Memorial Day and the Census

Memorial Day

Decoration Day, the original term for Memorial Day, started after the War Between the States aka The Ameircan Civil War. Southern woman decorated the graves of fallen soldiers buried near their homes with flowers from their gardens--Yankee or Reb. This act quickly became a tradition, giving us a special day to remember all veterans of all wars in which the United States participated.

Time to play a little catch up.  I have been putting a zillion miles on the car, working a full forty hour week.  I am not used to working so many hours.  This ol' bod ain't what it usta was.  While I am out and about, the adrenalin is a-pumping.  I rarely feel tired. But as soon as I hit the comfort of the Lazy-Boy at Mi Casa, I am done.  Don't have the energy to write.

Although there are many butt-heads and otherwise nasty people, there are so many, many more really nice people.  Every one of us has a life story.  Some, of course, are more interesting than others.  Most of us live day to day lives and never realize the story of someone else's life.

Because it is Memorial Day, I am going to focus on one particular gentleman.  Well, actually, the focus is on his Mom.  I seemed to have interviewed a lot of chatty people on this particular day, but I really did not mind since I was well ahead of the production quota the Census Bureau likes to see.  The production should be one complete per hour.  Now I know that does not sound like much since it normally takes less than ten minutes to "complete" the census questionnaire.  However, finding someone home is often the challenging portion of it.  Driving hither, thither and yon is time consuming.  One of the CLA's went out with me to make sure I was following protocol (all enumerators have to have either a CL or CLA as a quality control factor).  My CLA, Don, and I went to fourteen houses in two hours before we were able to find a warm body to interview.  So, that one per hour is not always that easy.

Getting back to my story...I was in the neighborhood of some folks who just wanted to talk.  I can't remember the gentleman's name (actually, I couldn't tell y'all even if I did remember...the census claims to be big into privacy).  But since I like the name Sam, and it is a rather approprate name for this holiday [Uncle Same Needs You!] I will use that as his name.

Women's roles in military capacity were limited throughout time.  Although women participated in some capacity in every war...keeping the home fires burning, raising the family, keeping a family business...their role in official military ranks were limited.  Oh, sure, women did fight in combat capacity, but they were a rare bird indeed.  There were women like the legendary Molly Pitcher who is said to have taken over her husband's cannon after he was fatally shot and kept on shooting in the war for our independence from Briton.  Then, there are the four hundred or so doceumented women who fought in the Civil War disguised as men.  But, obviously, these are the exceptions!

Realistically, women as an noticable and viable force came into their own during World War II. Women played a great role in WWII.  The shortage of men on the home front opened the previous all boys club to women. While men went overseas into combat, woman kept the home fires burning in doing everything from heavy construction (Rosie the Riveter comes to mind) to jobs in the US military that had formerly been filled by males...clerks, secretaries, non combat flying, medical personnel (mostly nurses).  Woman, of course were not allowed on Navy ships, nor were the allowed in the Marine Corps.  The Navy had its WAVES (established 1942--Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Services).  And the Army had WACs  (Women's Army Corps--originally an auxiliary unit called the WAAC--established 14 May 1942, and converted to full status in 1943.) 

Before the Air Force became the "Air Force," it was generally called the Army Air Corps and then the Army Air Force.  But after WWII, it became its own service branch, and the name changed to the United States Air Force.  With it came the new title of WAF, although many women participated in the Army Air Force before the Air Force was a separate branch of the military.  All these abbreviations in a military context are now obsolete.  Many of the abbreviations have taken on new meanings, but for this posting, the abbreviations are the military names of yore.  This means that in this posting WAF stands for Woman [in the] Air Force.

Sam's mother had served in the WAF.  She was secretary and administrative assistant  at Mitchel Field in Long Island.  This job gave her a lot of responsibility and a lot of opportunity.

Mitchel Air Force Base also known as Mitchel Field, was a United States Air Force base located on the Hempstead Plains of Long Island, New York. Established in 1918 as Hazelhurst Aviation Field #2, the facility was renamed Mitchel Field in honor of former New York City Mayor John Purroy Mitchel who was killed while training for the Air Service in Louisiana.

Mitchel Field grew after the Great War, turning the  temporary wartime facilities into a permanent post, with new barracks, warehouses, hangar space and administrative buildings.

Various contests were sponsored and originated there, including the first airplane jumping contest in the nation, speed records, air mail service had its inception in experimental flights begun at the airfield. Many "firsts" were conducted at MItchel.

Lt. Gen. James H. Doolittle, known for Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo flight near the end of the Pacific campagin in WWII, made the world's first blind flight as a lieutenant from this field.  He was a familar sight around the base.  The starting point for the first nonstop transcontinental bomber flights, made by Army B-18 Bolos, it as a base from which the first demonstration of long-range aerial reconnaissance was made, starting as early as 1939.

The Air Defense Command in 1940 was charged with the mission to develop the air defense for cities, vital industrial areas, continental bases, and military facilities in the United States (also known as the "Zone of the Interior"). Air defense planning and organization along the eastern seaboard was in its charge forming an aircraft patrol system along the coast for observing shipping. Supply depots.  Garrisoning of North Atlantic air bases from Long Island to Iceland. Mitchel AAF became a staging area for B-24 Liberator and crews before being sent overseas. Command and control base for I Fighter and I Bomber Command. Tactical fighter groups and squadrons along with training bases.  Thousands of Army Air Force personnel were processed through the base for overseas combat duty--both for deployment and for their return and  separation.

Sam's mom (I will call her Eva) lived through many of these wonders and changes. Her job was not particularly dangerous (although some of the experiemental flights might have been). She was part of much of the processing.  She had a very special place.  She was allowed to fly in many of the training missions along the coast of Long Island. 

She met and knew Lt. General Doolittle and many others we might consider heroes.  It was an exciting time in her life.  She really enjoyed her time as a woman in the air.  No one said that someone serving her country, even in an administrative capacity, should not be thanked.  Also, no one said that one has to hate one's job.  Eva loved her time serving her country. The belief at that time--administrative work always has needed to be completed--a woman doing clerical work freed a guy to go to combat.  But she loved adventure and was able to share in a large portion of that, apparently being in the right place at the right time.

She is no longer with us, having lived a long life.

Times have changed in that light.   Both men and women are now in harm's way.

Thank you, Sam, for sharing your mom's story.  And thank you all the Evas for your part in keeping our freedom.

Thank You Military Men and Women


Data gathered from various resources including Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

More Critters in the 'Hood

At Last

We have been hoping for quite some time that the county would fix our road.  We are on a corner.  Like so many roads in the county, the north/south portion of the road that includes our corner is sand.  The east/west road in front of our home is "paved" with giant sized pot holes.  And we don't even have frost heave to blame. 

Steve had gone to Bronson and complained several times to no avail.

But, alas, alack they did not listen.  UNTIL this week.  We came home to find a wonderful surprise.  We know it will take another six months or so to get it complete.  But, HOORAY, it was started.

And it all started in our front yard.  All the pictures of the trucks were taken from the front porch.  AT LAST! AT LAST!

The Redfeather Ladies' Investment Club

A special meeting of the Redfeathers Ladies’ Investment Club was called to order in the social room of Ocala Chapter OES with its eight members and many guests to discuss a very strange situation on Saturday, May 8, 2010. A recent murder! A man was found shot with a red feather near his body.

The ladies had made excellent investments through the club over the years and were all wealthy. And all of them had acquired recent beaux. Coincidently, none of the beaux would have a picture taken with his new lady. In their discussion, they discovered that each beaux had a name that was a variant of Will—Willie, Bill, Billy, Wilson, Wilfred, William, etc. The other peculiarity was that he always saw each one on a very tight schedule…Monday evening for one, a specific afternoon for another, Thursday night for yet another. He was extremely charming and really easy on the eyes.

The members were Agnes (portrayed by Dee), Charlene (Teri)—the weeping investor of apartment buildings, Helen (Marilyn)--the clux, Betty (Pamela)—the leader who invested in a non existent shopping mall, Louise—the cheerleader was absent, Jane (Virginia)—the lover of gold and jewelry, Louise (Jane)—the equestrian and owner of Derby winning horses, and Barbara (Trish)—the pill popping hypochondriac.

Louise said that she "knew" he was a phony since he did not call the racing horses “thoroughbreds.” And, “He did not know an Appaloosa from an Arabian.”

Of course, all the women had motive since Will (or whomsoever he was portraying) had taken all for substantial sums of money for various ponzi schemes. All were potential suspects in the murder of the gentlemen who turned out to be the beaux for each of these ladies and had taken each of them for large sums of money. An additional suspect was David (George) who believed the victim owed him money.

It did turn out that he had a couple of other women, who were not members of the Redfeathers, on the side as well. And, probably, a wife.

It was the job of the guests to figure out whodunit.

In my opinion many of these women were not guilty as they had gotten some sort or revenge before he was shot. One trashed his apartment, one maxed out his credit cards, one did a real number on his sports car, including sand in the gas tank. Once a woman gets revenge, if she feels it would hurt enough, she does need to kill.

The guests were treated to a wonderful cold plate luncheon of various salads—chicken, potato, a delicious orange fluff—fresh fruit, pickles, hard boiled eggs, ice tea/coffee, and dessert.

I love murder mysteries. This is the first that I have attended in which I did not have to work. Good job, Ocala Chapter!

Dirt Roads (Sugar Sand), Dangerous Dogs and the Census

Steve and I think that about seventy five to eighty per cent of this county has dirt roads. Some of them are graded fairly nicely. Many are that soft, soft “sugar” sand whereby one can easily get stuck.

The government loves acronyms, abbreviations and form numbers…can’t ever used real words. I prefer and understand real words. I really don’t feel like learning a whole new vocabulary for a few weeks worth of work.

Last year when I “collected” addresses for them, I found several areas that could have put me up to my hubcaps on my little car. One of our CLA’s (Crew Leader Assistant) had a heavy duty truck. He hauled more than one enumerator out. He never had to haul me out. The situation, as one can imagine can cause many a challenge. Normally, if I got into an area where the road looked as though it might gobble up my tires, I would leave the car near the main road, lock it, and walk to the various houses. Fortunately, my “blocks” within our Assigned Area (AA) were never huge so that walking was somewhat practical. Well, that’s not totally true. But the huge blocks (and there were many) were surrounded by paved roads.

It was our job to “map spot” (MS) all the “living quarters” (LQs). We were to knock on doors, give our speech about who we were and what we were doing if someone answered. If no one answered we used our hand held computers (HHC) and did a “map spot.” Well, even if someone answered the door, we still did the “map spot," but, of course with the speech.

One day last year, we had heavy rains. I was out and about in one of the areas with little population. I came across three mobile homes (or as some of you northerners might say “trailers”). I was concerned about getting stuck. So, I walked into the area with the trailers, knocked on each door. No one answered. Okay, map spot, map spot, map spot. I was doing fine. Many places that have dogs have posted signs. Never saw a sign or a spotting of a dog. Finished my map spotting. Started to walk back to my vehicle.

And, Lo! And Behold! An eight ton Rottweiler appeared from out of no where. Woof! Woof! Woof! I started easing toward my car which was several hundred yards away (It looked about a mile and a half). Nice doggie, step, aren’t you pretty, step, nice doggie, another step. Then he got between me and the car. Now what? Stand still. Woof, woof, woof.

After a time period that seemed like three hours (but was probably less than ten minutes), a lady opened the door at one of the trailers, “I am sick and just got out of bed, WHAT DO YOU WANT!”

Ma’am, I want to get back to my car.  Said in a whinney or terrified voice

Again, “WHAT DO YOU WANT!”

I explained who I was, showed her my badge, and again pled with her that all I really wanted was to get back to my car.

“What’s stopping you!”

“Well, the dog…..”

“Aw, he won’t hurt anything…” She called off the dog. I walked slowly back to the safety of the automobile with a huge sigh of relief.

I am not normally afraid of dogs, but I do wear a certain amount of caution. The rest of my tour of duty went fairly well. I was much more cautious when I got out of the car.

But, like so many of us…we forget out past history. This is a new year. I did not learn my lesson well. I had one map spot that had not responded to the census form that was sent to them. A good ol’ Florida redneck! A bit off the main paved road, the dirt road turned to sugar sand. I don’t have a CLA that has a hauling truck this time. Did not want to get stuck. Started the hike carrying my Enumerator Questionnaire (EQ). Everything seemed fine. I got about a hundred feet from the edge of the driveway and three dogs appeared from no where. Two of the dogs did their cursory barks and went back well into the yard. There was no fence to keep these critters contained.

The pit bull mix, however, was not going to let me move…forward or backward. I was not scared, but a bit nervous. I had a hat on my head. Pulled it down so that he could not see my eyes, but I could see his movements. Eye contact is an aggressive sign to dogs, particularly aggressive ones. I carry a soft brief case and a good sized log book, both of which I slowly moved in front of me. That dog was not going to give up. I finally heard a voice from the area of the house trying to call the dog off. He was not about to listen. The person did not appear to see the cause of the barking. Probably knew it was a person who would go away eventually.

I stood statue still until the dog finally got bored with me and trotted back into his yard. I backed down the road about one hundred yards to make sure he was not going to reappear. Finally, I was able to turn and mosey slowly back to the car. Big sigh of relief!

My CLA wanted me to complete a form #2839387498347892371083 or something like that. A what!?!? This meant that I had to write up a form about this particular place was “a dangerous enumeration.” What no abbreviation for that! I guess the form number was better in this instance.

This guy and his family will NOT be counted.

Census Continued

Waste, waste, waste. So, much time is wasted doing organized redundancy (or maybe disorganized redundancy. The people who set this stuff up have no idea what rural Florida is like.

The President campaigned on “CHANGE”! Not all change is good. Almost every day one thing or another changes. How many times we go to a vacant house! No you can’t work on Saturday! Yes, you have to work on Saturday! YAHDAH, YAHDAH, YAHDAH!

If there is no one home, we have been leaving, “while you were out” flyers with our own home phone numbers. I have had four or five people return calls. I was able to get my “completes.” But some ding dong in Atlanta or Washington or some place else has decided that our crew are not getting enough interviews on the first visit. DAH! People have locked gates or they are mucking out their stalls or working or the house is vacant (and has been for a long time). The district office now wants us to use their phone number, so that people can call them and they can set up an appointment for us. They will set up an appointment, call us back (heaven help us if we have another appointment at the same time). Now, instead of one enumerator taking care of the situation, four people (at a minimum of $11.25 per hour) are now going to handle the same situation. I DO LOVE THE EFFICIENCY OF THIS!!!!!!!!! Also, as much as the folks in this area distrust the government…this sure is going to help gain their trust and understanding. HA! HA!

Well, I guess if AIG can get their billions, I can claim my own stimulus package for an (wasted) hourly wage and mileage for my own stimulus. I still have guilt feelings about it. I am used to working for my money, not sitting around waiting for someone else.

Which reminds me, I did not discuss the fact that my finger prints did not make it through the system, along with 300 or 400 others in our district.

The district office called Tuesday night and set up an appointment at 9:30. I was a bit late for my 9:30 appointment (this is another story, perhaps for another day—just another inefficiency of the gov/census people), but the 10:00 was there earlier enough to take my appointment (she is also in my "crew"). Two people have to take each person's finger prints. Then, one has to wait until they print (another 20 minutes). I was there well over two hours (@ my hourly wage…mostly just waiting… plus the 60 something miles that each of us traveled @ $.50/per mile). Bunches of people waiting behind me. WHAT A WASTE OF $$$$$$$$$$.

The census job is going mostly well. Only have had one pit bull problem (yet again another story) and one door slammed in my face, and several people who do not want to give any information. In checking my daily work my Crew Leader Assistant found fault with the fact that I had written “American” under race. We were told in training that we write what they tell us. In this instance, I was blessed to get the information that I got. The guy was sweet but not very cooperative. There is a strong anti-census sentiment in this area. They will give what they give and that’s that. CLA did not agree, but gotta write what they tell us.

This is a strong ultra conservative, God fearing, Bible Belt Southern Baptist area. People think the government is tooooo big and tooooo nosey. One gentleman told me that he would only answer two questions. Well, the first one verifies address only. The second asks if they were there as of April 1, 2010. I told him that I guessed I would get no further answers as he had already given me “two.” He did agree to answer his name, how many males and females in the house (no other names) and that was it. He kind of said the first two questions were OK and an added bonus as they were not what he expected as part of his “two question answers.” We both chuckled over this before I left.

But my numbers are way down...too many vacant homes, which have to be visited three times...another waste. We need to know if it was vacant as of April 1, 2010--Census day—the government in all its wisdom picked April Fool’s Day. HA! Usually, one can tell that it has been vacant much longer than the month past. But we still have to make three visits. I am supposed to be doing one "complete" an hour, but my average had been 3/4 of one complete per hour, but with the four calls I got yesterday, I am now at over 90%. I guess it will go up when I make the third visit. Then the crew leader can close it if she chooses.

Dominoes and 'Possums

There is a group that plays dominoes almost weekly.  I have joined the group on a few occassions.  They use a double twelve dot set and up to six people can play each set.  Extra tables are added and the group divided to equal smaller groups if there are more than six players.  Nice small group made up of both men and women of two different church groups.  It so happens that we only had four people today. AND I WON!

Nancy got to telling us the story of the captured opossum.  She had no intention of trapping a 'possum; her goal was a mean, nasty neighborhood stray cat.  But, alas, alack, she won the 'possum instead. 

As we all know, the 'possum's best defense is to play dead.  So, in this live trap, the critter played dead.  The trap has two doors.  First she opened one and shook it.  The 'possum would not come out.  She had placed the 'possom and cage on the trail gate of her truck.  She shook and jiggled and shook some more.  That critter was not going to move.  Finally, with a broom handle she was able to push it out onto the back of the truck's tail gate.  Still it would not move.  She got in, started the truck, put it in gear, hit the gas and then the brake, really quickly.  That critter was glued to its position.  Reminds me of a cartoon character with all four feet plastered against a wall or something.

Try the gas, brake trick again.  Still on the tail gate.  Get that broom out again and gently prod it off the truck.  Well, that finally worked.   This project took almost an hour.  The critter finally ambled off.

Hope the next time she uses that trap, she gets what she has set out to capture.

2010 Census--Day 2

The picture has nothing to do with the writeup, except for the beautiful sky which we have had for several days.

The Census Bureau believes that evenings and weekends are a good time to catch Non Responders (the people for whom we are trying to get information). The folks who made these observations are not sitting in rural North Central Florida.  The powers that be wished for us to work yesteray.  I am not too sure that this was given much thought.  A beautiful Saturday morning in Florida in the area of a golf course, and they think that I am going to find people home.  C'mon!

But being the good little soldier/employee that I am, I went out to finish a portion of the area in which I was working.  Stopped at five homes.  No one was there at four of them.  One of the four has a wrong address.  I will present this to my Crew Leader on Monday, but I think I know how to "fix" it.  It involves a "delete" and "add" a new address.  I left a "while you were out" at that address anyway. It does, however, appear to be vacant. 

My job is to make sure that was its status on "Census Day."  Census Day is April 1, 2010. (How come the government picked April Fool's Day!!!???--April Fool's--Really??)  I don't know! 

Two of the others were definitely vacant, but I have to do some follow up on them, nonetheless.

I took several wrong turns in the maze of roads in this convaluted challenging mish mosh neighborhood.  But found my way in and out eventually (really racking up those miles!)

My last house was the most interesting.  We have ID badges, carry a brief case that says "US Census Bureau," and a car tag in our window.  In addition, I had acquired a hat that says, "Be Counted. 2010 Census" which I wear when I am out and about.  (I am the only one that has this hat, however.)  I walked to the door (always do this with a smile).  Did not get to the door when it opened before me.  Started my speil which begins with my name and showing the ID.  The woman answered, "did it!"  Then, she slammed the door full force in my face.  Glad I was standing a couple of feet back.

So, on Friday, my batting average was high;  Saturday zero for five. Well, actually that gives me one for five as the door slamming incident will allow me to complete my form with a "REF" for--guess what--tahdah..."Refused."  I guess that's why they tell us that we need to average one completion per hour. 

It's gonna be an interesting four to sixteen weeks.  Lookin' forward!

Workin' the 2010 Census

The picture has nothing to do with the subject matter.  I just thought it was purdy!

Census taking is not a new phenomenon.

“And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed……And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. Luke 2:1, 3-5 KJV.

Our own Constitution calls for a census to be taken every ten years starting with 1790. This year, 2010, is the twenty third US Census to be taken.

United States Constitution

Article 1, Legislature

Section 2, House

Paragraph 3

(Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons.) (The previous sentence in parentheses was modified by the 14th Amendment, section 2.) The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct. The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each State shall have at Least one Representative; and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to chuse three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina five and Georgia three.

As you can see, the purpose of the Census in accordance with the US Constitution is solely to determine representation in the House. However, like so many areas, big government has taken over and now uses the Census for a multitude of things. Our forefathers never intended to use it for funding for various projects, for instance.

Any way, having gotten that off my chest, I have accepted a job as an enumerator for this deciennel census. I worked in 1979 (northeast Connecticut) and 2009 (portions of Levy County) for the pre-census in the capacity of collecting addresses and mapping them. I did enjoy these opportunities. For the actual census, we had four days of training, including some OTJ field work.

I have a feeling that this job will yield many posts to this blog.

I started on Tuesday, April 27, in a training class. Already, there are tales to tell. My assigned area is in eastern Levy County. Including our Crew Leader/Instructor, there are sixteen very interesting people. There is a great age spectrum among us…nineteen to seventy. Our backgrounds are equally diverse…writers (such as I), a general contractor, substitute teachers—including a nineteen-year-old extremely talented band substitute teacher, a child’s guardian ad litum, a retired mid wife, a mother and daughter team… Our ethnic diversity—not so much. As a whole, the group is fairly intelligent. There is always at least one, however, that one would like to smack the side of the head for class interruptions and general stupidity. Yep, we had one. Our Crew Leader Heather actually did a pretty good job of keeping us on track even with the “what if” continuous questions.

Most of our training took place in the fellowship hall of a local church.

As an aside: I wonder what the ACLU will think about that…sounds like a church/state relationship to me…I’m sure they’ll have to sue—OBVIOUSLY, THIS IS SAID TONGUE IN CHEEK. But they do sue over very stupid things especially when the First Amendment (or does any other part of the Constitution) does not say anything about the church and state relationship. It was written to protect the church from the government to prevent forming a national or state church. Not to protect the government from God and church. It means that we should embrace religion, but not endorse a particular one.

Bill of Rights—Amendment #1

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Wow, I have really been on my soap box tonight. I really want my experience with the Census Bureau to be more of a journal. I promise that I will try to make it so in the future as I have already presented my very highly-opinioned position.

I did find that the class room time was time consuming with less benefit for more time than was necessary. I believe it could have been done more efficiently, but we are dealing with government….

Our first time in the field on Thursday, we went with a partner. I went with a friend that I have known for five years. .Steve and I bought our house from his family several years ago. In all the real estate transaction of which I have been part, this was the only time we remained friends with the other party.

We are supposed to complete one an hour. We hit gravy and were able to complete four of the seven we tried to do. The maps and lists are very specific and for the most part, extremely accurate. We did an area, however, in which the roads and the various twists and turns are very challenging.

We left a couple of door “while you were out” flyers with phone numbers with which those living in that home could call me back. I could then conduct the interview by phone. OK, this is cool. Friday morning the phone rang (7:10 am). I thought it was the person for whom Steve was going to work for the day. I almost answered the phone, “He’s already left for the day.” Something told me not to do that and answer with the normal “Hello!” I was still in my nightie, munching an English muffin, enjoying my cup of tea, watching Robin Roberts on GMA.

Wow, I was shocked. It was one of "while you were out" people. The lady was very pleasant. We finished the interview very quickly. I truly never figured anyone would call me back, especially after only doing field work for a couple of hours. So, I was able to go to Friday’s class with FIVE of the seven complete. Wow, big feather in my cap!