soaztim: Santa Fe, Madrid and going Nuclear!!

Friends. They are a good thing. They keep you going when you're down. They support you even when you have to travel away from them. They encourage you to take chances on new endeavors and most of all, they listen to you bitch.

I had two great people come and visit me the weekend after my first week of work. D is of course my best friend, my love and my girl. "Ginger" is my friend from work, life and we've been through several layoffs together. (It's disturbing how many friends I have from layoffs...) It was exciting to get one more opportunity to see D and to show a friend my new home! I had only been in town for about 7 days, most of which I was moving or working, but I had already grown an affinity for ABQ. I was excited to share what I had learned so far with the Ginja Ninja.

We headed up to Santa Fe, because after all, it's only 45 minutes away! We parked and headed down to the square. The basilica had weddings going on back to back!

As we walked around the square D saw a sign for a Dr. Seuss exhibit. I assumed it was some tribute type work. We walked back down a hallway and made several turns passed closed galleries. This wasn't promising and yet back there what we found was remarkable. The exhibit was filled with Dr. Seauss's personal drawings, early illustration work, impressionist work and even drawings he had made for family friends. One exhibit showed how he had taken one of his books while at a dinner party and made the inside cover into an amazing scene! For the exhibit they showed a normal inside cover and what he had done with it. His imagination had NO off button. It was so great that I just enjoyed it and never thought to take photos. Until the very end and I saw one I just had to capture. It's so iconic.

Speaking of Seuss. My adult favorite of his is "Oh the places you'll go." As a kid it wasn't as good a jingle as "Green eggs and ham", but now I find it striking what good advice it is for life as a grown up.

So, here it goes and may I be sued for the shirt off my back for reprinting it here:

"Oh, the Places You'll Go! by Dr. Seuss:

Congratulations! Today is your day. You're off to Great Places! You're off and away! You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the guy who'll decide where to go.
You'll look up and down streets. Look 'em over with care. About some you will say, "I don't choose to go there." With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet, you're too smart to go down any not-so-good street.
And you may not find any you'll want to go down. In that case, of course, you'll head straight out of town. It's opener there in the wide open air. Out there things can happen and frequently do to people as brainy and footsy as you. And when things start to happen, don't worry. Don't stew. Just go right along. You'll start happening too.
OH! THE PLACES YOU'LL GO! You'll be on your way up! You'll be seeing great sights! You'll join the high fliers who soar to high heights. You won't lag behind, because you'll have the speed. You'll pass the whole gang and you'll soon take the lead. Wherever you fly, you'll be the best of the best. Wherever you go, you will top all the rest. Except when you don't Because, sometimes, you won't. I'm sorry to say so but, sadly, it's true and Hang-ups can happen to you. You can get all hung up in a prickle-ly perch. And your gang will fly on. You'll be left in a Lurch. You'll come down from the Lurch with an unpleasant bump. And the chances are, then, that you'll be in a Slump. And when you're in a Slump, you're not in for much fun. Un-slumping yourself is not easily done.
You will come to a place where the streets are not marked. Some windows are lighted. But mostly they're darked. A place you could sprain both your elbow and chin! Do you dare to stay out? Do you dare to go in? How much can you lose? How much can you win? And IF you go in, should you turn left or right... or right-and-three-quarters? Or, maybe, not quite? Or go around back and sneak in from behind? Simple it's not, I'm afraid you will find, for a mind-maker-upper to make up his mind.
You can get so confused that you'll start in to race down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace and grind on for miles across weirdish wild space, headed, I fear, toward a most useless place. The Waiting Place... ...for people just waiting. Waiting for a train to go or a bus to come, or a plane to go or the mail to come, or the rain to go or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow or waiting around for a Yes or a No or waiting for their hair to grow. Everyone is just waiting.
Waiting for the fish to bite or waiting for wind to fly a kite or waiting around for Friday night or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake or a pot to boil, or a Better Break or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants or a wig with curls, or Another Chance. Everyone is just waiting. NO! That's not for you! Somehow you'll escape all that waiting and staying. You'll find the bright places where Boom Bands are playing. With banner flip-flapping, once more you'll ride high! Ready for anything under the sky. Ready because you're that kind of a guy! Oh, the places you'll go!
There is fun to be done! There are points to be scored. there are games to be won. And the magical things you can do with that ball will make you the winning-est winner of all. Fame! You'll be famous as famous can be, with the whole wide world watching you win on TV. Except when they don't. Because, sometimes, they won't. I'm afraid that some times you'll play lonely games too. Games you can't win 'cause you'll play against you. All Alone! Whether you like it or not, Alone will be something you'll be quite a lot. And when you're alone, there's a very good chance you'll meet things that scare you right out of your pants.
There are some, down the road between hither and yon, that can scare you so much you won't want to go on. But on you will go though the weather be foul On you will go though your enemies prowl On you will go though the Hakken-Kraks howl Onward up many a frightening creek, though your arms may get sore and your sneakers may leak. On and on you will hike and I know you'll hike far and face up to your problems whatever they are.
You'll get mixed up, of course, as you already know. You'll get mixed up with many strange birds as you go. So be sure when you step. Step with care and great tact and remember that Life's a Great Balancing Act. Just never forget to be dexterous and deft. And never mix up your right foot with your left. And will you succeed?
Yes! You will, indeed! (98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed.)

KID, YOU'LL MOVE MOUNTAINS!

So... be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray or Mordecai Ali Van Allen O'Shea, you're off to Great Places! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So...get on your way!"

Back to important things. This hog get's 60MPH. Pretty sexy, eh? I actually like these old Mustang's. Still cooler than a new Harley.

Sitting at the Marble brewery listening to a Bluegrass band play for tips down on the corner.

Everything you could ever want to buy, but the prices are high.

And then it was time to head back to ABQ. The next day we went by... guess where?

Yep! The Nuclear museum.

New Mexico is still the home of Nuclear technology. Love it, hate it, or wish it was never invented I'm glad that our guys created it instead of someone else.

"I realize the tragic significance of the atomic bomb... It is an awful responsibility which has come to us... We thank God that it has come to us, instead of to our enemies; and we pray that He may guide us to use it in His ways and for His purposes. —President Harry S Truman, August 9, 1945"

I've been to Hiroshima and I've seen the evidence of destruction as well as the amazing city that currently exists. Most Japanese I spoke to understood it was a necessary evil in a time of war. Still, it sucks. All of that aside, one has to marvel at the amazing technical achievement and awesomeness of it all. The first Nuclear Weapon to be used against people:

The second.

Used at the testing site.

Model of the Enola Gay.

Japanese rifles. You can see the imperial chrysanthemum stamped on the top.

Although a later generation than the WWII weapons I find it disturbing that a personally launched Nuclear Warhead this small exists. Wow.

This is a Titan generation missile. Just south of Tucson you can see an entire Titan Nuclear Missile installation that is now a museum. It's amazing and worth seeing!