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and the, all these kids, they have got an excuse for everything. Yeah. And I can see it continuing on when they are adults. I just, Yeah. It's, it's, uh, I, I sometimes think if I were on a jury and had to make the decision could I. And I like to think I could, like you, if, if especially violent crime, where serial type killer or maybe a child has been deliberately killed. Uh-huh. The thing that even though juries sometimes make the decision and still the people, nothing ever happens to them. Right. You know, they stay in jail, they get off time for good behavior and all that stuff, and they get released Uh-huh. And they go right back and do it again. Okay. Do you work? Yes, I do.
I think that's the main change. What do you think? Well, I think that's a big part of it and I, I think it maybe started because women wanted outside of the home and, I almost think with our society and, and inflation and the cost of things it's anymore it's almost couples have to work outside the home. Right. That's right. But, but yeah, I think that's a big change I'd like to not work. What about you? Well, I've worked all the time up until just about a year ago. Yeah. And I just, physically I wasn't able to and I mean, I love my job. Uh-huh. But I have four children, and that's real hard. You have children? I assume so.
Yes. I have two and that's been a big deciding factor because I mean I never wanted to be a career woman, Right. but as long as I you know, was going to work I was going to do as, as much as I could, as well as I could et cetera. Right. Right. And I, I wanted to stay home when I had kids. Well, I have two. I have a four year old and a three year old. Oh. And we would like two more but I, it's like, we talked. Uh, I don't want two more unless I can quit and stay home and take care, of them which is, something right now financially it takes both people to work. Right. Oh. It's real hard. Yeah. It's real hard. I mean even I,
It's full time work. Yeah. It was so hard for me to work full time. Uh-huh. Of course, my kids are, are a little older but then you, then you give up the money. Yeah. You know? You do there's of course, you know, everything you give up something but I just, I, the kids are so wonderful Yeah. . But I do think that's one of the major changes. You know, my mama I remember her being home uh, you know, she made breakfast in the morning for us. Yep. Fine . Yep.
I know. And if she worked it was part time and it was work that was done while we were maybe at school, and she was there when we got home. Yeah. You know, and, Well, I've decided now in fact, I'm just, I'm substitute teachers aid which is a, afar cry from my travel agent career, which I loved. Uh-huh. But I'm, I'm there in the same school as my children, my two littler ones. Uh-huh. And I'm home when they are home. In fact, I've had an offer to just work the Christmas season at a local jewelry store, and I'm just really hesitating, because I've, I enjoyed my, the first summer home ever, so like seventeen years with my kids. Yeah. Oh. Oh. I mean, well, I didn't have babies or day care or working as a travel agent and it was wonderful. Yeah. My kids and I, we just had a ball.
See, and I think, Of course, their, their ages, they are almost seventeen well, sixteen, fourteen, eleven, and nine Oh. Oh. and we are just running every direction and, But see, it's such an important time to be home. You know. It is. And that, was important to me enough, It is. you know, my husband was raised, uh, his, his parents were divorced when he was young so his mom always worked, Always worked. and he's like well, you know, what's the big deal about being home, for your kids. What, yeah. Well, as our kids are getting older, you know, he sees it more. I said, Russ, you don't understand what it was like to have her home or to if you needed, Mom at school, you know, she was there to help Right. or, she was there to take you,
Right. and, and I want to be able to do those things so. I think that, you know, it's good. You know, sometimes I'll have the cookies ready when they, come home Yeah. and, and a lot of my boys, uh, my older boys' junior high friends will come over. In fact, everyday, I've got boys hanging around, and it's wonderful I'm real close to the schools and, you know, we are just I, I'm very happy to be staying home. I think that's wonderful. But again I miss, the . So, where do you see, us changing in the future? I don't. Well, see that was one of the things the, the question I think is, you know, what changes do we see I keep on working . Right. and I'm, I'm not sure I, I see it go anywhere.
I think they are still going to have to work. That we are because it's so expensive. If we want, uh, extra clothes, the extra car, the extra, Right. The thing is, when a woman does work, then there is the clothes to buy, Uh-huh. and then there is the gas, Uh-huh. and then there is the lunches and then the day care. The day care eats, me alive. You must pay for , day care. Yeah. You know, I pay four hundred fifty to five hundred fifty, a month for two kids Oh my gosh. Yeah, for two. They would eat you, alive. It's almost hardly worth it for you, to work until they get in school. I know.
Then you work summers unless you are a teacher. Are you a teacher? No, I'm not, and I would love, you, you, you talked about having the summers off and I thought, oh, that would be so wonderful. And I love the little preschool they are in. It's wonderful. Uh-huh. You know, so I feel good about them being there but it's still not the same. No. It's not the same. It's just not. I, I don't see things changing really, and, and it's terrible for divorced women you know, who are forced to work who maybe don't have a college education. Uh-huh. Thank goodness I have mine, and I could get a real good paying job, if I wanted to, you know, in fact, I still have offers, you know, please come back,
Uh-huh. Please come back to work. and we'll pay you this . Sure. Yeah, yeah. And it's been a real tough decision but I'm very happy to be here with my kids. My kids, we've seen a remarkable difference in, now that I'm home. That's wonderful. That's wonderful. Yeah. I'm real, and I'm, but I've been doing a lot of volunteering at the schools and playing lots of tennis I like that. Yeah, yeah. I know . Well, we're working on it.
I'm hoping in about three to five years I'll be able to stay home and my kids, of course, will be in school then but I'll, be there mornings, I'll be there noons, I'll be there afternoons and all. Right . Yeah. I feel like, that's good Well, and I can work part days in my husband's business, you know, so that, he can afford for us to do that, you know. Oh, that would be great. Right. I think the, the other thing that, that has changed for woman because we are working is we are having less children. So, Utah. Yes. That, that's, that's the state that got, was famous when they executed somebody. Gary Gilmore. Gary Gilmore. Yeah. By firing squad, as I recall. That's right, and we still have a death penalty.
Uh-huh Some, a gentleman, uh, that was one of the hi-fi murderers just had his conviction overturned, well, appealed again. I guess we have the longest, uh, running inmates for death row too. Uh-huh. And then we had another guy, uh, Ronald Lafferty, that thought God told him to kill his sister-in-law. Yeah. He just got a, a new trial because, the judge felt that he was incompetent. Uh-huh. Uh, how do you feel about the death penalty? Well, I, you know, until recently I've been sort of, could go either way, you know, it, it, sort of doesn't much, you know, it didn't, it wasn't a strong issue, um, I guess it still isn't a strong issue. But I must say, I find it very silly, the way politicians are running around creating more and more capital crimes, um instead of dealing with you know, the real problems that, you know, that they're, they're getting votes presumably by, um, Oh. I assume they're doing it for that reason Well, I'm sure that's .
By, by by saying well, this, doing this particular crime in this particular way is a capital crime now. Well, I kind of agree with terrorism. I think those guys should be done away with. That's one of the worst, crimes in my book and, uh, drug dealing, um, that's close but, uh, terrorism definitely. And uh, selling out your country. Uh-huh. It's not, it's not enough just to lock them up forever. Uh, no, it's got to be something that is going to cost them, because we never lock anybody up forever. Not often. Not very often at all. We've got these guys in New York that, uh, I'm sure you heard about, the ones that killed, uh, the gentleman that came from Utah to watch the tennis people. Yeah. Yeah And I guess they got convicted, the four, of uh, murder. Uh-huh. Right. So you've come to a definite opinion on it now? Well, I,
I've it, it seems like it's gone, gotten carried away, um, and I, I do find it hard to know where to draw a line, and so if I had to draw a line, I'd say just no capital punishment. I mean, I don't, I don't, I don't see that it accomplishes a whole lot, whereas I do think that convicting people and, and incarcerating them for a long time, if that could be improved upon, that would have more impact, I think. Yeah. You kind of hate to, No, what about the argument where, where somebody who is committing one capital crime chooses to commit a, a more serious capital crime? I mean, murder, um, because that one at least, you might escape from because his victim, you know, his witnesses will be gone Doesn't this, doesn't this encourage, Uh, More . You mean uh, violence? Doesn't this, yeah, I mean, doesn't this encourage murder, in order to wipe out the the witnesses? The witnesses? Well, maybe it would. Uh, I kind of have a problem with our legal system at the moment, uh, as it is. I think that people who, uh, infringe on other people's rights, uh, and screw up their whole lives with rape, uh, child molesting, uh, terrorism, just uh, Yeah. There's just like five things that I think they ought to be snuffed for, but I'm, I'm for it for certain reasons.
Uh-huh. And I think that things like rape, uh, you can't get over, uh, it takes a lifetime. I see, so, so if, if William Kennedy Smith had been found guilty, you believe he should have been, uh, executed? Uh, if it was, Yeah. A six person jury could have decided either way, of course If it was, it would probably have to be a pattern. You know, we have plenty of convicted guys that go into jail and come back out, do the same thing and go back, and, uh, if they're habitual, like three times caught for rape or child molesting then snuff them. Uh-huh. Well, the problem is that they've just been let out of jail. Pardon? The problem there is that they've been let out jail. If they've been thrice convicted, they should have been kept in longer. Yeah, but we don't seem to keep them long enough, and then they learn such bad things in jail. That isn't a place of rehabilitation. Yeah, well.
Yeah, that's, that's for sure. Yeah, it's a tough question, isn't it, on whether, at what point do they become so detrimental to society that society can't afford to keep them around to keep giving them chances. Uh-huh. Yeah. Uh, let's see, so the other question that they wanted was whether the place that we live in, uh, compares to how we feel What's the laws there in D C? Uh, it seems like an unusual subject this time of the year but, uh, it's, it's camping. Really. When was the last time you went? The last time I went camping was about, uh, in the middle of October, and we went up to Lake Bonham and really enjoyed it. Had a real good time with the family. We do an awful lot of camping. How about yourself? Well, I haven't been in probably about three years. Uh-huh.
And the last time we went was in, um, well, I guess it was, it was like hunting season, and we went down to like a hunting ground and a lake Lake Sam Rayburn which is in East Texas. Uh-huh. Yes, oh, Very good. I bet it's pretty over there. It is real pretty. Um, let's see. What do you think, what kind of camping, uh, are you talking about? Do you do a lot of fishing? Do you go out, and is camping for you in a motor home, or a trailer, or do you actually put up a tent or, One of the ones that you pull along Oh, okay, so you have, and then is it pop-up? Yeah. Pop-up.
A pop-up trailer, huh. Yeah. What do you have? We have a tent. A tent? Yes So I guess we really rough it. Really. And we really enjoy that. Uh, one thing, uh, I've done all sorts of camping. I've, I've camped, uh, in the snow on a glacier. I've camped, uh, basically almost anywhere, even to the point where we've had to backpack in and everything you carried in was what you had to use to sustain you for that, that camping trip and had to pack it back out. So you're a serious camper. Well, we enjoy it, yeah. But since I've been married and with a family, uh, we have to go where there's restrooms And playgrounds, and so forth, Well, that makes sense. so, we really enjoy it. But also while I was growing up, we did have a trailer, and, uh, I camped in that trailer and in a tent and in, in log cabins and so forth too. So a lot of different things.
And yes, I, to answer your questions earlier, yes, I, we do enjoy fishing, and I do go fishing. Haven't done a whole lot down here. We recently moved from the Rocky Mountain area up in, uh, northern Utah down to here because of work, and, uh, haven't been able to enjoy fishing like I used to up there, which is, uh, clear water fishing and streams and, and rivers. But when you all went camping is that what you normally, I mean, what did you normally do? We normally, yeah, we did, we did a lot of the fishing, but mainly what we did was we did a lot of hiking and exploring and, and just going out and seeing what there was to see, uh, in the area. I guess probably just wherever you live at has a lot to do with where, what you're going to do when you go, and you do actually camp. Oh, yes. That's true, that's true. Did you ever like travel around to what's that, the little K O, K O A camps whenever we never did that. ever done that? They
although I've stayed in K O A campgrounds, uh, we've never done that just to go around and camp. Um, personally, I, when I, when we were growing up and when we were going camping, I thought that was a little too structured of a camp ground. Yeah. Um, you know, that was mainly for people in motor homes or, or had trailers or, and so on and so forth, where, you know, we really wanted to go camping in a tent Uh-huh. and, uh, K O A is, is geared for the people that have a hookup. That actually travel, what, city to city, state to state. Right, exactly, and, uh, I started out basically camping when I was, when I was in Boy Scouts, and we did an awful lot of that as, as a Boy Scout group. As I mentioned earlier, we went into wilderness areas and we camped in the snow, and in, uh, snow caves, and, and, uh, That's probably where I first started, was in Girl Scouts. All right. And you got a lot of that in, huh? Yeah What do you like to do when you go camping? Um, well, let's see. I just, I mean, I just like to go
and, normally I go with a whole group of friends Uh-huh. and we just kind of go and hang out and just do fun stuff. Enjoy it, huh Roast marshmallows. Tell scary, or scary stories around the fire and, Yeah, or, um, take a deck of cards if we can actually see and, um, play cards and stuff. Oh, yeah. You know, lots, a lot of people I've talked to have said, well, isn't camping boring? Don't you get, don't you, uh, get bored and not have anything to do, but I've found out that actually we, we really enjoy getting away from the television, the telephone Yeah, it's relaxing. and, yes. Exactly. Get out, getting out and enjoying nature and each other as company when we're out camping. Plus, you, um,
kind of makes you appreciate some, a lot of the things you take for granted. Yeah Running water Running water your hair dryer and a private bathroom. curling iron. Yes What about your family. Do your kids and everything like to? Yes, they really do, they have a great time, and like I mentioned, uh, the, we, we've been camping a couple of times this year and the last time was in October and we went up to Lake Bonham, and there was a playground for them so they had swings, Hi. like child's Hi, I'm Carol,
and I'm calling from Garland, Texas. Yeah, this is I'm in Dallas. Oh, okay. Because yesterday I talked to someone upstate, I'm not even sure where, and my husband talked to the people in Utah, so. Um, anyway, let me press one. Okay Okay, um, let me see, I think we've only planned one family reunion in our life, so we don't do this too often. I. Um, most of my family's in California, but my husband's is in San Antonio, and so we did this in San Antonio, and, um, it was an experience that I, I won't do again How big a family do you have? Um, well, it wasn't that big of a family, but, um, it just got out of hand,
and, um, so many people were coming that we were trying to figure out how much food we were going to need and, and, um, how much, um, beverages we were going to need and this and that, and oh, it just grew and grew and grew, and, um, when the time came, only about half that amount of people came. So, it wasn't, you know, you have to really just get an accurate amount, and, but overall we all had a good time. We saw people we hadn't see in a while so, Did you have people coming from far away? No. It was all in the San Antonio area Well sometimes. But it, it just kept growing and growing and growing and growing, and we're going, Oh, my gosh. So. Well you have, you have the family lives too close together, they see each other too often they don't take that kind of thing seriously. Uh-huh, basically.
Yeah. And if, uh uh, they come from far away, it's, uh, it, it, they take it more seriously Yeah. and, Uh-huh, I think you're right. Yeah. Yeah. My family's not very big but, uh, we're kind of. Your family's from where? Well, I have a, a, a brother lives in Indianapolis, a sister lives in Chicago, and my folks live back in Buffalo, New York. Oh, no. Uh, I guess we have reunions about once a year or so. Uh-huh. We got together over Christmas. My wife's family, they're, they're all in, most of them are in upstate New York. They have regular, uh, regular family reunions every summer. Oh, those are nice.
Yeah, it is. And I'm, I'm sure they're a lot more organized too, because they've done it before. Yeah, and it's, it's just something that they, they plan on doing every summer. They just have a weekend picnic, That's great. and every year everyone asks when is it happening and where is it happening Oh. Yeah. and they just plan on being here. That makes a big difference, too. I know everybody's real eager to participate. Yeah, well that's great. Yeah, they, they had a family reunion for, uh, well, for my mother-in-law at her seventy-fifth birthday, and they managed to get just about everybody, everybody into town, uh, last November including a number of people from out in California. Uh-huh. Oh.
So it was a, it was good, it, uh it worked out very well. Uh-huh. One interesting thing that they did at the time is they, um, they videotaped the, the whole shebang which, it made a nice remembrance of, of the entire party. Uh-huh. Yeah, more people want to come back again. Yeah, they want to come back. Yeah, that's good. So, so that, that works pretty well that way. My, uh, my grandmother in California is, um, this is my dad's part, side of the family is planning a reunion, um, this spring, but we won't be going because, um, I don't know how they thought of this, it's going to be on a cruise, and, um, it seems like most of the family is, uh, going, you know, all the nieces and all the grandchildren and all that are, most of them are going, but it's too costly for us. But anyway, they're going to go on a cruise, and, um, it sounds really neat, it really does. Yeah, I, I can go for that.
What, what do, I guess interesting if you had a, a, a very extended family that, that kind of involved a lot of people that cousins and things that you don't really know, that you've never met, it'd be interesting to meet a lot of those people. Uh-huh. Yeah. Uh, I don't know how you would go about, uh, getting them together, but that, that would be, uh. And a friend of mine, um, she plans her family reunion, um, every year, and they go camping, and she says they have the greatest time, and she says, usually everybody shows up in exception to maybe one person, but she said they all go camping, and they have a really good for the whole weekend. So, that's. Yeah, I kind of wonder what, what kind of tradition we're going to establish for our family. I had hoped that our, our kids get together at least regularly. Yeah, yeah. Right now we only have two children
so I, What are your favorite T V shows? Uh, I guess one of my favorite ones is CHEERS. Yeah. I always liked that one. They're always so funny. And I also like the COSBY SHOW Yeah. Yeah. Those are probably my two favorites. Yeah, I, I, I rather enjoy the COSBY SHOW. My wife and I both like COMMISH. You know, I've watched that one time and it was really good, but now that's on, what, Saturday night? Uh, Is it Saturday night? It's either Friday night, it's either tonight or tomorrow night.
Uh, around here at least. Uh-huh. I guess it depends on what channel you're getting. You know, what system you're getting it through. I can't, Uh-huh. Yeah. I, yeah, I saw it one time and I really liked it, but I just haven't, uh, seen it, you know, watched it since. Uh, we, we always enjoyed it. It, it seems to be kind of halfway between, uh, something like ALL IN THE FAMILY and, uh, HILL STREET BLUES. Yeah it's a good show. Yeah, the episode that I watched, uh, I liked him because even though he's a law enforcement officer, you know, sometimes the laws are kind of ridiculous You Yeah. Yeah.
And he seems to do that sometimes he's tender hearted fellow. Yeah Yeah. I think that's what first drew us to him, the, uh, the, the relationship between he and his wife kind of looks a lot like ours. Uh-huh. But, uh, Yeah, I thought it was a pretty good show. Yeah, uh, Yeah, I always like, I, I like to watch like SIXTY MINUTES and TWENTY TWENTY. uh, I know we, uh, we watch COMMISH any chance we get. Uh-huh. Uh, used to be a big fan of STAR TREK, but that's kind of, it's gotten more and more to where they are so totally against, uh, anything spiritual. Uh-huh. But, uh, anyway,
I've never gotten into the STAR TREK era Yeah, I, I used to be a, used to be a real big fan of STAR TREK. Used to be a Trekie, huh Uh, pretty much, yeah. Uh-huh. I always enjoyed the show anyway Yeah. And STAR TREK's in a or the, uh, STAR WARS set Uh-huh. uh, one of the first STAR WARS movie? Yeah. I think I watched it like nineteen times. Oh, my goodness. You must have some of their lines memorized Uh, I did at one time Anyway, Oh, I I was a pretty big fan of that sort of thing. Wow Yeah. Used to, used to read a, read a lot of science fiction work, too.
Uh-huh. going to say, I hear a baby in the background * B.66 and slash units? But, uh, no, it, uh, we don't do a whole lot of T V watching, but that, uh, I don't know if you heard them or not, I got a twelve year old, twelve week old baby. Uh-huh. Yeah, that, between that and school it's not , I imagine that keeps you busy . Between him and school, there's not much time left for watching much T V. Yeah. Well, we're, we're expecting our first in about three months, so I know we won't be watching as much as we do now Yeah, this one here is our first. And we're both full time students so, Oh, wow. Yeah.
That must be tough. What are you hoping for, a boy or a girl? It doesn't matter, just a healthy baby. Well, we had a sonogram, but we told him not to tell us, so it's going to be a surprise Yeah. That's the best way. Yeah. I mean, it's like finding out somewhere in July what you're going to get for Christmas. I mean, you know, It's not as much fun. Yeah It's, it's not quite the same. Oh. Yeah Anyway, I agree I'm sure we'll be watching more, uh, children oriented television shows. Oh, I'm about half kid at heart anyway. Oh, I am, too.
I, I, I still watch cartoons sometimes, every once in a while when my sister comes to visit so, The new cartoons don't seem to be worth much, but the, uh, well, a couple of the, uh, ones Disney's doing aren't too bad but, Well, you know, it seems like a lot of them are a lot more violent than they used to be. Oh, yeah. You know, I remember, like, the FLINTSTONES and the JETSONS and those were just kind of good old cartoons. Yeah. The, the, the worst of the violence in the FLINTSTONES was when somebody gave Fred a poke in the snoot. Yeah But, oh, shoot, I mean, blowing up galaxies and and putting a curse on the whole planet, or, or, or you know, or on all the, you know, everything of this species, you know, just all kinds of crud Yep. Yeah, and they wonder why kids turn out the way they do nowadays Yeah, everything's mutations and, and and killing
Yeah. and, Gone are the days of those things they Uh-huh. what was it I, uh, T N, Turner Broadcasting Network used to, used to, uh, do the Saturday morning and Sunday morning cartoons, the old cartoons. They used to put between the first and second feature at the theatre. Uh-huh. Those old little ten minute jobs where, uh, the real ballooned looking art work, you know Uh-huh. and, Oh, so what would be the, your favorite meal to cook? None to cook. I don't like to cook Don't like to cook, huh? Spaghetti, I guess, though. I make a mean spaghetti. Make a mean spaghetti, huh? Yeah Uh, got kids? No. married? Huh-uh. *According to the following utterance, this is an AFFIRMATIVE answer, so should be "Uh-huh"
Just my husband and I and the two dogs. Yeah. So what about yours? Well, my wife and I and we've got a thirteen week old baby so don't do much cooking for him yet. Uh-huh. Uh, So I guess it's supposed to be dinner party, is that what they said? Uh, yeah what kind of menu would you plan for a dinner party and, uh, what kind of dishes you might have for it, or some sort of thing like that. Uh-huh. Huh, we don't, Let's see, a good dinner party menu. Think you, I suppose it would just about depend on who was coming, I guess. Uh-huh, uh-huh. You know, uh, something light and easy.
If it was pretty informal about anything. Uh-huh. Sometimes we'll have, uh, we'll have a bunch of people over and cook deer. Breast of chicken Oh, gosh, yeah. How do you usually cook your deer? Huh? How do you usually cook your deer? How do we usually? Yeah. On the grill, we'll take the back strap and soak it in Italian dressing for a couple of hours and throw it on the grill Yeah. and it is good. I imagine. Real good. I would imagine it is. Either that or hamburgers, we really don't have dinner parties. Yeah. Yeah,
I understand. We just had, uh, deer stew sort of uh, it was deer steak stew. Uh, well about a day, day and a half in the crock pot, uh uh, some deer steaks in kind of a mushroom gravy. Uh-huh. Ooh. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Uh, some veggies in it. Did you kill the deer? No. No. No, the times I've been out deer hunting, I, I can go out in the woods unarmed and deer will be tripping over me and vice versa. Uh-huh I mean, I get close to the woods with anything resembling a weapon and suddenly there isn't a deer within fifty miles. So, no, this was given to us by some friends. Uh-huh. Uh, guy was in a, uh, in a hunting club Uh-huh.
and, you know, but the whole group goes out hunting and then at the end of the day, they split it Uh-huh. and whoever brought it down gets the lion's share and the rest of it is split with the rest, with everybody in the group. Oh, well, that's nice. Well, he they, they went out last year and almost everybody got it, the limit Uh-huh. so there's, everybody had deer coming out their ears. So, Yeah, we still got some from last year. Yeah, they, they gave us some deer and some of it's still in the freezer and they, about eight months ago they gave it to us. Yeah.
We, we either crock pot deer or we'll, uh, you know, put it out on the grill so that, uh the bulk of the tallow will dribble off of it. Uh-huh, uh-huh. Yeah. We we usually have most of it made into, uh, hamburger meat, though. And cook, you know, spaghetti with it. Yeah. Yeah. Chili. That is good. So, Deer spaghetti is real good. Uh-huh Anyway, uh, no, I think if I was going to have a dinner party, I'd probably have, uh, sandwiches or something along those lines and then, uh, uh, you know, just something light finger food sort of something or, Or maybe have something roasting out on the fire. Uh-huh. Yeah, yeah. Oh, well, anyway. Uh, we don't do much in the way of entertaining.
Um. Usually it's, one other couple come over for a dinner. Uh-huh. Let's see, what did we have the last time we had guests over. Ah, yeah, we had a, uh, a turkey loaf. Oh. Which, uh, kind of taco turkey loaf. It was good. Uh, scalloped potatoes. Oh. No, mashed potatoes. Uh-huh. Mashed potatoes with, uh, cheese melted over the top of them. A couple things like that. It was pretty good little dinner. Yeah, usually it's This isn't a good topic for me right now.
I'm on a diet Oh, don't you hate that? I've got a, I got a few pounds to lose myself. That's okay. Um. I've been fighting my weight since I was about ten years old. Yeah, I have, too. I was real skinny till I was ten. Yeah, yeah, I was, left the fourth grade weighing about a hundred pounds and started the seventh grade, grade at two, I guess we're ready to talk. How you doing, Howard? This is a, a subject that I'm not real well versed on, but. Well, let's talk about air pollution. Okay. What do you think causes air pollution in Dallas? Or where are you from?
No. Maybe you're not in Dallas. Okay, I'm from the, uh, I'm from Dallas. I'm in Richardson. Okay. Uh, What do you think as far as air pollution in the Dallas area? Well, I have some small experience in this area. The brown haze that you see if you look down Central towards downtown a lot of that is, uh, tied up with the oxides or nitrogen although some of the kind of bluish gray stuff we see sometimes is tied up with particulates. Right. But, uh, the, one of the major problems that Dallas has is oxides and nitrogen. That's because of all the equipment that's being operated. But at the same time, uh, because we don't have, we don't burn a lot of coal and solid materials we, don't get a lot of particulates. Now particulates would come from trash burning or incineration or something like that here in Dallas. Right. Uh, power plants since, many of our local power plants, uh, are natural gas most of the time, uh, the things that come off of those plants are carbon dioxide, and N O X. There's no particulates in natural gas, of course. And we pick up a little bit of sulphur off some of these products. We're burning fuel oil and a few other things,
but gasoline, of course, now the lead's out, at least theoretically, uh, I guess you could say we're picking up some sulphur because a lot of the fuels does have sulphur. That's why we get that rotten egg smell sometime off the catalytic converter the sulphur, yes. Oh, really? And that's, uh, course hydrogen sulfide, which is when you burn gasoline, you also produce some water vapor and that goes back in with your sulphur Sure. and under the right condition you get H two S. But, anyway, uh, Well, you are, you are well versed on the subject, I tell you. Well, I don't know. This is not one of my better ones. I guess, I guess I notice it the most just, uh, in driving around Dallas with all the, the highway equipment that's working on the on, six thirty-five and seventy-five, just the cars in general. Uh-huh. That's where I see most of it. uh, Ron a lot of this is caused by the fact that cars sitting in traffic tend to run rich because the way the pollution is. Right. And when they run rich they, they spit out a lot of hydrocarbons, and that's another part of the problem. The gas is not being burned completely. But, uh, hopefully, if we ever get our road system fixed up, this will get a lot better. Oh, I don't know, I've lived here since seventy-four, Howard,
and, I I think, I think they been working on the highways around here since I've been here, and I think, I think they'll be working on them long after my wife and I are gone. Well, I guess, I, not trying to top you, but I grew up in Dallas county and I can remember when they built the north part of North Central which was built after the south part of Central Right and, uh, I can remember coming over the hill down there long about, uh, I don't know, little bit north of Mockingbird on up in, over those hills and I said I wonder if they'll ever need this road. Course, it was designed for most of us to go about forty-five miles an hour because the short on ramps and are, off ramps, but, gosh, seems like, uh, those ramps might kill us yet. I, hopefully the new ones will be a lot better. I understand. I sure hope so, I tell you. You know, you get out on the, uh, interstate highways versus, I travel quite a bit and traveling from, like, Dallas to Austin to San Antonio it's the same thing as far as the pollution created by the automobiles in the, in the stalled traffic and the busy highways, you, you, you're at your best and, I guess when you're out on the interstate, heading north or south and you're just cruising right along and there's no build up of cars and, Yeah, Ron, have you noticed when you're driving south on thirty-five, I guess towards Waxahachie, Hillsborough on down to Austin, you hit a point down there about, I think where they call Bear Creek exit on just this side of the county line
Yes. Right along in there somewhere, suddenly the air feels cleaner. Have you noticed that? I tell you what, I, I don't think I really have, but I'm going that way Tuesday and I'm going to make it a point to. Well, sometimes it depends on which way the winds blowing Sure. but, uh, I also travel a little bit and, uh, I don't know, it just seems like there's a certain point down there where you can breathe easier. It may be all in my mind. Oh, I know. I know going to, uh, uh, I detest going to Houston because it's such a, Mike, I'm calling from Dallas, from Richardson. Oh, okay, great. I'm in Addison here. Okay, well, good. You know, our subject is on boating and sailing
Right. and, quite honestly, with the exception of being involved in a part ownership of a little bass boat, I have never really got into sailing or boating. I do, uh, quite a bit of sailing. I own a sailboat that I keep it parked up on the scout lot of my scout troop Oh, do you, well, great. and we take it out and we do some teaching of sailing with the scouts, but I haven't really been taking it out, recreationally too much lately Well, that's neat. It's just I don't have a trailer hitch on my car anymore Right. so it's hard for me to get it somewhere but, I've seen some nice, nice sailboats. The guy that used to live next to us in Richardson before we moved twelve years ago, or whatever, he had a sailboat, used to park it right in the, uh, driveway and it seemed, uh, I think it held probably, uh, it must have slept four people anyway. Yeah, this one is not that big.
It's a day sailer. It does have a little kind of cabin thing that you can store things in Right. but you couldn't really sleep in there unless you sort of stuck your body out the hole, back into the main part of the sailboat. I I understand. But, but it's, they're, they can be black holes to throw money into I tell you, Oh, they are, Boats are kind of expensive to maintain. and, you know, we have a swimming pool at our house and I think of all the time, now that my kids are gone and away and married and going to college or whatever, that I put in there, I just could not imagine a boat because I know it's a lot of maintenance. Especially a bigger one. Oh, gosh The bigger they are, if you get a big cabin cruiser or or a big ski boat, power boat, then there's always, uh, stuff to go wrong with it. yeah. You bet. A sailboat at least doesn't have an engine to mess up, but you still have to worry with the hull and the condition of the sails and spars and rigging, uh, everything that's in it. Sure.
It takes a, a pretty good amount of maintenance to keep one up it's a lot of fun, I think uh, just from the standpoint of getting away from the dodge here, You bet. I know, my wife and I were first married here aunt and uncle, aunt and uncle up in New York, they kept a boat on Jamaica Bay and we used to go out with them and back then they had bought an older Chris Craft and we were involved every weekend in just, uh, as we visited, we were involved every weekend in just helping them redo this and refinish that. We just worked all the time. But their boat slept about four people plus had a little kitchen. It was sort of neat. We, but I think that was the last time we were really involved, and that was twenty years ago, or twenty-five years ago. It is a lot of fun. and when you work hard and you're under pressure and everything all week long, a boat can be a lot of relaxation, uh, to especially with a group of friends and cook out or camp out or whatever, uh, or a cabin or something, depending on how much you like to rough it. You bet. But, but it's, uh I visited my cousin a couple of years ago, my wife and I and our daughter and he had a place on Lake of the Ozarks
and he had a boat and, uh, the I never seen so many boats in all my life. People actually park their car when they get to their place they're staying, townhouse or condominium, whatever they own and they, they go boat. Use the boat for transportation. I mean they go, if they want to go to the lounge to have a cocktail, they use the boat. They just go across the boat and get a, and tie it up and go in, huh And that was sort of neat. That, that, that's true, that's exactly how they do it. They go to dinner that way, go to all the restaurants and that was sort of a neat setup. I enjoyed that. We spent a week with them. I enjoyed that. I'm envious, I'm envious of people that have the big boats That would be fun. and, uh, I've just never I've never moved up to a really big class of sailboat.
Uh, once I get my son into and through with college, he's going to be starting, uh, Rice next year so he's going off, but uh, once I get to that stage where I'm not paying for something else and, uh, I don't have to worry about a lot of other scheduling things, where I've actually got the time to go out and enjoy it, uh, I might do something differently. You bet. I might just donate my little one to the scout troop and let them, keep it and maybe consider getting a, a better one for me. Uh, Think, you think you'd really enjoy it? Yeah, I think I would. Uh, the sailing part of it I like because it's so quiet. Yeah. And if you get a big enough one, then you've got a little motor on it also, where if it's light wind, you can still putt around a little bit and have fun. Oh I, Or if, or if the wind dies, you're not stuck in the, middle of the lake. I've, with my little one, I've been out there many times on a calm summer day, where all of a sudden the wind stops Yeah, that's great. and you're just stranded out there trying to pick up what little gusts you can to work your way back in and and that gets hot and, and wearisome, doing that.
Oh, I know. And if you if you're a big enough boat to have the little auxiliary motor on there, at least you can kind of drop the sails and putt on back in And putt putt. Sure. Well, that's neat. But it's fun. Where do you work? Who are you with? I own an insurance agency, a managing general, a wholesaler of insurance, uh out in Addison Well, good. and, uh, I'm a scout leader, though, so I'm, I'm out with, Um, So you have a son? I have an older son, yeah. He doesn't have any children yet though. Uh-huh. Uh, he's thirty-seven and I don't know if he's ever going to have any or not,
but I do have some neighbor kids, lots of little neighbor kids. Uh-huh. That, I go out and, uh, I play ball with them. You know, it's, because like this one that lives right next door, her mother does some work at home on computers Uh-huh. Uh-huh. and it just seems like she doesn't have any time for her. Which is kind of sad, you know. Yeah. So the kids are kind of hungry for someone to play with them. So I will go out and play catch with them or you know, we let the dogs outside and they will roll around on the ground and play with the dogs but, uh, actually I do think that the parents should have, you know, a little bit more time to spend with their kids. I would think so. When you, when, when your son was at home did you, uh, working? Did you work or were you able to stay at home with him? No, when my son was at home, I, I did work
and then he went to a baby sitter that this lady had about five other kids that she baby sat, you know Uh-huh. but we always had our days off together and we went camping on vacations. So we had a lot of time together that way you know. Yeah. Well when my mom, uh, when I was growing up my mom worked too, but she worked nights and, uh, as a nurse Uh-huh. and so she was always home for us Uh-huh. and I always, I really appreciated that. Having her there when I was, you know, when I came home from school and when I worked, but now when I look back at it, it must have been a really difficult thing that she did for us. Yeah. Oh yeah. Well I am sure it was, you know. But, uh, I don't know what the families are going to come to now days because they, there just doesn't seem like they do have time for their kids. Because most, most of them, the father and mother both work, you know. Yeah.
So, it's really rough. Uh, I have one neighbor that's, uh, the father is a fireman and he works like four days on and it seems like he is suppose to come home for like three or four days, but he can't make enough as a fireman to support his family, you know. So, he's got a second job. Um. So he's, you know he's not home very often. Yeah. And that's, you know, the kids I know miss that. They really do. You know. Uh, a family without a father, it's, it's, uh a really hard thing. Yeah, you know and I don't know, I, I suppose they are trying to get through to them that well daddy is not home because, you know, he is out working trying to make some money for, you know, we can buy you this bike and that toy and so forth, you know. Uh-huh. But, uh, Kids, I think would much rather have dad there than the toy anyway.
Oh, I am sure they would you know. So, are you planning on, to having any children or, Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. But we are, we just got married like, like December, so we are going to wait a year. Um. Yeah. And, Then we will try. Well that's good. That's what my uh, daughter-in-law told me. That they were going to have kids probably after two years of marriage. Uh-huh. And they will be married nine years this year. So, I don't know. She's a nurse, you know and, uh, she has brothers and sisters that has got lots of little kids, so maybe they just decided that, uh, if they wanted to have kids around the house they would just you know call one of their sisters or brothers up and tell them to send the kids over for the night.
Yeah, that's a possibility. You know. But, uh, Well, We really want to have a family. We feel like that, that couple you know, you are not giving enough of yourself and you should, you should be sharing your family. And giving your values, you know, making something better of the world by raising up good kids and letting them know they're loved and stuff. Uh-huh. Uh-huh, so, Right. Right. Right. Give them, give them an edge, but, we feel like, like the first year needs to be devoted to, uh, making the family, the couple strong and secure in their love for each other. Uh-huh. Right. Right. But then, a family is, is definitely a high priority. Yeah,
uh, do you plan on staying home after you have your children or do you, do you work or what? Well, well I, uh, I am in, I am in a different situation. I am a missionary Uh-huh. and I am home on furlough. It called, like I have worked for four years in Africa and I come home for a year. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. And then we go back for four years. But my husband and I will do the same job and we will be living in, in Africa and we will be working together. Uh-huh. So, uh, we will, we will share the job of raising the family. I mean as a mother I will have certain responsibilities that he might not necessarily have but, still we will share that job. Uh-huh.
Uh-huh. But we have, then we have decisions that we have to make that are hard about schooling, like do you want to home school your kids on a computer program you know, that kind of thing Uh-huh. Uh-huh. or do you send them away to boarding school and if you do that when do you do it and that's a, Do you play? Yeah, I, uh, consider myself a hacker. How about you? Well, I'm into it. Uh, Yeah, uh, I'm not as good as I'd like to be but it's a, Is anybody? No I don't think so. Uh, I'd started playing when I was in elementary school actually.
We lived really close to a par three golf course. Really? And I'd go up there with friends after school a couple of times every week and then for, uh, for years, I don't know, after elementary school, all through junior high and stuff, I didn't play cause I think I just got so frustrated when I was little I'd, my body wasn't, you know physically developed and all that kind of stuff Oh, wow. Right. and then I'd started picking it up again a couple of years back and I've really been enjoying it. Super. Yeah, that's kind of the way I did it too actually. I, I played, uh, just a tiny bit when I was real young and then, uh, I I got on to a team in high school but wasn't very good still. But, and then quit for awhile Uh-huh. and recently I picked it up, like you say, about a couple of years ago and, uh, I've been playing, you know, off and on when I can. Right. Up in Minneapolis it's not too easy to play in the winter of course Uh-huh. but I actually live in Florida
so, uh uh, I'll be going back down there in May and hopefully be picking it up a little more regularly. Uh-huh. Right. the one factor that really bothers me is the expense of playing golf. I was going to say I mean it's a great game but I mean to play a really nice course, you've got to have a really big wallet I mean. Yeah, that's, that's true, all too many times. Yeah. Fortunately, uh, down where I live in Florida, there's some golf courses that are pretty reasonable if you know where to look. Uh-huh. Uh, one of them is the University of Florida golf course which is open to the public Right. and that's pretty, pretty good. Yeah. I, uh, attend the Indiana University and it's the same way here. They have a really nice championship style course that is fairly reasonable to play on. Yeah.
Can you get like a, a student discount type of thing or, Uh, a little bit but not a whole lot. I mean I, you'd think you would but, uh, you don't so. I, Yeah. What, what, what are green fees run there? Uh, well they range anywhere from about five bucks for your basic city type course up to fifty, sixty dollars for a really, really nice course. Okay. That's, yeah, that's about the same I guess as it is in Florida. But, Uh-huh. My dad is a member of a golf club over in my home town and I can play for free there and it's a pretty nice course. Really. Oh, that's super.
Yeah. And I guess , well it's free for me Yeah, uh-huh. Somebody's paying but not me. Well, that's the way to do it though. Yeah That's the way to get in some good practice without having to pay for it all the time Yeah, definitely. As far as watching golf, I mean, I can watch it on T V but it's kind of boring. Yeah. It's nice to see those who , guys. They have such good style that, uh it's, uh, it's pretty fun to watch. Yeah. They need to get a new photography method. Because once the guy hits the ball and they got to try to follow the ball that's, that's a little difficult. Right.
Yeah. I mean, it, they do, they do a generally okay job but like you said, it's, it's kind of boring actually. Uh-huh. What I really, I, uh, had a chance, they had the P G A tournament up in Indianapolis last year Oh, yeah? and I was able to go and see one of the rounds of that and that was really fun. I mean you knew it Yeah. I bet that would be . I never really thought it was, would be that much fun to go to a big golf tournament and watch but, man, it was, it was something else just to follow those guys around and actually watch them play. Yeah. Yeah, I've never been to a tournament. Uh, you know, looking at it on T V, you're thinking, man, what a boring thing, you know. Right.
But, uh, that's, that's wild though. I'll have to see if I can't get a chance to go, You got I mean it's, uh, it's a lot more exciting than actually than watching it on T V. And if you pick a group of golfers and follow them around, I mean, it's just, watching them the whole time instead of like on T V, you get to see them make a tee shot Right. and then they go off to some other hole and they come back when they're putting, but, you know, it's really something else. Yeah, I can imagine. What do you do for a living? Uh, I'm a student right now. Oh, you are? Yeah. Which, uh, which university? At, uh, Indiana University. Okay. All right, great. What are you going into?
Uh, I don't really know. I'm a math computer science major right now. Okay. Definitely not golf, right No I it'd be nice to be a pro golfer. I mean, it seems like that, that would be an okay life just to hang out and, Yeah. If you're good, you can really rake in the bucks. what was what was that movie that they had out? Yeah. there was a movie about a professional golfer and I, I can't remember. Huh. It was on network T V a couple of times. Oh, yeah? Yeah. Well, you know, it seems like, well you go to work every weekend. Play, maybe, one, two tournaments a month. You come in about tenth, you'd still be doing pretty well.
That's right. . So. Yeah, that's a good thing. Yeah. But, uh, yeah. I guess when I get back, I'm going to school in Florida actually. Uh, and, fortunately, I've been able to, to play some golf on a student budget which is real helpful, you know. Uh-huh. But, it, it's unfortunate, you know. You hear about Japan. I guess, you know, it's, it's like two hundred fifty dollar minimum or three hundred dollar minimum just to, like to practice even . Right Yeah. And those fees to join a club. Like a million dollars or whatever is just Yeah. that is out of control. I mean you'd really want to really be liking your golf. Yeah. I guess they have those, uh, driving ranges that are actually stacked one on top of the other.
Yeah I saw one of those on T V. That is pretty wild. . Yeah. Yeah, I, I played, uh, uh, eighteen holes with some Japanese guys in, in Gainesville, as a matter of fact. And it was really wild. They were into it. Yeah. You know, they kicked our butt all the way to, Hi Okay. Do you work with a company that, uh, gives drug testing Sort of. I'm a, I'm a student but, uh, I'm in the National Guard and they do a little bit of drug testing. Oh, they do? Yeah. Uh-huh.
What, uh, did they do that before you went in or what? Uh, they, they do it before you go in and, occasionally they'll have a, a random urinalysis. Oh, they will, huh? Yeah. So you can't be smoking marijuana in, in the military anymore Oh. Okay. Well, I've, I worked, I don't work right now because my company I worked for, P I E, went bankrupt Oh. but, uh, they was getting a program set up, that for all new hires they was going drug, uh, give them drug tests. Oh. But, uh, they didn't hire very many new hires because all the people that usually work there, you know, just stayed there because it was, they had been there for a long, long time. Uh-huh. But, uh, actually, I think they should do it. Yeah, I, I believe they should too.
You know, uh, I don't think anybody needs anybody that's, to be working for them that's on drugs of any kind you know. Uh-huh. Yeah, definitely. But, uh, I don't know whether I believe that they should just randomly do it. I think they should kind of warn them, like, you know, well we're going to do that or maybe tell them before they do get hired, you know that this is what is going to happen. Oh. And then if you don't like it, why then, you know, you'll have to go look for a job someplace else. Uh, But after you, you have, to do randomly otherwise people will cheat. Well, I suppose you are right there too, you know. Yeah. Uh, personally I, They, I know when I was doing my, uh, basic training in A I T there was guys who would fool around Uh-huh. and then when that urinalysis came around they would be all scared. Uh-huh. Uh-huh.
Huh. The only problem is, you know, if you have done drugs but you've stopped and, uh, you do get caught, it is kind of, kind of harsh. Uh-huh. Yeah. Well, I suppose they fire you and everything right then, huh? Or what do they do with you guys if, that you guys get, Uh, we get counseling and, uh, I think part of our pay is docked if we're first time offenders. Oh I, Oh, I see. I really don't, I, I haven't, I don't do any drugs so I don't know. Yeah, well I don't either. I wouldn't even think about it I think anybody that does them are dumb, you know. Crazy. Yeah, yeah.
Yeah , really. You're so stupid, God and you just watch it on T V and see how it just burns your brain completely up, you know. You don't, Yeah, wastes your future. Yeah, really dumb, huh. Yeah. But, uh, Let's see, what else was I going to say here. Uh, what do you think about our, uh, like, uh, other government agencies testing? Do you think our government agencies should test? Yeah, I think so. I think they all should test really you know. Yeah. Uh, it just seems like there is so much more of it going on anymore that, I don't know what's wrong with the people, uh, Yeah. but I think that the, the government should do something about stopping it completely.
About it coming into our country. You know, they just slap somebody's little hand, and, you know, well, don't do that again and and then you know, they'll get out Oh, I know, yeah. They aren't . and they're right back at it again. Yeah. Right now it is, it's too lucrative for the drug dealers so the risks are worth it for them. Yeah. Uh-huh, uh-huh. Yeah. But, uh, other than that, why, I don't know. Like I say, maybe one of these days I'll get a job because I am looking still for a part-time job, you know, since my company went bankrupt and I'll see what they do, you know. Yeah. But, like I say, I, I wouldn't care because I, I don't, I don't even smoke
so they can test me all I want. Yeah. I wonder what if you take medicine if that would effect it. Oh see, that's, it is a problem. Sometimes some medicines will give off a, a false positive. Yeah, see now that that would be really unfair then, huh? I've heard of, I've heard of that, yeah. Yeah. You know. I believe you should have the testing but they should be, like, if you get, if you get a positive, they should double check you and still give you the benefit of a doubt. Yeah. Find out what, you know, if you have been taking some kind of medication and, you know, if that would effect it and everything. Uh-huh, yeah. But, uh, well I guess that's about all we can talk about. I think our five minutes is about up anyhow.
Well, it was nice talking to you Rose. Okay, Lewis, and maybe I'll talk to you again. Okay Alrighty. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Bye Okay. Uh, we keep a monthly budget. I just recently stopped working so I can be home with my kids so we keep a monthly budget and we try to stick to it are kitchen noises I know. It, it's really difficult here. All because there's always something breaking. Car needs tires or you know, something. Yeah, yeah. That's the kind of things that throw you off. Uh, uh, we do ours more monthly than long range.
Uh, we, uh, my husband gets paid once a month Uh-huh. and when he gets paid, I pay all the bills. Uh-huh. And out of his check they take a savings and out of my check, they take savings and retirement both, out of both checks. Uh-huh. Yeah. So, as far as extra savings, we really don't have that much extra to save. Yeah. Uh, his check, once a month, pays all the bills. My check, weekly, buys groceries and gas and you know, that kind of thing Oh, how nice. Yeah. and it works out real well that way. We don't run into a lot of problems Yeah, yeah. but budgets are horrible.
Well, I know. We do, my husband gets paid twice a week and so we pay all of the little bills, uh, one paycheck and then like the mortgage and the electric bill, you know, those big bills the second second pay Uh-huh. Yeah. and then, again, he does have a savings that comes out, you know, for Christmas and stuff, that kind of thing. Yeah, yeah. When the car insurance is due and you call the credit union and tell them, well send me some money Yeah, that kind of thing. Yeah. it, uh, it would be nice if we didn't have to touch the money he has taken out and put in savings but we do. But it's nice that it's there, you know. Yeah, it, I'm just glad that it is there for car insurance, medical bills, whatever happens . Yeah.
Yeah. But, uh, Yeah. It's nice that it's there. I know. But I, you, it's just really is difficult. Uh, neither one of us has had a raise in a couple of years. Yeah. And, of course, the cost of living keeps going up so much. Yeah. Groceries are outrageous and I keep saying my check does less and less but, Yeah, yeah. That's kind of how I felt when I was working because it seemed like we spent more. Uh-huh. We bought more things
and it seemed like we spent more. Then a lot of it was going to, uh, daycare and that kind of thing. Yeah. So it just seems like with me staying home, we had that big cut but we save more I don't know how and I don't know why but we Well I, uh, I know that since I do work, I buy a lot of quicker cuts of meat and, uh well the frozen things for the microwave and things like that. it seems like we do. Yeah. Yeah, you kind of try and buy bigger quantities. And I'll stop by the deli and pick up, uh, chicken or whatever. Where if I did not work, I'm sure that the grocery bill could be managed a lot, a lot, uh, better. Yeah. That's how I felt too. It just, you could take a little longer. And just watch a little bit more I guess. Yeah. Well,
I guess that's kind of like the way we do. We, I, I don't, I don't know how it comes out. It just seems like we save a little bit more whereas, where I was working, Well, I'm sure you do. Uh, I do not, well I do not have to pay child care during the winter. My son's old enough that he likes to come home uh, from school. Oh. But in the summer he's still young enough that I cannot leave him by himself. Yeah. So in the summer I have that extra and ours is seventy dollars a week plus all activities Yeah. and that's usually movies one day, skating one day Yeah. Swimming one day It adds up. Yes. So you usually end up paying close to eighty dollars a week and that's a lot of money.
Yeah, it is It is, yeah. But you know, if they're going to be in daycare then they need to have some activities other than just being there. Uh-huh. do you have two children? I have two. One is four and a half and the other one's two and a half, so. Well they're expensive too. Uh, just the outgrowing of their clothes Yes so I'm sure the budget, Yeah, that, yeah. I just came back to find jeans for the little one and it does add up. Yeah.
Yeah. But, uh, And medical bill. Yeah. Although the insurance we had was good, uh, when Thomas was younger. A lot of the stuff had to be paid up front and then you were reimbursed. So it was nice when you'd get a couple of hundred dollar check from the, insurance, but in the meantime you had to put out the money first. Yeah, yeah. But, Well, that, that's, that's hard. Yeah, it is. But I'm enjoying my stay home for the little time that I can Oh, I would too. For the, I would, I would advise anyone that could possibly do it to, to, I know it's not forever and that's what's so sad
but, Well, you probably wouldn't want to do it forever. I don't know though Okay, uh, well, we just got our income tax return and I'm perfectly happy. What about you Well, let's see. I haven't got mine yet because my parents are getting all that stuff at, uh, at home in the Bay area. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. So, I'm not sure how much I'm getting back but I'm pretty sure I should get back a little bit since student, so Yeah. It's not too much. Yeah. Not too bad though But as far as writing checks out and paying taxes, I think it's pretty high. But I, I'm, you know,
Yeah. It, it's one of those necessities of life that we all have to, you know , pay taxes but, although it is kind of a pain sometimes though. How high are the taxes going to be when my children are my age? Uh-huh. You know, that, that's, that's scary too. Uh-huh. Because it's not anything like the way it was when I was young and small and a child. So, you know, that, that's a scary part too, that you have to think about. Yeah. And, and like, as time goes on, you know, things get more expensive and because we were increasingly complex society that day by day things get more, uh, things get more expensive as well as more complex. Uh-huh. Yeah. And, you know, taxes are one of the ways to help pay for a lot of the things that are needed in this society. Yeah. I mean, everything from, you know, from medicare to, uh, to social security to, uh, to feeding the to, uh, to, you know, feeding the homeless, to maintaining prisons, to maintaining polices or fire departments and things like that. And it's, now there's more and more things that need attending to and that sort of thing. And, you know it's, it's becoming a larger responsibility Uh-huh
but someone has to pay for it and that's us. Yeah and then you find out about all these things about are your taxes, you know, taxpayers, are, is your money going to where you want it to go and. There's going to a special this week. I, I can't, I can't if it's TWENTY TWENTY or one of those things where, uh, I think it's one of the local news. I think they're having a documentary. Something about that. About their trying to catch some people that not spending your tax monies right and fraud and that kind of thing, you know and that's kind of scary too Uh-huh And, uh, so that would be interesting to see I wanted to see that program. Yeah. And, and, even, even today it's like the amount of taxes that, you know, we're paying for. But you'd think that we're still in , that we're still not able to pay off things just because the budget's not big enough as it is. Oh, I know Yeah. And, makes you wonder when there's, you know, countries out there that have, you know, tax rates of like close to fifty percent or higher.
You know, it's like fifty percent of everything you make is already gone before you even get it. Uh-huh. And that, that's kind of a scary thought. I hope it doesn't come down to that. Yeah But, on the other hand, they also, while those countries that have high taxes, also have things like, uh, socialized medicine, things like that too, which are nice fringe benefits of it. So everyone has, everyone has the access to medical facilities as well as the doctors. That sort of thing. Uh-huh. And it's good but it's, it's the price they pay Yeah. I mean it can be argued one way or another whether economically it's actually good for the country or good for any given country to have that because those countries tend to be, uh, as far as cash flow, a lot, uh, have be, tend to have a much slower cash flow and don't generate a larger a, a large amount of revenue because there's so little, uh, currency flow through out the economic system Uh-huh. Huh. Well you sure do know a a lot Well, just keeping up with the times, that's all. Yeah yeah. As, as it turns out, you know, it's one of those, one of those interests , you know, I kind of like to keep up on. Because, well it's nice to know that when I'm actually, you know, I do start working that, I like to know where my tax dollars are going too.
Uh-huh. work hard to get, you know. I like to know where it's going to. Yeah, yeah. That's true. Uh-huh. What do you think about these items that are going to be, uh, taxed even more. Like, uh, tobacco and that kind of thing I think in a, in a way it's good, in a way it's not. Uh, but I think in general it's probably good. I mean, a lot of things like tobacco and alcohol and things like that have been, have been, in the past, uh, have been not taxed because there's been such a large lobby against them, against the taxes for them. Sponsored by the alcohol and tobacco companies. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. And it's things like tobacco are, uh, they're, they're a proven health hazard to smokers as well as nonsmokers Yeah. Right. And it's, as far as the safety thing, in, like in San Luis Obispo, for example, there's an ordnance which states that, uh, there's no smoking in any public areas. *typo ordinance And so if you walk into any restaurant or any hotel there's no smoking allowed anywhere. Oh, really
Okay Uh, I just currently quit my job and so I really don't receive any benefits right now Right But my husband does and, uh, I think one of the, uh, my, first of all, always salary and the second thing is, uh, because we have children, so it would be, uh, health benefits and medical benefits and and, uh, right now we have probably some excellent benefits right now. Yeah, yeah. Definitely. We have with Aetna and, uh, I don't know if you're familiar with them but we're real happy with them. Yeah. Yeah, I've had a variety of different jobs with a various types, uh, in the computer field. And so I've seen a variety of types of benefits.
Uh, I've worked for, for for awhile and they are, you know, a really academic type of place. And then I've worked with regular, you know, industry type places. And then with others that are kind of half way between and stuff. So I've seen a wide range of both, you know, nonsalary type benefits and other stuff, you know, like health care that's either fully or partially paid and, you know, some have like bonuses and others have had lots of vacation time but not much other types of benefits and so, yeah, I would Uh-huh. I'd say health care is way up there, especially anybody with kids. Uh and that's one of the big things that we always look at, you know. When we, when I think about changing jobs is, you know, you know, what kind of health care they have Yeah. and does the company pay for it. You know, all or partially or how does that work. Uh-huh. And, uh, also, uh, vacation time too is a, is a big one for me. Uh, and I guess support for whatever, whatever other, you know, kinds of professional activities you have at, you know, work. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, cause I've been at places which offer a lot of support and others that don't offer any and some that, sometimes that's coincided with a place that offers more vacation time though, Huh.
Right. so that's not so bad, you know. Yeah. You know, it's kind of a give and take kind of thing, I think. Uh-huh. Uh, I say that health care is probably definitely number one though. want to just, you know, all your salary can't even begin to pay for what you can wind up losing, you know in a major illness or something. Uh. Yeah. Yeah. Right. Uh, and, and, and another good thing is with the health benefits when they give you more than two choices on who to go with. Yeah. And that really helped us out a great deal. So. But my husband does get vacation and it's worked out really good for us too. Uh-huh. So But. Yeah.
Flexible hours are, are pretty important to me as well. Yeah. Uh, cause that makes a big difference. My wife works part-time. Uh-huh. And she works, uh, as a assistant manager in a fabric store. Uh-huh. And so she works a lot of evenings and weekends and so two days a week, I, uh, manage to get home early enough to meet the kids on the bus So she you know, goes in early those days and works like, you know, noon til close. Uh, so we have Well, that's great that you all can work that out. That's really good. Yeah, and being on a, you know, rigid schedule wouldn't, there wouldn't be anyway to do that at all. Right. And I think it's kind of neat to be able to spend the afternoons with the kids occasionally too. Uh-huh. I mean usually, you know, you go to work before they're awake or as they're getting, up for school and you get home
and it's already dark unless it's summer time, you know. And even in summer time, sometimes you get home so late that there's, you know, you can't do anything with them. Yeah. And especially in the winter. I mean, you get up in the dark and come home in the dark you know. It's like, it's like a vampire sometimes Yeah. It's the same with my husband cause he's got pretty flexible hours if, as long as he puts in the hours he needs to do . Worked out really well for us too. Yeah. Uh. Well is there anything else that you look for or, Uh, a lot of I guess is. You've hit pretty, you've put a lot of the main points in. Yeah. I think some of, is how the, uh, you know, I guess it's not really a direct benefit but how your, uh, performance is rated and stuff like that at work. Uh-huh. Cause I've been, uh, especially in large corporations. You can really, you know, wind up getting, having, you know, real problems I've found out.
I've worked for a few, you know, several thousand plus, you know, type companies. And it, and especially if you're doing like professional work. Where you know, it's kind of ethereal as to what you're doing you know. Yeah. Yeah. If you're, like I've, I work with, uh, computer systems a lot. So it's kind of hard to say, you know. If you're, you know, a brick layer, somebody can look and see, you know, well, yeah, you laid, you know, fifteen thousand bricks today and they were all straight and your building didn't fall down, you know Yeah, you did a great job. But if you build computer systems, like, well, you know, what does that computer program really do, you know. Or, especially if you write like papers, you know. Or do design studies or something. Uh-huh. It's real hard to rate something like that. Uh-huh. It's like get a painter, you know, or something, a artist. It's like well you, how do you really rate, you know, Michelangelo, you know How would you tell if he was, you know, really good or so-so or whatever Yeah.
And that does make a a person want to stay an interesting topic. Yes. The, uh, type of cars that I was, uh, I would be most interested in if I was going to buy another car now would probably be something like a, uh, Mazda Miata. Uh-huh. Uh, the, uh, I'm very much a, a fan of sports cars. Ah. Boy, you and my husband would have a whole lot in common The, The, uh, uh, uh, though, actually, in actually if I I have I've avoided buying a new car for quite some time. I'd rather put my money into, uh, restoring my old cars. I have a old Triumph T R Six. Uh-huh. And, uh, uh, so, uh, but if I was to buy one, probably something like a Miata.
It's certainly, I wouldn't have to worry about it breaking down all the time Oh, really. Yeah What's the, how old is your car? Uh, well I have a, I have a nineteen eighty, uh, eighty-five C R X. Oh. Uh, which is, you know, it's, it still works fine Yeah. Right. But it's, it's actually, it's kind of annoying cause I've got no reason to replace it Oh. But, uh, Oh, those are, Yeah. So what do the Miatas run? they're about, uh, uh, thirteen to fourteen thousand dollars and, you know, a bit more if you add some some options and so on but the, Well, that's not too bad.
uh, yeah, that's a pretty good price and they're, they're, they're, they're so nice to drive. Yeah. Really? I've never driven one. Uh, uh, it's, it's, it's nice. They're, I've been down to a dealer and driven them. And I've also driven one at a, something Mazda put on where, uh, they went to, uh, autocross events across the country. Uh, which is where you race in, uh, you race on, in a parking lot or something like that with a bunch of, uh, cones to see who can get through the fastest. Huh? Uh, you know, about a minute or so. And, uh, very twisty stuff. Uh-huh. And oh, it handles so nicely. And so you've done this? Yeah. Oh. Okay. Yeah. Oh
It was just, it, it's just so smooth and. Really? Yeah Yeah. Nice car. What are you interested in? Whatever my husband buys Yeah. You you don't get involved in, uh, car decisions? Oh, not too much. No. We, uh, we just got rid of a full conversion van that, that I, I, that wasn't me. That was my husband. He wanted a van and he wanted to drive that van and travel and wanted everything in there. T V, you know, the whole bit. But I never drove it so it just, it wasn't me, you know. Yeah.
I can understand. And then, Oh, I'd want a minivan yeah. They're nice. Because I'm with the kids all the time. Oh, yeah. That's perfect for that. Yeah. Yeah. And, It's not, it, it's small enough that it's easy to drive. Yeah. You pick up I pick up my little one from preschool Holds a lot. and the whole parking lot's full of minivans. Yeah. But, you know, I, I drive a little Subaru. Yeah. And, uh, we, I love that.
I, we were going to trade that in for the van but I just wanted to hold on to it cause I just really enjoy that. Right. And, uh, that's really all I needed was for something just to go here and there and back. Yeah. Minivans are nice. I have a friend who has a minivan. Uh-huh. And, uh, I've driven it a few times and, uh, it's nice, it's nice. Of course, you know, my my family has always had cars like that. Uh, in that, you know, my father's had a, had a, always had a V W bus every since, uh nine, about nineteen sixty or so. Oh, really Oh, really. Uh, uh, they, well, he, he used it, he often has to transport plants or, uh, things like that cause he's, he goes to orchid shows and, and, you know, fills the car with plants. And so on Yeah.

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