Wednesday, February 22, 2006

"Hola" from Valencia

Just a quick post before Tim & I head to dinner with the IAC Valencia organizing committee. We arrived safely today in Valencia, Spain. We got checked into the correct hotel after the second try. We met up with our group at the museum Ciudad de las Artes y Las Ciencias--what a gorgeous place. The IAC will be held there in October.
The drivers here are scarier than in Miami. But otherwise, it's a great city. We hope to see more of it over the next few days.

Thursday, February 16, 2006

Neighbor Dan to the Rescue

Jack is never allowed outside unsupervised again!
Yesterday evening I went outside to look for Jack. It had been a while since I had seen him. I heard mewing. I got a flashlight and pointed it towards the mewing--in the boughs of our yard's biggest tree. Sure enough, it was Jack. He had climbed straight up the truck of the tree and couldn't get down. In the picture, Jack is the white spot on the branch to the right.


The only ladder we have is not tall enough to reach where he was, so Tim got up on the roof. One of the branches reaches out over the roof. But then the trick was to get Jack to climb out on that specific branch. Jack wasn't going for that.
Meanwhile, our neighbor Dan had come out to see what the ruckus was about. He happened to have a ladder that would reach the crook of the tree, so he leaned it right up there and grabbed the Jack-a-roo. Woo-hoo! Thanks again Neighbor Dan for saving the day!

Monday, February 13, 2006

What a Weekend!

We had a fantastic weekend! Jim and Scarlett arrived Friday evening. Tim was still not back from DC, but we had a great dinner at El Leoncito. After dinner Jim helped me put up our glass shelves. Tim arrived late in the evening.
The next morning we couldn't sleep in--there was too much to do to get ready for the housewarming party. We debued our chocolate fountain! It was a hit. Though it was a lot of work to cut all the fruit for it.

Tom & Amy Fulmer, our mortage guy and his wife, brought BBQ from Sonny's. We had a good crowd for our first party at the new house. Shannon even came from DC!!

Jack had a great time, too. First he got to play with Anna--a person the same size as him! He didn't even wince when she pulled at his ears. Then Jack got to play in the yard. Jim taught him how to climb trees. But he figured out how to climb down, so it's okay.


Then Sunday, we took Shannon to the Super Flea in Melbourne. It's actually smaller than the Daytona flea market, but there was live entertainment--cloggers! You can't beat that. We had dinner at Carabbas in Altamonte Springs with Maryann & JT and Robert.

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

Liftoff


We got up early again today. Tim headed to DC for an FAA Commercial Space Transportation conference. I headed out to the SLF again to see the Global Flyer take-off. It was COLD and breezy yet again.
After a long wait, the chase plane took over. It circled for 10-15 minutes before we saw Global Flyer start to roll down the runway. It didn't look like he was going to make it--Fossett was nearing the end of the runway. But he finally pulled up and rose slowly in altitude. The chase plane followed him out over the Atlantic. Very cool!


Photo courtesy of Tim Nuhfer.

Tuesday, February 07, 2006

Scrubbed

The alarm went off at 3:30 this morning. Tim, I, and Tim-ber! met the buses at the KSC Visitor's Center at 4:45 to go out to the Shuttle Landing Facility to see the take-off of the Global Flyer. We were driven out to the mid-field site where the control tower is. It was cold and windy, but we got to see Richard Branson! The take-off was scrubbed at the last minute due to a small fuel leak. We still had fun and maybe we'll do it all again tomorrow.

Wednesday, February 01, 2006

Fireside Chat

Tim has asked that I take over the blogging for awhile since I have more time on my hands. I'm still in the market for a new job. But I'm getting leads almost everyday, so hopefully soon I'll have a real job with benefits. Until then, I'm working from home.
We are settling in here in Titusville. We've been to 2 local NSS meetings and a Young Professionals networking evening. Last week I went to an event held at the Florida Space Authority. Our congressman, Tom Feeney, had the opportunity in December to be in the first delegation from the US to visit China's space center. He showed us some pictures (their assembly building looks just like our VAB). And he told us about their plans for a space station and moon exploration.
Yesterday I took Azriel to the vet for her yearly check-up. Our cats visit the doctor more than we do!
Also, yesterday, we had our first fire in the fireplace!