skylab

I see. Now I know what to do if that ever happens to me.

>>>"But at the surface there is nothing to counter the net attractive force between the water molecules immediately beneath the surface -- and the skin of surface tension forms. Anything sticking down in this skin -- like the dangling legs of the unfortunate yellowjacket -- will be attracted to the underlying water, dragging the creature down into the water with such force that it is unable to escape, its struggles serving only to get itself wet, deepening its plight. Ahh.....so, how do you and your condo neighbors get out of this pool once you take a dip?!?! Now don't tell me you have someone sweep you out!

We're kinda straying a little but.......... The oil companies KNOW where the oil is; now if only Nancy and her gang would let them drill for it!

>>>"Instead the visit stretched out to almost a month. Shell had been prepared to fly me back and forth so I could spend weekends with my wife and infant daughter. But I'm a trouper, Shell was in a world of hurt, and my wife agreed that I should stay in Houston till Shell was up and running again. So I worked 18x7 until the job was done, taking only short meal breaks and the occasional long dinner break, sometimes sleeping at Shell, sometimes sleeping at my hotel a few blocks away. So.....YOU'RE the one responsible for high gas prices!!

Oh, I remember the Fifties quite well. I have a large selection of 50s stuff on the computer that I listen to now and again. Get teary-eyed every time. I remember my Dad wasn't too happy with my listening to that "stuff" back then. My Mother on the other hand is probably responsible for my love of music. She always had something on the "Victrola" from the previous era: Benny Goodman, et al.

Well, I DID say "one" of my favorites. I guess if I had to pick just one, it'd be JOHNNY B GOOD.

You left out one of my favorites of Chuck Berry.....My Ding-a-ling! I've got a recording that goes over 11 minutes. Good stuff.

>>>"...take the name of your first pet, and the name of the first street you remember where you grew up..." Smokey Lakewood ??? Now there's a name for ya!

>>>"People dive on that wreck. Isn't there a law now forbidding people from going inside the hull? NO ONE dives on that wreck. It's in 525 feet of water! There's been a couple of submersables down to take fotos and one removed/replaced the ships bell. The bell is now on display at the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum on Whitefish Point; A MUST stop for anyone interested who is anywhere near the area. I couldn't leave there without shedding a tear.

I couldn't tell you who was the first with seat belts either optional or standard. I had a '55 T-Bird and I had to buy belts for that. Can't remember for sure but I think I even had to buy belts for my '63 Avanti, but that doesn't seem right. I do remember that my '64 T-Bird DID have belts as standard. Other than as a spectator (of which there were many, many, many times), the only race track experience I have driving is in Go-Carts. I pushed Midgets with that truck I had. That's how the clutch got burned out! I think I'd make a good race car driver though as I do pretty well in some of the race sims, and we got a couple of trophys with the Go-Cart. But that was back before all the factory teams started showing up. Been thinking about getting a car for the Bump and Run here at the local fair, but I'm having just a little trouble convincing you know who!

Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company owned the Edmund Fitzgerald. Take it from there.

>>>Gordon Lightfoot's "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" is one of my favorite recordings. Mine too. Brings tears to my eyes ever time I hear it. >>You say you owned a piece of the ship. You were an investor? Yes, albeit a small one. Nevertheless, I owned part of that boat if only a few rivets!!

Your traffic ticket incident brought back a memory of a traffic stop I once had. My first vehicle was actually a pickup truck. But, it wasn't too long before I graduated to a car. Now, way back then seat belts were only installed in airplanes and race cars. You had to go to an auto store to buy seat belts. Then you had to install them yourself. Auto manufacturers didn't even offer them as optional equipment. Well, I wanted seat belts. I knew the value in them and knew that I'd feel safer with them. They actually made you feel like "part of the car" while driving. Still do to me. So, I had this beautiful 1953 Chrysler 2-door hardtop. I had the hood shaved and got some oversized fender skirts out of Detroit that made it look like it was lowered a couple of inches. I had dual exhausts installed with a pair of beautiful sounding glass pack mufflers that made a nice low rummble sound. Not loud by any means. But.....one night while out "cruising", I was pulled over by the police. The officer came up to the driver's side and said, "Those mufflers are kinda loud, aren't they, son?" Before I could answer, he kinda leaned into the window and saw that I was wearing seat belts. I always wore them. He then said, "Oh, you're one of them hot rodders, aren't you?" I said, "What do you mean?" He said, "Well, you're wearing seat belts." I politely said, "Sir, the day will come when YOU will be REQUIRED to wear seat belts before I am." And so it came to pass that the law first required police officers to wear seat belts at all times long before it was required of people to wear them. It was a few years before they were even offered as an option. So.....buckle up!

>>>Did you get seasick? (Serious question.) Never been seasick in my life. Remember, I was born in water!! I've spent countless hours on the water in my life. The one time we had "serious" waves on our way North from New Zealand, I became a little "apprehensive" when we didn't slow down some in the heavy (seemed to me anyway) seas. I was having trouble staying in my bunk. So, I just went up to the Pilot House and spent most of the night up there. Would I have gotten sick had I not gone up there? Who knows. All I could think of for some dumb reason was the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald (I owned part of THAT boat). Anyway, the heavy seas didn't last much into the next day and all was calm once again.

>>>sky (if I may get familiar ), I guess that's alright. >>>...like to hear about ..... your long trip in the containership. >>>Did they let you take the helm? Oh yes. I've wheeled a couple of ships in the past. >>>Did you encounter any storms? Nothing too bad. Maybe twenty-foot seas at worst. No real weather. Rain in a couple of ports. >>>Did you get to know any of the crew really well? (What were their life stories like?) With very few exceptions, I had the same crew for the whole trip. The Captain and Chief Engineer were British and the rest of the crew were from the Philippines. Most were quite young and good sailors. Had some good parites too. >>>Did you get down to the engine room? Oh ya.....covered the whole boat. >>>Where was the ship registered? London (England) >>>Did the crew speak English? Well the Captain and Chief did (obviously!), and the rest of the crew, quite well actually. Had no trouble conversing with any of them. Great bunch of guys. As to what did I DO for 75 days? Well, I "helped" them find all the places we went to. I boarded in Savannah, Georgia. From there we sailed to Houston, Manzanillo, through the Panama Canal, Pitcairn Island (of Bounty fame), Auckland, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Wellington, Auckland (2nd call), Pitcairn Island (2nd call), through the Panama Canal again, Kingston, Philadelphia, Norfolk, and back to Savannah. I had a GPS system with me that had marine info on it along with charts for the Pacific and other areas that we would be sailing in. The Captain was so impressed with my GPS that he said he was going to get one when he got back to London. I along with the other passengers (never more than nine at any one time) had the run of the ship. So, I spent most of my time in the Pilot House. After all that's where the best view is! There was a computer for the crew to use in an office that had MS Flite Sim 2000 on it. So I fiddled with that a little. The Captain after finding out I was a retired airline pilot asked me to teach him how to fly. He was already doing a fair job of it but wanted more info on the nav stuff. So we had "sessions" every now and then and I eventually gave him a "Check Ride". He passed and I printed up a "Certificate" and gave it to him at dinner that night. The Captain's wife joined the ship on our 2nd call in Auckland and left with the Captain in Philadelphia where he got off to go on his scheduled leave. We became good friends and both the Captain and his wife visited us in Florida for a few days and we took them to Disney, etc. Enough for now.

In one of Mike's Blogs he wrote: "Would you open a thread in your blog giving the highlights of your career, and then we can do another interview." At first I said I would not, but, what the hey? What follows is a brief synopsis of what Mike calls my..."fascinating career". Born at an early age in the 30s. Educated in a semi-public grade school through the 7th Grade. Boarding schools 8 through 12. College ½ year. Army 3 years, with tour in Korea. Back to college.....no luck. Scared to death of airplanes (I'd been on two commercial flights and five military flights) until a friend took me for a ride in a light twin. Decided then I wanted to be an airline pilot. Took lessons. Got all the ratings except FE & ATR (they came later). Got hired by Eastern. Flew Connies for six months on their Shuttle Operation. Became psychic; left Eastern for United. (Eastern went under later) Flew DC-6s/7s, B-737s, and DC-8s. While with UAL, became a railroad engineer for a shortline railroad. Retired from flying. Continued as engineer until moving to Florida. Survived three hurricanes. Moved back North. Here I am. Naturally, along with all of the above were many other activities such as numerous train trips on AMTRAK (in the cab and in back) and in Private Rail Cars; a 75-day trip aboard a containership across the Pacific and back, as well as a couple of trips aboard Great Lakes Freighters and on my own boats. Guess I prefer the water to anything else. Don't know how "fascinating" that is, but I've had a good time.

Hey...it mitta been one of "our" DC-6s if it was a charter, who knows? Only charter I remember in the -6 was one from Mobile to Nassau and a deadhead back to Miami when we flew at 3 thousand feet with the cockpit windows OPEN most of the way. What a racket! I was putting Cugat in a general group of Latin American-type musicians along with the likes of Prada. Cugat was Cuban. I've used that line a few times: "That's not a gun in my pocket, I'm just happy to see you!"

Barbados would hardly be a "puddle jump" from NYC, even though it would be over water all the way. A pretty big puddle. Anyway, it wouldn't've been one of "our" DC-6s. We didn't fly that route unless it was a charter. Ah...I can hear your Mother's music now: Xavier Cugat. You mentioned one of Mae West's sayings. One of her best was when someone commented on a huge diamond ring she was wearing. The person said, "My goodness, what a ring!" And Mae answered in her famous voice, "Goodness had NOTHING to do with it!" As to her 'rich vs poor', I'll take rich any day. I'm not, but wouldn't mind being so. Only 3.5 years in boarding school, A? You musta been smart. Took me nearly 6 to get through! As to: "...the highlights of your career..." You pretty well summed it up in a nutshell. School; Propliners; Jetliners; Trains; retirement. I like the last part the best. I "became" a locomotive engineer while still flying, not after I retired. I already "knew" how to run a locomotive; just as I already "knew" how to fly before my first lesson. Kinda like cars; knew how to drive before I was "legal". Anything that is propelled by something, I can usually figure out how to operate it. I won't be starting a separate blog. Not much more to add to the above. You can ask me anything, but I won't be giving you ALL the answers you might want. As you've no doubt noticed, I try and maintain a low profile. Not that I'm "wanted" or anything like that; it's just that I like it like that.