Author Archives: momdude

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About momdude

Space cadet | Family dude | Photographer | Music lover | Traveler | Science fiction fan | Hugo Award nominee | Writer | 5x NASA Social participant | KC Chiefs fan | LA Kings fan | Senior Director of Finance & Administration for ALS Network | Member & former staff Finance Officer at the Commemorative Air Force SoCal Wing | Hard core left-wing liberal | Looking for whatever other shenanigans I can get into
January 16, 2020 · 21:51

The Long Version

One of my coworkers was playing music today in the office, an eclectic mix of mostly 70’s & 80’s hits. One of them that came on was Don McLean’s “American Pie.”

When it got to the verse that starts, “Helter skelter in a summer swelter,” my brain, having been young and impressionable in 1971, automatically thought, “Cool! It’s the long version!” And suddenly, after all the times I’ve listened to that song, it hit me.

There are whole generations out there that don’t know that there were two versions of this song.

AM “Top 10” radio wasn’t going to play anything 8:33 long. So the version that was released for radio was 4:11. Everything from “Helter skelter…” to “I met a girl who sang the blues…” was cut. Eight verses, two choruses, gone in the name of a format that was unforgiving.

But the full version crept out. Hearing it for the first time, having only heard the short version, was a stunning revelation. From then on, every time the song played, there would be an air of anticipation until I knew if I had gotten lucky and could revel in my eight extra verses. (And two extra choruses.)

Then the 70’s passed, we all moved on. FM radio opened up formats and opportunities. CD’s let us take whole libraries of music with us, followed by iPods and iPhones and streaming services.

So now, if you even know that the short version of “American Pie” exists, you have to go hunting around YouTube or the internet to track it down. If you mention the short version, people under forty just look at you funny. (As me how I know!)

It was a different day and age.

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Filed under Music

January 15, 2020 · 23:27

Reflections Of Reflections

The lights might be down outside, but the tree’s still up – too busy this month to get to it yet. Late at night, when all of the other lights are off, you can see it reflected off of the china cabinet doors and the sliding glass doors and both and back and forth.

Maybe I’ll wait just a bit longer before taking it down.

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Filed under Christmas Lights, Photography

January 14, 2020 · 21:50

REAL Space Camp For Adults

Something got me going the other night (God knows what it was, but then again, who knows what it ever is – some random piece of BS and my brain is off to the races with my mouth in tow, sometimes the other way around) and I started wondering why adults can’t go to Space Camp®.

I know that there’s an adult version of the famous camp for kids, and it sounds okay. A week away from “the real world” isn’t a bad start to any adventure, and building model rockets, robots, riding a zip line, spinning around until you puke, and going SCUBA diving in an NBL-like (Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory) tank would all be fun.

I don’t want fun. I want to be a couple of steps closer to actually riding the elevator up the gantry next to a few million gallons of supercooled high explosives.

So, what if I don’t want to just spin in the six-axis trainer – but take a flight (or two) in the zero-G training jet? (Otherwise known as the “Vomit Comet.”)

What if I don’t want to sit in a flight simulator in a hanger – but take a flight (or two) in a real, live, supersonic T-38?

What if I don’t want to ride on a glorified merry-go-round – but take a spin up to 6G or 8G in a real centrifuge?

What if I don’t want to SCUBA dive in a pool they’ve put together – but get into a real training space suit and go floating next to the full-sized ISS mock-up in the real NBL?

Expensive? You bet, and it should be worth every penny.

Impossible? At least two of those things are available just about any time if you’ve got the cash, and I wouldn’t be surprised to find that you could get the third. That puts us in the ballpark…

How much would a week doing that cost? $10,000? $25,000? More?

Doesn’t matter. I still want it. Of course, I really REALLY want to go all the way and go through some real-life training and then get to ride up that gantry with the next stop being Low Earth Orbit – but in the meantime, I would take this as a substitute.

Why is no one offering this package for idiots like me?

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Filed under Paul, Space

January 13, 2020 · 21:45

What A Ride

It’s not a secret that I’m a huge fan of the Kansas City Chiefs. Remember Christmas 2018 when we went on a road trip to Seattle and KC to watch them? And we saw them play the Chargers and the Rams in Los Angeles last year?

This has been a bit of a roller coaster year, with our MVP quarterback being hurt for several games. We lost four of five games in the middle of the season, but came on strong in the second half and finished 12-4, and even managed to squeak into the #2 spot in the standings and getting a bye in the first week of the playoffs.

Then came yesterday…

Many bad words were uttered as we gave up long touchdown passes, blocked punts, and muffed kickoffs. MANY bad words.

My indomitable faith in the team was rewarded when they came back with the biggest, most spectacular, most amazing comeback quarter of football in the history of the game. Not a comeback from 24 points down in a game – they did it in ONE QUARTER.

Then they kept me calm and my blood pressure down by keeping the pedal to the metal.

Yes, it’s no secret at the office that I’m a Chiefs fan – we have a healthy football culture in the office with fans of teams from all over the league. So, yes, everyone in the office wanted to talk about THAT game.

Next weekend, don’t bother me between noon and 15:00. I’ll be preoccupied.

And with luck we’ll get to host one hell of a party on February 2nd.

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Filed under KC Chiefs, Sports

January 12, 2020 · 21:25

The Night Returns

It’s always a melancholy night when the Christmas lights come down. The tens of thousands of festive lights, marking and celebrating the weeks surrounding the Winter Solstice, driving back the long nights – they’re all gone and the the night returns.

Tonight the moon, a couple of days past full, is helping to keep the darkest of the dark at bay. It’s always a pleasure to see it rising beyond the trees and the lights of Los Angeles.

Up near the zenith, winter’s guardian, bold Orion is bright – but not as bright as normal. (One of these days we need to talk about Betelgeuse. What’s up with that?)

The cycle will go around again. Spring is coming, the days will get long, we’ll roast through the summer, then the days will start to shorten again and next Thanksgiving we’ll decorate and light up the night.

Until then…

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Filed under Astronomy, Castle Willett, Christmas Lights, Paul

January 11, 2020 · 23:54

No Context For You – January 11th

$107.50 by my count.

It occurs to me (again – not a new thought) that accounting is basically just a game in the same sense that video games or D&D is. Of course, it comes with real life stakes and consequences which “Halo” or D&D might not, but at its core it’s just a massive puzzle with a few simple rules and a TON of details.

The trick, of course, is to understand those rules and to manage those bazillion details to solve the problem and keep playing the game.

The devil’s always in the details.

 

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Filed under Photography

January 10, 2020 · 23:48

Dork

What’s the use of having a blog with a readership of … dozens? on a good day? … if you can’t use it to post pictures of yourself looking like a dork?

First of all, it was “Flannel Football Friday” at work and as the only one there with a team still in the playoffs, this new Christmas present shirt was perfect.

When I got home the whole house was open and a bit on the chilly side (49° outside) and I wanted to listen to some music while I got some work done for the hangar tomorrow, so I found a really big ski cap and put it on over the Officially Really Nice Bose Headphones.

I was told, “It’s a look!”

Yes! Yes it is, and no one pulls it off like me!

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Filed under Paul, Photography

January 9, 2020 · 22:54

Penalty Flag

I found this on the floor behind the desk in my office this morning.

A dropped cleaning rag from the night crew? NAH! It’s yellow, that’s a penalty flag!

But what did I do?

Illegal motion? The only motion I wanted last night was to go home, and there’s nothing illegal about that!

Illegal procedure? I’ll have you know that my accounting records are 100%, strictly above board!

Holding? Um, not in the office, thanks. Nothing good can come of that in the long run.

Illegal touching? My favorite penalty – but see “Holding,” above. Besides, the best touching is always consensual, not illegal. (Remember kids, don’t settle for consent – hold out for enthusiasm!)

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Filed under Farce, Photography

January 8, 2020 · 23:58

Seven Minutes Left

…to another day that feels like it was spent wrestling rabid alligators from 6 AM to midnight.

The good news is that I’m getting a SHIT TON of things accomplished. Feeling successful. Feeling accomplished.

The bad news is that I’m not sure I’m even making a decent sized dent, let alone finding the light at the end of the tunnel.

It’s that marathon thing again. (Search for it on this site – I’m too freakin’ tired to find it and link to it.)

Two minutes left…

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January 7, 2020 · 23:05

Chopper

Police?

Probably not, they tend to circle. This guy was hovering.

News or a TV station?

Maybe, but they always have a honkin’ huge camera (or two) hanging off the nose. This guy has something under the cabin, but it doesn’t look big enough to be that big high-def, gyro-stabilized, computer-controlled setup.

Best guess? This was Sunday afternoon and he was out over Castle Peak (that mountain to our west that you see in the pictures from when we were almost on fire about fifteen months ago) and I remember from the local FaceBook group that there were dozens of people getting together to climb it. That’s not that big of a deal – it’s part of a wilderness park and there are a couple of trails. But it would have been unusual to see a hundred or so people traipsing up and down the mountain.

Maybe that was it.

Maybe.

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Filed under Flying, Photography