Author: Nick

Recently in Youngsville, a business was giving away its product. This wasn’t a marketing scheme or ownership gone mad. The electricity was out and the computer based cash register wasn’t working. There was access to the cash drawer but NO ONE WORKING AT THE TIME KNEW HOW TO MAKE CHANGE. So the business was giving away product.  I realize that the use of cash is way down. I don’t carry a checkbook anymore and very little cash. I use my debit card for everything. It provides a record of my expenses and is very convenient. There is obviously less need for cash handling skills. Nonetheless, shouldn’t everyone be able to make change.To my generation, this isn’t complicated.  There are videos online explaining how to do this. Really? I know the “younger generation” isn’t stupid they can do lots of things I can’t. It seems that because it’s a skill that isn’t often used, why teach it. Similarly, schools are no longer teaching kids to write in cursive. People don’t write much anymore by hand. When necessary, seems like printing produces a more readable product. I wish they had come up with this when I was in first grade. I […]

  Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails. Proverbs 19:21; Man plans and God laughs. Yiddish proverb and the thirteenth studio album by American hip hop group Public Enemy.  I gave much thought this weekend to living in the moment. It’s in fact, the only way to live. The past is gone and the future is unpredictable. Yet I waste much time regretting the past and worrying about the future.  I gave the matter much thought on an intellectual plane, until it was driven home by reality. I had simple plans for Sunday afternoon, take a nap, watch the Saints while finishing up my Christmas cards. For Monday I was going to prepare for and have a meeting with a client. However, I woke from the planned nap with a burning fever and chills to the extent I couldn’t stop shaking. I could have cared less about the Saints or Christmas cards. I rescheduled my Monday meeting. These were not monumental plans, but they could have been.  I don’t really think God was laughing at my plans. I do think my 24 hour bout with fever and chills was within God’s […]

I have a new fitness tracker. It is with me 24/7, when I sleep, swim or shower. It tracks my heartbeat, my steps, the flights of stairs I take, my sleep, my burned calories, the calories I ingest (if I’m honest with it.) It reminds me to move, to sleep, to wake, to eat, to stop eating, to answer my texts and emails. It is changing my life. It doesn’t do things for me. It just makes me aware. Being aware reminds and motivates me to do things. It’s great. It helps me focus on important things like activity, nourishment, and rest.  I need trackers in other aspects of my life. I need a fiscal tracker. One that makes me aware of what I am spending and not spending, earning and not earning. I need a social tracker that makes me aware of the people around me. I need to know what they need, what they are wanting, what are their dreams, their fears. If I was more aware wouldn’t I act differently? I need a God tracker. I need to know about Him. I need to be more aware of His presence. His desires for me. His warnings […]

In a recent conversation with my grandson, he said, “There are no shades of grey in marriage. That’s why the groom wears black and the bride wears white.” It took a few moments for the profoundness of that statement to sink in. There really are no shades of grey in marriage, or are there? Confusion on this point has been the source of much misery for generations. In marriage there are roles. We have greyed those roles. It has led to confusion and disintegration of the marriage institution. For years, husbands tried to be wives and wives to be men. I’m really not a chauvinist. I am not fighting women in the workplace or equal pay for equal work. I am saying that God created them man and woman and not something in between. He made them different because different talents are required to raise healthy kids and to live healthy lives. He never intended that one sex raise kids and the other make a living. It was always supposed to be a team effort. For centuries, families were teams. They made a living making a product or raising a crop along with the kids. The industrial revolution took […]

If you are up and about to read this post, it’s likely you are getting ready to take part in Black Friday. Back in 2011, I wrote about Black Friday. Things have changed in five years. Black Friday has moved online, but for some there’s still nothing like going out and shopping when it’s still dark. As a public service I offer this list of the times various stores open today. Check it out. You don’t want to be wasting time waiting for a store to open when you could be spending money somewhere else.  Here are some tips from Consumer Reports for handling Black Friday.  1. Start early. Ah, remember when Black Friday simply meant checking the ads in the Sunday circulars to see which local retailers had the best deals? Things sure have become more complicated. Not only has Black Friday morphed into a whole month of deals and savings, but online retailers also regularly update prices throughout the event. If you oversleep on Friday, remember there is always Cyber Monday, which now stretches into a week of online specials. 2. Do your homework.  Here’s some help: Dell’s electronics deals, plus TV sales at BJ’s, Kohl’s, and Sam’s […]

Photo by Tim Casey The Florida defense smothers LSU tailback Derrius Guice on the goal line as time expires to preserve Saturday’s 16-10 win   Recently I proclaimed that I believed I was becoming a LSU Tiger football fan. Of course, I made clear at the time I was still, primarily a Florida Gator and UL Ragin Cajun. So I know you will forgive me if I have a brighter smile and a happier attitude than my LSU Tiger friends.  I confess I didn’t watch the game yesterday. I was making a flower bed for my wife. I won’t deny that I listened to the last quarter while consuming a couple of cheese burgers at Judice Inn.  I stopped breathing for the last two plays of the game when the Tigers couldn’t score. I won’t deny I nearly wrecked as I was headed home when the game ended. I am, after all, a fan.  I will be cheering loudly next weekend when the Tigers take on A and M. and in any bowl game they may play in.  I know most of you won’t care about Florida/Florida State Saturday night, but it’s a huge one for me.  Admit it. […]

Got some bumper stickers recently to promote my law practice. Pretty classy, right? Informative, but not too flashy. No picture of me. That’s got to be a plus. Then I realized I can’t just go out and stick them on random cars. Although my grandson volunteered to do just that. Got to love the enthusiasm of the young. Then I had an inspiration. With the election over (almost) there must be folks who backed the wrong candidates and now have embarrassing bumper stickers on their cars.   Bumper stickers are like tatoos. What once seemed like a good idea, isn’t always.  Ever try to get a bumper sticker off? Now half of America supported Clinton. Some of those people must have slapped stickers on their vehicles in a moment of foolish passion. What if she ends up in jail? What are you going to do then? You could be an accessory, before and after the fact.  Even if you supported Trump, you know he’s going to say something that’s going to make you want to lick his sticker off your bumper. You really want to lose sleep over that?  We all have ideas that seem clever at the time […]

I was diagnosed with type II diabetes several years ago. Since then I have had medical exams and blood work about every six months. I have been on a variety of meds which have generally kept my disease under control. I would occasionally watch what I ate and rarely tested my blood. The medicine seemed to be working, so I was cool, no need to struggle with a diet or finally get on an exercise program. I remember a doctor (yes an actual doctor) saying regarding diet and exercise, why bother if there’s a drug for it.  In the last few months  my blood sugar readings rose. My doc recommended a new medication, a weekly injection. He told me that Trulicity was a once a week self-injection. It had good success reducing A1C and I “might” even lose some weight. Science had come up with the latest miracle. The sound of “injection” wasn’t pleasant, but I knew something had to be done. The drug is incredibly expensive. $700 a month for 4 injections, but “what the heck” Medicare pays for all but $100. Six weeks later my fasting blood glucose is normal. I’ve lost over 10 pounds and I […]