Letterboxd

I really like movies…

Good Morning. Im beginning my day with some Miles Davis courtesy of KUTX and Sunday Morning Jazz, which I enjoy to no end.

Summer has arrived here in Texas. I walked Miss Betty this morning at about 830, and it was already 84 degrees. We’re no where near as hot as it usually is this time of year, and we’ve been thankful for the cooler weather so far, but I can’t help but think Mother Nature is saving up to give it all to us at once.

This weather is always a catalyst for discussion about where we would like to live outside of the blast furnace we call home now, and this year it takes a little more seriousness, as I’m not too far from retirement. Close enough indeed that it’s time to start some serious thinking on the subject.

We are traveling to California next month for a week, and I know that will spur some ideas of moving there. Im not against it, thanks to the popularity of Austin, most of the reason real estate there was so insane has actually moved here. For what this house will sell for we can buy an ocean front lot up the coast from Los Angeles with money to spare. There are of course, plusses and minuses to everything.

I hope you all have a fine day.

“Ultimately, happiness comes down to choosing between the discomfort of becoming aware of your mental afflictions and the discomfort of being ruled by them.”

• Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche

The result was a fine cup of Alfred’s Blend 👍🏼

I had a coffee pot misfire this morning. I pulled the pot out for my expected delicious cup only to find it full of grounds and water still. I salvaged the day with a careful cleanup and hot water added to the very strong brew, americano style.

Silly statement, there have been literally endless pages written about the impossibility of truly knowing someone, regardless of how relatively close they were to us in our lives. I’ve been thinking lately though about how little I truly knew about my mother after her passing this last November. Today this was put in my mind by a memory of something she found amusing. There is a scene in the movie Jumping Jack Flash with Whoopi Goldberg, where she is being pulled behind a car inside a phone booth. She is panicking, justifiably so, and she’s on the phone with someone saying “I’m a little black woman in a big silver box!!”. My mother thought this scene was hilarious. She would laugh and laugh anytime it was on, and would even reference it at other times. I’ve never even seen the whole movie, and have no idea what it’s about overall.

To this day, I have no idea why she thought it was funny. I don’t find it amusing, and I’m not a fan of Whoopi Goldberg in general. My mom loved everything she did. I’ve often thought about this over the years, even before she died, though it never seems to have occurred to me to ask her about it. We talked a good bit when I was younger, I mean most times we were the other’s only companion during regular days. Though we conversed, she didn’t often discuss philosophical things with me. In fact, I could count on one hand the number of times our conversations weren’t practical or pragmatic in nature. How to do this or that thing, or something similar. It’s different for me and my kids, I do have practical conversations with them, but far more often it’s philosophical in nature. We talk about the why of things more than the what. I feel like if they know the why, the what becomes clear on its most often. I think it just reiterates my original statement that we can never really know someone, though I hope my kids are not thinking of why I might have said something once I’m gone.

It is the want of happiness that makes one unhappy, not the absence of it.

Is the process more important than the product?

I’m decompressing to some of the best come-down music ever written and recorded. Moonlight Sonata. (Ludwig Van - obviously)

One should never underestimate the restorative powers of a truly hot shower. Even if that shower is taken in what could pass for a Sadam-era murder chamber.

We are having one of those days that defines spring time in Texas. We need the rain, and we love just sitting around on these days spending time together.

Some super cool footage from the Falcon 9 launch tonight. This booster has flown 7 times before.

SpaceX Falcon 9 Starlink Mission.

watching the Chinese launch a Long March 5B with the first module of their new space station.

woohoo! tornados. I understand one from this supercell was pretty destructive out west of us so it makes sense.

Looks like one of those nights for us.

KGRK - Super-Res Reflectivity Tilt 1 20:02 CDT #txwx

Had some fun today.

Soon my dear, soon.

I like to sit out here in the mornings and take it all in. Today is threatening rain, and the humidity is high, but it’s a lovely morning.

I appointment view pretty much any rocket launch conducted from the continental US. I just watched ULA launch a Delta IV Heavy from Vandenberg, CA, with a National Reconnaissance Office payload. I believe that was the first time I’ve ever seen a D IV launch without delay.

We had a relatively short weekend. I took Friday off work since the whole family was getting vaccine dose two on Thursday. Given my experiences having been sick for two days, it seemed prudent. Thankfully they came through with only some fever and headaches.

We (well, by “we” I mean NASA via the JPL, and Ames aeronautics) flew a freakin’ helicopter on MARS.

#winning

Well, it was an interesting weekend. Too short, as always, but somewhat rewarding and generally enjoyable. We closed it all out last night with a bit of dim sum.

👍🏼

I’ve been thumbing through the micro.blog users that I see with similiar interests to me, so I have been following a few folks here the last two days. Hopefully this is the preffered method of developing this little network, and no one takes offense to it.

Dave

The weather is not on my side today it would appear, so a trainer day it is.