New Shoes in the Rain

A friend whom I told about this blog asked me what it's about. "Nothing," I responded. That's a bit how I look at this blog....no ongoing, consistent subject matter, just whatever strikes me as noteworthy or, in this case, blogworthy (that's not really a word, I don't think.....). So here are some stray observations about things since my last post: I was in the Atlanta airport on my way home from a business trip and I saw an African-American man in my gate area who looked very familiar. He was wearing a suit and sunglasses indoors, which is always a little unusual, but not as much as it used to be. At this stage of my life I won't intrude by marching up to this fellow or anyone else and starting the "don't I know you" scenario, so I continued to glance in his direction to see if he might do or say something that might ring a bell. No bells. He passed me as he boarded the plane after me, and, again, I drew a blank on how or from where ...

I know that there are thousands upon thousands of people in this country who are looking for gainful employment and cannot find anything worthwhile. Some of the problem, unfortunately, may be that they aren't sure how to go about it. To be sure, there's lots of information online and from friends/relatives/coworkers, but the best way to conduct a career search is to determine the process and follow it to its logical conclusion! I spent over ten years in the human resources and staffing field and would like to humbly suggest this: http://www.ebookmall.com/ebooks/job-hunting---the-right-way-smith-ebooks.htm Small investment that could pay big dividends! Good luck to all job seekers!

In my profile I joke that I like a great many different styles and performers of music, but no performers who are younger than I. The problem inherent with that preference is that, unfortunately, all of my favored artists will eventually pass away, leaving behind their recordings to be enjoyed in their absence. One such performer who's already gone was Dan Fogelberg, who first scored a hit back in the '70's with a folk-rock song called "Part of the Plan" and continued to record and sell records successfully into the early 90's. If you were near a radio anytime during the 80's you probably remember his songs "Longer," "Leader of the Band" and "Run for the Roses," and, if you were a real fan, you know as I do that there were many, many more great songs and great concepts in his albums. At some point, though, it seems that he was no longer a good fit for mainstream record companies (again, probably because he and his fan base w...

It's been a tough week or two for good old-fashioned manners. From my perspective this started with the University of Oregon football player who, after being part of a loss against Boise State, took offense to something an opposing player said at the close of their game and punched that player. The Oregon player was suspended for the remainder of the season. Then Congressman Joe Wilson, a South Carolina Republican, yelled "you lie" at President Obama in response to a statement Mr. Obama made during his speech on healthcare reform to a joint session of Congress. Rep. Wilson apologized to the White House shortly thereafter but has since refused to apologize also to his colleagues in the House of Representatives and was officially reprimanded yesterday. Then tennis star Serena Williams completely lost her cool after being called for a foot fault (that's when you cross the back line of a tennis court while serving, if I remember correctly) during a critical point of her...

As I mentioned in Friday's post, I had the rare opportunity of playing golf at the Valhalla Golf Club outside of Louisville, KY yesterday. For those who aren't familiar with this course, it opened in 1986 and was designed by legendary golfer Jack Nicklaus. It has hosted the 1996 and 2000 PGA Championships (the latter won by Tiger Woods), the 2004 Senior PGA Championship, and the Ryder Cup Matches just last year. In short, it's a special place to play golf, despite its relatively young age. I always consider it both a treat and a privilege to play at a course such as Valhalla. Golf is about the only sport where that's possible; you don't get to throw a pitch at Yankee Stadium or shoot a foul shot at Madison Square Garden unless you're playing for those venues' professional teams, but if you are invited to and are willing to pay the greens fees, you, too, can play golf at a place that's hosted major championships! Let me add here that the weather was p...

Before I launch into comments on other subjects, permit me to share my view of the eighth anniversary of the terrorist attacks of 9/11/01. This date holds particular significance for me because it was my daughter's second wedding anniversary (Can you even imagine having 9/11 as your anniversary or birthday? Talk about mixed emotions....). Anyway, I remember very well where I was when word of the terrorist attacks first leaked out....I was in front of our television watching "The Today Show" and the announcers spoke of a small plane having "accidentally" crashed into the World Trade Center. Then they cut to a live shot and we saw the second plane strike the second tower.....and then the Pentagon.....and then we heard about United 93 having crashed in Pennsylvania. My most vivid general memory was sitting in front of the television, hour after hour, astounded that this could have happened. As it happened, I was not working at that point in time, having been ...

I picked up a variety of items from various news sources since my last post that I thought were worth mentioning: 1. President Obama plans to speak to the nation's public school students, and there's outrage? Excuse me, but he's the PRESIDENT, isn't he? This is particularly strange since his message is going to be one of "do your best, work hard, stay in school," and not an effort to sway students on healthcare reform, Afghanistan, Iraq, the bailout or anything else. It's a little hard to oppose that message, but people are managing to do so nonetheless. 2. Somewhere in this country an enterprising group has opened an outpatient center to cure Internet addiction. And this isn't to break people of something like viewing pornography. This is to help people from something called "pathological Internet usage" and obsessive use of video games, texting, social networking sites, etc. It's a private concern, but you just know that somewhe...

Today's my son's 33rd birthday. In some ways I thought we'd never get here. Because I was sure I was going to kill him, at least when he was younger. Let me explain a bit. He's my stepson, the product of my wife and her deceased first husband. When I met my wife and her (now our) daughter and son, they were about a year into getting over the loss of her husband and their father. I never knew this man, but from what I've always heard from my wife, the kids and others, he was a fine man with no obvious character flaws. He was quiet, considerate, exceptionally intelligent and skilled in his work (he was an engineer). In other words, he and I could not have been less alike. Anyway, when I met my wife and the kids nearly twenty-five years ago, our son was eight, our daughter eleven. As I tell people, I married a family, complete with a dog and a station wagon. We all got along well and developed good family relations. I helped our daughter with her homework (p...