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

Wednesday

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thanks for reading.

BCOT

Tuesday PM

No green beer for PC.

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

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

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

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

Have a great Wednesday.

BCOT

Tuesday

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

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

70+ here. Feels like Spring.

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

More later.

BCOT

Monday

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

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

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

My second Italian travel book came in today. Milan.

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

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

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

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

Wear some green tomorrow!

BCOT

Sunday PM

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

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

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

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

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

Have a great week.

BCOT

Sunday AM

Hello Selection Sunday!!

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

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

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

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

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

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

So anyway. Get out there and enjoy the day.

BCOT