Down to Earth

The landing under the Soyuz MS-08 fire as it lands with Expedition 56 Commander Drew Feustel , Flight Engineer Ricky Arnold of NASA, and Soyuz Commander Oleg Artemyev of Roscosmos in Kazakhstan on Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018. The trio returned to Earth after 197 days in space aboard the International Space Station - Image Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

BUMPY LANDING: Yesterday, A Russian space capsule with three astronauts aboard safely returned to Earth. This landing was a little more exciting than most, as they had to employ a a last-minute emergency maneuver which resulted in a landing with the intensity of a "minor traffic accident," per a NASA press release.

In the photo above, you can see the capsule firing its jets, to try to slow it down, as it lands with a thud. (photo credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls ). The rockets slowing the touchdown is the aerospace equivalent of slamming on the brakes, NASA said.

That landing is just one of the many reasons I've always been a fan of the old Apollo-era splashdowns. 

Fortunately, Russia's Oleg Artemyev and NASA's Drew Feustel and Ricky Arnold weren't any worse for the wear. The Americans inside had completed three space walks during their 197-day stay, performing maintenance on the orbiting laboratory. 

Their departure from the ISS was a bit different than normal, as Artemyev manually piloted the Soyuz through a partial loop around the station, allowing Feustel to carry out a photo survey of the ISS as the orbiting space laboratory nears the 20th anniversary of the first module’s launch (November 1998). 

BOW WOW, TO WASHINGTON: This morning, between algebra with Khan Academy and grammar via BrainPOP, I noticed that there was a live event on Facebook with the University of Washington Athletic department. The live video was an interview with the trainer of UW's new live mascot, Dubs II. 

Photo: UW Athletics (video screenshot)

The pup is a 9-month old malamute. (It turns out actual Huskies don't make the best mascots.) During the broadcast we learned his favorite chew toy is a duck (no kidding!). And a question we submitted during the broadcast was answered on the air. We asked, "Does Dubs have a middle name?" (That's one of CJ's favorite questions to ask dog owners when meeting canines during our travels.)

Dubs does have a formal (American Kennel Club) name: Akala’s Purple Reign. He also is sometimes called Dub Dub or Dubby for nicknames. 

You can watch the archived event here:

Striving to Catch Up

PICTURE THIS: Imagine our surprise a couple of days ago when we learned that CJ was featured in an email that went out to tens (hundreds?) of thousands of people.

The email was sent by our credit union, BECU (formerly Boeing Employees Credit Union), announcing their annual Day of Service on Oct. 8.

In the email was a big ol' photo of CJ with a BECU employee. The picture was taken this summer, when we attended a BECU-budget workshop for teens in the basement of Safeco Field. After the workshop, we got free tickets to a Mariners game. Both the budget activity and the game were big fun, and the price was right. ;)

Apparently when we signed up, we signed some waiver allowing the kids' photos to be used. 

A WRONG TURN: It was a lovely fall afternoon, so we put the harnesses on the pups and decided to walk to a 7-11 store not too far from our place. CJ has been eager to see if they have any of the Taco Bell hot sauce-inspired chips in stock (a 7-11 exclusive).

We made our way there and as we approached the store, I said to the kids, "School must have just got out," as there was a small crowd of kids about CJ and Annabelle's age outside the store.

As we got closer, it became obvious that the kids were standing outside the store, waiting to go in. We hung back for a bit to see what the deal was. 

The experience wound up with us coming home a little confused and upset, and CJ sharing an account via 7-11's website.

Here's what he submitted. ... 

At around 3:05 P.M, on 4 October 2018, we (a mother and children ages 13 and 15) visited Store #17486. At the time we arrived, we noticed 10-12 black youths waiting outside the store, facing the store, wanting to go in. (They were not just loitering.)

We wondered why they were waiting outside of the store, rather than going in. A couple kids in the group explained that they were only being let in two at a time. They encouraged us to go ahead of them and we declined, as they were there first. 

One of the students waiting had told us that after another youth had picked up an item in the store and was accused of stealing it. The student told us the other youth had put the item back, and pointed that out to the store worker.  As a result of this incident, apparently (per the students outside) the cashier said students could only come in the store two at a time. 

During our four or five minutes on the sidewalk with the students, they were all polite and well behaved, and encouraged us to go in ahead of them. We, however, were really not comfortable with that. Whether or not it was the case, by appearances it looked bad, frankly. The kids were all black, middle school or young high schoolers, and there was no way we (a white family with kids exactly their ages) were going to go traipsing into the store ahead of them. Honestly, even if they were all white, we still wouldn't have gone in ahead of them. It doesn't seem like fair treatment. It just seemed like the situation was potentially racism, ageism or some combination of the two, and we wanted no part of that.

Details that aren't in the account include the tone of the young man who told me why they were being forced to wait outside. I could tell he was upset - he seemed a mix of angry and confused. It certainly sounded like he thought they were being treated unfairly. When he told me his version of what happened, I wasn't sure what to say, so I simply replied, "I'm sorry that happened to you."

Multiple young women in the group urged us to go in. I pointed out to them that if only two students could be in the store at a time, my kids were their age, so that should apply to them, too, and they should wait in line. One girl said CJ and Annabelle would be OK since they had a parent with them. I quipped, "How about if I tell him you're all my kids?" :)

Anyway, we walked away from the store without our chips and feeling a little sad. I know we only heard one (well 10 or so, really) sides of the story, but it sure looked bad from the outside looking in.

Of course, as I sit here now, I'm wondering why I didn't go in the store and ask the manager what the hell was going on. That would have been the better thing to do. 

WAY BEHIND: I still have hundreds of photos from our trip in September to edit and share, and did I mention we went to Point Definace Zoo last week? They have a fabulous new aquarium there. These jellyfish were stunning!

They Are the Champions

KILLER QUEEN: Still playing catch up on our mid-September travelogue. One of the highlights of the trip was getting to see the Queen reisidency at the MGM Grand.

I was lucky enough to get to see Queen with the fabulous Freddie Mercury a couple of times. Freddie was gone way too soon, but I'm glad guitarist Dr. Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor are still making music. 

On the evening in question, CJ was representing, in an old Queen T and some ridiculous jeans we found at Value Village a month or so ago. 

We took an Uber from R&R's place to the Vegas Strip. It was a BUSY Saturday night there. At the T-Mobile arena was a huge, sold out boxing (re)match: Lineal Middleweight World Champion Canelo Alvarez and WBC/WBA/IBO Middleweight World Champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin. We made our way through that crowd to the MGM, where our show was.

I'll have the kids tell you a bit more about the evening.

CJ is up first. ... 

From 1 September to 22 September of 2018, Queen + Adam Lambert (an act combining the classic British rock act Queen with modern-day pop singer Adam Lambert) performed several times at the Park Theater, a 5,200-seat theater located in MGM Resorts in Las Vegas, NV. We attended on the fifteenth of that month, which was their seventh concert at that residency, according to the residency's page on the MGM Resorts website.

Queen was supposed to start at 8 P.M, but, if I recall correctly, they did not start until later. Unfortunately, Setlist.fm's page on Queen's concert on 15 September 2018 does not have an actual setlist, so I'll have to go from memory. This was not my first time seeing Queen + Adam Lambert — I previously saw them at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, BC in February 2017. Noticeably, the more recent concert was shorter than the previous one I went to, likely because they played at the Park Theater for several nights that month, and likely didn't change their setlist that much.

Nevertheless, the show was very entertaining, and quite fun. The set seemed to be near-exclusively made of the band's radio hits from 45-30 years ago (examples: Another One Bites the Dust, Bohemian Rhapsody, Radio Gaga, We Are The Champions, We Will Rock You, etc.)

Adam Lambert, while no Freddie, had a wide and strong vocal range, certainly impressing the audience members (including myself.)

All in all, Queen + Adam Lambert's concert was worth going to.

OK, so I'm just gonna say, after reading CJ's review, that kid is hard to impress. He's seen waaaaaaaaaaay too many epic concerts in his 15 years (his first was David Bowie, as a one-year-old). 

The concert was phenomenal, IMHO.

Above, Adam Lambert wants to ride his bicycle. 

Below, Queen's laser game was strong.

Here's Annabelle's take on the event. ...

At the MGM Park Theater on the Las Vegas strip, Queen + Adam Lambert performed for a crowd of thousands, playing numerous hits and popular songs. Adam Lambert, though straight up saying he’s “No Freddie Mercury,” was an amazing singer and performer. He absolutely killed it on songs like "We Will Rock You," "Killer Queen," "We Are the Champions." and many more. The stage, compared to when we saw them at Rogers Arena for the first time, was stunning. It was a full production due to their extended residency, and it showed in the sheer amount of lights and screens. There was even room below the stage for a large model of the head of the robot from “News of the World,” also known as “Frank”.

The crowd was very excited and willing to participate, allowing for a lot of call and response or sing-along bits during the songs. This was especially apparent during Bohemian Rhapsody, for obvious reasons. The residency, now over, was quite the experience and much flashier compared to our previous concerts. I thoroughly enjoyed it and I sincerely hope I get to see Queen + Adam Lambert again. 

Back to the Canyon

MORE: We're still working through all of the photos from our Grand Canyon visit a couple of weeks ago.

There were so many remarkable vistas and features. We could spend weeks and weeks there checking it all out.

For instance, look at the structure in the photo below. 

 It would be so cool to stand in those voids in the rock - but so scary getting there and back! :)

There were a number of signs along the canyon - but not as many as you might expect.  In the photo below, we were in about the middle of the South Rim.

The Grand Canyon was actually more green than we were thinking it would be. There were lots of trees and shrubs and even flowers.

This bark-less beauty caught my attention.

 Here's what CJ had to say about our visit to the Grand Canyon. ...

In September 2018, during our trip to Nevada and Arizona, we visited the South and West Rims of the Grand Canyon, during the portion of our trip in Arizona. We went to the Grand Canyon on two separate days (in a row), and stayed for multiple hours each day. One was in the afternoon, and the other was in the morning. Here are some of my recollections involving the Canyon:

When I first saw the Grand Canyon in person, it was mind-blowing. I had never seen a canyon that deep up to that point. For several minutes, we walked to my left, stopping at various points to admire and smell the view. Using an empty water bottle we had bought from a rural gas station several hours ago, my father and I filled it up with tap water from a foul-smelling men's room. The water tasted "stale," for lack of a better word. We also skimmed through exhibits at "lodges" on the rims, such as the Hopi House, featuring hard rocks taken from the canyon. The lodges provided shelter from the at-times brutal heat outside.

On the second day, we took multiple buses across multiple different gazing points, near the Western part of the South Rim. In particular, my mother wanted to visit "The Abyss." However, it turned out that "The Abyss" was not nearly as deep as its name implied. One of our drivers, Rob. E, asked bus passengers to get off the bus at stops and gaze into the canyon, as for many tourists, this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Rough One

SHE SAID, HE SAID:  Today, we got our algebra in, and learned about subordinate clauses. Good stuff. 

But most of our day was spent on social studies - watching the coverage of the Senate Judiciary Committee's hearing about Supreme Court Justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
I wanted CJ and Annabelle to see and hear this, because I believe it is an event that will be talked about for decades.

This morning, Dr. Christine Ford painstakingly recounted her memories from a traumatic  event when she was a teenager, and alleges she was attacked by Supreme Court nominee Kavanaugh. 

This afternoon, an angry, and at times belligerent, Judge Kavanaugh came out yelling and (figuratively) swinging.  He was anything but impartial when it came to party lines (contrary to his former testimony).

Granted, he's fighting for his career, but, for instance, when he refuses to answer a question about his conduct and instead asks a United States senator if she's ever been blackout drunk, well, to me, that's crossing a line, big time. Talk about deflecting.

I was hoping today's hearing would be a lesson in civics, but IMHO, there was little civil about it. Rather, It was a circus sideshow. 

I remember the Anita Hill testimony during the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings. It was 1991. I was horrified then. I am horrified now. 

I'd like to think we can do better than this as a nation. 

That said, I will be shocked if Kavanaugh is not confirmed. 

Long Ball

EXTRA INNINGS: Kind of on a whim, we decided to go to the Mariners' game last night. It's the last week of their season and, of course, there won't be a post season, because, well, Mariners. Sigh.

Anyway, we got great seats right behind home plate for super cheap. It even included a parking pass in the Safeco Field garage, right across the street from the stadium. (About the only good thing regarding having your team not in the thick of things is that tickets are cheap.)

It was a beautiful night at the ballpark. And a looooooooooong night at the ballpark.

The first two innings seemed to take two hours. So many hits. So many runs. 

In the improbable end, the Mariners won it 8 - 10, via a walk off home run by a back up back up catcher in the bottom of the 11th. In all there were THIRTY hits in the game. That might be the most in any Major League Baseball game I've been ever seen.

GREAT PUMPKINS: It will be October before we know it, and so we're already going on a few craft projects for the tenth month of the year. Naturally, they involve pumpkins.

We're making a Great Pumpkin-themed birthday board for a local learning center. CJ and Annabelle helped trace Linus and Sally, as well as a shadow-y Snoopy. We made pumpkins, which will have the birthday kids' names on them in a Peanuts-like font, and cut out dozens of leaves for the pumpkin patch.

In the midst of all of this, I used one orange IKEA napkin, a roll of toilet paper, a cinnamon stick and one of our construction paper leaves to assemble this.

It took all of ten seconds - so easy!

MAD DASH: This morning we plugged away on algebra for nearly an hour. This afternoon, we dabbled in some language arts, using a video on BrainPOP all about hyphens and dashes. It was really interesting - I learned things I've never known my entire life (like the dash in this sentence should have been longer).

I'll have CJ tell you a bit more about dashes and hyphens and what we learned.

Today, I learned about the different kinds of hyphens and dashes. They are, in order from narrowest to most narrow:

1. Hyphens (‐), primary use is to form compound words (example: fifty-year-old), also used to separate syllables in a dictionary (example: syl-la-ble.)

1. Figure dashes(‒), primarily used in phone numbers (example: 123‒456‒7891.)

1. En dashes (–), primary use is to bridge times together (example: 9 A.M – 5 P.M.)

1. Em dashes (—), primary use is to separate parts of a sentence (example: John repeatedly stained my shirt — the same one I had bought the day prior.)

So interesting, don't you think?!

For our science schooling, we watched a video about conditioning - as in Pavlov's dog, not what you do after shampooing. ;)

Annabelle can tell you a bit more about that. 

Conditioning, made famous by Ivan Pavlov, describes how one can teach animals or humans to respond to certain stimuli in a new way. The experiment most are familiar with, known as “Pavlov’s Dog”, is an example of classic conditioning. It involves ringing a bell right before giving the dog food, which if repeated enough, will eventually cause the dog to associate the bell with food, and salivate at the sound of it.

On the other hand, there is another type of conditioning referred to as “Operative Conditioning”. This is when instead of prompting the subject with something, the subject learns that a certain action equals a certain response. An example would be a small child learning not to draw on walls, because when they do that they are scolded. This can go both ways, both positive and negative.

Grand Times

SIGHT SEEING: We're still playing catch up on our grand adventure last week.

Our travels to the American Southwest included a couple of visits to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.

The amazing attraction lived up to its billing. 

My camera couldn't possibly do the destination justice.

The layers of the canyon walls and the stories they tell were so compelling. 

Below, CJ used one of the spotters along the trail to zero in on a point of interest.

I believe this photo, below, is from the Verkamp's Visitor Center. More on that place later. ...

Here are some of Annabelle's recollections regarding our Grand Canyon visit.

During our 2-day visit to Grand Canyon National Park, we visited the South edge of the canyon, from “Hermit’s Rest” to the visitor’s center. This spans approximately 9.1 miles of the canyon’s edge, possibly more due to winding trails and viewpoints. On our first visit, we took around 4½ hours, from 2 p.m. to sunset at 6:30. The trail was surprisingly packed with plants and vegetation; much more than promotional materials may lead you to believe. One of the most notable types of plant is the Blooming Agave plant, which can reach over 6 feet high. There’s also quite a bit of wildlife, including everything from lizards to ravens and the endangered condor.

The canyon itself is so much larger than I had expected. It’s extremely wide, reaching the horizon from most anywhere you stand. Rock formations jut out into the middle, with small steppes closer to the bottom. Rocks in the canyon are commonly layers of limestone and sandstone, with a few more clay-dense areas tinted a stunning red. The light rock, combined with most trails being in direct sunlight, makes the canyon especially hot during the warmer months. Thankfully, there are stations scattered on the trails where you can fill water bottles using purified water from the canyon spring itself. The heat is nothing compared to the view of all the crazy rocks and shapes you can find, including holes, cliffs, and an odd rock shaped like a duck.

On our second day, we visited the much more remote West end of the South rim, where there are multiple “points” with amazing views. These points are purposefully remote, allowing you to admire the canyon in absolute silence (except for the wind and other people, which is admittedly predictable). Among the most scenic is Hopi Point, right in the middle of the “Hermit Road” trail. This point was recommended by our tram driver, who repeatedly mentioned to more stubborn passengers that this was not a spot on the return trip. We stopped by nearly every point on this trail, before heading back to the village and saying goodbye to the canyon. In conclusion, while the sunset we saw was mediocre, everything else about the canyon was just as breathtaking as I had hoped.