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View Full Version : SMC Turner Interview - Nancy Laird



Andy Hoyt
06-02-2007, 10:55 PM
Name:
Nancy Cherie Laird - no, it's not "cherry", it's "sher-ee", with the emphasis on the second syllable. It's a French word meaning "dear" or "dearest", and my mother got it from a book! She must have had delusions of grandeur for her first child, she picked my first name from Frank Sinatra's "Nancy with the Laughing Face."

How young are you?
61 years young last December 12 - Andy and I share a birthday week.

Physical description:
About 5' 7-1/2" tall, blonde hair (it'd be gray if I let it go natural), green eyes, and more pounds than I care to divulge--but I still have a waistline.

Where's home? How long have you been there? Where else have you lived?
Home is Rio Rancho, New Mexico, up the hill and across the county line from Albuquerque. And yes, folks, there is a state of these United States named NEW Mexico; we joined the Union in 1912, just before Arizona; and yes, we speak English, we use US currency, and we can vote in national elections. You don't need a passport or a visa to come here, and yes, you can drink the water.

I was born in Union City, Tennessee, a little country town in western Tennessee 9 miles south of the Kentucky state line and 20 miles east of the Mighty Mississippi, in a county that my great-grandfather helped settle prior to the War of Northern Aggression. My father was born in that town, and he and my mother and sister still live there. During my first marriage, I lived in Norfolk, VA; Leonardtown, MD (NAS Pax River); and San Jose, CA (NAS Moffett Field).

After the divorce, my son and I moved back to Nashville, Tennessee for four years. Then, when David and I married, we ended up in the DC area while he was stationed at NAS Anacostia, then in Virginia Beach while he bounced around from ship to shore to a squadron until he retired after his 28 years in the Navy. We moved here to New Mexico, as he grew up and graduated from high school here and his parents were still with us when we moved here in 1993. I WILL NEVER LIVE ANYWHERE ELSE!!

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Family information (tell us about your spouse, kids, grandkids, dog, etc):
I am married to the love of my life, and have been for over 24 years. Together we have three children:

Kyle is 35, calls Oxford, MS, home, is married, and drives an OTR semi. He has three children: Jonathon, Jeffrey, and Jason, and two stepchildren, and two step-grandchildren (yep, that makes me a step-great-grandmother – an appellation that I'm not real fond of).

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Deanna is 30, unmarried, and lives in the Phoenix area.

Amanda is 25, married, lives in Roy, UT. Her 6-1/2 year old daughter Emily Rose owns a large part of my heart.

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We have two cats who let us live in their house: Sneakers is almost 10 years old, and lumbers around the house like Fat Albert – he only weighs 21 pounds. Socks is our little princess, nearly 8 years old and tips the scales at 7 pounds. They are both very vocal and demanding and loving.

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Do you have a website? If so, what’s the URL?
Not yet, but we are considering it after the beginning of 2008. Currently, we are both gainfully employed, so we decided that we didn't want to run the risk of being overwhelmed with work that we couldn't produce in a timely manner. We do good work, and we don't want to get the reputation of being slow to produce and deliver. After we retire at the end of this year, we may opt for one.

Vocation (what do you do for a living, and what have you done previously; are you retired):
David retired from the Navy in 1993 after 28 years of serving Uncle Sam. He then worked for a countertop shop – started with building the tops and evolved into the shop manager, sales, measuring, fabricating, and installing. He now works in the Pro Sales Division at Woodworker's Supply, has been there nearly ten years, and will probably continue for 3 days a week after the beginning of 2008.

I am a paralegal for a sole practitioner attorney in Albuquerque, after having been in the clerical field for most of my working life – from real estate to electronics to personnel to advertising and PR. I also worked for Uncle Sam for five years as a civilian disbursing clerk in the disbursing (pay) offices in Norfolk and Pax River. When I found the law in 1993, I was hooked. I intend to retire on December 31, 2007 (whoopee), and do this work on an as-needed basis as the orders come in. I also do some scroll-sawing work and some fabric crafts, but they seem to have taken a backseat to the woodworking, lasering, and turning lately. Hmmmmm

David has been doing some form of woodworking since his teens, and I got into it when I quickly determined that the only way to spend any quality time with my spouse was to be in the garage/shop with him. I started out small – sanding, holding, catching – then moved on to helping him with finishing. We do custom furniture and cabinetry – when we can get the commissions – and we build all our own furniture and cabinetry. We've had a side business for as long as we've been married. Now we work together on designing things and in the shop building things. We also have the laser business which we acquired a couple of years ago which is starting to be our primary business. David also gives "woodworking lessons" to a couple of friends, and he repairs machinery when called upon.

Wait one - new page coming right up.

Andy Hoyt
06-02-2007, 10:56 PM
Shop Overview (size, relationship to house, list of basic tools, woodworking interests other than turning – as if that were possible!):
Okay, you asked for it. I've previously posted a shop tour (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?p=570081&highlight=Woodtek#post570081) here at the Creek, but for those of you who missed it, here's the scoop. When we were house hunting in 1993, the primary consideration was that there be sufficient land area to build a shop. However, when we found this place, David bounded out of the realtor's car, quickly glanced at the house, and took off at a lope up the driveway to check out the detached 3-car garage about 25 feet behind the house. I told the realtor, before I ever went into the house that this was the house we were going to buy.

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This is looking from the back door of the house toward the shops -- wood shop on he left and laser shop on the right - the day after our big snow in December.

Said garage has morphed into our wood shop and you'd never know it was an auto repair shop in its first life. The main shop area is 24 x 36', and there is a 12 x 16' finishing room attached across the back, and an 8 x 8 bumpout at the other end where the Oneida 1-1/2hp cyclone DC and the 5hp 60-gallon compressor live. We intend to add another 12 x 16' room on the back to house the lathes and small bandsaw. In the main shop, we have:
Delta Unisaw (1993 edition) with 50" Beis fence,
Excalibur sliding table, and a huge outfeed table that doubles as an assembly bench
Steel City 15" planer
Steel City 6" wedge-bed jointer
WoodTek 6x89" oscillating edge sander on a mobile base
Delta 16-1/2" variable-speed drill press
DeWalt 50s-era radial arm saw - inherited from Dad
Hitachi 14-1/2" monster resaw band saw with a 3" blade on a mobile base
WoodTek Matchmaker for box joints and mortises and tenons on a maple-slab-topped stand on a mobile base
Atlas 50s-era lathe on a mobile base- inherited from Dad
Atlas 50s-era bandsaw on a mobile base - inherited from Dad
WoodTek midi-lathe on a shop-built stand on a mobile base
DeWalt 20" scroll saw on a shop-built cabinet on a mobile base
Delta 13-pin boring machine
WoodTek hinge-boring machine for Euro hinges
WoodTek mortising machine (it's for sale)
A shop-built workbench
And thousands and thousands of small hand tools--drills, drivers, routers, biscuit joiners, sanders, chisels, screwdrivers, etc.LOML has been collecting tools for 50 years and inherited a bunch from his father, so we are inundated with tools.

That's just the wood shop. Next door, about 4 to 5 steps away, is our laser shop, a 12 x 20' separate building housing a ULS 20W and a ULS 40W, a sandblaster for cleaning up engraved glassware, three computers. It’s our nerve center (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?p=454282&highlight=sandblaster#post454282).

How many lathes do you own? Tell us about 'em. Even the ones you no longer have. Why did you choose these lathes? Is there something new in the works?
We have a 50s-era Atlas lathe that belonged to my father-in-law. He bought it and the Atlas band saw for about $75.00! It sat for a long time unused until David put it on a new stand with a variable-speed adapter. It still isn't used very much, but I intend for that to change. My go-to lathe right now is a WoodTek midi: 6-speed, 10" swing and 15" between centers. We like the WoodTek machines and since we get good prices we buy a lot of them. We are dickering with the company right now for a WoodTek #1 lathe--the big 2hp 230V monster. A master turner here in Albuquerque has demonstrated on it; and it will take 400-pound turning blanks. The one we MAY be getting needs a lot of work and parts (it was a prototype) but if we get it, watch out!

How many turning tools do you have? Store bought; home made; favorites?
None homemade. I wouldn't even know where to start. We have an inherited set of Atlas tools (about 8 pieces), a couple from Woodworker's, and a set of pen-turning miniatures that are almost useless, except for the parting tool. We also have a Pro-Forme hollowing system. My favorite tool is a 1/2" Atlas round-nose scraper – I use it for almost everything.

How long have you been turning, and what got you started in the first place?
A long story: Back when we lived in Virginia, we went to a woodworking show at which the local turning club was demonstrating and selling some of the things they had turned and I bought a bowl. I mentioned to David then that turning was something that I might want to learn to do, and he put me off by reminding me that the lathe was in New Mexico. Over the years, at every craft fair and art show I've gone to, I've admired the turned pieces and have bought several. Then, several years ago, I went to a craft fair and ran into one of hubby's co-workers, who was selling the pens that he turned. I bought a set from him (for a gift) and approached the idea of having him teach me to turn – no soap, with a busy job and a quite ill wife, he felt he didn't have the time to give it, so I put it on the back burner again.

Fast forward to last summer – I had the brilliant idea that I could learn to turn well enough to produce pens to sell in my own craft-fair booth and add to my offerings, so David came home one night with the WoodTek midi-lathe. Unfortunately, due to other commitments, it sat until mid-August, when we finally fired it up. David turned a pen, I turned a pen, and I was hooked. We bought pen kits and pen blanks and pen boxes, we bought sandpaper and finishing supplies, we bought turning smocks and face shields, we've bought turning stock from John Hart, I've been given turning stock from other Creekers. David built a stand for the lathe and we acquired more blanks. I found this turning forum and posted some of my pens here, and the rest is history.

I now have several fellow Creekers on my case to get to bowls especially Bernie! I've posted a couple of my bottle stoppers here and got some positive responses. Great for the ego, thanks! My next project is a weed vase from a piece of maple that Scott Donley sent with the auction piece I bought, and then I'm going to tackle a bowl. Some person on this board--who shall remain nameless (Chris)-- has been nagging me gently and told me recently that it seemed that the only way he was ever going to see a bowl from me was to send me a blank. I'm watching my mail! I think that if it weren't for the encouragement (friendly and gentle) that I've been getting from Chris Hartley, Ken Fitzgerald, Dennis Peacock, and Keith Burns, I'd probably still be sticking to pens, but I'm gathering my courage and I'm gonna do it!

What's your favorite flavor of ice cream?
Black walnut! And lots of it!

What do you enjoy most about turning?
First, it's relaxing. When I come in from a stressful day at the law office, I can chuck up a pen or stopper blank and turn out a useful object in just a few minutes. But the other is the surprise that comes when one takes a tool to a chunk of very ordinary-looking wood and reveal the beauty inside. As a turner, I only reveal the beauty that God created.

What do you enjoy the least about turning?
Cleaning up the curls, chips, and dust!

What was your first completed turned project? You get bonus points for a picture of it.
I turned a pen and pencil set, which was immediately snapped up by a friend for real folding money, no less. I wish I had a picture of it – it was purpleheart and really pretty.

What’s your favorite individual piece that you have turned, and why?
That would be a toss-up between my last bottle stopper – some apple from Ken Fitzgerald; and one of my cocobolo pens that revealed some really wild grain pattern and gorgeous color.

What’s your favorite form that you turn?
So far, bottle stoppers, because I'm not limited to a particular form, as is the case with pens. My favorite forms to admire are platters, bowls, and hollow forms. I'm not real enamored of natural-edge pieces, and I couldn't tell you why, unless it's because they just don't look finished to me. I guess it's that love of order and completion in my life.

What do you not turn now that you want to - or plan to - in the future?
Bowls of any sort, platters, vases, and eventually I want to try a hollow form. Since we have the hollowing rig, I think it would be a shame for me not to at least try it out. I also want to try some confetti lamps to see if they sell.

How do you take your Moxie? (Straight up? beer chaser? neat? with corn flakes?)
I've been warned about Moxie, from numerous quarters. When I bought Andy's auction piece earlier this year, he included a bottle of Moxie in the package, and had given me fair warning to have a bottle of gin nearby if I tried it. I intensely dislike gin, so if that's the antidote for Moxie, I'll pass, thank you. My neighbor who grew up in Maine saw the bottle and warned me NOT to open it. I'm heeding her warnings!

Boo Hiss:mad:

What’s your favorite form someone else turns?
Bowls, platters, vases, hollow forms, the lidded boxes like Travis Stinson and Keith Burns have posted here.

What’s your favorite individual piece someone else has turned, and why?
Oh, thanks! Nothing like putting me on the spot! My favorite individual piece changes from day to day and week to week, depending on what gets posted here. My current favorite as of today is the coolibah burl vase with ebony (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=58518) that Keith Burns posted the other day because it looks so elegant. But that may change tomorrow. I also LOVE the walnut bowl (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=40695) that Andy Hoyt turned and then his wife took the rotary tool to it. That little curl in it just makes the piece stand out. I have over 100 pictures from here saved on my computer and I scroll through them regularly to look at the pieces done by the master turners on this board and hope that someday I'll be able to turn a piece half as good.

Thanks, you're forgiven. :D

What’s your favorite wood to work with and why?
Depends on what it's for. For furniture, nothing in the world beats good old red oak, IMNSHO. My house is full of furniture and cabinetry that we've built from red oak, from kitchen to pantry to library to living room to all three bedrooms and even the bathrooms. For our laser business, I like the plaques that we make from hard maple. I like the graining and the way it pops when the finish is applied. For turning pens, I like cocobolo, bocote, and the curly eucalyptus that we are getting from Hawaii. The apple stopper blank was tough to turn, but it ended up quite nicely; and I also like turning maple. For me, the worst wood so far to turn is walnut, and those of you who can turn it and create a beautiful piece have my admiration.

What brought you to SMC?
Lasering. A friend called me one night and told me to check out this board because it has a lasering forum. So I checked it out, joined that night (on a Monday), and six days later committed to buying out Bob Belt's laser shop!!!!! I started spending a lot of time here, just browsing and found the turning forum and got REALLY hooked.

What was your first post about? Or don’t you remember?
I don't remember, but it was probably in the laser forum, since that's where I spent most of my time at the beginning. It even may have been the post where I told the world that Bob's shop had been sold.

Nope. Twas sumpin' else (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?p=431136&highlight=nancy+laird#post431136). (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?p=431136&highlight=nancy+laird#post431136)

Do you recall the first thread you started?

Nope. Wish I did. Since I'm over 1000 posts, I can't really recall, but it may have been the post where I showed some pictures of some pens I had done.

Nope. Still sumpin' else (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=43283).

What’s your favorite old thread on SMC?

This one (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=45009). When I opened that thread and saw that piece of walnut, I caught my breath. It's saved in my favorites and I look at that one relatively often, just for inspiration.

Have you met or hung out with any fellow Creekers? Tell us about it.
Yep, several. We met Vaughn McMillan (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=45043) last fall while he was in town--he bought some lasered business cards from us. Rick Levine in Santa Fe is the rascal who pointed me toward the Creek and got me hooked (and is also at least partially responsible for a HUGE expenditure for the new laser). Bruce Page and Chris Teagard and Mike Robertson live here in Albuquerque and were attendees at a Creeker/woodworker breakfast (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=50534) in February, and Mike and his wife Rita have become good friends.

In March, while I was on vacation, I had the honor of having dinner with Dennis Peacock (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=54784) and his family in Conway and a few days later had lunch with Keith Burns (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=55007) in Memphis. On the way home, I had breakfast with Ed Breen (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=55395), and just last week we had the pleasure of hosting Carol Reed (whaaaa? No link!) for an overnight as she trekked her way back to Arizona for the summer. We are also planning a Creeker get-together in Las Vegas during the AWFS, and I'm looking forward to meeting and spending time with more members. I am relatively outgoing and like to meet new people who share my interests and my passions. So.....any time someone wants to come to New Mexico for a vacation or a visit, our door is usually open.

Got any nicknames? How'd you get them?
LOML calls me honeybunch most of the time (we won't talk about the rest of the time!!). Daddy still calls me "Nance" (one syllable).

Now let's get a little deep... If you were a tree, what tree would you be and why?
An oak, tall and stately and strong and dependable.

If you won the Irish Sweepstakes what part of your life would change?
I'd be able to quit working for a living and do all of the traveling I want to do. One of these days, I'm going to do that traveling anyway, but the money would allow it sooner rather than later.

And th..th..that's all folks!

Ahoythere, Lairds! You guys are Navy, through and through. Works for me. Pleased to meetcha! Oh, and please identify that neighbor for me. Need to have her name erased from the state archives.

Mark Cothren
06-02-2007, 11:22 PM
Nice to know you a little better, Ms. Nancy! Great interview!

Tom Sherman
06-02-2007, 11:46 PM
Very nice interview Nancy, good to know more about you. Don't believe everything you hear, Moxey aint all that bad I have tried it and haven't changed a bit....in the last couple of days. Looking forward to seeing the first bowl from ya soon.

Bernie Weishapl
06-02-2007, 11:49 PM
Nancy that was a excellent interview. It is really nice to know you better.

Jonathon Spafford
06-03-2007, 1:27 AM
Great to know you better, Nancy! Nice interview!

Christopher K. Hartley
06-03-2007, 5:53 AM
Nancy, great interview. It's great to know you better and to see your family. Can't wait for that olι Atlas to spin and see what comes from it. Maybe a bowl?:eek: :D :)

Karl Laustrup
06-03-2007, 7:21 AM
Great interview Nancy. We're friendly folks up here in cheeseland, if you ever get up this way. :)

Karl

George Van
06-03-2007, 7:38 AM
Thanks for taking the time to let us get to know a little more about you David, makes it more interesting when you post photos. It sounds like you are very busy and like it that way. If you and David ever take the northern route be sure to stop by!

Pete Jordan
06-03-2007, 9:13 AM
Nancy,

I really enjoyed reading about you and your family. I think once you get into bowls there will be no stopping you! Keep the post coming.

Steve Schlumpf
06-03-2007, 10:30 AM
Thanks for the interview Nancy! Always great to get to know someone a little better - makes it all the more special when reading your posts!

Ken LaSota
06-03-2007, 11:32 AM
Great interview Nancy now I can tie a face to your name.
Ken

Nancy Laird
06-03-2007, 4:28 PM
I now have several fellow Creekers on my case to get to bowls! I've posted a couple of my bottle stoppers here and got some positive responses. Great for the ego, thanks! My next project is a weed vase from a piece of maple that Scott Donley sent with the auction piece I bought, and then I'm going to tackle a bowl. Some person on this board--who shall remain nameless (Chris)-- has been nagging me gently and told me recently that it seemed that the only way he was ever going to see a bowl from me was to send me a blank. I'm watching my mail! I think that if it weren't for the encouragement (friendly and gentle) that I've been getting from Chris Hartley, Ken Fitzgerald, Dennis Peacock, and Keith Burns, I'd probably still be sticking to pens, but I'm gathering my courage and I'm gonna do it!


Oh, and please identify that neighbor for me. Need to have her name erased from the state archives.

Andy, you're gonna have to add Bernie Weishapl to the list in the paragraph above--now he's jumped into the fray - on TWO boards. :eek: :eek:

And there's no way that I'm going to tell you my neighbor's name---she's also my accountant and might increase her rates!!:eek:

Thanks all for the nice comments. This was fun...even though I told Andy it was Chris Hartley's turn!!! And Mark Pruitt, who "nominated" me, is still on my "list.":rolleyes: I'll look for your interview next week, Chris! :rolleyes: ;)

Nancy

Jim Becker
06-03-2007, 5:23 PM
Interesting interview, Nancy!

Andy Hoyt
06-03-2007, 6:45 PM
.... And there's no way that I'm going to tell you my neighbor's name---she's also my accountant and might increase her rates!!.... Nancy I hear Google calling my name, and I already have your address. This'll be a snap.

Nancy Laird
06-03-2007, 6:50 PM
I hear Google calling my name, and I already have your address. This'll be a snap.

So...come to visit me here in New Mexico and I'll introduce you to her. Until then, my lips are sealed.:p

Nancy

Dennis Peacock
06-03-2007, 10:05 PM
GREAT Interview Nancy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D

Now....you say it's ok to drink the watrt out there? Hummmmmm, wonder if we can find our way to NEW Mexico......is it across the road from OLD Mexico?????

Rio Rancho??!!! Is that a New York Salsa or what? :p

Jim Ketron
06-03-2007, 10:26 PM
Great Interview Nancy!
Nice to know a little more about our internet friends!

Travis Stinson
06-03-2007, 10:40 PM
Great interview Nancy! Good to know more about you. Hurry up and skip right on to those hollow forms! :D

Keith Burns
06-03-2007, 11:01 PM
Great interview Nancy !! Even though we had lunch it's nice to know more about you and your family. Stll have some cottonwood to turn, just got to figure out what it wants to be.:)

Nancy Laird
06-03-2007, 11:17 PM
Rio Rancho??!!! Is that a New York Salsa or what? :p

Naw, Dennis, we have the REAL stuff out here - the stuff that will give you a good pucker factor without turning punky wood. Burns twice!! Once going down and.......:eek: :eek: :eek:

Nancy

Nancy Laird
06-03-2007, 11:18 PM
Stll have some cottonwood to turn, just got to figure out what it wants to be.:)

I'm still waiting, Keith. And Dennis too. Just like everyone is waiting for my first bowl. :rolleyes:

Nancy

Belinda Barfield
06-04-2007, 7:46 AM
Really enjoyed the interview Nancy, and getting to know you a little better. Can't wait to see what you turn out next, whether it's with the laser, or the lathe. Keep us posted! :)

Mark Pruitt
06-04-2007, 8:38 AM
So glad you did the interview, Nancy!
And just a couple days after it's posted, you've made your way into the world of bowl turning! (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=59167) Yippee!!!!!:D

Don Orr
06-04-2007, 12:20 PM
Great interview Nancy, sure is nice to put a face to a name and get to know you better. Your husband is one lucky guy!!!

Frank Kobilsek
06-04-2007, 12:26 PM
Thanks Nancy for the good interveiw and thanks to Andy for setting it up. We haven't had one of these for awhile.

Frank

Joyce Baldauf
06-04-2007, 4:28 PM
Great interview, Nancy. Thanks for taking the time to allow us to know you better.

Joyce

Ed Scolforo
06-04-2007, 4:28 PM
Nancy, thank you for the great interview and the chance to get to know you better.
Ed

Curt Fuller
06-05-2007, 7:27 PM
Hey Nancy! Nice to know you better!

Barry Stratton
06-05-2007, 9:11 PM
EXCELLENT interview Nancy!! Thanks for sharing. Good luck on that bowl;)

TYLER WOOD
06-25-2007, 5:41 PM
I personally know from experience, New Mexico is not a state in the union, you can not drink the water, and only a few good things come from there. Nancy MAY be an exception. Actually Nancy loved reading you interview. Glad to know you better, and if I ever get to that part of NM I will holler. Thanks for the information into your personal side!

I actually lived in NM for two years, but I keep that a secret, it was not by choice, but I think I would if the opportunity came up. I go to Cloudcroft once a year, and try to get to Riudoso a couple times. I have a freind with a cabin so it makes vacations on the cheap.

Nancy Laird
06-25-2007, 6:04 PM
Wow. Boy was I surprised to open the Creek, hit New Posts, and find this one having been resurrected. I hadn't even read it for a couple of weeks. Thank you everyone for your nice comments and Don, I think I'm the lucky one to have found my spouse to has taught me all I know about this bewildering world of woodworking--both f---work and turning.

Tyler, just because you're just across the state line in Lubbock, don't get too complacent. There is a move afoot to adjust the state line to where it was supposed to be in the 1800s, and if so, YOU'll be a New Mexico resident.

Nancy

Hilel Salomon
02-09-2008, 11:04 AM
Gosh, I just now scanned my private messages and found your interview. Great interview, great story. Lots of Luck... even if you live far from civilization (it ends west of St. Louis).
Hilel.

Nancy Laird
02-10-2008, 8:53 PM
Gosh, Hilel---having this thread resurrected after this long is really neat. Thanks for the nice words - you're one of the good guys, even if you do live in one of the most humid and unliveable places I've ever been to:D:D. The weather in New Mexico is so much better than Virginia---you'd like it here!!

Steven Wallace
05-01-2009, 1:54 PM
Although my stint in the Navy was a short one, only took me 4 years to decide I needed to do something else. Don't take that wrong, the Navy set me on the career path that has been very beneficial over the years. We have been to quite a few of the same places over the years. My dad's uncle worked on the crew that built the big airship hangars out a Moffett and I still have relatives in the bay area. I have made the trip up the hill to Rio Rancho several times as a vendor and an employee of that large plant there (Intel). Not sure how you feel about them but they pay my bills. I have been with Intel for 14 years this August. Anyway, thanks for sharing all your info in this nice interview. I am in Chandler AZ so if you are ever in Phoenix visiting family, give a shout and the wife and I would love to meet you guys.

Nancy Laird
05-01-2009, 5:04 PM
Thanks for the post, Steve. It never ceases to amaze me that these threads get resurrected after so long. It's been over a year since the last post.

We get to Phoenix a couple of times a year to visit the girls and some other friends we have there. I'm hoping to get down there again before the weather gets too hot, or we'll wait until October or November. Younger daughter's birthday is in November, so we'll probably wait until then. We'll be sure to give you a call.