Monday, September 17, 2007

From The Weekend



My weekend is probably a little different than yours in that I work 6 days, every week. So, my weekend begins Saturday night, after work. My wife and I eat out on Saturday nights. Occasionally we go to Steak 'n Shake. This week the place was half empty. This seemed odd to me since the Terre Haute Air Fair was going on. This is an annual local attraction that has grown in popularity and attracts folks from all over. You wouldn't know it at Steak 'n Shake! It didn't take long to see why the place was half empty. The menus were brand new, complete with brand new prices. Higher prices. 30% higher on my usual. In time people will become accustomed to the higher price. Coupons will become available. In the meantime, the price difference continues to narrow between food at a family restaurant and a fancy restaurant. The trouble with the nicer restaurants in this town is that they do not take reservations and the Saturday night wait is 30-90 minutes or longer.

Hey I came across some good TV, this weekend. I've seen Charles Osgood on CBS' Sunday morning, before. The show had always seemed to be a little too stuffy for my taste. You know, tree huggers and save the whales. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a good tree and a good whale as much as the next guy, but I have an extremely short weekend. Recently, they've had some very well done features. Often I see a feature on TV and I don't learn a damn thing from it. Not so on CBS/ Sunday morning. And (and this is important) there was no hidden agenda. Just the facts. The facts that you knew and the facts that you didn't know. All of this presented by Charles Osgood, whose real talent is on the radio. I never heard him do anything as well as hosting the morning shift on WCBS-AM in the Late 60's/early '70's. So, if you don't mind the abscense of wisecracking co-hosts, somewhat pretty news anchorettes and the like, you might like the show.

Saturday, September 15, 2007

Friendship


I'd like to talk a little bit about friendship. Most of us learned about this concept in kindergarten. As we got a little older, we found that friendship does not appear on a Master Card statement. Friendship has nothing to do with money. The millionaire doesn't have more real friends than the laborer. Friendship is seldom a burden, it's basically a nice thing. With all of the lies, deceit and pressure in life, friendship in the great equalizer. It's a birthday card or e-mail. It's a dumb joke in the morning. It's a compliment. It may even be a suggestion of some kind. Nothing more! This post may seem meaningless to you, but I know that some people just don't get it. How sad. How sad for them.