Monday

Got the last two travel books in the mail today.  I remain impressed with how quickly the Amazon book sellers get the goods to the buyers.  I've even begun to read the books a little to get a handle on the territory where we are headed.  I' m using Mother's magnifying glass to read the small print on the maps and tables.  Either my eyes are getting worse, or the font used in these books is beyond small.

This winter storm that they have forecasted for the next couple of days remains the talk of the town.  Flurries this afternoon, and a little freezing rain tonight.  I remain a skeptic on the 8-12" that they have touted by Wednesday night.  That's the same forecast that they've given to KC and C-town! 

I just caught the end of the UConn-Duke women's game (the #'s 2 and 3 teams in the latest polls), and UConn wins by 30!!  Duke had been previously undefeated.  No wonder there's a credibility problem in women's b-ball!

I was at the women's game because I refuse to watch Two and A Half Men.  Is there any difference between the show's lead character and the idiot who plays the role?  Good 'ol Charlie gets a pass because he's entered treatment.  He's just a troubled soul, and he needs our compassion.  Hmmmm.  I wonder what they'd say if he supported a Tea Party candidate?  (That was a rhetorical question!)

Not sure what to make of the unrest in Egypt, and the impact on the global economy.  The US markets sold off on Friday, but then did a shrug today and crawled upward.  US companies have shown decent earnings, there's lots of cash on the balance sheets, and the commercial real estate refinancing problems don't seem quite as desperate as a year ago.  All this while unemployment remains high, new housing is nominal, and the Federal deficit remains a dark cloud over the future.  My advice: buy large caps paying a decent dividend on the next pull-back.

OK, I missed the SOTU speech, but what brilliant minds let "Win The Future" get through the vetting process?  I mean, WTF?  They can't be that naive in the West Wing, can they?  Anyone?  Gibbs?  Bueller?

The oh-dark-hundred spin-Nazi was a sub this morning.  The regular gal, who whipped my a-- yesterday morning, did a call-in-sick routine for today.  This girl, a regular leader for other classes held at the club during the day, was a drill sergeant wannabe and was way over the top for that early class.  I mean, people who show up at 0530 are already motivated.

Then there's my fav instructor, Kandi, who spied me going through the line at the HyVee Chinese kitchen Saturday or Sunday and made a big deal to come over and check out what I was ordering.  Taking the Over that she will use it against me at the Friday class.

Tomorrow brings us February.  Glad to be done with January.  Winter. 

Bundle up.  And...

BCOT

Sunday

I'd like to say that I have spent the last few days contemplating some new idea for the blog.  But mostly, I've been trying to keep my eye on that spot ten feet ahead of my front wheel and to keep pounding the pedals.  Lots of things going on at the office, a couple of big items that have been distractions.  This week will be better.

Morning spin today was a "kick-my-a--" experience.  Not sure why.  Same instructor.  Not a lot of difference in the routines.  But I must have given some extra effort, because I was so beat-up afterwards, that I had to just sit for several minutes to catch my breath.  And I couldn't stop sweating.  Hmmmm.  Full recovery later, but I never made it over to pick up The Winniferous for a tentatively scheduled run this afternoon.

2 has her official Masters Of Business Administration diploma from the University of Iowa.  I think that it was in the mail before she turned in her final paper early last week, and certainly before she made final payment of her last tuition bill.  Whatever. Congratulations, Kiddo.  Now, work on that resume! 

(2 reports that completion of the MBA was recognized at work; department head title, I think.  Public announcement this week.  News will follow here soon.)

And 4 has jumped into the Apple business. http://www.thehoranies.com/  Here's hoping we now have some regular reports from Cornhusker Country.

The route for RAGBRAI 2011 was announced this weekend. http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20110130/NEWS/101300344/RAGBRAI-riders-will-swarm-through-Iowa-s-middle  The big news on this side of the state is that the ride will end in Davenport.  There's always been a debate among the players as to whether it was a good move to end here because that Saturday is always the Bix 7 running event which usually attracts around 15,000 runners.  But the Davenport Convention and Services Bureau actively lobbied to get the bikers this year.  I'm a skeptic.

I've always felt that the last day of RAGBRAI was a non-event.  People who have been riding all week are ready to be done and just want to go home to a hot shower and their own bed.  There's not a lot of hanging out after they've reached the Mississippi River.  Traffic and congestion?  Yes.  Lots of spending going on?  I don't think so.  The best party is always on Friday night.  I'll be curious how they try to get the ride into town, and then provide parking and exit for the diverse caravan that follows the bikes across the state.  Taking the Over that it will all be underwhelming.

Lots of national attention on the Iowa football program over the last week.  13 players were hospitalized early in the week for a muscle disorder that beset the players after a super-strenuous workout.  They say drugs were not involved, but I'm guessing that some energy supplement will eventually be identified.  The blogs want somebody hung out to dry.  Coach Ferentz has had to deal with several unfavorable things over the last 90 days.  Drugs.  Suspensions.  Transfers.  Now this.  An interesting debate on where the coach is or becomes accountable.

And the Iowa and Iowa State men can't beat anybody in conference.  At least the 'Clones are competitive.

They're talking about another snow storm here Tuesday and Wednesday.  This has been Winter this year.  With no sun.  I could use some sun. 

Spin in the early AM.  So I'm headed to the rack.

BCOT

Thursday

Sounds like the weather on the Right Coast is a bit exciting.  Herky's commute today might have been one for the ages.  (We had a couple of those back in C-town in the Winters of 1978-79 and 1979-80.  Jane Byrne even won an election as mayor when the sitting mayor, Richard J. Daley's successor Michael Bilandic, couldn't get the streets cleared in a major blizzard just before Election Day in February 1979.)

It was a huge win for Augie last night.  Here's the story.  http://www.augustana.edu/x24080.xml  Big crowd.  Great popcorn.  2 and I even stayed to the happy ending.  They were certainly beatable last night, but they found a way to win.  My guess is that a team with some beef inside will be a problem come tournament time.

I have posted this from the office and am now headed home.  If I can't fire up the laptop, this will be all that you get today.  When I shut the laptop down at home last night, I must have double-clicked some protocol that safe-guards access to my Verizon account, and I couldn't get to the Internet.  And I forgot to bring the laptop in today for IT to check out.  This is a variation of a Sometimer's episode.  I'll Twitter if I'm off the grid, so to speak.  3 can add some of her thoughts to her blog for peanut gallery fodder.

In the meantime...

BCOT

Wednesday

As reported earlier on my Twitter feed, we'll do the March Madness weekend in Woodbury this year.  The Hampton there is not much different than the one in West Des Moines.  Plus, 1.01 gets to sleep in her own bed, and 1.1 gets to participate as well.  He would have been a no-show in DSM because of officiating duties.

Those of us in Nebraska and Iowa will be trekking North on the 18th, hopefully arriving in time to at least see some of the afternoon games.  Travel from NYC is now being scheduled.  A true Gathering of the Clan.  Again.  Very cool. 

So I have to admit, I was too busy to catch the SOTU speech last night.  I mean, LBH, there was nothing going to be said that hadn't been spun to the public before.  (Those re-runs of NCIS on USA Network were much more illuminating.)  And the political posturing between the sides today as the pundits tried to generate some enthusiasm was similarly predictable.  Ho-hum.

Sticking with another of my recurrent themes here, there's a ripple in the force at Starbuck's.  Seems like the corporate visionaries see a need to upgrade the logo.  I missed this in the news when it came out after the first of the year.  The new logo will not have the name, just the mermaid.  I don't think that the change is near as egregious as a couple of the others discussed here previously, but speaking as a sufferer of Sometimer's, those marketing eggheads are expecting a lot out of us.

I read in the paper that today is Wayne Gretzky's 50th birthday.  What caught my attention was that they say he still holds 60(!) records in the NHL.  He's been retired over 10 years, and he remains one of the most recognizable names in what now amounts to a fringe sport except in Olympic years (and maybe in the original 6 cities that constituted the pre-expansion league).  The Great One.  #99.  (Didn't his wife get in trouble for betting on the odd bets for a Super Bowl?)

Now headed over to get 2 for the Augie game.  Thanks for reading.

BCOT

Tuesday

A bit of a bummer of a day.  One of those projects that I mentioned yesterday shows no signs of early, successful resolution.  It's complicated.  Lots of money involved.  Lawyers.  Chicago lawyers.  Banks.  Margin notes.  Hedges.  Contracted consultants.  Ugh!

Then a factoid confirmed from a long ago friendship.  High school girlfriend.  Pancreatic/liver cancer.  Double ugh!

3 has done some recording of her visit from her sister. http://www.thehoranies.com/

I ended up getting the Buick out for my morning trip to Muskie.  I hadn't had it out since I took 2 to C-town three weeks ago.  And the only reason I broke it out today was because I wasn't sure if I might need to transport my client to the meeting, and the Taurus is definitely not rider-friendly, if you know what I mean!  4kdays is back in the garage and may not make it out again until we get rid of the snow (or I head up to the TC to check out 1.01!).

The First Day of The Rest of My Life starts with with 0545 spin in the morning.  I took Monday off to enjoy a morning without The Winniferous, and today was just a lazy day.  Realistically, the first outdoor ride is probably less than 60 days away.  Ya' need to step it up, Bucko!

The second travel book came in today's mail.  This one on "Southwest France". 

I'm a little disturbed that the Super Bowl will lack cheerleaders.  Neither the Steelers nor the Packers employ cheer squads.  I'm wondering if the network will bring in freelancers.  Will there be a free pass given to the Cowboy Cheerleaders since the game is being played on their home field?  I mean where will the cameras scan for boobs as they go to or from commercials?  Seriously, this has been a topic in production meetings already.

Then we have the major donor to the U of Connecticut who wants his $3 million back because the AD just lost his football coach and the program may have plateaued.  Hmmmm.  Is this a modern day version of the boy who owns the ball wanting to take it and go home when he doesn't get his way?  The money in major-college football is staggering.  The Have's and the Have-nots are pretty evident in this segment of the economy as well.

2 and I are scheduled to head over to the Augie-Illinois Wesleyan game tomorrow night.  I'll try to make a short entry before we head out.

Thanks for reading.  Have a good Hump Day.

BCOT

Monday

Glad to have 2 back in the QCA.  Her plane was a little delayed, but she and her bags were in by 2200 local, which is a little past my regular bedtime.  But with no Winniferous potty-breaks to worry about over night, my sleep almost approached normalcy last night.  Not a bad result.

My enthusiasm for The Big Game (can't say Super Bowl, even here on 4000 Days for fear of the NFL or the network losing revenue) is spiraling downward on an historical basis.  Green Bay and Pittsburgh?  Someone should compare rap sheets for the two squads.

I heard one report that whomever is in charge of admissions for the game is also charging $200 for tailgaters not even going into the game.  I'd say that that is pretty bold.  I wonder how close you need to be to Texas Stadium before you literally incur a "carrying charge" for being in on the action? 

The golf season is in full swing, and Tiger and Phil finally tee it up this week in San Diego.  I watched just a little of the tournament last weekend, but without the big names playing, there just wasn't the drama.  The economy may be improving, but The Bob Hope last weekend went without a title sponsor (previously Chrysler), and the ladies tour has seriously contracted for want of sponsorships.

I'm taking the Over on the Federalies nailing Lance on some aspect of doping.  Too many unrelated parties seem to be admitting too many incriminating things to think that he can get through the net.  Personally, I maintain the position that they ought to spend their money elsewhere.  The Selena Roberts' of the world get no medals from me.

NASCAR Speed Weeks start next week.  Rev 'em up!

Thanks to 2 and 3 for actually supplying the last brownie for my woeful status over the weekend.

Sorry for the lack of creativity tonight.  Tough day at the office.  Stress level moving up the scale on some projects.  Maybe better ideas tomorrow.

BCOT

Saturday

It's after 5 PM and it's not dark outside.  I'd say that that is a positive sign of things to come.

Sounds like 1.01 has become even more mobile.  A few steps maybe?  I missed the Over/Under on that one by three weeks.

I am minorly impressed with the results of my travel book ordering process this week on Amazon.  I wanted to get some background stuff on northern Spain, The Pyrenees and southern France for the trek 4 and I are scheduled to make in August.  (I had not been disappointed two years ago when I did the same thing for Italy in advance of the trip that 2 and I made in September 2009.)  I've already received one of the books in the order, notices on shipment of two others, and one cancellation for "out of stock".  I ordered two other books after getting that cancellation notice, so, we should have plenty of resources.

This past week has been as "wintery" a time as I can remember in the last few years.  Global warming, I'm sure.  We've had snow, bitter cold, and freezing rain.  The sidewalks are uniformly hard-pan snow/ice combinations.  This morning, there had been a dusting of snow over night, and with it on top of the ice, even The Winniferous was spinning her tires!  You know that you've been spending too much time walking the dog when the only tracks in the icy-snow all week are your own.

My immediate favorite Cabernet is Napa Cellars 2007.  The 53rd Street Hy Vee had this bottle for $19.99 when I bought my last case, which dropped the price to $18.  Full-bodied with a very smooth after-taste.  My pal Bill had a Napa Cellars Merlot in his last wine-club delivery, and that one had good reviews as well.

One of the more humorous side-bars to my dog-sitting duties this past week has been another example of the "hunter" instincts of The Winniferous.  She tends to "whine" from her sleeping spot on the floor near my bed in the early AM, and I'm not really sure if she needs to go out to do her business, or if she is just ready to get up.  I don't want to test that question, so I get up to let her out.  Which in this cold means getting coat, shoes, cap and gloves on (and leash) to take her to a spot by my drive-way.  And she'll normally do what she's supposed to do.

However, Wednesday or Thursday, at Oh-Dark-Hundred, I do the routine, open the back door to let her out, which spooks a little rabbit in the bushes next to my neighbor's house, and Winnie's hard-drive is fully scrubbed of any thought of personal plumbing!  It was all I could do to keep a hold on the leash.  I told my pal Roy that it was the equivalent of a teen-age boy trying to do statistics after catching a glimpse of a breast!

The W's first move coming out of my back door is now consistently to check those bushes for varmits!  It's in the genetic code.

I'm looking forward to seeing 2 tomorrow.  Hope her last night with 3 in NYC is a good one.  And that travel has few bumps in the road.  Be safe, Kiddo.

BCOT

Thursday

2 gets to be Daughter of the Day for her return to the good 'ol US of A!  She's in The Big Apple with 3 and Herky tonight.  A little sightseeing and society before her return to The Real World on Sunday.  Enjoy the weekend!

Okay.  This is a bit of an extended example of the Sometimer's kicking in.  Not the glasses.  Not the keys.

On the plane coming back from PHX on Sunday, Cal wrote me a check to cover his share of expenses that I had paid for the group.  I folded it and put it in the Robert Ludlum book that I was reading. (Still stuck at about the 1/3 point, and now a little bored.)

I distinctly remember subsequently transferring the check to my murse so that I wouldn't lose it.  I also remember taking my murse to the office on Monday and Tuesday because I keep the digi card-reader in one of those "can't-lose" compartments and I needed to transfer the PHX pics to my laptop to send to the other guys.

Then there were four insurance refund checks in the mail on Tuesday and a couple of other random checks that I had been holding at my desk and that I needed to deposit to my checking account.  So I decided hit the bank on Wednesday to make a collective deposit.

I put the insurance refund checks in the murse as I left the house on Wednesday morning.  I go to the bank at lunch.  I get to the island in the bank lobby, pull out the checks, and no Cal check!  I'm flummoxed.  I go back to the house and page through the Ludlum book.  Nothing but boarding passes!  I recheck every niche of the murse.  Nothing but band-aids and credit card receipts.

I'm stumped.  I get the flashlight and look under my bed thinking that maybe the check fell out of the book when I was reading at night.  And that was after an RCL day!

I pretty well conclude that I'm going to have to tell Cal that he'll need to put a "stop-payment" order on the check and re-write me another one.

When I get "whined" awake by The Winniferous at Oh-Dark_Hundred this morning, and while I'm encouraging her to "go pottie" in the dark and cold of my Perfect Neighbor's yard, it flahes in my mind that I had purposefully set-aside a couple of business checks on a bookcase in my office.  Could Cal's check maybe be there as well?

So long story short, that's where it was, and the deposit has a happy ending.

If something can be lost/misplaced and forgotten, LtPC has it covered.

Yes, I did give The Winniferous a bath tonight.  Not so proud of that distinction.  But is was the only acceptable alternative. If you get my drift.

Hope everyone has a good TGIF.  It's BITTER cold here tonight.  Maybe 10 below.  But milder for the weekend.  SRH is headed up to see 1.01.  Reports with pics required!

BCOT

Wednesday

Glad to see that 3 made it back to The Big Apple. http://www.thehoranies.com/

I've made a conscious decision since the first of the year to limit my work-day Internet news reading.  Ever since the beginnings of the last Presidential election campaign, I have been easily "hooked" into an item of political or social news and could waste a load of time reading different presentations on the same issue.  While such study made me well-informed, it didn't add anything to the over all state of my world.

It may come as a shock to the peanut gallery, but I tend to lean toward the right on most issues.  (Uh, perhaps far right on a few.  Just saying.) I refuse to watch network news and late-night shows, and I'll only grab the NYT in desperation (otherwise stated; "free at the coffee shop").  And as an equal-opportunity Independent, I don't watch FOX News either.

Looking down from the hilltop, two things come across on almost every topic up for civic debate: 1) If one side says, "The sky is blue", the other side immediately counters in the Blogsphere with, "Not when you look at it from this direction!",  (Actually, I wanted that example to be, "I say black, you say white", but I didn't know if that would be interpreted as playing the race card.) and 2) Each side is determined to win the "spin" game with their constituency and the Independents.  Truth is not particularly relevant.  It reminds me of the attorney's in a court case:  winning is the only thing that counts.

I'm bored and tired of the politics and the moralizing.  We've become a bunch of finger-pointers.  It's always somebody else's fault.  Go to work people.  Do your job.  Pay your bills.  You in The Chorus, need to do the same thing.

I feel better.

Now off to the Augie game.  SRH has The W for a couple of hours.

Hello 2?

BCOT

Tuesday PM

The Deep Freeze is headed here.  Below zero later in the week.

I feel like I'm that dog owner from the TV commercials whose pet refuses to eat every option on the menu.  I now have two bags of puppy chow that The Winniferous won't even sniff at.  I tried to trick her at lunch and mixed peanut butter in a bowl of one of the offending entrees, and she barely took a lick.  And she loves peanut butter!

So I picked up some new "top shelf" stuff tonight and she became an addict.  Exact-portion, shrink-wrapped meals that looked good to me too.  This may be a problem for 2 upon her return.  Then again, I think that The W has begun to wonder when that girl whom she lives with is getting back.

Augie has a home game tomorrow night and is going for 16 in a row to start their season.  Their big inside and they bring lots of people.  (The one weak link is back-up point guard.)  They're also home on Saturday, but they end up with lots of road games to close their schedule.  If they stay healthy, they could get deep in the tournament.  With home game for the conference tourney, and a couple of home games in the D III tournament.`

Curious for reports from 3 on the trip South of the border.  Beyond the "couples" massage.

Make Wednesday a good one.

BCOT

Tuesday AM

So this is the golf course down the street from my place at noon on Monday.  A little different view than the Home Page pic from Grayhawk.

Looks like we'll be in The Deep Freeze for the next few days.  I'm thinking that my walks/runs with The Winniferous will be a little shorter.

More here later.

BCOT

Sunday

Those of you following me on Twitter have the gist of my day.  Travel went pretty much as planned.  No particulars hassles getting to Sky Harbor in Phoenix other than finding a gas station at Oh-Dark-Hundred to fill up the rental.  The connection in Denver was on time and our luggage made it to the QCA. What more can you ask for?

Ten Things that I learned this time in Arizona:

1.  Green fees at the better courses are higher this year. Under a C-note was cheap.
2.  $3 Aquafina at the Snack Shacks.  $5 canned beers from the cart girl.  $10 hot dogs.
3.  Hertz #1 Club is pass-the-counter, walk-to-your-car easy.
4.  That GPS gal is really annoying when you know where you're going.
5.  I'm going to do some research on the geology around The Boulders resort in Carefree.  Very interesting.
6.  On a short, busy trip like this one, the Smart phone makes the laptop only marginally useful.
7.  I need a new travel bag for my golf clubs.
8.  Scottsdale remains in my Top Five cities to visit.  In the Winter, Top One.
9.  Never saw any of the sensational airport security that has recently been in the news.
10.With Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's, my birthday, and now Scottsdale all done, 2011 officially starts tomorrow for me.

I  am back in charge of The Winniferous, and we need to do a little walk before bed time.  Hope everyone has a good start to the week.  Keep those positive endorphins flowing!  And...

BCOT

Saturday

Here's a group photo at the conclusion of today's round at Grayhawk in Scottsdale.  (Raptor Course where they play a PGA event each Fall).  The good looking guys in the red and black on the right were the winners for the weekend.  We netted $4 each in the main game, and a few other dineros on some side bets.  Cal and Ron just couldn't handle the pressure

This pic is from the tee box on one of the Par 3 holes today.  (Double-click it to expand for a better view.)  While this course doesn't have ocean views, there's some spectacular scenery none the less.  It's especially suite when we think about the weather back home.  This one may spend some time as the home page of 4000 Days.

Dinner tonight was a stay-in steak BBQ at the condo.  We ate so much each of the two previous evenings that going out and dropping a few hundred more dollars had little appeal.  Scottsdale is cheaper than Cabo, but we have managed to challenge reason.  Our steak dinners tonight, inclusive of three bottles of wine, cost less than the tip for each of the other two nights.

The condo that we're staying in is in a gated-community just a mile or two from Grayhawk.  Serious luxury, but a step down from the single-family places along several of the holes at Grayhawk.  Then again, Grayhawk has open spaces on sections of both courses that were supposed to be built-out by now.  The housing economy in the PHX area still has a long way to recover.  If you have a few hundred K to spare, some nice property is available at significant discounts from previous asking-prices.

We head back early in the AM and are scheduled to arrive in Moline shortly after 1300 hours.

My next entry will be from the 563 tomorrow evening.  After my 3.4 with The Winniferous.

BCOT

Friday

Greetings from Scottsdale!

Here's our crew after dinner last night.  For inquiring minds, the two gals are my pal Ron's sisters.  We're staying at a condo neat Grayhawk owned by sister Shirley.  The pic was taken at the clubhouse after a great (and expensive!) dinner.

More golf today.  70+ and sunny.  Shorts weather.  Roy and I are teamed against The Evil Empire (Ron and Cal).

Off to the course.

BCOT

Wednesday

Happy Tax Birthday to 1.01!!!  She's a Star!!!!  And Granddaughter of the Day.  Again!

The report from the QC airport is delay, delay, delay.  I'm now guessing that we'll miss the connection in Denver.  My luck with United has been one-sided, and not good.

My current couch is headed to the basement when it gets replaced.  4 has crappy furniture, I know, but her next  upgrade will be from elsewhere.  Sorry, Kiddo!

SRH now has charge of The Winniferous until Sunday.  2 will be owing us upon her return.

No word from 2 in China.

Hope to add some more here later from Arizona. 

BCOT

Tuesday

Just trying to get the worst of the messes handled before take-off to PHX tomorrow.  My office continues to meet a low standard of appearance.

March Madness.  I see it as either Des Moines again, or another trek to the Twin Cities.  The first weekend games are March 17-20.  4 needs to ask for the 18th off.  If it's DM, I can see the QCA folks coming over for a late lunch on that Friday.  If it's the TC, we'd need to take all of Friday off, and 4 might need to fly in on Friday morning.  Looking for input.  Anyone?  Bueller?

To RevKev, my vision for improvement to my living room is a new couch.

My pal Bill returned Sunday night from his 12-day journey to New Zealand.  Very positive reports.  And it was Summer, down under!  He'll be working on the jet lag this week.

Just did the on-line check-in for the trip tomorrow.  What could go wrong?

Maybe more later.

BCOT

Monday

So I wasn't successful in getting here yesterday.  Let's just say I had a birthday Sometimer's moment.  Just a busy day.

This needs to get done, or a measurable portion of the year will already be gone.  Here's my best shot at 2011 goals:

1.  Col du Tourmalet in August.
2.  Wrigleyville for a Cubs - Cardinals game.
3.  Write at least one short story.  I'd like to say, "book", but I need to lower the target!
4.  Rehab my living room to bring it out of the '70's!
5.  It's no change from before, but do the Trot in under an hour.
6.  Bring my golf handicap to 14.  That means shooting 85 or less, consistently.
7.  Lower my cholesterol to 200.  Say good-bye to chips and fries!
8.  Get to NYC to see 3!
9.  Get my right rotator cuff fixed!
10. Add something to my professional resume.  This one needs more thought.

That's not a bad list.  The real challenge will be Point 3.

The report this AM from China came on my Yahoo email.  Twitter is blocked at 2's current location, as is 4000 Days.  I can understand the blog, but Twitter?  Those 140 characters might bring down the regime!

More here later.  Anyone else walking the plank on 2011 goals?

BCOT

Saturday

Just a few lines to make an appearance here on my birthday.  No excuse for not getting something substantial here today, but it just didn't happen.

Many thanks to all who sent their greetings.  It's been a good day.

The Winniferous and I have been putting in lots of time on our exercise routes.  She's always ready to go.  The cold doesn't seem to bother her.

The Augie game tonight was not pretty.  But a win is a win is a win.

Look for something good here tomorrow.

BCOT

Friday AM

Hello Day 3 with The Winniferous!  Not sure that I'll survive.  I was doing the math last night and whereas I had originally thought that I'd have Winnie for about five days before my trip to Scottsdale next week, and then a couple of days afterwards, the real deal is a week before, and a week after!  Hmmm.  Not quite the program the back of my mind had loaded in the hard-drive.

Here's a hot-off-the-press pic from Hong Kong with 2 and cousin Carrie.  This was via email from Carrie, but 2 must have found an Internet connection as she has posted several entries to Twitter this morning.  Which is early tomorrow morning over there.  I'm sure we'll get more photos in the next few days.

Today was also Day 1 of my only New Year's resolution (made so far):  I'm doing the 0900 spin class every Friday as a "meeting" on my work schedule.  The instructor is my fav, and it gives me the opportunity to have a Friday night for social purposes.  It worked fine today.

I hope Jim Harbaugh goes to the pros.  I find him to be an over-bearing rah-rah whiner when he doesn't get his way.  He's almost (but not quite) as bad as Bielema at Wisconsin. (Hated to see the Big Ten lose in Pasadena, but at least it was Wisconsin.)

I'm posting this from an open-office computer at the office.  Another bug on my desktop.  Hard to get things done in this day and age if your primary computer is off-line.

3 checked in this AM and filed a good report from The Big Apple.  She advises that a new entry will be hitting her blog soon.

Maybe more here later.  Make it a great TGIF.  I am.

BCOT

Thursday

Not really sure what was going on last night that had Blogger unable to get me signed in to the entry section, but otherwise permitted additions to Comments for the non-entry.  I suppose that it could be a bug in the laptop, which is why I am at least getting something started here on my desktop before I head out for the evening.

2 is Asian Daughter of the Day.  She dropped me a brief email at 0700 this morning to let us know that she had made it to her hotel in Hong Kong.  On a running-clock basis, she was traveling for about 27 hours from the time she would have left the hotel where they were staying at near O'Hare.  That's a trip.

My longest trip would have been in the late Summer of 1973 when I left Travis Air Force Base near San Fran and spent a little over 24 hours in cars, airplanes and buses to get to my base in remote Korea.  I read The Winds of War on that trip, cover-to-cover.  Not a bad way to spend the time, as I recall.

I'm heading out to run with The Winniferous.  I'll jump back on here later.

BCOT

Wednesday Evening

Very Early Wednesday

A couple of quick pics from my drop-off of 2 on Tuesday night at her O'Hare area hotel.  With her two traveling companions from the Quad Cities who rode in with us.  And with Lt.PC for the record books.

More sometime later today(!).  No early spin for you, LtPC!

BCOT

Tuesday

Obviously, the disc with reunion photos did arrive in my mail today.  Thanks to Revkev and Uncle Phil for making it happen.  We're all looking forward to our next visit to Tahoe.  My timing will likely be 2012, although others in the fam may try to do something earlier.  How can you not want to go to Tahoe?

I need to head out now and prep the Buick for tonight's excursion to the O'Hare area to deliver 2 and her friends to their hotel.  It's not the trip in that bothers me; it's that immediate turn-around-and-come-home move that I'm not looking forward to.

How about this for a postulate: WASP men are held to a higher standard of political correctness than any other demographic group.  From what I see and read, when in the public eye, a WASP male stands no chance against even the hint of impropriety for deed, comment or omission.  There are examples everyday.  Even when you exclude Brett Fav-ra.

Still curious about a report from the 212.

BCOT

Monday

So I'm getting prepared to take 2 to C-town tomorrow night so that she and her friends can catch their early morning flight on Wednesday.  One of my check-off points was the mini-digi camera that I am loaning to 2 for the trip.  I wanted to give her the extra battery as well as the plug-in charger so that she would be fully prepared to record her trip.  That's when things got interesting.

It took me a half-dozen trips through the house yesterday to even find the camera.  It had been sitting on the kitchen table all weekend, but when it came time to charge the battery, the camera was no where to be seen.  I still think that some gremlin was playing tricks on me because eventually it turned up on the kitchen table.  Of course it did.

Today when I wanted to charge the battery, the charger was AWOL.  I made a special trip back to the office, thinking that I may have left it on my desk last week when I did a precautionary charge in anticipation of the camera's use in the TC for Christmas.  No luck, but I got to thinking on the way back home from the office that I had put the charger in my duffel bag side-pocket for the TC trip.  Sure enough, when I got home and checked the bag, the charger was right there where I had put it.

So 2 has the camera, the fully charged battery, and the charger for the trip.  She doesn't have the back-up battery because I haven't figured out where I put it for safe-keeping.

I am in possession of so many safe-keeping spots, that no place is safe.  Let's review a list of just 10 "perfect" places to store stuff so that it doesn't get lost:

1.  Zippered pockets inside my laptop case.
2.  Zippered pockets inside my "murse".
3.  Zippered pockets inside my coats and jackets.
4.  False top on the Buick's center console.
5.  Velcro'd/zippered pockets in "big" camera case.
6.  Zippered interior pockets of suitcases.
7.  Small drawer in my coffee table.
8.  My desk drawer at the office.
9.  "Clicker" shelf in my entertainment console.
10. Obviously, my duffel bag.

I'm thinking that the consumer products designers have done their job so well, those of us with Sometimer"s are right back where we were years ago when we couldn't decide exactly where to put an item so that it wouldn't get lost.  Now the choices are so plentiful, that an item can absolutely get lost in one of the "safe" places.  We met the enemy, and he was us.

Don't even think about using this idea, Wilson!

Finally, with the Stanford win tonight, where does Harbaugh go?  Michigan?  His brother is a head coach in the NFL...SF?  Can't believe he'll stay in Palo Alto.

Hey 3, what's going on in The Big Apple?

BCOT

Sunday

Happy New Year to all!

Nice weekend here, although nothing overly exciting.  I did get in a couple of good spin class workouts, and did the circuit with The Winniferous twice as well.  Friday was in the high 50's, and then the front came in and we didn't get over 25 the last two days. 

I enjoyed 3's travelogue recounting her 2010 adventures.  She definitely earned the title of Road Daughter of the Year.  Between interviewing, business meetings, and pleasure travel, she hit a lot of zip codes.  It keeps things interesting.

My records for 2010 are posted on my basement wall.  Along with tokens from trips and events for each of the last several years.  I mark a calendar in my downstairs bathroom each day with my workout (if any!) and the travel or other event that occurred that day.  I tack up the ticket from the game, the airline or the hotel or rental car receipt to further document my life.  No specific pattern.  The calendars serve as broad separating devices.  (If you double-click on the pic, you might be able to recognize some of the items for 2010.)

I am most proud of the fam getting together for 5 full-participation FFF's in 2010.  Not many families with adult children in this many area codes are able to pull off that kind of accomplishment more than once or twice a year.  Congrats to the girls for making the commitment.

The Big Ten made quite a statement yesterday.  The state of Michigan has some 'splainin' to do.  Good thing that Iowa and Illinois took care of business earlier in the week.  Does Nebraska's loss credit to the Big Ten?  At least ND showed up.  (Or more aptly put, Miami didn't.  Did you see all those Hurricanes dressed in their balaclava's under their helmets?  To keep warm in temperatures in the mid 30's?)

I'm going to do a Top Ten list tomorrow for my 2011 goals.  I just double-checked, and I didn't put a list on the books here last January.  (I wanted to critique it.)  One of the for-sure goals for 2011 will be the La Tourmalet climb in Spain in August. 

Good luck with the new week.  And with the new year.

BCOT