News & Events

Two posts in two days--woo! Yesterday the FSRI Board of Directors gave the final vote to dissolve the company on August 31 in accordance with the direction of the FL legislature. We're officially done! No more job as of Sept 1...I'd better do something like this:

The Sky Fire Lab online store is now open!

We are proud to announce the availability of our first three designs in the Explorer series of shirts. Karen and I will be refining our designs and offerings over the next few months as we grow Sky Fire Lab into an interplanetary brand.

Also, I am proud to announce that I am now a published author--sort of. I was one of 94 experts asked to respond to the questions including: Buzz Aldrin, Robert Bigelow, Sir Richard Branson, Sir Arthur C. Clarke, US Sec. of Transportation Norman Mineta, and more! I co-authored the answers to questions on spaceflight training with Loretta Hidalgo. I am proud to be part of an education project with such an amazing cross-section of the space industry.

The book is published by Collector's Guide Publishing as "Kids to Space: A Space Traveler's Guide" by Lonnie Schorer.

Double Weekend Update

Last weekend I went and flew as Flight Director one of three ZERO-G flights from the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The first two were full of teachers as the initial flights in the "Northrop Grumman Weightless Flights of Discovery" program. Over the next few months, hundreds of educators will have the opportunity to fly small experiments to show their students the difference between mass and weight. [HINT: it has something to do with gravity!]

Jen did not participate (she'd been fired on June 15). She was scheduled to be a coach, but was instead asked to come work a 16-hour day on the ground just like she did as a full-time employee. She declined :-) Instead, she prepared for our cookout! Just over 20 people came over to the house and hung out until 2am! We had a great time and enjoyed having so many different people come over: we had college students, little kids, ZERO-G folks, and local friends we hadn't seen in a while. Our one common thread: we all love space!

Next weekend STS-121 is scheduled to liftoff on Saturday afternoonat 3:49 pm. Mom and dad plan to come out to Space View Park with me to see the launch. I'll also be handing out Ad Astra magazines for the National Space Society at the park. If you're interested in seeing the launch, this will be a great place to get a direct line-of-site view to the pad. We'll be arriving no later than 2pm to be sure we have a place to stand. See you on Saturday!

Adventures in San Francisco

Thanks for the message, Tim. I'm glad I didn' t have to paint!

Shannon flew in from Phoenix to send the weekend with me at the mansion. I wish I had a camera so I could share this great house with you, but you'll just have to take my word for it.
Shannon & I spent the whole day in San Francisco on Saturday. We had an awesome time--for the most part.
We went to the aquarium and saw starfish eating anchoives, and we got to pet a sea cucumber--very squishy.
We saw the sea lions lounging on the pier.
We had fun shopping and found some funky new earrings.
We took a bay cruise under the Golden Gate bridge and around Alcatraz.
We had a seafood dinner. Shannon had fried oysters and I had a Dungeneer crab. (I think that's how you spell it. )

Shannon was told by a street psychic that we passed that "great things are coming your way." We should have known then everything was going to go wrong.
We got back to the car, and I noticed that one of the tires was flat. I opened the trunk to start changing the tire and our purses weren't there. Someone had broken the driver's door lock and opened the trunk.
We got a police officer to come and file a report, and we got the spare tire put on. But we had to drive the 40 miles back to Cupertino at 50 miles an hour. Ugh :-P
Everything is okay though. My credit cards are cut off and both Shannon's and my bank accounts aren't showing any unknown usage. I guess they were happy with the gift cards and $2.32 in change that we had in our purses.
Someday we'll look back at this and laugh. But until then, we're never going to San Francisco again!

Redecorating without Jen

While Jen was off having fun in San Franciso with Shannon, Robert and Kirk helped me repaint the living room. Its now nice cool shade of blue. With three of us on the job (and 90% of the taping already done by Jen) we got done in just a few hours. Not bad for a big room!

We didn't want Jen to feel left out of the fun, so we did sent her a little message during the painting...
[Dork note: It was cool to be able to take the picture with my Treo and email it directly to Jen!]

I am surprised by how little paint ended up on carpet/furniture/etc. Robert and Kirk are good! I literally was covered from head to toe: I had paint in my hair and stepped in the roller tray at one point. Although I like painting, I am not sure it is one of my strongest talents.

We also washed cars and then went to see Nacho Libre starring Jack Black. It was a wierd movie, but funny with lots of memorable one-liners and dialogue clips. If you liked Napoleaon Dinamite, you will probably like the film. The same director did both.

And that is your weekend update!

Pink slips, restructuring, and a new phone!

This is so big, I'll blog it myself! I got my official Layoff Notification letter from FSRI today. WOW! This is my second time being "let go" due to corporate changes, but the first time that the whole office has gone with me. The bill dissolving the organization has passed in the FL legislature and been signed by Gov. Bush. This means no more FSRI after August 31! Sad, we've done great stuff and I've had lots of fun the short time I've been here. On the up side, we're getting a new "Space Florida" state agency that should have more clout, more resources, and less confusion. Lots of emphasis on the "should".

The other big deal is that I got a Treo! Yes, I have joined the ranks of the uber-geeks that can check email from their phones. And write back. With formatting and color. It is great! It sychronizes with my Outlook calendar and contacts so that I always have the information I need at my fingertips. [For those other geeks out there, it is the 700p from Sprint using the EVDO network. F A S T.] It's all to support my new company, Sky Fire Lab, as we work to get operational. This is one step in the direction of financial independance and personal freedom. Plus I can watch cartoons on the toilet.

More news? Well, OK! How's this: as of June 15 Jen will no longer be a full-time ZERO-G employee! They are restructuring the positions as they add new people and her department is being absorbed by new staff. Not the worst news--she was looking for a new job--but not great news as she doesn't have a new job. Or does she...?

If you call Jen, be sure you realize she's on Pacific time for the next month while she works at NASA Ames Research Center in San Jose, CA. She's been contracted to organize the NASA Youth Exploration Strategy Workshop on July 12-14. The plan is to capture the ideas and creativity of youth in the US to help guide NASA as they map out the execution of the Vision for Space Exploration. It's an ambitious project with a short timeline--and Jen is just the person to make it happen!

GO JEN, GO!

Luke & Katie's Wedding

We had a great time at Luke & Katie's wedding. It was beautiful! We were sad thinking there were no more weddings that we knew about lined up in the coming months--until we remembered that George & Loretta are getting married in September. Woo-hoo! And they'll probably put us to work. We realized that Joe & Christine's wedding was the only one that we've been to that we didn't have a part to play, other than attendee. We enjoy being a part of the action!
So we got to Athens just in time for the rehearsal Saturday morning. The rehearsal lunch was at an Italian restaurant in "downtown" Athens. Here are the lovely bride and groom. After lunch we headed to the pool party at Adam's apartment building. It was fun even though we got kicked out of the pool and I got thrown down the stairs. Don't worry, the carpet burns came out by the next day. :-)

The wedding was on Sunday afternoon. The reception was fun. I got to hang out with Robyn and meet some more of their high school buddies. Overall, a great weekend!