Waiting Room

      Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
NO GO: We dutifully peel ourselves out of slumber this morning about quarter to 4 to watch the launch of ETF-1, the Orion test flight.

Things were sketchy from the start. Less than five minutes before the original launch time of 4:05 a.m., a boat wandered into the protected zone waters, so there was a hold. Once that was cleared, the launch controllers were polled again and it was all 'go-go-go' for launch until a wind gust came up, making it a no go. Drat. We watched and waited, waited and watched, finally they polled the controllers again. And again, it was 'go-go-go,' however almost immediately after the poll we heard 'ABORT' - drat! This time, sticky valves were to blame. 

Engineers worked the problem, but weren't able to resolve it before the 2 hours and 39 minutes launch window expired. And so, tonight/Friday morning, we get to do it all over again. Drat.

CHECKED OUT: Midday, we cruised over to Ballard to a new-to-us clinic conveniently located in a Bartell Drug store. We wanted to get CJ's sore throat checked out to make sure he doesn't have strep (he doesn't), and Annabelle and I needed flu shots. 

I was super happy with how quickly we were seen, the level of service, and the very professional nurse practitioner we visited with. 

Imagine how happy I was when I got home and the very top trending story on the Internet news, its headline reading "CDC says flu shots might not be good match for 2014-15 virus."

That's just super. ... 

MOD SQUAD:  CJ and Annabelle have a newfound love of Nerf guns, and apparently any serious Nerfer (is that a word?) "mods" (as in modifies) their arms.

CJ has decided he *needs* to do a custom white-out paint job on a Hyperfire model. Super. So, after five trips (no lie) to various stores to find the right paint, today, we took the gun apart to prep it for paint.

While it was open, CJ suggested removing the air restrictors, because that's what modders do, apparently (even though Nerf packaging clearly tells you *not* to do that). 

The kids sanded it lightly, and tonight after dinner, applied the first coat of white.

There's a lot of work to be done. 

OUT & ABOUT: Here are a couple of leftover shots from our travels in the last week. One is of the kids by the section of the Berlin Wall that now stands in Seattle Center's Armory (Center House). 

And they insisted I take this photo of them with the fake Target dog. Or should I say, #TARGETDOG ?