It's been far too long

Well here we are again. Months since a last entry and I'm wondering around looking for motivation and spark to write again.

I'm down to less than nine months until my 40th birthday. I still have stuff on the to-do list: get my glasses fixed, buy a new lawnmower, enroll in a Roth 401(k) fund, get some new parts for the vacuum (not that the current parts are sufficient; it's just with filters you want to change them from time-to-time).

Oh and I have to get a Tennessee driver's license. My Missouri license is still good through October 2016. I believe Tennessee law requires new residents to get their license within 30 days. But it's quite a deal: you have present all your paperwork and go out to the license office midway between Kingsport and Bristol.

I can remember the last two times I got my driver's license renewed. My memory is that I went on September 10, 2001, at the state office building in downtown Springfield. Most folks can't remember what happened last week, much less when they renewed their license. But I walked into the state office building with a backpack (I believe I had ridden my bike there. That was back when I was still producing the 10pm news and had my mornings open. I did a lot of bike riding then.) So I was a bit surprised I could just walk into that building with a backpack and not get screened, stopped or otherwise inspected. I remember thinking that because everything changed the next day.

The next time I got my license renewed must have been 2009. My license photo isn't the best, but that's not without trying. I believe anytime someone points a camera at you, you should smile big because you never know where that photo will end up. I can recall many missing people over the years whose photos their families provided were horrible, unflattering and downright awful. A person lives a long time and THIS is the photo you want on TV? So I make a point to smile proudly and boldly whenever someone says, "Cheese!" (Of course, that's changed too. I suspect I won't  be allowed to smile whenever I get to the Tennessee driver's license office. Facial recognition technology requires a face somewhere between grimace and pout. That's not my sweet spot.)

A driver's license photo is a good snapshot of where you are in the life. For me, it's a little too much weight and too much fat under my face.  Like so many starting blocks I've set up in my head, this was supposed to be the launch of something new, a new commitment to health, fitness, and exercise. I tried and tried and tried and.. you get the picture.