HalT from S Carolina

Well, HalT, lovely to see you've become a member.
I think you need some and a to help to decorate your place until you move in properly.
Here's a bottle of our local Goundry Unwooded Chardonnay for you to enjoy with your visitors.

Couldn't believe it when your name just popped up. Welcome to your new page. So glad you joined, I missed your humour and it was only one day! x

I just saw your name HalT, and here I am to you to your own page! I've brought to add to the decorations! Oh! You have some nifty blue paint! I'll grab a brush....
I am soooo glad to see you!

Welcome HalT. I'm sending you a pregnant cat as a page warming gift. Expect five or six little kittens to keep you company! I am very glad you decided to stay on the site and comment. Cheers!

Glad you decided to join! to your brand new page!

Hi, all. Thanks for the great welcome and gifts. (Except for Greg's; I don't need no stinkin' cats.)

I spent the last couple of days composing the following message that I had planned on submitting tomorrow. But I guess it will be better to post it here:

OK, folks, I’ve decided to become a subscriber. However, I hope you will indulge my desire to bloviate with a few pithy comments.
1. I came to sudoku.au.com a couple of years ago for the fun of solving the puzzles. For a few weeks I did not make any comments. But the quality and originality of the pictures, and the observations about them, made me want to join in on the fun.
2. I quickly realized that reading all of the posts to the Easy was way too time consuming, so I confined my reading and commenting to the other puzzles, especially the Kids Sudokus, and the posts from Anne, André, Canuk Greg, Kate, Wagdy, Ian and others.
3. People who troll on forums like this one really irritate me. I noticed some trolling on Easy. (e.g.; Summerfall Winterspring)
4. Then came the crushing news that I can’t post unless I become a member. Why, I ask? So, I spent all day Tuesday (and part of Wednesday) reading (well, scanning) all 333 posts to Monday’s and 323 posts to Tuesday’s Easy puzzle. Although I did not see all of the correspondence that transpired (I think some of it was deleted before I had a chance to read it), I am not surprised at Gath’s decision to do what he did.
So, that being said, I will again regularly contribute (except to Easy).
One final thing. I will never, ever be nasty to anyone on this forum. Sarcastic, maybe. Snide, possibly. Tongue-in-cheek, you bet. Risqué, occasionally. But nasty, never.

Comments are welcome.

Hal

I vote for risqué...please!
Great decision Hal, I would have missed your witticisms! No-one catches the essence of the pics quite the same as you.
BTW love the cat photo!

Halt, hope you continue to enjoy your time here.

to you to Sudokuland, along with a Strawberry Cream Cheese Pie for you and your guests.

There’s lots to do around here, places to visit and chat. I'm just around the corner, stop in anytime for more pie and a video.

Glad you joined - have seen you around quite a bit.

HalT, Pleased you decided to join us. You would have been missed!

HalT, to your page! I'm glad you decided to join! Have a great day!

Glad you joined, Hal.

HalT you have been missed!

I have to admit I too am glad you became a member because most days I get a chuckle from the comeents you and Canuk Greg make. I don't post much either but I do read what is said here on the smaller pages and your comments were missed. So keep up the humor HalT and welcome back :) This is a great site! I might take one of those kittens off your hands!!

Greetings to another who has gone over to the Dark Side! Yeah, I'd miss bantering with you, too. I love your new avatar ... it's a keeper! XO

Hello HalT - I see you have your own page! to this side of Sudokuland! It is great to have you with us. I have brought you a warm apple pie to enjoy! Please stop by "my place" for a chat sometime!

all who have written. Are you trying to fatten me up with all of the goodies?

We will be leaving South Carolina tomorrow for about three months. Driving to Phoenix help our son-in-law with the grandkids while our daughter is deployed. I will sudoku when I can.

We will all miss you, especially me! Drive safely!

Thanks, Greg. As you have probably noticed, I've been able to do/post to a few sudokus since we got to Phoenix. (Goodyear actually, but who knows where that is?) Our daughter leaves tomorrow, but I still expect to be here in Sudokuland occasionally.

Click on the "Check Out My Page" link after a users name and you can reply to folks on their pages so they see your comment. They won't see it otherwise unless they come back to your page. Glad to know you'll still be around.

Hi HalT, to Sudokuland. Greetings from Lithuania.

Hal, how did you make your avatar? I just want to write a little message in a box, and in searching on the web I'm not finding anything useful. Thanks for any help!
Terry

Thanks. Took me a few seconds to translate IIRC. I'll have to remember that one since it so often applies to me. I wondered about simply using clip art. Even drawing my own in a Word doc. I assume that on our member info page, there's a way to cut and paste so that it would then appear with our name when we post. I'll try that.
Enjoy the rest of the visit with the grandkids. Did you say it was your daughter in Iraq? My husband is a retired Army medical corps officer. Because of the troop shortages a decade ago (!) he was deployed to Bosnia and locked down on a base due to Clinton's zero tolerance for casualties. Not sure what's worse: being in the line of fire, or sitting twiddeling one's thumbs for 6 mos when one could be helping the locals (he's a child/adolescent psychiatrist and wanted to do in-service in orphanages). At any rate, my heart went out to you when you said one of your kids was deploying (IIRC).
Terry

I'm sorry. That was stupid of me. Of course being in the line of fire is worse.

My husband and I married just before the end of his internship, and we decided to live abroad before his residency. First assignment (classic Army -- ex-starving student with NO management experience) was commander/CMO of troop medical clinic w/staff of 13 on a post in Sandhofen, Gy., w/Army's largest airfield in Europe, and all-forces stockade (avg. pop. 60). Turned out fine, and we had a great time (strong dollar; no kids yet). Best friends were the Army aviators --MUCH more fun than the docs at the hospital up he road in Heidelberg (his third assignment, during the Gulf War). They could order food and buy beer in as many languages as there were countries to which they ferried CENTAG officers (Shinook pilots; referred to themselves as cab drivers. Why sit on an airfield when one could be eating Italian, Turkish, ..., food until time to return?) That was a different era.
Thanks for your forebearance re the comment. Had your daughter been in Iraq, however, your nerves would be much more raw, and I would have thoughtlessly prodded at least one of those nerves. I know how I felt when Randy was in Bosnia, and they were only shelled once (that he told me about).
Terry

"Chinook." I knew that.

Whoa. Commander/LTC of Air Nat'l Guard unit with specialized mission.... Patty's brilliant! You must be too proud. And her 4-y-o and 7-y-o kids must be keeping you on your toes b/c they're know-it-alls in general, but with those genes, I don't even want to try to imagine how they're testing Poor Old Grandpa. Don't worry, they'll respect you in 10 or 15 years. In the meantime, just marvel at the development of their brilliant little ids.

My dogs lie even when they're awake, Hal. "Who chewed up my book?" "Woof ... not me!" "Who piddled on the floor?" "Bark ... danged if I know!"

Looks like I've not visited your page before!

Hello! ...And a belated

Loved your tortoise comment for today's rabbit photo!

HalT, since the Aussies nickname for any female is 'Sheila' (note: look on "Outback Steak's" bathroom door!) and I knew my name was not spelled the usual way (due to a recording error on my birth certificate) I figured the phrase "a Sheila named Shiela" would make my unusual spelling more noticeable!

Hello HalT - I actually saw a koala on Sunday but it was in an animal park where we took Johnathan for the day. I'm going to put some of the photos I took on the kid's pages when I have time!!!
I actually replied to a comment you made yesterday but for some reason it got lost in cyber space. Oh, well, not to worry.
Cheers
Anne

Hal, if you dare come to Australia and don't come and visit as many of us here as possible...well, there will be riots, that's all I can say!

Hal, I just read your post on Judy's page about the comming of age thingy. This is so awesome that you have the resources to do this for your grandchildren. You are definitely giving them a life lesson and many life long memories. Hopefully they will also be blessed with children and grandchildren and this tradition will continue on and on. Again, this is a great thing that you do, God bless grandparents like you!

Aimee :-)

Sounds a wonderful thing to do with the grandchildren, Hal! AND I'm with Gale on the visiting side - might make the trip more feasible if you had a few non hotel beds to stay in!

Hello HalT, and just adding one more roof to your planned Aussie itinery!! Please keep us in mind! Can offer koalas, and most Aus treasures, as we are only a short (80km) distance from Sydney. Am leaving bome bubbly and some lamingtons to whet your whistle. Enjoy!!

Hi HalT. You asked me a question about a picture on sudoku today, I've just seen it & answered it but I thought you may not see it. so here's what I said! "We were at a wedding reception at Pier one which is almost under the southern end of the bridge. It was taken from a balcony on the western side of the Restaurant, looking north (of course!!)."

Have a great cruise with your grandie! Bon Voyage!

Hi HalT, thank you for sharing your memories of low flying. Sometimes we do silly things when we are young, some of us survive and some don't. I remember an old saying - "There are old pilots and there are bold pilots, but there are no old, bold pilots."

Hi Hal,
Sorry to throw the old cliché about old and bold pilots at you. Please do tell me a little more about yourself and your career - privately if you wish.

Hi Hal, did you receive from me yesterday the first instalment on my life story? I have a nasty feeling that I closed my computer before sending it off. Please let me know and I will fix it.
We will be out most of today so please don't expect any instant answers.