Thursday

Here's some recognition to RevKev for his visit today to the Midwest.  2 was his Designated Greeter at the Moline airport.  I was a few minutes late.  He needed to head out right away to his appointments in Macomb.  The Buick was/is his ride.

He's due to be back in town tomorrow night for fun and excitement.

The Air Show is this weekend in the QCA.  The boys are out practicing today.  A little controversy has surrounded the team in recent weeks. http://www.pnj.com/article/20110610/NEWS01/106100322/Blue-Angels-resume-air-shows

Margret is making her first official outing of the Summer today.  With the Buick on the road with RevKev, I needed to get another ride in play.  Perfect day for it.  But she needs a bath.

More later.

BCOT

Wednesday II

When you lose Monday, like I did in ATL, the rest of the week seems to always be a step ahead of you.  Add in that your assistant is on vacation, and all of a sudden the calls come in pairs.  No chance for R & R in Muskie tonight, but I did get to share a glass of wine with my pal Cal at Biaggi's after my ride.  He's on "call" tonight, and needed to catch a late snack for dinner.

Feeling bad for Hef.

And that guy who wrote the trash on Ferris Bueller needs to seek help.

I bailed on my annual yard mulching.  Hired in a lawn service.  Done today in my absence.  Including the replacement of a couple of under-performing yews. Looks good.  And all it took was a check.

Another nervous day in the market.  Too much bad news.  Not enough buyers.  No faith in the politicians.  Sell in May and go away.  The mantra for The Summer of 2011.

Revkev coming in for a visit tomorrow.  2 is in charge.

See you here tomorrow.

BCOT

Wednesday

Long day Monday on the road back to the QCA.  The flight out of Charleston was delayed off the bat for lack of an aircraft.  Then the one that they brought in had the veritable "Check Engine" light pop on, and we had another 90 minutes waiting after we had boarded.  I wonder who for got to hit the "Click on Box" key to "Schedule Plane" for Charleston?

http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2011/06/get-over-ferris-bueller-everyone/240155/  Here's an article off the web written by a guy who's shorts have been pulled up a little too tight.

More later.

BCOT

Sunday

A short report from Charleston.

Pete's family has moved to a beach-front home for the week.  I'm crashing on a couch upstairs.  This is the view out of the second level porch just off the common area where I call "home" for the evening.

The wedding ceremony was on the front lawn of an estate home that has been turned into a reception/event location.  Think of the place in the movie Forest Gump.  After the ceremony, you just walked over to the mansion, found a bar, and settled in for the evening.  7-piece band.  4 food locations with different offerings.  Butlered wine initially, then two full bars open all night.  Airport-size buses with transportation to the hotels.  Local noise ordinances made for a relatively early close of 10PM.  Then again, I don't think that the wedding party had slept much in the previous couple of nights.

Pete and I and some of the family sat up in the hotel lobby to finish off some of my wine (shock!) and we put the Over/Under on the wedding at $60K.  I'm thinking the Over.

Props to the 24 for a decisive win at Pocono today.  Not a close race.  And he won in a car with the old DuPont paint scheme.  And Junior finished in the top ten too.  They could end up with three of their cars in The Chase.

Count me as a Cleveland supporter when it comes to the NBA finals.  Not that I really care that much.  But Pete's boys and their friends are all committed, so I'm sure where the tube will be set later this evening.

Back to the wine.  My limo driver on Friday afternoon from the airport came back a little later and took me to a store not far from the hotel to stock my local inventory.  (The bottles came in handy for the post-party last night.)  I felt like I needed to eliminate chance and bought another waiter's key.  I'm thinking that it can get through security tomorrow.  There's no blade as the foil cutter is just a small extra pointy-nub at the fold.  Plastic.  But it does have that metal screw.  We'll see.

I know that Pete's family enjoys this area.  They've rented beach houses here many times.  And Charleston has lots of historical sites that could be interesting to visit.  Old downtown has appeal as well.  But I'm not that much of a water/beach guy, and the tourist stuff could get old.  Give me Sand Harbor, South Shore and Mt. Rose.

The teams for Omaha will be set by tomorrow night.  New stadium for the CWS this year.  Tempted, but after traveling two of the last three weekends, home has a nice ring to it.  But there is that second weekend when they're down to only three or four teams...

Maybe a little more here later.

BCOT

Saturday

Greetings from South Carolina!.  Here's a pic of my pal Pete and I on the Cooper River bridge.  We did a walk across the bridge at lunch.  Quite a piece of engineering.  Check it out on Google Images.

Now getting ready to go to the wedding.  Quite a few Bettendorf people came in for the occasion.  Should be fun.

Pete and I figured that we played the parts of the gay tourists on the bridge.  We were taking one another's pictures, and a gal going by asked if she could take one of the both of us on the mini-digi.  Afterwards, Petey and I thought that the murse was the perfect accessory for the couple presumption.  Eh?

I figure that right now would be the normal end of my TOMRV.  The DeSoto House hotel bar.  Galena.  A few cold adult beverages with friends.  Next year fo' sure.

More tomorrow.

BCOT

Thursday

Just a few lines tonight to catch up.  I leave around 10 in the morning for Charlotte and the @bcbison wedding.  The plan is to get up at daylight and get my ride in, and then gather up and head to MLI.  If weather shows up like it did today, there will be no ride.

http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/notre-dame-and-emilys-list/#ixzz1Oj4STN57  Here's a link to a story related to ND.  Seems that Father Jenkins and the progressives under the Golden Dome thought that it was a smooth move to bring on a successful female alumnus from Chicago onto the Board of Trustees this Spring.  The small problem that the nominee had some pro-abortion laundry in the hamper lead to her resignation this week.  Lots of hand-wringing by the left-of-center folks in and out of the ND community.

The episode merits space here for the disingenuous spin offered up as cover by Father Jenkins and the Board President.  Reminiscent of the self-inflicted controversy generated by the invitation to President Obama two years ago, the ND leaders seriously suggested that the nominee really didn't understand the purpose of the organizations that she gave over $30,000 to in the last several years.  Pure political dis-information.  The ND rope-a-dope.

Now really glad that I declined to attend the reunion and to participate in the reunion gifting program.

Speaking of Chicago, the second trial of former governor Rod Blagojevich is wrapping up.  I wonder how many millions will have been spent on this exercise?  And what will be the result?  Blago with his own reality show? 

My goal is to put a post up tomorrow mid-day on my layover in Atlanta.  I have four hours to sit, so I will have time to be profound.  See you then.

BCOT

Tuesday

Here are my thoughts for the day conceived on my early morning ride:

1.  I'm glad to have my friend Pete willing to always pull my butt up every hill.
2.  I'm glad to have access to my driveway and a newly paved street.
3.  I'm glad that the new AC unit that I put in last year is working like a champ.
4.  I'm glad that my pal Roy stopped at the J Lohr winery on Sunday to order top shelf wine for me.
5.  I'm glad to get Margret back to my own garage.
6.  I'm glad on a day like today that I chose years ago to no longer wear suits to work.
7.  I'm glad that I got to see The W last night...and that she went home with 2!
8.  I'm glad to have received a "Thank You" card yesterday from a recent bride for my belated gift.
9.  I'm glad to have shared beers on the deck at Gov's last night with friends.
10.I'm glad that I don't have to ride tonight in the heat!

I could go on, but you get my drift.  We have many gifts for which to be thankful.

More later.

BCOT

Monday

Sunday

Wow!!! Busy week!  Not a lot of just hangin' out evening time since getting back from TC.  I need to do a better job of reserving some time to get on here every day.  Both for my well-being...and to feed the peanut gallery.

Here's a pic off of my phone from my late morning ride out to McCausland today. I remain pretty impressed with the quality of the pictures that come from my phone.  I took this one while holding the phone horizontally, and the result gives a good panorama of that big hill and the bottom-land South of town.

My pals Pete and Ron (and others, I think) did the Dewitt ride for breakfast, but I just wasn't quite up to committing to an 0630 departure, and I'm still not quite at the pace that "the boys" like to roll.  I struggled getting in 42 later on, especially the last few miles, and my decision to do the battle alone was the right one.  I would have been "dropped" at the first hill by any group.

And here's a family pic from last weekend in the TC.  I have a couple more that I will add later in the week.  1.01 changes so quickly, we should have a weekly update here so that we will be able to identify her at our next meetings.

I've spent enough time on the bike in the last couple of weeks to come up with a couple of topics for the blog.  The one that has current relevance is "smooth moves" that I have made in my career.  From a cynical perspective, as in "Smooth move, Sherlock."  The incident that prompted the thought was leaving a front window open last Thursday while the construction crew continued work on my street.  This the day after my RCH had done her magic.  Can you say dust?  Everywhere.

I'm carving out terms terms here.  A "smooth move" is different than a Sometimer's episode of losing your glasses or keys.  And it's definitely not a "gaff" or a "faux pas".  A smooth move needs to lead to a somewhat unfortunate result, not just embarrassment or inconvenience.  Here's my list of personal smooth moves:

1.  Obviously, leaving my house windows open in a construction zone.  Last week.
2.  Throwing my phone into the garbage along with a partially filled coffee cup.  Say 2003.
3.  Mixing up the letters to Mother and a former roommate.  Circa 1973.  What could go wrong there?
4.  Calling a date another girl's name.  At least twice.  Different girls.  Different decades.  Same results.
5.  Running my high school car out of oil.  Not low.  Out.  Literally.  1967.
6.  Registering for a Pass-Fail course, but not turning in the election form.  1970.  Yeah, got a D.
7.  Hosting a party on the farm when Philip and Margaret were visiting California.  Again, 1970.  Mother not happy when she calls, a girl answers, and I'm not even there.  Hmmm.
8.  Dropping the car keys through a parking lot sewer grate.  1977. 
9.  Taking a cooler of ice-cold beer to the game in East Lansing, November 1969.  Had to chip 'em apart.
10. Running out of gas.  Too many times to count, but only once in the last 10 years or so.

I think that the debate might be definitional.  And not of that much interest to the crowd.  Kind of like explaining the scoring system used for the Geneva golf event that I played in last week.  When the listener starts yawning, it's time to move on.

Here's a final pic of 1.01 to give you a good start to your week.  Make it a good one.



BCOT

Tuesday

Hmmm.  That business of blogging from the road didn't turn out so well.

I'll post some pics this evening of 1.01 from the weekend.  There's no question on who is running the household in Woodbury.

My future trips North will most certainly include me packing my bike.  1 and her family live on the very edge of the eastern suburbs of the TC and country roads are almost immediately available.  And all of the roads that I rode had wide, paved shoulders that were/are very accommodating to cyclists.  Lots of bikers out over the weekend, and, as a group, a friendly lot.  The pic here is of the retractable bridge in Stillwater, a touristy town on the St. Croix River.  (Double click the pic for a good view.)

Today is the un-official (or official if you so think) start of Summer.  I'm going to clear my desk of the piles of paper and see how long it can stay that way.

More later.

BCOT

Friday

On the road today to the TC to visit 1.01 and her parents.

SRH is headed West to check in on 4.  2 is maintaining the home front here in the QCA

I'll be adding to the blog from the TC.  Pics of 1.01 fo' sure!

Hope the peanut gallery has a successful holiday weekend.

BCOT

Wednesday

Here's to 1 on her birthday.  Daughter of the Day fo' sure.

More later.

BCOT

Tuesday

Happy Tax Birthday to 1.  You are Daughter of the Day!

Here's a little trivia, Kiddo.  I was doing some math, as I am prone to do on birthdays, and discovered that thirty one years ago, I  too was thirty-one.  I'm not a wizard at these things, but I don't think that there will be another year where I am exactly twice as old as you.  What does that mean?

I don't want anyone to have a brain cramp on that math exercise.

More later.

BCOT

Monday...UPDATED

Just a short entry here to recognize my Chicago pal Lee who experienced Cycling Rule #1 yesterday and ended up in the ER.  Seriously dislocated a finger that they weren't able to re-set yesterday.  So he's back at the doc's this AM.  I feel your pain, bud!  (This is a pic that he had posted on Twitter.)

Not much damage in this area from the storms last night.  The sirens blew at least three times.

More later.

Now later...

Lee reports that he is scheduled for surgery on Wednesday morning.  No other details.  He did say that he couldn't remember specifically what happened other than that he ended up over the handlebars, hit his head (helmeted!) and must have reached out to break his fall.  In cycling, a fleeting moment of inattention can lead to these things.

I know that I mentioned on Twitter that I found my mini-digi camera over the weekend...in the Buick.  I had looked in that car several times.  I keep the digi in a small fabric case, and it had slipped into that narrow space between the driver's seat and the door.  I came across it Saturday morning when I had walked out to the car from SB's to get my checkbook.  When I opened the door and reached across the driver's seat to the center console, my eyes caught the case as I was pulling back out of the car.  (Not a very interesting story, but a great result for LtPC.)

For the truly bored...

Sentient...the ability to feel, the power of perception of the senses.

Regnant...having the chief power, dominant.

Solipsism...philosophical idea that one's own mind is all that exists.

Finally, here's a little hat tip to my pal Roy who reports that the Pleasant Valley HS girls golf team, for whom he is an active assistant coach, won their state-qualifying tournament today by 71 strokes!!!  Here is a pic of him with one of his pals.  You 'da man, Coachie!

Make Tuesday a good one.

BCOT

Sunday

A weekend with The Winniferous always reduces my view of the world to the basics.  I'm back to being a full-time caretaker and what I might want to do is always addressed with the proviso of the impact on my W responsibilities.  Not that I have the most interesting life, but whatever  my "normal" is, it's a little less than that on these weekends.

My first ride of the year out in the country today confirmed that I need another week of training on the bike path.  And that's a conclusion reached without regard for the 20mph wind ripping out of the South.  (This would have been a perfect day for a tailwind ride to Dubuque.)  The harsh truth is that its going to be harder for me to get up the hills this year.  Bummer.

They just rang the tornado sirens here.  I've been watching the storm head this way all afternoon on the TV alerts.  Big gusts of wind, but no rain, thunder or really dark skies.  I'm guessing that all communities are a bit sensitive since those storms in the South in the last month.

1 advises that we have reservations at the Holiday Inn in Country Club Plaza for the KC FFF weekend in July.  Sounds like she did a Priceline purchase at a good rate.  I'm generally familiar with the hotel and it's location, but 1 and 1.1 have stayed there before and are confident that we won't be doing another CR experience.  Its walking distance to all of the Plaza, including SB's.

This may shock some of you, but I'm not a big George Will fan.  He's too Inside-the Beltway-Elitist for me, even if he does like baseball.  I rarely get through his columns (which tend to be well written), but I will usually read enough to see who (or what) may have caught his fancy that day.  I think that I consider him a less-accomplished and younger David Broder (who to my knowledge did not share the interest in baseball).

Anyway, a column of his last week caught my eye at coffee and I did my usual speed-read of a few paragraphs.  What generated a second read were three words that he had in the column that I could not define off the top of my head.  Sentient.  Regnant.  Solipsism.  I think that he regularly inserts some extra-credit words in his columns just to confirm that he is smarter than the reader, but three at a time is making a statement that he is really smarter.  Isn't there a rule out there for journalists about not insulting their audience?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/history-lessons-for-obama-and-other-liberals/2011/05/11/AFXxmdsG_story.html  I had to re-read the column to find the words that had originally given me the thought that I just shared, but the point of the column might resonate for Center-Right folks.  You on the Left should go elsewhere.

Really a good story today on the PGA tour.  David Toms, who is in his mid-40's, won the tournament in Fort Worth, his first win in several years.  He's one of the truly good guys.  Quite a feat for a guy who suffered a very dramatic loss just last week in a sudden-death play-off when he missed a three-footer for par on the first play-off hole. 

And American Chris Horner (who is almost 40!) won the Tour of California today.  Another victory for the Geezer Squad.  With 60 Minutes now broadcasting the latest dirt on cycling, every rider will suffer public doubt.  Let it be known the LtPC is on high-dosage ibuprofen most of the time. 

I may try to add a couple more paragraphs after dinner.

BCOT

Friday

This has been a funny week and I don't know where it rates on the Hit Parade.  Nice night with 2 on Wednesday to celebrate her birthday.  Pasta at Lunardi's.  Then yesterday was a travel day with meetings in Des Moines.  Not too many bumps on the trip, but it makes for a long day.

And today was an IRS hand-holding day.  In spite of my many years of experience, IRS audits still make me a little nervous, and today was no exception.  At this point, it looks like the agent found no significant issues.  But I never count my chickens until the letter comes and gives us a passing grade.

My latest evidence of Sometimer's is the loss/misplacement of my mini-digi camera.  I wanted to loan it to 2 for her weekend in the TC, but when I went to pick it up this AM, it was no where at home or here at the office.  I've checked the cars, the microwave and under the furniture.  A mystery.  And I really like that camera!

I'm headed out shortly to pick up The Winniferous for the weekend.  She'll get to supervise my yard work and other domestic chores.  I should have put up warning signs for the critters in the neighborhood.

On one of my evening rides on the bike path this week, I ran into (not literally!) our cousin Fran R whom I hadn't seen for several months.  (He's the 70+ year old who has consistently won his age-group at most of the local 5-10K road races.)  Anyway, he was walking on the path this week and I stopped to give him the needle for sluffing off on his training.

Turns out that Fran's running days are over.  He had had hip replacement surgery maybe 10 years ago and the doc had told him then to limit his running...which he obviously didn't do.  Last Fall, the doc had to re-replace the ball in the previously replaced socket and there was no debate about future running.  I'm sure that's not an easy reality for him.  Sounds like a bike answer to me.

The chorus of admitted cycling dopers got a new voice this week when Tyler Hamilton fessed up that his previous denials were all lies.  And, oh, "By the way, I saw Lance Armstrong shoot up as well."  60 Minutes will have the full story on Sunday.  The rats are definitely moving to where they think they see dry land.  Special agent of the FDA, Jeff Novitsky, is on a mission.  In a time of massive government deficits, I'm gratified to see the FDA expend resources to dig up 10 year old dirt.

A little later...

The evening with The W has been okay.  She's a little easier to tire out in warmer weather.  But she still whines when she's not the focus of your attention.

I've been in negotiation with Hy Vee on the wine deal.  Turns out the case on the Jack London is six bottles, not twelve.  So I received my "two" cases of six bottles each yesterday, but I've asked that another two cases get delivered to conform to my expectations of twenty-four bottles.  I mean, not to overstate the obvious, but twelve bottles ain't gonna last to KC!

Now bedtime.  Wonder what The W thinks of that?

BCOT

Wednesday

Happy Birthday to 2!!  She has another day at the top of the heap...She is again Daughter of the Day!!!

More later.

BCOT

Tuesday

Happy Tax Birthday to 2!!!  You are Daughter of the Day!

I'm also going to recognize a baseball Hall of Famer who passed on earlier today, Harmon Killebrew.  He was a bigger-than-life player for the Twins years ago.  I remember Aunt Martha calling him her favorite player.

Here's a nice little article on him: http://www.cbssports.com/#!/mlb/story/15073119/killebrew-was-no-killer-except-when-it-came-to-slugging

More later.

BCOT

Monday

The distruction of my street did fully engage today.  I'm thinking that the crew has kind of figured out the process given their experience on the other three exactly similar segments that have been completed in the last several weeks.  The old concrete was all gone by end of business today.  I'll get a pic in the morning and add it to this posting.

The second stage of the Tour of California got shortened today because of weather.  Again.  It was supposed to start at Squaw Valley (where we have been several times), and then head through Truckee (as in City On The...) and over Donner Pass.  The organizers bagged the mountains and started the stage over in Nevada City and added a couple of circuits to the finishing loop in Sacramento.  Bummer for the Squaw folks.  Really glad I didn't go out for the weekend.  Not that I wouldn't have enjoyed seeing Uncle Phil and Aunt Jan.

My pal Ron's elderly father passed away yesterday.  It was anticipated given some recent failing health issues.  Ron and I had talked about it at coffee in the morning,  But Ron certainly hadn't gone out there to visit afterwards thinking that that was the day.  Then again, no one knows the day or the hour...  Visitation Thursday.  Funeral Friday.

Glad to know that there's an honest, new Mayor in Chicago.  I'm sure that we've heard the last of "Chicago Politics". 

Remember to wish 2 a Happy Tax Birthday tomorrow.

Hitting the hay .  Make it a good Tuesday.

BCOT

Sunday II

Interesting news that they cancelled the first stage of the Tour of California due to weather and related road conditions.  To the fans who made plans to watch the stage, it had to be a huge bummer.  For the cyclists too, losing the chance to ride around the lake with before what, (on a nice day) would most certainly have been a great crowd, had to be a let down.  Life's a beach.  Then again, racing down the Old Brockway summit to Northstar, on wet roads with snow flurries and 38 degrees has all kinds of bad-result possibilities.

http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_18069044?nclick_check=1  Here's a story on the cancellation. 

I cut off all the "Do Not Remove Under Penalty of Law" tags from my new couch pillows today.  If the law comes to my doorstep tomorrow, I'll know why.

A year ago this weekend, I was in Boston with 3.  Two years ago, we were all together celebrating 4's graduation from Iowa.  Good times.

2's birthday this week.

A final positive factoid:  I came across a sale on the Kenwood Jack London 2007 Cabernet at the Devils Glen Hy Vee on Friday night.  They didn't have a case in stock, but the manager checked and said that he could give me the same price on a case for Tuesday delivery, AND, if I wanted two cases, he would sweeten the deal by another dollar a bottle.  So anyone visiting Maplecrest in the next few weeks will definitely be sipping the good stuff.

Thanks for reading.  Have a good week.

BCOT