Back in the spring, our company had a users conference. We bring as many clients down to New Orleans as will come, and bombard them with all of the gee-whiz neato things that they could do with their software but probably aren't. There is also a lot of opportunity to socialize (or kiss asses, depending on one's nature). They make a particular effort to schedule activities where clients interact with the teams of people that support them specifically.

Once upon a time, I worked for a company with a VP of sales who was a complete doofus. Come to think of it, that describes more than one sales VP that I've had the pleasure of knowing, but one particular guy is story-worthy. I called him "Date Rape Dan," because in a meeting where we decided to decline some particular client request, Dan had this immortal quote, which seemed to be taken right from the date rape handbook.

More thoughts that I'm inclined to share, but don't have enough to say to write a whole entry....

The new Whole Foods store in our area opened on Wednesday of this week, and being the diligent reporter of what's happening locally, I joined about seventy thousand other Baton Rougans to see how it was. To be honest, there's nothing substantive to share. It's just a big store with a good but expensive selection of produce, meat, and cheese, not to mention a highly diverse selection of olives and nuts.

I would like to meet the person who came up with, "Thank you for not smoking," just so that I can call him a pussy to his face. Think about it. Better yet, read it out loud and slow: "Thank you for not smoking."

When I left work yesterday, there were obvious storm clouds to the west and south. This isn't too unusual for 6:00 in the summertime. But I had no sides or top on the Jeep, other than a small rectangle over the driver and passenger seats to keep the sun off me during the day, so I knew I had to hurry home. It's only a five mile drive home, but at mile one, it was dark enough to turn on headlights. At mile two, it started to rain. Thirty seconds later, I was in a downpour.

Earlier this week, I took a tennis lesson. I don't really play too much tennis. Up until a year or two ago, I played for a couple of hours one night a week with a group of guys from work. We all sucked (more or less), but we kept up a regular game for a year or more. It was something to get outside and do with no distracting computer monitors.

The new season of Six Feet Under has started. I can't help but reflect that there is no other show in television history that has so many crazy people that you actually pull for. In fact, just about everyone has at least the occasional conversation with dead people. On top of that, they all have their own insanities and hang-ups. There is rarely a scene without at least a hint of someone about to go over the edge.

This is just a quick post to make sure I understand this advertisement, which I pulled out of a major national magazine this week. (I kind of like that you can see where I dog-eard the bottom corner of the page so that I wouldn't lose it.)

I went on a fishing trip last week. We went out to a marsh in the middle of nowhere Wednesday evening, and spent the time fishing off the dock, grilling steak, and drinking beer. On Thursday, we took a guided charter out around barrier islands and caught fish all morning. It's a good way to spend a day and a half.

College baseball for LSU finished up yesterday, ending college sports for the year (sorry Track and Field -- I just don't care), and starting the long, hot countdown to football season. Hopefully, the end of the school year takes with it the Regal Beagle LSU Jinx.

I've decided that I might drop in an occasional movie review. But I won't be writing about movies that everyone reviews and that you've already decided to see or to not see anyway. So don't come back looking for my thoughts on Hitch or Revenge of the Sith. By the time I finally see those, you will have long since formed an opinion for yourself.