Last updated 5 feb 2005.
I am a MIT graduate (Burton Third), genealogist, motorcycle rider, traveler, computer programmer, hiker, and a former basketball player, icecreamaholic, and weirdo.
e-mail me at RSBeatty@gmail.com
Hi Everyone,
This year's resolution is to change this website at least once a month except for the time I am hiking the Appalachian Trail. Larry and Cathy said they checked my website several times over last summer to see about Bill's condition, so I'll change that page every month also. Best of all, my nephew Eric has actually sold a few RPM coins thanks to his web page.
This front page of my web site remains a short description of my recent life except for these links to a family photo album, the Rambo Family Tree, and other pages including travelogs, annual letters, previous web pages, etc.
I spent most of the year from January 6th until August 16th with Bill in the Florida Keys. Bill's problem is still very painful and unpleasant, but I have hope that mercury chelation will clear it up. I've finished data entry for the The Rambo Family Tree twice so far, and am now preparing the manuscript for the publisher." I should be adding a web page describing the "on-demand" publishing process soon.
I still haven't died of a heart attack despite my self-diagnosis of clogged arteries (supported by a 2003 calcium tomography test which showed "significant" clogging of my arteries and which lumped me into the 90-100 percentile of my age group at risk for a heart attack). I'm asymptomatic and have done an admirable job of sticking to my diet/ lifestyle: 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). Dale says that Lecithin is "Roto Rooter" for the arteries, so I'm taking it and niacin, garlic, and fish oil daily. I'm eating blueberries, broccoli, brussel sprouts, and peas often. My newest genealogy cousin is married to a retired cardiologist who wrote the book on heart health. They've told me that I need to know the ratio of HDL to total cholesterol, so I'll have to have another test done soon. The University of Miami "health fair" test showed total cholesterol at 165, but neglected to measure HDL - obviously they are a rinky dink organization.
My weight has stayed low except when I splurged on ice cream in Blue Bell country during my travels this summer. Amazing that the weight returns so quickly and leaves so slowly.
The old body ain't what it used to be ... and it doesn't want to heal. Most of my joint problems are held in check by daily dosages of Glucosamine Sulfate with MSM. (I get the glucosamine from Paul's Natural Foods in Belleville, Illinois.) I'm not pain free, but most days are fine. I enjoyed basketball and running last year until May, but have been sidelined by a bad shoulder and a bad knee. I've been bicycling industriously twice a day: mornings to the end of Key Deer Boulevard (7 miles total) and evenings to the end of No Name Key (9 miles total with daily sightings of Key Deer). I'm chagrined to admit that my shoulder seemed to be nearly mended until I crashed the bicycle into a poisonwood tree in mid-August when I tried to turn onto Bill's gravel road at too high a speed.
February news flash: workouts on Bill's neglected Universal Gym are improving both knee and shoulder. I may get to play basketball again before I leave Big Pine Key. (Incidentally, daytime highs this winter have consistantly been 75 degrees and night time lows 65.)
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?" No answers yet, please write or call or send money.
I did write a travelog about the trip I took this year from mid-August to early November. It runs to 22 pages, but I haven't written the short version yet. I also added to the travelog about the trip to Hawaii that Mom and I made before her heart attack. It has been emotionally difficult to write that one, but I'm making progress. Several other good travelogs are still languishing. Hopefully I'll soon be expanding the other drafts and outlines of travelogs - and I cannot forget the 2001 motorcycling trip concerning the dangers of Cuervo Gold.
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. I've been looking for that letter recently, but haven't come across it yet. I'll transcribe it here when I do.
The Burton Third website is up, but has been neglected ever since. If you can offer any memories, I'd love to hear from you.
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." Gee, no one commented about this. It makes me wonder if anyone reads this web page.
It continues to be a mild disappointment that my HO train layout is packed up instead of running, but I have big hopes that my nephew Eric will continue to have room to build a permanent train room in his new, huge shed.
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@gmail.com.
I've come to realize the need to include several more words for Google to index: BTB; Zelmo (a basketball nickname from my days at MIT where I majored in hoops); Ronald S. Beatty (ten cents to anyone who knows what the S. stands for); 1973 BMW R75/5, my trusty motorcycle with 99,900 miles to date - finally realizing its heritage; model railroading; and my genealogy families of Argo, 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. .