Polaroid Retirees Lunch
Paul joined the Polaroid Retirees Association last month and attended their semi-annual lunch held this time at Lantana's party house in Randolph, Ma. It was a surprisingly large affair attended by more than 500 members. It's a large association with more than 1500 dues paying members.This year's guest speaker was Joe Perkins, current president of the AARP ( American Assoc. of Retired Persons, the largest lobbiest group in the USA). Mr. Perkins is the former benefits manager at Polaroid, so speaking was like coming home for him.
Paul, who is one of the youngest new members of the Polaroid Retirees, knew only a couple of dozen people at the luncheon. Coming from Sales and Marketing, most of the folks who worked with Paul were younger and either not yet retired, or not elegible to join the retirees group if they left the Company. However it was a very well run affair and Paul plans on attending the next few events as they come onto the agenda. Lots of white hair in the audience... much whiter than Pau's for sure!
Turning Hurts into Halos
This past weekend, Dr. Robert Schuller came to Boston to promote his latest book, "Turning Hurts into Halos, and Turning Scares into Stars" Dr.Schuller is the famous TV preacher who on every Sunday with his Hour of Power from the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, Ca. Well Papa ( Paul's Father) was and Uncle Ron is a big fan of Dr. Schuller, so Uncle Ron wanted to buy his book and get him to sign it.While Uncle Ron stood in line for over an hour at SAM's Club in Natick, Paul walked the store and got free samples of cookies, potato chips, cake and a free paring knife. Ron did get to meet Dr. Schuller face-to-face, shake his hand and get him to sign his book. Everyone was happy!
Town Water
Finally, the Baus of Weston have been connected to the town water supply and their 2 wells have been shut down. The process to convert from well water to town water has taken a year, but this change was necessary due to the large aquaduct construction that is passing close to the house and may distrupt the water table that supports the wells.Weston residents who make this change are entitled to 5 years of "free water" paid by the town. At the end of this period, the town is supposed to pay to put the home owners back on their well systems, if the homeowners so desire. With the costs of water rising quite rapidly, this is an option that many residents will choose.
If you want to ride on a submarine, you can save money by coming and visiting the storage room of the South Avenue house. Quite frankly we don't think you can find another house that has more plumbing than the Baus Weston home. Captain Paul is an experienced sub driver and will proudly give you a tour.
Robbed in Chinatown
A large family gathering was held at the Taiwan Cafe with 14 of the clan gathering for an early dinner at the Taiwan Cafe in Boston's Chinatown. Jerry and his family from Detroit, Tierry and his family from Weston, and Hsueh-Wen Yeh, all the way from Taiwan. The meal was of excellent quality and the group started to separate to return home upon leaving the restaurant.With Paul at the wheel of Rachel's new Taurus Wagon, we pulled out of the parking lot on Oxford Street, which for some strange reason was unattended this Memorial Day. Ron commented, "Is that rear windshield wiper supposed to be hanging down like that?" Huh? Oh shit! Paul pulled to the side of the road to inspect the damage. The rear window on the rear door gate was completely smashed out. Inside, was one of Hsueh-Wen's suitcases and one was missing. All the groceries were still in the back... not stolen.
Hsueh-Wen's missing case contained his poster session presentation which he was to give the mext morning at the Hynes Convention meeting of the American Geophysical Union being held in Boston. 2 years worth of work was missing! How as Hsueh-Wen going to give his talk? Also missing from the case were his USA passport, a camera, and other personal things.... not worth much to a thief, but a tremendous loss to the rightful onwer.
Rachel's new wagon also got about $1000.00 in repair costs. Not many benefits for the thieves, but very costly for the victems.
Jerry & Rosalynn visit Boston
Jerry, his wife Rosalynn and their two children, Stephen and Abbey, stopped by Boston over the Memorial Day weekend on their way back from NYC. The families of his brother Tierry and his sister, Rachel played host during the short visit.Activities included a swim in the "almost open pool" at the Baus of Weston, a lunch with all the cousins at the Baus of Weston, a visit to the park and a Chinese banquet at the Taiwan Cafe in Chinatown. Their return trip to Detroit by car the next day should take a minimum of 12 hours if they make "no stops". It was nice that all the little cousins could see each other. These little cousins, some of whom are younger than, are his aunts and uncles.
Anthony Visits Boston
Little Anthony flew into Boston like a hurrican accompanied by his favorate nanny Margaret and stayed a week that way pure joy for his grandparents.... he's such a good baby. Very cooperative and smiley... say his doting grandparents. In order to get the maximum time with Anthony, Grandma Rachel did not host any big dinner parties for her friends to see Danger Mouse. This left all the time and energy for Anthony :)We took him to Wrenthum Factory Outlet Mall and bought him his first pair of shoes at Striderite. Anthony is les than 10 months old and can't yet walk, and was not impressed with his new shoes. However, they are very cute!
Newest advernture for Anthony in Boston... taking a dip in the pool with lots of supervision. Basically, he likes it a lot and must be watched as he always wants to get into the water. Lots of sun block and a T-shirt keep him from getting to much exposure to the sun. Aloha!
