Where Did February Go?

I knew heading into the month that this was going to be a bit of a challenge both at work and at home. The shortened calendar provides a bit of a crunch with regard to billing and just making sure everything is accomplished within the confines of the calendar. Two days may not seem like a lot but that is about 2 hours of billable time per person that are lost. Thankfully, that all seemed to work out and I was still able to put in my usual 200 hours. Of course this also shortened my lodge timeline a bit and I am still trying to make up for time lost.

However, work and lodge are far down the list of things that colored the calendar. My wife and I began the month as a family of two and now we find ourselves bringing the last day to a close with a son nearly two weeks old. It was a month that also saw a tremendous loss to our family… thankfully it is a short month and the page on the calendar can be quickly turned. Two days makes a hug difference in this regard.

The month began interestingly enough with all the football fanatics going into warm weather hibernation, Phil declaring that we were screwed for at least six more weeks, and Brian Williams announcing that he was not a highlander and has not shaped the course of history since the big bang. That same week I witnessed quite the interesting lodge meeting followed by the raising of another brother the following week. It was a unique experience going from seeing boys transformed into men through scouting and a man transformed into a mason a few days after.

Things were also busy at the office as we waited for Rip Torn to tell us what was going to happen next. This compounded the whole billing situation mentioned above. Things were just beginning to calm a little when my wife and I reached the fateful weekend that brought us to Bryn Mawr Hospital two days in a row. Of course, since the arrival of our son my perspective has changed just a wee bit. All the chaos from the first half of February just seemed to go away, the subsequent scramble to catch up doesn’t seem to bother me like it used to, and the rest of the days in the month just evaporated leaving only the memories behind. I know it happened but at this point I really don’t know what happened to February.

In Case You Missed It…

Wait, which one is supposed to be the real news guy? 

I don’t know what all the commotion has been about this week regarding Brian Williams. He took the time to publicly apologize giving the perfectly viable excuse of the “fog of war” as to why his accounts, his memories, didn’t quite match up with reality. We should accept his humble gesture and move on. After all, there are so many things that he has accomplished in his life that we should give him a pass because he made a mistake or two in his recollections. Don’t believe me? Fine, here are just a few examples from the incredible life of Brian “Walter Mitty” Williams (well, this is at least how it will be written in Common Core textbooks):

On a moonless night in the middle of the North Atlantic, it was Brian Williams who caste his eyes to the horizon, saw the approaching danger, and yelled down to the desk that they were heading right at an iceberg. Of course, the Captain didn’t heel his advice and didn’t take action until the object was spotted by another lookout. They should have listened to him.

In the final days of the war, Brian Williams had a chance to speak with the president and told him that he should take some time for himself, enjoy a quiet evening with his wife, and reflect on all that he had accomplished. Instead, the president decided that it was best if they went out for the night and see a nice show. Lincoln should have listened to him.

D-Day was actually a one man operation with Brian Williams landing on Omaha beach and single handedly defeating the Third Reich. On a side note, Hitler’s real reason for living in a bunker was to hide from Brian Williams.

The Declaration of Independence was actually only signed by one man. It was Brian Williams listing all of his different aliases.  

Brian Williams was holding the camera when Neil Armstrong took his first step on the moon. He also told him what to say.

Brian Williams told Adam not to bite the apple.

Contrary to the beliefs held by the children of South Park, Brian Williams could defeat Brian Boitano.

Charlie Daniels didn’t defeat the devil, Brian Williams did.

There has been a lot of news over the last week or so about the stories that Brian Williams has been telling. He spoke of moments and events that certainly happened but he was not there to witness himself. The embellishments and downright lies that he told are things that should not be coming from the mouth of the thinly veiled unbiased journalist/host. This is not the first time that this has happened in the world of journalism and like many of those previous instances, Williams should not continue in his duties. In the end, this week even Stephen Glass and Jayson Blair were sitting at the bar and watching the television in disbelief.