Short Shrift

I'm afraid this post will have to be short and succinct. We have the pesky thunderstorms hanging about again, and this time of year they are quick, violent and quite electrifying.

I've started working on my next speech for Toastmasters, and hope to have a good rough outline done tonight. I have the opening written and now need to flesh out the body and conclusion.

I have also been asked to add a paragraph or two to my article for the FHGRR newsletter. I will have to put my thinking cap back on, and see if I can bang out another couple tonight.

Somewhere in here I also have to update my newsletter to friends and family, write an article for the Plumb Line and get some practice in for this weekends golf tournament. There is no rest for the righteous I suppose.

Frustration

Frustration has begun to set in with me. I am having troubles synchronizing my hand held these days. It seems to be taking forever, and it's becoming annoying. I'm going to have to look into it deeper, but there just doesn't seem to be enough time. *sigh.

I see the NCAA has decided to weigh in on what a university can and can not name it's sports mascot. While I agree with groups who feel that they are offended by the name to protest and get a university to change it's wicked ways, what does the NCAA have to do with it? They have far more pressing issues that should come under their care. Gambling on sports, underage drinking, alumni shenanigans, these are all grist for the mill. But the FSU Seminoles? That's just a little too much of a stretch for me.

Big Corporate Culture

You have to love big corporate culture. Today I was saddled with a consultant who looked over my shoulder all day while I worked. Now I will withhold judgment until I hear his report, but why would you send a consultant to look over sales who doesn't have a sales background? It surely doesn't make a lot of sense to me. But I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt.

But on a brighter note, I'm listening to the pre-season, pre-game shows! It's not for real yet, but at least I can say the Panther's are undefeated!

This has been a very busy weekend for me. I went yesterday to the movies, and did some shopping. Now shopping isn't my favorite thing to do, but it must be done. As it was also a tax-free weekend that made it an even better time to get some necessary shopping done.

I went with a friend to see Tim Burton's new take on an older tale. Charlie and the Chocolate factory was on, and we decided to give it a go. Now, I have to say I enjoyed myself, but what is it with Tim Burton and skeletons? They appear either subtly or overtly in all of his movies. The movie is recommended to you.

I have also written my article for inclusion in the Foothills Golden Retriever Rescue's bi-monthly newsletter. You can see the previous one here. This article is not quite as long as my first, but hopefully it will be as well received. Now that I have completed that task, I can turn my attention to my monthly newsletter, and an article for inclusion in the Plumb Line both of which are due this week.

Hurray for the weekend!

It's the weekend, and it couldn't have come sooner.


So the democratic bulldog (and some say hatchetman) James Carvelle got the better of Robert Novak. That's really unfortunate. I've watched James Carvelle in action on a number of occasions, He is a very intelligent man, who uses his knowlege of his opponent's weaknesses to his advantage better than most. The only person who can top him on a regular basis is his wife. Those two are fun to watch go at it.

I am headed to a fund raiser this morning with Shadow. Foothills Golden Retriever Rescue does this the first Saturday of every month. We went to our first one last month, and Shadow had a great time with all the people and dogs around, so we're going again. He's such a ham! He never misses a chance to be petted and fawned over.

Last night I had an old friend come into town for dinner. I haven't seen her in a couple of years, so it was a great chance to catch up on each other's lives. Dinner was good and the company was great!

Dinner, a late night and an AWOL post

I typed out a quick post this morning, and it has somehow gone AWOL. But the short and sweet of it was that I made it back last night from dinner with friends too late to post. Oh well.

Today was a very busy day today at the office. While sales weren't through the roof, I had more than enough to keep me occupied. Tomorrow I'm going to have to either take a longer lunch break or leave a little early to pick up some food for the poor ol' pooch. He is almost out.

It's MY BIRTHDAY !!!!

Yep, it's now official. I am a year older. Yay. Hoorah. Therefore I am going to make this post short and sweet. I took the day off and went to the Panther's training camp, and had a blast. Then went to Bonnie Brae and walked 18 holes of golf. It's rather hot for that, and I'm now suffering for it. Oh well. At least it's good exercise.

It's a Great Time to be Alive

Why is it a great time to be alive? Why it's FOOTBALL SEASON OF COURSE!
Tomorrow is my birthday, so to celebrate, I'm taking the day off and going to see the Panthers at their training camp in Spartanburg, SC. I have been almost every year, and it's time to make my trip up.

In case you didn't know, I'm a huge Panthers fan! The team and I both came to the Carolina's at the same time, so it just seemed like a great fit. Even through the 1 and 15 season, I was a fan. Granted, a disappointed one, but a fan none the less. I'll be taking my camera, and hope to get some shots for the site, and my newsletter.

Speaking of my newsletter, I suppose it's getting time to start drafting this month's addition. I'll be adding a few new things to it, and might try a different format (if I can get it working in time). My goal is to get it out to everyone on or about the 12th of the month. I know that's an odd date, but it's also the same deadline for another newsletter for Walden Lodge.

I have done some more reading and was pointed to a great article. If you're interested in the Plame case, this is a great article with the words coming right from the source of the leak himself. The most telling part is found in the final paragraph. Take a couple of minutes and enjoy. I was pointed to the article by Dr. Jerry Pournelle's website. This is a site I visit daily and enjoy reading his views and the mail sent in by his readers (including some from me).

The weekend is done. *sigh

I missed posting yesterday. I was completely wiped out after playing golf. I played a tournament at the Southern Oaks golf club, and just couldn't do anything right. I started out well, but it quickly went down hill from there. I will have to rethink playing in the next event at Furman University.

Since I had played golf so poorly yesterday I decided to go again today. After going to church services this morning I went to Willow Creek Country Club. This is the course that I played my first round of golf on exactly 6 years ago. It was a very good decision as I got 18 holes in before the heavy rain came, and I played very well. It's amazing how much better I played today in comparison to yesterday. I played 17 strokes better today than yesterday. Quite a swing in scores.

Out of the fire, into the water

Well the weather has finally changed from ultra hot, to ultra wet! While I won't swear I saw animals lining up two by two, it wouldn't have surprised me at all. The heavy thunderstorms of last night continued throughout today.

That will make tomorrow's golf tournament doubly tough. The course is long enough, and not getting any roll out of the fairway will make it that much longer. As long as I can keep to my game plan, I feel I'll at least give myself a shot.

I have been remiss on keeping a closer eye on the nomination of Judge Roberts. While nothing official has taken place yet (Congressional vacations, don't ya know), there is still plenty happening "off the record". Just a quick glance over the top stories, and it's obvious that the Democrats are starting to get their people in line and on the same page. It does see to be shaping up to be quite some fight.

I will keep this entry short, and get some things done here at the Bar Tab Ranch.

Crash! Bang! Boom!

I decided not to tempt fate last night and try to get online. We had severe thunderstorms last night. So violent that the thunder literally rattled the windows and doors. The flash of the lightening was so bright, it lit up the room! Now I have a surge protector, but tempting fate that way just didn't seem like a good idea at the time.

More later this evening.

A New Look

I tried to find a way to add links to the homepage of my older template, and just couldn't seem to get it done, so I changed templates. I will confess to liking the look of the old template, but this one is easy to read (at least to me) and adding links to the side will hopefully make it more friendly for the reader.

Hmmmm. I don't seem to be able to see this post for some odd reason. It says it's been published, and the number of posts has gone up, but I'm not seeing it on my home page.

One down, 9 to go

One down and nine to go.

I gave my Icebreaker speech today and it was well received. "Looking into life's rear view mirror" was it's title and got high marks form my fellow toastmasters.

One valuable lesson that was learned (more a re-learn) is that I knew what "perfect" was, but not my audience. While I recognized and passed over minor errors, mostly my audience never knew.

Another lesson learned (the hard way) was "Be Prepared". The Boy Scout motto came in handy today. I had scheduled one person for the job of Table Topics master, but as I hadn't heard from him, readied some on my own. When he didn't show, I was able to pass along the prepared topics for someone else to use, and make the transition that much smoother.

When a law is good enough for the people, surely it is good enough for their rulers?
Shouldn't that be the case? Buried in the middle of the article is a local example common practices on a national level. While a small business owner may not post advertising on public land, a politician may. While it is a minor point, it is a symptom of Washington writ small.

Just another quick note tonight as I get ready for my first speech tomorrow for Toastmasters.

I will do better to keep this up as the week continues.

UGH!

Today was a day wasted away due to sinus trouble. I'm not sure what triggered the episode, but I spent the day trapped inside. Shadow wasn't too disappointed with spending the day with me though. I took him outside and threw the ball for a while but even that didn't last too long. Not only did I have a problem with my sinuses, but it was just plain hot!

Lazy Day

Today was a day spent being anything but lazy. I worked on the house all morning, and after lunch went into town to run some errands.

While I was out, I stopped by the new HH Gregg store to see what the store was all about. They had a bare bones store inside without the usual frills you see in Circuit City or Best Buy. Their pricing appeared to be very good. I took advantage of a good buy on a dvd player for the bed room, and oddly enough a golf umbrella. While I already have a good golf umbrella, I couldn't pass up on one for less than three dollars. While it may not hold up long, for that small amount of money, it will be hard NOT to get my money's worth.

Toastmasters

Well, I am humbled, and very much red-faced. I am a (very new) member of Piedmont Executive Toastmasters, and was elected to serve as the Vice President of Education. This is a very important role, and one of great responsibility. My very first month on the job and I've already dropped the ball. I was supposed to have sent out the schedule for next week, but it never made it out. *sigh. Yet another SNAFU this week. Thank God for the president of the club's gentle nudge. I have sent out the schedule along with a humble apology. I am very much determined to better myself in this regard, and not allow this to happen in the future!

Regarding Judge Roberts. I see that there are already advertisements from the Republican party for the Senate to give him an up or down vote. I wonder how much this will cost the nation?

Goodbye Youth. Hello High Cholesterol.

*sigh. I had the second half of my (now) annual physical. It sucks to get old. When did this happen to me and how? I suppose getting old does beat the alternative. The verdict is: High Cholesterol. High cholesterol runs in the family. I am grateful that at least now there are ways to moderate it. But after reading the possible side affects, is the cure worse than the disease? I have to take a pill every night. I'm lucky to remember my name, now I'm supposed to remember to take a pill? Oh yeah, that's a great idea. Time to set a reminder on my PDA and see if that'll help.

For those of you who don't know my current habits, a little background. I have a terrible time with remembering dates and appointments. So I set about 7 or so years ago to use (more or less faithfully) a Day Timer. This worked very well for me for a number of years. The main problem was if I was away from the office (where I kept the archived months, and next month's booklet) and the month changed I was out of luck. So after a long weekend (Labor Day weekend as I recall), I added a PDA system and left the Day Timer at home. This made keeping current easier, and it interfaced well with Microsoft Outlook, synchronizing my calendar and contact list and allowing me to download small web pages and emails. However it had massive hole for me. I couldn't take quick notes on it, nor did it have the "feel" of a paper based system.

After a couple of years working with my PDA (a Handspring Visor), I upgraded to a Tungsten C with a wireless capability. It has a small thumb keyboard, and a color screen and works better than the Visor. It also allows me to take very small notes. It will also run spreadsheets, and word documents, but not very well.

So now I use a combination of Day Timer and PDA and it seems to work for me. It can be a little awkward, and redundant, but it's Good Enough. I'll try to post more on that later

I see that another attack has happened in London. This is one American who is behind our British friends 100%. You were there for us after 9/11, we are here for you now! My thoughts are with those hurt, and my sympathies to their families.

I am listening to "Terrorism Analyst" Steve Emerson on Fox News and he made a great point. Those that blame all the attacks on the U.S. and our allies on our presence in Iraq have missed the point. The 9/11 attacks were perpetrated prior to our foray into Afghanistan and Iraq. I'm not sure who he is, nor what if any, credentials he may have. But it is a valid point he makes, and one that deserves repeating here.

I'm back!

Well summer has settled in with a vengance here in South Carolina! The tempratures have soared to the middle-90's, and the humidity has followed like an obediant shadow. This has made for a run of miserable days and sticky nights. But this is to be expected this time of year. That still doesn't mean we have to like it, however.

After a quick survey of several web sites, it seems that the fight over President Bush's nomination for the Supreme Court is well underway. From early reports and quick research, he seems to be falling on the side against judicial activism, which is exactly what we need. However, time and a long Senatorial Inquisition will test his mettle. I expect from the early tones taken by the usual suspects from the left that this will not be a rubber stamp approval of Judge Roberts. I will take great delight in following his progress through the Senate hearings to come.

I was introduced today to a new site that I will be frequenting. SCHotline is an amalgamation of political news from across the state from a variety of sources. I have not done much with this site yet, but it is my intention to visit early and often.

I know I've mentioned many times that I do not keep a daily record, or blog if you will, as well as I should. One of my many resolutions for this year was to better my record. I know that the year is more than half-way through, but I'm trying!

Shadow and I