Hi, I'm Charles "Chuck" Linart

My name is Charles Linart. A lot of people call me Chuck for some reason. People tell me I'm a pretty nice guy. In that spirit, I am hoping to use this blog to offer a few helpful tips and tricks. Maybe a few people with a certain quirky sense of humor will get a few yuks out of it, too. Unfortunately, due to a very busy schedule, I do not have a lot of time to post here, or this would undoubtedly be the most useful and entertaining blog in the known universe.

There's not a lot to say about me. Middle age snuck up on me, but I look and feel quite young. People almost never believe me when I tell them how old I am; I have even been asked to produce proof. Professionally, I don't know what to call myself. I guess I'm a salesman. That's quite a thing to be. It's a little depressing to be a middle-aged salesman, more than a little depressing.

It would be devastatingly depressing, except "salesman" is not really what I am, it's just what I do for money. What I am is, I suppose, a student of sorts. The main motivating force in my life seems to be improvement, not necessarily achievement or recognition, although I appreciate those as well. Whatever I do, I strive to be better at it. I want to be a better husband, a better friend, a better neighbor, a better writer, a better singer, a better storyteller, a better guitar player, a better salesman -- probably because I pretty much suck at all those things! (Just kiddin' -- I'm a great salesman.)

What I would really like to learn is how to be a better person and in that way improve every situation into which I am thrust by circumstance or choice. As middle age tempers the passions, I am starting to think that I have managed to become a pretty decent person and that I have exerted a powerfully positive influence on quite a few people and institutions. Don't ask me to go into details, but I have a long history of playing on winning teams, making the mediocre good and the good great. (OK, now I'm just bragging, and good people don't brag. But it's the truth, damn it, and good people don't lie. Surely you can appreciate my ethical quandary here.)

So... um... that's pretty much me, for better or for worse.