1. Transportation by PC Wiz’s vintage Dodge Spirit brought the intrepid Upstate Group to our Hoffman House destination at a remarkable 11:20 AM. Narrowly before the 11:30 AM deadline, Deliberator spotted Geronimo’s dark green Honda approaching and the Shadow was startled by the prominent antenna American flag. Swiftly seizing his trusty camera, Shadow took a photo of the members including the generous- sized flag to add color.
2. Noting the patio sans its canvas roof, our party entered the premises and had the choice of a table in either corner away from the windows ( a party of five had reserved our normal Official Table). Seating ourselves next to the operating gas fireplace, Geronimo had the dubious honor of selecting the Deliberator’s last meeting "seat of honor". Changing chairs on the theory that it had one short leg was to no avail since the floor of the "historic building" was the culprit. Our honorary waitress, Laurel, was asked for a wood block but Geronimo managed with a folded napkin so finally the opening round of drinks could be ordered. The annual membership photo, taken by Laurel for the Shadow, is eagerly awaited.
3. PC Wiz offered a toast to the memory of the victims of the World Trade Center attack. Replying to a question by the Deliberator, the Shadow gave a detailed account of son Randy’s arrival in the WTC subway station and his subsequent return to Blue Cross in Albany to set up emergency computer facilities. They were the second largest tenants of WTC, having offices in both buildings. Randy lost seven co-workers in the catastrophe. Geronimo, arriving with a leather support immobilizing his right wrist, was questioned about it. He pleaded tendonitis of the wrist and the discussion immediately went to the difficulty of "left-hand wiping".
4. Shadow reiterated how lucky he had been – in view of his broken arm – that it had been his left arm, easing the problem of shaving and wiping. He detailed the therapy and exercises that he has to do to rehabilitate the muscles. The arm is much improved and he has been released by the doctor.
5. Discussion turned to the American Airlines crash in Rockaway, Queens on Monday, November 12. PC Wiz complained about the cable TV news coverage which kept re-running the dramatic early fire pictures long after the NYFD had quickly doused the flames and body recovery was already proceeding. Shadow mentioned the spurious stories they had spread, such as the claim that the flight had run into a flight of geese and that the engines were crammed with the bird carcasses. Geronimo mentioned that the pilot came from the Kingston area and that, since 1985 and including the WTC, there had been 27 air crashes in this country. PC Wiz quoted a news commentator who had stated that the high number of crashes in New York was because it was the busiest airport in the Nation. Not true - Kennedy is 20^th in volume – O’Hare in Chicago has the highest volume of flights as Shadow duly noted. As we surmised, turbulence from a 747 seems to have been a factor in this tragedy. Geronimo told us that the signs have been taken off all government buildings in Dutchess County in the drive against terrorism. There was consensus that Guiliani and Bush were giving good speeches, with "W" much improved. Geronimo mentioned that Time magazine had a negative article on charities – relating to the "9-11" fund failure to quickly disburse the contributions to the victims families.
6. PC Wiz commented on the casino bill passed by the Legislature and also on then Governor Cuomo’s failure to bargain with the Indian tribes over their land claims when they got their casino approval. Geronimo stated he had "no problem with gambling" although members did think the State aim of increasing income to offset the projected deficit by promoting gambling was reprehensible.
7. Shadow reported on the purchase of their new sleek, black Dell 1.6 gigahertz computer with Windows XP and flat-screen monitor. Based on early experience, it seem that XP is working fine and that Geronimo should proceed with purchasing it for his machine. Deliberator confirmed persistent rumors that his "new" scanner was not yet operational. PC Wiz queried Geronimo on the "model" personal web page he had e-mailed him. Geronimo replied that, though retired, he had not been able to find the spare time to tackle the project.
8. Geronimo announced the coming marriage of his son, Danny, in Hawaii. The location was chosen to balance the distances since the bride’s parents are living in Japan. He confirmed that he has been asked to purchase a new suit for the occasion – which he refuses to do – intending to wear a suit from his wardrobe. Unfortunately, we understand this will require Geronimo to lose some weight to fit the "glad rags". Deliberator thought he should wear a tuxedo for the event. On bemoaning the cost of the trip Deliberator cheerfully reminded Geronimo that he could apply the aborted Greek trip expenses to the Hawaii sojourn.
9. Our sports section opened with comments on the Titans – Ravens game which the Titans lost on a defensive foul call on the final play. Shadow, who had followed the game closely on the radio, explained exactly how the rules had been interpreted and how the game had ended. On the subject of baseball, our Yankee fans enjoyed the series and especially the pitching of Cy Young Award winner Randy Johnson, Curt Schilling and 6^th Cy Young Award winner Roger Clemens. Consensus confirmed that the Yanks need a new catcher and new players to replace retiring O’Neill and the free agents. Shadow thought Posada’s record on passed balls and successful steals was reprehensible and that Gerardi had been far superior. PC Wiz mentioned the coming two team reduction of probably the Minnesota Twins and the Montreal Expos because of low attendance at the games. Geronimo said the people of Montreal were just not interested in supporting a baseball team. Shadow opined that they should reduce the league by four teams, not two! A rare note of unanimity arose over the mention of Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants. All agreed, Shadow most emphatically, that they had hoped Mark McGwire’s 1998 record of 70 season HR’s would stand but Bonds broke the record with 73 this year. McGwire still has a career total of 583 vs. 567 for Bonds but, of course, he has now retired. All commented on the great personalities and personal humbleness of McGwire and Sammy Sosa contrasted to the abrasive Bonds. Geronimo, with Bonds winning his 4^th National League MVP, raised the question of his becoming a free agent and speculating on which teams might be interested in acquiring him.
10. Evidently Geronimo’s mother has, unfortunately, lost her Social Security card. He was incredulous over the information required to obtain a new card – such as her mother’s maiden name – and the requirement by Medicaid of all original documents, including the SS card. He said he would much prefer home care over a nursing home which some long-term insurance’s provide. Deliberator verified the GE insurance he has does provide such coverage.
11. Only PC Wiz and Shadow ordered desserts. Deliberator was facing a cholesterol test and voiced concern over his slowly rising PSA levels. Shadow proudly announced Shirley’s election to the office of President of the Bill Broughton charitable fund. PC Wiz told of their purchase of heat-sensing equipment for local fire departments to locate fires and rescue victims in dense smoky conditions. Shadow detailed their recent financing of a "petmobile" for the Animal Shelter – essentially a completely equipped hospital on wheels for animals.
12. Deliberator advanced his carefully chosen proposed date for our Spring, 2002 meeting of Wednesday, March 13, 2002. The proposal was ratified. Deliberator then moved that this historic meeting be adjourned.

Thanks to Geronimo for corrections and reminding your Scribe about omitting the Barry Bonds discussion in Item #9. Sorry, the quirky item numbers not bold and colors are due to the HTML background language and cannot be changed without losing all the formatting ( I will have to avoid starting the sentences with a colored word in the future).

HVBS Official Scribe PC Wiz