underdogishere

I've just learned that I have a third reader of my small blog. I know it's a cliche in the blogging world that everyone has "three readers," but in my case it's really true. I have had two loyal and much appreciated readers, A. and L., but now I find I have a third. I guess this means I should try to post 50% more often.

The last couple weeks I've had people in at work from all over the country, but mostly from Iowa. We're rolling out a major project that I've been working on for the last three years. It's consumed my life. But one thing I want to say is that I've been standing, on my feet, all day, for the last six days, and honestly, I don't know how school teachers do it. Thank goodness for Birkenstocks. They're not cheap, at $200 a pair, but they're worth every penny.

And on a slightly related note I offer this sadly true story:

Many years ago, when I was growing up, our neighbors included an elderly lady who was a retired school teacher. After I moved away, she died, and she left my mother a trunk full of books. The books included a Latin dictionary. Years later my mother died, and I had to dispose of her belongings. For some reason that I cannot fathom, no one at the estate sale was interested in purchasing a Latin dictionary, so when all was said and done I threw it in the back seat of my car. Some time later I was paying a couple of neighborhood teenagers to clean my car. I mentioned to them that I was planning a business trip to Iowa, where my company has it's headquarters. One of them was sorting through the pile of junk in the back seat when he came across the Latin Dictionary.

"What's this?" he asked.

"A Latin dictionary," I said. He looked blank. "You know," I said, "for the Latin language."

"Oh," he said. And then, a minute or two later, "Latin... is that what they speak in Iowa?"

Thank goodness for Birkenstocks.

Labels: Overheard