Damn you, Drew Carey

By Jim T. Ryan, Hooligan-in-Chief

Damn you, Drew Carey!

Your suave pitches about the endearing qualities of Cleveland had me sold. And then I realized I could not afford a weekend in your lavish city.

This is what happens when you have a life that revolves around the schedules of others and try to "plan" a weekend getaway.

I had my hopes set on visiting Cleveland next weekend and tried miserably to live by another plan, another schedule. And then a friend pointed out that the hotel I had booked had reports of bed bugs...and it was in an unsavory part of town.

My biggest problem is that with children, and work schedules and recreational sports schedules and family schedules and scheduled interviews and scheduled TV time and schedules, schedules, schedules...I have forgotten how to take a risk.

What I really needed was spontaneity. So instead of scheduling an expensive trip to Cleveland, a trusted road trip buddy and I have decided to literally roll the die and go where fate takes us. We will assign rather random cities to numbers on a die, roll it, and where it lands, that's where our car will take us. We'll live by our wits, at least for a weekend. And then its back on schedule.

Never underestimate the ability of spontaneity and chaos and chance to cut through the stress of schedules.

Here's to the open road and what adventures fate might throw our way!