Morning all:

“Too much of a good thing is wonderful.” — Mae West

This is going to be a great day! I just knew it when the first thing I heard this morning was the hooting of an owl. Maybe it’ll be a little bit of a long day (I’ll explain later), but a good one. Now pour that coffee Dirk, and start writing.

Last weekend the kids were over to join the fun of the neighborhood yard sale. This meant much digging through closets. During one closet dive the old outfits were re-discovered and of course it was camera time. I thought I’d share these of Marin in Lederhosen and Dinah as a little Dutch girl.

I discovered that driving to the edge of Michigan and back home again in one day is a bit much, especially when you throw a 4 hour meeting into the mix. This is exactly what I did Wednesday. Left town at 7:30 am and got home at 11:45 pm. I’ve been paying a bit of a penalty the last couple of days. I had little choice. A customer in Elkhart could only meet on Wednesday and I had ‘stuff’ to do on Thursday. At least I had lunch at Lunkers restaurant just inside the Michigan state line – worthwhile if you get a chance. Buy some worms after you finish eating.

If you are cheap like me, think you are a car mechanic like me, and are a bit tight on time, then don’t do what I did. My car battery gave up the ghost. Not completely certain it was the battery and not enough time to check it out I ended up parking at the far edge of the office parking lot from where I could kick-start the car by rolling it towards the building. When you have fellow employees lined up at the windows clapping you just know it’s all a bit over the top. Oh yes, it was the battery, and yes, I did replace it.

Yesterday Tevita and Adrianne became proud owners of their first home. Today is move in day. I suspect that they think that I am a bit over the hill so I have been dis-invited to the move itself. Instead, I am house sitting. From my house sitting perch I can deal with the telephone guy (if he shows), the sofa delivery guys (if they show). You get the drift.

All of this is actually quite good since tonight I am patrolling downtown with Citizens on Patrol. Cincinnati has it’s annual Macy’s Jazz Festival which brings about 40,000 people to the city. This year it is headlined by the likes of Mary J. Blige, The Temptations, Boney James, Lyle Jennings, and the O’Jays. An all call went out from our police department, which I answered. I will be circling the downtown area between 9:00 pm and 2:00 am. I suspect much time will be spent escorting ‘sloshed’ visitors to their hotels while simultaneously keeping pick-pockets at bay.

Make it a great week everyone. I’ve heard it said that no one ever thinks of themselves as one of Them. We’re always one of Us. It’s Them that are the crazies. I guess I will need to remember that tonight.

Cheers,

Dirk