Now What?

The end of an era came abruptly this morning at 5:56 a.m. EST as Space Shuttle Atlantis safely returned home. As best as I can tell, the world hardly noticed. This is what happens when you're flat broke-plugs get pulled & the party moves elsewhere. Future moon landings have also been scrapped by the current administration (talk about fun haters!).

Much like all things pertaining to the military, space travel is one of the few areas in my humble but accurate opinion our government has done well. Now perhaps the private sector will take over. Wouldn't hold my breath on that one however.

I suspect we are about to enter numerous blah-zay decades of a whole lota nutin' special (i.e. Spacelab). During that time, I predict one of two things will happen- A.) Another country (namely China) will be the new leader in cutting edge space exploration, or B.) Some Mark Zuckerberg of sorts in his (or her) college dorm room in some podunk Oklahoma state college you've never heard of, will make a major breakthrough during their fall semester research project (circa 2073 me thinks) thus creating zillions of new jobs. Then the whole all but forgotten ball of wax will once again resurrect itself much to the delight of future Trekkies. Hope I'm wrong. But I doubt it. Until such day, we have oceans of National debt to conquer & a great deal of mediocrity to embrace, as sadly, American exceptionalism becomes more & more a thing of the past. :0/

A Dozen Years

This morning I arose late. At least I thought I did. My youngest is constantly pushing buttons so the alarm clock on the nightstand displayed 10:00 a.m. when in reality it was more like 6 a.m.

Disappointed me a bit because I thought "Wow, it's really dark & cloudy out for this time of day. I'm going to enjoy this!"

So I arose, took a quiet bath before the children woke. During my "hour in the shower" (Chicago song title reference there for you die hards) a cold realization came over me that I only have six years left with my oldest before she leaves home. Saddens me. There's so much left I want to do with her & for her. However, everywhere I turn seems to leave me with very limited options. Just don't feel like her childhood memories will be nearly as rich as I had envisioned.

Life is backwards. By the time you can afford the large home with the various amenities the children are grown. By the time you are able to take that dream vacation your body is worn out, & your offspring are spread across the planet & deeply entrenched in making ends meat/raising their own families, working 100 hours a week, etc.

Last week my daughter turned 12. I pray my last at bat will be better than my first.

The Power of Eighty-Three Cents

Once upon a time, long, long ago, in a community a lot like yours & mine, there resided numerous families from every walk of life, who experienced the same struggles, hopes & dreams as you & I. One day, the townspeople received an extraordinary gift from a land far away. The gift came in so many boxes however, it would require a great deal of time & resources on the already burdened locals to assemble.

So the present stayed in its containers for years to follow & was thus forgotten about.

In time, a bright young businessman from within the community had grown immensely frustrated from the inaction surrounding the gift & vowed to take matters into his own hands. If lack of funds was the problem (& it always is!) then he would offer a solution.

Since he ran the local paper, he promised to publish the name of anyone who financially donated to the assembling of this all but forgotten item NO MATTER HOW SMALL THE AMOUNT.

The idea worked like a charm. Problem was, the big donors decided to sit this one out. Instead, 121,000 peasants, drunks, chimney sweepers, factory workers, shoeshine boys, grocery clerks, barbers, waiters & waitresses, little old ladies on fixed incomes, orphans & even kindergartners donated toward the cause with the average contributed amount totalling a mere eighty-three cents.

As the unveiling drew near, A gifted young poet from within the community was summoned to pen a work to commemorate the festivities.

She initially declined, presuming the event would not merit the appropriate inspiration needed. Fortunately, she would experience a change of heart.

To this day, the poet's masterful words of hope & encouragement have been warmly received by countless travelers from all walks of life arriving in her homestead...

"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

From our family to yours-Have a safe & blessed Independence Day.

Proper Insults

Perhaps the funniest vlog I've come across to date. In fact, I'll just concede right now & say it is the funniest vlog I've come across to date. What can I say? I'm a huge fan & youtube follower!

Background: Created by author John Green who is best known for his published young adult novel "Looking for Alaska".

The Set Up: John & his brother Hank ran a video blog project called Brotherhood 2.0. The original project ran from January 1 to December 31, 2007, with the premise that the brothers would cease all text-based communication for the year & instead converse by video blogs, made available to the public via YouTube (where they are known as the "vlogbrothers") & on their Brotherhood 2.0 website.

Enjoy!

Simple Pleasures

Due to current life circumstances, this is turning into the Summer of simple pleasures. Tonight was no exception to that theme. First, I took the older three for some late night knock off Icees (pictured- & as you can see, Kael hasn't finished his yet). It didn't hurt things in the least that the Valero Quick Stop was showing The O'Reilly Factor when we walked in (talk about pleasing your customer!). ;0)

Then we went cruising with the A.C. blasting & the car stereo screaming out Chicago's "Stone of Sisyphus" (from their controversial lost album for you true Chicago fans out there). Then we finally made our way home. Then we stood on our airport runway of a driveway & Kristen pointed out Venus. Then I showed Kael the Big Dipper & pretended to hold the handle. Then Caleb saw a shooting star. Then we called it a night.

Makes for a good little memory. Wooden shoe agree?

G'Night!

Red-Eye Flight

Under a mostly full Moon, & gentle late night panhandle breeze (approximately 3 to 5 mph crosswind I'm guessing), my older 2 sons & I snuck out (& have for the last several nights if truth be told) to test our latest aeronautical creations. Shhhh! Our little secret (wink, wink). Oh well, it's Summer. Live a little. So sue me.

Our latest highly temperamental creation is called the Omniwing. You can learn how to build your own by going here http://omniwing.com/

Experienced multiple gratifying flights (particularly when launched off the top of our vehicle). Even Kael's PL-1 http://www.josephpalmer.com/planes/PL1/PL1.shtml which took a licking from our neighbor's sprinkler system a day or so ago, still performed beautifully I am pleased as punch (whatever that means) to report.

So there you have it. Quiet, low cost entertainment at its finest. Wooden shoe agree? ;0)

Night-night.

Out of Office Reply

Not that I'm setting the world on fire over here by any stretch of the imagination, but there's something in particular about this time of year that makes me just want to ...well....punt! Could be the unrelenting heat. Could be the fact that for years I was conditioned to relax & retreat when that final school bell rang as vast herds of yard apes (self included) were dismissed for the Summer.

I suspect life is about seasons that require properly pacing & positioning oneself & blah, blah, blah, who cares.

So far, I've managed to make progress on a good, thick book. Perhaps that's the only side goal I should set for myself this Summer come to think-Great reading material, a few elongated, hot baths, filled with abundant suds & some much needed contemplation, & a nice pot or two of freshly ground coffee this Summer. Yes. This should suffice nicely. It would appear I'm becoming a minimalist in my old age. There are worse things to become. Wooden shoe agree? ;0)