Tryin' To Not Die

I was gonna leave a comment about the bike for Bo and Cissy below, but decided a quick Post in response might be better.
As I've said, actually winning the auction on the bike was kind of a surprise, so I'm still scrambling to try to tie up loose ends.
Back when we were still walking the CG halls I had a little Harley-Davidson Sprint. Years before they passed that now rescinded helmet law in Indiana I bought a helmet and wore it religiously. Pretty amazing to think about that now... a sixteen year old kid with no prompting from anyone else, realizing he needed to protect his head with a brain bucket.
When full-face helmets came out, I was one of the first purchasers. I bought a white Bell full-face and with it's darkened visor, looked like one of the Storm Troopers from Star Wars. I wore that thing for YEARS, then when I sold my 1100 Yamaha in 1984 I stored it in the garage. Other than taking short test-rides on bikes owned by others, I haven't ridden since.

Buying the Guzzi... (by the way, I've learned the double-z's are pronounced like "pizza"... "Goot-zee"), lead me to go take a look at the old Bell helmet out in the garage. To my chagrin, Mickey and Minnie apparently decided that was a pretty good place to raise their family. They chewed the padding and styrofoam shell and made a nest of it inside the solid protection provided by the fiberglass outer-shell. Oh well... I'm sure it's for the best because they have made giant leaps in helmet technology since 1971. (That Bell helmet was designed in such a way it broke collar bones during the accident sequence, and took a great deal of criticism for that fact.)
I was gonna have to buy a helmet for Sara Jean anyway, so now we'll buy two... and color coordinate!

They've also made great strides in other protective equipment-
Armored gloves. Armor for elbows, hips, knees, shins. Footgear.
If you want, you can buy gear and ride like one of the Knights from King Arthur's "Round Table".
When we go to buy I'll have to consider how much of that gear I'll actually wear... it'd be cumbersome and hot in the Summer. But the gear would also provide great protection against some of the horrendous injuries incurred by the folks I sometimes fly to the Trauma Centers in BigTown.

Since I haven't ridden in almost 30 years, (and had no formal training even back then... it was all "school of hard knocks" and I'm sure I learned LOTS of bad habits), I signed up for the Motorcycle Safety Foundation's 2-1/2 day school. Two birds with one stone... it would teach me the good habits, and upon completion I receive a certificate that I can take to the DMV and receive my Motorcycle Driver's license. I signed up for, and thought I was attending a course this weekend. But at the last minute I got a note from the Course providers informing me the class was overbooked and they were shifting me to my secondary class date... next month. So I've got plenty of time now to carefully shop for whatever protective gear I'm gonna buy for the two of us.

Me... of all people!
I have absolutely no illusions about questions of safety with the bike...
I get to land on dark roads several times a month to pick up bodies mangled in motorcycle accidents. But like most "accidents" I also know most of these could be prevented by the operator, and in those that could not have been prevented the degree of injury certainly would have been mitigated if the riders had been wearing proper gear. (HELMETS, you Harley riders!)

Going through life entails making thousands of decisions about risk on a daily basis. I also regularly transport people who are hurt while in their own homes... (For instance, just last week I flew a 30 year old woman who fell down her basement stairs to the concrete floor below, fracturing her neck.)
So the question is not, "Is riding a motorcycle dangerous?"
Of course it is.
The question is, "Is the danger worth the rewards?"
And my answer to that is, "I think it is."
To all those expressing concern I say, "I feel your love and I'm warmed by it."
I promise we'll gear-up and ride as safely as we possibly can.

Now... another thought...
I know Clint and Bo have a bike. Any other bikers lurking out there in VK land?
Wouldn't it be great to meet somewhere, ride a while, then have a great dinner?
I'm ready. Sign me up!

What It's All About-

I've learned my lesson.
Until you're actually ready to buy, stay away from eBay!

Several close friends here are now riding motorcycles. I started thinking how nice it would be to have a bike and tag along with them. The fact that riding to work on two wheels rather than four would save me $5 per day in gas gave me all the excuse I needed. I decided Winter would be the best time to buy, but wanted to get a feel for the market right now. I've been fascinated by Italian bikes for years... Ducatis and Moto Guzzis, and the Guzzis are particularly of interest to me because their final drive system is a maintenance-free shaft, not a chain.
I went to eBay and entered "Moto Guzzi" in the search block. That was my mistake.

There was a bike there that was almost exactly what I wanted...
Fully faired, 1,000cc's, looking like a new machine, at a price I couldn't believe.
I bid on the thing and that bid ended up winning the auction. (The bike pictured above, although the wrong model year, looks exactly like the one I bid on. You can click it to enlarge.)

The bike was located in a little town near Erie, Pennsylvania.
I thought I'd have a couple weeks to go get it, but the seller just started a new job which will require him to be in Beijing, China by the end of the month. I had to go get the bike... like NOW.

I talked with my co-workers and got the time off. Then I called Cinders and TwoDogs, hoping to impose on their hospitality for a nights lodging, (and secretly hoping TD would consider coming along on the road trip!)
"You're coming to Indy? Great! You're driving to Pennsylvania? Want a co-driver?"
He read my mind!

We drove to Indy last Friday. Bright and early Saturday morning TD and I had breakfast, then picked up the "Penske" rental truck. We got on the road at 9:30 and the GPS lead us right to the seller's door at 4 P.M.. We visited with him a few minutes, secured the bike in the truck, and started back South-Westbound, getting back to Naptown at exactly midnight. Much of the drive was spent in the rain. Virtually all of the drive was spent talking about old times. (If you're reading this, we probably talked about you!)
But think of it...
I put myself into a "situation" by buying the bike, then called friends to ask for help.
They came through BIG TIME...
Two nights lodging and help driving almost 15 hours.

I know... you're not surprised at all, are you?
That's 'cause you're also a VK!
And that's what makes VK's so special, isn't it?

Hope to see you all October 9th... wherever we end up meeting.
In the meantime, take my advice-
Unless you're really ready to buy, stay away from eBay!

Another "Two-Wheel" Post.

For a while, they were everywhere in our community-
Hal S. had one.
Joe R. had one.
John T's oldest brother David had one, then passed it on to John's other brother Richard.
Bonnie R's brother David had one.
Bill F. had one. (It's how I met him.)
Gary P. had one but his was different... his was Robin's Egg Blue.
One summer day we heard a clatter and a loud scraping noise on Morgantown Road in front of our house and when we ran out to investigate we found Gary had clipped a mailbox, fallen, and had broken his collarbone.

Artwork... they still have a sort of "timeless beauty" to my eye though the basic design dates back to just-post WWII. I wanted one so bad I could taste it. I'd still like to own one if the price was right.
What freedom they provided to the kids that owned them then!
The only thing that approached the coolness of the Vespa was the Cushman Eagle. (Hawkeye had one very similar to the one pictured at that link, only his was gleaming black and had more chrome, and with a kind of Harley Davidson attitude, appealed to a different crowd than the Vespa.
Me? All I could afford was an old Cushman putt-putt and I often planned what I'd have to do to steal Hawk's Eagle.)

It's another of those hard-to-imagine memories...
Most of us were 12 or 13 years old, riding around on public streets on our scooters, knowing the chance we'd see a Deputy Sheriff on patrol was virtually nil. (And even if we did encounter a law enforcement officer, most of them turned a blind eye, not wanting to go to the trouble of citing us. I never heard of anyone ever getting a ticket for riding without a license.)
Those were Norman Rockwell days.
I'm glad we lived 'em.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chatting via email with Mr. L. I made the comment, "Since Echo and Shifty no longer are in Edinburgh, Vandy's Kids have nothing on the horizon to look forward to."
We need to fix that.
Got any ideas?

"Then Came Bronso... er... Greybeard"

You may remember the TV show "Then Came Bronson".
It debuted just about the time I got home from Viet Nam and the idea of a single guy motoring around the Nation on a bike appealed to me...
It was sort of a "Route 66" on two wheels. I liked the show and watched it regularly, but was disappointed in the fact that as usual, Hollywood mucked it up...
Bronson went motocrossing on his Harley Sportster, AND WON!
From that point on I watched the show partly to see how hokey the producers could make it. Others must have felt the same as me, 'cause the show lasted only one season.
Still, the music was good, as were the scenes of Bronson crossing the country on two wheels.

And there was another reason I liked the show...
Ron and I had made a Road Trip to Ft. Lauderdale in his big Pontiac Bonneville convertible the summer between our Junior and Senior years at CG, and we enjoyed the adventure. On the way home we discussed the possibility of taking an across-the-country road trip on Harley-Davidson "Dressers". We fantasized about the experiences we'd share... the two of us together riding to points unknown... wherever the wind would lead us, meeting wonderful, interesting people... stopping to work at odd jobs just long enough to buy enough gas to make it to our next exotic destination.

We were quite aware that actually doing it would take a chunk of change at the start...
Buying a Full-dress Harley would, for me (not him!), be daunting. Even a good used "HOG" would take the outlay equivalent to a VERY GOOD used car, and I was still working for minimum wage at the Frostop at the time.

My Mom expressed concern about the dangers of riding that far on two wheels but she needn't have worried...
It quickly became obvious that Ron's interest in his future bride would eliminate any hopes I had about the two of us riding up on our bikes and peering over the rim of the Grand Canyon.
I never saved a dime toward buying the big bike.

But I still dream of such a trip...
And Sara Jean and I MAY ACTUALLY DO IT...
(In a 28 foot motor home!)

HAPPY FRIDAY THE 13TH!
Got news?

The Pied Piper

Did ya ever wonder...
"The Pied Piper"...
What caused him to be "Pied"?
Did Soupy Sales or the Three Stooges get to him?
I had to look it up. Cinders, DJ, and GH will have an advantage here, as will those who know why Elizabeth Taylor's horse in "National Velvet" was called "The Pie".
The term "Pied" is related to "Piebald", and means "many colored".
So apparently the Pied Piper, along with playing the flute better than Ian Anderson, was a pretty colorful dresser.

All the above is tangential.
I drove to work tonight to find that while I was sleeping today in preparation for my second night of 10 in a row, crews had oiled and chipped the last two miles of road leading to my workplace. I was lucky in that it wasn't blazingly hot, so my tires didn't pick up the oily rocks and throw them down the sides of my car.
But it brought back memories I knew I could share with you...
I can remember like yesterday when they first oiled and chipped all the roads in the Sutton addition. I think every kid with a bicycle showed up to watch the crews and follow them as the oil truck first laid down a coat of tar, with dump trucks following and dispensing rock on top of the tar.
They may as well have been "The Pied Piper"!
As I recall, there were also a couple guys with shovels following along to add rock where dump trucks might not have laid down a heavy enough layer.
It was fascinating to watch, and more so because with most of the neighborhood kids watching it became a social event. I'm sure we all came home with bicycle tires speckled with spots of tar, and we probably had tar samples on shoes, other parts of clothing, and maybe even some body parts.

A fond memory for me, and I've shared it with you.
Traffic has been mighty sparse here lately...
Have you a fond memory to share this Friday?

Rasslin'

Cowboy Bob Ellis...
Dick the Bruiser...
Bobo Brazil...
Do you remember 'em?

I do.

I was never really a "rasslin'" fan.
But Saturday afternoons would frequently find Steve B., Hawkeye, and me jumpin' into the old Ford Station Wagon and Mom would drive us North on Bluff Road to the WTTV broadcast offices. We'd arrive early, 'cause those first in line got the ringside seats...
And that was the whole reason for the exercise...
The matches were recorded for broadcast on Sundays.
On Sunday we'd sit at home and catch glimpses of ourselves ringside at "the match" on Channel 4.

Of course the faces have all changed...
Are any of those guys still alive?
The sport itself hasn't changed much though, except there's a lot more money in it these days.
I doubt kids these days can go to their local TV station and watch an hour of rasslin' free!
(We grew up in a better time!)

It's Friday.
Are you rasslin' with anything?
Anyone?

Jus' Not Enough Hours In The Day

Pushin' retirement age...
Wasn't life supposed to slow down?
I think I took the wrong entrance ramp somewhere on this trip.

Cool, Or Fool?

How often do you go through this exercise?
"If I had a chance to go back in time, would I ?"
And if you'd like to go back, how far would you go?

I imagine going back in time now and then, but generally come to the conclusion I'd just like to correct a wrong I did at a specific time, then return to the present. Life comes with pain spread intermittently throughout, and the only way I'd consider going back is if I could make changes. Of course making those changes would change EVERYTHING that followed, so if I stayed in that new life I'd soon find myself with new things that would cause me pain.
Who would want to go through that again?

And that brings me to the memories we discuss so often here...
Most, but not all of us, have wonderful memories of our days walking the CG halls.
And the folks that don't have great memories?
They may think some (many?) of the rest of us were cruel to them.
And... we MAY have been cruel to them.

I can remember going through life back then, making decisions looking through the "Cool or Fool?" lens.
Elvis was cool.
Kookie Byrnes was cool.
We were sure they never did anything stupid... never humiliated themselves.
Embarrassing yourself was just about the worst thing you could experience...
I didn't want anyone to be able to laugh at something stupid I did.
I suspect we all spent 'Way, 'WAY too much time looking through that lens, trying to avoid being laughed at. It's painful to think of how much time I wasted, worrying about what others thought. But I know I often was quick to ridicule others for their mistakes.
Shame on me.

Our earliest class reunions were similar experiences...
Who did what with their lives?
What work are you doing?
What are you driving?
All that... gone now.
Good riddance.

We're considering a few events for "minis" soon. You need to come. You'll enjoy yourself.
The only requirement I can think of?
Bring a smile and some memories to share.
We can talk about how Cool "Palladin" of "Have Gun, Will Travel" was!

It's Friday and I certainly hope you don't think I humiliated myself with this post, but criticize away if you must!

My Suspicions were Correct

Back when I was 15/16, I had a big crush on a classmate.  I carefully timed a trip to my locker every day so I would "just happen" to meet up with my crush in the hallway of Center Grove.  Then I would non-chalantly be going in the same direction at the same time.  I think we were "an item" a year or so until I got sick of his boyish ways and told him where to go.

I can remember admiring his older brother Charlie.  He was a ton more outgoing than his younger brother, and seemed to "own the hallways" of Center Grove.  Charlie was popular, and I thought he must be a really nice guy.  Two days ago, and 41 years later, I confirmed my suspicions that Charlie really is a nice guy.

Before we left on vacation to Ft. Myers, I asked Charlie if we might meet up while we're down here.  Luckily, we were able to do that.  He and his wife drove two hours to see us.  We sat around my sister's condo and talked about Center Grove and our high school days.  Three short hours later, we went out to eat at a restaurant owned by a fellow Hoosier.  We enjoyed good food and good company.  The evening was "done too soon", but I've got more good memories to stow away for a rainy day.

Once again, my Vandy's Kids friends got me started on this path to reaching out.  I am not only finding new friends, but old friends that I've missed for decades.  I told Charlie that when we do our "valley walk", I'll send him photos of his old place.  I think he'll like that.

Love to all,
"Cissy"

From Echo, "A Mixture of Joy and Sorrow"

Echo is still having some difficulty posting and commenting,
so she sent this and asked that I post it for her:



     A MIXTURE OF JOY AND SORROW

Two weeks ago Shifty and I was so excited about attending
the Alumni Banquet and the 45th Class Reunion for the
Class of 65.  As many of you already know I received a
phone call at the reunion that my oldest brother was
dying. I was able to make it to Northern Indiana the next
day and see my brother, Buddy, for one last time before
he passed away. God was merciful in giving us this time.

Then as you know Shifty and I just purchased our
retirement home in Florida. We left for Florida on the
following Saturday to take possession of our new home.
We arrieve on Sunday which was Father's Day.  I was
thinking what a wonderful Father's day present this was
for Shifty.  When we arrived we was welcomed by my
foster sister Jan and her family. They had a huge family
cook out waiting for us when we arrived.

This seemed like a wonderful start to a new life
following our loss the week before.  But that joy was
short lived.  Just as we sat down to our first dinner
in our new home the phone rang and we was told that
my brother, Bobby, had taken a turn for the worst and
wasn't expected to pull through.  Bobby had lung cancer
but was giving it a good fight. He had been admitted a
few days earlier to the hospital with a double staph
infecton but they thought that they had it under control
and he was doing much better.  We thought he would be
going home in a few days.  I visited with him on
Friday before we left for Florida on Saturday and we
even planned a family reunion when we returned from
Florida.

Four hours after we got to Florida our son Todd called
us and told us that Bobby had taken a turn for the worse
late Saturday night.  He said, " Mom, Uncle Bobby isn't
going to make it but he just won't let go.  There is some
reason that he won't give up and we believe that it is
because he is waiting for you to say good bye".

So Todd held the phone to Bobby's ear and I spoke to
him begging him not to give up and telling him how much
I loved him.  Twenty minutes after I spoke to him he
peacefully passed away.

I have always been told and believe that God has a plan
for each of us.  He has a schedule for all of us and when
we have accomplished what we were here for it will be our
time to go.  Us being able to say good bye was his final
accomplishment.

Be sure that all of you take advantage of every opportunity
to enjoy your loved ones as much as you can.  And remember
to tell your loved ones how much you love them as often as
you can.

Echo & Shifty

The Last Friday of June, 2009

Ain't that depressing?
In less than a week, half the year will be in the history book. Days will get shorter-nights will begin to be longer. It'll remain hotter than a firecracker for two months and change, but then the leaves will begin to turn and temps will moderate. I like Spring... LOVE Summer and Fall.
But Winter?
Most often I wish I was a bear and could hibernate.
In my opinion, the best thing about Winter is that it's preceded by Autumn and followed by Spring.
Mr. and Mrs. Hawkeye are beginning to follow a procedure I could quickly get accustomed to...
Wintering down South where the temps seldom get below 50 degrees.

And mention of Mr. and Mrs. Hawk brings us to the discussion of the day... a question posed to me by Hawk...
It's a discussion some of us have had before, directly or indirectly...
What's the requirement to be a "Vandy's Kid"?
We now have this blog and PT started the related Facebook page. We're beginning to get considerable participation in both, and that's wonderful. But the question has been asked and I'd like to throw it out for discussion:
What's the membership requirement?

When asked that question, my first response is, "The more the merrier".
But that's me, and the blog and Facebook page belong to us all. So your vote counts the same as mine and I want you to answer the question too...
"Who can be a Vandy's Kid?"

I'm as close to some spouses as I am to most classmates.
I'm delighted to have gotten to know schoolmates, Cissy, Rita, Mike, C&C, Janet, and others.
We laugh with them and share the common bond of school and community.

The only restriction that makes any sense at all to me, (and I can even be easily dissuaded from this with a determined argument) is that it seems to me a "Vandy's Kid" should come from the era when Mr. Vandermeer was active with CGHS.

Discussion and debate please:
Who is a "Vandy's Kid"?

Saturday's "Friday Forum".

Friday got away from me.
We spent the day outside, cleaning up the result of winds that brought a huge branch down on my neighbor's garage, caving it in and rendering him "auto-less" since his car was trapped inside. (Undamaged, thankfully.)
The worst damage we suffered was limbs/branches down everywhere on our 2-1/2 acre property. Some were so big I had to get out the chain saw to cut them down to size so I could pull them to the burn pile.

Ever hear anyone say "Green wood won't burn?"
It's hogwash, ya know?
If green wood won't burn, why are there forest fires?
Ya just have to get the fire hot enough to get combustion started.

So how do ya do that?
Burn a tire on top of your green brush.
That's hot.
It'll get-r-started.

And that's what I did yesterday. By sunset the lot was cleared and virtually all the green wood had been converted to hot coals. This morning I'm a little sore, but not so sore my butt cannot be placed on the mower to get this soon-to-be jungle under control.

But it's hot...
Where's my coozy?
Put that cold beer in there.
(Gotta stay hydrated, ya know!)

What're you doin' to make the world a prettier, better place?

Updated:
It's an indication of how my mind works as I near retirement...
It also indicates how confusing it can be... this 7-day on, 7-day off schedule...
I mistakenly thought today was Saturday!
It's a gift, this extra day in my life!

Mr. Legan Update

Some of you may remember Mr. Legan owned property in West Virginia and had been going back there intermittently to vacation and care for it. When it became difficult for him to make that trip he decided to allow his son to have it. To that end, he and Mary Lee went back to WV recently. While there, Mary Lee suffered problems with an internal infection which got serious enough that she was admitted to the hospital and underwent multiple surgeries. When she was well enough, the two came home to recuperate. After their return, Mr. Legan started feeling pain/pressure with his heart that he had never felt. His son-in-law took him to the hospital and he too was admitted, then underwent a cardiac cath. Thank Goodness they apparently found no serious problems, just a narrowing of one of the vessels. He is now home and feeling better.

I'm sure he'd enjoy hearing a few words from you if you would like to contact him. He stops by here now and then so you can either comment here or email him.
Need his address? Let me know.

Big Brother Loves You. Big Brother Is Your Friend.

Some of you already know this. Some of you don't. Some don't care.
And ya know what? It's all good.

Lots of us got together this weekend. There was a lotta laughter, even more smiles, some hugs, a few tears, and a lot of brain cells saved by memory-exercising conversation. I think most everyone that attended came away wishing we had more time to share.
I think all of us would like to see more of our schoolmates attending these functions.
It's not like we haven't tried. Let me fill you in on something you probably don't know, (and in the process I'm gonna embarrass him. I don't care.)
I did a little.
TD did a LOT.

To those he thought he had valid email addresses, he sent emails.
When some of those were returned, he added those names to the names he only had snail-mail addresses for and sent letters out to those.
When some of those came back as undeliverable, he got on the 'phone.
When he failed with some of those he contacted several of us for help finding his "lost sheep".
We're still looking for some of those sheep. I think the Wolf, (BigBad) may be involved here.

I threw up a post here at VK. Dan and several of us put up "Status Updates" at Facebook. That's the direction we have to go as we progress with these technologies, but we all know there will be folks like John T. that will resist dealing with these new-fangled gadgets 'til their dying breath.
So we gotta work together to overcome that. We're certainly aware there are some schoolmates that have NO interest whatsoever in these events.
It's all good.
But to the degree possible, we want to make sure that we are contacting everyone, so everyone can make the yea-nay decision.

I am now organizing and compiling a list of addresses we gathered during the alumni banquet. I'm gonna print that list and add to it any emails we think are current, so that those organizing events in the future will have an easier time contacting all of us. In that quest, we may contact you for assistance in finding some of those sheep that are just hiding in plain sight.

And if, after all this work trying to contact you, we hear you say, "Well, no one informed me....", there will be a terrible application of NOOGIES to certain skulls.

Don't make us stoop to that.

Life Is Good. Sometimes It's Sad.

From Karen this morning, via email:

"My brother Terry and I left early Monday morning and drove
to La Porte Indiana to see my brother Bud.  We were able to
spend a few hours with him. They had given him morphine just
before we arrived so he wouldn't open his eyes and of course
he couldn't verbally communicate with us.  But he could hear
us and he made facial movements to acknowledge us.

On our way back to Indy we had just reached the far North
side of Indy when our cell rang and told us that he had
passed away. God was good to give us the opportunity to
reunite one last time.

....Would you please make a small post for me to let
everyone in on this news.  And also to thank everyone
for me for their wonderful support and love they shared
when I received the news."


God Bless and comfort you Karen. Keep us
updated.

Review, Alumni Banquet and Picnic-

We are literally on our way out the door as I write this, so it'll be quick and dirty and I'll either comment or post more later.
What a weekend!
Again, I'm closer now to many of you than I EVER thought of being while we were growing up together. God Bless and keep you all.

Names I hadn't seen since graduation:
Gary P.
Brenda M.
Larry L.
How great to see you again, but time was too short. I hope this taste of the fellowship we all now share has whetted your appetite for more!

More names:
Cissy.
Leroy B.
Rita R-G.
Bob G.
Mike R.
Mark R.
Welcome to our "family", ALL of you!
I hope this is the start of more of the same.

Other names:
Mary Ella.
Janet.
Thank you both for the joy and laughter!

And finally:
Mr. and Mrs. C. and Mrs. Sloop:
Thank you for being there in the past, present, and we hope... the future.
We'll see you all soon.

And Bo?
?????????

What A Strange Job...

It's 3:30 A.M. as I write this note. I'm at work. Fox News is on the TV here and I'm watching Brett Baier for the second time... a repeat of the broadcast I saw just before leaving home for work.

Two days ago I had barely gotten through the door when the telephone rang asking if I could fly. I hurriedly finished my aircraft preflight, weather checks, and other preflight duties. We flew 15 minutes and picked up a man with a gunshot wound. Gunshot wounds are frequently interesting. This one was only mildly interesting. He was shot with a small caliber weapon and the bullet made several detours around his abdomen before coming to a stop. He needed a good surgeon badly.

But here I am now, more than halfway through my last night at work before coming home to Indiana, and so far it has been quiet. If the phone is gonna ring I wish it would happen quickly so we can be finished with post-flight paperwork by shift change. It would be nice to get off work on time so I can get home and get some rest today.

We're excited about the weekend...
It looks like there's gonna be a good turnout for the banquet, and with good weather Sunday we're hoping to see 50 or so at the picnic.

Sara Jean and I will be on the road early Saturday morning.
We may stop off at the old "Dog and Suds" to meet with Mr. and Mrs. Hawk on the way to the banquet.
We hope to either see ya there, at the banquet, or at the picnic Sunday.
Be safe in your travels, everyone.

I Don't Think We're In Kansas Anymore...

It saddens me to say I'm not surprised at this.

How idyllic our memories seem, compared to what kids face today.

Then and Now...

Just about every day, I look back to how things were back when I was teenager.  I wonder if today's kids could even stand living in the world as it was when I was their age.  I remember thinking that we were hot stuff because our econ class was playing a stock market game against kids from high schools all over the US.  We used our good ol' #2 pencils to fill in little ovals on cards with our stock market decisions.  The cards were sent in to some company, who would combine all the cards, feed 'em into a computer, and the computer would spit out the results.  We'd never, ever seen a computer.  I imagine this thing filled up a room and cranked for hours.

Today it's a rare household that doesn't have at least one computer.  At this time, I have four!  We own a Netbook, A 17" Dell Studio laptop, and two Dell towers that I need to revamp someday.  Four computers for two people.  Imagine...

During my junior year, I took typing--not keyboarding.  We had these old Royal manual typewriters.  I have extremely short fingers, and constantly got my fingers stuck between the keys.  That sure slowed down my typing speed and accuracy.  And typing an uppercase A, Q, Z, P, ", and ?  Darned near impossible with my weak little fingers trying to hold down the Shift key.  I still cringe at the term "flying caps".

I signed up for vocational business for my senior year.  When I got into the room for the first time, we were allowed to pick out the electric typewriter we wanted to use for the year.  I ran to the only IBM Selectronic...you know, it had the metal ball with all the letters on it.  I went from typing maybe 20 words a minute to more than 63, and that was after a summer of not typing at all.  I can no longer type on a typewriter--I've gotten too used to keyboards.

One day in Vocational Business, a salesman came in to show us a calculator.  It was the size of a small book and cost $1,000.  But it gave instant results to the most complex division problems.  Our adding machines cranked and cranked before it could spit out the results of a division problem.  Now, the tiniest calculators are given away as freebies, or they just cost a few bucks.  Oh, and then there were the slide rules.  Think a kid today has ever heard of a slide rule?

Most kids have MP3 players.  Songs are downloaded from the Internet.  Can you imagine jogging while carrying a turntable?  I owned a tiny little portable record player that played 45s and 33-1/3s.  It didn't even place the needle.  I had to do that myself.  I played one 45 at a time.  I might have owned 20 of them, and a few LPs.

Every Saturday morning, Mom and I would go to Marsh and I was allowed to select a 45 each week.  I know they cost less than a dollar, and I felt privileged that Mom would buy me one each week.  The first one I chose was Archie Bell and the Drells' "Tighten Up".  (I read later on that he only had the one hit because he was drafted and served in Vietnam.) 

The photo is of me, taking during one Christmas when I was given a Herman's Hermits album.  Mom liked Peter Noone as much as I did.  "Mrs. Brown, you've got a lovely daughter...girls as sharp as her are something rare.  But it's sad.  She doesn't love me now..."  Peter's still a cutie at the ripe old age of 62.  (How can he possibly be that old?)

I also had a Jackson 5 album and later on, my boyfriend bought me a Neil Diamond album "Tap Root Manuscript".  I might have owned three or four LPs, but that was it. (I eventually moved up to an 8-track player when the same boyfriend bought me one for Christmas.  I ended up marrying that guy--he bought good presents.)

Back then, our idea of an electronic game was our battery-operated "Green Ghost" game.  We'd turn out all the lights after we powered up the green ghost with some light.  And we'd play that game for hours.  We loved it.  Now the hot thing is a Wii.  Can you imagine showing kids back in the 60s such a thing?  I remember being amazed at the first Pong game.  I'd probably have passed out if I'd been shown a Wii back then.

If we were out driving and got lost, we'd have to stop and ask directions.  Now we either go to Mapquest, use our iPhone, or we fire up a GPS that communicates with three or four satellites.  (Hey, we did know what a satellite was...we all remember Telstar.)

I was an avid reader then.  I always had a book stuck in my face.  If I was still a reader, I'd have a Kindle stuck in my face and could have entire libraries of books occupying the space of an electronic doodad the size of a small book.

We did a research paper on embalming during my senior year.  We went to different libraries and even a funeral home to glean information for our paper.  It began as a joke, but ended up being a very interesting subject.  Now we could either do our research by Googling, or just cheat and download something that someone else wrote.  I wouldn't even have to leave the comfort of my recliner.

One day Dad brought home a color TV--the kind with the rounded sides.  Very few shows were in color back then, so we watched whatever was in color.  That was mostly the news.  Then Bonanza began showing in color.  The NBC peacock unfurled his tail "in living color".  We barely managed to tune in four channels, and forget watching late night TV.  You'd be watching a test pattern.  Digital cable and satellite have taken over the airways.  We have hundreds of channels, but nothing to watch but informercials.  And now they're coming out with 3D TVs.  What next?  Smellavision?

We owned one phone and it was screwed down to the kitchen wall.  If you wanted to talk on the phone, you sat on a stool in the kitchen.  We couldn't even leave the room, much less jump in the car and take our phone with us.  One month I talked long-distance to my boyfriend so much, it cost me $12!  Outrageous!  Now I don't even have a long-distance carrier.  Don't need one with my cell phone.  We constantly carry a 5,000 minute balance.

It's getting late.  I've got to change into my jammies and strap on the full-face mask connected to the CPAP machine that forces me to breathe all night.  Back then, my insomnia caused me to stay up all night and listen to my dad snoring.  When he stopped breathing, I'd hold my breath until he took another breath.  No one ever heard of sleep apnea.  We had to do our own breathing.

So what are your favorite "then and nows"?

Peonies In Bloom

I can't remember exactly how old I was, but I was old enough to notice and remember the Peonies.
We had been to the Time Trials at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Mom had planted Peonies alongside the fence on the South side of our property, and there were also a few plants adjacent to our driveway, also on the South side.
I got out of the car and took notice of them...
Vibrant, healthy plants. Full, white blossoms.
Beautiful.
And I think of that time whenever I see them.

The Peonies are in bloom here.
It must be "500" time!

I'm on duty nights this weekend, so depending on how "the natives" behave I will probably be asleep during the race. I'll listen to as much of it over the radio as I can before falling asleep, and "Tivo" the broadcast to watch it later.

Among the 33 starters are 4 women this year. I'm sure that's a record.
I've written before about how I favor "fillies". I'd be delighted to see one of 'em become the first woman on that Borg-Warner Trophy!

How 'bout you...
Got a favorite?
Why?