Memory: A Run-In With Frank Borman, Astronaut! I worked on the Apollo Program in Apollo Test & Operations. My first job was testing the electrical power system (EPS), and it was OK but a bit boring. They moved me to Stabilization And Control (SCS), where I got excited. I worked hard and took home everything I could to read about the system. I became friends with a representative from Honeywell, who gave me a set of schematics for the innards of the Honeywell-provided boxes. I was surprised the others on the test team didn’t do the same, but they were much older, and I was a fresh 24-year-old.
We were testing the Apollo 8 Command and Service Module, and after several months of testing, we got to the more complex tests called Integrated Operations. I remember it was test procedure TCP-0131, which meant the real astronauts would fly into town and operate the controls as we went through the test.
I was on the second shift meaning 6:00 PM to 6:00 AM. We were running a hand controller procedure, and I was running the network with at least 100 people connected, including Frank F. Borman II, James A. Lovell Jr. William A. Anders.
During one sequence, Borman was to move the hand controlled for a full-pitch maneuver. Everything went well until he said, “Stop the test; this is not right”, and he explained his position. I told him, “Everything is working fine; let’s proceed!”
Well, he got upset and directed the test to be put on hold, and he was going to come up to the control room to talk to the person who told him he was wrong. I was in big trouble; an astronaut was coming to yell at me. It took ten minutes for him to egress the capsule, take off the bunny suit, and make his way to the control room on the second floor of the test facility.
In the time it took Frank to make it to the control room, I consulted my Honeywell representative, and he confirmed the test was OK.
Frank came into the room calmly and asked to speak to “SCS – my callsign on the net.” I explained how the system worked and even had some charts/drawings that I threw together to show him. The Honeywell rep confirmed my position.
He understood, apologized, and thanked me! Wow!
Come to find out, the simulator they had been using in Houston was not programmed correctly, so they had been training incorrectly. My boss got a friendly letter from Frank about the meeting with me, and I was a happy, albeit nervous, camper.
Monday arrived, and we inspected the garden first thing in the morning; Mary headed to her little babies, the strawberries. It was a beautiful day, with the weather expected to be in the 70s!
I reminded Mary that strawberries were just trouble. I reminded her of the truckload of strawberries that crashed on the freeway. It’s caused a huge jam.
While on a strawberry roll, I asked, “What’s red, made of strawberries, and sucks your blood?” I answered, ” A jampire.”
A glorious morning it was!
Mary went to her doctor in Newport for an 11:00 AM appointment, and I stayed home and worked around the house. When she returned, we headed out to do errands.
I read that the vegan super burrito at Del Taco had 44 grams of protein, so I suggested we stop and try it. It was OK but not nearly as good as the guacamole burrito from yesterday, and I made mine better by pouring hot sauce on it. I also tried their shrimp taco, and it was pretty good.
I also tried the new Asian burrito, but the green onions kept falling out. Curse those wrap-scallions!
We departed Del Taco, went to Yorba Linda, and visited the La-Z-Boy furniture store as we are looking to replace some couches with newer ones, the home theater types. The store had plenty of items to show, and we sat in a host of seats.
We sat in every chair in the store!
We settled on this style for the TV room with more grey high-quality leather. Each seat has its remote controller and is complete with USB ports for iPhones and laptops. Of course, we have glass holders for our vino!
We homed in on this one for the TV (Living) Room.
We opted for the highest quality leather, and we have a decorator coming to our home to make the final decision on leather.
They offer almost 50 colors in leather material.
For the Family Room, we will get rocker style; no electronics save USB ports.
We settle pon two of these for the family room.
We are looking at four couches/sofas to complete the TV (Living) and Family Room. It was a job putting all of our things together, and now we are finally finishing up the task.
Maybe one more for the family room?
From there, we went to Cosco and combined our cards into one, thus saving one yearly subscription price. We traveled back home and stopped at AAA and did the same thing. I added Mary to mind as I had 51 years with AAA and had the premium card. We are saving money, which is a good thing.
It was time for dinner at home, so we heated the Thai peanut noodles and fried string beans Robin had made this weekend. She brought them over, quite proud of her accomplishment.
Right before dinner, we took our glasses of wine to Jeff’s house and visited for 30 minutes, catching up on the neighborhood gossip. Jeff is a great neighbor.
These tasted fantastic; we finished off everything Robin brought over!!
We called Robin to say the meal was terrific, and anything she does it again, make extra!
Robin also made friend string beans which we enjoyed. In the summer, we will provide her with loads of string beans!
Robin did NOT bring the orange chicken!
By 8:00 PM, we were tired and hit the sack. We watched a funny movie called “Along Came Polly.”
We stayed awake and watched it because it was so funny. Lights are out at 10:00 PM.
