Hi all,

It's been a while since I was here so I thought I'd reintroduce myself for the newer members and give a rundown of what's been going on with me for the old timers.

I've totally retired. No part time jobs, no start-ups, no nothing! I'm enjoying the hell out of it this time. Pauline still has a while to go, but we're looking forward to traveling a bit when she retires.

I was involved in the India operations part of a start-up pharma company (some of you may remember.) My duties moved from the US to India and it presented an opportunity for me to leave. I'm still invested in the company and occasionally helpout with some of the historical aspects, but I've handed off everything I was doing to folks in India.

Sold the Shelby and bought an Aston Martin Vantage a little over a year ago. It was a great car and I loved driving it, but totally impractical for road trips because of the lack of trunk space. So after our last road trip I traded it for a 2013 Jaguar XJ. I have to say it is a wonderful car.

For a long time I was smoking mostly CC's, but at the risk of getting a bit political I made a decision a few months ago to stop because of the shipment of military weapons discovered going from Russia to Cuba to N. Korea. Just kind of hit a hot button for me. So now I'm exploring new NC's and hoping I can find some things that I enjoy. I have so far liked the Julius Caesar and the Jose Suijas, but I'm not having much luck finding anything new that impresses me much. I went to a cigar festival in Boulder last month where I was able to get about 30 different faces that I hadn't tried. I'm working my way through them but so far I haven't found anything that I would buy. Hopefully I'll find something that I will want to try a second time. Of course, there's still some old favorites that I never gave up on. I was in Las Vegas a while back and tried a Davidoff from their store in the MGM Grand. I enjoyed the hell out of it, but unfortunately I was in no shape to remember exactly which one it was, so I'll probably pick up a sampler pretty soon. Any suggestions?

My current concern is centered around my dog, Rocky. I've had him over 14 years and I don't know how much longer he will be around. There have been a few times when I was convinced it was time to put him down, but then he rallies (in the sense that he doesn't seem to hurt so much) and seems to get around ok, although slow. I know he hurts because his legs will give out a few times a day when he is walking around the house and he just hits the floor. He gets back up, but slowly. He hesitates going up and down stairs and doesn't like to play or even be petted around his back hips. He's on pain killers and the vet says she'll help me whenever I think it's time. In truth, it's probably time, but I can't bring myself to put him down just yet. I keep hoping that he will just go to sleep some night and not wake up.

So that's a quick rundown. I'll be searching through the forum to try to catch up a bit, but let me know what's been going on with you guys. And to all of the new guys who came on in the past 3 years or so, a belated welcome!

Cheers!
Mark