March 27, 2006
Blackbeard's successor: Bud Hale
After a long run with the High Performance Wireless Research and
Education Network at the San Diego Supercomputer Center, we are
passing one of our Senior High Performers on to new adventures. At
about 72 years of age, Bud Hale, Systems Administrator and Microwave
Tower Climbing Instructor has decided to look for new thrills out
in the Briny Deep. Bud has decided to take a position with the
Scripps Institution of Oceanography, working on systems support on
the ocean going research vessels that sail out of Point Loma.
Bud, during recent tower installation work, obviously
contemplating life as a pirate on the seven seas
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With the HPWREN project since its beginning, Bud was originally
hired for a nerdy indoor position as System Administrator with the
National Laboratory for Applied Network Research (NLANR) project
at the San Diego Supercomputer Center. When Hans-Werner Braun asked
Bud if he would like to get out of the office and into the backcountry
and fresh air, Bud jumped at the chance to join the HPWREN team -
especially since it meant he would be spending some time 60 feet
or more up on a microwave tower.
Bud has performed exemplarily planning and execution for antenna
installations, working with tower site managers, designing hardware
and just promoting the HPWREN project as a whole. Almost always the
first man up the tower, Bud has always given even the younger tower
team members a lesson in physical stamina. There is no one that Bud
has come in contact with who did not come away with a far greater
understanding of the HPWREN project and knowledge that the project
appreciated their participation and cooperation. There is no shortage
of stories Bud can impart about his adventures with the project and
no one he wouldn't tell the stories to.
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A microwave tower atop Mt. Soledad functions as a fine resting
place for a well deserved nap, setting the stage to attracting
Bud to hammocks and crows nets as a new career
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Never having passed up an opportunity for an adventure, a long
time sailor, Bud has spent a lot of time on the ocean. It is believed
by some that he was Christopher Columbus' first sailing instructor
and Bud was the one who told him "Chris, India is that way" and you
all know how that advice worked out. Well, now the call of the sea
has become too great for him to ignore and he is going to answer
it, exchanging microwave tower cat walks for crows nests on ships,
while proudly standing next to a Jolly Rogers. He will continue
to participate with the HPWREN project in a limited capacity, and
it won't be long till he will be sharing his Sea Fairing Pirate
stories with us out at tower sites again.
Bud, we all know that no matter how far you go, you won't be far
away, and we will all see you again soon. And we leave you with
this one bit of advice: Mermaids are only "catch and release." You
can't keep'em!
Jim Hale
First HPWREN Shipmate
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