Retirement – Three Times
Do I miss it? Hardly. Still today, when Marie and I see a magazine rack, we look at each other, smile, and say, “Aren’t you glad we no longer care that our magazines are being buried behind the competition?”
Small decision or miracle?
A crazy thought in the middle of the night changed my life.
Flying Through the Clouds: A Business Metaphor
Jeff Clapper’s query I grew up flying in small planes with my dad. We usually cruised at about 9000 ft, which often meant a lot of bumpy flying in clouds. Sometimes I think about this as a metaphor for owning and leading a very small business like 8th & Walton, and I look enviously at
A Life-Changing Road Trip
Last week as I often do when we’re returning from Chicago, I dropped Marie at O’Hare, then set off on a meandering road trip home with no time constraints. On this occasion, I decided to take a trip down memory lane. Following the same route I took more than 60 years ago, I motored down
Kitchen Disaster
When I was about 12 years old, I developed a keen interest in photography—not just taking pictures, but also developing film and making prints, even enlargements. Setting up a darkroom required certain chemicals, which came in powdered form. These powders had to be dissolved in a gallon of water, but they didn’t dissolve easily. In