This should be a short one;  I can't believe I haven't written this up before...I've told this story a thousand times.  But the geek-speak joke on Stevesplace reminded me of it:

In June of '67 the semester ended at the U of A in Tucson and MC moved out of Arizona Hall and went to Phoenix to join her family who were in the process of moving there from Oklahoma City.  She and her dad were staying with his sister, MC's Aunt Rita.  One Saturday I had driven up to see MC and late that night we were sitting on Rita's patio;  it was about midnight and the temperature was over ninety degrees.  MC's dad and I were kinda feeling each other out, getting to know a little about each other.  He had been in the Army Air Corps during WWII, a weatherman at an airfield in India.  I asked what he did nowdays for a living.  He had just started up with the General Electric (later to become Honeywell)computer assembly plant.  I made the mistake of saying that I could never understand how computers worked.  Well.  Three plus hours later, I still didn't have a clue how they worked...but I am sure I had been given a college-level education on that subject.  All I took out of it was something about teeny, tiny wires crossing with little metal doughnuts and electrical charges...or something like that.  In any case, that was quite a while ago and I still remember the wires and doughnuts...but I am sure that had no bearing on how computers worked back then and surely less than how computers work today. 

It was a shaky start but over the years we became great friends.  MamaCharlie's dad is an extremely intelligent gent and a witty soul, to boot.  From a generation long ago and far away, when people worked and strove for self-sufficiency.  His misguided love of Corvairs (and subsequent hate for Ralph Nader) and his love of flying filled his his garage and all his spare time for years.  He bought an antique Taylor Craft (think Piper Cub) that was in pieces and rebuilt it from the ground up...including teaching himself the art of covering the airframe with fabric and resins and painting it.  When it was a complete airplane again, he got a license and flew it.  Amidst all this he continued to rebuild Corvair engines and raise Chinchillas. 

In the time I have known MC's dad,  I have learned a lot from him.  But not about computers...all I got is wires and doughnuts.