A happy man

Today I saw the happiest man I have ever seen on television. After forty years of television viewing I saw the true utter complete happiness of a man who has finally been shown to be right and suddenly becoming important again.

It was John McCain and he was explaining how he knew all along that America should have left ground troops in Iraq and that now he has been proved right.

America now knows what we need. We need ground troops in Iraq. Ground troops in Syria. Ground troops in the Ukraine and just to show we are also humanitarians, 30,000 ground troops in Africa to fight the ebola virus.

Office potlucks

One of the great things about having a job is getting to go to office potlucks. Today we had one at work, it was football oriented and was called a tailgate potluck. People were expected to show up in football jerseys or t-shirts and bring food to share. I brought chili. I realized now I was supposed to put the chili in a crock pot and not just microwave it. I had to warm it up twice.

My chili was dwarfed on all sides by better offerings. Fortunately, one of the office managers pushed the chili. "You should try Mr. Mustache's chili" he exclaimed. "It has a real bite to it!" That helped it along but there was still a lot left. Tomorrow I guess I'll be eating chili.

The purpose of potlucks is not just to give the staff indigestion. The purpose of the event is to allow people from other units to socialize and get to know each other. It worked out that way today. The Mom's talked toddlers and soccer games. The older men talked about their golf games. Luckily, I travel, so occasionally I can mention my recent trip to Ireland or LA although I didn't get a chance today.

One thing I hate is people who grab food and run back to their offices to eat. They miss the point of the thing. It's supposed to be a social event. Nobody is that busy.

It wasn't a bad potluck. Now, next year, to make it a real tailgate potluck we should have it in the parking lot and there should be a keg of beer. That would be a real tailgate party

the Roosevelts

Just saw six of the seven programs on the Roosevelts. I've been to a few places mentioned in the show. Hyde Park is worth seeing. On display is FDR's wheelchair, a rather primitive thing, a chair with wheels attached. I also went to the Teddy Roosevelt home in Oyster Bay, a nice visit, especially if you like bear rugs and lots of trophies. You can get to Oyster Bay by the Long Island Railroad, if you don't mind a walk.

On a trip to Georgia a few years ago, I went to Warm Springs. Nice place and up the street I ate the best southern fried chicken I ever had.

Americans lack ambiton

According to a recent report by Career Builder employment agency. Ambition, like acne, is one of those things most of us leave behind by age forty. The problem is ambition leads to supervisory jobs and since most people lack ambition, supervising people can drive you batty. As I was told in the break room years ago, "If they see you are a hard worker, they'll just keep piling on the work and nobody ever gets promoted around here."

So let's get out there and ACHIEVE!

Editor's note: Someone gave me a whole book about having no ambition. Pete Jordan has made a career out of being a layabout. I guess that's his ambition.