Joe Rooney

Now that's a solid job! Good for you Brian, may you enjoy it for many years. Regards, Joe

Thank you all very much for the kind thoughts! It was a very good day. Our youngest daughter, two of her children, my 26 year old grandson, (who is working in Edmonton right now), my wife and I, had a great dinner in our favourite restaurany. Then we older ones sat and talked till the early morning. It was a very good day! I am showing my age right now. As I sat here and read your kind words, I realised that I had tears in my eyes. But why not, I am 76 years old, and it is always good to be in the company of friends, at any age. Regards, best wishes to all, and again thank you all. Joe Rooney

Don't encourage the strident few. Or we will have more shouting than we can tolerate! Joe

Maybe it depends upon whether you are reading English or American magazines today! Joe

Try this one slowly. "P R E D E C E S S O R" Joe

Happy birthday Brian, Enjoy! Joe

Wives' The one constant in keeping life on an even keel. And as the old saying goes, "you can't live with them, or without them" God bless them all! Joe

My wife keeps telling me that I am a cantankerous old S.O.B. So I guess that am OK. Thanks for asking. Joe

Happy birthday to you. Have a great day. Joe

Now that's something to be proud of Brian. Congratulations! Joe

This afternoon, I received a telephone call from Gateshead informing me that my older brother Barney had died in hospital there. Apparently, of Cancer. Barney, or Bernard to give him his birth name, was born on the Bank Top in 1924. He went to St Bedes, and at 14, started work at the Doctor pit. When our house burned down in 1943, my mother, sisters, and I moved to North Shields, but Barney stayed behind in Bedlington Barney met and married his wife in Gateshead, in the late 1940's. He had two sons, the first died shortly after birth, and the second one, born a few years later, went on to start his own construction company, and is apparently doing well. Barney moved to Gateshead in the early fifties, and worked in a wire rope plant until his retirement. His wife died some years ago, and Barney just continued on alone. He had three granddaughters, and enjoyed them, and life. Several years ago, he became blind, and was housed in an apartment designed for blind people. When I was back in Bedlington in the early eighties, I asked him how he managed to get around. He laughed, and told me that he was "too fond of crack, and company" to stay away from the pub! so he just went out with his white cane, and depended upon the kindness of friends and neighbours, to get where he was going. Barney liked his Beer, and more than a couple I should admit. He had a lot of friends in Bedlington, in Gateshead, and in Ontario, which visited every year or so. In 1982, I took my then 14 year old son Sean to meet Barney in Gateshead. He fell madly in love with him, which was not unexpected. I think that Barney inherited our father's "Gift of the gab", lord knows that I didn't. I will miss him a lot. We were two very different people, but he was my big brother, and I always looked up to him. I never quite knew how to charm people, the way he did so easily. But now, he is gone. And his many friends and family will miss him. If anyone knows any old timers from the Bank Top, please let them know. Thank you all. Joe Rooney

Versa Management Systems. Ltd I negotiated the purchase from the prior owners. With four colleagues, and existing staff, we turned it into an employee owned firm. This worked very well for several years, until two of my partners decided they wanted to retire. Then I got sick, and had severe limits placed on my activitiesl, and we decided to sell as an ongoing entity. Definitely not Microsoft, thank God! Now owned by a group of Toronto and Calgary investors. Joe.

This page gives me a feeling of warm security in the midst of a confusing technological world! If I can't get my kids to bail me out, and the grandkids are busy, I am quite sure that there are all of these technical whizzes in Bedlington ready and able to help. And they even know the words for all of these terrible computer fizzles. It makes me wonder how I came to own and manage a very successful (And profitable!) software firm for all those years, knowing so little. But, I just stuck to accounting and finance, and left the hard stuff to those wide eyed techhies. Thank God I had over 200 of them ready and willing to keep me out of trouble. I really do owe them all a debt of gratitude. They kept me on the straight and narrow, even when I didn't know where that was. Joe, (The technically inept)!

Hope you had a good one Denzel! But I am sure that you did. I always think of you as Sixty years of living crammed into a thirty five year old body. best wishes, Joe

Hands off Puerile, Denzel! I think Monsta has first dibs on that! By the way, what does puerile mean anyway? Joe

Happy birthday to you, Bears! Joe

Go Bear!!, That will teach him not to bother boisterous puppies. Or their owners. Joe.

Well, "Bah HUmbug" is back! Hope you had a good Christmas and New Year. Joe.

Happy birthday to you Missvic. Joe

Happy birthday Threegee! And many thanks for all the work you do for us. Joe

A Happy and successful 2008 to everyone. Stay healthy and happy! Joe

Merry Christmas and a happy and successful 2008 to all. I think we are ready for the hungry hoards! This weekend we made 400 cookies, two fruit pies, and I made the usual trifle. We have our youngest daughter, her three kids, one of my grandsons, and three friends of my daughters. So I guess we won't be alone. Our daughter is leaving for India at the end of the week, so we need to make her kids happy enough to stay with us for ten days. Grandparents are OK, but not as good as Mum. But they will be kept busy, little snow in Calgary, but 150 CM in the mountains, so they will have a good workout. Have a great holiday season everyone. Regards to all. Joe

Happy birthday Pete! I hope no'one tries to fob you off with one present for both Christmas and your birthday. That is my wife's sad story from her childhood. She has a birthday on the 27th. (I won't say which one though!) Best wishes for both. Joe

Happy birthday Allan. The best to you and your family. You certainly missed a doozy of a snowstorm in Ontario. Up to 50 cm of snow, and winds of 100 KM. Enjoy your day. Joe

Come on now Monsta, you are really stretching!! Joe.