Craig, being located in Texas you will probably be familiar with another version of "gin", namely as the first process which separates cotton freshly picked from the field from the stalks and other extraneous matter. I worked in the cotton/textile industry for over 25 years and made countless trips to Lubbock, TX. If you've never been in one, try and get a visit to a cotton Gin (derived from "engine").
My son is currently in Lubbock going to college. Whereas I have never visited a cotton gin, perhaps I should add that to my list of things to do whilst on a road trip this summer. Thanks for the thought, Peter.
While driving the M3W east of Austin one summer in a British car ralley, I did get stuck behind a large cotton harvester which blocked both lanes of the country highway. There was nothing to do but slowly follow behind with the other traffic. As we drove along, large pieces of unprocessed cotton would blow off and were left on the road. Since the M3W is so low to the ground, I got the brilliant idea to snatch up a clump as I passed over it. My thought was that my wife, who is a teacher, may like some to show her class of fourth graders. Although I was only driving about 25 mph, I misjudged the distance, missed the cotton, and was only able to catch a bunch of bloodied knuckles on the pavement. Knuckleheaded is what they call that.
