My grandmother Lillian was full of little life-lesson witticisms. One of her favorites was, “If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.” It takes a second to get it but the message is simple; wishes are just that. Reality is usually something else.

As a happily married man it is a rare occurrence when my wife Joan and I have been apart for more than one or two days in a row.

We have all seen images of the ancient cavemen, with the group standing around a roaring fire while some brave soul holds a skewered piece of mastodon meat and tries to get the perfect grill lines. Heat is important when living in a cold environment such as Chicago. While my SoCal, Caribbean and desert friends don’t usually have this problem, I can assure you that when the heat fails in Chicago during January, not only does the family get upset, but serious consequences can occur, including broken water pipes and marital tension.

 As a handgun enthusiast I have handled and fired all sorts of semi-automatic pistols and revolvers (and I still have all my fingers). Thanks to my late friend George Maddox I became acquainted with the 1911-style .45-caliber pistol, which was the U.S. military’s sidearm of choice from its introduction in the early 1900s until 1985, when it was replaced by the Beretta M9 9 mm. Many handgun experts have waxed poetic on the qualities of the 1911-style pistol, often declaring it the best handgun ever designed. 

“Look out honey, ‘cause I’m using technology.” — “Search and Destroy,” Iggy and the Stooges, 1973

Dispatch from Buffalo, N.Y.

 I travel extensively around the lower 48 and Canada performing training classes for our industry. As a result, I have taken hundreds of cab rides in the past seven years.

I am back to buying lottery tickets. The debut of the Dodge Challenger Hellcat has stimulated my muscle car genes from years gone by.

The mouse and rat action around our properties continues. Two years ago it was the summertime invasion of the Chicago rats into the backyard of the bunker in Bucktown. This problem was eventually subdued with the installation of a Maginot line of steel sheets and cement on the fences facing the alley. There is a price to be paid for living in a neighborhood that is chock-full of wonderful restaurants; the presence of tossed foodstuffs is heaven for the Chicago Rattus norvegicus.

One of the many benefits of using IP physical security devices is the wide variety of connectivity options available. Dealers who are knowledgeable about the various IP devices and technologies can utilize existing fiber optic cables for separate networks that can span great distances, providing connectivity to remote buildings, within large locations and on campus-type installations. These separate or “parallel” networks are the best choice for large installations because the security devices are connected to separate cables and network switches, which should eliminate any bandwidth concerns that might be raised by the client’s IT department.

Recently the heat in my family’s bunker in Bucktown failed. Of course these events occur only during the polar vortex, so it was 12 degrees outside and 60 degrees and dropping in my house when I woke up that day.