Fallen Warriors ⁽³³⁹⁾

Brian Bilbrey September 29, 2013

Fall Yard Work

Yesterday I worked in the front yard, cleaning out some stuff from the beds, giving all the shrubs a haircut, and mowing the grass. I found this bird's nest while I pruned the forsythia, and want to know if there's a recipe. This isn't, I think, the right type for bird's nest soup. To give you a sense of scale, this would comfortably hold but one golf ball... Today, I worked in the back yard. I pulled out about 10 pounds of potatoes, a couple of shopping bags full of peppers ... and that's about all she wrote for this…

Brian Bilbrey September 22, 2013

Welcome to Fall

Now I'm waiting for the first 39 degree morning as my next harbinger. The weekend ... it was productive. Mostly moving stuff around on walls, and hanging up assorted wall hangings that Marcia's made for the house over the last few years. That and patching systems made up most of my time. I still have more cleanup to do in my office, but that can wait for later. Very tired, and a long week ahead. * * * Our condolences to the families, friends, and units of these fallen warriors: Staff Sgt. Randall R. Lane, 43, of Indianapolis, Indiana, died…

Brian Bilbrey September 15, 2013

X < 50

... where X is the temperature outside when I get up in the morning. Today was the first day for that event, post-summer. But only just, 49 degrees fahrenheit at 0800 this morning. This is my leading indicator of the imminent arrival of the Fall season. There's also the calendar, which tells me the Autumnal Equinox is 6 days and 20 hours or so in my personal future. But the temps are the big deal for Fall as far as I'm concerned, not the calendar. It was a cold summer, all things being equal. I'm waiting to see what Fall…

Brian Bilbrey September 8, 2013

Launch weekend

Well, it was a launch for NASA's LADEE mission, a lunar orbiter (full name Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer"), from Wallops Island in Virginia. I headed up by the tennis courts to get a better south east view, further from the trees. Using binoculars, I was able to clearly see the ascent from about 10 seconds post-launch, through first stage separation and second stage firing, and on into the distance for a long while. Very cool. Usually the Wallops launches aren't so spectacular, and I'm usually clouded in and can't see them anyway from this distance. * * * In other…

Brian Bilbrey September 1, 2013

Travels done

And we're back! Nine days in California and in the air are done: We flew out to SFO on the 22nd, and flew back through DFW on the 30th. We visited with my folks for about three days, then headed over to SF and stayed there while I attended VMworld 2013. I attended three general sessions and 19 technical sessions in four and one-half days ... my brain nearly exploded. I watched countless demos, met many wonderful and smart people, and acquired enough t-shirts to last me until the next millennium. The weather was lovely, and Marcia split her time between…