JohnA (RE: Happy Birthday, Duane Hagadone): Duane's birthday reminds me of that other 'larger than life' Idahoan, J.R. Simplot. Both enjoyed long lives and even had one joint partnership. A young cost accountant at the time, I was asked to accompany J.R. on a tour of the Bunker Hill Mine in 1982, after he and Duane and Jack Hendrick had an option with Gulf Resources to keep it open. I remember it was his birthday and even at 73 he nearly walked the legs off of those of us fifty years younger. He was not going to commit his millions to anything he hadn't thoroughly researched. It was the last time I was ever underground. In the end, the partnership failed when the United Steelworkers Union bosses in Pittsburgh rejected an 'advisory' vote overwhelmingly approved by the local Steelworkers to accept wage concessions while the mine was being reorganized. They pulled out, the mine closed and those of us remaining from 2,400 others were laid off.

Question: Have you ever been underground in a mine?