Newsletter
for alumni of The Abbey School, Mt. St. Benedict, Trinidad and Tobago, W.I.
Caracas, 9 February 2019 No. 901
-------------------------------------------------------
Dear
Friends,
Below is
an interesting narrative of Douglas Houk in a Series of Emails with Don
Mitchell.
-------------------------------
19 September 2018
Douglas: Hi
there, Don, my name is Douglas Houk. I don’t know if you remember me but
I was at the Mount from Prep B till the end. I joined the U.S Navy in
1967 and was in Vietnam till the end of that dumb war in 1970, and from there I
went to work as a roughneck. I quit when the rig moved too far
away. I started an inspection company and did pretty good till now.
Because Venezuela is broke,
wish me luck.
Don: I remember you
very well. It is so good to hear from you.
Have you given Ladislao a note on your activities
since you left Mount? He likes to put little biographies in the Circulars
from time to time, accompanied by photographs, perhaps one of you in the army,
and one of you on an oil-rig?
I have a Yahoo address for you. Are you
receiving the notices I send out about the Circulars? I ask because you
don’t mention how you come to be contacting me. It may be from receiving the
Circular notices. Do you prefer this Gmail address? If so, I can easily
change it.
Douglas: Well
Don I do remember you and your brother Gordon and the nickname Box Head.
Kids will be kids I guess. When I left the Mount I went to another
private school and finished there. Then I joined the U S Navy and went to
Vietnam. I was 19 and I thought I was tough Stuff and got taught I was
not. But all in all it was a good time for me.
Don: Yes, you have
Gordon and me identified.
I really hope you can get a platform (not one of
those unmanageable South Korean schoolgirl’s Samsung phone) to prepare a short
bio to send to Ladislao so he can put it in the Circulars. There are plenty of
Old Boys out there that have been wondering if you are alive and well.
So, which schools did you attend after Mount;
which actions in Vietnam were you present at; what happened to you in
Vietnam and after you left; who did you marry (first, second and third, if
necessary); who are the children if any; who did they marry, and how many
grandchildren did they present you with; what have you been doing since the
Navy; which were the oil companies; what oilfields did you work in; when did
you retire; what are you doing since you retired. Things like that.
It would be great to hear the details.
20 September
Douglas: Hey
there Don are you all going to have some kind of get together for the old boys
from Mount?
If you are, please let know. I would really like
to see how we all grew old.
Don: If you saw the
last Circular it is all explained there. Here is the link:
21 September
Douglas: Hi
there Don, when I left the Mount my uncle got me a job as an office boy and
after that I went to a private school in Trinidad. I left there and went
to my father in New York where I Joined the navy and went to Vietnam.
Vietnam was a whole different world. I did 3
tours and that was it for me. I was lucky.
22 September
Douglas:Hi
again Don. When I left the Mount I went to a remedial school and got my
GCE which l had to get to get to join the Navy. I was in boot camp which
lasted 2 months and then on to my first ship. All in all I had a ball in
the navy but I didn't like all the BS regulations and got in trouble quite a
bit.
23 September
Don: I am really
looking forward to a vivid description of your various ships and naval
adventures and all the roustabouting tales of your career :-)
24 September
Douglas:
Well Don I worked in Venezuela and started an oilfield Inspection company and
did pretty good until the Venezuelan politicians stole everything. So I
came back to Houston and I am now beholden to the Texas government to keep me
eating. But I am not griping, I made some pretty good money in Venezuela
and met a lot of Venezuelans here in Houston. The good thing is I can now speak
Spanish well, which is a thing I never thought would happen,
Don: As
usual it is good to hear from you. You keep sending me these little titbits
of personal history. What we really need for you to do is to type out for
Ladislao a two-page history of “Douglas Houk after Mount”.
Do you not have a granddaughter at your typing
disposal?
28 September
Douglas:
Hey there Don. Here is one old boy, HOKOON I think. He became a
pilot for BWIA.
Don: Were
you going to attach a photo?
19 October
Douglas:
Well Don after I left the Mount I worked at a jewellery store and then as an
office boy running here there and everywhere. I quit and got an offer to
train at an oilfield job working on a drilling rig. This was in Oklahoma
and this white boy hates the cold. I moved south and went to Houston
where I met some people who talked me into starting an inspection company with
them and that was my start in the oilfield. From there I went to
Singapore where I started making some money and did pretty good. But all the
work was in Indonesia I so I moved there and I really liked the place and made
some money which was the reason I went there. So mission cumplido.
Right now I am in Houston and this is where I will be for the rest of my days.
Don: Interesting,
Douglas. But, I thought you spent several years in the US Navy. Or, am I
mixing you up with someone else?
23 October
Douglas: Well
Don when I left the Mount I went to a remedial school and got out pretty
quick. I got a job and worked at Y De limas and got out tout suite.
Then I took a course doing oil field inspection. I took a course and got
a job fairly quick. I liked my job and I worked my ass off. My boss
asked me if I would like to go to Indonesia and I jumped at the chance.
So I went there and there and took my wife and 5 year old son. They liked
the place so I rented the house. I liked my job which was oil tools
inspection and my daughter was born there.
23 October
Don: I think
you have now given me enough titbits for me to send your news to Ladislao so he
can put it in the Circular for all your old Mount friends to be able to catch
up with your story of life after Mount. I have tidied up the spelling and
punctuation a bit. Please tell me if it is okay to send it to Ladislao.
31 October
Douglas:
Well Don my life was a pretty boring one as far as I see it. I never
thought I would live this long but now I guess I’ll end up living on the federal
payroll. But I WILL ot like it.
Jesus help me.
31 October
Don: I know
what you mean. Fortunately for me, my expiry date is written on my
pacemaker battery. I do not intend to renew it when it runs out.
I take it this is your response to my last letter
when I asked your permission to pass on your story to Ladislao. I take it
this is a yes?
8 November
Douglas:
Well, Don, hope you have all your need about my time after MSB, but the times
then were definitely, as Bob Dylan said, a changing.
---------------------------------------------------
Alan De Verteuil
Sent: Wed 1/21/09 8:24 PM
Hi,
I believe that the pilot was
Alistair - but my brothers would know better - Ian, Maurice, David and Michael
all went to MSB.
They are all on Facebook - why
don't you look them up.
Alan
--------------------------------------------------------------
Kazim Abasali <empowerwithart@gmail.com>
Jan 24 at 12:10 PM
Hi Glen,
You seem to be hiding under a
rock and just came up.
That news is some time now..
George is still with us on
email and Whatsapp, and Facebook has me, you and so many others.
We got spoil by George doing
so much, it seems a shock.
Hope you are doing better our
friend Glen
-------------------------------------------------------------
On Thu, Jan 24, 2019 at 4:27 PM
GEORGE MICKIEWICZ <amickiew@att.net> wrote:
Hey brother Glen….
Hope and pray that you are
well.
Humbly, I suspect that FB has
survived in my absence.
May God bless you and yours,
G
------------------------------------------------------------
From: Glen Mckoy
Sent: Thursday, January 24, 2019 9:22 AM
I am still in shock that Sir
George is not on facebook,
I am pondering where we go
from here seriously concerned.
Thank you for so much my
friend.
Best regards
Glen.
--------------------------------------------------------------
From: GEORGE MICKIEWICZ amickiew@att.net
Sent: December 27, 2018 8:14 AM
Thanks, Kazim…
Thanks, Kazim…
Will continue to contribute
via the Circulars and stay in touch as needed via email.
Will continue to keep you in
my prayers as you continue to heal,
George.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
From: Kazim Abasali
Sent: Thursday, December 27, 2018 3:10 AM
George,
I am very thankful for your
postings and sharing on our MSB Abbey School Facebook Group.
And I appreciate you so very
much.
You will be surely missed as
you gave so much.
We understand your concerns
and wish you the very best in your endeavors.
Continued blessings to you and
your lovely family my friend.
Take care........
Kazim
-----------------------------------------------------------
On Tue, Dec 25, 2018 at 12:42 PM
GEORGE MICKIEWICZ <amickiew@att.net> wrote:
Lots of guys
----------------------------------------------------------------
From: Kazim Abasali
Sent: Tuesday, December 25, 2018 2:37 AM
Well, who is going to hold the fort now?
----------------------------------------------------------------
On Dec 25, 2018 2:52 AM, "
George Mickiewicz" <amickiew@att.net> wrote:
Have deleted my FB account due to a series of
recent security related issues
--------------------------------------------------------------.
GEORGE MICKIEWICZ <amickiew@att.net>
Dec 25, 2018 at 9:02 AM
Have deleted my
FB account due to a series of recent security related issues and not willing to
have my information shared with businesses, political parties, etc. to which I
did not agree.
-------------------------------------------------------------.
laszlo
kertesz <kertesz11@yahoo.com>
Dec 25, 2018 at 10:32 AM
I agree with you George
Ladislao
----------------------------------------------------------.
Don Mitchell <idmitch@anguillanet.com>
Dec 27, 2018 at 6:56 AM
Good for you, George.
Facebook is (as one of our semi-literate government
ministers put it recently in a written memo) such a ‘waist’ of time.
Best,
Don
------------------------------------------------------------
Kazim Abasali <empowerwithart@gmail.com>
Dec 27, 2018 at 8:37 AM
And we got to know one another
George, for this I am thankful.
So, yes, let us continue to
correspond in other ways to stay connected.
Stay blessed my friend.
Kazim
---------------------------------------------------------------
Nigel Boos <nigelboos@gmail.com>
Dec 27, 2018 at 2:05 PM
Shish,
You’ve rendered a Yeoman’s contribution to the MSB
Circulars and generally by keeping us in touch with connected and related
stories about the OB’s and the misc. ways in which "we live and move and
have our being” and we all owe you a great debt of gratitude.
Thank you, my friend, for your
love and care and for being the faithful man you are.
If security has now become a
matter of concern to you, then of course you have every reason to be more
careful with your contributions, and I applaud you for your decision.
God be with you and your
family in all that you do, and I wish you ever blessing in the New Year.
Nigel
----------------------------------------------------------
GEORGE MICKIEWICZ <amickiew@att.net>
Jan 24 at 11:45 AM
Giving this method of communication a chance as an
alternate option to what we are doing now.
I am a novice and will learn as I go.
This was my first “Tweet”:
GEORGE MICKIEWICZ @GEORGEMICKIEWI1 25s26 seconds ago
#ASMSB Starting a
Twitter for us to communicate with each other with topics concerning our past,
present and future as old boys and alums of that school still standing on top
of that famous mountain.
Let me know if you will give it a try too.
------------------------------------------
EDITED by
Ladislao Kertesz, kertesz11@yahoo.com, if you would like to be in the
circular’s mailing list or any old boy that you would like to include.
------------------------------------------
Photos:
16LK2714FBGDI, Garnet Diaz
10LK6243FBWDI, Wbladimiro Diaz
18LK4865FBNDV,
Nicholas de Verteuil
10LK8303FBMS,
Mark Seheult
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