October fest

Greetings and happy October, now that the month is in full swing!

Lots to be excited about, right?  We're in the thick of the college football season now, Major League Baseball has moved into its win-or-go-home postseason games (although I don't watch much when my team, the underfunded Cincinnati Reds, are not competing), leaves are turning, it's safe to order a pumpkin spice latte without being questioned (that's for a friend of mine who's a fan), and Halloween candy is abundant!

I don't have a Halloween costume for this year, as has been the case for the last several years.  I was booed by my local grandchildren for saying I was dressed as a Kentucky football coach when I sported a UK cap and jacket on the big night.  Then I tried to claim I was dressed as "Bruce Wayne, eccentric billionaire," but they weren't having that, either.  I have a little time to think of something else.

I spent parts of four days in the state of Tennessee last week and was treated to some pleasant weather and stunning foliage thanks to the season.  I worked in the eastern half of the state, so used Knoxville as my base, and that worked out pretty well, traveling out to the Tri-Cities (where Tennessee, Virginia and Kentucky all converge) and Chattanooga.  No hotel issues this time, which is always welcome.

I rented a car for the week, and wound up with a couple year old Dodge Charger.  Wow, that was like a throwback.  No adaptive cruise control to keep you from rear-ending the car in front on the highway.  No Apple CarPlay, which handily displays the vital stuff from your iPhone on a built-in screen.  And let me tell you, when you're used to an SUV, even a smaller one like I have, it's hard to get all the way down into a sedan like the Charger.  But it drove well and got decent fuel economy, so I was overall satisfied despite some of the missing features.

And I did a little more exploring regarding my meals this trip.  I was stunned to find an El Chico Tex-Mex restaurant not far from my hotel.  An El Chico location opened around the time my wife and I bought our current house in 1996, and we were regular patrons for the next fifteen or so years.  Good food and a nice if unoriginal atmosphere.  The Knoxville version wasn't quite a carbon copy but the food was good, which is the most important thing.

I also drove around on my last night in town and found a Chili's, which has long been a favorite of myself and my wife.  This one was pretty busy, but I got a very friendly and honest server, giving me her opinion of several menu items upon request.  Took her recommendation and had something I enjoyed, plus some chips and salsa.  She even managed to send me out the door with some chips, which I enjoyed during the football game that night.

Tomorrow I leave for a trip to my employer's place of business, which is in northwest Illinois.  It's about a six hour drive, so I'll break it up with a sales call in northern Kentucky, then lunch somewhere along the way.  A day of internal meetings on Wednesday and then will do the trip in reverse Thursday.  Supposed to rain up north so we'll see.

We need some rain around here.  Lexington has not had measurable rainfall in quite a while.

And we have family coming in for a weeklong visit on Saturday.  Looking forward to seeing everyone, it's been over a year since we all were together in person.

Have a good week and may the "fest" be with you!


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