Apollo 13

April 13, 1970: Apollo 13 Tells Houston, ‘We’ve Got a Problem’

Manned space flight has become so routine that it is easy to forget that it’s inherently dangerous to stuff astronauts inside a cramped capsule and blast them into the heavens on top of a Saturn V rocket. The Apollo 13 mission reminded us just how vulnerable we are.

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7/365

“Aloha Makana”. Pineapple, mandarin oranges, and Canadian bacon (or what we call “ham”). It’s what’s for dinner.

6/365 – self-heating cocoa

I’m not a coffee drinker. I love the smell of coffee, but the taste makes me sick. I was certainly intrigued by these self-heating drinks that our local grocery store was selling. But all they had were coffee, so I wasn’t interested. Until recently, that is, when I noticed they had hot chocolate! So I forked over $2.59 for this drink because I wanted to see if the self-heating process really worked. You remove the safety cap on the bottom; with the can upside-down on a firm surface, you press this button to drain this green fluid. I believe this stuff fills the outer shell of the can, mixing with another liquid (I’m not sure what, but at this point, it doesn’t really matter). After 10 seconds, you set the can upright and let it sit for 5-8 minutes. After the time passes, this pink dot on the label turns white. The drink is now hot. “Shake, open, and enjoy!” says the label. Now when the green fluid was mixing with the other liquid, the can emitted this chemical-like odor. I’m doing this at my desk, and I’m thinking, great, now my co-worker’s gonna think there’s a gas leak somewhere. I shook the can really good because I like a rich, chocolaty taste (I always put extra Quik in my chocolate milk). Unfortunately, it was very bland. And the freaking chemical scent didn’t help much either. But I guess I got what I paid for, since the drink was hot. Next time, I’ll just stick to Swiss Miss.

birthday greetings

Happy Birthday to my brother-in-law Steve
(shown here with my sister Rochelle and their daughter Jasmine)

5/365

Probably the brightest part of my day at work is the miniature rubber ducky sitting on my desk. I have a lot to do the next 2 days, so I pray the issues, disruptions, and emergencies are at a minimum.

4/365

Music is a big part of my life. My friend had asked me, “would you rather lose the sense of sight or hearing?” As much as I would hate to lose the beautiful visuals that life has to offer, I told him I would rather be blind than deaf. I don’t think I could ever do without the sound of music. Of course, a video iPod wouldn’t do much good for a blind person (although 80 GB would hold a lot of mp3’s).

5 years old

Happy Birthday to my niece Jasmine

random 10 #100

The Music Memoirs

10 songs that sum up your weekend… or were on your weekend playlist…

1. “Outshined” – Soundgarden
2. “Orange Crush” – R.E.M.
3. “Empty Arms” – Stevie Ray Vaughn & Double Trouble
4. “Tell Me Something I Don’t Know” – Extreme
5. “Imagine” – John Lennon
6. “Jackson” – Joaquin Phoenix & Reese Witherspoon
7. “Living Loving Maid (She’s Just A Woman)” – Led Zeppelin
8. “Only Love” – BoDeans
9. “The Old Man Lives Down The Road” – John Fogerty
10. “Any Time At All” – The Beatles

…and one picture that relates back.

Salem helps himself to a biscuit.