THIS PAGE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH REAL ESTATE FOR THE MOST PART - JUST A FEW EXCEPTIONS! IT IS CONTINUALLY UNDER DEVELOPMENT AND IS REVISED FREQUENTLY. COMMENT AND CONTRIBUTIONS FROM OUR VIEWERS WILL BE APPRECIATED!

CONTENTS ARE IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER - TOPICS ARE IN RED - SCROLL DOWN TO FIND THE TOPIC YOU ARE INTERESTED IN!

ECONOMY
ENERGY
HUMOR
LEBANON HIGH SCHOOL
LIFE
NASHVILLE CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL '55
NASHVILLE MEMORIES
PATRIOTISM
POLITICS
QUOTES
RELIGION
TENNESSEE TRIVIA
TERRORISM
WORST USA CITIES

 

NATIONAL DO NOT CALL ALERT

Cell Phone Numbers Have Gone Public. All cell phone numbers are being released to telemarketing companies. You will start to receive sale calls. .... YOU WILL BE CHARGED FOR THESE CALLS. To prevent this, call the following number from your cell phone:
888-382-1222. It is the National DO NOT CALL list. It will only take a minute of your time. It blocks your number for five (5) years. You must call from the cell phone number you want to have blocked. You cannot call from a different phone number. HELP OTHERS BY PASSING THIS ON TO ALL YOUR FRIENDS.. It takes about 20 seconds.... or go to www.donotcall.gov

***

ECONOMY

Economics 101 10/14/2008

Once upon a time in a village, a man appeared and announced to the villagers that he would buy monkeys for $10 each.

The villagers seeing that there were many monkeys around, went out to the forest, and started catching them. The man bought thousands at $10 and as supply started to diminish, the villagers stopped their effort. He further announced that he would now buy at $20. This renewed the efforts of the villagers and they started catching monkeys again.

Soon the supply diminished even further and people started going back to their farms. The offer increased to $25 each and the supply of monkeys became so little that it was an ffort to even see a monkey, let alone catch it!

The man now announced that he would buy monkeys at $50! However, since he had to go to the city on some business, his assistant would now buy on behalf of him. In the absence of the man, the assistant told the villagers. “Look at all these monkeys in the big cage that the man has collected. I will sell them to you at $35 and when the man returns from the city, you can sell them to him for $50 each.”

The villagers rounded up all of their savings and bought all the monkeys. Then they never saw the man nor his assistant again, only monkeys everywhere!

Now you have a better understanding of how the stock market works.

***

ENERGY

9/22/2008. “The House of Representatives approved a bill to allow offshore oil drilling, but nearly all the Republicans voted against it... It isn’t a drilling bill, it’s an anti-drilling bill. If it becomes law, nearly all the oil and gas in the Outer Continental Shelf would be off-limits forever... This bill permanently bans all drilling within 50 miles of the US coast, which just happens to be where most of the recoverable oil and gas reserves are. It permits drilling between 50 and 100 miles out only if the adjoining states agree - which they won’t, since the bill denies them any share in the royalties the oil companies would have to pay, thereby eliminating any financial incentive for a state to say yes. Virtually all the oil off the California coast and beneath the Eastern Gulf of Mexico would be locked up for good. Don’t be fooled: The only offshore drilling this bill really opens the door to would have to be 100 miles or more out to sea, where the oil companies have no infrastructure... According to the Interior Department, the offshore areas where drilling is restricted contain more than 19 billion barrels—that’s equal to 30 years of current imports from Saudi Arabia. The bill would deny Americans access to as much as nine-tenths of that oil. A good deal? I don’t think so.” —Jeff Jacoby

******

HUMOR

The website below is a great humor website. Check it out

http://www.cleanjoke.com/

***

THE OLDER CROWD

A distraught senior citizen
phoned her doctor's office.
'Is it true,' she wanted to know,
'that the medication
you prescribed has to be taken
for the rest of my life?'

'Yes, I'm afraid so,' the doctor told her.

There was a moment of silence
before the senior lady replied,
'I 'm wondering, then,
just how serious is my condition
because this prescription is marked
'NO REFILLS'.'

***********************

An older gentleman was
on the operating table
awaiting surgery
and he insisted that his son,
a renowned surgeon,
perform the operation.

As he was about to get the anesthesia,
he asked to speak to his son.
'Yes, Dad, what is it? '

'Don't be nervous, son;
do your best
and just remember,
if it doesn't go well,
if something happens to me,
your mother
is going to come and
live with you and your wife....'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Aging:

Eventually you will reach a point
when you stop lying about your age
and start bragging about it.

---------------------------------

The older we get,
the fewer things
seem worth waiting in line for.

---------------------------------
Some people
try to turn back their odometers.
Not me!
I want people to know 'why'
I look this way.

I've traveled a long way
and some of the roads weren't paved.

********************
When you are dissatisfied
and would like to go back to youth,
think of Algebra.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You know you are getting old when
everything either dries up or leaks.

-------------------------------

One of the many things
no one tells you about aging
is that it is such a nice change
from being young.

<><><><><><><><><>

Ah, being young is beautiful,
but being old is comfortable.

<><><><><><><><><>

First you forget names,
then you forget faces.
Then you forget to pull up your zipper.
It's worse when
you forget to pull it down.

---------------------------------
Long ago
when men cursed
and beat the ground with sticks,
it was called witchcraft...

Today, it's called golf.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Two old guys
are pushing their carts around Wal-Mart
when they collide.

The first old guy says to the second guy,
'Sorry about that. I'm looking for my wife,
and I guess I wasn't paying attention
to where I was going.'

The second old guy says,
'That's OK, it's a coincidence.
I'm looking for my wife, too.
I can't find her and I'm getting a little desperate.'

The first old guy says, 'Well,
maybe I can help you find her.
What does she look like?'

' The second old guy says,
'Well, she is 27 yrs old, tall,
with red hair,
blue eyes,
long legs,
and is wearing short shorts.
What does your wife look like?'

To which the first old guy says, 'Doesn't matter,
--- let's look for yours.'

*********************

Lord,
Keep Your arm around my shoulder,
and, Your hand over my mouth!

Just For Laughs!

Nun's Relatives 8/27/08

A man suffered a serious heart attack and had open heart bypass surgery. He awakened from the surgery to find himself in the care of nuns at a Catholic Hospital . As he was recovering, a nun asked him questions regarding how he was going to pay for his treatment.

She asked if he had health insurance. He replied, in a raspy voice, 'No health insurance.'

The nun asked if he had money in the bank. He replied. 'No money in the bank.'

The nun asked, 'Do you have a relative who could help you?' He said, 'I only have a spinster sister, who is a nun.'

The nun became agitated and announced loudly, 'Nuns are not spinsters! Nuns are married to God.'

The patient replied, 'Send the bill to my brother-in-law'.

*****

LEBANON HIGH SCHOOL

Nancy graduated from Lebanon HS in 1963. Here are photos of the most recent class reunion held on September 19 and 20, 2008. Any classmates having photos they wish posted to these tours are requested to email them to billandnancyoakes@isellnashville.com .

Lebanon HS 1963 Class Reunion Sep 2008 - Part 1 of 4

Lebanon HS 1963 Class Reunion Sep 2008 - Part 2 of 4

Lebanon HS 1963 Class Reunion Sep 2008- Part 3 of 4

Lebanon HS 1963 Class Reunion Sep 2008 - Part 4 of 4

*****

LIFE

Perseverance is a great element of success. If you only knock long enough at the gate, you are sure to wake up somebody.
--Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Life isn't about how to survive the storm, but how to dance in the rain.
--Unknown

The rung of a ladder was never meant to rest upon, but only to hold a man's foot long enough to enable him to put the other somewhat higher. --Thomas Huxley

If you keep doing what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always gotten.
--John Maxwell

When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.
--Alexander Graham Bell

THOUGHTS FOR LIVING YOUR LIFE WELL

ONE. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.
TWO. Marry a man/woman you love to talk to. As you get older, their conversational skills will be as important as any other.
THREE. Don't believe all you hear, spend all you have or sleep all you want.
FOUR. When you say, 'I love you,' mean it .
FIVE. When you say, 'I'm sorry,' look the person in the eye.
SIX.. Be engaged at least six months before you get married.
SEVEN. Believe in love at first sight.
EIGHT. Never laugh at anyone's dream. People who don't have dreams don't have much.
NINE. Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt but it's the only way to live life completely.
TEN. In disagreements, fight fairly. No name calling.
ELEVEN. Don't judge people by their relatives.
TWELVE. Talk slowly but think quickly.
THIRTEEN. When someone asks you a question you don't want to answer, smile and ask, 'Why do you want to know?'
FOURTEEN. Remember that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
FIFTEEN. Say 'God bless you' when you hear someone sneeze.
SIXTEEN. When you lose, don't lose the lesson .
SEVENTEEN. Remember the three R's: Respect for self; Respect for others; and Responsibility for all your actions.
EIGHTEEN. Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
NINETEEN. When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
TWENTY. Smile when picking up the phone. The caller will hear it in your voice..
TWENTY-ONE Spend some time alone.

***

(8/26/08) Be yourself. There is something that you can do better than any other. Listen to the inward voice and bravely obey that. -Unk

***

(8/23/08) Good Advice - Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense. - Emerson

***

Being over the hill is better than being under it!

***

Ever stop to think and forget to start again?

***

Don't take life to seriously. No one gets out alive.

*********

NASHVILLE CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL '55

Click Here to Go To Nashville CHS Alumni Official Web Site
Thank you Jim Cantrell for your hard work in developing and maintaining the CHS web site and alumni membership database.

***

I am trying to locate James (Jimmy) Cook. Please let me know how to contact him.
Bill Oakes 822-2779

***

CLASS DAILY UPDATE

(Feb 26, 2009) Myra Gant Davis passed on Feb 24. Funeral was held at the Woodbine Funeral Home, Hickory Chapel on Nolensville Rd on Feb 26. She is survived by her husband Walter Davis.

(Feb 23, 2009). It was reported by Faye Binkley that her sister Dona ('56) Binkley's daughter had committed suicide the previous evening in the Hendersonville Park near Dona's home. A service was held on Saturday, February 28 at the Goodlettsville First Baptist Church.

(Feb 9, 2009). It was reported by Tom Poteet that Vernon Newsome who lived in Florida passed on February 4, 2009 of cancer.

(Feb 14, 2009). The class held a Valentine Dinner at the CHS Alumni Building on Raines Ave at 5 p.m. Saturday Feb 14th. It was catered by Sunshine Catering and was enjoyed by many of our classmates.

I encourage everyone to sign up with facebook.com . It is free and a lot of fun. I am posting CHS pictures on my Facebook page (William E. Oakes) for all to view and print. To visit that page I believe you will need to sign up and add me as a friend on Facebook. Please help by sending photos to be included.

Classmates.com is also a good way to stay in touch with alumni. Click Here to go to links to CHS alumni on Classmates.com .

***
A Message from Robert (Bobby McAlister) updating contact info:

Robert (Bobby) McAlister (not McCallister)
1643 Old Canton Road
Ball Ground, GA 30107
Wife: Diane
770-737-5041
DOB: 5/8/1937
Please update your class roster with the above information.

***

A Message From Peggy Rainey Elliott

Thanks for e-mail. Glad to read you will be taking care of the website again.

Peggy Rainey Elliott, 402 Grace Drive, Goodlettsville, TN, 37072, 615-851-6944, Husband, John R. Elliott. My birthday is September 16.

To my delight, I have a two-year old great-granddaughter now; my grandson David has sole custody and returning to college for a teaching endorsement and a Master's degree so he is very busy. My other grandson T.J. is a junior in high school and enjoys driving his restored vehicles.

Peggy

P.S. William Neal Sullivan expired February 15, 2008.

Please update your class roster with the above information.

***

A Message From Betty Jean Harmon

Betty Jean Harmon, 902 Glastonbury Rd., Starline Apts., Nashville, Tn. 37217 615-361-9514, cell 615-957-0796 7-14-1937. Bill, I have gone thru back surgery also, so I know the feeling. Get well soon. Betty Harmon

Please update your class roster with the above information.

***

A Message from Shirley Wair Temple

Hello Bill, so great to hear from you and as I had to miss the last reunion, I am so looking forward to seeing you and friends from Central in "09. It is amazing how many of our classmates are out of the state of TN. and sad that we have lost so many good friends.

My update is "short but sweet". Even though I have my condominium home in Chattanooga, Tn.(I have lived in Chatt. 3 different times and love that city) I have been in Sandy Springs, Ga. for several years. I retired my TN. real estate licence but still have a GA. licence even though I am marketing real estate developments rather than selling. Over the last two years, all I have done is travel back and fourth to Ft. Lauderdale, where my Bill was converting a Hotel to Condo but, finally, I am through packing and unpacking--we are back in GA. where the Executive Office is located.

One of my two sons is in Atlanta (YEA, we get to play golf together) and my oldest is in Mississippi (YEA again-----he just made a "HOLE IN ONE" while golfing with us in Atlanta. I have no grandchildren but I am so proud of my sister's (Peggy) six. I am blessed that Peggy, her oldest son and four children are near Sandy Springs.

Bill, great to hear from you and I will look forward to receiving your new roster. My Address is: 1 Carrington Way NE, Sandy Springs, Gerogia 30328 - Cell phone: 423-364-0549- Birthdate: 12-4-1936 (just had to remind me didn't you Bill Oakes) haha! Sorry to hear of your surgery but pray you are doing well. God Bless and I look forward to seeing you. Shirley Temple

Please update your class roster with the above information.

***

(12/06/2008). Our Christmas Holiday Dinner was held together with the class of 1954 at the CHS Alumni Building on Raines Ave at 5 p.m. Saturday Dec 6th. It was catered by Sunshine Catering at $15 per person and was an excellent meal enjoyed by all.

***

10/04/2008. The Class of '55 gathered at 4:00 the first Saturday of October at the CHS Alumni Building on the old CHS Campus for a hamburger-hotdog cookout/covered dish dinner. We had a great time. About 40 alumni and spouses attended. See pictures at "Recent Event Photos" below. Bill and Nancy

***

9/12/2008 I received a call from Tom Poteet today. He was calling to check up on me after my back surgery on July 30. I am doing fine but the recovery process is a bit slow. I am wearing a back brace for the next several months. Tom doing well. He reported Vernon Newsom in FL was ill with cancer. We need to touch base with Vernon. Tom has not been able to reach Jimmy and Deanie Eastland to check on Deanie who is also being treated for cancer.

***

Recent Event Photos - Click On Links Below

***

Reservoir Park/Allison Place Group Reunion July 18, 2009 (To Be Published Soon)

Be sure to attend this event if you lived near CHS. It will get underway about 10:30 with lunch at noon at the usual place - the Church at Old Hickory/Hillsboro Rd.

 

CHS Class of '55 Cookout Oct 4, 2008 (Development In Process)

Part 1 and Part 2

***

Reservoir Park/Allison Place Group Reunion July 2008 (To Be Published Soon)

Would anyone having photos of the above gathering send them to me for publication here. I was out of town and unable to attend and take pics. Bill Oakes

***

CHS Class of '55 Ham Breakfast April 5, 2008

***

Reservoir Park/Allison Place Group Reunion July 2007
Part 1 / Part 2
Contributed by Bill Oakes, CHS '55.

***

Eastland Luau, Part 1 / Part 2 June 29, 2007

******

NASHVILLE MEMORIES
Click On The Links That Follow

Do You Remember The 50's, 60's and 70's?

A Trip Down Memory Lane

Take Me Back To The Fifties!

Memories of Nashville: www.wnpt.net/memories

The Next Link Is Not Related To Nashville But Is A Great Website For Reminising.

Click Here For "Solo's Hideaway Fun Pages"

*********

PATRIOTISM

You could have heard a pin drop

When in England , at a fairly large conference, ColinPowell was asked by the Archbishop of Canterbury if our plans for Iraq were just an example of empire building by George Bush .

He answered by saying, 'Over the years, the United
States has sent many of its fine young men and women
into great peril to fight for freedom beyond our borders.
The only amount of land we have ever asked for in return
is enough to bury those that did not return.'

You could have heard a pin drop.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There was a conference in France where a number of
international engineers were taking part, including French
and American. During a break, one of the French engineers
came back into the room saying 'Have you heard the latest
dumb stunt Bush has done? He has sent an aircraft
carrier to Indonesia to help the tsunami victims. What
does he intend to do, bomb them?'

A Boeing engineer stood up and replied quietly: 'Our
carriers have three hospitals on board that can treat several
hundred people; they are nuclear powered and can supply
emergency electrical power to shore facilities; they
have three cafeterias with the capacity to feed 3,000
people three meals a day, they can produce several
thousand gallons of fresh water from sea water each
day, and they carry half a dozen helicopters for use in
transporting victims and injured to and from their flight
deck. We have eleven such ships; how many does
France have?'

You could have heard a pin drop.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A U..S. Navy Admiral was attending a naval conference
that included Admirals from the U.S. , English, Canadian,
Australian and French Navies. At a cocktail reception,
he found himself standing with a large group of Officers
that included personnel from most of those countries.

Everyone was chatting away in English as they sipped
their drinks but a French admiral suddenly complained that,
whereas Europeans learn many languages, Americans learn
only English. He then asked, 'Why is it that we always have
to speak English in these conferences rather than speaking
French?'

Without hesitating, the American Admiral replied 'Maybe
it's because the Brits, Canadians, Aussies and Americans
arranged it so you wouldn't have to speak German.'

You could have heard a pin drop.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AND THIS STORY FITS RIGHT IN WITH THE ABOVE...

Robert Whiting, an elderly gentleman of 83, arrived in
Paris by plane. At French Customs, he took a few minutes to locate his passport in his carry on.

'You have been to France before, monsieur?' the customs officer
asked sarcastically.

Mr. Whiting admitted that he had been to France previously.

'Then you should know enough to have your passport ready.'

The American said, 'The last time I was here, I didn't have to
show it.'

'Impossible. Americans always have to show your passports
on arrival in France !'

The American senior gave the Frenchman a long hard look. Then he quietly explained, 'Well, when I came ashore at Omaha Beach on D-Day in 1944 to help liberate this country, I couldn't find a single Frenchman to show a passport to.'

You could have heard a pin drop.

If you are proud to be an American, pass this on!

******

The meaning of the fourth of July
>
> Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the
> Declaration of Independence?
>
> Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured
> before they died.
>
> Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned.
>
> Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two
> sons captured.
>
> Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the
> Revolutionary War.
>
> They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their
> sacred honor.
>
> What kind of men were they?
>
> Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants, nine were
> farmers and large plantation owners; men of means, well educated, but
> they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the
> penalty would be death if they were captured.
>
>
> Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his
> ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and
> properties to pay his debts, and died in rags.
>
>
> Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move
> his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and
> his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and
> poverty was his reward.
>
>
> Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer,
> Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.
>
>
> At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson, Jr., noted that the British
> General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters.
> He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was
> destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.
>
>
> Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed
> his wife, and she died within a few months.
>
>
> John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying. Their 13
> children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid
> to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning
> home to find his wife dead and his children vanished.
>
>
> So, take a few minutes while enjoying your 4th of July holiday and
> silently thank these patriots. It's not much to ask for the price they
> paid.
>
>
> Remember: freedom is never free!
>
>
> I hope you will show your support by sending this to as many people as
> you can, please. It's time we get the word out that patriotism is NOT a
> sin, and the Fourth of July has more to it than beer, picnics, and
> baseball games.

MUSIC AND PICS ARE GRAND (9/4/2008)

Get a load of these high school kids singing. At the conclusion listen to the high notes on the trumpet, played by a high school kid! One of the fathers recorded it, added some graphic enhancements to the recording, and posted it on the web. The song, of course, is the "Battle Hymn Of The Republic." Be prepared - it could send a few shivers up your spine. Click below and click on the words that appear, after reading, to start music:

http://www.greatdanepromilitary.com/Battle%20Hymn/index.htm

*****

The Story of Taps

Contributed by Beth Hensch, Mortgage Investors Group, Bethg@migonline.com.

*********

POLITICS

********************************************

 

WORST USA CITIES (9/23/2008)

Rudest Drivers - Miami
Noisiest - New York
Most Stressful - Tacoma, WA
Worst Air Quality - Greenville, SC; Scranton, PA; Tulsa, OK
Best & Worst To Raise Children - Fargo, ND & Newark, NJ
Most Hostile for Homeless - Sarasota, FL
Worst for Single People - Pittsburg, PA
Worst Traffic Congestion - Los Angeles
Bumpiest, Most Pothole Infested - Seattle, WA
Most Suicides Per Capita - Medford, OR
Highest Skin Cancer Fatality Rate - Decatur, IL
Most Rat Infested - Baltimore
Gun and Diabetes Related Deaths Per Capita - New Orleans
Worst Sense of Humor - El Paso
Worst Overall - Modesto, CA

END