Protected: Statewide testing
Password Protected
To view this protected post, enter the password below:
Dawn mission
I guess I can’t take full credit for jinxing this mission. After all, the mission had already been canceled once, uncancelled, and then put on “stand down” status before I even got involved in the project. The mission of Dawn is to study Vesta and Ceres, two bodies in the asteroid belt, and Dawn will be the first to visit multiple bodies under its own power, in particular using its new ion thrusters. And my involvement … well, I am one of the space enthusiasts whose name (and Angie’s, I take full responsibility for that) is carried on the craft embedded in a microchip mounted between the forward thruster and the high gain antenna.
Of course, after we became involved the mission was canceled.
Then, the manufacturer of the Dawn spacecraft, Orbital Sciences Corporation, appealed, offering to finish Dawn at cost in order to gain experience in this new field. Just a couple of days ago, the mission is back on again. Angie and I are going into space.
That is, if we don’t jinx it again….
See you at the new clubhouse!
This will be my last post at http://radio.weblogs.com/0131531/. Please meet up with me again at my own domain: http://www.toddswebspace.com.
Though there hasn’t been much apparent activity on the weblog in a couple of months, a lot has been going on under the hood. I’ve been planning to jazz up the site a little bit. A few things have been broken on the weblog side, so I’m moving the whole shebang to my own server to better control how the different pieces fit with one another. The appearance of the site will hopefully be a little less bland as I introduce a new concept into the design: color. I hope to fix those things that have broken in the past year or two as well.
Any techies out there might also be interested that I’m rewriting the code of my weblog from the ground up to have a table-less three column main page achieved through cascading style sheets. The entire process could take me up to around Christmastime as I chip away at it. (more…)
A charming little range light
This is a picture of the Haig Point Lighthouse on Daufuskie Island in South Carolina. The lighthouse was built in 1872 as one of two range lights that ships could use to safely enter Caliboque Sound. It is still operational today as a private aid to navigation and a bed and breakfast; and it’s on the National Register of Historic Sites. One more thing: it’s also the site of my wedding last month.
I know some of you want details! Here you go:
Existing Historic Tower: YES
- Year Light First Lit: 1872
- Is the Light Operational? YES (PRIVATE AID TO NAVIGATION)
- Date Deactivated: 1934-1987
- Automated: YES
- Foundation Materials: TABBY
- Construction Materials: WOOD
- Markings/Patterns: WHITE W/RED ROOF
- Shape: SQUARE ON HOUSE
- Relationship to Other Structures: INTEGRAL
- Original Optic: FIFTH ORDER, FRESNEL
- Year Original Lens Installed: 1872
- Height of Focal Plane: 70
- Has tower been moved? NO (more…)
The true power of the Force
(Note: Sorry to be a little late with this. It’s been a busy Spring as you will see!)
I’m not well-schooled in the kinds of gestures that sweep women off their feet. Angie knows this, and yet she’s still with me after nearly four years of dating….
A few months ago, I started to get really excited about Star Wars: Episode III. I wanted nothing more than to see it with my best girl. I downloaded the theatrical trailer and played it over and over again. In fact, nearly every time she would visit me, I would have it in a Media Player window, awaiting my command to play again. At first, she teased me about it.
Angie was not interested in Star Wars movies when I met her. In the years I’ve known her, however, she started tolerating them. Before long, she actually started appreciating some of them. Then, finally, she gave in to the Dark Side and became nearly as excited as I was about seeing the final episode. Now that’s love.
Anticipation mounted in the days leading up to our trip to the Old Nichols Theatre in Kansas City to see Episode III. We watched Episodes I and II in the week before. We had a few good-natured sparring sessions with our toy lightsabers. And we watched the theatrical trailer again.
The big day came, and Angie and I began our odyssey. We stopped to eat a light lunch along the way, and when we got back to the car, that’s when she noticed the lightsabers in the door side compartments. I explained that there will be lots of people wearing costumes … probably. It took a lot of convincing to get her to “think about” wearing it on her belt as we went to see the film. She told me afterward that she went round and round in her mind for the rest of the car ride whether she would wear it for me into the theatre. That turned out to work in my favor. (more…)
Protected: The blogging process
Password Protected
To view this protected post, enter the password below: