Busy Weekend

Last night was Becca's shot party. It was sort of a birthday party for Becca and Cari. It was supposed to be a birthday party for Melanie too, but she decided to go to Las Vegas at the last minute. I haven't been to a party like that in years. We played Twister on two boards, and this game called "Would you Rather" that was basically about giving people two bad choices to chose between. And we watched space camp. Oh, yeah, and we had a bit to drink. :)

So today we made up by woking in the yard all day. We trimmed, mulched, weeded, fertilized, etc. We were invited back to Becca's tonight for the Academy Awards, but I think I'm just into relaxing tonight. I have a busy week at work this week. Lots of stuff to do Monday and Tuesday, and then I have to work the night shift Wed and Thurs for the Return to Flight dress rehearsal sim. That means I have to do some weird sleep shifting, but I'll manage.

asics rule!

Tuesday after work I went to On The Run, to look into buying some proper running shoes. It's been several years since I had last had a decent pair, and (perhaps) not uncoincidently the last few years have been when I've had muscle cramp problems.

The owner of the store, Jay, was really helpful and I picked out a pair of Asics, size 11. Unfortunately it seems that shoe model is one of the most popular in America; it's hard to get extras on demand. They had ordered 2 pairs my size 8 months ago, and that's was awesome because the very next day one of those pairs arrived and I picked it up!

Last night Roxy and Zoya helped me try them out. We ran about 1.5 miles, the first half pretty hard. Zoya was leading us, Roxy was pulling up the rear, and from time to time I felt like a tug-of-war rope when they got too far apart. Besides that, I felt great, which was a relief because I was starting to think at the ripe old age of 28 I was getting... um... old. Good shoes can make a great difference. I'll try a longer run this weekend and see how I feel.

I didn't realize that Jen had had a not-so-great day, she slept most of the evening.

Got

Got up really early today to come to work. Got to work and immediately got problem dumped in lap. Got bad information from multiple sources while investigating problem. Screwed things up by trying to fix them based on aforementioned bad info. Got asked many questions due to aforementioned screwed up things. Got correct info and fixed screwed up things back to how they were in the beginning.

Pretty much sums up my feelings right now. Got to go home and lower blood pressure.

What the Hell!

Jo posted this test on her blog a couple days ago. First it tells me that I'm a Cocker Spaniel. This apparently means I'm perky, playful, and popular?! I try to be pleasant, but perky? I really don't think so. But that's not the best part. Here's the test results:

-----
Jennifer, you're a Cocker Spaniel!

No bones about it, you're a perky, loving Cocker Spaniel. (Think Lady from Lady and the Tramp.) Playful and energetic, you're a real people person — er, dog. People can't help but fall hook, line, and sinker for your friendly, well-rounded personality and natural charm. It's a subtle thing, though — being outgoing and flirtatious, not showy, is the name of your game. Friends, co-workers, and potential dates can't help liking you. How could they not? Your winning-yet-humble ways make you popular, admired, and a joy to be around. Woof!

You may have adult Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), a condition your doctor can help treat. Take a brief screener to find out if you may have the symptoms. Visit AdultADD.com.
-----

What the hell? ADD advertisements? I find that a bit insulting, or at least bad manners in a quiz that is supposed to be matching me to a BREED OF DOG. WTF, mate?

Work Hard, Play Hard

This week is going to be a very long one. Even though it's only four days long. I worked 10 1/2 hours today. Tomorrow, I have to wait for the washer repair man in the morning, go to a program board around lunch, and then generate some data for our sim on Thursday as well as vectors for the rest of the sims for this flight. Hopefully, that can be done at the same time. Then Thursday I have another sim, and Friday I'm going to be in a meeting all day. Next week, we have a 3 day long "dress rehearsal" for the next mission. It's busy all of a sudden.

Our dogs have been asleep since we brought them home yesterday afternoon. Seriously asleep. Gavin had the food bowls almost full last night before she woke up. Usually the sound of dog food spilling into a metal dish is enough to bring her running from the other end of the house. I try to quietly fill their dishes while they're upstairs with Gavin. I usually don't even get the garage door open without Zoya catching me.

Whoohoo! More American Idol.

Blogger Code

My blogger code: B4 d t k s u-- f i o++ x e+ l c-- (decode it!)

Don't Litter!

Because what goes around comes around. The conspiring forces of aerodynamics, flammable synthetics, and smoldering litter can bite you in the butt. Or at least singe your hair...

Today is just a day

It is so pretty outside. We ate lunch today outside the newly re-opened cafeteria. This is the time of year when Houston actually has a nice climate. Every year people start planting flowers and stuff during this first warm spell. Then it gets cold one more time before it’s really spring and all the flowers die, or people have to go to great lengths with tarps and stuff to save them. And I always laugh because I don’t think I’ll ever consider February is a good time of year to plant flowers, no matter how long I live here.

My doggies were very cuddly last night. Roxy napped with her head in the crook of my arm for a while. :) It was so cute. Zoya is always cuddly. (Is that really how you spell that word? Spell checker says it is, but it looks like something a cow would chew on to me.) I think it must be that they are starting to feel like it’s time for us to leave them for a weekend again. Little do they know that they get to come camping with us this weekend, which is the ultimate doggy treat.

Tonight is swimming. I’ve started swimming once a week with Sarah, Becca, and Jenny. It’s good for me - I need to exercise. Since I refuse to start jogging, I have to take advantage of some of these alternative forms. This week, I have swim goggles - which should be a very big help. Last week, I kept swimming crooked and getting in other people’s way.

After swimming, we’re going to Cheesecake Factory for Cari’s birthday. I will promptly undo all the calorie usage swimming caused.

New Home

I finally moved our blog over to our new domain. This gives us much more room to store pictures, etc. on the blog. I have the old page auto-forwarding to this page, so I hope everybody is finding it OK. If you can’t read this, let me know! (Ha, ha, ha, that was SO funny.)

Realization

We are turning into an OLD MARRIED COUPLE. How do I know? Last night, for Valentine's Day, we went out to dinner at a BBQ joint (which isn't as bad as it seems because it's kind of a tradition) and then came home and FELL ASLEEP. That's right, at 9pm on Valentine's Day we fell asleep. I slept through to morning - I think Gavin got up for a while. Is that pathetic or what? What's even more pathetic is that it FELT SO GOOD. How can I be that tired on a Monday when I didn't have to even be at work early? :P

Now that I've ranted about that, I don't really mind turning into an Old Married Couple. I mean, that's the whole thing about getting married - the whole growing old together thing is pretty much what I was looking for. It's just that we're still in our 20's and we DON'T EVEN HAVE KIDS YET. I always thought it was the kids that turned you into an Old Married Couple. I completely didn't understand the danger posed by post-BBQ drowsiness. Be warned.

Stupid Appliances

It must be Friday. To what do I owe this amazing piece of super-secret information? To the fact that I am COMPLETELY unmotivated to accomplish anything that needs to be done. This can only be explained by the immenent approach of the weekend. It’s elementary, my dear Watson!

Our washing machine is broken. Sears wants $55 to come out and look at it and give me a quote or $185 to gaurantee a fix of whatever’s wrong. What the hell is that? It’s like the guy was threatening me with the possibility that fixing this thing is going to be terribly expensive. But, I think it’s more likely that it is a bum electrical connection. But, since he’s only going to come out to assess the damage, that probably means they’ll charge me $55 again to come back and fix it - plus parts, labor, etc. etc. $185 is about 1/3 of the original cost of the machine, though!

In the meantime, we’ll have to probably impose on Becca this weekend to at least do some underwear. (Hope you don’t mind, Becca.) Grumble, grumble.

Working Mother Rant

When I came into my office yesterday, a couple of my co-workers were discussing the compatibility of pregnancy and working. My job is somewhat unusual in that there is a legitimate safety concern if a person has certain medical conditions. I have to pass a physical to be eligible to work. You wouldn't want someone passing out at a critical moment. Also, if someone were assigned as a team lead and then went into labor right before the mission, it would be inconvenient to say the least.

But, then they started debating whether a woman should accept a lead position if she were TRYING to get pregnant. I thought this was over the line. I mean, it takes some women years to conceive. I'm supposed to stop taking on responsibility at work for however long it may take to first get pregnant and then to have the baby and then to get back into the swing of things at work. I don't think so.

Of course, all this was starting to steam me a bit because the two people talking about it were, of course, men. Who did not have to face these issues when they started their families. It is going to be disruptive to my work when I have a baby, but I would hope that it could be minimized by not having to anticipate the event by 9+ months. And I firmly believe that women should not have to choose between career and family. If a woman wants to withdraw from her career life to have more time with her baby, great. But if she doesn't want to do so, she shouldn't be forced to.

Anyway, no doubt someone will point out that this topic hit home because I just may be contemplating a situation like this for myself in the not too distant future. Fine, guilty as charged. I would just like to point out though, that I only made a few moderate comments at work and saved the rant for my blog.

James Cameron, Explorer

I like James Cameron. He makes cool movies. But it's not just that, he realizes the value of inspiration to a civilization. And he's very eloquent when he describes how NASA's new Vision of Space Exploration will fulfill that need, among others. Here is a transcript of Cameron's closing remarks at the 1st AIAA Space Exploration conference which occurred a week or two ago. For a first-time conference, the response from the space community was amazing. Over 1000 people, all who registered early. I've never heard of an AIAA conference being sold out. :)

If you ever ask yourself, "Why is NASA worth $15 billion a year?" or if you just need some inspiration, check it out.

Anything Goes

For the most part, I've been too involved in work lately to take time to post from work. This is good. Very good. However, it has made my posting habits a little bit more sporadic. Sorry to disappoint everyone. :)

Last night, Sarah and I went to see Anything Goes. Becca was supposed to go, too, but she decided to go home instead. Anyway, the show was decent. I love the title song. The tap dancing was a bit dirtier than I've seen from Theater Under the Stars in the past, particularly compared to Singing in the Rain which we saw in December. They made it amusing, though. When Cari saw it on Sunday, they kept working the Super Bowl score into the dialog. That's great.

Since I was meeting Sarah at her place at 7:00 last night to go to the show, I just kept working until it was time to go. I get so much done in the late afternoons. I crank up my music, sing if I want, and get productive. I think this is proof that "professional behavior" can be counter-productive to an efficient work environment. Or maybe it means that once nobody is e-mailing me anymore, I don't get distracted as much. Nah, that can't be it.

Nothing much to say

I went out to Mely's for dinner with the gang for the first time in a couple weeks. We had a very good gossip session. That's about all I have to say about my day today. It was pretty busy and productive. My group lead got hired as a Flight Director, which is really great - he's going to be a really good FD to work for. That will mean that in the 4 years I've worked full time at NASA I will have worked for 3 different people. That's pretty quick turnover for my division. Of course, one change was because I changed jobs.

End pointless post.

I'm SO Amused

If you type "thermal curtain failure" into Google, the first thing that comes up is this blog. I feel so famous!

Sunday

I think the post Gavin wrote today is one of the most spirited and eloquent writing I've ever seen from him. I guess we know that he really cared about the subject. I also think I'm going to be terrified to EVER get rid of any of our kids' toys. There would be no help from Daddy. "Yes, jr., I know how you feel. Grandmomma did that to me, and it took twenty years for me to forgive her..."

This weekend went too quickly. They all go too quickly, but I feel like I just came home from work on Friday. I finished reading Deception Point by Dan Brown. I had to keep reminding myself that the geology and art and everything else probably has as many inaccuacies as the space stuff. It was amusing. Now Becca has loaned me Chainfire by Terry Goodkind. I should probably resist starting to read that until I have a couple nights on which I don't need to get a lot of sleep. I'm prepared for lack of plot development, but I still can't put books like this down.

I downloaded the trial of a computer version of Settlers of Catan from Yahoo! Games tonight. It is pretty good. The computer opponents can take on different personalities. I played them all neutral, but you can make them aggressive or friendly. The computer was a decent opponent. I played my whole 60 minute trial tonight and I was having a great time. I'm not sure it was $29.99 good, which is what it would cost to get the full version. Part of the allure of Settlers for me is the interaction (in person) with friends. I'm going to have to think about it.

Yesterday I Forgave My Mother For Everything

When I was a little kid, I loved Star Wars. I still love Star Wars, but back then I was crazy about Star Wars. The first movie I remember seeing in the theater was 'The Empire Strikes Back'; I was five years old. I had lots of Kenner Star Wars toys, like the action figures and some of the vehicles. My prize possession, however, was the Millennium Falcon.

After watching TESB, I was dying to have my own Falcon. It was for sale at the La Belle's store a few blocks from my house in Casper, for $29.99. $29.99 was a lot for a little kid. But somehow my grandmother, 3 states away, heard my pleas and for my birthday I received a $30 check from her. Two hours later, my mom and I were happily waiting in the checkout line with a boxed starship in my arms. The cashier rang it up and told me I owed her $32.39 if I wanted to leave with that starship.

How much?

I was shocked. I mean, my check was only for $30. The price tag said $29.99! The concept of sales tax was utterly foreign to a boy just turned six.

My mom saved the day -- she spotted me $2.39 and we went home and put together the Millennium Falcon. We put the stickers on, put in some batteries, and I was ready to go in minutes. The Falcon roared through our house, engines blasting, as I alternatively chased our dog or pretended the Empire was after us.

Later my dad and I made some special modifications. We (or rather, he) drilled a few holes in the very front of the ship and installed 'headlights', just like we saw in the movie when the Falcon flew into the asteroid cave! It was very cool. Now I would fly the Falcon down into the darkened basement, soar around at speeds near lightspeed, and then run back up the stairs to the illuminated rooms above.

I was a pretty happy kid. So happy, I think I even let my sister play with the Falcon a little.

The years went by and I grew older. I didn't play with the Falcon as much, but it had a special place on the floor of my closet. Occassionally the massive "hangar" doors would slide open and the Falcon would zoom around my room, but most of the time I would be reading or playing with something else.

And then, one day, I opened up my closet door. My beloved Falcon was gone and in its place were some neatly placed shoes. Much too neatly placed for a 9-year-old boy to have placed there. My mother had given the Falcon away to the salvation army. Or sold it at a garage sale. It was never really clear to me exactly what had happened, I only knew the Falcon was gone.

For years, nay, decades, I would occasionally bring this episode up to my mother's chagrin. I know parents have to clear out old toys for new, but I never really forgave her for this one.

And she knew it. Maybe I made her feel a little guilty. And I'm not sorry at all, because...

Yesterday, nearly 20 years after my Falcon was whisked away, I opened a belated Christmas present. My mom had told me weeks before that she had a present for me that I would love. It was in a box about thirty inches long. Twenty inches wide. Six inches thick. Not too heavy. My mother had written on the wrapping paper, "To Make Up For A Garage Sale". I felt a glimmer of hope, but at the same time I was astounded. I mean, there was no way she could have gotten another Falcon... could she? I was afraid to open the wrapping paper because if it wasn't the Falcon I was going to be very disappointed.

So I opened it. And it was everything I had hoped for, and even more! It was the newer Millennium Falcon, made by Hasbro! It has a better paint/sticker color scheme so it looks more 'used', like in the movies! It has engines that light up with three different engine noises: startup, flyby, and "punch it, Chewie!" It has a concussion missile launcher! It has a pamphlet discussing all of the extra features, ending each with an exclamation point! It's very cool.

My sister helped me put the stickers on. Our two dogs were chased around my parents house with the Falcon roaring in pursuit. I even let my wife fly it a little. My mom was very pleased that I was finally going to stop giving her crap after 20 years. And I'm very pleased my mom thought of buying the Falcon for me when she saw it a few months ago in the store.

I've got the fever

I've been getting camping fever again. I'm trying to talk Gavin into taking a couple days in Texas Hill Country over Presidents' Day weekend. February is actually a great month for camping in Texas. It has taken me 4 years to get used to the idea, but I think I'm there. And the dogs would really love to come with us for a weekend trip instead of getting left at Vantage Point Kennels. :)

Work is pretty busy this week, but with things that actually feel productive. I am actually starting to feel like what I do is an asset to the space program, rather than just sucking training money up all the time. That only took 4 1/2 years.

My mom called tonight. I guess Caroline got croup last week. She's mostly better now, though, so it's OK. Poor baby!

Social Security

I don't understand how private retirement accounts are supposed to help with Social Security. I mean, are we going to stop paying social security taxes? If we do, that just makes the problem worse. And if not, what are the private accounts more than what people should be doing with their extra money on their own. I just don't get it. Maybe some people need that forced savings. I mean, I know some people do, but maybe more people than I realize do.

I just saw a commercial for the new Pooh movie. Either that 300 lb Heffalump is really heavy for his size, or Pooh and the gang are a lot bigger than I always thought. Seriously, check it out.

Groundhog Day

It was a nice and brisk day today, looks like a few more weeks of winter.

Been busy at work, working on presentations for this or that. I'm helping assemble a special session for a conference in August and that is turning out to be pretty rewarding. I'm looking forward to it.

The dogs have been happy to have us back. They've been sleeping ever since we got home, I think they ran a lot in the backyard today. Which is good, because yesterday they stayed inside due to the rain. They're not as sleepy when they stay inside.

Yesterday I stopped by the funeral home briefly, the wife of someone who works on my office floor died over the weekend. She had been struggling against leukemia for a few years. It was very sad. I only met her once or twice, she was nice. The pictures they had displayed were very touching.

Tomorrow I plan to go running after work with Sarah and Buzz. I had some problems with bad calf cramps in December when I was trying to prepare (belatedly) for the half-marathon. They were so bad, I had to stop running for several weeks and couldn't do the half as I had hoped. After weeks of stretches and muscle building, I hope I can handle 3 miles without incident.

This weekend we're off to my parents to celebrate my dad's birthday. The dogs get to come too. My parents will probably get a golden lab this year or next; that will be so much fun. My mom really wants a dog too, but she's worried about how their cat will deal. The first time Roxy went to visit them, the cat was unexpectedly chased around the house briefly (in a very comical scene for bystanders) by her. Mom said the cat took days to recover before she would leave the bedroom. Ah, well, I'm sure she'll cope. :)

Time to catch the end of the State of the Union.

Not the R-thing

Wow, I have so much to say today.

This morning I went to a local elementary school to judge 5th grade science fair projects. As usual, there was a great variation in the quality, but a couple of them were pretty impressive. I have another school to do tomorrow.

Then I went to work and kept pretty busy and productive all afternoon. When that happens my brain keeps on working after work. Not necessarily about work like Gavin's seems to, but I don't veg on the car ride home like I do when I've been bored all day. Anyway, I was listening to Gretchen Wilson, and one of the lines in the song got me thinking.

Honey, I'm a Christian
but if you keep this up
I'm gonna have to kick your
pretty little butt

This started a train of thought that is truely Nick-worthy. This is what turns me off religion. People pick and chose what they want to take literally and then insist that their way is the only way. The same people who insist the Old Testement passage that is often translated "Man shall not lie with man" is crystal clear often chose to ignore the New Testement "Turn the other cheek" (an example only). And then write elaborate articles about why that's OK. Or just fall back on original sin, and yea I'm saved.

I read this article yesterday written by a mother who's raising her child without religion. I agree with her that the hardest thing about not believing all the stories I was raised with is dealing with death. It's just too horrible to comtemplate that death just wipes out all we really are, much less when it happens to a loved one. But just because I want to believe in life everlasting doesn't make it true. I just don't see how people can think they know for sure what's going to happen until it does. And then it's too late.

Religion has just been the source of too many bad things in the world. And, I can't buy the "those people weren't acting as they should be" arguement because EVERYBODY thinks that they're doing what God wants.

Ultimately, I just have to go with my gut. My gut says that if the Almighty isn't going to go to bat for me because I don't "believe", then that's not a God I want to believe in anyway. Honestly, I'm more worried about the effect my lack of religion has on my loved ones that believe than I am for my own soul.

Anyway, as all this was going on in my head I almost got rear-ended. No doubt this could be interpreted as God's way of warning me about the dangerous thoughts I was thinking. I chose to attribute it to the rain. I had to stop a bit fast when traffic slowed down, and then watched in the rear-view mirror as the pickup behind me skidded toward the guard rail, straitened, then squeeled his brakes twice, and... no bang. Phew.