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and sometimes my daughter will come along on her little bicycle. Uh, and then moving up, I run in the mornings, Uh-huh not every morning, it probably averages about two days a week Right. and then with my wife I actually go to the gym and lift weights, which isn't, I understand, quite exercising, but it's along the lines, Right. How about yourself. Well, um, that's a hard question to answer because I do physical things, but I don't always set out for them to be exercise. Uh-huh. I walk with my parents, occasionally, nothing's real regular about this because I have a weird schedule and they have a normal schedule, and, um, I play racquetball, but I haven't since I've been out of school. I don't have anywhere to do that, but that's going to start soon again Uh-huh. and, um, I play softball once a week, which is kind of more recreation than exercise. Uh-huh.
Because I really don't like to exercise, I think that's the basic point of it, is I'm not, I, I don't enjoy it if I know that it's exercise, Right. but if it's like a social activity or a recreational activity, I don't mind Right. so I have to disguise it, it's like feeding little babies food and telling them it's something else so that they'll eat it. That's right. That's kind of the same thing for me. I have to not know that it's exercise so I can do it. Right. So you look at it more as a task. Well, yeah, if it's exercise, it's a task. Right. I don't want to do anything I have to do. I see. I mean, I'll voluntarily clean the bathroom, but I won't do it if I have to do it. Right,
right. So, I'm thirty-two years old which is probably different than yourself Uh-huh. Right, I'm twenty-two. and so, it's interesting that as you get older you begin to understand that you need to exercise. Right. My job at Texas Instruments, I have to sit in front of a computer all day and make phone calls, so, that, I don't get any exercise doing that Right. and plus there's a build up of stress Uh-huh. so I need to go out and take those walks after dinner, and I need to go out in the morning and run or I'll just get nuts Right. so that's kind of a motivator, so even though I can look at it as a task, the, you know, I kind of get the, I get some kind of global benefit from the whole thing by saying, Well, I'm lowering my chance of heart attack, and thus, that type stuff. Right. Eating right and no cholesterol and all that. Sure,
that all, I, I do all that. Yeah, we, I'm sure, I will do, I'm doing that more and more than I used to Yeah. I'm getting better about this knowing that I need exercise and doing it, but it's still at the task stage. Right. Is it a pleasure for you, or are you, Well, it's a, something as simple as a walk with my wife is very enjoyable. Right. I do that at the end of the day, and it takes, you know, that, that during that time the stress from the day goes away. I get to share whatever I did with my wife, and, and vice versa. Right. Going to the gym is, is actually something different than, than, like,
oh, and the running, and I enjoy that too. Uh-huh Year, I've been running since high school on track teams and the like, Oh. so, running, I, I'm at that point which you probably get to after about six months of dedicated running where you don't feel your muscles any more Uh-huh. Right, and you don't think about the pain of it. You, you, you take the time to relax some how and you think about other things. During those first few months you have to think about running and why your elbow hurts and why you can't breathe and this and that, Uh-huh and that's no fun. And it's so hard to get past that for a lot of people. Right, that's, I never got past that stage. Yeah,
the the, uh, weight lifting on the other hand is actually, you know, I think I look better. Right. I have just a, I don't, I'm not a huge person, I'm just a regular looking guy, but just going to lift weights on occasion with my wife, and my wife thinks the same thing about both me and herself that get that little bit of definition in your muscles is, is attractive Uh-huh. Right. so that pays also. That's good. Yeah, so, so I guess that aspect of that takes away the work the, with my wife, which is nice, Yeah. I love her, you know, I enjoy being with her Uh-huh. I guess that's one thing, but also, uh, that, that long term benefit of a little bit of tone in your muscles. Right,
that's it, I do the occasional push up and sit up. I haven't really brought myself to go to the the gym, because that's very stressful to me, Yeah. because I feel, I felt real competitive there, and I need to find some place I could go and not feel like there's all these people who are just huge and hulking that are ... Oh, yeah, I don't, I don't let that bother me, but, yeah, that's something that comes with time, too. You know, Right. I'll tell you, the sit ups and push ups are excellent you know, Uh-huh. it's your own, you, you're, you're struggling against your own body weight Right. you can have variety by putting your feet higher or lower, by putting your arms further apart or closer together, by doing them real quick or real slow Right. and you can actually get a good you can, I know in the push up, at least, you can get chest muscles and the back of your arms quite built up just doing push ups.
Uh-huh. That's a good idea, but I do have my ride, we have a stationary bicycle and a stair step machine here at the house. Oh, is that right. I'll do those once in a while just you know, like at eleven thirty when Love Connection's on and I can't sleep, Right. Yeah. Right. I'll get up and stair step for half an hour That's funny. so. Yeah. It's, I guess, pretty, pretty healthy, but I don't have a regular plan, that's Yeah. I need to get started on that. Well, you know, maybe not. I'd say, I'd say at twenty-two you don't necessarily need a plan as long as you're getting, getting the exercise otherwise. Right.
When your life becomes sedentary is when you have to make yourself a plan, Uh-huh. and what's real funny about plans is that there's a struggle between, uh, when you, when you add something to your life, when you add a plan to your life, something else has to go away Uh-huh. and that's the hard decision, is, okay, if I'm going to run in the mornings, what am I, what do I trade it off for. Well, the answer's sleep, right. Sleep If I'm going to walk at night, what do I trade it off for. Well, Star Trek Uh-huh. or, you know, it, it, it's always trade offs, and you actually have to, as you get older you have to really think what can go, and what, to, to, to replace this thing. Yeah. It's, I mean, not just exercise, but anything. It's very hard. Right. And, uh, I don't, I don't think you should worry about not having a program yet. That'll come some day when I, Yep.
Yeah, I guess if you care, or if your wife, your future wife, uh, gives you a reason to care which helps Right. Well, I hope so. Well, I think we covered it. Yeah, sounds good. Nice talking with you, Craig. Yeah, you too. Have a nice day. You too. Good day. Bye. Bye. Okay, what do you think is the biggest problem? The biggest problem, well, like in this part of town seems to be the attitude and the atmosphere in the schools that, uh, you know, you can throw money at it, Uh-huh. but it's,
I don't know, to me it seems like the schools are reflecting society in a bigger way you know, because, I mean, the general values that we're teaching kind of conflict with what we expect out of people in school, I mean, Uh-huh. Yeah. Is it the, do you think it's the values that they're teaching in school or the values they get from home. Uh, well, the values, more or less at home and the T V, just a general, I mean, learning is not a revered endeavor, really, I mean, it's a lot more, it's socially, well I won't say socially unacceptable, but whereas like in, uh, a person that, uh, they put a lot more emphasis on athletics and things like that are a lot more glorified generally in society, and I think that carries over to school a lot. Right. So. Yeah, I, I, I, I think that the biggest problem is, uh, with the, uh, with the home environment being part of it. You know, if, I think too many parents expect, uh, the school to teach, uh, the moral aspects of, of things to the to the kids and, you know, while we're not going to worry about, uh, teaching you manners or teaching you respect for anyone or anything like that, you know, and then expect them to pick it up at school, you're not going to do that, you know,
you're going to carry, carry with, carry to school, uh, out into the world, you know, what you learned at home, and, uh uh, I think that that part of that showing up now, you know, with, with things because kids I think have probably less respect than for, for people than in, in other things, than we may have seen in the past, uh, Yeah. and part of it's the, the family, I think, and part of it's, uh, the living conditions of certain people are subjected too, drugs is a big problem now, and I think that's, that's, that's another root problem. Yeah, yeah, you know, I wonder if that's a root problem or not, because I think about that a lot, and it's just like, everybody likes to blame everything on drugs now, but I wonder, you know, do you get the, oh, that's kind of side tracked, but, uh, I just remember seeing on the news the other night, they had the thing about how Catholic schools are doing so much better Uh-huh. I thought, well, you know, of course they're doing better, and not so much when I was growing up, Catholic schools are generally considered a little bit easier than the public schools, but, uh, they still had a, a better success rate, simply because they started with a lot better raw material.
I mean everybody that went to a Catholic school had, uh, at least the parents did, at least, had education as a priority like you said and kind of had a whole conducive atmosphere to it. Right, Right. And I wonder if, not so much that, uh, Well, I think it's, like you say, it's, it's the socioeconomic mix there, you know, the, they're, you look at the schools like that where you've got a lot of kids who are basically, uh, that might be more well well off, you know, going to a private Catholic school or whatever, uh, and, and they're not all that way, but, you know, some that are um, that, they're, they're not quite the same as the kids that are going to the inner city, uh, you know, public schools. Yeah. Yeah, this is interesting because in my mind I don't have the stereotype of a Catholic school being a suburban kind of environment, but, uh, this, this was actually inner city Yeah. people were sending, I mean, just because their kids had the ability and the, and the drive to do, try and get an education, they didn't send him to a public school, you know, like you said, you have the drug problem and just the general atmosphere where you're pressured not to learn in instance, Yeah, well, you know, in a lot of cases like that, where, you know, if kids are going to a public parochial school like that, it's, it's because the parents are more interested in them receiving an education. It shows, I think it shows that the parents have some, uh, desire for, for the kid to do, do well, you know, and that may be passed on down to the kid as well,
and, uh, maybe they pick up on that. Yeah. And then from the other aspect, um, maybe the, uh, school itself has, has, has more emphasis on, uh, trying to do a good job because the classes may be smaller, uh, they may be able to, to give the resources that's needed to, uh, to do a good job. Yeah, I mean, and what do you, what would you do to fix the school systems? Uh, that's a tough question how to fix the school system. Yeah, Uh, with, uh, I would try to, I guess, to see about getting parents more involved, with, try to, to come up with more ways to do that. Uh, uh, uh, stress the importance of education to both both the parents and the students, and, uh, more, more classes that I think that are, and I think this is happening some around the country in terms of, um, morals, trying to teach the kinds of things that, that aren't getting taught at home, and, uh, and, and respect for other people. Uh, I think that's a big part of it. You know, people, you know, if you don't care about property and people, you know, you're not going to care about, uh, about learning, I think. You know, Yeah. you're not going to really care about yourself. Yeah. That's what I was going to say. It's the chicken and the egg thing.
I wonder, a lot of times, you know, people, I mean, a lot of times people literally tear apart their own schools vandalism wise, Right. and you get, I mean, it's been a while since I been in high school. They're even in grade school when they do that. But I can't remember exactly what goes through their head when they're doing that. But you got to think in a way it's kind of a outward showing of that they don't think they have a chance of doing anything, and take it out on the school. Well, you know, and I, that's not an but that's not an easy task, you know, that's why I say, it's, it's a tough question what would you do, because, you know, even trying to instill those values is kind of hard when, uh, when, when you're growing up in, you know, in a home which may be, uh, just the pits, and uh, you don't have any, any kind of a good environment to live in, you know, it's kind of hard to say, well, you need to take care of other people's stuff as well, when you're, when you barely have anything yourself. So. Yeah. I could see where that would be a problem, and I think that's, I think it's ... Okay. Okay. Well, I, uh, I guess because I work quite a bit with lawyers, I'm not a lawyer, uh, that I find a lot of things are so specialized that I'm not sure,
and I, I look at it more from the civil side of things that juries have any sense of, of the value of, and worth, so that they have real problems when it comes to, uh, uh, they can find guilt or innocence Right. uh, but then when you quantify things and that might also hold criminal trials for how many years is appropriate, uh, that they might leave it to somebody else who, uh, has expertise in that. Right, I agree, too. I don't think the jury should be the ones that, that put the sentencings down. I think the judges should, or even a panel of, of lawyers if, if it got to that point. Might be better at than just regular civil people. Not knowing, you know, exactly what things are, from, from murder on up to like tax stuff, you know. Uh-huh. Yeah. Because I find that, uh, I've been on a few juries and, uh, as a say, I, I tend to be around, uh, civil cases because I've been an expert witness some, and, uh, many matters are so complicated that it's so hard to, uh, come up with the fair value, uh, or the fair sentence and one thing that you get if you have some expertise is, uh, you know the range of, of possible values or terms or, you know, how heinous was the crime. Right. Uh, that, uh, when I only do something one, two or three times I'm hardly an expert on it, and most juries over a period of five or ten years you might sit on three.
Yeah and, And so how do you relate as to whether this particular armed robbery was a, you know, worth five years or twenty-five. Right, that's, yeah. And, and most people that do sit on juries, some people just sit on them once in their lifetime, you know, if they're that lucky sometimes Or, you know, what, whatever the case may be. And, and may not have any idea of what, what the standard punishment would be for it. Uh-huh. Yeah. And it, they may have some different idea, I mean, it might be more important for them to put a sentencing down that was, uh, longer, you know, that didn't fit, the punishment didn't fit the crime. Or not long enough or, you know, whatever the case may be. Uh-huh. Yeah. I, I think the judges do have that, that better knowledge of it. The only thing I worry about sometimes is if, if you get somebody in there that, that has a name, that is the defendant and, you know, sometimes, might have more pull, which that does happen. Uh-huh. I mean, we can't say it doesn't, because it does happen. I mean not everybody is, you know, has, has the right morals sometimes. People can be paid off or politically or whatever the case may be
Uh-huh. and sometimes that's not real fair either, though so, Well, one of the others things that gets me on, on the juries is that often in the newspaper, I, I tend to hear two things that, well, that go on. One is, you often see in the headlines the big numbers. Uh-huh. Uh, and many of those get overturned or get reduced in terms of sentences, or get changed by a judge or an Appeals Court Right. and that never makes the, the press and so, when, uh, you or I as an individual gets on a jury we tend to have certain mental images of what's what because we see the headlines, uh, and we don't have, again, a lot of knowledge, so we don't know what is really going on, what is, uh, really the range of sentences or awards that are, uh, are actually, uh, in the end applied. Right. Right. Well, well, also what I don't think is fair, either, is when you have like a, say a rapist, come in, and, and his attorney gets his sentences, sentencing reduced because he's gone to a lesser charge, like, I don't know what, assault or something or, Uh-huh. But, which that doesn't make any sense to me either. this is the second time the person has said 'which that' I know it's hard to prove rape and whatnot and, and, and the person that was raped or whatever doesn't,
I mean it's embarrassing and all this other stuff Uh-huh. and they, they're put on like, they were the ones that caused it or whatever, but, to me, when you do the crime, then you should pay for whatever you did, and, and you shouldn't be able to go on the lesser charge. I don't, I don't think that's right because all's that's going to do is say, Oh, well, you know, that was a breeze, I can go out and do it again and, you know have the same thing happen. Yeah. That's, that's not right. Well, that's where, uh, the role of juries is, is restricted and, I'm not sure I'd want to change that aspect of it, one is, it's restricted in the sense that, juries only decide the charges that are actually, uh, brought, you know Right. if it's first degree rape, second degree rape or whatever, they only get to decide on that, well, okay this person has been charged with first degree rape, uh, and you can decide guilt or innocence on that. Uh-huh. Uh, such like, maybe in murder they get to choose whether it's, uh, premeditated or one or two of the lesser degrees. The other thing that juries are restricted on and, and at least to me this has been one of the frustrating things in my, even in my own experiences, that you usually don't get to hear all the information. Yeah.
It's what information is presented and, uh, I don't know that juries have a right to know more because in a sense we call those safeguards, but often juries hear only a fraction of the, of the story when they have to decide guilt or innocence. And to me, how can you, how can you make a decision if you don't have all of the evidence in front of, whether it be, whether it pertains to the case or not, somebody thinks it, it had, because they've got it there. Uh-huh. So the lawyers, the two lawyers are the ones that have all the information. Yeah, and the truth that's brought out is, uh, as I say, when I've heard about, you know, Don't they? the oath is to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, is that they want, uh, they don't want, uh, the whole truth. I mean you can say, They only put part of it. yeah. Yeah. The, because stories look very different when you hear different parts of the, of the truth. Right.
Well, that's just like that old witness game, well, it's a game kids play, too, but, uh, somebody did it, just for your train of thought where they, they showed something and they asked, they, there were, uh, like four people, Hello. Hello. My name is Nola. I'm in Plano, Texas. Hi Nola, I'm Steve. I'm in Dallas, Texas. Not too far away. No, that's unusual. Seems like usually, I've had some from Plano, too. Oh yeah. I think all mine have been East Coast people so far Uh-huh.
Okay So, um, let's see. social changes, Social changes. what's that mean? That sounds like not as recent social changes, too, like back to the sixties or fifties, I guess Yeah. Think we can handle that? Yeah. Yeah, I definitely, I mean there's plenty of things to talk about there. That's a, Okay, uh, shall I go ahead and push one? Yeah, sure. Okay You want to go ahead and start?
Uh, I was hoping that you would but, oh, Oh In social changes is that, uh, it seems to me that, uh, That involves a lot of different areas, I think. Does that, Yeah. Like a lot, it seems like the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer, is even more, true today. You know? Yeah, there is a a big difference in the, uh, economic, um, status of, uh, people although I think that has been true, uh, always. Um, perhaps there's less of the middle range then there was. Yeah. It's like people are starting to give up hope and they start out very poor. Let's see, that's a bad tangent to get on. What else has changed between the sixties and the eighties and the nineties? Uh, No.
I think, uh, in my situation, I have three children and we're, uh, home schooling. So, education, you know, things that relate to education, um, are things that I think about a lot. Um, I think that, and I think that involves social changes a lot. Uh, for instance I think the schools are having more and more problems because of, uh, things that are happening socially in the world around them and in, in, because of their parents and things that are being taught in the home are not taught in the home, rather. More not than are. And children being put in day-care centers from very early, and, and I think that a lot of these things that have been happening, such as the day-care centers and things, are having a big effect on the social changes. Because of the way children are being raised, they're not learning the values they need to learn. Yeah. And they're not, um, they don't have the self-esteem that they need to have and they don't have the, um, a solid family life that they need to have to confidently and deal with the things in the world. And, uh, I think we're seeing a lot of rebellion and things because of that and the things like the gang, gang things that are happening and, and, um Yeah. It seems, so that, yeah, that is a pretty big change. It seems, even not just single parent families but with no guidance but it seems like, some of these even ladies that, that'll work and have, a baby and then, you know, after two or three months, go back to work. You know,
Yeah. Yeah. Oh it's, well that, that, I mean that's very, young for a baby. That's really sad. I think that a lot of people, and they think they have to but, Yeah. I, I think that if they really tried, they wouldn't have to. And, I, I think that if they didn't that, and it became more of the standard not to that, uh, I don't know maybe companies would start paying men more so that their wives could stay home. You know? And have a more solid, uh, foundation for the kids. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean they're going to, like you said, I mean, there's, they might be saving money, I mean even if they had to pay more now, I mean in the long run it's going to cost society more to force two people to work. Even though it's higher productivity is short-term. That's right. It's already, It already costs society much more because of it. You know it,
trying to do all these programs like Headstart and things like those. You wouldn't have to do that if mothers would stay home with their children and do things with them, you know. Yeah. Um, there's, and I think, uh, a lot of it is selfishness. People have become very selfish. They don't want to stay home with the kids or something like that. yeah There are a lot of two parent, um, situations where the woman goes back to work because that's what she wants to do, you know. Oh rather than she needs the money just she wants the stimulating environment Rather than that, she has to have the money particularly. Or, maybe there's a small need for money so she does it partly because of the money but partly for herself, too You know, Huh. It, Yeah. It's interesting how, uh, home study. Is that what you said? Home school. Home school. Yeah. Is that, uh, is, is it like, uh, a preschool level then or through grade school or,
No. I , I have, uh, one going into fourth grade and one starting kindergarten and then a preschooler. And one on the way Oh I Oh, well you sound busy So you're teaching them, completely Yes. Yes. Huh. And I think, uh, it's becoming, uh, more popular then it has been for a while, I think. Home schooling's always been around but, uh, I can see more and more families going to it because of the problems in the schools. Um, and a lot of it is discipline problems. Yeah. A lot of it is, and you can tell which kids have been in day-care centers. It, it's really obvious to look at them and watch the way they act and things. That, um, they've been raised in a day-care center. Yeah. Yeah. That's pretty sad because, I mean, I don't know, something's got to change with the schools. That's what it all boils down to in the end, usually anyway.
Well, I think it's going to, change in the homes before anything changes anywhere else. When they're young, Yeah The home is the base, it's the basic unit. And that's the, where it all starts and if we don't start making changes in the homes and maybe part of that is educating parents better. Yeah. And educating, uh, you know Changing people's expectations. I know they do do some, they do have some classes in, um, high schools and things for kids to, uh, give them an idea of what family life is like and the, uh, you know, and, uh, that kind of thing but, uh, The AIDS issue is, is a bit of a problem. I guess the first thing that comes to my mind not having any immediate friends with that problem, is, is the financial end. And how can a country stand to, uh, spend as much or much more than they already are on such a problem, uh, but, then that kind of thinking is also tempered with the, the knowledge, or at least the, the rumor, I'm not really sure if it's true or not, that, uh, we're not spending as much per, let's say, afflicted person on cancer. Uh, there's some, uh, take breast cancer, for instance. It seems to be doing much more damage and affecting much more many more people than AIDS.
And yet, uh, more people die of it, and yet the funding has already, uh, exceeded, AIDS has more money than, uh, breast cancer Than, well, that's interesting, isn't it, yeah. So, uh, I mean, if it's true. I, I've, I've always heard these things. I've never bothered to dig it out and make sure, but, uh, I've heard it on more than one documentary that, uh, they were complaining that whoever's sitting up there making these decisions or whatever institutions raise the money and, uh, it's just one big P R campaign that, yeah, we think that's the world's worst thing so let's give money to AIDS. And yet we've had breast cancer problems for years. Right. And, it's just one of those, uh, course, one of the shows I saw was taking it from the angle that, since it doesn't effect men, it's not going to get funded. And, uh, having thought about that for a while,
What did you think about that idea? Well, I, I kind of, I thought, well, that, that might be possible since there are a lot of men in control of that kind of thing. But then I got, I got to thinking, the, the number one killer of men seems to be the prostate and there's only one test that just recently got developed, uh, a blood antigen, uh, antibody test for the antigen in the blood and that's fairly recent. And yet men have been dying from prostate cancer for years. They've not really given it attention either, yeah. So it's not really cured, yeah, it's not, uh, not that heavily funded either and then that seems to be one of the, the major, uh, problems that men have in the realm of cancer, so, I don't know. I, I guess there's just some strange public opinion as to who they want to give to. Uh, be it through different organizations, March of Dimes type, uh, telethons or, or bicycle rides or whatever, how they fund whatever, uh, illness they wish. Right. It's kind of hard to, to get an even keel on that. I mean, it's really hard to say, well, there's, you know, a hundred thousand per year affected by this one so let's give it this amount, and then this other one's only a tenth of that,
so give it a tenth of that and, and just keep doling it out that way or, Well, I'm, I'm glad I'm not the one that's, that's in charge of, of making those decisions. They, uh, you wish that there could just be money for all these problems because they're all so serious, you know. I mean it's not so serious, I guess, until it affects your family and then all of a sudden it's the most important thing. Right. So I, I would hate to have that responsibility just personally but, but then, again, we really, we really do have it as a society to decide which things we need to address I, uh, I guess I, it, it frightens me to think of so many people with, with AIDS and with cancer and many of those things, uh, if they're not able to, to be insured then the country's going to pay for it one way or the other. Whether it's through prevention or, or treatment or, you know, just, uh, just helping the people when they are not able to take care of themselves. Right. It seems like one way or the other we're going to end up paying for it. That's true. But You know the, the other thought that I had, uh, I've had several minutes to think about this after I, uh, while I was finding people, I, uh, I could think about the topic longer that the person that receives it, so it's kind of a, a typo: that for than unfair advantage, as it were, but, the other thing that I thought of on this is, I wonder if there isn't enough money, uh, in our economy or in our system.
Uh, it seems like there's so much that goes to things that don't really do a whole lot of good. I mean, yeah, they're kind of nice. But, we have such an affluent society , society that I wonder if, if we took a little from here and there and the other if we might wind up with a, a cure for just about everything. Just change our Of course, then we wouldn't have any room to put people, but that's Right, just change our priorities a little bit. Yeah. You know, you hear these ridiculous figures for pizza or you hear these, these phenomenal amounts of dollars spent for this, that or the other and then you have all the arts that, that are nice and aesthetic, but are they that enhancing for the, for the masses, you know. Right. They certainly do well for those who go to the symphony orchestra and all that, but, uh, had all that donation and time and labor and effort gone toward something else, All right, this is easy for me since I, And me too, because I eat out a lot. Yeah,
well I travel, I do about forty percent of my time is on the road. So you eat all your meals out. I eat a lot of meals out, well I'm also married and my wife is an A one cook, but she enjoys eating out, so I have to share it with her. And, uh, actually it's very easy for me, because I, I have a make it a practice when I am out, I eat differently than what I could eat at home or around here. Sure. So, I look for just about anything, and it's, it's, uh, it's a lot of fun. I don't have to worry, really worry too much about price considerations because I, you know, I was going to ask you, could you go to, you know, nice places, and, Oh, sure, yeah, and it's, it's really great. I, I, I like different types of food.
So where are your, what are the places, you know, memorable places you've eaten? Uh, oh you okay you name it. Let's see, you've got one down in, uh, down near, uh, Addison, uh, there's two restaurants that I particularly like that I, every time I get into Texas or I get into Atlanta, Georgia, I make sure I go, and that's Houston's. Oh, Houston's, uh-huh. Yep, okay. It's a great place. It's, it's great. There's a, a restaurant in, um, right outside of Reading, Pennsylvania, it's called Alfredo's that does not look like a restaurant that you would really want to recommend to a lot of people. Uh-huh. But it is fantastic. Uh, there's a restaurant, and I don't recall the name of it, uh, in, uh, Panama City. Of course, not too many people want to rush back to Panama City, uh, Panama, the country, uh, Panama. Oh, okay, because I was thinking, well, I, I grew up in Panama City.
No this is the country this is the country Panama, all right? I get it. Right. And, uh, but I have gotten to quite a few. And I go to Canada and get quite a few restaurants up there. I, you know, and I know the locations, and I know the places, but I, lot of times I don't remember the names. I'd have to go back through some expense reports. Uh-huh. But particularly, down in your area, I'm looking for some, some more restaurants. So, I, you know, I don't know what's, what's down there, the ones out in Addison. Do you like Mexican? Do you like Mexican food. Not particularly Oh. that's one of the few, why, which one were you going to recommend? Well, I mean, there's so many places here, you know,
there's just, it's just lots of good Mexican restaurants here. Uh-huh. But in the Addison, well about everything that you could want in Dallas is in the Addison area, anyway. Right. I mean, now there's a new Italian place Sfuzi Okay, I have a, that has a great, I've not been there, but it has a great reputation as one of the best restaurants in Dallas, and now there's one in Addison. Okay, let, I'm, I'm writing it down It's F, S it's S F U Z I. Okay. And it's on, it's in Addison, and it's a great place. Also a great place that they have like Cajun food is Copelands. I've been there. Now I really like Copelands. Okay,
I've been there. Um, one down there is the, uh, I think it's an old schoolhouse. Oh, the, yeah, the, I know, no, I don't like that place. Well, I like the food, but I don't care for the clowning around. See, uh, uh, yeah, I, I, when I went, I thought the food was not good. Oh, really? Oh I've had, Magic Time Machine is the place you're thinking of, That's it, that's it. I've had excellent food there. See, I, when I went, I thought, the people drove me crazy first of all True. True.
but then I just thought the food was over priced for what it was. Uh-huh. Yeah, all right, well, that's great. Uh, no, Italian is fine. I make it a habit of always going out to Pasta Oggi's which is right down there in Do you like, like Southwestern? Oh, yeah. Well, now there's a good place in Addison too called Blue Mesa Grill that's on Belt Line that's close to Houston's, as a matter of fact. All right. Really? And, um, it's great, I mean, their, they have, I think, sometimes I've been when I thought, Well, it wasn't as good, but I went there recently, and I thought, Well, this really is good. Uh-huh. So that's, that's a very good place to eat, The Blue Mesa Grill.
Good. And, um, Well, this is great. This is going to give me some more places to go. A whole new, dining experience. Okay, fine. I guess our time's about up, so. Well, they haven't beeped us, have they? Uh, well, they don't always. Oh, I thought sometimes they say, you know this is three minutes or whatever. Yeah, I they've been doing that when, uh, the circuits are busy Oh, okay. and other than that, they, you know, leave you go about five minutes, and then, that, that's about it. I guess that's what they need for their machines to get everything down pat, so. Okay,
It was a pleasure talking to you. Well, thanks for calling for helping us out. Okay. You bet, Bye-bye. Bye-bye. So do you have any recycling programs there? Um, I don't really think we have anything in the works as of yet. Uh-huh. Uh, we're a pretty small town and, uh, the closest thing we have are bins like out in front of Wal-Mart that show, you know, plastics, paper liter bottles, et cetera, et cetera. Oh, uh-huh. Yeah. We've progressed a little bit farther than that. Yeah. Um, actually they have, uh, parts of town, it may have even spread all over the whole town, and, um, they will have these green bins Uh-huh.
and it's just as standard as a, a regular trash can that they come by and pick up and dump. Yeah. And, uh, just along with a trash can you have this, this green plastic bin, and you put your bottles in it and paper and, uh, you know, all those things that aluminum. You know, anything that can be recycled you just put in that bin. Oh. And, uh, I guess you can and a lot of the restaurants they just have, uh, places where you can throw away, especially beer places, where you can throw away green bottles, and then the brown bottles. Yeah. Huh. And, uh, oh, I don't know, I guess they're, you know, clear bottles. Yeah. So, um, you know a lot of people do have those separated. And, of course, they have the, um, dumpsters, uh, the, the igloos. Yeah. Uh, and they have those strategically placed around the city. Oh. And, uh, they're, they're actually going to extend it, I think, one of these days maybe to apartment complexes
and, uh, Oh, that would be good. Yeah, things of that nature. So, I guess when you live in a bigger city it, it really becomes, uh, necessary. Yeah, see, it's not anywhere near that. Uh, we, you know, as far as our little pitch in to it we do recycle our aluminum cans. Oh, yeah. But that's as far as we go because I take them to a girl at work, and she goes and cashes them in because, you know, I just I can do that for her Uh-huh. and and I don't want the hassle because we have to go to another town to do it. Yeah. Oh, really? Yeah, Huh.
see we don't have anything here in Belton. It's, it's a pretty small little town. Yeah, I remember my grandparents and I used to always get out there on the road and pick up beer cans. Yeah. And, uh, So, you know, that's about all the, that we're doing here. Uh, they're, uh, getting a little bit more on, they need to a lot a more community awareness of just what is it mean to recycle, and what can you recycle and what you can't. Because, you know, not a lot of people do really know what, you know, what it's for. Uh-huh. Yeah, they're doing a real good job of, uh, separating it here. And, of course, there you know you have a specific place to put your paper. Yeah. And, uh, they try to get you to go ahead and separate it, but they actually have the door to door pickup. Um, and it's, uh, I think it started out to be, um, just kind of a test, a pilot project. Uh-huh. And it went over so well that they just extended it. And it's almost, uh,
I don't know if it's done by a private company or not. It may be. But, uh, they just go around to each, uh, door and pick it up. Wow, that's excellent. Yeah. That's good. Let's see. Oh, and every year, of course, the phone books um, they tell everybody across the city to, uh, put all their phone books in, uh, the, uh, recycle bins. Yeah. Oh. Because, you know, phone books are pretty, well, for a bigger city they're pretty thick. Yeah, they are . And sometimes you might have two or three. Exactly. So, uh, that's, that's a big savings right there in itself. Yeah, see ours just goes in the regular trash. Yeah,
It just, you know, there's not a whole lot. huh. And there are, you know, some places that will set up you know for old newspapers and stuff. Uh-huh. But usually it's, it, it hasn't caught on yet. I'm hoping it will soon. Uh-huh. Well, the thing about newspapers and paper, recycled paper is actually very expensive. Yeah. So, when you see something that's on recycled paper, they've actually gone to a lot of expense to do that. It's, uh, they're not coming out ahead at all. It's, uh, it's really a cost. Huh. I wasn't totally aware of that. Yeah. So. I mean it, it sounds good to the public but there's really a big cost incurred when you do recycle something. Now, aluminum I don't know.
They may be coming out ahead. But I know, for a fact that the paper, uh, on that end they're not, you know. Yeah. It's just good to recycle but it's, uh, not to their advantage. Yeah. And it costs less. Huh. Well, I can't think of anything else. I can't either. Because we're, we're at a very, you know, beginning stages, Okay. so. Uh-huh. We look forward to it to get better . Well, I hope you all, um, uh, come along a little farther in the future. Yeah, me too. It was nice talking to you. You too. Bye-bye.
Bye. Supposed to talk about boats. Have you got a boat No, I don't, do you? No, I don't. I, I've had one for quite a few years, but I, I've not had one the last couple of years. Oh, really? But, it's something I've always enjoyed. Do you, do you like boating? Yeah, I love them Yeah, but, uh, my children all have been grown for a few years and we were using it less and less and less, so we decided to sell it. And,
Well, I heard, that's the second happiest day of your life What's that? The day you sell your boat. Oh, no, now I loved having a boat. I loved having it. No, No, I just heard that. That's just a joke, I guess. Oh, okay First best day is the day you get and the day you get rid of it but, I'd like to have one. Oh, yeah I just don't know if I'd have the time to use it. Yeah, guy just you know, he needs his weekends free, or to be able to use it or a day during the week or something, Yeah. but, but, no
I guess for the cost of them you don't really, it's hard to get, I don't know, I felt like I got my money's worth out of mine I had bought it used and kept it, uh, I don't know, ten years and got within, uh, three hundred dollars of what, when I sold it, of what I'd paid for it and had it all those years, you know. Uh-huh. So they hold their, you take care of them they hold their value real well. Really? So, you know, you couldn't complain about that. Did you go fishing? No, no, it was a uh, big boat, big ski boat type thing. Oh, okay. I had a hundred, hundred sixty horse, uh, Murcruiser in it. Oh, wow. Inboard outboard. Oh, I did fish out of it occasionally, but I'm not too much of a fisherman. Really?
And, uh, but I but I did enjoy owning a boat, Yeah, I like to fish. would recommend it to anybody. And, uh, uh, but, uh, and now sailing, I've never been sailing. Have you been sailing? Uh, yeah, I've sailed some. I just like, uh, fourteen foot Sunfish. Uh-huh. Nothing big. I've never tried. I've always thought, I bet that would be more fun. But I'd want to be with a skilled sailor Yeah, really. But it, Well, they offer classes out at, uh, Ray Hubbard. Yeah, well, I, I've always thought I'd like to.
I've never wanted to bad enough to make any effort to do it, you know. Yeah. And, at this stage of the game, I'm not that interested in it anymore. Oh, okay. We go out with friends on the, we go to the lake just about every weekend down at Mount Vernon and parents' next door neighbors have a big barge Okay. and we go out and take them out on their barge. They're getting kind of old and they like us to take them out on their barge quite often, so we we get out on the water occasionally, you know. Oh, that's nice. Yeah. But, uh, uh, anyway, it's it's, it's fun. I, I do enjoy the lake, but, uh, once the children were grown, and we'd go down there and I'd get the boat out on the, you know, Saturday, and we'd go for a ride and enjoy it so much.
It's such a pretty lake down there. We'd enjoy it so much and, I'd say, well, I'm going to leave the boat out, because, uh, we'll probably do this again tomorrow It got to where the, tomorrow the boat was still sitting there and we never did go out again and I'd have to go load it up the next day. And, Where is that? Uh, Mount Vernon. Yeah. Cypress Springs, Cypress Creek Springs. Okay, that's south of here? Yeah, it's down at Mount Vernon. Okay. It's probably the prettiest lake in the state of Texas. Really? Yeah,
it's just a hundred miles from here. Huh. What do you take, I Thirty-five? No, you go down I, uh, uh, you, uh, you go down, uh, yeah, thirty, thirty. Thirty. It's east of here. Oh, okay. East of here. Hundred miles due east of here. All right. And, uh, Yeah, it just we just moved down here a couple years ago, so, Did you? Where did you all move from? Colorado Springs. Oh, did you? Yeah. How are you liking it?
Oh, we love it up there Well, good. That's where I grew up Yeah. So, Uh-huh. But, uh, we're, we like it down here pretty good. Oh, I think you'll like it better, but, of course it's hard when you don't have any family around. Yeah, we got two kids that are under two Yeah. and it's kind of tough when my folks call and they want to see them Uh-huh. Yes, it's hard on the your folks, too, I know. They're all, yours and your wife's folks still live in Colorado? Yeah.
Uh-huh. So, Uh, there are supposed to be, uh, some people moving down here from Colorado Springs for T I. Oh, really? Yeah, supposed to be. Yeah, that's right. Uh, Do you work at T I? I don't, no. Uh-huh. Uh, a friend of mine's dad is, was a program manager up there Uh-huh. and he just moved down here to what do you, I guess it's, he's working in McKinney. Uh-huh. Yeah,
I don't either. My wife does Okay. But, it's a good company. But, anyway, we're supposed to be talking about boats, so back to boats. So, tell me the last time you went for a boat ride. Well, actually, I went, uh, canoeing down the Brazos this weekend. Oh, my gosh, now that had to be, that's boating. That had to have been fun. It was fun, it was fun. Well, what are your hobbies? Well, actually my hobbies now are T shirt making. I'm making T shirts and sweat shirts. In fact that's what I was doing when you called. Well, that sounds interesting. What kinds of, uh, sweat shirts and T shirts do you make? Um, right now I'm making Christmas ones with poinsettias and bears and all that kind of thing. Okay.
Is that silk screening, or, Um, no, I'm, have material that I cut out, and then you, um, there's this stuff called Wonder Under that you that you iron it on and then you iron that on the T shirt, and you paint around it. Oh, I see. So, it's real fun. I started doing it as a, um, just something fun to do, and now I'm selling them and pretty, Well, how's it going? Pretty good. I just started last week, and I sold seven. I didn't, wasn't expecting that, so, Well, that sounds great. I guess in my spare time I'll be making T shirts So. Well, somebody has to do it,
That's right, you know. Give you a little Christmas money, any way. That's correct. Well, what are your hobbies? Well, I, I kind of have hobby fads, I guess. Uh-huh. When I was growing up I was, was into coin collecting, and that dropped off about the time I hit puberty, I guess, and then, my hobbies in high school went just to the sports. Now my latest one is classic cars. I've I had a sixty-six Mustang I was rebuilding. Um. Almost had it done, and I went on, went ahead and sold it. Oh, my gosh. But it was fun. I really enjoyed it. Well, how'd you learn to do that to fix them up? Oh, you just, You just get a book that tells you how to do it or what?
No, you just kind of, all I did is, uh, I bought the car and then, uh, you know, you can, I, uh, was just in a supermarket and I seen a, a magazine for, you know, basically it, it was called MUSTANG MAGAZINE and and so I bought it Uh-huh. and they had, uh, some names, some companies that sold mustang parts, and I just started ordering some parts and, and, you know, basically, you know, I, what I did was, I redid the whole interior. I didn't do too much to the engine, because the engine was pretty good, but the, the whole interior and then part of the exterior, just kind of do it. Where'd you get the car? Well, we lived, we lived in South Dakota, and I bought it up there before I moved down here. Wow. So it was, it was kind of rusted out there, there isn't too much rust on any vehicles down here.
Well, that's true, that's true. Well that sounds neat. Well, gee I guess there really isn't too much to talk about on hobbies. Let's see. That, that about covers mine and T shirt making about covers yours. Well, let's see, I've done other hobbies. I'm a hobby person. I've always done a lot of craft stuff. I always have done needlepoint and cross stitch and all that, and, I collect dolls, I have a huge collection of dolls which is still in New Mexico with my parents In New Mexico? Uh-huh, from New Mexico. Okay. So. Let's see, what else?
I started collecting music boxes. I guess that's a hobby. Yeah that is. So. That's interesting. How many music boxes do you have? Probably uh, about twenty. Do they all play different songs Uh-huh. or do some of them play the same song? They, they all play different songs. Well, that's neat. What's the most expensive one you bought? The most expensive. I don't know. I've gotten all of them for gifts. I don't Oh, really. bought a few of them.
I usually get them for Christmas gifts or, and like when people go, you know, to, on trips or something. Well, that's interesting. It used to be tea spoons, was the thing. That's true I never collected those, never collected those. Well, that's interesting, music boxes. I have dolls from all over too. That I started when I was a little girl, and I have a lot of dolls. . People would always bring them when they go to the countries, and, um, and I did that when I went to Europe one summer. I bought a doll everywhere we went so. Well how was Europe? economy. It was great, it was quick. I was in, I was in high school, and I was in a tour,
and we went all, it's kind of a, it's kind of to establish better rapport with the different countries, and, um, it was called People to People, and we'd stay in people's homes, and then we got to also tour big cities, and I really enjoyed it. Was that in high school Uh-huh or was that a college thing? in was in high school. So I'd like to go back, because we had, you know, everything was rushed I bet. everything was like an hour or two hours at the Louvre, you know, things like that where you need the whole day, but but it really, Right. That's where a camcorder would come in handy. Exactly, that's true. Well that sounds real neat.
So you, you haven't been back to Europe since then, huh? No, I always thought I would, but who knows now. I got married and, maybe some day. Maybe it's one of those retirement things There you go. Well, does you husband, uh, what does he think of your, uh, T shirts and, Well, he likes it all right. He's been pretty good, because there's T shirt stuff all over the house. Does he help out much or, What kind of car would you like to buy next? Well, I guess Cadillac. I guess that's kind of everybody's dream Well, why would that be? Oh, I guess it's a General Motors product, and I like General Motors because they're made in the United States, and, uh, we've had General Motors for years and have always had real good luck with them.
Okay, well that's good. Uh-huh. If you had, uh, no financial requirements, if you could buy any car in the entire world, no matter what it cost, what would you buy? Oh, um, I think I'd still go with the Cadillac. Do you? I don't, I don't care about a big fancy, fancy Which type of Cadillac, uh, is your favorite? Oh, I don't know. I guess the Seville, probably or. The Seville. Yeah. That's a sharp looking car. Yeah. That really is. It, it always has been though. You know, Yeah, they have been. it doesn't have the Coup de Ville or the Sedan de Ville squareness. It never really has.
It's always had it's own unique look. Uh-huh. Well, I've always liked that. I liked the, the one year they had, a couple years they had where the trunk head would look like belt buckles across the back of it. Oh, yeah. Right. I thought, now that looks sharp Yeah. that looks real sharp. Well, I think the ones now with all of the, uh, fancy gold lettering and all, you know, I think they're very pretty. Uh-huh. And course the top, now the what is it, a vinyl top, I think those are pretty. Yeah, and, uh, the, I, I've never really, uh, I've never ridden in one recently, um, but they're supposed to be just real smooth. Uh-huh. Just a nice comfortable ride. Yeah,
they are, and, uh, they, they're just always, they, they look like they're sturdy you know, Uh-huh. they look like they're very sturdy, and you don't have to worry that much about, um, getting, you know, hurt like you would in a small one. Right. Now they've got a unique uh, feature in them now. If, uh, if you have a front end accident at such a rate of speed, the the engine will actually drop out of the car so that it doesn't come through the, so it doesn't go, it doesn't go through the, you know, into the inside. It'll go underneath the car instead. Oh, I didn't know that. So that's, that's a big safety factor they've got in them now. Yeah, and I suppose they all have the balloons. The air bags, yeah. The air bags, yeah. Well. So,
well that's great, that's great, Yeah, yeah. So you say you've always have preferred General Motors products . Yeah, I do. Um, I, I go for things, you know, built in the United States rather than foreign countries. Right. Help our economy and, What kind of, uh, General Motors cars have you had in the past? Mostly Oldsmobiles. Oldsmobiles. Those are real nice riding cars too. Oh, yeah. That's what we have now, but of course if I have a choice I'd still have the Cadillac but, uh, I've been very satisfied with the, with the Oldsmobiles. We've driven them for about probably twenty years.
Has that been the Cutlass or the Sierra? Uh, no, the Ninety-Eight. The Ninety-Eight, okay. Uh-huh, yeah. So. Well, I don't think, uh, let's see, the Ninety-Eight, now that's got that big V eight engine in it, doesn't it, doesn't it? Well I don't know. The one we have has a six. Has a little V Six? Uh-huh. Okay. But it's a very good car. It's a had, not had one minute's problem with it, It,
and I've had, now I have twenty-three thousand miles on it. Oh, that's great Yeah. that's great. That's always nice to get, uh, reliability in a product. Especially when you're spending, you know, anywhere from fifteen to twenty-five thousand dollars for, for a single item. You know, Right. you just don't want any hassles with it. No. You just, you expect it to do its, its job, and I think a lot of, a lot of car manufacturers don't really keep that into don't take that into consideration you know. Yeah. Yeah, that's true. They just expect you to buy their product, but that's always been something that's been a key factor in me, is how reliable is this car going to be you know. Uh-huh. Price is, is an issue, but it's not the most important issue. No, it really isn't, because now you can get like five year financing on them
and so, um, Right. but I, I, I would go with the General Motors any time. Well, I've always been a Ford man, myself. Oh, really. Yes. Oh. But that's all right. Yeah, well sure. You know, it's American made too which is good. Right. Uh-huh. Um, but I, I've, ever since I guess I, I was growing up, my dad's always had Fords, and, uh, well, I grew up in South Dakota. So everybody has a truck Uh-huh. and my Ford trucks have just, I've, I've just never had problems with them.
Uh-huh. I honestly think I would die before my truck would, keel over on me. Yeah. So. Well, I, yeah, those are good products also. Um, let's see, My T V down. Okay. I'm sorry. Uh, invasions of privacy. Uh-huh. Uh, what most annoys me are all sorts of phone calls trying to sell me things. Uh-huh. All, sorts of hours calling and telling me that I want investment advise and I want this service and that service or the other thing. Uh-huh. Yes. I hate those canned messages they put on my recorder. Um, my sense is that something may just have been done about it by congressmen
just what went into the something about the random dialers that just dial phone numbers. Uh-huh. I guess in some cases they just consider pickup your, your phone and, and, and not let you use your phone for a while whether you hang up on them or not. Uh-huh. Um, but I thought I saw something about it having some kind of provision that people could specify that their phones were not for commercial using and, uh, and, uh, people, businesses would be prohibited, uh, from calling for for, for business selling you things. I have through, the phone company, uh, I'm sure that's true. no nine hundred numbers can be dialed from my phone or received. Uh, some of did too. I think, I think government can do that now, is that right? Uh-huh. And, uh, especially with, with possibly children around. Uh-huh. Uh, that could, could be useful protection. Right. Yes, and I don't have children around
but I just don't like those nine hundred numbers. So, I've excluded those. So, uh, I used to deal with, But isn't, it does not stop you from the, uh, dialing services. What are dialing services? Where they, uh, intend to sell you things. Oh, oh, where people just, just call you. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. And leave again that canned message on the, And you know, and then what, those problems has been eliminated those problems used to be when I used a credit card they'd want to have my phone number. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. And I did not like giving it out. I gave out my work number Right. but I think I'm not sure if it's by law just, otherwise I think the practice has basically been eliminated asking for a phone number. Well, that's the thing I hated too about, uh, Radio Shack.
How did Radio Shack work? If you go in and buy anything they want your phone number. And I don't think they're going to call me and ask me how it's functioning, and, and I don't give that out. I have an unlisted number so I don't, Yes, that's, that's, that's one solution but you, you, you nonetheless often get, get people calling you? Sure. Despite the fact that your number is unlisted? Uh-huh. And you actually have your number or are they just calling a number that happens to be yours? Well, anything that you buy um, you you may get put on the, a, uh, preferred list that is purchased. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. And, and companies can purchase this list and what that is is people who buy from the mail. Yeah,
and they have a whole list of addresses and list of phone numbers. Uh-huh. I'll be thinking in mind the address is , um, is there anything you can do about that like give out a phony phone number? Uh, no. Not really. Um, no. Uh, some of that unfortunately is legal. So they can't stop people from, uh, advertising and that, and that's what it falls under. It falls under the guise of advertising. So, I don't care for it, but is it a legal, uh, solution for some companies. So that, that's the way things are. Huh. Yeah. I don't know. I think it's gotten much worse the last, few years. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Maybe that's just because I've gotten on more lists.
Well, they, you know, that's, that's the telephone is not the only invasion of privacy. You've got the holy rollers and you've got, uh, all kinds of people knocking on your door and, who want to, uh, either direct you to the right path or, or want to, uh, sell you, uh, paper routes, uh, whatever, so, um, you know, it's not just the telephone. Yeah. Sell you magazines. Uh-huh. I guess whatever is, I just don't give, For N I S T, the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Oh, okay, so it's right up your alley, then. I suppose so. Let me push the button. All right. Okay, uh, I guess I'm supposed to be all for switching to the metric system, but, uh, I sense that it's not going to happen anytime soon. Yeah,
I don't think it's going to happen either, but I wish it were because I'm a, I got my bachelor's in mechanical engineering. Uh-huh. I'm at grad school now in acoustics and all we do is metric stuff. You're now in what? Acoustics. Acoustics, uh. Yeah, so everything's metric and then you go to read some order book or something and it's all confusing so I don't understand as much, so I think we should get one adopted permanently. Well, I guess that is the policy, but it's been the policy for a long time and nothing ever happens. Uh, I suppose things, some things well happen slowly simply by having it taught in the schools more to the extent that that's happening, having a new generation come up that's more used to it. Yeah,
a lot of industry out there is doing metric stuff because they have to. They have to for international trade. Yeah. But, I guess it's, it's easier to switch back and forth than it used to be, uh, because of, of, uh, of computers coming into everything. Uh-huh. Yeah, I don't think switching back and forth is that big a deal. I think people need to understand more like what a meter is, instead of how many feet in a meter or something. Just get used to using all the terms. Because someone says a kilogram, no one knows what that is. Everyone wants a, wants a conversion of that before kind of recognizing it as a, as, as, as, as a concept to hold in mind. Yeah. Uh, I, I, I don't see that, it, it, it can change it very quickly. I mean we're not the kind of society that, that, uh, that something can be posed upon, uh, by government will. Yeah, no one seems to be adopting it. Metric system, no one's very, uh, no one wants it at all seems like. Uh, the, the, the public is just very conservative that way in refusing to change measurement systems, uh, money, dollar, coins, anything like that. Yeah And, and, and it it obviously makes no sense that we're practically alone in the world in, in using the old system.
Yeah, I, it's pretty tough when you get everything confused, though. I think two systems is worse than one, though Because, I know, we do a lot of problems and things and they're half english and half metric and you, you make more mistakes doing all the conversions than you would doing the problems. just get one. I prefer metric, but even if it's english, they should just have one. Well, I mean, I think people like you are relatively rare who are coming up against this problem every day. Yeah yeah, I think so. Your, your average guy jogging down the highway wants to know how many miles it is to his destination. Uh, I mean, there are things you could do. Uh, we have signs up on the N I S T campus here, speed limit twenty-five miles per hour, forty kilometers per hour. Yeah. Uh, but that hasn't been adopted very widely. Yeah, they have some of those in Ohio.
There's this one sign's kind of funny. It says, uh, metric signs next hundred miles. But, I mean, and no one will, will go a step further to remove the english signs. Yeah, that would force everybody to use it. Or to quit selling tape measures in inches. Uh, yeah, or, you have highway signs saying speed limit, uh, eighty, eighty-five, whatever would be the appropriate number. Yeah, I guess a hundred is sixty-two. Hundred car is going sixty-two, yeah, so it would be more like, uh, like ninety I guess, car is going fifty-five. Uh, you suddenly have a have a even worse problem with speeding than we do now. Yeah, you have a bunch of people trying to do ninety Do, do, do you know, where you are, do the schools emphasize the metric system? Yeah, in the engineering they all do pretty much.
No, I, I, I meant, I meant down, like, in the elementary schools. Oh, in the elementary schools. I don't know. I wouldn't think so. I remember a ways back we did like conversions, I mean, I think, but we never actually went out and measured anything or did anything on one system. Yeah, I mean, I think my children learned the metric system, but it doesn't get, get emphasized over the other. Yeah, they learn how many centimeters are in an inch and that's about it. Okay, we're supposed to talk about vacations. Right, so, uh, well, uh, what kind of vacations do you like? Well, uh, I haven't been to many places, but I have a opportunity to go to, uh, Paris, France, uh, with, uh, with my friend in April.
She is, her, uh, her family, you know, lives there, and she's only been there once. Her grandmother lives there Uh-huh. so I'm hoping to I'm praying I get to go. Uh, Oh, that's great. Yeah, it's, it will be probably the most exciting place I'll ever get to go. Uh-huh. Have you ever been to, uh, like New Mexico? Uh, no, actually. Oh. Why, have you? I was curious. I was just wondering what it was like. Oh, okay No, uh, I have been to Europe once and to Haiti and, uh, Tahiti? Yeah.
Tahiti, oh. No, no, Haiti. Oh, Haiti. Right. Where is that? It's, uh, well, it's in the Caribbean and it's the western half of an island, with the eastern half that's the Dominican Republic. Uh-huh. And I was down there with a program from the college that I went to where we would just spend like three months in a foreign country, most of them third world countries. And study the language and then do a little service project. Uh-huh. Um. So, yeah, that turned out to be a really good experience for me. So, what did you do when you were in Europe? Uh, well, see, I went there when I was in high school, actually Uh-huh.
and I mostly went to Germany and visited some friends of my family and, uh, hung out with them, worked a bit on one of their farms and also went to a youth camp. What did you do on the farm? Uh, uh, uh, well, not that much Just, uh, Are you just kind of sight, just kind of, uh, Right, I mean, I wasn't a great asset to them or anything But I, you know, drove a tractor, helped them weed beets and that sort of thing. Um. And, uh, yep, and I went to a youth camp that included working at an old people's home and that was pretty interesting. And while I was there I visited my aunt and uncle who were, uh, staying for their vacation in France in Nantes, which is on the west coast, like right across from England. Um. Uh, so, uh, where in France are you, Paris. Right, Paris. Yeah. And, uh, um, how long do you plan to be going for?
Uh, two weeks. Last time she stayed two months, but we're only going to stay two weeks. Uh-huh. So, Great. And, uh, We're going to take a cooking class there, so that might be fun. A what? Cooking class, you know, French cooking. Oh, great. Yeah. And, uh, what else are you planning to do, if anything? Museums, you know, go to museums and, Uh-huh. Yeah, um, Do you go to museums in Europe?
Uh, actually, no, I don't think I went to any of them. Uh, the closest thing I did was go to some like, uh, restored castles and stuff. Um. That, there is some on that west coast of France and I went to a vineyard or two in Germany. Um, that's neat. Yeah, that was nice. Uh, um, but, so, uh, Hey, what about, have you ever been to Hawaii? Uh, no, I haven't. No? Have you? No. Okay Well, uh, well,
I'm wanting to go there. Where have you gone first? Oh, where have I gone that's anywhere. Yeah, I mean, Uh, All right, well. Um, short term, I don't think anything's going to be done about it or probably should be done about it. Right. Uh, are you saying you don't think anything should be done in the short term? Uh, the short term, the recession is getting, getting top attention. Yeah, I, I think that you're absolutely right there. The other thing is, is that we've got these, um, these, all these bank defaults going on, and, and savings and loan defaults, and, and, uh, uh, And that effectively adds to whether it's officially on the books or not. Right. Exactly. Um, And that's got to be paid. Exactly,
and, and, uh, so this creates a pretty serious problem that's going to continue to be with us for a while to come. Um, I'm not really, uh, sure that I even understand why the administration is proposing, for instance, tax reductions, because it seems to me that if, if, if they're talking about reducing, uh, the tax that needs to be paid, or the tax that's currently being paid, then that can't, it seems to me it can't possibly, you know, help with the, the deficit picture. It can only hurt the deficit picture. Yeah, exactly. Um, and the, the severity of the deficit picture already limits the options available or limits the degree of tax cutting you can do without, uh, bringing on, on serious problems for the longer term. Yeah, exactly. So that, that, that's the current predicament. Yeah, it seems like it's, it's a kind of a Catch Twenty-two. I mean, it's, it's the, um, my understanding is what they're what, what supposedly they're trying to do by reducing taxes is to kind of jump start the economy, the idea being that if people have to pay less money in taxes, they'll have more money to spend, uh, and if they have more money to spend, then that will be a spur to productivity, particularly commercial productivity, uh, which in turn will generate revenue. But it, it seems like, like, uh, it's sort of a, uh, a an unending spiral, and it, it, it, uh, I'm, I'm not sure that there's any real genuine truth to the, uh, the idea that, that, uh, that decreasing taxes, particularly the kinds that are being recommended bye-bye the Bush administration and things like capital gains taxes and so forth is going to, uh, result in substantial amounts of money, you know, for consumers to spend. And, uh, Yeah, I'm not sure how I feel about paying on the quest, the long term quests that tax cuts are worth at this point.
It's probably a judgment of how bad the recession is. Yeah, it, uh, it would seem to me that there are other things that the administration could do. Well, well, first of all you look to the Fed to fight the recession as indeed it has, with interest rates. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. I think that's been a positive development. I think what that's done is it's, it's, it's help keep inflation from, um, uh, Well, at the moment we're doing very well on inflation. Yeah, exactly. That's the sort of upside to the deficit. It's a sort of a piece of luck. That's the upside to the recession. Yeah, um. I don't know, what kind of things do you think can be done in, in, uh, in the long term? Well, can be done or will be done are two different things. Um, at various places to look for, for cutting the budget, first of all I consider more defense cuts than are already planned depending on the world situation. Sure.
But there are various other areas such as, as farm subsidies that ought to be slashed. Uh, a lot of entitlement programs, like education aid, I think, uh, they should put a, in the Reagan administration took all such entitlements to the poor but left them for the middle class, uh, Uh-huh. in the longer term, uh, we, we, we'd do well, I think to make, to make, uh, reductions there. Also somewhat is to collect owed to the government from various loan programs that people have borrowed. Right. I think that, I think that, that I agree with you certainly in the second situation, and I think certain entitlements I, I'm inclined to agree with you, too. Education happens to be one place where I think that we would foolish to um, uh, A lot of education aid has gone to so-called trade schools which are sort of not colleges Uh-huh. but schools that teach you trades, you know, beautician well, and often exists only because of the federal programs that they can take people and tell them they can get loans for their full tuition, uh, and the school gets paid off immediately, uh Oh, I see, I see what you're saying. And then they and then the people default on the loans. and then they don't provide very much education. Yes. Well, I would have to agree with you if there are circumstances like that, uh, around, uh, and I, I, I can't confess to having any substantial knowledge of that sort of thing, but, but taking what you're saying at face value, then I would have to agree with completely.
Yeah. Okay what kind of foods would you have? Okay. Um, well, I like to cook, um Oh, I do too but I don't like getting too awfully fancy about it, just because, um, uh, it's too much pressure. You know, Uh-huh. Uh-huh. if I have people over for dinner, I like it to be nice and relaxed. Yeah, you can't enjoy it. Right. Yeah. And so I don't like to arrive, or, or when they arrive, for me to be completely worn out. That's, that's what, I like doing things like making lasagna just because I can have it ready and baking in the oven, Yeah. it's, Exactly.
everybody just says how wonderful it is, and it's it's like, uh, yes, Uh-huh. I. Yeah. That's one of those things I got famous for in college. People would come and say could would you come over and make lasagna for me Uh-huh It's like, well, I can't really give you a recipe, uh Uh-huh, you'd just do it. I can I can just do it . I like doing that kind of stuff. Yeah. And it's, it's fun, in fact that's what we had for a Christmas party last week. Uh-huh. We just had a bunch of people over and we had, we did lasagna and garlic bread and, uh, yummy.
Um. Boy I like that. Uh, I do too, in fact Yeah, well I'm planning a, and naturally this is appropriate because I'm planning dinner for people tomorrow night and then the next night. Oh. Oh, good. So Tuesday night there'll be eight people here altogether. Uh, actually one thing we have done quite a bit through the holidays, just because it's a, real easy, is just baked potato dinners. Oh, yeah, uh-huh. And have, you know, like three or four couples come over, and I'll do the potatoes and you know, like butter and cheese and stuff and have everybody else just bring a couple of toppings, whatever they like Uh-huh. and it turns out great, because I mean, you've got like hot sauce and taco meat and barbecue and, you know, bacon and all that good stuff. Yeah, that's fun. Uh-huh. But it's, it's inexpensive Yeah.
plus it's real easy on the hostess, because you can just have the potatoes ready, and just have a salad with it, and you got a great dinner. Yeah, that's a good idea. It's, it's real easy, I like doing that part. Yeah. I'm in favor of very little clean up, um, very little planning because we've got three or four couples that we get together with to play games, Uh-huh. Uh-huh, yeah. and it's, Uh-huh. we invariably end up at my house since I've got two kids. Uh-huh. And that, it's, it's fine, because then I can just say, Okay fine, you bring this, you bring this, you bring this, we're done.
Yeah. And it's pretty cool. Yeah, that's good. Well, one of my favorites if I don't want to have other people bring stuff, I just want to treat them is to make chicken and rice. Uh-huh. Oh. It's very easy to. Oh. You don't like it? Oh, I love it Oh, you do, okay, yeah. I have a really easy recipe for that, where you just brown the chicken and then you put rice in the bottom of the pan, you pour bouillon or chicken broth over it Um. and, and you put the chicken in, then pour the, uh, broth over and you can put mushrooms in if you want,
and then you just. Over the uncooked rice? Yeah, over uncooked rice Oh. and you can either microwave it or do it in the oven, and it just. Oh, how neat. It fluffs up, and it's really moist. Huh. Now I've done it with, where you put, you cook the well, I guess you probably could do it same way, but cook the rice and then take a can of like cream of mushroom soup or cream of chicken soup, and put a little bit of white wine in it. Uh-huh, wow, yeah. And every once in a while, I'll put in, I'll slice white grapes and I'll put in there, and, that's just because I'm not a real big wine person but I like it,
it adds something to the chicken. Uh-huh. Yeah. And then just bake it, and it makes a wonderful sauce over the rice. Well, I'll keep that one in mind. Yeah Yeah. It's, that was one of the first things I made for my husband, because I was like, um, yeah Yeah. I could actually find something I could cook real easy that would be kind of sort of elegant kind of Uh-huh. Yeah, you can get away with it even having a semi nice dinner, Oh, yeah. or, you know semi . But then, I hadn't thought about doing it with uncooked rice. Yeah. So, just, like in a thirteen by nine pan.
Yeah. You put in, um Um. let's see, what was it, three quarters of cup of rice or, Um. It depends on, you can really vary it. Uh-huh. But you have to put the water in proportionally. I can't remember. I think it was three quarters cup rice to two cups water, two cups, um, broth. Yeah, yeah, I, I use that for for rice and for when I cook pasta or something, I'll put a little bit of bouillon in there just to give it a little extra flavor. Yeah, flavor. Uh-huh. Yeah.
Um. Now that would be good. Uh-huh. How long do you have to bake it? Um, let's see. I think it was an hour. I've done it in the microwave so often lately because, it's, it's really easy. I do, I do microwave too, a lot Yeah. But, I think it's about an hour. How long would it be how long would it be in the microwave? Or maybe it's only half hour. Um, you just, until the rice looks fluffy, and and not overdone. You know, before it gets overdone. Oh, okay. Okay. Do you just brown the chicken to get it colored Yeah. or do you go ahead and let it cook through? Um, I'd let it cook just a little bit just so that the cooking goes a little faster. Um.

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