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Temptation

If there ever was a time to review my lifestyle it was when I found out I gained five pounds. Yup there it was. My jeans didn't feel tight because they always need stretching when they come out of the wash. The need to wear my belt over one hole wasn't because I was tucking in my shirt. No, I had put on weight.

I checked my food log.  (A habit I developed while on Weightwatchers. If you bite it, write it) Was I truly using only two teaspoons of peanut butter on my morning toast? Is that Skinny Cow treat really only 150 calories? Did I count my gummy bears or guess? All the important questions.

The thing that disappointed me is I know I'm exercising more besides going to the gym, I'm mowing the lawn, bike riding and walking more. Oh, Wait! I've only been to the gym once in two weeks. But that was because I was on vacation in Seattle. So then, there was all of that walking in the airline terminals. Well, Twice anyway. How about...? Nothing yeah. I did ride the bike three times.

Speaking of fooling myself. I got my business cards from Appleton Monthly Magazine. They are cool. I called myself a columnist, which is true. I'm trying to remember how many different business cards I had. Strangely enough, at the end of my sales career, I ran into a buyer who had in his card file my first one, Tomah Products. The parent company was Vanpak Products. I was on the road in mostly northern and western Wisconsin. After I left them, the company which was purchased and renamed.



I passed this around in 1965



After that, I carried cards that read, Packaging Tape Inc, Jeffrey Jordan Company, Combined Packaging, Reliable Paper,  Xpedex, PTI,  and Creative Resources.

Though I didn't need a business card, I also worked for Swartz's Books,  Bookselling was an amazing job. Out of a habit that I developed doing that work, I ask people all of the time what they are reading. What I can't do is keep up on all of the great books that are being released.

Discovery World was fun because of the wonderful people I met and with whom I worked. The exhibits were amazing. The building was so well designed and functioned in that elastic way museums must work.

The Milwaukee Boatline was special. I tell people that I never got up in the morning and thought to myself,"Damn, I have to go work on the boat today." I was the guide for the Historic River Cruise. I learned about the history of the buildings and locations along our course and shared that with our guests. A day at work involved three cruses of about an hour and a half each. It was marvelous.

I volunteered with Historic Milwaukee. With them, I did some event photography, street tour guide and editor of their quarterly, The Echo.

With Common Ground, I worked on a number of issue campaigns and did some event photography. I was also a member of my neighborhood association, and Organizing for America (OFA). (OFA was an offshoot of The Obama campaign drive.)

Currently, I'm writing two columns and the occasional special feature for Appleton Monthly Magazine




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