[Texascavers] Border-crossing story - part 2

[David]

This is an irrelevant follow up to my first post. Might be of
interest to cavers heading south through the bordertown of Reynosa.
( unlikely.   Right ?? )

This picture shows the current station looking north ( hasn't changed much
in 30 years )


https://hips.hearstapps.com/vidthumb/b99c9a30-6e25-4816-8223-5ff56a19f196/b99c9a30-6e25-4816-8223-5ff56a19f196_image.jpg

If you look in the background, you can see the new one being built.

Here is a very brief announcement about the project:


http://www.zachryconstructioncorp.com/Projects/Building/Border-Patrol-Station-Falfurrias-Checkpoint/

As I drove by yesterday, it looked like they are expediting the project,
and so it could possibly be open in early 2020.This should
create lots of jobs in that area.   People often advise me that I
should get a job with the BP, since I
speak really good Spanish. I think that would interfere with my trips
to seedy places in Mexico.   Right ??

As bad, as my options are at the moment, the best one seems to be to just
learn to live within my means, and
to hunker down and take on less stressful deliveries.How often does the
police lieutenant call you at work, and say they
are filing charges on you, and you tell them, "good luck with that."

D.L.
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[Texascavers] caving videos in 1440p resolution

[David]

Here is a spelunking helmet-cam video
available in 1440p.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rye7DU3DLNQ

If you adjust it to 1440p, you can see that in the darkness of the
cave the resolution is irrelevant, except maybe some of the gravel
stands out more clearly and the tiny details of the scallops in the walls
are more noticeable. But with all the shaky camera and poor lighting,
1440p
does not at any quality to the video.

However, outside the cave, the quality looks very nice.

I do not think most computer users can display 1440p at full-screen.
( Right ?? )

All the other videos on this guys channel are about computer gaming.

D.L.
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[Texascavers] Dining at the Condesa

[Carl Kunath]

Dining at the Condesa.



Bill’s story (and Mark’s) about eating at the Restaurante Condesa in Valles 
brings to mind a memorable experience.



In July, 1976 Jim Goodbar and I were in Mexico to sightsee and do a little 
light caving along the way.  We visited Gruta de Carrizal, Huasteca Canyon, and 
Cueva de la Boca.  Then, we crossed the sierras from Montemorelos to Rayones 
for a look at Pozo de Gavilan and continued for a good visit at Real de 
Catorce.  Farther south, we made a brief foray into Cueva de la Puente, and 
continued through Jalpan to Xilitla.  In Xilitla, Sr. Plutarco Gastelum, an 
acquaintance from prior visits and the supervisor of the Sir Edward James 
property (AKA the Huxley Birdhouse, Las Pozas and other names), treated us 
royally and provided a handwritten note to the caretaker at Las Pozas.  I don’t 
recall the exact wording of the note but it must have been along the line of, 
“These are my honored guests.  Please give them special carte blanche.” The 
caretaker didn’t quite bow and scrape but we wandered freely for several hours.



Now, finally, to the point of this story.  We wound up for lunch in Valles on a 
day when the temperature and humidity were both well into the 90s.  We were 
tired, hot, hungry, and ready for some food that didn’t come from a can or a 
plastic bag.  Naturally, we went to the Restaurate Condesa.  I ordered a beer 
and one of the house specialties:  Milanesa Condesa.  I asked the waiter, “Es 
muy picante?” and was assured that it was not.  The milanesa arrived and it was 
slathered with salsa verde.  Hunger overcame caution.  I sawed off a big bite 
and popped it into my mouth.  Madre de Dios!  It was a good thing I had most of 
a beer available.  It required all of that and more to put out the fire.  
Regaining consciousness and with senses somewhat dulled by pain, I scraped away 
the surface salsa and tried another bite.  It was good that a fresh beer had 
arrived for it was badly needed.  For the third attempt, I pressed the meat 
with a fork and attempted to expel the excess salsa.  With that technique and 
plenty of cerveza, I managed to consume the majority of the meal.  In 
retrospect, it’s likely that the waiter, the cook, and the complete staff were 
having a large hoo-rah as they observed the poor gringo’s fiery agony.  No 
doubt they were getting a nice commission for the sale of the extra beer.  It 
was a memorable meal at the fabled Condesa.



===Carl Kunath



***





agree that the Condesa was a great Mexican hangout for many years. It
was _the _ place to meet before or after any trip to the El Abra in the
'70s. I remember one trip we were there and the telephone rang. It was
someone calling from the States for Bill Russell, and he was there!
Cavers used to leave messages there for one another, but for Bill to
actually be there at the time of the call was amazing. It was not
uncommon in those days to see backpacks against the wall, waiting for
the owner to return from some adventure or the other. The Condesa was a
great resource for cavers!

The Condesa was my first introduction to the Mexican custom of eating
jalapeño peppers like potato chips or peanuts in a bar. There were two
locals seated at a table drinking beer with a large bowl of jalapeños en
escabeche between them. They drank beer and munched jalapeños the way 
Americans would have eaten chips. I was amazed.

The Condesa also used to offer Filete Mignon really cheap (by American
standards). I remember one time Hal Lloyd had filete for both breakfast
and dinner, and bragged about telling his father that he had filet twice
in one day.

Enchiladas Condesa were a perennial favorite. I really miss that place!

Mark Minton



**

On 2019-02-26 16:12, William R. Elliott wrote:
> CAVER STORY: RESTAURANT CONDESA
>
> Many older cavers remember the Restaurant Condesa in Ciudad Valles,
> San Luis Potosí, in the heart of the Sierra de El Abra. It was owned
> by Señor Juan Bermea Gloria, who had worked in the States and spoke
> English. He was a good friend to the cavers. He was our message center
> for years, even keeping a couple of log books in his glass counter for
> cavers to sign and leave each other messages. Sometimes he let cavers
> camp in his jardín when they could not find a place. Cavers often
> visited the tiny Condesa, and it was mentioned in caver newsletters
> from the early 1960s to 1984. [see photos attached]
>
> In 1969 Richard O. Albert wrote, “We always ate at the Restaurant La
> Condesa, right on the plaza that was right on the edge of the Río
> Valles. The food there was good, but the waitresses were not. We would
> all sit down and order something from the menu, and then always
> wondered what we would get. Sometimes it was what we had ordered and
> sometimes it was not, but we learned to eat and not complain too much
> about it. The waitresses never wrote down anything, and never

Re: [Texascavers] a caver story

[Bill Steele]

On my first caving trip to Mexico in December 1970 we ate at the Condesa in 
Valles. It appeared that everyone there was a local. As we finished eating, a 
guy around 30 years old walked up and asked in English if we were cavers. We 
said yes and he asked where we were going. We had just done Sotano de las 
Golondrinas and were heading to Hoya de Guaguas next. We intended to be the 
first to descend the second drop. He asked if we had room for him. Turned he 
was a caver from Austin. It was Ernie Garza. 

Bill Steele
speleoste...@aol.com

> On Feb 26, 2019, at 10:14 PM, mmin...@caver.net wrote:
> 
> I agree that the Condesa was a great Mexican hangout for many years. It was 
> _the _ place to meet before or after any trip to the El Abra in the '70s. I 
> remember one trip we were there and the telephone rang. It was someone 
> calling from the States for Bill Russell, and he was there! Cavers used to 
> leave messages there for one another, but for Bill to actually be there at 
> the time of the call was amazing. It was not uncommon in those days to see 
> backpacks against the wall, waiting for the owner to return from some 
> adventure or the other. The Condesa was a great resource for cavers!
> 
> The Condesa was my first introduction to the Mexican custom of eating 
> jalapeño peppers like potato chips or peanuts in a bar. There were two locals 
> seated at a table drinking beer with a large bowl of jalapeños en escabeche 
> between them. They drank beer and munched jalapeños the way Americans would 
> have eaten chips. I was amazed.
> 
> The Condesa also used to offer Filete Mignon really cheap (by American 
> standards). I remember one time Hal Lloyd had filete for both breakfast and 
> dinner, and bragged about telling his father that he had filet twice in one 
> day.
> 
> Enchiladas Condesa were a perennial favorite. I really miss that place!
> 
> Mark Minton
> 
>> On 2019-02-26 16:12, William R. Elliott wrote:
>> CAVER STORY: RESTAURANT CONDESA
>> Many older cavers remember the Restaurant Condesa in Ciudad Valles,
>> San Luis Potosí, in the heart of the Sierra de El Abra. It was owned
>> by Señor Juan Bermea Gloria, who had worked in the States and spoke
>> English. He was a good friend to the cavers. He was our message center
>> for years, even keeping a couple of log books in his glass counter for
>> cavers to sign and leave each other messages. Sometimes he let cavers
>> camp in his jardín when they could not find a place. Cavers often
>> visited the tiny Condesa, and it was mentioned in caver newsletters
>> from the early 1960s to 1984. [see photos attached]
>> In 1969 Richard O. Albert wrote, “We always ate at the Restaurant La
>> Condesa, right on the plaza that was right on the edge of the Río
>> Valles. The food there was good, but the waitresses were not. We would
>> all sit down and order something from the menu, and then always
>> wondered what we would get. Sometimes it was what we had ordered and
>> sometimes it was not, but we learned to eat and not complain too much
>> about it. The waitresses never wrote down anything, and never
>> remembered it either. It was always sort of an adventure to go in
>> there…”
>> By 1969 the Condesa had moved one block from the plaza, where it stood
>> for many years across the street from the Hotel Condesa. I remember
>> the “Enchiladas Condesa,” which were so hot I usually could not
>> finish them, but they were tasty, stuffed with lots of goat cheese and
>> goodies. They were flat tortillas stacked like pancakes, real Mexican
>> style, not rolled up Tex-Mex style.
>> I remember bumping into cave biologist Stewart Peck on the street in
>> Ciudad Valles in 1969 on the way to the Condesa. We went caving a
>> couple of times. Stewart is a beetle man, and I remember him and his
>> brother James considering the menu in the Condesa, and which dishes
>> would make the best dung for trapping beetles. I had never witnessed
>> that before. When Stewart left town he bequeathed me a can of shit.
>> According to UT Grotto and trip reports in the _Texas Caver, _the
>> Condesa burned in 1984, and all the caver logbooks burned too. Maybe
>> someone has a copy of them. It was said that the printing shop next
>> door caused the fire. By 1985 the Condesa had moved to three blocks
>> from the plaza, and Sr. Gloria had a new caver logbook. Now it is no
>> more. By 1986 the restaurant had become the Don Juan, and cavers
>> continued to eat there until at least 1992, even keeping a logbook
>> there. When I last visited in 2013 the Hotel Condesa looked the same,
>> but the old restaurant building was a pharmacia or something.
>> Goodbye Condesa. We loved you.
>> ATTACHED PHOTOS:
>> 1. The Restaurant Condesa in 1984. Cavers Mike Furrey and Jon Cradit
>> are standing in front. by Mike Warton.
>> 2. El Abra cave mappers, May 1974. Left to right: Neal Morris, Carmen
>> Soileau, Andy Grubbs, John Prentice, and Barb Vinson.  by William R.
>> Elliott
>> [This story came from AMCS

Re: [Texascavers] a caver story

[mminton]

I agree that the Condesa was a great Mexican hangout for many years. It 
was _the _ place to meet before or after any trip to the El Abra in the 
'70s. I remember one trip we were there and the telephone rang. It was 
someone calling from the States for Bill Russell, and he was there! 
Cavers used to leave messages there for one another, but for Bill to 
actually be there at the time of the call was amazing. It was not 
uncommon in those days to see backpacks against the wall, waiting for 
the owner to return from some adventure or the other. The Condesa was a 
great resource for cavers!


The Condesa was my first introduction to the Mexican custom of eating 
jalapeño peppers like potato chips or peanuts in a bar. There were two 
locals seated at a table drinking beer with a large bowl of jalapeños en 
escabeche between them. They drank beer and munched jalapeños the way 
Americans would have eaten chips. I was amazed.


The Condesa also used to offer Filete Mignon really cheap (by American 
standards). I remember one time Hal Lloyd had filete for both breakfast 
and dinner, and bragged about telling his father that he had filet twice 
in one day.


Enchiladas Condesa were a perennial favorite. I really miss that place!

Mark Minton

On 2019-02-26 16:12, William R. Elliott wrote:

CAVER STORY: RESTAURANT CONDESA

Many older cavers remember the Restaurant Condesa in Ciudad Valles,
San Luis Potosí, in the heart of the Sierra de El Abra. It was owned
by Señor Juan Bermea Gloria, who had worked in the States and spoke
English. He was a good friend to the cavers. He was our message center
for years, even keeping a couple of log books in his glass counter for
cavers to sign and leave each other messages. Sometimes he let cavers
camp in his jardín when they could not find a place. Cavers often
visited the tiny Condesa, and it was mentioned in caver newsletters
from the early 1960s to 1984. [see photos attached]

In 1969 Richard O. Albert wrote, “We always ate at the Restaurant La
Condesa, right on the plaza that was right on the edge of the Río
Valles. The food there was good, but the waitresses were not. We would
all sit down and order something from the menu, and then always
wondered what we would get. Sometimes it was what we had ordered and
sometimes it was not, but we learned to eat and not complain too much
about it. The waitresses never wrote down anything, and never
remembered it either. It was always sort of an adventure to go in
there…”

By 1969 the Condesa had moved one block from the plaza, where it stood
for many years across the street from the Hotel Condesa. I remember
the “Enchiladas Condesa,” which were so hot I usually could not
finish them, but they were tasty, stuffed with lots of goat cheese and
goodies. They were flat tortillas stacked like pancakes, real Mexican
style, not rolled up Tex-Mex style.

I remember bumping into cave biologist Stewart Peck on the street in
Ciudad Valles in 1969 on the way to the Condesa. We went caving a
couple of times. Stewart is a beetle man, and I remember him and his
brother James considering the menu in the Condesa, and which dishes
would make the best dung for trapping beetles. I had never witnessed
that before. When Stewart left town he bequeathed me a can of shit.

According to UT Grotto and trip reports in the _Texas Caver, _the
Condesa burned in 1984, and all the caver logbooks burned too. Maybe
someone has a copy of them. It was said that the printing shop next
door caused the fire. By 1985 the Condesa had moved to three blocks
from the plaza, and Sr. Gloria had a new caver logbook. Now it is no
more. By 1986 the restaurant had become the Don Juan, and cavers
continued to eat there until at least 1992, even keeping a logbook
there. When I last visited in 2013 the Hotel Condesa looked the same,
but the old restaurant building was a pharmacia or something.

Goodbye Condesa. We loved you.

ATTACHED PHOTOS:

1. The Restaurant Condesa in 1984. Cavers Mike Furrey and Jon Cradit
are standing in front. by Mike Warton.

2. El Abra cave mappers, May 1974. Left to right: Neal Morris, Carmen
Soileau, Andy Grubbs, John Prentice, and Barb Vinson.  by William R.
Elliott

[This story came from AMCS Bulletin 26, 2018, _The Astyanax Caves of
Mexico._]

WILLIAM R. (BILL) ELLIOTT
speodes...@gmail.com
573-291-5093 cell

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[Texascavers] Bill's story

[David]

>From David Locklear
( hit delete button now )

I too was just reminiscing about all that two weeks ago, and yesterday,
while
making a quick run to The Valley to visit an in-law.

My first ventures into Mexico were the Bustamante area, in the December of
1984,
and maybe the spring of 1985.

But in the fall of 1985, I coerced a caver into dragging me along on his
real expedition to Zongolica, Veracruz, and duped or hoodwinked him
and his lovely wife into thinking I would be a contributor to this journey.
It was not intentional, I was just very poorly prepared for the experience,
and
they did not exactly have the patience to put up with a newbie.   All I can
say,
is that I learned about 90% of what I know today from that one long
road-trip.

We stopped at the motel Condesa and spent the night, and I thought that
was a fun experience.   Then we had breakfast at the restaurant
with the log book.I entered my first of maybe five or six logs, the
second being on the
return trip home. While there, we went to the movie theater and saw, a
Clint Eastwood movie,
"The Outlaw Jose Wales" in Spanish.At that time, my Spanish was really
bad.

I lived in Monterrey briefly during the summers of 1987 and 1988, and
hitchhiked or took
a bus part of the way to Ciudad Valles, and visited the restaurant and
stayed in the motel alone for just $ 10.
I think I was pondering the meaning of life, or just extreme-frolicking,
and probably did not accomplish
anything note-worthy.

I think my 5th entry was during Mexpeleo 1989, which was held about 15
miles south of
town.

The rest of my journeys to the restaurant were likely solo trips, although
I tried many
times to get other cavers to go with me.

In 1992, I made a trip to Moscow, and while there, I purchased a bottle of
Russian ketchup, with
Russian labeling. And on my next visit to Don Juan's restaurant, I gave
the owner the bottle
of ketchup and told him my story, that I brought it just for his him and
that I had enjoyed his
log-books ( or maybe it was just the wife then ).My recollection was
that they were always out of ketchup.

Around 1994, I made a solo-trip to the lower portion of "Ventana
Jabali." And entered
in the log-book, a road-log to help other cavers find a route to the
cave. I saw it in
the re-print that Terry Raines had made.

I seem to recall the restaurant not being there on my last visit.  I
think Jay Jorden and his electrician
friend, Bobby Moore, were in Valles around 1997 on our way to or from Real
de Catorce, and
I think we tried to stop there. Most of it is all very fuzzy memories.

I do a whole lot of reminiscing.I can not imagine making a road-trip
that deep into Mexico
right now.I spend about 90% of my spare time now tinkering with my
Linux computer, and
the other 10% daydreaming. I just drove practically non-stop to and
from the bordertown of
Hidalgo, from Houston, to drop off my elderly mother-in-law. That
road-trip wiped me out.
In my younger days, we took turns driving, and had more energy, and had a
whole lot less worries
about what we would do if we had an unexpected problem. We were
probably naive and misinformed,
but I think it was just a different world back then.For example, on one
trip, I practically overhauled my
carburetor and ignition system on the side of the road - all by myself.
Today,
I paid an immigrant-worker $ 70 to change the oil in my Sequoia.

The old-timer couple that took me caving in 1985 have lived in Kula for
many years, and according to their
social media were really impacted by The Federal Shutdown.I haven't
seen her since they dropped me
and my caving gear off, but I saw him briefly at Alejandro Villagomez' wake.
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Re: [Texascavers] a caver story

[Bill Bentley]

Very cool writing and pictures.
Thanks,
Bill

On Tue, Feb 26, 2019, 4:13 PM William R. Elliott 
wrote:

> *Caver Story: Restaurant Condesa*
>
> Many older cavers remember the Restaurant Condesa in Ciudad Valles, San
> Luis Potosí, in the heart of the Sierra de El Abra. It was owned by Señor
> Juan Bermea Gloria, who had worked in the States and spoke English. He was
> a good friend to the cavers. He was our message center for years, even
> keeping a couple of log books in his glass counter for cavers to sign and
> leave each other messages. Sometimes he let cavers camp in his jardín when
> they could not find a place. Cavers often visited the tiny Condesa, and it
> was mentioned in caver newsletters from the early 1960s to 1984. [see
> photos attached]
>
>
>
> In 1969 Richard O. Albert wrote, “We always ate at the Restaurant La
> Condesa, right on the plaza that was right on the edge of the Río Valles.
> The food there was good, but the waitresses were not. We would all sit down
> and order something from the menu, and then always wondered what we would
> get. Sometimes it was what we had ordered and sometimes it was not, but we
> learned to eat and not complain too much about it. The waitresses never
> wrote down anything, and never remembered it either. It was always sort of
> an adventure to go in there…”
>
>
> By 1969 the Condesa had moved one block from the plaza, where it stood for
> many years across the street from the Hotel Condesa. I remember the
> “Enchiladas Condesa,” which were so hot I usually could not finish them,
> but they were tasty, stuffed with lots of goat cheese and goodies. They
> were flat tortillas stacked like pancakes, real Mexican style, not rolled
> up Tex-Mex style.
>
>
> I remember bumping into cave biologist Stewart Peck on the street in
> Ciudad Valles in 1969 on the way to the Condesa. We went caving a couple of
> times. Stewart is a beetle man, and I remember him and his brother James
> considering the menu in the Condesa, and which dishes would make the best
> dung for trapping beetles. I had never witnessed that before. When Stewart
> left town he bequeathed me a can of shit.
>
>
>
> According to UT Grotto and trip reports in the *Texas Caver, *the Condesa
> burned in 1984, and all the caver logbooks burned too. Maybe someone has a
> copy of them. It was said that the printing shop next door caused the fire.
> By 1985 the Condesa had moved to three blocks from the plaza, and Sr.
> Gloria had a new caver logbook. Now it is no more. By 1986 the restaurant
> had become the Don Juan, and cavers continued to eat there until at least
> 1992, even keeping a logbook there. When I last visited in 2013 the Hotel
> Condesa looked the same, but the old restaurant building was a pharmacia or
> something.
>
>
> Goodbye Condesa. We loved you.
>
>
>
> *Attached photos:*
>
>
> *1.* The Restaurant Condesa in 1984. Cavers Mike Furrey and Jon Cradit
> are standing in front. by Mike Warton.
>
>
>
> *2. *El Abra cave mappers, May 1974. Left to right: Neal Morris, Carmen
> Soileau, Andy Grubbs, John Prentice, and Barb Vinson.  by William R.
> Elliott
>
>
> [This story came from AMCS Bulletin 26, 2018, *The Astyanax Caves of
> Mexico.*]
>
>
> *William R. (Bill) Elliott*
>
> *speodes...@gmail.com *
>
> 573-291-5093 cell
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Re: [Texascavers] Lost!

[Nancy Weaver]

I for one value Sleaze’s wildly entertaining missives over almost anything else 
posted here.  Can we please stop name calling and being the 'what belongs here' 
police?  could you just make your own posts and let others make theirs?  and 
for humility extra points maybe realize that some of us don’t much like your 
posts, we just don’t bother to try and publicly shame you.
Nancy

> On Feb 26, 2019, at 12:32 PM, Diana Tomchick 
>  wrote:
> 
> 
> 
> On Feb 26, 2019, at 12:15 PM, bmorgan...@aol.com  
> wrote:
> 
> 
> Now where was I?
>  
> Sleazel
>  
> —
> 
> Spouting racist and ethnocentric ideas, perhaps? 
> 
> Truly your uninformed speculations on the peoples of the world have nothing 
> to do with this forum.
> 
> FWIW, a better source about the historical migration of human populations, 
> derived from analysis of ancient DNA (much of which has been preserved in 
> caves) can be found by consulting the work of David Reich, the author of “Who 
> We Are and How We Got Here”:
> 
> https://reich.hms.harvard.edu 
> 
> https://smile.amazon.com/Who-Are-How-Got-Here/dp/110187032X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1551205927&sr=8-2&keywords=who+we+are+and+how+we+got+here
>  
> 
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=990052wQywM&t=11s 
> 
> 
> Diana
> 
>  **
> Diana R. Tomchick
> Professor
> Departments of Biophysics and Biochemistry
> UT Southwestern Medical Center
> 5323 Harry Hines Blvd.
> Rm. ND10.214A
> Dallas, TX 75390-8816
> diana.tomch...@utsouthwestern.edu 
> (214) 645-6383 (phone)
> (214) 645-6353 (fax)
> 
>  
>  
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> 
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> 
> 
> UT Southwestern 
> 
> Medical Center
> 
> The future of medicine, today.
> 
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Re: [Texascavers] Lost!

[bmorgan994]

Diana:

 

The fact that we are all human beings, and that there are no “pure” groups 
within our species, does not mean that we are all alike, or that different 
groups do not have different propensities associated with varying gene 
frequencies. 

 

Evolution is ongoing and is influenced by cultural as well as environmental 
factors. I think that it is reasonable to suppose that a relatively homogenous 
hierarchically arranged agricultural civilization such as the Han Chinese would 
value conformity and attachment to place; whereas, those groups that live in 
marginal habitats and have to hunt hard for every bite of food would value 
personal physical bravery and the ability to explore far away places in search 
of sustenance. In an ancient civilized society one might hope that one’s 
offspring would marry up the social ladder, but in a savage society such as 
ours it is best to screw the biggest meanest most far ranging hunter. Such 
choices have evolutionary consequences. 

 

I do not know to what extent the ability to find one’s way around is 
genetically based, but I do know that the worldwide caving community is 
overwhelmingly white despite the admixture of just enough diversity so that 
leftist intellectuals can trot out the straw man of genetic “impurity” to prove 
that we are all one big happy family.

 

Sleazel

 

From: Texascavers  On Behalf Of Diana 
Tomchick
Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2019 1:33 PM
To: Cave Tex 
Subject: Re: [Texascavers] Lost!

 

 

 

On Feb 26, 2019, at 12:15 PM, bmorgan...@aol.com   
wrote:

 

 

Now where was I?

 

Sleazel

 

—





Spouting racist and ethnocentric ideas, perhaps? 





Truly your uninformed speculations on the peoples of the world have nothing to 
do with this forum.





FWIW, a better source about the historical migration of human populations, 
derived from analysis of ancient DNA (much of which has been preserved in 
caves) can be found by consulting the work of David Reich, the author of “Who 
We Are and How We Got Here”:





https://reich.hms.harvard.edu





https://smile.amazon.com/Who-Are-How-Got-Here/dp/110187032X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8 

 &qid=1551205927&sr=8-2&keywords=who+we+are+and+how+we+got+here





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=990052wQywM 
 &t=11s





Diana





 **

Diana R. Tomchick
Professor
Departments of Biophysics and Biochemistry
UT Southwestern Medical Center
5323 Harry Hines Blvd.
Rm. ND10.214A
Dallas, TX 75390-8816
diana.tomch...@utsouthwestern.edu  
(214) 645-6383 (phone)
(214) 645-6353 (fax)

 

 

 

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Medical Center



The future of medicine, today.

 

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Re: [Texascavers] Lost!

[Diana Tomchick]

On Feb 26, 2019, at 12:15 PM, bmorgan...@aol.com 
wrote:


Now where was I?

Sleazel

—

Spouting racist and ethnocentric ideas, perhaps?

Truly your uninformed speculations on the peoples of the world have nothing to 
do with this forum.

FWIW, a better source about the historical migration of human populations, 
derived from analysis of ancient DNA (much of which has been preserved in 
caves) can be found by consulting the work of David Reich, the author of “Who 
We Are and How We Got Here”:

https://reich.hms.harvard.edu

https://smile.amazon.com/Who-Are-How-Got-Here/dp/110187032X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1551205927&sr=8-2&keywords=who+we+are+and+how+we+got+here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=990052wQywM&t=11s

Diana

 **
Diana R. Tomchick
Professor
Departments of Biophysics and Biochemistry
UT Southwestern Medical Center
5323 Harry Hines Blvd.
Rm. ND10.214A
Dallas, TX 75390-8816
diana.tomch...@utsouthwestern.edu
(214) 645-6383 (phone)
(214) 645-6353 (fax)



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UT Southwestern


Medical Center



The future of medicine, today.

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[Texascavers] Lost!

[bmorgan994]

A very interesting article pertaining to the art of getting lost recently
appeared in the Atlantic:

 

https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/02/getting-lost-cave-labyri
nth-brain/582865/

 

I call it an art because for all of my life I have been cursed by an
inability to get lost. There have been few instances when I have been
gripped by "Where the Hell am I?" anxiety, so I often go to great lengths to
wander aimlessly in places I am unfamiliar with.

 

According to the article I must have a very well developed hippocampus
because everywhere I go I make it a point to notice where I am and thus
develop a mental "map" of where I am. It is certainly not infallible, for I
often get disoriented in buildings, and invariably get lost when I am
following someone else. It is extremely easy to get lost in caves because
there are few external clues; nevertheless, I have had few anxious moments
simply because I pay attention. Some imagine that certain people have an
innate sense of direction, but I have never met anyone who could point in
the cardinal directions after spinning around half a dozen time in a cave
with the lights turned off. 

 

The ability to make a mental map is the exact opposite of the method
preferred by people who are always lost. It is a sad fact that most modern
people are lost most of the time. Just ask for directions and you will soon
learn that the average person can only navigate using "waypoints", such as
"turn left at the Dairy Queen, then right at the bank". They can picture the
buildings, but have no idea where the buildings are in the larger scheme of
things, if coming from a different direction they are doomed! I have often
met people, even country people, who have no idea where the sun comes up or
where it goes down. My grandmother was such an idiot that she could not
circumnavigate the suburban block where she lived, even going to the end of
the street was disorienting so she just stayed home (thank goodness!). 

 

I don't think that those few navigational abilities I possess are inherent.
Maybe I do have a well developed hippocampus, but if so it is mostly because
I so often exercise the neurons in question. The underlying cause is
insatiable curiosity. If there is someplace I haven't been then I've just
gotta go there! 

 

So where does that insatiable curiosity come from? I am convinced that it is
a hunting instinct, which is effectively the same as an exploration
instinct. I have often observed that throughout the world only a small
percentage of people in any given culture are compulsive hunters or
explorers, and that this has nothing to do with circumstance, or whether or
not the people in question are actual hunters. Thus we find great world
explorers who live in New York City, and hopelessly inept hunters who live
in the jungle and would never make it home alive if they couldn't remember
to "turn left at the waterfall, then right at the big rock". 

 

Allow me to contradict myself. When viewed at the scale of entire
populations there do seem to be inherent differences in regard to spatial
abilities. 

 

Though I have not been to Africa, I have often observed with dismay the
curious lack of curiosity and navigational ability on the part of black
people both here in the United States and elsewhere in the "new" world. Such
people were generally derived from sedentary agriculturalist Bantu tribes in
west Africa. Nomadic Nilotic pastoralists are obviously good at finding
their way around but were rarely enslaved. Pygmies live only in the deep
jungle and are hunter gatherers with legendary navigational abilities.
Africa is the most genetically diverse place on the planet, so I cannot help
but think that there are inherent differences in the abilities of these
various groups.

 

The Chinese and many others in southeast Asia are agriculturalists who have
historically shown little interest in exploration. It certainly isn't due to
a lack of intelligence, and the same cannot be said of their close relatives
the Mongols who famously raped and pillaged their way across the continent,
so perhaps it is a purely cultural phenomenon. Nevertheless, on my trips to
China I was astounded by the lack of situational awareness shown even by the
most backwoods peasants who had no idea of what was on the other side of the
hill that they had lived next to all of their lives. The same was not true
of the hill tribes who had ben pushed into marginal habitats and were very
good woodsmen.

 

As for the Polynesians, who were derived from the Chinese and were the
world's greatest explorers, I am simply baffled!

 

That brings us to the hulking hairy Pleistocene Honkeys who were our
forefathers. They ranged the depth and breadth of the world's largest
continent during the ice ages hunting dangerous animals and fighting each
other. Their insatiable curiosity carried them to every corner of the earth,
and even into caves! 

 

Now where was I?

 

Sleazel

 

 

 

 

_

[Texascavers] House Bill 496 - Sinkhole Mapping Act of 2019 :

[Jerry]

I thought this might be of interest to some of you out there. A bill was 
brought to the floor of US House of Representatives by Representative Darren 
Soto of Florida on 1/11/2019. It proposes to have the USGS 
establish a program to map zones that are at greater risk of sinkhole formation 
in the US. The program would: 

(1) study the short-term and long-term mechanisms that cause sinkholes, 
including extreme storm events, prolonged droughts causing shifts in water 
management practices, aquifer depletion, and other major changes in water use; 
and : 

 (2) develop maps that depict zones that are at greater risk of sinkhole 
formation. 

As of February 5th, the bill was sent to the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral 
Resources of the Committee on Natural Resources for review. 

To monitor the progress of the bill, go to : 
https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/496/all-actions 

Jerry Atkinson.
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