BOO! IT’S GETTING SCARY OUT THERE! As I am writing this, there are “Occupy” protests going on in numerous cities throughout the United States. One of the gripes of the protestors is the lack of jobs that are available. The protesters remind me of Linus in It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. Instead of going trick-or-treating with his friends, Linus waited up all night in the pumpkin patch for the Great Pumpkin to arrive with free toys and candy. My favorite quote from the show came from Linus when he said: “There are three things I have learned never to discuss with people: religion, politics, and the Great Pumpkin.”
Earlier this month, I walked into my office and picked up a five-page document that had been placed in my inbox by one of my employees. The pages were stapled together and the first thing I noticed was that only one end of the staple had gone through the stack of papers, while the other end was crushed and clumped together on top of the first page. This was the third time in two weeks that I was given a document that had a staple that was crushed on one end.
It all started when my wife got pregnant within a month after we were married. What I mean by “it all started” were the questions we got from friends, relatives, and even strangers. Questions like: “Was it an accident?” or “Why didn’t you wait a few years before having your first child?” or “How long have you been married?” Then of course there was the 2-part question. First part: “When’s your due date?” Second part: “Oh, so when did you get married?” Then a pause to do the math to figure out when the pregnancy occurred – before or after the wedding.
Did you know that at one time Peoria was known as the “Whiskey Capital” of Illinois? According to a PeoriaMagazines.com article written by Jerry Klein, between 1837 and 1919, there were 24 breweries and 73 distilleries in Peoria. In another publication, “A Brief History of Peoria,” published by C.A. Cockle in 1896, it was noted that out of all of the breweries in Peoria, three of them had the lions’ share of the beer market: Gipps Brewing Co., Leisy Brewing Co. and Union Brewing Co.