Today I had supply chain and bargaining and influence, which flew by, and now there is a CNBC focus group at school that I'm heading towards. There always seems to be an opportunity here to do something new and different; I've never been in a focus group before and it sounds fun. Plus, there's an honorarium. Why it is called that I'm not sure, but honorary or not, grad students have to eat.

Other random musings for today include the incredible success of Detroit sports teams this year. They're not home yet, but the Tigers made the playoffs since the first time since baseballs were made of leather, the Shock won the WNBA, and the Pistons and Redwings were contenders. Then, of course, there are the Lions. I think absolutes and extremes really make people nuts, and there is no bigger extreme than the difference between the resurrected Tigers and the still-nightmarishly awfully terrible Lions. Somewhere here there is a lesson about moderation and managed expectation that an entire region has to learn.