Good morning all:

Weekly Wisdom:

“House and Senate candidates have spent $3 billion on the elections. Now tell me again why politicians can’t identify with the recession.” — anonymous

I tried something new this morning. For some silly reason I decided to make my morning coffee by the light of the kitchen night light (probably a Halloween thing). I did just fine thank you! Fine, that is, until I opted to pour the coffee using the same light. Only as the coffee overflowed the dark mug and started puddling on the light counter top did I realize the mug was full. Oh well, very tasty anyway.

5K – Cool weather and a few thousand people did a mini marathon. For the uninitiated (like me) there was a 5K and thus I joined my former work cohorts for the event. If you do not know, these ‘classics’ always start while it is still dark—last Saturday morning it was very dark. Walking that distance is just fine and I’ve done it with a degree of regularity. Running is another matter. I’ve never been a runner—Marcia uses the word “slug” describing my movements. So this walk-run-walk-run progress had me finish. Not at the head of the pack mind you, but not last either. Actually, I did run solidly the last few hundred yards coming up to the finish line, and was so “in the zone” that I didn’t hear them yell for me to stop. As a running virgin, I had no idea that a quick stop beyond the finish line to cut off the timing chip was part of the drill. Have you ever had a guy chase you while brandishing a wire cutter?

Big Girl Bed – The upstairs room I have my home office in has a smallish single bed along one wall. Much to Marcia’s chagrin it had become a convenient magazine rack for me. The bed itself is white enamel and of a style first developed by Florence Nightingale (many can be seen in the movie “To Kill a Mockingbird”).

Tevita and Adrianne shared with us an elaborate scheme to transition Vaioleti to her first Big Girl Bed. Marcia saw this as an opportunity. An opportunity she would not let go of. Literally within an hour I had that little bed in the back of the truck and on its way. Long story short, Tevita and I took some of the legs off to lower it a bit and put it up. Much hoopla, much praise, and Vaioleti jumped on her new Big Girl Bed and took complete ownership. Grinning from ear to ear she placed both hands in front of her mouth and just giggled.

The next morning I had Adrianne on the phone and of course immediately asked how it had gone with Vai. “Great,” was the answer. She stayed put. In fact, she stayed very put. As Adrianne was getting ready for work from deep within the Big Girl Bed came a little voice. “Mom!” “Mom!” “Mom stuck!” Peeking around the corner Adrianne discovered the urgency; a wriggling Vai was mummified in her sheets. She loves her bed.

Closing – A while back I discovered where I can buy a type of bread remembered from my childhood days in the Netherlands—Roggebrood. It’s probably a bit of an acquired taste, but this stuff is wonderful. Very dark pumpernickel (also a Rye version) bread, thin 6½” by 3½” slices of the darkest bread you’ll ever find. At my age “fibre” is the ‘de facto’ word of the day… every day. Roggebrood fulfills it all, plus! No more mouths full of Flax seed, wood chips, saw dust, or whatever else the good people in Battle Creek dream up.

My next step? A coffee refill (this time done with proper light) and a slice of Roggebrood.

Make it a great week everyone. It’s Halloween, so remember… ‘Fun-size’ candy bars do not make for a fun-size butt. And be sure to vote… it’s the only way to halt the onslaught of television ads.

Cheers,

Dirk