"Getting to kow you-u-u....Getting to know all about yo

GardMan said:

HoboKen,
We have ridden the Silverton a couple of times... a wonderful ride. Did it once in the late fall, with the aspens turning gold and a light touch of snow. A mite cold, but gorgeous.

This summer we will be returning to a guest ranch we stayed at 2 years ago, on the Conejos River just off the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic RR... For a week, my wife and girls ride horses all day, I fish all day, will chase the steam train for a morning, and am learning some cowboy tunes so that I can play a short set during the "talent evening." Plus, there are zillions of humming birds to photograph! One of my coolest memories is getting a hummer to sit on my finger while it fed at the feeder...

...and, not to make you envious, but I'll be heading up to the Green River Sun and Mon for the Blue Wing Olive hatch. 10 yrs ago, a couple of my buddies and I chipped in and bought a used Clackcraft drift boat. I average 8-10 days a year on the Green... we have one spring trip that is a 19 year tradition. So, when you do make it out here, you should definitely look me up. If I can't get you to the Green, I know a number of small streams close enough for a day trip from SLC...

And Coastie... your beautiful country is on my list of places to visit (and fish) before I die. When I was (quite a bit) younger, one of my heroes was Sir Edmund Hillary (isn't he a native NZer?)... But you do know that all those famous New Zealand Rainbow Trout hail from California, don't you? (probably from the McCloud or Feather River)
Dave

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Hummingbirds !

How cool; such gorgeous little creatures.

Yep, Ed's one of us.
He's spent a great deal of his life since climbing Everest, establishing educational facilities and such-like in Nepal.

Truly a very fine human being.

I'm not well versed with Trains but I do have an interest and fasination with them mostly because of my Dad and I almost landed a Job with Frisco in Tulsa OK, working on Locamotives out of High School.
My Dad loved trains, he worked for one of the railroads in his younger days, don't remember which one but he drove a team of mules, hauling railroad ties to location, building track. We lived about a 1/4 mile from a road crossing and everyday when we heard the locamotive whistle, Dad would stop and check his watch, sometimes muttering, "hmmm running a little late aint ya capt".
Dad was self taught on harmonica and could make the train song sound like it was gonna run right through the living room. He would always play, mostly when the TV was broken and we couldn't afford to fix it.
Don't mean to drift from the thread but all the train buffs got me thinking of my Dad, which I do often. We lost Dad 23 years ago.
My Dad was illeterate, quit school in the 3 grade to help support his brothers and sisters but he was life smart. Had more "horse sence" than any person I have ever known.
Before he met my mom, (at a "box social" where he was playing his harmonica) he played baseball with some guys in a little Oklahoma town called Carney, not there any more but I only mention it casue he was scouted and was offered a Pitching job (he was a left handed pitcher) with one of the Chicago ball clubs. Of course there wasn't any money in baseball, as he put it, so he didn't pursue it. Don't remember which club, back then maybe there was just one.
I'll stop here, getting way too far off the thread. Everytime I see or hear a train, I think of Dad......some good memories.....hope you guys don't mind me sharing some of them with you.
By the way, he was a Carpenter and Painter, by profession, loved guitar even though he didn't play.

IamRU2, Thanks for sharing your stories of your dad.

Coastie, I was given, and read, Hillary's book "Schoolhouse in the Clouds" as a boy. It's still on my bookshelf at home. I think history will remember Hillary as the first (with Tenzing (sp?)) to climb Everest. The Nepalese (NZers, and I) will remember him for his humanitarian deeds.
D

'Tenzing' G-man but probably some alternate spellings out there too...my Nepalese isn't what it used to be...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/date ... 492683.stm

- 4 years in the Navy after high school, Aviation Electronics Technician, Florida, Wash. State, California, and the South China Sea aboard the UUS Ranger.

- 25 years in Electronics manufacturing, MIL-STD qualified soldering instructor among other things.

- Been kicking around the construction industry since all the manufacturing jobs went to Malaysia and China. Currently selling and managing HVAC and Insulation jobs, building extremely tight and energy efficient homes.

- Happily married to Micki for 29 years (not too bad, out of 32 :lol: )

- 4 daughters and 1 son ages 27,24,21,18, and 13, the boy is the 13 year old. He and Dred have to go out and do male bonding things regularly, there are so many women in our house.

- Had 5 coronary bypasses 9 years ago, one for each kid.

- Started playing some cheap old piece-o-crap guitar at age 16. Bought my first real guitar after I got out of the Navy, a brand new 1975 D-25M

- Started buying all the rest of 'em a few years ago for my midlife crisis. I told the wife, it could be a lot worse 8) She agrees This crisis could last awhile...

- I have 2 bands, "Mere Image" (Classic 60's - 70's stuff, acoustic and electric) and "Pickin' Grace" (Southern Gospel / Bluegrass)

Music is my therapy, my connection with sanity. I seem to have this internal drive to make music and put things to a beat, the only thing I can claim is that its a gift from God.

I live the San Luis Valley of Southern Colorado where I am Operations Manager for the San Luis & Rio Grande RR - a 150 mile long shortline running between Walsenburg CO, Alamosa CO, Antonito CO and South Fork CO. I've been in the RR biz for nearly 30 years (30 years May 26 to be exact). I worked over 20 years for the narrow gauge Cumbres & Toltec Scenic RR before going on to other RR jobs.

In addition to digging Guilds, I dig Gretches and Rickenbackers. Also, old Ford Mustangs.

Married, no kids, 2 spoiled cats.

I was born in 1947 in the Northwest Territories of Canada
Grew up mostly in Quebec and Labrador, in mining towns/camps, endless bush ("miles and miles of nothing but miles and miles")
Family moved to Vancouver in 1963, finished high school here,
College Militaire Royale in Quebec after high school (Canadian equivalent of West Point), resigned after 1st year (not a great fan of discipline, and the stories about military college life are not a patch on the actual experience)
Worked in fishing camps, logging, cruise ships, then got lucky and
Became a working cowboy in 1967, rode till 1971,
Worked pipelines, mining concentrators, sporadic seasonal cowboying
University of BC Agricultural Economics in the 70s,
Worked as environmental economist and rangeland specialist till 1981,
Developed expertise in personal computers from about 1975 on,
Joined Roland Music as Manager of Computer Music Division in 1982 (I was the entire division in Canada, right at the transition from analog to digital synthesis and the beginning of the MIDI revolution)
Started company in 1984 to sell industrial software in Asia,
Joined friends in 1985 startup to make world's brightest outdoor colour displays, ran software development side, learned about optical fibres
Started new company in 1988 to develop switches using plastic optical fibre for Boeing (among others), raised several million dollars, company had 18 fundamental patents (6 were mine), took company public in 2000, got bounced and screwed by hostile internal takeover and lost it all in 2001
Bits of consulting work for a couple of years
Started current company in 2003, now we are Canada's leading supplier of software to assist with corporate governance - not yet making money, but soon we hope.

GardMan said:

(6) camera/photography hobbiest;

Because of #6 above, much of the last 4 years of family and fun is chronicled in digital images, that you are welcome to peruse at http://www.pbase.com/gard

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Outstanding pictures Dave.

Graham, Thx. Glad you enjoyed them. D

Sir Edmund Hillary is the real name? I always suspected Bill's wife is a female impersonator.

Now an associate dean for an aeronautical university. Did 30 years in the air force; 14 non-commisioned & 16 commissioned. two Vietnam tours; I'd do it all again... Trying to bring back acoustic skills I thought I once had. Even if I'm back to learning many things over again, I sure enjoy an evening of picking after a day's work...what therapy... Humbled to be around you guys, even if you do have me hooked on ebay Guilds. Do we have a loan officer in the group? You're a great bunch, and I sincerely enjoy the threads...

Where in Vietnam were you stationed? I was at Long Bihn base with the 720th MP btn Co. C (18th MP bde) in 71-72. The last three months were with the 615th btn. We were sent out on escorts and convoys all over III corps, and did patrols in Bien Ho.
Welcome home brother!

Where in Vietnam were you stationed? I was at Long Bihn base with the 720th MP btn Co. C (18th MP bde) in 71-72. The last three months were with the 615th btn. We were sent out on escorts and convoys all over III corps, and did patrols in Bien Ho.
Welcome home brother!

My gosh, I am truly humbled by the professions you guys are in and by your military service. My story will have you guys sleeping in no time. I don't even think I'm qualified to be here.

Had a dream of an education in forestry from Stephen F. Austin State. That's all I ever wanted to do. My sophomore year of college, I interviewed with the Texas Forestry Commission. Come to find out that I was making about 3 times as much as they were, working part time for a swimming pool company. End of dream! Wish I had stuck with it now. I ended up leaving college due to lack of funds and started construction for Brown and Root. It was in the building of a chemical plant that I came to know a little of the chemical industry and mechanical maintenance. Went to work for the chemical company 27 years ago and intend to retire in about 4 years. I will then be for hire by any of you!

I became involved in martial arts quite by accident. Enrolled the boys when they were very young and attended all the classes in order to watch the goings on like a hawk. After a couple of years of this, the head instructor brought me a uniform and told me to take it home and wear them as pajamas. My then wife told me that he really wanted me to go put in on and work out with them and that my boys would love their dad being out there. I felt like the ice cream man in a white uniform with a white belt and no patches to ad color. I stuck with it for 10 years earning my black belt in 2001 with the American Society of Karate. Stayed with it for a few more years tournament fighting and teaching. I became fat, old and lazy and haven't worked out in about 3 years.

I went through a horrible divorce about 10 years ago involving child custody and ended up raising my 2 sons. God then paired me with the only woman on Earth that could live with me. A true angel and the perfect mother for my sons.

I've never had a guitar lesson, can't read music and don't play well at all. I just have a very burning passion for anything Guild acoustic. This site is one of my favorite past times. The commoraderie and the knowledge here are impossible to find anywhere else. Glad to be here.

West

West, you're not the only one not to finish college- it's how I wound up in the military. I've been married to my second wife for 25 years this November. I work for the Topeka Public Schools as a HVAC technician, and have been at it for 24 years- 5 more to retirement.
Never took music lessons, but I love to play. I don't know how many times I've been told "you can't play guitar like that!" There were just no left-handed guitars around, and my friends who had guitars had right handed ones. I wanted to play so bad, and was left handed, I just flipped the righty around, got a chord book and never looked back.
I plan to become a retired itinerant guitar bum, and amature archeologist.(My wife and I are members of the Kansas Anthropological Association) Say that three times fast! :lol:

The impressive backgrounds and common grounds of the LTG members surprises me not in the least. Character just seems to come across here. I can't figure out what it is about Guild that draws this cross-section for guys to this place and time. Very interesting cultural nexus, IMO.

Anyhow, I was born in 1957, raised in Youngstown, Ohio, had a blast and got a BA in English from Westminster College in New Wilmington, PA in 1979, married my excellent wife, Norma, in 1981, and moved to Columbus with her in 1982.

My lifelong ambition is to support myself as a novelist, but I worked for the Red Cross and then in sales thru the 1980's. Made a decision and wrote my unpublished novel, DELTA BLUE, in 1989. About a blues troubadour in the 1910-26 era. Quite proud of it, but I failed to get it published after making a good effort, though I won a couple of awards and got some grant money for the trouble.

Meanwhile, my kids came along, Melinda in 1/90, Kevin in 11/91. I did the Mr. Mom thing and worked out of home as freelance writer, then as a staff reporter.

I got really into youth coaching locally from 1997 to 2005 while my kids were into sports - soccer, basketball, especially baseball and fastpitch softball. Was a blast while it was happening. Quit the writing stuff and took a job in a cabinet shop that gave me a lot of flex time to coach.

Since this phase ended last year, I've been trying to get back to writing fiction again and trying again to revise and remarket my novel. Guitars are an inspiration for me. Watching e-Bay last summer gave me GAS and got me back into guitars and playing music. Caused me to churn and change my collection of instruments. Damn good time with that. Not what I intended to do but I've learned a lot, and I'm thinking it has smoothed the transition from being so involved with my kids back to my own ambitions.

I had never really stopped playing guitar since starting in 1977. Got my Guild F-44 in 1987. Played for years with a group of guys almost every Friday night. Called ourselves "Boaz and the Harmoniums" as a joke. A jam group, not a band. Still continue to do so with my pal, Harry. We try not to suck and we've recorded more than 100 tunes over the years, giving them joke album titles, such as, SOJOURING DINGLEBERRIES and ALL THINGS MUST PASS GAS.

I've always been enchanted by the development of American music - the entire she-bang of it. I love to write about it. I think the Beatles were the greatest singularity of our lifetimes. That said, I view music as a participatory art, something made for everyone to do. Wish all could discover that.

Dan. I was stationed in Danang March 71 - March 72 with Det 1, 56 Special Operations Squadron, 56th Special Operations Wing. We flew search and rescue through the central highlands region. I went to Hanoi in 1994 as Ops Officer for Joint Task Force - Full Accounting. We were responsible for resolving POW/MIA cases/issues. We spent most of our time digging up old aircraft/helicopter wreckage or opening old burial sites. Repatriated 10 warriors' remains to their families during that year. We use the term hero too loosley these day; those ten guys were heroes. God bless 'em and you too. Welcome home, brother.

Guildzilla,
Did my Master's in Counseling at Westminster College, New Wilmington, PA in 74-75.....Do you remember Dr. Joe Henderson & Co.?

Scratch,
I did TDYs to DaNang -lived out on the side of the end of the runway with the Jolly Greens in 68-70.

Welcome to homecoming week at LTG fellows!

HoboKen

Hoboken,
I was with the A1 Spad outfit (Also called Hobos or Sandys (when on SAR)... We were near the fire station in early '71, then moved over to the other side of the base near Freedom Hill/Camp Swampy...

West... How far are you from Longview? That's where my D4-12 is coming from...

Who knows? Maybe someday we could get all the LTGers together for a Guild reunion of some sort. Man, would that be one awesome sounding event or what? :shock:

Well I could have checked her out for you, then sent it Scratch.

West