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Life Afer Spinax: Bill "Tex" Hudiburgh
I'm still in business under contract to SPAWAR providing maintenance, upkeep, and repair services to their Research vessels and the submarine, USS DOLPHIN (AGSS-555). Also, under my GSA/BPA contract, I provide the maintenance and fabrication for all the facilities used in their large mammal programs.Quite an extensive program. Overall, I keep about 30 full time employees active with occasional increases up to fifty or so during RAV dry docking phases for Dolphin. I have two of my sons working for me and the plan is to turn everything over to them in the not too distant future. They're 'Ready' and I'm almost there. Needless to say, I keep pretty busy at what I do best but love every minute of it. I like having the reputation of being the only small business in the country that has the last diesel submarine under its contract. My unofficial title is "COMFIXPAC'. I just won the contract again for another 5-years starting 1 April. NAVSEA has decided to keep DOLPHIN active for another 18 years so it appears my company will continue to exist for some time. As you probably are aware, the government is responsible for care and maintenance of all the mammals they have in captivity for 40-years or until they expire. So that too, will keep us busy for awhile. In '97, I had AAA surgery for a huge aneurism they found in my Aorta during my annual physical. The thing was a little larger than a softball and could have ruptured at any time. To make a long story short, they cut me actually in half, twisted me open, took out a rib so they could get to it from the backside, removed it and inserted a Dacron tube in my Aorta in the shape of an upside down "Y", sewed me back up and said I was good for another 180,000 miles. I've recovered real well from that one. Now, I'm in the process of recovering from Triple By-Pass surgery that was performed on me last October in Walter Reed Hospital in D.C. Long story so I'll try to keep it brief. My Daughter is married to a Senior Chief Submariner stationed on the Squadron Staff in LaMadalena. Odetta and I took off to visit with them for 6-weeks last year in September. Plan was to do the Octoberfest and basically see everything we possibly could in Europe as long as they didn't run out of beer and wine. Anyway, when we landed in Rome, I could barely make it to the baggage claim. Ended up spending 4-days in an Italian Hospital in LaMadalena with me being the only one who spoke English. Then the submarine navy transferred me to an Army Hospital in Landstuhl, Germany for diagnosis, and then the Army transferred me by C-141 to Walter Reed for Surgery. A few days out of surgery, I had a stroke which affected my lower left periferal vision but nothing else. About 5-days later, they discovered that my incisions were infected and put me on a lot of antibiotic intravenus treatment. As far as I'm concerned, this is proof-positive that the Army people don't wash their hands before leaving the "Latrine."I'm glad the Navy taught us not to 'Pee' on our hands. There was a lot of concern over whether or not I was going to overcome the infections. Stayed a long time in the hospital but finally recovered enough and they put me and Odetta on a C-9 to Miramar and I've been recovering every since. Odetta was by my side throughout this whole ordeal and 3 of my 4 children came back to be with me through the surgery.One had to stay home and run the business. I feel real good, still don't have that part of my vision back but can drive with no problems. The Navy Doctors at Balboa are still checking me out periodically but it appears I'm in pretty good shape except I'm ugly. I asked for a second opinion but they said I was ugly too. So what the hell. "FIFTR" Detta and I are heading over to Vegas the middle of April for a Seafox gathering and "BS" session at the Golden Nugget. We have several old shipmates and friends who have migrated there so we should have a great time. I'm looking forward to our Spinax gathering when and where it is decided to be held. I've got a pretty busy itinerary commencing shortly after we get back from the Seafox thing but hope to be able to fit everything into our schedule that will be happening this year. I know we have to be in Texas for my 50th HS reunion in early June. Then in Honolulu in late June/early July for family and business purposes. Then back to Europe in early August/mid September to drink all the beer and wine we left on the tables. Plus I've got to put Dolphin in DryDock for a 10-month RAV period.So you can see that for an "Old Sickoh", I stay pretty active. Always a Black Hawk! Tex Hudiburgh <tex@nosc.mil>
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