New Years Eve

Rachel had to work on the Friday after Christmas, so we drove back to Philadelphia on Thursday. Rachel also had to work New Years Eve Day. Luckily, I was invited by a friend of mine from work, John Holz, to go pheasant hunting. John, pictured here (far left) with his chocolate lab, Bailey, Mark and Mark's chocolate lab, Hemi (yes, the dog is named after a V8 car engine) is an avid hunter. We arose with the chickens and headed up to Allentown for the hunt, where we bagged 14 birds between four of us. I had a blast. It was as much fun watching the dogs work as it was actually hunting. Bailey is a 7 year old female, with a lot of experience and discipline. She was expert at finding birds and never strayed too far ahead of the group of us. She could also discern between the scent of a dead bird and a live bird. Hemi, a 2 year old male, was on his second hunt and had not yet acquired Bailey's discipline (he got too far ahead of us once and flushed a bird that was too far out to shoot). However, what he lacked in discipline, he made up for in enthusiasm. He was one of the most active dogs I have ever seen, and did not allow any brush or overgrowth stop his travel. He did a very nice job finding and flushing birds in only his second hunt.

For New Years Festivities, Rachel and I met a group of friends at the Lucky Dog, a pub that we now frequent in Lafayette Hill. This is the pub where I play trivia on Tuesday nights with the guys (see "Reflections). The girls in the group, have a "Book Club". The guys all laugh, as it would be much more accurately described as a dinner club, since it is really an excuse to get together and go out to dinner (reading the book is optional).

From L-R, Nicole, Meg and Vanessa are three of the book club founders. Not pictured are Nicole's husband Tim and Vanessa's husband, Rob (a fellow Rohm and Haas employee and the person who invited me into the trivia group).



Meg's husband, Keith is also a Rohm and Haas employee and member of the trivia team. Unfortunately, Keith has to travel quite a bit with work, so he misses many trivia nights. Keith is also a strong advocate of the Rohm and Haas Poker League, a monthly group consisting of our New Year's Eve Party Group plus many more Rohm and Haas employees and friends. DISCLAIMER: This poker league is in no way associated with or condoned by The Rohm and Haas Company.

Brian Albright is the Area Manager of our Bristol complex north of Philadelphia, but his claim to fame is that he is the Commissioner for the Rohm and Haas Poker League. He is also the Class Clown of our group, and its most eligible bachelor.



Reflections - The Trivia Team

6'0" from the University of Dayton, Brian Albright is a co-captain of the Trivia Team (the team name changes each week and is typically named for a Seinfeld Episode, so I cannot refer to us by a single name). Brian specializes in art, figure skating and other trivia categories where your wife would likely know the answers.

6'5" from the University of Texas, Rob Jeter is the other co-captain of our trivia team. Hailing from Memphis, TN (Germantown High School), Rob is the Supply Chain Planner for all of our Emulsion Plants in North America. Rob's trivia specialties are obscure movies and music trivia.


6'0" from Penn State University, Eric Reinheimer is a Process Engineer at the Bristol Plant, just north of the city. Eric's trivia specialties include current events and hard rock. From Lehigh Valley, Eric also helps the team with Philadelphia-centric questions.




6'0" from Penn State University, Tim Callahan holds the distinction of being the only non-Rohm and Haas employee on the trivia team. Being a native Philadelphian, Tim assists the team on local history questions and sports. Tim is also the only team member who can participate in the annual Mummers Parade and is the coach of the softball team that I hope to play on this spring.

6'2" from the University of Dayton, Keith Edwards specializes in sports trivia (with an emphasis on hockey, as none of the rest of us are strong in that area). Unfortunately, Keith travels for work quite a bit and has to miss some weeks.