Monthly Archives: August 2018

Workplace Axiom 1

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There are many axiomatic statements to be made about the workplace. I’ll start with this:

Axiom # 1: If there is a hole, someone will fall in it.

The meaning of “hole” can vary a great deal, from a specific system weakness to an actual hole in the floor or ground. I’ve witnessed people falling into both. I think you could argue that Axiom 1 is an example of Murphy’s Law. But the ultimate origin seems to trace back to Proverbs 26:27.

My favorite corollary:

Things are never so bad that they cannot get a whole lot worse.

This sentiment was famously uttered by Humphrey Bogart in The African Queen. Countries which have been invaded by another have a special understanding of this notion.

Of course none of this is new, just crystal-clear to me this day.

 

The water tank

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The water tank heater sat submerged and frozen in place as Gramps and I crunched our way towards it in the snow. It was a circular wooden tank, grey with age and made of moss-bearded, vertical staves held in place with a rusty iron ring. It sat in the fence line, part in the barnyard and part out. The fence traced across the farmyard to a gothic red barn which sat in stony silence on the hillside. In the inky dark before sunrise a dozen angus cattle snuffled, visible shadow-like against the snow packed ground in the low moonlight.

Gramps carried a gunnysack of corn cobs and a bucket of coal. I carried a newspaper and a metal oil can sloshing with kerosene. Gramps dumped the cobs in the tank furnace, splashed some kerosene on the cobs, then covered them with coal. Taking the newspaper he rolled it into a tube, struck a match and lit one end. As the paper flared I could see his cold and weathered face. His hat with ear flaps sat low and snug over an unshaven face, his nose dripping from the cold. Gramp’s well worn overcoat was zipped tightly over his striped coveralls with pantlegs tucked inside zippered rubber overshoes. He dropped the burning paper onto the fuel mix and closed the lid.

We made our way from the tank to the barn where we dropped hay from the upper level hay mound, down the chute to ground level. The cattle, now faintly lit in the bluish morning twilight were eagerly snuffling through the parted leaves of baled hay. Making sure to gather up the twine lest the cattle eat it and sicken, we left the stillness of a barn stacked with a summer season of hay bales and made for the house.

As we crunched past the water tank, now visible under the yawning orange sky, the sooty smokestack of the tank heater belched acrid coal smoke while the light of red embers escaped through pinholes etched by the fire of 30 winters toil. Soon there would be water for the cattle to sip.

Walking a few paces behind my grandfather I looked at him in admiration. Doing chores in the frigid morning darkness seven days a week takes dedication. Did I have such stamina, I wondered? After 45 winters I’m still not sure.

Larry J. Westrum

8/19/18

A bit of aerospace

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On a recent vacation trip to the Puget Sound area I managed to take a public tour of the Boeing manufacturing facility in Everett, WA. They don’t give away the tour- it costs $25 for adults and lasts about 90 minutes. For cash you get a movie highlighting the history of Boeing and a trip to a few mezzanines overlooking the 787 Dreamliner and 747 manufacturing areas. And just like Disney, you exit the attraction tour through the gift shop.

The first thing you notice is that security is very stringent. No phones, bags or purses, etc., once the tour begins. They are an important military contractor after all. As technically savvy as they may be though, the communication level of the tour guide was roughly 6-7th grade. The reason might be the wide range of visitor ages and nationalities. One Asian visitor on our bus wore a blue track suit bearing the name “Mongolia”.

It is easy to forget just how brilliant the US is and has long been in the broader aerospace world. Of course, other countries have developed advanced aerospace platforms, and produced their share of talent too, notably France, England, Germany and Russia. But one must admit that considerable advancement has happened here for some reason. A broad industrial base with access to raw materials and capital is certainly a big part of it. Perhaps our remote location between two great oceans and historical absence of the distraction of carpet bombing by foreign adversaries has a little to do with it as well.

Balloon on a hazy day.

For many of us, aerospace brings out excitement and optimism by its very nature. It embodies much of the best in people. The pillars of aerospace are many and rely strongly on ingenuity and engineering disciplines. By discipline I mean rigorous design-then-test cycles. A human-rated flying machine is a difficult and expensive build if the goal is for people and equipment to return intact.  Unlike SpaceX who has launched much cargo, and among other things, a cheese wheel and a car, NASA has been launching people for a long time. Not to diminish the fine work of SpaceX or the other commercial efforts, it’s just that NASA takes a lot of heat for their deliberate pace.

Erie Airport, Colorado, from a hot air balloon at ca 2000′.

The last week has been a period of many modes of transportation. It’s been planes, trains, automobiles, ferry boats, and a hot air balloon. The nightmare of Seattle traffic is best forgotten. If you can avoid driving in Seattle during rush hours, do so.

If you can swing a hot air balloon ride, do it. Dig up some of that cash you have buried in the back yard and spend it. I found the ride to be absent any nerve wracking moments and to be quite a serene experience. There is no wind aloft and it is dead silent when the burners aren’t going. Do bring a hat, however. The burners are bloody hot.

Getting ready for a 4-balloon launch.

Like all pilots, balloonists enjoy low level flight.

The burners emit tremendous radiant heat. A wise passenger wears a hat for this reason.