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Saturday, August 8, 2015

Sort of back

Through the magic of old school tech, I'm back online. I made a Cat5 cable a few years back and it's worked faithfully for years on my old rig. Now it's continuing to be useful by connecting the laptop to my router directly. Wires are strewn across my living room as if I were setting up Christmas lights. The good news is that my back isn't turned to my family as I write this. Always thought that was a problem. Even if I'm writing, checking e-mail or playing the latest computer game, my back would be to my loved ones. Now my oldest child and lovely wife can be seen without turning my head. Of course, the wife has a habit of throwing pillows in my direction. Now I can duck when I see them coming.
Let's see whats happened while I was away from the soapbox.
We're still getting pictures of the Pluto flyby. Those will continue to come in throughout the fall. Here's the fun part: taking names for the features that are discovered. Seriously, take a gander at the suggested names on Charon. I nearly spilled my coffee on the screen when I read Mordor. The same went for Kirk, Spock and Sulu craters. Kubrik Mons and Clarke Mons are great names for new mountains, but didn't they already name stuff after the characters in Star Trek? On Pluto it's a bit more serious. Lowell and Tombaugh Regio is a great homage to the men who discovered the mini planet. I'll even go with Cousteau Rupes, to honor the great explorer Jacques Cousteau. There seems to be a theme of explorers going on with Pluto. I heartily endorse these suggested names, even Tartarus Dorsa, which is in keeping with the Greek and Roman mythology naming of the solar system. This brings up a point. We're gonna get silly with the names.
Sure there will be serious stuff like Hayabusa Terra and Eriksson Rupes, but Cthulhu Regio and Vadar Crater? I'm not offended and I think it's funny. Pop culture influencing the names of mountains and canyons. Who's to say what will be remembered in a few hundred years. Gallifrey Macula and Tardis Chasma?
Somewhere down the line there will be a planet that gets the name Tom's planet. I only know a few people named Tom. In fact, a cousin of mine goes by that name. This proves the point. There are so many places... Planets, Asteroids, Nebula, that we are going to get some funny names. We already have Truth or Consequences, New Mexico so Skywalker Crater shouldn't surprise anybody. 

On to the stuff my kids don't care about. 
How sweet it is
When I find a new recipe, I make a one gallon batch. If it's any good, I bump it up to five gallons. The mead on the left contains Serrano peppers. I'm going for a sweet and spicy drink. The one in the middle contains pineapple and ginger. That one should be good. The big thing on the left is the prickly pear mead that was so popular the last year. My family isn't quite so enthusiastic about my new hobby. The kids couldn't care less, and I'm okay with that. Children rarely think what their parents do is cool or interesting. The wife is indulgent of her husband's particularities. That's a nice way of saying she puts up with me.
If any of this stuff bores you gentle readers, than please let me know and I'll stop writing about it. For my part I find it interesting and a bit relaxing. The process of bringing this forth is satisfying to me. Cooking for large groups of friends or writing a story fulfills a creative need to put something out there for the world to see. The look on my friends face as they taste food, drink a beverage, or immerse themselves in a story, brings a sense of pride and joy to the relationship. 
These are the moments we treasure in our life. Our accomplishments that one can point to and say, 'I did that.' It's a good feeling to have. 


1 comment:

Dad said...

Glad to see u back and on form. While the girls were here I did not look at your blog. Now that they are back in TX I have a few minutes to relax and catch up. Did the shirt fit? Hope u liked it. Keep it going as u are a great story teller and much more intelligent than your old man. Love ya. Dad