I got a call tonight from a guy I shared a room with while on Kwajalein back in 1977-1978; he’s been on the East Coast for years but is heading back out there for four months. I wish him luck; I have no desire to live in a place that small ever again. I’m sure it’s much less isolated than it was when I was there; for one thing, there’s an Internet now, which there certainly wasn’t then, and for another, I’d bet they’ve got satellite TV now. When I was there we got video-taped episodes of sports events once in a while. News consisted of a six-page summary from the wire services and AFRTS radio. It may come as a surprise to you, but the radio service offers a full slate of NPR’s programming, which tells you that either a) AFRTS is not censored or b) NPR ain’t very liberal. In fact, the first time I ever heard All Things Considered was on AFRTS.
Anyway, he’s on his way there, but will be back in four or five weeks for a weekend, and it’ll be good to see him again. He was one of the best photographers I ever met; I still have a three-ring binder of pictures he put together for me when I left, sort of a “don’t forget what this looked like” album. I wonder if I could digitize those somehow and keep the quality halfway good.