New Shoes in the Rain

Hello from the home office, where most of you will be reading this today.  I sincerely hope that everyone is well and that your families are, too. Interesting how much has changed since I last posted on our current pandemic that we're all facing and responding to with social distancing and working from home and no school and shortages of odd items like toilet paper.  And not so much for the better, either. I'd like to repeat my compliments to two governors, Andy Beshear of my home state of Kentucky, and Andrew Cuomo of New York.  Both appear to be doing a very good job of frankly and forthrightly speaking to the current state of affairs in their respective states.  Kentucky has not been as hard hit as more populous states, but I fear that our time is coming. As for New York and Governor Cuomo, they're on the brink of even more problems.  And they don't have the resources necessary to address the pandemic as fully as they would like. Which brings me to my...

I lost a very good friend this week. He's been my friend for nearly forty years, but I rarely saw him more than once a year for the past thirty years. Let me explain, but I'll do so in keeping with my normal policy of not naming names. I grew up in a small town outside of Lexington, Kentucky and my first full-time job after college was working for the local radio station.  I friend whom I have known since childhood helped me obtain my initial part-time position there, and it morphed into something more a couple of months after graduating. We had the opportunity to broadcast a local high school sporting event and my friend, who also worked at the station at the time, suggested I go to see a man whom he was confident would support our broadcast by purchasing advertising (I worked on the air in the mornings and sold advertising to augment my income, which was pretty sweet for a 22 year old). I went to see this man, and learned a number of things about him right away: ...

Good morning, my friends.  Hope that you enjoyed a good weekend. I'm not generally someone who reacts with alarm to unexpected news on any level but I have to confess that I'm concerned about Covid-19, otherwise known as the coronavirus.  Based on items I've read and seen from various sources, we know these things without much disagreement: The virus is spread by droplets expelled by coughing or sneezing (or likely just breathing) by infected persons in the air that land on us or onto surfaces Approximately 80 percent of those infected do not require hospitalization and recover without any lasting side effects The effect of the virus is greatest on older people and those with underlying health conditions It's advisable to avoid large gatherings of people and close contact with those who may be carriers, so hugging and shaking hands should be generally avoided.  Handwashing and using hand sanitizer and disinfecting surfaces is also helpful. But what we're...

If I have shared this before, please indulge me, as I ran across this again a little while ago. This always leaves me.....humbled. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GO5FwsblpT8 Hope it has an effect on you, too.  Enjoy the rest of your week.

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone!  Hope you get to spend some time today or tonight with someone special! While I will not deviate from my normal approach of not using names of family in these posts, I want to devote today's space to my wonderful wife, to whom I've been married almost 34 years. Back in the golden age of movies, romantic comedies always included a "meet-cute," an endearing and unexpected way that the couple whom the movie concerns first meet.  I know this because the Eli Wallach character in "The Holiday" was once a studio bigwig and said so! Anyway, the "meet-cute" for me and my wife was in a video store that I was managing MANY years ago.  And unlike Blockbuster or the other chains, this one had all of the videotape boxes behind a counter, with the idea that a staff member could recommend or at least explain a movie to a customer. I happened to be working on a snowy weekday afternoon when this nice and friendly woman ...

Big day today, friends.  Not only is it Super Bowl Sunday (sorry, I didn't add the "registered trademark" symbol) but it's also Groundhog Day.  News reports indicate that Punxatawney Phil failed to see his shadow this morning, so we're in for an early spring.  Maybe. I come here with a high level of assurance that our President will, in fact, be acquitted of the articles of impeachment brought against him late last year.  This vote is a virtual certainly and will occur along party lines, with a very small number of exceptions. So that's the end of this entire saga. Or is it? Seems that some of the folks who have something to say are ready to say it to someone.  Like former National Security Advisor John Bolton, who apparently has a book that's about to be published about the entire Ukrainian affair that prompted what's been happening in Washington since the late summer.  There have been numerous strategic leaks from the Bolton manuscript, which...

It's Wednesday and my home area has finally reached the point where we can no longer see our breath.  Unusual here in Kentucky to have temps so cold throughout the day, but, well, weather ain't what it used to be... I think I mentioned here that my current position requires consistent travel, and most of it is by car.  However, I'm traveling to the furthest edge of my assigned territory next week and it's really too far to drive.  So I'm flying. It's been about a year since I flew regularly for work.  Have been on flights twice for leisure and family occasions since then, but this is very much the hurry-up-and-get-there-because-we-have-things -to-do travel. On top of that, I'm flying through Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, one of my least favorite intermediate destinations.  But that's a connection, not my final destination.  Truth be told, I love Chicago.  Probably not as much as New York, but I'm really fond of that city. So...