Page 98 - Adobe Photoshop PDF

– simply an old “ice-box” where a block of ice kept food cool and had
to be replaced every couple of days. There was no washer or dryer. Jean
washed clothes in the bathtub by hand, and hung them out the second
story window on a pulley wire that extended out the backyard.
We got a big kick out of the fact that after a couple of months
Jean showed Grant her thighs and there was a clear, shallow indentation
running across the thigh a bit above the knee. Grant laughed and as-
sured her that this curious indentation was a result of leaning against the
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Some days later, we found that the leaves were browning and dying,
despite the fact that the plant had been well watered. We searched for
a cause for such a strange result. I found a pinhole leak in the gas line
leading to a little room heater. The azalea far more than paid for itself
through having warned us of the gas leak.
I recall Christmas of 1943 as being a new experience. The fam-
ily assembled at Grant and Laurine’s. Grant picked us up in his car. The
sun was out and the temperature was about 70 degrees. Christmas in
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When Hanman’s project was nearing completion I was trans-
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all four shipyards. My work was to assign new employees who had
physical handicaps to jobs that would be within their physical capaci-
ties. I soon realized that shipyard management didn’t give a hoot about
people – ship production was the sole criteria. The ships were being
built on a “cost plus” basis. It bothered me that the shipyards were ob-
viously over-manned. There were 100,000 people working in the four
Kaiser shipyards in Richmond. My estimate was that at least 20 percent
were not needed.
After a couple of months I was informed that the job placement
program would be discontinued and I would be promoted to become
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and therefore resigned.
In the spring of 1944, Jean began taking the bus and the electric

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