Connecting

WIRED: Monday morning we had double fun. We got to hang out with my cousin who was up from Albuquerque, and we got to take a (return, in our case) tour of Connections Museum Seattle, a one-of-a-kind collection of all things telephone-related.

The museum is usually only open for a few hours each Sunday, but Monday happened to be a special opening as part of their 30 year anniversary celebration.

Per their website, the museum reports they feature "working Panel and Crossbar electromechanical central-office switches. We also have working Step-by-Step and Crossbar PBX equipment as well as antique telephones, switchboards, outside plant displays (poles, cables, splicing equipment, and tools) and a reference library."

It really is a sight to behold!

 So. Many. Wires. And switches. And circuits. 

 I wanted to push them and flip them and plug them, but I resisted the urge. :) 

 We had some very knowledgeable docents lead us on a two-hour tour.

One interesting spot was this old map of microwave radio routes. What's interesting is microwave signal transmission is actually coming back into favor because it's a tiny bit faster than fiber optics cables.

 I love looking at the various parts and papers sitting around the space.

Below is a bona fide ticker tape machine. The used papers were what rained down on New York parades.

Annabelle volunteered to give an old pay phone a go. By the way, it's worth noting that this is a *working* museum. Most of what we saw is still operational.

 I fancied this cute little Japanese pay phone.

 And I ADORE this fancy pay phone, complete with shell surround!

This Snoopy phone is a blast from the past. I always wanted one, but they were soooo spendy! The only person I knew who had one back in the day was a neighbor whose dad worked for the phone company.

This phone made me take notice! Why? ... Check out its plug. Though it wasn't wireless, it clearly was a portable phone you could carry from room to room.

And lookie (below) what we have all throughout our house. Those four-prong outlets that would have worked for just such a futuristic phone back in the day! 

LAUNCH ALERT: We received notice from Blue Origin (a Kent, WA based aerospace company with Jeff Bezos behind it) about a test flight they're conducting tomorrow.  Specifically. ... 

New Shepard will fly for the ninth time tomorrow, July 18, 2018. We’ll be doing a high altitude escape motor test – pushing the rocket to its limits.   Current launch target is 9:00 am CT / 14:00 UTC, you can monitor twitter for launch updates. The live webcast will be available on BlueOrigin.com and begins at T-20 minutes prior to launch.

We also have payloads on board, click here to learn more about the Mission 9 manifest.

Excited to see you all on launch day.
- Gradatim Ferociter!

Photo credit: Blue Origin - New Shepard on the launch pad the morning of Mission 8, April 29, 2018.

I kind of love that some of the payload on board this flight will be items from Blue Origin's “Fly My Stuff” program. The stuff is payloads from Blue Origin employees. Talk about an employee incentive program!