Something Juicy To Save My Bacon.

Hello Troops,
There are times when I need special help at the Space Education Center. At those times I sit back, cross my fingers - eyes - legs - arms and toes, and pray the right person(s) will walk through the Briefing Room’s door and take the burden off my back.

This kind of divine intervention occurs more than you’d think! I like to believe someone up there takes pity on us poor mortals slaving away in our simulators and classrooms. Its either that or word spreads through the community that Mr. Williamson’s got that disheveled look of panic again and if something isn’t done quickly he’ll soon forgo regular bathing, shaving, and grooming until his needs are met. Well, several months ago I was near that state. My barber forgot who I was and flies provided that extra bit of air conditioning to cool me in the heat of summer.

You’re wondering what it was that put me in such a state? I answer with a question back to you. What is the cause of most of my problems? Think about it........ yes........ I see you’re catching on. I AM THE CAUSE OF MOST OF MY PROBLEMS.

Here it is in a nutshell. I started the volunteer card program in hopes the school district would give me permission to purchase rewards with Space Center money. I’ll wait until you stop laughing. ......................................
OK, got it out of your system?

I was crazy to imagine they would let me spend Space Center money to purchase modest gifts to reward our awesome volunteers but there are regulations, laws, rules and commandments scratched into stone tablets that forbid such a thing. So, now what? Volunteers were coming in daily and I was swiping their volunteer cards with nothing to offer in the way of redeeming their points. Sound like a government institution? Yes, after working for the government for 26 years I've got it down pat.

For several weeks I carried a pocket full of pennies to drop into any fountain or puddle I found. A penny into a fountain and a wish granted - Right? I stayed up late into the night out on my deck searching the skies for a falling star. I searched Ebay for a lucky rabbit’s foot someone had no further use for and spent far too long in several fields on my belly looking for a four leaf clover. The result of my quest? Nothing......

Then, one dark and stormy night a knock was hear on my chamber door. Standing in the dark stood a figure. His face was lit by the light of a single candle protected against the wind by a glass lantern. In his hand - a plastic bag.
“Compliments of Juicy Development,” said the cloaked stranger. “Continue your endeavors and your vassals will be rewarded with more.”

He turned and disappeared into the dark. A moment later I heard a horse galloping away down the lane.

Juicy Development creates applications for mobile phones (iPhone and Google’s Android). Their top iPhone applications are Talk Radio and Police Scanner. Both are top sellers on iTunes. By the way, Juicy Development is always looking for good employees, especially anyone that can program in Cocoa (Apple’s iPhone language). Contact me for further information.

Folks, I want to thank the following people from Juicy Development for pulling me from the brink by providing hundreds of dollars worth of volunteer rewards for your volunteer points (yes - those iTunes cards you all pant over).

Todd Hadley
CEO of Juicy Development. Red Cross Volunteer. Parent of two Space Center Volunteers. Scholar. Gentleman and a Good Judge of Horse Flesh.
Todd is a man that never met a computer he didn’t like. He is a friend of the Space Center and has made us the primary beneficiary of Juicy Development’s philanthropic donations.

Brent Anderson
Vice President of Development. (On temporary leave of absence while serving an LDS mission in the Czech Republic).

Kyle Herring
Product Manager for Juicy’s top two Apps: Talk Radio and Police Scanner.
Kyle has spent more money than I want to know to help the Space Center finish the Galileo simulator (and countless other things). A volunteer at the Center in his spare time and responsible for simulator design and construction since he was a real youngling.

Thank you.

And now troops, I can rest at night knowing that someone has my back concerning the rewards program.

Now, if anyone else works for a company that would be kind and generous enough to provide products for our volunteers as rewards for their work at the Space Center please let me know. We will take anything from candy, cookies, to movie tickets to gift cards to whatever. I can even give you an in kind donation slip from the Alpine Foundation so the product can be written off your taxes. You see - everyone wins.

And now I’m off to take a nice warm bath to relieve my aching bones. After that, I’m thinking of a British Comedy. After that I’ll sit and think for awhile and come up with something new to get me into trouble. Soon I'll be looking skyward for another shooting star.....

Mr. Williamson

Are You a Sun Genius?

What do you know about our solar system's star, the sun?

Take a quick Encarta sun quiz at this website, to see just how "bright" you are about our sun!

http://spotlight.encarta.msn.com/Features/quiz_370_sun_quiz.html?GT1=27004

Sheila Powell

Space Center Educator

Is There Life on Mars? A NOVA Special

Is there life on Mars? NOVA/PBS will air a special program discussing all the efforts and evidence collected in trying to answer the simple question of whether water/life exists on Mars...It has a companion site with lots off additional cool links and research topics. Set those DVR recorders for this show!!!

PRESENTS Is There Life on Mars? Tuesday, September 1 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on PBS Check your local listings

After four decades of fly-by probes, orbiters,landers and rovers, the quest for life on Mars is as tantalizing as ever. With unique access to the NASA Phoenix and Mars Exploration Rover missions, NOVA shows scientists and engineers in action, directing the operations of spacecraft millions of miles away, as the robotic explorers drill into rock, claw into soil, analyze samples, and trundle across the rock-strewn landscape in search for signs that Mars once or maybe even still harbors some form of life. NOVA goes behind the scenes of the latest NASA missions to the Red Planet to reveal new clues and challenges on the road to answering this ultimate questions: Is there life on Mars? See some of the finest images ever taken of the martian surface on the program’s companion website.

Sheila Keller-Powell
Space Center Educator
National Geographic Bee