From September 2nd through September 9th, I will be attending my family and friends’ annual Walt Disney World vacation in Orlando, Florida. This time around, our group included eleven people and we all stayed at the Animal Kingdom Deluxe Resort and Villa. Personally, I prefer The Grand Floridian of all the on-site properties because of the transportation access…
The primary purpose of any education system is to develop the human capital of the next generation so that it joins the ranks of the workforce and improves lives; doctors heal people, artists create beauty, musicians entertain us, designers clothe us, engineers design bridges, construction workers then erect those bridges, and computer programmers make our…
If you are a school teacher, a firefighter, a police officer, a municipality worker, or another type of government worker, the chances are high that over the next decade or two, your benefits are going to be slashed. The reason is simple. There are only two ways to maintain the retirement pensions and other benefits…
In 1950, Sam Walton was 32 years old and had spent the five or six years working for himself building a Ben Franklin retail store in Newport, Arkansas. His talent had already begun to show and his little business became the most successful five-and-dime in the state, generating $250,000 in annual sales and $30,000 to…
When I was 14 or 15 years old, I met Molly in freshman year gym class at the high school in Missouri we both attended. Somehow we became best friends, though I can’t tell you how it happened. It just evolved and she became part of my family. It was rare, especially at that age,…
We are now in Santa Fe, New Mexico, for the wedding of my best friend from high school, Molly, whom you have already met. The wedding will take place tomorrow afternoon at the local Greek Orthodox Church. During our time in the desert, we are staying at the Hilton Buffalo Thunder Resort & Casino for…
We checked out of the hotel in Denver and are starting on the 400 mile drive to Santa Fe for the wedding of my best friend in high school. It has been two or three days since the 600 mile drive from Kansas City to Denver, so it isn’t bad at all. Right now, I…
Later today, my grandmother is meeting up with her nephew (his grandmother was my great-grandmother), but before that happens, we are scheduled for the Hammond’s Candies Factory tour in Denver. Hammond’s is one of the biggest old-fashioned hard candy manufacturers on the planet. Personally, I’m not really much of a hard candy guy – I’d…
I am in the hotel room, having my favorite breakfast, as is typically the habit when I travel. I grabbed a copy of today’s Wall Street Journal and am hoping to get a chance to read it later, but first I need to finish eating, get dressed, and head over to a local candy factory. I’ve…
We decided to have dinner in the hotel restaurant, Elway’s, named after the eponymous NFL legend. The food was good, but nowhere near as fantastic as Bob’s Steak and Chop House at the Omni Hotel in Dallas, which I had last month. The hotel is far better managed and operated than the restaurant. The service was…