Thanks for the ride! Thanksgiving: a uniquely American holiday. We're supposed to stop what we're doing long enough to remember and appreciate the good things and good people in our lives. No multitasking allowed, unless it's basting a turkey and making a pumpkin pie at the same time. Sometimes it's hard to be thankful for the big picture items: our good health and our good families. They're just "there" as they should be, as we want them to be forever. Giving thanks for these parts of our lives should be a year round endeavor if we can stop just long enough...

I've been outted. At our monthly all-staff meeting the other day, before attending to the business at hand, I was asked to stand. It was my birthday and I found myself the center of attention. Suddenly, in that way-too-bright spotlight someone asked how old I was.

Instinctively, I dodged the question with this quick retort: "Well, my children think I'm 45." The group laughed and finally, I fessed up: I was 58. I said it proudly as only a card-carrying AARP member should. A low-level gasp permeated the room, finished with a touch of polite applause. My years of workplace subterfuge had finally come to an end.

Every year I am faced with the same dilemma: I want to look forward to celebrating my birthday just so: perfect gifts and the perfect adoration from family and a few close friends, just like I did when I was seven. Remember when the month leading up to your special day was exciting? The night before you counted down the hours to your birthday party. Okay, I've matured just a bit and like to give a little back each year.

But as I inch ever closer to gizzerhood, this tick in time doesn't fit me as well as it used to. Like the zillions who have come before me I will reply when asked how it feels to be a year older: "I don't feel any different." And like my predecessors I will ask myself: "How did I get to be so old?" I fingered the gold watch they would give me on retirement.

Gifts from my coworkers trickled in throughout the rest of the day; people stopped me in the halls to wish me a Happy Birthday and some stopped by my cubicle to marvel at how well preserved I was. More than once I heard "I am shocked, totally shocked you are THAT OLD."

If you've seen this bag, let me know. My wife will love it, especially if it will hold a few bottles of wine! As I sit by the subway door each morning on my commute to work I am rewarded with "first look rights" of people and their possessions as they enter the train. You never know what treasures you will find (objects or their owners). This morning I spied this wonderful Question Mark attaché the minute it came on board. "Wow," I thought, "that would be a perfect Mother's Day gift for my wife. Perfect. Just her style." I mean,...