“The bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot”

- Michael Altshuler

I am pleased to announce to you that I am getting married.

Granted I don't even have a girlfriend but I'm not letting that stop my plans. Not only am I getting married but I am also going to retire. I know I just got this new job but I think it's time to look toward the future.

I am also going to have some children, and a few grandkids as well. I assume a heart attack is not a complete impossibility either. Oh yeah, I'm also going to die.

I'm sure you're a bit confused, or at least wondering, if there is something I haven't told you yet.

Did I find the girl of my dreams and suddenly win the lottery? Have I decided to tap into my inner hick and begin a diet of pork rinds and extreme living?

Well, no, but looking at the world lately it seems that what you have now isn't nearly as important as to what will be happening next.

So this week I am on a mission: to find out why, we as a people, can never just relax and live in the moment.

For the first example of all this time-warping, just turn on the news and you will be inundated with ads telling you who to vote for.

There they are: Obama, Hillary and Guilianni. They are all standing at the ready to run for the presidency.

Granted this is 2007 and we won't even be pulling our levers for about 14 months but why not just go ahead and jump the gun and start politicking now?

I've said it before and I'm sure I will say it again but as a procrastinator I feel I'm justified in asking, can't we sort of put this off till. say, next year? Because I'm still worried about the leader we have and not sure about what trouble might happen still let alone how someone is going to fix it when it does.

But that's just the beginning; go into any store this week you'll run smack dab into ornaments for your Yuletide pleasures.

Remember, now, it's September, and my Halloween candy dish hasn't seen a Snickers in months, but believe it or not I actually had a conversation with a dear friend of mine who said she had already started shopping for Christmas.

Not only had she started, but she had been selecting gifts since July. Oh yeah, anytime I am watching fireworks the first thing I think of is what gifts need to be wrapped when it snows.

The reason she gave was that she bought things now so that she didn't have to worry about the store not having it when it came time to wrap boxes.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for being prepared. But seriously, do I really need to plan that far into the future?

I'd love to go further with this topic but the water is boiling on the stove and I have to go color eggs because as you all know Easter is right around the corner and I want to be ready.

Auburn native Bradley Molloy's column appears here, each

Sunday, in The Citizen.

He can be reached at lovonian@hotmail.com