Millings's Stories and Poetry

 "My father's birthday was in the Summer. It was either August 12 or August 16.  I couldn't keep straight which was his birthday and which was Ruffy's birthday. "

Mom and I spent two weeks borrowing Raymond and Franny's (Frank) home on Center Hill, the one the Blaus eventually acquired. We left for Weld just after the wedding.  (Jean remembers the two weeks vacation was a wedding present from Ray and Fanny Frank. Jean also has a memory of Joan remembering Dick Stillinger (Stillings), Bill Romey (Romings), and Henry Blau (Blaw) followed them to Weld and serenaded them from the lawn.) 

 We had just put into commission the USS Frigate Bird, built in Quincy Adams Yacht Yard in Quincy Massachusetts. We left he shipyard and tied up at a pier nearby.  There was a full moon, an offshore breeze, and a high pressure area, all pushing the water out to sea. The skipper went home, and I had the watch. I came out of the ward room (where the officers ate and relaxed in non-meal times) after dinner and noted the ship was listing -- it was aground. I called the skipper at home, and he came down. There was nothing to be done.  When the tide came back in, the ship went back into dry dock the next day to check for damage; there was none. 

 There's not much to say.  A pilot -- someone who was experienced and specializing in taking ships through difficult channels -- came aboard and navigated the ship. I'm not sure about this, but I think the canal was owned by Panama but under permanent contract with the US.  I remember that we had some problem; we had 2 engines on the ship and one of them temporarily gave out.  Whoever had the conn (IDK the source of this word, but it means command) had some difficulties.  I was managing the deck crew, and we had to use our fenders, our big bumpers (3-4 feet long, round 1.5 feet in diameter) to keep us bouncing off the side. We went through 3 locks -- I can't remember -- and there was some difference in height. In the middle of the Panama canal is a lake; ships had to go through 2 locks on one side and 1 lock on the other side. I think we had to go through 2 locks first to raise the ship to the lake then 1 lock to lower the ship to the Atlantic.  As soon as ...

The course was really called, "Ethical Considerations in Business Decisions."  Wesleyan got funding; the intent of which was to improve communication between the business community and the university. Bob Kirkpatrick asked if I'd like to apply, so I did. I got the money.  The class met once each week; we'd have discussions when there were no guests.  During a regular semester, I would have probably 7 guests for the 14 class sessions.  A guest would come, he would talk about ethical considerations about his decisions. Guests were all senior executives, including a recently retired CEO of GE and a current CEO of GE.   We used the money from the grant for refreshments for the class and dinner for a subset of the class. The class became known as "Dinner with Dick."  I tried to get a convicted prisoner out of Danbury prison. He had said yes, then the week before said no.  So I was stuck. The man who didn't come was a convicted felon who had stolen 2 mi...

 The table was roughly square with 19 students sitting around it. The assignment in the class was always to read a court opinion and be prepared in class to discuss the economics. The name of the course was Anti-Trust Economics.  Two women took completely opposed views of the economic analysis used by the court. They argued and spoke at the same time. They got louder and louder. Other students shifted in their seats and seemed to wonder what I was going to do to stop the argument.   Not knowing what else to do, I took out my hearing aids, put them on the table., and leaned back in my seat. The women shut up instantly. 

 In 2004, I had my second hip replacement. The Monday of spring break, I went to the hospital, was operated on, stayed for 3-4 days, went home. On the Monday 2 weeks after the operation, I met my 9 am MWF class. I did not miss any classes. 44 students were in the classroom.  Every day prior to that Monday, some students were late.  But particularly that day 2 weeks after my hip operation and the first day back after spring break, 4 students were late.  After class, I asked each of them to stay.  In the front of the empty classroom, I asked them why they were late.   "My alarm clock didn't go off."  "My roommate didn't wake me up." "It's long walk to the classroom from my dorm room."  "My puppy was my backup alarm, and he didn't wake me."  So I said to to these 4 students, "Listen up. 2 weeks ago today I had major surgery; I had a hip replacement. If I can get my repaired ass to class on time, you can get your healthy ass to c...

In one of the Navy ships I was on as an officer (my job was a First Lieutenant), there was an enlisted man, a Seaman, named Grunden. Grunden and I got in a race tying a bowline. I had learned a technique at Camp Kawanhee involving twisting my wrist and was finished with the knot when Grunden was still taking the rabbit out of the hole and around the tree and back into the hole. The race, of course, was to be won by the faster;  I won much to the amusement to the other six or so men in my division who were watching this race. All the enlisted men didn't know I could tie a bowline and expected Grunden to win.  Grunden figured I had tied it incorrectly and in disbelief inspected my knot.

Part 1. It was September 1964. I was at MIT. A leave from Wesleyan and an NSF grant funded my time there. I was at lunch at a round table with Paul Samuelson (one of the first economists, maybe the second to earn a Nobel Prize in economics), Bob Solow (won a Nobel Prize in Economics) and seven others. I was sitting next to Bob. The discussion involved the outbreak of the Vietnamese war. I whispered to Bob that I had just resigned my commission in the Naval Reserve. He whispered back, "That may have been the best decision you ever made." Part 2. I know Bob remembered me, but didn't know Paul remembered me until we were at the funeral for Jim Tobin (a Yale professor who also won a Nobel Prize). There was Bob and Paul and a bunch of others; Samuelson saw me, stuttered for a few seconds, then said my name.  Part 3. There was a German economist, Rinehart Selten, who had written an article using game theory summarized as "four is few and six is many," meaning if you h...

 1.  Dad, did you ever golf?    A couple times. (long silence) When was the last time you golfed?  With my father-in-law Stanley Walton. (note: STW died in 1969, 51 years ago). (Long silence.) Can you tell me about it?  I was the only non-retired person with 4 other elderly men who played golf 5 days each week.  I think I may have golfed once maybe twice before then; I don't know.  They all were being nice to me and said I could tee off first. Looking ahead at the par-60 course, I rolled the ball around in my hands, hiked up my pant legs a bit, one leg at a time.  I addressed the ball, giving my shoulders a little shake -- all these things I had seen the pros do.  I knew what I was doing.  I took a couple practice swings, shook our my shoulders again side to side, and swung. (long silence) And?  That ball sailed 175 yards straight down the middle of the fairway.  So I shook my shoulders side to side a little bit, and I hit...

   Story Told by RAM to JAMM on the Dock in front of 15 Winter Lane August 27, 2020 https://cultofsea.com/safety/man-overboard/ In 1955, I was released from active duty to complete my obligation on active duty in the Naval Reserve. I think I was subject to recall for another nine years in the Naval Reserve.  My required subject to active duty recall was five years; I stayed longer than that.  Each year I would go in for training for a couple weeks. Several of us who were in the reserves would be on the boat together for this annual two week obligation. We would practice drills.    One drill was the “man overboard.”    I was on the bridge giving commands to the helmsman.    In this drill, the commands depended upon the side the man went overboard.    If he went to the starboard side, the cry would come, “Man overboard starboard.”    Then I’d say, “Right full rudder,” to the helmsman and “All engines ahead full,” to the...

 We moved to North Dakota in 1946.  I told my brother that this state had an opportunity to cut up the land and sell it to other states to use as landing strips.  I wonder what he thought of me.