[Leica] Valve room picture

[lrzeitlin at aol.com (lrzeitlin at aol.com)]

Mark,
Thank's for your comments on "The Valve Room." At the time the picture 
was taken I was a consultant for the NAS and usually snapped pictures 
of the sites I visited. Most were for my own personal file but I sold a 
few to incorporate in annual reports. The valve room is the control 
center of the Cognac oil drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico. The rig 
itself is a tower as tall as the Empire State Building fastened to the 
sea floor. Drilling takes place from a platform on top of the rig to 
5000 feet below sea level with drill holes angled in all directions. 
Very impressive. I don't know if the guy in the picture is lighting a 
cigarette. Smoking was discouraged but, at the time, the rules were 
very loosely enforced. A few disastrous explosions, the most recent 
being th BP spill a few years ago, tightened up the regulations. 
Workers in the offshore drilling industry joked that the worst health 
hazard was all the weight they gained from eating all those 4000 
calorie meals during their two week work stint.
Larry Z
- - -
Mark writes:
That valve room shot is amazing! The scale of the valves against the 
guys
way back there is not often done. As in I've never ever seen it done!
Originality is hard to come by!
http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Larry+Z/The+valve+room.jpg.html

Is that guy in the back lighting up a ciggy? Or is that a huge piece of 
lint
coming out of his face? Inquiring Rabs wants to know!