Written: June 2007
I am pretty proud of the fact I ran a business for 21 years.
All of it was started on a shoestring, which beat the odds of
survival for the self employed. It was known as Delta Design Drafting,
Inc. It started out as an electrical wiring business, after 1
year evolved into a drafting service, and finally after about
3 years, it became a temporary help service for technical people.
We closed the business and sold our home in the Delta area and
went “Full Time RV’ing” in October 1999. No,
we are not retired, but just a change in life style. We still
need to work full time. I combine my square dance calling income
with working part time for Papa Johns. Working pizza may not sound
like a glamorous career, but I can walk away at the end of the
day and forget about my job. And it fits our traveling life style,
because I can always get a job in the area we are in, even if
it is part time.
Square Dance calling occupies most of my other time. This is
something I really enjoy. I get to sing my lungs off ….
and a little bit of yodeling, too. Square dancing is a real rewarding
activity. You should try it, if you ever get the opportunity.
I am certified as an “Open Water SCUBA diver”, but
have not gone on nearly enough dives as I would like to.
My ham radio, activities consist of emergency preparedness, Skywarn
Spotter and contesting.
Genealogy is a secondary interest. It does take a lot of time
and money to do it right. It certainly is exciting to discover
things about your ancestors’ past. My wife, Colleen, is
more involved in this than I am.
We went on our first ocean cruise 2006, I never realized what
a bargain cruises are for a vacation. Give one a try if you haven’t
yet.
In 2015, I got interested in long distance hiking and attempted
a hike of the Appalachian Trail, but only have completed 137 miles
of the trail. Back problems have limited me.
MEMORIES: There is the story about Mrs. Barnaby, 5th Grade, who
liked to use her ping pong paddle to apply a whack or two to naughty
boy’s bottoms. I think I was one of the last in the class
to get paddled. I even thought I might make it thru the year with
out, it ever happing. No chance! Remember how we would carry another
classmate on our backs during recess? The object was to knock
the others “off their horse”. I jumped on Paul Barnes’s
back, but he wasn’t expecting it and thought I was picking
a fight. So, when recess was over, I got paddled in front of the
class. If I remember correctly, it was actually on my birthday,
April 22nd.
Then there was the time when Mrs. Barnaby had 10 or so boys lined
up in front of the class to make an example of them. There was
one boy, I won’t mention his name, who was getting sick
while standing there. Mrs. Barnaby would not let him go to the
bathroom as requested. It wasn’t long, and he vomited on
the floor right in front of her. Very funny!
I wasn’t there to see it, but I heard that Mrs. Austin,
7th grade teacher, who was a VERY HEAVY PERSON, broke her teacher’s
chair when she sat in it. That was a good laugh just thinking
about it.
I will always remember the entire 8th grade class singing together
once a week or so with Mrs. Rush on the piano.
Then in high school, there was the male teacher who, as a study
hall monitor, spent most of his time in a back seat reading the
dictionary “page to page”. I think I remember who
it was, but don’t want to name any names without being sure.
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