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REUNION 2010
General Information   Hosted By   Registration Form
Who's Attending   Who Might Attend   Who's Not Attending

 

Wednesday
28 Jul

OK this is important,

Folks I know it's really hard to control feelings about many of the situations that our country if facing right now.  Frustration, anger and hostility are understandable but please don't put me in the middle where I have to make a decision.  A threat to the President is a very serious matter and I'd hate for anyone to answer the door and find the Secret Service standing there.  It's been many years since we served together and a lot of water has gone under the bridge.  I don't know all the circumstances that have influenced your lives since then, so actually I don't really know all of you as well as I should.  So be careful what you say, the oath I took last a life time.  Thanks.

Now on with what isn't going to be a very long post.  Geri is getting ready to leave and I have to take her to where she meets up with her sorority.  I don't know all what they have planned for the next 3 days but I know they'll have fun, and Chicago's economy will get a boost.  I see she has all the essentials packed, Wine - Baileys - snacks - water - meds and some clothes.  That ought to be one heck of a bus ride.  I'm glad she's going as it has been pretty hectic around here and she needs a break.  Also glad that she is doing so much better health wise.  Amazing what being able to sleep can do for you, even her appetite has improved. 

Once she is gone I've got all the things I planned on doing placed on hold as I'm waiting on a call from the doc's office about an appointment for a test I need.  Don't want to get started on something and then have to stop.  Some of the projects just won't allow for an interruption, like cleaning the carpet's.  That is the first big one on the agenda and then I'm going to follow up with some other's.  I've got other appointments during this time frame also but I've been able to work around them.

I was sitting here yesterday and got to thinking about the guys I served with in Alaska.  Anyway I got a wild hair and decided to try and find a couple of them.  Took 37 calls and I found one in Washington.  We talked for about an hour and have been sending emails ever since.  As for the other guy he didn't have any clues as to where he might be.  We both are thing Arkansas but I've not had any luck calling.  With a name like Bailey the are a dine a dozen in that area, Texas and North Carolina.  I'm thinking he's making himself scarce as he's had some run ins with law enforcement.  Nothing serious, just that he went through a divorce and tried to run off with his little boy.  That was 30 some years ago and even though it was taken care of it has followed him around.  The 3 of us were close as we not only worked together but we hunted, fished and drank together.  Can't think of anything that joins you at the hip better than those 4 things.  Hopefully when we get out to the west coast next year we can hook up with the guy in Washington.  Sure would be nice.

I've been looking for pictures to send him and one is of a cake his wife made for my retirement party 32 years ago.  It was really a nice looking cake, had a hula dancer on one side and a bottle of beer on the other.  Cake said "Some like it hot (by the dancer) and Some like it cold (by the beer)"  I've still got the rubber hula girl but drank the beer long ago.  Never let it be said that I let a beer get warm.

Gene was suppose to go in for his surgery today but I checked with him last night and it's been put off until the 3rd.  The surgeon wanted him off his heart meds for 2 weeks and it's only been one.  I'd sure appreciate all of you saying a prayer for him.  When we talked, he was in good spirits about the surgery and has confidence in his surgeon so that's a good sign.  The surgeon that did his last one has retired and one of his associates is doing this one.  Have no idea how long he'll be in the hospital but I would imagine at least a few days.  I do know he'll have a minimum 8 week recuperation period which makes his attendance at the reunion in question.  I've placed him on the Might Attend List.

I'm so happy that everyone has heeded my request to check the reunion listings and let me know if they are correct.  I'm glad that I take the time to post this stuff as everyone reads and acts on it, I'm being facetious folks, so far 3 people have contacted me.  If you go by the list we'll have 49 people attending and 17 possible.  Nice size crowd for a little get together, the only problem being we don't have the registration fee for all of them, yet.  Remember registration dead line is the last week of August.  Last check with the Sawmill shows that we have some rooms left.  I know of folks that are staying with friends, relatives and at other motels so maybe it's not as bad as I think.

Now that I've said that, I just received a nice email from Ron Anderson saying that his registration is on the way and he'll see us at the reunion.  He touched on the fact that we lived in easier times back when we were all slim and trim.  I'll tell you that looking through the photo gallery certainly shows he's right about that.  I've also got to agree with him about the complexity of the world today.  I think a lot of that has to do with all the advancements in communication, people have more time to have kneejerk reaction to situations and don't have time to think things through.  Looking forward to seeing Ron and others.

Well Geri is ready so I've got to run, Best to All, Take Care and

Have a Good One

 

Monday
26 Jul

As you noticed the RAO Bulletin and Newsletter have been taken off the list above.  You can still view these by going inside and looking at the archives.  This servers 2 purposes, mainly it gets you to go inside and secondly opens the front page for other things to be added.  Not that there is going to be anything put there in the near future but you never know.

I just heard from my grandson, the one that is in China, and he said things are heating up over there.  Seems that China is backing North Korea in this saber rattling that is going on.  I haven't heard of any instances yet but then again the war games haven't been going on 24 hours yet.  Got all week for some idiot to make a mistake.  He said there is a lot of talk of war if things get out of hand.  I hope and pray that nothing comes of all this but you know we've been there before.  This country has always been ready to help our friends, sometimes even those that will bite the hand that feeds them. 

If there ever was a good time for someone wanting to start a conflict, now's the time.  We have never been stretched so thin militarily as we are right now.  Our reserve of equipment and manpower is past it's low point, almost to the point of nonexistence.  Our economy is shot to hell and back with no bright light at the end of the tunnel, and a majority of the people don't have much faith in our government.  You can count, on a 3 fingered man, who we have as allies and even some of them are PO'd at us.   Another factor to consider is that both North Korea and China have nukes, this isn't the positioning you want when getting involved on another front.

Grandson also mentioned the fact that he has noticed more troop movements and figures this is more positioning than anything else.  Makes you wonder with all the American companies in China just what they will do.  China is one of the strongest economies going right now and a lot of that is due to the USA.  There would be a lot of folks here in the states go under if China shut down the plants and exports.  He says there plant is running 24/7 and that just about all the other ones have stepped up production.  They're wanting to get as much product out of country as possible, just in case.

Guess what I'm saying is Pray for Our Country, and Our Troops.

On to something else.  Weather has cooled down a little and this week it's suppose to be in the mid to high 80's and the humidity won't be as bad.  Heat index all last week was in the 100's.  The heat emergency might be lifted, at least for a few days.  There was a big mess with one of the relief programs in town.  We usually donate a few fans to the needy each year and this was no exception.  Those apartments in the city really get hot, some stay in the 90's at night, and the elderly really need something.  Well it seems that the free store was distributing the fans and a lot of the people were taking them and pawning them.  Seems like a lot of the people would rather use the money for booze and drugs than try to stay a bit cooler.  Well that put a halt to this boy donating anymore, it's a crying shame how some can ruin it for a whole group.  I guess we need to have faith, that some do benefit, but after seeing the photos of the pawn shop I'm not to sure.

Lot's of county fairs started this past weekend and attendance was really low, maybe this week will help.  SPCA was out in force and you should see some of the ways the farmers have come up with to keep the animals cool.  I know for a fact they are a lot cooler than some humans.  I hope to get up to a couple of them this week but it's going to have to get a lot cooler.  Maybe toward the end of the week, when Geri is out of town, I'll to some evening.  Guess you can take the boy off the farm but you never really get the farm out of them.  For some reason I always end up around the bakery booths and home made apple pie is my down fall.  Dang I'm getting hungry for it just thinking about them.

There have been quite a few deaths on the water this year.  Some have been attributed to alcohol but most are just accidents.  Had a young lady die the other day because she turned her water ski right in front of the one her friend was riding.  The friend hit her square and that was all she rode.  She didn't drown, she was crushed.  Overloading also has contributed to a couple of more drowning and people thinking they can swim have been going under.  I guess the ones I hate to hear about are the little ones in family pools or even wading pools.  Where in the heck are the parents when this stuff happens??  I for one shouldn't talk, my youngest daughter drown in a neighbors pool.  I was in Nam at the time and it was one of the hardest calls I've ever received.  What I'm building up to is the following article.  I'm sure most everyone knows this, we were taught the same thing back in the early 50's when I was training to be a lifeguard, but a word to the wise.  Thanks to Gene Walker for sending it.

Watch everyyone while you're in or around the water. Stay alert!
Drowning looks different than you think!!!!!!

Think drowning involves screaming, gasping, and flailing? Think it’s easy to notice someone drowning? Well, you’re wrong. Drowning is a silent killer. There’s no splashing, waving, or calling for help of any kind. It's not like what you see on TV. Many people would not even notice another person drowning at just 30 yards away. Read on for tips on how to keep yourself and those you love safe from this silent killer whether at the beach or in your backyard pool.

The Facts About this Silent Killer

The Instinctive Drowning Response, a term coined by Francesco A. Pia, Ph.D., is what people instinctively do to avoid suffocation when drowning. The responses to drowning are un-dramatic and surprisingly quiet. Drowning is the leading cause of injury death for young children ages 1 to 4. Even scarier is that in a small but significant percentage of kids' drowning, an adult will have watched the whole process, not having a clue what was happening (Source: CDC).

Drowning Doesn't Look Like What You'd Expect

Dr. Pia, in an article entitled "It Doesn't Look Like They're Drowning" featured in the Coast Guard’s On Scene Magazine (Fall 06), describes the typical drowning response as follows: "Except in rare circumstances, drowning people are physiologically unable to call out for help. The respiratory system was designed for breathing. Speech is the secondary or overlaid function. Breathing must be fulfilled before speech occurs. Drowning people’s mouths alternately sink below and reappear above the surface of the water. The mouth of a drowning person is not above the surface of the water long enough to exhale, inhale, and call out for help. When the drowning person’s mouth is above the surface, she exhales and inhales quickly as her mouth starts to sink below the surface of the water. Drowning people cannot wave for help. Nature instinctively forces them to extend their arms laterally and press down on the water’s surface. Pressing down on the surface of the water permits drowning people to leverage their bodies so they can lift their mouths out of the water to breathe. Throughout the Instinctive Drowning Response drowning people cannot voluntarily control their arm movements. Physiologically, drowning people who are struggling on the surface of the water cannot stop drowning and perform voluntary movements such as waving for help, moving toward a rescuer, or reaching out for a piece of rescue equipment. From beginning to end of the Instinctive Drowning Response people’s bodies remain upright in the water, with no evidence of a supporting kick. Unless rescued by a trained lifeguard, these drowning people can only struggle on the surface of the water from 20 to 60 seconds before submersion occurs."

Signs of Drowning

Watch for these signs the next time you’re swimming with your kids or others:

Head low in the water, mouth at water level
Head tilted back with open mouth
Hair over forehead or eyes
Eyes glassy, empty and unable to focus
Eyes closed
Hyperventilating or gasping
Not using legs
Body is vertical and upright
Trying to swim in a certain direction but not making progress
Trying to roll over on the back

Stay Aware to Save a Life

Keep your eyes open for any oddities because even when things seem ok, they may not be. A good way to be sure is to ask your kid or the person you’re swimming with if he or she is all right. If they are rather still, do not answer or have a blank stare, then you may have less than 30 seconds to get to them! As any parent knows, kids make noise in the water. If they are not making noise, find out why and get them out of the water ASAP.

You know that was one of the hardest articles I've ever had to place on here, brought back some memories I don't like to think about.  PLEASE be aware when around the water.  Have Fun but Be Safe.

Like I said the other day, this is going to be a busy week as I've got a bunch of stuff I want to get done around here.  So having said that I'm going to post this and get started.  Best to All, Take Care and

Have a Good One