November 1997

Herrick Home Page
Me

November 29, 1997

What grand leftovers!

We are working hard on some data manipulation  and graphs for Denise, but took a short break for some turkey and all the fixings, we still have some left! Denise is reading her e-mail and I am sending off this update. The weather is horrible! No sun, a slight drizzle every one in a while, but it is warm, in the upper 70’s.
I can’t wait for my friend to loan me the disks for Visual Basic again. I feel lost without being able to create! Hope your creation worked for you Dave and Dad L. I had completed a phone dialer the night before the crash but had not saved it to FLOPPY disks yet though!
We may go to Sarasota tomorrow, I guess. Denise went shopping last night for clothes. Her big time out!! I  don’t think she bought much though.
Thanks for the complimrnts and notes Don, Dave, Mom H., Peter Butt, etc.

Peter writes:

What a surprise to be included in the Herrick family network. I will fill
everyone in with some of our family in the near future. Next week a new
kitchen is being constructed and suprevising electricians, plumbers, and the
carpenters will, no doubt, keep me busy .. and Ellen wants it done
yesterday. Every trademan says three or four days is all they will need.
        love
              Peter

November 28, 1997

TURKEY

Turkey Day was a success!!!!!!!!!
Thank you all for coming and sharing with us!!!
It really, really was nice having everyone come — bringing gifts and enjoying each other’s company. All have gone now, and I am back on line with my computer…all the way now..including a new password to get to my home page – they had changed it and had not told us, this is the second time they changed our password! Guess they want to know if we are paying attention!

We really enjoyed having all 16 people over, Darrell could not stay for dinner (we gave him a taste though) but we had 11 for dinner and 4 more came for desert! This was my first attempt at a Thanksgiving Dinner but I think it came off well!

In accordance with my scientific poll, and overwhelming demand, I have added Roger’s drawing of the Herrick Home Page logo back to the top of this page. I agree that it dresses up the page! Thanks for the vote of confidence!

November 23, 1997

The weekend has come and gone. Yesterday we went over to Tampa and did the Habitat for Humanity. We got up early and drove over the bridge in the fog an reached the area a little after 8:30. They immediately put Denise _under_ one of the homes, putting up insulation under the floor! She was small enough to get in the small crawl space. Then they put me to work hanging the insulation in the walls of the home. My boss was my crew leader! He could not squeeze the staple gun hard enough to get it to work, so I stapled all the insulation while he and the secretaries placed it. We finished the entire home in two hours! Denise then went up on the roof and shingled while I helped sheet rock another home. They then put Denise to work making and installing the lattice for the skirt for the home and I built and installed the wooden porch rail. We had a good time and may do it again some day!

We have some food in the house! We got a 20 lb turkey and a 10 lb ham, hopefully nobody will go hungry! Mom L. is bringing potato and sweet potato, Mom H. is bringing deserts, Denise’s parent’s friends are bringing hor-derves and Amy is bringing drinks. From that we will have a feast!

We spent the morning cleaning and starting the decorations on the boat. The generator is still giving me fits. At first it would not run when I let go of the preheat switch, then it would drop out after a few minutes then I found that the salt water pump is not pumping. I need to run it more I guess. Hopefullly it will get straightened out so we can do the Christmas parade! We will be decorating it next Friday, Amy and Daren, are you ready?

Thanks for the notes Amy and David! You will note that I have stopped putting the Herrick Home Page on the top as suggestions were made that it was taking too long to load — how about a poll, write to me to vote — do you want to see it or not!!!!

November 21, 1997

I have been sleeping for 36 of the last 41 hours! I guess I needed it. While at work day before yesterday I came down with a ?cold?. No sneezing or respiratory problems, just the malaise of the cold. Slept right through the afternoon, night and yesterday! I feel much better now! It is 3:45AM and Denise is getting ready for a busy day. She has put herself in charge of the operating rooms and will have a full day of that!

Tomorrow we are scheduled to do the Habitat for Humanity. It goes from 8:30 to 2:30, hopefully we will have the energy!

How do you like Vermont, Adam?

Weather is beautiful here, 80’s today!

November 18, 1997

Chilly outside! We kept a log on the fire all evening, and started the fire up again this morning! I hope we won’t have to turn on the _______heat________ yet!
I took a picture of Denise at the computer last night. For the first time she is taking more time at it than I am, e-mailing her nursing cohorts, etc.

Note from Joselynn:

Hey Denise,

Everything is going well.  Charles is doing another 6 month  tour in the Mediterranean.  Because of the stir-up of Husseink, his battle group-air craft carrier is at the present time heading for the Gulf.  Charles’ ship is not going at the moment, but  to my understanding they are on alert.

I got your invitation for your Thanksgiving dinner, I won’t be able to make it , I maybe working during “Turkey” night and for sure the day after.  Work for the most part has been excellent.  My boss and employees are great.  I have no problems with lots of them. I do believe they respect me and my title.  I have many good workers just a few lazy ones. How is your work going?  Probably just as hectic as mine. I leave before sunrise and arrive home after sunset.  Pretty wild!!!

Say Hi to  John for me.
Love ya lots,
Joselynn 

And note from Darrell:

Thought it must be time to send a note to everyone and fill you in on whats going on around sunny Forida. Although it got into the low 40’s, we are still warming up during the day.
For those of you that got Dan’s letter, my life is not nearly as exciting as a cop. Guess Bangor has more wild west action!! Even though we have more pizza ordered, they usually “hold” the bullets. 😉
As some of you know, Adam is now living at Sue and Al’s estate in snowy Vermont. This came about suddenly but is a solution to a problem that has been around for awhile. Adam has been having a lot of difficulty lately at home and at school. He needed to start out fresh, with solid structure and encouragement in his school studies and home life. When Sue and Al graciously offered to take him in, it didn’t take long for it to happen. Adam flew up there Sunday morning, very exited and anxious to see snow and begin what I hope will be a solid future. Hopefully the school system will agree and allow him to enter their system. Thanks Sue and Al for giving him this opportunity.
Justin got into an accident a couple weeks back but isn’t injured. He rear ended another car that braked suddenly to avoid 3 other cars that had just crashed. My insurance may not cover the damage to his truck as he is an excluded driver on the Miata, but they will certainly cover the damage to the other car he hit, then raise my rates dramatically in all likelihood. He is doing very well in school this year, his last year at Tarpon High School. He loves his job at Shells Restaurant and has been getting promoted rapidly, no longer just bussing tables, hosting and acting as a server. The pay is better and the job not quite as messy.

Hope you all are well,

Love Darrell

November 17, 1997

We went to Longboat Key Saturday(see note below). Denise took Friday afternoon off so she was feeling better! Then Sunday we painted all the outdoor decks and circular stairs, getting ready for Thanksgiving.
Received 20 messages from David, ones he had though he had sent but his computer had hidden! It was great looking through them! Did a spread sheet for Denise and started on my model boat. Mom and Dad H. — remember the model boat Grammie and Grampie gave me in Fort Kent (I think?) and I replaced 25 years ago? Well the twine holding the sails up had rotted away and I am replacing all those lines. It is kind of fun rigging the ship as I have no idea how they had and I am rigging it as if it were new!

November 15, 1997

Thanks Mom and Dad L for dinner and the neat things for Thanksgiving—–and my birthday gift! Thanks Dad H. for getting me straightened out on the cribbage hand, I had missed the three fives making two points!

Incredible message from Daniel:

Winter has arrived !!!  we got snow, about 4-6 inches of great white stuff. Was a little busy with accidents last night but this morning, Trevor and I hit the trails with our snowmobiles.  We went around the Park loop road (about 20 miles) and it was a blast.  Trevor uses the Polaris Sprint while I have a Ski-doo XL and we don’t race each other (that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.) What a great place to live, last week I was driving a motorcycle and today a snowmobile.

Next week I’m going to Orlando Florida for the Pirate’s Cove convention and it better be in the eighties.  Of course it’s all business, no fun allowed.

Well, my life has been full of one adventure after another.  Let see, motorcycle accident this summer, falling off a ladder on a roof and breaking two ribs last month, last week I had my tires rotated at a local garage and then drove thirty miles before realizing the vibration wasn’t unbalanced tires but that they forgot to tighten the lug nuts on my right front tire. They replaced the rim that was ruined but I missed any catastrophe.

And then……

Two nights ago, a guy called Police because he was hungry and wanted a pizza delivery or …he’d shoot himself… or make the cop shoot him…or shoot the cop anyway cause he’s got that new armor piercing stuff  (I’ve wanted a pizza that bad before too)
Being that I’m an understanding person when it comes to wanting food, I went to see him.   Unfortunately when he saw I wasn’t the Pizza delivery boy, he opened fire with his semi automatic SKS, (AR15) assault rifle with scope.  I was quicker and got back out of the way as a hail of bullets passed by me. One round of the dozen he sent my way in under 2 seconds, went through a house (two walls) and into another house behind me.    We surrounded this hungry/angry/deranged/drunk man and the four hour standoff lasted until 5:30 in the morning when he finally came out and surrendered. (Hooray for negotiators)  No one got hurt, no officers discharged their guns, except to put out a street light that was hazardous to our health (too many luminous rays were making us very unhealthy).  I got to delicately escort my new found friend to jail (who made me; try to hide under pavement, run for my life; stand in 20 degree weather without coat, hat or gloves, adrenaline does wonders to keep the body warm, and finally write volumes of reports until my hand/body/brain/emotions cramped.) I made the front page of the Bangor Daily news weekend edition, WOW.  Of course that’s why I’m paid the big bucks so I try to be very modest about my fame.

Well, since my luck seems to be just running positively great, I think I’ll take a long hot bath. (and probably get my toe stuck in the faucet)

Love to all,

Dan  (-:

November 13, 1997

The cookies are gone! On Monday night Denise had a craving for something sweet. We had nothing in the cupboard so I decided to make oatmeal cookies. Denise was skeptical but I got out the oatmeal, flower, brown sugar, eggs, and cinnamon and (as I am too impatient to measure) I threw together a mixture, then added a bunch of raisins. I put the concoction in the oven for a half hour and they came out tasting great! We ate so much we both went to bed with full tummies! On Tuesday I took six -4 inch diameter ones in to work. Everyone took a piece as one could not eat a whole one at a time, they were so thick! By mid afternoon my secretary was asking for more, they were addictive she said, but gone.

Another 12 hour day for Denise yesterday, and a 16 hour one coming up today as she has a full load of patients and meetings.

Yesterday I finally got our two new computers to talk to the new printer at work. We bought two new computers and an automatic switch to allow the computers to share the HP 6L printer. HP expects the printer to be attached directly to the computer and thus can get a response from the printer I guess. When the switch is put in, the computer cannot “see” the printer, thus will not work. I tried telling the computers that they were talking to a 4L. One computer worked right away, the other printed the typing, but the graphics and large type came out as a series of characters and strange shapes. I switched all parts around ( including the computers) until the only thing left in common with the problem was one wire, both the computers worked fine on one leg but would not on the other, even if the connections to the switch were swapped. I pulled out the offending wire but found that there was nothing wrong with it after all! We have three switches at work and I had tried them all (before trying the 4L vs. 6L trick), but I decided to trade out the switch one more time. Finally all six computers are talking to the three printers! I spent almost 8 hours moving parts around, experimenting with spooling, bi-directional support, RAW data, new drivers, new fonts, etc.,etc., but I cannot explain why neither the new switch, nor a switch that has worked for 6 months would not work with the new computers but the third switch works fine! The two switches work in the other locations though! My only guess is that there is some resistance in one leg of each of two switches and when that leg is in a 50 foot run the signal is too weak; when put in a 30 foot run it is acceptable. The third switch appears to be clean in both directions.  Electronics, what fun!

Had a nice talk with Sue and Al last night, good luck on your new adventure!

November 12, 1997

The man in Hillsborough County who died while he was holding down a mattress in the back of a pickup ( a gust of wind caught the mattress and sent him flying and he fractured his skull ) reminded me of my experience in 1956 when I was trying to hold onto the kitchen table in the back of the truck while we moved. The table eventually fell off and I was frustrated because I was supposed to be holding it, Dad could not hear me calling and hitting on the cab!
Denise only worked 12 hours yesterday, but is already at work today, and it is only 5AM.

Happy Birthday to Susan, my sister, and Molly.

This coming weekend the Mayor is coming to our clubhouse to host a Town Meeting! I have no clue as to why, but it will be interesting to find out.
The weather is super, still no need for air or heat. The windows and doors are wide open and it is comfortable in my BVD’s!
Payday is tomorrow, whew. The furniture wiped us out but we will be fine tomorrow!
I thought I might be able to go to Alaska, but my boss wants to go. It would have been fun, going up to see a power plant under construction.
If possible I hope we get to go sailing this weekend, the next two weekends will be too busy to get out.

HIKE up the Appalacian

November 11, 1997

Happy Veteran’s Day!
A busy day yesterday, Denise worked 14 hours, I installed two computers but was unable to get them to recognize the shared printer (an HP 6L). Will go in early and try again this morning.
I downloaded the decision on the au pair Woodward. It was very interesting. I have never read a decision on a case on the day it was rendered before, quite incredible!

November 9, 1997
Had a great time at Mom and Dad H’s yesterday as my e-mail attested. Got my computer working again so can update this. Borrowed David’s pictures from Mom (and the following note!).

From David:

Mom and Dad,
   Our harvest party was great, and the kids were pretty well behaved. I think that it was a bit much for Samantha though…. We could use your prayers this week as it has been tough and will probably get tougher through the week.  You should have a nice Thanksgiving at John’s, he should put on quite a feed for you all. The two of them have been quite busy lately haven’t they.
   We got such a good response from the other couples that a helped us with the cider that we have decided to make it an annual event. Jean and I trimmed some more of the old apple trees this past weekend. The trees that we trimmed when we bought the place have done so well that it is obvious that the effort is worthwhile.   Heather’s e-mail (actually Michael’s but he gives them to her) is:
       u03mrl@abdn.ac.uk         The 03 are both numbers. I’m sure she would love to hear from you.
Love David

David and Jean making cider with friends at their home:

DAVE.JPG (77488 bytes)

November 6, 1997

I made my first pumpkin pie tonight!

pumpkin pie
My secretary had brought in a pumpkin to the office with stickers for eyes, nose and mouth for Halloween. Then she decided to throw it out. I took it out of the trash and asked why she was discarding it. She said Halloween was over. I brought it home and cooked it, then added some canned milk, eggs and spices. Denise laughed as I did not measure anything. It came out well though! Those who come to Thanksgiving dinner will have a chance to try it,   I made two and will freeze one.

November 5, 1997 update

I received four birthday cards today!!!! Thanks Sue, Amy, David and Aunt Shirley!

How about this for a star photo by the Hubble Telescope:

hubble07

November 5, 1997

Stocks

I thought the above was a cute joke on the stock market until I thought about the nanny. All is well on the home front, I burned a log on the fire last night but left the sliding glass door open as it was not that cold. Denise is still working 14 hour days, that will not cease quickly as she has received accolades from the doctors for her long hours.

November 3, 1997

Brett and Karen have moved into their new home – 213 Lake Michigan Dr. (see the Family Data Page)!

We had the fudge you gave us Mom H. for supper, along with a chicken stew. We have received affirmative answers from Mom and Dad Herrick, Mom and Dad Loiselle and Amy and Darren Baker for Thanksgiving, anyone else? We have the room!

We got firewood Saturday but do not know when we will use it. Still wonderful weather!

Pictures of our new furniture:

Furnitur.jpg (56102 bytes)

November 1, 1997

My 49th birthday!

Cake.jpg (22895 bytes)

Note from Mom H. yesterday:

Happy Birthday John. You weighed almost 10 pounds, it was icy,
sleeting, and miserable. We borrowed a car and went to the hospital
in Bangor, where you were born, I was in 27 J, the same room as when
Susan was born. See, we can remember a lot. As you were so big you
looked like you were a month or so old at birth. You were handsome,
and still are. Have a good day tomorrow.Love you, US That was a long
time ago, 49 years, WOW. And next year you will be 50, hard to
believe we are that old. Love you, US


Thank you for the calls Amy, Mom L. and Donald!

Note from Sue:


    I hope you are having a grand birthday celebration – or are you saving the
celebrating until next year for the BIG ONE?
     Nothing much new here – we are expecting the storm that hit you to hit us today –
50-60 MPH winds are forecast – so we are putting “stuff” away for the winter.   We
aren’t expecting any more friendly weather until spring anyway.  At least the rest of
the snow has finally melted – it’s even supposed to be in the 50’s!

     Thanks for keeping up the home page – I’m sorry I haven’t contributed.  I’ve been
so busy that I’ve depended on Al to look at it and keep me updated.  Work has kept me
busy with about 12 hours a day worth of lesson plans, correcting papers, helping kids
and parents muddle through their sundry problems. Hey, what am I complaining about – I
guess I asked for this job, didn’t I.

     Have a great day!

                                                     Love,

                                                     Sue (and Al)
And one form Martine:

Hello !

Happy birthday John ! I hope you had a wonderful day. I spent most of my
week working on this Christmas show I told you about.  Everything is
going well.  Yesterday, we had  very nice weather for Halloween. We had
snow last Monday, but it’s gone now. (Until the next snowstorm !!)

Last Tuesday, charlot (my dog), was very sick.  He was paralyzed and not
able to walk.  He spent 2 days at the veterinary’s hospital.  Now he is
find.  He is not a young dog anymore, he is 10 years old.  I should
prepare myself, he will not live forever.

I have nice pictures from my holidays in Florida. So check your mail for
a few of them!!

Say «Bonjour» to Denise and everyone for me.

Martine

Denise cooked me a lobster dinner and gave me a lot of clothes for my birthday, thanks!!!!

(Don’t forget that you can read prior months news by clicking on the month name in the frame to the left)