To everyone’s astonishment, I think we actually arrived at a decision tonight. Duly exhausted, we wandered to our usual watering hole. Alas — our usual waitress was AWOL, but we were still well served tonight. We were: Dean, John L., Bob, Sue, Marietta, Ferne, Don, and myself — Tomek. Tonight we touched on knitting, dancing, recreational activities of servicemen in Southeast Asia in the 1970s, F4s, F105s, life in 1970s Vermont, the Grand Ole Opry and Ken Burns’ Country Music — Dolly Parton got honorable mention — the music biz and Nashville in general, the pace of change over the 20th century (with a sidebar on grandmas), checks and identity theft, the Great Steppe migrations (including the Irish, among others), the Yuan and Qing dynasties in China, and the complete and total lack of shame in showing up late for one of our meetings. The Nor’easter notwithstanding, a good time was had by all.