I had another of my “spontaneous-let’s-take-another-trip” moments earlier in the week (Monday) and so I had a word with my boss, left at noon, went home, packed and headed on the road to Williamsburg, Virginia (an 11-hour drive from Ottawa). I’ve driven through “Colonial Williamsburg” several times but never stayed here and now I’m glad that I did. If you’re a history buff, this is definitely the area to be in. My main reason for taking this trip was that I came to realize that in all the t... Read Full Story

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I get a little annoyed when the news media goes overboard in their reporting. The latest coverage of the death of Michael Jackson, the divorce of Jon and Kate and the affair of South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, just to mention a few items, has been overdone. Enough already! Although I was never a fan of Michael Jackson, he was a superstar performer and his death was certainly newsworthy. But for the coverage to go on and on, particularly on CNN whe... Read Full Story

I turned 62 this week and in keeping with my previous post, that means I have an excuse for being grumpy at times! On another note, looking back over the years I’m amazed at the many changes I’ve seen and the many differences in how we look at things today as compared to when I was growing up. First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn’t get tested for diabetes. Then after t... Read Full Story

When I was younger I used to care what people thought of me. Like most everyone else, I wanted to be liked and accepted. I’ll be turning 62 in another week and one of the things I’ve come to notice as I get older is that I really don’t give a damn anymore what others [...] Read Full Story

I know several people who are workaholics and I’ve never been able to understand what it is that motivates a person to be addicted to his/her job. I certainly have never been a workaholic. For years I was dedicated to my job but at the end of the work day I would leave any thoughts of work at the workplace. Now, as I approach retirement, I admit that I’m merely putting in time. A co-worker and friend of mine will be going on vacation in another week and sure enough you can bet that he’ll ha... Read Full Story

While we were in Gatlinburg last week, Eileen and I got into a discussion concerning “family” that came about because of my comment that sons and daughters today are more reliant on their parents than when I was younger. It’s not uncommon today to see 20-30-year-olds still living at home or depending on their parents in some way. I can remember when I’d finished high school and informed my parents that I was going to take a year off before going to University. My father put an end to this i... Read Full Story

My friend Eileen and I returned home Monday from a 6-day trip to Gatlinburg, Tennessee and the Smoky Mountains. The last time I was in Gatlinburg was some 14 years ago when I shared a chalet with 9 other online friends. The major difference between then and now is that I discovered that I’m totally out of shape. Actually, I already knew this but when Eileen and I headed up one of those mountain trails I definitely found out. Needless to say, I never made it to the top but Eileen went all the... Read Full Story

Don’t you just hate it when your local supermarket decides to rearrange all the aisles? I don’t know if you’re like me, but when I go shopping for groceries (something I hate doing), I like to get in and get out as fast as possible. Today after work, I needed to stop off at the local IGA for 3 simple items – bread, milk and coffee. Since I’ve shopped here a number of times I know where everything is – at least I did until today. It seems that they decided to completely rearrange every aisle ... Read Full Story

One of the surprising things I’ve learned when travelling is that most people don’t know too much about the places where they live. This past weekend I was in Harrisonburg, Virginia and when I checked into the hotel I asked the person on the front desk about the local attractions. She didn’t know too much, telling me that she had just moved to the area, and pointed to a stand in the lobby that contained several brochures. She couldn’t even tell me if there was a local “Sports Bar” where I co... Read Full Story

Maybe it’s the nice weather. Maybe it’s that I’m just feeling restless lately. Or maybe it’s because I AM still crazy after all these years. This morning when I woke up I had every intention of going to work and in fact I did go in for a couple of hours. Then I got the idea to go on another road trip for the weekend and so I booked off work, went home and packed a few things and then called Eileen to let her know that I wouldn’t be around this weekend because I was heading off to Virginia. A... Read Full Story