Fall 2013 December 14 Saturday

43 degrees.  Almost seems warm!  Rain most of night, still some rain this morning.  Supposed to be a good week, weather wise, here next week.

We finally made a decision on the "Christmas t-shirts" yesterday.  (It is a secret).  Every year, we purchase a t-shirt for the adult children, grandchildren etc.  It has to be a place we have actually been, so one hint is it is in Memphis or Lakeland!    

I am looking forward to attending "Toastmasters" again.  I haven't attended for a long time since there weren't any meetings around that were close and even reasonably convenient.  I always enjoyed the meetings and speaking and am looking forward to attending some meetings.  I have kept my membership although I have a feeling it may have lapsed when I didn't get an invoice.  For those of you in Toastmasters, I was an ATM-S.  I understand this has all changed, and after 12 years it probably will be good for me to start all over anyway.

Still working on "Evernote".  I hope I can find a short course in it.  I think it could be valuable, but it seems to have some flaws, although maybe they are "user" flaws!  I have a hard time investing the time in learning a program I may not use, although if it works as claimed, it would be wonderful. I still haven't found the article I saved to Evernote (about Evernote!).  

ATC Fitness had a good music station on this morning.  I really like they way they keep it clean and replace items (like shower curtains) on a regular basis.  

I have to admit, NFL Pro Football just isn't getting my attention this year (or really even for the past several seasons).  I watch and think "so what, it's only about the money".  I still enjoy college football and college basketball.  Somehow pro football just isn't interesting any more.  Like they are going through the motions.  Maybe it will get better as the playoffs approach.

Fall 2013 November 13 Wednesday

28 degrees this morning, and it felt it!  No wind, so it really wasn't that bad.

Listening to Stephen Hawkings "A Brief History of Time".  I didn't understand it when I tried to read it years ago, I didn't get physics in college and I don't get it now when I listen to it!  I realize I am just not oriented that way, so I'm glad there are people who understand it!  Not that I don't feel it is interesting, it is just  I really don't understand the concepts and probably don't have the framework to understand them.

First freeze of the year here, maybe a little earlier than normal. I went ahead and cycled outside and it went fine.  As usual, my only weak spot is my hands, I still haven't figured out how to keep my hands warm, yet flexible enough to shift and control the bicycle.  

Recently I have been spending some time reading John Grisham, "Sycamore Row".  While I overall enjoy his books, many of them seem contrived and artificial (especially the "Runaway Jury") and I get a bad taste in my mouth (figuratively speaking) after I finish as some of his endings, such as the one where the innocent man dies.  I absolutely really enjoyed his non-fiction story about the abuse of justice in Ada, Oklahoma and admire him for writing it.  I don't read a lot of fiction right now, due to time constraints.  I usually start one and if it doesn't grab my attention or is just basically the same book by the author with different characters, I quit reading it, figuring "Life is too short" and "So Many Books, so Little Time" to use several cliches.  

That brings up another pet peeve, the attempt to discredit cliches.  What is wrong with a cliche?  If it gets the message across with a minimum of words, use it!  

I used to belong to Toastmasters (I kept my membership, but I think I forgot to pay the dues last time) and enjoyed it, but haven't been able to find a club with a suitable schedule and I don't want to take the time to start one.  It is a great organization.