Playing the broken record

On Sunday we went to Sea World for a little family fun time. If you like it when circumstances tempt all of your shortcomings as a parent and a husband, then you would have had a great time. Adam’s nose started to run. Then Adam’s temper started to run. Then Beth’s mouth started to run. [...]

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Something wicked this way comes

The other day one of my coworkers was extolling the virtues of the Interstate Highway phenomenon known as the Cracker Barrel. Personally, I don’t think the Cracker Barrel is “all that.” In fact, I think there’s something seditious about the whole thing.
How could a good, wholesome establishment for good old-fashioned home cookin’ be cast in [...]

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Drive time entertainment

Yesterday afternoon I was driving behind a clunky, beat up, fire-hydrant red, 1972 Chevy P.O.S. (Now available with matching driver.) Just picture the guy given chase by Michael Douglas and Karl Malden to complete your mental picture. He was driving beside a small, clean, 1998 Mitsubishi Galant (with matching female driver). The driver of the [...]

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Somewhere in Nashua, NH,

Three days ago I had no intention of being anywhere other than at home right now. Yesterday I figured I would be sitting in Cheryl’s grandparent’s house right now. Now I find myself sitting on a “full” sized bed in a motel situated on the New Hampshire / Massachusetts border.
I hereby resolve to suspend [...]

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Somewhere over northern Florida,

There are times in your life when you wish you were doing something else. Sitting for the SATs, sitting in a dentist’s examination chair, sitting for a lecture from your angry wife, and sitting in a busy airport with the other hurricane refugees, are all such times. Now, however, I’m sitting in the back of [...]

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Record straightening

In the end, it was a good trip. Per usual, I was nervous being the outsider on that first day (as I’ve already explained). Some of my first impressions were not as good as I had hoped, but in hindsight I can’t discount the fact that my somewhat aloof manner contributed.
The second day left me [...]

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Satiated

Dinner and a movie; sometimes that is all the difference between a day you were ready to forget and a day that doesn’t seem so bad after all. Next time you’re feeling the weight of woe just hop in your car, put on some good music, get something you like to eat, buy yourself a [...]

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The continuing education of John

It is never easy to join a discussion as an outsider. Everyone in the group knows each other but you. You feel left out. You don’t get all of the inside jokes. You don’t understand the references to past experiences. No one leans in and whispers conspiratorially in your ear. Being shy, I don’t tend [...]

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Riding in a car with a child.

So there I was, holding a sealed container in the front passenger seat of our car, as my wife drove the last leg of our journey home. Supporting the bottom of the thin plastic container with both hands, I could feel the warm contents gently sloshing about to the rhythm of the highway. Just moments [...]

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Being lost without prior knowledge.

At the risk of having to give up my key to the men’s room, I have something to admit. It turns out I didn’t have a friggin’ clue where I really was. It all started innocently enough. I was looking to improve on my last bicycle ride in New Orleans, which now holds the title [...]

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