A few years ago there was a public campaign that asked the “average Joe” to submit an idea for a new reality TV show. The hope was that someone from somewhere would have an idea unique enough to be produced on television. I am an “average Joe” who is someone from somewhere so I submitted …
Category: Life Lessons
Bobby Unser, Paul Newman, and Me – Episode Two
The four travelers didn’t knock on my apartment door until about 10:00. All of that concern about nothing. They had decided to drive to Allegan before picking me up. Uncle Harry’s parents are buried in a local cemetery and he wanted to place flowers on their grave. After visiting the cemetery they stopped …
Bobby Unser, Paul Newman, and Me
The 52nd International 500 Mile Sweepstakes (AKA the Indianapolis 500) was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Thursday May 30, 1968. For the second year in a row, one of Andy Granatelli’s STP Turbine-powered machines was leading late in the race, but once again, it failed within sight of victory. On …
Naps
When it comes to taking naps I think that there are two types of people in the world , those who do and those who don’t. I’m a doer. According to the National Sleep Foundation, more than 85% of mammalian species are polyphasic sleepers, meaning that they sleep for short periods throughout the day. Humans …
The Underachiever
The importance of hard work was instilled upon me by my parents. My mom graduated from high school but my dad only attended school through the eighth grade. That was normal for many kids born in the late teens and twenties. They wanted more for my two sisters and me. They encouraged me to …
Flight 245
Ruth and I were passengers on Flight 245 from Las Vegas and Los Angeles on September 3, 2011. We had visited Vegas as a celebration of our wedding anniversary. After our time in Vegas we planned to make a short hop over to Los Angles prior to boarding a flight for our final …
Like – Lust – Love
My mom and grandmother once told me that I proposed to a girl during dinner. Sounds romantic. I was three and Beverly was four. I don’t believe that my two elders ever lied to me so it must be true. I don’t actually remember the proposal, but I do remember Beverly. My Kentucky sweetheart …
Cursive vs. Printing
Ruth and I didn’t plan to have three children but we did. Heck, if you’ve read my previous story, “How About Me?”, you know that we didn’t plan to get married. But we did that too. We turned out to be pretty traditional – marriage , then children. When we got around to talking about …
The Birds, The Bees, and Earleen
I was a cub scout and then a boy scout for several years. In addition to all of the “be prepared” parts of scouting, scouts also had fund raising drives to raise money to offset the cost of all our activities. Paper drives were a great way to raise money while helping our neighbors …
It’s Gonna Rain Again
I’ve enjoyed a career in education spanning over forty-five years. I’ve taught, served as a building principal, been a school superintendent and now do consulting work. Once, several years ago in my elementary school principal days, I received a phone call from a friend and new school principal. He needed my advice. He was the …