Autumnal is one of my favorite words...

The leaves are changing and have moved beyond the colorful stage to something more dreary and dull.  They will fall to make way for spring flowers and greenery but first the trees become dormant and hibernate for the winter.

Could you imagine what the world would be like if humans hibernated for the winter.  I guess college students do.  They get like a month off between semesters.  i expect my daughter will curl up on the couch with her laptop and Nook and hot cocoa.  She loves my Keurig.

But now is the time to make sure summer is put away.  Just stored all the deck furniture, including the firepit, in the shed.  And all the memories of good times with a beer and the stars and a fire burning for Smores...

And filling up all the room I made in the shed this year so it all fit with out looking like a storage unit from Storage Wars.

I prefer Sam Adams lager while I sit on my deck grilling and making Smores.  If you haven't tried Smores with Reese's instead  of just chocolate, you are missing out.

Next the trampoline comes down to truly fully signal the end of summer and the expectation of winter.

I love winter.  I love fall.  I can't imagine living in a place without 4 seasons, and i have a pretty good imagination.

But there are still good times ahead.  Just had dinner with my Sister and Brother in law and my parents. Very good time, and I haven't spent that long after dinner in a restaurant just chatting since... the last time I went to Olive Garden.  The Sam Adams Octoberfest was very tasty too.

And fall is the beginning of Cub Scouts.  My son is a Bear this year which has got to be one of the most fun years yet.

Life is what you make of it.  You can remember the good byes or the the good times leading up to them and the promise of Hellos in the future.

HAND!

Broken Stuff...

I have never seen so much hoopla over a web site not working.  Especially with the amount of traffic it is getting.  Lets face it folks, a little common sense will tell you that any new web site, with the amount of traffic the Health Care sites are getting, are going to have some bugs.

I'll be honest, I'm not a big fan of the exchanges, but I get enough of people blowing things out of proportion at work.  What about Beta testing?  How many of the MMORG's out there don't need patches?  The games on Facebook and Zynga? I got a used game for our PS3 and the first time I use it, the game downloads patches and fixes.

Let's broaden the concept outside of computer programming which American Society takes as being too infallible.  It's only as good as the humans who design it.  And multiple humans design it.  These big progs are actually software quilts and every here and there the stitching doesn't match up.

You have heard of automobile recalls? Product recalls?  Read a book lately with a spelling mistake in it?I have.  I know of a fiction series that has a science mistake in the first book. A spelling mistake is  lethal in a computer program.

The only thing as ridiculous as the amount of outrage over something fixable is the defense raised by the Democrats that its the Republicans fault because they stalled the project so much.

Excuse me, last time I checked, more time to work on something leads to LESS problems.

You want to get upset about systems that cause inconvenience and waste?  The FDA no longer holds food dating as a bad violation except in the case of baby formula.  Food dating is a measure of quality now.  Stuff doesn't go bad at the stroke of midnight on the date printed on the package.  Do you know how much food is thrown out in this country because of those dates?

Do you know how much food is thrown out because it is the wrong artificial color?

Let's cash some reality checks people.  We have bigger problems than inoperable health care web sites.

HAND!!

It's Over Before You Know It...

The fall colors have dimmed passed the spectacular stage.  I missed them at their  height as well.  Autumn always seems to be like that; overnight it seems the leaves go from green to to dreary oranges and I've missed the bright natural kaleidoscope that God created. Life has been moving too fast between an ever changing work schedule made more complex by co workers out for various reasons from simple vacations to the beginnings of life.

Suddenly, the Weather Channel is reporting snow in various places and the nights are dipping into the 30's.  More frost, soon snow. I like snow but Autumn is over and I never got to experience it...

My friends invited me to stop by and spend some time with them some Saturday night like we used to.  I usually close on Saturdays or open early on Sundays.  It has been about 6 months since i have spent time with them. Sometimes I'm surprised they still want to see me...

My daughter is almost done with her first semester of college/first half of her senior year.  She volunteers at a spook house on the week ends but since it runs past 9, she can't drive to it.

Cub Scouts has started and I'm the leader of my son's Bear den.  We went to Iron Kettle farms this weekend.  I had a bracelet allowing me into all the events but I used it to keep an eye on my charges. At lunch, the bears separate into their families again and I got to share lunch with Em and Jake in the back of my truck as the sky got darker, the breeze became a chill wind, and two trucks collided on the road.  We left after lunch and I realized during the hour drive home that I hadn't gotten to play with my kids.  I spent so much time watching and supervising...

I offered to go elsewhere with them on the way home but we were so tired and Em had the spook house to go to...

My brother and sister are at my parents from out of town for a week or so.  I put in for time off to see them but we are short managers at work right now so it was denied...

My Uncle died over the weekend.  I always thought I would see him again.  My father is officiating the service.  I would like to be there but work and kids and I work a middle schedule all week. He used to come into the Sam's Club where i work from time to time and we'd catch up a little.  He was always smiling.

Time to get ready for work soon.

Time to do that thing I don't like doing.  Giving advice that I can't seem to take;

Find the time to spend with those around you.  Make memories.  Have fun.  Don't try to sleep with regret.

Because, well, read the title again...

HAND