Volume XXVII December 2004
Dang, it's Christmas
already and I haven't written my annual newsletter, nor sent out any
cards. Don't know where the time goes. We've been busy --
we're ALWAYS busy! Accept this as our Holiday Season letter,
better late than never.
We are fine (some details later,) and hope you are too.
And Hansville? We get a lot of questions about it - where the
heck is Hansville. Click here for a
quick tour.
Projects
My Dad keeps asking why I don't relax, instead of working all the time. My answer is simple. Like a little kid with a dog that "just followed him home," things keep finding me; I don't have to look for them! Besides, who'se gonna mow the grass, clean the gutters, and wash the windows. There ain't no hired man here! I know, you don't want to be a slave to a house - well, how about TWO houses! The following should give you an idea of what it is that finds us.
We started the year with a big ice storm at the Farm (Jan 7.) About 1.5 inches of ice from the first major freezing rain storm I can remember hereabouts, wiped out trees, roads, and of course, electric power. We had to spend two days or more chain sawing our way down the driveway just to get in.
Farm drive in "normal" times What greeted us after the ice storm
Then there were a whole series of windstorms. This one dropped a bunch of tree limbs on the roof of our house and deck. Fortunately, they didn't knock holes in the roof.
This wind on March 5 really kicked up the surf in front of our Hansville place!
All told, we had five multi day power outages. The one on April 27 (bad month!), blew the wind vane right off my weather station. Fortunately, the Hansville house is wired for my standby generator which got quite a bit of use, giving us lights and heat.
On April Fool's Day, one of the 12 foot tempered glass skylights over our entryway shattered for unknown reasons and came crashing down onto the deck. There are three of them. It was a mess. About 2 months and $500 later, a new one was in it's place.
Then on April 23, the well at the Farm packed it in. A broken pipe in the well had caused the pump to run continuously. It took several days -- even using my tractor -- just to pull all the pipe from the well, then 3 weeks of research and designing to get it all back operational. While doing this, we trucked water from Hansville to the farm - 'ya see, you DO need two places! In the process, I converted from a surface pump to a submerged one, with a whole new plumbing and wiring installation.
Out with the old
The old surface pump The new submerged installation
Shortly after, the pool pump did likewise. Another all new pump, plumbing and wiring installation!
Nothing that time and money can't
fix! I keep learning new skills!
Now we're all the way up to April 30, when the Hansville clothes washer headed south with a bang and a pool of water on the laundry floor. Are you starting to see a pattern here? The Maytag repairman, I ain't. I don't have to sit around waiting for the calls that don't come! After a month doing the wash at the farm, I moved the washer and dryer from the farm (they were almost new) to Hansville, and swapped the Hansville units back to the farm, where they were getting little use.
In June I started repairs on our Camper - you may recall the many problems we had on our Grand Tour to the Maritimes last year. Accomplished a few things, but still not operational......because........ in July, the master bath toilet crapped out (pardon the pun, couldn't resist.) I was planning to install a new bath floor, and had the boxes of flooring sitting there for the last 2-3 years, and since I didn't want to pull the toilet twice - aw what the heck, so I installed the new floor in the bathroom to go with the new toilet.
I could go on, but you get the idea. I won't mention the TV, Toaster Oven, Range Light, Kitchen vent fan, bath tub faucet, bedroom lamp, or furnace overhaul. But I will say I go to Home Depot religiously once a week. They're sooo happy to see me!
It doesn't get very hot in Hansville - some summers, it has to push hard to make 70, and you can run the heat in July as well as in January (ask my Dad!). We also don't have many bugs, all of which means we had no window screens. On a really warm day, we just left the doors and windows open. The only problem can be in the evenings when moths or birds can decide to fly in -- so I built a set of screens for all the rooms in the house.
In the basement, we finished putting a tile floor in my shop. I insulated and paneled all the bare concrete walls; then built 3 sets of storage shelves, 5 workbenches, 2 storage cabinets, a lumber rack, brought in three 240 volt power lines for my saws, and installed a compressed air system throughout the shop for my air driven tools. You NEED a good shop, especially when you spend all your time repairing everything else!
Before After
I tiled the furnace room floor as well, paneled its walls, and installed 3 of 4 shelving units. People, we NEED to get organized! In the garage, we started a cleanup and reorg, and I totally revamped the roof structure with new posts and supports. Now it will stand up in an earthquake, and I can use it to hoist things.
Furnace Room - - From this ............to this .....to this
In July/August we added some living room furniture - a 3 piece Mission style sofa and chair combo - which I totally rebuilt and re-finished. Now you folks (you ARE coming to visit, aren't you), can watch the ships and the sea in style.
Just right for ship watching
Activities
On Feb.11, the Museum of Flight gave a dinner for me and the folks who helped me maintain the 737 Prototype airplane (NASA 515) at Moses Lake, and get it ready for its Final Flight home to Boeing Field. My good friend Jim Johnson was the main organizer. (Jim was Chief Project Enginner on the 757, later ran the Boeing Everett Division, and went on to become President of Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Engines, GE Capital Corp, and finally Gulfstream Aerospace (business jets.) He and his wife Sue live nearby. I was also honored to have people like Brien Wygle (the pilot on the 737's first flight), Dick Taylor (my old boss, and B-47 test pilot), Bruce McCaw (Chairman of the Museum Board of Directors, founder of Horizon Airlines and later McCaw Cellular), Ralph Bufano (Museum President), and Clayton Scott (very early Boeing Test Pilot) in attendance. On July 15th, I returned the favor for Scotty, attending his 99th birthday party. He's been an active pilot since 1926! Both Scotty and Dick Taylor came over to Moses Lake last Sept 21, to watch the 737 Prototype's final takeoff.
Clayton Scott - "Scotty" - 99 years young! Jim Johnson Bruce McCaw
with Brien and Dick Taylor and Dot and my cohorts
The story of the Final Flight can be found
here.
It was around this time that Jim Johnson twisted (literally) my arm into accepting the job of "Air Park Manager" at the Museum. This gave me something to do in my free time (I'm not doing much else, as you can see above, and besides, as a volunteer, it's ALL free!), looking after what are now 8 airplanes.
You
can see them here.
Not content with just having TWO 727s, in March I went out and got ANOTHER 727 (from Fed Ex), which gives me three - a Hat Trick. Hey, a man's gotta have his toys! This last airplane will be used as a parts donor to help us restore one of our other airplanes - the 727 Prototype (Number One airplane). You can see our donor airplane here.
Our goal is to fly the
Prototype airplane one last time down to Boeing Field, but there's a
tremendous amount of work in front of us to make that happen.
Altho most of you passed up the opportunity, we HAVE had a few assorted visitors.
Brien
Wygle, retired Boeing executive, test pilot, friend.
Nephew Robert Cormier and Irene Renaud - from the Magdalen Islands
Nieces
Lucie and Elisabeth with husband Norm - from B.C.
In September, we hosted our neighbors and good friends Jon and Sharon to celebrate? mark? commiserate? Jon's 65th birthday. Jon is a great pal of Chiba, our dog. Later that week, I took him fishing off Pt. No Point in our little boat - Jon's an avid fisherman. (Retired pilot too, so someone to talk airplanes with.)
In September, I went east for my Father's 91st birthday.
You can read all about it here.
Our resident wildlife included a deer family - doe with twins - that spent the spring and summer. They were great!
And our swallows returned after a nervous year or two, where we worried if they weren't disappearing forever. The parents set up housekeeping on a nest support I made for them and raised 4 fat little chicks. Hopefully, they're safely down in Argentina, enjoying their winter home.
Mom and Dad Their Babies
Dot
Having completed her "8 year Quilt", Dot missed sewing, and so started her next quilt - not 8 more years, I hope.
Our wonderful dog Chiba continually amuses us and overwhelms visitors. He's a great pal!
Catching a few rays, my favorite! .........O'Boy a Seagull, my favorite!
"Chiba. Dinner's On" ................................"Oh, All Right, I guess I'll have my supper now"
As ever, we solicit visitors. Your own bedroom, bath and deck, with beach walk and ocean view, all at the right price, how could you go wrong? Well, since we've not gotten many takers, you can see what you're missing (if you wish), in these views of:
Hansville - Where is it?
The House - Some Pictures
The Ships and Boats
The Sunrises, Sunsets, Mountains, Clouds, Full Moons and the Sea.
Thanks for your patience. For those of you with the even more patience (and bandwidth!), you can find a whole lot more information and pictures, and previous newsletters at http://www.rbogash.com. Just plain rbogash.com in the Address Bar will get you there also.
As ever, a Great New Year, full of Good Health and Happiness.
Peace,
Bob and Dot
We are fine (some details later,) and hope you are too.
We keep getting asked
when we are going to sell the farm. We still like the farm; it
holds many emotions and memories for us. Maybe this
picture explains why. It is something right out of Currier and
Ives. That's why.
Happy Holidays!
Projects
My Dad keeps asking why I don't relax, instead of working all the time. My answer is simple. Like a little kid with a dog that "just followed him home," things keep finding me; I don't have to look for them! Besides, who'se gonna mow the grass, clean the gutters, and wash the windows. There ain't no hired man here! I know, you don't want to be a slave to a house - well, how about TWO houses! The following should give you an idea of what it is that finds us.
We started the year with a big ice storm at the Farm (Jan 7.) About 1.5 inches of ice from the first major freezing rain storm I can remember hereabouts, wiped out trees, roads, and of course, electric power. We had to spend two days or more chain sawing our way down the driveway just to get in.
Farm drive in "normal" times What greeted us after the ice storm
Then there were a whole series of windstorms. This one dropped a bunch of tree limbs on the roof of our house and deck. Fortunately, they didn't knock holes in the roof.
This wind on March 5 really kicked up the surf in front of our Hansville place!
All told, we had five multi day power outages. The one on April 27 (bad month!), blew the wind vane right off my weather station. Fortunately, the Hansville house is wired for my standby generator which got quite a bit of use, giving us lights and heat.
On April Fool's Day, one of the 12 foot tempered glass skylights over our entryway shattered for unknown reasons and came crashing down onto the deck. There are three of them. It was a mess. About 2 months and $500 later, a new one was in it's place.
Then on April 23, the well at the Farm packed it in. A broken pipe in the well had caused the pump to run continuously. It took several days -- even using my tractor -- just to pull all the pipe from the well, then 3 weeks of research and designing to get it all back operational. While doing this, we trucked water from Hansville to the farm - 'ya see, you DO need two places! In the process, I converted from a surface pump to a submerged one, with a whole new plumbing and wiring installation.
Out with the old
The old surface pump The new submerged installation
Shortly after, the pool pump did likewise. Another all new pump, plumbing and wiring installation!
Nothing that time and money can't
fix! I keep learning new skills!Now we're all the way up to April 30, when the Hansville clothes washer headed south with a bang and a pool of water on the laundry floor. Are you starting to see a pattern here? The Maytag repairman, I ain't. I don't have to sit around waiting for the calls that don't come! After a month doing the wash at the farm, I moved the washer and dryer from the farm (they were almost new) to Hansville, and swapped the Hansville units back to the farm, where they were getting little use.
In June I started repairs on our Camper - you may recall the many problems we had on our Grand Tour to the Maritimes last year. Accomplished a few things, but still not operational......because........ in July, the master bath toilet crapped out (pardon the pun, couldn't resist.) I was planning to install a new bath floor, and had the boxes of flooring sitting there for the last 2-3 years, and since I didn't want to pull the toilet twice - aw what the heck, so I installed the new floor in the bathroom to go with the new toilet.
I could go on, but you get the idea. I won't mention the TV, Toaster Oven, Range Light, Kitchen vent fan, bath tub faucet, bedroom lamp, or furnace overhaul. But I will say I go to Home Depot religiously once a week. They're sooo happy to see me!
It doesn't get very hot in Hansville - some summers, it has to push hard to make 70, and you can run the heat in July as well as in January (ask my Dad!). We also don't have many bugs, all of which means we had no window screens. On a really warm day, we just left the doors and windows open. The only problem can be in the evenings when moths or birds can decide to fly in -- so I built a set of screens for all the rooms in the house.
In the basement, we finished putting a tile floor in my shop. I insulated and paneled all the bare concrete walls; then built 3 sets of storage shelves, 5 workbenches, 2 storage cabinets, a lumber rack, brought in three 240 volt power lines for my saws, and installed a compressed air system throughout the shop for my air driven tools. You NEED a good shop, especially when you spend all your time repairing everything else!
Before After
I tiled the furnace room floor as well, paneled its walls, and installed 3 of 4 shelving units. People, we NEED to get organized! In the garage, we started a cleanup and reorg, and I totally revamped the roof structure with new posts and supports. Now it will stand up in an earthquake, and I can use it to hoist things.
Furnace Room - - From this ............to this .....to this
In July/August we added some living room furniture - a 3 piece Mission style sofa and chair combo - which I totally rebuilt and re-finished. Now you folks (you ARE coming to visit, aren't you), can watch the ships and the sea in style.
Just right for ship watching
Activities
On Feb.11, the Museum of Flight gave a dinner for me and the folks who helped me maintain the 737 Prototype airplane (NASA 515) at Moses Lake, and get it ready for its Final Flight home to Boeing Field. My good friend Jim Johnson was the main organizer. (Jim was Chief Project Enginner on the 757, later ran the Boeing Everett Division, and went on to become President of Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Engines, GE Capital Corp, and finally Gulfstream Aerospace (business jets.) He and his wife Sue live nearby. I was also honored to have people like Brien Wygle (the pilot on the 737's first flight), Dick Taylor (my old boss, and B-47 test pilot), Bruce McCaw (Chairman of the Museum Board of Directors, founder of Horizon Airlines and later McCaw Cellular), Ralph Bufano (Museum President), and Clayton Scott (very early Boeing Test Pilot) in attendance. On July 15th, I returned the favor for Scotty, attending his 99th birthday party. He's been an active pilot since 1926! Both Scotty and Dick Taylor came over to Moses Lake last Sept 21, to watch the 737 Prototype's final takeoff.
Clayton Scott - "Scotty" - 99 years young! Jim Johnson Bruce McCaw
with Brien and Dick Taylor and Dot and my cohorts
The story of the Final Flight can be found
here. It was around this time that Jim Johnson twisted (literally) my arm into accepting the job of "Air Park Manager" at the Museum. This gave me something to do in my free time (I'm not doing much else, as you can see above, and besides, as a volunteer, it's ALL free!), looking after what are now 8 airplanes.
You
can see them here.Not content with just having TWO 727s, in March I went out and got ANOTHER 727 (from Fed Ex), which gives me three - a Hat Trick. Hey, a man's gotta have his toys! This last airplane will be used as a parts donor to help us restore one of our other airplanes - the 727 Prototype (Number One airplane). You can see our donor airplane here.
Our goal is to fly the
Prototype airplane one last time down to Boeing Field, but there's a
tremendous amount of work in front of us to make that happen. |
Also in March, I hit the BIG SIX O ! Don't want to talk about that; people might think I'm starting to slow down! |
Altho most of you passed up the opportunity, we HAVE had a few assorted visitors.
Brien
Wygle, retired Boeing executive, test pilot, friend.Nephew Robert Cormier and Irene Renaud - from the Magdalen Islands
Nieces
Lucie and Elisabeth with husband Norm - from B.C.In September, we hosted our neighbors and good friends Jon and Sharon to celebrate? mark? commiserate? Jon's 65th birthday. Jon is a great pal of Chiba, our dog. Later that week, I took him fishing off Pt. No Point in our little boat - Jon's an avid fisherman. (Retired pilot too, so someone to talk airplanes with.)
In September, I went east for my Father's 91st birthday.
You can read all about it here.Our resident wildlife included a deer family - doe with twins - that spent the spring and summer. They were great!
And our swallows returned after a nervous year or two, where we worried if they weren't disappearing forever. The parents set up housekeeping on a nest support I made for them and raised 4 fat little chicks. Hopefully, they're safely down in Argentina, enjoying their winter home.
Mom and Dad Their Babies
Dot
 This is from last Thansgiving.....this year's went poof! |
In November, we
had more excitment, when Dot developed a bad bellyache that wouldn't go
away. When I offered to take her to the hospital late at nite,
and she
didn't refuse, I knew she was hurting bad. Into the ER (Emergency
Room), and 3-4 hours later admitted for most of a week into the
hospital. Diagnosis: Acute Pancreatitis. More tests
since have been
encouraging (the word Pancreas is scary!), but her diet (our diet?) has
probably been changed forever. |
 |
| This year I returned to 'Hamming' - yeah, I know, I AM a Ham. Actually, I've been a licensed radio amateur, or ham, since 1958. Radios and antennas have been part of my life since my first ham station (or shack.) But, my licenses having long since expired, I studied for and passed 3 of the required tests, reacquired proficiency in Morse Code, and regained my license, with my new call W7DDD. I refurbished and overhauled most of my old equipment (which I've lugged around with me all these years - golden oldies,) designed and installed five antennas, and went back on the air. In the past few months, I've made many hundreds of contacts, talking to fellow hams all over the world, including Africa, Cape Verde, Canary, and Azores Islands, Galapagos, all over South America, the Caribbean, the U.S., Canada, Alaska, Hawaii, Russia and Japan. |  W7DDD "On-the-Air" |
 |
Being very active in genealogy, August 4th this year marked a special anniversary - 100 years to the day since my Grandfather Simon Bogaczok stepped off the USS St. Paul at Ellis Island and entered the U.S. from the Ukraine. |
Having completed her "8 year Quilt", Dot missed sewing, and so started her next quilt - not 8 more years, I hope.
Our wonderful dog Chiba continually amuses us and overwhelms visitors. He's a great pal!
Catching a few rays, my favorite! .........O'Boy a Seagull, my favorite!
"Chiba. Dinner's On" ................................"Oh, All Right, I guess I'll have my supper now"
| This year also
marked the deaths of two of my closest friends - one day apart.
Jerry
Lederer, "Father of Aviation Safety", engineer with the U.S. Air Mail
service in 1926, the man who helped pre-flight the Spirit of St. Louis
before Chas. Lindbergh took off from New York to Paris in May 1927,
first head of the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), Director of Pilot
Training for the War Department in WW II, Founder of the Flight Safety
Foundation (FSF), recalled from retirement after the Apollo capsule
fire and made Director of Flight Safety for NASA, died on January
6th.
A lifelong friend since 1955, frequent visitor, faithful correspondent,
world traveler and active till the end, Jerry was 101 1/2 years
old. I
spoke with him only 3 days before he died. You can read his history here. |
 |
 |
And Andy Jones,
early boss, mentor, airplane lover (and owner - he had 3), engineer,
pilot, friend, supporter, confidant, head of Boeing Commercial Field
Service for many years, veteran of the Battle of the Bulge, animal
lover, hospital volunteer, wonderful man - who treated me like family,
indeed brought me into his family, died January 7. Two giants in
my
life, indeed two giants in life, now, as fliers say, "Gone West."
I
shall miss them greatly and forget them.......never. |
As ever, we solicit visitors. Your own bedroom, bath and deck, with beach walk and ocean view, all at the right price, how could you go wrong? Well, since we've not gotten many takers, you can see what you're missing (if you wish), in these views of:
Hansville - Where is it?
The House - Some Pictures
The Ships and Boats
The Sunrises, Sunsets, Mountains, Clouds, Full Moons and the Sea.Thanks for your patience. For those of you with the even more patience (and bandwidth!), you can find a whole lot more information and pictures, and previous newsletters at http://www.rbogash.com. Just plain rbogash.com in the Address Bar will get you there also.
As ever, a Great New Year, full of Good Health and Happiness.
Peace,
Bob and Dot