About 17 inches of rain fell on metropolitan Manila in just 12 hours on Saturday, exceeding the 15 inch average for September. The rainfall broke the previous record of 13.2 inches which fell during a 24-hour period in June 1967.

Argentina

If you are ever in Buenos Aires, you must try this little parrilla on Reconquista street. My wife and I have eaten there twice in 5 days and the meals have been spectacular. They've got a very nice 2007 Malbec called Trapiche Coleccion Roble for about $13 a bottle ... and don't forget the provoleta!

He's Ba-ack ...

Tiger Woods won Bay Hill last weekend ... he's back, folks.

Next stop, The Masters ... can he win it (again) ?

Missing

Thankfully, my friend's brother has been found.

Tucson

Despite Tiger not surviving past the second day, the Accenture Match Play Championship in Tucson was a fun weekend. The weather was near 90 both days we attended, we saw a gorgeous golf course, we walked miles and miles and we got to see some really good golf.

It's Official

My wish has come true: Tiger announced today that he will play in the Accenture Match Play tournament in Tucson at the end of the month ... exactly what my wife and I have been hoping for since we'll be there!

Accenture Match Play Championship

I can hardly wait. Katie and I are attending the Accenture Match Play Championship at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club in Tucson at the end of February.

This Wasn't My Year For Football

Ohio State lost their bowl game, University of Tennessee went 5 and 7 and I moved to Nashville to see the Titans blow it. This wasn't my year for football ...

Is "Shame" the Battle Cry for Illinois Politicians?

FBI agents have arrested Blagojevich on federal corruption charges related to the selection of Obama's successor to the Senate.

What is it with politicians in the Chicago area? Regardless of party affiliation, corruption seems to be the common thread. It's not just a Democrat thing; George Ryan (Republican) was convicted in April 2006 on racketeering and fraud charges.

Painting

When we bought our new house, we knew that we didn't totally dig on the interior paint color and that we wanted to repaint. My first thought was "heck, my time is valuable - I'll just hire a painting crew to come in and do it." But when estimates came in skywards of $2,500 I quickly figured that this was a job we were gonna do ourselves.

We got the kitchen done, then the downstairs hallway, then the downstairs bath, then the living room & dining room; I ran into trouble when I started painting the upstairs hallway and ran out of paint - heck, we lived with a half-painted hallway for at least a month.

Today Katie and I got our painting hats on and finished the hallway, got started on the rec room and the second bedroom.

Paint colors are not my area of expertise so thank goodness for a wife like Katie who has a good sense of taste. If left to me, all the walls in every room would be the same and would be called boring by most.

We're knocking it out, little by little, and I think we have momentum to get us done by Christmas. Time will tell ...