An Update and a Ghostly Visitor

Hello Troops,
Another winter day on April 15th. Spring is doing just what Spring is suppose to do - transition our part of the planet from frigid winter to baking summer. Some Spring days give you temperatures in the 90’s and others, like today, give you cold and snow. Spring is a smorgasbord of weather - a delightful feast for those of us that appreciate unpredictable weather.

Today was another busy day at the Space Center. Many staff and volunteers were in working on Summer projects. The Odyssey is slowly being put together and Megan Warner, the Phoenix Set Director, came in to give her simulator a few stokes of the paint brush to cover a splattering of unsightly blemishes.

I took a few hours off to go see Aliens Vs. Monsters, or was it Monsters vs. Aliens? I don’t recall. I paid the premium and saw the 3D version. To be honest I didn’t care for the film The writing and plot was too childish. I’m sure the younger ones enjoyed it but not me. Animated films are a tough sell for an older crowd. Pixar does it well. I’m never disappointed with a Pixar film.

After the movie I stopped at the Space Center to check on the staff. After a few questions were answered and a crisis or two resolved I decided to go home for the night. I made my rounds checking to see who was in the building and locked all the open doors. Stacy Carroll was working in Discovery’s animation studio. I told her I was leaving and to check the doors once again before she left. She gave me an OK. I walked out the door, turned, locked the door and then pushed it back onto the wall mounted doorstop. The door clicked and locked into open position. I turned and started down the hall. That’s when something strange happened.

Just before entering the Briefing Room I heard Discovery’s door unlatch itself from the wall lock. A moment later it close. I wondered why Stacy closed the door. I walked back to Discovery, opened and propped open the door and asked her why she closed the door. She came out of the studio saying she hadn’t shut the door. She thought I had.

That was the second EUC (Event with Unidentified Cause) of the day. On the way back from the movie I discovered my car’s fan wasn’t working.
I didn’t put the two events together until I got home from the school. The third EUC happened when I got out of the car and put the garbage cans back. My neighbor’s dog, started barking at me. My neighbor’s dog has never barked at me. Never. Now this dog was running back and forth barking at me. It seemed agitated. What was going on?

I walked into the house and found the big screen TV on. It was on ESPN. My nephew watches ESPN so I thought he forgot to shut off the television before he left for work. No one else was home. I went into the bedroom for a few moments. When I came out the satellite dish had been turned off. The TV was showing Dish Network’s test screen. OK........ I started putting two and two together.

I’m talking to those who’ve been to a Disney theme park now. Do you remember the end of the Haunted Mansion ride when your car turns toward the mirrors and you discover you have an unwelcome hitchhiker in your car with you of the ghostly persuasion? Well, I was sure that a mischievous little Space Center ghost hitched a ride in my Battlestar and came home with me. That was the forth EUC of the day. I turned off the TV, picked up my computer and began typing up a quick post on a Genie and little boy for my Cloverdale Blog.

Half way through the post the fifth EUC occurred. The power went out. Luckily I was working on my laptop and had plenty of juice for the post. Thirty minutes later the power came on. A few minutes after that my nephew Chaz came home. I asked him why he left the TV on.
“I didn’t watch TV today,” he said. “I got up early and went to work.”
I was surprised. Everyone else in the house was gone all day as well. So, we have our sixth EUC.
Well, to top the night off the power went off again at 8:00 P.M. A seventh EUC all in one day! I think I may be lucky. Spencer Robinson stopped by a moment ago to return the Space Center credit card. He needed it to pick up building supplies for the Odyssey. The power came on right after he left. I’m thinking my unearthly visitor saw a chance to move on. I should call Spencer and warn him my hitchhiker may have caught a ride with him. It would be interesting if several EUC’s hit him tonight! We shall see. We shall see.