Where were you 50 years ago this weekend?

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Uwe

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This is obviously a question for the old farts like me, the ones who saw this live on TV:

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It's one of those moments that almost everyone who experienced it remembers exactly where they were.

My Uncle and I were camping here on the northwest shore of Lac de Neuchâtel / Neuenburgersee in Switzerland. It was more primitive then than it appears to be now. I don't remember an on-site restaurant then. But I remember us driving into town, to a bar that had a TV. My uncle (normally a non-drinker) ordered a glass of red wine and we watched....

So where were you when you saw that?

-Uwe-
 
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DV52

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^^ ^ huh..."old farts like me"? Who are you calling an old fart - I suspect that you were just out of nappies - what is a 2 year old doing, camping? :D

Seriously - you are completely correct - the moon landing (assuming that it was not a Stanley Kubric hoax- only kidding) was indeed one of the defining moments in my life (and also in America's history).

I remember it well I was at my then girl friend's (now, my current life-time partner's) kitchen watching the vision (as did 600 Million other people). In Australia, the broadcast had a slightly local flavor because our radio telescope at the Parks observatory (here in central-west New South Wales) played an integral role in capturing and relaying the communication messages from the Apollo 11 Moon landing.

Was it really 50 years ago- Shirley not?

Don
 
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JSWTDI09

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So where were you when you saw that?

I was in my parents living room. I was on summer break after my freshman year in college and working part time at a McDonald's.

- Shirley not?

No Shirley was nowhere around. It was Ruthless, I don't know where Ruth was either.

Have Fun!

Don
 
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PetrolDave

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I joined my brother watching it live on TV (it was "in the wee small hours" here in the UK) in the living room of our parents house in Old Coulsdon (on the southern edge of London).

We were both totally amazed and inspired.
 
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Boki Ar

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Last night brother and I watched Moon and talked about this. For us, it's a little bit unusual for people to be up there long time ago and nobody is going today.

In my house, parents, grandma, grandpa... all looked at this miracle. 1969 Radio Television Serbia had only one channel. RTS 1. ;)
 
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Uwe

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^^ ^ huh..."old farts like me"? Who are you calling an old fart - I suspect that you were just out of nappies - what is a 2 year old doing, camping? :D
Uhm, I turned 60 about a month and a half ago, so yes, I'm officially an old fart now, and I was 10 on July 20th, 1969. :D

-Uwe-
 
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Fifty years ago I got discharged from the USAF in Miami and visited my folks I got a job working with my dad doing interior finishing work in 7-11 stores. Miami just wasn't up to where I wanted to be.
I figured I'd get out of the heat and tried to figure where in the world I'd like to see.
I bought a Peugeot 10 speed bike and started pedaling first just little short trips from Miami to Naples Florida and back.
A week later I start heading west. Just me and my heartless horse. I had $400 hidden in my handle bars.

Out of Florida and biked to New Orleans and just kept going.
Only rode at night in Texas due to the heat.
I rode on the painted white line along the road nice and smooth.
Plenty of room on the road but I had a pick up truck really close to my rear tire blasting his horn- slowing down then speeding up - I just kept pedaling he pass me and then went off the road to the other side and pulled a rifle out of the back window he climbed into the bed and watched me-- he aimed and fired a shot behind me- I just kept pedaling - I didn't look at him just going- he fired just in front of me- I just kept going. Miles from anywhere not another car anywhere. I figured if my time was up so be it.

I met a lot of interesting people along the way.

I now had Alaska in mind and kept pushing the pedals.
I took mostly back roads. Shopping at small country stores and pitching a tent in the evening in some out of the way places
I was reading the "Trilogy" by Tolkien- I felt like I was along on the adventure with them

Crossing into Canada some beautiful sights and plenty of fresh air.
Going up a steep mountain road I spotted a turn off that had a water pipe coming out of the mountain with clear cold water pouring out I stopped to fill my canteens.
I noticed a guy standing next to a work truck with the hood up and he was swearing up a storm.

So rode over and asked what was up-- he said that he was with a convoy headed to a logging camp 4 hundred miles north and he was the last truck in the line.
His truck would barely run and he didn't think it would make it up the hill. I asked If I could take a look- I popped off the distributor cap and saw the points were really close together out with my trusty Swiss Army knife. I had it running pretty good by ear.

He asked where I was going and would I like a ride- when I said Alaska he just laughed- Then asked if I wanted a job
doing what I asked --he said a guy that figure out what was wrong with the truck would be handy in the logging camp

I took him up and threw the bike in the back and off we went.

In Terrace BC at the logging camp I met the camp boss and was given the job to fill up the all the trucks for the next days work- a long night time job from 1800 to 0300. They had 6 1966 VW double cabs for the fallers and road crews and logging trucks.

It was starting to get pretty cool in the evening and next thing I knew it was winter and -45*F a far cry from Miami temperatures. The only heat I had in the fuel shed where I did the paper work was the bare light bulb hanging from the ceiling.

The novelty had worn off and Alaska seemed like a real bad idea.

I had no idea a man had walked on the moon or that Woodstock happened during my journey. I saw Easy Rider and thought how lucky I was.

6,000 miles and 6 tires later-- I gave the bike to a native kid

I put a 1954 VW bus together and headed south thinking of Mexico
simpler times 50 years ago

cheers
Hank
 
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rustyjames

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I was almost 12 and to be truthful, I remember the even well, just can't recall were I was. One event that I can recall vividly was when Kennedy was shot. Was in school and they announced it on PA system and we were all dismissed.
 
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DV52

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Uhm, I turned 60 about a month and a half ago, so yes, I'm officially an old fart now, and I was 10 on July 20th, 1969. :D

-Uwe-

Just as I thought - a disgustingly young man! But it's not your fault - I don't blame you for that particular sin!! ;)

Don
PS: You have just entered the "pensive decade" - a time to re-appraise how best to use the forward years! May I recommend the value of retirement. IMHO -it's by far the very best of pursuits and the longer that it is delayed, the greater the lost years !!!
 
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JSWTDI09

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May I recommend the value of retirement. IMHO -it's by far the very best of pursuits and the longer that it is delayed, the greater the lost years !!!

I can also highly recommend this. I've been retired for several months now. My life now consists of six Saturdays followed by a Sunday - every week. What day of the week it is, is largely irrelevant unless there is something on TV that I want to watch live (very rare).

Have Fun!

Don
 
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PetrolDave

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May I recommend the value of retirement. IMHO -it's by far the very best of pursuits and the longer that it is delayed, the greater the lost years !!!
I'll add my recommendation to this.

I retired 3 years ago just before my 60th birthday, and am thoroughly enjoying not having to deal with younger managers intent on making the same mistakes I did decades earlier who refuse to listen to my advice because "things are different now" :banghead:

Now I do what I want, when I want and how I want - so jobs get done easier, better and quicker and right first time. My stress levels are closer to zero than they have been for decades :thumbs:
 
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DV52

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Now I do what I want, when I want and how I want - so jobs get done easier, better and quicker and right first time. My stress levels are closer to zero than they have been for decades :thumbs:

Dave: A little off-topic, but with Uwe's indulgence I'll make a final point for those who are new to retirement. It's an error that I made and it's one of my earliest learning-s: the tendency when starting is to substitute previous work practices into retirement. But retirement isn't (or rather, shouldn't be) about achievement. It's about pursuing a different shareholder's imperatives (i.e. yours!!). So it's quite OK occasionally to achieve nothing - totally sans Catholic guilt!!

Don

Don
 
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PetrolDave

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But retirement isn't (or rather, shouldn't be) about achievement.
I agree 100% - doing "what I want" sometimes means doing nothing more than just thinking about stuff ;)

Back on topic - when will the new Orion first carry Americans into orbit - let alone the Moon or Mars?
 
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Bruce

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So where were you when you saw that?

-Uwe-

This old fart was glued to the family tv at home. I was so into the space stuff... wanted to design and build those machines -wanted to work for NASA. (Instead, I ended up missing the government agency by one letter: NSA! ;))

Built several models... Mercury, Gemini, Apollo... I watched as many of the events as I could for I was fascinated by the idea of going into space when I was a kid. Born in '56, the space race was at its pinnacle when I was a boy of age to watch it all. Did I understand all that was happening and what it was all about? No.

I didn't understand the day we had to run home and get in the basement in the fetal position owing to the Cuban missile crisis either! A 6 year old doesn't really understand all that stuff. I thought my life was over. We were taught to hate the Russians - they were evil.

Funny aside: one of our distributors has become a close friend. His country was behind the "Iron Curtain". His parents and I are about the same age. During my first trip to their home, we sitting at dinner and his mom said that I was not what she expected an American to be. I asked for an explanation. She told that they were raised to fear the evil awful Americans. I began to laugh. I did offend her. But I then explained that I too grew up fearing those who I did know... that I was taught to fear just as they were. I think now we are great friends. Oh, that we could learn to know each other as people and not as citizens of a country.

Yes Uwe. Moments such as these are permanently impressed upon our memories...

(incidentally, this weekend I watched documentaries rehashing some of the space launch events and the moon walk)
 
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Bruce

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You have just entered the "pensive decade" - a time to re-appraise how best to use the forward years! May I recommend the value of retirement. IMHO -it's by far the very best of pursuits and the longer that it is delayed, the greater the lost years !!!

I have been in that decade for several years. I understand your words completely. I tell Uwe regularly that my focus is different now.

I have to wait until 67 to even consider stepping out owing to choices made earlier in life. I did not fund my retirement for many years and as a result, I have been playing "catch-up" for all 15 years I have been with Ross-Tech. Yet I long to do that which I want to do rather than doing what the job requires I do. The idea that I could get up and just read a book, ponder my navel, take a walk and not have to have any destination in mind, and so on, appeals more and more to me.

Uwe's mountain does not help matters.. I have an affinity for playing on the machines he has and being on land like that. It speaks to my soul and relaxes me. I make the 7 hour trek as often as the little women will allow for she does not feel such affinity and is home body. Keeping the balance and peace, I try to travel there once a month in the warmer months.

I keep wondering what I might do when I grow up and stop this daily chore of working for a living. I am still thinking on that subject. I do want to be active and to use my brain for as long as my body allows. Even now, I notice things slipping away - I try to remember something, a name, a place, a road... and the memory fails.. If I wait too long, I fear that my health will become the defining factor and retirement may not be what I would hope. And yet, the reality is, one has to have the means to support oneself and one's loved ones.

Uwe has been a huge help in closing the underfunded gap. He takes good care of this old fart. He seems to like the smell of him since he keeps him around! :):D

But wait - he is rarely in this office... maybe he doesn't like the smell! ;)
 
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DV52

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I have been in that decade for several years. I understand your words completely. I tell Uwe regularly that my focus is different now.

Arhh........ a kindred spirit - I knew that there was a reason why I like your writing style!!;)

I have to wait until 67 to even consider stepping out owing to choices made earlier in life. I did not fund my retirement for many years and as a result, I have been playing "catch-up" for all 15 years I have been with Ross-Tech. Yet I long to do that which I want to do rather than doing what the job requires I do. The idea that I could get up and just read a book, ponder my navel, take a walk and not have to have any destination in mind, and so on, appeals more and more to me.

hmm..... let me invite that you think differently :mundane matters in retirement such as finance should be left for your bank manager to contemplate. At your (young) age, you have earned the right not to be bothered by such trivia!!

Uwe's mountain does not help matters.. I have an affinity for playing on the machines he has and being on land like that. It speaks to my soul and relaxes me. I make the 7 hour trek as often as the little women will allow for she does not feel such affinity and is home body. Keeping the balance and peace, I try to travel there once a month in the warmer months.

Sounds that (like me) you are a closet "hole-digger". I like nothing better than getting into a front-end loader and dig-away. And, when I've finished my hole -it's sheer bliss to move it to another location. I'm waiting for "hole-moving" to become an Olympic event - I reckon that i'm already an elite athlete in that sport!

I keep wondering what I might do when I grow up and stop this daily chore of working for a living. I am still thinking on that subject. I do want to be active and to use my brain for as long as my body allows. Even now, I notice things slipping away - I try to remember something, a name, a place, a road... and the memory fails.. If I wait too long, I fear that my health will become the defining factor and retirement may not be what I would hope. And yet, the reality is, one has to have the means to support oneself and one's loved ones.

Entirely agree - the sad truth is that it's a race against time and health. My mantra is that it's far better to make the transition to retirement under my-own terms - rather than to be forced into the decision by an "event" (which could include a personal catastrophe, or heaven forbid a dire situation that befalls a loved-one) The single most important realization in the "pensive decade" is that the target years for planned enjoyment purpose are not related to longevity - but rather the binding constraint is healthy years!!

But enough of gratuitous philosophy - where's my back-hoe?:D ho-ho-ho

Don
 
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Bruce

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Arhh........ a kindred spirit - I knew that there was a reason why I like your writing style!![;)
Thank you and yes, I think we do have a kindred spirit.

hmm..... let me invite that you think differently :mundane matters in retirement such as finance should be left for your bank manager to contemplate. At your (young) age, you have earned the right not to be bothered by such trivia!!
Others have said similar things to me Don. The sad reality is that bank managers or financial managers are mainly in it to take what they can take. My best interest is not their best interest. Their best interest is to separate me from as much as they can so that they make commissions.

Yes I am cynical when it comes to who should manage my finances. I will not tell you I have done really well in that department but I will say that all the choices made have been my choices with no pressure from others. As in all things, some of my choices have been good; others really bad. I would rather the choices be mine and I would rather study trends and so on myself, speaking with friends and others whose council I value. I do understand that some financial counselors give great advice. I have not found those as yet.


Sounds that (like me) you are a closet "hole-digger". I like nothing better than getting into a front-end loader and dig-away. And, when I've finished my hole -it's sheer bliss to move it to another location. I'm waiting for "hole-moving" to become an Olympic event - I reckon that i'm already an elite athlete in that sport!
Not a hole digger.... but an Olympic weed whacker! I use the brush hog to push the woods back, to help cut trails, to make places where people can have access and enjoy the land. We are adding a front loader to the tractor this summer - scheduled for late August - and we are also adding a box blade.. Another childhood dream of mine was to operate heavy road construction machines. The plan is for Uwe and me to do some driveway work. The middle of the road is getting high is some places and needs to be spread. Maybe I will become a challenger to your hole digging title. I assure you I am not yet a novice with a front loader. I will make rookie mistakes but hope to always keep in mind the safety issues and not do stupid things that could hurt someone.

Entirely agree - the sad truth is that it's a race against time and health. My mantra is that it's far better to make the transition to retirement under my-own terms - rather than to be forced into the decision by an "event" (which could include a personal catastrophe, or heaven forbid a dire situation that befalls a loved-one) The single most important realization in the "pensive decade" is that the target years for planned enjoyment purpose are not related to longevity - but rather the binding constraint is healthy years!!

But enough of gratuitous philosophy - where's my back-hoe?:D ho-ho-ho

Don

I have 2 friends who have suffered major strokes. One of the two is doing ok but is not the person he was.

The other is not ok. He now lives under supervised care 24/7. He does not have full function of his legs, his balance, and other body functions. He has no short term memory - only long term. When you see him and speak with him, he may remember things from long past but he will not remember anything from 5 minutes ago. In fact, he remembers nothing from the moment of the stroke 2-1/2 years ago. It depresses me to no end. He is my 2nd best friend from school days. My best friend and I hung out with this guy for countless hours and we stayed in touch all these years. This guy I am speaking of was an unbelievable master wood craftsman. The things he built were sought after by the most prestigious people on the East Coast. All gone now. He never mentions wood or wood working. Wood was his life and he built a successful business around fashioning items in wood. The pressure of the business is in part what led to this stroke. But he also had diabetes all his life.

As I look to this pensive decade, I fear that such could happen to me for my family has a history of heart problems and strokes. It is sobering to be in this pensive decade and any who are outside this decade cannot grasp the concepts about which we are speaking. Did we grasp it in our 40's or 50's? I know I did not.

How many friends have you lost Don? Too many is my answer.

One wise elderly Aunt said to me, "The most precious gift you are given is time. You are given a finite amount and you cannot get more. What will you do with the gift you have been given?" Want to talk pensive? She said this when in her 80's and I was a boy of maybe 10 or 12... want to talk about things that stick with you?

I often wonder what Aunt Lucy would say of what I have done with my life and my time....
 
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