I’m looking forward to the cross-country trip that will ultimately take me to the MREA Energy Fair in Custer, Wisconsin June 20-22. The whole family will leave from Oregon June 10.

Yesterday, Lenie made the reservations for Annie and me to fly us from Annie’s North Carolina home to Custer. It will be Annie’s first time away from her two young children, Gavin, 2, and Olga, 4, so that may well make this Fair hard on her. But then again, it will give her a break from being a Mom. It will also give Annie and me a chance to hang out and have fun together, something we used to do all the time as she was growing up. Lenie will take care of the kids and grandkids back in Camp Lejeune.

We packed the twenty or so boxes of merchandise for the show this past week and will ship them via Fed-Ex sometime in the coming week. We’re bringing 40 BHM T-shirts of various colors and sizes in case you want to take advantage of my offer of a free autographed copy of my Stupid People book in exchange for wearing a BHM T-shirt at the show.

Meanwhile, back at the office, I’ve been learning Adobe Creative Suites 3 under the tutelage of Jay Stoler. CS3 is the new publication software BHM will begin using starting with Issue No. 114. I hate learning this stuff. At age 64, I am not only resistant to change but feel as though my time could be used more productively doing other things.

I prefer, instead, to listen to my Great Courses on Tape put out by the Teaching Company. I have a bunch of them, ranging from various sciences to all sorts of histories. Lately I’ve been listening to a 24-tape series titled Europe and Western Civilization in the Modern Age. The courses are essentially selective (and very good) college and graduate courses the Teaching Company has collected from around the world.

Not only do I enjoy the relaxation of listening to an informative lecture by someone who makes a good presentation, but I’ve long realized that being informed about what actually occurred during critical periods of history is one of the essential ways I can prepare myself to think clearly as I write my magazine commentaries for BHM. Too much commentary in America is written by people who have little knowledge of history and science.

In a blog comment on my May 24 post, Shelley Henderson asked how Lemming is played. Here’s how:

Deal four players three piles of four cards each face-down. (If you only have three players, deal them four piles of four cards each face-down.) The remaining four cards are placed face-down in the center of the playing surface.

The game begins when the cards in the center are turned face-up.

The object of the game is to get three sets (or four sets if you have three players), such as four 2s, four Kings, or whatever, which you get by throwing down a card face-up in the middle of the playing surface and grabbing a card that helps you on your way to making a set. You can only switch out one card at a time. As you make a set, you place it face-up in front of you. When you get your final set, you place it down face-up and yell “Lemming.” The last one to yell Lemming loses, while all the remaining players win.

If you yell “Lemming” prematurely, you automatically lose. If you get caught with more than four cards in a pile, you automatically lose. Also, you can’t switch cards from pile to pile, but instead must put a card in the center of the table, then pick it up if you need it for another pile.

This card game tends to become frantic, especially near the end, as the last two players are typically neck and neck on the way to yelling Lemming.