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Showing posts from November, 2015

The annual turkey massacre - or as it is known in the US, Thanksgiving

I was just looking back over my previous posts as I was positive I had gone over this subject matter before but had decided anyway to rehash it - I mean if they can remake 'The Greatest American Hero' (do you have the theme song stuck in your head already?) and MacGyver why can't I write a blog that may be a retread also. Fortunately for me (and y'all) it doesn't look like this is a remake but it may hit on some commonality with previous posts but let's face it Romeo and Juliet was just a rehash of The Princess Bride, as inconceivable as that may be. Thanksgiving Day was never a big day back in New Zealand, certainly not as big as July 4th, which was also not celebrated back there, for some unknown reason. Having been in the US for nigh on 15 years I have now come to understand more about this most American of traditions (which is also celebrated albeit on different days in Canada, Grenada, Liberia and a few other places and is essentially not really American

Do not go gentle into that good night

Ok, so Dylan Thomas was not exactly writing about what I am about to pontificate on but it is germane to this week's post. Back in early 1980’s Poppa Jeff turned 40 and had a birthday party with a friend of his, Alan Wilson, who happened to have his birthday on the same day. Alan was disappointed that his name wasn’t Brian, as he really just wanted to lie in bed, however he came to the party anyway. I remember being downstairs watching a movie about some Austrian painter with a stupid mustache topping himself (he seemed like quite a douchebag) whilst the ‘adults’ partied upstairs. The standard attire seemed to be suits or sports coats, ties, dress shirt etc and the men dressed the same :) A belly dancer turned up at one point, there was the obligatory gift of a walking cane and the boisterous singing of 'Life begins at 40' by Dave & the Dynamos echoed through the house. Evening finished with the smoking of cigars and a sherry or port depending on your fortified wine o

Some folks like to getaway, take a holiday from the neighborhood

As an ultra professional sales person it is important that I get away from the 10am-3pm, 3 days a week of hard graft that I have to put in.  It is tough to find time to really kick back and relax, what with the golf games, wine tastings and obligatory corporate dinners at the local strip clubs.  Not to mention the trade shows that I need to attend in exotic places like Orlando, Chicago, San Francisco and Hawaii. Those are hard graft. I mean you can only talk about the ‘87 Merlots for so long before someone will start jabbering on about some new Pinot they discovered on a client trip to Nappa Valley. The sales profession can be a real pain in the ass sometimes. It is important to getaway every now and again to recharge the batteries As my close, personal, Billy Joel playlist suggests some people like to take a break to Miami Beach or Hollywood.  Personally I prefer to getaway from the big cities when I take a break to recharge – often times people will come back from a getaway