It could have been a great season. But this time, instead of saying “there’s always next year,” I’m looking back through the years. Without Regret.

Take a minute to reflect on some glorious past seasons with Quarterbacks like Brett Favre, Randall Cunningham, Warren Moon, Fran Tarkenton, Joe Kapp, Tommy Kramer, Wade Wilson, Rich Gannon and even Jim McMahan! And with coaches from Bud Grant to Norm VanBrocklin.

We’ve been able to see some great running backs like Bill Brown, Ted Brown, Michael Bennett, Chuck Foreman, Robert Smith, Adrian Petersen many more and (gulp!) even Herschel Walker. I am even old enough to remember “The King” Hugh McElhenney, an incredible running back that came to the Vikings after a career with the Rams.

We can’t forget the great defenses either. From the Purple People Eaters to Matt Blair, Chris Doleman, John Randall, Jack DelRio and certainly to the great defensive players on the current roster.

I have to apologize for not being able to list every great player who has been a Viking. There were receivers, linemen on both sides of the ball and special team players who gave us thrills every Sunday. No, the Vikings didn’t win it all, yet. But we’ve had season after season of at least being “in the hunt,” and cheering for some of the greatest to ever play the game.

We are just fans. The players let it all hang out every season: their playing careers and personal lives. That was their job. Of course they were well paid, but they were giving it all to entertain us and millions of other fans.

Thanks, Brett, and the rest of you. I hope you had fun. We just loved being able to watch you play!

HAVE YOU SEEN THE MILK CARTONS? Where are all the missing children? Read THE MILK MARKET a thriller about missing children.
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Did you think that all you had to do was stand around and wait?

Sorry! Not that easy. Every day, thousands of people find out, too late, that it’s not that simple. They end up NOT growing old at all! Not a very pleasant surprise.

Clearly, there are different ways to grow old and some of them are better than others.

Now, if the question was “How to fix your car” or “How to sell stuff on ebay” or “How to cook a holiday turkey” your approach would be different. You would try to learn what you could before you ever got started. That’s the intelligent way to go about anything that is new to you. Well, getting old is new to you. Don’t you want to know what to expect?

Have you ever said, “If only I knew then what I know now.” Think about it. Just about everyone learns to appreciate knowledge, after they get it. So why don’t you ask for advice from old people, from those who have done it before you. If you did, you would learn that a lot of those assumptions you’ve made about “aging” are wrong. I know this from experience. My assumptions were wrong too. That’s what I’m trying to tell you! I’m old and I could write the book!

I’ve written before that the 2% annual loss of speed, strength, stamina and sexual power (that the experts tell you about) is an AVERAGE. Believe me, it’s up to you. You don’t have to be average. But if you want to lose 40% of the best part of yourself between age 30 and 50, just stand around and wait. Or better yet, why stand? Find a comfortable couch. Sit and wait.

The rest of the physical part is your family health history. You can’t change your genes. But you can do something. You can get off the couch and do something for your body. Not everyone can run or bike or do aerobics. And no one can run if they’ve been on the couch for years. In that case, better ask the family doctor what can be done. Make sure you ask the right doctor. How has HE or SHE personally approached aging?

I have been running for over 40 years. Taking care of myself. Yet 15 years ago I had a major heart attack. Recently, at age 70, about half of my spleen just up and died. I guess that proves that taking care of myself was the wrong thing to do…. Say what? I don’t think so. I am still running.

No, it only proves that we are all “hanging here by a thread” even those of us who work at staying healthy. The truth is, no one is going to get out of here alive. I’m just saying that you can have a little control of how it all turns out. Waiting around for something good to happen just doesn’t work.

So what about those other assumptions? What about those things you are so, so, so, so positive about at your young age? After you’ve lived nearly a lifetime you may have to backpedal a little. Or a lot! Your youthful pride (And by youthful, I mean anything under 60) is going to trip you up. I promise.

So don’t be SO sure you are SO right about everything else. Maybe you should ask someone with a little more experience. Think about that on your next run!

Where are all the missing children? Read THE MILK MARKET a thriller about missing children.
Read reviews at http://www.themilkmarket.com
FREE download of the first 100 pages
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/4007

Long gone are the days when a person’s “job” described “what they do.” We all knew what a Policeman, Firefighter, Doctor, Nurse or Salesman did to earn a living. Their job titles were in terms we could understand.

But in our high tech world there are titles that can’t be deciphered. They are meaningless except to the employee and, hopefully, the employer. You may be well paid and enjoy your work. You may even be highly respected by the few who actually know what you do.

But you PROBABLY can’t get the appreciation or the understanding of your neighbors, family and friends. And you can’t blame them. They just don’t understand what it is that you do, or your value or the nature of your job!

On an old “Friends” episode, Chandler Bing was the only “friend” who was well employed. And none of the others knew what their friend Chandler did for a living. He had some sort of title, but what was his job? Just earning respect was not enough, he needed to be appreciated to have RESPECT.

More and more, with each new level of technology, you have to be satisfied with meeting your own goals, doing a good job, making progress and, oh yes, Payday!

“A prophet is not without honor, save in his own country and in his own house.” Matthew 13:57

Where are all the missing children? Read THE MILK MARKET a thriller about missing children.
Read reviews at http://www.themilkmarket.com
FREE download of the first 100 pages
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/4007

“7 Habits of Highly Effective People” has sold some 15 million copies. It is an excellent study for those interested in self improvement. The author, Steven Covey, has lectured extensively to reinforce the concepts in the book.

Certainly we should all strive to be highly effective at everything we do.

Yet, many are still seeking a simple solution to self-improvement, an easy way to become more effective at work, in school, at home and in relationships.

And before one can become highly effective one must become fairly effective. Let’s make it easy to remember and easy to implement. The habits of those who are fairly effective:

1. They get “up” in the morning. (And get dressed)
2. They have a plan.
3. They are on time, every time. (Every time!)
4. Their grooming is at least neat, clean and odor free.
5. They take care of their health and their money.
6. They smile and greet everyone. (No one is invisible.)
7. They are good listeners (and when they speak they don’t mumble.)

Where are all the missing children? Read THE MILK MARKET a thriller about missing children.
Read reviews at http://www.themilkmarket.com
FREE download of the first 100 pages http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/4007

I am also proud to participate in Operation ebook Drop. It provides free ebook downloads to deployed service members. (particularly in Afghanistan and Iraq) So far 536 members, can read THE MILK MARKET during their down time. Free.

Where are all the missing children? Read THE MILK MARKET a thriller about missing children.
Read reviews at http://www.themilkmarket.com
FREE download of the first 100 pages http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/4007

There are a lot of good running shoe brands but it seems only New Balance makes them in the U.S. instead of using slave labor in the third world. And in this economy we need to keep all the jobs that we can!

So I am proud to be a New Balance runner and happy to test shoes for them. I have no financial interest in NB but, as I have mentioned before, they have the fit and are available in the wide size I need.

In the Post Office, on television, on bulletin boards, even on milk cartons…..pictures of missing children.
Where are all the missing children? Read THE MILK MARKET a thriller about missing children.
Read reviews at http://www.themilkmarket.com
FREE download of the first 100 pages http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/4007

I was recently involved in a Facebook controversy over the difference between running and jogging. Oddly, one non-runner opined that anything over 7 minute miles was jogging. That was rather insulting to runners. I suggested he go jog a few 8 minute miles to see whether he thought it was running or jogging. Apparently, he did not give it a try.

My answer to the question, running or jogging, is strictly technical. At some point In running both feet are off the ground. With that definition, a runner taking short strides (a child, for instance) may be running 12 minute miles.

What I suggest is that pace is determined by leg speed and stride length. I imagine there are speed walkers who can do 7 minute miles. And there are some runners who can’t do 11 minute miles. But many good sprinters would not even try to “jog” 13 or 26 miles.

I’ve said before that on any long run I do some jogging, some slogging and some running. My guess is that other runners do the same. At least we are out there doing it! We don’t need someone, who is sitting on the porch, trying to tell us what to call it.

Readers wanted! Read a thriller, THE MILK MARKET. See reviews at http://www.themilkmarket.com

Free READS for you: Just push play! (click)
HAYSTACKS
http://www.scribd.com/doc/29999848/Haystacks

A KNOCK ON THE DOOR http://www.scribd.com/doc/31515226/A-Knock-On-The-Door

IN PRAISE OF TEACHERS http://www.scribd.com/doc/28827426/In-Praise-Of-Teachers

CHICKEN LITTLE OR PAUL REVERE http://wwwscribd.com/doc/30250504/Chicken-Little-Or-Paul-Revere

THE FRIENDSHIP RULE http://www.scribd.com/doc/31089871/The-Friendship-Rule

No, They are not runners!

J. K. Rowling (Author of Harry Potter books)
Paul Allen (Microsoft co-founder)
Jane Austen (Novelist)
Bill Gates (Microsoft co-founder)
Michael Dell (Computer maker)
Carl Bernstein, (Watergate reporter)
Warren Buffet (Billionaire investor)
Andrew Carnegie (philanthropist, industrialist)
Bruce Catton (Pulitzer winning historian)
Winston Churchill (World leader)
Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)
Charles Dickens (novelist)
Walt Disney (creative genius)
Wm. Faulkner (Nobel winning novelist)
F. Scott Fitzgerald (novelist)
Robert Frost (poet)
Ben Franklin (statesman, inventor, publisher)
Eric Hoffer (longshoreman philosopher)
Dean Kamen (Inventor of Segway, more)
George Orwell (novelist)
J. D. Rockefeller, Sr. (early billionaire)
Jack London (writer)
Leo Tolstoy (novelist)
Herman Melville (novelist)
Leon Uris (novelist)
Emile Zola (novelist)

Readers wanted! Read a thriller, THE MILK MARKET. See reviews at http://www.themilkmarket.com

Comments Invited

I hope young people don’t think this is the way it’s supposed to be!

Those of us who have been around for nearly a lifetime are likely to agree that our country is more polarized, politically and spiritually, than ever before. I don’t think historians would argue the point unless they were citing the Civil War.

It must be time to impose “The Friendship Rule.”

We need the rule now to preserve our democracy, our sanity and civility. The Friendship Rule simply asks, in social situations, that we avoid issues that are polarizing and divisive. Its purpose is not to promote friendship, but to prevent conflict and hurt feelings. The rule is simple: offer your opinion only when asked.

It’s not that we don’t have opinions. They are part of our personalities. Although we are free to express……READ MORE:

READ MORE AT http://www.scribd.com/doc/31089871

Readers wanted! Read a thriller, THE MILK MARKET. See reviews at
http://www.themilkmarket.com