Happy landing, Lee. Hope your campout has favorable weather. Anybody coming back to the valley anytime soon? t was great to see you again, Homer. Maybe I can return the trip next year, or whenever I get that far south.

I will be in Oshkosh, Wisconsin for a few days at the big airshow. I'll be flying the LongEZ there and camping out in a tent, so I am hoping for some good weather, or at least not too much rain ;-). Hmmm, the problem that gives me the error: java.net.UnknownHostException: ftp.k0lee.com is back again. If it happens to you when you're trying to publish, just exit blogger completely, come back in, and try again.

You'll notice that after you 'Publish', you'll either get a message that you were successful or not. If you were not successful, exit blogger completely, come back in (your posting will still be there) and then edit and publish it again. It appears that my server is refusing the first ftp session with a given host, but then will allow successive ftp sessions for some period of time after the first one fails. However, blogger won't attempt more ftp sessions after a failure unless you exit and come back in. So this may not be a blogger problem, but something to do with the company hosting k0lee.com which is where the blog gets posted after a 'Publish' command is issued.

Just checking to see if this posts -- in have had trouble the past few days

I'm not sure, either, but oh well...

I'm not sure what's happening with the weblog. I had been checking it, but just tonight got into the composing screen and saw all these postings that failed to get posted to the website during the past week. I'll see if I can figure out what is preventing them from getting published. I find that my first attempt at publishing now fails and then I exit the blog window, get back into it, and try again and it works. After I did that tonight all the postings that had been sitting in the composing window for nearly a week have now been posted.

To answer Ann Marie's earlier comment about my observation that we didn't really discuss alternative spiritual viewpoints in school, I think it's necessary to remember that one of the meanings of the word 'parochial' is: "Narrowly restricted in scope or outlook." So it would have been difficult to have a class on comparitive religions in a Catholic school without implying that our religion was the 'best'. And when we'd address the subjects of Buddism, Hinduism, Islam, etc., there might be a temptation to discuss them in terms that might lead us to believe that Catholicism was superior to them, which isn't really healthy for promoting world peace. Who knows, we might have even referred to those who disagreed with us as 'pagans' or 'infidels'. If we were to think that our religion was the one true religion, we might also feel compelled to go out and attempt to convert the world to our viewpoint or, alternatively, kill them if they could not be converted. Christians already tried that approach several times between the 11th and 13th centuries with the Crusades and it didn't succeed. Perhaps it's natural for Islam to go through the same evolution now that their religion is in its own 13th century.

And now, I too, shall get off my soap box, much to the relief of many, I'm sure.

We had our church bazaar last weekend, and Just Us (Joe & Mary Lynch, and Paul Reinert) played on Saturday night. They were Just Great (ha ha). Many compliments on their song selection, harmonies, and taste in back-up musicians. We played together (Yes,I played with them!) in front of a live crowd for the first time in 25 years, and what a magical night it was. We've never lost a step in all that time. They got to meet my children Emily and Andrew, who thought they were just great. They met my New York friends and everyone hit it off. If we have a bazaar again next year, I'm sure that they'll be asked back.

Had couple of beers with my old buddy, Homer last night. It was great to see him after 15 years... He hasn't changed. We sat in my mom and dad's living room and talked with them for about a half of an hour before heading to Boylan's. It certainly isn't the Swoyersville that we grew up in anymore. The place was wall-to-wall people. I remember the days when you could walk in any bar and find more than enough room to move around. Getting back to Homer, it sounds like he's done pretty well for himself. I'm happy for him. It's nice to know that I have a place to stay if I'm ever in Tampa. You never know...

Lee, I disagree with your thought on not discussing other spiritual viewpoints in high school. I always felt stagnated in high school by the lack of understanding of other religions. I also felt repressed by the Catholic Church and thier traditional beliefs for years. Deep down inside of me, I felt there had to be something more to God than going through the motions of sitting, standing, kneeling and the repetitiveness of the Mass. I felt there had to be more to worshipping God. I was also always very interested in the Bible...and until the charismatic movement began in the Catholic Church, the Bible was never really encouraged to be studied and learned. I longed to follow a religon that studied and applied the teachings of the Bible. I would have loved to be able to study other religious beliefs in high school.

Over the past 20+ years I have done my share of studying different religions and their beliefs. There is one fundamental concept I have found through all religons...they are just that. Religious doctrine which is developed by man who is "supposedly" inspired of God. One person who feels that they have had a "divine word" from God can influence millions of people. Ghandi was one. Buddha, Hitler and Jim Jones others. Hitler did not believe in God, but he did believe and use Kabbala which is a form of Jewish mysticism.

Actually the world today has turned into a loveless and hostile one. From the music to TV to films to the human race having become a "throw away" society. When it's broke...don't fix it...throw it away and get a new one.

What a sad world we have become. But there is hope. Through prayer, trust, and faith in God we can change the way the world has gone.

God is faithful. He does not punish, but He does judge. The extremenist viewpoints will be judged. In the end they will die out, come back and die out again. Those viewpoints don't carry the same balanced consistency of the Word of God. From my own personal expereice nothing is better than the Word of God.

I'm coming off my soapbox now...

Nice touch, Lee...

I like the new changes Lee, great job.

I thought it was time to change the layout of the blog. I get tired of a format after a while and I'm sure you do too. And that last one was doing some funny things to the screen width so I thought I'd try this one instead. Hope you like it.

For the past year or so, I've been listening to audible books from Audible.com. They're sort of like books on tape, except more convenient because a whole book can be downloaded into an mp3 player and so there are no tapes or CDs to manage. I get two per month as part of a subscription and then download them into my portable mp3 player and I'm able to listen to them while commuting to work or doing chores like cutting the grass. It makes otherwise mindless activities much more enjoyable. I am listening to one now by Bernard Lewis entitled 'The Crisis of Islam' in a effort to better understand why 'they' hate us so much. As you may have noticed, we didn't talk too much about other spiritual viewpoints in high school, I assume because the less said about conflicting viewpoints, the better. Perhaps it's just as well. A lot of trouble in this world seems to spring from one group of people who feel the need to correct the thinking of another group .

In one of those rare coincidences I found that extremist Islamic views got their start right here in Greeley, CO by Sayyid Qutb. He studied here at the local Teacher's College in 1949 and was repulsed by the moral decay he witnessed (he was seeing things like what we saw on the TV sitcom 'Happy Days', but more wholesome). I shudder to think what he would have thought of our generation, or of today's generation. Qutb went on to write books which are considered largely responsible for the extremist viewpoints of those who followed them, inlcuding Osama Bin Laden's Al-Qaeda .

Here's a picture of Terri kissing the Blarney stone. I did it too, but the gift of eloquence still eludes me. I don't talk too good yet. I'm waiting for the effects of kissing the stone to kick in. They say it takes 12 hours, but I'm not so sure. My dad kissed it in 1974 and I immediately noticed the improvement in his gift of gab.

This is a picture of my mom's house in Tubrid, Ireland. She was born there as was her father, and his father. It's been in the family for 160 years. Next to the house, there is a really cool castle which is at least 1000 years old. I was impressed with this castle when I visited there in 1967, and I find that it still had the same effect on me even at my mature age of 43. It's just so unusual to grow up in a place where there's a castle so close to your house that you can throw a rock and hit it. We climbed up into the castle and took lots of pictures, all the while thinking to ourselves, "If only these walls could talk. " My cousins don't seem to realize how unique this castle is to have in your 'backyard'.

Here's a picture of the Kennedy estate from across the valley, looking much like it did 100 years ago, I'm sure.

I'm not sure what they've done with the Blogger software, but I'm finding it necessary to exit the site, login again, and republish to get the postings to 'take'. I noticed that the past few blog entries required this in order to show up in the blog. I'm sure those of you who post can see the difference in the composing screen, but evidently they have introduced a bug. It's no big deal since the postings are not getting lost, but if you find that your postings are not showing up after you've hit 'publish', you can log in again, edit the posting and re-publish and it usually works the next time.

Hey Frank! (Fritz), Welcome to the blog! It's good to have you on board. What a cute child! I guess the "good looks" gene has spread from generation to generation in our class. I hope this means that we'll be hearing more from you in the future. Good to have you with us!

Hello Everyone,

Sorry I haven't contributed lately, but like many, been really busy. Congrats to Fritz, the baby does look a lot like Fritz, wouldn't everyone agree. To keep up with the good news of alumni, has anyone checked out the BOR Website lately, it's been somewhat redone and when you go to the site, you will see a recent picture of 2003 Graduates w/parents who graduated from BOR, there you will see some of our Class Alumni, isn't that scary, the picture is not all the best, but nonetheless, let's keep with the good news for a while. Who knows' maybe our computer genius Lee could maybe copy the pic and post it on our Weblog somehow or some way. Hope you had lots of fun in Ireland Lee and Terri, a question remains, did you bring us back any four leaf clovers???? Just to let everyone know, it's hot, hazy and humid here in Wyoming Valley and the Bazaars are in full swing, I could hear the Polka music in the background!!!

Here is the winning entry from Joe Ziller. In order to post a picture, you have to have it (or put it) on a web site and then add it with the instructions which I've posted here. Fritz sent me an email recently to update me on his whereabouts (Seattle, WA) and included a picture of his son, Aidan Patrick Araya. Frank is working in the ER as a physician's assistant.

If anyone wants to include a picture in the weblog, just email it to me and I'll size it and put it on the website and let you know its location and you can then put it in your posting. If the picture is already on a website and has a URL, you can do it without any help from me by following the instructions which are posted here.

For his prize, I'll treat Joe to a wee dram of his favorite single malt Scotch at the next opportunity .

Lee...I guess you got me to post. I thought someone would guess the mystery parent by now. Unless I'm wrong, you gave a great hint when you changed the headliners. I figured the parent to be male based on probability given our ages although that doesn't rule anyone out (male or female). Your new clue about the camera confirmed who I thought was the new proud parent. I attempted to post a new picture so all could see the resemblance but either I'm doing something wrong or Blogger has changed the way pictures are added. I'll send you the picture so you can post if you wish.

The baby in the picture belongs to a male member of our class who was unable to attend the reunion but if he had, he'd have won the award for the longest distance traveled. I bought a motorcycle from him in 1977. He was frequently seen with a camera hanging from his neck and lived just a 'stone's throw' from where Terri grew up. Now that should certainly be enough clues to identify the proud father.

Whoa! New changes in here! It's been awhile for me! Gee even Lee and Terri got back from Ireland. it's been that long!
Well from the sounds of it everyone is doing well. The pics are wonderful. Whoever's baby it is...beautiful!
Things are going very well for me. I have surgery scheduled for the 29th of July so please keep me in your prayers for a successful surgery. Nothing major, just the 'ole gall bladder being taken out.
Life is great. God is even better.

Did this person attend the reunion? Is it male or female? (the classmate, that is...)

Jay writes: "Would that be the reunion award-winning Jeannine Carey?". No, this is an even newer baby, born after the reunion. The little lad's name is Aidan. How's that for a coincidence, Jay?

Would that be the reunion award-winning Jeannine Carey?

The photo you see below is the 8 month old son of one of our fellow Bishop O'Reilly Class of 1977 graduates. Can anyone guess who his parent is?

Earlier, Jay had asked, "Hey Lee, are the keyboards in the UK backwards like the driving lanes?". No, the UK keyboard is not significantly different than the ones we use in the U.S. but there are a few extra keys and some of the frequently used keys like 'Enter' and the 'Left Shift' are a different size than we have on U.S. keyboards. The left shift key is significantly smaller than ours and so each time I tried to capitalize a letter on the right side of the keyboard, I'd hit the '\' key instead. It was really annoying. They also hide keys you need to use frequently like the '@' symbol. I didn't find driving on the wrong side of the road nearly as challenging as I found the keyboard. I've inlcuded an image of the keyboard below so you can see what I'm referring to.

We are back from Scotland and Ireland and had a great time there. I didn't get a chance to meet up with Rob since our schedule was very compressed, although it appears we were in Killarney and Dublin the same time that Rob and Laura were there. The picture above is from the northern most point of Ireland at a place called Malin Head. I've got about 300 digital pictures to sort through and will post more as I get time. We stayed in Glasgow, Aviemore, and Edinburgh in Scotland and then took a ferry over to Northern Ireland where we visited Bangor, Belfast, Londonderry and a host of other smaller towns. Then we went down into the Republic of Ireland where we stayed in Galway, Killarney, and finally Dublin. After the tour was over, Terri and I rented a car and drove down to Killkenny and visited with my relatives for a few days. The weather was exceptional with just a little rain and lots of sunshine with spectacular scenery. Terri's mom became ill about half way through the trip and was having trouble breathing. She spent a few nights in the hospital in Omagh recovering from fluid on her lungs. She met up with us again in Dublin and was feeling better and she returned to the U.S. with Terri's aunt and uncle who were also on the tour. She's back in the hospital in PA now undergoing some tests. As most of you know, she had undergone chemo and radiation for cancer over the past 6 months and was okay when we left, but began feeling ill after we'd been touring. We're hoping for the best and that they can figure out the source of her respiratory problems.

We just got back to Colorado last night after traveling for nearly 24 hours, making 4 connections en route and now we need a vacation to recover from the vacation .

Hello all - just checking in -- The Dougherty's (like the Devlin's) were in Ireland last week (but did not hook up with eachother) -- I will echo Lee's comments - scenery and weather were spectacular - and we had a grand time. We actually went for a friend's surprise 50th b day party -- it lasted for 3 days (the party)! Laura and I had a great time (kids stayed back in Pittsburgh with family)

Upon my return to the office - found out I am going on another adventure -- leave 11 July and return 19 July with stops in Malaysia and Hong Kong!

Jay -- let me know how to purchase the tunes

Hey Lee, are the keyboards in the UK backwards like the driving lanes?

Well, I thought I'd blog during my lunch break here at work. We Zone Analysts are a busy bunch. Just wanted to let everyone know that some of my inner circle here in New York and myself just went to press with our Second collection of religious music. It will be out on CD sometime during July. We will be selling them for $5 a piece. It's pretty good stuff, if I do say so myself. Some folks out there have already heard a sampling (Joe Lynch, Paul Reinert), so they can tell you what they think. It's great for church folks looking for new material, or for just kicking back and mellowing out "wit de Lawd!" Sorry I haven't written in a while. Lee, I hope you and Terry had a great time! Bye for now!