Memorable people you've met?

[MGMcAnick]

Oops, sorry wesw. I didn't mean to offend you. I'll have to fix my signature when I have a few minutes.

[MGMcAnick]

OK, I removed wesw, and put Darrin in his place. It looks like it changed my signature on all my visible posts.

[Bicycle Bill]

It looks like it changed my signature on all my visible posts.

It does on all your posts, even the ones you would have posted back in 2015 when you first signed in here.  The same thing would happen if you were to change your avatar, if you were using one.

...and put Darrin in his place.

Too bad we can't put Trump in his place that easily.

-"BB"-

[BoSoxGal]

I met Chevy Chase at LAX when I was just a kid, my brother and I wanted his autograph - our first trip to California and we had an autograph book back when those were fashionable. He was honestly kind of a jerk.

I met Hillary Rodham Clinton twice, once when she came to my college on her healthcare tour in the early 90s and again when she spoke at a public interest law awards banquet I attended in law school in the late 90s at the height of Monicagate. We chatted briefly both times - I honestly found her not all that charismatic.

I met Monica Lewinsky when she spoke to a law school seminar on the impeachment of Clinton that I took my 3L year at Georgetown - taught by Neal Katyal who is pretty well known now but was just becoming so then.

I had Sam Dash for Criminal law at Georgetown - he was Watergate prosecutor and I first saw him as a small child watching the hearings with my mom, so it was really neat to have him as a mentor 25 years later.

I met Chief Justice Rehnquist walking outside the SCOTUS building on my way to classes one morning as a 1L - it was a brief exchange of morning pleasantries, but notable just the same.

I met Senator George Mitchell when he visited Georgetown to talk about the peace process in Northern Ireland - I was a Mainer at the time so we visited a bit and he was very gracious and interesting to talk with.

I met then Congressman John McCain when I was a kid living in Arizona and he visited my school and talked about his experiences in Vietnam. I was profoundly inspired by him to seek a life in public service.

I met Kurt Vonnegut and Tim O’Brien and Seamus Heaney and Stephen King at various times during undergraduate and graduate school and have inscribed books from each of them. Was lucky enough to chat with each of them but especially a long Q&A with Tim O’Brien, as he spoke to my graduate English TA class who were teaching his book The Things They Carried as class book at UMaine that year.

I met Itzhak Perlman when I had the privilege of picking him up at the Bangor Maine international airport and driving him to Orono where he was staying to perform at the Maine Center for the Arts Gala event when I worked there as an undergraduate. We chatted for the 30 minutes or so drive, mostly about nothing much because I was far too nervous and shy to do much more - but I did get the chance to tell him how much I loved his work on the soundtrack of Schindler’s List and it was nice to hear how much that work meant to him, too. He seemed either shy or aloof, I wasn’t entirely sure.

Those are most of the famous people I’ve met (I feel like I’m missing someone, but can’t wrap my brain around who) - but honestly not the most memorable. It seemed like the focus was on famous so that’s where I went.

The most memorable weren’t anybody anyone else would know - except a couple of dearly departed posters from this place.

[Gob]

We met Heston Blumenthal when we dined at "The Fat Duck."

Hen did a fish cooking course with Rick Stein

I bumped into Jimmy Page in Waitrose in London.

[RayThom]

In the end, the most memorable people I have met would be those who remember me. To the best of my knowledge, this has yet to be revealed.

Why some people need some kind of linkage to well known people is an esteem issue -- IMHO.

I gladly remain anonymous to almost all but family, and good friends. They know who I am and, eventually, they will be the ones who knew who I was.

Isn't that all you need?

[MGMcAnick]

OK BSG, you win.

I remember a Car Talk caller admitting to calling from Washington DC. Click or Clack (no one ever knew which was which) asked if she were a politician or a lawyer, saying that those were the only people who live there. `

The other day, a customer told me that his daughter lives in DC. I asked which she is. He admitted to her being an attorney in the Department of the US Treasury. I guess they were right. (Then I had to let him in on the joke.)

Actually I have two cousins and a nephew who live there who are not attorneys. One cousin is a retired career diplomat having lived all over the world. The other is a retired nurse. My nephew is a reporter for the NYT. (He has stories he can't even share with family.)

[rubato]

Haile Selassie in 1967. He spoke at the 99th anniversary of the UC system. The event was held at UCLA.

A 5th grader I just stood nervously while my grandfather and he greeted each other.

yrs,
rubato

[Darren]

Frank was the supervisor on the highway project I worked for two summers. He mentioned and recommended his old employer who hired him as a concrete foreman overseas. I went to work for them about six or seven years later after getting out of the Navy and finishing college.

I didn't interview much.

The recruiter for the Norfolk Southern lost interest after he learned I had been in the Navy and like his time in the Air Force had frequented an enlisted mans club in Greece. Apparently like the signs in Norfolk, "Dogs and sailors keep off the grass", Air Force personnel weren't happy when ships anchored and released swarms of boozing sailors.

Frank's old employer hired me and set a course for my life I never imagined in college. I've lost count of the power plants where I've been on projects.

Frank would have approved. He was a surveyor and married the same woman twice and he liked to gamble. Professionally he was a stickler for quality. I occasionally pass over a bridge that was part of that project fifty years ago. Frank was the state's bridge guy for the district. One of the markers of a good bridge job is the approach slabs. If you feel a bump either driving onto or off a bridge, someone screwed up.

The slabs on the two bridges that Frank supervised for the state still allow a smooth transition. I think of Frank every time I drive that stretch of interstate.

Thanks, Frank!

[RayThom]

Frank was the supervisor on the highway project I worked for two summers. He mentioned and recommended his old employer who hired him as a concrete foreman overseas. I went to work for them about six or seven years later after getting out of the Navy and finishing college. I didn't interview much. The recruiter for the Norfolk Southern lost interest after he learned I had been in the Navy and like his time in the Air Force had frequented an enlisted mans club in Greece. Apparently like the signs in Norfolk, "Dogs and sailors keep off the grass", Air Force personnel weren't happy when ships anchored and released swarms of boozing sailors. Frank's old employer hired me and set a course for my life I never imagined in college. I've lost count of the power plants where I've been on projects. Frank would have approved. He was a surveyor and married the same woman twice and he liked to gamble. Professionally he was a stickler for quality. I occasionally pass over a bridge that was part of that project fifty years ago. Frank was the state's bridge guy for the district. One of the markers of a good bridge job is the approach slabs. If you feel a bump either driving onto or off a bridge, someone screwed up. The slabs on the two bridges that Frank supervised for the state still allow a smooth transmission. I think of Frank every time I drive that stretch of interstate. Thanks, Frank!

Darren, I'm having a hard time understanding this anecdote. You didn't mention "Doc" once.

What's going on?

[Darren]

Darren, I'm having a hard time understanding this anecdote. You didn't mention "Doc" once.

What's going on?

Doc got out the drawing of her mother's side genealogy. I'll have some more Doc stuff other than the man who went to California in 1848 at the age of 49. I thought the move was earlier. It was his father that was in the war.

Doc did tell me today she only has six degrees. She's also a member of the DAR.

On my maternal side there's a rumor my great-grandfather had the family tree researched. He gave that up when he was told they all had to leave the British Isles for one reason or another. I guess I can take some consolation they didn't get a free boat ride to Australia.

[ex-khobar Andy]

One unforgettable character for me was an Israeli General called Barak.

We had a project with Israeli Military Industries to investigate an old munitions manufacturing plant about 20 kilometers north of Tel Aviv and make recommendations for cleanup for civilian use. When it was commissioned in 1950 it was well away from the city but sprawl meant that the city got ever closer. By 1996 this was prime cliff top real estate on the Med. I’m guessing 100 acres, 40 hectares - something like that. Over the years they had made RDX and HMX and nitroguanidine and nitroglycerine and nitrocellulose and I’m probably forgetting a few. All the manufacturing equipment and reactors and storage bins were still there and a trained eye (not mine) could see product all around, some of it untouched for 20 years. There were four of us: a guy from the US Chemical Corps; a UXO (unexploded ordnance) guy; one of our engineers; and me - the lab guy. I went round the site with the UXO man. His orders were simple. “Walk behind me in my footprints and DON’T FUCKING TOUCH ANYTHING!”

Once we had made a survey of the site, we had a sit down meeting with Gen Barak.

He took no notes. I did. I probably had five pages. Every instruction was crystal clear. He summed up at the end and looked at each of us in turn. You are going to do A, B and C. And he was going to do P, Q and R.

I’ve been in a lot of meetings where at the end you’re still unsure who does what, but we all muddle through somehow.

A day or two later we got a written summary from Barak. Everything we had agreed and decided was in there.

It was lesson in how to run a meeting which stayed with me for the rest of my career. I like to think that I was halfway successful

[MajGenl.Meade]

I met the most memorable person in the world.

But I forget who and where and . . .

[Joe Guy]

Was it on Memorial Day?

[MajGenl.Meade]

Was what?

[Darren]

One unforgettable character for me was an Israeli General called Barak.

We had a project with Israeli Military Industries to investigate an old munitions manufacturing plant about 20 kilometers north of Tel Aviv and make recommendations for cleanup for civilian use. When it was commissioned in 1950 it was well away from the city but sprawl meant that the city got ever closer. By 1996 this was prime cliff top real estate on the Med. I’m guessing 100 acres, 40 hectares - something like that. Over the years they had made RDX and HMX and nitroguanidine and nitroglycerine and nitrocellulose and I’m probably forgetting a few. All the manufacturing equipment and reactors and storage bins were still there and a trained eye (not mine) could see product all around, some of it untouched for 20 years. There were four of us: a guy from the US Chemical Corps; a UXO (unexploded ordnance) guy; one of our engineers; and me - the lab guy. I went round the site with the UXO man. His orders were simple. “Walk behind me in my footprints and DON’T FUCKING TOUCH ANYTHING!”

Once we had made a survey of the site, we had a sit down meeting with Gen Barak.

He took no notes. I did. I probably had five pages. Every instruction was crystal clear. He summed up at the end and looked at each of us in turn. You are going to do A, B and C. And he was going to do P, Q and R.

I’ve been in a lot of meetings where at the end you’re still unsure who does what, but we all muddle through somehow.

A day or two later we got a written summary from Barak. Everything we had agreed and decided was in there.

It was lesson in how to run a meeting which stayed with me for the rest of my career. I like to think that I was halfway successful

That's extremely focused. Thanks for relating that.

I was on a project with a manager somewhat similar. He never said much in the meetings. When he finally spoke, which was always in a very soft voice, he cut to the chase and delineated exactly what was to be done.

We worked with a written division of responsibility due to the multiple partners. There was never a question of who was responsible.

On a unique project like the one you described that could have been a disaster. Did the potential exist for explosives creating greater issues due to off gassing?

[MajGenl.Meade]

Did the potential exist for explosives creating greater issues due to off gassing?

Joe? Darren needs you.

[RayThom]

Darren wrote: ↑ Tue May 26, 2020 7:13 am
Did the potential exist for explosives creating greater issues due to off gassing?

Darren, seeing that this is a "gas" question, you may want to run this by Doc. I bet she has the answer you're looking for.

[ex-khobar Andy]

On a unique project like the one you described that could have been a disaster. Did the potential exist for explosives creating greater issues due to off gassing?

Not really. We didn't consider it. Most explosives when they degrade do so to relatively innocuous materials. The biggest danger (after BANG!) was contamination of groundwater and the immediate marine environment.

A side story to this project was that, while we could get some of the lab testing done in Israel, we had to ship a lot of them back to US. Generally they are shipped in picnic coolers with ice packs or blue ice to help preserve them. I knew that a lot of these samples would contain small amounts of UXO. Not enough to explode, but certainly enough to set off a bomb-sniffing dog. I had to go down to El Al at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv to explain to them (this was 1996 shortly after some bombings in Jerusalem) what I was doing. For obvious reasons, they wouldn't really discuss the details of their testing procedures but in the end their only requests were (a) that I notify them of each shipment and (b) we not use ice but instead solid CO2 or blue ice because water, if it spilled, would corrode the inside of their planes. We shipped dozens of coolers with hundreds of samples with no hitch at the Israel end but often some glitch at the NY/JFK import end.

Edited to correct a typo.

[Darren]

Arizona was the head of our group on board ship. As a warrant officer he was already a standout ship handler. I found out later he had made warrant officer in his early twenties.

Because the boilers on the destroyer had been modified in the yards to burn a lighter grade distillate, we could refuel off the aircraft carrier Kennedy. While conning during a refueling, Arizona brought the ship in so close to the Kennedy that our yardarm was below the Kennedy's overhanging flight deck. Panic ensued on their bridge.

All ships have a breakway song that's played over the external speakers once the hoses are released, and all hoses and wirelines are withdrawn. Ours was Dueling Banjos. The conning officer would ring up flank speed and the ship would do a full rudder to move away from the carrier or oiler and return to station.

Arizona had a soft side for his men. A late return for duty due to drinking wasn't always disciplined. Arizona made it up to lieutenant commander before he retired.