Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
It’s on its way (like it or not!)
We were up bright and late. It was last 7:40 when we got up. Being the perfect husband, I got up first, turned up the heat, turned on the bathroom heater, started the coffee maker, and sent Scout out to do his business!
Scout only got up once last night, at 4:00 am, after he saw the “Dog For Sale” sign in the front yard. He has been re-adopted.
We decided NOT to attack Christmas until after the New Year, so we are in planning mode, which is short for waiting!!
Around 3:00 pm, we began getting ready for tonight’s foray into the dance world at the Elks with Bob & Donna, plus Vicky & Jim. Dj Ronnie will start the evening, and we will dine and dance until we are too pooped to pop!
Much to my dismay, I found out my old boss at Rockwell passed on recently. We were supposed to visit each other this summer, but medical situations between us did not allow for the visit. Ed was one of my mentors and as the Chief Engineer on Apollo and Space Shuttle, we was terrific.
He always had me doing “special operations,” like sending me to Canada for several months to solve an antenna development problem on the Apollo Lunar Sounder and then to Corning Glass Works to oversee problems with manufacturing alumino-silicate thermal glass on Apollo.
In 1975, he moved me to run the Avionics Development Lab under Sy Rubenstein, another of my mentors, who was very special and extremely intelligent. After three years, Ed and Sy sent me to the classified world and away from spaceships. Years later, I returned to work for Sy when he was President of the Space Station Division, where I met Sue in 1985.
Ed and Sy were absolutely fantastic bosses and engineers. I owe much of my success to their leadership and involvement in my work at Rockwell and Boing.
One of a kind, a real man!
We were off to the Elks at 5:00 pm for a 5:30 pm arrival time. I plan to be careful this evening as my cough is improving, and I do NOT want to have a setback! I was thinking about dinner and have come to a profound conclusion:
We met Vicky, Jim, Donna, and Bob on Saturday for a delightful tamale dinner and ballroom dancing with DJ Ronnie.
The sun was setting as we left our home, which meant it was 4:35 p.m. We zipped down the 55 in The Silver Fox, who was still wearing his Reindeer outfit. We pulled into the Lodge parking lot at 4:56 p.m., just in time.
You could almost hear the water sizzle!
We arrived first, so we ordered a hot toddy to start the evening. The toddy seems to help with the cough by coating the throat with honey and cutting the phlegm with hot water, lemon, and whiskey.
Vicky and Jim burst in like they were late for a surprise party—only to find out the only surprise was tamale night! As the four of us sat down for dinner, Jim accidentally knocked over the salt shaker, declaring it a “sacred ritual” to ward off flavorless food.
Meanwhile, Vicky was trying to decipher the Elks attempt at making tamales, which looked suspiciously like a science experiment gone wrong. Who knew dinner could double as a comedy show?
We knew B&D would be late as she was working around the house so we ordered. I should have kn own something when Vicky ordered Fish & Chips.
We told stories and organized New Year’s Eve!
Ronnies was DJing, so we danced to great hits from the 1940s through the 1960s for almost two hours. We ChaCha’ed, waltzed, and did a lot of old-fashioned swing with some new steps!
Mary is a fantastic dancer—so amazing that when she steps on the dance floor, even the floor starts doing the Macarena in fear of being outshined!
She could follow my lead and make me look good, but my leads are more like a hilarious game: “Follow the clown!” I saw people pointing at us and thought, “Oh dear, my zipper is down.” On the way to our table, several folks commented on how “cute” a couple we were and how nice we looked together dancing. At the next dance, I will bring some of Mary’s business cards and attempt to get their eyes adjusted!
We do have fun!
Shen Mary looks at me like that, my life lights up and the there are fireworks!!!
It happens every time!!
We went directly home after dropping off a dessert of Peach and Boysenberry cobbler to our friend Jeff, the neighbor.
We watched some TV in bed but soon fell asleep as tomorrow is busy!
