Issue XXIV February 1st 2004
Editorial.
Welcome to our first edition of 2004! I hope you're all finding this a wonderful new year with lots of exciting things on the horizon. Personally, I'm looking forward to my holiday next month when I am crossing the pond again (they must have forgiven me for the last time) and hopefully to meet up with a whole lot of you. Maureen is to be my Hostess with the Mostess and has promised me a tour of the Californian vineyards. I suppose I will have to force myself to partake of the local vintage, purely for research purposes of course <S>.
I can't wait until we hit Las Vegas, and being the generous person that I am I intend to donate some money to the worthwhile cause of hedonism.
Well, on the home front, the sprogs started as I hope they don't intend to carry on. Remember the new shower I had to get in December? Well, they manage to break the hose on it, so I had to buy another, honestly I think it is a concerted plan between them to get me into a mental institution!
They also very helpfully put up the Christmas decorations for me and when they were taken down I discovered that they had secured some of them to the new wallpaper with sellotape. (not sure if you lot call it sellotape across the pond but it's that sticky clear adhesive tape). So I also have baldy wallpaper as well now.
Anyway, I'm not taking any chances, when I fly off on a jet plane (didn't there used to be a song about that?) I am shipping them off to their fathers, there is no way I am leaving my poor house to their shenanigans, I want to have a home to come back to!
Please all, still remember our Joanie, who is not very well at all, heres wishing her a speedy recovery!
If I don't get time to get another issue out before the trip please send all donations to our Bail Fund to Trisha unless of course she needs bail money too..... in that case, please send help!!!
See you all soon!
Lynda
Any comments. responses, articles, tips etc, please mail to LyndaAtCasual@Compuserve.com
Contents.
Editorial.........................................................................Lynda
Tigger's Tails................................................................Tigger
New Hampshire Remembered.....................................Cruise Air
Days of Long ago..........................................................Lizzie
Winter Wonderland.......................................................Tracey
Lil' Bits from Ma'am....................................................Maureen
Well known for it's great temperament, Golden Retrievers make good hunters and
family pets. They get along well with children of all ages and other pets. While
they can adapt to small living quarters they do need to be given plenty of
exercise on a daily basis. Because of their playfulness and energy their toys
must be chosen carefully to prevent choking or swallowing of the toy. This
includes sticks and rocks.
Large breed dogs such as Goldens require a lot of regular exercise, large breed dog food and of course general care as necessary for all healthy dogs (fresh drinking water daily including daily washing of the drinking bowl, regular vet visits, lots of love and affection and understanding of their individual breed).
Goldens are wonderful dogs, giving their owner years of warm, meaningful companionship. Their reliable, trustworthy and friendly personality makes them fantastic additions for any household.
Tigger
Now that the punsters, pollsters and politicians have packed up their grips and
gripes, the Granite State can return to normal. But what is "normal" for New
Hampshire is fantastic for everyone else who has ever had the opportunity to
experience this "live free or die" state.
My experiences have included two years at Grenier AFB outside Manchester as an
airman in a radar unit, four summers as camp counselor on Lake Ossipee, and many
more visits of varied duration and purpose. One of those visits included the
scaling of Mt. Washington on New Year's Eve and Day.
Those who visit only Manchester, Portsmouth, Nashua, and Concord, see only the
commercial and the high-tech business side of the state. To discover the soul of
New Hampshire you need to head north past Concord to Lake Winnipesaukee,
Chocorua, Conway, and Pinkhan Notch. The Presidential Range of the White
Mountains will engulf you as you stand in awe of their majesty. Mt Washington at
6288 feet is the highest peak in Northeastern U.S. But just slightly smaller are
Mt Adams, Mt Monroe and Mt Madison. I have climbed those peaks no less than
twenty-one times; the most notable time was the scaling of Mt. Washington on New
Years Eve and Day. (it takes two days on snowshoes). What a story that was.
As you continue north and then west you can visit Berlin, Bretton Woods
(unbelievable) and then down Franconia Notch to where the Old Man of the
Mountain fascinated viewers for years until in fell of its own weight in 2003.
It was a rock formation on the side of a high cliff that, when viewed from a
certain location, resembled an old man. What a sad loss.
Then, as you wend your way down along the Connecticut River, you'll come to the
White River Underground Caverns. What an adventure Nearby is Dartmouth College
which owns a ski lodge on Mt. Moosilauke. There is an eerie legend surrounding
that peak.
I have mentioned but a few of the myriad of sights one can experience in such a
small state. They even produced one President let alone the ones they have
helped to elect through their first of the Presidential Primaries. But, to me,
it is the indomitable spirit of these rugged and individualistic people that I
will always remember about New Hampshire.
Cruise Air
It is getting darn boring here on the farm, with all these long dreary days of
little sunshine and a lot of cold. It took us all summer and fall to build and
finish this house, and there was not time left over to start a lawn, so the rain
and wind makes little tiny rivers through the yard. We spend a lot of time in
the family room where we have large windows and can see all around. There are
two or three squirrels who entertain us each morning running up and down trees
and eating the black walnuts lying on the ground. Did I mention that Millie, our
pet Rottie, goes berserk every morning watching these little animals, sometimes
I think they perform just for her. She cries and begs to go out so she can chase
them. Life is never dull around here in the animal world.
This week an old friend from early childhood came by and we went to lunch.
It was so much fun and we went over a lot of memories, some of them long
forgotten. We were both from large families and both the baby of the family. We
went to first grade together, learned to roller skate, play ball with the boys
on the block, went to the movies, even sneaked cigarettes together. Some of my
fondest memories are of sitting on her front porch, listening to her Father, a
man who could speak five languages, a man who, like my Father struggled to feed
and keep his family. We were poor as church mice, but at that time in our little
town everyone was except doctors and lawyers and we were blissfully unaware of
any difference in our styles of living. As she said, we always had a big garden
and all our mothers canned and were excellent cooks. I believe my mother could
have cooked an old leather shoe and made it taste good.
We both agreed that we never ever heard of anyone doing drugs that we knew of,
until our hero Robert Mitchum was featured in the movie magazines as having been
arrested for it. The worst thing that could happen would be a girl being
pregnant before marriage or a boy being picked up for drinking. Families were
very important and doing anything that would shame your family was very bad. My
parents would no more accept welfare (or medicaid as it is called now) than they
would steal. Only people with no pride at all accepted welfare. You learned to
make do at an early age and wore your sisters hand me down clothes. I think that
had something to do with character building.
Now we each have grown children and agree we did the best job we knew how in
rearing them and we did agree that most men are alike (as we compared notes on
how we lead a more independent life than our Mothers, telling our men to do for
themselves).
I do know I passed that trait on to my daughters, for they are all three an
independent lot and woe to the man who pushes that little button.
Well, we enjoyed that lunch so much we are going to start doing it more often.
Who knows, maybe we will be able to answer some of the problems of the world
over that dish of shrimp scampi!!!
Later. Lizzie
It’s that time of year again….turn up the thermostat, get out the thermal
clothes, the winter coats and boots, scarves, gloves and hats. We’ve been in and
out of a deep freeze for the past few weeks. Of course, this coincided with my
going back on the all night bus.
I didn’t get anything together in time for our Christmas issue. I trust that
everyone had a good holiday season. I wish all of our members the very best for
2004.
Christmas was hectic for me. We sign for a two week period only at that time of
year, and I got so focused on making sure I had Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve
off, I didn’t bother to look at my start times. OUCH!! Now you all know I’m just
not into getting up at 3:30 a.m. for work, but that’s what I did for the better
part of those two weeks. I was required to work all the holidays this year, but
things worked out fine. Christmas Day I was with my family in the morning,
worked from 11:30 until 5:00, and then made it home in time for dinner. With my
two nephews, I love being home for Christmas to watch them open their gifts.
This year was a bit more fun, as the younger one was really into Christmas this
year.
With my handy Christmas cash in hand, I decided to have my computer upgraded. My
old one was an antique by today’s standards. I bought it in 1998 and had done
nothing to upgrade it. So, now I’m faster and more efficient, although one of my
programs isn’t working, but that’s another story. I’m sure it will be working
soon. It didn’t cost me that much either, which was nice. My next purchase will
be a new monitor, but I’m going to wait until after my trip to Las Vegas for
that one, unless I find a deal that I just can’t refuse!!
As I mentioned earlier, I’m back on my night bus. I couldn’t be happier. I love
working nights. I hadn’t been able to get the same crew since I did it last
summer, but finally, it was left for me. I’m hoping to stay on it for awhile. I
was asked if it isn’t more dangerous at night. The answer is no. I actually find
nights much easier than days. Most operator assaults are taking place during the
day. At night, you just don’t worry about anything. No traffic jams, no rush
hours, just a nice relaxed pace. Even with the winter weather we’ve had lately,
it’s easier to drive at night. I just wish those folks who can’t drive in snow
would stay off the highway!!
Here in Toronto we had a very mild November and December. A white Christmas sure
didn’t happen here this year. But, as always, when January arrives, with it is
cold and snow. We’ve seen a good foot of snow fall so far this month, which is
typical.
Along with January usually comes very cold weather as well. The past two weeks
have seen us plunged into a deep freeze, with temperatures falling to -35F with
windchill. Now that is cold!! Working at night, I wear plenty of layers of
clothing to keep warm, since I’m opening and closing the door and that wind can
cut right through you. We did have a balmy temperature of +5F for two nights in
a row!!
One of the things I’ve been doing lately with 2 friends of mine and my cousin is
getting together for dinner on a regular basis. My friend Julie, I’ve known
since we were 13, my friend Brenda I met at my very first job when we were 19,
and my cousin Kim, I’ve known all my life, and shared an apartment with for
almost 9 years. Kim has been separated for 4-/12 years, Julie just recently
separated after 26 years of marriage and Brenda has been married for 21 years.
I’m the only one who has never married. We call it the “4 Bitches Dinner”. They
are a hoot!! Seems that I will be hosting the next one on February 8th, but I
volunteered because it’s a combined birthday dinner for the 3 of them. Christmas
Day, January 2 and January 8 are their birthdays. Needless to say, lots of
chardonnay will be required for this one!! But then, it’s generally a
requirement for the other one’s we have had as well.
In March, I’m looking forward to Las Vegas. I have my ticket in hand, my
passport and even some U.S. dollars to spend!! I’m sure we’ll be writing plenty
about that event after it takes place.
Tracey
Greetings and hope the New Year is treating you all good. I know it has
been a miserable cold winter for some of our members, lots of snow. Groundhog
day is Monday and let us all hope for an early Spring. I know I am ready for it.
Forums news and updates. Rena is back with Naughty But Nice on Sundays. We have
missed you Rena and looking forward to the shocked looks on new folks playing
the game for the first time. Welcome back.
Bill is doing a game every other Friday sharing the Friday night slot with our
famous SCATTS game. I was not able to attend the debut game however looking
forward to the next game.
Starting February 15th, HTH aka Hang the Host game will be moving to Sunday
evenings and Tiggers Trivia will be moving to Monday on Februay 16th. Hope all
our members visit our games and enjoy, the hosts put a lot of time preparing and
we do have lots of fun, laughs and sometimes even a wee bit off track..
I guess the big change and controversy was the change of the Fab 40's room. The
name chosen was Fab Friends and know it will be as successful as the Fab 40's
and all names prior <this is not the first change>. It is not the name that
makes the room, it is the people <roomies> that make the room a success. Looking
forward to seeing our members and past members join in and enjoy. The decorating
is still in progress so any idea's are welcome.
VIVA LAS VEGAS
The plans for the Vegas trip are in progress. The dates are March 18th through
March 22nd. Lynda and I arrive on Thursday the 18th and will be welcoming
everyone if we are not detained by the Nevada police department. We need a
volunteer to hold the "bail money" Trish and Tracey also arrive on Thursday with
several more of our forum members and staff arriving on Friday. Anyone that is
interested, please contact me via email at
110365.3345@Compuserve.com
That's it for another month Folks! I hope you enjoyed this issue! Be safe and keep well, until next month!
Come on Everyone! Get those pens busy for next month. Lets have another bumper edition! Mail all your contributions to me at LyndaAtCasual@Compuserve.com
We want all your contributions, don't be shy! This is a paper by the members for the members......that means YOU!
Please remember, this is a fun/interesting/informative addition to the many features on offer at Casual Chat, critique is welcome but nothing that attacks members, personalities or other fora will be.
Lynda [Editor]