Fall Preview

I love fall. Fall is probably my favorite time in Houston. Fall brings relief from the blazing heat of Houston summers. Granted, it's still over a month away, but it's coming! Because summer is so hot here, we tend to have a lot of outdoor festivals and activities in the fall. For example, the Ballunar Liftoff Festival (pics here) will be coming to JSC in a couple months. Plus, there's the Texas Renaissance Festival (arguably the largest and best Renfest in the US!) and the Wings Over Houston Air Show at Ellington field (pics here and here). Not to mention, my season tickets to the Houston Ballet start in September. I'll be seeing two performances: Onegin and Classically Modern. In the fall, it's cool enough to ride my bike outside! I've definitely not had enough motivation this summer to ride it.

In a nutshell, that's what I'm looking forward to in the next three months!

NASA Motorcycle Gang!

Three of my friends have recently purchased sport bikes. One has a blue Kawasaki ZX-6R, another has a yellow BMW K1200R, and the third has a black Yamaha R6! Sweet bikes if you ask me!

I finally got to see all 3 together at church on Sunday! My friends and I walked the NASA Motorcycle Gang out to their bikes after the service ended. They all mounted and zipped out of the parking lot. It was exciting to see them all together for the first time! Later that afternoon, a bunch of friends got together for home-made fajitas. Since it was such a gorgeous day, all three bikers ended up riding over there. I rode over on the BMW! Lunch was delicious, but the party ended abruptly when we noticed thick, black rainclouds overhead! The bikers needed to get out of there quickly... back to Clear Lake! The storm had caught everyone by surprise.

Oh, what a thrill! Yamaha in front, Kawasaki behind, and I was on the BMW - bringing up the rear! Our 4-wheeled friends were all standing in the drive-way as we screamed down the street. For one glorious minute, we were all together, riding fast and free. I have always wanted to be in a biker gang!

... Suddenly, the dream ended when the first two bikes took a different turn getting out of the subdivision... argh!

I kept looking over my shoulder for them as I sped off on the BMW, but it looked like they weren't going to catch up. With sadness, I accepted that the group ride was over and decided to just enjoy the rest of the ride.

There's nothing like riding a motorcycle! We rode on the NASA Parkway for the first time. The black clouds were behind us, bright sky up ahead. Looking up, I saw a large hole in the clouds ... it seemed to be teasing me. I just wanted to fly right through it. The air was cool and crisp as the storm was blowing through. We made a fast, tight turn on Middlebrook and then went back to my house. Whew! What a ride!

Hopefully someday soon we can get the three bikers back together (with me on the back of one, of course). I'd love to go for an extended ride with the gang. Maybe we'll go to Austin some time!

Tropical Storm Edouard... A Welcome Respite for some

Monday began with a flurry of news of the impending Tropical Storm "Edouard." We heard that JSC had a senior staff meeting at 9am to discuss the option of suspending operations. Edouard was expected to develop into a Category 1 hurricane by Tuesday afternoon with sustained winds of up to 70 miles per hour. However, the storm wasn't the first thing on my mind...I had a TON to do yesterday. I was simultaneously checking my analysis, updating a report, getting margin summaries on my hardware for a flight analysis, and putting together summary charts to give to Safety. It wouldn't have been that big of a deal, but it started sounding like JSC was going to shut down before the end of the day. I told my coworkers that I thought Boeing would be less conservative than NASA about shutting down, and I continued to scramble to get everything done. My parents are coming to town this week and I was supposed to have MER (Mission Evaluation Room) training on Wednesday, so I was definitely hoping Boeing would keep the doors open for at least the rest of the day so I could finish my work!

As you can imagine, everybody in the office was thrilled at the thought of getting to leave early... except me. I don't know why I was so put out by the prospect of getting kicked out! Part of it was that I knew I wouldn't get anything done this week if they sent us home Monday and Tuesday (when the storm was scheduled to hit). I knew I wouldn't get much time in on Wednesday before my parents were to arrive... and I am taking off Thursday and Friday to spend with them... so there goes the week! I kept getting interrupted with updates about JSC. I found out the secret to looking busy is to keep your headset on your head even when you're not on the phone... then people are less likely to stop by and talk to you.

Really, it wasn't a big deal to me - I knew I'd survive in the face of my looming deadlines and the pressure to finish. I knew that even if Boeing suspended operations, my deadlines would wait until our return.... But for some reason it just irked me that everyone seemed to be up in arms over a tropical storm! It was a perfect, blue-sky day! Winds were only projected to get to 70 mph... so we're not talking about a big storm, here! Gosh people! ;)

Naw, I can't complain... it's a free day off work... Granted, Bay Area (the street my building is on) floods during most heavy rainstorms... so getting to work could be a problem on Tuesday. In the interest of safety, JSC decided at 11am to shut down at noon. At 12:07pm, an email went out at Boeing that our operations would be suspended as well for the rest of the day and tomorrow (Tuesday). With thunderous applause and shouts of joy, my teammates packed up and started heading out. Only one was still protesting...

After I made my final calls / emails to let my teammates in Huntington Beach know that I'd be out until Wednesday, I packed up and walked out to the car.

...only to find a traffic jam in the parking lot! It took me 15 minutes to get out! I bet we all looked pretty silly evacuating the building on a perfect day!

I went to lunch with 2 coworkers and then home. I "hurricane-proofed" my balcony by bringing all the plants inside and turning the big, plastic table upside down. When I started to prepare, I realized that I was scaring myself a little bit. I wasn't a bit worried until I started rearranging things. Then all the "what ifs" started running through my head. It was an eerily calm night. Blue sky turned into clear night with sparkling stars. Maybe we would have a storm tomorrow, maybe not.

I slept perfectly through the night and woke up to light rain about 9 in the morning. "Not a big deal at all," I thought. I kept waiting for the storm to pick up. Monday, the weather channels were predicting landfall at 1pm to 2pm. However, as I watched the news today, it seemed like everybody was trying to make a bigger deal out of it than it was. One newscaster was talking about a palm branch that blew down...not a tree... a branch.... wow. Another was standing in half inch watcher... shocking. There seemed to be some places in Houston where the highways were covered with water - but that happens during any big storm. Throughout the day, I heard no lightening or thunder. Just a soft, steady rain. The flowers were very happy! About 3pm I started to feel confident that the storm had passed entirely. It hasn't rained a drop in a few hours now. The sun is shining.

I moved my plants back outside. Looks like I was right yesterday, but I am thankful for the 1.5 days that Boeing paid us all to go home and watch TV. :)

As you can see in the picture above, my apartment got a little water on the volleyball court.

I think it's very common that when we worry and over-prepare, things don't end up being that bad. Likewise, disasters occur when we least expect them. It's good to take hurricane threats seriously, but I'd recommend that when facing a tropical storm that may turn into a cat 1 hurricane, we should all remain calm. After some of the big storms we have faced, I think Houstonians would have panicked a little less for this one.

Here are my happy plants:

Lighthearted News!

It's stories like this that make Boeing-Houston feel like a family...

Earlier this summer, the duck that lives in the ponds behind our building had 16 ducklings. They were so cute and fluffy! We were horrified when we saw that their numbers were dwindling - predators were picking them off one by one! Who knew that our little forest was so dangerous? Adam Morgan, a guy on the Communications / Public Relations team, wrote up the tale and sent it out to all of the Boeing-Houston distribution lists. We were very sad to hear about the ducks, bu the story was well-written and it was the talk of the town for a while after it came out! It was striking because it was so unusual to hear a story like this coming out of the same channel as our weekly site news.

Later, the duck had 16 more ducklings! This time, the whole building was rooting for her! Adam wrote part 2 of the story. I'd like to share it with you. Hope you enjoy!

"Update to the duck saga:

Our delicate dance with Mother Nature

If there’s one thing I learned about nature, the environment and how much we should intervene during my years doing Communication and Public Affairs with the USDA Forest Service is for as many people and situations, there are just as many opinions and opportunities. The opinions people have about what’s best for the environment covers the entire spectrum – from the complete hands-off approach to very active management.

The same is proving true at Boeing’s Houston site when dealing with the resident duck and her latest batch of hatchlings. The demise of the previous 16 ducklings is still fresh in the minds of many. Click here for more info.

Many individuals felt it was the role of Site Services to find a way for the ducklings to survive the harsh environments into which they were born. And some felt just as strongly that the site should remain hands-off and let nature take its course. The hands-on approach was decided.

The site solicited an external call for those interested in “adopting” the ducklings and received numerous inquiries. One inquiry in particular seemed to stand out above the rest and felt like the perfect match. The inquirer wrote that they had 15 secluded acres with several “friends” for the ducklings to interact. The farm consisted of three ponds for splashing as well as separate store-bought swimming pools, which is a favorite for the resident Peking duck on the farm. The inquirer promised a good life for the ducklings free of worry from predators and human consumption – a perfect environment for the Houston site ducklings.

The family retrieved the ducklings last Friday, and the little critters have taken to their new farm life quite well – they even have their own personal “body” guard. It seems Charger, one of the dogs of the group, has decided to adopt the ducklings. Their new keeper keeps the ducklings in a pen with a pond (and the dog of course) until they are a little older and more capable of protecting themselves on their own –she even brings the duckling inside at night for further assurance of their survival.

For those worried that the mother duck was traumatized by the removal of her hatchlings, the site sought the advice of animal experts before making any relocation decisions. In the case of ducks, unlike mammals, ducklings do not need the care of their mother for any length of time, and vise versa, the mother will do just as well without the ducklings.

The farm promises to keep the site updated and informed of the ducklings’ progress as they adapt to their new surroundings. The first update came this weekend as the ducklings began their new life on the farm. Click here and here for images of the ducklings at their new home.

By: Adam Morgan"

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