Gray Whites

Well, in the USN, in Genoa or Livorno Italy I don't remember which, I was on "Shore Patrol" (a wimpy effort at keeping sailors out of trouble, a difficult thing with the presence of oozo - a Greek licorish liquor I think). Anyway, I was in whites. There had been a communist rally. So some woman opened a window above and dumped dirty water - I had to be out there for two hours in wet, gray white uniform.

Cars I have had

Start of this thread.

When a teen, my father bought a 1950 Chev coupe that had been a Red Man Tobacco salesman's car; no back seat, no radio, and it had a governor - 55mph.  A fellow classmate will never ever let me forget that.

My cars -after teenage-have been

For a little bit, I had a rusted out 1950 Ford. Brakes failed.

a 57 Plymouth bought from a fellow sailor in Sanford Florida.

I Drove to Nebr from Florida in January, loaded with oranges and grapefruit from backyard of house being vacated and back to Memphis. When the electrical charging system went bananas and we couldn't figure out what to do with that after pouring lots of money and repeated parts into it,

We got a Nash Ambassador station wagon with reclining seats in Memphis, took it to Whidbey, used a long time, then drove to Virginia.

The engine got overheated on the way, Aluminum block engine.

 I tried to rebuild the engine at the base hobby shop and the problem repeated - even had a shop replace the head.

So I bought a Rambler American which made many miles and I thought it was a good car.

Later a Toyota station wagon,

a borrowed VW bug,

A wallowing green Chevy

a Chevy whale of a station wagon,

a 66 Toyota,

A Subaru Legacy
A Subaru station wagon

then finally the chev 2001 malibu.

Row cropping corn

This can be the start of a memory blog on farming memories.

In the days when corn was planted by "listing", it started out the opposite: Listing basically turned out the soil forming forming a ridge between the shallow trench it formed for the plants, put the corn seed in that trench, and covered it with a small amount of soil.

The first pass(es) of cultivation was with a "go dig" cultivator; it would reenforce the ridge and remove some weeds; the second pass would start to tear down the ridge, pulling the dirt into the trench around the plants.

First link is a good image of it. Notice the hooded shield protecting the tiny corn plants against the soil that is being pulled back in from the furrow. http://www.livinghistoryfarm.org/farminginthe30s/machines_07.html

The second site is a forum that talks about it a bit

I have saved many images but have none of the lister.

A Light Touch - My Touch with Bengladesh and Pakistan

This is going to be a mix between the Bengladesh war poiint of history and a set of pictures of an A3 refurbished out of the graveyard, for the Admiral at that period of time. The story tells why it's a mix - I hope it's clear.

The VA-3B, 142672, at Alameda after arriving from storage.

In my 20 years of service with the Navy, I saw lots of scrambling around about international events - "shows of force" by the US Navy and by contrary governments. We got the Stars and Stripes which showed a certain perspective on many events, but not this one. I now observe a couple facebook groups associated with things I have strong associative memories about:  The USS Kitty Hawk alumni, and the A3 Skywarrior aircraft. The latter is rife with people who knew a whole lot more than I did and do about some global events. I had worked with the A3 attack bomber, and had light association with that aircraft pretty much through my 20 years 1958 to 1978. The following started with my comment on an A3 Facebook stream.

The VIP's seat in VQ-1 PR-00,

The picture  above is apparently of the Admiral's plane which delivered mail to the big E in the Indian Ocean in December 1971 during the Bengladesh-Pakistan conflict I was peacefully in the guts of the Big E while most of you were in closer touch with the broader scene (VQ, etc.). My touch is several layers: 

(1) Big E was departing Yankee Station for PI then home to the states, 12/71. You know what happens with supplies, mail, ordinance, aircraft parts, etc in ;that situation. They dwindle down, and ordinance is going to get transferred to another carrier or offloaded at Pearl Harbor.  So the Big E got diverted into the Indian Ocean in that condition, instead of moving homeward bound. 

(The mideast participation for years now has surely been much harder on the sailors.). 

(2) The ship hadn't had mail and replenishment due to the plans and redirection. After a few days, I felt a bit of contact when a USN P3 aircraft came from somewhere flying over. So happy guys when the admiral's plane brought mail out. 

(3) Later, in Singapore, I was visiting with an old alcoholic frieghter captain, he told of porting in Bengladesh, driving inland, and spoke of the stench of rotting bodies. As hinted, I hadn't really known what it was all about. 

(4) During the Persian Gulf war, my daughter began emailing a sailor on the Kitty (Kitty was my last ship). It was in the gulf at that time. He worked in the personnel office. I chopped a few emails with him, and found out that he had been a child in Bengladesh when I was on the Big E somewhere offshore. 


(5) I spent a few years employed within T-Mobile engineering, have a few Pakistani friends, one from the peaceful sect of Muslims (yes there is one; persecuted and hated by all the others because this one doesn't think it stopped with the big M, and does preach peace.).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1971_Bangladesh_genocide 

http://en.wikipedia.org/.../Rape_during_the_Bangladesh...





This link is to Bengladesh pictures - Google Search: bengladesh war.
https://www.google.com/search?q=bangladesh+war&espv=2&biw=1455&bih=903&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=Ium6VIz9M4K3yQSgpoKADQ&ved=0CEcQsAQ

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/the-war-bangladesh-can-never-forget-8501636.html

http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/141530/harold-h-saunders/what-really-happened-in-bangladesh

Cash Carrier system at Old Department Stores

This is a start of a post. I do not have all the details. Seeking answers from cousins.

A department store in York Nebraska at least in the 1956-1958 time frame – surely started much earlier – I think it was on the north side of the courthouse square, probably across from the NE corner.

I was trying specifically to remember the cash carrier system in that store.  

  At first I was thinking it was a cable system,  sales ticket and money were put into a little cocoon thing on a wire that was constantly moving around pulleys, between cashier and sales positions. 

The thing was sent up to the cashier, and it came back with the change. But it might have been pneumatic.  Here are some web pages, none of which show a complete end to end, but should get you in the neighborhood of what I am trying to remember.  

Roy's response:

Dan, I remember the store well. It was J.M. McDonald's, which stayed in business at least well into the 1970's.  Seems like the clerk pulled a rope to provide the power for the box to travel up to the office. 

And yes, I do remember Shorty Penner.  His place was west across the street from the city auditorium.  As it were, it sat on the same lot where my great-grandfather George Folts once lived.  He moved his family into town when my grandfather and his siblings were of school age.  My grandfather went to the high school which was just a block or so north of the house, and then he went to a business school in York after high school.  When Shorty Penner retired, he sold the business to Clarence Hoffman who grew up between York and Bradshaw.  Later, Hoffman moved the business to Lincoln Avenue.  It is nice to remember back to the old York.

Sue's response:

I remember the dept store with the track that ran up to the cashier - I thought that was so cool.  I am not sure but I thought it was in Penney's.  I worked one summer in Hesteds or Woolworths on the west side of the square.  We used cash registers and that was in 1955.  I also remember J. M. McDonalds which was one block north of the square and on the NE corner and there was a little restaurant east of McDonalds but I can't recollect the name. 

Also Penners was on East 6th Str a block East of the square.  My mom's mother lived on East 6th Street and across the street from the baseball stadium and track which my brother and I walked and ran on a lot - just across the street from grandmas.  York College was on beyond the track.  We never went over there.  There was also a park next to the stadium (of course it was not called a stadium in those days) which covered a square block with a playground area and a hugh area with walks and flowers and was very well kept.  I sure hated to see that go away.  I have not been up there recently so don't know how much of the park is left.  I rarely went west of Lincoln Avenue.

The public library was north of the auditorium but has since been made into offices.  Don't know where the library is.

Pneumatic systems seem to still exist in UK.

·        http://www.cashrailway.co.uk/wire.htm

·        http://www.sheffieldhistory.co.uk/forums/index.php?/topic/950-anybody-remember-blanchards/

·        http://www.cashrailway.co.uk/pneu-carriers.htm

·        http://www.cashrailway.co.uk/photos/famous.htm

Go along the top of this page and see some variations.

·        http://www.cashrailway.co.uk/reminis.htm