Monday PM

Just a few lines before heading out for the evening.

I'm still adjusting to the organization of the new Hy Vee grocery store. I'm pretty sure that they have patterned their location of products the same way in all their new stores, but I am slow on the uptake. The learning experience has taken me past lots of products that I'm not sure that I knew existed. The old store is down, and my guess is that the new parking lot will be done by mid-July.

The Sopranos finale was the topic of discussion on the morning news shows. Never have watched it. So I took a pass on the finale. Interesting that a cable show can now draw so much attention from mainstream TV watchers. Then again, Sportscenter is a cable show too. Although ESPN is included on most basic cable services while HBO is on a premium package.

On our first TV on the farm ( black and white, of course), we got reception for KTVO Channel 3 Ottumwa/Kirksville, which I think was a CBS affiliate, and WHO Channel 13 Des Moines which was an NBC station. After that, we occasionally, but not often, picked up WOI in Ames which was an ABC station. There was an antenna on the East side of the house that extended a few feet above the roof peak that had an electric control on the top of the TV that you played with to adjust for the signals.

(I still use the old technology "rabbitt ears" in my current house to pick up the local stations since I refuse to pay the additional fee to include those stations on my dish contract. Originally, the local stations were not offered through the dish in this area. When the technology became available a few years ago to offer those channels to dish customers, I elected to forego the convenience. So now to get network TV, I need to switch wires on the back of the set. And even then, the ABC channel is a bit sketchy.)

In a full turn to another direction, in baseball, "rabbitt ears" is what we labeled an opposing player who acknowledged some razzing from our bench. It was usually a pitcher, and once he started listening to us, we piled it on. I doubt if our antics lead to many Irish victories, but we had a good time. (In today's age with things like ESPNU coverage of college games, we couldn't get away with that kind of conduct.)

Lots of comments about 1's picture in the paper yesterday. Even from her PV varsity basketball coach whom I ran into at the store last night.

4 and I have exchanged a few text messages from Espana. It works. I haven't got the bill yet.

The professional peloton is in east-to-southeast France this week for the Dauphine-Libere race which is one of the last warm-ups for le Tour. Discovery has an "A" team there so I would expect them to do well. Levi could win. But there are a lot of other strong riders using this event as a measure of their form in anticipation of the bigger race next month. I think Dauphine-Libere is the newspaper in that area that sponsors the race. Per Wikipedia, Grenoble is the capital of this area known as le Dauphine, a title likely derived from a ruling family in the Middle Ages that used a dolphin in it's coat of arms.

There has to be a crossword clue in that mix of sport, geography and history.

I'm off to hit some range balls to get ready for the golf event this week with my pal Roy. Two range sessions is plenty of practice, right?

Great to read 4's journal. She has a gift.

Have a great evening.

Be careful out there.

Monday AM

Back at work. Good weekend. Busy week ahead.

The ride on Saturday went pretty much as scheduled. I left my place around 6:20AM and arrived 84 miles later in Galena around 2:00PM. I stopped a total of five times for meals and snacks. The weather was near perfect with sunshine and a helpful, small southwesterly breeze. The full ride on Saturday to Dubuque is right at 110 miles, but my abbreviated route is a good day for me. My backside was looking for the barn after the 60 mile mark. That Sunday return trip has little appeal.

2 met me at the appointed tavern right on time. I was sipping an adult beverage on my couch by 4:30.

It's a ride of around 1500-1600 cyclists, most of whom pass me on the road.

Sunday was a bit of a recovery day, although I did get my yard done and went to the driving range to hit some balls in anticipation of three days of golf later this week with my pal Roy.

1's engagement picture/announcement was in the paper on Sunday. Look'n good!

Sounds like 4 has been doing some travelling and stuff in Espana. She advised me today that my 6/1/07 letter was finally received.

More later.

Be careful out there.

Friday

Beautiful day here today. Storms last night took out the dish for a while. All my digitals clocks had to be set a couple of times.

The Tour of the Mississippi River Valley (TOMROV) is this weekend. The schedule is to ride from Bettendorf to Dubuque on Saturday (about 110 miles), and then back via a slightly different route on Sunday (about 95 miles). I'll be riding to Galena tomorrow and having 2 pick me up for the ride back home. I've figured out that I don't need the dorm room mattress, or the Sunday ride to make it a successful trip.

1 is down to six weeks. I think that this is her last day of school for the year.

3 is back in C-town.

I may not make an entry tomorrow. If we get back in good time, maybe. Otherwise, I'll file a report Sunday.

Have a great weekend.

Be careful out there.

Thursday

More literary theft. The QC Times ran a big article today, with a picture, about a territorial red-winged blackbird.

Nice entry by 4 today. She subsequently talked to Mom about the bull fight, and said that she wouldn't be going back to another one anytime soon.

My pal Bill heads up to northern Ontario, Canada early tomorrow to spend a week fishing with five long-time friends at a remote lake. I'd be bored silly by day two.

My tux for 7/20 is on order.

Just not all that motivated today. I'll try to add more early tomorrow.

Have a great evening.

Be careful out there.

Wednesday

I think our family may be partially responsible for the growth in SB's stock.

3 and I did tenderloins ar The 11th Street Precinct in the Village today. We had tentatively planned to do brats at Golick's, but it started to rain right at noon, so we went to Plan B. It was a good Plan B.

Craig Wilson was lamenting that "old" feeling in his column today about the bright-eyed summer interns at the paper. It was another case of idea theft.

I was lucky last night on my ride. I compounded my test of good fortune by not only riding at the busiest of times, but I also elected to spend a couple of miles on the busiest road. On at least one occasion on Middle Road, while trying to ride the white line at the edge of the road, I slipped off the road and onto the gravelled shoulder, with a car speeding past on my left, just inches away. When I immediately guided back to the pavement, the lay of the land was smooth. If there had been a ridge, I could have gone down, and there might have been a bad result.

2 and I are headed to Men's Warehouse after work to get me fitted for my tux for the 7/20 event. The last time I was in a tux, I was a groom.

I see where JR and crew are sampling life in Italia. The Discovery support staff had equally fine things to say about Italian transportation systems a couple of weeks ago when they had to shuttle to the mainland after the first three stages of the Giro on Sardinia.

Hope everyone has a good evening.

Be careful out there.

Tuesday

One of the big stories in the sports pages these days is Billy Donovan's flip-flop on leaving the two-time defending NCAA bball champion Florida for the bigger NBA money in Orlando. The original move to the Magic was announced with considerable fanfare late last week, but by the weekend, he was already having second thoughts. The last couple of days have been spent by the various parties in efforts to save whatever face might be savable, and to make sure that Donovan is certain that he wants to go back to Florida.

This is another very public example of the essence of being human. In spite of all the fame and fortune that had accrued to Donovan in his career, which has been nothing short of a rocket ship to the top, his heart betrayed him when his mind had rationalized that yet another move up the food-chain was the natural order. As his new reality began to set in, it occurred to him that what he would be walking away from was more important than the money and professional progression offered by the NBA.

There are the personalities in the sports media who will portray this episode as a shadow on Donovan's otherwise lustrous resume. He'll be ridiculed by the writers on the NBA beat as a "college" coach, as though a college coach is something less of a man than the guys running the pro teams. After all, the NBA is where the best ball is played, by the best players. And you don't have to jump through the silly hoops (no pun intended) of recruiting or getting players to class.

Personally, I'm glad he's staying in the college game. I have no problem with the flip flop. He's not the first groom (or bride, or coach) to get to the altar and see that a mistake is being made. Can you say Dana Altman? The Magic 's owners will be honked-off for being jilted, but they'll have a Plan B. How many college coaches have made it big in the NBA anyway? And Florida will have a long-term winner who will keep the blue-chippers coming to Gainsville.

My neighbor lady, who is a bit of a yard/garden OC (obsessive/compulsive), recently asked me to let her have my clippings from my yard the next time I cut my grass. She uses grass for mulch in her garden, and their mower's catcher had broken so they weren't able to produce their own mulch. Now, I only catch my grass when it gets out of control, which it hasn't been due to less rainfall. But, trying to be the good neighbor, I caught my grass each of the last two times that I mowed, producing a couple of large yard-waste bags each time.

And now the punch line to this hum-drum story. Last night, the husband stops me as I'm leaving on an errand to let me know that he had returned the now empty bags, and that he had an implement that you could put on the back of the mower to precluded the need to catch the grass! When I told him that I was only catching the grass to help out his wife, he just chuckled and went back to work in his garden. I'm not making this up.

Had a nice chat with 4 today. She says that she will be adding to her blog soon. She sounded good.

I'm off to the bike. Have a great evening.

Be careful out there.

Monday

Hard to believe that it has been a full week since the QC Criterium. We have the race volunteers' party tonight at a pub over in Rock Island.

I was surprised to learn that the Hawkeyes had been in the top 25 nationally in basketball attendance until last year when they dropped to 29th. My guess is that if they win with the new guy, they will get back up there. People don't have a lot else to do in Iowa in the Winter.

I got hooked on the movie "Accepted" last night when I was cruising through the movie channels on my dish. That's the story about a kid whose applications get turned down by all of the colleges to which he applies. So he and a couple of his friends invent a school, set up a website, and end up with a student body. The protagonist was previously on the TV show "Ed". Mindless humor.

All for today. I need to get out of here.

Be careful out there.

Sunday

Just a few lines today.

I did get up to De Witt this AM. I was a little later out of the blocks than I had planned. But a 6:15 departure worked ok. 47+. Breakfast at the Sunrise Cafe. Several other riders were out on the road as well. Lots of red-winged blackbirds, but none in attack-mode. (I did have one dive-bomb me yesterday, just like my friend from last year.) One unruly dog.

The variety of road-kill along my route today was impressive. The wet weather brings out the snakes, toads and the like which have no chance with a 2000 pound vehicle pounding along at 50+ MPH. Add in your normal assortment of raccoons, skunks, birds and squirrels and you have quite the menu. Could this be American Midwest sushi? On a bike, you get a real close-up view of a lot of anatomy. That you would rather not see.

Sorry for that brief insight into cycling's little talked-of panorama.

Looks like 4 was not able to find a computer over the weekend.

Ellen Goodman's column today was about the environmental benefits of gardening and raising your own food. It's worth the read. Very tongue in cheek. One comment, actually a quote from Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver, about the energy costs to transport an item of fresh fruit from California to Philadelphia, and the resultant need of the consumer to spend an hour on the treadmill in Maryland was especially good.

Speaking of environmental protections, how much good does it do to recycle the sleeves on your SB's coffee? There's a local SB's competitor who is giving customers a free cup after 10 usages (I think) of the same sleeve. I think they've been reading my former GF Sheryl's global warming blog.

Actually, if we wanted to get Jerry, George, Elaine and Kramer involved in the discussion, we could debate the relative environmental impact of the use of a sleeve versus the use of a double-cup. Add a sleeve to a double-cup and we're talking serious stuff.

Another of life's challenges has occurred to me with the change of my Russian cleaning ladies. The new gal is not quite as good at keeping my stuff in the right places, that is, the places where I keep my stuff and expect to find it. Not a lot of exceptions, but each time she comes, there are always a couple of items slightly askew.

I'm off to my domestic duties.

Have a great day.

Be careful out there.

Saturday

I stopped in to check mail this evening. It rained hard here early this AM, but it's been pretty nice the rest of the day. I got in a +31 mile ride which went well except for the last couple of miles when I was dead into the wind. I may try breakfast in DeWitt tomorrow to test my mileage.

Enjoyed the comment from 1's betrothed. I'm thinking about a numeric designation for him. Maybe 1A.

An after-thought to the whole A-Rod incident occurred to me when I read that the victim third baseman was playing in his first or second major league game. A-Rod could have been pulling a stunt on a rookie that a veteran would never have fallen for. The Yankee manager, Joe Torre, came out yesterday and said that it was not a good play. Probably to send the message to the other Yankee players that A-Rod wasn't representing the organization in that action.

My SB's friend who wrote the book had a book-signing event at Border's today for a couple of hours. I had started my ride and was on Forest Grove when I remembered, so I did a turn-around and made a brief appearance at the store. I had never met the ultimate fighter who was the subject of the book, and I was surprised at how small he was physically. Not 5'10" and not 170. I think that some saying about dynamite in small packages may apply.

And my mailbox yielded Spanish fruit today. A card from 4 with a very nice greeting. Snail mail crossing the pond seems to work. For those interested, her address is:

K_____ H_____
Summer Language and Culture
CIEE Study Center in Seville
Calle Muniz y Pabon, 9
41004 - Sevilla, SPAIN

The "n" in Muniz and the "o" in Pabon each have a little half-caret over them.

She was on the Rock of Gibralter today. I'll be anxious to hear her tale.

The Giro in Italy wraps up tomorrow. An Italian is winning. One of Discovery's rent-a-stud's from the last couple of years, Paolo Savoldelli, who is with a different team this year, won today's individual time trial. Good for him. He rode well for Discovery for those two years, including an overall win in the Giro. I liked his style. Still do.

A free lance writer gal in Bettendorf does a human interest column each week in the Bettendorf News, and I think that she's taking my material. She had a something-less-than-original piece last week about getting solicitations from AARP for membership as she is approaching the age. And her husband is already a member. But she isn't quite that old. Actually, I didn't read the whole thing, so I may have missed her point. Like pooh-poohing that 10% discount at Motel 6. A few weeks ago she had a column on birds' nests around their house and yard. Like 4000 Days didn't devote numerous entries to my 'fraidy-cat robin hatchling last year.

The sincerest form of flattery.

Speaking of flattery, for those Iowa State fans in the crowd, their mascot Cy has won a competition on the SPiN ON SPORTS page of CBS Sportsline as the Most Dominant College Mascot On Earth. Check it out at: cbs.sportsline.com

All for today. Hope everyone has a fine Sunday.

Be careful out there.

Friday

Weather here today. Tornado's touched down in Muscatine. A little excitement.

No big plans for the weekend. I'll be putting some miles on the bike.

For those interested in a few pics from the bike races last weekend, click on the View Photos button in the QC Criterium box on the home page of www.CriteriumFinancial.com

I have a tomato-eating rabbit in my yard.

Seven weeks from tonight is 1's big day.

Off for the evening. Have a good one.

Be careful out there.

Thursday

Lots of material today.

We have the Rhubarb Festival this weekend in one of the local Illinois towns. Not that I am making any reservations. I remember Mother having a couple of rhubarb plants by the small grape arbor in the backyard of the old house. Never had much taste for rhubarb since the time in my youth when I took a big bite of a piece of pie that I thought was strawberry, but was in fact rhubarb.

John's comment about an ND burial plot for me in response to Craig Wilson's Wednesday column brought a small smile to my face. I had read the article myself and my thoughts were about a fellow '71 grad whom I saw many times in the '70's and '80's at the same South Bend bar we had frequented as undergrads, Corby's. He ended up getting a PhD and teaching at ND, maybe even still. He certainly has earned an honorary spot at the bar (although Corby's has long since met with the wrecking-ball).

The Ottumwa lawyer whom I accompanied on my first-ever visit to ND as a high school junior, by rail, bought a condo near campus in his retirement and I think spent (still?) a lot of time each Fall in South Bend to get the full appreciation of the gridiron season. Most people with a second home might go a little further South. Winter in South Bend defines the term, "lake-effect snow".

Sports fans can be over-the-top in support of their teams. There are many stories about local team supporters, as well as college and pro fanatics. Whether it's where they are buried, or what they may be buried in (or with), people can make a statement with those decisions on final arrangements. It makes for good stories, but it's not like it changes the end results. When you're dead, you're dead.

A discussion of final resting places has made it to this blog previously. I do think that it is relevant for the immediate family to have a place to visit their departed loved ones (especially for those tragically called home early). It gets a bit sketchy for the 3rd generation, and becomes little more than history for the 4th generation. At least with a Mt. Rose destination, the girls will be able to celebrate with some kind of repetition, memories of the best of our times.

Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees made headlines for a couple of reasons yesterday. I'll leave the more salacious backpage gossip to the Enquirer, but the baseball story is worth a few comments. While running between second and third last night for what must have been a probable third out infield pop-up, he yelled something at the third baseman who was making the play (likely, "mine", or "I got it"), that caused the third baseman to back off, and the ball dropped for a hit. To my knowledge, A-Rod did not deny that he tried to confuse the third baseman.

The opponents and many commentators have criticized the play as "bush league", a term used to deride action that doesn't belong in "the show". This raises into discussion the whole concept of the "unwritten" rules of baseball. Actually, baseball probably has more unwritten rules than any sport. While each sport may have a few common "sportsmanship courtesies", baseball is rife with do's and don'ts. There are endless varieties of the "hidden ball" trick to get runners to step off base for an easy tag out. Fielders often fake base runners on who is covering a bag, or whether a ball has been caught or thrown. These are all "okay" and generally acceptable in terms of the "spirit of the game".

A pitcher attempting to "send a message to a batter aims below the shoulders with the inside pitch, while the shortstop making the relay on the double play aims at the head of a runner not starting his slide early enough in the play. As a runner, it's your job to "take out" the pivot guy on the double play. It's generally okay to steal signs, if you can. Bench jockey's "ride" the opposing pitcher. You don't say anything in the dugout to a pitcher tossing a no-no. You don't bunt for the first hit in a late game, no-no situation.

The list goes on.

I'm not sure if A-Rod's action falls into the definition of "bush league" conduct. It may be marginal. I want to say that it's not "old school", but it may not be such simply because the old guys didn't think of it at the time. I don't think many of those Hall of Famers lost much sleep on how they won, as long as they won. Think Ty Cobb or St. Louis' Gashouse Gang. They weren't choirboys. (Doesn't the NFL have some written rules that limit the defense's rights on yelling out signals designed to confuse the offense? And the NBA has at least had discussions about player conduct in attempts to distract a free throw shooter.)

Okay. I beat that to death. No wonder my readership numbers are down.

I'm off to the bike. Have a great evening. Buenos dias/noches.

Be careful out there.

Wednesday

Short today. 4 says that she will be adding to her story later. Although, since it is 4PM here, and thus 11PM there, we may be looking at tomorrow.

Big day in the US stock market. Record highs. How high is up?

Another op-ed piece today about how young people need to pursue careers that appeal to them rather than settle for jobs that pay the bills. I think that most parents see two sides to that equation. But if kids can get out of college with no debt, they can at least have some choices. The remarkable successes of our extended family in that regard remain the indelible imprint of Phil and Margaret.

Fred Thompson, the former Law & Order actor, and senator from Tennessee, is set to announce a candidacy for the GOP Presidential nomination. As with Ronald Reagan and "Ahnold the Gubinator", how and when is the public able to distinguish between the characters whom they played, and their inner-selves (or their real reality)? Maybe the public elects the former actors because the public likes the characters portrayed on the screen.

Taking this to another level, don't the politicians seek to establish a public persona that will appeal to the electorate? Think of the most popular Presidents in the last 20 years or so. Reagan captured the populace by presenting himself as a common man, Main Street reachable type of guy. Clinton maintained popularity in spite of impeachment proceedings. Americans like likable guys. Could a constitutional amendment favoring the Gubinator be in our future?

Off to the bike. Have a great evening.

Be careful out there.

Tuesday PM

Ellen Goodman wrote an op-ed piece the other day lamenting the new reality of disabled athletes. I did a little checking on-line and there is actually a bit of a debate out there as a result of a double-amputee runner who has recorded some startling times with the aid of high-tech, carbon fiber leg prostheses called "cheetahs". Some folks are suggesting that the amputee with these prostheses may actually have an advantage over able-bodied runners. But that's a whole different story well beyond my level of interest.

Back to Goodman. I read her occasionally. She's not what I would call off-the-wall, Michael Moore leftish, but she tends toward a blue ideology. Hey, she's from Boston! Anyway, in this recent column about technology making the disabled something less than the traditionally disabled, she also brought into the discussion Tiger Woods' laser eye surgery, and (the horror of it!), the possible cosmetic enhancements of our beauty pageant contestants. I wonder if she is too close to home for the late night crews to get Top Ten lists going for this new view of True to Nature?

Here's a go at my Top Ten of Goodman's Guidelines:

1. Good-bye orthodontics. And to the wealthy orthodontists.
2. Good-bye Clairol and Grecian Formula. Hello Gray!
3. My titanium road bike with index, finger-tip shifting. Gone.
4. Bottled spring water at $1.79 a pop. See 'ya. (I agree with her here.)
5. Laser-mounted pictures in the living room. Fagetaboutit.
6. $150 running shoes. Not. (Again, I agree.)
7. Honey, where's the beta-max?
8. Blackberries, Ipods, HD LQ screen TV's. All gone.
9. Plastic surgeons. Back to Family Practice. Ouch.
10. Gee, (insert name), you sure look good in that white t-shirt and gym shorts.

Some of that's a little harsh, but when you start equating steroids and EPO/HGH in athletes to laser eye surgery and breast implants it's hard to find a base line.

Hope everyone has a great evening.

Be careful out there.

Tuesday AM

Just didn't get to this yesterday.

I think that the Criterium was a success. The rain stayed away all day. The crowds were not huge, but the event was well-attended and the races went along as scheduled with no major snafu's.

Another busy week here. The official start of Summer.

More later. Have a great day.

Be careful out there.

Sunday

The sun has returned.

I did 20+ in the rain yesterday afternoon. I just couldn't justify sitting inside all day, so in one of the interludes from the showers, I took off knowing that I would get wet. It wasn't that bad. My goal today is 25+.

There was an obituary in the national press this week for Jerry Falwell, founder of a Christian fundamentalist college in Virginia in the '70's, now called Liberty University. He was perhaps best known for his leadership of an essentially political group described as the Moral Majority. I always thought he was a bit of a nut, but conservatives tended to cater to this bloc of voters because of their perceived ability to deliver at the polls. Their pro-life, pro-prayer and general bible-toting beliefs helped create the liberal/conservative wedge that still exists in today's political environment. Conservatives have to deal with the likes of Falwell and Newt Gingrich. Liberals are burdened with Rosie O'Donnell and Ted Kennedy. Who wins there?

And now, another off-the-wall item. I stopped at the Kimberly Road SB's this AM. I was sitting on one end of a three-person couch with a coffee table in front. I had been through most of my paper and had placed part of it beside me and part of it on the coffee table. An older gentleman came over, and without comment or greeting, sat on the other end of the couch, and proceeded to pick up the parts of the paper that were beside me. In my world, that was a breech of two protocols; first, you don't sit down on a possibly-shared sofa without first asking if anyone else is sitting there; and second, you certainly don't pick up from a paper pile in front of or next to someone who is obviously reading from the same paper.

A tertiary element of this little morality play is the question of, "Who's being cheap in this situation?" The guy who wants to sponge another person's paper, or the guy who is not all that anxious to share the fishwrap (that he will be leaving on the coffee table when he leaves anyway)? This is slightly different than a similar scenario at the Hy Vee deli where coffee costs a quarter. There, the guy snarffing another's paper is definitely cheap. Then again, at the new Hy Vee, the price of coffee probably doubled. And the snarffer has seen his economic equation go south.

(That Hy Vee example really goes out the window next month when a SB counter opens up inside the grocery store. The dynamics of Hy Vee coffee versus SB's coffee will really complicate this analysis.)

The conclusion to this little episode was anticlimatic. I consciously chose not to say anything to the guy because I think it is equally small of people to make an issue of such an insignificant transgression. But when I see the guy come in again, I'm picking up all of my paper and stuffing it in the cushion on my other side and forcing him to scavenger elsewhere for his reading material. And when I leave, I'm dumping it on a table across the room next to some other paper-hungry souls.

Blogger spellcheck has a problem with "snarffer". We'll just call it a family colloquialism.

Big day for Indy and NASCAR. A racing fanatic could watch left turns for 7-8 hours. I'll pass. Indy has made itself insignificant and the NASCAR race is 600 miles of tedium.

So y'all have a great day.

Be careful out there.

Saturday

The holiday weekend is underway...in the rain.

Talked again with 4 yesterday. The saga with the luggage continues. Afterwards, Mom got on the phone with the airlines with some, but not all that much, success. They at least recognize that there is a problem.

They had an outdoor movie at Vanderveer Park in Davenport last night. The paper said that about 5,000 showed up. Great idea for a family event to start the holiday weekend, but naturally, the rain came and they had to shut down midway through the flick.

1 is in DM today for her friend Sarah's medical school graduation. Congrats to the new Dr. H.!

Lots of doping news in the cycling world these days. It was a front page story in today's NYT. Basically, guys admitting they took EPO and other stuff in the '90's. Even a TdF winner. This, and the Landis circus, makes the whole world of cycling a cesspool.

I heard an interesting interview on the radio this week that suggested that the strongest anti-doping policies were in soccer. There, you can't even take an antihistamine and pass a test. I guess there will always be cheats. I just wish that they could get to a uniform, total and unflawed testing protocol that would disclose the users. Ban them for life. These two year sanctions aren't getting it done.

One of 4's high school friends is on the softball roster of Northwestern which is a highly ranked team in the DI playoffs. She's used mostly as a pinch runner. They should be in the College World Series next week in Oklahoma City.

For those who may not have the link, 4's blog is www.trackingkch.blogspot.com. She is writing most weekdays, but does not have a computer on the weekends and will have to figure out whether there is a cheap internet cafe or other access for those days.

Have a great day.

Be careful out there.

Friday AM

Since I typically don't do so well making entries on Friday afternoon, I thought I would lay one down this morning to break the routine. Not that I am that creative at this hour.

4 may be taking over as the required "read of the day". I mean, do events of an old man in the Quackers, or the ruminations of a college girl on tour in Europe have more basic appeal?

The three day weekend is getting off to a good start. Good weather for today, and I fired up Margret for my ride for the day. A front went through last night and cooled things down, and calmed the wind. We are still dry, but that keeps the grass under control. I'm having to water my outdoor plants as well as my tomatoes. I'm sure that the farmers are griping about the need for rain.

Happy Birthday to 1! She is Daughter of the Day.

There has been a shake-up in our local minor league hockey team. The previous team, the Mallards, were the equivalent of an "A" level franchise. Their average attendance had slipped from a high in the mid-8000's when they were a novelty and really good, to the mid-3000's in the most recent season. So for whatever reason, the power-that-be, whoever they are, elected to locate the "AAA" franchise of the Calgary Flames here for next season. Huh? I suppose that the theory is that better hockey will bring out more fans, even at the higher ticket prices. I'm taking the under on that bet.

Today starts the weekend of cycling in Eastern Iowa/Quad Cites. There is a road race from Wapello down to Burlington this evening. Then the racers have closed-course races tomorrow in Burlington, Sunday in Muscatine, and Monday in Rock Island. Closed-course races are called criteriums. Hope the weather holds.

For those interested in history, check out Memorial Day on Wikipedia. It was not until the late '60's that this U.S. holiday was moved from it's May 30th day to the last Monday in May. The rationale was to make a more people-friendly three day weekend to start the Summer. Now, I think that commerce rules and it's all about the money.

So everyone go out there and have a great day.

Be careful out there.

Thursday

I did talk with 4 today. On my phone plan, the charge is $.50 per minute. It would be the same for 3 too.

I'm still in a little recovery from the golf outing. I'll write more tomorrow.

Be careful out there.

Wednesday

Just a few lines this evening.

I just got back from a golf outing in Burlington with my pal Roy and a couple of other acquaintances. I'm beat. It was a nice, but very difficult wooded course with gnarly rough, that I had never played. Lots of prairie grass areas that ate balls. And windy! It took me the whole front nine before I figured out how to keep the ball in play. My back is sore, but it's been worse.

It's great to have 4 adding material each day. You go girl! And nice that 1 has rejoined our literary party.

I'll add more in the AM. Have a great evening.

Be careful out there.

Tuesday

Interesting how the "VT" symbol for Virginia Tech made it on to the uniforms, cars, or other stuff of various athletes in the aftermath of the tragic shootings on that college's campus. We are a nation of sympathizers, but we also have short memories. I guess that it is good to show support for whatever might be the current cause celeb. In the end, our empathy for the parents of those students, or for the owners of the euthanized horse Barbaro, may show one's humanity, but it does little to change bad results or the course of future events.

Theoretically, citizens can raise their voices and usher in change at the ballot boxes. But it generally takes a ground-swell of dissatisfied voters to say, "enough". Or an extended period of collective misfortune that demands blame. Can societal systems secure us from the nutcase? At what price? The ACLU vs. the Department of Homeland Security. The combination of technology and science will make lots of things possible, but where will the lawyers draw the line?

The CSI crime shows illustrate how much were are being watched even today. (I saw a new set of cameras in Bettendorf this AM high atop the traffic signals at Middle and 18th. Just watching.) But just like at VT, who's at fault when a variance is detected? The perpetrator, or the watcher who does not react "properly"? The psychologist who did the interview, or the supervisor who signed off on the "no-action" memo? The chain of responsibility has many links. No wonder the line of applicants for the position of Walmart Greeter is so long.

The NBA draft lottery is tonight. This is the event where they draw straws (balls actually) to see who gets the first pick in the upcoming draft. That pick will most certainly be either Greg Oden of Ohio State or Kevin Durant of Texas, both very gifted players who, absent the new rule that required a minimum of one year of college, would have gone to the NBA out of high school a year ago. While it is unlikely that either of these players will lead a team to a title next year, getting such a talent in the draft can translate into the beginning of a run of many good years into the future. Surprisingly, some consistently bad teams have be able to mess up their drafts year after year.

All for today. I'm off to the practice green at Palmer Hills to chip and putt.

Have a great evening. Buenos noches/dias to 4.

Be careful out there,

Monday

Glad to see 4 adding to her blog. Sounds like she has limited access, so we may not see entries on a daily basis. Still no luggage, but they talk like it has been located.

They did a feature on the QC Criterium this AM, on tape, for Paula Sands Live. Paul Sands handling the interview. There were several of us standing around, but she was basically just interested in the bike props, including the one guy in uniform. So I didn't stay around to get my 10 seconds of fame.

Former Iowa State basketball player Paul Shirley has parlayed his blogging skills into a book deal. He has gained some note on the ESPN site for the wit in his blog, and I think that it has been picked up by different media outlets as a human interest side to professional bball.

We could get into the debate about athletes from which sport present the best-educated image, but there might not be much opposition to the swimmers, polo riders, and fencers. Then again, when it comes to bad teen movies, the preppies have most of that parody to themselves as well.

Speaking of bias, I can say that on the bike path, it is the Yuppie professionals who far and away best control their kids. They generally keep cover on their charges like a mother duck. This in contrast to all other groups who can't seem to figure out that there might be other people who need their children to ride (and walk) right.

Yuppie singles or couples with no kids in tow do not have the same attentiveness or care when it comes to their dogs. Their animals are frequently unleashed and/or allowed a wide range. Interesting how, where and when the Mothering instinct takes hold.

Hope everyone has a good week.

Be careful out there.

Sunday

Just checking in. Several items of good news.

4 made it to her destination, albeit without her checked bag. And without having much sleep in her 24 hour odyssey, she was able to convert to the local time that first night. Hopefully, they will be able to track down her bag. She was supposed to meet her host family today. She says that she'll try to blog on Monday.

1 and Matt successfully completed their Green Bay half this AM in under two hours! Great job. Congratulations.

The rest of us made it through another day.

Lots of graduations in the last couple of weeks. Such events make memories for lots of people. The graduates themselves. Their families. Close friends. How about a top ten list of the significant days of an Everyman's (Everywoman's) life:

1. High school graduation.
2. College graduation.
3. Wedding day.
4. Kid's births.
5. First day on first "real" job.
6. Purchase of first house.
7. Early death of a parent, sibling or close friend.
8. First "new" car. (Maybe, first car, too.)
9. First air plane ride.
10. First trip abroad.

And just for yucks, a second 10 which have to occur after age, say, 40:

1. A child's college graduation.
2. Sale of the last "family" car.
3. Divorce.
4. Career/job change.
5. Selling a house/moving.
6. Death of the parents.
7. Cubs winning a World Series. (Just seeing if you're reading!)
8. Diagnosis of a significant medical condition.
9. Experiencing a natural disaster (flood, tornado, fire, etc.)
10. Retirement.

These are kind of interesting thoughts. I've come to believe or appreciate that a person makes little decisions each day, and over a long period of time, those little decisions create a path for one's life. Some of the decision points are chosen. Others occur. I've never been smart enough to play my life like a chess match where you make each move in anticipation of moves further into the game. Much of the time, I think I was oblivious to the fact that I was even at a fork in the road. As I look back in time, I would never have guessed that I would be exactly where I am today.

Too maudlin for a Sunday.

Back to Everyman. Wikipedia doesn't even capitalize the term. If not capitalized, how do you know that you are talking about a person as opposed to a crowd? Anyway, there was some morality play called Everyman, but I have not read it and I know nothing about it. But I have often used the term to describe that indistinct person walking down the street. He is no one in particular, but he is also each of us.

My pal Pete has a lawyer friend Jim from Creighton law school whose nickname is "Orp". Actually, Orp was undergrad at ND when I was there, although I did not know him. Anyway, the nickname comes from some law school 101 class where they describe the action and/or thought process of an "ordinary, reasonable, and prudent" man. Ergo; Orp.

Another great day here. I'm out to enjoy it.

Be careful out there.

Friday

Happy 25th to 2!! She is Daughter of the Day.

We are all anxious to to hear that 4 has made it to her destination in Spain. We know that the airline lost her luggage in Madrid, and that she missed her flight to Seville. She had kept some clothes in her backpack for just this reason, but it is disconcerting nonetheless. It is hard on Mom and Dad when a child is in trouble six or seven time zones away from home.

My pal Pete and I did a 15+ mile bike ride this morning at 5:30. Ouch! I never do early workouts and I can't say that I enjoyed this one, but it certainly frees up your day. It was cold this AM, maybe a degree or two below 40. I wore early-Spring attire; tights, dri-fit long-sleeved shirt, wind-shell, and full-fingered gloves. And I still got cold in the extremities. Not much traffic on the bike path at that hour.

Beautiful day here today. Margret made her first appearance of the year at the office.

I just got very lucky. I was checking my Criterium email account and opened an item which had a separate web address that I also opened. When I determined that that site was extraneous and hit the close box, I got the prompt, "Do you want to close both pages?" Which I answered, "Yes", and the system proceeded to close Blogger as well. On that previous blog site where I had the problems, my entry would definitely have been vaporized. But when I logged back into Blogger, I had a "draft" for this entry. An automatic feature of Blogger. Good deal for me.

In another example of Dad making it into the Technology Age, I used my cell phone as an alarm for the first time this morning. It was simple to set, and worked like a charm (actually, like an alarm). Not that I needed it, as I was awake at five bells. But it was my back-up plan, just in case. You always need a back-up plan.

How high can gas go?

Our neighborhood Hy Vee Food Store opened their new building this week. I'm a bit negatively curious as to whether they will be able to maintain their customer-friendly atmosphere in the new digs. The company opened a totally new facility in another section of Bettendorf a little over a year ago, and I have never felt as good about my shopping experience at that store. They hire more people to staff a bigger store, and those new employees do not have the history of the former operation. We'll see. The parking lot is a challenge, and will be until they tear down the old building and create more space.

Good luck to 1 and Matt for their half in Green Bay.

Big weekend in C-town. Cubs-Sox series at Wrigley. Won't be any parties in that area tonight or tomorrow. Right. 3 is in town looking for apartments. No big news at the Giro, but the Landis doping arbitration hearing in California is a circus. And the left-turn crowd is in Charlotte for their All-Star event. No points on the line, but $1 million to the winner of the race.

So I'm off to have a celebratory libation with 2. Thinking of 4.

Be careful out there.

Thursday

Busy times. Today is 4's departure for Spain.

FFF on Century Heights Avenue last night. Brats. Steak.

2's tax birthday today.

Maybe things will settle down for me so that I can get a good entry in here tomorrow.

Be careful out there.

Tuesday

No blog today. Business dinner.

Monday

The weekend was successful in all respects. Again, congrats to 3 on completing her under graduate program on time and pretty well on budget. Mom and Dad are proud of you!

1 did a nice job running 11 miles in the Distance Classic half marathon in Rock Island yesterday. She needed to get in 10 for her preparation in next weekend's Green Bay half and the race was a convenient route. Plus Dad forked over the $$'s for the souvenir shirt. I also wanted to show support for our newest staff person who was running her first (and last) half as well. Jess did a nice job with a finishing time of just over two hours.

One thing I did notice yesterday was that there were few runners who stopped and walked parts of the way. Heck, when I run two miles, I have to stop several times! So it must have been a pretty competitive field. As expected, our Cousin Fran won the +70 age group.

This was a shorts day for me at the office. The forecast was for 92 this afternoon, and I think we got there. I can beg off that I was dressed for a charity golf outing since there is such an event almost every Monday in the QCA. My Summer dress code is "shorts" most days.

My pal Roy has again invited me to be his "guest" at the local country club's Member/Guest event next month. This is the club that I am an "investor" in since they have refused to return my $7500 equity since my resignation six or seven years ago. They have offered to pay off former members at $0.50 on the dollar, generous souls that they are. Anyway, the Member/Guest event is a fun deal for two days and three nights. Now, I have to get my back in shape so that I neither hurt nor embarrass myself.

4 is on a short time line for her departure to Espana on Thursday. I hadn't really looked at a calendar to realize that she would be leaving so soon. After Thursday, we'll next see her in St. Paul for 1's wedding.

The Giro d'Italia started last weekend. The first three stages are on the Island of Sardinia this year. They fly over to the mainland after today's stage, and head North. VeloNews has an Internet update throughout each day similar to what they do for the Tour. The protagonists this year are some of the same riders from last year, absent Basso who has been suspended for doping. Discovery's team has a couple of strong riders, but I don't think that they seriously believe that they can win a podium position. The Italians on several teams consider this race much more important than any other.

The 24 stole the Darlington race yesterday with a car overheating so bad that it was spitting steam over the last 25 laps.

I'm headed out for a short ride and a little BBQ with 3 and 4. Y'all have a great evening.

Be careful out there.

Saturday

Graduation day for 3. Yea! Hancher. The first of the girls not to graduate in a football stadium. 2 does point out that her college ceremony was in an auditorium although the university ceremony was in the stadium the night before. The businesswoman speaker today actually gave a speech that was a lot more relavent to the graduates than the political statement given by John McCain at 2's university convocation.

We did the U-Haul thing and got 3 and 4 moved. 1 and 2 helped 4. Mom and James and I helped 3. Din-din later.

My pal Pete and I did a 20 miler last night and ended with a couple of adult barley beverages at Gov's. The part of the ride heading North was a bear against the wind.

More tomorrow.

Be careful out there.

Thursday

I hadn't planned on writing today, but I had to recognize the big NASCAR news of today: at the end of the season, Dale Jr. is leaving his team, DEI (Dale Earnhardt, Inc.), a team his legendary father formed, and which is owned by his step-mother Teresa. As one writer put it, this is the equivalent of the Boston Red Sox selling Babe Ruth to the Yankees.

The skeptic in me thinks that the end of the season is a long way away, and a compromise could be reached if Teresa has any sense at all. It's not about money. Jr. wants to win races and DEI hasn't been as good as at least three other teams, each with three or four cars always running up front. In the left-turning world, getting to the checkers is a lot more important than the paycheck. Teresa will be left with the memorabilia sales for Dale Sr., but that market pales in comparison to the numbers Jr. can bring to the table.

It has been almost hot today. 80+. Golick's brats for lunch.

That securities continuing education course this morning was a pain in the keister. It was presented in mostly a video format that had you indicating acceptable responses to various factual situations. (Should appearance on a securities training video be added to an actor's resume?) Hypothetical client requests. Required disclosures. And with a little more technical multiple guess orientation than I had anticipated. If you answered too many questions in a section incorrectly, the program ran you through an alternative set of questions to make sure you got the point. No crosswords allowed.

Busy weekend ahead. Hope everyone is ready to celebrate. Biaggi's at 7:30.

Have a great evening.

Be careful out there.

Wednesday PM

I am headed out for another ride. Not too windy, and pleasant. I may even drag Margret out for a spin.

I have to sit through a three hour securities session in the AM for continuing education. This is a deal that's presented through the old Sylvan Learning Centers, now called Prometric or something to that effect, and is an inter-active deal on the computer. There is no pass/fail grading, but you have to complete the session in the allotted time or they yank your license. Hello? It may be difficult to complete the crossword in such an environment.

Sorry to hear that we'll have no family participants in the half on Sunday. Maybe another time.

One of the loose ends at my house is a small item related to my real estate taxes. Iowa grants a small concession on your bill if you are a veteran. But you have to effectively "certify" that you have an honorable discharge, and of course, this being the government on both sides, there's a specific form that they want. DD-214. I know that I have it. Somewhere. But there are a lot of boxes from my various moves over the years. Maybe an evening project soon. As it is, filing the request now only does something for me beginning a year from now, for taxes payable even later.

So all for today. Have a great evening.

Be careful out there.

Wednesday AM

I ended up leaving a little early yesterday to get in a ride before the evening rush, so I was a no-show for the blog.

Decent ride on the path. Not that bad of traffic. I did see my 70+ year old cousin/runner who happened to be taking a break as I rode by, so I stopped and chatted him up a bit. He had over-done it just a little in the 80+ temperature, but was ok. He'll be doing the half on Sunday. I think that he's been retired for over 10 years and running is now his life. Replaced hip and all.

Looks like a good day here. I may try to get out again to ride.

As I left for work around 6:15 this AM, I spied three rabbits in my neighbor's relatively small garden. And the only things to munch on this time of year are fading tulips! Last year, they had to put up a four foot tall fence to keep the critters out. Me thinks that the phrase, "Multiplying like rabbits", may be applicable. I hope that they don't like tomatoes.

3 needs to give us a little "countdown to graduation" biop of sorts. I doubt if classes are an issue on time allocation for her at this point.

I have two other geographically close neighbors putting in new fences this week. One diagonally off my back yard, and the other directly across the street. I think the backyard people have dogs that they want to run, while the new people across the street have young children. I've never been a big fan of fences, but like fences, there are two sides to every story. There's a tendency for fences to more isolate neighbors, particularly when soloists like me do not have the natural attractions of children or pets. At the end of the day, certainly in an Internet-driven society, when there is no other connectivity other than proximity, neighbors can be worlds apart.

More later. Have a great day.

Be careful out there.

Monday

Always good to hear from the maddening crowd.

I understand that the U-Haul has been reserved for our after-graduation party. This may be the first two-fer of moving college kids on the same day in my history.

Basso fell on his sword in Rome today. My guess is that it involves a deal that gets him back in the peloton next year. I wonder how many others will have to face the music.

Clemons signs with the Yankees for something like $150,000 a day for the rest of the year. My bet is that his wins will cost $1.5 million each. Break that down to number of pitches in those wins, and we're talking about $15K per pitch. If we reduce it to outs, assuming he goes 6 and 2/3's per game, or twenty outs, and you're at $75K per out. Those numbers inspire me as I complete another $250 tax return.

I was glad to hear that they announced that TV show "Lost" would end in 2010. Any bets that it won't make it that far? I bet someone in Vegas will put some odds out there.

I think we are at, or near, Uncle Phil's birthday. He's an old guy. (My recollection of exact dates for birthdays and anniversaries is awful. Keep that in mind as my Alzheimer's progresses.)

There was an article in the Weekend Wall Street Journal written by a young Dad complaining about the over-scheduling of his pre-teens' games and such. I agree that kids can get into more things than seem necessary, but the alternatives in today's techno world are the Internet and HDTV. A heavy schedule of ball games and fresh air seems ok to me. As long as the parents let the kids play the games. And the travel is not out of control.

I remember my first Little League "away" game in What Cheer. And then there was the Babe Ruth game for Phil's team that I was the bat boy for, playing in the metropolis of Cedar, the rains come, the teams scatter to the cars, everyone heads for home, and they leave the poor little bat boy in the dugout!

Off to the homestead. Have a great evening.

Be careful out there.

Sunday

Just a few lines today to check in.

It has been a good weekend, but no major highlights. I played golf with my pal Roy on Saturday, and my back reminded me why I do not play regularly. I suppose that if I did some stretching and strengthening exercises specifically for the muscles that are affected by "the turn" when you swing a golf club that I could play with less pain, but I don't, and I pay when I do play.

I was back on the bike today, and went down for the first time in a while. It was on the bike path at a Davenport street crossing where the street pavement had settled over the Winter a couple inches below the level of the path at the street's edge. That's not a problem when you are riding in the direction where you just drop down a little, but when you are riding into it, you can blow a tire or worse. I tried to lift the front wheel of my bike when I saw the variance, but I lost a little balance and then went down sideways. I wasn't going that fast and my only injury was a little road rash on one finger and my right knee. But the incident is an example of Rule One of cycling: If you ride, you will eventually crash.

My ride was for 20 miles which means that by the weekend I should be ok for the open road. Traffic on the bike path just makes me nervous. Kids, dogs, families and other users require a lot of defensive riding. At least on the road you know that most cars are going to try to avoid hitting you. Most cars.

My writer friend from SB's gave me a signed copy of his book this AM. Very cool. He had been in Indianapolis yesterday to help friends time a half marathon that had 40,000+ runners. I don't know if those numbers were all half runners, or whether there were shorter runs as well, but that's a lot of runners! He said that their software allows for automatic wireless notices to family and friends of splits while you are on the course. And it spits out your splits and whatever as you go across the finish line. That's a long ways from tear-offs in the chutes.

In a separate conversation at SB's yesterday, a couple of women runners from a regular group that meets there on weekends said that Chicago had capped their entries at 45,000. I clicked on the website and it does say that registration is closed. There are a lot of nutty people in the world.

Less than a week to go for 3. Has anything been decided on the celebration? Do we need to make reservations?

Hope everyone has a good week.

Be careful out there.

Friday

Well, I made it through another week. A couple of ups and downs. Kind of like life.

The peanut gallery has been pretty quiet this week too.

I may buy my tomato plants tomorrow. The Old Wives' wisdom is to wait until Mother's Day, but the temperatures have been pretty steady the last week or so. I remember the last Summer that I had that other house in Bettendorf where I took care of Grandma when I tried to put out plants in mid-April. They didn't die, but they didn't grow either. So around Mother's Day I put out another set. And both sets grew like wild fire. I had more tomatoes that year.

My pal Roy stopped by the office this AM and I think we established a new low standard for meeting decorum. A female friend of his who had been at SB's coffee with him, came along to the office. With her miniature rat/dog. And they were joined by a guy (whom I knew previously) who wanted to talk about the possible purchase of one of Roy's businesses. When they came in, I was in the reading room, and I thought I heard a dog barking. Strange, I thought to myself. So I finished my reading business, and came out to a discussion going on about sending the dog in after me!

We eventually made our way down to the conference room. Dog included. And had a half hour meeting about the possible business transaction. The discussion was frequently interrupted by the rat/dog walking on the table between Roy and his friend! I'm not sure what was decided upon from a business standpoint. But my billing rate for that session was at a record high.

Uncle Phil advises me that he is now in a program at LT as a volunteer in the sheriff's department, or the conservation board. To assist with supervision on the lake. He had to do an in-the-water wet/dry suit test today. These retired guys get into some interesting things.

Hope everyone has a good evening. I'll be back for more tomorrow.

Be careful out there.

Thursday PM

No more blog today.

Thursday AM

I need to get better organized. I left the office a little earlier than normal yesterday, and didn't get to the blog. I may have added and entry if I had access at home, but my pal Roy called and we ended up at Biaggi's for a cocktail. So it could have been a washout anyway.

The IC girls are wrapping up their semester. We have a graduation to celebrate on the 12th, but the details of the party have yet to be finalized. It may be back here in the QC. That weekend may be our last full-family event before 1's wedding in July. Does that draw another strata-line in my life's story?

That's a good question. How many strata-lines are there in a life? Can a life be easily divided? For me, there was always High School (and prior), ND, USAF, IC, C-town, QC, kids, my own business, and then it gets a little less definitive. The lines can be drawn by geography, employment, relationships, family events, and, in basic terms, time.

Hope everyone has a great day.

Be careful out there.

Tuesday

I'm headed out to get in a ride before the masses hit the bike path.

I'm going through a period where I have too many "sticky notes" on my desk. Does that mean I have too much to do, or that I have a short memory? Or perhaps, that I don't get anything done?

3 says that she has her cap and gown and her honors braid. She is ready to go!

Have a good evening.

Be careful out there.

Monday II

It turned out to be a great day here. But we had to turn on the air in the office as the circulation is just not that good.

The big news in cycling is that Ivan Basso requested and was granted his release from Discovery. It all relates to the Spanish investigation on doping that was supposedly over and done with when Basso was signed by the team last Fall. Now, the investigation has been given new life and there could be some substantial fallout in the peloton. If they're dirty, they need to go.

The Bulls made quite a statement with the sweep of the Heat. In some respects, it was a case of match-ups, which favored Chicago. Hard to think that way when you have Shaq and Wade on the other side, but the energy, speed and relentlessness of the Bulls' attack made it an open-court game, and Miami just couldn't keep up for a whole game. The next series with Detroit will not be so one-sided.

The friend at SB's who's been writing the book has the final product on the market. It's a soft-bound book with maybe 200 pages or so. He was highly motivated/inspired by his subject, an ultimate fighter who endured an extremely difficult and abusive childhood, and later became a world champion.

What happened to April?

The repair to my "good" bike was more than I spent on several kid bikes in years past. Ouch! They replaced several items, including the right gear shifter that never worked 100% correctly after the UPS shipping problem of 2003. The components are a little expensive to start with, but I can imagine that I paid top dollar for just the right hand unit as opposed to a matching pair. I suppose that a full "tune" to a high-end bike every three years should not be expected to be cheap. The price of a good ride, I guess.

The Monday Night Ride is this evening, but I'm taking a pass. I'm in such embarrassingly bad shape that I need a couple more weeks before I join with those guys.

So I'm headed home for some domestic chores. Send 4 a "get well" note. She had a bug last night with bad results. She and 3 did do the 10K yesterday morning, although 3 says that there were no land speed records broken.

Have a good evening.

Be careful out there.

Monday

A few lines to check in this AM.

Nice weekend here. Sunny and warm. I had intended to add an entry Sunday morning, but as I was getting started, I got a call for a SB's second cup. And I never made it back to the office.

BBQ with 2 and 3 last night. Good stuff. 3 is in town to have a hip looked at by the athletic chiro up the street. (He's works with athletes!) She's down to her last two weeks of college.

15+ mile bike rides both weekend days. I'm a wimp. The wind made both rides a little less than enjoyable. More of the same this week.

This feels a little like the unofficial "first day of Summer" today. I'm two weeks past April 15th. It's warm and sunny. (No jacket today.) I can reasonably expect to ride most evenings this week. I'm motivated to get some over-due projects out the office door.

So I'll check in later. Have a great day.

Be careful out there.

Friday

Thanks to 1 for checking in.

Not much new today. At least we have some sunshine. If it weren't Friday, I would be out there on the bike.

Dogs at Golick's for lunch.

Hope 3 and 4 have luck on their Sunday run. Do the pasta tonight. Saturday won't do any good.

Be careful out there.

Thursday

Short tonight. The cleaning people are in and are annoying me.

2 did a fine job with her event at the museum last night. Nice turnout and well done. One of the featured artists was a now-deceased priest from St. Ambrose, and the other was the gal who creates horse sculptures out of scrap iron and dead wood. I learned that the priest was the creator of the street sign that presents to passers-by the name of St. Paul the Apostle Church in Davenport. A carved-in-slate piece with the letters then painted. Kind of commercial, but a distinctive kind of thing apropos of a church. The horses were particularly interesting, although it made me wonder if the artist ever saw anything in her creative visions that didn't end up as a horse.

Cultural events like that always make me wish that I did more of those types of things. Isn't art one of the things that separates us from the less-developed species?

4 is working on a paper for school and asked for ideas. It's a news report with a little controversy angle, perhaps. I gave her the hog confinement facility debate. In Iowa, I think that the divisions on that topic go about as deep as those on abortion.

Speaking of politics, the first debate among 2008 Democratic presidential hopefuls is tonight. And just when is the first primary vote? This is why I got rid of my land line. Excuse me while I yawn. Is there going to be a referee there to call piling-on penalties as they all agree on the need to exit Iraq and the overall incompetence of the current administration? I suspect that the weeding-out process will come down to a contest of collecting good old American greenbacks. I may be forced to watch the NBA instead.

Hope everyone has a good evening.

Be careful out there.

Wednesday

Dow 13,000. I wouldn't have bet on that level as of the first of the year.

Crappy day here today. Lots of rain. My sump pump at my house has been working overtime. I did get my yard mowed on Sunday so if the rain abates, I should be able to keep it under control if we get some dry weather in the next day or two.

I'm headed down to the Figge for a little event with 2 this evening.

Craig Wilson's column this morning was about his nightmare in air travel a couple of weeks ago, and the $800+ he spent on a one-way ticket to get home. Most of us have had an experience like that to remember. Here is my top ten list of worst travel experiences:

1. Iowa to Dallas for the 1970 Cotton Bowl. By car. Iced highways.
2. San Francisco to Kunsan, Korea 1973. It took 24+ hours to get to my new home.
3. Iowa City to Sterling with Mom 1975 Thanksgiving. Blizzard.
4. Dover, Delaware to South Bend 1972 to visit. Sideways rain on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
5. Chicago winters of 1978/79 and 1979/80. Snow on The Kennedy.
6. Steamboat, Colorado back to Brooklyn, Iowa 1982. The day the car died of cold!
7. South Bend to Philly in an USAF twin-prop 1968 for the Navy game. Scary.
8. Cabo back to Quad Cities 1999. It took forever. Finally by bus from C-town.
9. International Falls to Quad Cities 1992. Cancelled flights. Nothing to do.
10. Rural Delaware, 1972. He was over-served. I got out of the car in the middle of no-where and took two hours to walk home in the middle of the night.

Have a great evening.

Be careful out there.

.

Tuesday

I had great expectations of getting the blog done early this morning, but it didn't work out. I had a client come in at 7:30 and I had to prepare some things for the meeting. I would like to get my life organized enough to do the blog before work so that I could get away earlier at the end of the day to ride. It's a goal.

I attended an executive meeting of the QC Criterium yesterday to check in on my investment. The Memorial Day races are just five weeks away so the organizers are starting to get serious in their preparations. The website is up. Check it out at www.quadcitiescriterium.com. In addition to the promotion work that the race is doing itself, I'm doing some radio spots emphasizing our sponsorship of the event. The next month is pretty important to maximize our involvement in the race.

Basso was put on the sidelines today by Discovery in response to new efforts in the Spanish doping scandal of a year ago. A big one-day race tomorrow in Belgium and another on Sunday will not have him in the peloton. An Italian prosecutor has decided to pursue the investigation even though the Spanish authorities determined that there was no Spanish law in effect at the time was broken. Messy stuff. They have some bagged blood that they think has been doctored for various racers, including Basso. DNA testing may be utilized, and if the bagged stuff is Basso's, he's toast.

Another ugly day in Iraq and on Capital Hill. More casualties in the field, and more lies uncovered in the Tillman matter. I have elected to not place current politics on the menu here, but we need a better answer to this mess.

The Bulls go for a 2-0 lead tonight against the Heat. I don't care much about the NBA, but it would be nice to see the Bulls' perimeter game and defense carry the day.

And in significant other news, Toyota took the worldwide lead in the first quarter over GM on units sold. I vaguely remember seeing the first Corollas that hit the market in Ottumwa in the late '60's or early '70's. Times change. It is a world market today. And we will not always be the center of it.

Speaking of change, my one-time fantasy girl Sheryl Crow is now off my list. Her latest recommendation for conservation is to use one square of tissue per bathroom sitting. I don't think that'll work. She has continued her global warming bus tour with Laurie David who is the wife of Larry David, the producer of Sienfeld (and, news to me, the voice of George Steinbrenner on the show), and the HBO series Curb Your Enthusiasm. Liberal is a term that does not do justice to their perspectives. In any event, I have emailed Sheryl that she need not change her schedule on my behalf.

So have a good evening.

Be careful out there.

Monday

No blog today.

Sunday

Just a few lines this AM. Looks like a nice day out there and I have quite a bit to do.

2 and I did brats at my place last night. Nice.

The 24 won in Phoenix last night, but I fell asleep and did not see the end of the race. The new design of the cars (they call it The Car of Tomorrow) is more bulky and the teams have not figured out the perfect set-ups yet. But the 24 and teammates 48 and 5 have all run at the front in the races that have used the car, so it is no surprise that he won.

And the Discovery boys continue in the lead in Georgia. But the big guns on the other teams are in Europe, so it will be interesting in the next few weeks to see who will reach prime form for the big races in Italy and France.

I got out for 75 minutes yesterday and will try to do the same today. Doesn't say much for a biker if he feels it after 15 miles on a bike path. It will be a long road back.

Less than 90 days till the gathering of the clan in Minnesota. 1 seems to have a good handle on preparations. No major problems at this point.

I've had Margret out the last couple of days. My neighbor tells me that I have a work car (the Taurus), a good car (the Buick), and a toy car (Margret). I guess he's technically correct.

That same neighbor was putting out ant-traps along the foundation of his house to combat an invasion of the creatures into his house. Knock on wood, but I haven't seen them in my place. I do get some small spiders in my basement, but nothing very serious. At the old house on the farm, we used to get flies in the summer, and an occasional mouse in the winter. I think the flies were a combination of the close proximity of livestock and kids who never shut the screen door.

I had my old bike in for a Spring tune-up last week, and I swapped it back yesterday for my newer bike to have the same service performed on it. The seat on the old bike is a little off positioning-wise, and if I had my hex-tool I would be able to adjust it myself. Anything to add here 3?

Less than three weeks now until 3's college graduation. On the comparative numbers game, she's age 22 and I'm 58. When I graduated from ND in '71, I was 22 and Grandpa was 61. In that period of time between mid-May graduation and reporting for USAF duty in July, I stayed on the farm, visited the girl friend in New Orleans for a week or so, and generally "hung out" in Ottumwa. I think that that is the only time I have ever been to NO. It was fun, but I remember it as being very warm and humid.

I reported for duty at Sheppard AFB in Wichita Falls, Texas in July and spent 12 weeks going to Transportation Officer school. I needed that to run the Motor Pool? I could have just watched a few episodes of Sgt. Bilko and I probably would have been ok.

So hope everybody has a great day.

Be careful out there.

Saturday AM

Sorry, but I took off last night and was on the road before I remembered that I hadn't left an entry. Fridays tend to be slow blog days anyway.

4 is over in Ames for a sampling of Veisha. ISU has had some problems controlling the masses in some recent years. The formula of cabin-fevered students, alcohol, and a taste of Spring have lead to some unpleasant results. I'll be curious to hear of 4's experience there.

We had a Spring event at ND called An Tostal which fortunately never lead to visits from the local SWAT teams, but there were some pretty outrageous activities on those weekends.

I see in the local paper this AM that the lone remaining really good player for Iowa is transferring to a yet-to-be determined school closer to home. No surprise there. The Hawks will be lucky to win 15 games next year.

John Edwards did admit that his $400 haircut paid for from campaign funds was a little pricey.

Lots of domestic things on my schedule today. Bike. Yard. Garage. Is that a triathlon?

I'll be checking in later.

Be careful out there.

Thursday

1 reports that her betrothed had a successful evening behind the dish last night. And that more appearances in Big 10 games may be in his future. Kudos to him. I'll have to think about it for a while before elevating him to numbered status in the blog. It's a big step.

The Discovery boys are back at it in Georgia. In one of the weirder stages of this or any recent year, the peloton let a break of 13 riders get away yesterday on a relatively benign route for a 30 minute gap. This essentially gave the win in the week long race to whomever in that 13-rider group does the best in the remaining stages. Pardon me while I explain.

Since Discovery had two strong, but second-line riders in the break, the remaining Discovery riders in the peloton had no incentive to chase the break. The team of the then over-all race leader simply didn't have the horses to drive the peloton, and the two teams who were not represented in the break, tried to make the catch, but wore themselves out before a connection was made. Interestingly, Discovery's two primary leaders, Leipheimer (who won California earlier this Spring) and Danielson (who won Georgia two years ago), both had designs on the over-all win here, but the peloton would never have let either of them go with a break, so they remained tucked in the peloton and followed racing protocol which is not to lead the chase for a break that includes capable teammates. Odd circumstances that might have been a little tough for the two Americans to swallow as they allowed their much less-heralded Slovenian teammate to take the headlines.

Leipheimer did win the individual time trial earlier today, but his teammate Brajkovic who was in yesterday's break has the yellow jersey. And Leipheimer is more than 26 minutes back. So the Discovery team will be charged with escorting Brajkovic up the big, beyond-category hill tomorrow to assure a team victory for the week.

In other drama, Junior created a stir at the end of last Sunday's race in Texas. After his car was wrecked beyond repair, he agreed to drive the last few laps for the 5 team because their driver, the volatile Kyle Busch, had left the track after his own wreck (which was the same one as Junior's), but the crew was able to repair the car, and they had no driver. So Junior jumped in and earned an additional 3 championship points for the 5 team. Lots of media-types out there want to criticize Junior for being reckless with himself, his own team, his company, sponsors, and lots of other current-day proprieties. I say, "Go for it, Junior." That's certainly how NASCAR was before Hollywood, TV contracts, and microscopic sports analysis.

I registered for TOMRV today (Tour of the Mississippi River Valley). That's the bike ride June 9-10 from Bettendorf to Dubuque on Saturday and back on Sunday. My TOMRV is Bettendorf to a bar in Galena on Saturday. Have a couple of adult beverages. And get a ride home, sleep in my own bed and have a full Sunday to do whatever. I mean, it's 85 miles to Galena. I'm not getting paid to ride. And my butt just doesn't do 200 miles in less than 48 hours any more.

My training for TOMRV starts Saturday. I'm taking a couple of more days of "nothing" to recover my sanity.

Have a great evening.

Be careful out there.

Wednesday

The comment about the cobbler's kids yesterday was indeed a reference to me completing my own tax return extension at the last hour.

This was a very low key day. In years prior to my establishment of the securities business, I would usually take a day or two off from work after April 15th. But with the securities markets open today like any other day, I do not have the luxury of taking a personal day to recover my sanity. But the phones have been pretty quiet so it has been ok.

My Russian cleaning lady is back in Russia for several weeks to visit a daughter and new grandchild, so I have a substitute, whom I think is also Russian. She called to confirm her schedule last weekend. I stopped by over the noon hour to meet her, but she had come and gone. It looks like she did a good job, although I did have to rearrange my throw rugs. She probably put them in a pile to vacuum, and then had to guess where they needed to go afterwards.

I need to mow my yard tonight. My neighbors on either side have each mowed their yards twice. I may need to catch the clippings to capture the winter's waste on the first go-around. I noticed that some of my decorative shrubs have had their early leaf-sprouts singe by the spate of cold weather that we had last week. What had started as an early Spring may be somewhat the opposite.

I hope to re-energize 4000 Days in the next few weeks. I know that the stress of tax season has found it's way on to these pages and I want to get back to talking about the more positive things in our lives. The original goal was to provide a portal to reach out to the girls in their diverse lives and to share my thoughts and perspectives. It is interesting to realize that a well-considered entry on a daily basis is not that easy of a task to execute. Particularly when the pressures of work get in the way.

Maybe we need to revive Frank and Melanie.

OK. All for the day.

Be careful out there.

Tuesday

Thanks to AM for her entry.

Done here. The cobblers' kids rule applies.

Be careful out there.

Monday

While it is Patriots'Day, the real reason for the extended IRS filing date to April 17th is Emancipation Day in Washington, D.C. This was the renewal of a holiday celebrated years ago, but only reinstalled as a holiday in DC a couple of years ago. Wikipedia has a nice discussion.

Other than that, I have no news. It's been another long day.

Be careful out there.

Sunday

Another day at the office.

Congrats to 2! She had a chip time of 2:11 this AM in her half in StL. She's the Daughter of the Day. She needs to provide details.

Tomorrow will be a huge day. Tons of things to get done. I will need my "A" game to have the kind of day that I need to have. I hope my mind can keep the mass amounts of information about various clients properly compartmentalized.

I wonder at times about that last straw of data that makes the brain overloaded. If the theory of the geometric growth in information applies to the human race in general, how does one individual who functions in a position of a constantly changing/growing data base keep the circuits from frying? No wonder we are The Prozac Nation.

Have a good evening.

Be careful out there.

Saturday

Full day at the office today.

2 and Mom took off for StL around noon. I feel badly that I cannot follow her on the course tomorrow. Hugely bad timing for me. She did pasta at Olive Garden last night. It wouldn't do any good for her to have pasta tonight.

Yesterday was the date of the 71st wedding anniversary of Phil and Margaret.

The normal IRS deadline for individual tax returns when April 15th falls on a Saturday or Sunday is the following Monday. This would mean that the date this year would be Monday the 16th. However, since the 16th is also Patriots' Day, a holiday in Washington D.C. and six Eastern states, the IRS has elected to make Tuesday the 17th the deadline for all taxpayers this year. I've been doing returns for 30 years and this is the first time that I can recall this additional one day extension to a Tuesday. This must mean that the circumstances are truly unusual, or that my Alzheimer's is kicking in again. I'd bet on the latter.

You could make the tax deadline for individual returns July 15th and most accounting firms would be working weekends through that date. Nothing like a deadline to make things interesting.

Sunday is the Paris-Roubaix bike race in northern France. It is by many accounts the most significant one-day bike race in the world. "The Hell of the North." A little over 160 miles over mostly flat terrain, but with many sections of pave (General Classification) types of the big multi-stage races, but rather the gritty hard men who are willing to put up with lots of misery. Discovery's main man for this event, George (cobblestones). And the weather is often a bit sketchy. The winners of this type of race are generally not the Lance Armstrong GCHincapie broke his wrist in the California race and will not compete. They have some good guys though, so who knows. Luck plays a role too. A flat tire. A crash.

My pal Roy completed his coach's courses this week and will be an assistant coach in due time. In a style associated with PE instruction by cynics, the last two classes were supposed to go from 5 to 10, but actually went from 5 to 7, with a film included. He is certainly now well-trained.

All for today.

Be careful out there.

Friday

Not much here today. It's been another whirlwind day with lots of returns and phone calls. Very boring stuff.

I failed to comment earlier this week about Craig Wilson's Wednesday column about the spin class gestapo instructor. Much of what he said in jest was exactly the same as I experienced at the local Gold's Gym a couple of years ago. All of the spin class instructors there were 30-something females with way too much enthusiasm for riding a stationary bike in a dark room with loud music. And at 5:30 AM, my sensory functions didn't do well in that environment.

Good luck to 2 in STL. She heads down early Saturday to join her friend at the new Busch Stadium for a Cardinals' game. The half starts at 7 Sunday morning.

Formal for the IC girls tonight.

All for today. I'll try to do more here over the weekend.

Be careful out there.

Thursday

I agree with 1.

Mom said that 2 and 4 have purchsed their tickets for Europe.

I came in to the office around 5 or so this AM. It reminded me of the times in our last couple of winters in Chicago in the late '70's when we would drive in from Arlington Heights about 5 AM to beat the traffic. The snow and cold had combined to throw the train schedules into the unreliable range. And then would not leave downtown until 9+ PM to avoid traffic at night. Get home at 10 or so, snack, go to bed. And get up at Four Bells to start again.

30 years later and I'm walking the same walk. Bring on Power Ball.

A great article in the paper this morning about Casey At The Bat. There's a new book out about the guy who made a living reciting the poem. I'll try to scan the article and email it to the fans. If you were to Google "Casey At The Bat" in Google News, you'll get some info on the new book.

That radio referenced by Anonymous today was my first, and long-time, exposure to electronic media. I know we had it in the barn when I was a kid, but I think I took it to my room in the tween years to listen to games at night.

All for tonight.

Be careful out there.

Wednesday

No blog today.

Too much to do. Too little time. And not that much enthusiasm.

Be careful out there.

Tuesday

There is snow in the forecast for this evening. I brought the Taurus to wok today and there was frost on the windshield as I pulled out of the driveway. A little odd for April.

I worry at this time of the year about an oversight or mistake on my part that will have a large negative impact on one of my tax clients. That's always been the case, but in these last couple of years I've had an increased fear of screwing up. Is that a sign of age? Actually, I've had a couple of very difficult IRS audits on large-income clients within the last year or so. Talk about sobering experiences.

One of the positives of the information age is the ease with which we can obtain income tax data from clients and investment companies. I had two instances today where clients sitting in my office were able to log into their investment accounts and print out tax advice statements during our meeting. Compare that to the past where I would have to call a broker whom I may not know and beg for a copy of the form that I needed. While this access has disclosure and security issues, it sure is nice in the days around April 15th.

Uncle Phil indicates that the block of reservations at the hotel in MSP for the wedding may be being used and that we should get our names in. He's actually getting in on Tuesday before the wedding and ran into availability issues at the normal reservation desk for the extra days.

How 'bout Cleveland hosting their opening series in Milwaukee? Lots of debate these days on the weather problems of Northern cities when stadiums in the South and West are empty. Scheduling problems.

The new Discovery stud, Alberto Contador, is in a stage race in Spain this week. They sent the "B" or "C" team with him so we'll see how he does on his own.

Have a great evening.

Be careful out there.

Monday

Busy day here. I can alert the viewers that there will not be much to read here this week. I have a bunch of returns to get out over the next four days.

I thought the Easter weekend was a success. I was only available for the evenings, but those certainly went well. Three nights and two full days may be the "Vegas weekend" plan that works best for us. At least when there are no vacation location activities (read: Lake Tahoe) to break the total-access togetherness that can strain everyone's sense of space.

2's half marathon is in StL this weekend. She did nine yesterday. So she should be fine. I may not be able to get there as the timing for me is not good.

Is there a bigger fool out there right now than Don Imus? Makes you wonder if these somewhat public figures in the fringe media have any contact with reality. He should be canned. I suspect that he will find few friends rushing to his public defense.

Interesting how CBS follows the NCAA tournament with an equally self-gratification presentation of The Masters golf tournament. Jim Nance is generally ok, except I think that his efforts to deliver a spontaneous and home-spun play-by-play of these events actually sounds coached or rehearsed to me. You can't tell me that his relating of the Jack Fleck stories with the Iowa connection when Zach Johnson came into contention were not fed to him by some producer back in the truck. Or he pulled up Google on his computer.

I'm outta here. A special thanks to 1, 2, 3, and 4 for making my Easter weekend so special.

Be careful out there.

Friday

No blog today. Family din-din this evening with all members in town.

Be careful out there.

Thursday

Out of gas again.

1 plus Matt and 3 headed in this evening for the weekend. 4 tomorrow. FFF for the weekend.

The weather has turned chilly on us. There were snow flurries yesterday. The plants will need to stay inside for another week or two.

My neighbor mowed his yard this week! He always has a step on me. My mower may not even start.

2 and 4 will be comparing notes this weekend for their trip to Europe. They need to figure out plane fares and departure points. 4 needs to start planning for her extended visit there as she will have little time to do at the end of the school year.

4 advises me that she is off Business as her second major and into Poly Sci. I have the scent of grad school in the air.

All for now.

Be careful out there.

Wednesday

No blog today. Business dinner tonight.

Be careful out there.

Tuesday

Too late to write tonight.

Congrats to Mom on the Clan NCAA tournament pool. The Oracle did finish strong.

If you get the chance to watch "The UCLA Years" (or something to that effect) on HBO, do so. It is an analysis pf the U-clans' NCAA championships. The focus is on Coach Wooden. I sat next to him on a stage at a South Bend high school awards ceremony a few lifetimes ago when he gave his oration on The Pyramid of Success. If you are a fan of basketball history, the program is must-see TV.

As a little insight into this author's psyche, Mr. Wooden is in that very small, highly select group of people whom I would walk across the street to see.

Have a great evening.

Be careful out there.

Monday

Thanks to AM for giving us all some food for thought. I like the one for the Retired: If it's not easy, don't do it.

I enjoyed the NASCAR race yesterday. The 24 and 48 did the old "bump and grind" for the last 25-30 laps on a track no bigger than the one in Eldon. Unfortunately, the 24 came in second.

I'll be headed out soon to watch the game tonight. Can't say that I really care who wins. Lots of talk today about how fouls can impact these games so much. Should the college game go to six fouls before disqualification, just like the pros? Good question. One of the things that happens in the tournament is that teams may be experiencing whistling that may be different than the standard set in their conferences. Certainly, the Big 10 is a contact, grinders' game. The officials in the tournament in the early round games seemed inclined to let the teams play. But in these later games, they have called things pretty tight.

4 advises us that she has been accepted to the program in Spain for May. 2 is planning to join her for a couple of weeks of travel in late June or early July. I wish I were in college again.

My pal Pete's second son is transferring from Iowa to Augustana next year. He'll have two years of eligibility remaining. This will make the games next season more appealing to me. If 2 is still around, we'll have a few more date-nights.

Once I get past April 15th, I've got to pick out some sporting events and get them on my schedule. I miss having a game or other event to go to on a regular basis. Augie and St. Ambrose both have many Spring sports on the calendar. Maybe some track meets.

If I ride four days a week, the open dates shrink. And the yard and garden will soon be calling. So really, when it comes right down to it, I have a lot to do. But this stuff, including the biking, can get old pretty quick. Besides, it's more fun to get out there and do stuff with others.

The issue of what to do is a real significant one for early retirees. If they don't have an interest, they sit at home and life gets pretty dark.

I didn't even realize that it was Palm Sunday until I took a break from work around noon yesterday and caught up with the news on the web.

All for today. Thanks for checking in.

Be careful out there.

Sunday

One of my readers needs to pick up the baton this week. I am out of gas.

Be careful out there.