Newtown CT

It's happened again.  Someone for what ever twisted reason decides to go and take innocent lives for something that they feel completely justified in doing so.  And young lives for that matter.

Whether it's purely hate driven or insanity of some sort, an individual has once again driven a lightening rod of absolute fear and despair into every one of us.  Proving that we are not completely safe in any place we are, and the next lost soul could be sitting right next to any one of us.  My apologies for the gloom and doom but am I not right?

What does a person capable of things like this really look like?  We can racially and socially profile all day and we'd most likely be totally wrong.  This shooter apparently was somewhat of a role model kid with good grades and what appeared to be a decent upbringing.  What in God's name possessed him to do something like this to a member of his own family and all those children?  We may never really know.

But this school shooting today has really got me upset.  More so than the Columbine shooting or the Aurora Theater slayings.  And I hate to sound so calloused when I make this remark but I don't know why.  Especially when it seems like every time you turn around something like this is happening in our society.

My heart goes out to the families involved, the staff at the school, and the first responders who had to arrive on scene to all of this chaos.  But most of all I just can't stop thinking about the parents who have lost children today.  And for what?

Tragedy never has a better time to present itself.  It always arrives unannounced and when you least expect it.  Very seldom do we see it coming and brace ourselves for it.  It lives by its own schedule and comes and goes as it pleases.

But with Christmas being right around the corner it makes this all that much more disheartening.  In many households this year, and probably close to forever now, the holidays may never bring the joy they once knew.

So here I am faced with the question as to why this is affecting me so profoundly today.  Is it because it's that time of the season?  Or is it the fact that I've had my share of seeing how people react when you tell them a loved one has died.  And I know plenty of them have just had that talk or are about to.

It's hard to imagine what they all must be going through.  And I pray to God that I never have to.

It's been a while

And I'm coming back.

Several things interfered with my ability to write as much as I had wanted this year but I'll spare you the details.  It's not health related (at least mine) and I didn't lose a job. So for the sake of this brief thread let's just chalk it up to laziness, inattentiveness and some degree of hiding.

I've got a five pound pail for a head and ten pounds of ideas and thoughts in it.  I plan on bangin' away on this keyboard soon so until then have a great Christmas, and a safe, healthy, and prosperous New Year.

I'll meet you on the other side of the fiscal cliff.

Gus

I am the wing man, I am the mad man, I am the walrus. (Goo goo g'joob)

Don't get me wrong.  I absolutely love to travel.  And I've always said that I'd be perfectly in my element if I was living out of a suitcase.  But right now I have to say that I am so glad to finally be home enjoying something that resembles normalcy in my life.

I just finished up the trade show season that comes to the racing industry this time every year.  Hundreds of manufacturers, distributors and dealers vying for your company's attention and on going revenue stream.  All trying to get into your catalog and onto your shelves.

Normally in the past only one show covered it all.  And for one week in December I myself as well as a few others that I work with would descend on Orlando Florida for the grand daddy of them all.  The Performance Racing Industry trade show.  One million square feet of absolute eye candy to anyone involved in motor sports.

Historically that's where our show circuit would begin and end.  And for my colleagues it did.  But for the second time in as many years I had to jump off my plane from Florida and immediately catch one to Indianapolis for their show the following week.  Two weeks after that I would find myself in Birmingham England.


Slight detour to London



The UK show was a new one for me this year.  I was told that the caliber of vendor over there is head and shoulders above what we have here in the states and it couldn't have been more true.  The parts churned out by some of these companies was absolute jewelry!  Motor sports really does command a much higher level of respect in Europe than it does here in the states and I'm so glad that I got to see this first hand.

As in all my trips in the past, business or pleasure, I pour out an enormous amount of effort researching every potential deal on air fare, hotels, and anything else that one would need when abroad.  And if I may say so I'm not all that bad at it.

But the one thing that I usually have no impact on is where I sit on a plane.  Whether I'm allowed to choose my seats or not, I always seem to find myself on the wing of an aircraft.  You know that part of the plane that amplifies every little dip and bump in the earth's atmosphere?

The reality of this became quite evident on my eight hour flight back to the states this past weekend.  For a good portion of my time in the air I couldn't read anything, nor could I play any of the in flight games on the headrest in front of me.  Just keeping a drink on my tray at times proved to be a monumental task.  Now I know it wasn't solely the fault of my bad seat assignment, but whatever mother nature was throwing at us outside was sure made painfully clear from where I was sitting inside.

And unfortunately I'm the kind of guy who will always have preconceived ideas of what things are going to be like.  Or more to the point, what they should be like.  At least in the Book of Mike.

In anything from racing, my fitness routine, fixing my car or house, to how I'm going to navigate the streets of London.  I can go from zero to moody to absolute lunatic mode in the blink of an eye if everything doesn't fall exactly into place as I imagined.  This kind of particular behavior is normally reserved for ten year olds but here I am working my fifth decade on this earth and sometimes I find that I haven't changed a bit.

Episodes like this can sap the energy out of everyone involved and quickly escalate an otherwise tiny set back into a monumental fubar.  One deep breath and maybe a little patience and composure could drastically change the outcome of the event but not when I'm seein' red! At those moments I'd be surprised if I could remember those words much less live by them.

Just ask my wife who had to endure my wrath as I tried to find our hotel from the airport in England.  Two hours to find a place that was only seven miles away!  And would I immediately accept defeat and pull over for directions?  I sure would, but only after about an hour an a half and three requests from my co-pilot.

One beautiful place to get lost in I will admit, but I still have to curse them for all those damn roundabouts.  There was a time when I used to laugh at just the thought of Chevy Chase in National Lampoon's European Vacation - "Look kids, Big Ben, Parliament", but trust me no one was smiling now!

Trips like this always breed the worst in eating habits as well.  From dinners with clients to stuffing something in your face while you're on the run.  To even attempt to eat healthy is sometimes not even in the cards.  A few drinks after the show will most likely lead to late night snacking and the next thing you know you're blogging everyone about your weight issues.

But let's spare each other the drama here and not try and portray something that I'm clearly not.  That being the ever health conscious person who counts calories and is genuinely concerned with everything they put in their mouth.  I like to take care of myself but more than that, I'm pretty sure I like to eat!

If the label is still even being used today, I consider myself something of a foodie.  I will go out of my way for a dish that I know is good or I've even heard from someone that it was.  And when you're in a new country c'mon, how are you supposed to stick to your lettuce and smoothie diet when Fish-n-Chips, Cask Ales and Full English Breakfasts are beckoning you?

Will power my friend, the answer is will power.  And as of this writing (with ten pounds that have found its way on to my frame) it is with great regret that I must say to you that I possessed none.  Not a shred!

I tried to taste it all in my short period of time there.  And if the artery clogging goodness that I enjoyed remains with me longer than the taste on my tongue and the memory in my head, then that's something I'll have to live with.

For all ten thousand miles on my bicycle and an equal amount on the treadmill!