1. On a fine Summer morning Deliberator transported the Northern Group in sublime elegance to the Hoffman House, arriving at precisely 11:19 AM. Our Southern Anchor, Geronimo, made the scene on his truly uncanny traditional 11:27 AM arrival time. In the parking lot Geronimo gave an envelope with the obituary of a very dear friend and long-time acquaintance of Deliberator's to him. Entering the premises we were warmly greeted by the staff and HVBS Official Waitress Erin. Seated at our usual corner table the jesting began over the wobbly chairs. Erin commented that it was really the floor and was part of the "charm" of the place. Our meeting having been delayed, PC Wiz sent Hostess Ginny an e-mail that Erin had no knowledge of. Ginny popped her head in at the door and said she would look it up but we heard no more of the e-mail. Members will find an explanation of the problem in the attachment to these minutes.
2. Erin then took our beverage orders: all members opted for beer on this warm day. Geronimo mentioned coming up on the Thruway and everyone passing him although he was going at the speed limit of 65 MPH. There seems to be no regard concerning the use of oil, since higher speeds use more gasoline. This prompted Shadow to relate how, traveling at 70 MPH on the Northway near Plattsburgh, a tractor-trailer actually caught up and passed him. Geronimo reported that his car averaged 32 MPG on their trip to visit Dan, Chaco and Max Keita - excellent economy. Chaco's mother and father were also visiting from Japan and Geronimo related he and Dan's father-in-law enjoyed drinking some of the Greek brandy Metaxa, the first alcoholic drink consumed in space. The Yankee spirit being quite contagious, he requested a Yankee jersey - unfortunately not available locally. Geronimo purchased it on the Internet and shipped it to Japan, receiving a thank-you e-mail (translated by Chaco) from Japan!
3. Geronimo reported the local price of gas as $4.149 a gallon while Hess in Schenectady is presently $3.999 ( and that useless 0.009c on the prices). Referring to railroads and other major industries, Shadow said they purchase fuel as much as a year ahead to try to control costs. Deliberator noted that his granddaughter's wedding, celebrated at Longfellow's Restaurant in Saratoga Springs, was good and that the newlyweds are presently looking for a house. Grandson Ryan is signed up at Schenectady Community College, with the first semester fully paid. Deliberator reports that some of his credits from Mohawk Valley are transferred and that he has signed up for four courses, pursuing a degree in hotel management. He is continuing to work part-time at Dunkin' Donuts. Update on Mark is that he is living with a friend and doing well at work.
4. Shadow was asked about the results of Fritzi the Schnauzer's eye examination, which took place the day after our last HVBS meeting. Shadow related that he was very impressed by the lady ophthalmologist who gave Fritzi a very thorough examination. Her conclusion was that his blindness was very common in the breed, being caused by a light-receptive layer in the eye itself. Therefore she saw no reason to perform the cataract operation - it would not materially improve his sight. He has eye drops and another exam has been scheduled. PC Wiz then illustrated his "show and tell" demonstration. It had caught his attention that the value of silver had been rising (along with gold and other commodities). He showed HVBS members two 50 cent pieces - a Kennedy 1967 and a Kennedy 1976. The 1967 is 40% silver, while the 1976 is copper-nickel. Quoting "Coinflation.com", PC Wiz noted that the silver ($17.40/ounce) in the coin made it worth $2.57! If it had been a 1964 Kennedy, 90% silver, it would be worth $6.39! Shades of inflation - these coins were in circulation until the value of the silver was more than the face value of the coin. Shadow commented that it was still just 50¢ to him! Geronimo asked if it was legal to melt the coins and PC Wiz assured him it was (the treasury melted their own holdings years ago).
5. In sports Shadow brought up the Goodyear tire failure problem at the NASCAR Indianapolis 400. They had to bring the cars in every 10 laps to inspect the tires - that's every 25 miles. PC Wiz wondered what the problem could be since Goodyear has vast experience with racing tires. Shadow said the powerful cars are heavy and the race surface particularly abrasive. Geronimo thought NASCAR should apologize since it is their responsibility. Concerning Yankee baseball, Geronimo opined that pitcher Darrell Rasner, brought up from Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, "is not going to make it" and that his opinion is that the 1996 Yanks were the best. He also stated that his best sports moment was the Giant defeat of the New England Patriots - members agreed, the victory was spectacular! Deliberator commented on the good crowds at the Giant training camp - amazing how a winner attracts a crowd. Geronimo said that David Tyree (who made the catch on the final drive of Super Bowl XLII in the 17-14 Giant win over the Patriots) is "not fit to play".
6. In our tech section Deliberator mentioned that Ryan's effort to connect his laptop wirelessly has resulted in having two modems - one wired and one the wireless. PC Wiz, having no experience with this configuration, could not give a definite opinion on Deliberator's trying to run both at the same time, although thinking that the setup should work. Geronimo informed us that son Dan has three monitors attached to his home computer. HVBS members could not understand the need for that many screens but are sure Dan finds it useful. Geronimo also commented that the most abused law is the use of cell phones in cars. We all see drivers using the phones every day; PC Wiz's view is that this is just another law that is not enforced. The latest on Shadow's Logitech keyboard problem (wearing off of key letters and no response from certain keys) has been solved, for now. Associate Member Shirley returned the errant devices and exchanged them for a new keyboard and mouse. All letter keys are now again available for Shadow's perusal.
7. Discussing Governor Paterson's budget problems brought members thoughts to the State infrastructure situation. Shadow reminisced how he had first met Geronimo, whose title at the time was "Bridge Engineer", on a bridge project in Dutchess County. Eventually their relationship deepened to the point where Geronimo would consult Shadow on proper repair procedures for repairing his projects. Shadow stated that, at that time, structures were inspected once a year while now it is less often and repairs are neglected - resulting in disasters like the August 1, 2007 Minnesota bridge collapse. Deliberator and Geronimo reminisced about their school days at RPI learning engineering.
8. With desserts in hand: Bailey's cheesecake for PC Wiz, apple cobbler (with chocolate ice cream) for Deliberator and coffee all around it was time for a proposed date for our next meeting. HVBS Official Scheduler Deliberator proposed Wednesday September 10, 2008. It was debated and accepted. The meeting was adjourned. While host Pat Bradley cleared the table, PC Wiz showed him the Kennedy coins and the present value of the silver in them. He was very interested since they have a quantity of coins saved (no space in the register for 50¢ pieces) from that time. He took down the Internet address for the Coinflation.com site.

Thanks to Shadow (for his clarifying comment), Deliberator and Geronimo for their reviews of the Preliminary Minutes.

HVBS Official Scribe Laureate PC Wiz

August 12, 2008