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  Tues - Oct. 22, 2002

 

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October 22, 2002 - Tuesday

Ensuing Complications

The first thing I do when I arrive at work is turn on the radio.  No, I don’t mean the local oldies station. I’m talking about those two-way “Walkie Talkie” type radios. You’ve probably seen those non descript maintenance people  wandering around shopping malls and theme parks with radios clipped to their belts. I’m one of those guys. Listening to the morning chatter on the radio can give  good clues  to how my day will go.  Any comments relating to water will get my attention. My ears perk up if I hear the guys refer to things like, “pipe”, “flood” or “break”. I don’t hear anything but those key words sounding an alarm about something that might need my attention.

I flipped on the radio this morning just in time to hear a conversation that ended with, “...8 inch main break on the mall.” Those words tell me a lot. I'm responsible for some 8 inch water mains but they’re not on the mall. If it's on the Main Mall then this emergency would involve domestic water which meant the plumbers would be handling it. It turned out to be a nasty break which required shutting water off to 5 buildings for 7 hrs.. On a campus that handles 40 thousands students through out the day, a building without water can be a major problem. As you probably guessed, I’m talking about restrooms and the ensuing complications that arise when toilets can’t be flushed promptly.

I know what it’s like to be responsible for buildings being shut down due to a water main break. The tension level rises 50 percent and managers start pacing around asking, "Is it fixed yet?"   This time my sympathies went out to the plumbers, but for me, it was an opportunity. It isn’t every day that water to half the campus is shut down so I hopped in my truck and began work on a critical valve that normally wouldn't be shut off.  A bit of digging, a  packing nut gasket and we have one less leaking valve on campus.

Today's Water Main Break (Yep, right in one of our rose gardens)

______________

Today's 2 hour commute wasn’t quite as satisfying as my day at work. We stopped at Wal-Mart where I bought some Levis. Dang, I’ll never see size 34 again!

April 30, 1966 – Saturday

Well, guess what, I’m off to Japan! Father got a job at Yokohama last Thursday. Things have been happening so fast I hardly know where to begin,

First of all last Thursday afternoon mother told me that father got a telegram from some company she thought had to do with the job in Japan father wanted. Later that night father came home and we found out all the news.

He has been accepted at some company (I still don’t know what it is) and the people from this company are very anxious to get him. Father leaves in about three weeks to check it out and find a house.

I must say I’m still in a daze. It all happened so fast. One moment I’m nice and secure in my own house and the next I’m off to some foreign country I know nothing about. I know if father came in now and said we couldn’t go I’d be disappointed but still I’m very frightened of what’s going to happen when we get there. It’s been a long time since father was in the navy and I’m out of practice for loosing friends and finding new ones.

My main fear is the school. If it wasn’t for high school I’d be packing and raring to go. Father says there are lots of Americans over there with American schools and teachers but what will they be like? Will they be friendly, weird, smart, stupid? Will they where the same kind of clothes as mine and talk the same?

I keep telling my self how lucky I am and how this is just like a movie. I know it’s childish but it helps. One thing I’m very happy about is that Barry will be able to go over for a little while. We’ve always been very close just like Wally and Beaver on TV. Having him along until we’re settled should make everything a lot easier on me.
It seems like I've already started one of my life's dream. If you remember back to my last entry I said I wanted to see Samoa and other countries. Mother brought up something that really makes me happy. She said Barry and I could take a ship to Hawaii and from there to Samoa. After staying at Samoa for a few weeks we'd go on to Japan. I can't think of anything that would be more fun. The best of all we'd be alone. No parents to tell us what and when to do things.

As it is now it is planned that father will leave in two or three weeks, Barry and I right after Sheila's wedding and mother sometime close to September.

I've noticed one thing since all this has happened. I've begun to go into a shell. I talk less and seem to be getting more shy and self conscious. I hope what is happening doesn't make me more of a dull person.

I know this last entry is very mixed up and incorrect but I'm kind of excited!



 

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