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 Writings about things that have occurred in my life. Not in Chronological Order |
| Things that have happened in my life, good or bad. The entries will not be in Chronological order |
SL-1, The World's First Nuclear Reactor Accident I thought I'd explain a little bit about the dangers of Nuclear Power, so you understand why we were trained so diligently, and had to learn everything we could about the Reactor and Reactor Theory. The SL-1Reactor Accident occurred on January 3, 1961. You'll probably gasp at that date, but yep, that's when it occurred. Long before the 3 Mile Island accident here in the States, long before the Chernobyl accident in Ukraine, and of course long before the Fukushima Reactor accident in Japan. We learned about the SL-1 accident while in the Nuclear Power Pipeline, probably during prototype training in 1974 for me. Gosh, that was 'only 13 years' after the accident! If you're really interested to read about this, use the link below. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SL-1 I attended Nuclear Reactor Prototype Training at the S1W facility in Idaho, about 10-12 Miles west of the SL1 Site. Let me tell you what I 'knew' about the accident, because it was horrendous. SL1 was an experimental Reactor, part of an Army project. The idea was for the Reactor to provide electrical power and heat for small, remote military facilities, such as radar sites near the Arctic Circle, and those in the DEW (Defense Early Warning) Line. Before I continue, you have to know that the Control Rod Speed is 2-3 inches per minute. That is so the Control Rods do not add Positive Reactivity too fast, which would result in a casualty like this. There were three male operators working on the SL1 Reactor the night of 1/3/61. The design power of SL1 was 3 MW (thermal), but some 4.7 MW tests had been performed in the months before the accident. Useful power output was 200 kW electrical and 400 kW for space heating. On January 3, 1961, at 9:01 pm MST, an operator fully withdrew the central control rod, a component designed to absorb neutrons in the reactor's core. This caused the reactor to go from shut down to prompt critical. Within four milliseconds, the core power level reached nearly 20 GW! (When the reactor is prompt critical, the time to double the power is of the order of 10 microseconds. The duration necessary for temperature to follow the power level depends on the design of the reactor core. Think about that. The Reactor power will double every 10 microseconds!) That is 6,666 times more than rated power! It went from Shutdown to 6,666 times more than rated power in less than 4 milliseconds. Unbelievable if you ask me. Let me explain what I can without compromising Confidential Material. First, a Control Rod. It's designed to essentially 'suck up' most all neutrons that core creates. Yes, that core will emit neutrons all the time, so by inserting the control rods fully, those neutrons are sucked up, the Reactor cannot go Critical. Why it emits those Neutrons is a natural phenomenon for a Reactor Core. Secondly, the Reactor Core. It is made of a certain isotope of Uranium. It will fission all the time by absorbing free neutrons which can cause fission to occur. Yes, can, not will, because neutrons can be absorbed without causing fission. You would have to know the six factor formula (Don't worry, I'm going in to that here) to understand all that, So, the core is meant to fission, a Control Rod does exactly what its name implies, it controls that Nuclear Fission. The actual cause of the accident is not known, the Operators did not write down their every action. It is theorized that the Central Control Rod became stuck. The operator then applied more upward force to free it. This resulted in it moving about 20 inches rapidly! This caused a massive amount of Positive Reactivity in the Core. Of course that resulted in this accident. There are other theories of course, they are discussed briefly in the link I provided. The intense heat from the nuclear reaction expanded the water inside the core, producing extreme water hammer and causing water, steam, reactor components, debris, and fuel to vent from the top of the reactor. As the water struck the top of the reactor vessel, it propelled the vessel to the ceiling of the reactor room. A supervisor who had been on top of the reactor lid was impaled by an expelled control rod shield plug and pinned to the ceiling. Other materials struck the two other operators, mortally injuring them as well. (In my training, we were told it was a Control Rod that impaled the man. Hopefully his death was instantaneous, but one of the men on the outer portion of the Reactor lived for a couple of hours. The accident released about 1,100 curies (41 TBq (Terabecquerel, yeah, it's easier to say TBq)) of fission products into the atmosphere, including the isotopes of xenon, krypton, strontium-91, and yttrium-91 (detected in the tiny town of Atomic City, Idaho). It also released about 80 curies (3.0 TBq) of iodine-131. This was not considered significant, due to the reactor's location in the remote high desert of Eastern Idaho. The accident caused SL-1's design to be abandoned and future reactors to be designed so that a single control rod removal could not produce very large excess reactivity. Today this is known as the "one stuck rod" criterion and requires complete shutdown capability even with the most reactive rod stuck in the fully withdrawn position. The big problem with Nuclear Power, what people normally protest against, is how long the core is radioactive above the limits set by the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC). Yes the core is far more radioactive than the AEC allows. You might wonder where the numbers came from. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), determined that a short-term, whole-body radiation dose of around 400-500 rem (4-5 Sieverts) is considered the lethal dose for 50% of exposed individuals, causing severe radiation sickness and death within weeks, though doses over 1000 rem are invariably fatal, with death often occurring within days or weeks even with treatment, while lower doses (100-200 rem) cause milder sickness but are less likely to be fatal. So an expended core is very radioactive, and will be for a long, long time. Right now, US Navy Cores (and the sealed Reactor Compartments) are stored at the East Hanford, Benton County, Washington site. There are also plans to store spent fuel (and the sealed Reactor Compartments) in Western Idaho. Both locations are sparsely populated, and will be for a long time it seems. Think for a moment about the logistics and cost of this. The Submarines are deactivated, defueled, and eventually cut up at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, the only shipyard that can perform this action. The Reactor Compartment is separated from the main hull and sealed. The Reactor Compartment is then placed on a barge for towing. It travels up through Puget Sound, out the Straits of Juan De Fuca and down the coast to the Columbia River. It is then towed up the river through locks and such to reach the town of Richland, Washington. Now it's loaded on to a truck and carted about 30 miles to the Storage Facility. WOW! SL1; an accident that is largely forgotten by the general public, Jim Dorrell |
Submarine & Watch Standing Qualification As A NUB When you're a Nub (New, Untrained Body), some old timers resent you because what you do is breathe air, eat food, and hopefully qualify in Submarines (Earn your Dolphins), and qualify on watch stations. Here is the list of Qualifications I was faced with when I reported aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt SSBN 600. Submarine Qualifications: Your progress is monitored by the qualification Chief Petty Officer. You have to show him your Submarine Qual Card. Each signature has is dated, and has a certain number of points assigned to it. He's interested in points, nothing else. There is a qualification curve (based on how long you've been on board) you have to be above to not be considered 'delinquent', or a dink (shortened term). If you were delinquent in qualifying on Submarines, you weren't allowed to watch the nightly movie. Keep in mind that this was 1974-75, we had no DVD's or personal devices to view movies on. All we had were the old reel-to-reel movies, one per night. I was never a dink. I did just enough to remain above that curve. When your Qual Cared is complete, you take a written test. After that, you are given a walk-thru of the boat by an Officer Qualified as Officer Of The Deck (OOD). If you know enough, he signs your Qualification Card, and the Commanding Officer pins your dolphins on you during the next Awards Ceremony. I will admit that my knowledge level was weak, I guess the Officer took pity on me and passed me. I'm kidding about that. If he felt I wasn't worthy, he never would have passed me. Nuclear Plant Qualifications: There were several stages to this, you qualified Junior Watch stations first, then moved up, so to speak. I will list the qualification path for Electricians, my rate in the Navy. Each watch station qualification required passing a written test with a grade of 80% or better. The questions were not multiple choice or fill in the blank. They were essay questions. Every test was essay questions, no exceptions. Once you passed the test, you had an oral board consisting of an Engineering Officer Of The Watch (EOOW), an Engineering Watch Supervisor (EWS), and a person qualified on that watch station. (There was no oral board for BEQ qualifications. This was done in conjunction with your Submarine Qualifications. In order, from Junior to Senior Watch Stations. 1. Basic Engineering Qualification (BEQ): This involved learning, often tracing piping for Mechanical Systems, knowing where to isolate a circuit on a switchboard or power panel. Answering questions about each system during an 'oral checkout' by a designated, qualified senior watch stander. For me, this qualification was required to be completed as a prerequisite for Electrical Operator Qualification. Prerequisites were never waived. That was a rule we never broke. The test for completing this qualification took about four hours to complete. 2. Auxiliary Electrician Aft/Shutdown Electrical Operator AEA/SEO for short. Two Watch Station qualifications, very similar in tasks. One Shutdown, one operating. While working on Submarine Qualifications (Earning my Dolphins, which I earned in April 1975), and BEQ, you had to complete AEA/SEO Qualification. Again, there was a timeline associated with this, usually 2-3 weeks at most. You had to get checkouts from designated, qualified AEA's, and complete hands on exercises. These were evolutions (such as shift Propulsion to the Emergency Propulsion Motor (EPM) during a casualty drill. There were a good 15 or so evolutions you had to complete, and an equal number of oral check outs to complete. 3. Throttleman: You had to complete AEA/SEO Qualifications before completing this qualification. As you can imagine, this operator controlled the Main Engines (Turbines). Just like the AEA/SEO Qualification path, you had to get checkouts from designated, qualified Throttleman, and complete hands on exercises. These were evolutions during a like answering bells on the Engine Order Telegraph, logging hourly readings (Every watch station did this), completing certain casualty drills, etc. There were a good 15 or so evolutions you had to complete, and an equal number of oral check outs to complete. You could work on Throttleman qualification in conjunction with AA/SEO qualifications. The same goes for every other watch station qualification. 4. Electrical Operator (EO): Complete BEQ Qualification, complete Throttleman Qualification, complete AEA/SEO qualification. Receive Oral checkouts from Qualified Electrical Operators and complete the required Evolutions and Casualty Drills. You were expected to complete this by the end of your second patrol, maybe at the start of the third patrol if you were a little slow. I completed mine during my second patrol. 5. Shutdown Maneuvering Area Watch (SMAW): Right after I completed qualifying this watch station, the name was changed to Shutdown Reactor Operator (SRO) by NAVSEA. Completion of all In-rate watch station qualifications (AEA/SEO, Throttleman, & Electrical Operator, and of course Basic Engineering Qualification. This should be completed within one year of reporting aboard. I was a little late, but not too late. As you can see, your first 18 months or so on a Submarine was spent with 6 hours on watch, essentially 6 hours after watch performing scheduled maintenance (Preventative Maintenance), with qualifications squeezed in somehow. Oh, and if you were lucky, 6 hours of sleep. That didn't happen very often. |
USS Alabama SSBN 731  My third Submarine was the USS Alabama SSBN 731. Let's discuss what the SSBN part means. First, SS - it's a Submarine (Submarines are not ships, they are boats. A ship can carry small vessels, or boats. A Submarine does not carry them, so they are boats). B - Ballistic Missile. N - Nuclear Powered. The Alabama Reactor Core was designed to last FIFTEEN years! Imagine driving your car, and not having to fill it with gas for fifteen years. The fact that the core will last that long is amazing to me In comparison, my first Submarine, the USS Theodore Roosevelt SSBN 600 had a five year core, and I thought that was phenomenal when I reported aboard in 1974. I was a member of the initial manning crew. We manned the Alabama in August of 1983. The boat wasn't commissioned until 1985. What initial manning crew means is, I was part of the crew that was first to man the Submarine. 36 total people were in the initial manning crew. Most were Nuclear Trained Personnel with a few, very few Non-Nuclear Trained personnel. Ahhh, you just learned something new. Not every sailor on a Submarine is Nuclear Trained. Only a few, very few are. Why? It's pretty expensive to train Nuclear Trained Personnel, plus, you have to have an intelligence level well above average. The initial manning crew was comprised of maybe 36-40 people. Of course more personnel were added as the Submarine was built. Notice the Submarine next to it, still in pieces essentially. That's the USS Alaska SSBN 732 being assembled. I won't bore you with details about how the Submarines were built. Plus, there's a lot I don't know on this subject. My first trip to the Alabama was an eye-opener. The hull was intact as you can see, the Engineroom and Reactor Compartment had its equipment and machinery installed, but the rest of the boat was empty! There were no walls that separated places like Sonar, the Galley, the Chiefs Quarters, even crews berthing. Oh wait, the future berthing areas (called nine man bunkrooms) were not installed, except one. That one 9-man bunkroom was where the Engineering Duty Petty Officer (EDPO) would sleep at night, Every other crewman could sleep in the barracks, but the EDPO (people like me), or the Engineering Duty Officer (EDO) had to be on board at all times. So, guess who was always on board? Yep, that Enlisted man. The EDO's (Officers) slept in a trailer on the pier. Overtime, those bunkrooms would be completed. For the first few months of the boats life, the Reactor (Rx) Core was not installed. Initial testing and flushing needed to be done. The pipes that made up the Primary System were filthy and needed to be flushed. So we filled the Primary Plant, then drained it, over and over. This was done starting about September 1983. The flushing of the Primary System was done through a lint-free cloth (or wipes) made of synthetic materials such as polypropylene. I honestly do not know what type of cloth was used. I do know that we flushed that system for a little over a month. We were in Shift work while this was done, but we weren't standing duty since there was no Rx Core installed. Finally! We had a Grade A Flush, meaning we could move on to the next step, loading the core. A Nuclear Reactor Core is not very Radioactive until it is taken Critical. As a result, I was standing about 15-20 feet from it as it was lowered into the Submarine. Yes, the hull still had openings in it that were later sealed. It took a few hours to get the core installed,. Once it was installed, we filled it, and flushed it again. At least this time it didn't take a month to get a Grade A result! At some point, we started standing watches on the plant, probably around the time the core was installed. As EDPO's, we were required to remain on board at all times. We could only go to the pier for Head Calls (Bathroom breaks). But, the EDO had to be on board when we did. I had the honor of being the first man to spend a full night on board the Alabama. We only stood duty on weekends, because we were testing the plant throughout the week. As the saying goes, "Ahhh, the good old days!" NOT! Having duty on the weekend meant you spent 24 hours on board with no galley, no way to get food or drink. You brought it with you. The worst part? The Shipyard (Electric Boat in Groton Connecticut) was working through the night. Welding, grinding, etc. I remember waking in the morning with Grinding dust in my hair. I remember being woken for a couple of reasons. One was touring the Engineering Spaces. I was required to tour them every 6 hours, The EDO would also tour every six hours, staggered from my tours such that one of us would tour every 3 hours. While touring, we'd initial the logs on the 3 watchstanders. It was easy, but a pain in the 'you know what' at the same time. I was also woken by the shipyard so Radiography could be performed. Why? The shipyard was slowly welding the hull cuts shut. Every hull weld was required to be radiographed. The boat was Commissioned on May 25, 1985, and has been making deterrent patrols for almost 40 years now. After Commissioning Sea Trials started. That's another story.  Jim Dorrell |
My Early Days In The Navy My first patrol had to have been something else as far as maintenance goes. To get in the Nuclear Power Field and succeed, you have to have a decent IQ. No, I don't know what mine is, but it's up there a bit. I got in that field because I had that brain. However, I had no hands-on experience, or shall I just say, I had no experience in fixing things at all! I gained that as time passed though. So let us discuss my early maintenance efforts. I think I've written about this one before, just in case I haven't, I'll write about it again. As Electricians, we were responsible for just about everything that needed Electricity. We didn't fix all the equipment, we made sure it had power. During my first refit, a light in crew's berthing was not working. My LPO told me to fix it before Liberty Call. Like I mentioned, I had that brain, but no experience. I looked at it, replaced the starter and bulbs, but it still wouldn't work. Silly me, I told my LPO we needed to send it to the Tender for repair. He looked at me and said something like, "Are you on Duty tonight?" I replied, "No." He then said, "Were you planning on going out on Liberty?" I said of course I was. And he dropped the bombshell by saying, "You're going no where if that light isn't fixed. By You!" I gained some experience that day, without asking for help from other Electricians. Yeah, I had it fixed long before Liberty Call. On another occasion I was tasked with replacing heaters in the CO-H2 Burner. First, other than knowing where it was on the boat, and what it must do (I was a bit off in my assumption), I had no idea how it worked. At least the grounded heaters were marked for me. The Repair Parts Petty Officer (RPPO) had already pulled the heaters from Supply, so I was left alone to replace them. I did need some help getting them out of the unit. They were heavy, and their location was not conducive to them being removed by one person. Still, with a little muscular help, we removed them and placed them on the deck (floor). I knew enough to draw the schematic diagram of how each heater was wired, and started replacing the bad ones. The heaters were connected with small bus bars, I removed what I had to, replaced the faulty heater, then put the bus bars back in place. I tightened the nuts on the bus bars hand tight, then used a socket to complete tightening it. Imagine my surprise when the nut on top of the heater snapped off! I went to the Leading First (a first class petty officer) and told him what had happened. He said to pull another heater from Supply. I did, and repeated what I had done, only to have this one snap off too! I was cursing up a storm using every foul word I knew and then some. I told the Leading First what had happened again. That's when he took me aside and asked what I was doing. I showed him. He stopped me when I started torquing the nut again. Then, he taught me how a CO-H2 Burner works. Those heaters heat the air flowing through the to over 700 degrees Fahrenheit! Then he asked me, "What happens to a metal that gets that hot, but then cools down?" I thought for a second and said, "It becomes brittle!" He smiled and said, "When you tighten the nuts, get them finger tight only. Then use the socket to get 3/4 more turn on them." He walked away, and I never broke another heater. IF someone had explained that to me, we could have saved a lot of money! Jim Dorrell |
My Early Years I'm going back through the cobwebs in my mind with this entry. We moved around quite a bit in my early youth. My earliest memory is of us living in Cheverly Maryland about 1957. I don’t recall much about living there, heck I was only 3-4 years old! After living there for a short while, we moved to Mobile, Alabama. In each case, I couldn't begin to fathom where we lived, let alone how/where my father was employed. I do remember a couple of things from Mobile though. My father worked at a car lot of some type. I remember him bringing a car home one time. We didn't have a car then, so having a car for the weekend was special. I was 5 years old when I learned to tell time. The reason why I remember it is because my mother was wondering what time it was. I looked at the clock and told her the time. She didn't believe me and checked for herself. She was shocked that I could tell time at that age. Also, I was able to help her and my aunt find a jigsaw puzzle piece that had eluded them. Again, she couldn't believe I found it. Then there was the fateful day my father bought me a bike. I was probably six, but I have no idea really. Fateful day I say? Yeah, because for some reason, the front tire came off, and I landed on my 'you know what' on that metal beam. Yep, that was the end of my fun time that day. In 1960, my father went to Milwaukee while we remained in Mobile. Later that year, we caught a train there, and moved to a house on Humboldt Ave. It was near the Milwaukee River, and I found it in 2002 when I drove to the Upper Peninsula Michigan to deliver a class. Funny, I recall that house being on a steep hill that we would slide down in the winter, making sure to make the turn into the loading dock next door. That hill wasn't near as steep as I remembered. Hmmmmm, Milwaukee memories. We (my father and I) were in a parade, the State Fair Parade? Maybe. He made our wagon look like an old Pirate ship using cardboard. He pulled it, while I sat in it with a beer bottle held to my eye, as if I were a Pirate! For a 6-7 year old child, this was something else. Another memory is of my sister roller skating (yep, we had that ‘brand new key’) in the basement and skated around it, circling the old heater. We made sure to avoid the coal chute. Yes, our house was heated by coal! While skating, we’d sing Swanee River. Well, we’d sing the verse(s) we knew at least. In 1962, my father was hurt at work. He worked at a Red Lion Inn as the Night Auditor and was helping move a portable stage when it fell over, crushing his foot. He was out of work for a while, and was advised by his doctor to move to a dryer area to help with his asthma. My parents decided (basically my father decided) to move to Albuquerque, New Mexico. I had visions of us going to St. Louis and joining a Wagon Train. Boy, was I ever disappointed! And that’s how/why I grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico, 1962-1972. Along the way to New Mexico we spent 10 days in Spencer Iowa, living in the old Nash Rambler my father had bought, while her worked for his old friends, Wilbur & Adeline on the Clay County Fairgrounds. But that will be another entry. Jim Dorrell |
Learning To Play The French Horn We moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico after my second grade school year. Once there, I attended school at Five Points Elementary. It was there that I started playing the French Horn. You might ask yourself why would a young boy of eight or so choose the French Horn? First, we need to backtrack a little bit. I didn't do a lot in the third grade, I was a typical boy. In the fourth grade I learned about the school band. I really wanted to join the band, but not because of a love of music. There was a girl in my class who was taking band, playing the Saxophone. I had a HUGE crush on her, and figured that if I could join band also, we’d have something in common. Ah, Rita Sanchez, my first love. Of course being band mates, we’d get to know each other, she would see what a nice kid I was, and we’d be together forever. There was just one problem. My parents were convinced that I wouldn’t keep at it, and refused to get, or rent an instrument for me. <sigh> Then my fifth grade year came around, and once again I pestered them to let me join the band. They finally relented, but now we had another problem. My parents were far from well-to-do. Very far. They couldn’t afford to buy me an instrument, so renting one from school was our only option. The only instruments that could be rented were the larger brass instruments. The Baritone, Sousaphone/Tuba, Trombone, and French Horn. I had a hazy vision of what a Baritone was, I knew what both the Tuba and Trombone looked like, but had no idea what a French Horn was, or looked like, so I chose it. I get to the first day of band practice…. And you guessed it. Rita Sanchez was not taking band that year, or any year in the future. I was stuck though, my parents had paid the year’s rental for the French Horn, so I had to at least stick that year out. As fate would have it, Rita and I attended different Middle Schools, but we did attend the same high school. She never knew I existed. Somehow I fell in love with the Horn during my fifth grade year, and kept at it in the sixth. When I arrived in Middle School, it was a bit more advanced, but not a lot. During the summer vacation of my 7th grade year, I attended summer band. This was quite the change for me, because it was there I learned to ‘sight read’. Let me give you a comparison of seventh grade band, and summer band sight reading. Up to this point, playing in band had been almost boring. We’d rehearse, but we went VERY slow in reading the music. Painfully slow. I shudder to think of what my parents went through listening to our concerts. Now I’m in summer band. The director was a high school band director, and treated us all as if we knew the piece already. There was nothing slow about it at all. He would hand us the sheets of music and start us off. It was quite the change for me. Of course I struggled at first, but the more we practiced, the better I became. I’d like to tell you that I became a great horn player, but I lacked one thing to allow that to happen. An inner drive. Don’t get me wrong, I was good, very good. But I didn’t practice! Despite this, I became the ‘first chair’ horn player in the 10th grade. Today I’m left with one thought. “How good could I have been?” I also have a burning desire to buy a French Horn and join the Bloomington Community Band. They don’t have a Horn player. Once I retire and stop traveling, I will. 658 words Jim Dorrell |
Halloween, Circa 1988 Tonight I'm going back in time, in fact, a long time ago. Let's go back almost 35 years. It was Halloween, I'm pretty sure it was 1988. I was still in the Navy and on my second shore tour. I was stationed at the Trident Training Facility, Bangor Washington. This was a base that I really loved, and for good reason. How many military bases can you think of where you might wake up one day and find a mountain lion sunning itself on a rock in your backyard? Or a base where you can get a pass and go down to a little used pier an either fish, or catch Dungeness Crab, or both? Or perhaps visit an old Apple Orchard in the fall and pick apples from the trees... Anyway, about this particular night. A I mentioned in the title, it was very close to Halloween. My command was running a Haunted House so I thought I'd take some of the kids to visit it. Only of the 3 wanted to go, and the baby couldn't go of course. So we walked to it because my command was less than a half mile from the house. When we arrived, we were shown to a door that wasn't normally used and entered the haunted house. It was a short walk down a hallway. A hallway that had spider webs dangling from the ceiling, low enough to brush across a child's face. I have to stop for a moment and tell you a little bit about my oldest son. He was 4 at the time, and nothing, I mean NOTHING scared him. Except Werewolves. So we walked down the hall, my son even commented that there wasn't anything scary so far. We came to a dimly lit open space that had a man lying in a coffin, or so it seemed. He would wave his arms weakly and beg us to help him. You see, his abdomen had been 'opened up', we could see stuff inside. A man in a long white jacket walked up and started explaining that this man had come in complaining that his stomach hurt, so they did a little surgery to open him up, and discovered what we were seeing. He even picked up some of the stuff in his abdomen and showed it to us as blood dripped from it. I guess my 6 year old daughter was looking on in horror, because the 'mad scientist' looked at her and said, "Is your stomach hurting you? You don't look so good, c'mere, we'll check your out." Needless to say, she was hiding as best she could behind me! Our next stop was in what was our Diesel Generator lab. Except it was empty! Not for long though, because we heard the unmistakable sounds of a chain saw being started. Then from behind the Diesel strode a tall man wearing a hockey mask. That's all my daughter could handle. She grabbed my hand and proceeded to pull my arm down, at the same time she used her leg to climb up the side of my body! I helped her a little bit, until she was sitting on my shoulders. Not satisfied with things yet, she proceeded to hit my head and yell, "Run Daddy, Run!" We left as fast as we could, but my son wanted to see more of the man wielding the chain saw. After leaving the Diesel Generator room we were in another hallway. Chained to the wall was a Werewolf! He kept pawing at us, trying to grab us, but we were too far away. Suddenly one of the chains broke and he could just about reach us! It was at that moment that my brave son had seen enough, and he took off running down the hallway. I have to tell you that the Werewolf was chained using plastic chains taped to the wall with Duct Tape. The Duct Tape came loose, allowing him to almost grab us. I related this story to all my children several times. I think I embellished it a little more each time too, but this version has not been embellished. At least not according to my memory. Of course, this did happen 35 years ago. Word Count: 716 Jim Dorrell |
How I Met Two Hollywood Celebrities When I was hired at Motorola (now Motorola Solutions), I realized a couple of things. First, I was on a tight budget and wouldn't get out a lot. Second, I wanted to be somewhat active and not just sit on the couch, but knew a gym membership was more than I wanted to spend, and I'd probably not use that membership the way it should be used. My solution was to work in a restaurant where I could walk a lot, maybe carry a few server trays, etc. The first restaurant I applied at was a Red Lobster. I'd worked there when I first left the Navy because I had no clue about 'networking' and getting my name out there. I needed some kind of job, so Red Lobster it was. My position there was what the restaurant called Alley Coordinator. Basically, I was a kitchen employee who prepped the plates and put them on those large oval trays to be taken to the table. I moved from Alley Coordinator to server eventually, and learned that serving tables was something I really enjoyed. I eventually left Red Lobster and was hired at Pappadeaux. But I'd learned about Micro-Breweries during a trip to Detroit, so moved to a small Micro-Brewery in Palatine. One night a couple was at one of my tables, and ordered a lot of food. A lot of food for just two people. While I was pre-bussing the table, the lady said to her husband, "We're going need to-go boxes to take to the room." Being polite, and quite a bit curious, I asked where they were from. He replied, "Los Angeles." She said, "Hollywood." Now my curiosity was really up, so I asked what they did there. Again the man was polite and a little brief and said, "We work there." (I think he was trying to politely tell me to not be so nosy!) And again his wife, being a bit more outgoing said, "We're in movies." Thankfully, I knew better than to tell the rest of the staff that I had people from Hollywood at one of my tables. Besides, I didn't recognize either of them, and figured they might not be all that famous. I boxed their food for them, and we talked some more as I did. About this time the gentleman relaxed and opened up more. I asked them, "What brings the two of you from Hollywood to Palatine Illinois?" She pointed to her husband and exclaimed, "He's getting an award!" I was impressed, but wondered what kind of award could a Hollywood celebrity, or 'wanna-be' celebrity be getting in the small village of Palatine. She went on to say, "He wrote the original 20 minute screenplay for 'Oculus' that was purchased by Sony. He then rewrote it as a full length movie, and directed it. Have you seen Oculus?" I had to confess that I hadn't, mainly because my movie partner did not like horror movies, but it was one I wanted to see. (That was the truth too, though I still haven't seen it.) We talked some more, and I mentioned being an amateur writer with an account on Writing.com, that I'd tried my hand in writing horror but felt it wasn't a good genre for me. The gentleman was very polite and said, "We're always looking for new stories, new ideas." I knew he was just 'being polite' (or was he?) and said, "You don't want an amateur like me sending you story ideas." I think he smiled when I said that. Their check was a little over $60, they left me a $30 tip! I think it was because I didn't broadcast their presence to the entire staff. Well, since I hadn't recognized them, you know I had to go to IMDB when I got home and look up Oculus. Lo and behold, she had been telling the truth! He had written (or co-written) the original short screen-play for Oculus. As I looked further into the movie details on IMDB, I saw her also, and realized she wasn't his wife at all. He is Mike Flanagan, a Hollywood director who seems to enjoy filming horror movies. What she doing on IMDB though? Well ,it turns out that she is none other than Katie Sackhoff. I was surprised, especially since she kept the focus on Mr. Flanagan, and never mentioned a thing about her work in movies. The next morning my daughter called as usual, when I mentioned taking care of Mike Flanagan and Katie Sackhoff the night before, she was incredulous and said, "You met Captain Starbuck? Dad, you suck!" That's a common phrase from her, meant as a type of jealous comment. Captain Starbuck was one of the characters in the early 2000 version of Battlestar Galactica, and she loved that series, and Captain Starbuck. Turns out she's a bit of a fan of Katie Sackhoff. That was my exposure to a Hollywood couple, though I did meet a couple of other VIP's. One was Mike Singletary (the recently retired Chicago Bears Middle Linebacker), who has thighs the size of my waist! The other was Marty Booker, a Chicago Bears Wide Receiver. All of them were very nice people who were pleasant to the entire staff. I realize that not all celebrities are this polite to us 'normal people', some can be quite the Prima Donna or worse. I think I was lucky that night. I've heard several horror stories... Jim Dorrell |
I Was A 'Bad' Father Okay, so I wasn't that bad of a father, but I have done some things that might make you shake your head. My biggest regret in many ways, was taking the job at Motorola. True, it is my dream job. It pays well, it supported my family and I far better than I could have hoped. But I wasn't home for my children at the time they needed a father in their life! That's my regret. Now about the 'bad father' bit. Here's one of the things I did to terrorize my children. First, I purchased a Halloween mask at a yard sale. They all saw it, they knew we had it. At that time, we lived on a cul-de-sac, our split-level house had a small wooded area behind it. One night while the girls were in their room (a downstairs bedroom), I grabbed the mask and went behind the house. With the mask on, I knocked on their window. They heard me, heard my voice and came to the window. Need I describe the chaos and screaming that occurred?  Secondly. after retiring from the Navy, I was eventually hired by Firestone, which required us to move from Washington State, an area/state we all loved, and settle in Illinois. The drive was great, we saw a lot of things. But one day, as we drove along I-90, I looked over and saw railroad tracks. I quipped, "Hey kids, a train just went by." "How do you know Dad?" I responded, "Can't you see its tracks?" Yeah, if they had been older and bigger, I might not be here today. I did many things like that. Sadly, right now I'm drawing a blank for more memories. While still in the Navy, I told my oldest (9 or 10 at the time) about the man who taught me Transistors while in EM "A" School (1972-73). His name was Liberty Mann. He made a distinct impression on me, especially if I remember him 50 years later. Petty Officer Mann didn't believe that Electrons could flow up a wire, from a low level to a higher level. But they did, and to help him understand that, he developed what he called 'Liberty Mann's Elephant Theory Of Current Flow.' See, instead of Electrons in the wire, he called them Elephants. He had it all worked out too, and could explain a lot of circuits using that analogy. He even had light bulb operation in it. The Elephants loved dark, so when they found themselves in a light bulb, they would gather up all that darkness to consume later. This is the story I told my oldest daughter one day. She had this look on her face of "My Dad has gone bonkers and lost it". Months later, I was driving her to her elementary school for an evening rehearsal, and out of the blue she says, "I wish there were Elephants around here Dad." Not putting two and two together, I looked at her oddly and said, "Why Jennifer?" She responded, "So the lights would come on!" All I could do was bang my head on the steering wheel. Some of you feel my sense of humor is terrible. Can you imagine being in a moving truck with me for 4-5 days and having to listen to bad jokes the whole time? Okay, it wasn't all the time, but it was often enough. So yep, I was a 'bad father'. Fortunately, my children are no worse off due to it. Jim Dorrell |
Sea Stories @Kåre เลียม Enga  and ForeverDreamer  , thank you for your comments about starting a reactor. Life in the Navy was 180 degrees out from the life I live now. Kåre เลียม Enga we were young, yes. Were we more mature? I don't think so. I would say we were better trained than the average sailor, and being so, we understood the risks associated with operating the reactor plant. Plus, it had been drilled into us from day 1 in the Nuclear Power Program that risky behavior wasn't tolerated. Add to it that Nuclear Trained Personnal also received extra pay, pay that a lot of us either couldn't afford to lose, or didn't want to lose, and you have yourself the 'well trained nuke'.That doesn't mean we didn't have a sense of humor about things. Far from it. But it was always at someone else's expense, we never fooled around with the plant. Like the time we had to get underway on a moment's notice (okay, a couple of days notice) so we could be at sea when Typhoon Pamela pummeled Guam. (We operated in and out of Apra Harbor, Guam). The Engineer came aft and saw the mess that was the Engineroom during refit and said, "Stow the Engineroom for sea!" We had a young Ensign on board who was just as Dorky as could be. Sorry, I don't mean to belittle him, but he was quite the character. Well, here was the Engineroom with that Ensign just kinda hanging around as was his custom. There were 2-3 Machinist Mates nearby when the Engineer said to stow the Engineroom for sea, so after the Engineer left, they grabbed the Ensign and held him against the Evaporator while one of their shipmates taped him to it, with Duct Tape! He was spread-eagle against the side of the evaporator, and couldn't move at all. They also taped his mouth shut. Later on, the Engineer came aft again and saw the Ensign taped to the Evaporator, sighed and said, "Get him free so we can get this thing started up!" It was acts like this that really allowed us to keep our sanity for the most part. Another 'game' we played was seeing how fast we could make someone mad. We called it 'Spinning them up', a reference to spinning up missiles before launch, or simulated launch. Some were 'easy' to spin up, others not so much. I was 'easy' on my first patrol, I know that. Once I learned what the game was all about though, it didn't happen, and someone else became the target. If you want to see our humorous side, look no farther than "Playing With Hot Dogs"  . This small incident occurred on my second boat, the USS Sargo, SSN 583. True story though, no names mentioned because I don't remember them. Jim Dorrell |
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