The Runner Girl Returneth!!!

06. February 2011 · Comments Off on The Runner Girl Returneth!!! · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: ,
I’d like to thank the kind young Marine pilot candidate for taking this nice picture.  I gave him my 3 beer coupons in return.  Like the bling?  They were handing out Mardi Gras beads near one of the water stations.

Today was the 15K race I’d mentioned last month.  I was feeling pretty discouraged going into it this morning.  I don’t know why — perhaps I just started doubting myself or something. Perhaps I was bummed from awakening at 4:45am.  I trained appropriately, I wasn’t in (much) pain, I brought enough the appropriate clothing for the weather.  Seeing everyone else suffering in 15-20 knot north winds, 45 degree temperatures, on the waterfront brought some comfort that we were all in this together.

My goal was to complete this race in less than 90 minutes and I’m so proud that I was able to meet my goal! Just under 86 minutes!

My Twitter and Facebook friends saw an obscure status early this morning about worrying about my bladder more than whether I could finish the race.  Would I drink too much and have to go to the bathroom every mile?  (Or worse yet, would I drink too much and die*?)  Would I not drink enough and really slow down due to dehydration?  What’s that perfect balance?  Luckily, I was able to go about 2 minutes before the Star Spangled Banner, and made it out the starting gate with a nice empty bladder!  I did fine, I was able to have water along the route, along with these nifty “Extreme Sport Beans” by Jelly Belly.  A gal I was standing near waiting to start offered me a couple.  I ate one before each of the two bridges…I can’t say if they worked any wonders, but they were yummy just the same.  I might have to pick up a pack for upcoming long runs.

*Note: It takes an inordinate amount of water for it to kill you, I was semi-joking there.

I made it just fine without even thinking about finding a bathroom.  Phew!

But I did notice a guy hit a Circle K restroom at mile 2 (really?  after just TWO miles?), and a few women were in line at an Exxon station restroom at about mile 6.  There were a couple port-a-potties scattered along the route, but I think they were actually designated for construction sites, not for us runners.

Next up?  I got to see what the medals for the Gulf Coast Half Marathon look like, and I think I want one!  Click the link, scroll down and look closely. They’re bottle openers, how cool is that?

How to Be an Air Force Wife, 1957 Style…

04. February 2011 · 3 comments · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , , , ,

(Click on the pictures to see closeups of the text in the pictures).

Several years ago I received this book from my father-in-law.  He got it from a friend who sells antiques.  Dad thought I’d be intrigued by it, and gave it to me as a tongue-in-cheek gift.

I read the book the same weekend that Dave’s dad gave it to me and it put a lot of smiles on my face.  The book has been sitting with our other “old books”, and I discovered it again last month when we were unloading/organizing our bookcases in our new house.  I’ll share some of the tips and tricks here, but know that my intent here is NOT to be like the infamous 15 Minute Lunch post from 2007 (<–click it, if you haven’t seen the old Penney’s catalog blog posts, they’re AWESOME!).

Amazon offers the book, as you can see from my link on the left, but I absolutely have to share with you the typeface of the cover of my own copy.  It’s pretty cool!

A look at the back cover to learn a little more about the authors…

….wait a second!  They aren’t even AIR FORCE wives????  Actually these two ladies brought in several USAF wives for the various chapters, and they’re credit inside the book.

The forward was written by Mrs. Nathan Twining, the wife of the then-Chief of Staff of the Air Force.  That’s very nice — seriously, it was nice of her to endorse it.  Not sure if I would have bought it otherwise, especially after learning the authors were Navy wives.

I didn’t feel like scanning in the whole book, so I took photos of some of the funnier topics to share with you…

First of all, there’s this notion of calling cards.  According to this book, you need to ensure you have the proper stationary made up at a reputable engraver.  The sizes of the cardstock, paper and engraving type are recommended here:

Here are some examples of what calling cards should look like.

The book then goes into page after page about where and when to leave calling cards (Hint: you leave them when you “go calling”), what to write on the fronts, on the backs, and whether or not to use envelopes.  And PLEASE, no children!!!

The next picture stunned me.  May women wear Air Force insignia?  My first instincts is “WTF?  Don’t you get put in jail for doing that???”  But according to the book:

And if you go calling and the servant answers the door?  The servant?  Wow, I am definitely an AF wife in the wrong era:

Here’s something I’ve always needed help with.  And don’t forget that hot bouillon on a cold day for the early-arrivals 🙂

Now, here’s a tip that I know is still true 60+ years later!  Many of these military spouse functions fall by the wayside when you’re stationed in Washington, D.C.  I’m definitely glad the President no longer requires officers to call upon him.

To me, this paragraph is timeless.  I’m even going to make the picture bigger for you.  This is precisely why is probably wasn’t in the best interest for Captain Honor of the USS Enterprise or General McChrystal of US Forces Afghanistan to do things they did.  Believe me, I’ve said my share of things over a few beers at the club that I would never wanted recorded!  I have my opinions about publicizing those things that were recorded. Nonetheless, the cat was let out of the bag and the general public was left with a poor taste about our military leaders, who are trusted with our nation’s sons, daughters, husbands and wives.

We’re Rooting for You Leia!

03. February 2011 · Comments Off on We’re Rooting for You Leia! · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: ,
“I was a Geek Pinup Girl!”

Who out there has seen the recent Jenny Craig ads?

My husband saw one of them this past weekend — I think it was a “targeted” online ad on a health website — and he couldn’t believe it was Carrie Fisher!  We didn’t recognize her!  Seriously.

Then this morning during the Rachel Ray Show I saw my first television ad featuring Carrie Fisher.  The commercial, which was a simple interview with Carrie (similar to the video below), was actually kind of dark, but it got me inspired to root for her.  She’s brutally honest!

Today, I found a video on YouTube’s Jenny Craig channel, and it’s worth sharing.  She talks about how she was the Geek Pinup girl of the mid-80s, and has declared that she’s going to fit back into that gold metal bikini with Jenny’s help!

So who’s with me!  Go Carrie! Go Carrie!

Florida Discoveries 3: National Museum of Naval Aviation

27. January 2011 · 7 comments · Categories: aircraft, florida discoveries, museum, nas pensacola, national museum of naval aviation, pensacola, rainy day, world war ii
From 2011 01 23 Naval Aviation Museum Pensacola

This past weekend my parents came to visit, mainly for my youngest’s birthday, but I’m sure that Dad was super-excited to visit the National Museum of Naval Aviation at NAS Pensacola.

On Sunday after breakfast, we ventured the 30 miles west and arrived at around 11am.  We left at 3:45pm!  Everyone had a great time!  There was so much to see.

The museum is on the Pensacola Naval Air Station itself, which means you have to pass through a checkpoint.  The guard will check for an ID — such as a drivers’ license — and if you just say “I’m visiting the museum” you’ll be let through with minimal fuss.  You might be subject to a random search.  Don’t say I didn’t tell you!  It’s free of charge, always a bonus!

I had visited the museum with my friend Paul (of CrashPlan fame) in December 1998 when I was TDY* to Hurlburt Field for some training with my AF Reserve job.  There’s a lot of wonderful history in this museum, from the birth of Naval aviation in 1911.  They have several originals of “first” aircraft (like the first seaplane to cross the Atlantic), and they also have a collection of “last” aircraft, such as the last F-14 Tomcat to fly in combat.

In those short two years since I was there last, there were many changes to the museum, all for the better!

First of all, the museum made improvements at the front entryway, adding a nice timeline of all aircraft carriers, and they added a lovely children’s play area.

Also, we were able to take a bus tour of the “flightline” section of the museum, where aircraft were parked awaiting restoration. The bus driver/narrator told some great stories of each of the aircraft!

These aircraft parts were recently retrieved from the Great Lakes!
From 2011 01 23 Naval Aviation Museum Pensacola

Another big change was the addition of the “Hangar One” area.  This opened in mid-January 2011 and nearly doubled the indoor display space for aircraft!

????

Up above is the USS Kitty Hawk’s “Homeward Bound Pennant” which was flown on its way home from Japan for decommissioning in 2008.  

???? I took this picture below of the sign explaining how the “Homeward Bound” pennant works, but my Dad (a 30-year Navy veteran) explains is best:

“The red-and-white portion (the “fly”) of the Homeward Bound pennant is traditionally one foot long for each member of the ship’s crew.  If the air wing is included, this would be over 5000 feet!  The number of stars in the blue field is dependent on the length of the deployment.  The pennant is flown during the return leg of any deployment over a year in length.  Again traditionally, after arriving back in the States, the pennant is cut up and the blue portion is given to the ship’s CO.  The fly is cut into one-foot pieces and a section given to each crew member,

In Kitty Hawk’s case, she was “permanently” forward deployed, essentially home ported, at Yokosuka, Japan, since the decommissioning of USS Constellation.  The USA has maintained a carrier based there since the 1950s.  USS George Washington’s there now, the first nuclear-powered ship allowed by Japan to be based there.”

Florida Discoveries 3: National Museum of Naval Aviation

27. January 2011 · 7 comments · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , , , , , , ,
From 2011 01 23 Naval Aviation Museum Pensacola

This past weekend my parents came to visit, mainly for my youngest’s birthday, but I’m sure that Dad was super-excited to visit the National Museum of Naval Aviation at NAS Pensacola.

On Sunday after breakfast, we ventured the 30 miles west and arrived at around 11am.  We left at 3:45pm!  Everyone had a great time!  There was so much to see.

The museum is on the Pensacola Naval Air Station itself, which means you have to pass through a checkpoint.  The guard will check for an ID — such as a drivers’ license — and if you just say “I’m visiting the museum” you’ll be let through with minimal fuss.  You might be subject to a random search.  Don’t say I didn’t tell you!  It’s free of charge, always a bonus!

I had visited the museum with my friend Paul (of CrashPlan fame) in December 1998 when I was TDY* to Hurlburt Field for some training with my AF Reserve job.  There’s a lot of wonderful history in this museum, from the birth of Naval aviation in 1911.  They have several originals of “first” aircraft (like the first seaplane to cross the Atlantic), and they also have a collection of “last” aircraft, such as the last F-14 Tomcat to fly in combat.

In those short two years since I was there last, there were many changes to the museum, all for the better!

First of all, the museum made improvements at the front entryway, adding a nice timeline of all aircraft carriers, and they added a lovely children’s play area.

Also, we were able to take a bus tour of the “flightline” section of the museum, where aircraft were parked awaiting restoration. The bus driver/narrator told some great stories of each of the aircraft!

These aircraft parts were recently retrieved from the Great Lakes!
From 2011 01 23 Naval Aviation Museum Pensacola

Another big change was the addition of the “Hangar One” area.  This opened in mid-January 2011 and nearly doubled the indoor display space for aircraft!

????

Up above is the USS Kitty Hawk’s “Homeward Bound Pennant” which was flown on its way home from Japan for decommissioning in 2008.  

???? I took this picture below of the sign explaining how the “Homeward Bound” pennant works, but my Dad (a 30-year Navy veteran) explains is best:

“The red-and-white portion (the “fly”) of the Homeward Bound pennant is traditionally one foot long for each member of the ship’s crew.  If the air wing is included, this would be over 5000 feet!  The number of stars in the blue field is dependent on the length of the deployment.  The pennant is flown during the return leg of any deployment over a year in length.  Again traditionally, after arriving back in the States, the pennant is cut up and the blue portion is given to the ship’s CO.  The fly is cut into one-foot pieces and a section given to each crew member,

In Kitty Hawk’s case, she was “permanently” forward deployed, essentially home ported, at Yokosuka, Japan, since the decommissioning of USS Constellation.  The USA has maintained a carrier based there since the 1950s.  USS George Washington’s there now, the first nuclear-powered ship allowed by Japan to be based there.”

Florida Discoveries 3: National Museum of Naval Aviation

27. January 2011 · Comments Off on Florida Discoveries 3: National Museum of Naval Aviation · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , , , , , , ,
From 2011 01 23 Naval Aviation Museum Pensacola

This past weekend my parents came to visit, mainly for my youngest’s birthday, but I’m sure that Dad was super-excited to visit the National Museum of Naval Aviation at NAS Pensacola.

On Sunday after breakfast, we ventured the 30 miles west and arrived at around 11am.  We left at 3:45pm!  Everyone had a great time!  There was so much to see.

The museum is on the Pensacola Naval Air Station itself, which means you have to pass through a checkpoint.  The guard will check for an ID — such as a drivers’ license — and if you just say “I’m visiting the museum” you’ll be let through with minimal fuss.  You might be subject to a random search.  Don’t say I didn’t tell you!  It’s free of charge, always a bonus!

I had visited the museum with my friend Paul (of CrashPlan fame) in December 1998 when I was TDY* to Hurlburt Field for some training with my AF Reserve job.  There’s a lot of wonderful history in this museum, from the birth of Naval aviation in 1911.  They have several originals of “first” aircraft (like the first seaplane to cross the Atlantic), and they also have a collection of “last” aircraft, such as the last F-14 Tomcat to fly in combat.

In those short two years since I was there last, there were many changes to the museum, all for the better!

First of all, the museum made improvements at the front entryway, adding a nice timeline of all aircraft carriers, and they added a lovely children’s play area.

Also, we were able to take a bus tour of the “flightline” section of the museum, where aircraft were parked awaiting restoration. The bus driver/narrator told some great stories of each of the aircraft!

These aircraft parts were recently retrieved from the Great Lakes!
From 2011 01 23 Naval Aviation Museum Pensacola

Another big change was the addition of the “Hangar One” area.  This opened in mid-January 2011 and nearly doubled the indoor display space for aircraft!

????

Up above is the USS Kitty Hawk’s “Homeward Bound Pennant” which was flown on its way home from Japan for decommissioning in 2008.  

???? I took this picture below of the sign explaining how the “Homeward Bound” pennant works, but my Dad (a 30-year Navy veteran) explains is best:

“The red-and-white portion (the “fly”) of the Homeward Bound pennant is traditionally one foot long for each member of the ship’s crew.  If the air wing is included, this would be over 5000 feet!  The number of stars in the blue field is dependent on the length of the deployment.  The pennant is flown during the return leg of any deployment over a year in length.  Again traditionally, after arriving back in the States, the pennant is cut up and the blue portion is given to the ship’s CO.  The fly is cut into one-foot pieces and a section given to each crew member,

In Kitty Hawk’s case, she was “permanently” forward deployed, essentially home ported, at Yokosuka, Japan, since the decommissioning of USS Constellation.  The USA has maintained a carrier based there since the 1950s.  USS George Washington’s there now, the first nuclear-powered ship allowed by Japan to be based there.”

Like Watching Paint Dry

26. January 2011 · Comments Off on Like Watching Paint Dry · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , ,

Paul and I have gone nearly a week uploading to each others’ computers with CrashPlan.  It’s been quite successful, in that we are successfully connecting to each others’ computers consistently.  That’s the good news.

The bad news is that I’m seeing just how slow my AT&T DSL network is.  I purposefully selected a data plan that matches what we’d need it for the most — which did not include extreme gaming or running a small business.  Something middle-of-the-road.

With his FiOS network on the East Coast, Paul has already uploaded all his data (nearly 100 GB) to “the cloud”, while I’m less than 10% through.  No fiber availability in my area, unfortunately.

Paul’s upload rate to my own machine is more than twice as fast as my upload to him.

At my house, we’re also challenged with trying to do other things on our network while CrashPlan is active, like uploading pictures and videos.  I have to shut down the data transfer if we’re doing particularly important work.

Ever the optimist, I really want to see this through – I wholeheartedly believe that once the initial transfers occur, you can leave Crashplan on and it does periodic updates only…requiring much less bandwidth.

Fingers crossed!

From GeekMom: Star Wars Fail: Overpriced Cupcake Decorating Kit

24. January 2011 · Comments Off on From GeekMom: Star Wars Fail: Overpriced Cupcake Decorating Kit · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags:

Last weekend we were at our local mall-like-shopping-location. It isn’t really a mall, since it doesn’t have that old-school enclosed building thing going on. It’s one of those open-air places, where you walk outside between the pretty-people stores. Each of the past four locations we’ve lived has had one nearby. Most of you who live in suburban America know what I’m talking about, right?

We ventured into Williams-Sonoma — the lure of free samples usually attracts my boys. The thought of one day having a kitchen like in their catalogs attracts me. There was a lovely display of Star Wars-themed kitchen supplies. Of course we were attracted to the display like white on rice! The items were pretty neat, certain to make great gifts. There in the middle among the cookie cutters and pancake molds were these “cupcake decorating kits.”

Picture: Williams-Sonoma

My kids begged “Please? Please? Please?” for one of the kits, and since my youngest son is celebrating his sixth birthday this week and we had family in town, I caved in and let him choose the kit of his choice. I’m so glad he picked the Rebel Alliance kit instead of the Galactic Empire one. I thought the set was pretty cute, and at the time I didn’t think anything of paying $12 for it. How could I turn down classic Star Wars???

Tonight my mom and I made some cupcakes for dessert, using half of the baking cups and toothpicks.

That’s what this kit is: baking cups and toothpicks. Probably about $1 worth of product, to be honest.

Photo: Patricia Vollmer

Close Ups of the Rebels. What do you think? Good likenesses? Wait a sec, is Luke relieving himself? Photo: Patricia Vollmer

We devoured the cupcakes and the used baking cups went right into the trash, but I made a point to insist that no one lick the toothpicks and I’m making sure to recycle them. The pictures on the toothpicks are made of a slightly-waxed paper. Not quite cardstock, but a little heavier than just plain paper.

My opinion? Twelve dollars for this kit is a considerable indulgence. My kids were smiling all evening from the cute toothpicks, and one could argue that doesn’t make this all a waste. If you aren’t picky about the baking cups — considering R2, C3PO and Chewie were all on the bottom of the finished cupcake where no one will really see them — you might be able to get away with making the toothpicks on your own.

Consider how many different characters you could glue to toothpicks and stick in cupcakes! Maybe this is what I’ll do for the Mario Brothers cake that’s been requested for the party next weekend.

Originally published on Wired.com’s GeekMom blog on 24 Jan 2011.

The Star Wars Cupcake Decorating "Kit"

22. January 2011 · 12 comments · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , , , ,

This week my youngest son is celebrating his 6th Birthday. I won’t be specific about which day, but with family in town this weekend, I made some pre-birthday cupcakes to serve as dessert.

Last weekend we were at our local mall-like-shopping-location. It isn’t really a mall, since it doesn’t have that old-school enclosed building thing going on. It’s of those open-air places, where you walk outside between the pretty-people stores.  Each of the past 4 locations we’ve lived has had one nearby.  Most of you who live in suburban America know what I’m talking about, right?

We ventured into Williams-Sonoma — the lure of free samples usually attracts my boys. The thought of one day having a kitchen like what’s in their catalogs attracts me. There was a lovely display of Star Wars-themed kitchen supplies. Of course we were attracted to the display like white on rice!  There in the middle among the cookie cutters and pancake molds were these “cupcake decorating kits”.

My kids begged “Please? Please? Please?” for one of the kits, so I caved in and let my youngest son choose the kit.   I’m so glad he picked the Rebel Alliance kit instead of the Galactic Empire one.  I thought the set was pretty cute, and at the time I didn’t think anything of paying $12 + Northwest Florida tax for it.  How could I turn down classic Star Wars???

Tonight my mom and I made some cupcakes for dessert, using 1/2 of the baking cups and toothpicks.

That’s what this kit is: baking cups and toothpicks.  Probably about $1 worth of product, to be honest.


We devoured the cupcakes and the used baking cups went right into the trash, but I made a point to insist that no one lick the toothpicks and make sure to recycle them.  The pictures on the toothpicks are made of a slightly-waxed paper.  Not quite cardstock, but a little heavier than just plain paper.

My opinion?  $12 for this kit is a considerable indulgence.  My kids were smiling all evening from the cute toothpicks, and one could argue that doesn’t make this all a waste.  If you aren’t picky about the baking cups — considering R2, C3PO and Chewie were all on the bottom of the finished cupcake where no one will really see them — you might be able to get away with making the toothpicks on your own.

Consider how many different characters you could glue to toothpicks and stick in cupcakes!  Maybe this is what I’ll do for next weekend’s Mario Brothers cake that’s been requested for the party next weekend.

From GeekMom: Should We Dilute the Kool Aid?

22. January 2011 · Comments Off on From GeekMom: Should We Dilute the Kool Aid? · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags:

Photo: Patricia Vollmer

When I was little, I remember my mom making Kool Aid.  I have pictures around of me wearing my token Kool Aid mustache.  I even had a Kool Aid t-shirt. I remember sometimes the Kool Aid would seem, well, watery.  Did my mom dilute it on purpose?  Boy, I hope she didn’t.  Sometimes, I wondered if she was sneakily reducing my sugar and artificial color.  I do remember telling myself that when I got older, I would never dilute the Kool Aid!

But guess what?  While I do my best to make the Kool Aid at home to the recipe, I have to admit I water down the kids’ lemonade and fruit punch at the fast-food restaurant beverage machines.  It’s just instinct, I WANT to dilute!

This diluting of the Kool Aid is now a metaphor I’ve been giving to the crime of watering down — or dumbing down — answers to the questions kids ask. JennT posted earlier this week about the incessant “Why? Why? Why?” questions she receives from her kids and in her line of work.  My kids do the same thing, and sometimes it grates my nerves for sure!  But sometimes embedded in all of the silly mindless “Why?”s is a jewel of a question that my sons are truly curious about.  And when my just-as-geeky-as-me husband or I hear such a question we want to stop and give it our full attention!

And if it’s a science or math question?  Stop EVERYTHING!  Break out the props!

My husband and I had a great professor in college who has a pet peeve about “bad meteorology” to the point he made up a website dedicated to debunking several of the most-basic of meteorology myths.  A quote he said that has stuck with my husband Dave all these years was “Be very careful what you put into kids’ heads because it’s very hard to get it out!”. Dave and I take this very seriously with our kids.

So when our sons ask a question like “Why is the sky blue?”, our approaches to the answer might be a little different than non-geek parents.   For a pair of meteorologists with offspring, we waited for that very question with bated breath, as if it were a milestone like learning to walk or ride a bike!

In our house, though, the question wasn’t “Why is the sky blue?”  It was “Why are sunsets red?”  We got it when our oldest son was about 6 1/2 years old.  Definitely a corollary to the dream question!  So I’m now going to share with you how we geek parents approached this subject.

Sunset over Lee-on-the-Solent, Great Britain. © Copyright Rebecca Altman and licensed for reuse under the Creative Commons License. http://www.geograph.org.uk/profile/1963

We started with rainbows.  Jacob knew the colors of the rainbow by this point, so it was easy to explain to him how red is at one end of the rainbow, and violet is at the other.

Then we discussed the electromagnetic spectrum.  Enter a basic diagram, with the shortwaves on the left, the longwaves on the right.  Jacob could name many of the parts of the electromagnetic spectrum, such as X-rays and microwave radiation.  We explained how red light has longer wavelengths than blue/violet light.

Jacob started getting a little glassy-eyed here…uh oh, it doesn’t get any simpler from here!

We attempted to quickly sum up how the low sun angle at sunset allows sunlight to travel through more of the atmosphere, the color red is able to “scatter” just as readily as the color blue “scatters” when the sun is higher in the sky.  When the sun is higher, most of the atmosphere’s scatterers are receptive to the color blue.  This is a phenomenon called Rayleigh Scattering.  I fear we might have lost Jacob by this point, but it was interesting seeing how much he did pick up from the conversation.

I remember that it generated more questions about the electromagnetic spectrum and I was so impressed with having a conversation with a 6-year-old about how many things in the world around us are traveling in “invisible” waves.  The music on the radio.  The remote control (or the 8-billion remote controls in our house!).  The microwave oven.  The wireless internet in our house.  The satellite television.

Check out these links for other easy-to-understand explanations of sky color.

http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/en/kids/misrsky/misr_sky.shtml
http://science.howstuffworks.com/nature/climate-weather/atmospheric/sky.htm

We, as parents, are challenged with teaching our kids the “right things”.  At least, what we think are the “right things”.  Sometimes those “right things” are contested topics such as evolution, global warming, the causes of the Civil War, etc.  I hope to have an open enough relationship with my kids to discuss the varying viewpoints about those more controversial topics and give them the tools to form their own opinions, even if they might differ from mine.

But when it comes to math and science, I personally feel challenged to push the envelope to teach as much as I can when my kids express interest.  I hope to never blow off one of their “Why?” questions, although I have to admit that can get tough at times!

Originally published on Wired.com’s GeekMom Blog on January 22, 2011.

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