Let's Talk With Bill G Awhile

[Yukon Stihl]

The early one

View attachment 422063

Had one like that

 

[ZERO]

Bill would we not be better as a society if more moms stayed home with the kids. The early developmental brain needs to see a familiar face, not that of a stranger.

There comes a time, when rules and regiments apply and it is time for pre-school.

How many less mental problems would we see if moms and dads planned out the finances in advance, because yes, kids cost more than initially anticipated.

 

[Bill G]

At least in a minivan you have a place to sleep

I have slept in much, much worse. Hell a minivan would be like the Hyatt Regency compared to some of the places I have been.

NOTE... If you do not Bill G stories stop here. This is a long one and it takes a long time to get to the point regarding places to sleep.

Back in community college I needed a Physical Education ACTIVITY credit to graduate. It had to be an actual activity. Now I love activity but I am not much...hell anything, on playing sports such as baseball, basketball, badminton, table tennis. etc. I could give two turds less for most. Now I had a great love for football and later a great love for watching our sons in little league baseball but at the time those were not relevant. My wife was the same way but she sucked it up, swallowed her pride, and enrolled in tennis. I have to say she rocked the outfit but stunk at the sport. Also she was a helluva lot brighter than this ole hick and she attended a high level private 4 year college and was able to schedule it into a lighter semester load.

I was just a dumb ole hick farm boy and started out at the local community college. Even there I spent too much time dicking off at the auto parts store instead of writing the needed papers for my classes. That jacking around meant I was going to have to do an extra semester and be a December graduate before I could transfer to the "University" in January. As the end of my final Spring semester approached I was meeting with my advisor setting my schedule for the Fall. She was a great gal and very direct. She said....dammit Bill you still need to complete a PE activity if you want to graduate in December and move on to the next level.. I really liked her and told her I did not want to take any damn PE activity, I do not play with balls. She smiled and said..... well what about taking a one week "Wilderness Experience" class? I told her hell yeah that sounds better....one week and I am done with it. She smiled and said well then it is set. The current section with open spots is the third week of July. At this point I am sure I had a dumbfounded look on my face as that was during racing season.....worse yet the fair race. I was racing a open wheel modified on Sunday nights at Tipton Iowa and did not want to miss a race. I just 19 at the time and could not see the big picture yet. Thankfully, my wife being the brains, set me straight on priorities.

About a week before the trip I got a letter in the mail saying to be at the college parking lot at 4:30AM on Sunday morning and the van leaves at 5AM. All we were told was to pack whatever we thought we would need for a week in the wilderness and a reminder that we had to be able to pack it with us in addition to being able to carry a canoe on portages. Saturday morning I tossed together a small duffle of some clothes and a few needed things. I then took off to the Aledo Illinois race track to help my buddy on his car. I got home late took a short snooze then headed to the college parking lot not knowing what to expect. Now I do have to say I did know the "guide" or teacher was Merle Ihne. I really liked him . He was my instructor for Biology and Conservation courses. Back then he was like I am today, rough, gruff, bearded, and outspoken.

Well I show up and he looks like hell. He tells me he just got home from the last trip a few hours ago. I knew we were headed to the Minnesota/ Canada border which in those days was almost all 2 lanes and was a 12 hour drive. Apparently the initial plan was for him to stay up there on Lake Superior and another person was supposed to bring the last group home. Then a retired cop was supposed to bring our group up. Somehow it got messed up and he had to do both 12 hr trips for a total of 24 hours of drive time in about 29 hours. Ole Merle was a real pro. We got up there and camped right on the shore of Lake Superior. He and I walked into town while the others sat back at the city campground and *b-worded. He says...I didn't see you put a pole in the van.....if you plan on eating you better catch it. I got the hint, bought a pole and a 7 day license. We went for pizza and possibly a bit of barley.

Before sunup Monday morning we headed to the canoe rental place in the Boundary Waters. Merle parks the van, tells the group to grab your chit, this is the last time you will see anyone other than one of us (10) and follow him. We had to pair up and of course Merle and I pair up. We launch into a lake and the college PE activity "Wilderness Experience" begins. We canoe a good portion of the day and make a few short portages. We then set up camp for the evening and break out the maps to plan the next day. We have a nice supper and ole Merle tells the group that starting the next day if they want to eat they need to catch, kill, or collect it. Now in reality he had packed a lot of freeze dried/MRE type packs. We actually ate very, very well. He was just trying to make his point this was not a day in the park.

I loved the water there it as crystal clear albeit cold as hell for July. The fishing was great. I caught plenty of nice eating fish. After about the second day the wimps were whining and did not want to canoe a good distance let alone a long portage.. Hell one time we camped two nights in the same location. I got pissed at their lazy arses the second night and took a canoe out by myself to get away from them. I was paddling along the shore of a lake when all of a sudden a ole cow Moose pops up out of the water. Now common sense says she was not totally underwater and I just had not been paying attention. I never knew Moose took swims. She had her head under I assume eating some sort of vegetation and just popped it up when I got close. I damn near dropped a loaf in my jeans.

Now about day three we were noticing that one girl was not eating much at all. She never touched the fish we caught for supper or the bacon and eggs we had packed in for breakfast. She had just been eating pancakes. She finally told us she was a vegetarian and was happy to just eat pancakes. That was not a great fit for our group and it lead to a lot of razzing. Well the next morning it got a bit mean but actually funny. Whoever was on cooking duty that morning cooked our regular breakfast first and then cooked her some pancakes. We were all finishing up eating and talking about a plan for the day. The guy who cooked that morning asked her how her pancakes were. She said they were fine and thanked him. He started laughing and said.....I hope you realize the flavor came from the bacon and egg grease that I cooked them in. She flipped out. I can still see her barfing and yelling in-between puking.

At that point there was ever increasing dissention among the group. The majority were lazy as poop and did not want the experience, just the credit. They were not bright enough to know that had they also enrolled in the 2 credit hour Biology Field Studies course they could earn 2 credits for actually getting off their ass and exploring, documenting and writing about the variances in Biology, flora/fauna, and wildlife there. I did that and it brought great benefits later.

The group was pissed for many reasons but one of them is that Merle, our guide/instructor snored HEAVILY. I guess they had never been around that or they were just wusses. We were all in 2 man tents and I was with Merle. It did not bother me in the least since I probably gave him a run for the money in snoring.

One guy got so pissed off that the final night in the woods he slept on a rock. I should say he slept on a boulder. The camp was just a hot-bed of *b-wording wimps and girls. A short distance away was an enormous boulder ....probably 4 ft high and 10 ft long. He took his sleeping bag, climbed on top of it and slept there. What a "Wilderness Experience" it was.

The really funny thing is we rolled back into town the following Sunday late afternoon and my stock car was loaded and ready to go. I made the races that night.

 

[Boomer2230]

I am confident enough in my "manhood" to say one of, if not the most comfortable and enjoyable vehicles I ever drove was a 2002 Dodge minivan.

I had a 2002 Mazda MPV with a V6 in it that I tuned up a bit and did service calls for satellite TV. I used to race with corvettes for fun. On the highway I kept up pretty good.

 

[Mad Professor]

At least in a minivan you have a place to sleep

A couple that are friends of ours have an AWD one for camping and skiing

I managed to "sleep" with a hippe girl in a VW bug

 

[Partner]

I managed to "sleep" with a hippe girl in a VW bug

Try doing this in a Fiat 126

 

[Lnk]

Oh oh oh........you sir must be a youngin.

Give me 5 minutes

By young, you mean just under 60, right? Lol

 

[jblnut]

My rye field is looking rather Windows XP backgroundish. I miss the XP days. Things were simple. DEF didn’t exist and trucks still looked like trucks.

 

[Mastermind]

My rye field is looking rather Windows XP backgroundish. I miss the XP days. Things were simple. DEF didn’t exist and trucks still looked like trucks.
View attachment 422084

My first computer was Windows 3.1.

 

[jblnut]

My first computer was Windows 3.1.

My first Windows machine ran 3.1 as well !! That old tank is still going somehow. Kiddos play Cosmos, SkiFree and Mine Sweeper on it up in the shop. No idea how it's still running but it keeps chugging along.

 

[Mad Professor]

My first computer was Windows 3.1.

I still have my Apple Classic , and it works. Has most of my dissertation it. 4MG hard drive

 

[Wilhelm]

My rye field is looking rather Windows XP backgroundish. I miss the XP days. Things were simple. DEF didn’t exist and trucks still looked like trucks.
View attachment 422084

I still have my own first built PC and it is running Windows XP.
The OS is sound, the hardware reliable, it is the third party apps becoming more resource demanding thus killing any chances of running these PC's for anything serious nowadays.

My first Windows machine ran 3.1 as well !! That old tank is still going somehow. Kiddos play Cosmos, SkiFree and Mine Sweeper on it up in the shop. No idea how it's still running but it keeps chugging along.

Much cooler running electronics, lower power consumption, higher quality built components.
These will run for decades to come outliving everything modern built.

 

[Mad Professor]

My rye field is looking rather Windows XP backgroundish. I miss the XP days. Things were simple. DEF didn’t exist and trucks still looked like trucks.
View attachment 422084

I've still got a truck. A 62 Willys wagon and 67 CJ5 too.

 

[Partner]

The school had Elwro computers made in Poland and a green picture tube / Windows 1, 2 and 3, I don't know if they were available here. I remember 4 versions, i.e. 95

 

[srcarr52]

My first computer was Windows 3.1.

I still run DOS systems.

 

[Wilhelm]

New thread title!

Who's Bill G again?

 

[Mastermind]

New thread title!

Who's Bill G again?

Nothing gets past you my friend.

 

[Wilhelm]

Nothing gets past you my friend.

I hope that it's not a bad thing!

 

[Partner]

I still run DOS systems.

For what? Except that it is in every computer

 

[Bill G]

Try doing this in a Fiat 126

I am not familiar with that car but here is a solution.