Stop the Oil Flow in the Gulf

My idea is a large steel screw. The screw would be very long with a very gradual enlargement to the top.

The point would be small and the diameter enlargement would be so gradual as to minimize the flow reduction until it started getting very deep.

At a certain depth the diameter of the screw would equal the hole diameter and flow would begin to be stopped but there would be enough of the screw in the hole to minimize blow past the screw. At a certain point, it would then be needed to start the screw twist to dig deeper and deeper. At the top of the screw there would have to be a bracket in order to screw the screw deep and tight.

When the flow had stopped enough a reinforced concrete cover would be placed around the screw,

It might be better to place a large concrete pad down first with a hole in the center at the oil hole, then the screw could be screwed down to that foundation.


Harrell Geron
Civil Engineer for the USDA
Temple, Tx

Margie......... request for thoughts or memories

This is a special request for your memories of Margie. I know it would be hard to write a long message, so it you can write a specific idea or memory I will include it in a collage of bits and pieces, and let me know if you want your name included.

send to ragknot@gmail.com

I will begin assembling them as they arrive and post them and re-edit as more arrive.

Thank God for Margie

Thank God for my sister, Margie she is loved by so many. Her family consists of her husband Mohammed, daughter Diana and son Adam. Also brothers Harrell Joe, David and sister Carolyn, and so many aunts, uncles and cousins. I thank God she is resting in heaven.

Services will be at Cate Spencer 403 Locust Sweetwater at 2 pm Sat. May 15. Everyone is invited to David & Carmen’s home to eat & visit later at 602 East Ave B, Sweetwater thank you all so much.

David Geron

Margie......... Feb 22, 1950 - May 12, 2010

From Mohamed Zaky, Margie's husband

Here is a brief history of my family. I have to write a book to write it in more details. Please add it to the ‘Three Couples’ story.

My birth name is 'Mohamed Saeed Hussein Zaki'. I was born in Cairo, Egypt on 10/17/1951 to my father Saeed Hussein Zaki (he worked as a Medical Assistant for just few years then graduated from college as a Social Worker and worked in the government Youth Department until he retired) and my mother Tahia Mahmoud Hassan (a housewife nicknamed by her grandkids as Tooty). My older sister Magda was born on 12/1949, then another sister Iman (Mamy) born on 6/1955 and brother Ehab (Happy) born on 4/1964.

I graduated from Military Technical College in Cairo on 6/16/1974 as a first lieutent officer and an Electronic Engineer. I worked for the Egyptian Air Force at the Main Air Force Depot in Cairo. In 1978 I started my Computer Software career. Then on Memorial Day of 1982 I arrived at US with a group from the Egyptian Air Force to study and work on the Air Force Computer Automation project. First we worked at Washington D.C. metropolitan area for one month. Then we moved to Dallas to continue our education and work.

On July 1982 I met my wife Margarett Annetta Zaky (Margie) for the first time. She was the assistant manager of the apartment complex we moved to in North Dallas. At the end of the month Margie and I became good friends. Margie was previously married in 1969, separated in 1978 and divorced in 1979.

The Egyptian work team decided to move back to the D.C. area to complete the work assignment. Margie and I were in love and decided to get married on Valentine’s Day 2/14/1983. Therefore I got my green card with my name as ‘Mohamed Said Zaky’. At that time I was considered absent without leave from the Egyptian Air Force.

I started looking for a job right after we got married. Margie quit her apartment management job in April 1983 because we thought I will find a job very soon. By October 1983 when I was still looking for a job Margie had to go back to work. Then I got my first break with a Computer Consulting company from Kansas City. They found me a contract for hire in Hartford, Connecticut. In January 1984 Margie quit her job and we moved to Connecticut to start my first American job. On my first day of work Margie found that she is pregnant with our first child. On 9/25/1984 Diana Renee was born in Manchester, Connecticut. My parents came and visited us in Connecticut just few weeks after Diana was born. At that time I found that the Egyptian military already court marshaled me in my absence and issued the standard military punishment three years in the officer prison.

In 9/1985 I found a job in Dallas and we moved back to Garland, Texas for six months then in 4/1986 to The Colony, Texas where we still live. My son Adam Brian was born on 12/19/1987 just three months after I became a U.S. citizen in 9/1987. In summer of 1988 we travelled to Athens, Greece and visited with my parents, sisters and brother and their families. In 1991 we vacationed in southern California and Disneyland and in Miami Beach, Florida. Then in 1995 we vacationed in Orlando and Disney World.

My father Saeed got the Alzheimer disease in his early seventies and due to a wrong prescription in 1995 he got into a comma for three months before he died. My older sister Magda also got the cancer disease right after my father death. Margie’s father Harrell passed away in November 1997.

In 1998 after the school was out we’ve decided to visit my relatives in Egypt. Due to my old military status I was captured by the Egyptian authorities in Cairo Airport in front of my family. Margie and the kids spent 25 days in Cairo with my sisters and brother then came back to Dallas. I spent 20 months in that military prison and tried all different avenues to get my freedom without any success. My sister Magda died in August 1999 while I was still in prison. During that time Margie just lived on our little savings and borrowed money from relatives. Also my son Adam started his social withdrawal. Margie started to take Adam to Psychiatrists and Psychologists.

In January of 2000 I returned home and got my job back right away. During 2002 the kids and I started noticing Margie’s memory problems. At that time Margie went to a Neurologist, did the brain MRI and found no problems. In January 2003 my mother passed away in her sleep.

In 2003 Diana graduated from High School with great honors and joined North Texas University with a full scholarship. Adam’s social problems started to get even worse when he went to the regular High School in 2002. In 2003 the High School had to transfer Adam to the District Learning Center for more controlled treatment environment which failed to help him. In 2004 I transferred him to a Special Education school in Dallas where he graduated from in July 2006. During that period Adam was still going to Psychiatrists and Psychologists to help him finish school and prepare for his future. All of these visits plus the Special Education school failed in his treatment and once he finished the High School he couldn’t communicate with anyone except his parents. Therefore he stayed home permanently and started getting the disability Medicaid assistance. I take care of all of his needs.

In December of 2007 Diana graduated from College as a Graphic Designer. Lottie, David, Carmen, Christie and Josh attended Diana’s graduation. Diana moved from Denton, Texas to Carrollton, Texas where she still lives.

Margie’s memory problems got worth and worth between 2002 and 2004. In 2005 all doctors who examined her already determined that she got a very early age Alzheimer disease. In 2007 Margie got to the final stage of the disease stage 7 and we were forced to place her in a nursing home because of the continuous need for medical assistance. Now Margie lives in Pilot Point Care Center in Pilot Point, Texas. She can’t talk anymore and her arms and her legs are almost paralyzed. She is always either in bed or in the wheelchair. It is very hard to tell if she can remember any of her family members. She has a feeding tube and a colostomy bag. She always breathes from her mouth because she already forgot how to breathe from her nose. I visit her every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday and I wash her cloths. Her kids visit her on the last Sunday of every month. I constantly pray for her permanent cure.

Diana finally found a job on September 2008 as a Graphic Designer at a company called Funimation in Flower Mound, Texas. But because of the economy problems her company let her go in January 2009. Then they hired her back in October 2009 where she is currently works.

Currently I work at Bank of America for the Technology team in Addison, Texas where I’ve been working since 1994.

Thanks

Mohamed Zaky

Charlie and Bob

This is a true story.

Most names have been changed to protect, etc. But it happened a very long time ago. I have told this story only once to a close friend of mine, Don Gilmore. Don can tell you the proper names when you see him. (He died several years ago.)

Once upon a time, we knew a married couple named Ed and Charlie. Charlie was the mother of three children and the wife of Ed. But soon Ed divorced Charlie for another woman, and he leaves this story, but he left Charlie in terrible condition. Charlie's mother and father lived close to her and helped with the kids, but they both were soon gone also due to a fire in their home. Luckily Charlie's oldest son escaped the fire. The others kids were staying with Charlie.

Times were tough for Charlie, until she met a truck driver that came through town every couple of weeks. His name was Bob.

As time passed, Bob came to town more and more often, until he finally moved in with Charlie. Things were finally looking up for Charlie. But Bob refused to marry to Charlie. They visited us regularly. Many times they would go for a long walk down the road and would come back with the smell of weed.

This went on for about a year, and Bob finally told me that he was going to marry Charlie. And before long they did get married. I was happy for Bob and Charlie and they were both happy to be together.

Bob had stopped driving a truck all over the USA and settled into a local job driving milk trucks from local dairies to various milk companies.
Things went well, until we got a phone call from Charlie telling us that Bob had been driving a gasoline truck and it had exploded. All that was ever found of Bob was a small handful of bone fragments. Sad times were back for Charlie.

The story now turns from Charlie in a very weird way.

One early Saturday morning, the sheriff showed up. He said he needed to question me about a murder. I said I would help if possible, but I knew nothing about a murder. He said that a witness had seen me and my wife visiting a grave at a small cemetery just down the road. The witness had watched us return to our home so he assumed it was Penny and me.

I told him that we sometime go for a walk that goes by the cemetery but we never visited any graves there. I asked who's grave are you asking about? He told me that it only said "Baby XXXX". ( I don't think I should reveal the name.)

I asked the sheriff, "The murder was of a baby?" And he said, “Probably, but they needed more information before the body was exhumed. He said the cemetery caretaker had called him about a grave that was not in the record books. The police assumed that someone was murdered and the body hidden in the old cemetery, where by sheer luck the caretaker noted the new grave and reported it.

I told the Sheriff that I had known a couple named XXXX, but Bob had been killed in a truck explosion over a year ago, but Bob and Charlie had no baby.

Penny entered the room to see who I was talking to. The Sherriff asked Penny if she knew anything about a grave with the name Baby XXXX.

Penny's eyes grew big and her chin dropped. She began to get very excited and I knew she knew something. She began to explain that the grave was not a grave but just a mound with a headstone.

She told us that Charlie had told Bob that she was pregnant. When she could not keep up the story after the marriage she decided she would have to tell Bob that she lost the baby.. Bob was gone for a couple of weeks driving across the USA for extra money, and she decided that she would tell Bob that the baby died while he was on the road. She stopped at a place that made headstones and told them that her baby died and she didn't have any money for a headstone. She cried and cried and finally they made a head stone for her with no records and no payment.

Charlie had gone to the cemetery and made a mound and placed the headstone there. Suddenly I realized why almost every week end they would come to visit and take that long walk by the cemetery. I could see them sitting by the grave mourning the baby. Poor Bob died after thinking he had lost a child.

The Sheriff said he had never heard such a weird story. It was so weird, he said, it had to be true. He said he had confidence that no one would care about his digging up the grave just so he could wrap up the case. He said if more info was needed he would be back in a short while.

I was worried about Charlie, would she be charged with a crime? I guess the Sheriff felt like me. He did not want to bother Charlie with additional worry. We never saw the Sherriff again, but we see Charlie often, but I could never tell her about the sheriff's visit. But Penny probably did.

In Memory of Billy Mark Geron - March 26, 1957 - May 5, 1962 As remembered by David Geron.

The date was May 5th, 1962. It was a beautiful day. The skies were blue. I was ten years old, Harrell Joe was thirteen, and Billy was five years old. Margie had spent the weekend with Grandma and Granddaddy Geron. Billy and I were playing like we were having a picnic. The table was an old TV. We were eating butterfinger bars. Harrell Joe came in the room and we discussed that it was almost time to get the milk cows.

Then Billy suggested we surprise Daddy by getting the milk cows without him telling us to. We decided to take a shortcut to the cows through a cotton field. Billy was on the top of a terrace. I was on the bottom of the terrace. Harrell Joe was between 20-30 feet across from Billy.

Then, all of a sudden, lightning struck and time stopped. I don’t know how much time passed once I woke up. I raised up and saw Billy with his clothes on fire. I looked towards Harrell Joe. He was running to Billy. He threw dirt on Billy’s body to try to put out the flames. He told me to go get mom and dad. I started running to the house, but Dad knew something was wrong. He met me halfway with Mom in the car. We picked up Billy and mother gave him mouth to mouth.

We started driving towards Colorado City. We got to the end of the Dorn Road and Dad told Harrell Joe to get out. There was a house on the corner that he thought had a phone. He told him to call emergency because he was afraid we didn’t have enough gas in the car to make it. Dad started slowing down at the corner and Harrell Joe jumped from the car while we were still going. Dad told Mom, "I didn’t mean for him to jump." We looked in the back and Harrell Joe was rolling on the road, but he was ok. Mom said let’s go and continued to give Billy mouth to mouth. We went to Colorado City. Billy was pronounced dead.

The doctor said he never felt a thing. He said his death was painless. Later that evening, I remember my uncles and aunts coming to visit. They sat on the front porch and everybody was asking me what happened. I tried to explain that Billy had told me that he wanted to go see Granddad Young. He said they were the best of friends and he asked me "If I climb up the tree in front of the house, do you think lightning would kill me and I could see Granddad?" He had known about lightning because our house was on a hill and lightning had struck several times destroying our TV. I said yes, but I didn’t want him to do that because he would see Granddad later.

After Billy’s death, my mother was never the same. The only thing that gave her happiness was the day Carolyn was born, March 15th, 1963. This was the first time I remember her smiling again.

My memories of May 5, 1962 -Harrell Geron

After my Grand dad passed away (Joseph Bruno Young had died in January) Mother told me that just before he passed away, he told her he was sorry about the accident, but we should not worry because that was one accident that could not be prevented. Mom worried and tried to figure out what kind of accident could not be prevented.

The night before May 5th, I was troubled by a nightmare where a red veil was dropped in front of eyes. I could see a bright light and hear yelling, but I could not tell what was going on. I woke up trembling and had trouble going back to sleep. But I did fall asleep and would not know for hours what the trouble would be. I was 13 years old, but the dream scared me like I was a baby.

I remember Saturday morning playing with Billy in the back yard. I had see the Mr. Wizard show and he had shown how to make a pump with a pair of plastic bottles and a marble. The marble would acts a flow control to let water in and stop it from back flow while you squeezed one bottle and the pump would force water thru a hole, kind of like a water gun. I shot water straight up into the air, and it gushed big time and got me an Billy wet. Being only 5 years old he ran away crying. I told him to not be a cry baby. We played with the water and had fun but we both got in a little for getting all wet.

Later that day, we saw a rain cloud coming. David and I were supposed to bring home the milk cows at night so they could be milked in the morning. Usually they were in the back pasture with lots of trees and weeds, and a long, long trip both ways. But that day, dad had placed the cows in the front field to graze where there were few weeds and no trees. We could clearly see the cows less than a half a mile away. Our house was on a hill top and the cows were down the hill. Billy wanted to go with us, since it looked like an easy trip.

It was to early in the day, but it looked like rain so we decided to get the cows and let Billy come. I don't know the time of day, but it seems like it might have only been 4 pm, but we were excited and wanted to get the cows anyway.

I remember that I was walking in front, but I don't know exactly where Billy and David were behind me, probably not more than 20 feet. We had just left the grassed area and entered the plowed field and terraces.

The next thing I knew, the red veil had fallen over me once again, but I did not hear any yelling. I was laying on the ground, but unhurt. I got my eyes opened and looked around to figure out where the bright light had came from. I knew the red veil was my shut eyelids during the flash. I saw Billy on the ground, and heard David yelling. Billy's clothes were on fire, and I rushed to him and pitched some plowed dirt on him and started putting the fire out, I rolled him over and the put out the last flames. By that time David had stopped yelling. Later I learned the lightning had burned his arm pretty bad.

I picked up Billy and started toward the house. I think David ran ahead of me to get Dad. I don't know how long I had been passed out, and I don't remember how far I carried Billy, but Dad soon met me and got Billy. We rushed to the near by road where Mom was waiting in the car. Dad must have heard the lightning and come running because were were not close to the house yet.

We lived about 3 miles from the Dorn Road intersection with Interstate 20, and maybe 10 miles or more from Colorado City, Tx. We knew the old people at the intersection to Interstate 20. I said that they had a phone, and if I could call ahead, the hospital could be ready and waiting for Billy to arrive. I was so excited and scared I jumped from our car before it stopped. I rolled ground, but was unhurt once again.

I rushed to the house of the old people and watched the car turn onto the interstate.
I told the old lady what was happening and she called the Colorado City Hospital. She put me in a recliner chair and put a damp rag on my head. She said I was in shock... I did not know what she meant. But I didn't think I was shocked because David and Billy were hit by the lighting shock, not me.

I don't know what happened after that, so maybe I was in shock. The next memories I have are at the funeral home. Billy was dressed in a back cowboy "dressed" outfit he had gotten for his birthday just a few weeks before. There was a concrete ledge around the funeral home yard. It was only, maybe 18 inches high. I walked that ledge back and fourth for hours. I don't know if that was the next day or not. I remember telling mom, that a dream should have told me to stay away from the rain clouds.

One other thing I remember after getting back home from the hospital, there had been no rain, and it fact there were no clouds anywhere. I was told the clouds had quickly disappeared that had been to only bolt of lighting. David and I were much taller than Billy. Billy must have been on the top of the terrace.

The dream still bothered me, and mom finally took me to an old lady from the Westbrook Baptist Church. I don't know her name, but she had lots of faith in God, and she talked to me for a long time... better than any doctor and help me get thru the guilt I felt from not knowing what was going to happen. She told me and mom that this was an accident that could not be prevented, and that it was God that took Billy. In fact, this is was not an accident. It was the only time she knew of where God reach out himself and took a person directly with no warning at all.

That make me feel better and whoever that old lady was, I thank God for her.

To Mom, Dad, and David, Thank you very much for helping me through that terrible time. I remember once telling Dad that I heard time heals all wounds. He told me that was only a saying, but it was not true. Almost 50 years later, I have to say Dad was right.

Conversation from David

David: I was born on my Daddy's 30th birthday. My earliest memory is Douglas Street.

In Sweetwater Mom was scared of a storm. She put Billy in a five gallon bucket and took me buy the hand to walk to Grand Daddy Young's house.

We lived on a house near Longworth. We had a water cistern on the back porch. Mom got water to bathe from the cistern. I was finding frogs in each bucket. I didn't want to wash with water.

Harrell: We borrowed water from town for drinking. We had the cistern tested, and it failed the safety test.

David: Same location Daddy had some fighting chicken's. One red roster always tried to attack me and Billy. I found that throwing rocks scared the chickens

So one day the chicken got me and Billy stuck in a corner. I picked up a brick and walked towards the chicken. The chicken walked back as I walked forward so I thought of a plan. The next day i told Billy lets go to the pig pen.

I took a brick with me we went to the pig pen. I told Billy let’s wait for the chicken. As the chicken approached I held up the brick as I walked forward. He walked back. He walked under the electric fence and the boar pig and ate him up.

Harrell: I remember the huge boar and the chickens. That was the 3rd farm near Longworth. The owner of the farm had a gas station on Sweetwater’s main street right downtown. His name was Mr. Smalley. He had a horse in the pasture. If we could corral him we could ride him. We rode him many times.

David: I never told Dad what happened to his prized roster but he found the feathers and he said that was one mean chicken but he was stupid to get in the a pig pen

Harrell: David? What do you remember about the day Billy was killed? I know it is very sad story. You don’t have to tell it. I will tell what I remember if you want me to.

Skyler and Triston - Two of Christy's kids