Another LA Connection

Besides our fun day touring Julie's old digs in the City, Tony Schmitz and I were able to tour Andy DelCampo's jet engine parts factory near LA. Andy is an Aerospace Engineer who has a cushy job which he loves, and he invited us to see all the amazing equipment which makes reality out of the Blueprint designs he works on. This is high precision stuff--and massive!

The day we were able to go was a day off for the workers, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to make the tour. Unfortunately I wasn't allowed to take any photos because some of the jet engine parts are on order from the U.S. Government.

We were amazed to see huge ovens which heat up the Tungsten steel ingots to thousands of degrees, and giant hydraulic presses which apply 8000 tons of force to punch the steel into flared conical shapes. Some of these parts are about a meter across when they're finished.

We donned hard hats and toured even the bilge areas beneath the machines to view the hydraulic systems and giant pumps, pipes and electronic controls. Thanks, Andy, for a great and interesting tour!

Then, on our last day in the area, we had a few hours to visit our friends, Kathleen and Grant Neie, who came down to CR to visit a few months ago. Kathleen (previously Stone) used to live in CR and is close to Kitty and Tony Schmitz. We just met Grant recently (see CR post on his great Boogie Board). He's been a surfer most of his life and is also a collector of cars.

Here's Julie being greeted by one of their doggies:and Kathleen making us some tea...
And Grant's neat toys: The oldie is a 1927 Buick! The sportster is one of the original Mini (Morris) Coopers which are now being built by BMW. Grant noted that I'm a car fan and let me drive the Mini around town for awhile. Cool machine! He also offered to let me drive the old Buick, but I remember my 1931 Model-A Ford and suspect that this jobbie would be even a bit more difficult to drive that that one. It has a hand-operated spark advance and gravity-fed fuel tank, etc. Thanks Grant for the great tour! Kathleen and Grant were great hosts. (I even got a Reiki treatment from Grant, who is a nurse by profession.)