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The house we purchased was all I had hoped for. I was a ranch model with a full
basement on a lot of over 1 acre. The living room had a huge picture window through which you could see the marshes across the road and the towering silos of a nearby farm.

On the left was our only neighbor, and our properties were separated by a hedge row and a row of fully grown poplar trees. There were two vacant lots on the right which separated us from a major road in the area, and to our rear were farm fields which were planted alternately with corn and soybeans.

The interior was equally beautiful. The kitchen was large, and was divided from the family room by a bar from which food and beverages could be served. The family room was paneled with dark wood and featured a room dividing two-way fire place which separated it from the living room. The dining was just off the living room a featured a large glass chandelier.

The house was large, but not too large for two people and was unique in its design. Since the house was only two years old, there were still lots of things
that could be finished to add a personal touch to the place. And the basement was
unfinished except for the laundry room which meant a game room or workshop could be
added later.

The house was exactly what Ursula wanted, which is why I found it very strange that soon after we moved into the house, Anita became very depressed. Ursula was a strikingly attractive, tall woman with a vivacious outward manner, who befriended people readily. In the nine years we had been married, I had never seen her really get downabout anything. Suddenly she was noticeably depressed so I asked her what was wrong.

“Nothing”, she replied.

“Anita, something is bothering you. I have never seen you depressed like this and you've been this way for several days. Do you want to talk about it?”

We had been sitting together on the couch when she got up in an attempt to avoid the conversation. “Never mind,” she said. “I'll take care of it myself.”

I replied, “Well if you won't talk with me, maybe you should get some professional help because I've never seen you like this before.”

Then she turned in an attempt to give me some answer, she said, “I guess it has something to do with not having a baby.”

We never discussed the matter again and Anita did seem to improve after a few days and the subject never came up again.

The last week of June, John Mason and I boarded a flight to Summerfield, Ohio where the Tenneland plant was located. The flight was memorable because we hit severe turbulences due to local thunder storms as we approached the Dayton-Columbus airport late in the afternoon. After a safe landing, we were leaving the airport in a rental car when a tornado warning came on the radio and we were advised to pull of the road and seek cover. Such was my introduction to Tenneland, Ohio.

The next morning John drove me to the Tenneland plant where we were to spend
the day. At one point in his career, John had been a salesman, and it was obvious by his outgoing, loud, smiling manner with which he greeted people at Tenneland. I was hurriedly ushered around, introduced to people and then shown the laboratory.

The Tenneland plant was typical chemical manufacturing facility with a small
support and quality control laboratory. The plant itself was designed like the southern Tenneland plants which meant it was an open-air plant and was not completely under roof. This design was fine for warm southern climates, but it presented some problems during the cold Summerfield winters.

I was introduced to Paul Jones who was the chief chemist at the plant and a Ph. D. chemist like myself. In my brief introductory conversation with Paul, he related some of his background and experience which was very similar to mine. It was so similar, my first impression was that he had seen my resume or had been briefed on my background, but I was a little bewildered as to how he would have accessed my info.

Paul was extremely cooperative. He demonstrated all the tests and synthetic procedures for phenolic resins for me, and gave me access to his small personal library. He also gave me a copy of a computer search of the current technical literature and told me that he would see that I got a monthly copy. The rest of the day I spent reading and learning phenolic resin chemistry.

The next day I was told Carl Host, whom I had not yet met, would be flying to
Summerfield from Texas and that I should get together with Carl and Paul for a meeting. The meeting the next day consisted mostly of Carl and Paul discussing the manufacturing of some of Gamma's products. Since Gamma Supplies did not have adequate facilities to manufacture all of its products, Tenneland was manufacturing some of them. I sat there dumbfounded as Carl gave out some very specific information about the manufacturing of Gamma products. Carl talked as if he were talking to his boss. I had come from a company like Tenneland and I knew how companies valued manufacturing secrets. Such information was closely guarded. And since Tenneland had a product line that it sold to the same foundry industry that Gamma Supply sold to, I saw a real danger in giving Tenneland such detailed information.

Eventually, I entered the conversation and the topic became the phenolic resin used in Gamma Supplies' “Quick Set” foundry binder system. I asked Paul, who was a phenolic resin expert, what he thought the problem was and what might be done to correct it. He quickly gave his analysis and then itemized several changes that should be made in the resin to make it work. His answer was very specific and complete as to what was needed. After the meeting, Dave went on his separate way and John and I returned to Milwaukee.

I returned to Chicago with more questions that answers. What was Carl Host's
function in the company? What type of arrangement did we have with Tenneland
and was it formalized? What was Tenneland's role in Gamma's legal battle with
Better Supplies? Was Tenneland to provide technical support and do some research on phenolic resins? What was John Mason's function to be since he was Ravi's right had man and Gamma Supplies/Tenneland's Summerfield liaison? I was confused and needed some specific answers, but I was not to get them.