This rail station is between Ollantaytambo and Aguas Caliente alongside the Urubamba River. The green sign between the rails indicates the name of the station (Pampacahua), the altitude of the station (2,379.01 m) , the distance to Cusco (93.740 km) and the distance to a hydroelectric power plant downriver (27.960 km). This power plant is downriver from Machu Picchu. This picture was taken on 26 August 2014, Sig... What follows has nothing to do with this post, but rather what happened to me today. The day started out as usual, did my morning bike ride in the gym on a machine on base, followed by some liquor and beer shopping at the Class 6 store at Luke. Had my tire pressure checked at Discount Tires and decided to go to Walmart to get a new prescription for my eyes before I go to Germany for Christmas. I walked in, and told the lady what I needed and she started the paperwork. After filling out some forms and a short wait, one of the technicians, a young pregnant woman, took me to one of the machines and tested my eyes for something and then I returned to wait. Shortly after, another woman, the optometrist, introduced herself and led me to a small, office, closed the door and and began to examine my eyes. In the process she explained to me what she was doing and mentioned that I have the beginning of a cataract in one eye, and suggested that I should take care of it soon. When I asked about bi-focal type cataract surgery, she explained to me the pro and cons. For distance vision, the surgery is covered by insurance, for close-up surgery there is a several thousand dollar co-pay. But the important thing she pointed out, is that an ophthalmologist cannot anticipate how an individuals brain processes the changes. Every individuals brain is different. We were just about done, when three rapid very loud bangs happened just outside the office. The sound was so loud that one could feel the pressure. My first thought was' firecrackers', instantly followed by 'late morning on a Wednesday - Pearl Harbor Day? - no!' The doctor and I looked at each other for what felt like an eternity, but was probably only 2 to 3 seconds, when she said 'those were no fire crackers, those were gun shots' followed by another eternity - about 1 or 2 seconds, when pandemonium broke out, just outside the door, people screaming and yelling and such. That confirmed her assessment. Here we were, she standing in front of me, and me sitting in a chair and staring at each other for a long time, or so it seemed. She finally sat on the floor and indicated to me to do the same. She was on the phone, but couldn't get in touch with any of the staff. We waited for about 5 minutes or so before we risked a peek outside.There was a small partition on one side outside the door, that prevented the people that go through the checkout line to see the door. but opposite us was another small examining room, and that door opened and the people in that room indicated to us to come and join them. As we hustled over to the other side we got a glimpse of two police officers, one person, apparently wounded, and a couple other people, probably store security. There were nine of us in this office, 5 men, customers, and four females, staff. The woman that had done my initial paper work was on her way to having a nervous breakdown, the shooting happened right by her desk, maybe four- five feet away. She worried about some staff member, the other women were clearly shook up. The men, including myself, had stoic expression on their face, but we were clearly all in shock. After about ten minutes or so, someone knocked on the door, and we opened the door to a security officer. There were about a dozen police officers by now, a couple of medical personnel, a stretcher and a black man on the stretcher, apparently a victim. While we were locked away in the office, the store had been evacuated and once we were led outside it seemed the whole Walmart parking lot was full of police cruiser. I counted 20 cop cars, but there were more which I couldn't see and at least two ambulances and a fire engine, and by now, news helicopters began to arrive. What happened was that apparently the two suspects followed the two victims into the store and shot them point blank and got away. On the evening news the police reported that they suspected that the shootings were gang related, the suspects had gotten away, but CCTV footage and eye witness accounts gave them a pretty good idea what the shooters looked like. I tried to analyze my reaction to this, and I realized that I had been in shock, and I also realized that watching something like this on TV, an almost daily occurrence in Phoenix, is one thing, but being within 20 or 25 feet of it, is a completely different story. I will comment shortly! .