I got an email yesterday from a long lost co-worker, fellow college student at Spartieville, and friend. We worked together on the Alaska Pipeline in the mid 70’s. He thought it might be a good idea to post something in that regard. That was damn near 40 years ago but some things have emerged. So here goes: For R.C Henkel

Sometimes we worked the production line, sometimes in the bush on surveys. For those who don’t know, a salamander is a portable heater resembling a skinny top hat that functions much like a burning barrel you might find on an urban street corner. One snowy Thanksgiving Day was spent at a kerosene fueled salamander in the bush eating our cans of Vienna sausages. It wasn’t a sad thing just luck of the draw in the work rotation. Back at camp the food was really good.

I was also reminded of all things, porta-potties. Arctic porta-potties. At 40 below things can well, freeze. So the ever ingenious designers actually had propane burners installed to incinerate the waste after each use. We called them atomic turd toasters, and you really needed to be upwind.