By the time you read this it will be 2004. It seems like last week it was 2002. I know that all of you over the age of 40 can relate to the way time seems to fly by. I am certainly not trying to rush things along here. I just stop and think about how a lot of things in life seem to pass us by. Sometimes someone will make a comment that puts things into perspective that you never noticed before. 

 For example at work the other day I had to do some repair work on a 1979 Lincoln. One of my co-workers made a comment that I should do the work since that car was from my "era." He laughed and said that he was only thirteen when that car was made. 

 Then I remembered that I was the oldest mechanic in the shop as I was in the previous three shops I worked at. The average age for mechanics these days seem to be in the low to mid thirties. 

 When I started out doing mechanical work for a living, there were only four major car companies to deal with in the U.S. Those were General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, and Volkswagen. Now there are hundreds of various makes and models. 

 Even though it was over thirty years ago, I remember when I had a gas station (now it is Beam Electronics) during the Arab Oil Embargo. It seems like yesterday. Gasoline was thirty cents a gallon for self-service and thirty-five cents for full service. That's only when gas was available. With the exception of that problem, it was a great time to be in that kind of business. It was quite a learning experience in many ways but I loved every minute of it. 

 The cars themselves were not nearly as high tech as they are now and they did not have the longevity that they have today but it was all relative to the era. 
 Life was simple then as compared to today. If you drove through downtown Apalachin, you would have thought you were in Mayberry. It was a cute and close-knit country town. Since then, it seems that everything has moved onto Route  434. 

 I feel very fortunate to have lived here all my life and will forever remember the good times I have had here. Now I wake up to 2004 and take a look around and say to myself as I drive through town "Where did the years go?" 

 I remember when this was here and that was not there and when did they build this and so on. 

 It wasn't that long ago I had hair and a young son. Now I have no hair and I am a grandfather, a fact I am very proud of. But I still ask myself where did the years go? I know we cannot  slow time or stop the aging process. I can only hope that twenty years from now I will still be writing about how good life was in Apalachin in 2004. 

 Have you ever heard the phrase "The more things change, the more they stay the same"? I hope that's true because if I had it to do it all over again, I would only have changed a few things. Every New Year from here on I want to look at as another opportunity and not as another year of my life down the drain. 

 I guess I will always ask myself "Where did the time go?" Have a great New Year!