A Year in Space

Scott Kelly has returned to Earth! Safely. That may not seem like such a big deal to most of us, but for him I believe the readjustment is going to be interesting. 

As reported by the New York Times in the article titled, Scott Kelly, American Astronaut, Returns to Earth after 340 Days in Space,  Scott set a record for consecutive days in space by an American. Couples with his other trips off the planet, he has spent 540 days in space.

I can only imagine how it feels to be reacquainted with gravity.  Going from the relative freedom of microgravity and back to full gravity will likely take some adjustment. I wonder how long it takes a body to fully recover so that every step or breath is not painful?

Scott Kelly's Last Tweet from Space
The Sunrise

It was written that he observed 10,944 sunrises and sunsets! That is almost 30 years worth of sunrises and sunsets in less than a year! That would, in an of itself, be a spectacular experience. Living in a container for almost a year, however, is not something that I long to do, even with the incredible view. I have come to appreciate the smell of the morning and the feeling of the breeze upon my face.

Scott Kelly is an American hero! We have forgotten the time when astronauts received ticker-tape parades through New York City and the entire country celebrated their achievements. I believe we have become too focused upon the mundane and the political upheavals to allow our imaginations to soar away from the planet anymore even as the possibilities are becoming reality.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Super Tuesday

Arundel Park Golf Range
February 29, 2016

March has arrived! I cannot believe that it is already the third month of the year, although I am happy to bid farewell to February. What a crazy month it was. From frigid temperatures to top-down-driving-with-your-hair-on-fire sunshine splashed warmth to close out the month.

Arundel Park

I regret that I was not able to get in a round of golf during the month, although yesterday I did make it to the practice range for a few bucket to begin trying to get my swing in shape before next week's golf trip to Florida. I was surprised that the range was empty. I even found a rare left-handed tee box right in the front of the entry instead of having to go all the way to one end.

But on to today--it is Super Tuesday. I'm not sure why they decided to call today's primary extravaganza "Super" and not "Insane" or something like that, but I already know what will dominate the news. I wished I lived in a state that was holding its primary today and that way it would all be over except the shouting. 

I am not going to make a prediction about the outcome of today's primary voting except to say that I believe one clear candidate will emerge for each party and that the rest of the primaries will be dedicated to confirming that candidates ability to win the primary on the first vote during this summer's conventions.

I remain disappointed over the media coverage and the debates.I do not believe that the American people get to adequately examine all of the candidates when the media coverage is provided commensurate with the shock effect of the individual candidates. In my estimation, each of the top five candidates (3 Republican and 2 Democrat) have significant deficits which make them less than optimal choices to be President.  

It is time to choose! I wish I could go golfing.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Monday Musings - February 29, 2016

1. Happy Leap Day! It is February 29th!

Snow Along the Fence of my Yard

2. Small patches of snow remain around my yard from the last big snow. I hope they are gone soon.

3. Daylight saving time returns in two short weeks! 

Wine and Munchies on a Saturday
Fauquier county Wine Tasting & Competition

4. One great was to spend an afternoon is with friends judging wines at a competition. We had a great time at this year's Fauquier County Wine Tasting and Competition. 

5. I discovered that Virginia has ceased production of its annual wine trail map and that it is only available via the web. While I laud their use of electronics, I have been at more than one Virginia winery without internet service which will make it hard to get to another winery.

6. I saw this sign at a local Middle School yesterday. It embodies the idea of "closed more often to serve you better."

7. The youth basketball season ended yesterday for Ethan and Jackson. I witnessed two close and exciting games. One saw the what would have been the winning basket hit the rim and fall away after the buzzer sounded and the other saw a flurry of shots all miss which cemented a win after five scoreless minutes in the final period.

February 28, 2016
Enjoying the Afternoon as it Passes into Evening

8.  I have been attending many youth games this past year but it wasn't until the Dad that coaches Jackson's basketball team looked at me in the hallway yesterday and said, "it's baseball season now, over to you," that it really struck me that I am not just an observer but an active participant in teaching sports to young and active people. 

9. Golf season is getting close, I was hitting balls yesterday and feeling good about my swing. 

10. Sipping wine around the fire table at the end of a beautiful day which saw the convertible being driven with the top down. What a great way for February to meld into March.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Democratic Primary Reflections

I watched the results from South Carolina's primary pour in last evening and I was struck by the lopsided results.

Results from Democratic Primary in South Carolina | InsideGov

What bothers me is the emphasis on monitoring the results across ethnicities. I have been concerned all along about the way particular candidates seem to be targeting specific ethnic groups. 
CNN reporting in an article titled Hillary Clinton crushes Bernie Sanders in South Carolina: 5 takeaways this morning provided some initial analysis of Clinton's recent Nevada and South Carolina victories. Some excerpts:

Clinton's firewall of minority support held, helping her seal a close contest in Nevada and then turn South Carolina into her first dominant win of the 2016 race.

South Carolina's electorate climbed from 55% African-American in 2008 to 62% in 2016. And the vast majority of those voters -- 84% -- backed Clinton, according to exit polls.

This type of campaigning is also happening in the Republican primaries, however, with five candidates still in the race it does not seem as evident.

It seems that the campaign is becoming a race for race.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

A New Strategic Bomber for the Air Force

The Air Force has been discussing a new long range bomber for a few year now. They finally released a concept diagram of the bomber and it is diagrammed in a CNN article.  I have to say, it looks a lot like something that we already have. 

B-52G Taking Off

Supposedly, this bomber will finally be a replacement for the venerable and old B-52. The new bomber has been dubbed B-21. I wish I could understand the Air Force numbering system. There is a B-1, a B-2, a B-52, and the new bomber is B-21? Why not B-3? Or B-53? I know, it probably means that it is the bomber for the 21st century and if history is any guide, it will probably be flying into the 22nd century.

B-2 Bomber

According to another article, the Air Force wants to have 100 of the B-21's flying by the mid-2020's to replace the B-1B's and B-52H's. Good luck with that. Note, the B-52H is the only version of the B-52 remaining in operations, but I am kind of partial to the B-52G since those were the versions of the bomber being flown by the bombardment wing to which I was assigned as a young lieutenant in the Air Force.

Well, I guess we do need a new design for the 21st century. Oops, I though I wrote new design? The new bomber looks a lot like an old bomber. I wonder why?

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Another Debate--More of the Same

The debate season remains in full swing, and they all seem to be the same. Last evening the Republicans held another in an unnumbered series of debates. 

The back biting continues.

Who of these people really deserves our votes to be president?

Someone needs to propose a plan. 

How come it seems that thing new ever comes out of these debates. I wonder if any of the candidates actually debated during school?

These debates are more like an afternoon fights behind the high school stadium between bullies--no rules and no intelligence required.

I was disappointed last evening to hear the reality TV programming continue. As I read the news assessments of who won, I remain disappointed that the winner was decided by assessing which candidate was able to tear apart the other candidates and not based upon which candidate laid out the best vision for the country.

I suppose the debates will continue, they do provide some sideshow comedic relief on an otherwise dark and gloomy night.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

A Dark and Stormy night

"It was a dark and stormy night . . . " I seem to remember Snoopy starting many stories with this phrase and never finishing it.

Last evening was truly dark and stormy. We were out in the worst of it driving home from a local restaurant. 

How do you know it is raining hard?

1. The rain comes down in torrents. (I never really knew what a torrent was until last evening)

2. The rain looks like it is running uphill.

3. The tail lights of the car in front are almost visible. 

4. The lines on the road are invisible.

5. The person in the passenger seat asks if the headlights are on.

I receive emergency notices from the county and my phone was blowing-up last night. Between the tornado watch, thunderstorm warning, and flood warnings it was difficult to concentrate on dinner. Even though I had the sound turned off, the phone was still vibrating in my pocket every few seconds as the storm raged around us while we were in the restaurant. 

Where does the phrase "It was a dark and stormy night . . . " come from? 

According to Wikipedia, the phrase comes from the original opening sentence of the novel Paul Clifford:

It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents — except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the housetops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness.

.

Last night, the opening sentence was all too true, except I was in Elkridge and the flame of the lamps was in fact the glow of the headlights.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

From Under the Snow

Flowers Growing Under the Snow

As the snow melted, there they were. Hidden in a place that earlier in the week covered by a foot of snow, the green plants of springtime were waiting for the sun.

And there they were right there hidden in plain sight, waiting for me to discover them. 

They had grown under the expanse of snow, protected form the frigid cold waiting for the warmer weather, much like me.

Springtime is beginning to push winter out of the way making ready for the green again. I love the green of spring. Green is the color that goes away during the dark season. I love the green. 

I have an urge to get onto a golf course, why? Because it is green.

I want to mow my lawn, why? Because it is green!

My lawn is brown, but it too, has been growing under the snow and the warm temperatures and rain will soon return it to green--the color of life and shamrocks! Did I mention that St Patrick's Day is coming? Even sooner, I will be heading to Sarasota for palm trees and Spring Training.

There is hope for Spring because some plants were growing under the snow.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

The Toilet Bowl of Life

Sometimes life takes a turn and I wind up deep in the toilet. And I do not mean figuratively, either. 

I came home last evening to a slow toilet. You know there is something drastically wrong when the water doesn't rush out of the bowl. Yet, The water was moving, slowly!

Stand by for potential catastrophe. Fortunately, there were no solids in the bowl to deal with, yet.

The Offending Toilet Bowl Freshner

After significant plunging and buckets of water to increase the pressure no appreciable change was noted. It then became clear to me what I was dealing with. This was not the usual blockage caused by too much paper--no, it was something different and as I scanned the rim of the bowl I realized what it was--the bowl freshener!

Well, this would be easy then, all I needed was my snake--except my snake had been liberated for a good cause! Ugh! No good deed goes unpunished.

And of course, I had a racquetball match looming! I declared to the family that the toilet was closed for repairs and raced to Lowe's for a new snake, or as they call it an auger.  Before returning home I had a racquetball match to play which turned into a quick losing effort.

Once I returned back home, the process seemed fairly straightforward--in my mind. Sometimes things do not execute on paper the way I draw them up in my mind. But, I was successful after a few minutes in dislodging the object and restoring full flush functionality!

Sometimes those toilet bowl freshness are more work than they are worth!

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Monday Musings - February 22, 2016

1. Today is National Margarita day. Have one for me!

2. MLB Spring Training is underway. Hooray for Springtime.

3. Sunday's can be the busiest day of the weeks. Yesterday was filled with two basketball games and an acting performance by the grandsons.

4. It came to me why I have developed a love of golf. I can watch my heroes play AND since I also play the game it is possible for me to play on some of the courses the they do. That doesn't happen in many other sports.

5. The political races are narrowing. That may not be a good thing. The leading candidates are too similar.

6. The Daytona 500 was run yesterday. I had no clue!

7. Would it upset the balance of nature if we just eradicated mosquitoes? They seem to transmit disease and little else beneficial.

8. After a taste of warmer weather this weekend, I am ready for Springtime!!

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD