December 2024 Gathering Ground Report; Building Three Parking Lot

 GATHERING GROUND REPORT - December 11, 2024

Jerry (in foreground), Bill Wills, JoAnn Smith, Pete Gottschalk, Chet Biernat

Had to pull out the table extenders to accommodate the crew today at the Gathering Ground.   Chet, JoAnn, Pete, Bill and Jerry were the ones to enjoy the camaraderie and the excellent breakfast today.

Lots of discussion about Long Term Care Policies around the table.  Half the attendees had something and the other half didn't think it applied.  Annual cost seems expensive since there has been many years paying into the plans and no one has had the need to exercise their policy.  Me thinks that is the good news....

Two have Solar panels installed and working to cover most of the annual electrical expenses.  Jerry is pursuing a DIY solar panel on a ground mount situation.  Cement piers are poured and in the spring more progress will be reported only after the cold months are over.

Jo, Jerry and Bill are burning some form of wood to supplement the winter heating needs.   Sounds like JoAnn covers the majority of the heating needs and Bill and Jerry are supplementing their heating needs by cutting a few trees annually for family and friends.(When they offer!)

Bill reported that getting up after falling with skis on  is remarkably more difficult than 20 years ago.   Especially difficult on a relatively flat snow surface with skis on.  And, an extra couple of lbs to anchor you to the terra firma.

The topic of having a PB&J sandwich came up and everyone agreed that it is a treat, especially on Dave's bread with homemade jelly.

BIll tested Chat GPT OpenAI to help create a couple of congratulatory messages for two of his nephews and nieces about to graduate.   Instead of his normal process of writing, re-reading and re-writing several times.   He just verbalized the topic with the names and a most beatiful, elegant paragraph of prose popped back at him in milliseconds that was ten times better than anything he could produce. 

Bob White and Kerri were seen in the audience by Jo when she gave a presentation about her experience on the (AT) Appalachian Trail at the Granby Library.  So, Jerry, who has been waiting since Covid to run the 49th and 50th YouCanTwo race that Bob halted for Covid, gave a call to encourage Bob to get back on track and restart the YouCanTwo.  Bob's response was I'm doing a lot of genealogy now and proceeded to tell me about his 51 years that he has been in his home in Suffield Ct.  His research has found that none of his relatives, including all the way back to the Great Great level, have not lived in their house longer than Bob and Kerri.   The only exception is one Great Great Great that was born and died in their home.  Bob knows that can't be topped. 

Your Scribe,

Jerry

                                    ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

BUILDING THREE PARKING LOT

Jerry sent this picture of construction at the Building Three Parking Lot. 

"The one is showing progress of construction on Building Three parking lot.   It has been graded to a flat surface and is being layed with a mesh of piping and conduits before the next layer.   More as months go by" ~ Jerry Kimble

 Also, Dale Maine sent in the following picture and narrative a few weeks ago:

"There were comments in the notes from last month's breakfast about what might be going into the building 3 parking lot... I thought I'd share the info from a Courant article back in July...

Building 3 sits completely empty, if you look in the windows you can see straight through to the back of the building, everything (walls, lighting, etc.) is gone, you just see the steel beams and some hanging construction lights. There's still a for lease sign out in front of it, but I can't picture anyone wanting it without a parking lot - wasn't sure anyone would want it anyway.

We were temporarily moved there during the office renovations and they did fix all of the roof leaks (there had been ceiling tiles with hoses leading down to waste baskets to capture all the rain), and they said they had removed all of the wildlife. Then covid broke out, we never moved back and when they sold the building we had to go in to get our stuff out. I found a really big have-a-heart animal trap on a cabinet near a potted tree so some may have moved back in...: "

Here is the link to the Courant article that Dale mentions: CLICK HERE.  If you can't access the link, here is the article's text:

"Warehouse row is set to expand

Developer seeks tenant for site near Bradley

By Kenneth R. Gosselin Hartford Courant

 The warehouses of Amazon, Dollar Tree, Walgreens and others now dominate the corridor.

It’s Route 20 near Bradley International Airport, and it’s replacing what was once a rural landscape.

Even with nearly a dozen warehouses, a developer says there is room for at least one more, a belief so strong that construction is getting underway without a signed tenant lease.

The Silverman Group of New Jersey is building a 250,000-square foot warehouse on Hamilton Road in Windsor Locks, seeing the site’s close proximity to both the airport and Interstate 91 as strong selling points that have driven warehouse and distribution development in the area.

Toby Nelson, vice president of leasing at SL Industrial Partners, an arm of Silverman Group, declined to comment on the project’s cost. But Nelson estimated that similar buildings would typically cost $25 million to $30 million.

In addition to distribution, the structure — named Bradley Airport Logistics Center East — could be used for light manufacturing or other business expansion space — with up to three tenants sharing the space.

A groundbreaking ceremony was scheduled for Thursday.

Travelers driving to and from the airport may have already noticed the land being cleared. The structure is expected to be completed in the first three months of 2025.

Nelson said there have been some inquiries about the space, but, so far, there are no active negotiations.

“There’s a lack of new product in the Greater Hartford market that we felt like we fill a need for new, modern warehouse space,” Nelson said.

Unlike office space, which has seen surging double-digit vacancies in the aftermath of the pandemic, modern, warehouse space in the area has a vacancy of less than 1%, according to Shawn P. McMahon, managing director at commercial real estate firm JLL in Hartford and longtime office and industrial broker.

“The market is still very strong on the industrial side,” McMahon said. “There is very little product in the marketplace for tenants looking for 100,000 square feet or more.”

Greater Hartford did not overbuild industrial and warehouse space in the past, unlike New Jersey, New York and Boston area, McMahon said.

Silverman once owned the 100 Pearl St. office tower in downtown Hartford. The development company also is active in housing construction in Simsbury on the sprawling site where the suburban campus of The Hartford Financial Services Group once stood.

But Silverman Group has come up against local zoning opposition to a 400-plus unit apartment development on part of that property. The matter is in court.

In recent years, Silverman has expanded its presence in the industrial and warehouse market. Silverman now oversees the leasing and management of 25 million square feet of industrial space in 20 states.

In addition, Silverman is managing the construction of another 15 million square feet in nine states, including Connecticut.

“We’re still very bullish on Connecticut and Hartford and the growth there,” Nelson said."

November 2024 - Gathering Ground Report

  GATHERING GROUND REPORT - November 13, 2024

Once again, no pictures of this month's group.....so scroll down to see some blasts from the past

Full table today with (in order of appearance), Chet and Jerry meeting in the parking lot,   Jo-Ann was next followed by Norm and his son Roger.   Bill filled up our table  by showing up just before the orders were taken

Chet is contemplating giving up his email address.  Lots of staring from around the table after that statement.   He declared that he no longer looks at it and is tired of his infrequent looks that result in just a lot of deleting.  No solution was offered from the crowd.

Building Three parking lot appears to be turning into a base for a building.  No pics this time but standby for more on this

Jerry and Bill went to New Hampshire to catch up on the latest with Tim.   There was a decision to be made for lunch that was evident only because it was Veterans day.  Many places offer some free food or drink offering for Vets on this day, but nothing local being advertised, mostly the big chains.   With little discussion we opted for Markeys, a local fish restaurant that is the "Usual".  We were pleasantly surprised by a sign that offered a free fish sandwich for Vets.  For a  couple of years for serving our country a free fish sandwitch was considered a pretty good deal, we were all very happy!!

Norm's son Roger works for Chandler Evans and one of his employees came across a Fuel Control for a Huey Helicopter that had a very unique cam design.   Roger remembered that one of the senior members around the table (Bill Wills) had designed a 3D cam for the Huey way back in Bill's first job at Chandler Evan's.  So Bill's creativity and engineering skills came out in a real world event that lives on today!!

Jo showed a copy of her financial statement to me as she made herself comfortable at the table.   It was something that did look a bit unreal and it turned out to be an error on the computers in her Financial House.  It was very quickly rectified and verified by JoAnn as she checked after inquiring about the $19 million dollar extra that was briefly seen in her account.

Talk of lost wallet at the table.   The wallet was found and the person who found it called before the wallet was not even missed.   It was dropped of at a local general store and the owner (Jo-Ann's husband, Jim) walked into the store and claimed the very needed keeper of cash, cards, etc.  Lesson learned, leave something in your wallet in case a good Samaritan does find your wallet so he or she can call to get it back into your hand!!

No pictures again of this breakfast table and attendees but I did go back into my photos and included some past months' with folks that we haven't seen in a while.   Would be good to see all at the next Bfast!!

Your Scribe,

Jerry

 

October 2024 - Gathering Ground Report

  GATHERING GROUND REPORT - October 9, 2024

You guessed it: no photo submitted, so we had to find a suitable facsimile.   Jo-Ann with (in no particular order) Bill, Bart, and Chet

Greetings from the Gathering, October 2024,

Today there were four of us in attendance.  Bill, Jo-Ann, Bart and Chet.  Jerry Kimble is still on vacation in the north west territory and Norm and his son Roger were also absent.

Chet was first to arrive, walking with a pronounced limp. He was at the BIG E on opening day, and fell.  He said one second he was fine, and the next second he was on the ground! He landed on his knees and fell forward. Lots of people helped him up and he was on his way. I guess it was just a senior moment?  But he looks and sounds OK.

Chet and I talked about raking leaves in the fall. We both have enough space at our houses to store them, and watch them turn into compost. No need to bag them.

Bart and his wife Gerry, will be leaving CT for FLA on the 22^nd of this month. They have a place in Delray Beach where they spend the winter.  (Snow Birds). They keep a car there so they don't have to drive back and forth (they fly) When they did drive, it would take a couple of days. Now, Bart will avoid any long distance driving. New Jersey is as far as he's willing to go now.

Bart is also suffering with a torn Rotator Cuff . He's scheduled for an operation in Florida, and looking forward to the 6 month recovery period. In the meantime, no golf or tennis. The consensus was that he will be awake for the operation, that it will be done orthoscopicly, and will be given 'Happy pills' while they operate. Good luck Bart.

We talked about the upcoming hurricane in Florida. Everybody knows someone there. Bart is not worried, he's south of he hurricane's path.  My nieces and nephews all live in the Tampa area, and they were prepared.  They all came out with minimum damages to their homes.  Jo-Ann's brother lives directly in its path and had quite a bit of damage from the last one and is worried about this one.

Jo-Ann also said that the AT (Appellation trail) took a beating with the last hurricane. Over 800 miles of the roughly the 2100 miles were damaged. Trials were washed away, while bridges collapsed.  It will take volunteers a long time to restore it.

Chet was asking for vacation advice or suggestions. He is looking for an adventure, near Lumberton NC. We suggested a VRBO or another rental agency for the Villages in North Carolina. Good luck Chet.

The last subject was lobster rolls.  I had my first one last week and was amazed how expensive they are. A regular one was $28 and a large one was $54 from a food truck. I was not impressed with it and will probably never order one again. (Especially the large one!)  I'm told there are small, ($25)  medium ($35) and large ($45) in Florida. What a bargain!

That's it for now.

Your Temporary Scribe,

Bill Wills

Lobster Rolls: Yay or Nay?

September 2024 - Gathering Ground Report; South Africa Photos from Deb Shapiro

 GATHERING GROUND REPORT - September 12, 2024

Norm, Roger, Bart, Chet, Bill - in no particular order
(Editor's Note: Once again, no picture was taken at the GG meeting, so I had to resort to near approximations found on the Internet

Greetings from Windsor Locks

This month Norm and his son Roger, Bart Nixon, Chet Bernat, and Bill Wills were present.

As usual, there were discussions regarding every ones  health.

I asked Chet how he was doing. He said he's 'slowing down'.  His new knee is working OK. and he'll be 81 this month. We all said, 81 was a reason for slowing down, don't worry about it.

Jo-Ann (not present) and I keep reminding Chet bring his cell phone with him each month, so we can give him a lesson on how to use it. He really needs help in that area.

Bart said his new knees were working as advertised. No pain, but he lacks the strength he was hoping for. I asked him if he was doing all the prescribed exercises, and he replied – 'Mostly'. 

He also mentioned he's been a snowbird for 15 years.  Florida lends itself to do more walking, swimming and exercising . He leaves for Florida in late October, well before the first snowfall.

I talked about my week in New Hampshire with Judy. We rented a beautiful cottage on a lake. That was the good news, the bad news was that we were at least an hour+ from civilization. Day trips were mostly driving.

In order to get there I had to rent a mini van. My car was (and still is ) in the shop. (again.)  I really think I'm paying the college  tuition for my mechanic's son.

The rental had a lot of electronics that I'm not used to. Fortunately there was a thick user manual in the glove box. I needed it to decipher the icons on some of the dials and switches on the dash. All I all, it was a very good van after the learning curve.

Norm's son is a mechanical engineer working for a company formerly known as Chandler Evans. They were a direct competitor to HSD in the Fuel control area. I worked there designing Fuel Controls for three years before being drafted and coming to  HSD. (1972) Roger knew of many of my peers from back then. What a small world.

That's it for this month.

Your temporary scribe,

 Bill Wills

                                                              ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 SOUTH AFRICA PHOTOS

I received this email from Deb (Shapiro) Hansche a couple of weeks ago:

" My husband and I recently spent 10 days in South Africa.  It was my second time there and just as amazing as the first.  I thought I'd share a few (I have a couple hundred) pictures.  I've attached pictures of a herd of Cape Buffalo, sunset, White Rhinos, and a Giraffe.  All beautiful.  

The lodge we stayed at was 5+ hours out of Johannesburg and about 5 miles or so off the main road.  No noise or traffic.  The nights were dark and peaceful.

I hope you're doing well. 

Deb Shapiro Hansche"

....and here are the pictures....!

August 14 Gathering Ground Report; HSD on Facebook

 GATHERING GROUND REPORT - August 14, 2024

L-to-R: Bart Nixon, Jo-Ann Smith, Bill Wills, Chet Biernat,
Roger & Norm Lapointe, Jerry Kimble 

Almost didn't fit at the table, Norm brought his son Roger to participate in the once a month meet.  Bart is still in town from Florida, Bill, Jo-Ann, and me, Jerry.

Tim, Bill and Jerry hit some balls around in the state of New Hampshire.   The visit produced several lost balls, none by Tim though...   It was  great to catch up with TIm, he showed us the charts of his newly installed solar panels and the graphs were definitely in his favor (Oh, did I mention, it is summer with lots of sun).   More to come on the stats once a year has been observed.

Jo recapped her hike of the Long Trail in Vermont.   It turned out to be a very rough (short) trail as she began during one of the summer's heavy downpours with the remnants of the first named hurricane of the 2024 season.  The trail became washed out and heavily rocky/muddy and along with wet feet that failed to dry overnight, the hike was called off.   Escaping to shelter was a walk on the highway with thumbs out to catch a ride to a small town that had a cell tower to contact an old friend that had a farm in the area.   No pictures from this trip for Jo-Ann.  Oh, the general store in the small town of Eden Vt was the start of getting back to civilization for this hiker. 

Shoes that Jo-Ann purchased after her hike in the wet Green Mountains.

Sounds like long hikes might be turning into long drives for Jo-Ann and Jim.   A recent purchase of a Class B Sprinter Van that is customized for traveling pleasure was reported.   That shortened Long Trail trip left time to browse the ads for RV's instead of the next trail....

A few years back with another trip to Tim's in New Hampshire, a fishing focus was the event of the day.   Bill had some unsatisfactory results with his fishing reel so at the end of the day, Tim suggested that the reel be left in New Hampshire and he would work on fixing it next time we all got together.  Next visit, Bill now had a reel that worked smoothly and was all shined up for many years of enjoyment.   This latest trip, Tim revealed that after the initial repair, when the reel was all back together, he looked down and had several parts left on the table.   The easiest way out of this at the time was to look on FB Market and replace Bill's original with a beauty that was even shinier than Bill's original.   Three years had passed before the truth was out, a few laughs of course at the confession!!

Bart's standard order of the Three Pigs sandwich was denied. The kitchen was understaffed and that was off the menu today.  Chet's order of an off menu western omelette was acknowledged and delivered in a timely fashion.

Pixel phones, in their latest format, are no longer a lesser priced, higher-end phone.   They are in the stratosphere of iPhones and Samsung.   Jeeze, a really good laptop is less expensive than some of the top tier beauties from the big three providers.   And, the laptops have screens that are big enough to read without turning sideways!!

Your Scribe

Jerry

                                           

Jerry: "That is me handing pen to Bill for next two meetings while I'll be on the road and he's doing the scribing".   (Editor's note: Jerry didn't say anything about where he was going)

                                         ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

HSD ON FACEBOOK

For those of you with Facebook accounts, did you know that there is a private Facebook group for Hamilton Standard alumni?   

Go to the link at https://www.facebook.com/groups/588386704677508 or just go to Facebook and do a search on Hamilton Standard to gain access.   Since it's a private group, you will have to provide a little bit of information to be invited to join.  

You'll find some good nostalgia there, and maybe some familiar faces.

July 10 Gathering Ground Report; Emails; "Puzzler" Winner; Photo Gallery

  GATHERING GROUND REPORT - July 10, 2024

Jo-Ann, Bart, Bill, Chet, Jerry

Another full table at the Gathering Ground, Chet, Jo-Ann, Bill, Bart and Jerry.   The conversation was full and the food orders delivered to the table were filling.  

A couple of breakfast treats brought out from the kitchen and landing on our table.   At the end, nothing was left on either plate

Chet and Jerry talked about the Monastery located in Mystic Ct.   On Mason's Island specifically and this small land offshoot is Enders Island.  The sea wall has been damaged from a past severe storm and is now in active repair.   Chet did visit that campus several years ago with his Father Son to take a Mass and take in the serenity of the chairs by the seawall overlooking Long Island Sound.   Here is a LINK  for a better understanding of the location.  When there, click on Donate and then click on Seawall Campaign to see a video of the wall and birds eye view of the campus.

Anyone can visit and there are also rooms that can be reserved on this beautiful spot on the ocean.

Jo-Ann added a sporter auto to her stable of autos, a Mazda 3 that has brought more fun into her daily driver.   The pickup truck is sitting in the driveway when that utility is needed.

Bill and Bart planned on hitting a few balls after breakfast today.  Plans changed when the forecast again is going to be in the 90's and the humidity around the same.  Yes, our Florida readers are saying so what about the heat in the 90's.

Jo-Ann is planning another "Walk in the Woods" event this month.   She completed the Appalachian Trail last year and now, next week, is off to Vermont to take the "Long Trail" from Vermont to Canada.   She will be walking the trail her way by going to Canada and ending up in the Killington Vermont end point.  Only 173 miles in around two weeks!   Highlights of the trip will be posted in the August NFTH. 

(Editor's note: the above paragraph was written by Jerry right after the July 10 GG meeting.  Things have changed since then.   Here is an excerpt from an email from Jo-Ann this past Sunday, August 4: 
Stay tuned ....more of Jo-Ann's cliff-hanger in an upcoming NFTH) 

"Our plan was to start at Canada and come south 172 miles ending at Killington. Things didn’t go quite as expected and I’ll be glad to write an update for next month. ---- Jo-Ann " 

Bart and Chet are comparing scars with knee surgery as the topic.   Bart trumped Chet with a shoulder replacement.  A little like playing cards with our Senior surgeries.

Bill stated that Judy has retired and is hovering around the house looking for that interesting mind filler that can take the place of the decades of work that she has just left behind.   Transition from work life to retired life takes a little time and effort!

Bart brought up something that we don't see here in the northeast, the concept of restaurants with a menu for dogs in addition to the people's food menu.   Very popular!

Your Scribe

~ Jerry 

                        ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

EMAILS:

Thanks to Hank McWay for this short news clip:

"I got a note from an old (aren’t we all old?) buddy at Travelers about William ("Mike") Lachniet's passing. I had the distinction of working at two companies with Mike. He made the switch not too long after I joined Travelers.

He was a graduate engineer, aeronautical I think, from Michigan. He seemed to work with Bert Hamilton a lot if I recall. He was an excellent chess player, he would play daily at lunch with a couple guys."  

                        ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"PUZZLER" - And the First Prize Goes to ---- Ted Bernson!

Last month, we posted this challenge:  

"Looking at the the list, can you guess the date of publication?  First correct response gets bragging rights and a headline in the next GG Report." 

The first (and only) reply came from Ted Bernson: "I'm guessing 1986: Tony Montanti was still there and Jo-Ann wasn't a Smith yet.  Just a guess."  

In fact, the document was dated 11/1/85.  Ted, you were only two months' off -- you win the grand prize!  

                               ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

PHOTO GALLERY

"This is the parking lot for HSD Building 3!!  Looks like the sand is going to market to help the bottom line for Collins. 
I checked the price of septic sand, and it averages about $50/ton or yard.  So with a lot this large, it adds up to a big pile or sand and a big pile of $."
~ Jerry

June 12 Gathering Ground Report; "Puzzler"

  GATHERING GROUND REPORT - June 12, 2024

Small June group: Jo-Ann, Norm, Bill

Hello to all from the Gathering Ground.

   Today, Norm, JoAnn and Bill gathered for the monthly breakfast.

   Jerry Kimble, the elected scribe, is on ANOTHER vacation. It just seems to me that he spends as much time traveling as he does at home. I’m sure that’s not the case, but it seems that way. He has already planned another month long trip later this year for Oregon and Washington state, followed by at least three Ski trip weeks! Good for him. We are all jealous.

   JoAnn talked enthusiastically about a place in Granby by the name of “Cossitt Creation Station” which is connected to the Granby Library. It provides instruction and use of facilities like 3D printing, Digitizing old photos, sewing machines, and more. It’s totally free and a benefit to the community. (Check it out on the internet: CLICK HERE)

   Norm talked about his condo’s activities. This week they are sealing, restriping, and reassigning all the parking spaces in the community parking lot.  Norm is ‘on the board’ so he is involved.

  Jo Ann is also planning another ‘walk in the woods’ event for July. She completed the ‘AT’ (Appellation Trail) a while ago, and now she will do the ‘Long Trail’ from Vermont to Canada! The plan is to start in Canada and walk south (bring a compass, Jo) to Killington Vt.  It’s ‘only’ 173 miles and she plans on a two week walk. Good luck JoAnn.

  My exciting news is that he bought a new Table Saw. (get a life Bill). The bearings in the 40-year-old Rockwell failed. Replacing them it to hard and expensive.  So I boomed up for a new one.

 We also talked about Bees, and our experiences with them. JoAnn raises them, and I try to eliminate their nests under my deck! Both of us have been bitten, and agree that they hurt!! I told the story of allowing a Bee to sting me, just to see how much it actually hurt.  I only did that once. 

 Of course there was the usual health talk.  Everyone attending is actually in good shape.

 So much for the June meeting.

 Your temporary Scribe, 

     ~ Bill W 

                                ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"PUZZLER"

 No, not quite the same as Hal's Puzzler's from years past.   This came from Bill, our temporary scribe: 

"I found this list in my archives.  Maybe we should publish it in the month newsletter?"  

And so we are...with a twist!  Looking at the the list, can you guess the date of publication?  First correct response gets bragging rights and a headline in the next GG Report. Send replies to Chris.Lesinski@comcast.net. 

May 8 Gathering Ground Report; The Work of Squirrels

 GATHERING GROUND REPORT - MAY 8, 2024

Bill, Chet, Jerry

May is bringing on the flowers following the early rains in April.   Flowering trees are along all the local highways to Windsor Locks and back to home.

Today brought Jerry, Chet and Bill to the table to enjoy the highly rated breakfast treats from the Gathering Ground.  My Bacon, Egg and Cheddar on a hard roll actually had toooo much bacon.   Bill decided to help out with the overload as he added an extra slice to his scrambled and bacon dish.

Chet, should have  warned the rest of us to bring sunglasses into restaurant to shield from your blaze orange sweatshirt.  I hope that was on sale!!

Jerry was spotted in Westfield Agway by Mark Galica.   A blast from the past and a great encounter to share some stories about  the old MSD/HSD/IS/IT memories.  Mark has a place on the cape and spends his summers enjoying the air/water/lobster at the Cape.   The Lobster is provided by his efforts because he has several traps that he puts out to collect his summer dinner enjoyment.  Nice gig on the Cape!!

Bill shared the highlights of his trip to South Carolina and the mechanical troubles he had with his 50 year old convertable that he chose to do his transport for the trip.   Apparently the rear bearing seal started leaking on the way home and progressively leaked more oil during the several stops he made on his way.  He saw the check engine light several times, letting him know that more  oil was needed to keep the engine from seizing while headed back to Ct.   After many quarts of oil from several stops he finally found a U-Haul place and rented a truck(large) and car trailer to finish the trip.  Large trucks and one-way rental left him a little broke but he was able to get it to a shop in Bloomfield that fixed the problem and get his convertible back on the road leaving no oil line running along the double yellow !!  See the UHaul rig in picture:

Chet shared what he was wearing to make us comfortable that there was no clandestine intent by his being wired while sitting next to us at the breakfast table.  The external heart monitor was recently installed by his local hospital to see how his ticker was keeping its rhythm.   Funny how our bodies that we always seemed to not pay attention to, now require some help to keep us upright!

Jerry recently had the need to send a first class letter to Canada and found that the US stamps are not such a bad deal at even the recent increased price when First Class to Canada is $1.50.  and that's USD.

Chet reports a new Polish restaurant that has recently opened in West Springfield and is getting rave reviews.   No name at this time and a Google search does not reveal its name but Chet is on assignment to discover and report the full review for next month.

Bill ran into lunchtime runner John Turback.   No one at this  table recognized the name but according to Bill, he was one of the elite 5 minute mile lunch time runners along with Tim D'Valve.  Jerry reports that he can double that time now....easy!

Your Scribe

Jerry  

                              ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

THE WORK OF SQUIRRELS 

"We plant pansies in our dining area window boxes in October to give us something pretty to look at during the winter months. The squirrels have a bad habit of burying acorns in the pots for future use. In the spring they try to find them, digging holes in the pots around the pansies. Sometimes they find them; sometimes they don’t. This one got away. Looks like a white oak to me."  ~ from Larry Quillen

April 13 Gathering Ground Report

 GATHERING GROUND REPORT - APRIL 10, 2024

I was the temporary Scribe today.

Of course- we totally forgot the photo! (Editor's note: as is our practice when no photos are provided, we improvise with an approximate substitute) 

Jo-Ann, Norm and Chet were the only breakfast guests until 8:15 when Bill arrived.

 Jerry and Laura are on another trip heading to the Florida Keys with their camper.  Word is they are enjoying themselves.

The anticipated rainy Wednesday turned into a beautiful morning, yet the Gathering Ground was eerily empty.   So much so, that the line for ‘take out’ customers was noticeable.

Talk at the table was Eclipse related, especially how the country seemed to be focused on one thing for a time.

Some noted that internet traffic averaged an 8% decrease on a whole- but ~40% in areas of totality.

There were many laughs about Jimmy Kimmel’s question on the street “What is an Eclipse”.  It can be enjoyed on YouTube.

Bill recently visited the Veterans Medical Complex in Newington, CT and reported that the service was top shelf!  He was examined, had a chest X-ray, was given his prescriptions and was on his way in a very timely manner.  Norm volunteered at a Veterans facility for awhile.  He stated the Nurse in charge of the Volunteers treated them as if they were in a Marine boot camp! He completed that thought with “we weren’t even getting paid!”

Chet mention he had a fall at home - no injuries, but it lead the conversation to ‘Fall Alert’ systems.  Nowadays, everyone has a cell phone and can alert Siri, Alexa or Google to summon help…. But the key is, you have to have the phone nearby.

There was talk about morning routines like waking up early.   Most said they just naturally wake up before the birds each day - now that they are in Retirement.  A discussion about reading Daily Newspaper came up - is it paper? Or computer screen or phone?  Is it still a morning habit?

Bill shared a story about Hal’s Progressive Dinners.

Hal would arrange elaborate plans where small groups would head off to 4 different houses for drinks/appetizers, then switch groups and head to 4 other houses for a Main course, then all groups got together for dessert and after dinner  camaraderie.

One time, Bill was hosting a Main Couse, so he left his Appetizer house early - to go home and prepare his Cordon Bleu sauce.  When he got home, he notice a couple things he wanted to clean up, then something else caught his eye… etc.  Everyone sat around the table at last - thats when Bill realized he never made the sauce !! But boy, his house looked great!

~ Jo-Ann ~

March 13 Gathering Ground Report

GATHERING GROUND REPORT - MARCH 13, 2024

 

The sun was not shining in my eyes on the way to Windsor Locks from Granby.  My working days, typical daily trek, when at both Hamilton Standard and UTC Fuel Cells in South Windsor, led me morning east toward rising sun and evening, west toward setting sun.  The sun at certain times of year was "in your face" at several intersections when commuting in these directions in the morning and then, of course in the evening.   Sometimes causing the coming to or going home commute to be delayed by some minutes to save the experience of a blinding commute at some times in the 30 minute ride.  Today, with the clock change, I was able to make it to Schoephoester Rd before being blinded in front of Bradley Airport entrance.  I survived again!!

Sunny day, sunny smiles: Jerry, Bill, Jo-Ann, Pete

 

Norm, Bill, Jo-Ann and Pete were on board for the morning greet and eat.   Pete found the corned beef hash was curiously home-made and therefore very tasty!!

Discussion of how we all still have relatively full calendars even though some have been retired for 30 years (Norm).  Displaying our phone screens proved that point with several around the table.  The other half reported that the paper calendars provide the same but were parked at home so therefore not visible when challenged at the table.  And, the paper keepers were very happy with their analog agendas.

Dave O., we missed you again.   Next month will be a warmer day, so hope you can make the trip to the Gathering Ground Restaurant

One of pictures in the photo section is of the new complex on Spring Street across from the Gathering Ground Restaurant, that is currently starting its construction to house a new Police structure and a new Senior Center, both for the Windsor Locks community.

Construction under way

Solar panels were discussed by Jerry, Jo and Pete.  Jo and Pete have them, with Pete having several years experience and beginning to worry about maintenance with several of the companies leaving this business sector.   Jerry has a plan to pursue panels with the rebate still available and the price of electricity steeply rising in Connecticut.

360 Federal Credit Union was another topic, with some pros and cons left on the table.  Many have found the staff is now more like a commercial bank instead of the typical feeling of a Credit Union.   The bill pay feature of its banking system gets high honors with several positive commenters from around the table.

CHEERS!  Jerry: "Bonus pic with home made beer from garden grown hops ingredients.   Label design complements of youngest son holding out for six pack price for art work"

 

 Your Scribe

 ~ Jerry