Lloyd Woods' Newsletter
Our Claim to Fame is Our Name's the Same!
Issue No. 9, March 1996
Responses
Several members wrote and hoped I would continue this diatribe - why, I'll
never know - so I'll give it another go. If any of you can't stand my writing,
just drop a card asking that I take your name off the list - no recriminations
or parting shots.
Member News
Lloyd Vernon's wife out in Indiana wrote that he suffered a stroke Nov 15
numbing his whole right side. He is taking therapy to learn to walk again. He
has Alzheimer's disease along with heart and stomach problems. So let's keep
Vernon in our prayers - it does work as I've found.
No Fly
Maybe a bit of humor will help. Son John was always raiding my skivvies
drawer so in self defense I bought some of these colored shorts (jockey
style). Went to buy a second package as this seemed to do the trick only, on
getting them home I found they were "Bikini" style and no fly in front. Now
how is a man supposed to know they're not on backwards even though the fly is
a seldom used feature? On top of that, they keep riding up so you have to use
your forefingers to disengage them just like the cuties as the beach do! It
seems nothing is exempt from this "Unisex" movement.
Still More Carpool
Art and John, a Chinese lad, were our first contractor members. They had
lousy cars - Art with an old Audi and John with a dying Mercury Cougar. No air
conditioning and no heat. Let me tell you, the Chinese have it all over the
Scotch and Germans for being cheap - John wouldn't even buy a thermostat so we
froze in the winter.
To get on with the story, Art bought a new Audi but,
his wife being in real estate, she got to use it every day. One day she was
headed north out of Baltimore on I-95 and it overheated. So she stopped in the
next service station and the guy told her the water hose was "over by the
fence". So she drives over, raises the hood, and took off the cap - on the
valve cover where the oil goes! Car seized up a few miles up the road. They
were flushing that car out with kerosene for several months - never did run
right after that. Poor Art, his pride and joy. Should have traded the wife in
too.
Over the Roof
Ever hear about the guy who needed to fix his rather steep roof so tied a
rope around himself and to the car bumper out front. He was working on the
roof in back when his wife decided to go shopping. He got quite a ride too but
managed to live to tell the tale in spite of numerous broken bones. Some
things you shouldn't keep from the wife!
Canadian Capers
Henry Alexander tells the following story about the political situation in
Quebec: "As you know, the Premier's name is
Jacques
Parizeau. I was told a
little joke concerning him. Apparently he was in a Mall one day when a lady
slipped and fell on her backside. He helped her to get up so she thanked him
and said that he was a kind and courteous man. He said:
In that case maybe you will vote Yes in the referendum?
to which she replied,
Mr. Perizeau, I fell on my butt, not on my head.
And we think we've got troubles.
Local Boy Makes Good Freeways
The following is from Valley Bound, a publication of the Bay Area Rapid
Transit District.
Local boy makes good freeways
A San Francisco Bay Area native, Lloyd Wood has made his
mark all over his own neighborhood. That mark comes in the form of
construction on major freeways for Caltrans including the widening of
Interstate 238 to I-880, and, of course, the widening of I-238 for BART's
Dublin/Pleasanton Extension.
I-238 Project is Key Link for Extension
Lloyd is the resident engineer for Caltrans, which is providing a critical
pathway for the new BART Extension to Castro Valley and the Tri-Valley. In his
words, 'This project is the key link for the BART Dublin/Pleasanton
Extension.
The job includes a 750-foot double tunnel to get the new extension into the
I-238 median, a new State Route 238/I85 freeway bridge and BART structure,
construction of new sound walls, realignment of the existing I-238 freeway
lanes, and building the BART trackway in the median.'
And all within the
confines of a major commute artery between east and west Alameda County. As
a bit of background, the freeway median is wide enough throughout the majority
of the extension to accommodate BART tracks without widening, so BART acts as
the lead agency for this work. However, at I-238 and the portion of I-580 east
of Foothill Road, the median is not wide enough to accommodate BART.
Therefore, Caltrans acts as lead agency on these sections of the extension
because they are major modifications to the freeway.
Position of Tremendous Responsibility
Lloyd has been directly responsible for making sure that the contractor builds
exactly what is needed by both BART and Caltrans. His is a position of
tremendous responsibility and cooperation between multiple agencies. 'The
partnering process that BART enters into on every contract is very valuable,'
says Lloyd, referring to BART's pre-contract program for working out problems
before the work begins. 'With partnering, you get every agency: BART, Caltrans
and others into the room and you scope out the project and anticipate possible
problems before we start moving earth. There has been a tremendous amount of
cooperation between all concerned parties.'
Grateful to Project Neighbors
But of all the partners involved, perhaps the group that has been the most
cooperative is the general public. This job has been very disruptive,
especially to the neighbors living right next to the construction project. 'I
would like to personally thank those people for putting up with us, and to let
them know that the worst is now over.'
Lloyd (Gordon) is truly local, as he lives very close to the project in Hayward and has been a member of the
Caltrans team for 32 years.
Closing Conundrum
Some friends sent me a lot of funeral home records from my home town to aid
in my genealogy efforts. These were very useful but I found several related
entries that can only lead to a lot of questions. The first was:
Left leg of Edith ___, b. 13 Aug 1891,
amputation 8 Feb 1945. Bur. 9 Feb 1945
along with her religion and parents' identities. The second entry was:
Edith ___, b. 13 Aug 1891, d 19 Mar 1945. Fun. 21 Aug 1945
plus employer, religion, husband and parents' identities.
Did the poor woman have to pay for two caskets? Did they exhume the left
leg and bury it with the rest of her. How big was the leg's casket? Why did it
take five months to bury her? Couldn't find the missing leg? My wife's uncle
was an undertaker so I suppose we could ask him how these matters are handled
but she won't. Sometimes records don't fill in all the details but I'm sure
Edith is finding some way to navigate her new surroundings.
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.
Lloyd is the resident engineer for Caltrans, which is providing a critical
pathway for the new BART Extension to Castro Valley and the Tri-Valley. In his
words, 'This project is the key link for the BART Dublin/Pleasanton
Extension.
The job includes a 750-foot double tunnel to get the new extension into the
I-238 median, a new State Route 238/I85 freeway bridge and BART structure,
construction of new sound walls, realignment of the existing I-238 freeway
lanes, and building the BART trackway in the median.'