I went to a board of directors meeting for our local ham radio club first thing this morning. We met at the new hospital out in Seneca. Some of us had never been there before. They just finished building it in October. I could hear Joe and Ron talking to each other on 2 meters about which entrance we were to use. I followed Bill since his wife is a nurse there. I parked beside him and we walked in together. He soon informed me that we were both lost. We met Jim in the lobby and found our way to the cafeteria.
We always meet at a place that has food. The average age of our club is over 50, no probably 60. Old people love to talk about food. The best part of the hospital cafeteria is the price. I got hash browns, scrambled eggs, toast, coffee and a small doughnut for $1.97. That's about the cheapest thing you'll get in there.
Joe asked, "What does UPMC stand for?"
Ron quickly answered, "You Pay More Cash."Smiles and groans all around. We gathered in a spare conference room and began to feed our faces and have three conversations going at once. Sometimes the one I'm in isn't as interesting as the one to my left. Soon we're nearly done eating and the meeting is called to
order. The first topic of business is presented and as the
discussion is open to the floor. We end up with three conversations going at once.
"Order, order! Jim has the floor. Let him speak."
This goes on for almost two hours. I've been around these people enough to know how they react to things, so I just sit back and enjoy the show. But it isn't long before I'm in it up to my neck.
It was snowing when we left. I still had a busy day ahead of me. Today we're cutting down a
Christmas tree. I went home to pick up my son. This is a tradition with us. I passed my
wife going
the other way. We saw her again when we stopped at the mall. Frank wanted to get
Fight Club, the book.
Oh my God, he's reading. We saw the movie on
FX last week and now he wants to read the book.
I remember the first time I went to get a book after seeing The Poseidon Adventure. I soon discovered the book was different and I had preconceived images of the subjects from the movie. I would enjoy that experience many times over. I can't wait to read Fight Club when he's done. That movie scared the hell out of me.
We went to Hoover's Tree Farm on Bucktail Road. Mr. Hoover runs a neat and tidy operation. My son picks out the tree and then we tag it. The location is entered onto the tag and when its your turn he cuts it down and hauls it out on a four wheeler with a trailer. He'll even help you tie it on your car. We were home before noon and my son was gone in sixty seconds. He's busier than I am.
I put the tree up and went out to the car to clean up the mess we made. My neighbor and his son pulled in. Today is the last day of deer season. They didn't get anything but cold. If you go into any redneck bar in rural Pennsylvania during deer season, as soon as you walk in everyone will turn their head toward the door and someone will ask, "Didja gitcher buck yet?" Just once I'd like to say, "Hell no, why do you think I'm in here with you losers?" Not many bucks taken this year. Some hunters in the area are having better luck seeing deer in bear season and vice versa. Go figure.