I recently bought a new cell phone. I’m a simple man. I want a phone to make and receive calls.

Two months ago, while visiting our oldest daughter in college, our house was broken into.

The modern Olympic Games were based on a rather modest proposal, put forth by Frenchman Pierre de Fredy, Baron de Coubertin, that his countrymen required improved physical conditioning after getting handily beaten in the Franco-Prussian War. The games were also touted as a means to unite nations, which Pete probably saw as his country’s only hope after being taken behind the outhouse by the Germans (alas, it wouldn’t be the last time).

Being out of work is a strange experience for me. I started a paper route when I was about 11. I worked at Mini Farms through high school and into college. I worked for the DPW for a summer, interned at a publishing company, and spent years of misery in financial services.

At long last, the feel of spring is in the air. The snow has melted, the Red Sox are playing, the dump is starting to stink again, and people are complaining about who ended up on which soccer or Little League team.

As of this writing, Osama bin Laden is still roaming the hills of Afghanistan and/or Pakistan. The economy is rapidly going downhill. We’re spending billions on the war in Iraq, and no one’s quite sure how it is going to end. Foreclosures and bankruptcies are rising at an alarming rate. 

Are your expenses and tax bills rising faster than your income? Wondering what to do? I bet you probably don’t just assume your income will go up to solve the problem. Maybe you’re admitting you might have to slow down your spending plans? You’re not alone.

Today, a column from an occasional series where I see things that make me realize I’m getting older.

As I’m writing this around noon on Monday, the temperature outside is in the single digits with a subzero wind chill. It’s going to start getting dark in a matter of hours, probably before I leave for the day. Oh, and did I mention it’s Monday?

My wife, Jen, and I keep an eye on what our kids watch on TV and how much time they spend watching. Some days and seasons are better than others, but they’re not watching anything they shouldn’t be.

Next Thursday, most couples in America will be dining in restaurants, bestowing gifts to one another and generally acting all lovey-dovey in compliance with America’s official “romance holiday,” Valentine’s Day.

The Patriots’ appearance in it aside, a lot of people around here will be watching the Super Bowl mostly for the commercials. And who can blame them? Super Bowl advertisements are, well, the Super Bowl of advertising. It’s the one time a year when crusty old ad execs brush off their brainstorming caps and try to really wow TV viewers.

I am a white male. It’s a characteristic that has defined my life in ways that I’ll probably never fully comprehend, because as far as I know I’ll never have the viewpoint of someone who isn’t white or male. I can try, but you just can’t imagine these kinds of things. With that preface in mind, I want to attempt to comment on the latest racial issue stirring debate in the national news media.

I’ve heard it said there’s no such thing as a free meal. So imagine my shock to learn last week that, in fact, there is!

It has tantalized ancient thinkers. Mocked the bravest explorers. It’s geography. And today, despite the fact that pretty much everywhere in the world is covered by it, we stink at it here in America.

Last year marked a major changing point for Westborough – the opening of the Bay State Commons, our first downtown shopping center. Let’s check in.

I’ll admit it. I’m not sure when it started, or how it got to this level. But it’s undeniable: I’m addicted to football. More specifically, I’m addicted to National Football League brand football, and even more specific than that, I’m addicted to watching our New England Patriots dismantle the rest of the league.

So, here we are, on the cusp of 2008, a brand new year to change ourselves – and our world – for the better. It may be a corny tradition to some, but making a New Year’s resolution just feels right this time of year, doesn’t it?

The news that former vice president, recent Academy Award winner and Internet inventor Al Gore can now add Nobel Prize winner to his expanding repertoire of titles was met, predictably, with a wide range of reactions in America last week.

Soon we’ll have a chance to control the spiraling upward cost of living in Westborough. That will be at our fall Town Meeting at 7 p.m., Monday, October 22, when the demands of new public union contracts will be presented to us for funding approval.