Ohio Hospitality

Robert Shepard

Robert Shepard

Website Administrator / Past President - Golden St
Super Site Supporter
A big thank you goes out to Ohio Chapter members Mike Stevens, Jerry Jacobson, Tom Hoczyk, and Ron Devies for the warm hospitality they extended to me this evening. We met for dinner, talked professional cars, careers, our very first cars as teenagers, and solved every challange facing the PCS. Mike picked up the tab for my meal, despite my insistance that I had an expense account to cover it. We all had a great time, and I sure enjoyed being in their company so far from my home in California.

My GPS was not cooperating, so Ron escorted me to the correct freeway on ramp for my ride back to Dublin. I was waiting for the Kojack light to appear on the dash of his vehicle; but no such luck.

Thanks again gentlemen, you are all great hosts.

Robert
 
a very enjoyable evening

Robert,
We enjoyed your stories and your company. Like all good times it had to come to an end too soon. I am glad this evening worked out for us.
I thought my gps was going bonkers. Glad to know others do it too in that area. I stopped for gas and one of the counter people told me they hear about many gps systems that glitch up in that area. Mine had me making a turn on a railroad track. Not at the track but onto it.
Mike
 
I have met Robert 2 times here in the Seattle area and have found him to be delightful company as well. He is definitely someone you want to have as a friend.
 
I was pleased to enjoy an evening of good food, good stories, some old memories that saw the light of day, and in general great company. We may have been few in numbers (Tom, Mike, Ron, Robert and Me) but we were high in spirits (No, not the kind you drink). It seemed like the evening was over too quickly. Thanks all!
 
I had known Mike for quite a few years, and had previously met Rob when he attended a M&M get-together in Piqua with mutual friend Tom Shafer. It was my first time spending time with Jerry and Ron, but the fact that we didn't really know lots about each other was only an opportunity for learning and sharing.

As Mansfield is a town I will have to pass through on the way to PCS Hudson, I took the opportunity to track the time and mileage to get an idea how much time it will take for me to get to Hudson. After dinner, even though I was rather tired and had a long drive ahead of me, I stopped by to see the Mansfield Reformatory, the setting for "Shawshank Redemption". VERY eerie under minimal night lighting! I'm glad that we had this opportunity for east and west to share in unified appreciation and friendship. Tom
 
You must have one of those Christopher Columbus GPS units.. It takes you around the world, and gets you lost... :4_11_9: On Roberts recommendation, I purchased a Garmin, and it also has glitches. When in Florida last week, I had similar problems with the GPS telling me to make a right turn, a couple of blocks before I needed to make a left turn to get to my destination. If I had more time, I would have made the right turn just to see where it was attempting to take me. The more that I use the GPS, the less that I trust it.. :biker:
 
Paul Steinberg said:
You must have one of those Christopher Columbus GPS units.. It takes you around the world, and gets you lost... :4_11_9: On Roberts recommendation, I purchased a Garmin, and it also has glitches. When in Florida last week, I had similar problems with the GPS telling me to make a right turn, a couple of blocks before I needed to make a left turn to get to my destination. If I had more time, I would have made the right turn just to see where it was attempting to take me. The more that I use the GPS, the less that I trust it.. :biker:
Click to expand...

Mine does that too. It seems the older it gets the more strange things it does sometimes. I also have a Garmin, prolly 4 years old now.
 
I'm a native of Connecticut, and know New England pretty well, but two years ago Marlene and I vacationed on Cape Cod (Massachusetts). The Cape is full of "rotaries", perhaps sometimes called "roundabouts". Without fail, the instructions coming from the Garmin when it approached rotaries were totally off.

On my laptop, I have loaded Microsoft "Streets & Trips". It is available in two versions, one with, and one without, a USB GPS locator. On the downside, the laptop is not as handy as a Garmin. But to me, the upside makes it worth the trouble. If you choose, at home,you can preprogram a specific route between any points. This can be saved as a file, and opened easily when you actually drive. The program opens a full screen map of your route, with the route highlighted in green. As you drive, the route draws a blue line. As long as the blue is over the green, you're on route. If the blue diverts, you're off track.

One several occasions, Streets & Trips has really shown its value. Once, having missed an exit while driving at night in northern Michigan, we ended up in the remote dark boonies. Since Streets & Trips has very detailed maps, it didn't take much to expand the map to show where we were, and relate it to an alternate road that would get us home with minimal time-loss. Another time, road construction on I-94 west of Detroit stopped traffic dead. Streets & Trips allowed me to see surrounding roads very clearly, and to take an upcoming exit and know exactly where an alternate road would lead us.

I'm sure that Grarmins have similar capabilities, but having the map show up on a large laptop screen is far better than the tiny hand-held screen. Tom
 
I was really hoping to attend this dinner with the group, but now is not the time to ask for any time off work. The sunami in Japan has crippled our production to a crawl (some Honda suppliers can't get critical parts from Japan) and maintenance is the only department in the building that is getting 40 hours a week. It would have been nice to see the Ohio gang again and meet you Robert!
 
Reporting In

A great evening and a great dinner. This is what PCS is all about. No matter where you go in this country there is always friends nearby you can meet up with and go to dinner and share good conversation. About two or three weeks ago Robert Leveritt from the Canadian west coast dropped in and did dinner with Sara, Jerry and me and now last night it was Robert. While I have seen Tom at different places over the years I had never gotten the opportunity to talk to him. As with most of our members it is always interesting and always hospitable. It was well worth the two hour drive for the enjoyable evening I had.
 
Robert, I'm glad you had a chance to experience some PCS hospitality while far from home! Meetings like this emphasize what many of us have often said: "it's more about the people than the cars." With that being said, it seems that this summer would be a perfect opportunity to get some more break in miles on that beautiful "new" Criterion by bringing her to Ohio for the meet this summer! I'd bet you wouldn't use much more gas with your free breathing 500 than I will with my stock 500 smog mill travelling the "paltry" 560 miles each way to Hudson :) .
 
had the opertunity to be hosted and to host Robert. you get to meet Roberts wife,Judy do so the two of them are nice peopel to be around. but don't beleve everything he says. I does Snow in calf. next time I go out for some sun and fun I'm bringing my over coat!!!
 
I had the opportunity to experience Ohio hospitality on my trip home from Minnesota after buying my Ambulet. I met up with Jerry, Sarah, and Chase for dinner. It was a great visit.

As for directions, I used Mapquest and printed out directions in the past. One time, I had to find an airport on a mountaintop in rural southern Virginia. The directions got me close but then had me making a left turn where there was no road. There was a driveway to a house, but no road. Nothing. I finally found it, in the middle of the night in the fog in the mountains, and it was more than 30 minutes away from where Mapquest had left me. I bought a TomTom after that. I still print directions as a backup, but the TomTom hasn't failed me yet.
 
Mapquest will bring you to my home, if you have a half track or a tank. It directs you to take an old logging road that is all but impassible to anyone except a kid with a 4 wheel drive. Usually 2 or 3 times a summer, someone will need to be towed out of the mud. At one time, the town was going to develop the road, since it cuts across a large area of town, but common sense prevailed, and they abandoned the idea, since they couldn't afford the cost of a new 5 mile long road building project. Four wheelers love the challenge. A few years ago, one fellow with a army jeep got stuck, and his friends pulled him out, but it was so buried in the mud and water, he didn't dare start it until he had all the fluids changed out. Coming to my home from the "normal" direction, the GPS will tell you that you have arrived 1/4 mile before you are at your destination. We live so far into the woods that even the fire department had problems finding our home, the one time they were called. If you need an ambulance, it is a 30 minute wait before they will get here. It is 15 miles away, and a all volunteer squad that leave from their homes.
 
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