QUIZ RECAP

Two things... One, Lion & Crown set a new record for number of teams and
number of players participating in a single night of King Trivia Pub Quiz. Fifteen teams
comprising seventy-seven players. Quiz Master Lou had his hands full last night. And
second, Bob of team IFFY!, celebrated his retirement. He is age seventy. Most Americans
are supposed to retire at age sixty-five, but things don't always work out that way. In
any case, it was only proper that Bob be lauded for sticking with the same job for twenty-
five years. He reminded me of the scene in The Magnificent Seven, in which Charles
Bronson's character admonishes the three children who have taken on hero worship of this
gunfighter who has come to defend their village. Yet, when the going gets rough, he and
his band of mercenaries prepare to bug out and the kids want to go with him. They say
they are ashamed of their fathers, that they think their dads are cowards. This enrages
Bronson's character, he grabs and spanks one of the kids then lays this speech on them...

"You think I am brave because I carry a gun. Your fathers are much braver because they
carry responsibility! For you, your sisters, your brothers and your mothers. And this
responsibility is like a big rock that weighs a ton. It bends and it twists them until it
finally buries them under the ground. And there's nobody that says they have to do this.
They do it because they love you and because they want to! I have never had this kind
of courage..."

Bob has this courage, too. And last night was his last Thursday night after work. Today
will be his last Friday at work. It will be his final TGIF. You can relax now, Bob.
You've earned it!

I will see you all next year! So say goodbye to 2018 and let's have a great 2019! As
always, I remain, faithfully yours...