Best of Mississippi

Best of Mississippi and a Farewell Kiss Goodbye

I did a best and worst of Iowa series while visiting my sister up north, so I figured I’d attempt to recapture that again in my final blog post from deep down in Dixie. I’ll be heading out of town next week to continue on my “Pike’s Peak or Bust” Mystery Tour.  I’ll refrain from a “worst of” entry for Mississippi since there’s entirely too much of that on display in mainstream media already.

Special Thanks to Mike Parker

Bandit and I have been staying with a long-time and dear friend in the suburbs.  We’ve been extremely well cared for by my good buddy Mike Parker.  Mike is a successful restauranteur here in Jackson.  Mike and his late partner Larry were highlighted in a local magazine article in 2012 as a Jackson area “Power Couple” and as the article above notes, their pizza business has received multiple awards since it’s opening in 2006. Sadly, Larry passed away of cancer a couple years before my wife Rita followed him to the great beyond.  Mike has since found a new and loving partner to help him pick up the pieces of his life.  I’m not ready for that kind of commitment again at this point in my life since I’m still mourning the more recent passing of my beloved mate (and best friend).  Even though Mike has remarried, I know there’s still a void in his soul from the passing of Larry that will never be filled.  It’s good to be staying in a house with such love and understanding of what I’ve been through in the last six months.  I cannot say enough good things about the quality of support my friends here in the South have provided for both myself and my furry travel companion.  Such blessings are hard to come by.

Fond Memories of Mississippi

Below is a slideshow of some of the highlights my hairy beast and I enjoyed here in Dixie during the last several months.  Even as we make our way forward and on to new and exciting adventures, I will always cling to the pleasant memories of my stay here in Mississippi.  There are others in my sphere who have also been essential in keeping our spirits high and our bellies full.  I shall respect the anonymity I know they desire but I shall not fail to make note of them here in passing.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Enjoy.

Sunday Morning Services

Good morning to all.  This is the first service from America since returning from my socialist utopia in Europe.  As such, I’m highlight a song this Sunday that I ran across right before leaving Germany.  It was part of a Philliips Ambilight commercial I saw and what caught my attention was the part about not talking the easy road.  Why do you suppose that struck a chord with me?  LOL.

I hear a voice calling
Calling out for me
These shackles I’ve made in an attempt to be free
Be it for reason, be it for love
I won’t take the easy road

Prelude to Services

See all of you soon at the top of the stairs!

At the top of the stairs they got keys to Cadillacs, BMW’s Mercedes Benz’s and all of that.

Why Walmart Failed in Germany

Far and away the most heavily trafficked blogpost of mine in recent history. Might be approaching my Nasa Moon Hoax post from the late 20th century. (Max on the Moon) The German Walmart disaster story is still number one daily in my stats even after nearly TWO years from the original posting. Enjoy.

The Tim Channel

Walmart, the most successful retail operation in the US, failed to make even a dent in the largest and most vibrant European economy (Germany) after losing a billion dollars in the process of bungling their German market experiment with so much failure it is now the stuff of local urban legend..  Let’s examine the reasons.

Cultural Hubris

“The problem was the company’s business philosophy, which had always worked so well,” wrote Frankfurt’s Börsenzeitung in what pretty much amounted to an obituary. “It’s people-centered – but that doesn’t actually work when the people aren’t American.

The company gave the job of masterminding Wal-Mart Germany to an American who didn’t speak a word of German.

The Germans weren’t fond of the Walmart practice of hiring old people to accost greet them at the door, nor were the German workers impressed with morning warm-up sessions (“Higher Profits Uber Alles! — Can I get…

View original post 463 more words

Tim’s Tiny Home Project Notes

I’ve been bitten by the tiny Euro lifestyle here in Germany.  Having the first hand view of German’s commitment to environmental protection while maintaining industrial level Chinese production capacity is a once in a lifetime experience. If you’re buying a German produced good today there’s a huge likelihood that a significant part of the energy required to build it came from the wind or the sun!

I’ve definitely caught the ‘umwelt’ bug, which coincidentally overlaps with my tree hugging liberal proclivities.   Don’t even get me started on the ‘latte drinking’ part of the liberal equation!  There’s too many of my social media posts out there for me to deny that, but I pity the fool who thinks they’ll ever find a picture of me (or my shadow) within sight of a Volvo, or a soccer match.   I may be a caricature but I’m not a stereotype!

Monkey Business

Full set here.

Previous visit/backstory here.

Enjoy.