I first penned (penned?) this screed (g) on 11/17/01.  I thought it appropriate, it being Thanksgiving and all, to jot down a list of those things for which I was thankful.  This year, the tradition continues, below the fold, again with only a few minor tweaks: 
First of all, let me once again apologize for not blogging as much as I wish I could.  Ideally, I’d be cranking out two or three posts a day.  There’s certainly that much going on in the world, and it tears at my gut to be missing the opportunities to write about these things.  Pains me even more to think that you, the Denizens, are missing out on my great wisdom.  (rolling eyes, grin, chuckle)
The fact is that I simply have not had time to do one of the things that I enjoy more than I ever thought I would – writing.  I never for a moment, sitting in my first ever English Composition college class taught by a guy I believed to be an idiot twenty years ago, thought that I would ever come to the point that I actually got a kick out of slapping thoughts on page.  Amazing how things change.
But, I digress.  There’s not been enough time.  I’ve been swamped at work, and that’s when I’m not trying to renew a certification.  This is taking me away from the chores I need to be doing – keeping the house clean, doing the laundry in a timely fashion, cleaning the kitchen, picking up dog crap off the carpet, those sorts of things.  And when I do finally get around to those things, they keep me from doing stuff I like to do – like surfing the Web and writing these columns.
Which brings me around to the topic at hand.  Thanksgiving’s today, and it’s a good time to kick back and tick off the things for which your obdt.  svt.  (a little Blackie Sherrod lingo, there) is thankful: