First one we've missed.  But I figured it was really for the class of '67 and we would still have one in '03.  Wish we had been there but I had just had nose surgery.  Woke up in the middle of the surgery and heard the doctor ask the nurse to put her hand in also.
 
Denise and I still live in Rockpile (near Austin) and I got my thirty years in with Alcoa as an engineer.  So I can retire!  If only Jessica our only daughter, would get out of Huntsville.  Oh, she's a freshman at Sam Houston there.  So much for retirement.
 
Years ago, promised Denise I would get her a horse.  Well I got J one instead.  So that led to Denise buying her own.  Then we had three.  Then had to sell the house, buy land (34 acres of pure beach sand), and build a barn (Denise's brother and me).  Now we live in the front of the barn with the dogs and cats, the five horses (another reason I can't retire.  Do you understand the term "eat like a horse?") and the tractor in the back, and the goats, ducks, and geese outside.  It's wonderful.  I never realized country living was so great.  Love my tractor.  Will never go back to the city, even the large metropolis of Rockingdale (pop. 50000000000).  I still owe Denise a house but I want to build it.  Has anyone built an "ecobloc" style house?
 
My job changed last January and I started traveling for the company.  I am now an electrical engineering insultant.  I go to various locations and give advice.  Since I am not from those locations they think I am an "expert."  Went to Brazil for a week and China for two.  Beijing is fantastic. The portion I saw was modern "big city" in style.  Then went to the smelter in the boonies 50 miles north of the Viet Nam border.  We drove and drove and drove.  From that location you really can see the end of the world.
 
Things got better and been doing a lot of work in Montreal, Baie Comeau, Becancour, and Deschembault in Quebec, Canada.  Will have to learn French because unfortunately this area is the future of Alcoa.
 
Healthwise - very discouraging.  Knees hurt, right shoulder continual pain, still can't see, getting deafer,  high GGT in liver so can't drink alcohol (depressing), and worst of all - lost sense of smell (had surgery that hasn't helped yet).  Denise says I still smell.  What does that mean?  Oh well, seeing the sun come up is definitely the better alternative.  Unfortunately I now read the Austin obituaries everyday, looking at what is getting people our age.  (By the way, who were all those old people in those pictures on the website anyway?)  Daddy died at 82 in 1999, two years to the day he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's.  Will someone hurry up and cure this before it gets us???
 
Hope all is well with you and will see you at the next one.  If you are coming through Rockdirt, give us a call, be glad to see you.
 
Kent
272 CR 448A
Rockdale, TX 76567-5228
givenskb@tex1.net