Tuesday, August 31, 2021

August 11, 2011 - Gathering Ground

 

GATHERING GROUND: 

Chet Biernat, Jerry Kimble, Dave O'Leary, Fred Goff


Welcome to our 2nd Wednesday Breakfast at the Gathering Ground restaurant in Windsor Locks, Ct. USA.   Norm, Chet, Dave O, Dave E, and Jerry made the 7:30 welcome time.   Our long lost wait staffer, Amber, was back and made sure we were greeted like we had been there many, many time.   Good to see Amber after her many month absence.   Some staff at the restaurant was still not filled, the kitchen staff but the wait staff seemed to be holding there own.

 Lot of discussion about weight, Fred had great luck with a WW diet and was aware that loosing/ gaining weight is just a math game.   He admitted that his  math was off over that past few months.   Norm was happy to report that he usually stays within a lb or two of his many years recording his visible weight on the scale. 

Dave O was having a difficult time trying to hit his personal goal of 8 glasses of water a day.  Many glasses  went down but the last few were often not recorded and not drunk in most days.   He remembers the same amount of beer was never a problem for him in his peak golfing days!!   lots of water will reduce Potassium in your body and this will interfere with muscle control, some marathon runners on a cool day will experience this when they think drinking lots of water is crucial to making to the end only to find that  when the brain no longer controls the muscles in the  body and they fall to the ground!    Quick fix, eat a banana and wait 10 minutes!

Chet did comment about a new beer he had found that hit the spot on his palette, a Water Melon Wheat, he did say somewhat under his breath that it sort of taste like tap water.   What town are you living in!!!

Fred is Tech lead in finding a security option for cameras at the airport his plane is parked at.   Evidence of some uninvited guest have show up, so with some donated monies from the owners of the various planes at the airport, Fred is on a mission to video any and all on the off hours activity.

Dave reports Brimfield to be a little less exciting this year.   Funny, for the couple of times Jerry has visited, that was the impression I had gotten also.

That is all of the news that's fit to print.   The health issues are not recorded to save my fingers from getting callouses trying to record the too many that were mentioned

Your Scribe,

Jerry 



Dave O, Fred, Dave Ewbank, Norm Lapointe, Chet


Dave Ewbank, with a shout-out to the "Canal du Panama"

PHOTO GALLERY: 

1. Jo-Ann and Jim's odyssey:

 





 

2. Jerry - Glacier National Park:

 


"Even though big brother is watching with our various electronic devices, once and a while one of these apps that reminded us that we are being watched also brings us back to a place that was spectacular memory in your life.   This pic came up today on the 5th anniversary of visiting this location, Glacier National Park.   Pic of the kids with a backdrop to keep looking at for a long time" ~ Jerry Kimble


3. Chicken Crosses Road:


Randolph, Vermont:
A chicken crossed the road in front of my car, but didn't stop to explain its motive.
~ Chris 



Tuesday, August 3, 2021

July 14, 2021 - Gathering Ground

GATHERING GROUND: 

Rein Pihel, Bart Nixon, Bill Wills, Norm Lapointe, Chet Biernat

The morning started slowly with Jerry and Chet entering before the rest of the crowd, Norm followed shortly and we had coffee and conversation before ordering.   Shortly after ordering, Fred enters and is then followed by Rein Pihel. With Rein our table was full and we proceeded to the closed room (still a limit on customers at Gathering Ground because of the new staff in training).  OK, then Bart and Bill, Bart was North for a few months for the first time since 2019, good to see you Bart.

We all seem to be involved with volunteer jobs but Norm is the king with many locations having his presence to help with tech issues or just to provide social company for an hour to folks in places that get little or very little visitation from their family.  Thanks Norm!!

The closed room also had six of the Hamilton Engineers for the first time since COVID, having their first post-COVID breakfast and enjoying the camaraderie and conversation.

Bill talked about some of the adventures of his recent trip to Arkansas.   The Wills clan met to enjoy the summer and participate in the lake activities that his nephew has found.  Bill found water skiing is now wake skiing and that was something that eluded his current capabilities so he quickly stated that he could easily get out of the water on water skis and ski around the lake.   Getting out of the water was the same with skis as it was with the wake board.  Bill decided to be the watcher in the boat that was cruising on top of the water and gave up the goal of standing on top of the water with skis or wake board.

As our senses become dull as we age, we contrast the odor of cigarettes today vs 40  years ago in vastly different environments.   To think that many of us had sat in meetings 40 years ago with 50% of the people smoking, and no one even commented on the blue haze and odor of the conference room.   Today, we catch a whiff of a smoker on an open beach and we glare to find the culprit and to move as far away as we can.   The nose does not seem to be as affected as some of our other key senses, don't you know....

We all shared stories and senior moments when recalling our stories, good to have company going down this road.

~ Your scribe,

Jerry

With your scribe Jerry


HAL'S NEW WHEELS: 

Picture copied from Amazon website