February 10, 2021 - DONUT KETTLE

 DONUT KETTLE

 

You read that correctly!   There was NO GG breakfast last month (February 10), real or virtual.   

 

So, thanks to Hal's meticulous file keeping, we've dusted off the Way Back machine, and here's a sampling of alumni breakfast notes from days of yore, when the gatherings were at the Donut Kettle. See also the image of an early issue attached.

 

For those of you who weren't around back then, the "News from the Hole" started as a single page produced by Hal and Gill Anderson, and sent out via snail mail.

 

Volume 1 Issue 2 (January, 1993):

 

"Attendance Down: Remember, Gil said, "It's automatic" and it will work whether 2 or 20 show up.  The January get-together tested this theory.  On this slushy, snowy, rainy morning, 5 diehards enjoyed breakfast at "The Hole".  Norm Lapointe, John Lussier, Tim O'Connor, Pete Deresienski and yours truly [Hal] carried on the tradition."

 

Topics discussed were ski racing at Ski Sundown, dogs, and Rush Limbaugh, as well as the retirement of Tim Cramer and Irma Colton.

 

Attendance improved with spring weather:

 

Volume 1 Issue 5 (May, 1993):

 

"A good time was had by Joe Bond, John Lussier, Don Mozzer, Dick Martin, Paul Pendergast, Anita Kresge, Bob Devine, Mill Rolston, WIllie Mobley, Dick Quinton, Norm and I [Hal]"

 

Discussion:

 

"Willie, in a reminiscing mood, said 'Thinking back on those afternoons at the Al-De-La.  I wonder how management tolerated it?'    Dick Martin, standing nearby, said 'Because you were working for me and I was with you!' "

 

There's a gap of 11 years to the next NFTH obtained from Hal, and by then the publication had gone hybrid, with a hard-copy snail mail version and the appearance of the "E-mail Directory Update" section and the "Puzzler"

 

Volume 12 Issue 9 (September 2004):

 

We can only guess what the Puzzler question was, but the answer provided in that issue was as follows:

 

"1. Fill the 9 oz glass

2. Pour water from the 9 oz into the 4 oz

3. Discard the water in the 4 oz

4. Fill the 4 oz again using the 5 oz remaining in the 9 oz

5. Empty the 4 oz again

6. Transfer the 1 oz from the 9 to the 4

7. Fill the 9 oz again

8. Pour water from the 9 into the 4 until it's full

What's left in the 9 oz glass is....6 oz."

 

And the announced winners were as follows:

 

"Two of the entries were correct, so Larry Quillen and Dick Martin share the silver medal.  Each defined the 8 steps correctly.  But Jo-Ann Smith, the gold medal winner, did it in 2 steps using an unorthodox scheme."

.     

 

Thank-you, Hal, for the trip down memory lane!

 

BONUS PUZZLER for MARCH 2021: In the spirit of Jeopardy, we now know the above answer, but who can tell us what the question was?  Extra points if you can come up with Jo-Ann's shortcut. 

 

 

 

PHOTO GALLERY:

FROM THE ARCHIVES:

We hope that we'll have "live" pictures of next week's GG gathering, but in the meantime, here are Donut Kettle minutes from 28 years ago (before cameras were invented), thanks to Hal Velie

 

 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 MARS BUMPS OR CRATERS?

Contributed by Larry Quillen:

"The top image is a NASA photo of the landing site of the Persevereance Rover on Mars.  The bottom image is the same image I flipped horizontally.  I see bumps in the top photo and craters in the bottom photo.  What do you see?"

 

  "Many years ago, astronomer Marcel Minnaert performed an experiment with moon photos. When the photos were oriented so the light came from the top or left, nearly three-quarters of the people correctly saw the craters as dents. When the photos were oriented so the sunlight was coming from below or the right, only half saw them correctly. Apparently, the brain tends to assume that light comes from above or the left."  (Related story: click here for a 17 minute video about Perseverance)

 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

NO COLOR FILM NEEDED

  A bleak misty Vermont morning in late February: same pictures in living color, and with the black/white filter applied.

 

January 13 2021 - ZOOM Gathering Ground

Still meeting via ZOOM until we can all gather safely again, the January 13 virtual crowd included Jerry Kimble, Bill Wills, Fred Goff, Kenn Hebert (with a cameo appearance by Kathy), Mil Ralston, Jo-Ann Smith and Chris Lesinski.

 

Once again, our scribe was preoccupied with picture taking (see below), so the notes taken were somewhat sparse. 

  

As has been the dominant theme of late, the conversation turned to the Covid-19 vaccine.   Kenn reported that Florida, being a "no residency required" state, was seeing an influx of out-of-staters crossing the border to line up for vaccines.   Connecticut has a website detailing the rollout starting at age 65 and above, while Vermont's roll-out will begin with 75+, other than folks whose profession requires an early vaccine.

  

Mask usage was also discussed, with an observation that, in some regions, people seem to be using them less and less.   All agreed that it's not a good idea to approach and challenge a maskless stranger.   Chris had witnessed one such incident in the local supermarket - the maskless chap shoved the inquirer into a wall.   Calm down, people!

 

On a more positive note, Jo-Ann talked about some new wildlife areas that have opened to the public in Granby.  One of them is Dismal Brook, a 210 acre area of land in North Granby that has hiking trails, wildlife viewing, and a variety of terrain from wetlands to woods.  Keep it to yourselves, though - she also suggested not spreading the word, because it’s relatively undiscovered and peaceful so far.   McClean Game Refuge in Granby, on the other hand, has become very busy, partially due to the pandemic and people wanting to get outdoors.

 

The discussion then devolved into technical language about cable connections and electronics, where this (part-time stand-in) scribe got lost.....

  

~ Chris

 

 

Mil Ralston, Jerry Kimble, Fred Goff, Kenn Hebert, Bill Wills, Chris Lesinski, Jo-Ann Smith

 

 

 

 

 Say cheese!  "Even on a Zoom session, most everyone will listen to the camera man, after I took a photo, I asked everyone to smile and the after picture shows the result.  We are all trained well."