WD-40

Yesterday was a very enjoyable day. Spent most of it hanging out with my cousin Becky, which gave us a lot of time to get caught up on stuff.

We went to the Brigantine in Poway for fish tacos, which were fantastic. Then we ran into "The City" and Balboa Park and took in a few museums. We began at the Veterans Museum, which is focused on Dan Diego veterans, including people and things.

Next we hit the museum of photography. The current exhibition are black and white images by Sebastião Salgado, portraits of nature and humanity from around the globe. They were striking images, but I didn't like the presentation very much. The pictures were all framed with wide white borders which seemed to squeeze them down into near-insignificance. But that's just me.

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Then we ambled over to the San Diego Air & Space Museum.

That ate up some several hours, and I didn't come close to seeing everything. Would have done, but I got to talking with a staffer and pointed out that their Mitsubishi A6M7 was indeed an IJN fighter but had been built without a tail hook or folding wing tips and with a bigger and stronger bomb rack. There being no IJN carriers left at the time. "I did not know that," said the staffer.

I also found a chance to gather proof of the fact that WD-40 was developed specifically for the Atlas Missile program.

After they threw us out we went over to Becky's daughter's house and hung out for a few minutes. Lauren and her husband Josh have a movie review blog, lololovesfilms. They recently asked a local popcorn company to send them some product in exchange for a blog review of said product, and had just received a big package of bags of flavored popcorn. They gifted me with a bag and I'll happily try it out and do a popcorn review here at some point in the not too distant future.

We headed on home and had some great San Diego pizza. I've already forgotten the name but I'll find out and pass it on.

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This morning I saddled up and headed over to the Midway.

As I bought my ticket the cashier asked me whether I was a veteran, and if I could prove it. Which I was and I could, and which allowed me a $10 ticket rather than the $20 "civilian" ticket. Which I thought was very nice.

As she handed me my ticket she also handed me an "I Served" sticker to wear during my visit or to keep as a memento.

And then she said, "Thank you for your service, sir." Said it like she meant it, too, with a warm smile and eye contact.

It instantly got lumpy in my throat and stingy in my eyes. I did not expect that.

So I charged aboard right quick so no one would notice me blubbering.

It was a great visit, and if any of my pictures come out I'll share them later.

After I left the Midway I tooled up to Fort Rosecrans to say thanks.

I could write a million words and never be able to explain what I mean when I tell Lex thanks. But that's okay, because I think he probably understands.