Hello all -- wanted to let you know I am still alive -- it has been a hectic fall to date -- my daughters (11 and 10) are both playing travel soccer (and doing well) and my sons (6 and 8) are playing football for the first time (full pads, full contact -- Mom and Dad must be crazy! - both of them really enjoy it and are doing well -- for Penn Staters out there - my 8 year old's coach is Gregg Garrity - who caught the winning TD pass in PSU's first Natl'l Championship game. The 6 year old is a real monster -- about the smallest kid on the 6/7 year old team -- but perhaps the toughest -- they do a blocking drill to knock eachother out of a circle -- and he is the best on the team at it -- he is starting center and safety - only in mini football do you get the same person playing those positions)

We share some of the Florida pain -- one of my sisters had moved to Boynton Beach in mid July -- they stayed through the first two and only had some landscape damage -- when Jeanne came calling - they got a cheap flight and came to Pittsburgh. Again -- just some landscaping damage

I am off to Mexico City next week on business -- yuck!

On a serious note -- and this is my political commentary -- please vote -- and seriously consider which candidate will set a better moral and character standard for this country when you pull the lever, etc --- I fully realize George Bush is not perfect and Iraq is a difficult situation -- but I think his character sets the right tone/attitude for this country and Kerry would set this country on a slippery slope towards depravity