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The World According to Doug columns from 2007 archived in the on-line edition of the Courier:
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The World... According to Doug columns |
There was no column Oct. 11, 2007
Second Chair Cornet Oct. 4, 2007
Snake River Adventure Sept. 27, 2007
HQ Special Troops (EUSA) Sept. 20, 2007
Bus trip to Lost Maples Sept. 13, 2007
Labor Day parade Sept. 6, 2007
My worm farm venture Aug. 23, 2007
Geronimo! Aug. 16, 2007
A Silver Dollar Summer Aug. 9, 2007
E.T. Aug. 2, 2007
Paul Zinsmeister July 26, 2007
Grand Marshal at Center Point July 19, 2007
Working with Gus July 12, 2007
Pachinko machine July 5, 2007
Celebrating the Fourth of July June 28, 2007
Clotheslines June 21, 2007
A flash back & a new business June 14, 2007
39th Military Anniversary June 7, 2007
A Memorial Day Tribute May 31, 2007
More about the 1939 tornado May 24, 2007
The 1939 Twister May 17, 2007
The Log Cabin May 10, 2007
Scoot Scoot May 3, 2007
The Scout April 26, 2007
Rocket 88 April 19, 2007
A Snow Day April 12, 2007
The survivor and the coon tail April 5, 2007
Lucky Lady March 29, 2007
Almost Home March 22, 2007
Soaring March 15, 2007
A Rock and Roll Story March 8, 2007
The Broad Axe Feb. 22, 2007
Winchester 38-40 Feb. 15, 2007
Morale Booster Feb. 8, 2007
Hatteras Lighthouse Feb. 1, 2007
Red Phone Jan. 25, 2007
Green Acres Jan. 11, 2007
You get what you pay for Jan. 4, 2007
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Current Doug columns
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Doug columns from 2006
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The World... According to Doug
Second Chair Cornet
by Doug White
Published Oct. 4, 2007
There I was, in the third grade, trying out for band. Our music teacher was Mr. John D. Sommer. He guided us through the flute class. Remember playing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star"? I practiced so many times, I could play it in my sleep.
Then the time came when Mr. Sommer asked what instrument we would like to play. Most of the girls in our class played the clarinet. I remember Janette Causey choosing either the bassoon or bass clarinet. I know she was the only one to choose that instrument. It was a very interesting looking instrument. She played it very well later on.
I also remember Aleta Roberts being in the band although I don't remember what instrument she played. Now, as Aleta Dominique, she plays violin with the Symphony of the Hills in Kerrville but that's another story.
I chose the cornet and my classmate, Walter Blumrich, selected the trumpet. I remember that mine was a school rental instrument and Walter's was a brand new beautiful, shiny trumpet.
The only two things I could play were taps and some piece that they play at the track before a horse race.
I was a natural, but Walter was more serious than I was in perfecting our musical skills. He and I competed for first chair in our class. He got the honors and I got second chair.
It was my chance to get a new cornet.
I told my parents that I got second chair because the cornet was a rental and would never pass first chair, but everyone knew that was not true. Walter just outplayed me because he practiced harder for the competition.
Anyhow, my parents did not buy my explanation and said they were very proud of my second place. They knew me better than I did because I lost interest in playing in the band.
I think I drove Mr. Sommer crazy with my clowning around with the cornet. I know that he was gone the next year! I lost interest and turned in my cornet.
I am sure that the new band director was pleased about that. I think his name was Mr. John D. Poynter. Many years later, while stationed in Spokane, my wife Beth found a cornet in a thrift shop. She gave it to me for my birthday. I could still play some of the military stuff on it.
After retiring from the service, I will never forget the day I lost my dog Sam. He was a cocker and Brittany mix, a beautiful animal. I found him one morning on the road after he was hit by a vehicle. I gently picked him up and buried him.
Since Sam was given to me while I was on active duty, I called him my military dog. I had to play taps for my buddy. I was glad I had the ability to play it, thanks to my short time in the school band.
Hope you enjoyed most of the story.
Doug
PCWhiteKnight@WebTV.Net
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The World... According to Doug
Snake River Adventure
by Doug White
Published Sept. 27, 2007
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Photo courtesy of University of Washington's School of Aquatic & Fishery Science
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Lead fishing weight resembling a 16-penny nail.
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There I was, back in the mid-80s, stationed at the USAF Survival School at Fairchild AFB, Wash. One of the survival instructors, who was also from Texas, and I teamed up to go fishing in my new, used 14-foot boat with a 15-horsepower Sea King motor. We went south from Spokane to a place near the Lower Granite Dam on the Snake River. The Snake River travels 1,000 miles through Yellowstone National Park to the Columbia River, crossing the southeastern corner of Washington state.
We were approximately 60 miles north of a place called Hell's Gate State Park, Idaho, which is also a great camping area about two hours south of Spokane. The Snake River on this day was smooth as glass and the grain barges were lined up by the banks. It was harvest season and they were overflowing with grain.
I let the boat drift. We dropped out lines with a sinker weight that looked like a 16-penny nail so that it would not get caught in the rocky ruts below.
We were both fishing near the bottom, about 40 feet down, I would say. We used shrimp as our bait. The grain that was overflowing from the barges was attracting crawfish, which were drawing the blue channel catfish below. We got hits as soon as our lines were about 30 feet down and the poles would bend almost 90 degrees! The blue cats were heavy and tired before we got them up to the boat. We caught seven each and none were under five pounds.
What a great day that was. I noticed that when I used crawfish as bait, the blues would not bite. However, with the shrimp, they went nuts! The stringer with my seven attached on it was so heavy I could barely hold it up. Later, when we cooked the blue cats, I noticed that there was no mud taste at all and the meat was white. I believe that was the best catfish that I have ever eaten. Wow! What a fun September day that was on the Snake River.
Hope you enjoyed the story.
Doug
PCWhiteKnight@WebTV.Net
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The World... According to Doug
HQ Special Troops (EUSA)
by Doug White
Published Sept. 20, 2007
There I was, enjoying my 16-month tour of duty in Yongsan, South Korea. I was assigned to Eighth Army. I arrived in Korea in November 1969 and was assigned to the 55th Aviation Company.
However, you don't always get to the assignment that you are supposed to have. I had to process through Headquarters Special Troops to get my final orders to 55th Avn. I was looking forward to working on aircraft again.
Then, just as the administration officer was finalizing my paper work, the Sp/5 said, "Excuse me, specialist, I need to check something out about your orders." In a few minutes, he returned with a nice grin and said, "You have been diverted and will be my replacement." You see, they didn't have a replacement coming in for several weeks for this fellow. He only had a few days left in-country. There would be no way he could train that incoming person. I had typing skills and that was all they needed to know.
There was no army aircraft maintenance duty for me now. I had been trained to salute and go wherever you are qualified to go, but I must admit I had some mixed emotions about this duty.
I was told that I would be assigned to the S-2/3 shop. Translated, that means Security/Operations. It was a very good place to work, however, I didn't know if I could handle the job. Well, that was proved wrong. In just a short time everything fell into place.
I worked directly for a Sergeant Major named McKinney, and later Sergeant Major Legg. The staff was super to work with. I had no idea of what a good break it was to know how to type. I knew how, thanks to my good old high school teacher, Mr. Cecil Graves!
One of my duties was to schedule personnel for military training in the areas of projectionist, safety, NCO courses, etc. About a month on the job, I got this real mean-sounding first sergeant on the phone and he proceeded to tell me he had no student for the training which was required from his unit. Then he asked if I was the Sp/4 White that was supposed to be assigned to his unit.
I replied that I was the troop who was diverted to the headquarters. He was not a happy camper to know that I was the same Sp/4 White.
He then asked, "Why don't you go through the course and save my men the trouble?"
I replied, "That's a super idea, First Sergeant. I will ask my Sergeant Major if he wouldn't mind."
The First Sergeant, affectionately known as TOP, changed his attitude and replied, "Delay that question, specialist. How can I help you today?"
We never were the best of buds, however, he never - ever - gave me a problem after that. Actually, he was a very good First Sergeant, he just had too many requirements with too few troops to spare. Remember how I got my headquarters job?
I had another interesting job to do. Every Friday, there was a retreat ceremony and I would invite officers leaving the country to stand retreat with the honor of having the Eighth Army Band and Honor Guard pass in review. Most of the personnel I called would attend.
I will never forget how I had my chalk in hand and put a Navy captain to the left of an Air Force major. Wow, major mistake! The captain did not say a word until it was all over. He then informed my boss, the sergeant major, that he was not in the proper position. The USAF major smiled and did not say a thing, either. You see, the captain's rank was equivalent to a full colonel in the other branches of the military, and a colonel outranks a major.
When my boss asked me whether I knew the major in the USAF was junior to the Navy captain, I replied, "I thought the Navy captain was equivalent only when he was on board ship!" Oops, extra duty, article 15? Nope, just a nod and the words, "Next time be more aware."
"Yes, Sir."
Hope you enjoyed the story.
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The World... According to Doug
Bus trip to Lost Maples
by Doug White
Published Sept. 13, 2007
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Doug White and bus no. 10
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Having just been on the road to Tarpley for the fun parade over the Labor Day weekend, I recall back to 1994 when I was taking a group of students to the Lost Maples State Natural Area.
There I was, assigned to drive a new bus -- No. 10 -- on a field trip and it was a bit smaller than the one I usually drove, which was No. 27J. That bus held fewer students and was more fun to drive.
I was on the Tarpley Road and noticed a 10-point buck running to my right flank. I caught him in my peripheral vision. I knew that beautiful buck would cross in front of me at any second.
I could not just put the brake on for fear of throwing the students out of their seats. So I softly tapped the brake and got the bus down to a slower speed.
The students were wondering what was wrong with the bus, or the driver.
I was relieved that the 10-point buck gave me time to slow down before making his move. Then all of a sudden, he turned in front of the bus. I could not avoid hitting him and it turned out to be a soft hit. He rolled over and got back up and ran with all four of his legs in great shape. He made the trip across the road this time alive.
The students all cheered and gave me a standing ovation and I said, "Thank you, but now I will have to write you all up for standing up on a moving bus! Just kidding."
It turned out to be a super trip and everyone enjoyed the Lost Maples area. I enjoyed the day even more knowing that I did not take out that beautiful 10-point buck. I am sure he ended up on someone's trophy wall, which is much better than in the grill of a brand new school bus.
Now that you know how exciting and challenging driving a school bus is, you need to apply for the job! It will keep you out of the pool halls. I have been driving for Bandera ISD for some 17 years. I found out that the ISD stands for "Insane Driver!" It has been good, bad and ugly, just like that movie that Clint Eastwood did back in the early 1960s.
As my name was not "Mr. White," "Doug" or "your buddy" -- it was "Mr. J." I took the name of the route as my title.
The 27J route is another story to come later.
Hope you enjoyed the story.
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The World... According to Doug
Labor Day parade
by Doug White
Published Sept. 6, 2007
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“No. 1 Chick” at the Tarpley Labor Day Fun Parade.
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Gee, the Chicken Car is exhausted.
We just did two parades. One was in Boerne, Sept. 1, the 102nd Annual Kendall County Fair parade. We were number 112 in the line up. I don't even know how many floats and participants there were. It was BIG! Thanks to Jay & Laurie Gilmore for the invitation. We had a great time. We were invited to participate in the Bandera Labor Day parade as well. However, the parade in Boerne was at the same time and we had already confirmed our reservation.
There I was one day, checking out something on the No. 1 Chick, (Chicken Car) and this truck pulled up next to me in Bandera.
Bob Padgett invited me to be in the Tarpley parade which was going to be on Sept. 2. I told him, "With this vehicle, if it starts, we will be there." I forwarded the information to the Kerrville office and had it put on file.
The big day came, the chicken car fired right up and off we went to Tarpley. About halfway there, I heard a loud squeal and smelled a belt burning. I pulled off the road and inspected the belts. The one on the air conditioner compressor was red hot. I knew at that moment the only thing to do was to get that belt off the compressor pulley. I had nothing to cut that belt except scissors and I was using one side of them as a knife.
Then a truck pulled up beside the car and the driver asked if he could assist me. It turned out to be none other than the sheriff of Bandera County, Weldon Tucker.
He smiled and said, "My knife may not be any sharper than your scissors." Then I held the belt and he cut it off nicely.
He was on his way to the Tarpley parade with his family. I thanked him, crossed my fingers and the car started. He asked, "Would you like for me to follow you, or lead?" I replied, "Please, take the lead." Of course, cutting that belt cost me my power steering and it's a good thing I work out daily riding my Harley and Vespa, or I would never have accomplished the mission.
Well, we got there right on time and the parade started about 30 minutes later. I got all kinds of compliments from parade participants and observers as well. The chicken car was very welcome and I was surprised at the number of participating floats.
The parade went very well and the car steered fine even without power steering. I was very pleased that no belt noise was present.
The parade was fun and the BBQ was super! I noticed an auction was going on and there was a old school bus that was being auctioned off. It looked a lot like the one I drove for the BISD back in the early 90s – good old 27J. This was not that bus, but I wondered for an microsecond whether I should, or should not, make a bid. I’m glad I didn’t – my marriage would have been on the rocks! I am sure the fellow who placed the winning bid on that bus will not regret it.
I got to visit with some friends and then it was time to get the chicken car back to the barn.
I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone involved with both the Kendall County and Tarpley parades and for allowing us to participate. Also, I would like to thank the sheriff of Bandera County, Weldon Tucker, for his assistance.
This was one memorable Labor Day weekend! Hope you enjoyed the story.
Doug
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The World... According to Doug
TH-13T 'Sioux'
by Doug White
Published Aug. 30, 2007
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Doug at his helicopter in 1968 at Hunter Army Airfield in Georgia.
This TH-13T, S/N 67-17053, was manufactured by Bell Helicopter Company in Fort Worth and delivered to the US Army in August 1968. Following its military career, it was acquired by the Tennessee Valley Authority and operated for several years out of the civilian airport in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. In 1988 it was acquired by the USAF Museum System and assigned to Hill Aerospace Museum for display.
Photo courtesy of US Air Force
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There I was, stationed at Hunter Army Air Field, Georgia. Outside the gates was good ol’ Savannah.
The TH-13T, known as the "Sioux," was manufactured by Bell Helicopter Company in Fort Worth. They delivered a bunch of them to the US Army at Hunter Army Air Field in August 1968. As a result, there were more helicopters than crew chiefs. The only solution was to assign two aircraft per crew chief. They were brand new and had very few hours on them. It was a challenge to have such a great responsibility all of a sudden.
One day I was pulling all kinds of details, with sweeping and mopping huge hangers being priority one. The next day I was crewing a very special trainer helicopter and still sweeping and mopping huge hangers.
You see, the TH-13T was used for flight training future pilots of the Huey and Cobra. The word was, if you could fly the "Sioux," then you could fly any Army helicopter of this era. Each TH-13Ts cost approximately $50,000. So there we were, fresh out of Ft. Rucker Ala., one and two stripers responsible for $100,000 worth of equipment each, as well as the safety of the men and women that flew them. It was awesome and a little scary at times.
We all had mentors that assisted us daily when we needed them. They were crew chiefs that had returned from Vietnam who were waiting to get out of the Army. Some were super crew chiefs and some were not so hot. You could not help but wonder how some of them managed to survive their own maintenance!
I had great mentors. One of my mentors had been assigned to the 1st Air Cav in Vietnam. He told me a war story about the time his bird took a hit in the main rotor blades and the vibration was like two to one, meaning two bumps per rotation. He knew that his helicopter would not make it back to base. So he had the officer land so he could inspect the damage. He asked the pilot for his .45 caliber service revolver. As the blades of the helicopter were slowing down, he noticed the hole in one of them and made a mental note of the location of the hole. He then waited for the good blade to come around and shot a hole in about the same location in the good blade.
He gave the weapon back to the pilot and said, "Let's get the hell out of here, sir!" They were not in friendly territory.
He said the pilot could not believe it, however, he noticed that the two-to-one vibration smoothed out considerably. I asked the crew chief, "What if you had blown off the blade?" He smiled and replied, "I guess we would have had a long walk back to the safe zone."
I was looking for a photo of the TH13T from the Internet and got on the Hill Aerospace Museum site. I noticed that the TH13T on display at the Museum was one of the birds delivered to our unit at Hunter Army Airfield back in August 1968. In fact, the serial number, 67-17053, from their TH13T is only three numbers different from one of the birds I crewed, serial number 67-17056!
I don't know who crewed that particular bird, but in my mind, I see all of those fine young soldiers I served with so very long ago. The tribute at Hill is a tribute to all of us. Hope you enjoyed the story.
Doug
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The World... According to Doug
My worm farm venture
by Doug White
Published Aug. 23, 2007
There I was, back in the mid-1990s. I saw this cool-looking chest freezer on the side of the road, ready for the garbage collector to pick up. I had a wonderful thought – it would make the perfect container for a worm farm.
I picked it up and took it home to Pipe Creek. I put a few holes in the side of it so the worms would be able to breathe. Now I had to find some worms for my new farm.
I talked to my neighbor, Pat Davis, about my new venture. The next day, I looked out the back door and, to my surprise, it was like Christmas. There must have been 50 to 60 cartons of worm boxes on the old non-functioning freezer. For a second, I wondered how they got there. Then I checked them out and proceeded to dump them into the freezer. Fifty boxes hold a lot of peat moss, as you know.
I finally realized that it must have been my neighbor, Pat Davis, who did this neat deed. I checked in on him later in the day. He admitted to putting the worms on the freezer and told me how he acquired them. Turns out, the Barrel House had a problem with their walk-in cooler and had to throw them out.
Well, Patrick knew exactly what to do and asked if he could have them. The employee had no problem giving them away, since they were going to die anyhow.
After I discovered he had left the worms, I thanked him and offered to pay for them. Of course, he turned me down and wished me good luck with my new business.
All the worms were in the old freezer and I thought they needed some good dirt. I had some potting soil which we had purchased previously. I put that beautiful black potting soil in with the worms, knowing they would enjoy the soft dirt.
The next day I went out and I could not believe my eyes. The worms were all dead. The new potting soil had a chemical in it that took out the worms.
I know if they had survived, my worm business would have taken off.
Easy come, easy go! Hope you enjoyed the story.
Doug
PCWhiteKnight@WebTV.Net
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The World... According to Doug
Geronimo!
by Doug White
Published Aug. 16, 2007
There I was back in the early 60s, enjoying the summer and kind of bored.
There's nothing like a bored kid! I had always been fascinated with people who would jump out of a perfectly normal airplane. I even enjoyed watching Mary Poppins being airborne with an umbrella.
Must run in the family – even my grandfather talked about the possibility of tying helium balloons to a chair. My grandfather had the answer. Take a BB gun with you and when you’re ready to return, just shoot a few and you would descend. Now that I think of it, maybe he wanted me to do that trick for him with an empty BB gun. Not so, actually we got along swell. The generation gap was good for us both.
Anyhow on this particular nice summer day, the heat was on and there was no wind to speak of. I had this great idea to get one of Mom's white sheets and tie kite string on the four corners. I worked the strings around my 26-inch waist – never mind what my waist size is now. I somehow got all that sheet and kite string up on top of one of our barns. I looked down from the edge of the roof and saw my LZ (landing zone). The amount of hay looked perfect to cushion my landing.
Just as I was ready to jump, I heard a voice from below saying, "Doug, what are you doing on top of that barn with one of your mother's bed sheets?"
The voice belonged to my neighbor, Sandra Green. She had just happened to stop by for a visit. Here’s the funny part, I was not even embarrassed. I just wanted to get my first ever parachute jump done. Having someone watching just made me more determined.
I stepped off the edge of the roof and away I went. The sheet filled up with air nicely and the string pulled upward from my waist just as I hit the ground. The beautiful white sheet covered my entire body. Sandra looked concerned, but when she saw that I was okay, she started laughing and said something like,
"You’d better get that sheet back to the house before your mom sees what you did."
I was very pleased to return that sheet with the string still attached to it.
I do believe that the memory of the parachute jump that day kept me from wanting to be a paratrooper in the Army!
Hope you enjoyed the story.
Doug
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The World... According to Doug
A Silver Dollar Summer
by Doug White
Published Aug. 9, 2007
No, this is not about Arkey Blue, it is about a wonderful trophy I won as a kid. There I was, back in 1964, enjoying the summer. I had a visitor, my friend Reuben Jacoway. He came by and we played a game called "battleship," but not the one you are most likely thinking of. This one involved two young boys building ships out of bottle caps. Since my parents had a café, there were always a bunch of bottle caps available. Brands like Falstaff, Pearl, Jax, and, of course, Lone Star. We had some soda water caps, too. Let's see - there was Coke, Dr. Pepper with the neat 10, 2 & 4 on the bottle, RC Cola and Delaware Punch, to name a few.
We would stack the caps like a pyramid. After carefully stacking the caps, we made small, medium and even large ships, ready to play. I had a big steel ball that was from a pinball machine, which was perfect for this game because of the weight. It would roll so smoothly. You would take aim on a smooth surface - a cement front porch in this case - then fire at your opponent's ships. The heavy steel ball would roll right through the caps and keep going to your opponent. Then it was his or her turn to aim at your ships, and so on.
It was my lucky day. I won this time. Rueben, for some reason, was kind of glad he lost. I found out why as he carefully reached into his pocket and pulled out a beautiful silver dollar. The year on the coin was 1885. Gee, it was an 80-year-old silver dollar then. The coin was in perfect condition and all shined up. Reuben said, "Here, Doug, this is your silver dollar now. You won it fair and square." Then he added, "It will never be worth more than a dollar anyhow."
Well, Reuben, that coin is still with me, my friend, and now it is 122 years old! How about that?
Rueben was just visiting for that summer and he clued me in on a television series which would be beginning soon. In fact, about September 1964, it did debut. The sitcom was "Car 54, Where Are You?" He also mentioned one called "The Addams Family," and I believe it began that year, too! Even to this day, they are on the TV Land cable station. Thanks, Reuben.
I did a little checking on that coin and on today's market, it is worth from $15 to $20. I can tell you this - the coin is worth more to me than any market price because it was given to me by a friend, Reuben Jacoway, 43 years ago this summer.
Hope you enjoyed the story.
Doug
PCWhiteKnight@WebTV.Net
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The World... According to Doug
E.T.
by Doug White
Published Aug. 2, 2007
No, not "extraterrestrial" – it stands for Earl Taylor.
There I was, stationed at Lackland AFB, back in 1983. I was assigned to the 3271st school squadron. I was in charge of the orderly room. We were in need of a new First Sergeant, as our current one, Sam Cato, was about to retire. Low and behold, in walks this Master Sergeant named Earl Taylor; he looked like he worked out with weights everyday of his life. Well, turns out Earl volunteered to be a first sergeant and thus, after he completed his First Sergeant training, was assigned to our unit.
He looked tough, however he was a very soft spoken and a gentle man. I asked him what he did before becoming a First Sergeant. He said, “I was the only gunsmith on Lackland AFB.” He felt he wanted to do more with his career than to be a gunsmith. I remember telling him he was crazy giving that up to be a First Sergeant. As time went on, we worked together a lot, taking care of students. We processed some students for discharge from the service and set up Commander’s Call once a month. We kept the awards program up-to-date and made sure the recipients got their awards presented.
I recall once that Earl needed a young troop’s signature in order for him to be released from the USAF. I accompanied him and found the young man in a holding area waiting for processing. Well, ET went up to the airman and politely asked him to sign a couple of forms. As he was showing the airman where to sign, the kid blew up and shouted, “I don’t want to sign the papers!” ET jumped back and said to the young man, “Now, don’t worry son, you don’t have to sign these right now – maybe later when you feel like it.”
Earl and I stepped out into the hall and he looked bewildered about this situation.
I said, “Excuse me a minute, Earl, let me talk to the airman a minute.”I approached the young troop and whispered in his ear, “If you don’t sign these forms right now, we are going to send for your mother and father to come pick you up at their expense.” Man, that airman could not sign the forms fast enough. I handed them to Earl and we pressed on back to the unit.
He asked “How did you get that Airman to change his mind?” I replied, “I simply told him that he just saw the good side of his First Sergeant, and I would not recommend he see the bad side.”
Well, this all happened years ago and I shipped out to Survival School in 1984. I really enjoyed working with Master Sergeant Earl Taylor. Oh, by the way – Earl had the best brisket rub in the world. He was also a very good cook; his BBQ was to die for.
Just the other night on KSAT 12, as I was watching the news, who but Earl Taylor was there on TV? Turns out, he was a heart recipient from a young donor named Joseph Martinez. Earl had the transplant over ten years ago. The heart that keeps Earl alive is now 35 years old. What a shock to see my old comrade on the local news. He actually looked great and he was walking on a treadmill during part of the interview. The young donor’s mother remarked that, of all the recipients of her son’s organs, the only one she insisted on meeting was the heart recipient. She said that her son had a good heart and she was glad it went to a good-hearted man.
Hope you enjoyed the story.
Doug
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The World... According to Doug
Paul Zinsmeister
by Doug White
Published July 26, 2007
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Bowie knife
Paul Zinsmeister
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There I was stationed in Spokane, Washington, at the USAF Survival School. There was a young man named Paul Zinsmeister who became a survival instructor in 1985. I was assigned to the unit one year prior to his becoming an instructor.
When he graduated, he went to the 3612th Squadron. That was our sister squadron – we were the 3614th CCTS. I was not an instructor; at that time, my title was NCOIC of Student Admin., 3636 CCTW, training wing headquarters.
Later, I became the NCOIC of the of the 3614th CCTS orderly room, which allowed me to work much closer to the instructor branch. I enjoyed working with the ITB people very much. The headquarters job was too far away from the action, so to speak.
Anyhow, I used to love to interact with the future instructors. When they would come out of their dorm, they had to drop for 25 push-ups and then say "survival" on the last one. I would wait until they were at number 22 or so and drop and do push ups with them and on the last one I would say, "retirement."
The young troops loved to hear the old sarge yell that out!
Then they would grin like a possum eating glue.
Anyhow, Paul left the unit in 1989 just one year prior to my retirement. He would have had an invite to my party for sure. He went back to Texas to a place called Mico.
I was visiting with a forest ranger assigned to the survival school liaison. On this day, he was very excited and wanted to show several of us what he had ordered through the mail. It was a beautiful Bowie knife that Sgt. Paul Zinsmeister had made. It was so shiny that I needed sunglasses to look at it. The ranger was very proud of his new knife.
After I retired and came back to Pipe Creek, I called Paul up and just shot the bull a bit about the survival school. We were too busy to get together as we would have liked. The day came that I needed him to craft two hunting knives and found out that he had moved to Harper.
Well, I looked him up and had a great visit. He was excited and proud to show me his knife shop. He had several pieces in various stages of completion. I was impressed with his works of art and his skill with steel and leather work. He made the sheath as well as the wonderful steel knives.
He asked me, "What kind of wood would you like for the knives' handles?" Well, I did not know what would be the best wood. I did not really know I would have a choice in the matter. So I said, "How about one with oak and one with mountain laurel?" He smiled and said, "Good choices."
When he finished the knives, they were just perfect – and razor sharp, too! I took the completed knives to my neighbor, Pat Davis.
A few weeks earlier, Pat had installed an engine that I had purchased from Pieper Auto Salvage. He would not charge me anything for the job. I knew Pat was an elk hunter and a good hunting knife would fit the bill! I showed him both knives and said, "Which one would you like, Patrick?"
He looked at me and caught me looking at the one with the mountain laurel handle and chose the oak. This must have been about seven or eight years ago.
I know that we got the sad news that Paul had passed away in Harper in the year 2003, at the age of 37 years young. I am so pleased to have known this outstanding young man and to have a piece of his art that I will always cherish. He was not only a good metal craftsmen, he was also an outstanding survival instructor.
Sgt. Paul Zinsmeister will be missed.
Hope you enjoyed the story.
Doug
PCWhiteKnight@WebTV.Net
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The World... According to Doug
Grand Marshal at Center Point
by Doug White
Published July 19, 2007
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Pilot up in Center Point
The sign
The T-shirt design by Liz Carvotta
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Wow! Just like the heading says, this is a very special honor that was bestowed on me last Saturday in the Center Point parade. I received a call right after the Fourth of July from Vickie Gartrell, who has worked with the Center Point Parade Committee for several years. Her husband, Harry, has been the announcer at previous parades and was co-announcer this year, along with Jim Carvotta.
This year, Laurie Milton was the new contact for me. She called about my being selected to be their Grand Marshal.
Both ladies were as excited as I was – well, I was mostly in shock. I did ask if they had the right number. They laughed and said, yes, I was their man.
I asked them, if the chicken car was not able to be in the parade due to maintenance problems, what then? They said they would have a convertible for me to ride in. That would have been cool. However, the chicken car and I have been partners for at least 13 years. We had to do the parade together.
The day of the parade, July 14, I did a pre-flight check and all systems were go. As I arrived, I passed the place called "parade central" and saw a bunch of people waving – some in pink poodle skirts and white shirts with a chicken on it. I did not realize they wanted me to stop in front their workstation. I just kept on driving to the original check-in place that I have visited for some 13 parades. They gave me instructions to get back to the parade central area.
When I arrived this time, a very nice lady came up to me with some very cool-looking signs to put on the Chicken Car. The art work was super and done by Liz Carvotta. The PR person was Kathleen Vincent. The whole theme was "Chickens!"
Anyhow, Bernadette assisted me with the signs. After we got the signs posted, she asked, "You don't have a chicken shirt?" She said, "I will have one for you before you leave this parade," and she did.
Then, just before we started, co-announcer Jim Carvotta came up and asked me to stop the car in front of the grandstand and say a few words.
He said, "By the way, believe it or not, we had a tow truck standing by to go get you and the chicken car in case it did not start." He smiled and added, "We were going to get you here one way or another."
The big moment came and the announcer asked me to say a few words about their parade. This was my biggest day and the highest honor I have ever had in a parade. I let all the folks know that, too, and of course stated that the first parade I ever drove the chicken car in was in Center Point back in 1994!
After the parade, I headed for their firehouse to have some super barbecue, then pointed the chicken car towards Bandera and headed home. I just want to thank everyone involved with the decision to make me grand marshal.
Hope you enjoyed the story.
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The World... According to Doug
Working with Gus
by Doug White
Published July 12, 2007
Well, there I was goofing off and visiting with some of my neighbor friends, Gus and Lola Heisler. I don't know where Joe Heisler was on that day. He had a shop and was most likely working on someone's vehicle, or on the phone talking to Louis Stein about vehicle maintenance.
They would call each other and say stuff like, "Man, have you ever had a vehicle do this before?"
And after those two got their heads together, it was a piece of cake to "get her done." I must admit they were very good mechanics in their own right. I just thought it was cool the way they shared their experiences.
Anyhow, this is about Joe's father, Gus, and the day I was visiting with him. He showed me his huge garden with all the wonderful plants just looking perfect.
We had a cigar together, and of course a beer, then he said, "You know Doug, I really need to get some things done around here. I need to get a tractor running."
I said, "You have a tractor that is not running, what's with that?" He said, "I just do not have the time or energy to mess with the old tractor."
It was an old Allis-Chalmers front-end loader. It had been down for some time.
I said, "Well, after this great beer, let's go look at the thing and see what we can do."
I noticed it was a diesel and that was a good thing, because any fuel that might be in the tank would still fire. We put some fresh diesel in the tank and Gus had me mess with the air bleed valve on the machine. He hit the switch several times. The motor tried to start, but it looked like it was not going to run that day. The battery was not at its peak.
While we thought about the problem, we both puffed on our cigars and then I said, "Let's give it another try."
He smiled and said, "Why not?"
I adjusted the air bleed valve again and this time the smoke bellowed out of the stack and bingo – we had the old Allis-Chalmers running again. It did not sound bad at all. It was a great feeling to have done something special with my friend Gus.
I knew that Joe and Gus could have had that old tractor going in a heartbeat. I was flattered that Gus was willing to allow me to work with him to attempt to get that old piece of equipment running again. We were both happy campers after that deal and enjoyed our cigars just a little bit more because of our success that morning.
Then he scared the heck out of me by saying, "Anytime you want to use that front-end loader, Doug, your are welcome to do so." That is just the way neighbors do things.
Well, I would never take him up on his offer because if I had done anything to have messed up that antique tractor, I would have never forgiven myself. Besides, he knew more about that front-end loader than I would ever know. It was just a lucky day for us is all.
Hope you enjoyed the story.
Anniversary celebration
By the way, speaking of good neighbors, Gus and his lovely wife, Lola, are going to celebrate their 65th wedding anniversary July 15 at the Pipe Creek Community Center. The time will be at 10 am. No gifts please. They would like for people to bring their favorite recipe and a covered dish. Meat, bread, cake and beverages will be provided. They would like to invite everyone to attend.
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The World... According to Doug
Pachinko machine
by Doug White
Published July 5, 2007
The year was 1970, and there I was on R & R from Korea to Japan. It turned out to be quite a big deal.
The World's Fair, Expo 70, was going on in Japan. The sights and sounds were exciting. What a great time to visit Japan.
I went down to a place called the Ginza; it is like main street in Tokyo. As I was walking along, I heard this roaring sound, like thousands of ball bearings. It was in what is called a pachinko palace. That machine would be a great physics class project.
All the small ball bearings are moved by none other that weights and balances. It's like a vertical pin ball machine. When you get the steel balls in a slot, the machine lights up and makes ringing sounds and pays you off with more steel balls. It is a slot machine concept, coupled with the plinko game from the Price Is Right television show.
After you are through playing and want to cash in, the clerk puts the steel balls in what looked like a shallow pie pan. It has a number on it showing the value in yen, the currency of Japan. Then, you win a prize with that number of yen on it. It is sort of like a carnival. Well, I ended up purchasing one of the machines and had it shipped to Korea.
Upon my return to the unit, the word was out that the Inspector General was going to pay us a visit. I just got the machine in and put it aside, then got my area ready for inspection. The IG was a full Colonel and he was asking each troop he inspected questions like "What is your first general order?" and so on. When he came to my area, he looked around and asked what that item was next to my wall locker.
I replied, "Sir, that is a pachinko machine from Japan."
He asked, "How does it work, Specialist?"
I explained it to him. And to my relief, he moved to the next troop and asked, "What is your second general order?" Wow – that machine made my day.
The machine came in with a bad base plate. I had a friend in S-4 (supply) and he was a W-4 (warrant officer), in charge of the supply unit at Yongsan, Korea. He had many Korean nationals working in his shop.
He said, "Bring in the machine, Specialist White, and my guys will repair it." I did as he asked and in just a few hours, he had it repaired and it was ready for me to pick it up. As I approached his office, I said, "Sir, thanks a million for helping me out. I hated that wood knot that one or two steel balls would get stuck in. Now, I won't have that problem any longer."
He smiled and replied, "Well, I don't think they eliminated your problem." Then he showed me the machine. It had a brand new base plate and the wood knot was in the same location as in the original board. The W-4 laughed and said, “My Korean staff can duplicate just about anything," as he handed me the wood knot that would fill the hole.
The Korean staff duplicated the original piece of base wood completely, right down to that wood knot.
Hope you enjoyed the story.
Doug
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The World... According to Doug
Celebrating the Fourth of July
by Doug White
Published June 28, 2007
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In the parade
After the parade
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There I was, assigned to Lackland AFB, 3271st School Squadron. I had owned my vintage scooter for five years, and it was a big hit on the base.
All the troops knew when Sergeant White was on the road. I recall we had an exercise that required a message to be delivered to our Group HQ ASAP. One of our troops offered to take the message, but I said, "No, this is a job for super scooter!"
I knew the Captain was waiting for all the units to get their individual messages to the Group HQ. The Captain saw the scooter zooming toward the HQ with an NCO on it bearing the special message.
After I delivered the exercise message, he said, “Sergeant White, you went down a one-way street the wrong way to get this message to me."
I said "Sir, do you really think in a wartime situation that I would care about a one-way street that would have delayed an important message getting here as soon as possible?" He smiled and said, "I see your point, Sergeant. By the way, your unit was the first to get the message to us."
After the military exercise was over, there were a lot of jokes going around about the super scooter. Someone who knew of a parade at Medina Lake (Lakehills) said, "You need to get that scooter in the parade, Sarge."
Well, I got permission from the people putting on the 1981 Fourth of July parade. It was a blast to ride that scooter in the very special parade. I dressed it up like a fire truck with Old Glory on the front. I also wore a fireman's hat complete with a red rotating beacon.
One of my troops, Airman First Class Laurie Karlson, asked her parents go to the parade. They were visiting her from Minnesota and took time out frombeing with their daughter to go see her supervisor in the Fourth of July parade. They took photos of the special day, and before leaving for Minnesota, they presented me with a photo of me on my scooter in a nice frame.
I wonder if they thought their daughter’s supervisor was crazy?
If they only knew that the same fellow would later drive a huge chicken car in the same celebrated parade many years later, they would have known it.
Hope you enjoyed the story.
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The World... According to Doug
Clotheslines
by Doug White
Published June 21, 2007
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The clothesline
The date rock
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Wow! The year was 1964. Gee – that was 42 years ago, can you believe that? Anyhow, if you look carefully around Bandera County, you will see some interesting-looking cross-shaped posts from the 60s.
They are most likely not functional any longer. They were clothesline posts, and they were an important part of the Ag project we were engaged in.
My Ag teacher at the time was Telvy Robbins, the finest instructor I have ever had. He ran a tight shop and we all respected him. The day I built these very special clothesline posts for my mother was indeed a special day.
I wanted them to be perfectly square and ready for installation. I knew my dad, Earl White Sr., would assist me. I used up a half a box of welding rods on one of my posts, for some reason which was unknown to me.
However, it caught the attention of Mr. Robbins for sure. He said, "Doug, you will have to pay an additional dollar for all those extra rods you used on this project."
Even though my weld looked like a mud dauber made it, it was strong. How did I know at the time that I would need an extra strong weld on that particular post? I will tell you why very soon. Dad and I worked together to put the clothesline posts in the ground with cement. We were very proud of our endeavor. I was very pleased to have Dad take time out of his busy schedule to work with me on this project.
He had me write the date in the concrete and it is still visible some 40 years later.
The interesting thing to me was later, when I had to cut down a big mulberry tree, a limb which weighed over 300 pounds hit that very post I had used so many welding rods on. Sure enough, the post did not show any sign of damage. It held that 300-pound limb without a problem. So I thought to myself, that was a buck well spent!
Hope you enjoyed the story.
Doug
PCWhiteKnight@WebTV.Net
http://community.webtv.net/pcwhiteknight/WelcomeCatLovers
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The World... According to Doug
A flash back & a new business
by Doug White
Published June 14, 2007
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(Left) Tony Silent and his brother, Reuben Salas.
Machines parked outside Milton Lewis' old store, now Cycle Goodies.
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There we were, driving home after the Junior-Senior prom for the 2007 and 2008 Bandera High School students. The prom was held at Schreiner University in Kerrville.
We were headed to Pipe Creek and just passed the old Lewis Store and Gas Station. To our surprise, we saw an old gas pump with a lighted “Gulf” top. Well, turns out that the people renting the old place put that tank and globe on the old fuel island.
The price on the pump read .38 cents per gallon. I was excited to be the first guy in line for the very cheap fuel, but nobody ran out to gas up my wife Beth's Caravan.
Just kidding – I knew the pump was not in working order. Anyway, I immediately recognized that pump. I had actually used it back in the ‘60s to put gas in my Dad's ‘57 Oldsmobile station wagon. In those wonderful days, to fill that monster vehicle’s 20-gallon tank cost about $7.60. Well, Beth and I had to get a photo of that pump. It looked so neat, lit up at night. It actually looked like a working pump.
Today, June 2, the place had its grand opening. It turned out to be a new business called Cycle Goodies of Pipe Creek, Texas, and they have all kinds of Harley Davidson parts and apparel in the old Lewis store.
The new business is run by two brothers, Reuben Salas and Tony Silent.
They all ready have one successful business in Boerne called Cycle Goodies of Boerne, Texas. Tony told me when he and his brother accidentally came across the old Lewis Store, they knew that it would be the perfect location for a motorcycle stop. Tony also said when he first set foot in the former combination store and gas station, he had felt a very welcoming and comfortable sort of calm in the old place.
I have a feeling that my old friend, Milton Lewis; his wife, Valerie; his mother, Mrs. Lewis; and sister, Ethel Lewis – all deceased now – were somehow responsible for that welcoming feeling.
I’m very happy for these two established businessmen, and I wish them the very best with their new business in Pipe Creek.
Hope you enjoyed the story.
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The World... According to Doug
39th Military Anniversary
by Doug White
Published June 7, 2007
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Douglas White
Roger Roberts
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Since June 5 is just around the corner, I thought it would be a great opportunity to tell you this story.
There I was June 5, 1968 entering the U.S.Army Basic Training at Ft. Bliss. It is very hard for me to believe that it was 39 years ago this year. It was the first time I had ever flown in a commercial airplane.
The first day of basic training I got in trouble because I did not answer up when my name was called. the DI said " White, James D." Well, I did not reply because I had always gone by Douglas White. I never used my first name in school. That cost me some push up time.
The weather was Hot- Hot - Hot. I was very surprised to see one of my former classmates join me in basic training. He was Roger Roberts, and we spent eight beautiful fun filled weeks at Ft Bliss, in El Paso.
I recall that on the first night of basic training we were dog tired and had been issued our field equipment and had put all the gear under our Army cot or in wall lockers.
Well, that night one of the troops was murdered in his sleep. An entrenching tool was sticking out of his head as the medics removed his body. I don't remember his name. However, I do know that his service number was only one digit off from mine. And I thought to myself what if that fellow that took out this unsuspecting GI had picked the wrong room and got me instead! Scary thought. Turns out the murderer had had an argument with the victim earlier.
Roger Roberts and I were too busy most of the time to visit. The DI's were cramming all kinds of information down us in a very short time. I recall long forced marching in the desert. We had an old sergeant call cadence. All he would say is "Here we are, we're moving in, we're moving out." Try listening to that for a short 15-mile walk.
I wish I could have called cadence for the old sergeant, it would have gone something like this: "Birdie Birdie in the sky drop a load on my DI. DI, DI don't be shy just be glad that cows don't fly."
We also had an assistant DI who every time he entered the dorm would say, "White drop and give me 25 push-ups" Gee, I did not have to do anything wrong, he just loved to enter the dorm like that.
After the training was over and we were about to ship out, that sergeant came up to me and asked if he could borrow my boots for an inspection. I hated the guy and I knew he hated me as well. I said regretfully, " Sure you can use my boots for your inspection." I just knew that I would never see those boots again, because were supposed to ship out the next day very early in the morning.
Well, when I awoke the next day, there were my boots with a shine on them that would put your eyes out! They were so highly polished that I could actually see my reflection in them. Then I saw a note in one of the boots. It said, "Thanks White, good luck to you."
After basic training Roger and I parted company. I believe he went to Vietnam and I went to Ft. Rucker, Ala. We did not meet again until many years later, back in Bandera.
Hope you enjoyed the story.
Doug
PCWhiteKnight@WebTV.Net
http://community.webtv.net/pcwhiteknight/WelcomeCatLovers
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The World... According to Doug
A Memorial Day Tribute
by Doug White
Published May 31, 2007
Last Friday, I received an email from my dear friends, Jeanene and Keith Mansfield. One of their sons, Bo, had lost his best friend and four-year roommate from the Naval Academy, Major Doug Zembiec, USMC.
Doug Zembiec was killed in action in Iraq.
I had the honor of meeting Major Zembiec and his parents when I attended Bo and Tandie's wedding.
This very sad news brought back memories of my friend, Edgar Paul Heinen, killed in Vietnam in 1966. I know the pain that Bo is going through right now. Even though I lost my friend over 40 years ago, it still hurts. I will now tell my story.
There I was, stationed at Fairchild AFB Washington. The year was 1989 and I was close to retiring from the service.
I had previously participated in several talent shows and entered the category of instrumental solo in this one. I needed to do one more to honor Edgar Paul Heinen. You see, he taught me how to play the guitar back in the early 60s.
The master of c ceremonies came up to me and said the judges wanted me to introduce my tribute to Edgar. In an instrumental solo, the participant doesn’t say anything, just plays the music, so it was a great honor to introduce the piece I was about to play.
After I told the audience what music I was going to play and that the person who taught me the piece was killed in Vietnam in 1966, it became so quiet you could hear a pin drop. The piece was from the Ventures called "Walk Don't Run." It’s always been my favorite; Edgar played it and taught me to play it.
When I began playing, I felt Edgar was nearby watching. Suddenly, a calm came over me, and the music flowed smoothly.
I was pleased and proud to dedicate the music to my friend, Edgar. After I finished the crowd cheered and gave me a standing ovation. I wasn’t expecting an award. I just wanted to honor Edgar by playing the music he had taught me, but I received second place.
The day I retired from the military, I had a stop watch and gave one minute of silence to all the men and women whose names are etched on the Vietnam Memorial.
Hope you enjoyed the story. God bless the Zembiec family.
Also, let me take this opportunity to thank all of you who have served in the military. God bless our troops and America!
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The World... According to Doug
More about the 1939 tornado
by Doug White
Published May 24, 2007
Wow! Here is some more information about the tornado I would like to share. The twister off-centered the water tank at what was the Walter Lewis place. This new information about the tornado of 1939 comes from Leona Lewis Buck, Edna Lewis Buck, Ethel Lewis Bush,and Milton Lewis, passed on through Eva Lewis Evans.
Edna and Olan Buck lived on the other side of the Heislers and they rode through an earlier and milder part of the storm. Milton Lewis was in Bandera that evening. He heard that a tornado had just blown though Pipe Creek. This happened very late Saturday night, April 15, 1939.
On his way home, he saw the horrible destruction. When he arrived home at the Walter Lewis place, he noticed all the damage – chicken feathers all over the place, the carport and washhouse gone.
The car under the carport was untouched. Their house must have been lifted up some, because window curtains were caught between the house and the foundation. But fortunately, the house was still standing.
Walter, Bertha, and Ethel rode out the storm by leaning against the front door to keep it from blowing in. Immediately after the wind stopped, they heard screaming coming from their dear neighbors, the Whites.
They ran over to their place in the dark, dodging downed trees, water and barbed wire, and stayed there until others came to help.
Milton was very worried because he could not find his sister or parents. Fortunately, he found his sister, Ethel, who was walking down the lane from the Whites to check on the Hutchesons. Sally Hutcheson was the local midwife. Ethel explained that her parents were still at the White's, who had been hurt in the storm.
A little later, Milton and Ethel went driving around to see if they could offer help to others damaged by the storm. Around about 2 am, they checked in on Edna and Olan Buck and, thankfully, found out they were okay.
The next morning, Edna, Olan, Leona and Earl came to help Walter, Bertha, Ethel, and Milton clean up the damage. Everything in the house was covered with mud and water, they had to bring everything out of the house and wash it. The men had to quickly build a small pen to contain the animals, and then worked on replacing all the fences that were damaged.
In the 1980 Bandera County history book, Milton is quoted as saying that the Pipe Creek cemetery records were destroyed in the 1939 tornado. To this day, we are not sure who had the Pipe Creek Cemetery Records when the tornado destroyed them. This tornado of 1939 affected many families in one way or another.
There are many stories out there about this storm. This is just one of them.
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The World... According to Doug
The 1939 Twister
by Doug White
Published May 17, 2007
I have been wanting to do this story for some time now and feel that I have enough information to do it justice. I knew of the 1939 twister from my Dad and his parents, G.A. and Mary May White. I did not realize at the time I heard the story just how bad this storm was. I wanted to get a few questions answered about where it touched down on that spring night and where it ended up. I really never knew until recently, thanks to my friend Gus Heisler. He saw the results of the twister first hand a day after it hit.
Heisler said it started near what is now the Hill Country Elementary School and worked its way toward Red Bluff and behind Uncle Tom Crist's place which is now a historical site. The twister did not hit his house, but was in the field behind it.
It headed towards Pipe Creek that spring night and hit my grandparents' place and totally destroyed their home, and blew my grandmother into a creek bed behind their house. The mud in the creek actually saved her life. Her husband, Daddy George as we called him, was thrown several yards way from their house. He had a mark, as I recall, on his nose from the barbed wire that almost cut his nose off.
My stepbrother, Earl Jr., was there that night, too, and almost lost a leg.
The twister continued on towards what is now known as Phil's Road and the Christmas Tree Farm. It killed two people near there, Mr. and Mrs. Clay. It went across what is now Highway 1,6 headed northwest, hit the Hodges' home and ran a 2'X 4' board right through their windmill. It took their house but left their piano standing where it was. The twister hit the Steelman household and killed three children and Mr. and Mrs. Steelman.
The twister, according to Gus, left a path about 100 yards wide, and you could see the path for many years. I hear that from an airplane you could still see the path in some areas if you looked carefully. The photo is a sign still left from that twister, as you can see the water tank its off center.
I recall back in the early 60s seeing several pieces of metal barn material imbedded in trees behind my grandparents' place on their 76 acres. I did not know at the time I was seeing some of the aftermath of the storm.
Then one day after I lost my mother a very kind gentleman named Mr. Krause stopped by and gave me his condolences. I was cleaning out an old storage room and came across some old silverware that my grandmother collected one piece at a time. This made the man recall my grandmother and what happened to her in the 1939 twister. He said he was one of the members of the search who that found a beautiful young girl next to a tree and that she looked like she was asleep. After all these years I believe Mr. Krause had found one of the Steelman's children.
I hope this gives some insight about that most unfortunate spring night 68 years ago.
Doug
PCWhiteKnight@WebTV.Net
http://community.webtv.net/pcwhiteknight/WelcomeCatLovers
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The World... According to Doug
The Log Cabin
by Doug White
Published May 10, 2007
There I was back in the early 60s with my pal Ace Schlameus. It was a nice November day and we thought it would be a great time to build a log cabin and spend the night in it.
Well, we had plenty of cedar posts and I asked Dad if we could use them. He did not see a problem with using the cedar fence posts to build a small log cabin. Well, Ace and I went to it and put the cabin together in no time. We built it on some bedrock and near a creek bed. The sun was out and the construction went very well in our eyes. We never noticed that we were on a slant.
We even put a couple of 3/4-inch plywood boards for our bunk beds. Since it was going to be cold we had a couple of army blankets, too. Mom made us take them even though we did not see a need for them at the time.
We were two kids living for the moment, not the future. We were very proud of our labor and the cabin looked great to us, even though it had no door and we had to climb in from the top, more of a challenge that way.
Mom said if we got too cold to come back to the house and it would be unlocked. Ace and I had every intention to stay overnight in that make-shift log cabin.
The weather changed and the north wind blew right through the unprotected log walls. All of a sudden the cabin shifted and started to actually roll down a hill toward the creek bed. We shifted some of the logs and stayed with the cabin. Then the temperature dropped down and we could not stay warm at all.
Ace said "Doug, I'm going to go to the house. See you tomorrow." I stuck with it for about another 30 minutes and had to give it up, too. Turns out it was one very cold night that actually froze the water pipes.
We went back the next day and the cabin had actually fallen apart. It was a good thing we gave up the ship, so to speak. I also recall that when Pipe Creek would rise that Ace would have to spend the night with me because he could not get back home at times. We would make the best of a bad situation every time. The photo is the actual spot where we built that log cabin some 40-plus years ago. You can see the bedrock and the slope of the land.
Gee, I believe I see a piece of the old cabin in the foreground. Ace, thanks for being a part of my world.
Hope you enjoyed the story.
Doug
PCWhiteKnight@WebTV.Net
http://community.webtv.net/pcwhiteknight/WelcomeCatLovers
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The World... According to Doug
Scoot Scoot
by Doug White
Published May 3, 2007
This story is about a very special 1969 Allstate Vespa motor scooter.
There I was reading a "Daily Bulletin" that was published on Lackland AFB. I was assigned to OTS at the time, which was 1976. I came across this notice in the bulletin about a lieutenant colonel wanting to sell a vintage Vespa for $175.
Well, I gave him a call and after work that day met him at the base main gate. He gave me a ride to his home on Danny Kay Street. I liked "Danny Kay"! Well, turns out the Vespa was in mint condition. The Colonel kept the scooter in top notch shape. I had to ask why he was selling it.
He said he was shipping out and had reached his maximum allowable weight on his household goods. "Just no room for the Vespa," he said.
Well, I gave him the $175 in cash, but he looked sad. Then he said, "Better get the Vespa out of here because my kid is very upset with me for selling the Vespa." I shook his hand and wished him good luck with is new assignment and was off.
He handed me the original service manual and said, "Hope you enjoy the Vespa." Well, on my way home, I had to use what is known as a cloverleaf to get up and around Loop 410. There was evidence that a light shower had occurred just prior to my arrival. Did not take much to lose control of the Vespa, down I went and the little red Vespa just kept on running even on its side.
A very nice lady driver behind me asked "Are you alright?"
I replied, "Yes ma'am, however, don't know about the Vespa," as it kept going putt putt putt. The fall did not hurt the Vespa at all.
That Vespa we affectionately called, "Scoot Scoot," has been a part of our family for 31 years now. I still ride it at times and the maintenance book reads top speed is 46 mph and to this day it is the same.
I have had many adventures with the scooter. I must tell you one of them now. I use to ride the scooter around OTS and stop in the supply squadron at times to check on the status of something we ordered, etc. The supply building looked like a huge aircraft hanger and had large garage type doors in the entrance. Their desk were lined up in a neat row.
On this particular hot day the idea came to just drive the Vespa through the open door and stop in front of the supply sergeant's desk. Everything looked good until I put the brakes on. The Vespa just kept on sliding right past the three supply desks.
The guys at each desk did not look up just smiled and said, "Good morning, Sergeant White," as I slid past each one. They had just waxed the cement floors and there was no way to stop that scooter. I just knew I was going to crash into one of the wall lockers that were lined up on the far wall.
Just luck that Scoot Scoot stopped just before hitting one of those lockers. I actually had approximately four inches to spare! The supply staff did not let me live that down for the longest time!
If they ever come out with a movie called "The Wild Vespa" I think I could fit into that movie script.
Hope you enjoyed the story.
Doug
PCWhiteKnight@WebTV.Net
http://community.webtv.net/pcwhiteknight/WelcomeCatLovers
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The World... According to Doug
The Scout
by Doug White
Published April 26, 2007
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Photo courtesy of eBay user 4022stan
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The year was 1967, and there I was, running around with my friend, Ronnie Richards. He had just bought a brand new International Harvester Scout. It was a great machine and we spent our junior year running around in that cool vehicle. I don't recall Ronnie ever having a problem with it – except for this adventure.
One day during our school lunch break, he wanted to show me what this Scout could do. He said, "Doug, this Scout will drive just about anywhere."
To prove it, he took me to the Richards Ranch, which had a great big muddy stock tank. He eased the vehicle over the ridge of the tank and we slowly started across. Well, it must have rained some since he had last checked.
Right in the middle of the tank, the Scout stalled and went down with water coming up to the center of the doors.
Ronnie said, "Best go get the Deere to pull this Scout out of this jam." He came back shortly with the tractor and chain which did a fine job pulling the Scout out of the tank – with me steering it, of course.
The weird thing about this was, we actually made it back to our high school class on time.
I don't recall Ronnie ever using 4-wheel drive again after that little deal.
I should have learned my lesson from the last time Ronnie talked me into a lunchtime venture. One year he took me to the Mayan Ranch's old western town on his Vespa motor scooter. He was doing fine until he steered the Vespa into a muddy vehicle rut. The scooter just fell over, us with it, and we ended up covered in mud.
Now, that was a bit hard to deal with – having to finish up our school day looking like we had played in a pigpen. Good thing we were freshmen at the time! It was much easier to explain as a freshmen.
Hope you enjoyed the story.
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The World... According to Doug
Rocket 88
by Doug White
Published April 19, 2007
There I was, sometime in the early ‘90s visiting with my friend Louis Stein, at his business, the Bandera Garage.
He and Joe Heisler were very fine mechanics and both friends of mine. If I was not at Louis's Garage, I would be at Joe's. I got a kick out of the way they would call each other for advice on a vehicle problem. When those two got their heads together on a maintenance problem, it would be solved pronto!
Anyhow, at this time I was having some work done at the Bandera Garage. It was not a major thing, just fixing up my portable air tank. Louie's wife, Linda, dropped by and asked if anyone would like to place a bet on any of the horses on the racing form. You see, at this time the Bandera Downs was booming.
I asked to see the form and noticed a horse named "Rocket 88." I believe I put $2 on that horse to "show" – a safe bet, I thought. Well, Linda left for the track and I went on about my business and told Louie I'd see him later.
I returned later, having completely forgotten about the wager on Rocket 88. I picked up my air tank and noticed no bill for the parts and labor. I asked Louis, "What's the charge?" About that time Linda walked in the garage, smiled then said, "You don't have a charge, you won at the track today. Rocket 88 came in a winner."
I was a bit shocked.
Then Louie said, "Your bill is paid in full. In fact, we owe you some money."
I replied, "How could I go wrong betting on an Oldsmobile?" Ha!
I was one happy camper that day.
Hope you enjoyed the story.
Doug
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The World... According to Doug
A Snow Day
by Doug White
Published April 12, 2007
Since we have been having some very interesting weather and winter is not over according to my mesquite tree, how about a cold weather story?
There I was assigned to the USAF Survival School, Spokane WA. This was back in 1986 or 87. I was assigned to a fine unit called the 3614 Combat Crew Training Squadron. I was NCOIC of the Orderly Room and though I was not a survival person, I supported them in many ways.
I was approached by our Squadron Commander, Lt. Col. Barry Hilt, and asked if I had ever visited the command post in the field during the winter.
After I replied "No, Sir", he asked, "How you like to go visit the site with our First Sergeant Eric Colon and me for three days?" It was in the dead of winter and the snow was coming down pretty good. Actually, I wanted to go but was the only NCO that could run the Orderly Room at the time.
So Lt. Col. Hilt came up with a plan. There was another NCO that used to run an Orderly Room and he could take care of the shop for the three days. The next day we left for the command post in the snow filled mountains and man, was it ever beautiful. The command post (CP) had all the comforts of home, even TV. We used all kinds of snow traveling devices. i.e.. snow shoes, cross country skis, even drove a snow track machine. That was so much fun driving over hills with a track master.
Then I noticed a sled parked by the CP. The fellow in charge said, "Go for it, Sgt. White." I pulled the sled what seemed to be a mile up the hill, turned around and the CP looked so small down there.
Well, I fired up a cigar and off I went. I had no idea that the sled would travel so fast down the hill, the cigar burned down to almost nothing in just a few seconds from the cold air hitting it. I just barely missed the front door of the command post, must have been going 70 mph easy. Somehow I survived the ordeal. They said I looked like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer with that cigar glowing.
I recall the snow shoe day, too, worked great until I feel backwards and was like a duck on its back. I could not get back up until First Sergeant Eric Colon pulled me up. I had a blast and will never forget that trip, the shortest three days of my life. As a parting gift they gave me the snow shoes.
Hope you enjoyed the story.
Doug
PCWhiteKnight@WebTV.Net
http://community.webtv.net/pcwhiteknight/WelcomeCatLovers
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The World... According to Doug
The survivor and the coon tail
by Doug White
Published April 5, 2007
There I was, back in the early 90s, with a colony of chickens in what proved not to be such a safe place. I had 37 chickens and two ducks – no guineas.
It was pretty late and I heard my dog, Sam, barking. We had brought Sam home from Spokane Washington, after retiring from the USAF. I went to the back door of the house and heard a lot of noise coming from the direction of the chicken house. Hurrying, I grabbed my trusty 12-gauge shotgun.
The only bird in sight was one rooster, a Dominique. He looked dazed and had another bird's feather sticking above his cone. He was the only survivor. I looked around and counted 35 chickens down, one duck missing and the other had to be destroyed.
I stuck around for a bit and saw something moving around the chicken yard, as if it were playing, just sort of skipping along. It was a fox and another showed up within a few seconds. They had come back to enjoy their harvest.
Well, I took a bead with the weapon and gently squeezed the trigger. One fox dropped in his tracks, and the other one took off.
The next day the surviving fox came back in broad daylight. Again I grabbed the weapon, a single shot. The fox was moving in a zigzag pattern, acting weird. He was not afraid. He came straight for me and I shot at him too soon; the pellets all hit in front him. The noise of the shot did not phase him at all.
The fox kept coming and I backed up, trying to reload. When he was just a few feet away, he just took off. After searching for the rabid fox, I thought I had better call the Lightning Ranch. They had a couple of tourist buses at their place. I didn't want the tourists to think that the fox was domesticated. I just knew it was rabid. I never saw him again.
Oh, two weeks before this, I shot a coon that took out one of my birds. I drove a 1962 Chevy Impala to work and since the radio antenna was in rear, I thought how cool a coon tail would look on it. I put the coon tail on the antenna then drove to work the next morning. One of my coworkers said, "Doug, what's that hanging from your car's antenna?" I said, "Haven't you ever seen a coon tail before?"
He replied, "That ain't no coon tai | | |
