Natural History Museum

I took all my kids to the Natural History Musem in Los Angeles. It's about 7.5 miles from my apartment. It's been about 6 years since the last time I was there. We also visited the California Science Center since we were in that part of town (they are next door to each other).

They have a good collection of stuff there, and it's fairly famous. One of the nice things is there are a lot of hands-on activities for kids. I think that's a big plus to get them interested in science and the natural world.


Clark can say that his artwork is "on display" at the museum. They had a small art alcove with colored pencils and paper. The person overseeing everything asked if Clark wanted his artwork (ok, my artwork, his scribbles) pined ont eh wall, and he said yes.

Clark was pretty terrified of all the large dinosaur models and skeletons. He never turned his back on a single one, so I don't have any photos of that. I can relate though. When I was about 6 my parents to me to Gatorland Zoo, and my father made me sit on a concrete alligator. I was soo scared that it would come alive and bite my hands off. Though Clark might have been scared at the museum, he was very excited that morning to go.

All in all it was a great day, even though I didn't take a lot of pictures of Garbielle or Nakoma. It was also hard to get any photos of Clark. And yes, that is a small on Nakoma's face. I can see it. That's a whale skeleton behind him in that photo.

Cat-traption

Nothing strange here... move along.

What I did in the Navy

Many people ask me what it was I did in the Navy. I was a Fire Controlman, or FC. I didn't put out fires, but I did start them. I was responsible for the operation and maintenance of the MK86 Gunfire Control System, or GFCS. The entire system consisted of:
Air Search RADAR
Surface Search RADAR
Weapon Control Consoles
A slew of computers and other devices

This system was used to control and fire the 5"/54cal gun mounts, we had two. Contrary to popular belief, these guns are fired from CIC, not from someone inside the gun mount. But they could be fired by the Gunner's Mate that was located below the turret, near the 20 round magazine.

It was a lot of fun, and an experience that I will never forget. I am often asked if I would do it again, and in all honesty I would have to say, "Yes." I met a lot of great people, some of whom I still communicate with. I got to see a few places that I will probably never get to see again, and it was just a great overall experience for me.