I detect a sense that you feel my honesty is flawed a bit....so be it.
Firstly, alas...I did truly indeed build that marvelous sand castle, but it was W-A-Y back in August 1975 at Cannon Beach on the Oregon Coast and to the best of my recollections, no photographs even exist, indeed, I don't believe any were even taken. Does this mean it didn't happen? No. And I would surely enjoy such photos if I had one to show you. Besides, in this world of retouched and fabricated photos, would you believe it if I DID post a picture of a sand castle with 3/4 inch thick walls?????
Secondly, belief in one's stories, or lack thereof, merely suggests the reader may not have the expierience or the knowledge that such things are possible, or alas, they failed to accomplish such things themselves, and therefore, feel others successes in those endevors are false and not credible when they read of such things. This just puts you in the same class as those who still don't believe man has walked on the moon. Such is life.
Thirdly, when one places an item on a board such as this, and expects others to believe it to be true, one can only wonder if the person who placed such an item on here is a credible person to pass judgement upon another. The story in question is the one about the one-winged airplane landing successfully, posted by you. And another fellow said it could not have been true because he witnessed a Cessna crash after losing a wing. So now we have both a questionable story and a witness that says a plane can't fly on one wing. Does this make it not true? Maybe. BUT a Cessna hasn't either the power OR the aerodynamics that one of those little stunt planes have. I have SEEN them hang verticaly on the prop and hover in one spot, so I have a witnessing expierience as well.
Lastly, I have both the expierience and the credentials to know how to get sand to do strange things. Go to your kitchen cupboard. Obtain a cup, a saucer and a teaspoon. Place the cup on the saucer, and the spoon in the cup. Look closely at this and then imagine, if possible, a solid casting made totally with a loose sand mold. All Navy Molders worth their salt can make one. No CO2 set or cores made ahead of time. Now lay the spoon next to the cup on the saucer. Picture how that would be made out of loose sand. No other Molder I know of could make this. I did. No pictures of that either. To see me and my Navy Colleagues, go to: www.usshector.com and scroll through the photographs and find the foundry crew casting up an anchor. I was only 19 yers old there, and we made those anchors (two of them) in Vung Tau, South Vietnam.
Do I know Vernon? While it is truly likely we have indeed met or passed each other at some time, the way it is up here is one doesn't get to know a lot of folks unless they see a lot of each other. I know the area where he lived, as I did work for the Census back in 1999, and I met a lot of folks. Could be he was one such person. My favorite restaurant is the Windbreak cafe', and a lot of Wasilla folks eat there and I have been going in there for over 19 years. We both may indeed have a common friend that we each know, but we ourselves do not.
So...those of you that think I'm full of it, bring on the slings and arrows. But beware. A lot of folks have found my honesty to be rather exemplary.
