[Leica] Confession time! THE LUG FAMILY.

[abridge at mac.com (Adam Bridge)]

For me the LUG fills a place held only rarely in my life.

When I was 16 the small airport near my home was re-opened. Originally the 
home
of the Waco Aircraft Company, it had a hanger, two grass strips, and an 
office.
The office was a magical place for me: the smell of burnt coffee, copies of
"Trade-A-Plane" on the gray table, pilots of all sorts sitting around under a
low winter sky, too bad to fly their Taylorcraft or J-3's or Belloncas but
plenty fine to sit and talk about flying and all the other odds-and-ends that
are of interest to pilots. Like Leica owners that can be almost anything.

Later that office became the crews mess (or dinette if you were picky) of my
fast attack submarine. Late at night a few of the duty section would sit and
share a few quiet moments while we were in port. At sea, after the mid-watch 
and
before the movie the radiomen would leave copies of the news on the long 
yellow
teletype printouts, or sometimes intelligence reports of interest and at our
security level - the first place I read about the Cambodian Genocide - and 
we'd
argue over those, remember home, wives and girlfriends, argue about music and
recall long vistas and skys filled with clouds.

The LUG holds that level of familiarity, and security, for me. After a while 
it
becomes a safe place to show work, learn how to look at other's work, whine,
toss small grenades of verbal abuse, get over the results, and still find
collegiality.

Many sites on the net have attempted to create communities and failed.

This is a brilliant success.

Thanks, Brian.

Adam