Fort Bliss that is.

Just got back from a couple three days down at Ft. Bliss. Been about 12 years since I was last there and it was nice to see that too many things hadn't changed. I did get a bit turned around the first night on the ground, almost as if my internal compass was 180* out. I kept going the wrong way ! Surely it isn't age catching up to me, must have been those two lousy handfuls of peanuts I had as a meal.

Weather was near perfect, crisp in the morning and mid 50's by mid-afternoon. Wish I'd of had a little more time on the ground before having to come back. One night I did get to spend many hours (after hours) alone in one of the museums, going through boxes and boxes of photographic history. Very neat stuff! Although, it is a little strange being all alone in a museum after closing.

Anyone else ever have a museum all to themselves before?

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Mike Tangas
'73 280SEL 4.5 (9/72)- RIP
Only 8,173 units built from 5/71 thru 11/72

'02 CLK320 Cabriolet - wifey's mid-life crisis

2012 VW Jetta Sportwagon TDI...at least its a diesel

Non illegitemae carborundum.

Yes..... and a close friend is facing 3 to 6 years in stir because of it.http://nassauda.org/dawebpage/pressreleases/kappeler%20indictment.htm

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OK, a slight difference...I had permission and the only thing I took was my memory of the visit.

__________________
Mike Tangas
'73 280SEL 4.5 (9/72)- RIP
Only 8,173 units built from 5/71 thru 11/72

'02 CLK320 Cabriolet - wifey's mid-life crisis

2012 VW Jetta Sportwagon TDI...at least its a diesel

Non illegitemae carborundum.

Tee hee.

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I have noticed that when I get lost (rarely) it is always because I am 180 deg off. It is very consistent. I think it may be related to one of the internal direction-finders some birds have (I don't know whether it has been demonstrated in humans). Some birds have been shown to possess in their brains an area in which iron particles allign themselves with the magnetic poles. It is thought that various environmental cues along with the magnetic flux of the Earth gives migratory birds their sense of direction.

IF that is the case and IF humans are similarly endowed, I wonder if a strong magnetic field might disorient a human being if no other visual cues are available? A negation or reversal of polarity would render one incapable of innate direction, right?

B

Protection is available.

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Bot,

I don't know if it was magnatism or sheer hunger but I was definitely 180* off. Never lost per se, as I always figured out I was headed the wrong way within a short distance. Strange thing was that it was very consistent right up until I got some chow in my gut. Once I ate my compass had reoriented and I was fine.

Oddest thing was that I had a major visual cue, even at night. Guadalupe Mountain lays due west of Ft Bliss and is pretty much visible from anywhere in the El Paso area 24/7. I could see the mountain and knew that was west, but I continued turning the wrong way...north instead of south, east instead of west, always 180* out.

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Mike Tangas
'73 280SEL 4.5 (9/72)- RIP
Only 8,173 units built from 5/71 thru 11/72

'02 CLK320 Cabriolet - wifey's mid-life crisis

2012 VW Jetta Sportwagon TDI...at least its a diesel

Non illegitemae carborundum.

Yes Mike, my closet. I promised my Wife I'll throw the wardrobe away and go up dated.

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Rich

1990 300CE
71 Chevelle SS 454

Guadalupe Mountains. Wow. I've been researching the NP in consideration of a mapping project. I have never been there, but I feel like I've watched it evolve from the Permian! If things go in our favor we could be spending a lot of time ground-truthing the park and surrounding area.

If so, my old friend Sam Hoyle was the director of that museum for a zillion years and is largely responsible for it's existince. When he came on board in the late 1970s, the air defense musem was a dusty, rusty collection of artifacts sitting in the sun in west Texas. He was one of the first graduates of my Stepmother's annual seminars on museum development and management at Winedale, Tx.

As a matter of fact, yes. About 10 years ago, Dad wangled a 'sleep-over' for himself, my son and I on board the USS Lexington (CVT-16) in Corpus Christi, Tx. Our berthing area was the Air Boss' stateroom and parking for my 1972 Buick Centurion was on the stbd side aft elevator.

After dinner, Dad conked out so Thing One (about 13 at the time) and I took our flashlights and I gave ourselves the GRAND TOUR from keel to masthead, stem to stern. For example, did you know that on Essex-class carriers with SCB 27C modernization, there is a battle bridge in the bullnose bow, directly below the flight deck and above the foc'sle? Do you have any idea how eerie it is to stand in the dark at the EXACT point where a kamakaze struck her on 5 November 1944? Did you know that deep in her forward spaces there is a locomotive engine (an EMD 12V567, to be exact) that powers the emergency generating plant? And yes, you can climb so far up inside the island that you can easily touch both the port and starboard sides by simply stretching your arms.

Yes, I guess you could say I've had a museum all to myself.

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Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

Go ahead and toss those polyester leisure suits, they're not coming back.

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Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

I can't remember offhand, where is the Yorktown?

Having a Stepmother with a lifetime achievement award from the Smitshonian and a father who provided museum consulting services for 15+ years does tend to open a few doors (or hatches). Their latest hitch has been in Galveston, Tx volunteering on tall ship Elissa and more recently at the Lone Star Flight Museum.

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Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.