New Shoes in the Rain

Happy Monday, friends!  Is it cold where you are? It is here in Lexington, at least for now.  We had approximately 10 inches of snow last Thursday, all melted before it warmed up with rain overnight Saturday night.  But you don't come here for a weather report! I have a rather interesting tale of corporate paralysis to share.  Not gonna name names, but this will astound you for a variety of reasons. I believe I mentioned here that last May, we were compelled to buy a new washing machine.  The former one, purchased seven years earlier, was going to need a control board, which would have been expensive enough, but the technician advised that this particular part was unavailable at the time.  Planned obsolescence, it seems, so off we went to our preferred electronics and appliance seller to explore a replacement.  Compounding our issues was my wife's apprehension about being without a washer when our daughter and her family were on the verge of their firs...

Good morning, my friends.  Tomorrow marks one year since the insurrection at the United States Capitol on the day when the results of the 2020 presidential election were scheduled for certification by Congress.  The media is marking the occasion with multiple remembrances of that date's events, and there will be an observance of the date at the Capitol itself.  But as this date approached, I began to think a little about what I was doing that day and my reaction to what was happening. First, it's important to remember that this was at what we thought was the height of the coronavirus pandemic.  Cases continued to mount all over the country, the vaccines had been developed and approved for emergency use but were not yet available to everyone.  I believe at that time they were available to healthcare workers and nursing home residents.  So I was still in lockdown mode, working exclusively from my home office and maintaining virtual contact with my colleagues ...