Occasional Reader and Good Buddy Rob sent along a link to the following:
In his e-mail he said, and I replied (in part) as below...
In his e-mail he said, and I replied (in part) as below...
There were several hundred of us USAF radar types that had such a job. From an old post:If I could get a job like that I'd die a happy man. Whoosh.
All of the above is true. The Air Force had more than a few places you DIDN'T wanna go (this bein' one of 'em) but there were more than a few "Garden Spots," as well... Mill Valley bein' one such.Today’s Pic: Photographic evidence that San Francisco is indeed America’s most beautiful city. Taken from the summit of Mt. Tamalpais, October of 2000. That’s my buddy John silhouetted against the view.Just as an aside, Mt. Tam used to be the home of the 666th Radar Squadron (Mill Valley Air Force Station), and as such was one of the best kept secrets in the entire United States Air Force. The Officers/NCO Club had a million-dollar view of the Bay Area through huge plate-glass windows and folks in the know could get a room in the BOQ for about ten bucks a night, back in the day. Although I was never stationed at Mill Valley, I did take advantage of those “low rates” at the BOQ once or twice…
When I say "million dollar view," I mean just that. TSMP and I stayed at Mill Valley AFS on two occasions when we were stationed at North Bend AFS, (ed: I added that link for this post) just up the coast a ways. All it took to get a room was a phone call to the site billeting office, who would advise if there was or wasn't a vacancy for the weekend. Cheap rent, cheap drinks, and a brilliant NCO Club with an excellent chef... what's NOT to like?
When I was a kid, I always wondered what the giant golf ball on a couple of Bay Area peaks were all about.
ReplyDeleteAnd now you know. There was a site at Almaden, too... and I saw those golf balls nearly every day when I lived in San Jose as a kid. Little did I know that in two to three years time I'd be working inside the damned things.
DeleteI know EXACTLY what you mean by the view, Buck. One of my 1st Cousin-in-laws, Col A.J. Hughes, USA-Ret (was roommate of my 1st cousin Lt. Gen C. M. Talbott, USAF-ret, at West Point and married his sister) was CO of a Nike-Ajax/Hercules site on San Pablo Ridge in Richmond in the early sixties. We stayed at the base in 1960 during our summer vacation tour of the West. The views of SF WERE spectacular. From there one could also see the Richmond/San Pablo reservoir in other direction. Only problem was the site was shrouded in fog until around eleven am every day. The temp differential was something else, as well. On top it was 40s-50s in Aug, then one would drive down the mountain into Mill Valley where it would be 100+, and bright sunshine, then drive thru the mountain tunnel onto SF Bay and SF would be,, say, 64 and foggy again. lol
ReplyDeleteI made the mistake of leaving for work from my apartment in Beserkeley one morning without a jacket... this was shortly after moving to the Bay Area in the summer of '00. Hell, it was nice and warm, it was summer... what could go wrong? I bought a sweatshirt during my lunch hour while I was at work. It seemed like I was ALWAYS cold while I was in The City.
DeleteI should add that my Mother was 20 years younger than the rest of her brothers and sisters, so she was the age of my 1st cousins and grew up as the child-hood playmate of Gen Talbott, so all my second cousins are roughly my age, lol (The two were best buds to the end. Maurice would tell her things he wouldn't even tell his own wife, lol)
ReplyDeleteGeeze, I should've noted for the record for the uninitiated that the USAF Mill Valley station was the EW (Early Warning) site connecting ALL of the some dozen Army Nike air defense sites that surrounded SF in the Bay area..
ReplyDeleteThe uninitiated would have learned that if they chased the MVAFS Wiki link. ;-)
DeleteSee, that's what I get for being a smarty-pants. Didn't chase the link 'cauz I already knew--could have saved the wear & tear on the keyboard, lol
DeletePS: Speaking of "The City" remember when the NBA SF Warriors (now Golden State) wore jerseys (circa 62-71, iirc) that had a circle w. the Golden-Gate bridge inside with just the words "The City" above? I hear they're calls to bring them back.. Talk about egotistic/narcissistic navel-gazing! SF just expects the rest of the nation to intuitively know--that it's intuitively obvious--that there is only ONE "city" WORTHY of being singled-out as The City, and that we rubes obviously know which one the moniker is referring to, such is it's existential pre-eminence, lol
ReplyDeleteYeah, you're right on the egotistical bits. I noticed that right off the bat when I went to work there... and the natives (i.e., born and raised) are the frickin' WORST. There are some things I miss about the Bay Area... like excellent restaurants, bars, the architecture, the views... and some things I DON'T, like a lot of the people. And the cost o' living.
DeleteOf course it just occurred to me they may have some historical basis and/or justification for that, as in the song "The City By The Bay," so there's that..
DeleteNot in time-frame you're speakin' of. Journey wasn't formed until 1973, according to The Wiki. I also assume you're speakin' of this insufferable song...
DeleteAnd since I'm waxing loquacious about sports emblems/names, I have always thought (were *I* the owner) that the Fleur-de-lis symbol of the N.O. Saints, while representing the "French Connection" (historically speaking :) ) didn't quite capture the raffishness of New Orleans. (At one point in its infancy many called for them to be named the "Burbon-Street Brawlers" lol,) I've always thought that a "double crossed" French "Cross of Lorraine" with an angel's halo barely dangling off one arm at an angle (indicating the fallen/sinful nature of a team from the "City that care forgot") would have captured both the historical French aspect and the "raffish Saint" aspect--reflecting the heavily Catholic, yet hedonistic nature of the city's denizens--better--all in one fell swoop. The Fleur-de-lis could be worn on the shoulder pads or sleeve to add a further touch, much as the Philadelphia Eagles wear an eagle's head on theirs.. What say you?
ReplyDeleteLSU wears a fleur-de-lis? Who knew?
DeleteShorter: I don't give a big rat's ass about pro ball. Well, longer.
DeleteAnd now I'm off to do my civic duty.
DeleteI should've made the point that while the Fleur-de-lis symbol makes the French connection, it does nothing to address either the Catholic/religious reason for the name "Saints" (i.e., where did the song get the term "Saints" from, anyway if not from N.Os French-Catholic heritage?) or the raffishness aspect--hence my attempt to "kill all the birds" with a single symbol..
ReplyDeleteWell, Buck, I see you just deflated THAT balloon while I was typing furiously away--I'll know better next time, lol
ReplyDeleteThanks to you and Rob for that beautiful video. Regarding the "cold" in SF. A buddy of mine and I went to a Giants night game at the old Candlestick back in the early '90s and we were warned to wear jackets. We did and were still cold. Very cold. Plus, the fog rolled in and for awhile we couldn't see the center fielder.
ReplyDeleteI lived in an RV park across the street from Candlestick for the first month I was in SFO (this back in 2000). I rode my bike back and forth to work everyday and I'd be chilled to the BONE when I got in from work in the evening... this was in AUGUST.
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