Ben Lehman's Mysterious Return...

Ingalls Shipbuilding in the mid-1970s -- a beehive of activity

I worked at Ingalls Shipbuilding (A Division of Litton Industries) from 1972 until 1978.  It was my first "civilian" job.  During the last three years in Pascagoula, I ran the change boards for the LHA program.  This was a program to build 5 helicopter assault ships, basically aircraft carriers designed for amphibious assaults.  It was an exciting job, always new and always challenging.

My boss at the time was a fellow named Jerry Smith.  He and I decided to move the "center of gravity" of the LHA change activity from the administration building to the waterfront.  This was a major shift in the way the change boards would operate.

Previously, the change board met once daily, at 1:00 P.M. in the administration building.  The board was made up of representatives from several departments -- engineering, material, production planning and control, quality assurance, and the program office.  We would review any proposed change with a critical eye, asking whether it was required under our contract and whether it was the best, most cost-effective way of addressing the issue that had triggered the proposed change.

This was in a time when computer-aided design was in its infancy.  Most of our drawings were still being done by human draftsmen at drafting tables on vellum using pens.  Sometimes, because hundreds of draftsmen were working in parallel, the left hand didn't know what the right hand was doing.  A substantial part of our change "traffic" involved interferences -- cases in which two separate items, say a pipe and a vent duct, were shown in the drawings occupying the same location.  Something has to give.  Our job was to approve a proposed solution or to disapprove it with a suggested change to the approach.

The problem with the existing way the change board operated was that you had a built-in 24-hour delay any time a member of the board was asked to gather information on a proposed change.  For example, take the case in which a field engineer has investigated an interference problem.  A group of cables has already been installed through a space on the ship.  A vent duct defined by a different drawing is about to be installed when the installers note that the cables are in the way of their ductwork.  

The field engineer is called in and his proposed solution is to reconfigure the shape of the vent duct to go around the existing cable.  When this proposed change is presented to the board, several questions may arise.  "How soon can the new duct be fabricated?"  "Does the new design provide adequate headroom?"  "Do the curves in the new design meet Navy specifications?"  The production planner on the board will have to take this question to his organization to figure out the answer.  Likewise for the compliance engineer.  The odds are that it will be 24 or 48 hours before an answer can be received from the next department representative, because, remember, the board meets at 1:00 P.M. every afternoon.

Jerry and I had talked over an alternative.  What if we had some office space adjacent to the fitting out area of the shipyard directly adjacent to the location where the LHAs were being worked on?  There was a building not more than 50 feet from LHA-1 called the "Wet Dock Building."  We acquired some real estate in that building and created some offices, a reception area and a conference room.  We proposed to each department manager that their change board representative would now reside permanently in their new change board location.  In essence, the change board would now be in perpetual session.  Their representative would have the highest allegiance to change board business, after which they could tend to other departmental assignments.  To our astonishment, every department head agreed!  I think they realized that this was indeed a sensible way to expedite changes and revise the design of the ship in the best interests of both the Navy and the shipyard.

From now on, a change could be processed in an average time of 2-3 days rather than the previous average of 15-20 days from the time it was initiated until approved changes were implemented by an approved revised set of drawings.  We even had a process by which the "crafts" could begin working on some changes using a simple sketch of the revision.  This was used in cases where there was near certainty of the change being approved by the entire board.

One unexpected side effect of our new location and procedures was this -- people began to believe that we knew "stuff" about the shipyard long before anyone else.  People would hear a rumor and come to the LHA Change Board offices to find out if it was true.  I don't think we really knew any more than anyone else in the shipyard, but the myth seemed to persist that we were the clearing house of all shipyard intelligence.

Rear Admiral Ben Lehman

Jerry and I decided to conduct an experiment.  We would start an unbelievable rumor and see how long it took until it got back to us by way of the grapevine asking if we could confirm it.  The rumor we decided to test involved a former Vice President of Engineering named Ben Lehman.  Ben had been V.P. of Engineering from 1972 to 1975.  He was a Rear Admiral in the Naval Reserve, a World War II veteran, had studied naval architecture at MIT and mechanical engineering at Harvard, was a brilliant engineer and was a force to be reckoned with.  He was considered by many of his adversaries in the shipyard to have been a tyrant.  He had left the shipyard and had served as a consultant to the Brooklyn Navy Yard.  The story around the shipyard was that Ben had been so unpopular with the unionized workers at the Brooklyn yard that some had threatened his life and that he was forced to hire bodyguards and ride in an armored limousine!  So Jerry and I started the rumor that good ol' Ben was being considered for a job back at Ingalls Shipbuilding.  We let it slip in a conversation in one of the fabrication shops that "We had heard..."

It was only one or two days before the rumor became rampant throughout the shipyard that Ben Lehman was coming back!  Several folks came by the Change Board offices to see if we knew anything.  We admitted that we had heard something.

A few months later, the most incredible news reached us.  The shipyard had decided to hire Ben Lehman back as a consultant at the behest of the Navy.  The result was that the LHA Change Board became even more infallible in the eyes of the shipyard's rumor mongers!

The Trudgers

There is a passage on page 164 of the "Big Book" of Alcoholics Anonymous that goes, "We shall be with you in the Fellowship of the Spirit, and you will surely meet some of us as you trudge the Road of Happy Destiny."  Quite frankly, it was difficult for me as a newly-sober individual in 1984, to relate to a "Road of Happy Destiny."

Within six months of my sobriety, I went to work for John M. Cockerham and Associates, a small engineering and consulting firm in Huntsville.  Not long thereafter, I was sent to a job in southern California that would last for several months.  As a newly-minted recovering alcoholic, I remained very engaged in daily AA meetings, and sought a remote AA sponsor in the area in which I found myself working.  The first California sponsor I had was a gentleman named Rich C.

Rich had been sober about three years and like many newly-sober individuals had become a fitness nut.  He had lost 40 or 50 pounds and had started working out and jogging.  It had worked for him.  He was a picture of health.  And as a result of his pursuit, I had a chance to get some tickets to some of the events of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.  Here's how that happened.

As Rich had started his jogging career, he noticed that he occasionally bumped into other members of various AA groups whom he had met at meetings.  It occurred to him that there were probably a fair number of folks like him -- newly clean and sober, and eager to get in shape.  So Rich put a notice on the bulletin boards of several South Bay AA groups (There is no shortage of AA groups in the Los Angeles Basin.) seeking other runners who might like to organize informally or formally.  He soon had a fairly robust list of runners and they decided to call themselves the "Trudgers" from the quote initially stated at the top of the page.  They began to meet socially and to schedule running events to raise money for charity.  They even had t-shirts made to advertise their membership.  When I asked Rich C. to be my AA sponsor, the Trudgers were a real and growing organization.

When the Olympic Committee was laying out the detailed plans for the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Games, it became obvious that they required community volunteers.  The Trudgers decided to offer their services.  I think they were amazed when the Olympic Committee asked if they could serve as security monitors for a section of the marathon route.  They would be provided with Olympic-emblazoned blazers which were be worn with khaki trousers and appropriate footwear, along with their Olympic ID badges on the provided lanyards.  The Trudgers eagerly accepted!  They were going to be part of this great event!

In lieu of any cash payment, the Trudgers would be given books of available event tickets.  These were not to the main events -- the great track and field, team sports of international interest, or the like.  So Rich would pick me up to take me to a meeting and say, "How would you like a pair of tickets to tomorrow's Women's Archery, Round 4, between Portugal and Andorra?"  I was never able to accept the offers, as they all took place during the working day.  But I was proud to know someone that had any tickets available to an Olympic event!

Once in a Lifetime...

The spectacle!

I have written before about my early interest in astronomy.  This past week, I finally got to see a total solar eclipse, something I have looked forward to my entire lifetime.

In June, 1954, some close friends, the Goble family, pulled their three boys out of school early so they could head to Wisconsin to view a total solar eclipse.  I remember them packing up their 1950 Studebaker with luggage and camera equipment and heading out.  Dr, Alfred Goble was the head of Union College's physics department.  His wife, Ethel, was like a second mother to me.  I practically lived at their house, where Rob, Louis, and Jonathan were like family.  I had spent a summer with the Goble family in Maine.  And now, they were going to get to see a total eclipse and I wasn't.

I've waited since that time for this opportunity.  Several months ago, I looked at the NASA-generated state map of Tennessee that included the path of totality.  I wanted to observe the eclipse from near the center line.  Looking for the closest point to our residence, I came up with Silver Point, TN.  There seemed to be a couple of nearby highways -- 96 and 141 -- and it was just south of interstate highway 40 that runs from Nashville to Knoxville.  Then I noticed that only a few miles away was a state park - Edgar Evins State Park!  Wouldn't it be great to observe the eclipse from the tranquil setting of a state park?

Location of Edgar Evins State Park

I called the Park Superintendent, a very helpful young lady who informed me that they were anticipating up to 5,000 people coming to the park for the event.  Mary Ann and I decided to use this as our observation point in spite of the potential crowd.  As the magic date approached, August 21, 2017, we packed our observing gear (I had bought our solar glasses months before).  We were going to be ready.

On Monday morning, we headed out around 8:30.  The park official had recommended we get there "as early as possible."  We (including Bella, of course) wanted to find a good place to observe this amazing event.  We programmed the GPS with the address of the park headquarters and headed out.

More than once, our GPS has taken us on routes that were less than ideal.  On one of our trips to Iowa, we were directed on to a barely-paved two lane road, which became progressively less paved, evolved into a gravel road, and suddenly opened up to an interstate highway access road.  On this trip, we were somewhere on Federal highway 70 and were directed to take a left turn onto Main Street, followed by an immediate right turn.  We followed those directions and found ourselves on what appeared much more like a driveway than a public road.  Two miles later, after three harrowing "passes" to ease by oncoming traffic, we found ourselves emerging on to a beautiful, newly-paved highway.

As we were getting fairly close to the park, we encountered a roadblock staffed by a young lady park ranger.  As she talked to the cars ahead of us, we saw that she was frequently mopping her brow, obviously suffering from the heat as she stood on the hot pavement.  We approached her checkpoint.  She informed us that the park was really full and suggested we might want to go to an alternative location.  She suggested a picnic area within a few hundred yards of our location, just to our left, below the dam that forms Center Hill Lake.

The picnic ground where we observed the eclipse

The location she suggested was perfect.  When we got to the large parking lot, we saw shade trees, lots of grass (great news for Bella), a picnic pavilion, and a convenient rest room building.  It looked like the perfect setup!  We unloaded our chairs and set them up in the abundant shade.  A couple of gentlemen nearby informed us that they had driven from Illinois and Minnesota.  We all shared our good fortune at finding such a great observing point.  Mary Ann and I enjoyed our lunch and soon we were ready to see the beginning of the eclipse.  She was able to sit in the air conditioned car between observations while I remained under the shade trees and made frequent trips into the sunlight to look upward through my special solar glasses.

Mary Ann and Bella enjoy the shade

The moon gradually "ate" the sun.  As totality approached the light seemed to gradually dim around us.  I let Mary Ann know when totality was imminent.  We watched together as the as the occultation became complete.  What a sight!  I looked at the remaining sky and saw Jupiter and the brilliant Venus.

The biggest surprise for me was the intensity of the corona.  Its radiating spokes were a brilliant blue-white.  As I looked around our surroundings, it looked like a room with dimmed lights. The crickets began chirping.  I looked back up, wishing I could extend the sight forever.  It was magnificent!  And then, way too soon, the brilliance of the sun peeked out from behind the moon, and it was once more time to use our solar glasses.

The crescent sun projected on my chair through
the pinhole camera effect of the tree leaves

A few minutes later, we began packing the car to head home.  The GPS took us home by a different route.  We repeatedly ran into traffic jams as everybody who had viewed the event tried to get home.  The trip that had taken 2 hours going north took over 4 hours going homeward.  We arrived safely a little before 6:00 p.m.

The next U.S. total eclipse will take place in 2024.  I'm looking forward to seeing that one too.  It's an event not to be missed!

Farewell, Goldie

About 8 years ago, Mary Ann and I acquired a new golden retriever puppy from some neighbors who were dog breeders.  This little female pup quickly adopted Sheila, my shepherd mix, as her mother.  The two became inseparable.  They were best of friends.  When I built the Dog-ma-hal in 2010, I commented that Goldie was almost as big as Sheila:

Goldie in 2010

Sheila died in August, 2014.  Since then, Goldie has been an especially affectionate dog, crazy about her personal cat and human affection as well.  A few months ago, I noticed she was losing weight.  She seemed to have lost her appetite.  I tried different dog foods to see if she might find a favorite.  She continued to lose weight and grew weak.  I took her to the North Alabama Animal Hospital in Hazel Green, AL.  Dr. Joel Hayes kept her for a few days and advised me that she was experiencing an inability to swallow.  There were a number of possible causes, one of which is called cricopharyngeal dysfunction, apparently not uncommon in goldens.  For a few days I brought her home and administered some medication that offered some hope.  She continued to lose weight.  I finally made the difficult decision to have her put down to end her suffering.

To my surprise, Dr. Hayes asked if he could keep her at the clinic to try other means to save her.  He has had her for several weeks, and went so far as to insert a feeding tube to try to save her.  He and his partner, Dr. C. Alan Jones, and their entire staff went way beyond any expectations I might have had in their efforts to save this gentle, loving dog.  I will never be able to repay what they did.

Unfortunately, Goldie reached the point, in spite of all their efforts, where it was time to let her go.  Last week, we lost Goldie.  She will be long remembered.

The Last Howard Johnson Restaurant

A few years ago, I posted a blog entry about Chief Petty Officer John Morrissey.  I served with Chief Morrissey on the USS Maloy (DE-791), and one of his claims to fame was that he had amassed a small fortune as a result of being an early investor in the Howard Johnson restaurant business.  According to Wikipedia, Howard Johnson's "was the largest restaurant chain in the U.S. throughout the 1960s and 1970s, with more than 1,000 combined company-owned and franchised outlets."

This morning, I ran across some sad news.  According to a BBC report, the last Howard Johnson's restaurant, located in Lake George, New York (my old stomping grounds), may be going out of business.  Some traditions, such as turquoise and orange buildings, should go on forever.  A couple of years ago, CBS Sunday Morning presented a feature on this last surviving HoJo's Restaurant:

Dulcimer Doin's...

The completed Dulcimer Jig

It was around 1990 that I signed up to take a dulcimer building class at the Augusta Heritage Arts Workshops in Elkins, West Virginia.  Margo had decided she wanted to learn to play the dulcimer, so it was the perfect time for me to build her an instrument.  The class was taught by Keith Young, a luthier from Annandale, VA.  Keith and I became friends.  I visited his shop more than once.  When business travel took me to the D.C. area, I always tried to go to dinner with Keith and his lovely wife, Mary.  The year after I learned how to build dulcimers from him, we took a class together in "Mother of Pearl Inlay and Engraving."  We shared a love of music, instrument building, and craftsmanship.  For a couple years I assisted Keith in teaching the dulcimer-building class at Elkins.  I was honored to do so.

Over the ensuing years, I've built a few dulcimers for friends and acquaintances.  It's probably been ten years since I built my last one.  A few have made their way to these pages. Here and here.  Recently, a co-worker expressed a desire for a dulcimer to match one that he already owns.  I told him I'd build him one.  This time, I decided to do something I've wanted to do for several years.  I would build a jig or form on which to construct the instrument.

Previously, I've built the instruments in a manner I call "free-style."  I would assemble and glue the parts on a workbench using a variety of clamps.  Sometimes that works OK, but sometimes you feel like you need three more hands, just to align and hold parts.  People who build more than one instrument of the same design usually use some kind of jig to make things easier to deal with.  Here's how I did mine, which I finished yesterday:

Hanger bolts stay put in the wood,
allowing wing nuts to tighten the clamps.

I began by making a full-sized drawing of an hourglass-shaped instrument that appealed to me.  I then cut out parts of the drawing and glued them to some 2 x 6 stock so I could accurately cut the pieces out using my band saw.  I created a full-sized model of the body of the dulcimer as well as two "outside" molds that can fit snugly against the body piece,  Then, I used hanger bolts to mount several clamps along the curved side of the outside pieces so they could be used to press down on the sides of the instrument and later the top as gluing is taking place.  When the first side was finished it looked like this

The entire setup needed to be mounted on a flat surface, so I cut up a piece of 3/4" plywood that I had saved from another project.  To keep the three pieces in alignment, I mounted some small strips of hardwood on the base and cut corresponding channels in the underside of the forms.  I also glued thin battens to the underside to raise the two outer pieces slightly so the don't interfere with an oversized back while it is being glued and before it is carved or sanded to its final dimension.

To hold the outer forms in place, I drilled holes at each end for carriage bolts and cut corresponding slots in the base board.  All the fasteners use wing nuts so a wrench is not needed to use the jig.

Carriege bolts and wing nuts enable the
outer forms to be locked in place

Grooves in the underside of forms
keep them aligned

Guide rails on base board guide position of forms

Felt on underside of clamps protects wood being clamped

More than you ever wanted to know about printing ink...

The Hugh Purvis in Drydock in Boston, Undergoing Fleet Remodeling & Modernization, 1960

I served aboard the USS Hugh Purvis (DD-709) from June of 1962 through January, 1964.  She was an Allen M. Sumner-class destroyer that had been built near the end of World War II.  She was commissioned on 1 March, 1945, with the German surrender following in May, and the Japanese surrender in August.  It was a perfect assignment for me, and I was immediately assigned to the engineering department as Main Propulsion Assistant.

I reported aboard the ship when it was in a dry dock at the Boston Naval Shipyard in Charlestown, Massachusetts.  However, Boston was not the ship's home port.  We were actually home based in Newport, Rhode Island.  As a result, most of the married officers and crew commuted on weekends back to Newport.  It was about a 2-hour commute of about 75 miles.  Some commuted daily.  One of those who commuted almost daily was an officer named Kermit Carlson, who went by the nickname "Ken."

Ken was an outgoing, very friendly individual, and was well liked by both officers and crew.  He and I got to be good friends.  He was, in fact, a bachelor, but he drove back and forth from the Charlestown Navy Yard to Newport nearly every night because he was dating a young lady in Newport.  And he made the trip in a brand new 1962 bright red Corvette.  Not a bad way to commute if you have to make the trip!

One evening after dinner on the ship (I had the duty), I happened to be having a conversation with Ken, who was also aboard, as he had been assigned to my duty section.  I asked how a young Lieutenant (Junior Grade), making about $400/month could afford a brand new Corvette.  He informed me that he was actually quite wealthy because of a family business that his grandfather had founded and an invention of the very same grandfather.

A 1962 red Corvette like Ken Carlson's

The story was that his Granddad has gotten into the business of manufacturing printer's ink.  And he had gotten really good at it and built up quite a broad and loyal clientele.  One of his customers happened to be a little company that manufactured a soft drink called Coca Cola.  In the teens and twenties, Coca Cola shipped their syrup in glass jugs that were packed in cardboard cartons transported in delivery trucks.  Sometimes when the trucks maneuvered too abruptly, the cartons slid on each other, sometimes falling and breaking the jugs.  It was a problem that Ken's grandfather decided to address.

He mixed powdered latex into his Red printer's ink that he sold to Coca Cola and suggested that they print on both the tops and bottoms of the cartons as well as the sides.  They tried it and found that the rubberized ink prevented the cartons from sliding on one another.  The ink, which Ken's ancestor had patented, became known as "Coca Cola Non-Skid Red."  Ken's family had something of a monopoly that had been very fortunate for them -- hence the new Corvette.  And to make it even nicer for me, there were a few occasions on which he asked me to be the designated driver while he partied -- I got to drive the beautiful brand-new sports car.

I thought about Ken a few months ago and became curious if there still existed a Carlson's Printing Ink Company, which was the name of their family business.  I learned through a Google search that the printing ink industry has an organization -- the National Association of Printing Ink Manufacturers (NAPIM).  That organization awards a service-to-the-industry award called the Ault Award.  And then I learned the following:

DEXTER Frederick V. Jr., died Friday, July 10 at his home after a brief illness. He was 82, and a 50-year resident of Ridgewood. He is survived by his wife of 59 years, Barbara S. Dexter; four sons, William and wife Patricia Reinhardt of Rochester, NY, Thomas and wife Anita Blackaby of Glouchester, MA, Robert and wife Gail of Manchester Center, VT, Donald and wife Karen of Ridgewood; and ten grandchildren. He was predeceased by his brother, Robert C. Dexter.Fred Dexter was born July 14th, 1926 in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn NY, the oldest son of Frederick V. Dexter, Sr. and Mabel Carlson Deter. He was in the first graduating class of Fort Hamilton HS in Brooklyn and graduated from Lehigh University in 1949. After working in the rocket industry during the 1950's, he began a long career in the printing ink industry and retired as Chairman and Chief Executive of Roberts and Carlson, Inc., in 1991. Since 1996, he was a member of the Board of the National Association of Printing Ink Manufacturers (NAPIM) and in 1980 was elected a Printing Ink Pioneer. In 1991 he was recognized with NAPM's Ault Award in recognition of his many years of service to the industry. He was also a member of the Chemical & Specialties Management Council, an organization of top executives among private chemical manufacturers.Fred was President of the Ridgewood-Glen Rock Boy Scout Council, President of the Yaw-Paw Camp Foundation, and a recipient of the Council's Silver Beaver Award for Service to the Council. He was also Treasurer of Hobbyists Unlimited in Ridgewood.A lifelong sailor, Fred loved to race and cruise in small sailboats. He joined the Nyack Boat Club in 1962, serving in small of positions in the Club including Commodore from 1972-1974. He was awarded life membership in 1998. He taught all of his sons to sail and race, and many of his grandchildren are also active in the sport. He served as U.S. Sailing Principal Race Officer for regattas, including national championships of one-design sailboats. During his retirement, he spent lengthy vacations with his wife Barbara sailing to New England and Chesapeake Bay on "Prime Time", their 35 ft cruising sailboat. He was a member of The Corinthians Association, frequently joining in their annual cruise.A Memorial Service will be held Tuesday 5:00 pm at the Feeney Funeral Home, 232 Franklin Avenue, Ridgewood. Visiting hours Tuesday 3:00 - 6:00 PM. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial contribution to be made to the Yaw-Paw Camp Foundation, 135 Prospect St., Ridgewood, NJ 07450 -OR- the R.D. Hinsch Sailing Scholarship Foundation, 2 Eucalyptus Rd., Montvale, NJ 07465.

I also found that the EPA Registry of Chemical Producers has included Roberts & Carlson as a New Jersey registered cleanup site.  Not so good.  They apparently are no longer producing Coca-Cola Non-Skid Red, but they clearly have left their mark in the sand, so to speak.  I hope that Ken, if he is still among the living, is still enjoying his Corvettes.