An
eDiary of
Some
Key
Things in
Don's
Life
I regularly updated my eDiary until the creation of FaceBook's
2011
"eHistory" feature, whereupon I stopped… my account then sadly crashed out while I was updating my profile [ :( ] in 2019 & I had to drill some of the "lost years" to get them back!
You might consider visiting my
profile
page that shares a little more info about me vs. this eDiary?
So… my eDiary is organized into decade pages, each being year-by-year with months from Jan to Dec; click on a different section to visit that decade?
Main page |
2010’s |
2000’s |
80's-90's (this page) |
70's |
50's-60's…
for an "historical" view, do start at the very
end
of my eDiary & scroll up to read backwards in time?
Also, view the page full-screen? Have fun, regardless ;)
And Some of Our Good Times in '99…
We had a simply wonderful closure to the year of 1999 (which is also the end of the "2nd Millennium" & the end of the century of the 1900's) with an evening spent with many of our friends at a REALLY GREAT New Year's Eve Party… come on in & see some of the fun!
Our Christmas fun with family was really good, too…
I created “My Wish List” to share some of my thoughts, retained just for fun!
A 2nd link to this list is here…
A great weekend away in the fall was when we went
up to the
UP of Michigan
to see the leaves, hike, bike, etc.
Our best day was at
Mackinac Island,
a short high-powered ferry ride
away from St. Ignace & then a bike
rental to get around the island (no vehicles!) with a delightful visit to the
Butterfly House.
I also went hunting up in the woods in the fall with my now-departed friend,
Gerry, & bagged a small deer that helped my wife make some pretty Yummy Venison Chili!!
Our favorite summer break was a long weekend in the Wisconsin River Valley. We stayed at the Prairie Garden B&B, a wonderfully reconditioned old farmhouse, & spent a day wandering through The House on the Rock, a truly amazing museum filled with literally miles (!) of displays. Another day we hiked in Devil's Lake State Park, just beautiful scenery with an energetic clamber up the bluffs – whew! We also had a day out during the summer with our friends at the Annual Kettle-Moraine Jazz Festival, a 2-day concert with many incredibly good artists. Daryl Stuermer (an ex-Genesis guitarist) was clearly the hit for me, but all the music we heard was really good & worth every penny!
My annual fishing trip in late July with friends to
Holinshead Lake,
Canada was very nice.
John did remember to get gas this year!
The wind on the lake made it difficult to stay in one spot & relax, but the
fishing was as good as ever! Lots to catch, lots to eat! & of course, we had
plenty to drink both in the boat & in the evenings!! Our trips up &
back were visually more amazing than any year before – we saw a moose calf on
the forest road on the way up & a black bear & a lynx on the way home!
I was also elected "Bull of the Woods" (CampFryer's
leader for a year) at the
Black Hawk Park
spring trip – see a link to my
older album
for a couple of snapshots of the trip (near the end of the page).
Back in February'99, we spent a toasty warm week at the Crown Paradise in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico to get away from the FREEZING COLD Wisconsin weather!! PV is a really wonderful vacation resort on the Pacific coast with many, many beautiful places. The hotel is right on the beach, with an amazing view. Our room was way high on the top floor in the corner – you can almost see it on the web site picture of the hotel! The view shown along the hotel to the sea is exactly the same as the one we had…we awoke each day to the sound of the sea & watched big sea-birds float past our window. We spent a good deal of time during the day lounging around the delightful pool with endless cold drinks & all the snacks we wanted! The social director organized great games like Tequila Volleyball in the pool & exercise sessions (which we declined!!) We went out horseback riding one day in the mountains nearby with a group, & spent another exploring the town. My wife shopped for & found a gorgeous sundress. We enjoyed Huevos Rancheros for breakfast pretty much every morning with excellent coffee/juice/etc, and a great variety of excellent foods at lunch & dinner. "Montezuma's Revenge" took a bite out of me on the 2nd or 3rd day but the wonder-drug Imodium helped limit this to just one day… whew!
We said goodbye to my aging kittycat, PaintPot, in June of '99.
Some pictures & memories of him & of another
friend from the past, Betsy the pooch.
Return to the top or to my Home Page
Our '98 Complexities
In early April I wasn’t feeling that good (my ears and balance were feeling wonky) but I took my wife & son on a 10-day Spring break vacation trip to the Rocky Mountains, the Grand Canyon, etc.
There are a couple of snaps of
family
(me, my wife, Alex & his friend) and of
Ship Rock
(Alex is the tiny person, lower center), a place that would become significant in as-yet-unknown ways at that time…
Early May brought the disastrous discovery of a fatal brain tumor into my life; a view of the scary event is
here…
We had a simply wonderful trip to England in July;
my journal of the trip is
here…
Return to the top or to my Home Page
Our '97 Year
Aside from a number of unmentioned (& unmentionable) events for the year, we were very happily
married in San Diego…
Return to the top or to my Home Page
The 80's & Early 90's…
As a very, very large number of events occurred for me during the 15+ years after the
70's,
am sharing just a selected few from the dozens that I have… more may arrive!
You could also go to my
Bio
summary page, the
profile
page that I created a few years ago, my family tree
profile
or visit me on
FaceBook
where you can scroll down to view my events year-by-year…
Enjoy as you choose!
| Month | Events for Each Month by Year (in the table) |
|---|---|
| January |
In 1980 I advised my Burroughs bosses (Eric Burnett & Dennis McDivett) that I needed to be transferred within Burroughs to the United States without sharing
the real reason (the pending birth of my son); I also shared that if they can't do that, "I'll quit & find my own way" In 1987 I am hired full-time at GE Medical in Waukesha, WI on the 8th, after some considerable negotiations following the tax law changes; also brought my family to WI in shortly after this In 1996 my RamCharger truck gets totaled by a drunk guy who crossed the center line… my then ex-wife-to-be gleefully withheld the insurance payment; I replaced the wreck with a '91 GMC Jimmy (full-size) |
| February | In 1994 we had a family cruise to the Bahamas & I also went skiing for the first time with Byron Dill… |
| March |
In 1982, my 2nd son Alex was born; he sadly passed away at age 19 in
2002…
In 1985, I leave Fairchild Industries for a short stint at Case Rixon, after which I went on to form to my business, Creative Logic Software; I purchased an IBM Desktop PC as part of my business operations, which I closed in 2016 with my retirement In 1994 we were out on Coronada Island in San Diego, and I was snapped (with hair!!) 
|
| April | In 1996 (a year before my marriage) some good luck allowed me to finalize the divorce from my now ex-wife |
| May |
Have grouped some of my **many** houses here -- not all were in May!
For more information on these, see some of my
history
and
my Bio?
Starting with my US arrival in July of 1980, we moved into my 1st US apartment, which was on the 4th floor ( front view, rear ) at Castle Boulevard in Silver Spring, Maryland We moved from there in Nov'81 to this rental house .jpg "Sterling Park house")
in Sterling Park, Virginia
.jpg "Germantown house")
in Germantown, Maryland, quite close to my work at
Fairchild Industries
in early 1987 I moved my family from Maryland to our rented 1/2 duplex on Jill Court in Waukesha We then found & brought an older .jpg "Oconomowoc house")
house
in Oconomowoc, WI & moved in May, 1988
on Keesus Lake in '96 with my then-soon-to-be wife & a few months later we found a big house near Sussex, WI & moved in… After several years there, we built our "Palace in Nirvana" house 
& happily arrived there in Nov,
2004!
|
| June |
I learned around this time in 1980 that the Burroughs transfer had been approved so I started planning for the move
I sold my 1st car (the Husky) and purchased a Moped; worked fine to-and-from work, but it took me 5+ hours to get to my Mum & Dad's in Bournemouth at 25+ mph! |
| July |
Many, many birthdays here with dozens of gifts… just a couple to share:
My 25th birthday gift in 1980 was my arrival in the US with my 1-year residence visa and 2 suitcases "with my whole life"; we then find an apartment in Silver Spring, MD (described above) In 1986 my birthday gift was to start a 3-month contract with at GE Med on the 4th (5th actually!!) which changed my life In 1991 I was snappped "sleeping" at a party at a friend's house In 1993 my birthday gifts were a trip to PA, a cabin weekend, starting the Tilt-C program as a stretch assignment and I saw my future wife-to-be for the first time bouncing around Marketing! |
| August | In 1980 my 1st son is born |
| September | At the 1981 Job fair, I meet Ted Stathis who allowed me a couple months later to join Fairchild…
In 1985, I took my family to Europe for our 1st fabulous UK family & friends visit!! My genealogy research began in 1988; view my development page? |
| October | In 1993, I started a business rental of an apartment in Denver for my TC team |
| November |
In 1981 I move on from Burroughs and go to work at Fairchild; moved to a rented
house
in Sterling Park, VA (a 35+ mile commute!)
In 1988, I was diagnosed with type-2 Diabetes |
| December | Far too many Christmas's to report, other than some awesome gifts like these, captured in '99! |
Return to the top or to my Home Page
The End of the 80's/90's…
Well, that's about it for the 80’s-90’s section of my eDiary; see the different decades here?
You could also go to my
Bio summary page,
my family tree
profile,
or my
FaceBook
where you can scroll down to view events year-by-year.
I do expect certain parts of this website to improve and/or change as I tag more year-by-year info or clarify some of the threads… watch this space!
Please also visit my
privacy page
to be aware of some legal stuff?
As a final thought, view some snaps of me & my family in my
older album? Enjoy!! ;)