Thou shalt have no other gods before the ANSI C standard 1450

ET Parker ("Ernie") did the Greco-Latin squares thing. He worked in the math group buttociated with the physics group where I first worked as a "real scientist" at Univac St. Paul. I would often meet him at the water cooler, which was located in the hallway that connected the math offices and the physics offices. He spoke slowly and carefully, weighing every word before uttering it. I always asked him "How are things going?" He always responded with an exact, precise and detailed description of how he was doing. One day I asked my greeting question, and he responded with something like "Very .. badly. The battery .. in my car .. has discharged. The car .. will not start. I do not know .. how to deal with .. this problem." We agreed to meet during lunch, and I would bring a technician along who had jumper cables availble. We did so. His car was an antique Studebaker, with the battery under the seat. Ernie watched, the tech and I get the car started, and Ernie drove off. Never said a word. The next morning, when I met him at the water cooler, before I could ask my question, he said "Hank ... thank ... you." It was the first time he had ever *initiated" a conversation with me.

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... Hank