With family support in Kansas City, we lived in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, St Louis, South Carolina, southern Kansas, Oregon and Iowa. Four kids born in four different states. A downside for our move to Michigan will be extra distance from family. Right now my wife can (and does) jump in the car and be there…
T -176 Days: Crazy… not stupid
When I was eight years old my grandfather told me this story: Quite a few years ago I was driving on a narrow, winding Missouri backroad, racing a thunderstorm home. Suddenly… BANG! … I blew out a tire. I had passed a large mansion with lights on a hundred yards back, but I knew I…
T -177 Days: Like father, like son
My wife is taking the lead on another countdown… days before the house goes on the market… T -116 Days. Going from almost 4,000 square feet to 1,100 requires some brutal decisions… dump, donate, give away, sell… and also brings back loads of memories, and mysteries, like… how did our younger son time travel back…
T -178 Days: Battle of Evermore
This morning, with the classic tune “The Battle of Evermore” running thru my mind, I wrote a very long post on corporate culture. My personal view of what I have experienced. Truly a battle of good versus evil played out in the business world. Incredible successes and colossal failures of leadership. Then I rewrote it…
T -179 Days: Planes, trains, and automobiles
Tonight’s sunset from my youngest daughter. While we will soon be living in Michigan, there will be many reasons to come back to Iowa. A new grand baby last night! Second one of the year. As my wife says… planes, trains and automobiles.
T -180 Days: Grab it!
When I was very early in my career, I worked with a bitter old man named George. As I slowly got to know him, we occasionally would go to lunch. One day, George told me his story. When he was young and married with small children he got together with his next door neighbor to…
T -181 Days: Royals print
Two years ago tonight, the Royals became World Champions. This print comes with us to Michigan and will hang on our wall… can’t give it up… Forever Royal.
T -182 Days: The background
“People like a show when they like the background. When they want to be in that place” – Jerry Seinfeld I can relate. Part of the magic of Magnum, P.I. was the location. Regardless of the episode, there was always this background buzz of pleasantness while watching. For an hour at a time one could…
T -183 Days: Writing muscle
Time to address one of the “why’s”. Why the countdown, why write something every day? One of the reasons is tied to my goal of being a writer. I am seeking career change, not retirement. Will writing ever pay the bills? Probably not, but that is not a requirement. Dues have been paid, we can…
T -184 Days: Where?
Over this dune, lies our first choice for a new home. Well, more accurately, over this dune, up and down, up and down other dunes… and then finally, about a mile away lies our first choice. It is a quiet, wooded apartment community linked to the lake by challenging (for us) dune trails. A 15…