New Shoes in the Rain

Do you shop online? Do you do this routinely, or just at Christmas? I ask because a big part of the news coverage this holiday season, as it was last year, was how our retail economy is faring in a generally bad economy. And while I don't know anyone personally who's forcibly unemployed, I'm sure that people I know DO know such folks, as you might. So, with all of that going on, the media has been highlighting every trend in retail sales since Thanksgiving, trying to divine some meaning that will tell us where the economy is headed. And today's morning news coverage spoke volumes about how fragile this economy has become as retailers all along the east coast suffered because of the wintry blast that dumped feet or at least many inches of snow on major cities. But what I didn't see is any mention of a corresponding jump in retail sales by homebound shoppers looking to check off their shopping list. I actually had a customer once who ran a family-owned business an...

My wife and I did our Christmas shopping over the weekend. You read that correctly. We didn't start the process, nor did we "get a leg up" on the entire shopping list. We completed ALL of our holiday shopping. And did so in a foreign location called Cincinnati, Ohio. Allow me to explain.... Two or maybe three times a year, we make a trip to Cincinnati, largely because it's the biggest and best city that's less than two hours away by car. Because my job requires me to travel extensively, I accumulate a large quantity of hotel points, so we use those points for a room at a better hotel chain. And because the hotels are really hurting for leisure business, we don't have to pay out as many points as before, and sometimes get free stuff along with our stay. This particular time we were granted a room on the concierge level, so there were fewer people up there, and were comped our breakfast both days. So our primary cost--lodging--is no longer an issue, and o...

I'm no sports expert, nor am I a journalist of any ilk, but what I am is a very interested observer in many aspects of the sports world. And a few things caught my attention since my last posting, which was about my Kentucky Wildcats of various sports. To wit: KENTUCKY FOOTBALL LOSES 25TH CONSECUTIVE GAME TO TENNESSEE: What is it about trying to beat their border rivals that causes so much heartache for Kentucky's up-and-coming football program? Around Lexington there was a lot of talk that "this could be the year" and I even encountered a member of Kentucky's athletic administration who gave me a couple of "Beat Tennessee" bumper stickers, which popped up all over town. Yet, once again, the Cats fell short and disappointed fans question coaching decisions, etc. Truth be told, Tennessee's skill players appear to be better, for the most part, than Kentucky's, and in greater supply. Until that changes we can expect this quarter-century strea...

How about those Cats? To the uninitiated, I'm referring to the University of Kentucky Wildcats, who are putting together a memorable football season AND are off to a most entertaining start to their new basketball coach's tenure! Let's first address the basketball Cats, as most folks around the country know Kentucky for basketball first and foremost. New coach John Calipari has done everything right to restore the confidence and enthusiasm of their massive worldwide fan base since being hired last spring, and now that all of the public relations are in place it's time to play basketball! Coach Cal has assembled a great group of recruits, including uber-recruit John Wall and blue-chippers Eric Bledsoe, Daniel Orton and DeMarcus Cousins and they join returning stars Patrick Patterson and Darius Miller. They've played several games, won them all (although one or two were closer than expected) and have displayed brilliance balanced with the need for development thus ...

Since I travel quite frequently for my work, trips are pretty much old hat for me. But I'm on the way home from one of the more interesting trips I've taken in a while. Before I elaborate, note that I'm writing this entry while using a free sample signin for Delta's onboard GoGo Wi-Fi service. Cool, yes? Anyway, the primary thing that made this trip different is that my wife was already at our destination for a week before me. This was due to the arrival of our handsome new grandson, and my wife had been helping care for the little guy and his mom AND his big sister for the week before I joined the fun last Sunday. As anyone who travels will attest, the time zone difference always presents some challenges. Making it worse is my stubborn habit of NOT changing my watch when visiting far-off lands such as Colorado or Arizona. This is largely because I need to stay abreast of what time it is when I call home, and because my sleep pattern and my stomach don't recog...

This is going to be one of those catch-all posts where it's not really about anything in specific (is it ever, though?). I just traveled yesterday to the Denver area to meet my new grandson, and he's exactly as advertised! A very healthy, happy baby, doesn't make a lot of fuss and is very cute indeed. Can't decide which of his parents he most closely resembles, but in my limited experience with grandchildren, that perception continues to change over time. OK, then..... As I went to the security line of my local airport yesterday, I noted that there were five foreign women ahead of me and all apparently finding some difficulty with the language barrier. Along with that, all of them had more carry-on luggage than is customarily allowed, and to my utter astonishment, all of them had two laptop computers per person. Frankly, I cannot imagine why one would need two separate computers, but I'm sure it all made sense to them. All made it through the security checkpoin...

Just wanted to provide those who pay attention with a quick update....we welcomed another family member overnight on Tuesday, as our daughter delivered a handsome baby boy! Mother and son are doing very well and were already home as of yesterday afternoon. That, coupled with our now-two-week-and-one-day-old granddaughter, has made these last two weeks very special and VERY memorable! Gram heads out for field support in our daughter's locale and I'll follow about a week later (couldn't get out of a mandatory work meeting). Planning to continue spoiling all of them ABSOLUTELY ROTTEN! Twizzlers and Mountain Dew can't be far behind..........just kidding. But I love what I've heard from other dedicated grandparents...the best part is giving the kids anything they want, then handing them back over to the actual parents. Very liberating, I think. We're already well into "spoil" mode with our granddaughter, who is so excited to see my wife (and eventuall...