[meteorite-list] Airport Security, Brenham, and Hammerheads (funny?)

From: Martin Horejsi <accretiondesk_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon Feb 6 22:55:31 2006
Message-ID: <9c2f96d20602061955y523116a8t11beeda8d55c25d1_at_mail.gmail.com>

Cool irons boys.

Cpt. Blood is a fan of hammers so I told him I got one from Brenham.
He listened with interest until I showed him. But what he really liked
was the S-A I got from Farmer.

Oh Rob, thanks for the beer during the auction. Without it I likely
would have missed out on the Campo and the NWA thingy I bought. By the
way, did you notice that the bidders at our table were the most likely
to try and outbid our own bids?

Cheers,

Martin



On 2/6/06, Rob Wesel <nakhladog_at_comcast.net> wrote:
> I went with a different route Martin, no troubles...only puzzled looks
>
> http://www.nakhladogmeteorites.com/collection/brenhamhexahedrite.htm
>
> Tucson was wonderful, always is.
>
> Rob Wesel
> http://www.nakhladogmeteorites.com
> ------------------
> We are the music makers...
> and we are the dreamers of the dreams.
> Willy Wonka, 1971
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Martin Horejsi" <accretiondesk_at_gmail.com>
> To: "Meteorite-list" <meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com>
> Sent: Monday, February 06, 2006 11:10 AM
> Subject: [meteorite-list] Airport Security, Brenham, and Hammerheads
> (funny?)
>
>
> Hi All,
>
> I had a funny thing happen as I was flying out from Tucson Sunday
> evening. Apparently one of the items banned from carry-on luggage is a
> hammer. I usually don't carry one with me when I fly so I was unaware
> of this restriction. However, I do agree with the TSA in their
> decision. You know, Maxwell and all.
>
> Anyway, it happened that I bought a hammerhead from Steve Arnold of
> Brenham Meteorite fame. The hammerhead was one of the non-meteorite
> artifacts that Steve extracted from the rich Kansas soil in his quest
> for rocks from space.
>
> Since I was saving my money for the Lang and Blood auctions, I passed
> on Steve's Brenham main mass and instead bought the hammerhead. Plus I
> figured, it would be easier to fly home with given the picky check-in
> clerks who weigh everything.
>
> So when my hammerhead lit up the airport x-ray machine, the frown on
> the security guy was enough to tell me that maybe these TSA folks in
> Tucson had not seen it all.
>
> I helped agent locate the hammer amongst other interesting objects
> including some large cactus pedals with extremely small and sharp
> spines courtesy to a visit to Geoff N's home. The agent unwrapped the
> hammer and studied it. Being who I am, I launched into an educational
> presentation about Steve Arnold, about the Brenham meteorite and about
> its amazing discovery. I would have used a PowerPoint on the nice
> white walls of the security hall, but the x-ray machines had used up
> all the electrical outlets.
>
> As I tried to explain the significance of the hammerhead, the agent,
> let's call him Mr. Deer-in-the-headlights, stared at me likely
> assessing my mental profile. He had never heard of the famous
> meteorite, Steve Arnold, nor it appears, meteorites in general. Lucky,
> the passengers surrounding me had, and were excited about it as they
> pelted me with questions straining see the hammerhead!
>
> The glaze over Mr. Dith's eyes lifted, and he referred my case to the
> head of security. It was at that moment that I played my trump card.
> When I bought the hammerhead from Steve, he wrote up a Certificate of
> Authenticity which I produced for the head security agent.
>
> This particular agent sat a desk and studied the hammer and the COA.
> After a minute or two, he pronounced the hammerhead not a hammer since
> there was no handle. Instead, it was a historic artifact and perfectly
> acceptable as a carry-on. I thanked him kindly, and wished I had given
> him one of Steve's postcards as a gift.
>
> So, should anyone be flying out of Tucson post this reading, and
> departing from one of the lower numbered gates, if you could leave a
> copy of Steve's fabulous postcard on the security desk, I would
> appreciate it.
>
> Here is a link to the hammer and COA.
>
> http://www.geocities.com/planetwhy/brenhamhammer.jpg
>
> Cheers,
>
> Martin
> ______________________________________________
> Meteorite-list mailing list
> Meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com
> http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
>
>
>
Received on Mon 06 Feb 2006 10:55:28 PM PST