Astronauts lose another bolt to space
By MIKE SCHNEIDER, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 1 minute ago
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Astronauts working to bring to life a new 17 1/2-ton addition to the international space station lost another bolt to the void during a spacewalk early Wednesday.
Well that can’t be good, it’s not like you need to be rocket scientist to put in a bolt? Oh wait…
I’m still amazed at times, at what we as people, find to be important. The same country that can’t figure out how to get trailers at point A to folks who need them at point B have no issue with dropping billions into a space program. We still haven’t figured out how to rebuild the Gulf Coast or how to deal with insurance companies like Nationwide, but we can still spend a ton on space. Hey don’t get me wrong, it is pretty cool, the whole space thingy, but at times I can’t help but wonder if we might want to reconsider our priorities.
As a conservative liberal I find myself having gone from peace and love look at life in my teens, to how tall should that fence be anyways? When I see pictures of the total devastation that hurricanes reeked on the Gulf Coast and 12 months later much of it hasn’t been resolved, I worry where our sense of reality has moved.
We are concerned with Iraq, Iran and the little man in North Korea, I’m just not sure we all agree on why we are worried about them. My look at life is very simple; fix your own backyard before you look to mow your neighbors. I certainly have no clear-cut solutions to the war on terror or how to make our country safer. I wish I did, I would be happy to share them with you. But it does seem that it might be time for us to take a long hard look at what we as a nation really regard as the most important. Have we become so hardened by the day-to-day events around the world that we just surrender to reality TV as the best way to cope? Hey I was as shocked as anyone that Mike won Big Brother All-stars, and what is the deal with Rock Star Super Nova, why are there no Americans in the final 4? I don’t care who wins as long as it isn’t Lukas, that dude is spooky. And don’t even get me started on Dancing With the Stars, Carlson Tucker, what’s up with that?
I guess I do wonder about one thing though; didn’t they bring some spare bolts with them on the Shuttle? Let me guess, it’s a lump sum bid and procurement wouldn’t allow for any extra charges for 10% field overages.
Gotta run, “The View” is coming on and I want to see what Rosie is wearing.
The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man. George Bernard Shaw Irish dramatist & socialist (1856 - 1950)
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Monday, September 11, 2006
No Humor Here
A bad memory can be like an injury, and like any other wound, the body heals itself and often covers it with a scar tissue. The pain of the moment will fade with time and all that can be seen is the faint trace of the original wound. And yet it seems the entire thing can rush back into our world, reliving the very event as if it happened yesterday.
Such is 9-11-01.
I recall, in vivid detail, standing in my kitchen in South Carolina, watching CNN. Watching is an understatement at best. I remember staring at the television and trying to make sense of what I was seeing. This had to be a movie advert, perhaps a promo for the latest “Die Hard” movie. This simply couldn’t be what the reporters proclaimed it to be; it just couldn’t be. Who and why would anyone fly an airplane, let alone 2 into the World Trade Center? How could this be happening?
I stood transfixed in the kitchen for what seemed like hours: in fact it was 15 minutes.
I called my wife, who was watching the same horror movie at her work place. She didn’t know what to say either, this was something beyond reason, and yet there was comfort in hearing each other’s voices.
I called a good friend back in California. It was barely after 6 there and the phone was answered by a very sleepy voice.
“Carl, just turn on CNN.” is all I really recall saying. It was enough. I could hear the reactions of my friends as they fought off the sleep to make sense of this early morning call. We talked later when we were both more coherent.
The day before, I had driven a good friend from London to the airport in Savannah Georgia. He had opted to come visit us in South Carolina before gong onto a business meeting in Houston. His original plan would have had him flying out of Boston on 9-11.
That always sticks with me.
In hindsight I now realize, that was the last time any of us would ever casually walk friends to the departing gate to wish them well on their flight. Life was never going to be the same.
Now flying is a major inconvenience. No shoes, shampoo and gels of any kind actually are a good thing. We all wait to see what other screwed up things these folks, who have declared “war” on us, will think up next to kill us.
So today I sit and wait to hear from my wife who is flying to Denver for work today. I hate to admit it but I always worry when she flies, it is sad that this even is a consideration.
Somewhere we got distracted by the Iraq deal. We seem to have put all our focus into a questionable war against a dude who it seemed had as much concern, if not more so, over Bin Laden then we did.
In the meanwhile “Binny and the Jets “ seem to have got a stronger foothold in Pakistan and Afghanistan. We seem no closer to capturing these clowns and each and every anniversary of the 9-11 I realize how vulnerable our lives have really become.
There is an old Sioux saying that applies here. “Don’t screw with a crazy man”
If there was only one crazy dude, I guess I would feel better. It feels like there is a shitload of these folks who’s sole intent is to hurt us; it’s what they do for a living.
That’s why I get nervous about my wife flying and I wish it wasn’t so.
Such is 9-11-01.
I recall, in vivid detail, standing in my kitchen in South Carolina, watching CNN. Watching is an understatement at best. I remember staring at the television and trying to make sense of what I was seeing. This had to be a movie advert, perhaps a promo for the latest “Die Hard” movie. This simply couldn’t be what the reporters proclaimed it to be; it just couldn’t be. Who and why would anyone fly an airplane, let alone 2 into the World Trade Center? How could this be happening?
I stood transfixed in the kitchen for what seemed like hours: in fact it was 15 minutes.
I called my wife, who was watching the same horror movie at her work place. She didn’t know what to say either, this was something beyond reason, and yet there was comfort in hearing each other’s voices.
I called a good friend back in California. It was barely after 6 there and the phone was answered by a very sleepy voice.
“Carl, just turn on CNN.” is all I really recall saying. It was enough. I could hear the reactions of my friends as they fought off the sleep to make sense of this early morning call. We talked later when we were both more coherent.
The day before, I had driven a good friend from London to the airport in Savannah Georgia. He had opted to come visit us in South Carolina before gong onto a business meeting in Houston. His original plan would have had him flying out of Boston on 9-11.
That always sticks with me.
In hindsight I now realize, that was the last time any of us would ever casually walk friends to the departing gate to wish them well on their flight. Life was never going to be the same.
Now flying is a major inconvenience. No shoes, shampoo and gels of any kind actually are a good thing. We all wait to see what other screwed up things these folks, who have declared “war” on us, will think up next to kill us.
So today I sit and wait to hear from my wife who is flying to Denver for work today. I hate to admit it but I always worry when she flies, it is sad that this even is a consideration.
Somewhere we got distracted by the Iraq deal. We seem to have put all our focus into a questionable war against a dude who it seemed had as much concern, if not more so, over Bin Laden then we did.
In the meanwhile “Binny and the Jets “ seem to have got a stronger foothold in Pakistan and Afghanistan. We seem no closer to capturing these clowns and each and every anniversary of the 9-11 I realize how vulnerable our lives have really become.
There is an old Sioux saying that applies here. “Don’t screw with a crazy man”
If there was only one crazy dude, I guess I would feel better. It feels like there is a shitload of these folks who’s sole intent is to hurt us; it’s what they do for a living.
That’s why I get nervous about my wife flying and I wish it wasn’t so.