1. On a beautiful clear morning PC Wiz ferried the Northern Nabobs to an early 11:20 arrival at Roudigan's Steakhouse. Geronimo, our Southern mainstay, arrived promptly at 11:27 AM. Members quickly noted that he did not appear to be ship-shape and Geronimo confirmed that he had debated whether to attend. Considering the importance of our first session of 2005, Geronimo threw caution to the winds and HVBS members were delighted to have his attendance. Shadow noted that he wanted to propose sending an ambulance, if necessary, to ensure that we would have the benefit of his wit and wisdom. Members, with Deliberator leading the way, approached our usual elevated corner table. Our original Official Waitress Jessica took our libation orders: merlots for Deliberator, PC Wiz and Shadow (originally Beringer; Jessica returned to ask if Columbia Crest was OK) and diet Coke, er---I mean, diet Pepsi for Geronimo (who informed us his medications did not mix with alcohol).
2. The toast was to good health; PC Wiz added our soldiers overseas and all concurred. Shadow mentioned that PC Wiz was celebrating his 75^th birthday on February 5 and members responded with "congrats". At the toast Shadow proposed that military service should be reversed. In a more perfect world the "old guys" would go in the Army since the young should not be deprived of their long life expectancy. Deliberator responded that we had to stay on the home front to maintain "senior influence" in the country. Jessica, returning to get our luncheon orders, informed us that she is on the Dean's List at the local community college with 2 A's and 2 B's. Members congratulated her and she stated she hopes to attend SUNY at Albany in the future. Geronimo had reminded us that this was groundhog day; Shadow remarked on the bikini-clad woman at the celebration at 2 AM in the cold morning. Needless to say, Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow so we may, or may not, have 6 weeks more of Winter.
3. Deliberator reminded us that he had correctly beaten the odds by predicting the 6-10 Giants season and we owed him congratulations. Amid general grumbling (Shadow maintained that he would have won if the last game had ended seconds earlier) PC Wiz led three cheers for our distinguished members' accomplishment. Concerning the Super Bowl, Deliberator was turned off by the endless hype and Geronimo felt the season was over with no particular interest in the outcome. Shadow, no Eagles fan, hoped for a New England win. HVBS predictions: Shadow - the "cerebral" Patriots 27-17; Geronimo - Philadelphia 17-14; Deliberator - Patriots 24-13; PC Wiz - Patriots 21-20. Our resident HVBS hockey expert, Shadow, reiterated his prediction of no settlement and no hockey season - as continues to be the case. Commenting on the Agenda item concerning Tiki Barber's 1518 yds. rushing, Shadow wanted the record to show that Barber led the NFL in total yds. from scrimmage, running and passing. In answer to PC Wiz's query, Shadow informed us that the Daytona 500 is going to be held on February 20.
4. On the baseball scene, PC Wiz thought the Yankees awesome with the acquisition of Randy Johnson; if Johnson has a good year since he is 42 years old, opined Geronimo. Deliberator thought a lot depended on Brown. Turning to first base, Shadow felt Giambi was a detriment to the team and should be released from his contract. Evidently Tino Martinez will play 1^st and Bernie Williams will remain in center field. Shadow thought an annex should be built on the Baseball Hall of Fame for athletes like Barry Bonds who set records while using steroids (it was pointed out that Mark McGwire has used legal supplements and was not involved). The perennial topic of Pete Rose came up and Deliberator reminded us that the problem was that Rose had bet on games (although no evidence of altering game outcomes); Shadow said Rose had shown no remorse and that affected his claim. PC Wiz mentioned Sammy Sosa going to Baltimore - Shadow said the reason was that he didn't get along with the new manager, Dusty Baker, and had to leave.
5. Shadow highly recommended Bob Schieffer's two books to Geronimo, especially his first - "This Just In: What I Couldn't Tell You on TV". Geronimo said he generally doesn't read novels but was assured that Schieffer's stories "behind the news" were fascinating easy reading. Deliberator mentioned he had received Tim Russert's "Big Russ and Me" as a gift from the boys and that it, also, was a great book. There was not much discussion in our Tech section; all seems to be going well. Shadow said they had just purchased Norton SystemWorks 2005 for not much more than subscribing for another year. Deliberator is having a "missing exe file" message window which, upon being cancelled, doesn't seem to be causing a problem. Geronimo notified us he had downloaded the AdAware spyware program from PC World and had found 40 items to be deleted on first use.
6. In our political section, Shadow mentioned the talk of making Bill Clinton the head of the UN relief organization following the Tsunami relief problem and the "food for oil" Iraqi deal involving Kofi Annan's son. Geronimo opined that the UN should be removed from the US - PC Wiz seconded the idea enthusiastically. On the issue of Hillary Clinton, Deliberator thought her candidacy was not viable; PC Wiz considering her the front running "super-star" (name recognition - Deliberator). Although not enthusiastic, Geronimo said he had voted for Bush; Shadow thought he had no choice with Kerry and Nader. Geronimo felt the comments on Bush being slow or "dumb" were untrue and unfair - it was a rush to judgement. In stating his position, Deliberator said he is a moderate "Rockefeller Republican" - favoring the death penalty while supporting abortion rights. Shadow feels himself a "centrist" which no party presently represents. Which brought up the Norfolk Southern wreck in Graniteville, SC! Shadow had concluded that these type of mainline switches should all be remotely controlled - not manual like the Graniteville one - so the central control display would show alignment and prevent such an accident. It seems that Senator Schumer has stolen the idea from Shadow and made it public. Our Senators have no shame!
7. Bringing our final coffees, Jessica distributed the dessert menus. Deliberator and Geronimo opted out while Shadow and PC Wiz indulged themselves. The pumpkin cheesecake was superb - sampled by Geronimo and Deliberator, both agreed. HVBS Official Scheduler Deliberator proposed Wednesday March 16, 2005 for our second meeting of this year. He also stated that, since he was the scheduled driver, it was positively going to be held at Roudigan's. Members debated the point and ratified the proposition. The meeting was adjourned.

Vetted and approved by Deliberator and Geronimo.

HVBS Official Scribe Laureate PC Wiz