Catching Up

I had made plans to have lunch with my good friend Jim Middlebrooks.  He had called me to go to lunch a few months ago, but I was in Vermont and said it would have to wait.  After a few more months of playing phone tag, we finally set a lunch date for today, October 27. But last night, on my way to Oviedo with my cousin Patti, Jim had called. I did not answer at the time because the traffice was very heavy on 417, so I hoped he would leave a message. He did, and he was canceling lunch because he would not be able to make our noon date.

I continued with my good time at the Rock & Brews in Oviedo with my niece, her family and some friends. I have included a picture of a part of the group...

Family Get-together at Rock & Brews in Oviedo Florida

We had a great time in Oviedo and I had a few Jai Alai IPAs and Patti had a mango mojito.  We ordered a variety of appetizers and it was just a lot of fun. I knew I did not have to meet up with Jim so Thursday would be a slow day.

Then Jim called me and left a message. Would I be willing to meet at 1 PM instead of noon. I said that would be okay and so we met up at Long Doggers in Satellite Beach at 1PM.

I consider Jim a great friend and it had been a while since wa had seen each other. Fred Arnold had passed away in 2015, and our golf group fell apart pretty quickly. It just wasn't the same without Fred. He was the organizer and the heart of the group. Jim and I decided that it was true that both of us were getting older and both had more physical problems to deal with.  It did not stop us from ordering the High Life Hot Dog at Long Doggers.  Details can be found on their web page....

Jim Middlebrooks with his wife Alice and Fred's brother Steve Arnold in 2015

We took our time at lunch, we had a lot of catching up to do. I had a Florida Lager and we ate our foot-long hot dogs. Then a guy tapped me on the back and said "BJ?" It was my former co-worker at ENSCO and one-time golf partner, Joe Dreher.  He was at a working lunch and he said they thought that was me at the bar. I have remained friends with Joe on FaceBook and he plays less golf and  runs instead. He got his picture taken with Mary Ann of Gilligan's Island this past Sunday...

Dawn Wells (Mary Ann) with my good friend Joe Dreher

Joe has qualified for the Bostom marathon in the spring. He said Kevin Atchison was there too and sure enough, Kevin was shaking my hand. Kevin was also a coworker at ENSCO who nows work for the government like Joe does. They were having a MET working group meeting.  Kevin said I would be proud of him, he was handing in his paperwork for retirement. Another one joins my ever expanding group. I met Kevin in 1981 and worked with him on many projects. He is oiginally from Oklahoma but said they (him and his wife) plan to stay in the area because they now have three grandchildren. I told him to keep in touch!

Mark Kienzle, Kevin & Joe at Fred Riewe's retirement party

So the afternoon was going pretty well. Bruce Baker was with their group and he waved to me. Dr. Ian Sykes was also with them. I had worked on a project with Dr. Sykes a few years ago. Very brilliant scientist.

So it was time for Jim and I to end our reunion. I told Jim we need to meet more often and he agreed.  As we were getting ready to leave this guy stopped by and started to kid around with Jim. I kind of recognized him and shook his hand, but was not sure who he was.  After he left, Jim told me he was the current Mayor of Satellie Beach, Frank Cantino...

I asked Jim if he knew Dom Montanaro, who was on the City Council...

I use to golf with Dom once in a while and had more than a few beers at Coasters with him.

I guess I have lived in the area long enough to know some of the people that are trying to make a difference. I am just trying to keep myself busy in retirement...