Pictures from the past - Generators large and larger.

I’ve been spending some time lately going through some old pictures and thinking about the enormity of the task of taking these photos and scanning them into my computer to preserve them. Not that I think 20 years from now we’ll be using compact discs or flash drives to store photos, but who knows.

I spent 20 years in the US Navy. Everyone knows what that is. I served in a smallish subset of the Navy called the Seabees, the Navy’s construction and humanitarian aid arm. There are about 12,000 Seabees on active duty these days – but there were over 300,000 of them during World War II, bulldozing their way through the Pacific theater, building bases, airstrips, docks, fuel depots, and generally supporting whatever efforts were needed to advance toward Tokyo. In between conflicts, the Seabees focus on humanitarian aid missions.

Of those 20 years, about half of it was spent in special program (only about 40 of us) within the Seabees called the Mobile Utilities Support Equipment (MUSE) Program. It’s purpose was to supply shore based utility services to Navy facilities world wide where there were shortages, for example, a naval base that didn’t have enough electrical capacity to provide power to ships when they were in port.

I’ve scanned in a few pictures from those days, which will serve as today’s “Photo Blog.”

Here are two 1000 kilowatt diesel generator sets that I installed (with a 4 person MUSE team) in Sasebo Japan in 1984. Each generator had an Alco Diesel engine of about 1400 horsepower. Alco was once the American Locomotive Company, and designed these engines for locomotive use, although they proved reliable in generator service as well. These generator sets, although attractive, were not particularly well made (by a contractor in Florida) and we usually spent several days working out the kinks during any new installation. These generators produce power at 4,160 volts, which was either bumped up for transmission, or transformed down for distribution. MUSE generators almost always produced power at that voltage, and were often accompanied by a portable MUSE electrical substation to provide the voltage shift.

The coolest and most technically intricate generators in the MUSE fleet were the generators driven by gas turbine engines. We had two very different models; a 750 KW generator set driven a Solar Gas Turbine engine, and this one, a 2000 KW generator driven by an Allison Gas Turbine engine. The engine in this generator set, a model we called the 501KB, was also used in turboprop aircraft such as the C-130 cargo plane (in which it had the model designation T-56). For our use, instead of driving the propeller, the front shaft went through a reduction gear-box and then spun a generator. It was a complex unit, using a small 150 hp gas turbine as the starting motor for the larger engine. These were built by Morrison – Knudson in North Carolina, who built many different MUSE generator plants, in the days before electronics ruled. Designed in the 1970’s, they required a complicated panel of over 50 relays and switches just for the starting sequence. This picture is from Christmas Day 1982, as a team of us were dispatched to Mare Island Shipyard to provide emergency power as the base had suffered damage to its electrical transmission tower during a storm.

Here is one of the three control panels for the generator. The generator included a fire suppression system. These generators were not what you would call fuel efficient, using 250 gallons of jet or diesel fuel per hour at full load. But that wasn’t the point – they were the most power-dense generator we had: 2,000 KW of power in a highway legal trailer. It could get almost anywhere very quickly.

Here is a shot of the engine. The starting system included a complicated sequence to avoid ‘compressor stall’, which can result in melted turbine blades, which is, ummm, not good.

Here is a picture of me and Barney Baker taken at Mare Island on Christmas 1982. Barney was a good friend and mentor.

One of my favorite deployments during my MUSE years was the trip to Key West Florida in early 1982. We took one of the 2000 gas turbine generator sets (same as above – we had 12 of the trailer mounted versions) and a MUSE substation to Florida, mounted it on a WW II era landing craft, and supported the ‘shock test’ of a new class of ship.

What is a ‘shock test’? It’s when you take a new class of ship, bring it a few miles off shore, and then detonate explosives underwater that are progressively larger and closer to see how the ship reacts. It’s a sort of stress test for ships. What made this test unique was that it was the first shock test performed on a nuclear powered surface vessel. We were there (don’t laugh) in case the reactor scrammed, and the emergency generators failed also. We were supposed to come alongside, run and connect cables into the ships electrical system, and provide power for the reactor emergency core cooling system (ECCS) and other critical systems. We practiced the drill a few times before the actual tests. It also meant that we had to be very nearby during the test, once we were closer than the ship to the explosives. Which meant all of our ‘stuff’ had to stay together too. Which it didn’t. Which is another story.

Well, we’re getting long here, so let’s call this generators part one. More next time.

Happy Thanksgiving!

What follows is a reprint of my lead article for the Vermont Conference's weekly email newsletter, E-KIT, published November 26, 2008.

The current financial situation (or crisis, if you're following your 401(k) value closely) has resulted in many of us feeling less certain about our future. As often happens in these circumstances, folks "pull in the reins" and reduce spending on non-essentials. The spike of oil prices above $140 a barrel earlier this year caused some frantic number crunching in our local churches as the cost to heat sanctuaries this winter seemed unbelievably high. Other congregations are already bracing for reduced giving in the coming year.

To be honest, I'm not really a "glass half full" or "glass half empty" person. Troubleshooter that I am, I'm more of a "the glass is twice as big as it needs to be" person. But having said that, I also know that our God is a God of Abundance, not scarcity! And God will fill our glass - how big it is, is up to us. And we, as Stewards of God, must give from that spirit of abundance, not from a place of fear.

This week there were plenty of reminders of people who know this to be so. An Associated Press article provided many reasons to be hopeful, including:

· In Seattle, Boeing Co. employees tripled their cash donations this year to Northwest Harvest, operator of Washington's largest food bank. And every week, Northwest Harvest spokeswoman Claire Acey says, companies call to say their employees have decided to skip their holiday party and buy food for the hungry instead.

· Contributions to American charities have increased during 39 of the past 40 years in today's dollars, and a change in the tax laws _ not the stock market crash _ can be blamed for the drop in 1987, said Melissa Brown, associate director of research for The Center on Philanthropy. Between 69 and 72 percent of people give routinely, she said.

· A survey released this week by Federal Way, Wash.-based World Vision indicates that 2008 could actually be a better-than-usual Christmas for the nation's charitable organizations. The telephone survey, conducted in late October by Harris Interactive, found that seven in 10 adults plan to spend less money on holiday presents this year, but about half say they are more likely to give a charitable gift than a traditional present such as clothing or an electronic toy.

Now, I'm not a Pollyanna, and I know we face some difficult decisions in both our local churches and at the Conference about our expectations for income in the coming years. But I would encourage you to faithfully explore (it's amazing how different the world looks through the prism of the Spirit) new and exciting ways to be "church", and not to spend too much time worrying and bemoaning our future. The worrying doesn't help - and the time spent moaning is better spent in prayer.



Jim

Reflections on Veterans' Day…

I have had an uneasy relationship with Veterans' Day my entire adult life. Although I gave 20 years to the service of my country in the Navy Seabees, the label of Veteran is not one I wear without some discomfort. Indeed, due to injuries to my knees while on active duty, I could also correctly be called a disabled veteran, a moniker with which I am even more uncomfortable.

It is not that I am ashamed or embarrassed of my service. The exact opposite is true. I had, by nearly any measure, a successful and rewarding career. A Chief Petty Officer in 8 years, a Master Chief in 17, and half of my career spent in a specialized program supplying utilities to naval facilities worldwide.

And yet.

And yet, my internal pictures of Veterans are, for example, the grizzled survivors of World War II, a group whose numbers are significantly decreasing daily, and of which my father is a part. Those who saw things which should not be seen, and did things you shouldn’t have to do. And when they came home, they locked it all away and went on with their lives as if it never happened. Recent works recognizing “The Greatest Generation” have provided the children of those men (and women) with amazing stories of both horror and heroism they had never heard before.

Or perhaps those who served in Korea, the ‘forgotten’ war. Or those who served in Vietnam. Vietnam Veterans, in particular, were treated shabbily by the country they served admirably when they returned. Many of them still wear the scars of that conflict, whether visible or not.

More recently, we have those who served in the first Gulf War, and those who serve as I type.

Those are the men and women I think of when I hear the word Veteran. To be included in their number seems almost a sham. Did I do some dangerous things during my service? Certainly. But nothing that compares to what millions of others have done, sacrifices paid with body parts, damaged psyches, and all too often the ultimate sacrifice for a sometimes ungrateful nation.

I have many fond memories of my service with the Seabees. There was the Christmas I spent at the Mare Island Shipyard with Barney Baker and others as we provided emergency power to the base after the failure of a transmission tower. The day Lynn and Joe Maynard pinned Chief Anchors to my collar for the first time. The 7 months in Haiti, building a 5.5 mile road around Port-au-Prince, and my crew who delighted in giving their meager off time to rebuilding local schools and orphanages, as Seabees are want to do. The three years Lynn, I, and the kids spent in the Philippines, surviving five typhoons, an earthquake, two coup attempts, and finally, the eruption of Mount Pinatubo.

And the month spent in Homestead after Hurricane Andrew. We were part of a small Seabee Unit at the Mayport Naval Station in 1992 when Andrew devastated south Florida. The next day, the Commanding Officer of Naval Station Mayport called and said simply, “Go south. Help people.” Best set of orders I ever received. And we went; clearing roads, providing temporary roof repairs, distributing food and healthcare, repairing electrical systems.

All good stuff of which I am very proud, but which seems deficient when compared to the acts of others. And so, on this Veterans' Day, I hope all Americans will honor those who have to ably served their country. And a day I will wear the label of Veteran proudly, but humbly.

Blessings to all of you,

jim

How Advertising Distorts Reality and the Harm it Causes...

Advertising, particularly since the advent of television, has sought to shape not only what we buy, but how we think, and indeed our impression of what is good or beneficial. Moreover, it has done the inverse as well, convinced us of what is not good, what is not "hip", and, worst of all, what we shouldn't like about ourselves.

Nowhere is this more evident than the beauty product ads that feature examples of womanhood which are unnatural, and indeed, impossible without hours of preparation by a team of experts, then manipulating the results further with computers.

We have given people, and particularly teenage girls, an impossible standard to attain, and have perpetuated a culture of self-hate, eating disorders, cutting, and depression.

In the midst of this, Dove has done something revolutionary. Yes, Dove. The facial soap people. Watch this video and see. I don't think it needs any further introduction.

jim

United Church of Christ Celebrates its Story

Members of my denomination, the United Church of Christ, raised over $170,000 in less than a week to run a full-page ad in the April 2, 2008 edition of the New York Times, celebrating the UCC's nearly four hundred year history of faith, liberty, and witness. The effort, partially a response to incomplete and inaccurate news coverage of the UCC and particularly Trinity UCC in Chicago, was so successful that a further effort will permit a new ad in USA Today.

I think it speaks for itself, so I'll simply share the text of the ad here:

Much has been said about the United Church of Christ in recent weeks, much of it hurtful for many in our country, including members of Trinity UCC in Chicago. That is why we are eager to share the broad and diverse story of the United Church of Christ, one that we celebrate.

With all Christians, we rest in God’s amazing grace and hear God’s voice in the words of Scripture. Yet, the UCC is unique to some because we do not require uniformity of belief. We are a church of open ideas, extravagant welcome and evangelical courage. Our passion for democracy extends to both government and church, where decision-making rests within each congregation. We support liberty in our pulpits, just as we affirm the individual conscience of our 1.2-million members to agree, disagree and wrestle with life’s biggest questions in a spirit of love.

Our story is this nation’s story. We are the people of the Mayflower. More than 600 of our 5,700 congregations were formed before 1776. Eleven signers of the Declaration of Independence were members of UCC predecessor bodies.

As early abolitionists, we came to the aid of the Amistad captives and founded hundreds of schools across the South after the Civil War. We were the first mainline church to ordain an African-American (1785), a woman (1853) and an openly gay pastor (1972). We were also the first to form a foreign mission society (1810). Our multi-ethnic membership includes persons from every immigrant group, as well as native peoples and descendants of freed slaves.

Our unity is not dependent upon uniform agreement, but in our shared allegiance to Jesus Christ. Ours is a risk-taking church, because ours is a risk-taking God. God is still speaking, ®

If you want to download the ad, I have posted it on the Vermont Conference's website. Click the links that follow to view/download.

UCC New York Times Ad, bulletin size
UCC New York Times Ad, letter size

jim

Music - from trombones to Bjork...

I have always been intimately connected to music. I started playing the trombone when I was 7, and was pretty good at it. While in high school, I auditioned each year for the regional band playing a different instrument each time (trombone, baritone, tuba, trumpet). I also played in our church’s CYO (Catholic Youth Organization) band for 10 years. The most exciting part was being honored as the first chair trombonist for the Central Mass. Youth Symphony Orchestra. I guess you should add chorus and high school musicals to the list as well. I might have gone to Berklee College of Music in Boston, but that is a tale for another time.

I begin with the musical history of my youth not to try to impress you, but to give you a feel for how important music was (and is) to me. My musical tastes are eclectic – the cd changer in my truck is as likely to contain Mozart as it is Dean Martin as it is Cake as it is the soundtrack from The Music Man.

Sometimes I wonder if I wasn’t born a generation too late. I have a real affection for some of the biggest names of the 1950’s and 60’s, and I don’t mean Elvis or the Beatles. I’m thinking more like Frank Sinatra, Louis Prima, Sammy Davis Jr., Dino, Ella Fitzgerald, Rosemary Clooney, and many others. Songs from what is now called the Great American Songbook, classics crafted by Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen, the Gershwins, and so many more. To listen to this music on line, go to Martini in the Morning for the best internet music station.

Identifying with more modern music is sometimes more difficult for me. But there are several modern artists whom I find very enjoyable.

But only one, really, touches me deep inside, for reasons I can’t begin to explain. And that artist is Bjork.

Bjork is from Iceland, and it is difficult to fit her music into a single genre. In fact on Wikipedia it lists them as:

Electronica
Alternative Rock
Pop
Experimental
Trip-Hop
Ambient
IntelligentDance
HouseJazz
New Age
Contemporary
Dance
Downtempo
Folk
A Capella
Industrial Rock
Punk Rock

Her music touches me internally. It is not a pop song quickly forgotten, but something to be savored and explored over time. She first grabbed me with the song Hunter. She has wonderfully expressive vocals, a diverse and deep musicality, and seems to exist for the sheer joy of her music. She has her own record label, and although she has sold 15 million albums worldwide, she probably would not consider herself a commercial success. I heard her say once that the money she earns only serves to help pay for the next project.

And her next project is amazing. Her new song, Wanderlust, would serve as a good introduction to Bjork as any other. And she just spent $100,000 of her own money to produce a video for it. Several months in the making, filmed in 3D, it is amazing. I’ll insert it here. (You might want to listen to it the first time without trying to ‘get’ the video. Just listen. Next time through you can watch)

(updated April 4th - The video has been removed from YouTube, but if you search around you will find the audio and/or video - jim)

Let me know what you think….

jim

Separating the Wheat from the Chaff, Part 1

The internet has grown so vast, so fast, that it is hard to comprehend. I was in on personal computers pretty early, cutting my teeth on an original IBM desktop (with two 5 ¼ inch floppy drives and NO hard drive) and various Tandy TRS-80’s (sold by Radio Shack in the late 1970s). I was adept with these early machines, writing batch files (.bat) for my friends and co-workers; developing menus to help them find their way around from the C:\ (or “C” prompt).

( a TRS-80, series one)

Early internet connectivity was, for me and most folks, a slow affair suitable for typing plain text on a BBS, or bulletin board. When I replaced my 300 baud modem with a new 1200 baud unit (yes, that’s 1.2K) I was amazed at my new speed.

(an AT&T modem, circa 1956. OK, this was before my time)

Huh.

I didn’t mean to begin authoring a missive on the history of personal computers and the internet. Where I meant to go was to the internet today and the absolutely astounding amount of information and enjoyment available. I think, for example, of something my kids probably take for granted – multiple encyclopedia sites, dictionary sites, and the like. Nearly every home had a set of Encyclopedia Britannica’s when I was growing up. I suspect very few do now. All 26 volumes now fit on a single cd; or more significantly, on a continuously evolving, adapting, and growing on line version such as Wikipedia.

So, maybe what I’d do in my next few posts is to share a couple of my favorite places to go on the world wide web. Maybe you’ll find someplace new you like as well.

First: music. There are literally thousands of internet radio stations to listen to, providing virtually any format you can imagine. Some are rebroadcasts of terrestrial radio (regular AM or FM stations), but many are designed exclusively for internet broadcast. These latter stations may be simply replaying the contents of someone’s music folder, while others have disk jockeys, personalities and even commercials.

My absolute favorite example of a successful internet radio station is Martini in the Morning, owned by the Standard Media Group, and run by Brad “Martini” Chambers. If you tried to pigeonhole the format, I guess you might call it Adult Contemporary, but it’s really about the Great American Songbook – performed by classic artists such as Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Ella Fitzgerald, and Judy Garland; and contemporary artists like Michael Buble, Harry Connick Jr., and Diana Krall.



This music is really enjoying a comeback – and while smaller radio markets cannot support such a station, the internet, with no signal boundaries, can.

I’ve been listening for most of year now – it plays on my office computer all day, and often at home on the weekend. Brad is pretty cagey about the number of listeners, but I’ve seen well over 700 just on Shoutcast alone.

So, check it out! Brad is live on the air several hours during the day, with the morning show co-hosted by the delightful Michelle. I enjoy it enough to have 'joined', and become a Lounge Lizard in Exile. Strange to join a radio station you can hear for free? Tell that to the millions of listeners who support their local National Public Radio station!

Click here to go to their website, and click in the box in the upper right hand corner to listen live. Or simply click here to open the site's player in a new window.If you have Winamp, search for Martini in the Shoutcast Radio section. You can also download Winamp here.

Enjoy!

jim

William F. Buckley, RIP

I observed, with much sadness, the passing of Bill Buckley yesterday. I hesitated, briefly, about whether to post something about this or not. Mr. Buckley was among the greatest conservatives of the 20th century. Unfortunately, the knee jerk reaction among many of those with whom I interact will be that being conservative equals being a republican equals all sorts of unpleasant –isms.

I certainly didn’t agree with everything Mr. Buckley espoused – he held several views with which I would squabble. His (albeit with some reservations) support of Joe McCarthy, his late conversion to support for civil rights, and his support for southern whites seeking to retain their culture come to mind.

I remain, however, in awe of his intelligence, wit, vocabulary, and debating skills. Even those with whom he disagreed came to admire him for these same qualities, except, perhaps, for Gore Vidal and Ayn Rand.

I feel my inferior command of the English language surfacing even as I write this – as I somehow wish to rise to a level which befits him. I am not alone. His writing style was well known for its wit, erudition, and use of an immense vocabulary. He inspired others to seek (as if it were possible) the high plain from which he spoke. Here, for example, is a letter written to Mr. Buckley when his was editor of National Review from Julian Schmidt: "Dear Mr. Buckley: You can call off the hunt for the elusive "encephalophonic." I have it cornered in Webster's Third New International Dictionary, where the noun "encephalophone" is defined as "an apparatus that emits a continuous hum whose pitch is changed by interference of brain waves transmitted through oscillators from electrodes attached to the scalp and that is used to diagnose abnormal brain functioning." I knew right where to look, because you provoked my search for that word a generation ago, when I first (and not last) encountered it in one of your books. If it was used derisively about you, I can only infer that the reviewer's brain was set a-humming by a) his failure to follow your illaqueating (ensnaring) logic, b) his dizzied awe at your manifold talents, and/or c) his inability to distinguish lexiphanicism (the use of pretentious words) from lectio divina. I say, keep it up. We could all do with more brain vibrations."

Bill was, without a doubt, a child of privilege. But, unlike many born with a silver spoon, he went on to accomplish much: founder of National Review; host of Firing Line; newspaper columnist; author of more than 40 books; a sailor; an accomplished musician; and the standard bearer for the conservative movement of the latter half of the 20th century. Recently, he gave grudging, lukewarm support for George W. Bush and spoke out about the war in Iraq, of which he said the war was: "…anything but conservative. The reality of the situation is that missions abroad to effect regime change in countries without a bill of rights or democratic tradition are terribly arduous." He added: "This isn't to say that the Iraq war is wrong, or that history will judge it to be wrong. But it is absolutely to say that conservatism implies a certain submission to reality; and this war has an unrealistic frank and is being conscripted by events.”

If you’re not familiar with Mr. Buckley, you can find many videos of him on either Google or Youtube.

A commentator on the National Review website yesterday said that today Heaven was a little more heavenly, and rest assured that God has sent an angel for a dictionary, knowing Bill was coming.

RIP, WFB.

jim

Winter in Vermont. Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Alright, back to lighter fare. One of my (supposed) friends from the southern United States asked me if we had much snow this winter. I’m not sure (it’s always difficult to discern sarcasm in an email) if he was being facetious or not, but thought I’d go snap a couple pictures of what it look like outside and share them with everyone. These were all taken a couple of days ago. And we’re no where near done yet. A winter storm warning has just been posted to Tuesday-Wednesday, expecting another 10-15 inches. Hooray!

Here’s the front of the house. You almost can’t see out the kitchen windows.

This is the north side of the house. The snow is over four feet deep here. For reference, our camping trailer (under the green tarp) is 11 feet tall.

I have to keep finding the mailbox after the plow goes through. Even on the road the snow is a foot deep.

The old chicken coop. We use it as a storage shed. Glad I don’t need anything in there right now.

The front door. We don’t actually use it, but the fill pipe for the oil tank is against the house to the right of the door, so I have to keep it clear.


Well, you get the idea. It had been a very snowy winter. And we’re no where near done. Some years March is our snowiest month. Yippee!

One more picture before I go. The last few weeks we’ve had an owl hanging around. He comes at dusk and stays a couple of hours each night. He has seriously reduced the squirrel/chipmunk/mole population. He has been as close as sitting on the pole which holds the birdfeeder, less than 2 feet from the front porch. He’s hard to get a picture of, but Friday night I caught him. It’s not a great picture, but the best I could do.



More soon!

jim

Can a Muslim be a Good American, part 2

I'll admit that this has at least a hint of propaganda to it, but I think it's worth watching anyway.

Want to know what American Muslims want you to know?

Watch this...