New Shoes in the Rain

Sitting in my office on this sunny Monday morning, thankful that only a handful of friends and acquaintances were caught up in Hurricane Irene's path.  That said, I hope the same for you. Is it me, or was there a LOT of news coverage paid to this impending/occuring/passing disaster?  I suppose after Katrina, no one will ignore or take lightly a natural force like a hurricane again, but when the major networks have their weeknight anchors on duty on a Sunday afternoon and Matt Lauer is working on the Today set at 5:00 AM on a Saturday, you know it's a big deal.  Made bigger by its impact on New York, Washington, Boston and Philadelphia, to be sure. The hurricane also had some effect on my Cincinnati Reds.  Their opponents this week (tonight through Thursday afternoon, when my son and I will be in attendance) are the Philadelphia Phillies, who postponed their Saturday and Sunday games due to the weather and spent the weekend hanging out in Cincinnati.  So whil...

In addition to the work that my employer pays me to do, it appears I have a few things pending here at the ranch. For instance, my wife and I have been talking about painting our home's interior for some time, as the last go-round for the main level was about eight years ago.  Thankfully, our trim is in pretty good shape, and I am usually able to resist getting handprints on the ceilings, so they're OK, but that leaves the walls.  To be fair, I stripped the wallpaper from the kitchen walls within the last two years and painted what was newly exposed, and the upstairs bedrooms have been painted within the last eighteen months as well.  But the downstairs, where we do virtually all of our living, is looking, well, lived-in.  So we're about to start the painting process. I'm in pretty good practice, as I helped our son repaint the main level of his house in anticipation of the arrival of his son in May.  So I should be able to get right into the swing of things...

Well, well, well, here we are again, friends.  Nice to see you......and to be seen, after a fashion. Traveled to a conference in Destin, Florida earlier this week.  I'm always a bit taken aback by "tourist" towns like Destin, as it's not at all uncommon to see folks who own all or part of a vacation home there side-by-side with folks who scraped together a few bucks to take their kids to the beach for the weekend.  And their dwellings fit that description, too, as you'll see tower upon tower of high-rise, ocean view condos alongside run-down, no-name motels.  One thing's for sure....the ocean doesn't discriminate, you have to want it to find the means to be there.  But the food was good, as I am a great lover of all things seafood and pretty much insist on getting fresh seafood when I'm at or near the water.  And it didn't disappoint. I'm so relieved that Rick Perry has officially entered the Republican presidential campaign, as now the fur...

Finally....a whole week where overnight travel won't be necessary.  I'm plenty busy when I'm in my office, but it's a little less hectic and the chaos is a bit more under control.  Good thing, too, since I will now have to plan on working another five or ten years, what with S&P downgrading the U.S. government's credit rating and what that will do to my (and millions of others') 401K plans.... That said, I should mention briefly why I'm so happy not to be traveling.....last week I spent three pretty full days on the road, going from Lexington to Louisville to Birmingham, AL to Knoxville, TN and back again.  All by car....my trusty Honda Pilot, which is most comfortable for long-distance travels.  Didn't see much bad weather, except excessive heat in the areas south of our home base.  Lots of road construction, owing to the warm weather and the ease of paving in the heat. Long trip, but a productive one, so I'm back in the saddle here at the r...

Not really, but more in the "can you believe it?" sense. Just ran across a feature item on a news site that indicated that Spanx, the folks who make slimming garments (these were called "girdles" and such when I was a kid) are now rolling out a line of shape wear that ladies can wear to the gym. Take a minute to digest that. Now, the main reason we exercise, in any form, is to look and feel good.  So this Spanx line makes you look good WHEN YOU GO TO DO SOMETHING THAT'S DESIGNED TO MAKE YOU LOOK AND FEEL GOOD? So why exercise? Then there were associated articles about the percentage of women who wear makeup when they visit the gym.  It's a lot higher than I would have expected. This is all an interesting coincidence, as my wife and I took a good walk last night to a local frozen yogurt store, reasoning that we would walk better and further if given the proper incentive.  As luck would have it, we pass by a large workout facility on our way to and...