My 'warm up' for the Falmouth road Race was the BAA 10K in June, where I ran (and walked) at a pace only 22 seconds slower than last year.

You could say, that isn't bad relative to age, but last year was my worst time ever, and I was 22 seconds worse. Lots of excuses, including temperature and humidity, but I'm not taking any of them.

I should be and will be better and I've already stopped running in the cool of the morning and shifted to the heat of the afternoon to get 'readier' than I've been. 500 people finished behind me in this race, and I'm hoping that thousands will see the back of my singlet on August 25th.

Speaking of Falmouth Road Race, last year I offered the unique opportunity to view my famous 'Dancing with the Stars' of Boston routine to individuals who donated to the Falmouth Road Race that I ran on behalf of Cystic Fibrosis.

As loyal reader. Margaret, responds above, the word 'Wow' will not be too far from your lips after viewing this incredible piece of cinematography. So, I am making the same offer this year to new donors: I'll send you a link to the 2008 event that also includes the routine of Miss Massachusetts at the time, Jackie Bruno, formerly of NBC 10 Boston and now owner of a marketing agency. In the video I am gently judged by a variety of local leaders, including Ernie Boch Jr.

If you are a repeat donor, I will send you an autographed photo of the shoes I wore that night that are still in my closet. I know it may not seem like much, and it isn't, but I'm out of spectacular things to offer.

You can reach my fundraising page here.

What makes a writer a writer? His or her writing, I'm guessing? There are different kinds of writers, however. The screenwriters are on strike, the Twitter writers are restricted, the romance novel writers are booming in summertime, and the business writers keep cranking out helpful tips for success.

I am not any of those types of writers. I am an accidental writer, and career wise, here's how I got here.

1-Major League Catcher: I wanted to be a catcher for the Boston Red Sox. As soon as I woke up and realized that I lacked the size, strength and the talent to do, so I immediately reset my sites on becoming a meteorologist.

2-Meteorologist: When I wanted to be a meteorologist, for a time I issued daily weather reports to my family members.

Yes, there was TV and Radio then, but I was really into it and wrote my own weather forecasts. I think I was fascinated by an occupation where, at least in Boston, you could be wrong 80% of the time and still keep your job.

3-Sportswriter: The meteorologist phase didn't last long and was quickly replaced with the desire to be a sportswriter. The fact that a dividend of a cheerleader crush had me graduate with the skill to type 75 words per minute, played into this ambition. So I headed to college as an English Major and lived the dream of sports writing on a part-time volunteer basis for four years for the Daily Collegian, circulation about 30,000.

4-Emily Dickinson: The famous poet lived in Amherst, well before me, and my English class was scheduled to have a procession from her house to her grave carrying a flower. Experiential learning at its finest. I decided that I didn't want to do it and didn't want to be an English Major.

5-Teacher: I guess hovering in the background through the meteorologist, sportswriter and Emily Dickinson eras, was a secondary desire to be a teacher, probably because people felt I was good at teaching or could be good at teaching. This 'occupation' has always been in the background.

6-Marketing: The semester after I rejected Emily, I took Marketing 101 and was hooked. We were studying stuff from the present, instead of dead poets. I was fired up. First time in my college career that I stayed up all night prepping for a final.

7-Restaurant Management: When I couldn't find a marketing job upon graduation, I went to work in a fast-food restaurant to kill the time and make a little dough.

After four years of borrowing to pay tuition, I had almost $4,000 in student loans to repay-$49.86 per month. I ended up staying with that company for seven years, and the career for more than 30 years.

8-Sales: Finally, after all those years, I ended up the National Sales Manager for a food manufacturer that sold to national chain restaurants. Lots of flying involved.

9-Non-profit Executive: Having been an active volunteer, as in Board Chair, I crossed over to a paid employee for a national non-profit. I knew nothing about non-profit management, but enough about business and relationships to extend a 15 year career with some success.

10-Furlough: When the four-letter word 'furlough' was shared with me over Zoom, I became a Consultant while I sought salaried work. Between my age and the pandemic, I didn't find any salaried work, and none found me.

11-Consultant: In business for myself, and of course, I love my boss. I still work my ass off, as my wife and son will testify. I love to share my knowledge and ideas with some great clients and write the Wednesday Weblog.

12-Author: In June, I was fortunate enough to sign a publishing and marketing agreement with one of several publishers I had met with. They actually read my manuscript of 83,245 words and agreed to work with me. So, sometime this year, I will be an author-writer.

The book will include some, but not all of the 150+ Weblogs authored over the past three years, grouped into chapters. it will be titled "Observations at the Speed of Life" and be available both as a book book, and as an e-Book. A decision on an audio book is yet to come.

I've had some help along the way, mostly from readers providing feedback, but I also reached out to Gary, Jim, Vanessa, Dan, Toni, and Dave for more specific advice and feedback, which helped greatly.

Here are some answers to some common questions.

Will there be a book tour: Good question. A good answer is 'definitely.'

If the publisher doesn't set one up, I will do one on my own. It may not include Barnes and Noble and instead include Loretta's Last Call or a sidewalk somewhere or the UMass Club or the McKeon Post or the 122 Diner, but there will be a tour.

What about an autographed copy? For sure, as many as you'd like as long as arthritis doesn't take over. I will NOT be autographing e-Books or audiobooks. (I thought that was a funny line).

Any special bells and whistles? Yes, the publisher has promised that there will be podcast activity and something on a platform called You Tube.

Details and timing will be shared in this space as things come together.

Will you retire and become rich? No is the short answer. I 'hope like hell' is the long answer. The right answer is I am going to keep going as long as permitted.

I may stop running, and I may stop consulting, but I already have almost enough material for another book

What's next? For me, podcasting is the next frontier. People have regularly said they can 'hear' me when they read a Weblog, so I am going to try to give people the chance to hear me. I need more inventory to start a weekly podcast, but it is definitely a goal, hopefully more realistic than being a weatherman.

What's the Punchline? I guess it is that I have had some interesting experiences throughout my career, enjoy writing about them and sharing my observations at the speed of life.