One Tired Old Man

Halloween is approaching and I feel like I have been tricked not treated...I have an awful cold and my body feels like someone took a baseball bat and hit me in the ribs....When I cough it hurts...Oh well, other than being drugged up, I have no excuse not to write the blog...

Speaking of baseball, my favorite team (Cincinnati Reds) lost and they finally fired the Manager that I was not fond of. I was hoping they would make a change because in my mind they were never going to take the next step until they made a change. Now the ironic twist is that when I heard that they fired him, I actually felt sadness and empathy wondering what Dusty Baker and his family was going through....He gets over 4 million in severance, so the worried about Dusty feelings were short lived. It's a sign of my age that I would worry about this coach, I think 10 years ago I would have been jubilant, now just relieved for my team and somewhat sad for the man...

My 1,700 mile car trip through St. Louis, Paducah, Atlanta, Knoxville and Nashville finally ended last night. It started off well enough staying in St. Louis for a night at Hollywood, then I started feeling a cold coming on. I stayed Saturday night in Atlanta with Danny Messimer and his new bride Laura. They were great hosts and I hope I didn't leave an illness behind. We went to my favorite Restaurant chain (Houston's) for dinner, it was nice to be back in Atlanta, and even nicer to spend time with one of the best friends a person could be privileged to have.

Sunday morning, after Laura baked us fresh blueberry muffins for breakfast, I hit the road headed to Knoxville to see my buddy Fred and his son Ethan. Fred and Debbie finally sold their house in Maryville, Tennessee and Fred will be joining Debbie in the Orlando Florida area as soon as he can find suitable employment. He has been in his current position for 7 years and they have lived in the same rustic farmhouse for almost 20 years, so big changes coming for the Staley's. Debbie's writing career has taken off, I hope they remember their poor old pal John as they gain their fortune and fame.

Fred had bought weekend passes for this Maryville, Tennessee Festival. He and Ethan went to see Lynard Skynard on Saturday night so Fred could relive his hazy memory of a youth filled with Southern Rock. I got to join him to watch Rascal Flats on Sunday evening to complete my October adventure. The concert was held outdoors in very cool damp weather.

It was crowded with a lot of country fans. Sadly, I don't think the weather aided in my fight against this nasty cold. Rascal Flats started playing just after dark, and we stayed for the first 12 songs (I knew 2 of them, Fred knew one song)

Well from behind the big tree, I sat and kept the beat on my leg, just like all the other old guys in the crowd...lol.

I was coughing so much by the time I went to bed, that sleep evaded my poor soul. Monday morning I headed on a three hour drive to Nashville for a Corporate Customer Review, then after the review an almost 7 hour trip where I fought to stay awake to get home safely. I ran out of napkins, nothing worse than being sick on the road. I drugged myself up good last night and I plan on staying heavily medicated until this illness passes. We have our annual food show this coming weekend, so I need to get better pronto!

I skyped with Rodz yesterday, she shared with me because of the holiday in the UAE, that Dubai Mall was open 24 hours a day for the next week. I have to admit, they certainly try and make all they can from the Islamic Holidays. Her Visa application is progressing along (despite the Gov't shutdown) and we still hope she can immigrate here in December. It will be fun taking her to the big Christmas celebration with most of my relatives in Ohio this December. Hopefully, she will make it here in time for that.

I am enjoying being in America for all of the great TV. Somehow my DVR is filling up faster than I can watch the shows that I have been missing. Baseball is almost over, so I can begin catching up. Sounds like a great problem to have. Other than catching up on American TV, I don't have a trip planned for November. My uncle Dave has invited me to come to Texas for a weekend, that may be the solution for this coming month. Any other ideas? (Sorry - no middle East trips planned as of now)...I am sure you will let me know.

When my cold goes away, I will hopefully be in a much better blog state of mind. In the meantime, I hope you are happy and Healthy, and I will see you back here the day after Halloween....Happy Trick or Treat!

October, My Favorite month of the Year

        Any of you that know me very well, know that I am a huge Cincinnati Reds baseball fan. The Reds managed to underperform just enough to barely make the playoffs. I have a feeling that they won't go deep in the playoffs, tonight they begin. The good news is that I can watch the game at 7 pm my time verses last year where I would have had the game on at 4 am....Sports for the most part, no longer causes me to have sleeping disorders...lol.

        I have spent a lot of time the last couple of weeks thinking about Kumail, Vinny, and Joseph. I really grew to love these three guys, and they all followed me to Barakat. Now just 6 short months since I left, they have all three quit. I discussed leaving with them and they all 3 blessed my coming back to America, but it has dawned on me that they looked at me as an opportunity, and I hope that they don't think that I let them down. I am not sure what any of them are making now, I can only hope that if they felt betrayed or let down they have forgiven me...

        I am so happy to be reintroduced to my favorite season in America, Autumn. The cool dry nights, followed by mid 70's clear skies with very little rain. It was also my favorite time of the year in Dubai, with seasonal business picking up after the long brutal summer. For those Middle Eastern readers, we are having a budget stalemate in America, and our government has furloughed many workers during a partial shutdown. Sadly, one of the departments that has closed is immigration (Visa processing) and they were already two months behind their normal schedule. I haven't shared that tidbit of news with Rodz yet...Well, maybe I just have...

       You could see from the last blog that Fred and I shared a big sports weekend for my September adventure. Well, October is upon us, and Fred gets to enjoy my company for this months entertainment. I have to make a trip to Atlanta on October 12th (Hello Danno Holiday Inn!) and on the way back, I am spending the day at a fall festival in Knoxville. Fred has got us tickets to the Rascal Flats Concert on Sunday. Fred's son Ethan, is concerned about our bro-time together, but as we get older, I think we just laugh at those kind of innuendo's. So hopefully pictures of our RocktOberfest will be forthcoming.

     On the business front, I am having some success at the new job. I have just opened a new chain for my Company, and things seem to chug along. I have felt a loss to my importance to the company compared to my time in Dubai, as no one reports directly to me now, and I don't make critical decisions like I did the last 3 years. It's not that I am not appreciated, its more of a sense of worth that I am going through. My pay is fair, and I work about 2/3rds of the hours that I did overseas, but I will say I miss a little of the responsibility that came with my old positions. We will see what the future holds....

I have to get going, but I still appreciate the average 125 readers that read each posting. I am feeling a little more boring each month, but maybe I can stir up some fun stories to share with you. Enjoy your beautiful October weather here in the states or there in my old stomping grounds of Dubai...I will see you around the 15th with Rascal Flats stories....