US Shuttle vs Russia's Shuttle

Wow do these look a lot a like.



With all the news about the shuttle these days I thought I'd so some research on it this weekend. Some of the questions I looked up were -

1. Didn't Russia have a shuttle program?
Answer - Yes they did. It even flew in space and landed autonomously (without a human on board). Although they only did this one time because of budget constraints. Feel free to search for it under "Buran" or click the link I've inserted below.

2. If so what did they use for a heat shield?
Answer - Basically the same as the US counter parts. Keep reading.

3. What did they use as a propulsion system?
Answer - It's a long answer but they didn't install a huge engine on the shuttle like the US did, basically they relied soly on booster rockets. One interesting point I learned here is at the time they didn't know how to build solid rocket boosters like the US shuttles so they used the same technology from other rockets they built.

4. Could we borrow from their technology?
Answer - What for, they designed their shuttle from the blueprints of the US shuttle. For the most part the technology is the same with some improvements. If you're interested feel free to search for "Russian Shuttle" on google or click this link http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question/spacecraft/q0153.shtml

Last 10 day recap

I've been on travel for the last 10 days or so. Jen and I flew into Minnesota 2 Thursdays ago. Jen went to visit her family and I spent the next couple of days in Alexandria for guys weekend. As usual it was a blast. Lot's of drinking and holdem. The temp was hot for MN so hitting the water was great (Although the heat was nothing like FL). Golf was not so great since I didn't bring my clubs, I ended up renting clubs. I can honestly say that good clubs will make a difference in one's golf game. Sleeping was rough, Josh is the loudest snorer I've ever heard and I don't think I slept an hour the first night. I ended up sleeping on the kitchen floor to avoid the noise. Scott brought some of the best tasting steaks I've had in a long time.


The great cigar at guys weekend

After guys weekend Jen and I went to a wedding dance and surprised everyone. Nobody expected us there. It was pretty cool to see the work gang again. I'm getting anxious to get back to MN again to hang out.

Last week I spent in Keystone Colorado for a work conference. The longest time I've spent in the Mountains before then was driving through Montana on my way to Seattle. Keystone is 12,500 Ft above sea level. I was winded after climbing a flight of stairs from the lack of oxygen. The first two days I had a constant headache but I fought it and eventually I felt fine on Wednesday. After eating dinner on Wednesday Josh bet me $100 that I couldn't climb a ski hill in under 45 minutes. There was a DJ setting up and he went in on the bet too and he chipped in $60. I'm not sure how high it was but I've never been so winded in my life climbing the hill. I made it in 17 minutes. I had a large group from the conference cheering me on and a couple guys marched up the hill with me in case I had a heart attack. Although they said they wouldn't give me CPR so I would've been screwed either way. They were breaking record high temps in CO during the week which I found interesting considering it was barely 50 degrees in the morning. In FL it barely gets into the 70's at night. Living in the mountains would be so awesome. It's one of the last places in the country that hasn't been over run by people.


Half way up the ski hill


Partying after the climb

Thursday was my first experience in white water rafting. Although I thought it would be a lot rougher than it was, it ended up being a great time. I was talking smack to the guide that I'd throw her in when she got sick of it and pushed me in. The water was a super cold 50 degrees but it felt good. When we were close to the end I jumped in the water and pulled the guide in with me. Revenge was sweet.

Friday was awesome touring the facilities where Lockheed assembles the Atlas V rockets. I wish I could've brought a camera in there. The facilities are as clean as a hospital in some areas. And it was cool to see the Russian rocket engines that are used to power the rockets.

We eventually got to the airport around 1:30. My flight wasn't until 6:30pm. That's a long time to wait for a plane and it didn't help when I finally got on the plane I had to sit by a guy that had major BO. But I made it home alright and now it's back to the grind tomorrow.

Dennis was no menace here this time around

The hurricane passed by us in the gulf. Although we got hit by a couple of so called feeder bands which are smaller storms that swirl around the eye of the storm. I took a short video of one of the storms but it's probably not worth posting here. Co-workers said last year one of the hurricanes that was heading north through the gulf took a easternly turn and nailed a community just south of here. The hurricane really put a damper on the weekend. We just sat in our condo the entire weekend. So that's pretty much the weekend update.

Pregnant Wife Syndrome

I learned something new the other day. Don't run out of milk. Here's a snipplet from an email my wife sent me.

Now my ? is when the heck did we drink all the milk???? Last night already or did you use the last of it this am. I walked all the way to the store to get cereal and fruit because we were out when I got back to get a bowl of cereal I found out we were out of milk. I am not mad just a little bummed because I really don't want to walk back in this hot weather. I feel like poop yet too so this hot weather makes it that much worse. Oh well. I am sorry. I am done griping now. You just normally say something when we are getting low so I had no clue. Well have a great Fri. Try not to work too hard.
I will see you when you get done. Will you be staying late or are you done at 4 like a normal Fri? Either way. Have a great afternoon.

Huricane on its way?

Well we may get to experience a category 3 huricane if Dennis takes a turn towards us. Joel mentioned that his apartment is on an island that's 2 feet above sea level. We Minnesotan's are well prepared though. NOT!! I don't own a flashlight or a radio of any kind. I guess I should maybe start thinking of buying that stuff.

Stay tuned.

Red Tide on the 4th

What is there to do on the 4th in FL. One could go to one of the numerous parks and stand in line for hours waiting to jump on the latest and greatest ride. We thought about it but decided against it. Well that left basically one thing left to do and that's hitting the beach. Well for those of you who don't live on the coast you may not have heard of Red Tide. I actually don't have a definition for Red Tide so I can't tell you what it really is. All I know is that it kills fish and lots of them. Now image thousands of dead fish on the shore rotting away. It's about the worst smell imaginable. I do have to give Clearwater credit because they work very hard at keeping their beaches cleaned up so it doesn't smell to bad there. However, they can't clean the water enough to make one want to swim in it. So we were stuck baking away on the beach. It was still fun though. After hanging out on the beach for 8 hours we heading out to watch the fireworks. It was a great show and we were only suck in traffic for about 30 minutes.

I missed hanging out with the family on the 4th though. There's nothing like anchoring a pontoon in the middle of the lake and having two ski boats pulling skiers and a jet ski to boot. Then lighting off fireworks on the dock at the end of the night.

Help me get a free iPod

Click on this link http://www.freeiPods.com/?r=15497605 and sign up for one of the free items of sign up for something that has a trial period. If five people sign up I get a free iPod. You can do the same after you've signed up get five more people to sign up and you'll get a free iPod. Just do it for the kid.

I think I just saw a big boat go by

Maybe it was Noah. Well someone knows something because we've got about 10 inches of rain in the last two days. Nothing unusual for Florida I guess.

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Shark Attacks

Two shark attacks in a matter of days. I think I'm done swimming in the Gulf for a while. I like all my limbs.

Random Power Outage Thought

We just suffered a power outage here at work. Although the outage was only for a few seconds everyone in the building was unable to work because their computer was powered off. I was not so unfortunate or fortunate depending on how you view it, I own a laptop so the battery saved me from the outage. But it got me thinking, how much does it cost when the power goes out. For every engineer in this building to have to reboot their machine and get back to the spot where they were it probably takes a good 2-5 minutes. Not to mention the loss of work. So crunching the numbers I'm guessing the loss of work cost the company a good chunk of change. (I'm way to lazy to crunch numbers) I just thought I'd throw a random thought your way.

Short Weekend

This weekend flew by really fast. Jen's brother is down from MN so we hung out with him on Saturday at Clearwater Beach. Sunday we went to Busch Gardens. Both Jen and I agreed that it was just as good if not better then Animal Kingdom. We saw some gorillas wrestling. Talk about entertaining. Two 500lbs creatures hitting each other over the head was pretty funny. There's also a lot of rides there too. This trip there was just to check it out so we didn't do much but walk around.

Then it was Monday morning and I'm back to work.

I'm not funny

I was told today that my blog is not funny. I guess I'm just not a funny guy, or all my funny stories can't really be told on this blog. I thought today I'd try to be funny. But I have nothing funny to talk about. So I thought I'd use a random thought from the OLDP Joel. Here goes.

Keep your socks high and your spectacles low.

An emu may look friendly, but its intellect may overcome.

If your fist is shaking, drop kick a ventilation duct

Baby Tour

Recently we toured the hospital where Jen will give birth to our bun in the oven. The room where the baby is actually born is big but soon after the baby is born they move Jen to a small room. But the baby gets to stay with Jen in the room so that's cool. This has been a crazy time in our lives. Living in FL and getting pregnant at the same time. But it's also exciting and a new chapter is starting in our lives.

Golf woos

Golfing took a turn for the worst down here. Last year I was constantly in the 40's. This year I haven't broke 40 once until last night. I have a whooping 19 handicap for 9 holes. Maybe lessons have screwed me up, but whatever it is I'm not doing so well. Hopefully winning last night by 7 1/2 holes will help. I think I have a good idea what I was doing wrong before. We'll see next match.

It's a sad day to see Pardeep go.

I'm trying to hold back my tears as I write this. OK that's a little extreme. But Jen is really having a hard time holding back her tears. (My wife that is, we all know Somers has forgot about you by now)

Anyway, Pardeep has graduated from the OLDP and now has to move on to a real job. No more boondoggles, now it's just a 5 day a week job.

Well Pardeep, I guess this is so long old buddy. As far as this picture goes, you know this doesn't work in snow right? I'm still trying to figure out what you were thinking leaving these days sitting on Clearwater Beach for Owego, NY. Anyway, it's been a blast hanging out and you'll have to make sure you visit before I have to go back to the frigid Minnesota.

Take it easy and enjoy NY.

Pics at night around Time Square just don't do it justice. It's amazing, blocks and blocks of super large big screen TVs. Not to mention the number of people around this place. 

I know where to catch the David Letterman show now. I will be back someday.  

Me, Josh, and Mickey in Atlantic City. I only had to break up one fight between these two. We never fail to go on a trip without these two yelling at eachother at least once.  

Back from New Jersey

Our trip last week was a blast. We went site seeing in Philly, Atlantic City, and New York. We got to experience riding on the subway and riding in a taxi. Taxi drivers in New York are the craziest drivers you'll ever meet in the World, I guarantee it. We asked the driver about what kind of maintenance he did on his car and he said the brakes are changed out every two weeks. That's some seriously crazy driving. I never thought I'd say this but it's crazier than my brother when he was around the age of 16-17ish. (Sorry Al) One of the funnier moments of the night in New York was watching P-Diddy get shot down by a girl. He walked up to her like three times trying to get her to come with him in his motorcade of like 4 large SUV's. But she refused. Anyway, I've posted some pics from the trip throughout this blog. (When I post pics the site puts them in what ever order it feels like, maybe I'll fix it later)

We also had lunch with Jay and Ben while in Moorestown. That was pretty cool. This ELDP program is great, we're meeting people all over the place. Josh, the only single one on this trip got two girls phone numbers. One on the train ride into New York and one on the way back to Jersey. I think he wants to move there now.

Well enjoy the pics.