Category Archives: Fun

The Eagle Has Landed

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Monday was the 40th anniversary of the July 1969 moon landing, one of the defining moments of the 20th century. I’ve always had some interest in space, partly because it’s so big that it boggles my mind. To think that I could travel at the speed of light for an entire lifetime in the same direction and not even pass through a tiny fraction of the universe…how can you not stand in awe, both of the universe and of the God who created it?

Anyway, after the landing, some people examined the photographs and other evidence from the trip and decided that NASA had faked the moon landing for political reasons because the actual trip was impossible. They offered some interesting arguments: shadows that didn’t line up, an astronaut in shadows that somehow was still visible, a flag that seemed to blow in the breeze. I wasn’t completely convinced either way, but I must admit, they got me thinking. A friend of mine at work is a staunch believer in the conspiracy theory and even has a website dedicated to the cause.

In honor of the anniversary, The Discovery Channel’s excellent show Mythbusters decided to test the conspiracy theorists’ arguments. Guess what? They debunked most of the major arguments, including:

  • How could a flag move in a vacuum as if blown by the wind?
  • How could the sun cast shadows that appear to be unparallel?
  • How could such a perfect footprint be made in moondust with no air or water vapor to help it keep its shape?
  • Why couldn’t the hoaxsters have faked the moon walks by playing a normal walk in slow motion?

I try to base my judgments on evidence when available. For me, the Mythbusters busted every one of these conspiracy theorists’ arguments. Coupled with the simple truth that the difficulty of pulling off such a hoax involving SO many people on such a monumental event would be pretty much prohibitive, this show convinced me of what most of us want to believe: yes, Virginia, man really did walk on the moon.

Brenden in a Box

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Some of you know about an unfortunate childhood incident involving me and a box. For those who don’t, here’s the short version. I had a set of stacking plastic boxes when I was around two years old. The biggest one was red. They all curved in at the top, probably for aesthetic reasons. One day I decided to sit down in the big red box. When potty time came, I found myself unable to escape from said box due to the inward curve and sharp edges at the top. Some of you might find that mental picture amusing, but I assure you that it was not amusing in any way, either for me or for my mother. After extensive efforts by both of us, Mom was ready to pick me up, box and all, and take me down the street to the fire station for assistance. Fortunately, Dad came home just in time to avert any, um, accidents by sawing the box open. This might be my earliest memory. I remember Dad used a hacksaw. Once I was free, they decided the boxes would be better off outside our home. Here’s a picture of my misfortune:

The other day I put Brenden in a similar position only without the drama. His playroom has a big plastic tub that sometimes holds his toys. His new game is to play with the box itself, so I decided to amuse myself and you by posing him for some “box” pictures.

Various News

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I’ve been so busy working on the new design (see poll at right!) that I haven’t written much about what’s been going on. Whether I’m blogging often or not, you can keep up with us via the Status listings on the left. Here’s the latest:

  • Jenny has been seeing a chiropractor recommended by her OB/GYN. Due both to pregnancy and misalignment, her hips and back have been hurting for a while. She’s seeing Dr. Watkins and really likes him. Already she’s getting some relief. More should follow soon.
  • Friday night we attended the wedding of two friends of ours from the Southwest People Department – Luke and Rebecca from Jenny’s former team. They hung out a lot while Jenny was there and started officially shortly after Jenny retired. They are a very cute couple and seemed thrilled at the wedding, which was a SWA People Dept. reunion of sorts that gave us a chance to see many of our old friends. They plan to honeymoon next week in Maine. Sounds nice this time of year, eh?
  • Saturday afternoon Jenny and I plan to visit a new (to us) waterpark called NRH2O. It’s a Hurricane Harbor-type park only smaller and, we hope, less crowded. Jenny’s parents are coming up to watch B. We’re excited to see what NRH2O has to offer.
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Cow Appreciation Day

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To celebrate Cow Appreciation Day , Chick-Fil-A gave away free combo meals to anyone who dressed up like a cow. We couldn’t turn down an offer like that, so we cobbled together some cow costumes using the patterns on their website.

Chick-Fil-A Cow Pictures

On top of free chicken, the visit also produced two firsts:

  1. Brenden’s first kid’s meal. Yes, they gave him a free four-piece chicken nugget meal since he wore his cow costume. He is a fan of chicken nuggets. He also liked the fruit but couldn’t quite finish the whole meal since it was designed for kids two or three times his age.
  2. Brenden’s first playtime in a kids’ play area. He had to stay on the bottom floor with close supervision and wasn’t quite sure what to do at first. But soon he figured it out and had a blast! I suspect we’ll be back many times.

Off the Ground

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One of my hobbies is home theater. Is that a strange hobby? Is it even a real hobby rather than simply a project? I don’t know. I just enjoy listening to my home theater – music, movies, or games. As the budget allows and our interests change, I also enjoy upgrading it from time to time. My latest upgrade combines sound and minor construction. To raise my surround speakers off the ground (or the CD stand and a dining chair, as it were) and prevent people from tripping over or playing with the speaker cables, I finally bought some wall mounts for them. As usual I researched them extensively before finally finding some on Amazon.

I finally installed them today. They are rated up to 55lbs. I don’t know why on earth you would mount a 55lb speaker with these, but they are plenty strong for my 16-pounders. Unfortunately I had to drill holes in the wall, which I HATE doing. And not just a couple, but four holes each, followed by drywall anchors and mounting screws to make sure they are secure. After that I slid the speakers in and clamped them down. They actually look pretty good to me, and Jenny doesn’t mind too much, either. I married well.

Now all I need to do is fix the speaker cables, and I’ll be back in business. Both my cables ended up too short after the mounting (poor planning on my part), so I had to splice in some extra cable for one speaker, and I haven’t decided what to do for the second. Either way I’ll have the cables out of the walkways, which was my primary goal. When I hooked up the first speaker, I was a bit surprised to find that it actually sounded better when mounted on the wall. Perhaps it’s because more of the sound gets to move throughout the room instead of getting blocked by the couch and carpet like before. I am very pleased and feel like I’ve accomplished something, but you know what this means – time to find another home theater project. =)

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