Maeder-Quint & CBC

I'd be starting my 2nd work day in a row in New Albany doing my part of our quarterly presentation. To that end I was up near 545am and fairly quickly engaged in calisthenics. I wasn't in any rush. I didn't need to be in New Albany until 945am for our 10am presentation.

It was another extremely warm start to the day. It was 81 degrees at 6am with 75% humidity. Strong storms were a possibility for later in the day. I hoped so. We needed another bought of rain. I did my usual routine before heading out the door for a run around 655am. The run went well.

After my run and ahead of a shower I cooked my breakfast, prepped my lunch, and took care of the pug. Was done with all that by 750am and off to the shower. I dressed nicely in all black, attire well suited for the hot temps but also a formal presentation.

Spent a few minutes with Mindy enjoying a 2nd cup of coffee before leaving for work. Arrived in New Albany just after 930am. The presentation was in the nicer, more modern building. I had to park several hundred yards out from the entrance. It's a long haul! I was walking just ahead of one of their vice presidents when I spotted a $1 bill lying on the ground. Of course I picked it up and quickly turned to the VP and said this was going to be a good day. He concurred.

I was the first one to the cushy new conference room complete with state-of-the-art conferencing gear. Sweet! I checked email via blackberry while awaiting the others. Soon the rest of the troops arrived, my coworkers as well as several customer team members. My boss showed up and shared that our VP wasn't able to make it. That took a small load off my shoulders.

I had to wait as my piece was third. Given my druthers, I'd go first every time. I sit there and get nervous. Not sure why, but this time I didn't get as nervous as usual. The presentation wrapped up after about 50 minutes. Went well. Afterwards, I went to visit a team I often work with but rarely see. We had a healthy technical discussion. I left the customer's location around 1130am, but instead of heading directly to the office I made a stop at the Easton Best Buy where I picked up a 16gig USB flash drive so I could back all my critical files on my work laptop ahead of Friday's reimaging. If I lost my important files I might as well quit! Memory's cheap these days. Only $15 for the 16gig USB stick.

Arrived at my regular office just after 12noon. Got busy right away on yet another quarterly presentation, the same one I'd been working on all week. Getting close to the end product. More importantly, the data's now in a format that I am really comfortable with. And if I am going to be the one presenting, then I've got to be comfortable with it.

The afternoon flew by. Soon it was time to head for home. Just before leaving the office I checked VM on my personal cell phone. Had a message from John Vidosh, a former Time Warner cohort, sharing that Mike Knies, another Time Warner cohort, passed away. According to the VM, calling hours were that evening 6-8pm at Maeder- Quint in German Village. I planned to go.

This was the first day Mindy could have any alcohol since July 13th due to taking an antibiotic for her stomach issues. She'd been looking forward to dinner at CBC for more than a week. I called her on my way home. Initially we discussed the strong storms that blew through mid afternoon. Said it rained like hell and the sky turned dark as night. She asked if we were still a go for CBC. Yes, but with a wrinkle. I shared the news about Mike K. and my intentions. She offered that we all would go - the entire family - on our way to dinner. It's not even a mile from CBC. Great!

The kids weren't super excited about going to calling hours but then again I didn't expect them to be. They didn't put up a fuss though. Mindy had them showered and ready to go just after 6pm. We headed out the door at 610pm arriving at Maeder-Quint on S. High St near 630pm. I hadn't seen Mike but once or twice in the last 15 years or so.

He was a super nice guy and a person that almost everybody liked. At the time, I didn't care much for his leadership style, but as I've aged I've come to appreciate his style more and more. Never took work too serious. I talked to his son Joe and introduced Mindy and the kids. I was floored at how big Joe's gotten. I was even more floored when he shared that he had an 18 year old son. Holy smoke! He couldn't be but 38 years old. Last time I saw Joe he was playing football for Franklin Heights. Mike, his father, passed away from esophageal cancer. He smoked a pipe for the 15 years I knew him. I spotted Mikes wife while chatting with Joe. Joe called got her attention. I'd met her only a few times, Xmas parties and such, but I knew it was her. We chatted briefly, me sharing my sorrow for her loss. Both she and Joe shared that it was almost a relief after Mike's long battle. I wasn't even aware that he was sick. It must've been grueling for the family.

We didn't stay too long. Didn't see any other Time Warner cohorts, though expect that they showed up earlier or planned to come a little later. We were on our way to CBC after 15 short minutes. Mindy commandeered us a table on the patio where Kevin could be our server. However, we ordered drinks from Vince who was working behind the bar. He made Mindy some concoction similar to the non-alcohol version he made for her last Saturday. This one, however, was the real deal. I ordered a Bodhi, but planned only to have one. Both kids had Dr Pepper.

For dinner, Mindy ordered the salmon, me plain old chicken wings, Jacob the Cuban burrito, and Bella ordered fried chicken and macaroni. We ordered bread and artichoke dip as an appetizer. Everything was just OK. No their best but still good. Mindy opted for a second drink but this time a Bodhi. We were there just over an hour.

I paid the bill and drove us home. After arriving home we ventured out on the deck for a while. It was nice to see the yard reacting so well to the heavy rains from earlier in the day. We watched a little TV but headed to bed fairly early or just before 10pm.