*NOTE* Charlie will be back with a brand new soapbox on Monday, in the meantime, here's a soapbox rewind from 2009. - TeamCDB/BW

I guess it may be a sign of my advancing age or a healthy case of nostalgia in fond remembrance of a simpler time in my life, but sometimes I find my thoughts wandering back to a time and place in my young life when my responsibilities consisted making sure the wood box was full and keeping my grades above the passing line.

*NOTE* Here's a Soapbox Rewind from Charlie about Veterans Day - TeamCDB/BW

As we approach the day we set aside every year to honor those who have served our nation in our armed forces, my memory goes back to a blustery Sunday in 1941 - December 7 to be exact - when my family gathered around my grandparents big floor model radio to listen to a scratchy overseas broadcast informing us that Japanese warplanes had attacked our Naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii doing massive damage to a major part of the Pacific Fleet that was moored there.

*NOTE* Because of the timely nature of this soapbox, we're running it on Friday instead of Monday, and will run a rewind on Monday. - TeamCDB/BW

The election is over, the people have spoken, and although there is probably not a baker’s dozen in America who are completely happy with the outcome, it is my fervent hope that our president will dial back his acerbic rhetoric and the loyal opposition will put away the long knives and personal vendettas and take what’s good for the country into consideration for a change.