:: So It Is Written... ::

:: Monday, June 02, 2008 ::

 

This made me laugh.

:: posted by Tmber :: 11:30 PM ::
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Disney cruise boat is awesome. That is all.

:: posted by Tmber :: 1:28 PM ::
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It amazes me the type of shows on ABC Family these days. It used to be 7th heaven and full house. Well, they still have full house, but now it's followed by some show that's all about sex. Seriously. I watched it for 10 minutes in the dentist office, and in that time, one girl decided to take off work to go have sex with her boss's ex-husband, who is married to another woman now. Her boss gets suspicious, so she makes up a story about a party for her boss where they can all get drunk and have fun. And all this is on top of very frequent cussing using every word currently allowed on prime time tv.

How is this appropriate for the family channel?

What's the world coming to?

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

:: posted by Tmber :: 3:46 PM ::
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Dear blogosphere,
 
I want to correct a misconception...  There is not one person, not one soul, that I am currently NOT talking to.  There seems to be some confusion out there about who is not talking to whom. 
 
I'm also not hung up over anything.  I'm not pissed at anyone for anything that has happened more than 48 hours ago.  That's not to say that I've forgotten things before then, but I'm not actively avoiding anyone, and I generally don't stay pissed off at people. 
 
As for avoiding people, I couldn't do anymore the opposite without going and camping out on people's doorsteps.  I have email, I have instant messenger at home and work, I have a phone!  I have responded to every. single. communication. that has been directed towards me.  It amounts to a grand total of one. 
 
Without going into details, let me state this for everyone...   If anyone tells me that they're not sure if they can hang out with me anymore, and they think that our friendship is beyond repair, then the ball is in THEIR court.  Please, anyone, disagree with me here if I'm wrong... but in that situation, anything I do only stands to make matters worse...  so, waiting is the only option.  That's what I'm doing. 
 
 

---

Back to work after baby– how do you know when you're ready?

:: posted by Tmber :: 6:49 PM ::
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I think there's a difference in creating drama and correcting facts.  Sometimes correcting factually inaccurate information is mistaken for creating drama, but I still feel the need to correct the misinformation anyways.  I think the truth is usually more important. 

That being said, I think I'll post my comments here, though, instead of directly on the website in question, since as I understand it, said webmaster would rather not hear from me for now.  

I read recently that Obama just announced he's going to pull funding from NASA to fund his education plan.  This was said to be good timing, as the primaries for the states with NASA centers has already passed.  I have also been told by several people that I should vote for Clinton, as she will not pull funding from NASA.  

So, here's the corrections that I feel the need to make:   1)  Obama said this months and months ago.  2)  a vote for Hillary will still make me lose my job.  

Now for references:

1)  "Barack Obama’s early education and K-12 plan package costs about $18 billion per year. He will maintain fiscal responsibility and prevent any increase in the deficit by offsetting cuts and revenue sources in other parts of the government. The early education plan will be paid for by delaying the NASA Constellation Program for five years, using purchase cards and the negotiating power of the government to reduce costs of standardized procurement, auctioning surplus federal property, and reducing the erroneous payments identified by the Government Accountability Office, and closing the CEO pay deductibility loophole. The rest of the plan will be funded using a small portion of the savings associated with fighting the war in Iraq.." -- [Obama's] Official Education Plan, 20 November 2007

- Note the date, there.   Long before even the first primary election.  He's been saying this for a while now. 

But I guess that's really less important since I think we all now understand that a vote for Obama is a vote for a lost job at NASA.   But what about Hillary? 

2)  "But in a telephone interview afterward, she said that in the short term she would subordinate Bush administration proposals for human exploration of the Moon and Mars to restoring cuts in aeronautics research and space-based studies of climate change and other earth science issues.  Travel to the Moon or Mars 'excites people,' she said, 'but I am more focused on nearer-term goals I think are achievable.'"

-- The New York Times, 5 October 2007

- So, a vote for Hillary doesn't mean lost funding for NASA, but it does mean that those of us who work in human space flight will either have to quickly become experts in global warming research, or we'll be out of a job.  So, any democratic vote is a vote for a lost job here at JSC, anyway. 

I will say that Hillary was quoted on a space website:  "Sen. Hillary Clinton (N.Y.) has pledged to pursue 'a successful and speedy transition' from the soon-to-be retired U.S. space shuttle fleet to 'a next-generation space transportation system that can take us back to the Moon and beyond.'”

However, that's in direct contrast to her interview with the New York Times…   which either makes her fickle or hypocritical.  Being a politician, I'm apt to believe that second one, there.  Especially considering that second quote for the Space News website, as compared to the New York Times, which is for everyone.

Also, Mr. Clinton cut NASA's budget significantly while he was in office.   I wonder if it runs in the family…  

Unfortunately, I can't bash McCain on this issue, because he has avoided discussing NASA in any official interviews, or at least those that I can find on the internet or www.spacepolitics.com. 

:: posted by Tmber :: 9:33 AM ::
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Quote of the Day:

 

"Tomorrow's staff meeting will be devoted to discussing urine processing in all its glory."  -  management.

:: posted by Tmber :: 4:22 PM ::
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This is circulating around NASA right now...   this is from the Russian space agency chief...  pay special attention to hiscomments in the middle about women in space.  Might give you a clue why a certain percentage of people over here are up in arms about this comment...  

 

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080419/soyuz_landing_080419/20080419?hub=SciTech

:: posted by Tmber :: 10:03 AM ::
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New York stinks. 

 

Not a figurative stink, like it was boring or annoying or I didn't like it.  It literally has a smell to it that permeates everything and is quite unappealing.  I can't quite describe it, either.  It's not like you can break it back into separate parts.  It's just...  New York. 

 

It was fun, though.  Got to see lots of stuff.  We stayed a couple of blocks from Grand Central.  Stepped in there, and was impressed by the contrast.  The main hall is grand and stuffed full of people.  High ceilings and big staircases make it look all impressive, but then when you step onto the platforms, it's very industrial -- tiny little corridors with ceilings made up of pipes.  The subway portion was about what'd you expect...  very dirty, overcrowded and loud.  Tons of people doing stupid human tricks for money.  These ranged from a band that actually wasn't too bad, to a guy with a violin who wanted money because he could make it make noise, to a guy who wanted money for telling people to move to the back of the car when they stepped on the subway train (seriously). 

 

What pissed me off about the needy people of New York, which is actually not much different than most panderers, is that they want money, not food.  I had an extra burger from lunch that I tried to give away, and no one would take it.  "No food.  Only Money!"   typical.  so, no, I did not feel compelled to give away any of my money. 

 

Let's see... what else did we see...   Rockefeller center, Radio city music hall, Broadway, the Met, Central Park, Empire State building, Statue of Liberty, The MetLife building (which is only important as a point of reference for Grand Theft Auto IV), the Audi dealership from Jumper, FAO Swartz (and its giant piano from Big), Times Square, the naked cowboy, and a bunch of other stuff.  :)  

 

Broadway was interesting.  I was amazed at how bright it is there at night, and how many people are on the street at 11pm.  Broadway was cool.  We saw Macbeth, with Patrick Stewart.  Was very interesting.  It was a modern interpretation, meaning it was set in like WW2, but used the original dialog.  Patrick Stewart's interpretation of the "tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow" speech gave me a completely different respect for that little portion of Shakespeare.  I had never even imagined it like that.  And the "double, double, toil and trouble" scene with the witches was amazing.  It was set to a bit of music that's hard to describe - very fast and somewhere between rap and techno - and really showed how rythmic shakespeare can be.  I wish I had video of those scenes...  and the sammich scene.  because Patrick Stewart doing Shakespeare through a mouth full of pickle sammich is just funny. 

 

Central Park was kinda an oddity.  We stepped down in one corner of it, and it's like when you step down off the last step, it gets quieter and less smelly.  People are all laying and playing around on the grass (behind the "do not walk on grass" signs).  It's understandable, too.  The park is one little bit of sanity and sanctuary from the hustle and bustle of the streets just outside the park.  It just seems to make sense that it's there.  People need that kind of refuge.  It's pretty much the only place you can see nature, wildlife, and trees (besides the ones on the side of the Trump building).

 

Walked by the Empire State building several times before realizing what it was.  It's really nothing special from the ground, and doesn't look any different than the buildings around it, unless you're looking straight up.  Didn't go up inside it, though...  Something about paying $20 to get on an elevator annoys me.

 

The Met (Metropolitan Museum of Art) is another one of those hard-to-describe things.  It's big.  That is, of course, an understatement.  2,000,000 sq ft.  And extremely open, with massive exhibits in huge halls.  Not your typical museum feel.  I was amazed at the sheer amount of stuff they had, too.  We only saw about 2 1/2 of the 19 or so exhibit halls.  They had more egypt stuff there than all other exhibits I've seen put together.  And their arms and armor exhibit featured swords from all different areas and time periods.  Medieval broadswords, old french rapiers, and some amazing japanese katanas.  One in particular, from ~1600, was breath-taking.  I've seen swords by today's "masters" of the art, and they are nothing compared to this sword. 

 

It's also worth noting that the part of town where the Met is is so much different than the area near Grand Central.  It still stinks, but with a bit more urine.  It's a much nicer (i.e. snobbier) part of town, but everyone there has dogs that they walk on the street, and having no grass to go on, the dogs just go on the street.  What can you do, right? 

 

Unfortunately, I missed seeing even more of New York due to the fact that my feet hurt!   so. much. walking.  My feet still hurt.  I'm pretty sure my left foot is bruised.  And shifting all my weight to my right foot make it hurt.  Made walking very painful. 

 

The city is not for me, but I could see how some people could do it.  Driving in that city is just a stupid idea, btw.  I'm not sure how people do it.  They instituted a $350 fine for honking in NY.  yeah right.  Everyone honks.  all the time.  Listened to one guy honk once every three seconds as he drove down the road.  No one in front of him... I guess he just felt left out.  It's also one of those places where if you get hit, it's your fault.  That goes for cars and pedestrians.  If a car hits you while you're walking, you were obviously in the wrong place at the wrong time. 

 

Overall, I wasn't really bothered by the people of the city.  Like, I really didn't feel nervous about walking around.  There were a couple of places where there weren't a lot of people, but those were, ironically, down in the good part of town.  Those were really the only spots that really bothered me.  Everyone else was full of people, and a larger proportion of police. 

 

We made a point to eat at some places unique to New York.  of course, a pizza place, and a deli, and McDonald's.  :)   The snazziest McD's I've ever seen.  several stories with flashing lights and big angus burgers that we don't have here in texas. 

 

Overall, it was a lot of fun.  The new 757 we flew from NY to ATL in was pretty snazzy, too, actually.  Everyone had their own touch screen with free on demand movies, music, tv, and games, including a trival challenge game that everyone on the plane could tie into and play against each other.  I lost.  partly because the turbulence was so bad that my hand would jerk and hit the wrong answer.  and partly because playing a trivia game in said turbulence had me on the verge of being very ill.  my own fault, I guess.  :) 

 

anyway...  all in all, it was very fun. 

:: posted by Tmber :: 7:13 PM ::
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