|
|
|
|
|
 |
So, you ask, "What ch'a doing now that you've retired to the Indiana?" The most obvious is that Dad's gone from being a "Who's Who!" to a "Who's He?" and he's stopped wearing his watch. Beyond that, the question is hard to answer because it doesn't seem like we're doing anything, but we're always busy. Apparently, we've replaced a couple of big things in life (namely, trying to keep track of three boys and manage our occupations) with a bunch of little things in life. Individually, they don't seem like much, but they all add up to a full schedule and juggling a bunch of little things is as challenging as juggling a few big ones.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
When we're around the house, Mom keeps working in the flower beds trying to get the flowers to bloom, the roses to grow, and the aphids to not. It seems like the promises on those pesticide boxes just don't deliver, or else we've got some mighty hearty aphids around here. Of course, all the flowers attract the bees, so then Dad hangs up bee traps to keep them from building their nests in the walls of the house. Nevertheless, Mom produce pretty flowers and the bees seem to find somewhere else to live.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
When Mom's not talking to the flowers, she cleans the house, does the laundry, cooks up meals and does some sewing. Among her recent projects are new curtains and decorator pillows with a matching lamp shade. While that may not seem like much, Dad's pretty impressed and he tells her they look just like "real ones" to which Mom says, "They are real ones!" and Dad should have known that. Anyhow, Mom does a real nice job sewing this stuff, and she's still using the same sewing machine they bought soon after she and Dad got married. So how old does it make that sewing machine? Lets just say it's nearly 50 years old.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dad always has a few projects going. There's always yard work, or some computer work, or something to do on his special 1941 Dodge Pickup truck the boys got him started on. One of the computer efforts is making music with MIDI equipment. So what's MIDI? It's a way to interface musical instruments to computers so the computer can record data about the music being played. In reverse, it can play MIDI capable devices by sending MIDI files data to them. One can simulate any instrument, a combo, or an entire orchesta using sound synthesizers. Dad's been writing music forever and making MIDI files since 1984 (started on an Atari computer). Portable set ups are taken to nursing homes and he plays the piano live along with his own MIDI band (the band plays perfectly, but he needs more practice).
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Another computer activity has been web sites. This is one of four that he's built and keeps running, but he's self-taught (as likely shows) and he doesn't get paid (the best things in life are free). He just found information on the internet and started doing it. Unfortunately, the multitude of browsers and user settings makes it difficult to make things look and operate as intended. The first site was for the church, then this one, then a web site for his Bedford High School Class of '59. A more recent effort has been Huntington Hoops, a fan site for Huntington University Men's Basketball.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
As for the 1941 Dodge Pickup truck: it's very special! A beautifully restored pickup truck is awesome in itself, but what makes it so special is how I came to have it. It was a surprise gift to me in the summer of 2014 from my three sons. Two have been avid rebuilders of motor vehicles and I've always been impressed by the work they can do. Visiting one of them three years before, I said, "I'd like to have a truck as old as I am, but I don't trust myself to go out and buy one." While I didn't know it, that got things started. Using a flurry of emails (about restored and modified trucks for sale), they soon figured out what I'd like to have: an historic pickup truck with up-to-date engine, brakes, steering, etc. So in 2012 they acquired an old 1941 Dodge truck for $350 and a beat up 1999 Dodge Durango. For the complete story, see my 1941 Dodge Pickup page. You'll be impressed with their work.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
