GATHERING GROUND REPORT
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| Chet Biernat, Norm Lapointe, Jo-Ann Smith, Bill Wills, Dave O'Leary |
The warmer weather brought out a larger than normal crew to the Gathering Ground this month. Chet, Norm, Bill, JoAnn, Dave and Jerry had a long leisurely breakfast and conversation time this morning.
Norm announced that he finally tested Covid negative, this took several weeks and, with other stories from around the table, he was not the only one who felt great within 5 days but failed to test negatively for several weeks.
We talked dieting for a few minutes and decided for those who have a difficult time figuring out how to lose a few without buying into a major diet plan was to purchase a fitbit watch.
You input what your weight loss goal is into the
watch(computer on your wrist). It then figures out how many calories in
your day's intake you need to be in order to lose the prescribed weight over
the stated period. Each day, it keeps track of the calories burned,
as you input the calories eaten for each meal and then keeps a score card
display of how over or under your calorie intake you are for the day.
Here is a VIDEO of a more detailed
explanation of the Fitbit app on the watch.
JoAnn explained that before the next breakfast, she and Jim are off to finalize the AT by going back to Georgia in March to complete that lower leg. Then returning to Ct for a break and then taking the Northern trek towards Katahdin. For those who stayed in the huts on Mt Washington AT, she and Jim have pre booked 9 out of 10 to enjoy getting there and to have a real bed and someone to cook for them!!
Bill read an article about VERSION 3 of the Internet. I didn't understand but there are articles in the link so you can see what is coming.
Lots of stories about our fun and not so fun experiences at Hamilton. Jo shared the time she had a training session with her tour in the Info Center. All she had to do was lug the 6 Compaq computers(aka, sewing machines) out to Logansport. She managed to get all the way to the airport and onto the plane and then into the plant at Logansport. The only training room she had was a 10 by 16 room with a 5x10 table to sit these Compaq luggables. After two days of 8 hours in a smoke-filled room inserting floppy drives for each session, she was back to Windsor locks wishing the taxi would lose her cargo between the plant and the airport... no such luck.
Bill remembered some of the training lessons when he was in flight school. The funniest that came to the table was the backup if the cable to the tail rudder failed. Disaster Backup was to use the left or right doors in the cockpit to help steer the plane. A very good reason to have that seatbelt firmly clicked in.
That is all the news for this month
Your scribe,
Jerry
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| Dave, Jerry Kimble (scribe), Chet |
The funny object in the picture below is a 5 gallon bottle that is brewing a Celebration IPA. My son Spencer is turning 21 at end of March and this will be his birthday beer. I'm sure he will know how to handle it once it's in smaller containers.
~ Jerry
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Hank sent in the following email about a former co-worker that some of you may remember, Thornton "Joe" Bond:
Subject: Thornton C. Bond
"Joe was pretty quiet down the road in Hudson, we got
together for one of our alumni lunches a few years back. I hadn’t heard from
him in a while so I checked. He passed back in December 2020. I don’t
remember seeing anything in the News from the Hole, so I thought I’d pass it
along. After I left HSD, I guess Joe went to Pratt, but he was one super
good person. Joe lived in Somers, and I lived in Tolland back then. We were
both active in the Lions, he had been president of that club. Then he was
active in the District, 23C, and when I became president of the club in Tolland
he installed me. Just a little bit of our activities back then.
We are both staying healthy in these trying times. For me, gardening has become a wonderful use of time. Living here, and having a little greenhouse, makes it a year round activity. The biggest impact has been keeping us off the seas. We had become quite active in cruising, and now it’s been since November 2020 that we cruised last. We’re booked on a two week cruise out of Tampa this November, which means we don’t have to fly anywhere. Next year it’s back to Rome for another Mediterranean cruise which includes Sicily. Our travels have brought us to many European port cities, which we find most interesting and enjoyable.
Winter is over here, so Spring cleanup is underway outside. The temp at this hour is 86, but the pool is sitting at 70 so it will be a few more days before I get back in. Stay well,
Hank McWay"
