Hobo Jungle

[healey36]

Went up to Philadelphia last week to see USS Olympia at Independence Seaport Museum (another item on the bucket list). Despite rumors of her imminent demise for insufficient maintenance due to lack of funds, she appeared to be in good shape, at least cosmetically:



I was on-board for about an hour and didn't hear pumps running, although access was limited to her main deck, one above and one below.

Dewey's flagship at Manila Bay in 1898, she is the oldest floating steel warship in the world. An exemplary war record, she was also the ship that brought our WWI unknown home from France in 1921. It's hard to imagine that this country can't find the funds to assure her preservation.

Oh, and she's 104.88 meters long...just sayin'.

Healey

[Mitch]

Healey, it might be because of the "forget history" mentality prevalent in the US. That's why we'll be doomed to repeat it somewhere down the road.

Surely there's a Philadelphia politician that could embezzle some funds to keep her going. After all, there may be some Union voters in the maintenance crew!

[J. S. Bach]

One mans Poisson is another mans Metre.

[rogruth]

Dave,

All good stuff.
Reiu is a master showman who knows what people want to hear.
Also a pretty good musician.


Those John Wayne Cavalry movies usually had the right flags for the period.

[webenda]

One mans Poisson is another mans Metre.

More fun in the Hobo Jungle. Had a visit from a poisonous desert centipede this evening. I did not touch it because it had 38 legs terminated with needles and two poisonous needles on the ends of it arms. When they clamp down on your skin with all those legs and start injecting poison they are very hard to get off.

[rogruth]

That is a mean looking critter.

[MurphOnMillerAve]

...
More fun in the Hobo Jungle. Had a visit from a poisonous desert centipede this evening. I did not touch it because it had 38 legs terminated with needles and two poisonous needles on the ends of it arms. When they clamp down on your skin with all those legs and start injecting poison they are very hard to get off...

And why would they want to do that, one wonders. Shouldn't they be busy elsewhere hunting for spiders (their natural prey, right?) or small mammals , if that's what that monster eats. Eh? Huh? Wha' ? I hate all those sumbiches.

But thanx for the scary close-ups. Real nice to be able to discern every da** detail of that hellion.

[webenda]

And why would they want to do that, one wonders.

Self defense. Centipedes will crawl on you without inflicting any pain. When this happens most people try to brush them off. Centipede thinks it is going to fall and sinks all those feet into your skin, not in attack, but so as to not fall off. Most people lose their presence of mind at that point and try harder to get them off. Centipede responds to the human's more vigorous attack with poison fang defense.

[webenda]

All the Chevron stations around me are turning into Shells.
Checked all the Chevrons left in Tucson ($2.499/gal) and it turned out more cost effective to drive out into the desert and buy gas from the Chevron at Three Points ($2.299/gal).
Sure was lonely out there at night.

Sonoran Desert Chevron at Night

[sarge]

That one gets my vote as your best, hands down.

Not a technical bell-ringer, nor is it artsy or nature-mysterious, but dam is that evocative!

Well done, that.

[Tramp]

Wayne, wonderful photo!

Thought you hobos might enjoy seeing Lee Turner's transformation of Tramp's 3rd Rail B&M Berkshire. First off are the addition of an ash pan and the increase in pilot wheel size without the silly oversized flange.

[MurphOnMillerAve]

Wayne, That Chevron station is not a place I'd want to work at. The black night seems to have a grip on it. I don't know when I have ever been in a place so pitch-black. Even up in the woods of Upstate there seems to be some ambient halo-light from villages a distance away or, at least, a few stars and, sometimes, the Milky Way overhead.

[webenda]

Thank you Sarge, Tramp and Murph.

There were myriads of stars overhead, but the camera exposure time (1/6 sec) wasn't long enough to burn them in.

It seemed extremely desolate, but there were several border patrol trucks stationed around Three Points, hiding in the dark, waiting for a truck load of illegal immigrants or drugs to come up from Sasabe, Sonora, Mexico. In fact, one of them came over to check me out. I knew what was up, so explained the gas station situation around where I live before they even asked. Then one asked where that was (that I lived.) Once I gave them details on my neighborhood and cross streets they were satisfied and left to go back to their dark hiding spot. I am sure the three attendants in the office/store felt secure with all those border agents around.

An ash pan? Not a single one of my locomotives has an ash pan. I thought they held ashes in the firebox until they could find an ash pit, and maybe an outhouse for themselves.

[healey36]

I'm imagining all those centipedes out there in the dark...

Nice upgrades on the Berk, Tramp.

Healey

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Wayne, That Chevron station is not a place I'd want to work at. The black night seems to have a grip on it. I don't know when I have ever been in a place so pitch-black. Even up in the woods of Upstate there seems to be some ambient halo-light from villages a distance away or, at least, a few stars and, sometimes, the Milky Way overhead.

Looks like a perfect setting for a Rod Serling production..............