How does it go - it was the best of times, it was the worst of times.
"It
was the best of times, it was the worst of times; It's
been a long year and this newsletter is decidedly late compared to the
past few years. Amongst other things, I started on Medicare
this year - just in time to watch Congress wipe out most of its funding
- all in the name of helping us - of course! ("I'm from the government, and
I'm here to help you."...) We are always busy, and the
time just seems to fly faster and faster - but then
-- you all already know that!
Boeing
Like many of my retiree friends, I became very
frustrated by the mis-management, delays, and many missteps at our alma
mater. All programs were in multiple schedule slides and huge cost
overruns. This was decidedly NOT the Boeing of
old. I wrote up a White Paper expressing my frustrations,
that became a website page, and eventually morphed into a major
"uprising" by the alumni. I called for heads to roll - heads
right at the top. Over 100,000 people read my web page -
nick-named "The Rant",
entitled "Not
Acceptable", and many contacted me with stories of their
own and offers of help. Eventually, we put together a very
large group of "management in exile" that dropped a blizzard of emails
and snail-mails onto the current management, along with detailed
analyses, suggestions, and offers of help. These people were
veterans who had been at the very top and constituted former
Presidents, Vice-Presidents, Division General Managers, etc.
Eventually, I had direct contact with Jim McNerney,
Boeing's CEO. Bottom Line: A tepid response and
very little positive action, more schedule slides and huge monetary
losses. Clearly, the "new" Boeing bears little resemblance to
the "old" Boeing - it looks more like Citibank or GM. I spent
about 4+ months and mega-hours on this uprising and can honestly say "I did all that I could do."
On December 12, Dot and I watched the first 787 take-off
from the grass along the runway at Paine Field. It was
exciting - but it was 2 1/2 years late!
My
picture of the liftoff
House
December 15th marked our tenth year here in
Hansville - we'll shortly be the longest occupants of this
house. How time flies! Remember, we do have this
nicely fixed up guest bedroom, with private deck and bath - but not
many takers. Maybe the rates are too high?
Well, the house
didn't receive nearly as many man-hours in 2009 as it did in
2008. But, it didn't escape entirely. We have a
hot-water (hydronic) heating system. The water is heated in a
boiler fired with heating oil (actually just plain off-road
diesel.) Since we've lived here, the price has gone up
(duh!), from about 75 cents/gal to above $3. Last winter, it
seemed destined for $4 and $5, making Butch, the oil man's truck, a
very unwelcome sound coming down the driveway. After a lot of
research and figuring, I was able to determine the exact BTU heat
requirement for the house on a daily and seasonal basis, and explored
alternative heat sources (and others that might act as just
supplemental sources on demand.)
Eventually, I decided upon an electric boiler as
the alternative and installed it towards the end of the heating season
(just around when the oil prices were dropping!) But, they
didn't drop that much. In any event, I can use either
depending upon the price of oil - about $2.02/gal is the breakeven
point - above that and I save money using electric. The oil
is still available, especially useful in the event of a power failure.
Then - I decided to scrap the entire control
system, which was a rat's nest of wiring and big clunky relays that are
controlled by various thermostats that, in turn, control an assortment
of zone valves, pumps, and the boiler(s) themselves.
Technology has advanced over the 20 years since this was cobbled
together - so almost all of it went, to be replaced by a small
cigar-box sized enclosure with a printed circuit board, solid state
relays, staging depending on outside air temps and hot water temp (that
improves efficiency), with a bank of LED lights that tell what's
happening to what, where and when. All very slick, with a
neat little wire bundle replacing the rat's nest. I designed
and installed all this myself and it works very well.
I got a fancy
new radio and amplifier for my ham shack, deciding I needed to spend
some of my money before Obama could get his hands on it, or it was
declared worthless. I also redid all of my antennas, and
built a fancy new one which is almost complete, but failed to get
finished before the winter weather ended outside construction for this
year.
Connie
My work on the Museum's Lockheed Super
Constellation passed many milestones this year. The repairs
and repainting were completed in December 2008. 2009 was the
year of arranging its move to Seattle. With disassembly and
transport scheduled to begin in early August, I arranged for a
"re-union" of old time ground and flight crew personnel from eastern
Canada who had worked on, and flew, this very airplane. On
July 23rd, we gathered in Rome, New York to visit and tour this
historic airplane while it was still close by. It was an
emotional and memorable day - which I recounted on this web page:
http://www.rbogash.com/Connie/connie_reunion.html
A Fleeting Moment in Time
Following the re-union, the airplane was
disassembled one last time and transported by truck (it's
non-airworthy) to Seattle, arriving after a 3800 mile journey on Sept
4th. The next 10 days saw it's final re-assembly and movement
into a hangar at Boeing's historic Plant II, on the 15th.
This location makes it, -- while safe from the
weather, -- unfortunately unviewable
by the public - it's temporary until the final display arrangements can
be sorted out.
The Connie's
popularity with the aviation public exceeded even my most enthusiastic
expectations, as my website was visited by more than 4 million people
in September and October, who were able to follow the trip West and
it's arrival in Seattle. The story was described in three
feature articles in aviation magazines.
From Derelict to Born Again !
You can follow the trip West, Arrival in Seattle, Re-assembly, and
Movement into Plant II on four web pages starting here:
http://www.rbogash.com/Connie/connie-RME-SEA.html
The airplane still needs quite a bit of additional
restoration work, especially on the inside, and the installation of
four engines (which I have on-site.) After that, it's on to
the Clipper!
Truck(s) and Vehicles
Three vehicles, I decided, was too much for two
people. My red Nissan looks almost like new, but at 20 years
old, has some "problems." That crummy Chevy 1 ton truck was
18 and was being driven very little, while costing a lot for insurance
and license. And the camper was thankfully gone. Dot's new
Honda was our primary vehicle - we had three cars but were only using
one. So I pondered on a solution for a quite a long time,
deciding at my age, I no longer needed a little red sports car (the
girls didn't seem to notice.) A SMALL pickup would let me get
around economically, as well as making those regular trips to the dump,
Home Depot and the lumber yard.
While killing
time at the Honda dealer waiting for servicing, the salesman (of
course) grabbed me and showed me a used Toyota Tacoma. He (of course)
wanted me to drive it home, but I instead came home more focused on
solving my vehicle problem. After doing a lot of research, in
my usual fashion, I decided the Tacoma would indeed be the appropriate
pick, narrowed down all the features I wanted, and started searching
for one on-line -- first the local dealers and Craig's list.
The prices of new ones were out of sight, and used ones were plenty
spendy as well. I began a regional, and then nationwide
search, and eventually wound up on eBay - my favorite buying and
selling forum. Here I found some very attractive
deals. I concentrated on Florida, Texas and Arizona for
vehicles that had missed the crummy conditions and salty roads up
north. After missing one truck, I scored a hit on one that
had all my features, including color. It was a repo - only 14
months old, low mileage with all the warranties still active - a truly
killer deal at less than half the cost of similar local
vehicles. It was sold by a dealer right across the street
from the original delivering Toyota dealer, who rolled his eyes,
whistled, and told me I had really "smoked" that one!
The only "problem" - if you want to call it that -
was that it was in Orlando. Hell - I'm retired!
With lots of Alaska Airlines frequent flyer miles. The next
afternoon, I was in Florida - out of pocket $2.50 for the
trip. Such a deal! Nine days and 4100 miles later,
I drove in the driveway with my new truck. I like it a lot
and think I made a good choice. Not to "waste" the drive
home, I quickly made arrangements to stop and visit with many friends
along the way - geez, room and board at very good prices. I
got to see some of my really good ham pals that I never would have ever
seen otherwise. I also got to spend a day at the Naval Air
Museum in Pensacola, and another day with the folks in Kansas City who
also have a Super Constellation (theirs is airworthy.) All in all, a
great trip and lot of fun.
Crossing
Chinook Pass in my new truck - almost home.
There were heavy rains and floods in
Missouri, snow in Wyoming, and a rock slide closing Hwy 410 over
Chinook Pass - all happened the day after I passed through!
For a change, the luck was on my side.....
The Chevy - up on Craig's List a few days after my
return and gone to the first caller a few hours later. Gone -
but not forgotten. Or missed! The Nissan, I'll
probably sell in the spring. A two car family finally, and
both in the garage.
Dot
Dot has made visits to doctor offices a regular
part of our weekly regimen (funny how I remember my Dad
saying something very similar.) Happily, all the visits have had a good
outcome. Over the summer, she had a cataract operation on one
eye - a now routine procedure that left her seeing better than
ever. And two follow-up cancer CAT scans in June and December
both were very positive. Oh! She also came down
with a case of the Shingles. On the brighter side, she has
rejoined her dancing group - dancing once or twice a week, and shares
lunches with a few French speaking girlfriends to keep up her French.
With niece Marietta who came to visit for a
few days.
Passings
It's not my intention to make this annual
newsletter into an obituary column, but it's hard not to note the
passing of so many people close to us.
Berthe Cormier - Feb
17 in Montreal
Just a few months after her husband Charles'
untimely death - which she took hard - Berthe joined him.
This was very hard on everybody. We shared so many good times together,
and so many happy phone calls - it's very hard to realize they are now
both gone.
In our kitchen
Carmelle
Cormier
in Quebec City - the wife of Dot's brother Louis-Philippe had been in
shaky health for some time. She was the owner of a kidney
transplant for some years, and took a sudden turn and passed
quickly. It was a shock to all of us.
In the Magdalen Islands during Dot's 2008 trip
Lew
Wallick - Boeing
Test Pilot and long time professional and personal friend - Lew had
made the first flights of many Boeing airplanes, including the 727,
737, 757 and 767. He had been in declining health for some
time - I was fortunate to have been able to visit him and his wife Sara
at their home just a few months prior to his passing. There
was a memorable remembrance at the Museum of Flight.
Lavonne
Graham - my
long time secretary at Boeing and friend. Lavonne had battled
cancer for some years and endured many painful setbacks along the way
with strength and courage. Dot and I had visited her many
times, and she came to visit with us - and we celebrated her 70th in
2007.
Lavonne's
70th - a Surprise Party!
Art Ponti - long
time Boeing colleague - I was prevailed upon to speak at his service
and told his favorite joke - I hope I didn't mess it up, Art!
Chiba
It's no secret we think a lot of our dog,
Chiba. He's a joy to be around and it's scarcely an
exaggeration to say he's the glue that holds this household together.
He's a dominant personality, both for us and for visitors.
Although the years have flown by, for him as well as for us, he's
scarcely aged a bit - he has the same good looks, spirit, playfulness,
activity level, and agility as the day he came to live with us more
than 10 years ago. I like to say he's "ten going on
one." Compared to many other of our past animal companions,
he's never slowed down. I do not believe he's been sick a
single day in our wonderful time together.
My Pal
While it's correct in saying he has a wonderful and
unique relationship with Dot, even she agrees that me and Chiba are
joined at the navel, like Siamese twins. If I go up and down
stairs 20 times to my office or shop - he's right behind (or alongside)
me every time. If I go outside, he waits at the door for my
re-entry. When I'm gone for the day or on a trip, he sits looking out
the window watching the driveway. And, when I open the front
door, all hell breaks loose as his joy and enthusiasm knows no bounds.
I'm not sure if he thinks I'm a dog (at least partially correct), or
whether I think he's a person, or both. At night, we often fight for
the same piece of real estate on the bed.
A dog's love is
unconditional and his loyalty is deep and forever, and this saddles one
with a certain responsibility to acknowledge and reciprocate.
He makes you a better human being, and does so effortlessly.
I always remind people that DOG spelled backwards is...... and maybe
that comparison explains some of his innate homo sapiens improvement
capabilities.
Non-animal
lovers may want to skip the rest of this section.
Back in March,
we noted a lump on his posterior. A trip to the vet and a
biopsy later and we learned the bad news - a common canine malignancy
known as ASC - Anal Sac Carcinoma - an aggressive cancer with a poor
prognosis. In March, it was (mostly) removed due to its
location (an incomplete resection is the medical term.) That
meant additional treatments would have to be non-surgical - radiation
or chemo or both. Next, it was off to the canine oncologist - yes,
there are such critters - and on more than a few occasions we've gone
from oncologist to oncologist - human to canine or vice
versa. We were amazed to learn that if radiation was the
course of treatment, it would be in the exact location, with the same
equipment - in fact on the very same table as Dot had used last year
(It's used for animal patients after hours - so is very modern and
advanced.)
Unfortunately,
an ultrasound revealed the cancer had spread to two adjacent lymph
nodes, ruling out the radiation. After much agonizing, we
opted for chemotherapy, and he underwent two rounds, with some
- but not gross - side-effects. Further
ultrasounds unfortunately revealed no beneficial results, but continued
enlargement of the affected nodes. We wrestled with the
decisions about the course of action going forward all through the
year. I did much medical research and became a minor expert
on the disease and its treatments and prognoses. Eventually,
I linked up with Dr. Joseph Bauer in Ohio who was on the cutting
research edge of new and exciting treatments.
In October, we
opted for another, and quite involved, surgery, and three affected
lymph nodes were removed. This surgery promised a significant
extension of quality life, but unfortunately, shortly thereafter, the
primary tumor site turned "hot." It's a mechanism called
"survival signaling" that I've been convinced of - as a lay
person - for decades - I call it the Apple Tree pruning process - and
often results in the rapid demise of patients treated for
cancer. Dr. Bauer is in the fore-front of investigating and
turning off this mechanism. (Basically, cancer cells become
"aware" that they are "under attack" and send out signals to their pals
to turn up their attack, spread and lethality.)
Over-arching all
these activities was our desire that he maintain a good quality of life
- we were not interested in prolonging life without value.
And we have. Throughout this long journey, he has remained
asymptomatic - spirited, athletic, with good appetite and mental state
- which makes this deadly disease all the more difficult to come to
grips with. (I often say he's like a perfectly good car with
one small problem - a flat tire - hardly reason to get rid of
the car.) If you visited right now, you might be totally
unaware of any problem at all, if you hadn't read all the preceding.
Anyhow, his tumor has been growing rapidly and he,
and we, are mostly out of options. He is just starting to be
affected by it, and we know our time together is growing
short. And thus, all the more precious. Sometime in
the weeks or months ahead, baring an unlikely miracle, we will have to
make the last difficult decision. I've already made the
necessary arrangements and he and I will be buried together to resume
our companionship for eternity.
Well, enough of that subject. We hope you
are all well, and wish you a Happy and especially Healthy New Year.
Peace..........
Bob and Dot
