Friday

The day started out great. No AM spin since I had planned to go to a class after work. I knew that I had a Planned Giving Council meeting over at Augie at 0730, so I had set the phone alarm for 0530 so that I would have extra time to get to SB's early for some Roy time. He has been out all week and he's headed back to Florida for a week of golf tomorrow. I woke before the alarm, did my full morning routine, and then put on the suit for the first time in months.

Since I so rarely wear a suit, I took the camera to the Augie breakfast and had another attendee snap this one of my pal Pete and myself for proof to disbelievers. Even the baristas were impressed with the look.

The Augie meeting get over around 0900. So I check in with Smith from the car as I'm headed out, knowing that I probably needed to go directly to a client meeting in a small Illinois town about 40 minutes away. Turns out that the client had called in and wanted me to phone them before leaving for the meeting. Which I did and determined that it worked better for all parties that we meet a town midway for lunch. Perfect for me since that gave me the chance to run home and change to jeans and a sweater. (This particular client may have choked if I shown up in a suit anyway!)

I come across the bridge and take Middle Road toward my house. Doing the speed limit or less. Seat belt on. Not talking on the phone or anything like that. Not a lot of traffic. I ease over to the left lane as I approach the final lighted intersection, with my signal very "green",less than 1/2 mile before the entry into my neighborhood. As I enter the intersection, I can see an older, tan-ish passenger van approaching the intersection from the other direction, in the left-turn lane, which was OK. Until he turns right in front of me!!!!!!

I am dead-ed meat. I slam on the brakes, and do a hard right turn to try to avoid a direct hit, but it doesn't help much. Boom!!! I hit hard and am juggled about in my seat. No bag deployment. I'm dazed, but never lose consciousness. It creates a big hubbub in the street. Several citizens stop, and at least a couple come over to me. And I recall one guy who is on his walkie-talkie radio calling the cops/medics. Within minutes, there are cops and firemen and Emergency workers all over the place.

Like I said, I was stunned, but I didn't think anything was broken. Eventually an EMT took charge and they put a neck brace on me and pulled me from the car and placed me on a board from transport to the ambulance. I was taken to Genesis East (no sirens or flashing lights), x-rayed, examined and otherwise observed for about three hours. No fractures, and no other discernible ill-effects. But very sore in the chest, lower back, and right wrist. Once they could determine that there were no serious injuries, they brought in the Vicodin, and that has helped a lot with my comfort level.

My pal Bill came to the hospital to babysit me while the process unfolded. Upon discharge, we were able to go to the towing company down by the Bettendorf police station and retrieve my personal effects. I was most concerned about my glasses, the camera, and one of my Nike running gloves, all of which the EMT's told me to worry about later. All were there and Bill cleaned out most of the other stuff in the car. And we then stopped by Walgreens for the Vicodin prescription.

So I'm now on my couch in recovery mode. Still very sore. No spin class tonight. It might be a very low-key weekend.

The Buick looks like toast. But whether they "total" it or not remains to be seen. I seriously doubt if PC will want it fixed. Aren't they trying to dump a bunch of over-supplied new cars at GM?

I will probably get back on here later this evening.

Thanks for the concern.

BCOT

Thursday II

The Tof C ends in the town of Paso Robles today. This the geographic home of the J. Lohr winery. The J. Lohr Cabernet is a family fav, and was served at a certain celebration in St. Paul in the Summer of 2007. The home page for the town lists dozens of other wineries. It might be worth the trip one day.

That "thud" you heard in the background was the market finishing the day at new lows. Hard to be optimistic with so much bad news in the air. I think companies are actually worth more than zero, but establishing a specific value above zero is proving to be difficult.

Another shout out to 3 and 4. 3 for working very hard and long this week on some projects at the office. 4 for granting me forgiveness (I hope) for not getting her weekly letter in the mail so far this week.

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So hope everyone is having a great day.

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BCOT

Thursday

I'm not sure what the deal was with my computer last night. It was almost like you were in a traffic jam and you could get on the road, but once there, nothing was moving. Finally, things opened up, but by then it was my bedtime.

This Verizon "anywhere" access exhibits the same kind of contrariness as you encounter with your phone service on occasion. The signal just loses it's strength and calls get lost. Sometimes its the weather. Sometimes its location. Sometimes its just gremlins. I'm thinking that last night it was the latter explanation.

Busy day here. I'll try to add to this later.

BCOT

Tuesday

Well, we have a day of change here on 4Kdays. It started with "Twitter", which led to the reformatting of my blog page, and the Twitter thing is still in development. Technology is a never-ending story.

I had become aware of Twitter during the political campaign. (Not all of The Old (Right) Guard were oblivious to contemporary communications!) But my curiosity was not truly peaked until this week when Lance's twitters became instant news in the TofC. So I took the time this afternoon to check it out and set up an account. I'm guessing that the phone access is next.

I can see where political operatives with the need for instant information can gain some leverage with Twitter. And celebrities who have large followings (and egos) can feed the media from their Blackberries in the limos. I'm pretty sure that there's no crying need in the vapor-sphere for any detailed minutia on my comings and goings. I guess we'll see.

Another big hit (miss?) on the day was A-Fraud. I failed to watch his press conference, but the reviews weren't too good. Of course, he stood no chance with the critics. Given his contract, demeanor, and Mendoza-line batting average in October, nothing he could say would (will) change his taint among the Baseball Writers of America (who just happen to be the voters for the Hall of Fame). The good ol' boys from the 40's, 50's and 60's who partied their way season after season, and got a pass from the press, are enshrined.

I've always said that today's mudrakers got their licenses to dig from Bernstein and Woodward. The standard today is what it is. A-Rod knows it. I just don't like the media judges thinking that they have some high ground to protect for the benefit of society. Kind of like paper coffee cups. My world isn't changing because some hack was able to leak a positive test on A-Rod. Whatever.

A great day here on the homestead. It was RCL day!

Does anyone outside of Michigan actually think that GM is worth saving?

Spin in the AM. Dubuque for a late morning meeting. Busy times.

Have a great evening/day. Look for a twitter!

BCOT

Monday

So the weekend was a bit of a bust for the blog. The Road to Perdition is paved with good intentions.

How about a Top Ten list to start the week? I'm thinking of 10 conveniences of modern daily life that I could get along without. Not necessarily because of some "green" initiative, or philosophical effort to better society. Just some routine things that I have or use, the elimination of which would not adversely affect my life:

1. Paper coffee cups. I could use a cup from home. (Al, this one's for you!)

2. Bottled water. (Another one for Al!)

3. Lifesaver peppermints. (I'll just ease up on the garlic!)

4. Shaving cream. (Hey, I only shave twice a week. Ivory soap was good enough for Daddy!)

5. Sun glasses. (What did they do before Oakley's anyway?)

6. Pennies. (It's a problem for the government as well.)

7. Store bags of any sort, for any store. (I just have to remember to bring my own!)

8. Carbonated soda. And I love Classic Coke.

9. Paper towels. I think. They do come in handy.

10. The US Postal Service. Seriously. Think about it.

It took me all ten elements to come up with a truly great idea. The USPS is a "dead man walking". A veritable Detroit sucking money for a failed business model. If people want daily delivery, make them pay a fee. If there's enough demand at the fee level, outsource the deal to the private sector. If companies still feel a need for a service to deliver the ads and other solicitations, pay up. Find a way. Or better, a different way.

Shifting to the other side of the spectrum, here's a nominal effort at a Top Ten list of similarly simple things that I am not prepared to give up in my daily life, at least not for now:

1. The SB's coffee in the cup that I will bring from home. I'm hooked.

2. The computer on my bike. I need to know my speed.

3. A nice selection of T-shirts. With a story for each.

4. Classic Nabisco Saltine crackers. They go great with Tuscan red.

5. A well formed, clean baseball hat.

Well, that's half of a Top Ten list and that's all I have for now.

Finally, I walked out of the oh-dark-hundred spin class this morning with one of the "regulars", kind of whining my way to the exit. She asked, "But don't you feel good when you're done?" And my thought was, "No". Actually, I am glad that its over. But there is really no part of me physically that is real happy with having gone through it.

A shout out to 3 who is on the road back to Beantown.

And a belated Happy Valentine's Daytona to all.Here's to Levi for kicking some serious butt today in the rain near the Bay area. That's RevKev in the 20th position giving his impression of Rosie Ruiz.

BCOT

Friday

Happy Friday the 13th. Pick your poison!
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Seems like the editorial board is a bit prudish. I mean, it's Sports Illustrated, for crying out loud!


B (Especially) COT (Today)

Thursday II

Just so that the other readers understand the body painting topic. Click the pic if you want a close up of the geography.

Thursday

Happy Birthday, Abe!

Wednesday

Slow news day today. But this arrived in the morning mail.

There's some inverse marginal analysis that applies to my declining interest in this publication over the last several years. First, I'm obviously getting older. Second, the models are just as obviously getting younger. And third, the ratio of covered to uncovered skin is no longer statistically relevant.

Hard to believe that this annual issue used to be fodder for outrage in some public libraries. And general readership would have a measurable percentage cancel their subscriptions due to the inappropriate content. I'm thinking that what's available on the Internet today makes those old time protests a bit trivial. Times change.

NASCAR becomes fully engaged tomorrow with the two 150 mile qualifying races (called the Gatorade Duals). They had the top two spots determined by normal qualifying runs on Sunday, but the rest of the field will be set depending on tomorrow's races. The economy has definitely impacted NASCAR, but it's not like they won't hold the races. New sponsors have stepped in, teams have tightened up their belts, and the good operators will make it. Kind of like life. Tell that to the clowns in Washington.

And the pro peloton arrives on the Left Coast Saturday to begin the 8-stage Amgen Tour of California. Lance is there with Team Astana, but the team is committed to working for two-time defending champ, Levi Leipheimer. With the first three stages in what an Iowan would call the general Bay Area, we should expect an on-scene report from RevKev, eh?

Have a great day.

BCOT

Tuesday

11 possible correct answers to the question, "What is Ice?":

1. A hot shot pilot with Maverick in Top Gun.
2. What ran through Bird or Jordan's veins at game time.
3. What's on the road when you do an unexpected 360.
4. What's also known as rocks in a drink at the bar.
5. The last name of a white rapper named Vanilla?
6. Who, with a T, was/is a black rapper in Law & Order?
7. What is also known as stolen diamonds?
8. What 4 wheel drive vehicles are no better on?
9. What kind of a stare, with a "y", that I get from the hot babe at the bar.
10. What you try to do to a kicker about to attempt a game winning field goal.
11. What you need to put in your cell phone contacts list.

OK. So the list was a little sketchy. But the 11th entry is news to me. Since I had my phoned turned in to SB's yesterday, I learned that the finder's good intentions are only as good as the decipherable numbers in the phone. In my case, "House" happens to be my abbreviation for Sue's place. Which really doesn't do any good when she's not home. And since I have no land line anyway, direct contact to me is not going to happen.

I do have "Office" listed, which seems like a good option in the middle of the day, but they aren't Batista's for no reason. But I digress.

ICE. In Case of Emergency. It's a universal code, I am told. They need to make that one of the first instructions to cell phone owners. Never had heard of it. It's in the phone now.

So that's all for today. Glad ReveKev is up 'n at 'em in the middle of the night. That boy needs a life.

BCOT

Monday

My day was pretty well defined by my phone being in the drawer at Starbuck's until about 6:45 this evening. Without my knowledge.

4 had a great entry. She needs to give us more.

Have a great day.

BCOT

Sunday

Sorry for the absence. Friday was a typical Friday with Tuscan red. Saturday just got busy.

Here's a shot of my pal Pete, spouse, and Augie senior from last night's Senior Night festivities. Big win for the home team, which 2 and I thoroughly enjoyed. For continued exceptional performance in all things, Pete earns a first ever for 4000 Days, Friend of the Day! I took him to the airport at 0450 this morning for a much-deserved trip to the tropics. (If you can't take your bud to the airport at oh-dark-hundred, what good are ya?)

Enjoyed 1's comment on Wednesday's post about her cart at school. Is a teacher with a cart related to a Bag Lady? Actually, I do remember authentic bag ladies on the streets of Chicago. On both ends of the spectrum. My guess is that both categories are still there on the streets of C-town today.

Another quick trip over to IC to see 4 for lunch earlier today. We went to a place near The Airliner that serves exclusively burgers. With all kinds of options for condiments and cheeses. With fries...or not. No other sides. So, since I am off potatoes, I had a burger. Period. Not bad, but a little cold slaw or veggie option would have been nice.

Busy traffic on I-80 coming back the the QCA. There must be some rule about truckers cooling their heels until afternoon on Sundays because the big rigs were definitely out in greater force on the return trip. Which made taking this pic of my favorite tree a bit of a challenge. My guess is that the guy I was passing as I set my camera on top of the steering wheel may have got a little nervous.

Taking pictures from the car is probably a little less dangerous than doing crosswords, as was my wont before my eyes went bad. When it got to the point where I had to take my glasses off to do the crosswords, while driving, I concluded that maybe I should wait till I got to my destination to complete the puzzles.

How different is doing puzzles while driving with texting while driving? Or dialing? Or logging on? Again, fodder for another day.

This old tree has seen a lot of the Times of My Life. From those first trips in the '60's when I first went to ND, to those many trips from the QCA to Ottumwa to visit the farm when the girls were young. And all those visits to IC for FFF. If it could talk, it might gives us a shout every time one of us rolled past.

All the sports pundits now sit in judgment of A-Rod. I'm not much of an A-Rod fan, but listening to these hacks pontificate from On High is at least as bad. On another day, I will vent further (and, admittedly, again) on this segment of media low-lifes.

3 should give us some details on her weekend experience in the Big Apple, including her version of The Wheels on The Bus.

So hope everyone has a great week. More 50's here which means that even the dirty piles of snow should soon be gone.

Thanks for reading.

BCOT

Thursday

This is "Bossy".

Actually, we named all the cows. I remember Queeny. Beyond her, I'm at a loss. But they all had names.

My latest interesting exercise was the VRS (voice recognition software) on the United Airlines reservations systems. Mostly, I tried to jump the program, but it wasn't easy.

The deal was driven by my unexpected rescheduling of the Phoenix trip in October and the related no-cancellation airfare. I had to rebook by March to limit my loss to a $100 re-ticketing fee. So I found a relevant conference in early May and decided to take the leap. In the end, I was successful, but the agent in the Philippines was borderline.

Getting to the agent reminded me of the firewall in the automated response system at the Colorado Department of Revenue. Colorado actually didn't want to have taxpayers talk to anyone, so they created loops that would take you from A to B, and then to C and D, but ultimately, back to A. In the end, I grew to be highly impressed with their ATV (ability to avoid).

The Taurus has become the ultimate pit. I actually put some stuff in there Tuesday when I was trying to de-clutter my kitchen in anticipation of my RCL (Russian Cleaning Lady). My pal Bill needed a ride yesterday at lunch, so I had to pitch stuff from the front seat to the back seat. I suppose that the next progression is for the back seat stuff to go to the trunk. Where does it go from the trunk?

The movement of that stuff in the car could be a microcosm of the veritable Everyman's backpack in life. We're always moving stuff. Up through our twenties, we usually don't have much stuff. (Most of it will fit in a car!) In our thirties and forties (and maybe some in their fifties), we gather stuff. And move it in trucks from town to town and house to house. Different people need different sizes of trucks.

At some point, we stop gathering stuff, and begin to consider getting rid of the stuff that we own. ( Obviously, we all know some people who can't seem to throw anything away. These people need help.) Goodwill. Salvation Army. VFW. Garage sales. The estate auction. In Bettendorf, they have large item pick-up a couple times a year. You can get rid of a lot of stuff by setting it out at the curb. If the scavengers don't take it first, the city takes it to the dump.

Well, I could go on here, but I might lose the audience. So maybe another time.

Maybe 50 here tomorrow. Suite.

BCOT

Wednesday

No blog today.

BCOT

Tuesday

Looks like we have a lot of interest in C-town. You guys figure it out.

RevKev has shown a lot of enthusiasm in the New Year. I thought one of the reasons that you chose education as a career was to create scheduling flexibility. I'm not sure that 0430 work outs in the middle of January/February fit my vision of the Ivory Towers.

My Russian cleaning lady was here today! Yea! All's right with the world again!

The IRS has issued a new form. It's called the Form 1040DEM. Think about it.

For the last couple of days, the road crews have been out grinding down the expansion-joint bumps that had popped up on the main drag by our office (that was actually re-black-topped just last Fall). I'm thinking that this little episode is a vignette of performance in any division of government. Think TARP, stimulus, or Madoff. My confidence is low. I am not alone.

The European Destinations website that I used for the Italy tickets last night, called today saying that they couldn't process my request. They claimed that their shtick is that they need to book at least the hotel or car in addition to the air. Even though their system allowed me to do just the flight. So they directed me to an air-only site, and I re-booked the same flights from the night before...for an additional $90. What do you think that the airlines' normal kick-back is to the vacation sight? Whatever.

So a little short tonight.

Have a great day tomorrow.

BCOT

Monday

I'm thinking that Punxsutawney Bill saw his shadow today and that we now have six more weeks of Winter. As though we didn't know that Winter wasn't done!

The clock has officially started for the trip to Italia. I jumped on the airline tickets today. Depart September 15th out of O'Hare for Milan. Change planes in Munich on the way over and Copenhagen on the way back. Now 2 will need to get on the stick with the itinerary.

And 1.1 reached out and suggested a Cubs weekend when the Twins are at Wrigley in early June. It's a possibility, but that's TOMRV weekend, and 2 will need to pick me up in Galena on Saturday afternoon, and we'll have to head straight to C-town to make dinner. Lots of planning still to do on this one.

My pal Bill sprung for a massage therapist for his staff this afternoon. I can honestly say that the idea of bringing a masseuse to the office as an employee appreciation effort never quite hit my radar screen. I took my place in line (last), and I think that I was a lost cause.

Finally, there was a brief article in the WSJ Weekend edition about "Open That Bottle Night". The short story, if you're saving that good bottle of wine for a special occasion, make sure that you figure out a special occasion to drink it. I chose the Super Bowl to pop the cork on a Kenwood Jack London cabernet that had been gathering some dust. An excellent choice. Life is short. (It didn't even feel too bad at spin this AM!)

So have a great day.

BCOT

Sunday

Great day for February 1st. Too bad that Arizona scored with too much time left on the clock for Pittsburgh to score the winner. I thought the half time show was better than any of the commercials.

Great spin this AM. Perfect trip over to IC to lunch with 4.

The Augie game last night was a bummer. Wheaton wins by 10. Augie just couldn't put it in the hole, and made some crucial turnovers at the end of the game. They sorely missed their only inside guy with any muscle. The big man bull for Wheaton had 18 points and 17 rebounds. Ouch.

4 was impressed today with my new, very "trendy" jeans from the Gap. So was 1 when she saw them in Houston. As I stated on both occasions, my choice was driven by price and availability of the styles in my size offered at the on-line discount price. And I really wasn't all that sure of the color or texture of what I was buying. Is there some auto, old-guy-buyer-protection-plan meant to assist guys in my position from embarrassing themselves? It worked for me.

By the by...what do all the sports writers/radio hosts/football analysts do now that the Super Bowl is over? Does anyone care? Are they covered under the Hollywood exception of the Big O's stimulus plan?

Busy week ahead.

BCOT

Saturday

It feels almost Spring-ish today. Sunshine too. But the 9AM spin class was certainly the choice. An outside ride wasn't even considered.

Successful evening at Biaggi's last night. We had at least ten people around a couple of tables at one point. Good times with good friends.

Did I formally announce here that I am "off" potatoes and Classic Coke until Thanksgiving dinner? I'm looking to tone up for Italy and those are a couple of food/drink exclusions that might otherwise add as much as 200,000 gratuitous calories this year. I'm already looking forward to Thanksgiving.

(I see where Coke has announced that they will be taking the term"Classic" off the drink at some point in the near future. I guess they figure that enough time has passed since their disastrous reformulation experiment that the adjective "Classic" is no longer necessary. Do they even make "New Coke" anymore?)

Liberty School cabernet is a nice, medium-priced wine that is a current fav. Since Biaggi's had run out of some of my regular selections, I had called the assistant manager earlier in the day and asked to run over to Hy Vee and pick up a case of Liberty School for last night's gathering. She did so, but only four bottles which lasted about 1/2 the evening. I told her that she needed to stock more of medium-priced wines, even if they were not overly toney. Paying $40-50 for a bottle that you know costs $17.99 is not a thrill.

A little factoid relevant to the times and the state of Iowa: Kurt Warner, tomorrow's Super Bowl quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals, and Zack Johnson, pro golfer (in contention this week and Master's champ a couple years back) are both graduates of the same high school: Cedar Rapids Regis. Suite.

One other point. It may have snuck through in my meanderings that my politics tend to a little right of the left. Since Hollywood and it's stars tend to be quite a bit left of left, I've had to chalk several fantasy friends off my list. The latest is Ashley Judd, whom I have previously placed on the same page as Michelle Pfeiffer. Ashley was quoted this week at an uber femlib luncheon that, "It's so nice to live in America again." I'm wondering how that quote will play in Lexington at the next Kentucky game? Whatever.

Big game at Augie tonight. Wheaton is in town for a rematch. Their All-American is healthy and Augie's got one starter hurting. Hope the home court makes up for it.

Spin in the AM and then IC with 4.

Have a great evening.

BCOT

Friday

Last night got away from me.

The trip back from North Park ended about 12:15AM, which is very late for me. Actual driving time from their gym on the North side of C-town to my house was just over two and a half hours which is pretty good. No pit-stopping, and with the I-Pass, you don't even slow down at the toll plazas.

My planned visit to 4 in IC last night was delayed until Sunday lunch. The Hawks had a home game last night, and I didn't want to fight "the crowd" at The Airliner. 4 reports that members of the team came by the sorority house earlier in the week and pleaded for the girls to attend the game. Pretty sad when a Big Ten school can't get their own students to come follow the team. 4 says that they are basically giving away tickets to get people to the games.

Another bit of marginal analysis. Since I've picked up the spin class schedule, my laundry needs have increased. I'm talking about extra t-shirts, socks and towels that require, on average, an extra two medium loads of washing per week. I'm working on the numbers, but you've got costs for water, detergent, electricity (washer), natural gas (dryer), and, of course, the depreciation on the washer/dryer as well as the clothes themselves. Not to mention the membership fee for Gold's.

And while the Green crowd might normally think that the fitness aspects of the gym are all positive, you have that carbon footprint for the gas/tires/oil/etc. from the car to get to the gym. And the bottled water. Its a problem.

So we have The Big Game this weekend. (Can't call it the Super Bowl here because of copyright issues.) The hype almost always out-does the game. I see in the news that the Big O has admitted an affinity to the Steelers. Do the Cards dare show up and go against the tide? I have a level of interest that exceeds that of those who watch the game for the commercials, but I'll be more interested in the conclusion of the Phoenix golf tournament on Sunday rather than the game.

4 is scheduling her Spring break trip to Beantown to see 3. St. Patrick's Day in Boston? I'm thinking that there may be a party involved.

Biaggi's and a little Tuscan red tonight.

Have a great day.

BCOT

Wednesday

From North Park College (I mean University!) on the North side of C-town...

Our ride in was mostly without incident. My pal Pete missed a couple of turns (with the Garmin!), but we arrived in one piece.

The music that they are playing here in the gym for the pre-game warm-up is loud and awful. The kind you hear in a club where everyone who is trying to have a conversation is leaning over to the ear of the person whom they are trying to talk to and screaming, "WHAT DID YOU SAY?"

More cut backs at SB's. We can see a bit of a downturn in service at the Duck Creek store. They've reduced staff to two baristas until 7:30, and any unusual matter will cause a back-up. More stores to close. Those $3 lattes are getting a little dearer.

And there was a story on the wire today about possible legal proceedings by survivors of the Hudson River plane crash. What a surprise.

My pal Roy is headed down to Orlando tomorrow to check out the PGA products convention. Its basically like the computer convention in LV in December. Anything golf has a booth, from clubs, to clothes, to gizmos, to golf adventures. He goes every year. Flying private. Back Saturday or Sunday. A couple of rounds of golf included. And, the real purpose of the trip as far as Mrs. Carver is concerned, in Vero Beach a condo for future use.

My Russian cleaning lady has surfaced, but will not be over to my place until next week. She was gushing over her trip to Italy. And the wine. Let's hear it for the wine.

BCOT

Tuesday

Thanks for the contributions from the maddening crowd. We're all not that far away.

In looking at my picture options, I found out that I already have a Walgreen's account, and over 400 pics in a Google account that I didn't even know existed. Further evidence that data out there would preclude me from running for Dogcatcher. And that doesn't even consider the tapes on those hidden cameras.

Short tonight.

The one item that does come to mind is the music used by the spin instructors. Since the sessions are designed to be up-tempo, the music is a little faster apace (and louder) than anything that I would normally listen to. By artists whom I don't know (or know vaguely), and whose music has no appeal to me. I actually try to make out the words at times, but it's all guess-work.

At coffee this morning, I brought up the thought and one of the gals threw some light on one of the songs that is a fav of the oh-dark-hundred instructor. I had remembered the refrain, "If you liked it, you shoulda put a ring on it". Turns out that this is a popular song by Beyonce. The gal at coffee said I would really get off on the video.

So I bit, and looked up the lyrics tonight through Google, and I wasn't even close on the entry lines. I had thought she was saying, "I'm a single A", in reference to a finger's ring size. (I don't know how fingers are sized for rings either.) And I couldn't have guessed those other lyrics if my life had depended upon it.

Which makes one wonder, even if it's not Gangsta Rap, exactly how is Hope 'n Change advanced if the entertainment and sports leaders whom the youth admire continually lower the bar for standard language and conduct?

BTW... obeying the male genetic code, I pulled up the video from YouTube. (Is that legal?) It was 3:29 long. I lasted a little over a minute. Bring on Shania and "Man, I feel Like a Woman". She even out "oh-oh's" Beyonce. You can look it up.

So I have a big day tomorrow. Spin. Work. C-town with my pal Pete and the Augie game at North Park College. (I wish it was the mall!)

BCOT

Monday

Big Monday. Time for the Irish to lose their 4th straight. Mike Brey will never be confused with a defensive genius.

I spent most of the day completing an on-line course to obtain another professional certification. I had started it last week, and decided that I needed to take the full dose over the space of no more than a couple of days, rather than take the Chinese waterboarding (oops!) torture over a week or more. Mission accomplished. (Oops again.)

Some post-course observations:

1. I used to turn my nose up at on-line course work thinking that you had to be "there" to truly benefit from the program. Since my attention-paying habits at CPE programs have gravitated over time to near-zero, I'm rarely "there" anyway. On-line, here I come.

2. The program was audio with slides. You had to select the next slide when the audio was done for the current slide. That required a higher level of attention as compared to simply watching a video presentation.

3. Successful completion required passing a post-course, 60 question multiple-guess test. In this respect, the on-line course was/is certainly more difficult than on-site attendance.

4. This test was a little less-refined than some of those securities exams that I have taken in the past. You couldn't come back to a question, or review your answers before hitting the "done" button. Absent that feature, my test-taking skills are further challenged.

5. Why would you go to Pittsburgh to take this program? Even without regard to the marginal costs of travel.

6. The outfit sponsoring the designation has a great scam going. Their marginal cost of me taking the course was in the low two digits. My discounted participant fee was $1,375.

7. The best part of the scam was/is the additional $325 required for my first year membership fee for the organization that I am now a recognized "designee". Suite.

8. Can you say, "University of Phoenix?"

Moving on...

I successfully downloaded pics to a chip and key ones from the family will be in hard-copy form tomorrow. The next level of progression will be to do this all by email with Walgreen's or the Camera Shop. Suite two. (Snapfish is suite three.)

I'm thinking spin the AM again. It makes the nights a lot more productive.

Thanks for reading. Have a great evening/day.

BCOT

Sunday

Still Winter here.

The room was full at spin class this morning. A fairly diverse group. Young, old, male and female. I finally counted bikes. There's 30 in the room, although all 30 are rarely in operating order. Two were down today.

With the SpinNazi vocalizing most of the hour, you don't have lots of time to fall into deep thoughts like you do on the road in the Summer, but I do have a few items of interest pop into the brain in those rare moments of grinding. Today it was the realization that those out-of-service bikes represent the basic fact of life that a good portion of our population can be characterized as "Fixers". A place like a Gold's Gym location must have a Maintenance Man. All that equipment. All that usage. Things break down. Somebody has to fix them.

Some Fixers are self evident: car repairmen, dentists, plumbers, orthopaedists, and the list goes on. Kids under, say, age 15, and the elderly who have become dependent, are generally not Fixers. They are mostly Users. Users are not evil. They just use stuff, and it breaks after a while.

Of course, all Fixers are also Users. Some are able to fix their own stuff some of the time (think car repairs), while others need to use a different Fixer for a fix that they might normally do for another User (think a doctor with a broken arm). All Users end up calling a Fixer for at least a few things.

In our service economy, everyone depends on the IT Fixers. In India, the Philippines, or rarely, down the street. And we are definitely all IT Users.

There are a few actual Producers out there. Can you say OEM? (Look it up!) These people too are also Users. Those who write code for Microsoft are also Fixers.

I'm thinking that this topic has legs. I'm going to think a little more about it this week.

Switching gears...

My pal Bill stopped by this evening to borrow my extra office key. He had left his at the office and the building was locked by others before his return. Anyway, I shared with him my story about my keys being stashed in the Buick, and he insisted on taking a look at the problem. I mean, he wouldn't leave! So I pull the Buick out of the garage, get out, he steps to the driver's side, pushes the electric seat button all the way to the full forward position, opens the back door, and picks the keys off of the floor. No exaggeration. A Fool lives here.

And finally, for those out there looking for a taste of Summer, pitchers and catchers report in three weeks or so.

Spin at 0545. Getting an early start on what will be a great week. Make it so.

BCOT

Saturday

Another cold front moved in yesterday. -5 here this AM.

2 is very excited to report that the U of Iowa is storing its 12,000 piece art collection at the Figge for something like five years. The Museum of Art in IC was flooded last summer, and I guess that they were able to save all of their collection, but the rebuilding of the facility will take time. There are numerous valuable pieces in the collection, and the Figge may be able to parlay the loan into better attendance numbers. For anyone with an interest in art, this is a big deal.

My latest foible is fumbling my keys down between the driver's seat and the center console in the Buick. They're still there. I tried digging them out via the same down route that they fell with no success, and was similarly confounded from the under the backseat route. I'm going to need to do some fishing with a hangar or something. Talk about frustrating.

One of my goals at the office this year is to upgrade our telephone system. The existing hardware is now 20 years old, and the technology is such that none of the new gadgets work on our equipment because the manufacturers assume that no one is still using systems that old. We need to integrate our office phones with our cell phones and our computer/Internet connections. I'm not sure that it will improve our profitability, but it will definitely improve our processes.

The ESPN college basketball Game Day crew is at ND today. The Irish have a 45 game home court winning streak on the line tonight against UConn. Interesting how ESPN has taken its football Saturday game-site concept and applied it to basketball. They usually set up for a mid-morning broadcast on the selected court and then come back on live late in the afternoon as a pre-game show for a 6 or 7 Eastern time tip-off for the featured game. From a fan's perspective, I think it works. Erin is in the house.

One of the more absurd new nuances I first noticed last week over in Wheaton was a few of Wheaton's players doing their pre-warm-up shoot-around listening to Ipods. But the jumping around was such that the Ipods wouldn't stay in place, and one tool in particular spent most of the session re-adjusting the thing after every shot. The price of being cool.

I'm headed over to Augie tonight for their game with Illinois Wesleyan, their biggest rival. 2 has dumped me for a movie. As I noted last year, I'm sure, Illinois Wesleyan is the alma mater of Jack Sikma, a several-time All-Pro player in the 1970's and '80's.

More later.

BCOT

Thursday

This is a new event for me: blogging at The Airliner in IC. How collegiate! 4 is a little late getting in from CR, so I'm being nuevo productive.

I was shocked at early spin class today by a near turn-away crowd. Tuesdays and Thursdays start at 6 bells rather than 0545, and I suppose that that makes enough of a difference for some people. And there's a different leader. Whatever. I'm doing the afternoon class tomorrow with a classic spin-Nazi as the instructor. Wine at Biaggi's will have to get a later start.

OK. Now back in Bettendorf. Airliner pizza was excellent. 4 had had a tough afternoon on the job in CR, and dinner was good therapy (I think). Sparse crowd. Then again, the pizza was not half price like on Tuesday nights.

I'm going to try to set myself up with an Internet site for sharing my pictures. 2 gave me an idea and I just need to take the time to sign up. Details to follow.

For the record, I normally wear a sweat bandanna under my helmet on Summer rides. Actually, I often carry a spare and swap out a wet one for a dry one at rest stops. I'll hang the wet one on the handlebars and let it dry in the breeze for a subsequent swap-out at the next stop. I'm not much of a sweat band kind of guy. Retro or not.

My Russian cleaning lady is MIA. Her substitute has not even called. I'm not happy.

So have a good Friday. I might not be back on line before Saturday.

BCOT

Wednesday

We have the equivalent of a heat wave around here. Mid 30's tomorrow.

I have a small problem with the by-product of my thermoregulation system at spin class. In the last third of the class when my sweat output is at the streaming level, and we're standing up a lot and my bent torso is leaning forward, droplets from my face will fall on the front wheel. After a while, this extra moisture destroys any consistent tension on the wheel and you have to keep cranking more stress on the tension knob to minimize this slippage. More analysis to follow.

For the cycling fans out there (that's you, Revkev), the Tour Down Under started yesterday in Australia. Lance is there with the Astana Team. Astana is sponsored by state-owned companies in Kazakhstan. In reality, the team is the operating remnants of the US Postal/Discovery teams, including the same manager.

Spinning in the AM. Dinner in the PM with 4 in IC.

I read a story today about the betting line in Las Vegas on the Super Bowl. The line has Pittsburgh favored by 7 points. The gist of the story was that the Super Bowl line often doesn't reflect a true evaluation of a professional odds-maker's difference between teams because of the volume of bets places by the general public on the game. The casinos need to protect themselves from losing too much in a mismatch, and there's some sentiment that the Steelers might win big time.

What happened to January? I'm thinking that my two-week birthday extravaganza had something to do with it for me.

Quiet out there.

BCOT

Tuesday

Back at the grind stone.

The Houston trip had few bumps in the road. I don't think that I had previously been in the town. If I ever was, there was no specific memory. The Interstate system in the downtown area was a bit confusing. 2 and I had a difficult time getting out to our first checkpoint for the marathon from the hotel, largely because we couldn't find an entrance for any of the highways passing through (actually, mostly over) the downtown area. Finally, I was able to get on a road heading in the opposite direction, and then did a u-ey at the first exit.

Houston has built a new, not-so-small rental car clearing house a couple of miles from the airport. Phoenix did the same thing a few years back. This means that anyone renting a car now hops a shuttle to the separate facility and processes through their rental company for their wheels. The system basically works, but it does usually add a few minutes to your arrival/departure time at the airport.

Years ago, when volume was lower, the rental car companies all had space near airport departure areas. As the passenger count went up, the airports simply couldn't handle the numbers.

I managed to tick off a TSA supervisor in the QC on our outbound leg. All of our baggage was carry-on. My primary bag, which I normally check, contained a couple of wine bottle openers. (I have a small collection of openers since I usually forget to pack one and often buy one while on the road. And my departure list did not include taking inventory of wine openers in my bag.) One was a traditional kitchen model with two handles that you operated with two hands. They let me keep that one. The other was a waiter's opener with the three standard pieces, the corkscrew, the lever, and the cutting edge. The cutting edge was a problem and that opener was confiscated.

As 2 and I walked away from security, and not very much near anyone, I thought, I voiced a general comment to no one, and certainly not in anger, "What a crock!" A TSA supervisor sitting at a desk at some distance apparently heard me and took exception and made a retort of some sort that I was out of line. I ignored him, mostly because I couldn't believe that he was trying to make something out of something that I had no particular problem with, other than that the opener that they allowed me to keep was/is certainly a better weapon than the one that they kept. Whatever.

For the record, I will note that today is inauguration day. Coronation. Beatification. Salvation. Not a big fan. My TV spent a lot of the day on mute. But the Big O is my CIC, and I accept that. He has a job to do. May he do it well.

Spin class tonight. And plans to do so again in the early AM. As New Year's resolutions fade, a couple of bikes remained open in tonight's class. Augie has a home game tomorrow night. Busy day.

4 started her CR internship today, I think. Any news, Kiddo?

And 3 survived a foot of snow in Beantown this past weekend.

We live in interesting times.

BCOT

Monday

Here we are splitting up this morning at the Houston airport. Actually, the airport's separate rental car center. 1 and 1.1 made it back to the TC on time, but 1 was already whining about the return to sub-zero temps. 2 and I are in a short (I hope) delay to the QCA.

1 and 1.1 are sore, but no worse for wear than the expected results of running a marathon. I'm thinking that an ease-off on training is a good plan.

I'll try to pick up regular entries this week. Travel is a pain.

BCOT

Sunday

I doubt if we will be going back to Houston anytime soon. Two finishers. But nothing close to Boston. Some days you get the bears. And some days the bears get you. The latter was the case today.

Really a nice change of pace from -40 in the upper Midwest. Mid 70's here this afternoon. 2 and I saw 1 all four of our scheduled times without a problem. There were probably less than 7500-10,000 marathoners which meant that there wasn't the congestion on the course. 2 and I had a city map and 2 navigated.

More later.

BCOT

Friday

Another day of bitter cold.

I traded Biaggi's wine for a Gold's spin class tonight. It was cheaper, but not necessarily as much fun.

2 and I have a mid-morning departure for Houston tomorrow. 1 and 1.1 have already checked in.

I'll add from the road in the morning.

BCOT

Thursday

Bitter, bitter cold in the upper Midwest. Maybe -20 tonight. Ouch!

1 begins her journey to Boston via Houston tomorrow. She and 1.1 fly in tomorrow and 2 and I join them on Saturday. Race day in Texas is Sunday.

I'm in recovery from the late night last night from the trip to Wheaton.

Another item of evidence of my elderliness is my inability to distinguish between black and navy when I'm picking out turtlenecks in the morning. Today, I had chosen a black sweater and went to the pile of turtlenecks and consciously compared darks, and picked what I thought was a black one. Later at the office, I noticed in a mirror that my shirt was decidedly navy. Not the first time.

I'm thinking that I need to put a written code on the collar tag to indicate black or blue.

Everybody out there paid their Social Security taxes on the household help? I thought public servants with aspirations all had taken Zoe Baird 101 years ago. Then again, in a time of Change, these little oversights really aren't that important. How could some honcho with the IMF or the Fed be expected to know stuff on complicated things like payroll taxes anyway?

I'm guessing that those folks on the jet that landed in the Hudson River today aren't worried about taxes or their marathon training.

Have a great day.

BCOT

Wednesday - Final

Wheaton 79 - Augie 71.

They came out hot at the start of the second half, like 13-2, and we could never get closer than 5 the rest of the way.

We can get them at home in Rock Island if we have luck and play a little smarter. Their All-American killed us.

See you tomorrow. We're back on the road.

BCOT

Wednesday - Halftime

Good game. Great atmosphere.

Who can keep up the intensity?

Wednesday

The blog is on the road tonight, in Augustana's entourage visiting Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois. The host Thunder are undefeated coming into this game, and are ranked #1 in D-III this week. If the Augie boys don't come ready to play, it could be over early.

I grabbed a ride with my pal Pete, which is the only way that I would have made the trip. Surprisingly, the roads weren't too bad, and we made the trip easily in under three hours. With the help of a little Garmin device. Although we did have to over ride the instruction on exit from the freeway. They had changed the off ramp configuration and the GPS hadn't quite caught up with the new pattern.

Wheaton is a very competitive D-III school in several sports. Their girls soccer team has won three recent National championships. This facility is very contemporary, with an Olympic pool down the hall and a fully-equipped fitness center in an adjacent section. Very well-presented.

We had another 5-6 inches of snow last night. I broke out the snow blower after spin class this AM, and did the front walks for myself and both my adjoining neighbors, and the driveway for my Perfect Neighbor. By that time, I was too cold to finish my own driveway, and it's still a bit clogged even after clearing the access to the street before heading to the game.

The surgically repaired thumb remains a tender spot in the cold. The circulation just isn't quite there. Then when I went inside and jumped into the shower, the thumbs and fingers had that stinging sensation when exposed to the hot water. It's heck gett'n old.

My friend Rick who joined 2 and I for my Biaggi's birthday party on January 2nd called me from the bar on Friday the 9th when I was in Scottsdale to report that the Biaggi's bartenders were not honoring his request to use "Charlie's glasses". I gave him my sincere regrets, but policy is policy. (In fairness, I don't think that he realized that I had actually purchased the glasses myself.) After the fact, he such a good friend that I probably should have given the bartender clearance for his use. Next time I will.

The game is getting started. I'll file a final report later.

BCOT

Tuesday

No blog today. It's too cold to think.

BCOT

Monday

Snow day in The Quackers. I'm guessing that we received about three inches this afternoon. Maybe more on the way, and then we go into the deep freeze for a few days. I think that I saw where the low one day will be -12. Ouch.

The good news: my Perfect Neighbor shoveled my sidewalk and driveway all the way back to my garage.

Sorry for not adding much to the blog over the last week. The time in Arizona and the two travel days didn't present a lot of time for creativity. From the pics, you can see that we had great weather, and the golf courses were all high grade tracks. The Grayhawk Raptor course that we played on Saturday had been the site of a two-day pro event on Thursday-Friday (won by Mark Calcavechia at 23 under!), and the set-up was humbling. Rocco Mediate (who took Tiger to a play-off in the US Open last year) was on the putting green when we came in from playing the slightly lesser Talon course on Thursday. He didn't request any advice from me.

We stayed at a Hampton Inn & Suites right across the street from the course where they play the FBR Open in two weeks. The TPC at Scottsdale. The Stadium course. The par 3 17th at that course is known as the loudest, most raucous hole on the Tour all year long.

The surrounding commercial area is very high-brow. We couldn't find a Walgreen's anywhere close, and there are any number of exclusive resorts near-by that cater to the visiting golfers and conference-goers.

Private air travel is pretty sweet. The plane was not a jet, but rather a twin-engine turbo-prop. But relatively new and very well-appointed inside. There were six of us as passengers, but there were spots for five others, so we had plenty of room. Plenty of food and drink on board. And there was a DVD system with small screens for each set of seats. They watched a Bourne movie on the way down, and multiple episodes of a previous season of 24 on the return flight. I did crosswords.

One of the little extras on the return trip was that they let the hotel shuttle drive out onto the tarmac and drop us and our baggage at the aircraft rather than lug it through the private terminal and out to plane. Very Pretty Woman-ish.

The bad news upon my return was a flat tire on the Taurus in the Davenport airport parking lot. At 8 o'clock on Saturday night. In the cold and wind. My pal Ron had waited to make sure I was on my way, so he helped me do a NASCAR pit stop, single-tire change inside of 10 minutes. I need to get him a bottle of Scotch in thanks.

The more severe bad news received on Sunday when I went to Tires Plus for tire repair was that it was more than just the tire. As it turned out, a coil spring had broken, which had then punctured the tire. Then when they tried to install the new springs (can't buy just one, you know), they figured out that the struts (which the springs go around) were also done. Long story short: my one flat tire cost north of $700 to fix. Your classic case of the used car going bad. I hope that thing about bad things coming in three's is not applicable here.

I did the Sunday 10 AM spin class, and the 0545 class this morning. There's a little extra bad shrimp from Arizona to get out of the system this week. (We didn't spend the entire time on the course.)

In that vein, we ate one night at a restaurant that had an attached wine shop. If you didn't like the wine on their list, you could literally go across the room and pick a bottle off the shelves for drinking with dinner. Which I did. Basic retail pricing (the J. Lohr was $15+) and a corking fee of $10-20 depending on the bottle. They had a great selection, from the modest to the expensive, and a very glib owner who helped me choose a couple of bottles upgraded from the J. Lohr. Cool.

Finally, I think that my 60th birthday party is over. The staff had one last laugh, decorating my office with over-the-hill and old-fart stuff for my return today. That made the party train last in excess of two weeks. I'm even tired of the yea-hoos. But it was fun while it lasted. Thanks to all who participated.

So have a great evening/day.

BCOT

Sunday

Our second day at Grayhawk. Pretty much perfect.

More later.

BCOT

Friday II

I've had this idea several times recently, particularly after the multiple mis-steps that I had when I went to that first early-morning spin class last Monday. There's been a lot written about life-time "bucket lists", those things that people want to make sure that they do before they check out for their respective after-lifes. In my case, and without regard to my mortality, I need to make a bucket list every time a that I walk out the door.

I think that the popularity of the "bucket list" is a left-wing liberal thing. It sounds good, has a wanderlust sense to it, and elicits a certain euphoria of "getting there". My guess is that a few of the modern-day liberal arts colleges have bucket list courses, maybe even majors. No more of the jocks working on their General Studies degrees. The new focus is on feeling good, achieving, understanding one's self. Develop your bucket list.

What a crock.

But I digress.

Seriously. I make lists all the time. I have a day trip to C-town; I make a list. I do a conference in KC; I make a list. I take a 45 mile round-trip bike ride to DeWitt: I make a list. A week in Tahoe? I start my list six weeks ahead of time. Given my problems on that first oh-dark-hundred spin class, I now have a written list on my counter that I scan before heading out.

One thing that I don't have is a "bucket list" as it is known or regarded in popular culture. The trip to Italy with 2? It came up as a result of Briancon, France being an over-night town on the Giro (Italy) and the Tour (France) in the same year a couple of years back. 2 and I will have a trip to remember, for sure. But I'm not sure in the long run, if it will be any more special than a Friday night at Biaggi's, or a routine basketball game at Augie.

Nothing I do will ever be as special as Christmas Eve at Chunky Cheese, or a day at Sand Harbor.

I may add more to this another time.

BCOT

Friday

Another day in paradise. And, all too frequently, in the desert.

Legend Trails Golf Club.

Back to Greyhawk tomorrow. And then back to reality.

BCOT

Thursday

Greyhawk Golf Club. Talon course.

Great day.

BCOT

Wednesday AM

One of my really good clients couldn't pass up the opportunity to get my attention. (The client is not the clown, but the client got a lot of yucks from the greeting!)

.

More from the road.

.

BCOT

Tuesday

Tomorrow.

BCOT

Monday

Day Two of the spin class experiment. Yesterday's turn-away crowd for the 10AM class became a cozy group of seven this morning for the 0545 Quick Spin. I hate to crank up the exercise routine at that hour. But I'm guessing that I'll be there at least twice a week for The Early Show through mid-April.

My effort to get to class on time was another example of why old people don't change their routines. My phone alarm went off fine at 0523. I was actually up a few minutes early and waited for the ringer. After throwing on my biking gear and jacket, I couldn't find my Gold's pass. I looked over my kitchen counters, and my jacket pockets. No luck. I gave up, figuring that I'd just give them my name.

I jump in the car and take off. Half way there, I remember that I forgot my biking shoes, so I have to make a u-ee and go back for them. My original thin time line is coming apart. And I have to wait for traffic a couple of times, both ways. At five-thirty in the freaking morning!

And the parking lot is packed. I'm thinking that those New Year's resolutions are really kicking in. But the spin class room is almost vacant (as expected), and I still haven't figured out where all the people were at that hour. Anyway, I get there and throw off my sweats, and jump on a bike just as the leader is cranking it up. No warm-up for PC.

The first thing I realized in the first routine was that I left my water bottle in my car. And as hard as the class is, I needed the water bottle. But not today.

To review, in the course of a single effort to get to one class, I lost my gym pass, forgot my shoes, and forgot my water bottle. A well-oiled machine doesn't exactly capture my schtick today.

One consolation later in the day was that I found my gym pass. I had had an Alzheimer's moment and had forgotten which jacket I wore to Gold's on Sunday. The pass was in the pocket I had placed it in yesterday.

Other than spin class, my Monday was pretty ordinary. I did learn that the private airfield in Scottsdale doesn't have a rental car counter open after 6PM local (in my price range). One of the hardships of flying private. The hotel shuttle it is.

Glad to see Revkev back online.

Have a great evening.

BCOT

Sunday

This is not actually the spin class that I attended at Gold's this morning, but the look is similar. I decided that I needed to get off the couch and get started for the year. I'm thinking that 3-4 classes each week over the next 90 days will get me through the Winter with a fitness level ready for the early outdoor season.

There are probably between 30 and 40 bikes in the spin room, and they were all occupied today, with a couple of people wait-listed (to no avail). I'm guessing that New Year's resolutions are responsible for the SRO crowd. But its my recollection that when I belonged to Gold's previously, the more convenient after work and weekend classes all had to be signed-up for a day or two before hand, or you couldn't get a bike. I'm planning on doing at least a couple of 5:45 AM classes each week, which aren't that well attended.

Augie won last night in a so-so game. 4 joined in on the fun. Augie had the opponent well-scouted, and the opposing team's guards (who had been scoring big time) were shut down by the home team's switching, double-teaming defense. The Augie coaching staff consistently out coaches the other schools.

The pro football referee who was pilloried for a mistaken call in a San Diego-Denver game early in the year is reffing one of today's play-off games. The Fates were kind to him as the disadvantaged team had a big end-of-season run, made the play-offs, and actually won their first game last night. The ref had immediately admitted his error after the game, and, of course, took all kinds of abuse from the boxer-clad blogging critics. It looks like the league has given him a pass on any black-listing treatment. That seems like the right result.

SI had a story in the year end edition about some true sportsmanship in the 2008 girls high school track meet in Washington state. The short story is that the 3200 winner was DQ'd by a judge saying that she had stepped outside her lane. The second place finisher who was awarded the win disagreed, and gave the DQ'd girl the first place medal. The other seven girls in the placing did the same thing. And the girl who was given the first place medal placed in another event, and gave that medal to the girl who had given up her eighth place medal in the 3200. (A review by the race officials subsequently confirmed that the girl's got it right and reinstated the original winner into the record books.)

I took ten minutes yesterday afternoon and took the lights off of the front bushes. There's a country song, Redneck Girl, I think, that contains as part of it's chorus, "I leave the Christmas lights on my front porch all year long." I'm trying to stay below that radar scan.

I'm saying that tomorrow is the official start of the New Year. Friday was a orphan day of a sort since, except for shoppers, regular business was at a very low roar. I did get some of the piles in my office rearranged, but plan to do more of the same tomorrow. My pal Bill always does at least a small amount of rearranging of his office furniture, which he did on Friday. I did that once, a few years back. The urge has not returned.

This will be a fun week for me. A couple of works days, then Scottsdale for golf and fun in the Valley of the Sun with my pal Roy. Private air. Resort courses. But just an ordinary hotel, and we'll eat well, but not extravagantly. And I'm pretty sure that we'll keep a lid on the wine costs. This birthday thing is going to wear me out!

More reports as the week comes along.

BCOT

Saturday

Wow. This has been one of those, "Where'd the time go?" weeks. My New Year's was extremely uneventful, and judging from the lack of comments, there were no outrageous stories from the peanut gallery.

Since this is the new year, it wouldn't be right if there weren't a few resolutions to shoot for (or break). I researched the blog for last year's list and found it in the entry for January 13th. Among the goals were Mt. Rose (done), the Turkey Trot (done), TOMRV and RAGBRAI (done in part, as planned), read 15 books (not quite fully done), more photography (definitely done), and efficiency at work (probably not done as well as needed).

So for 2009, here is a short list of to-do's:

1. The Galibier (a historical Tour climb near Briancon, France).
2. TOMRV, the Turkey Trot, and one other organized bike ride.
3. Attain Fiduciary Analyst designation for work.
4. Re-do all yard edging and front landscaping at my house.
5. Do C-town for a Cubs game, and TC for a Twins game.
6. Celebrate graduation in IC with 4.

Another little 60th birthday party last night at Biaggi's. A couple who had not been able to attend the party at my house joined up and the staff managed to find a little ice cream dessert to share. Pretty neat. With the trip to Scottsdale next week, I will have managed to stretch out the birthday celebration into the three week range. Suite!

I haven't watched much of any of the bowl games. I like the fact that several of the winners have been underdogs. With 34 bowl games, played out in the month after the last regular season game, the old argument that a playoff system would keep the "student-athletes" away from class too much is absurd. And who cares if Directional State U wins the Mineke car Care Bowl? And the schools going to these lower-tier bowl games can't possibly come out ahead financially.

If you had a sixteen team playoff, eight teams (the losers) would play only one additional game, just like now. Four others, the second round losers, would have only that second extra game. So you end up with only four teams that have considerable extra playing time. They figured out the money for the basketball tournament. Surely they could do the same here.

My biggest problem with a playoff system is that it puts me on the same side of the fence as many of the hack sports writers/talk-show-hosts, and the Big O.

Here's another prediction for 2009: there will be numerous pull-outs of corporate sponsorships in golf, NASCAR, tennis and various other sports and sports-related events as the economy adjusts to the new reality. Banks and other financial entities will be hung out to dry if they sponsor a tournament, and then won't re-write mortgages. Detroit will be running backwards to keep TARP money. And political grandstanding on these issues will keep the spotlight on any company or executive who doesn't toe the line on frugality.

2 and I are headed over to Augie tonight for the conference opener. Like with the D-1 schools, the conference season begins the real Road to the Final Four.

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

BCOT

Thursday

Happy New Year! Go Hawks!

I didn't make it to midnight. Surprise.

Any stories?

BCOT