Story of my career...

Client, 6 weeks ago: You've done a great job, Brian, and so has your team. We're going to extend your contract for a year.

Client, 4 weeks ago: You've done a great job, Brian, but the people who promised the $$ to fund your contract extension lied, so we don't have the $$ to fund your extension. But, we'll extend your contract 2 months until we figure something out.

Client, 3 weeks ago: You've done a great job, Brian, but we can't find the $$. We'll extend your contract 1 month until we figure something out.

Client, 2 weeks ago: You've done a great job, Brian, but we can't find the $$. We'll extend your contract 14 days until we figure something out.

Client, last week: You've done a great job, Brian, but we can't find the $$. Your contract expires on Monday, and that's it, you're done.

Client, last week: Oh, by the way, my boss found some $$, but he wants to give it to another contractor who claims they can do the work.

Another contractor, today: We can't do the work, so we'll advertise for it.

God Bless Detroit Tigers fans...

Earlier tonight, I took a quick look at home park attendance figures for Major League baseball. I was stunned to read that 16 of MLB's 30 franchises have been filling (on average) less than 60% of their seating capacity during home dates.

But, in Detroit, where we all know that the economy has been craptastic for most of the last 30 years, and especially so the last few years, the Tigers have managed to fill the park to 78% of capacity this year, putting them just out of the top 10 in attendance, and ahead of 19 other franchises. Unbelievable.

And Milwaukee does even better, averaging 89% sold during home dates! Is it just that there's nothing else to do in Milwaukee?

Also of note -- I always imagined that the strength of Red Sox Nation would mean that it would be #1 in average road attendance. But, the #1 team in MLB road attendance? The Chicago Cubs. Of course, I should add that they're helped by the fact that the NL Central contains 3 of the top 10 most-attended teams in all of MLB.

Finally, this sad fact -- the Atlanta Braves average 58% of capacity sold at home...73% on the road. Pathetic.

Mark Grace is no Kazimierz Michalski

From The UK's Daily Mail, we learn that a 101 year old bested a 47 year old would be thief:

A 101-year-old war veteran caught a would-be burglar by holding him in a ferocious bear hug and watched him turn red and gasp for breath.
...

"I am not as quick and decisive these days but I was much stronger physically than him.

"I used to be a boxer and I wish I was few years younger and quicker, then things would have been very different. I would have massacred his face.

Polish veteran of WWII, boxer, librarian, vigilante...role model.

Mark Grace is awesome...

...because he "owns" her....

Yes, Chris...

...BearingPoint did an exceptional job of "lowering overhead" -- lowered it right out of existence, along with the company!

All kidding aside, yes, I too was disappointed in the President's speech. Mainly I was disappointed that it came tonight and not several months ago. His references to "...the plan I'm announcing tonight....", and "Now is the season for action," left me asking, "Where the hell has this plan been for the last several months while you've left Congress to dither??? Why wasn't the season for action 3 months ago?"

I also thought President Obama lost an opportunity with people who want to support our President but who have lost faith in him to exercise some humility and state outright that he has been too passive in this effort, and that he has failed completely to articulate (before tonight) his plan for health care.

He made health care reform a top priority (leaving aside for the moment the strong argument that there were and remain many other top, and expensive, priorities), and then apparently sat idly by watching as the Congressional cockfight over health care likely ruined any chance for reforming a system that all of us agree needs fixing in several areas.

Now, here he comes, the supreme rooster, feathers shining, strutting into the fray, with his grandiose calls to action -- "...I intend to be the last," "Now is the season for action," "Now is the time to deliver," "...we will meet history's test," -- UGH.

I want to support him, but tonight's speech smacks of (well, some bad, cliched speechwriting to start) a president out of touch, who as his biggest critics contend, is a big fan of speechmaking, but not much of a fan of real, actual work.

And yeah, the quip about "profits" being bad -- to me, smacks of stupid, misplaced class warfare -- the bottom line is, the President needs the cooperation and collaboration of the private health care industry to achieve any significant reform -- and calling them out again as the bogeyman isn't going to help him.

I hope I'm wrong. He's our President -- I want to believe him and believe in him. I want for our country to make changes to our health care system that will improve it. I hope he understands that he has mismanaged this effort, that sitting back and now strutting into the fray has not been a helpful approach, and that he intends to (to use another cliche) roll up his sleeves and get down to the dirty, detailed business of working with Congress to craft useful legislation. But, I'm not optimistic.

PS, we're coming to Chicagoland again Sep 27 - Oct 2. Prepare for another visit to BWW, and to conjure up some good ideas for wagers on your predictions on the performance of my fantasy football team, 'cause 4-8-1? Them's is fightin' words.

Uh, Really?

This line from the president's speech is getting a lot of laughs out there:

"But by avoiding some of the overhead that gets eaten up at private companies by profits, excessive administrative costs and executive salaries, it could provide a good deal for consumers."

Profits are part of overhead, according to the president. I guess Bearing Point did a really good job lowering its overhead in recent years.

If that's really what the president thinks, then Adam Smith just rolled over in his grave.

Real Live Death Panels

I'm excited to beat Brian to the punch on a day when Sarah Palin has an op-ed in the WSJ. She even talked about Death Panels:

Given such statements, is it any wonder that many of the sick and elderly are concerned that the Democrats' proposals will ultimately lead to rationing of their health care by—dare I say it—death panels? Establishment voices dismissed that phrase, but it rang true for many Americans.

Of course, no matter what former Enron adviser Paul Krugman says about horror stories from the British health system, those people are facing real death panels:

Doctors left a premature baby to die because he was born two days too early, his devastated mother claimed yesterday.

...

They ignored her pleas and allegedly told her they were following national guidelines that babies born before 22 weeks should not be given medical treatment.

...

She said he was breathing unaided, had a strong heartbeat and was even moving his arms and legs, but medics refused to admit him to a special care baby unit.

Medics allegedly told her that they would have tried to save the baby if he had been born two days later, at 22 weeks.

In fact, the medical guidelines for Health Service hospitals state that babies should not be given intensive care if they are born at less than 23 weeks.

God Damn...

I wish I had 1-10th the talent or ability to inspire that these guys have....

Guess who's back

@ Yahoo! Video

Attention, Attention Sunny Day Real Estate Fans...

...Sunny Day Real Estate is reuniting after a 10-year hiatus for a US concert tour.

Mr. Close, do I recall correctly you were a fan? They're playing the Metro in Chicago on 9/24. More info here.

That is all.