Model Cars, Trucks and Tractors

A couple years ago, I took pictures of all my model trucks, cars and tractors. Some, I carefully took out of their boxes to get then at various angles. Most of them went back in their box. We are now faced with having to reduce the inventory. There are a total of 118 in this folder. I assume we still have them all though Jack already has his name on a couple. I too have a few I want to keep and don't really know how to show the full number. I may just add the full folder and let "the boys" indicate the ones they would like.

 That didn't work so I may have to just send them an eMail or something. I would appreciate guidance. Our time frame is Nov. 7 when a listing will be made for the Auction. What comcerns me is that each of us will wish we hadn't sold something after it's too late.

Parting with Old Jewels

My interest in Richard Halliburton goes back to High School at Garland, NE where I wrote a couple Book Reports on his travels and adventures. I remember of being particularly  impressed with his description of swimming the Panama Canal and paying his "tonage" at the same rate/pound as ships. Other attractions such as the Matterhorn and Taj Mahal have always been of interest because of his stories about them. When we began to buy and sell on eBay, I took advantage of the opportunity to acquire all of his books: "The Royal Road to Romance", "The Glorious Adventure", "New Worlds to Conquer", "The Flying Carpet", "Seven League Boots", "Complete Book of Marvels", and "His Story of His Life's Adventures".  The last book is a compilation of letters that he wrote home to his parents in which he gave them detailed descriptions of his travels. He was born in 1900, graduated from Princeton and set out to be a Traveler, Writer and Lecturer. He was very successful financially and in 1938 announced his last adventure. He would build a Chinese junk in Hong Kong called the Sea Dragon and, with a captain and a full crew, sail the 9,000 miles to San Francisco in time for the Golden Gate International Exposition in the spring of 1939. 

In the early spring of 1939, the Sea Dragon left Hong Kong. Two  weeks later all had gone well to Midway. On March 24, the liner President Coolidge, 1,800 miles west of Hawaii indicating storms. The Navy combed 108,000 square miles and found nothing. At age 39 he received his wish to never die in bed. I plan to keep the last book but will gift all the others to the Seward Memorial Library tomorrow. I have enjoyed just having them over the years. One, "The Glorious Adventure" was re backed by the Houchen Bindery in 1966. Another, "Seven League Boots" has a fancy stamp in the opening page indicating it was owned by Paul H. Figard, a brother to the English HS teacher who introduced me to Halliburton.

Record Numbering

Stereo LP Phonograph records played a major role in our family entertainment during the '60's and '70's while the 4 kids were growing-up. I believe Tim may have been home from college when he began our numbering system to help find what we wanted to hear. When computers came along, we kept a numerical listing as the records were filed but also added categories of "Artist" and "Category". Our last up-date was 12/28/96. Our last numerical listing was #300, George Jones in the Country Western Category. Lawrence Welk playing the "Tinker Polka" was #1". We have accumulated many more since '96 ( mostly bought at auctions) that have not been numbered or listed, The full collection fills over 2 orange crates. This morning I reduced our shelf requirement to seven and a half inches from over 6 ft.

Acker Bilk playing "Stranger on the Shore" was one of my favorites. I remember playing that when we lived in the Fairlington Apartments. Eddie Arnold  singing "Make the World Go Away" was also an album that I pulled out as a "keeper".  Son Jon indicated his desire to have a number of the Polka records so I've sorted out as many for him as I've kept. Jon will remember our driving up to Maryland to hear Eddy Arnold in person. I  kept a Hank Snow record even though he wouldn't give Jon his autograph when we saw him at Fairfax High School.  We have the greatest number in the "Country & Western" category with "Polkas" coming in second.  Everything beyond what I've kept and the Polkas for Jon will go on the Auction unless there are further request.

Hanging Pictures, etc.

This was an interesting day in the continuing saga of making the changes in our "new home and lifestyle". Brookdale hosted a monthly "Welcome" to new residents and invited folks to bring family as well as those from the Assisted and  Independent Units. While Sadie was at preschool, Julie, Jack and Carolyn came up to our place to hang more pictures. Their efforts today were primarily in the "Den" room focusing above my computer. We were pleased that Jack could get his Ice Cream Cone and they could join the group to welcome us and others to Brookdale. We had earlier scheduled a review with John Owens, our financial Advisor so we left the party early to meet with John. While the girls were putting up pictures, they put up the one that is shown on the photo with John.The ladies took Jack and went to pick up Sadie as we welcomed John. We were pleased with our meeting and will look forward to another good year with our financial investments. John is very professional in dealing with us on business and retains his formal composure just as he does with all others, business is business.  

Carolyn and Jule are also very professional in the way they hang pictures. We had never given much thought to the grouping of them as they have done in our Living Room and are doing in the Den room. (Earlier we called it our sewing/computer room, but it is evolving into more of a Den.) They lay the grouping out on the floor and then put paper patterns on the wall to be satisfied how it all blends.

I invited friends to stop by after supper where I wanted to give him a "Complete Book of Golf" that I pulled off the shelf at the house this morning. Carl was the instructor at Concordia back in the early '90's when I took his beginning golf course. He and Helen moved here recently also.

College Books

These are the "survivors"of some 6 feet of shelf space that my college text books occupied. The only other is an Engineering Drawing book that I saved for Verlon. I pulled them all off the top shelves from my old office library. Elaine carried many of them up to the trunk of our car and we took them down to the "Books & Magazine" bin at the Recycle Center. It was all done without fan fair, remorse or pleasure. It was just something that needed to be done. I didn't get to college until later in life and after some 10 years of night and part-time study, finally received a BA in Business at the age of 42. I went on to get my MBA 3 years later. I was employed by the USDA Soil Conservation Service during the entire time. I had accumulated some 70 hours toward a Civil Engineering degree before being accepted into an Administrative Trainee position. It was apparent that my career advancement would be in management so the switch was very appropriate. I put-off taking the required 6-hours of American Literature until my final year thinking that it would be a real burden. As it turned out, partially due to a exceptional Professor, they were some of my most enjoyable classes. I have no idea how many hours I sat on a stool at the workbench in the basement of our house on Ridge Road in Arlington, VA reading these 2 volumes.

We brought all of the books back to Nebraska with us and these Literature books were some of the only ones that got pulled down off the shelf over the years. While I learned to further appreciate Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Walt Whitman and especially Emily Dickenson, it was some of the old Puritan Religious Thinkers that really got my attention. How could anyone ignore Jonathan Edwards "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" when he said: "You hang by a slender Thread, with the Flames of divine Wrath flashing about it, and ready every moment to singe it, and burn it asunder and nothing to lay hold of to save yourself". It all helped me to become a better Christian.

Sad Appearance

I haven't mentioned having lost the crown from a front tooth a week ago while eating a Pizza supper. I have had it for over 25 years and had to have it put back in place a few years ago after biting into a plum seed. This time I was not as lucky. After looking "for a needle in a haystack" for several days, an x-ray showed no signs of it in my system. This morning I was able to get an appointment with our local Dentist to have it replaced on October 3. I had already visited him and they have the technology to actually take images, "construct" a crown, and install it during a 2-hour appointment. It's missing gives me the "fretful" appearance that I felt this morning in dropping my old 620 Kodak camera in the garbage. It was my first camera which I bought after working on highway construction during the summer of my 16th Birthday. We still have some of those early pictures including one of Mother working in the garden and another that I took of the farmstead from near the top of the windmill. While I sorted out several other expensive 35mm film cameras and even some digital ones to go on the auction, I don't expect any very high bids.

Books, Models, and Photographs

We went to 10:30 Church this morning where Karen Dunlop, President, Great Plains United Methodist Women, provided the sermon based on Angle House, a UMW project in Tanzania. We left during the song after her message to get back to Brookdale for Dinner. While eating we saw Jim and asked him to "anchor" the bookshelf that we put up yesterday and I had already put my 7, 5-year Diaries and annual Journals since age 50 on the shelves. He was over soon after and did the job. It was his turn to be the "duty officer" here this weekend. After the shelves were duly anchored, I loaded them up with additional models. It appears that we will have to put many on the Auction or bring up additional shelving. 

While continue to work with my books and models, Elaine is going through old photographs and determining how to best assure they will be passed on for future enjoyment. They are much move valuable and precious than any of the plastic models we have collected and enjoyed. This is Elaine's Mother Flora's family picture. She is the little girl at the right end of the 3 in the front row. This was the Charles Henry and Anna Louise Koch Family. The picture was taken here in Seward in 1905 to the best of our knowledge. It was an interesting farm family of 9 girls and 1 boy with another girl lost in childhood. Elaine was the recipient of the "Koch bench" on which several of the girls sat to eat at the table. The bench was recently passed on to our Granddaughter and maybe a copy of the original picture should be with the bench.

Jumping Jack

John and Julie went to the football game in Lincoln this afternoon; so Ben and Carolyn brought Sadie and Jack up to spend some time with us. They are very much at home here and always seem to have a good time. The "animals" and their own toy "chest" helps. Sadie had Soccer practice this morning and seems to enjoy it. Jack watched enough of the football game that he showed Ben how he could "jump up" and count the number  consecutively. He got up to 11 and I don't know if he got tired or if that was as high as he could count. We probably spent more time in the unit here today than any time since we moved. I took Elaine to the Beauty Shop, later picked her up, and that was all we were gone. We had a great Bar-B-Que Rib dinner this noon with a nice salad and excellent dessert.  They delivered our Hamburger, French Fries, & Fruit salad for supper so we didn't have to leave watching Nebraska winning 27-17 over Rutgers. We went through many old pictures today as we sort them and put most in storage. I hope to scan many and put them on DVDs. We came across one picture of Elaine and I dressed in "square dance regalia" with the date of "May 1981" written on the back. It appeared to be a professional picture but neither of us could remember it. With a little Journal review, it seems to have been taken at the square dance club "graduation".

Birthday Trip to D.C. in '05

Among other things today, we brought up our Advantix and Samsung picture prints which we took during the 1998-2010 period along with our digital shots. In the process, I came across those from a trip back to D.C. for my Birthday in 2005. Our plan included picking up Carolyn, getting Julie from her apartment in Lincoln and driving to Columbus, IN to visit Tim, Laura and family. After a day of rest we added Tony and Maggie to our carload and left early for the Hampton Inn on old Lee Highway in Fairfax. It was not a happy day of travel with one of the girls having to set in the middle of our La Saber's front seat. 

It was further complicated by my having problems finding the Hampton Inn.  We had been in touch with Verlon who drove up from Richmond, and we all met at Jon & Mary's the next morning. The 10 of us rode the Subway down to the Mall for the Folk Festival and visited the Museum of Natural History. We got out to RFK with our "all day passes" and saw the Nationals beat Toronto 5-2. We rode the Orange line to Vienna and Mary rode with us for directions to the Hotel. It was a long day but a good Birthday. We spent the next day with Verlon in Old Town Alexandria and Jon's joined us near the Hotel for supper. We headed out early the next day and got back to Tim's in Columbus where Laura had a Kettle of Chili soup and Frog's Eye salad ready. Tim and Laura went to work the next day and the rest of us did a lot of shopping at the Outlet Mall. We left early the next morning and were back in Seward by 8:45. Great Trip.

Bookcases, Models and Alternatives.

Ben came up this morning and put this bookcase back together for me after his moving it up from the house. He understood how the little clips fit that hold the shelves and got it back in shape without near the frustration I "suffered" in attempting to do it. It was a real pleasure putting some of my models on it. Carolyn ordered some wider shelving that we thought Elaine and I could share in our "Den" room. It was easy to set up and we promptly set some things on it when we learned that Julie, John and the kids were coming to visit. I purposely put the 2 Texaco trucks on a shelf where Jack could reach them since they were his favorites down at the house. We even played a Polka on the record player for Jack this evening for the first time up here. I keep shuffling models to have the ones I like best in our limited space. The new bookcases are 2 stacked and may not stay in this location, like most things involved in a move of this kind, there are alternatives. As we work at setting priorities, we realize that the things we can interact with like the computer, TV, phone and people, are more important in our new lifestyle than models, books, and other things on a shelf (Unless they represent a story like the fruit jar on top of the first bookcase). 

Tim Javorsky at Brookdale

A Brookdale lady came to the door this noon to check on our not being in the Dining Room and presented Elaine with a Birthday Flower and invited us to a Party this evening where Tim Javorsky provided an hour of musical entertainment. We had bacon and eggs in our room for early lunch since Carolyn came to take us to Lincoln for eye appointments with Dr. Mousolf.  We were both pleasantly surprised at our good examination results. Neither of us need to make any changes in medications nor glasses and we have 9-month appointments. We were not excited about the monthly birthday party but since Elaine was to be recognized, we decided to go. Our first impression of Mr. Javorsky did little to build up our enthusiasm, but when he started to sing, we sat up and took notice. His hour long program was recorded on a DVD which he played and accompanied the background music with his instruments and vocals. He has a great voice and covered a wide rage of favorite music. Nearly all of his songs brought back happy memories.

As new residents, this was the first performance we have enjoyed here in the same set-up where I sang with the Kiwanis Kitones many times over the years. It was a bit nostalgic but this guy was good. He sounded just like Louie Armstrong while singing, "It's a Wonderful World". Some of my other favorites were: "New York-New York",

"Waltz Across Texas", "Supercalafradreakxpalealadoshus", 

"Grandma's Feather Bed", "Falling in Love" and he ended with "Mack the Knife" with all the body movements you might expect of a 16  year old. This was his second performance of the day and he was headed back to Lincoln for a rehearsal. He will be back here in Brookdale before the end of the year. It was one of those rare events where we enjoyed it much more than anticipated.

Models and Crows

Yesterday we focused on getting a bookshelf moved up here and books on it. Today we worked at moving one on the model bookshelves and bring up models. This is only a small sample of our models with more of them going to be sold than kept. The kids including Jack will want some of them so we will have some shifting before the sale bill is finalized. One of my top priorities is the '48 Chevy Fleetline (in the center of this picture) that is what my folks bought on Mother's 48th birthday and we drove it to California on our Wedding Trip in 1949. Their car was blue, but it's a beautiful red model. I will also keep a Model A JD as well as a 720. I have spent many hours on each of them. We have the frame for the bookshelf in place but are waiting for Jim to anchor it to the wall before putting in the shelves and any models on them. Ben and Carolyn have not only hauled up the bookcases but also this old Crow looking in our window.

Carolyn bought this old bird for me several years ago and we have had it displayed on a back yard fence post. I hope that it may bring back the Crow we saw here a few days ago. The name Vrana is what you call the bird in the Czech language. Some years ago, I belonged to a Crow Organization that published a quarterly newsletter. It contained some interesting stories of the ability of crows to be trained to do many things. I don't know which may have come first, the Crows or the Vranas but it would be interesting to know the connection. We were walking through a cemetery over in England some years ago when we had taken Carolyn and Julie along to visit Elaine's relatives. The Crows were calling each other and Carolyn remarked that even they had English accents.

A Bookshelf in Place

We continue to make progress in my entertainment area. The bookshelf was the focus of the day. Yesterday I had sorted most of the books on it at the house into Keepers, Library, Et Cetera, Recycle. This morning we loaded up all but the Keepers and went to the Library where they took everything designated and even a few of those for Et Cetera where we went next. They took everything we had left including the Recycle group. I went to Kiwanis where the program was on Home Instead. We went back later and loaded up all the Keepers and Carolyn and Ben hauled the bookcase up to our unit. With help from a Brookdale employee we got the books in, and after Carolyn doing some maintenance work on the bookshelf, got them put in place this evening. These are some of our favorite books but actually represent about 25% of our total. I believe a high percentage of them will fall in the Recycle category.

Seward UMC at 150

We were up and around early this morning to participate in the Seward United Methodist Church Sesquicentennial Celebration. We went to the 8:15am service which was the beginning of several hours of celebration. Carol Lee (Radden) Rees came back from Shenandoah, Iowa to play the Prelude on the Grand Piano and Virginia Fraser played the Organ for the Hymns. Rev. Robert Henre gave the responsive Call to Worship and Ministry Assistant, JoEllen Axthelm led the unison affirmation of Faith. The combined Chancel Choir and God's Squad sang  "Cathedral of Praise"; this was followed by the Dedication of a Quilt, it's Holder and a Stained Glass. Rev. Bill Ritter, Blue River District Sup't, gave the Children's Sermon, Lynette Broderick read the Scripture Lessons and Introduced Bishop Ruben Saenz, Jr. of the Great Plains Conference who gave the Sermon. The activities continued well into the afternoon with the second service,  picture taking, recognition of the 59 current 50-year members, a review of historic memorabilia (including my 1931 Sunday School Class picture) and lunch. While we came home after the 1st Service, it was reported as a Great Event. Virginia Cattle headed the list of long time members having been one since  confirmed in 1934.

Cleaning Out

Our cleaning out brought to light this Omaha World-Herald "Midlands" magazine of February 11, 1990 with my picture of the front page. The "Conservation's Educator" was written a few months after my appointment as Executive Director of the International Soil and Water Conservation Society in Ankeny, Iowa. I had a very close working relationship with the OWH during the 80's while working for the State of Nebraska. Elaine and I commuted every couple weeks between Seward, NE and Ankeny during this time. T. L. Henion had been over to Ankeny to interview me so I was aware of the article going to be published but had no idea that my picture would be on the front page. Elaine and I were over in Iowa at a gas station when I first saw the picture and was very surprised. I asked the operator if I could buy it from him and he said, "No!, I've never seen anyone  before whose picture was on the front page before so I want to keep it." And, so did I and got several copies but I will get rid of all but one, unless the kids indicate interest in a copy.

Light at the End of the Tunnel

Carolyn and I did some planning yesterday on how we might get our record player moved up to my computer/TV area. We  were down at the house at 9:00am this morning working toward that plan. I first disconnected the large 3' speakers, lifted the record player off it's base which Carolyn carried up to our car. I brought along a pair of 10 inch speakers that were left over from previous players. Up at our unit, it then involved switching the 2-drawer wooden file cabinet to the right side of the computer desk which had to be moved to the left to provide room. We moved the library table slightly to the left and set the TV on it; this provided room for the record player. We scrounged around and found cables that enabled Carolyn to make the connections after some unsuccessful tries.

We hadn't brought along a record to test the system when Carolyn remembered that she had some in her car on the way to Et Cetera. When she used the right connections, we had music. She then got the speakers concealed behind the library table. We went down to the house later this afternoon where I put a few file folders in plastic bags, and Elaine carried them up to the car. We got them unloaded and after supper, got them all put in the cabinet. They are our most important files. We have several bags of file folders in the garage of less importance but interesting things which may go into a file cabinet out there. Carolyn has really focused on stuff in the house garage with help from Ben and has made remarkable progress. There is a lot of work remaining, but we are making excellent progress.

Every Day a Holiday

I spent several hours today at this station going through old work files, saving a few items, and recycling most of it. This afternoon I even went through Life Insurance files and reduced their thickness by about 70%. I disposed of paper today that we would have moved from our house in Arlington, to Fairfax, VA to the Farm and then to our current house 36 years ago. Those files were reduced by about 98%. I have saved some of the old SCS/NRCS information for Jon as well as any thing I had on Hugh Hammond Bennett. Very little was saved from my 8 years with the Nebraska Natural Resources Commission nor my 3 years with the International Soil and Water Conservation Society where I headed the staff. 

Elaine took time out this afternoon to get a new permanent from her regular beautician downtown. They have a Beauty Shop here in Brookdale but Elaine is not ready to make any unnecessary changes, those required are enough. Melissa, the Dining Service Director came in to interview us today. She asked of any food allergies and our reaction to what we had been served. I told her of my problem with onions and of some other things I don't care for. Elaine was more constrained in her comments. We have learned that there are often alternatives particularly to salads and desserts We usually have 2 choices of entrees when we sign in a day ahead of time. Our temperature was up to 95 in Lincoln after not even reaching 90 during the month of August. And, the air conditioner  in our unit quit working. We didn't notice it until after supper so had to call Jim who came up from the Milford area to put in a new battery and get it going. All of the employees here go the "extra mile" to make people satisfied, a real plus. Oh Yes! we found the IRS file and got our quarterly payment made.

Family Fun

I didn't find anything of note today in my sorting but Carolyn came up with this Gym Outfit that was hers from Wakefield HS back in Virginia. It had been preserved well and came out in good condition. She is going to "save it". It wasn't all work and no play today. The girls and Jack came up after lunch to "admire" our computer and TV set-up and also do some planning as to how our record player may be able to fit into the system. Jack got out some of his wind-up toys to play on the plastic carpet covering under my computer chair. But they weren't done playing; they went down to the house and pulled some of the trucks and tractors off the shelves, and Jack was even able to have the Allis Chalmers combine hooked behind a John Deere. Our best news of the day was Elaine passing the Driver's License test this morning at the Court House to renew it for 5 years. I just renewed mine a year ago. After sleeping good last night and not getting up early, we decided to have breakfast at home with our Daily Devotional, Juice, Oatmeal and Coffee. It was really a pleasure to read the papers and eat breakfast in our PJ's. It was also a carry-over from the snack we had last evening of cheese cake and ice cream. The "regimentation" of

meals being served requires some "adoption". Jack likes to eat a cookie whenever he sees one.

We received a reminder of our need to pay our quarterly income tax this month. That was never a big problem because Elaine knew where the current folders were located on my desk and took care of it. Today, however, the folders are yet to be found. I was the one that cleared off the desk  and have about ran out of possibilities as to where they are. I hope neither of us have trouble sleeping tonight because of it and have every reason to believe they can be found.

A Red Letter Day of Progress

This was a "red-letter " day for "moving it forward". Jim was in after breakfast and got our TV "going" in our computer/sewing room. He worked diligently for well over an hour, making phone calls, and trying various combinations before being successful.The new Spectrum system is challange enough but then coming through the Brookdale central server makes it even more diffficult; but Jim got it working just great. He was gone for less than an hour when Roger got here from Windstream to switch our land line telephone system from the house to our new home. Here again Jim had to show him around and help him with the Brookdale system. The telephones were fairly simple but we also use Windstream as our Internet provider.

The process of getting the HP PC and printer set up was also complicated somewhat with the Brookdale system. I have been able to "latch-on" to their system with my laptop since we have been here but it's not possible with my old PC. Brookdale policy provides TV and Internet service but not for land-line telephone.  The Manager here assures us that we will need to pay the Monthly Windstream billing and they will reimburse us for the Internet portion of the bill.  Roger is shown here checking on the printer to assure that it will print remotely from the laptop. As I worked at the computer this afternoon, I watched the stock market go up, and glanced out the window to see a blooming red rose bush, I told Elaine that this is a better set-up than I had at home. Our goal is to Organize, Arrange and Adapt other imprtant components of our daily lives so we can say the same thing about them.

Hugh Hammond Bennett Conservation Stamp

Some years ago I had the opportunity to buy some sheets of 50 U. S. Postal Service stamps of various Ag and Soil Conservation stamps. I framed them and have them hanging in the stairway of our house. Only recently in our cleaning out some of my old files, did I find the Blue folder which announces April 26, 1985 as the first date of issue of the Soil and Water Conservation USA 20 cent stamp. It was done "In Honor of Hugh Hammond Bennett, the Father of Soil Conservation, on the 50th Anniversary of the Soil Conservation Service." The folder contains a postmarked stamp from the Hugh Hammond Bennet Wadesboro, NC 28170. Our son Jon who has followed me as an employee of SCS/NRCS. has asked us to save any HHB memorabilia we find in our old files so this will certainly qualify. While the framed stamps are a lone item, we have 8 of the first day of issue packet.

Good Progress Today

This was a great day in my adaption to living here in Brookdale. Ben and Carolyn got my old HP PC moved up to our "computer/sewing" room. We are scheduled to have Windstream out on Tuesday to transfer our phone and Internet system. I was delighted to be able to download pictures from my camera and "process" them into my normal files.  I have been using my Mac Book connecting with the Brookdale's Windstream server and cell phone for communication since we have been here. Carolyn and I spent a lot of time considering alternative set-up's before we came up with this one. We would never have thought of setting the computer up on the desk shelf had the connection to the printer not being so short that it had to be close.  It is a much more compact set-up than our earlier one. We hope to get a plastic floor mat tomorrow to easier roll my chair.  Ben was also able to repair Elaine's sewing chest this afternoon by reattaching the 4th leg. I have long recognized that every old man needs a daughter living near him and it also helps if her husband is a Handyman and a guy like Ben.  We could have never made this move without their continual help and encouragement.

USDA Time

It's amazing what can happen when you have an ambitious daughter in charge of getting years of family possessions cleared out for an auction. This clock came out of the first office room I was assigned to when we moved to Washington, D.C. back in 1962. Completed in 1936, the South Building was the largest office building in the world until the completion of the Pentagon, with dimensions of 458 feet (140 m) by 944 feet (288 m) in seven stories with 4500 rooms and one of these clocks in nearly every room. I had been promoted to a position in the Personnel Division of the USDA Soil Conservation Service (SCS). It was an "office job" after my having worked 13 years as a field technician, construction inspection and in watershed planning. I knew it was an opportunity for me to complete my college degrees and advancement, but it was boring work and I could hardly wait for this clock to show that 5:00pm was approaching. 

All of the clocks in the building were electric with transformers and controlled centrally. By the late '60's they were all replaced with much simpler clocks and I had advanced to Chief of the Employment Branch. While the disposal of the old clocks was done by GSA with security,  somehow I came into possession of this one. For years it hung in our garage closet, set at 7 minutes before 5:00pm. When Carolyn came across it and heard the story, she decided I needed to have it restored. She took it to a clock repair fellow and had it cleaned up and converted to a regular battery operated system. We haven't decided where it will hang in our Brookdale Unit but it will be a reminder of what we went through years ago as I advanced to the Senior Executive Service level which enables us to live here today.

A Hard Day's Work with Family Time

I worked much of the day going through things in  bookcases in my old office after having taken several of my plaques off the wall. We brought the plaques up and put them in the closet to wait and see how they fit into the scheme of a sewing room, computer area and "Dad's new office" all in our small 2nd bedroom. I found some things on the shelves that hadn't been viewed for years. These old baseball magazines are an example. I wondered if Tim may wish to have these put on his "pile" in the "Save" category; I also have Auction, Et Ceteria, Recycle, and Garbage categories. I added several old SCS items to Jon's pile today including an old personal notebook of Carl Lindstrom's, my old boss and mentor. I was his Assistant while he served as Director of the Personnel Division and when he died very suddenly following a stroke, I inherited his job and his notebook. This happened back in 1972 so some of the information is no longer as germane as it was at the time compiled.

Julie, John, Sadie and Jack came up to visit this evening. We are always happy to see them and Jack seems more "grown-up" each time. They played soccer on the grass out in our backyard and then came in and "helped" Elaine sort some of her old jewelry. Sadie got along real well with a couple old necklaces and Jack didn't even realize that most boys don't wear dangle ear rings on both ears. We are so pleased to see Julie playing her cello with the Concordia group. She is very impressed with David, their conductor who played the piano to accompany us Kiwanis Kitones when he was in Jr. High. This was a busy day and we didn't even have our usual nap.

Progress

Carolyn and Elaine have set up our old bedroom as a "preparation area" for our up-coming Auction. I am not nearly as well organized as I work in my office area going through old files, saving a few things, and a lot going to recycle. We moved the "saved" items up to our new garage and hope to move the 2-drawer file cabinet up tomorrow. I am doing it in this order to obtain "working space" for attacking the sorting of books. We also moved a couple boxes of old travel information into the garage.  While we developed albums from our foreign trips, we still had "file boxes" with information left over from each trip.The China file the largest.

In visiting with our 3 boys about things they would like to have, we took pictures, will box and bring them up to the garage so they don't get in the "sale merchandise". The amount of time we spent eating here is one of our major adjustments. Breakfast is no problem because we serve ourselves. But it takes about an hour for both Dinner and Supper. It's not all bad but when you have work to do, it's not what you prefer. We did take an extra half hour this afternoon to hear Lonnie Piitz from Butler County entertain with his accordion, his singing and story telling. It was probably a half hour of rest and relaxation that we needed.