Thank you Dick for the update on Carl’s condition. Like Gary, I also worked for Carl and Shirley. It was the summer of 1965 (between my junior and senior years). It was a good experience for me and it helped me to become more independent and sure of myself and my own abilities. What is probably hard to believe is that even though both Carl and Shirley had been singing and Carl playing the steel guitar long before I worked for them, they did not do either during the period I worked for them. We always seemed to put in such long days in the field and doing morning and evening chores that there was little time for fun.

Anyway, I did finally get the opportunity to see them perform. In the spring of 2006, the Bottineau community held a benefit for my sister-in-law Margaret and my youngest brother Dan at the senior citizens center (Marge later lost her battle with cancer) in Bottineau. Anyway, Carl and Shirley performed as part of the entertainment at the benefit and I got to hear and see them perform for the first time. I really enjoyed hearing them and in fact seeing them for the first time in almost forty years. If Carl and Shirley (or Wayne or Vonda) are on your distribution list, Gary, I wish Carl and Shirley all the best and a speedy recovery for Carl. (As an aside, Shirley was a first cousin to my Dad , so is a second cousin (or something like that) to me.

Also a quick “Amen” to Bill Grimme. I often feel the same way. I used to call myself a computer dinosaur at work towards the end of my career because the new employees coming on board knew far more about computers than I’ll ever know in my lifetime. And when I need help with the tvs, vcrs, cd players, etc, at the house, I either call my son or my oldest grandson to come over and help. Of course they figure out what’s wrong very quickly and fix it. It’s usually something quite simple that I’ve done wrong and then they try to make me understand whatever it was I done wrong and how to avoid doing it again. Just give me something with one or two buttons to click and I’m okay. Beyond that I’m quickly lost. And as to the lady in my GPS — she sounded pretty nice the first time I used my GPS, now I just wish she would shut the &$@@ up.! So, again Bill, Amen!
Keith Pladson (66)

Today I thought of a deal from the mid 50s when Dunseith put in city sewer and folks got rid of the old out houses and the septic tanks in the back yards. I remember Dad and Junior Mellmer worked in our basement to plumb our house and connect to the new city system. I got to put in the oakum, which is like a rope, that goes in the old cast pipe before lead is melted and poured in to seal the joint. I still remember Junior telling me I should be a plumber. I commented that I didn’t know anything about plumbing but he said, “All you need to know to be a plumber is that turds don’t go uphill and payday is Friday,” That was the first time I had heard that saying and I remember thinking that was sure not much to know. That was back in the day when they used torches instead of electric flashers and caution tape to keep people from falling into the open trenches at night. The torches were round black pots with kerosene in them and the workers would light them at dark and put them around the open trench. I still remember going over and looking at the torches that I thought resembled bombs in the cartoons. I’m not sure of the exact year but I think it was the late 50s. I bet some of the folks can remember the year. Thanks Gary!

Dick