Better Find a "Throw Down Buzzard"

I was awakened at 0645 this morning by a loud boom followed immediately with a total loss of electricity.
Entergy, the local power company,  was on the scene within 45 minutes and had the power back.  As I watched the Electrical Journeyman replace the blown breaker, I noticed he knocked something off the transformer.  Upon further review it was the critter in the photo that caused the short and he paid dearly for his unfortunate wandering. 

Notice the black tail that was burned

The incident brought back memories of my DuPont days when you conducted "Root Cause Failure Analysis"  to learn of causes and prevent future failures.  We have investigated power outages of many causes.  Snakes have been culprits before, but usually in substations where electrical leads are crossed on floor surfaces, not fifty feet in the air.  One similar incident occurred when a mother raccoon gave birth to three babies on the top of a substation.  One of the cute, cuddly critters fell into the "Hot" part of the apparatus and shut down half of the entire plant.  The two surviving siblings were rescued and later released into the wild. 

Anytime an electrical outage occurred, you immediately begin looking for some sort of cause.  Lightning was often the reason, but not always.  Some causes were difficult to identify such as failing lightning arrestors that seem to fail only on coastal locations after twenty years of service or dirty insulators that were a result of extended droughts and not getting rinsed with normal rainfall. 

Birds were a common suspect.  You would find a charred spot on a pole or cross arm and a dead bird nearby.  This was always a preferred "root cause" as it was considered more of an "Act of God" and did not require elaborate investigations and expensive fixes to prevent recurrence. Sometimes it was necessary to ask for help from the experts.  One such expert was a company consultant, Ed Wharton.

Ed was a very intelligent Electrical Engineer that was eager to help and always provided practical analysis and solutions.

It was on one such incident that my Power Distribution supervisor, Paul Pool, had called Ed to help with an investigation of an outage that caused significant production loss.  After numerous time in the field, studying systems, prints and computer reviews, they were not coming up with any possible causes.  With tongue in cheek,  Ed turned to Paul and said,  "You need to get a 'throw down buzzard'"! 

Considering the state of current affairs where too many people don't take responsibility for their actions, it is time for our current leader to set the example. put away his "Throw down buzzard" and take responsibility for his actions and quit blaming others.

Let's Play Two

Baseball, You Bet!  When I first started following baseball the major league baseball teams played games in the classic parks like Ebbets Field, The Polo Grounds, Comiskey Park, Yankee Stadium, Crosley Field, Fenway Park, Forbes Field and Wrigley Field.  Today, only Fenway and Wrigley remain.

I had the opportunity to see a game in Fenway, the old Yankee Stadium and Baltimore's Memorial Stadium. This winter one of my friends brother in law organized a trip to Wrigley Field and George Fortune and I managed to get on the invite list.  Twelve of us made the trip.  Other than two hour flight delays going and coming due to record rains in Chicago the trip was well worth the effort. 

I had set three goals for the trip.  One, see a game in Wrigley, two, eat a Chicago deep dish pizza and three, eat a Chicago Dog at the ball park.

The night of our arrival we piled into two cabs and went to Lou Minalti's for pizza.  We ordered five large deep dish pizzas.  We ate three and a half and carried the remaining one back to the hotel desk clerk that recommended the place.  I have to say it was probably the best pizza I have ever eaten.

Saturday was game day. First pitch was at 12:05.  We arrived at the park around 0730am.  A nostalgic setting for a classic park.  There is no parking.  We walked around the entire park.  The first 10,000 fans would be given a key chain.  At exactly 1005am they opened the gates.  We were in the first 10 in the park.

 I must have heard the words from various members of our group, including myself, "We're at Wrigley Field" The park was old.  It didn't have the amenities of the new ones.  No "Jumbotron".  Not an abundance of concession stands. But what an atmosphere!  The fans were nice and the help was courteous.

The Cubs beat the Astros 7-2.  I could have been a Cubs fan.

Do You Remember Where You Were When....?

As America was reminded this weekend of the Terrorists attack on the WTC ten years ago, many people reflected on where they were and what they were doing when they heard about the Terrorists attacks on our soil.  I was in a meeting in a DuPont conference room when the HR manager broke in and said a plane had hit the Twin Towers.  Most of us spent the rest of the day catching up on the events as they unfolded. 

Many of us recall similar situations on other historical events.  For my generation, most everyone can tell you where they were when President Kennedy was shot.  I was coming out of a class in the Engineering Building at Lamar University when Bobby Kinnear stopped and told me.  I also recall that I was visiting the Safety Supervisor in the Chambers Works, NJ plant when I learned of the Challenger exploding. 

The more I thought about these events, the more events I began to recall details. 

In 1956 Buster Coats told me in the court yard at Bingman Elementary School that Don Larsen had pitched a perfect game.  I didn't like the Yankees and I didn't want to believe this bit of information.

I also remember the first time I met George Fortune.  It was on a sand pile between our houses when we were both seven years old.  I remember when I first met Bobby Katz.  It was in Mrs Fore's fourth grade class.  He was wearing brown shoes while the rest of us went barefoot.  I thought he was a strange kid to wear shoes to class.

Do you remember where you were, when...?

G-Man Named Top Ten Super Hero

 

Internet powerhouse Blogspot.com released the results of its year-long study covering all of the great Super Heroes of the last two centuries.  As expected Superman and Batman were at top of the list.  However, local Super Hero, G-Man was included on the list for the first time.  A spokesman for Blogspot cited G-Man's accomplishments as being on a level with all of the better known Heroes.
He said, G-Man preferred to work in anonymity.  His habit of giving credit to others for many years had kept his accomplishments low key and mostly unrecognized. 
Upon hearing of his recognition many well known personalities praised his achievements.

Queen Elizabeth was quoted to say, "Sir 'G'" is truly a remarkable man.  One of the most dependable and effective supporters that I have ever known.      

 

The Duke once said, "G-Man made what I am"











Top Gun and Sneaky Mom, both sometime nemesis of G-Man acknowledge that G-Man was a fierce competitor.  They expressed relief that he had retired, but were still concerned about facing him in the competitive Fantasy Football league.




The entire staff of blogspot.com is pleased to recognize the outstanding contributions of
G-Man.  His work with aspiring Super Heroes and the popular Super Hero Fantasy Camps will continue to make impacts on the world for many generations.  Our staff would also like to endorse the local efforts to rename Hwy 105 to Super Hero Highway.  An appropriate tribute to one of the ten greatest Super Heroes of our time.

 

Long Live G-Man

Doctor Reality

Four knee replacements, two hips and about one dozen other surgeries

In the summer of 1961 I had surgery to remove two torn meniscus from my right knee due to some football injuries. Two years later I had the same surgery on the left knee.   My friend, Bob Katz, had similar surgeries about the same time.  Before we turned 21 neither of us had any cushioning between the femur and tibula.  Once the bone covering wore off, arthritis was sure to set in.  By the time we graduated from college, we both knew that at some point in our lives we would have joint replacements.  The questions would be when to do it and what physician to use.  It would be 40 more years before these questions would be answered. 

It just recently occurred to me that there is no easy way to find these answers.  Every year in March the top 64 basketball teams play a single elimination tournament to find out who is the best team.  The NFL culminates its championship with the biggest sports spectacular in the world, The Super Bowl. 

American Idol, Dancing With The Stars and Big Brother have selection process to pick the top person in their field of endeavor.  There are Top Ten C&W songs, places to retire,  dividend paying stocks, best seller books and Pulitzer Prize winners.  There is the Motor Trend Automobiles of the Year.  Fantasy Football leagues rank the players by position. 

It seems that you can get some idea of the "Best of the Best" in most every fields of expertise except physicians.  How do you really know what doctor to select to perform cataract surgery,  repair a torn rotator cuff, treat your gout, perform a root canal, diagnose a pain or, in my case, perform knee replacement surgery?

With the popularity of TV reality shows, I suggest that one of the major networks start a surgeon competition.  The first series could be doctors performing knee and hip replacements.  Each week one would be "cut".  The second week the patients would be the judges and the viewers would vote off one until one is declared the Top Saw Bones.  Then we would know.

Kick the Can Down the Road

Lately, I have been hearing our President and many other politicians talking about "kicking the can down the road".  I am wondering just what does that mean?  I know in my youth it was an activity. 

When I was young in Grapevine, Texas, as kids we usually walked where ever we wanted to go. Main St was the location of the Drug Store, Dime Store, Wilhoite's Filling Station, the Picture Show and THE Snow Cone stand and one was always the destination. Some kids would kick a can as they walked along the road. Sometimes a small group would take turns kicking the same can. Once you reached your destination, you would leave the can at the curb and kick it home on the return trip. In any case, our "kicking the can down the road" had a purpose. Entertainment! Competition


It was an inexpensive form of entertainment.  All you needed was to find a empty can in some one's trash.  Well, at my Grandfather's house on the corner of Worth and Dooley was an old Bois d arc tree.
At some point in time Mother Nature had caused that tree's trunk to lay on the ground and turn up toward the sky at it's end.  The bois d arc tree grew an inedible fruit that we called a "hedge apple" or "horse apple".  These hedge apples were about the size of a grapefruit.  They were perfect substitutes for "the can".  It was a simply ritual.  Go outside, pick out one already on the ground and start "kicking it down the road"  They rolled very well.  Only problem was after repeated kicks they emitted a sticky white substance that got on your shoes or feet if you didn't have any shoes.  Since they were biodegradable, they could be left anywhere.

I don't know how long that old bois d arc tree was when I live there.  I do know after 67 years it's still there and producing hedge apples.

In rural America in the fifties, kicking the can down the road entertained pre teen kids.  After three or four years we out grew that activity and moved on to more sophisticated diversions.  I hope this country can out grow "Kicking the Can" and move on to more sophisticated activities in 2012

The Snakes Crawl at Night... That's What They Say...

    

When you live in the country with the bayou as your property line, sooner or later you are going to encounter some snakes.  I have never seen a rattlesnake here, but have numerous encounters with many other species.  Several cottonmouths have been found on the back porch and a few other locations.  I once got bit by a copperhead while cleaning up after Hurricane Rita, but it didn't inject any venom.  I was wearing gloves and it felt like a wasp sting.  I still have the fang marks on my finger.

However, the two moments that gave me the most angst involved other species.

Many years ago I was sound asleep when my daughter woke me up at 3:00am saying, "There is a snake in the den."  While not fully awake, I blurted out, "Go watch it", while I find something to dispose of it.  All I could find was a small curtain rod.  When I went into the den, there it was on the mat between the den and the kitchen.  The snake was red and yellow and black.  Considering it was early, I was not fully awake and about to wet my pants, I decided not to take any chances on getting that riddle I learned in grade school correct.  So, I bludgeoned it. I then turned around to see my daughter was standing on top of the pool table.  Turned out it was "red next to black", a 15 inch milk snake.

The other situation involved a rather large king snake in the barn.

We had a couple of horses and the back corner of the barn was enclosed.  Hay was stacked in the back of the barn and the feed was in two 30 gal. fiber drums in the front.  The saddles were on the right side and the bridles were hanging on some hooks just inside and to the right of the door.  I kept a broom in there to sweep out the loose hay.  Even though I dislike snakes I disliked rats even more.  A large snake of some kind had made its home in the feed room and I left it alone to keep the rats out.

I fed the horses twice a day and I usually was looking for the snake.  But the times I forgot about the snake was when it would scare the crap out of me.  This went on for some time.  Each time I forgot to look for the snake, it would be there.  I decide to end this heart stopping scenario after one such incident. I had this dog that would kill snakes and decided it was time to call her to action.  

The snake had crawled into some loose hay and I got the broom to sweep out the loose hay in the front of the feed room to give the dog room to work.  As I moved the pile of hay to the door opening, I was somewhat apprehensive, but reasonable sure the snake was not in that pile. With a big thrust I swept most of the pile out the door.  Suddenly, at my feet appeared the snake.  With several large "Whoops", I beat the snake with the broom only to realize I was beating the shadow of the reins hanging by the door. 

I never saw that snake again and I moved the reins to the other side of the barn.