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)

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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 

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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."  

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"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!  

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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