h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

B4(Remember the B4 bag?)

We are leaving for a "vacation" in Europe this weekend so I expect to be somewhat PC deprived for a few weeks...my broadband card doesn't work in Europe...but maybe a hotspot or two? At least an internet cafe...

My AF experiences were from 6/63 to 6/68...I always thought I would write a book, but eventually settled for a short story on h2g2 called "A Navigator's Log"...

Did you do some travelling during your 20 years? Iceland sounds interesting. Did you go camping? Fishing? The second time I was in Lackland, LBJ flew over in a helicopter and waved at me.

Do you wear a dosimeter?

Did you been visit Weissbaden while stationed in Germany? White Bath. Amazing how many Badens there are in Germany. Baden Baden always makes me laugh...

We have a German friend, an engineer that works in the nuclear power industry. As I understand it, his firm does nuclear safety certifications, a little like CPA firms...hopefully more honest...They may boot him out to pasture soon due to advancing age.

-Phred

Phred, yes, I remember the B4 bags all too well. I was in Ground Mobile Tactical units most of my career, so keeping my kit bag ready at all times was essential. We were alloted two bags, one was for clothing, the other for Chem Warfare/Survival Gear. My job was hooking up telephone and computer equipment in field environments. Can you say, "D@mn sand gets in ~every~thing!"

I read your "Navigator's Log". Parts of it would go right over the heads of the general public, yet I recognized some of the places and events of which you wrote. Your insights and general comments convey a general feeling of malaise, a tongue-in-cheek acceptance of the circumstances you lived through, and a final breath of relief to leave all the military idiosyncrasy behind. Several instances seemed all too familiar to me, especially the incident sitting on the flightline, the officer trying to sway the flight chief to his viewpoint, and (thankfully) having to back down. Been there; done it; have the remnants of the T-shirt.

Yes, I traveled a bit during my enlistment, mostly while I was reconnecting with my relatives in Germany during my four-year tour. Saw some castles, drank a lot of wine and beer, ate fabulous food at the Gasthauses, learned how the upper echelon protects its own (even if they're dweebs who don't know their @ss from a hole in the ground), lost a wife to a divorce, had a failed romantic interlude, and--in general--lived a decent life while out and about in the world.

By the way, my home town is Wiesbaden, not 'weiss'. Yes, it's another of those 'baths', but I never recall getting soaked there.

Iceland was way cool. Literally. A place of rugged beauty, that. Mostly lava rock at Keflavik NAS. (They had to import sod just to make it a bit more like home.) Summers were pleasant, but the winters could be brutal. Experienced my first white-out while there. We were buying groceries at the Commissary because we knew a storm was coming. By the time we made it out to the car, the snow was blowing across everything, partially obscuring the high-intensity lights around the base. I drove back to the housing unit with my wife and it was all I could do to get the car (a Russian Lada) close enough to the door so we could pack in the supplies. I had to yell at the top of my lungs to keep my wife from losing her way the few steps to the front porch, and had to rush back out to her to guide her in. We could barely make out the headlamps of our car in front of us. Had to deal quickly with the transfer of goods from car to home, then we battened down the hatches to ride it out. Even our mission asked for only essential personnel for about three days. Our family got to know each other very well over the two-and-a-half years we spent in that remote part of the world.

Dosimetry? Yup. Wear an ED and an OSLD every time I go into an RCA (Radiologically Contaminated Area). It's fairly 'clean' where I work, not like at a Boiling Water Reactor, where the Turbine Building is included in the RCA. We have an enclosed Primary Loop of water (the Reactor through the Steam Generator internal piping), a Secondary Loop (the outer shell of the SGs, around the Turbine, down through the Condenser, then back to the SGs), and a Tertiary Loop (from the Cooling Tower Basin through the Main Steam and Aux Feedwater systems and back out to the Cooling Tower). I've worked among the outer peripheral buildings, in the heart of the Aux Building and the Reactor Building, studied to become an Operator, wound up back in the Plant Helper group, and am presently doing logistics for movement of maintenance items going into / out of the RB for our Refuel Outage #15. It was a voluntary position. Despite the grief of working with other Union employees, I think I'll raise my hand to do it again for our next Outage.

Enjoy your vacation to Europe. I'm sure you'll post photos and recollections on "The Firecloud Report", right? You know I'll keep my eyes open for it.

B4thewife&Itakeourvacation2Ohiothissummer