New Shoes in the Rain

Writing on a Tuesday this time around, folks.  No particular reason behind it, though. I want to begin my comments by noting two very unfortunate stories in the news currently.  The first is here in our country, as the city of Baltimore, Maryland is being torn asunder in the latest instance of a minority suspect being treated badly at the hands of local police.  The funeral of Freddie Gray ignited numerous protests in the Baltimore area, many of which became violent.  Numerous individuals, including about fifteen police officers, have been injured in the violence and looting.  It now appears that social media successfully circulated word about the value of rioting just after Mr. Gray's funeral. However it came to be, I sincerely hope that calmer influences win out.  As Mr. Gray's pastor said on the news last night, the riots, looting and violence have NOTHING to do with the tragic death of this man while in police custody, and that these actions do not ...

Happy Monday to all.  More rain here in central Kentucky today and for the next few days.  It's April, you know.... In my last brief post I noted that my golf buddies and I elected to postpone our golf trip last Friday through Sunday, as the area to which we were traveling was predicted to have poor weather.  Much like what we're having in Lexington, actually.  It turned out that the weather wasn't all that bad at our projected destination, but we had already agreed to cancel before that became apparent. So I had the day off from work on Friday, and decided to keep that time off in place.  But what to do?  I discussed it with my wife on Thursday and we decided to make one of our periodic trips to the Cincinnati area and agreed we should leave Friday morning and return Saturday afternoon.  Found a hotel where I could use loyalty points (better still, I had a certificate for a free one-night stay banked in my account that I had forgotten about, so th...

When I tell a story, good or bad, about some set of circumstances that represent an unfinished situation, I suppose that sometimes you might be interested in knowing how things came out in the end.  So here's a quick summary of some of those situations. CAR ISSUES Remember me mentioning that I had had some difficulty with my wheels being improperly balanced, and that it was finally addressed?  I wanted to give some credit on this, as not only is the car functioning as intended since that time, but the company, Tire Discounters, sent an e-mail asking me for my mailing address.  They said they wanted to send me something "for your trouble." A few days passed and I received a very nice, handwritten note of apology and a card entitling me to some complimentary gasoline.  How about that? FLOORING At last report we were awaiting a visit from the floor crew who installed our hardwood, in order to fix five or six issues that had either never been addressed or that ...

Good Monday morning, all.  Hope everyone had a great weekend, as I know that I did! Let's get some sports out of the way first....the Cincinnati Reds and the rest of Major League Baseball are off and running.  The Reds started fast, winning their first four games before cooling to a pair of tough losses over the weekend.  The "experts" have picked the Reds to finish last in their division.  I'm sure that the entire team and management would like to prove them wrong, so if they can keep doing what they did last week--timely hitting, good starting pitching and a decent bullpen---they have a good chance to do so. Congrats to Jordan Spieth, who's now the second youngest man to win the Masters golf tournament.  He did so in record fashion yesterday, playing with youthful (21) bravado and fearlessness.  Kind of reminds me of someone named Woods who was pretty good in the past. And the University of Kentucky men's basketball team, still smarting from losing ...

Happy Monday, campers!  I have a little extra spring in my step today, despite Kentucky's loss in the NCAA Final Four on Saturday evening. Why, you ask?  It's OPENING DAY of the baseball season! This is a big deal in my family.  I am an avid fan of the Cincinnati Reds, as regular visitors to this space will attest, and, in Cincinnati, this is a REALLY big deal!  How big?  School is out, and they actually have a parade--the Findlay Market Parade!  For the uninitiated, the Reds played for many years at a location in the city near the Findlay Market, which is an indoor/outdoor marketplace that operates to this day, hence the parade name and location!  The parade generally features a couple of members of the current team (easier this year because the Reds don't play until 4:10 PM today) and the grand marshal is often someone with a historical connection to the team--former player, broadcaster, etc. Anyway, my local tradition began not long after my w...