Yay Discovery!

Today, they launched the shuttle Discovery (finally). This morning I took a few minutes to walk down along the water and try to take a few snaps of the launch pad with the shuttle set up for launch. The sun was still a little low in the sky, and was shining right next to the launch pad, so I don't think those will turn out. But I tried, darn it.

Since I was at work at launch time, I was quite relieved to hear the announcement that we could all get off the phones to watch. All 100-odd of us went outside into the field and waited for the shuttle to appear in the sky.

It didn't take long, and those of us who were new to the experience were not disappointed. Well, maybe I was still a tiny bit sad that I didn't get to watch it from home, but I was still VERY excited to see be seeing it at all.

This was also Deb's first time so we stood next to each other and watched it. It was so great. Deb's husband, the stinker, is the boss where he works so he made arrangements to be off, and walked down to the water to watch it. I'm so jealous. But my boss (that is the boss above Deb who is my direct boss) is so cool that SHE stayed inside and handled the phones while we were outside watching. Gotta love that.

We didn't stay out long though. Once it becomes nothing more than a pin prick of light in the sky, there's nothing more you're going to see unless something remarkably bad happens, and I for one, don't want to witness THOSE events. It's bad enough that they happen.

Driving in this morning, I found myself questioning all the crazy people complaining about how much business they were missing this time because of lack of interest. They are absolutely insane. Route 1 was once again packed like sardines with cars, campers, RVs, etc. I needed breakfast and stopped in at McD's. Nuts, I tell you.

And then there's all the lemmings (read: tourists) trudging right across all the traffic (read: irritated locals trying to rush to work) with their arms laden with camp chairs, umbrellas and coolers. A family crossed in front of me while I was attempting to make a U-Turn onto Route 1 before the rushing on-coming traffic could trample me mid-turn. She looked right at me as if I were out of my mind for trying to drive a motor vehicle on a road. Didn't I know that the road was put there for HER to cross whenever she wanted? By the way, I was in mid-turn WHEN SHE STEPPED INTO THE ROAD.

I like to think that when you cross moving metal with bone and tissue, the moving metal will always win. So when I am the pedestrian, I am exceedingly careful to avoid ticking off the moving metal. I guess people think they're invincible. Having walked down the road of metal vs. flesh before, I do not ever intend to experience that again. So, being the Conscientious Driver that I am, I slammed on the brakes and almost turned over my *(&^% truck. If she only knew how close she came to being dead meat AFTER I saved her from my truck.

At lunch I sat in the kitchen at work and watched a press conference from NASA. The reporters were all asking the same question: what about the thing that fell off during the launch. Every time someone asked that question, the NASA people said "We haven't had a chance to view all the footage yet. We really can't answer that question yet." And then the next reporter would ask the same question a different way. It was like they told all the reporters "Don't ask this question" and all the reporters heard "Ask this question." They're all crazy.

Not me, though. Nope, I'm perfectly sane. The voices only bother me when they sing REALLY LOUD, and the visions of the horrible demises of those who annoy me only last 20 or 30 minutes. That's perfectly normal.

Why do you ask?

Exciting Day

So, today I said, "Hey, I think I'll go driving a blow a tire. That sounds like fun." No, I didn't really say that. But I sure did live it. Fortunately I was only going about 1 mile an hour since I was turning into the Kmart parking lot.

About a year ago, the place I always took my truck to for oil changes and tire rotation lost my wheel key and to pacify my anger they had their "top locksmith" remove all the lock bolts for me. So I thought. They left the one on the spare. I discovered this fact today after I unloaded the jack, tire iron, and spare tire cover in preparation to change the tire. I felt pretty unhappy at that point.

So, then I tried to call a friend who lives near where I was. I thought that I could at least get the blown tire off and go buy a new one. I couldn't get her at home or on her cell. There went that solution.

Just as I was getting ready to walk into Kmart to call a cab to take me and the bad tire to the tire store, not one, but two kind gentlemen pulled up to help me. And as it turned out I really did need help from both of them.

They saw that I was preparing to remove the bad tire, but that I hadn't taken the spare off the back yet. That's when I explained about the wheel lock. One of the men said he had a vice grip at home and offered to go get it. He was just a couple of blocks away. So, he left to get the tools he had at home and the other man went about getting the blown tire off the truck.

The tire was off and we were talking about driving me to the tire store after all, when the tool man came back with a hammer, a pipe (?) and the vice grip. I guess maybe the pipe and hammer were in case extra force was needed on the wheel lock. Apparently, all that was needed was the guy who took the other tire off. He strong armed with one good heave and off it came. Voila!

A few minutes later they were done and we were all on our way to our destinations. I got in my truck after saying about a million thank you's and headed off to Kmart, which is where I was going anyway.

I went to the pharmacy to drop off my prescription, hoping I wouldn't have as long a wait if they filled it while I did my other shopping. I should have known better, but that's no big deal. At least that time was spent in air conditioning.

Anyway, after I dropped off my prescription, I headed off past the patio furniture in search of coffee. To my surprise, I saw the man who provided all the muscle sitting there with his wife, testing out the rocking patio chairs. We smiled and commented on how much better it felt in there and that was that.

But all in all, even though I have to buy a tire, I think I had quite a big batch of good luck today, and for that I am very thankful.

Beautiful Moon

I love my balcony! Tonight, I took a break from working on the class I'm giving tomorrow and went out to the balcony to breathe the evening breeze and look at the full moon over the water.

Wow! What a sight. Full and beautiful, with just a touch of red tint from the atmosphere, she laid a beam of moonlight across the width of the Indian River Lagoon. The bar of moonlight seemed to want to connect my building to the Kennedy Space Center which was fully visible across the water on this unusually clear night.

Insert satisfied and misty eyed sigh here.

Well, I've done all I can do on my class for tonight anyway, so I'll just ramble for a little bit about my adventures with my brother and his family yesterday. They're here from Virginia, staying in Orlando for the week. Yesterday I joined them for a trip to Animal Kingdom. What can I say; I love the wild critters...and the animals too.

I got up as if I intended to go to work so I'd have plenty of time to get ready. I was meeting them by 9 a.m. so we could do the African Safari before it got too hot for all the animals. A safari isn't much fun if all the animals are hiding from the sun. We managed to get there in time for an 11:00 tour. Lots of animals were still out, especially the ones that don't mind hanging out in the water. One lion was out, dozing under a tree on a hill. Better than no lions at all.

I wanted the lion to eat the silly tourist who saw the African town setting and said, “This area needs some serious restoration.” Her companion was kinder than I would have been. I don’t think I could have stuck with saying, “It’s on purpose, honey.” I would have had to say something more like, “Go to Africa and redecorate the entire countryside, then come back here and make this match.”

We saw some of the shows, and a big parade, and rode some of the rides. The only other thing I had in mind that I wanted to do was to visit the Asia section where they have a wonderful setting of Asian ruins and a bazaar, etc., and you walk through this setting and see animals, birds, and reptiles as you go. Here, I saw more large cats--tigers. Four were in one area, two of them lounging in a large pool of water and the other two in the shade watching the silly snacks—I mean tourists. The other was in a different section, but I think there were more that weren't where we could see them. They were all beautiful anyway.

The kids were normal kids, swinging constantly back and forth between excited and energetic, and tired and cranky. Can't blame them really. I think the “comfort level” (read DIS-comfort level) was somewhere around 1,000. I think the weather man put it at a measly 105, though. What do they know anyway? (A heck of a lot more than I do!)

As the day wound down, and the grown-ups were showing signs of surpassing the kids in crankiness, we decided to have a bite to eat at the Rainforest Cafe. My sister-in-law now thinks I'm a complete and utter freak (my brother already knew it) because of comments I had made waiting in line for a ride. The ride was indoors and the walls in the queue were decorated with imprints from leaves and ferns and such; I had commented that I wanted walls like that in my house. Then at dinner I noted the jungle vines decorating the ceiling and the giant mushroom motif over the bar; I stated that I needed giant mushrooms and jungle vines in my bedroom. My brother and his wife both laughed at me. The kids laughed too, but I think that had a different reason for it.

I came home exhausted and with a pounding headache, but overall I was very glad to have gone. It was great seeing them all again, and it was a lot of fun going to the park again. And driving home I had a wonderful view of the moon as she got closer to full. When I reached the apartment, I tossed food down for the cats and rushed out to the balcony to see her over the water. Last night, there was the cloud effect going on, too, which made her look mysterious and aloof. I just can't enough of this sky.

Full Moon Coming

Tomorrow's a full moon. She's so big now that if you don't look closely, you think she already is full. Last night she shown outside my window as I got ready for bed, so I opened the blinds and let her shine in.

She was like a spotlight shining down to the Earth below. A ray of moonlihgt reflected off of each slat of the blinds and made them look like a stairway made of moonlihgt.

It reminded me of flying down with my Dad to go to my aunt's funeral. I had the window seat (I love the window seat) and watched a white spotlight travel along the ground along side us for most of the journey. It wasn't until we passed across calm water that I knew for sure it was the moon. For all I knew it could have been a light off of the plane we were in. But it was the moon. The water was so calm I could see the shades clearly and there was no doubt about it.

Anyway, I like watching the moon, and she was really pretty last night. Hope I get a good view of her again tonight.

Family Visit

My brother and his family have come down to Orlando for their vacation. Today they drove here and spent the afternoon with me. It was great to see them all.

I had told them I wanted to take them to the Space Walk Hall of Fame museum. My brother thought I'd lost my mind when I told him to turn into a mall and park. "I thought we were going to a museum," he said.

"The museum's in the mall," I replied. "Just park; you'll see."

We went inside and walked towards the museum when I noticed the gates were down. I thought I'd messed up the plan and the museum was closed. It wasn't; it just didn't open for another 30 minutes.

On the way to the museum, we had passed an Italian restuarant that I had commented was good. Rob said, "Well, we might as well have some lunch while we wait."

So, we went in and had french fries and cheese pizza. Then we went to the museum.

I expected my nephew, Alex, to be ecstatic. He is, after all, a young boy. He enjoyed it, but he showed his share of my brother's blood anyway. No less than 10 minutes into the visit, he started asking, "Are we done yet?" Just like Rob--always impatient and ready to move on to the next thing. I remember when my family would go to Busch Gardens, Rob was always ready to move off on his own. He'd weave through the crowds like the people weren't even really there. And I learned to weave through just like him. As soon as we were in the park, we were gone. Alex will be just like that.

But the one who surprised me with how much she enjoyed it was my neice, Emily. She asked good questions, and her mind, like mine, went off into fanciful places. She has a wonderful imagination, and I look forward to seeing the places she will go with it.

My brother and I had been discussing movies while we ate, and I mentioned there was a cinema in the mall as well. When we finished eating, he went down and checked show times for the new "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" with Johnny Depp. We'd have plenty of time to look around in the museum before the next showing.

So after we'd seen everything we could in the museum, we went down and took in the movie. It was very different. Emily sat next to me. She seemed a little disturbed a couple of times and I asked if she was OK, but she always said yes.

When it was done, we all came back to my apartment, but they couldn't stay for long after that. Rob and Alex are both allergic to cats, and no matter how clean you are, they start puffing up and getting scratchy drippy before long. Today was no different. So, after a while, they said good night. On Wednesday, I'm taking a vacation day and joining them at Animal Kingdom. I'm looking forward to that. I love to watch the kids enjoy themselves, but I also love to see the animals. I think I'll get up very early and had out to Orland to meet them. The animals go into the shade once the day heats up, and down here that doesn't happens very early.

The Things Kids Think

When I was a kid, I thought that all werewolves came from Pennsylvania. It made sense to me somehow. I mean, hey--all the vampires came from Transylvania, didn't they?

Why, yes, I did get picked on a lot as a kid. Why do you ask?

Launch Delayed, Praying for Saturday

Well, this was an interesting day in Titusville. Tourists streamed in from all over. I take Route 1 from home to work every day. The entrie stretch was already packed with cars, trucks, RVs, campers, and tents this morning at 7:30.

At 11:30 I came home for lunch to get my camera, which I forgot this morning. Deb and I took the back roads because of the traffic on Route 1. The people who lived there all had signs posted for what they would charge people to park in their yards. My own building had a sign at the entrance to the parking lot: $10 to park in a regular spot, $20 to park in a covered spot. I park in a covered spot and was quite glad they weren't charging the residents for their parking for the day. On the way back I took pictures of the crowds and signs.

I was quite depressed when I found out the launch had been delayed again; and so close to final countdown, too. I had been told that we always stop everything and go outside to watch what can be seen whenever a launch happens, and was looking forward to it. One of my co-workers said I would have to stand next to her so she could watch the reactions of the newbie. I laughed. I'm sure I'll be doing the same thing to someone someday.

When I left work tonight, the tourists had almost all left. There were a few hangers on, probably not willing to make the drive back quite so soon. Maybe they'll try to stick around til the next available launch time.

Right now, they're saying the next available launch time is Saturday. Of all the choices, that's the one I like best. On Saturday, I could take a couple of beers/sodas and my camp chair down to the courtyard and watch the whole thing. Several locals have told me this is one of the best places to view it. If it happens Saturday, I'm skipping the Hash and watching the launch. No way I'm missing it!

I want my hour and 31 minutes back.

I am so very glad I didn't pay money at the theater to watch this complete waste of film. Ouch.

I just spen an hour and 31 minutes waiting for a movie to improve. Then the credits came on and the whole thing immediately improved. I actually laughed a little at the out takes.

I'm too embarrassed to even say the name of the movie I just wasted so much time watching. So I won't say it. But I will never look at news anchors the same way. And that's a rotten shame.

I want my time back.

Launch Count-Down

Tomorrow afternoon The space shuttle Discovery is supposed to launch. I COULD watch it from my apartment. But I will be at work covering the phones.

There is nothing I can say, except that I hope other launches will happen before I move away from this fabulous view, and I hope I will be able to come here and see at least one.

Dennis

It’s not over yet. Dennis is just the beginning. It’s pretty rare that a hurricane actually lands here in July, but as usual for me, the unusual has happened again.

I’m not in any real danger here; not this far east of the center. I’m concerned though, for my relatives in the Pan Handle. They haven’t even recovered from being slammed so hard last year (not that Titusville has either), and here comes another disaster pointed straight at them.

So, for them, I hope for the best.

Around here, things may not be as bad as what they’ll get, but I still have had some trouble. I unplugged the PC and the TV, etc. last night. We were having power fluctuations from the high winds coming through. Since I live right on the water, the wind speed is higher here than it is farther inland. The screen on my balcony that faces onto the water got blown down. The three that face south are fine, but I wish the one with the hole in had blown down. Oh, well, I’ll just ask management to patch the hole when they come to re-hang the one that blew down. I did manage to save that one from further damage from pulling completely off the frame before it could get torn. But there’s no way I’m going to be the one on a ladder trying to re-hang the thing over a gaping hole six floors above the ground.

Then the rain, lightning and hail started. I had turned off all the lights in the apartment except the one by the sofa so I could read and watch the storm through the balcony windows. It was a great show from the safety of my apartment. I would not have liked being out in it—especially the wind part.

The rain was pretty cool to watch from my bedroom window when I finally decided to hit the sack. But then something solid, probably a bird, got blown against the building. I looked this morning to see if it was on my balcony, but whatever it was, it was gone.

Oh, well. There’s still plenty of wind today, and it looks as if I may be in for a good bit more rain. But they’ve lifted the tornado watches. I keep checking the water out here on the Indian River Lagoon. The usually calm water has been covered with white caps for the last couple of days. It still is. But the water isn’t rising. It’s just getting blown around a lot.

So, here’s the major storm to really impact this area so far since I’ve been here. I doubt it will happen this way, but I hope it is the worst I have to deal with this year.

Hurricanes and Weathernen

Why is it that weather forecasters always put their descriptions for the conditions required for a storm to become a hurricane in phrases like "favorable"?

Sometimes, when they are talking about their forecasts and they resort to these phrases, I picture them wringing their hands in goulish anticipation of the devastation to come.

Instead of saying "favorable conditions" they should say "threatening conditions." I certainly consider weather elements that make a hurricane more likely to develop more of a threat than a favor. I'm not looking to have my apartment re-distributed all over Central Florida, so I would not consider it a favor if a hurricane came and did that.

And that's all I have to say about that.

July Fourth and Rockets All Around Me

Well, Happy Birthday America. Glad we’re still around.

I have decided that I will have to build myself a giant tree-house to live in when my lease here runs out. And it has to be AT LEAST six stories above ground level. As long as it’s above tree-top level so I can see as much of the sky as I do now.

Now if I could just get all the yahoos around me to take their illegal versions of fireworks somewhere else, the evening would be topped off almost perfectly. Having some company would have been nice, but it's been fun on my own, too.

From my vantage point, I could see no less than 5 displays that seemed to be legal versions—and about the same number that were clearly illegal. The fireworks in my parking lot, at the water’s edge, were very much illegal and way too close to my building. Actually, I should say “are illegal,” since they’re still going full blast, with a capital Blast. It’s about 10 p.m. now, so hopefully they’ll wind down soon.

The poor cats are frantic; so much so that Binks, the tiny panther, ran in terror from the noise, even in the midst of a hunt for Howard’s little sister, Chloe.

The best parts about my view this evening were that I didn’t have crowds all around me, and the air conditioning was only about 4 feet away.

I could critique the various displays, but I don’t see the point. The legal ones were all equally impressive and the illegal ones were all equally annoying. They still are annoying, but the ones in the parking lot are gaining a distinctive edge over all the rest.

Anyway, it has been my tradition over the last few years to watch the Capital Fourth on PBS so I can enjoy some nice music and be away from crowds and watch from the AC. So as usual, I put on the show and watched it exclusively until the sky became dusky. At that point, I stepped out on the balcony to watch the local show with the TV as background music. I could have done without the background music. It did not fill me with endless joy. After a while, I turned it down and stood on the balcony singing “Star Spangled Banner” to myself. It was, in my opinion, much better than the show the Beach Boys put on. Sorry guys; you just didn’t do it for me.

So the real shows are over and I’m now going to wash the dishes from my turkey nachos and get ready for bed. Hope everyone else had a great Fourth of July Weekend!