Sunday

A little SB's this AM.

2 and I bailed on the Augie game in Indianola last night. I did the math, and had we gone, it would have meant a return home around 1AM this morning. Way too late for me. (They won in a tight game. Its never easy on the road.)

The Iowa game was officially recognized as a non-sellout yesterday, breaking a string of 30-odd home game sellouts dating back to 2003. As we approached the stadium 20 minutes before kick-off, the upper reaches of the student section in the South end zone were completely empty. And that section never collected any fans. Lots of tickets were held up "for sale" by fans all around the stadium. They say that Iowa "travels well", but a mediocre team in nasty November conditions suggests a slightly fair-weather fan base for those last 10K of followers. Now, a Florida bowl game in January might be a different story. Everybody in Iowa (who can beg, borrow or steal the travel costs) likes a Florida trip after Christmas.

There was an extremely quiet passing last week of the three year anniversary of 4000 Days. Lots of meaningless information has passed through this site since it opened in 2005. Imagine the possibilities for the future.

For those who may not know, Trackingkch.blogspot.com is back up with some new posts. She has a great way with words, and her spin on life is worth the read.

There was a story on one of the sports pages this AM that the Big O was quoted as wanting to exert his influence to get an 8 team D-1 playoff in college football. Is there any area of endeavor where the wanderlust of this guy's prescience will be limited? Given the rapture on his persona in most of the opinion pages, it looks like the honeymoon period accorded most newly-elected officials may extend indefinitely for him.

More to be added to this post later today...

Saturday

A couple of shots from our day in Iowa City. If you "click" the photo, it expands to full page. Pretty good results with the new Canon.

The guy in the red hat is the TV on-field "go, no-go" guy. He's positioned at the South 20 yard line and moves onto the field when there's a change of possession or other stoppage in play when the commercials are run. The game will not be re-started until this guy raises his arm and gives the "go" sign. At the game, it seems like we're always watching Redhat and waiting for the game to get going.

Blogger is being uncooperative at this point. More tomorrow.

BCOT

Thursday

Just a few lines today.

I had a substitute Russian cleaning lady today. The regular gal is out of town this week. Irina must have schooled this gal pretty good, as everything from the laundry to the kitchen counter arrangement was left in identical fashion as Irina's style. Do you give the pinch-hitter notes on how to dust? I like the results.

I had the regional administrative coordinator from my broker-dealer in the office this afternoon to conduct her annual audit of our procedures and documentation protocols. This is the grass-roots over-sight that all brokers must endure. I get critiqued on whether I have enough paper in my files. I wonder if the derivative creators on Wall Street actually had a compliance officer look over their shoulder. I have to put a disclaimer on the note card stock that I use to send informal greetings to customers. And those guys get millions on exit contracts.

Glad to see RevKev back online.

Anybody have an answer as to why all the investigators on the CSI shows always work with flashlights? In the middle of the day? Are all of their crime scenes located in buildings with no electrical service?

The economic turmoil will likely have some significant impact on some of the sports that rely heavily on sponsors for financial backing. I'm thinking NASCAR and golf tournaments in particular. NASCAR gets lots of support from the manufacturers ( Ford, GM and Chrysler), who are all standing in the halls of Congress with hats in hand looking for bailout money. If they get it, how will it play on Main Street that the manufacturers are still bank-rolling race cars?

Buick (a division of GM), is the title sponsor for at least three PGA tournaments. And Tiger Woods is the lead spokesman for Buick. See where this leads? And Wachovia is the lead sponsor for the Charlotte stop. Cadillac (another GM model) has always been a big advertiser for golf as well. Anybody trust the regulators, the executives or Congress to keep a lid on this? To say that the soup is murky is an understatement.

Kill Green is back on ER tonight. I didn't know that ER was still on the schedule.

I bought a SB's Gold Card. $25. It gives you a 10% discount on every purchase. For a five-day-a-week visitor with a $2 habit, the payback is 25 weeks. This scheme may front some money to the corporation, but I think that its a financial loser in the long run. And the sign-up packet gives you three, one-time 10% cards that 2 will be able to use for her one-pound purchases that she uses for home brew.

They're talking mid-30's for a high in IC on Saturday for the game. Peppermint schnapps may be the order of the day.

Have a great Friday.

BCOT

Wednesday

The good news today is that 3 has made arrangements for her Thanksgiving trip home. Sounds like we have FFF wine at PC's on Wednesday night. Not too much. Turkey Trot in the AM. We can do excess vino on Friday at 2's.

Looks like an NCAA day for 2 and I on this Saturday. I've been asked to join a client at the Iowa-Purdue game in IC. 2 is coming along, although she and 4 may take in the game at a non-disclosed location. After the game, and any post game festivities, we're off to Indianola (south of Des Moines) to get to the Augustana basketball game with Simpson College. It will be a late night coming home.

There is little going on in Washington to create any economic confidence in the hinterland. Every big corporation is converting itself to a bank so as to be eligible to feed at the trough of the Federal bailout. GM and Ford are desperate, and the politicians in affected districts are lined up to plead for their constituents. American Express is now a bank. Srarbucks might be next. Paulson now says that the bailout money won't be used to buy bad paper, like the original intent. Rather, they want to get more capital into the banks. Ostensibly to have them with more money to lend.

So gas prices are coming down. Oil is down in the mid-50's. Explain to me why it was $145 this Summer. Supply and demand. Right.

Wait. Latest word: Exxon has just been reorganized as a bank. I mean, they do issue credit cards. They need a bailout. To find storage for their last quarterly profits.

Actually, if you look at the approximate $2 per gallon reduction in gas prices over the last few weeks, Americans are again receiving a modest economic "stimulus". This time at the pump. Say a 15 gallon fill-up once a week. $30 times pick-your-number-of-weeks and its not a small number. Certainly more than the $0 that I received on the first go-around. And more than the $0 that I'll likely be eligible for on the next brainchild from Nancy, Barney, Harry & friends.

I used to like the CMA awards show for the female stars that could make a man daydream about the possibilities. Now, the females on the show aren't old enough buy beer. Watching it has the feel of going to a high school musical.

4 is Daughter of the Day. This was on the last roll taken on my old camera. At the tailgate at the Hawkeye game last month. I'm not saying that the new Canon digital would have eliminated that glare, but the new Canon digital would have eliminated the glare. Or a second pic would have been taken. We're talking progress. Anyway, 4, you 'da girl!

Have a good evening/day.

BCOT

Monday II

So the earlier post was set apart from my normal ramblings out of respect for our veterans. It doesn't seem quite right to honor the vets, and then shift gears and lament the reality of Olberbaman's new MSNBC contract.

Anyway, my topic tonight is marginalism. Actually, I want to make (more than) a few observations, and maybe some distinctions, about the application of marginal analysis in a person's (mostly mine) daily life. I know that 3 has a half of a double major in Economics, and 2 has had at least one MBA course in macro econ, but the stuff I think about is decidedly micro. I vaguely remember the old "Guns or Butter" discussion from Week 1 of Econ 101, many years ago, but I find that most of my choices today are truly off on the margins.

There's really not much marginal cost or marginal benefit in these obscurities. And the end result is usually the same place.

As a further aside, its worth noting that "marginal" has been used in our family as an adjective of conduct, originally used to describe one (or more) of the girls' deportment in Sunday church. I think that the term is still in use when the girls need to respond to an inquiry over any social arrangement that doesn't quite make the grade, as in, "The party was marginal."

Marginal analysis really needs to be distinguished from risk tolerance or the cost-benefit ratio. Both of these concepts suggest that a decision is predicated on producing a different and preferred outcome from other alternatives. Investing in CD's usually allows one to sleep better at night than buying pork belly futures contracts. The $15 dollar bottle of wine tastes just fine compared to the $50 bottle. (Well, maybe not for my pal Roy.)

My first marginal decision of the day comes as I awaken and need to decide whether it is easier to check the time by rolling over to look at the clock-radio on the bed-side table, or in the alternative, check my Ironman wrist watch. In the Summer, a look at the wrist watch is a lay-up. Very little effort. Come Fall and Winter, waking in the dark means that the wrist watch option requires two moves, moving the left arm for the proper angle, and moving the right arm to push the Indiglo button. I've laid there thinking about this choice for several minutes some mornings.

Next, after minor choices while getting ready for work, I need to decide whether I take the Taurus, the Buick, or Margret to work. Margret doesn't go out in bad weather, or the threat of bad weather (or in the months of November through March). The Taurus doesn't travel out of town. And I try to limit the Buick's miles, generally, and those in snow in particular. Client travel is also a consideration as the Buick doesn't go on a visit to the Ford dealer, and the Buick stays away from the GM store.

Then I need to decide on a route to work with coffee and the papers on the way. There are a number of SB's options, and a couple of other places, all influenced by the need or desire (or lack thereof) for a bagel or other treat.

Most of the work day is about risk tolerance and cost-benefit. And responsibilities.

After work, I need to map my workout, biking most of the year, running in the Fall. (Hello Turkey Trot!) My regular routes are loops of some sort, and total distance is the deciding factor. Which way is the wind blowing? Which direction do I want to take on the hills? What time is sundown?

After the workout, we're talking din-din, and the options are geometric. Is there anything that needs to be done before dark? If I water the plants and garden, are the results better than waiting until the morning? After my shower, what's the coefficient of water usage if I throw in a medium load of laundry, compared with waiting another day or two for a large load? If I have another glass of wine, is there another midnight trip to the bathroom in my future?

And, of course, if I add to the blog, will anyone care? Is there anything that I need to get off my chest? Do I have anything creative going? Or is it another day of blah, blah, blah?

All for now. Get out there and make some choices!

But...

BCOT

Monday

Tomorrow. November 11th.

So lest we forget those who have made the commitment to allow us the freedom to argue over media influence and spreading the wealth. Country first.

Full post to follow.

Saturday

Congrats to the Iowa Hawkeyes on their big win today against previously unbeaten Penn State. 4 might be in the background of this picture that shows the students rushing the field as the clock expired. I talked with her after the game and she was in the crowd on the turf.

It seems like they have a "black" out, or "gold" out in Iowa City several times during the year (where all of the fans are encouraged to wear the color of the "out"). Today, I noticed a lot of green shirts and I didn't get the message until midway through the second quarter when the camera was showing a section of green-draped fans right after a running play by the Hawks' outstanding back, Shonn Greene. Duh!

So I got my flu shot this week. The Visiting Nurses Association had set up in the Hy Vee pharmacy by the office so I stopped in and took my medicine. Thirty-seven samoliens. I'm thinking that I paid twenty bucks when I got my first shot a few years back. 85% inflation! I need to raise my rates.

We had a scintilla of FFF today at 2's raking her leaves. She lives in an older section of town with mature trees. And lots of leaves. These are just a few of the 20-odd bags that we gathered this afternoon. My guess is that there will be at least one more afternoon of raking this season. There are still leaves on many trees...and the neighbors seems to want to wait until everything is down.

When we packed the "Martian Eggs" over on Scott Street, we had my pick 'em-up to take the bags down to the collection point by the river where we dumped the bags and re-used them for more eggs the next time. Without the convenience of the truck, we're all now stuck with the city's collection of the paper bags.

We've had snow showers here each of the last two days. Nothing to stick to the ground, but a clear indication that the 70 degree days are likely done for the year. My bet is that we see 60 at least once, but with the shorter days, and the low angle of the sun, its time to button down the hatches and put the shorts into storage.

The Irish are in Boston tonight. 3 will need to let us know if the local watering holes had any ND flavor this weekend.

Let the world know that it is my intention to be on a "boy's" golf trip for my 60th birthday in January. The 8th is a Thursday, and I'm probably leaving on the 7th for Phoenix, coming back on Sunday the 11th. (Cabo has been dropped from the rotation due to costs and travel time. At our ages, we can get into all the trouble we need in Scottsdale. Plus, we can actually play golf on the 7th after arrival, if we were so inclined.)

I'm trying to figure out where the Federales will draw the next line in the sand. Ford and GM are both burning through cash at rates that will deplete their reserves in a short period of time. Their stock prices have crashed. Are they "too big to fail"? I don't think that Uncle Sam wants to own a car company, but if he forks over $100 billion-plus to rescue AIG, why not offer the same deal to Detroit?

Don't be fooled by short term ups in the market. The slope remains slippery.

Here's another sign of the times. I haven't spent near as much time listening to the radio over the last few years, and as a result, I have lost much of my contact with contemporary country music. The Country Music Association awards show is on TV next week and ABC is promoting the show at seemingly every timeout in every game on the schedule. I know Brad Paisley, but most of the other singers are young, blond and off my charts. I do listen to a country station as I go to sleep, but that's usually for only a short period. Then again, with my Alzheimer's, length of listening may not matter.

Finally, another observation about Blogger protocols. When I pull images off the Internet, the system is fairly efficient and usually clears the picture for upload quickly. On the other hand, when I try to upload one of my own photos, like the one of 2 with the leaves above, it might take two or three minutes. I know that they have some controls to minimize publishing anything pornographic, but its interesting that the software distinguishes these different types of visuals. You don't think that they have a little man behind the screen that looks at each picture, do you?

So more tomorrow, maybe from SB's in the AM.

BCOT

Wednesday

I have a couple of Top Ten lists to offer today.

During the now completed political campaign, I found myself spending a lot of time, day and evening, reading the Internet news sites and political blogs to keep up on the latest developments. In retrospect, I think that those efforts were a poor and non-productive use of one of a person's primary assets: time.

Now, what constitutes wasting time can be a debatable point. For a sports enthusiast like myself for instance, I still don't get the deal of playing fantasy sports. (Sorry, 1.1.) But this list is just about me, and where I think that I have thrown away the most time. Not in any order of importance. In relevance sometime during the last 25 years.

1. Watching old, old reruns of Law & Order on cable.
2. Spending anything more than 1/2 hour per day on a crossword puzzle.
3. Surfing the 'net.
4. Reading the third daily newspaper. Maybe the second too.
5. Listening to the talking heads on any business channel. More so if NBC is involved.
6. Sitting in drive-time traffic in Chicago.
7. Attending any all-day insurance license continuing education seminar.
8. Eating lunch by myself rather than with a client or associate.
9. Watching any pre-game, half-time, or post-game NFL, MLB or NBA show.
10. Watching a NASCAR race.
11. Following the Tour de France and other bike races on-line.
12. Reading the comments following any Internet political blog article.

My guess is that the Internet is today's biggest waster of time. Replacing TV from the old days. (Is/was watching The Lone Ranger an act of wasting time?) I have no experience to opine on video games. And I'm not sure where comic books fall on the continuum.

And befitting the conclusion of the elections, my Top Ten things learned from the campaign:

1. I can live without late-night TV.
2. MSM does kind of stand for a network.
3. Hope Floats.
4. Eight Is Enough.
5. It's the economy, stupid.
6. I know what I want. Don't confuse me with the facts.
7. Technology and politics do mix.
8. The tanning of America matters in politics.
9. The GOP: we met the enemy, and he was us.
10. On November 5th, The Sun Also Rises.

I have been struggling this week to adjust to the Circadian Rhythms of the time change. Running my days on the same clock time as last week just hasn't worked as well as normal. My body is just a click off.

Looks like we're back into Fall weather tomorrow. That's OK. November and all.

1 reports that she will be Assistant Varsity Coach for the girls team at her new high school.

I'll catch up with some more here tomorrow.

BCOT

Sunday

These are pics that I took just a few minutes ago out my front window as some birds were having breakfast of red berries from my ornamental tree. The 70 degree temps probably have these robins confused on their latitude setting for this time of year. (They doubtlessly remain unbothered by Daylight Savings Time, or the "Falling Back" that occurred last night.)

I spent some time this morning trying to effect a download of pictures from my cell phone to my computer. No luck. I was inspired when I discovered that the cord provided for downloads from my new camera to a computer had the same shaped plug-in as the receptacle for my phone's external power source. But the computer queried for a Motorola RAZR program and it looks like you need a license.

A quick Google search suggested some hacking procedures, but since I'll be running for elective office in the future, I didn't want my reputation tarnished. So I took a pass. The pics weren't that good anyway. But I may stop by the phone store and see if there is a legal option available on the cheap. This is definitely getting me out there into the techno culture.

The Saturday Wall Street Journal had a good human interest story on the concept of handicaps for golfers. It was written by a guy who had recently done a weekend boys trip with a bunch of guys and it had struck him in the aftermath that the handicap system had very successfully evened-up whatever teams had been matched up over the weekend. For any of the golf trips that I have been on, we've always used a rough handicap system, and it has usually been reasonably successful for us as well.

A low handicapper is a good golfer, shooting close to par most of the time. A high handicapper is a hack. So if a good golfer is matched in an event against a hack, the hack gets lots of shots. Lots of mulligans. Lots of do-overs. The equivalent of a head start in a foot race. It evens the playing field. If both golfers shoot their handicaps, the match should end in a tie. But as with all things human, handicaps are a function of averages, and on any given day, one golfer usually does better relative to the averages than the other. And, wall-ah! We have a winner.

One of the worst critiques of a golfer's character would be to have the reputation of a "sandbagger". A sandbagger is a golfer who knowingly and intentionally inflates his handicap for the express purpose of receiving more strokes in a match based on handicaps. A cheat. And every club has a few.

Sandbagging terminology has found it's way into the general lexicon. Anyone who under-performs or tries to shade the truth for their own advantage merits the moniker.

I'm going to get out this afternoon and do a little yard work, rinse Margret down and generally enjoy the day. Maybe fire up my new grill. And get a 3+ miler in to start the week.

Have a great day.

BCOT

Saturday II

Happy November to all. Next month is Christmas!

I wasn't all that productive today. A little recovery from Friday at Biaggi's. Coffee and then Hy Vee breakfast with my pal Roy. Then a 49 minute run that extended past four miles. (Need to build up that distance/stamina.) Football. (All my teams lost.) Enough study on the camera to get those two pics up. And a spin with Margret. Not all that bad of a day. But a Loser's Saturday Night on the blog. And The Bourne Identity. Starring the neo-conservative Matt Damon.

One interesting exercise this morning was the small matter of losing my phone. And finding it. It's a story worth telling.

I had been at the office after breakfast to check on any Friday afternoon activity (since I didn't get back to the office yesterday afternoon following a client meeting on the Illinois side.) When I left a half hour or so later to get on with my errands, I had to make two trips to the car, as I had client files in the backseat that I had forgotten to take inside when I first arrived.

On the first trip out, I had set my phone and keys on the roof of the car as I gathered the files to take back into the office. I had to re-grab the keys as I went inside because I needed to lock the door. Didn't re-grab the phone. (Big mistake.) Took the files inside, came out, locked the door, jumped in the car, fired it up, and took off West on Kimberly to go to the dry cleaners just a little ways up the street to pick up some shirts. 30-45 seconds later, pulling into the dry cleaners, I look for my phone to check messages. Oops!

Fortunately, all of this happened in such a short period of time that even the Alzheimer's hadn't had time to kick in, and I was able to exactly recall the sequence of my actions described in the preceding paragraphs. If the phone wasn't in the car, I knew that I had to have left it on the roof of the car as I left the office. So I paid for the shirts and doubled back to the office to fully retrace my steps.

As most of you know, Kimberly is a four lane divided highway, and I looked across the grassy median to the westbound lanes as I went East to the cut-through, did the u-turn, and re-entered the office parking lot. I didn't see the phone. At the office, I first went inside to see if I had left the phone by chance on a box by the door (as I do at times). Nothing. Then from an office phone, I did the old, call your own number, to see if I could hear it ring. Still no luck.

Plan C kicked in and I walked through the parking lot, to the street, scanning the pavement. Nothing in the parking lot. Then its out walking alongside Kimberly (with exceedingly low expectations), with traffic whizzing along with little interruption. If I had had a sign, "Will work for a Phone", I would have fit in perfectly with some of the vagrants who occasionally populate Kimberly.

Finally, about 25 yards West of our office park entrance, in the crack between the two lanes, I saw the phone. In one piece. I hustled over to it at a break in the traffic, and picked it up. Except for a missing battery housing, it was undamaged. Amazing. Didn't see the housing close by, so I assumed it was gone. Blown in the wind.

But the phone gods were even kinder, as on my next drive by to head home, I saw the housing a few yards further up the road, and I was able to make a final scavenger recovery of the mostly undamaged housing. To an unknowing observer, my phone now looks a little "used", but certainly not like a veteran of Kimberly Car Wars.

This one could have obviously had a much worse ending. One could posit that this result, given the premise that you're going to leave your phone on the top of the car as you take off on an errand on one of the busiest roads in town, is as good as it gets. It certainly couldn't be much better. Unless you didn't leave the darn thing out to lose it in the first place.

There is precedent in my life for this kind of event. I specifically remember leaving some glasses on the rear bumper of one of my pick-ups after ending a bike ride at the Eastern Avenue parking lot, maybe 15-18 years ago. I was able to back track and find the glasses, but not before they were partially crushed by traffic. And uninsured.

Coffee cups and sodas have suffered terminal events numerous times over the years.

Now, my pal Roy loses his phones (yes, phones), pretty regularly. Nothing exotic like leaving it on top of his car, but by more routine exercises like in the seat of an airplane, a golf cart at a far away course, or while sitting at some other venue on his many travels. In market speak, if you were to "short" Roy's possession term for any one of his mobile devices, it wouldn't be a bad long term investment.

I think I pretty well beat The Lost and Found Phone story to death. Sorry. But it may be a reference point for the next family member's faux pas or mis-placement. Look for a similar meandering in a Craig Wilson colume coming to you soon.

Have a great evening.

BCOT

Saturday

Halloween 2008 with Sarah and Indy!

Thursday

I'm thinking that it was almost 70 here today. 2 and I did our run in shorts this evening. Record-setting time for Lt.PC.

Halloween tomorrow. Actually, several of the localities around here have been celebrating different things since last weekend. They all choose their own times for parades, trick-or-treating, and the like. There are very few things that I can say positive about Halloween. The girls enjoyed dressing up, trick-or-treating with kids in the neighborhood, and hoarding candy for months. There may still be some in the back of bedroom drawers.

Anyone notice that the Phillies won the Series last night? About the only interesting thing to me about that rain-delayed fifth game was the betting results. I guess the bookies' rules were tested by the circumstances. Did they just call the first night a push, and roll the pot to Wednesday?

In response to AM's comment from Tuesday, I clearly remember Grandma's Saturday Evening Post collection. And the frequent appearance of Norman Rockwell prints on the covers. Not wanting to destroy my image among my loyal readers, but that magazine registers on my scale about the same as Playboy: I mostly looked at the pictures and read the cartoons.

And RevKev, the camera is a Canon PowerShot SX10SI, with a 20x zoom lens, and 10.0 mega pixel clarity. Not the fanciest machine in their line-up, but I'm optimistic that it will meet my needs. All I have to do now is figure out how it works. We're talking video, sound and lots of things that I hadn't even considered. Technology rocks! (There's a rumor afoot that 2 is dressing as Sarah Palin tomorrow night, so I need to accelerate the learning curve.)

I was in a casual conversation today with a clerk in a store and I volunteered the factoid that the last Presidential election was the impetus for me to cancel my telephone land line. She commented in response that she had signed up on the Do Not Call Registry, and that she had not received any political solicitation calls this year. (The store was a local Trophy and Trinkets place. I was buying a box of US flag lapel pins to give out with my business card at client employee meetings. I have extra now, so I'm sending a couple to the Big O.)

October 30th is the anniversary of Orson Wells' reading of The War of the Worlds on CBS radio in 1938. There's lots on the web about the myth and reality of that presentation. Interestingly, I found nothing in my quick review that connects Orson Wells, family-wise, to the story's author, H.G. Welles. (Of course, the first clue was that the names are spelled differently, but I didn't know that when I started this paragraph.)

1 has a "Last Day" on her current job tomorrow. And then starts her full-time position (with full benefits) next week. She's done a great job getting over a bit of a rough patch. DOD material for the near future.

Thanks for reading.

BCOT

Wednesday

I've been a little bit distracted.

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The hard frost came in and took out any of the annuals or perennials Monday night. I had brought everything inside that needed to be, and stuffed some other pots in the garage for a little safe-keeping. Those plants will come out today and should survive for another week or two. You can't complain if something lasts into November.

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More proof that Major League Baseball doesn't care about the fans: there were pre-game discussions among MLB, the teams, umpires, and even the grounds crew Monday night in anticipation of a shortened game because of probable rain, but they didn't tell FOX. So Buck and McCarver spent a good portion of the broadcast hypothecating on what might happen if it did rain. With those what-ifs already planned for by MLB, the broadcasters came off, in hindsight, as a bit buffoon-ish. (That's rare: a buffoon-ish sportscaster.).

Of course, I saw none of the game.

This picture is a copy of a Norman Rockwell print that I have hung in my bedroom. Being a bit of a traditional sportsman, and humorist(?), I like the story that the picture depicts. Although I have always been troubled by the math. We have the Yankees and Dodgers. Home whites and traveling grays. Top or bottom of the 5th. Who's on first? If its not a complete game, does it get fully replayed? If the home team is behind and doesn't get to hit, who wins? So many questions.

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High school football playoffs in Iowa start tonight. Not one or two, but rather, numerous 4-5 teams are in the large-class, 64-team field. Heck, with just one more game, everybody could be in. Lots that would prove. Reminds me of Dad's Club soccer where participation is the key concept.

As I approach my 60th birthday, I'm finding a few more genetic similarities with Daddy. Most recently, I've managed to nick the skin on the top of my wrists each of the last three mornings getting ready for, or traveling to work. Just little things that occur without pain or notice, produce a few drops of bloods, and then almost immediately self-seal. I remember Daddy having those same types of "nicks" while working with the cows or otherwise around the farm. I figured at the time that it was Old People's Disease.

We have met the enemy and he is us.

I almost forgot. I did buy the camera. I've had it for two days, and still haven't got past the "On" switch. 286 page instruction book with two separate 80 page booklets on peripheral (?) stuff. If I could get college credit for it, I think we're talking about a two-credit-hour, full semester course of study. I promise initial photos by week's end.

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Have a great day.

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BCOT

Sunday

Busy weekend in the Quad Cities. 3 and 4 had fun with their friends at the wedding and associated events. Modified FFF at 2's for lunch today. Both are now on the road home. Look to 3 for picture sharing.

A front moved in today and the temps are headed into the 20's for lows over the next three days. The wind came up and anything that wasn't tied down got blown down the street. I heard of one report of sleet up in Dubuque.

My primary task today was to get my seven-foot ficus tree into my house for the Winter. I had to find a pot for a transplant first as the current one had been outgrown. What I found was as big of a "pot" as is available for residential use. Maybe 30" tall and almost the same across. I barely got the re-potted tree inside, both from size and weight factors. It should survive the Winter, and will again take it's post outside come Spring. But if it grows as much next Summer as it did this year, it may not make it back inside.

4 was an intern reporter for the local television station on Friday night. This is the station that she interned at last Summer. She had previously declined an offer to do Friday night reports for the high school football this season, as it is pretty hokie unpaid employment. But since she was going to be home for the weekend, she had scheduled herself to go into the station on Friday to complete a project for one of her classes. One thing led to another, and she was sent out to do on-sight reports on certain games. She did great. I couldn't download the tape, but it is on www.kwqc.com

Click on "Sports" and then "The High Light Zone" and then segment 2 of the 10-24-08 program.

I did vote on Friday. At the local library. No line, although I had tried to vote there earlier in the week and took a pass because of a line. In an interesting twist at the library, ACORN had a table set up in the lobby and was handing out kits to voters as they left the building describing the proper steps to take to re-register and vote a second time. Somehow, they figured out that they didn't want my second vote, and I didn't get a packet.

The early voting process got me to thinking about whether those votes and absentee ballots are tracked in any way to the voters' home precincts? Early voting is available at only a few central locations. Obviously, each voter first fills out a name and address sheet for the poll worker. But I didn't see any method used to identify me on the ballot that I subsequently completed, nor on the separate envelope that I sealed the ballot in, and placed in the box. I know that local and state political operatives have always paid close attention to precinct outcomes. I wonder if the new trend in early voting changes this dynamic?

But since they do early voting only for the general election, the precinct data from primary and off-year elections probably give enough data for the politicos to do their slicing-and-dicing thing.

2 and I did almost four miles along the river yesterday. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 45 minutes. Which means that I'm on target for a sub-hour Turkey Trot. Less than five weeks to go.

On the wedding pics story from above, 3 took them on Mom's digital camera, and then 3 was able to download them to my laptop this morning. That little exercise re-enforced my conclusion that I needed to go digital myself. I even stopped at the local camera store this afternoon and checked out their options. Since that establishment is where my current camera was acquired, and I have had such good luck with it, they'll get my business on this new venture.

Major League Baseball had the third game of the World Series finish at 1:47 AM local in Philly last night. Do those guys have any care about viewers?

I need to rest my intellectual vigor.

Have a great week.

BCOT

Friday

3 and 4 are intown for the weekend. 4 is in a wedding. This is a pic of them from this Summer.

The girls corrected me on the football schedule mentioned in an earlier entry: the Iowa-Illinois game is next week. 3 had run into some guys at the airport this morning who were headed to the Illinois-Wisconsin game in Madison tomorrow, and my mis-statement had her a bit befuddled. Unlike the Main Stream Media, 4000 Days always has it right. Most of the time.

1 reports that she has been offered a full time position with benefits at a nearby high school beginning sometime next month. Congrats to her!

Have a great evening. I'm off for some Tuscan red.

BCOT

Wednesday

Just a few lines tonight. 2 and I met for our normal run. And completed the route in our best time yet.

Successful night last night in IC at The Airliner with 4. We've been pretty lucky getting a table without waiting most of those Tuesday nights that I make the trip.

My pal Roy spent the weekend in Florida scoping out the possibility of buying a place and establishing residency there. Lots of retirees get places there and spend enough time in the state to qualify as a resident for tax purposes. Florida has no state income tax. Higher income folks take particular interest in the tax laws in retirement destination localities. Nevada and Texas are other popular tax havens.

The World Series started tonight. Usually, I have a nominal interest in the event. Not this year. I don't regularly follow either team, and I know of few of the players.

The weather forecast has lows in the high 20's at the beginning of the week. We've had some cool morning temps already, including enough to singe the tips of the leaves on my big hibiscus plant, but the high 20's is getting down there. The golf shirts may be done for the year.

4 got word this week that she did get the Spring term internship at the CR television station in a repeat performance of last year. You go girl!

The story tonight on Criminal Minds was set in the Tahoe area. Some nutcase was killing people at a little out-of-the-way motel with a rustic cabin motif. I'm thinking that I rode my bike right by the place. Maybe even stopped in for a soda. I thought that there was something a little odd with that clerk.

Brutal day in the market. The dollar is up. Oil is down. Global growth is slow. Earnings are off. Don't look for an early turn around. At this stage, companies are almost encouraged to get the bad news into the current statements. Why delay the inevitable? Earnings are already in the dumper, why not get all of the toxic stuff in the open now?

I'm thinking that the tailgating in Champaign this weekend for the Iowa-Illinois game could be very robust. (Very robust. A duplicative description?) I remember going down there years ago for an early season match between Illinois and Nebraska (on a Nebraska fan bus) for a Tail-Great event. I was impressed at the time of the Illini Nation's ability to party.

So have a good day/evening.

BCOT

Monday

This is a shot of a visiting hawk in my back yard from earlier this month. Maybe he was trying to lower the population of field mice on the property. To my knowledge, he hasn't been back.

The butterfly just happened to light on the flower as I was focusing for the shot.

Amazing what you can see if you get up off the couch and walk outside.

More examples of how hard it is to take a bad picture with my camera. Although the results have not always been Grade A when there is someone else pushing the snapshot button. Actually, for Italy, I'm going to have to go to a smaller digital camera. Do they make auto-focus digital cameras?

The Iowa high school football playoffs will be decided this week. The braniacs decided to expand the field this year to 32 teams for each division. In 4A, you have just over 60 teams in total. Do the math. I think that you'll get at least one 4-5 team qualifying for the post-season. Must be a bunch of Democrats in charge. (Sorry. Just couldn't pass it up.)

Over to IC for Tuesday night at The Airliner with 4.

Have a great day.

BCOT

Sunday

Sunday at SB's.

Great day yesterday tailgating in IC. I'll try to get a couple of pics up later. The Hawks gave Wisconsin an old fashioned whipping. Not that 2, Mom and I saw any of it from the parking lot (except an occasional glimpse on the big screen on the stadium's scoreboard). Roy's parking pass provided for a premium position, 5 spaces in front of the Southwest gate. BBQ. Ambiance. Lots of empty beer cans.

Yesterday's exercise prompted the question several times of just when I started going to games, but not actually going to the game. I don't think that it happened at a specific point in time. It was/is an acquired life style. Mom pointed out that at least one time when we lived in Chicago in the late '70's, we went to South Bend and ended up not going to the game because the scalper's price on tickets wasn't reasonable. But that was a pure economic choice. And back in a time when ND was expected to win on most Saturdays.

By the mid '80's, the boys' trips to Iowa State football games, and the once-a-year trip to a Cubs' game had become much more about the trip than the game itself. I remember a Winnebago trip from Des Moines to Ames and my pal Wally and I watching the game on the RV's television. And one of the following years when we did the same thing in Lincoln. The Sports Corner at Clark and Sheffield in Wrigleyville offered the same diversion.

Along the same line of reasoning, there was at least one year when I was the full-time driver for our RAGBRAI group. Anyone who says RAGBRAI is about cycling has missed the best parts of the ride.

On our family trips to Adventureland in DM, my routine was to find a park bench and camp out for the day. And I really enjoyed those days. But since I always paid for admission to the park, I don't think that those days qualify in this analysis in the same sense as going, but not going.

Uncle Phil figured out that the World Series will be finalized before November this year. Even if it goes to seven games. If it goes to six, that game will be delayed so that Fox can broadcast a 30 minute spin cycle from the Big O. I was at first quite a bit put off that a network could be bought off in such a manner, but that kind of decision really falls to Major League Baseball, and those are the Einsteins who had the Cubs start a game at 9PM so that it would fit nicely in TBS's schedule. MLB is about $$$'s, and the O campaign is rolling in cash.

Hope everyone has a great week.

BCOT

Thursday

Happy Birthday to 3!!!!

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I'm thinking that I need some new pics to add to the album.

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Its Boss's Day. So I'm leaving early. A little run with 2. Get ready for tailgating on Saturday.

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BCOT

Wednesday

Happy Tax Birthday to 3! Here she is in one of my favorite pics with her friend Warren.

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Rainy Fall day here today. Not sure if I'll get a run in or not. Befitting October 15th and the last of the 2007 tax returns, we may be looking at a little Tuscan red after work.
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In a decidedly unplanned series of events, I found myself at Crow Valley Country Club last night with my pal Roy, his spouse, and another business acquaintance. My intent was to stay for a single glass of wine so that I could get home, to bed early, and ready for a productive day today. Well, one glass turned to consent for a second, and Roy made a big deal to get the Club Manager over to get the "best" Cabernet in the wine room.

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The Manager trots out this 2005 Caymus Vineyards Special Selection Cabernet. For a mere $300 a bottle. When Roy asked if one of our other wine snobbish friends might choose such a bottle, the Manager closed the deal by saying in his natural European accent, "Oh no, Mr. C., your friend cannot afford this wine." Another story that will be told and re-told among the boys for years to come.

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I pointed out to Roy that if you drop the "y" in Caymus, you get the name of a famous person in literature, and he was able to remove the necessary cobwebs and recall Albert Camus and existentialism. If the tree falls in the woods while no one is there, does it make any sound? Good 'ol Albert was a staple of first year English Lit at ND.

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A new term that has come to the fore in the financial crisis is "systemic risk." This is a euphemistic term that is meant to describe a risk that can affect an entire market. That's why they bailed out AIG. They thought that failure of that company would have a broad negative impact throughout the economy. This in contrast to, say, Arthur Anderson, whose bankruptcy killed only a few previously wealthy CPA's.

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Craig Wilson's column today was a Christmas-based effort in response to seeing the retailers get into the season. Yet another example of him copying my observations here in 4KDays. I wonder what else he does with his time. Surely his responsibilities extend beyond spinning out 500 words or so of Oprah-like shtick once a week. I mean, just how much of that syrup can people take? Its like drinking middle-shelf wine all the time; every once in a while, you need a change. Get something with some kick, for crying out loud. Geesh.

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Sorry about that.

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My Russian cleaning lady was scared off yesterday because my CO2 alarm was clicking (as those alarms do when the batteries are low). She had pulled the alarm off the shelf and set it on my kitchen table, but was too uncertain to just take the batteries out and silence the clicking. I'm not sure if she really wanted to work that much yesterday. (Heck, I had fortgotten that I even had a CO2 alarm. Even when I opened it to see the size of batteries required, I thought that it was a smoke detector. Alzheimers again.)

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Have a great evening.

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BCOT

Sunday PM

As AM noted on my earlier post, Skip did do the Chicago Marathon. He finished in just over five hours. Not bad for a guy who never trains adequately for the race.

I don't have a picture of Skip on his own, so how 'bout this one from the Twin Cities, July 2007. Skip's effort makes this group The Family of the Day. You da man!

AM's other comment referencing the article in the Sunday NYT was right on point. 3 might have some personal experiences to add to the story. In today's market, everyone is worrying about everything.

BTW 3, the current issue of the Iowa Alumni Magazine has as it's lead article a story about the Iowa Electronic Markets on the presidential election.

Have a great week.

BCOT

Sunday

My scheduled trip to Phoenix for a conference had to be cancelled for other business reasons. The market kept me on the phone much of last week, and some returns that I thought that I could get done, just didn't make it to the finish line. Plus, there's the possibility of additional market angst in the coming days. Biz is biz.

I pay cancellation fees on the United ticket, the hotel (because it was an Internet deal), and I will ultimately receive a very expensive binder from the conference sponsor (with schedules and presentation data). Tough to swallow, but there was no choice. Maybe I was too optimistic when I registered in the Spring that the October due date wouldn't be a problem. Then again, the market crash wasn't exactly on the radar scope at that time.

This situation illustrates the issues facing a small business that is heavily reliant on a single service provider. Clients expect access to that individual at all times of stress. There is no easy answer. But even brokers at big firms have their own clients, and its not like a long-time customer with a multimillion dollar account calls Merrill Lynch and expects to talk to the first available broker.

So anyway, I spent a good portion of yesterday at my desk wading through my messiest 2007 return. And am in the same position today. By Tuesday noon, the storm should have fully passed, as the absolute due date is Wednesday.

3 advises me that she got nipped by a small dog (on a leash with it's owner) during her run yesterday. She didn't think that the skin was broken at the time, although it did swell a little by the time she got back to her apartment. Hopefully, nothing more serious than that.

The incident does underscore the validity of my presumption that you need to be careful of animals. Of course, I have a history of being chased by various dogs over the years while on my bike. (When on a ride in the country, I routinely mentally go through my procedure to grab my air pump that is spring-loaded below my bike's top tube to fend off a pursuing canine.) It's not that I necessarily dislike dogs (except for the ones that dump in my yard). I just don't trust them.

Here's a little debate proposition: pet owners and pet non-owners are a little like our two political parties; the supporters of one group are not likely to move to the other side, and they each feel like the other side is prejudicially dis-inclined against them. Just a thought.

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Gun-owners and non-owners might fall into the same sort of discussion.

Is "prejuducially dis-inclined" a bit repetitive? Is prejudicially a word?

My run last night produced another cramp in my left calf. There is just something about that gastrocnemius that doesn't like the improvement that comes with consistent training. Whenever I get past the "shuffle" step, there's a trip cord that says, "Not too fast there, buddy boy."

Today is the running of the Chicago marathon. Last year, they pulled people off of the course because of the heat. The temp this morning was in the low 70's with about 50% humidity. Not ideal, but workable. A Kenyan (surprise!) won in 2:06. I just tried to get on the site, and couldn't. (Is Skip running this year? And isn't 3's roomie also doing it?) The same thing happened to me last week when trying to check on 1.1 in the TC marathon. Lots of folks checking on lots of folks.

So get out there and have a great day. More later.

BCOT

Thursday

This has been a perfect Fall day. Unfortunately, I was inside for most of the day.

My final 2007 extended individual income tax returns are due October 15th. With me on the road at a conference in Phoenix beginning Saturday, those returns need to be done by noon on Saturday morning. Tomorrow needs to be a big day.

Lots of panic in the market. Another day of selling. Very few wheels remain on the bus. The "experts" have so many explanations, its a wonder the rest of us slobs didn't see Armageddon coming. I have people calling me wanting to take their money out of anything that doesn't have FDIC guarantees. A" run on the bank" ain't far behind. All sellers. No buyers. Yet.

The Airliner in IC where 4 and I meet for Tuesday 1/2 price pizza, was a feature article in USA Today today. They're running a series on sports bars for college football watching. I tried to post the lengthy link, but couldn't get all the information input correctly. If you're interested, just go to usatoday.com, use their search window with "airliner", and the story will be pulled up.

In other IC related news, I have my pal Roy's parking pass for the Wisconsin game on October 18th. Burgers and brats just West of the stadium. All are welcome! Details to follow.

The U of Illinois is opening basketball practice on a portable floor at one end of their football stadium after the football game Saturday against Minnesota. In hopes of drawing 60,000 to their first practice. With a charity play on the deal. The NCAA had to give it the OK, and they also had to give a green light for an early Kentucky event as well. Now they've said that further exceptions will not be issued. My bet is that there's money involved for all parties.

Who wants to watch a so-so team do lay-up drills in a football stadium anyway?

I'm rooting for the LA Dodgers in the baseball playoffs. Manager Joe Torre was a Cardinal before he was a Yankee.

Have a great day.

BCOT

Tuesday

Not watching the debate. Throw all the bums out.

I noticed on my pass-through of Hy Vee tonight that the gated garden store in the parking lot had been disassembled. I'd say that that is definitely a sign of Fall.

The trip to Burlington went as expected. It was good to see several other guys from the friend group turn up as well. That's good testimony to friendship. Particularly on a rainy day with marginal driving conditions.

I see where Halle Berry has been named Esquire Magazine's Sexiest Woman Alive. I'd say that that is debatable. But like so much in the entertainment industry, throwing something out there is just a way to develop story lines. Now everyone will come out with their alternative selections. Arguably, they had to choose someone at least 40 years old, or men like me wouldn't know whom they were talking about. Then again, do they care?

2 has Boomer Sooner at the top of the college football polls. Any bets on the Texas game in Dallas? Also known as The Red River Shoot-out. Both schools have a bit of a tendency to under-perform. Exactly how is the Cotton Bowl a neutral site? ND goes to North Carolina Saturday for pay back on a visit NC made to South Bend last year. As a TD underdog. Give the points and take the Tarheels.

The cartoonist who draws/writes Opus is closing the series. I have read the cartoon on Sundays occasionally, but not regularly. He's usually into politics, and many of his points are just too over the top for me. Like many of the contemporary comic strips, this one has almost always belonged on the editorial pages. But there is so little in most papers that doesn't have a left bent to it that the publishers have probably lost their abilities to distinguish between simple humor and political satire.

Have a great day.

BCOT

Monday

Here are the pics from 1.1's marathon yesterday. He is Son-in-law of the Day. It was a successful day, but not exactly beautiful weather. Maybe next year it will be a little more about the race, and less about meteorology.

Another down day on Wall Street. Haven't I said that too much recently? Anyway, this downturn has lots of permutations. And the showman Jim Cramer popped up on The Today Show this morning and made noise about people needing to get out of the market if they thought they needed assets within five years. Talk about stoking the fire. I had three calls today in which his comments were part of the discussion. The guy is a hack.

I'm not a fan of Dancing with the Stars, but a story on the sports wires today has Misty May Treanor (of Olympic bikini volleyball fame) dropping from the show because of injury. She ruptured her left Achilles tendon while rehearsing a "jive" dance. (The definition of jive dance being a mystery to me.) Her comment describing the injury, "I was taking a step and I felt like someone hit me in the back of my leg", was the same description that my pal Pete gave when his popped in a pick-up basketball game a couple years back on the hard court at Carver Hawkeye.

I have a little trip down to Burlington in the AM for the funeral of a friend's mother. I have a lot going on this week, and the trip is inconvenient, but in the long run, the funeral will always be more important than pushing some paperwork back at the office. With a cell phone from the road, you really don't have to be out of contact for very long.

Thanks for reading. Have a great day.

BCOT

Sunday PM

Just a few extra lines this evening.

Congrats to 1.1 on his completion of the TC Marathon. In 4:11. Way to go, Matt!! If 1 gets me a photo, I'll get it up to honor our finisher.

I got my annual dose of Yule astonishment today when I stopped at Lowe's garden shop to pick up some Fall lawn fertilizer. The inside portion of the garden shop has been fully stocked and set up with Christmas ornaments/displays/fake trees/and everything else Christmas. Holiday sales are a big key for retailers, and it always amazes me at how early the shelves turn those festive red and green colors.

With the economy in the tank, I guess converting over to Christmas inventory is a natural response to try to boost sales. The stores have nothing to lose, except maybe they bring December sales in a little early. With the hope that the new year will be better. Biz is a beach.

The mistake I made with Direct TV was trying to get the change done by email (initially), and then when not sitting in front of the affected set when I tried to get Customer Service to fix their original fix. Once I got a technician on the phone while I was in front of the TV, she was able to dial into my receiver and make the necessary adjustment.

I also learned that if I ever decide to go HD, I'll need to spend more money with DirectTV to upgrade their equipment as well. Surprise me.

Hope everyone has a great week.

BCOT

Sunday AM

Here's to 4 as Daughter of the Day. We did Dad's Day in IC yesterday with her sorority. Rather than an evening soiree or a home game tailgate party, they bought out a local bar and had an away game "Watch the Game Together" lunch gig. It worked out pretty well except that the bar was understaffed and it took forever to get our sandwiches served.

I took a pass on the evening "apartment crawl" (as compared to a downtown pub crawl). Since I wasn't going to be staying in town over night, I figured that I didn't need the additional liquid refreshments.

As of now, Chicago is a combined "Oh for the 2008 post-season" in baseball. I guess that I didn't expect the Cubs to win the World Series, but I didn't expect them to get swept in three by the Dodgers either. The bats didn't show up, the gloves were iffy, and the pitchers were so-so. And Torre out-managed Pinella. It all adds up to, "Wait'll next year". Again.

Things got a little chippy at the end of the ND-Stanford game yesterday. I don't like to see that kind of extra-curricular activity, but it does remind me of a comment in a Sports Illustrated article following that ND-Miami game from 15-20 years ago where there were several cases of near-fisticuffs. The writer concluded his observations about that part of the game by saying something to the effect that, "Football is a rough game that is best played by nasty young men." If the Irish have managed to now find a few nastier players, maybe they'll be able to compete with the big boys again.

My DVR saga goes on. The latest email communication suggests that they are eventually going to get it right. Interesting to read comments from AM and Carrie about their positive experiences. For me, there just isn't anything on that is worthy of the effort.

More later today.

BCOT

Thursday

For the record, I'm watching the Cubs, not the debate. As far as I'm concerned, all of the politicians ought to be tossed out with the bathwater.

The new shoes came in today and I took them out for a shakedown cruise tonight. I think that I'll add some heel inserts to build up the support even a bit further (as I have in my last couple pair of running shoes). I'm thinking that good shoes are more important to a runner than a fancy bike is to a cyclist. Running is harder on the body than is cycling and the pounding that results from every stride needs to be dissipated and or otherwise muted.

The shoe manufacturers make new models annually of most of their good selling shoes. I'm sure that some of it is because of technological improvements. But a big part of it is pure marketing, as fashion is in play as well. This is Saucony's Progrid Omni 7. I think my first pair years ago was just called the Progrid Omni.

In other news, I've made a modification on my DirectTV subscription, and have now managed to render one of my TV's inoperable. Basically, I have my bill paid automatically from a credit card, and I get an ebill that I don't always review. I checked it this time and was reminded that I was/am paying $6 a month for a DVR that I have never used. So I went online and requested advice on how to change my deal to eliminate that fee. Several hours later, I got a nice response saying that the change had already been made. Very efficient.

Of course, when I got home and tried to fire up the living room TV, which is wired through the DVR (which had been taken off line), all I got was the dreaded blue screen. And I couldn't even get the black box from my basement set to work on the upstairs set as the TV's are of different vintages and have different connection points.

So I've moved my downstairs TV to my living room and now have no service downstairs. I've sent a follow-up email to the DirectTV Help Desk asking for advice. My suspicion is that the advice will be to contact their local independent dealer. Which will likely translate to a service call and the euphemistic "truck charge". Which could the end in a result not unlike the guy who didn't try to retrieve his spouse's stolen credit card because the thief was spending less than his wife. To be continued.

I think that it is awful that they have the Cubs playing a post-season game starting at 8:45 PM. For crying out loud, its on cable. Against the VP debate. And anything after 10 PM is out of my time zone anyway. I can't believe that they'll get that many more viewers than if they showed a fortieth rerun of an episode of Law and Order SVU. Another example of a major sports league selling it's soul to the TV devils.

1.1 is doing the TC marathon on Sunday. 2 and Mom are headed up tomorrow to join 1 as the support crew. (My schedule, including an IC commitment on Saturday with 4, is just too cluttered to make the trip North.) Last year was that ugly heat day and bad memories. I think that Sunday should be a lot better. So go out there 1.1 and have a day! Sorry I won't be there to lead the crew.

I may get an entry in on Friday. Tuscan red or not.

BCOT