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In the summer of 1973, while commissioning the new telescope and instruments at the Wise Observatory in the Negev desert, we were fortunate enough to identify the first optical counterpart of an x-ray emitting neutron star, Hercules X-1. This article tells the story of how, with the help of dedicated and talented night assistants, we were so lucky as to be able to do useful science with a nascent observatory while discharging our conflicting responsibilities for testing the telescope by making astronomical observations, developing a dark room for photographic processing, and caring for two young boys.