New Shoes in the Rain

And not a moment too soon, if you ask me. Big week in our family....our fourth grandchild, a boy, was born Monday morning.  Big boy, too, ten pounds eight ounces, 21.5 inches long.  Mother and baby are both doing very well indeed! My wife and I kept our granddaughter for a good part of that day Monday and I believe I acquired what was making her sick, a respiratory deal that seems quite a lot like a cold.  So I'm a little under the weather, but not seriously so. Business travel by car on Tuesday and Wednesday, this time with my boss, who drove to my home city from her base location up north and accompanied me to Nashville.  Good trip, productive meetings, and always good to spend time with her, which doesn't happen nearly enough. And I picked up a new briefcase while on the trip, thanks to some prodding by my wonderful wife.  $100 cheaper than at a similar store here in Lexington, so that's something.  I'm actually kind of famous for buying my own p...

Lots happening, as always.... First and foremost, our daughter-in-law will have a baby between now and Monday.  Thinking good thoughts, and hoping for a healthy mother and baby when all is said and done! Traveled again this week, this time by car to Nashville (and will be going back next week).  Nashville is a pretty good place to visit, particularly the southern end of the city, where our offices and many of our clients are located.  Good hotel selection, lots of restaurants, a nice mall where a fella can stretch his legs, etc.  Didn't notice anything really out of the ordinary on this trip, as I often do.  That in itself is a little strange. Since my last post concerned our upcoming garage sale extravaganza, permit me to report that the Smiths cleared around $150 for their collective efforts, while our son and his family walked away with around $220 and some extra space in their soon-to-be-more crowded house!  We cleared out a lot of stuff on this g...

We're having a garage sale tomorrow.  Rain or shine.  Come early, stay late, bring your cash and an empty pickup truck. Actually, our entire neighborhood is having a sale, and I simply piggyback on with the rest of the group.  They advertise it pretty liberally (we're not members of the association, so I'm REALLY riding their coattails, as I usually do with these events) and there's strength in numbers. And those who like to visit garage sales never cease to amaze me with what they'll buy or what they show up seeking.  Here are some anecdotes I hope you'll find amusing: *   In one garage sale, as soon as I opened the garage door to go out and move our cars into the street, a guy pulled up driving a battered pickup with racks on the sides.  He asked if I was open, and I told him I would be as soon as I repositioned the cars.  He then proceeded to buy about 75 percent of what I had on display, for a tidy sum.  Seems he was (and probably still ...

Big doings in the Smith family are right around the corner, as our son and daughter-in-law are anxiously awaiting the arrival of their second child (and our fourth grandchild).  Mommy and Daddy decided a while back not to find out the gender of the baby (we knew what their first would be, as well as our daughter's two, well before any were born), so this has been a little different compared to the other pregnancies in the family in recent years. But I have to confess a running joke in our family that I inadvertently started some years ago when we began talking about getting a dog.  I kept kidding that we should name the dog Bob, so that I could say, "that's my dog Bob."  The phrase "my dog Bob" must come from some children's book or something, as that has always sounded very natural to me.  And in the interests of full disclosure, I should mention here that my father's name was Bob (Robert, formally), but nearly everyone called him Smitty (remember...

For those who know me, it's probably no surprise or secret that this is the 100th posting in the "history" of this blog, me being such a notorious windbag and all.  But for those who don't know me personally but spend their time here occasionally, it's something of a milestone, I suppose.  Regardless, I thank you for visiting and reading about my thoughts, experiences and endless opinions.  It's been a lot of fun, and I hope to continue this little venture for a few hundred more turns. First and most seriously, let's take just a moment to recognize our armed forces and intelligence communities for finally ridding the world of Osama Bin Ladin over the weekend.  I didn't know this until this morning, as we weren't watching any news or network programming last night where this was mentioned, and I certainly didn't see the President's announcement about this accomplishment.  I don't know nearly enough about Al Qaida to comment intelligent...