Our Times Archive October 2005

News Archive - October 2005


Frank Working In Lufkin, Texas 10/31/05
By Frank Bingham
It has been a while since I have been in contact with you and the family. I have taken a new Consulting job in Lufkin, Texas (East Texas), so I will be calling Texas my home for a few months, possibly up to a year. I have included some pictures of my office and surrounding view out my office windows.

Click here to read the rest of the story.

 

Visit Update 10/28/05
By Lisa Lawrence
Hi There Again! Today was the last day Nana and I had to goof off here in Texas as I go home tomorrow morning. Boy, did we have a blast!!!! We drove to Paris this morning and it was a gorgeous day again! We took some pictures next to the "Eiffel Tower". Nana had her Dr appt. for her knee shot, we ate lunch, headed back for Nana's hair appointment and then met up with Dad and Jan. We all went over to Priefert's ranch for a horse demonstration show which was something neither of us had ever seen - totally different. They had 6 draft horses that are trained to do all kinds of shows and are absolutely awesome - they are all black. I think they are called "Texas Thunder" and when all six of them are running together, they sound like thunder they are so loud as they get in front of the stands. This was all done on the Priefert ranch right in Mt. Pleasant. I have been Nana's chauffer the last two days and I have learned my way around as Nana let me get to know where we were going without her telling me.

Love,
Lisa

 

Visit Update 10/27/05
By Lisa Lawrence
Well Nana and I were going to go into Louisiana today, but our plans didn't work out so well. So, we took a drive to Jefferson instead. We ate lunch, did some sight seeing, and did some more shopping. It was a beautiful day!

Tonight we went to dinner over at the lake and of coarse took more pictures. I just can't get enough of those.

Tomorrow, our plans are to go to PARIS! We'll let ya'll know how it goes. Bye for now.... Lisa

 

Fall Colors 10/27/05
By Susie Devries
John and Cheryl, what beautiful colors you have now! Our trees are still pretty green and I don't think we will see the beautiful colors again this year. Our summer was dry, fall was dry, and it's still fall, so it's still DRY!! Without the moisture, the trees lack that pretty color. I love the red maples though, man they do get intensely red don't they!!

All is well here in Arkansas. Had a couple cold nights, frost on the punkin in some places. I brought in most of my plants, the others I covered. This weekend the 'monster' will get it's 'haircut' and the trimmings will be put in a big plastic container with water and a sign "FREE, TAKE ALL YOU WANT" I do this every year, and the trimmings disappear like magic. What is not taken after a week goes out with the trash.

All's quiet on the home front. Babies went home last Friday. There was a new sound in the house. After a week of kids, I think the sound was quiet. :) Any who---Mom and Dad and kids are all doing well. Robert and Janae went out to their house last night. Michael and Robert built a fire outside in the fire pit, Angelique had great fun getting 'ticks for daddy'. :) Guess that's it from here.

 

Hi Y'all! 10/25/05
By Lisa Lawrence
I arrived on Sat. afternoon, went to visit "Popsie", left there and went to Jan's house where I met her for the first time. I had dinner with Dad & Jan and then they brought me to Nana's. On Sun. I went with Dad to the hanger to wash the plane, went to Wal-mart , then went to Jan's parents house where I met them and her sister. On Mon. Nana took me to Jan's house so her and I could have lunch with my Dad and then all three of us went flying to Gilmer to have the oil changed in the company plane. That evening Nana, Dad, Jan and I all went to Longview , about an hour away to eat dinner with Jan's kids. We had a long night, by the time we got back home it was just after 10 or so, but it was a good night! Jan and her family are VERY NICE people as with everyone back here.

Today is Tuesday... Nana and I had the best time just out driving around. We took a drive East to Texarkana- on the Texas, Arkansas line about 85 miles one way. We made an adventure out of it! We went on a tour of a very old house called Ace of Clubs, which is a museum. Ate some BBQ lunch and went shopping. Tonight Dad and I got ourselves fixin' to git the guns out and do some shootin' over yonder after he got off work. (See pictures!)

See I am learnin' the Texan speech! So everyone get on your boots and come on down!

Bye, Bye
Lisa Marie

 

Wilma 10/24/05
By Heidi Schmit
Hurricane Wilma made land fall near Naples in South West Florida around 0630 in the morning as a Strong Category 3. In the Tampa Bay area where I live only got Tropical Storm winds. Its started last night around 8 pm with lighting and thunderstorms. We lost power a couple of times throughout the night and also during the day. I was woken up by Chloe around 7 am this morning and took a look outside. The wind was blowing pretty strong with gusts up to 45 mph.

File Photo
Patio Debris
There were no damages to the bay area except for some tree limbs and leaves on the ground due the strong winds. Hurricane Wilma left Florida around noon today as a category 2. Throughout today it will be very windy and also colder than usual due to the cold front that pushed Hurricane Wilma to the south. This morning it was 54 degrees and during the day its going to be in the low 60's. The rest of the week should be the same, the highs in the 60's and the lows in the low 50's. This is a drastic change from yesterday with the high in the high 80's and the low in the 70s with 100% humidity. The only debris that I have is some leaves and flowers from my plants on my patio.  

We're Engaged! 10/17/05
By Robert McWilliams
We're Engaged!!!!!!!

Check out the pictures here.

 

Grandbabies! 10/16/05
By Susie Devries
Grandbaby # 4 is here! Her name is Jade Marie McWilliams. She weighed in at 7 1/2 pounds and measured 19 1/2 inches long, and she has lots of hair! No pictures as yet, I am currently extremely busy taking care of Jade's other sisters and brother. I've attached pictures of Michael, at one of his quieter moments, Chloe, just being cute, and Angelique at one of her quieter moments-- :) I will send pictures of Jade as soon as I can get them. Right now, travel is restricted to taking the babies for walks. :)

Love to all,
Susie

 

Back To Normal 10/13/05
By Daryl Lawrence
I haven't been able to play any games on line, for over 2 weeks now!!!!? Sure seems weird, but also feels like I am back to a "normal" way of living again, not being on the road and gone all the time. Next Tuesday, I will have an "overnighter" in GA with 2 guys, then return Wednesday. Only about a 2-3 hour flight each way, so no biggy.

The only cattle I "played" with, was on Tuesday, where they ran em through the corral, alley's and then we had to man the "shute" and catch them, press em, then release em. No big deal with the machine they sell either, all done with levers and not much muscle involved to hold a 1,400 pound cow. They use it for holding them in place for either doctoring, branding, pregnancy matters, etc... Got a picture of me doing it, but it's in a frame along with 2 other ones, a group picture and the other standing next to "Radar", the tallest and biggest living horse in the world, guiness book of record holder.

I got my cam going, but still need to mount it in a different place. All the windows where the computer is, has screens from top to bottom, so gotta figure out this dilmema now.

 

On The Road Again! 10/12/05
By Allen Manese
After 2 years of not having it I have finally renewed my license. Total cost to pay off the tickets was $916.00, however, they agreed to settle for $860.00. So I am now on the road, and very happy about it. Insurance was $525.00 for a 6 month policy, $150 to start and $125 a month for 4 months, and 2 months free (that's just how Geico does it). Well I thought you should know, so there it is!

 

Golf Outing 10/12/05
By Roger Schmit
Just got back to Milwaukee, already hate it.

I had Barb's sons Matt and Scott along with Matt's brother-in-law Rick up last week-end. Sort of a guys golf get away. They got there Friday afternoon about 4 o'clock and as soon has they were unpacked we were out golfing. We finished up at 6:30 and we could barely see because the sun set at about 6:05, plus the temperature was about 40. I had a pot of chili cooking in the crockpot so after going in the club for a cocktail, we had dinner ready when we got home. They brought what has to be the worst movie ever made with them, "Napoleon Dynamite" so after dinner we watched that. After the movie we went back to the club for drinks. All I will say about that is the old man was the only one not looking for aspirin in the morning.

Saturday was a beautiful fall day and we had a 12:20 tee time at Timberstone Golf Course. As you can see from the pictures, there were deer everywhere. Scott and I beat Matt and Rick in a 2 man scramble, 87 to 85. After golf we went to "The Blind Duck Inn" for Margerita's and wet burritos. Stuffed like pigs, Saturday night was a quiet night.

Sunday morning back to the club for brunch and then Scott and I watched the Packer game and Matt and Rick went golfing again.

Around 3:30 they left for Milwaukee and I took a nap!

Pictures are posted.

 

Air Show 10/07/05
By Susie Devries and Robert McWilliams
Here are a few pictures Robert took when we were on base yesterday. The great big plane with wing tips up is a C-17, of course the Thunderbirds airplane, a couple of C-130's a B-24 & F-4, in one picture a couple Wart Hogs and some sort of helicopter.

The work that Bill does on base involves taking the engines of the C-130's and tearing them down to bare bones nothing, fixing any problems and then putting them back together. We will have more pictures to send later on today or tomorrow. Bill and Robert have taken off to the base to get shots of more planes that have come in for the air show this weekend.

 

John's Vacation! 10/06/05
By John Schmit
What a great vacation! I was able to relax and enjoy many activities around the house. Cheryl and I spent a LOT of time together and enjoyed every evening. We even took in a special 3d Imax movie at the Pacific Science Center. Yes, the opportunity to eat was reflected in an additional few pounds, but they were well worth it.

Many projects got special attention this past week including car maintenance, yard and garden planting, and my favorite, website maintenance. Thanks to everyone for making the site possible. I was able to take time to add a few features to this page. Now it's back to the bus and staying on schedule.

 

Elvis's Vacation! 10/05/05
By Daryl Lawrence
While on vacation this week, I pursued what I had planned on doing, which was to look for a new job, one which would keep me close to home instead of "on the road" all the time. The first company I walked into, I filled out an application, thinking and stating that I was interested in a management position, due to my 25 years in retail management in the past. When they saw I am a pilot, they asked if I could be interviewed right now! Come to find out, their corporate Pilot, just quit, and they have an immediate opening for one! They hadn't even had time to list the job as being available.

When not flying the company executives around, I will be in the inside sales department, at a desk with a computer. Imagine that, just like when I was on the road in those motel rooms with Merlin...

Anyway, everyone is welcome to check out the web site of the company, Priefert Ranch Equipment, where I officially start next Monday. I have absolutely not ONE clue, about farm equipment, but they don't care, they said they'd fill me in on everything...

 

Wedding 10/04/05
By Tricia Miller
Well, here are the wedding pictures we took. We were married at the Montclair Library in a nice garden with a gazeebo. The weather was nice and sunny and thankfully not too hot. When we arrived, we met the Best Man, Mike, and the Maid of Honor, Linda, inside the library. We proceeded to get the marriage license. Once that was done, we went outside and waited for the official to come out and conduct the ceremony.

Andrew was really excited to be in the wedding and he was very well behaved. While we exchanged our vows, we both got quite emotional. It was amazing just looking into each others eyes and pledging our lives together. Anyhow, when the official pronounced us "husband and wife" we of course kissed and sealed the marriage. There was a park next to the library that we went to and took pictures. We had a lovely day and everything went off without any problems. We thank everyone for their blessings and well wishes.

Love,
The Millers

 

Married 10/03/05
By John Schmit
In a small ceremony at the Montclair, California library, Tricia Schmit and Wesley Miller were married today. Both cried in happiness at the ceremony. Tricia's son, Andrew was there to witness the event. Both will be enjoying a wedding gift dinner at the Olive Garden this evening. Pictures will be posted later.

File Photo
Wes & Tricia
 

Car & Cat 10/02/05
By Heidi Schmit
On Tuesday Sept. 27th, Chloe went in for surgery. She was getting spayed and declawed. She spent two nights at the vet and I picked her up on Thursday. She was the first passenger in my new car. When I picked her up the vet gave me special litter for her paws so they won't get infected and also a bottle of medicine that she has to take twice a day for 10 days. So far so good, no complications. She is not mad at me, in fact the opposite, she wants loving all the time. She's such a cute kitty.

See Chloe here.

It started out as towing my car to the dealership because the transmission would not change from Park to Drive. So I had to skip the rest of the day from work and hitch a ride from the tow truck to the dealership. When I got there, they took my car to get fix in the mechanics bay. I went inside and started talking to the sales rep about trading in my car. This started at 3:30 pm. They did an appraisal on my car and we started talking about what I'm looking for and sure enough they had what I wanted. We started doing paper work and low and behold I was driving away at 8:15pm with a brand new Volkswagen Jetta. It's a 2005, fully loaded with controls on the steering wheel, heated leather seats, and a sunroof. All in all, what could have been a bad day turned into a good one.

Check out the new car pictures!

 

A Good Week 10/01/05
By Blanche Glaeser
I resumed my pool therapy this week for the lower back pain I have. Along with using the new joint medication recommended by Barbara Schmit, I'm feeling pretty good. I did manage to lock Jumpy in the car at the pool, Tuesday. He set the alarm off as he tried to get out. That made for some excitement there. The casino's were kind and I was able to end the week ahead. I even got a few special projects finished with the help of my cleaning lady's son. Next, he'll help replace the smoke alarm batteries. A good week overall and my little Misty is just soooo cute!