Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Not a caucus or a straw poll in sight...

...onboard the USS Iowa last weekend.

After a lengthy residence with the Mothball Fleet, the big ship is heading for a museum berth in Southern California. Volunteers in the Richmond dockyards are prepping BB-61 a for a trip down to Los Angeles, and we took advantage of the brief opportunity to check out the grand old juggernaut. 

Bay Area military geeks were really hoping that those 15.97" guns would grace a pier in San Francisco.  But...the powers that be of The City By The Bay decided they were way too PC for that. That put the kibosh on the veterans' dreams, so the Big Stick is headed for LaLa Land. We got a chance to stride the deck and take in some of the iconic battleship before her voyage south.

Due to safety reasons, visitors were not allowed inside the ship. But we've seen her sister ships The Wisconsin and The Mighty Mo, so we're fairly familiar with the guts of the beasts.  And they are damn impressive, let us tell you.

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Your Tax Dollars At Work

TSG came across this befuddling (heh) "building site" the other day whilst perambulating in Pinnacles National Monument. Park Rangers were not available for comment, but we suspect it might be a wild boar trap.