It's in the Book
My father is a retired Hydraulics Engineer, notwithstanding all of the many other things that could describe him and his accomplishments. Though largely self-taught, he studied tirelessly and worked his way to managing the hydraulics departments of local Agricultural Supply Businesses in southeastern Washington. He designed, built, and installed the systems that actuate the movable parts and controls of farming and manufacturing equipment.
For a time, we lived in northern Idaho, a stone's throw from the Canadian border. We were living there because my father had been hired to be the shop manager for a large ranch. He maintained all of the equipment and built from scratch anything that was needed: pipe trailers, welding rigs, lift gates and the like. The major crop on the ranch was potatoes.
Aside from agriculture, the major industry in the area is logging. The school that I attended sat right in the vee of two connecting highways, one of which came steeply downhill out of the mountains. All day long the logging trucks would come thundering down the hill to a stop at the intersection, the huge noise of their Jake brakes rattling the widows.
After returning from Idaho, however, he was self-employed. He built a shop directly adjacent to our house. As he discussed the jobs with his clients by telephone, he would often write his notes and make quick diagrammatic sketches with chalk on the floor of the shop. These he would then translate to paper, writing and rewriting over and again, talking with suppliers and making endless detailed lists.
From my perspective, the results were visually attractive but looked like loose field transcriptions from an archeological dig. Often, I would work with him to reconstruct his hand-drawn diagrams for jobs into workable schematics, helping the clients to get a better picture of his ideas.
When I was in High School, I moved irrigation pipe every day before and after class. Riding my bicycle to the fields and moving the pipe by hand. I had to keep a detailed account of the work, as I was paid by the piece. 13 cents each, as I recall.
After I had finished school, I worked for many years as a sculptor's assistant, making shop drawings, templates and patterns. I also worked as the wood-shop technician at an art school, a critical aspect of which was to help the students to make the drawings and plans for their projects.
Dad believes that learning something new every day is essential to living. He reads everything and anything. His response to being questioned about any statement that he makes is appropriate and predictable.
"It's in the book!"
Ken Ragsdale
March 2011
© Kenneth Ragsdale