Fun Stuff (Statute of Limitations Has Run)

[Dejure]

About five decades back, I used to work for the Naval Torpedo Station at Keyport, Washington. My daily driver was my 69 C10 step side. It was, for all times relative, running a 250 six and a LeMan's 4 speed. A friendly U-Joint made it play well with my drive line.

A few years in and the transmission had issues, caused by, I suspect, a failed pilot bearing. I was hard pressed to find the right bearing for the front end of that transmission. Fortunately, there were a lot of old timers who were car buffs on another level. One was an old man of around sixty (I snicker because I'm, now, fourteen years older than he was).

After explaining my problem to that old fart, he pointed out that the Mark 48 torpedo's we built equipment for and worked on used the exact bearing I needed to get my transmission working smooth again.

I walked over to the supply place we got our parts from and ordered one, after a bit of fandazaling.

I went home with the bearing, pulled the tranny (a half hour project, since I'd become adept at such play), pulled the front plate and swapped bearings. The old one was toast, the new one fit, and I installed the package.

Never had another problem. Must have been that $300.00 dollar bearing, which would have cost $20.00, down town.

 

[Turbo4whl]

Now when the Gov-ment comes to collect the $300 for the bearing you borrowed, with intrest it will cost you a million five.

 

[Ricko1966]

Now when the Gov-ment comes to collect the $300 for the bearing you borrowed, with intrest it will cost you a million five.

Saw an episode of American Greed. 2 old women that owned a hardware store and sold hardware to the Government made an error on shipping.like a 20.00 purchase and 5.00 shipping but charged 500.00 shipping accidently,and got paid. So they started overcharging shipping,larger and larger amounts until it was at least 10s of thousands if not 100s of thousands before the Govt. figured it out.

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[Dejure]

GULP

You mean, like all those who call themselves members of the IRS millionaire's club?

They started out owing $250.00, but, within five years, and with added fines and penalties, were told they owed over a million. Sadly, more common than most know or would believe.

Now when the Gov-ment comes to collect the $300 for the bearing you borrowed, with intrest it will cost you a million five.

 

[Jawzjeep]

I'm in those neck of wet woods. Keyport is right up the road. Todd's and PSNS real close too.

I painted a guys house down the road many, many years ago and my pay was a crap load of consumables that I don't know where he acquired. Tons of short and long SGS burr bits, welding goggles with spare glass, welding jacket and sleeves, rods and wire, hearing and eye protection, a vast assortment of roto lock pads, different kinds of gloves (one is padded so I don't feel the shock of a hammer blow against metal), stack of cut off wheels, like 100 different grinding wheels, a couple dial calipers, micrometers, lots of little fabrication tools and a bunch of other stuff I cant remember now.

We both were very happy campers in the end.

 

[hey mister]

I'm sure you all heard of the microwave oven charged for one of the first space shuttles.
And I think I remember a Cadillac engine on the books for another one as well.
If I recall correctly, those involved got spanked and then it was business as usual.

 

[Dejure]

Keyport was a bit like when I was in the actual military, rather than a civilian working on a military base. That is, it, often, was a bit like being paid to go to a circus.

The stuff that was thrown away, so the shop could look good for the Admiral coming to do a walk through, would have made the average taxpayer more than pissed.

Every so often, money got short, but they couldn't can us, because we'd find new jobs and when the money came back, they'd be screwed for workers they didn't have to train. Subsequently, they'd send us out off to do busy work. Things like going to the Container Field to inspect containers for live rounds.

It was BS busy work. Those containers had been inspected many times over already. So a significant section of the container field just became a man cave. We got the forklift driver (Herb, probably gone now, unfortunately (nice guy)) to move crates around to build a fort with a maze to get into it. Keep in mind, some of these crates were 6' tall, 5' wide and 10' long.

One guy, with contact with one shop, scored us a 4x8 sheet of 1/2" Plexi for a bastard roof. Another brought his Coleman stove and lanterns. With the buffer from the weather and a roof, it actually stayed comfortable in there in the dead of the easy west coast winter.

Eventually, I quit my secure, good paying job (a boss pissed me off no small amount) and I went to work for myself full-time. After being gone about three years, the news reported that all hell broke loose there. It seems they discovered a "small city" built in the Container Field. That news story came with a lot of fun guesses as to how that little city got there. None of it right, as described above. Still, the indication was, that there was a lot of panic about the security breach on a secure Naval Base. It was pure comedy. Especially since they made up their own clues.