238 A GUIDING LIGHT I remember old Joe Hertrich through church. My mother and Mrs. Hertrich were friends as they would go to the same mass at church and she kept bugging me to talk to Joe. That’s where I first met him. Joe had a tractor and he would bring the nuns the produce that he grew. Anyway, from then on Joe asked me questions about what I studied, what I learned and things like that. I joined Western States in 1949 as Joe’s assistant. Joe Hertrich, he was to me, my guiding light at Western States for a long time. — Joe Bange below: One of Hertrich's many Patents CHAPTER 15 DON’T TAKE A TAXI I remember my first trip outside of the United States. I’d worked for the company less than a year. I’d never traveled anywhere and had bad dreams about being “dropped off” out in a jungle. At the time, when the plane landed, they had soldiers on both sides of the runway because they were having a civil war with guerrillas. The plant I went to was right in the Valley of Coca (Valley of Cocaine). I wasn’t too concerned while I was there. However, later I learned the guerrillas would sometimes visit the mill to get money, and I wouldn't want to be around if that had occurred. Another thing, when I was at the airport, the mill was supposed to pick me up, but there was no one there. I asked a military guy, a policeman, what to do, and see if he could help me make a call. He said, “Don't take a taxi, becausethetaxicouldjusttakeyououttothejungle and shoot you.” My first thought, “Good. I feel comfortable and welcome in this country! Let's go!” — Don Henkel DON’T EAT THE FAT I remember in the Philippines I traveled with a person who worked there as a serviceman, but he also had a Philippine passport. Some of the other guys and I met with several of the mill people. We were having a party — roast pig. One thing was a little comical. Typically, Filipinos don't eat a lot of meat. Beans and rice are more common around the world. Meat is eaten maybe once a week. Anyway, we were in the Philippines having roast pig, and being the guest of honor, I got the choicest part of the pig. They served me the pig’s ear and the back slab — a cut of pig fat! In that country, that's the big treat, to get lots of fat. They don't eat much fat, so for them it's a luxury. For us, as Americans, it's the worst part! — Don Henkel LIQUID CRYSTAL One time, with a customer in Jamaica, we were trying to trouble shoot a problem over the telephone – for four or five days. But we were really struggling. They didn’t understand how things worked and what we were trying to explain. A perfect example is the operator interface screen, a liquid crystal display (LCD). Our customer just knew it was liquid crystal; knew it was cracked and knew it wasn’t working. His question to us, “It's liquid and it's leaking. So where do I add more water?"