Seeing that picture of the young women standing outside the old phone company building on Promenade and Coal reminded me of this true story. We took a field-trip to the phone company from school. Not sure what grade, but Im fairly certain it was from Eugene Field, so elementary school. We saw rows of operators, the business office, the shop, etc. But in showing us the inner workings of how the phone system works, the person giving the tour opened up an electrical cabinet, and there was a huge bank of relays clicking away. He said something like every time you hear one of these relays clicking, that represents somebody in Mexico making or getting a phone call. I was fascinated. Later that night, at home, I asked my dad, who worked the Electric Shop at AP Green, Dad, how does a relay work? ( I guess I was born to be an engineer). So he took me downstairs to his workbench, and not only TOLD me how a relay works (the coil, the contact carrier, the contacts themselves, the electrical signal moving from one place to another), but he actually WIRED one up that he had, and SHOWED me how it worked. Including how to make it magnetically seal itself in. Wow. As I said, I must have been about 9 or 10 or so, and the idea of learning by experiencing something has never left me. A few years later, he showed me how an electric motor worked. I built one out of a 2x4, some nails, and a bunch of copper wire, for a Boy-Scout merit badge. I went to University, and became and electrical engineer. In early 1987, I lost my job when the company I was working for went belly up. A guy I went to church with found out, and asked if I would be interested in interviewing with his company, whod just lost an applications engineer. I said sure. I went over the next day, he showed me around. They made controls for mechanical power presses. (machines that stamp parts out of metal). It was a small company, and he arranged for me to sit down with the companys president and owner and talk about possible employment. Now, the truth is, many engineers dont know their ass from a hole in the ground about real, actual practical stuff. (shhh!) So the president and I talked for a bit about the company, and he wanted to know about my work history. Then out of the blue, he asks me: Do you know how to make a relay magnetically seal itself? I smiled. After explaining it to him in what must have been excruciating detail not only HOW, but WHY it works, he says, Can you explain to me exactly how an electric motor works? (Mechanical Power Presses use large electric motors to drive the flywheel that provides the motive force to do the work on the metal). I told him about the 2x4, the nails, and copper wire. Well, John, thanks for coming in today. Well get back to you in a day or so with an offer. Im still with the company 27 years later. Director of Applied Engineering. My dad was still living at the time, and when I told him, I think this became his favorite story ever. One of mine too. And I still remember the sound, the smell, and the sight of all those relays at the phone company.
Posted on: Wed, 02 Jul 2014 23:11:37 +0000
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