Know Your Fellow Residents here at THD- Norman Nelson -Part 2

Norman Nelson- My coworker at Stauffer Chemicals, Richmond, CA. Early 1980's 

Here's my on-line interview with Norman.

"I grew up in rural Montana. We raised cattle, sheep, and potatoes.  I was susceptible to hay fever and knew that I wasn't going to be involved in ranching as a profession. Eventually, we focused on black Angus cattle. One of my brothers took over running the ranch from my father. After he retired, my nephew took over running the ranch. It is still an active cattle ranch.

Education was valued and my two older brothers  brothers received Master degrees. I was accepted to UC Berkeley and received a Ph.D in Organic Chemistry in 1973. These were formative years, both professionally and personally. These years in Berkeley 1968-1973 were exciting and trying times. 

I took the opportunity to travel for 15 months beginning in Belgium; buying a VW van, traveling to Netherlands, France, Germany, Austria, Italy, and Greece and the Greek islands of Corfu and Crete, including the Samaria Gorge.

Next, I traveled to Cairo in January. Then south to Luxor and Aswan. I picked up an overnight boat ride to the Sudan border, then a Train ride to Khartoum across the desert.  In Sudan I found some of the friendliest people in my travels. From Khartoum I traveled by bus and hitchhike to Ethiopia, and then the Kenya border. I spent some great time in Kenya and Tanzania. Highlight of this part of the trip was my climb of Mt. Kilomanjaro.. After some R and R and viewing animals,  national parks and the Kenya coast I flew to Israel and then returned to Greece, picked up my van and headed north to through Yugoslavia to Italy and France. Leaving my van with a friend. I traveled the England and Scotland. This was one of many visits to the island; i.e. I worked for a British company.

My father emigrated from Norway, I traveled to Denmark and Sweden and much of Norway. I spent two weeks with my Norwegian relatives.

At this point I returned Amsterdam, sold my van and traveled south to Spain visiting many of the interesting places, from Barcelona, Madrid, Granada, Toledo, and Valencia,

At this point the trip is coming to an end, and I return to Paris to get a plane trip back home".

Here's Norman response to my query, why he chose THD for his new Home. 

I wanted to end up close to my one of my sons either Brian (Albany) or Drew (Walnut Creek). I'v considered where Scott (my youngest son) lived, but after looking at a half dozen places in Huntington Beach, I decided that it would not be a good fit. We then focused on the East Bay.  Over two consecutive weekends, Drew and I looked at several places identified by our internet search. 

Our criteria were

• active senior facility, prefer it not be "assisted living"
• good food
• good rapport with those that interviewed us   
• cost 
• clean   
• pleasant surprises, such as the pool and the van service 
  
  
  THD was the last facility we visited. It was obvious that THD met our criteria. We were impressed with the positive interaction we had with Jenny and other residents we encountered.

Norman, it is PLEASURE meeting you again and I always enjoy our meal time conversations. See you again at our Excersize Classes here at THD aside from the Newton's Restaurant.    

Meanwhile, Be Positive and Kept Smiling- It can prolong your stay here at THD. Keep moving and exercise both mind and body. Here's a photo of me and Marsha dancing at the Happy Hour yesterday.

Meeting Norman here at THD reminds me that Indeed This is a Small World and also the lowest point of my career when Stauffer Chemicals fired me after 12 years of service. Here's the link :

 https://chateaudumer.blogspot.com/2011/08/lowest-and-highest-point-in-my.html