New Shoes in the Rain

Happy Monday, one and all.  Lots to mention this morning.... Let's start with Halloween, one of the odder holidays we celebrate.  And so many safety concerns have robbed kids of the fun I remember having going trick-or-treating when I was a kid.  My most vivid memory was of making a "run" on my home street, coming back to the house to drop off my loot for the night, then embarking on a more ambitious route through a neighboring (and larger) subdivision, going alone (my older brother was a killjoy on these kinds of things) and returning home with such a large load of candy and other goodies that I could hardly carry it! And what I also remember was my dad used to say, "Let me put all of that into a big bowl so that we can check it to make sure it's OK."  And he would then systematically put aside those items he knew that he liked that we did not.  Only time of year I ever saw him eat candy! So if you have a little one in your household, make sure they g...

Top of the morning, friends....still stinging from the Reds' recent playoff collapse, but we march on, because we must! I'm in week six of seven consecutive travel weeks.  A rarity for me these days, as I am normally able to control my schedule a little better than that.  But this week is a one-night affair, so I'm heartened by that and the light at the end of next week's travel tunnel as well! I mentioned the Reds above, and I must add to that comment that I really get a bang out of watching anyone beat up on the St. Louis Cardinals, the Reds' mortal enemies.  Extra gratifying that they're now forced to a game 7 in their championship series by the very team who stole Reds' fans World Series dreams....ladies and gentlemen, the San Francisco Giants! In much the same manner as when they won the whole thing two years ago, the Giants collected some key players down the stretch to strengthen their team and surge ahead in their division.  Good group of playe...

Good morning, friends.  Sorry I haven't stopped by in a while, but, well, I've been kinda busy. A little of it, like yesterday, is the self-inflicted variety, but most of it has been work related, where I've been traveling pretty frequently these last several weeks, and it looks like a week of respite that I had looked forward to is now gone.  So I've been gone at least a night for the past four weeks, and still have three more consecutive weeks of two-nights-or-more-per-week to go before I can back off a bit. Let me first address the utter collapse of my Cincinnati Reds in the recently completed National League Division Series against the San Francisco Giants.  In a one-time scheduling quirk the Reds, who had the second best record in all of major league baseball this year, began their best-of-five series with the San Francisco Giants in the Giants' home park for two games....and won both.  This occurred despite the time difference, the opposition's home fi...

Greetings, all.  Back from yet another business trip, albeit a brief one this week, after being gone for four days last week.  Nothing in particular on my mind today, just a few random observations (what else?) to share. I don't often supply links to anything but a former colleague sent this to me, and if you are now or have ever been part of a sales organization, you'll find this amusing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVLAvix-dX0&feature=endscreen&NR=1 I've also found it a little amusing to see, hear and read all of the advance analysis of the first Presidential debate between President Obama and Governor Romney tonight.  Why, you would think it's the Super Bowl or something! I think the NFL is glad to have its "professional" on-field officials back on the job, particularly after having replacement officials make a mess of countless games and directly influence (albeit unintentionally) the outcome of several of them.  Goes to show what a frie...

I come before you today as someone who enjoys full and (hopefully) appropriate use of the English language.  I enjoy a well-written book, article, or, given that I work in corporate America, even a well-written e-mail.  I catch myself thinking or occasionally even saying "good word use" in response to something that I might see in print or hear on television or among folks I encounter in my travels. That said, something I don't especially enjoy is how certain words or phrases appear to be overused in our current cultural lexicon, whether by celebrities, reporters and commentators, sports broadcasters, or the general public.   I'm sure that I fall in love with a "new" catch word or phrase regularly, and substitute something new for that "new" word or phrase just as frequently.  Here, then, are some of my current pet peeves in the area of linguistics: AMAZING There must be something about a certain age range utilizing that word all too often, a...

Here's a roundup of what's been floating through my brain for the last few hours/days/weeks..... The Cincinnati Reds are 30 (THIRTY) games over .500 at this point in the season.  They enjoy their biggest lead in their division since 1995, and their "magic number" is eight.  This means that any combination of Reds wins and losses by the St. Louis Cardinals (their nearest competitor in the standings) will result in the Reds winnning the National League Central Division championship.  They may well have a Cy Young award winner among their pitching staff (Johnny Cueto) and the Rookie of the Year in the National League (Todd Frazier).  Good times, baby. I recently considered adding a monitor to my home computer setup (I use a Macbook Air with a wireless external keyboard and mouse here at home and the Air alone when traveling), having played around with the same arrangement by temporarily setting up a small television as a monitor a while back.  I sold the TV but...

Once again, no particular subject that I'm writing of today, just a variety of topics that have interested me lately. I'm not watching every minute of the Republican and Democratic conventions, as I have a life and there's other stuff to do and watch and so forth.  But I have to say that the enthusiasm level appears to be higher at the Democratic function than at the Republican one, at least based on what I've seen.  I'm reminded of something John Lennon said at a Beatles performance for a royal charity many years ago (and I'm going to have to paraphrase this):  "For this next number, we ask for your help.  The folks in the cheaper seats, clap your hands.  And the rest of you, just rattle your jewelry."  Perhaps that's an apt analogy. Kentucky's football season is off to a....well, it started on Sunday with a loss to in-state archrival Louisville.  I don't know that Louisville's team is that good or Kentucky's is that bad, but t...