Weekend Update

We made it through Katrina just fine--our power stayed on the whole time and we didn't get flooded! Unfortunately, sometime over the weekend our automatic cat water clogged up and quit working. I celaned it out, but I think we burned up the motor. Bummer. But I am glad that is the worst thing to happen to us in a hurricane!

The weather was nice on Sunday so we went to see The Brothers Grimm at the fancy Aventura Mall. It was a nice movie, but not nearly as good at The 40 Year Old Virgin. Jen took me to see it last week and it was hilarious! Definately not a kids movie, but absolutely a must-see.

On Saturday I went to the last workday for my Self-Expression and Leadership Program at Landmark Education. The power was off at the building, so we cut it short. at only 8 hours (instead of 12). With the breeze blowing and my shoes off it was quite bearable! It reminded me of summers before we had central air in GA: I just wanted to go jump in the pool!

Tomorrow Jack Little from Aero Decals is coming so I can teach him how to write HTML and edit his company website. Jack does all of the decals for the inside and outside of the ZERO-G aircraft. He is a cool guy and knows everyone. Seriously, it is spooky sometimes. I am going to ask Jack to be a sponsor for the Space Generation Congress in Japan. We have $50K but need another $10K to really put on a good event for the 130+ delegates from around the world. If anyone else is interested in kicking in a few bucks, please let me know!!

Speaking of teaching, I am looking at starting an online MS in Education. It is fun to teach! Plus, I really want to get back into school and finish my Master's degree. This would let me start now and finish up wherever I go! And there are rumblings that we may be moving in the next four months...

Palm Fronds Down!

"THERE ARE PALM FRONDS DOWN!"

(this one is in front of our door)

Don't you just love weather news? We're in the midst of a tropical storm in Florida. Florida. They act like we've never seen rain before! Here we are in the eye of the storm and all they can find to write about are palm fronds on the ground.

Although I do appreciate all of the frantic phone calls, I have not ever been to a hurricane shelter and do not intend to go to one today. We weathered a Category 3 hurricane last year, so this Tropical Storm shouldn't kill us.

Yes , we do have water and food to last us through 'the aftermath' of a coconut rolling down the road (honestly, this was on the news). And we even have an APC backup that will let me stay online when the power goes out :-) See you on the other side of the storm!

Jen's New Title

Jen has officially been recognized for all of her hard work! She is now the "Director of Customer Relations" for Zero Gravity Corporation. Of course, there was no salary increase and we still have no benefits whatsoever, but it's something...

If anyone out there has a systems engineering job--specifically one that involves manned spaceflight--please let us know! This was supposed to be a temporary job and now she handles half of the company. Specifically, she deals with all of the customers, sets up all of the vendors and locations for training, coordinates all of the staff for flight day, and is responsible for all of the merchandise. If she had time to learn how to fly a 727 she could run the company herself. The problem: this isn't her dream nor her passion. As good as she is, she'll always want something more (like, for instance, a decent salary and benefits).

So, seriously, if you have any openings PLEASE let us know!!

Jen's New Car!

Yesterday we went down to Miami and picked up Jen's new car! It is a 2003 Saturn Ion 3. We found it on Craig's List and Jen just had to have it. She talked to the owner and bargained the girl down to less than market value--and less than the girl owed!

Really, Jen did need a new car. Her old '97 Saturn has been having electrical problems for over a year. Recently, it has started to randomly decide not to start! It sat at the mechanic's shop for three days and started every single time. They checked everything out and couldn't find a problem. We drove it home, drove it to a restraunt, and then got a ride home. It refused to start! No clicking sound, no nothing. The running lights and some dashboard lights come on, but nothing else works. We left the car there overnight and when we went back, it started right up! It's a gremlin, a ghost, or something wacky. Whatever it is, we don't want it any more!

This weekend we are going to sell the old one to CarMax... if we can get it to start and take it over there!

Not-so-manic Monday

The weekend was fun and relaxing. Saturday I was a bum most of the day, but I did work on the RFI! On Sunday Jen and I went on a crazy shopping extravaganza and bought new shoes, some clothes, and a new toaster! I like shopping with Jen :-) She bought new pink cords from Old Navy--and they are CUTE!

This morning Jen and I both had dentist appointments. Mine was at 9am. 9am!! And I was only 5 minute late :-D Jen already told them all I like to sleep in so they were all picking on me. I had a good cleaning (only a few stains from the occasional coffee and constant Diet Coke--or new Coke Zero). It still felt like she was ripping off parts of my gums at times. Which, from the bleeding, she may have been doing! I am tasked with finding my old X-rays to save money whe I get my exam next time. Every dollar counts when you are paying out of pocket! I am committed to finding my own health care before the end of the month. The CEO said they would pay half since we don't have a group plan yet. Hooray for minor miracles!

The office was a muted madness as we answered the phone (Marketing is out at a conference all week) and lamented the lack of an intern (our intern Todd had his last day on Friday). Sarah's computer was acting bad so I worked on it for her. Not a terribly hard thing, but extremely time consuming! In the end I bought her a copy of Norton with the company card. Being without virus protection is simply unacceptable to me!

Tomorrow is booking up with calls and a class on starting a business. I can't get anyone from the Small Business Association on the phone, so I'm seeking them out in person! On a side note, I was looking for a business checking account and discovered that Washington Mutual has no minimuns, and no fees whatsoever. Just like the commercials said....only I didn't beleive them. I am thinking of switching banks. Any bad WAMU stories out there?

Down with the Sickness

So, I was sick today and stayed home from work. Nothing big, just felt kinda crappy. Ended up still working all day, but I got to wear my pajamas :-)

Also talked with Loretta about Life, the Universe, and Everything. [Loretta is my Wonder Twin--she helps me unlock my super powers] I figured out that I wanted to be appreciated at work and that was causing me a lot of frustration. I am cleaning up with the CEO and creating a powerful team to move us forward. AAAahhhhh! Much better! With all that frustration it is no wonder I felt crappy ;-)

Oh, I also neglected to get stuff done today and missed my Landmark SELP class tonight. And now I am blogging instead of writing the response to the NASA RFI that I was supposed to send to Will today... Back to work!!

New addition to the family

Ladies and Gentlemen, I am proud to introduce our newest family member: Jack Bailey! He is a 4 month old kitten from the Broward County Animal Shelter last Friday. He weighs 5 lbs. but is eating so much I expect him to double in size soon!
Azriel took a little time to get used to him, but now they are almost buddies :-) Jack is crazy and runs all over the house chasing the toy mice. He also loves to climb on Azriel's cat tree. He's a cutie!

Speaking at TFAWS

Yesterday I was the keynote speaker at the 2005 Thermal & Fluids Analysis Workshop at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. It was a three and a half hour drive each way, but that gave me lots of time to talk on the phone :-) I haven't ever been a featured speaker at a real conference before--it was fun! And I think I was the most exciting thing to happen that day. Middle-aged guys talking about fluid analysis just doesn't strike me as a hopping party (though I heard they loved the open bar the night before!). I got my first ever speaker award too--a Galileo thermometer with a "TFAWS 2005" plaque on it. It went straight to my desk at work!

While I was in Orlando I also met up with Will Pomerantz of X Prize and SpaceAlumni.com to talk about writing a proposal to have the Space Generation Foundation administer the Quest level prizes for NASA's Centennial Challenges program. We spent several hours going over the details and ended up dividing it up and taking parts home. I only have until tomorrow to get my half finished--yikes! Better get started...

Weekend Update

The weekend was relaxing, but not very productive! We got to enjoy our new cat (tentatively named "Jack"). We got him from the Broward County Animal Control center. He is 4 months old and white with tiger stripes splashed on top of him. I would upload a picture, but we--ok, I --lost the camera last weekend during our visit to the Museum of Science and Discovery.

We did take the duvet (feather comforter) to the dry cleaners on Saturday because Jack peed on it Friday night. And we did find the local tire place, though I decided not to get tires yet.

Oh, and we went to the beach today for a few hours! We layed out under a palm tree on Hollywood Beach and just relaxed.... We often forget that most people would die to live this close to the beach. We never go. I have this story that it is too much of a hassle to get all sunscreened and then take all the stuff and lay out and get sandy and sore and burned (even with the sunscreen). Plus I think the water here is dirty with seaweed(though it is actually clearer then Daytona). I went in the water today and decided I liked the rocks on the bottom and the seaweed wasn't too bad :-)

I feel like a bum because I still have things to do on my "to do" list. I bet if I had put them on the calendar and made time for them they would have gotten done :-P

Next week, here we come!