HURRICANE HUNTERS REUNION 2010

In the Beginning-
     When I joined the US Navy in 1961, after taking the admission tests, I was offered several rating options. At the University of Florida, one of my dorm neighbors had been in the Navy as a Communications Technician. This involved having a Top Secret clearance, because you would be receiving and sending communications from high levels, and you could be stationed anywhere in the world. So I asked for this rate. Too bad, all filled at this time. My second choice was a position involving blimps, since I had ridden on the Goodyear blimp. I was told that blimps were being phased out and no jobs were offered in the blimp fleet. My recruiter asked what I had done in my brief working career, and I told him I had been building electronic panels for commercial aircraft. Thus, we decided that I would be an 'Aviation Electronics Technician', an AT for short. After 3 months at the Boot Camp at Waukegan, Il, all of us new boots grads were sent to the trade school of our rating. At this point in time, the Navy was very fair with the way they assigned your future. The better you did on all of the tests they were constantly giving everyone, the better your chances were of going to your choices of duty. The people who didn't make the grade, were assigned to ships in the various fleets around the world as soon as they graduated boot camp.The fortunate ones headed for school some where. We were all given 2 weeks leave so we could go home, say our goodbyes, then head for our new assignments. I was going to 'A' school in Millington, Tennessee, just north of Memphis. This would give me the training to become an Aviation Electronics Technician, and depending on your scores through the 9 months of training, would determine where your next station was. Another benefit of this location, was that I was only 2 hours away from all of my relatives in Central Arkansas. It would not be a bad life. 
     After graduating in the top 5 of my class, we were given a list of potential duty stations. When it was my turn to pick, my choices were several different ships and a couple of land bases, or, I could stay in Millington for 30 more days and attend a 'B' school for training as an airborne radio operator. This would involve becoming very proficient at sending and receiving Morse Code. The end results of this training would be assignment to an Early Warning Squadron, flying in EC121 aircraft, better known as a Super Constellation, the triple tail 4 engine aircraft built by Lockheed. So I elected to become a radioman.
In 30 days, again we were offered our choice of duty, again based on our performance. My choices were- 1. VW-1, located in Newfoundland, Canada (Very Cold), 2. VW-2, located on the island of Guam, in the Pacific(In the Middle of Nowhere). 3. VW-4, also known as the Hurricane Hunters, based in Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico (Palm Trees, Sand, Warm). It was not much of a decision since I was from Miam, and had experienced several hurricanes there. Before reporting to our squadrons, all graduates were sent to the Patuxent River Naval Air Station, a little south of Washington DC, in Maryland, for training and survival skills involving the aircraft we would be flying in. So away we went for several weeks of putting out fires and jumping into frigid water and being picked up by helicopters. Finally we were sent to Norfolk, Va, for eventual departure to Puerto Rico and duty in the tropics with the Hurricane Hunters. The Hurricane Hunter duty of 2+ years will be blogged later. Now for the reunion.

     About 8 or so years ago, I discovered that there was an organization of former Hurricane Hunters who put out newsletters and held reunions every year. I made contact with several men I had ran with back on the Island and attempted to attend the reunions. Various reasons always came up while I was working in Miami that prevented me from going. However , when I found out that the reunion for 2010 was to be held in Pensacola I made definite plans to go. I always try to be in Houston for Bill's bash over the Labor Day weekend, so I had to find out if going to Pensacola one month later was possible, budget wise. It was, so I made plans. My automobile is 11 years old and has 120,000 miles on it, so my wife prefers that I rent something to save wear and tear on my old vehicle. Who am I to argue? So, on Sept 29th, I pointed my rented Hyundai Sonata south, and set the cruise control on 75 and let her roll.

     From Murfreesboro, Tn to Pensacola, Fl is about 450 miles and a little less than 6 hours, if you travel with me. My pit stops are in the NASCAR time range. Gas and Go as fast as the fuel pumps. I arrived in Pensacola around 3:30 and checked into the Super 8, NAS Corry, about 3 miles from the Navy Lodge on base, where most of the others were staying. At 4:30, Bob Lakey called asking my location and condition. While waiting on the call, I had made my first Tullamore Dew with a splash, one of Irelands finest whiskys, and unloaded the automobile. He informed me that everyone that had arrived so far were gathering in Jay Bondgren's room to plan the evening dinner, and that I should proceed to there. He also told me that a drivers license would be required to be shown to the gate personnel in order to get onto the NAS Pensacola property. Upon these instructions, I proceeded to the designated meeting room, where I became re-acquainted Jay Bondgren, ATN-2, J.D.Manion, ATW, Jim (Artie) Safarik, ATW, Bob Lakey, ATN, and Don Cone, plus their respective wives. It had been decided that dinner would be at Landry's Seafood House, in the restaurant district of Pensacola. The dinner was spent renewing and reliving the sea stories that had lain dormant for these 40 something years. It was an enjoyable evening.
     On Thursday morning, I had been invited to play golf in the annual Lakey-Manion Tournament at the Perdido Bay Golf Club. Artie rounded out the 4-some. The less said about my golfing skills that day, the better. J.D. edged Bob for the annual bragging rights. After the golf match, we all went back to the Navy Lodge to check in at the VW-4 'Ready Room'. Here we received our reunion packages, with our name card, schedule and various other little goodies. We also picked up our official Hurricane Hunter shirts,if we had ordered any. There were 30-40 Hunters there, drinking beer or sodas and checking name tags to see if they remembered you. That afternoon, a wine and cheese party had been planned at the Officers Club on base. So at 4:30, that's where we all went. This affair consisted of people at tables seating 10, lining up for free beer or wine, and doing the same at the cheese table. We seemed to have formed our group of AT's, since we all seemed to be found at the same table. Dinner that night was to be at Carabas, and it was a fine dinner. About 15 of us ended up doing the dinner thing together every time.
     As Friday appeared through my window, I had no early plans. The other guys were going to play golf again, this time on the base, and I had paid extra to attend a 'Beach Party' at 11 AM, somewhere on the base. It was to feature BBQ and Beer, but I had trouble finding it. I was given wrong directions several times, so eventually, I just wrote it off. I decided to head over to Pensacola Beach to see how the white powdery sand was doing with the oil spill. We had seen cleanup crews on the beaches of the base, in their yellow gooney suits, filtering buckets of sand, so I assumed the tourist beaches would share the same fate. I parked myself at the Margaritaville Hotel, ordered oysters and beer, and surveyed the beach. It was perfectly groomed, and not a trace of cleanup anywhere. Only  lot's of tourists covered with oil of the suntan variety. You have to admire Jimmy Buffett for taking his beach party philosophy and making Jillions out of it. The hotel was very nice and right on the beach, with his Landshark Landing night club connected next door. I was not missing the VW-4 BBQ at all.
     The plan for Friday night dinner was to meet at 6:30 at McGuires Irish Pub, back in the district. I have never seen a pub as large as this one. It was as big inside as a city block, with a lot of little rooms and some big rooms and $1.2 million in one dollar bills stapled to the ceiling throughout the place. It was packed, but they found room for our crew with no waiting. Again, dinner was excellent and everyone had a good time.
     The schedule for Saturday called for a Official Hurricane Hunter business meeting at 10 AM at the Nation Museum of Naval Aviation, for the election of officers and deciding where the reunion would be. After the officers were taken care of, and the next reunion site chosen to be held at Branson, Mo., the meeting was adjourned. Our little group had chosen to see the I-Max movie, The Hubble Repair film, so we went across the lobby for that. When the movie was over, we split up. I was going to have lunch, then go on a scheduled tour of the museum. The others had done this before, so they passed on it. When the tour started, the guide was really going into detail about each aircraft, which was well and good if you had several days, but I didn't, so I broke away and did my own tour, taking 100 pictures or so. We had to be at the Museum in our dinner clothes for group pictures at 4:30, dinner and drinks at 5:30, so I had to go back to the Super 8, change, and get back to the Museum. The picture was taken and offered for sale at $50 each. I guess some folks knew enough of the people in the photo to spring for that, but not me. All of the people did not look like they did 40 years ago, well maybe a few, but not enough for me to recognize them in a group picture.
     Next came a cash bar and the ever present 10 person tables. We were dining under the static display of the 4 Blue Angel jets, an impressive sight above us. The dinner was OK for catered food, but not what we had been having the previous nights. I had found out very early, that most of my old buddies no longer drank alcohol, or wanted to hear about the good old days in front of their wives, so I bit my tongue and drank alone, with all of them. I had my 62-63 yearbook with me, we passed it around and commented on all of the people who could not comment back. After our goodbyes, we went to our rooms, and most got up early and headed back home. 

     Some thoughts-
1. Reunions are not what I thought they would be.
2. They should have places that aircrews could sign in
3. Like wise for the different ratings
4. They should distribute a list of all who have checked in. Your best pal could be there, and you might miss him, unless you knew he was going to be there.
5. The scheduled activities were kind of lame, no effort was made to involve people. In fact, if you didn't pay extra, the activities were not for you.
6. The HH Association should make a members list WITH e-mail addresses available if possible. And post on the HH website, so non-members could contact people and maybe get involved.

But, all in all, I had a good time seeing some people that were good buddies at one time. Too many of them weren't there, though.    

PLANES, TRAINS & AUTOMOBILES AND MORE

TRANSPORTATION I HAVE OWNED

1948 Studebaker Starlite Coupe                                        
1953 Mercury Hardtop
1959 Triumph TR-10 4 Door English Sedan                      
1965 Honda CB-150 Motorcycle
1963 Jaguar 3.8L MKII Sedan
1966 Corvette Convertible, 327cid/350HP
1965 Chevrolet Impala 4 Speed Hardtop
1970 Ford Econoline Van
1978 Chevrolet Custom Van By Doran
1983 Lincoln Continental
1987 Toyota Camry 5 Door, 5 Speed
1991 Mercury Topaz
1994 Toyota Corolla
1999.5 Infiniti QX-4

THINGS I HAVE DRIVEN

The Original 'African Queen' Motor Launch, based in Key Largo, Fl
NASCAR 600HP Ford at Homestead Motor Speedway, 142 MPH Top Speed
       1st Time- Richard Petty Driving Experience,  2nd Time- Skip Barber Racing
GMC Cyclone Pickup in Tennessee
Honda 750cc Motorcycle in the hills of Tennessee
55 Ft Sailing Sloop on Long Island Sound, NY
40 Ft Houseboat in the Everglades
Go-Carts in Virginia
Dirt Bikes in Miami
Ford Van with Bad Steering, Over the Old Seven Mile Bridge in the Florida Keys
Same Ford Van, with a Bad Carb Float from Orlando to Miami, 8 Plus Hours
Red Mustang Convertible in Honolulu, Hawaii
1954 Cadillac Hearse in Puerto Rico
A 2- Mule Team, Fred and Nell, on my Grandfathers Farm in Arkansas
A Snowmobile at the Playboy Club Hotel in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin
A Forklift at Life Medical Equipment in Miami

THINGS I HAVE RIDDEN ON OR IN

The Goodyear Blimp
Boeing 707, 727, 737, 747, 757, 767, 777
Lockheed L1011
McDonnell Douglas DC-6, DC-8, DC-9, DC-10, MD-87
Airbus A-320
Embraer EMB-120
Canadian Dash-8
Funicular Railway in Hong Kong to the top of Victoria Peak
Cog Railway to the top of Mt Rigi, in Switzerland
High Speed Ferry, Hong Kong to Macau
The Kat, a High Speed Catamaran (60 MPH) Miami to Nassau, Bahamas
The Queen Elizabeth II, Ocean Liner
The USS Intrepid, CVA 11, US Aircraft Carrier
The USS Francis Scott Key, a Polaris Nuclear Missile Submarine
A US Navy Rescue Helicopter, Chesapeake Bay
A Lockheed Super Constellation Hurricane Hunter Plane
A Grumman S2F Submarine Hunter Plane, with a Carrier Landing on the Intrepid
A High Speed Mexican Taxi Cab in the Yucatan
Various Buses, Jitneys, and Publicos around the Caribbean Islands
An Everglades Airboat
A Swamp Buggy in Naples, Fl
Subways in London, Paris, Singapore, Hong Kong
A Slow Ferry from Cape Cod to Martha's Vineyard
A Stella-Link Ferry from Scotland to Northern Ireland
A Hovercraft across the English Channel, Dover to Calais
A Cable Car in San Francisco
The Matterhorn at Disneyland
Space Mountain at Disneyworld
A Double-Decker Bus in London
An Elevator in the Eiffel Tower, Paris and LasVegas
A Circular Escalator in San Francisco
A Grumman Mallard 'Chalks Airline' Seaplane, Miami to Bimini
A 1 Mile High Ride on a Cable Car in Switzerland
A Mechanical Bull in Houston, Texas
A Hot Air Balloon in Arkansas Piloted by Gene Carr
A Cessna Citation Over the Rockies, Denver to Montrose, Colorado
A Boat on Loch Lomond, Scotland
A Boat on Lake Windermere, UK
A Boat on Lake Wolfgang, Austria
A Boat on Lake Okeechobee, Florida
A Boat to Alcatraz Island, San Francisco
A Glass Bottom Boat to the Reefs, Key West, Florida
A Glass Bottom Boat to John Pennecamp State Park, Key Largo, Florida
A Boat on the Rhine River, Germany, from Boppard to St Goar
A 45 Ft Deep Sea Fishing Boat, 'Sump'n Special' Islamorado, Florida
A Star Ferry from Kowloon to Hong Kong Island
The Catano Ferry, San Juan, Puerto Rico
A Ferry across the Mississippi, Mo. to Tenn.
A Boat on the Thames to Windsor Castle
A Gondola in Venice, Italy
A Chinese Junk in Singapore
A Train from London Paddington to Cardiff, Wakes
A Train from Gatwick Airport to Victoria Station, London
A Train from Waukegan, Il to Chicago
A Green Subaru from Melbourne to Prince William Island, Aus, to see the Fairey Penguins come ashore.
A White Van, Driven by Mr Silver, From Mo Bay to Negril, Jamaica for jerk pork and cliff diving
A Gray Van Around the Volcanoes on the Big Island of Hawaii
A Blue Bus from Ocho Rios, Jamaica to the Blue Mountains for some coffee beans
A Black Taxi in London
A Yellow Taxi in New York City
A Purple Taxi in Paris
A Pink Taxi in Key West
A Red Trolley in Honolulu, Sydney, and Washington, DC
A Limo Taxi to the Miraflores Locks, Panama Canal, Panama
A Horse Drawn Carriage Ride around Nassau, Bahamas
A 4-Horse Stage Coach in Ballarat, Australia
The Monorails at all the Disney Parks
A Greyhound Bus Trip from Miami to Los Angeles
A Trafalgar Tour Bus through 7 European Countries
A Frames-Rickart Tour Bus Around Southern England
An 18 Wheeler from Little Rock Arkansas to Miami Florida 

BEER AND BRISKET- TEXAS STYLE

     Every year on the last Saturday before Labor Day, my friends Bill & Nancy, in Spring, Texas, host a big BBQ for friends and relatives from all over. Depending on what the air-fares are vs. the price of gasoline, I'll either fly or drive to their place just north of Houston, in Spring. This year it was on a Continental Connection small jet, that I arrived at the George Bush International Airport. From Nashville, the flight is only 90 minutes, which means flying has a 3 day time advantage over driving round trip. Before I retired, time was an important factor, now, not so much. When I land, and have collected my luggage from the baggage merry-go-round, I call Bill on the cell thingy, and he picks me up right away.
     This year I arrive at 1:30 in the afternoon, on Wednesday the 1st of September. The BBQ is on Saturday, the 4th. Nancy has to work today, so I won't see her until later. First stop is at an H-E-B supermarket so Bill can replenish the beer stock. Then we go to Spec's Liquors so I can get some bourbon for myself. I have been in a lot of retail liquor outlets, all over the country, even all over the world, and I must say that the stores in the Spec's chain in Texas are by far the most well stocked, complete stores I have ever been in. This year I found some bourbon from the Buffalo Trace distillery in Kentucky that was only $14.99 for a 1.75 liter bottle. That is an exceptional price for a quality bourbon. We were now equipped to go to Bill's home and began our pre-cookout rituals. This involves sitting on the patio and drinking, warming up our arms and shoulders for the task ahead. We will be up on Saturday at 5:30 AM to start the fire in the huge smoker on Bill's patio. After years of experience, we have found that since the festivities could last into Sunday morning, it is best not to start drinking until 11 AM on Saturday. By that time, all of the meat has been seasoned, rubbed, and placed into the cooker, and that it is time to start replacing all of the precious bodily fluids lost while tending the fire and the accompanying smoke.
     When Nancy arrives home from work, it is decided that dinner that night will be at Capt. Benny's Seafood Boat, just off of I-45 at Rankin Rd. On past visits, the raw oysters at the Boat were large and priced right. A few years back, we sat there one afternoon and had several dozen with Bill's daughter, Elaine. At that time,  I think we paid $2.99 a dozen as the afternoon special. This year, they were up to $9.99 a dozen, and the size was not so big. This was due to the BP oil rig disaster out in the Gulf. I passed on them since it was my first day, and more opportunities  would come up. I had the special of stuffed shrimp, which was very good.
     Thursday was an easy day, as planned. Nancy went to work, and Bill and I went to Denny's for breakfast.The waiter working the counter had to have been hired from the Clover Grill, in New Orleans. He was a most 'happy' fellow, and a big hit with the construction workers sitting in his area. When Nancy arrived after work, it was off to a place called 'Wings & More' in the Woodlands. I had wings, of course, and what they advertised as a 'Big Willie', which was a 32oz Shiner Bock, a Texas beer, in a big mug. The wings and the willie hit the spot.
     On Friday, we awoke to a rainy day. We ran some errands, picked up some last minute things for tomorrows party, and had dinner at home. Nancy fixed some good Mexican food. The rain finally stopped and we were hoping it would dry up by tomorrow.
     Saturday morning at 5:30 finds Bill and I on the patio awaiting the arrival of Nancy's son, Slugger, who lives next door. He is the fire starter today. He brings over a propane tank and a weed burner and has the fire started in just a few minutes. Where there is fire, in this case there was a lot of smoke. My eyes took a beating for a while. Bill's smoker is probably 10 feet long with a huge fire box.After about an hour, the fire was under control, and it was time to throw the briskets on. Bill has 2 big briskets, about 10 lb each, all ready rubbed with his secret ingredients, so on they went. Twelve racks of ribs went on at 10 AM, and 6 lbs of sausage at 11. It was now beer time, so we began.
     Around 12:30, folks started arriving. I knew a lot of them from my days in Houston some 38 years ago, having seen them on visits I had made since then. This year was relatively peaceful, since there were no kids playing in the pool. A little after midnight, it was over. It had been a day of good drink, good food, and good company, a success by any measure.
     Sunday had nothing planned, so we would just let it happen. After some coffee, we decided to drive up to Lake Conroe and see what was going on. It was a holiday weekend, so we knew that the boaters would be out in full force, proving some excitement on the water for our viewing pleasure. We arrived at 'Wolfies' on the lake, around 1 PM. They had Guinness on tap, so we were off to a good start. Sitting at the bar near us was a group of 4 young men, semi intoxicated, we thought. They were playing one of the electronic trivia game that are found in some bars, where you can play against other people in the bar, or, other bars. They weren't doing very good. So we started giving one of them the answers, behind his buddies backs. It was fun to see him getting the right answers from us, and ragging on his buddies. They never figured out how he got so smart, so quick.
     After a couple of rounds at Wolfies, we drove to the other side of the cove to a place called 'Papa's'. They had a live band that was decent, and a singer that was not. We found a table in the back where it was not too loud. The high light of this place is that we had a very good view of the water, and were able to see the comedy provided by 2 'brothers' who were obviously impaired, as they tried to both get back on a jet ski It took them 45 minutes and help from some who swam out, to mount the thing again. From Papa's, we went to the Woodlands for dinner at an English pub, Baker Street. After a good dinner of fish and chips with Guinness, we called it a day.
     As we turned on the morning news, we found out that a tropical storm, Hermine, had developed in the Gulf overnight. It was down close to the Texas-Mexico border, and expected to come ashore Monday night, and head due north, affecting San Antonio and Austin on Tuesday. We were planning a trip towards that area tomorrow, so we would have to pay attention and see what developed. The outer bands were supposed to cause some rain in Houston later in the afternoon on Monday, but we weren't going far that day. We went to Papadeaux's Seafood for lunch, where I got my oysters, along with some good catfish. The rain began as we drove home, and when we went out for a Mexican dinner, it was falling at a steady rate.
     We were up at 6:30 to see if our trip was still possible. The storm was soaking the hill country, but Houston was clearing. We decided to chance it and head west. First stop would be at the Shiner Brewery. It's really the Spoetzel Brewery, but since it in Shiner, that is how everyone calls it.The first tour was a 11 AM, so we left Spring a little early to avoid the Houston traffic, by taking back roads. About an hour into the trip, the skies opened and we were in some serious rain, with scary looking black clouds all around. We found as we went on, that we were in the bands, and the rain would come and go. When we arrived at the brewery, it was just a light drizzle. The tour was pretty good. Only 66 people total work for the Shiner beer company, but they can put out a couple of hundred thousand bottles of beer a day if necessary. They are very generous with their free samples, so you can taste as many as 4 different brews if you want. I did, and they were all good.
     Next up on the trip was some good national award winning BBQ in Luling, Texas. Unfortunately, the place we wanted to go to was closed. Fortunately, there was another place just down the street that was open. We got a sampling of ribs, brisket and sausage that was excellent. It was served Texas style, by the pound, and on butchers paper. Going back to Houston, we ran into some Oz clouds, that looked like a tornado was around somewhere.But we made it back safely. That night we went to a good Chinese buffet for my last meal with my hosts.
     Bill dropped me at the Bushport at 10 AM, and I was back in Murfreesboro, Tn by 4 that afternoon.It was an excellent trip, with not much wasted time. But that is how Bill and Nancy and I plan our trips and adventures. We have done things that mortal men merely dream of. I will save those for another time.
   

JOBS AND PLACES- A LOT OF BOTH

1941-1956 GROWING UP IN
                       SHERWOOD, ARKANSAS

1956-1959 SOUTHWEST MIAMI HIGH SCHOOL
                       MIAMI, FL

1959-1960 RYAN RADIO & TV
                       CORAL GABLES, FL

1960-1961 UNVERSITY OF FLORIDA
                       GAINESVILLE, FL

1961-1965 UNITED STATES NAVY
                        GREAT LAKES/WAUGEGAN, IL
                        MEMPHIS, TN
                        PAUTUXENT RIVER, MD
                        ROOSEVELT ROADS, PUERTO RICO
                        NORFOLK, VA

1965-1967 INTERSTATE ELECTRONICS
                        ANAHEIM, CA
                        NEWPORT NEWS/HAMPTON, VA
                        GROTON/MYSTIC, CT

1967-1969 INFOTRONICS
                        HOUSTON/BELLAIRE, TX
                        NEWARK, DE
                        ROCKVILLE, MD/WASHINGTON, DC

1969-1969 DELTRONICS
                        RAMAPO, NY

1969-1970 NEWPORT NEWS SHIPBUILDING
                        NEWPORT NEWS, VA

1969-1970 COULTER ELECTRONICS
                         HIALEAH, FL

1970-1971 THE EXPRESSWAY (TOURING BAND)
                          MIAMI, FL
                          DAYTONA BEACH, FL
                          NEWBURGH, NY
                          LAKE GENEVA, WI
                          INDIANAPOLIS, IN
                          BOSTON, MA

1971-1972 BAY HILL MOTOR INN
                          BUZZARDS BAY/CAPE COD, MA

1972-1972 THE GOODTIMERS (COUNTRY BAND)
                           PANAMA CITY, FL

1972-1974 U-TOTEM CONVIENENCE STORES
                           HOUSTON, TX

1974-1974 LUMS RESTAURANTS
                            MIAMI, FL

1974- 1986 ALL-RITE TV REPAIR
                            CORAL GABLES, FL
                            MIAMI SPRINGS, FL

1986-1994 PARKER ELECTRONICS
                            FT LAUDERDALE, FL

1994-1994 SEH ELECTRONICS
                            N. MIAMI, FL

1994-1995 THORGUARD LIGHTNING DETECTORS
                            MEDLEY, FL

1995-1996 THE INCREDIBLE UNIVERSE
                             MIAMI, FL

1996-2002 LIFE MEDICAL EQUIPMENT
                              MIAMI, FL

2002-2008 MEDEQUIP BIOMEDICAL
                               DORAL, FL

2008          RETIRE TO MURFREESBORO,TENNESSEE

2009          US CENSUS BUREAU (TEMPORARY)   
                               UNDER THE BRIDGES OF M'BORO

A Mexican Quickie

     Having been bitten by the travel bug, beginning with our trip last year, in 1987, Crystal, Lyz and I had planned a trip to the Yucatan, in Mexico. This had been planned before my 2 business trips to the Far East took place. So, on July 24 we flew from Miami to Merida, Mexico on an Aero Mexico Boeing 727. We arrived around 4:30 that afternoon, The rain was coming down so hard when we approached the terminal. we had to sit on the plane for 45 minutes, waiting for it to let up.To leave the aircraft, you had to walk down stairs to the tarmac,since the airport had none of the ramps that were driven up to the front door. This meant trying to stay dry under an umbrella while dashing to the terminal. When the rain slacked up a bit we ran from the plane, in the rain, and everyone got soaked to some degree. Our luggage was sitting out in the rain under sheets of plastic in the area of the aircraft. In about an hour we were finally reunited with our suitcases and formed into lines to go through the customs inspections. Of course the gentleman in front of us had a gun in his suitcase, which caused a mild panic among the airport workers, which then caused Spanish to be filling the air from 100 different directions and as many volumes levels.The guy was still in line trying to explain the gun, instead of them taking him to a secure area for questioning. Eventually we were shifted to another line and finally processed out into the night. We went to the taxi stand and were placed into an automobile of undetermined age and origin for the trip in to Merida. As I sat in the front seat before takeoff, I noticed that the wipers were not working, even though the rain was still coming down at monsoon force. I also noticed that directly ahead, the windshield was cracked in a large circular circle, as if the previous passenger has tried to exit the auto through the windshield. The driver finished placing our luggage into the trunk, took his position behind the wheel, and we began our trip. Of course, there were no seat belts in the car to calm us down a little. As the driver drove towards town, he would mostly stick his head out of the window to sure we were still on the pavement, and when his face became to wet, he would bring his head in, wipe his face with a towel, wipe the windshield in front of him, proceed on this way for a while, then pop his head outside and repeat the process. After 30 minutes of this, we finally saw the Holiday Inn sign  ahead and a collective sigh of relief was heard.
     Back in its day, Merida was called the Paris of Mexico, for its wide boulevards and palatial homes and estates. Its money was made from the hemp and sisal business, of which every sailing ship used in their ropes and lines. The Holiday Inn was at one end of the largest of the beautiful avenues in town. At the other end was the main 'plaza' of the town. Even though it was a Holiday Inn, it was one of the 5 star places in Merida. The night we arrived, we checked in, went to the room to freshen up a little, then went to the main restauranr for dinner. The meal was excellent, with the Caesar Salad being made the correct way right at the table.
     We went down for breakfast the next morning, and found 2 buffet lines, one American and one Mexican, plus the usual omelet and waffle stations. The Mexican side had many interest items, so I picked my meal from that line. After eating, we took a taxi, with good glass in it, down town to the main Plaza. Around the square were the Governors Palace, the main church in town, the art museum, and many little shops. While we were walking, we were approached by a young guy who 'latched 'on to us and told us he would be our guide for a few dollars. Of course he slowly guided us over to the local native market, where his family had a stall selling clothing, particularly, 'guayaberas', sometimes called Mexican Wedding Shirts. They are quite popular throughout the Caribbean area, and due to the fact that they cool, comfortable, and dressy, they are worn by businessmen in place of a suit and tie during hot weather. In Miami, they are popular with the Cubans, so, since I didn't have one, I bought a nice one for just a few dollars, after the required haggling. Since the market was on the way back to the hotel, we decided to walk back up the ' Paseo de Montejo', the main drag. When we arrived back at the hotel, we visited the on-site tour office and booked a few trips
         At 7 PM, a taxi picked us up and delivered us to a club for dinner and a show.The first part of the evening began in an undergrounds grotto, with a stream flowing through it. A group of Mayan actors and dancer re-enacted a Mayan sacrifice. Except for the part where they cut someone open and rip out the still beating heart, it was very authentic. We then returned upstairs to the restaurant area where we were served a very good Mexican feast. Finally, we were treated to a floor show with native dancing and singing. All in all, an excellent night.
     After a bean and burrito breakfast the next morning, we were picked up, along with another couple, for a tour of the ruins of Chichen Itza.. What a ride that was- 60 mile in 60 minutes, including a stop at a real Mayan village. The ruins were magnificent. Our driver turned out to be the tour guide, so we got a grade A tour of the place. It seemed to me the place was built based on the Mayan mathematics, numbers were involved everywhere. Lyz and I climbed to the top of the Pyramid of the Sun, where I discovered that the Mayans of that period had very small feet. The steps going to the top were quite narrow and if it had not been for a chain running from the top to the bottom, I might still be up there, or on U-Tube as I tumbled to the bottom.
     It was a very good quick trip. I especially liked sitting at the pool bar, or the inside lounge, listening to the Mariachi bands.and drinking fine, smooth Tequila. I highly recommend a trip to Merida as an alternative to the commercialism of Cancun and Cozumel.

Chinese Adventure- Part 2.1

     It seemed to me that women had very little status on the face of life in Hong Kong. It might have been different behind the closed doors of their home,but on the surface I noticed several things. Each morning when we hit the streets to go to Longreen, if it was early, we found an army of little old ladies with pushcarts, brooms and dust pans patiently sweeping and cleaning the major streets in Kowloon. I have to assume that the same was happening across the bay on Hong Kong Island. I never saw any little old men doing this. An incident had occurred on one of our many subway trips a few days earlier. Lowell considers himself to be a son of the South and a true gentleman, which, him being from Texas, may be true. It was during the afternoon rush hour, that we boarded the subway at the Longreens stop. That stop was the next to last stop at the north end of the line, so we had no problem finding a seat, heading south. As we proceeded south, making a stop every 5 minutes or so, the cars quickly filled up, enough to mean there was standing room only. About half way to our stop , a middle aged Chinese lady with several packages in her arms boarded the train. As it so happened, she stopped right in front of Lowell and was holding on to one of the grab bars overhead. Lowell stood and offered his seat to the lady. She understood no English and didn't understand what he was doing. Chinese men do not do that.As he gestured for her to sit down, she was shaking her head no, and motioning him to resume his seat; the interplay, serious as it was, began to attract the attention of the other passengers in the area, who seemed to be amused at what was taking place. After a minute or two of this pantomime show, a young Chinese gentleman in a nice suit, slid into the seat and began to read a newspaper. The lady was made so uncomfortable by Lowell's actions, she got off at the next stop, which might not have been the one she wanted. Lowell had to stand for the rest of our trip, and was still not sure what had happened until I explained the caste system involving men and women in public places. We had no problems after that staying in our seats on the subway, if we were fortunate enough to get one.
     That Friday night we went back to the Temple Street Market. There must have been 20,000 people there that night. It was hot and muggy and strange odors drifted in the air, at times. As we learned later, this market is a major attraction for tourists to visit when in Hong Kong. Bargaining is the name of the game here. The vendors usually have someone available to speak English if you indicate that you might be serious about making a purchase. Amid all of the junk, are some good values worth checking out, like pearls and jade and leather goods from the mainland. Lowell and I were in search of food tonight. We visited several of the food stalls found at each intersection of Temple Street. Seafood is the big draw here. You will see every kind of shrimp, prawn, clam, oyster, crab, lobster, and things that look like large centipedes with their legs waving in the breeze. Each intersection had at least one table specializing in snails, at least 25 varieties on the table. Since we had samples the snails on another occasion, tonight we got a big plate of steamed prawns and found a table.We waved the beer boy over, to bring us two big bottles of San Miguel and we sat back to watch the people parade and eat shrimp. It was an excellent way to go native for a while.
     All over this market, in every hotel, and in hundreds of little shops are the famous Hong Kong tailors. They will beg, grovel, threaten and use what ever tactic they think will work in order to get you to let them make you a suit. The prices are very reasonable and the work is seemingly done over night. In fact, as we looked from our room window at the Ritz, across the street was a large building where every night, we could see 40 or 50 men sewing away all night, to make the suits I guess. I'm sure that scene was repeated in a hundred other buildings all over the city. I hated suits and ties, and always had, so the last thing I was going to do was spend money on one.
        Saturday, we worked at Longreen until 4 PM, then returned to the hotel to get ready for feast night with Celius. We walked down Nathan Road to the Star Ferry terminal, bought our .10 cent first class tickets and rode across the bay to meet Celius. He informed us when we were picked up, that we would be dining with some of the biggies of Longreen and 2 of his relatives, about 10 people in all. As we drove to Aberdeen harbor, I began to recognize some of the things we were passing. When we went through the tunnel. I was sure I was back at the scene of my 'snipe' hunt for the oscilloscope. When I saw the street sign for Yip Fat Street, I told Celius I was very familiar with this area, and explained how and why I had been here. He thought it was Funny Too.
     Shortly, we arrived at the harbor and were amazed to see 5 or 6 huge barges anchored out in the bay, with neon lights announcing that they were floating restaurants. They were at least 3 stories tall, and lit up like Christmas trees, with what seemed to be thousands of lights on each one. We boarded a motor launch and were ferried to the largest one, the famous Jumbo's. When we arrived, it was like stepping into another world. It appeared that we were guests of honor, walking into an emperors palace. We were seated at a large circular table, with a big lazy susan in the middle of it. Since it felt like we were emperors, at the front of the room was a throne, where a guy would put you in to an emperors robe and crown and take your picture. The Chinese at our table thought it would be 'fun' to see me do that, so, not one to let the opportunity to be Emperor of China pass me by, I went up and ruled for a few minutes. The pictures are great. Lowell decided to follow me, since it was rather painless. Ken had his beer, so he declined. I don't think he was Emperor material anyhow.
     All of the other Chinese meals had been mere rehearsals for this one. We were fed many dishes that were placed on the lazy susan, with our hosts telling us what each one was. Each place setting had many little bowls and dishes holding sauces and appetizers. As the susan spun and the dishes passed by, we were slowly beginning to fill up. But then Celius announced that the highlight of the dinner, a Peking Duck, was on it's way from the kitchen. A Peking Duck is ordered several days in advance of the meal. The duck has been force fed for a few weeks to prepare it for preparation. Two days before the meal, it is killed, and hung so that all body fat drains away. The fat is collected and made into a special sauce. As the duck is slow roasted, it is basted in this special sauce. It is a great honor to be served a Peking Duck by your hosts. We were honored, At least Lowell and I were.The wait staff made a big production of this duck.The head chef comes to the table and spends about 15 minutes, very carefully carving the duck. On one platter, he carefully sliced off the skin and arranged it on the dish. On another platter, he placed the duck pieces he had carved. Each person was given a small dish with some little pancakes and sliced up scallion on it. With a flourish, the head chef placed the platter with the duck skin in the middle of the lazy susan, and departed with the platter of duck parts for the kitchen. The purpose of the duck is to give up it's skin. The rest of it goes into the stock pot in the kitchen. This was not what we had expected, so we watched our Chinese friends to see how this part was to be handled. They would take a piece of skin, place it on the little pancake with some scallion, roll it up then dip it in the special sauce provided. So that is what we did, and it was delicious. But it sure seemed to be a lot of time and trouble for a piece of duck skin. Maybe we missed something.
      As Celius dropped us back at our hotel, he said he would meet us in the morning for breakfast at the New World Center. Personally, I was hoping to see the Seven Dragons march right thru the hotel on their way to the bay. ( See Part 2.0) Since our time to depart Hong Kong was drawing near, he drove us through the tunnel for a Celius tour of Hong Kong Island. We visited the top of Victoria Peak, where the view covered the entire bay and way back up in to the New Territories. The port of Hong Kong is one of the busiest in the world, so the ship traffic on the bay approached the rush hour traffic on the roads. ( Little Known Fact- There are more Rolls-Royce's, per capita, in Hong Kong than any other city on Earth). He dropped us off at one of the fanciest malls in Hong Kong. We found a place in the food court that had beer and sat down for lunch. On an earlier outing, Tobias had asked if there was anything special in Hong Kong that I would like to see. I jokingly replied, How about a Chinese fire drill? It went over his head, so nothing more was said. If I'm Lying, I'm Dying, as we sat in this mall having a beer and a sandwich, before our eyes, the fire department rushed in for a fire drill! About 15 firemen in bright yellow fire gear were running everywhere. The escalator wasn't working and this did not fit into their plans to get to the next floor. It couldn't have been anymore like what I had expected than if I had wrote them a script. Confusion reigned supreme! It was wonderful. I could leave with a happy heart. I had seen it all.
     Monday morning, I feel like I'm coming down with something, so I stay at the hotel and rest all of Monday. Tuesday I feel really awful. Must be the Hong Kong flu, so when Ken and Lowell go back to the Oxygen plant, I stay at the hotel. I think about going back to the China Resources Store for some snake bile wine, or something else that might help me recover. But I find a drug store that sells Contact. I'm not sure that Contact is any better than ground up monkey paws, but I'm more familiar with it.
     That evening, Lowell and Ken return from the Oxygen plant with good news. They had tuned up the 75 HP unit and it was performing to every ones satisfaction. Derek Mo had accompanied them back to the city, and a big dinner celebration , paid for by Mr Mo, was in order. My medicine had kicked in enough for me to go with them. Mr Mo knows a place in the 'hood that he wants to take us. so away we go. The restaurant is on the second floor as usual. We are seated at a table with a big hole in the middle of it. They light a burner in the hole and bring a big pot of some kind of liquid in it, and place it over the fire in the hole. So now, we have a big gurgling cauldron of something, bubbling away in front of us. How Cool, I thought. We are brought plates, bowls, chop sticks, and we each get a little wire basket on the end of a stick. It seems that we will be placing our food in the wire basket and cooking it in the bubbling broth, which turns out to be chicken broth. How much better for a guy with a cold can it get? Ken asks about beer, and it seems that it is not served, but we can bring our own. Mr Mo volunteers to go get some beer, since he is familiar with the area. Mr Mo is not a beer drinker so he does not know that beer is best served cold. So when he brings Ken back a six pack of warm beer, Ken does not complain too much. Lowell and I are happy with the tea. When the pot begins to come to a rolling boil, the waiter brings the starters. Eventually we indulge in shrimp, lobster, clams, fish, Kobe beef, scallops, and a large platter of veggies' to dunk into the broth. You took whatever combination sounded right, put it into your basket and put it in to the broth until it was cooked to your
liking. Eventually this chicken broth assumed the taste of all of the things you had cooked in it, and became quite tasty in it's own right. Mr Mo went out for some more warm beer, which we all consumed. along with the broth. It was one of those night that just seems to fall  together in all of the right places with all of the right people. Even Ken fit in that night.
     When Mr Mo left to go back home near Junk Bay, Ken took Lowell and I to a new place he had found. I was coasting, still under the influence of warm beer and massive amounts of chicken broth. This place had good cold beer, and a dart board over in the corner. Now it was Lowell's turn to be an expert. A little Chinese girl was tossing darts and seemingly not doing so well. Lowell , being the dart expert. went over to show her the finer points of dart playing. One thing led to another, and before you know it, she had convinced him to bet a little moolah on the game. In his warm beer fog, and her being so helpless, he agreed. The Texas gentleman was losing his Texas ass to that little girl, when I decided to go back to the hotel, leaving him and Ken on their own. I don't think I ever heard the true results of that night.
     The next day, I was no better, and no worse. Ken and Lowell were going to Longreens to wrap things up. I was truly not needed for this process. I had made the Chinese laugh  enough. I called United and found space on the afternoon flight, all the way back to Miami. I packed up and was at the airport for the 1 PM flight with time to spare. Twenty-six hours later, I was back in Miami, recovering in my own bed. It was a very good trip and the Chinese are a very interesting people. I'm sure they found me just as interesting.
          

Chinese Adventure- Part 2.0

Wednesday, June 3, 1987

     For the past 2 weeks we have been working very long days, 7 days a week trying to get the equipment working properly, so that we are ready for the show in Hong Kong. We've brought in some outside help to help with the assembly of the smaller Motor Controllers, and those seem to be functioning properly. I've been testing them under all types of conditions and they seem to work fine. It's the larger ones, capable of controlling up to a 100HP motor that are not doing well. Lowell and Ken are so close to having it work. We have to leave tomorrow if we want to make the show dates. The night of the 3rd, I've done as much as I can, and I'm exhausted, so around midnight, I drive the hour back to Miami to get some rest, not knowing if the trip is on or off. At 4AM, Lowell calls and says we're going, so be at the airport at 5am. I've been packed for a few days in anticipation of this moment, so away I go.
      When I arrive at Miami International, Lowell and Ken pull up to the United check-in in a taxi. They have several foot lockers and suitcases that I am told have all of the controllers in them. The units still don't work correctly, but we have enough functioning stuff to have a successful display at the industrial show. The flight leaves Miami at 7AM, and as soon as we are at cruising altitude, Kens begins to drink Manhattans. When he has consumed all of those that are on the aircraft, he begins on the Jack Daniels. It's about 4 hours from Miami to San Francisco, so we arrive a little after 8 AM, their time. The flight to Hong Kong does not depart until 1 PM, so we have time to kill. Ken is proud of the fact that he almost single-handedly drank a 727 airplane dry. As he starts down the tunnel leading inside the airport, an attendant notices his rather erratic walk and asks him if he needs a wheelchair. Ken had a brother who lived in SF, so he was going to meet him in a bar somewhere. It is quite a hike from the domestic flight terminal to the overseas departure area, so Lowell and I went to our gate and tried to nap a little. At a little after noon, they began boarding the plane. We were flying in Business Class, thanks to Dr Parker, so we had a good view of all the people boarding the plane. It was beginning to get down to the wire, and still no Ken. We were thinking maybe it wouldn't be so bad if we left without him. But at the last minute, he staggered aboard and found his seat right behind us.
     Lowell and I had already decided that we would sit together and room together, and leave Ken on his own as much as we could. Ken informed us he was going to try to drink a 747 dry, but shortly after takeoff, he went to sleep. His snoring was louder than the engine roar, and managed to keep most of the folks in business class awake the entire 14 hour trip to Hong Kong. So, when we arrived in Hong Kong, Lowell and I had had no meaningful sleep for several days, but Ken was rested. We were met at the airport by the same Chinese crew who had met us on the first trip. After we finally located everything that we had brought with us, except Lowell's personal suitcase, we loaded up the van and headed for the New Territories and Longreen's office. First we were taken to the Ritz Hotel to check in. This hotel was mainly for Japanese businessmen, and was located further up Nathan Road than we had explored before on the last trip. This would turn out to be a good thing for me, for it was closer to the real Chinese areas that I wanted to check out. When we got to the Longreen office, we took several controllers and adjusted them to Hong Kong voltages, in order that they could be shown at the show the next day. When we arrived back at the Ritz at 2 AM, Ken wondered if there were any bars still open in the neighborhood. The staff informed him 'no', but on entering his room, he found that all rooms were equipped with a fully stocked mini-bar. We assumed he would empty it that night.
     We were up at 6:30 AM the next morning, to a rainy Hong Kong Friday. I'll tell you, the International Date Line sure does screw with your head. We had just left on Wednesday, what happened to Thursday? The restaurant in the hotel turned out to be a fine place to eat, at any meal. Soon, we were picked up and driven back to Longreens office, where we picked up some working units. Then we went through the tunnel to Hong Kong Island, and to the China Resources Building, where the industrial show was being held. We set up the equipment in the Longreen display area, then were taken downstairs where a welcoming reception was taking place. There were lots of lovely young Chinese girls in traditional dress, serving fruit drinks, to Ken's dismay, no alcoholic beverages, and a large Chinese buffet was available to sample Chinese food.
     When we went back upstairs to get ready for the crowds, the plan was that Lowell would stay at the show to demonstrate the Parker equipment, and that Ken and I would take the subway back to the Longreen office to work on the non-functioning controllers. Having mastered the subway on the last trip, I got us back with no fuss at all. After we had been working for a couple of hours, Ken wanted to take a break. The building where Longreen's office was located was in a huge building. Below the floor we were located, the 3rd level, there were also department stores and restaurants along with other offices. The ground level was a large bus station. As you exited the elevators, you found yourself at the entrance to the  'Galaxy' restaurant. I had become familiar with it from the last trip. We had lunch there- I had food and Ken had a few beers. I found out over time, he didn't eat solid food that much. Eventually we went back upstairs and completed as much as we could with the test equipment we had. At 4:30, we 'tubed' back to the hotel to meet Lowell. I explained the subway procedures to Ken, so he could survive if we ever got separated, which was entirely possible due to the way the masses boarded and departed the trains. Mob Scene bests describes it.
     When we hooked up with Lowell, he and I decided to explore the part of town we were in, something we didn't get time to do on the first trip. Ken declined to join us, and says he has some exploring of his own to do. Of course, that meant finding the nearest bar. Lowell and I walked towards the bay and found we were about a mile from the Hyatt where we had stayed before. Back at the hotel, we found that the restaurant served very good Escargot and Steak, at a very reasonable price. After eating, we turned in for some much needed sleep.
       In the morning, we had breakfast and went to the show on the Island. Our units were performing very well and had drawn a lot of curious onlookers. Consumer interest for our controllers was even more that that shown to our competitors in the next booth. Ken and I again were to go back to Longreens office and worked on a 75 HP unit that was to be installed at the Hong Kong Oxygen plant after the show was over. There was a  fairly large problem. In order to demo the show units properly, and in order test and adjust the equipment back at the office, an oscilloscope was needed in both places, and Longreen only had one. Ken and I went back to the office where we try to explain what we needed. However, everyone who speaks any English is back at the show, except for one very non-technical junior secretary. We finally determine that there is no o'scope at Longreens. Suzy Wong manages to track down Tobias at the show. He tells me he has located what we need at a place back on Hong Kong Island, and he will tell the secretary to write down where it is, and says he can spare no one from the show, and would I mind going to get it. Of course not, I told him. We are dead in the water without it. I put Suzy back on the phone and she writes everything down.
     She gives me a piece of paper written in Chinese and says go there and the equipment will be waiting, if I get there before 2PM. I inform her that I can't read Chinese, and she informs me that she can't write in English, so, if I take the subway back to the Island and get off at the Star Ferry terminal stop, and if I show this piece of paper to a taxi driver at the taxi stand there, he will read it and take me to the place where the o'scope is waiting. Away I go again. As I examine the paper I have been given, the only thing I can make out is  #6. That could be a floor number or a street address, I don't know. My fate is in the hands of a soon to be hired taxi driver.I find the taxi stand, que up waiting my turn, then hand the paper to the driver of the car I've been pointed to. Most taxi drivers in Hong Kong speak no English and I got one of the better ones. It was quite a show. I point at the paper, point to my self and make a driving motion with my hands. I think it was the 'Me go there- You Take-ee' that did the trick. We drove for quite a while, through places and neighborhoods I know I'd never been to before. Eventually, he pulled up along side a large building in a rough looking industrial area. He gave me back my piece of paper, took my money, and motioned me out and towards the entrance of the building. Since we needed the o'scope, I got out. He drove away. I was the only person of any race in view. I was dressed in a suit and tie, the uniform for the show. I went to the door and discovered that the building was a six sided building and that there were 6 entrances. For the next hour or so, after a gentleman at the rag shop informed me that the '6' did indeed indicate the 6th floor, I visited all 6th floors from all 6 entrances. I was politely not understood at any of the places I discovered. I saw things I had never seen before, like the toy factory, where several hundred old ladies stopped assembling toys to stare at the white dude, I would hand the note to anyone who looked in charge and retrieve it when they read it, shaking their heard in a negative fashion. I began to wonder if I had been taken for a ride, in more ways than one. Next I went in to a Styrofoam plant, where the foreman spoke enough English to confirm that there were truly 6 sixth floors in the building, and he thought that there might be an electronics firm on 6th floor number 5. The directory listed in English, Universal Electronics, LTD. Finally, I would find what I needed and be able to head back. However, the electronics firm had gone out of business and I was in another toy factory. I swore, when I got home, I was going to invest big time in Hong Kong toys. I visited an injection moulding plant and a place where I had no idea what was going on. After all of the 6th floors had been visited, I gave up and went outside to find a taxi so I could go back and report my failure. Then it dawned on me- I don't know where I'm at, and I can't tell them where I want to go. Must I stop every cab until I find one I can communicate with? Then, as I looked around me, I thought, that might not be a problem. There was absolutely no traffic on the streets in the area I was in. Which way should I walk in order to find a travelled road? I strained my ears to hear any sound that might indicate a busy road. Off to my left, I thought I heard a horn blow, so that's the direction I headed in. After about a mile of walking in my show suit and tie, in the heat and humidity of a Hong Kong summer, I truly did hear the sounds of traffic. Now, assuming I could find a taxi, how could I tell him where to take me? Shazzam! I had an ID badge form the show, written in English and Chinese, on a lanyard hanging around my neck! Problem solved! Eventually I managed to flag down a taxi, and show him my badge,  to which he gave a nod and headed towards the show site, I hoped. Soon I began to recognize a few locations, and when we pulled up to the entrance I let out a sigh of relief. Although I had failed on the quest for the o'scope, I had found my way back to familiar territory.
     When I get upstairs to the Longreen booth, I tell my tale of futile hunting for the test equipment and of the places I've been that day. I show the piece of paper to Tobias and explain that Yip Fat Street #6 has no equipment at all, only toy factories and such. Tobias calls the other Chinese guys over and shows them the paper, which leads them to all have a good laugh at something, maybe me. It doesn't bother me, since I had a good adventure, and I like adventures, even the unsuccessful ones.
     Regardless of the travel I did, we still need an oscilloscope in order to proceed on with life. Tobias sends Mr. Tin with me to try again.Whereas I had just travelled 50 miles or so, we take the subway 2 stops, get off, and go up to the street. There is a little man standing there with an oscilloscope at his feet. He says something to Mr Tin, and Mr Tin says, he wants to know where you have been? So I showed him my note and HE had a good laugh.
     Mr Tin headed back to the show, and I caught the tube back to Longreens, where Ken was waiting on me and the o'scope in order to get back to work. I just hoped he hadn't been waiting at the Galaxy Restaurant all this time. But he had, so we went upstairs and accomplished what we could with the few hours left in the day. We went back to the Ritz to meet Lowell and Tobias for dinner. Tobias was taking us to one of his favorite places, called the Treasure. Now Ken is an expert- on just about everything according to him. He is a master of electronics, knows Hong Kong like the back of his hand, even though he's never been here before, a master chopstickist, everything. When we arrive at the restaurant and are seated, we tell Tobias to order for the table, for in a real Chinese restaurant there are no ala-carte menus. Every meal seems to me to be a feast, served in a very orderly and timely fashion. We have Shark Fin soup again, along with fish, vegetables and all sorts of little known and unknown dishes,. Then the main course is served- an entire duck, that has been cut into serving pieces, then reassembled. We all take a piece of duck with our chopsticks, some faster that others (me). Ken selects his choice and puts it on his plate. Tobias asks Ken, as Ken prepares to eat his duck. " Mr Tucker, are you sure that is the piece of duck you want?" Ken answers," I eat duck at home all of the time and this is one of my favorite pieces." Tobias then says, "In China, we don't normally eat the head" So the all knowing Ken Tucker sucks on the head for a while, then gets a normal piece.
     After Tobias drops us off back at the Ritz, Ken wants us to go see the new bars he has discovered in the neighborhood. He seems to have made a name for himself in the short time we have been in Hong Kong. He is greeted by name, and the bartender immediately begins to prepare a 'Slurpee' for Ken. He has already trained them in the art of making his drink.We visit 2 or 3 places and find the same routine in all of them. Lowell and I go back to the hotel for some rest and leave Ken with his new friends. Tomorrow would be Saturday and the show would be concluding, so we wanted to give it our best on the last day.
     At 2 PM, Saturday, Tobias, being very happy with the way our products were received at the show, told us that we could leave and would resume work on Monday. Wow! a day and a half off. What to do what to do. Lowell and Ken said they were going to take a hovercraft to the Portuguese colony of Macau, about an hour away, and do some gambling at the casinos there. I decided to stay in Hong Kong and do some serious exploring. Once a year in June, Hong Kong is the host to the largest Dragon Boat festival in the Far East. A Dragon Boat is a type of wooden canoe, painted in spectacular festive colours. It is  30-40 ft long and manned by up to 16 rowers. They are raced over a measured course, fastest boat winning the honours. This year there were about 30 nations represented, USA included. They were holding the races on the Kowloon side of the bay, so it was easy to get a good vantage spot down by the Star Ferry terminal.. Eventually, the Hong Kong home team beat out the team from Thailand for the top spot. As I walked along a back street on my way back to the hotel, I happened to turn into a pub, 'Ned Kelly's Last Stand', where I found the Australian Dragon Boat team celebrating. Through out my travels, I have discovered that Australians celebrate anything, but mostly just life. They are a great group to be around anywhere, anytime. As they celebrated just competing in the races, they took me in as one of their own. What a great time that was!
     When I did get back to the hotel, I found Lowell there. It seems that they had missed the hovercraft to Macau, and didn't want to wait for the next one. Ken was out on a 'Slurpee' quest. Lowell and I had another steak and escargot dinner, and this time added wine to the menu. This raised the cost to $10 each. We then walked down Nathan Road where about half way to the bay, we found a large department store, China Products. It was owned by the Mainland Chinese government, and stocked with a large variety of products. We called it the "Chinese Sears". The entire ground level was taken up by the folk medicine department. You could find anything from powdered reindeer antler, ground up bear privates and snake bile wine to cure what ailed you. The walls were covered with cabinets full of little drawers, and there were 50 or so pharmacists to assist you. We were feeling OK so we didn't partake of any of the exotic cures.
     As we walked back up Nathan Road, we were caught up in a  group of people who told us we needed to see the Temple Street Market, which was where they were headed. It seems that every night, Temple Street is closed to traffic except for the occasional cross street, and it is lined on both side and down the middle with the most amazing array of consumer goods I'd ever seen. There are thousands of booths selling any and everything you could possibly imagine. At just about every cross street intersection, there are food stalls selling things like chicken feet and seafood that I had no idea what it was. They had 55gallon drums with the tops removed, a large fire burning inside the barrel, and a huge wok sitting on the top of the barrel. They would stir fry what ever you pointed to from the array of hundreds of creatures moving around on top of the table behind them. In the center of the intersection would be 10-20 tables with chairs for the paying customers to use while they ate the food. There were also beer vendors that had large bottles of various brands of beer to accompany your food. On several of the vendor tables were nothing but snails, hundreds of snails. Lowell and I have always been partial to escargot since we were indoctrinated by an old boss we had when we worked in Delaware. We studied the table and decided to try 2 different varieties that looked promising and tasty. We pointed, indicated we wanted enough for the 2 of us, and watched the show. The old man scooped up a can full of the first and a can of the second and dumped them in the wok. As he stirred them around, he poured in what we hoped was something like garlic butter. We never found out what it was, but it was delicious. We took our snails to a table, indicated to the beer boy that we'd like 2 San Miguel beers, and proceeded to have one of the best meals of the trip.
     I went back to the Temple Street Market just about every night that we were in H.K.. Usually I went alone, but never had any concern for my safety. There were too many people having a good time, and I was larger than most of them. One night I determined to walk to the end of the market. After a mile or more, I found it was still just as busy, but had evolved into mostly a Chinese thing, catering to mostly Chinese. There were a lot of fortune tellers, and I Ching interpreters, but not speaking Chinese, I couldn't find what my future had in store. Back at the other end, or the beginning of the market, there were T-shirts, designer clothing and hand bags, fake of course, and the ever present fake watch dealers. They would be sitting at what I would call a TV dinner tray type of table, with a laminated sheet describing all of the Rolexs', Cartiers', and the other expensive watches available. You would sit down, he would describe in English what he had that night, and when you gave him your $25 dollars, he would wave over a small Chinese boy, and whisper to him. Away the kid would run, and in 5 minutes or so, the kid would hand you a case. After you looked inside and confirmed that it was what you had ordered and that it was running, the dealer would nod, and move on to the next person. I bought a Presidential Rolex, with fake diamonds and the rest. I decided after wearing it a few times in Miami, that it was not wise to do so. I would hate to be killed for a fake Rolex. And after the bad guy found out it was fake, he'd probably come back and kill your family. Just not worth it.

     Monday morning arrive and finds us all relaxed and ready to get back to work. The trade show is over and now it is time to take our equipment into the field and demonstrate it in a variety of applications. We spend Monday at the Longreen office preparing the two 25 HP and one 75 HP units for the road tomorrow. As we are leaving to go back to the hotel, the bottom falls off of one of my shoes. In the Nam Fung Center, where Longreen's office is located, there is a big China Resources store. Lowell and I go to it to see if they have a shoe dept, which they do. We get lucky and find a salesman who speaks a little English. The selection of shoes is quite large so I figure finding new shoes will be easy. I point to some styles that appeal to me and the salesman goes into the rear. He come back with the news that they are not available in my size. So, I picked some more styles. Again, it's the same story- not in my size. Finally we play the reverse game. He measures my big old American foot, and returns with the only 2 styles that he does have in my size. I liked one of them, and it was an all leather shoe for $15 dollars. He had it in black and brown, so I bought one pair of each. Most of the items in this store were made in Mainland China, and the quality was very good, and the prices were reasonable. We shopped in this store a lot.
     Wearing my new Chinese shoes, we went back to the hotel. Ken headed for parts unknown and Lowell and I decided to try a restaurant we had seen a few blocks down the street. It was the Tivoli, a Chinese- Italian place. It even had a little Chinese guy in the window tossing pizza dough in the air and making pizzas. It was a little strange to find most of the menu describing French dishes. Lowell had King Prawns, that must have been a good 14 inches long, while I had the Veal Marsala, an excellent choice as it turned out. We promised to return and try the Italian side of the menu, since we were getting overloaded on Chinese food.

      After a good Ritz breakfast, we took the subway back to Longreen. We loaded all of the controllers and test equipment needed into the van that Longreen used. Tobias, Mt Tin and Mr Lueng were in charge of getting us to the sites and documenting the results, while Lowell, Ken and myself were responsible for hooking up and running our machines. As you move around in Hong Kong, you find that most Chinese that deal with the public have adopted Anglo first names. the reason being, I believe, is that there is no way you could ever pronounce their Chinese names. We never did learn to call Mr Tin or Mt Lueng anything other than those names. People from the Mainland seemed much more formal than the folks from Hong Kong. We never even figured out if they liked us or just put up with us.
     Our first stop today is at the Ngai Luen mold factory, mold being a metal form made to inject plastics in to form plastic products. We are greeted by two brothers who speak no English. We hook one of the 25 HP units to a shaver machine. This is a machine that shaves precise layers of metal off of a block in order to make a mold from it. The test goes well and everyone seems satisfied.
     Next is a large toy factory where we attempt to hook a controller to an injection moulding machine. After 3 hours of total Chinese confusion, it is determined that we do not have the appropriate cables to interface with the machine. So we go back to the hotel, and since it is 1 AM, we call it a night.
     We spend all day Wed at Longreen tuning up the big 75 HP unit for it's big test on Thursday at the Hong Kong Oxygen plant. It will be good to see Mr Mo again.
     We get up at 5:30 for the big day. We go to Longreen and load the van with everything needed for this test. The plant  is located in Junk Bay, about 60 miles east of Hong Kong. Mr Derek Mo greets us upon arrival, and shows us to the pump room where the controller will be installed. It is underground and reminds me of my days on submarines. There are four 75 HP motors driving pumps that draw in seawater 24 hours a day, which is converted to the various products they make here. We were shown which motor they wanted us to hook up to, so we shut off power to that motor and proceeded to hook up our controller. The pump had not been running when we arrived, and we assumed that when we turned on our machine. the pump would run up to speed. When we applied power, the pump tried to start, but was immediately shut down by our controlled. After much heated discussion, where the Chinese blamed us, and we blamed their power source, it was determined that they would leave us alone for an hour or so, in order for us to see if we could discover the cause of the shutdown. After much trouble-shooting and testing, we determined that their power panel had a phase reversal on 2 of the 3 legs of the power source. This only showed up when our controller was hooked up, for it was designed to shut down when detecting any abnormal condition. We corrected the problem and prepared to start the pump again. At this point all of the Chinese in the room became agitated and nervous. It seemed that several weeks before, one of our competitors had hooked their unit up to another pump and when he started the system, his unit and the motor blew up with much smoke and flame. So when Lowell pressed the 'start' button, the Chinese collectively jumped back about a foot. Our machine was designed with a 'soft start' function, which meant that the motor started slowly, under load, then worked its way to full speed. This is exactly what our controller did, as the Chinese looked on in disbelief. After letting it run for an hour or so, and having spent most of the day correcting their problem, we shut down our machine, promising to return to set it up for long term testing.
     Friday found us at Longreen all day preparing a 25 HP unit that Tobias was going to demonstrate on Monday at a university at Canton, up in the Mainland. Celius Lam was in the office that day, so he took us to a nearby restaurant for lunch. By this time we were figuring out that what we had considered a feast, was just an ordinary meal to the Chinese. Every time we were taken to lunch or dinner, every place we went was packed with people eating, no matter what time of the day or night. I had come to the conclusion that the people in Hong Kong lived to either eat or shop. And judging by the volume of people on the subway or walking the streets, if they ate at one end of town, they shopped at the other end. This particular restaurant had 3 floors, full of people eating. Nearly everything you eat, is fresh, mostly trucked in daily from the Mainland. In all of my travels around Hong Kong, I never saw what we would call a supermarket. If you want fish, you go to the fish market, the same for produce, fruit, meat. Each had its own market.. Sometimes on the subway, you might see someone with a tied up chicken, purchased at one place, now riding home for dinner. At this lunch with Celius, he invited us to one of the famous floating restaurants in Aberdeen, called Jumbo's. He would pick us up at the Star Ferry terminal on the Island side, tomorrow night at 6 PM. Of course, we'd be there.
      That evening, Lowell and I decided to try the Chinese-Italian place again. It was Friday, and that must be pizza night in H.K. The little guy in the window was tossing his dough constantly. Every table seemed to have 5 or 6 Chinese folks eating pizza. Lowell tried a pizza and I had spaghetti and meatballs. It was the strangest Italian food I'd ever had. The pizza was OK, according to Lowell, but my spaghetti was like a weird version of Chow Mein noodles, and the best way to describe the meatballs would be unseasoned, undercooked pork. So much for Italian food in Hong Kong.
     After dinner we headed back to the Temple Street Market. As we walked along, we discussed several aspects of Chinese culture we had observed. Every building and shop had a little shrine in front of it. The shrine usually consisted of a place to burn incense and a mirror. The Chinese are firm believers in the spirit world, thus incense is offered to the various spirits. The mirrors are used to control and direct the Fung Shui energy that's everpresent. If a neighbour in your vicinity is aiming their bad energy at you, you direct your mirror to beam it away to what is hopefully a harmless direction. Also, no building is built without consulting a necromancer (spiritual priest). He consults his instruments and consults with the spirits, and they tell him how to place the building in order to receive the best Fung Shui. When the New World Center was built on the bay in Kowloon, a necromancer insisted that huge windows be installed in the center, front and rear, so that the Kowloon, (Seven Dragons), would have free access from the hills to the bay. And that's just the way it was constructed.                            

First Hong Kong Adventure

Spring 1987
     When I went to work for Parker Electronics, the main focus was developing an electronic device that would protect an induction motor from low voltage, high voltage and fluctuations in the incoming power. This was not a problem in developed countries with dependable sources of electricity, but in third world countries, power problems were of major concern. It could destroy a refrigerator, shut down an assembly line, or fry a $10,000 motor. The people at Parker Electronics had been in touch with representatives of companies in Hong Kong and in Mainland China about developing and manufacturing motor control systems to deal with these problems. Over the course of several years Parker had come up with some proto-types ready to be tested in the field.

     I was hired for the Parker Electronics job by Lowell C Hahn. I first met Lowell in 1965. After I was discharged from the US Navy, I took a job in Newport News Va, involving work on Polaris-type Nuclear Submarines. I was sent to Anaheim, Ca for 6 weeks of training. After the training, I was sent back to Virginia to begin work with Interstate Electronics at the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company. Our job was to set up a test system and interface with all of the other vendors involved with installing the Fire Control Systems on new construction submarines. We had a large system of our own set up in the middle level missle deck, where we technicians could monitor and record all of the various functions involved in launching a Polaris missle from underwater. As I sat at the control console one night, we worked 3 shifts, a guy introduced himself as Lowell Hahn. As we conversed, the question of where the only population of wild camels was located came up. As we both knew the answer was Australia, a long friendship was born. Thus the job at Parker.




    After several months of intensive work aat Parker, the Chinese have asked us to come to Hong Kong and demonstrate several types of units that we have built.So, at 6 AM on the 29th of March, Lowell and I boarded a United flight from Miami to San Francisco and then on to Hong Kong. Total travel time,26 hours.We will arrive in Hong Kong atl 8 PM Monday night due to the International Date Line.

We arrive on schedule and are met at the air port by several Chinese gentlemen from Longreen Intenational, the company we will be dealing with.The plan for the evening is that we will check in at the Hyatt Regency on Nathan Street in the heart of Kowloon, then drive north to the New Territories to set up the equipment we have brought. Due to the insane traffic in Hong Kong, it is a 45 minute drive from the Hyatt, that will take us only 20 minutes when we discover the subway.We are driven back to the Hyatt around 11:30, where we check out the lounge. It is a very nice place with a Chinese guy playing keyboards and electronic drums, and a young Chinese girl singing all of the local hits of Willie Nelson and Kenny Rodgers.
   We have two main Chinese contacts with Longgreen: Tobias Chang, and Celius Lam. We are to meet Tobias in the lobby this morning. We are told he will find us, which is good, since we have never met him. He located the 2 tall Americans with ease.We have breakfast at the Hyatt, then Tobias say's he will show us how to deal with the Hong Kong subway system and get to Longreen via the 'tube'.The subway system in Hong Kong consists of two lines- one north and south, from Hong Kong Island across the bay up to the New Territories, and an East-West line that runs on Hong Kong Island. It carries about 2 million folks a day, and most of them are on it at any given time, I think. It only costs .50 cents to go anywhere and is a lot faster cheaper, and safer that taxies. I find subways to be the most efficient way to travel in any town I've ever been in. The basics are all the same no matter where you are, the only difference is the language that they say 'mind the gap' in.I became an expert on getting any where in Hong Kong, Lowell a little less so. We arrive at Longreen 20 minutes after departing the Hyatt area, and spent all day and some of the night for the next 2 days adapting our 75 HP Controlles to the variations of Hong Kong power.
     In the New Territories, which aren't much newer that the rest of Hong Kong, and just a name for an area of Greater Hong Kong, about 50% of the shops and restaurants are located one level above the street, due to the volume of traffic created by the bicycles, autos, buses, trains, taxi's and pedestrians. You can walk for what seems to be miles without ever going down to the street level. The only other place I've seen like this was Winnipeg, Canada, where all of the stores down town are connected by enclosed walkways, but this is due to the winter weather.
     Tobias took us to a Chinese restaurant that first night at Longreens. It was above ground of course, and packed with hundreds of Chinese diners, and 2 Americans. Tobias ordered for the table, and for the next hour we ate- some things we recognized, and others we didn't, but we tried everything, at least once. We had Shark Fin soup for the first time of several differnt dinners we were taken to. It was bland, like a watered down noodle soup, except the noodles were cartilage from the fin. Lowell adapted to the chopsticks quickly, and I was  behind on that art for a while. But we didn't starve.
     Working for Tobias were two technicians, Mr. Tin and Mr. Leung. Mr. Tin was a hardliner from the mainland that had no use for us or our products at the beginning. Mr. Lueng was the younger of the two, and even managed a smile every now and then. The plan for the next two days, was that Tobias and his crew, Lowell and myself, would visit different factories and hook our controllers up to various types of heavy machine to see how the equipment performed. Tobias would be documenting everything, Lowell would be doing the hookups with the help of the 2 Chinese gents, and I be in my usual role as 'Igor', go-fer as needed. We visited a paper mill, a recycling plant, and a toy factory. The toy factory occupied an entire city block and was 6 floors high, making toys 24 hours a day for the rest of the world. We made 2 trips to the Hong Kong Oxygen plant in Junk Bay, where we met Mr. Derek Mo. We had a lunch in Junk Bay that was as Chinese as you could get. They rolled a small aquarium up to your table so you could pick the exact fish you wanted for lunch. I had major chopstick problems that day, so they took pity on me and brought me a spoon. After that I always carried some plastic utensils on me.
     On our final day of testing, we sucessfully installed one of our Controllers on a 90 HP motor at the Oxygen plant. This seemed to impress everyone, even Mr Tin. Little did we know at the time, but that test had bought us a second trip back to Hong Kong. That evening, Mr. Celius Lam, the local manager of Longreen, was going to take Lowell and I to a fancy restaurant for dinner. It was a revolving place high above the city on Hong Kong Island. As the restaurant slowly revolved, you saw the entire area in all of it's neon glory. Along with Celius was a gentleman named Mike. This was about the time that the Mink Teddybear craze was beginning in the States. It seemed that Mike had all of the rights for all of the Mink Bears coming from China to the US. One had to assume he was going to make a lot of money soon.
     After dinner, Celius dropped us back at the Hyatt. Since it was still eary, and Lowell and I had been so busy working that we had not had time to do much shopping or sightseeing, we explored the area around the hotel. We found enough shops that we could get our quota of tourist crap, plus some really good bargins, like pearls, and opals, hand paintings, silk garments, and beautiful little cork carvings.
     Our flight needed us to be at the airport at 11 AM, so we got up early and  went exploring again. The 7-11 around the corner provided coffee and muffins. Ther was a mist in the air and a fog on the bay. The little old ladies were sweeping the streets clean, as they did every morning. We found ourselves at the Star Ferry Pier. It crosses the bay every 10 minutes and cost a dime for first class. We hopped aboard and departed for the 15 minutes ride to Hong Kong Island. Since it was so early, none of the shops were open, so we just walked around taking in the world of early morning life in Hong Kong. At one point, we found ourselves on a pier jutting out into the bay, occupied by about 25 old Chinese gentlemen doing Tai Chi as the sun rose above the waters in the East. On this note, we went back to the ferry, and crossed the bay, with the early morning traffic of junks, barges, water taxis, and freighters, begining to come to life.
     The flight home was uneventful, just long.We had accomplished our goal of getting the Chinese more interested in our products. In fact, there was a big Pan-Asian Industrial show in Hong Kong in June, and we had been invited to display our products at the Longreen booth. Next trip, I would try to have more free time to explore.     

The Ballad of Ossie Brown

The 2 Islands that make up Bimini are located about 60 mile east of Ft Lauderdale. If the weather is good almost any sea-worthy boat can cross the Gulf Stream to Alicetown, North Island, in about 2 hours or so. Crystal's dad took their family over quite  often when she was young . I started going over every now and then during the 70's. It's a very small place, and after several trips, you tend to know most of the characters in town. In the middle of the island was a huge Banyan (Ficus) tree in the front courtyard of the Compleat Angler. This was a hotel with 10 or 15 rooms plus a little museum dedicated to Ernest Hemingway, who had frequented Bimini in search of big game fish. The museum had a lot of pictures and fishing equipment of Mr. Hemingway. Out front, under the big tree, was an open air bar. This is where you couldn't help but become acquainted with Ossie Brown, the owner. The Brown Family were long pioneers on the island. Ossie's father had brought electricity to the island and one of his brothers had been electrocuted right after that. The Brown family history is fascinating and can be explored on the web. The murder of Ossie Brown was all-consuming news on the small island for a long time. Having shared drinks several time with Ossie, these words tell the tale from what I remember. SC 2009



IT WAS ON A LITTLE ISLAND IN THE MIDDLE OF DE SEA
IT WAS DERE OCCURRED A GREAT MYSTERY
THEM WHAT DID IT WAS NEVER FOUND
THEM THAT MURDERED MR OSSIE BROWN

IN BIMINI TOWN, 13 YEARS AGO
THE ANGLER WAS A FAVORITE PLACE TO GO
UNDERNEATH THE TREE IN THE MIDDLE OF TOWN
SITTING AT THE BAR WAS MR. OSSIE BROWN

HE GREETED EVERYBODY WITH A SMILE ON HIS FACE
ALL THE TOURISTS AND THE LOCALS LIKED TO VISIT HIS PLACE
IT WAS AGREED BY EVERYONE IN ALICE TOWN
THERE WAS NO FINER MAN THAN MR 0SSIE BROWN

HE MANAGE THE PLACE BOTH NIGHT AND DAY
AND WHEN IT GOT DARK THE BAND WOULD PLAY
THE PEOPLE WOULD DANCE TO THE ISLAND SOUND
AND SINGING WITH THE BAND WAS MR. 0SSIE BROWN

IT WAS SEVERAL YEARS BEFORE, WHEN HIS DADDY DID SAY
WE NEED A PLACE WHERE THE PEOPLE CAN STAY
WHEN THEY COME TO THE ISLAND FROM THE USA
TO REMEMBER MR HEMINGWAY, ESPECIALLY MR HEMINGWAY

OSSIE BROWN, OSSIE BROWN
WHO WAS THE PEOPLE THAT CUT YOU DOWN
OSSIE BROWN, OSSIE BROWN
WHO PUT YOU UNDER DE GROUND

NOW, OSSIE HAD A BROTHER NAME OF JULIAN BROWN
THEY SAID HE WAS THE FASTEST MAN IN TOWN
HE RUN TO WORK, HE RUN TO HOME
IN 1960, HE RUN TO ROME

ALL OVER THE ISLANDS EVERY BOY HAD A DREAM
TO WIN THEMSELVES A PLACE ON THE OLYMPIC TEAM
S0 JULIAN WORKED HARD, HE RAN REAL FAST
AND HIS DREAM WAS FINALLY IN HIS GRASP

WELL, HE WENT TO ROME, BUT HE DIDN'T COMPETE
HE DIDN'T GET TO WIN OR EVEN GET BEAT
BUT ALL IN ALL IT WAS JUST AS WELL
FOR THE WINNER WAS PETER SNELL

HE HAD A LOT OF STORIES WHEN HE GOT BACK HOME
ABOUT THE PEOPLE HE MET ON HIS ADVENTURE IN ROME
IN TIME IT ALL FADED AND TO STAY AFLOAT
HE BOUGHT HIMSELF A LOBSTER BOAT

NOW, A LOBSTER MAN CAN DO OK
IF HE WORKS REAL HARD EACH AND EVERY DAY
REMEMBER JULIAN WAS A RUNNER DOWN IN HIS SOUL
AND WORKING EVERY DAY SOON TOOK ITS TOLL

THE BOAT WAS TOO SLOW AND THE BUGS WERE TOO FAST
 JULIAN KNEW THIS LIFE JUST WOULDN'T LAST
S0 HE TRADER IN HIS SKIFF FOR A CIGARETTE
AND STEERED IT WHERE THE SUN DOES SET

WELL HE DROVE THAT BOAT UP AND DOWN THE STREAM
FOR SEVERAL YEARS HE WAS CHASIN HIS DREAM
AND MAKING LOTS OF MONEY ANYWAY THAT HE COULD
HE NEVER QUITE UNDERSTOOD

THAT CATCHING AND SELLING THE LOBSTER BUGS
WAS A WHOLE LOT SAFER THAN RUNNING DE DRUGS
OR SMUGGLING THEM PEOPLE TO THE USA
SOME DAY YOU KNOW YOU GOTTA PAY

WELL, THEY BUSTED MR JULIAN FOR RUNNING COCAINE
AND HAULING DEM CUBANS TO THE REFUGEE PLANE
SEVEN YEARS AT EGLIN, AN AIR FORCE BASE
HE'S RUNNING AT A SLOWER PACE

HE DID HIS TIME, GOT OUT AND LOOKED AROUND
DECIDED TO GO BACK TO ALICE TOWN
HIS BROTHERS WERE THERE , MR OSSIE AND SPENCE
TIME TO HOP BACK OVER THE FENCE

A FEW YEARS LATER IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT
SOMEONE WAS KILLED IN A TERRIBLE FIGHT
NO ONE HEARD THE AWFUL SOUNDS
THAT MARKED THE END OF OSSIE BROWN

OSSIE BROWN, OSSIE BROWN
WHO WAS THE PEOPLE THAT CUT YOU DOWN
OSSIE BROWN, OSSIE BROWN
WHO PUT YOU UNDER THE GROUND

HE WAS BEAT AROUND THE HEAD WITH A BIG LEAD PIPE
OH, THE PEOPLE SAY IT WAS A TERRIBLE SIGHT
ONE QUESTION WAS ASKED WHEN HE WAS FOUND
DID THE BAD GUYS KILL THE WRONG MR BROWN

YOU SEE, BIMINI ISLAND IS ONLY SEVEN MILE LONG
AND ITS NOT AS WIDE AS A VERSE OF THIS SONG
IF YOU STAND IN THE MIDDLE THEN YOU CAN SEE
FROM SEA TO THE SHINING SEA

NOT THAT MANY PEOPLE CALL THE ISLAND HOME
NOT THAT MANY PEOPLE ARE INCLINED TO ROAM
ON AN ISLAND THAT SMALL AS YOU MIGHT GUESS
EVERYBODY KNOWS EVERY ONE'S BUSINESS

WHO, OH, WHO WOULD KILL OSSIE BROWN
WHY WOULD SOMEONE COME TO OUR LITTLE TOWN
TO CAUSE US THIS COMMOTION, TO CAUSE THIS FUSS
HMM, MAYBE IT WAS ONE OF US

IF IT WAS A STRANGER, HOW DID HE FLEE
DID HE ESCAPE BY BOAT ON THE MIDNIGHT SEA
DID HE FLY AWAY ON THE CHALKS AIRLINE
OR IS HE HERE JUST KILLING TIME

ITS BEEN MANY A YEAR SINCE THIS SAD AFFAIR
AND STILL THE BLAME HAS BEEN PLACED NOWHERE
SURELY CLUES WERE FOUND, SURELY WORDS WERE HEARD
BUT NOBODY SAYS A WORD

NOT MANY MONTHS AGO IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT
A FIRE WAS SPOTTED BURNING, BURNING VERY BRIGHT
IT WAS THE ANGLER BURNING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE TOWN
THEY COULDN'T SAVE IT, IT BURNT DOWN TO THE GROUND

WHEN THE FIRE WAS EXTINGUISHED, WITH THE RISING OF THE SUN
PEOPLE STARTED ASKING, ARE WE MISSING ANYONE
IN THE ASHES IS A BODY THAT WE HAVE JUST NOW FOUND
DEAR GOD, IT MUST BE JULIAN BROWN

AFTER OSSIE BROWN WAS MURDERED, JULIAN BOUGHT THE PLACE
TO KEEP IT IN THE FAMILY, THAT SEEMS TO BE THE CASE
HE TRIED HIS BEST TO SAVE IT, WHEN THE FIRE BEGAN TO RAGE
NOW HIS RUNNING DAYS ARE OVER, THE BROWNS HAVE LEFT THE STAGE