A new life; same as the old life?

I cannot believe it is the end of August already and officially the end of summer here in the US next weekend. It has been a strange summer, lots of storms, oppressive heat and mosquitoes! As is always the case at this time of year everything is being squeezed into the last few weekends. Last weekend I went to the only golf outing truly worth it's salt. The Timothy O'Tooles 14th annual outing. It was our first time, but the pictures of previous outings convinced us. They promised an all in experience with all the food and liquor you could drink, free samples on every hole, etc. Well they came up a little short of every hole, but probably at least 14 or so out of the 18 had free liquor and some nice sights too. Click here for a few shots from the day. This weekend we have already seen Tony Bennett, last night, at Ravinia Festival. Always a good time, the picnic, the lawn, camping out on the station platform waiting for the train. This afternoon, we are off to an "ope...

We went to the botanic gardens again today, this time for their 7th annual kite festival. We watched the skilled flyers take their kites in very little wind and do amazing stunts. Unfortunately it was VERY hot and we were sitting in full sun, so we were not able to stay very long. It was like watching an air show though, these folks could fly their kites in perfect formations, just like the jets and bi planes due in the air and water show. Click here for some shots from the little time we stayed there. Click here for full event details if you want to see more about the event. We are hoping that this one is a little cooler in September!

I am sitting in the hotel bar in Montreal for the second time in three weeks, wondering if my friend and colleague Steve still believes business travel to be something he was missing out on. Don't get me wrong, you cannot beat a good steak or a nice glass of wine, especially when someone else is paying, but the "shine or glamour" of business travel wore off for me a long time ago. On the plane on the way up here, I was browsing the inflight magazine as I am wont to do on occasion, and there was a story of a guy (Tom Stuker) who had just reached 10m miles with United; a landmark they believe for any airline. Now obviously the perks of being a 10m miles guy are pretty cool, including things like getting your name on the side of 747, and I do love to fly, so the thought of flying the miles doesn't bother me as much as the though of all those destinations for work, for make no mistake, most of it was for work, and it has all been done since 1982!! Next time I think ...