I'm 78, have never had a cell phone; I have a land line with caller ID and if I don't recognize the name or number I simply don't answer. As it turns out it's a good strategy as only good friends leave a message. My wife has a cell phone and it is useful sometimes but it gets more use as a gaming devise or camera than as a phone. My thought is one in the family is enough.

USN CYN PO3 1965-1969

You can add The Living Desert and others in that series but for different reasons.
Zippity Do Dah.

I was stationed at the United States Taiwan Defense Command (USTDC) in the late sixties and often was part of the group that disposed of classified material. This stuff came to us in large "burn bags" which we tore open and threw into a very hot incinerator. At the end of a burn session the ashes were raked through a fine grate and into a concrete ditch which we filled with water. Everything was well stirred and then shoved through another screen before being flushed down into the bowels of the drain system. By the time the water went down that drain it was just a light grey, I doubt you could have even tasted the ash; very secure.

OK, there seems to be a lack of understanding of rudimentary plate tectonics here. There is a triple junction (three plates) in the near shore Eastern Pacific Ocean about 250 miles Northwest of San Francisco. The burliest of which is the North American Plate - it's slowly grinding it's way North against the Pacific Plate and the Juan de Fuca Plate. There is a smaller, older plate, the Gorda Plate which is being subducted beneath the North American Plate. As this subduction occurs the Gorda Plate carries stuff with it (the ocean bottom). In some places where conditions are right this "stuff" becomes what we know as oil or gas or something else. As subduction continues eventually it becomes molten and Mother Earth pukes it back to the surface. In this case Mount Lassen in Northeastern California, where it is spread all over that part of the state and Western Nevada and points East. This is going on all around the Pacific Rim (known as The Ring of Fire - sorry Johnny). As these plates move they leave "stuff" behind, 'nuff said; that should answer your question in a very rudimentary way. If you want more information get a copy of Living on Shaky Ground - Dengler, Moley, et al, go to a USGS web site and start looking around or get a copy of a Bathometric Map of the Gorda Ridge (once you understand what you're looking at you'll have a much better idea of how "stuff" becomes oil. nota bene - I am not a Geologist.

Try asking that question in Sub-Gallery: Birds.

I'll happily pay the postage if this stuff is still available - how do you want to work this out? You can reply by email to Maurice Viand (noassets@asis.com).

When I was a kid in high school I worked part time in a small two pump Richfield station in the San Francisco bay area. Regular gas was generally around .28 per gallon, gas wars were common. The cheapest I remember was 12.9¢ per gallon and that was only for a day or two. Along US 101 it was common at intersections to have gas stations on all four corners, gas wars were sometimes interesting to watch as each station dealt with the days fluctuations.

Towards the end of my time in the Navy I was assigned to the USS Oriskany (CVA 34) for a WestPac cruse which pretty much meant back and forth between Subic Bay and Yankee Station in the Gulf of Tonkin. Not long out of Alameda a CPO grabbed me one day and told me he was out of coffee. I proceeded to our cubby hole of an office to get his coffee only to find an empty pot so I dutifully made a fresh batch, waited until the coffee was ready and took the Chief his fix. Apparently I did something to his liking and for the next month or so every time that damned pot was empty the Chief would come looking for me. Never mind that there were plenty of E2s and E3s around (I was E4 at the time) that well knew how to make coffee, that Chief had become fixated on me. So this particular time I filled the pot with salt water (for you non-Navy folks - the facets were side by side an very clearly marked). The Chief was pissed to say the least but I never had to make him coffee again.

This may not be the answer that you're looking for but my go to film camera is an 8000i. And yes, I do still shoot film but not nearly as much as I once did. My all time favorite Minolta is my XE7 - rugged like a tank and more dependable than a Rolex - enough said. As a Staff photographer in the Navy I shot with Graflex and Nikon but for personal use I used a Minolta (the Nikon was just too heavy for daily use). I stuck with Minolta for over forty years and then graduated to Sony so that I could still use my Minolta glass. I used the gamut of Minolta cameras including the XK and settled on the 8000i for the same reasons you stuck with the 5000i. As for price, I'd pay whatever took to get a good, clean, working, every day camera. Remember, you've got good glass.

If it's dangerous, and I give something some thought, I always remember that I only have one * (a** to risk) .

My mom had a Metropolitan, I drove it occasionally. I hated that car, it was gutless and it didn't stop very well. Mom loved it but I don't think she ever drove it over 30. I, drove a stock Henry J for awhile; fixed all it's short comings by putting a J2 Olds with Tripower under the hood coupled to a 4 speed Hydromatic (and good brakes). That was a fun car.

If I'm shooting panoramics I use a Horizont 35mm film camera (on a tripod) at f5.6 with the appropriate shutter speed for the conditions. Occasionally I'll find myself without that camera and will then turn to a Sigma 18-35 zoom on either a Minolta Maxxum 8000i or a Sony Alpha 68. As you can probably tell, I mostly shoot film.

Three cameras with video capability, never have used it on any of them.

What about the white Hippo on the left?