Safety: RE: [R-390] Now *this* is a really nifty idea...
William J. Neill
wjneill at consolidated.net
Sun Jan 4 20:21:04 EST 2009
David:
Well now, there's one little thing you need to know about and given
that I'm a caring person, I'm gonna share with you what is still a
very personal and emotional experience. See, long ago and far away
in my misspent youth, I spent three years in the US Army as sort of a
break during my railroad career and because I could telegraph and
work with teletypewriter machines, I ended up with an ASA unit in
Alaska, among other places, for a certain period of time.
Now, I was in a fixed-station operation but management thought it
would be nice if we engaged in field operations periodically just to
enhance our operating skills and that's where this story, that will
have a direct impact upon your decision to move to the Alaskan
wilderness, is going.
In the first weeks of January, 1968, we went to the field for a
rather prolonged operation with the 172nd Infantry Brigade and
continued to work real-world traffic and well as attempt to
compromise security of the many HF and VHF nets being run by units of
the 172nd. The only "toilet" facility was a one-hole outhouse was a
one-hole outhouse very graciously and professionally constructed by
the lads from the 562nd Engineer Company with a half-stick of
Hercules No. 8 Nitro-Gel and lotsa 3/4-inch Douglas fir plywood.
Tragically, in designing this structure, no one provided for a door
and so it stood ready for use with occupancy readily determined.
Being young and strong, I was determined that my posterior was not
gonna see the insides of that contraption for its intended use
although I was certainly capable of giving validity to the phrase
"don't eat the yellow snow". Unfortunately for me, on the seventh
day, the Lord offered up the prophetic words "Let there be movement"
at a time when the ambient air temperature was -70F. I tried to be
strong but the harder I tried, the more I realized I was teetering at
the abyss of anal death.
Thus, with a roll of toilet paper in hand, I walked the half mile or
so into the wilderness where the facility, sans door, stood.
Happily, there was brilliant sunlight to illuminate the interior and
with great interest, I noted that previous users had placed waxed
paper around the hole, splinters and all. Why wax paper? And then
stepping into the beast I realized that I was not looking at waxed
paper. I was looking at the shards of human ass, very warm human
ass, that had made physical contact with a plywood plank having an
approximate temperature of -70F. Not being a stellar physicist, I
was nonetheless able to come to an immediate conclusion that a warm
human ass making contact with that plank generated immediate
condensation that resulted in said ass being flash frozen to the plank.
Therefore, several decisions were made in the blink of an eye.
First, dropping several layers of field clothing, exterior and then
interior is far, far more than a breath taking experience at -70F. I
think I made a reasonable decision in doing so quickly because I
wanted the hell outta there quickly and to prolong the inevitable
would be an exercise in masochism. Once everything was ready, I
hunkered over the hole and did my business in a matter of seconds (it
sounded like the shattering of a plate glass window). With as much
tact as I can muster, I will say that wiping was an exercise in
futility without a source of very high heat to direct at the area
that needed wiping. That would have to be attended to later lest I
freeze to death where I was hunkered down. Oh, during this 30- to 45-
second experience, I was able to get through three stanzas of "Nearer
My God to Thee".
Now David, there's actually more to this story, best told orally and
in person, but I hope that I've conveyed to you the gist of what can
be an obstacle to living in the boonies up yonder. Spring and Fall
are wonderful times of the year. In the Summer, the interior can be
just like the Texas Gulf Coast and that was a major disappointment.
Regardless, prepare yourself accordingly.
73sw
Bill
On Jan 4, 2009, at 6:49 PM, <wb5uom at hughes.net> wrote:
> Great, now all I need is someone to take the business(s) off my
> hands....I
> can be packed tonight.
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "William J. Neill" <wjneill at consolidated.net>
> To: <wb5uom at hughes.net>
> Cc: <W9RAN at oneradio.net>; <r-390 at mailman.qth.net>
> Sent: Sunday, January 04, 2009 6:34 PM
> Subject: Re: Safety: RE: [R-390] Now *this* is a really nifty idea...
>
>
>> Well, I've got five CY-1119/U racks One with two R-390As and a
>> CV-116C (a complete FRR-38), an R-390A and a 51J4 in another rack, an
>> R-389 and an R-220 in a third rack, the fourth rack with an R-391 and
>> SP-600JX, and the fifth rack holding a complete FRR-33 and can
>> assure you that one rack with two R-390As and CV-116C fully alight
>> keeps the house pleasantly want down here in the Great Dismal Swamp.
>>
>> Further evidence of my technical obsolesence.
>>
>> Bill
>>
>> On Jan 4, 2009, at 6:14 PM, <wb5uom at hughes.net> wrote:
>>
>>> A sad story, but Ohhhhh so true. and getting worse.
>>>
>>> And I see myself not fitting in to the general scheme of Business
>>> today.
>>> If I could get out, I do beleive I would be in a small cabin in
>>> Alaska with
>>> my radios and a cup of coffee.
>>>
>>> How many R-390A's would it take to keep the place warm I wonder?
>>>
>>> Bill, I understand completely.
>>>
>>> David/WB5UOM
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> From: "William J. Neill" <wjneill at consolidated.net>
>>> To: <W9RAN at oneradio.net>
>>> Cc: <r-390 at mailman.qth.net>
>>> Sent: Sunday, January 04, 2009 5:36 PM
>>> Subject: Re: Safety: RE: [R-390] Now *this* is a really nifty
>>> idea...
>>>
>>>
>>>> I can't resist any further. This has carried me over the edge.
>>>>
>>>> I spent 35 years in the railroad business between 1965 and 2000,
>>>> beginning at age 19 as a telegrapher and yes, I did Western Union
>>>> business as well as railroad business. That being as it may, I
>>>> went
>>>> through a remarkable transition of technologies over 35 years
>>>> into a
>>>> significant level of computerization of operating control and
>>>> communication processes, including real-time status reporting of
>>>> locomotive conditions from anywhere on the system to a centralized
>>>> mechanical desk that was alerted to anything varying from design
>>>> specifications.
>>>>
>>>> Following service as a telegrapher, I also ran locomotives for a
>>>> few
>>>> years and then settled down to the craft of train dispatcher and
>>>> later chief dispatcher, supervising operations on increasing
>>>> lengths
>>>> of railroad. Ultimately, I ended up overseeing operating policies
>>>> and practices for half (6,000 miles) of the system and four years
>>>> later, the entire system. All with nothing but a high school
>>>> diploma.
>>>>
>>>> Now, in the railroad business, men can and do get killed and I was
>>>> witness to two deaths, both of which were ghastly and one due to a
>>>> case of dumb ass and the other a case of management stupidity. The
>>>> first 27 years were relatively stable with the business being
>>>> run by
>>>> those who came from the ground up and therefore there was a
>>>> hands-on
>>>> familiarity with was was required to run the railroad at 245AM on a
>>>> cold and rainy Sunday morning. And, 31 years, nine employee
>>>> fatalities occurred. However, in mid-1995, the MBAs showed up and
>>>> began running the railroad by "metrics" with everything packaged
>>>> neatly to fit on very pretty and colorful spreadsheets.
>>>>
>>>> And in late 1996, as a high school graduate at a senior level of
>>>> mid-
>>>> level management, I was demoted and replaced by an MBA who expected
>>>> me to reveal all of my techniques that allowed me to work my magic
>>>> learned over some three-plus decades. Four months later, two
>>>> additional MBAs had been added to the roster, trying to do what
>>>> I had
>>>> been doing and many of my tasks were eliminated because they could
>>>> not be measured and made to fit within computer programs that could
>>>> be "connected" to other programs that ran in other company
>>>> departments.
>>>>
>>>> However, during calendar year 1996, two employee fatalities
>>>> occurred;
>>>> 1997, six; 1998, five, 1999, three; and 2000, three. I left with a
>>>> suprise early retirement in April, 2000, because I was a trouble
>>>> maker and not a team player (I know this because my supervisors
>>>> told
>>>> me this). In so many words, the MBA management viewed employee
>>>> fatalities as a public relations fiasco rather than as a failure
>>>> internal policies, practices, and knowledge.
>>>>
>>>> End of my story.
>>>>
>>>> Bill Neill
>>>> Conroe, Texas
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>>
>
>
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