Retirement Party

Meet Jody, one of the technicians manning the cooking pots. Largest ones I have ever seen. The front pot had potatoes and the one he is stirring had green beans.

Inside the potato pot.

A picture taken of me and the boss, Gus Cobb and if you look close you will see my bride doing what she does best fooling around with her fingers behind Gus' head. Linda's daughter Beth on the left, Linda Mull & David (technician) and I think Ed West another of the technicians.

My Cake

BBQ chicken halves that was absolutely wonderful.

Around the table, left front, Ed West, Connie Cobb, my Linda, Johnnie Cobb (technician), Beth and Kevin Hinnant (Sales)

One of their favorite Odieisms they like to repeat hanging on the monitor I used.

Awesome tee shirt given to me by the Mayo's (Tina in Sales) with the Odieism on the front.

The back of the tee shirt stating that I am retired with a view of I-95 and the 168 exit for Halifax, NC. Too Cute.

Last but certainly not least from the company so we can afford to  get away from the house gas cards totaling $500.  We were blown away with everyone's love and generosity. Knowing Gus, we have not seen the last of Quality Office Equipment. You don't just walk away from family.

Retired at last

  There you have it, the parking lot when I worked, in my rear view mirror. I always wanted an appropriate picture of that scene and now I do.

  Woke up to the sound of rain this morning and I believe it is supposed to do it most of the day.  May be messy as Linda and I have some running around to do. She is taking the day off so it will not seem like retirement until I have a day when she goes to work and I am left here with the dogs. Right now it kind of feels like a Saturday morning (6:56 AM). 

  Linda is still spending the nights with her mom after having her pace maker installed but I understand she is doing much better so maybe the night duty will not be continuing much longer.

  Bradford Pears (not fruit bearing) are my favorite tree since it is the first one to bloom and then have leaves giving promise of spring.  In a short while they will be in full bloom and look like snowballs and many homes and businesses use them to decorate their property and driveways.

  Drove by my mom & dad's former home yesterday. He died in 74 and she in 2002. This was the home they had acquired while I was in Viet Nam and always was a great place to be and where my sisters and I took care of my mom in her last year. It is still being kept up nicely.

  Just down the street from my folks old home is the Tar River which is one of the major rivers in NC. Not very pretty as it always has a sort of muddy appearance but provides water to many towns.

I plan to be taking pictures at the supper this evening so I will be back soon with all the details. Until then have a happy Friday and a fabulous weekend everyone.

Monday's Coming

  Sunday afternoon and it has been a peaceful weekend with not too much going on except some much needed rain.  It was 42 around lunch time and damp so it really felt cold and unfriendly.


  Lately Linda & I have been thinking about things we haven't seen for a lot of years. One of them is "Georgia Hash". I used to stock my dad's shelves in his store with cans of Georgia Hash and ate my share as well. For any of you that are familiar with Brunswick Stew which is a southern staple, Georgia Hash is very similar. We paid close attention when we were in the grocery store the last few days and did not see any and wonder if it still exists. Guess I should have Googled it prior to writing this.


  Another item was tall glass Pepsi Cola bottles. We did see some of them in a store Friday and didn't look at the price but it must have been about a dollar or even more. I can still remember handing them over the counter at my dad's store for a nickle.


   Coca Cola in small glass bottles were very popular when I was a child. It was just enough for some of dad's customers to wash down a BC or Goody headache powder in the morning. Seemed they could not get their day started without that dose of miracle meds.


  As the title of the post says, Monday's Coming and it should be interesting for me as my boss should know by now that I have decided to refuse his last offer to stay employed and will be officially retiring as soon as possible after March 1st. He tempted me with the thought of a vehicle and gas paid but I really need to get this hour commute on the interstate off my daily schedule. Much of that is done when it is dark and that just adds to the frustration since I don't seem to see as well at night and if it is raining I have trouble seeing the line that divides the lanes. Yes it is time to stay closer to home.


  Once I got that thick bandage off my hand yesterday I am able to type with no difficulty. I just have to be careful about lifting heavy objects or pushing doors or things with that hand. I can already tell that what they did has taken the problem away so life should be a lot better from here on out. Well my friends it has been a rambling afternoon post but I felt like talking to you a while. Hope your weekend has been a good one and hope the coming week will be a great one.  The boss will be paying for all of us along with our at home family to travel to Wilmington, NC Friday, getting off work around lunch time and staying at a nice hotel friday and saturday night and a couple of meals with all attending. Should be an interesting weekend and I promise to take pictures. 

Saturday Assortment

Today a group of my company co-workers, Linda & I met at the local Cracker Barrell restaurant to celebrate the retirement of our friend Myrt Perry. Her last day was friday a week ago. She is pictured here in the purple with Bubba her hubby. They are both retired now so they can start spending some quality time together without the pressures and stress of employment. We had a great time of fellowship and promise to not be strangers in the future. Linda was taking this picture.

I am not the best at close up photography or any photography but felt I had to capture a flower that was growing in front of the restaurant. A little blurry but it sure was beautiful in the sunlight.

This is an orchid that was on the dining room table at my daughter Rachel's house where we stopped on the way home. More pictures of that in a little bit.

Any time we have to travel to Rocky Mount from Halifax we try to make sure and visit my Aunt Katie for at least a little while. She was doing awesome today and was sporting a new short hairdo from this past week. A lady came by the house and did it there so she did not have to make the trip into town. We had a wonderful time talking and hearing stories from her youth.

Aunt Katie's dog Polly has her own couch and was making good use of it while we were there. As a matter of fact she was snoring for a lot of our visit. She is a lot of company for Aunt Katie & very spoiled.

After leaving Aunt Katie's we stopped by to check on my two grandsons and found them doing great. This is Matthew looking good in his red today with his blonde hair like his mother.

Kaden, the older of the two is always a live wire and maybe you can tell he loved to be in front of a camera. He is growing up sooooo fast.

Here they are together standing in front of the aquarium. Most of the time they are very, very noisy but they do love each other very much.

Well my friends for half a day that was quite a full morning. Tonight Linda & I have a date with some of her cousins that she has not seen in quite some time at a local restaurant near us. Should be a good finish to a very beautiful & sunny saturday. Have a great rest of the weekend my friends.