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Since
entering the domain industry
in
early 2002 rarely a day has gone by that I
haven't been immersed in one aspect of the
business or another - including days when I was
supposed to be "on vacation." However,
I just returned from a vacation that wound up
being different than in the past as
a set of circumstances developed that required
me to totally disconnect from domains on this
trip. Normally I would expect to experience withdrawal
symptoms in such a situation but time didn't
allow that. Diana
and I went to one of our favorite places in the
world - Sarasota's Siesta Key - for a
week on a spectacular white sand beach that was
named America's best beach by noted
authority Dr.
Beach several years ago (once a
beach wins that award it is retired from the
competition). During the 11 years I was a
sportscaster at the ABC-TV station in Sarasota I
spent almost every morning walking on this
beach. We still live just over an hour's drive
away and always love going back. 
Scene
from Siesta Key, Florida last week While
we had a chance to enjoy Siesta Key, two other
things - one good and one bad - required our
attention during the hours we were not at the
beach. Shortly before we left for Sarasota,
Diana's mother suffered a stroke and was
hospitalized in Venice, Florida (about 25
minutes south of Sarasota). She came through it
much better than many do (for which the entire
family is very thankful) but will have to
undergo therapy to regain full use of here left
hand and leg. We visited her several times
during the week and were happy to see her mental
faculties and speech fully intact and her determination
to put in the rehab work needed to get back on
her feet as soon as possible. We have no doubt
she will do it as that side of the family comes
from some very hardy stock (Diana's uncle on her
mother's side drove round trip from Florida to
Michigan after his 90th birthday and he
is still going strong today)! The
other event that fell during our vacation week
(and the prime reason we picked this past week
to go) involved our daughter Brittany.
She started her third year of medical school
last Wednesday, as fate would have it, in
Sarasota - one of six cities where the Florida
State University College of Medicine trains
third and fourth year students. So, we spent
time helping her get settled into a new
apartment and buy a new car - a necessity since
she will be doing rotations between three area
hospitals over her final two years of med school
(as well as driving home once in awhile we
hope!) 
Men
(and Women) in Black: Until a couple of
years ago, no one in our family had ever
bought a black car - now we all have one. Diana
(center) started it, I was next (far
left)
then Brittany (at right) made it
unanimous when she got her new Mustang last
week. The day
this photo was taken one of our neighbors asked
if we were having a black car convention :-) So,
there was plenty keeping us busy right through July
4th (a national holiday in the U.S.). I
finally got back in the office today and have
been chipping away at a mountain of
backed up email and assorted tasks. Still not
done, so if you sent an email over the past week
and haven't heard back from me yet, you should
soon. Thanks for your patience! Now it's back to
work with a lot of projects to take on including
a double-length sales report that will be out
Thursday, a resumption of these daily Lowdown
posts, work on a new newsletter and Cover Story,
etc. etc. I'm glad I love my job! I hope
all of our friends in the U.S. had a great
extended Independence Day weekend and are as
psyched as I am about getting back to
domains!
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