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So, he's, he's about ready to retire, another year and he, Yeah, he sure is, he just became a grandfather. Yeah, I heard that. It's, it's daughter, it's his daughter that, Uh, uh-huh. Yeah, they just had the baby's christening so, Oh. It was really nice so Was it a boy or a girl? He's a little boy Yeah. What did they name him? I can't, it, it's a
oh gosh, it's like Elijah, or something like that. Oh. I keep forgetting, what, what she named him. Oh. His middle name is Chris, or Christopher for for her daddy, Of course. but I think it's Elijah Oh. It starts with an E. Yeah, yeah. I can't remember Oh, so you've heard the Richardson Symphony? Yes. Yeah. Yeah, we've heard them and, liked, liked it real well, of course Do you have a favorite instrument? Um, actually one of my favorite instruments is a harpsichord.
Yes. I really like those, in fact, I had a harpsichord played at my wedding. Oh, did you? Yeah. Oh. Which was real nice. I got married, uh, during the Christmas season and we played, uh, old fashioned Christmas carols instead of normal wedding marches and what not, and it was real nice, I liked that a lot. Oh. I liked the sound of the harpsichord. And it played by itself? No, somebody played it Well, I mean, but you didn't have oboe or something with it? No, no, no,
no, no. Just by itself, just by itself. Yeah. Oh. It was real nice. Well, that's really, yeah that's, I bet that was nice. Yeah. It went well, it was a change, you know, from your traditional, normal, you know, stuff, and since it was Christmas time and, and, uh, we had the church decorated with Christmas hollies and poinsettias and, you know, stuff like that and so, we did the harpsichord with old-time traditional Christmas carols, Oh. Not, not, you know, the bouncy, you know sing along kind but some of the old, older ones that Right. Right. some, I don't even, I recognize the, the melodies, and whatnot, but I didn't recognize the name. Right. So, it was real nice.
Well actually, I play, I play the violin in, in a string quartet that often plays at weddings. Um. So, um, I always think it's a nice break from the traditional organ or piano. Uh-huh. And, it makes, it makes it nice. It makes, you know, you can say classy or it makes an elegant wedding to have something else. It does. It really does and it has such a different sound to it, anyway. It's almost, I don't know the way it vibrates, it's kind of haunting, you know, on, on some of the notes It, it's, I, I like it. Oh. I don't know how else to explain. But, we've got friends that are in the music business that go around Dallas, they're, uh, called Odessa. It's a husband and wife team that we've known for years
and, uh, we try to make contact with them periodically to see what's going on and stuff, too, so we've had a lot of stuff, you know, friends and, and things to do with music that constant, plus my husband's real big into music, too, so. He doesn't play anything, but, he just likes to listen. Yeah. And my dad and my kids are now well, my oldest is getting to the point where he likes certain types of music and favorite songs and when they come on we have to turn the radio up full blast and, Oh. Now does, does the school in, in your, in your city, does it, does it offer, like band, or some of the instruments? Yeah, well, my, my oldest is only nine. Okay. So he hasn't really gotten into, um, that yet. They have choir that they go to, you know, music class that they go to Right. but, um, he's not old enough yet to get into the band yet. Right.
So, Right. I think that starts in sixth grade. Probably. Oh. So, Gosh. but I don't know. He, he's, he, the only thing he's shown interest in wanting to play is the drums cause his, my brother plays, and, um, I don't, I don't know if he's really serious about it yet or not you know, it's just one of those things I'm just going to wait and see if he's interested in something, you know. Yeah. Right. Right, you got a little ways to go, too Right . Yeah, just a little bit Hey, oh. Well, my, well my oldest is eight
and, and she's, we've, started her on piano so, uh, Uh. But, that's been, it's been fun, I mean it's a lot of work to see that she's prepared but it's been fun, it's been fun, I feel like I've learned a lot about the piano. I've learned a lot about playing the piano. Really? And, uh, it kind of makes me listen a little closer to, to the piano when I hear it at other places, or when I, you know, see some, see and hear someone playing. I sort of watch their technique, too, and, and see if it corresponds up to what she's learning. Yeah. So, it's been fun. I don't know if any of mine will be interested in it or ... Is, uh, kind of fun. It's best done when you have leisure time and I had more of that in my childhood days than I have now And I grew up in an area that, uh, was just a few feet from a rather large lake, and a few more miles from that was a even larger lake
and we had a variety of boats at our disposal Uh, I worked for a camp for a number of years. My father was on staff there, and we had every kind of things from canoes to paddle boats, sailboats, speedboats, you name it, they had it and we did a lot of watering, water sports. But I think, uh, the thing I liked the best was, uh, we spent about a summer couple of guys, uh, restored an old wooden boat that was built back in the mid-thirties and got a new canvas sail for it and had a real big old foot center board that went down in the middle to keep you upright when the waves, or the wind came from the side and we got that thing in the water and had a real good time with it. If you ever got it dumped over, though, it was a mess to get back up. It wasn't like the newer ones that have nice chambers that keep it afloat or keep it, uh, upright again. This one you had to work with. You get out of the water again and get it upright. And, uh, sailing was, was kind of nice to learn the maneuvers you had to make to work your way down a lake or work back up against the, the wind, as it were, tacking back and forth and, uh, more than once we'd get out there on a really stormy day and, uh, the storm or the wind was due to the front blowing and you paddle your way back in and hope it doesn't start raining on you right away. And that didn't always work. We oftentimes got wet,
But, uh, it's, it's a nice, nice hobby to have. Nowadays I don't think I could afford the boat or the time, nor do we live that close to a lake anymore, so things change, I guess. What are your memories of boating, or current, Uh, about the only memories that I have of boating, uh, my husband's family had a, a motor boat, uh, when we got engaged and they took us out on the lake several times. And, uh, I really did enjoy that. I, I don't know that I ever learned to drive it or anything, but, uh, we did some water skiing, of course, and, and, uh, driving around the lake in the boat and, and just the basic safety rules and things I found real interesting. Uh, you know, they, they just didn't patrol you like they did with the automobile or whatever. The, the laws were there and if you didn't obey them, uh you know, there were a lot of accidents, I guess. Right. That's true. But, uh, I found the motor boating was real fun. Yeah, I remember learning how to ski, oh, I guess I was seven or eight years old
and the lake that we learned on was the smaller of the two that we had access to and it was maybe fifteen, twenty acres and it was, uh it had a lot of, uh, turtles in it. And I got all ready to go and I was down in the water and, and set to go and, uh, and just as that boat took off, a turtle bit me in the middle of the back. Oh It didn't hurt too much, but it bit enough to where I let go. And the boat went off without me and I reached back there and pushed him away and got out of the water a, a while and, and, uh, it didn't even leave a mark. It was just a little nibble and so I told everybody what happened and they go, oh, yeah, sure, you know. And so I get back down in there and, and I'll be if he didn't do it again. This time a little earlier and, and I had let go before then and, before they took off this time and, and swatted him away. So I moved over a, a few feet in the water and got out of his little realm where he was living underneath the dock and, uh, managed to get up. Didn't go very far,
but I got up. And it, it was a nice, uh, nice long skiing career, but now I've gotten to where skiing is just kind of wears me out more than it does thrill me. I've, I've, uh, done about all I dare do on skis. You know, skiing on one and jumping around here and there and I, I, I know how you can get injured doing much more than that and I just can't risk it right now being a head of the family and the breadwinner and all that. Just, uh, can't take the risk I did as a dumb teenager, I guess So life just changes a little bit in that respect I'd kind of like, someday, to maybe end up on a pair of skis that, that doesn't have a, uh, well, what they call trick skis. They'll allow you to ski backwards. I haven't managed to get a hold on that, uh, craft yet, but, uh, That sounds like a real challenge. Yeah, it, it would be kind of nice. I hadn't quite figured out, I don't have anybody to teach me either. That's another little thing. You need somebody to kind of tell you what to do,
but, just from what I've seen, you just kind of work your way up to it and turn around real quick you know. Grab the rope behind you and then just let go real quick and let it whip you around. Uh-huh. But, uh, I don't know, maybe someday I'll I'll get back to that as, after the kids are up and grown and the monies are there to get away for times on end, weekend or something. Well, my son, Where is your favorite place to go? Well, we haven't traveled outside the United States that much. Uh, we usually take family type vacations. We're looking forward to one in October to Disneyworld in Florida. Oh, that's great. We have a nine year old. Have you ever been there? When, when both of my kids were much younger. And this time we're going to be going with just one daughter and she's nine, so it ought to just be a ball. Oh, that's a perfect age for Disneyworld. Uh-huh. I think so, too. Oh, that's great.
Yeah, so we've been there a number of times and, uh, we're going next year. We have a business trip every fall. Well, we go on a lot of business trips. I, I don't work. Oh, wonderful. So you travel a lot. Well, we do. We my husband travels a couple times a month and in the position he's in, they don't care if I go along. Uh-huh. So it's great. I just kind of join up when it's something interesting and uh, Disneyworld is the one for a week next year Sure. Uh-huh. and it will be at this time of the year and this year we're leaving, uh, uh, matter of fact we're leaving next Saturday for New Orleans.
Oh, that will be fun, too. Have, have you ever been there? Yes. We went years ago. We haven't been lately and I know they've changed it a lot and upgraded everything, but we used to have a lot of fun there. Well, you know, we went there once. In fact, we had been in Dallas and we were on our way home and we were driving and we said let's go to New Orleans. So when he said, well, this year, you know, I have a week there on a, a project he's going to be, and then I said, well, I'll going along, I hope it's swimming season because it wasn't a tremendous thing, amount of things to do. That I wanted to do there. Uh-huh. Yeah, if you don't like the night life and the antique shopping, there isn't much there,
but, that can be fun. It, well, and that's probably, we do like the night life, to an extent and they do have a Mardi Gras night planned. Uh-huh. And I'm kind of anxious for that, but, uh, yours to Disneyworld sounds a little bit better. Did you know that next week there's several T V shows coming from there in celebration of their anniversary. No, I know this is a real good time to go, because they are having so many activities and special shows. Well, and with a daughter, nine, it is just, she's old enough to really grasp the meaning behind, Yes. Be excited about all of it. Uh, so, well, if you're working, then you're probably on a limited amount of time per year that you can go. Well, not really, we're doing the same thing. Tying it in with my husband's business trip and I just save vacation for things like that. And, uh, just travel whenever we can. Oh, that's, Well, I really, I think travel
when I heard my topic today, I thought, okay that's my that's my favorite How easy Right. And really at our point of life our children are grown and, uh, it has just worked out really well with this, uh, position he's in. Because I can go at a spur of the moment or what have you Uh-huh. and it depends where he's going whether or not I decide to go along Sure. but I do, do like to travel and it's, uh, I don't mind the pool life at all during the day. Uh-huh. And I like to sight see and I love to shop. Uh-huh. So it's So that's perfect. What more could you ask for? That's right, but it,
And then got to pick and choose the places. Well, and one of my very favorite is Las Vegas. Oh. Uh, that I would have to say we both end up going to Las Vegas, uh, probably once every maybe year and a half. Uh-huh. And presently we have quite a few frequent flyer miles Uh-huh. and so I've just requested that they send us two of our coach tickets because we have a lot of flying with Continental Uh-huh. and they're recommending that you use those because they don't know the future of Continental. Right, it's kind of shaky. And I said now that we have all the miles, we better start using them. That's true. Uh, It really is. So we are thinking that we might go to Las Vegas during the winter this year sometime for just kind of a quick trip.
Uh, when we normally go that way, we like to go to California at the same time, because we really don't get out there as often as you could probably from Texas. Uh-huh. Our last big trip, we drove through New Mexico and Colorado and went to the Grand Canyon and, and, uh, back through Silverton and Durango and, oh, it was fun. It was so relaxing and a really neat part of the country and the kids were old enough to really enjoy it. Our, I think that's a good trip. Uh-huh. And really, for the children to learn as well for a family vacation that would be excellent. Right. Now we did, what we sometimes do since we are in Ohio and it takes a while just to even get to the, what I would call the more picturesque part of the country, we will fly to something like, once we flew to Colorado to Denver and then we rented a car for two weeks and we went through the northern route and through Utah and as far west as Las Vegas Uh-huh. and then we returned through, uh, New Mexico that you just mentioned. Uh-huh.
And it was oh, it was just great. Oh, there's too much to see really. Oh, I, I think that's, that's the way to, Uh, I work at T I and we have, uh, of course, started drug testing, uh, random drug testing here and, uh, I haven't gotten called yet, but, uh, I feel that it's probably it's pretty good if, if they feel like there is a vast majority of the people at the company doing drugs. Do they feel that way? Uh, I think that they thought that there was a lot of drug usage here at T I, but I think our latest statistic said something like ninety-nine point nine eight percent were, uh, testing negative on all the on, on all the testing. Uh-huh. Well, I, I think it's a good idea just because I'm opposed to to the drugs. Uh-huh. I think it can cause a lot of problems even though they think they can handle it. Uh-huh. It's, uh, I don't know, I don't really liken it to alcohol but, yet that can be carried to an extreme, too. Uh-huh.
So I think it's a good idea and I think just the idea that you know that you may be tested might keep you off of them or get you off of them because you're, Right. I don't know that their job would be at risk, because I think they may put them into some sort of a program to get them off of drugs. Right. I would think that, is that how they do it at T I maybe. That, Right, I at T I, if you get called in and you test positive for drugs, then you're put on a program and, uh, you know, you go through the program and then you're called like six months after you complete the program Uh-huh. and if you test positive, then you're terminated. Well, I guess I, I draw a hard line but, you know, I would, I'm, I'm in favor of, of that type of thing. That, uh, you, you have people out there that are responsible for certain things Yeah, uh-huh.
Uh-huh. and you expect them to do their job and it, it is possible that, you know, that they can't do as good a job, uh, as they might do. That's right. Uh-huh. Oh, and, of course they can also cause injury to other people. Uh-huh. If they're, if they're not, uh, you know, fully functional mentally while they're doing their job. They could cause you know, serious injury to another people. Right, and you never know they could just go off the deep end on, on a, on something uh, that whatever they're taking at the time Uh-huh. Uh-huh. and, and it would be, uh, you know, out of the question. Uh-huh. Also, I guess you can, you know, get the wrong kind of stuff and kill yourself just by having a wrong mix of or watered down or or whatever, all kinds. That's right. Oh yeah. I sub in the schools Uh-huh.
so I've, you know, had a, they they talk a lot about drugs there So, Right. and I think it's good that they're trying to start some programs down in the elementary schools. Right. But, you know, I think they can test all they want for drugs you know, and if they need to do that as a condition for employment Uh-huh. and I know many of them are doing it. I know my son has had to do it for both Sam's and Wal-Mart Uh-huh. and I don't know how many others are doing that and, and I think that's good because so many of the kids that are on them are sort of bums that they need to get their life straightened up at an early age Oh, yes. Uh-huh. That's right. and, uh, I don't know, it's just a problem that no one is sure just how to handle I think. Uh-huh.
You know, I think personally I'm for it. There's several reason why I, I could think of right now why we shouldn't have it such as drug testing, they say, runs approximately a thousand dollars a person every time you do it. Really? And, It's that high? Yes. And, oh, yeah, it's very expensive. Oh. And, uh, I didn't realize it was that expensive. Uh-huh. It's not like a normal urinalysis Uh-huh. it's very expensive to run them. And, uh, I didn't get a raise this year, because, nobody in our company got a raise. Uh-huh. But, yet they spend all the money on drug testing
Just lucky to have jobs. and if they weren't spending all the money on drug testing, people could have got a raise. So, see, there, you know, there's different, I don't think that that's, that, I think that's more of a personal view of mine other than a, a yes, sir, we should have drug testing because there's really a problem Uh-huh. and I know that. But then, I have other views to it. I just, I didn't think it was that expensive because my son was in probably a week and a half period Uh-huh. and Sam's and Wal-Mart are, are owned by the same people Uh-huh. he took one for, for, uh, Wal-Mart for job hiring Uh-huh. and then Sam's called him and, and he took another one Right. and I, you know, I don't know why they both made him do that since it was so close together. Uh-huh. I can see if because, you know, if it's a thousand dollars, that's a thousand dollars they wasted.
Theirs might not run a thousand dollars. *Their's Theirs Our, from what I understanding here at T I, they run close to a thousand dollars an employee. Well, maybe they run, I don't know, you know, that's just guessing it. Maybe they run a lot of other tests, or maybe it's under a health type program that it it, it would catch a lot of things. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. I, I just can't imagine them screening all these employees, paying a thousand dollars to get them. But, no for all the, the Oh, it's, So have you done any painting projects lately? Yeah, this is a great topic for me, because I just did my first two painting projects ever. Oh, really? Was not, not a big deal What kind of painting was it?
two little deals, The first one, um, I helped someone repaint an apartment, and it was very easy. Uh-huh, it, was it? Yeah, and I've never painted I always thought it would be, so, you know, you'd have to hire someone if you needed to paint inside your house or something Yeah, but I know I can do it. Oh, uh-huh. And the second one was I bought some toys at a, um, at a craft fair. Uh-huh. They're unfinished wooden book ends and stuff for a little girl for Christmas, and so I decided to paint them, and that wasn't as easy as painting the apartment Oh, well, what kind of paint did you use for the, um, bookends? Well, it's, uh, it, that's half the problem right there is that it wasn't, it was a oil base,
so I had to get, and when I painted them, I didn't realize that we didn't have any turpentine or paint thinner or anything in the house. So I had it, had it all over my hands. At first I didn't realize, you know, I had never painted anything, so I didn't realize that I needed that. Uh-huh. I mean, I kind of knew, in the back of my mind, So you can't use oil on wood? Well, no, you can use it on wood, but I just had it all over my hands, and I went to wash the brushes out, and, uh, wash my hands, and you can't wash it off with water. You have to get the, uh, a solution and, Oh, so you had to go around with paint all over you, temporarily, anyway. Yeah, I had to drive to the store yeah,
I had to drive to the store with paper towels all over my hands to go buy some paint thinner, and and everything like that, Oh, and then, um, downstairs in the apartment, I just we just used a latex base, and so you can drip it on, you know if you dripped it on something, as long as you wiped it up, it was real easy to clean. Oh, is, is that what you usually use in the house, is latex? Yeah, and, and it, it just like Um. the same with the toys, it's just important to look for one that doesn't have lead in it, you know, it says Safe for Children, and all that. Uh-huh, yeah, I heard about that. I guess a friend of mine had a, uh, well, she, she just started up a day care center, and uh, the, one of the real strict, uh, restrictions, was the fact that she had to have a special kind of paint that was fire proof and lead free and all that other good stuff Yeah. so, uh, she had that done.
But, uh, that you keep some, um, farm equipment in Have you painted anything recently. Wow, was it huge? Uh-huh. and, um, what I had to do is just coat this bare wood with a sealer, and, uh, I had this big five gallon jug, and it was like paint thinner. I mean I, you know, it looked just like, it was the viscosity of paint thinner Yeah. but, uh, you just took a roller and put it on there, and, uh, if you saw that the wood was getting wet, you know, that was, that was all you needed. So. Wow. Yeah, it was, it used all of it. I guess it was about three hundred yards worth. So. Well, I guess it worked out. It was pretty easy, actually. Yeah,
I think though, um, we're lucky that we didn't have to do any detail work, because I don't know if I could, you know, I don't know, I don't know, must be difficult, Well what about the trim in your house? Did you have to do that? No, it was it was really easy, I just, like, what, we had a couple of different size brushes you know, real easy, Uh-huh. I went around the trim, and if it, and there was wall paper, like I was do, just doing just the trim outs that, around the doors and windows and there was wall paper and if we got it on the wall paper a little bit, we just wipe it right away before it dried, Uh-huh. it came right off Oh, yeah,
so there was no major mistakes, there was, Did you have, uh, one coat or two? Uh, two, actually Uh-huh. um, and it, there was, um, you know, around the windows, if you got it on the glass, we let it dry and scraped it after that but that, Yeah, that would be really time, uh, a time saver. Well, yeah, if you just, you know we didn't tape anything, we weren't that careful, but it wasn't, you know, I don't know, it's, it's funny, it's like, if you just go slow, you don't get, or at least I didn't get that many mistakes Uh-huh. I didn't make that many mistakes,
Oh, me, I would have had to have taped the whole thing, and then brushed around the edges, and, and then I'd have probably rolled it on. I'd, it would have taken me forever. Why? Just because you'd be afraid to do it, or have you done it before. Yeah, well, the first time it'd probably would have taken me forever, so Well, it wasn't, if it was my own I would have, but my friend said, oh just go ahead, you just go ahead, it's easy. I said, Okay, it's your place, Well, how long did it take you all? Well, a couple of week ends we would go down two or three hours on the weekends, Uh-huh. and, So there was two of you all? No, there was, they were doing all sorts of repairs,
and there was, I was just painting because I don't know how to do anything else Well, that's easy enough. So, there's a whole bunch of people. Um. So now I feel like if I ever buy a house, I can probably paint, if nothing else. I think I could probably do it uh, as long as the hardware store told me what to buy, then I could do it. Yeah. But you know, I went in to a hardware store to get paint for those toys, and the guy said, Oh, get this, it's a nice shiny gloss, which was true, but I didn't realize what, you know, pain it is to clean the brushes and everything, if you don't have latex I don't if it's worth the shine, Uh-huh. Well, how did you like that topic? Uh, I don't know, I've got mixed feelings about the topic. Do you? I don't. No. Okay.
No, I'm pretty opinionated about that and many other things as you well know. I agree with it. I think, uh, I think a company should be able to test at, any, any employee any time they see fit. Well, I just, I just don't think there's a place in our environment, you know in the work force for drugs, or alcohol either. Well, I don't believe in drugs or alcohol, but if you'll remember when the teachers had to take the T CAT they were talking about drug testing us Right. Uh-huh. and we were laughing that we'd have to go to that examination to prove we could read and write with a specimen of urine Uh-huh. and we found it belittling. You did? Yeah, Uh-huh. Well, I can sort of understand that, uh, but not being a teacher, as you are, you know, I, I was not quite as sympathetic as, you know, as I probably would have been if, if Kay were a teacher or something. That's true. But, uh, But then, you know, at the same token, I'm not against
because I look at airline pilots bus drivers you know, people that really have other peoples' lives in their hands truck drivers Uh-huh. Uh-huh. That's right. That's right. it's supposed to be a huge problem with truck drivers using drugs and alcohol, Uh, that's right and I think it is a big problem with them using drugs from what you read, you know, And, but, uh, You know, in those areas I really, you know, do believe that maybe we should clean up our, you know house. Yeah, I think so too, I, I agree with it. Uh, I know Kay's company, you know, they started it couple of years ago, and so many of the people, even the professional people were, boy, they were so against them doing that, you know, and I thought, Jeez, to me it's quite simple, uh, you either need a job or you don't. The, the job is what provides all of your needs,
and, uh, if they say, Hey, you can't do this work, I'd say, Hey, I agree, I don't, I won't do that. And I think most of them have agreed to that now, although they didn't like it at first. Yeah, I think it's just like anything else, a new concept, you know, as I said, if I have to go to a testing area with my urine specimen I was insulted, Yeah, it is, I can see where you would think, Yeah, But at the same token, in education we can't do drug, random drug testing on kids Yeah, that's true, you know, I mean, their rights are protected. You bet. Oh, gosh, they, they would really raise a stink if that was to happen. What well, but why, if you're going to do teachers or professionals, why not do the kids, when we see them and they're, you know, under the influence. Right, yes, I agree with that.
I, I, I wouldn't be opposed to it at all, it's just our bleeding heart liberals that would fight it tooth and nail, you know That's true. but, uh, well, Lynn, I've enjoyed talking with you. I don't know how long we're supposed to carry on a conversation, do you? It's three minutes, and the clicker comes in when it's time to, Oh, well, we'd better keep talking because I've not heard it have we. Yeah. Have you heard it? No. Anyway, we both sort of agree on it, don't we about random testing. Well do we agree, or unless it's not me Well, listen, You know, here we go again, I mean Yeah, yeah. yeah, you know If you agree that, uh, I believe that truck drivers and people that have,
even though teachers have other kids lives in their hands, and if they come in stoned or they come in drunk Yeah. and there was an incident in my children's high school, where a teacher stayed drunk, Is that right? Uh-huh. You just don't think of that happening with teachers And he, I really don't, when I think of drug testing, I'm thinking of the, you know, outside of education. Uh, well, no, you know, we are as susceptible a society as anybody else Sure sure, I know that, but, uh you don't think of that first hand, normally. and, uh Yeah, well, did you hear on the news where the teacher of the year was up for child molestation. Isn't that, isn't that mind boggling, It was on the news tonight. goodness,
it, it is, it's mind you know, well, you know, I agree with you, I know teachers are just like everybody else, same problems the same, uh, good qualities as anybody else. Yeah. Then, I think, you know, if if it came, push came to shove, I'd probably be drug tested you know, Yeah, yeah. because it does, you know, You, you think the benefit would be greater than the, Yeah, because, you know, as I say, I'm sitting there fussing and fussing, and yet, I know of, you know, one teacher who was an alcoholic in school as well as, you know, I presume out, Uh-huh. And that was in your children's high school, Uh-huh. Isn't that amazing, And, you know, my children brought it to my attention. I never was there to see it. If it, if it's if it was true there, I'm sure it's true with just about probably to some degree every school there is Uh-huh.
you know, because they represent a pretty good, And that's not giving a good example to students. No, certainly not, certainly not, they don't need that example but, Okay, I missed a part of it. We're to talk about what, lawns and gardens? Lawn and garden work and what you enjoy and what kind of work you do. I'm, I'm a putterer. I chose that topic because I really like gardening as far as flowers and shrubs and just keeping a pretty yard. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. I, well, it's, it's, it's very strange that I got this call because my wife just called me. I was just in the shower after finishing mowing the lawn and, you know, mowing the lawn and removing some old petunias out of the garden, Oh. this type of thing is working right in to start planting fall, fall bulbs.
Uh-huh. Uh. We've had a late fall it seems like, the weather, in fact today it's really warm, and so many of the summer flowers are still pretty enough that you hate to pull them up, but you know you need to pretty soon. Well, that's the way this was. The, the petunias were really great. Our mums are, are beautiful, Oh. Uh, I don't know if we, I don't think we've had a frost up here. I've been, I was down in for a week, so I don't know what happened last week Uh-huh. uh, but, uh, it seems like it's, I don't know if it's late. I'm sort of waiting for Indian Summer so I can get a lot of stuff down out here. Uh-huh. Uh, I, I enjoy it.
We came here, we just moved into this, well, we moved in in November and put all, all the landscaping in this, this year. We came from nine years in a condo, uh, and working in that condo, you didn't have to do anything you know, unless you really wanted to, Uh-huh. so . So now you have the chance to really create and, and spread out. Right. You know, I can't, this is my third, third house I think, I've owned, um, but, uh, it's interesting, you know, the only problem is that I do quite a bit of traveling, and it sort of gets away from me if you're not with it. Uh-huh. So, but, uh, I, I enjoy most of it, and about this time of year there is, it starts getting a little old, and I start looking forward to, you know, having other things to do with my . The grass not growing so fast Well, it is, it is for me because I've been doing a lot of fertilizing. We had a terrible summer,
we had a drought Oh. and, uh, took a lot of watering and a lot of fertilizing, and now it's really growing and I'm trying to establish a good root, root growth you know, for the winter. Um ours seems to have slowed down here. We're not having to mow every week religiously Really. but we're still fighting bugs, and ready to change some of the, the summer flowers out Uh. I still have caladiums that are pretty, which is a surprise this late in the year. Oh, really? Uh-huh. Um. But like today, it's eighty-five degrees Oh, yeah it's really strange, yeah, I hear that from, my brother-in-law lives in Plano,
But that'll change real quick Yeah Well, he always We'll wish we'd planted bulbs and pansies already. he waits until it gets about seventeen below up here and then he calls us, Oh, my gosh. yeah it's seventy degrees here in the sunshine. So Well, Texas has gotten to where it's a real problem as far as plants, because our summers are so terribly hot . and we have ice storms every year. And there just aren't that many plants and shrubs that can take both of those extremes. Uh-huh. Some of the things that used to be hardy are getting to where they don't make it through the two swings. Yeah, that is, I was, you know, I was like conditioned to it Uh-huh.
they, they have to be hardened to it that's, that's strange with me. You know, you think, Dallas, you know, almost semitropical, you wouldn't have that kind of, that kind of problem, but, Well, for the most part we don't, but we have usually just a pocket of really bad hot and really bad cold. Well, the summers have gotten where they're a lot hotter Uh-huh. but the, the ice storms really are stressful on all the, the plants that we have around. We've noticed that crepe myrtles don't do as well as they used to and, uh, pittosporum Really, oh do they. that used to be the kind of things we could plant all the time Uh-huh. you, you really take a chance with them freezing, I love, Yeah, I love the, uh, the landscaping, like I say, my brother-in-law . I get to Carrollton quite a bit. Uh-huh.
I go there on business, and I really enjoy getting around and seeing the different areas with different gardens, and Texas is, Dallas is very nice. I really enjoy it there. The landscaping, the homes, the architecture, the whole thing very enjoyable gardens, Uh-huh. and my wife and I, Except for the lack of trees, out where we are It was all cotton fields, Well. and when we get to other parts of the country where the trees are so beautiful, we really miss it. Yeah, that we have, you know Uh-huh. Ohio's a very pretty state. We moved, in seventy-six we moved to Chicago, we lived there for five years, and I remember the first time I took my wife there on a house hunt, uh, we were coming in and before the plane landed she looked out the window and she said, she said, there's no trees down there.
this is Illinois, you're not. And, when we got out to the area where we decided we were going to live and buy a house, there were no trees because the farmers had cleared all the land Um. Uh-huh. and now all of a sudden it was being developed, and the first thing I did was planted all kinds of trees, Very good. Uh, discussion or on child care. Do you have any children? Uh, they're all grown up. Oh I work in a day-care center and . Oh, well, you know all about it then. Yes, I enjoy it a lot. It's been quite a few years. I have grandchildren but, uh, haven't really been into selecting child care for them, so.
Oh. And it's been quite a few years since I've had to think about that. Do they go to a day-care center or do they stay at, No. Uh, my daughter that has three stays home with her children, Oh, that's nice. and one of my daughters has one but an aunt keeps the baby. Oh, that's nice. But I would, I would not really know how to go about selecting one nowadays, but I would imagine it's very hard. I, I think so. I think it's hard to find a good day care. I have worked in at some other ones that were not very good in my opinion. Uh-huh. But this one that I'm in now is, is very good. And one of the key things is how many adults are there in ratio to the children. Uh-huh. And like in Pennsylvania for babies, that's what I work with, there has to be a one to four ratio at the most. No more than four babies per care giver.
Uh-huh. But we keep it down to like two to one. Oh, well, that's good. Yeah, that makes it a little easier to deal with. I've always thought, you know, it would be really tough. What if you had a fire or something with babies? Oh, I know. We, You would have to be able to have enough, you know, you'd have to be able to get them all out. What we do is we have these cribs in the back room where they sleep that are, um, low to the ground Uh-huh. and they're reenforced real strong and they'll sit four babies. We would just lie them in there and they roll real well and maneuver. Oh, well, that's, that's a, That will get them out. I hadn't thought about that.
But I was thinking, oh, my gosh, if they had very many babies, they couldn't possibly get them all out. No But you could put them in one of these cribs and then roll the crib out I guess. Right. Oh Right. well, that's neat. Yeah, that's certainly something we hope never happens. Well, do most of your day-care workers really care about the children, or is it just a job for them? Most really care, in this center, really care. Uh, most everyone has a college degree in like early childhood education. Uh-huh. And really there's only like eight children per room and then there's like two or three, mostly three care givers in each room. Uh-huh. And that enables them to spend more time with the children. Sometimes I feel like all I'm doing is changing diapers, giving bottles, and putting babies down for a nap. So, it's nice to be able to play with them and really get to know them.
Uh-huh. It's easy to get attached to them too. Yeah. How old a group, how old are the children go with this center where you work? Um, in my room they go from eight weeks to nine months. Uh-huh. And throughout the center it goes up to like age twelve. Uh-huh. So, I have the real, real young ones in my room. You've got the little bitty ones. Uh-huh. Those are the, probably the the best group to have. They're, you know, they're wonderful. They don't complain too much And they're fun. Yes. They are a lot of fun. Babies are fun, and they're not quite big enough to be getting into everything yet, so.
Not quite. It's a, when they start to crawl they try to climb up on things and Uh-huh. you have to be real careful all the, everything is baby proof. You know, all the doors have latches and stuff so they can't get into anything but they try. Uh-huh. Do you think there's very many really good day-care centers around your area? But, yeah, In my area because I live in a college town in Penn State University Uh-huh. so I, there is a lot of, a lot of college educated people and stuff that are in the centers that really seem to have an idea of what's going on. Uh-huh. And, uh, in general though I've, I've been really disappointed with a lot of other centers I've worked at, and it, all and all Uh-huh. it's not my choice for when, when I have children
but, but some people don't have a choice. Sometimes it's a have to. Yes. I hear a lot of the girls I work with, uh, constantly, oh, I wish I could find someplace I really felt good about. You know? Uh-huh. Most of them don't really feel that it's a great place to leave their kids. That is sad. And it's really bad, you know. One of the girls she was leaving hers at where she felt like was a really good place, and then they called her one afternoon and said, well, we thought we'd better call and tell you before you got over here. Lacy fell asleep on the bus after our field trip today, and we just now found her. What? They had left her on the bus closed up all afternoon. Oh, my God. And so immediately she says, well, I can't have any confidence in them anymore, if they'll take a group of kids to the zoo or somewhere and then come back and not even count them and realize they're one short. Oh. But one of the teachers happened to walk by and see her pounding on the window trying to get out of the bus.
Oh, my God. And this was four hours later, you know. Oh, that poor child. And, uh, so, you know, what do you do? That's awful. So she has switched to a different center now and, uh, Well, I, Okay, well, just to let you know, I have, uh, two, uh, children of my own. I've got two boys, uh, one four year old and one two years old, so I'm just starting out. Oh, yes I have two boys who are twenty-eight and twenty-four and a daughter who is twelve. Wow Wow, that's quite a spread Yes. Same husband, everything.
That's great. Uh but, Well, I guess, uh, in one of the things that, that I like to do with my boys when, uh, when I get home is, I like to try and spend a lot of time with them. You know, they're not very old, so they couldn't do a whole lot, yet. Uh-huh. But they like to, uh, spend time with me. We just, oh, just do various things, nothing really. They like to be outside as much as possible. If it's not raining. Right, uh, but, you know, the weather's trying to turn now so, Are, are you down here in Texas? Yes, I I'm, I'm in, uh, Dallas. Oh. Okay, yeah. You know what I meant with rain, huh
Right, right. Oh. Right. Okay, uh what, Yeah, what, well, one of the things I've noticed is, one of the trends I've, I've noticed is that, uh, it's always too easy to just plop your kids down in front of the T V and let them watch movies or, or play video games or something. Yeah, I I have, can you hold on just a Sure. I have to answer a business phone Sure. I hate to do it on this call. That's okay. Good morning, A R E, this is Arlene Lister another It was just a recorded message, on our business phone anyway. I'm sorry,
keep going. No, it's okay. Uh, so that was the thing that I, I noticed that, I know a lot of people, lot of friends that we have, they have a tendency to do the same thing. And one of the things we try to do is we try to avoid doing that as much as possible. Although it really is very easy to do that type of thing. Just plop them down in front of the T V and let them be, uh, entertained that way. Uh-huh. And, uh, seeing as you've got some older children, I, I'm wondering, how did you handle that, when they were growing up? Yeah. Well, there, there was not nearly as much of it. In fact, I, I think things were, were quite a bit different. Uh-huh. Uh, when my, my big kids were, were little, uh, you know, all the mothers were home. Uh-huh. You know, the, the kids got up in the morning and ate breakfast and poked around and then when they felt like it, they went out to play, you know when they were, were little like that. Uh-huh. Right. And, uh, I, I think it's gotten, uh, very different. When my second one was little, they were coming out with SESAME STREET which he started watching Right.
and, other than that, I mean, there was basically, there was not educational T V or uh, you know, you got some cartoons Um. and that was it, but they, they were never that interested in it anyway. They'd rather, I mean, they'd take their trucks out in the backyard you know go out and play and stuff. Right. But, we always did, uh, oh, just, you know, to the park for walks and to the zoo and museum. Uh-huh. We did a lot of stuff like that with, uh, with our kids. Uh-huh. And, course, when they got bigger, uh, they were both quite into sports and, and you know, so whatever, you know, they would do, we'd go along with Uh-huh. Yeah. and, uh, uh, a girl is very different We have a girl would like you to spend time with her going shopping Right So, they're very, very different,
but, uh, kind of the same thing, our, you know, she now, lot of time spent with her, she's so busy is, uh you know, going to, you know, Uh-huh like last night was a band concert Uh-huh. and she plays on her school volleyball team and, uh, stuff like that. But, uh, we, we still, uh, oh, like to pack up, you know, just go someplace for the day or, uh, you know, just stuff like that. Right. One of our older kids now is going to graduate school down at College Station Oh, that's nice. so that's, uh, we go down there fairly often, you know, for a weekend for, you know, family get-togethers and stuff like that. That's great. Uh, That's great. I know we'd, I'd like to get into do more camping and outings and things.
And I think we probably will soon as the boys get a little bit older. Uh-huh. But, uh, you know, for right now, they don't, you know, just getting out in the front, and just being outside is good for them because they like just being outside. Oh, yes. Yeah, I, I think, our kids just always dearly loved that, you know, play bounce the ball, or just, uh, Uh-huh. course, when our big ones were little, we lived up north, you know Uh-huh. and this time of the year it, it, the fun thing was to go out and swoosh around in the leaves you know. Right. So, You know, so it's, it's very different That's true, you don't see many leaves around Dallas. and, and, uh, you know, we also, come winter time we'd stick them on sleds. And uh, we had a pond across the street Uh-huh. and, and from little on, you know,
I'm, it's, it's so different down here where you go take lessons to learn to ice skate or something. You know, when our kids were little you, you got them a pair of skates Well what kind of car, uh, are you thinking of buying next? Uh, more than likely, it's going to be a Chrysler. You like the Chrysler products, do you? Uh, Chrysler LeBaron, yeah. It won't be a Ford. I've got a Ford Mustang now, and I hate it. Do you really? Yeah. What year is it? It's a eighty-eight. And why don't you like the Mustang? It's, um, I've had one problem with it after the other. I'll be darned. The the paints peeling off of it, or find them road dead.
Well, you know the old sayings about Fords, what they stand for. There you go. Well, uh. That, uh, I, uh, it's, my electrical system shorted out like two or three times, and it's been torn up since April, and I, and luckily, everything was under warranty, so it's only costing like a hundred and forty dollars to get it fixed. It would have been like two thousand Well, we've always, uh, we've always had Oldsmobiles, and, uh, been very, uh, happy with Oldsmobiles, but, uh, my wife thought she wanted to get a Ford Mustang and then she kind of changed her mind and thinks her next car ought to be one of those, uh, Mitsubishi Eclipses. She She likes, uh, likes those. Those, those are nice cars. She has a sister that lives in, uh, Phoenix that has one and, uh, really, uh, enjoys it. Well, what, uh, what things do you consider when you buy a car? Um, the gas mileage for one thing, and I've, I've, I've always had like stick shift.
I want to, the next car I get I want it to be automatic. I see. I, uh, I, I hate driving anyway, and then, and changing gears at stop lights and stuff is really getting on my nerves now. Yeah, especially when you're in high traffic areas and have to mess with that all the time. Yeah. And, you know, when you work nine to five, or eight to five, and you're in rush hour traffic to and from work, unfortunately. That makes it very frustrating. And I look, and one of the things with Chrysler right now is, is their, the warranties that they have, and I, I feel like their, everybody I've talked to that owns one, has, has, has been real pleased with it, and I like the, the driver's air bag, I like that. Now this is a LeBaron? Uh, yeah, well all Chrysler products has it in there, but LeBaron would be the next car I get, yeah.
I sure like the, uh, convertible, those rag top LeBarons, they really look sporty. Yeah, yeah, I like, I like that too, huh, but, uh, I, I couldn't afford the insurance on one of those Well, uh, we always, this last Oldsmobile we bought, uh, it's an eighty-seven, but we bought it in eighty-eight, you know, right at the end of the year when they were trying to get rid of them Yeah. and, uh, we found that, uh, we found a real good interest rate, you know, when they're trying to get rid of those cars at the end of the year like that, they really come down on their prices and, uh, uh, you know, we looked around at used cars, and we really couldn't, uh, afford the payments on a used car, because, uh, if you go to the bank and try to get a loan, they want to charge twelve, thirteen percent, you know, and we ended up, I think, with like a four and a half percent interest rate on a brand new car, and the payments. Well, that's what I'm paying on mine now. I had to get like a first time, my dad's always cosigned on, on my, my loans, or whatever, and this is one, when I bought,
I got my Mustang this time was by myself, because I got on my own, or whatever, and, um, I had said, they, they said it had to be like a first time buyer's car or whatever, and they're charging me unreasonable interest, but I've got eight more payments and it's paid for. Well, that's great. But I got it when, I got it when the eighty-eights first came out, it's a, it's, it's a good car, I mean, I got in eighty-seven, I guess, in like November or something like that, and. Uh-huh. Well, when our kids were younger we really wanted a two door. Our first car was an Oldsmobile back in seventy-seven. It was a two door Cutlass Supreme, and, uh, it just happened that when we looked for our, our new car, they had a thing going with Oldsmobile and if you'd buy a, a new Oldsmobile they'd give you four hundred rebate, because it was their seventy-fifth anniversary. Uh-huh. I yeah seventy-fifth anniversary.
So in addition to everything else we got off the car, all we had to do is show them our, uh, papers on our first car, and they gave us another four hundred dollars off on it. So we, we got a four door this time, and I sort of went more for the, uh, the comfort factor, and, uh, I liked the smaller cars, but I'm a bigger person, and I, I really like comfort, you know, driving along the road and stuff. Well, that's another big factor of mine. Next, next car I get's going to be a four door too. Something with some room. Yeah. Because I, uh, my Mustang is, is, is two door with bucket seats, and you buy groceries and stuff like that. And if you try to take anybody, you know, go to the show or go out for supper, and you go as a foursome, Okay, what do you feel are some of the main problems? Well, I'm in a, I'm in an urban area. I'm in Dallas. Uh-huh. And we're finding that crime is going up very quickly and has become a major problem, uh, even a more major problem. Uh, in Dallas, some of the major problems, uh,
drugs seems to be related to quite a bit of the crime we have now. There is a lot of theft, a lot of assault dealing with, uh, people trying to get money for drugs. Yeah. And, uh, I think that's a national problem, though. It, it, it's pretty bad here, too. It's not unique, We've had a lot of murders drug related and stuff. In Durham, which is right next to Raleigh. Yes. Uh-huh. Well, now, we're pretty close to the golden triangle, aren't you? Yeah, that, that Durham, Raleigh, and Chapel Hill is the triangle. Right, research triangle and all of that. Right. And, uh, I'm sure you have a lot of students there, uh, and a lot of researchers so you, you may have a, you know, perhaps a little better economic climate, but, in all your cities now, it seems like there is a, a crowd that's really effected by this bill. Yeah,
it's, it's really, it's, and I've seen in more in Durham than I have in Raleigh or, or or Chapel Hill. Really? Chapel Hill is kind of a, a ritzy city or whatever. I mean, it's kind of, I'm, I'm sure there is problems with it, but it has a pretty low crime rate. Compare, compared to, to, Durham has probably got the worst. They've had like forty-eight murders since the beginning of the year. Really? And over half of it has been drug related. Um. Well, here, uh, I'm not sure how many Dallas has had. I've, uh, Houston is averaging about two a week or three or four, I, I don't know. A, a number every week. Yeah. Uh, Dallas is having quite a few. Seems like most of ours are occurring in late at night or, or, like I say, drug related. Uh, I guess the other thing was that are causing a lot of the crime now is the decrease in values. Seems like a, a lot of people don't hold human life quite as high as perhaps they used to.
Yeah. Uh, I, Well, that, and the, and the economy is so bad and, And so many people have been laid off and stuff. The economy is lousy They've done special stories on the news, local news here. Uh-huh. We had a lot of bank robberies and different, lot of break ins and stuff. I know, like a week or so ago, I live in a, in a town house, which is, you know, it's a pretty nice neighborhood and this lady was going to work, she came home and everything in her house was total gone, light fixtures, everything. And nobody thought any different, they just thought she was moving. It was a moving man pulled right up to her house, broke in and stole everything she owned Boy that really, that really takes someone who is bold to do that. Well, yeah, it's, it's, it's pretty bad
Well, now, do you find that security is very good in, in a, in a town home? Uh, I would say so for the majority in, in our, in my little section of the neighborhood because there is always somebody at home Uh-huh. and we all know one another and, and, on our one little section of the street we all know one another and know that we're not moving and different things like that. Well, that, It's, I, I'm, I'm probably the, one of the youngest people that live over here. I see. Most people are, are, retired or, or, or, you know, they're, they're in their forties or, or whatever. So and I'm in my twenties, so I, I'm, I'm out more than they are, but they're at home at night, Yeah. so I really don't worry about anything. Well, I think you hit on one point there is you know each other. Yeah. I'm, I'm in a neighborhood where we try to keep up with everything. Uh, I am, oh, about three blocks off a major road and, uh, a couple of blocks off another road that kind of runs,
I guess you would say the neighborhood road, it runs between the high school and the, the commercial districts and, uh, I'm over the northeast part of Dallas. It's a, in a nice neighborhood. The houses here, uh, before the recession were running two hundred thousand or so and, course, everything's down ten to twenty percent now. Yeah, see, that's the same thing here. But we have, uh, one, one thing that effects us is we have apartments that are probably about a half mile away and now the economy is bad, they have trouble keeping those full so they've dropped the, uh, they're not nearly as selective as they used to be. Yeah. And, course, that's kind of like a cancer in an apartment complex. You start letting that happen and they go down and then before you know it you have drugs and a lot of other things so, uh, I'm sure that aggravates it also. Yeah. But, unemployment now in Dallas, or in Texas is up around six point,
I guess we're supposed to talk about what's being done about recycling. Yes. Well, lots, right? Right Finally. Really, what, what do you do, now? Well, we have saved our newspapers for years and years because the, uh, Boy Scouts our boys have been involved in have, uh, had a huge recycling bin, over at Resurrection Lutheran Church Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. and, uh, so we've done that for quite some time, but since the price of paper has gone down like it's about a fifth of what it used to be Oh, really? so the Boy Scout troop quit doing it when the City took it over. Okay. So now we just put ours out for the City of Plano. Do you live in Plano? Yes,
I do. Okay, yeah. Yeah, and I'm so glad when they brought out those recycling bins. Right. Have you had yours now? Yes. Yeah. Although just, just about a week ago some of my volunteer mothers that, uh, work in the library for me said they hadn't gotten theirs. Oh, that's why I asked you. Yeah. and not everyone got theirs right away. Yeah, yeah. And I, I was so relieved because I've been making a real concerted effort, make, you know, recycling the aluminum and the newspapers and even got into plastic because Wal-Mart collected it. Uh-huh. Right, yeah, we used to take ours there.
And, uh my garage was just getting overwhelmed. I know. And, of course, I didn't go weekly, so it became quite a big thing, Right. and, uh, Right, I'm really glad they do it. Uh, yeah, I do news, mostly newspapers and, uh, plastic two liter diet Coke bottles And aluminum cans some, Yes, yeah. but I don't use as many of those. Uh-huh. I guess the ones that are hard to convince yourself to do are the ones that you have to really, that are really dirty that you have to wash out Yeah, well, I found out after washing out many a peanut butter jar that they're not a recycling number one or two. Uh, ha. Uh, ha,
Wasting all your time and effort and, Putting it in there. Thinking I was safe in buying those jars as far as the environment was concerned. Yeah, yeah. But, uh, you know, but it, it's not that hard now that I've got this system under control. Got your routine down. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I guess there are some places, uh, in the north, in particular that, uh, have a real definite way of encouraging you to recycle because they charge you, let's see, they charge you for your garbage pick up by the weight. Uh, uh-huh. So if you recycle things, of course, then you don't have all that weight in there. Yeah, I do find that I don't have as much to throw away because all the bulky things are, are being tossed in with the recycling. Right. That's right. Yeah. Yeah. And, uh, I don't know what they could do more of exactly around here right now other than, uh, what are some of the things they don't recycle.
Oh, one thing I thought about the other day were batteries, just everyday regular batteries. Supposedly, you know, leak and, and contaminate the landfills Um. Right. and, yet, what am I going to do when I have a couple double A batteries to toss out. Yeah, right. And they don't take, Probably going to throw them in your trash Yeah, that's what happens because, Well, there are places that take car batteries, but I wonder if they would take, Yeah. I mean, not that it would kind of a pain to, you know, drive over somewhere special just for that, for two little tiny batteries but, Yeah, yeah,
but I think the city one could possibly look into that or something. Yeah, that's true. Uh, if they've got these bins for all the other little items, I'm sure if people will have batteries, uh, you know, quite often to, to toss out. Right, that's true. Uh, when I was home those few days around Thanksgiving and the, uh, the truck came by, well, we all ran out to watch it because, you know, we'd never really seen it pick up our stuff Uh-huh. and one thing I thought was interesting was that the driver had something on his belt that he, uh, scanned across the little bar code on our bin as soon as he took the stuff Oh. Oh, is that right? and he just pulled this thing kind of out of his pocket and just, you know, scanned it, so I don't know why, what that was reading it for Huh. but, uh Registering our garbage they must be trying to keep track of , you know, who is doing it, or what, I guess. Yeah. I don't know.
Another, Wouldn't it be nice if you could get a credit back at the end of the year Ooh, for those who are really cooperating. Yeah. Now, that would encourage it. Well, except I know it would just not be cost effective. They've already got all this money out on hiring, uh, getting the trucks and hiring people to work them. I'm sure they couldn't afford that. Sure. But Sure. uh, But the garbage, uh, now there is just one garbage man that comes on the truck instead of two. Yeah. Oh, yeah. So that's interesting. Uh, also, slightly off the subject, but our, our big green garbage thing got stolen. Oh, it did? Uh-huh.
Gosh. And we we called the City and, uh, they, they brought us a new one and they did not charge us. And they said that between three and four hundred have been stolen. Oh, my goodness. Isn't that sad? You know. It is sad. And just, You know, they paid for those things anyway. Oh, and they must be, Yeah, really expensive. Or, our taxes do. I mean, of course, we were hoping we weren't, we weren't going to have to pay for it, you know Uh-huh. but, I mean, what would somebody do with them. Arlington, Texas now since I got somebody from Arlington, Virginia one day Is that right? Yeah.
Well, I never thought about that, but there is an Arlington, like I had a call the other day from Birmingham, Michigan you know, Oh and I was thinking yeah, and I was thinking Birmingham. the only Birmingham I could think of was Alabama. Right. It's funny how many names have been used, uh, all over the country. Yeah, well, tell me what kind of books have you read? Well, to tell you the truth, I've been going to college for the last four years so mainly, text books. I was going to say, not fun kind, right? No, um, but, I, I really tend to like biographies a lot, not necessarily always heavy ones Uh-huh. but, you know, sometimes I just read one about Grace Kelley. I love to read about real people.
To me, half the time it's more fascinating than some of these made up stories Yeah, it is, because you know that's it's really and truly a true thing. Yeah, it happened. You know, I read one about Bob Hope that I liked. Really? Yeah, that was real good. I'm like you, if it's not a heavy biography, you know I enjoy it. Right. I used to like to read about royalty a lot. I, when I was younger I read about every king and queen that lived, I think, in Europe. That was my thing for a while. I was trying to think, uh, I read a, uh, a novel that used the names of like Princess Di and Prince Phillip coming over here to be entertained and all, and there was a murder. Oh, really.
Yeah, it was some time ago. Seems like it was THE SPY WENT DANCING, or something like that. Oh, it sounds like fun. It was a lot of fun because they used these real names, you know. Wonder if it was by one of those famous writers, you know Margaret Truman Daniels writes a lot those. Yeah, in fact I believe it was because, Really? Uh-huh. I believe. Sounds like something she would write. Yeah, I think it was by her, now that you mention it, because someone had given it to me, and I thought, well, this will be great, and it was. Yeah, I've heard that she's done you know, her books are really interesting,
and they always sell well. Uh-huh. And, uh, Well, when you use real people like that, I think royalty, especially, you know. Yeah, brings it to life. I know, uh, the some of the British people laugh at us because we're so enthralled with their royalty. Yeah, but you know, that's like them being enthralled with our football and so forth, you know. I know, our movie stars. Our movie stars, because it's totally different concept to us. Oh, right. I haven't, I haven't had a chance to read a lot lately either. I have read, uh, mostly novels. I went to visit my daughter in Florida Um. and I took a novel with me, uh, and read it at Thanksgiving time, and, uh, it was, uh, one of those generation novels, you know
Oh, yes. starts out when they're small and continues through generations Oh, I always like those. and I like that. Have you ever read anything by Susan Howatch? Yes, I have. Isn't she fabulous? Oh, she is wonderful. Oh, once you I don't like to get one of her books because, I, I just live to read. I'll, I'll skip everything just to get back to the book I stayed up one night, I think until two in the morning finishing one of hers because I I could not put it down. Oh, yeah. She's just a, I don't know, does she, how often does she come out with them. I probably have missed the last few since I've been back in school. Well, no,
it seems like she doesn't write as often as, oh, well, like Danielle Steele and those silly things. She writes the same thing. Well, she can, she can turn them out overnight, I swear. Yeah, and, and they're the same silly things, I mean, if you've read one, I mean it's, It, it's practically the same thing over and over, you know. Yeah, I've never read a whole one of hers, I don't think. And think how rich she is. Yeah, wouldn't I, you know, I'm criticizing her, and wouldn't I like to have her money Oh, yeah. because they go from hardback to paperback and she has millions of them. And then make movies out of some of them. Uh-huh. You know, mini series and so forth, and it seems to me like Susan Howatch does not write as often.
I have not seen as many of hers. Well, hers are so involved, and they're so such a higher intellectual level, because she quotes a lot, you know. Uh-huh. I think she does a lot of research, too. I do too, so she couldn't possibly turn them out like some of these popular writers, Huh-uh. but oh, her books are just incredible. I don't think they've ever made a movie, do you? No, I don't think so, and I've often wondered why, haven't you? Yes You know, I, well, no, uh, I really just thought about it now but there's just, Yeah. Maybe it's because they take so much in.
I don't know. Uh-huh. Maybe they're just too involved for the average person to go and sit through them, you know. They're so big Uh-huh. they're such, you know, it would be like another GONE WITH THE WIND, I guess another three hour movie Yeah. And maybe that turns people off, but look at GONE WITH THE WIND, you know. Oh, I know. It's about one of my favorite movies. Uh, have you, uh, gotten into SCARLETT yet? No, it had such a bad press, I wasn't too . Yeah, that's exactly what I was going to say. I was amazed, because I,
in the beginning when it was on, you know, on route coming out I heard mixed publicity kind of good and bad, Uh-huh. Right. and then when it came out, all I heard was just, oh, how bad it was, that I didn't even want to get it. Me, either. Do you know anyone that's read it? Huh-uh. No, I haven't heard of anybody that's read it, either. No. I think it was on the best-seller list, though for a while. Well it wouldn't surprise me, Are you there? Uh-huh. Okay, now tell me your favorite team. Uh, baseball? Yes. Well, I've been kind of been intrigued with the Rangers, uh, more so with, uh, uh, their management than anything else. I, I don't follow baseball that, that closely,
but, uh, you know, since I live here so close to Arlington, uh, that's the team that I've been kind of following. Okay. I think it's a little bit late in the season for them to assign us where do you think they're headed, so we'll have to talk about the future with the Rangers. Uh-huh. Right. What are your thinkings on what they can do, what they'll be able to do? Well, I think that, uh, you know, with, uh, so much controversy over Ruben Sierra not signing and asking us for so much money, it's, um, you know, I think I'm not real sure about do you know anything about Ruben Sierra's, uh, Well, I heard tonight on the news that he is willing to come down. on his, Yeah that, he was willing to come down a little bit and, Yes. And the Rangers go up a little bit, uh-huh. but a little bit from three, you know, from thirty million dollars or thirty-five that's a lot of money. I think the entire baseball,
yeah, they're the ones that probably are paying the highest. Yeah, they are. And I think this is absolutely ridiculous. Uh-huh. No. And I really think, I really think that, uh, that they ought to, I'm not real sure that they should pay him that much money. I think they should, uh, uh, pay him what his salary is going to be, uh, and let him, because he's got one more year before he turns into a free agent. That's right. And then, uh, who knows, if he produces next year, they may have to end up paying him anyway, but if he doesn't, then his market value will go down and they can pick him up for, for a lot less than, than they would, uh, if they paid him the you know, the six million dollars a year this year. . What I saw on the news today, that Buechele was back just to visit. Uh-huh.
I'm awful sorry he's not still. Oh, yeah, but you know, what, he, that was a great deal for him. Oh, I'm sure it was. Yeah, it was a great deal for him and, and, uh, he just signed on, uh, I think it was like a five year deal with, uh Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh. Yeah. So, you know, he's real happy there. As far as the Rangers are concerned, I think, I think they need some, definitely need some pitching. Yes, sir. Uh, and so I, you know I, Well, what do you think of Howse, who is the coach for the pitchers? The pitching coach? Yes. Well, you know, I was just looking at the news tonight, and they showed a, a, a black guy that was was helping out, uh, His assistant.
His assistant. Uh-huh. And I think that's a, a great addition. I mean, he seemed to know what he was doing and, and, uh, I really wish they could see fit to get rid of Howse. Oh, you don't like Howse, huh? No, no, I really don't. And I'm not going to stand up, you know on my, soapbox and say that, but I'm, not fond of Howse and I'm not fond of Grieves. Oh, Tom Grieve? Yeah. Yeah. I'm, I'm not sure that, um, that they're ready to get rid of, of, uh, Tom Grieve yet, but Howse might be a different, uh, situation, and I think you're probably right, that they, that they need some, you know, some changes in, uh, pitching coach, maybe and, um,
Well, I'm just gullible enough that I think Bobby Valentine is, um, uh, doing all right and I'm sure, You do, huh? Well That's contrary to, uh, popular belief, you know Oh, I know, I know so, but I would like so much for these Rangers to get their act together and give, um, oh, uh, Nolan Ryan the support he needs. Oh, I know You know, it's too bad that, uh, it has to be a forty-two year old guy to, to lead the, uh, the Rangers, you know. I understand. They need to have some, some young guys that can take the lead and, and, uh, Yeah. Well, I just oh, I have so many mixed emotions about all this. But I think with their new stadium, they should go and let, Okay. Well, if you're from Iowa, you must be very artsy crafty. Everyone I've ever known from the Midwest can do everything with their hands. Oh, well, actually I'm from California
and before then I was from Utah. So. I didn't know anyone ever moved from California to Iowa? Well, I grew up in California, and then I went to school in Utah, and I got married there and we stayed there for a while, and then, now we're in Iowa I'm teasing, only because I'm from Indiana. Oh, really. I really like, I like the Midwest. Oh. But I married a Texan, and they have a way of dragging you back home. Anyway, we're supposed to be talking about crafts. Do you, um, do you have any hobbies that, that you do things with your hands like knitting or, Um. Well, I crochet, and I do water color, and I, um, sew
and I do fabric painting. Oh, you do a lot then. Do you do needlepoint also and cross stitching? Um, I've done some cross stitching. I haven't tried any needlepoint yet. How about you? Um, actually I, I'm pretty untalented Oh, right. I used to do a lot of knitting and crocheting, um, but I, I don't know, somehow I don't have the time anymore. But I have all these friends that wherever you go, they, they sit down and the next thing you know, they pull out of their, uh, bags some, their most recent, uh, needle craft Oh, really. and in December everyone was doing stockings, you know these gorgeous, detailed minute, tiny stitch stockings. Uh-huh. Oh, gosh. Oh, yeah, well those take a lot of time. Yes. I only can do things that are pretty fast, because we just, um, got our baby last year,
and I just don't have the patience to just, you know, do something. Is this your first baby? Uh-huh. Have you crocheted or knitted any baby clothes or baby blankets? Um, I crocheted an afghan for our bed. That's the only thing, and, and I did a quilt, let's see, I've done a quilt for our baby and I've done a quilt for our bed, but I mean, Did you embroidery the pattern and then quilt it yourself, or how did you make a quilt? Um. Um, our baby's quilt, it was a pre, like the design, I just went around the design in the quilt. Uh-huh. I didn't piece it or anything like that but, uh, But you actually hand quilted it yourself? Uh-huh,
and, Did, did you need a loom, or were you was it small enough that you could just hold it? Um, I put it on the frame, the quilting frame. Have you, are you familiar with that? Uh-huh. Yeah, okay But, um, my, again, my mother back in Indiana, we had a quilting frame in our basement, and she would, she would quilt whole quilts by herself. Oh, my God. Um, yes, which, I was always amazed. I have one of them. Um, but, uh, you know, to have the quilting frame and then to actually do that, it's a tremendous amount of work. Well, I haven't done tons of them But, um, I used to do more before, um, before I had, before we got our baby,
but. Oh, you think, children, you can, um, use crafts to make wonderful things for children. Uh-huh. I think when babies, I think afghans and, and the crocheted little sweaters, and, are, are wonderful. And, and they'll wear them Yes, exactly. Once they get old enough to talk then they no longer will wear them Well, one thing that I like about this fabric painting thing is I can just make a T shirt and put a little ruffle around it and then, um, cut out a little pattern from the material, from some material, like flowers or something, and make, um, a design or, you know, a little arrangement or something on the shirt and, you know, fuse it on with Heat and Bond, or whatever and then paint around it. And I usually sew, sew around the flower, whatever first, and then I paint around it so you can't see the stitching as much. Does, does that make sense to you? So. Oh, yes, I think it's very clever. It's, uh, funny that you said. For Christmas, my daughter and I received matching sweat shirts that a friend had made for us. A beautiful Christmas design,
Oh. and they were matching and they were lovely, but when I washed them, although I took the precaution of turning them inside out I really didn't do anything else. And truly, everything fell off, or most of it. Oh, sure. Uh-huh. Oh, really. So I had, I went and bought just some cloth glue and glued it all back and I bought the paint and redid most of the edges Oh. and, and it was salvageable and I, but it's, so I'm familiar with that, but I think you're very clever to, um, sew around the edges. I think gluing alone, certainly if you wash it any amount of time, it tends to kind of come loose at the edges. Well. Yeah, someone told me that, that it, that they had done it both ways, and I've always, after hearing that, I always sewed it on, even, even with the, uh, a loose zigzag even helps

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