Sunday

TOMRV was a success, although it was a long, long day.

I got up early enough to take off around 0630, but a light rain was falling and the Northern horizon looked pretty ominous, so I did what any cautious fair-weather-rider would do, I went to SB's to consider the possibilities. After an hour or so, the rain had abated, and I elected to head for the hills.

Most riders must have gone ahead and started at their normal times, because I never really saw the "crowd". My breakfast stop at mile 15 around 0915 had a good number, but not the size I usually see there. The first real "sag" stop was at mile 28 and there were hardly any riders there taking a break. By the time I hit the second sag near my halfway point around noon, the volunteers were closing up shop.

In addition to my late start, there was also a bit of a head-wind coming out of the Northeast. This kept my flat-surface average speed under 15 MPH, which is really too slow for the distance needed to be covered. The only people I passed all day was a dad and his grade-school-aged daughter (who was only doing a few miles) with mom following in the van with lights flashing. If it was NASCAR, they would have "black-flagged" me (too slow on the track).

By the last third of the ride, I had settled in to a bit of a rhythm and maintained contact with a few riders who seemed to fit my profile (read: old and philosophical). The last 20 into Galena are the hardest due to Tahoe-like grades on several of the climbs. The butt was definitely feeling it. And the left hammy. Finally rolled in around 1615. Can't say that any part of the actual ride was fun. 2 was waiting for me at the appointed bar.

We went inside to have a cold one before heading home, and proceeded to party for over two hours with a small group of riders from the Illinois side who were in that cadre (mentioned right above) that I loosely connected with those last several miles into town. The spouses had driven to Galena and they were all ready to party. Turns out that I actually knew a couple of the guys from business things, and there were social connections as well. It's a small world.

2 was a loyal DD and politely declined each of the several rounds (including Jagermeister shots!) that found their way to our table. Really made the day a great day, and the seat-time worth it. I'm sure that I'll see this group again.

I've always said that TOMRV wasn't the RAGBRAI, party-kind of ride, as it's just too hard for the casual rider, and even the more serious rider can't afford to start pounding brewskies at 10AM. But the party in Galena may be testimony to the contrary. If you have a group like that, a party can break out anyplace.

Lots of yard work today.

Sounds like 4 got the first stage of moving-in in Lincoln handled. We'll be anxious to hear details.

And 3 was partying hardy in NYC last night. We are a very cosmopolitan group!

More later.

BCOT

Friday

The best laid plans...

The plan was to have Mom and 4 head over to Lincoln early tomorrow in 4's car, and then 2 and I would follow with the U-Hall and Mom's car when I got done with my TOMRV ride later in the day. Unfortunately, the U-Haul connection didn't. So Mom and 4 will take what they can in the two cars and I'll take the big stuff over next weekend when we have the U-Hall arrangements all covered.

I plan to take off a little after 6 in the morning, if it's not raining. 2 is supposed to meet me 85 miles later in Galena at 2 PM. I'll stop several times along the way. Part of the entry fee is for the treats provided to the riders at the "sag" stops. Those stops are spaced at approximately 20 mile intervals. I should average 15-17 mph while riding. (I'll be one of the slower guys in the pack.) The scheduled finish in Dubuque is 108 miles. The return trip on Sunday is only 86 miles.

I'm taking the mini-digital along, so I should have some pics to post tomorrow night.

All for now. Good luck to the travelers.

BCOT

Wednesday

1 and 2 at the Twins' game last month.

Nice party last night for my pal Pete's 60th. His office staff did a nice job and several good friends from out of town even made the trip. I had him out on a late afternoon bike ride as a diversion. Naturally, I got him to the church a half hour late.

I'll post a picture here tomorrow. I loaded some pics on my desktop, but can't seem to access that file from my laptop, and I left the camera at the office.

This is one of those weeks where I am one day off. This feels like Thursday.

One of the unfortunate realities of my life is the fact that I'm going to have to change my route for weekday afternoon/evening bike rides. The DCC route has become way too busy for a casual ride. It's not a safety fear, but rather the stress of staying on high alert all the time. I'd say that traffic is up 20% over last year, which is a little surprising since housing starts/completions out that way aren't all that bustling. Whatever. Let's hear it for progress.

My pal Bill took off this morning for a Canadian fishing trip with three other old, old friends. They drove to International Falls, and then get flown in a pontoon plane to the camp and are dumped at the site. They're on their own for five days. I love Boom-Boom, but five days off the grid in remote Canada is outside my areas of interest. Not matter how much alcohol is involved.

For the Miss Homemakers in the crowd, my RCL does windows. Inside and out. She had me set out my step ladder for her use yesterday.

Have a great evening.

BCOT

Monday

One of the hardest circuits around Davenport CC ever tonight. Great tail wind on the outward leg, but brutal coming home. Standing peddling on the flat to maintain 8 mph. Ouch!!! If it's anything like that on Saturday morning, TOMRV will be a mail-it-in exercise.

The primary race in Europe this week is the Dauphine Libere which is a week-long stage race in southeastern France, and several of this year's TdF likely-contenders are in the peloton. Like many years, it has a number of climbs that are often also in the TdF. On the map this year is the Galibier, the mountain that is my primary objective in our trip to Italy in September.

My pal Pete's 60th birthday is this week. Such an old f**t. We're doing brewsky's on the deck at Guv's tomorrow to celebrate.

Looks like a big weekend move to Lincoln this week. U-Haul and all. More Real Life 101.

I'm wondering what the gay versus straight ratio was at the Tony's was last night. Actually, I'm not.

Is there a sports star more disliked than Kobe?

I'm hosting a little family reunion the weekend in July when Phil comes through town on his way to Ottumwa for his 50th high school reunion. Now I need to contact some family. We have a number of cousins and other shoe-string relatives in town. I'm so social.

All for now.

BCOT

Sunday

I'm almost looking forward to going back to work tomorrow. Golfing three straight days was just a little too much for me. Today was a day of rest.

4 and Mom have spent the weekend apartment-hunting in Lincoln. What they hoped to get done by Saturday afternoon took an extra day. 4 will now have a busy week getting ready for starting her job a week from Monday. Hello, Life 101!!

The GM bankruptcy event has come into play with one of my clients who was in the process of buying a GM dealership that was under some stress. Before the execution of a Letter of Intent, the dealer received one of the "Notice " letters, so the price of the proposed acquisition was discounted further. Subsequently, the dealer also got a Directive Letter from the "New GM" that further twisted the screws. I'm hoping that my client will just walk away from the deal, but my instincts tell me that my guy now thinks that he really has a good deal.

Tiger made a statement today with his come-from-behind victory on the golf tour. I'm guessing that the rest of the field now expects that they'll need more than a little luck to beat him at the next "Major" in New York in a couple of weeks. He birdied the last two holes (which were the hardest on the course) to win by two after starting the day down by 4. Impressive.

There was an article in the local paper today promoting fist-bumping as a preferred alternative to hand-shakes in business and casual greetings. I've been a fist-bumper, elbow-nudger for over two years, ever since I got the plague from 2 during the 2006 Christmas season. I've found the exercise to-shake-or-not-to-shake a bit uneven. There are times where it just is easier to conform and shake.

In the Winter, I used the old, "I've just had the flu", excuse to deflect an extended hand. Most of my friends know that I don't like to shake and they'll do the bump. It's that first encounter with a new acquaintance (or competitor on the golf course) where you have to make that decision whether to make a stand. Or not.

The Catholics at Mass are the worst. Not only do you have the "Kiss of Peace" hand shake with all contiguous seatees (pewees?), but they share wine from the same chalice. Ugh. And yuck. (I'm pretty sure that I have mentioned this phobia before in this tome.)

My pal Pete's son is completing his coast-to-coast biking trip this week in Charleston, South Carolina. Pete's scheduled to get down there to ride with them on the last couple of days. The ride was a cancer fund-raiser, and I applaud them for the effort. But that's way too much seat time for me. I get bored after three days on RAGBRAI. See www.blog.dannysride.org.

No major plans for the week. TOMRV Saturday.

BCOT

Saturday

Great day yesterday. So-so golf. But great party.

Looks like rain today.

Lots of the fam on the road.

I should be done with golf early this afternoon. Will catch up here this evening.

BCOT

Friday

18 yesterday. 27 today. Beautiful weather. Lt. P.C. has played better golf in his day.

4 and Mom are headed to Lincoln today to look for apartments. The station called 4 earlier this week and wants her on the job on the 15th. So much for decompression time after graduation.

Have a great weekend.

BCOT

Tuesday

My pal Bill and I are in the process of upgrading our mobile devices to smart phone technology. In addition to the normal comparison-shopping, we're having to bring in our office IT vendor and the IT boys from my B/D to make sure that all the email remains secure. Our situation is a little more complicated because our accounting firm and Criterium share an exchange server. Fire walls, span filters, synchronization, etc. and et al.

Once this decision gets made, we get to jump into the questions on our land line system. The fun never stops. The great part about this is that the solutions are always cheap.

In health-related news, I've started another dental project. My top front four teeth are on a bridge that has been cracked for a couple of years. In doing the math, I've figured that my normal annual out-of-pocket dental costs are less than the insurance premium, so I've decided to fix the bridge in 2009 and go off the insurance in 2010. (The bridge project exceeds $3K of which the insurance covers half.) As a preliminary measure, I'm now doing a little whitening program on the rest of my teeth in anticipating a slightly whiter replacement bridge. I feel so Hollywood.

Quite a bit of golf the rest of this week. A guest event at the course in Muscatine. Should be fun if the rain stays away.

More tomorrow.

BCOT

Monday

And just what happened to May?

The wife of my perfect neighbor (Jim) decided last week that she (Judy) wanted to raise some blueberries and raspberries. Since she has fully utilized her entire yard, she concluded that a nice sunny space behind my garage, in my yard, was the perfect place for the patch. So last night we had a planting party, setting out four bushes. Judy isn't someone to debate, so I just sat on the little hillside and watched. Jim and I just do what she tells us to do. We'll see if we get any berries. Probably not this year.

I was the guy who dumped his almost full grande Americano at SB's this AM. I was just sitting by myself in one of the plush chairs reading the paper with the cup on a side table. I reached for the cup, hit it perfectly, and pushed it right off the table. I'm wondering how many of those that they have each day? Fortunatly for me, I had none of my buds around to attest to my ineptitude. I'm sure that I'll do it again. Hoping it's not too soon.

My pal Roy is back in-country from his trip to Africa. Details tomorrow at coffee.

Here's a little news from Augustana basketball. They just released their 2009-2010 schedule. Along with their normal pre-season visits to other highly-ranked D-III schools (including two-time defending champion Washington out of StL), they take a little jaunt to Spokane on December 9th to play Gonzaga. Yes. That Gonzaga! Suite.

I'm also wondering how the broadcast networks rationalize any enthusiasm for advertising re-runs of their evening shows during the Summer. I mean, for example, CBS thought enough of The Unit to cancel it for next Fall. (I mean it wasn't a great show, so it's not like we're at a loss.) But throughout the last few holes of the Sunday PGA event, that went to two holes of sudden-death, they must have pitched The Unit a dozen times.

Let's see. This is a crap show, but because we have to air something to fill the slot, this is it, and it's a really good show!!! But it probably won't be here next week. Maybe those ad guys should go work for the closed Chrysler dealerships.

All for tonight. Have a great evening.

BCOT

Sunday

Congrats to 1.1 for a marathon p.r. up in Minneapolis this AM. You 'da man!!

My pal Pete and I did a ride to DeWitte for breakfast. It was a Top One day! (I don't think that it could get any better unless there was a tailwind each way!)

I'm headed over to 2's to help with some yard work.

More later.

BCOT

Friday

A little lunch with 4 at Golick's. Hard to beat. Especially with Margret as transportation.

My recollection of my post-graduation Summer is a bit sketchy. I know that I came back to Iowa for a week or two. Then I drove South and visited my senior-year St. Mary's, Cajun-French girlfriend in New Orleans for a week. (That went well, but I don't think that we saw much of each other after that trip. An early chapter in my history of unreliability.)

Then it was back to Iowa before an early July reporting date with the USAF in Wichita Falls, Texas for three months of Transportation Officer training. I lived in a sparsely furnished base dorm called the BOQ (Bachelor Officer's Quarters). Not unlike a motel suite. Upon completion of the training, I'm pretty sure that I drove back to Iowa (in the original Margret), and then on to Dover, Delaware in September for my first assigned duty.

At Dover, I again checked into the BOQ before learning the local lay-of-the-land. Within a few weeks, I moved in to share a two-bedroom apartment off-base with another Lieutenant who worked my same job with another crew on a different shift. Very basic living with tacky furniture and Wal Mart-quality utensils, appliances and window treatments. Then again, we were two guys with no lives, no families close-by, and little money.

I survived two years in that situation in Dover. And another 14 months in the similarly, plushly furnished BOQ in Kunsan, Korea.

(Just remembered. We had Polish cleaning ladies in the dorms at ND. And Korean cleaning ladies in Kunsan. Turns out that I have a bit of a history with International cleaning ladies.)

I'm betting that 4 will do just fine with her adventure in Lincoln.

Have a great weekend.

BCOT

Thursday

Another night with expectations to mow the yard. Another night doing other things. I guess the hardware store was just funning with me when they called last week and said that they were ready to do the tune-up on my machine. It just wouldn't be right if you took a mower in and they fixed it in a couple of days. Seinfeld wouldn't have anything to talk about.

Among the other things signified by Memorial Day is the start of Road Construction Season here in the Midwest. Our area here is heavily dependent on movement back-and-forth across the Mississippi River. There are five bridges that span the river, and rarely are they all fully open. While the commuting times don't rival the two hour ones from my C-town history, an extra 15-20 minutes to move from state to state is common. At times, it almost seems that the Road Maintenance schedulers are in cahoots with one another.

More tomorrow.

BCOT

Wednesday

4 made it official today and signed her employment contract as a news producer with the TV station in Lincoln, Nebraska. She starts July 6th. Lots to do between now and then to get ready for Real Life 101. The fam is proud of you, Kiddo!

My Sometimer's surfaced tonight when I headed home to do a quick mowing of my yard before dark. I stopped and picked up some of the big yard-waste bags and the associated pick-up stickers. Since garbage day is tomorrow and having figured that catching the clippings from a slightly damp lawn made good sense, my plan was coming together. I got home, changed to work clothes, and opened the garage to get started. One problem: no mower. I had taken it in for a tune-up Saturday morning. And forgot to pick it up.

Turns out that it's a good night for blogging.

I've had a few texts from my Pal Roy's IPhone. He's staying at a freak'n Five Star Fairmont at the foot of Mt. Kenya!! With a golf course!!! I think that using the term "safari" may be a bit misleading.

Here's a little philosophical exercise for all (ten) of my readers; list your Top 25 Days in your lifetime. The idea originated last week when 4 graduated from from Iowa. For me, that was definitely a Top 25 Day. They don't necessarily have to be happy days to make the grade. Others on my list would include:

1. ND graduation, May 1971. I still remember sharing it with Mother and Daddy.
2. Iowa High School b-ball quarterfinals, March 1967. DM's Vets Auditorium. A huge victory.
3. 1 and 1.1's wedding, July 2007. TC. Has there ever been a better party?
4. ACL surgery, April 1989. End of my b-ball career. Hello bike!
5. The move from C-town to Davenport, August 1980. A clean slate.

It's a good exercise, and requires each person to define their own criteria.

Have a great day.

BCOT

Monday

Happy birthday to 1!! She is Daughter of the Day. She needs to enjoy her last year in her 20's!

My pal Pete and I did 30 out to the Eldridge Hardie's this AM. Can't say that I feel all that strong at this point. With TOMRV now just 18 days away, my prospects for being in good form for 85 miles is marginal.

I also got over to Arsenal Island for the Memorial Day program. No flower drop any more. And they no longer allow you to park your car even remotely close to the ceremony area. And the bus system is a little short on organization. Whatever. It is the government. I look forward to their operation of GM.

Here's another deep topic of conversation. When you are out on the road on your bike, you always shift down to an easier gear when you head up a hill and the going gets tougher. In contrast, in spin class, the instructor is always telling (yelling at?) you to "grab another gear" to simulate a harder climb. So if the reality of the road is that you shift to an easier gear, is spin class a little like photography where the lens reverses the view? It's a thought.

Maybe more later.

BCOT

Sunday

Well, it's been a few days, and I have no great excuse. Just busy and knowing that my five readers have all been on the move too.

Happy Tax Birthday to 1.

4 has received a firm offer for a job at a TV station in Lincoln, Nebraska. Not many details at this point, but it is full time, with benefits. Starting after July 4th.

And what is giveth, is also taken away. 1 will be looking for another position for the Fall term.

3 gets noted for attending baseball at Yankee Stadium on Saturday, and Fenway Park today. With 1, 1.1 and 2 at the Twins' game last night, over half the fam was contributing to MLB's economy on the same day. Suite!

A little yard work here today. After SB's, exercises and spin.

Anybody ever come up with observations about daily activities and the non-elective music in the background? The concept occurred to me while sitting in the dentist's chair last week. And without any deep thinking, I could name several other places where music was a constant; SB's, Gold's, very places at the mall, and most bars. There's got to be some psychology involved with this whole idea. Not to mention the variety when you are put on "hold" on the phone.

I remember being solicited by some Muzack competitor when we were equiping our new building 20 years ago.

Who can forget the commercial, "Is it real, or is it Memorex"? (Not sure if that is germane to the point.)

Anyway, Gold's has it a bit louder and with a beat. SB's likes to think it has an eclectic mix. And the dentist wants to put you to sleep.

Back to the yard work.

BCOT

Thursday

I've been off-line due to another virus on the lap-top. The latest one precluded me from even logging-on. I'm suspicious that it may have been embedded from the last go-around.

Busy times here in catching up after the graduation weekend. And I go in this morning to complete a root canal that has made day-to-day life nothing short of miserable these last few days.

My pal Roy heads out today for a 10 day trip to Kenya. He got carried away last Fall at a fund raiser for the local zoo, and the next thing he knew, he was the proud owner of a safari for two.

So maybe I'll be able to find some rhythm to my entries this weekend. Hope so.

BCOT

Monday

Here's a little shout out to 2 as Daughter of the Day!. Happy Birthday, kiddo.

More later.

BCOT

Sunday

Here are a couple more pics from graduation. I guess that it is appropriate to name 4 Daughter of the Day.

Dinner at Biaggi's last night was a big success. Good food. Good wine. Good FFF.


Departure day for everyone today. The next gathering looks like StL in late June for baseball at the new Busch Stadium.


Among other challenges for myself this past weekend was the small matter of a root canal on Thursday morning. I'm still dealing with it. Tough stuff. Another Vicodin prescription.

Will normal return this week?

BCOT

Saturday

This is one of those days of a lifetime. Iowa City with the full fam. At Carver Hawkeye Arena for 4's college graduation. She has already come across the stage and received her recognition.

The pics are from yesterday and last night. More to follow.

BCOT

Tuesday

I'd like to go to Tahoe too. Except I am saving my shekels for Italia.

RCL day today. It's a good day.

I've made another camera purchase. This time, a cell-phone-size Fujifilm digital that I bought specifically for biking. And Italia. Here's a couple of the first pics on it. Margret in the driveway. My pal Roy at coffee. And Mom hard at it at her desk.

I'm still trying to figure out the camera's functions. It may be a full Summer's job. Among other things, it's waterproof and has a 3x zoom. Cool. It has a disk with the Owner's Manual. One downside; the rechargeable battery is a $45 replacement! Ouch. A spare for the road is a bit pricey.

The personal trainer expenses are some of the best dollars that I have spent in recent years. The program that she has designed is already showing some positive results. Now I need stay with it and keep the progress going. For a life-long jock, it's pretty humbling to accept the fact that you have no strength in your core muscles. Another session in the AM.

As an FFF Alert, I purchased a case of smooth Cabernet yesterday for the weekend. Get here quick. I've already opened number two!

Enough for tonight. Not all that creative. But the camera is a big deal.

BCOT

Sunday

This image is Mom's choice for her recognition on Mother's Day, as Mother of the Day. She and 2 made some priceless purchases, including this one, at the Beaux Arts Fair yesterday.

I'm not sure if the three of us being in the same location constitutes FFF, but it was the closest thing to it for today.

Margret was the transportation method for the day.

Looking forward to The Gathering of the Clan this week. I've enjoyed telling friends and acquaintances that the last of my four daughters will be graduating from college this month. My long-practiced mental gymnastics of four girls times four years of college each is rapidly coming to a conclusion. Thank goodness.

(Three more weddings is a different order of math.)

Hope everyone has a great week.

BCOT

Saturday

Sitting in O'Hare. Waiting for my connection to Moline.

Commercial air travel is a true pain in the butt. And the trip thus far has not been anything out of the ordinary. But I was up at 0430 local in PHX. Did the rental car return to the separate facility outside Sky Harbor. Rode the shuttle to the terminal. The wrong terminal. Although mine was a United reservation, the PHX - ORD leg of today's journey was to be on a U.S. Airways flight. Say what?

But after another shuttle ride to the correct terminal, I got checked in with no problem. The SB's counter was too tempting to pass up, and I bought my Americano right before going through security, so I had to sit down and read the paper there before heading to the gate. But no problem. And I got lucky with seat assignment and moved to an exit-row aisle seat in the half-full plane, which made the trip almost tolerable.

Just had a Chicago-style hot dog right here in Chicago. Imagine that. Unfortunately, it was a poor imitation of a Chicago-style hot dog. How ironic.

RevKev and 1 are showing a little snootiness with their Wally World stories. Maybe too many lattes and designer jeans? Not that I don't have my own WM tales. But at 0630 on Sunday's, I don't run into too many folks.

More later.

BCOT

Friday PM

Another warm day in the Valley of the Sun.

Here's a nice little story from last night. I stopped at a Safeway after the program yesterday to pick up some snacks and a bottle of wine. It was a modern store and had all the departments. There was a good selection of wines and I selected a Liberty School and one other for my stay. It took me a little longer to find a few other things in the store.

I had forgotten about Safeway's "club"membership program to get the best prices. We had encountered it at Tahoe when we were stocking food at the retro condo. The store's standard prices without the membership card make you cringe. But in this case, I was/am only making that single visit, so I wasn't inclined to fill out the paperwork to get the discounts.

While in the checkout line, a mother with two little girls came in behind me. One of the girls reached for a separating bar laying on the other side of the moving surface, but she couldn't quite reach it. So I moved it just enough so that she could grab it and position it to separate their purchases from mine in the order of things. And the mom nudged her with the gentle reminder, "And what do you say?" And the little girl dutifully responds, "Thank you."

So the cashier starts ringing me up and, having already decided that I wasn't in the market for a Safeway card, I idly asked about the whys and wherefores of club membership just to make conversation. It only took him a few seconds to pass my purchases through the scanner, and he was responding to my question as he hit "total". As he was offering to make me a card member, the mom reached over, punched in a number in the key board and said, "Please, use mine."

On a $45 bill the card saved $8.50. 20%. That's significant.

Two observations: 1) Safeway has to make millions per year on non-card purchases. I think that that is technically called a rip-off. 2) And much more importantly, a very small gesture on my part was immediately, spontaneously and graciously returned. I'll remember that little exchange much longer from this trip to PHX than anything I have heard at this conference.

Hope everyone has a good weekend.

BCOT

Thursday PM

Afternoon sessions. Glad I have the computer.

The speaker in this hour is a LA attorney who has carved out quite a niche f0r himself in the Employee Benefits marketplace as "the outside expert". I've been at conferences as far as 15 years ago where he has been on the program. The sponsor of this seminar is probably the 5th or 6th different organization who has used this guy to bulk-up the faculty list.

Not to say that he isn't competent. To the contrary, he definitely knows his stuff. But the shtick hasn't varied regardless of the audience (and regardless of the specific topic) and he basically tells the attendees, 1) If you don't adhere to this particular procedure or regulation, you're screwed; 2) If your client doesn't follow the rules, you're screwed; 3) In almost all cases, whether it be a case of commission or omission, you're screwed.

I always come away from his presentations wanting to become a Wal Mart greeter.

Will add more later.

BCOT

Thursday AM

1 gets a Daughter of the Day nod for making a visitation yesterday in St. Paul for a long-time tax client of mine who passed away earlier this week. It was meaningful to me to have a representative at the event, and I'm sure that it meant a lot to the family. You 'da girl!!

Long day yesterday. I'm beginning to get a little concerned about the potential discomfort level on the flight to Italy. I don't do well in a confined space for a long period of time.

I should finally be able to spend some time on the blog later today. I've missed it.

BCOT

Monday Night

Really don't have much to add tonight except to explain my absence over the last week.

Just have had a full plate. Very busy weekend. Lots of scheduled activities out of the house. Did have that chance to see 4 in IC last night.

Short week this week. But the pattern is full. PHX on Wednesday for a conference. Get back Saturday night. Flying commercial, and in coach with the common folk to boot.

Given the amount of stuff that needs to be handled before Wednesday noon, the next entry from me will likely be Wednesday night or Thursday morning from The Valley of the Sun. Guest entries are welcome.

BCOT

Monday

Iowa City last night for Airliner pizza. Cool!

.

Congrats to 1.1 on completing the Pittsburgh Marathon yesterday. You 'da man!

.

More later.

.

BCOT

Wednesday

Well, today was notable for me awakening to an alarm ringing before 5 bells. I mean, that is early. The plan was to join another spin class participant for a 30 minute, pre-class workout beginning at 5:15. Ouch. But it did allow me to leave the regular class a little early and get to coffee before 7. Small pleasures.

Quick trip over to IC, but no report yet on HOOPDRM's fix. My early line is that it will be a $625 minimum, with an option to go to $960. Just a thought.

Tried to find the beatification ceremony tonight, but couldn't.

My next effort here on 4KDays, beginning tomorrow, will be some interviews that I have conducted in my second life (virtual world) which should be a little more entertaining than my recent creativity. First up will be Elvis Presley. A hunk, a hunk, a hunk of burnin' luv.

BCOT

Tuesday

Only a couple of paragraphs tonight. My laptop is in the shop to vanquish the worm that put a permanent deactivation code on the anti-virus system. The IT guy called late this afternoon and said that he had purged the problem, but he was going to check it one more time. (Without jinxing him, he did say the same thing when he "fixed" it last week.

4 has a car problem in IC and I need to intervene tomorrow. Moms get the calls about life and the boys. Dads get the calls about the cars. Pick your poison.

Swine flu is yet another reminder that this custom of shaking hands all the time is for the birds. (Avian flu reference unintended, but Fruedianly relevant.) Given all the headlines in today's news sources, anyone who is shaking hands is taking on unnecessary risk. Declining a thrust-out hand is not a sign of disrespect. It's self-preservation.

I'm off to mow the field of grass also known as my yard. Early spin tomorrow, and then maybe a mid-day trip to IC to sort out the problems with HOOPDRM. Life truly is like a box of chocolates, Forest.

BCOT

Monday

Golf outing today. Actually a pretty nice day, somewhat against the forecast, and I rode the entire round with my friend Bill, a nice bonus.

They do these things almost every Monday between now and Labor Day as fund raisers for different organizations. The way most outings work is that they get a primary sponsor to pay the discounted greens fees to the course, then solicit companies to be "Tee Box" sponsors, "Putting Green" sponsors, and "You-name-it" sponsors, which for a price, gets your name on some tacky sign some where on the course. And trust me, guys on a golf outing pretty much pay no attention to the names on the tacky signs.

And each golfer is usually paying a buck twenty five or a buck fifty for the privilige of duffing around the course, usually in a cool five hours or so. What a deal. But don't forget the free soda.

My goal is to disregard politics during the month of May. What I think or opine has no bearing on real outcomes, so why get upset over that which you have no control? 2 stipulates that you can create a habit if you do something for 23 days. If I'm successful, by 1's birthday, I'll be totally without interest in American politics. It's a thought.

The ND head shed is finding the doo-doo over their commencement speaker a bit sticky. A pro-life Harvard professor who served as Ambassador to the Vatican under Dubya and who was to receive a special recognition at the same commencement ceremony, has now declined the honor. An interesting twist to a self-inflicted controversy.

I'll be working on that habit change starting tomorrow.

BCOT

Sunday

Is there another term out there used as frequently and with such varied meaning as "it"?

This thought came to me this morning at spin class when the instructor was describing a group ride headed up a hill and one rider decided to "punch it", meaning to accelerate the pace and challenge the other riders to match the move. Punching it is a popular term in NASCAR, track and field, and other forms of racing.

For those of us old enough to remember The Jackie Gleason Show, his trade mark saying was, "How sweet it is!" It in that context had a universe of meanings, but generally, that things were going well for Jackie in whatever situation was the theme for that particular episode.

In contemporary culture, "It is what it is" has become a staple of explanations for any fact pattern or status report on events or relationships.

Here's a no-researched list of Ten Uses of It:

1. Give it a go.
2. It hurts.
3. It was easy.
4. It was close.
5. It hardly matters.
6. What does it mean?
7. You're it!
8. Step on it!
9. Don't step in it!
10. Either you have it or you don't have it.

This reminds me a little bit of the girls' high school English assignments where they had to write a paper without using derivatives of "be". Try going through a conversation with out using "it".

On other things...

I'm again looking at blog topics that become more than lengthy Twitter updates. Getting past April 15th was a big step. Decompressing for 10 days has helped. At least I now have an interest in coming up with some new material.

As noted on Twitter, steaks and broccoli on Maplecrest Road tonight. I still got "it"!!!

Have a great week.

BCOT

Saturday

Looks like a little rain in my future. Did spin this AM and may do some yard work later on if the rain holds off.

Great afternoon yesterday on the course down at Geneva CC in Muscatine. My first time with a golf club in my hands since early January in Scottsdale. Not ugly results, and no permanent damage to the bod (I don't think). We did play from the white tees which makes a difference on several holes. But when you're sixty years old, who cares what tees you play from? Pride has dropped down (or off) the priority scale.

I am going to work with one of the trainers at Gold's next week for a couple of sessions to get a rehab plan for my lower back. The accident didn't do any damage there, but sitting on the couch for two months has atrophy'd whatever strength I had there. No issues with cycling, but that move when swinging a club is another story. And even standing for any length of time at a cocktail party is a bit of a problem.

My favorite spin-Nazi also leads a step class of some sort and I may sign up for a couple of those sessions too. I noticed the class while leaving spin this morning, and it looks like a really good workout. (This is a realization that came after failing to keep up with Gilad on some simple floor exercises on a FitTV program this week.)

4 had the unwelcome surprise of a thief lifting her Garmin device from her car Thursday night. Alleys are bad spots in any town. IC's alleys may be worse because so many apartments use back entrances. Lots of traffic. Lots of vandalism. I wonder when the bad guys will figure out that my house is unlocked 24/7. And has been for several years. (Does that say something about the value of my abode's contents?)

1's on the road to DM to visit her friend Sarah this weekend.

It's the Drake Relays weekend in DM which is one of the state's premier events. National recognition. World class athletes. An event run like clockwork. If a race is scheduled to go off at 2:15, it will go off at 2:15. Unlike most track meets that run events somewhat loosely after the previous event has been completed, the Drake officials keep watch on the clock, and will hold up a race until the score board clock reads exactly the scheduled time.

All for now. More later.

BCOT

Wednesday

Almost a warm day here today. Tomorrow will be better.

I went over for a scheduled eye exam this morning. My eye-sight hasn't changed much, but my glasses were showing their age, and my sun glasses frames had broken. It had been a couple of years since my last appointment. The doc I go to does a real thorough exam and I feel like a bi-annual check-up is good medicine. But I don't recommend driving immediately afterwards. That dilation process leaves marks.

As I have stated here earlier, I have the Perfect Neighbor. Today, I came home a little early in anticipation of maybe doing a little yard work. He had already mowed it! Totally unsolicited.

4 did a play-by-play of the Big O's visit to Newton, Iowa today on her Twitter account. She was there with a crew from KCRG in CR. Oh-dark-hundred departure for her to be there by mid-morning to wait for The One. I'm pretty sure that Dubya wouldn't have taken any media heat for flying AF One to Iowa for a single appearance on Earth Day. Then again, I'm guessing AF One has already been converted to a hybrid. Prius One.

Another Sometimer's update. I thought that I had again lost my favorite (and very expensive) dry-fit gloves last Friday. Retraced all my steps. Searched the kitchen, cars, and office. Scoured the SB's L & F drawers. Queried the baristas. Officially declared them (the gloves, not the baristas) lost this morning after a final (and fruitless) interrogation of the coffee group.

This afternoon, while hanging up several jackets that had accumulated on kitchen chairs over the last couple of weeks, the gloves appeared in the pocket of a wind-shell vest that I had worn on Friday. A great ending, but how far away am I from the a true mental deficiency?

3 scored a BoSox ticket for today's game in Beantown. Right place, right time for a corporate outing that had been originally scheduled for last night's rained-out game, and the participants all didn't have flexibility to make it for an afternoon game today. She said Fenway's hotdog vendors need to consult with some cart boys from C-town.

The bug in my laptop has some staying power. It has embedded a feature that disables the auto-virus detection function. Nasty stuff. The IT guys will have to scrub it from square one.

All for tonight.

BCOT

Sunday

I'm thinking that today is Daddy's 99th birthday...Everyone should have a a piece of toast with some grape jelly in his honor!

Well, obviously I didn't get to this at Starbuck's this morning. By the time that the group broke up, I had to get going myself to make the 10 AM spin class at Gold's.

That was three straight days of cycling for me, a post-crash record. I've pretty well decided that I'm sticking with the spin class for the next couple of weeks to build the base. On the bike path Friday afternoon for an hour required a little more effort than expected. Arguably, I'm still in re-hab. The spin class is a good answer for the short term.

3 reports that she did a pre-Boston Marathon 5K this AM in Beantown, finishing on the same street as tomorrow's real deal. That's nice little memory.

The virus that grabbed my laptop Thursday took the IT guy a good two hours to remove on Friday. It had been embedded at some earlier date, and released itself on Thursday morning while I was at coffee. While my computer was turned off. Nasty stuff. My theory is that I picked it up off of Michelle Malkin's web site, where it had been implanted by some left-wing nut case. And not from those bikini pics of the SI body-paint models.

2 had a successful foo-foo evening for the high brow crowd at the museum on Friday night. I was there. In a suit. True, I am a contributor, but let's face it, the wine was complimentary.

Speaking of non-complimentary wine, the Saturday night a week ago that 2 and I dined at the country club in Muscatine included me buying a magnum-size bottle of Cabernet for our eight-person table. I thought that it was the same bar-served Cab that we had drunk by the glass before dinner. It never occurred to me to ask the price. A small mistake. The bill arrived by mail on Tuesday. The dinner was a bit pricey at $20 each for the pasta bar. The bottle of Cab came in at a cool $200 + tax. (I need to make it clear to the bartender that Roy and I do not operate on the same cash flow.)

My pal Pete fell (literally) prey to Rule 1 Of Cycling in a ugly crash last weekend caused by a mechanical failure with the chain. By himself, at low speed. Broken left arm, now in a cast. Broken right middle finger, now in a splint. Road rash on the left side of his face.

Pete's son Drew, former Augie All-Conference point guard now living in Charleston, SC, is on his way in a motor home to San Diego to begin a cross-country bicycle trip next week. I think that it's just a few guys with a modest plan. Blogs or Tweets to follow.

The count down to the real world is getting serious for 4. Graduation is now less than 30 days away.

More later today.

BCOT

Saturday

I'm doing Sunday at SB's tomorrow.

BCOT

Friday

Well, here are just a couple of shots from the April 15th party. My pal Bill and my pal Roy. I get tired of seeing myself in that pinkish/mauvish shirt. Not my first choice in attire. It was the last clean one I had that day.

I had high expectations of adding to the blog last night, but I was hit with a virus on my laptop and was therefore precluded from getting on-line. There is an event at the Figge with 2 tonight, so the peanut gallery will have to wait another day for anything of substance from this site.
.

Spring has sprung here. 70+ today. Margret is on the loose. Golicks for brats yesterday. If you double click the picture, you'll see the owner (and chief cook) Mike on grill duty.

.

Cards and Cubs at Wrigley for real baseball.

.

BCOT

Monday

Here's to Margaret and Philip on what

would be their 73rd

anniversary.

Here Here!!

See AM's comment on yesterday's entry.

BCOT

Sunday

Just a few lines tonight.

Enjoyed a very low-key Easter lunch with 2 and 4 at Mom's. Not even significant enough to break out the good plates or silver. We'll save that for graduation weekend.

Down to the ugly ones at work. 72 hours and counting.

Opening Day at Wrigley tomorrow. I'd want it a little warmer before I'd say that an afternoon in Wrigleyville was the ticket.

Felt bad for the guy who lost The Masters today. (He won the John Deere tournament here last year.) He had a two-shot lead with two holes to go, and proceeded to lose all contact with his swing. Bogey. Bogey. Scrambling par on the first playoff hole. And then another bogey. It's a humbling game.

I learned today that the signal on my satellite is about 3-5 seconds delayed from the signal on the local cable network. I happened to be on the phone with my pal Bill when Phil Michelson was lining up a key putt, and before he hit it, Bill offered up that Phil had just blown the putt. The whole question of, "Is it real or is it Memorex" comes into play. Even that moon shot thing might be in question. Eh?

More later in the week.

BCOT

Thursday

The stars lined up and produced one good result today: Yesterday, I had lost one of my new, very expensive dry-fit gloves and had had no luck finding it. Late today, the office cleaning lady turned it in to our office manager (whom I had queried about it earlier in the day). I must have dropped it while coming/going/getting in/getting out of/from/to my car.

Some ad on the radio today said that there are 12K laptops lost at airports everyday. Surely that can't be true. Can it?

I was just flipping channels and caught the first couple of minutes of Private Practice on ABC. The scene was between one of the lead actresses who plays a doctor, and one of her female employees who was admitting that she was hooking to pay school bills. The employee wanted the doc to check out some of her hooker girlfriends who had attended a high-end party last weekend in Dubai and maybe had picked up some STD's. The doc was in full character not to be judgmental of the employee's action. And the Left Coast wonders why the righteous right clings to religion and guns.

Saw one story where the Big O wasn't headed back to France for the D-Day memorial because he didn't want to offend the Germans. And where ASU wasn't going to give him an honorary degree at their commencement since he hadn't done anything yet. (Of course, ND's visionaries are still making their visionary arguments. I get the impression that they actually believe their own arguments.)

The market is closed tomorrow for Good Friday. Unfortunately, Criterium will be quite agnostic-ly celebrating at the Salt Mines.

There's a reason authors shouldn't write when the mind is fried.

BCOT

Tuesday

Not much to add today. Maybe tomorrow.

BCOT

Monday PM

Just a couple of thoughts here. The national championship game is a real ho-hummer. Carolina looks like they might win by 50.

CBS delayed the start time until almost 8:30 CST. To appease the Left Coast...or to dump a couple of cheesy reruns into preferred pre-game airing. Whatever. I chose to watch college rugby on ESPNU and a little post-Gordon-Texas-win rehash on Speed.

Does anyone else get indigestion from the syrupy crock laid on the viewership by Nance and Kellogg?

A little earth moving in central Italy. They need to get that stuff settled down before September.

I find the latest round of TV commercials touting rally-caps, pulling together, and monthly payment insurance a bit insulting. Then again, the White House is the car company these days. Hope and change.

The Big O's road show is getting favorable reviews from the French, the Turks, and the Cubans, not to mention the rave reports from those centrists at NBC, CBS and ABC. Biden is sucking up to Al Sharpton. Excuse me while I barf.

Not even apologizing for that.

BCOT

Monday

Don't look for a lot of insights here over the next week. I am so far under water that I'll never get it all done.

Snow last night. Scraping the windshield this AM. Love the weather.

IC graduation on the 16th includes a Biaggi's FFF that night. For the FFF on the 15th, Airliner pizza? No motorhome available.

Living la vita loca.

BCOT

Thursday

Still very busy,

Had a nice, but quick, visit over to IC tonight. Pizza at The Airliner with 4. Very cool.

I'll try to pick up the blog this weekend.

BCOT

Tuesday

Not very inspired tonight. Another busy day. More of the same tomorrow.

Here's a little shout to 3. She spent a lot of time studying for her test tonight. An Art History major and financial statement analysis are not exactly a matched set. Hang in there, Kiddo. I had that same feeling during a couple of Advanced Stat and Operations Research courses in grad school too.

Did Kentucky get TARP money to hire Calipari? Who's paying off Gillespie? I'm betting that Barney Frank and friends will be outraged over this gratuitous use of money in the economically depressed Bluegrass State. We need some hearings. Get me on C-Span! No stimulus funds for you guys!

See you on line tomorrow.

BCOT

Monday

This was a typical Busy Season Monday. Numerous calls on the office line and on the cell, meetings, emails and document requests. It will be more of the same over the next couple of weeks. Not a lot of fun.

1 reports that things are going well in PHX. This is the last week of Spring Training and the teams are trimming rosters and getting their line-ups set for next week's Opening Days. I think I made a couple of Cubs' Opening Days way back when in my C-town lifetime. Is there anything quite like the fresh start of baseball's new season? At Oh and Oh, every team has a chance.

The Cyclone women were over-matched tonight against Stanford. The Cardinal's inside players dominated the way-too-nice (and too-small) girls from Ames. ISU got as much out of their team as they could, and they represented the school admirably. Props to the 'Clones regardless of tonight's score.

I have mixed emotions about the White House engineering the departure of the GM head guy. On the one hand, I don't favor pouring money down the Detroit bailout cesspool. And GM has been an under-performing company for almost forever. On the other hand, (isn't that the title of a country song?), having the government making management decisions like this for specific companies is the top of the veritable slippery slope. I've said this before: the government can screw up anything.

Finally, I have another example of the limitations of my basic 21st century skills. I had a client send me by email a spreadsheet earlier this month detailing almost two hundred stock transactions. When I opened the attachment, there were more ####'s in the columns than actual numbers. The client was a new one who had literally bought into very a sophisticated, wizz-bang, can't-miss securities trading platform (that came with a 9 page instruction booklet for tax preparers). So I figured there was some mysterious message in the coded columns of the spreadsheet. So like all good CPA's with a full plate, I put the project aside for another day.

The client finally called Friday asking for his returns, so I had to dive into the spreadsheet. Which I had planned to do over the weekend. But that didn't happen. So late this afternoon, I finally pulled up the spreadsheet and did the thing I usually do when I'm stumped; I yelled over across the way to my pal Bill.

Bill took one look at the screen, said, "Whoa, what happened here?" He then did a few key strokes, widened the columns on the spreadsheet, and Wallah!!, numbers appeared! A couple more quick key strokes, and the columns were totaled and PC was in bid'ness.

I'm pathetic. Whatever I once knew in spreadsheet analysis, I have long ago forgotten.

So to bed and rest for those frazzled neurons in my cranium.

BCOT

Sunday

The snow that came yesterday afternoon was added to over night, and I had to do a serious scraping on the Taurus this AM to make it drivable. But almost all of the snow is now gone, and it's supposed to be 50 tomorrow. I guess nothing in March should surprise us.

I re-read the ticket sent to me on the red light issue, and they direct you on-line to the sight that actually runs the program, and you can actually play the video of your violation. In my case, I was guilty of the old California moving stop, but I think that I still have a case since the right turn was to a street blocked by a barricade. I figure I have a 20% chance of selling my argument.

I was surprised to find the Oracle of Iowa at the top of the clan's pool this morning. I guess I was the only one who had faith in Villanova. My gloating was short-lived though as L'ville was my pick to win it all. Maybe next year. (But what happens if Michigan State wins it all?)

I've had this thought recently that we are living in some pseudo sci-fi world where Big Brother is rhythmically beating a drum in the background and the masses are constantly encouraged to conform to the beat. BO is constantly on the tube, the Internet, the radio and is the lead story in every newspaper. (BTW, is the campaign over?) A hybrid movie combination of 1984, Soylent Green, Logan's Run, and Startrek. That video camera ticket didn't help.

My plan is to try spin class again in the AM. Sleeping still hasn't been the best, but seeing Lance already at it humbles me. The age difference not withstanding. I mean, it's not like the others in the class will be dropping me going up some fictional hill.

My post-op opinion on the Direct TV NCAA extra game package is a mixed bag. You really need to measure the value based on the games for the first two days (say 75%) and a little for the following two days of that first weekend (the remaining 25%). There just isn't much value after that. And when you add in the irritation of CBS announcers and CBS scheduling of start times, the equation gets iffier. Maybe if you were to host a Friday night party that Friday night of the first round. Whatever.

Have a great week.

BCOT

Saturday

1 reports that she and 1.1 did make it to Phoenix today. Looks like she's enjoying a cold one in this phone pic from a Spring Training game. Cool!

We have snow showers here today. So far, no accumulation.

......
Now later.

I spoke too soon. We now have 1-2 inches of heavy wet snow.

I see where Lance is back on a stationary bike, just a couple of days after surgery. I'm five weeks away from the accident and haven't been able to sustain any rehab or training.

I received my first ever video-police ticket in the mail today. $65. Hello. I know exactly what was going on. I was making a right turn on red when going over to check 2 out in the St. Patty's Day run. Unless there is a "No Turn On Red " sign at the intersection, I'm going to fight the citation.

This in nothing but a money-grab by the city. Of course it is! They also have it set up for speeding as one of the coffee guys actually got two in one day. (I think going and coming to work in the QCA from Muscatine.) Generally, I don't have a constitutional problem with the concept. If it slows some speed-freaks down going through these intersections, I think the end result is OK.

The Iowa State women are playing Michigan State in their Sweet Sixteen game. MSU has a 6'9" center who is causing some serious problems. But the clones are keeping it close by hitting threes, loosening the middle and getting some back-doors.

Full day at the office tomorrow. It's that time of year.

See you on-line.

BCOT

Friday

A little culture at the Figge last night.

More later. (Probably not more culture.)

BCOT

Thursday

Life in the fast lane.

BCOT

Wednesday

Last night was one of those nights when I woke up at 0230, and basically couldn't get back to sleep. Bummer. Hope tonight reverses the course. I did ruin out of gas by late afternoon. (The crucial question is, "Did that second glass of Cabernet have anti-sleep tannins in it?")

I had a follow-up appointment with my regular doc this AM. He's the one who scheduled the CT scan and the echo cardiogram tests. He said today that his concern was internal injuries, and that the violence of my accident had the potential for literally ripping internal organs from their self-contained localities. My tests and his further examinations have established that none of that apparently occurred. He did say that recovery for these injuries can stretch to 12 weeks.

The ND men's bball team just punched their NIT ticket to get to NYC to contend for the 66th Best Team In The Country title next week. Whoopie. (Alas, Poor Yorick, it looks like RevKev's Gaels, on the other hand, will have to wait for another year.)

My pal Bill and I are accompanying my pal Roy and one of his business partners in the morning over to a new venture they're looking at somewhere in Indiana. Flying private. On a small jet. If all goes well, we should be back shortly after noon. Life in the fast lane.

Props to the Iowa State women for making their Sweet Sixteen. Although going through Ball State rather than an under-achieving Tennessee squad did ease the task. But you play who shows up and the 'Clones are legit. If they hit their threes, they can beat anybody. Except UConn.

2 has a little gig at the Museum tomorrow night, that includes a sneak-peek at some of the U of Iowa's art that is making a home at the Figge. I think I'll be stopping in for a gander.

So that's all for tonight. Have a great Thursday.

BCOT

Tuesday

Props to 3 for her comment on yesterday's entry. She becomes Daughter of the Day. Her observations on misplaced focus is a popular one in the few places where adulation has not blinded independent thought.

Speaking of the blind eye, I learned today that ND has elected to forfeit the high ground and has invited the Big O as this year's commencement speaker. I find it hard to reconcile how an institution that likes to think of itself as the last bastion of Catholicism in US higher education wants to jump on the band wagon of an overt abortionist. (See William McGurn's column in today's WSJ.) I wonder if ND will use the Big O's spin doc's or their own to rationalize this one. Whatever. It's not like I have to give up season tickets in outrage or anything.

Maybe more later.

BCOT

Monday

This is the scene of Lance's problem today. He literally fell victim to cycling's Rule #1: if you ride, you will eventually fall. My guess is that he could be out until the TdF, if then. They say 4-6 weeks for a separated shoulder/broken clavicle, but the guy is 37+, and recovery will be difficult.

The bulls came out and ran hard today on Wall Street. I'm thinking that there was a lot of pent-up buying preference, and the toxic debt proposal was a good excuse to buy. Like the AIG bonus circus last week, nobody is even close to sure as to whether the debt plan will work, but it comes under the old coach's plea to his troops, "Lead, follow, or get out of the way. Just do something." Geithner may have listened. I haven't bought in at this point.

They're talking flooding again in Fargo, ND. (A different Red River than the one in the Red River shoot-out in Dallas each year.) There was a huge flood up there in 1997, and a big Spring thaw has the region worried. (In our area, it's hard to fathom a river running North.) I'm thinking that living far away and on high ground would be my response.

The local small college and high school teams have begun their Spring sports. Softball, baseball, track, and who knows what else. You really have to be dedicated to handle the weather around here for these activities. Chill, rain, wind. You name it. My hands still sting from some of those foul balls from my ND days.

Hope everyone has a great day.

BCOT

Sunday

I've had a very un-productive day. That ride yesterday took quite a bit out of me and I slept poorly. Lots of couch time after coffee.

The tournament has a couple of surprises, but mostly, I picked the wrong teams for the Sweet Sixteen. I have no worries about being a factor in the clan's contest.

CBS and Direct TV managed to have a mix-up last night and I wasn't able to see both close games late in the evening. My guess is that it was a software malfunction. I sent an irate e-mail to Direct TV, but have yet to receive a response. My suspicion is that mine was not the only receiver with the problem. So much for seeing all 64 games as stated in their ads.

My other gripe with the NCAA package on Direct TV is that CBS controls all of the times that the games are started. On both weekend days, they started just one game in the early slot, and then ran first, the next three games together, and then the last two together. Those that started together always got to media -time-outs and half-times at about the same times, so it was hard to watch as much of each game that you may have preferred. I'm sure that some ad exec had the media-buys measured out to maximize income.

The value of the package will be diminished this week since we're only talking about four games each on Thursday and Friday. Then it becomes worthless on the weekend as there are only two games each day. An analyst might want to figure the diminishing marginal cost of my $69 for the deal (per day, game and/or round).

4 is back in the 563 time zone. (Soon she'll be in the 319 with her return to IC later this evening.) Here she is in Mom's kitchen with some home-made chicken noodle soup. 2 and I joined in for supper. Her trip home from Boston was OK. And her stay with 3 was successful.

Busy week ahead. I need to reverse the course from the last four weeks in which my Vicodin-induced stupor lead to hugely ineffective days.

I learned when I did that salute to Mother last week that Blogger has a "Search" function that allows you to get into historical entries. I couldn't find where I had stored that pic in my computer and just took a shot, and was pleasantly surprised.

Have a great Monday.

BCOT

Saturday

Pretty nice day here.

Have Margret out for my transportation option. Camera/phone pic.

Not quite sure of the statement here from 4 in Boston this AM. Is that Kermit?

More later.

Later now....

Did 15.5 on the bike path this afternoon. First time out for the year. Not bad. But I felt it.

BCOT

Friday

Here's today's report from Beantown. As I recall, there's a Dunkin Donuts on every corner in Boston.

Happy Birthday to Margaret. She would have been 101 today. This is a 4000 Days rerun of the pic of Mother and me in front of the old house on the farm circa 1967-8, my guess. (Notice the cistern in the background. I'll write a future entry on cistern stories only!)

For fun, here are 10 of my All Time great memories of Margaret:

1. Taking hay on the Radio Flyer sled across the field in the Winter to feed the "dry" cows and yearlings. Axe and spade atop the hay bales.

2."How 'ya feelin', Mother?" With my fingers!

3. Hoeing the tomatoes in the garden.

4. Frozen TV dinners when I was the only kid still at home.

5. Her as the school cook at St. Pat's in Ottumwa.

6. Her obcessive need for weekly letters from her kids.

7. Absentee ballots.

8. Fried chicken on Sunday's.

9. Her love for her grandchildren.

10. Crosswords!!!!! (And she cheated with special dictionaries!)

Go have a cocktail for her tonight. Not too many, mind you, but a little salute is OK.

BCOT

Thursday II

A couple of short follow-ups.

First, the last of my Italian travel books came in today's mail. That's full delivery in eight days. From five separate suppliers. Not a bad performance. And the books will be very useful. Two of them were $20+ at Borders. In that light, I got five books for the price of two.

Second, I did get a call from my doc's office this afternoon to advise me that the echo cardiogram test showed no new irregularities. Good news. And good form by the doc to make the call rather than wait until next week's appointment.

Now, for the important stuff...

Most of the games have held to form. This Direct TV deal is the real deal. It even has an option to run a split screen and show all games in play at any given time (except the one on the local CBS station). And that option is color coded to the standard satellite clicker that has these four buttons (red, yellow, green and blue) whose function I had not previously explored. Suite!

Don't call with business questions tomorrow. I'll be tied up all day beginning around eleven AM local.

Today's picture from 3 and 4 was too dark to put on the blog. I tried to lighten it up on Microsoft-Whatever with no luck. They were drinking J. Lohr at a spot in Beantown.

Have a great Friday.

BCOT

Thursday

Here's a shout out to 1 as Daughter of the Day. She advised me earlier today that she has been accepted into an advanced licensing program through Minnesota State Mankato for a Reading Specialist designation. She's trying to protect herself from future budget cut-backs by becoming less replaceable. Way to go Kiddo!

Of course, 1 will always be irreplaceable to us!!!

Lots of games. The Direct TV thing works, although you still get nothing but the CBS feeds. I hadn't considered that negative fact in advance, but I still would have purchased the package. You only have to listen to Nance and and Kellogg on one game at a time. Packer's departure is a bonus.

More later.

BCOT