The Wingham Advance-Times, 1985-06-12, Page 19f
H. GORDON
GREEN.
As my more faithful read-
ers are already well aware
ever since I lost my job as
college professor because I
was ffound guilty of being too
old, I have been teaching in
an all -Indian high school.
And the more I have come to
know these people the more
intrigued I have become bf
the delightfullack of gulf
there seems to be between
old and young. °Go to any of
their socials or dances and
invariably you'll find all
ages mixed up in the fun.
I've been intrigued too with
how the Indian parents of, my
acquaintance talk to° their
youngsters, even youngsters
of very tender age, as adults,
as if they are persons with
minds -and aspirations of
their own.
But even in such a relaxed
family life like•their's the oc-
casional conflict must be in-
evitable and in a little
mimeographed newsletter I
picked up on the reserve this
week — one put together
larely by high school
students, I found this letter
from ' 'some father who ap-
parently didn't sign his
name. I'm not even sure that
he is an Indian.
MESSAGE TO A
TEENAGER: -
First, I want you to know
hoW much I love you. One .of
the greatest privileges of my
life has been the opportunity
to raise you ... to be your
father and watch you grow.
However, you're now enter-
ing a new phase of life known
as adolescence, which some-
times puts a strain on a lov-
ing relationship like ours.
There may be times during
the next few years when you
will want me to give you
more freedom than I feel you
can handle. You may want to
be your own boss and make
all of your own decisions be-
fore I feel you are ready for
that independence. This situ-
ation may create some fric-
tion between us, although I
don't expect the conflict to be
major.
If it occurs, however, I
want you to know that I'm
going to, compromise as
much as I can oneach issue.
I'll listen to your point of
view and then try to under-
stand your feeling and atti-
tudes. I will not be a "dis-
aster" who doesn't 'care
about the needs or desires of
the other person. In other
words, my love for youvwill
lead me to try to make you
happy, if possible.
On the other hand, you can
•expect me to say "no" when
'my better judgement re-
quires it. The easiest thing in
the world would be to say
"Go ahead a'nd do what you
want. I don't care what
friends you're with or what
kind of grades you make in
school. I'll stay off your back
and you can do whatever you
.please". That would be a
simple way to avoid all con-
flict and bad feelings bet-
ween us.
But love demands that I do
what is right, even if it is un-
pleasant. You'll soon learn
that I must have the courage
to make these decisions
when I must. Therefore, mo-
ments of tension may come
between us, in the coming
years. But whenever such a
moment comes I want you to
remember that I love you
and you love me, and we're
going to remain friends
through these difficult times.
The world can be a cold and
lonely place without the sup-
port of loving family mem-
bers; that's why we're going
to continue to care fw' one
another in this home. And I
think when you've reached
your twenties and look back
on these small conflicts,
you'll appreciate the fact
that I loved you enough to set
you free gradually and as
you were ready for addition-
al responsibility.
Here's How, wik.
•
Wax buildup
mars the floor
By Gene Gary
Q. We have recently pur-
chased a town house,, and the
lower floor has white quarry
tiles. The former owners put
something on it that gave it a
blotchy appearance. What
can I use to remove this and
clean it thoroughly? What is
the best way to,care for this
floor after it has been
cleaned? Mrs. A.T.
A. If it is wax on your
floors that ,is causing the
problem, it should be re-
moved with a good wax
stripper. When using a strip-
per, spread it liberally over
the surface and allow it to set
for several minutes. Then
the surface should be scour-
ed with a synthetic scouring
pad attached to a floor clean-
ing machine. If this fails, rub
the floor with soap -saturated
steel wool pads dipped in
water.
If the• floor has an acid re=
moval-type wax, you will
need a special acid stripper.
Some of.the new waxes must
be removed ,with ammonia.
Test these methods on a
small area to determine the
,,best results before cleaning
the entire floor area; After a,
thorough cleaning, rinsing
and drying, apply a terrazzo
sealer. One • of the solvent
types is preferred, although
an emulsion type can be
used.
After applying the sealer,
the floor may be waxed. To
ensure' good results, •all
cleaning materials must be
removed completely and the
• floor must be thoroughly
dry, as sealing or waxing
over a floor with a cleaner
residue will result in further
blotching.
Q: Can copper piping be
connected to galvanized pip-
'ing without causing a chem-
ical reaction of some'sort in
the drinking water?' The
house now has galvanized
piping, but we intend to add
some new fixtures and con-
nect with copper plumbing.,
B.E.
A. The use of two metals
will have no affect on the
drinking water but the elec-
trolylic action between the
two metals will cause the
galvanized piping to disinte-
grate. Plumbing supply
houses can furnish you with
insulating . pipe unions or
couplings that are designed
to eliminate this deterior-
ation problem when connect-
ing two different types of
metal.
Q. We have a natural used -
brick fireplace and hearth. i
want to restore the original
beauty of the bricks. ° We
have tried using vinegar and
water, which seemed to fade
them more. We do not want
to paint the bricks. However,
they now don't seem to have
any life. Do you have any
suggestions? —P.R.
A. The 'rustic look of used
bricks is considered desir-
able, and they now are more
expensive than new bricks.
You could use a water 'seal
for concrete and masonry.
The clear finish would make
the bricks appear the same
as if they were wet, so you'
might ' trymoistening the
bricks first to see if you care
for that appearance. This
finish also comes in colors.
Try it first on an inconspic-
uous area before covering
the whole surface.
Another idea.: Clean the
bricks with a solution of
muriatic acid, using one part
acid to nine parts water. This
is a corrosive 'solution, so
apply with care. You'll need
goggles and rubber gloves.
Also, cover allsurrounding
areas so you will not• spot
your floors. Three to five
minutes" after "applying the
solutions be sure to rinse
thoroughly with clear water.
What would you like
to be when you
grow up? , ...
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I 41
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A Billion Bytes
Continued from front page
I am sitting in the flight
engineer's seat and above
my head is a small compart-
ment labelled, "Escape
Rope". The compartment, of
course, is closed. I'm cur-
ious.
"What do you get with an
escape rope?„ I ask the pilot.
"All right,” he replies,
"I'll show you."
He opens the compartment
and pulls out — what else? —
a nylon rope.
Now more than my curios-
ity is aroused.
"Where do you go out?"
asks Peter Schierbeck of
Fairview, Alta.
The pilot grins and points
to the , cockpit window. It
looks small for any man to
have to wriggle through.
through.
I ask him if the escape pro-
cedure is practiced regular-
ly.
"No, but it's pictured in
our manuals. We're given a"
'step-by-step routine to fol-
low,"
'llow far to the ground?" I
ask.
"About 14feet," he replies,
and then repeats a story that
has made the rounds. ' He
asks us not to print it, but I
doubt any of us takes his re-
quest seriously. I don't
anyway.
During training sessions,
the pilot says, the escape
procedure was practiced by
some of the crews. When•it
came -time for one of the offi-
cers to jump, instead of
throwing out the rope and
scrambling out the window
and climbing down it, he
grabbed the end of the rope
and then jumped.. •
"I heard he injured him-
self quite seriously."
No doubt.
Mr. Schierbeck asks the
pilot if the rotodome, the dis-
tinctive disk on the tail of the
aircraft, complicates flying.
"Not really," he replies,
"Initially, on take -off there
is more lift, but once you're
up there's more drag. It isn't
the dome, but the struts of
the dome that -give the pro-
blem."
He adds that the size,of the
dome is deceptive from the
ground. "It doesn't look that
big, but it's 30 feet in dia-
meter and about six feet
thick — big enough for a man
to get Inside to make repairs
if required."
The rotodome is mounted
11 feet above the fuselage
and rotates once every 10 se-
conds, continually collecting
information from an oper-
ational altitude of ,38,000 feet.
We hate'tii leave the focal
point of Geilenkirchen, but
there's still a lot of this base
to see.
'OUR BIBLE'
Getting off the bus in front
of a complex of large, low
buildings, Maj. Guess leads
us through a door and we are
met by Larry Newcombe
who takes us on a tour of the
fabrication shop, and a stor-
age warehouse.
Someone., or probably
more than one person, in the
fabrication shop, has consi-
derable artistic ability,
The upper parts of the
walls of this huge complex
are decorated with paintings
of vintage aircraft. But we
.have time for just a glance.
We're running behind
schedule. •
Pointing to a pile of tires,
Larry Newcombe — I don't
know this man's rank, or
even if he's military or civi-
lian —• tells us they are 707
tires.
"Tires° are good for about
75 landings and we can re-
tread them about four times.
There are about 40 landings
per day here and we can
bui-jd-upsix tires per da:y..We ,_
also , repack our own bear-
ings."
He points to a wire mesh
enclosure. Because the tires
are installed on split rims,
they are taken off inside a
cage.
The shop chief here is a
Canadian, WO Asling. But
the man who shows us
through part of the shop is
Cpl. Liddy Thompson of the
U.S. Army. He is a joy to be-
hold.
We are barely inside a
small room where some of
the men appear to be taking
a break, when the stocky,
black corporal comes for-
ward.
"Can I take them on my
tour, sir?" he asks New-
combe in a soft voice with a
southern drawl. ,
"Well, all right, Liddy, if
you make it quick," New-
combe replies. WO Asling
has explained that Cpl.
Thompson has been training
to conduct tours through the
shop.
It's obvious the Canadian
shop chief has picked the
right man for the job.
With the kind off pride and
dignity rarely seen any-
where, Cpl. Thompson points
out the sections for brake re-
building, hydraulics, sand
blasting and other work,
Pointing -to a stack of ma-
nuals, Cpl. Thompson says,
"This is our bible; we don't
do nothing without consul-
ting our bible."
All shop work, he says,
must be checked and re-
checked. "We have to do it
'til it checks out real good."
I regret I haven't brought
my camera. If there was
ever a soldier who deserved
to have his picture taken by a
bunch of touring press types,
it is Cpl. Liddy Thompson.
The man is positively beam-
ing, and it isn't a put-on. This
is a soldier truly proud of his
work.
Going out of the shop we
are told- that of 13 workers
here, only two are military.
On the way to the storage
warehouse we get a close
look at one of the TF -33 Pratt
& Whitney 100 A turbofan en-
gines, four ofwhich power
each AEW 707.
Each engine delivers
21,000 pounds of thrust,
weighs 6200 poundsand car-
ries a price tag of $2 million.
Larry Newcombe says
they keep seven spare • en-
gines in supply. He also
,points out each engine is fas-
tened to the aircraft by only
three, three -quarter -inch
bolts.
Thinking of our long flight
home on a 707rWe are some-
thing less than reassured.
NOT MUCH THEFT
The chief of storage is a
German officer, Maj. Kuntz.
The huge warehouse we are
in, he says, is one of eight'
warehouses on the base.
"We stock 60,000 different
items, Maj. Kuntz says.
"Everything . from jet air-
craft engines, down to the
smallest part." e
The stock is computerized
according to quotation and
location. I ask the major if
theft is a problem.
"No. In our area we lose
nearly nothing. It is some-
thing we have to be surprised
about really, that there isn't'
more."
The staff here, he says; is
comprised of six soldiers,
five NATO 'civilians, and 16
locals- '
Leaving the warehouse,
Maj. Guess points to some
bicycles. "Youcan imagine
the trouble we had persuad-
ing
ersuading NATO we needed bicy-
cles on an air base. But we
finallyogot them. You can see
the size of this base. We need
ahem to get around."
A BILLION BYTES
Our next stop is Something
NATO calls its "Base Auto-
mated Support System". It
turns out to be a huge com-
puter centre. The man in
charge is an American,
Mark Lumpkin.
He's a middle-aged man
with a sense of humor. He
tells us he was with the Air
Force for 30 years, but was
back on civy street when he •
got the call to mastermind
NATO's basewide data sup-.
port system.
"I've been here three
years in June. I'll go home in
1986. I want to stay here how,
and finish it up right and on
time."
By the time it's finished up
' right, the Geilenkirchen data
centre will be the largest
system in all of Europe, with
nearly 200 terminals. I
The terminals being in-
stallePd are Sperry 1100-60
machines and the software is
also American.
"We now have 18 people
developing our software,"
Mr: Lumpkin. says: The sys= -
tem at Geilenkirchen is
interfaced with an IBM sys-
tem in Luxembourg.
The two central proces-
sors, he, says, are capable of
18 megabytes of memory
and the total storage capa-
city "will .be about a billion
bytes".
Mark Lumpkin says NATO
and the U.S. Air Force have
gone together in purchasing
the same type of system and
as a result have got it for "a-
bout half price".
Asked about the security of
the system, Mr. Lumpkin
says there isn't much chance
the "hackers" will gain ac-
cess. In using the computers
employees must pass
through. three kinds of se-
curity checks. . •
"We've got security nailed
down pretty tight."
Of the-, people now em-
ployed on the terminals, he
says, all but three are civi-
lian, The three are U.S. mili-
tary.
"They are of all national-
ities. We Rhave very good
working relations. There is
no 'i'm Mister Big here.'
Crossroads—June 12, 1985—Page 7A
A radar technician monitors the radar performance aboard an AEW aircra
Usinga computerized fault isolation system to identify radar problems, he can
repair malfunctions in-flight without operational interference, due to system
redundancy.
These are all very smart
people."
Mr. Lumpkin grins at me.
"We're not even prejudiced
here— we. even allow women
to work for us."
"And I bet they do a good
job," I reply.
He turns serious i me-
diately. "Oh, I'll say.,111 fact,
I.would have to say some of
my very best operators are
women — very good, very
clever."
Mr. Schierbeck and I are
holding up the group, but we
have one more question for
Mr. Lumpkin. What would
happen if this computer cen-
tre was putout of commis-
,sion?
"We might be out for about
eight hours. If, we lost the
system here, the U.S. Air
Force in Europe would bring
in a mobile System and our
tapes would go on that."
It sounds good, but I don't
know; eight hours could be a
long time when it comes to
modern military action.
We are now heading for
our last stop at NATO Base
Geilenkirchen. It's a look at.
the Canadian Forces nation-
al support element. I've al-
ready met the officer in
charge during lunch. He is
Maj. Grant McLean.
On the way over to the Ca-
nadian support centre, Maj,
Guess points out,. some of the
base facilities.
We go by the American
school, and Maj. Guess men-
tions, it is attended by North
Americans. The base, he
says, has many recreational
facilities including two
gyms, a football field, hand-
ball courts, an outdoor swim-
ming pool, and an outdoor
track.
"There used to be a nine -
hole golf course. But it got vice."
turned into a soccer field and I ask if any Canadian chil-,
now it's a baseball field." dren attend the American
Maj. Guess then points out school on the, base.
most of the cars on base car- "No, none of our children
ry American licence plates. attend the American
This is because the United school," Maj. McLean re -
States is the only nation plies.
which would allow NATO , This isn't what I've been
personnel to use its plates. - told at lunch, but I don't pur-
"Canada," he says, sue it. -
"wouldn't allow its plates to The posting to Geilenkir-
be used by other nations. So then is for a two-year term
the Dutch, the Italians, etc., -
all get U.S. plates. If they
buy German plates they
„have to pay a road tax."
As we file into the briefing
room at the Canadian sup-
port centre, I can't quite, sti-
fle a yawn. It doesn't go un-
noticed. Maj. Guess has the
courtesy to look sympathet-
ic. "I promise you," he Says,
"this is the last stop of the
day„
A PET HAWK
I am physically tired all
right, but it is impossible to
be mentally tired in the face
of Maj. McLean's enthus-
iasm. No doubt it's been a
long day for him too, but he
just can't wait to tell us• a-
bout the role of the support
element at Base Geilenkir-
chen.
A big responsibility, he
says, is finding accommo-
dation. Altogether there are
approximately 4x00 Cana-
dians to be taken care of, in-
cluding 130 military person-
nel.
Strictly Canadian oper-
ations include a two -person ,, ter than our service."
dental service, a four person
medical team, a postal ser-
vice, a pay officer; and re-
sponsibility for discipline of
nationals.
"Lahr is our support
base," he says. "We really
rely on Lahr."
Remembering my conver-
sation during the lunch hour,
I ask about school facilities
for Canadian children.
"That's a good point,"
Maj. McLean says. "We
• have no school here. Child-
ren go into Brunssum, The
Netherlands, to school. That.
school is a K to Grade 12. For
Grade 13 there's a Canadian
school in ' Lahr, or Baden.
There is a daily bus ser -
and Maj. 'McLean leaves no
doubt how he feels,about it.
"I would persenally like to
mention how very fortunate I
am to be here. It's a wonder-
ful opportunity to see both
sides of life — national and
international. I hope by the
time you leave, you have
some feeling about how ex-
citing it is to be here and to
be part of this program."
Canadians with their love
of - the outdoors, he says,
truly appreciate the Geilen-
kirchen area. Noting the a-
bundance of wildlife in the
area, Maj. McLean mentions
that he has a pet hawk.
"I just can't say enough
how enjoyable life is here,
and what a challenge it is."
However; he notes, like
most Canadians, when he
first arrived, he felt isolated.
"We really count on that
mail service. It's our person-
al link with home. And it isn't
bad. It takes about five days
to get mail from Belleville."
° Maj. Guess says he's im-
pressed. "I think that's fas-
"I'm impressed too," says
Peter Schierbeck. "That's
faster than I can get mail
within Canada.
Maj. McLean says he's
now working to get faster
service for Saturday news-
papers. "The Saturday
paper is now five days old.
We're trying to get it in the ..
following Monday."
For current affairs, he
says, Canadians at Geilen-
kirchen rely on British tele-
vision and the American
Forces paper, The Stars and
Stripes.
We could sit in this warm
room and talk for hours
about Canadians based here
at NATO's "showcase", but
it's time to go. We have yet to
cross the border into The
Netherlands before we reach
the Grand Hotel at Heerlen
and call it a day.
But what a day it has been.
It is with sincere apprecia-
tion and a , sense of regret
that we bid farewell to Maj.
Guess and Geilenkirchen -
regret that such a day must
end.
TO BEE OR NOT TO BEE
Cont'd, Page 2A
are brought to a tiny cell,
where a young woman
punches out -some tentacles
that drag us back to the big
cell, where the Queen Bee in- .
forms us that we have no
taste, no common sense, and
less intelligence than a bee
or an ant.
While this tirade is taking
place, what are the ant and
the bee doing? Biting, sting-
ing? No, they are anting
around and beeing around,
with no sense whatever that
they are the lowest of the
low, dumb slobs, cretins. The
words don't mean anything
to them.
Some day, humans will
rise to the level of the ant and
the bee. They will accept
their cells, instead of trying
to kick the sides out of them.
They will do what they are
supposed to do, without a lot
of ifs, ants and bees.
_Someday,- humans vwill
stop gossiping about each
other. Ants don't. Someday
humans will stop stinging
each other. Bees don't, ex-
cept when you bug them.
Someday humans will stop
asking, "Why?" The word is
not in the vocabulary of ants
and bees.
But humans must have a
care. If they don't, the theme
song of the Twenty-first
Century might well -be, -"My
cell is your cell. And our cell
is ouracell ... "
On the other hand, perhaps
we are not lost in the cells.
Ants can multiply, but they
can't divide. Bees can buzz,
but they can't beam.
Maybe there's a future for
us, if we can just get out of
those cells,
friends for life
4gt%Pirt ,-----
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The Canadian Red Cross Society
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