I'm as grateful as I can get

‘Tis the time of year to reflect upon the things for which we are thankful.
My “A to Z” list:
A = America – can you really imagine living somewhere else (except maybe Canada)?
B = BBL - as in my Beautiful Bodacious Lady (same as “L”)
C = Crosswords – allows my BBL to daily show me her intelligence and skill
D = Daughter (same as “K”)
E = Electricity/Energy – absolutely makes life much Easier
F = Friendship and Family (probably same as “U” and “Y”); Freedom
G = GPS - gets my associate Al (and me) to where we need to go in ½ the time.
H = Harmony – when everything is going smoothly. Same as “Happiness & Health”
I = Internet – use it every day, can’t imagine not having it. Aids my “Intellect”
J = Jeff - (same as “S”) - my boy who has grown into a man to make me very proud
K = Katie – my beautiful girl, a source of both pride and inspiration
L = Linda – synonymous with “Love” and “Life” (also same as “B and “W”)
M = MP3’s- represents my new interaction with “Music” these days
N = NPR – I still can’t believe it, but it has become my favorite radio station
O = Ostriches – just checking to see if you’re reading! Otherwise, OT
P = Punky - our “Puppy” who is my constant companion
Q = Quiet – I definitely like it (and increasingly more of it) these days
R = Residence. As in “Roof over our heads in a nice neighborhood”
S = Son (same as “J”)
T = Texas – wasn’t born here, but definitely am not ever leaving my adopted state
U = Same as “Y”!
V = Vitality – I have some, but mainly feed off “A,B,D,F,H,I, J,K,L,P,S,T,W,U,Y&Z”!
W = Wife (same as “B” and “L”; also the same as “Warmth”)
X = The “X” factor that uneXpectedly improves the eXperience we have
Y = You – if you’re reading this, you have probably touched my life favorably
Z = Zero’s, as in net worth. I have some of them (but you can’t get enough)!

My 1st Lap Around Indy

Made my first ever trip to Indianapolis this last week. How I’ve been able to avoid this for so long is a mystery, but it is a mistake now rectified. The people there are so darn nice!

The occasion for the trip was two-fold. My BBL’s nephew, who also holds the title of godson, was marrying a vivacious local girl. That made an excuse for both a party and a family mini-reunion. Our twig of the family tree had no responsibility for any duty in the wedding other than showing up. Not a bad way to start a trip.

After duly observing and celebrating said nephew/godson’s acceptance of the bonds of matrimonial prison, I kissed my BBL and kids goodbye at the airport and moved my stuff from the downtown Omni Severin hotel to University Place Hotel on the campus of IUPU (which when you think about it, is a better sequence of letters than IPUP!). This move was the result of my first ever transaction with Priceline. I thought I was bidding on a four-star downtown hotel for $75/night (and hoping that might turn out to be the Omni). The new hotel came within a star of where we had been, but in retrospect, I probably could have gotten it for $50 as the place was that empty. It was here I witnessed the only negative reaction by an individual in this city: a woman checking into the hotel said “Darn It” and frowned when she learned that Celine Dion had canceled an evening performance she had just driven over 100 miles to see.

The reason I had extended my stay was to introduce myself to my company’s distributors in the city (I’m at my best when multi-tasking on trips). Little did these customers know that, through no fault of their own, they were now assigned to my Central Region. To their credit, none of them said “Darn it” or frowned when they met me. In fact, each one I met was as nice, if not nicer, than the last.

As I sat in the IND airport waiting to be one of the very last departures out of their “old” terminal, I believe I hit upon a plausible explanation for the pervasive “niceness” of this city’s citizens: Indianapolis is the headquarters of Eli Lilly, the manufacturers and purveyors of Prozac. Perhaps some of this stuff is getting in the city water supply? That would explain the one frown I saw—she was from Fort Wayne.

And I’m Unhappy Because . . . ?

Well, it’s not because Halloween is over where too many in the neighborhood feel they have to display faux graves, skeletons and spiders on their property!

And, I’m not unhappy because all the hot air advertising surrounding this election is about to vaporize. So too, (hopefully) will the forwarded email messages that spew right- and left-wing diatribe--some so unbelievable that the authors should be candidates for straightjackets.

But not all forwarded email is bad – some actually has the capacity to make me think rather than flinch. Like one entitled “Made in the USA: Spoiled Brats” that came in mis-attributed to David Letterman (but a little research on Snopes revealed it was written way back in November of ‘06 by a very un-comedic Craig Smith). He cites a (7/06) Newsweek poll stating that roughly 2/3rds of Americans are (or were) unhappy. And asks why.

Fast forward two years and a Time magazine poll claims that 85% of us are now unhappy—mostly with the economy, but I don’t personally know of anyone who has taken up “dumpster diving” lately. Craig Smith’s questions as to “why” are still valid. To be sure, it is every American’s unalienable right to feel unhappy, but I would think 90+% of us should feel pretty darn good about things – and 98+% of us could certainly find a great many things for which to be happy and thankful.

Your next five minutes of happiness are hereby provided by Robin Williams in this 1982 performance (courtesy of another forwarded email).