Wednesday

Here are some pics from 3 and 4 in Beantown. They'll need to comment to give us full descriptions. The buildings are on the Freedom Trail, I think.

I had another scheduled health test today...an echo cardiogram...to confirm that my mitral valve prolapse leak is not any worse after the accident. I go to the doc for a follow-up next week for a report. At this point, I make no predictions. But I am feeling a bit better today. A few fewer drugs.

The circus in DC is absurd. The inmates are running the asylum.

I thought Craig Wilson's column referenced by AM was a fairly accurate assessment of modern, up-scale neighborhoods. Way too many lawyers and accountants (and brokers!). Way too few handymen. Farmers may have dirt under their fingernails, but I want a carpenter in my foxhole. A bottle of Tuscan red would be a bonus.

Have to cut this short to finish my picks. I need to do one for The Clan in my name, and one for the office pool for my pal Wally. Wally and I did these way back when. And we would even get to Vegas and argue about it!

Yesterday was RCL day. It remains one of my guilty pleasures to walk in to my place after she has been here to do her thing.

Enjoyed 1 and 1.1's comments from yesterday's question about the World Baseball Classic. While basketball has been my life's love, I can still go to a well-played baseball game, even a high school one, and not be bored. Hitting the deuce remains one of sport's mysteries.

And there was a very neat story on NBC.com or Yahoo, I think, about a disabled GI at last night's game who was welcomed into the club house after the game and given the hero's treatment. Even the pro players can't dismiss the differences in their lives of abundance and the true sacrifices that come from these heroes.

Thanks for reading.

BCOT

Tuesday PM

No green beer for PC.

4 made it to Beantown and connected with 3. Hope they have a good time.

More negative press for Twitter. Some NBA player did a "tweet" at halftime of a game. The coach was not impressed and outlawed similar action in the future.

Interesting progression for getting connected with public/sports figures in real time. Golfers and NASCAR drivers for instance, are often interviewed in the middle of a round or race (at a lull time). John McCain did a Twitter interview with Stephanopolous yesterday. And the bikers all tweet on race days. Then there was the jury person tweeting during a trial. It's the equivalent of the weekly trash magazines (or nightly entertainment shows) in instant form. Are we all voyeurs?

Does anybody know anything about the World Baseball Classic? Does anyone care?

Have a great Wednesday.

BCOT

Tuesday

Happy St. Paddy's Day to all!!!

4 at the Bettendorf SB's on her way to the airport...and Beantown. We learned later that her plane was delayed, so arrival time at Logan will be problematic. Good luck, Kiddo.

70+ here. Feels like Spring.

I know that there is no rule in politics for piling on, but Grassley's suggestion of Seppuku for the AIG executives is a bit over the top. Fortunately, we have those pillars of statesmanship, Senators Schumer and Dodd maintaining civility and bipartisanship on this matter. Personally, I am outrageously and outrageously outraged. Can a person be more outraged than outraged cubed?

More later.

BCOT

Monday

Not much to add today. Still a little below par.

This is tax-St. Patrick's Day. All of the local festivities were last weekend. Parade. Corned beef and cabbage. Green beer at Kelly's. I'm not sure of the calendar, but I know that the NCAA tournament is often already started by now. I can remember ND playing on the 17th and the announcers thinking that the Luck 'o Irish was some kind of advantage.

I missed recognition of the Ides of March. Time passes when you're having this much fun.

My second Italian travel book came in today. Milan.

Here's a little shout out to 3 for fighting her battles at work. Lots of hours. Not a lot of satisfaction. Been there.

I know this doesn't help, but I remember my last tax season at Andersen, and my primary client was a family in C-town that owned several high profile businesses (including a couple of the professional sports franchises in town). There was an all-inclusive audit, and several tax returns. Anyway, the audit partner and the tax partner on the client weren't speaking to one another. I had to have a separate meetings with one, and then go to the other partner and clear the conclusions.

I had one desk in the tax staff "bull-pen" area, where I would work on general stuff during the day, and then I had an office back in the caves where I would go after five, and work on the big client's stuff until the 2130 train. I hated my life.

Anyway, Kiddo, you can do it. Just keep your wits. And don't under-estimate the value of the power nap.

Wear some green tomorrow!

BCOT

Sunday PM

First cook-out of the season. 2, 4 and Mom. And the mutt 2 is dog-sitting for the week. (He/she did not merit an appearance on the blog.)

Steaks (Bacon-wrapped 8-ounce filets. A bit on the rare side, but really good). Steamed broccoli, steamed asparagus, and salad. No potatoes.

4 had to make a return trip this afternoon to IC to pick up her fish which she forgot on her way out of town yesterday. Said fish is now enjoying Spring Break in Bettendorf.

You can't see Margret in the background of the pic of 4 as the system shortened the right-side of the original frame when I had to turn it 90 degrees to horizontal. The effort was hardly a wash-job. Just a little rinsing to get rid of most of the Winter's dust. 4 was in charge of the wiping down to dry her off. Hence her recognition.

No shockers in the brackets. Let the pick sheets begin!

Have a great week.

BCOT

Sunday AM

Hello Selection Sunday!!

Very low key here this AM. It's Spring Break week and lots of the "regulars" are out of town. I had toyed with the idea of doing spin class this morning, but when I checked the list yesterday afternoon, the class was full. I took it as a sign that I should wait another day. My pal Cal said that I really can't hurt myself further by doing the class, if I can stand the pain. Maybe tomorrow.

Ouch! Wash U just hammered the Tommies last night for a ticket to the D-III Final Four. (WU is going for a repeat. Augie got beat by them in OT in last year's sub-regional, and in OT again at the start of this season. Which means that Augie remains thiiiissss close to the top of the heap.)

Back to the Madness. The tournament is wide open this year. Look at the teams that got beat in their conference tournaments this weekend. Two weeks ago, ND ran Louisville out of the gym. And ND is NIT-bound. But I do like Louisville and Pitt as Final Four teams. And I'm saying now, without knowing who is where, that at least one 4th (or lower) seeded team will make it to the finals.

My pal Roy has a pre-paid card here at SB's to buy coffee for any member of the Armed Services who comes in the store in uniform. He's done this for years. Every so often a GI will go out of his/her way to express his/her appreciation for this small financial assistance. Last week, a GI whom I did not recognize, who had been through 2-3 times, stopped and thanked Roy. And then he came back in and quietly, but very movingly, presented Roy with a uniform patch that he had worn on one of his tours in Iraq. His 30-second thank-you was mist-producing in a rough crowd.

It may be a wash-Margret day. Sunny and 50+ in the forecast. If I can convince 4 to assist, I'll get some new pics up later.

3 and I had a good, "What is the meaning of life?" conversation last night. (She did admit that I was Plan B as Mom, 2, and 4 were at the movies.) No absolute revelations or conclusions, but those Philosophy/Logic classes at ND are still applicable. Kind of like Econ 101: the questions remain the same: it's the answers that change.

So anyway. Get out there and enjoy the day.

BCOT

Saturday

Well, for those not following me on Twitter, the news today is that yesterday's CT scan came up with a cracked sternum and two cracked ribs on my right side. In one respect, one might ask, "And why wasn't this discovered in the ER after the accident when they took all those x-rays?" On the other hand, I feel just a little better knowing that my discomfort is now better-explained. And I know also that there's really no treatment for these kind of injuries. So, suck it up, buttercup.

My pal Cal (the surgeon and Scottsdale golf trip bud), has been beating himself up ever since the accident for not insisting that the ER doc order a CT scan. (I had called Cal while I was in the ER and, since he happened to be in the hospital, he had come down and checked out the x-rays and satisfied himself that I was probably OK. I remember him asking if they had done a CT, and then letting it go since I was really not his patient.)

My regular doc ordered the tests due to my continued discomfort. Plus, I don't think he wanted that Vicodin prescription to go un-reviewed. I'm sure that he'll be using me as a reference in the future in other post-accident pain situations.

Here's a shout out to 2 for Daughter Of The Day. This is a shot of her on the way to the finish at this morning's St. Patrick's Day 5K race in Davenport. Notice that form!

They probably had 800-1000 runners/walkers in the event today. I saw several acquaintances (including Sarah's dad, 1). Pretty favorable conditions. Lots of runners in t-shirts and shorts. I was a little tired watching.

Margret made it out for another spin. She was in fine form as well.

I received in the mail today the first book in the Amazon order that I made earlier this week. My total price for five books was $40, so I feel like my per unit cost was/is pretty reasonable (provided they are all delivered).

3 has connected with the gal in Boston who found her phone. There are honest people in the world.

The Big 12 tournaments are in Oklahoma City this year. When it was the Big 8, the tournament was always in KC, the perfect site. (Some very good times for PC and his buds.) With the expansion, they now rotate between KC, Dallas, and OK City. They certainly don't get the Iowa State fans that far south. Then again, the Clones don't exactly draw that well in Ames these days. (The Big 10 is in Indianapolis this year, as an alternative to Chicago. I think C-town should be the permanent site.) (The Big East is always at Madison Square Garden, while the ACC rotates, this year in Atlanta, next year in Greensboro.)

All of which begs the question, "Why?" And the easy answer (or, more aptly,the answer is easy): money.

Thanks to 2 and 4 for visiting the ill and infirmed.

I'm blog-casting from SB's in the AM.

BCOT

Thursday

I signed up for the NCAA tournament on Direct TV. $69.

Big day tomorrow.

BCOT

Wednesday

Return of cold weather here in the QCA. Single digits tonight.

My experience ordering from Amazon was interesting. And the confirmations a little surprising. I guess I ended up ordering the travel books from five different suppliers, so I got the primary confirm from Amazon on the order, and then separate confirms from each of the suppliers when the orders filtered down the pipeline. We'll see who performs best.

I forgot to mention that a supervisor at another local Wells Fargo branch was able to get into the system and override the two week hold on that insurance check that I deposited last week. She basically said that the other branch had shown some customer unfriendliness in the past.

The Madness has begun. The Irish and the Clones have little to cheer about. Along with the Gaels. The Commish will be busy in a few days.

Word is that 3 lost her phone today. Ouch. Between keys and phones, our fam can't keep track of 'em. Good luck, Kiddo.

All for now. Still in recovery mode here. Appointment with the doc tomorrow.

BCOT

Tuesday

Here's my new ride. Basically the same car as the previous one, except more gold in color than silver, a year newer, and a few more options. I didn't even take it for a test drive.

In recognition of today's reality, I didn't elect the extended warranty. Who will stand behind that contract when GM declares bankruptcy? I think that my client (the dealership) will survive, but the devil will be in the details.

I'm thinking about ponying up the 70 clams to get all the NCAA tournament games on my Direct TV system. It really only makes a difference that first Thursday-Sunday when they have all those games to get down to the Sweet Sixteen. ESPN used to have the broadcast rights to the first two days, and it was literally wall-to-wall basketball. It was nirvana to a college basketball fan. Once CBS bought the contract, everything got scheduled to fit CBS's preferences. Would Direct TV be a step back to the good old days?

The economic turmoil for my clients reached a new level this week when one elderly gentleman insisted that we get his money out of his account and in to his physical possession. Currency. To the tune of 1.5 mil. Sanity has left the building.

One nationally syndicated editorial page columnist spent his entire column dissing Twitter this week. Brian Williams of NBC is another well-known and widely-quoted Twitter critic. The criticism all runs the same course: no one is interesting enough to merit frequent updates. On that point, I kind of agree. On the other hand, I've found the service a bit interesting in the short run. Unless Twitter is selling the Internet addresses of it's users, I'd consider the concept no more harmless than other email-like technologies.

An unusually good day in the market today. I don't see a trend, but gains are always welcome. Lots of political, broadcast, and financial finger-pointing from a variety of folks who enjoy stirring the pot. To most of these characters, ratings and polls are all that matter. I keep my finger close to the mute button.

Hope Wednesday is a good one.

BCOT

Monday

Spin was hard enough that I called my regular doc and got a refill on my Vicodin habit. But I have to go see him later this week to prove the validity of my need.

Props to the Tommies in D III b-ball. And to 1 for the notice. The winner of Wheaton-Wash U gets the winner of the Tommies' game. With that winner going to the Final Four. Augie lost to both Wheaton and Wash U in the regular season. This was/is a mean bracket.

I think I pick up my new car tomorrow.

I made the reservation at the Millenium Hotel in downtown StL for 2 and myself for the 26-27th of June. AARP discount rate.

My RCL actually made a mistake last week. She left a paper towel in the last round of cleaning rags that she left in the washer when she left. (How many left's should you use in a sentence?) Anyway, when I went to move the rags to the dryer, the paper towel had discintegrated into many, many little pieces in the washer and around the spin-dried rags. A big mess. Is there a discount in my future?

One more Vicodin for bed. Have a great day.

BCOT

Sunday

A little update here at SB's on a Sunday morning. Rainy and gloomy here.

That "spring forward" was a bit of a disappointment. The earlier start time this year makes the morning a little darker and more Winter-ish. I'm not sure if I adjusted to the "fall back". (Although this year I did change my bedside clock. Last year it was an hour off all Summer!)

I would have tried to spin this AM, but I failed to sign up early enough and the class was full. All other things being equal, I think I'll do a solo spin class on my own this afternoon. Then start the week off tomorrow with the 0545 class.

The StL trip is on for the 26th-28th of June. 1 and 1.1 are going to all three games. 2 and I will join for the Saturday game, and Friday and Saturday evening drinks/dinners. We're just a year late in seeing that new stadium.

It looks like the new Buick will be available tomorrow or Tuesday. Wells Fargo elected to play a, "We need to hold this check until it clears", game on my insurance settlement from State Farm. So I need to juggle some other cash to pay for the replacement car. The bank is being bureaucratically unreasonable and once in the system so coded, I'm screwed. I should have insisted on better treatment when I made the deposit. But I figured that when they said that they needed to put a hold on the deposit, that they meant a couple of days. Big mistake. Some minion put a two week hold on it! Unbelievable. And they wonder why we don't trust the big banks.

Another one of the negative by-products of my crash/injury is that because I have spent so much time on the couch, and not out and about doing stuff, the inspirational material for the blog has drained to a sliver of it's former self. I'm almost relegated to being a TV critic. Fewer trips to Hy Vee. No Gold's. Stale stuff at SB's. Should I be filing a claim with State Farm for alienation of the creative arts?

My favorite bartender at Biaggi's was fired last week for serving a minor. It was a police sting, and since the restaurant had failed similar stings at other locations, corporate had made a clear policy that any bartender failing the same test would be fired immediately. In this case, the bartender requested the ID, but miscalculated the age, and the cops were literally just outside the door. The result was a citation to the bartender, personally, and one to the restaurant separately. An awful result for everyone. A mistake, yes. But not of intent. Formal reprimand and punishment, absolutely. Dismissal? For a Grade A employee? I'm not sure what that accomplishes. Especially in an industry famous for schmucks behind the bar.

Losing battery power. More later.

BCOT

Thursday

Great day here. 60-some degrees. I even opened some windows at my house.

It looks like the Twitter bug has caught on with the fam. My guess is that there will be a change in the website at some point in the future. There is no profit element in the service at this time, and I think that if they turn to just selling user data to outsiders that the platform will run its course in short order. Interesting history of Twitter on Wikipedia.

I'm thinking that there's a lot of stress out there in all of our lives these days. Truly. The job. The markets. Driving. Being on time. Test scores. Bureaucracy. Cloudy skies.

In response, I offer a virtual world Top Ten list of a current day Glad Game:

1. J. Lohr in my glass.
2. My RCL doing her thing here Tuesday,
3. Biaggi's on Friday night.
4. Being able to pull a sweater over my head, almost pain-free.
5. Golfers on Bettendorf's Palmer Hills course today.
6. Day-dreaming about scheduled trips to Phoenix and Italy. Maybe to Omaha and StL.
7. Enjoying the daily coffee clutch at SB's.
8. 3rd Place in the writing contest!
9. A semi-new car in my future.
10. My good friends Roy, Pete and Bill.

Not much else from here. Hope everyone has a great day.

BCOT

Wednesday

Not much to report today. Still no spinning.

2 advises me that our second base of operations in Italy will be Verona. Now we need to complete our planning/schedules. I actually stopped at Border's after work tonight to check out their books on Italy travel, but didn't find exactly what I was looking for. Most of the books were either on the whole country, or on Rome. I'm thinking that I'll order something from Amazon more specific to the areas where we plan to spend our time.

The voters of Davenport soundly defeated a proposal in a special election yesterday that would have provided funded state college education for all high school graduates. The concept is economics driven, the idea being that people will locate to the town for the benefit of their kids' college costs being automatically taken care of. Places like Davenport that have suffered from declining enrollment and "white flight" have tried out this idea with mixed results. Voters here seemed turned off by the "something for nothing" nature of the program.

I was glad to see Kurt Warner re-sign today with Arizona. His was a situation that had tongues wagging on either side of the equation. His god-squad-ness gets a little wearisome, but he seems honest, and has consistently shown up. Arizona management did the right thing in bringing him back. At a minimum, he gave them two additional home games this past season. The revenue from those games alone likely approached $50-60 million. If they can keep those receivers together, the Cardinals can have another run at things next year.

Tired tonight. Sleeping last night was a bit of a battle. My living room couch first, then the bed. Back to couch around 0300. Then to my basement daybed around 0430. Not quite the recipe for for restful sleep.

RevKev has had some humorous entries this week about kids on planes. Lost shoes. My list of entries could go on for a while.

All for now. Thanks for reading.

BCOT

Tuesday

Kudos to RevKev for his trivia on Square Root Day. Very Seinfeldesque.

Also, props to 4 for her reference to The Urinal Rule. I'm thinking that that one has legs (so to speak).

I updated my estate planning documents last week. (My pal Pete took the totaling of my car as a sign that completed but unsigned documents would not look good to his professional liability carrier.) Really not much to report. The Big O will not be getting any estate tax from me (unless the Lotto comes through). Uncle Phil gets the responsibility to "pull the plug" when the time comes. If he is not available, my pal Bill gets the privilege. Not that I plan on leaving the ranks of the living anytime soon.

Top Ten list of broken protocols in daily living:

1. Not washing ones hands before leaving a rest room. Ugh!
2. Not wiping down a machine at the gym. Gross!
3. Not holding the door for a lady heading into SB's. (Even when it means moving back a spot in line.)
4. Picking up a piece of newspaper (or the whole thing!) off an occupied table at the cafe or coffee shop without asking permission of the person at the table.
5. Pulling up to a bank drive-up window with totally unprepared paperwork.
6. Being late for an appointment.
7. Two people sitting at a four or six spot table when a two spot is available.
8. Idling the F-150 in the grocery store pick-up lane while the wife runs in to use the ATM.
9. Attempting to cash a check at a bank drive-up at 5:15PM. At a bank that you don't even have an account. Or an ID.
10. Checking out a DVD at the video store and wanting credit for a bad disk from a previous rental.

My bet is that this list could go on for a while. Have at it.

BCOT

Monday

Really gassed tonight. No blog.

BCOT

Sunday

I wouldn't consider March coming in like a lion here today. Cool, but no snow, sleet or rain. I may even wander over to Mom's to see if Margret will fire up this afternoon. (Did! Check her out here!) 3's morning Tweet from Beantown suggests that the zoo may, however, be open in her neck of the woods.

Just didn't have it at SB's this AM.

Two weeks until Selection Sunday. Lots of conference tournament action in the next 14 days. The Big East is so big that the top seeds actually get two byes. A team like ND that has a so-so resume probably needs to win three games to make it to the Big Dance, and I think that the third win only gets them to the conference semi-finals.

Wells Fargo has caved to PC-ness and dropped the Wachovia name from the Charlotte PGA golf event next month. (See earlier rant about the Northern Trust Open last week.) They're staying with the contract to support the tournament, but they are taking a very low profile. Makes a lot of sense. Spend millions on advertising, but don't advertise that you're doing it.

1's comment about Johnny "Red" Kerr is well-placed. He and former Bulls' guard (and announcer) Norm Van Lier died on the same day. I never followed Kerr until his announcing days with the Bulls, and then only when Michael raised the level of play. And 1 became such a fan. Locally, the Bulls aren't on TV as much as they were in Michael's heyday, and I couldn't tell you for sure who their current announcers are, for TV or radio.

The Bulls' radio feed is not currently picked up by any station in this region. Since Michael has been gone, the team has been either awful or ordinary. Pretty hard to get excited about their games, or their players. (BTW, Paxson has not created much of a legacy.) Interesting since in the Summer you can pick up baseball games up and down the dial any night of the week. And I don't know the players on those teams either.

A tip 'o the hat to LV. NASCAR is racin' there today. A quarter of the way through the race and it looks like bumper cars. My bet is that AM has been staying home all weekend.

The PGA event this weekend was at a new desert course near Tucson at a Ritz Carlton resort. The course is very much like the courses we played in January in Scottsdale: green strips and circles in the middle of extreme desert. Very pretty to the eye, but a pain in the butt for the average golfer. Tiger (in his first go since last June) was ousted in the second round on Thursday.

That PGA event's title sponsor was/is Accenture. I'm wondering what the governing committee or board at Accenture had to say about the wisdom of spending money for golf sponsorships in the future. I'm sure that they were locked in for this year, but what will they do in the future? Will the Barney Frank Rule evolve to preclude such sponsorships by any company if they have laid people off in the prior 12 months? Will such expenditures be approved in cases where the company develops a mortgage assistance program, bans private and/or First Class air travel, and all executives wear sackcloth suits?

2 and I are looking at making Bologna or Verona our second major location for our Italy trip. We're definitely staying in Torino for half of our vacation as that gets us close to the mountain climb I want to do in France (the Galibier). The romantic in me (say, what?) favors Verona.

Maybe spin class in the AM. It all depends on how well sleeping goes.

Thanks for reading. Have a great week.

BCOT

Saturday

How did we get to the last day of February so soon?

2 did a pinch-hit for me at the writing contest awards event last night. I'm thinking that it may have been just a little shy of exciting.

I've spent the entire afternoon on the couch in continued recovery-mode.

The insurance company has agreed to settle with me for full retail on the Buick. I should get something in the mid $17's to help with a replacement. I figure that I'll have to spend a little more to get a slightly newer model with fewer miles. And eight cylinders to give it a little more get-up-and-go.

My Top Ten auto accidents, all time:

1. This one. Buick Lucerne 2009, with an old guy failing to yield.
2. December 1971. Datsun 240Z. Ottumwa, Iowa. Driveable afterwards. Right quarter panel and headlight assembly. My fault.
3. Summer 1972. Dover AFB, Delaware. Same car. A guy runs a stop sign. Not driveable. The whole passenger side sheet metal shot.
4. Summer 2002. My first Monte Carlo. I rear-ended a truck at the Elmore-Kimberly intersection near the office. The hood had to be replaced.
5. Summer 2008. Margret. The repair shop managed to dent-up her rear passenger side light assembly. Driveable, but a month to repair.
6. Does 1's totalling of the Escort in the TC's a few years back count?
7. How about 4's excitement with the Saturn?
8. Shared excitement with the original Hoopdrm? Multiple drivers, I think.
9. A couple of IC things with the Focus with 3 and 4.
10. Then there was the time I ran one of my high school cars dry of oil...

This was the first time in my life that I was transported to a hospital by ambulance. Or placed on a board with a neck brace by an EMT. Once is enough.

I'm headed to bed early and hope to get a full entry here tomorrow morning from SB's. (RevKev, I mean, like, I am giving up regular Coke, my all-time favorite drink, for the entire year. If I were to give up SB's, my body would go into emergency shut-down!)

Thanks for reading.

BCOT

Thursday

Fat Tuesday and Ash Wednesday failed to receive notice here earlier this week. So we're into full Lenten mode. Mardi Gras. Anybody giving anything up for these next six weeks?

And Spring Training games began this week. Does that mean that baseball season has started?

BTW, ...what is the World Baseball Classic?

I drove myself to work today for the first time since my accident. A little apprehension. No problems, but I see a lot of me riding while others are doing the driving in my future.

Another well-known newspaper is shutting down; The Rocky Mountain News. The Gray Lady is on a similar path. The traditional model is broken. I'm not sure what it will take to save the papers.

I plan to go into C-town tomorrow afternoon for Augie's 6PM game with Elmhurst College at the Wheaton College gym. Wheaton plays North Central College (from Naperville) in the second game. The winners play on Saturday night for the conference title, and the automatic berth in the NCAA D-III tournament. My pal Pete and I figure that tomorrow night's winners will both get in. The losers will likely be done for the year. (There's no NIT in D-III!)

We're coming home after the game, regardless of the outcome. If we win, there's a return trip for the championship game on Saturday.

Look for entries here and on Twitter from the road tomorrow (and maybe Saturday).

I'm not going to be able to receive my 3rd place award at the gathering of the writing contest participants tomorrow night. I want 2 to go in my stead. We'll see.

Postage rates go up as of May 11th. The letter rate goes to 44 cents. Why not 50?

That's all for now.

BCOT

Wednesday

Not much to add tonight.

Taking in a little Murphy Goode Cabernet. Good stuff.

So my effort in the writing contest was not totally to no avail. 3rd place in the non-fiction category was/is more than I expected. I turned in a piece that was not all that high on my standard. But I was glad that I stuck it out and turned in something. Given the accident and a lost Friday night, I could have taken a pass. I'm sure that there couldn't have been all that many entries in my category. Whatever. Like they say: you play the guys who show up.

I changed my pic on Twitter, and now have somehow change my whole set-up. I need to spend some time with 2 to get my act together.

Thanks for reading.

BCOT

Tuesday

Back on the couch in recovery mode. Not much improvement today. I seem to hit the wall around two or three, and have no trouble heading for the barn by four or five. Still not driving, although that's just being unnecessarily skittish.

The market reclaimed today most of yesterday's losses. Lots of doubts out there about the government's ability to fund the economy out of the recession. And not a small amount of backlash in the hinterland among folks not all that anxious to supplement the mortgage payments of others. The White House's theory is often expressed figuratively that, if a house in the neighborhood is burning, it is in the best interests of all the neighbors to man the bucket lines to put out the fire. Even if the fire was started by that neighbor's carelessness.

I don't buy the validity of that comparative. But I don't have the answer either. (This is where the economists throw a few equations with lots of variables into the Cray computers in the basement and come up with new visions...for new editions to their college texts. Going for $225 each. There's never been a recession in the college book market!)

Northern Trust is an old line banking institution that began in Chicago way back when. They're international now with lots of products and services. And according to the news, in possession of around $1.6 billion in TARP money. Which is rubbing some of the Lillie Whites on Capital Hill the wrong way after hearing of the parties and goings-on in conjunction with last week's Northern Trust Open (PGA golf tournament) in Southern California.

Cheryl Crow, the band Chicago, The Beverly Wilshire, and The Ritz Carlton are just some of the names making the headlines. Not to mention the title name of the tournament. Barney Frank and friends are having tingles all down their legs. Me? I think I'll open up a Northern Trust account tomorrow.

The convention business in LV, New Orleans, San Diego, Miami, Orlando, and other traditional destinations will wither up and die if we keep going this route. Not every company will be into TARP funds, but the money spent on these conferences is all deducted on returns filed with BO's Geithner. While Geithner has limited knowledge on the tax code, it will take the sleuths at the NYT about 30 seconds to put one and one together to get a story on their front pages for tax fraud. Public employees will be in the same boat for their national meetings.

It's a slippery slope. Even reporters have their own conventions.

And before anybody has too much heartburn, my reference to the President as BO, is certainly no worse than the derisive use of Dubya by virtually all of President Bush's critics in recent years.

And what about the stink on political cartoons? Between thin skin, the on-going MSM love-fest, and political correctness, we have Joe Biden and Bill Clinton to take the heat. Whoopee.

Somewhat relatedly, Jim Calhoun, the UConn men's coach got into it in a post-game news conference with a political activist who had acquired a media credential for the game. The questioner tried to embarrass Calhoun with an inquiry on his multi-million dollar contract. I've never been much of a fan of Calhoun, and he responded poorly with exaggerated indignation, but the bottom line is that the questioner was looking for headlines for himself.

Anyway, if we start with this trend of trying to limit compensation, where does it end? Does everybody have to drive a Chevy Impala (with a green engine), and vacation at the state fair?

I'm officially out of gas.

Have a great evening/day.

BCOT

Monday

Out of gas tonight

See you tomorrow.

BCOT

Sunday

Another day of recovery. But much better sleep last night, and the aches are diminishing. Still, no spin class for a few days.

I was lamenting at coffee this morning about the reality that it will likely cost me several thousand dollars to replace the Buick. (Insurance pays the current value of the car, which will be less than what a suitable replacement will cost.) My pal Tim (the author) reminded me that, "Cars are replaceable!)

It looks like the FFF for early June in C-town has been canned in favor of St. Louis when the Twins visit in late June. Tickets for Wrigley were sold out for two of the three games, and expensive for the third day. Scalping was an alternative, but the total cost for the weekend for the TC crowd became an issue. I'll be chatting with 2 to see if StL is in our future. Seeing the new Busch Stadium might be worth the trip.

High school girls basketball tournaments are in full swing in both Iowa and Illinois. The boys must start next week. My life focused on that tournament when I was that age. Of course, that was in a time before cable/satellite TV, video games, or the Internet. Towns got fully involved with their teams. It's still big in small towns, but the bigger schools often play before sparse crowds. The kids just have lots of other choices.

I'm thinking that I'm going to impose myself on friends for a couple more days and seek rides to my destinations. It's a new movie: Driving Lt. PC.

Here's a little recognition to 2 and 4 for a little support for Dear Old Dad. These were taken earlier this evening over at Mom's where we enjoyed some Chicken Noodle Soup for The Accident Victim.

Have a great evening/day

BCOT

Saturday

Well, it's been an interesting 30+ hours. Lousy sleeping last night. Just couldn't find a good position. Finally, I ended up on the couch with a bunch of pillows to prop me up.

I had my pal Ron come by and take me to SB's around 0730. Dr. Cal told me at coffee this morning that I could take ibuprofen with the Vicodin and doing so helped with the overall body aches.

I had to go into the office as I had arranged appointments for a couple of clients who needed Saturday times. I did OK.

I completed my writing assignment this afternoon. The prompt was a question: "Why are they all red?" Although the prompt came in an email last night, I just had no ability to address it then. So I gave it my best shot after my meetings this morning. Generally, my angle was a discussion about Tiger Woods always wearing red shirts in the final round of golf tournaments.

Snow here over night. About 2-3 inches.

4 is coming in tonight to check me out. We'll do din-din someplace, which won't be as good as The Airliner.

All other things having been equal, I would have traveled to Bloomington, Illinois tonight with my pal Pete for the Augie game at Illinois Wesleyan. It's a big game for Augie: a win and they are assured a birth in next week's 4-team conference tournament. A loss, and they need help by another team also losing.

All for now. I may add more after dinner with 4.

BCOT

Friday II

Headed to bed. Not a lot new to report. Thanks to all for the good wishes. I'll add more details tomorrow.

BCOT

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