And the beat goes on !

This little beauty is our new grandchild.  Samantha Lynn greeted us at 5:49 pm on Feb 17, 2013.  She weighed in at 8lbs. 5oz. and is 21.5 inches long.  Mother and Daughter are doing well.  Mother and Father are in awe of her and both are very excited to be first time parents.  For us, the joy of having a Grandchild is just beginning. 

Brahm's Lullaby!

We have a new member of the VK clan.
Eight pounds, 5 ounces.
Twenty one and a half inches.
Her name is Samantha.
Mom, baby, Dad, and Grandparents are all thrilled.

TwoDogs can fill you in with more info.

The 2 A.M. Crave

We stopped off and got a bunch of "Krystals" on the way to take Mom back to Pensacola last night. "Krystal" is the South's version of "White Castle", but I actually like 'em better...
The burgers are a little bigger, the taste is slightly milder, and the buns are like cake. Mmmmmmmmmmm.
But EVERY SINGLE TIME I go to either White Castle or Krystal the memory returns...

Fifty years ago or so, we got a crave in the wee hours of the morning. I've found ya either love 'em or hate 'em...
Sliders, belly bombers, Whitey one bites, call 'em what you want, who hasn't had a contest to see who could eat the most of 'em?
My memory is the restaurant was on Madison Avenue. TPO, Hawkeye, Bones, and me joined the line of cravers waiting to order burgers.
I was first in line. The pleasantly inebriated black man next to me turned, nodded and smiled.

"Can I take your order?"
She was probably 27 or so... an older(!), but attractive woman.
Her name tag said "Betty", and on the tag beneath her name it said "Manager".
"Betty Manager, meet TPO" I said with a smile, gesturing to my friend next in line behind me.
Betty manager had heard it all...
Drunks, stupid, testosterone-packed near-teens... Nothing fazed her at 2 A.M..
She smiled, looked deep into my eyes and said something romantic like, "$2.75 please."
But my new, lubricated black friend had enjoyed my joke, and felt that kinship with the rest of us you often feel while standing in line at White Castle. He turned to me, smiling, and broke into song...
"La dee dah dah dee. La dee dah dah die."
Then he said, "I wrote that, ya know?
"Oh, REALLY?" I responded.
"Yeah, they were having trouble finding words to fill space in the song so they called me. I wrote that part."

Brilliant.
It works perfectly there.
So remember whenever you hear that song, a guy in Indianapolis played an integral part in its success.
And never ignore those standing next to you in line at White Castle or Krystal...
It's entirely possible you're standing next to genius.

Patsy's Mom-

I'm hearing Patsy's Mother is ill.
I'll try to get others to come and comment.
Stand by.

"The Morris Plan"

Did I pay more attention to TV advertising than most?
Maybe.
Because today I was thinking of 
"The Morris Plan". I mistakenly thought it was a now-defunct old Savings and Loan. (Does "Railroadmen's Federal Savings and Loan" still exist in any form?)

But "The Morris Plan" is a bank, and it's still in business.
Based in Terre Haute, it was founded by an attorney who was truly trying to help the little guy gain access to loan money.

Good for him. I'm glad the company is still in business.
You can read a little of their history here.

The Birthday of Christ

I am a geographical bachelor.
I intentionally fashioned my schedule for these last three months before retirement so we could race to Destin once each month. With a two-week-on, two-week-off schedule we are making only one round-trip per month, reducing dollars spent on fuel and wear and tear on the car. It provided an additional benefit we hadn't thought about before:
We don't have to pack the car. We'll need our stuff when we return. So we lock the condo door behind us and smile.
It's a great convenience.

But I have known for some months now I would be working Christmas Eve and Christmas night.
Since I work 12 hours, when I get home at 8 A.M. or so I can be pretty worn out depending on what sort of night I have flown. Christmas for our family has always been odd...
Big Bubba and Sara Jean wide awake, waiting for me to come through the door so we can open presents, and me so tired I just want to get 'em all opened and get to bed.
It's been especially tough on my son and I respect him for putting up with it for so many years.

But since I'd be working this last Christmas of my EMS career, we made plans months ago for Sara Jean to fly West to spend Christmas with Big Bubba. Neither of us has been with him in months, so we've begun to yearn for face-to-face time.
I obviously can't go, but she CAN. And since I'm working anyway, what better time?

So she flew to Mesa last week and left me alone for the holidays. We both know it's best. But there's still something melancholy about being alone on Christmas day. 
Opening our presents "together" via a SKYPE video call tomorrow will be an interesting experience, and will certainly be better than years past when a short telephone call would have to suffice.
New technology has spoiled us so.

I hope everyone reading my words finds themselves surrounded by loved ones this day. I hope you eat too much, laugh too much, and go to bed exhausted from "Too much fun".
I hope you all travel safely so you and yours will have nothing but good memories of Christmas 2012.
And I hope you know I look forward to seeing you all soon, whenever that may be.

Be safe and well, everyone. I think you may soon be hearing wonderful news from our VK family.


Happy Birthday Lord.
Bless us all, please.

1960's "Wonderland" !

Before we came down to Destin this time we bought a "Sirius/XM" portable player. We later bought a dock to put it in so we could listen to it in the car AND in the condo.

This afternoon we were sitting out on the balcony watching "Lake Destin" gently lap against the shore, the sun warming us as we watched the world go by, and this tune played on "60's on 6".
I suspect it's been 40 years since I've heard the tune, maybe more.
Growing up, we had a radio-record player combination. I don't know exactly what transpired to make it happen... maybe my folks got a better piece of equipment, but they handed down that original machine to me. In my bedroom, I would turn it on as I was down for sleep and listen to either 1070 WIBC, (or if it was a late weekend, 890 WLS out of Chicago) until I fell asleep, and when I woke I'd find either Mom or Dad had turned it off. This tune is one of those I remember hearing come out of that box.

It played this afternoon and brought back memories from when we '65-er's were about 13 years old. I had to share it with you.
It may not have impacted you as it did me, but I'm sure you remember it...
Don't you?

Second Gen. "Good Vibrations" !

"Bardahl Did It Again!"

I'm continually amazed at how powerful 
advertising is.
Did we pay closer attention because TV as a medium was new back then and we were fascinated with it?
Maybe so.
But some of those early commercials are still bright in my memory.
"Bardahl did it again" is one of 'em.

"Hey Mo-om! Oh Mo-om! Here comes the O-mar man!"

"I LOVE Bosco, that's the drink for me!"

"Be young and fair, and debonair... Be sociable... have a Pepsi!"

If I could just rid my memory of these OLD ditties I might be able to remember where I put my keys for safe-keeping.

More brain cell usurpers here.

A French Lick At West Baden Springs

I had never been. Shame on me.
Why didn't you tell me about it and force the issue?!

I don't care much for Casinos...
To me they're all so similar... smelling of stale cigarettes, seemingly hypnotized folks feeding money into machines, and the noise of all those machines making it nearly impossible for this hearing-impaired old fart to carry on a normal conversation. Leroy, Sara Jean and I went to the bar for a drink and played the "people watch" game.

But then the four of us jumped on the shuttle and took the short trip over to the West Baden Springs Hotel, pictured above.
Wow.
Just. Plain. Wow.

Built in the early 1900's, it fell into disrepair, then was rehabilated with love to a condition as near as possible to when it was first opened.
I was awestruck. I wished the walls could tell stories.

If you've never been, it's worth the trip.
GO.

Bucket List

Several of us have retired or getting ready to. Some are still very active in their jobs.  We all  have goals, wishes, and dreams.
Name five things on your bucket list. And where do you want to be in five years?
1. I want to travel more and see parts of the world that intrigues me.
2. Maybe spend a couple of months staying at a flower covered cottage on a little Greek Island.
3. Attend at least one more grand class reunion
4. My husband's goal is to stop at every tantilizing Dives, Diners, and Drive Inns he has drooled over, so I guess I will go with him.
5. Going up the river with Carol and Harry and fish while watching for alligator drag marks. Or go to the lake where Carol and I laughed ourselves silly while fishing for bass. The guys said they could hear us across the lake, but I don't believe one word.

Okay, now your turn.

Just old or delusional

Okay you old timers, help me out here. For those that went to Center Grove Elementary School,
Did we or did we not have a great big round merry- go- round that held lots of kids and it had foot bars and handles we pumped it as hard as we could to make it go as fast as the wind? In the winter, your gloves would stick to the bars when it snowed.
Did one side come up or not or was that a manufactured memory. Did we have a smaller one also?
I also remember two silver slides that were as tall as the clouds and one had a bar we could flip over and show our petticots to the fine young men at school and a set of swings, with the iron poles and you could stand on and pump so hard, you just knew they were going to go over the bar. What am I leaving out here?
Or was that whole playground a dream?

Poor kids now a days.

What's Real? What Ain't?

It was a gray, snow covered, wintry day.
I was surprised to be over our old stompin' grounds, flyin' South on Highway 135.
I looked down and saw that familiar old place...
Concentric arcs with the concession stand a few rows back, front/middle. Gray poles with speakers attached providing a little contrast against the snow...
The Meridian Drive-In!
I can't tell you how excited I was to find it was still open! I thought to myself, "How wonderful!
I can bring Sara Jean back and she can experience a little piece of what it was like for all of us, growing up in this safe, wonderful place!"
How, in all the times I've driven by here over the last few decades did I miss the fact that this facility that plays such a role in all our memories was still there? All I had to do was wait for Spring to come and we could drive over and watch a movie... ANY movie!
My feeling of elation is impossible to describe.

Of course you don't ask questions like that in dreams.
But this one was so VIVID. I was actually disappointed to awaken and realize it was just my mind "wishing". 

I find my dreams are frequently like that as I get older.
How about you... are you experiencing it too?

I even find myself questioning some of my memories now...
Did I really experience that, or was that just another super-realistic dream?
I've learned to be careful and try to find someone else that had the same experience before I relate some of my strongest memories these days. It's easy now for me to see how some of our parent's memories were either embellished, or total fabrications. How much of their memory was a technicolor dream?

Still, for just a few moments as I slept this afternoon I was in a good place.
A VERY GOOD place.

Good Day

I went to the VA to have a post-op hernia checked out. Every was great. Got my travel pay and got me a capichano, headed home. Instead I turned left on New York Street  and went by where my grandmother lived. It is now a parking lot for the med center, same dirt. Went around the corner where the drug store use to be. Headed home, down Michigan Street to the stop light. A amputee in a wheelchair holding a sign saying he was homeless, I didn't say he was homeless, I said he was holding a sign. I still had a dollar left from my travel money so I give it to him. "God bless you man" was his words. I was giving him the dollar because it was him not me. Selfish reason. Money spent the same.
Headed home down West Street and was waiting a car to pass me so I could get over in the lane to my right. Not knowing the guy on the other side wanted to do the same, I was just a little faster. Honking the horn ( what else would you honk, a tire ?) showing me the finger that had a boo boo on it , I just wave back with all five. Must have been the smile that made him mad. I was a good day.

What am I?

You throw away the outside and cook the inside. Then you eat the outside and throw away the inside.
What did you eat?  No cheating.

Expert Advice- Vandy Style

PT was unable to post, so she would like me to toss out this challenge to all of you.

She would like to know what advice VKs would give their Grand children and Great Grand children.

Her first two entries are as follows:

1: Your prom dress and even your Bridal gown should not cost a fortune, save your money for school.
2: You can never do anything so bad that your family will not love you, unless you have done  something unforgivable.

Okay the challenge is active, what say you.

What is 8:20 am Alex?

Hope and Change

Sigh.
If it was your intent to destroy the economy of this nation, how would you do it?
After a stressful time doing "cleanup/fixup" stuff last week, we had planned on going back down to Destin this weekend to relax and recover. We decided yesterday afternoon to cancel the trip. Part of what motivated that decision was the idea of spending another 24 round-trip hours in a car.
But the biggest factor was the cost of fuel, considering we just spent $800+ driving a Box Van down last week.
Is the cost of fuel a major consideration  in  your planning these days?


A very wise classmate opened my eyes a couple years ago...
"To get an idea of what's happening in the economy, notice how many trucks are on the road."
And I have.
You should do the same.

Light My Fire

I think our family called them "Kitchen Matches". 
The box they were sold in even used that term, if I'm not mistaken.
I searched for them last week... no dice.
Are they still available?


Ferdy has a new grandbaby on the way.
Sara Jean and I sold our property in Destin, but the new owner is glad to have us reserve our old condo for the Winter months. (It's gonna feel weird, but enjoying it with no responsibilites will be something I can quickly get used to!)
The Kentucky Derby is just around the corner, followed shortly by another racing event, right?!!
Updated:
For those of you who made the Dastardly Destin Fishing Fiasco-
Sara Jean and I just had red beans and rice with andouille sausage, and grilled shrimp with garlic mashed potatoes at "Kenny D's"!
Eat your hearts out.

To Retire, or NOT!

"When you come to the fork in the road, take it." Yogi Berra

Well, I planned to retire. I really did.
But the closer I got to "out to pasture" date the less it seemed like a good idea.
I've talked with many of you about the subject and appreciate all the advice you've given. But I differ from many of you in that I LOVE MY JOB. If I could just continue doing the job, I'd continue doing it as long as I can pass a Flight Physical.
But staying qualified and current to be able to do the job means having to do lots of things that now seem like a waste of time... computer-driven training, OSHA training, etc.. On top of that you can add stuff I know has to be done-
Annual checkrides. Semi-annual refresher checks. Surprise drug checks.
And then there's the worst of it from my perspective-
Some of my managers care more about the bottom line than they care about our patients and the crews that are transporting them. Whatever happened to working as a TEAM?!!

I was approaching the date I had originally set to retire... 4 April, and it just didn't feel right. During my last few flights I had watched as I approached the city at night... lights of the city laid out before me for miles like a crystal carpet, and thought, "Wow. I will miss this flying LIKE CRAZY!"
And then my immediate boss called:
"I don't know how committed you are to this retirement date, but know that we appreciate your experience and know we cannot replace you. We're now ten pilots short and the guys at your base are gonna have to take up your slack for several months during Spring and Summer. Is there any chance you'd reconsider?"
I have to admit that just being asked was good for my ego. I also felt immediate relief of stress when I realized I really didn't want to retire right now.
"We've scheduled our stay in Destin starting the first day of November. I can stay until then, but we'll be headed South on 1 November, no matter what!"

So my retirement is delayed seven months. With my one-week-on, one-week-off schedule the first of November will be here soon enough.
Then, it's 12-ounce curl time, for sure.

To those of you who have asked after us, thank you.
We love you all.
We'll be fine.