Ah Monday

Well another monday has come and the world continues on as normal. Dr. Adams arrived to teach the Aviation History class today. She was younger than I was expecting, though why I kept envisioning an older woman teaching the class is beyond me.

Let's see, what else.

The US handed over power in Iraq a couple of days early. Not really surprised there. It helps throw the wanna-be insurgents and terrorists off their plans if they don't get to stir up trouble in a big way, say like attacking the transfer inaugeration.

Supreme Court rules that detainees can challenge their prison treatment in court. No problem there. They should be allowed to. There's a little thing called due process in the United States and I'd rather not lose that to the Islamists and certain American fanatics who think the ends justify the means. This is still the United States after all!

Weekend at Home

Well the last two days I've pretty uch just lounged about at my Mom's house in Phoenix. The temperature is really too high to make me want ot go out and do something like shopping or what not. We have been able to at least catch up and talk about things like the cats, the new block wall fence she's having installed, her job, and other stuff.

Summer B Day 1

Today was the first day of the Summer B session at ERAU. Funny thing was the professor wasn't even their for my Aviation History class. Turns out she's delivering a paper on anti-terrorism or something like that in Texas. So all we did today was sign in and start our first assignment: answer all the questions on a "scavenger" hunt list.

So I've already finished that assignment plus the reading assignment. Yep. I'm a bit gung ho about getting an A in this class.

Summer A Grades

Well the Summer A grades are posted. I got a B and a C. Lower than I had hoped, but acceptable I suppose, especially given how poorly the second final went for me. At least it picks up the GPA a little. Not much, but it's something. Just reinforces my determination to get As in the rest of my classes. A tough thing to do at ERAU, but not completely impossible.

AOL Grr

Sometimes I really dislike America On Line. Why? For things like today. They obviously had some sort of security breach on their system that resulted in spam or some other such nonsense. What do they do instead of admitting their error? Accuse me of violating their Terms of Service. When I called them up complaining about it, the phone tech apoligized and admitted the problem was theirs.

It just annoys me that companies have no ethics or integrity any longer when dealing with their customers. Instead of taking responsibility they instead try to slough off the problem by blaming others, even their customers! Sorry, but you'll gain and retain more customers by acting fairly and with honesty rather than childish "Not me!" attitudes.

Claudia Black on SG-1

I just read the news about Claudia Black (Farscape, Pitch Black, Queen of the Damned) guest starring in an episode of next season's Stargate SG-1. Yay Claude! It will be good to see her in another role before this Fall's Farscape: Peacekeeper War airs. Nice to see her getting some gigs here in North America.

Finals pt 2

Well the second final was today. Let's just say it sucked and leave it at that.

I got an 87 on the first final, so even Bling-bling has to recalc to see what I ended up with, an A or B. Yep, it'll be that close.

SpaceShipOne Success!

As an aerospace engineering student I've been following the progress of SpaceShipOne fairly closely and can honestly say I'm pleased and happy for todays successful operation. May it herald a new era in space flight.

Congratulations to Scaled Composites and pilot Mike Melville on becoming the first civilian, non-military, non-government pilot to earn their astronaut wings. Good luck in winning the Ansari X-Prize.

First Private, Manned Craft Achieves Space Flight
From By JOHN ANTCZAK, AP

MOJAVE, Calif. (June 21) -- A rocket plane soared above Earth's atmosphere Monday in the first privately financed manned spaceflight, then glided back to Earth for an unpowered landing.

SpaceShipOne pilot Mike Melvill was aiming to fly 62 miles above the Earth's surface. The exact altitude reached was not immediately confirmed by radar.

The ship touched down at Mojave Airport to applause and cheers at 8:15 a.m. PDT, about 90 minutes after it was carried aloft slung under the belly of the jet-powered White Knight.

The mission announcer said the mission had been successful.

''Beautiful sight, Mike,'' mission control said to Melvill as the gliding spaceship slowly circled toward its landing.

Later, standing on the tarmac beside the ship, Melvill said seeing the Earth from outside the atmosphere was ''almost a religious experience.''

''You can see the curvature of the Earth,'' he said. ''You got a hell of a view from 60, 62 miles.''

Melvill said he heard a loud bang during the flight and did not know what it was. But he pointed to a place at the rear of the spacecraft where a part of the structure covering the nozzle had buckled, suggesting it may have been the source of the noise.

White Knight took off at 6:45 a.m. carrying the rocket plane. After an hours' climb the pair reached about 46,000 feet and SpaceShipOne was released.

A moment later Melvill flipped a switch to arm the rocket, and another switch to ignite it. After a brief firing, the rocket motor shut down and the craft coasted to the top of its trajectory.

Both craft were built by innovative aircraft designer Burt Rutan, and the project was funded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, who would only describe the cost as being in excess of $20 million.

''Clearly, there is an enormous, pent-up hunger to fly in space and not just dream about it,'' Rutan said Sunday. ''Now I know what it was like to be involved in America's amazing race to the moon in the '60s.''

SpaceShipOne is the leading contender for the Ansari X Prize, a $10 million award to the first privately financed three-seat spacecraft to reach 62 miles and repeat the feat within two weeks.

The three-seat requirement demonstrates the capacity for paying customers; the quick turnaround between flights demonstrates reusability and reliability.

NASA also is interested, said Michael Lembeck, requirements division director of the space agency's Office of Exploration Systems.

''We need people like Burt Rutan with innovative ideas that will take us to the moon and Mars,'' he said from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration headquarters. ''Folks like Burt bring a different way of doing business.''

Melvill, 62, was selected for the flight from among the project's three pilots. During a test flight last month, he flew the rocket plane to an altitude of about 40 miles.


Melvill is a test pilot and vice president-general manager at Rutan's company, Scaled Composites, which built SpaceShipOne and White Knight.

He has set national and world records for altitude and speed in certain classes of aircraft, and has logged more than 6,400 hours of flight time in 111 fixed-wing aircraft and seven helicopters. His test flights range from crop dusters to fighter jet prototypes and racing planes.

Rutan gained wide fame by designing the Voyager aircraft, which flew around the world nonstop and without refueling in 1986. Rutan hoped his latest program shows that spaceflight is not just for governments.

''I believe that realization will attract investment and that realization will attract a whole bunch of activity and very soon it will be affordable for you to fly.''


06/21/04 11:54 EDT

Copyright 2004 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

Studying

Well, that's pretty much all I've done today: studying for tomorrow's final. I think I'll do all right on the final, but I think the A I wanted is out of the question. A B is quite attainable though, which will do, I suppose.

Finals pt 1

Well my first final of Summer A was today. I think it went pretty well, well enough that I'm fairly confident that I will get an A. The only thing I could think of as to why I would not is if I made some silly math errors and what not. So I'm pretty sure I'll get a good grade for that class.

Next up is Monday's final exam.

Study Day

Well today was a study day at the school. My first classes review session only four people showed up in all. For the second, nearly everyone was present. I also got back our grades for both class projects. The groups ended up with a B in each one. So it looks like I simply will need to get a B in both finals to get a B in the classes. I was hoping for As but ah well. B's are acceptable I suppose.

Class Presentions

Well today was the last official day of classes at ERAU for Summer A 2004. Tomorrow is a study day, followed by finals on Saturday and Monday.

Today I had presentations in both my classes. The first presentation sucked in my opinion. I didn't feel prepared for it at all. The second went much better and I think Bling-bling enjoyed it a bit too. At least our group presentation was the only one he didn't say had been done wrong.

Whew! Hard to believe Summer A is almost done. Even more, next thursday is Summer B which should be extremely easy for me as its only a simple history class. Yay! Another easy A.

Off to study for finals.

Exams 2 Result

Well, suffice to say the exam scores down right sucked dog nuts. Funny thing is my quiz and homework grades are still keeping me at a B in both classes. I can still pull of an A in both if I do well on the reports/presentations on thursday and the final exams on Saturday and Monday.

Getting As? Good enough reason for me to kick some ass in both.

Exams 2

Well today was the second round of exams for Summer A session. I think I did well on the second exam, but royally screwed up the first. Ah well.

This saturday, FINALS!! Okay. A final. The second final is on monday.

The project groups seem to be finally pulling together, so hopefully things will work out there and I'll pick up a couple of easy As to boost the grades in both classes.

I think I'm pretty well set for an A in one class and a B in the other. I just need to ensure the remaining homework, report, and finals get good scores.

Rattler's Win!

Yep, the Arizona Rattlers defeated the Colorado Crush to win the semifinal game and advance to Arena Bowl XVIII in 2 weeks. It was a pretty close game, but the Crush made some critical errors (in my opinion) in the final :30 of the game including giving Arizona the go ahead TD.

So, the "Over The Hill Gang" will host the San Jose Sabrecats in two weeks at America West Arena.

Go Rattlers!

Project Bust

I was supposed to meet with my two schooll project groups today but I fell asleep and woke up about two hours after they were supposed to have called. I wasn't feeling all that well anyway, but still. I should have stayed awake in anycase. Now I have to slog out what I can so when we meet monday, I'll at least have something for the reportsthat are due thursday. I feel like I haven't contributed much to the group, but I'll pull an long session monday and teusday to get things set.

Pretty Good Day

School went pretty well today. I got a 90 on yesterday's quiz and I feel I did well on today's quiz. About the only thing I'm worried about is the project reports which are due next week since one of my groups has yet to even decide on the topic.

I was planning on going to Phoenix this weekend, but that's looking less and less likely given what needs to be done.

Sigh.

UN Endorses Coalition Iraq Plan

Somehow I can't say I'm surprised. Those EU countries that opposed the war are now desperate to get back into the economic game in Iraq after having abused the UN oil-for-food program. Does that negate the good that will come with the passage of this resolution? No. But I, for one, will not forget their duplicity.

I still mostly consider the United Nations a waste of time, a group that caters to the whims of superpowers, powers, and vicious dictators and is an organization of cowardly bereaucrats (sp?) and autocrats. Still, it is at least some place for countries of the world to get together and at least make a show at getting along if not actually accomplishing anything. Besides it's always good to have some semi-nuetral party out there when things get dicey.

School school school

School is going well, aside from the project groups I am in have yet to meet and barely have decided on their topics. Not good considering the reports and presentations are due wednesday and thursday next week.

Other than that, things are about the same. Getting As on assignments and preparing for next monday's double exams, tomorrow and thursdays quizes. The usual fun stuff.

ERAU 2 Week Countdown

Yep, just two weeks until Summer A classes at ERAU are at at end. Scary really. It seems like such a short time, but then this is summer classes. Everyhting compacted from 15-16 weeks to 5-6 weeks. Still, it's been fun. I much prefer the compacted work load of summer session. There's no time to forget anything and it makes you stay on top of the reading, assignments and what not.

The only down side is that it does eat a little into personal time, but hey. That's what'll happen in industry anyway, so I may as well get used to it again.

Time

Time....
to go
Time....
stop
Time....
flies
Time....
heals all wounds
Time....
out
Time....
travel
Time....
is relative.

Just thinking about time. (the Scaper's will get it.)

Lazy Sunday

Then again maybe not so lazy. I did actually finish all my homework, putting me two days ahead in classes. Aside from that I haven't done much today save watching television. Yay! What a way to waste time.

Rattlers win!

Hah!

The "Over the hill gang" has done it again, defeating the Los Angeles Avengers in the first round of the Arena Bowl playoffs. It was a little close there for a while, but Cooper and the gang pulled it off.

Strange isn't it? Just a few months ago the Rattlers were one of the worst teams. Now they're sitting at the number one seed for their bracket.

Go Rattlers!

Quiet and Warm Saturday

Aside from the death of President Reagan, today has been somewhat uninteresting. All I did was do some homework for classes, actually getting ahead in the process. This is good since I'll need time next week for writing and preparing for class presentations.

It's a little warm today and since the apartment doesn't have AC (or it's not working, as the case may be) it's a little uncomfortable, but not too bad. It doesn't get hot in Prescott too often and nothing like temperatures in Phoenix.

Goodbye Great Communicator

As most know by now, former President Ronald Wilson Reagan, the 40th president of the United States, died this afternoon at his home in California. Whether you agreed with his politics or not, none could question his commitment to his principles and to the large role he played in history leading to the end of the Cold War.

Ronald W. Reagan (Feb. 6, 1911-Jun 5, 2004)
Husband, Father, Actor, President.
Rest in Peace in the Shining City.

World State Commentary

Abu Ghraib
So the head of the UN Human Rights comission considers the US actions at Abu Ghraib on part with war crimes? I don't see Mr. Ramcharan saying that about the Iraqis. For that matter what about the criminal and illegal activities of UN members such as France and Russia that allowed Saddam Hussein's regime to commit numerous attrocities since the Gulf War and even profitted from those atrocities via the oil-for-food program.

I also note that Mr. Ramcharan makes no note that the US is charging and putting to court martial those involved in the criminal acts. He did at least acknowledge the present situation in Iraq is far better than under Saddam Hussein.

Porn is Popular
Is any one really surprised that porn sites are more popular than search engines? Ha!

I won't even comment on my low opinion of internet search engines currently.

Rome Riots & Protests
I don't know why everyone seems to surprised at the riots during the anti-Bush protests. One, they protests were organized by a bunch of communist and socialist groups that have been quite violent towards democratic institutions in the past. Add in the anarchists, and there ya go.

Most of the protesters were at least civil and acted as the true pacifists they claimed to be.

Funny thing is, 60 years ago the US saved Italy from facism. It's good to see the majority using that hard won freedom responsibly during their peaceful protest. As for the trouble makers, good riddance.

I guess America isn't the boogey man the extreme leftists would have the world believe.

Friday yet again.

Well another week of classes are over. Two more weeks and session A is complete. I really need to get my act together if I want to get those As I wanted. I'm pretty well set for Bs so no worries there.

Comp problems

I had some computer problems yesterday and today no thanks to the usual scumbag wannabe hackers, spammers, and virus creators. I got all the kinks worked out, but it still ticks me off that these pathetic losers are allowed to run rampant on the net. Of course comapanies love it because they get to extort money out of people over items that should in actuality be free. Things like spam blockers, anti-virus, intruder detection software, etc, etc.

Why should these things be free? Because without them the net would cease to exist as a functioning system and die a rapidly painful demise as irritated people quit the net and did other things, like read a book or spend time with family and friends.

Rambling day

Not much happening today. Just the same old school work and what not. I think I screwed up the quiz we had today, but oh well. Bling-bling drops the lowest quiz grade anyway. I'll just make sure to ace the next quizes tomorrow and next week. I also seriously need to start cracking down on the homework. I'm still getting A's on them, but not 100% scores like I was. Maybe I'm just getting slightly burned out on classes. I don't know.

Scary that there's only two weeks after tomorrow and then summer A classes are done. Sheesh.

It's a little warm here in Prescott today, but not as bad as it was in Phoenix over the weekend. Kind of wipes me out though. I've been feeling tired a lot lately.

First Day of June

The return to classes was for the most part normal with no real excitement. I did pretty well on one exam we got back, but kind of screwed up the other. I can't really complain though. I'm getting a B in both classes, and can still easily push them into the A range.

Off to study for another quiz tomorrow and to finish homework.