2001 August 1 / The Wrath of the Hired Man Therese reminded me of a story told by my mother not long before she passed away. During the war we lived on Monterey Ave. in Oak Bay and at that time she had hired a young fellow to cut the lawn. On one particular day she could hear some noise in front of the house. It seemed that the teen-aged gardener was having some difficulty with the old push mower and his muttering increased in volume culminating in a house shaking crescendo. "What was his name" I asked. She thought for a minute and replied, "Don Oliver." I wonder.... Richard goodallr@sunwave.net August 6 / Reunions, mini and otherwise I am sooooo envious of your get togethers at pubs and walks. I reckon that there is only one thing to do about it. When it is cold and grey and you all are wishing for some sun – well come down here, as many as possible and we'll have an Oak Bay '60 reunion pub and walk here – in Feb for instance. I can take you to where dolphins swim, and also where turtles hang out. I can take you on great walks, and to a pub or two (although it won't be the snug) I am serious. If we went to the dolphins and a hike one day, and the turtles + hanauma bay the second you'd only need to rent a van or something for two days, everything else is relatively close. Dancing at Aarons and/or Espirit, plus whatever you all want to do. I have a sort of in on a catamaran also. I can take some of you here, although I live 17 miles from town. A vacation rental I know sleeps 6 comfortably and 8 not so $200+/night, and one at $160/night for 4 comfortably. You'd need snorkling stuff. I have 2 pr extra fins and 1 extra mask and snorkle. My son will take you divers out, he has 1 set of extra stuff. The other thing is WHEN is our birthday party??? I need to know so I can get the time off work. Partially thanks to all of you I have finually bitten the bullet and dropped some weight – 55# and counting. So thanks for the incentive. I love this chat page. Diane – great pic. Wendy wendy hanington (pite) / wendyeh@earthlink.net / Honolulu---or close August 6 / Congrats to Wendy! and other stuff Hey there, congratulations on the release of 55 lbs.! That is awesome! And also for "food for thought".. this woman has never been to Hawaii, I am sad to say. Our concert was a smash, the best we have ever done. Will have the cd available. Had a pleasant do-nothing but garden and a little exercise this past weekend. Blessings, diane diane wilson dyer / ddyer2001@excite.com or ddyer2001@mediaone.net / Beautiful downtown Culver City August 8 / Son Married in Barbados I just got back from Barbados and the best holiday ever ending with the wedding of our son. We rented a villa on the beach and 8 of us lived like royalty. My sister Debbie and her son from Victoria were among the group. We had 5 staff who tended to us hand and foot. The best food and great beach on the west coast. There were about 24 of the wedding party on the plane and we arranged for an air-conditioned bus to take us to the hotel then to the villa. At the end of the week my son was married in a perfect ceremony in a 5 star restaurant on the beach. Not a hitch. After the I Dos and dinner and speaches we all (50) went back to our villa for some serious partying. Our staff cooked flying fish and set out cold cuts and salad and tended bar. The moon was out and the CD's played till wee hours. Unfortunately we had to leave for the airport at 10 that morning so you can imagine how quiet the flight was. At any rate I reccommend a villa holiday and the cost per person is less than a hotel. Just go to Barbados Tourism and click on villa rentals and away you go. We are planning Xmas 2002 already. Ian no one Else ielse@home.com August 19 / New granddaughter No one seems to be sending much news lately, so I thought I'd let you know that my son Lawrence and his wife Heather produced a second child (girl) named Brianna Lynette – 7lb, 2oz. She has auburn hair and green eyes, perfect fingers and long legs. She didn't get all that stuff from me! I had a quick trip to Calgary and talked to Monica Fulton, who is in the catering business. She says Calgary is the land of opportunity, and indeed the air was fresh, the view from the Calgary Tower was terrific, and the people were friendly. But, no mountains, no smell of salt – you get the picture. Please keep writing everyone – the news and tidbits are great. Laurel Laurel Johnson / laurelj@aebc.com / Tsawwassen August 27/ Weight Loss Hey Wendy, great stuff. I also have lost considerable weight. I didn't measure poundage before I started but I do know that I have taken off about 7 inches around the waist. Cut the carbs. Feel great. But my sons still won't let me wear my speedo. Ian ielse@home.com August 30 / The cars we grew up with I was communicating with Gary recently (he is very busy with a publishing project by the way) about posting some photos of cars we either owned or ones our parents drove. Looking back it would be interesting with some great stories about each one. It is just a thought that we can play around with this winter perhaps. They always refer to the "love affair" North Americans have with their cars and when you think about it...quite true. Remember as kids if our parents drove a cool car, you would sit tall hoping to be noticed. If however, your folks had something like an ugly 1950 Studebaker, you would ride in it only if forced to and sit on the floor so no one would see you. My parents persisted in buying British made autos for a number of years and although they looked nice and had a rich aroma of leather, they definitely needed a stronger rubber band to propel them. I was interested in the auto from the time I could walk and at the age of 13 gave my cousin 25.00 to buy me a car. He showed up with a '37 Pontiac that knocked and rattled and made blue smoke but it was a car, it ran and I had a great learning experience with it on our long back driveway. Yes, there is a pic in an old album. If you have any old photos, mail them or scan them to me. I will promptly return them to you and store the scanned images on a file on behalf of Gary. When we get enough on hand, Gary will prepare them for a slide show on the rumpus room section of our class web site. For starters remember Ron's LaSalle with flowers growing in the wheel wells, Rob's Ford Coupe hot rod, Dave's Austin and Robin's Dodge fluid drive. Then there was Laurel's story of speeding in a Nash Metropolitan...a very sought after car today. Don't forget your mother's car or the family sedan either because they are all antiques or classics now. If you don't have a photo, email chat some anecdotes about the old car as others would be most interested. Give it some thought..it would be very entertaining. Richard goodallr@sunwave.net