There are times as a parent when you feel like strangling a child. Fortunately for Kyle, he has 3000 miles working in his favor in this circumstance. Before returning to college this fall, he decided to sell his Ford F150 truck and the box trailer he purchased for his landscaping business. Procrastinating until the last week of his vacation, the truck and trailer remained unsold, the former parked in our driveway and the latter stored miles away on a friend’s horse farm. Unable to control her motherly instincts, Jeanine volunteered to assist Kyle with the sale. I made it clear that I wanted no part of the endeavor. After numerous flakes and no-shows responded to the Craig’s List advertisement, Jeanine was contacted by a hot prospect who was in dire need of a trailer and wanted to drive up from Brockton to check it and the truck out. The buyer arrived with his brother at 10 PM. This is generally the hour at which I begin looking forward to a good night’s sleep rather than the beginning of a 2 1/2 hour negotiation.

All-in-all not my idea of late-night fun on the evening before I am scheduled to appear before the Board of Directors. In addition to a loving welcome, delicious food, and the comfort of his old room, Kyle can look forward to a significant “make good” assignment when he returns from California this Sunday for the Thanksgiving break.