The Hat

I don't  usually wear hats but I'll make an exception for this one. My son Andrew brought this hat back with him from Seattle on his last visit home (Whittier, California). It was one of the hats he wore while performing with his band up north. I kinda like it.

1976 Boxing License Photo

From a lifetime ago and another life. The photo from my 1976 California Boxing license. My hair was still black and I could not grow a mustache if ,my life depended on it. Like I always say: Nothing stays the same.  Life just keeps rolling along!

A Dream

Good morning. I hope everyone is doing well.

I had a nice dream last night. I found myself in the back seat of an old car but the car did not seem old. I was sitting behind the driver. My wife Jeri was to my right.

I saw my mother sitting in the front passenger seat and my kids were all in the front with her.They were kids again. My mother was young too. Her hair was made up the way she wore it in the 60's.

I was trying to grasp the situation when I realized it was my father who was driving the car. It was all very confusing because I knew he was dead. In the dream I began to remember that my father had come back. He never died he was just gone for a long time.

Suddenly, I stood up (I was the age I am now but it's a dream), reached over the seat and put my arms around my father. I was emotional. "Dad, all these years we thought you were dead!" He patted my arm and said "I know mijo, I know, I'm sorry.

I looked over at my mother and she had this blissful look of contentment that I have not seen in her face since my father has been gone. We had eye contact and I felt what she was feeling "He's back, everything will be okay now" I felt it more than heard it. It seemed so real I thought my father was back.

I'm sure there is some deep meaning to the dream. She could use him right now. Things have been tough for her. It was a nice dream.

It's Who I Am

By Randy De La O

Years ago, when I was a manager on the MD-80,program, at McDonnell Douglas, a guy on my crew named Kevin (I can't remember his last name) said to me “Randy, you have a Pollyanna view on life”. I wasn't sure how to take that and I guess it showed because he said “I don't mean it as an insult, it's just that you're always optimistic and you always look for the best in everyone. You trust people”. He was complementing me.

I didn't realize it at the time but he probably summed up exactly who I am when he told me that. Maybe not entirely but in a large part. Sometimes being optimistic and trusting has it's good points and at other times it's not so good. When I was young, both as a boy and as a young man, I think I was easy (in some ways) to take advantage of. I was easy to cheat because I trusted people.

I would like to think that I learned a few things in my life since then. I also believe that those people, both family and friends, that became close to me accept this flaw or asset (still not sure) and in some ways it became the basis for our friendship. It became a bond of trust. I learned to recognize those that looked at me as prey (I'm no one's prey). In time I learned to defend and protect myself. I'm not talking physically but emotionally and socially. I'm telling you this because at my core, this is who I am. I am optimistic and I trust people (just not so blindly).

I am still a person that genuinely believes in and trusts in America. You may think me naive but it's who I am. I believe that the good people of America still outnumber the bad. I still believe the best of America is still to come. I have to believe that, I'm a father and a grandfather. I still believe that this country is worth fighting for, just not with each other.

As much as I love my country, there are still things that I don't like about it. It's the same with you I'm sure. We need to remember how to agree to disagree and work together again.

Words are meaningless, it's how we live that counts. I want to make a difference. It begins at home. I have raised my kids to be independent, respectful and to love their country. I don't expect them to think just like me. They all have minds of their own and all have their own points of views but they respect each other.

My family is not perfect and neither is my country but we're all we have. Sometimes we are even dysfunctional but if we don't make it work, or at least try, who will?

Today, just like thirty years ago, I'm still optimistic and I still look for the best in everyone.

The American Flag

This is the American Flag. it does not represent the Republican Party, neither does it represent the Democratic Party, nor any particular race, ethnicity or special interest group. This flag represents America. Be proud! Today more than ever do not forget to vote.

Those Were the Days (My Friends) by Bonnie Tyler

To my friends that I grew into manhood with. Though we have parted ways and have not seen each other in some years, I cherish the memories. We fought, we won and we lost, we loved and we also won and lost. We drank the night away! We lived! We stood our ground. But time can be ruthless! Those were the days my friends!! This is for you!

Douglas Aircraft Company - Section Manager Training Program Certificate of Participation

Of all the mementos and memorabilia that I have accumulated over the years working at McDonnell Douglas/Boeing Aircraft Companies, this is the one that means the most to me. It's the one that I'm proudest of. It probably doesn't amount to a hill of beans outside of MDC/Boeing but it represents a year of schooling and on the job training. It was earned. The program and class, in my case, ran from July 1988 to July 1989. The certificate itself was presented to me by the Douglas Aircraft Company-Long Beach, a subdivision of the McDonnell Douglas Company.

In some ways it changed my life forever. I conquered so many personal fears during this time. I met people that I might never have met otherwise. Good people. It was a great time in my life and a great personal memory.

There was a informal "Graduation" at the completion of the program. The above photo is from that day.

"Think and Grow Rich" and Words to Live By!

I must have been 17 or 18 the first time I read "Think and Grow Rich" by Napoleon Hill. I must have read it at least a half dozen times or more in my life time. My father also read this book more than a few times. I still have my ragged old copy in a box somewhere around the house. When I was young, I read stacks of books on self improvement, or success or books on writing and speaking. These things were important to me when I was young.

I never did get rich and I never could quite figure out if it was because I just did not have the right stuff or because through the years my priorities and outlook on life kept changing. Those who know me know that money and material objects mean very little to me. I love things that keep life simple or those objects that are connected to a memory.

Still, every time I read that book I found words to live by, that have nothing to do with money, things that have enriched my life in other ways. Maybe that was really what Hill meant by "Think and Grow Rich". Let me say this here and now. No book can replace the Bible but I do believe that we can still find wisdom and sources of inspiration from everyday people.

This is a poem in his book. I'm not 100% sure if Hill is the author of the poem but it is inspiring nonetheless!

“If you think you are beaten, you are,
If you think you dare not, you don’t.
If you like to win, but you think you can’t,
It is almost certain you won’t.

If you think you’ll lose, you’re lost,
For out in the world we find,
Success begins with a fellow’s will
It’s all in the state of MIND.

If you think you’re outclassed, you are,
You’ve got to think high to rise,
You’ve got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win a prize.

Life’s battles, don’t always go
To the stronger or faster man
But soon or later the man who wins
Is the man WHO THINKS HE CAN!”

Pop Pop and His Girls

One of the great pleasures of my life is spending time with my granddaughters, Mariah and Maddie. Simple times mean the most, like last night's quick run to Tutti Frutti for some frozen yogurt at the Whittier Marketplace.  Good times, simple times. The "Apple of my eyes", both of them. According to Maddie, I look like the guy from "Home Alone" (Joe Pesci). You gotta love it!

Happy Birthday to Our Son Andrew

Not too long before my son got out of the service he called me and said "Dad, I just want to let you know that I'll be staying in Seattle once I get out of the Coast Guard"

"What, you mean for a while? You'll be coming back at some point right?

"No dad, I won't be coming back to California. I love Seattle. this is where I want to live!"

We talked about it for a while then we hung up. I shared the news with my wife. it was a difficult thing to accept.

I must have looked a little depressed the next morning as I was walking into work. A friend of mine asked "What's wrong?" I told him about the conversation. He looked me in the eye and says to me, "Sounds to me like you raised a man!", and just like that I was standing tall again.

He was right. My wife and I reared him up from boyhood to manhood. She nurtured but I trained him. I taught him to be one of the good guys, with no exceptions. I taught him how to think on his feet and to rely on himself. I taught him to stand his ground. Together we taught him to love freedom and his country.

We didn't buy him his first car. we didn't have to, he bought it himself. It was stolen not too long after he bought it but he never complained about it.

He got into trouble from time to time, and he was full of mischief as a boy but he never gave us grief. He was a great kid. He is a good son and a good brother to his sisters and a great uncle to his nieces and nephew.

He has his own ideas about the country and the world. Sometimes we agree and sometimes we don't. He has his own mind and he keeps his own counsel. I would expect no less.

My wife and I miss him everyday but it's balanced by the love and pride that we have for him. As a man, he has met and surpassed our expectations.

Our son was born on this day thirty-three years ago. Happy Birthday Son!

The above photos were taken at the Huntington beach Pier in 2010.

Mammoth Bound

My wife Jeri took this photo as I was filling up my Landcruiser somewhere along the 395 heading to the Mammoth Lakes. She and kids were inside. It was 1979. I bought the Landcruiser in March. Gas had reached one dollar the day I bought it. It seemed unbelievable that gas could  get that high. little did we know.

This was the first vacation I took since I began working at Douglas Aircraft. We were all excited. I fished all the Mammoth Lakes and the June Lake Loop on that trip. I broke my favorite Garcia-Mitchell pole on that trip too. Still, it was a great trip and we made the most of it. 

Douglas Aircraft Company: Nothing Lasts Forever.

MD-80 Promotional Video

Buildings 80 & 84

These two videos are a perfect examples of the success and the demise of the aircraft industry in Southern California. The 1980's were the boom years for the McDonnell Douglas Company. At the Douglas Aircraft Company in Long Beach the work force was over 40,00 strong. The feeling was at the time that the future and success of the company was limitless. Okay, so the parking was tough and the traffic on Clark Avenue and Carson Street were miserable but they were remarkable times for both McDonnell Douglas and the aircraft industry. I am grateful to have been a part of it.

I spent approximately eight years on the MD-80 production line, working on the upper fuselage in department 509 in building 13 and on the nose dock in department 546 in building 80. I spent time in both departments as a production manager. When I look back at those years and the friendships I formed at the time, they were like high school years. Unforgettable times.

The first video is a professional commercial video promoting the twin engine MD-80. The second video, was taken a few years ago by a youtube.com user named crankyflier, presumably, a pilot on a tour of the property, shows the empty and deserted buildings 80 & 84.  Today,buildings 80 & 84, have been sold and are currently being remodeled and retooled for another company. Nothing lasts forever, not even a giant aircraft company.

A small side note: Growing up my daughter Meranda thought the MD stood for Meranda De La O. She still gets a smile on her face when she remembers.

My Short Term Retirement Plan

I don't exactly have it all planned out yet but you can bet this a big part of my retirement plan! I'm looking forward to some good fishing time in 2015.

Retirement Dinner Party at the California Grill

 

On the evening of Friday, November 21, the family and I went to our favorite restaurant, the California Grill, in Whittier, to celebrate my retirement. It was a great time; with my wife Jeri, daughters, Lori, Meranda and Savannah and my son in law Josh, along with my grandkids. My mother, my brother Dennis and his family were also there to celebrate with us.. On top of all that I got a call from my son Andrew fro Seattle, so it was a perfect night for me. My thanks to my family for the cards and gifts, and especially all the kind words. I felt the love!

The food, the service and the ambiance were all top notch. My thanks to the California Grill for making my retirement dinner party a success.

The C-17 Globemaster III and the KC-10 Extender Tanker - U.S. Air Force

Courtesy of the Dailyrepublic.com

Courtesy of Lifeinmilitaryflight.wordpress.com

I was fortunate to work on both of these incredible planes. I worked on the first McDonnell Douglas KC-10 Tanker when it began production in 1980 at Douglas Aircraft Company in Long Beach, California. The KC-10 is the military version and reconfiguration of the three engine DC-10.

I worked on the first C-17 in 1990 and 1991 as a first line production manager. The last 16 years I have worked on the C-17 as a aircraft mechanic. I completed my job on the final C-17, ship # 279, in October of this year.

Retired

1979

On November 21, 2014, after almost 36 years, I walked out of the Boeing facilities for the last time and into retirement. I hired on when the company was still the McDonnell Douglas Corporation, on January 2, 1979. I was 24 years old. The Long Beach facility was still  the Douglas Aircraft Company, a division of McDonnell Douglas.

The C-17 Globemaster III is the last surviving program in California from the McDonnell Douglas days. The C-17 was and is a product of McDonnell Douglas innovation, ingenuity, and engineering and the UAW Local 148 workforce. The C-17 program will be shutting down in 2015. That will effectively end any and all major aircraft manufacturing in Southern California.

It will forever be my privilege to have been associated with the two finest aircraft manufacturers in aviation history. We really did something here and I will take that pride with me into retirement. I still look with pride when I see one of our planes passing through the sky.

I began working on the DC-10, and have worked on the KC-10, the MD-80 (originally the DC-9 Super 80), and all it's various configurations and generational descendants, the MD-11 and the C-17. Immediately following the McDonnell Douglas/Boeing Merger I worked on several 737's. I have worked in different capacities and job titles; from aircraft mechanic, team leader, quality coordinator, supervisor/manager and again as a aircraft mechanic. Each move from one program to another was akin to starting a new job again, learning a new set of skills and meeting new people.

Like everyone else, I complained from time to time but I really will miss the work. Even more I will miss the people. Over the years I have met people that have become lifetime friends. many of them are gone now for one reason or another; retirement, quit or fired and death. Though it was hard to leave, for me the timing was right.

When I started it was just a job. little did I know it would be my career, my life's work.  I raised my family, bought my home and had a good life, all courtesy of McDonnell Douglas and Boeing. I can honestly say I grew up at McDonnell Douglas.I am grateful for all of it.

I'm not sure yet what my plans are. Rest is a part of it but I'm not retiring from life. I'll be spending more time with my family, especially my grandchildren. My wife Jeri and I have always wanted to travel, maybe we will. It seems all my life I have done the things that needed to be done, now it's time for me to to do the things I want to do,

The two photographs are 35 years apart. The first was taken in 1979, department 513, in building 80. I was working on the DC-10 outboard ailerons. The second photograph,taken earlier this year,  is on the 405-AJ, department  17C, building 54. I was working on the C-17. 

2014

 

Caldo de Pollo (Chicken Soup)

Caldo de Pollo

 It's that time of the year again, the weather in Southern California is changing and winter is underway, not the winter of the mid west or back east, perhaps, but still, it is changing. That change means soup, large pots of soup to warm a body up.

Last night as the rain was coming down I was inside watching "Lassie Come Home" on Turner Classic Movies and enjoying a hot bowl of Jeri's Caldo de Pollo, or Chicken Soup, if you prefer. It was perfection in a bowl. "Lassie Come Home" is still the definitive Lassie movie, or dog movie for that matter, and Chicken Soup is still the definitive cold weather soup.

Chicken soup, like almost any soup does not so much require a recipe as it does timing. Other than the chicken, the ingredients are  a matter of taste. What is important is that you time your ingredients so that they all done at the same time, and after reaching a hard boil, lower the flame and let it simmer.

Red Chile Gravy and Carnitas

I made a small batch of carnitas/chicharrones to be combined with homemade New Mexico red chile. This is the base for red chile gravy. We will also be having traditional giblet gravy. My ethnic contribution to an otherwise traditional Thanksgiving. We all have something to add. What is your ethnic contribution?

The chile looks a little orange in the photo but it's a deep red. It has a good kick to it too.

Lemons and Tangerines.

Lemons

Tangerines

For the first time in quite a while, our citrus trees are producing good fruit. The Valencia Orange tree is still too early in the cycle but the tangerines will be ready in a week or so, I don't think it will be too much longer than that. The lemons are ready to go right now. The trees have been semi dormant for a few years but for the most part they have given us good quality fruit.

When I was a kid growing up in Pico Rivera, California, we had two lemon trees, one in the front yard and one in the back. Whenever one of us had a stomach ache, or felt a cold coming on,either my mother or father, would make us some hot tea made from the lemon leaves. It seemed to do the trick, and it tasted good too.

What I am Searching For

I am searching for something and I'm not sure if it's an idea, a place or a way of life that does not exist any more, or if it does, it's in small pockets across the country. I see it in people I know and I sometimes meet people  that personify it.

It's a place where folks still love America and are not ashamed to say so. Where children can play outside til the sun goes down and a mother need not panic. She knows they are safe.  It is a place where children still have respect for adults. It is a place where adults have earned the respect. In this place time moves just a little slower.

There is a place out there where a man's word is his bond and a handshake is what seals the deal. It is a place where when a man and woman say to each other “Til death do us part”, they really mean it.

It is a place where a teacher, a police officer or a neighbor is still someone that you can trust with your son or daughter. Where adults behave like adults, not teenagers. Where not everyone wants to be famous for doing nothing. It is a place where money is important but not more important than people.

It is a place where families still get together on Sunday evenings for a good home cooked family meal made with love by mama.  It is a place where children listen when grandma and grandpa share their their memories about the way things used to be.

It is a place where a man can still find work, and be grateful for the opportunity to earn a paycheck. In this place men can debate their differences in politics, or anything else for that matter, and still remain friends.

It is also an idea that I am searching for. The idea that we still believe we are a great nation and that greatness is still part of our future. It is also the idea that a nation, like it's citizens, remain humble, remain giving and perhaps more than anything else, remain forgiving.

Above all else, it is a place where a man and woman can choose their own destiny, find their own future. In this place a man or woman, can reap the benefits of hard work. It is also a place where accountability and responsibility fall squarely on your shoulders and no others.

In the America that I still believe exists, men, women and children, still respect  Freedom and the American flag and those who have served their country. They can still pray to their God, without any form of reprisal, criticism or worse. You are also free to do none of that because your right to choose has already been paid for in full by some one that has fought and died for that right.

In the America that I am searching for, All men and women, regardless of race, ethnicity or religion, really are created equal and all have a right to the American dream. This is the America that I believe in. In the America of my dreams, no one can remember what the words hate or racism mean. They have been forgotten. In this place no child knows what it is like to be unloved, unwanted or hungry.

You should know that if you are my friend, whether I see you every day or not, you are my friend because I see these qualities and hopes in you. If you are a family member I already know where you stand. I am grateful for all that we have, at home, in our country and in our hearts.