Heinrich Heine Said...

Ordinarily he was insane, but he had lucid moments when he was merely stupid.

Pluto Dreaming

It may have been delayed a few times, but eventually it will get launched. I'm speaking about the NASA Pluto Probe of course. Bad weather has grounded the launch temporarily, but I am sure they will launch in the next few days.

I find the whole thing fascinating. What star gazer wouldn't find a trip to any of the planets cool, especially Pluto. Every kid in school loves and dreams of Pluto. I'm sure mostly due to the Disney character namesake, but also due to the fact that it is the furthest known planet and there are no "good" pictures of it- creating a mystery. I, with everybody else, will still have to wait for ten years to finally see a good picture because it will take the probe that long to get there. But as the last couple of decades have flown by so fast, I'm sure it won't seem long. I do, luckily, have a few things to do during that time to keep me occupied.

It is reported that this probe will be the fastest space craft ever. 45,000 miles per hour! According to NASA numbers, that's 10 times faster than a bullet leaving a rifle. I know that has to mean "hyperdrives" and "warp cores" are next. And if those two terms don't get you excited, you probably don't care about the Pluto probe either.

It all sounds exciting, but there is one real irritation about the whole project. It's not the fact that the ship will be carrying plutonium, some people are opposed to this idea; it's the fact this ship can travel from Florida to the moon in nine hours. The Apollo moon missions needed 3 days!. So I have to ask: If space craft have improved so much, why then does it still take me over an hour to drive across the the Salt Lake Valley every afternoon?!!

Peter McWilliams Said...

Mistakes, obviously, show us what needs improving. Without mistakes, how would we know what we had to work on?

That's "Vette" with Two T's, Thank You.

A story broke today about a man who had his car stolen. The story broke because the New York police returned this car to him today, nearly 37 years after it had been stolen.

Apparently the man bought, a then new, 1969 Blue Corvette only to have it stolen soon after. It's, therefore, not hard to understand his incredulous reaction to the phone call that his car had been recovered and the police were trying to return it to him. It had been nearly four decades since he last saw it!

The police had come in possession of the car after a customs bust of a cargo crate headed for Sweden found the car loaded inside. The VIN number showed that the car was stolen, but no other information was available. Two detectives then took it upon themselves to find out the rightful owner of the car. They went through 5000 pieces of information over four days to find the long lost owner. They called the man, confirmed it was the right guy, and arranged the drop off.

I have no problem with the resources that were spent in this endeavor, but I must, by law, make my observation. I am quite positive the only reason anyone still had the car, the only reason the police were willing to invest so much time and effort, and the only reason the man still remembered the car and decided to keep it after all these years was because...it's a Vette! And a good looking one at that!

A Not So Long Time Ago...

Exactly twenty years ago today I arrived in my first town in France, Martigue. A small town located in the "La Provence" in the southern part of the country near Marseille.

My head was swirling as I was learning what French really sounded like in real speed. I had studied French in school for years and I had taken a two month crash course before arriving but "OOH LA LA!" I had much to learn!

As we darted down the small streets in an even smaller car with the driver looking at me more then he was looking at the road, laughing each time I stared at him with my look of "what did he just say?", I found real life can be quite a bit different that practice. What's the saying? In theory, theory and practice are the same, in practice they are not."

The reason I am recalling this event today, besides the obvious anniversary date, is because life also has a way of repeating itself. Today I was in our basement, "finishing" it. I have been around construction all my life. When accompanied by an adult, I have even tried my hand at it once or twice . Today I was on my own. I knew what everything was supposed to look like, I knew how things were supposed to be done, I even knew what to call most tools and materials. I didn't, however, seem to be able to do everything like it was supposed to be done.

Like I did that day in France, I worked my way through the problems, stammered through some creative measurements, and in the end...well, I lived to fight another day.

Sunday Scripture Choice

Numbers 6: 24-26

The LORD bless thee, and keep thee:

The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:

The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.

SUCCESS: S*U*C- Challenging

I once heard a man say, "The pursuit of easy things makes one weak." I believe this to be true. Is there anything that is worth reflecting on, talking about, hearing about, that came through easy endeavors? Somewhere, whether in the preparation, accomplishment, or continuance, there was a challenge.

Woody Allen once said, "If you're not failing every now and again, it's a sign you're not doing anything very innovative."

Do not let failures and challenges stand in your way! If it's challenging, there will be set backs. This is a good thing. Failures, so long as you keep your eye on the goal, makes you creditable- it wasn't just luck. Failures give you comparison- a low to compare to the highs. Failures, above all, give you experience.

"Good judgment comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgment." Unknown

Make it tough, make it worth your effort, make it worthy of saying. "I did that!"

Rich Cook Said...

Programming today is a race between software engineers striving to build bigger and better idiot-proof programs, and the Universe trying to produce bigger and better idiots. So far, the Universe is winning.

Living Up To Your Name

I know this may sound picky, but this really caught my attention.

The other day I was following a truck . On the back under the bumper was a trailer hitch. I didn't see anything real particular about this trailer hitch that would make it different from any other hitch that I've seen. Except for the words "Hidden Hitch" on one of the support arms. This apparently was the brand name of the hitch.

Hidden Hitch? If I can see it, can't everybody else? Why is it hidden? Or should I say, supposed to be hidden? I wondered whether this was a modern version of the Emperor's New Clothes?

I drove on and when I passed the truck a bit later, I just acted normal and pretended like I hadn't seen it. Why burst his bubble?!

Jawaharlal Nehru Said...

Life is like a game of cards. The hand that is dealt you is determinism; the way you play it is free will.