Cold rain... well, I guess it had to start feeling like November eventually. Besides, it makes my cup of coffee seem that much better, warming my hands before I take that first sip, the wonderful aroma riding on the steam..... ahhhhh..... much better. Everyone has a drug of choice - mine just happens to come in a cup.

Today is Veteran's Day, the most significant and least celebrated of all holidays. I am opposed to war, mostly because I'm a talker and I'm convinced that as intelligent people we should be able to settle our differences without coming to blows. But I understand that there are times when it is inevitable, and I have the utmost respect for the men and women in our military. My father served in the Army, my grandfather worked on a support ship in the Pacific in WWII the Big One. My father-in-law earned a purple heart in Vietnam. There will always be those who flout the world's opinions and laws, and try to become a law unto themselves - the Hitlers and the Stalins and yes, even the Saddam Husseins. When they do, as the largest remaining superpower, it always seems to fall to us to put down the tyrant and clean up the mess. When it comes to that, it is a noble cause and the men and women who put their lives on the line for that cause deserve better than they get. If we can't manage anything else, at the very least we owe them our respect.