Auxiliary Umbilicus

Today was one of those very satisfying days. It was also zomg long. The weather was so nice last night I cracked the window to let some of the cool air in. Sometime in the middle of the night I awoke shivering, even under big blankets. The blankets were hot, making me perspire. Then the cool air blowing across the bed froze me. I shut the door and zoned back out. 5:45am arrived too quickly.
 
Ahmed called about 6:20 am, wondering if I needed a ride - I did. I also remembered I'd given him my room number, which relieved my immediate impression that he was psychic or a stalker. He laughingly said he'd be there around 7:10 am. One of his henchmen arrived at 7:20am and we hurtled into town. This guy, also from Nigeria, did not laugh much. But he spoke in a beautiful syllabic language (I assume Nigerian?) that made it difficult for me to distinguish words. It just sounded like a rush of inflected mumbling.
 
Our meetings were held at the Downtown Club, which is situated in the Independence Mall. Directly across the street - the Liberty Bell. Yes, THE liberty bell - which as of this writing I only vaguely remember the significance of. I plan to read more later, or see it tomorrow or Thursday. The meetings went very well. I got to see folks from my company I rarely get to see, notably my direct boss who travels a lot. Props to him too (without sounding too much like a butt kisser) because he really knows his publishing stuff. Where I normally look like a kung fu master of publishing, he's like a Ninja Warrior. I think I learned more from him today than from the client - I'd heard many of these issues before.
 
In any case, after work a cab ride to Olivia's and Jan's hotel where we took a break. Olivia and I went wandering the nearby Ben Franklin area. Then we all met up and talked shop in the bar, had dinner, and then had a planning session for the next day. Somehow it was 10:30pm. I caught a cab back to my hotel.
 
I spent some time reflecting the present in that cab ride. Today everything feels synched up - I had to do an impromptu discussion on XML for about 30 minutes which went very well (aside from the usual "talk louder" chorus). I felt like I understand this process, the issues and concerns, and am ready to do some in depth analysis tomorrow and Thursday. As the cool night went by in the cab ride home, I mused that this is a feeling I want to experience with work most days. Competency, travel to new places, capability of providing service to companies, and of course cab driving hilarity.
 
So I'm exhausted right now having lost an hour yesterday and having been awake and acutely focused most of the day. Here's some pictures of my walk with Olivia, and then I go crash.
 
Photos are of the Peter & Paul church (backside and with dramatic lighting), and front doors (1 of 4). Also, some shots of the fountain in Logan's Circle, which was originally place where people were hanged. I guess they drown them now? I grudgingly permitted Olivia to take a picture of me - avoid me and enjoy the background (including houseless dude), which is downtown with the spire of I think city hall. There's a monument to Colored Civil War veterans, and the Ben Franklin Institute aka museum which is currently showing King Tut's gear and the Tut himself. Olivia and I will likely go see that tomorrow, pending evening meetings.
 
Musing Michael 

So I decided to take in some of the Philly night life. This is a rare thing for me to do - to go traipsing out in a foreign city, especially at night. Don't get me wrong - I'm not a scaredy-cat or anything. I mean, I make fire and cook meat; I drink beer and swear a lot. I drive an economical car and have no craft skills to speak of. It's starting to sound a little false that I'm a little resistant to new things, especially having traveled somewhere around 65,000 miles this year. But, there it is.
 
So, my psychological shortcomings aside, I took a taxi ride 15 minutes into Old City with Ahmed (he's Nigerian, and giggles at everything he says - as if information, any information, is a private joke he finds hilarious). Ahmed gave me his cell phone so I could call him any time I wanted a taxi during my exceedingly humorous visit.
 
Philly is the seat of American Democracy. It's where the Declaration of Independence was signed, where Betsy Ross' house is, where Ben Franklin spent a lot of his time, and where the former capitol of the US was (which I'd forgotten, along with most historical facts I briefly memorized in school). For all this, and, the caveat being it was after dark, the city reminded me largely of San Antonio. It's just a normal city. Ahmed and I giggled our way past a huge oil refinery (which was zomg hilarious), past normal neighborhoods and streetways, and into a downtown that from the air looks like Dallas, but from the ground is much smaller.
 
I was laughingly deposited in Old City where I proceeded to walk around and look at restaurants. As if on cosmic cue, not 30 seconds later, some dude tried to get money from me. What is it about me that screams, "tourist with money"? Fortunately, people who ask for money on the street tend not to have credit card machines. I wandered for several blocks, perusing menus. Compared to Dallas, Philly has a simmering night life. That is, it's warming up, not quite boiling, but there's some pockets of good places amidst "Best Philly Cheese Steak Anywhere!" Not dissing the PCS by any means - I intend to have one before I go. So I stopped at a place called The Continental (http://www.continentalmartinibar.com/) - a restaurant and Martini bar. This place could exist in Dallas, quite well. It was upscale but comfortable, good music, lots of people, loud ambiance in what seemed like a converted diner.
 
The Continental was a Fodor's choice location, and it is well deserved. They had an interesting menu and prompt service. "Aly" provided a martini - "Buzz Aldrin". The geekoid space guy in me couldn't resist. Yes, it was made with Tang. And it was tangy. Too much so. I ordered the BBQ Salmon which was awesome. It was served on top of a bed of corn, peas, and a variety of other farm-like mix and had slivers of red pepper on top. A small tangy sauce complimented. As I started to eat, the Martini hit my mildly jet lagged empty stomach like a solid rocket booster. Liftoff! Dinner was very flavorful - I recommend it for any travelers to Philly. I enjoyed a glass of Frei Brother's chardonnay with the salmon. Dessert - a slightly larger than a shot-sized glass of lemon cheesecake, which was the perfect size. A big cup of coffee helped wash it all down and brought me to... simmering.
 
My eyes were tired at this point - a sure sign to get to the hotel and get to sleep (after writing this epic email). My meetings start at 8:30 tomorrow and I still need to get downtown. And I'm an hour in the future now. This makes me all knowing. I walked out the door of the Continental and despite being potentially giggly myself, I cheated on Ahmed for at that moment a taxi came careening around the corner to my outstretched hand. On the way home, we passed by the Philadelphia Eagles stadium (where the game was still in progress, in favor of Washington 3-0). We also passed by, surprisingly, a huge battleship. Ginormous proportions. Vastly big. There's a shipyard right off the highway. Wow.
 
And now, to bed. Sorry for the email inundation today. Tomorrow will be quieter. Safe daily travels. 

Greetings... from Philadelphia!
 
Not much exciting has happened today - just rode on a plane. Although the plane was pretty much the equivalent of a beat up old Ford. It kept creaking and groaning and swaying. I didn't see any holes in the floorboards, but the wing flaps (elevons?) vibrated alarmingly on descent. Despite take-off time assurances that we'd likely have a clear smooth ride, it was pretty "swimmy". I kept having the sensation we were fishtailing a lot, as if on ice. A couple of good lurches made everyone jump and exclaim in unison, "whoa!"
 
I had this weird moment just as we were about to take off. We were pointed south, and I was on the left side of the plane, looking east. I saw downtown Dallas out the window and saw the building where Dawn works. I had one of those moments where you acutely sense a distance between places and then I wondered if Dawn was looking out the Bank of America building looking toward the runway where I sat (even through Dallas' late summer haze). It was not an ominous portent, but an amusing sense of feeling like I was in a movie. The moment passed, we took off, and my stomach grumbled hungrily as we ascended toward 39,000 feet. I forgot lunch, except for some emergency rations: breakfast bars.
 
For in-flight entertainment, I was all prepared to watch Hunt for Red October on my iPod ("One ping only!"). However, I was lured in by the in-flight preview of Oceans 13. Funny, I've seen this movie twice before - Oceans 11 and Oceans 12. I think on the way home: submarines, vodka, and Russians.
 
Took a courtesy shuttle from the airport to the nearby Embassy Suites where I was informed a huge Harley Davidson convention is going on (hence the booked hotels), and there's a game tonight. The air is very cool and refreshing here (I've opened the outside window of my 2-room suite), and I'm going to take a taxi into Old City and see if I can find a restaurant to dine in. Hotel food sounds tres not bon, right now. Need to stretch the legs from economy class travel.
 
Have a good evening! I may post again later if I find interesting things to chat about. If not - work, work, work tomorrow. Publishing process improvement and value chain alignment. Yay!
 
Michael
 
P.S. As always, reciprocal commentary is welcome.

Greetings travelers!
 
In about 30 minutes I head over to the airport to get on a plane for my work trip to Philadelphia. I'm staying at the airport Sheraton Inn, but my meetings are smack down in the middle of Old City. Click on this link to see the area. You'll note I'm going to be centered in the Independence area of our country. I expect patriotism to ride to the surface in the evenings when work is done. By the time I get home I'll be a flag waving 'merican. Maybe.
 
I've received some suggestions already for places to see, and Thursday after the meetings are over are perfect for museum wandering in particular. I'm interested in the Brandywine which has paintings of one of my inspiring artists from art school days: Andrew Wyeth. He influenced Carl Rice Embrey who was one of my art teachers at the San Antonio Art Institute. Carl used to tell me I had a good eye for framing what I wanted to draw or paint, and his lessons were useful then and still are, when I use that same ability to "frame" solutions to problems at work. Who says XML isn't art?
 
Aside from this, there's several other very famous museums. Fodor's (the official travel guide of Meeshelle Friedmohn*) lists many places to recreate, dine, and wander. I'm looking forward to Philly.
 
More when I land and as the days progress. My meetings are from 9am-4pm EST, and aside from that, you'll see Philly as I see it (sucks for you!)
 
Bon voyage,
Michael
 
P.S. For newcomers, and there's a few, the name Meeshelle Friedmohn is taken from the PA announcement in the airport at Paris. I'd left behind my tickets at the counter and a delicate French woman's voice called me back from security using the heavily accented namesake I've adopted when traveling. See the unabridged travelogue of my prior emails (available free via PDF! Just send me a SASE-mail for a copy). 

At 6.5 seconds the shuttle main engines roared to life, which we could see on the TV screens. Then, at 0 seconds, the solid rocket boosters exploded to life and the shuttle lifted off.

 

About 6 seconds later the crowd higher up the hill started screaming wildly and we looked left. Just between the trees, perfectly centered, Atlantis rode a light as bright as the sun on top of a plume of white smoke and steam and climbed toward the blue sky.

 

I couldn't believe how bright it was -- the TV screens I've always viewed launches from mutes this to a very large degree. It was like staring at a small sun moving steadily upward. About 20 seconds after, as the shuttle rolled and climbed over the trees, a vibration started. You could feel it in your body and in the ground - a subsonic sound that built and then you started to hear this loud crackling. It lasted a long time and built to a loud sound.

 

Somehow two minutes went by and you could see the shuttle come out from behind the cloud as a bright point of light. At 2 minutes it's already entering space so there's not as much smoke, but the SRBs serparated and you could see 3 points of light as they broke away.

 

Mere minutes later - punctuated with lots of pictures and exclamations and all around sheer joy, Atlantis made it to space. We watched most of this on the screen since all you could now see was a very distant point of light - like a star - as she dove over the horizon and into space. The plasma burned around the outside in the final moments before the shuttle and tank separated, and then Atlantis reached orbit with some small maneuvering from the OMS pods and exited the scene from the external tank.

 

Smile permanently etched to my face, we walked up the  hill to get a better look at the smoke plume, which was now distorting into a interesting cloud pattern. This continued over the next 2 hours as we walked around the park, called family to share the good news, and rode the Shuttle Launch Experience again. Awesome, just awesome.

 

Even the 1.5 hour ride home (it takes 70,000+ people a long time to leave the park) couldn't dampen spirits, and finally -- I feel like I achieved the dream of seeing a launch.

 

Next time: I try for VIP seating hahahahaha!!!

The afternoon was very cool - and hot, all at once. The Australian couple told us about the signing event in one of the KSC buildings - 25 astronauts and people from the Appollo and shuttle missions were here, signing books and such. Although I was born 8 days after we landed on the moon, many of these austronauts were unfamiliar to me, except in name. There was Buzz Aldrin, "Jose Jimenas", and many others. However, one man I knew well -- Eugene Krantz. He was one of the flight directors for many missions. He's well known for his "Failure is not an option" saying. He was very nice and friendly. He signed a picture "To Michael - Failure is Not an Option" and let us take pictures with him. What a great guy. He really embodied the NASA spirit of extreme capability, effectiveness, and spirit of our race to the Moon.

 

Once we left that area, we were in the heat of the afternoon and everyone was flagging. Kids were tuckered out and parents were short with them. We all were in waiting pattern. Everything was going green, though -- reports are piped in over the park in large speakers, and of course the video screen in the viewing area.

 

One last thing remained for us, however - Dinner with an Astronaut. We went to a building (air conditioned, thankfully!) and had a good dinner. Our astronaut was Mike Mulane - a shuttle pilot who has a new book (somewhat controversial for its blunt honesty). He was very direct about the shuttle and space program, and answered a lot of questions about space, spaceflight, human exploration, going to Mars, how one uses the toilet in space and other such questions.

 

Finally, we went and parked it for the last hour of waiting in the viewing area. About 20 minutes before launch, another astronaut came on stage and started talking about what was going through the minds of the astronauts currently strapped into the shuttle (this happened while I was shaking Gene Krantz' hand and during dinner). He said the rookies were nervous and the veterans were working checklists and telling jokes.

 

The countdown counted down. I held my breath.

 

We reached 15 minutes out and they did the traditional "Go for launch" ... with no constraints. I realized then that it was very likely I was going to finally see a shuttle lift off.

 

We reached the end of the 9 minute hold, and 8:59 showed up on the countdown clock. They started retracting the white room... then the beanie cap. Then the APUs started up at 5 minutes - a loud whine over the large TV.

 

We were in a viewing area which my internal GPS told me would let the shuttle come up to our left from the TV screen, where there was a line of trees. The APUs were running, the tv was relaying a "whoosh whooshh whoosh" as the tanks cycled through their prelaunch sequences and clouds of steam got larger as oxygen converted from liquid to gas form on the engines.

 

Finally, we got to 31 seconds and the computers took over -- "autosequence start".

 

90 seconds.

 

1 minute... everyone stood up and started cheering - 70,000 + people yelling.

 

30 seconds....

 

 

 

The image on the tv this morning is of the shuttle poised on the pad... the service structure was retracted last night and so the vehicle is exposed for view and one can't help but look at it and realize... it's a good day to fly.

 

This morning, all conditions are currently favorable for a launch and I have a tense excitement as I stumble around getting ready. I'm excited because this time feels different than the prior 3, but I also am reserved because I know this can change on a dime. Nevertheless, Tom and I are meeting for a rejuvinative breakfast at the IHOP that adjoins the hotel in a few minutes. After that, off we go for a full day of fun at the KSC spaceport complex. My next post will either be glee or awwwwww.

 

I'm aware today how fragile our attempts are in going to space, how we are really at the very beginning of this exploration and expansion of the human mind and spirit. Each shuttle launch is a small step at creating a new way toward exploring our universe and understanding our place in it. Each shuttle launch is a historic day; a meaningful event. I am ... in awe!

 

More mundanely than these lofty matters -- but no less fun -- was our enjoyment of the Spurs game last night. We drove back in to Orlando and went to NBA City, a sports bar in one of the Universal metroplex areas. It was a lot of fun and my Spurs shirt got a lot of good-natured razzing from the assembled Cleveland fans. A group from Microsoft was there and we had a fun time exchanging barbs over beers and appetizers. Of course, victory was ours, and we returned to the hotel full of glee and pride.

 

So. Off to get pancackes. Then to go watch a shuttle launch!!

Hello, Orlando!!

 

We arrived safe and sound this morning, about 10:45 local time (that's EST). Our flight was quick and non-eventful and we grabbed our luggage and turned our sights foodward. We stopped and had lunch at a Steak and Shake near the airport and then headed East toward Titusville.

 

We passed a nuclear power plant on the left, outside of town, and started seeing a lot of rain. Wait a minute! That's not rain, it's really big bugs, hitting the windshield like rain! It's late spring and the bug population is high. Fun times ahead.

 

The Days Inn in Titusville is, well, functional. The couple ahead of us - red-faced, ankle-swollen, and tired from a long drive were in dismay that there was only one night available for rent. The place is totally booked up - which is as it should be during launch time. I saw the lesson learned spread across their faces as they decided to try the newer spot across the street. Good luck with that. Our reservation was intact after a confusing discussion with the young Indian woman behind the counter. She asked if my name was Tawanda Franklin. I assured her it was not, using driver license as proof. She was able to find me and we're all sequestered in our rooms (which we had to be let into because the key making machine was not yet working). So we're about to stretch out for a short nap in our rooms and then see about finding the NBA sportsbar in Orlando to go watch the game. Hey, if it's there and you can do it -- do it!

 

We did get past the brief moment of despair today, harkening back to September when we got on the plane and everything was ok and we landed and it was not - shuttle lightning strike and Ernesto on the way. Today: everything is "Go!!" The weather even improved: 20% chance of rain from 30%.

 

Tonight around 10:30pm, NASA will pull the service structure away from the shuttle, so it will be open and in view for all to see. Check out NASA tv if you want to see that. We have NASA TV piped into the local TV.

 

Tomorrow... early entry into KSC ~ 9am-ish to ride the rides, go on the tours and see what's what. If we can get on a tour before they get to far into tanking operations (they begin filling the vehicle with 500,000 pounds of hydrogen and helium fuel around 9:30am), we might be able to see the shuttle on the pad with the service structure "away". The spot we were at last time was less than a mile away, so we had a spectacular view. Understandably, once they start fueling they like to keep people far away. I don't think we'll get to get that close.

 

If all goes well my post after that will be about the shuttle lifting off. Have a great day!! You'll hear about it on TV much sooner than I'll be able to report, but report I will.

It's early, it's quiet out except for the little frogs in our patio garden chirping away. Tom will be here in a couple of minutes. We're headed to the airport to fly on over to Florida. As of right now, shuttle is "good to go" for tomorrow night's 7:38pm EST launch. There's a 30% chance of "violating" weather - meaning the weather is configured such that it violates launch criteria. I'm optimistic.

 

See you when I get there! First order of business... get to the hotel, take a nap, then find the biggest TV around that has the Spurs game on. :)