene of the crime. A cop was there checking out the car, but that just kept the traffic away, and I did a quick gas-and-go, and that was the end of it.
The poorest decision I made yesterday was to wear my Oxford casual shoes rather than my Winter boots. Then again, 2 had on her ballet slippers.
Lots of closures today. A good one to stay inside.
So I'll add more later today.
Be careful out there.
Augie lost to a pretty good team that had their gunner come to life in the last nine minutes. Augie had no answer. They played something less than their best game and in the tournament, you don't have many cupcakes.
There may be such a thing as the 4000 Days blog jinx. My pal Pete's son was a feature in the blog yesterday, and he had a very sub-par game last night.
My evening was capped-off with a little running-out-of-gas adventure on our way home from the game. I had forgotten to check the mileage on the trip odometer in recent days, and, boom, the Taurus just dies on 53rd street by the theaters! In a blizzard!. Fortunately, we were able to get to a third right-hand lane and were real close to 2's car, which I ran over and retrieved. The gas station across the road wanted $10 for a small plastic gas can (no loaners available), so we drove the two miles to my house, got my lawn mower gas can, picked up some petro at the Shell station, and returned to the scene of the crime. A cop was there checking out the car, but that just kept the traffic away, and I did a quick gas-and-go, and that was the end of it.
The poorest decision I made yesterday was to wear my Oxford casual shoes rather than my Winter boots. Then again, 2 had on her ballet slippers.
Lots of closures today. A good one to stay inside.
So I'll add more later today.
Be careful out there.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Wednesday
The good news is that 4 has finally made a re-appearance on her blog.
I received my TOMRV entry form this week. The ride is scheduled for the weekend of June 9-10. As you may recall, last year's KC wedding conflicted with TOMRV and I didn't even register. But then as things turned out, the weather was sooo bad that Saturday morning in the QC's, lots of cyclists bagged the whole deal. So I didn't feel so left-out. Because it is unlikely that I would have started in rain and wind. I mean, it's not like I get paid to ride.
Anyway, I have ridden just the first 85 miles of Saturday (ending at a bar in Galena) the last 3-4 times I've done the ride, so I will probably plan to do the same thing this year. Early registration ends 3/31/07.
Question of great debate for the day: do Leap Year babies celebrate their birthdays on February 28th or March 1st?
On a similar note, or at least in the same hemisphere of mental gymnastics, my patch to Windows to account for the earlier Day Light Savings Time this year doesn't work. What do you call it when the specifically designed fix to a problem doesn't itself work? My guess is that it is operator error. Me being the operator.
The Hawks' actually begin their NCAA tournament tonight. If they don't beat Penn State in State College this evening, say "Hello" to the NIT.
Craig Wilson's column in USA Today was about people's tendencies to talk about themselves in conversation. He calls it me-ism. We joke at coffee about a couple of acquaintances in particular whose response to that comment might be, "I'm tired about talking about myself all the time. Why don't you talk about me for a while." Wilson's suggestion was that you should ask questions of people to get them going on something other than themselves. He recognizes that some will turn that question into a soliloquy, which is why I will not even open that door to certain people. But I do think that there is an art to get an intelligent conversation going with friends and new acquaintances.
My contractor is still at it in my upstairs bathroom. I think that he is making progress.
My pal Pete's son who is the point guard at Augie, was a unanimous selection to the All-Conference first team announced late yesterday. I know it's D-III. But, he deserves props for excelling at his level. Obviously, the other coaches agree. He was also named earlier this week as one of 10 finalists in a national D-III recognition program for athletics, academics, and community service.
3 and 4 are now looking at the QC Distance Classic in Rock Island in early May for their half marathon. I think that that run is a good choice. But there is a hill in the route that will remind them of Brady Street in the Bix. The finish-line is on the Augustana track.
Enough. Have a good evening.
Be careful out there.
I received my TOMRV entry form this week. The ride is scheduled for the weekend of June 9-10. As you may recall, last year's KC wedding conflicted with TOMRV and I didn't even register. But then as things turned out, the weather was sooo bad that Saturday morning in the QC's, lots of cyclists bagged the whole deal. So I didn't feel so left-out. Because it is unlikely that I would have started in rain and wind. I mean, it's not like I get paid to ride.
Anyway, I have ridden just the first 85 miles of Saturday (ending at a bar in Galena) the last 3-4 times I've done the ride, so I will probably plan to do the same thing this year. Early registration ends 3/31/07.
Question of great debate for the day: do Leap Year babies celebrate their birthdays on February 28th or March 1st?
On a similar note, or at least in the same hemisphere of mental gymnastics, my patch to Windows to account for the earlier Day Light Savings Time this year doesn't work. What do you call it when the specifically designed fix to a problem doesn't itself work? My guess is that it is operator error. Me being the operator.
The Hawks' actually begin their NCAA tournament tonight. If they don't beat Penn State in State College this evening, say "Hello" to the NIT.
Craig Wilson's column in USA Today was about people's tendencies to talk about themselves in conversation. He calls it me-ism. We joke at coffee about a couple of acquaintances in particular whose response to that comment might be, "I'm tired about talking about myself all the time. Why don't you talk about me for a while." Wilson's suggestion was that you should ask questions of people to get them going on something other than themselves. He recognizes that some will turn that question into a soliloquy, which is why I will not even open that door to certain people. But I do think that there is an art to get an intelligent conversation going with friends and new acquaintances.
My contractor is still at it in my upstairs bathroom. I think that he is making progress.
My pal Pete's son who is the point guard at Augie, was a unanimous selection to the All-Conference first team announced late yesterday. I know it's D-III. But, he deserves props for excelling at his level. Obviously, the other coaches agree. He was also named earlier this week as one of 10 finalists in a national D-III recognition program for athletics, academics, and community service.
3 and 4 are now looking at the QC Distance Classic in Rock Island in early May for their half marathon. I think that that run is a good choice. But there is a hill in the route that will remind them of Brady Street in the Bix. The finish-line is on the Augustana track.
Enough. Have a good evening.
Be careful out there.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Tuesday
The Dow closed down today by over 400 points from yesterday's close. A downturn of a little over 3%. There may be more on the way tomorrow. Blame it on the Chinese.
The bathroom re-model is well underway. There's not the absolute mess throughout the house that I had when I re-did the main living room, but for someone who likes things to all be in their right places, I'll be glad to have it completed. The bad thing is that the doors for the other rooms may not be in for another week or two, so there will be a longer period of dis-repair than just the bathroom project.
And I had to give my Russian cleaning lady the wave-off today because it would have been counter-productive for her to clean when there would be more mess immediately upon her departure. I really don't like not having my Russian cleaning lady do her thing.
"Wave-off" is a term from my pal Roy's flying lingo. It's used to describe any postponement of any activity.
I figured out this week that Discovery Channel, the corporation, must have decided that, in addition to their election to end sponsorship of the pro cycling team for 2008, they were not going to provide current website support for the team. Go to "Discovery Pro Cycling" and you'll get stories from 2006 and zero information about 2007. The team's official site this year is ThePaceline.com, which is billed as the Lance Armstrong fan site. But that's where you need to go to get team news and stories about the races and the team members.
I see where a girl on American Idol is now another example of Internet expose.
The politicians are all having to recognize that everything that there ever said or did is fair game to their critics. That also extends to their staffers and operatives. Edwards had to can a couple of female bloggers who had colorful resumes with a long list of offensive remarks. What a greasy activity partisan vetting can be. Makes you want to wash your hands after every story.
Vilsack's withdrawal from the Presidential race has drawn considerable commentary about the inequities on the financial side of the competition. I'm not sure how that situation can be solved. Lots of times, in lots of competitions, the guy with the most money wins. Whether it be politics, sports, or romance.
There are people in this area still without power from the Saturday storm.
I slept through Big Monday. I'm headed out now and hope to catch Michigan-Michigan State later this evening.
Be careful out there.
The bathroom re-model is well underway. There's not the absolute mess throughout the house that I had when I re-did the main living room, but for someone who likes things to all be in their right places, I'll be glad to have it completed. The bad thing is that the doors for the other rooms may not be in for another week or two, so there will be a longer period of dis-repair than just the bathroom project.
And I had to give my Russian cleaning lady the wave-off today because it would have been counter-productive for her to clean when there would be more mess immediately upon her departure. I really don't like not having my Russian cleaning lady do her thing.
"Wave-off" is a term from my pal Roy's flying lingo. It's used to describe any postponement of any activity.
I figured out this week that Discovery Channel, the corporation, must have decided that, in addition to their election to end sponsorship of the pro cycling team for 2008, they were not going to provide current website support for the team. Go to "Discovery Pro Cycling" and you'll get stories from 2006 and zero information about 2007. The team's official site this year is ThePaceline.com, which is billed as the Lance Armstrong fan site. But that's where you need to go to get team news and stories about the races and the team members.
I see where a girl on American Idol is now another example of Internet expose.
The politicians are all having to recognize that everything that there ever said or did is fair game to their critics. That also extends to their staffers and operatives. Edwards had to can a couple of female bloggers who had colorful resumes with a long list of offensive remarks. What a greasy activity partisan vetting can be. Makes you want to wash your hands after every story.
Vilsack's withdrawal from the Presidential race has drawn considerable commentary about the inequities on the financial side of the competition. I'm not sure how that situation can be solved. Lots of times, in lots of competitions, the guy with the most money wins. Whether it be politics, sports, or romance.
There are people in this area still without power from the Saturday storm.
I slept through Big Monday. I'm headed out now and hope to catch Michigan-Michigan State later this evening.
Be careful out there.
Monday, February 26, 2007
Monday
Another busy Monday.
Augie gets to host a game Thursday, but if they win, they go to St. Thomas to play the Tommies on Saturday. Unlike last year when their conference had three participants in the tournament, Augie's automatic invitation was the only one given to the conference this year. D-III keeps teams pretty close to home in the early rounds, so if this grid had plenty of other good teams, those at-large bids just aren't going to be there. And in contrast to the D-I event where they have 65 teams (counting the play-in game), here they only asked a total of 59 teams, with four other schools in addition to UST getting first round byes.
So 2 and I have a Thursday night date. The last of the popcorn and 'dogs for the year. Roy may join us.
The contractor started on my bathroom today. I still haven't bought a couple of fixture things, but he's torn up most of the stuff that has to go. I need to make a couple more trips to Lowe's and Home Depot. I hate shopping.
A guy like my pal Roy doesn't shop. He buys. The ultimate hunter.
There are still people in this area without power. That ice and wind combine to snap trees and electric line poles. There was a story in the local paper about families checking into local motels to beat the cold. Many years ago, we would do that to give the girls a mid-Winter day or two in a swimming pool. And it was a big deal to them. Kids can be easily entertained. I remember one of the places offered a room discount equal to the number of degrees below freezing. And we got by with just one room, I think.
Uncle Phil said that they got two feet of snow at Tahoe over the weekend. And that it was still snowing. Which is good for the ski resorts there. They had been hurting with little snow recently. It amazes me that we can go there in the middle of Summer and there will still be snow drifts in the mountain passes.
I'm headed off to Big Monday. Thanks for reading. And thanks to 1 and 2 for writing.
Be careful out there.
Augie gets to host a game Thursday, but if they win, they go to St. Thomas to play the Tommies on Saturday. Unlike last year when their conference had three participants in the tournament, Augie's automatic invitation was the only one given to the conference this year. D-III keeps teams pretty close to home in the early rounds, so if this grid had plenty of other good teams, those at-large bids just aren't going to be there. And in contrast to the D-I event where they have 65 teams (counting the play-in game), here they only asked a total of 59 teams, with four other schools in addition to UST getting first round byes.
So 2 and I have a Thursday night date. The last of the popcorn and 'dogs for the year. Roy may join us.
The contractor started on my bathroom today. I still haven't bought a couple of fixture things, but he's torn up most of the stuff that has to go. I need to make a couple more trips to Lowe's and Home Depot. I hate shopping.
A guy like my pal Roy doesn't shop. He buys. The ultimate hunter.
There are still people in this area without power. That ice and wind combine to snap trees and electric line poles. There was a story in the local paper about families checking into local motels to beat the cold. Many years ago, we would do that to give the girls a mid-Winter day or two in a swimming pool. And it was a big deal to them. Kids can be easily entertained. I remember one of the places offered a room discount equal to the number of degrees below freezing. And we got by with just one room, I think.
Uncle Phil said that they got two feet of snow at Tahoe over the weekend. And that it was still snowing. Which is good for the ski resorts there. They had been hurting with little snow recently. It amazes me that we can go there in the middle of Summer and there will still be snow drifts in the mountain passes.
I'm headed off to Big Monday. Thanks for reading. And thanks to 1 and 2 for writing.
Be careful out there.
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Sunday
Well, yesterday was indeed and interesting weather day. We had ice, snow, rain, and wind. There were many power-outages in the area, and most social/athletic events scheduled for Saturday night were cancelled or postponed.
The Augie game was played since the teams were in town. Augie won a hard-fought game by 8 points. Basically, they made their free throws in the last three minutes. It wasn't their best game, but it was good enough to take home the trophy. 2 and I enjoyed the game.
Augie should host the first round this coming weekend. The pairings will be announced tomorrow. It's a 64 team field just like in D-I. St. Thomas should be in it too.
SB's in Duck Creek was not open this AM until 10 or so. I got there late for me, at 8 and there was a sign on the door saying that conditions precluded them from opening. I went to the Village Inn and had breakfast, but stopped by SB's later to give the staff the needle. The manager said that she had no staff that could make it at the regular hour, and store policy prevented her from opening herself.
The Discovery boys had to work hard yesterday to keep Levi in yellow. They had a couple of their guys go down in a crash early, and then a breakaway with some pretty good riders got three minutes or so on the peloton. None of the other teams wanted to help the Disco team chase down the break until late in the race when Disco had pulled it down to a minute or so. Then a couple of teams with sprinters came to the front to help as it had become obvious that the break would be caught and those teams wanted to make sure that each of their top guys had a chance at the stage win. The tour ends today with a circuit race in Santa Barbara that they trace 7 times for a 77 mile stage.
One of my favorite riders for Discovery, George Hincapie, was one of the crashers yesterday. Although he got up and completed the race, x-rays showed a break in his wrist so he won't start today.
The NASCAR boys are also in California today. The 24 won the pole. We'll see who has game for the long haul now that the restrictor plates are on the shelf for a while.
I've had to wear my Land's End coat the last few days. My Columbia is airing out. That night I met my client mid-week was in your classic smoke-filled bar. The next morning, my kitchen, where my coat was hanging on a chair, smelled like the bar. Everything, including the coat, needs to go through the wash.
We get a little bit of the smoke business at Biaggi's. I normally sit at a small table in the bar area, and the bar is the only place in the restauarant where smoking is permitted. Usually, it's just the occassional smoker, although every once in a while some guy will whip out a cigar. Then there are the folks from a back room for a group dinner who have to come out en masse for a smoke break at the bar. And so many young people. Don't you guys ever start smoking.
I'm off to do some biking in front of a game. It's snowing out so it will be another low key day in River City.
Be careful out there.
The Augie game was played since the teams were in town. Augie won a hard-fought game by 8 points. Basically, they made their free throws in the last three minutes. It wasn't their best game, but it was good enough to take home the trophy. 2 and I enjoyed the game.
Augie should host the first round this coming weekend. The pairings will be announced tomorrow. It's a 64 team field just like in D-I. St. Thomas should be in it too.
SB's in Duck Creek was not open this AM until 10 or so. I got there late for me, at 8 and there was a sign on the door saying that conditions precluded them from opening. I went to the Village Inn and had breakfast, but stopped by SB's later to give the staff the needle. The manager said that she had no staff that could make it at the regular hour, and store policy prevented her from opening herself.
The Discovery boys had to work hard yesterday to keep Levi in yellow. They had a couple of their guys go down in a crash early, and then a breakaway with some pretty good riders got three minutes or so on the peloton. None of the other teams wanted to help the Disco team chase down the break until late in the race when Disco had pulled it down to a minute or so. Then a couple of teams with sprinters came to the front to help as it had become obvious that the break would be caught and those teams wanted to make sure that each of their top guys had a chance at the stage win. The tour ends today with a circuit race in Santa Barbara that they trace 7 times for a 77 mile stage.
One of my favorite riders for Discovery, George Hincapie, was one of the crashers yesterday. Although he got up and completed the race, x-rays showed a break in his wrist so he won't start today.
The NASCAR boys are also in California today. The 24 won the pole. We'll see who has game for the long haul now that the restrictor plates are on the shelf for a while.
I've had to wear my Land's End coat the last few days. My Columbia is airing out. That night I met my client mid-week was in your classic smoke-filled bar. The next morning, my kitchen, where my coat was hanging on a chair, smelled like the bar. Everything, including the coat, needs to go through the wash.
We get a little bit of the smoke business at Biaggi's. I normally sit at a small table in the bar area, and the bar is the only place in the restauarant where smoking is permitted. Usually, it's just the occassional smoker, although every once in a while some guy will whip out a cigar. Then there are the folks from a back room for a group dinner who have to come out en masse for a smoke break at the bar. And so many young people. Don't you guys ever start smoking.
I'm off to do some biking in front of a game. It's snowing out so it will be another low key day in River City.
Be careful out there.
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Saturday
I started this a couple of times, but now I've kind of lost my timeframe, so this will be brief.
Ice storm here right now. Travel is not advised. 3 is in C-town and I have told her to stay put for the day.
Great game last night. Augie won and plays for the title tonight. 2 and I will be there, weather permitting.
I had planned to do some shopping this afternoon for the new fixtures for the bathroom, but not in this weather. I know what I want. It's just a matter of doing a little price-shopping to make sure that I don't unnecessarily over-pay at one place rather that going down the street to another store.
So I'll add to this tomorrow.
Be careful out there.
Ice storm here right now. Travel is not advised. 3 is in C-town and I have told her to stay put for the day.
Great game last night. Augie won and plays for the title tonight. 2 and I will be there, weather permitting.
I had planned to do some shopping this afternoon for the new fixtures for the bathroom, but not in this weather. I know what I want. It's just a matter of doing a little price-shopping to make sure that I don't unnecessarily over-pay at one place rather that going down the street to another store.
So I'll add to this tomorrow.
Be careful out there.
Friday, February 23, 2007
Friday PM
No blog today.
2 and I are meeting for a glass of vino and then we'll head over to Augie for the game.
Busy here today.
4 needs to give us some new material. We all miss her thoughts.
Be careful out there.
2 and I are meeting for a glass of vino and then we'll head over to Augie for the game.
Busy here today.
4 needs to give us some new material. We all miss her thoughts.
Be careful out there.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Thursday
Not a lot new at this end. The cocktails last night were a little longer than planned.
As fate would have it, Augie gets to play tomorrow night in the semi-finals of the conference tournament that they host, the same team that stole the game last Saturday on the bad call by the ref. The other team will be confident, so Augie needs to come ready to play. 2 and I are going.
3 reports that she gets to go on an organized trip from the Iowa business school for a private meeting with The Oracle of Omaha next month. She needs to give the readers some details.
Since I don't shop that much, I was taken aback somewhat at lunch today when I stopped in at the local card outlet store to pick up some things, and at the check-out, the first question was, "Can I have your phone number, please?" My response was, "No", and there was no follow-up question as she rang up my purchase. I know from the past that this store would ask for your zip code, but I had never had a clerk ask for my phone number on a cash purchase. I'm sure that it is just more marketing efforts.
I suppose that if you give the number in a situation like that, that they can call you even if you are on the Do Not Call register. If this is the case, I wonder if they can sell the list so acquired to others with that Do Not Call exemption carrying over to that purchaser?
The Hawks continue to surprise me. Penn State on the road and Illinois at home are both winnable games, but a split would still mean a successful regular conference season. Even if they get into the NCAA tournament, what are their chances of getting past the second game? On the other hand, they could possibly host a couple of NIT games which 4 could then attend.
If any of you have seen highlights of this week's pro golf event in Arizona, you have a very accurate comparison of the courses that we played last month in Cabo. Hit it in the fareway, or pull out another ball. The desert is not a fun place to chase an errant shot.
My pal Bill reports that he was at least partially successful in his fight with City Hall last night. I'm not sure if it means that the city relented entirely on the zoning request or whether the developer in question simply declined to fight the fight. At least for the time being, he doesn't have to worry about skyscrapers in his back yard.
The mail to IC did leave until today. Sorry.
I see where they have announced the new Dancing With The Stars celebrity(?) participants. Since I have never watched the show (or American Idol, or Survivor, or any reality show), I shouldn't criticize. But what's the appeal? Then again, I did catch most of the 800 left turns on Sunday so we'll just let this one go.
All from here. Have a good evening.
Be careful out there.
As fate would have it, Augie gets to play tomorrow night in the semi-finals of the conference tournament that they host, the same team that stole the game last Saturday on the bad call by the ref. The other team will be confident, so Augie needs to come ready to play. 2 and I are going.
3 reports that she gets to go on an organized trip from the Iowa business school for a private meeting with The Oracle of Omaha next month. She needs to give the readers some details.
Since I don't shop that much, I was taken aback somewhat at lunch today when I stopped in at the local card outlet store to pick up some things, and at the check-out, the first question was, "Can I have your phone number, please?" My response was, "No", and there was no follow-up question as she rang up my purchase. I know from the past that this store would ask for your zip code, but I had never had a clerk ask for my phone number on a cash purchase. I'm sure that it is just more marketing efforts.
I suppose that if you give the number in a situation like that, that they can call you even if you are on the Do Not Call register. If this is the case, I wonder if they can sell the list so acquired to others with that Do Not Call exemption carrying over to that purchaser?
The Hawks continue to surprise me. Penn State on the road and Illinois at home are both winnable games, but a split would still mean a successful regular conference season. Even if they get into the NCAA tournament, what are their chances of getting past the second game? On the other hand, they could possibly host a couple of NIT games which 4 could then attend.
If any of you have seen highlights of this week's pro golf event in Arizona, you have a very accurate comparison of the courses that we played last month in Cabo. Hit it in the fareway, or pull out another ball. The desert is not a fun place to chase an errant shot.
My pal Bill reports that he was at least partially successful in his fight with City Hall last night. I'm not sure if it means that the city relented entirely on the zoning request or whether the developer in question simply declined to fight the fight. At least for the time being, he doesn't have to worry about skyscrapers in his back yard.
The mail to IC did leave until today. Sorry.
I see where they have announced the new Dancing With The Stars celebrity(?) participants. Since I have never watched the show (or American Idol, or Survivor, or any reality show), I shouldn't criticize. But what's the appeal? Then again, I did catch most of the 800 left turns on Sunday so we'll just let this one go.
All from here. Have a good evening.
Be careful out there.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Wednesday
This was another of those days that just got away from me. Busy all day, but not sure what I got done.
Today is the 6th anniversary of Mother's death. Lots of water under the bridge since then.
Today is Ash Wednesday. Yesterday being Fat Tuesday. I've never been one to celebrate Mardi Gras, although I think my high school girlfriend and I attended a formal dance around this time of year that may have been a Mardi Gras theme. There were four social sororities for high school girls in Ottumwa and each one had an annual formal dance, that was usually attended by the girls from all the sororities (and their dates!). Very high brow for a country boy.
Levi continues to lead the race in California. Lance was in attendance today. He still owns part of the Discovery team. The Gubinator was on the podium in Sacramento yesterday making the presentations to the daily winners.
I guess one of the reasons I like cycling is that the cycling crowd is slightly more appealing than, say, the NBA or Super Bowl glitz. While you do have super stars in this week's race, you also have a lot of domestiques on the big teams, and whole teams of unknowns on several US-based squads who are very common guys. Drug use aside.
Looks like it's a go on the bathroom rehab. I've got to go out and get the new stuff (fixtures, vanity, lighting, etc.) so that the carpenter can start next week. He was in the office today to finish some maintenance here and I think he sees my project as a nice little thing to do between bigger jobs.
Glad 3 gives the fam some props. We'd like to see more of her. I think.
My pal Bill is literally fighting City Hall tonight. After they built their very high-end villa last year, the developer proposed a commercial development right out their back door. The city is always anxious for development so as to increase the tax rolls, and the Planning and Zoning staff have recommended that the City Council accept the developer's proposal (which calls for a zoning variance from the current use designation). So Bill and the neighbor's are up in arms at what they perceive as a "bait and switch" move by the agent who sold them their lots (since he also is connected to the developer). It isn't easy getting City Hall off track once they are headed in a direction. We'll see on this one.
I met with a radio guy today who will be doing the spots for me on his early show over the next 3-4 months to market our sponsorship of the Quad Cities Criterium. You can't say a lot in 60 seconds. Try it. I told him that I wanted to use the old Presentations for Dummy's system of first, telling them what you're going to say, second, actually saying it, and third, reviewing for them what you just said. My goal is to get name recognition, and actually explaining what it is that we do in a radio spot will cause a lot of people to change stations.
I'm headed out to have a cocktail with a client. And I suppose watch the Hawks. But we're meeting on the Illinois side so we may watch the Fightin' Illini. And that Chief Illiniwek story is just too much to go past a notation on the blog. Are there any Irish people out there who want to protest the leprechaun?
Be careful out there.
Today is the 6th anniversary of Mother's death. Lots of water under the bridge since then.
Today is Ash Wednesday. Yesterday being Fat Tuesday. I've never been one to celebrate Mardi Gras, although I think my high school girlfriend and I attended a formal dance around this time of year that may have been a Mardi Gras theme. There were four social sororities for high school girls in Ottumwa and each one had an annual formal dance, that was usually attended by the girls from all the sororities (and their dates!). Very high brow for a country boy.
Levi continues to lead the race in California. Lance was in attendance today. He still owns part of the Discovery team. The Gubinator was on the podium in Sacramento yesterday making the presentations to the daily winners.
I guess one of the reasons I like cycling is that the cycling crowd is slightly more appealing than, say, the NBA or Super Bowl glitz. While you do have super stars in this week's race, you also have a lot of domestiques on the big teams, and whole teams of unknowns on several US-based squads who are very common guys. Drug use aside.
Looks like it's a go on the bathroom rehab. I've got to go out and get the new stuff (fixtures, vanity, lighting, etc.) so that the carpenter can start next week. He was in the office today to finish some maintenance here and I think he sees my project as a nice little thing to do between bigger jobs.
Glad 3 gives the fam some props. We'd like to see more of her. I think.
My pal Bill is literally fighting City Hall tonight. After they built their very high-end villa last year, the developer proposed a commercial development right out their back door. The city is always anxious for development so as to increase the tax rolls, and the Planning and Zoning staff have recommended that the City Council accept the developer's proposal (which calls for a zoning variance from the current use designation). So Bill and the neighbor's are up in arms at what they perceive as a "bait and switch" move by the agent who sold them their lots (since he also is connected to the developer). It isn't easy getting City Hall off track once they are headed in a direction. We'll see on this one.
I met with a radio guy today who will be doing the spots for me on his early show over the next 3-4 months to market our sponsorship of the Quad Cities Criterium. You can't say a lot in 60 seconds. Try it. I told him that I wanted to use the old Presentations for Dummy's system of first, telling them what you're going to say, second, actually saying it, and third, reviewing for them what you just said. My goal is to get name recognition, and actually explaining what it is that we do in a radio spot will cause a lot of people to change stations.
I'm headed out to have a cocktail with a client. And I suppose watch the Hawks. But we're meeting on the Illinois side so we may watch the Fightin' Illini. And that Chief Illiniwek story is just too much to go past a notation on the blog. Are there any Irish people out there who want to protest the leprechaun?
Be careful out there.
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Tuesday
Another nice day here, but not quite as nice as yesterday. Beats the below zero days by a bunch.
A couple of loose ends from yesterday. The Tour of California officials huddled after yesterday's crash-marred finish in Santa Rosa and decided to give the entire peloton the same finishing time as when they entered the circuits. Thus, Levi Leipheimer got to keep the overall lead even though he actually finished about a minute behind the stage winner. A bit of controversy since, while it is not uncommon to declare the circuits at the end of a road race as a safe zone, that declaration is normally done before the race. The fact that Levi calls Santa Rosa home supports those in the peloton who might think the officials are being a little biased in their ruling.
And K-State couldn't handle KU. I really thought it would be a closer game. So The Oracle is vulnerable.
Which is a convenient segue to the discussion Uncle Phil and I had today about the NCAA tournament. He's getting ready to spool up the annual family contest. All the wannabe's had better start reading the sports pages these next couple of weeks. Selection Sunday is March 11th. Which means that the entries will need to be in no later than 9AM CDT on March 14th. Unless the play-in game is made part of the package, in which case a Wednesday evening deadline will be required. But since Uncle Phil makes the rules, I defer to the Tahoe Talisman.
There is a rumor that 3 is back in the Central Time Zone.
The local sports-talk radio station has flipped some of it's national shows. As much as I hate to say anything nice about any of them, Dan Patrick is a breath of fresh air compared to Jim Rome or Mike & Mike In The Morning. And when Patrick gets going with Kieth Olbermann, they're like Hillary and Barbara Boxer getting together to talk about the GOP. I think I'm headed back to more country music.
But even country music is working mostly to attract younger listeners. I suppose that singers age just like their listeners, so Dolly and Randy and Clint and Vince and all the rest just need to get their own satellite station and pump it on down.
OK. Enough rendering on the Dark Side.
Let's end today with the reality that Spring Training is in full swing and there'll be exhibition games starting next week. And we can then get in the discussions on the intricacies of The Game, which I am sure will capture all of your imaginations!
So have a great evening.
Be careful out there.
A couple of loose ends from yesterday. The Tour of California officials huddled after yesterday's crash-marred finish in Santa Rosa and decided to give the entire peloton the same finishing time as when they entered the circuits. Thus, Levi Leipheimer got to keep the overall lead even though he actually finished about a minute behind the stage winner. A bit of controversy since, while it is not uncommon to declare the circuits at the end of a road race as a safe zone, that declaration is normally done before the race. The fact that Levi calls Santa Rosa home supports those in the peloton who might think the officials are being a little biased in their ruling.
And K-State couldn't handle KU. I really thought it would be a closer game. So The Oracle is vulnerable.
Which is a convenient segue to the discussion Uncle Phil and I had today about the NCAA tournament. He's getting ready to spool up the annual family contest. All the wannabe's had better start reading the sports pages these next couple of weeks. Selection Sunday is March 11th. Which means that the entries will need to be in no later than 9AM CDT on March 14th. Unless the play-in game is made part of the package, in which case a Wednesday evening deadline will be required. But since Uncle Phil makes the rules, I defer to the Tahoe Talisman.
There is a rumor that 3 is back in the Central Time Zone.
The local sports-talk radio station has flipped some of it's national shows. As much as I hate to say anything nice about any of them, Dan Patrick is a breath of fresh air compared to Jim Rome or Mike & Mike In The Morning. And when Patrick gets going with Kieth Olbermann, they're like Hillary and Barbara Boxer getting together to talk about the GOP. I think I'm headed back to more country music.
But even country music is working mostly to attract younger listeners. I suppose that singers age just like their listeners, so Dolly and Randy and Clint and Vince and all the rest just need to get their own satellite station and pump it on down.
OK. Enough rendering on the Dark Side.
Let's end today with the reality that Spring Training is in full swing and there'll be exhibition games starting next week. And we can then get in the discussions on the intricacies of The Game, which I am sure will capture all of your imaginations!
So have a great evening.
Be careful out there.
Monday, February 19, 2007
Monday
Wow! I think it may have been 50 here today. Heat wave!
I learned something about restrictor plate racing yesterday. The cars spend most of the first 3/4 of the race just grinding along. The real racin' doesn't start until the finish line is something other than a distant destination. (At Daytona and Talladega, where they run twice each year, NASCAR has restrictor plates on the carburetors to keep the speeds below 190mph or so. The plates rob oxygen from the engine which thus limits horsepower.) Nobody can really get away from the pack so it doesn't make sense to work the equipment any harder than necessary. As the finish line approaches however, friends are hard to find.
I'm not a fan of Harvick's, but his winning was ok. He made a great move to get to the lead on that last half lap. The 24 never got to the front after starting at the back, and I think they were probably happy with their 10th place finish, all things considered. Lots of other popular drivers finished the race in their haulers.
The bike race in California is in full swing. Discovery's Levi Leipheimer won the prologue up Telegraph Hill yesterday and they have a field sprint going in the first stage today. Lots of top names there this year, including 6 or 8 of Europe's major league teams. Now it looks like Levi had a crash and finished 30 seconds or so behind today's winner in Santa Rosa.
There was an interesting segment on Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel on HBO this weekend. I don't care for Bryant Gumbel, but he was not the reporter on this story so it was easier to watch. The segment looked at the professional officiating careers of Joe and Jerry Crawford. I was not aware that these two guys were brothers, nor that they were sons of umpire Shag Crawford, a name I remember from listening to games on the radio when I was growing up. Joe Crawford is a highly respected, but pretty thin-skinned NBA referee. Jerry Crawford is a veteran MLB umpire whose main claim to fame is that he was the President of the umpires association when they tried a work stoppage in the 1990's that blew up in their faces.
The dad, Shag, is still alive (but on a portable oxygen feed) and sat in on a part of the interview. He was remembered as the home plate umpire who tackled Juan Marichal when he took the bat to John Roseboro in a game in the mid-'60's. But that's a different story.
KU is at K-State in the second game on Big Monday. I really haven't followed K-State recently, and Huggins can lose his teams late in the season, but if they're healthy, K-State could pull the upset at home.
The DM school board is moving their offices to available space in downtown DM. Let's see, the families live in the neighborhoods, let's make it hard for people to get to the administrative offices so that we can show how much we care. Do school boards have CPE programs where they learn to do things to turn off their constituencies?
OK. Off to the games. Have a pleasant President's Day evening.
Be careful out there.
I learned something about restrictor plate racing yesterday. The cars spend most of the first 3/4 of the race just grinding along. The real racin' doesn't start until the finish line is something other than a distant destination. (At Daytona and Talladega, where they run twice each year, NASCAR has restrictor plates on the carburetors to keep the speeds below 190mph or so. The plates rob oxygen from the engine which thus limits horsepower.) Nobody can really get away from the pack so it doesn't make sense to work the equipment any harder than necessary. As the finish line approaches however, friends are hard to find.
I'm not a fan of Harvick's, but his winning was ok. He made a great move to get to the lead on that last half lap. The 24 never got to the front after starting at the back, and I think they were probably happy with their 10th place finish, all things considered. Lots of other popular drivers finished the race in their haulers.
The bike race in California is in full swing. Discovery's Levi Leipheimer won the prologue up Telegraph Hill yesterday and they have a field sprint going in the first stage today. Lots of top names there this year, including 6 or 8 of Europe's major league teams. Now it looks like Levi had a crash and finished 30 seconds or so behind today's winner in Santa Rosa.
There was an interesting segment on Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel on HBO this weekend. I don't care for Bryant Gumbel, but he was not the reporter on this story so it was easier to watch. The segment looked at the professional officiating careers of Joe and Jerry Crawford. I was not aware that these two guys were brothers, nor that they were sons of umpire Shag Crawford, a name I remember from listening to games on the radio when I was growing up. Joe Crawford is a highly respected, but pretty thin-skinned NBA referee. Jerry Crawford is a veteran MLB umpire whose main claim to fame is that he was the President of the umpires association when they tried a work stoppage in the 1990's that blew up in their faces.
The dad, Shag, is still alive (but on a portable oxygen feed) and sat in on a part of the interview. He was remembered as the home plate umpire who tackled Juan Marichal when he took the bat to John Roseboro in a game in the mid-'60's. But that's a different story.
KU is at K-State in the second game on Big Monday. I really haven't followed K-State recently, and Huggins can lose his teams late in the season, but if they're healthy, K-State could pull the upset at home.
The DM school board is moving their offices to available space in downtown DM. Let's see, the families live in the neighborhoods, let's make it hard for people to get to the administrative offices so that we can show how much we care. Do school boards have CPE programs where they learn to do things to turn off their constituencies?
OK. Off to the games. Have a pleasant President's Day evening.
Be careful out there.
Monday
Wow! I think it may have been 50 here today. Heat wave!
I learned something about restrictor plate racing yesterday. The cars spend most of the first 3/4 of the race just grinding along. The real racin' doesn't start until the finish line is something other than a distant destination. (At Daytona and Talladega, where they run twice each year, NASCAR has restrictor plates on the carburetors to keep the speeds below 190mph or so. The plates rob oxygen from the engine which thus limits horsepower.) Nobody can really get away from the pack so it doesn't make sense to work the equipment any harder than necessary. As the finish line approaches however, friends are hard to find.
I'm not a fan of Harvick's, but his winning was ok. He made a great move to get to the lead on that last half lap. The 24 never got to the front after starting at the back, and I think they were probably happy with their 10th place finish, all things considered. Lots of other popular drivers finished the race in their haulers.
The bike race in California is in full swing. Discovery's Levi Leipheimer won the prologue up Telegraph Hill yesterday and they have a field sprint going in the first stage today. Lots of top names there this year, including 6 or 8 of Europe's major league teams. Now it looks like Levi had a crash and finished 30 seconds or so behind today's winner in Santa Rosa.
There was an interesting segment on Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel on HBO this weekend. I don't care for Bryant Gumbel, but he was not the reporter on this story so it was easier to watch. The segment looked at the professional officiating careers of Joe and Jerry Crawford. I was not aware that these two guys were brothers, nor that they were sons of umpire Shag Crawford, a name I remember from listening to games on the radio when I was growing up. Joe Crawford is a highly respected, but pretty thin-skinned NBA referee. Jerry Crawford is a veteran MLB umpire whose main claim to fame is that he was the President of the umpires association when they tried a work stoppage in the 1990's that blew up in their faces.
The dad, Shag, is still alive (but on a portable oxygen feed) and sat in on a part of the interview. He was remembered as the home plate umpire who tackled Juan Marichal when he took the bat to John Roseboro in a game in the mid-'60's. But that's a different story.
KU is at K-State in the second game on Big Monday. I really haven't followed K-State recently, and Huggins can lose his teams late in the season, but if they're healthy, K-State could pull the upset at home.
The DM school board is moving their offices to available space in downtown DM. Let's see, the families live in the neighborhoods, let's make it hard for people to get to the administrative offices so that we can show how much we care. Do school boards have CPE programs where they learn to do things to turn off their constituencies?
OK. Off to the games. Have a pleasant President's Day evening.
Be careful out there.
I learned something about restrictor plate racing yesterday. The cars spend most of the first 3/4 of the race just grinding along. The real racin' doesn't start until the finish line is something other than a distant destination. (At Daytona and Talladega, where they run twice each year, NASCAR has restrictor plates on the carburetors to keep the speeds below 190mph or so. The plates rob oxygen from the engine which thus limits horsepower.) Nobody can really get away from the pack so it doesn't make sense to work the equipment any harder than necessary. As the finish line approaches however, friends are hard to find.
I'm not a fan of Harvick's, but his winning was ok. He made a great move to get to the lead on that last half lap. The 24 never got to the front after starting at the back, and I think they were probably happy with their 10th place finish, all things considered. Lots of other popular drivers finished the race in their haulers.
The bike race in California is in full swing. Discovery's Levi Leipheimer won the prologue up Telegraph Hill yesterday and they have a field sprint going in the first stage today. Lots of top names there this year, including 6 or 8 of Europe's major league teams. Now it looks like Levi had a crash and finished 30 seconds or so behind today's winner in Santa Rosa.
There was an interesting segment on Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel on HBO this weekend. I don't care for Bryant Gumbel, but he was not the reporter on this story so it was easier to watch. The segment looked at the professional officiating careers of Joe and Jerry Crawford. I was not aware that these two guys were brothers, nor that they were sons of umpire Shag Crawford, a name I remember from listening to games on the radio when I was growing up. Joe Crawford is a highly respected, but pretty thin-skinned NBA referee. Jerry Crawford is a veteran MLB umpire whose main claim to fame is that he was the President of the umpires association when they tried a work stoppage in the 1990's that blew up in their faces.
The dad, Shag, is still alive (but on a portable oxygen feed) and sat in on a part of the interview. He was remembered as the home plate umpire who tackled Juan Marichal when he took the bat to John Roseboro in a game in the mid-'60's. But that's a different story.
KU is at K-State in the second game on Big Monday. I really haven't followed K-State recently, and Huggins can lose his teams late in the season, but if they're healthy, K-State could pull the upset at home.
The DM school board is moving their offices to available space in downtown DM. Let's see, the families live in the neighborhoods, let's make it hard for people to get to the administrative offices so that we can show how much we care. Do school boards have CPE programs where they learn to do things to turn off their constituencies?
OK. Off to the games. Have a pleasant President's Day evening.
Be careful out there.
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Sunday
The Augie game last night was one of those games that your team probably didn't deserve to win, but certainly didn't deserve to lose the way that they lost. After a furious rally in the last four minutes to come back from 17 down, the ref bailed out the other team's best player with an absurd call 20-odd feet from the basket with no time on the clock. I can't remember a worse call in a game that I attended.
Actually, when I was in like 7th grade there was a very controversial call in a huge tournament game between Ottumwa High, the public school in town, and Walsh High, the small Catholic school that our family attended. There was only a single class for the tournament back then. I think if you polled Ottumwa natives now in their 60's about a high school basketball memory, they would almost all remember that game. (The schools did not play regular season games against one another for various reasons.) A Walsh basket at the end of regulation was disallowed and OHS went on to win in OT. A man at the scoring table ( a local sports writer who later on did good by me throughout my career) stood and waved vigorously to the referees to inform them that the horn had sounded prior to the basket. Regardless of his generally fair treatment of Walsh athletics in the future, he was never allowed to forget his actions that night.
But I digress.
After the Augie game, 2 and I stopped at Johnny's Steak House in Moline for a glass of wine. Johnny's is a nice place, but there are certainly several other places in town of equal or better repute. The first round was a decent dry cab, but at $11 a glass! We asked for other less-expensive alternatives for a second round, and the gal bartender acted like we were the unwashed. And when she brought that second round in glasses still dripping with water from the wash rack, I took exception. Since I would never let my friends at Biaggi's get away with that level of service, I called her on it, saying that a place charging $11 a glass doesn't serve wine in glasses so obviously not properly prepared. She didn't take the criticism well.
I don't consider myself a wine snob, but if you're serving wine by the glass at $11 a pop, your place is a wine snob place. So don't give me glasses like I'm at the local All You Can Eat Buffet.
There were pictures in this AM's Sunday paper's Life section of three kids from one family who got married last year. Two girls and a boy. The dad probably had his retirement delayed a few years after that experience.
David Broder's column today was an interesting observation on the various choices of location for the candidacy announcements of the numerous Presidential hopefuls. Many, if not most, have chosen places (or in the case of Hillary, mediums) more connected to their aspirations rather than to their roots. Vilsack and Obama are the exceptions.
On the same page as Broder was a somewhat more personal rendering by Patrick Buchanan on his memories of Hank Bauer, a noted Yankee baseball player from the 40's and 50's. Daddy was a big Yankee fan, as were lots of people from Middle America in those times. I don't particularly care for Buchanan, but his recollections from his youth of the Yankees and their great players makes you wonder what today's youth will have to savor when they look back to their growing-up years. The salary cap? Janet Jackson? Barry Bonds? The half-pipe?
I've decided to do a little remodeling of my up-stairs bathroom. It's not like I use it all that much, but my guests do and I'd like a little better presentation for them. A handyman from our client list will be doing the work. I need to pick out the new fixtures, etc.
No big plans today. A little on the bike and erg. A lot of Daytona.
Have a great day. Those of you who get to celebrate President's Day tomorrow, enjoy the middle day of your three-day weekend.
Be careful out there.
Actually, when I was in like 7th grade there was a very controversial call in a huge tournament game between Ottumwa High, the public school in town, and Walsh High, the small Catholic school that our family attended. There was only a single class for the tournament back then. I think if you polled Ottumwa natives now in their 60's about a high school basketball memory, they would almost all remember that game. (The schools did not play regular season games against one another for various reasons.) A Walsh basket at the end of regulation was disallowed and OHS went on to win in OT. A man at the scoring table ( a local sports writer who later on did good by me throughout my career) stood and waved vigorously to the referees to inform them that the horn had sounded prior to the basket. Regardless of his generally fair treatment of Walsh athletics in the future, he was never allowed to forget his actions that night.
But I digress.
After the Augie game, 2 and I stopped at Johnny's Steak House in Moline for a glass of wine. Johnny's is a nice place, but there are certainly several other places in town of equal or better repute. The first round was a decent dry cab, but at $11 a glass! We asked for other less-expensive alternatives for a second round, and the gal bartender acted like we were the unwashed. And when she brought that second round in glasses still dripping with water from the wash rack, I took exception. Since I would never let my friends at Biaggi's get away with that level of service, I called her on it, saying that a place charging $11 a glass doesn't serve wine in glasses so obviously not properly prepared. She didn't take the criticism well.
I don't consider myself a wine snob, but if you're serving wine by the glass at $11 a pop, your place is a wine snob place. So don't give me glasses like I'm at the local All You Can Eat Buffet.
There were pictures in this AM's Sunday paper's Life section of three kids from one family who got married last year. Two girls and a boy. The dad probably had his retirement delayed a few years after that experience.
David Broder's column today was an interesting observation on the various choices of location for the candidacy announcements of the numerous Presidential hopefuls. Many, if not most, have chosen places (or in the case of Hillary, mediums) more connected to their aspirations rather than to their roots. Vilsack and Obama are the exceptions.
On the same page as Broder was a somewhat more personal rendering by Patrick Buchanan on his memories of Hank Bauer, a noted Yankee baseball player from the 40's and 50's. Daddy was a big Yankee fan, as were lots of people from Middle America in those times. I don't particularly care for Buchanan, but his recollections from his youth of the Yankees and their great players makes you wonder what today's youth will have to savor when they look back to their growing-up years. The salary cap? Janet Jackson? Barry Bonds? The half-pipe?
I've decided to do a little remodeling of my up-stairs bathroom. It's not like I use it all that much, but my guests do and I'd like a little better presentation for them. A handyman from our client list will be doing the work. I need to pick out the new fixtures, etc.
No big plans today. A little on the bike and erg. A lot of Daytona.
Have a great day. Those of you who get to celebrate President's Day tomorrow, enjoy the middle day of your three-day weekend.
Be careful out there.
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Friday, February 16, 2007
Friday PM
Just a few lines before taking off.
Snow flurries outside right now. Below zero this AM. Winter is getting a little old.
I've been wearing my high-top Field & Stream insulated boots for each of the last 35-40 days. I bet I didn't wear them more than three days in a row all last Winter. What does that say about this year's weather? And each day about 4PM I'm ready to take them off for a rest. I feel like I've been doing leg lifts all day!
Just had a little excitement here with Firefox, which I think was unrelated to Blogger. I had gone to another site to get some data and Firefox didn't like my print instructions at that location. It shut all my Internet connections down and I lost those first two paragraphs above. They didn't even go to the "draft" area. I can say that Blogger has been pretty good from a user's perspective.
SI swimsuit issue is out. As though anyone might have been able to escape the full-court press that SI does to promote the issue. It was much better years ago when there was less of the issue and more clothes on the models.
The Thursday NY Times crossword had one of their patented trick puzzles yesterday. In four of the squares, you had to figure out that they wanted the symbols for, period, colon, comma and dash. By using the symbol, but by saying the word, you completed the solution to both the across and down clues for those spaces. A non-puzzler had no chance.
Spell check just informed me that Internet required a capital "I". Didn't know that.
Have a great evening.
Be careful out there.
Snow flurries outside right now. Below zero this AM. Winter is getting a little old.
I've been wearing my high-top Field & Stream insulated boots for each of the last 35-40 days. I bet I didn't wear them more than three days in a row all last Winter. What does that say about this year's weather? And each day about 4PM I'm ready to take them off for a rest. I feel like I've been doing leg lifts all day!
Just had a little excitement here with Firefox, which I think was unrelated to Blogger. I had gone to another site to get some data and Firefox didn't like my print instructions at that location. It shut all my Internet connections down and I lost those first two paragraphs above. They didn't even go to the "draft" area. I can say that Blogger has been pretty good from a user's perspective.
SI swimsuit issue is out. As though anyone might have been able to escape the full-court press that SI does to promote the issue. It was much better years ago when there was less of the issue and more clothes on the models.
The Thursday NY Times crossword had one of their patented trick puzzles yesterday. In four of the squares, you had to figure out that they wanted the symbols for, period, colon, comma and dash. By using the symbol, but by saying the word, you completed the solution to both the across and down clues for those spaces. A non-puzzler had no chance.
Spell check just informed me that Internet required a capital "I". Didn't know that.
Have a great evening.
Be careful out there.
Friday AM
Sorry about that lack of production yesterday. I got pretty busy in the afternoon and had to beat feet to 5:30 cocktails with a friend from the old days in Rock Island. He and I did some partying many years ago, but we hadn't seen much of one another recently, so it was good to catch up with him.
3 and 4 were through town yesterday afternoon. 3 to catch a plane to Atlanta. 4 to do the driving and pick up the repaired Focus. Things went as scheduled, although there was a detour on I-80 at Walcott that had the girls ultimately see a little more of Davenport than was planned.
The Hawks won again last night and are now officially over-achievers for the season in my book. I didn't think that they would win 15 games. Then again, the Big 10 is not exactly a power conference this year.
The 24 car won the second qualifying race yesterday, but was then sent to the back of the field for Sunday because of a post-race inspection problem. NASCAR is a little touchy these days.
Thanks for the nice comments yesterday.
An interesting migration at morning coffee. I was at the new place this AM and two of the semi-regulars from Duck Creek stopped by and joined me. Now, my Pal Roy is out of town, so there is no main attraction at Duck Creek, but it was nice to see the familiar faces.
More later. Have a great day.
Be careful out there.
3 and 4 were through town yesterday afternoon. 3 to catch a plane to Atlanta. 4 to do the driving and pick up the repaired Focus. Things went as scheduled, although there was a detour on I-80 at Walcott that had the girls ultimately see a little more of Davenport than was planned.
The Hawks won again last night and are now officially over-achievers for the season in my book. I didn't think that they would win 15 games. Then again, the Big 10 is not exactly a power conference this year.
The 24 car won the second qualifying race yesterday, but was then sent to the back of the field for Sunday because of a post-race inspection problem. NASCAR is a little touchy these days.
Thanks for the nice comments yesterday.
An interesting migration at morning coffee. I was at the new place this AM and two of the semi-regulars from Duck Creek stopped by and joined me. Now, my Pal Roy is out of town, so there is no main attraction at Duck Creek, but it was nice to see the familiar faces.
More later. Have a great day.
Be careful out there.
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Wednesday PM
I'm not sure if I had all that productive of a day. But I'm out of gas, so I guess the day is done regardless.
My pal Bill is headed out tomorrow AM for a long weekend in Napa wine country. I'm not sure if that is a destination of choice for me, but it sounds pretty good right now.
And my pal Roy is on another 10 day golf trip, this time with Muscatine buddies at a place in Florida. Life is hard.
Some pretty serious controversy in NASCAR. Five teams have received stiff penalties for funny business in last Sunday's qualifying runs for this coming Sunday's 500. The story today was that one guy was maybe using jet fuel. They're just good 'ol boys trying to win a race. The Twin 125's are tomorrow with all but the top two spots in play. Actually, it's more complicated than that, but I've already lost most of my audience, so we'll move on to other things.
Valentine's Day was always a special day when the girls were young. I tried to get small gifts or flowers to them, through high school. I suppose most of my efforts were lame by today's standards, but my intentions were good.
I'm sure that way back when, I bought flowers for my high school girl friend, but since I never had any money, I was buying like 2 or 3 roses as opposed to a dozen. My history of under-performance goes back a long time.
We made initial arrangements today for some logo'd polo shirts for the Criterium bike races which my company is sponsoring on Memorial Day. These are promotional things for casual business wear as contrasted to the t-shirts that will be sold to the general public. We had to make a small adjustment to the presentation of our firm's name in the logo due to some limitations in the stitching machine. By placing our name on the left sleeve, we can get the race logo small enough to look good on left breast area of the shirt where logos are normally placed.
This was a concession that I had to make for the best look to these shirts. I have insisted to race organizers that our name must appear in the logo itself in all promotional signs, banners and publications. The goal for my business is to get name recognition for the sponsorship, and I want to make sure that that goal is not lost by the organizers. Their goal is to put on a race, and I will need to keep my interests on the table, or risk attaining something less than the level of recognition that is my goal.
I like the spell-check of the New Blogger. But it doesn't have the context or usage insight that Word or other more sophisticated programs give you. But I can't complain. It helps.
Hope everyone has a good night.
Be careful out there.
My pal Bill is headed out tomorrow AM for a long weekend in Napa wine country. I'm not sure if that is a destination of choice for me, but it sounds pretty good right now.
And my pal Roy is on another 10 day golf trip, this time with Muscatine buddies at a place in Florida. Life is hard.
Some pretty serious controversy in NASCAR. Five teams have received stiff penalties for funny business in last Sunday's qualifying runs for this coming Sunday's 500. The story today was that one guy was maybe using jet fuel. They're just good 'ol boys trying to win a race. The Twin 125's are tomorrow with all but the top two spots in play. Actually, it's more complicated than that, but I've already lost most of my audience, so we'll move on to other things.
Valentine's Day was always a special day when the girls were young. I tried to get small gifts or flowers to them, through high school. I suppose most of my efforts were lame by today's standards, but my intentions were good.
I'm sure that way back when, I bought flowers for my high school girl friend, but since I never had any money, I was buying like 2 or 3 roses as opposed to a dozen. My history of under-performance goes back a long time.
We made initial arrangements today for some logo'd polo shirts for the Criterium bike races which my company is sponsoring on Memorial Day. These are promotional things for casual business wear as contrasted to the t-shirts that will be sold to the general public. We had to make a small adjustment to the presentation of our firm's name in the logo due to some limitations in the stitching machine. By placing our name on the left sleeve, we can get the race logo small enough to look good on left breast area of the shirt where logos are normally placed.
This was a concession that I had to make for the best look to these shirts. I have insisted to race organizers that our name must appear in the logo itself in all promotional signs, banners and publications. The goal for my business is to get name recognition for the sponsorship, and I want to make sure that that goal is not lost by the organizers. Their goal is to put on a race, and I will need to keep my interests on the table, or risk attaining something less than the level of recognition that is my goal.
I like the spell-check of the New Blogger. But it doesn't have the context or usage insight that Word or other more sophisticated programs give you. But I can't complain. It helps.
Hope everyone has a good night.
Be careful out there.
Wednesday
Happy Valentine's Day!
This latest snow and cold has really presented us with a traditional Winter. I did see where the long-range forecast has temps getting to near 40 degrees early next week. By that time, March will be on the radar screen and these harsh conditions will not hang on much longer. Daylight has been visibly extended too. I can almost feel the grass sprouting beneath the snow cover. Right.
A true sign of Spring is that pitchers and catchers are reporting this week for baseball's spring training season.
The estimate on the repair of the IC girls' Focus came in at $130. It could have been less than $100 if I had opted for the non-electric replacement mirror. The other party's estimate for damage to his car was just over $1000. What's wrong with this picture?
More later today.
Be careful out there.
This latest snow and cold has really presented us with a traditional Winter. I did see where the long-range forecast has temps getting to near 40 degrees early next week. By that time, March will be on the radar screen and these harsh conditions will not hang on much longer. Daylight has been visibly extended too. I can almost feel the grass sprouting beneath the snow cover. Right.
A true sign of Spring is that pitchers and catchers are reporting this week for baseball's spring training season.
The estimate on the repair of the IC girls' Focus came in at $130. It could have been less than $100 if I had opted for the non-electric replacement mirror. The other party's estimate for damage to his car was just over $1000. What's wrong with this picture?
More later today.
Be careful out there.
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Tuesday
No blog again today.
I had another lengthy meeting late in the afternoon and I have a dinner meeting on the Illinois side in 10 minutes.
Snow here today. 4-6 inches. Real winter.
I will definitely get up early in the morning to add a regular entry.
Be careful out there.
I had another lengthy meeting late in the afternoon and I have a dinner meeting on the Illinois side in 10 minutes.
Snow here today. 4-6 inches. Real winter.
I will definitely get up early in the morning to add a regular entry.
Be careful out there.
Monday, February 12, 2007
Monday
No blog today. I just got off the phone from an hour and a half call which totally consumed my blog time. I'll come in early tomorrow and catch up.
It's Big Monday. And I'm late.
Be careful out there.
It's Big Monday. And I'm late.
Be careful out there.
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Sunday
We have some relief from the bitter cold today. It's a little short of mild, but certainly balmy in comparison to most of last week.
2 and I caught the Augie game last night. Another win, but again not all that pretty. Good crowd. There just must not be all that much to do in Rock Island on Saturday night.
The Augie coaches all wore white tennis shoes for the game as part of the national program, Coaches vs. Cancer. The coaches on the visiting team didn't get the memo. This is a deal that has been going on for several years and is usually a visual anomaly. I'm not sure how the effort actually translates to support for cancer research.
My pal Roy and I did the local auto show today. Can't say that I saw anything that I just had to have. Lots of pretty expensive cars.
New Orleans' quarterback Drew Brees was seriously injured in the Pro Bowl in Hawaii last night. An elbow-something in his non-throwing arm. It will not require surgery, but will take several weeks to heal. How long will it be before they either do away with the Pro Bowl or make it a non-contact event? The risk-reward ratio on a full-contact game just doesn't make any sense today. For anybody.
I did a little house work today and I have concluded that I need to do some serious cataloging of personal papers and memorabilia. I have stuff going back to grade school and high school which needs to be inventoried. If I get hit by the proverbial truck, the girls are going to have to sift through a lot of incidentals.
Interestingly, my effort at writing goes back all the way to these dusty boxes. I probably should have taken a more focused approach to writing in college or grad school. Or maybe now.
Did I mention that Discovery Channel has announced that it will be dropping sponsorship of the cycling team for 2008? There has been a cleaning of the house recently at Discovery's corporate offices, and the new head honcho must not be much of a cyclist. With the Landis thing, and other doping stories, (not to mention that Lance is not racing), the change is not all that surprising. Just like NASCAR and professional golf, sponsorships tend to change every few years as companies measure the marginal benefits of continued advertising of the same event. If Basso wins some races this year, and he is not found to have used drugs (now or before), a new sponsor will step up.
In another story of cycling news, there was an announcement last week that there will be a professional stage race in Missouri in September. The Tour of Missouri, starting from Country Club Plaza in KC. I'll be curious how this race evolves. The state is looking for tourism dollars and this kind of thing has possibilities. But there have been other attempts to host high-profile races in the States, and most have had short lives. Eventually, it comes down to money, and my guess is that the state will be willing to underwrite this kind of event just so long before it becomes more self-supporting.
The city has temporarily placed one of those digital "Your speed is" signs on my street to try to slow the cars down. Someone must have complained. I don't notice the traffic or the speeds that much in the winter because my windows are closed. But my street is a convenient short-cut for the high school and for shoppers. And lots of people get pretty lead-footed on the route. My guess is that once they move the sign to another location, speeds on my street will return to their previous higher levels.
Hope everyone has a successful week. Good luck in all that you do.
Be careful out there.
2 and I caught the Augie game last night. Another win, but again not all that pretty. Good crowd. There just must not be all that much to do in Rock Island on Saturday night.
The Augie coaches all wore white tennis shoes for the game as part of the national program, Coaches vs. Cancer. The coaches on the visiting team didn't get the memo. This is a deal that has been going on for several years and is usually a visual anomaly. I'm not sure how the effort actually translates to support for cancer research.
My pal Roy and I did the local auto show today. Can't say that I saw anything that I just had to have. Lots of pretty expensive cars.
New Orleans' quarterback Drew Brees was seriously injured in the Pro Bowl in Hawaii last night. An elbow-something in his non-throwing arm. It will not require surgery, but will take several weeks to heal. How long will it be before they either do away with the Pro Bowl or make it a non-contact event? The risk-reward ratio on a full-contact game just doesn't make any sense today. For anybody.
I did a little house work today and I have concluded that I need to do some serious cataloging of personal papers and memorabilia. I have stuff going back to grade school and high school which needs to be inventoried. If I get hit by the proverbial truck, the girls are going to have to sift through a lot of incidentals.
Interestingly, my effort at writing goes back all the way to these dusty boxes. I probably should have taken a more focused approach to writing in college or grad school. Or maybe now.
Did I mention that Discovery Channel has announced that it will be dropping sponsorship of the cycling team for 2008? There has been a cleaning of the house recently at Discovery's corporate offices, and the new head honcho must not be much of a cyclist. With the Landis thing, and other doping stories, (not to mention that Lance is not racing), the change is not all that surprising. Just like NASCAR and professional golf, sponsorships tend to change every few years as companies measure the marginal benefits of continued advertising of the same event. If Basso wins some races this year, and he is not found to have used drugs (now or before), a new sponsor will step up.
In another story of cycling news, there was an announcement last week that there will be a professional stage race in Missouri in September. The Tour of Missouri, starting from Country Club Plaza in KC. I'll be curious how this race evolves. The state is looking for tourism dollars and this kind of thing has possibilities. But there have been other attempts to host high-profile races in the States, and most have had short lives. Eventually, it comes down to money, and my guess is that the state will be willing to underwrite this kind of event just so long before it becomes more self-supporting.
The city has temporarily placed one of those digital "Your speed is" signs on my street to try to slow the cars down. Someone must have complained. I don't notice the traffic or the speeds that much in the winter because my windows are closed. But my street is a convenient short-cut for the high school and for shoppers. And lots of people get pretty lead-footed on the route. My guess is that once they move the sign to another location, speeds on my street will return to their previous higher levels.
Hope everyone has a successful week. Good luck in all that you do.
Be careful out there.
Saturday, February 10, 2007
Saturday
No blog today.
2,3, and 4 were over for lunch at my place. 3 and 4 brought the Focus home and will be taking the Taurus back to IC this evening. A little repair work to be done on the Focus this week.
More tomorrow.
Be careful out there.
2,3, and 4 were over for lunch at my place. 3 and 4 brought the Focus home and will be taking the Taurus back to IC this evening. A little repair work to be done on the Focus this week.
More tomorrow.
Be careful out there.
Friday, February 09, 2007
Friday
I'm going to try to do some Tuscan red tonight. Wine has not tasted that good these last few weeks.
The cold may be moderating. I actually saw some drips from melting snow on a southern facing roof line when I was out for lunch today.
3 had a good little dose of Wall Street humor today. How different segments of the Street may consider the value and opportunities of two milk cows. She needs to send it to the clan.
A columnist in the Life section of today's DM Register did a story on the flu. A couple of paragraphs hit on the mis-guided rituals of shaking hands during church. Sipping from the same chalice is a few notches further north on the not-to-do list.
The nation's top high school senior basketball recruit (he's signed with USC) has been suspended for three games for getting kicked out of a game 10 days ago and then bumping the referee as he protested his expulsion. They changed the rules last year to prevent players from going to the NBA immediately from high school so that they would be better prepared for the league. Sounds to me like this guy is already ready for the NBA.
The PGA is at Pebble Beach this week. In an interesting twist from the norm, the cut is made after three rounds this week rather than the regular rule which is after the second round.
The PGA also announced this week that The International tournament held at Castle Pines in Colorado has been cancelled this year due to lack of sponsorship. That was the only tournament on the tour that used the odd "Modified Stapleford" scoring system. Rather than just counting strokes and the low guy wins, the Stapleford system gives plus numbers to birdies and eagles, and minus numbers to bogies or worse. The highest guy wins.
NASCAR media day. Lots of stories on the wire. The first race, the Bud Shootout, is a non-points race open only to pole winners from any of last year's races and is run under the lights tomorrow night.
Have a great evening.
Be careful out there.
The cold may be moderating. I actually saw some drips from melting snow on a southern facing roof line when I was out for lunch today.
3 had a good little dose of Wall Street humor today. How different segments of the Street may consider the value and opportunities of two milk cows. She needs to send it to the clan.
A columnist in the Life section of today's DM Register did a story on the flu. A couple of paragraphs hit on the mis-guided rituals of shaking hands during church. Sipping from the same chalice is a few notches further north on the not-to-do list.
The nation's top high school senior basketball recruit (he's signed with USC) has been suspended for three games for getting kicked out of a game 10 days ago and then bumping the referee as he protested his expulsion. They changed the rules last year to prevent players from going to the NBA immediately from high school so that they would be better prepared for the league. Sounds to me like this guy is already ready for the NBA.
The PGA is at Pebble Beach this week. In an interesting twist from the norm, the cut is made after three rounds this week rather than the regular rule which is after the second round.
The PGA also announced this week that The International tournament held at Castle Pines in Colorado has been cancelled this year due to lack of sponsorship. That was the only tournament on the tour that used the odd "Modified Stapleford" scoring system. Rather than just counting strokes and the low guy wins, the Stapleford system gives plus numbers to birdies and eagles, and minus numbers to bogies or worse. The highest guy wins.
NASCAR media day. Lots of stories on the wire. The first race, the Bud Shootout, is a non-points race open only to pole winners from any of last year's races and is run under the lights tomorrow night.
Have a great evening.
Be careful out there.
Thursday, February 08, 2007
Thursday
What happened to the week?
2 and I had a good time at the Augie game last night. Although Augie won, it wasn't pretty. A couple of their starters had been sick this week and hadn't practiced, and it showed. In the end, my pal Pete's son did a great job leading the home team to victory.
3 had a little excitement this week when a comment she had made right here on 4000 Days last Spring turned up on a random Google search done by an acquaintance of one of her roommates in IC. The acquaintance passed it on to 3's roommate, and there was a resulting ripple in the force of the universe. 3's comment was a bit tongue-in-cheek, but a biased reader could take it the wrong way. And the roommate was a biased reader.
I guess the lesson is that you don't put on the internet anything that you might be uncomfortable defending at some later date. As 4000 Days has evolved, I have made it a rule to not use last names generally. And the numerical references to the girls is a small concession to a concern for mis-use or mis-interpretation by the wandering eyes of unknown readers.
There are lots of examples of old history coming back to haunt a public figure. Senator Gary Hart of Colorado is the classic example. Vetting has been a sport of choice for muckrakers for centuries. The difference today is that the Man On The Street ( or Woman) can be the target of the search for dirt. Consider the recent examples of the various Miss Somethings with the photo evidence of forgotten evenings from years ago. Or the case of the post-game partying habits of the Iowa State b-ball coach a few years back. The internet now allows the public relatively easy access to vast amounts of information. Blogging has added geometrically to the information base.
The element that has got my attention is the power of the internet search engines. If a simple Google search can recognize a person's name in a little-read blog text, imagine what a hacker who really wanted to find something could do. I know that I regularly use Google for technical/tax/IRS questions, and the results are surprisingly reliable. The information that I can get in that fashion today, for free, is multiple times more useful than data that I used to look up manually in the tax library (which had several subscription fees). (A fully-equipped electronic-media tax library is obviously superior to a system of free search on Google. But for a general practitioner CPA, you can get a long ways to the right answer with the non-subscription stuff on the internet.)
I took the Taurus in for an oil change at the Quick Lube over lunch hour. The up-sell offers included, 1) transmission fluid flush for $109.99, 2) air filter for $13.99, and 3) up-graded oil for better mileage at $20.00 over the "standard" grade. I took the air filter since the one he showed me was fully clogged. (I wonder how many times he's used that same dirty filter on a customer?) Some things never change. Up-selling at the Quick Lube is a Top Five item on that list. (Quick Lube is a generic term. Substitute your auto service center of preference.)
Ford Motor Company has announced that they are bringing back the recently retired Taurus name and sticking it on the under-performing Ford Five Hundred sedan beginning with the 2008 models. If only a name change could solve their problems.
Have a warm and toasty evening.
Be careful out there.
2 and I had a good time at the Augie game last night. Although Augie won, it wasn't pretty. A couple of their starters had been sick this week and hadn't practiced, and it showed. In the end, my pal Pete's son did a great job leading the home team to victory.
3 had a little excitement this week when a comment she had made right here on 4000 Days last Spring turned up on a random Google search done by an acquaintance of one of her roommates in IC. The acquaintance passed it on to 3's roommate, and there was a resulting ripple in the force of the universe. 3's comment was a bit tongue-in-cheek, but a biased reader could take it the wrong way. And the roommate was a biased reader.
I guess the lesson is that you don't put on the internet anything that you might be uncomfortable defending at some later date. As 4000 Days has evolved, I have made it a rule to not use last names generally. And the numerical references to the girls is a small concession to a concern for mis-use or mis-interpretation by the wandering eyes of unknown readers.
There are lots of examples of old history coming back to haunt a public figure. Senator Gary Hart of Colorado is the classic example. Vetting has been a sport of choice for muckrakers for centuries. The difference today is that the Man On The Street ( or Woman) can be the target of the search for dirt. Consider the recent examples of the various Miss Somethings with the photo evidence of forgotten evenings from years ago. Or the case of the post-game partying habits of the Iowa State b-ball coach a few years back. The internet now allows the public relatively easy access to vast amounts of information. Blogging has added geometrically to the information base.
The element that has got my attention is the power of the internet search engines. If a simple Google search can recognize a person's name in a little-read blog text, imagine what a hacker who really wanted to find something could do. I know that I regularly use Google for technical/tax/IRS questions, and the results are surprisingly reliable. The information that I can get in that fashion today, for free, is multiple times more useful than data that I used to look up manually in the tax library (which had several subscription fees). (A fully-equipped electronic-media tax library is obviously superior to a system of free search on Google. But for a general practitioner CPA, you can get a long ways to the right answer with the non-subscription stuff on the internet.)
I took the Taurus in for an oil change at the Quick Lube over lunch hour. The up-sell offers included, 1) transmission fluid flush for $109.99, 2) air filter for $13.99, and 3) up-graded oil for better mileage at $20.00 over the "standard" grade. I took the air filter since the one he showed me was fully clogged. (I wonder how many times he's used that same dirty filter on a customer?) Some things never change. Up-selling at the Quick Lube is a Top Five item on that list. (Quick Lube is a generic term. Substitute your auto service center of preference.)
Ford Motor Company has announced that they are bringing back the recently retired Taurus name and sticking it on the under-performing Ford Five Hundred sedan beginning with the 2008 models. If only a name change could solve their problems.
Have a warm and toasty evening.
Be careful out there.
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
Wednesday
Brief tonight. 2 and I are meeting shortly to go to the Augie game.
I experienced an incident coming back to the office this afternoon after a meeting on the Illinois side that is a good lesson in economics. I knew we were out of Coke at the office and I needed a little pick-me-up to finish out the day. So I stop at the Bettendorf equivalent of the Seven-Eleven at the foot of the I-74 bridge. A 20 ounce plastic bottle of Coke in the cooler/case was shown as costing $1.49. Which I thought was outrageous considering a 12 ounce can in a machine usually goes for $0.50. And a 12 pack of 12 ounce cans in the grocery store might be $4 including deposit.
But I needed the pick-me-up and I went into the store knowing that I was going to pay a premium for convenience shopping. So I go to the cashier and she swipes the bottle over the bar code reader and it pops up as $1.69 plus tax! The cashier kind of groused at my suggestion that the reader was wrong, and actually went over to the case to see the displayed price, and, a bit reluctantly, re-rang up my purchase at the lower price. Now, if I was buying gas, a candy bar and a small bag of chips, that extra 20 cents might never have been noticed in the total. Any bets that there was a conscious decision made in the store to display lower unit prices than those actually programmed into the system?
I have some other comments on pricing to consumers in different situations, but I am out of time. I'll add those observations another time.
A gossip colmnist somewhere in California is hinting that Lance and Cheryl are back at it. Anyone notice that her Super Bowl commercial rated dead last?
Duke-UNC tonight too.
Be careful out there.
I experienced an incident coming back to the office this afternoon after a meeting on the Illinois side that is a good lesson in economics. I knew we were out of Coke at the office and I needed a little pick-me-up to finish out the day. So I stop at the Bettendorf equivalent of the Seven-Eleven at the foot of the I-74 bridge. A 20 ounce plastic bottle of Coke in the cooler/case was shown as costing $1.49. Which I thought was outrageous considering a 12 ounce can in a machine usually goes for $0.50. And a 12 pack of 12 ounce cans in the grocery store might be $4 including deposit.
But I needed the pick-me-up and I went into the store knowing that I was going to pay a premium for convenience shopping. So I go to the cashier and she swipes the bottle over the bar code reader and it pops up as $1.69 plus tax! The cashier kind of groused at my suggestion that the reader was wrong, and actually went over to the case to see the displayed price, and, a bit reluctantly, re-rang up my purchase at the lower price. Now, if I was buying gas, a candy bar and a small bag of chips, that extra 20 cents might never have been noticed in the total. Any bets that there was a conscious decision made in the store to display lower unit prices than those actually programmed into the system?
I have some other comments on pricing to consumers in different situations, but I am out of time. I'll add those observations another time.
A gossip colmnist somewhere in California is hinting that Lance and Cheryl are back at it. Anyone notice that her Super Bowl commercial rated dead last?
Duke-UNC tonight too.
Be careful out there.
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Tuesday
A little excitement here today with a quick dump of 4-5 inches of snow. I think these last few days qualify as official Winter days.
Here's yet another example of me getting just plain old. My normal winter attire these last few years has been jeans with a sweater over a polo shirt. It's not like I have had an inventory of 30 sweaters, but I have had enough so that it wasn't like I was repeating myself every few days. And I've always had plenty of polo shirts. Even so, I guess one could say that I have set a pretty low standard. With this most recent cold spell, I've taken to wearing a t-shirt under the polo shirt under the sweater. I remember Daddy wearing layers of shirts on the farm. I guess this is more of me becoming him. And I don't worry about how it looks. I mean, it's been cold out there!
In case anybody is worried, I am not dating any astronauts.
Davenport had a water main fail yesterday that affected a wide area including downtown. Lots of inconveniences for residences and businesses. A sidebar story described the problems of frozen water pipes in homes. That certainly brought back memories. We had to take extraordinary measures on the farm with electric heaters to keep the little pump house and the milk house warm enough to keep water flowing to support the Grade A milking operation. I doubt if OSHA would have approved of our system. It's a wonder that we didn't burn the barn down.
It is also my recollection that we had at least one bout of frozen pipes at our Scott Street home in Davenport in the '80's. The brilliant builder of that home had placed one of the pipes to the upstairs bathroom along the front exterior wall. Not that great of a move. But the pipe did not burst and there were no fatal (read expensive) results. That was a cold house. Period.
For the Language Arts students in the crowd, here's a couple of advanced vocabulary words from a national Op-Ed column from today or yesterday discussing the descent to civil war in Iraq. Pogrom is a noun of Russian origin describing an organized persecution and massacre of a minority group. Atavism is a noun of French origin used to describe a reversion to remote ancestral characteristics. I feel like I have a pretty good vocabulary. I had a clue about pogrom. Atavism was completely new to me. Are these writers that good? Or do they have some kind of an automated thesaurus in their computer?
OK. Rivalry Week and Super Tuesday all in one. I'm headed to the bike.
Pretty quiet in the peanut gallery.
Be careful out there.
Here's yet another example of me getting just plain old. My normal winter attire these last few years has been jeans with a sweater over a polo shirt. It's not like I have had an inventory of 30 sweaters, but I have had enough so that it wasn't like I was repeating myself every few days. And I've always had plenty of polo shirts. Even so, I guess one could say that I have set a pretty low standard. With this most recent cold spell, I've taken to wearing a t-shirt under the polo shirt under the sweater. I remember Daddy wearing layers of shirts on the farm. I guess this is more of me becoming him. And I don't worry about how it looks. I mean, it's been cold out there!
In case anybody is worried, I am not dating any astronauts.
Davenport had a water main fail yesterday that affected a wide area including downtown. Lots of inconveniences for residences and businesses. A sidebar story described the problems of frozen water pipes in homes. That certainly brought back memories. We had to take extraordinary measures on the farm with electric heaters to keep the little pump house and the milk house warm enough to keep water flowing to support the Grade A milking operation. I doubt if OSHA would have approved of our system. It's a wonder that we didn't burn the barn down.
It is also my recollection that we had at least one bout of frozen pipes at our Scott Street home in Davenport in the '80's. The brilliant builder of that home had placed one of the pipes to the upstairs bathroom along the front exterior wall. Not that great of a move. But the pipe did not burst and there were no fatal (read expensive) results. That was a cold house. Period.
For the Language Arts students in the crowd, here's a couple of advanced vocabulary words from a national Op-Ed column from today or yesterday discussing the descent to civil war in Iraq. Pogrom is a noun of Russian origin describing an organized persecution and massacre of a minority group. Atavism is a noun of French origin used to describe a reversion to remote ancestral characteristics. I feel like I have a pretty good vocabulary. I had a clue about pogrom. Atavism was completely new to me. Are these writers that good? Or do they have some kind of an automated thesaurus in their computer?
OK. Rivalry Week and Super Tuesday all in one. I'm headed to the bike.
Pretty quiet in the peanut gallery.
Be careful out there.
Monday, February 05, 2007
Monday
Busy day. Monday's usually are.
Still cold here. My pal Bill had a daughter's car not start this AM at a downtown Davenport location. So Bill and my pal Roy and I did our jump-start routine. Using the cables left in the Taurus by 1. (I really kind of owe you for those. They've been used numerous times over the last 18 months.) I remember always having Winter starting problems on the farm. We never had a garage, and the older cars were not all that great at starting in sub-zero, rural Iowa.
The Bears were just awful in the Super Bowl. The game was not as close as the score indicated.
Our Las Vegas readers may have a comment from the local press regarding the over-under bet on the game. The line was set at 48 which meant the 29-17 final score made the under a winner. How do you think the over betters felt when the Colts ran the ball on 4th down at the Bears' 20 with a little less than two minutes left in the game? A chip shot field goal at that time would have made the over guys the winners. Dungy made the right call in not running up the score, but there had to be some very unhappy folks with that decision.
Then there were the nuts who voted on the over-under for the length of Billy Joel's national anthem.
I missed the halftime show as I had to clean-up from my workout. Prince is such a fav of mine.
The commercials that I saw were, as a whole, not much to write home (or to the blog) about.
Jeff Quinney is a young guy on the golf tour who has been close but not able to win in each of the last three weeks. A seemingly humble, nice young man. Yesterday in Scottsdale, he had a two stroke lead with three holes to play, choked, and finished third. Those five foot putts get pretty difficult with a noose around your neck. The dollar impact of finishing third as opposed to first was over $600,000. Ouch!
Speedweeks are underway at Daytona. The Bud Shootout (for last year's various pole winners) is Saturday night. The 500 race is on Sunday the 18th. I know you're excited.
Big Monday. I think it's Rivalry Week. Texas vs. A&M is the second game.
Be careful out there.
Still cold here. My pal Bill had a daughter's car not start this AM at a downtown Davenport location. So Bill and my pal Roy and I did our jump-start routine. Using the cables left in the Taurus by 1. (I really kind of owe you for those. They've been used numerous times over the last 18 months.) I remember always having Winter starting problems on the farm. We never had a garage, and the older cars were not all that great at starting in sub-zero, rural Iowa.
The Bears were just awful in the Super Bowl. The game was not as close as the score indicated.
Our Las Vegas readers may have a comment from the local press regarding the over-under bet on the game. The line was set at 48 which meant the 29-17 final score made the under a winner. How do you think the over betters felt when the Colts ran the ball on 4th down at the Bears' 20 with a little less than two minutes left in the game? A chip shot field goal at that time would have made the over guys the winners. Dungy made the right call in not running up the score, but there had to be some very unhappy folks with that decision.
Then there were the nuts who voted on the over-under for the length of Billy Joel's national anthem.
I missed the halftime show as I had to clean-up from my workout. Prince is such a fav of mine.
The commercials that I saw were, as a whole, not much to write home (or to the blog) about.
Jeff Quinney is a young guy on the golf tour who has been close but not able to win in each of the last three weeks. A seemingly humble, nice young man. Yesterday in Scottsdale, he had a two stroke lead with three holes to play, choked, and finished third. Those five foot putts get pretty difficult with a noose around your neck. The dollar impact of finishing third as opposed to first was over $600,000. Ouch!
Speedweeks are underway at Daytona. The Bud Shootout (for last year's various pole winners) is Saturday night. The 500 race is on Sunday the 18th. I know you're excited.
Big Monday. I think it's Rivalry Week. Texas vs. A&M is the second game.
Be careful out there.
Sunday, February 04, 2007
Still in the deep freeze here. The gauge at my house read -6 this morning. They're talking wind chill today as low as -25. Good day to stay inside.
Speaking of cold, I'll try a Top Ten list of coldest memories, not necessarily in order:
1. The top of Arapaho Basin ski mountain, 1979 or thereabouts. I got off the lift and was immediately, and literally, blown over from a gust coming from the other side of the mountain. They closed the lift after our group got to the top.
2. Mid-afternoon on the West side of Cyclone Stadium in Ames. The lower deck, under the overhang. The last home game of any season. I think I can say that that experience lead to my preference to not go into any non-domed stadium after October 1st (unless there is a luxury box involved).
3. Farm chores. Any winter in the '50's or '60's. Especially taking hay by sled across the fields. And chopping pond ice.
4. Central Iowa. January 1982. Sue and I coming back from our Steamboat ski trip. Our car dies a few miles from Aunt Martha's.
5. Wrigley Field. Early April. Under the overhang in the first deck. With the wind blowing in.
6. AAU youth cross country meet at Scott Community College. Chariots Running Club. Late '80's or early '90's. Possible child abuse.
7. One of the first Winter's in the Century Heights house in the early "90's. The snow drifted so bad at the Heatherstone-Century Heights Avenue intersection that we had to shovel just to get to our own driveway. And the wind!
8. Chicago Winters of 1978-79 and 1979-80. Way too much snow.
9. March baseball games at ND. 1971 in particular. We weren't that good my last year. Just the thought of trying to hit a guy throwin' aspirin tablets in a snow shower still stings my hands.
10. Daddy's burial. Ottumwa. January 1994. Graveside services were brief.
Have I done this list before? If I did, I wonder how many on the list are repeats? What does that say about my memory?
Super Bowl Sunday. There was a time when I went to some parties. Now, I just don't have that much interest, and who wants to start Monday with a hangover? There was a discussion on one radio talk show this past week that considered whether the Monday after the Super Bowl should be made a national holiday. And they were serious.
The Hawkeyes played surprisingly well yesterday and beat a decent Indiana team. Granted, it was in IC, but the Hoosiers have a pretty good record and have won some impressive games. And the earlier game between the teams in Bloomington was essentially a blowout (even though Iowa scored a lot of points in the last few minutes to make the score respectable).
A real neat article in the sports section of the local paper today about my pal Pete. The story was entitled, "My Three Sons", or something to that affect. It was a pretty long piece, with pictures, about sons playing b-ball at Augie, Iowa and at Bettendorf HS. And the parents' travel schedules to see most of the games.
Interesting twist to the end of the Dubai golf tournament. They had to deal with a sand storm. Another example of how you don't fool Mother Nature. You may be able to present a lush, green layout with the liberal use of desalinized water, and imported dirt, but the desert is the desert, and you mix convection currents with sand and trade winds, and you get what you get.
I'm wondering about the effects in the fruit section of the grocery store of the freeze in California a couple of weeks ago. There have been plenty of oranges for sale, at something less than hugely inflated prices. Will they be able to keep a supply going from Florida or South America? I try to eat two fruits a day throughout the year. Apples are almost always available, but I don't expect them to be crisp at this time of year. And I really don't like mooshy apples. Grapes become available irregularly. Now is prime time for oranges. So maybe we'll see shortly what the market does to adjust. I think about these things.
I forgot to add in my comment the other day about the Florida storms that there was a sidebar story about the death of a small flock of whooping cranes (18 of them I think). These were cranes bred last year in Wisconsin and then led South by an ultra-light plane to teach the birds a migration path. Interesting what efforts man might go to to preserve nature (after other men have disregarded it for so long). How can some members of a species (homo sapiens) be so dedicated to preserving life, while others seek only money, power or an after-life with a houseful of virgins?
OK. I need to get back on the bike and the erg machine. A quiet afternoon. Inside. Have a great day.
Be careful out there.
Speaking of cold, I'll try a Top Ten list of coldest memories, not necessarily in order:
1. The top of Arapaho Basin ski mountain, 1979 or thereabouts. I got off the lift and was immediately, and literally, blown over from a gust coming from the other side of the mountain. They closed the lift after our group got to the top.
2. Mid-afternoon on the West side of Cyclone Stadium in Ames. The lower deck, under the overhang. The last home game of any season. I think I can say that that experience lead to my preference to not go into any non-domed stadium after October 1st (unless there is a luxury box involved).
3. Farm chores. Any winter in the '50's or '60's. Especially taking hay by sled across the fields. And chopping pond ice.
4. Central Iowa. January 1982. Sue and I coming back from our Steamboat ski trip. Our car dies a few miles from Aunt Martha's.
5. Wrigley Field. Early April. Under the overhang in the first deck. With the wind blowing in.
6. AAU youth cross country meet at Scott Community College. Chariots Running Club. Late '80's or early '90's. Possible child abuse.
7. One of the first Winter's in the Century Heights house in the early "90's. The snow drifted so bad at the Heatherstone-Century Heights Avenue intersection that we had to shovel just to get to our own driveway. And the wind!
8. Chicago Winters of 1978-79 and 1979-80. Way too much snow.
9. March baseball games at ND. 1971 in particular. We weren't that good my last year. Just the thought of trying to hit a guy throwin' aspirin tablets in a snow shower still stings my hands.
10. Daddy's burial. Ottumwa. January 1994. Graveside services were brief.
Have I done this list before? If I did, I wonder how many on the list are repeats? What does that say about my memory?
Super Bowl Sunday. There was a time when I went to some parties. Now, I just don't have that much interest, and who wants to start Monday with a hangover? There was a discussion on one radio talk show this past week that considered whether the Monday after the Super Bowl should be made a national holiday. And they were serious.
The Hawkeyes played surprisingly well yesterday and beat a decent Indiana team. Granted, it was in IC, but the Hoosiers have a pretty good record and have won some impressive games. And the earlier game between the teams in Bloomington was essentially a blowout (even though Iowa scored a lot of points in the last few minutes to make the score respectable).
A real neat article in the sports section of the local paper today about my pal Pete. The story was entitled, "My Three Sons", or something to that affect. It was a pretty long piece, with pictures, about sons playing b-ball at Augie, Iowa and at Bettendorf HS. And the parents' travel schedules to see most of the games.
Interesting twist to the end of the Dubai golf tournament. They had to deal with a sand storm. Another example of how you don't fool Mother Nature. You may be able to present a lush, green layout with the liberal use of desalinized water, and imported dirt, but the desert is the desert, and you mix convection currents with sand and trade winds, and you get what you get.
I'm wondering about the effects in the fruit section of the grocery store of the freeze in California a couple of weeks ago. There have been plenty of oranges for sale, at something less than hugely inflated prices. Will they be able to keep a supply going from Florida or South America? I try to eat two fruits a day throughout the year. Apples are almost always available, but I don't expect them to be crisp at this time of year. And I really don't like mooshy apples. Grapes become available irregularly. Now is prime time for oranges. So maybe we'll see shortly what the market does to adjust. I think about these things.
I forgot to add in my comment the other day about the Florida storms that there was a sidebar story about the death of a small flock of whooping cranes (18 of them I think). These were cranes bred last year in Wisconsin and then led South by an ultra-light plane to teach the birds a migration path. Interesting what efforts man might go to to preserve nature (after other men have disregarded it for so long). How can some members of a species (homo sapiens) be so dedicated to preserving life, while others seek only money, power or an after-life with a houseful of virgins?
OK. I need to get back on the bike and the erg machine. A quiet afternoon. Inside. Have a great day.
Be careful out there.
Saturday, February 03, 2007
Saturday
This is Winter. Being outside for any length of time is not wise. Just getting gas requires crawling back into the car while the fuel is pumping.
1's pictures of her half marathon last weekend looked like something other than a walk in the park.
For PV fans last night was a red letter evening. Varsity b-ball boy/girl doubleheader and PV took wins in both games. I don't think either school expects much tournament success this year, and these wins are meaningful for such rivalries.
Central Florida had a killer storm rage through some towns this week with over 20 deaths. Most of the fear there had been for hurricanes, which did not come around much this past year. One of the communities hardest hit was The Villages, which is a popular retirement place that is nationally advertised. They tout "free golf for life" on their courses, including ones with Arnold Palmer and Nancy Lopez as spokespersons.
When you think about it, there really aren't any sections of the USA totally immune to weather issues. Snow, wind, water,heat, cold. We have it all.
All for today. Hope everyone has a safe weekend.
Be careful out there.
1's pictures of her half marathon last weekend looked like something other than a walk in the park.
For PV fans last night was a red letter evening. Varsity b-ball boy/girl doubleheader and PV took wins in both games. I don't think either school expects much tournament success this year, and these wins are meaningful for such rivalries.
Central Florida had a killer storm rage through some towns this week with over 20 deaths. Most of the fear there had been for hurricanes, which did not come around much this past year. One of the communities hardest hit was The Villages, which is a popular retirement place that is nationally advertised. They tout "free golf for life" on their courses, including ones with Arnold Palmer and Nancy Lopez as spokespersons.
When you think about it, there really aren't any sections of the USA totally immune to weather issues. Snow, wind, water,heat, cold. We have it all.
All for today. Hope everyone has a safe weekend.
Be careful out there.
Friday, February 02, 2007
Friday
In the deep freeze here.
Nothing too profound to add today. I'm sure that I'll be more creative tomorrow.
Be careful out there.
Nothing too profound to add today. I'm sure that I'll be more creative tomorrow.
Be careful out there.
Thursday, February 01, 2007
Thursday
How 'bout them Hawks? I was stunned to return to the game in the last 6-8 minutes and find them ahead. And even though they gave up most of the lead, UM displayed the lack of heart that all of Amacher's teams have shown in the past. Did you see the ring of empty seats in the upper deck at Crysler Arena? Maybe they have the same love of their team as do the folks in IC.
I will be real happy to get passed the Super Bowl. It is especially bad this year because of "Da Bears". I listen to a lot of Chicago radio on a routine basis. This past couple of weeks has been wall-to-wall Bears on every station. Enough already.
Hey 1! Would you like to give the readers a grammar lesson on the use of passed and past?
Profoundly liberal political columnist Molly Ivins died of breast cancer this week at the age of 62. I never thought much of her ideas or of her irreverence to the President. She seemed to take great pride in her uncompromising criticism of anything George Bush. In many respects, she was a flash point for the deep divisions in our country's mental health. Liberals loved her every word. Conservatives decried her in ugly response to her musings. I sincerely wish that the strident voices on both sides of the abyss would stop yelling and scolding each other, and would work together to find some common ground for the benefit of all.
Nobody deserves to die of breast cancer at age 62.
And exactly what happened to January? Then again, Spring is next month.
My buddy Bill's recently college-graduated daughter left from SF this morning to begin her life as a Peace Corps volunteer in Cambodia. For two years. For like $6 grand a year. I know there are the intrinsic benefits of the experience and all that, but it makes me a little nervous. Fourty years ago, the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia were our sworn enemies. I think. Good, bad, indifferent or otherwise, I hope my girls stay in the US of A.
Throwdown Thursday.
Be careful out there.
I will be real happy to get passed the Super Bowl. It is especially bad this year because of "Da Bears". I listen to a lot of Chicago radio on a routine basis. This past couple of weeks has been wall-to-wall Bears on every station. Enough already.
Hey 1! Would you like to give the readers a grammar lesson on the use of passed and past?
Profoundly liberal political columnist Molly Ivins died of breast cancer this week at the age of 62. I never thought much of her ideas or of her irreverence to the President. She seemed to take great pride in her uncompromising criticism of anything George Bush. In many respects, she was a flash point for the deep divisions in our country's mental health. Liberals loved her every word. Conservatives decried her in ugly response to her musings. I sincerely wish that the strident voices on both sides of the abyss would stop yelling and scolding each other, and would work together to find some common ground for the benefit of all.
Nobody deserves to die of breast cancer at age 62.
And exactly what happened to January? Then again, Spring is next month.
My buddy Bill's recently college-graduated daughter left from SF this morning to begin her life as a Peace Corps volunteer in Cambodia. For two years. For like $6 grand a year. I know there are the intrinsic benefits of the experience and all that, but it makes me a little nervous. Fourty years ago, the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia were our sworn enemies. I think. Good, bad, indifferent or otherwise, I hope my girls stay in the US of A.
Throwdown Thursday.
Be careful out there.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Wednesday
Another cold day in the Midwest. And the forecast is for more of the same this weekend.
For the cycling enthusiasts out there, the Tour of Qatar is underway in the Mideast desert. Quickstep's Tom Boonen has won three stages in a row, twice besting Ale Jet (Petacchi of Milram) in field-sprint finishes. Check it out on www.cyclingnews.com.
It's a bit funny seeing the few daily post-race photos from Qatar as compared to similar shots from European races. In Qatar, there's maybe a single male in a traditional headdress (keffiyeh or kuffyah or other spelling depending on your Arabic translation), while in Europe you have at least two podium girls, usually with many assets, all over the winners. Not to mention the photo-journalists' shots of other attractions in the crowds. Here in Qatar, you have sand.
They pronounce it, "Cutter", which seems a little crude. The pronunciation reminds me of the cycling cult film, Breaking Away, which was shot mostly in Bloomington, Indiana. The town boys were known as "cutters", a reference to the town's older generation of laborers who worked the stone quarries and "cut" the granite which was used to build the university's buildings.
I was not much of a biking person at the time. But I did think that the college girl in the movie, Robin Douglass was worthy of a second viewing.
Speaking of sand, Tiger is in Dubai this week, another of the Arab Emirates down the Persian Gulf from Qatar. I think Tiger gets like $3 large to show up, and then gets whatever he might win as well. I've seen some pictures of the Dubai golf course from the air, which is like seeing an oasis in the middle of the desert. Duh!
2 and I did lunch at Mac's in downtown Davenport today. Mac's has a rich history in Davenport politics, and St. Patrick's Day. The place has had some ownership changes in recent years, and there was not much of a crowd today. Not bad sandwiches though.
The new Kelly's on 53rd actually has a big digital clock behind the bar that counts down the time for the entire year until St. Pat's Day. Our waitress the last time I was there gave some huge number as the number of customers they get in the place that one day.
Former Governor Vilsack has taken Jim Leach's lead and has signed on as a visiting professor at Drake in DM.
My Russian cleaning lady was through the place yesterday. I had to remind her that there was dust in my laundry room. I think she was a little embarrassed that I had to point that out. She certainly did a great job catching up. Then again, I live by myself. No pets. I'm gone most of the day. I'm rarely in the house, at least not asleep, for more than four hours a day during the week. And I'm a bit anal about the state of the place anyway. It's pretty easy money.
I'm outta here. ACC Wednesday.
Be careful out there.
For the cycling enthusiasts out there, the Tour of Qatar is underway in the Mideast desert. Quickstep's Tom Boonen has won three stages in a row, twice besting Ale Jet (Petacchi of Milram) in field-sprint finishes. Check it out on www.cyclingnews.com.
It's a bit funny seeing the few daily post-race photos from Qatar as compared to similar shots from European races. In Qatar, there's maybe a single male in a traditional headdress (keffiyeh or kuffyah or other spelling depending on your Arabic translation), while in Europe you have at least two podium girls, usually with many assets, all over the winners. Not to mention the photo-journalists' shots of other attractions in the crowds. Here in Qatar, you have sand.
They pronounce it, "Cutter", which seems a little crude. The pronunciation reminds me of the cycling cult film, Breaking Away, which was shot mostly in Bloomington, Indiana. The town boys were known as "cutters", a reference to the town's older generation of laborers who worked the stone quarries and "cut" the granite which was used to build the university's buildings.
I was not much of a biking person at the time. But I did think that the college girl in the movie, Robin Douglass was worthy of a second viewing.
Speaking of sand, Tiger is in Dubai this week, another of the Arab Emirates down the Persian Gulf from Qatar. I think Tiger gets like $3 large to show up, and then gets whatever he might win as well. I've seen some pictures of the Dubai golf course from the air, which is like seeing an oasis in the middle of the desert. Duh!
2 and I did lunch at Mac's in downtown Davenport today. Mac's has a rich history in Davenport politics, and St. Patrick's Day. The place has had some ownership changes in recent years, and there was not much of a crowd today. Not bad sandwiches though.
The new Kelly's on 53rd actually has a big digital clock behind the bar that counts down the time for the entire year until St. Pat's Day. Our waitress the last time I was there gave some huge number as the number of customers they get in the place that one day.
Former Governor Vilsack has taken Jim Leach's lead and has signed on as a visiting professor at Drake in DM.
My Russian cleaning lady was through the place yesterday. I had to remind her that there was dust in my laundry room. I think she was a little embarrassed that I had to point that out. She certainly did a great job catching up. Then again, I live by myself. No pets. I'm gone most of the day. I'm rarely in the house, at least not asleep, for more than four hours a day during the week. And I'm a bit anal about the state of the place anyway. It's pretty easy money.
I'm outta here. ACC Wednesday.
Be careful out there.
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Tuesday
The day got away from me this afternoon. Too many irons in the fire.
Enjoyed 1's comments. She reports that her 9th grade girls won again today. Still just the single loss for the season. They're going to want her to coach again next year.
Sorry for the lack of creativity tonight. I'm just outta gas.
Be careful out there.
Enjoyed 1's comments. She reports that her 9th grade girls won again today. Still just the single loss for the season. They're going to want her to coach again next year.
Sorry for the lack of creativity tonight. I'm just outta gas.
Be careful out there.
Monday, January 29, 2007
Monday PM
Well, we appear to be back in business with our network. Turns out our back-up system worked, but we needed to by-pass one of the peripheral routers that must have been fried in the power outage on Saturday morning.
We had a cold snap come through over the weekend. Bitter cold going to the game with 2 on Saturday night. I hardly went outside on Sunday. Not quite as bad today.
Big Monday.
The Hawks were awful on Sunday. 4 was in the front row, but I didn't see her. I know Wisconsin is good, but they made Iowa look inept. The announcers were kind in describing Iowa's "rebuilding" squad. Stevie will never be confused with the coaches who don't rebuild, but rather reload. Then again, it is Iowa City, and there is not a long line of Parade All-Americans waiting for their chance to play in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
I finally got on the bike and erg machine over the weekend. It was a long time coming. Now I just have to get some momentum going for the next 60 days to be ready for the outdoors.
My pal Roy and I registered today for the state-required coaching classes through the community college so that he can be a golf coach this year. My roll is to get him to class. I have no plans to coach anything. Ever. The classes will mean that a number of my March evenings will be spoken for. And most will be in Clinton as Roy has travel scheduled for the heart of February when the classes are held in Davenport.
My illness has mostly passed, but I'm not 100% of where I would like to feel. Food still doesn't taste all that good. And Tuscan red is not all that appealling right now either.
Hillary was in town over the weekend. David Broder took a swipe at her in his weekend column for her failure to question the new general in charge of the Iraq when the general appeared before her committee last week. Apparently, rather than ask questions of the general, like other members of the committee, she chose to use her alloted time to give what amounted to be a political speech.
1 had a successful half marathon on Saturday in St. Paul. She and her friend completed the race in under 1.55 which I think is wonderful. She did say it was one of the most poorly run events that she has participated in from an organizational stand point.
2, 3, and 4 seem to be keeping up with some post-holiday season fitness resolutions. February amounts to the "dog days of winter" in maintaining those commitments. Once March, comes, the days get longer and a little warmer, and running outside gets in the equation.
I just did a Wikipedia search on "dog days" and it is mildly interesting. It is a myth that goes back to Roman times when it was thought that heat from the Canis Major star Sirius was partially responsible for the extra warmth in mid-Summer. I was using the term somewhat metaphorically and tongue-in-cheek above as most people do recognize it as a Summer description used when the days get tougher to handle. My personal knowledge would first place it in baseball lore, with the heat, the already long season, and nagging minor injuries all contributing to the challenge of daily games.
Life is like a baseball game. Think of all the terms that are in common usage that come from the game. "The prosecuting attorney through a curve ball at the defense today." "That idea was a home run." "You're playing in the big leagues now, son" "Three strikes and you're out."
I could go on, but I don't want to lose my audience.
Hope everyone has a good week. Remember that written notes of thanks will always be well-received. And buy a friend a cup of coffee this week, just for fun. (If they drink triple-shots of foo-foo stuff, buy the scone instead!)
Be careful out there.
We had a cold snap come through over the weekend. Bitter cold going to the game with 2 on Saturday night. I hardly went outside on Sunday. Not quite as bad today.
Big Monday.
The Hawks were awful on Sunday. 4 was in the front row, but I didn't see her. I know Wisconsin is good, but they made Iowa look inept. The announcers were kind in describing Iowa's "rebuilding" squad. Stevie will never be confused with the coaches who don't rebuild, but rather reload. Then again, it is Iowa City, and there is not a long line of Parade All-Americans waiting for their chance to play in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
I finally got on the bike and erg machine over the weekend. It was a long time coming. Now I just have to get some momentum going for the next 60 days to be ready for the outdoors.
My pal Roy and I registered today for the state-required coaching classes through the community college so that he can be a golf coach this year. My roll is to get him to class. I have no plans to coach anything. Ever. The classes will mean that a number of my March evenings will be spoken for. And most will be in Clinton as Roy has travel scheduled for the heart of February when the classes are held in Davenport.
My illness has mostly passed, but I'm not 100% of where I would like to feel. Food still doesn't taste all that good. And Tuscan red is not all that appealling right now either.
Hillary was in town over the weekend. David Broder took a swipe at her in his weekend column for her failure to question the new general in charge of the Iraq when the general appeared before her committee last week. Apparently, rather than ask questions of the general, like other members of the committee, she chose to use her alloted time to give what amounted to be a political speech.
1 had a successful half marathon on Saturday in St. Paul. She and her friend completed the race in under 1.55 which I think is wonderful. She did say it was one of the most poorly run events that she has participated in from an organizational stand point.
2, 3, and 4 seem to be keeping up with some post-holiday season fitness resolutions. February amounts to the "dog days of winter" in maintaining those commitments. Once March, comes, the days get longer and a little warmer, and running outside gets in the equation.
I just did a Wikipedia search on "dog days" and it is mildly interesting. It is a myth that goes back to Roman times when it was thought that heat from the Canis Major star Sirius was partially responsible for the extra warmth in mid-Summer. I was using the term somewhat metaphorically and tongue-in-cheek above as most people do recognize it as a Summer description used when the days get tougher to handle. My personal knowledge would first place it in baseball lore, with the heat, the already long season, and nagging minor injuries all contributing to the challenge of daily games.
Life is like a baseball game. Think of all the terms that are in common usage that come from the game. "The prosecuting attorney through a curve ball at the defense today." "That idea was a home run." "You're playing in the big leagues now, son" "Three strikes and you're out."
I could go on, but I don't want to lose my audience.
Hope everyone has a good week. Remember that written notes of thanks will always be well-received. And buy a friend a cup of coffee this week, just for fun. (If they drink triple-shots of foo-foo stuff, buy the scone instead!)
Be careful out there.
Monday AM
We have had severe network problems here since early Saturday. There was a power outage in the area and when it came back on, we were unable to get our internal systems operational. It would appear that a couple of our hardware units attached to the server have been fried. We'll know more later today. I hope.
I'll make an entry later today to catch up with the weekend.
I'll make an entry later today to catch up with the weekend.
Friday, January 26, 2007
Friday AM
3 accurately points out that my math was in error for the Wednesday night game. 2 was my companion. Sorry for the mis-direction.
More later
More later
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Thursday
3 can pass on the details from last night's game. Augie won on a buzzer-beater. We were treated like VIPs and had a great time. It's nice to have friends like my pal Roy.
The running commentary in the local press is on the traffic camera systems that the city of Davenport has set up at several locations in the city. For both red light and speed enforcement. Some judge ruled last month that the tickets issued under the camera monitoring system were illegal. The city has been trying to figure out a response. Opinions among the public are widespread, ranging from rational to off-the-wall.
I'm not particularly troubled by the camera system. If it slows some people down, so much the better. I am critical of the city if they didn't have their legal eagles fully research the system in advance of adopting the program. It is more than a little surprising that the company selling the systems didn't have that ground covered beforehand. Then again, even cities need to remember the "buyer beware" rules.
Interestingly, the camera systems are not so much as "purchased" by the city as they are the core element of a partnership established between the system designers/sellers and the municipality. The system designers get the city to allow them to put in the equipment, and then once operational, the designers and the city split the fines collected from violators. Properly installed mechanically, and legally ok, it's a bit like automatically printing money.
Now one of the indirect effects of the traffic camera system that I do find troubling is the expansion of video recording of the general public. Almost any episode of CSI will at some point resort to the images of an ATM or airport security camera, or even one from the mall, and all of a sudden John Doe is center stage. See also, The Bourne Identity. It's always been that way in Vegas. The casinos are watching the customers, the bartenders, the dealers, the pit bosses, and the people who are supposed to be watching all those people. Now they have you on film in the Food Court at Northpark. Which, after the 100 person melee there last weekend, may not ultimately be the worst thing in the world.
As I frequently tell my pal Roy, you're not below radar, bud.
Since I probably won't add much to the blog tomorrow, good luck to 1 on her half this weekend. (I just talked to her. She's a little whiney because of a rush hour traffic jam.)
The DM Registered published the 2007 RAGBRAI route today. It's a north route that ends in Bellevue, which is a normal Sunday morning breakfast stop on the way back from Dubuque on the TOMRV ride in early June. RAGBRAI starts Sunday July 22, so any of the wedding revelers who have an inkling toward the ride will need to beat feet Saturday. Just joking.
Have a good evening.
Be careful out there.
The running commentary in the local press is on the traffic camera systems that the city of Davenport has set up at several locations in the city. For both red light and speed enforcement. Some judge ruled last month that the tickets issued under the camera monitoring system were illegal. The city has been trying to figure out a response. Opinions among the public are widespread, ranging from rational to off-the-wall.
I'm not particularly troubled by the camera system. If it slows some people down, so much the better. I am critical of the city if they didn't have their legal eagles fully research the system in advance of adopting the program. It is more than a little surprising that the company selling the systems didn't have that ground covered beforehand. Then again, even cities need to remember the "buyer beware" rules.
Interestingly, the camera systems are not so much as "purchased" by the city as they are the core element of a partnership established between the system designers/sellers and the municipality. The system designers get the city to allow them to put in the equipment, and then once operational, the designers and the city split the fines collected from violators. Properly installed mechanically, and legally ok, it's a bit like automatically printing money.
Now one of the indirect effects of the traffic camera system that I do find troubling is the expansion of video recording of the general public. Almost any episode of CSI will at some point resort to the images of an ATM or airport security camera, or even one from the mall, and all of a sudden John Doe is center stage. See also, The Bourne Identity. It's always been that way in Vegas. The casinos are watching the customers, the bartenders, the dealers, the pit bosses, and the people who are supposed to be watching all those people. Now they have you on film in the Food Court at Northpark. Which, after the 100 person melee there last weekend, may not ultimately be the worst thing in the world.
As I frequently tell my pal Roy, you're not below radar, bud.
Since I probably won't add much to the blog tomorrow, good luck to 1 on her half this weekend. (I just talked to her. She's a little whiney because of a rush hour traffic jam.)
The DM Registered published the 2007 RAGBRAI route today. It's a north route that ends in Bellevue, which is a normal Sunday morning breakfast stop on the way back from Dubuque on the TOMRV ride in early June. RAGBRAI starts Sunday July 22, so any of the wedding revelers who have an inkling toward the ride will need to beat feet Saturday. Just joking.
Have a good evening.
Be careful out there.
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Wednesday
This has been a funny week. My evenings have been congested and will continue to be so. Augie game tonight with my pal Roy and another business dinner tormorrow night.
Lots in the news this week. I have enjoyed the Bears' victory and hope they show up against Indy. Mostly, the media circus preceding The Big Game (not wanting to transgress on any trademarks here) is actually something to avoid. I think that the population of Las Vegas swells to some huge number the weekend of the game. Like it does for the NCAA tournament.
1 has selected the Crowne Plaza in Eagan as the central gathering place for the wedding. It is near the airport and the Mall of America. Looks like a nice place from the pictures on the web.
There was a syndicated column in today's local paper about cabbies in the Twin Cities not taking fares from the airport if there were carrying alcohol. Something about Muslims from Somalia being the predominant nationality of cab drivers in the area. And the Muslims have this thing about, or against, alcohol. Selective discrimination of a sort. Like the pro-life pharmacists who refused to fill prescriptions for the morning-after pill. Interesting dynamics in this country.
I have this little problem with my new Ironman watch. The band has about a dozen holes for the clasp to go through, but the perfect fit for me is a spot in the band right between two of the holes. I either go too loose, or a little too tight. Which raises the question, how much of life is spent trying to fit into pre-selected settings? Arguably, I have the same problem with jeans, belts, shoes, shirts, golf grips, glasses, my telephone headset, my bike, etc., etc., etc. I think we've hit another Sienfeld black hole. Think about how we are all shoe-horned into a life that really doesn't quite fit. We're all a little like OJ and the glove.
Grinell College made the front page of the DM Register this week for substantial planned tuition hikes. I didn't read the entire article, but the gist of it was that the schools who are considered their primary competition had higher costs, so Grinnell needed to match the competition. Say what? Doesn't Grinnell have like a gazillion dollar endowment?
Former Iowa Congressman Jim Leach is taking a three semester job teaching at Princeton. Pretty heady stuff to have your professor in international politics be a guy who was on the frontline of US policy-making. Maybe he'll do some similar work closer to home after Princeton.
So I'm off to my evening stuff. Thanks for reading.
Be careful out there.
Lots in the news this week. I have enjoyed the Bears' victory and hope they show up against Indy. Mostly, the media circus preceding The Big Game (not wanting to transgress on any trademarks here) is actually something to avoid. I think that the population of Las Vegas swells to some huge number the weekend of the game. Like it does for the NCAA tournament.
1 has selected the Crowne Plaza in Eagan as the central gathering place for the wedding. It is near the airport and the Mall of America. Looks like a nice place from the pictures on the web.
There was a syndicated column in today's local paper about cabbies in the Twin Cities not taking fares from the airport if there were carrying alcohol. Something about Muslims from Somalia being the predominant nationality of cab drivers in the area. And the Muslims have this thing about, or against, alcohol. Selective discrimination of a sort. Like the pro-life pharmacists who refused to fill prescriptions for the morning-after pill. Interesting dynamics in this country.
I have this little problem with my new Ironman watch. The band has about a dozen holes for the clasp to go through, but the perfect fit for me is a spot in the band right between two of the holes. I either go too loose, or a little too tight. Which raises the question, how much of life is spent trying to fit into pre-selected settings? Arguably, I have the same problem with jeans, belts, shoes, shirts, golf grips, glasses, my telephone headset, my bike, etc., etc., etc. I think we've hit another Sienfeld black hole. Think about how we are all shoe-horned into a life that really doesn't quite fit. We're all a little like OJ and the glove.
Grinell College made the front page of the DM Register this week for substantial planned tuition hikes. I didn't read the entire article, but the gist of it was that the schools who are considered their primary competition had higher costs, so Grinnell needed to match the competition. Say what? Doesn't Grinnell have like a gazillion dollar endowment?
Former Iowa Congressman Jim Leach is taking a three semester job teaching at Princeton. Pretty heady stuff to have your professor in international politics be a guy who was on the frontline of US policy-making. Maybe he'll do some similar work closer to home after Princeton.
So I'm off to my evening stuff. Thanks for reading.
Be careful out there.
Monday, January 22, 2007
Monday PM
Let's see, I failed to show on Sunday. Sorry. I never got to the office after early coffee. Too much football.
And I need to get away this evening. So I'll do a more reasonable entry tomorrow.
Be careful out there.
And I need to get away this evening. So I'll do a more reasonable entry tomorrow.
Be careful out there.
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Saturday
Not much to report from here. Sunny and cool. The forecast is for snow tomorrow.
3 is back in Chicago for the weekend. 4 has a sorority function in Omaha. 2 may be in recovery from some bad shrimp at the office party yesterday afternoon.
I had an interesting visit yesterday from an ND classmate from Ohio who was in town on businesss. I hadn't seen him in 30 years. He played second base on our baseball team and we were pretty good friends the last couple of years of undergrad school. He went into the Marines after graduation and we saw one another in Virginia a few times in the early '70's when I was stationed at Dover. He now has a software company and he was in town selling software to a company who uses my partner for tax services. He saw my name on our letterhead that was with some financial information shown to him by the client and he made the call. It's truly a small world.
An article in the local paper this AM described a gal originally from Davenport West who recently won a winter triathlon out in Colorado. Heather Best. She was a multi-sport star who may have been the local Female Athlete of the Year her senior year. She's with the Forestry Service in Alaska now, I think. The triathlon was bike, run, and cross-country ski. 5-7 miles each. In the snow. She completed it in less than two hours.
In another ND baseball story, Jeff Samardzija, the record-setting football receiver who also played baseball, was given a $10 million deal by the Chicago Cubs to play baseball. The deal included a $2.5 million signing bonus, and options on a couple more years that could make it a $16.5 in total. By contrast, my ND graduation deal was, "Welcome to the US Air Force. We pay $750 a month."
I also have to fix my mail box today. Not that I get that much mail. But the door to it now falls off when it is pulled to open the box. I don't think that the mailman sees much humor in it's lack of a funtional hinge mechanism. (A day dreamer might bring up the children's story of, Donald's Magical Mailbox, but that's another story.)
I'm off to clean up the Buick and go get the Taurus so that I have the older car when the snow comes in tomorrow.
Have a great day out there. Everyone be safe in their travels.
Be careful out there.
3 is back in Chicago for the weekend. 4 has a sorority function in Omaha. 2 may be in recovery from some bad shrimp at the office party yesterday afternoon.
I had an interesting visit yesterday from an ND classmate from Ohio who was in town on businesss. I hadn't seen him in 30 years. He played second base on our baseball team and we were pretty good friends the last couple of years of undergrad school. He went into the Marines after graduation and we saw one another in Virginia a few times in the early '70's when I was stationed at Dover. He now has a software company and he was in town selling software to a company who uses my partner for tax services. He saw my name on our letterhead that was with some financial information shown to him by the client and he made the call. It's truly a small world.
An article in the local paper this AM described a gal originally from Davenport West who recently won a winter triathlon out in Colorado. Heather Best. She was a multi-sport star who may have been the local Female Athlete of the Year her senior year. She's with the Forestry Service in Alaska now, I think. The triathlon was bike, run, and cross-country ski. 5-7 miles each. In the snow. She completed it in less than two hours.
In another ND baseball story, Jeff Samardzija, the record-setting football receiver who also played baseball, was given a $10 million deal by the Chicago Cubs to play baseball. The deal included a $2.5 million signing bonus, and options on a couple more years that could make it a $16.5 in total. By contrast, my ND graduation deal was, "Welcome to the US Air Force. We pay $750 a month."
I also have to fix my mail box today. Not that I get that much mail. But the door to it now falls off when it is pulled to open the box. I don't think that the mailman sees much humor in it's lack of a funtional hinge mechanism. (A day dreamer might bring up the children's story of, Donald's Magical Mailbox, but that's another story.)
I'm off to clean up the Buick and go get the Taurus so that I have the older car when the snow comes in tomorrow.
Have a great day out there. Everyone be safe in their travels.
Be careful out there.
Friday, January 19, 2007
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Thursday
Aunt Martha says that 1 should check out the newly released movie, Freedom Writers, with Hillary Swank. I guess it's a film about a new, young female teacher in an inner-city school. Didn't Michelle Pfieffer star in one called Dangerous Minds with the same concept?
Senator Grassley must have been reading 4000 Days. A lead story in the DM Register today was about his hearing on the validity of tax deductions for contributions to state university athletic programs.
My Saturday online order of Gap jeans was delivered to my door-step yesterday. I was impressed. Perfect fit. I'm a convert.
This could correlate to my days in C-town at AA & Co where I ordered my dress shoes from the shoe-shine guy who would come to your desk to take care of your shoes. He had catalogs and it was perfect shopping for a man.
I'm targeting Saturday as the start of my Spring Training. I figure I'll do bike training and rowing in my basement gym. My health level has returned to normal and I need to pick up the baton.
For the cycling fans, The Tour Down Under started this week in Australia. Not very many of the big names are there, but several of the big teams have sent some of their second-line guys. And the Australians have their stars all in it. The sport still is on it's ear with drug investigations. I don't know if they can get the testing coordinated enough to drive out the cheaters.
An interesting story in USA Today today or yesterday about how blogs have taken the place of diaries, particularly of teenage girls. I didn't read the entire article, but it is interesting how blogs can today open up some communication lines that in many cases never found their way out of the locked diary book. It is still hard for parents and children to have a full-disclosure relationship, but a blog is a powerful tool to at least get some thoughts out there for each generation to digest.
2 has elevated her game as the museum's sommelier (wine steward) such that they gave her the responsibility to pick the wine for the company Christmas/Holiday party to be held this weekend. Good for her. A hint: stay away from the Boone's Farm.
I had planned to get the Taurus tonight so that I would have it to drive in this lousy weather. But 2 advised me that Thursday night is a big tube night, so the exchange will have to happen this weekend. If it's not Big Monday, Super Tuesday, or ACC Wednesday, what's the deal?
Just kidding.
But with that in mind, I know that for most of you this evening it will just be about moving from the couch to the chair to the kitchen and other such back and forths. But even so...
Be careful out there.
Senator Grassley must have been reading 4000 Days. A lead story in the DM Register today was about his hearing on the validity of tax deductions for contributions to state university athletic programs.
My Saturday online order of Gap jeans was delivered to my door-step yesterday. I was impressed. Perfect fit. I'm a convert.
This could correlate to my days in C-town at AA & Co where I ordered my dress shoes from the shoe-shine guy who would come to your desk to take care of your shoes. He had catalogs and it was perfect shopping for a man.
I'm targeting Saturday as the start of my Spring Training. I figure I'll do bike training and rowing in my basement gym. My health level has returned to normal and I need to pick up the baton.
For the cycling fans, The Tour Down Under started this week in Australia. Not very many of the big names are there, but several of the big teams have sent some of their second-line guys. And the Australians have their stars all in it. The sport still is on it's ear with drug investigations. I don't know if they can get the testing coordinated enough to drive out the cheaters.
An interesting story in USA Today today or yesterday about how blogs have taken the place of diaries, particularly of teenage girls. I didn't read the entire article, but it is interesting how blogs can today open up some communication lines that in many cases never found their way out of the locked diary book. It is still hard for parents and children to have a full-disclosure relationship, but a blog is a powerful tool to at least get some thoughts out there for each generation to digest.
2 has elevated her game as the museum's sommelier (wine steward) such that they gave her the responsibility to pick the wine for the company Christmas/Holiday party to be held this weekend. Good for her. A hint: stay away from the Boone's Farm.
I had planned to get the Taurus tonight so that I would have it to drive in this lousy weather. But 2 advised me that Thursday night is a big tube night, so the exchange will have to happen this weekend. If it's not Big Monday, Super Tuesday, or ACC Wednesday, what's the deal?
Just kidding.
But with that in mind, I know that for most of you this evening it will just be about moving from the couch to the chair to the kitchen and other such back and forths. But even so...
Be careful out there.
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Wednesday
Not a lot news at this end. Cool weather. But some sunshine. Hey, it's winter.
Craig Wilson was writing in USA Today today about being at the gym with a "perky" little personal trainer for some post-holiday season work-outs. Kind of funny. It didn't sound like his heart was into the concept.
Is there a worse TV venue than Indiana's b-ball arena? When they say the "nose bleed" sections, I think that Indiana is the prime example.
I heard on C-town sports radio today some commentary on the IU-Iowa game. Basically that Sampson has brought some fight back into the Hoosiers. But also that ESPN/ABC's Erin Andrews has become a rock star among the college male audience. My guess is that she'll up-grade to Tom Brady or Peyton Manning pretty soon.
Big indictments in DM over the CIETC scandal. Once the Register reporters got onto that story, it was only a matter of time. Some very greedy people will pay the piper. As they should. How people working in not-for-profit enterprises delude themselves into thinking that their positions merit huge compensation packages is a mystery to me. And sooner or later, the mudrakers will find out the secrets. Which are supposed to be public records anyway.
Of course, college coaches' deals might be in this same area for analysis.
Nice to see gas back under two bucks. The whole business of supply and demand of oil is another mystery. Long term, the price of a barrel of crude will go over $100. Once China and India develop the appetite for fuel like we have in the States, look out.
The word is that Toyota will be the largest auto producer in the world this year. Can GM and Ford ever return to true profitability? To do so will require them to shed the legacy costs of their retirees. That will be messy and expensive. The question is, do they have the financial ability to get past those issues and then retool their business models to compete with Asia?
Glad to see 4 back online.
ACC Wednesday.
Be careful out there.
Craig Wilson was writing in USA Today today about being at the gym with a "perky" little personal trainer for some post-holiday season work-outs. Kind of funny. It didn't sound like his heart was into the concept.
Is there a worse TV venue than Indiana's b-ball arena? When they say the "nose bleed" sections, I think that Indiana is the prime example.
I heard on C-town sports radio today some commentary on the IU-Iowa game. Basically that Sampson has brought some fight back into the Hoosiers. But also that ESPN/ABC's Erin Andrews has become a rock star among the college male audience. My guess is that she'll up-grade to Tom Brady or Peyton Manning pretty soon.
Big indictments in DM over the CIETC scandal. Once the Register reporters got onto that story, it was only a matter of time. Some very greedy people will pay the piper. As they should. How people working in not-for-profit enterprises delude themselves into thinking that their positions merit huge compensation packages is a mystery to me. And sooner or later, the mudrakers will find out the secrets. Which are supposed to be public records anyway.
Of course, college coaches' deals might be in this same area for analysis.
Nice to see gas back under two bucks. The whole business of supply and demand of oil is another mystery. Long term, the price of a barrel of crude will go over $100. Once China and India develop the appetite for fuel like we have in the States, look out.
The word is that Toyota will be the largest auto producer in the world this year. Can GM and Ford ever return to true profitability? To do so will require them to shed the legacy costs of their retirees. That will be messy and expensive. The question is, do they have the financial ability to get past those issues and then retool their business models to compete with Asia?
Glad to see 4 back online.
ACC Wednesday.
Be careful out there.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Tuesday
This is a non-blog night. I have a dinner-meeting shortly after 5PM so I'll catch-up here tomorrow.
Enjoyed 4's entry last night. She needs to keep at it.
Hawks play at Indiana tonight. It will likely be a long evening for Iowa.
I have some pics from 4's b-day, Cabo and last weekend that I will try to get on the net tomorrow. It's hard to take a bad picture with my camera.
Thanks for checking in.
Be careful out there.
Enjoyed 4's entry last night. She needs to keep at it.
Hawks play at Indiana tonight. It will likely be a long evening for Iowa.
I have some pics from 4's b-day, Cabo and last weekend that I will try to get on the net tomorrow. It's hard to take a bad picture with my camera.
Thanks for checking in.
Be careful out there.
Monday, January 15, 2007
Monday PM
4 needs to give us something.
I'm off to Big Monday. The second game is a border was with KU and Mizzou.
Have a good evening.
And be extra careful out there in the weather.
I'm off to Big Monday. The second game is a border was with KU and Mizzou.
Have a good evening.
And be extra careful out there in the weather.
MondayAM
Sunday just didn't happen. I was out and about in the AM, but with 3 and 4 headed back to IC, I spent the early afternoon with them, and weather coming in late in the day, I chose to stay on the couch for the evening.
I am finally approaching the high 90%'s, health-wise. It's been a long time.
Looks like we have Winter again. Ice and snow here. Low temps for the rest of the week.
1 says that she is doing a half later this month. With her base, a half is just another long weekend workout. I'm envious.
MLK Day today. The markets are closed as are all Federal offices. 2 says she has the day off at the Figge as well. Accountants have never participated in this holiday. Very poor timing.
Lots of pro football over the weekend. Amazing how many games come down to the kicker. He tends to be one of the least athletic guys on the team, but as the time winds down, he's always in the spotlight. The kid for San Diego (an Iowa grad and a Pro Bowler this year) missed from 54 yards at the end of their game. If good, the kick would have sent the game into OT. He had made 25 straight on his home field this year. Hadn't missed. But it will be this last one that will be remembered. Ouch.
I went online over the weekend to order some jeans. I have always had a problem with off-the-shelf sizing because most stores stock only even sizes beyond waist size 34. I've almost always been a perfect 35. Gap and Old Navy have previously had the odd numbered sizes, but the current inventory at the local Old Navy outlet had nary a 35 on any shelf. Let alone in a style that I might wear. Gap.com had my size and in basic "old man's" styles. So I became a Gap credit card holder and placed the order for a net of just under $40 per pair, including free delivery. What a deal.
Work calls. Havea great day out there.
I'll get another entry posted later today.
Be careful out there.
I am finally approaching the high 90%'s, health-wise. It's been a long time.
Looks like we have Winter again. Ice and snow here. Low temps for the rest of the week.
1 says that she is doing a half later this month. With her base, a half is just another long weekend workout. I'm envious.
MLK Day today. The markets are closed as are all Federal offices. 2 says she has the day off at the Figge as well. Accountants have never participated in this holiday. Very poor timing.
Lots of pro football over the weekend. Amazing how many games come down to the kicker. He tends to be one of the least athletic guys on the team, but as the time winds down, he's always in the spotlight. The kid for San Diego (an Iowa grad and a Pro Bowler this year) missed from 54 yards at the end of their game. If good, the kick would have sent the game into OT. He had made 25 straight on his home field this year. Hadn't missed. But it will be this last one that will be remembered. Ouch.
I went online over the weekend to order some jeans. I have always had a problem with off-the-shelf sizing because most stores stock only even sizes beyond waist size 34. I've almost always been a perfect 35. Gap and Old Navy have previously had the odd numbered sizes, but the current inventory at the local Old Navy outlet had nary a 35 on any shelf. Let alone in a style that I might wear. Gap.com had my size and in basic "old man's" styles. So I became a Gap credit card holder and placed the order for a net of just under $40 per pair, including free delivery. What a deal.
Work calls. Havea great day out there.
I'll get another entry posted later today.
Be careful out there.
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