The Hobbit Hole V - Where Many Paths and Errands Meet...

ecurbh

[ecurbh]

Welcome to The Hobbit Hole!

Where Many Paths and Errands Meet...

• First thread: New Zealander builds Hobbit hole
• Second thread: The New Hobbit Hole
• Third thread: The Hobbit Hole III - Journey to the Cross-roads! (Congratulations, we filled it up!)
• Fourth Thread: The Hobbit Hole IV - The Road Goes Ever On...

The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.

[Overtaxed]

More biggerer? Brown Lights were sighted earlierer. :)

[RosieCotton]

Another thread had a remix of it. a quicktime file. SERIESLY funny. I saved that too. about 1.3 Meg

I'll have to track that down!

[Darksheare]

"It sounds to me like the second class status for reservists that I have been reading about lately."
Happens to the Natiional Guard as well.

But not 566 days, so far.
Sometimes units and groups get punked politically, for no other reason but they aren't regular army.
And yes, we are thin on troops, but that's a legacy of Clintigula the Bent.
And, unfortunately, someone continued the thinning after him.

As a former soldier, this burns me up.
It smacks of "Screwing the troops 'cause you can."

[HairOfTheDog]

Impressions of The Space Center? I posted on the tangible things about it when we got back that day. The place was huge. Can't picture the scale of the place unless you are there. And I was impressed with the Apollo display particularly. The ~intangible~ thoughts I have still been thinking about.

I will say that what I found to be profound in its absence was a well-thought out exhibit on the shuttle program... When you go there, Apollo is the star child (maybe it should be) but the Shuttle exhibit kindof off-the-beaten path in a display you had to walk to without guide or presentation, and seemed ~too~ understated. Anyone else think so? Here's the rather rambling thoughts that keep coming back to me.

There was NO mention of the Columbia . And not much of the Challenger. Only a big silent memorial with the names on it of all who had died in the history of the space program. Just names on a wall. There was no real ~timeline~ display that reminded us of the dates and faces and accomplishments of the various missions, successes and failures. I have payed some attention to space missions in the past, and yet, I need to be reminded of the benchmark missions and the names and faces. I thought the crisis and ingenuity of Apollo 13 would have had a big display. If the movie wasn't out there now, we wouldn't know about what happened there from visiting the Center.

Good presentations in movie footage of shuttle missions... don't get me wrong.... but it was dated. Some of the pre-recorded stuff needed to be updated. It was like watching a video tour of NYC taped in present-tense that showed WTC buildings standing without special comment. I flinched a little when they showed the Columbia on earlier missions without a pause or a footnote, like she was just another shuttle, like she was still alive... In the "countdown room" where they show the calendar and schedule for the next missions... there just wasn't anything. No notice, no explanation... I found this interesting, and I had looked forward to kindof immersing myself in the emotion of those moments. There is a lot of drama and sacrifice in space exploration history, and I wanted to re-visit that. Ramius and ecurbh and I talked a little bit about it, and Ramius seems to think they don't want to focus on failure, they focused on the triumph moment of the moon landing really well.... but I thought they weren't really 'selling' the successes of the shuttle program or even selling NASA's hope for the future either.... it felt like the subject of "what now and what next" was unmentionable. I haven't talked much about it.... still rolling around in my mind what I should have expected.

[My back yard]

I'm very sorry to hear that Graybeard.

[Professional Engineer]

lEMME KNOW IF YOU CAN'T FIND IT.

[Overtaxed]

Hmmmm.....sounds kinda like a Soviet propaganda-type place: accomplishments of the past, ignore the failures, no future.

We needed someone to write about the NASA trip...I didn't go.

[RosieCotton]

I'm going to wait and look for it after work. I'll let you know if I need help!

[HairOfTheDog]

That is kinda what ecurbh just said here.... That it was like a history exhibit.... and didn't feel like a tour of an ongoing program. It was like it all went on "pause" last year, only they didn't say "We are on hold" they just didn't say ~anything~.

I expected hoopla and maybe a layout of what they were getting from the mars rover.... maybe too soon to have much ready from that... but something that felt like a "live cam" would have been neat.

[Lil'freeper]

If the army is that short on troops maybe it's time to reconsider the draft and spread it around a little more.

No need for a draft, just restore what Klinton cut and the volunteer Army will more than suffice.

I agree about reservists getting the shaft. They should be getting more $$, not less.

[Sam Cree]

weird.

[Darksheare]

You haven't entered NASA, you've entered.. The Twilight Zone.
*cue music*

[Sam Cree]

"In the next six to 10 days, it will be colder than normal north of a line from Washington, D.C. to Denver," said Joe Bastardi"

At least the bearer of the bad news in that article you linked seems to be appropriately named!

[Professional Engineer]

When I visited JSC in 93, the Hubble near sightedness repair mission had just occured. They had training mock ups for that mission all over the place it was pretty neat. It felt up to the minute.

Apollo was evident everywhere as well. Werked fer me. I grew up with Apollo in my dreams. The shuttle program does not have nearly the impact on me emotionally.

[Sam Cree]

Hey Darksheare, how come sometimes you hit "enter" after every sentence?

I do it sometimes, but not as much, so I guess for a different reason.

[2Jedismom]

I'll watch the mail! I've already written an introductory letter explaining the knife.

[RosieCotton]

Poor guy...can you imagine going through life with that name?

[2Jedismom]

I think I'd change it...to smith, or jones!

My last name is hard enough to live with, I've been called everything from school to skull.

[Sam Cree]

I guess it would learn you to have "attitude," kind of like "A boy named Sue."

[HairOfTheDog]

I was impressed with the tour overall.... I just had these thoughts rolling around ever since.