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I currently live in Arlington, Texas (actually, I have lived here for 34 years, longer than I've lived anywhere, including my birthplace and the home of my heart -- the state of Montana), and I am retired from both Federal civil service and American Airlines. I worked for the government for over 30 years and only 8 years for the airlines -- long enough for me to earn flight benefits, though, and a small pension. I attended the University of Texas at Arlington, majoring in Political Science, and I completed my studies there in 1981 (one of UTA’s oldest graduates).
As I grow older (I am now 70), I find that the years fly by too quickly. I am convinced that they don't make years like they used to -- they certainly don't last as long! I have two grown children, a son, Rick, who lives about 15 miles away (close enough to do the chores I can't manage) and a daughter, Kristin, who lived in Texas until three years ago, and then, when she moved to Colorado, she had the nerve to take my only grandchild with her! I miss them a lot, but I do fly to Colorado Springs about six times a year to spend a few days with them. My stint with American Airlines has certainly helped in that regard, as I wouldn't be able to do that if I had to pay full fare.
My husband. a career Air Force man, and I spent three years in France (Fontainebleau) with the NATO contingent at Caserne Lariboisiere. Back we went to the USA in June 1962, only to be sent to Okinawa in early 1964. We were there for four wonderful years (except for the times that he was sent to Vietnam to conduct quality control inspections of equipment he was responsible for), and finally, we returned to the States, only to be told at Travis AFB, California, that he was frozen for reassignment to Vietnam within the year. We decided that wasn’t for us, so he retired and we moved to Texas. A good move, I guess, although I have a love-hate relationship with this state – I love the winters, hate the summers, and the politics drive me crazy. I am a Dallas Cowboys fan, attend many Ranger games, and every now and then, when my grandson is visiting, I permit myself a trip to Six Flags Over Texas. Other pluses are the world-class Kimball Art Museum and the Amon Carter Museum, which is famous for its collections of western paintings by Charles Russell and Frederic Remington.
My interests are varied -- I am a computer junkie, a devotee of counted cross-stitch, and I love to read (mostly novels). I've hosted chats on the Internet for several years – first, as a volunteer at Third Age, where I hosted the News and Politics Round Table, and then as a contractor at PlanetRx (general medical chats, mostly about new medical discoveries or procedures, pharmaceuticals, etc.). I was lured away by MyPrimeTime, where I trained the chat hosts, hosted a couple of chats a week, and edited celebrity transcripts, among other things. It was a great job, but it didn't last -- when the Internet started to collapse, the first thing MyPrimeTime did was to let their contractors go. Ah, well. . .Currently (and I thought I was retired!), I am working as a contractor for American Airlines – investigating discrimination complaints and writing AA’s position statements on the allegations. It’s a good job, I work from home, 20 hours a week, the pay is good, and it’s something I have done before.
Life goes on – it’s been an interesting journey so far!
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