Morning all:

After too many weeks of straight travel this week at home was very nice. In that light I am especially enjoying my first morning cup of home brew. I think it is the smell of the stuff as much as anything.

Last week at this time I was wandering about central England. This week, after looking at an on-line copy of some of the credit card charges I have no idea how the Brits manage. A fuel fill up for a compact car becomes $60. A very plain meal at a self-serve cafeteria almost $15, clothing prices are outrageous, taxes high, and even the trains are not cheap. Considering that on average wages are less than ours, I guess we can consider ourselves lucky.

What is this with “the invasion of the ‘Ladybug’ beetles”? Every nook and cranny has become a thoroughfare for the little beasties. To see half a dozen at a time on places like kitchen counters, desktops, and windowsills is common. From my childhood these were little critters one cherished, held them so they could crawl about your hand, counted the spots, and looked for ones with the shells that had the brightest red. Is this the reason why disposing of them down the drain is a bit of a struggle? Why have they now become pests?

From all that I hear this is going to be a wonderful weekend weather wise, here in our neck of the woods. Monday the bottom will fall out of the thermometer. Therefore we are all geared up with a variety of things to do, from veggie market shopping later this morning to celebrating a wedding this evening. But, and this is a huge plus, with the change in weather will come the great cooking smells of autumn foods; great foods such as Pumpkin pie (with Splenda of course), squash, ham, and turkey. We’ll be celebrating the Thanksgiving holiday dinner Norman Rockwell style with our neighbors – forget this Gen-X stuff.

Hey, have a great week and a wonderful Thanksgiving Day.

Cheers,

Dirk

PS. The “Week’s Best” button has more panels such as the one at top and the music background celebrates the many hours I spent flying about during the past weeks – by a British group no less.