Thanks, Lesley. This actually was a set shot with multiple flash illumination. I told them where to look. They told me where to go -- with a smile.

Thank you, Pat. I used a 4x5-inch monorail view camera.

There are more than 1,000 of these giant offshore oil drilling rigs (aka platforms) in use in the North Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, Persian Gulf, East Asia, and many other deep waters. Each is a virtual city, with living quarters for the large crews who include explorers, scientists, drillers, refiners, mechanics, computer specialists and many others. The rig is stationed on the ocean surface but is usually standing on long legs and is anchored in place. If you Google "offshore oil drilling rigs" you can watch films or read about these controversial marvels on the Internet. They are prime sources of both crude oil and natural gas. Similar platforms are used for offshore radar stations.

P 82 These are top quality, gorgeous color shots, Dave -- worthy of National Geographic!

No question which instrument is the most important to watch in the control center of this offshore oil drilling rig, in the final testing cycle before being towed from Texas to its operating site. 1956

A PM MESSAGE FROM MIKE Feb. 6, 2019

Dear Richard,
Yes I had a stroke in October, I am still not O.K. I can hardly see the letters on the computer.
It is very nice that you remember me. Stay well my friend.

Mike

OK, troops! I think an occasional random PM to Mike could help shore up his morale during this tough recovery period. We certainly don't want him to think we've forgotten him.

RichardQ

I'm so old that Calvin Coolidge was President when I was born. This was in the Roaring Twenties. My first record player was a wind-up Edison Cylindrical, and the records were actually "Blue Amberol" cylinders, sold in a cardboard tube capped at one end. The performers crowded around a large horn and played into it as it collected the sound waves and funneled them onto a master cylinder. As the cylinder spun on its axis, an acoustical pickup with a steel needle fed the music waves into a large attached horn which amplified the sound. No electricity was involved in the whole process. The records included jazz, pop, and classical...even operas (remember Enrico Caruso?) and symphonies! I'll be 92 next month. You should be so lucky.

Thank you, Sue! Actually, I was employed by the U.S. Adjutant General's Graphic Arts Section in the Military Government at the time, and my office was across the street from the fire. No tourists were allowed in Occupied Germany at the time, or in the I. G. Farben plants at any time.

It was unwise of me to go in, Lesley. Here's a shot of the fire crew before I risked taking the red shot. They were company employees of I. G. Farben, not from the government fire departments, which explains the absence of protective gear in 1948. But the red overlay definitely augmented the impact of the original b/w image inside the fire zone.

Thanks for the kind comments, Lesley! It took me back to my art school projects (GI Bill, 1949-1952).

Many thanks, Dana -- I decided my Rolleiflex was too valuable to take a cover shot!

Why, thank you, Karin! Very kind of you.

Thanks for commenting, Sue! The "white things" were plastic spacers in a package of blank DVDs.

Thank you, Pat!

More of a goofball, if you ask me! But thanks for commenting, Dana. Very kind.