Over the past two years, I’ve spent many hours researching, writing, revising, and publishing Thirty-Two Minutes in March. I could say it’s been an all-consuming task, wrenching me away from things I’d rather be doing, like charity work, babysitting grandkids, or perfecting my table tennis serve. But here’s a dirty little secret….. I’ve been using it to duck home improvement projects.

When I retired from my real job in 2015, I had already started on the book. Which means I was watching high school basketball games and interviewing coaches, players, and officials. And I was refereeing some basketball. Whenever I got the stinkeye from my still-employed wife Theresa about finally finishing up the flooring project, or touching up a paint job, or replacing the shutters, I had the book to fall back on.

When I heard the garage door open I’d jump up off the couch, change the TV channel from a Bar Rescue rerun to the local news, and try to get the faucet turned on in the kitchen  before Theresa got in the house. She’d walk in, struggling to get in the door with her computer bag, purse, and coat. Dumping her stuff on the table, she’d turn to me.

“So what did you do today?”

“Pretty hectic. Worked on the book all morning.”

“Any progress on the floor?”, she’d ask hopefully.

I’d shake my head and frown in regret as I industriously washed a cookie sheet.

“Naw, just ran out of time. This book and all, you know…”

So now, the book is done. I still have to try to sell it, but that’s mostly  evening and weekend work. How do I fill the days now? I know…..another book! A brand new, shiny project that won’t involve manual labor!

But writing books is hard. Somebody smarter than me once said that writing one is simple; all you have to do is stare at a blank piece of paper until tiny drops of blood form on your forehead. It’s not quite that bad, but still takes a lot of focus and energy. But a blog…..yeah….. a blog.

So here it is. I’ll mostly be writing about sports, but also other things that I hope interests other people. If you’d like an email alert when new posts are….uh….posted….click on the link below. You can also follow me on Twitter or Facebook and see post alerts there. I hope you’ll join me for this ride. Because we all know what a pain in the ass it is to paint ceilings.