Senior Olympian Sprinter

I announced to Buckman this week that I would be leaving for another job in the paper business.  I currently work in the specialty chemicals field of tissue manufacturing  and I will be taking on a new position in the equipment end of the business.  Kadant hired me to champion a new product line of ceramic tipped doctor blades they will be developing.   I will be basically calling on the same tissue manufacturers, but in a different role with a different logo on my shirt.  In my career,  I have worked  in various roles in the paper business for 8, 4, 12, and 8 years.  Average it up and 8 years is the magic number for my career changes.  I am 58 now and another 8 years puts me at retirement age and at that point it will be a wrap.  I like the math.  I have worked in manufacturing of paper, selling of chemicals to paper mills and I will close the circle with this new role as a supplier of hardware and wear parts ...

I lived in the Northern part of the US a large part of my life and suffered as did everyone else in that same boat as I.  I do not need reminded how lousy the weather can be--this last week for example.  But Mother Nature laid it on real thick this week with a reminder that I can go back to the days of wet feet, cold hands, blowing ice water, fog and general mayhem that will cause cabin fever and generally dark behavior.  Linda had the best solution--next year we will be on an island--away  from this mess.  Smart woman!! I was in Mexico again this last week.  High elevation and clear warm weather with the pollution in relative good order for a change.  It is the dry season there, no real rain has fallen since September, so there is a lot of dust in the air. My sinuses were fine, just a general deposit of concrete in my noise.   I was very busy with a project that we finally finished and had little time to do anything but work and eat. ...

What a beautiful day in middle Tennessee.  The sun was out all day and Linda and I took advantage of the rays.    In the mid morning I cut down some more trash trees and reduced them to either firewood size or brush pile size with the chainsaw.  Great work out with the saw if you can look at it in that manner, sometimes it is just work, but it felt good to enjoy the sun today.   The crocus are still out and now the daffodils are just on the edge of bursting open.   So Spring must be close......... We headed to the gym in the afternoon and she swam and I did some running,  but I had little gas in the tank.  I was dehydrated from the saw work, so I really worked on the stretching and ran some slower events on the treadmill.   I was in Mexico this week at 8000 feet elevation with quite a bit of air pollution and that really drags me down.   We were working just NE of Mexico City in the vol...

Super Bowl XLIX is today and the NFL comes to a close with a lot of thuds today.  I think this will be a 'body bag' game, because these guys can tackle and hit pretty good.   Once this event is over, I always start hoping for Spring to start, something with success, sometimes not.  Come on Phil, make it Spring. In central Tennessee we have some crocus up and shining their lovely violets and yellow colors.  Some of daffodils are pushing their luck and could bloom in a week or so if it stays warm.  I planted some yellow onions yesterday to see if they make it.  I have been gardening all winter and will continue to push that envelop.   I also cut out some ugly trees yesterday that have been damaged in storms and were never going to recover.  The 20 inch bar solved their dilemma real quick.  I am ready for Spring.  Come on Phil,  I am routing for you.  Last weekend, I think I was at my darkest in terms ...