Starting over in Houston...

2007-09-13T21:18:00.000-05:00

Hey All! I know it has been a really long time since I posted. But there have been a few things that have changed since the last time I posted. To start out with, I am back in the sim flow at work. This means that I will be participating in simulations. Which is an wonderful thing fo rme, as it means that I can get myself certified to actually work console! If you can't tell, I am really excited about this. I am also slightly nervous, since it means that I will begin taking actual responsibility for that multibillion dollar, international venture that is orbiting above the earth right now! Next, as most of you know already, I have a new house, and I have been working rather hard to get things to the way that I want. I am slowly getting there. I have a wonderfulyl large list of things that I really want to do, and I am finally getting to the point where I will be able to get some of them done. Finally, some people out there have been wondering about recent developments in my personal life. So to quell the rumors, I have begun dating a wonderful girl. She and I have been dating for about three weeks at this point. I met her in a swing dancing class back in February. Since then, we hung out occasionally at dance classes and social dances. Several months ago, things started to head in a slightly different direction. She asked me to help her teach a swing dancing class at a local church, and things started going from there. If you want to know anything else, you will have to email me as I don't want to have too much out here in the open for the world to see.

Ciao for now!

2007-06-23T19:41:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone!

So I have been rather busy lately. Since the last time that I posted, I have officially closed on a home. I am now a full homeowner. I just got my fridge delivered today! It fits perfectly. This is a wonderful thing to find out. I was a bit apprehensive about it fitting in the alcove that it has. I have also started the moving process. I have already moved a bunch of the small stuff over there, and am in the process of getting the big stuff moved. Hopefully, I will be done with that wonderful (wink wink) task by the end of next week. My plan will be to be living in the house before the 4th of July.

I have been keeping busy aside from the house thing, too. At work, I have pretty much completed all the paper training that I need to do. All that stands in the way of my getting certified is simulations. Not that those will be easy, quite the opposite in fact. But it does mean that I have nearly all of the paperwork out of the way! I have also begun working with some other groups and providing inputs that can only come from my group. On top of that, I am the mentor for a coop. That isn't an easy job, but I am certainly trying my best. I feel like I need to come up with more interesting things for our coop to do. I have been getting help in that department from the other people in my group. That has made it easier. But I still have work to do in that area.

On top of that stuff, I have been doing more interesting things in my personal life. I have found a number of places where I can go to do some swing dancing. I am even learning how to Charleston and Lindy. They are quite a bit different than what I have learned thus far, but they are far more interesting and lend themselves to more creative interpretations (and yes, I can be creative.)

Anyway, that is it for now. I will post more when I have completed moving.

Ciao for now!

2007-06-07T20:03:00.001-05:00

So again, it has been a fair bit of time since the last time I posted. However, I have been waiting until I could report some very good information. This has been a while in the works. I am officially closing on MY FIRST HOUSE on Wednesday at 9:00 AM! So by this time next week, I will have joined the ranks of the real world as a homeowner. WOW. I have my mortgage lined up, I have insurance taken care of, everything is pretty much set up. Now I get to begin the very exciting journey towards getting my house to be what I want it to be. I am very excited to begin this adventure :)

So other than that, things have been going pretty well down here. I have been keeping rediculously busy at work (there just aren't enough hours in the day) and trying to find ways to keep myself active outside of work. You wouldn't think that would be very tough...but I am learning that the summer in Texas is very similar to the winter back home. You really just don't want to be outside here in the summer. It is just so freaking hot and humid. But it is feeling less so this summer compared to last.

Anyway, things have just been going nuts overall. With the new house coming, and work being busy in general, that can keep things interesting. But add to that the Shuttle launching Friday evening (hopefully) that adds a ton more complexity. There are so many what if's about everything. It makes it very difficult to plan anything for anytime in the near (-ish) future. Who knows. Things will settle out a little bit over the next week or so, and then I will be able to make a few plans for this summer.

Talk to y'all later!

2007-05-12T10:20:00.000-05:00

Hey Everyone!

Nothing too extraordinary has been happening, but I am beginning to think that there are more things to talk about than the extraordinary. I mean, when you get right down to it...the ordinary stuff is what fills our lives. And when you think about it, some of that "ordinary" stuff can be pretty exciting...or not. I leave it up to you to decide.

As many of you know, lately I have been looking for a house. I have already had two fall through for various reasons. I will admit, this has had me very discouraged. However yesterday I went out yet again, got back on the proverbial horse. I found two very nice places. Both of which had positives and negatives. However, one was a fair bit less expensive and in my mind much nicer. So I decided to make an offer. We will have to see what happens. Either way, this has been one heck of an adventure. Hopefully, this one will work out much better than the last two have. Outside of that, I decided the other day that I wanted to get more dishes. So I bought several more plates and bowls. But then I realized that I needed to have more silverware, too. So I got some of that. Now all I have to do is wait for the stuff to show up at the front office. Then I get to wash all of the new dishes.

Anyway, that is all the news as of late. I am hoping that within a week or so, I will be able to tell people that I am moving into my very first house. But honestly, I want to wait and see if I can get all the way through the proces first.

I will talk to you all later!

Ciao for now.

2007-04-22T20:00:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone! I am sure by now, everyone has seen what happened here in Houston. I just wanted to make sure that everyone knows that I am ok. The event occured in a building that was quite a bit away from where I work. I had no direct connection to the people involved. The victim was the person who coordinated the motorcycle group that I am a part of. Beyond that, I don't know anything other than what is being reported in the news. Kind of bizarre, but that is how it seems to work. When I called my mom to let her know that I was ok, she put her phone up to the TV and I listened to what was going on through the phone.

Besides that, things have seemed pretty normal here. Lately, I have been working on a new venture. I am currently trying to purchase a home. My first foray into the real estate world didn't work out so well...the woman selling the home didn't want to adjust her price to reflect the amount of work that needed to be done to the home per the Inspectors report. Needless to say, I decided to try again. Currently, I am awaiting a response to an offer that I have placed on a new (to me) home. Hopefully, this one will go much better than the last one did. Either way, I am not too worried. I know that I will end up in a house before the Summer is up anyway.

I have also been taking some dance classes lately. I am in a Ballroom dancing class, and I am starting to take an Intermediate Swing Dancing class. It is a lot of fun to do. I had almost forgotten how much fun dancing is. It is also one heck of a workout. I went to a Coffee House downtown last night, and within an hour of dancing I was sweating up a storm (I am sure you didn't need to know, but now you do anyway.)

Anyway, I am gonna get going. I am going to try to get a good amount of sleep tonight. Hopefully, I will be a little more diligent at keeping this thing up.

Ciao for now!

2007-02-10T13:02:00.000-06:00

So again, it has been a long time since I last wrote anything here. Like usual, I can come up with all sorts of reasons for it. But what it comes down to is this: In my mind, I haven't done anything worthy of writing down here.

However, as of late, I have had a bit of an attitude reversal. To start out with, I have been learning that there are lots of things out there that just aren't exciting. There are many normal things that seem to get a lot of attention because they happen to people who have been deemed important. On the other hand, there are extraordinary things that happen to normal people every day.

Take me for example...On Thursday of this past week I sent about 10 commands to a multi-billion dollar, international vehicle that is moving around the planet at around 17500 miles per hour. These commands actually did something to make a difference. On top of that, the commands were sent at the beginning of an EVA (spacewalk). I thought that was pretty cool. :)

Every day that I go into work, I spend hours upon hours reading manuals and updating federal documents. These are things that are pretty boring on the surface, but when I step back and think about it it is pretty cool.

Another pretty cool thing is that I have begun working on simulations at the Control Center. That means that I have begun the journey to becoming a full flegged flight controller. Basically, I spent 9 hours sitting at a console and fixing things as they broke. I also got to make decisions that would matter if it were real. I can think of no way to describe the feeling of it other than awesome.

For those of you who read this, I can't wait until I get to see you down here. I am thinking that most of you will probably want to try coming down in the middle of winter. I would tend to agree with that thought. We have been having weather in the 50s-70s. The only problem is that we have been getting a ton of rain. But I think that I would rather deal with rain than scraping ice off my windshield.

Well, I am pretty good for now, so I am gonna get going. I will try to be more diligent about updating this, but I know that things will be very busy over the next several months. You will probably be able to keep up with the major things that are going on in my life by watching the news. I think that I will have a nice little break in June or July, but until then I know that things will be insanely busy at work gearing up for the flights.

2006-10-15T20:09:00.000-05:00

I know that it has been a long time since I last wrote, but I really haven't felt that things were worth writing in here. Most of what I have been doing lately revolves around the constant reading that I do at work. I thought that I had done a lot in the first few weeks, but things picked up 10 fold once that stuff was done. Currently, I am working on getting myself command certified. What that means is that I will be able to send real commands to the actual Space Station. Pretty cool stuff. But first, I have to learn every detail of the systems involved as well as the details of the commands that get sent. Just a little bit to know. Oh well. It will all be worth it when I get done with it.

On another note, my personal life has been a bit interesting of late. For a long time now, I have been, well depressed isn't the right word but we can use it. Things are so different here. The leaves aren't changing colors at all, the weather is still in the 80s, and I have none of my good friends near by. But over the last few weeks, I have come to a few realizations. To start with, my friends will always be as close as I want them. The same goes for my family. Another thing that I have learned is that my life isn't something to be upset about. I have a wonderful job, I am making several new friends down here, my family loves me, my friends are always there for me. On top of that, I started playing football with several people down here. I think that getting myself active again make a fair bit of difference. It definately made me feel alive again. And it made me wish that I wasn't. Just a note for all you out there...playing football after about 4 months of not doing anything physical will leave you very, very sore the next day.

Another recent development. I have several friends from various places (grade school, middle/high school, college) who are recently engaged. And for the first time, I am truly happy for them without being the least bit jealous. It is kind of wierd. I think that I am finally happy with who I am. Not just who I am when I am dating someone, but who I am as me. It really has me feeling good.

Anyway, I think that I am done for now. It may be a while before I write again, but I don't know. What I do know is this:
If you are reading this, I probably know you. If I know you, you have most likely made an impact in my life. If you have made an impact in my life, then you have helped get me to where I am right now. And for that, I am forever in your debt. Thank you all very much. I mean that from the bottom of my heart. I love all of you.

By the way, feel free to call me at any time. I won't post my number here, because I don't want random internet folks calling me. But if you post a comment, I will get my number to you.

Ciao for now.

2006-09-09T12:49:00.000-05:00

So I thought that perhaps I could try writing in here again. The last several weeks have been very long for me. There has been mountains of reading, followed by more mountains of reading, with a little bit of waiting for the Shuttle to launch. The Shuttle was originally supposed to launch on August 27, but through various issues the flight has been delayed until today. Depending on who you ask, that is either a good thing, or a bad thing. I personally think that it was a very good thing to wait until we were sure that we weren't launching with problems already in existance. I personally feel that a launch is already a very violent and very risky thing to do. I don't think that we need to add to that with things already wrong with the orbiter. But that is just my personal opinion. Currently, my only issue with the launch going uphill today is that I have to go into work sometime around 3:30 AM next week. The sleep shifting will be a very fun thing to do. Other than that, not too much has been going on. I have started taking a Russian Course, I am trying to eat healthier and exercise, I have bills due regularly, and I have to find the balance between work and friends. Pretty regular existance, if you ask me. On the other hand, every once and a while, I do realize that I am down here in Houston and working for NASA. That is pretty cool!

Also, I was playing with some filters on my computer and came up with the picture up here...in case anyone was wondering.

2006-08-10T14:22:00.000-05:00

Howdy peoples!

Just kidding. I don't think that I could ever work that into a conversation for real. Oh well. Just thought that I would let people know that I bought a new motorcycle yesterday, and I will be posting some pictures of it sometime on Saturday. I figured that I should pick up the bike when I could get a ride to the dealership. Then when I get home from the dealership, I will most likely be putting on my saddle bags, and my windshield. Although, who knows. I might actually like riding without the windshield. But that is something that I will just have to find out through trial and error.

Well, ciao for now, and I will be putting up some more stuff later this weekend.

2006-07-30T17:07:00.000-05:00

Hey Everyone!

I know that it has been quite a while since the last time that I posted. Things have been pretty hectic this past week. To start off with, I had a test on Wednesday that needed a fair bit of studying for. That ended up making this week a total wreck for me. I lost a bunch of sleep (most likely from stress) and was tired constantly. Then, immediately following my test on Wednesday we started in on lectures about the Shuttle program. The stuff that they are talking about is pretty cool, but has no direct application to what I do. And to be perfectly honest, it seems a lot simpler than the Station stuff that I have to learn. Perhaps that is simply because I have learned the Station stuff, and the two have relatively systems. I have no idea. I do know that we basically spent an entire day talking about what happens to shuttles when they have to abort. None of it is really good. And most of it is almost as deadly as the problem that gets them to that point. At least that is the way that I have been able to perceive it. Oi.

On Friday, however, things started to look up. A bunch of people from my group at NASA and some of their friends went tubing on the Comal River just outside of New Braunfels, TX. Apparently, that is relatively close to Austin. On Friday night we went to dinner with the people who left from Houston at 3:30. There was a cool restraunt called the Gristmill. I think that there were close to 1000 tables. (Yes, that is the correct number of zeros) It was enormous. They even had good food. Then we went back to the "log cabins" that we were staying in. And by log cabins, I mean that they were simply called that. In reality, they were small brick cabins with full kitchens, bathrooms, and television. We were really roughing it. Anyway, when we got there, the rest of the night was basically spent playing all variations of drinking games. I think that in about 4 hours, I went through 8-10 beers.

Then on Saturday morning, we went out to the river and floated. It was beautiful outside. We floated down once, came back for lunch, and then floated down again. I think that I lost count of the number of beers that I had on Saturday. Then we came back to the cabins and drank some more and had some dinner. This morning was much slower, as everyone was pretty tired from the day before. We left around 11, and had some food just off the freeway before we came home. I got back at 3:45 this afternoon, and got my laundry going before sitting down for this. But speaking of laundry, I think that I hear a buzzer going.

Ciao for now!

2006-07-18T19:14:00.000-05:00

Hey folks!
So today was kind of cool. We started the day out with several tours of the NASA facilities. We got to see a lot of very cool things. Things like training modules for the station and the shuttle. Both physical units (actual things that we got to touch and sit in) and simulation units (basically physical units with computer programs running them). It was really cool. The most interesting part of the whole thing is that it gave us a true to life perspective of what it is that we are working on. So when we, as flight controllers, give commands to our respective units (shuttle or station) we will know what it means. Also, when we ask the astronauts to do something we can have a clue what that will entail. Really cool. Once we were done with all that, we went back and had our "graduation" ceremony. Basically, we got to listen to Milt Heflin (Deputy Director, Mission Operations Directorate) talk about what Mission Control is all about. Basically, the point that he tried to impress upon us was that at any point in our careers we may be called upon to do something that has the ultimate consequences. He then went on to talk about several instances which brought these out. One was a story about a guy who was working on Apollo 12 who ended up saving the mission, possibly the lives of the people in the crew, and possibly the entire space program. It was great to hear about. It is also very daunting. We all have that to live up to. And if we can't get to that point, we aren't going to be good in the MOD. Anyway, after that we had our presentation of certificates. After that, we went on another tour. This time, it was the astronaut preparation facility. We got to see where they get all their stuff packed, where they make their ACES suits (Orange Launch Suits), the EMU suits (EVA), and where they do the food preparation for the flights. After that, I went out to buy a frame for the certificate and then came home. And, as luck would have it...I just got off the phone with the poeople who are delivering my desk and confirmed that they are coming tomorrow evening.

That's all for now!

2006-07-17T18:07:00.000-05:00

Hey Everyone!
So today turned out to be the warmest since I moved down here. I am not positive how warm it actually got, but apparently it felt like 106 out. Basically, while I walked from my car to my office I started sweating enough to leave marks on my shirt. Not a good thing. On the other hand, I took the first test of many in the path to becoming a Flight Controller. This test was one of those "You have to pass it or you can't move on for at least another 3 months" kind of test. Talk about pressure. But it turned out ok in the end. I got two questions wrong, but they were in completely different areas. On top of that, they were questions that almost everyone got wrong too. Basically, it means that those answers weren't really taught to us that well. Oh well. Tomorrow will be kind of cool, too. We are going on several facilities tours. Once that is done with, we have our "graduation" ceremony for passing this class. Then, on Wednesday we start the second phase of the training. Unfortunately, that is the phase that is supposed to be the hardest and most annoying. But when that phase is done, I should know a fair bit about the Station and the Shuttle. And I will be able to start working on things that actually matter to my group. From there, I should take around 9-10 months to get to my first certification to work on Console. Suffice it to say, I think that things are starting to work out the way that I want them to.
That's about all for now.

Ciao.

2006-07-15T12:04:00.000-05:00

Hey Everyone!
I know that it has been a while since I have posted anything. I have had a rather busy week this week. A lot of time has been spent studying and absorbing quite a bit of information about the Station and the Shuttle and the histroy of NASA in general. It has been exhausting. And to be perfectly honest, there have been more than a few night where I just came home and crashed. Other than that, there has been a fair bit of getting to know people going on this week. This class that I am in has about 20 or so new people in it. We all basically just started within the last few weeks, so we are all pretty much in the same boat. Several of us have gone out for lunch a few times this week. We went to a fun Mexican food place called Mamacitas, then another day we went to the ever popular Fudruckers. Then yesterday, there were 6 of us who went out downtown to go to a bar/club there. It was called Sherlocks. It was surprisingly fun. I thought that I might have some difficulty with the fact that Houston doesn't have smoke free bars like we do in Madison, but it turned out to be ok. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that the weather is nice enough to keep the windows open all night. I think that by the time we got back around 3 in the morning, it was about 70 outside. Pretty sweet. Then today, there are some people getting together to hang out. Should be fun.

On another note, I should be getting my kitchen table today. However, I won't actually be getting the proper tabletop today. Apparently, they have had some shipping problems lately. So I will be getting a floor model today, and then later in the month, they will send me the proper tabletop. Oh well. It will all be taken care of shortly.

Well, I am off again. Talk to you all soon.

2006-07-08T17:15:00.000-05:00

Hey all!
So I had my entertainment center delivered today. It has only taken 3 delivery dates, two receipts, and about 15 people to make this happen. An awful lot of work to get a simple delivery. Oh well. I had to put the thing together, but I am pretty happy with the way that it looks. All I need to do is get a smaller DVD player, and everything will fit much better in the space that I have. Just means more money that I have to spend. Other than that, I have had an interesting couple of days. As I mentioned earlier, I have been sitting on console during the third shift. It has been kind of cool. Because there generally isn't too much going on, I have had the chance to ask a lot of questions. I am also getting used to listening to about 15 people talking at once and distinguishing who is saying what to whom. Kinda cool. Other than that, there isn't a whole lot new going on. I finally have most of the access that I need to complete my job. Some is still pending, but that should be taken care of well prior to when I need it.
I think that I may have finally taken care of to finalize my conversion to a Texan. I have my license plates, I have a local residence, I just took care of my driver's license yesterday, and at the same time, I got registered to vote here in Harris County Texas.
Besides that, I am trying to get back into a normal sleep pattern so that I can go to work next week and not have any problems staying awake for the entire shift. Kind of important, since I need to learn all of the basics of shuttle and station operations so that I can become a useful member of the team. Well, I am out for now.

2006-07-06T15:48:00.000-05:00

Well, I have had an interesting day thus far and last night was pretty fun, too. Last night, I got to spend my first night working on Console (actually just watching) for the International Space Station (ISS). Most of what was going on was relatively boring...just watching to make sure that things don't go wrong. But there were parts to the night that were pretty cool. During the course of the 8 hour shift, the guy that I was shadowing made 6 or 7 software updates to the ISS to make certain things happen. Kinda cool to know that simple presses of buttons down here on Earth can make such major changes to something nearly 200 miles above us. I think that the coolest part of the day was right before I left, when they woke up the astronauts on the Shuttle (Discovery). Apparently, there was a message for the astronaut from the European Space Agency from his family. And I got ro hear him talk live on the communication channels. :)

Today, however, has been slightly less fun. I spent nearly 90 minutes at the store trying to remedy the delivery issue that I have. (By the way, I am trying to keep it anonomous because this is a very unusual problem for this store and I don't want to influence peoples' decisions to shop at this store.) In the end, I have a new delivery scheduled for this Saturday, I managed to get a small discount on the item purchased, and I am working on getting another $50 for the mess that they have put me through. I should know more shortly. Still no news on my kitchen table or desk. However, I am going to be calling the table store shortly to see what is going on.

That is about all for now. I will talk to you all tomorrow, most likely.

2006-07-05T00:04:00.000-05:00

So I made it through my first holiday in Texas. It actually wasn't that bad. Jason and I joined Eric, his wife, Colin, and Henry went to see the Houston Dynamo soccer game. Apparently this group of people tends to talk about tailgating prior to events and it normally fizzles. Well...they invited two Wisconsinites, and two Badgers at that, to come with. I get the feeling that we will be helping with their tailgating efforts for quite a while. Well, the Dynamo tied the game and as we were getting ready to watch the fireworks it started to rain. On the way home, we managed to catch a few different towns and their shows. It was pretty cool to watch. Other than that, there hasn't been too much going on. Oh yeah, apparently I have a sign on my head that says "Jerk me around." I had some stuff that was supposed to be delivered on Sunday because one part was backordered until then, and another part was backordered until June 26. So Sunday rolls around and no one calls me to confirm delivery time. Then when the delivery people show up, they tell me that something in missing. Not a huge deal, but annoying. So today I get a call from the people to tell me that the delivery is supposed to take place tomorrow between 2 and 4. I ask to talk to a manager to see if there is anything that they can do for me since they failed to deliver. Only as I am talking with the manager, she tells me that my piece isn't in and most likely has been canceled. She says that it looks as though the item has been canceled for several months. At this point, my question becomes one borne of incredulity. How is it possible that I ordered something less than a month ago (June 10) that has been canceled for several months? She tells me that she will check on things and call me back later to let me know what is going to happen. I decide to start calling people to figure out exactly what is going on. Basically, I get told that the woman is crazy because each store that I talked to had several units in their stores. Additionally, they tell me that there is nothing that they can do unless my part doesn't show up tomorrow. Fine, that makes sense. Only problem is that I get a phone call around 430 from the "crazy" woman. She tells me that she is right, my piece never showed up and most likely never will. So now I get to wait and see if she is just out of touch with reality and my piece is going to show up tomorrow, or if I have to go in and talk to a manager at the store and tell them that since I have been promised delivery twice and both times have failed due to not having the piece in stock (keeping in mind that the order was placed on June 10) that I am getting the piece for free and perhaps they will pay me for the trouble they have put me through. Well, I am done venting for now. Hopefully after my shift tomorrow I will have something more interesting to tell you. I get to sit on console tomorrow and see what is happening with the station and shuttle.

2006-07-01T15:31:00.000-05:00

I am having difficulty getting my photos set up, so you should be able to click this link and see any of the pictures that I have posted on Facebook even if you aren't on Facebook.

http://wisc.facebook.com/photos.php?id=8603340&l=e84ea

2006-07-01T13:48:00.000-05:00

Hey Guys!
So I ended up going out last night with a large number of people from my group (ODIN) for the Birthday of my mentor. He turned 26, and is probably in the middle age bracket for my group. Which is truly amazing, because that means I have a very young group of people to work with. Either way, we went to a bar called Boondoggles to have a few drinks while we waited for everyone to show up. It ended up being Eric and his wife Jennifer, Glen and his girlfriend, Colin and his new Fiancee Rachel, Jason (the other new guy from Madison), Mary and her boyfriend (I think), Henry (a Co-op), Jude (Colin's roommate for now), and myself. After a few beers, we went out to Kemah, which is a kind of lakeshore tourist trap. We had a nice dinner there and got to watch fireworks while we ate. Unfortunately, the waitress that was serving us was not among the most competent of people. Our dinner ended up being about 3 or 4 hours long for a single course meal. On the plus side, the food was very good.
Other than that, there really isn't too much to tell...I have been reading books nonstop for the last week. I have made numerous trips to the HR building to finalize my inprocessing. I think that they may have finally gotten my electronic information completed to the point where I can log on to the NASA systems. And I had to spend several hours on Tuesday filling out yet another Security Background Check Form. That was a thrill.

Well, that is all for now. I am going to watch the Launch of STS-121, and then perhaps hang out with Jon if he comes down from Austin.

2006-06-30T16:19:00.000-05:00

So I decided to try this whole blogging thing out. I thought that perhaps I could let you guys know what is going on, the fun things that I am doing, and share my pictures with you all online. This is all for now, as I am meeting people in about a half an hour to celebrate a coworker's Birthday.