Category Archives: History

From what I remember reading in other books, various agencies of the US government were planning satellite launches before Sputnik scared everyone. More of the details on Explorer 1 are on the link. I’m very impressed that the gang at … Continue reading →

Can’t believe I’ve never posted over this little annual ritual-celebration! I know we always go out to dinner to mark this milestone and before we were married, I think it was mandatory. Sadly, the Chili’s off US 183 is gone, … Continue reading →

I’ve been to the Grand Canyon too, well the southern end of it. It’s magnificent. Even better looking than it appeared on the two-part story of The Brady Bunch but the camera does add 10 square miles. Recently, a glass … Continue reading →

This series seemed to run out of gas because I guess this time of year wasn’t always so eventful or memorable as I’ve grown older. Next year I will just pare it down to the years that didn’t seem dreary. … Continue reading →

After having two really nice Christmases and New Year’s Eves in a row (1995 & 1996), I stumbled somewhat with 1997. The year had turned sour half way through August while in Las Vegas with PowerComputing and then came Grandpa’s … Continue reading →

This holiday was off to an ugly start thanks to being canned by Frank and Dave (GDW), but better things came from the experience, they just weren’t immediately noticeable. I had been living in Bloomington, IL for over a year … Continue reading →

When I decided to write a string of stories about past Christmas Breaks (only on years ending in two or seven this time), I hadn’t realized the significance of 1987 until I started thinking about it. Nineteen-eighty-seven was the last … Continue reading →

This Christmas was very memorable because it was a major change in my family’s traditions. First, we were no longer living in Central Illinois but Houston and we never had spent the holiday break anywhere else. It probably wasn’t feasible … Continue reading →

Christmas, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day makes people nostalgic even though Christmas generally became one of my least favorite holidays; I like giving people gifts, I just dislike the weather and travel associated with it. Anyway, 2007 was … Continue reading →

According to this BBC story, the term weblog was coined by Jorn Barger 10 years ago on this day. I have no idea when Webster and Oxford officially added it to the dictionaries. I do know there wasn’t any software savvy … Continue reading →

There’s no more accurate term for what happened 15 years ago in what became my last day with GDW. “Laid off.” “Let go.” “Org’d out.” They’re all NewSpeak (the polite name for BS). I’m comfortable with the blunt, “truthy” word … Continue reading →

Last month, I went with a really awful-looking color scheme (or theme) based upon WMUR’s T-shirts (WMUR as in Marquette University, not the TV station in New Hampshire). Even 20 years ago, that combination wasn’t “in” but it was Mike … Continue reading →

He died suddenly of a heart attack which wasn’t much of a surprise when my roommate Paul (native of the South Side) said Washington weighed as much as him but was well under six feet tall; Paul’s six foot four … Continue reading →