The end
Evan Zabawski | TLT From the Editor July 2021
Before I go, I must work in something about Disneyland.
If you enter before all the attractions are open, you can still watch them lubricate the trolley rails, just like Walt.
This is it. This is my last column as TLT Editor. I would like to recognize a few different people who have inspired or helped me on this journey—be they chemist, engineer, spouse or astronaut.
Dr. Shirley Schwartz
My earliest interest in STLE’s magazine began before I even became a member. My boss at my very first job out of school was an STLE member, and he had copies of STLE’s magazine at the time, Lubrication Engineering (LE), on his desk. Flipping through the magazine, I could not help but stop and read a column entitled “Love Letters to the Lubrication Engineers.” With each new issue that arrived, I would find myself flipping immediately to the back of the magazine to read the latest “Love Letter” by Dr. Shirley Schwartz.
Shirley was the Publicity Chair for the Detroit Section of the American Society of Lubrication Engineers (ASLE) where early “Letters” were published in the section’s newsletter. She went on to become a director of ASLE, and shortly after ASLE became STLE, “Love Letters” became a monthly column that ran for 15 years until LE ended with its September 2003 issue. Most “Love Letters” focused on an issue between fictitious companies or types of people and offered advice on resolution.
I had the pleasure of seeing Shirley present some of her “Love Letters” at an STLE local section meeting where she pulled pranks on the section officer who introduced her. I was amazed to hear her introduced as a world-famous engine oil expert (affectionately known as Sister Sludge) from the Fuels and Lubricants Department at General Motors (GM) Research and Development Center, who was known as the mother of the Oil Life Monitor found in most new GM vehicles at the time. It was an unforgettable presentation.
She was fluent in half a dozen languages, played guitar and would likely beat you in ping pong, but she also held over 20 patents and had published nearly 200 technical papers—most notable was SAE Technical Paper 870403, Development of an Automatic Engine Oil-Change Indicator System, coauthored with STLE member Don Smolenski. Shirley was a truly remarkable person; she more than held her own at a time, and in an industry, dominated by men, pioneering the way for the women who followed.
I was deeply saddened to see the inaugural issue of Tribology & Lubrication Technology (TLT) in October 2003 no longer included “Love Letters” but was excited by some of the other changes. By absolute chance, I took a seat at a nearly empty table for the President’s Luncheon at the 2004 STLE Annual Meeting in Toronto and was joined by TLT’s then-publisher/editor-in-chief Tom Astrene, the very person who brought about these changes.
I started telling Tom how I never really connected with most of the content in LE and then shared a perspective a colleague of mine had so eloquently stated as, “LE always has papers about the friction of rubies on glass, in a vacuum, upside down in space. These only apply to six people in the world, and I am not one of them!” After we chuckled, I told him how much I missed “Love Letters” and, seeing an opportunity, I took a chance by offering my services to pen a non-academic, down-to-earth column with eclectic subject matter. I never heard back.
Don and Ann Riddell
I first met Don Riddell, the manager of field technical services for Imperial Oil (a Canadian petroleum company largely owned by ExxonMobil), at an Imperial Oil seminar in 1998. He gave a presentation on engine oil viscosity grades filled with analogies and digression but delivered with such energy and humor that his explanation of how 0W-30 would run better year-round and improve my fuel economy converted me.
Don was a regular speaker at our local STLE section meetings and was held in the highest esteem by his peers. Many other presenters would borrow his stories or try to emulate his pantomime, and I was certainly no exception. Over the next 10 years, we crossed paths at other seminars and industry conferences, and I would take every opportunity to sit in on his presentations or share a meal, just to learn as much as I could; he was almost like a mentor. But one day Don became quite ill and took a leave of absence from work.
In March 2010 he called me up and we chatted about some updates for a book chapter he owed me for the upcoming third edition of the STLE Alberta Section’s Basic Handbook of Lubrication, but he did not think he would be able to complete the revisions and asked me to do them for him. After agreeing to, I steered the conversation in a more pleasant direction by talking about riding his motorcycles later that summer—a hobby he loved very much. When the call ended, I had no idea that would be the last time we would speak. Less than three months later, Don passed away.
I chose to honor Don in my August 2010 TLT column by retelling my favorite presentation of his. The column generated the most feedback for any of my columns. One of the people who wrote to me was Ann Riddell, Don’s wife. She thanked me for the tribute and said, “This was one of the presentations that I actually had the pleasure of watching Don deliver, and you have captured the man and his style perfectly.” This was praise I valued quite highly.
When the Basic Handbook of Lubrication, Third Edition, was printed the following year, it included a short dedication to Don from the STLE Alberta Section. Copies were sent to all the contributors, but I delivered Don’s copy to Ann at their home. She invited me in, and we chatted briefly. I told her how much of an influence Don had on me and my career, and she thanked me for the book—I thanked her for Don. I miss Don.
Dr. Maureen Hunter
At the 2008 STLE Annual Meeting in Cleveland, I had the pleasure of going out for lunch with TLT’s then-Editor Dr. Maureen Hunter of King Industries. Over the previous year, I had genuinely come to enjoy her column, which was often filled with humor and practical explanations of more complex subjects, and I was thrilled to be able to spend so much time talking to her. When the conversation steered toward the magazine, I retold the “rubies on glass” story I had told Tom Astrene, and it had a different effect, but one that I did not see.
I remember my side of the discussion being quite passionate and energetic, but Maureen’s normally calm demeanor did not reveal the full extent of the impact I had made. When she had a chance to speak to Tom, she said, “I think we found our next TLT volunteer.” I can only guess Tom did not remember me from four years earlier.
A few months later, Maureen decided she needed to step down from the time-consuming role as TLT Editor and had recommended me as her replacement. The Editor is appointed by the STLE President, so without any word from Maureen, I received a surprise phone call from then-President Robert Bruce offering me the position. Luckily, I did not have to give my answer on the spot, since I was caught off guard and was trying to make the connection from a lunch six months earlier to the present job offer.
It was not a hard decision, and it did not take long for me to accept, so I sent off a reply and asked about the pay (I was kidding—this is a volunteer position). I knew I had some big shoes to fill, so I began thinking of ideas for columns. Shirley taught me there was always a way to work in a lesson, Don showed me tangential stories could liven up any technical discussion, and Maureen proved the lighter side increased engagement, so now I only needed one more ingredient to write my columns.
Heather Zabawski
Heather is a girl I met on Aug. 26, 1993. It was orientation day for the new engineering students at the University of Calgary. There was an immediate spark that found me asking her out on a date a short eight months later (I am not always quick on the uptake). After four years of dating (see previous comment), I finally proposed, and, as you can guess, she said yes.
As my wife and partner, Heather has given me many things in life, like a happy home and two wonderful daughters. She also has proofed nearly every one of my columns; I started asking her to do so as a litmus test, figuring if someone outside of the lubrication industry understood what I was saying, then I must have explained it sufficiently. I quickly came to value her gentle suggestions for rewording some passages and smoothing out my sometimes-abrasive tone. She helped me find my voice for putting together my seemingly random stories and trivia into an explanation or lesson relating to tribology, but what I really want to talk about is something else she gave me: a love of Disneyland.
The first time I visited Disneyland as a child, they were still using ticket books, which had five types of tickets lettered A, B, C, D and E. The E tickets were for the most desirable attractions like the Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, the Matterhorn Bobsleds and their two newest attractions: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Space Mountain. The problem was that even though ticket books had more E tickets than any other letter, it always seemed like there were never enough.
When I visited Disneyland shortly after they phased out ticket books in favor of the unlimited use passport, I rode my all-time favorite ride, Space Mountain, seven times in a row—it was glorious! But over the next visit or two, I kind of felt like I would rather try the significantly larger Disney World. So, years later, when my wife first suggested going to Disneyland, I balked. Fortunately, I did not protest too vehemently—I just needed the right person by my side to make it fun again.
Over the years, we have come to travel to Disneyland with alarming regularity. If there is only one vacation we are going to take in a year, we tend to choose Disneyland. If we are going to take two vacations, well, we might go to Disneyland twice. When we go, we do not go for just one, two or three days—we go for at least 10. And in our younger years, we did not just go for a few hours or even most of the day—we went from park open to park close. Having kids has slowed us down some, but their stamina improves with age.
Sally Ride
Sally Ride was an astronaut and physicist, often remembered for being the first American women in space and the youngest American to travel into space, but she was much more than that. Sally was selected as part of NASA Astronaut Group 8 and graduated from training in 1979 eligible to work as a mission specialist. She then served as capsule communicator (CapCom) for both the second (STS-2) and third (STS-3) Space Shuttle flights.
Sally also helped develop the Canadarm, the robotic arm used to deploy, maneuver or capture payloads in and out of the shuttle bay on the space shuttles, which she later operated on her first flight, STS-7, aboard the Challenger.
Sally flew a second time, STS-41-G, also aboard the Challenger and had completed eight months of training for the planned STS-61-M aboard the Columbia when the Challenger disaster occurred. She was instrumental in the Rogers Commission, which investigated both the Challenger disaster and the later Columbia disaster. Though it was not revealed until after her death in 2012, it was Sally who clandestinely handed General Donald Kutyna a NASA document showing the resiliency of O-rings as a function of temperature—steering the investigation toward what would ultimately be blamed for the disaster.
The reason I have listed Sally among all these other people is that I want to borrow a quote from her. A little more than 20 minutes into the ascent of STS-7, after the gimbal check had been completed, Sally had a brief exchange with CapCom about the flight thus far that summarizes my sentiment about what being the TLT Editor has been like for me. The exchange was as follows:
Sally: Ever been to Disneyland?
CapCom: Affirmative.
Sally: That was definitely an E ticket.
CapCom: Roger that, Sally.
Roger that, Sally, roger that. What an amazing journey this has been! I know I have a lot of people to thank for helping me along the way, but I wanted to make sure I brought attention to a few key ones. Thank you to you all.
Evan Zabawski, CLS, is the senior technical advisor for TestOil in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. You can reach him at ezabawski@testoil.com.