Ed Icionsub

Last night I read a post on Jerry’s blog about how many businesses do not have their street address prominently displayed. I think he makes a really good point. There have been several times that I had to go downtown and search for an unfamiliar address. That is so very frustrating, especially when you are trying to get to an appointment on time.

I call this situation a Nashville conceit. The merchants and professionals seem to have an attitude of “if they want me they will know where I am.” That is SO wrong!

Friday night TV is never any good on the networks. But this is the one night of the week that most of the family is usually at home and hoping for entertainment. Thank goodness there are 100 cable channels to surf through and find something worth watching. Unfortunately we did not have a lot to pick from tonight. We ended up watching a Disney movie, called The Game Plan. It was a cute comedy starring Dwayne Johnson, the former pro wrestler called, The Rock.

Part of the adventure of growing up has to do with learning your limits and boundaries. Hopefully this will be accomplished in a controlled environment, surrounded by responsible people who care about you and your welfare. My parents taught me to drink alcohol while I was in my teens. We began by having a glass of wine with dinner every once in a while – special occasions like my parent’s anniversary, and certain holidays, like Thanksgiving. Then, we I turned 18, we would have a cold beer at baseball games or other sporting events.

I learned that I could handle one or two drinks without getting stupid drunk, and I learned from their example to never drive if I am drinking. In fact, I rarely drink alcohol in public, and any drinking that I do is always in moderation and never before driving. I feel blessed that my parents took this important life lessons so seriously and didn’t leave me to learn at the hands of my peers.

A large portion of Chile has been devastated by a series of major earthquakes. My heart goes out to the survivors and my prayers go out to those who have lost family members or their homes. The earthquakes were scattered along the west coast of South America, and Chile’s second largest city was particularly hard hit. We are waiting to hear news reports of the damages and I’m sure the United States will send humanitarian aid right away.

Today is my wife’s birthday. Although it is not a “big one” in reference to those birthdays that indicate a decade of history, as far as I am concerned, every birthday that she celebrates is a big one. We almost lost her to Cancer several years ago – it was a very dark period in our marriage and our lives. But thanks to wonderful doctors and modern medicine, she was able to beat the Cancer and we are blessed to have her still with us.

Love you honey – we are looking forward to taking you out to dinner to your favorite restaurant tonight! Happy Birthday!

The political race for governor has begun. The commercials started with the Super Bowl, and now they are on every night. None of the candidates are worth a hoot, but this is a very powerful position in the state, with a chance for presidential nod one day. I have to find one worth supporting, from a field of post turtles.

There was an article in the paper that say over 60% of workers in the U. S. did not take their earned vacation time last year. That might be a good thing if you can can accumulate unlimited hours or days that carry over each year. But at my company we have to used the days earned within a year or we lose that time. So you can believe that I use my vacation time,

This year I have plans to go to the biggest and best golf tournament in the the world, held every year in Augusta, Georgia. I have a friend who lives in nearby Aiken, SC, so the deal is that I buy the The Masters Tickets for both of us and I get to stay at his house for a week during the tournament.

Last year I did not get to attend any baseball games all year, so this year I have to make up for that. I will get both Fenway Park Tickets for a game in July, and then Wrigley Field Tickets for the Cubs against the Cardinals. This game has been an annual tradition for us for 15 years, with the exception of last year and the passing of a brother in law. Obviously, we had to cancel our plans and attend the funeral. But this year, we are back to our yearly trek to Chicago in the heat of summer to cheer for the Cardinals.

The love song I just posted by Whitney Houston is my wife’s favorite song. But mine is this one, by Bryan Adams:

This song by Whitney Houston was rated by Yahoo users as one of the top favorite love songs:

I probably should have posted this on Valentine’s Day, but I got busy . . .

One of the most interesting aspects of using the internet is that it is truly an international medium. I have been able to access newspapers all over the world, and participate in bulletin boards and discussions with people from a variety of different countries.

One of the most interesting bulletin boards that I found recently is based in India and helps the people having issues with various businesses as a public consumer forum.

One of my company’s franchisees is from India and he still has a lot of family there. He was in a meeting with me this morning and during a break he went online to check his emails and surf a few web sites. He showed me the consumer court India website and shared some of the recent posts with me. It was truly fascinating.

There are a variety of topics available for comments and discussions. I read the laptop computer forum and was very surprised to see how many complaints were lodged against all the major laptop manufacturers. It was a real eye opener and worth considering when shopping for a new laptop.