The World of Tim...

Jet Planes, District Visits, and the Phillies...

Just one year ago, I was leaving on a jet plane to start my first visit as a candidate for International Director...now I sit in Sky Harbor airport waiting to board another plane and start my first "official" visit as an International Director.  That's right boys and girls, your faithful scribe is off to visit with District 16 (www.oktoastmasters.org) this weekend.  Boy do they ever have a jam packed time of corporate visits, media interviews, and plaque presentations...just some of the things that ID's do when we visit Districts.  So it is off to the races...promise I'll post when I can.

On another note, congratulations to the Phillies on their win in the Fall Classic.  I would have loved to see this go to seven games, but such is life.

More later from the road...

An Open Letter to Bud Selig...

                                                        October 28, 2008

Dear Bud,

Please admit that you made a mistake...admit that you were wrong.  The players NEVER should have taken the field for Game 5...you made a bad call by not postponing the game before it started.  If you do continue to make up rules as we go along, maybe you should consider letting the teams know...I swear I could hear Upton's hamstring snap while he was hydroplaning around the bases last night.

                                                            Sincerely,

                                                            Tim the Disgusted Baseball Fan

p.s.: I sure am glad the the Red Sox aren't a part of this cluster-flub!

Phoenix has "Cheap" Gasoline!

Okay, it just seems "cheap" after months of $3.00 plus gasoline.  I never thought I'd get excited about gasoline that cost me $2.63 a gallon, but I was doing my, "woo-hoo" dance at the gas pump when I filled up in the west valley this evening after leaving the office. 

I do have to wonder about this racket...the petroleum industry is quick to raise their prices to follow the crude oil futures market.  They are not so quick drop those prices.  For example, crude oil futures closed below $63 a barrel today, which is the lowest they have been since May 2007. In July, crude was at $147 a barrel and the prospect of unchecked demand growth from China and other fast-growing economies led many analysts to forecast $200 oil. Gasoline prices north of $4 a gallon hijacked the presidential campaign and the congressional agenda. Since that summertime high, crude has fallen 57%. In fact, just this month, crude oil has shed 35%...the steepest one-month drop in 20 years.

Has to make a guy wonder when gasoline prices will keep pace with this downward trend?  Regardless, I'll continue to manage my trips better, carpool whenever I can, and take every other measure I can think of to stay away from the wallet sucking experience that happens everytime I fill up the tank.

Bill Withers - Ain't No Sunshine

Slow Down, Phoenix...the Cameras are Watching!

Being that I am one of the commuting masses now, I really appreciated the note from a friend letting me know that the Arizona Department of Safety was adding more "teeth" to their efforts to put speeding cameras on the freeways in the Phoenix metroplex.  I've noticed more of the DPS mobile camera vans on the I-10 and now they are putting out more stationary cameras as well. One of the side benefits of my good communication skills is that I've managed to talk my way out of more speeding tickets than I deserve.  With these cameras though, it is a lot like Jedi Mind Tricks on Jabba the Hut; great communication skills in the world will have no effect whatsoever on these cameras as I whiz by...

You've all been warned...