Monday

President's Day. Cold. Windy. Pretty much Winter.

I pulled this image from the IC Press Citizen. I-80 in the IC area on Sunday. I went over today to help 4 get her car out of her sorority house parking lot. The lot was a mess as were all of the IC streets. Much more snow than here. And with the students not really having the option to move their cars so that plowing can be done, it's just a mess. The joys of Iowa in Winter. (I'd estimate 50 cars in the ditches between IC and the Quad Cities. Not pretty.)

Daytona was a bust for Hendrick. That will be the last time I put the 24's picture on the blog. Can you say, "SI Cover Jinx?" 1.1 would have had it all over me if the 20 could have kept the lead one more lap.

Then my pals Roy and Ron tried to educate me about NASCAR engines this morning at coffee. I'm sure I haven't heard the last of that one.

I have my Russian cleaning lady tomorrow. The problem is that my vacuum is again on the fritz. So I tried to figure it out this evening, unscrewing every visible screw to every part of the unit. It still won't come apart. And it still doesn't suck. Which sucks for me. (Still trying to figure out how to move the pictures.)

My skills at fixing stuff have always bordered on incompetence. Some guys just have the knack to reduce the problem to the basics, and make the repair. If it is mechanical, technological or electrical, my best bet is to call the handyman. Fortunately, most small equipment is of the "throwaway" variety, as opposed to repairable.

Augie's last home regular season game is Wednesday night against Illinois Wesleyan. If Augie wins, they clinch a tie for the conference title. Which means that they would get to host the four-team conference tourney. If they lose, they're still in the tourney, but they probably wouldn't host it. It's the classic case of controlling one's own destiny.

All for now. Hope everyone has a good evening.

BCOT

Daytona In-Race Report

They're turning left!

Actually, Daytona is not all that exciting for most of the race because it's a race where the track is so big and the cars just barrel along in a pack with the throttle wide open. No brakes. It's not until the last 20 or 30 laps that the drivers get a little sporty. Then they usually have a big accident.

I don't think that I mentioned here that I went to see an orthopaedic doctor friend of mine on Wednesday to have him check out my right knee. I had been having a nagging pain in that knee whenever I tried to workout since Christmas. I had self-diagnosed the problem as a meniscus problem. And that's what the doc agreed on. The treatment was a cortisone shot. If that doesn't work, I'll need to get it 'scoped in the near future.

The doctor's office is in a new building in north Bettendorf. His group of docs had built an office over by the hospital in Davenport in the early '80's. And grew out of it. I'm afraid to get my bill for this most recent office visit. Counting x-rays and the cortisone shot, I'm betting gross charges of $750. If they end up scoping it, gross charges will exceed $7500. Maybe I should just drag the knee around. That's what they did in the old days.

Pitchers and catchers began reporting last week to the major league Spring training camps in Florida and Arizona. I'm wondering if fans will look past the Mitchell report and the whole steroids mess, and show up at games. Actually, I think that the fact that teams can't keep the same players for a period of several years reduces fan loyalty more than anything. That and the price of a ticket and the price of a beer.

3 gets recognition for sending Valentines to DOD. Thanks. Cheetah Girls. Very creative.

Tomorrow is President's Day. The securities markets are closed. And I plan to take the day off. I'll make a blog entry from an undisclosed location.

BCOT

Sunday

Sunday AM at SB's.

I admit to having been a little lax on the blog the last few days. Sometimes it's just not there.

I woke this morning to the sound of my sump pump kicking on and off. With the ground frozen, I guess the rain finds creases next to the house and seeps directly to the pockets near the foundation. A little unusual for February, I think. The weatherman is forecasting a wintery mix today. Unless the temperature falls, I think we'll be stuck with rain. Which is not bad, considering the alternatives.

Just to show my versatility with technology, here's a view of Jeff Gordon's 24 car in honor of today's season-opening race, the Daytona 500. I realize that most of you could care less about NASCAR, but I find racing pretty entertaining. And with Indy champ Dario Francitti now moving over to the series, another of my fav's, his wife Ashley Judd, will get plenty of face time on reports about the races.

The NYT was delivered as scheduled. The paper covers a lot of topics. I don't agree with all their writers, but I enjoy the diverse sampling of topics and culture in the various sections. Good choice of gift, girls!

I'm going to have to get back to this later. Looks like the weather is changing, and I want to get home before it gets ugly. I'll get back on during the race.

BCOT

Saturday

Just checking in today. Sorry for the lateness.

Friday was a typical fun evening at Biaggi's with friends. It had been a busy couple of days and it felt good to let off some steam.

Not much accomplished today. Early night this evening. I'll provide some input in the AM from SB's.

BCOT

Thursday

Happy Valentine's Day to "The Girls"!!!!

This photo is a little dated, but what great smiles you all have! (Of course, there are four orthodontists in town who had an economic interest in these results!)

I was thinking this morning that there were lots of Valentine's Days in the past when I would stop in at the old Hy Vee store for flowers/candy or other stuff to take to each of you. I miss those times.

I'll add some more observations to this entry later today.

Love.

BCOT

Wednesday

This is Daughter of the Day for tax-Valentine's Day. I need to get some new photos to add to my inventory.

I'm headed into Wheaton, Illinois later this afternoon with my pal Pete to attend the Augie game. I had such a good time two weeks ago when I went to the Illinois Wesleyan game, that I decided to have another go at it. I'm taking the laptop and I'll be trying to add to this posting from the road. Augie beat these guys last month at home, and should win tonight, but road games are always iffy. In any league.

Roger Clemens has been all over the news today with his testimony before Congress. He has absolutely put up a wall of denials. All we know for sure is that somebody is lying. It ain't a pretty sight.

Did you see that Vandy - Kentucky score from last night? Vandy by 40! Unbelievable. I had watched parts of the first half, and, if you were a Kentucky fan, it was embarrassing. Vandy was doing whatever they wanted to do. And Kentucky couldn't even get up a shot. Tubby, where are 'ya? Granted. The game was in Nashville. But by 40?

All that said, this guy will win at Kentucky. If the fans give him some space.

And the Tennessee women stole a game from Rutgers the other night. Theft. Robbery. They got homed. A foul call with .2 of a second left, on pushing for a rebound? I thought at the time, a fair coach would have told her player to purposefully miss the foul shots. Better to put up with your own rabid fans than to unjustly take the win. No wonder UConn doesn't want to go there for a game.

Can't say that Craig Wilson's Valentine's column today warmed my heart. He and his partner have made their life together. Not that's there's anything wrong with that (quoting Jerry). But a man talking about his lover, "Jack", fills none of my fantasies.

More on this entry later. I think.

BCOT

Tuesday

Here is the Daughter of the Day. She was selected at random as the process doesn't allow you to preview the selected image before it is added to the blog. I will attempt to add another image tomorrow.

Last night was an odd deal. Verizon just wasn't sending out a catchable signal. And I don't know whose wireless system allowed me to get on-line from my house. Then, as I checked mail before going to bed, the Verizon signal caught on.

Today is Lincoln's birthday. Happy Birthday, Abe!

The saga with 3's phone transfer goes on. I won't bore you with the details, but suffice it to say, the actual Transfer of Service action is starting over for another 60 day verification period. I told the service center representative that I really didn't believe anything that she had to say. She, of course, assured me that "the new" AT & T was very happy to service my account. Right.

I'm wondering if 1 is in line to buy the latest Nike Air Jordan 23's at $185 a pair? CNBC has been running a storyline all day about the once and continuing Michael Jordan shoe phenomena. It's been worth millions to Nike.

This is also the launch day for the SI swimsuit edition. Actually, I think that the cover was unveiled on Letterman last night. I was mildly curious, but fell asleep. The cover girl made it on to CNBC today as they discussed the economic impact of that magazine on the Time Warner financial statement.

The various female CNBC on-air talent roll their eyes as the male reporters drool during their "reporting" of these soft-core stories (Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, Hollywood Biz, the annual Adult Films Convention in Vegas, etc., etc.). The show is just catering to the predominantly male audience.

So now that I have crossed the line and put a picture on the blog, I'll need to study the process to spice up the show. Actually, my original intent was to publish Aunt Martha's 2008 reading list. That may come later.

So have a good evening out there. Stay warm.

BCOT

Monday

No blog today. I didn't get this done at the office, and my wireless connection with the laptop is down. I'm pirating a connection, and I suspect that it will be going away shortly.

More snow. And cold.

More here tomorrow.

BCOT

Sunday

Well, for the first time in a few weeks, SB's on Sunday AM didn't happen. I got started a little late, then read the paper, and by the time I fired up the computer, 3 called to advise that they were trying to get out of town. So my post is a little late hitting cyberspace.

Cold. Cold. Cold. It was still below zero when I returned from saying good-bye to 3. I am getting tired of Winter. And to think that I was actually thinking of taking the bike outside yesterday morning!

Augie came away a winner last night after a Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde performance. They looked so good in the first half, and then looked equally bad in the second. Luckily, they hit their free throws down the stretch, or they would have seen a 20+ point lead go for naught. 2 and I thought we would get home early, only to have to stay until the last few seconds to confirm our win. The hot dogs were cold. The popcorn needed salt. And our seating was not our usual place, which irritated both of us. At least they won.

I know that there are not many NASCAR fans out there, but the story of last night's first race of the year has meaning beyond the track. Junior took the checkers in his first race with the Hendrick team, with a little help from his new teammates. Almost all the mainline media outlets who report sports have had stories in recent weeks about Junior moving to the new team, his popularity in racing, and everyone's interest in him succeeding, even his competitors. I don't think that anyone could have hoped for a better result than what they got last night.

My prediction on the local sportswriter getting his digs in on Bobby Knight in his Sunday column was right on target. He even cited the incident that gave rise to his problems with Knight. Some press conference from the '80's. Funny how people, men in particular, can't remember where they parked their car, but then they can't forget being dissed 20 years ago.

Phil Mickelsen, the Number Two player in the world, took an 11 on one hole yesterday at Pebble Beach. It's been a while since I took an 11 on a single hole. This is yet another example of the danger of ever saying, "That's the worst shot of my life." There is a high probability that, however bad a shot might be, you will likely make a worse one in your lifetime.

The Tahoe trip is moving to early August. 4 suggested that we might as well make it then so that I could see some of those classic cars at Hot August Nights in Reno. I'll work with Uncle Phil to nail down the exact dates. If you are gainfully employed, you are responsible for your own plane ticket. I have the condo, the car and the other overhead (read, wine) handled. 3 indicates that she's planning on springing for a jet-ski.

Here are some Sunday thoughts to ponder:

1. Who came up with the fold-able containers for Chinese take-out?
2. What do they do with those 2008 Super Bowl Champion Patriots shirts and caps?
3. How old is Clint Eastwood? Really.
4. Where did they "film" the moon sequences for Niel Armstrong?
5. When they say it's free, is it? Really.

I can't believe that it is the middle of February. I should be 3/24th's of the way toward my 2008 goals. That's 1/8th. And I have a bunch of work to do to be there. Translated: I need to have a productive week.

Thanks for reading.

BCOT

Saturday

Sorry for the lack of a Friday post. It was a case of early Tuscan red.

3 and 4 did get in town last night. Mom picked up 3 and James at the Princeton train station around 7 or so. 4 had made it in a little earlier. Didn't get fff in as 2 had other things.

The funeral this morning was hard on everyone. I really didn't know the girl that well, but the death of a young adult tends to get to you, and this one was way to close to home.

2 and I have a date tonight at an Augie game. So this will be brief.

Tomorrow morning at SB's. See you then.

BCOT

Thursday

Mitt who?

No blog today. 2 and I are headed to an Augie game.

BCOT

Wednesday

Snow day today. Lots of cancellations and postponements. Including the Augie game. Until tomorrow night.

Mom advises me that 2 gets the Daughter of the Day award for shoveling the driveway at her house this morning. You 'da girl, 2!

I'm sure that there were winners and losers in the Super Tuesday primaries, but I have become numb to the reports.

Today is Ash Wednesday. I've again elected to forgo ashes. In my youth, this was always a big day in our Catholic schools. There would be a Mass for the entire school during the day. And we would all walk around with dirty foreheads. As I recall in C-town, ashes were an acceptable display among the suits in the Loop.

3 and I traded email today and she asked if I had elected to "give up" anything for Lent. Until she asked, the thought really hadn't occurred to me. It won't be Tuscan red, but I may give something a go for 40 days and nights. Any thoughts from the maddening crowd?

This was/is also a Holy Day in college football circles. If you missed ESPN's glorification of it, you can catch up online: National Letter of Intent Day. The good news is that ND is considered to have been one of the leading teams in signing incoming talent. The bad news is that Charlie Weis hasn't been all that astute to this point in judging talent. I'm saying that the jury is out until they win 10 games next season.

I finished my first book of the year last night. A poor review is hereby offered for Patterson's Cross. I knew I was getting close to the end, but it just wasn't really coming together. And it never did. I think he finally got to the number of pages required in his pre-sold contract and just put it out of it's/his misery. Unusual for him, I think.

A high school classmate of 3's was the unfortunate victim of an automobile accident early Monday morning on I-80 west of Des Moines. Carly was an Iowa State graduate and worked for a not-for-profit entity in the DM area. Her family went/goes to our church in LeClaire. The family home is on my regular after-work bike route in the triangle around Davenport CC. In the Summer, the playful noise from kids in their pool consistently greeted my trek up the hill to Wells Ferry Road.

Life is too short.

Back to basketball. Cousin Matt's Wildcat teammate Steve Kerr engineered a huge, and unexpected, deal today by bringing in Shaq to Phoenix. The theory is that the Suns have been flashy and entertaining during the season, but didn't have the inside muscle come the playoffs. If Shaq can stay healthy, he certainly can bring muscle to the interior. But he is 36, and his consistency just hasn't been there in recent years. When Miami won the title a couple years back, it was D-Wade who carried the team in The Finals. Then there's the matter of the Hack-a-Shaq defense in close games. It's not like his free throw shooting has gotten any better.

The Celtics, Lakers, and now Suns have all chosen to make risky deals this season in hopes of improving their championship chances. Contrast that to the C-town Bulls who have tested the waters, but have been unable to pull the trigger. They'll make the playoffs, maybe get past the first round, then spend the Summer thinking about what might have been. It's a little like poker: if you play at a $1 limit table, you'll probably never get killed with losses, but even on a "good" day, you won't leave with the casino with the beauty queen.

I need to get out of here and go shovel some snow. Have a great evening.

BCOT

Tuesday

More Winter. And more on the way.

I'm bitching about 3-4 inches of recent snow. Uncle Phil advises me that he spent five hours yesterday shoveling the two feet that they got in Incline. But he's retired. And it's good exercise for an old f**t.

Sounds like 3 and 4 will be passing ships through the QC this weekend. Hope that they each find time to spend with DOD (Dear Old Dad). A little fff?

Dicky V returns to ESPN b-ball tomorrow night for Duke-Carolina. Since Erin missed Big Monday, will she appear for ACC Wednesday? Say what you want, Dicky V is a Yea Hoo to beat the band. But he's the biggest supporter of college basketball, and I've never heard him talk badly about any player, even some of the felons. And his unabashed plugging of the V Foundation and other cancer causes gives him a full pass on all the foolishness that he brings to the telecasts.

Speaking of college basketball, you've probably seen the stories of Bobby Knight calling it quits. I've never had the problem with him the way that most of the media types have. Can't say that I've supported all of his antics, but I don't think that many of his players ever doubted his positions. Most reporters hated him because he didn't give them credit for much. That elevates his stature on my scale all by itself. (The local hack will most definitely give him another blasting in a future column. The General must have put him in his place at one point, and the boy just hasn't been able to let it go.)

I was expecting to watch NCIS at 7PM here, a favorite show of mine. Unfortunately, Katie Couric appeared for a political report on the Super Tuesday primaries, and I immediately wretched. It had nothing to do with the report (although if I had listened, it might of). The blog has been delayed for laptop clean-up.

Tonight's libation is a 2005 Liberty School cabernet. Smooth.

Not much else to add. Hope everyone has a good evening.

BCOT

Monday

I guess I'm glad that the Giants won the Super Bowl. Lots of humble pie being served around the tables of all the talk radio Patriot apologists. Not that Tom Brady isn't a worthy protagonist, but I like the Eli stories better.

One of the best side-bar stories of the game was golfer Phil Mickelson giving up his football tickets in the middle of his round out at the Phoenix Open (which he almost won) to a young boy and his Dad. He seems to have just picked the recipients out of the crowd since he wasn't going to be using them. I'm sure that he had given some forethought to the act, but it's still a pretty good story.

Another side-bar story on the Giants is that of a double-amputee Army vet who became part of the team's entourage during the season. A very inspirational story (that ESPN is milking a little too much).

I'm very annoyed that Blogger's spell check is still down. I've had to drag out my little spelling dictionary for these last few days' entries.

If the Super Bowl is over, it must mean that Big Monday is back for college Basketball. KU and Mizzou tonight. And those schools really don't like one another. I wonder if my friend Erin will have the game?

I guess that a sign of the times is that the President made a news conference presentation of next year's $3.1 trillion budget with delivery of a laptop computer. I can't even fathom a trillion dollars, let alone 3.1 of them. I'm wondering how much, if any, is saved by delivering the budget on a laptop? Obviously, it was all for show. My guess is that you'll now see stories from the Democrats about the need to cut out the fat in the Defense Department allocations, and the GOP will be crowing about the need to make permanent the tax cuts. As a matter of fact, these stories could be like Brittany's obituary; they're probably already written.

In business news, all the talk is of Microsoft's bid for Yahoo. Yahoo has not been able to compete with Google, and they will definitely need to partner-up with another company to remain competitive in their space. Some of the stories suggest that Yahoo may even approach Google to fend off the Microsoft bid. I really don't know the dynamics of these companies, but it is interesting that the Yahoo folks look to be running from Microsoft's money rather than trying to make a deal. That may say something about Microsoft's hard-nosed, "take-n0-prisoners" approach to stomping rivals.

February allows me to make the comment that we can look forward to more outside activities "next month". Certainly, by the end of March, there are seasonably warm enough days that allow outdoor workouts, and the sun stays with us a lot longer each day. I'm just going to try to get my 3-4 workouts in each week so that I'll be able to hit the bike path for early Spring training come "next month".

The peanut gallery has been pretty quiet recently.

Have a great evening.

BCOT

Sunday PM

How 'bout them Giants?

Weather here.

Get out there and have a great week.

BCOT

Sunday

This is getting to be a bit of a habit. Sunday morning. SB's. NYT Sunday edition. Blog. Is it a semi-religious experience?

My workout yesterday was not all that successful. Lunch at the Pebble Creek clubhouse turned into a Bloody Mary exercise, and, after the Tuscan red from Friday night, I ended up spending most of my afternoon on the couch. Who was it that said, "The road to ruin is paved with good intentions?"

The local fishwrap profiled a book today written by an 85 year old lady who grew up during the Depression in small-town Iowa. Little Heathens: Hard Times and High Spirits on an Iowa Farm During the Great Depression. Mildred Armstrong Kalish. The article says that she visited Prairie Lights in IC in September. I wonder if 4 was there.

The latest example of poor planning on this SB's location is the supplies truck that services the store a couple of days each week. The truck is a full-sized semi that can't get into the complex without backing in from across Elmore, and then angling in and stopping traffic in all directions. I'm wondering if the planners of the development even considered the concept that service vehicles would have to enter the area.

I'm also wondering where Super Bowl Sunday falls on the list of busiest grocery store shopping days. I had stopped at Hy Vee to pick up some chips and the parking lot was packed. My guess is that it is a top ten day. Here's my list:

1. Wednesday before Thanksgiving.
2. July 3rd.
3. Saturday before Easter.
4. Super Bowl Sunday.
5. Sunday before Memorial Day.
6. December 23rd or AM of December 24th.
7. The day before a forecasted blizzard.
8. Locally at least, the Friday before Bix, or Bix Saturday.
9. December 31st.
10. The Saturday of Father's Day weekend.

I'm going to come back to this later today. For sure.

BCOT

Saturday AM

Friday got away from me. Just too many irons in the fire.

No big plans for the weekend. Work this morning. Lunch with Roy. Work out this afternoon. Add to the blog later.

Enjoyable evening last night at Biaggi's.

4 is a proud owner of an email address at her CR television station.

Tiger is adding to his wealth this week at a European Tour tournament in Dubai. And the peloton had a six-stage race conclude yesterday in Qatar. Both events dealt yesterday with sand storms. I think that the sheiks lay out a lot of green to get the big name golfers to make the trek to the desert. The bike race has been around for 8 or 10 years and is known for speed, rough roads, and wind. And, I guess, sand storms. The televised golf looked like they were playing in smog. Except that you could chew it. They may have money coming out at the seams in the Middle East, but it just doesn't seem like a real appealing destination to me.

More to come.

BCOT

Thursday

Just a few lines today. Another bout of snow. I accept partial responsibility for the weather as I washed my car yesterday. I had to. I couldn't see out the side or rear windows.

The game last night was a real treat. After falling behind for a good portion of the second half, Augie did everything right in the last three minutes and came home a winner 64-61. With seven minutes to go, I thought a 10-point loss was in the works. My pal Pete's son hit a trey with 15 seconds to go to seal the victory.

I was able to fire-up the laptop in the car on the way home to catch up on the Iowa loss, and once the story finally got posted, the box score on the Augie game. (On the way into Bloomington, I had been able to get Mapquest directions to the campus, and stats on the host team.) The mobility of this cellular laptop connection is very impressive. On battery to boot.

The athletic facility at Wesleyan was impressive. The arena sat around 1500-2000, and was part of an larger building that had an indoor track, handball courts, weight rooms and other stuff. It was opened in 1994 with funding from the family that came up with the product Beer Nuts. Wesleyan teams have a strong following of fans, students and adults, and a very active pep band. (I don't think I have ever previously been present for a National Anthem performance by a quad of tubas!)

The small-town-ness of the event was evidenced by the numerous coat racks in the spacious lobby areas. After the game, people just came out from the glassed-in arena and picked up their unattended coats off the racks. I'm not sure if I would be that trusting, but it seems to work there.

The small school-ness of this from Augie's end was shown today when I responded to an e-Blast sent out this morning from the basketball office to cheer the team's previous night's effort and success. As I never do, I then sent a brief note of congratulations. And got a personal "Thank-you" response late in the day from the head coach! Neat.

3 pulled an almost-all-nighter last night at work. 4:30 or so this AM. She called from a cab on the way back to work a little before 9 this morning. She is Daughter of the Day.

The Blogger spell-check function may be down tonight. I apologized in advance for any errors.

On the way down to the game last night, I sat in the back seat with Brett's girlfriend, and she was busy texting while I was on the laptop. She had a handset that had a miniature (but standard) keyboard arrangement for input. I hadn't really paid any attention to that feature in a handset, but it sure makes sense. It takes me minutes to go through the letters in my phone to send a text message, and she was IM-ing several conversations at once. Cool. Is that how a Blackberry works?

OK. I'm headed home to shovel. Have a good evening.

BCOT

Wednesday

This is a first. I'm riding with my friend Pete down to Bloomington, Illinois to watch Augie play at Illinois Wesleyan tonight. We'll see if the wireless thing works blasting down I-74. I decided to make the trip since I have never been on the Wesleyan campus. And not having to drive is a bonus.

The elections yesterday thinned the field. Lots of ill will with the Democrats. Not that the GOP is much better. Next Tuesday will answer a lot of questions.

My pal Roy can pick up the blog on his I-Phone. We had lunch today at Riefe's and he checked in on yesterday's entry between courses.

Here's a new one. Pete tells me that he got a communication from the Illinois Toll Road Authority recently with a fine of $168 for a situation when the I-Pass assigned to him was recorded as having passed through a toll in a car not listed for the pass. That's pretty strong auditing. Pete was able to call and get the fine waived, but it sure makes you wonder about how close Big Brother is watching your act.

It's dark and my hunt'n peck keyboarding skills are not very well suited to continue this entry.

So I'm done for a while. Maybe more later.

BCOT

Tuesday

According to Blogger, this is my 600th entry on their site. I actually started 4KDays on another blog platform, so I'm guessing that my total number of entries is in the 700 range. Which is getting me on toward 20% of the destination total. It's not a journey. It's an adventure.

Bitter cold again. The temp dropped 35-40 degrees in a couple of hours today. Way below zero wind-chill tonight. What does it mean if January goes out with a bang? Probably that the first week of February will be cold.

I'm thinking that we ought to get all of Mother's kids, grand kids, and great grand kids (and all relevant spouses) to add 3-5 memories of Mother (Grandma/Margaret) and have a "100 Memories of Margaret" keepsake composed for all to share. This raises a couple of Clinton-esque definition issues: 1) Who is a relevant spouse?, and 2) Can a great grandchild contribute a memory if he/she were not born before Margaret's death? On the first question, pity those who are irrelevant. As to the second, I defer to the Commissioner of the Horan Clan NCAA contest.

I'm serious about the concept.

My top five memories of Margaret (subject to future revision):

1. Feeding the dry cows and heifers in the bitter cold of Winter. Circa 1960.
2. The years of her weekly letters. Circa 1967-1995.
3. Tomatoes in the garden. Circa 1955.
4. Crosswords. Forever.
5. How ya' feel'n, Mother? With my fingers. (by pantomime) Circa 2002.

I just threw those out there. I've got to give it some thought.

I really want this project to be embraced by all. Pass it on.

Here's a new bit of experience that goes to show you that there's always another loose-end to even the supposedly open-and-shut, lay-up event. My conversion to Direct TV from Dish Network yielded one more surprise. Several years ago, I elected credit-card payment on my monthly Dish account to obtain a lower monthly charge. This was essentially independent from the Dish contract. Ergo, when I cancelled the Dish contract, the credit card payment was not part of the cancellation process. My recent credit card statement had the full monthly charge for the satellite, even though my subscription had ended by mid-month.

I made the call to Customer Service and the automated system indicated that I had a credit balance in my account. And when I finally got to talk to a warm body, she credited my card for that amount. But it took that additional effort on my part, or Dish Network would have kept an additional $35 of my hard-earned cash just because I didn't ask for it back.

I am troubled by the striking writers who now have worked an exemption deal for the Grammy Awards show. I don't doubt that they have an issue on compensation for their work relative to the new media outlets. I think that they just want to choose who they hold to their standards.

Brian Williams took exception with a comment suggesting that he probably illegally down-loaded most of the songs on his IPod. His blog, www.dailynightly.msnbc.msn.com, is often worth the read.

Have a great evening. Stay warm

BCOT