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WAKE UP, DAMN IT !!!!!!!

Saigon Kids of the world, found and unfound, wake up… It is now 22 days into 2009 and there is damn little blogging going on. And I am guilty as well. Not really, I’ve been blogging on other websites that I recently was introduced to, those that cater to English speaking folks in north Germany.

I hope (almost) everyone was pleased with the inauguration. I was except for the poet and the preachers, but I suppose everyone has to have their say…hummm…wonder why I wasn’t invited. It looked like everyone was having a good time and I love the thought that all races, creeds and colors were represented and seemed to have gotten along well. That, I think, bodes well for the future. I viewed the swearing in part on CNN whilst sitting in an American-owned watering hole in Hamburg, eating Tex-Mex and hamburgers and sipping good Czech beer. If I had been in the DC area I WOULD NOT have gone…I hate crowds, with one exception which is the “Motorrad-Gottesdienst” or the blessing of the motorcycles, also known as MOGO. The 2008 MOGO drew 38,000 motorcyles (with riders of course) and takes place in front of the Michael Church in Hamburg (I unfortunately missed it last year as I was in Frankfurt). Following the blessing, the police close down the north lane of the A-7 autobahn from Hamburg to a small town 36 KMs to the north where there is a party in the wee hours of the night. The crowds along the road and on the bridges are great, waving and honking horns. But I digress.

I have pretty much given up on trying to find the SKs that remain unfound. Too many strike outs and I’m tired of spending money on sites that don’t really help unless you buy the “platium” package only to be told that no information is available on that person. However, I do think that as more folks discover Bob’s and Roy’s sites, we will find more and more people through old contacts.

I hope someone is planning on maintaining a good day log on the SK meet in Saigon along with tons of photographs. I’m sure I wouldn’t recognize half of the people that I knew. When I looked at the photos on Roy’s site of one of the earlier reunions, I was amazed that Barbara Bush (our BB, not W’s) hadn’t changed one bit….I would have recognized her anywhere. I doubt anyone could say that of me…I think I’ve gotten a lot more handsome (blush), but not everyone might agree. Oh well.

Christmas and New Years were good for the Yeagers and I hope everyone else enjoyed their holidays and family get togethers. I think the biggest joy of the season is the little ones…and their eyes around the Christmas tree (says a grandpa in waiting).

OK I’ve ranted and now it’s someone else’s turn. Thanks to Mimi for her contribution…

Guys and gals, write…let’s swap lies, gossip or whatever. Bob puts in a lot of time on this site and we need to say thanks by participating. I know he will appreciate it.

Kisses to the ladies and cheers to the guys – Ken

3 comments to WAKE UP, DAMN IT !!!!!!!

  • Burt Parker

    Hi Ken,

    Well, I’ve studied your pics of motocycles then and now, with your mug in there. I wouldn’t have recognized you.

    Anyway, I guess I missed out along the line somewhere as to why you are in Germany? What gives?

    Man, that’s a lot of motorcycles! Must have been huge fun. Reminds me of the 100th anniversary celebration of Oldsmobile in Lansing MI when I, in my 1969 442 4-on-the-floor convertible joined a caravan of hundreds of Oldsmobiles around the beltway of Lansing. Thousands of people on the bridges, in lawn chairs along the highway, lots of honking and waving and such.

    Hey, don’t give up on finding SKs. Just take a more long term, less expensive, approach.

    Regards,

    Burt

  • Ken

    Burt, I met my wife while stationed at the American Consulate in Hamburg back in the mid 70’s and after we got married and she started accommpanying me on my various overseas assignments, she always said she wanted to return home when we retire where her parents living. Well, my last assignment was Frankfurt but unfortunately, Gisela’s mother passed away in 2002. Still, the retirement wish was still there and when we pulled the pin in 2004, we settled here in Grosshansdorf which is pretty close to where she grew up. We are about 26 KM from central Hamburg but only a few KMs from the city limits and we are on the subway system so getting into town is a breeze, although it does take 45 minutes (train from Ahrensburg is faster, 25 minutes).
    As for the bike, check out
    http://www.bikerornot.com/user/53902. I abstained from motorcycles after selling the one I had while in Niger and the wife said, no more. But after returning to Germany in 2000, I was bitten by the motorcycle bug and oddly enough, the wife said OK. Bought a Suzuki 1400cc in 2002 and sold it in 2005 for the current bike, a 1600cc Kawasaki Nomad. A great ride. I was a member of riding group for a while but dropped out after a minor disagreement. Sometimes I like to ride alone but riding with others is really more fun as long as you all think alike on most things. I take the bike to Frankfurt when I go back there to work during the summer (just for 3 months) and do some nice rides along the Mosel and Rhein rivers. Scads of fun.

    Take care – Ken

  • Burt Parker

    Wow! You’ve been thru some rides…

    I rode a Honda 750-4 for 3-4 years, commuting from Great Falls VA to Rockville MD, rain or shine. Only time I didn’t ride it was if there was a 50% chance or more of snow. Still, I rode it home in the snow twice, on the shoulder of the road at about 2 mph with both feet ‘skiing’ on the ground, while all the cars were slip sliding this way and that. My normally 20 minute ride home took me 3 hours that day. Not fun riding in snow. In the warm seasons I wore an aluminized rip-stop jump suit over my three piece suit. (I got a lot of ‘space man’ comments) Cold seasons it was a day-glow orange snowmobile suit with fleese lined gloves. Wellington boots were standard summer or winter. In all that time I only dumped twice. First was coming off Interstate at Rockville as I’d done a thousand times before at 40 mph. In the middle of the exit curve, saw the entire roadway was covered in antifreeze from an early accident. Bike slid out from under me and I was fending it off as we slid along aways. The rip-stop jump suit saved my skin, and my three piece suit. Second time was coming out of the parking lot at work in Rockville. Had rained that day, but I waited for it to stop before heading home. Pavement was dry by then but there were little rivulets in the parking lot, which had frozen by the time I left. Hit one of them and wrassled the bike back to steady but found I was headed directly into a parked car. So, I laid it down rather than hit the car. No damage, thanks to roll bars and my snowmobile suit. Well, my first bike was in Saigon, not much of a bike: Itom motorbike, flame red. My last ‘bike’ was a 1968 Glassic Replicar 31 Ford. I’d fold the windshield done, put on my goggles and go. I called it Little Red Riding Hood as it was also flame red, otherwise affectionately known as my four wheel motorcycle…

    Cheers,

    Burt

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