Here I am, Pete.

I have a buddy in Lyons, Pete Kitchen, who loves to chide me when I don’t have a “Pub Chat” in the paper for a week or two.

“There you go slacking again, Mikey,” he’ll say.

I have tried to explain that when I don’t have a “Pub Chat” it’s not because I’m slacking. It’s usually quite the opposite — I am so busy with the myriad other responsibilities associated with this office that I don’t have time to chat, pub-wise or otherwise. But Pete refuses to buy it.

Over the past few weeks, however, two things have kept me busier than usual — in fact, too busy to write. One, you know about — those elections. The other, you don’t — budget season for all the newspapers within our company. I’m more than just a little thrilled to report that both are over with.

So, Pete, I’m back, and I figured heading into Thanksgiving week that I would compile a list of some of the things I’m grateful for as we get ready to carve the turkey on Thursday. Not the most original idea in the world for a “Pub Chat,” but it should keep Pete off my back.

Here goes:

I’m thankful that those elections and budget season are over. You didn’t see that coming, right?

I know we have our share of wild weather, but I am thankful we don’t live where things like bomb cyclones are part of the forecast. Did you see the one that hit out West earlier this week that was called “historic” and “once-in-a-decade?” I mean, those two words — bomb and cyclone — are bad enough individually, but when you combine them into one........

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