Tempus Fugit

Latin (tem-pu̇s-ˈfü-git): Time Flies

Posts

  • Rational Rain Storm

    Well the preconfernece day has ended with the traditional poolside reception. I arrived for the opening at 6pm, had something to eat and drink and then is started to rain. and not just a little bit, but a full out thunderstorm with heavy rain. I think the late comers will be out of luck and who knows how they will move the party for a couple of thousand people to another venue. I’d say the food would be soaked before they could put it away.

     Right now I’m hanging around a kiosk waiting for it to let up before I head out to the car. At least I’m not hungry. 🙂

    Speaking of food, bad marks for the fodd so far. Hotdogs & Hamburgers for a fancy party reception really doesn’t cut it. It seems that the conference glory days of the 2000 era are gone and cutbacks are in effect. Funny, they didn’t make the conference any less expensive.

  • Kennedy Space Center

    I spent Saturday at the Kennedy Space Center and enjoyed the day. I thought I’d get up rarely early an hit Cocoa Beach first, but I slept in a bit too much so I went straight to KSC and got there shortly after 9am and caught the first tour.  


    Kennedy Space Center
    Originally uploaded by Big Dadoo.

    What a great day! The tour was very informative and it’s amazing to see where the space program has come over the last 30 years. We take everything so much for granted now that we don’t even notice when a shuttle goes up any more, only when things go very wrong do we pay attention. I was amazed to learn that the International Space Station has been continuously manned and worked on for over 3 years. And, as the shuttle returns to space on July 1 to continue building the ISS. If you’re interested, have a look at my Flickr photos

    Two of the many attractions were the IMAX 3D movies, Magnificent Desolation with Tom Hanks and Space Station with Tom Cruise. Wow, 3D has come a long way and even though you still need the glasses, the effect is great. Of the two films, by far the Space station one was incredible. I saw it late in the day and was a little tired and had closed my eyes a couple of times in Magnificent Desolation but not so with this one. The footage was exceptional and riveting. It’s totally amazing what is being built high above the earth and it was especially interesting after touring the clean room area where the next 3 actual  modules were being prepped for delivery to the station. I think I’ll be tracking the launch and progress of STS-121 Discovery for sure.

    The KSC was worth the trip and deserves the entire day is you at all interested in the space program and it’s history.

    NASA – Kennedy Space Center – America’s Spaceport

    Where else in the world do history and the future, nature and technology, young and old meet for an unforgettable and inspirational journey through space and time? The Kennedy Space Center has hosted millions of guests from around the world for more than 30 years — telling the story of how the United States built a space program that launched men to the Moon, orbited satellites that have improved our lives, and sent probes into distant space to solve the mysteries of the cosmos.

  • Exploring Florida

    After getting settled at the hotel, I decided to do a little exploring, something other that the typical theme park stuff. I picked up a brochure on Kissimmee that made it seem quite interesting, wrong! It was quite a let down. The couple of attractions I went to were quite disappointing. The “historic train station” turned out to be just a run down old train station with nothing of interest for a visitor. Today, it’s just another Amtrak stop. The Bull Creek Wildlife Management Area sounded better with an “interpretive loop” 8.6 mile driving tour. There were 3-4 spots that looked like this, and the rest was just a road through the low level brush. I saw 3 deer and two different kinds of birds and not much else. The brochure for the self-guiding tour was a simple map with all the hunting and camping regulations. No explanation of the area or why it’s a wildlife management area. It seemed to be more about the hunting. Oh yeah, I did see one other van driving slowly with the side door open. I didn’t get a close look, but I’d bet there was some fire power pointing out that door.

  • Racing down south

    A friend, Daniel Nemetchek, landed a fifth place finish in the first stage of the Monumental Memorial race in Beatrice Nebraska on Saturday May 27th. Way to go Daniel! It must have been quite the finish with the winner taking it by 1 second, and then 12 riders crossing in the next second.

    This photo is from the second stage and the good looking guy in the red shorts is Daniel, so un-officially, this would look like a fourth place in the second stage.

    No wonder nobody can keep up with him when we ride at Maah Daah Hey.

    Five Man Break Photo
    NebraskaCyclingNews – News

  • Simple UI

    It made me laugh, which was good. But, I often wonder who spends there time creating this kind of stuff?

    from just stumbling along

  • The Birthday Boy


    The Birthday Boy

    Originally uploaded by Big Dadoo.

    Well hardly a boy but a fine young man that we’re very proud of. While 21 is not quite the landmark birthday it once was, it still means something special to us “older” types.

    For Scott, it was a typical work day, up early and out of the house by about 6:30am to head off to work. He did manage to get home at a more reasonable time so we could head out to the lake for the May long weekend. We had an enjoyable discussion on the way down to join Dez and Eric who went out Thursday evening. After a great steak dinner we finally got around to opening presents. Somehow I think I was almost more interested in getting to this part than Scott was! This must be a sign of maturity that I just haven’t reached yet, delaying the receiving of your presents.

    Happy 21st Birthday Scott!

  • Commuting by Bike

    Today was my first experience with cycling to work and it went very well.

    Last night it took a little planning to get the required gear, including the laptop, into a backpack and to decide what kind of clothes can be rolled up and still look OK at the office. The good thing was I didn’t forget anything and I think I looked presentable.

    The ride was about 20 minutes and there were no major problems. I’m used to riding in the traffic so that wasn’t an issue, but it was a little heavier than usual at rush hour. One slowdown was getting behind a slower biker and being trapped between the curb lane traffic and the guy ahead. As traffic pulled away from a light I was able to slip into the lane and get around the guy and back up to speed.

    Here at IBM there is a bike cage compound under a surveillance camera and people lock the bike inside the cage so I hope it will still be there when I head out for home tonight. There is a small change and shower room on the 3rd floor and I had it to myself. If there were more the two guys at the same time, it would be very close quarters. The ride end-to-end took longer that the car, probably close to 1 hour home to desk by the time I locked up the bike, showered and changed etc.

    So all in all it’s been a good experience and I think I’ll make it a regular option for traveling into the office. I hope it doesn’t rain on the way home, it’s looking a little dark out there right now and the forecast is 60% for showers.

  • Snake in the Grass


    Snake #2
    Originally uploaded by Big Dadoo.

    This was actually from last weekend when we went to Narcisse, Manitoba which is world famous breeding ground for red-sided garter snakes. I’d known about this attraction for some time but we’d never gone until this spring. One of the four dens was very active and it was quite interesting to photograph the snakes and I was amazed by the numbers of snakes in the ajacent fields. I think we’ll go back this fall for the return migration.

  • Maximum Impact

    This is my second time attending the Maximum Impact simulcast at our church’s conference
    facility     here in Winnipeg. We’re on the afternoon break and the speakers so far have been just excellent. There certainly has been some solid practical information and great insight into
    various aspects of being a leader. Just one of the many points from John Maxwell that really hits home is that you must lead yourself exceptionally well. I need to lead myself with integrity and possess excellent self-management if I expect to impact others. Who would follow someone who obviously can’t or won’t manage themselves? My actions must be in line with my intentions and my intentions must be focused on helping others. I think it’s called being congruent.

    The financial talk by Dave Ramsey was very insightful. He asserts that we all know what to do when it comes to sound financial practices, it’s our behavior that’s the issue. We frequently don’t behave in a way that aligns with our knowledge. There’s that congruence thing again! He had five simple steps and you know them already.

    1. Live on less than you make
    2. Get out of debt.
    3. Get on a budget.
    4. Save some money
    5. Give / Tithe – we’re designed to do it.

    See, you knew all that didn’t you? It’s just our behavior that we need to get in line.

  • Light Year to Quarks

    This site has a great little java applet that zooms you from 10 million light years away from earth down to the smallest particles currently known to man. While I was watching this fascinating display I couldn’t help but be in awe of God’s incredible and magnificent creation. It’s so big, so amazing it’s hard to imagine. Most of the time we don’t thing outside of are small little part of our “universe”, so it was a good reminder of the size and  our place in the world. How much more amazing and incredible is the creator himself?

    Molecular Expressions: Science, Optics and You – Secret Worlds: The Universe Within – Interactive Java Tutorial

    View the Milky Way at 10 million light years from the Earth. Then move through space towards the Earth in successive orders of magnitude until you reach a tall oak tree just outside the buildings of the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory in Tallahassee, Florida. After that, begin to move from the actual size of a leaf into a microscopic world that reveals leaf cell walls, the cell nucleus, chromatin, DNA and finally, into the subatomic universe of electrons and protons.