And yet despite the look on my face you're still talking.

Pam worked  a 12-hour yesterday and the Sunday night football game was boring, so I changed channels. "Copper," a new drama on BBCAmerica, looked promising. A drama about cops set in the Irish neighborhood in NY during the late 1860's, it could have been like a good historical fiction book - a chance to mix entertainment and learning. I made it 15 minutes in and changed to an NCIS rerun. Maybe that's standard fare in Great Britain but it surprised me, and ain't gonna happen in our house. Disappointing.

Condoleezza Rice is my hero. Classical pianist, Stanford Provost, former Sect. of State and world recognized Russia expert, total football geek, and now first woman member of Augusta. Has a handicap of 12.1.

Did you see the latest Newsweek cover? NBC (!) called them a "left leaning magazine," which makes this more remarkable. Newsweek apparently says his promises remain unfulfilled and he gives no indication that a second term would change that.

NBC also says the Politico report about an FBI investigation into the swimming incident at the Sea of Galilee doesn't hold water. NBC political reporter Andrea Mitchel says the FBI doesn't have any jurisdiction and therefore had no reason to get involved. And as it turns out, the group "swim" involved wait staff at the restaurant where the dinner was held. Aside from the one guy who did it sans swimsuit, what's the problem with going for a dip? It ain't holy water and the locals do worse, trust me. (Been there, but didn't do that.) A sizable fleet of fishing vessels work the Sea of Galilee.

I worked on the Rambler until about 10 a.m. when the temp hit 95 and the humidity was climbing, too. They say that by Wednesday we'll get a string of major storms rolling through and this build-up of humidity is part of that cycle.
I can't do a lot more until I get the next shipment of parts - a few misc. clips and springs for the right rear wheel. I also ordered new brake hoses for the front and rear wheels. As long as I'm doing this...and those hoses are 45 years old.

We watched Velocity's coverage of the Mecum auto auction in Monterey. Saturday one of the cars to cross the block was a 1908 Simplex, one of two known to exist. The other one is in the Smithsonian. The car was owned by Wayne Carini, host of Chasing Classic Cars, a show we watch. It sold for $1.9 million. (Here is his dealership.)
But what I enjoyed was the way they worked it out. The bidding stopped at $1.85 million. Dana Mecum, whom everybody says is a great guy, asked Wayne if he'd lift the reserve. No, can't do it. "What do you need?" A: $2 million. "What if I could get you $1.9m?" Wayne said Dana should try.
So he runs (not a young man) over to the guy who had the bid at $1.85 and says, "He can't let it go for that amount. If you'll go $1.9 I'll see that no one bids against you. You'll have the car." The guy agrees. Dana runs back to Wayne and says the guy will bid against himself and go $1.9, Wayne agrees, Dana yells out, "One million, nine hundred thousand!" and gives a nod to the guy calling the auction who immediately yells, "SOLD!"
Everybody left happy. Wayne was obviously pleased with the price (BIG grin), the buyer got the car he wanted, and Dana Mecum clears 10% of the sale and his auction gets lots of press.

The spirit of compromise. What an unusual thing these days.