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uh, it's like low impact aerobics but at, it ... Oh, instead of hopping and jumping you just step Uh-huh. Yeah, you, you have a step and you literally step up on the step and move your arms, it's, it's, it's, it's new, Huh. it's fun. I probably couldn't do that because of my knee Uh-huh, bad knee Yeah. Um, and, uh, I do toning a lot and, uh, some, every once in a while I play tennis, Yeah. I'm not too great at it but I, I try to play, Yeah,
I've, I've kind of gotten out of the habit myself, I mean, it's I guess what I do now is I play softball, right now, Uh-huh. that's about, well, right now I'm on two teams so it's four nights a week. Gosh But, uh, uh, so I enjoy it but, as far as, you know, uh, Uh-huh. instead of having to join a health club and make myself go out there, I went and bought a weight bench, and don't ever hardly use it. Uh-huh. Ha, right, I need to make myself do that. yeah, I slacked off a little because of, um, I'm about to graduate from college and so this past couple months have been really hectic
so I haven't really gone, and I've really faithful these past two months of going to the health club and working out but ... What school you going to? I'm at East Carolina. Oh But, um, no, I, uh, my step classes and toning is about the only thing well, I mean ... Now what's, what's toning? Is that lifting weights? It's, um, like isolated movements for each muscle certain muscles groups, Oh, okay. you can do with, Isometrics, stuff like that. Yeah, you can do it with certain, you know, you can do it with weights if you wanted to but, you know, you leave out of there usually the next morning, if you haven't done it in a while, you wake up the next morning
you're like, oh, no, what did I do to myself and your whole body aches, you know. Yeah. Um, I know I'm looking forward to getting back into getting into shape, uh, I feel like I'm out of shape but I feel guilty for not going, because I really I'm, I'm so used to going for, you know, three or four years now. Uh-huh. Yeah, I, stayed in pretty good shape during school. But, um, I played baseball, all the way through Uh-huh. and, you know, working out six hours a day, usually six or seven days a week that kind of, kept us all in pretty good shape, Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. But, uh, ever, ever since I got out of school, you know, just jumped right into the job and, I guess the job that I'm in it's stuff to stay on any kind of a regular schedule. *listen; possible typo stuff = tough? Uh-huh. Uh-huh.
Because I work some weird hours and do some traveling. Uh-huh. No, some, um, I walk a lot because, uh, you know, being in, in school we, Yeah. I don't know if your campus was anything like ours, but our parking lot's in one end of the, of the campus and the school, the buildings are all at the other end, so. No, I didn't have, well, much of a problem we, I guess I went to a small Baptist school and we had about, when I was there, maybe thirteen hundred people. Uh-huh. Oh, okay, that's if ... So, it's pretty small. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. But I usually get in at least a couple of miles at work just walking around the plant. Uh-huh. So, Yeah, it's, uh, I live, I live on the second story apartments so I walk up and down stairs all day long, so. Uh, Uh, we've got a one story house now that's, that's enough. I guess I push the lawn mower around that's, fairly regular Yeah one of the exercise, Yeah. I, I, um, would like to start running. I've never been much of a runner but I want to start,
I want to run but I don't, I don't know if I'll be able to, to do it. What just, because you don't like to or because, because you won't be able to. I'm, I'm afraid I won't be able to. Oh, if you do, if you do aerobics you shouldn't have any problem running. I Yeah. I hope not. Um, We've, we ride our bike occasionally but again not nearly often enough Uh-huh. I don't even own a bike, I think the last time I was on a bike when I was about twelve, so. Uh, I don't know, I'd be afraid, afraid I probably forgot how to ride a bike, you know. No, you can't forget how to ride a bike. Yeah, but, um, no,
I guess that's about the only form, I'm trying to think of, of other things that I do that will be considered exercise, Yeah. there are things I should do. I know Now, when I was going to, I, I went to a junior college for a couple of years and played baseball and then transferred, well, when we were at this junior college, uh, our coach, you know, we, one semester the whole team was required to take aerobics and the next semester they were required to do weight lifting. Uh-huh. So, they, uh, I mean, it was a regular, I mean, we had it for course credit, Uh-huh. but still, I mean, it was pretty high impact stuff, Those aerobic classes are, are tough the, the high impact. Uh-huh. Definitely are, are tough classes.
Yeah, and she'd, uh, you know, most of the guys were all in one class so she'd kind of lay it on occasionally, you know, Uh-huh. First at eight, I think we had eight o'clock in the morning, was our class. Uh-huh. Wake up. Well, now they have those, uh, those exercise bands now that are better that you can use for like toning instead of using a weight, Uh-huh. you have like bands, I don't know, if you've seen them, Yeah. they're ... Yeah, they're, they're weird. I think my wife has some. They're, uh, you they're just made of, I guess it's different kinds of rubber, Uh-huh. uh, and they get, Or sand even some of them,
well, no, they're elastic so I guess it wouldn't be sand. Uh-huh. And there's some that, like the different colors denotes how much they, how much the tension I guess they are and how easy they are to move. Huh. Uh, there's like, I know there's purple, gray, and, uh, green. And some of them are real short and they're the ones that are the tough ones to use, you know. Yeah. But, uh, those classes I, I enjoy. Uh, I think, uh, with the aerobic classes you have to get an instructor that's fun. If you don't have one that's fun, and not enjoy it, look, not acting like she's enjoying what she's doing, the class is not going to get out, uh, what they should get out of the class. Yeah. Uh, if the, So, are you going to get into instructing? Well, what are you studying? Oh, I'm an interior design major, Oh, okay, not in the, not in the, aerobic instructor type field.
Oh. No, no, no, no, oh, I could never do that I don't think, I'd rather just be the student, And, uh, Occasionally I do the weights at the health club but low weights just ... Yeah. Yeah, the, uh, the, some of the Nautilus equipment that I started seeing at the one that we used to go to was really interesting, I mean, they, they, they really know how to isolate each of the different muscle groups, with those things Uh-huh. but, man, they are, it, I don't know to me that was just too much of a hassle to get all geared up and take the time to drive over there, and workout and then drive back Uh-huh. Right. Well, they, um, I just noticed at our health club they put these computerized one, these computerized machines, and you set a speed on it and the weight
and it, and it makes you do it. And it tells you like if you're going too slow it will say, my grandmother could do this faster than you. And stuff like, a turtle goes faster and, um, it tells it and the whole place can hear what this machine is telling you. A little negative reinforcement there while you're going. Yeah So, uh, do that, stuff like that but just I've never used those machines I just use the regular machines and the free weights, you know, like little five pound hand weights and eight pound hand weights. Yeah. to do, you know, some bicep, tricep exercises. Sit-ups, of course. yeah, that's, that's where I'm really starting to get noticeable, Uh-huh. I'm just getting real soft in the middle. Oh, yeah, I think that's, uh, number one problem with everyone Uh-huh.
I haven't really started to put on a lot of weight I'm, I guess I probably put on about ten, nine or ten pounds, since I stopped playing, which was about four years ago. Uh-huh. But I've, just myself I just notice myself just really, real soft and I'm sure I don't have near the endurance that I did, Yeah. But I, I intend, I keep saying I intend to get back into it. Uh-huh. Yeah. I just need to, put the old nose to the grindstone, I, I, I guess at that point it would turn into a task, Uh-huh. I don't consider it fun doing that, but. Right. Yeah, I plan on getting back, once I graduate next weekend. Next weekend? Next weekend. All right.
Yeah, one week, Then I plan to get right back into it. You know, it's, it does a lot for you I think. Yeah, Makes you feel a lot better. oh, no, yeah, there, there's no, no question the, the end result is great and I, I mean, I enjoyed, you know, we, when I was playing ball we could like run all day and not be tired, you know Uh-huh, and I mean you feel so much better, about yourself. Yeah. Uh-huh. Just you know, you don't feel guilty when you eat that cake after dinner, Oh, I still don't, but That's a problem. Oh, yeah,
yeah. Well, good luck on your graduation and your ... All righty, well, thank you. It was nice talking to you. Yeah, you too. Okay, bye-bye. Bye. seems to be a, a topic that's going to probably take about a generation to, uh, catch on, it seems, or maybe a generation to two And we may have to do it out of necessity as far as moving that time schedule up. Uh, it does seem to be a lot of habits to break. I, uh, wasn't raised as a kid on it, but my kids are and so they, they tended to want to grab the aluminum cans when that was one of the first things to do, and we were doing all right there until, uh, the price dropped out and they weren't worth anything anymore. Uh-huh. And we
it took us, almost a year to get a garbage sack full. We just don't drink that many. So as far as at home use, uh, we'll pick up a six pack every once in a while or for whatever occasion of Doctor Pepper or something and, and by the time we gathered up enough crushed cans to take it in, uh, at the time it was still, oh, about forty or fifty cents a pound, and we came out with about a dollar it just really wasn't worth it. And a lot of hassle all year round and cans laying, Yeah. Yeah. So, they, they realized, you know, well, of course to them a dollar was a dollar at four and five years old. That wasn't, uh, that was a big deal, but we decided it wasn't worth us keeping it and then, uh, T I started keeping up with, uh, cans there, so occasionally I'll bring whatever I've got laying around the car or the like and throw them in there. Least it gets back into the system, but, as far as a habit at the house, uh, I haven't started on anything other than just whatever the city wants to pick up. Have you all got the individual containers yet?
No, I read in the paper this week where maybe, I don't know if it was, I guess maybe this week someone may start getting them if the truck that picks them up is outfitted in time. Um. But, it, it should be starting, I would stay probably in the next month if, if everything goes that I'm not sure all what we're going to have to do, whether we have three separate containers, I really don't understand that part on what they've told you to separate everything. Right. Yeah, it seemed like, uh, if, if I recall, it's been a long time. They're way behind schedule on that particular part of it. They were fine on the green, big green containers Uh-huh. but, uh, seems like they said they were just going to have a bin and all different types would go in there and then that they would sort it as as needed. Oh. It, it seemed that there was,
at the time anyway, it, the thinking was that there was too much not getting sorted properly and that at, at the collection sites where everything's clearly labeled and people that happen to go to that kind of trouble to do it, happen to do it pretty well, uh, those are okay to have the general public doing the sorting. But when it comes down to just general purpose trash, that all the houses, uh, the success rate of getting it sorted properly seemed to be poor, so they felt that having one guy just sit there and run through it real quick was better than, than having a household try it. Uh-huh. But I, I don't know, that sounds like an awful lot of labor to sort the entire week's worth of trash for a house. Well, it would get messy, too. Yeah, yeah, I, I, I know other places when they recycle, they have to, like, wash out their glass jars and whatnot. And, uh, which we're not in the habit of doing. Right. That's true. I was brought up, uh, you know, long time ago, that they didn't even have cans. They had bottles and you'd return them to the the grocery store Right. and you'd get our money back and that, that was all well and good. They don't seem to still be doing that.
If they could just eliminate the cans and use glass, but, I guess this day and age they don't. Yeah. They don't do that. We live next to a set of railroad tracks and it seemed to be a very popular thing for people driving by that highway there, by our tracks to throw the bottles at the tracks and try to crash, you know break them, Uh-huh. but, uh, they weren't that successful, so there were a lot of bottles to be returned and we just walk about a half a mile in each direction and gathered up enough to buy whatever we wanted for the day Uh-huh. and, Yeah, and they, uh, I, I think kids don't appreciate, maybe the value of money, that it's so little that they don't care, they can get more somewhere else. Yeah, just a little bit of begging will Uh, for a good, right.
They're, the nickels, the dimes or what, I suppose it might be quarters, fifty cent pieces in these days, that they would get, they, the kids just don't seem to, to care that, that much about a small amount of money. Right. Well, I wonder, But, we, we did buy a can crusher and we are crushing cans and when we buy the soda when it's on sale for ninety-nine cents, so I would say in the last three years, we've probably used a lot more cans than ever before. Yeah. Uh, it was just easier to do that than to open a large liter bottle and then have it go flat. Right, yeah. So that's the main reason we're, we, sort of are into cans at this point rather than the liter bottles Where do you take your cans? Well, as you say, it takes a while to build it up. Since we've had the crusher all summer, we I guess we just now maybe have a bag full that we haven't oh, I think the kids, when we were on vacation, they said they did take them to a, a recycling place, probably at one of the Hello, Lynn. Yes. Okay.
Do you have any pets? Yes, I have a dog and cat now. Oh, what are their names? Tibby and Liberty. Which is the dog and which is the cat? Tibby is the dog and Liberty is the cat. Uh, wife and I, we have, we have two cats. Oh. Uh, one's real nice, but the other one is a, well, she's pretty wild. Oh Ours are pretty calm. Yeah, are they, um, just house pets? Uh-huh. Yeah, that's, that's what ours are too. Yeah.
Our cat we got from the pound the day the night she was going to be put to sleep. So that's why we call her Liberty. Oh, really. Oh, well, that's a nice, nice story. Um. Do you want to hear about my other animals I've had? Sure, sure. I've had a skunk Yeah. I've had a Burmese python, I've had rats, I've had mice Wow. uh, let's see, I've had gerbils, I have, I had a son, he's now gone from the home, that was an animal lover. Uh-huh. So at one point I had a snake, skunk, dog and cat running loose in the house. Wow. Um, do the skunk, uh, was it kind of like a cat to have around the house?
Yes Yeah. it was litter trained Yeah. and we had it perfumed Uh-huh. and, uh, it was very aggressive. Right. But all the, all three of them, dog, cat and skunk, used to chase each other all through the house. Uh-huh, and the skunk. And the only thing we have with the skunk, he was very, very protective of his territory being the sofa and the blanket on the sofa. Oh, yeah. Um. Nobody came near it when he was there. Oh. Uh, I had, I had a dog one time, and, uh, he chased after a, after a skunk and got sprayed Oh. so we had to, we had to give him a tomato, tomato juice bath, and, uh, get him cleaned up,
Yeah, they um, ours would still back up to the dog or cat when he got mad and try to perfume them, but the glands had been removed Uh-huh. so, Right, but I suppose it was still in the instinct of them to to back up and get ready. Right. Yeah, why, I don't know, I, I think they're kind of nice to have, they're kind of, you know, just relaxing to, I don't know, to pet and to, I don't know, when they like sit up on your lap and stuff like that, just kind of enjoyable to, you know, have like, I don't know, something giving you some affection as well. Yeah, I always said if I Well, I always said if I died I'd come back as a dog What, what do you think? Oh, yeah.
Yeah. That'd be the best way to be. Yeah. Um, do you like big dogs or or little dogs? Well we had a German Shepherd and he had dysplasia Uh-huh. and he had it for about three or four years where we just about had to lift him and carry him every place he went. Really. So, when he died, we got a little one. Yeah. But our shepherd was almost thirteen years old, and it just, you know, was almost cruel because, Uh-huh almost cruel for him to, to walk. Yeah, he just, he couldn't get up, he couldn't walk, so, he was a hundred and twenty pounds, so it was a chore.
Wow, yeah. So we said the next time around we'd get something little that if something happened, it would be easier to carry. Sure. Yeah. And then we've had three cats in our married life, and we've got a calico now. Yeah, we've got a calico cat too. Do you? Yeah, yeah, she's the, she's the nice one. We, uh, we used to live in an apartment and like, our cats never went outside, but, um, the neighbors used to let their dogs out, and our neighbors were, I don't know, kind of slimy, and, uh, our cats wound up getting fleas, uh, from the apartment that we were in Um. so, we had to, we had to flea bath them and it was, uh, it was an experience that they didn't enjoy at all.
Yeah, well, don't even talk to me, I, when I was single I had gone away for the weekend, Yeah. and my husband, then fianc3e, was to keep my cat, and he let her out, and my house was loaded with fleas, I mean, you walked in and your legs were just black. Really. And we had such a time, and never got the cat back. Really. Yeah, I found it, you know, in the street. Oh. I was a social worker at the time, and found it, Now is it Stacy? Angie. Angie, I'm sorry.
Okay. Well, now, so if you were going to have a dinner party, what would you make? Um, let's see, uh, I like seafood. Uh, let's see, uh, shrimp, steamed uh, shellfish with maybe herbs. Uh, spicy lobster with linguini. That sounds good. Yeah. Now what is, uh, what is, uh, the steamed shellfish you said? Uh-huh. And what would that be like, a clam or, uh, Right. Okay. Yeah. Uh, I think hors d'oeuvres are good, too. Uh, and that way, you can have a variety. Uh, So if you have a, a dinner party and you're going to serve, uh, seafood for supper, what type of, uh, hors d'oeuvres would you serve prior to the meal? Uh, Like cheeses or fruits or vegetables or,
Yeah, fresh vegetables would be good or, uh, just, Probably not nachos and dip, huh? No. And would you, uh, would it be appropriate to, uh, drink with the, uh, prior, when you have the hors d'oeuvres? Yeah, yeah. Okay. And then when you serve the meal, what type of wine would you have with, uh, with the, with seafood? Oh, all these hard questions Uh, what, white wine? That would be my guess. Yeah. And, And then, uh, uh, dessert. I'm not really a drinker, so I'm not, I don't know a lot about that. Something sweet? Oh, goodness. Uh, chocolate, something chocolate.
Uh You must like chocolate. Yes. Well, let's see. Usually when we have a dinner party, I always, I like to grill. Oh, you do? So, we might have some cocktails ahead of time and maybe some, uh, some dip, uh, some cheese. One of our favorites is, uh, to take some, let's see Philadelphia cream cheese I think, is that what comes in those little blocks? And pour cocktail sauce over the top of it and then get these little canned shrimp and, uh, wash them and cool them and then dump them in the, uh, sauce and then take crackers Uh-huh. Yeah. and then you just dip the cracker in the sauce with the clams and the cream cheese and you have a real nice dip that goes good with a cocktail. And then I like to barbecue, like steaks or pork chops. And then we have, uh, oh, lot of times we'll have baked potatoes with them and a salad Uh-huh. and then, uh, I don't know what we usually have for dessert. Cake sometimes, but, uh, that's what we would do for a dinner party, I guess. That sounds good, too. But that's, I guess when you talk about dinner party, that's probably not, uh, that's more for like when friends come over.
Traditional right? Traditional, yeah. Yeah. I wouldn't be the big, uh, snotty kind. I just started, I just really started, uh, uh, learning about that and I bought a Martha Stewart, I don't know if you've heard of her. Huh-uh. Her cookbook and she talks about catering and, uh, you know, goes into, goes into all that and the different types of, uh, uh, different types of parties, you know, different types of foods. Oh, well, do you work in a, uh, in a setting where you, uh, are in the food business? Um, my father owns a restaurant. Oh, in, uh, Is it in Dallas? It's, it's just a, uh, a cafe, so it's not really anything, you know, that I want to, it's not the same Uh, it's in Lewisville. Okay,
all right. So you graduated from which high school? Trinity. Trinity, okay. And that's a public school or private? That's public. Huh, okay, I have to get to know this area a little better, I guess. Uh, well, is your father's cafe, uh, one that you could cater out of? No, uh-huh, *listen; mistranscription of 'uh-uh'? it's not. Um, and he's not interested in letting his twenty-one year old daughter experiment with it probably. Uh. Well, let's see, what else for catering. Uh, Let's see, what about Hawaiian luau. Oh, that would be good.
Could have, uh, uh, fruits and, and pineapple, uh, let's see, uh, And you could actually go with, uh, a chicken if you wanted to. I think, I think decorating your food is, you know, really, Uh, we have a Sheltie Collie, a miniature Sheltie. Do you? Yeah. It's about, oh, about six months old, and we're we live in an apartment, so, we don't have a yard, so it has to stay inside and we're having a difficult time trying to train it. How old is it? It's about six months. Uh, you, you're, you're in the roughest stages of pet ownership, I think. Really? But they're supposed to be real intelligent dogs, but I guess every one, one one, one of them, or every once in a while, you get one that's not so intelligent because this one, it. Well. I don't, I don't know if that has anything to do with the intelligence, really, the, the, the training bit, uh.
I've had dogs through the years. Right now I've got two, and three cats, but, uh, and my son and daughter-in-law have kind of a Sheltie mix, and we watched it this summer for two to three months, and it wasn't trained quite fully either Uh-huh. and, uh, but it was a sweet and an intelligent dog. Yeah, so how'd you all, how do you, what's the best method? I don't know. I, I'm old fashioned, and when I got my, my dogs, when they, when they did something I hollered at them and threw them outside. Right. They say that's not the way to do it now. You're just supposed to Stand outside with them until they. No, just, just, put them outside, I guess. Unless you catch them in the act. Well, we're hardly ever at home,
so it's kind of difficult, Yeah. and, you know, you don't want to, you don't want to spank it or scare it, or anything like that, so. No, no, you don't want to do that, but, uh. Yeah, we, we try to take it, you know, it gets, it gets frustrating when you take it outside and, you know and then it runs right inside Does, does it just want to sniff around? Does it just want to sniff around and play when it's outside? Yeah, a lot of times, and you know, it won't it's little job outside Yeah. and it comes inside. Have you praised it and given it a treat maybe when it does something outside?
Uh, yeah, we've tried that, and, uh, you know, there's certain spots in the house where he likes to go, Yeah. so, and he chews on plants and all that, but, you know, that's natural for a little puppy. Huh? That's nothing, huh. Well, it, it, it'll, it'll catch on pretty soon, I'll, I'll bet you. I, I have a sixteen year old, almost sixteen year old Golden Retriever, and she's gone the other way, because she's so old, she doesn't have much control Oh, really. so we're battling with that problem Oh, that's sad. and she still feels good. Uh, she can't hear worth a darn or see very well, but she's got a great appetite, and she knows we're there, by smell. How old is it? She'll be sixteen in May.
Man that's sad. And yeah, but we can't bear to do anything because she's been our friend for all these years, Oh, of course not. so we're putting up with all her accidents, I couldn't. and the two nights ago, she had diarrhea, and so that was a bad one. But, uh, I think we're buying a carpet shampooer this weekend That is really sad. What, what's the deal, we, we try to, we're trying to take it on walks now, you know Uh-huh. and we can't because it's not accustomed to being on a leash Yeah. and so it, I mean this dog really feels like it's being killed or something when you try to, you know, tug on it to walk it. I mean, it just goes like a mad dog, I mean it just jumps up and down and starts yapping, and it's, you know, I mean, it's not even close to even being trained on a leash.
Does it, oh. Uh-huh. You know, maybe you you can get it signed up this spring or summer for some of the dog obedience classes. Uh-huh. Well, we've heard bad, we've heard some bad things about some of those, you know, they sometimes misuse their license or whatever you know, Oh. they treat them bad. Well, you know, we went, we went to the junior college, Richland Oh, really? and we took, my, my daughter was living at home then, and she took our Golden Retriever, oh, not the Golden Retriever, the Norwegian Elk Hound over there Oh, really? and, it, it, it's a pretty good class, and they did pretty good, except this dog is, she's just pretty, she's not smart Uh-huh. So, she didn't learn a lot,
but it, I think it calmed her down a little bit, and she's used to being around other dogs now. How long did it take? I think it was like a six week program. Every, what? Uh, I think it was one night a week for like six weeks, Oh, really? and, uh, you know, it was a group class, outside. It was fairly reasonable, too. Well, Sheltie Collies are, you know, timid, and they don't really, unless they get used to something, they're really nervous and. Yeah, they're, they're usually, a high-strung dog aren't they? Yeah, yeah, and, uh, if they're not accustomed to something, they, they're really scared. So. Um, our, our friend has a,
Okay, um, I guess we're going to talk, describe, uh, job benefits, and so what do you think, next to salary do you rank, is the most important job benefits? Uh, I would say the medical, uh, group insurance area as far as, uh, covering medical costs for yourself or family members. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Well, um, does your company have good benefits in that, in that regard? Yeah, I think, I work for a public school system, district Uh-huh. and, uh, so it's different than a company where most companies fund almost the entire thing, where the school district does, um, the employee must pick up a greater figure in the way of, uh, costs. Oh, yeah. But overall, um, I've been pleased with it over the years. Uh-huh. I think the biggest frustration is because of the cost of insurance going up every year, our district has had to alter, uh, you know, change companies, or now we're on a managed care thing, which has stressed a lot of people out although it has not disturbed me any. Uh-huh. I see.
How about yourself? Uh, well I'm, my medical coverage is with an H M O Uh-huh. um, so, that's, in my opinion, that's that's bordering on a health clinic, but it seems to be a good way to maintain costs and still provide a good amount of coverage. Right, yeah. Um. Our district did that for the ninety-one and the ninety school year, or calendar years, and I was in the H M O, and, um, I was because my, my same doctor, you know, agreed to be in it for, uh, they usually sign a contract or something Uh-huh. and, um, uh, I did have surgery last summer and I paid ten dollars when I went to see him that first day, and I've never seen another bill, so I I have to say it really works. Right. But, again, I was fortunate because my doctor agreed to be in it.
Uh, if you've been going to a doctor for, you know, ten years or something and he elects not to join, it can be very stressful for you know, those people. Yes. That's right, yeah, I'm, I'm fairly young myself, I've only been, when I first started working which, three years ago is when I first got into full time employment Uh-huh. and, uh, at that time I immediately joined the H M O, and I never really, so the only doctor I, I've kind of consistently had has been through the H M O, and, uh you know, for me it's worked out real good. Yeah. Right, but if you, you know, have a family and, and, um, everybody's gone to different doctors, uh, it is hard to give up somebody who you feel knows you and your body and your, just has, you know, all the medical history and you feel comfortable with it. Uh-huh. I, I'm sure it would be very stressful and, my husband and I have just elected that if that happens, I will go and just pay.
You can continue to go to your own doctor Uh-huh. but your benefits are not as, you know, good, so, uh. Uh-huh. Yeah, um, like you, you mentioned you work for a school system. I work for, uh, Georgia Tech in the research branch, Oh, all right. and I guess another one that, that I rank up there high is the, uh, kind of job flexibility and time off, um, I enjoy as a benefit. I do too. Are you talking about like Spring Break and, Right Right. yeah, getting a lot of breaks between quarters and that, and having a lot of vacation. Right. It, it really, um, I don't think most of our teachers,
now I'm not a teacher, I am a secretarial executive assistant, but I don't think the teachers could stand the stress all, all year long frankly. Uh-huh. It is just, Texas has really, um, you know, they want everybody educated, no matter what it costs, uh, and it, it would be just, we all look forward to, like in two weeks we have Spring Break, and I don't know who looks forward to it more, the students or the teachers and the staff. Uh-huh. Right. What do you do there? Well, um, I'm not actually on the teaching faculty, but we have a large research organization associated with the university, and that's who I work with. Okay. Um, and we're given, you know, a good bit of flexibility in what we do. We can kind of pursue our own interests in terms of the research areas that we study. Well, that's good.
Yeah, I would think that that type of employment, you're, you're, one day you might be really tuned in and the next day, oh, a little luke warm or something Right. and, um, it's good that they allow you that. Right. It, um, as I say, the schools, now we do have to work, you know, the day, but we do get many days off, and, uh, we all look forward to it. Uh-huh. That's the only reason I work there, is that my children now have graduated, and graduated from college but at the time, I worked there because my hours and days were the same as theirs Oh, yeah. Uh-huh. and, uh, I've just continued to, uh, stay there Are there, are there any things that, that you'd like to see changed in terms of the, the benefits? Okay, I guess it took, so I guess the recording has started now.
Yeah. Uh. So, have you ever served on a jury? I served, I was in the Air Force, and served on a court martial, uh, board a couple of times, which is very similar to a jury. A lot of the same rules apply. Have you ever served on one? Yeah, I finally served on one last year. I've, um, been voting for years, and I couldn't figure out why I hadn't been called yet Uh-huh. and I finally was. So it was an interesting experience. I was kind of boring. *listen; should I be "it" Was it civil or criminal? Uh, it was, uh uh, it was, uh, well, let's see, it was municipal court A grand jury or, Uh-huh. so it was a combination of, uh,
and I was in the pool for a couple of weeks I see. so it was a combination of criminal and civil, and they had, uh, well most of the time we, we spent sitting around in the jury room and getting to know the other potential jurors Uh-huh. and then, it was always exciting when we got called to, to, to go, because then we thought we might be able to do something else besides, uh, just sit in the jury room. Uh-huh. Uh, did, did the judge, uh, hand down sentences or did you folks do that? Uh, yeah, the judge did. Uh, I, uh, I had a hard time getting seated on a jury. I kept getting, uh, I'd be questioned, uh, for empaneling the jury, and they kept, uh, dismissing me. Uh-huh. Um. Course they don't have to give a reason, but it's just whether the prosecutor or the defense attorney feels like, you know,
No. they want to get the best, uh, mix for their case, so they ask all kinds of wild questions. That that's a science in itself. Yeah, well I kept getting called up for drunk driving questions, and I think part of it was they didn't, uh, they didn't like the fact that I don't drink any more. So. Uh-huh, I see. Because you'd probably be, uh, too puritanical and Yeah, that was probably it, although in my case I might have been more, uh, sympathetic with the person who got caught, I don't know. Uh-huh. So, uh, were, were the, uh, sentences that the judge handed out what you thought to be fair, or would, if you were deciding, do you think that they would have been different.
Well, I was never there, never there for any sentencing. Uh, I finally got empaneled on one case, uh, on my next to the last day, and, uh, we got into the, uh, jury room to, uh, decide the case, and there was one guy on the jury who announced to everybody that he didn't need to deliberate, because he'd already decided that the guy was, uh, not guilty, and he would never vote for guilty. Huh. So, uh, they appointed me jury, jury foreman and I, uh, didn't think that, uh, going in without deliberating allowed us to reach a verdict, so I told the judge that we weren't, were unable to reach a verdict because we couldn't get one member of the jury to deliberate. Um. So the whole thing had to be tried over again. Wow, I bet that made him happy. Yeah. Yeah, it was, uh, it was funny. The, uh, I I, I don't know, I, uh, I didn't, uh, uh, I didn't like not being able to deliberate. Right.
I, uh, I, I wanted to vote guilty for the guy, and the other people were kind of mixed Uh-huh. so, uh, the guy had to go through the whole thing all over again. Cost him a lot of money, I'm sure. Yeah. Oh, how many members were on the jury? Was it a six or twelve member jury? Uh, it must have been six. Uh-huh. Yeah. That's kind of curious to me. I didn't realize until the, uh, Wayne Kennedy Smith trial, uh, a few months ago that they had six member juries. I thought that they, you know, it was always twelve, twelve men tried and true, so to speak. Um. But, uh, apparently for some, some crimes, it's permissible to have six people sit in judgment. Um. I know on a getting to this unanimous thing, whether, you know, a jury should be unanimous or not, or not, in a court martial case it doesn't require the jury to be unanimous.
It's a simple majority, you know, rules. Yeah. Well, let's see, is it on, uh, capital crimes that they have to be unanimous and, Probably on capital, I don't know, we weren't, we, we, the two that I were on had to do with drugs Uh-huh. and, uh, we were, uh, unanimous is acquitting the person, even though we in our, in our, uh, gut felt that the individuals were both guilty just because of the friends, because of various things, the government really failed to prove its case, and, you know, being fair to the person, if the government doesn't prove its case, no matter how you feel, you have to go by what's offered as proof, and we had to acquit him in both cases. Uh, it was too circumstantial? Uh, yeah, it was, yeah, in some of the critical things, like the special investigations, at one time in one of the cases had videotaped this person, but something happened to the camera and the tape and Um. all they could do was testify,
Do you ever think that there's a crime that's just so heinous and so bad that the person who commits this crime just doesn't deserve to live anymore? That's a good question. Uh, there would be a point, there was a point where I would have said, no, that no one would deserve to die for, for a crime that he committed. But, uh, since I've become a parent and since I've seen, uh, things like Jeffrey I really have to question that. I really, uh, I, I can't conceive of someone being that brutal to that many other people. Uh-huh. And, uh, try and figure out what would be a suitable punishment. Uh, Of the statements made by people against the, the death penalty, um, I, I like the statement made by Cuomo. Cuomo I believe is, um, he's, he's governor of New York but, uh, he's, uh, against the death penalty. But, um, he said that he would, he would want to, to seriously hurt or if not kill someone if, if they did something to his wife. And that's, but, but, even, even in that in that, uh, uh, situation he would he would hope that there would be people around him who would, uh, keep him from doing the, doing the things. Oh, it's a, uh, it's a question of your, your gut reactions to something like that versus an intelligent reason response. Right, exactly. Uh, and that was the thing that, uh, killed Dukakis back, uh, four years ago when someone asked him a similar question and he, he thought for a second and gave a thoughtful well reasoned reply when, uh, people wanted to see if he was going to go for an emotion uh, a gut level reaction.
Uh-huh. And I think that the people who are strongly in favor of the death penalty are really working from that gut level. Uh, you know, whether it be a biblical force, uh, you know, the eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a life for a knife, life type logic or just, uh, uh, some sort of anger at putting putting, uh, murderers up in federal pens for the rest of their life, uh, while we foot the bill. Yeah. I think people are, are working at that from more of a, uh, a gut reaction than a, a reason humane one. See, I don't think the decisions that are going to be made on on the death penalty until we decide what our prison system is intended to do. Are they reformatories, where we're trying to take people who can't survive or, or that, that aren't conforming enough to society so that, that we work well together. Or are they, is it a penal institution? Is it, is, is it designed for punishment? Um, the death penalty surely fits in well with, uh, in a penal situation where you're trying to punishment. Uh, perhaps not in the manner that we do it but, but it, in, in theory it fits in. In system, in a reformatory, I mean if you, if you put someone to death you obviously, can't reform them. That's true. So. Uh, the other argument is that the death penalty is a deterrent and I really don't, uh, agree with that. I don't think anyone who would commit a, uh, a crime that would get them the death penalty would stop at the moment and say, well, I was about to kill and dismember this person
but, oh, if they catch me they're going to kill me so I better not do it. I, I just, don't think that, uh, that it works that way. Yeah. I don't think it's done. I don't think we run it as a deterrent. I mean people say that, but, I mean, if it was really a deterrent, I mean I think like horse thieves in the old west, you know, they saw other horse thieves hanging by the necks every once in a while. Uh-huh. And if we really if it was really seriously going to be a deterrent, I would think that it would be public. I mean I don't think it would be this private thing because nobody ever, nobody ever sees it. If someone ever, if, you know, like say some young kids or something like that that might be inclined more towards a life of crime, had to sit and watch and, and see a guy burn or, or, you know, something or shot by a firing squad or something like that. I would think you'd make a bigger impact on their life rather than, you know, telling them that there's, there's protestors out here at the, you know. Well, I, I don't know if that would really work that way or not. Uh, there's a lot of violence, Um, are you working right now? Uh, yes,
I am. I'm working in the computer science department here uh, at C M U. Uh, What kind of, what kind of work do you do? Uh, I'm doing basically system, system design work and, uh, implementation work for the speech, for the speech group uh, here. Uh-huh. Oh. is that how you heard about this thing? Yeah, Uh, actually through electronic mail. Uh-huh. Me too. I work at, uh, the Georgia Tech Research Institute. Uh-huh. Um, I'm a co-op student so I work and go to school about halftime. And, uh, I really don't have any job benefits to speak of. We're kind of, um, I don't know,
they just kind of forget us on that end. We don't really have any vacation or, you know, sick days or health care or anything really so. Right. So it's pretty fair they've got you slaving away, at, at this point Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. What about you? Well, um, I'm research stuff here now so what they, they have, uh, um, okay, benefits package. It's not quite as good as industry but one of the significant, um, benefits here is that you can take, uh, up to two courses a semester, um, and they pay for you know, pay for the classes. Huh. So, that works out to be, um, a reasonable, a reasonable benefit. Yeah. Uh, they do that I think if you're, uh, research here then I know of some of the people that have gotten their masters and I think that, um, they might, you know, pay for that. Pay for the classes and stuff
Uh-huh. but I know they let you, they'll let you decrease how many hours you work by kind of percentage. You know, they'll let you work halftime if you want to, if you want to finish, If you want to, do it quickly. you want to, Yeah. They'll let you work, decrease your number of hours by any percentage just, just about so if you want to get your masters and then, I think of course you get like a, with your extra degrees you get a pay raise due so that will probably help out. Uh-huh, uh-huh. Yeah. Yeah. So I, I don't know in, in terms of other things, other benefits other than sort of monetary I'd, you know, I, Yeah, we, we do. We have to contribute a certain amount, uh, to it. Uh-huh. And it's kind of split between C M U and, and, you know, the employee.
Yeah. Yeah, I think, I mean that's pretty, that's a pretty important, uh, part of it there because that, that can be really expensive if you ever have any health problems. My dad, I think my, I'm still covered on, with my dad's, uh, health plan at his, where he works, but it would definitely be something to look into once I get my own. Right. Yeah, and it's also, right now it's, uh, the, like everywhere else, uh, here in Pittsburgh the health care, uh, rates are, are going up pretty quickly. Uh-huh. That's a whole other topic to begin with too but. Yeah, but it's, you are right. I, I, I really agree that, that that's pretty important. the I think the, I guess the only real, um, benefit I guess you could say working, for me working here, besides I mean I'm learning and stuff because, I'm at, you know, in school. Right.
But there's, there's some where, uh, uh, student employees working for the government don't have to pay Social Security tax. that's about, five percent right there Right. Uh-huh Oh Now that's a big win. so. Yeah, yeah. That's, That's about the only real bonus Yeah. I have, so I have to take that into consideration when I evaluate like how much I get paid you know, because if I was working somewhere else I'd have to, you know, pay an extra five percent, or so. Yeah. I figured for and they've just raised the, um, income caps on Social Security to the point where you have to be pretty, you have to be pretty well off before you stop paying paying that as well. Huh. Yeah. Yeah, well if you could call it a benefit that C M U, I mean the other thing that they allow you to do here while you are working is, is consult for, um, you know, other companies.
Oh, yeah? Um, so that's, that kind of helps out in terms of, you know, keeping up-to-date with contacts in industry. Uh-huh. Yeah. You know, in case, you know, in case you ever need to bail out help a lot. Yeah. See around, around here it's like, uh, we pretty much work from project to project on, well, you know, with different sponsors. Uh-huh. There's not, there is not a whole lot of, you know, funded research from, Type of music is hot down in Texas? Uh, well, I don't know exactly what's hot down in Texas. I know what's hot down here with me, so that's about all I can feel apt to discuss with you since I just know, I don't ever listen to the radio and that's usually what's hot around here so, So, what kind of music do you like? Oh, okay. Uh, mostly folk music.
Folk music. Yeah, I find myself, uh, listening to a lot of, uh, uh, either old timer or New England, uh, dance bands as well as, uh, just more popular folk music and new artists coming up. Uh-huh. Well, we're on totally different wavelengths. Okay. I'm more, uh, old rock and roll, uh, some new, newer, I guess you would call it heavy metal rock and roll type you know, uh, Van Halen, that kind of thing. Uh-huh. Yeah, what about, uh, classic rock type stations. Uh, I don't listen to the radio at all. We live in a fairly small town, so uh, classic rock for me is what I have, which is like, uh, Doors, Eagles, Jimmy Hendrix. Oh, okay. So, some some of the older Eagles stuff was good. Uh, Yeah. I, I didn't like, uh, they started getting a little more, you know, the type of music, at least to me, it's, uh, sounds like it's only sounds good at a high volumes
and I don't like listening at high volumes. Yeah. Yeah. But, uh, some of their older stuff was, uh, you know, quite enjoyable to me. Yeah, well they, You know, Hotel California and that era. Yeah, yeah that does, that's something you don't, doesn't even sound good loud really. You know. Yeah. You know, definitely. Uh, so, anything new you like coming out now, other than folk music, some I might know of. I don't know any folk music at all. Well, down in Texas, uh, you know, little, listen to a little country every now and then. Yeah, oh yeah, here, I'm sure there's a lot of that down there. Oh, plenty.
Way, way more than I can stand down here. I, I don't care for it at all, that Texas twang or whatever you want to call it. I, Well, there, there's a Conway Twitty twang, then there's the, uh, Dolly Parton, uh, Hollywood sound. Yeah, yeah, that's more, even more commercialized for of country music. Yeah. But, uh, it's getting, uh, uh, getting pretty big everywhere, as I see it. Garth Brooks is outselling Guns and Roses so, Yeah, I think some of them, the artists are even, uh, hitting the pop charts. Yeah, it's, it's kind of strange that it's getting as big as it is. Concert tours for country and western sings is, it's, it's quite, quite odd, but, uh, I don't know, it's, music is kind of going an odd direction nowadays, I think. It's becoming not necessarily good music, just popular music, you know.
Hey, I, I, I think most artists are in to make a few bucks. Yeah, and that's all it, But they're not in it to say anything or give a message which is what they were Yeah. late, late sixties, early seventies, they were they were definitely pushing a message. That's what it, Yeah, that's what, what you say, and, and then music is wrapped around now. Now, it's the other way around. Yeah, I, I don't, I don't think Gun, at least to my mind, Guns and Roses doesn't have too much of a message, too much to say. No, no, they don't have anything really important you want to hear. But, you know, it's kind of odd, it's like, it doesn't have to be good,
it's just who does it, you know. Uh-huh. You hear a, you hear a Paula Abdul song and you, and I think, if somebody else were to play that, you know, they wouldn't, they, nobody, everybody would think, that's lousy, but because she did it, it's supposed to be good, you know, it comes to the point where it's your name, not what you do more than anything. Right. Madonna can do anything and it would be considered good because it's Madonna, you know. Right. Madonna could start playing folk music and folk music would be huge just because Madonna does it, so it's, it's, it's really backwards how things are working now Uh-huh but, Yeah, it's the artist, not the merit. Yeah, exactly.
So, I don't know, I, I don't know that that's, I don't think that's a good thing at all, but that's that's what the, point we've reached, so I don't know how how much farther we can digress before we have to turn it around and go the other way, at least. Yeah. Well, I don't know, I know for myself that, uh, for the most part, I don't know which artist is which, so I listen to a song, I either like the song or I don't like it Yeah. and then if I really like the song, eventually I'll figure out who it was. Yeah. Yeah, that's about how I am on popular music. I don't, you know, you don't, I don't know enough about it because I just listen, uh, everything I listen to is what I buy, not whatever they play on the radio so, Well, you have to figure out what to buy, or do you just buy along the same artist? Uh, I,
yeah, I just mostly buy along the same lines all the time. I don't really switch around to new things very often. Yeah. It's just, it's, you know, it's way to hectic and too confusing. Yeah, so you keep buying the same artists until you don't like an album, then you stop? Uh, yeah, generally, or, about the only new music I hear is somebody else that I know will buy something new that I haven't heard Yeah. and I listen to it that way, but as far as, yeah, I don't go out on a limb and buy something new very often unless I've heard it. Yeah, see, that's one thing I like about the, uh, some of the folk music scenes, you know, there's a couple of nice, uh, small coffee houses up in New Jersey. Yeah.
And, it's very nice, you go into the coffee house and, you know, an artist is there and very often the artist will have a an album and, so if you like the artist, you buy the album. Yeah. So you definitely get to try before you buy. Yeah, yeah, that's definitely I, You know, it, you, you, you don't always quite get it right, Okay. Okay, you go first. Well, I have, uh, two kids, I have one seven and one five Uh-huh. and, uh, they're in a public school here in Tyler
and, uh, I'm happy with it. Uh-huh. I'm happy with the school, it's great, good teachers good curriculum, uh, they learn a lot, they have no problems, uh, but I do live in the better, well, in the best part of the city, though, I live in, you know, the real richy part, I guess. I'm not, but, everybody around me is and, uh, but they're, I have friends that live in the other, the less fortunate or whatever you want to call it part of town and their schools are kind of rundown and, uh, older and they don't really offer as much, I don't know, as, uh, the school that my girls are in. I don't really think that's fair. You know. Uh-huh. Uh, but, you know, I'm happy with what they're in, so, go ahead
Well, yeah, it, it's, it's pretty much what I was going to say is there's a lot of disparity between different neighborhoods and what sort of schools go in. Uh-huh. Uh, I grew up in New York and uh, the place, Wow. or not New York City, upstate New York Uh-huh. and I went to, uh, the City of Rochester School District Uh-huh. and a lot of my friends were in one of the neighboring suburbs and it wasn't, we weren't too far removed geographically from each other, but the difference in schools I think was pretty substantial Uh-huh. and, uh, one of the things that probably would have been better if, is if the entire county had had, had just one school system. Right. And that would result in some, uh, could result in more equitable distribution of money because what was happening was, you know, all the very rich people went out to the, move out to the suburbs and the city had a very low tax base so they didn't have a lot of money to work with.
Uh-huh. As a result, the schools were rundown, there wasn't as many, you know, of the nice supplies in science class that we would have liked. There wasn't as many advanced placement courses, uh, when I was a senior that some other schools had. Uh-huh. And, uh, it, it, so I, you know, I think that one of the things, one of the ways to, to, to help schools in general, uh, and get them all to a minimum level of, of, of competency almost, would be to expand the size of school districts so you get a wider variety of people, and the, the problem with that is then, then, then people will either, the rich people will either pull their kids out of the public school and put them in private schools or they'll move farther away to get better schools. Yeah. Right So, you know it, it's kind of, you end up chasing, like a dog chasing its own tail sort of. Also, uh, the, the family environment, you know, you can come to south Tyler where I live and you have got room mothers in every room, you've got art mothers, you've got every, every holiday, there's parties. All these kids have these really supportive, really supportive parents, always up there for something. Yeah. You can go to north Tyler to the schools
and the parents might not could even tell you what their kid's teacher's name is. You know, Uh-huh. uh, that has a, a whole lot to do with it, you know, as far as their learning, I mean, if the parents aren't, uh, you know, willing to go with the kids and find out what they're learning and if they're learning you know, they really don't have much of a chance at all. Uh-huh. Yeah. Why is that? Huh? Why is that? Why You they just don't, I mean, I mean, I'm, I'm up there at my kids' school, I know what they're learning and if they're up, I call and find out, you know, is she having problems, does she need help with anything, no, she's doing fine, okay, you know, uh, and I, I know kids that their parents could really give a rip
and the kids are not motivated. Right. Right. They have no motivation from home, so they just go to school and, you know, you know, I'll get through the day, and, uh, bring homework home and, there's nobody to, to sit them down and say, you're going to do this. Right. Uh, just, you know, they, they take a notion to do it, they do, and, uh, that doesn't work either, you know, they have to have guidance and uh, they can't just have it at school and then come home Uh-huh. and there's nothing, you know. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I know that that, that was a big factor for me. I ended up coming out of, of the public school system very well and was very good education, uh,
Uh-huh. ended up getting some scholarships to go to college and which has been, you know, which is really nice, Uh-huh. and I think the difference for me was that my parents were, you know, they were definitely, they were always there, Yeah. was, like, well, yeah, of course you're going to study and do well and that's the way, of course, are you, The last auto repair I had was I have a nineteen eighty-four Nissan truck I had a tune up done and I had, I had the brakes done on it and then, the reason I did that was because I don't have a scope and it has eight spark plugs and it's hard to, to get get at them and plus the time on them. I just don't have time any more. Uh, as far as maintenance tasks that I do myself, I, I usually change the oil and wash the air filter
and I, I had an occasion to change, to have to change the battery once, but, the brakes, I was really surprised that the brakes I wanted, I do have the background. I know what needs to be done and I know that the oil needs, should be changed very regularly and all of the bearings and the lube, lubrication system needs to be lubricated and so I, I stay on top of that but I I wanted my front wheels, I wanted the bearings packed and they wanted something like fifteen dollars, uh, a front or something like that or maybe it was thirty dollars to do it Just to pack the bearings? just to pack the bearings, but what I found is that they had a brake job and they, I had them, the other thing I let them do some times is that I let them go through and let them tell me what, let them do the diagnostics. That's free, okay.
And then I can decide whether I want them to do it or whether I can do it, see. Right. And they told me that my, my brake pads were gosh, you know, seventy percent still good, you know, but still it was cheaper in the long run and uh, so I just got the the brakes done and I thought that was a good deal. And plus Right. And they repacked the wheel bearings. and they repacked the the wheel bearings. Yeah but, uh, I've, I've had considerable experience. I'm, you might say I'm, uh, uh, good back yard mechanic and I, you know, I took auto shop in high school, it's been a while back, but I, I still have a pretty good feel for it, but one thing I didn't know is that when I was messing around with cars and stuff and most of the cars, I, I had bigger cars and the brakes go out fairly rapidly on those
and what I was surprised at is that on my little Nissan I bought the truck with about sixty thousand, I have almost one hundred and ten, so I drove on those brake pads for, uh, you know, forty-five thousand miles and there was hardly any wear to them. So those small little trucks and cars like that, they just the longevity of the brake pads is really good. Exactly, You know, they've gotten to the point that where they don't weigh very much and the the surface materials on the pads is so good. so I, you know, I just did it anyway. I like to, I like to stay up on it. You know, like I just kind of stay up on it and then if you go and like, just about any point, any you know point in time and pull my dip stick and pull it out and look at the oil, the oil is you might say, uh, a white golden brown. You know, it's not dirty. I, I, I keep it that way because that's, that is the key to the longevity. Right. Well it sounds like you've had some good experiences with that So, so how, Uh-huh. uh, and my experiences have been kind of contrary to that. Oh, oh. Uh, I, I get a little more involved in the maintenance of my car
and, uh and in fact I have an eighty-seven Mustang with a three O two in it that I've, uh, beefed up a little bit Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Okay. and one of the things that I did was to change the pulley system on it to use under drive pulleys so that the engine doesn't have to turn the accessories and can use more of the power to the rear wheels Uh-huh uh, the only catch was the first set of under drive pulleys that I put on it were, uh, not even cast aluminum. They were just pressed aluminum. You're talking about the vibration dampener? Well, there's three, there's three pulleys that you change. You change the crank pulley the alternator pulley and, uh, the water pump pulley. That's the vibration dampener, yeah. Okay. So, when I changed those over, I put on these, these pressed aluminum things Um. and, uh, probably about four months ago the water pump decided to go out. Uh, oh. So in the process of seizing, the belt spun on the pulley and wore through the water pump pulley almost all the way. But not far enough to notice. Um.
Uh, oh. Huh. So, I was on my way to work one day and, uh, the water pump pulley split laterally in half. So there was half a water pump pulley still attached to the water pump and the other half was kind of dangling off the end of the crank Uh-huh. and uh, I, So, the, the topic is hobbies In your spare time. Yeah. Who has spare time Um, I don't really, don't really do any handicraft things like that. I used to. I used to do, like salt ornaments and things. Uh-huh. But that was, oh, good many, many years ago and I have, I really, my spare time Yeah. I usually go do aerobics and read, and that's, about it
Yeah. Yeah. I understood that. I'm, you know, I work full time and I have two kids so my spare time usually involves something with the kids. Yeah. You know, hobbies, we, I, I can't really say that we have hobbies. It's more like maybe projects or something on the weekend. You know, we like to go out go out, Yeah, family. Well, well, that's what I meant by salt that we, we did that like as a family, little ornaments and, things like that, and just kind of really got into it. Like during the Christmas season, making them up for other people and things like that. Oh. Uh-huh. Right. But as far as, Uh-huh. I've just never been very skilled at, far, you know, needle, work
Uh-huh. And the things I've tried to do just don't look very good and, I, I guess mostly as far as, as crafts go, I've done, um, some needlepoint. I've done mostly cross stitching. I used to, uh, do like, um, one that I did for both kids are like, oh, they're plaques with, you know, different kind of animals and then you have their birth date on them, Yeah. and then you have a little picture of them and you frame them and stuff, Uh-huh. but nothing steady. Just when I get some spare time here and there I'll work on it, but, you know, it's nothing that I, can really, It's not, like you sit and knit every night No. Not at all. Yeah.
I don't even know how to knit and my mother used to knit, you know, all the time Uh-huh. and, and I don't even know how to knit I'm like, that's a lost art from this family Yeah. So, um, but, it's not a very good topic it feels like, if, you know, No. not when you're neither one of us are really, I, I have seen things I really like, you know, that were done, especially like needlepoint. Uh-huh. Needlepoint, cushions and things. Yeah. But, it just seems like there'd be so much time involved in it, you know, and, and that the petty point and things like that. Yeah. It's like, God, it, it seems like it's easier just to go out and buy it already made I don't know what, what, is,
it's like there, but here a lot of the country stuff is in, you know, a lot of the woodwork, a lot of, uh, stenciling. Yeah. And, you know, you can go to any, like a flea market and stuff and there's just tons of stuff everywhere and, you know, people just do it in their garage Yeah. and then on weekends they go out and sell it and during the week they go back and do some more. And see, they do that as their job. Whereas, you know, for us it, Right and they make it cheaper for us to buy Yeah Definitely. So, but, and, I mean, I'm sure it must be relaxing to do things like that because I can remember when I used to do, you know, those little salt, those figurines and things. It was, it was relaxing, you know, creative, you felt very creative. Uh-huh.
But, it just was so time, time, involved, you know, so much time involved and the different steps and things. Yeah. Uh-huh. So, and, Okay Well, I think, I think we're okay. I think we did five minutes, so we don't have to keep talking about nothing anymore Yeah. So, Okay. Well, thank you. Okay. I hope you have a good rest of your weekend. Thanks. Bye-bye. Okay. Bye-bye. Where are you from Tina?
Um, I'm from Maryland and, um, I have one son who's almost sixteen months old. Are, are you married, or ... Yeah, uh-huh. You are. I have, I have two children, I have a seven year old and a three year old. Oh. And, uh, so I try to spend as much time as possible with them. That's good. Uh, what kind of things do you do? Well, um, we do a lot of things with them, you know, Taylor my youngest is, or my oldest is in school and so she has a lot of school programs and things like that. Oh. was it a big change in your life, to, uh have a child. Oh yeah Um, yeah,
it's really nice, uh, my husband, uh, is working you know, most of the time. He's working long hours, but, uh, I'm staying home. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Uh, I'm just working a couple days a month, and, um ... Oh, uh-huh. What do you do during those, those days? Um, we spend a lot of time at the playground and we go to the zoo, and we go and we ... Well you said, you said you worked a couple days a month, though, Yeah, yeah. what do, what do you do? I'm a nurse. Oh, are you?
So, yeah, so it's, it's, it's real easy to work out my schedule, you know, to, uh, get in, to, to still stay in with that, an, and to have enough time to spend with Matthew. Uh-huh. Yeah. Yeah. He, he's, uh, just now really starting to, to get interested in a lot of things, so, um, Yeah, I understand that, yeah. They really grow up quick. Especially at that early age. Yeah But my, my wife was, uh, she worked part-time when my oldest was, was little and now she's staying home all the time, but, uh, that worked out really well because it's a big transition I think to have children. Oh, yeah. You know, to go from, you know, nothing, you know, if you want to do something every night that's fine, but when you have children it doesn't work that way anymore,
so. That's right, and I think a lot of people are, um, are turning to, well, I think, I think a lot of people are realizing that but still there are so many people that are, you know, have their careers first and, it's, uh, I think it's really hurting, uh, the kids, you know, Yeah, yeah. but. Yeah, I agree with you, I, I, I think that my wife leaned that way and I'm really glad she did and, you know, I'm glad she's staying home, but, you know, I know there are some days when she she wishes she was back at work. I know, That's why I like to to, to work a couple days, I think it's, uh, it gives me a break. Yeah. Yeah, well see that's, that's why I'm glad my wife did too,
'cause she worked either two to three days a week and that got her out of the house and yet she'd get to spend, you know, three or four days with ... Most of the time at home, yeah. Yeah, yeah, and so. Uh, we had started out like that and, um, I think that was really ideal, uh. Yeah, I do to, I agree, but then when you start having two of them, it's, you know, a little bit tougher, because you've got to make a little more money, to make that payoff and stuff. It's, yeah. Yeah, yeah, it's difficult, but.
Are, are you from the Maryland area? Uh-huh, I'm, I've, I've lived here forever, so. Really. Yeah, I I live in Germantown, and, uh. Are you, where are you from? Um, uh, I'm in Dallas, Texas. In Dallas, oh. Yeah, so, uh, I'm, I've lived here like eight years or so, my wife's from Fort Worth. Oh, yea-,. But, yeah, I work for Texas Instruments. Okay,
oh, so that explains. Yeah, that explains it doesn't it. Well, um, I don't know, I, uh, we, we do a lot of things on the weekends together, the family, Yeah, yeah. but, uh, as far as during the week, it's, it's usually, uh, you know, just my son and I, and we're ... Yeah, what's your husband do? Uh, he, he works for Coca Cola. Uh-huh. So he, uh, he manages a plant out here, Oh. an, and it takes a lot of time. Oh, yeah, I'm sure it does. But, um, it, you know,
we take walks, and go to the library, and try to fill our day with things like that, Uh-huh. Yeah. but, um. Yeah, what, uh, my wife did some teaching at like, uh, like a private tutoring place. A Sylvan Learning Center this year Oh. and so that, that got me to to be able to spend more time with the kids at night and stuff, you know, 'cause normally if, if they need something they just go to mom. No matter what it is, Oh. Yeah I mean, I I'm perfectly capable of doing it for them, but, it's so much easier to go to mom, Right. I guess they get used to it. So, but, you know, we'd go to the library and do things like that, yeah, but That's good,
that's good. I know my husband was real, uh, in the beginning when he, uh, he was transferred to a, a larger plant and he, uh, he works about an hour and a half away from here, from our home, Uh-huh. and, uh, so it takes him a little bit of time. Oh, yeah. And I'm not able to work during the week, uh, because of that. He was, I was working in the evening, Uh-huh. and he was coming home and I, I could go to work, but, uh, their relationship, uh, when I was able to work in the evenings, uh, really grew. Yeah. Uh-huh. He, you know, just the time that they were spending together, Yeah. I think it, it really, it really helped to have that time together. Uh-huh,
it really does because I think you know, you grow closer. Was your, uh, was your husband, I mean naturally a child, I mean had he been around children, or ... Uh, oh yeah, he has, uh, he has seven other brothers and sisters, Oh. and they have, we have thirteen grand, well his parents have thirteen grandchildren. Uh-huh. So it's, uh, you know, there's a lot of kids in the family and, and he really enjoys it. Yeah, yeah. But, uh, right now it's kind of a difficult time, but ... Yeah. And, and the cost of living here is just so tremendously, you know, outrageous Yeah,
yeah. Um, it's difficult, uh, to do it any other way. Yeah, I understand. Yeah. I'm, I, you know it's, it's hard because, you know, then you're not getting to spend as much time with, at home, I mean your husband is not getting to spend as much time at home as he'd want to. That's right. So, yeah, that that's a tough situation, but then, then again, you know, some, you got to do what you got to do, you know to get along, too, Yeah. so. Yeah, yeah, at least, I, I just consider myself blessed that I can stay home It, uh,
Uh-huh, well like I said my wife normally feels that way, there are days when, uh, I come home and she says here take these kids, I'm getting out. I know So she's, she's had about enough during those days, but. But, for the most part, I, you know, I've really feel like that's led, I know. the way that, you know, like what you said with the cost of living and everything, I think a lot of people can't afford to get by on just one salary an and won't. Yeah. Yeah. And so I think that's tended to lead to a decline in, in families and family values especially. Oh yeah, it has. And I really think that that's one of the problems the nation's facing that, you know, we need to do something about, but I don't know what. I believe that too, and I think, uh, the kids are where they need to, you know, Yeah.
they need to really focus on the children in the in this country. Yeah. Would, would you have said that a couple of years ago, do you think? No, I didn't, I didn't even really think about it that much, I mean, you know, Uh-huh. I, I was aware, vaguely aware of it, but, um, I didn't it wasn't really that important to me, and, uh, ... Uh-huh, it's amazing how your whole focus on life changes after you've had a child. Oh, it, it really does, I, just the whole, uh, you know, seeing how you really are are, are forming this, you know, the mind Uh-huh. Well, you know, in the next year or so, you'll see so many instances where, you know, he'll mimic something that you've done, and you see, you know, everything I'm doing, he's learning from. That's right. And, and, you think, if I wasn't here he'd be learning that from a baby-sitter or from a day care.
Yeah. You know, that's how they're developing their patterns. And I think a lot of people either, don't care, or don't realize it, you know. That's, Or, or they just put it in the back of their mind and let it slide. Yeah. I, I've seen a lot of people just say well, you know, he'll learn everything when he gets into, uh, you know, Yeah eventually. Yeah, it's true. but it, um, I, I know, even just this first year, that I've been with, uh, my son, here, um, he's, I can just see how much, of, of a difference it makes staying home with him, instead of, uh, Uh-huh, Yeah. Yeah, plus, plus I think it becomes part of part of you too, I mean, you get to stay home,
I mean it's not just for him, but it's also for you, because you're both kind of bonding together there too, I think, so. Yeah, that's true. Well it's been nice talking to you. Well it's nice talking to you, too. Okay good luck. Okay. Okay, good-bye. Lynn, do you, do you want to start? Certainly. Okay. Um, Do you want to tell me about vacations you've taken or, Well, I, I tend to, uh, take two kinds of vacations, the vacations to visit family and the vacations to just have a week being cultural and going to the theater and doing sight-seeing and things like that. Uh-huh.
Which is your favorite? Oh, well, I couldn't live without the family vacations, but, uh, my favorite is the, the indulgent ones, where we go off and, and, uh, see places that have interested me since I was a kid, for the most part. Uh-huh. And, uh, Your family doesn't live close, then? Uh, not anymore. They, uh, they've been in San Diego for the last few years, and they're moving to Florida. Okay. And that's one of those things, you just have to go once a year. Yep, I understand. So, uh, basically it, it sorts out into that, and then once, about once every three or four years I try to get over to England, because I lived there for a while, some years back. Wow. I've only been there once. Oh. and I'd love to go back.

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