Rio Got 2016 Olympics! Chicago Out in First Round!

It was disappointing that Chicago was eliminated in the first round of voting.

People thought it would be between Chicago and Rio. Instead, it was between Rio and Madrid.

But, all four cities are world-class, so it was a close contest.

I'm just glad that Chicago took a chance and got some international exposure.

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2016 Olympics Voting Process - Go Chicago!

Tomorrow is The Day! We will find out if my hometown of Chicago gets the 2016 Summer Games.

The candidates are Chicago, Rio, Madrid, and Tokyo.

Each country will get a final hour tomorrow (45 minute presentation, followed by 15 minutes of question/answer). Then, the voting starts.

The voting process is interesting. There are up to 5 rounds of voting. After each round, if one country does not receive a majority of the votes, then the team with the lowest number of votes is eliminated.

At that point, IOC (International Olympic Committee) members from that country can join in the voting. Also, members who voted for the eliminated country have to vote for their next choice (which is why cities still lobby members who are known to favor a different country - they want to be the member's second choice).

This makes things unpredictable. Many times in the past, the country that received more votes in the early rounds ends up not winning in the final round.

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Fw: Bicycling Band

Seems to fit with the Oktoberfest season. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvjPz4X7jqw

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FW: hey Cobol fans - COBOL Turns 50

Software written in COBOL still processes 80% of all financial transactions   http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Enterprise-Applications/20-Things-You-Might-Not-Know-About-COBOL-As-the-Language-Turns-50-103943/?kc=EWKNLBOE09252009FEA1

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Advice From the Oldest Man in The World - Skip Dinners

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-09-24-oldest-man-diet_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip He is 113 years old and attributes it to eating only 2 meals a day: a big breakfast and lunch, then skipping dinner.  He also eats a lot of fruit, drinks a lot of water, worked until he was 99, and keeps his mind sharp.

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Secretary by Day, King By Night

I think this story would make a good movie: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/15/AR2009091503393.html?g=0

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Southwest Airline's Creative Alternative To Baggage Fees

Southwest Airlines is feeling the pressure to raise extra revenue.

In 2009, they might experience their first losing year since the 1970's. Analysts believe Southwest is losing hundreds of millions by not charging for checking in bags.

Now, Southwest came up with a creative alternative. Since they don't assign seats, they will allow customers to jump ahead in line by paying an extra $10.

It's possible that Southwest may start charging for bags in the future, depending on the economy. But, for now, they have substituted a voluntary source of revenue - as opposed to mandatory baggage fees.

It woudl be nice if the government could "think outside the box" - instead of raising taxes or piling on debt, they could keep a simple government and charge people add-ons they could voluntarily pay.

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