GATHERING GROUND REPORT - NOVEMBER 12, 2025
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| Bill, Jo-Ann, Pete & Dave, in no particular order (No photo provided, so we found a reasonable facsimile) |
Jerry Kimble was absent because he’s on ANOTHER VACATION!!!
This time he and Laura are in Spain and Portugal sailing on a four masted sail boat in the Med. Check out ‘Windstar Cruses’ on the net and see the sailing yachts they have.
We also talked about European River cruses. Pete G has been on two of them and recommends them totally. He liked the idea of getting off the boat every day for the excursions. It’s better than a mega ship full if drunks and kids. I mentioned my neighbor was on a mega ship as we spoke, and the unlimited drink pass was $1,000 each for the week cruse!
We have an update on Chet Biernat’s health. Chet has not been to the GG for at least 6 months. Jo-Ann took it upon herself to call his son, Fr Wayne Biernat of St Michaels church in Springfield. Fr Wayne was really happy to hear from his father’s friends. Chet had a gastric problem a while back, that required the removal of quite a bit of his intestines. He is now in recovery and living in a health facility in East Longmeadow. He’s happy and has made a few friends there. Hopefully, Fr Wayne will bring Chet to the next breakfast. Alternatively, we could have a road trip to see him.
We all had voiced our opinion on the local Internet Service Providers.
I led off by describing my four-day battle with an AI robot that Comcast calls ‘Technical Help’. These robots are of little to no help. After four days, and three trips to West Hartford store (Also no help to be found there!)
A real live person finally called me and found the problem in less that a minute. Comcast had not updated the MAC address of the new Router they sent me. Problem solved. In the meantime, I cut the cord with Xfinity TV in frustration with all the new charges and billing inaccuracies. Goodbye Xfinity.
Weather is always a topic at the breakfast. This time we talked about the chill in Florida. Jo Ann showed a picture of Iguanas falling out of trees due the cold snap. But 50 degrees in Florida, is a national emergency. Here, we play golf.
We also had a conversation about apple picking. Evidently, you can’t pick up an apple that has naturally dropped from a tree in an orchard, like Lyman Meadows or the Granby Orchards. That seems like a waste of fairly good apples.
Tim O’Connor has a couple of productive apple trees, and I’m sure his rules would not be as strict. By the way, Jerry, Pete, Ed and I visited Tim a few weeks ago in New Hampshire. He and Mary are doing fine. Our parting gift was a bag of apples each.
So much for the Nov 12th GG
Your temporary scribe,
Bill Wills
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NANCY'S MINI MYSTERY
I received this email from Nancy (Zima) Famiglietti a couple of weeks ago:
"Hi Chris,
I have an item for the next HSD newletter.I purchased a stein in a second hand shop.It has the Hamilton Standard logo.It was made by Jostens Pewter.Do any of the alumni know the occasion and date this stein was given?See 3 attached pictures.Thank You,Nancy Famiglietti"
