A Secret No More and Lotsa Curves, You Bet

The cat is out of the bag at work. About two years ago I learned that the FAA's requirement for mandatory retirement at age 56 doesn't apply to me because of the time I spent working in the Flight Service option back in the early '80s. I have no idea why such a rule would exist but a friend at worked tipped me off to the little-known loophole. He respected my wish not to tell anybody about my situation. My plan has always been to work until forced to retire but with this new option available to me, I've been considering staying at least another year to age 57. I thought it would be good fun to show up after my 56th birthday to see what sort of reaction I'd get from the guys I work with. But this past week I had someone come up to me and ask if it was true that I qualified to keep working beyond the mandatory retirement age. I knew it would be futile to try and deny it so I confirmed it for him. I really don't have any idea how much longer I'll hang around but I'm quite sure retirement will be in a window of from two to four years with very little heads-up given from me when I do decide to pull the plug.

I've mentioned here before how terrible a student I was in school, especially high school. I learned to type there but little else. Seriously. I always gravitated toward the easy grades in art class but that really seemed to be where at least some of my talents were. That all changed when I got to college after the Navy and I actually applied myself but still, I couldn't help but take one drawing class while at Inver Hills. That was nearly 30 years ago. I've been hanging on to the drawings from that course and a few others I did around that time ever since. They've sat tucked away in a closet in our den and even Tammy hadn't ever seen them until this week when I brought them out to look at them. They're all pencil drawings and unfortunately, they've faded over the years. I photographed them and did my best to resurrect them in Photoshop. Some rendered better than others.

I think maybe it's time I try and get back to my drawing but not just yet. Biking season is here and I'm pretty much owned by my rides for the foreseeable future. Especially after this past winter. I think I'd like to resume sketching again next winter.

No April Fools jokes from me but as usual, Rachel had something up her sleeve. She changed her birthday in her Facebook profile to April 1st then sat back and watched as more than 100 friends wished her a happy one. I used to love how she'd try and come up with something to fool Tammy and me when she was much younger. From toothpaste on doorknobs to covering the toilet with cellophane to making it so the spray attachment for the kitchen sink would spray one of us when the water was turned on, it was all good fun. I'm glad to see she's still at it.

Tammy and I were on our way to Minneapolis recently when I asked her if she used to watch Petticoat Junction when she was younger. "Sure" she replied. I then asked her if she ever gave much thought to the name of the town, Hooterville. She hadn't. I told her that it dawned on me a couple of years ago that the town's name was a little adult humor that went right over our heads at the time. She was certain I was wrong. I said, "think about it...3 busty young women that the show is centered around?" She still disagreed. Then I began to recite the lyrics the best I could from over 40 years ago. When I came to the part about "lotsa curves you bet and even more, when you get to the junction" she finally agreed. "Alright already...how come you guys always think like that?" I could only smile. Chalk up another one for me.



Comments

Larry said…
And we used to call the suburbans around here "hooter haulers"....but it was because a lot of Hutteritea owned them..... :>}
Tammy G said…
I still don't think it means what you think it does, Darlin
Kevin Gilmore said…
Haha...and since when do you read my blog, Darlin?
Jackie said…
Ya know that is one tv show that I never bothered to learn the words to. The only part I recall was the high pitched "Petticoat Junction" at the end. So I would have to say it's anybody's guess as to the meaning of the song. But you may be on to something here Kev.

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