November 21, 2003

All –

Been almost three months since I last wrote. I probably started this letter six times and never seemed to get it done. This time I will (maybe!). The time is sort of flying by. Been working a lot – extra days so I can get home for longer periods and extra hours each day to do the best job I can.

Tomorrow (Saturday) I am taking off as a holiday. I had worked Veteran’s Day so I could take a day off on the weekend to get to the Louisiana Renaissance Festival (http://www.la-renfest.com/). I have been to the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire with Maureen and the kids several times and we all enjoyed it.

A couple of weeks ago I took the weekend off and went to a BMW/Moto Guzzi Rally in Lafayette, LA. About 300 people came from all over the country. Robin and I rode in Friday afternoon – I left work early and he took the day off. Will have some pictures soon on the website. It was a real good deal - $25 included dinner on Friday (Jambalaya) and Saturday (Gumbo) as well as camping all weekend and entertainment at night. The food was EXCELLENT and talking with several people there that is one of the biggest reasons why they come every year. After a Pecan Pancake breakfast on Saturday morning we took a nice ride to Avery Island. This is where they make Tabasco Sauce. We had a short tour with a movie and a look at the assembly line where the product is packaged. Since it was a Saturday, no one was working on the line but you sort of got an idea. The ‘island’ is on top of a salt dome and they have a salt mine there. Still trying to figure out what a salt dome is. Afterwards, we rode to St. Martinsville and had lunch at the Foti Oyster Bar. The food was great and reasonably priced. St. Martinsville is supposedly where Evangeline, the Acadian heroine immortalized by Longfellow, lived. It was here under a huge oak, the story goes, that the Acadian maiden came to rejoin her long lost love, only to learn he had moved on and she had missed him by a day.

Back at the campground they had several bike games going on. The first was a slow race where you have to start on a signal, stay in your lane and not put your feet down – the last one to cross the finish line wins. Next was having a passenger place golf balls on pylons on the edge of the lanes and doing it as fast as you can without any of the balls falling off. The final game was “bite the weenie” where the passenger takes a bite out of a hot dog – after the hot dog is covered with mustard. That night they had an acoustic guitar player who was very entertaining. Also that was the night of the full lunar eclipse and that was pretty neat to see. The night before, a Zydeco Band played for us.

A week later I rode the bike into New Orleans and visited with a new Moto Guzzi dealer there. Later I rode to the French Quarter and had a couple of beers at the Coyote Ugly Saloon. They have a bike night at the saloon the day I was there but I knew I would have to leave early as I had work the next day. I had a nice grilled fish dinner at Felix’s in the middle of the Quarter. Just as I was leaving New Orleans the red light came on and the voltage meter dropped real low – something wasn’t working in the charging system. I turned off the headlight and rode right behind a pickup truck for most of the 60 miles back to Baton Rouge. I figured to get as close to Baton Rouge as I could before I had to call someone. With about three miles to go I turned the headlight back on and got off the highway. Two miles to go. One mile to go – hey I can walk from here. A block to go – I can push it from here. Made it all the way back to the house – I couldn’t believe it. Robin and I have done a little work on it. Talked to a couple of dealers and none seem to want to work on a 23 year old motorcycle and the cost would probably be prohibitive anyways. Hey, just another opportunity!

Let’s see now – what have I done since August. Early September I took a trip up to Buffalo to see my family up there. I also got a chance to see the Bills game and boy they looked impressive. Unfortunately, the season hasn’t been too good for them lately.

Later in September I went up to Pennsylvania. The Celtic Classic was going on and on Saturday Jessie and I went to see Maggie Drennon who we saw a couple of years ago there and really enjoyed. She has a beautiful voice and sings modern and traditional Irish Folk and Irish Rock music. We also enjoyed the Willow Band who performed a variety of Celtic music. Sunday afternoon Laura and I went and saw the Glengarry Bhoys a modern Celtic band and then one of my favorites, Seamus Kennedy. I think “Mom's Lullaby” might be one of Laura’s favorites now.

The end of October was another trip to PA. I got to spend time with Maureen and the kids, visit a couple of friends and get some jobs done around the house.

The military had a Dining Out night on November 1^st. It was a Black Tie event and I got to finally wear my suit. The Reservists all looked pretty sharp in their Dress Blues or Class A uniforms. I should have some pictures from this and some other events on our web site soon.

Looking forward to going to Buffalo for Thanksgiving and getting home for Christmas.

Been working 6-day weeks so I have extra days to get back home. It is a little rough as I normally would just crash on my first day off and get laundry and other errands done and then try to do something in the area on my second day off. Now, most weeks I just need the one day to recover from working 6 days – it seems

Till next time,

Paul