I had fun last week.  That's not an ENTIRELY unusual situation, but it was notable because it happened outside my traditional milieu.

I have worked at home for 20 years now and I like it -- to a fault sometimes -- in that I almost have to be pried loose to get me away from here (particularly if there are airports involved... but that's a whole 'nother conversation).  

What's not to like?  Get up when I want (usually 5-ish), work the morning in my shorts or flannel PJ bottoms and a T-shirt, "office shoes", dogs underfoot.  Coffee pot is nearby, stoke the fireplace when needed in season.

We had occasion to drive back to NJ last week for my mother-in-law's 92nd birthday. Jon Kiger was going to be in the NY/Phila area making sales calls, so I thought maybe we'd extend for a couple days so I could ride with him.  We usually don't see each other more than two or three times a year, so this would increase our "engagement rate" (to use a current social media term) by about 30%.

We headed north to White Plains to visit with Ryan Kneapler at Growth Products, someone we had email contact with but had never met. After an hour or so, I think it's fair to say the three of us can put another checkmark in the "friend" column.

From there it was off to lunch with Tony Girardi at Rockrimmon Country Club.  Tony signed up for TurfNet in his first year at Rockrimmon, which was 20 years ago now.  He and I served on the MetGCSA board together years ago, and he played on our hockey team a year or two.  I also wanted to witness his 50# weight loss in person ('cause he's not that big a guy). As often is the case when friends reunite, it was like we picked up where we left off. And he wears his new look well (as does the newly-svelte JK).

The next day we had appointments in South Jersey, so heading down 295 from Trenton we couldn't NOT stop in and see John Slade at Laurel Creek Country Club.  I first met John when he and Joe Owsik were growing in Laurel Creek and bought several Kawasaki Mules from me back in another life. Another 20 year TN guy, John was also the one who originally suggested the concept of our "Beer and Pretzels Gala". So either thank or blame him!

Greeting us at John's office was Mr. July 2015, Thor.  A "knucklehead" German Shepherd, Thor goes nuts when John shakes his key ring, knowing that they might be headed to an irrigation controller to turn on a few heads for some recreation.

So much for sales calls.  Oh yeah, we also stopped to visit Colleen Clifford and Michael Hanisco at Aquatrols, where at the end of our visit Kiger spied the Aquatrols "Wettie" costume sitting in a corner, just waiting for me to put it on. Not one to back down from a challenge, I did put it on (with some help from Michael).

We did have a couple other productive visits and we booked some advertising, so the day was a positive all around. But the big plus was the people... new friends and old... and having some fun in the process.