* * * * * Six years expired and several important events occurred in my dad’s development as a man. First of all he located his father, my Granddad Roy, who was rough-necking in the oilfield at Signal Hill, which was to become one of the most productive oilfields in the world, smack in the middle of Long Beach, California. This solitary hill rose 365 feet above sea level and was totally forested by wooden oil derricks at this period – earning the nickname “Porcupine Hill.” Because of my pop’s size, my grandfather lied about his age and got him a job as an oil well floor man, or “roughneck.” Of course the Great Depression was still in full swing, making their jobs piecemeal and largely hand-to-mouth. It was during t...