Disneyworld or I’ve seen clouds from both sides now

June 14, 2016

With apologies to Judy Collins and Joni Mitchell.

Unbelievable: 60K people visit The Magic Kingdom every day to stand in endless lines when fishing or riding a bike is free with no wait time! – Grumpy Marv

Totally Awesome: Before I retired I designed and developed huge, complex software Systems. The Disneyworld System dwarfs any system I ever worked on. From Magic Bands working everywhere, to hoard of busses scurrying to and fro among dozens of destinations, to thousands of crewmembers working towards one goal (make Marv happy) the System functions magically to ensure every single visitor has the optimal experience at Disneyworld. How does all this work anyway? – Engineer Marv

Really fun: The Buzz Lightyear ride was really cool. It’s a Small World almost made me cry. The Lion King show was really exciting and the singers were world class. On the Peter Panride we soared over London, the Lost Island, and Captain Hook’s ship. I want to go back next week! – 2nd childhood Marv

They say “Value Experiences Over Stuff“, but I could have bought a BMW for the cost of this trip. – Material Marv

I’m going to scream! There are too many people here. How can they all stand to be so close together – Agoraphobia Marv

This was a once in a lifetime opportunity to spend a with a granddaughter. Would not have missed it for all the tea in China. – Grandfather Marv

Photos at: Disneyworld Photos

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Divine Intervention on the Hardcourt

March 29, 2016

Divine Intervention on the Hardcourt

SweetSixteenBound

TL;DR

My son and I traveled to Oklahoma City for March Madness opening weekend. We watched 6 amazing games in Chesapeake Arena which included a last second game winning shot from mid-court and the largest last second comeback of all time in College Basketball.

Background

For last Christmas gave all the children and grandchildren Trips. Our son’s was two tickets to the First and Second rounds of the NCAA Basketball Tournament aka March Madness

Friday

We drove up to Oklahoma City from McKinney early Friday morning, ate lunch in the Bricktown Brewery, and walked over to Chesapeake Arena for the first of two sessions.

The first game was Oregon State vs. VCU. Gary Payton Jr. played for Oregon State. He may have been the best player on the court but VCU was the best team. VCU advances. The next game, Oklahoma vs. Cal State Bakersfield, featured Buddy Hield and he did not let the crowd down. He was easily, in my humble opinion, the best player on the court this weekend. Although the game was surprisingly close most of the game Oklahoma pulled away the last few minutes of the game and won setting up a VCU vs. Oklahoma match on Sunday. This was clearly a home match for Oklahoma which was expected since they were the highest seed in this venue.

After the first session ended everyone had to leave the arena. Another set of tickets were required for the second Friday session. We like everyone else waited for the arena to open for the second session, and we waited, and we waited, and we waited… Finally, 20 minutes before the Texas A&M Aggie vs. Green Bay Phoenix tip-off the gates open. Trying to enter before the game commenced was pretty much chaos! To top it off the ticket person in my line was still in training slowing the entry line down even more. After finally making our way through the entry process we rushed to our seats and sat down just as the teams were tipping off to start the match. Most people, even those who had gained entry did not realize the game was starting. As a result maybe 500 people were sitting in the arena at tip-off. The game was close at first but not too far into the match the Aggies pulled away and won handily.

The Texas Longhorns and Northern Iowa (UNI) were the last game of the day. It was close all the way with the teams trading the lead. The Horns scored to take the lead with 2.5 seconds left in the game. But, a kid from UNI took the inbounds pass and threw up a prayer from mid-court. His prayers and UNI’s were answered! The round ball dropped through the basket without touching the rim as the buzzer rang ending the game. The Panthers were in heaven and the Horns were despondent but that’s the way the ball bounces sometimes.

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Saturday

We awoke Saturday to a cold and blusterly day. After reviewing the top things to do in Oklahoma City we decided to watch basketball all day. After searching the Internet for Sports Bars for some time we chose one close by, the The Garage Burgers and Beer. Turned out to be a wise choice – lots of TVs, great food, and great local brews. We tried a couple of other joints later in the weekend but none were as good as this one. Wish there were one in Fairview or McKinney.

Basically all we did on Saturday was watch basketball games. Great way to spend the day

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Sunday

Sunday morning breakfast was at the local IHOP. Then we drove downtown and wandered around the streets of Bricktown. Its a nice area full of restaurants, close to the arena and the ballpark.

We ended up at the Bricktown Brewery again where we watched the early basketball games and visited with quite a few interesting people. Among them were the parents of one of the Aggie basketball players, and a couple of VCU alumni, one of which was the radio pre and post game radio announcer.

Around 3:30 we headed off to the arena. The first game was Oklahoma vs. VCU. Oklahoma City is definitely a home crowd for the Sooners. The noise in the arena was deafening! It was a good game and at the buzzer the Boomer Sooners prevailed.

The Agony and the Ecstasy

Finally and the last game of the weekend, The Aggies vs. UNI Panthers ! The game we have been waiting for. The winner advances to the Sweet Sixteen and the loser goes home. The games started poorly for Aggie fans. There was a lid on the good guys basket. At half time the the scoreboard read UNI 32 A&M 22. The Ags did not fare much better in the 2nd half. Our shooting percentage improved but so did UNI’s. The Aggies are down 10 with 31 seconds remaining in regulation time. Then they stage the greatest comeback in College basketball’s history (Or the worse collapse). We tie the game 71-71 and go to overtime. Click here to see the video.

The first overtime ends in a draw.

UNI does not have as many troops as A&M and by the start of the 2nd overtime its apparent they are out of steam and the Aggies go on to win in two overtimes. On to the Sweet Sixteen.

WHen asked later about the unbelieveable comeback the A&M Coach, Billy Kennedy stated the only explanation was Divine Intervention.

The Ride Home

The game was not over until 10:30ish. I am not real sure. After a game like that everything is a blur for awhile. We drove home to Dallas. It was Sunday night after all and we had to both work Monday. The good news is we were so pumped up after the game we did not get sleepy at all.

1:30AM – home in bed and the story ends.

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My 2014

December 30, 2014

The older I get the faster time goes by. 2014 blurred by at the speed of light! Is the the clock going faster or am I less able to cope with change? Or is my life busier? Regardless, 2014 did have it’s higlights. Here they are in no particular order.

  • Danube river cruise – We take a BIG vacation every other year. This year was a Danube River Cruise with extended stays in Frankfurt and Budapest. We enjoyed every second and definitely plan on taking another river cruise. Its a simply marvelous way to tour an area. For more detail: European Vacation
  • 50th high school reunion – Seems like 1964 was just yesterday. 39 of us graduated in May 1964. 27 are still with us and all but 4 were able to make it to the reunion. The venue was old Alexis High Gymn which brought back many memories. I had a wonderful time catching up on the last 50 years with a bucnh of really good people.
  • Austin born December 29 – Our 5th grandchild born December 29. A healthy boy weighing in at 8 pounds, 4 ounces. Mother and baby are doing well,  Dad is recovering. I’m sure he will grow up to be healthy, wealthy, and wise.
  • Big brothers visit – My older brother and his wife visited us this year. My youngest brother and his wife live in the area. I really enjoyed spending time with them. Made me realize how precious famiies are.
  • Remodeled house – It all started out when I mentioned I’d like to tear out the shower and replace it with a walk in shower. Before I realized what was happening we remodeled the bathroom, kitchen, pantry, patio, and replaced all the carpet with wood floors. I glad we did it but would not want to live through is again.
  • Old Crow concert – We saw the Old Crow Medicine Show at the Dallas House of Blues. I don’t go to many live music concerts but can’t imagine any being more amazing than this group.
  • Nashville trip with son’s family – We and our son’s family packed our bags and headed out on a road trip to Heber Springs Arkansas, Memphis, and Nashville this past Summer. Ate great barbecue, ate great breakfasts, attended The Grand Ole Opry, and generally had a wonderful week. For more detail: Nashville Vacation
  • Cub game on the 100th anniversary of Wrigley Field – On our way to my 50th high school reunion we watched a Cub game in their 100th year at Wrigley Field.
  • WineThirty – My oldest daughter and her husband opened WineThirty, a wine bar in Murphy Texas, this year. We really enjoyed our weekly trips there to enjoy a glass of fine red wine and even finer conversation.
  • The road to Master Gardener – I became a certified Master Gardener this year. The journey encompassed most of the year. It involved taking classes, manning the help desk, pulling weeds, spreading mulch, planting, taking measurements at the research garden, and enjoying the company of a group of really fine people.

My rules writing this post were:

  1. Write down the 1st 10 things that pop into my mind.
  2. Don’t change any of the items after the thought popped into my head.
  3. Write only one of two sentences for each item.

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Nashville Cats 2014

July 17, 2014

Nashville Trip (June 27 through July 2)

Heber Springs

We (all 5 of us) cruised to Heber Springs in a tricked out Chevy Suburban.  We lodged at the Red Apple Inn on Greers Ferry Lake.  Its a quaint little place and probably the best lodging in town, although it’s a couple of miles outside of town which was fine with us.

Dinner was at the Red Apple Inn Restaurant. The food was okay and we had to wait at least an hour for it so bring a book to read.

This part of the world is beautiful. Kind of place you could come back to and jus veg our.  The biggest downside for me is there is no walking trails or nature trails.  I guess they expect everyone to drive a car.  We had a hard time finding access to the lake but once we did the views were spectacular. 

Greers Ferry Lake

Greers Ferry Lake

Searcy

The next morning we headed on out to Searcy where we partook of breakfast at the local Waffle House.  Most of the group had never eaten at a Waffle House.  All were surprised at how good the breakfast tasted and the clean restrooms.  After breakfast we walked the hallowed grounds of Harding where Kara attended college for two years.  The Harding campus is quite impressive and much larger than I’d imagined.  

Memphis

We left Searcy bound for Memphis on U.S. 64 through the flatlands of Arkansas.  It’s a different and strange world in that part of the state.  Much of the land is covered with rice.  All of the land is flat.  All of the land appears to be water logged unlike Texas which is crying out for rain.

Our first stop in Memphis was the Rendezvous Barbecue (http://www.hogsfly.com/) , a basement joint reached via an alleyway behind the Peabody Hotel.  Of course since we were in Memphis the ribs were dry rub and delicious.  Definitely a must stop for anyone in Memphis.  I’ve eaten at Corky’s several times. Corky’s is darn good also but both the atmosphere and ribs are better at the Rendezvous.

Rendezvous Ribs

Rendezvous Ribs

After a great lunch we and about 10,000 other faithful toured Graceland.  The lines were long but I learned a lot about Elvis and life.  His grandmother outlived him and his parents.  And money can’t buy you everything.  Elvis dies at 42 of “heart problems” according to the tour.  I’d always heard it was drug problems that killed the King.

Graceland

Graceland

Before leaving Memphis for Nashville we watched the ducks waltz from the lobby fountain at the Peabody into the elevator for their ride to their rooftop home.  Someday I want to come back to Memphis, book a room at the Peabody, and watch the ducks from a table in the lobby while sipping on a martini.  After the duck watching we headed out for Nashville only stopping at a Subway for dinner and a wine shop to ensure a celebration toast once we reached our Nashville destination.  

During our drive to Nashville we encountered the usual 45 minute delay because of road construction.  Hint: Never drive I40 in Arkansas or Tennessee if you can avoid it.

Nashville

In Nashville we divided out time between enjoying good restaurants, taking in local attractions, and vegging out in the condo.

As you can see from the restaurant list below we placed an emphasis on breakfast.  

Most of the local attractions were country and western oriented which is not a surprise since Nashville is the C&W capitol of the World.

Restaurants

Loveless Cafe

Loveless Cafe

  • Pfunky Griddle – you cook your own breakfast place.  Food was good.  And we did cook it ourselves at a griddle in the middle of our table.
  • The Row – a causal dinner joint. I ate barbecue again
  • Pancake Pantry – World famous pancake house.  I was disappointed because I did not have to wait in line for an hour.  Otherwise lots of kinds of pancakes including my favorite , buckwheat.
  • Jack’s Barbecue – On Broadway in the midst of all the honky tonks.  Definitely good  barbecue Nashville style.  Try out their white barbecue sauce.  Apparently white barbecue sauce is a Nashville delicacy.  It’s composed of mayo, horseradish, and some other secret ingredients.
  • Loveless Cafe (http://www.lovelesscafe.com/) – Its about 40 miles outside of Nashville at the terminus of the Natchez Trace.  Well worth the drive at least for breakfast.  The place alone is a good reason the drive the Natchez Trace
  • The Pharmacy – Billed as the “wurst hamburger beer garden in Nashville.” I ate curried wurst. Go there when the weather is nice because your most likely to eat outside and even if you don’t the inside does not appear to be air conditioned.
  • Five Points Pizza (http://www.fivepointspizza.com/) – In a dumpy neighborhood NorthEast of downtown.  However, the pizza is fantastic and the craft beers are all great.  Don’t worry about getting mugged.  Apparently this is the new neighborhood in Nashville for the locals in the know.

What we did besides eat

Ryman - High Church of Country Music

Ryman – High Church of Country Music

The list of things we did that I’d recommend:

  • Ryman Auditorium – the high church of Country Music.  Interesting visit.  Apparently Gwen and I did not realize how lucky we were to watch a concert there several years ago.  I recommend the tour if you have not taken it.
  • Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum – My 2nd visit.  They trade out many of the exhibits or I am old enough to forget because much of it seemed different to me.  On a side note, I wonder where the Western Music Hall of Fame is located?
  • Grand Ole Opry – Of course if your in Nashville you’ve got to attend the Opry.  Saw lots of good acts both old and new.  My favorite was the Old Crow Medicine Show.  We liked them so much we bought tickets to their July 7th show at the House of Blues Dallas.  They have to be one of the best musical acts I’ve ever seen.
  • Broadway and 2nd area: Walked honky tonk heaven.  Went into a couple of joints and listened to the music
  • Parthenon – replica of the original in Greece.
  • Swimming in the condo pool with AG
  • Watched World Cup matches, especially the USA

Other Photos

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Posted by molson46

My 2013

January 2, 2014

Executive Summary for people that only read the 1st line of emails: I retired. We took numerous trips trying to make up for lost time. We spent a lot of time with our grandchildren.

Lessons learned:

  • There is no privacy on the Internet
  • Backup everything on your computers several times

What Happened

For everyone else, another year has come and gone. Every year seems to flash by faster than the year before.  This year  was no exception.  Here’s what went down:

  • January: The year started out with Gwen staying with Sara and Mike to help take care of our newest grandson Paxson who was born on December 19, 2102.

    Paxson's 1st birthday

    Paxson’s 1st birthday

  • January 22-25: mini-Vacation to San Francisco.
  • February 16: Gwen’s laptop died. This was a very traumatic experience for two reasons. First, I had not backed up her Outlook “pst” file and quickly discovered it contained all her important data. It’s now December and has taken most of the year to recover. Secondly, we bought a Samsung ultrabook laptop.  Its a really good computer but the OS is Windows 8.  Microsoft really made a big mistake here by putting the Windows phone interface on computers!
  • March 15-22: Rangers Spring training trip in Sunrise.  Stayed in Sedona.  One day trip to the Grand Canyon which never ceases to leave me breathless at the first site. Also, hiked around Sedona quite a bit and dined at some great and not so great restaurants. Our two favorite’s were Beckett’s Table in Phoenix and Elote in Sedona.
  • March 28: Retired after 39 years at E-Systems
  • April 29: Took a nice long bicycle ride but half way through the ride a rammed a parked pickup doing 15 mph.  My ribs took the full impact of the collision. I did not break any ribs. However, I bruised the bones in my sternum and sprained the ligaments. The end result is breathing hurt for three weeks. I could not sleep laying down for a month, read sleeping in a chair. And my ribs were sore for 4 months.  Don’t ask me how it all happened because I don’t know. I saw the pickup and thought I was clear of it but apparently not.
  • June 1-14: Baseball and visit family vacation to St. Louis, Monmouth, Chicago, and Cincinnati. The new Busch Stadium is a great place to watch baseball. It’s downtown and within walking distance of many hotels and restaurants.  The downside to Busch Stadium is the food concessions there are dark and boring. Wrigley Field is an icon and a must see for any baseball fan. The Red’s park was easily the best of the lot. The stadium is downtown with a great view of the Ohio river. The concessions are outstanding also.

    Reds ballpark

    Reds ballpark

  • July 3-5: mini-Vacation to Ft. Worth with Andy, Kara, and Averi Grace to see the Stockyards, Museum of Modern Art, and the Symphony perform at the Botanical Gardens.
  • July 11-19: Vacation in Colorado. Started out in Pagosa Springs.  Spent a few hours at the hot springs and developed a great sunburn.  Dined at a couple of good restaurants.  Then drove up the spine of Colorado to Steamboat Springs stopping at Leadville for lunch on the way. This is a very spectacular drive. I’d recommend it to anyone.  Outside of Chicago, The High Mountain Pies in Leadville has the best pizza I’ve ever eaten. This was our first time at Steamboat Springs.  We loved it and plan to go back.  More to do here than Pagosa Springs including restaurants.

    Clear blue Colorado Mountain Lake

    Clear blue Colorado Mountain Lake

  • September-November: I signed up and attended the Colin County Master Gardener classes this fall. I am now officially a Master Gardener Intern.
  • September 27 – October 3: Vacation to Great Smoky Mountains and Arkansas Ozarks with our firends Vicky and Paul to see the Fall color. Unfortunately the Fall color came after we left but we did purchase a really neat kitchen table.
  • October-December: Gwen went back to work for two months. She really enjoyed the work but neither of us liked getting up a 5:30AM.
  • December 05: the Mother of all Ice Storms slams through Dallas
  • December 28: Claudia and Chris opened WineThirty in Murphy at the end of the year.
  • On the downside some good friends passed away including Rick Trimble. He was always a joy to be around and never met a person he did not like. On the famous side we lost Nelson Mandela, Margaret Thatcher, and Peter O’Toole, and Lou Reed.  Not so famous was  Doug Engelbar who invented the computer mouse.

Bests of the year:

  • Best musical performance: Dallas Symphony Orchestra’s “Pines of Rome.”
  • Best book “The Ocean at the End of the Lane” by Neil Gaiman
  • Best song: “Beggar in the Morning” by the Barr Brothers
  • Best day: March 28 – the day I retired
  • Best movie: I only saw two at the theater but the best was “The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug.”
  • Best Experience: Playing with the grandchildren

Goals:

  • Retire: retired March 28
  • Lose 20 pounds – lost 4.5. Not good but better than gaining weight
  • Vacations: visit at least one new destination and visit family in Midwest – Vacation to Great Smoky Mountains and visited family in June
  • Ride HHH – did not ride this year
  • Become a Master Gardener – took the class and am now a Colin County Master Gardener Intern
  • Digitize photos and slides – very little progress
  • Setup my own web site and landing page – done www.molsonno6.com

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Family/baseball trip 2013

June 29, 2013
Gwen in Heaven

Gwen in Heaven

This June we traveled back to the Midwest to visit family and see a few baseball games.  We had a great time visiting with my family.  We also were lucky enough to watch baseball in 3 of the great parks in the Country.  This blog is a day by day record of the vacation.

(Click here for more photos)

Saturday June 01: Up at 5. Drove to St. Louis – partially through a driving rain storm which flooded Springfield Missouri. Checked in at downtown Hilton. Watched the Cardinals beat the hell out of the Giants. First time in new Busch Stadium. Great views of the game but disappointed in the concessions. Costs an arm and a leg to eat and drink there

The Gateway Arch

The Gateway Arch

 Sunday June 02: In St, Louis. Breakfast at St. Louis Bread Company (Panera). Visited Grant’s Farm. Rode the tram and saw the Clydesdales. Lunch at St. Louis Bread Company. The Mississippi bridge at Alton was closed because of flooding so we drove to Monmouth via US 61, Hannibal, Quincy, and Macomb. Freeway all the way to Macomb. Staying at Americas inn. Built where Mellings used to be. Visited Sally and George.

Monday June 03: We traveled to West Branch Iowa and visited the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum.  After arriving at West Branch we lunched downtown at Reid’s Beans. It is a small quaint joint with no published menu. The menu changes every day and contains a  limited number of items. 6 the day we dined there.  If your ever close to West Branch and hungry I recommend them.  After lunch we paid our $3 and toured the Museum.  I learned a great heal about Herb.  He was truly one of the giants of the 20th Century. And the $3 was a great deal you can only find in Iowa.

Monday evening we had dinner with Sally and George’s family and Jerry at the Longhorn Steakhouse in Peoria.  A good time was had by all.

Tuesday June 04:  Another day visiting family in Monmouth. We all drove to Davenport North Park today and shopped. After we arrived back in Monmouth we visited the Monmouth Wine Bar – Market Alley Wine. It was a pleasant surprise and pretty busy for 4PM!  Since it was our last night in town Gwen and I dined at Cerar’s.  The meal was great as usual.  Whenever I visit Monmouth I wonder how a restaurant this good survives in a town as small as Monmouth.

Downtown Chicago

Downtown Chicago

Wednesday June 05:  We exercised and then drove to Schaumburg for 3 day stay in Chicago. Spent the afternoon chilling in the Springhill Suites. Dinner at the Rosebud. It is a Chicago Italian restaurant.  Very good but expensive.

Thursday June 06:  Raining this morning so we spent a quiet morning in the hotel washing clothes, nerding out on the computer, and exercising.

We ate lunch at Portillio’s Hot Dogs – a Chicago institution.  Hot Doug’s is supposed to be better but I’ve never been there so don’t know.  I do know Hot Doug’s is 4 blocks from where I lived from 1966 to 1968. I need to go back there and see the old neighborhood.  Hot Doug’s moved in after I left.  Was this a coincidence?

After lunch we drove downtown to the Art Institute of Chicago.  Traffic and Parking cost were terrible. If we ever do this again I will figure

Chicago Art Institute

Chicago Art Institute

out a way to take public transportation.  The Art Institute was great. Saw America Gothic. Also paintings by Sargent, Whistler, and Mary Cassatt.  Dinner at the Ram Brewery. There seem to be good micro-breweries everywhere but Texas?

Friday June 07: Spent another morning exercising and hanging around the hotel even though the Sun was shining.  At 11AM we hopped the bus to Wrigley Field for a Cub/Pirate game.  We froze to death, figuratively. The Cubs lost but we had a great time basking in the glory at one of the shrines of America’s pastime and all.  The Schaumburg bus is definitely the way to. No fighting traffic, no paying $40 for a parking spot. After arriving back in Schaumburg we went to a pre-wedding party at one of Karen’s siblings homes in Schaumburg. I can’t remember their name because I had too much to dream that night. Then we took Sara and Paxson back to their hotel and called it a night.

Chicago Pizza

Chicago Pizza

Saturday June 08: We exercised, and checked out of Springhill Suites. Had lunch with Mike, Sara, and Paxson at Giordano’s. Great pizza. Supposed to be the best in Chicago (Giordano says its true).  Spent the afternoon at the hotel doing too much of nothing (its a song title by Peter, Paul, and Mary – I’ve been trying to fit it into a blog for years and this was my chance) while waiting for the wedding to finish.  Then we had drinks with the Nuestadt family in the hotel lobby.  Later we dined at Stonewood Ale House with Dave and Gretchen.  The Stonewood appeard to be a great place to watch a sporting event.  We ate early but people were already flocking in to grab seats for the Blackhawk Stanely Cup game. All around the bar they had two rows of satellite (?) bars and a bank of large screen TVs above the bar. We watched the beginning of the hockey match with Dave and Gretchen. At 8PM we left for Indianapolis and left them to babysit Paxson in the hotel.  We arrived at the hotel there at 1:30AM.

Sunday June 09: Woke up at 10:30AM and had to check check out at 11AM. I don’t believe I had slept this late since I was a teen ager.  Wait, I never slept that late as a teenager. I had to get up at the crack of dawn to milk cows and slop the hogs.  Of course all of this was up hill in a driving snow storm.  Maybe driving late at night in an unfamiliar area when you are 66 wears the body down. Drove to Cincinnati and visited with Jim, Nancy, and Jack. That evening we went to Reds game with Jim and Jack.  They were playing St. Louis. The Reds ballpark is great.  The game went 10 innings but Cardinals finally won 11-4 by scoring 7 runs including a grand slam in the 10th.  Jack is a real baseball fan and a real tropper.  He was excited the entire game eventhough the game lasted well into the night.

Jim & Jack at Reds game

Jim & Jack at Reds game

Monday June 10: First thing in the morning we drove to Kroger’s and bought ingredients for smoothies.  If we don’t have our smoothies we turn into Chewbaccas I have been told. Then we lounged around the Jim and Nancy’s the rest of the morning. We ate lunch at Bob Evan’s. It was very good and healthy. I had bean soup and a pot roast sandwich,  Then we drove to Covington to visit Brian, Michelle, Brian Junior, and Erin. We ate dinner with them at a Beppo Uno in Piqua, Ohio. I had the pizza. It was very good.

Downtown Cincinnati

Downtown Cincinnati

Tuesday June 11:  Our last day in Cincinnati and we toured the town with Jim as our guide. First we visited Spring Grove Cemetery. It is the largest private cemetery in the U.S. It was started in 1845.  The cemetery is huge and many of the monuments are huge as well.  Many generations of a single family are buried in the same large plot with a huge monument marking the plot.  I wonder how many cemeteries have their own web site?  Seems to me social media for the dead is a market waiting to explode.  Enough of that.  Seems Gwen and I have started a pattern of visiting Cemeterys. On our last trip to New Orleans I drug her to the Napoleon Cemetery #1 which I know we both enjoyed.

After Spring Grove, we drove downtown, ate breakfast at a really great place. I wish I could remember the name.  If your ever in dowtown Cincinnati and  hungry for breakfast call Jim.  Then we took photos from the 49th floor of a skyscraper, and across the river in Covington. On the way back to Jim’s we stopped at a really cool wine bar (Marty’s Hops & Vines) and relaxed with a couple of really good craft beers. Gwen had wine of course.

Cincinnati from Ky.

Cincinnati from Ky.

For dinner Jim and Nancy took us to Nicola’s in Cincinnati. Best meal of the trip!!

Wednesday June 12:  Drove from Cincinnati to Memphis. Very enjoyable drive.  We stopped for Lunch at Buckhead’s in Bowling Green Ky. Great lunch. The trip took about 7.5 hours.

If your in Memphis you have to eat barbeque, riight!  The problem is there are so many joints serving great barbeque.  We chose to eat dinner at Corky’s . It has been voted as best Memphis ribs for 28 years in a row. The ribs were delicious. Plus, there was a Corky’s close to the hotel.  After stuffing our selves at Corky’s we drove down to Beale Street and listened to the blues. The entire street was full of parked bikes. Apparently Wednesdays in the Summer are bike nights. They really made the night special with all the noise and 100s of characters walking up and down the street drinking beer.  We listened to several blues groups from the street and and finally settled on a group in the park at the end of the street. I did not get any group names but they were all awesome.

Thursday June 13:  The last day of our vacation and I could not wait to see home.  The 7.5 hour drive from Memphis lasted 9 hours because of road construction. Hint: Don’t ever drive I40 from Memphis to Little Rock.  Somewhere on that stretch there will be road construction and long lines of 18 wheelers.  Other interesting points:

  • Discovered the worst McDonalds near the Memphis Galleria. Day old tea, order came out  very slowly in shifts. Staff was slow and rude
  • Discovered the worst Wendy’s on IH 30 leaving Little Rock at exit 123: dirty, understaffed, slow, everyone’s order in front of us was wrong, out of baked potatoes, rest rooms filthy with no toilet paper
  • On I40 in Arkansas there was a major delay with the road down to one lame. We stopped completely for 10-15 minutes. Then we would move for a bit. Then repeat.
  • I30 at Texarkana road work was almost as bad. We simply stopped for a half hour and then drove 5 mph for 10 minutes before reaching a small group of workers patching the road.

Thursday night – home at last!!

Cardinals Ballpark

Cardinals Ballpark

Reds Ball Park

Reds Ball Park

Note: I never mention restaurants I don’t like. This time I made an exception of the two on the last day.  They are national chains and I expect to have the same quality of service and same quality of food at ever McDonalds and Wendy’s.

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Some days are diamonds, some days are gravel

April 30, 2013

There is an old John Denver song – Some Days are Diamonds and Some Days are Gravel.  Well my day Monday was both.  Summary: I took a bike ride. I rode into a truck. Now, I  hurt to breathe and sneezing is out of this world.  I don’t believe any ribs are broken. Other than that I have a few bumps and bruises.

I woke Monday  morning (April 29)  ready for a brand new week.  When you are on a 7 day weekend you like Monday’s as much as any other day of the week.

I decided to take a long bicycle ride.  The morning was perfect. The temperature was 57 degrees and there was no wind.  No wind in Texas Spring is as rare as the Cubs winning the World Series – so maybe this is the year.  I decided to ride the bike through East Allen and Lucas.  That area is mostly rural so no lights and very little traffic.  Up until 2 hours into the ride I was having the best ride of the year.  Then disaster struck! I turned onto a new street.  All of a sudden there was a pickup about 2 feet in front of me.  I just had time to start to say a very bad word but never finished it because I slammed into the truck doing probably 15 mph! Of course the bike and I bounced off the pickup. For the first few seconds I thought my jaw and ribs were broken and the wind was knocked out of my lungs so I could not breathe.

After a minute or so I could breathe again but my ribs hurt like nothing I’ve ever felt before and blood was spurting out of my chin.

I managed to get the bleeding to stop holding a handkerchief against the cut but my ribs were not getting any better.

Then I saw my bike.  It was in no shape to ride either.  The front wheel was bent and the handlebars were turned the wrong way.  By the way the pickup was parked when I hit it and did not have a scratch. I secretly believe the pickup jumped out from the curb and hit me.

It’s the day after now and I feel like a train ran over me.  Oh, well. This too shall pass.

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Retirement Part II

March 28, 2013

This is my second and final post on my thoughts on my impending retirement. The first post spanned from birth to hiring onto E-Systems.

My first big shock at work was working on a team and interacting with other people.  I toiled virtually alone at all my other jobs from driving a tractor on the farm to repairing microwave transmitters for Continental Electronics.  My first assignment was with a group of around 7 of building computer system based on a 24K mini-computer with 7 level paper tape as the only IO device.  My, how technology has changed!  My cube-mate was Sharon Horton.  Steve McNeil sat in the next cube. He knew more cuss-words than anyone I ever knew and used them in a very casual manner.  Jim Snow was our lead.  After that project I moved onto another one lead by the Sarge, Dave Scott. Other members of the team I will never forget are George Hall, Dave Hooker, Jim Dunn, and, Roland Rentz.

After a couple of years I volunteered for an assignment in Alice Springs Australia. We lived there for five years. I was a maintenance programmer there instead of building systems. The kids went from babies to just young enough they don’t remember anything except what we tell them. We formed some great friendships there and camped out bush a lot. We learned to enjoy soccer, rugby, and Aussie rules football. We saw the Great Barrier Reef, Sydney, Hawaii, Fiji, and our favorite – Adelaide.  We returned home with mixed feelings but I was bored with work and the kids were getting older.

After returning from Australia I was talked into switching from Software to Systems.  The  switch was promised to be temporary but lasted the remainder of my career. I enjoyed the Systems journey. It was a journey literally. I traveled most of the rest of my career- Australia, West Coast, Denver, East Coast, State College, San Antonio, Florida.  Other than I traveled I can’t really say much about what I did except:

  • I made money
  • I had fun
  • I did something useful

I did get to know many really good people. Also, some of them were really nerdy. Like let’s calculate the gravitational effect of a proton on Halley’s Comet on the Earth at Midnight GMT April 23, 1587. I’m not going to mention any names because at my age with my memory I’ll leave someone out and wake up at 3AM in a panic.

Meanwhile on the home front the kids grew up, we grew older, and our previous generation passed away.  We, mostly Gwen, must have done okay because the kids all graduated from Texas A&M, started careers, got married, and procreated.

They say its the journey and not the destination.  I really enjoyed the journey and am ready for another one.

Best advice: He that is not busy being born is busy dying.

Best moments: 

  • Fixing a righteous problem in a component I developed.  Talk about immediate high
  • Flying home after a long and successful installation

Worst moments:

  • It’s Friday afternoon at 4PM. We are trying to install a new System.  The head Customer dude tells us if our System crashes again this weekend to turn it off, tear it down, and go home.
  • Its the day before Thanksgiving. Both sets of parents coming to visit – mine for the first time.  My VP tells me to get on a plane and fly to Australia tonight to fix a problem or turn in my badge.

The best moments dwarfed the worst moments by far.  And it’s true: If you love your job you will never work a day in your life.

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Retirement Part I

March 1, 2013

I’m retiring a month from today and…

I was born in 1946 along time ago in a country far away called the Midwest.  It was quite a different place and quite a different time.  In the place where I grew up everyone was a farmer or had some connection to farming.  We thought diversity meant Lutherans, Catholics, and Methodists attending the same school.

Fast forward to 3 years of school in Chicago – what an eye opener.

I discovered Polish saugages, Wrigley field when I needed a day off from school, and roomed with good friends from exotic Pittsburg who had never seen a cornfield.

Then, fast forward to Fort Worth — another eye opener.

My only previous connection with Texas was John Wayne movies.  I imagined mountains, cactus, sage brush, and cattle. However, after graduating from DeVry Institute I found myself and my two Pittsburg friends driving Southwest to Texas to start work at Generous Dynamics building F111 aircraft.  Mile after mile we kept expecting the scenery to change.  We were really excited driving through the Arbunkle Mountains (actually small hills) in Southern Oklahoma.  Well, we thought we are finally getting close to Texas: plenty of red rocks, cactus, hilly, and everything looks dry. How disappointed we were when after a few miles the landscape returned to close to the midwest.  It was a little drier, the weather was a little drier (in March), but otherwise looked much the same as the Midwest.

My first August I wondered why anyone lived in this hot hell hole. But then January came and I could play golf.  I was hooked on Texas.  As Daryl Royal used to say “Son, after you’ve worn Florsheim’s you never want to go back to Tom McCann’s.

My three years at General Dynamics did not change my life substantially.  I was still a Midwest nerd, single, and, my idea of a good time was driving around aimlessly all night – going nowhere, seeing no one, and doing nothing. I was laid off from that job along with 30,000 or so other people.  So, I went back to school.

It was at school that I meant Gwen, my future wife.  At the time I thought she talked to much and was pretty naive because she had never heard Simon and Garfunkel sing Sounds of Silence which by that time was the anthem of my generation.

Nothing much happened until one Thanksgiving week. I was home studying like usual (probably proving the set of real numbers given the set of integers. I always liked math).  Gwen called my roommate because her battery had died. He was out at a bar so I hopped in my car and repaired her battery. The rest is history: love – dating – marriage – kids – grandkids.

Back to retirement. When we tied the string I was still in school so I hired onto Continental Telephone in Useless Texas.  I attended UTA in the day and repaired microwave transmitters at night.

During my senior year I interviewed with a number of companies. I was a math major with minors in physics and computer science. At the time there were no Universities in Texas offering degrees in Computer Science so the high tech companies were hiring math majors to fill their positions. My two most memorable interviewes were EDS (Ross Perot’s company)  and E-Systems.  EDS want me to cut my hair and wear white shirts and ties.  E-Systems did not care as long as I produced so I went to E-Systems.  I remember May Sue Thorton, Ed Redwine, Jim Snow, and John Harris interviewed me.

I graduated in December 1973. On January 2, 1974 I started my employment at E-Systems in Garland Texas and moved to beautiful John Glenn Drive in Garland Texas. A few days later on February 2 our first child was born – Claudia. Meanwhile I was sitting in the E-Systems leper colony. But that is a story for another day.

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Road Trip Vacation: Dallas to Phoenix and Back Again

February 4, 2012

Saguaro cactus

Monday January 2: We started our vacation by driving to Las Cruces NM. The trip took 12 hours and was 711 miles. The Sun was shining all day. The temperature rose to 60 degrees by the late afternoon. So it was a good trip. We ate dinner a local New Mexican style 70 year old restaurant in a 200 year old building called “La Posta.”  Tonight we are chilling out in the hotel.

Las Cruces Restaurant - our 1st night meal

Tuesday January 3: The next morning we drove from Las Cruces to Phoenix.  Today was a short day on the road – only 7 hours and 388 miles.  We stopped for lunch at the Village Bake House in Tucson. We both ordered sandwiches which turned out to be really tasty. Upon arrival we checked into the hotel we are camping in during our staty – the Hyatt House North Phoenix.  For dinner we tried out Beckett’s Table. The style is American Comfort food. Gwen had roast chicken and I had green chile pork stew.  Voted one of the 5 best restaurants in Phoenix and I believe. From my limited experience if I could only eat one meal in Phoenix it would be at Beckett’s.

the sign of the Turquoise Arches - only in Sedona

Wednesday January 4: We qdrove to Sedona  Wednesday. Ate lunch at Gwen’s favorite restaurant there – Oxaca – Mexican if you can’t guess, and started to hike the Soilder’s Pass trail. However, my knee started aching and since I am not supposed to be exercising anyway until the 18th we turned around.  I wanted to get a photo of the McDonalds there with the turquoise arches so we stopped there for a photo shoot. Next we drove to the top of airport Mesa for the best panoramic view Sedona. Finally, we drove by the local Wyndham. It was pretty impressive. We will have to stay there sometime.

Sedona from Airport Mesa

Can't raise corn in Sedona

Back in Phoenix we decided to go to a movie – War Horse. We grabbed a quick dinner at Claim Jumpers before the movie – okay. War Horse was a very good movie.  Glad I saw it.

Heard Museum

Thursday January 5: We started out the day at the Heard Museum.  It’s focus is the Southwest Indians.  The museum was interesting if you like history and especially Indian history.  I do so I enjoyed the museum.  Others may find it really boring. After examining the menu and noticing people we coming in just to eat at the museum cafe, we decided to eat lunch there.  The cafe stayed with the Southwest motif.  I had the posole which was delicious.  I would eat there again. We spent the afternoon at the Desert Botanical Garden. I never dreamed there were that many varieties of cactus. I enjoyed it and would recommend it except in the Summer.  The best time of year is probably mid-February through March which is when most plants are blooming.

Dinner was Italian at Aielo’s. The owner is from Brooklyn and could not stand NYC anymore so he migrated to Phoenix a few years back.  The food and atmosphere were good. I had the seafood linguine. It was homemade and delicious. I would eat there again but don’t order the calamari.  It was tough and chewy.

Great color on this barrel cactus

Many different types of cacti growing together

Outside of Phoenix

Friday January 6: We started home Friday. This was our short driving day – only 7 hours.  We drove from Phoenix to Las Cruces stopping in Tucson for lunch.  We ate lunch at an eclectic place called “Feast“.  It was really good food and I would definitely eat there again.  The food was quite varied.  For example, I ate the lamb meatball sandwich which came with a tossed green salad. We stayed at the Las Cruces Hilton Garden Inn again which I recommend if you are ever staying in Las Cruces.  Friday night we ate at a Southwestern place called “Peppers” whose sister restaurant is a steak house called “Double Eagle” which also received high ratings.  It is the best food I have had in Las Cruces. Of course I have only eaten at two restaurants, here and “La Posta” which was also good.

Saturday January 7:  We drove from Las Cruces to Dallas today.  The trip was 11.5 hours including a lunch stop at Midland.  Midland is really the only place to stop along the way unless you like McDonald’s and Whataburger.  Sara met us at the car rental at DFW with my car and between the 3 of us we promptly lost the car key.  We found it after a half hour of taking the car and luggage apart.

Wait, the fun is not over yet! To top off our road trip vacation we dined at “Vera Cruz” in Oak Cliff with Sara and Mike and went to the Mavericks game before finally arriving home at midnight.


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