Bastille Day

Today is Bastille Day, which commemorates some day when French people did something French to some other French people. It was a lot cooler when Battlestar Galactica did it.

Over the weekend, Jennifer and I made our relationship official by joining our phone plans together on one family plan. On Saturday, we were pretty sure everything was set. Developments today have appeared to the contrary. It all seemed so simple on Saturday, which was probably the first indication that we've got a problem. We did get newer free phones, which I guess was good. They're not iPhones, but I'm anything but an early adopter. I think it will play mp3s. Spiffy. Oh, and mine's orange. Subtle - that's me.

It seems like NASA can't launch Endeavour even if we wanted to. First a leaky tank, now weather. We're hoping for Attempt Number 5 will work on Wednesday. Fingers crossed. Also,
NASA Watch seems to think that the Ares program is DOA. Personally, I hate to see so much work for naught, but as long as we're putting people in space, I'm happy.

Independence Day, Grandparents, Yappie Dog

Jennifer & I drove to Memphis for the holiday weekend. We only had to share the house with my parents' dog, Mack. He's normally a nice little dog, but he gets very bent out of shape when they're gone for more than a couple of days. This weekend, he was acting as if they've been wondering in the desert for forty years. He needs an attitude adjustment. Jennifer tried poking him in the eye, to no avail.

We had a pretty busy weekend, all told. On Friday, we met my brother Craig and my grandparents for lunch down in Olive Branch, tried to go see Jennifer's grandmother who has been ill in the hospital for a while, and watched the City of Bartlett fireworks extravaganza. We made it back home with our eyebrows, so the show wasn't all it could have been. Good, but not great.

Independence Day was spent at Beech Lake (in Lexington, TN) with the Longo family. That's all I'll say about that. A Huey burger and Memphis Belle to end the day made up for anything lacking. USA! And I agree with Jeff. Wishing me a "Happy 4th" is pretty lame.

On Sunday, we were able to see Jennifer's grandmother, hold the newest nephew Alexander "Insert Middle Name Here" Longo. One leading middle name is "Romeo," which will do well if the kid wants to excel at getting wedgies in junior high. Also, we got to watch some covert ops on Redford Cove. Oops, I may have said too much.

Did You Get That Memo?

About a month ago, I had to draft a memo for my Branch. So far, it seems like nothing has come of it. These things happen, I guess.

Subsystem Design Review (SSDR) 3 out of 4 began today. An hour late, and which didn't bode well. From there, we proceeded to get further and further behind schedule. I saw that happening a mile away. Two more days of this one, and Monday through Wednesday next week. We might have some spill-over into Thursday, though. Not to worry though, because Friday is a Federal holiday. Excellent.

I'm getting pretty excited about Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. I think it premiers tomorrow. Transformers were a little bit before my time, so I can enjoy the movie without being an overly-critical fanboy. And who doesn't like giant robot-on-robot melees? In my younger, wilder days I would have gone to the midnight showing but I'm starting to feel like Sgt. Murtaugh. I'm getting too old for that s*$@! That and I don't think Jennifer would let me stay out that late.

Maybe some house looking this weekend. Not shopping, just looking.

And Whosoever Shall Be Found Without The Soul For Getting Down

The Mrs. and I drove to Memphis this weekend, namely for Joe Seboldt's wedding and Father's Day. We started the weekend off right by meeting Paula and John Paul at the American Cafe for dinner and one of those S'mores Sundaes. Go try one.



The wedding ceremony went pretty well, that same old "Sit down, Stand up, Pray-Pray-Pray!" Jennifer and I chose wisely by picking the Protestant row. Go Martin Luther.



The wedding was at 2:00 pm, and the reception was at 6:00 pm. No one knows why exactly we had such a gap. I personally believe this was just Joe messing with me. If so, well played Joe. Well played. Dinner was great, and the music was pretty good as well. Thriller - need I say more?



The family met for Father's Day lunch today because why not? They had a pretty sweet deal for a 12 oz ribeye, but I had a Big Dan instead because why not? Marinate on that for a while.

Email Warfare

Had a dry run for another Design Review today; the purpose is really to preview coming attractions and look for any missing portions - not to nit pick. However, they did set up a method by which we could email in technical questions - this allows the meeting to keep moving and hopefully clear up issues prior to the review. Because I was travelling yesterday I missed the portion I cared about. So I fired off a salvo before I left the office. Begun, this email war has.

I've already taken care of my expense report, in record time. All it took was the Administrative Assistant that hated me to leave. Honestly, I don't know what I did to anger her. I'm nothing if not exceedingly likable.

Jennifer & I went for a walk this afternoon, and almost melted. Stupid humidity. Stupid, stupid, humidity. Royal Pains is a pretty good show - if only I could remember to watch Burn Notice.

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Regarding last night's post: It has been brought to my attention that "The Big D" actually refers to Dallas, Texas. Tom lied to me. Lied. To. Me.

Tech Review in Big D

Time for an update. I just spent the past few days in the Denver, CO area for a Technical Review. What's a Tech Review, you ask? Well, its very technical. Really, it was an opportunity for the contractor (Lockheed Martin Space Systems) to present their work to date to engineering-types prior to the Subsystem Design Review, which is for project management-types. Other than the powerpoint engineering sections, it wasn't too bad.

On Monday night, Tom (another engineer from my branch) and I went to eat at the Trail Dust Steakhouse, famous for its "No Ties Allowed" policy (they will remove it by force). It was a rootin'-tootin' good time. We even went down the slide.

For lunch on Tuesday, a bunch of us at at a local taco shack called Mi Cocina. The tacos were muy bueno; more notable was the fact that the plates were not radioactive. Dinner was at P.F. Chang's, which was a first for me. The spicy chicken was muy bueno as well (I don't know how to describe it in Chinese, other than Super Excellent No. 1 Tasty).

As for Denver (Big D, if you hadn't put that together), the parts that I saw were very nice. The ever-present Rocky Mountains are a sight to behold. Also, highs in the 80's with 30% humidity is something I could get used to. Leaving Jennifer at home alone isn't so fun though. We're already putting it on the Places to Visit list.

While I've Been Away

(In rough chronological order)

Started working at NASA.

Got engaged.

Christmas came, and went.

Got married.

Ate a kangaroo burger.

Montego, Baby Why Don't We Go?

For the Honeymoon, my beautiful wife and I spent six days in Montego Bay, Jamaica. The resort we stayed at was on Doctor's Cave beach which is one of the Top 10 beaches in the world. Think about it - there's thousands of miles of coast line on the planet, and a bunch of people paid by resorts felt that this was a really good one.



Anyway, Jennifer and I went horseback riding on the beach, snorkeling, got thrown off of a Hobie Cat, and climbed up Dunn's River Falls. Somehow, we bought some ugly Jamaican heads from a carver (the heads looked exactly like every other carved piece of wood on the island). The Italian restaurant at the resort was really nice, even if pants were required. The all-you-can-eat buffet for breakfast and lunch wasn't too bad; quantity has a quality all its own.



Also, a bunch of really friendly people really wanted to sell us some oregano. We didn't buy any, because we weren't really planning on cooking. Finally, if I don't hear any more reggae music ever, I'll be just fine.

The Wedding

Jennifer & I got married on March 21, 2009. The day wasn't without its mishaps but the ceremony was beautiful, the reception was a blast, and the cake was delicious. It was a day I will never forget.

Jennifer's bridesmaids were Ashley Miller (Maid-of-Honor), Paula Cerrito, Angela Dunn, and Marly Hazen; my groomsmen were Russell Alberts (Best Man / Dude-of-Honor), Garrett House, Jeff King, and BJ Miller. Plenty of family and friends joined us to celebrate the day, and we were glad to have everyone.

One of the highlights of the day (for everyone but Jennifer and I) was the hallway kerfluffle. We had a breakdown of communication, which led to Jennifer being locked in a hallway, me sprinting around the Bartlett Station Municipal Center in my tuxedo, and this hilarious photo.

(That's Jennifer on the other side of the door). Other than that, the only other mishaps were forgetting to light the candelabras, and the priest running off during the middle of the ceremony. He claims that he left his gospel reading backstage, but he also admits to checking the score of the Tigers Sweet 16 game. Talk about awkward.

Jennifer and I danced to Amazed, did one of those Hip-Hop line dances (apparently its less lame than Country line dancing - why, I do not know). The chocolate fondue fountain was a success, and did I mention that the cake was delicious? It was.

Finally, we left in my car, which was covered in an industrial-sized roll of toilet paper (supplied by my brother-in-law), various things on the window that I won't discuss, and animal crackers. That's going to bother me for years.