On 3/6/2012 9:45 PM, Darren New wrote:
> You know, every game has crates and barrels.
> (Crate and Barrel, supplying the video game world since 1972)
>
> But almost every video game has steam pipes too!
>
> Really? Steam pipes on a space ship?
>
> Steam pipes in Black Mesa? WTF are steam pipes for? Distributing heat
> from a central heater, in the middle of a desert?

My first duty station in the military was Whiteman Air Force Base, 
Missouri, which at the time (1985) was a missile base controlling 150 
Minuteman II ICBMs.

When I first arrived, the feature that struck me the most was the "steam 
pipe jungle" that extended all over the base.  A great deal of the 
heating was provided by insulated steam pipes running hither and yon. 
The pipes were all above the ground, and so everywhere a pipe and a 
roadway intersected, the pipe went up four meters or so, crossed the 
road in the air, and came down again.  After a month or so it ceased to 
be noticeable.

I have been informed that since that time the heating solution has 
changed, either to buried pipes or something less centralized.

Regards,
John

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