OSA Chit Chat Thread

[dancer4life]

Well we made it to Vegas this afternoon without a hitch.
We had a feast tonight at lakeside Restaurant in the Wynn Hotel and Casino here in Vegas.
Lobster, Crab Legs. Shrimp, Salmon, Steak, with salad, grilled Asparagus, Mushroom andMashed Potatoes. It was delicious!

 

[Oklahomabassin]

Looks delicious!

It's time to go to work.

 

[TerryMiller]

Quite a day today at Mobile's Battleship Memorial Park. However, some old feller decided that he needed to carry two cameras, as well as wearing a backpack with three more lenses it it. By the time we managed to tour the main deck and the upper decks that were open, my knee and back were both giving me grief. So, I let the wife and youngest son go back aboard and tour the lower decks, where she took photos for me. Meanwhile, I went and sat in the Expedition to favor my knee and back.

When they came out of the USS Alabama, it was raining, so they went to the Aviation Pavilion to wait it out. When it stopped, I then gathered up my other camera and met them there. Youngest son and I then toured the USS Drum.

What I can again say is that after making these tours, I have a heck of a lot more respect for the men that served aboard such vessels in WWIi. Some of those spaces were extremely small.

From the Aviation Pavilion. Note the bomb to the front of the airplane. It has a kitchen sink attached to the bottom of it.



Speaking of small spaces, this is a space in a 5-inch gun turret along the side of the battleship. Two other areas next to the two barrels have a whole lot more space for a sailor to sit and operate the guns. They also had full sized metal seats upon which to sit.



This is the rear end of a 5-inch gun, and the vertical thing at the rear is where the spent casing is ejected from the gun turret.



The USS Drum is a Gato class submarine and was the first submarine commissioned at the beginning of WWII. She has two distinctions, one of which is that she is the first submarine to become a museum submarine in the United States. In addition, due to damage in WwII, she was fitted with a Balao class submarine conning tower. I guess one could call her a hybrid.



And this is a three-man officer's stateroom. Talk about close quarters...

...I'll pass.



Tomorrow, weather permitting, we will visit Fort Gaines on Dauphin Island and Fort Morgan near Fort Morgan on the East Shore. And, I don't plan on trying to carry so much camera equipment. Since we won't be in tight spaces, I probably won't need extra lenses.

 

[dennishoddy]

Spent the day removing bug goo from the front of the RV after over 5000 miles of accumulation and inspecting the suspension, heaters, etc. Back on the road in less than 3 weeks.

 

[TerryMiller]

Back to the 5-inch gun turrets. This picture shows the immediate area in front of where that small seating area was between the two barrels of the guns.



This next one shows one of the gunner positions to the side of the 5-inch gun. Look closely, and one can see a full-sized seat. (And yes, sailors back then probably had very small b*tts.)



In this next photo, one can see that each side of the battleship had multiple 5-inch gun turrets.



The captain's sea cabin.



The door to the heavily armored battle bridge.

 

[Raido Free America]

I got a news flash from my daughter in-law this morning! she is from Casper Wyoming but is an Okie now. The news flash, complete with photoes, said, A new record was set yesterday, in Caser, the wind stopped blowing for a record breaking 2 minutes, and everyone fell down! I have used this joke only used Oklahoma, a few times!

 

[dancer4life]

Good afternoon gang,
Just got back from the Mandalay Bay convention center. My wife and my students wanted to go shopping at “Cowboy Christmas “.
Over 100 venders for the National Finals Rodeo. There are over 300 venders at the Las Vegas convention center. We will be going there in a couple of hours (Cha-Ching) and then to the rodeo tonight.
Our good friend Coleman Proctor will be competing tonight in Team Roping. He has already won close to $90,000 this week. Yeah, he’s pretty good.

 

[dancer4life]

Good afternoon guys,

I have to share our experience last night at the NFR. It was fricken amazing. Our friend Coleman Proctor and his partner Logan Medlin won the Team Roping event with a time of 3.5 seconds. It was crazy.
After the rodeo was over Coleman invited my wife and I to hang with him and the family for the rest of the night.
We were picked up in a stretch Hummer Limousine that seats 18 people. We toasted him, played music and just had a great time while driving down the Vegas strip.
We eventually wound up at the South Point Htel and Convention Center. We pulled up on the side and security escorted us in the door and right to the back stage area where all the winners of the NFR were staged. Winners of each event are called out on stage with their family to a televised interview and the Buckle and Money ceremony. Yes, we got to go out on stage with him and the family and be apart of his night.
After the interviews were finished, we had a number of photo ops with everyone, then back into the limo for more partying. We never experienced the Vegas strip like we did last night He has now won close to $90,000 over the past two weeks and tonight is the last night. Wish we could be there but our big convention finale is tonight.

We all fly home in the morning so I will find out how he did tonight. Hoping for another win.

 

[dancer4life]

Yikes!! 3:30am and heading to the airport for a 5:30am flight. Had a great week in Vegas though.

Good morning guys.
Wishing you all a great Sunday.

 

[Oklahomabassin]