Sunday drive before Bristol.

Clint and deserted rusty truck.

First of all, Clint's a Bears fan. He got that green and yellow jacket for christmas. That must be clarified living on the Illinois - Wisconsin (Packer's) border.

Anyway, we went out taking pictures while the day was still nice. It was supposted to get colder and cloudier later in the afternoon.

Which would work out fine because Nascar's race this week was to be at Bristol. (That in itself made the day. I don't want to rehash the race but there was so much bad blood brewing that at the end of it Jeff Gordon actually got mad and pushed another driver!! I can see Matt Kennseth or Kurt Busch or Tony Stewart doing that but Gordon?)

Clint drove. Being twenty three and having a four wheel drive Grand Cherokee must give you more chutzpah. The picture below was 200 - 300 yards down a muddy, hilly, rocky path thru someone's field paralleling the tracks. I wasn't so scared of someone complaining about us driving thru their field than as I was of blowing a tire and having to walk out. And this wasn't the worse one. About an hour later we were probably a mile deep into someone's field following a grassy path along a fence line. This owner must have been a hunter. He had deer stands set in the trees and there were many other signs of hunters having been around. Nothing like trepassing on land occasionally occupied by men with guns.

The tracks seen below are right outside of town on a narrow paved country road.
Hebron tracks.

The crossing has no lights or gate. The train doesn't seem to have any regular schedule anymore. A few years ago it ran out of Walworth Wisconsin giving tourists a taste of the countryside. Now it's just a safety hazard that will never get gates because it is not used enough.

The long road to the Final Four.

Last of my frosty day pictures. Thank god.

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Whew.

Just finished making my last picks before Thursday's 11:00 deadline. I don't watch NCAA basketball during the season but I love March Madness. Two weeks of following games, gathering results and highlighting winners in my many brackets.

I have entries in the local paper's pool and a handful national sports sites. I've entered under my name, my son's, my daughter's, my nickname, and if they had counted in dog years I would have entered Cubbie.

My knowledge of who's "good" is acquired from skimming headlines and articles in sport sections and websites about a week before tournament time. This I know: there are a handful of teams that are pretty good every year, i.e., Duke, U Conn, Kentucky, Kansas, UCLA.

In fact even Gonzaga is usually good nowadays; they used to be a favorite underdog pick because of their funny name. Not anymore. Seeded third in the Oakland Region!!

Some of them I like, some I hate. For example: I dislike Duke. I like U Conn. I only picked Duke to win it all in one bracket and I have U Conn winning in three of my brackets. (At least I'm honest with myself. My brother hates Duke and wouldn't pick them to win even if they were playing against Danny DeVito and the remaining munchkins from the Wizard of Oz.)

Anyway, there's nothing worse being two rounds into the playoffs having no teams left in contention for the Final Four. But, never in the history of the NCAA tournament has all four of the #1 seeds made the Final Four. Let me repeat. Never.

So pick the favorites but don't pick all the favorites. Pick some upsets but not too many. To paraphrase Chicago's voting slogan; pick many and often.

Good luck to me.
(I'd be happy with U Conn or a Big 10 team).

Something Eerie about that man.

Approximately 1991. (Note the 666 in the population).
Great show but it didn't last too long.

The mayor of Eerie went on to be President of the United States.
(On Fox's 24 TV series.)



Worse than real life?

TV break.

Spring is around the corner. The days are getting longer and warmer, but still the sun is down by 6:00 and the melting snow and ice has made walking in the yard almost impossible. Squishy and wet with Cubbie land mines dotting the yard. Walk at your own risk!!

Until I can do some gardening, I feel no guilt when I start watching TV at around 7:00.

I see the late ex-President David Palmer (24) has a new show "The Unit". David Mamet is writer and creator. I love Mamet but hate to add another show to my regular viewing list.

I have too many already.

Off the top of my head: 24, Prison Break, Gilmore Girls, Supernatural, TAR, House, American Idol (at times), Earl, The Office, Survivor, Lost, Desperate .Housewives, Grey's Anatomy (at times), and cable channel shows: Rollergirls, Miami Ink, Hustle, Ballykissangel, Daily Show, and the Food Channel whatever.

Also:
I can't believe I just forgot the Simpsons and the other fine family fare on Fox on Sundays. I don't know how they get away with half the jokes they do. You have to listen carefully.