Friends Report on August 2, 2009

It's been hard keeping track of everyone this summer, or anyone for that matter. Contact has often been slapdash with Birches away on vacation and readers spread all over the country. But, an update of some sort is needed, so here is what we know at the moment.
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SANDY - has become a grandmother. The beautiful baby is Brayden -- and the mother is Sandy's daughter, Leigh; the father is her son-in-law Bret. California is the fortunate state.

Says she: "He is the most beautiful little guy, and the feeling I get when holding him is indescribable, but you guys know that already! We are waiting for them to come home from the hospital right now..."

MICHAEL E. - has organized a "Philosophy Club" locally. Birches has joined and is enjoying it a great deal. The name of the club is very audacious when applied to someone like me, but aspiration is good for anyone, right?

IRISH MKE - is reporting on his vacation at Joe's Friendly Tavern In Empire, MI. Wherever Mike is, that is a friendly tavern, to be honest with you.

Mike tells a wonderful story about the time he got a General Motors sponsored credit card because buying anything on the card contributed dollars toward buying the next G.M. car. As an appreciation gift, they sent him some car drinking mugs. The mugs would not fit in the cup-holders of his G.M. car. Do you wonder why they have so many troubles? Maybe this is it in a nutshell!

MARSHA - is headed home after running all over Michigan visiting and vacationing with friends. She sent this very strange picture of a vending machine in Mackinaw City. Now, if July isn't "in season" in Michigan, I wonder when it would be?

SPARTY - is reading about the difficulties of achieving health care reform.

ALICE - has her home to herself, as her children have moved into a new house of their own. Alice is chortling about the effort by Congressman Weiner 0f New York to get Republican conservatives to live up to their principles. He introduced a law to end Medicare, and not one Republican would vote for it.

WEINER: Well, for some reason, I guess Republicans don’t like publicly funded, publicly administered health plans except for Medicare, and, I guess, except for the Veterans Administration and except for the health care that our military gets from the Department of Defense. The fact of the matter is, what we’ve learned is that government administered health care works pretty darn well. It’s got lower overhead and people like it.

So, when my Republican colleagues pound the drum and pound the podium about how they hate government-run health care, I guess they haven’t looked at what they get.

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SOME SNAPSHOTS

Flowerchild 2009

Trase and Liam


Home of Sparty and Gigi


Tim and his kid


The Tates


Home of Skuzza and Dashmann


New picture from the Saginaw Rowing Club, Irish Mike included