Rocket Jones
April 10, 2005
Lobster Ears
Man, I was an idiot yesterday. I had such a wonderful time at the rocket launch. Everything I flew worked to perfection, there were boy scouts and a high school physics class and junior ROTC and TARC rocket contest teams all over the place, in short, big fun the entire time. So much fun, in fact, that I never got around to putting on any sunscreen.
I am one hurtin' unit right now. I wore a ballcap to protect the ol' solar panel, but my ears and back of my neck are toasted to a screaming hot pink. I've got a nice little 'V' where my shirt was open too. Fortunately I'm prepared for this, because I'm stupid like this once a year or so, and I've got this soothing blue aloe gel that I've been coating myself in. Just going out into the sun in painful today, so no launch for me. Dammit.
On the plus side, yesterday was excellent! I said that, didn't I? Oh well, a detailed report (like you care) will be coming in the next day or two, but for now, I'd like to show you a picture that was taken yesterday by a student from Oakton High school. His name is Enrique, and I understand that he's the official photographer for the school's SLI team.
What's SLI? That stands for
NASA's Student Launch Initiative, and these young ladies and gentlemen are headed to Huntsville, Alabama to take part in it. They're the next generation of engineers that're going to take us to Mars and beyond.
Enjoy the picture, click for full size. The rocket is an upscale of the Centuri Groove Tube, which was a tube-finned kit from the 70's and 80's. My version is about five foot tall, is 2.6" in diameter, and it's taking off on an Aerotech H165 Redline motor. The intensity of the flame washes out in photographs, but it's bright screaming red (yes, sorta like my ears). This is an amazing photo, and Enrique did an excellent job capturing a difficult shot.
Posted by: Ted at
01:00 PM
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Hey,Ted!Glad you had a good time yesterday.I woke up with my sinuses all jammed up and my head uh throbbin' like a team of jackhammers right behind my eyes.That pretty much set the pace for my whole day.
Woke this morning feeling a bit better so I decided to go.Sorry you missed us.
For the most part there weren't many people at all until about 1 or 1:30.Then they just poured in.I managed to get off my Mean Machine,my Baby Bertha and my 24 mm Big Red Max.That was it for my flying for the day.
When I first got there I spent the better part of an hour talking to one of the regulars.My appologies for forgetting the name.He's the big Coast Guard guy with the break in the middle Mean Machine,the upscale yellow tube fin rocket and the yellow and blue Aerotech Mirage.
I also spent a while helping Bart assemble the club Bruiser as well as the I-284 for it.Beautiful flight.
Besides all of that I spent about an hour jawin' with Ken while he rounded up all of the goodies for my Loc Forte' rebuild.Better!Faster!Stronger!
I'm not really worried about getting that done real fast because I have other things in line ahead of it like several Goony Rockets as well as several Flis-Kits and some other stuff.However,as soon as it is done I think I will use it to do my Level 1 cert.
I had not wanted to use the Forte for yet another cert seeing as how I had used it to TRA cert level 1 several times already.I wanted to do something different.
When it's done being rebuilt,however,it will be a whole new bird with an extended airframe and a piston ejection system.In other words it will be 100% brand new from the lug up including a new nose cone.It actually cost less to rebuild it than to build a new kit.Almost $20 less.
Hell,even if it cost twice as much I would still do it because you know how much I loved that bird.Lot of firsts there.
Well,anyhow,I hope to see ya at Battlepark.Oh,and BTW I will probably be quite the crispy critter come tomorrow,too.
Posted by: Russ at April 10, 2005 04:44 PM (ObxzR)
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Great about yesterday! Too bad about today. Today was the first truely gorgeous day of the year. Too bad I slept through most of it!
Posted by: Tuning Spork at April 10, 2005 06:10 PM (f/t+g)
Posted by: Tom at April 11, 2005 06:27 AM (OANxu)
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Great photo! I notice the rocket isn't (or doesn't seem to be) going straight up. Is the wind affecting it already?
Posted by: Victor at April 11, 2005 08:05 AM (L3qPK)
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Yes, there was a fairly stiff breeze off and on during the day, so there was some tilt on the launch pad into the wind. This rocket actually flew up and over Enrique's head on the flight (about 1500' I'm guessing). The tube fins are draggy but super stable, so even though the rocket is being pushed sideways by the wind, it stayed pointing straight up for the first few hundred feet before beginning to arc. You can also see how fast it was already moving by the smoke trail, it's still very much intact in this shot.
Posted by: Ted at April 11, 2005 09:34 AM (ZjSa7)
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That is a great shot, and really difficult to get. Sounds like much fun.
Posted by: JohnL at April 11, 2005 11:37 AM (YVul2)
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April 09, 2005
Rocket Launch
Today and tomorrow. Yay!
Supposed to be beautiful weather here, hope it's as nice where you live. Have a great weekend.
About the picture: These are some downscaled models I built based on classic Estes kits from the 70's and 80's. They are (from left to right) Cherokee D, Big Bertha, Der Red Max, Alpha and Goblin. They're not all to the same scale. The Red Max (center) is just under 6" tall, and the brown cylinder next to it is a standard Estes rocket motor.
Posted by: Ted at
07:32 AM
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April 08, 2005
Carnival of the Recipes is up!
This week's collection of recipes is being hosted by Aussie Wife. Check it out!
Posted by: Ted at
06:36 PM
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It's official
Nine out of ten doctors surveyed believed that a daily visit to Rocket Jones was good for stress relief. Doctor Kevorkian suggested a radically different approach.
Posted by: Ted at
05:57 AM
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April 07, 2005
24
Not the TV series, and not the number of the greatest baseball player of all time (Willie Mays), but the number of a race car.
NASCAR's number 24 has a new prime sponsor:
Bourdreaux's Butt Paste.
The driver is Kim Crosby. I don't follow NASCAR, is she the only female on the circuit? Anyways, it's like
Stroker Ace come to life.
Thanks to McQ at
Q&O for the pointer.
Posted by: Ted at
11:45 AM
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No,Ted.She's not the only gal.There are a few others but not many.Perhaps three at the most.Oh,well at least her name isn't Dick Trickle!Perhaps that Butt Paste will come in handy if she gets plowed in the rear.Sorry but I had to say it.
BTW I am suprised that you don't follow NASCAR because I thought you did.
Posted by: Russ at April 07, 2005 12:45 PM (ObxzR)
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I thought #24 was Jeff Gordon's car. Or does he have a co-pilot too?
Posted by: GEBIV at April 08, 2005 07:34 PM (vI2yr)
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The # 24 Butt Paste car is a Busch Series car as opposed to Jeff's # 24 Nextel Cup car(formerly Winston cup).
Posted by: Russ at April 08, 2005 08:00 PM (ObxzR)
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Not to sound unfeeling, but... (updated)
I heard a commercial where AIDs was described as a "life challenging" condition.
Terminal. The word is "terminal". You get AIDs, you're gonna die from it. Eventually it's going to kill you. Coming up with yet another polite phrase to sugar coat reality isn't doing anyone any favors, it just degrades the message being communicated.
Update: From the comments and email, I've been reminded that more people die "with" than "from" diseases these days. While I understand the point and even agree with it somewhat, I think that our medical arts have advanced enough to prolong life despite whatever the terminal disease is. I'd guess that more HIV positive people die from pneumonia than from the actual AIDs itself, but that doesn't mean the AIDs didn't kill them, just that another complication facilitated by the AIDs was the final step.
People who succumb to cancer don't get that kind of consideration. And in the end, does it really matter?
Still, maybe "terminal" isn't the correct term to use. My objection (badly put it seems) was to the politically correct term "life challenging". The attempt to not offend anyone is vague enough to encompass everything after conception (or birth, depending on your viewpoint). I commuted to work this morning in the fog and rain on an interstate highway, that also fits the definition of life challenging.
Posted by: Ted at
11:35 AM
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I respectfully beg to differ. You are going to die with it (for now), but not necessarily from it. It was a goal, back in the days when I worked on the clinical trials, to make HIV/AIDS a manageable condition like asthma or diabetes (albeit an infectious one, adding more levels of education and support to the management).
Posted by: nic at April 07, 2005 12:10 PM (etHvD)
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I don't know - I have good friends now who have been living with AIDS for 10, 15 years now. It seems to me to be a completely changed landscape than it was in the 80s and 90s, when it was most definitely a death sentence (and one that would come relatively quickly). I agree with the diabetes analogy above.
Posted by: red at April 07, 2005 12:16 PM (qxKkx)
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I have to agree with Nic, and not just because I live with her
She's pretty much nailed it: with proper management, it seems as if HIV/AIDS is no more fatal than diabetes is. I concede she and I may be dreamers, but as Red said, people are living longer now with HIV/AIDS than they were expected to twenty years ago.
In fact, nowadays there are, IMO, very few truly terminal "common" diseases, save one: Life--No one has gotten out of it alive.
Posted by: Victor at April 07, 2005 06:32 PM (etHvD)
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Hmmm.
I volunteer at what used to be an AIDS service organization, but in the last couple of years they have expanded their services to include clients who have "other live challeging conditions," I believe is how they phrase it. That includes cancer, ALS, anything where the clients are unable to shop for their own food and prepare their own meals because of their condition. Some clients need the services for a specific period...e.g., right after a round of chemo until they regain strength...others until they end up in institutional care or, well, die.
I don't see the phrase as politically correct B.S., I see it as a shorthand way to describe the situation.
And when I said that people may die with AIDS and not from it, I wasn't talking about pneumonia or another opportunistic infection that was fatal because of the HIV-compromised immune system...I'm talking about someone having a heart attack at 80.
Posted by: nic at April 08, 2005 08:30 AM (JijW0)
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I want to aplogize if my last comment is too troll-like. I admit this is a hotbutton issue for me; and I probably hit "post" a little too fast there. Sorry, Ted.
Posted by: nic at April 08, 2005 08:58 AM (JijW0)
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Nic, we've disagreed before and we both know that's ok. Your experience in this area is obviously greater than mine. I'm learning a lot from your comments, so fire away.
Posted by: Ted at April 08, 2005 09:34 AM (blNMI)
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This reminds me of one of my favorite moments in radio.
Bob Edwards was interviewing a doctor on Morning Edition, who was describing some sort of long-term survey the details of which I forget. The doctor said (this is from memory, but close), "Four percent of the test subjects underwent the mortality experience."
There was a sound from Edwards that was probably a spit-take. He interrupted the good doctor. "Excuse me. They 'underwent the mortality experience?' Do you mean that they died?"
"Well, yes," said the doctor. "They underwent the mortality experience."
Edwards made it through the rest of the interview; he's a pro. But you could tell it was one of the most absurd things he'd ever heard from a guest.
Posted by: Doug Pratt at April 12, 2005 12:30 PM (D6ZyB)
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Recent Comment Spam Floods
It's been so bad the last couple of days, that Spork posted on it too.
Here's a relavant quote from the
Tagline Archives:
Imagine standing at a street corner and spitting on people to get their attention, then trying to sell them something. Spamming is a better marketing method than that only in that you get punched less often. -- Esa A. Peuha
So true.
Posted by: Ted at
06:11 AM
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Purty Pitchers
We have entries in the Rocket Jones Banner Contest!
Go check 'em out (
yep, it's another linkevent).
Derek, who names computers after dairy products.
Amy, who is flamboyantly and extravagantly carnivorous.
These are wonderful and I can't wait to see what you come up with. Yes, you.
Posted by: Ted at
06:09 AM
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Man, it's hard to compete with those.
Posted by: Victor at April 07, 2005 07:35 AM (L3qPK)
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Would it help if I changed the "contest" into outright begging for new banners from everyone? That's what it is, basically.
Posted by: Ted at April 07, 2005 09:05 AM (blNMI)
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Well, it'd be more honest.
Posted by: Victor at April 07, 2005 10:22 AM (L3qPK)
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aww, man, We're supposed to be COMPETING!? I've gotta go make more better ones.
Posted by: Derek at April 07, 2005 04:22 PM (wEVXE)
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We've been known to smoke it too
Lynn S posts this hilarious conversation between God and St. Francis.
Subject?
Yardwork.
Yips to the
Llamas for the pointer.
Posted by: Ted at
04:25 AM
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April 06, 2005
50% Off!!!
I heard a commercial on the radio advertising half-off plastic surgery.
That's like "buy one tit, get the second tit free".
Posted by: Ted at
08:33 PM
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How does this apply to nose jobs or breast reduction surgery?
Posted by: Brian J. at April 06, 2005 10:01 PM (V04ml)
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A woman in my neighborhood had breast enhancement. While in there, the doc told her if she wanted her eyes done, he'd give her a discount if she got everything done together.
I said to my husband, "What is this? Get one set of eyes done, get the other at 1/2 off?"
The guy was a quack and botched up her eyes... the ones on her face. Too bad. She was all of 36.
Posted by: Boudicca at April 07, 2005 12:00 AM (z7nbM)
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Perhaps Tom Green can finally get himself a pair of stunt doubles!
Or,if I get an extension do they have to be parallel or in series?HAHAHA!!!!
Posted by: Russ at April 07, 2005 12:04 AM (ObxzR)
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At a meeting today, someone mentioned getting "a hummer for a whole weekend." Imagine the men's dismay when the speaker was talking about the car as an item in a silent auction.
Posted by: dawn at April 08, 2005 03:57 PM (jFpDX)
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Perspective
I heard on the radio that 5,000 people are attending Johnny Cochran's funeral. That's impressive.
Then I heard that an estimated one million people have stood in line to view Pope John Paul II's body in state.
Posted by: Ted at
04:10 PM
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To be fair, the Pope never said anything so trite as "if it don't fit, you must acquit."
Although, he MAY have uttered "Since you don't hate, transubstantiate."
Unconfirmed, though it is.
Posted by: Derek at April 06, 2005 04:59 PM (wEVXE)
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If the Chewbacca doesn't make sense then you must acquit.
Posted by: Russ at April 07, 2005 12:07 AM (ObxzR)
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Happy 3rd!!!
Brian J. Noggle celebrated his 3rd blog anniversary yesterday.
Why aren't you a Munuvian?
Posted by: Ted at
12:25 PM
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Hem, well. Beginning of my third year means I have completed two, so it was really my second anniversary.
But thanks.
Posted by: Brian J. at April 06, 2005 03:05 PM (V04ml)
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It's that "new" math they taught me as a child. I've been screwed up ever since.
Posted by: Ted at April 06, 2005 04:11 PM (ZjSa7)
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Sugarcult
Kicks ass.
Posted by: Ted at
06:12 AM
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Slammed
MuNu and Rocket Jones got hammered last night by a flood of spam comments. What a pain.
Update: It's still going on.
Update 2: I finally remembered that I could block the IP. Doh! Oh well, mess cleaned up.
Posted by: Ted at
06:00 AM
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Yay!
That's the official Munuvian greeting and expression of joy. Find a fiver on the ground? Yay! Your team is playing like they're unbeatable? Yay! Girlfriend comes home from a bachelorette party half-sloshed, horny as hell and arm in arm with her bisexual college roommate? Well, duh. Yay!
Like I said: expression of joy.
But it's also the official Munuvian greeting. So go visit these latest residents and if they've bothered to post something, leave 'em a Yay! in the comments.
Rhymes With Right
Possumblog
Something for the Weekend
Seven Inches of Sense
Stolen Beauty
View from the Pew
A Swift Kick and A Bandaid
Professor Chaos
Cal Tech Girl's World
Tell 'em Ted sent ya.
Posted by: Ted at
05:10 AM
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Uh, Ted, I feel really compelled to ask, has that ever happened? The sloshed girlfriend with the bi-sexual college room mate? Or is that something that belongs more in a publication with a story which might start, "I was a freshman in a small northeastern liberal arts college and I never thought anything like this would have happened to me, but . . ."? Here's hoping it happened!
Posted by: RP at April 06, 2005 03:25 PM (LlPKh)
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Oh, how to respond?
A gentleman never tells. That's always a good answer, and it applies exceptionally well here.
Or maybe it's just the biggest "Yay!" event I could come up with as I whipped out that post.
Now, as to your supposed letter, let me point you towards this: http://rocketjones.mu.nu/archives/010684.html
I hope that doesn't clear things up too much.
Posted by: Ted at April 06, 2005 04:16 PM (ZjSa7)
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Excellent reply. As for your letter clearing things up, I knew that a man of taste and distinction, such as yourself, would immediately get the stereotypical beginning of far too many Forum letters. In fact, for kicks, back in college we used to all get together on the floor and read them out loud to each other for the general amusement of the floor mates.
As for biggest yay! event you could come up with, I'll go on record as acknowledging that you (one) think big and (two) fully grasp the yay! concept.
Posted by: RP at April 06, 2005 05:21 PM (LlPKh)
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Someone should be fired for thinking that one up
Around here, bus systems like to use the word "link" in their name. We've got OmniLink and MetroLink and who knows what else. Just south of here is the oldest continuously chartered town in Virginia, Dumfries.
What einstein thought
Dumflink would be a good name for their bus service?
Posted by: Ted at
04:39 AM
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April 05, 2005
Not Disabled Enough
Un-freakin-believable!
Ms. Wheelchair Wisconsin has been stripped of her title because pageant officials say she can stand — and point to a newspaper picture as proof.
Janeal Lee, who has muscular dystrophy and uses a scooter, was snapped by The Post-Crescent newspaper standing among her high school math students. The photo was not an expose.
Standing. Not walking or bowling or skating or running track, she was
standing.
“I’ve been made to feel as if I can’t represent the disabled citizens of Wisconsin because I’m not disabled enough,” Lee said Thursday.
Well honey, your feelings are right on the mark, because that's *exactly* why they booted you. Count your blessings that you don't have to deal with those politically correct nitwits any more. Why do I say "politically correct"?
Candidates for the crown have to “mostly be seen in the public using their wheelchairs or scooters,” said Judy Hoit, Ms. Wheelchair America’s treasurer. “Otherwise you’ve got women who are in their wheelchairs all the time and they get offended if they see someone standing up. We can’t have title holders out there walking when they’re seen in the public.”
Yep, can't offend the
real crips. You know, the ones who are disabled
enough. And of course we all know who gets blamed for this farce:
Hackel said Lee should have been aware of the rules.
You knew it was coming. It's her own damn fault.
I wonder if Miss Black America ever got bounced because her skin wasn't dark enough?
Posted by: Ted at
05:02 PM
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Well, there's not a damn photo in that linked news article. How are we supposed to answer the real question here: Is she HOT enough? Who cares the degree of her disability, it is first and foremost a pageant, and that means an evening gown and bathing suit competition. Bring on the hotties!
Posted by: shank at April 05, 2005 05:11 PM (+H1yK)
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When we had to pick the poster children/poster adults when I worked at Easter Seals, you never went with the "least abled" person (for lack of more correct langugage). You picked someone who had overcome a lot of adversity who could be an inspiration -- a success story. Quite honestly, Janeal Lee was probably a perfect choice because she was just mobile enough to have a real spark of hope and determination that could appeal to the general public (you know how people like to look away) as well as to the disability community.
Unreal.
Posted by: dawn at April 06, 2005 07:38 AM (Dh1V0)
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What dawn said. This woe-is-me celebration of victimhood has gone from discouraging the healthy to sinking the hopes of the disabled. Yeesh.
Then again, this ain't Easter Seals. It's a silly pageant and they have their silly rules. Whatever.
Posted by: Tuning Spork at April 06, 2005 10:45 PM (FX1pt)
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Difficult
This has been sitting in my inbox for a few weeks now, not out of neglect or indifference, but because these posts are so damned hard to do. Even after all these years.
I wasn't "on the scene", but I was dealing with several wives who's husbands were. I had several airmen (generic term includes women too) who worked for me, there that day doing crowd and traffic control.
Gordon Tatro, who has generously
shared his reconstruction and photographs of the aftermath, passes along this link to a new website posted by
Roland Fuchs, a German gentleman who lost his wife and 5 year old daughter at the Ramstein Flugtag that day. Included on the site are photos of his family, the day itself, the actual crashes, and the monument and memorial that have since been erected to honor those who died. This photograph shows clearly
the list of names of the Flugtag casualties, and underscores just how many young victims there were.
I still receive email and comments about Flugtag, and I'd like to thank Gordon, Roland and the many others who've shared their experiences from that day. May everyone find peace.
Posted by: Ted at
04:19 PM
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I remember seeing this on the news that evening and telling my freinds about that night.Nobody believed me.No-one had ever heard of anything like that.Especially with all of those casualties,plus being caught on tape.
That image is permenatly burned in my head.
Posted by: Russ at April 05, 2005 05:53 PM (ObxzR)
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I followed your links just to be reminded. I probably haven't thought about that day since shortly after it happened.
Posted by: Tuning Spork at April 06, 2005 11:16 PM (FX1pt)
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I was the Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Commander of the 377th Combat Support Wing and worked for Colonel Bill Eckert and the Vice Commander Cash Harris. I watched the crash from the VIP area on the roof of the control tower building. I had watched the practice routine the previous day, and the solo pilot had buzzed the tower and a very low altitude and probably within 100 feet of the tower laterally, so I was kind of interested in seeing what he would do this time. I also had the chance to meet the team the previous evening at a reception for the participants.
You could see during the pierced heart stunt, the solo pilot seemed to be coming in hot, and in a split second there was a fireball, and the plane tumbled into the crowd. In hindsight, some of the crowd were spared because of the mound of gravel behind the impact area which we used for rapid runway battle damage repair was loaded with people. Had the truck not been there, a whole lot more would have been killed or injured. I immediately ran to the control tower and told the German announcer to ask the people to remain calm and clear the impact area using the MAC ramp which was north (I believe) of the impact site. I then ran the 200 or so yards down to the impact site. That took all of six or seven minutes. As I ran, I recall one particular man who's head was swollen perhaps a third larger than normal, it was burning, he was stagering away from the smoke and flames.
MSgt. Tatro's photo's bring back a lot of negative memories. I expect he took them the morning after. There was a young child I found under the red truck horribly burned. Colonel Cash Harris, I and a couple of other airmen had to try and move it trying to get to the kid. The tires were burned and we tried to roll it on the wheels. I had to jump in and move the shifter to get it out of gear. The child was still barely breathing. There was no way he would survive.
A lot of things happend that day. I found part of one pilot, at least a third of him, and also his pelvis. My EOD crew combed the crash site weckage for the ejection seats, and parts thereof, that had to be safed (live charges still in the seats). We had Bob Kalcevic running around worried that people might see the bodies and ordered up a 40 foot flatbed to load them on before we had a chance to map out the scene and try and match body parts to the bodies they belonged to.
It was a long, long night, and Colonel Bill Eckert at the onsite CP was absolutely awesome. He kept everyone together in the middle of a disaster. What was a nigtmare day turned into perhaps six weeks agony for our Wing and especially its people. The smell at the temporary morgue at the base gym, the Doc's trying to identify who they have when you don't know who was there in the first place? Then there was MSgt. Sharon Lucy at the base theater, trying to contact every person stationed at Ramstein who was not accounted for, despite the fact that her new convertable was damaged at the crash site and couldn't be moved for weeks because of the investigation. Our cops, who chalked tires to see if the vehicles they belonged to had moved, and then running the plates to see if the owner was a victim. To this day, I am so proud of every one of them.
Sometime after the incident, one of my EOD guys, Danny Churillo took a shotgun out of the safe at the EOD shop, and shot himself. I believe he was a victim of Flugtag, and that really haunts me.
There is so much more that most people don't know. I sat on the fundraising committee for the Community that raised thousands of dollars for the relief of the families of the victims and I even put together the Ramstein Bon Jovi Flugtag concert. Our hearts went out to each and every victim of Flugtag. That's part of the story too.
I retired from active duty a while back, but now teach high school Air Force JROTC and wear the uniform every day. I have a uniform jacket with blood stains on my old Chief stripes from 28 August, 1988. I still look at that jacket, all the time.
Posted by: Cmd. CMSgt. Thom Lustik at May 19, 2005 07:00 PM (ywZa8)
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I was a TSgt, Telephone Maintenance, at Ramstein. The communications for Flugtag were extensive, so I had volunteered to clean up trash following the show, figuring that would be easier than doing all the telephone work I'd done for the previous Flutag. I was driving from my home in Obermohr when I first saw the smoke. Arriving on the scene, I didn't pick up any trash. All the survivors had been removed, and we began the task of picking up bodies and body parts. As I remember it, the concertina wire had done the most gruesome damage. We weren't sure what parts went with what bodies, and surely mixed some of them up. We were given rubber gloves for our own protection, but they shredded so quickly, that I stopped putting on new ones. Some bodies were too hot to handle, so we used ice and water from picnic coolers to pour over them. I counted about 30 bodies that I handled personally, and then began picking up pieces. I think I went into shock. When the remaining pieces became so small that I wasn't sure if they were body parts or not, I decided I'd done enough. In a daze, I walked to the NCO Club and got sick. Then I went to the bar, and found some friends. I remember while there, Security Police came and confiscated a bunch of booze. It was needed by the medics. It was a day I shall never forget. Tommy Johnson
Posted by: Tommy Johnson at May 20, 2005 05:17 AM (MIP1f)
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I TOO REMEMBER THAT DAY AND WILL FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE. MY LAST NAME WAS MCCANCH AT THAT TIME AND ME, MY EX-HUSBAND(WHO WAS ACTIVE DUTY EOD) AND OUR 2-YEAR OLD SON(JJ) HAD A FRONT ROW SEAT FOR THIS HORRIFIC EVENT. I STILL CANNOT WATCH A VIDEO ON THIS. JUST STILL-LIFE PICTURES. ALL I REMEMBER (SINCE WE WERE DIRECTLY BEHIND THE POLICE CAR ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ACCESS ROAD) IS WATCHING THE PLANE COME AT US ON FIRE AND TOTAL AND COMPLETE SILENCE. KNOWING THAT THERE WAS NO WAY WE COULD OUTRUN A FIGHTER, I JUST REACHED DOWN AND BARELY TOUCHED MY SON AND WAS LITERALLY PICKED UP AND THROWN. I HAVE TO SAY I WASN'T SCARED. ACTUALLY I WAS AT PEACE WITH THE FACT THAT MY FAMILY AND I WERE GOING TO DIE. THE LATER THE SURVIVOR GUILT HIT ME WHEN I THOUGHT OF ALL THE YOUNG CHILDREN THAT WERE NEAR ME AND PROBABLY DIED THERE ON THE SPOT OR SHORTLY AFTER. I CAN REMEMBER TWO SMALL CHILDREN THAT WERE TO THE LEFT OF US, THEY WERE BEAUTIFUL AND THEY LOOKED LIKE TWINS, THEY WERE LITTLE CURLY, BLONDS ABOUT 4-5 AND I HAVE YET TO SEE ANY PICTURES WITH THEM IN THEM. I HAVE ASKED REPEATEDLY EVERYONE I CAN IF THEY REMEMBER SEEING THEM AND NOBODY KNOWS. I MUST COMMEND THE BASE FOR BEING AS PREPARED AS THEY COULD HAVE FOR AN EVENT THAT I AM SURE THAT THEY DID NOT ANTICIPATE. AND ALL OF THE REST OF YOU THAT WORKED THROUGH YOUR OWN SHOCK AND TRAUMA TO AID THE REST OF US THAT NEEDED YOU. THANK YOU. CMSGT THOM LUSTIK, I REMEMBER DANNY AND IT RIPPED MY HEART OUT WHEN WE HEARD THE NEWS, I CRIED FOR DAYS. THE THINGS I SAW, SMELLED, AND HEARD THAT DAY WILL NEVER LEAVE ME. BUT MOST OF ALL THE HELP AND THE STRENGTH THAT WAS SHOWN BY EVERYONE THAT CAME TOGETHER AS ONE WILL NEVER LEAVE ME. I AGREE THERE ARE THINGS THAT WILL NEVER BE KNOWN AND NEVER BE FORGOTTEN, BUT I BELEIVE THAT TALKING ABOUT MAKES IT EASIER TO DEAL WITH. IT AMAZES ME HOW I CAN REMEMBER THAT DAY LIKE IT JUST HAPPENED. BUT I GUESS THAT GOD WANTS US TO REMEMBER THIS UNTIL WE FIGURE OUT WHY WE WERE SPARED.
Posted by: tammy at October 28, 2005 01:36 PM (zi1Dw)
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Turning two - a second time
Rand Simberg of Transterrestrial Musings provides pointers to these nifty sites:
Google Maps - in about 5 minutes I zoomed to a map of my street, and then with one click of a button got a fairly detailed satellite image.
Economics in One Lesson - the classic by Henry Hazlitt, now available online.
Posted by: Ted at
12:36 PM
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Satellites don't come around here.They're afraid of the bears.
Posted by: Russ at April 05, 2005 05:55 PM (ObxzR)
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Geek wear for the aware geek
Courtesy of RocketForge, T-shirts showing the correct proposed plan for America's return to space.
I especially like
this one. Now I need a RocketBabe to model it.
Posted by: Ted at
12:27 PM
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About the picture: These are some downscaled models I built based on classic Estes kits from the 70's and 80's. They are (from left to right) Cherokee D, Big Bertha, Der Red Max, Alpha and Goblin. They're not all to the same scale. The Red Max (center) is just under 6" tall, and the brown cylinder next to it is a standard Estes rocket motor.