Cattle Drive Update

Movin' them dogies on the Cattle Drive
by Carol Murphy

The longest day of the year has come and gone. Shoot, it's July already. High time to take a moment and look back on the last 3 months of the drive. Since we last checked in, we've had 8 greenhorns join us on the trail. Well, make that 7 greenhorns and 1 bartender and lowercase dad. Generally speaking, this has proven to be a scrappy bunch of cowpokes. 3 of 'em have already bagged their first Moose heads! We also had a couple of old-timers resurface, and the number of active drivers at the moment is an even baker's dozen. Now, let's get down to particulars.......

Newbies!

Our latest batch of greenhorns has been positively prolific in the amount of trail they have devoured. Let's welcome:

Amy Collins, currently working on Java 1b
Chuck Holowecky, on Java 3
fred rosenberger, on Java 4a ( the bartender and lowercase dad )
Herbert Morriss, on Java 4b
Jon Anslow, who has bagged his first Moose and is on OOP-1
Mark Beattie, who has also bagged his first Moose and is on OOP-2
Matt Fry, who has bagged his first Moose and is also on OOP-2
Trevor Cole, who is working on Java 3

None of these folks were even in the saddle 3 months ago! I hope they aren't driving them doggies too hard, but that's pretty impressive trail blazin' for a bunch of greenhorns. Be sure to check out all the new Moose Heads here: http://www.javaranch.com/drive/halloffame.jsp.

Sticking it out

No longer newbies, their saddles broken in and their expressions determined. It's hard to believe by the look of 'em that this bunch of riders with the grim visages were the new kids on the drive back in March. They are:

Carol Zack, working on Java 4a
Erin Quick-Laughlin, also on Java 4a
Ian Matthews, on OOP-1 (congratulations on yer Moose head!)
John Simpson, also on OOP-1 (and yours!)
Ray Dutil, on Java 4b

I noticed a few of them have bogged down in the badlands of Java Say. Those of us who have experienced this stretch of trail have nothing but sympathy for those who are slogging through it now. The only advice I can give is to keep putting one foot in front of the other and make sure you don't run out of beer. I mean water. And then there's this expression that I have been wondering about for weeks. Erin, what exactly is Pechooye-chong?

The old hands

The rest of us grizzled old riders are strung out along the trail from Java 4a to JDBC 3:

Adam Price, who had only just found his Geek Watch in March is now on Servlets 4a
Carol Murphy, finally made it up that ANT hill and is on Servlets 4a
Deb Wright, out in the badlands of Java 4b
Julie Purcell, who surfaced for a few days is also in the Java 4b badlands
Kelly Lloyd, (aka the comet) on JDBC 3 (we think)
Scott Rumrill, back after 551 days and starting over is now on Java 1b (again!)
Stuart Goss, currently on OOP2
Tommy Leak, looking for his Geek Watch

And then there is our mystery rider, Susan Brown. We don't know where she is, but if any of you run into her on the trail, say hey, and offer her a cup of Java. (or coffee, whatever she prefers.)

Gosh, I hope I haven't overlooked anyone! With this many drivers on the trail I could very easily have missed one or two of 'em. But heck, there's always next time. Well, the sun is settling down onto the Pacific Ocean here at the western edge of the world, and I'm hoping all of you drivers have somewhere safe and dry to lay down your bedroll tonight. Happy Trails!