My $0.02

I literally gave someone my $0.02 yesterday.

I was at Trader Joe's, stuck in line behind someone who had their husband get in line before they were finished shopping, and had to get 'just one more thing' before they could be checked out. Once she finally got the last thing (well after the cashier had rung up and bagged everything else), she had some sort of problem with a debit or gift card, and as a result she was able to pay all but $0.02 of her bill. Now here's the best part: neither she nor her husband had any cash on them whatsoever. So she sent her husband out to their car to get some.

At this point I intervened and handed the cashier a quarter, telling her I'd cover the $0.02. She rung up the last two cents and gave me $0.23 in change.

Really now, I know that credit and debit and EBT and gift cards are everywhere, but who doesn't carry ANY cash?

Catching Up

Well, it has been quite a busy few weeks. Some highlights:

My mother visited just after christmas, and brought with her one of those gifts that keeps on giving: a Wii. Of all the game consoles I've seen/tried out, this is the only one I've actually considered getting myself, so I'm quite glad. I claim the title of cow racing champion of people I know. :-) I managed to log ten consecutive days on Wii Fit before work started up. Hopefully I'll be able to get in some time on the weekends.

Kaylee continues to grow, and has finally reached the point where she can sleep through the night. That doesn't mean she always does, of course, but it is a milestone. She now weighs in at about 20 lbs, at least 10 lbs of it pure energy. Yes, I've created a Mii for her on the Wii. Puppy class continues to introduce both commands I knew off (sit, stay, come) and commands I didn't (stand, go, leave-it). Overall her level of training and obediance is improving, but she's still wearing me down.

We've had the first two sessions (start up, rules intro, character development, etc) of a Star Wars RPG (West End, thank you, not WotC) that I'm GMing. I'm going to have 6-7 players, which is a new record for me. The party will be a group of 'honest merchants' trying to make a living on a... special... freighter during the time of the movies (Episodes IV-VI, thank you, not the travesties that masqueraded as Episodes I-III).

Planning for Ursulmas continues, and the floor plans are firming up, though changes are still being made.

Universe

I consider this more a piece of art than science, which isn't to say it doesn't perfectly express our place in the universe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17jymDn0W6U&feature=player_embedded

I very seldom offer video links - take six minutes and watch this one.

More About First Flight

I'm told the temperature on the taxiway was 36 degrees; it was probably a degree or two warmer in the primary viewing area, since there were so many of us packed together. We had walked over a mile and waited an hour in the cold before 787 Airplane #1 even turned on its engines - there was a cheeer when we heard them spinning up. I watched closely through my monocular for the closing of Door 1 Right; a person nearby had a scanner tuned to Boeing's ground control frequency. A number of people had brough cameras, some were texting... and quite a few were watching our stock price, curious if 1st Flight would have a noticable effect.

First one, and eventually three news helicopters posted themselves over the field, one coming within a hundred feet of the crowd just barely off the ground to get close up shots.

I was standing in the NW corner of the primary viewing area, right on the taxiway. I was just one row back from the North edge, and about three from the West edge. We discussed whether the plane would take off to the north or south, and how well the flight would go. The landing of some regular business jet traffic was viewed with interest.

At a few minutes after 10:00AM, Door 1 Right closed and the stairway pulled away. The plane began to taxi from its stall onto the runway. It passed us, still at taxi speed, and turned around out of my sight to the south.

A pair of chase planes made a pass over the field south to north, then came around for another pass. As they did, perfectly timed, the 787 brought its engines to takeoff power and rolled down the runway. It wasn't quite in my sight when it rotated off the runway, but it can't have been more than 100 feet up when it came into sight. One of the chase planes passed right over my head. Time by my watch: 10:26AM.

The flight of three climbed slowly away to the north, fading out of sight into the distance and the clouds. I watched until I couldn't pick them up any more in my monocular.

Hours later, back at my desk, I watched on video as the plane touched down in Seattle.

This will be something that I'll never forget.

FIRST FLIGHT!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQM3xFg2Myg

The 787 lifted off on its maiden flight at 10:26AM local time. I was out on the taxiway with what must have been thousands of other employees.

I have a big grin on my face right now. SHE FLEW!