Life

• Outside at Starbucks, a man with long gray hair and baggy eyes who looks like an aging rock star is sitting with a middle-aged blonde who just manages to keep a very short skirt under control. Their expressions are serious and at one point they kiss. They leave and their table is taken by a stocky attorney who hosts a television show. He checks messages on his phone and begins to chain-smoke.
• The young repair rep at the dealership looks like one of my nephews. He gives me an estimate to fix the heater in my car. It is several hundred dollars less than the quote I got from a small repair shop. I reply, "Do it."
• I'm in a waiting room when two greyhounds wander in. They have leashes but their owner is absent. Each comes to me separately for a brief visit and when their owner appears, I tell him that they are beautiful. He thanks me and turns to the dogs. "Car ride?" Their ears perk up.
• My wife shows me the list of foods to avoid under a new diet. The list includes donuts. I tell her I'm shocked.
• The sales clerk at Cabela's takes a revolver out of the wrapping and hands it over for inspection. "Been busy?" He mutters, "It hasn't been slow." 
• At a meeting with an executive we discuss several issues related to his department. After an hour, he asks, "Who called this meeting?" I say, "You did." He replies, "What did I call it for?" Neither one of us knows.
• The Paul McCreesh CD of the Praetorius Mass for Christmas Morning is playing in the background. Another great music recommendation from Cultural Offering. The man knows his music.
• Some more hawks are in the neighborhood. They don't seem to have reduced the pigeon population. A neighbor tells me that he recently saw a fox. Coyotes are now so common that they barely merit mention and we are not on the outskirts.
• The business books pile up. The Compstat program continues to fascinate me. One book worth a re-read: The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande.
• Still haven't seen The Hobbit or Lincoln. Liked Argo.