My Last Post of 2011 (or) All About Rob

Hello, everyone! Today is New Year's Eve, which means this is the last post of 2011. It hasn't been a prolific posting year for me, but I thought I would end the year by obliging one of my friend's requests.

I recently saw one of my old friends, and maybe the second thing he said to me that evening was "When are you going to do a blog post about me?" So, here you go, Rob!

Oh, is it Rob? Or is it Robert? Or is it Robbie? Robbie?!? Who calls Rob Robbie? How cute. I never knew . . . :-)   It was always just Rob. The things we learn 40 years later. You see, I went to grade school with Rob. And high school. Ok, I did know he went by Robbie with his family. It just surprises me when I haven't heard it in a while.

Anyway, here is Rob and his beautiful wife, Martha, whom he met when he went to Texas Tech in Lubbock in the early 1980s. They have been married a long time and have two kids.

Apparently, according to Martha, Rob likes to parade around his house.....singing "Can't touch this...na na na....." when he's feeling proud of himself! Hahahahaha!

Martha says he has a favorite line he uses all the time: "You are so over thinking this!"

Rob's favorite word is "NO." In fact, he is known as Mr. No Man!

Rob and Martha have a lake house and I know Rob likes to hunt. Martha says that as Rob gets older, he is even more proud about the fires he builds outdoors!!

And here are Rob's children:

Also from Martha: Robert (our son) is waiting for his dad to turn 80 so he can finally beat him up.

 Rob's daughter, Allye, who recently graduated from TCU:

 And Martha also says Rob really has always wanted their daughter, Allye to call him "Dad EEE" . . . and she won't!

Below are Rob's cute parents:

And here is Rob's mother in law with Martha. Phyllis lives with Rob and his family:

Oh and something nice (from Martha) - My mother tells everyone that her son-in-law cooks all her meals! He really does!!!! 

Awwww, Rob!!

I have run into Rob on and off throughout the years. He was working in the building next door for a short while and I had gone to the bank in that building. So good to see Rob walk by at the time and chat. Another time I ran into Rob, I was working at a golf tournament for a charity event. I was working one of the holes for a closest to the pin contest or something. This foursome strolls up after it had been raining all morning and I looked like total crap. Yes, it was Rob with a local DJ (Kidd Kraddick). I was so mortified. Oh well. As usual, Rob was very nice.

Rob's best buds through the years:

--Robert V, Joe, Peter, and Rob

At our 30th grade school reunion, Rob supplied the beer since he worked for Coors/Miller at the time. So generous! Here are Rob and two of my good friends from grade school:

Below is what I call the Rob look. What is missing is the eye roll--it's hard to capture in a photo!

Okay, here are most of the important women in Rob's life: his sisters, wife, sister in law, and mother:

 --Such a beautiful family Rob comes from. He also has two brothers. When I say beautiful, I mean beautiful inside and out!

If I am not mistaken, Rob worked at the Mobil station at Buckner and Garland Rd. Unfortunately, they tore down this beautiful piece of history located in Casa Linda shopping center. Now it's a bank.

Some thoughts from some friends:

. . . At the 10-year (high school) reunion, we had a set up that when Rob hugged someone, he would look my way and I would mouth their name to him!

He didn't talk to me, but I always thought he was adorable.

Can't say enough great things about my man, Robbie. The dude has been like a brother to me. One of my best friends since jr high. Roommate through college. So many life experiences shared.

All I can say about Rob is wanderin' fingers in grade school I am sure he had grown out of that.

Rob is an outdoorsman that loves to hunt and fish. When he spins a yarn about a fish he caught or a deer he shot, most likely the size of the fish or the size of the deer will grow over time.

Rob is very generous and never hesitates to share whatever he has, including his cabin and lake house.

I don't really have a quote, but I think it might be, "Malouf, can you fix this thing I just broke."

Once when I was at Mass at St. Gabriel's in McKinney, I was admiring good looking guys coming back from Communion (don't we all still?), and I admired Rob before I realized it was Rob! I thought of course that guy is good looking, he's a Farquharson!

OK, Rob. Enjoy your post!! I am sure as people contact me, there will be more . . . MDC

UPDATE 12/4/2012:

ROB RESPONDS!!

Thanks so much for making good on your promise about my blog! I am concerned however with the facts....

This mentions nothing about my swashbuckling days in the Gulf, my secret service days with President Bush (the first one) or my work at NASA to improve the space shuttle -- my work to improve the O Ring....

Despite all that, thank you for the kind words and pictures of my family and friends.

God bless,

Your BFF-Robbie

From MDC: Awwww, Rob!! You're the best . . .

Quick Review: 11/22/63 by Stephen King

11/22/63, written by Stephen King and recently published, is a look back to what might have happened if John F. Kennedy had not been assassinated. This thick tome was written from the viewpoint of Jake Epping, a 40-something man from 2011, who gets a chance to visit the past and change history. Epping finds a "rabbit hole" that takes him to the day of September 9, 1958, in Lisbon Falls, Maine. Epping goes on this quest a few times, first exploring and then actively changing events, trying to help certain people he has encountered on his trips to the past. Each time he goes back, he starts from the same day again, and if he wants to accomplish the same things as previously, he has to repeat them. Only he usually tries to improve what he has done before.

--JFK motorcade on 11/22/63 from Wikipedia 

I have not read a King novel in a long time and wanted to find out if I still enjoyed his writing. Less a fan of horror, I thought this story was just right in mixing the unbelievable with history. Characters such as Lee Oswald and his wife, Marina, came to to life on the page. Some other historical figures that I have forgotten about or really never have been familiar with are present. Don't worry, Oswald is the bizarre character he has always been. Since there is a 5-year time period before the event, I enjoyed the glimpse back at the world of the late 50s/early 60s, when life was simpler without the constant barrage of electronics of all sorts. However, I would not want to go back myself to those times of racism, sexism, and geographical isolation for most.

King obviously did huge amounts of research to get the story and characters just right and needs to be commended. Epping, a high school teacher in 2011, finds a job in a small town south of Dallas/Ft. Worth, while visiting the two cities numerous times to put his plan in motion. He also falls in love. The small town dynamics are so fun to read about, especially if you have experienced them for yourself. Of course, I enjoyed his travels on some of my most well-known Dallas stomping grounds. Greenville Avenue, for example, is certainly a very different place today, and is still constantly changing.

The greater part of the first section of the book was spent resolving a couple of murders  that Epping became emotionally caught up in while he is still in the northeast. King's setting of Derry, Maine, very familiar to most followers of his fiction, plays a big role in this book. 

I can only highly recommend 11/22/63. Every few years, I like to visit The Sixth Floor Museum and I never fail to appreciate the hard work of the curators and the relics and displays they choose to present. I avoided going to this museum for a very long time until I was forced to take some clients there years ago. (Going to The Sixth Floor is so much better than having to cart people to Southfork Ranch.)

--Texas School Book Depository building, 2009

There are only two events that usually give me the shivers if I start reading about them: the Manson murders and the JFK assassination. And who to address the latter better than Stephen King?