Enough, Already!!!

I belong to a professional networking group that has been an excellent source of both new friends and good business referrals. Unlike many tip groups, our group follows a formal meeting agenda, has officers, and committee chairs, and the like. We meet for an hour and fifteen minutes each week. Each week, a member of the group has half an hour to present about his or her business, or some aspect of that business, so that other members can get a better understanding of what services are provided and how to refer business.

My turn to present was at Tuesday’s meeting. So, I gave a half hour talk on real property law in Ohio, and, in particular, how to convey title to real estate. As we have a realtor, a title agent, and a mortgage broker in our group, I figured it would be an excellent way to tie things up for a number of us. So, I spoke off the cuff for half an hour.

Then, that night, I gave my Stuart’s Ride talk to the Western Ohio Civil War Roundtable in Celina, OH. It’s only a two hour drive, and I had committed to the talk, so off we went. The problem is that until a cold front finally blew through yesterday, it’s been in the 90’s here, and it’s been hot. The air conditioning in the old building where the Roundtable meets, a branch campus of Wright State University, was not up to the task, and it was beastly hot in that room. Within five minutes of beginning to talk, I was drenched in sweat. The talk, counting Q&A, lasted about 75 minutes.

Then, the next day, I had to be in court in the morning for a client, and then I had to give yet another talk at lunch time. I am a member of the Columbus Bar Association. Several years ago, we formed our own Civil War Roundtable just for members of the CBA. Our programming year began on Wednesday, and, as a favor to the fellow who does the programming, I agreed to be the kick-off speaker, in part because I do tend to draw folks. So, I gave a talk on the pursuit of Lee’s army by Meade after Gettysburg that went about 75 minutes with the question and answer session at the end.

That made 180 minutes worth of addressing audiences by me in a span of about 30 hours. By the time I finished up with the lunch talk on Wednesday, my voice was about shot, as I had a big room with no amplification. Enough, already!

Thank heavens I get a break for a few weeks…..