Ron Beatty's Web Page

I am a MIT graduate (Burton Third), genealogist, motorcycle rider, traveler, computer programmer, basketball player, icecreamaholic, weirdo, etc.

Last updated 6 May 2004, e-mail me at RSBeatty@aol.com

Hi Everyone,

I am still occasionally making changes to this web site. I'm pleased that Google finds these sites now Bill Bauer's ailment, the Argo Family Revisited site, and my nephew Eric's RPM coins.

This front page of my web site will remain shorter and filled with a brief description of my recent life. Here are links to a family photo album, the Rambo Family Tree, and other pages including travelogues, annual letters, previous web pages, etc.

Lots to write about, but so little time. I've been obsessively working to complete the second edition of The Rambo Family Tree but just can't seem to get it quite entirely finished. That was supposed to be completed and sent to the printer a year ago. I've discovered an on-demand publisher thanks to my friend Linda.

Does anyone remember who said something like, "A happy man is not someone in a pleasant circumstance, but rather someone who enjoys a cheerful philosophy?"

The most recent major event in my life is the results of a calcium tomography test last September which shows "significant" clogging of my arteries. I'm asymptomatic, self-diagnosed, and fully committed to a treatment plan of diet and exercise. The diet is major: no meat fat, no milk fat, and no sugar. Obviously this has put a major crimp in my ice cream habit. I'm now eating oatmeal and hot air popped popcorn as my fill-up foods. I've reduced the quantity of orange juice I drink (even though fruit sugars are supposed to be OK). The most wonderful discovery is that I can substitute quick oats and orange juice for ice cream. Dale says that Lecithin is "Roto Rooter" for the arteries, so I'm taking it and Juice Plus+, garlic, and cod liver oil daily. I'm eating blueberries and broccoli and intend to gradually expand the selection of vegetables in my diet. Unfortunately I never have acquired an enthusiasm for any of them. My cholesterol test showed 165, so maybe I'm starting to dissolve that plaque.

The first step of the exercise program has come to successful completion. I had to lose the 30 extra pounds that suddenly appeared in a single month last January while partying with my friends, the Gowdys on the occasion of their daughter's wedding. Amazing, isn't it, how slowly those pounds leave and how quickly they return. The Gowdys hosted my genealogical endeavors all year. All year I expected to finish the book in another month and commence hiking the Appalachian Trail so I didn't worry about running. Now that my weight is below 185 pounds, I've resumed running. My running form and endurance is summed up nicely in one word: pathetic. (That was Feb 22nd. It is now Apr 8th and still pathetic. At least now I can run 3 miles without stopping or breathing hard in a shade over 30 minutes.) Hey, hey, hey - latest update. I ran the Seven-Mile Bridge Race at the end of April and turned in a time of 63:47 for 9:22 minute miles. The fastest miles were around 8:39. Still pathetic, but not bad for an old fart.

Physical problems have been an issue for the last couple of years. Somehow I strained a knee in the summer of 2002, perhaps while sleeping. It bothered me more and more until October, then gradually improved during 2003. The osteoarthritis in my left thumb joint has been mostly quiescent although it is occasionally somewhat painful. The plantar facitis hasn't bothered me in a year, thanks to exercises Marsha recommended. My carpal tunnel is not noticeable as long as I take Glucosamine Sulfate with MSM consistently. (I get the glucosamine from Paul's Natural Foods in Belleville, Illinois.) I'm not pain free, the body is stiff most mornings, but most days are fine. (Soon after that was written I aggravated my torn rotator cuff playing basketball. It was EXCRUCIATING for three days, but is now nearly pain free.)

I'm now staying with my friend in the Florida Keys. Unfortunately Bill is suffering from a mysterious malady that the doctors have been unable to diagnose and treat. We may be making a road trip to D.C., New York, and West Virginia in search of knowledgeable medical expertise and effective treatment. Bill is such a good friend that he quickly already found a pick-up basketball game, but the sore shoulder stopped that.

Several good travelogues are languishing. The travelog about the trip to Hawaii that Mom and I made before her heart attack is still only a draft and outline. I'm working on that now. Hopefully I'll soon be expanding the other drafts and outlines of travelogues. I have written a motorcycling travelogue about this year's 5-day, 2500 mile New Year's trip from Columbia, South Carolina through Mt. Olive, Illinois en route to Big Pine Key, Florida. Last winter I rode from Salt Lake City to the wedding in Columbia, SC in January of 2003. Another motorcycling trip in 2001 deserves a travelogue, especially concerning the dangers of Cuervo Gold.

No longer languishing is the Burton Third website. Greg Gowdy, Ed Kellett, and I tried to remember all the other residents of the floor during our years at MIT. We've had help from many others now. If you can offer any memories, I'd love to hear from you. Incidentally Drew, Mary is soliciting campaign contributions for her re-election. I thought I should send a donation in your name.

It continues to be a mild disappointment that my HO train layout is packed up instead of running. I enjoyed sharing train enthusiasms with the Gregorys, neighbors of the Gowdys and avid train people. However, nephew Eric may have room to build a permanent train room in his new shed. It is a BIG shed with room for a loft.

Speaking of enthusiasms, I've finally realized a trivial oxymoronic fact. Throughout my youth I was told to "know myself." Pretty stupid advice to give anyone with no life experiences. After I left home, I found that I really enjoyed sex, motorcycles, rock & roll, dancing, basketball, computers, genealogy, etc (pretty much in that order). Many of those became passions. I've been thinking about these things recently (is this "philosophy"?) and have come to believe that surely every single human being has the capacity to become passionately involved in some activity. It seems to me that the road to happiness is the discovery and pursuit of these individual passions. Just the other day I finally put it all together and realized that the advice to "know yourself" is better phrased as "discover your passions and pursue them."

One of my genealogical "finds" years ago was a letter from a great-great-great Uncle to his nieces. In it he lamented that his "dear sainted mother" was gone and that they would never again in this life hear her beloved voice. My mother died on July 3, 2001. Now I understand his sentiments. Time is helping, but I still miss her greatly and often.

That is it for the front page. I do apologize for writing so seldom these last few years. Genealogy and travel keep me busy, busy, busy. My e-mail address is RSBeatty@aol.com.

I've come to realize the need to include several more words for Google to index: MIT, my alma mater; Burton Third, my living group there, aka BTB and Burton3rd - the official web site was removed behind secure walls after some fool alumnus complained about an unflattering reference to him (no doubt supplied by yours truly - I apologize); Zelmo, one basketball nickname from my days at MIT (I majored in hoops); 1973 BMW R75/5, my trusty motorcycle with 90,000 miles to date - finally realizing its heritage; Ronald S. Beatty; ice cream, my mood elevator now off limits due to my heart condition; model railroading, a childhood hobby I hope to resurrect some day; and my genealogy families of Briney, Camblin, Mechem, Overturff, Rambo, and Venus - plus a dozen more common names.

And I am delighted to announce a less-languishing project, web pages for Conch Computer Systems, a business powerhouse featuring my friends Bill and Greg. I have faith that Mary will find our business mission statement hilarious.

Click here to return to Ron Beatty's home page, 

The following links are of personal interest:

Eve's Garden Organic Bed and Breakfast, a wonderful, eclectic, artistic papercrete alternative living learning mecca in Marathon, Texas

Rambo family genealogy,  Bankston & Bankson family genealogy,  the Camblin family genealogy,  the Dorsey Overturff family,  cousin Jean's Schenck and Hageman genealogy, and 

Eric's RPM coins.