Memorable people you've met?

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Darren
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Memorable people you've met?

Post by Darren »

Who stands out in your memory for one reason or another that you met personally?

One I met was an electrical engineer on a project. He was a WW II vet. One weekend we went to see his father near Baltimore who had worked at Bethlehem Steel's Sparrow Point works as a tool and die maker.

Given his father's age at the time, he started working sometime in the early 1920's. I found his discussion of the things he made and worked on fascinating. In those days if you needed a twist drill you made it.

His son Lew while serving in WWII was badly wounded. The story he recounted was one I never researched. During his convalescence he was quartered with a family in Belgium. At that time the Belgium government was paying people to have children. The family had a daughter they wanted Lew to father a child with. Lew did.

Lew maintained that the son grew up and became a doctor. True or a tall tale? I have no idea.
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RayThom
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Memorable people you've met?

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Drivel wrote:
Tue May 19, 2020 2:10 pm
Who stands out in your memory for one reason or another that you met personally? One I met was an electrical engineer on a project. He was a WW II vet. One weekend we went to see his father near Baltimore who had worked at Bethlehem Steel's Sparrow Point works as a tool and die maker. Given his father's age at the time, he started working sometime in the early 1920's. I found his discussion of the things he made and worked on fascinating. In those days if you needed a twist drill you made it. His son Lew while serving in WWII was badly wounded. The story he recounted was one I never researched. During his convalescence he was quartered with a family in Belgium. At that time the Belgium government was paying people to have children. The family had a daughter they wanted Lew to father a child with. Lew did. Lew maintained that the son grew up and became a doctor. True or a tall tale? I have no idea.
Ah, the memories. Back in grade school, maybe it was 1961, Little Oscar (of the Oscar Mayer meat company) met me on the playground during the yearly Spring fair. We shared a wiener and a hand shake -- at least I think it was his hand.

I'm pretty sure it was the highlight of his visit.
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Gob
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Re: Memorable people you've met?

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John Otway.

Met him several times, and have many a photo of me and him, (and his partner Wild Willy Barrett.)
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”

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Re: Memorable people you've met?

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The great Dave Bickers, king of the 250cc scrambles. I must have been 8 or 9 years old when I got his autograph at the Hadleigh scramble track in Essex and that was at the very start of his career. He twice became European champion a couple of years after that.

It was like meeting one of the gods (to a young kid)

He went on to own a successful stunt engineer business for da movies. Did work on a lot of James Bond films and Harry Potter stuff. Died in 2014.

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Re: Memorable people you've met?

Post by ex-khobar Andy »

Geoff Capes - world's strongest man (1980s); UK shot put champion

In 1967 I was a halfway decent schoolboy shot putter and got an invitation to the East of England championships. This was not the nationals, but if I ever fancied my chances at the Olympics this was the way to go.

My recollection is that there were 25 boys invited. Not all showed up - I think there were six who were not there at the start. The way a field event like that works is that you all take turns; and then after you have had three throws, the top six get another three throws to figure out the medals. After I had my third go Khobar, A. was in third place. I knew I could take those guys - I'd been concentrating on making sure I was legit and didn't step out of the circle rather than going for maximum distance. The three of us were all within a foot or so with 42 to 43 feet. They continued to call out the names of the guys still to take their third shot and included the names of those who had not shown up. After all they might be just a bit late getting there.

Capes, G.'s name was called for the third time. Out stepped this largish bulky chap in a faded blue track suit. He picked up the shot and didn't bother to shed the track suit. He tossed that thing 56 feet. He didn't deign to show up for the final three throws.

In about one second my Olympic dreams evaporated. I think I managed to get by one of those guys on my last throw, but my heart had gone.

If you ever watched those late night things where large men pick up semi wheels and walk while carrying 300 lbs, Geoff Capes won that twice and came second a few times.

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Re: Memorable people you've met?

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Kerry Strug (US gymnast, 1996 Olympics)--after the Olympics (where she tore a tendon in her leg but still competed in the vault and stuck the landing to help the US get all around gold) I was part of a team that engaged her to do ACE Bandage ads (I worked for Becton Dickinson). I dealt mainly with her management company and attorneys, but was in several meetings with her in attendance and I found her quite well spoken for a 20 year old who spent nealy all her spare time in a gym--quite different from some other athletes I have met (like football players).

She also attended our 100th anniversary celebration, and she met with a number of girls (including my daughter) who were young gymnasts; she readily interacted with them; I was very impressed---not like a lot of other prima donnas I had met from other fields.

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Re: Memorable people you've met?

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I had the pleasure to meet the late Charleton Heston and his family at Yellowstone Park in 1971.

It was aboard a Snow Cat for a winter excursion through the park.

Your collective inability to acknowledge this obvious truth makes you all look like fools.


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Gob
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Re: Memorable people you've met?

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ex-khobar Andy wrote:
Tue May 19, 2020 5:59 pm
Geoff Capes - world's strongest man (1980s); UK shot put champion
Remember him well!
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”

Darren
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Re: Memorable people you've met?

Post by Darren »

Gob wrote:
Wed May 20, 2020 6:51 am
ex-khobar Andy wrote:
Tue May 19, 2020 5:59 pm
Geoff Capes - world's strongest man (1980s); UK shot put champion
Remember him well!
The truck tires, if they're on a solid center rim, weigh closer to 400 lbs.
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Darren
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Re: Memorable people you've met?

Post by Darren »

Another memorable person was an instructor from Turkey who taught a class in a long narrow room with maybe seven of us on one side of the tables and him on the other pacing back and forth as he lectured. I smelled B.O. every time he went by. Later on a double date my buddy got in the car before we picked up the girls and I picked up on the same smell. What I thought was B.O. was cologne.

Three of us went to the instructor's house to get help on a problem. When we knocked on the door I noticed the wire grid embedded in the glass. That was right before we all jumped back when a loud thud surprised us accompanied by the set of German Shepard jaws on the other side of the glass. The instructor came down the stairs and pulled the dog off the door. Then he came down and let us in.

We were apprehensive about the dog until we saw it outside a window running back and forth on the peaked roof over the garage. There was no need to walk the dog. Just let it out on the roof to take care of business. The rain took care of clean up.

The instructor passed on a few years ago. I'm not sure if he continued teaching after he set up a consulting business. I did hear later that his dog munched on someone.
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RayThom
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Memorable people you've met?

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Drivel wrote:
Wed May 20, 2020 12:29 pm
Another memorable person was an instructor from Turkey who taught a class in a long narrow room with maybe seven of us on one side of the tables and him on the other pacing back and forth as he lectured. I smelled B.O. every time he went by. Later on a double date my buddy got in the car before we picked up the girls and I picked up on the same smell. What I thought was B.O. was cologne.

Three of us went to the instructor's house to get help on a problem. When we knocked on the door I noticed the wire grid embedded in the glass. That was right before we all jumped back when a loud thud surprised us accompanied by the set of German Shepard jaws on the other side of the glass. The instructor came down the stairs and pulled the dog off the door. Then he came down and let us in.

We were apprehensive about the dog until we saw it outside a window running back and forth on the peaked roof over the garage. There was no need to walk the dog. Just let it out on the roof to take care of business. The rain took care of clean up.

The instructor passed on a few years ago. I'm not sure if he continued teaching after he set up a consulting business. I did hear later that his dog munched on someone.
Darren, as a memorable people story this one stinks.
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Darren
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Re: Memorable people you've met?

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RayThom wrote:
Wed May 20, 2020 5:45 pm

Darren, as a memorable people story this one stinks.
Geez, Ray I haven't met any celebrities in my life.

Buying a copy of one of Kathy Griffin's book is my closest encounter. For a buck at the Dollar Tree library I figured I couldn't go wrong.

I read it in the bathroom. As I finish pages I rip them out to wipe my ass.

I'm guessing you don't want to read about my two acquaintances who regularly ate roadkill. One liked finding kills during winter in Mississippi because he didn't have a refrigerator and could keep it outside.

In the summer he had to find them soon after their demise. The other made a practice of hitting chickens in the road with the survey truck. Those were fresh especially if he hit them on the way home after work.
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RayThom
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Memorable people you've met?

Post by RayThom »

RayThom wrote:
Wed May 20, 2020 5:45 pm
Darren, as a memorable people story this one stinks.
Drivel wrote:
Wed May 20, 2020 6:04 pm
Geez, Ray I haven't met any celebrities in my life.
Buying a copy of one of Kathy Griffin's book is my closest encounter. For a buck at the Dollar Tree library I figured I couldn't go wrong. I read it in the bathroom. As I finish pages I rip them out to wipe my ass.
Darren, the toilet paper shortage is easing up. I suggest you stop by Wally World to check out the fresh supply.
Drivel wrote:
Wed May 20, 2020 6:04 pm
I'm guessing you don't want to read about my two acquaintances who regularly ate roadkill. One liked finding kills during winter in Mississippi because he didn't have a refrigerator and could keep it outside. In the summer he had to find them soon after their demise. The other made a practice of hitting chickens in the road with the survey truck. Those were fresh especially if he hit them on the way home after work.
I knew an old-timer in the Poconos who used to "hunt" game the same way. He was known locally as Flat Rabbit Jack. If it was warm, it was a meal.
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Re: Memorable people you've met?

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Another memorable individual was a PhD chemist that worked for Westinghouse in their research group in Churchill, PA. He used spectrometry in his work. A much smaller firm developed a patented material that was better than that made and used by Westinghouse.

After he determined the ingredients in the competitor's material, Westinghouse patented the same product with the exact same makeup.

Later in the lead up to the financial crisis which doomed Westinghouse, divisions were no longer required to finance R&D. In the race between the divisions to boost their profits and get attaboys, none financed R&D. The PhD after being laid off setup his own lab at home and continued his work with Westinghouse on a contract basis. He did better financially after the layoff.
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RayThom
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Memorable people you've met?

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Darren wrote:
Wed May 20, 2020 9:39 pm
Another memorable individual was a PhD chemist that worked for Westinghouse in their research group in Churchill, PA. He used spectrometry in his work. A much smaller firm developed a patented material that was better than that made and used by Westinghouse. After he determined the ingredients in the competitor's material, Westinghouse patented the same product with the exact same makeup.Later in the lead up to the financial crisis which doomed Westinghouse, divisions were no longer required to finance R&D. In the race between the divisions to boost their profits and get attaboys, none financed R&D. The PhD after being laid off setup his own lab at home and continued his work with Westinghouse on a contract basis. He did better financially after the layoff.
Was this guy Gwendolyn "Doc" Gump's brother by any chance?
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Re: Memorable people you've met?

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Ray, he was a long time friend of Doc. He and I met twice and swapped Westinghouse stories. I told him about the bag man who carried two briefcases filled with money to Switzerland to deposit for a bribe. He wasn't surprised. Between the two of us we fleshed out where Westinghouse went into the abyss.

Corporations are remarkably unethical and don't care much about legalities when there's money to be made.

One incident was when the project manager called a meeting and started out, "This is not to go out of this room." That was at least twenty-five years ago. Who knew the central item in the $200 million dollar deal was a pig in a poke. The customer didn't.
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dales
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Corporations are remarkably unethical and don't care much about legalities when there's money to be made.
Sounds like Elon Musk who extended his middle finger to the Alameda County health Dept. when asked to close up his tinker toy factory in Fremont.

Your collective inability to acknowledge this obvious truth makes you all look like fools.


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Re: Memorable people you've met?

Post by ex-khobar Andy »

Darren:
Another memorable individual was a PhD chemist that worked for Westinghouse in their research group in Churchill, PA. He used spectrometry in his work. A much smaller firm developed a patented material that was better than that made and used by Westinghouse.

After he determined the ingredients in the competitor's material, Westinghouse patented the same product with the exact same makeup.
Most chemists use spectrometry in their work in some form or another. It's a bit like saying of an engineer that s/he used a ruler or a pressure gauge or a screwdriver.

Reverse engineering a competitor's product is pretty unethical. I don't believe that most companies do it - at least companies I have been involved with have not behaved that way. Partly it's self-preservation, and it's what the patent system is designed for. I'm a little unsure how Westinghouse could patent a copy 'with the exact same makeup' unless the patent examiner was totally incompetent or corrupt. I've been asked a few times by a client to analyze a competitor's product and I have always refused and where necessary I have informed my bosses and received their support, even if it meant turning away a nice sized earner. Whether they found someone who could or would do it, I don't know.

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Re: Memorable people you've met?

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ex-khobar Andy wrote:
Thu May 21, 2020 1:58 am
Darren:
Another memorable individual was a PhD chemist that worked for Westinghouse in their research group in Churchill, PA. He used spectrometry in his work. A much smaller firm developed a patented material that was better than that made and used by Westinghouse.

After he determined the ingredients in the competitor's material, Westinghouse patented the same product with the exact same makeup.
Most chemists use spectrometry in their work in some form or another. It's a bit like saying of an engineer that s/he used a ruler or a pressure gauge or a screwdriver.

Reverse engineering a competitor's product is pretty unethical. I don't believe that most companies do it - at least companies I have been involved with have not behaved that way. Partly it's self-preservation, and it's what the patent system is designed for. I'm a little unsure how Westinghouse could patent a copy 'with the exact same makeup' unless the patent examiner was totally incompetent or corrupt. I've been asked a few times by a client to analyze a competitor's product and I have always refused and where necessary I have informed my bosses and received their support, even if it meant turning away a nice sized earner. Whether they found someone who could or would do it, I don't know.
It was unethical beyond question, The company lawyers explained instead of saying it consisted of A+B+C they claimed it was a different A+B+C. If a company will do that rather than buy a competitors product used in building motors what else would it do? I already knew the answer.

Before I met Doc's friend I met an ex-Westinghouse employee long before that who was working in an accounting function at a utility. For whatever reason when he learned that I had worked at Westinghouse we talked about the late, great company that was a long-standing household name with enormous good will.

He mentioned how he had found an irregularity early during his employment. When he was told to ignore it and did he became a made man in a sense.

I already knew about the lawsuit. That was public knowledge. It turned out the plaintiff was absolutely correct. There had been a bribe it just didn't happen the way they thought it had. They were barking up the wrong tree and the case was decided in Westinghouse's favor.

I have a lack of faith in many large organizations for good reason.

The electric war was another example of unethical behavior.

Somewhere I have a book which covers the price fixing that went on between supposed competitors in electrical equipment. Westinghouse and GE figured prominently.

The not to go out of the room issue was that the combustion turbine would ship on time even though the ceramic coating on the blades was failing the tests. We were told future issues would be covered under the warranty,

Working on that project showed how incompetent GE was during a time when Jack Welch was regarded as a god by Wall Street. GE made money not through outstanding management but by selecting industry segments were they could charge outrageous prices and have a big enough margin built in to make up for management screw ups.

Now we know what Jack Welch and greed gave us. Welch in his drive for profits changed how Wall Street viewed stocks and most likely encouraged more shenanigans.

The same pursuit internally doomed Westinghouse when R&D became optional and the most profitable division (finance) turned out to be a lender of last recourse with risky loans that almost bankrupted the company. Since that time Westinghouse was sold off piece meal.

There's a common thread that extends though business, government and some non-profits. While you may think they are shining stars worthy of their reputation, they are not. The recent screw up at the CDC is a prime example.
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Re: Memorable people you've met?

Post by ex-khobar Andy »

I do have a little story about Westinghouse in Monroeville, not far from Churchill PA. I spent a career managing labs that did environmental testing - looking for nasties such as PCBs or mercury or dioxin in waste materials and products where they shouldn't be. As long as my guys were wearing appropriate PPE and using fume hoods etc properly (i.e., well trained) they were safe. No big deal: we did this stuff every day. We didn't work with radioactivity as that's a different ball game requiring different equipment and procedures.

We had a project which involved cleanup of a site after a fire. Basement of a major building where PCBs (in the form of dielectric fluids) and various radioactive materials had been stored. So the basement was full of water and God knows what else. How do we get rid of and treat all the water without contaminating everything in sight? We were allowed under the terms of our state license to handle so many millicuries of material - I forget the number - and that's easy enough to check with a Geiger-Muller counter. But we did not have the training and technology to further identify the radioactive entities present in the waste.

I found that Westinghouse in Monroeville had the gear to do this. This was in the days before the intertubes so I don't recall how I found that out. So I flew to Pittsburgh and rented a car and drove out there. I explained to the lab chief what I needed. They had all the scintillation counters and gamma spectrometers anyone could want and their guys were all well trained in the dark arts of radioactivity detection and quantitation. We worked out who did what and pricing and sample shipping protocols. Sorted. We would do the testing for heavy metals and PCBs and carcinogens; Westinghouse would do the rad stuff.

A day or two later I got a call from a worried Westinghouse manager. "Everything is fine and we can do everything you need. But my guys are really concerned about all these PCBs in the samples. Can you come down here and teach them how to protect themselves?"

That was the last thing I expected. To us the PCBs were not a problem - it was the invisible unknown alphas, betas and gammas that were going to kill us all.

I went again to sunny Monroeville and did a training session for the lab guys there. But it was a real lesson for me that familiarity, although it can breed contempt, also fosters understanding and ease of mind.

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