Looking Forward to August

The first week of August should be a fun one. My grandson Liam (and his parents) is coming back east to visit. He was born on Agust 11th so it will be fun to celebrate his first birthday. Here he is happily negotiating an attempt at eating Pea Soup. Cute kid!!

Craziest Thing you ever ate was.............?

I thought about this when the other day, I was eating lunch with a friend in Manhattan. I had ordered a Tuna steak figuring I'd eat healthy. There was this green gunk on the top that I couldn't identify so I just took it to be a garnish of some sort. I put a spoonful of it in my mouth and immediately ceased to breathe. The Pain was instant and horrible, my breathing passages all swelled up, sweat literally popped out of the top of my head. I downed a nearby glass of wine in one swallow.

After I recovered, I asked the waiter what the heck it was. He had a good laugh and told me it was Wasabe Mustard.....and people actually like this stuff? You've got to be kidding. But then again you're talking to a guy who thinks Nick Tahou's garbage plate is an epicurean delight :-)

When my son, Sean, went to Rochester Institute of Technology, he invited me to try one. And yes it was quite a dish. A Garbage plate consists of a large bed of macaroni salad and homefries upon which is laid either hamburgers, cheeseburgers or hotdogs. On top of that there resides onions, ketchup, hot sauce or A-1 sauce. You can also have refried beans as a side. I know, I know...It does sound awful, but it actually did taste pretty good. The one I had was topped with two cheese burgers. So if you are in the Rochester area starve yourself for the day and go there in the evening. You will have a meal you'll never forget. They even have a website http://www.garbageplate.com/ I've attached a photo for you curious folk.

Another Project For Me To Do!!

I've been in the building management industry for 30 years. 10 of those years was as an operating engineer in local 94 before I became a manager. During my time in Local 94, I kept diaries of what happened on my shifts. For years I didn't read them. then a few weeks ago, I started to page through them and found a lot of material. Some was funny, some was down right scary and yes..........some was pretty boring too.

Reading them, I thought there were some pretty good stories in there. I've served in old buildings, and newer buildings. One building I helped take up out of the ground from scratch. I learned an awful lot in that building known locally as "The Green Granite Monster." At any rate, I've decided to put yet another project on my plate. I think I'll assemble all the interesting stories that have happened to me or around me over the years and put them in a collection. It might not be of interest to a lot of people. Maybe I'll do the vanity press thing and then sell it to fellow operating engineers.

It always bothered me that people as a general rule have no idea what it takes to make one of those big sky scrapers they work in, run. This narrative will give them a few hints.

Retirement, when should I do it?

I've been thinking a lot lately about retirement. I will be 60 in June. I'm toying with the idea of retiring at 62. I'm not interested in whether or not I get full benefits. I'm more interested in getting out of the rat race and and enjoying my last few years, how ever long that is.

Regina says, she's not worried about me retiring because I always keep myself busy. I do a lot of research for a variety of reasons. I'm always researching items since I am the Historian for the Zuni Maritime Foundation. We always need new material from former crew members. I'm also still interested in the American Civil War and have written and published some items related to that conflict as well.

I just need a break, I've commuted to NYC every work day for 30 years. Round trip commute is 4 hours a day, 3 and a half, if I make the connections right. I'm tired of it and need a break. I have a good job and a great boss which makes things easier to take for sure. But all my life, I've just wanted to concentrate on the study of U.S. History and never really had the chance to do it for an extended period of time. Sure I've done weekend conferences at libraries and hotels. I've presented on subjects such as the Confederate Battle Flag, Restoring local cemeteries, local Civil War units and even a Confederate unit or two. I've done presentations on tracing your Civil War ancestor using Casper Tyler of the 141st Pennsylvania Infantry as an example.

Lately, I've had to put my interest in the Civil War aside because the cause du jour, restoring the USS ZUNI is taking up a lot of my time. I don't mind because when the Zuni was the TAMAROA, I served on her in 1967-68. But truth to tell, if I was retired, I could get a lot more involved.

Retiring in New York presents a problem. It is extremely expensive to live in this state plus the fact that we have high taxes in our section of the country which will make the home hard to sell, I'm sure. Selling the house is part one of the problem. Part two is I don't know where to go. I love Maine and I love Virginia, very different places for sure. Maybe I'll split the difference and live in New Jersey or Delaware. At any rate, I need to start thinking about it more seriously. I want to enjoy whatever time is left.

Spring 08 Zuni Newsletter is out and away!!!

One of my illustrious duties with the Zuni Maritime Foundation is publishing the quarterly newsletter detailing the history and restoration of the Zuni-Tamaroa formerly the USS ZUNI and USCGC TAMAROA. The spring issue is out and has a couple of nice stories in it. Unfortunately, we were unable to report much done in the restoration part of the job because the ship is berthed about 6 boats out from a pier and is dangerous for old coots like us to get to. So this issue has no project news in it. Its all historical based on stories that the crew told me based on their personal experiences.

Its neat little newsletter and is called the "MIGHTY Z" Tribune. Mighty Z was her Navy nickname and it stuck through her Coast Guard career as well. If you would like to see them you can check the archives at http://www.zuninews.4t.com/.

Internet Surely Does Shrink the world..........

A while back I posted a note about a project I worked on as a youngster, restoring the fishing smack Emma C. Berry. Recently, I received an email from Pete Smith who was a Cadet at Admiral Farragut Academy in the 50's. I attended in the 60's. Pete found me by doing a search for the Emma C. Berry ,and he stumbled across my short blog about her.

We both have an interest in the Emma C. Berry because she was berthed at Admiral Farragut Academy in Pine Beach New Jersey for several years. Our Band master was a Great teacher by the name of Dayton Newton who was a skipper of a Maine charter boat called the Adventurer off the coast of Maine during the summer. Pete had a much closer relationship with him because Pete was actually in the school's band. I was in 2nd Company.

We are both irked at the fact that no matter what literature you read about the Emma C. Berry launched in 1866, there is never any mention of the Cadets who honed their nautical skills under Mr. Newton's Tutelage. I think its grossly unfair because who knows without our care under Mr. Newton she may have sunk to the bottom right there in New Jersey.

A few years after I was graduated from AFA, I was on vacation in Maine. I went into a Marine Antiques store and almost suffered cardiac arrest. There on a wall was the stern name plate of the Emma C. Berry. I wanted to purchase it in the worst way. As I was haggling with the guy behind the desk, I stopped for a moment and looked at him very carefully. He looked like a younger version of Mr. Newton. When I said that, a wide grin appeared and he said that he was Mr. Newton's son and was glad to make my acquaintance. Still wouldn't sell me the stern name plate though.

I have a small model of the ECB which I will build one of these days when I have the time. She means a lot to me because it was my first foray into ship preservation. I have since gone on and become the Historian for the Zuni Maritime Foundation. We are restoring the former USS ZUNI/USCGC TAMAROA to sailing condition so we can educate today's kids about America's role at sea and what may be available for them in the future.

At any rate, I hope more Farragut alumni see this and get aggravated enough to not be shy about the role the cadets played in helping the ECB survive into this century.

Fishing.........

I love to go on fishing trips, but I do not necessarily think its a waste of time nor do I get upset if I catch nothing. I view fishing as a chance to get outdoors on the water for a few hours of respite. Its a great way to relax and just talk with your partner. I never go fishing alone. When Dad was alive, we would take out our licenses and fish every summer at Round Lake in Orange County. We rarely caught anything except maybe a Brown Trout or Sunnys and maybe a Perch or two. It was great just to sit back and relax and catch up with him.

One summer we were fishing at Rockland Lake and Dad caught a Sunny ( a tiny one) He pulled it out of the water holding the line and gave the poor fish a "Oh Good Grief", kind of look. As he was getting ready to toss him back, a fellow from another boat asked us how the fishing was. Dad, held up the Sunny no bigger than the palm of his hand and said not a word. The guy just started laughing and said "Well, fish is fish!" I've never forgotten that. Another time, we went fishing with my daughter Angela. Her fishing outfit consisted of coveralls, sandals and a NY Yankees baseball cap. She caught a Sunny. I wanted to take a photo of her with the Sunny. She held the line with the poor fish dangling like a Christmas tree ornament. As I snapped the photo, the Sunny wiggled and Angela screamed, nearly jumping over the side. It really startled Dad whom I thought was going to have a heart attack.

Another fishing excursion I particularly remember was on a party boat with a bunch of guys from work at the IBM Building. We brought tons of food and cases upon cases of beer. I don't think we caught a thing but we sure had a blast.

The last time I went fishing was the summer my oldest son got married. He and I went on a party boat out of Captree. Now, I never win anything. I am usually very unlucky that way. When we shoved off, if you wanted to be elible to win a prize for the biggest fish, you contributed to a piece of the pot. I did for the heck of it thinking, "that's money I'll never see again." Some time later we cut engines and drifted. Everyone threw their lines overboard and within minutes I caught a huge, huge Fluke. It turned out to be the biggest fish of the day and I won the pot and a hat from the Fishing boat. That was another beautiful day; out with my son in the sun....And we were fishing pretty close to Fire Island Light House which was my last duty station in the Coast Guard.

So I love fshing but really I love the cammaradery that accompanies it and the outdoors, sea sir, sun ,etc. better.