April is almost here!

I am really enjoyed Tennessee this time of year! Like magic, suddenly the trees become green and flowers burst into color! Wonderful! I am looking forward to the next 6 months!

Life continues, and I am always amazed at how fast it goes! I am going into my "hour" session with the bicycle where I try to ride at least an hour when I ride, especially on weekends. I hope to slowly start increasing my speed.

My goal is to do 60 miles on August 6 when I turn 60! (If not exactly August 6, than a day close to that.) At my present speed, it would take me at least 6 hours to do 60 miles and, including breaks etc., I am probably looking at 8-10 hours to do sixty miles. Oh well, I can dream! Maybe I will do 20 miles a day and just call it one long day!

I really do enjoy biking, but time is also a factor. Currently, on many days I walk for about 40 minutes, do weights (another 40), and then bike (60+), so I invest a lot of time in exercise! I have lost about 35 pounds, but have reached a plateau and need to reduce my eating so I can lost weight. I want to lose another 20 pounds or so before I plateau again and then I will decide if I want to have the pain and suffering (and not eating peanut butter and strawberry ice cream!) necessary to lost the next 20 pounds I really need to lose.

We try to make a point to keep in touch with our families in OKC and visit personally about every six weeks or two months. Sometimes it is hard to get away from work (it normally takes about two days of vacation plus the weekend), but we feel the personal visit is good and necessary.

Happy Birthday to Barbara (March 24) and Eleanor (March 31).

Spring Musings

Sometimes it seems this time of year is the hardest. A few days temp you with nice, warm temperatures and then it turns cold again. Even though it isn't really that cold, my expectations of the temperature are different!

This year it has been especially hard to ride the bike cool temperature (45-50 degrees) after a few days of riding in shorts and a t-shirt!

Every year it seems that Spring temps you and the cold chill hands around until May. Maybe I need to take a trip to someplace really hot in March!

Everything is busy as normal. (I guess busy is good!) I saw some Spring flowers the other day and I guess I got overexcited. But soon the trees with bud, other flowers will come out and Spring will truly be here!

While riding my bicycle in the cold air I think about this summer and riding in the hot weather! Summer will widen my bike horizons. Right now I am planning on how I can ride 60 miles on my 60th Birthday!

I have been reading an interesting book on Lincoln, "Team of Rivals", by Doris Kearns Goodwin. I have enjoyed all of her books, and learned I need to buy them so I can take the time to read them throughly! I heard her speak at an International City Managers Conference (ICMA) and was so interested I collected all of her books. (She has written biographies about Roosevelt, Johnson, Kennedy and now Lincoln, as well as a book about her love of baseball.)

At that same conference, I heard Beck Weathers ("Left for Dead") speak and I became a fan of books and movies about mountain climbing. I'd never want to try it myself, but I really enjoy reading about it.

I have been keeping a listing of all books I have read since 1989. I am slowly putting them into a computer listing.

“I THINK I HAVE SOMETHING YOU ARE LOOKING FOR” (LEE WRIGHT)

Few events strike dread like suddenly realizing you lost your wallet (or purse etc.) with you drivers license, credit cards and money. The feeling of panic and helplessness is overwhelming.

I recently lost my wallet and after, several hours I called my house and had a message “I think I have something you are looking for” from a Lee Wright. (I’m not even sure if I have the name spelled right.)

I am pleased to say that Mr. Wright not only sent my wallet to me by FedEx, but he did not take a single dollar for the expense or his time or as a reward. (I urged him to keep the money for his time and expense.) I called and asked what I could do and of course, he just said he was pleased to help.

I don’t know anything about Mr. Wright (his name fits!) except he is from the Atlanta, Georgia. I decided I will make sure I will pass on his good deed (somehow, the term “good deed” seems inadequate) any time I have a chance. Somehow I think he would like that!

On reflecting on this, I observe a lot of similar “acts of kindness”, although if you have ever lost your wallet or purse, you will know what I mean by the feeling of relief you get when you get everything back intact!

Coffee, Strawberry Shakes and Strawberry Jam/Jelly

I have noticed for some time that:

-People who don't drink coffee don't understand the importance of FRESH coffee.

-People who don't drink Strawberry Shakes (or any kind of shake) don't understand the importance of a THICK shake.

-People who don't love Strawberry Jam/Jelly don't understand why I can't stand "mixed fruit" jelly and always ask for Strawberry Jam or Jelly!

Cold weather is here!

I walked in 20 degree weather this morning. I was warmly dressed and it actually felt ok! (Actually I was too warmly dressed!) Yesterday I biked in about 28 degree weather. Biking is a little colder because of he wind factor.

As long as there is not a major wind, the cold doesn't bother me too much.

We recovered from the Christmas holidays and can't believe that January 2007 is almost over! It appears 2007 will go fast.

I have been reading a biography of Abraham Lincoln (Team of Rivals) which is interesting. It is written by my favorite historian Doris Kearns Goodwin. I heard her speak at a conference and read all of her books. (At the same Confernce, I also heard Beck Weathers, which launched me on reading about mountain climbing, a subject I still enjoy reading about. It was a life-changing conference.

At work, it seems like January 2 started hectic and it hasn't slowed down! I don't mind, I enjoy being busy, but I almost haven't had time to hardly think!

January rains & bicycling

I was looking forward to the 3 day holiday as a time to get some "daytime" biking in. However, rain each day kind of spoiled that. (I just don't feel comfortable riding in the rain or on wet streets. I know a lot people do, and I would if I had too, but I just don't feel it's worth the risk of a fall.)

I feel kind of a guilty relief, but I can feel the effects of not riding. Fortuately, the rain is light enough I can continue my early morning walk of about 2.5 miles or so. Of course, there is always the treadmill or stationary bike (although that is at the exercise club, we have a treadmill at home), it just isn't the same.

I try to "maintain" my bike riding throughout the winter, hoping I can start some longer rides this summer. During the week, assuming I don't have a night meeting, I try to ride. However, when it gets dark so early, I always ride in the dark. I feel comfortable riding "in the dark" in my addition, but I don't like to get out of my neighborhood after dark.

Aliene tells me I look like a "Christmas Tree" going down the street with all my flashing lights, but I still don't know who might not see me. I have the regular bike lights and also have a flashing light on the front and back of my helmet and a flashing light on an arm band as well as all kind of reflective items. However all it takes is one inattentive driver!

One thing I really don't like is the "regular" bike items (that are specified for bikes) are either too small (an "XXL" at a bike shop may be a 44 chest!-usually XXL is at least 48 chest etc.), stupid (wrong way zippers, breaks easily etc.), made for a professional biker, and-Always-too expensive. I purchased my best items at Wal Mart and the Academy at about 30% of the cost of the same item "designed" for bikes.

I respect bike shops and try to buy what I can there (gloves, helmets etc.), but they all just don't have any bike clothing etc. at my size. Since I can't even change a flat tire, I need to have my bike maintained at a bike shop and I am willing to pay higher prices for bike items I need, but they even make that difficult! (I can't even ORDER larger size clothing.)

Anyway, I just hate to order clothing from the internet since I really need to see it before I buy it. Actually I feel the same about bike items. Just too many scammers out there.

(I don't even order books off the Internet anymore. They arrive damaged etc. and then I have to go to the trouble of returning them etc.). Fortunately, I have a Barnes & Noble a mile away and a Borders several miles away, but I still haven't found a bike shop with decent clothing, at any price.

I bought my bicycle at a local bike shop with the full expectation they would keep it repaired and maintained. They have done well thus far, thank goodness!

Anyway, summer is coming and I have plenty of t-shirts, which is all I need for summer riding!

January Thoughts

I am surprised when I see how little I write, or at least how infrequent I write. I keep a personal journal daily and fequently write thoughts in another journal.

Perhaps knowing that your thoughts are literally public restrains me a little!

The weather to the west hasn't hit here, although we do hae "rain" ather than "snow" or "ice. Anyway the wesather is really nice!

Ever since January 2, it has really been busy at work, I guess catching up with everything we didn't do over the Holidays!

Looking back over the year, we really enjoy our house and are glad we seleced this house and this addition. As a general rule I don't make "Resolutions", and I didn't this year. I do hope to keep losing weight etc.

2007 Thoughts

I was surprised to suddenly realize yesterday (Saturday, January 6) that I no longer had that little cough I have had for years! I realized it when I drank my first "diet Pepsi" for several months and started coughing! I guess the advise to not drink carbonated beverages was good advice for my “GERD”. Coffee is also supposed to affect me, but I’ve found I can drink some coffee during the day (I don’t drink my 10 cups before I go to work anymore!) and it doesn’t seem to adversely affect me or at least I can live with the consequences. I have it mostly under control.

Overall, we had a great Christmas and New Year’s. We were in OKC for Christmas and enjoyed ourselves and seeing everyone. New Years’ we spent in Lakeland at a local dance and had a good time.

Weather here has been great with some rain (but no snow!) and an occasional cool day, but otherwise, if there has to be Winter, this is a good way to do it!

I’ve been trying to catch up on my reading as well as work. It seems everything slows down over the Holidays and then goes into hyper-time afterwards.

Christmas Season

Visiting family in Oklahoma City. I am always surprised at how COLD it is in Oklahoma City compared to Lakeland/Memphis. I think it must be the wind or the moisture in the air. Even the same temperature is colder in OKC.

While I enjoy my visits to Oklahoma City and enjoy visiting, I am also always glad to get home to Lakeland.

We’re having a good, if busy, Christmas season and a very enjoyable visit to Oklahoma City. I always enjoy the “pause” in the year.

I have been trying to make any weight gain as small as possible. Thus far, I have even continue a slight continuation of losing weight, which is great! Starting with Thanksgiving, I decided I would be happy if I started January 2, 2007 at the same weight and I think I will make that goal. I even lost a little, but I’m afraid I may gain it back over Christmas!

We flew from Memphis to OKC, which is really nice. Aliene used “points” for a free ticket and I used a free ticket I had gotten for being “bumped” earlier this year, so it was especially nice!

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a rewarding 2007!

A Soldier Returns

I was flying into Memphis returning from a Conference. As the plane landed, the announcement was made that a Soldier who had been killed was returning home on the plane. All of the passengers were asked to wait while Soldiers accompanying the casket got off the plane. An honor guard waited outside the plane, and as we taxied in, a fire engine sprayed water over the plane.

While I obviously can’t put my feelings into words, I felt a true sense of community with the other passengers and the soldiers family as the passengers all waited patiently and quietly, rather than the usual hurry and hubbub after a landing. The atmosphere remained even after we went into the terminal and got our bags, almost as if everyone was grieving with the family.

I was overwhelmed to think that this same event has been played out almost 3,000 times in the last three years. I see the names, hometowns and ages of the military personnel killed each week and I note the ages, most under 22 years of age. I feel a real sense of sorrow-and anger-at the thought of all these lives cut short.

Thanksgiving 2006 thoughts

November 17, 2006 would have been my Dad’s 100th Birthday. I like to think about how he would have reacted to some of the recent technological advances! Thinking of 1906, I expect he lived through almost as much of a change in perceptions and living as many of us have. The common ownership of automobiles, air travel, computers, international terrorism, major cultural changes, television etc. all developed during his relatively speaking first stage of life. (I’m not sure about international terrorism.)

I have developed the habits of riding my bike at least 4 times a week (depending on meetings and weather) and walking almost every morning. Combined with an emphasis on eating properly, I have now lost about 25 lbs from my “high” that I recorded. (At one point I didn’t record my weight due to a desire to avoid reality, or at least not record reality!. However, writing down my weight has been a real factor in helping me lose weight.) Of course, my eating was helped by that fact that I realized I had “GERD” (sometimes called reflux) and needed to watch what I eat.

I stopped taking Prevacid when I discovered it lowered my immune system. I found GERD affects me by causing my voice to get hoarse and coughing. I always attributed this to allergies, but now found it is related to what I drink and eat!

I reduced coffee to about 2 cups per day (probably down from 20) and have almost stopped all carbonated beverages. I also eat a lot lighter and really avoid fat. Peanut butter and strawberry ice cream/shakes are still a weakness.

I realized now my Dad probably had GERD and probably reacted the same way I do, with a hoarse throat and coughing.

Cold temperature is settling in, to my dismay. However, I am just glad I live in Lakeland, where the weather is mild. It also means I can continue to walk and ride my bike almost all winter, with a few exceptions. I have accepted the fact that I have to ride my bike in the dark and have adopted a number of methods of trying to make sure motorists see me. I probably look like a Christmas tree going down the street, but better safe than sorry!

Work continues to be very busy. Better busy than not, but I am trying to get some long term projects done and it is difficult!

Hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving! One of my first memories is of Thanksgiving. If I remember correctly, relatives came over, and I went out with my cousin, Chuck, and we kicked a tire tube for sport. It started snowing and became a blizzard.

Veterans Day November 11, 2006

I just realized today, 20 years ago (Veterans Day) I purchased my first “real” (IBM Compatible computer). It didn’t have a hard drive (the store told me I wouldn’t need one for awhile!), and I thought I was up to date on technology! (I had had several Commodores, a VIC 16 and a Commodore 64). I actually used it for at least 6 years when I jumped two generations of computers.

Time has really changed computers!

I’m glad the Memphis/Lakeland winters are relatively mild. I get to continue my walking and bicycling which is good for losing weight as well as my overall well being. Since we are on the eastern side of the Central Time Zone, it gets dark as early as 4:30 p.m., so I have learned to ride my bike in the dark! (I walk at 4:00 a.m. or so, so I always walk in the dark.)

We traded our Acura TL for an Acura MDX. So far we realty like the new car (an SUV), especially the fact it doesn’t have those “hot wheel” type tires. I really liked the TL, but I hated the tires. The TL was almost out of warranty (which is 50,000 miles for Acura). Ordinarily we wouldn’t worry about that. Since the TL had been in an accident, we decided to trade it. We purchased it on Halloween and I hope we got a treat and not a trick!

I’ll always remember driving the Acura TL back to Lakeland when someone was tailgating me and there was a truck right beside me. I floored the accelerator and suddenly realized I was doing 120 mph in what seemed like no time. (Fortunately, Aliene didn’t notice although I did tell her later. I will really miss the good points of that car!)

They have started phase II of our addition and it looks like it will fill up fast. We really enjoy living here.

October thoughts

Cool weather is starting to move in. It still is nice enough to ride the bike and walk without a lot of extra clothing, although I add more every day! I have gotten used to walking at 4:00 a.m., and Friday I even bundled up and walked in the rain since I didn’t want to miss my walk. I also bike every day I can (after work on weekdays and on weekends) and enjoy that.

My weight is going down well, slow but sure. Limiting my food has helped!

November 1, 2006, marks five years with Lakeland (and also means I vest in the pension plan!). It seems time has passed fast and looking back I see that a lot has happened!

Aliene and I went to the Fall Tennessee City Managers Conference in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Oak Ridge was a “secret city” during the development of the atom bomb. It now is a major research facility. We saw the 6th “fastest computer in the world” and I think there were 2 others in the top 20.

Currently the Oak Ridge lab is a major research facility and also contains some secret areas that we weren’t allowed to look at. (There were some jokes about rabbits the size of deer etc. due to the early nuclear work.) Oak Ridge is near Knoxville, Tennessee, which is higher elevation and more north than Lakeland, so the foliage was really beautiful.

We really enjoy our house and neighborhood. The other night we had a “block party” which was fun. The addition currently has about 50 houses completed and work in “phase II” has started. Phase III (which is near us and will ruin part of our view!-although we knew it was coming of course) will mean about 121 houses.

The “neighborhood” is so nice to ride in I am getting spoiled. I hope the new houses etc. don’t ruin the biking fun I have here. Unfortunately, the only exit is onto a busy highway. Although it has bike lanes, there isn’t really other close roads that are safe. I do have a good bike rack to carry the bikes so I can go to other areas.

I find I can see so much more on a bike than I can in a car (and it is much faster than walking) so I like to go and look at different areas of the city on a bike.

The Oklahoma Wind

I don’t mind hills while riding my bike, but I really don’t care for riding when the wind is high, although when I lived in Oklahoma, I figured I may as well learn to deal with it. Of course it is not near as bad here (in OKC) as it is in western Oklahoma and Kansas. I can understand why the continuous wind drives people insane!

Aliene and I are in Oklahoma City visiting. One of the first things I noticed when we got here Friday was the hard cold wind! The wind always makes it seem so much colder or hotter, maybe that is why I like the climate better in Lakeland! The altitude also apparently has something to do with it, since when it snows in Oklahoma, by the time it gets to Memphis it is frequently rain.

Aliene’s birthday is Monday. We are taking an extra day going back and celebrating it in Arkansas by seeing some of the sights we always plan to see on the trip to OKC, but never seem to have the time to do.

We ran into a friend at the hotel we are staying at Saturday night who, as a weekend job, drives a “classic Limousine”, so he gave us a ride in a 1963 Bentley, with the original steering wheel on the right! He offered to let us drive, but we decided it was a real thrill just to ride in it! (I don’t know what it was worth, but I’m sure my insurance coverage would be strained to cover the bill!)

Things are busy at City Hall. It seems there is always something going on to keep us busy!

We always enjoy our visits to Oklahoma City, but it is always nice to get back home. We really enjoy our new house, and especially the fact we know all of our neighbors! It is really a nice atmosphere.

Fall 2006

Cool weather was the general rule here for the last several weeks, so I was pleased to get up the other day and find it was 81 degrees at 4:00 a.m.! It felt like Summer again! This was after a series of 59 degrees, 55 degrees etc. in the morning.

I count winter is here when I switch to my heavier workout clothes. So far I have stuck with my shorts and t-shirts, so I feel Summer is still here!

Saturday, September 23, it started out warm, although cloudy and windy. I was riding my bike early afternoon, when the wind, which had been heavy (for Lakeland) from the south, suddenly switched to from the north and the temperature literally dropped 10 degrees just in a flash! We got some rain, but most of the storm was south.

After months of riding my bike without being affected by rain, I had to cut my bike riding short due to rain the last two days. Today, Sunday, it is nice again, although still windy.

I don't mind hills when I bike, but I really don't like wind! That is one reason I like to bike in Tennessee is that here usually isn't much of a wind.

I found I probably have "acid reflux" a lot worse than I realized. The Doctor took me off Prevacid (kind of an antiacid), but then put my right back on when I started coughing all the time. What I thought were allergies actually was probably acid reflux.

I realized that after I ate some bacon and coffee and was coughing a lot. The Doctor put me right back on Prevacid.

Now I realize what is causing my hoarseness and coughing bouts, at least partly!

I have drastically changed my life style to avoid the consequences of acid reflux. I walk at least a 1 1/2 mile every morning, bike on the stationary bike at the gym, and then usually ride my bike for at least 45 minutes and hohpefully an hour. I had already been walking in the morning, but now I am serious about doing it fast every morning.

I have also changed my eating habits, reduced coffee, don't eat fatty foods, avoid large meals etc.

Thus far I have lost about 20 lbs (from the Counter Reunion time), but I still have a ways to go.

The Sedway incident bruised Aliene's arm. She will probably be in some pain for a month or so from the arm. She still says she would do it again! She can do everything except she doesn't want to take a chance on riding the bike (she does walk as before), so I miss my riding partner!

In August, I went over 25 years as City Manager, since I first accepted a City Manager job in 1981, and 32 years working for cities as a career. Time goes fast!

November 1, 2006, I will have been in Lakeland for 5 years. Time goes so fast!

Water for Elephants

I don’t often write about a book, but if you have a chance to read “Water for Elephants”, do so! It is a wonderful and interesting and funny book!

Cool weather has come to Lakeland! Several weeks ago it was 85 degrees in the early morning, now it is 66 degrees!

I have been riding my “Trek” a lot more (still no name for it). Aliene has been riding the first half hour or so with me, so it has been fun. I am also walking (about 2 miles) each morning plus another 18-28 minutes on the stationary bike, and about an hour on the Trek, so I am getting more exercise! (That is not every day when I have a meeting etc.)

I don’t know if I already mentioned this, but I had my physical several weeks ago and the Doctor found I had a “low” thyroid, so she gave me some medicine to speed up my thyroid. This, in addition to my increased exercise, is helping me lose weight a little faster.

We had a nice visit with Aliene’s mother in Lakeland and then took her back to Oklahoma City last weekend.

25 years!

August 20, 2006, I suddenly realized that on August 20, 1981, I walked into City Hall on my first day as City Manager. Today is my 25th Anniversary as City Manager!

Would I do it again. You bet! I remember how I considered all the factors before accepting my first City Manager job, thinking of all the challenges and risks. Somehow, I knew from the start it was for me.

One of the first things I realized was that my jokes suddenly became funnier! (Of course, I knew the real reason!)

Although I can always see places where I would have done different in retrospect, I do feel I learned from my mistakes. Although I occasionally repeat my mistakes, I find myself repeating fewer and fewer of them, and, of course, occasionally making new ones.

Several years ago, at a Toastmasters meeting, I was asked what would I do if I won a large prize, such as 50 million dollars. I thought about it, and finally decided I wouldn’t really change anything, except perhaps buy a better car etc., but I certainly wouldn’t quit as City Manager!

Some brief history, when I was a small child, although I grew up on a farm, I played “City Manager”, although I didn’t call it that. I had rocks and sticks for cars and buildings and I built several enterprising “cities” and played for hours managing the cities.

I started working for a city when I was in high school. I mowed streets, parks, the cemetery and helped locate water lines etc. One of my most memorable moments was when the Water Superintendent and I tore up a yard and I first heard the phrase “ I’m going to sue”. (We actually got it worked out. I found I had the “gift” of finding water lines with a wire coat hanger and that is how we located them after that.)

I actually got my first career job with a City because I got “stood up” for a date. I was attending Wichita State University for my Masters Degree and had just finished my degree requirements. While I was dejectedly driving back after I realized my “date” was not there, at a job light, one of my Professors pulled up along side of me and yelled about a job opening at a City in western Kansas.

I called him the next day, sent in my application and got the job as “Assistant to the City Manager”. The City Manager showed me my office and advised me my job was to “get a grant” to revitalize a section of the City. (This was in October of 1974).

One special situation I remember is during my first few months on the job is standing in line for a movie and I looked at the people and a chill went down my back when I thought, “I help improve their daily lives by my work”. The chill has never left. I enjoy my job and I enjoy working for cities and especially with the residents, elected officials, volunteer boards and other City personnel. Everyone may have different beliefs on what to do, but almost all have the goal of improving the community.

The 25 years (and the 32 years of working for cities) has gone fast. I find it fulfilling that I still look forward to going to work after 32 years and I can’t think of anything I would rather do!

The Summer of 2006

The Summer of 2006 is slowly winding down. Fortunately, I like hot weather and Summer, so it is my favorite time of the year, and I always kind of dread the coming of Fall. While I enjoy Fall also, it means that Winter (especially the months of January, February and March) are close behind and those months seem to drag.

I have been riding my new “Trek” bike a lot more, in spite of the heat. As noted above, I enjoy hot weather, so it doesn’t really bother me. I try to walk first thing in the morning, than “bicycle” on a stationary bike a the health club and then bicycle “for real” at night and on weekends.

I find I can see so much more by bicycle and each ride develops its own pattern. I’m still not sure if I like the Trek (which is a “hybrid”) better than a mountain bike, but I am getting used to it and enjoying the ride.

I just had my annual physical. I guess you could say I “passed”. The Doctor did say my thyroid activity was not as high was it should be, which may explain why I had a sudden gain in weight several months ago and have had a horrible time losing it. (No, it’s NOT just an excuse, I hope!) I am taking some medicine for it and we will see.

We love our house in Lakeland. I spend a lot of time sitting on the back patio looking at the trees, or more specifically, reading or working on the computer and enjoying the presence of the trees. I have seen the summer go from tree frogs and bull frogs to cicadas. The cicadas, for some odd reason, always bring back memories of my childhood on the farm and it really seems like summer when the cicadas are active. I enjoy hearing them.

The bullfrogs are VERY impressive! I can imagine how big they are (although I was advised they are 6 inches or so). From the sound, I wouldn’t want to meet them in a dark alley!

Reflections on becoming 59

Happy Birthday to me! I never thought I would REALLY be 59 years old! Actually, thank goodness it’s not bad. I actually enjoy growing older (gradually, please), and don’t really wish I could be younger.

I guess each stage of life has its good and bad points.

One think I don’t like about growing older is this feeling of a lack of time. It really focuses you on what is important-or at least what SHOULD be important. However, I still manage to lose myself in dithering and doing minor tasks.

I don’t mean sitting on my back patio and hearing the wind blow through the trees and hear the cicadas buzz (if that is the right word) in the background. That is one of the essentials! I will enjoy Summer while it is here! I especially enjoy sitting on my back patio in the morning and reading the paper and drinking coffee!

I’m not sure where I thought I would be at 59 years old when I was a child. I can remember thinking of it as such a vague idea, somehow a concept that would never develop.

Thank goodness “60 is the new 40” (or maybe even the new 30). I still ride my bike, walk every morning, enjoy dancing and otherwise enjoy life. I think where I was even 20 years ago and a lot happened in that time!

I think 39 ½ probably bothered me more than anything, probably more to do with some major changes I was going through as much as being 39 ½. 40 didn’t bother me, although I still have the button “40 isn’t old if you’re a tree”. 50 was a breeze (I had just gotten married!) and the fifties flew, although actually I still have one year left!

I’m not really looking forward to retirement. I enjoy my work too much. I figure I will retire in 2016, which will mean I can “walk on the stage” in 2015 to receive my 40 year certificate (40 years in City Management, although not all of it was as City Manager) and then retire after the Holidays. (The worst part of the year for me is February and March, and, to some degree April, since it seems to take forever for it to get warm.)

Such are the reflections on becoming 59 years old.

Courter Reunion 2006 memories

We had a wonderful Courter Reunion in Topeka, Kansas. We really enjoyed the opportunity to visit and catch up on what has happened. As usual, I also hear new stories about past events I didn’t recall or that throw a new slant on the past!

One thing I am really thankful for-since I can’t pick my relatives, I am so glad I really enjoy the ones I have! I always look forward to the Courter Reunion. We used to go up just on the day of the Reunion (Sunday), but with time and distance, it now has grown to many of us coming up on Friday (or even Thursday) and staying until Monday, or any days in between!

Next year it will be in Lakeland/Memphis, so I hope everyone plans on a long stay. There is so much to do and I enjoy the opportunity to visit.

Courter Reunion 2006 will be remembered by Aliene and I (and Angela, Kali and Katherine) as rather an epic journey. It started on Monday, when we picked up Angela, Kali and Katherine in Little Rock. (Unless you get an air ticket at least 21 days in advance, Southwest Air is the only way to go. We pick up a lot of people (and take a lot of flights to and from) Little Rock, and, to some degree Nashville. Unfortunately, Southwest Air does not fly to Memphis. Northwest Air is great because of the direct non/stop flights (Memphis is a hub) and Delta is good because we have a Delta credit credit and get some free flights and 2/1 flights, but Southwest to Little Rock or Nashville is always there in the event we need it!

We drove back to Lakeland. Since I had a Board of Commissioners Monday night, they played in the park etc.

On Tuesday, we rode the trolley in downtown Memphis, went to the Childrens Museum, “Corky’s” (probably one of the best of the many outstanding BBQ places in Memphis, and just drove around. Wednesday, we went to “Mud Island” (riding the mono-rail), ate at the Hard Rock Café, went to the Brooks Museum of Art, drove through Harbor Town etc. and again just showed them Lakeland and the area.

Thursday, it was time to head for Topeka. We left in the early afternoon and stopped in St. Louis and headed up to Topeka early Friday morning. The two girls (6 & 3) were great.

The Reunion started as soon as we arrived (Eleanor, Kim and Rebecca, followed closely by others) and we thoroughly enjoyed it.

We went through Oklahoma City and dropped Angela, Kali and Katherine off and then headed on to Lakeland, stopping Monday night at our “favorite” hotel, the Hampton Inn at exit 55 in Clarksville Arkansas. If you ever get a chance to stay there, do so! It is really a wonderful hotel. I wish it was in or near Lakeland so we could have our family reunion there!

The last few years we have always looked forward to the Courter Reunion as a high point of our year. We are really looking forward to welcoming everyone to Lakeland next year.

It is strange to realize my generation is now part of the “older” generation, although we are fortunate that some of what I called the “older generation” when I was a child are still attending! I think that is the value of Reunions, to see the flow of the generations, and get a chance to visit and reflect on your life as well as just have fun.

As I reflect on the Courter Reunion, again, I think of how thankful I am that I like my relatives!

While we were in Kansas, I realized I had forgotten the HOT Kansas wind. It has been hot and dry in Kansas and I saw signs of the disastrous lack of rain.

Moon Day

I will always remember "Moon Day", July 20, 1969, mainly because I slept through it! I was in Air Force basic training and still in complete shock (it started July 16, so I hadn't been in long). They gave us the chance to watch it but I slept all through it!

The hot weather continues and I am enjoying it! Both of my bikes have flat tires, so I won't be riding my bike until this weekend. They did show me how to replace a tube and I THINK I learned how. It will help if I can fix a tire while I am out on the road.

Angela and Kali and Katherine will be here Monday. We are picking them up at the Little Rock airport.

Looking forward to the Family Reunion!

Bicycle woes

I am disappointed in my new Trek bike. I went on a ride yesterday and the high gear wasn't working again. Today the back tire was flat. It was been a very disappointing bike. I think the gearing is a manufacturing defect.

Other problems may work themselves out over time, or it could be defective gears. My 6 year old bike seemed to have better gears for hills as well as down hill. The Trek does do better on flat land, but how much flat land do you ride on.

What really hurts is that I am missing some prime bike riding weather (I like to ride in the hot weather) and I can't go very far from home since I am concerned about the gears and tires! I really don't intend to take the time to change the tire all the time.

July 13, 2006

I have a special affection for July 13. On July 13, 1973 (hard to believe it's been so long), I was officially out of the Air Force! I remember I ate some fried chicken livers and pizza and headed for Wakeeney Kansas (where my parents lived then). It took me a while since I took my time and it turned into kind of an epic journey.

After I spent some time in Wakeeney, I went to Wichita and enrolled in the Political Science Department at Wichita State University.

The only problem is, the days are getting shorter and I can feel the winter coming!

The small pond in our addition has some bullfrogs I wouldn’t want to meet in a dark alley! When I walk in the morning, they have a “frog call” that makes you think they are huge!

With the help of David (our Son-in-Law), we built a small enclosure for our trash cart etc. by the house which gave us a lot more room in our garage. Actually “help” is not the correct word. He built it and we tried not to get in his way, although I did do some hammering etc.

One good thing-I saw some pictures of myself and immediately went on a diet and doubled my exercise program, I was so shocked at my weight. I also vowed to weigh myself every day so I would keep up with how much I weigh. My weight usually changes drastically every day, but it had quit the “down” cycle of the up and down cycle!

I am enjoying my new bike. The area here isn’t as good for bike riding as it was in the area around our previous house, but I am finding places to ride.

It looks like Angela and Granddaughters Kali and Katherine will be able to fly out for a visit in Lakeland and then ride with us to the Courter Reunion. We will then take them to OKC and return to Lakeland.

Blueberries are in plentiful supply! These are the days of hot weather and fresh blueberries-I love it!

June 21-The longest Day, Baby Tornado, CMA Fest

In a way, June 21, the “longest day of the year” is the happiest day, but also the saddest day. It is the “longest day”, which I love, but it also means that the days will only get shorter and winter will follow!

I always decide I just need to “enjoy the day”, but there is always that nagging feeling that the days are getting shorter and winter is coming!

I am enjoying my new bicycle, after some problems with the gears were fixed. I thought at first it was just my unfamiliarity with the new shifting system, but there actually was a defect in it. The weather has been cooperative.

Saturday, June 17, I was sitting outside (our house has kind of a “protected” area of the patio and then an open area) watching the rain, when a high wind came through. Only the next day did I learn that I had sat outside and watched an F1 (a baby) tornado come through! The electricity went off for awhile, but I thought it was only high winds. There wasn’t any damage in my neighborhood, but 28 houses received minor damage in a nearby neighborhood.

Aliene is in OKC and has been since last week. (She missed the baby tornado!) Her daughter-in-law had an operation and Friday and her daughter had one Monday, so she had quite a week! (Both are doing fine.)

Aliene and I went to the CMA Music Festival (Country Music) in Nashville June 6-11 and really enjoyed ourselves. (We celebrated our 9th Wedding Anniversary in Springfield, Tennessee, where we stayed. It is a small town about 20 miles from Nashville.) I was going to write a full report on it, but, as happens, I wanted to block out enough time to write a report and haven’t done anything! I will write a full report, but briefly, we really enjoyed ourselves.

We saw a lot of the Country Music stars and especially enjoyed the autograph and exhibit sessions. I’ll write a full report (sometime!).

Anniversary!

Ten years ago tonight (June 6, 1996), I was sitting at a table with some other dancers after dance class.

One of the women at the table I was talking to gave me "a look" that I remembered for 10 years! One year and one day later (June 7, 1997) Aliene and I were married! Of course, she doesn't even remember it!

Oddly enough, we didn't see each other again for exactly six months, until December 6, 1996. On January 19, 1997, I went over to buy some weights I saw on sale, went to the "dance practice", met Aliene there and the rest is history! We started dating and were married on June 7, 1997.

We actually knew each other fairly well as friends and dancing partners, but just didn't get together until January of 1997. Once we started dating, things moved fast!

I can honestly say it has been a wonderful ten years and I am a very lucky man! Tomorrow, we celebrate our ninth Anniversary, but I will always mark June 6 as a special Anniversary also!

Summer 2006 (part 1)

I am enjoying my new bike, even though I don't have a "high gear". I thought I wasn't working the new shifter correctly, but I finally took it back to the dealer and they advised there was something wrong, they just need time to check it out.

They told me to go ahead and keep it over the weekend (the weather was wonderful until rain hit this afternoon), and they will work on it next week.

We have a bike rack which is easy to use, so I have the chance to ride throughout the city. It took a while to find a bike rack that a non-mechanical person like me could use.

Hopefully I'll get the kinks worked out on the bike so I can get to seriously riding it! I've been trying out some of the trails in Lakeland etc. that were just constructed, which is fun.

I joined "TagWorld.com", so may start blogging on that site. (My screen name is "blipntime".) I will give plenty of notice if I move. Also, my .Mac account has a nice blog, when (this sounds familiar!) I get time to figure it out.

We are really enjoying our new house. I have been reading outside a lot (we look out at trees) and enjoying the antics of the squirrels at times. I am surprised that any squirrels survive, as dangerous as they live! They jump on a limb, which goes way down, and then get thrown up to a higher limb. (I really feel old, talking about watching squirrels!)

Work has really been busy. The budget is basically approved, so that is a big relief!

Memorial Day 2006

Memorial Day, the start of Summer! This is my favorite time of year, as most of you know.

I am currently sitting in my back yard, enjoying the early morning. It is bliss!

Recent events:

-Went to OKC to see Michael and Sara graduation ceremony. It was an enjoyable time. You can see time pass fast in children! Both of them plan on attending college next year.

-Eleanor and Rebecca visited over the weekend. We "shopped till we dropped" (or at least Aliene, Eleanor and Rebecca did!), took a cruise on the Mississippi and visited!

The City budget is almost done (will hopefully be approved this week), so I am glad that is out of the way for another year!

The Mighty Mississippi!

Recently I had the opportunity to visit with a Mississippi River boat worker. It was an interesting conversation (he works 30 days on and 30 days off).

In an eerie way, he reminded me of many of the old (old to to me at the time) farmers I knew when I was a child. They loved and lived their job, were independent, opinionated had a lot of common sense and generally seemed to enjoy their career choice in spite of what are seen as negative aspects of the job. The only real difference seems to be one makes his living on the land, one on the river.

I enjoyed our conversation and wish I knew his name so I could have a cup of coffee or a lunch with him in the future and keep on with our discussion.

One of the things I love about Tennessee and this area is when I realize how similar, yet different it is from where I grew up and how I really notice the difference when I visit family in Oklahoma or Kansas. (Oklahomans and Kansans are great-kind, generous and just fine people. I have found Southerners to be the same, at least in this area, with the addition that they truly know how to be hosts and are truly courteous people.)

Also, I have found drivers to be much more courteous in Memphis. In spite of our tendency to run streeeeetch yellow lights and make frightening close left turns, there is little tailgating and I have yet to have another car not let me in, even when I was in the wrong! (If you drive the Canada Road and I-40 interchange area, this is demonstrated on a daily basis.)

I was always fascinated by the Mississippi River when I was a child, and I can remember how excited I was at my first view of the River!

One of my secret obsessions for some odd reason is the Mississippi River Level in the paper each day! I really don’t even know what it means, (except generally) but it fascinates me. I still get that “tingle” when I first see it and every time we have relatives or friends visit, I am always glad because it usually gives me a chance to take a Mississippi River Cruise or at least walk the Mississippi! Now I know that when I cross the “Mighty Mississippi” I am almost home!

I enjoy the drive to Oklahoma City to visit family. It starts in beautiful Lakeland (it is more than just "hometown pride", Lakeland truly is uniquely beautiful!), through Memphis, across the "Mightly Mississippi" (where, depending on the time, I call someone and tell them I am just crossing the "Mightly Mississippi"), across the flat plains of east Arkansas, through Little Rock and then through the beautiul mountains of western Arkansas, on through eastern Oklahoma to OKC! It has a certain rhythm and rhyme to it that can almost be set to music.

New Bike!

Today I will pick up my new bike a "Trek 7500". I am looking forward to trying out my new bike (if it ever stops raining). Sometime I will need to learn to ride in the rain, but ...

Everything has been really busy, finishing up the proposed City budget etc. We went to OKC to see Sara's "Gold" award (Girl Scout equal of Boy Scout's Eagle award) and it was fun. It was good to see some of the activities they did to earn the award.

We went to our annual Dance Conference last weekend and really enjoyed getting into dancing. One thing we really miss is a good place to dance without any smoke! We enjoyed the dancing. I'm not sure what you call it. It isn't a "contest", just a lot of dancing and dance lessons!

Goodby Old Friend!

Well a 7 year relationship has ended and I will soon be starting a new relationship. I am talking about my bike!

I have spent a lot of time with my bike, a gold painted “Diamondback Wildwood”. Not the best bike in the world, but a good bike for me. I got it in December of 1999, and have ridden it faithfully ever since, with some long absences and some major repairs! I put over 6,000 miles on it, so at 10 miles an hour, that is 600 hours with it! Considering my actual speed, it is probably more than 600 hours.

It gave me good service, but yesterday (Saturday, April 22), I took it out to ride and realized it was hopeless. There was just too much wrong with it to make it financially feasible to fix. I will donate it to a local group that fixes bikes to give free to children who need a bike and hope it provides a good bike for a child to learn the wonders and enjoyment of riding.

I have my eyes on a Trek Multitrac 7300, and am looking at others. I need to get another bike pretty soon-I’m missing out on super bike-riding weather! The Trek 7300 is cheap enough I can upgrade to a better bike if needed, but it will be good for my type of riding.

I have enjoyed my old bike, but I realized I was trying to keep it too long, especially when I almost ended up pushing the bike back 3 miles yesterday! Something went wrong with the gearing, and I did ride it back, but my maximum speed was about 6 milers per hour and it wasn’t any fun. This happened several years ago, and it cost me about 50% of the cost of a new bike to fix the old bike, so it's just not worth it. Hopefully a volunteer can fix it up so a child can enjoy it.

Of course, I’m looking forward to my new bike, while saying goodby to my old bike.
I’ll keep you advised!

Grand Canyon and "Standing on the corner in Winslow, Arizona"

We went to Arizona last week and I finally got to the Grand Canyon, and I found it truly is a GRAND Canyon! We saw a big part of the canyon and enjoyed our drive to the Canyon.

We flew out Wednesday (April 12) and met Aliene’s mother at the Phoenix Airport and drove her to see her sister in Tucson.

Aliene and I then drove to Flagstaff where we stayed in Flagstaff and went to the Grand Canyon Thursday and the Petrified Forest and Painted Desert (as well as “standing on the corner in Winslow, Arizona!) on Friday and had a lot of fun. We went out to the Meteor Crater, but didn’t stop when we found it cost $15 apiece to get in! (It wouldn’t have been so bad, except it closed at 5:00 p.m. and it was 4;15 p.m. when we stopped by.) If any of the pictures come out (especially the “standing on the corner in Winslow, Arizona”) come out, I’ll try to post them to the web page.

We went down to Tucson Saturday and picked up Aliene’s mother and went back to Phoenix.

It was an enjoyable trip. We discovered there are millions (yes millions and that is putting it lightly) of bugs at the Grand Canyon. Fortunately they didn’t bite! We heard that they will all be gone the next week when the sparrows come! Our white rental car actually looked black with all the bugs on it!

Overall, we enjoyed the Grand Canyon-I always wanted to see it, but we probably won’t go back except with Grandchildren etc.

I had always wanted to see the Petrified Forest since I was a kid-I remember my parents had a small piece of petrified wood, although I don’t know where it came from.

Overall the weather was great, except for Friday, when it was exceptionally windy and rained Friday night (after we were safely at the hotel!).

We barely got back Monday, when I had to go the Nashville for the Tennessee City Managers Conference Wednesday. We were reminded we were in Nashville when we went to a “writers session” at the hotel and suddenly realized it is a Song Writers session, not a “writing” session!

Enjoying the conference. They have some excellent sessions. I’ll be glad to get back to Lakeland though!

I am so glad Spring is here! Our back yard is greening up and it is beautiful to look out.

The new Tennessee vehicle tags are UGLY!

I hate the new Tennessee vehicle tags! I don’t know who in the world approved such a junky looking car tag, but when it comes time for us to buy a new tag, we are going to get a specialized tag so we don’t have to have such a ugly tag on our vehicle!

The tag appears to be a mountain, I assume the Smoky Mountains in eastern Tennessee. Another reason not to like the tag. Shouldn’t a STATE tag represent the entire state, and not just a small portion?

Enough of this rant, but if you see the new Tennessee car tag, let me know what you think!

Don't buy "low profile" tires or an Acura TL!

We’re currently watching a storm come into the Lakeland area. The tornado sirens went off, but the “warning” was just over. Signs of Spring!

We went to Conway, Arkansas to see Michael play in a soccer tournament. While there, I hit a small pothole (after a stop, so I was going very slow) and ruined a tire. On the Acura, they are $300 tires and we only got this tire two months ago.

We checked and found they couldn’t get another tire until WEDNESDAY (this was on a Saturday), but we lucked out and found a used tire that fit. The tire got us back to Memphis.

We have decided that these tires have a design defect (this is the third tire that has been ruined in less than 38,000 miles on the car). Since we can’t change the tires on the car, we are going to trade the car.

We feel the tires have a design defect and are dangerous. I can’t believe they allow them to sell such a fragile, dangerous tire.

So, we are looking for another vehicle. We love the car (an Acura TL), but can’t take the chance on such a dangerous tire, and worse yet, when we can’t get one if we need it! (The first one that blew out, even the ACURA DEALER couldn’t get one for three days!

Take that as a warning! Don’t buy any car with “low profile” tires, especially Bridgestone tires. They have a design defect and are dangerous. (Of course, they always have an excuse about the reason for the ruined tire-I “hit something” etc.)

Where is Spring?

I wait, and wait for the "true" Spring to arrive! Actually, the weather isn't bad, I am just waiting for Spring weather, flowers, greenry etc. to arrive! Sometimes I think March and early April are the worst months, since we normally have some very nice weather, but good (read "warm" or even "hot") weather is not really here yet! At least I know it's coming!

There is great joy in Memphis, as the University of Memphis advanced in the NCAA tournament! I had a conflict when Wichita State University and Tennessee played in the NCAA tournament. (I got my M.A. and Wichita State and I like to see Tennessee win.) I resolved it by being glad for the winner (Wichita State) and sad for Tennessee when it lost.

I am working "on-line" computer courses and discovering stuff I never knew the programs could do! Thus far, I have completed a "Microsoft Outlook" course and am currently working on "Word" and "Excel". Excel has been especially enlightening for what I didn't know!

March musings

It has been a while since I posted on this, and I will try to be more diligent in the future! It is so nice to see Spring in the air! I noticed my first crocus (I think I spelled that right) the other day and the trees are starting to bud. I love Spring!

I am almost ashamed that Memphis, on the Oscar show, is symbolized by a group of people who for some reason embellish the low-life of any City. I don’t watch the Oscar’s, or even really care who gets one, but it is embarrassing to be from near Memphis and have that type of scummy music/words actually “win” an Oscar and somehow indicate that is what Memphis is about! ( Obviously other people have their own opinion of it.

Actually, Memphis and the area (frankly, especially Lakeland) is a wonderful area and has a lot of good sides and especially a lot of super people! I have always been intrigued by the Mississippi River and like to see it at different times. I like to look at it and imagine what it was like to actually ride a raft down the Mississippi River!

This is a busy time of year, so we are keeping busy. I still have a cough, so I haven’t gotten outside and ridden my “real” bike for several months, although I am keeping in shape by riding a stationary bike and walking the treadmill. It isn’t the same as riding outside. I am doing much better and expect to be able to ride outside again soon (just in time for Spring!

Ice!

Saturday, February 18,2006: A combination os ice rain, rain, sleet and snow (I guess it is called a "winterly mix" has hit Lakeland. I think this is worse than just staight snow!

We are enjoying having blinds on our windows and are really enjoying our new house, although it is frustrating to have to continue to work with the unfinished/uncompleted or incorrectly completed construction items.

We are generally "moved in" although we still have some details to work out, as far as pictures etc.

We are definitely looking forward to summer!

Snow and privacy!

Friday, February 10, it snowed in Lakeland. Probably snowed about 3-5", which in this area, is a major snowstorm! City Hall closed early and traffic was a mess getting home. Of course, no one knows how to drive in snow, and snow removal is not quite as efficient as it is in areas with a lot of snow. The snow came a little earlier than expected, which created some of the problems since no one was expecting it that early.

We also got our "blinds" on our windows in our house, which was REALLY nice. Although I doubt that anyone (other than a deer or two and squirrels), it is nice to feel some privacy.

It this snow is like past snows, it will be gone in a day or two as the temperature rises. The snow was a very wet snow and it was even snowing when it was 37 degrees! Or, at least it was "slushing" at 37 degrees.

February 2, 2006

Amazing that it is already February of 2006! I know I seem to always say this, but time just seems to glide by. As I mentioned recently, I see time pass in how fast children grow up and in the large stack of very thin coffee filters and how fast a large stack can disappear!

We went to OKC last weekend for Michael's "Best Young Soccer Referee" award. We enjoyed the trip, with generally good weather,and excellent weather for the drive.

I am alway surprised at how much colder Oklahoma City is, even with the same temperature and the wind! It can be 50 degrees in Lakeland and I feel fairly comfortable, whereas 50 degrees in OKC is not. I guess the wind and the higher elevation make up the difference.

Overall, we are getting settled in and starting to feel better. I feel much better although I still cough occassionally. I am starting to exercise again, which feels good!

The winter has been very mild. While I'm sure some hard winter days are ahead, it is still nice to enjoy the mild days and know that we are coming one day closer to Spring and Summer! I think we will especially enjoy our house this summer.

January 15, 2006

We are getting moved in and I am starting to recover from bronchitis. I still cough some, but it is bearable. My Doctor said I should get better soon. I have been coughing since approximately December 11, 2005, so I am ready for it to be over!

We are really starting to feel “moved in” to our new house. It has been a long process, with us being sick, Christmas etc. Aliene did a lot of work on it. She is good at this!

We are planning on going to Oklahoma City in the near future to see Michael get an award and we plan on having “Christmas” for Angela, James, Kali and Katherine since they were sick on Christmas Eve and while we were there over Christmas. That is, assuming the weather is nice. The weather has been so good it is easy to forget the ice storm on the Christmas of 2004!

Aliene feels well enough to make her “Christmas Candy”. Her mother always makes it and she makes some for city personnel and other friends.

Moving 2006

We made a lot of progress in moving this weekend. I'm feeling better, thank goodness, although I still have some cough.

We got some furniture moved in, some pictures put up etc. and feel much more like we are "home", although we still have a lot to do.

The paint job in the house is horrible. An extremely poor paint job, with paint overruns etc. I need to remember the painting contactors name to make sure we never use him for anything.

It feels good to get everything set up.

2006

2006 is here! We are settling into our new house. We have basically gotten the cars in the garage and the essentials up and running! We are still moving and will be for some time, but at least the emergency stuff is done. We were delayed by both of us getting sick and then Christmas.

I am lucky Aliene is such a good packer and organizer. We have an "attic" with a regular stairs, which is nice, although we may be tending to save more than we meant to! We stored a lot of our stuff for six months (while we were in the apartments) and we thought, "if we got along without it for six months..."!

New Year Day we saw 4 small deer out our window early in the morning.

We had a nice time New Year Eve at a local party, and basically spent the holidays moving in. I am still coughing, although I hope it is getting less and less.

I am looking forward to 2006, and especially getting over this cough! I haven't been able to walk for exercise or bicycle since I developed my cough and I really miss it!

Back to work tomorrow (January 3).

Christmas

Overall, a good Christmas, marred somewhat by colds etc. While Angela, Kali and Katherine and I had a good visit before Christmas, both Angela and Kali were sick and unable to attend the "Christmas Party" and open gifts etc. It was still nice, but nothing is more fun than watching children opening gifts!

Aliene and I are still feeling the lingering effects of being sick. I still have a cough etc. (sometimes I wonder if I've always coughed), but I feel a lot better today and hopefully it is basically over.

We are visiting with Kim, Eleanor and Rebecca in Tulsa and having a good time!

December 21

December 21 is one of my favorite days because it is the "shortest day of the year", which means Summer is ahead! Of course, there is still a lot of cold weather, but at least the days are getting "longer".

Actually of course, in Memphis, Winter really doesn't normally get bad until about January and continues through late March with a lot of nice days. However, the "chill" of winter doesn't normally recede until late April, which you really feel Spring is here and Summer is ahead!

Moving continues

Aliene and I are still not feeling well, so the move is going slowly and we are living in a sea of boxes! So far, we have managed to move a few things since we went to our Doctor Monday and got some medicine for what we had. We had two entirely different things, I had acute bronchis and Aliene had some kind of virus.

We had thought by now we would be somewhat settled in, but perhaps this is the way it was meant to be.

We have a wonderful view out of our back windows and really enjoy it.

We have moved!

We moved to our new house on Monday, December 12. Overall, I think we are going to really enjoy the new house, as soon as we get settled.

We had planned to get "settled" this weekend, but both Aliene and I got sick. I think Aliene has some type of flu and I have a coughing cold that I am trying to get rid of. So, here we sit, both sick, with boxes stacked around just waiting to be put away!

We had hoped to at least clean our the garage enough so we could get the cars in, but no such luck unless one of us starts feeling better!

We plan on going to OKC next weekend for Christmas, so we hope we start feeling better and are able to get some of our stuff put away this week before we leave for OKC!

After driving through the ice storm last Christmas, we decided to fly this year!

House

We "took possession" of our new house Wednesday, November 30. (Due to the way it was financed, we had already "closed" on it last August.)

A few minor things to be done, or problems, as always, but overall we are very happy with it.

We moved some storage items from the "POD" into the house, but THE move is going to be Monday, December 12. We gave up on moving ourselves and are hiring someone to move us, at least the big items. We are going to be glad to be in our new home.

The apartments weren't bad. The Champion Hills apartments are very professionally managed and maintained well. Still, it will be nice to have our own home (and garage) again!

Radio Stations

I am sick of the "talk" on Memphis radio stations. (Oklahoma City was the same way.)

When I interviewed out here, I loved the music on the radio stations. I DIDN"T realize that I wasn't listening early in the morning and they all have the crude "talking heads", who apparently have an overly large opinion of themselves and feel all their listerners are 2nd graders who like potty talk, long laugher and rude noises.

Thank goodness for NPR, IPOD's and XM satellite radio!

Sunday, November 20, 2005

The change is weather is confirming that winter is coming! The leaves on the trees are falling off, and the bare limbs are starting to show.

I get a chill when I think that Spring is some time away and even the "shortest day of the year" is over a month away, so it will get dark earlier and earlier for at least a month. Out here, it gets dark earlier than Oklahoma City, about an hour earlier. I get used to it, but it doesn't mean I have to like it! I do like the fact that it gets light an hour earlier.

I am now starting to yearn for Spring and the new leaves, grass and flowers. At least the holiday season is always nice. I like the holiday music, the gathering with family and friends etc. I still don't like buying gifts (well, I LOVE buying the right gift, but the right gift is hard to find and I get too worried about buying the right gift. Fortuately, Aliene understands, and my family is resigned to it.)

The season is still a novelty. I get really tired of it around February and usually want to take a vacation somewhere warm and sunny. One of these years I will do that!

Weather (again)

This will teach me to brag about the nice weather!

The temperature this morning was 37 degrees, still not bad for November 16! The storms you may have heard of yesterday did include a lot of wind and rain, with some hail, but did little damage in this area.

Weather

It has been beautiful weather the past few weeks. This week, the temperature was 83 degrees a few days! Even when the temperature is in the 40-50 degree area, it still feels warm enough to walk in shorts etc.

Aliene and I are starting to plan where to put things in our house! It is taking shape nicely and we are really looking forward to moving in, but not necessarily to moving.

New House about ready!

We were advised this week that our house may be ready for a "walk through" on November 21, and closing on November 29, 2005!

The house now has some of the flooring (tile) down, the driveway is completely in (with some landscaping) and it is really starting to look like a house!

We are excited, although slightly dreading having to move again. However, we will have over a month to move, which will be nice.

Time Change

Every fall I look forward to the "extra" hour when DST ends. Of course, normally Sunday is the only day I notice it.

However, there is always something different about that Sunday, a feeling of expanding of time. I always like to take at least one hour and do sometime different I normally wouldn't do.

Uncle Wayne

A lot has happened since my last post.

Uncle Wayne passed away and Aliene and I went to his services. We are glad we had the opportunity to join in with other family on saying goodby to Uncle Wayne.

Aliene and I decided to drive, and on the way, we listened to Tim Russert's memories of his father. Somehow it was very appropriate, as both his father and Uncle Wayne were part of the "Greatest Generation" who have given so much to our country. Uncle Wayne was especially instrumental in Boy Scouts, his church, and the Cloud County (Kansas) Historical Society. Also, he was just enjoyable and interesting to talk to and we will miss him!

Two chins?

While putting my Granddaughter in her car seat recently, she innocently asked me "Grandpa, why to you have two chins!

I immediately decided to go on a strict diet and increase my bicycling and walking exercise time!
Hopefully, in the next year, I will be saying "thanks" to her for helping me lose weight and get in better shape!

My "Strengths"

I recently read a book that emphasized we need to work on improving our “strengths” and managing our weaknesses, rather than spend a lot of time on improving our weaknesses, since when you build on your “strengths” you actually get more “payback” than when you spend your time trying to improving in your weak areas.

The book emphasizes you need to manage or compensate for your weaknesses, but the important goal is to “know yourself”. I read the book in preparation for a session at the ICMA conference. I also took the test to determine my “strengths”.

Of 34 character traits, I ranked highest in “Input”. I am sure there are a number of books with this theory out there that give different names to each character trait, but this book defined the “Input” trait as “inquisitive”, a “collector of information or even tangible objects that interest the person”.

At the conference, all of the persons with “Input” as their highest “strength” sat at the same table and talked. I was amazed!

Everyone at the table had the following characteristics:-Felt like they missed something if they didn’t read the newspaper each morning. (I normally read two daily newspapers, and will read three or more if I have the time. I deliberately don’t subscribe to home delivery, because I know having to read the newspaper will provide the incentive for my morning walk to read the newspaper!) All of us also admitted to subscribing to more magazines than we had time to read, and reading 3 or 4 books at the same time.-

I have always probably enjoyed “planning” trips and getting information about locale, sometimes more than I actually enjoyed the trip! I was pleased that everyone at the table had the same characteristic!

Almost everyone at the table admitted to either setting up (or trying to set up) a filing system to collect clippings and stray information. I don’t collect “things” so much, but I did have to admit to my collection of Hot Wheels, t-shirts etc. ( Aliene would probably advise you that my statement I don’t collect “things” is an incorrect statement when she works around my magazines, books, hats, and stacks of information I keep around the house. Actually, I am much better than I used to be about discarding items.)

For those of you who have read the book, of similar books, besides “Input”, my other top five traits were “Developer”, “Learner”, “Positivity” and “Strategic”. One thing I didn't like at all was that this specific book only has a “unique” number and you can take the Internet test only one time. The web site then encourages you to purchase very expensive programs to examine the program further, and I simply don’t like such techniques. However, I did find the book and session to be an excellent investment of time and it was certainly an interesting and enlightening exercise.

September/October happenings

Well, I have a lot of catching up to do since my "blog bug" disrupted my writing!

Aliene and I have been busy. Our house is starting to look like a house, and we are still hopeful of being able to move into the house in December, although January is more likely.

We just attended the International City Managers Association conference in Minneapolis, MN. It was one of the most enjoyable conferences I have attended. All of the sessions were good, and we really enjoy Minneapolis. It was really an "up to date" city, with a lot of conveniences other downtowns in larger cities don't have.

Aliene had another "epidural" in her neck for her neck and arm pain. She had one in June and it was wearing out. We hope an occassional shot will prevent having to have an operation on her neck.

Aliene gave me an "IPOD" for my birthday and I am still dithering over which one to choose. I had almost had selected an IPOD with a hard drive when Apple came out with the "Nano", which has large "flash drive" which is supposed to be more reliable. (If I sound like I really don't know what I am talking about, I don't!)

"Blog Bug"

Well, I'm sure I have lost all of my loyal readers! I developed a "blog bug" I still haven't been able to resolve. Every time I tried to post to my "blog", my internet shuts down! So far, no one has been able to resolve it, but I have found (today) I can go to AOL and then to Blogger.com and it will work ok.

Keeping AOL all of these years finally serves a person, other than to just keep my screen names!

September

It is really good to have Aliene at home after she was up in OKC for three weeks helping her mother move. She is very glad to be home also!

We hardly had time to relax and then the Hurricane Katrina effects came. While we didn’t get even a small portion of the Hurricane by the time it hit Memphis it was a lot of wind and rain.

Memphis and the area got a lot of persons who evacuated from New Orleans. Even since I moved to Lakeland I have appreciated the expression “Southern Hospitality”. It really is true that Southern people (at least in this area) truly know how to treat a guest, and Memphis is showing it with the people left homeless by Katrina. Not to say anything bad about Oklahoma City residents, who will literally give you the shirt off their back (the Murrah explosion showed that).

Of course, whenever a tragedy like that happens, I think about what if it happens where I am City Manager at, at least on a smaller scale.

Colder weather is coming, or rather is here, and I dread the coming of winter. The only good thing is that I know Spring will follow.

August memories

We really enjoyed the reunion this year. We enjoyed it so much, Delta decided to leave our bags in Denver! We got to Memphis and waited and waited for our bags, but they weren’t on the flight, but were delivered uneventfully the next day.

One thing we did forget to do was ask to see Ken and Janet’s bicycles!

We have been really busy. We just signed our contract, loan agreement, etc. for our new house in Lakeland. The “sold” sign is up and they are getting ready to pour the foundation.

Aliene also sold her house in OKC, so she has been in OKC since August 11 to help her Mother move to an apartment. Her mother still drives and gets around well, but the apartment will be relieve the problems with house repairs etc.

I went to OKC to see Aliene (her house won't close until later this week, so I drove back by myself.) The drive from Memphis to Oklahoma City is interesting, even though I have driven it many times. It starts with the trees and rolling hills of Lakeland, then the Mississippi Bridge from Memphis into Arkansas, than the rice fields of eastern Arkansas (yes, rice in Arkansas), than the “mountains” of the Ozarks, and then I really notice the lack of trees and hills in Oklahoma. One thing I really notice is the sunsets/sunrises in Oklahoma!

On the way back from OKC, some classical music seemed appropriate as I drove through eastern Arkansas. It was almost like watching a movie, or perhaps living inside a movie if you can imagine that.

I enjoyed a vist with Angela and Kail/Katherine also, as well as all of the children and Aliene's mother at "my" birthday party!

Election year this year in Lakeland (September 15), which brings dread into the heart of any City Manager! Actually, it doesn’t look that bad. We will have two new Commissioners since the two Commissioners up for election are not running for office. However, the Mayor is unopposed for re-election, which is nice, and the three persons running for the two open Commission seats seem ok.

It was nice to see everyone in Boulder and we are looking forward to next year! If you get out this way, give us a call or E-mail.

"Dead Week" in Memphis

This is "Dead Week" in Memphis. (Officially known as "Elvis Week"!) The City has a lot of Elvis events and it is always an interesting week!

We have a lot of changes going on. Aliene is currently in Oklahoma City, helping her Mother move.

We just completed selecting all of the materials for our house, and hope we made the right decision!

School has started here. It is hard to believe it started so early!

Happy Birthday to me!

Happy Birthday to me! Today I "celebrate" another Birthday. I can remember when I was a child really thinking I would NEVER really be the age I am now!

Time goes so fast, the older I get the faster it goes!

It really has been busy since we got back from Vacation. Of course I had a backload of work at work, plus we have been busy with the house.

We selected our "colors" and "materials", which is always exciting as well as a little scary. What you are doing is so permanent! It is the last step before we actually "close" the loan. (It is a construction loan and will closed with a "permanent" loan when the house is completed. Don't ask me to explain it!)

Aliene got me seveal T-shirts for my birthday, and I also intend to get myself an Ipod for my birthday. I have been busy reading up on Ipods, how to use them etc. It will be interesting.

It is now raining outside. During past birthdays, especially when I was a child, I would have been very disappointed, since it was one of the few times I got to swim during the year! (At least, that is the way I remember it.)

Reality!

Started back to work today after a great vacation! It is really nice when you enjoy visiting with your relatives!

One slight problem-Delta lost our checked luggage, but it did arrive today, so not problem. We're just glad it happened here and not when we were in Colorado! Other than that, we had a great vacation and really enjoyed visiting Colorado Springs, Boulder and all of the visiting.

As usual after a vacation, work was non-stop today, but the vacation was well worth it.

I noted that the high temperature-nation wide-was 108 degrees in Hays, Kansas so I believe Jerry and Margaret were not kidding when they said it was hot!

I guess the old saying, it's good to go but it's good to get back was right! I went to a "neighborhood night out" gathering tonight. It is always fun, but I always get asked a couple of questions I don't know!

Looking forward to next year's Courter Reunion in Topeka, Kansas. In a weak moment, Aliene and I volunteered to be the "hosts" for the Reunion next year, so you'll be hearing from us!

Courter Reunion

The Courter Reunion has been a great time.

We started by flying to Denver and then going to Colorado Springs to visit Aliene's brother. It was the first time we had seen their new house. We drove into the mountains Wednesay, and then Thursday we went to the Air Force Academy and then to the Royal Gorge.

I had never been to the Royal Gorge before so it was interesting. It is really a wonder how they built the bridge back in 1929!

Friday we drove up to Boulder, Colorado for the Courter Reunion, where we did a lot of visiting (and eating) and really enjoyed ourselves.

Late Sunday afternoon, Aliene and I and Eleanor and Kim drove out on Canyon Road and ended up about at least a 9,000 foot elevation! We came back down and stopped at Nederland, Colorado which is a very interesting mountain city! We enjoyed our visit there.

Boulder is a fascinating city. The bike paths are wonderful (especially for a biker and walker!) and the city and residents obviously work at protecting the environment.

House

We put "earnest money" on a new house, although we're still working out all the final details about upgrades etc. "Upgrades" are to houses as "options" are to cars. You can add what seem are small, but nice, items and before you know it the price has increased substantially!

The apartments are actually ok. We hear some noise, but nothing really distracting. We do really miss our garage!

A friend came down last weekend and we went on a "lunch" Mississippi River cruise. It is a lot of fun and we never get tired of going on it when people visit! We actually go down to Tunica Mississippi and go on the "Tunica Queen" rather than the "Memphis Queen" (from Memphis obviously) since we like the "Tunica Queen" better.

Hot weather has hit here, after a week or so of rainy weather. I really enjoy the hot weather, and especially enjoy biking in the hot weather.

Looking forward to seeing everyone at the Reunion!

Blueberries

One of the advantages of Summer is that blueberries are plentiful and relatively inexpensive. I love blueberries on my morning oatmeal and really miss it when blueberries get too expensive to use on a regular basis.

I always start to feel slightly deprived when blueberries become so expensive that I can't justify buying them even for my morning oatmeal! It is a great way to start the day! (I like peanut butter for breakfast even better, but I finally had to reserve that for just special occasions when I realized that peanut butter doesn't do a lot to help me lose/maintain my weight, even with exercise.)

Summer is my favorite season anyway, and blueberries are a nice addition to a great season! Actually, I like Spring and Fall also, but I always can't wait for Winter to be over. When Fall comes, I know Winter isn't far behind and when Spring comes, there is still the reminders of Winter. That is one of the many things I like about this area. The climate changes, but not that much! I always know during Winter that Spring is not far behind!I always look forward to June 21 (start of Summer and the longest day of the year) and hate to see the days grow shorter because I know Winter is coming!

It surprised me when I first moved to Lakeland to discover that it gets dark almost an hour earlier than in Oklahoma City. Of course, it gets light an hour earlier, and since I am an early riser, that is fine! (This discussion on blueberries is not to be confused with the Blackberry, which is a wonderful E-mail device. I'm sure it does a lot more, but I probably will never figure it all out. The Blackberry is even more addictive than blueberries and is available all year regardless of the season! It is also a lot more expensive than blueberries.)

Digital photos

When our camera got stolen, we finally purchased a digital camera. Overall, we enjoy it. However, we made the mistake of waiting too long to sort through the digital photos (somewhat like all of the paper photographs I have scattered throughout my life!), and had a real problem in organizing and saving them.

This almost decided me to take an anger management class, but overall, it was a good learning experience. I did learn to stay away from SAMS photo processing and use Costco instead. Walgreens is also good, but a lot more expensive.

Overall, I'm pleased with the quality of photos, and I love the convenience.

Now, if I can just learn to print my pictures right after I take them....

Bicycle

I've been getting back to my bicycle, assuming the weather still stays dry. I haven't gotten to where I can ride in the rain yet.

I usually get up around 4:00 a.m., walk for the paper (about 2 miles), read the paper and drink coffee until 6:00 a.m. and then go out for a bike ride with Aliene.

If it is raining, I'll go over to a club and ride on the stationary bicycle. Otherwise, later in the day, I try to ride again, especially on weekends. On weekdays, it depends on whether I have a meeting that night etc.

Hopefully, this will all help me lose weight. For some reason, my weight has been especially stubborn this time. Even if I don't, I enjoy the exercise.

Routine 7 9 05

The new house is progessing. We went out yesterday and made final "option" pricing selections. Next week we will probably make (or at least start) selections of colors etc. Aliene will enjoy that! Soon we will commit to the lot etc. and hopefully the house will start.

I got tired of feeling like I was being taken to the cleaners (so to speak) by local home lenders and I submitted an application to E-Loan. We received approval of a loan about .8% of a interest rate less, which is a considerable amount on a house loan! We'll see what happens, but at least the E-loan rate is affordable. We will use local lenders if at all possible.

Apartment life is actually still ok. The Lakeland Champion Hills apartments are professionally run and relatively quiet, for apartments. Our air conditioning went out Thursday and it was quickly fixed.

Routine

We have lived in the apartment a month now. Not bad overall, we do miss our garage! I didn't realize how much I used the garage until I didn't have one. (Kind of like water, I guess.)

I'm trying to get back into bicycling again after a period of not bicycling due to bicycle problems. Apparenlty the problem was the rim, which I thought from the beginning.

We are now starting the process of buying our house. We have selected the plans and the lot. Now we need to finalize the house "options" and the financing and hopefully we will be moving into our new house within five months!

Memphis had a real haze/smog cover last weekend and the first several weekdays. I had to take Aliene to the Little Rock airport and the haze lasted all the way and really got bad in Little Rock. Reminded me of the movie "Soylent Green", which I saw in 1974.

Aliene was flying to Oklahoma City to take care of her house. It is just too expensive to fly from the Memphis Airport on short notice. Little Rock has Southwest Air (need I say more?). Northwest is great (usually it is non-stop) if you have time to buy your ticket well in advance.

We do have our tickets to Boulder for the Courter Reunion, and we also have reserved a Mustang convertible, so we are plan on enjoying a real vacation! We are stopping to see Aliene's brother in Colorado Springs before the Reunion. We will be at the Reunion hotel on Friday night.

We are now "homeless"

The deed is done. Our house has sold “closed” and we officially no longer own the house. We greatly enjoyed the house and will miss it. We currently are staying in the apartments in Lakeland. It’s not bad at all, they run a good operation.

Obviously we are also looking forward to our house being ready, but since it hasn’t even been started yet, we will have a wait!

As always, the pain of change is also the excitement of change and the excitement of the possible.

Rantings and ravings

Aliene’s “epidural” went ok. She is tired, but glad it is over!

We just got back from a meeting in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. This area (Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge etc.) is extremely hard to get to, and, quite frankly, Pigeon Forge is just trash, and Gatlinburg is somewhat more interesting, but, what’s you’ve been there, you’ve been there! I don’t know why Tennessee organizations insist on going there, but… There are so many other interesting areas in Tennessee that I would prefer going to.

We are enjoying our apartment, but looking forward to moving to a house. We are still looking at house plans etc. and trying to select the “right” plans.

I am getting my bicycle fixed (new wheel) and hope to start biking on a regular basis again. I have missed it. I do walk several miles each morning when I walk for the paper.

Life resumes, goodby old house

I mowed the yard at the old house today, perhaps for the last time. The buyer looks like she will qualify for loan and the "closing" of the sale may be moved up from June 28.

The apartment hasn't been bad at all thus far. Some things are more convenient (just call the office if something is wrong with the apartment!), some things aren't (no garage), but overall it's ok.

We still haven't selected the plans for the new house. Some of the houses we really like, but the bedrooms are really small etc. The developer keeps raising prices, so we may just decide to purchse somewhere else! Probably not, we like the concept and we have found one plan that we really like. We would like to get a third car garage (not for the garaage, but for the space for exercise equipment storage etc.), but we don't like any of the plans that include a third car garage.

I took my bike over to have the wheel replaced. I just don't trust the front wheel anymore. I wasn't riding it much because I was scared the tire would so flat. Being very mechanically uninclined (I can't even change the bike tire, much less fix a flat), it is important I not have a flat!

I've resumed walking in the morning. I have a nice route, a circle route, which helps avoid boredom.

the Internet is back!

I am pleased that I now have my wireless broadband internet back! I was getting restless using dialup! Broadband is so much better and I am really happy to have it back!

We are just about moved out of the house. It is sad to leave a house we liked so much and lived in for almost four years.

8th Anniversary!

Today, June 7, 2005 is Aliene and my 8th Wedding Anniversary. It has been a really wonderful eight years. I do have to admit that 8 years ago, we never thought we would be in Tennessee, although we are happy it worked out like that!

We are comfortably moved to our apartment. It isn’t bad at all. The apartments are well run and relatively quiet, which is important to me.

We still haven’t selected our house plans, although we have narrowed it down to two plans and we have at least tentatively selected one. We are waiting for the sale on our house to “close” before we make any final decisions.

Moving

The move is generally complete, thank goodness! We finished moving Saturday night around 2:00 a.m. (actually about 2:45 a.m. before the got the truck back). We aren't used to those hours anymore!

Of course, that is just the first part, now comes sorting etc. We are leaving a lot of stuff packed, since we don't know when we are moving to our house. We are currently living in an apartment, which actually is nice. It is well-maintained and relatively quiet and the staff is responsive to problems.

We have a lot of items in the "PODS", which is really quite a device (and also quite expensive, so I hope it isn't too long before we move!).

Moving Day!

Today is our "moving day". We are moving to "temporary housing" while the house is being built (it will be some time, since we haven't even signed anything yet).

We had some good news. Aliene won't need an operation yet, they are going to try some other treatment first. THAT makes us feel good! We weren't looking forward to moving that then her having an operation Wednesday!

Moving blues!

We are starting to pack and prepare to move. We hope to get an apartment while our house is being finished.

Moving is never fun, but it does help me to weed out stuff I don't need anymore! Aliene is actually going most of the work. I'm busy trying to "weed" items.

We sell our house

Approximately two weeks after putting our house up for sale, we sold our house! The downside is that our new house won't be built before we move out, so we are facing living in an apartment for several months.

We really like our current house, so we had conflicting emotions on selling it.

We learned we had several offers on the house while returning from a short vacation weekend (Mothers Day) visit to Oklahoma City. It is exciting, but I hate to think of moving again, especially having to move twice!

We haven't even decided on the new house yet, so it is likely we will be living in an apartment for at least six months.

Bicycle (again)

I am swiftly coming to a decision to start looking for a new bicycle. Of course, I don't need much of an excuse, but I have lost faith in my current bikes mechanical condition. Being an incompetent mechanic (I can't even change my bicycle tire), I need to have a bicycle I can trust to be mechanically sound.

I guess "new bike fever" is just or bad or worse than "new car fever". One item I really want are the toughest, meanest, most flat-proof tires I can get!

House for sale

Aliene and I decided to try to buy another house. We have to sell our current house first for a minimum amount so everything is still iffy.

We like our current house, but don't like the yard which takes so much time to maintain. Also, although it is a good house, it is 20 years old and things start to go wrong. I am all thumbs when it comes to mechanical projects (I can't even change a bicycle tire) and I finally decided I didn't have time to mess with it. Also, we have a very hard time finding compenent people who are willing to work on small jobs.

Anyway, so we are going to start living in the world of "open houses", where people tromp through your house, sudden house visits, and the always on the back of your mind fear that someone actually WILL offer a suitable offer for the house!

The house we are considering is in an "over 55" addition, and has lawn service etc. as part of the Homeowners Association fee. We still haven't signed a contingency contract (contingent on the sale of our home), but expect to in the near future.

We are going to list our house for six months. If it doesn't sell, we'll decide that fate has decreed that this our house and enjoy it!

City Government in Action

The other day, before the Board of Appeals, I observed the reason I love working for City government.

I observed about 30 residents come forward, present their case, and honestly having their input considered by the Board.

THAT is the beauty of City government! It actually sent chills down my spine to observe what I consider to be the beauty of City government. We may not always do what you want, but we listen!

In the end, that is probably the basic reason I love my job so much.

Bicycle

I rode my bike almost daily for four years without a flat.

In the last month, the bicycle has had a flat tire approximately every two rides! I expect it is a problem with the rim, but the bike shop hasn't found a problem.

With the beautiful weather I have really missed bicycling!

Louisville

Just got back from Louisville. Louisville is a nice city, although, as the saying goes, I wouldn't want to live there!

On the trip up, from Nashville to Louisville, I was in one of the hardest rainstorms I was ever in, especially since the rain storm lasted for miles.

The conference was excellent. It was a joint meeting of the Tennessee City Managers and Kentucky City Managers, so it was interesting to meet new City Managers, although I am still learning the Tennessee City Manager's names!

Biking

Due to equipment problems with my bike, weather and tooth problems, I am just getting back to riding my bike. It feels so good! There is truly nothing better for clearing out my brain than a ride on my bike!

Also, it is an excellent opportunity for me to not things that need attention by the City! I frequently don't notice some situations in the car that I do in the bike.

I love this time of year in Tennessee when the flowers come out and the trees bud and it is actually warm enough to wear shorts!

Now, if I could just keep my bicycle tire from going flat! I am completely non-mechanical and the times I tried to change a tire, it ended badly, to say the least.

At least now I have a nice bikerack so I can get the bike to the repair shop quickly!

Aliene's hand is still hurting her, so she isn't able to ride her ride her bike.

I am trying to get my distance up to where I can ride the "midnight" ride in June in Memphis. Other than that, my cousin, Kenneth asked me to go bike riding with him in Colorado this Summer, so I have to be prepared for that!

I am thinking of getting another bike. I have rebuilt my existing bike several times, but it is kind of like saying goodby to an old friend to get another bike.

Teeth

Well, an update on my root canal. I had hoped it would be done in one visit, I thought my visit Friday was the last one for the root canal part, now I found out I have ANOTHER visit to complete the root canal!

What is really bad is that due to the root canal, I need a crown now!

What is ever worse is the COST! Between the costs for the root canal and crown or the actual root canal, I'm not sure which hurts the most!

Actually, the Dentist has been very good. My teeth ache or hurt for a day or so after the procedure and then I am fairly comfortable.

I will be glad to get the root canal done, and even happier to get the crown done.

Aliene out of town

Aliene is out of town this week to be with her son Ron for his operation.

I forgot what it is like to live by myself. I quickly degenerated into "eating over the sink" and tripping over my clothes on the floor (well, not really that bad), but it is different. Worse, my eating habits reverted. (Like a pie and ice cream for a complete meal!)

I am glad we are married and I will be really glad when she gets back!

April is a really busy month, and I need to prepare the City budget, so this gave me a chance to catch up on my work, and get the framework of the budget completed.

"The 8th Habit"

I am reading "The 8th Habit" by Stephen Covey as my "15 minute" daily reading exercise. It is a fascinating book and I am enjoying slowly reading it and trying to incorporate the thoughts.

He mentioned the concept of "Completed Staff Work", which apparently is an old concept. For some reason, that concept has never risen to my consciousness before.

It is a great book with a lot of thoughts. I borrow a lot of books from the library. I'm glad I bought this one.

After this book, my goal will be to read the Fortune Magazine "75 Smartest Books". It may take a while to read all 75 books! Actually, I have read a number of them.

Reading

One of my favorite pastimes is reading. I am currently reading "The 8th Habit" by Stephen Covey as my "learning read". (I also read a wide variety of junk mysteries, novels, magazines etc. I just love to read.)

Recently Fortune magazine listed the best 75 books for Managers and I decided my goal is to read all 75 of those books!

I try to spend 15 minuetes per day reading something I normally probably wouldn't read. I figure this will keep me in reading for a long time!

"Hot Wheels" vehicles

I'll admit it. I collect "Hot Wheels" (actually I collect all types of small vehicles). I simply enjoy it and it is a rewarding, inexpensive hobby for me.

I have decided to classify the vehicles (they are much more than cars!) and, several minutes each day, I take the cars and classify them. Some of obvious. I have determined the classifications of "NASCAR", "Indy/Formula I", convertables, pickups, "classic coaches", Ferraris, vans, trucks, fire trucks, police cars etc. Some I haven't been able to classify.

I am looking to trade some cars and will appreciate any information on a "Hot Wheels" club in the West Tennessee. For that matter, I could visit an Oklahoma City club when I am in the area visiting family!

I don't know why I get satisfaction out of collection them. I've been doing it in a coordinated way since at least 1979. Usually I just pick up a couple every now and then, and if I see them at a garage sale (a rare occurance) I buy some of the better ones.