Alumni Sandstorm ~ 11/05/15
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2 Bombers sent stuff: 
David RIVERS ('65)
"JP" PANESKO ('83 and '84)
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BOMBER BIRTHDAY Today: Charles COX ('56)
BOMBER BIRTHDAY Today: Judy CAMERON ('60)
BOMBER BIRTHDAY Today: Curtis GUNTER ('61)
BOMBER BIRTHDAY Today: Gerald STEIN ('66) 

BOMBER CALENDAR: Richland Bombers Calendar
    Click the event you want to know more about.
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>>From: David RIVERS ('65)

Re: Ain't no guy in town

Who would ever try ta put me down... when I'm walkin', walkin'
with my baby... The kid that started his career at 14 or 15
standing in for Buddy Holly sure made some great tunes...
Pitts' first Hi-Spot dance made me think of alla songs that put
me in a particular time and place when I hear them... was gonna
name a few but then I found something more appropriate for this
b-day post... which is not to say I won't waste a ton a time on
inappropriate stuff... have no fear of that... also, there is a
great story about Lyman POWELL ('65) and Terry DAVIS ('65)
being kicked outa Pitts' dance partner's dorm room later on...
grab them and make them tell ya... my first dance partner to
"real" music was not at Hi-Spot, but at Chief Jo and not even
at noon dancing... it was PE but I'll never forget dancing with
Carol WISE ('64) to "Mr. Blue"... my next partner would either
be April SNOEBERGER ('65) or Patty WATERS (NAB swooon) at Jr,
Hi-Spot... from there it's a blur of great Bomber-babes and
great music... As Doug HAWKINS ('62) aptly put it one time: we
"polished a lotta belt buckles" dancing to songs like "Theme
from a Summer Place"... so at the urging of a dear grade school
friend... he suggested that I go back and copy all of my posts
into a booklet and sell them... I thought it sounded a bit
presumptuous, but plowed into 1998, beginning with August to
see what pearls I might have shared and found that early on I
was a bit of a slacker... but what was VERY cool was that
EVERYBODY... I mean everybody shared back then... I mean guys
we never hear from any more like Rodney BREWER ('65... birthday
coming in May) and Richard TWEDT ('64) when he was still
Richard instead of Ricardo... Micky HEMPHILL ('66) was still
Micky insteada Mick... and every one shared such wonderful
memories of our little home town and the friends in it... not
two line posts... long, fun posts... it was a total blast going
back... try it, you might like it... it was full of people,
some of which I still share with on Face book but hardly ever
see in here... so insteada goin' on and on about the b-day
bomber, I thought I'd share some of his words from 1998:

      "From: Gerald STEIN ('66); It is nice to read all these
      e-mails. They bring back all kinds of memories. We live
      in Granbury, Texas in the vicinity of Jerry COFFEE
      ('66). Now that the kids are gone, Lovena and I travel
      with my new work (management consultant) and we are
      currently in New London, CT. It has been nice to see
      the East coast. I found out Walt Sommers ('66) lives in
      the Chicago area and called and we met at the airport,
      to catch up on old times. We recently went to the "Wall
      that Heals" (Vietnam War Memorial). It is a real
      emotional place to go. I looked up Mark BLACK's ('66-
      RIP) name on the wall and remembered playing basketball
      with him in the church league. I wonder how many other
      alumni we lost over there? We were back in Richland
      over the 4th of July, it's amazing how much it grows
      each time we return. New bridge, new mall, but some of
      the old radio stations are still on the air. Does
      anyone remember Dick STEPHENS ('66) illegal radio
      station? Keep up all the memories, I look forward to
      them each day. -Gerald STEIN ('66)" 

Well, I for one can say that Dick STEPHENS ('66) hasn't changed
one bit! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Gerald STEIN ('66) on your special
day, November 5, 2015!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!

-David RIVERS ('65)
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>>From: "JP" PANESKO ('83 and '84)

I wanted to add to Larry MATTINGLY's ('60) excellent
explanation of swamp coolers as used in Richland, as my dad
owned several "A" and "B" houses that we rented out and I was
the one who got to do the seasonal maintenance on the swamp
coolers when I was growing up.

Side note: My dad used to own the house that I think Larry grew
up in (on the corner of Roberdeau and Long) - that was one of
our rental houses from the late 1970s until my dad sold all of
them in the early 2000s. That was one of our nicest rentals,
with a fully dug out basement on the south side, and a darkroom
and additional bedroom in the basement on the north side (the
house had a doorway installed between the two dining rooms
which was a common conversion for single-family use; we walled
it off so we could rent out both sides).

On the two-story "A" houses, we had the swamp cooler
permanently installed in the window at the top of the stairway.
Why? These windows were located directly above the back-door
porch, so one could use a short ladder and then stand on the
porch roof to service the units (one had to be careful of the
overhead electrical lines coming up to the house at that same
point). Then most of the cooling air could be directed straight
down the stairs, with part of the register grille turned to
direct some of the air towards the upstairs hallway. In the
winter we would tape a plastic cover over the front of the unit
to keep as much of the cold air from getting in.

On the single-story "B" houses, we had the wood stand
supporting the cooler as Larry described, with the cooler
installed in one of the bedroom windows. These units we would
push back from the window during the winter since that was
better than trying to seal off the front of the unit and
leaving it in place.

As Larry described, it was typical to have a tap on the outdoor
faucet (they used to make faucets with this provision - I
haven't seen them in the stores recently) for a 1/4" copper
pipe which was routed along the outside of the house and then
up to the unit. There were two types of water systems used: 
the simpler and lower-cost single-pass units, and the high-
falutin' ones with a recirculating pump.

On the single-pass units, the 1/4" water line ran to a control
valve that was on the front panel of the cooler inside the
house, so the user had to manually turn on and off the water.
This valve then fed water to drip troughs above the evaporative
media panels. On the bottom of the cooler was a male hose
thread to which a standard garden hose was attached to drain
out the excess water - this we routed out to the yard and we
would move the end of the house around every now and again in
order to water the back yard grass.

On the recirculating units (more expensive and more
maintenance), the 1/4" water line ran to a float valve inside
the cooler which maintained about 3" of water in the bottom of
the cooler at all times. When the cooler was turned on, an
electric pump directed water from the pan to the troughs at the
top. These units had no drain line, and the water had to be
emptied (or not) at the end of the season. 

The downside to the recirculating units was that the water
could get pretty dirty and musty after sitting for some time,
as incoming dirt/dust/pollen would get trapped by the media and
then washed down into the pan where it built up.

My job was to clean out the units at the beginning of the
season, connect the water line, lube the oil cups on the motor
and fan bearings, and then winterize them at the end of the
season. The copper water line had to be disconnected at the
faucet and then the valve opened at the top in order to drain
the water out of the line so it wouldn't freeze over the
winter.

Yes, I did have to replace a few sections of copper pipe that
had split open over the winter! You also had to route the line
so it didn't have any low spots in it that would hold the
water. You learn these things the hard way, but then you also
remember them (I still remember being fascinated as a kid that
ice could split open a METAL pipe and I recall saving a split-
open piece for several years in my brass-fitting coffee can).

Believe it or not, we were still using swamp coolers into the
early 1990s! I had one at the "B" house that I was renting from
my dad after college when I worked out on the Hanford site. In
most cases, our renters had actually purchased their own window
A/C units by that time (which worked better and didn't humidify
the inside air - in fact, they did the opposite). My dad kept
rents fairly low so we had long-term tenants who didn't mind
that expense.

-John Paul "JP" PANESKO ('83 and '84)
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That's it for today. Please send more.
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