My Interesting Friends

It's a good thing I find my friends so fascinating, and I do. Today, I sent an article to an old friend who replied and said he was reading my blog, that he had been doing his own decluttering. I met Ken back in the late 1970s at an aviation trade show, and we've stayed in touch ever since. It doesn't seem that long, actually, but his son who was a baby is now all grown up with a Naval career. Yikes.

I asked him to send me some interesting photos to post, and he complied. Interesting friends have interesting photos. For the past few years, Ken has been building a retirement home in Fiji. In addition to being a helicopter pilot (and Viet Nam veteran), he is also a recreational diver, and when I was writing for the dive magazine, Ken was my go-to guy for the many diving questions I had.

Self portrait while speeding along the coastline of Kadavu, 4th largest island in Fiji. Nice warm flat seas and a beautiful day to go 30nm to the airfield to drop off my 88 yr old mom, who was done spending 3.5 weeks in Fiji with no TV, radio, Internet, shopping, etc., at our house. We played dominoes, walked the beach, ate, drank, shared stories, etc. She told me this is her last visit, She’s said that after the previous 5 visits, too, but this time I am sure she means it and I’m OK with that.



SEP 2009. At dinner outdoors at a farm on the island of Hvar, Croatia, while on a 5 week motorcycle trip. We’ve done two of those Balkans tours and look to ship the bike next JUL/AUG to Rotterdam to tour the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Portugal, Spain and ? for at least 6 weeks before shipping it home or storing with a friend outside Paris until the next year.




My latest project: a very early 1964 – almost 1963 MGB with only 103,000 miles. It was parked and covered for 11 years and it started right up with fresh gas, oil and a jump start. I am now driving it with new chrome wire wheels, proper black wall tires, new English leather - black with red piping. I completely overhauled and rebuilt the brakes, suspension, fuel system, etc and it’s pretty reliable. I’m into it (more properly, it is into me) for a little over $9k counting the price of the car. It’s now worth about $12k and after paint for another $5k, should be worth close to $22k. I got it to play with and fix up to sell, but now….. not so sure.




Yours truly in a 1958 Hiller UH-12E, , on a farm in N Cal before going out for a recon of the almond orchards. I was preparing to be called out to fly at night on Frost Patrol to stir the air in attempts to prevent frost from damaging the almond blossoms. Damn! What fun to fly that old manual throttle - piston engine noise maker! Unfortunately, a part time pilot totaled this ship while I was in Fiji in May. He was drying cherries, the same job I had been working on two days before going off to paradise. Now Joel (the owner & VHPA buddy) has to buy a replacement and will likely get an old Bell 206 which will be better in many ways, but not nearly as nostalgic or as cheap to operate for things like frost patrol and drying the rain off of cherries.