More tales from Wisconsin

Things we did:
Decorate the trees on Black Friday
Look at funky Christmas trees at Menards
Watched the cute movie Stranger than Fiction
Tried to make butter mints...
Walked the meadow trail in the neighborhood
Saw the "Dead Animal" store
Ate dinner @ Frank's (mmmm!)
Had Christmas tree trimming (pt 1).

Want more? See the pictures.

Thanksgiving in Wisconsin!

We've been having fun in the not-so-snowy north at Alice and Tom's house. Jen came up here over Veteran's Day, but I haven't been up here since before our wedding. Ouch! New features include outdoor accent lighting for the house (ooohh, ahhhh!).

We came into MKE on Wednesday night via Midwest Express. Grandma and Grandpa had already arrived a few days earlier and were at the house when we arrived. Jen and I are stying downstairs to let Grandma and Grandpa avoid climbing the stairs all the time.

On Thanksgiving day Tom's dad, brother, and cousin all came over for dinner. We'd been working all morning on the turkey, etc, and had a table full of food. I ate until I was about to explode [ref: Monty Python's "The Meaning of Life"]. The stuffing was a special kind that had cranberries in it. Tom and Alice had gone to see the cranberry bog a few weeks earlier so we had some great cranberry food :-)

After almost erupting, I ate desert. WE had cheesecaks, pecan pie and apple pie, plus numerous cookies and ice cream. After an hours-long food-induced coma in front of the fireplace, I asked Jen to shoot me if I ever tried to eat that much again. I've been losing a little bit of weight (like 5 lbs; due to my stomach shrinking in Europe and my increased activity being at the house all day), but I will be busting my belt if I eat like that more than once a year.

I missed seeing my family up in GA, but I got several nice phone calls to let us know we were remembered. My mom and dad left Thanksgiving dinner and jumped in the car to head to FL for some repainting at the Port Orange house. My brother Robbie and his girl friend Lindsey both work at Best Buy and will not be seen again until some time in January. (Seriously. If they take a day off, they're fired!).

All told, we had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We are thankful to be able to travel about to see our extended families and spend holidays with people we love. These past few years have been whirlwinds of change and motion, but we always end up where we are supposed to be. I cannot wish for a better life than the one I have. We are truly blessed.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. Thank you for the difference you make in our lives and in the world. You are noticed, counted, and appreciated.

Student Space Conference

The local SEDS chapter hosted the annual Space Vision conference at UCF last weekend. The variety and quality of students was amazing. I am glad we have such passionate and diverse people rising up to lead the space industry! I was privileged to be invited as a speaker amidst such space current industry leaders as:

• Peter Diamandis (X PRIZE, ZERO-G, ISU, SEDS, etc)
  
• Rick Tumlinson (Space Frontier Foundation, etc.)
  
• Bob Richards (Optech, SEDS, Space Gen, ISU, etc.)
  
• George Whitesides (Executive Director, National Space Society)
  
• Loretta Hidalgo Whitesides (President, Space Generation Foundation)
  
• Mark Craig (President, American Aeronautical Society)
• Jim Muncy (Founder, PoliSpace)

Sky Fire Lab was also privileged to provide the design for the conference t-shirts. Thanks, guys! See you next year at MIT!

It's a Brand-You World

I found an article in Time about personal branding services. This is where someone interviews you and then tells you how to make yourself look & sound better on a resume or online personal ad.

What struck me was that I already do this for free! At the space conferences and events Jen and I regularly attend, I always gravitate toward the students. They are a great source of inspiration as well as an indicator of how well the space industry is connecting with youth today. They are also a fun challenge :-)

Typically when I meet someone at a conference, I immediately start to pick past all the standard answers to get to the good, meaty stuff. Students are ripe for this process. It usually only takes a few minutes for them to get past what they are doing now and start discussing the type of things they want to do (ex: "I am working on a degree" to "I am interested in developing new propulsion systems for long-duration space missions"). My goal is always to understand what they want so I can connect them better with each other and industry insiders. But seeing them leave with a clearer understanding to their core desires and strengths is often more useful to them.

At the SEDS conference where I spoke last weekend, my main focus was on finding your "source": the thing that really drives you and says why you're doing all the other stuff. Be it a quest for knowledge, concern for human survival, or the joy of sharing discovery with others, your core values and ideals are very powerful tools. Too often I see students explaining that they are getting a degree without ever saying why.

Try it yourself: ask someone who they are and what they're up to in life. Usually I get a response like: "I work as a manager." Great, now I know your job title but I don't know you or what lights you up on the inside. What's so bad about saying "I'm working to serve the needs of the community by being a great parent, a volunteer, and managing a department at a local company."? For me, that makes a huge difference in the way I listen to the person for the rest of the conversation.

I think it is really neat to see someone else offering this service to the general public. Knowing that I have one more marketable talent in my bag of tricks is nice too. And if you ever hear me answer with a crap reply, please call me on it! Don't let me get by without branding myself :-)

X PRIZE Cup Recap

Oct 18-22 Jen and I were in Las Cruces, New Mexico, for the 2006 X PRIZE Cup. This is the second year for the event, and the first time they have done a Lunar Lander Challenge or hosted the Space Elevator Games. The other spectacles included amateur rocket launches, rocket-powered bikes, cool spaceship mockups, a jetpack (think James Bond), and a vertical wind tunnel for virtual skydiving. We were at the event promoting Sky Fire Lab and showing off some of our newest shirt designs.

I posted some pictures from the X PRIZE Cup here.

Due to some horrible, horrible customer service screw-ups by our t-shirt vendor in El Paso, I learned a LOT about silk screening during the trip. Here's the story:
We thought we'd save some time and money by getting a local company to do the printing job (instead of going with our previous vendors and shipping the merchandise). I sent in our order a week in advance to ensure time for shirt delivery and printing. What happened was that the shirts were ordered late, got delayed, and ultimately ended up being either the wrong color or completely missing. As if this was not frustrating enough, some of the shirts that did arrive were ruined by bad printing (wrong colors used, wrong side printed--you name it, we had it).

My partner, Karen, was a trooper and worked with the apathetic graphic arts guy to fix numerous errors in the complex "artwork-onto-t-shirt" process. We both stayed up all night before the show working with the production crew to get shirts done that were already 2 days late. We ended up with about one third of our intended supply of shirts/colors/sizes missing--including most of the kid's sizes and all of the girl-cut shirts.

All told, we sold about 100 shirts and made some great business contacts despite our bad location (inside an unmarked exhibition tent), numerous other t-shirt vendors, and our production woes. It was definitely a great learning experience! I am already applying some of the lessons learned to our next job making shirts for the SEDS conference.

Other things happening:

• Sky Fire Lab's online store is opening this week
• speaking at the Space Vision 2006 conference in Orlando
• Loretta and George are staying at our house for the conference
• Jen is going to Wisconsin for Veteran's Day
• Mom and Dad will be in Port Orange for the weekend
  

Miracle on Dilbert Street

I know I owe everyone an update from the amazing X PRIZE Cup, but this article is truly amazing--AND TRUE--and will have to do until I get some pictures uploaded to Picasa.

Dilbert writer Scott Adams rewires his brain
to overcome a rare medical condition

Bullfight

Here is a picture from the bullfight in Spain. It was interesting, but very bloody. I understand why there is a large movement to stop the fights. They kill 6 bulls in 3 hours. The part shown here, with just the matador and the bull, is the most interesting and well-matched. Everything is downhill from here.

I'm glad I saw a bullfight, but I have no intentions of ever going back. Click here for more pictures.

Home again, home again...

Well, we must have been busy these last few weeks! I can't beleive there haven't been any posts. Sorry about that...

The Space Generation Congress went well, as did the International Astronautical Congress. It was a LOT of hard work, but with an amazing staff anything is possible. Pictures are starting to appear here and will be expanding as people have time to upload (like me!).

Jen and Jack came to get me from the airport on Monday night. I was SO HAPPY to see both of them! My luggage was lost--but that was expected. Here's the story of my trip home:

7am in Valencia. Karin is knocking at my door, asking if I am up and getting ready. I am not. I fell asleep before packing! YIKES! An hour and a half later, I am packed (I think) and heading out the door. There are boxes and posters and trash and stuff still all over the hostel, but I gotta go! Feeling the heft of my bags, I reach in and pull out a bottle of wine--a gift for one of the front desk staff (Spyro & Alex--don't fight! There's enough wine for both of you.) Into the cab and onto the airport... I get up to the counter and toss up bag #1: 20 kg (44lbs). Tagged and gone. Second bag: 30 kg (66labs!). Tagged and gone... no overweight fee!

10:10am in Valencia. Plane takes off, I am OUT like a light.

11:25am The plane lands in Madrid. I get out and look at the departures board for my flight to Chicago. The board reads "Chicago - 12:05 - Gate U65 - FINAL BOARDING". I run to the tram and glance at the extimated time sign: "U gates, 25 minutes". Not good. I continue to run from the tram through the airport.

11:50am I am rushed onto the plane by Iberia customer service staff. I made the plane! But if I just made it... I don't think about my luggage. I am going home. I don't need it! So I sit next to Mike, a nice business man from Arkansas, and enjoy the trip. All 9 hours. Food is good (chicken & rice w/peas) and I get some sleep. Movies are the best I've seen on a flight in a while: the Devil Wears Prada and the Breakup. Both are chick flicks, but good. Mike and I both watch.

9:30pm Valencia time / 3:30pm Eastern time we arrive in Chicago. My bags never come down the conveyor belt, so I am told to go ahead through customs and the bags will meet me in Orlando. (Riiiiight.) My father-in-law Tom is waiting at the airport. He drove all the way from Colgate, WI, to see me! It is nice to see a familiar, family face after a month abroad. We sit and talk about stuff for a few hours at O'Hare and then eat hotdogs. I cannot explain how good that chilidog tasted. Thank you, Tom! After the 5 hour layover, I head to Orlando.

5am Valencia time / 11pm Eastern time. After 19 hours of travel, I am almost home! Jen and Jack meet me at MCO (hooray!) but my luggage does not (boo!). We file the lost baggage claim and go home. I sleep like a ROCK.

And now, 7 days unti lI leave for New Mexico and the X PRIZE Cup! This will be the first big show for Sky Fire Lab since the NSS conference in May. Much to do! And still need to get stuff cleaned up from the trip to Spain.

Anyone know how to get some boxes from Spain back to the US??

Weekend Update: Europe Edition

So, this week has been crazy as the clock ticks down to SGC06. Pictures are going up on the conference blog so the delegates can see what's happening.

In the mean time, Karen and I started SpaceCluture.org to bring the concepts and ideas we have been discussing out into the public. Our intent is to have a forum where we can discuss the interaction and impact of space on society and society on space. So far we've got the blog up and running, but soon we plan to integrate podcasts, interviews, and guest writers. Know someone that should write? Got an article we should post? Please let us know! We intend to have good momentum and start podcasting from the X PRIZE Cup in October.

Things I found this week:

• An online barf bag collection
• A competition for Vigrin Atlantic barf bags
• The face on Mars is NOT REAL. So says ESA.

Here is a random collection of Valencia pictures. This is a really pretty city!

Life at the NEST - from the SGC2006 blog

Here is quick look at life here in Valencia.

First, my last room at the Red Nest Hostle was set up for 4 people. Everything in the room was yellow! Most of the rooms have a special color or theme to them. My current room houses 6 people and is all done in blue.

I have been eating in the kitchen several nights in a row. The kitchen is located on the same floor as the computer terminals. There are baskets for each room to keep food and three refridgerators for storing cold things. There are two micorwaves, two sets of stovetop ranges for cooking, and all of the plates, pans, and utensils you need! The Local Team will be using the kitchen to make some local foods for the Welcome Reception on Wednesday night. It will be delicious!

A few nights ago I washed clothes. There is one washer and one dryer available--both are on the roof! This makes it easy to dry your things on a nearby clothes line instead of in the dryer. Each machine costs 2 euros per load. You must by the special tokens at the front desk. Be sure you do not start too late! The roof and lounge both close at 11:45 pm each night.

While you are on the roof, you can relax in a chair with some of the other delegates and discuss the furture of space exploration!

Location: Valencia, SPAIN

Greetings from Valencia!
I arrived here on Wednesday, one day later than intended. A missed connection in Miami (thanks AA and Iberia!) left me stranded for 24 hours with only the clothes on my back. Jen drove the 3.5 hours down to Miami to save me with fresh clothes and a cell phone charger. Jen is my hero!!

I've been working non-stop on the Space Generation Congress since I arrived. I must have been tired because I slept for about 6 hours last night, woke up and chatted with a delegate online, and then slept for another 8 hours! Oh, and the room I stayed in has our exact same Ikea light--wierd, except the whole place seems to be furished by Ikea.

I think I'll go upstairs and make some food in the kitchen here at the Red Nest Hostel. Check out the webcam to see if you can spot me cooking or eating!

More pictures and stories from Spain will be posted on the SGC 2006 Blog.

Arriving in Valencia - from the SGC2006 blog

Arriving from the airport, I took the Aero-Bus to the train station and then the Metro. You can also walk to the hostel, but I wanted to learn about the Metro. The Delegate Information Pack describes walking to the hostel--a faster and cheaper alternative!

The picture on the left is the bridge over the Almeda metro stop near the hostel. Nice! The bridge and station were both designed by the same architect that designed the CAC.

The metro station is under the bridge with exits on both sides. From the top of the bridge you can see the Palace of Arts at the CAC. We will be using this metro stop to go to and from our SGC venue, UPV.

As you walk over the bridge, you will see this arch and pass by it on the right. Continue through the kids park and folow the signs for "<-- c/La Paz".
You'll see the Red Nest Hostel banners flying above the left side of the street.

You're home!

This and That

Last weekend we flew back to CA for George and Loretta's wedding. We stayed with all the Space Gen folks in a "cabin" on Moon Mountain. This is the view that we saw on the mile long trek up the mountain to get to the cabin.The wedding was great. We "missed" our flight on Monday morning so that we would have a few more hours to stay in Sonoma Valley and see the sights. And, boy, did we. I really wanted to buy this giant rusted llama for Mom.
Then this weekend, we had a yard sale. We made a decent amount of money and got rid of lots of stuff. We learned that you can put the harness and leash on Jack, and he won't run away. You don't even need to tie the leash to anything. He just acts like he has a giant weight on his shoulders.
Atlantis launched during our yard sale. There was a nice rush of customers afterwards. This is the view from our driveway.
Lastly, we have a really cool flower blooming in the backyard. It's very prehistoric-looking.

Nose + Job

Nose Update: The doc yanked the tubes out of my nose Monday morning and ever since I have had the most amazing experience of breathing. I cannot remember ever breathing so clear and easy. I'm not taking Claritin, not sniffing Afrin, not sticking on nose strips--nothing--and yet I have more air circulating through my body than ever before in my life. To be honest, it's a bit like when I got glasses: I had no idea what I was missing. I understand why people run. I see how it could be fun to exercise. I probably wouldn't want do die afterwards or anything!

If you have ever been given the option of getting your deviated septum fixed, I recommend it wholeheartedly. I feel great!

If you're a bit hesistant because of my former discomfort, take note: I think it was my own fault. See, I was not breathing well (as I was told would happen) with the tubes in my nose so I thought I'd use a tried-and-true remedy: Breathe Right Nasal Strips. I placed the strips high on my nose to get "above the tubes" [note: the tubes are about 2" long so there is no way I was getting above them]. It hurt after a short while so I took the strips off and went to bed. That's when all of the drama started. Apparently I peeled up the skin and let all kinds of havoc loose in my nose.

Once I realized this, I felt really dumb. The doc thought I was a little wacko too. But I don't really care now, cause I can breathe :-)

* note how I am carefully avoiding the interesting yet gross story about taking the 2" tubes out of my nose. You're welcome.

Job Update: This was the last day for FSRI. We shut our doors to make way for the new Space Florida organization. I guess t's a good thing they hired a president on Wednesday. He had 48 hours to gather up all the knowledge he needs about space and Florida (he has no experience with either one) before shutting down the exisitng organizations and firing everyone. Well, I guess if you're paid $178,000 your first year, they expect you to be able to learn fast. His 30% performance bonus would well exceed my salary and I'd had several years of experience before I came on board!

I enjoyed the 9 months I was able to spend with the team and I appreciate all of the experience and advice they gave me. It was a dream job like no other working with an all-star cast of dedicated and brialliant people. Many of them are staying around and taking new jobs at ERAU or FL Tech. If you're looking for someone that is talented, dedicated, and "good people", look no further than the former FSRI staff list.

As of now, I am officially self-employed full-time! I'll be going to Spain to manage the Space Generation Congress on-site during September and then going out to New Mexico for the X PRIZE Cup in October. Add on the SEDS Space Vision Conference in November and a couple of conferences in December and I've got a busy schedule! Now I don't intend to kill myself trying to make $178,000/yr, but I am going to make a living. I don't know what that looks like just yet, but that's part of the fun!

Stay tuned! There's always more...

Tim's Nose Job

Well, technically it was a "septoplasty" to repair my deviated septum. But it happened to my nose and has altered its appearance, so I feel like it's a nose job.

Oh, did I mention that it HURTS?!?! Apparently my body does not like it when pieces inside my nose are sliced, diced, and sewn back together. I am swollen, bruised, and overall in a lot of pain.

Things I've learned:

1. Nose jobs hurt.
2. Having your nose "fixed" means you can't breath out of it for a while.
3. Pain killers are not all bad...
4. "Outpatient surgery" does not mean you should go back to work the next day.

More on the story as it develops...

Here, There, and Everywhere

WOW. July and August were both busy months! It seemed like everytime I sat down to write, I had too much to talk about! Jen hit all the highlights, but I wanted to throw my 2-cents in as well.

• Flew in ZERO-G with the owner of Pocari Sweat, a sports drink popular in Japan. Both Katie Collier (my SLSTP intern) and Keithe Bagette (the ZERO-G summer intern) got to experience weightlessness!
• Kaare's friend Mike and his fiance came down from DC and stopped by KSC to see me.
• Jen's brother Dave stayed with us for about 2 weeks.
• I gave a talk to the NASA interns about "launching your career in the space industry" (and it ROCKED).
• Went to a cool FSRI staff pool party at Sam Durrance's house (nice place, great people).
• Executed the first-ever parabolic research flights to operate from KSC (where tons of people got to fly and mom got her second flight!)
  
• Flew ZERO-G flights in San Diego and San Jose, CA.
• Finally got to see the Mansion in Silicon Valley where Jen was staying (NICE!).
  
• Attended Jen's awesome Next Generation Exploration Conference at Ames.

I'll put up some neat pics and movies of mom in zero gravity soon. If you want them sooner, let me know! (Same goes for pics from California--it was a wild trip!)

What a Relief!!

It's over. It was a success. Now I can breath again.
It was an awesome week. The conference went wonderfully. It was powerful to see all those people together in one room.

One of my thoughts on Friday was, I couldn't get an astronaut to come speak at the conference, but that's okay because every single one of these people at the conference is going to become an astronaut. We (civilization) are going into space. And the energy and the passion that I saw over those 3 days is what is going to get us there.

I am proud to say that we made it onto NASA Watch. You can read the comments of some of the participants here.

Now I've got to get to work. We have to print the proceedings!

Fun in "The City"

Susie drove up from Long Beach to spend the weekend with me this weekend. We had a great time. Friday night, we went to Mimi's Cafe and then to see Scoop. I didn't know what to expect, but it was a great movie. I really recommend it. How can you beat Woody Allen driving a Smart Car, a guy jumping off a boat into the River Styx to come back from the dead, and Hugh Jackman without his Wolverine sideburns?!
Saturday we headed out early, first to Oakland to the USS Hornet museum. The Hornet is an aircraft carrier, built in 1943 and decommissioned in 1970. It was the ship that picked up Apollos 11 & 12 after they landed in the Pacific ocean. I got "volunteered" to sit at one of the ship's guns and spin the manual controls to sight down the enemy. We also went on the engine room tour. I wouldn't want that job!
From Oakland we headed to San Francisco, The City, via the Bay Bridge. Lots of traffic, but we made it eventually. We shopped at Pier 39 and Fisherman's Wharf. Then headed over to the Cable Car turn around. We had to wait in line for a while to make it onto a cable car, but it was worth it. We rode all the way across the city. Our cable car almost t-boned a pick-up truck and decapitated a lady in an opposite going cable car (they pass very close to each other). But in the end, no one was injured and we made it to the swanky shopping district. Don't worry, Tim, I only spent $15 there.
We grabbed another cable car back across town and had dinner in an Irish Pub before heading home. It was certainly a better experience than my last one in San Francisco--I still had my purse at the end (because I left it at home). Susie and I had a great time. The City has redeemed itself in my eyes. And there's still so much I want to do there--go to Alcatraz, ride a bike across the Golden Gate bridge, take a horse buggy ride....

NGEC Excitement

So my stress about this conference suddenly turned into excitement. It's going to be so cool!
Josep from Valencia, Spain, on Tim's SGC team, just told me this will be his first trip to the US. And I got so excited for him. He showed Tim and me around Valencia, now we get to host him in his first US experience.
And so many of our other friends will be there (plus friends-to-be that we haven't met yet). Not to mention how great the discussions will be during the conference and what awesome things will be created. I can't wait!

Flying with Buzz

Here's our picture from Sunday, indoor skydiving with Buzz Aldrin. Live long & prosper!