Tanks, tanks, and ... more tanks!

(December 6th) Shrivenham.  Little did I know, but this extension of the University of Cramfield was actually the site of the Joint Services Command and Staff College.  I was visiting Shrivenham to catch up with my dear colleague Hugh.  As a mechanical engineering professor at a military institution, Hugh was fortunate enough to teach such classes as Ballistics.  His office full of toys made me quite jealous as I could only imagine the fun that he has in using them for in class demonstrations.

Amongst other things that I saw during my visit to Shrivenham was the tank museum.  Words can't quite do it justice, so I'll let the pictures tell the story:

Each tank was setup for you to climb into and actually see how to operate it.  Unfortunately, they were all out of petrol.

More of the dozens of tanks, armored personnel carriers, anti-tank platforms, etc.  Out of view on the left was an airforce flight simulator.  I learned the fun way that I've very little aptitude for flying a jet.

Sometimes life really is like Looney Tunes...when this barrel exploded, it peeled back just like we've all seen Daffy's guns do.

A brief layover in New Mexico, Thanksgiving edition

(November 16th-24th) I always manage to forget just how busy I am during my time at home.  This trip (both the one that this post is about and the one that I'm currently on) home has been no different.  Some of you have noticed the...delinquency that I've exhibited as of late...just far too many things to attend to while at home., but that's still a few posts away.

After my visit to Houston, I returned home to New Mexico, where I immediately set out to go skydiving down in Alamogordo.  Alas, the weather had other ideas...so our four hour drive to Cloudcroft was for little more than a nice night away from home...  The saving grace was that we stayed in a quaint (though potentially haunted) hotel called The Lodge.

Our room at The Lodge.  Despite it's 70s appearance, it really was quite quaint and potentially haunted.

As we woke up, we quickly learned that Cloudcroft had fully earned it's name that day.

The rain became snow, and soon our dreams of skydiving were scuttled.

The rest of my visit passed all too quickly...three birthday dinners for Kim, Thanksgiving potluck at her parents' house, and more work than I care to remember.

Up next (soon I promise), more from England.