Lloyd Woods' Newsletter

Our Claim to Fame is Our Name's the Same!

Issue No. 11, September 1996

Connecticut Fun

When we first moved to Connecticut we rented a nice Cape Cod house north of the submarine base. It was a good house owned by a submarine captain on duty in the Pacific. We got there in June but it was a dry year and by August the well went dry. No amount of pump priming would bring forth any water so every couple of days I'd have to stop along the highway where there was a spring and collect plastic jugs of water. Bathing four little ones in a few cups of water - meant the last ones were washed in mud! Then son David got the brilliant idea of collecting rain water from the down spout when the skies gave forth. This went on until winter just before our house was finished. I subsequently found out the town would park a water trailer in front of the house if you had problems but the experience did add to my character anyway. It also convinced the wife I was mad for ever leaving her civilized abode in California.

More Deckhand Tales

Lake Huron was one extreme or the other. On the way up there was a storm with fairly big waves quartering on us. That old laker was only 380 feet long but limber as all get out. You could almost see the mast up forward leaning to starboard while back aft, you were bending to port! Coming back the lake was a flat calm. One crew member got appendicitis so the captain radioed the Coast Guard over in Traverse City for help. They sent out a PBY that flew around several ships looking for us even though we were deliberately steaming in circles to attract attention. Eventually they realized we were the right ship and set down. We got the man into the boat and over to the plane and he was on his way. It was so calm though that the PBY taxied almost out of sight before getting off the water! They needed a few waves to bounce themselves airborne.

Culture Migration

My boss at Electric Boat once told me that many American fads and characteristics begin in California. He must be right as I noted a piece in the paper where lawn mower racing had come to Maryland. My neighbor and I started that 25 years ago out in Concord, CA. These Easterners haven't got it right yet though - a true lawn mower race has to follow certain rules. To wit:
  1. The race must be spontaneous - preferably at a neighborhood beer party
  2. The race should be conducted at one am down the main street of the racers' subdivision
  3. No riding mowers are allowed, only self-propelled hand push mowers. Pre-tuning ones mower for the sole purpose of beating your neighbor is definitely unsportsmanlike.
This type of race is an excellent way to acquaint your underage children with their father's character, or lack of it.

Canine Column

Our last dog was about three years old when I picked her up at the pound. She was a bit overweight but the pound master said she was a sweet dog so I named her "Maxine". Sweet my foot - she demoted the wife and took charge in no uncertain terms. Took over our bed and objected strenuously when evicted (used to sleep under the covers with her head on the pillow). Shirley was relegated to the hidabed downstairs. Good watchdog though as nobody, and I mean nobody, got in without her permission - friend or foe alike. Shirley didn't get the upper hand until she returned from the hospital and gave me the ultimatum. After some thought, I posted a notice in the local grocery store hoping it wouldn't be taken up. Maxine held out for about three more weeks but finally a lady came by ecstatic about the dog. It's been over a year now and the dog hasn't returned so I guess they got along OK. I can't even get Shirley to agree to a cat.

E. Is Still Elusive

Lloyd E. out in Walnut Creek, CA still hasn't divulged his middle name! I guess we'll have to assign him one as we can't have members running around bereft of a middle name for us to address them by. So, unless he comes clean, he'll be known as "Elusive" whenever we hold the convention! Speaking of that, why don't all who can make it just show up at the Lloyd (Ellsworth) Wood Show in Nashville, Indiana on some preannounced date next summer? I'm sure if we gave them some notice we could inveigle a space to meet in and compare waistlines, etc.

Pick a date Ellsworth...

Tax Comments

Congress and the President are considering a $500 tax credit for children. The people of this country would be better served by increasing the personal exemption from the present $2500 to $4500. This exemption should remain the criterion for determining if a child's income qualifies him as a dependent. This change would treat all taxpayers alike and bring some relief to parents supporting adult children with incomes well below the minimum wage. It would also benefit those supporting children in college without the need for the additional administrative expense. Second, allowing people who exceed the 7.5% medical limitation to deduct all of those expenses would alleviate their burdensome impact. Many people cannot get insurance that is affordable due to preexisting conditions, discriminatory mental health policies, or exclusion of competent doctors. Additionally, medical savings accounts should be available to those unable to obtain group insurance or Medicaid.

Last, support programs such as SSI for the mentally ill and others should not be denied based on personal income when that income is below what SSI would provide. Reduce the SSI payment by the level of personal income so that all people in need have at least the same level of sustenance.

I feel it is time for this government to return to the ideal of "of, by, and for the people." Curtail the pork, the support for the rest of the world, and tax breaks for those less in need. It is time to recognize that governments are tolerable only when they further the well being of the individual, not the state.

Managed to get this printed in the Baltimore Sun July 27, 1996. LWW

Silent Key

Lloyd Clark, featured in Issue No. 3 and our Internet contact, has passed away according to a list of ham operators on the Internet. His help will be sorely missed as he scanned our product and made it available worldwide on the Internet under the Hot Muddy Duck BBS home page. Our condolences to his son and family.

I exchanged a few emails with Clark, or Woody, so I've taken over the job of putting the newsletter on the web. Least I could do. - LW

LCT 625 Reunion

Richard G. Bates is putting together a reunion of those who served on LCT 625. He's looking for a gunner's mate, Lloyd Wood, from Indiana. If you're him drop him a line please.
Richard G. Bates,
4928 Holly Grove Drive,
Las Vegas, NV 89130-2232,
phone-(702) 658-0818

Did You Notice?

I trust you noted the subtle change in the header last issue. Hopefully my grammar is correct as I intended to indicate that this is our newsletter, not just mine. So, to you English teachers, if I got the apostrophe wrong, please let me know. I never was a star grammarian.

Fixed for the webbed version throughout. - LW

A newsletter to all Lloyd Woods, by Lloyd William Wood, or LWW.
HTML web version and additional comments by Lloyd Wood (L.Wood@surrey.ac.uk), or LW.