Now five days after his funeral and 3 months since going into the hospital, on this rainy cool night, got started thinking about Peter Triplett, Pete, to most of us. Here's a couple nuggets that just popped out.
Pete was shy. His preference was to be in the background and quietly jump into high gear when a problem showed.
Being a genius on a puter was surely a strong suit. While every one else was just complaining about a problem or hitting every button coming and going, Pete worked maybe all night doing a Google search, he came up with the right software, program, work around, or otherwise solution.
His Sherlock Holmes skill was well known over at Clay Auto and Convention Center where many of sat and gabbed while he worked. Rev Wayne Litton said during the service, Pete was a great parts man before but after internet searches came about, nothing was out of reach for the guy.
Pete would get out once in a long while to go to a dinner,
party, gathering or even a pool tournament. The guy was a
great shooter even when using just one hand.
With a strong work ethic, there came a time when he did not have a job. It was like he was black balled from govt employment. During those dark times, he had a stint working at Go Mart. With aching aching swollen legs after eight hour shifts, his Go mart days didn't last long, they couldn't last long, it was obvious.
His long time friend Leonard Litton went to then Commisioner Linky poo, and told him, if you don't get him a job, I'll see you don't get one vote from Harrison. That worked and Pete was hired for the 911 Center where he excelled at his job.
You never heard him complain even when he was hurting all over. After naggin him, he would finally tell you his pains. A couple times, his legs were so swollen, the skin broke open and fluid was streaming down. He still worked a full shift. During his last normal days in February, while suffering from numbness in his arms and fingers, he was still helping people.
Saturday after work, Pete was over at the Ace Cub Reporter's house figuring how to connect up a TV via a "hotspot" a cellphone connection.
The very next morning, just one day before his fall that led to his long suffering and eventual death, he was at the local non profit radio station helping get the FM non profit back on the dial after a move to its new location.
24 hours later, after a day of work, Pete was up at Don Jarvis's giving him a hand.
It was like that every day of his life . Without fail, someone needed a puter fixed, an emergency scanner loaded with frequencies, finding an ancient puter cable online, or a weird car problem, the irksome task sent him scurrying for a solution.
He never took a penny for his Herculean efforts. Clayonians took him for granted.
With a strong work ethic, there came a time when he did not have a job. It was like he was black balled from govt employment. During those dark times, he had a stint working at Go Mart. With aching aching swollen legs after eight hour shifts, his Go mart days didn't last long, they couldn't last long, it was obvious.
His long time friend Leonard Litton went to then Commisioner Linky poo, and told him, if you don't get him a job, I'll see you don't get one vote from Harrison. That worked and Pete was hired for the 911 Center where he excelled at his job.
You never heard him complain even when he was hurting all over. After naggin him, he would finally tell you his pains. A couple times, his legs were so swollen, the skin broke open and fluid was streaming down. He still worked a full shift. During his last normal days in February, while suffering from numbness in his arms and fingers, he was still helping people.
Saturday after work, Pete was over at the Ace Cub Reporter's house figuring how to connect up a TV via a "hotspot" a cellphone connection.
The very next morning, just one day before his fall that led to his long suffering and eventual death, he was at the local non profit radio station helping get the FM non profit back on the dial after a move to its new location.
24 hours later, after a day of work, Pete was up at Don Jarvis's giving him a hand.
It was like that every day of his life . Without fail, someone needed a puter fixed, an emergency scanner loaded with frequencies, finding an ancient puter cable online, or a weird car problem, the irksome task sent him scurrying for a solution.
He never took a penny for his Herculean efforts. Clayonians took him for granted.
Pete was an original member of the WYAP FM Board
of Directors. Before that (20 years ago) he was active
with CB radios and was there at the very beginning of home
computers. He was one of the "geeks" that enjoyed writing
codes and making stuff happen via the old DOSS language
days.
That local radio station wasn't suppose to happen. Somehow, some way, without aid of an FCC engineer, it was Mr Triplett that filled out all three FCC licenses which were accepted on his first try. The very operation would not have been possible had it not been for Pete. WYAP, WTUB, and WULL use a very completed internet transfer method to get the audio from the station to the different transmitters around the county. No other non commercial station in the country figured out how to make it happen. It was Pete that did the heavy lifting and made it happen in Clayberry.
Behind the scene, Pete often purchased many of the wires, cables, connectors, adapters, and more out of his own meager pocket.
In Feb 2020, just before his fall and when WYAP was nearly penny-less, Pete, once again, out of his own pocket, paid a full years worth of rental storage fees for the station's junk.
Tiffany Farmer donated her talents at the station for several years. While talking one day in Jan 2020, Pete realized "The Tiffinator" needed help purchasing a bunch of karaoke equipment for Tiff to get back into singing. Without telling her squat, one day, the new equipment just showed up for Tiff. Had he lived, he would have never asked or sought repayment. It was just his way of doing nice stuff.
That local radio station wasn't suppose to happen. Somehow, some way, without aid of an FCC engineer, it was Mr Triplett that filled out all three FCC licenses which were accepted on his first try. The very operation would not have been possible had it not been for Pete. WYAP, WTUB, and WULL use a very completed internet transfer method to get the audio from the station to the different transmitters around the county. No other non commercial station in the country figured out how to make it happen. It was Pete that did the heavy lifting and made it happen in Clayberry.
Behind the scene, Pete often purchased many of the wires, cables, connectors, adapters, and more out of his own meager pocket.
In Feb 2020, just before his fall and when WYAP was nearly penny-less, Pete, once again, out of his own pocket, paid a full years worth of rental storage fees for the station's junk.
Tiffany Farmer donated her talents at the station for several years. While talking one day in Jan 2020, Pete realized "The Tiffinator" needed help purchasing a bunch of karaoke equipment for Tiff to get back into singing. Without telling her squat, one day, the new equipment just showed up for Tiff. Had he lived, he would have never asked or sought repayment. It was just his way of doing nice stuff.
This writer showed up in Clayberry just 38 years ago. One of
the first people he met was Pete who never went out and
purchased a suit, dress slacks or coat and tie. Instead, bib
overalls and tee shirt was his daily wear. Often those
overalls were rolled up or cut off short enough for him via a
pair of scissors. For a dress occasion, a polo shirt was worn
over the bibs.
The Sherlock came out everyday of his adult life.
He sat there and studied financial reports, time sheets... he paid close attention to the details.
An example of that came while serving as a County Commissioner. Back then, the State Tax folks came to a meeting and reported: we want to cut coal holding and equipment taxes $12 million but raise taxes on private land owners. After reading the fine print, Pete told em, Nope, we are not cutting those taxes from the big boys. State Tax officials went ape shirt crazy with demands to follow their orders. With Pete in the lead, knowing what law said exactly, the County Commission did NOT back down and several thousand dollars in assessed values continued in the budget that year.
He was curious and that's a good trait. With his 911 scanner always turned on, he would hear about a response needed at such and such an address. Immediately he would say out loud, where is that or who was that for? In just a few short minutes, after an internet search, Pete would figure out where that address was and who lived there.
Even during his sickest days, his curiousness continued. It was Pete that came up with a treasure trove of old County Clay pictures that we often ran in The Communicator Newspaper and now, Communicator Online newspaper.
There was an even stronger commitment, that of doing the right thing, every time.
Back while serving as a Commissioner, Jimmy Sams decided he needed some extra votes to win, so he placed a Ten Commandment display in the CCC room. Immediately, the meetings were packed on both sides of the separation of church and state war. During one meeting, a jew stood and asked the display be taken down. Clayberry went bonkers! With his arss firmly in the hot seat and all eyes on him, Pete did the right thing when he said, if a Judge orders me to take em down, I will. No one was happy (including the Ace Cub Reporter) but once again, even facing a possible ACLU lawsuit, Peter Triplett did the right thing.
The Sherlock came out everyday of his adult life.
He sat there and studied financial reports, time sheets... he paid close attention to the details.
An example of that came while serving as a County Commissioner. Back then, the State Tax folks came to a meeting and reported: we want to cut coal holding and equipment taxes $12 million but raise taxes on private land owners. After reading the fine print, Pete told em, Nope, we are not cutting those taxes from the big boys. State Tax officials went ape shirt crazy with demands to follow their orders. With Pete in the lead, knowing what law said exactly, the County Commission did NOT back down and several thousand dollars in assessed values continued in the budget that year.
He was curious and that's a good trait. With his 911 scanner always turned on, he would hear about a response needed at such and such an address. Immediately he would say out loud, where is that or who was that for? In just a few short minutes, after an internet search, Pete would figure out where that address was and who lived there.
Even during his sickest days, his curiousness continued. It was Pete that came up with a treasure trove of old County Clay pictures that we often ran in The Communicator Newspaper and now, Communicator Online newspaper.
There was an even stronger commitment, that of doing the right thing, every time.
Back while serving as a Commissioner, Jimmy Sams decided he needed some extra votes to win, so he placed a Ten Commandment display in the CCC room. Immediately, the meetings were packed on both sides of the separation of church and state war. During one meeting, a jew stood and asked the display be taken down. Clayberry went bonkers! With his arss firmly in the hot seat and all eyes on him, Pete did the right thing when he said, if a Judge orders me to take em down, I will. No one was happy (including the Ace Cub Reporter) but once again, even facing a possible ACLU lawsuit, Peter Triplett did the right thing.
Two days before his death, a few locals went down to the
hospice facility, took down the screen wire on the windows
and peered into his room. Laying there with short panting
breaths, he was nearly motionless. It was very sad. No one
walks out of a hospice facility. What this reporter saw, no
one would have wanted to live like that.
Saturday May 16th was Pete's funeral service. His plot over looks his home place. The sky was blue and the rain stayed away. Upwards of 100 attended the service. Truth is, after all the favors, there should have been a 1000 there. Since Feb 12th, not a day has gone by without saying something like, we need Pete to figure this out.
Norman MacEwan: I do believe there are many tears in the heart that never reach the eyes
This county and his friends are much better off having known Peter S. Triplett
AW
Saturday May 16th was Pete's funeral service. His plot over looks his home place. The sky was blue and the rain stayed away. Upwards of 100 attended the service. Truth is, after all the favors, there should have been a 1000 there. Since Feb 12th, not a day has gone by without saying something like, we need Pete to figure this out.
Norman MacEwan: I do believe there are many tears in the heart that never reach the eyes
This county and his friends are much better off having known Peter S. Triplett
AW
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