Tuesday, August 09, 2005

Lessons Learned While Travelling

We've just returned from a short trip out of town for a couple of days. We had a lot of fun while gone (the family joined me on a brief business trip) and I was struck by several things while we were gone. I'll have more to share over the next couple of days but the following is just a brief list of observations I made while I was away:
  • After being in a hotel for two days I realized how much I do not miss cable or satellite televsion. Four channels of garbage is preferable to over a hundred channels of garbage. Television is easier to ignore and not allow to play a pivotal role in my life if options are limited.
  • I haven't missed anything in the past several months that I haven't had cable or satellite television. It has become worse, not better.
  • However, I do miss Fox News but only a little. Mostly because of hard news on from 6:00PM to 8:00 PM (Brit Hume and Shepard Smith). I don't miss the rest of it.
  • Being in a larger city for 48 hours makes me realize that immodesty in dress is a problem everywhere. It's just a bigger problem in a bigger city because there is more of it.
  • I have a new appreciation for being able to work at home.
  • For all the so-called advantages of living in a larger city, I prefer smaller towns. Especially small towns in the South.
  • You know you are in a small town in the South when you order iced tea at a restaurant and they only serve sweet tea.
  • Large cities are consistently liberal in all respects (not just politics) regardless of geography. I don't understand why this is true but I know that it is.
  • It's possible to do the same job for many, many years and be truly happy. The question is whether you are doing what you love to do. I met men today that had been in their jobs for over 50 years apiece and still going strong at a time in life that most people would have retired. It's clear that they love their work and that's why they keep doing it.

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