Hanging with Rich

The Camping Life..... I guess you could call me a city guy. Or at least a suburban guy. Born and raised. I've spent most of my life in city environments. I live relatively close to my work. Stores and shopping are close to my neighborhood. If I needed a gallon of milk I probably have a choice of a dozen places within minutes of my house. My idea of roughing it away from home is a Holiday Inn. But there is a whole different lifestyle out there. Out in the country. Country living. Yesterday, our lifelong friends Mike and Anne invited us out to their campsite. It's about an hour south of our home. It's not just a trip on the freeway. You take  two-lane secondary roads for miles to reach the campsite. Traffic lights were just a memory. At least the GPS takes the stress out of finding the place. This is all foreign to me. Welcome to the country. When we got to their campgrounds it was like being invited to their own private, gated community. We registered at the offic...

Travel - and the Case of the Rather Curious Persimmon Tree..... In a couple of weeks the wife and I will be going on vacation out of the country. It will be a Caribbean cruise, and I'm getting pretty excited. I haven't been able to travel much lately, and rarely out of the country. But to be honest, I'm also getting just a touch of anxiety. Peace Bridge in Buffalo, NY. Leaving the country, and even leaving my region, can make me uncomfortable for some reason. I like Canada. Outside of the metric system, it's pretty similar to America. But I always feel more relaxed when I'm on that bridge, back to America. It's not just out of the U.S. either. Sometimes it's strange just traveling in the Southern states. Maybe it's the accent. Sometimes I need time to get my ear accustomed to their lingo. One time I was in a diner in Memphis , Tennessee. I had to ask a young waitress to repeat her question to me three times. Apparently she just wanted to know ...

Baker Mayfield Has "It"..... The Cleveland Browns are one of the NFL's most historical teams. Back in the 1950's, they were historically good. Since the 21st century, they have been historically bad. One of the reasons for the recent ineptitude has been the inability to develop a competent quarterback. It hasn't been for lack of trying. Baker Mayfield The Browns have drafted quarterbacks like Brandon Weeden, Johnny Manziel, amd Deshon Kaiser. Weeden had a good arm, but no football smarts. Manziel was a party animal that threw away his career. Kaiser had good size, a good arm (if not accurate), but was thrown into the fire too soon with no support. That brings us to "Baker - Baker - The Touchdown Maker." The Browns had the number 1 choice in the NFL draft and decided on Mayfield. Why? There were bigger quarterbacks available. One had a better arm. But Mayfield has "it". I'll say it right now. Baker Mayfield will be a very good NFL...

What  Makes A Good Wedding?.... We were at a wedding this weekend, and it was a blast. But actually, I knew it was going to be great before we even got there. This was the wedding of the daughter of our great friends. Everything was first class. Everything was special. It was unusual in the fact that the bride and groom were able to throw it together in only a few months. I remember it took my wife and I over a year to plan ours. Of course, that was before the internet. Your wedding expert. Cheers! At the end of the day, a wedding is just supposed to be a big party. Yes, it's expensive. But it's just a party to mark the beginning of a marriage of two people in love. How hard can it be to plan a fun time for all? I have been to tons of weddings over the years. Most were fun. But not all. Some I couldn't wait to get out of. It got me thinking. What really makes a good wedding? What are the biggest factors in whether the guests have an enjoyable time or not. I...