A couple Saturdays ago was my day to work at the Wise office. It was a cold and snowy morning. It had snowed another four inches that night, and the roads were a bit slippery and covered. As customary, I went by Hardee’s in Wise before work to pick up breakfast for my teammate (and… Read more »

How are you doing? If you are like me, you may be a little stressed right now… Covid-19 not going away. Cold weather. A bit of cabin fever. So what are we going to do about it? First, I realize that I work at a Bank that cares about me and allows me to put… Read more »

Thomas Edison is thought of as a great innovator. Ask people who the most famous inventor was, and I bet most would list him at or near the top. One of his strengths was recruiting and hiring talented people to work with him on developing new processes and technology. Edison took a personal approach to… Read more »

One of my favorite TV shows of all time is Hill Street Blues. The show was ahead of its time and portrayed a grittier version of police in the city. Many, many shows later followed this concept, but Hill Street Blues was the first. Every show started with the policemen getting ready to go on… Read more »

As Forest Gump said, life is full of surprises. Christmas was nearing. My hardworking father had been laid off at the mines and was trying to find whatever odd job he could just to literally keep the lights on. The season of Christmas, which was always modest in terms of gifts anyways, was expected to… Read more »

Perhaps you are a collector of bobbleheads. You know, those cute figurines you see on someone’s desk or on the dashboard of a passing car. Often during sports seasons, teams will offer everyone attending a bobblehead of a player as a special treat for attending the game. This week I experienced the passing of two… Read more »

If you have not had a chance to watch any of the History Channel’s America Great series, I recommend it to you. On Thanksgiving (naturally), I watched a show called, “Foods that Made America Great”. A common theme among the shows relates to once dominant companies that either lost out to, or at minimum missed… Read more »

Growing up without cable, my childhood summers were filled mostly with games – Monopoly, Aggravation, Yahtzee. And card games – rummy, spades, even poker (no money passed hands, of course, as we had no money to bet). One of my favorite games was 21, as we called it (probably known by most as black jack).… Read more »

If the children in your family haven’t already hinted (strongly) about what they want for Christmas, they soon will (and then comes the fretting about finding the toys and games). Presents bring light and joy to everyone’s eyes. In the movie A Christmas Story, Ralphie, under severe duress, tells Santa he wants a football (instead… Read more »

In Appalachia, there are specific memories for many of us surrounding holidays and celebrations. One of those this time of year is homemade popcorn balls. Homemade popcorn balls as treats originated in our family more as a necessity. Having extra money to purchase candy was not a consideration – so instead of cash, the resources… Read more »