Twentieth posting - hot

It's hot here. Africa hot. Pee evaporates before it hits the pavement hot. Tires melting off of my wheels hot. This doesn't feel as bad, though, as my years in Washington when I walked to the office, shirt untucked and unbuttoned, hoping for some semblance of a breeze. It also doesn't sound hot. For those of you from Oklahoma (or lucky enough to have visited), you might remember hearing the cicadas buzzing from first thing in the morning until the sun goes down. To me that's the sound of hot.

This weekend I was up in Ithaca for my 5th year business school reunion. Was great to reconnect with friends I hadn't seen since graduation, and re-hash stories about people we liked and didn't like. We're a catty bunch, but deep down we're nice people. Like Ithaca, Cornell's campus is so beautiful that it was easy to forget the miserable winters. Overall I was surprised to hear so many people were still at the same company -- five years into the burn. We graduated slightly after the tech boom, so there were fewer West Coast casualties. One guy started a company called Jambo (http://www.jambo.net) which may or may not succeed because I still don't understand the business model, and another started one called Happy Wares (http://www.theezcarry.com/default.asp) and invented an ergonomically designed grip to help you carry plastic shopping bags. He made it on to QVC, which is (I'm told) the Holy Grail for inventors. Actually looks like he's already a success.

The funny thing about Ithaca is that it also brings out the latent entrepreneur in me. I've been there several times since graduation, and each time, I day dream about starting a microbrewery/ bookstore, or an adventure tour company, or a restaurant on the lake with a dock. The town is hardly the place to sustain these thoughts, although with a few million dollars coming my way in the next lottery, a house on Lake Cayuga would not be out of the question....

Day dreams must end, and work days must begin. Hope yours is a good one. NATHAN