By the way, I was not on the same Seattle-Memphis flight that kept fellow CA blogger John Beifuss detained for 10 hours.

But John, I feel your pain: I was stuck in the Atlanta airport for about eight hours a few years ago because some nut who was running late for a flight decided to run past the metal detectors. Why he thought he could do that without incident just a few weeks after 9-11 remains a mystery to me.

Some people need a cup of coffee or two to wake up in the morning. Me, I just read the morning mail:

“Dear Sir/Madam,

This letter is to notify you to appear before the City of Memphis Alcohol Commission on Wednesday, August 1, 2007 at 9:00 a.m. The Commission will meet in the Auditorium of Memphis Police Department (sic) located at 201 Poplar Avenue…”

Well, there’s nothing like a document that seems to be roughly equivalent to a courtroom summons to start off a work week, especially after a long vacation.

Fortunately for me, it turns out that was just the Alcohol Commission’s way of letting me know that the meeting location had changed from its usual spot. As a regular on the commission’s mailing list for agendas, I got the same notice everyone else on their list apparently got.

Which is a real relief. If I had a liquor license, I would at least want to put it to good use before it got revoked.

Anyway, I’ve shaken off the post-vacation blues and I’m now fully engaged. And by that I mean not only am I ready to get back about the business of commenting on news and events in the Mid-South, but I’m also engaged to be married.

It happened on my trip to Washington state last week. And I just want to say thanks to my fiancé Lynn and the 34,000 fans at Safeco Field in Seattle who shared that special moment with us.

Here’s one of the best deals I’ve run across in a long time, at one of the resorts I’ve always yearned to visit.The lush Sanctuary on Camelback Mountain, named by Condé Nast Traveller as one of the best in the world, is offering a lunch & lean program that brings winemakers and chefs to the resort for a one-day seminar on a variety of gastronomic delights.

My first blog post on this site was about all the things you, the reader, don’t see or hear about on the local news.  Shots fired but no victims, domestic disturbances, petty burglaries, you name it.  Some nights the scanner is quiet; other nights the chatter is non-stop.  I’ve learned that the amount of chatter on the scanner is never a true indication of what’s going on.  The scanner has been pretty quiet this weekend, but there have been shootings on both nights so far. 

Last night, I reported on a man who was shot to death at Hickory Hill and Knight Arnold, an area I drive through almost daily to and from my day job.  One of my earlier stories reported a teenager who was shot and killed literally blocks from where I work and around the corner from a close friend of mine. 

So far, the only thing reported in my own hood, Midtown, has been a fire at an abandoned house.  The longer I work here, though, the more I expect to hear something bad near my apartment or even at my apartment.   You never know. 

 The dollar is taking a  beating in some countries, such as England, Australia and China. But there are still plenty of spots, like rural Spain (shown here in an Associated Press photo) that are good bargains for travelers.

What have you noticed on your travels overseas? Have you come across some good deals. Have some destinations been a pain in the pocketbook?

Here’s your chance to let others in on your discoveries.  

We’re hosting an online conversation this week with Sheri Wahl Richardson, a medical group administrator with skills in hospital, health plan and physician group credentialing. She is manager, provider credentialing and enrollment at UT Medical Group.
Here’s your chance to ask questions about checking provider (physician, hospital and care home) credentials and ratings.
She will check the blog periodically and respond.