The "Frosty Stuff"... #2

Hi Bea, glad you're back.

Miss a couple of days and lots of things happen. A new calf.....he's gorgeous Susan.

Bea...thanks for the color, I needed that. Beautiful!

Thank you Sally!

Hi, gardener-I have to come to Bend on thursday and hope you can give me some tips on where to get neem oil, and are there any places stocking plants yet? Like streps, episcias, rhozomatous begonias. I know it's early but doggone it, I'm wanting to get some growing practice in. I've NEVER had an episcia. If I can grow them ok , then I'll buy what I really want later.

The picture is from a 1923 magazine.

that's a neat picture MW

Hi Mortswife, you can get neem oil at Landsystems Nursery off of Hwy 20 east of Costco. They have changed the entrance though. I believe it's in between the two new buildings on the left. That's the only place I can think of. As for plants being stocked, no it's too early. They don't start stocking them here until late Mar early Apr. Have a safe trip to Bend.
Susan

Thank you susan. If you don't hear from me again I'm lost in Bend. I've done it before. That town confuses me!!

LOL! Don't feel bad, I've lived here for 50 yrs and "I" get lost too!!!!
And you're welcome.^_^
Susan

I second the "not feeling bad" motion that Susan said. I used to know my way at least through the major streets of Bend. Then they built some new rds and redid the routes that I knew. I was confused for at least a year.

that's funny Shelly. After my DB and SIL moved to Austin Jct. (between John Day and Baker City) he came back to visit about 2 weeks after they had put a light in out on Hwy 20 and 27th St. and built a few new buildings, he said when he got to the light he wondered what new town he was in!!! LOL!
Susan

susan, my son was born in Prineville in 1965, Bend seemed like a little town with one road. I think it was added on in all directions and that's why I never know which way I'm going.

ROFL!!! I know, as a kid I watched it do that!

Isn't it amazing what happens when you lose your landmarks? We had heavy fog not long ago and without being able to see my landmarks, I had trouble finding my way around my own town.

Susan, I'm so glad to hear that others are so easily detoured by all of the new stuff there. I was laughing when you said that. Occasionally, for work, we'll have to drive to Bend or Redmond and people know that I've made the trip several times before. So, inevitably, someone will say "you've been there before, how do I get there?" I just sit there, with a really blank stare, and say...." I don't know." They look at me funny knowing I've been there. So then I will reply 'I can lead you there, and through it, but I have no idea how!' I just find my way across town. I think that they believe that I'm a little ...."not all there" after that and so they walk away.

Sally, that fog in town is certainly a landmark in itself some days.

Took mom to Pleasant Hill a couple of weeks ago (just up the road for those who don't know) and the fog was so thick I couldn't see anything on either side of the road. Luckily it lifted in one little patch right by the market so I could see the turn off. It was unreal, I could only barely see the bridge. It was just a little foggy at my place when we left. Half an hour later it was all gone.

Sally, is it foggy again there today? It seems like you guys that live closer to the coast get the worst of it.
Shelly, that's funny. I know I always drive when we go to Vancouver to our DD's house and DH about has heart failure when we're on the I-84 and I-205. He's used to riding his bike to work so all of the traffic and speed scares him to death. I just tell him to sit back and relax I'll get us there and we'll be fine. Honestly, I don't really know how I do it either, I just drive!
Susan

This message was edited Feb 20, 2009 8:16 AM

I can get to the airport and back o.k. LOL

Was frosty when we left this morning, had to defrost the windshield. We went on a bus trip to McMinnville, it was foggy almost the whole way up, beautiful on the way back.

Susan, I hate to say it but.... your DH would definitely crack me up sometimes. Especially on a trip to Vancouver!

I'm glad that the stuff lifted for you both Sally so that you could enjoy the trip. I like Mcminnville, it's a pretty town. Are you talking about the Airport in Eugene or in Portland? :-p ok, Portland, I am sure.

LOL Yes Portland, Eugene's easy. McMinnville was fun, we went to Evergreen Museum. Time to check in on the Spruce Goose. Perfect timing, as a retired employee of Hughes (and the fact they weren't real busy) DH and I got to go up in the cockpit. That was fun! DH is retired from Northrup and the Air Force, so we have spent a lot of time at air shows. Our guide was retired Air Force too and had dealt with Hughes. We swapped stories.

This picture caught my eye, it was new. Artist is Ron Weil.

And this too.

That last represented the RAF Spitfires protecting the English coast and the spirit of an earlier warrior guarding from below.

That one was called 'Guardians of the Realm'.

This message was edited Feb 20, 2009 11:09 PM

Sally!! I've been in the Spruce Goose cockpit. It was years ago with my brother and dad, who flew in WWII. That is such a great museum and really makes McMinnville a landmark.

It's a shame they can't open it up to everyone, it's a safety issue. Too hard to get out of there in a hurry. I'd seen the Goose in CA, and I have to say they've done a much better job of taking care of it here. I go take a look every now and again, then send a report to our retiree newsletter. They've built an IMAX theatre next to the museum, we saw a movie about the Blue Angels, really neat!! And they've added a Space Museum, we didn't have time to do that one, so we're going to back on our own. Our neighbors went with us today and they want to go back too, so we'll make a day of it.

Wow. They didn't have the theater when I was there, I don't think. Or maybe I just didn't notice it. But I do recall that they were starting on the display of the Space stuff.

Yes, the last time we went they had a small display in the first building. I talked to them then about giving them some of my stuff, they'll get some (and the museum here in Eugene) but just not sure I'm ready to give it up yet.

YOUR stuff? That's pretty cool.

I agree.... your stuff??

Well, 35 years in Aerospace....you end up with a lot of stuff!! Pins, posters, pictures....I did launch support, so I've got a lot of pictures. Even some of the astronauts on a river cruise in the jungle in French Guyana, that was cool.

You played it down pretty nicely, missy. Launch support? Wow - what all did that entail? And hangin' with the astronauts? Wow . . .

I'd say....played it down is an understatement!!!

Astronauts didn't happen very often. Special training with our equipment once in a while. I don't know how they do anything with those big gloves they have to wear, but they manage. Launch support, meant long flights, longer days and nights at work in usually hot, sweaty places. Launches are usually on the equator, so it's always hot. Except China which was freezing!! It's one of those jobs you have to love, cause sometimes it wasn't fun. We built the solar panels and I was responsible for a final inspection and clean, and then assist in testing. Gave them a final blessing when they buttoned them up and went home. Usually didn't get to see the launches unless another was scheduled while I was there. One of our customers found that out and sent DH and I to Florida for the launch of one of their spacecraft, that was another cool thing. Felt like a VIP. Mom has a cross stitch that I did for them and on the bottom it says....stitched in California, Florida, Japan, French Guyana, China, Las Vegas and Laughlin. LOL

We did get to have some fun, I loved the calls I got before I was scheduled to leave. It usually meant taking food with me, steaks for a BBQ, tortillas for tacos, etc. My trips were fairly short, but too often. Some of our people would be at launch site for months, they were usually the ones that called. Saw big turtles laying eggs on the beach in Guyana, won't forget that. Or the people in China, we were in a very rural area, they had never seen white people or black people. Kept trying to wipe it off!! They were neat! Beijing people were unfriendly and suspicious. Japan was wonderful. But that was a long time ago. I was pretty well burned out by the time I retired, still keep up though. My crew still lets me know what's going on.

What stories you can tell. You should really start writing these down. I never really thought about the unsung heroes who do all the dirty work and then have to go home to sleep while everybody else is feeling the glory. I can imagine there's a little pressure in those jobs, too. Nice job!!

That's just amazing Sally. I remember now that you mentioned a while back that you did something like that, but it was a much shorter story. The pictures and stories that you must have should be amazing. who was it that you worked for?

Hughes Aircraft of course. That's why I check in on the Goose. And unfortunately it wasn't a little pressure, it was a lot. Seemed like there was always a crisis. And even if it wasn't your area of expertise, you had to jump in and help out. I did make life long friendships and when we could we did play almost as hard as we worked!! Those stories I don't tell. LOL But it was hard on my family, they were proud of me, and I did keep in touch everyday, but I was gone a lot. That cross stitch...I remember sitting in a hotel room we had reserved for R&R, set up a VCR with English movies, working on that piece and a bat flying up and down the hall. Nobody cared cause it ate the bugs, but there is something just not right having a bat inside your house.LOL

Of course! Yes, I should have known that. definitely a lot of pressure. How nice that you had a supportive family with very good reason to be proud!! There's definitely something a little 'not right" when there's a bat down the hall!! :-p

And we were all so tired it was kind of....hey, there's a bat....yeah there is, oh well. Hadn't thought about that one in a while, it was really funny later when we talked about it. The most hated thing was being paged as you were getting off an airplane, meant a quick turn around because someone broke something. And boy did they run when we I got there! Good memories. Time to head to bed, our shut in is having problems again, need to go help him out tomorrow. Good night.

I agree..... good night and good luck tomorrow!

The kind of updates I get....... shuttle launch next Friday, should be around 10 p.m. west coast time. They're going to take the last solar panels up to the space station. It will be on the NASA channel.

I'm sooooo excited. My GD who is in the Airforce, stationed in Utah, just joined Faceook. Now I get to see pictures all the time. Yeah!!!!!!

Very cool. Sally , I'm SO not kidding about you writing this down. My parents wrote their stories and I love going back through them. I wish we had time to sit down and re-read them together so I could make notes about the additional memories they trigger. So much your friends and kids would love to know about you.

I love FB for that reason - it really encourages poeple to share information. Just remember that what you post on the Internet NEVER really goes away . . .