These 5 charts show how life got pricier, but also cheaper, in 2023

Thanks for sharing and a good sign for the New Year!

12/28/23 11:53 AM

#1782

Jim,

That B-36 missed the telephone pole in our back yard (HaciendaHeights) by about 75 feet. My Dad, the pilot that lived accross the street, and me were running for all we were worth to not get caught if he went down right there. If he had turned to his left and not toward the mountains, he may have made it back to Biggs AFB. Sadly, he turned to wrong way and could not gain enough altitude to clear Mt. Franklin. Talk about being a bit terrified.

01/01/24 12:45 PM

#1783

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2024 TO EVERYONE!!

01/02/24 11:13 AM

#1784

Klaus Hille

Thanks, Jim. Best wishes to you and all our classmates for a healthy and happy 2024.

01/03/24 06:23 AM

#1785

Happy New Year to all. I pray 2024 will be the best year ever for all!

02/12/24 10:00 PM

#1786

The next time they hold a "Super Bowl" in Las Vegas, I'm going to leave town for a month!!!

02/13/24 09:25 PM

#1787

Worse than the F1 race? Rent some rooms via AirBnB and you'd be laughing all the way to the bank!!

02/14/24 01:23 PM

#1788

Robert James. (Bob) Waller

The problem with both is the traffic and going to the store. The tourists are lost, in rented cars that they are not use to driving, and they are texting while they drive.

The definition of driving on our "freway system is thus:

It consists of 100,000 perfect stangers doing an unchoreographed high speed ballet; to the sounds of Tina Turner singing "Proud Mary" .add to that, they are all dressed in 4,000 pound tutus and busy texting.

I have driven in New York City, Las Angeles, Houston, and four different countries...the "freeway system" here had to be designed by a committee of five people that spoke three different languages on a conference call after the bar closed.

A few years ago, I was i my old work truck on I-15 going over Lake Mead Blvd. when I hit a "bump" in the lane. I looked back to see a cloud of dust and the cars behind me going every which way. When I got home, Connie told me that there was a news bulletin on TV warning that an 8 foot chunk of the I-15 had fallen on Lake Mead Blvd beneath the overpass! It turns out that I-15 had not had any major maintenance repairs since it was built in 1957!!!

Sometimes you just feel like walking down the road, talking to yourself.

03/03/24 05:46 PM

#1789

Klaus Hille

Happy Saint Patrick's Day wishes to everyone. Does anyone have an amusing story to share about the day when everyone is Irish? I think Henderson is of Scottish origin, but I bet Rick has a story to tell.

03/03/24 10:38 PM

#1790

My oldest son Corey turned 13 (really 52) on February 29th. His younger brother Patrick, was born on St. Patrick's Day in 1980. Back then, we did not know the baby's sex until it was born. On the way to the hospital, we decided it would be Patrick or Patricia......Patrick it was. Patrick has a 10 year old son whose legal name is Luke Sky Waller. That's all I can offer as we move towards St. Patrick's Day. Hope all is well with you. Semper fi

03/04/24 02:09 PM

#1791

In truth, I am just a mutt dog. With names like Henderson, Davis, Cline, Johnson, Lacy and many more, I don't really have a "heritage' other than American, just like most folks. Although my great-grandmother was actually born in the Republic of Texas and my grandmother was really born in the back of a covered wagon close to what is now Marfa, Texas. And Connie's heritage is German and Irish, which has been traced back to the 18th century.

At times, I have been envious of folks than can actually trace their heritage.

03/17/24 09:05 PM

#1792

The next person that tells me how great it is to be retired and live this long is going to get a knuckle sandwich and a busted lip. And are the shingles the most fun I've had in a while!!! If you haven't had the shot...go get one.

But in truth, I feel so blessed. I volunteer at the V.A. hospital here in 'Vegas, and I'm constantly repeating what my grandmother used to say..."But for the grace of God go I" I'm just there every Friday afternoon at the information desk, giving directions to where the clinic is that they need to go to, but there are times I just want to cry when I see what shape some of those men and women are in. And they will stop and tell you what their particular problems are. And how blessed they are for our country. And after a while you realize that all some of them need is a friendly ear to bend. And that is so rewarding. The V.A. needs folks like you and me to help. If all I need to do is to give them someone to just listen to their stories and maybe prevent just one of them from doing the unthinkable, then I will have done something wonderful. And that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

God bless and be safe.

03/18/24 03:59 PM

#1793

So sorry to hear you have the shingles, my daughter had them a few years back and she had a lesion on her cornea and lost some sight not to mention the pain she was in. Prayers for a quick healing and thanks for what you do at the VA hospital for so many. Sometimes just a smiling face makes a difference to someone who is hurting.

03/19/24 12:35 PM

#1794

I cannot imagine having shingles anywhere near my eyes! It must have been excruciating. I know how painful and nagging it was for me. You cannot scratch that area, but I could put a "gentle" pressure on whichever patch was itching or aching. I hope that I (or anyone else) have to through that again. Thanks for your concern.

The V.A. can use all of the volunteers they can get. One of our van drivers brings folks to the hospital from Mesquite, Nv. (85) miles away. He lives in Mesquite and he is a retired U.S. Air Force general! One heck of a nice guy.

Joanne, the lady the I work with, is a widow of a retired Marine. We all feel like we need to give back, even if it's just to listen to these veterans tall tales.

We do get to chuckle every so often at their attire. I don't believe that all of them have mirrors in their home.

God bless, be safe.

03/19/24 05:32 PM

#1795

Shirley Kennedy (Adams)

So sorry you have the shingles, they are no fun. I had them many years ago when I was about 35 (eons ago) and the area still gives me trouble--itches like heck. I don't know if a dermatologist can take care of it or not.

I probably missed it, but how did the reunion go? I know now why I don't make firm commitments. I spent from June until now with the dentist. I fell several years ago and knocked my bottom 4 teeth loose, and kept praying they would reseat themselves. Finally it got so bad, I finally (coward that I am) went to the dentist, he pulled the four plus 4 more--I was in his office for pulling and fillings from June until Jan. I finally got my bridge but having problem with it, he has adjusted several times, but almost wish I had gotten implants. Oh well, that's what I get for waiting so long.

03/20/24 09:46 AM

#1796

Harry Burton Murphy

Richard, I cannot imagine what it must be like to be fully retired. I've always said that I'll think about it when I hit 85. Yep I am still gainfully employed, fulltime. I'm lucky that my agency doesn't have a maximum age and push us "experienced" (read old-timers) out the door. I'll see how I feel and how fit I am at 85, maybe I'll push retirement back to 90. I'm thankful that you volunteer at the VA! You are a much needed and appreciated resourse there! Shirley, modern implants are easy to have installed compared to the technology of just 10 years ago. I have a couple. One implant iwas installed over 60 years ago. My second one was 5 years ago. It was night and day. The first one was a major operation (put to sleep and everything). For the second one, it was sit in the chair, get a couple of injections, and the post screwed in. It took less than having a cleaning or filling a tooth. Plus, once done the implant acts very simmilar to your natural tooth. I'm sold on them.

03/20/24 02:17 PM

#1797

Shirley,

And I thought that once the blisters and other red spots were gone, that the shingles were over. Thanks for the good news! I think that I may have some nerve damage yet. Boy, is this fun!!!

Harry,

Fully retired? I still have a corporation to run. We just shipped a bunch of compressor parts to a mine in Michigan. They have 20 large air compressors that need to be rebuilt. Large? well these are from 100 to 250 Hp. machines. And back in El Paso, the old Border Steel plant has three 800 Hp. units.

The last time I "retired" I threw my cell phone out the window while I was driving on the freeway. I had been on call 24/7 since 1975 and really thought that I was done. The problem is that our children and grandchildren don't want to get their hand dirty. So my old customers won't let me "retire", even though I raised my labor rated to what I think is an unaccepticle amount of money. And they keep calling which really upsets Connie.

By the way, if any of you know of medical folks that are thinking of doing so, the V.A. has been acively looking for employees. In Las Vegas, thay run ads on TV for new employees of all sort. And doing the volunteer work is so easy anv very rewarding.

God bless and be safe.

03/20/24 05:56 PM

#1798

Shirley Kennedy (Adams)

I would have had the implants but insurance would not pay for them. Maybe in a couple of years, they will allow. For now, I will try to get use to the bridge or partial dentures..

Oh how awful to have shingles around the eyes, but luckier not to have in the eyes.

03/20/24 11:13 PM

#1799

No shingles shots for us. My outbreak was mild with some lesions on one side of my upper chest. No pain. My wife's was on one side of her face, one lesion left a small scar in one spot, but did not touch her eyes. Again no pain. In both cases the outbreaks coincided with stressful family situations - the mind-bending kinds of situations that keep you up at night and accordingly compromise one's immune system. Still not planning to get the shots. Lesson learned to avoid shingles? Avoid high stress work, family or other situations!!

03/21/24 09:28 PM

#1800

I Believe an apology/explanation is in order from me. My remark about some of the veterans not having a mirror in their home was at first glance, out of order. We can usually tell which of the folks that pass through have a home and which do not. And sadly some of them don't even have a home to hang a mirror on the wall. We had one a couple of weeks ago that needed a ride back to the Salvation Army facility because he had to fast to gve blood that morning and he had not eaten any breakfast. We are not allowed to give them any money, but I can treat them to sharing lunch with me in the cafeteria and use my credit/ATM card to pay for both meals (And a few extra pieces of fruit for the road). THAT breaks your heart.

Anyway if anyone was offended by my remarks, I apologize.

God bless and be safe.

03/22/24 09:44 AM

#1801

From what I understand you cannot get the shingles if you never had the chickenpox. I may be wrong but that is what I was told. My daughter got the shots as soon as she could as she was in so much pain and had lost some of her vision. She never misses work but she was out for 10 days. I guess some people have lighter cases than others but you can get them over and over again according to the Opthamogist that treated her eye condtion.

03/22/24 10:39 PM

#1802

I think most of our generation had chicken pox. In fact, I seem to recall parents would take their kids to chicken pox homes for the kids to catch it, such as to get it over with. That was then; now is now.

03/30/24 02:12 PM

#1803

May all of us have a very happy Easter. I am going to be able to hold our # 10 great-grandbaby!!! She will be six months old on the 13th. I was not able to hold her until now because I had the shingles. So yes, tomorrow will truly be a great day for me.

Something else that I have been thinking about. I have always heard the Sharon Tate was in our class at Irvin, but I cannot remeber her. Any help?

God bless and be safe.

03/31/24 06:23 AM

#1804